Animal Oddities

The local and national (and indeed the International media) are usually full of small fillers stories, which are often described as being 'human interest' tales ...

Human Interest, Is Often Animal Interest

.... but in point of fact they are, more often than not 'animal interest' stories .... so as we at PC towers are inveterate invertebrate news 'clippers,' then we have amassed a fair number of these animal oddities clippings.

Greedy Pigs

The emergence of the ambulance chasing lawyer culture in the UK was entirely avoidable (simply don't let lawyers advertise in the media), but also was entirely predictable .... 

Ambulance Chaser

They saw the riches that a claim compensation culture like the USA's has brought to the legal profession, where according to the American Bar Association's 2020 ABA Profile of the Legal Profession, there are currently about 1.3 million lawyers in the US. Specifically, 4 lawyers for every 1,000 residents in the US i.e. 400 per 100k, and approximately 208,200 people workings as solicitors or lawyers in the United Kingdom in 2023 i.e. 226 per 100k residents.

Drugs Blood Price

Twelve percent of the global recreational drug users, come from the USA, a figure that means that three times the proportion of the U.S. population use drugs, compared to those of the rest of the world.  

Cocaine Usage Has A Blood Price

Studies in 2021 showed that about 19.4 percent of Americans have used illegal substances at least once in their life .... and that within the age range 12 and older, 31.9 million Americans are drug users, with 11.7 percent regularly using illegal substances and around 19.4 percent either having consumed illicit drugs or misused prescription drugs in 2020.

Hard Boiled Thieves

Denny's restaurants are ubiquitous in the US, but not so in the UK ...

Denny's - Scene Of Unusual Break-In

 .... and indeed I'm not sure if we have an equivalent (perhaps Wimpy or McDonald's).

Funambulist Health Finances

When 55 year old former US Olympic gold medallist Mary Lou Retton, fell seriously ill with a rare form of pneumonia in the fall of 2023, it was more than just a serious health issue that nearly cost her her life ....

Mary Lou Retton - 1984 Olympics

 ..... it was a serious finances issue as well.

Guns And Murder Numbers

If ever there was proof of the difference between a gun culture and its murder numbers, and a non gun culture its in these figures.

Despite The Skyline -
Chicago Is A City With Problems.

In Chicago, a city of nearly three million people, there were more than 1,600 sexual assaults, nearly 3,000 shootings and 649 murders in 2021.

Venting Their Anger

Exmouth in England is a rural port in South Devon on the South West coast ....

Not Just A Sewer Vent
Pipe In Exmouth

 .... and its fair to say that not a lot goes on there. 

The State of Iowa

The state of Iowa is not much different from many other Mid-Western US states ...

Iowa USA

.... with a population of 3.19 million. Its roughly 56,276 square miles, while the UK is about 94,354 square miles so its very sparsely populated in comparison.

Trump 3 Timer

As predicted, Donald Trump has been a busy boy ....

The Donald's Third Term Came With A Price

.... and consequently has kept bloggers and the news media busy as well.

Flights Of Fancy

Dangerous events on air planes and at airports are thankfully very rare  .....

The Plane Oxygen Mask Seemed
Rougher Than Expected .....

.... but when they happen they can be serious ....

Super Trooper

Nevada Highway Patrol state trooper Briita Foesch was going home from a Halloween fancy dress party with her dog Caliber .... the Ewok!

Britta Foesch With Her Dog, Caliber As An Ewok

 ....... where she had gone as a Star Wars empire Storm trooper.

Meat Grinder Tactics

Its reported that Russia has now  put 40 % of its economy in war footing ....

Nothing Changes In Russia But The Enemy.

.... The highest percentage since the end of the Second World War and the start of  the Cold War. So Russia spends 6% of GDP on weapons and the military, which is more than twice what most European states are spending.

Florida Tale

In October 2018, Crystal Methvin (sic) was arrested (or is that Nicked?), in St Augustine, Florida, with her boyfriend Douglas Nickerson (along with a third unidentified suspect) for possession of ....

