The Farsider Nov. 12, 2015 Bill Mattos, Editor and Publisher <bilmat@comcast.net> Leroy Pyle, Webmaster <leroypyle@sjpba.net> The Farsider is an independent publication that is not affiliated with the San Jose Police Benevolent Assn. The SJPBA has allowed the Farsider to be included on its website solely for the convenience of the retired San Jose Police community. The content of this newsletter does not represent or reflect the views of the San Jose Police Benevolent Association's Board of Directors or its membership. HAPPY BELATED VETERANS DAY TO ALL YOU VETS As pointed out by Mike Thompson and several other retired SJPD luminaries, “This is one heck of a story.” Description of “One Life, One Flag, One Mile: After over 8 months of marathon+ days, Mike Ehredt's amazing personal tribute to over 6,550 fallen US Servicemen and women ended at 1:30 p.m. on Veterans Day, November 11, 2012, in Galveston, Texas. In 2010, Mike ran from Astoria, OR to Rockland, ME and placed 4,424 flags, one every mile for every US soldier and Marine lost in Iraq. Then, in 2012, Mike placed the last of 2,140 flags honoring those US soldiers and Marines who had died in Afghanistan. Click HERE to view the video. (6:21) LAST PBA MEETING OF THE YEAR Because the PBA doesn’t meet in December, next Wednesday’s, Nov. 18th, get-together at the POA Hall will be the last of the year. All members who are capable of attending are encouraged to show up and exchange holiday greetings with their friends and former coworkers. The open bar will be pressed into service at 5 p.m. with a buffet dinner following around 6:00. SJPOA NEWS Nov. 5th Click on either of the links below for more information… SCCPOA Website SCCPOA Facebook ••••• Nov. 6 NBC Bay Area: Widow Accepts Honor for Slain Officer Michael Johnson Who Was Inducted Into Police Amateur Athletic Foundation Hall of Fame. (Click HERE) PENSION NEWS Nov. 9th Bill, I'm not sure the masses would find this article particularly interesting, but in my view, it is a little unsettling. Regards, Craig Shuey <cvshuey1459@gmail.com> Ditto. I found it a little unsettling as well. What Craig sent in was a link from the Calpensions website that included the following article: “San Jose, Atlanta Pensions: A Tale of Two Rulings.” Click HERE to pull up the article. THE TRIALS & TRIBULATIONS OF SAN JOSE AND THE SJPD We didn't find anything noteworthy for this column this week. MAIL CALL Nov. 8th Bill and Leroy, I will never deny a person the right of "Freedom of Speech.” But I will also point out that there are consequences related to hate speech. I have listed the films that I will not view from this day on: Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill Vol 1, Kill Bill Vol 2, Death Proof, Inglorious Bastards, Django Unchained and any future films associated with Quentin Tarantino. My dissent will not hurt him, but I will feel better. Bill Yarbrough <billyarbrough36@yahoo.com> ••••• Nov. 9th Bill, CBS 13 in Sacramento did a brief story last week on my Advanced CSI course at Sac State. It resulted in something positive from the University for the weekly news. Steve D’Arcy <sdarcy@csus.edu> I searched YouTube and the KMAX CBS website looking for a larger video, Steve, but was unsuccessful, so I had to go with the link you included in your message which can be seen HERE. Congrats on maintaining a youthful appearance. You don’t look much different than you did when you left the SJPD to take on the Undersheriff’s job up there in the Sierra foothills. ••••• Nov. 11th Ha! I love this, whether you are a Trump fan or not. Happy Veterans Day to all who served. (2:30) Pete (Guerin) USN <ptguerin@icloud.com> TRUMP AD Click HERE to view this rousing tribute Pete sent in. It's titled “The Un-Armed Forces Medley.” (2:30) ••••• Bill, Nov. 9th Here’s another Bill Whittle video from his Afterburner series. This time he talks about guns as if they independently decide to go on murder sprees. Red State <red.state@comcast.net) I’ll have to admit that Whittle has a way of grabbing the viewer’s attention. Here’s the CLIP that Red sent in. (6:58) ••••• Nov. 11th Bill and Leroy: I need to vent! I went to Target to buy some items and noticed an older woman was staring at me in the same aisle I was in. Not a big deal I thought. But when I moved to the next aisle she followed and began staring at me again. When I finished my shopping and headed to the checkout line the same woman was standing directly in front of me and continued staring at me, so I started playing with my phone so I didn't have to look at her. She finally said, "I want to apologize for staring at you, but you look like my son who just passed away." I felt really bad after hearing that and offered her my