Why do parrots make such great news? We just don't expect them to make the headlines with a desperate cry to help. But wait, today I again saw the "Help Me" headline - so let's see what it's about.
CNN recently carried a story of concerned drivers who called police in California after seeing a child hold up a sign with a plea for help - "Help me, she's not my mom!! Help!!"
Poor mother got stopped by police in Sacramento, who found out it was "a hoax" and "a joke". The police quote: "This is a reminder that parents need to keep an eagle eye on their children."
That was it for children hoax news. There weren't any other articles like this. What I did find, though, was the "Momo Challenge Hoax" which was covered widely in the press.
The 'Momo Challenge" - the stories about 'momo' were that she would appear on children's phones unexpectedly and set dangerous challenges to harm themselves. She's a zombie looking doll figure with bulging black eyes and the body of a chicken. (The original figure has been traced to a Japanese special-effects company Link Factory).
It turns out to have been images that has been found edited into unofficial copies of children's cartoons on YouTube. Snopes investigated it and identified it as "far more hype or hoax than reality", but warned the images could cause distress to children. Here's the BBC Story on it.
On our immediate horizon is the call for a 5 to 10 centimetre snowfall, followed by rain today. It has dropped from the earlier warning level of 15 cm.
In comparison, Newfoundland experienced 51 cm of snow yesterday and today is getting more - up to a total of 75 cm is expected. This will include gusts of wind as high as 120 km per hour. They are in a state of emergency.
So to bring things around to calmness, I found a wonderful image of Notre Dame Cathedral that I'd taken 15 years ago - of course with a new sky.
