POLITICAL: Defund NPR — it’s only “fair”

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2024/04/17/npr-liberal-bias-media-uri-berliner/73345296007/

NPR editor quit after telling the truth about liberal bias in media. It’s time to defund them.

  • NPR in recent years has gone from being something I enjoy to something that more often than not leaves me shaking my head.

Ingrid Jacques USA TODAY

2024-04Apr-17

*** begin quote ***

Here’s a solution: Defund NPR

NPR – National Public Radio – isn’t just another media outlet. It’s funded in part by taxpayers, which places it in a different position than say The New York Times, The Washington Post or even my news organization.

Private publications are free to do what they want, although I think more are waking up to the need for more viewpoint diversity. It’s simply a smart business decision to reach a broader audience.

While Berliner argues that NPR still deserves public funding, I disagree. 

He writes: “As the country becomes more fractured, there’s still a need for a public institution where stories are told and viewpoints exchanged in good faith.”

Yet, NPR is offering no confidence that it will embrace anything close to the viewpoint diversity that it now lacks. Its new CEO, Katherine Maher, is getting attention because of social media posts she made before she was hired, including calling former President Donald Trump a “racist sociopath” and boasting of wearing a Joe Biden campaign hat in public.

That doesn’t bode well. 

If NPR wants to double down on its woke mission, fine. But it shouldn’t do it on my dime – or that of other taxpayers. 

NPR claims that “federal funding is essential to public radio’s service to the American public and its continuation is critical for both stations and program producers, including NPR.”

*** end quote ***

#DefundNPR

I don’t want to pay for much of what the Gooferment does.  So let’s start here!

—30—

INSPIRATIONAL: WWOBD is the exemplar of “be the change you want to be”

https://nypost.com/2024/04/17/entertainment/mariska-hargitay-helps-lost-child-find-her-parent-while-filming-law-and-order-svu-in-nyc/

 ‘Law & Order: SVU’ star Mariska Hargitay mistaken for real-life cop by lost child

  • Mariska Hargitay helps lost child find her parent while filming ‘Law and Order: SVU’ in NYC

By Jack Hobbs
Published April 17, 2024, 3:06 p.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

Shortly before the 25th season premiere, Hargitay told People how the show has impacted her.

“We’ve been on a parallel journey,” she said. “There’s a thing: WWOBD, ‘What would Olivia Benson do?’ The fans would always talk about it, and one day it hit me. I also have those moments where I’ve sort of slipped into her.”

“If there’s a crisis, I just take over and lead like that. Being strong and fearless. It’s sort of this perfect feminist story.”

*** end quote ***

Life imitates art or visa verso.

The lesson is that if you pretend to be “strong and fearless”, then you can become “strong and fearless” IRL.

Interesting and inspirational to have this concept echoed in a beautiful story.

WWOBD. WWJD.  What Would <insert your personal hero> Do.

Maybe “What Should I Do” that would make my Mom proud?

Only you can answer.

—30—

 

INSPIRATIONAL: WWOBD is the exemplar of “be the change you want to be”

https://nypost.com/2024/04/17/entertainment/mariska-hargitay-helps-lost-child-find-her-parent-while-filming-law-and-order-svu-in-nyc/

 ‘Law & Order: SVU’ star Mariska Hargitay mistaken for real-life cop by lost child

  • Mariska Hargitay helps lost child find her parent while filming ‘Law and Order: SVU’ in NYC

By Jack Hobbs
Published April 17, 2024, 3:06 p.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

Shortly before the 25th season premiere, Hargitay told People how the show has impacted her.

“We’ve been on a parallel journey,” she said. “There’s a thing: WWOBD, ‘What would Olivia Benson do?’ The fans would always talk about it, and one day it hit me. I also have those moments where I’ve sort of slipped into her.”

“If there’s a crisis, I just take over and lead like that. Being strong and fearless. It’s sort of this perfect feminist story.”

*** end quote ***

Life imitates art or visa verso.

The lesson is that if you pretend to be “strong and fearless”, then you can become “strong and fearless” IRL.

