There are many animals that kill humans and in the World Health Organisation list are many of the animals you would expect to see such as sharks who kill on average 6 people a year but that's not as many as Horses who kill on average 20 people annually and Cows who kill 22.
Ants reduce the human population by 30 each year and Bees take care of another 53 while Deer cause 130 deaths but mainly by getting hit by cars and killing the passengers inside.
The King of the Jungle may be target for small penised American dentists but they get their own back by munching down on 250 people which is half the deaths caused annually by Elephants and the same amount caused by Hippopotamuses.
It may be hard to tell the difference between Crocodiles and Alligators but Crocodiles kill 1,000 people each year so it may be worth finding out if that is a croc or a gator waddling your way.
Scorpions send 3,250 people to their maker which is nothing compared to a Tsetse Flies which carries the fatal sleeping sickness and causes 10,000 Deaths.
The Assassin Bug is aptly named as it assassinates 12,000 humans annually and the freshwater snail is near the top of the biggest killer of humans with 20,000 Deaths from ingested the snail which carry parasitic worms.
Dogs are responsible for 35,000 Deaths making it not so much mans best friend but only make it to number 4 in the list with snakes at number 3 with their 200,000 Deaths which is bettered by us humans who kill on average 437,000 other humans a year.
We are only beaten by Mosquitoes who transmit a number of deadly diseases and send on average 725,000 people to the cemetery.
Wednesday, 28 February 2018
No N In China Anymore
The Chinese Government have become a bit jumpy lately ever since Xi Jinping announced that he may abolish constitutional term limits which would see him remain in power for a third or fourth term, so jumpy in fact that they have been banning things that the Chinese can see on the internet.
Terms banned on Weibo, China’s Twitter, include:'Ten thousand years', 'Disagree', 'Xi Zedong', 'Shameless', 'Lifelong', 'Personality cult', 'Emigrate' and 'Immortality'.
Also banned are the titles of two George Orwell books, '1984' and 'Animal Farm' and amusingly 'Winnie The Pooh' who Jinping is likened to and admittedly, i can see that, he does look kinda pooh-like.
Bizarrely though, another victim is the letter 'N' although nobody can quite work out what the 14th letter of the alphabet has done to annoy the Chinese.
I remember struggling and not learning algebra at school where n was used to represent something algebraic so if the Chinese Government is striking out against useless maths equations then i can support this but somehow i don't think so.
The Chinese Government may well have quelled any rising resentment to the no fixed term decision but good luck to the people in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai though if the 'n' is being censored.
Terms banned on Weibo, China’s Twitter, include:'Ten thousand years', 'Disagree', 'Xi Zedong', 'Shameless', 'Lifelong', 'Personality cult', 'Emigrate' and 'Immortality'.
Also banned are the titles of two George Orwell books, '1984' and 'Animal Farm' and amusingly 'Winnie The Pooh' who Jinping is likened to and admittedly, i can see that, he does look kinda pooh-like.
Bizarrely though, another victim is the letter 'N' although nobody can quite work out what the 14th letter of the alphabet has done to annoy the Chinese.
I remember struggling and not learning algebra at school where n was used to represent something algebraic so if the Chinese Government is striking out against useless maths equations then i can support this but somehow i don't think so.
The Chinese Government may well have quelled any rising resentment to the no fixed term decision but good luck to the people in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai though if the 'n' is being censored.
Internet Advice On Staying Warm
As the thermometer didn't get above 0C today and i spent the day watching people trying not to Torvil and Dean across the snow and ice on the ground, it's fair to say that Britain is cold.
If i has a pound for every time i have heard someone say 'Cold enough for ya'? i could afford to buy a pair of heated gloves but for now i will have to make do with the ones i have but rather than stand around shivering, what are some way to keep warm short of strapping a radiator to yourself?
The Internet as usual has the answers so first thing is to get rid of the gloves and buy a pair of mittens like the guys and girls on the Antarctic Programme as mittens radiate heat to the air packet around the other fingers and the palm while in gloves each finger is mostly warmed by the air pocket surrounding it.
