DISCOURAGING: Seems like “Somali Immigration” is a national disaster!

Wednesday, January 14, 2026

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/01/watch-gop-rep-brandon-gill-busts-receipts-during/

WATCH: GOP Rep. Brandon Gill Busts Out the Receipts During Hearing and HUMILIATES Democrat Witness After Dem. Asserts Massive Somali Immigration Stengthens Minnesota
by Cullen Linebarger Jan. 7, 2026 12:20 pm

*** begin quote ***

GILL: Let me ask you one more: What percentage of Somali-headed households are on welfare in general?.

BALLOU: I don’t know.

GILL: It’s 81%…After ten years of being in the United States, what percentage of Somali households continue to be on welfare?

BALLOU. I don’t know.

GILL: The number is 78%.

*** and ***

GILL: What percentage of working-age Somalis who have been in the U.S. for ten years or more, how many of them speak English very well?

BALLOU: I don’t know.

GILL: The answer is about half. That seems pretty low, doesn’t it?

*** end quote ***

Hard to see any positive impact of “Somali Immigration” except that the D’s seem to like it just fine.  The Taxpayers of Minnesota and the USA may have a much different perspective.

I have a few “modest” solutions:

  • All felons are immediately deported.  If they are naturalized citizens, then they are immediately “denaturalized”!
  • All Federal programs must end.  If States want to fund something, then they can do it.
  • All immigrants must pass a basic English test or will not be admitted.
  • All immigrants must have a sponsor, just like back in the old days.  The sponsor bears responsibility for those they sponsor —  if a felon is committed, the sponsor goes to jail.

That should clean stuff up in a hurry.  It’s all about incentives.

— 30 —


MEMORIES: Reflections upon another year around the sun

Tuesday, January 13, 2026

An old tradition in parts of Germany for men who were still single on their 30th birthday was to sweep the steps of city hall while dressed in drag until they could find a virgin to kiss. Fortunately, it’s been modernized a bit since then. Now, single men and women spend their 30th drinking cheap booze with their friends while sweeping steps or doing other chores to show they’re “eligible” for marriage.

“Birthdays” are just “life’s participation trophies”.

I once wrote:

Maybe someday it’ll be worth “grazillions” at that Antique Roadshow. I can hear it now: “Yes, Veronica, it’s an original primitive author from the earliest days of print on demand when the aboriginal people committed their stories to bound pages of paper. How did you come by this?” “My Great Great Grandmother Terry was a Real Estate Agent and sold Ferdinand a house. And, he was so pleased he gave her this book. She didn’t think much of it, but my Great Grandmother prized it. So it was handed down to me.” “You do know this is an original with a self-proving provenance?” “Really, I had no idea!” “Yes, all of the originals from the author have a personal dedication and are signed on page 51. Do you have any idea how much it is worth?” “No, but always thought $100 because of it’s uniqueness.” “Well, as an original American primitive author, it’s very rare. We believe less than 100 copies were created at cost of less than $20 each. And, it gives us a rare authentic insight to the American culture from the 1950’s to the 2010’s. So, at auction, we believe that it will be sold for … …”

and there the dream ends. ROFL!

Who knows when life really ends?  Maybe when we lose our senses — humor, pathos, frustration, wonder — those are our real senses.

In any event, until the final curtain, this Reinke will just “Face Life”.

Laugh!

— 30 —


ENCOURAGING: Cuban refugee marvels at a Costa Rican farmers market

Monday, January 12, 2026

https://pjmedia.com/sarah-anderson/2025/12/28/shed-never-seen-that-much-food-before-a-hard-truth-from-a-farmers-market-n4947618

She’d Never Seen That Much Food Before: A Hard Reality From a Farmers Market
Sarah Anderson | 3:39 PM on December 28, 2025

*** begin quote ***

While filming herself seasoning a large roast, she adds:

I don’t know if you know this, but Christmas isn’t celebrated in Cuba. Most people don’t even have enough money to buy a piece of meat or decorate their homes with lights.

Things are so incredibly different here that I invite you to appreciate it; you can’t imagine how happy people are in this country, and they haven’t even realized it.

Today, I’m only thinking about my family, about how many people didn’t even have a plate of food to eat, how they spent Christmas without electricity, without water, without motivation, and without hope.

*** end quote ***

While “We, The Sheeple” in the Pepuls Republik of Nu Jerk vote in a “democratic socialist”, here we have testimony about living in a Communist country.  We have great examples of “socialism” and what results.  Yet we are too stupid to learn the lesson.

Argh!

More examples like this are encouraging since the difference is so dramatic.

— 30 —


HEALTHCARE: Shouldn’t the US emulate Denmark with respect to vaccines

Sunday, January 11, 2026

https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/can-the-us-emulate-denmarks-control?publication_id=1119676&post_id=183742515&isFreemail=true&r=3snn7d&triedRedirect=true

Can the US Emulate Denmark’s Control Over Communicable Disease?
Dr McCullough responds to vaccine ideology
from Peter Hotez on FOX Business, The Evening Edit
Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH
Jan 07, 2026

*** begin quote ***

Denmark maintains high control over vaccine-preventable diseases despite having one of the most streamlined childhood vaccine schedules among high-income nations. The Danish program vaccinates children against about 10–11 diseases, fewer than the 16–18 historically targeted by the U.S. schedule. Core Danish vaccines cover measles, mumps, rubella, polio, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, Haemophilus influenzae type B, pneumococcal disease, and HPV. The system omits universal vaccination for RSV, influenza, rotavirus, hepatitis A and B, varicella (chickenpox), and meningococcal disease.

