The U.S.A. represents a mere 4.2% of the world population, but we’ve sure been garnering beacoup worldwide headlines as of late. One thing seems certain- the times they are a-changin’ (courtesy Bob Dylan, 1964). New York Times columnist David Brooks recently declared that “…civilization was ‘fun while it lasted’ ”, a witty, yet glum world view that some undoubtedly find far too accurate.
With that in mind, in a country where need gets far too often overruled by greed in so many areas (thanks, social media, for the boost) and where inanity and insanity are terms that often come to mind, check out a few news stories to help distract you- for a moment- from the obfuscation and looney tunes reality we find ourselves in these days…
You might’ve seen the August 1 story of the truck that spilled its innards out on a Pennsylvania highway. The contents? Hot dogs. There were minor injuries, but the written news accounts of the incident were great, with story lines including priceless quips like: “Pennsylvania commuters wurst nightmare”, and “Crews were stuck with a job they did not relish — rolling up the scattered tube steaks for disposal.” I found reports I read to be rather frank. Pardon the bun…
How to slow down incessant poaching that’s decimated various endangered, horned species for decades? The Associated Press reported that a South African university has launched a campaign where it injects radioactive isotopes into rhinoceros horns! The radioactive substance is (apparently) harmless to the animals but can be detected by wary customs agents. Hmmm, how does one passively obtain a roamin’ rhino’s obeisance in the wild? Gotta be tough tranquilizing a tough-skinned, two-ton, wandering herbivore. But good for them- proudly poo-pooing persistent, petty poachers…
A black hole espied more than five billion light-years away in the Cosmic Horseshoe (sounds like a 1960s band) is apparently 10,000 times heavier than our own Milky Way’s black hole. Wow, man. Not sure what I just said there, but it seems astounding. While some consider local construction projects or even discussions on said projects here to be the universe’s largest black holes… you ain’t seen nothing yet. Our rinky-dink Milky Way black hole is 4.3 million times larger than our sun; this new one is the size of 36 billion suns! It may be the most massive black hole ever discovered, and I can’t wait to visit…
Think about it…