Let a man get up and say, Behold, this is the truth, and instantly I perceive a sandy cat filching a piece of fish in the background. Look, you have forgotten the cat, I say.

It is far harder to kill a phantom than a reality.

This [TB in cattle] is wiping out big chunks of UK farming and is ruining farming families and the rural economy. We need to take tough decisions. It's never popular but the farming industry will be devastated.

I read the book of Job last night, I don't think God comes out well in it.

Humans evolved to be omnivores. We're poor converters of most vegetable matter, and gained much in the past from using herbivorous animals to convert grass and leaves into high-quality protein. But in a world where food and land are in short supply, livestock production is a hugely inefficient use of grain. To produce the steak we eat, a calf needs nutrients and energy to grow and sustain an entire body, only a part of which we consume.

Most analyses - including New Scientist's - place blame with the changing dietary patterns in developing countries, which are resulting in a greater demand for meat. That's certainly a problem, but so is the fact that the west is not reducing its own meat consumption. In the western world, we typically consume about three times as much animal protein as we need, along with far more animal fat than is good for us.

[...]

However, in terms of people ultimately fed, using land to grow animal feed is still inefficient compared with growing food crops for humans. And efficiency gains with livestock have come at a cost to animal welfare and the environment - problems that current animal science will at best mitigate, not solve. Research will breed animals to be a bit more "efficient" and a bit less diseased, and housing systems may be adapted a little better to animal behaviour. But increasing efficiency still further, while also reducing animal-welfare problems to a negligible level, would require technology beyond anything we see today. It would mean developing animals that thrive in confinement systems and are stripped as far as possible of unnecessary tissues and motivations. And there is no turning back. Free-ranging animals on traditional farms will never produce enough meat to satisfy the increasing world population with its growing demand.

If her estate is put to use in a way that is consistent with her instructions, a total of $8 billion would result in $400 million flowing to the cause of dog protection per year (if the standard five percent of the corpus is allocated each year).

There are many reasons why people might think twice before leaving $8 billion in their will to be lavished on dogs. And the most obvious reason? Because they're dogs, for Pete's sake!

[...]

Helmsley's bequest is around 30 times what Barack Obama spent on his campaign to win the Democratic nomination for the White House. Hell, with $8 billion to spend, even Hillary Clinton might have triumphed. Or else she could have spoilt herself with ten million new pantsuits.

But $8 billion? For dogs? It's the meek who are supposed to inherit the earth, not the mutts.

The RSPCA is angry and appalled that anyone would let animals get into this state, and we have immediately suspended the farm and launched a full investigation.

The farmer's employer recognises there has been a serious breakdown of management on the farm. The farmer is currently battling with serious personal difficulties which appear to have overwhelmed him, however this is no excuse for the condition of some of the animals.

In rare cases individual farms or farmers can let us down, but for every animal shown on covertly-filmed video, there are millions more who've had a better life, thanks to the RSPCA's welfare standards.

Freedom Food has more monitoring visits and inspections than any other assurance scheme in this country. It is a mark of a good scheme that immediate action is taken if ever a problem arises, and that's what we have done.

As a woman I have no country. As a woman my country is the whole world.

A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.

A good essay must have this permanent quality about it; it must draw its curtain round us, but it must be a curtain that shuts us in not out.

"The RSPCA is horrified and extremely concerned at any allegations of animals suffering - and has taken immediate action by suspending the farm, and launching our own investigation," said Leigh Grant, chief executive of Freedom Food.

"As soon as we were made aware of the issues by Channel Five News, we took immediate action to suspend the farm, pending further investigation.

"Like any other organisation, the RSPCA cannot monitor farms 24 hours a day - but we are the only one making a concrete effort to help millions of farm animals by setting up an assurance scheme dedicated solely to animal welfare."