1) After decades of commercial mountaineering, Mount Everest has become the highest "dump" in the world. The "Because It's There" crowd is leaving a ton of their garbage up there. Fluorescent tents, gas canisters, climbing equipment and waste. Five years ago, Nepal, instituted a garbage fine for not bringing their trash down.
Those who could afford the climb could easily pay the fine. While some climbers do bring down their garbage, many just pay the fine. Nepal even came up with a snappy slogan. "We pay cash for your trash." Some climbers had a snappy response. "Keep your cash, I'm leaving my trash."
2) Even dips and chips can be hiding dangerous bacteria. The dreaded Norovius streptococcus which can cause a sore throat and herpes simplex the cold sore virus. How is this happening? Double Dippers, that's how. These double dippers dip their chip in the dip twice. Saliva bacteria ends up in the dip. Since at many parties there is a designated driver it might be a good idea to have a designated dip watcher to catch these double dippers. They could prevent an ugly cold sore which can really put the brakes on one's social life.
3) How about some information on beer? Well, finally! Beer is the third most popular drink after water and tea. Beer is the most popular alcoholic drink. In 2016 nearly 50 billion gallons were consumed world wide. Beer brewing and drinking predates written language. When written language finally came along I wonder who decided to spell beer, beer? The only information on wine is those who who drink it think they are superior to people who drink beer. This is especially true of white wine drinkers.
4) Here's another Tesla Story. This time it's about the car's namesake, Nikolo Tesla. In 1899 he came up with a way to bypass fuel burning plants and power lines and provide free energy by ionization in the upper atmosphere. That would produce electrical vibrations. Well, J.P.Morgan, a major league banker of the day, who was funding Tesla, figured out no profits in free energy so he convinced investors to stop investing.
5) Starbucks plans to close 150 company stores in densely penetrated US markets. Of course, this will result in the loss of those public bathrooms. Does this mean their "patrons?" will have to return to the sidewalks and streets?
(Tom Murphy is a writer, humorist, actor, disc jockey and an occasional contributor to CityWatch. He lives in Los Angeles.)
-cw