Interesting and inspirational to have this concept echoed in a beautiful story.

WWOBD. WWJD.  What Would <insert your personal hero> Do.

Maybe “What Should I Do” that would make my Mom proud?

Only you can answer.

—30—

 

POLITICAL: Seems like religious discrimination to me?

https://thenationalpulse.com/2024/04/15/judge-blocks-orthodox-jews-who-overwhelmingly-back-trump-from-trial-jury/

Judge Blocks Orthodox Jews, Who Overwhelmingly Back Trump, from Trial Jury
Ed Kozak  — April 15, 2024

*** begin quote ***

“Orthodox Jews to be excluded from [Manhattan District Attorney Alvin] Bragg’s jury pool. The NYC demographic group most strongly supportive of Trump is the orthodox Jewish community,” Schneider posted on X. “So, no surprise that the very biased judge in Bragg’s case scheduled the trial to include Fridays instead of Wednesdays. Very unusual, but understandable since this switch will necessarily exclude all orthodox Jews from the jury pool. Democrat operatives are very clever.”

*** end quote ***

I’m not lawyer.  (Thank God!)  But this seems to be blatant religious discrimination.  I would think that the Orthodox Jewish community would object.  I would.  And, it seems like automatic grounds for appeal.  (Maybe DJT’s lawyers are already drafting the appeal.)

Argh!

—30—

POLITICAL: Seems like religious discrimination to me?

https://thenationalpulse.com/2024/04/15/judge-blocks-orthodox-jews-who-overwhelmingly-back-trump-from-trial-jury/

Judge Blocks Orthodox Jews, Who Overwhelmingly Back Trump, from Trial Jury.
Ed Kozak  — April 15, 2024

*** begin quote ***

“Orthodox Jews to be excluded from [Manhattan District Attorney Alvin] Bragg’s jury pool. The NYC demographic group most strongly supportive of Trump is the orthodox Jewish community,” Schneider posted on X. “So, no surprise that the very biased judge in Bragg’s case scheduled the trial to include Fridays instead of Wednesdays. Very unusual, but understandable since this switch will necessarily exclude all orthodox Jews from the jury pool. Democrat operatives are very clever.”

*** end quote ***

I’m not lawyer.  (Thank God!)  But this seems to be blatant religious discrimination.  I would think that the Orthodox Jewish community would object.  I would.  And, it seems like automatic grounds for appeal.  (Maybe DJT’s lawyers are already drafting the appeal.)

Argh!

—30—

INSPIRATIONAL: Is DJT the “Gray Champion” of the The Fourth Turning?

https://sashastone.substack.com/p/the-lawfare-made-me-a-trump-supporter

The Lawfare made me a Trump supporter

  • The Grifters are red-pilling Americans by the day…

Sasha Stone Apr 13, 2024

*** begin quote ***

Gray Champions aren’t born. They are made.

Neil Howe was asked back in 2016 if he thought Trump was the Gray Champion of his book The Fourth Turning.

He points out that Trump is a Baby Boomer, which is usually what we’d expect from a Gray Champion, though it’s not absolute.

Here is how Neil Howe describes the Gray Champion in The Fourth Turning is Here, his follow-up to the first book:

“What are the typical attributes of the Gray Champion? Boundless self-confidence. Uncompromising principle. Contempt for the status quo. Inability to back down or give up. Yet also a simplicity of manner and a serenity of soul. And the charismatic ability to reconnect the rising generation with its cultural heritage. Oriented toward final ends, the Gray Champion can be careless about the human or material cost of attaining them.

Who else but a Gray Champion would challenge the results of a corrupt election? Who would ever have the nerve to do such a thing? Who would ever run again for office after two impeachments and four indictments? Well, a Gray Champion would.

One thing we know for sure is that it isn’t Joe Biden.

*** end quote ***

I’m not a fan of DJT but he is our last best hope to save America.