Denmark has universal healthcare, a national health registry, and high compliance rates, which enable rapid outbreak detection and treatment.

*** end quote ***

I especially like the idea that patients and doctors can decide if a particular vaccine is needed.  Since individuals are different, everything should be subject to their specific needs.  We are learning that now organs are being created custom for the individual to avoid complications and rejections.  

We need more “science” and a lot less Gooferment “knowing what is best for us”. 

Argh!

— 30 —


POLITICAL: Stop shielding criminal police

Saturday, January 10, 2026

https://downsizedc.org/act/qualified-immunity-end-it-2/

Qualified Immunity: End it!
Stop shielding criminal police

*** begin quote ***

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that qualified immunity did NOT protect the cops this time. That means that citizens of the 5th Circuit – in Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi – may now have slightly greater protection against police misconduct.

Sadly, qualified immunity continues to protect cops when they lock prisoners in sewage-flooded cells, assault innocent people with tear gas, steal hundreds of thousands of dollars, and shoot kids while attempting to murder dogs. Only congressional legislation can fix this problem once and for all, especially given that the Supreme Court declined to hear the most recent qualified immunity case. 

*** end quote ***

The litany of offenses of police, politicians, and bureaucrats is undeniably long and an affront to justice.

Time to have Congress correct it and put accountability back where it belongs.

— 30 —


HEALTHCARE: When the number of administrators goes up at a rate 18 times as much as … … 

Friday, January 9, 2026

https://www.theburningplatform.com/2026/01/02/the-healthcare-grift-in-one-chart/

THE HEALTHCARE GRIFT IN ONE CHART

*** begin quote ***

When the number of administrators goes up at a rate 18 times as much as the number of physicians, you no longer have healthcare, you have a massive grifting operation, designed to enrich health insurance corporations, hospital corporations, Big Pharma corporations, corporate executives, government bureaucrats “overseeing” the healthcare grift, and the politicians who were bribed to create and exacerbate the grift.

*** end quote ***

I remember seeing my Mom’s bill for my appendectomy when I was I’m guessing about 10.  It was for my three day stay in the (I hink) Knickerbocker Hospital.  (I remember thinking that was a funny name for a hospital.)  It was for more than one hundred dollars, but less than two hundred.  My Mom luckily had (?Blue Cross Blue Shield?) thru her employer AT&T.  But she had to pay the bill first and submit a “claim”.  (I’d never heard that before.).  Since it was a lot of money, her whole family sat down and looked at the bill, line by line, and item by item.  I never knew if they found any discrepancies.  But, in the end, everyone chipped in.  I wasn’t privy to who kicked in what.  And, when my Mom got the check for 80% of the claim, she paid everyone back.  Simpler times; lower costs.

From that story, I distill that “Health Care costs” would be a lot less if everyone has to pay a percentage.  Maybe, that percentage could be tied to the poverty line. BUT, (and there is always a BIG butt), everybody pays something. One tenth of a percent up to say ten percent for Medicare / Medicaid Insurance.

I remember two facts: (1) when motorized wheelchairs were new, there was a TV commercial that promised a free one for every one of Medicare; and (2) some news report asserted that a sixth of all Medicare claims in southeast Florida were fraudulent.  Wish I had captured those two “facts” as proof but I am positive of the memory.  (I so sure because at the time my sainted Mother In Law was always griping about phone calls trying to get her to take one. )

So, instead of sending people to jail, the grift was allowed to continue and grow.

Argh!

— 30 —


POLICY: “Malinda’s Law,” a nation-wide registry for individuals with a history of child abuse

Thursday, January 8, 2026

https://www.change.org/p/enact-malinda-s-law-for-child-safety-in-pennsylvania?signed=true

Enact Malinda’s Law for Child Safety in Pennsylvania

*** begin quote ***

We propose “Malinda’s Law,” a new nation-wide registry for individuals with a history of child abuse. This registry would enable real-time communication between agencies whenever a child-related emergency or abuse report involves a prior offender. By strengthening these lines of communication, we aim to protect innocent children from slipping through the cracks of a broken system.

*** end quote ***

And, why not have such a registry in the Pepuls Republik of Nu Jerzee?

I’m a little L libertarian but convicts should be registered.

— 30 —


DISCOURAGING: The Trump administration is really like a Monty Python skit

Wednesday, January 7, 2026

https://internationalman.com/articles/dropping-the-facade-propaganda-power-and-the-absurdity-of-empire/

Dropping the Façade: Propaganda, Power, and the Absurdity of Empire

by Chris MacIntosh

*** begin quote ***

It’s like we’re living in a live Monty Python skit. If we are to consider that the Trump administration can end wars started by previous administrations (pretty easy to cut the funding), then the current podium donut of the Deep State in the US has failed spectacularly.

Existing wars: Ukraine and Israel’s war. Can’t really call it a war, but… well, that conflict.

Trump has continued to fund the oligarchs in Ukraine. He’s continued to fund the Zionists’ genocide in Gaza. He’s bombed Iran on behalf of his handlers. He’s bombed Yemen, funded and assisted in the overthrow of Syria and installed the previous head of ISIS (you can’t make this shit up). And he’s now threatening war with both Venezuela and Colombia on the laughable excuse of “drug trafficking.”

