"And once again I ask, what made you think there'd be a living in sheep?"

While most upland farmers still keep sheep on their land, the changes here have been mirrored across not just the Dales but the entire British farming industry. The shepherd's life has never been an easy one, but for many it's getting tougher and more difficult than ever to make a profit.People who work sheep know that it's some of the hardest farming there is. A former shepherd once told me that sheep are only ever trying to do one of three things: "Escape, or die, or escape and then immediately die."

Mark Knopfler put it better, frankly: 

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Globally, lamb consumption is expected to grow by 15% between now and 2032, according to a report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Food and Agriculture Organization. But changing tastes in the UK mean mutton, made from mature sheep, is no longer eaten in the same volume it was by previous generations and lamb has seemingly gone from a weekly staple to a meat more often eaten on special occasions, with "white meat" like chicken being increasingly chosen over lamb and beef.

And that't a pity, becase large parts of the country are suitable for nothing else and have, in fact been shaped by centuries of upland sheep farming. Of course, there are always those so shortsighted or blinded by spite they can applaud this:

Extremely tight margins mean growing numbers of younger people can't see a future in farming.And some welcome the decline in sheep farming. "Fewer sheep means less suffering […] a sheep's life in the wool and mutton industries belies our reputation as a nation of animal lovers," says Mimi Bekhechi, senior vice president at the UK's People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta).

But trust the BBC to see a posssible upide, thanks to their imported pets: 

But there is a ray of sunshine for the industry, according to Phil Stocker from the National Sheep Association. He believes the domestic market for sheep meat is going to keep driving forward, in large part thanks to demand from the increasing number of Muslim people in the UK.

.Sheep or Muslims, what a dilemma.

No Surprise...

The Make-A-Wish Foundation offers children with life-threatening illnesses a chance to live their dream: be a firefighter, adopt a puppy, go on a wild shopping spree.

But not every wish, eh..? Only those that they approve of. Of course.

But in an era of rapid medical advancements, what counts as life-threatening is changing. A case in point: the charity has announced that, beginning next year, people with cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease that primarily affects the lungs, will no longer qualify automatically for a wish. The good news is that that is because the illness is, for many people, far less of a threat than it once was.

Good news, indeed! Who could possibly disagree? 

...there are many ways the genetic issue behind CF can manifest, and not all of them respond to the drug. Much of the early research on the illness focused on non-Hispanic white patients, McGarry says, and genetic testing often misses variants in Black, Asian, Hispanic and Ashkenazi Jewish populations.

Now, McGarry said, “we’ve turned it into two different diseases”. Ninety per cent of patients have variants of CF that will respond to the drugs. The other 10% continues to grapple with severe illness.”

Oh. Silly me. I forgot identity politics trumps everything. 

Other treatments, including gene therapy, are being developed that may treat these mutations. But for now, “I think that’s where we’re going to have to work with Make-A-Wish to make sure that they understand about the patients who don’t qualify [for the drugs] – that cystic fibrosis is still a devastating disease for them,” McGarry said.

So little white Jimmy won't get to make a wish, but little black Ayeesha and little brown Malalia will. That won't cause any issues at all, will it?