condolences. She said ”Thank you, but I have a favor to ask. I know this may sound very strange, and I’ll understand if you don't want to, but could you give me a hug and say, 'Bye Mama' to me?" Now this was really weird, but I could understand her grief, so I went ahead and gave her a hug and repeated her request. She smiled, thanked me, gathered her stuff and left. When the cashier rang up the items I was buying the total came to $100.87. I immediately knew something wasn't right because it should have been closer to $40. When I questioned the cashier she said that my total was included with my mom's. What the hell? I thought. The cashier said, "Your mom told me you were paying for her items along with yours." I immediately realized that I had been conned and told her. “That woman was NOT my mom.” “Well I saw you hug her and call her mom,” she replied. I flew out of the store looking for the woman and saw her parked in a nearby handicapped stall loading her car. She saw me at about the same time and jumped in the driver's seat. Just as she was closing the door I grabbed for her, caught her leg and began pulling, but to my horror it was an artificial leg and it came right off. So I grabbed for her other leg and began pulling, just like I’m pulling on yours now. Hahaha... If I got you, feel free to copy and paste and send to some friends. Louis Quezada <lq2444@yahoo.com> This story generated several ha-ha comments when Louis posted it on the San Jose cops' Facebook page yesterday. Did any of you bite? ONLY 60 TICKETS REMAINING FOR THE KEITH KELLEY CHRISTMAS DINNER DANCE To reserve yours, or for more information, get in touch with Margie Thompson at 408-4213785, or send an email to <sssq@aol.com>. FOR MILITARY VETERANS Are you military veterans aware that beginning today — Nov. 12, 2015 — you can have the word “VETERAN” added to the front of your California driver’s license? Whether you are proud of your service and want it noted on your CDL and/want to take advantage of some store discounts that are likely to come down the pike, the process is easy. The following info is from the DMV website… How to Add the Veteran Designation to Your DL/ID Card New Veteran Designation Effective November 12, 2015, eligible veterans have the opportunity to add the word “VETERAN” to the front of their DL/ID card to indicate that they have served in the U.S. Military. It can also play a critical role in enabling access to certain privileges, benefits, or compensation associated with being a veteran without having to carry and produce a Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty. To apply for the veteran designation on your DL/ID card, you will need to: • Obtain a Veteran Status Verification Form (VSD-001) which will be issued by the County Veteran Service Office. This form is not available from DMV. • Bring the completed VSD-001 to a DMV field office. For faster service, make sure to make an appointment to visit a DMV field office. • Complete and pay the application fee for the Driver License or Identification Card Application/Commercial Driver License Application (DL 44/44C). • Pay an additional $5 fee to add the veteran designation to your DL/ID card. Once all requirements have been met, a DL/ID card with the word "VETERAN" will be issued. The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) collaborates with the California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet) to offer veterans of the United States (U.S.) Military the opportunity to request benefit information. Veterans can request benefit information whenever they submit to the DMV a Driver License or Identification Card Application, Commercial Driver License Application form or when renewing their driver license or identification (DL/ID) card online by checking the "Yes" box when asked if they would like to receive veteran benefit information. As a result, the DMV will forward the contact information to CalVet to provide benefit information to the requesting veteran. For Commonly Asked Questions about this, click HERE To locate the closest California Veteran Service Office near you, click HERE… THE BEST OF THE LATE NITE JOKES Nov. 3 — 10 Nov. 4: USA Today's GOP “Power Rankings” had some big shake-ups this week, with Marco Rubio in the lead and Chris Christie in the top five. Yep, Rubio is number one, while Christie is numbers two through five. In one of his books, Ben Carson actually admitted to falling asleep several times while driving his car. He started taking Ubers to be safe, but his drivers kept falling asleep while listening to him talk. Twitter just changed its star-shaped “favorite” button to a heart-shaped “like” button, and said it’s because the heart is a more universal symbol of