It is the most insane inversion of the truth. I understand how history tends to unfold, and reading through the collapse of previous empires I’m quite sure that none were so terribly absurd as this. Curiously, the rest of the world is no longer playing by the empire’s rules.

*** end quote ***

In this article, he uses “words” and phrases that are really quite good.  I particularly like the phrase “podium donuts” to describe pundit and spokespeople who say a lot of words but really say nothing.  There is a “word” “shulbit” which I haven’t heard since I worked on Wall Street.  They used it to describe politely <synonym for excrement from a male cow> accounting. 

The substance of the whole rant is that DJT4547 could stop these conflicts with the stroke of his pen.  What can anyone do to him?  That hasn’t been done already.  Impeachment?  Sure go ahead and try.  He can’t be reelected, so there’s no threat there.  “They” have already tried to kill him twice.

DJT wants to have legacy?  Just cutoff the money supply to ALL foreign and domestic war mongers.

Remember Gandhi?  He stopped Muslim Hindu violence cold with a hunger strike.  

That’s a peace prize that is within his grasp if he just has the stones to do it.

I’d like to think I could, but it would take a heroic level of courage.

Dona Nobis Pacem

— 30 —


ENCOURAGING: Meanwhile, another student called 911, ensuring help was on the way.

Tuesday, January 6, 2026

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/brother-sister-spring-into-action-to-help-save-their-school-bus-driver-from-medical-emergency/?utm_source=newsletter.goodnewsnetwork.org&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=brother-and-sister-save-the-day&_bhlid=cf3cf024260334bd3a789a9735873968f30e5b46

Brother-Sister Spring into Action to Help Save Their School Bus Driver from Medical Emergency
By Andy Corbley – Dec 31, 2025

*** begin quote ***

Siblings Leap to the Rescue When School Bus Driver Faces Medical Crisis

When an Ohio school bus driver suffered a medical emergency, 8-year-old Catrina quickly noticed and asked if she was alright. Realizing the driver was in distress, Catrina ran to the back of the bus to alert her older brother, Charlie.

Charlie, a 7th grader, rushed to the front and used the radio to call the school for help. Meanwhile, another student called 911, ensuring help was on the way.

The bus driver had previously taught her riders how to use the radio in emergencies, and she later expressed gratitude that they remembered her instructions.

Their calm, quick actions were praised by the school superintendent, who called the siblings’ response truly outstanding.

*** end quote ***

Well maybe the children of a future generation will not be helpless mind-numbed robots?

I note the story because one child had a cell phone and used it.  

Remember the politicians and bureaucrats want to take cell phones away from children in Gooferment Skrules!

I STILL disagree.  I remember student using their phones during more than one school shooting.  Hard to do that if they are not there, or in a secure Faraday pouch, or locked in school principal’s office, or a a child’s locker.

Children should ALWAYS be able to connect to their parents,

It’s up to the school’s leadership how to make that happen and “confiscation” is NOT the answer!

— 30 —


DISCOURAGING: Michigan Legislators Push Orwellian Vaccination Laws

Monday, January 5, 2026

https://johnklar.substack.com/p/michigan-legislators-push-orwellian?publication_id=779141&post_id=182175531&isFreemail=true&r=3vwsqx&triedRedirect=true

Michigan Legislators Push Orwellian Vaccination Laws
Restricting parental choice in the name of empowerment.
John Klar
Dec 30, 2025

*** begin quote ***

Michigan Legislation of Intimidation

Yet Michigan has launched a series of bills that would require all schools to release immunization status reports on students (HB 5344); all child care centers to release similar reports (HB 5346); a “childhood immunization registry” (HB 5346); all parents to sign a form on their child’s vaccination status (HB 5347); a statewide registry and forms for students seeking an exemption (HB 5348 and 5349); local health officer reports (HB 5350); vaccination recommendations by the Michigan state advisory committee in lieu of the CDC (HB 5351 and 5352); insurance companies must still cover state immunization recommendations even if CDC does not (HB 5353); and expands authority to issue “standing orders: for mass drug roll-outs (HB 5354).

This is a fearsome array of measures to “empower parents” by empowering the state. Health and Human Services Secretary Kennedy and ACIP empowered parents to confer with the doctors they trust; this is a reactionary statist power grab of parental choice.

Isaac Newton’s Third Law of Motion holds that to every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This obtains in politics as in physics, through the vaccine wars – Kennedy’s common sense fuels radical Orwellian countermeasures that intrude between parents and their healthcare providers through strong arming.

*** end quote ***

I’m sure hoping that the Michigan voters “educate” their (supposed) representatives that parents, and only parents, should decide what is “best” for their children. IMHO (In My Humble Opinion) the best way to do that is too “unelect” them in the next election.   I really don’t care who their opponents are; this has to be punished.

It’s apparent that “democratic socialism” is a plague that infects “representatives” with God-like power grabs.

Argh!

— 30 —


INSPIRATIONAL: Johan van Hulst spent the rest of his 107-year life haunted by the children he couldn’t save.

