Stunted Development

 Humanity can be a strange breed ......

Ron Should Have Googled Loch Ness

 .... We often get  the urge to do and think strange things, and disconnect our cognitive processes and reasoning abilities.

Taxing The Walking Dead

The UK is fast heading towards taxing the state Retirement Pension ....

Robbed By Labour For Not Working Anymore

 .... how disgraceful is that for any society, let alone a Western democracy?

Frittering Away The Family Fortune

Inheriting great wealth can prove to be more than a mixed blessing as we have seen before .....

Henry Cyril Paget, Fifth Marquis of Anglesey

For instance at just aged 23, Henry Cyril Paget (1875-1905) - nicknamed 'Toppy', became Fifth Marquis of Anglesey, and inherited an estate providing an annual income of £110,000 (equivalent to £13 million per year in 2023). The estate of about 30,000 acres, may have been worth £200 million at today's values.

Old Lemon

An old 19th century chest was scheduled for sale at auction in Newport, Shropshire, England in late 2023 ......

Old Lemon Sold By Auction

 ..... so to that end, the chest was being photographed.

The Weeping Woman Weeps No More

In Mexican folklore La Llorona (The Weeping Woman) .....

Practical Joke Goes Bad

...... is a ghost of a young woman who weeps for her two children who she drowned in revenge after her husband was seen with another young woman. 

Innocents Abroad

President Trump appointed two real estate developers, Steve Witkoff and Presidential Advisor Jared Kushner to handle his Middle East negotiating .....

Innocents Abroad -  Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner

...... firstly between Hamas and Isreal in Gaza, and then to negotiate with Iran.

Silence Is Golden

The UK produces its fair share of eccentrics and oddballs .....

Known As The Silent Man - David Hampson

 .... not least the men who insist on being naked, but there are others just as odd in other ways.

High On The Hog And Other Tales

The Good, The Bad And The Ugly of Law and Order: 

First the Bad Boys: In 2019 the Italian Police were trailing a drug gang, comprised of Albanians and Italians ......

Porky Was In Hog Heaven

..... and had bugged one of the criminals phones.

Pig Headed

In 2019 Steven Evans was a 56 year old former soldier (Royal Corps of Signals), who lived in town of Malvern in Worcestershire, England. 

Strange Behaviour

He also started acting rather strangely with respect to a local school. 

They Need A Good Lickin

In July 2019, police in Lufkin Texas, were reported to be trying to identify and find a woman .....

Unnamed Ice Cream Licker

 ..... who was seen on CCTV opening a tub of Bluebell ice cream, licking the contents, then replacing the lid and returning the tub to the freezer.

Looking To The Healthy Future

An new test using retinal scans has shown great promise in spotting warning signs that a patient may be developing Alzheimers Disease. 

People with thinning retinas were found to often have dangerous levels of the two rogue enzymes associated with the plaques amyloid beta and tau, that are part of the frightening disease (which remains incurable).

God By Another Name?

Science, Scientists and God have a mixed relationship .....

Homer Simpson And The God Particle

.... after all, often their work seems to prove that no divine order is in place, but rather that a natural order exists with empirical evidence.

A Wasted Trip

Football (soccer) fans will often travel tremendous distances to see their team play .....

Match Abandoned -Wasted Trip

 ..... this is illustrated by Andy Bebbington, who had worked as an English Language teacher in Suzhou, China for about five years.

Monster Under The Bed

 I doubt that there is anyone alive today .....

Monsters Under The Bed Can Be Real

who hasn't as a child imagined a monster under the bed or in the wardrobe or cupboard.

Selfish Killer Suicides

I have posted in the past (or perhaps I just think I have) .....

Suicide By Car Crash

.... about how a suicide by car crash can actually be one of the worst and most selfish (rather like airline pilot suicides by air crash), because it can often also result in the death or serious injury of others, who were not intending to commit suicide. 

The Watusi

Ah the Wild West ......

Mr Meyer And Howdy Doody

....... give me a home, where the buffalo roam and the Watusi drive around all day .... What? Watusi? 

You've Got Nail And Other Crimes

On the 10th of September 2019, a family in Bognor Regis England, found the tip of a man's finger had been posted through their letter box. 

You've Got Nail

They called the police who ran the DNA profile obtained from the digit through the UK national database, but obtained no match and so have no clue as to whose finger it came from nor indeed why it was posted through the families letter box. The only other thing that they could glean was that the finger tip had been removed sometime in the five days prior to its posting.

Well, Jemma Clark of Clacton, London also got more than she bargained for when she purchased a pair of socks from Primark. Inside was what was later confirmed to be a human bone, possibly from a little finger.

Worse than that, she only found the fragment while putting the socks in the wash .... when she reported it to Primark, they offered her an envelope to return the bone for examination, stating that it was probably a hoax "by an individual for unknown reasons". The police were investigating.

Tough Love

A couple in Blackpool, Lancashire, England were prosecuted for using a BB airgun to discipline their children. The couple routinely shot their five children, aged between seven and fifteen for such 'offences' as not changing a nappy, not doing the washing up, having a boyfriend. In September 2017. the father was sentenced to two years imprisonment, and the mother got a suspended sentence ... where are child services when you need them?