liking something. You know, like how people want to see movies that get four hearts, or stay in five-heart hotels. Google announced that it will bring its super-fast internet connection, Google Fiber to cities in Florida. Which makes sense, cuz the first thing people in Florida will do when they get online is Google fiber. “Look at all these Metamucil pics!” Nov. 5: I saw that this week marks one year until the 2016 election. Or as Hillary calls that, "Five years until my re-election.” As I’m sure you’ve heard, Donald Trump is in the building getting ready to host "Saturday Night Live.” There’s actually a lot of anti-Trump protesters outside the building — or as Trump put it, "Those people have been lining up for days to see me.” In an interview yesterday, Trump and CNN anchor Chris Cuomo got in a heated argument after Trump repeatedly insulted reporter Sara Murray. CNN was like, “Guys, keep it down! You'll wake the viewers!” Singer Ray J will host a new dating show on WE TV called “Driven to Love,” where he drives people around in the back of his SUV to look for potential dates on the street. Of course, they almost went with that other name: “Prostitution.” Nov. 6: The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree arrived today! That's right, people who work here in the building are already starting to say their traditional holiday greeting: "MOVE!" We all hate that tree, secretly. A new report from CNN suggests that Ben Carson made up the stories of his violent temper from his youth, including one where he said he almost stabbed a kid. That's how weird this presidential election is: A candidate is now in trouble because he DIDN'T stab someone as a kid. Meanwhile, Ben Carson's campaign launched a 60-second ad that features a rap about Ben Carson, aimed at young black voters. So you know what that means - it'll do great with young white voters. Donald Trump is actually starting to run some radio ads where he accuses politicians of being “all talk and no action.” Which is ironic - since radio ads are LITERALLY all talk and no action. That's what radio is. Nov. 9: I had the cutest thing happen last night. I was putting my daughter to bed, and she asked me to read her a fairy tale. I said, "Mother Goose?" She said, "No, Ben Carson." In a recent interview, Jeb Bush said that his 91-year-old dad doesn't give him much advice and instead, just drinks martinis and gets massages all day. When asked how many martinis he drinks, the massage therapist said, "As many as possible before I massage a 91-year-old man." Jeb Bush also said that he's learning to toot his own horn a little better, which is good because pretty soon he's going to be the one driving his campaign bus. There were no injuries this weekend after a giant sinkhole opened up in an IHOP parking lot in Mississippi and swallowed up more than a dozen cars. And that hole still ate less than most of the people in the IHOP. Nov. 10: The fourth Republican presidential debate was tonight! And if you've watched all four ... you do know about Netflix, right? Ben Carson recently went on Facebook to offer proof that the events he talked about in his life really happened. Which is ironic, because people usually go on Facebook to DELETE proof that events in their life happened. Yesterday, Donald Trump said that he's thinking about boycotting Starbucks because "Merry Christmas" isn't printed on its red holiday cups. Trump was like, "Everything should have one of two things written on it: 'Merry Christmas' or my name." I don’t know if this is such a good idea, but Pizza Hut just unveiled its new "Triple Threat Box," which is a box with three drawers that holds pizza, breadsticks, and a big chocolate chip cookie. Or as Chris Christie calls that, "A wallet.” A county in Colorado just voted to put taxes from selling marijuana toward supporting college scholarships. And you can tell it's a weed scholarship, because it actually pays for 11 years of college. Nov. 9: In Mississippi this weekend, a sinkhole swallowed 12 cars in an IHOP parking lot. It’s being called "the smallest thing ever swallowed at a Mississippi IHOP." SeaWorld is phasing out its killer whale show. Or as Fox News reported it, "More killers set free under Obama." Ben Carson apparently has a painting of himself with Jesus. When he heard this, Larry King said, "Big deal, I have a selfie with Jesus." Some Evangelical Christians claim that because this year’s Starbucks holiday cup doesn't have any Christmas symbols, Starbucks hates Jesus. In response, a spokesman for Starbucks said, "We like anyone who can turn water into something we can charge $7 a cup for." Nov. 10: Donald Trump said Ben Carson is wrong about the Egyptian pyramids being used to