What Crystal Meth Looks Like .....

.... you guessed it 'Crystal Meth' 

Bring Me The Head Of Jesús María Baranda

When a neighbour gives you a box of 'something' to look after for them these days .....

Jesus and Maria Before He Wrote A Will

.... its really a good idea to insist of examining those 'something's' before accepting to box into your safekeeping.

Cradle To The Grave - Don't Work

The UK Labour Government has just tinkered with the welfare benefits system .....

Cradle to The Grave Welfare Systems Deincentivise Work

 .... to save just £5bn pa by 2030 (when double or triple that amount needed to be shaved off it).

Blog Slog

 This Blog has been running continuously since the 16th of February 2007 ....

Most Popular Posts

.... that's a lot of posts under the bridge.

Then And Now

Modern body armour adds to the already enormous loads for modern soldiers. 

Modern Soldiers Heavy Equipment -
Means Men Need Help Getting Up.

With weapons, food, batteries and other gear, US infantry in Iraq and Afghanistan sometimes carried as much as 100lbs (45 kg) of kit while on foot patrols, and although some improvements in body armour technology such as the introduction of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), may eventually reduce the weight, its still a real bulky weight.

Mixed Messages For Mixed Times

Comic creation, Superman, was nothing if not an American Patriot .... 

Superman The American Patriot

...... Indeed a 'Super Patriot'.

Car Crackers

Man's love of his motor car is almost overwhelming for some ..... 

Man Potty About Cars

.... and when this is challenged in some way, they lose whatever common sense they had in the first place .... the following are just illustrations of the bad choices cars some drive people to ...

Crime Shorts (or No Shorts)

Crime stories have always held our interest .....

Real Crime Shows On TV

Hence the success of reality crime stories on TV shows such as The Murder Tapes or Cold Justice. I am no different, and have collected a number of news snippets from various sources:

Agent Trump Anyone?

I have seen some strange stuff on the Web this week (screen prints in story). A lot of it on the Have Your Say comments on the BBC website.

A Piece Of Paper From
Moscow, Probably Worthless.

One thing was a reminder that Ukraine had only given up their nuclear arsenal acquired at the dissolution of the Soviet Union, after Russia, the USA and the UK, all agreed to respect and protect Ukraine's then borders as a sovereign nation, in exchange for them doing so. 

Animal Crackers

Occasionally I put together some posts made up of small stories that are linked by theme and that I dont want to build into larger posts on their own ..... 

Animal Selfies Come In Many Forms

....starting with Dumb and Dumber

Fine Of The Beast And The Wicked Burger

In 2017, Jason Mortimore from Exeter, England, was fined £666 (yes really, the fine of the beast), for throwing his Jehovah's Witness wife Rachael's Bible, and her other religious documents into a lit garden burner in November 2016 ... (he was lucky that wasn't another religions holy book). 

The Watch Tower Magazine

For good measure he had also hit her earlier in the face, three times with a magazine (title not known ... but possibly The Watch Tower). 

The Patriot (Nearly)

Being an American Patriot means different things at different times .......

Paul Revere Didn't Ride Alone - William Dawes
 and Samuel Prescott Accompanied Him.

... so during the American Revolution or 'Treasonous Revolt' as we would call it .... (just kidding folks) ... people such as Paul Revere, would be described as a typical patriot.

Dial G For God

Pastor Paul Sanyangore, of the Victory World International Ministries of Zimbabwe, has a congregation of around 5,000 ..... plus one. 

God On The Line?

That one is a very important one, God himself, who Pastor Paul can apparently call on his cell phone. This was witnessed on his churches website, where a video has him talking into his phone saying "Hello, is this heaven?".

Backdoor Censorship

 This week I came across my first sign that adults in the UK are to be censored ...

Age Verification Censoring.

... the reason for this censorship? Because feckless parents in the UK won't put adult content blockers on their kids mobiles and laptops etc.

