Returning Renault Bears to a worthwhile life of daytime telly, eating jammy toast and surfing the internet.
Bear News
General news concerning the Bears
The Blitz 70th Anniversary
Wed 8th Sep 2010
To protect them from the worst of the bombing raids, 3.5m children were evacuated from cities around Britain.
Seventy years ago today, Britain woke up following the first night of the Blitz. Hitler’s Germany tried to bomb Britain into submission by the sustained bombing of large industrial towns and cities across England. Hitler’s aim was not only to destroy British industry but also to destroy the morale of the people.
Liverpool and Birkenhead were hit particularly hard because of the large industries and ship building in the area.
The first intentional air raids took place on the 7th September 1940 with nearly 1,000 bombers and fighter escorts attacking the Port of London. Further attacks took place that night but many of the bombs missed their intended docklands targets and fell on neighbouring residential areas, killing many.
The Blitz continued across Britain until 10th May 1941 including a sustained day and night air raid on London that last 76 consecutive nights. Its intention of demoralising the British into surrender was never achieved and the Blitz did little to facilitate the potential German invasion of Britain. Hitler refocused his forces to the east, attacking Russia.
Although they never again managed to bomb Britain on such a large scale, there were smaller attacks throughout the war. The estimated civilian death toll was well over 50,000 just from the bombing.
Facebook Causes Poor Exam Results
Tue 7th Sep 2010
Pupils who revise for exams while using Facebook and other social networking sites perform up to 20% worse in exams, so the latest research claims. The American research, which looked at people aged between 19-54, showed that rather than acting as light entertainment to help keep the attention it actually acted as a distraction with friends constantly popping up to chat online.
The research said that people have Facebook or other social networking sites running in the background along with emails and an instant messaging client while carrying out research and exam preparation.
Professor Paul Kirschner said, “Our study and other previous work suggests that while people may think constant task-switching allows them to get more done in less time, the reality is it extends the amount of time needed to carry out tasks and leads to more mistakes.”
In addition, those who did not use the site said they devoted more time to studying outside the classroom. This is despite the fact three quarters of Facebook users said they did not think that spending time on the site affected their academic performance. The other quarter admitted Facebook did stop them working and some even said they put off work because of Facebook.
Kirschner added, “We should resist the fashionable views of educational gurus that children can multi-task, and that we should adapt our education systems accordingly to keep up with the times.”
This study will compound fears over the superficial approach that experts say is encouraged by an increasingly distracted online world that is constantly distracted by multi-tasking. In the influential book The Shallows, Nicholas Carr argues the internet has given rise to “cursory reading, hurried and distracted thinking and superficial learning”.
Digital Camera Photographer of the Year
Sat 4th Sep 2010
An entry in the Digital Photographer of the Year competition
Above is just one entry in the Digital Camera Photographer of the Year competition. It features a boy riding his bike on New Brighton beach. The tide is out and the scene looks very tranquil – a great picture. The picture has been entered into the Britain Inspired category and is one of our favourites.
The nice thing about this competition is that it is won by normal people, not professional photographers. Furthermore, the competition is open to anyone who fancies entering one of his or her photographs. Despite that, it is one of the world’s biggest photography competitions, last year it attracted 100,000 entries all chasing the £10,000 grand prize.
If anyone fancies entering a photograph of their own, or if you would just like to view some of the entries, head over to the Photoradar website.
Good luck if you enter!
Did God Create The Universe?
Fri 3rd Sep 2010
No, he did not, says Professor Stephen Hawking.
A few years ago, Professor Stephen Hawking published his book A Brief History of Time and had all The Bears transfixed. In the book, he described how everything in space, time and the universe worked. The book was subtitled From the Big Bang to Black Holes and that is exactly what it covered. It started by explaining how the whole universe as we know it, started from a huge explosion millions of years ago. There is nothing special about that, there are many books attempting the same thing, but Stephen Hawking wrote his not for scientists and physicists but for normal people and Bears to understand.
The book suggested that the start of the universe needed something to start the whole process – someone to light the touch-paper to ignite the big bang. This pleased the church because it left room for the thought that God was that divine being who started the world.
Now, twelve years later, Mr Hawking says the universe was created by itself and not God. In his new book, The Grand Design, he insists that there is no reason to attribute the beginning of everything to a supreme being. He writes, “Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist… because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing. It is not necessary to invoke God.”
Oh yes he did, says Lewis Ayres, Professor of Theology at Durham University.
Professor Ayres says that most scientists believe that God creates what they cannot understand. As soon as they find laws to explain things, then that does away with the need of a God.
Stephen Hawking is a modern atheist. He thinks that suddenly science comes along and provides us with the answers and explanations and that in itself proves there is no God. What smart Christians do is to believe in the beauty, structure and order of the world. We believe that God sustains all of that.
Professor Hawking’s book is out later this month, so I bet this is not the last we hear of this argument.
We Pay Eddie A Visit
Fri 27th Aug 2010
We had a stop to make on the way home tonight so apologies to everyone for being late again. Razzi and I stopped off to visit the one and only Eddie Bear; the very first Renault Bear we rescued.
As most of you who have been following the blog for a while will know, Eddie does not live with us at the Bear Sanctuary. Eddie lives a life of luxury with my daughter in Pixy Towers where he infrequently moves from his bed and where he enjoys his daytime telly. Unlike our Bears, he prefers the QVC Shopping channel and he and his wife Edwina spend a small fortune when let loose on Pixy’s account.
It was nice to see Eddie and Edwina again, even if he could not quite muster up the energy to get out of bed. We just thought it would be nice to pop in and say hello but also to report that Eddie, Edwina and the rest of the Bears at Pixy Towers are all doing fine.
Eddie and Edwina hold paws together in bed at Pixy Towers
Open Night #26
Wed 25th Aug 2010
Razzi and I were working late again tonight and so we thought we would make it an Open Night. Just in case you are unfamiliar with our Open Nights, let me explain…
If you visit the blog today then you have to leave a comment behind. It can be on any subject you choose and the more random you make it the funnier it appears to us. Just chat away with whatever comes into your head or if you are new to the blog just say “Hello”. Anything goes on an Open Night and Random is Cool.
Do not forget, the rule is you have to say something if you read this!
…and hey people, always remember, let’s be careful out there!
Bearkeeper Killed In Bear Attack
Tue 24th Aug 2010
A Bearkeeper at the World Animal Studios, in Cleveland, Ohio, has been mauled to death by a Bear he helped raise from a cub. It has been alleged that the keeper regularly play wrestled with the Bear prior to his death.
Brent Kandra, who was 24 years old, worked for the controversial centre where keepers are encouraged to play with the animals, including Bears and Wolves. He was killed by Iroquoes; a Bear described, as Brent’s favourite, after he let him out for a regular feeding.
The World Animal Studios is owned by Sam Mazzola who defended his safety record and said that Brent had died doing the job he loved doing. He said, “I loved Brent and will miss him more than anything in the whole world. It’s what he wanted to do. If we get injured, it’s no different than an airline pilot getting injured. The particular Bear was his favourite Bear. It was one that he basically raised. They were just playing with each other, the food was already there. The Bear was interested in playing with Brent. When it was just time for him to leave, the Bear didn’t want him to go and just grabbed him.”
Sadly, the Bear has been put to sleep and a decision is still being made whether the owner will face charges or not.
We think it is time people realised that wild animals are exactly that, wild. While people may think, they are play fighting with a Bear that Bear may not. The only place for wild Bears is in the wild or in programmes where they are treated with respect and dignity!