store grain, because the pyramids are solid. And that, ladies and gentlemen, perfectly sums up the Republican presidential race. Donald Trump said if he becomes president, Americans will be "saying Merry Christmas again." Which may be true, but if he becomes president, we’ll be saying it from our new homes in Canada. President Obama now has a personal Facebook page where he says he wants to have real conversations about issues. In other words, he’s new to Facebook. Because Donald Trump hosted "Saturday Night Live," NBC is now obligated to give the other presidential candidates free air time. As a result, each candidate will appear as a tattoo on that girl from "Blindspot." In Texas, Uber has launched a horse-and-buggy version of its service. It's the first Uber app that says, "Your driver will arrive in three to four days." Nov. 4: Yesterday were the midterm elections, otherwise known as the elections that you guys didn't vote in. In Ohio, people voted on a referendum which would have had to legalize marijuana in that state, but it did not pass. That's right, it remains illegal to get high in Ohio, which means there is still no legal way to enjoy a Cleveland Browns game. People are saying the initiative did not pass because it would have allowed giant corporations to control the marijuana industry. Which is a huge bummer, because I was really excited to buy pot from a place called Starblunts. At least Ohio got legalization on the ballot. In Arkansas, a proposal to legalize marijuana was rejected because — and I’m not making this up — it had too many spelling and grammar errors. Arkansas: Way to live up to the stereotype! Nov. 9: After nearly seven years in office, President Obama has finally scored one of his biggest political achievements. That's right, today Barack Obama joined Facebook. The president actually signed up this morning, which means by noon, Sasha and Malia had already started ignoring friend requests from him. Even Bernie Sanders is on Facebook, except he can't log in without a modem and one of those "Free AOL" CDs. Obama and Facebook actually have a lot in common. They both captured America's hearts and minds eight years ago, and they both seem to bring out a lot of racism in people. Nov. 10: Yesterday when asked if he could go back in time and kill baby Hitler, Jeb Bush responded, "Hell yeah, I would!" I'm OK with him saying he'd kill baby Hitler. I'm not OK with him saying "Hell yeah" he'd kill baby Hitler. It's a complex hypothetical question, not a waitress asking you if you want another plate of chicken wings, Jeb. While we're taping this, the fourth Republican debate has not happened yet, but I'm kind of hoping they ask the other candidates what they would do if they had a time machine. I think Ben Carson would travel back to his childhood so that he can really stab that guy. Carly Fiorina would go back to that one week when she had great poll numbers. Just kidding — Carly Fiorina would go back to when she laid off 30,000 HP employees just to cackle and taste the blood again. Donald Trump actually claimed to already have a time machine. It is true. He said, "It's huge and beautiful and I made Mexico pay for it." Nov. 4: Yesterday was Election Day here in the United States. In Ohio they voted no on legalizing marijuana for recreational and medical use and 65 percent of the voters said no. How could Ohio vote against marijuana? They have "High" right in the middle of their name. It is one of the great ironies of life the only way to make marijuana legal is for stoners to leave the house to vote. That obviously didn't happen. Nov. 5: Hillary Clinton is here with us tonight and we'll be touching on all the big topics: the economy, climate change, ISIS, whether Khloe should take Lamar back, everything. The Secret Service swept our building today — which is good, it was filthy. A new Quinnipiac University poll came out yesterday that shows Donald Trump back on top of Ben Carson, 24 to 23 percent, and Jeb Bush is now down to only 4 percent. More people picked Bit-O-Honey as their favorite Halloween candy than support Jeb Bush for president. Donald Trump put out his first paid campaign ads today. He bought them himself. You know, he doesn't take money from super PACs. He earns it the old-fashioned way, by selling cologne at Rite Aid. Nov. 9: An interesting new business just opened in Colorado. It's called Gas & Grass. This is a marijuana dispensary and gas station all in one. Just in case you want to buy marijuana and then forget to buy gas, the deal is you buy pot inside the dispensary, then you get 15 cents off every gallon outside. I bet they'll sell more Slim Jims than any gas station in the world. Every year since 1997, Starbucks releases