Nutritionist's advise eating something spicy like ginger, chillies and other spices as they get your blood flowing and warm you up but eating anything helps as you use energy and burn calories simply digesting the food.
The NHS suggest wrapping a scarf around your mouth warms the air before you breathe it in and covering your neck and wrists where the skin is thinnest.
Hot drinks should be taken but not alcohol which dilates blood vessels in the skin which produces flushing of the face and other parts of the body which in turn means that more body heat is being lost through the skin, and eventually this leads to a fall in body temperature.
A tip from the psychotherapist department is to try not to focus on the cold but to distract yourself by reading, listening to music or singing to yourself.
Finally, the advice from doctors is to dress in layers, wear wool and wear a hat to keep in the heat from your head.
The cold snap is expected to last until next week with Thursday looking particularly disruptive as Storm Emma moves up from Iberia and into our cold air giving a good old dosing of snow to the South Coast so the best advice could be to phone in sick Thursday, grab your hat and mittens then go outside and build a snowman while chewing on a chilli and singing songs from Frozen.
If i has a pound for every time i have heard someone say 'Cold enough for ya'? i could afford to buy a pair of heated gloves but for now i will have to make do with the ones i have but rather than stand around shivering, what are some way to keep warm short of strapping a radiator to yourself?
The Internet as usual has the answers so first thing is to get rid of the gloves and buy a pair of mittens like the guys and girls on the Antarctic Programme as mittens radiate heat to the air packet around the other fingers and the palm while in gloves each finger is mostly warmed by the air pocket surrounding it.
Nutritionist's advise eating something spicy like ginger, chillies and other spices as they get your blood flowing and warm you up but eating anything helps as you use energy and burn calories simply digesting the food.
The NHS suggest wrapping a scarf around your mouth warms the air before you breathe it in and covering your neck and wrists where the skin is thinnest.
Hot drinks should be taken but not alcohol which dilates blood vessels in the skin which produces flushing of the face and other parts of the body which in turn means that more body heat is being lost through the skin, and eventually this leads to a fall in body temperature.
A tip from the psychotherapist department is to try not to focus on the cold but to distract yourself by reading, listening to music or singing to yourself.
Finally, the advice from doctors is to dress in layers, wear wool and wear a hat to keep in the heat from your head.
The cold snap is expected to last until next week with Thursday looking particularly disruptive as Storm Emma moves up from Iberia and into our cold air giving a good old dosing of snow to the South Coast so the best advice could be to phone in sick Thursday, grab your hat and mittens then go outside and build a snowman while chewing on a chilli and singing songs from Frozen.
Tuesday, 27 February 2018
The Weather Outside Is Frightful
As the 'Beast from the East' cold snap continues there are advertisements on the television and radio reminding us to check on those who are unable to look after themselves very well. I will set aside a few minutes to call Downing Street and make sure that Theresa May is warm enough and had enough milk and teabags in, the poor old dear has been very doddery recently.
As well as thermal underwear, what else a cold snap brings out is the sort of people who say that as it's snowing and temperatures have plummeted, it disproves Global Warming.
To be fair, i have heard the opposite end of the argument also where environmentalists use a few days of scorching hot temperatures in the summer as proof of Global Warming and both sides of the arguments are just as plain wrong as each other.
The Met Office have patiently explained that this particular wintry spell is due to a Siberian weather system making its way across Europe aided by a plunging Jet Stream which all means that the tonnes of snow usually dropped in Russia has shifted West and dropped on us instead.
Whether that is due to climate change one side will say yes and the other side will say no but arguing over a few shiveringly cold or steaming hot days doesn't do anyone any favours.
What we have to look at is the trend over decades and see if there is a steady pattern so things that affect the temperatures or amount of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere like El Niño, oscillations and even volcanic eruptions, get taken into account.
From 1900 to 2002, the Earth warmed, on average, 0.17C every decade. In this 102 year period there were undoubtedly years that were exceptionally cooler and those that were exceptionally warmer than average but even accounting for these anomalies, the trend is that the Globe is currently warming.
