Mariner has a large window in his living room. It displays the street in front and a few houses across the street. Mariner has dubbed it his personal screensaver. It acts exactly like the ones on cable TV; most of the time nothing happens except an occasional car may pass – sort of like the occasional bird on the TV. There are day-long loops, too. A number of people walk their dogs, the UPS truck drives by morning and evening and the fitness walkers are timely as well. And it gets light in the morning and dark in the evening.

It is ‘Garage Sale Day’ in mariner’s town. Drive the streets and you will see dozens of lawns covered with stuff people are selling (AKA getting rid of). It’s a good excuse to clean one’s attic, closets and basement in addition to what’s in the garage. The house directly across the street has a large sale. Mariner became intrigued by the people visiting the sale.

This led mariner to thoughts about facts, validated facts and confirmed facts that news broadcasts tout. Please! Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham and Rush Limbaugh are not included. Mariner pretended he was a news journalist watching the sale across the street to collect information for a news broadcast. Are you ready?

4 out of 5 town residents are noticeably fat. 1 in 10 is obese. All female residents under age 40 have children less than 10 years old. The average age of a town citizen is 70. 1 out of every 2 men has tattoos. So do 1 in 6 women. 8 out of 10 vehicles are trucks or vans.

These are the validated facts, Ma’am. Sean Hannity would agree.

Ancient Mariner