Thoughts from the end of summer

Since 1970, according to the World Wildlife Fund, we’ve killed half of the world’s nonhuman vertebrate animals by exploitation & pollution.

Microsoft’s Windows 10 is coming out in mid-2015. So is Star Wars, Episode 7. Which do you think will be more exciting?

Tired of the usual White House tours? Take the Secret Service speed tour! Jump fences, skirt obstacles. It’s great cardio, yet seems easy

Brian Wansink,Cornell University’s food guru, has practical tips for weight loss. Among them, put fruits and veggies on the top shelf of your fridge, within easy sight and reach.

Calling Dracula. Older mice given young mice blood look younger, have improved thinking and organ health. Next month, human testing begins.

StealthGenie is an app that tracks the movements & the conversations of smartphone users without their knowledge. Its maker just got arrested for it.

Ravens steamed. Rice cooked.

For the ultimate couch potato: you can now buy (for a LOT of money) a motorized couch. You NEVER have to leave your seat for snacks again. Uh, bathroom?

Your exact location can be tracked to within a few blocks through the cell towers your cell phone uses, even if you are not on a call. The tracking is undetectable. Hi, Big Brother.

Delaware now gives Executors power over a deceased’s digital accounts. Ask your Maryland lawyer about how to protect those assets in your Power of Attorney and in your will.

A MD man has been arrested for luring the elderly into “romance” on-line, then bilking them of their money. The shark in the dating pool.

and the survey says….Most Americans would rather give up sex, alcohol or chocolate than give up their cell phone. Either way, fewer hangups.

The bare facts: A 42 yr old Arlington VA man rode a motorcycle & hit 2 cars while naked and drunk. Caught, he’ll be stripped of his license.

Don Pardo, 96, the distinctive voice of Jeopardy, SNL and many others, has died, the only announcer ever inducted into the TV Hall of Fame.

The Social Security Administration no longer sends you annual statements. So if you want to see what you would get if you retired, go online to http://www.socialsecurity.gov  & set up an account to check your estimated benefits.

A New York woman has stolen 800 Lego sets and posted them for sale on Ebay. What a blockhead!

Someone robbed two Virginia kids running a lemonade stand. Really?? Is nothing sacred?

Watts up with Ferguson, Mo?

The deaths of icons Robin Williams and Lauren Bacall have made this a very sad summer.

Ray Burse, interim president of Kentucky State University, took a $100K salary cut so 24 school workers making under $10/hr could get a raise. Bravo!

Rest in peace, Jim Brady.

Shanghai Husi Food uses meat that has gone far beyond its expiration date, and food that’s been dropped on the floor. McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut buy food from Husi. Yech!

L. Frank Baum, the author of “The Wizard of Oz”, wrote in 1890 that all Native Americans should be killed. Talk about wicked witches!  Sic ’em, Toto.

You’ve put in water-saving toilets & shower heads, but the utility companies are now making less money and want to raise water rates. Way to go! Or not go as the case may be.

A San Francisco nonprofit provides the homeless with free hot showers and clean toilets in a converted bus. I hope the nonprofit cleans up.

Red Klotz is dead at 93. A star athlete, he made a great career out of losing over 20,000 games to the Harlem Globetrotters. What a glorious loser!

Prehistoric humans ate purple nutsedge (nut grass), a weed, for dental health. It prevents cavities! Whodathunkit?! So, eat your weedies.

A deputy sheriff shoplifted at Target but no charges were ever brought against him.  But the security guy who caught him was fired. So, if you have a badge, go to Target for off-duty-free shopping.

U.S. District Court Judge Peter Messitte has stepped into the “Redskins” controversy by forbidding use of the team name in his Courtroom.

Since Judge Messitte has banned use of “Redskins” in his Courtroom, Redskins’ owner Dan Snyder says he won’t use the name “Peter Messitte”.

“Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein.” — Joe Theismann