Beats us, Pentagon says, in its quaint, pentagony way

Most UFO sightings by the military remain unexplained, government report concludes

“There are probably multiple types of UAP requiring different explanations based on the range of appearances and behaviors described in the available reporting.”

 That clears that right up.

UFOs/UAPs (it seems to be optional) are trending again because, well, things aren't going so well these days earthwise and we could use a good alien invasion to take our minds off the actual news. Also, it's nearly Independence Day.

But aliens are not mentioned anywhere in the unclassified version of the Pentagon's recent report, so we are left hoping things are a lot more dire than we imagined. 

On believing what you see

They Seemed Like Democratic Activists.

At the center of the scheme was an unusual cast: a former British spy connected to the security contractor Erik Prince, a wealthy heiress to the Gore-Tex fortune and undercover operatives like Mr. Maier and Ms. LaRocca who used Wyoming as a base to insinuate themselves into the political fabric of this state and at least two others, Colorado and Arizona.

[NYTimes] 

Ohio: Good on you

Ohio teachers need police training to carry guns in school, court rules

“(Ohio law) prohibits a school from employing a person who goes armed while on duty in his or her job unless the employee has satisfactorily completed an approved basic peace-officer-training program or has 20 years of experience as a peace officer,” Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor wrote in the ruling, according to the report.

Arming teachers has always been a pretty marginal idea, IMO—arming just about anybody, in fact, in any official capacity—and if you're going to do it at all you ought to do it right. Which means insisting on some serious, intensive training on not only how to use a weapon, but also on when it's called for. And when it's not. 

The unslaughtered apocalypse

Cows escape slaughterhouse, take over California neighborhood

At least 20 cows late Monday stampeded down a street in Pico Rivera, munching on lawns and even charging cops who tried to corral them, reports said.

Here's a tasty random password generator

ITADAKIMASU

[Click the link.]

Something about Texas is…

 …well…confusing. Also too cold (last winter) or too hot (now).

Smart thermostats cranked up remotely by Texas energy firms, as consumers swelter in heat wave

To a New Englander like myself this was the confusing part—how can turning thermostats up save energy—until I realized…duh…it's air conditioning they're talking about.

Spoiler alert right here: This will not end well.

It might a good thing…I get it now…turning your thermostat up to cut what you're using for air conditioning. But it's a bad thing when the power company (or the government or Russian hackers) do it for you. (And what is the difference here between the power company and Russian hackers anyway?)

This illustrates a flaw in the whole concept of internet-connected "smart" devices. What if somebody decided you've been drinking too much caffeine and turned your "smart" coffee maker off?  Disaster, right? Mayhem. Revolution. (You've heard of the tea party? The coffee party would be worse.)

Or decided you've used enough gasoline for the day and turned you "smart" car off?

Let's not be dumb about the smart.

More people are traveling…

 …so this airline is cutting back on flights.

American Airlines to cut 1% of July flights as travel rebound strains operations

Other airlines may be too. They're blaming bad weather and labor shortages.

Meanwhile…

The Great Rental Car Shortage of Summer 2021 Is Coming

Car rental companies sold off three-quarters of a million cars during the pandemic and now, partly due to a shortage of microchips hampering new car production, don't expect they'll be back to pre-pandemic levels of availability for a year, maybe longer. The result: Rental cars will be more difficult to find and cost more.

Plan, plan ahead.