Score one for privacy — Federal Trade Commission officials have announced that the managers at four robocall operations have agreed to permanently cease and desist their harassing activities, meaning billions of annoying telemarketer calls have been eliminated. But don’t start celebrating yet. Analysts say that’ll barely make a dent in the voluminous number of junk calls made to USA consumers every day. Still, it’s a start.
No wall? No problem-o — There’s a new sheriff in town on the USA’s southern border. A group of armed forces veterans and older men have formed a militia (yes, that’s right; they carry weapons for self-defense) called the United Constitutional Patriots, according to The Sun’s website. These guys walk the line near Mount Christo Rey, located west of El Paso, Texas. When they spot migrants without visas or passports (aka illegal immigrants) or MS-13 gang members trying to sneak into the United States, the patriots alert U.S. Border Patrol agents. Here’s saluting the UCP.
Speaking of salutes and patriots … — It’s not often that a 95-year-old U.S. Army veteran gets promoted from captain to colonel. But it happened this week to former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas, when both the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate unanimously approved a bill promoting Dole, according to The Associated Press. Dole was a lieutenant in the infantry during World War II. Toward the end of the war in 1945, he was wounded by Nazi machine-gun fire, limiting the use of his left arm for the rest of his life. During the war, Dole was awarded two Purple Hearts and two Bronze Stars for valor. He subsequently served 35 years in Congress, earning widespread respect as a statesman and a lawmaker. In 1996, Dole ran unsuccessfully for president on the Republican ticket — the last WWII veteran to have been nominated for the White House by a major political party. (Dole lost to Bill Clinton.) It’s safe to say that Bob Dole represents the best of the Greatest Generation.
Ridiculous to sublime – First-year Arizona Cardinals football coach Kliff Kingsbury obviously is trying to score extra points with his players. What’s his strategy? Coach K.K. is building “cellphone breaks” into his game plan on the practice gridiron, according to Yahoo Sports. ESPN reports that Kingsbury plans to schedule the breaks every 20 or 30 minutes during the Cardinals’ two-a-days so his players can allay their addiction to social-media updates, e-mail messages, texts, breaking news, etc. Poor babies! Not only are many of them over-paid for what they do, but now they’re going to be overly pampered. It’d be funny if it weren’t so pathetic.