Good morning, everyone.  We have flurries today but don't expect much to accumulate.  Most of the lake effect snow this season has hit east of us.

This was one of the first stories I saw this morning.  Evidently it isn't all that unusual in 'cosmic terms' but historically it is somewhat more rare.  The last I can think of was the Tunguska strike in 1908.

And their point is???  In other settings this is called extortion and is criminal.  I would say filibuster reform failed but then I never really believed those idiots would reform a corrupt system.

I agree, Kay.  Wait and see on anything in politics anywhere.  My BS meter is always twitching.  And when the BS meter beats time with the skepticism meter the pols are in trouble.

I really do detest the Nanny mentality of so many in our society.  They find is so hard to change behavior so they instead try to change, or eliminate, the product.  Once upon a time, when I was growing up, our 'soft' drinks were Kool Aid (which Mom mixed up with regular white sugar), juice, tea, milk, or water.  The carbonated soft drinks were special treats for family picnics or cookouts, birthday parties, or such.  They were not consumed every day, several times a day.  Maybe we should ask ourselves what has changed and if those changes were all that good.  I am not suggesting that the 'good old days' were that good.  In many ways, I am damned sure, they weren't.  But I definitely don't find now to be all that much of an improvement.

This is one reason I don't think now is an improvement over yesterday.  Our industrial food production has only one redeeming characteristic:  it produces a large amount of cheap product.  Whether that product tastes good, or is as healthful as the foods produced by traditional methods is never a part of the equation.