Friday, August 2, 2013

Parks and Sparks

Have you heard of one of the newest bills being introduced in Congress?  I know there are endless possibilities as to what silliness is being hacked up over there, but the one I am talking about today is the bill to make the moon a National Park.  Yeah, you know like Grand Canyon without the view or Yellowstone without the geyser. 

There is a reason behind this madness..well if you are an "outside the box" kind of thinker, that is. U.S. Rep. Donna Edwards, D-Md. and Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-TX, are co-sponsoring a bill called the Apollo Lunar Landing Legacy Act.

Edwards, a member of the House Space Subcommittee, is concerned that artifacts left at the six Apollo landing sites could be pirated away.

Yep, with all the important things that are being argued about in Congress, it seems that we are concerned with our trash being hijacked off the moon.  AND to be sure there is a lot of it.  Everything from landing stages to moon buggies.

One of the problems with this legislation, other than pissing off aliens that are chomping at the bit (do they have bits?) to get their hands (do they have hands?) on our cast offs, is that there is a treaty that was signed in 1967 by one hundred nations, including the U.S. which prohibits any country from claiming property in space.  The Outer Space Treaty, also, has a part that says: "Outer space is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means."

Well, that was before the U.S. left a bunch of good sh** up there including 3 golf balls clubbed by Allen Shepard.  Sports memorabilia is big business and those have to be worth something.



Hey, Litterbug!  Have you seen those three golf balls?

Speaking of National Parks...

For many of us that are of a certain age...that age being OLD, we remember the early days when Smokey Bear would be a stern sort that pointed his finger at us and tell us in no uncertain terms to be careful about starting forest fires.   I took him at his word that he meant business.

I, also, wondered why he didn't correct all of the people that inadvertently kept calling him "Smokey the Bear" when his name is Smokey Bear but I guess he's more concerned about fires than names.

Anyway...it does seem that people and bears mellow with age.

He is giving up the "in your face" finger pointing and now has resorted to hugging everyone he can get his big bear arms around. 



The NEW softer cuddly bear...



 Kind of sad that the girl didn't get a hug too. She was being a good camper, as well.

Note: On some of the mobile apps, the video may not appear. If you aren't seeing the video click here       Smokey Bear Hugs