—30—

GOVEROTRAGEOUS: Isn’t our welfare state at the root of our immigration problem?

https://palexander.substack.com/p/obama-biden-did-it-during-obamas?publication_id=579356&post_id=143608046&isFreemail=false&r=onvra&triedRedirect=true

Obama-Biden did it during Obama’s devastating 8 years as POTUS; now switched roles & again, Biden-Obama INVADING America; these 2 & their leftist party deepstate seeking to DESTROY USA via IMMIGRATION

  • Biden-Obama have invaded America and flooded it and flooding (4 more million by November at 20,000 illegals per day) to hollow out USA with rapists, murderers, jihadists, islamists to breed you out

Dr. Paul Alexander Apr 15, 2024

*** begin quote ***

There is a plan, wrapped up in constant Cloward–Piven strategy, to damage USA, and now, we have 11 millions illegals under Biden-Obama, 4 more million project by election day, so 15 million…most are BAD BAD BAD for America…these illegals are being placed ahead of blacks who have sweated and toiled for America…not fair, not so, must be stopped!

Black Americans must rise up now civilly and take to the streets civilly, peacefully and demand what is theirs before it is given all to the Latino and jihadi illegal…the CHINESE military aged illegal…these people are coming to harm USA…unvetted…diseased! I know things I cannot state here…as an infectious diseases expert they are brinbing serious infections…

*** end quote ***

If we are to have “open borders”, then “we” can not afford to have welfare.  It attracts the ne’er-do-wells that want live off the system,

That goes for everyone, even those born here!

#endwelfare

—30—

POLITICAL: Aren’t we told all the time about how safe our Gooferment water is?

https://patch.com/new-jersey/southbrunswick/s/ivvxk/strict-new-limits-on-water-chemicals-announced-see-nj-impacts

Strict New Limits On Water Chemicals Announced: See NJ Impacts

  • The rule is the first national drinking water limit on toxic PFAS, which have been linked to various health issues.

Nicole Rosenthal, Patch Staff
Posted Fri, Apr 12, 2024 at 2:42 pm ET

*** begin quote ***

NEW JERSEY — In an extraordinary move Wednesday, the federal government imposed strict new limits on “forever chemicals” in public water systems, a costly undertaking for New Jersey’s local water utilities that many say will ultimately fall on the backs of taxpayers.

The Environmental Protection Agency mandate requires that the perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals, known collectively as PFAS, be reduced to near-zero levels. The rule is the first national drinking water limit on toxic PFAS, which are widespread, long-lasting in the environment and have been linked to cancer and a host of other health problems.

They’re ubiquitous, found in everything from food packaging and cookware to dental floss and other personal care items to children’s toys and firefighting foams.

At least 45 percent of U.S. water systems have one or more types of PFAS chemicals, according to a 2023 study by the U.S. Geological Survey. In New Jersey, PFAS have been found in public water systems in Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, Naval Weapons Station Earle, Woodbury Creek, Gloucester County Fire Training Area, Solvay Specialty Polymers Plant and the New Jersey Air National Guard Base, among others.

Health advocates praised the Environmental Protection Agency for not backing away from tough limits the agency proposed last year. But water utilities took issue with the rule, saying treatment systems are expensive to install and that customers will end up paying more for water.

*** end quote ***

And I am sure that I get mailings every year from different “water suppliers” and municipalities telling my how “good” the water was.  Were those just lies?

Of course, the taxpayers and rate payers will pay more for this new and improved water. 

Argh!

Maybe instead of the Unintended Consequences of Gooferment “water”, people could be given a free market choice.  For example, if I use the new and improved water for my grass, then maybe I don’t want to pay more for it.  Ditto, flushing the toilet.  And, how about the concrete wash out basins, do they need the new and improved more expensive water?

Of course, with Gooferment solutions, there are no choices.

I guess all the folks buying bottled water may have had good reason too.

Argh!

—30—

POLITICAL: Nuclear Power, like RKBA, is a litmus test issue

https://www.schiffsovereign.com/trends/these-powerful-inspired-idiots-will-take-us-back-to-the-stone-age-150693/

These powerful Inspired Idiots will take us back to the Stone Age
by James Hickman on April 12, 2024

*** begin quote ***

Sure, it would be great to reduce oil consumption… Geez if only there were another technology that was multiples more energy efficient than oil, but was simultaneously clean and green?

