Headline informed us  -  

Suspected Komoda Dragon Found Wandering In New York

     Once again the media has come up short - the article never does say what they suspect the dragon of doing.

Headline  - 

"NRA Rewrites Classic Fairytales to Feature Guns."

     Daniel Uria recently wrote a report that was picked up by the UPI, which explains that the NRA in conjunction with children's author Amelia Hamilton has rewritten some fairytales that explain what might have happened if some of the players had had the use of guns, and of course had been through gun safety classes and all that. For instance, in the tale of Little Red Riding Hood, instead of Grandma getting swallowed up, which currently nobody seems to mind, how would the story have played out if Grandma had had a scatter gun close at hand. 
     In the rewrites, nobody actually gets shot or killed, as the guns are used only as deterrents, or for the hunting of good.
    My point  -  finally  -  as well done as these rewrites may be, and in light of the current anti-gun hysteria (that word might be a little strong), it seems to me that this action by the NRA is just a little like 'poking the bear.'

One Giant Leap for Mankind - Another Discovery Appreciated by Me

     I knew it had to happen at some point. I mean, men have walked on the moon. Medical science has eradicated polio and smallpox, to name just a few. The old information highway has turned into what no one over fifty could have imagined when they were twenty. Communications are worldwide, instant, and so inexpensive that it is available to nearly everyone. We have machines running around on Mars, taking pictures, sampling the soil, and who knows what all. I mean every once in a while it dodges around behind a rock and it could be doing anything.
     With all that I knew it was only a matter of time before someone would figure out what to do with broccoli. I mean beside foist it off as an edible plant. And here is the headline announcing the new discovery:

Customs: 766 Pounds Of Pot Found Hidden In Broccoli Shipment

     It happened in Texas just of days ago. The UPI report said that Customs found this marijuana tucked inside a semi load of broccoli. Well done, to someone.
     Now, how about solving the kale problem?
     

The Following Is My Summarized Take on The Current Presidential Campaign

     I know that politics has always been full of dirty tricks, and underhanded dealings, but this current race for president has got to be a new low.
     On one side of the aisle we have a woman, who has the legal system snapping at her heels for her 'who gives a_____' attitude about protecting classified information that she was privy too and for running what many think is a major money laundering charity that benefits her and her husband.
     Opposing her, on that side of the aisle, is  a gentleman who nobody heard of before a few months ago, and who seems to think that socialism is the answer to all the country's woes.
     The one thing that both of these people have in common is their ability to mouth age-old political platitudes and generic and trite campaign promises.
     On the other side of the aisle, we have a plethora of candidates. One who seems to have a major disconnect between his brain and his mouth, and probably would have done well in the Old West when a quick draw and a shoot-first-and-sort-out-the-bad-guys-later attitude was in vogue. Or claiming on electronic media that the wife of an opposing candidate is homely. I mean, tell me what that has to do with a man's ability to lead our country. It certainly hasn't in the past.
     Opposing him, we have several men who seem to have no problem spreading false rumors, to make people think that a fellow candidate has dropped out of the race, in order to gain more votes for themselves. 
     The poor voters are left sucking their paws and hopping to hear a decent idea on what these would-be saviors of our country would actually do domestically or on the international scene. And why? They're too busy bad-mouthing their opponents.
     Why do these combatants behave as they do? Because that is what a certain percentage of the voters expect and appreciate, thinking that is how leaders are supposed to act. And that minority can swing enough votes to make a difference.
     Then muddying the waters is the media so bent with bias that it could be used for a corkscrew.

