This way to the time machine: Back when one had to fight pterodactyls in the schoolyard at recess, in order to keep hold of one's snacks, there was a terrible candy called Good & Plenty. It was white and day-glow, neon pink, before there was day-glow anything, and only just as neon was itself being tamed to do electrical tricks.
It was terrible junk -- a chalky outer shell with a hard, black licorice center -- but, it was dirt cheap. It was also pay dirt for the non-discriminating 5-year-old on a budget.
Yes, the downside was that it was horrible, but the upside was that there was a lot of it. Somehow, the combination worked. Such is youth.
Alex Baer: Good 'n' Plenty
Utah legislators back plan to declare porn a health crisis
Utahns castigated the adult entertainment industry in a legislative hearing Friday on a proposed resolution declaring pornography a public health crisis.
Jenny Brown, a member of the Utah Coalition Against Pornography board, said many are scared of the industry because of the "fierce" way it goes after people in court. Brown said it's time for children's rights to be acknowledged and that no one has a right to harm another person.
Alex Baer: Checks Bounced Daily
Let me guess: You're short of breath, your palms are sweaty, and you're not sure where to run and hide. In fact, you suspect this could be the Big One, ala Fred Sanford's eternal get-ready warning to the previously departed Elizabeth. You imagine this must be how the first lungfish felt, when they heaved themselves out of the primordial ooze, and up onto the shore, trying to evolve workable lungs, right on the spot, while hanging out in a Darwinesque While-You-Wait Bait and Tackle Shoppe.
Don't worry about it. It's only one of a couple things -- or, maybe, today's combo platter. I mean, it could be your body struggling with a severe disease or sudden medical condition, but, I'd urge caution here. This is a year evenly divisible by four -- so, your symptoms could mean at least three different things:
Bridge case defendants in court seeking Christie office docs
The two former allies of Gov. Chris Christie charged in the George Washington Bridge lane-closing case are in court seeking documents the governor's office wants to keep confidential.
Bill Baroni and Bridget Kelly are accused of orchestrating the closures of access lanes to the bridge in September 2013 to punish a local mayor for not endorsing Christie's re-election.
Their trial on wire fraud and civil rights counts is scheduled for mid-May.
CTE in the NFL: The tragedy of Fred McNeill
The night before Fred McNeill died in November, he was watching "Monday Night Football." The 63-year-old former Minnesota Viking linebacker and UCLA grad had his gold and blue slippers tucked under his bed. "He loved the game," said his youngest son, Gavin. "He was proud of what he did."
Yet the very same game had robbed so much from him.
McNeill had transitioned from playing 12 years of professional football into family life. He had a wife, Tia, and two young sons, Fred Jr. and Gavin. After playing in two Super Bowls, he spent his last NFL season studying law and eventually became a partner with a firm in Minneapolis.
U.S., 11 nations sign contested Trans-Pacific trade deal; Sanders vows to kill it if elected
Representatives of a dozen nations met in New Zealand to sign the debated Trans-Pacific Partnership, which seeks to bolster economies and investments between the United States and a number of Pacific Rim governments.
The TPP agreement was signed by the parties on Thursday, New Zealand time, during a formal ceremony in Auckland.
U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman attended the signing for President Barack Obama's administration.
Former NFL quarterback Ken Stabler had brain disease CTE
Former Oakland Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler, the late NFL MVP and Super Bowl winner who is a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, has been diagnosed with the brain disease CTE, Boston University researchers said Wednesday.
Stabler, who died of colon cancer at 69 in July, had Stage 3 chronic traumatic encephalopathy, Dr. Ann McKee told The Associated Press. McKee said the disease was widespread throughout his brain, with "quite severe" damage to the regions involving learning, memory and regulation of emotion.
Alex Baer: Yawning Fury
The good news is that Trump failed to win over Iowans. The bad news is that the GOP is not likely to run out of trumped-up, self-important ignoramuses and egomaniacal know-it-alls anytime soon.
If there is a third wheel to this standardized joke format, it is that Iowans have only a 50-50 success rate in predicting party nominees, which is some relief.
(Now, let the debate begin about probability trees! At least, we will have something like facts to endlessly analyze, explore, question, and poke about with sharpened, fire-blackened sticks, and just gut instincts, chicken bones, and leaden hunches to nudge around in the dirt.)
Israel's unwanted African migrants
For nearly a year Israel has been offering African migrants cash and the chance to go and live in what is supposed to be a safe haven in a third country - but the BBC has spoken to two men who say that they were abandoned as soon as they got off the plane. One was immediately trafficked, the other left to fend for himself without papers.
Adam was 18 when he arrived in Israel in 2011. Attackers had burned down his home in Darfur at the height of the genocide, and he had spent his teenage years in a UN refugee camp in another part of Sudan. With no prospects in the camp and no sign of an end to the conflict in Darfur, he made his way north through Egypt and the lawless Sinai peninsula to Israel.
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