Some Saturday Reads

 The day congressional Republicans can do an honest day's work for an honest day's pay is the day they have any business pushing "work" requirements for people eligible for SNAP benefits.

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A Few Friday Reads

 It was so gratifying to read about the Ken Martin family of Oregon, where their car and their remains were finally recovered and identified after 67 years.  Some theories about foul play were common over the decades, but it appears it was just a tragic accident after all.

They disappeared during the Christmas holidays in 1958, with two of the daughters' bodies having been recovered a few months later.  However, the parents, Ken and Barbara Martin, and their daughter, Barbie, were not found until recently.  

Snip:

Investigators found the remains in the Columbia River within the wreckage of the family’s car. The Hood River County Sheriff’s Office said it has concluded its investigation and found no evidence of a crime.

The Martin family vanished in December 1958 while reportedly traveling to the Columbia River Gorge to gather Christmas wreath greenery. Months later, searchers discovered the bodies of two daughters, Virginia, 13, and Susan, 11, downstream. Despite extensive searches at the time, authorities never located Kenneth, Barbara or their oldest daughter, Barbie, who was 14.

The case saw renewed attention in November 2024 when diver Archer Mayo claimed to have discovered the old station wagon in a part of the river known as “the pit.” The vehicle was submerged in 50 feet of water. It was upside down and buried, nose first, under sediment and rock.

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Trump kissed Charlie Kirk's grieving widow, Erika, at a rally in Arizona today.

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Wednesday Reads

 Equine obit:  Popular racehorse and Darley sire Frosted, 14, has died of complications from laminitis.

Snip:

A Godolphin homebred, Frosted earned three grade 1 wins, including a tour de force as a 4-year-old in the 2016 Met Mile, which he won by a race record 14 1/4 lengths in stakes-record time of 1:32.73 on a fast track despite carrying high weight of 120 pounds. Darley reports his Beyer Speed Figure of 123 for that race is still the highest ever at a mile. 

The race in question:

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Of course Trump is dying right before our eyes, but fat chance he is ever going to leave before 2029 unless it is in a box.

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Some Miscellaneous for Monday

It was the end of Eric Swalwell's political career today. 

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Obit:  Sid Krofft, 96, who with his brother Marty created many memorable children's programs, most notably the short-lived H.R. Pufnstuf, died Friday.  His brother died in 2023. 

Snip:

Krofft was born in Montreal on July 30, 1929, and when he was young, he and his family lived in Maine, Rhode Island and the Bronx. For PR, the brothers liked to say that they came from a long line of puppeteers going back many generations. In truth, the story was fabricated. Their father was a clock salesman who emigrated from Greece in the early 1900s.

“The Kroffts have been playing with dolls their whole lives,” Marty joked about the brothers’ boyhood interest in puppeteering. By the time he was 15, Sid was already working clubs in New York.

(They had two other brothers; Hy died during fighting in World War II, and Harry, who died last year, briefly worked for their company before going into real estate.)

A Few Reads for Sunday

 Some sanity seems to be happening in Hungary.

Meanwhile, insanity still rules the day in the White House.

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A Few Reads for Saturday

 O.J. Simpson died two years ago, so why anybody would care what his final days were like dying of cancer is a mystery to me.  Ron and Nicole are still dead, dead long before their time.

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A Few Reads for Thursday

 Why do so many No Kings protesters seem to be retirement age or older?

My take is they probably know more than younger generations just what is at stake.

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