Roosters are out and skips are in. Beijing unveils its plan to rescue faltering Chinese expansion. With China’s 2016 Q1 growth barely scraping into triple figures, top officials are hurriedly devising unconventional ways to encourage consumer spending. An official Party communique explained ‘”Year of the Skip” is a ground-up initiative that we hope will prompt families to undertake home improvement projects -which in turn will have a knock-on effect for the manufacturing and service sectors’.  Indeed we have already seen a spike in the demand for skips, and contractors...

‘Mesmerisingly Horrid’ Mirai Saloon Captures Hat-Trick for Japanese Auto Giant. The long-established ‘Car of The Year’ (COTY) Awards celebrate all that is best in modern car design and technology. The ‘Ewww’ Awards don’t.  Instead, they highlight the very worst that the automotive world throws at unsuspecting, gullible and just plain dumb consumers year after year. ‘Although it started a while back as just a bit of fun, it does have a very serious purpose’ says the respected UK ‘Autocar’ Magazine. ‘Without question, cars are...

Latest Alzheimer’s Society statistics charting the condition’s growth make alarming reading. ‘As a country, we can no longer ignore this national epidemic’ said a spokeswoman.  ‘Unless we act now, the human cost will be unimaginable.  The health services will be overwhelmed, planes will fall from the sky, locusts will fill the air – and Ant and Dec will never again be seen on telly’. However, the comments have attracted criticism from some quarters. ‘As usual, they’re overplaying their hand’ said a volunteer at Cancer Research UK. ...

America’s annual pumpkin chucking contest returns to Delaware in November 2016 after a two year absence. First held in 1986, ‘Punkin Chunkin’ is the World’s premier event for those who feel the urge to propel a pumpkin long distances using giant air cannon, trebuchets and catapults. The sport is governed by the WCPCA (World Championship Punkin Chunkin Association), and aims to promote innovative thinking in science and technology. ‘In our 30th Anniversary year, we’re delighted to return to Delaware and hope this year’s event will be the best ever’, said...

The 1986 Challenger Space Shuttle disaster claimed the lives of seven astronauts.  And one pigeon. According to an anonymous NASA contractor ‘the video tapes of that launch have pretty much been worn out, having been scrutinised so closely over the years’. ‘But in 2005, new digital enhancement kit allowed us a better view than ever before – and we got a surprise’. ‘Clinging to the side of the right hand booster rocket was a medium-sized bird – later identified as a pigeon by The Audubon Society’. Evidently the bird was in some difficulty, not flying away...

City’s radical plan to reduce its year-round crime wave – by having it all on one day. One day next Summer, the famous Las Vegas Strip will echo not to the sound of tourists, casino attractions and live bands – but screeching tires and automatic gunfire. ‘We’re rolling the dice on this one’ admitted LVMPD Sheriff Joseph Lombardo.  ‘It’s a new innovation for Vegas, and indeed for any city, but we feel that with proper policing and co-operation between law enforcement, the public and the criminal community it will pay long-term dividends in making our city...