Why it is warming and whether it is mans actions causing it is another argument but to dismiss Global Warming just because Western Europe is shivering for a few weeks is ignorant, irresponsible and plain lazy as is not knowing the difference between weather and climate.
As well as thermal underwear, what else a cold snap brings out is the sort of people who say that as it's snowing and temperatures have plummeted, it disproves Global Warming.
To be fair, i have heard the opposite end of the argument also where environmentalists use a few days of scorching hot temperatures in the summer as proof of Global Warming and both sides of the arguments are just as plain wrong as each other.
The Met Office have patiently explained that this particular wintry spell is due to a Siberian weather system making its way across Europe aided by a plunging Jet Stream which all means that the tonnes of snow usually dropped in Russia has shifted West and dropped on us instead.
Whether that is due to climate change one side will say yes and the other side will say no but arguing over a few shiveringly cold or steaming hot days doesn't do anyone any favours.
What we have to look at is the trend over decades and see if there is a steady pattern so things that affect the temperatures or amount of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere like El Niño, oscillations and even volcanic eruptions, get taken into account.
From 1900 to 2002, the Earth warmed, on average, 0.17C every decade. In this 102 year period there were undoubtedly years that were exceptionally cooler and those that were exceptionally warmer than average but even accounting for these anomalies, the trend is that the Globe is currently warming.
Why it is warming and whether it is mans actions causing it is another argument but to dismiss Global Warming just because Western Europe is shivering for a few weeks is ignorant, irresponsible and plain lazy as is not knowing the difference between weather and climate.
Sunday, 25 February 2018
Mobiles Going The Way Of PC's
Strategy Analytics have said that the global market for mobile phones has gone down by 8.8% from last year and while waiting in a mobile phone shop the other day i can possibly see why.
In front and behind me was walls of phones from all companies and apart from the size of the screens, they were all shiny, black rectangles.
I assumed the difference is the technology inside but the salesman trying his hardest with little success to get me to extend my warranty (it's guaranteed for 2 years, if it breaks i bring it in here, in 2 years i will be ready for a new one so why would i need an extra warranty i argued) admitted in not so many words that apart from the very expensive, top of the range models and the very cheap,
bottom of the range models, the most popular mid-range models have very little to choose between them.
The technology seems to have plateaued and all the makers now seem to have fallen onto the standard black rectangle look apart from the cheapy flip phones and the odd Blackberry breaking up the selection.
You can have some slightly thinner than others, some that are larger and they come in different colours and the operating system is either iOS or Android (Blackberry and Windows have fallen by the wayside) but with nothing to make one stand out above the others, the mobile phone market has stalled with owners not feeling the need to update for new and improved innovations because if there are any, they are so minor that it just isn't worth upgrading.
The same thing happened with PCs, after some major leaps in technology, the difference became were so small that as long as it did what it was meant to, you stayed with the beige box on your desk you had as people are staying with the black rectangle they currently hold.
In front and behind me was walls of phones from all companies and apart from the size of the screens, they were all shiny, black rectangles.
I assumed the difference is the technology inside but the salesman trying his hardest with little success to get me to extend my warranty (it's guaranteed for 2 years, if it breaks i bring it in here, in 2 years i will be ready for a new one so why would i need an extra warranty i argued) admitted in not so many words that apart from the very expensive, top of the range models and the very cheap,
bottom of the range models, the most popular mid-range models have very little to choose between them.
The technology seems to have plateaued and all the makers now seem to have fallen onto the standard black rectangle look apart from the cheapy flip phones and the odd Blackberry breaking up the selection.
You can have some slightly thinner than others, some that are larger and they come in different colours and the operating system is either iOS or Android (Blackberry and Windows have fallen by the wayside) but with nothing to make one stand out above the others, the mobile phone market has stalled with owners not feeling the need to update for new and improved innovations because if there are any, they are so minor that it just isn't worth upgrading.
The same thing happened with PCs, after some major leaps in technology, the difference became were so small that as long as it did what it was meant to, you stayed with the beige box on your desk you had as people are staying with the black rectangle they currently hold.
