SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:55 P.M. ET: 

RESPONSIBLE GUY – The black mayor of Berkeley, Missouri, where a black teen was killed by a white officer several nights ago, isn't providing any fodder for Al Sharpton.  From CBS:  "BERKELEY, Mo. (KMOX) – Berkeley Mayor Theodore Hoskins is hoping to avert the kind of street violence that he saw in neighboring Ferguson just a few months ago.  This comes after another black teen was killed by a white police officer – the difference is that the suspect reportedly aimed a gun at the officer first.  Hoskins says from what he’s seen on the surveillance tape, this is not a repeat of Ferguson, and the officer was justified.
He says the surveillance video from the Mobil on the Run gas station is strong preliminary evidence that the Berkeley officer fired in self-defense after a gun was pointed at him."  Admirable behavior that probably will end the mayor's political career.

IT CONTINUES – More arrests in New York of those who threaten cops.  From Reuters:  "(Reuters) - Two more men have been arrested for threatening New York police, including one who called the precinct headquarters of two officers killed as they sat in their patrol car and asked to speak to one of them, a police spokesman said on Thursday.  The arrests bring to six the number of those detained for threats against the New York Police Department since officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu were shot on Saturday by a gunman seeking revenge for unarmed black men killed by police."  The fear of copycat killings continues.  There are several stories out there about the police finding arsenals in the homes of some of those arrested for threatening cops.  We're sure Al Sharpton will calm the situation.

START THINKING – From London's Daily Mail:  "A new research study suggests that just thinking of exercising can have the same effects as actually hitting the gym, officials say.  A recent study published in the Journal of Neurophysiology found that simply imagining exercise can tone muscle, delay atrophy, and even make your muscles stronger. Researchers at Ohio University, according to the Breitbart News Network, conducted an experiment using two sets of 'healthy individuals.'  The researchers wrapped the wrists of one of the sets in a cast and gave them instructions to sit still for 11 minutes, five days a week, for four weeks, and 'perform mental imagery of strong muscle contractions,' -- or, imagine exercising. The other set were not given any instruction.  The results illustrated that the body and mind are more intertwined than we thought.
At the end of the four weeks, the participants who engaged in the 'mental exercise' were twice as strong as those who didn't, Breitbart reports.  Additionally, those participants had a stronger brain because the exercises created stronger neuromuscular pathways."  Great news for the couch potato "community."  But I'd like to see this verified.

December 25, 2014