Fear Porn

The Beer:  Leinenkugel's Oktoberfest Marzen.  "Shandy" is not beer.

The Bicycle:  I'm back up, although not as often as I would like.  Cooler weather would help.

The VWRC:  Many years ago, Michael Crichton wrote a book called "State of Fear".  The book was not terribly well written, IMHO,but it told a story that is more timely today than it has ever been.  The premise was that the populace had to be kept fearful so they could be controlled.  Sound familiar?  It should.  We are bombarded daily with doom and gloom.  "We are 18 months from extinction because of climate change">  "We are all in danger of a nut with a gun at our local Walmart".  The Rainforest is burning and will be the end of us all".  President Trump (fill in the hand-on-the-button fear of the day)".  "A giant island of plastic in the ocean".  There are hundreds of them that bombard us every day and have for the last 50 years.   But here is the thing.  None of it is true.  It is all "fear porn" meant to get you riled up and tell the government they must "do something".  That something is never the right thing.  It is the expedient thing; the thing that buys more votes and placates the right constituency. 

Wait a day or two before you get excited.  Maybe as much as a week.  Because that's how long it takes for the facts to get out.