a special red holiday cup. Usually they have snowflakes or reindeer or some kind of holiday decoration. But this year they are plain red cups. People are getting upset that Starbucks isn't celebrating Jesus' birthday. What makes people think Jesus wants to be on a Starbucks cup? There's no iced FrappuJesus; he does not want to be part of this. To me the outrage is they start putting out holiday cups in October. Can we please get through pumpkin latte season first? Ben Carson claims when he was a kid he tried to stab another kid but the kid's belt buckle got in the way and saved him. Some people don't believe this happened. So now he's found himself in the very unusual position of having to say, "Yes, I did too try to stab somebody!" Nov. 10: Tonight was the fourth Republican presidential debate featuring Donald Trump, Ben Carson, other people. Their names escape me. The debate was televised on the Fox Business Channel. Between now and November of next year, every cable network gets a debate. Next week is the E! News debate moderated by Ryan Seacrest and Caitlyn Jenner. I'm starting to get bored by these debates. No one asked me but I would like to see them have a drunk debate. Everyone gets loaded and we find out what they really think about things. Only the candidates polling above 2.5 percent got to be in the main debate tonight. The other guys were demoted to the kids' table, the early debate. Good luck fighting Chris Christie for the McNuggets at the kids' table. Donald also weighed in on the important subject of Starbucks not having Christmas-themed designs on their cups this year. “I don't care if you've got three yarmulkes on, you're going to say Merry Christmas, damn it.” A painting by the Italian artist Modigliani was just sold at auction for $170.4 million. It's the second highest price ever paid for a painting at auction. A Picasso sold for $179.4 million. It's actually a great value. For $170 million you're not just getting the painting, you get the opportunity to be the target of a heist. Nov. 4: Ohio voters yesterday rejected a proposal that would have legalized both recreational and medical marijuana. Pot advocates were so devastated that there was hardly a dry mouth in the house. A company has come out with a new waffle maker that cooks batter in the shape of the Death Star from Star Wars. And if you want one, make sure to yell it loud enough for your mom to hear you upstairs. A woman in California posted a picture that went viral this weekend showing her engagement ring which her fiancée made using a tooth instead of a diamond. Even worse, that is his three month’s salary. Nov. 5: Dr. Ben Carson's campaign today released a new 60-second radio ad that uses rap music to try to appeal to black voters. So there you have it: Get out and vote for Ben Carson on November 3rd, 1992. Dr. Ben Carson said this week he would like to have a beer with Jesus. When reached for comment, Jesus said, "Oh, I have work tomorrow." A new report found that Hillary Clinton's campaign most often eats pizza for meals. While Chris Christie's campaign most often eats pizza for snacks. Former President George H.W. Bush has a new biography coming out titled "Destiny and Power." While Jeb Bush has a new biography titled neither of those. In response to a question asking why his cabinet is half female, newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reportedly said, "Because it's 2015." So basically, the same reason there's a prime minister named Justin. Nov. 9: Dr. Ben Carson is drawing intense criticism after reports have surfaced that he may have embellished his history of violence as a teen, his scholarship to West Point, and other parts of his life story. Not only that, but it turns out the twins he separated were fraternal. RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said today that the media is unfairly fixating on Dr. Ben Carson. And Ben Carson said that Reince Priebus is a condition that can result in blindness if left untreated. Bernie Sanders this weekend argued against the major political fundraising families, saying, “That is not called democracy, that is called oligarchy.” Bernie, you gotta dumb it down a little. Most Americans think “oligarchy” is that place that serves unlimited breadsticks. The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree arrived on Friday. They’re calling the tree “Jeb” because it’s a dying bush. A Colorado marijuana dispensary this week is opening the country’s first combination pot store and gas station. On the downside, you’ll have no idea what you’re getting when you order the Premium Diesel. Nov. 10: Jeb Bush said in a new interview that if he could travel back in time he would kill Hitler as a