Cloudy skies with a few showers this afternoon. High 59F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%..
Tonight
Showers early, becoming a steady rain overnight. Windy. Potential for heavy rainfall. Low near 55F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a half an inch.
What more can we say? The close of 2025 demands a final recap of the nonstop buffet of buffoons that presented itself starkly over the past 12 months. The list was considerable. It has become what amounts to an annual recitation of confounding behavior. But it should not be viewed as being out of the ordinary. No indeed. Regurgitating our failings has become a regular exercise. There is apparently no end to examples of bad choices, stupid stuff and the need for the awarding of dunce caps too numerous to tally in any reasonable way. What follows is a last look in a mirror cracked beyond repair. Selected tidbits follow. The list:
NAUGHTY BITS AT DISNEYLAND: A clearly disturbed man with no sense of style was arrested at Disneyland for walking naked and unashamed within the confines of the sprawling Orange County theme park. It is worth noting that, to the best of our knowledge, Donald Duck and the three toon ducklings, Huey, Dewey and Louie, have never been seen wearing pants on a regular basis. Ditto the winsome Daisy Duck.
ONLY THE GIFTED SLEPT HERE: A snob-friendly Peninsula real estate outfit touted a pricey Palo Alto property as a dwelling favored by the gifted. A blurb for the $4.8 million residence indicated that, since 2017, children of its owners had been accepted for admission to either Harvard or Stanford. Put that in a college admission letter. Grads of San Francisco State need not apply. Ouch.
SOME TACKY VATICAN MOMENTS: The aftermath of the death of Pope Francis in the spring was not unexpected. He had been seriously ill for months. His funeral in Rome drew hundreds of thousands, from the elite to the anonymous. For the most part, those who filed past the pope’s body were respectful. Others not so much. Some boors took selfies with the papal cadaver. Tacky.
TAKE ME TO JAIL, PLEASE: An obviously befuddled man entered a bank in downtown Redwood City and demanded money from a teller. After being handed a wad of cash, the robber sat down in a handy chair and waited for the police. He was summarily arrested and jailed. Hey, a couple of free nights in the slammer are cheaper than a stay at the nearest Motel 6.
JUST GIVE ME A RING SOON: Also in the county seat, another fellow, unclear on the concept, admitted he entered a residence without permission and stole women’s lingerie. In a moronic moment at the address in question, he left his first name and phone number on a note, leading to a call and visit from the authorities. Say hi to Victoria’s Secret in the pokey.
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CHECK THOSE DESIGNER CUFFS: A San Francisco shop that caters to folks with a variety of fetishes (love those tiny twinkle toes, by the way) was sued because some of its bondage gear was said to be contaminated with a toxic material. Time to double-check those designer handcuffs.
GAMBLERS HAVE UTTERLY NO SHAME: During the past summer, officials of Little League Baseball pleaded with gamblers not to wager on their games and players. The request came during the Little League World Series. Most of the Little League players are just 12 years old.
HEY, ARE THOSE RAILROAD TRACKS?: A transportation safety organization distributed a constructive warning to one and all to take note of flashing red lights and restrictive crossing gates when approaching a rail crossing. Why? A train is coming. Who knew?
SORRY ABOUT THAT: In October, Menlo Park police reportedly made a bit of a boo-boo. They forgot to remove spike strips, intended to halt a suspected stolen truck, from a road, causing an innocent and unaware driver to zip over them. His vehicle suffered four punctured tires in the process. Sorry about that. Our bad. A lawsuit ensued.
WHO GETS THE TRAFFIC TICKET?: Waymo robo cars are becoming more like those piloted by humans, for good or ill. San Bruno police found that out in September when one of the driverless vehicles made an illegal U-turn. But who, or what, to ticket? Hello, DMV.
YOU MAY SHOOT ME NOW: Finally (mercifully), we have this confounding phrase uttered by our primary White House occupant earlier this month as he tried to label portions of a peace settlement in Africa as dealing adequately with “illegal atrocities.” Say what? Are there “legal atrocities?” Please shoot me now.
John Horgan began writing a neighborhood diary at the tender age of 9 in San Mateo. He’s been doing much the same thing as a Peninsula journalist for decades ever since. You can contact him by email at johnhorganmedia@gmail.com.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.