Sunday, January 4, 2026

May be an image of text that says 'Weird ፕየብዮ He ran a a school eside a nursery holding Jewish children awaiting deportation. For months, he passed babies over a hedge to safety, saving over 600 lives. What tortured him wasn't the risk or the fear-but choosing which children lived today, and which he had to leave to die.'

*** begin quote ***

Weird but True

This is the story of Johan van Hulst – the teacher who smuggled babies out of a Nazi deportation center for months, and spent the rest of his 107-year life haunted by the children he couldn’t save.

Amsterdam, 1942. 

Johan van Hulst was 31 years old when the Nazis turned his neighbor into a death sentence.

*** and ***

Van Hulst had to choose which children to save.

The crèche held dozens, sometimes hundreds of children. The resistance could only handle a few at a time—they needed families willing to hide them, false papers, transportation, safe houses.

So every day, van Hulst had to pick.

Which baby gets saved today? Which toddler goes over the hedge this afternoon? Which children have to wait—knowing that waiting might mean they’re deported before you can come back for them?

How do you make that choice?

Van Hulst later said in an interview:
“I took twelve children with me. Later on, I asked myself: ‘Why not thirteen?'”

That question haunted him for 75 years.

*** end quote ***

What would you do?  What would I do?

We have a similar situation going on today in Gaza and the Ukraine.

And what are we doing?

I’m only one odd soul and all I can do is tell my “elected representatives” that if they don’t cut funding for these wars, I’m not voting for them in the next election.  I can only imagine the impact if all 350 MILLION citizens echoed the same message.

Dona Nobis Pacem

— 30 —


RANT: Dental malpractice insurance rates will go up as a result of this

Saturday, January 3, 2026

https://nypost.com/2025/12/25/us-news/final-photo-of-arizona-man-killed-during-routine-dental-procedure-resurfaces-as-family-settles-wrongful-death-suit/

Final photo of Arizona man killed during routine dental procedure resurfaces as family settles wrongful death suit
By Caitlin McCormack
Published Dec. 25, 2025, 2:24 a.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

A haunting selfie taken by an Arizona man hours before he suffered a fatal brain injury during a routine dental implant procedure has resurfaced as his distraught parents settled his wrongful death lawsuit.

Derek Swanson, 40, took a picture of himself beaming in a dentist’s chair on March 3, 2023. He captioned the photo: “Yesterday, new car. Today, implant! Fun never stops.”

*** and ***

The grieving parents are also looking to amend Arizona law to require a dentist and an anesthetist to be present during dental surgery.

The current laws state that a dentist can perform surgery and administer anesthesia without an anesthetist present so long as they have the proper state permit.

“We would like to not have another family go through what we had to go through and are going through and will be for the rest of our life,” Swanson told the outlet.

*** end quote ***

I bet all the malpractice insurance rates will go up as a result of this.  If I was an insurance company, then I wouldn’t wait for the politicians and bureaucrats to update their diktats.  I’d be reviewing every individual dental procedure insured, as well as every individual practice’s methods for safety and their results.

The free market, if truly free, would have an “instant” feedback loop of price to adjust for risk.

Argh!

Gooferment is immoral, ineffective, and inefficient. As well as untrustworthy.

— 30 — 

 


DISCOURAGING: “Rent Control” is dumb Gooferment policy

Friday, January 2, 2026

https://www.facebook.com/stephen.trynosky/posts/pfbid02sbBQzsLi71gqTNvtMr1qnHQQ3PcGEvhtPHep7zQpFmsg87m8YH9DDKCo5gxUJe7wl?notif_id=1766595016000000&notif_t=close_friend_activity&ref=notif

S Kent Troy’s Post

*** begin quote ***

The Bronx burned in the 1970’s because of many factors but the primary one was Rent controls which froze rents in 1942 and only loosened them in 1971! Hence, no turnover, no bank lending, no money for maintenance, no money for the heating fuel crisis. Prove me wrong and do NOT use that old chestnut about landlords burning down their own buildings. The smaller owners couldn’t even sell their properties and just walked away.

*** end quote ***

*** begin quote ***

If rent caps worked, cities using them would have abundant, well maintained housing.
 
They do not.
 
Housing improves when building is allowed, supply can respond, and people are free to create solutions instead of freezing failure in place.
 
Shortages are not a market failure.
 
They are a policy outcome.

*** end quote ***

I remember my (enlightened?) uncles sitting around the dinner table after a few beers portray the then current bunch of politicians and bureaucrats as “stupid communists”.  And how they “couldn’t buy a building and live off the rents in their old age”.

I was too young to really understand how right they were.  The politicians were the modern equivalent of the old “snake oil” salesman who promised a remedy for all things and everything.  Even if you didn’t know what ails you. Argh!

Now in my old age, I realize how right they were on a mutlitude of topics.

I can’t imagine what they’d think of a REAL COMMUNIST (aka “democratic socialist) being elected the mayor of New York City.  What are those SHEEPLE in the Pepuls Republik of Nu Jerk thinking?

Argh!

“Lessons in life will be repeated until they are learned.”  —  Frank Sonnenberg

Seems like the “rent control” lesson will be repeated again in NYC!