baby, adding, “You gotta step up, man.” And it’s comments like those that have a lot of people telling Jeb, “You gotta step down, man.” The fourth Republican debate was held tonight and Chris Christie and Mike Huckabee were demoted to the undercard event. Meanwhile, Bobby Jindal isn’t even allowed to WATCH. Donald Trump weighed in on the controversial decision by Starbucks to remove Christmas imagery from their holiday cups, saying, “If I become president, we're all going to be saying Merry Christmas again.” Though the only way I could see Donald Trump saying “Merry Christmas” is if he’s correcting someone who just said “Feliz Navidad.” Instead of canceling killer whale shows as previously reported, the CEO of SeaWorld clarified today that performances will continue but are being re-choreographed to reflect “conservation and a natural environment.” That story again: The killer whales have to learn a new dance. Nov. 4: Starting tomorrow, "Thursday night football" will be seen only on NFL network and they're kicking off with a heck of a matchup: The Cleveland Browns versus the undefeated Cincinnati Bengals. It's the battle of Ohio, so Governor John Kasich is going to have to bet a signature regional food item against himself. I've opened the book, mainly so I don't have to look at the cover anymore, and it's full of things we've already heard from Trump in his speeches, with little extras, like punctuation. Jeb! Just released a brand new e-book entitled "Reply all." It's a great way to show you're done making mistakes by naming a book after something people do by accident. Jeb Bush clearly needs some help because it feels like his campaign is sleepwalking. Which, admittedly, is a strategy that's working for Ben Carson. Nov. 5: I've been trying to say “I love you” more often, starting this morning. I said it to my family before I left the house. And then to my barista. And then to her manager, when the barista complained that one of the customers was making her uncomfortable. I heard about this new feature Google is rolling out for Gmail called Smart Reply. It analyzes your incoming emails and gives you suggestions on how you can reply automatically. Google usually only scans your emails to target you with ads for Viagra — just because I sent one email about buying a motorcycle. After scanning billions of our emails, Google found that one of the most common email replies is “I love you.” Right behind “Please unsubscribe me from LinkedIn.” I just want to say to Google, “I love you.” Because this news restores my faith in humanity that I lost from all those other things that I've Googled. Nov. 9: As of yesterday the 2016 presidential election is just one year away, which means it's only 11 months until voters start paying attention. Everyone on the GOP side is about to get plenty of face time at tomorrow's fourth Republican debate. All eyes are on Marco Rubio. He looked presidential at the last debate thanks to his brilliant strategy of standing next to Jeb Bush. WEEKLY SNOPES URBAN LEGEND UPDATE Click HERE for the most current update. ••••• Stories like this one about Bella and her Great Dane George don’t get much more moving. Take a minute and 24 seconds out of your busy life and watch it by clicking HERE. (1:34) ••••• In need of a case of the shivers? Looking for goosebumps? Check out these two kids who appeared on a Chinese talent show (China has Talent?) and sang “You Raise Me Up.” According to one of the comment posters, both children are Chinese-Canadians. The 10-yearold boy is Jeffrey Li who lives in Canada while 7-year-old Celine Tam lives in Hong Kong. Another comment says they will soon be APPEARING on a new Ellen Degeneres TV show called “Little Big Shots.” (4:11) ••••• For those who didn't think rollerblading was hard enough, someone invented the intimidatingly difficult feat of "freestyle skating." It involves a skater navigating lines of small cones that are spaced about 80 centimeters apart. Skating in between cones that narrow would be a feat to begin with, but freestyle skaters like to take it a few steps further. The following clip from the 2012 World Freestyle Skating Championships in Lishui, China, showcases what a seasoned freestyle skater is capable of. One could say THIS is the epitome of hand-eye coordination — oops — make that hand-foot coordination. (1:41) ••••• Trust us, you do not want to get in a confrontation with this 8-year-old Samurai. For that matter, you also don’t want to be sitting in the front row of this exhibition. Watch and listen to THIS clip and you will see why. (2:00) ••••• Who stole the cookie? To find out if it was the brother or the sister, watch this clip received from Pete Guerin to the end. It’s a CLASSIC. (2:42) ••••• This