Issues

America invades Britain!

In 1778 the British had the strongest navy in the world. They laughed at the small navy of their American colonies, who were fighting Britain for their independence. One American captain decided to show the British that the size was not everything. Here is what happened. One night of April 24, 1778, Captain John Paul Jones silently brought the American ship Ranger into Whitehaven harbour on the west coast of England. As soon as he arrived, he took a group of his men to a local inn, broke into it, and had a drink with them.

Then they went back to the harbour and began their work. Some of them went to the fort and put the guns out of order, others began burning British ships. The British sailors finally woke up and put up a good fight, but they lost to Jones and his men. Captain Jones was pleased, but not completely satisfied. So he sailed to the nearby Scottish coast and went to the home of the Earl of Selkirk. Jones and his men put all the Earl’s silverware onto the Ranger to take back to America. The British didn’t laugh so much about American navy after Jones´visit.


Don´t look down

Paul Lay dances with death in the mountains of southern Spain.

I have always enjoyed walking. When I was a boy, I used to go walking at weekends with my father. We went camping and climbing together.

I try to visit a new place every year. Last year I decided to walk a path in Spain called El Camino del Rey, which means the King´s way. It is one of the highest and most dangerous footpaths in Europe. It used to be very safe , but now it is falling down.

I took a train to the village of El Chorro and started to walk towards the mountains. I was very excited. Then the adventure began. The path was about three feet wide and there were holes in it. It used to have a handrail, but not any more. I didn´t know what to do – should I go on my hands and knees , or stand up? I decided to stand up and walk very slowly . At times the path was only as wide as my two boots. I stopped to have a rest, but there was nowhere to sit.

I began to feel very frightened. It was impossible to look down or look up. I was concentrating so hard that my body started aching. There was no thrill of danger , no enjoyment of the view. I thought I was going to die. I finally managed to get to the end. I was shaking , and I was covered in sweat from heat and fear. I feel to the ground, exhausted.

What is Paul Lay´s hobby?
What did he use to do with his father?
Does he go to the same place every year?
Is the King´s Way in good condition?
Why couldn´t he have a rest?
Why didn´t he enjoy the walk?Newsfax

Expensive Car! The New London Museum of Technology has just bought a car for seven billon units! The car is a 2027 United British Sports. It was one of the last cars that had a petrol engine. The museum is going to put the car in a moving exhibition. The car will actually move around the museum. Of course, petrol engines have been illegal for over 200 years. The museum has got special permission from the European Government. The only problem is the high price of petrol., but the museum bought 5000 litres a few years ago.

Tobacco smugglers arrested. Police in the North American Union have arrested six tobacco smugglers. The smugglers were flying a new Ford-Nissan Mark 5Spaceship, and they were looking for a landing place near Old Miami. There were thirty tonnes of tobacco on the spaceship. The smugglers killed two policemen in a laser fight. Tobacco has been illegal since 2031, and this find has a street value of millions of units.

Exciting discovery in the Pacific. Marine archaeologists from the North American Union have discovered an old Hollywood film studio at the bottom of the sea, eighty kilometres from the Californian coastal town of San Bernardino. Hollywood, Los Angeles and San Francisco were all famous places in the twentieth and twenty –first centuries. They disappeared in the terrible earthquake of 2092, when much of California sank into the sea. The archaeologists think that Steven Spielberg actually worked in the studio. The archaeologists returned to the port of Sacramento today with the news.

Happy birthday to you. Today is Jason Michael’s 314th birthday. Jason was a famous rock singer in the early years of the twenty-first century. He was the first person who was ever deep-frozen. He was deep-frozen in 2025, and scientists woke him last year. Jason is spending his birthday quietly at his home in Mid-Atlantic City.

Amnesty International is a world –wide organization, independent of any government or political party. It is our aim to release prisoners of conscience. These are men and women who are in prison not because they have broken the law, but because of their beliefs, colour, language or religion. We try to get fair and early trials by publicizing their cases and by putting pressure on their governments to practise basic human rights.

Amnesty International has been in operation for over twenty years, and in that time we have helped prisoners in over sixty countries. We have won several peace prizes, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978.Each year we handle, on average, nearly 5000 individual cases. Please help us. We need your donations to make us unnecessary in this world.

Drought and famine have come to Africa again this year, just as they have every year for the past fifteen years. In some parts of Africa it hasn’t rained for three years. There have been no crops, and the animals on which people depend died long ago. Refugees are pouring from the countryside into towns in their desperate search for food, and it has been estimated that over a thousand people are dying every day.

We are supplying towns and camps with food and medical supplies, but our efforts are drops in the ocean. We need a hundred times more food and medical supplies, as well as doctors, nurses, blankets, tents and clothes. Your help is needed now before it is too late. Please give all you can. No pound or penny will ever be better spent or more appreciated.

The RSPCA is the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

The RSPCA founded in 1824, The RSPCA is the world’s oldest animal welfare organization. We work to promote kindness and to prevent cruelty to animals within all lawful means throughout England and Wales. Every year we find new homes for about 80 000 animals, we treat over 200 000 sick animals ranging from hedgehogs to horses, and we investigate over 100 000 complaints of cruelty.

We also work for the welfare of animals in the wild, such as whales and badgers. We are the world experts at cleaning and rehabilitating birds that have been damaged in oil spills. Every year nearly 3 million animals are used in research laboratories, and we oppose all experiments that cause pain and suffering.
We work with both government and the farming industry to promote human methods in the rearing of farm animals. Intensive farming methods can cause animal welfare problems. The society is a charity, and receives no aid from the government. Our running cost amount to 38 million pounds a year. Please give generously.