Friday Five News, 18/9/15

NEWSFLASH – writing this slightly hungover so apologies for any typos.  A group of us were out for a family hen night for my daughter last night.  Good time had by all so I think we’re all a bit fragile this morning!

I haven’t taken too much notice of the news this week but here’s what I’ve picked out:

In INTERNATIONAL news it’s still hard to get away from the migrant situation in Europe which has intensified this week with several countries imposing border restrictions.

However I did notice that Cuba has appointed an ambassador to the USA for the first time since 1961.  The article also quotes several other initiatives that suggest relations between the two countries are improving.  So at least in one area of the world things seem to be going right. 

In LOCAL news the big story of the week was the election of the new Labour Party leader – Jeremy Corbyn. 

The election race seems to have dragged on for months and Corbyn came through having started as a rank outsider for the role.  He gathered lots of support along the way but I’m not convinced he will be able to unite the Labour party and take it forward so that it can provide a real alternative to the Tory party at the next general election.  He is very left wing and although he has come across well in many of the speeches, interviews etc. he has done leading up to the election, he has little experience of being in the front line of politics – he has only ever been a backbencher in parliament.  Some senior politicians have already refused to serve in his shadow cabinet showing that the rifts in the party are deep.

It will be interesting to see how things pan out but unfortunately I’m not sure that he can turn things around during this parliament which will mean we probably have another 9 years of Conservative rule to look forward to with more austerity measures.  I know we have to balance our books but when all you keep hearing about are cuts to vital services, the police for example, it’s a hard pill to swallow.

Moving on to SPORT: The rugby world cup kicks off today.  Why highlight this?  No I’m not a rugby fan but when your country is the host nation it’s hard to be oblivious to it.  Especially when one of the venues is the Olympic Stadium which is just a couple of miles away from us, which means travel disruption when games are being played.

If our team does well I might be tempted to watch any really important games, i.e. the final if they get there.  No idea if they are capable of that.  In the meantime I’ll just be checking my TFL (Transport for London) e-mails telling me when it’s safe to go shopping!

In ENTERTAINMENT  I noticed this clip from Matthew Weiner, the creator of “Mad Men” which is all about advertising, complaining about TV ads!  Enough said!

And finally MISCELLANEOUS: Well I didn’t know that there were “Ig Nobel” Prizes and for anyone else who was unaware of them they are “spoof Nobels for "improbable research" and are in their 25th year.”

One of the winners this year was a study that showed that most mammals take the same amount of time to urinate.  Now urination is a subject close to my heart, well ok bladder, I do know my anatomy, although actually in my case it’s often more in my head than anywhere else but this study takes things to a new dimension.

“The team behind the urination research, from Georgia Tech, won the physics Ig. Using high-speed video analysis, they modelled the fluid dynamics involved in urination and discovered that all mammals weighing more than 3kg empty their bladders over about 21 seconds.”

Hmm well my hubby weighs over 3kg and when he comes home from a session at the pub I’m sure he can outlast 21 seconds!  Personally I wish I could last 21 seconds because that would mean I wouldn’t have to go as often as I do!

All links are courtesy of the BBC website. Opinions are my own.