What's in the news today?

[roadrunner]

A pretty incredible news story from eastern North Carolina. I don't know how this boy survived, but he claims a bear kept him safe...

There's also some videos on the below link

Excerpt:

A 3-year-old boy who was found alive in the woods of eastern North Carolina after he went missing for two days says he spent time with a bear.

Casey Hathaway disappeared last Tuesday. He was last seen playing with two other children in his grandmother's yard in Ernul, North Carolina, according to Craven County Sheriff Chip Hughes.

On Thursday, Casey was found calling for his mother about a quarter of a mile away, about 40- to 50-yards deep into woods. He was soaking wet, cold and tangled in thorn bushes. Hughes said rescuers waded through nearly waist-deep water to get to the toddler.

How did he get there, and how did he stay alive?

"He hung out with a bear for two days," is what his aunt Breanna Hathaway shared in a now-private Facebook post. She didn't say whether the bear was real or imagined.

3-year-old who was missing for days says a bear watched over him in North Carolina woods

'God sent him a friend to keep him safe,' Casey Hathaway's aunt wrote on Facebook. She says it's a 'miracle' the boy is alive and well.

www.yahoo.com

 

[alp]

source

These are the cold snaps I love -- the ones that stay out of my state

That makes me giggle! Well, Apres moi, le deluge!
I think I remember that snap!

 

[alp]

A pretty incredible news story from eastern North Carolina. I don't know how this boy survived, but he claims a bear kept him safe...

There's also some videos on the below link

Excerpt:

A 3-year-old boy who was found alive in the woods of eastern North Carolina after he went missing for two days says he spent time with a bear.

Casey Hathaway disappeared last Tuesday. He was last seen playing with two other children in his grandmother's yard in Ernul, North Carolina, according to Craven County Sheriff Chip Hughes.

On Thursday, Casey was found calling for his mother about a quarter of a mile away, about 40- to 50-yards deep into woods. He was soaking wet, cold and tangled in thorn bushes. Hughes said rescuers waded through nearly waist-deep water to get to the toddler.

How did he get there, and how did he stay alive?

"He hung out with a bear for two days," is what his aunt Breanna Hathaway shared in a now-private Facebook post. She didn't say whether the bear was real or imagined.

3-year-old who was missing for days says a bear watched over him in North Carolina woods

'God sent him a friend to keep him safe,' Casey Hathaway's aunt wrote on Facebook. She says it's a 'miracle' the boy is alive and well.

www.yahoo.com

I think someone had taken him.

 

[alp]

A tale of two women giving birth!

Sports Direct worker 'gave birth in a warehouse toilet because she was terrified about missing her shift - cutting her own umbilical cord with a Stanley knife before dumping her child in a BIN'


Meghan 'WILL have her baby at the Lindo Wing just like Kate': Maternity unit cancels staff holiday for April - when the Duchess's first baby is due

The first story is just so sad. The worker was more worried about losing her job than her baby. The 2nd is just so wrong.

 

[alp]

Russell Brand banning tickling IS a joke! JAN MOIR on the comedian's promise to punch anybody who violates his daughters' space

This week, the dad demagogue announced he wants tickling children to be outlawed until they’re old enough to consent. He has vowed he will punch anyone who does it to his daughters because it ‘violates their space’.

****
​

I think he has a point. Perhaps just advise people to tickle babies one or at most twice. To use the word ban seems to be attention seeking.

 

[DirtMechanic]

This was back on my youtube feed. It still makes me laugh!

 

[alp]

A tale of two countries

Spanish police arrest 14 people over multi-million pound fraud claims that thousands of bodies were incinerated in cheap coffins despite loved ones paying for top-price alternatives

At least, they got cremated and people got arrested.

Here,

Body parts scandal firm claims it warned of incinerator shortage

Wonder what actions, if any, have been taken!

 

[alp]

This was back on my youtube feed. It still makes me laugh!

He sure is a clever guy. It was quite funny - the end bit was not so good as the beginning. Love the vortex spinning - an art form.

 

[johnny canoe]

Hello alp and sorry for the late reply. When you asked about the temp here in Alberta, it was above freezing. But right now the temp is -25C. The snow stopped yesterday so I may get down to the river and see how my birds are doing.
They are shutting down the Olympic ski hill today because of the cold.

