MUSCLE IN ON THE CATWALK

Dear Sir, THE guerrilla war that goes rumbling on between health services and food manufacturers appears to go from the sublime to the ridiculous. One faction knows that overweight costs health services a lot of money. Now the “fast food” providers have found a way in through the back door. Thin models are altogether too sublime, and don't eat enough, therefore they should be more ridiculous and get fatter. The flaw in such a law is the simple fact that the human female has a lot of control. A cubic inch of muscle weighs eight times what a cubic inch of fat does. So to keep within the new norms, our sublime models should go to the gym more often. Although skeletons can weigh more or less, it is probably better not to meddle with funny bones. So the catwalks need not fear they can keep within the law. WITH the passing of the recent “Majorca Day” and Señora Munar (President of the Council of Majorca) in an interview in Sunday's Majorca Daily Bulletin acclaiming the large display of flags, I must say that living in the centre of Palma, I was surprised at the small percentage of apartments in any/most buildings that did “show the flag”. Some buildings showed none at all, others a scattering and one has to wonder if Majorcans share the intense feeling of “all things Majorcan”, that Sra Munar obviously has. Her concern on the large influx of immigrants, be they legal or illegal, is well founded, not on any racial basis, but simply that if immigrants do not fill an urgently required place in work, and qualify in certain ways, Majorca and the immigrants face enormous problems. If there is no decent paying job available, what will they live on? This is why many resort to crime, prostitution, etc. Would it be unreasonable for the authorities to at least insist on a clear bill of health through a medical check? That they do not have a criminal record? These could all be checked via a Spanish Embassy/Consulate in their home country before a visa was issued; not least a job/accommodation to go to. Majorca is a growth island, and will need immigrants who can fulfill a useful purpose, contributing to their own, and the Island's future prosperity. What Majorca, and the immigrants do not need is the present muddle that exists, where the problem grows daily. It may seem to someone living in a third world country that anything is better than the poverty they have there. However, nothing can be worse than living in poverty in a rich country.