Headlines, Commentary, and a Quick Update

I've been rather busy the past couple of weeks.  I will be heading to Asia for a month or so in a few weeks (no doubt some interesting posts will be generated by this trip), I just bought a house in Las Vegas (also a future post but suffice it to say that paying cash for a home base was an opportunity I didn't want to pass up...we'll see how this works out), and I am wrapping up some business things in Seattle for the time being.
I have not, however, missed out on the news.  Here's some commentary...

• The heatwave.  I didn't write a post about this because each summer there have been a couple of posts on this topic posted in the blog.  The summery: keeping cool is the name of the game.  Being able to do this with or without power is a skill that everyone should learn.
• The Norway shooting.  Tragic, of course.  It was interesting how everyone immediately thought 'Islamic terrorists!' when this happened.  Noting that the bombing and shooting targeted one specific political party made me think otherwise.  And while I haven't been meticulous in the study of the details, why an outdoor camp had no firearms (for protection against wildlife if nothing else) is beyond me.  Shootings can happen anywhere and the only effective response is an armed response.
• The debt ceiling crisis.  What a circus.  The summary: you never want to be at the mercy of the government.  If your only income is Social Security or a military pension or a welfare check or eventually, even a government job...well let's hope you have some sort of side business going so you can at least afford some food while the political powers that be play ping pong with the national economy.
• And some other random headlines: Amy Winehouse (sad; this is what years of drugging will do to a body), 3700 post offices closing (it's about time; a private business with a business model such as the USPS would have went under years ago), Happy Meals get a healthier makeover (meh; you shouldn't feed your kid garbage on a regular basis anyway), mother not sent to prison over son being killed while jaywalking (what a waste of taxpayer money to even bring this to trial).
• Funniest headline on reddit in the past few days: this (every once in a while a headline will remind me that Darwin was right).