January 29, 2020

Dog rides bus by herself every day to play in local park - then takes bus home again

https://www.irishpost.com/news/dog-rides-bus-every-day-play-local-park-takes-bus-home-178196

Dog rides bus by herself every day to play in local park - then takes bus home again

IF you've ever been too scared to let your kids take the public bus by themselves, you might change your mind when you see this.

Meet Eclipse.

She's an adorable black Lab and Mastiff mix who travels to the park every day by herself. Because she don't need no man ... or woman for that matter. Incredibly, she jumps on the bus near her home in Seattle, Washington and rides downtown, getting off at the park where she frolics with her fellow four-legged friends. After a couple of hours, she returns to the bus stop, jumps back on - using a ticket attached to her collar - and returns home, ready for supper.

The remarkable story started one day when the excitement of the park was too much, and Eclipse got tired of waiting for her owner, Jeff, to finish a cigarette as the bus was pulling up.
She jumped on without him and before he could react, the bus set off.

Fortunately, the bus driver recognised her and - not wanting to disappoint the determined traveller - dropped her off at the park, before Jeff eventually caught up.

A little more story and several pics at link. Eclipse has made friends with the regular riders and is very well behaved on the bus.

January 27, 2020

Three rockets hit US Embassy compound in Baghdad

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/26/politics/rocket-hits-us-embassy-compound-baghdad/index.html


Three rockets hit US Embassy compound in Baghdad

(CNN)Three rockets struck the US Embassy compound in Baghdad on Sunday, leaving one person injured, a US official told CNN initial reports indicate.

The official said the injury was minor and the individual had since returned to duty.
A State Department spokesperson said Sunday evening that they "are aware of reports of rockets landing in the International Zone," but did not address the US embassy itself. The State Department did not respond to a query as to whether any embassy employees were injured. "We call on the Government of Iraq to fulfill its obligations to protect our diplomatic facilities," the spokesperson said.

The State Department did not directly blame Tehran for the rocket strikes in the Iraqi capital, but the spokesperson's statement made reference to Iranian threats in the region and past attacks by Iranian-backed militias on US interests. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. "The security situation remains tense and Iranian-backed armed groups remain a threat. So, we remain vigilant," the spokesperson said. Since September there have been more than 14 attacks by Iran and Iranian-supported militias on US personnel in Iraq, according to the State Department.

The spokesperson said the State Department would not comment further on the security situation in Baghdad.

January 21, 2020

Trump Just Called Climate Scientists 'Foolish Fortune Tellers'

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/3a8dz8/trump-just-called-climate-scientists-foolish-fortune-tellers


Trump Just Called Climate Scientists ‘Foolish Fortune Tellers’

Trump once again repeated the lie that the U.S. has “the cleanest air in the world” when, in fact, his administration has made the air quality in the U.S. worse. According to the Environmental Performance Index, a metric from environmental scientists at Yale and Columbia, the U.S. ranks 10th when it comes to clean air quality.

Trump also said that today’s climate scientists are simply repeating errors of the past when “foolish fortune tellers...predicted an overpopulation crisis in the 1960s, mass starvation in the 70s, and an end of oil in the 1990s.”

Trump labeled activists like Thunberg “alarmists” who are simply seeking “absolute power to dominate, transform and control every aspect of our lives.”

“We will never let radical socialists destroy our economy, wreck our country, or eradicate our liberty,” Trump added.

Note: Just a part of a much longer article. I just selected the relevant parts about his comments regarding climate change. Note the next to last paragraph. This is what Trump wants for himself.

January 15, 2020

St. Luke's in Mountain Brook Buys $8.1 Million In Medical Debt Across Central Alabama

https://www.otmj.com/st-lukes-medical-debt/

You Are Forgiven: St. Luke’s in Mountain Brook Buys $8.1 Million In Medical Debt Across Central Alabama
January 6, 2020

Over the holidays, roughly 6,500 Alabama households received a notice in the mail that their medical debts had been purchased and forgiven by the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama.

Those letters were the culmination of a fundraising campaign undertaken by Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church in Mountain Brook, which commemorated its 70th anniversary by eliminating $8.1 million in medical debts throughout the Birmingham metro area and its surrounding counties.

More than 137 million Americans struggled with medical debt in 2019, according to a CNBC report. Those costs, usually unexpected, are reportedly the top reason people take money out of their retirement accounts or file for bankruptcy.

And you don't see Evangelicals doing this. You see real Christians (and Jews and Muslims) doing this sort of thing. There is a lot more at the link about how they actually managed to get to $8.1 million - things like buying medical debt from hospitals for pennies on the dollar like debt collection agencies and so on.

