Sweden battles EU food-safety rules to save a smelly Baltic-herring delicacy

Sweden is fighting European Union food-safety rules in a battle to save one of its traditional delicacies, a smelly dish made from fermented Baltic herrings. Eskil Erlandsson, the Swedish Agriculture Minister, has pleaded with John Dalli, the EU’s consumer and health protection commissioner, to save surstromming, a delicacy from northern Sweden so smelly it has to be eaten outside. Surstromming is produced under a special exemption for Sweden and Finland from EU rules on the sale of fatty fish from the Baltic Sea, which have dioxin pollution levels considered too high for consumer safety. Next year, the loophole will close and the EU will ban production or sale. Commission officials said Mr. Dalli had declined the gift of can of the herring after Swedish colleagues warned him its pungent odour was an acquired taste, even for Swedes. The smell is so intense, it is usually eaten outside.

(original here)

It also informs us that there are four hotels in Amiens.

Just in case you would like to check out the neighbourhood before booking your stay at one of those fine Amiens hotels, Google also provides Street View.

A former classmate from the year I spent in Minnesota (at a small Lutheran bible college) has pointed out in response to my last blog post that if I want to see a greater prairie chicken, all I need to do is drive the Interstate 94 past the outskirts of Rothsay, Prairie Chicken Capital of Minnesota.

One more reason to make a long-overdue trip back to Minnesota.

However today I was feeling bold so I donned it, together with a pair of blue trousers.

I was halfway through my day at the office before someone pointed out that Premier Wall, in recognition of the Saskatchewan Roughriders going to the Grey Cup, has declared this Green Week, encouraging everyone to wear Rider Green.

And then another co-worker, who originally hails from Montreal and still cheers for the Alouettes, pointed out that I was wearing the Als’ colours.

I didn’t go home to change, but I tried to keep a low profile for the remainder of the day.

Now to check my closet for tomorrow’s attire … I wonder if khaki is close enough to Rider Green?

The designation 30-06 means that it uses a 0.30 inch calibre bullet and it was first manufactured in 1906. A hundred years ago apparently it was common for the number “zero” to be referred to as “ought”, hence the “ought-six”.

Of course the use of “ought” is a misnomer; a more proper term for zero would be “naught”.  However I can’t imagine referring to my rifle as a “thirty-naught-six”.

And of course there’s the question of which decade followed the nineties.  Most would agree that the eighties were followed by the nineties, but are we now in the oughts, the naughts, or some other decade?  Maybe the zilches?

(Click to enlarge … I’m the one in the background behind the Crasher Squirrel)

I’m not sure where this job was ranked.