— 30 —


INSPIRATIONAL: Nothing can tell us why someone is the way they are

Thursday, January 1, 2026

https://www.makeuseof.com/84-years-later-this-is-still-cinemas-greatest-one-word-mystery/?user=bXVvQHJlaW5rZS5jYw&lctg=28d2ed2b3c7a64795f347195bfd302ab46e112a2d0fa032e2ba5de55cc388ab7

84 years later, this is still cinema’s greatest one-word mystery
By Dan Selcke
Published 1 day ago << EDITOR ADDED DATE 2025-11-26>>

  • “Rosebud” is emblematic of the fact that the puzzle can never be solved
  • No one thing can tell us why someone is the way they are

*** begin quote ***

Kane becomes an incredibly accomplished person, but he’s always unsatisfied. He builds a newspaper dynasty, but the money isn’t enough. He runs for governor of New York, but the adulation of the people isn’t enough. He marries twice, but family isn’t enough. “Rosebud” seems to reveal what would have been enough. Kane was robbed of his childhood. He wanted to be a kid and grow up with his parents’ love in his life. If he can only go back in time and fix what happened to him when he was 8 years old, then he could be happy, but he can’t, so he never will be.

*** end quote ***

“Rosebud”?

Doesn’t everyone have something in their past that they wish they could go back and change?

“If he can only go back in time and fix what happened to him when he was 8 years old, then he could be happy, but he can’t, so he never will be.”

That really rings true in my life and I bet in most people’s life.

I wrote about the concept in my Magnum Opus.

“… checked the Eternal Possibilities Machine, which generates all the possibilities for use in creating the alternative worlds. In all those probability lines …” CHURCH 10●19●62 (Vol 1) 978-0-557-08387-9 page 45

Were there such a tool like the “Eternal Possibilities Machine” so we could see the “alternative worlds” that would give us the most happiness.  Were it possible to go back and fix these “mistakes”.  But there isn’t and that’s an eternal fact of life.

“You have to play the hand you’re dealt; not the one you could have had.  (Don’t regret what could have been; you might have been hit by a bus!)  And certainly don’t envy somebody else’s ’cause you don’t know what you don’t know’.  Their hand always turns out to be worse than yours.  In other words, there’s always always some one worse off and some one better off. Get over it and move on!” — Anonymous 

“My love, were it in my power, I would sadly grant thee this boon. But, we have to continue to follow His Plan for us. Let’s go forth and speak no more of this. Who ever is last will be last. It will be His choice; not ours. We’re but humble custodians of His temple on earth. It’s not our place to trump His plan. Whatever that plan be, know that I will be with you to my last breath.” — character “John” in CHURCH 10●19●62 Volume 2 Page 399

At this time of year, I always get sad, maudlin, and sappy.  It’s now “easy” to see the mistakes.  

“I think we all wish we could erase some dark times in our lives. But all of life’s experiences, bad and good, make you who you are. Erasing any of life’s experiences would be a great mistake.” — Luis Miguel

I’ve always thought there are NO “mistakes” in life.  There are choices we’ve made based on incomplete dikw (i.e., data, information, knowledge, wisdom) or choices made in haste or choices that were “against the odds”.  

“It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not weakness, that is life.” – Jean-Luc Picard

“There are no regrets in life. Just lessons.” – Jennifer Aniston

“So, pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile.” — a World War I marching song written in 1915 by George Henry Powell and his brother Felix Powell.

[FJR: Writing this makes me feel better.]

— 30 —


TECHNOLOGY: Google Photos reminders users how deleting works across devices

Wednesday, December 31, 2025

Google Photos reminders users how deleting works across devices

https://9to5google.com/2025/12/19/google-photos-delete-content-guide/

 

# – # – # – # – #

 

As always, backup backup and backup!

 

3 is 2!  2 is 1! 1 is none!   Look for redundant capability; not redundant gear!

 

I recommend that everyone use at least two different backup capabilities for the all important photos.

This was brought home hard when it looks like Google Photos “barfed” and took out BOTH the local device and the Google cloud backup copy.

 

Needless to say, that was traumatic.  Luckily a restart unbarfed Google Photos.  We immediately set up another backup capability on DROPBOX.

 

Suggest that (1) you should be backing up your phone’s pictures SOMEWHERE; (2) have a redundant capability for at least two independent backups; (3) consider using a cheap disk drive  —  usb or ssd  —  to create that complete off line archival backup.  

 

After the disaster, it’s no good to say shoulda, coulda, and woulda! 

 

FAIWWYPFI  (Free Advice Is Worth What You Pay For It! ?zero?) 

 

— 30 —


MONEY: Spend Gold Freely Again

Tuesday, December 30, 2025

https://www.goldback.com/spend-gold-freely-again-did-we-fix-money/

Spend Gold Freely Again: Did We Fix Money?

Written by Kim Coleman, Director of Strategic Relations

*** begin quote ***

Goldback is making it possible to spend gold freely again. In this short series, we will examine how gold freedom was lost, what the Constitution authorizes and prohibits regarding gold freedom, and what steps can be taken, with your help, to make it possible to spend gold freely again.

“Specie [gold and silver coin] is the most perfect medium because it will preserve its own level; because, having intrinsic and universal value, it can never die in our hands, and it is the surest resource of reliance in time of war.”

Thomas Jefferson

The State of Money Today

Despite their best warnings, it wasn’t long before paper became the predominant currency. There is almost nothing left resembling the intent to base the nation’s monetary system on gold and silver. In fact, the government rejected it entirely when it seized private gold in 1933, ended redemption of Federal Reserve Notes for physical gold in 1934, and removed the U.S. dollar from the gold standard in 1971. This resulted in a full fiat currency system that has suffered the same issues our Founders described.