South Wales Wimmin

Angela Collingbourne was running her family car repair firm NP19 Tyres in Newport, South Wales with her sons. However she and the family were also running a cocaine drug racket that netted £2.5m. Not deterred by the jailing of her sons at various times, she carried on servicing the approx 4,000 customers and ensured the dealers were paid. 

In May 2019, she eventually got 6 years, and seven other members of the drugs gang were also jailed. Earlier in March 2019 her two sons were jailed for 12 and 14 years respectively in their latest prison terms. six other members were also jailed for conspiracy to supply class A drugs at Newport Crown Court. In all sixteen people were jailed for connections with her gang, with sentences ranging from 8 months to 14 years. Could easily be a Florida story .....

Not Scotland Yard

In the United States, there is no one place to report homicides or missing persons (who can sometimes turn out to be murder victims). 

Hannibal Would Have Been Caught Quicker
If The US Had A Central Crime Database.

They have over 17,000 different police agencies.

Act Of God?

We have written before about catastrophic aircraft damage and planes that have survived this ...

Flight 434 from Palma de Mallorca, to Vienna.

..... well imagine being a passenger on a 9th June 2024 Austrian Airlines Airbus A320 holiday flight from Majorca, Spain to Vienna, Austria.

Suing Anyone

 One of my favourite TV characters is the cynical and vengeful Moe Szyslak .....

Moe Szyslak The Owner Of Moe's Tavern

... the owner and sole barman of Moe's Tavern in The Simpsons.

Dictators Whims

Reports said that in February 2022, Kim Jong-un, North Korea's hereditary king in all but name .....

Kimjongilia Flowers - North Korean
Penal Camp For Not Growing Them.

..... had a 50 year old palace gardener named 'Han', sentenced to a harsh labour work-camp prison for 6 months, due to the poor man not being able to force a flower to bloom in time for a special festival.

Florida Man Has A Car And Other Tales

On the 7th of May 2019, Leonard Olsen a 70 year old driver was cruising in his car in Lakeland Florida when he was surprised to be stopped by the police.

Leonard Olsen - Violent Road Surfer

They explained that they had filmed him standing up and sitting on top of the sunroof of his white Cadillac, as it thundered down the road at about 40 mph (64km/h) with no one at the controls.

Medical Dilemmas And Conundrums

Desperate times lead to desperate measures ... or so they say. 

Kurt Kaser, Back At His Farm.

Kurt Kaser, a 63 year old Nebraskan farmer was proof of this back in 2019. On the 19th April of that year he was operating a grain hopper while uploading corn.

Falling Down In Kalamazoo

Uber driver Jason Dalton of Kalamazoo in Michigan USA .....

Jason Dalton Serial Killer

 .... shot dead six people in one night whilst still picking up regular fares, and dropping them off.

Yet Another Florida Man

As usual, if I spot a Florida Man story I pick it up .....

Thomas Devaney Lane And His Turtle Army

..... and they come as regular as rain in the UK.

Random Tech Stories

No Cyber Geek

In November 2018 it was reported that Japan's new cyber-security minister Yoshitaka Sakurada, had dumbfounded his country by saying he has never used a computer. He has always had staff to do those sorts of things ....

Cyber Security In Japan Was In Good Hands

 ...... "Since I was 25 years old and independent, I have instructed my staff and secretaries. I have never used a computer in my life." ........ when questioned further about security at Japan's nuclear plants, he apparently didn't understand what a USB stick was. But he assured everyone that everything would be fine as his staff knew about those things .... so that was OK then.

Putin's Enemies Die Young

Its been known for quite a while that Russia's intelligence agencies have been practising assassinations of Putin's critics when they are in exile abroad. One example was Sergei Skripal who was poisoned in Salisbury UK with his daughter, but both survived. 

Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov (aliases) Putin's Killers

However not many will have been aware of the murder of another of Putin's Russian critics in the UK, just a week earlier.

The Other Side

The belief in people having Mystic powers .....

Nina Kulagina - Alleged Russian Psychic.

.... to predict the future, contact the dead, or identify where bodies are etc etc, are almost embedded in to some parts of humanities psyche. The UK TV channel Blaze for example (along with others), shows a lot of shows on ancient aliens, future aliens, house hauntings, strange and unknown events etc.

Woke Woes

The South West London tennis club had fallen prey to the woke curse that was/is sweeping the UK like a pandemic ..... 

Aussie Shopping Centre Toilet
Signs - Currently Illegal In UK

.... They had removed the female gender option from their on-line membership forms. When women tried to join or renew at £300 pa they found no female gender option.

Post COVID Thoughts

We all tend to think that COVID has simply disappeared .....

Montgomery Burns Natural
Resistance To Viruses Was Novel.

...... dissipated and of no concern.

Paint Box Vandal

In the UK post office boxes are red ......

Sir Chris Hoy's 2nd Gold Post Box

.... except when they aren't.

