22.11.2020 Sunshine.

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Sunday 22nd 43F, cloud and clear. More wind expected. Along with some sunshine. A walk to the lanes in bright sunshine. Several cars were parked up and hunters out on the fields. There were a surprising number of shots once they'd started. There are often only a few shots before there are no more targets. A pair of deer dashed across the field, across the lane and then on across the countryside.

The hundreds of tractors demonstrations in two of Denmark's major cities have probably led to a super-spreader event. Organisers claimed their protests were successful. The police were supposed to fine anybody driving a tractor on the road, on yellow plates, but seem to have allowed it to pass. 

The large crowds attending the demonstration failed to maintain social distancing or to wear masks. No doubt the huge cost of the tractor fuel required for such high mileages will come out of the taxpayer's pocket, as usual. 

The protests were held over the possibly illegal order for the culling of all mink. Which had proved to be highly susceptible to The Jinping Plague. A mutated form was passed back to humans including the elderly in a retirement home. The government decided the risk was far too great to allow this to continue and ordered a cull of all mink. 

One might have thought this was the safest ploy but naturally there were loud objections from the mink farmers. The contagion was spreading very rapidly southwards from a geographically remote hotspot in northern Jutland. 

Fortunately the mutation proved not to be as dangerous as feared. However the cull was ordered after that detail had already become known within closed government ministries. The minister responsible eventually resigned. 

The Danish government has been successful in containing the number of Jinping Plague deaths as much of the population followed the closure rules. The exceptions continue to cause infections and casualties as the numbers rise again.

Other countries have discovered mink's vulnerability and have handled the problem in their own ways. Denmark was the largest provider of mink skins and clothing in the world. The product was exported mostly to Japan and China and earned billions of kroner. Denmark's cool climate was claimed to be responsible for the highest quality furs.

Mink farming provided a vital income for rural areas. As smaller, agricultural units became ever more expensive to buy and increasingly uneconomical to run. Leading to ever larger land holdings with foreign investment or ownership. 

Denmark has a very high coverage of agricultural land and an increasingly poor reputation for encouraging wildlife. The former "Farmers Rule" government set back steadily improving environmental standards by decades. They were only elected on the empty promise of reducing open immigration. Having a minority, extreme right wing, party coalition didn't help.

The latest democratic party government was elected on the empty promise of combatting climate change. The minority parties are constantly pushing the coalition to do far more.

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