Category: Strange as It Seems

I slept in the royal bed. Well, not exactly…

9 September 2022 By Paul Martin

There was a large crown embroidered on the mattress where I slept each night. It had been made by Airflex for the visit of the Royal Family to their Dominion, South Africa in 1947. The South African government had ordered the special royal mattresses so they could be installed at the places where the princess […]

Could claims of a fake photograph of the Queen installing the new prime minister create a temporary constitutional crisis for the United Kingdom? Or is this a fake storm in a royal teacup?

8 September 2022 By Paul Martin

By Paul Martin, Exclusive. Constitutional experts are perplexed by a photo supposedly showing the Queen, two days before her death, about to shake hands with Liz Truss as the Queen appointed her the new Prime Minister. If indeed Queen Elizabeth II was too ill to have been standing up and smiling at a rendezvous in […]

How Ukraine’s Post Office chief stamps down on the Russian invasion of his country.

25 May 2022 By Paul Martin

Exclusive from Kyiv, Ukraine Amid the images of destruction inflicted by continued Russian attacks on a sovereign nation, Ukrainian television showed far less grim pictures this week. People were smiling again — generally very happy to be allowed to queue up in the streets. Thousands of eager locals stood since the very early hours at post […]

Not ill-fitting. Ill-man.

7 July 2021 By Paul Martin

There’s not much to make one smile about, reporting on this Covid pandemic. Here’s something irrelevant but mildly amusing: The leading health publication (HSJ, or Health Services Journal), has a top writer called James Illman. Getit? See his article. NOTE: For our section Strange as it Seems, we’re interested in other names that are either […]

Elected to the United Nations World Health Organisation’s Executive Board: a regime that bombs hospitals, uses chemical weapons and blocks convoys of baby formula. Assad’s Syria.

6 July 2021 By Paul Martin

The Syrian regime has been elected to a leading role in the World Health Organisation (WHO). In May, the war-torn country’s rulers won a seat on the WHO Executive Board. Throughout the course of the Syrian civil war, the Syrian regime has displaced half the country’s population. It has depopulated whole cities and villages by bombing hospitals […]

A secret population of blue whales hiding in Indian Ocean has been found — by using nuclear-bomb detectors.

17 June 2021 By Paul Martin

Scientists have found recordings of their unique song, dating back almost 20 years. Scientists have discovered an entirely new population of pygmy blue whales in the Indian Ocean, which have managed to evade detection for decades despite their enormous size. Researchers uncovered the secretive cetaceans by analyzing acoustic data collected by an underwater nuclear bomb detection array, […]

Pictures from Mars to Earth are clear. Pictures from Britain to Britain far less so.

25 February 2021 By Paul Martin

The world has just seen astonishingly-detailed clear pictures from the surface of Mars, courtesy of an American rover called Perseverance [affectionately abbreviated to Percy]. However when BBC Newsnight proudly showed them [on February 24 2021], as a marvel of human achievement, it also linked up with a scientist in Britain. Except the picture of him […]

Give us a break – from holidays. There’s increasing evidence that holidays can cause harmful stress.

30 December 2020 By Paul Martin

Originally published in the Sunday Times, Sunday August 31, 1986  WARNING: Holidays can damage your health. Psychologists believe that many of the millions of Britons returning to work this week wouldhave been better off staying at the office instead of taking theirannual break. Increasing evidence that holidays can cause harmful stress ratherthan provide welcome rest and […]

Has the US Air Force gone to the dogs?

15 November 2020 By Paul Martin

Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., this week tested robotic dogs on a security patrol operation. Photo from U.S. Air Force The US Air Force has unveiled an addition to its war effort: computerized, four-legged robot dogs to be used for security patrols. The Philadelphia-based technology company Ghost Robotics worked with the base’s 325th Security Squadron […]