 

[alp]

Hello alp and sorry for the late reply. When you asked about the temp here in Alberta, it was above freezing. But right now the temp is -25C. The snow stopped yesterday so I may get down to the river and see how my birds are doing.
They are shutting down the Olympic ski hill today because of the cold.View attachment 49377

Ski hill shut down because of the cold sounds so paradoxical. Don't apologise, Johnny, as I prefer you going outdoors and having fresh air and enjoying nature rather than sitting behind a keyboard. We have had a gloriously sunny day here. Very enjoyable. Have had two viewing and the last lady suddenly turned up with her hubby and made me repeat my pitch!

 

[alp]

Bomb de terre! WWI hand grenade is shipped from France to Hong Kong in a consignment of potatoes

• Device was safely detonated after it was discovered at Calbee snacks factory
• Video showed bomb disposal officers packing grenade in a drainage channel
• Last year the bomb disposal squad defused three large WWII bombs

Hilarious! Can't tell the difference, really!

 

[alp]

Rural Chinese school awards top students with whole RAW FISH for doing well in exams

• 30 middle school students were given whole raw silver carps in a Fujian village
• Vice-principal said fresh fish was more 'practical' compared with other prizes
• Award was given so families can have a good meal during Chinese New Year

Last November, the same school awarded each of its top students with an entire pork leg

These prizes are most practical and fishy! Hope the fish doesn't smear their uniforms. Not the nicest presents to lug home in hot weather!

 

[alp]

Great leasehold betrayal: Minister REFUSES to crack down on toxic contracts and blames buyers for being too 'excited' to read small print properly - as families reveal they are trapped in 'nightmare' houses that are unsellable

...Mrs Wheeler said she would prefer to rely on developers and property companies voluntarily giving families better terms. ...

Out of touch minister

Meanwhile
Apple to pay 10 years of back taxes to France

US tech firm has not disclosed sum but French magazine says figure is close to €500m

About time

And what has the UK done to Facebook, Google, Apple, and Amazon?


And

Ocado bosses ring up a £9m payday despite losses at the online supermarket swelling

Just how does this work!

 

[roadrunner]

As a cyclist, I'm always hearing from other cyclists about how they're so envious of the cycling tracks in places such as Denmark and the Netherlands. I was never impressed, simply because of the congested bike traffic, like seen in the video below.

And now there are news stories to give me more reason not to like their cycling tracks, especially the electric bikes which can travel quite fast.

Scooters and hoverboards add to Dutch cycle lane hell

Police union chief says it is impossible to keep lanes safe due to variety of vehicles and rules

www.theguardian.com

Excerpt:

A rapid rise in the number of scooters, e-bikes, mini electric cars and hoverboards in the Netherlands and the complexity of regulations on their use is making it impossible to keep the country’s cycle lanes safe, the leader of the Dutch police union has warned.

Amsterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and Rotterdam are rushing through different rules about the sort of vehicles allowed on their increasingly crowded lanes, leaving everyone confused, it is claimed.

On Tuesday Amsterdam announced that slower mopeds, known as a snorfiets, would be banned from the bike paths from April. Utrecht is introducing a similar ban at the end of the next year.

But Birò cars, four-wheeled electric vehicles with two seats side by side and a top speed of 34 mph, can still be driven on cycle lanes anywhere in the country.

 

[Colin]

Hi,

Not many problems locally roadrunner with bikes. It's so hilly around here a bike rider needs to be super fit and the only bike I'd consider riding would have at least 750cc.

I used to walk up to the post office in the village; then down to our local shop to buy Bron a couple of girlie mags returning home along the valley bottom before climbing again up to our private estate; about three miles in total but I gave it up because it used to flatten me; a number of times as I've returned walking up the lane I would walk past an elderly guy pedalling furiously hardly getting anywhere; I presume he must have died of an heart attack? I do see bike riders and always think how dangerous it now is to ride a bike locally on our very congested roads; vehicles drivers are now expected to give a cycle the width of an airfield if being passed otherwise get a fine for passing too closely.

Kind regards, Colin.