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Published May 08, 2017
And now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine...
Off the Rails
The railroad industry has a big ad campaign going on called Freight Rail Works in which it brags that it spends billions of dollars improving infrastructure so taxpayers don't have to.
But McClatchy reports that's not the whole story.
So far, the Obama administration has doled out more than $600 million in federal investment to that industry.
Supporters say public investment mixed with private capital is an ideal mix.
Critics wonder why an industry that boasts about not needing taxpayers really needs their help.
"He" Said, "She" Said
The Associated Press is the latest in a string of media and college organizations looking to do away with what they consider archaic notions of gender.
As in "he" and "she."
The AP writes quote -- "The 'shes' and 'hers' that dominate the introductions are keeping third-person company with 'they,' 'ze' and other neutral alternatives meant to convey a more generous notion of gender."
NewsBusters notes there were no commonsense critics in the story -- just a mention that some professors are confused or annoyed.
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And finally, you may not know but only eight zeroes separated the United States from nuclear armageddon.
The Daily Mail and a number of other sites picked up a story from Today I Learned -- which reports that from 1962 to 1977 the combination to fire American's nuclear payload was eight zeroes.
Nuclear experts say the military was worried -- if communication lines were down -- it would be impossible to get security codes to those who needed them.
So they bypassed the code, leaving it as eight zeroes.
In 1977, the codes were changed -- and the Daily Mail says what we are all thinking -- hopefully to something more complicated.
https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/grapevine-he-said-she-said