Wake Me Up When September Ends

What's going with the world? Most mornings I peruse the net for headlines and news from around the world, and a few days ago, I was just hit with a string of articles that made me just ask, "what the hell is going on here?" I mean fine it's normal to see this stuff in the paper every once in a while... all in the same day.

It began with a story of two girls in Arizona who were duped with counterfeit bills at the lemonade stand. I bet they didn't think of that as an option in Lemonade Tycoon. Seriously, though, it's hard enough to be a kid these days with a war going on, threats of terrorists everywhere, kidnappers, rapers, and now you'll even be targeted by scammers at your lemonade stand.

And talking about war... In Tampa, Fl, junk yard workers found a discarded surface-to-air missile, a.k.a. SAM, lying about.

Experts were drafted in from the nearby MacDill Air Force Base, who quickly identified the object as a Patriot. They said that it was harmless, as it was missing its warhead. MacDill spokesman Lt. Omar Villarreal confirmed that the missile did not contain, in his words, 'the part on top that goes boom.'

Gee... that makes it all better except that the article went on to say that "the missile still had its rocket motor and guidance system." Don't these things cost millions of our tax dollars? And aren't countries like North Korea and the "bad guys" trying to amass this technology? God help us while we simply dump our missiles in an unprotected junk yard and not tell the workers.

Something a little more upsetting was a report out of Jersey City, NJ where a woman found a little something on her lawn one day. What she found was a "AT-4 missile launcher that is used to fire against tanks and buildings. The device was first approved by the U.S. Army in 1985 and its very powerful warheads can penetrate through more than a foot of armor." Officials trying to calm the situation responded with a statement saying the rocket launcher, which is good for one use only, had already been fired. Uhmmm... ok... so this rocket launcher we used and simply discarded on this woman's lawn who also just happens to live in the flight path of a near by airport. WTF!?!

In other news, it is now illegal to take winnings from a defective slot machine. In Elizabeth, IN, prosecutors are considering charges against individuals who collected winnings from a faulty slot machine at Caesars Indiana. The slot machine was handing out $10 for every $1 put in it because of a software defect. There were a number of people who collected from the faulty machine until one of them reported the error.

Kathryn Ford of Louisville, Ky., the gambler who alerted the casino, said going after the other patrons was unfair.

When a slot machine jams and gamblers lose money, they don't get it back, she said.

"It doesn't work in the reverse," Ford said. "They need to forget it and move on."

At least one person has her head on straight, even if the prosecutors and the casino don't seem to have their head on right.

If all else is going to hell, why not just murder and steal. Well, at least the latter is what one bird in the UK has begun to do.

Shop assistant Sriaram Nagarajan said: "He's got it down to a fine art. He waits until there are no customers around and I'm standing behind the till, then he raids the place.

The bird is even picky as he only takes one particular kind. He has become quite a celebrity with the locals too. They have named him Sam and even pay for the bird's chips. I'm lost for words when even the wildlife get into it. Thanx Susan for this one.

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Culinary Word of the Day: Honeywater
Yesterday's, July 25, post listed honeywater as an ingredient in the Candy Cap Mushroom Martini. I tried finding information about honeywater and found very little about it. I did end up with what looks like a Swiss recipe from Astray.com. Honeywater is a strengthening drink - for a cold, or before going swimming in Lake Lugano. I'm not certain if this is in fact the same honeywater that was in Jen's drink, but if anyone knows more about honeywater, please do leave a comment.