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France's mairies are both a help and a hindrance
Two readers express their views on local government
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Can you help? Mairie in Normandy is looking for missing British couple
Owners of French property have not been seen for a decade
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My car broke down - and the reality of life in rural France hit me hard
Columnist Samantha David laments a lack of understanding about travel challenges in rural France
Glyphosate herbicide is no danger to humans
Your report on glyphosate (Aug 2018) as a pesticide found in honey is inaccurate and alarmist and adds to the public perception that any chemical involved in food production is detrimental to human health which Greenpeace will quite happily promote.
PESTicides are designed to inhibit or kill living organisms, are dangerous and must be handled under controlled conditions.
A systemic HERBicide is designed to inhibit plant growth by altering its growth levels and is not dangerous to the human metabolism. Glyphosate is a systemic herbicide.
During the Vietnam war the USAF’s most shot-at and the most decorated unit was 12 Air Commando that ran the defoliation program spraying Agent Orange. New pilots joining the squadron in the early-60s faced an initiation ceremony at their first formal dinner – being required to drink a shot glass of the brew.
Reports from the Air Commando association based in Florida is that they are now starting to die... of old age.
Rex Barron, Charente
Editor’s note: Thank you for pointing this out – our online article has been amended. Regarding Agent Orange, the US Veteran’s Administration has advice on this site tinyurl.com/VA-AgentOrange