Oh wait, that technology already exists. It’s called nuclear.

But the green fanatics don’t like nuclear either… because they are Inspired Idiots. So their one-track minds are focused on stopping oil.

Just imagine if Honolulu’s lawsuit succeeds, and the city is awarded punitive damages; it would open up the floodgates for class action lawsuits around the world. Every city, state, and country in the world would be able to sue in the name of climate change.

No oil company would survive, and no investor or entrepreneur would touch the sector. The cost of energy would skyrocket… which would increase the cost of everything. Powering your home. Heating your home. Food. Medicine. EVERYTHING.

*** end quote ***

Seems like “We, The Sheeple” should insist on safe cheap nuclear power!

—30—

DISCOURAGING: “Havisham future” is predicted for Western Civilization?

https://sonar21.com/miss-havisham-and-the-west-by-helmholtz-smith/

MISS HAVISHAM AND THE WEST
11 April 2024 by HELMHOLTZ SMITH 

*** begin quote ***

Miss Havisham is a character in Charles Dickens’ novel Great Expectations. A wealthy woman, she was jilted and swindled on her wedding day. From that day on she has allowed nothing to change. The wedding feast sits there, liquids evaporated, silverware corroded, cakes and food rotted; overrun with vermin and spider webs. She wears still her wedding dress, filthy and torn. The Day preserved, decayed and monstrous. Time and events move on around her but her past is her present and her pitiless future.

Will this be the West in fifty years? Surrounded by decay and filth but still clinging its past? Shouting about its ever-so-valuable values, ranting on about the Rules-Based International Order, boasting it’s the best at this and the most at that, issuing judgments on the bad behavior of the others, sanctioning non-believers, bathed in its media feedback loop. Still the highest GDP in USD! (Now Big Mac Cricketburgers are $1000 a pop, there are lots of dollars in every pocket!)

But nobody in the rest of the world cares. They’ve moved on. No tourist visits the moldering house and its unhinged inhabitants. They prefer cruising the high speed railroad from Cape Town to Beijing with a side trip to Baikal. Who wants to be robbed in the shoot-up galleries of Amsterdam, the tent cities of New York, the machete gangs of London? If it’s Tuesday and riots, it must be Paris. Young Harvard graduates pass out in their slums and dream of becoming a toilet cleaner in Omsk Airport – full benefits, you know. Plus dental. And you can afford a small apartment on your pay.

*** end quote ***

A pretty bleak prediction.  Given the national debt and unfunded liabilities, it seems we have no place else to go but down.

—30—

POLITICAL: Why aren’t Covid-19 cabal going to jail?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13298587/anthony-fauci-aide-covid-19-origins-emails-whistleblower.html

Bombshell emails show a top Fauci aide used his personal Gmail to ‘intentionally’ HIDE discussions about COVID origins… and would delete anything ‘incriminating’

  •  Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, revealed new documents from a whistleblower Thursday regarding federal official’s communications on the origins of COVID-19
  • They show that a senior advisor to Dr. Anthony Fauci tried to hide correspondence by using a Gmail account 
  •  ‘I will delete anything I don’t want to see in the New York Times,’ the Fauci advisor previously told Republicans 

By Jon Michael Raasch, Political Reporter On Capitol Hill, For Dailymail.Com

Published: 18:03 EDT, 11 April 2024 | Updated: 18:28 EDT, 11 April 2024 

*** begin quote ***

New documents show that Dr. Anthony Fauci’s top U.S. health aide intentionally tried to hide his discussions about the origins of COIVD-19 by using his personal email. 

Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, claimed a whistleblower provided him new bombshell materials obtained by DailyMail.com.

The unnamed whistleblower revealed emails showing that Dr. David Morens – Fauci’s top aide at the National Institutes of Health – allegedly used his personal Gmail account to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to skirt federal transparency laws.

