Or it could just be one more stupid cop.

“There was somewhere between six (million) and 16 million of them running around out there,” Officer Steve Merchant of the California Highway Patrol told CNN. — CNN.com, ” Now, that stings! Escapee bees swarm a.m. commute” (last visited March 17, 2008).

Anyone who reads the story will soon realize that either the cop is wrong, or there were more bees present on Highway 99 near Sacramento than exist in the entire United States.

In the United States, the honeybee, the world’s premier pollinator, experienced a dramatic 40 percent decline, from nearly six million to less than two and a half million, in the last two decades. — CNN.com, ” Now, that stings! Escapee bees swarm a.m. commute” (last visited March 17, 2008).

The story, however, reported the cop’s statement as if it were true, without pointing out this discrepancy.

This type of reporting wouldn’t really be so bad, except that we often see the same sort of thing in other, more important stories; stories that might cause us to feel the need to take action — or not — on some important issue. How often have we been encouraged to abandon our civil rights because our secretive government says doing so is what has allowed them to thwart further attacks since 9/11? I wonder what prevented terrorist attacks in the 200-plus years prior to 9/11?

*sigh*

Maybe I just need to stop expecting the news to make sense.

I recently ended a self-imposed moratorium on blogging.

The moratorium had developed because, among other things, I live in one of the most conservative, supposedly extremely patriotic, cities in California. Yet in spite of a series of articles on the disgraceful state of the American (and other) flags flying above Club One Casino across from the Courthouse downtown, I had been unable to stir anyone to action — pressure was needed on Club One to replace the flags and it seemed that even Fresno was content to let those rags rot on their poles. It seemed to me as if I could walk into a church in Clovis (where you can just about find a church set up between every other house), shout “Praise God!” and I wouldn’t get a single “Amen!” in return. There was no point in writing anymore.

Some people, however, did begin contacting — some more than once — various people such as their council representatives, and even Club One directly. I don’t know how many people, but it was apparently enough.

Click to Enlarge

On or about June 28, 2005, Club One finally removed the disintegrating specimens hanging above their doors and replaced them with fresh new flags. The move came just in time to stave off a Fourth of July protest out front of Club One that some of us were planning, but I think we can live with that — especially since those of us planning it aren’t actually fond of standing on street corners all day anyway.

We do, however, enjoy the new view out our windows of nice, clean, crisp American flags flying in the wind! Long — but not too long — may they wave!

So, my first newsflash: What Vote Fraud?

“Enjoy.”