Eat Your Vegetables?
     When I was young my mother would suggest that I eat my vegetables. To a casual observer it might have sounded like a suggestion, but when Mom suggested, I knew it was best to eat my vegetables. Of course every time she would explain that it was either good for my body, or at the very least, it was good for developing my character. (That is, doing something I rather not do just because it was the right thing to do.)
     But boy, was she every behind the curve on the nutrition thing.
     Now it has to be the right kinds of vegetables and I need to eat seven servings of them each day.
     Let's not forget the fruits, and again some are much better for me than others, and I need six servings of these good fruits each day.
     Then there are proteins, the right kind of carbs, fats, and the list goes on until it fades into the distance.
     Today a person is deluged with nutritional information. For instance:
     Chocolate is now good for you, as long as it's dark enough.
     Coffee is good for you, especially if you want to stay alert enough to keep up with all the new nutritional information.
     The blueberry is a super food, but you need two cups of the things each day, even if you have to import them from Chile and they taste like---well---terrible.
     And without  your six almonds a day, you can probably expect a heart attack before bedtime.
     The latest one I've heard about is vinegar, which is evidently helpful if you're trying to lose weight. The announcement was not explicit on whether you took it internally or rubbed it on your body.  However, the fact that they did point out that vinegar would tend to corrode your teeth led me to believe that drinking it was the intended method of application.
     Maybe the loss of your teeth is how you lose the weight.
     Each one of these nutritional assertions is of course, substantiated by a 'study', but there is rarely any information on the parameters of these studies.
     A study might have been three people in Norway who only ate fish for three days straight and lost weight, had a drop in blood pressure, and had a drop  in their glucose levels, which then became the basis for their claim that eating fish will cure your diabetes, your high blood pressure, and help you lose weight. And all you have to do is buy a bottle of their fish pills, or some such.
     Then again the study might have been conducted in a scientifically approved manner in a legitimate effort to prove or disprove some particular point.
    One problem with this plethora of information is that very seldom do two studies agree, or the facts from any given study remain the 'latest information' for very long.
     So the end result is that if a person cares about maximum nutrition you're always in a state of frustrated uncertainty. Knowing that what you're eating is almost certainly not quite the right thing, or the right amount, or at the right time.
     If I would eat the daily recommended servings of everything that I need every day, I would not have enough time to do anything else, plus I'd be as big as a blimp.
     Personally, I think that enjoying what you eat in moderation and being thankful for what you have, will do more for your health than the micromanagement of your diet ever will.

Uber, Uber, Who's Calling Uber
     The next time you access Uber and arrange a ride, there's something you need to do. Before getting in his or her car you might want to put these questions to the driver.
     1. Does U be fail to pay you overtime?
     2. Did Uber fail to give you a Christmas bonus?
     3. Does your work for Uber keep you from seeing your kids?
     4. Is Uber keeping your so busy that your wife is divorcing         you?
     If the driver answers yes to any of the above, you might want to rethink your choice of ride. Because in Michigan, an Ober driver went out and killed six people and wounded two others. The reasons he gave for having to go on this five-hour killing spree were the same as those listed above.
     It's sad how Uber has messed up this poor man's life---at least according to him.
     This information came from a report from the San Francisco Business Times and included a picture of this disgruntled Uber Driver. After seeing this picture I'm guessing that his kids were not all that put out that he was too busy to spend much time with them. And as for his wife, I'm guessing that not being able to spend more time with her husband was low on her list of divorceable complaints.

THIS AND THAT # 3

     Now here is a lead-in to a news story you don't see every day---maybe not again in your lifetime. I quote from an Associated Press report filed in London: "A former meerkat expert at London Zoo was cleared Tuesday of assaulting a monkey-handler in a love spat over a llama-keeper."
     The altercation happened at a Zoo Christmas party. Two ladies were arguing over some issue having to do with a man they had both dated.

An internet headline screamed  -  

Serbia Finds US-bound Guided Missiles On Flight From Beirut

     Wow! Missiles bound for the US, that's all we need. And it turns out, the things were headed for Oregon. The sub-headline said the report would explain why the missiles were headed for Oregon. Well, I had to find out about this latest threat to Oregon's security, so I clicked on the link and read the report.
     Come to find out that these missiles were training missiles being returned to the manufacturer. They had neither warheads nor guidance systems and were dully packed, and accompanied by the appropriate paper work. 
     The missiles could not have hurt anyone, unless the crate they were in fell on someone's foot.
     And the report had nothing to say why they were heading for Oregon.
     So once again the media suckered me into following a story that was 95 percent hype and 2 percent substance. I can hear some of you asking, "What happened to the other 3 percent?" I'm glad you're paying attention.