clip runs less than a minute. WATCH it and you may want to come back in your next life as a kitten — specifically the one on the left. (0:50) ••••• I’m the first to admit that I wasn’t all that keen on Rats, but after watching THIS clip I’m thinking of making a run to a pet store and picking up a dozen. Why that many? If they are anything like Guinea Pigs, Hamsters or Gold Fish, they don’t live all that long. (3:56) ••••• We think it’s good to be reminded every once in a while that GOD Made a Dog. (1:59) ••••• Is the Hoffmann really the worst car in the world? Jason Torchinsky (we’ve never heard of him either) seems to think so. And after WATCHING this clip we are inclined to agree. (4:06) The British-made Reliant Robin was nothing to brag about either. WATCH as Top Gear co-host Jeremy Clarkson puts one of the three-wheeled cars through its paces. (7:32) ••••• Does this wheeled luge run in Queensland, New Zealand look like fun? Or does it look like fun? According to our non-scientific poll, all of the respondents SAID it looked like fun. (2:00) Before you get overly excited about dropping a few “large” and flying to New Zealand so you can make the run, check out the price by clicking HERE, keeping in mind that 55 Aussie dollars converts to approximately $38 in the U.S. ••••• Some people think that the athletic activity known as “Parkour” was created by youthful athletes. WRONG! Check out this film from the 1930s. (1:28) ••••• Waterskis? Who needs waterskis? Not the people in this video. All they need are some serious calluses on the bottom of their feet. There’s even a portion of the CLIP where a guy is literally skiing on his hands. (3:08) ••••• You may question whether this clip featuring an Emirates A-380 flying in formation with two Jetmen was made through the magic of CGI, but we vetted the video and found it to be REAL. It was produced as an ad for the Arab airline. (1:39) Want to see more? THIS is the “making-of” video of the same formation flight. (5:20) ••••• These are not the Blue Angels, and while they are Air Force jets, they aren’t the Thunderbirds, either. They are giant scale radio-controlled F-86 Sabre jets that will SHOW you how far the radio-control hobby has come in recent years. (9:10) ••••• Here’s another example of how far the RC hobby has come. THIS 1/9th scale “Easy Jet” Airbus A319 is loaded with video cameras that show you the in-flight action. (8:37) ••••• You make the call: Was this cop justified in restraining this motorist with his Taser? While the answer will be obvious to cops given the driver’s actions and where the CONFRONTATION took place, we find it interesting how many comments below the video were made in what appears to be Russian. It’s our guess that the Russkies are wondering why the cop didn’t turn the motorist into road kill with his sidearm. (1:25) ••••• This excerpt from a recent Hillary Clinton speech runs only 52 seconds. Listen to what she says around the 40-second mark and see if she makes a Freudian slip that could apply to Obama and/or her husband Bill. We would wager that she peed her pants when she was told about the miscue by an aide after she walked off stage. If that happened, of course, she probably thought to herself, “Thank God I’m WEARING this yellow pantsuit so no one will notice.” (0:52) ••••• If you are quick to anger, you may want to skip this video where Bill Ayers of the now defunct Weather Underground arm of the SDS approves the idea of indicting the NRA. THIS is a relatively recent clip as it was posted on YouTube last Wednesday, Nov. 4th. (1:01) ••••• This week’s final item has a message in the form of a commercial from U.K. retailer John Lewis. It’s about the lonely people who rarely get the chance to exchange even a wave or a smile with others. This is bad enough any day of the week, but during the holidays everything is magnified, and you might as well be thousands of miles away. Sometimes, the only way to recognize how isolated people can get is through the eyes of a child as they see things a little more clearly. Make sure that this holiday season, you take the time to reach out to folks you might otherwise forget. It will only take a little effort on your part, but it could mean the world to them. Click HERE to watch this moving short story titled "Man on the Moon." (2:10) ••••• Pic of the Week Happy birthday, Doll... THE FARSIDER SUBSCRIPTION ROSTER as of 11/12/15 Additions and changes since the last published update (alphabetical by last name): Tom Francois — Added To receive the email address of anyone on the list -- or to receive the roster with all of the email addresses -- send your request to <bilmat@comcast.net>. 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