*** end quote ***

Sounds like, if there was any fairness in political life, that several people would be facing jail and fines.  Makes the J6 treatment look laughable.

Any wonder why people don’t respect politicians and bureaucrats? 

Time to shut down the CDC, FDA, FBI, DOJ, and the CIA!

Time to clean house and break up the USA as immoral, ineffective, and inefficient. As well as untrustworthy.

—30—

INNOVATION: Writing negative reactions on paper … …

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/apr/09/write-down-your-thoughts-and-shred-them-to-relieve-anger-researchers-say

Psychology

Write down your thoughts and shred them to relieve anger, researchers say

  • Writing negative reactions on paper and shredding it or scrunching and throwing in the bin eliminates angry feelings, study finds

Caroline Davies  — Tue 9 Apr 2024 09.40 EDT

*** begin quote ***

Since time immemorial humans have tried to devise anger management techniques.

In ancient Rome, the Stoic philosopher Seneca believed “my anger is likely to do me more harm than your wrong” and offered avoidance tips in his AD45 work De Ira (On Anger).

More modern methods include a workout on the gym punchbag or exercise bike. But the humble paper shredder may be a more effective – and accessible – way to decompress, according to research.

A study in Japan has found that writing down your reaction to a negative incident on a piece of paper and then shredding it, or scrunching it into a ball and throwing it in the bin, gets rid of anger.

“We expected that our method would suppress anger to some extent,” said Nobuyuki Kawai, lead researcher of the study at Nagoya University. “However, we were amazed that anger was eliminated almost entirely.”

*** end quote ***

Have to try this and see if it helps.

“Income tax”.

Printed and shredded!

Didn’t help!!!

—30—

DISCOURAGING: Some people don’t understand that some rules have a reason behind them

https://nypost.com/2024/04/09/us-news/airstream-says-li-doctor-monika-woroniecka-should-not-have-been-in-back-of-rv/?lctg=6080ba40747925275a09dcd3

LI doctor who died during family road trip should never have been in RV, Airstream says
By Olivia Land
Published April 9, 2024 Updated April 9, 2024, 10:38 a.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

“Airstream travel trailers are not designed to carry passengers while in motion,” the company said in a statement. 

*** end quote ***

Having had two trailers and Minnie Winnie, the trailer dealers drummed into us that no one should be in the trailer when it was being towed.  One dealer had pictures of accidents to drive the point home.  Even in the Minnie Winnie, the dealer emphasized seat belts when driving.  So this accident was predictable and avoidable. 

Requiescat In Pacem

—30—

 

DISCOURAGING: “Scrabble for Snowflakes” and “Woke Scrabble”

https://nypost.com/2024/04/09/lifestyle/scrabble-makes-historic-change-for-first-time-in-75-years/?lctg=6080ba40747925275a09dcd3

Scrabble makes historic change to game with ‘less competitive,’ ‘inclusive’ version to appeal to Gen Z
By Brooke Steinberg
Published April 9, 2024, 12:03 p.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

This is a game-changer.

For the first time in 75 years, Mattel is making a major change to the iconic board game Scrabble.

The new launch is a double-sided version of the famous board game — one side with the original game for those who want to stick to the long-time traditional version, and one side with a “less competitive” version to appeal to Gen Z gamers.

The flip side of the classic game, called Scrabble Together, will include helper cards, use a simpler scoring system, be quicker to play and allow people to play in teams.

*** end quote ***

What’s next “Monopoly for Communists”?

—30—

GOVEROTRAGEOUS: Federeal Law prempts State Law and parental rights?

