Pics and lists

 So why a post right now?  Combine lack of work with upcoming inventory and you get vacation day.  Not a real overwhelming one, either.  First off, it's cold (38 F as I type), rainy, so no walk.  Then we were without internet for a time- half of it because of an outage, and half b/c I was using the wrong password.  Follow that up with the results of a long story that I will now shorten for you.  Several days back, Laurie got a package we weren't expecting- it turned out to be a credit card we didn't order.  Never mind we were nowhere close to qualifying for the darn thing! Apparently someone drew her info from her OLD phone number and signed up.  This was a thick black card designed for frequent travellers (which we most assuredly ain't), and not only was the baseline credit score required nowhere near ours, but the usual income required per annum dwarved ours.  

So she called, got it cancelled, all done- so we thought.  This morning, though, we found that this same idiot who signed us up to it set us up with a travel plan through American Airlines.  And believe me, their website gives you NO idea of how to contact someone alive.  So I googled it- but google got scammed too- the first # I found was a robo outfit speaking in Spanish- and it called back right after I hung up.  Sercond try got us through, and they told us it was just a points program- but they would freeze it, and cancel it completely once I supplied the info requested on an e-mail they would send... after 7 to 10 business days.

So then, we took a suggestion from our financial people to freeze her credit reports.  Two of them went just fine.  Third wanted us to sign up for a paid plan.  But look, in the fine print!  You can still freeze it for free!  Except- they couldn't hook up to THEIR info, please try again later.

In the meantime, I thought I might show youwhat pics I have in the queue. 

Oh, well, there's Friday at Bobs Bar.  That was a tasty beer...

This was the start of our Sunday walk- which ended up too cold to take any more pics!

So yesterday, I ran myself out of work (since they weren't releasing anything else due to inventory) at noon, and immediately took out doggie for a walk...

Looks familiar, don't it?

The latest add to Misty's dead body count- a raccoon

Ascending Big Hill

Taking a break at the end of the ridge

"Hurry up, Daddy!"

Dude walking out on the mud flat...

Misty, too

He's fishing...

Her, too

We had squirrels running out in front of us all over the place

And for daddy, a sock cap

Finally, for your entertainment today, the 10 decisions people dread the most, according to a study published in Popular Science.  

10- Emigrating.  I bet this is "especially with help from ICE"...

9- Getting vaccinated.  Not surprising, considering the Big Pharma and CDC corruption RFK Jr has already exposed...

8- Getting married. I would have thought this might be a little higher.

7- Surgery.  I would have this a LOT higher...

6- Buy a house.  I would have thought this one would be on the "ten most impossible tasks" these days....

5- Becoming self-employed.  Didn't Ben Franklin say something like a self-employer has a fool for an employee and a jackass for a boss?  No, wait, that was a lawyer...

4- Driving a car.  "We surveyed 4,500 people who use the Dan Ryan Expressway..."

3- Investing money.  Depends on if your advisor is Nancy Pelosi or Jim Cramer...

2- Quit your job.  Which is funny, because the top one is...

1- Accept a new job.  I really hope I've done that one for the last time!  Also 2, 7, 8, and 9, frankly....

Martin World News

 

So another week of finding fun news items; so I thought, let's just look at some "below the American radar" stuff. Hope you enjoy!

Moscow Times:  I don't think Perry Mason does it this way...

Our story here comes at the conclusion of the case of one Andrei Kotov, late of the Men Travel Agency, as well as late of life.  Last fall, Kotov was arrested for the heinous crime of directing river tours for alleged LGBTQ groups.  (And no, I don't think that's how "Men Travel Agency" got its name.)  He said he was just running normal tours.  However, the police agancy that had him in custody was nostalgic for NKVD tactics, apparently...

Kotov said in court that police had beaten and electrocuted him with a stun gun during his arrest in November 2024. Rights groups said Kotov had been denied medication and warm clothing while in detention.

Sometime after this, in late December, Kotov "committed suicide" in police custody.  (Go figure, right?) Still, instead of ruling 'case closed' the authorities went on with Kotov's trial, starting some six months after he assumed room temperature.

Several witnesses had failed to appear in court or provided conflicting testimony, according to the independent Telegram news channel Mozhem Obyasnit. 

Law enforcement authorities had ordered one prosecution witness to join Kotov’s tour to collect material for the case, an anonymous lawyer familiar with the case told the outlet. The witness was said to be unable to present clear evidence in court.

Armed with this lack of criminal, lack of evidence, and lack of witnesses, on Friday...

Moscow’s Golovinsky District Court found Kotov guilty of participating in and organizing the activities of an “extremist organization” and of using minors to distribute pornography.

The porn charges were apparently added later to spice up the conviction.  I wonder if they will remand his coffin to the district prison.  And what will his sentence be? "20 years to resurrection"?

GB News: He should have offered him tea and crumpets while pinned...

GB News is a new non state controlled British news site (since we learned last week all we can trust the BBC with is lying about Trump and covering Starmer's butt) to my rotation.  And this story is about a Bournemouth police constable who was fired for... well, let me tell the tale.  A masked 15-year-old had assaulted an elderly man after just having participated in a gang fight at a nearby McDonalds.  Our hero, constable Lorne Castle, tackled the kid, pinned him down, and instructed him to "stop crying like a b****".

