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Antiques
Roadshow Expert TIFU:
December
31, 2019
news.com
An
Antiques Roadshow expert was left red-faced after he drank a 150-year-old
bottle of port – only to discover it was filled with urine and rusty nails. Glass
specialist Andy McConnell drew gasps from the show’s audience when he plunged a
syringe in the bottle’s cork, which dated back to the 1840s.
Owner
John brought the mystery tipple with him to the roadshow in Trelissick,
Cornwall, in 2016 after finding it buried in the threshold of his house. But
even he was taken aback when expert Andy tasted some of the dirty liquid
despite remarking beforehand: “It’s very brown.
I think it’s port – port or red wine … or it’s full of rusty old nails
and that’s rust,” he said, clearly repulsed by the taste.
And
it has since emerged that Andy was right – about the rust that is.
Speaking
to host Fiona Bruce in a recent episode of the long-running BBC show, Andy and
John found out that the bottle was filled with human urine along with other
unsavoury items such as a human hair. It transpired, much to the expert’s
embarrassment, that the disgusting concoction was put into the house’s
threshold as a way of warding off witches. “Inside were these brass pins, all
of these dating from the late 1840s and the liquid — urine, a tiny pit of
alcohol and one human hair,” Fiona explained.
“And
a mysterious little creature called an ostracod, which is like a little cockle.
So this was not a bottle of port or wine but a witch’s bottle buried in the
threshold of the house as a talisman against witchcraft, against curses,
against misfortune coming into the home. So you glad you tried it?”
Taking
the news in good spirits, Andy replied: “It was too much of a good opportunity
to miss.”
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McDonalds
to the rescue:
December
30, 2019
Huffington
Post
A
woman being held by her partner who was threatening to kill her, was with the
man when they drove through the McDonalds drive-thru in Lodi, California. After mouthing “Help me” to the McDonalds
attendant, staff caused the drive thru traffic to be held up, allowing police
to arrive and arrest the captor.
The
restaurant is a participant in the “Safe Place” initiative, which provides
training to employees in designated locations to assist vulnerable people in
need of immediate help and safety.
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Street
Art ScoMo fundraising:
December
31, 2019
news.com
Australia’s
on fire. Our glorious leader Scott Morrison
has been conspicuous by doing other than leading, notably holidaying for
Christmas in Hawaii until public criticism forced him home, bathing on Bondi
Beach and hosting a social function at Kirribilli House (the PM’s Sydney
residence) to watch the fireworks over Sydney Harbour, all the while saying
that discussion about emissions and climate change will happen later.
Scomo’s
Hawaiian sojourn inspired Oz artist Scott Marsh to paint a Christmas Eve mural
on a wall in Chippendale, an inner city suburb of Sydney, showing The Scomo
wearing a Hawaiian shirt, lei and a Santa hat while holding a fancy cocktail. Behind the Prime Minister large flames burn,
and a speech bubble depicts the words “Merry crisis”.
The
mural was painted over four days later. Marsh
said he wasn’t sure if the man seen painting over the mural with a roller was a
local resident, a concerned citizen or a council worker.
Funds
raised from sales of merchandise associated with the mural, including T shirts
that were printed for free, had exceeded $60,000, all of which he is donating
to the NSW Rural Fire Service (who are all volunteers and which is the largest volunteer fire
service in the world).
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Goodbye
to car mirrors:
December
31, 2019
news.com
Hi-tech
digital mirrors will reach Australian roads in 2020, replacing conventional
glass with sophisticated camera displays.
Audi’s e-tron electric SUV will replace side mirrors with cameras when
it arrives locally next year, joined by the likes of McLaren’s Speedtail supercar
and even Mercedes-Benz Actros trucks.
Audi’s
e-tron combines high-definition cameras with digital screens mounted near its
doorhandles.
Roof-mounted
cameras linked to digital displays on the windscreen frame of trucks free up
the driver’s forward and directional vision, while being less susceptible to
dirt and grime. The system has a special
mode for reversing and uses AI to detect whether there may be a problem with
the trailers — it will alert the driver if the length of a vehicle changes. Drivers
sleeping in the cab overnight can access camera feeds remotely to check whether
potential thieves are interfering with its cargo. Testers say the technology
contributes to a noticeable reduction in fuel consumption.
Mirrorless
tech is expected to change the way we drive, that what has been a feature on
cars for more than a hundred years could be made obsolete by the new technology
as makers chase improved efficiency and safety.
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British
foreign aid to China and India:
Daily Mail
December 31, 2019
Boris
Johnson is being urged to overhaul Britain's foreign aid system after it
emerged £151million was sent to China and India last year, even though they are
both rich enough to fund their own space programmes.
Figures
show foreign aid spending on China and India rose 12 per cent in a year and
that more than a fifth of the foreign aid budget is now spent by Whitehall
ministries. Taxpayer money has even gone
on one scheme to find if yoga can halt diabetes.
The
figures show that the top recipients of UK aid in 2018 were Pakistan, which
received £331million, Ethiopia, which took £301million and Nigeria, which got
£297million.
Spending
in China rose by £11.7million to reach £55.6million in 2018 and in India it
went up by £4.9million to £95million. This is despite both countries embarking
on active space programmes. In January,
China became the first country to land a robotic spacecraft on the far side of
the Moon as part of its drive to become a leading power in space exploration.
It also wants to send astronauts to the Moon and is planning to launch a space
station.
India
spent £107.8million this summer on launching its lunar probe, Chandrayaan-2. It
even has its own foreign aid programme, which gave away £620million last year.
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Canberra
No 1 in the world, but not a good thing:
January
1, 2019
Canberra
Times
By
midday on January 1, the air quality in Canberra reached a level more than 20
times above hazardous and the recorded index rating was higher than the world's
most polluted cities.
The
dense smoke haze engulfed Canberra on Tuesday night from fires burning at the
South Coast. Canberra cancelled its proposed New Year's Eve fireworks display.
Acting
chief health officer Dr Paul Dugdale said on New Year's Day the capital
experienced the worst air quality conditions since ratings began to be measured
15 years ago. Dr Dugdale said there were
a dozen presentations to Canberra Hospital in the 24 hours to noon on Wednesday
for smoke-related conditions.
Winds
have been forecast to push more smoke into Canberra.
Message
to my father in law, Noel:
Stay
inside, Noel, don’t go to the plaza and don’t do anything strenuous.
The
War Memorial barely visible from a thick smoke haze that has impacted Canberra.
Thick
smoke haze in Civic on New Year's Day.
Parliament House
Parliament House can only just be made out.
Another view of Parliament House.
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