 
NC Court Rules Federal PREP Act Protects Forced Vaccination Without Parental Consent
by Carolyn Hendler, JD
Published April 8, 2024 
 
*** begin quote ***
 
A North Carolina Court of Appeals found that a clinic, where personnel gave a 14-year-old boy a COVID-19 shot without his consent or parental consent, was protected by the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act). The court concluded that the Guilford Board of Education, which hosted the clinic, was also covered by the PREP Act.1
 
Despite calling the act of forcing a child to get a COVID-19 shot against his will and without his parent’s consent, “egregious,” the court unanimously concluded that the PREP Act preempted state law and protected the defendants from being held liable for battery, violation of Tanner’s mother’s constitutional liberty and parental rights, and violation of Tanner’s bodily autonomy and plaintiffs’ federal constitutional rights.2
 
The minor child, Tanner Smith, attended Western Guilford High School in Greensboro, North Carolina when the school district sent a letter to his parents stating that Tanner was one of the students who may have been exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and that, unless he got tested, he would not be able to “return to football practice until cleared by a public health professional.” The letter set forth that one of the local schools would be hosting a free clinic offering testing the following day. The letter explained that, “consent for testing is required.”3 4
 
The following day, Tanner’s step-father took him to the clinic at the local school for the free testing so that Tanner could return to football practice. The school district failed to inform the parents that a there was also a free vaccination clinic along with the free testing at the school that same day. While Tanner’s step-father waited in the car, Tanner filled out a form that he believed was for the free testing needed to return to football practice. At that time, one of the clinic workers attempted to reach out to Tanner’s mother but she was not available. Tanner’s step-father who was waiting outside the clinic was not called.5
 

*** end quote ***

​I’d be more than <past tense synonym for urine output> off if it was my child.

And, what about all the vaccine injuries we now know about?

Also, that the EULA was wrong because Ivermectin was available when they declared it an “emergency”.

Sorry but this was nothing more than a raid on the Public Treasury that trampled all the People’s rights.

Where is the outrage?

—30—

 

 
 

RANT: Taxation ISTheft!

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/taxation-is-theft

Taxation is theft - Imgflip

Taxation Is Theft

*** begin quote ***

The idea that taxation is theft originated in Murray Rothbard’s The Ethics of Liberty in 1982. Rothbard compared government tax collectors to thieves demanding to know what valuables one may have in one’s house.

    “Just as no one is morally required to answer a robber truthfully when he asks if there are any valuables in one’s house, so no one can be morally required to answer truthfully similar questions asked by the State, e.g., when filling out income tax returns.”

*** end quote ***

Argh!

—30—

GOVEROTRAGEOUS: The not so Unintended Consequences of a new tax

https://nypost.com/2024/04/06/us-news/congestion-price-toll-evaders-turn-upper-nyc-into-parking-lot/

NYC’s Upper West Side already becoming commuter parking lot for congestion-pricing evaders
By Chris Harris
Published April 6, 2024  — Updated April 6, 2024, 9:16 a.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

The Upper West Side is about to become a commuter parking lot.

Already notorious for its scarcity of spaces, the parking situation on the UWS has reached new lows of desperation ahead of the mid-June implementation of the Big Apple’s much-maligned, five-years-in-the-making congestion parking plan, which the MTA’s board authorized last month.

“The situation up here is untenable,” said longtime West 79th Street resident Renee Baruch, who’s noticed a steady uptick since January in the number of cars with out-of-state plates circling her block each morning.

“They’re on Riverside Drive, on side streets, with plates from all over, and you’re seeing the same ones every day,” explained Baruch, part of a consortium of Manhattanites that continues to push pols for a parking permitting system.

*** end quote ***

Ahh, what will “We, The Sheeple” do?

I bet just suck it up and take it.  Death by a thousand cuts.  How do you eat a whole baloney?  Once slice at a time.

—30—

POLITICAL: Perhaps time to reform how SCOTUS are filled

https://thenationalpulse.com/2024/04/04/far-left-calls-for-scotus-justice-sotomayor-retirement-reveal-dems-believe-in-trump-victory/

Far-Left Calls for SCOTUS Justice Sotomayor Retirement Reveal Dems Believe in Trump Victory.

*** begin quote ***

Democrats are increasingly calling on Justice Sonia Sotomayor to resign from the Supreme Court before the 2024 presidential election, suggesting a widespread belief that former President Donald Trump will win.

Sotomayor is 69, a lifelong diabetic, and the oldest liberal member of the court. Should Trump win the election and Sotomayor need to retire in the next four years due to her health, conservatives could secure a 7-2 majority.

