News for Week Ending Friday, Mar 9, 2018

1.   A passenger on a SkyWest flight from San Francisco to Boise suddenly started shouting “I am God!” and tried to open an exit door in mid-flight. ***  Apparently, even God has second thoughts about going to Boise.

2.   Former White House staffer Hope Hicks appeared before the House Investigation Committee and told them she could not access two of her e-mail accounts because they had been hacked.  ***   The congressmen told her to quit wasting their time and go to the Congressional Help Desk.  (New tongue twister, say three times fast: “How many hackers could hack Hope Hicks if Hope Hicks could be hacked?”)

3.   Singer Neil Young recently vented at YouTube for profiting from songs without giving payment or recognition to the musicians.  ***  Uh, kinda like riding a horse all the way through the desert and not even giving it a name.

4.   Police in Long Beach, California arrested a man for riding his horse on the freeway.  *** They caught him as he was trying to pick up a hitchhiker so he could use the carpool lane.

5.   People following the Mueller investigation say that Paul Manafort made a big mistake by asking his associate to convert a computerized financial report to a different file format.  ***   They said that seemed very suspicious, because normally you’d ask a 14 year old.

6.   On this date in history:  Mar 9, 1822 – Charles M. Graham of New York patents artificial teeth.   ***  He was immediately criticized by thousands of protestors yelling, “Fake chews!”

7.   On this date in history:  Mar 8, 1855 – The first train crosses the first U.S. railway suspension bridge, over Niagara Falls.  ***   It was also the first train to really, really need an onboard restroom. 

8.   On this date in history:  Mar 1, 1941 – "Captain America" first appears in a comic book.  ***    No, he did not have orange hair and a string of hotels and golf courses.

9.   On this date in history:  Feb 28, 1692 – The Salem witch hunt begins.   ***  Authorities began rounding up dozens of women who had been accused of collaborating with the Russians.

10.  On this date in history:  Feb 26, 1975 – The “Today Show” broadcasts the first televised kidney transplant.  ***  That was quite an accomplishment—it wasn’t easy to get two volunteers from the studio audience.