Notes From A Bear's Journey

     Just to answer your puzzled mind, this is the post flagged by Google's AI, the image of Trump and his fellow alien (not yet deported by ICE) replaced with an innocent early July 4th display, a bit of good ol' Americana.  Thanks for bearing with me...if you're reading the following paragraphs, then you'll know that posting photos of Trump walking with any undocumented alien is a no-no (and since Google doesn't tell you what specific text or image is banned, it's a guessing game all around).  Anyway, all is good (I think).  A lesson to me that there is always something to learn.  That said, the post follows... ORIGINAL POST (minus photo):   Although this post was ready to go over a week ago, I almost scrapped it entirely.  For one, it was a bit personal (and possibly boring because of that); and two, it may come across as a bit bizarre, although nowhere near as bizarre as what Trump posted on his social media site, that of his...

     Please bear with me as a few posts have somehow triggered a "hold" by Google due to some community violation (not designated).  A review has been requested because there is nothing there that is any different in my opinon, other than posting an image from Trump's social media site with him walking alongside a lightly shackled alien, as seen in Newsweek and many other publications (the video went viral).  Perhaps the alien wasn't wearing clothes so this violated Google's nudity policy?  Who knows?  At any rate, other posts are ready as well but I am waiting to see if the requested "human" review will find anything offensive (I certainly couldn't, but took down Trump's alien photo anyway).  I am waiting a bit because if the reviewer gives it the okay, then I didn't suddenly want 3 new posts to appear at the same time.  So if nothing has happened in about 3 days (Google says to allow 10 days before a review is complete), then I'll simp...

     Not to worry, as my friend always says, because who on earth can remember banana splits unless you're as old as me, although to be honest, I've had just one banana split in my life since they were pretty much the generation before me.  And as far as dancing and doing "the splits," well them days are equally long gone (not that I could ever do them...ouch).  No, these splits are a bit more dramatic as in Earth shattering, or maybe Earth splitting...and it's happening now.  As an article in Discover noted:  Before a continent visibly splits apart, Earth may begin leaking gases from underground.  That may already be happening in Zambia, where gases bubbling through geothermal springs along the Kafue Rift carry chemical fingerprints linked to Earth’s mantle — a possible sign that part of the African continent is beginning to slowly pull apart...Continental breakup does not usually begin with dramatic volcanic eruptions  or giant cracks open...

     Tracking has never been as universal as it is today, from the postal service ("track your package"} to those hidden pixel tags.  Wait, those what?  Here's how one site put it:  A pixel tag is literally a microscopic image—often just one single dot on your screen—that you cannot see with the naked eye.  They are embedded in web pages and, most annoyingly, in emails.  When you open an  email  containing a hidden pixel, it secretly sends a message back to the sender. It tells them exactly what time you opened the email, what kind of device you used, and whether you clicked anything.   When my wife and I broke down and bought a new television, we checked beforehand if it had a camera built in, as most newer models do (ours didn't...phew; but it did have ACR or content tracking which tracks what you view and needs to manually be turned off).  But there are even more trackers being uncovered beyond those tiny pixels, and yes, th...