You Can't Have Too Much Training

     So you have a armored truck worth probably $130,000. Then you have two guards, each who have had at least ten hours of training, beside the three hours spent on the gun range.

     Now with all these assets to provide the safe transport of money, what happens? They leave the back door of the armored truck open, so as they're driving down the road, $20 bill are flying all over the place. 
     An impossible scenario? Not according to Daniel Uria, who filed a report on just such an incident happening in New Jersey.

If You Need Information We Now Know Where To Go

     The New York Times reported that today an Army Delta Force Unit captured what they're calling a significant ISIS fighter. Now what that means is anyone's guess. It could be the head crazy guy, or just one of the guys who runs around shooting his gun in the air wherever he sees a TV camera pointed his way. I understand they teach that in ISIS school. But I digress.
    Whoever this person is, we have him in custody. I'm sure that ISIS would like to get him back, before he tells us all their secrets. So the New York Times was good enough to tell the world that the Delta Force Unit is holding this ISIS person at a temporary detention center near the Northern Iraqi town of Erbil.
     At least now ISIS know where to go to get their guy back. Maybe ISIS will give the Times some sort of public service award for their help.
     But I have a sneaking suspicion that this information is actually in the public domain, thanks to our government. Anyway, to the Delta Force soldiers, a big thank you!

     Never In the Right Place at the Right Time

     When living in Wisconsin one of our fun things to do was to go to the cheese store. Every town had one. The bigger towns had several. In Wisconsin, there are a number of things to do for fun in addition to the cheese store, ice fishing, water fishing, even fishing for fish. (Forgive me) Then you have snowmobiling, and right below ice fishing on the list is the annual Spring Recover-Your-Vehicle-That-Fell-Through-The-Ice Festival, in which cheese plays a big part.
     Anyway, in Wisconsin, cheese is a big business, and it appears that in Wisconsin, stealing cheese is also big business. Recently the police have had a string of successes recovering some of this stolen cheese. In Germantown, they recovered $70,000 of cheddar. In Marshfield, police recovered 41,000 pounds of Parmesan worth $90,000.
     That sounds like a lot and is quite a bit, but when my two daughters were growing up, they could get five pounds per month of cheese caught under their fingernails just getting the cheese in and out of the refrigerator. But I digress.
     Now, in lots of places, the recovery of stolen cheese would not be a headline event, but like I said before, in Wisconsin, cheese is a big deal.
     Now for those who know me I want to say, I have an alibi for the time each of those shipments went missing. That's my story, and I'm sticking with it.

Call 1-800-SHY-STER to Get In On This Action

     (First, let me say this is in no way a reflection on all the great attorneys out there.)
     I know I'm going to sleep better tonight, which is a big relief. Recently a bobcat, that's right, I said a bobcat, was hit by a car on a Florida highway. I mean both the car and the bobcat were on the highway. Otherwise, how in the world would . . uh . . some things you should be able to figure out on your own.

     Anyway, the bobcat suffered what the UPI report calls a dental injury. The bobcat now has a name; Thor. It seems that today Thor was able to eat something. In fact, there's a video of Thor doing just that. Hold off with the leaping about and clapping your hands in glee and relief, there is more to come.
     And this is it: Thor is slated to get a titanium tooth later this month. He obviously has better insurance than I have.
     I understand there is a class action suit being put together by the families, friends, attorneys, or just anybody who thinks they can con a piece of the action, of all the other bobcats around the country who have been hit by cars, but didn't get medical care. There will be a special subclass for the cats that could have used, but didn't get, titanium replacement teeth.
     Like most class action suits, each defendant (anybody who has damaged a bobcat with a vehicle), will get sued for ninety-million dollars, and after attorney fees, each plaintiff, (that would be the bobcat), is expected to get ninety-seven cents and up to one steel tooth.