What A Drag

When the UK passed the Sexual Offences Act 1967 (making same sex acts legal over the age of 21 .... now age 16), on the 21st of July 1967 (the USA had similar law changes from 1961 onwards, starting in Illinois) .....

Governor Bill Lee's Year Book

..... it wasn't intended that this would lead to the nonsense about transgender 'identity rights' that the West is now embroiled in.

Ruining Rioters

Whilst he was Mayor of London, Boris Johnson bought some water cannons from Germany for £320,000.

Too Cold For You Mate?

They were never used, and were sold at a loss by current mayor, Sadiq Khan, for £11,025 to Nottinghamshire-based Reclamations (Ollerton) Ltd, who will dismantle them and export the parts.

A Man With A Plan

Donald Trump may, or may not, prove to be a good or bad president from a US perspective ....

Trump Policies Can Take Any Direction

 .... But he's definitely a man with a mission, as he knows he only really has 2 years before he's a lame duck 2nd term president.

Refugees For-evermore

 At what point do "refugees" stop being refugees? 

Jewish Refugees In Yemen, Nov 1949

..... after 10 years? 20 years? 40 years? Inherited refugee status forever and eternally?

He Must Have Been Legless

Kevion Hooks was arrested for an armed robbery in September 2021 in Tulsa Oklahoma, in which he took a prosthetic leg from the victim. 

Kevion Hooks False Leg Hat
Disguise, Didn't Fool The Police

The victim said that Hooks approached him with a large metal spike, took his backpacks, and his prosthetic leg. He said Hooks them asked him how much the items were worth and waived around the spike in his face.

The Devils Brood

Shlomo Erez Helbrans (b. Erez Shlomo Elbarnes), was a Jewish religious fanatic, and anti-zionist, aka Jewish ethnonationalism, on religious grounds ....

Evil Bastard

He founded his own cult, Lev Tahor, to propagate his own form of Judaism ... much like the James 'Jim' Jones did with his Peoples Temple cult in the 1970's.

Only Time And Fate Will Tell

Last week a (rare) commenter, pointed out that Donald Trump has really doubled down on his claims on and about Canada, Mexico, China and Greenland.

Trump Has A Gaza Plan

My reply was "I guess that Trump and his supporters would point out that he's been successful so far, with Mexico and Canada (and some extent Denmark/Greenland) all negotiating with him now. China has restricted its retaliation to lower tariffs than Trump has imposed .... so winner winner chicken dinner!!" 

Lassie Go Home

Tales of false animal rescues that didn't really need rescuing (if they got up, they can get down is my theory), abound, and always make the press ......

Lucy Planned Her Escape ...

 ..... and this blog.

Pork Cadaver Dogs?

 Now I don't know about you .....

Billy Was Very Good At Pointing To The Spot.

.... but I am a fan of real crime TV shows. Not the UK versions but the US ones.

Revenge Politics

I was struck that President Biden felt the need to protect army generals and policemen from Trumps revenge  ... 

Pre-emptive Pardons General Mark Milley and Dr Anthony Fauci

He was forced he felt to protect them via Presidential pre-emptive pardons after Donald Trump repeatedly threatened to investigate and potentially prosecute his political enemies during the election campaign.

Beyond Meat Loving Vegan

Beyond Meat is a US vegan food producing company ...

Mr Douglas Ramsey Assuming The Position

In December 2022 they appointed Douglas Ramsey as its Chief Operating Officer (COO) ... he had previously spent three decades at Tyson Foods, where he oversaw its poultry and McDonald’s businesses ... so probably not a committed vegan then.

Shamans 'Special Operation'

Before Putin's Russia invaded the Ukraine in what he coyly insists is a special operation .....

Russian Shamans

 .... an operation that's cost Russia 700,000 killed or wounded so far and counting.

TRUMPINATOR - The Second Term

When Ex-President Donald Trump lost the last Presidential elections in 2020 .....

