Friday, 26 January 2024

Birds Behaving Badly

A Swan, nicknamed 'Cedric the ASBO Swan' has been tormenting the residents of the outskirts of Northampton, England, for the past 5 or 6 years. ASBO's for those who aren't aware are Anti-Social Behaviour Orders .....

Cedric The Swan
Cedric The Swan

He hammers on front doors, and rattles letterboxes for up to 3 hours at the time with his beak. No one is able to explain why this might be the case, and despite a local councillor describing it as a 'flipping nuisance' it shows no sign on stopping. Swans are protected in the UK.

Blessing Satan

The tradition of Christian priests blessing troops about to go to war, or into battle is a long one ....

Blessing Satan
Blessing Satan

 ..... and I suppose that some weapons have also been blessed through the ages, but I suspect that in the West, this would be rather on an adhoc basis, when an individual priest might bless an aircraft, or possibly a ship.

Just Another Florida Day

On Christmas Eve 2023, 23-year-old Abrielle Baldwin was shot in the chest and killed by her teenage brother Damarcus Coley in Largo, a city about a half hour's drive from Tampa, Florida .....


.... in a row about Christmas presents.

Friday, 19 January 2024

The Only Fat Man In North Korea

Once again famine is stalking North Korea ....

North Korean Propaganda Shows Food Plentiful
North Korean Propaganda Shows Food Plentiful

.... according to one of the very few escapees to the South in the last four years.

Clever Bee's And Other Animal Shorts

Over the years I collect a lot of media snippets that often don't inspire a full post, but are still worthy of some attention ....

Willow And The Grave Of The Unknown Cat
Willow And The Grave Of The Unknown Cat

 ...... in this case, its media stories about animals that would otherwise go wasted (and lost to the ether).

The Appeals Roundabout

I was watching a US television show about criminal justice, which was mainly about criminal conviction trials for murder etc. 

Curtis Flowers - Tried 6 Times For Same Murder
 Curtis Flowers - Tried 6 Times For Same Murder

It briefly touched upon one case where there had been three appeal trials ... and counting.

Friday, 12 January 2024

Inconvenient Truths

Recent analysis of crime levels and types in New York ......

New York Evening Graphic - Sex Entertainment Concerns
New York Evening Graphic (Dec 1926)
- Sex Entertainment Concerns Not New.

.... found that in areas where brothels and strip clubs operated, the levels of sex crimes reduced significantly.

Elephants Never Forget

Now, its hard to imagine what a 70 year old woman could do to get an elephant really, really pissed off .....

Elephant Attacks In India Are An Increasing Problem
Elephant Attacks In India
Are An Increasing Problem.

 .... but whatever its takes, apparently Maya Murmu managed it.

No Police State

What happens if the police go on strike? 

Police Strike Baltimore (1974) And 'Community' Response
Police Strike Baltimore (1974) And
The 'Community' Response.

Thankfully, we don't have to answer that question very often.

Friday, 5 January 2024

More Mayhem

Michelle Hannon from South Wales, had been holding her engagement party with her family and friends, and the event had turned into a drunken 'all day bender'.

Absinthe Parties Often Ended With A Figh
Absinthe Parties In Wales Often Ended
With A Fight Between Mother And Daughter.

However as these events invariably do, it then degenerated into family arguments, as the drunkenness removed more and more brain cells from the action.

Samson's Farts

There are some anti-social people, who think it's OK to drop farts in a public place or amongst work colleagues (and we have discussed this subject before), but few claim that they have been secretly hypnotised in to repeatedly doing this dreadful deed.

Soiled The Air
Someone Soiled The Air I Say(!)

But nurse Xandra Samson made this claim at an employment tribunal, where she was claiming unfair dismissal and disability discrimination ... unsurprisingly, she lost.

Welfare Dependent Culture

 The biggest problem with a welfare benefit based society ....

Not In Work 16 - 64 Reasons June 2022
Not In Work Age 16 - 64, Reasons June 2022

.... is the growth of a welfare benefit dependency.