Random Shorts From Everywhere

While much of the world fought Coronavirus with vaccines, others tried other remedies ....

Ting Mong's Scare Covid Aware

In Cambodia, farmers put up effigies known as 'Ting Mongs' along their fences to ward off coronavirus. The idea is that they drive the evil illnesses away and have been used on other occasions to avert Dengue fever and other diseases from the farmers.

Woke World

The cancel history brigade are now in full flow, and apparently the symbolic genocide of white males from history is continuing apace. 

Livingstone And Stanley Facing Cancellation

.... A statue of Sir Henry Morton Stanley, the 19th century explorer is next in line to be toppled.

World Takes A Short Pause ...

A short lead post this week ...  

World Takes A Short Pause ...

... Trump's US still hasn't extracted itself from Iran, so the real world is kind of on a short pause.

There Goes Anyone

I saw something odd early last year, and decided to write about it, as it stuck in my mind .....

A Life Spilt On To The Concrete?

....... It was the moment when a woman's life possibly changed.

Bodily Functions And Perceptions

A 10 year old boy has proved that humans actually do have some remarkable powers of recovery if given a chance. He developed a brain tumour and surgeons were forced to remove a great part of his brain in order to remove the tumour.

 

Human Mega Brains Are Possible

 

In all he lost a third of the right hemisphere (the side which deals with visual processing, sights and sounds). His prognosis was for a restricted recovery.

Between A Rock And A Hard Price?

Donald Trump claimed once again last Friday ......

Trump Between A Rock And A Hard Price?

.... that the U.S. has "already won" the war.  However its now week ten of the war and counting, and he's now saying in his inimitable way that he wants to "win by a bigger margin," and ensure Iran can never attain a nuclear weapon.

A Fishy Explanation

Power Transformers worldwide have suffered some strange animal sabotages over the years .....

Electrocuted Vervet Monkey

.... from Racoon's causing power supply problems in both Germany and the USA, to rats in Japan and monkeys in Kenya.

Oh What A Lucky Man And Other Crime Stories

Sometimes fate just takes a hand. Police in Bochum Germany spotted a man playing a one armed bandit in a arcade, and realised that he was wanted with a warrant out for his arrest, because of €710 in unpaid fines. He faced a 71 day prison term if he failed to pay up, so they moved in to handcuff him. 

Oh What A Lucky Win

But as they detained him, the fruit machine paid out the jackpot of €1,000 so the man paid his outstanding fine in full on the spot and was released.

Time For A New US Political Party?

The US is becoming ever more divided politically .....

USA Politically Divided

 .... with the current two major parties both prone to being hijacked by and led by extremists of the left and the right, and assassinations and assassination attempts, now seemingly a real factor in political life.

It Just Ain't Worth It.

In a scene that is the stuff of nightmares, especially if like me, you are mildly claustrophobic (in truth this picture gave me nightmares for a couple of nights!!)  ....

Matilda Campbell Found Herself In A Tricky Situation.

 ... Matilda Campbell, a young Australian woman, found herself trapped upside down after slipping between two giant boulders.

Dead Dinner Guests And Other Questions

A lazy post this week .....

We Like Poll Lists .....

....... Yes its poll time again ... I don't come across them very often these days, so these are a couple of older ones that I thought interesting enough to type up at the time I saw them.

The Man Who Would Be King

 In the USA there have been a number of anti-trump mass rallies .... 

The Man Who Would Be King?

 .... They have been labelled 'No Kings' protests in an allusion to the revolt against King George III of Britain, which led to the formation of the American Republic.

Pink Flamingo's

Animal ecologists often claim that animals are better off in the wild than in zoo's ...

Ingo The Old Flamingo

.... but the fact is that it's tough in the wild and nature is red in tooth and claw. 

Aqua Bit Too Much

We have all heard the advice ....

Drink At Least 8 Glasses Of Water A Day

.... to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day (how much that is depends on the glass size, but in UK, the NHS recommends 1.2 litres or 6 - 8 200ml glasses = 2 UK pints).

Epstein: More Collateral Damage

With a British Prime Minister once again under pressure ...

Prime Minister Starmer: Epstein Collateral Damage

.... over an Ex-Ambassador to the USA's contacts with Epstein, and the handling of his appointment to that role, it's ironic that the Epstein scandal continues to damage so many in the UK. 

Thieving Crows

The prestigious Outback Queensland Masters ....

Many Animals Like Golf Balls

 ..... is an Australian golf tournament which takes place at Birdsville.

Migration Is In The Genes

I am something of a herpetologist .....

Building A Pond

 ... I specifically put a small ground level pond into my garden at the wettest point, to aid local frogs. I stock it with oxygenating plants, keep it from choking up, stocked it with water snails, and top it up from a rain water barrel purchased specifically for this role.

Claims of Victory

Wars that don't end in the total destruction and surrender of one side ....

"Mission accomplished" US President Bush 2003

   ... can often produce strange definitions of victory.

Tough Little Critters

We have discussed Tardigrades before .... 

Tough Tardigrades

 .... natures toughest little titans.