A Soldier Passes

RIP Bob Dole, 98. I won’t comment on his long political career, but I will honor his service during WWII, which nearly cost his life. He was a second lieutenant in the 10th Mountain Division, shot by Nazi gunfire just before his 22nd birthday in the hills of Italy in April 1945. 98 U.S. service members died in that area. The bullet shattered his right shoulder and damaged his neck and spine, leaving him temporarily paralyzed, causing him to lose a kidney. He remained on the battlefield more than six hours before being evacuated. He laid in a hospital in Italy for weeks in a body cast. He endured nine operations and three years of rehabilitation, learning to write with his left hand. His left arm remained partially numb the rest of his life, his right was useless. Thank you, sir. (From an article at foxnew.com by Emma Colton, edited by yours truly.)

Count on politicians to be ridiculous. According to a foxnews.com article by Jon Brown, San Francisco is suspending its tax on marijuana distributors so they can compete with those who peddle it illegally.

Headline from FN: “‘Let’s Go Brandon’ store opens in Massachusetts town.”

Here’s a headline that will be difficult to top today, from nypost.com: “One last ride: Motorcyclists remove dead friend’s body from coffin for final ride.” It happened in Ecuador. The deceased, 21, was shot dead last weekend… Spoke too soon. Further down the page: “Bomb squad rushes to hospital after WWII-era shell found in man’s rectum.” It was part of his own collection. He claims to have slipped and fallen on it… Holy cow, here’s a third, from newsmax.com: “Italian Man Uses Fake ‘Arm’ to Avoid COVID Vax Jab.”

From an NYP article by Mackensie Dawson, edited by yours truly: Retired lawyer Tom Morrison is in the midst of his second career, writing. He’s not adding to the glut of legal thrillers, fortunately, but satirizing the profession. His second novel, Please Pass the Tort$, has just been published. It’s a sequel to the brilliantly titled Tort$ ‘R’ Us. Kudos. Now I don’t feel so bad about the cynical two-page story, Wie Fleeson and Howe, that will be included in the Curious Sicilian.

NYP sports media critic Phil Mushnick can always be counted on for intelligent, informative and humorous commentary. In his column today he mentions a sixth-year senior who participated in a recent college football game, and included a quip I don’t recall having ever heard: “I went to college for two terms: Eisenhower’s and Kennedy’s.” Love it!

Ouch! Talk about a hard-hitting cartoon:

No wind, enough sunshine, a good day to sell stuff curbside. My thanks to the kind folks who combined to buy nine books in Russian, and to the gentleman who purchased Emotional Intelligence by Brandon Goleman and The Power Of Your Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murphy; and to the dude who donated about 40 titles, all of them marketable, including the aforementioned.

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