Friday, 23 February 2018
Guns Not To Blame For Gun Deaths Apparently
In the aftermath of the mass shooting at a Florida high school, the nuts at the National Rifle Association have announced exactly what is to blame that 17 American students finished the school day with bullet holes in them.
Of course anyone with a braincell knows what is to blame but braincells are sadly lacking with the gun nuts of America so rather than barn-stormingly awful gun laws, the NRA are blaming:
Insecure Schools
The Family Structure
Mental Health System
FBI
Mainstream Media
Democrats
European Socialists
Not guns then obviously according to the brains-trust but they have come up with a solution to deadly bullets pinging around a classroom of children, more bullets pinging around the classroom.
Arming teachers is the latest ludicrous solution because throwing more guns into a situation while not making any attempt to control awfully lax gun laws is always the answer when the problem is a nutter with a legally owned gun.
That nothing was done after Sandy Hook shows that nothing will ever be done because 22 small bodies being buried is a price worth paying for people to keep their deadly weapons.
American gun laws are madness, the NRA and their supporters are unstable morons and Donald Trump is a halfwit so for now American parents will have to carry on worrying that their son or daughter just makes it back home alive after each school day until someone with a functioning brain has the light-bulb moment that actually, the problems is the easy access to guns.
There is so much American politicians could do but the solution they seem to have hit upon is having more guns, good luck with that America.
Of course anyone with a braincell knows what is to blame but braincells are sadly lacking with the gun nuts of America so rather than barn-stormingly awful gun laws, the NRA are blaming:
Insecure Schools
The Family Structure
Mental Health System
FBI
Mainstream Media
Democrats
European Socialists
Not guns then obviously according to the brains-trust but they have come up with a solution to deadly bullets pinging around a classroom of children, more bullets pinging around the classroom.
Arming teachers is the latest ludicrous solution because throwing more guns into a situation while not making any attempt to control awfully lax gun laws is always the answer when the problem is a nutter with a legally owned gun.
That nothing was done after Sandy Hook shows that nothing will ever be done because 22 small bodies being buried is a price worth paying for people to keep their deadly weapons.
American gun laws are madness, the NRA and their supporters are unstable morons and Donald Trump is a halfwit so for now American parents will have to carry on worrying that their son or daughter just makes it back home alive after each school day until someone with a functioning brain has the light-bulb moment that actually, the problems is the easy access to guns.
There is so much American politicians could do but the solution they seem to have hit upon is having more guns, good luck with that America.
Tuesday, 20 February 2018
Summer 2018 Cool And Wet
February may seem a strange time to start posting about Summer but i may be deprived of my annual 'I HATE SUMMER' posts this year because as the year ends in an '8', it's going to be a stinker.
Using historical weather data from the past 150 years courtesy of the MET Office, Summers that occur in years ending in the number '8' have not been the ones to draw the headlines, 2008 was unsettled with below average temperatures.
Summer 1998, 1988 and 1978 were all very poor with cold and wet conditions more or less from start to finish while July and August 1968 had an unusual amount of Thunderstorms.
The Summer of 1958 was another exceptionally poor one as was Summer 1948 with both years being very cool, dull and wet.
Bucking the trend slightly was the very warm Summer of 1938 but 1928 and 1918 were very cool.
The second half of Summer 1908 was unsettled as were the summers of 1898, 1888 and 1878.
We had to dig back to the summer of Summer 1868, 150 years ago, to find a hot Summer with temperatures reaching 36C in middle England.
While it doesn't mean that Summer 2018 will not be a barbecue summer, the likelihood is that it will be a cool and wet Summer and the guys responsible for the long term weather forecast at MetCheck.com seem to think so also with their forecast for June, July and August across Southern England showing temperatures not topping the low 20s for June, July or August.
For those who like there summers hot 2018 may not be one that lives in the memory but for people like me who sunburn easily and is a target for every passing stingy thing, this Summer is sounding a good one.
Using historical weather data from the past 150 years courtesy of the MET Office, Summers that occur in years ending in the number '8' have not been the ones to draw the headlines, 2008 was unsettled with below average temperatures.
