Elephant Gets Prosthetic Leg
March 11, 2009
Three year old Mosha was the World’s first elephant amputee and at only 7 months old need a prosthetic leg. Mosha lost her leg after stepping on a land mine.
Mosha was rescued and taken to the Friends of the Asian Elephant Hospital, from her home the tropical jungle near the Cambodian border to Lampang, Thaiiland. There Mosha had her first prosthetic leg made and fitted in 2007.
According to Moshas’ keeper before the leg fitted she was:
“Depressed, self-conscious and wouldn’t socialise”.
There are 100 new landmine victims in Thailand ever year and Mosha looked likely to die. She was then taken to human amputee foundation runner, Dr Therdchai Jivacate, who had made thousands of human prosthetics but never elephant.
Keeper Soraida Salwala said:
“When Mosha first saw her artificial leg she was scared of it. But as soon as the doctors put it on and she felt she could put some weight on it she didn’t want to let them take it off. Mosha should live many long, happy elephant years,”
Now doctors are making Mosha her new leg due to her continued growth and health.
UK Litter Up By 500%
March 9, 2009
According to reports this week, UK litter levels have increased by 500% since the 1960’s. There are now more rats in Britain than people.
Everyone dislikes litter and over the last 30 years there have been a long list of associated problems with the litter.
Local Authorities can issue penalty fines of £80 for littering under the Environmental Protection Act of 1990. As yet however, government attempts to prevent the public form dumping, littering and causing environmental harm have failed. Around 30 million tonnes of waste are collected from our streets every year, apparently to DEFRA this costs tax payers £500 million. Yet in 1963 the cost was only £13 million.
The health risks involved with massive amounts of rotting waste is potentially devastating. Plus street littering is worse than ever due to the smoking ban.
Something needs to be done, many people now recycle. Soon however, it will be too late, so Britain needs to do more and act fast.
Over Worked, Over Stressed and Definitely Under Paid!
March 6, 2009
I am so stressed at work currently! I work in marketing and it is my job to generate business for companies, which frankly has been made very difficult with the current state of affairs.
Not only that, but we are understaffed. Surely it cannot be that hard to fill a role with so many out of work at the moment? Apparently it is!
I am a lone worker in my department! What is it they say? Over worked and under paid!!!
Looking around though, I am not the only one. Everyone seems under so much pressure at the moment. Apparently, the number of couples going into therapy or breaking up has gone up by five times; mainly attributed to financial stress.
We’ve all got to keep our heads down and get on with it for now. Who knows how long it will last?! At some point the downturn with have to come back up. I just hope it’s sooner rather than later. Mark my words; I for one am going to bask in the glory of financial stability when that time comes!!!
Debt Collector Bullies
March 5, 2009
Debt collector Moorcroft is a bully and uses scare tactics to get money in. There are pages and pages of comments found on the web relating to the awful ways they go about their business.
I have had the misfortune of speaking to a horrible little woman from Moorcroft debt collectors one Saturday morning. As quite a strong person, I was left in shock and tears following a conversion with a member of staff at the company.
She threatened to get the bailiffs round and that I would be taken to court. She was vile and I think possibly trained up by the Gestapo!
I have a couple of debts that I will try to pay off this year, now that I am on quite a good wage. I am building up the funds to pay them off in one go, hopefully at a discounted value due to closing the debt.
I will ensure that Moorcroft is the last debt that I pay off and in the meantime only pay the bare minimum!
If Moorcroft come after you, firstly be strong and brace yourself for some aggressive phone monkey giving you a call. Then, once you’ve picked yourself up off the floor, have a look at all the threads online for advice and support. Don’t take it from them; just make sure you don’t miss a payment as they come down on you like a ton of bricks!
Thriller Show Uproar
January 31, 2009
Jackson’s Thriller video director has sought to ban the making of a Broadway musical based on the music and choreography.
John Landis co-wrote and directed the music video and is now suing Michael Jackson and producer James L. Nederland’s company over the potential show.
Nederlander announced this week that he’d acquired the rights to Thriller. The lawsuit seeks to action that Jackson doesn’t have the authority to create the stage show based on what Landis directed.
