News below the fold

SenseOfEvents saw the eclipse and describes it as similar to this google photo.

First, even in totality it did not get dark, just pretty dim. The horizon skyline was still significantly lit. I would not have needed headlights to drive. Second, when it was over, it was over very fast. Lighting went from dim to daytime almost like snapping your fingers. As I write the sun is still only a sliver as the moon moves away, but looking out my window it seems like full daytime.

and no, Trump didn't look at the eclipse without glasses. As usual, he used glasses, but quickly looked up for a second after he removed them, and the press did a "gotcha" moment.

Sheesh.
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Oh NO!

 Now they're using Barbie Bombs.

more HERE. about a plot against an airliner due to fly to Australia.

and why was that plot foiled?

But he revealed how the explosives did not make it on to the plane because the handbag they were being carried in was 7kg over the weight permitted by the airline.

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another US Navy ship collision with a commercial ship.

The US Navy has ordered a wide investigation into its Pacific fleet following Monday morning's incident.
It was the fourth crash involving a US Navy ship this year and the second in the past two months.

In our prayers.
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have you or have you not ever printed an article defending traditional Catholic teachings on faith or morals?

The Remnant, a uber-traditionalist Catholic newspaper, is now being targeted by the thought police as a hate site. more Here about the charges by the SPLC.

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Yes, the elves made mead in Middle Earth.

recipes here.

full instruction video HERE.

or follow the steps at Instructables.

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a new way to make polio vaccine? Use tobacco.

BBC article.

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We've sort of known this for years, but this 2016 article at MomJones has details on how removing lead from gasoline resulted in a lower crime rate...

it discusses other possible causes for the lower crime rate (abortion, broken windows theory, etc)... but cross culture studies suggest the lowering in lead exposure was a big reason for this.

Back in the 1960's we knew that low grade lead poisoning is associated with ADHD and impulsivity, but we were told to look for major poisonings due to old paint chips that kids ate (because they were Sweet)...but until the environmentalists got into the act, the gasoline link was sort of ignored.

So what is happening in Flint Michigan? and is it related to their water problem?

and the lead in the water supply problem in early 2000's in Washington DC was one of the biggest stories never reported...

McCoy also included a link to a Post story Thursday about a USA Today report based on an analysis of data from the Environmental Protection Agency. The story found that nearly 20 percent of U.S. water systems tested above the EPA’s lead “action level” of 15 parts per billion.

[It’s not just Flint. EPA records show water systems tainted across U.S.]

and it's not just lead: Here, mercury containing light bulbs are just discarded into landfills or canals. It is a disaster waiting to happen, but no one seems very worried about it...