Summer 1998, 1988 and 1978 were all very poor with cold and wet conditions more or less from start to finish while July and August 1968 had an unusual amount of Thunderstorms.
The Summer of 1958 was another exceptionally poor one as was Summer 1948 with both years being very cool, dull and wet.
Bucking the trend slightly was the very warm Summer of 1938 but 1928 and 1918 were very cool.
The second half of Summer 1908 was unsettled as were the summers of 1898, 1888 and 1878.
We had to dig back to the summer of Summer 1868, 150 years ago, to find a hot Summer with temperatures reaching 36C in middle England.
While it doesn't mean that Summer 2018 will not be a barbecue summer, the likelihood is that it will be a cool and wet Summer and the guys responsible for the long term weather forecast at MetCheck.com seem to think so also with their forecast for June, July and August across Southern England showing temperatures not topping the low 20s for June, July or August.
For those who like there summers hot 2018 may not be one that lives in the memory but for people like me who sunburn easily and is a target for every passing stingy thing, this Summer is sounding a good one.
Sunday, 18 February 2018
Classic Songs Not As Original As I Thought
We’ve all been there. We hear a new song and believe that it came straight from the mind of the artist, expressing their innermost emotions and feelings. Every chord progression and lyric perfectly honed over hours of practise and then we find out that the song is the innermost emotions of someone else as the song is a cover version.
This has happens quite often, i at first refused to believe that The Clash's 'I Fought The Law' was actually a cover version of a 1959 song by Buddy Holly's backing group but listening to BBC Radio 5's Virtual Jukebox show about cover songs i was quite shocked to find out so many songs that i didn't know where covers.
Amongst the more eyebrow raising where Soft Cell's Tainted Love from 1981 which was originally by Gloria Jones in 1964, Joan Jett may have loved Rock N Roll but The Arrows loved it first in 1975 and Girls Just Wanna Have Fun according to Cyndi Lauper but they also did in 1973 when the original song was sung by Robert Hazard.
George Harrison's I've Got My Mind Set On You was first performed by James Ray in 1962 and The Animals House Of The Rising Sun was from 1934 and Tom Clarence Ashley & Gwen Foster.
Aretha Franklin may have got more Respect if the song wasn't just a cover of Otis Redding's song from two years earlier and no surprise Bjork wanted it Oh so quiet, maybe she didn't want anyone to know her biggest hit was a cover of Betty Hutton's 1951 song.
Aswad said ‘Don’t Turn Around’ but that was because if you did you may have seen Tina Turner singing it in 1986 and the Mama's and Papa's were California Dreaming only after Barry McGire dreamt about it first.
UB40's Red Red Wine was much more colourful in 1968 when Neil Diamond first sang about it Harry Nilsson may not have been able to Live if living is without you but the Badfinger sang the same thing in 1970 and they are still living, i think.
All quite eye opening but Blondie were prolific cover versioners with The Nerves Hanging on the Telephone before Debbie Harry hung on it and the Tide Was High in 1980 but it was high also in 1966 when The Paragons originally performed the song.
The one song that got me though was my favourite Blondie Song, Denis, which is now my favourite Randy and The Rainbows song although i'm sure that when they performed it in 1963 they weren't dressed in as stripey swimming costume.
This has happens quite often, i at first refused to believe that The Clash's 'I Fought The Law' was actually a cover version of a 1959 song by Buddy Holly's backing group but listening to BBC Radio 5's Virtual Jukebox show about cover songs i was quite shocked to find out so many songs that i didn't know where covers.
Amongst the more eyebrow raising where Soft Cell's Tainted Love from 1981 which was originally by Gloria Jones in 1964, Joan Jett may have loved Rock N Roll but The Arrows loved it first in 1975 and Girls Just Wanna Have Fun according to Cyndi Lauper but they also did in 1973 when the original song was sung by Robert Hazard.
George Harrison's I've Got My Mind Set On You was first performed by James Ray in 1962 and The Animals House Of The Rising Sun was from 1934 and Tom Clarence Ashley & Gwen Foster.