We see it. We feel it everyday. The green piece of paper we hold in our hands purchases much less than it did even five years ago—25% less!1 Americans are losing their purchasing power and hopes for future prosperity. But there are options to regain that power, and Goldbacks can play a key role in that.

*** end quote ***

Fiat Money —  paper —  allows the Gooferment to spend without restraint.

“Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon” — Milton Friedman

“Inflation is theft, you’re stealing value from people who save money.”-Ron Paul

We don’t need ANYONE setting interest rates.  Least of all the FED!

(The Federal Reserve Bank is a misnomer. IT ain’t “federal”. It reserves nothing. And, it ain’t a “bank”. It is a private cartel of the elite banks run for their benefit and that of the entrenched politicians.)

Time to heed the wisdom of the Dead Old White Guys!

— 30 —


INSPIRATIONAL: Explore all the particles that make up the Standard Mode

Monday, December 29, 2025

https://join1440.com/t/standard-model?pinned-resource=explore-all-the-particles-that-make-up-the-standard-model&user_id=66c4b9c55d78644b3a882a4d

FROM 1440 https://join1440.com/

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Since our ancient human relatives began using stone tools to perform tasks, humans have harnessed scientific knowledge and new technologies to expand the boundaries of our understanding of the natural world. 

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This reminds me of THE “perodic table” and the fact there are different ones.   

And yet we know so little.  And, in our “clumsy” ignorance, we fiddle with what we don’t understand. 

Luckily, we have wiped out humanity … … YET?

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DISCOURAGING: Students can only receive money from merit-based financial aid or FAFSA.

Sunday, December 28, 2025

https://nypost.com/2025/12/27/sports/ncaa-bans-augsburg-university-cross-country-star-mohammed-bati-over-6000-donation-for-tuition/

Minnesota college running star Mohammed Bati says he was banned for accepting $6K donation to pay for tuition
By Nicholas McEntyre
Published Dec. 27, 2025, 5:26 a.m. ET

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The NCAA ruled Augsburg University senior Mohammed Bati — a two-time national runner-up — ineligible for the indoor and outdoor track seasons, the decorated runner said, according to Marathon Handbook on Friday.

The 26-year-old, who is majoring in nursing, revealed he was “struggling a lot with money” last semester at the private Minneapolis school, which is part of the NCAA’s Division III.

“The community around me came together to support me,” Bati wrote on the training platform Strava on Dec. 24. “People helped me with around $6,000 so I could pay for that semester. I’m still grateful for that it was love, it was support, not anything big or business or something bad. Just people helping someone who needed it.”

Division III schools are prohibited from awarding scholarships for athletics. Students can only receive money from merit-based financial aid or FAFSA.

Student-athletes in Division III are not allowed to accept outside financial assistance that pays for tuition unless it fits into the structure of financial aid or NIL guidelines.

“I don’t think some NCAA rules are fair to everyone,” Bati wrote in the post titled “Night Run.”

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Sorry but the NCAA “rules” are just dumb in this case.

I don’t understand the “rules” and who cares down at Division III.

Argh!

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INSPIRATIONAL: The public domain is a priceless resource … … 

Saturday, December 27, 2025

https://standardebooks.org/about/standard-ebooks-and-the-public-domain

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The public domain is a priceless resource for all of us, and for the generations after us. It’s a free repository of our culture going back centuries—a way for us to see where we came from and to chart where we’re going. It represents our collective cultural heritage.

In the past, copyright was a limited boon, designed not to enrich a creator and their children’s children a hundred years from now, but rather to allow a creator to profit by granting a temporary monopoly on reproduction, in exchange for their work to be returned to the public after a few years. Our ancestors—in fact, the framers of the U.S. Constitution—recognized that art builds on art, and that locking up culture benefits a handful but harms the greater public.

Today, large corporations are putting a lot of money into twisting our laws to slowly but surely strangle the public domain, making it increasingly remote and inaccessible so they can continue seeking rent on ideas and culture nearly a century old. Today laws lock up work not just for the author’s entire lifetime, but for the lifetime of their children, and their children. Copyright can’t enrich the dead, but it can enrich powerful corporations … at our—at everyone’s—expense.

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This site has lots of free classic content. (It has to be in the 100,000’s count.) I like it for old SciFi classics that I read as a child. It’s a shame that Big Publishing keeps locking up content with ever expanding copyright legislation. I wish this was available when I was in school. Now if they just had textbooks, then I’d never have had to take the subway to the library, Laugh!

P.S.: I put a little money into this site to keep it going.

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NOTRECOMMENDED: Memowrite 

Friday, December 26, 2025

Memowrite’s PostMemowrite · Memories fade, but your story can last forever.With Memowrite, sharing your journey is easier than ever.Thoughtful prompts spark reflectionFree your creativityA beautifully designed memoir, delivered to your door Sale ends soon! Save up to 64% today.

# – # – # – # – #

There’s a hidden 14 “return policy” and their logon process doesn’t work reliably. When you complain their tech support stalls until your “14 days” expires. Argh!