THE TRUMPINATOR

.... he didn't take defeat well (and we all know about the more than dubious attempts he made to overturn the democratic vote), and he smouldered on the edge of the political scene for the last four years.

Less Of A Man Than Before

Bad news for generations Y and Z .....

The Future Is Smaller Penises

..... the number of males born with smaller penises has been increasing over the last 30 years or so.

Just Another Hood Tragedy

Some men are just outright bad to the core, mindless, useless thugs ......

Eight Mugshots On The Route To Murder

Thirty six year old Melvin Williams is one such man. A typical product of the 'hood,' but that's no excuse for this evil little mans actions.

Worrying Fact

The majority age group in Africa is now 15 years old with the median age of just 19 .... 

Graphics - The Visual Capitalist.

 ....while the median age in the UK is 40.7 years, and the USA 38.1 years, and the median age of the EU's population is 44.4 years!

Just think about that for a moment, and realise that world overpopulation hasn't slowed down, and that an ageing USA, Europe and Western Europe will be, or are under some threat of losing their identities as their birthrates decline. More than half the worlds population growth in the next 30 years will happen in just eight countries - the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Tanzania, and they will all probably retain high birth rates on to the end of this century and beyond. 

Mrs Ghandi in India, had realised that one of the prime drivers of India's problems of poverty was the unrestricted population growth, but her efforts to slow it down failed. In fact India's population growth will soon, or possibly has, overtaken China, as the country with the biggest population in the world with its 1.4bn people. Ethiopia, despite its occasional famines, has never made any effort to slow its population growth .... similarly Egypt, whose population in 1945 was 19.1 million and is now 103 million, a fivefold increase in 80 years. 

While 61 countries will see declines in their populations by at least 1% by around 2050, by November 2023, the planet was still home to 8.2 billion people (UN predict it will reach 9.7 billion in 2050 and 10.4 billion by 2100), and the UN believes rising to a peak around the 2080's or 2090's, at about 10.4bn, though this disputed by some demographers who believe that peak could happen even sooner.

 

We could see the populations of the poorer countries simply marching into those with declining populations. Something for our children and grandchildren to worry about.

Art For No Arts Sake?

In another of those stories that shows how degraded modern art is from the general western populations perception of what is really art ....

Art Beer And Real Beer - What Difference?

There was another of the many tales of cleaning ladies (or gentlemen if such was the case), not noting the difference between art and rubbish.

Drunken Disaster - The Blame Game

Daniella Leis a 24 year old woman, appeared in a London, Ontario, Canadian court on the 11th of February, 2020 to hear her sentence, after having pleaded guilty in October 2020 on four counts of impaired driving causing bodily harm.

Daniella Leis Leaving A Court Hearing.

These offences had occurred on Aug. 14, 2019 and had resulted in a virtual apocalypse on Woodman Ave, in London’s Old East Village.

Voodoo Land Killings

The current failed state of Haiti was originally part of the Spanish Empire until 1697, when the western portion that is modern Haiti was ceded to France and became Saint-Domingue.

Haiti Map

It was the home of sugarcane plantations worked by enslaved Africans with the French settlers being outnumbered by slaves by almost 10 to 1. A large number of the slaves were able to retain many of their ties to African cultures, religion, and language with these ties continually being renewed by newly imported Africans. 

Sheepish Disguise

Escape attempts from prison can take quite daring methods ....

Canadian Prison Escape

....but the success rates can vary.

Chinese Super Soldiers

There's a lot of disturbing things going on in China at the moment ....

Hybrid Soldiers -
Not Quite What Was Expected.

..... from its territorial grabs in the South China sea, and threats to anyone who resists, to its spying and interference in the democratic process in many Western countries.

Baphomet's Fools

There are some humans who are technically nut jobs .....

King Charles In Red

.... but who somehow are not identified as such and walk the earth, and post their strange ideas on the Internet .... they are called conspiracists and they come in all shapes and colours. So for example some of them think that the British Royal Family are shape shifting lizards, along with other world heads.