Landis lawyers said the he is entitled to fifty percent of profits as he co-wrote and directed the video.
The legal paperwork has been reproduced and is available on The Wrap, an entertainment website. It states:
“After a spectacular theatrical premier, the Thriller Video became a worldwide mega-hit and an iconic pop culture phenomenon that has continued to generate profits for defendants Optimum Productions and Michael Jackson, who have wrongfully refused to pay or account for such profits to the plaintiff.”
Thriller was the most costly video of its time and has since become the most successful according to the Guinness World Records selling more than 1 million units.
Top 3 Most Recession Proof Jobs
January 29, 2009
Teaching
A recession will not affect the fact that children need to go to school and the number of children attending school is not affected by economic output.
A spokesman for the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) has said:
“While manufacturing and service industries can always reduce staff numbers as their workload falls, demand doesn’t fall in schools during a recession so there is less scope for shedding employees, that’s not to say there is never any room for cost-cutting, though”.
NHS Employee
As with teaching, just as many people will need treatment, plus the government won’t want to make unemployment rates worse by taking further jobs away.
Public Service Jobs
Public service bodies are tax payer funded and therefore their income is reliable, plus their budgets are often set years in advance.
“If an employer’s income depends directly or indirectly on consumer spending, there is much more chance that this income will fall significantly in a downturn, with adverse consequences for jobs, organisations that don’t depend on consumer spending are more likely to be able to hold on to their staff.”
Said an IES spokesperson.
London Police Shooting
January 29, 2009
A man is in hospital, in a serious condition following a police shooting in North London.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan police said:
“At 12.16am, during a pre-planned operation, a man was shot in Green Lanes, Haringey. Local officers attended and a man was taken to hospital by London Ambulance where he is in a serious condition. Five males have been arrested for conspiracy to rob and are being held at separate police stations.”
It is not thought that the condition of the man is life threatening. The operation was lead by officers in both the Metropolitan Firearms Unit and Trident (set up to deal with gun crime in London’s Caribbean and African communities.
BBC to Cut Salaries
January 29, 2009
The BBC has said today that they are to reduce pay for their presenters when their contracts next come up for renewal.
According to a spokes person for the BBC, salaries were influenced by market conditions. The economic down turn has made these conditions change and now stars are set to see a drop in pay.
The BBC has not disclosed figures on how much the wages are set to drop. This information came out after the Director General; Mark Thompson said that senior staff at the BBC would see no pay rises or bonuses until 2010.
Thomas Cook Incompetance
January 27, 2009
I have just returned from an amazing holiday in Mexico though, that is despite the blatent attemps of Thomas Cook ruining my experience.
The plane felt and looked like it would fall out of the sky at any moment. We upgraded our flights to premium, yet my headset and TV screen didn’t work properly for the 10 hour flight. On top of the premium upgrade, we also paid an extra sur-charge to ensure we were sat together. On the flight back we were seated seperately and were basically told tough!!!
I will never fly with Thomas Cook again and will actively promote how terrible they are. I for one am looking forward to getting my point accross in the store on Saturday when I make my feelings known!
Promotional Sweets
January 21, 2009
After my recent article about some of the deals and freebies to be had for the start of 2009, I realised that promotional sweets are really not such a great thing.
Everyone has been given something free at least once in their life. It happens often when I am walking through a train station or around town. A random guy or girl will come over to you and give you a leaflet and something completely random like a pen or lollipop.
Now as great as getting free stuff is, getting free sweets isn’t the best thing. Recently whilst walking in the Trafford Centre I was bombarded with people trying to give me promotional t shirts and sweets, this time in the form of Rice Krispies Squares. By the time I made my way around the Trafford Centre I had amassed 5 or 6 of these nice, but sugary, products.
I know I could have said no, or just ignored the people altogether. But really, who can turn down free things. Especially when they taste as nice as the caramel Rice Krispies Squares do.
So as much as Rice Krispies Squares are a boon to have for free, I have to admit to me they are just as much of a bane.