*** end quote ***

Maybe each President should get to select one Justice in each term.  Nine justices times 4 years is a 36 year term.  Seems like “lifetime” is impractical in today’s life spans.  So, stagger their terms.  Each President gets to pick one.  Still have the problem of death, disability, and retirement,  but it would be better than the chaos that we have around election time.

And, I’m not so sure that a 7-2 conservative majority is a sure thing.  Given how the justices seem to be all closet liberals.

Sigh!

—30—

DISCOURAGING: 20 Year old woman died on Sunday after a battle with bone cancer

https://www.breitbart.com/sports/2024/04/03/kate-kaufling-20-year-old-kentucky-dance-team-member-dies/

University of Kentucky Dance Team Member Dead at 20 Years Old

Dylan Gwinn  —  3 Apr 2024

*** begin quote ***

Kate Kaufling, a member of the dance team at the University of Kentucky, died on Sunday after a battle with bone cancer. She was only 20 years old.

*** end quote ***

Was the covid shot the cause?

—30—

NEWJERSEY: At what point does a speeding driver become guilty of murder?

https://nj1015.com/lakewood-vehicular-homicide-case/

88 in a 45 – Lakewood, NJ teen charged in fatal crash

Dan Alexander  — Published: April 4, 2024

  • Way too fast: Lakewood, NJ teen charged in deadly crash
  • Crash on West County Line Road at Laurelwood Avenue in Lakewood 3/3/24 (The Lakewood Scoop/Canva)
  • Aryeh Bakst, 18, was driving a Tesla at 88 mph
  • Jules Brotsky was making a left turn in a minivan
  • The impact sent Brotsky’s vehicle spinning backwards several times

*** begin quote ***

LAKEWOOD — A teen was charged with vehicular homicide after police say he drove 88.6 mph in a 45 mph zone and hit a car that was making a left turn.

Aryeh Bakst was driving a 2023 Tesla sedan west on West County Line Road around 9 a.m. on March 3.

Surveillance video of the crash posted by The Lakewood Scoop shows the Tesla slamming into a 2013 Toyota Corolla driven by Jules Brotsky, 82, of Lakewood, who making a left turn onto Laurelwood Avenue from the eastbound lanes.

The minivan spun backward several times down the road while the Tesla hit a utility pole.

*** end quote ***

Where and in what world does a “teenager” get a Tesla to drive?

Now we all drive a little faster than speed limits, but 88 in a 45 is more than just a little.

At what point does this become murder?

And who ever put this car in the hands of a teenager has some culpability as well.

Time to throw the book at all involved.

—30—

DISCOURAGING: People seem to be giving up to easily

https://www.thefp.com/p/im-28-and-im-scheduled-to-die

‘I’m 28. And I’m Scheduled to Die in May.’

  • Some right-to-die activists want everyone to have access to euthanasia—even young people with mental illness. Are they also making suicide contagious?

By Rupa Subramanya
April 1, 2024

*** begin quote ***

Zoraya ter Beek, 28, expects to be euthanized in early May. 

Her plan, she said, is to be cremated.

“I did not want to burden my partner with having to keep the grave tidy,” ter Beek texted me. “We have not picked an urn yet, but that will be my new house!” 

She added an urn emoji after “house!”

Ter Beek, who lives in a little Dutch town near the German border, once had ambitions to become a psychiatrist, but she was never able to muster the will to finish school or start a career. She said she was hobbled by her depression and autism and borderline personality disorder. Now she was tired of living—despite, she said, being in love with her boyfriend, a 40-year-old IT programmer, and living in a nice house with their two cats. 

She recalled her psychiatrist telling her that they had tried everything, that “there’s nothing more we can do for you. It’s never gonna get any better.” 

At that point, she said, she decided to die. “I was always very clear that if it doesn’t get better, I can’t do this anymore.”

*** end quote ***

I haver always thought that one of the rules in the “Game of Life” was that “You can’t leave early.”

