Four Humble Thoughts

 1.  I read yesterday that NPR is moving up with a court-challenge...saying the federal  government HAS TO fund their operation.  The selling point of this?  For people in the 'sticks' (my term for rural Arkansas or Alabama)....NPR is the only way people get news.

I tried to imagine how this BS would come across.

If you sat in the most rural part of Alabama....off AM/FM....you can probably get 30 stations, with your choice of sports, gospel inspirations, country/western, 1980s tunes, and on the hour....get a five-minute update of news.

Added to this rural  scenario....you can subscribe to the local 16-page daily newspaper.  You can also subscribe to US News and World Report, a dozen monthly magazines, and the Sunday paper from Atlanta, Nashville, or Chicago.  

If that was not enough....you can get in this rural area....at least four TV stations.  

You can go into the most remote area of Oregon, and find the same situation....at least forty avenues of  news....if you had the time or inclination.

Sorry, I DON'T buy NPR's BS on this topic. What I see is  a propaganda-unit....built on federal funding, and now in a terminal stage...unable to reach tens of millions.

2.   Up until the Caitlan Clark era in NCAA basketball....I had not really watched much of women's basketball....maybe just highlight video.   In the past  year.....I've probably watched a hundred highlight video of  the WNBA, and probably four actual games.

My chief attention to the game action?   There's so many crappy violations that I can note in a 3-minute period....between fouls...turning the ball over....'walking'....and poor play.

This past week, I watched a quarter of the Chicago women's team....counting around 16 total violations. Roughly ninety-percent were not called by the ref's.

3. I read this AM....the State Department is now reviewing all visa holders associated with Harvard, not just students.  

Professors?  Yeah.  I'm guessing here that a dozen non-American professors are on the payroll....here on a visa, and their behavior over the past four years will finally be evaluated.

4. Skittles says it will remove titanium dioxide from all products sold in the US.

So two questions. First, how did titanium dioxide get into Skittles in the first place?  Second, does the statement  mean in the EU....Skittles will continue to have titanium dioxide?