Just another feel-good story about good people doing good things.

January 13, 2020

Soldier stands in the rain to pay tribute to WWII nurse in viral photo

Just thought this was an uplifting story. Follow the link for the photo.


https://www.wbrc.com/2020/01/13/video-soldier-stands-rain-pay-tribute-wwii-nurse-viral-photo/

Soldier stands in the rain to pay tribute to WWII nurse in viral photo

By Lindsay Knowles | January 13, 2020 at 12:06 PM CST - Updated January 13 at 3:08 PM
BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) - A photo of a soldier standing in the pouring rain playing TAPS at the funeral of a South Mississippi veteran is going viral.

The poignant photo shows Spc. Melvin Taylor unflinchingly standing in the rain at Biloxi National Cemetery as the sounds of military tribute float through the air. As of Monday morning, the post had over 6,000 shares on Facebook.

Yesterday, I was with family at a military funeral in Biloxi. This soldier stood at attention in the pouring rain. It was cold and windy, he was drenched, but he proudly stood there while the rest of us were under the gazebo. He stood still and tall, until it was time to approach the casket, to meticulously fold the flag to present to the family. Then he stepped back to his position in the rain again, and proceeded to play the most beautiful, soulful rendition of Taps I had ever heard. Whoever you are, thank you sir, for reminding me of a wholly different meaning to military service.

The funeral was for 100-year-old Annie Ruth McVadon, a nurse who served in World War II before settling in Biloxi.

January 13, 2020

Did Biden laud a Paul Ryan proposal to cut Social Security as Bernie Sanders' campaign said?

https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2020/jan/09/bernie-sanders/did-biden-laud-paul-ryan-proposal-cut-social-secur/

Did Biden laud a Paul Ryan proposal to cut Social Security as Bernie Sanders’ campaign said?

Sen. Bernie Sanders argues that former Vice President Joe Biden sided with a Republican effort to cut Social Security. "In 2018, Biden lauded Paul Ryan for proposing cuts to Social Security and Medicare," wrote the Sanders campaign in a Jan. 7 newsletter. The night before on CNN, Sanders had attacked Biden’s record on Social Security and Medicare. Ryan is a former Republican House speaker who proposed sweeping changes to Social Security that were never enacted.

We found that the Sanders campaign newsletter distorts what Biden said about Ryan’s plan.

<snip>

To understand Biden’s tone, you have to actually watch and listen to his words. The snippet of written text, which the Sanders’ campaign newsletter used, doesn’t relay Biden’s full point.

The Sanders campaign omits what Biden said next (our emphasis is in bold):

"Now, I don’t know a whole lot of people in the top one-tenth of 1 percent or the top 1 percent who are relying on Social Security when they retire. I don’t know a lot of them. Maybe you guys do. So we need a pro-growth, progressive tax code that treats workers as job creators, as well, not just investors; that gets rid of unprotective loopholes like stepped-up basis; and it raises enough revenue to make sure that the Social Security and Medicare can stay, it still needs adjustments, but can stay; and pay for the things we all acknowledge will grow the country."

We rate this statement False.

January 11, 2020

Edd Byrnes, Who Combed His Way to TV Stardom, Dies at 86

This is a couple of days late.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/09/arts/television/edd-byrnes-dead.html

Edd Byrnes, Who Combed His Way to TV Stardom, Dies at 86

Edd Byrnes, who became one of television’s first teen idols as Kookie — the hair-combing, jive-talking youth on the hit series “77 Sunset Strip” — but found ever after that he could not live the character down, died on Wednesday at his home in Santa Monica, Calif. He was 86.

His son, Logan Byrnes, said the cause was probably a stroke.

Broadcast on ABC from 1958 to 1964, “77 Sunset Strip” starred Efrem Zimbalist Jr. and Roger Smith as a pair of suave Los Angeles private eyes and Mr. Byrnes as the parking-lot attendant at the restaurant next door to their office.

<snip>

Mr. Byrnes, an immediate object of desire for the show’s young female viewers, was soon receiving 15,000 fan letters a week. At public appearances he was pelted with combs. With Connie Stevens, he recorded a single, “Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb,” which sold more than a million copies and reached No. 4 on the Billboard chart, despite the fact that by his own cheerful admission he could not sing.

Much more at link, but it is behind a paywall. You get 4 free articles a month if you aren't a subscriber.

January 7, 2020

How Iran could really get at Trump without firing a shot.

Hack into the IRS computers and get Trumps's tax returns. Then post them everywhere. There's got to be all kinds of stuff or he wouldn't be so terrified of releasing them.

Problem solved.