"In order to get elected, barackobama will start a war with Iran." - Donald J. Trump, Twitter, 29 Nov 2011

Since the problem of feral hogs seems to have come up lately, I'd like to make a brief excursion into Greek mythology.

There are numerous myths involving battles between heroes and monsters. Sometimes it's one hero versus numerous monsters, as with Hercules and the Stymphalian birds. Sometimes the fight is one-on-one, as with Theseus and the Minotaur. Sometimes two heroes will team up against a monster, e.g., Hercules and Iolaus against the Hydra.

I know of only one example where a team of heroes was enlisted against a single monster. This was in the generation before the Trojan War, so the heroes are, perhaps, less well known, but they weren't B-listers. Atalanta; Castor and Pollux; Iolaus; Jason; Laertes (Odysseus' father); Meleager; Nestor; Peleus (Achilles' father); Telamon (father of Ajax the Greater); Theseus; and a host of others. Some of them died in the fight, but they eventually killed the Calydonian Boar.

I don't care how good you are with a semi-automatic weapon, you're not going to take down a group of boars. If you actually have boars coming on to your property, call in the freaking experts!

This is horrifying: the German anti-Semitism commissioner is advising German Jews not to wear kippas - skullcaps - in public, due to the rise in anti-Semitic activities in that country.

A Polish charity's foray into bird tracking has led to a very large phone bill.

:shakes head:

There have been massive protests in Russia, in opposition to the Putin regime. Hundreds of people have been arrested for participating in illegal assemblies.

There appears to have been no comment from the White House on these developments. Gee, I wonder why?

In the wake of the Paris massacre, this is a helpful reminder concerning the rest of the Muslims of the world.

Don't let the monsters convince you that there's no one else.

Hard on the heels of Robin Williams' death, we've lost another one: Lauren Bacall has died.

I don't know that you'd call her a great actress, but she put in some great performances: "To Have and Have Not", "The Big Sleep", and "Key Largo" are among my not-so-guilty pleasures. I'd rate the first of them highest; she played a more, ah, active role in that story than in the other two, IMO.

Good night, Betty Joan. Say "Hi" to Bogie for us.

Daniel Keyes, who wrote one of the most powerful SF stories ever in "Flowers for Algernon", has died.

Remember to put some flowrs on his grave in the bak yard.

Mary Stewart has died.

My mother loved her books. I've only recently begun collecting them for myself.

:raises glass:

Here is an interesting poll by Gallup on which school subjects Americans say have been valuable to them. I'm not confident that everyone is in agreement as to the content of those subjects, however.