Random News and Notes 16 August

We kick off this edition of RNN with some notes about the Trump/Putin summit in Anchorage yesterday. As I expected, nothing substantial came from the meeting. In fact I expect it went rather badly. A large portion of the scheduled meetings were cancelled after the two leaders spoke.

There was a good thing that came out of the meeting. Watch Vlad’s face as a B-2 and several F-22’s and F-35’s fly overhead.

That is a pretty big FU to Putin, and based on his reaction, he took it that way.

So, I don’t have any idea of who this guy is, but I still feel the need to include this piece. A writer and podcast host, Will Kingston, made an admission that is frankly disturbing.

How is it that an ostensibly college educated individual doesn’t know something like this? Has he never seen a globe?

Did you know we are up to the letter ‘E’ for named tropical storms already? I didn’t, but we are. Hurricane Erin is now a category 5 hurricane with sustained winds of 160 mph.

As of right now, it doesn’t look like Erin will hit land. That said, be aware of higher than normal tides and stronger than normal currents and potential rip currents if you are on the east coast.

Speaking of the ocean. . .

An angler on South Padre Island in Texas just caught a massive hammerhead shark off the beach.

I am a fisherman. I am also a thalassophobe. I have very mixed feelings about this one. While I appreciate the feat, and catching a hammerhead that big is a feat, I have major issues with shark fishing from the beach.

I mean, people swim there, and these dudes are purposefully baiting sharks close to the beach. What are your thoughts on this one? I realize my personal perspectives cloud my vision when it comes to sharks in shallow water.