As I have gotten older, maybe I’m wrong but how we treat and are treated should really value our humanity.

I’d sure like this person to find health and happiness.  I’m not sure that suicide is the best or only course.

Sigh!

—30—

MONEY: 100% reserve gold backed banking is the only way to get to freedom

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2024/04/lew-rockwell/bring-back-gold/

Bring Back Gold! 
By Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

*** begin quote ***

If we want a true gold standard, can we get back to it? Of course we can. The inflationary monetary policy we have today is the key to the financial elites control over us. Without it brain-dead Biden and his gang of neocon controllers couldn’t function. We must prevail, and we can prevail.

*** end quote ***

Sure we might have to pay for “banking services” like we did for travelers’ checks or like do now for using credit cards, but isn’t that better than the “hidden taxes” of inflation.

I’d sure like to try,

—30—

INSPIRATIONAL: Several therapy dogs bring children happiness during tought times

https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-therapy-dog-at-ann-arbors-mott-childrens-hospital/?ICID=ref_fark

Health
A day in the life of a therapy dog at Ann Arbor’s Mott Children’s Hospital
By Meredith Bruckner
Updated on: April 2, 2024 / 9:10 AM EDT / CBS Detroit 

*** begin quote ***

Dashiel is a three-year-old therapy dog who works primarily with oncology patients. 

Carly Reeves is about to receive an infusion when she sees a familiar face. 

“Dashiel!” she shouts down the hall. 

Reeves’ mom, Cassandra Mansfield, said Dash has been a steady presence during her time in the hospital. 

“He’s a good therapy dog,” said Mansfield. “He’s helped a lot through our treatment process.” 

Alanna Rock’s son, Jack, has been in the hospital for nearly two years. 

She said seeing the dogs lifts her mood. 

“No matter how bad of a day you’re having, there’s just something about a dog for me anyway,” said Rock. “You see them with their little golden retriever waddle walking around, and it just makes you laugh.” 

*** end quote ***

Seems like this should be standard MO at all children’s hospitals.  Like combining children’s day care with assisted living, or housing students in elder villages, sometimes ideas need to “come together”.

Can’t cost that much to change our views.

—30—

INTERESTING: The giraffe is doing something to get 17 out of 20 experiments

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-13263997/ants-conscious-dolphins-currency-food-animal-intelligence.html

Did you know ANTS are self-aware? Or that giraffes can do mental math? New book documents the little-known brilliance of animal intelligence that may surprise you

  •     The book explores how animals engage in complex mental math and language
  •     Even insects, like ants and bees, prove to be more perceptive than expected
  •     ‘The Animal Mind’ by nature writer and photographer Marianne Taylor is out now

By Matthew Phelan Senior Science Reporter For Dailymail.Com
Published: 07:37 EDT, 3 April 2024 | Updated: 07:37 EDT, 3 April 2024 

*** begin quote ***

Giraffes can do math in their heads

Technically speaking, it’s a miracle of evolution that a giraffe can get its blood pumping 14 to 19 feet up to its brain to do much high-quality thinking at all. 

But to the surprise of researchers at the Barcelona Zoo, the tall, hooved creatures are actually capable of doing complex mental math, engaging in statistical inference to assess probabilities and make predictions.

The study, conducted with four of the zoo’s giraffe’s by animal behaviorists as Barcelona University, two male and two female giraffes were shown two clear boxes filled with vegetable sticks. 

Each had a mix of carrot and courgette sticks (zucchini), with carrots being the preferred option. But soon, the researchers started putting up barriers to the boxes, hiding visual cues and eliminating scent information.

In a stunning game of intellect, the giraffes managed to select which container was more likely to produce their preferred carrot sticks in 17 out of 20 experiments.

This was based on the relative frequencies of food in the containers, and not on other information such as their sense of smell, the researchers said.

*** end quote ***

I would assume that we, as humans, could learn a lot more if we were a little more humble in our position as the apex predator.

Aside from being beautiful, seems like giraffes have some “intelligence”.  I wonder if they will ever exceed or replace us?

—30—