Aretha Franklin may have got more Respect if the song wasn't just a cover of Otis Redding's song from two years earlier and no surprise Bjork wanted it Oh so quiet, maybe she didn't want anyone to know her biggest hit was a cover of Betty Hutton's 1951 song.
Aswad said ‘Don’t Turn Around’ but that was because if you did you may have seen Tina Turner singing it in 1986 and the Mama's and Papa's were California Dreaming only after Barry McGire dreamt about it first.
UB40's Red Red Wine was much more colourful in 1968 when Neil Diamond first sang about it Harry Nilsson may not have been able to Live if living is without you but the Badfinger sang the same thing in 1970 and they are still living, i think.
All quite eye opening but Blondie were prolific cover versioners with The Nerves Hanging on the Telephone before Debbie Harry hung on it and the Tide Was High in 1980 but it was high also in 1966 when The Paragons originally performed the song.
The one song that got me though was my favourite Blondie Song, Denis, which is now my favourite Randy and The Rainbows song although i'm sure that when they performed it in 1963 they weren't dressed in as stripey swimming costume.
Why Are We Not Using More Solar Power?
I once made a suggestion to a Councillor regarding installing streetlamps with a solar panel on the top so it charged up during the day and lit up at dusk with no drain on the electric grid.
This was rejected at the time as solar panels and British sunshine was unreliable but twenty years on and with solar panels now more reliable and only needing daylight not direct sunlight to operate, it may be worth revisiting as the UK has approximately 6 million streetlights drawing from the electric grid and costing councils millions in a time of spiralling energy costs and squeezed budgets.
As we are looking at things Solar powered, the UK has 262,300 miles of road and by definition is laying there outside in daylight from dusk to dawn and while we can't replace all the tarmac with solar panels as the price would be exorbitant, why can't we run a strip of solar panels down the centre of each road?
262,300 miles of solar panels contributing into the electric grid would make a massive dent in the amount the nation would need to generate or buy and after the initial cost of installation, it would significantly reduce energy costs.
Solar power is the future especially in terms of climate change and cost and we are bathed in a constant and permanent source of solar energy and the means to convert it into electricity for our use and it seems scandalous that we are not using it to at least partially reduce our reliance on dirtier and more expensive means of making electricity.
This was rejected at the time as solar panels and British sunshine was unreliable but twenty years on and with solar panels now more reliable and only needing daylight not direct sunlight to operate, it may be worth revisiting as the UK has approximately 6 million streetlights drawing from the electric grid and costing councils millions in a time of spiralling energy costs and squeezed budgets.
As we are looking at things Solar powered, the UK has 262,300 miles of road and by definition is laying there outside in daylight from dusk to dawn and while we can't replace all the tarmac with solar panels as the price would be exorbitant, why can't we run a strip of solar panels down the centre of each road?
262,300 miles of solar panels contributing into the electric grid would make a massive dent in the amount the nation would need to generate or buy and after the initial cost of installation, it would significantly reduce energy costs.
Solar power is the future especially in terms of climate change and cost and we are bathed in a constant and permanent source of solar energy and the means to convert it into electricity for our use and it seems scandalous that we are not using it to at least partially reduce our reliance on dirtier and more expensive means of making electricity.
Saturday, 17 February 2018
The Nation Of Great Canalia
To make things worse Australia are above us in 17th place but as they are part of the Commonwealth, therefore one of our children, we can claim their medals as jointly ours.
Using the same logic Canada's 13 medals are shared with us also so technically we have 4 golds, 7 silvers and 7 bronze giving us a total of 18 medals so far and moves us into 3rd behind Germany and Norway.
That gives a whole new perspective to things and we can snub our noses at Alpine nations such as France, Switzerland and Austria who must be pig sick looking at how well we are doing.
Reprint those Olympic vests with the name Great Canalia, grab some bent sticks and way too revealing tight lycra outfits and let's show those German's and Norwegians that Britannia not only rules the waves but we got the slippery bits down the sides of mountains also!
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