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RANT: NYJETS suddenly find a “rule book” when they might have to pay off

Thursday, December 25, 2025

https://nypost.com/2025/12/25/us-news/jets-cancel-invite-to-super-fan-set-to-take-100k-field-goal-challenge-in-honor-of-dad/

Jets cancel invite to super fan set to take $100K field goal challenge in honor of her late father: ‘Could have made it’
By Alex Mitchell
Published Dec. 25, 2025, 7:00 a.m. ET

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(Ashley Castanio-Gervasi) felt ready to kick. But then the Jets pulled the ball away from her like Charlie Brown in a “Peanuts” cartoon, when they suddenly said that she was actually not eligible to kick in the final contest for the six-figure prize.

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Sorry, but finding a “rule” at the 11th hour stinks.

I have no problem with them making whatever rule they want, but not deep into the competition.

Argh!

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INSPIRATIONAL: Don’t be affected by skepticism … … 

Thursday, December 25, 2025

See caption

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes,_Virginia,_there_is_a_Santa_Claus

In 1897, Philip O’Hanlon, a surgeon, was asked by his eight-year-old daughter, Virginia O’Hanlon, whether Santa Claus existed. His answer did not convince her, and Virginia decided to pose the question to The Sun.[7] Sources conflict over whether her father suggested writing the letter,[8] or she elected to on her own.[7] In her letter Virginia wrote that her father had told her “If you see it in The Sun it’s so.”[8] O’Hanlon later told The Sun that her father thought the newspaper would be “too busy” to respond to her question and had said to “[w]rite if you want to,” but to not be disappointed if she got no response.[9] After sending the letter she looked for a response “day after day”.[9] O’Hanlon later said that she had waited for an answer to her letter for long enough that she forgot about it. Campbell theorizes the letter was sent shortly after O’Hanlon’s birthday in July and was “overlooked or misplaced” for a time.[10][a]

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Church’s response began: “Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age.” He continued to write that Santa Claus existed “as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist” and that the world would be “dreary” if he did not. Church argued that just because something could not be seen did not mean it was not real: “Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.” He concluded that:[23]

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“Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.” — Francis Church in The Sun on September 21, 1897

So true!

I always use “electricity” when I have to respond to any child’s question about reality.

Santa, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, The Great Pumpkin, an honest politician, or jumbo shrimp … … … … 

“Well, I am an electrical engineer and I KNOW electricity is real, but I can’t see it.  Why can’t other things, that we can’t see, be real?”

It’s worked for me so far, and I can’t imagine what I’ll say then. 

Merry, Happy, or just Seasonal Greetings, what ever you celebrate.

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DISCOURAGING: Corruption In The Church And The Duty To Withhold Support

Wednesday, December 24, 2025

https://tomrenz.substack.com/p/its-called-the-clot-shot-for-a-reason?publication_id=792813&post_id=181396315&isFreemail=true&r=69c48n&triedRedirect=true

It’s Called the Clot Shot for a Reason & Is Trump Being Set Up?
Dec 12, 2025
Tom Renz’s Newsletter
For God, family, and Country – The fight against corruption.

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Corruption In The Church And The Duty To Withhold Support

Near the end, I talk about one more institution that has betrayed a sacred trust. The Catholic Church has paid out enormous sums in settlements over clergy sexual-abuse cases, while dioceses continue to use parishioner donations to fund legal defenses that often prioritize the institution over abused children.

As a Catholic myself, I call for a simple act of conscience. Quit tithing until the Church stops using the collection basket to shield predators and starts openly confronting the rot. Giving money to an institution that will not protect the innocent is not charity.

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In a very pointed issue, Tom Renz’s Newsletter made several insightful points that I intend to blog about.  This is one.

The Catholic Church has strayed from “religion” into “politics”, with stops along the way at “hedonism” (sexual promiscuity with birth control), “murder” (abortion on demand), 
“condoning suicide” (euthanasia), “gay rights” (pedohilia priest blessing homosexual marriage), and finally “political corruption” (becoming a branch of Gooferment by taking money to “resettle” illegal immigration).

To misquote Reagan, … … 

“I didn’t leave the Democratic party, the Democratic Party left me.” ― Ronald Reagan  

… … the good people and me didn’t leave the Church, the Catholic Church left us.

So sad, and as I have said before —  

https://reinkefaceslife.com/2023/11/12/discouraging-any-wonder-why-the-catholic-ghurch-has-lost-its-moral-authority/

— the Catholic Church has lost its “moral authority”.

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MONEY: A dollar bill, it has no objective value

Tuesday, December 23, 2025

https://bigthinkmedia.substack.com/p/what-happens-when-intelligence-outgrows?publication_id=2863167&post_id=181390292&isFreemail=true&r=58ecz2&triedRedirect=true

The Big Think Interview with Yuval Noah Harari

  • What happens when intelligence outgrows its creators
  • We built genius machines, and gave them our blind spots.

Big Think
Dec 13, 2025

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If you consider, for instance, a dollar bill, it has no objective value whatsoever, at least not for human beings. Maybe termites can eat it, but humans can’t eat dollars, they can’t drink them. There is nothing useful you can do with them. They nevertheless have value because the greatest storytellers in the world, the finance ministers, the bankers, the investors, they tell us a story that this piece of paper is has value. I can use it to buy bread or potatoes or bananas or anything else.

