I had a good day. I value it highly. Climate change is here considering in the 80's it was predictable weather; now it's humid summery weather and suddenly 40s 30s? tomorrow. just above cuba...

Now as for these articles... just wow... considering it all started not too long ago in American history.

~ really terrible imho:

Mount Rainier ranger shooting: Iraq veteran found dead

The body of an Iraq war veteran wanted over the killing of a park ranger in Washington state has been found, officials have said.

Officials found the suspected gunman, Benjamin Colton Barnes, in Mount Rainier National Park.

The park has been closed since Margaret Anderson, 34, was shot dead while trying to stop a vehicle on Sunday morning.

Barnes, 24, had also been linked to an earlier shooting at a New Year's party.

The body of Barnes, reported to have been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, was found face down in the snow.

Mount Rainier National Park Chief Ranger Chuck Young said that they were seeking to establish the exact cause of death.

"He was wearing a T-shirt, a pair of jeans and one tennis shoe. That was it," Pierce County Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said.

Police said they had also recovered his vehicle, which had weapons, body armour and survivalist gear inside.

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'Are the Republican candidates all crazy?'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16386176

I've lost count of the number of times over the Christmas break that people have asked me some variation of that question. Weird, mad or bonkers, what ever word they used their contemptuous dismissal was the same.

Some will call it bias to even point out that this is a common perception, but it is real, and it is important.

There's no doubt that the scorn was more likely to be expressed by people on the left than the right, and more often by the British than Americans.

Of course there is a long, if not honourable, tradition of regarding those you disagree with as off their rockers. And we Brits have a bit of a record of patronisingly shaking our heads at American quirkiness.

~ education is key. arts and music; side of ethics too: at least a grasp of the notion. I'm talkin' modern urban hand/digital arts too!