And speaking of news stories that should be of only local interest, remember that school superintendent that was arrested for pooping repeatedly on the track of one of his high schools? Well, he’s fired his lawyer and got one to actually defend him and set the record straight.

Not everything you’ve heard about Thomas Tramaglini – the Kenilworth superintendent of schools accused of pooping on a high school track and field near his home – has been fair or true, according to his new attorney.

Source: Accused mystery pooper’s lawyer: N.J. superintendent will debunk ‘falsehoods’ | NJ.com

Either he repeatedly pooped on the track or he didn’t. I’m not sure what else there could be that I’d heard. The only defense I can think of for him, and it would be a poor one, is that he had some form of chronic diarrhea but that doesn’t excuse him from just leaving the steaming pile there.

I’m anxious to see where his attorney is going with his vigorous defense.

A loss of $53 billion? It’ll probably bounce back by morning. But he’s saying he’s worried about who?

Trump talked about changing Amazon’s tax treatment because he is worried about mom-and-pop retailers being put out of business, the Axios website reported.

Source: Amazon sheds $53 billion in market value after report on Trump threat

I see Amazon as more of a savior of the mom and pop shops than a threat to them. Amazon market place is chock full of mom and pop businesses that couldn’t otherwise compete with the big box stores operated by national and regional retail giants.

When I was a kid my mom didn’t watch me that close when I was in the neighborhood playing. In fact, when I was two miles away from home playing in a thicket of woods I wasn’t under any adult supervision. As long as I checked in at lunch and at supper and was in for the night by sundown I was left to play.

My kids didn’t have quite that much freedom but almost. My grandkids are rarely unsupervised at all. It’s kind of a shame too because it’s never been safer to be a kid in America than today.

So where does that leave us in the debate over “free-range” children? Kids are dying less. They’re being killed less. They’re getting hit by cars less. And they’re going missing less frequently, too. The likelihood of any of these scenarios is both historically low and infinitesimally small.

Source: There’s never been a safer time to be a kid in America – The Washington Post

The article is three years old but the numbers haven’t changed that much. We think things are much more dangerous but that’s due to hearing about every child in danger across all fifty states fifteen minutes after it hits the news.