An eight-year-old found a pre-Viking-era sword while swimming in a lake in Sweden during the summer.

Saga Vanecek found the relic in the Vidostern lake while at her family's holiday home in Jonkoping County.

The sword was initially reported to be 1,000 years old, but experts at the local museum now believe it may date to around 1,500 years ago.

"It's not every day that you step on a sword in the lake!" Mikael Nordstrom from the museum said.

A little bit more writing and a video at the link: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45753455

The day after the 2016 election, Lynette Villano, a 72-year-old widow and clerk for the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, sent her grandson Connor Mulvey a text message:

“I guess you can probably figure out that I’m very happy today,” Lynnette began. “Donald Trump is to your generation what Ronald Reagan was to ours. I am so fortunate to have been part of both. … He defied conventional wisdom at every turn. … Hopefully, I will be going to the Inauguration.”

Connor, who was then starting his senior year as an undergraduate at Tulane, replied almost immediately.

“Donald Trump is a bigoted imbecile who tapped into the racism and ignorance in America,” he texted. “You’re right, he is like Ronald Reagan. He’s going to leave this country in ruins and completely ignore minorities’ problems. The fact that he ‘won’ this election is a blemish on the history of the United States. I will not be recognizing him as my President, because much like George W. Bush he failed to win the popular vote. The only difference is that I believe Bush was a good person who was manipulated by those around him. Donald is an arrogant asshole with a history of abuse, mistreatment, and greed. He and his supporters should be ashamed of themselves, but it’s evident they lack the self-reflective capabilities to do so. I want you to think long and hard about what you’ve aided in. My LGBT friends are scared. My Muslim friends are scared. My Hispanic friends are scared. My female friends are scared. I’m scared. The fact that you’ve gone along with his disgraceful rhetoric the entire way through disappoints me to no end. Congratulations, you’ve damaged America. I hope it was worth it.”

While Lynette concedes Trump made the unifying pledge, she now thinks that he has too many enemies to follow through on it. “There is just as much responsibility from the Never Trump people, the Hollywood Left, CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times, the swamp in D.C., late night TV, Black Lives Matter—I could go on and on,” she says. “Half of the country hates the president. Do you really think there is anything he can say or do that that will bring us together? I’m all for promoting civility, but we are so divided and people are so dug in, it’s hard to have a conversation.”

More at link: https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/10/03/trump-supporters-luzerne-county-ben-bradlee-jr-220841

There are a lot of misconceptions out there about the flu shot.

But following a winter in which more than 80,000 people died from flu-related illnesses in the U.S. — the highest death toll in more than 40 years — infectious disease experts are ramping up efforts to get the word out.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/10/01/652140517/think-you-dont-need-a-flu-shot-here-are-5-reasons-to-change-your-mind