As long as millions of people believe in this story, they are willing to work, for instance, on constructing and nuclear reactor because at the end of the month, they get these few colorful pieces of paper. Today, of course, it’s not even paper. Most of the money in the world today is not paper notes and metal coins. It’s just digital information moving between computers. But as long as people still have trust in the story about these digital information, it works.

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As the tin foil hat survivalists preach, at some point in time, “We, The Sheeple” will recognize that:

  • “Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon” — Milton Friedman

  • “Inflation is theft, you’re stealing value from people who save money.”-Ron Paul

  • “The gold standard did not collapse. Governments abolished it in order to pave the way for inflation. The whole grim apparatus of oppression and coercion — policemen, customs guards, penal courts, prisons, in some countries even executioners — had to be put into action in order to destroy the gold standard. Solemn pledges were broken, retroactive laws were promulgated, provisions of constitutions and bills of rights were openly defied. And hosts of servile writers praised what the governments had done and hailed the dawn of the fiat-money millennium.” — Ludwig von Mises

And, when the SHTF, people will seek band aids, beans, bullets, and bullion.  The farmer, the carpenter, the electrician, and the plumber will thrive.  The politicians, bureaucrats, celebrities, and influencers will starve.

Hope I never have to live thru it.

But it seems unavoidable.

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GUNS: If we respected people’s constitutional right, and provided practical means for citizens to exercise that right … … 

Monday, December 22, 2025

https://nypost.com/2025/11/20/us-news/queens-senior-citizen-who-fatally-shot-would-be-mugger-headed-to-prison-for-four-years/

Metro
Senior citizen who saved himself from would-be mugger is heading to prison because of NYC’s ‘draconian’ laws
By Kevin Sheehan and Ben Kochman
Published Nov. 20, 2025, 5:16 p.m. ET

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A Queens senior citizen who shot dead a man who tried to rob him will spend four years in prison after admitting to toting an unlicensed revolver — as his lawyer ripped the city’s “draconian” gun laws.

Charles Foehner, 67, pleaded guilty to one count of criminal weapons possession Thursday in a deal to end his case more than two years after he fatally shot would-be thief Cody Gonzalez, who charged at him near his Kew Gardens home.

The Queens District Attorney’s Office chose not to prosecute Foehner, a retired doorman, for Gonzalez’s killing after he told cops that he’d defended himself from a mugger who lunged at him late at night holding what looked like a knife — but which turned out to be a pen

Foehner was not charged with manslaughter after claiming self-defense, but pleaded guilty to a lesser gun charge.  But prosecutors slapped Foehner with a slew of weapons raps for the unlicensed handgun and for an arsenal of illicit handguns, revolvers and rifles inside his home in the quiet neighborhood. 

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“If we respected people’s constitutional right, and provided practical means for citizens to exercise that right, Mr. Foehner would not be in the position he is in today,” Kenniff added.

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So, let me understand this, the Queens DA Melinda Katz didn’t prosecute a “hard to win” case but did prosecute an “easy to win” one and insisted on a harsh punishment.

Sounds like “prosecutorual misconduct” to me.

Buffing up the old political resume and punishing self-defense.

Without allowing “self-defense”, “We, The Sheeple” has no defense against career criminals and the crazy insane that are allowed to roam at will.

Fighting this injustice is a just a war of attrition against a Gooferment bureaucrat with unlimited funds.

One would hope that:

  • the Queens voters would put a curse on the Queens DA Melinda Katz at the next election.  
  • And, that Queens DA jurors would “inflict” justice on their prosecutions by jury nullification of the top count in EVERY trial.
  • Additionally, Queens residents should lodge Bar Complaints on EVERY lawyer in the Queens District Attorney’s Office
  • Badger the Governor Kathy Hochul to correct this miscarrage of justice
  • Everyone should vote against EVERY incumbent lawmaker in New York City and Albany who have “repeatedly frustrated the rights of law-abiding Americans, New Yorkers, that possess firearms.  All candidates should be questioned on this issue.

That should get the attenton of ALL current and potential politicians and bureaucrats.

Where is the Federal Gooferment’s politicians and bureaucrats standing up for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.  At the very least, federal funds for “law enforcement”  should be impounded until rights are restored.

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SURVIVAL: Body Of Teen Who Jumped Off Manahawkin Bridge Located

Sunday, December 21, 2025

https://patch.com/new-jersey/southbrunswick/s/jvd5u/body-of-teen-who-jumped-off-manahawkin-bridge-located-police?utm_source=alert-breakingnews&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alert&user_email=6977bb79afc18d89968a6a0494d4b398a8e9e97df94217a36edb8fcfd93b518e&user_email_md5=cff302c94eb4f6351922680bba576fdd&lctg=512c02461e240a9c3f318080

Body Of Teen Who Jumped Off Manahawkin Bridge Located: Police

  • A 19-year-old was seen jumping from the bridge on Nov. 25; his body was recovered Wednesday evening, Stafford police said.

Veronica Flesher’s profile picture
Posted Thu, Dec 18, 2025 at 9:07 am ET

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Editor’s Note: If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline for free, confidential support, 24 hours a day.

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MANAHAWKIN, NJ — The body of a 19-year-old seen jumping from the Manahawkin Bridge just before Thanksgiving has been found, Stafford police said.

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Hopefully, that troubled individual is at peace now.  So sad.  I don’t know why they did that, but I hope someone finds out.

Nothing could be that bad.  

Dona Nobis Pacem

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