News Roundup

• From the "Yanking the Leash" Department - The Supreme Court has ruled that law enforcement must obtain a search warrant before affixing a GPS device to a vehicle in order to track a suspect's movements.  I agree with this.  If the police want to know where I go and when, they ought to have to go before a judge and prove their case a bit.  Of course, any policeman tracking my movements is going to die of boredom, but hey, I might become interesting again.  It could happen!
•  From the "Pretty Lights" Department - A large and powerful solar flare is expected to impact flights over the Earth's poles this week.  I expect to be going out and watching the Northern Lights if the sky is clear.  I need to get a short wave radio one of these days so that I can show Girlie Bear how to listen to the aurora borealis.  It'll be a bummer if the storm interferes with digital communicaac8qfnq1l24kinmva8.
• From the "Tread Lightly" Department - My senator, Rand Paul, was detained at the Nashville airport yesterday because he refused to allow a TSA agent to perform a proctological exam on him after the porn-o-tron showed an anomaly on his leg. Apparently showing the part of the body that's been indicated isn't good enough.  For those of you paying attention, inconveniencing a senator who will have an impact on your funding is considered a less than optimal move for a federal agency.  Personally, I hope this is the straw that breaks the camel's back.
• From the "Wishing Her Luck" Department - Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was wounded in an assassination attempt by a deranged man last year, has announced that she is resigning her seat in Congress so that she can concentrate on her recovery.  I wish Mrs. Giffords luck and continued progress.  Brain injuries are a hard row to hoe, and she's going to need all the time and energy she can muster.
• From the "Steam" Department - NASA has announced that it has observed and recorded a comet disintegrating as it plunged into the sun. I can draw a political line from this in that if the Republicans don't get their act together soon, that's what's going to happen to them in November.
• From the "Blotto in a Volvo" Department - A man in Florida was arrested after police discovered he was drunk.  Nothing particularly newsworthy there.  Unfortunately, people get drunk and climb into the driver's seat every day.  What is unique here is that the gentleman was so drunk he didn't notice he was missing a tire.  Now, I've had a tire fall off of a car before, and it puts on quite a light and sound show, so you'd have to be pretty messed up not to notice.  Maybe he just thought the sparks was part of a new flame job he didn't know he had.
• From the "Prescient Without a License" Department - Authorities in Massachusetts are summoning psychics in the Boston area to a special board to explain why they are operating without a license.  Apparently in order to look at auras, stare at tea leaves, and gaze into crystal balls in Boston, you have to give city hall their pound of flesh.  I'm guessing the psychics will cooperate fully.  I mean, it's not like they're holding the tribunal in Salem or anything.  Although, if I were one of these people, I'd be getting with anyone else and seeing if anyone has a bad vibe.  You just never know.
• From the "Don't Let The Door Hit You" Department - A member of the Norwegian government has stated his opinion that unemployed immigrants should go home and stop utilizing the generous benefits of the Scandinavian country.  Sounds good to me, and I'm not surprised that people would be staying in Norway for the benefits.  It's not like they're staying for the mild winters.  
• From the "Don't Mess With Grandma" Department - An 85 year old woman saved her husband's life by driving off an angry moose with a shovel recently.  Having been chased by a moose across two lakes in the Minnesota Boundary Waters, I can appreciate how much guts it took to start whacking the swamp donkey about the head and shoulders.  One thing's for sure:  That husband will never give his wife lip again.  Not only does he owe her his life, he also knows that she is not afraid to die.