For this, he was fired, for "not treating the culprit with courtesy and respect".  He is appealing.

Note to British courts (as well as ours): Respect is EARNED.  Courtesy should be MUTUAL.

BBC World:  And now that I bashed them, how about a peace item

I guess this is a story we can trust them not to spin...

Bear runs onto airport tarmac, halting flights

An airport in the Japanese city of Hanamaki temporarily suspended flights on Wednesday after a bear wandered onto its grounds.  The animal was spotted on the tarmac at 13:00 local time, halting flights for more than an hour.

Human encounters with bears have reached record levels in Japan. Thirteen people have been killed by bears this year, while more than 100 have been wounded. The incidents have prompted authorities to deploy troops to hunt bears and help stop the attacks.

If this had happened in the USA, the Dems would have likely blamed it on "Trump shutting down the government" And the bear would have identified as an elephant.

Xinhua:  Is this because of the bear?

The second headline ion the Chinese news, right after the obligatory "Selected works of Xi Jinping on rule of law published" (Not a joke), was this:

China ministry warns against Japan travel

(No, it wasn't because of bears on the tarmac.  Apparently the new PM likes Taiwan, which makes the whole country a 'security risk'. When I think about it, the bear makes more sense.)

And finally....

The Guardian, backed up by al-Jazeera:  Could we get this company to move our illegals, too?

I tried to ignore the headline on al-Jazeera, but when I saw the storyt again in The Guardian, I had to investigate:  South African offlicials were baffled when a planeload of Gaza Palestinians arrived at Johannesburg airport, without money, food, documents, or the least clue why they ended up there.  It was then I knew I'd have to look beyiond aJ's headline:

What’s the shadowy organisation taking Gaza Palestinians to South Africa?

So here is the scoop as I learned it.  Somewhere in East Jerusalem, a scammer going under the company name of Al-Majd Europe, with a barely functional website that promises,  “For Gaza residents currently inside the Gaza Strip only! Do you aspire to travel and start a new life? We are here to help you!” has been collecting $1,400 to $2,000 a head- regardless of age- and sending them off to this new life without telling their clients just where they'll end up.  Most of the clients only learned they were heading for South Africa when they stopped in Nairobi to refuel.

The Palestinian leadership, not surprisingly, are saying this is all an Israeli rigged operation.  The Guardian remains non-commital.  What is known, it was a Romanian plane that apparently had no AC; a local aid organization stepped up to help those who didn't have passports to other destinations; They had been collected by bus, told to bring "only a small bag, a cell phone, and a little money"; And nobody but nobody knows who is actually behind it, but it was the second such flight to end up in South Africa.

What's the excuse for pictures this week?

 Actually, the same as last week.  Out of a prospective 10-hour day, 4 days a week schedule, this week was: 8 hours for 3 days, 4th day- even with a 35 minute meet with HR- ran out of work 3 hours and 40 minutes in.  Oh, but we ARE working 3 days Thanksgiving week.  As Bobby Vinton would say, 

Anyhow, that meant time for walks- and when the arctic simulation finally broke up around here on Wednesday, we hit it....

Bright blue day number 1

Spying on us as we entered Plex space...

Misty, of course, gobbling snow as we went...

And cutting through into the woods.

Misty was working on her "detecting dead stuff" skills.  Center of pic is a somewhat gloppy remnant of a squirrel...

...and several minutes and distance later, she found the still-bloody jawbones of one.

Nice to see Stony Run without the leaves

Here, I find fur from off another squirrel's tail.  Apparently it wasn't a good week for our nutty friends, probably because of that whole "fat and sluggish" thing from last week.

And no, she didn't pee on it.  But apparently someone did.

Here, she asked permission to gobble.  Permission granted.

Now, at least we know the crew that keeps putting up the little flags here and there.  Looked like a class split into three groups, with 2 supervisors.

Dam is closed again, water has receeded, but it got below 30 degrees F, so out comes the ice warning sign.

And here is why Misty suddenly picked up the pace...

Back at home, it seems someone had a homework disaster.  And thanks to a staple that held strong...

...we get a "homework flower".

Today, with a much earlier start, I thought we'd go around the other way...

Yet another BBD...

The stream bed between us and the Bark Park hasn't been very busy this year

The painting work is proceeding apace- much better than when the last owners attempted.

At least one neighbor is ready for Christmas...

The office does nice gardening

And out of the complex we go

Someone need a Carmax plate?

The amount of abandoned clothes we find is simply amazing...

...a wide variety, despite it still being the Year of the Sock.

Misty's next find- dead raccoon

And the turn down Clinton St

I took this so I could see if this was a boat I might of made a cover for.  Rinker? That's a no.

Misty acted like she wanted to hurry up and take that bus.  Bonus: After it passed us, it hit the air brakes and she jumped.

No saving that tire...

Man/dog selfie, attempt 1

Attempt 2, sans doggie

Time check

Let's cut through the strip mall!

Last time we made this trip, this was a lot under construction and we wondered what it was going to be.  Now we know- yet another of the car wash "palaces" going up all over town.

I asked her- "River or woods?" She chose woods

Always nice to see running water here.

The birds were having a party throughout the woods.  The squirrels, or what's left of them, must be late risers.