Category Archives: Short Stories

Thanks to Jess Cockerill and Science Alert Online for the Headline.

What a bummer, the adopt a mammoth scheme run by a museum led to the discovery that two bones from the spine of a large animal found in 1951 in the Alaskan Interior are actually from a whale not a mammoth.

The DNA analysis that they were able to complete from the “adoption money” to determine the age of the bones, showed they were a lot younger than they would have to be to be a Wooly Mammoth. Not just that but the diet was all wrong, analysis showed that the animal lived predominately on seafood.

There are a few possibilities as to how the bones came to be in the museum; maybe a Whale somehow made it’s way into a tributary and maybe drifted across to the area the bones were found( unlikely due to the size of the animal), the whales bones were transported to the region by humans for some sort of ceremonial or decorative purpose or there was a mix up by the archeologists in categorisation.

Either way the name chosen for the Wooly Mammoth by the adoptee of Morris the Mammoth has now had to be changed to Wally the Whale. ( apologies I made that bit up). The rest though is true.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏

Thanks to Peggy Corlin from Euro News Online for the Headline

Well I wasn’t aware that the EU has been negotiating with some South American Countries, for nearly 20 years for a trade agreement covering Beef, Poultry and Sugar. A trade agreement that would include over 700 million people, including populations from Brazil and Argentina. It is called the Mercosur deal and has now got backing from a host of member Countries but may be brought to a halt in the French Parliament.

Is it needed? I’m not so sure. Sounds globalist expansion to me and for whose benefit? I think we should concentrate on local good quality farming and stop looking to increase the size of our markets. Perhaps the future is smaller quantities and better quality.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading. 🙏

Thanks to Nathan Briant and Alex Meakin, South of England BBC News Online for the Headline

The Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) means that anyone who is sleeping rough should be given a safe place to stay to get them out of the dangerous temperatures they would experience outside. If temperatures drop below zero three days in a row then the protocol comes into operation.

This means that to find and support SWEP, the Homeless workers both from Charities and the Local Agencies must be out and about approaching those who are in need of help. It must be heartbreaking and dangerous work( considering they may have to travel and walk around in poorly lit areas).

So they need both emotional and physical resilience.

There is an app called Street Link where members of the public can notify the relevant people should they spot someone who they think needs help.

I can appreciate how difficult this job is , I remember seeing a story on a News Programme of a homeless man in a village in Wiltshire who died in the street during a particularly harsh winter. The village made a real effort to give the man a funeral and acknowledge and celebrate his life. I think though , the feeling was they all had wished they’d done something more to prevent his death from the cold

Perhaps experiences like that one generated the need for SWEP and all we can be is grateful for organisations like St Mungo’s and the Salvation Army who continue to do the work in what are very difficult circumstances.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading. 🙏

Thanks to Fergus Burnett of the Civil Society for the Headline.

Ah perhaps that’s why Rachel Reeves has had a bit of a breather, my she and the Treasury must feel that their boat has come in. I wonder what Boris Johnson would have done with the money.

The “National Fund” was set up a 100 years ago to pay off the “National Debt” incurred during the First World War. The fund was started by a banker Gaspard Farrer with the amount of £500,000. The fund received other donations from other philanthropists , but has received no new donations since 1985.

There was a court case in 2023 to see if the now £600million fund could be given to existing Charities in the UK, but the Courts have now decided that the money should go to the Treasury and will be used to write of a £670 million gilt.

So there you go , Gaspard Farrer wishes have been followed and the Charity will be wound up and MP’s will still be hiving off expenses and giving their friends Government Contracts and using everyone else’s money for their own purposes. They don’t miss a trick , do they?

Nevertheless , the money was supposed to be used for the National Debt and we have got plenty of that. The Charity itself is being wound down , I wonder though who was living off the interest of all that money, no doubt the Charity had expenses?

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏

Thanks to Holly Lennon of STV News for the Headline

Unfortunately , commercial interests of Road Haulage firms are overriding the safety concerns of their drivers when it comes to harsh weather.

A driver who refuses to take his /her rig out due to bad weather , can be made subject to a disciplinary. This is simply not safe if there are serious weather warnings, perhaps we should just accept that we might not get our Grocery Deliveries or Santa’s Toys may not arrive in time for Christmas.

Of course the Conspiracy Theorists could say that all these Amber and Red warnings are generated by our Climate Change Obsessed Meterologists who just want to bring our economy to a halt and slow down global warming (if it’s happening). Let’s face it they can live in the cold , are vegan and all their children make their own toys out of string.

Apologies for the cynicism, but I do have empathy with anyone who feels that driving a large truck on black ice is not a good thing to do and is not just risking their lives but everyone else’s.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading. 🙏