Thursday, 10 March, 2022
National emergency declared; No more Big Macs in Russia; Aussie cricketers undefeated; and meet the guinea pig lawn mowers.
LINKS
Woolworths Fresh Food Kids Discovery Tours:
https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/discover/fresh-food-kids/discoverytours
Squiz Kids for Schools: https://www.squizkids.com.au/squiz-kids-for-schools/
Squiz Kids Apple Subscriber Content: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/squiz-kids/id1494238283
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
THE LOWDOWN
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As NSW picked itself up, dried itself down and took stock of the damage done by the massive rain event on Tuesday, Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison was in Lismore – in the north of the state – declaring a national emergency there.
What does it mean to declare a national emergency? Sounds pretty serious, right?
What it does is give the government in Canberra the green light to spend money on the clean-up effort and more easily send in members of our military more quickly to help get the region back on its feet.
National emergencies have been declared in both NSW and Queensland – and an aid package worth $91 million for things like emergency accommodation, food and mental health programs for those traumatised by the experience of losing their home or business.
Traumatised means to be affected in negative way after going through an especially difficult or disturbing experience. Like the floods.
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Meanwhile, as if the good people of the Australian east coast haven’t suffered enough – there were reports yesterday that all the rain combined with heat had led to an explosion of snot, slime and fungus in gardens throughout Sydney.
A slime mould that apparently resembles dog vomit, a blue-green algae known as snot and a kind of fungus called stinkhorn were all having a wonderful time in the wet conditions – taking over gardens and lawns throughout the city.
Authorities warned yesterday that kids shouldn’t eat random mushrooms they come across – as many were poisonous. I feel like that might have been a waste of a warning .. I can’t get my kids to eat mushrooms at the best of times…
SPIN THE GLOBE
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Each day we give the world globe a spin and find a news story from wherever it stops … and today, we’ve landed in Russia … where Maccas has closed its doors, to protest against the invasion of Ukraine.
McDonalds has about 850 restaurants in Russia – serving Big Macs and McFlurries to Russians in the same way they do to hungry Aussies here in Australia.
But motivated by the scenes of the last ten days, as Russian forces drive millions of Ukrainians from their homes, big companies like McDonalds have decided to take a stand.
Starbucks and Coca Cola have also closed down their businesses in Russia – and Netflix has pressed pause on providing its streaming service to the country.
Is a lack of McChicken or temporary suspension of Netflix going to make Russian President Vladimir Putin change his mind and withdraw his troops from Ukraine? Probably not. But it’s what’s called a symbolic gesture – meant to send a message to Russians that big companies like theirs don’t approve of their leader’s behaviour.
SPORT TIME
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The historic first international cricket match that Australia has played in Pakistan in 24 years has ended … and commentators, players, and fans have all said that it was … a complete snoozefest.
Only 14 wickets fell over five full days of cricket, thanks to a pitch that was described as being “like a road.”
For those of you whose eyes glaze over when the word ‘cricket’ is mentioned, a cricket pitch is supposed to allow the ball to move sideways a bit when it lands, so that bowlers can take wickets. Steve Smith, Australia’s vice captain, said the pitch was “dead” .. and although it wasn’t easy for batsmen to score, it was also difficult to get them out.
But over in New Zealand, a very different game between Australia and Pakistan was played. Australia’s women won their World Cup match by seven wickets, and are unbeaten in the tournament so far. Alyssa Healy, player of the match, described the pitch in New Zealand as “tremendous”. Now that’s just rubbing it in ..
ANIMAL KINGDOM
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Hands up who’s got a guinea pig as a pet? My Rosie keeps hassling me for a guinea pig – but i’m worried Louis The Wonder Dog would eat it.
If you’re a guinea pig owner, perhaps you know that they love eating grass. Which is why a farmer in Cairns, in far north Queensland has decided to add a herd of guinea pigs to his property to do the lawn mowing for him.
Since adding 50 guinea pigs to his farm, farmer John from Mutchilda, west of Cairns, has watched on happily as his little troupe of helpers mow the lawn for him on a weekly basis – munching their way through large swathes of his property. He’s built special fences to keep them in, and what he calls ‘guinea pig motels’ – which is a wooden pallet with a corrugated iron roof – for them to sleep in. And he says they are the best farm hands he has ever had. Genius!
Did you know that just like their larger pig cousins, male guinea pigs are called ‘boars’ and female guinea pigs are called ‘sows’ … further proving that even at my age, you learn something new every day …
THE S’QUIZ
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This is the part of the podcast where you get to test how well you’ve been listening …
- What sort of animals has a farmer in far north Queensland been using to mow his lawn?
- Which popular fast food restaurant has shut its doors in Russia?
- In which country have the Australian men’s cricket team been playing on a dead pitch?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s March 10 … strap on your footy boots and settle into the couch, its the NRL season opener tonight when Penrith takes on Manly … it’s also International Bagpipe Day .. but I’m gonna say those two are completely unrelated …
It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today …
Oscar from Vermont South, Ruby from South Windsor, Maya from Busselton, Amy from Ipswich, Katherine from Cannon Hill, Noah from Munno Para and Zoe from Albury.
Classroom shout outs go to …Class 5T at Saint Joseph’s Catholic Primary School in Chinchilla, class 5/6 AB at Mt Carmel School in Yass and class 6H and Ms Booth at St Paul’s Catholic Primary School in Camden. Lastly it’s a special shout out to Mt St Patricks Primary School in Murwillumbah – who have closed their school due to the devastating floods in Northern NSW. All the students are presently home-schooling and can’t wait to get back to school.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Guinea Pigs
- McDonalds
- Pakistan