As we all are aware there is a tremendous amount of news on television and other media sources these days. Most of it is on two or three subjects which get beaten to death until the next big thing comes along – and it gets beaten to death. There are, however, many other news items that do not get the exposure that they deserve, which in many cases is a detriment to civilization as we know it – or at least to our daily lives. Thus, in my small way, I thought I would mention a few of these unexplored news items which are critical to us on a day to day basis.
I have mentioned in the past the evil Quebec maple syrup cartel. Well, they are up to their usual “modus operanti”. That is, last year the members of the Cartel produced 152.2 million pounds of maple syrup. That translates into 308,000 barrels of the gooey stuff. Now do you think they put all of that on the market so that the common man can afford it instead of the sugar stuff sold under familiar brand names? Ha! No Way! Instead it goes into a stockpile to keep prices high. Some unkind people stole 40,000 gallons from the stockpile back in 2012. The stockpile is now under security equal to Fort Knox, so no vigilantes should even think about swiping some. If you think Vinnie from the New Jersey mob was bad, wait until you see Pierre!
How many of you are aware that right off the Northeast coast of our country 1000 plus basking sharks are swarming? In other years swarms of equal or larger size have been spotted off New Zealand. What are they up to anyhow? No one including famous scientists seem to know – which is unusual in itself as famous scientists usually have an answer for everything. I will admit that there are some theories, but nothing cast in iron. One present theory is that the sharks off the Northeast coast are planning on working their way to Quebec to see if they can get some of the stockpiled syrup. It is well known that basking sharks love maple syrup so if you ever decide to fish for them just put some maple syrup on the bait. It has to be pure maple syrup as they do not go for the fake stuff.
Also of much importance (it has nothing to do with maple syrup) is the vital news that you may be showering more than you should. By taking daily showers you are affecting the integrity of your skin. All that soap and hot water dissolves the lipids in your skin. Then rubbing with a cloth including drying with towels rubs off the outside horny layer of skin. The latter is bad particularly for us old folks as our skin is thinner and we are left with dry crinkly skin. Thus, if you shower every day, the skin does not get a chance to heal itself. That is what the experts say, but frankly I do not want to be around 100,000 or so people in The Villages who do not shower, so perhaps I should not have mentioned this particular little known news.
Then there is the danger of shopping in a grocery store. I just found a story hidden in an obscure place on the Internet that it is dangerous to go grocery shopping. Apparently some guy just slugged a girl with a can of Chef Boyardee.
They did not state the reason – perhaps he likes Spaghetti-o’s better! Personally, I am not worried because I haven’t eaten Chef Boyardee since I was a kid, but it does make you think that even your local grocery store can be fraught with danger. This is why we all need to look at all the news and not just the “flavor of the day” news. That way we will be prepared for all eventualities.
I need to quit as The Blonde in the house has just given me a grocery list to get some stuff for the grand-kids. Huh, it has Chef Boyardee . .
Barry Evans writes about Life in The Villages for Villages-News.com
