Pandemic Preparations at the Tower of London

You know, this has nothing whatever to do with bioethics. But Ned Potter, ABC's best health guy, whom they have unleashed on blogdom, notes that the safety of Britain seems to hang on a few ravens at the Tower of London:

A quick bird-flu update: The Tower of London is bringing its famed ravens indoors.
This quote from Derrick Coyle, the Tower's raven master: "Although we don't like having to bring the Tower ravens inside, we believe it is the safest thing to do for their own protection, given the speed that the virus is moving across Europe."

Legend has it that if the ravens leave the grounds of the White Tower, it will crumble and the Kingdom of England will fall. King Charles II decreed in the Seventeenth Century that there must always be six ravens at the Tower.

posted Feb 28, 2006 | link |

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