In Case You Missed It!

The Brits are going to spend a half billion dollars to refurbish Buckingham Palace.  I wonder if there aren’t a few people in the Sceptered Isle who think there are better ways to spend money other than propping up a creaky, outdated institution in a house that’s falling down.

Researchers in New York City swabbed the keypads of 66 A.T.M.s and found they were covered with microbes from human skin, traces of food and a mold associated with spoiled baked goods.  Icky, they said.  But not to worry – they’re mostly harmless.

Some scientists say that cockatoos are as smart as a 3-year-old human.  Example: In Vienna, a cockatoo named Figaro is fond of making tools.  When a pebble he was playing with fell outside his cage he used a piece of bamboo to try to rake the stone back in.  Terrific!  If your 3-year-old did this would you be impressed?

In the English Premier League last season’s wonder-team champions, Leicester City, is in 14^th place, just ahead of Middlesbrough and a point behind Stoke City.  Disappointing but not surprising.  Who’s on top?  The usual suspects.  Order, and money, again rule the day.

Staying with sports (laughingly said to be fair competition) an additional 75 athletes in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, mostly from Russia and Eastern Europe, have been found guilty of doping violations.  If you are shocked you’ve been living on another planet.

Regarding the stories that dominate the news these days, I’ve said I expect the worst and, for now, will shut up rather than comment.  I’m stickin’ with my story.