Perusing the news

First on my perusal list is the statement made a couple of days ago by Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald comparing waits for help from the VA to lines at Disneyland.  So my question is, how does even President Obama find someone who is such a loser that he compares a line for a vacation treat that you could ALWAYS get out of if you get bored to something someone REALLY needs and has NO option but to wait?  One thing I will give Donald Trump:

Donald J. Trump 

✔‎@realDonaldTrump

Obama’s VA Secretary just said we shouldn't measure
wait times. Hillary says VA problems are not ‘widespread.’ I will take care of
our vets!

1:15 PM - 23 May 2016

I hope he CRUCIFIES them both on this issue.  To me, there is nothing more abhorrent this government does than the way Vets are treated.


Next up, amusing headline:

Drew Peterson wanted to deal drugs after leaving prison, recordings show


Of course, not too many lines of work hiring two-time wife killers, I guess.

Next, I found this interesting exchange on BBC:

Australia's deputy PM Barnaby Joyce said that he is "pulling strings" in Johnny Depp's head after the actor called him an "inbred tomato".

Depp made the tomato comments to talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel.
It comes after Depp and wife Amber Heard were forced to issue an unusual video apology after she illegally brought two dogs into Australia.
Ms Heard avoided a conviction after appearing in an Australian court last month.
Depp told Kimmel the "inbred tomato" comment was not a criticism, but said without explaining further that he was afraid the politician might "explode".
Asked whether he had watched the video apology - which was later mocked by Mr Joyce - Depp said "no, because I didn't want to kill myself".

Mr Joyce responded to the actor's comments by saying: "I'm turning into Johnny Depp's Hannibal Lecter".
"I'm inside his head, I'm pulling little strings, pulling little levers," Mr Joyce told the BBC through a spokesman.
"Long after I'd forgotten about Mr Depp he's remembering me.
"The Australian people know we did the right thing."


So things are so hunky-dory in Australia that the Deputy PM can afford to compare himself to Hannibal Lecter, eh?  I am just curious if that last statement is true.  And the Donald looks even a little better...



Perhaps Mr. Joyce might want to make a good-will trip to Nigeria, where a "tomato emergency" has been declared.  No lie, a leaf borer has destroyed 80% of their crop.  A humanitarian sacrifice might help.


__________________________


But perhaps what we need here is a little perspective.  What is the biggest news story right now?

On CNN, it was a story on the climbers recently killed on Everest.

On MSNBC, it was the DOJ announcement it was seeking the death penalty for the nutjob that shot up the church in Charleston.

On the BBC, the top trend was was Microsoft trying to get away with an "install" button that looked like an "x-out" button.

On Xinhua it was the blasts that killed 74 in Syria.

The Moscow Times most trending was the announcement by Russian President Medvedev that there was no money in their version of Social Security.

BUT...

In Japan, on the Japan Times, the biggest news was " the secret joy of being a Japanese woman" (which, according to the article, is housework...)

The story heavily quotes from a book titled (I kid you not) Japanese Women Don’t Get Old or Fat by Naomi Moriyama.


Also, AlJazeera's lead trend is a story on how young Chinese professional women (no, not THAT profession) are having to "rent" boyfriends in their late 20s to avoid the stigma of being a "leftover woman".

In the Times Of India, the lead story you would accuse me of making up if I didn't do a quick copy-and-paste:

JAISALMER: Left in the heat with its legs tied all day, a camel attacked its owner and severed his head in anger in Rajasthan's Barmer district on Saturday. About 25 villagers struggled for 6 hours to calm the animal down.

Late reports suggest the murderous animal has been purchased by the local chapter of Daesh.


The Daily Mirror led with a video of a group whose tent (in which they were) was being licked clean of dew by three lions in South Africa.