MEME: “There’s an App for That”

Wednesday, August 12, 2026

https://www.malone.news/p/sunday-strip-theres-an-app-for-that?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=583200&post_id=210458209&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=3snn7d&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

*** begin quote ***

“There’s an App for That”

Remember when you could just do things?

Check into a hotel. Board an airplane. Park your car. Order lunch. Buy a ticket. Enter a museum. Pay a bill. Turn on the television. Apparently those days are over.

Now there’s an app for that.

Checking in for a flight on an obscure foreign airline you will almost certainly never fly again? Download the app.

Parking for 37 minutes in a small town in Virginia? Download the app.

Want to look at the menu? Scan the QR code. Actually, no, download the app.

Want to pay for the parking meter? App.

Charge the car? Different app.

Open the hotel room? App.

Use the hotel Wi-Fi? Create an account, verify your email, accept 46 pages of terms and conditions, then download the app.

And naturally, every app would like to get to know you better.

Please provide your full legal name, date of birth, home address, email address, mobile number, two forms of identification, emergency contact, name and phone number of your closest living relative, credit card, billing address, location permissions, Bluetooth access, camera access, microphone access, contacts, notifications, and apparently a small vial of blood.

Then create a password containing 14 characters, one capital letter, two numbers, a hieroglyph, a Sanskrit character, and the name of your third-grade teacher.

Excellent.

Now verify your identity with a six-digit code we have sent to the phone you are currently using to read the six-digit code.

Whoops! The password has expired, create a new password. Be sure it doesn’t contain anything related to the last password. Oh, now verify your identity again.

All because you wanted to park the car.

There may indeed be an app for everything.

Unfortunately, there does not yet appear to be an app for leaving me the hell alone.

*** end quote ***

Laugh!  

Yes, IKTF (I Know The Feeling).

Shouldn’t there be a genre of single function apps that can satisfy these “marketers” and yet not drive us all nut and fill up our “phones”.

It seems a misnomer to call what we carry around today as a “phone”?  I miss my Mickey Mouse handset that I had until my Mom came to visits eons ago and asked for it.  How could I say “NO”?  Good thing it had a switch for touch tone or not.  She never got touch tone because she didn’t want to pay for it.  I laugh even when I think about it because she kept it and her other extension phone switched to pulse even after the country switched to touch tone from pause for free.  When I’d use her phone I’d have to wait while the pulses were sent … … click … Click click … Click <eight more times> … Click <nine more times>… <<You get the idea?>> All to “dial” 1-90 something.  Felt like an eternity.

Laugh!

And I am called “cynical” and “curmudgeon”?  At least I am not a “LUDDITE”!

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BIGOTRY: Catholic Nuns Battle extremist judges and States that infringe on faith and conscience

Tuesday, August 11, 2026

https://johnklar.substack.com/p/catholic-nuns-battle-in-court-to?publication_id=779141&post_id=208475297&isFreemail=true&r=3vwsqx&triedRedirect=true

Catholic Nuns Battle in Court to Serve the Poor and Keep the Faith
Extremist judges and states infringe on faith and conscience.
John Klar
Aug 07, 2026

*** begin quote ***

The Little Sisters of the Poor, a Catholic charity that serves poor elderly citizens both in the United States and around the world, is battling in court to preserve the humble sisters’ rights of conscience against efforts of government coercion. Secular state governments, whose highest moral value appears to be ensuring as many babies are prevented or aborted as possible, seek to compel these feisty nuns to provide birth control (including the week-after pill) as part of their healthcare services. This attack on conscience is unconscionable.

*** and ***

For years, the secular US monolith that oppresses Christians while advancing Islam has waved off claims of anti-Christian bias with gaslighting dismissals. Yet the evidence is clear that the far-left, TDS-fueled crusade Americans are witnessing against these nuns marginalizes Catholics and is far out of balance with the clear meaning and purpose of the First Amendment. Pennsylvania and New Jersey are not just abridging the fundamental liberties of a noble group of devoted nuns. They are advancing a state secularist religion in violation of the Establishment Clause. When Obama and Biden agreed with Trump, but the far left is pushing an extremely toxic and blatantly unconstitutional anti-nun lawfare, clearly an important liberty Rubicon has been crossed.

That’s why the Little Sisters of the Poor will win their legal (and spiritual) battle in any US court that understands and upholds the US Constitution. This will likely be seen in the pending Third Circuit opinion in this case, and possibly (if either party appeals) in another trip to SCOTUS for clarification.

*** end quote ***

At what point does “We, The Sheeple” recognize that the Gooferment seeks to become the state secularist religion?  Just as in a bee hive, there can be only one queen, — “There can be only one!” — Highlander (1986) —  I firmly believe that the Gooferment suppressed the Catholic Church’s paedophilia scandal and bribed it with “illegal immigration benefits” to firmly put the Catholic Church, and all “churches” under its total dominion.  I don’t understand why the Gooferment allows them to have “tax exempt non-profit” status other than another “chip” to use in suppression.  As a matter of fact, I like Hillsdale College’s strategy to ignore all Gooferment diktats and golden lures to accept it as “god”.  If I had a Church, —  heaven forbid — like the Flying Spaghetti Monster in Keene —  then I’d say to the Gooferment: “Keep your gold and your diktats, we are free and independent of your tyranny.”  Like what they did to Ian Freeman and many many other libertarians, they would soon see us the one true threat to their complete domination of “We, The Sheeple”.  And, make us an object lesson,

Argh!

— 30 —

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GRAVEYARD: Google Assistant is going away on mobile devices

Monday, August 10, 2026

*** begin quote ***

We’re writing to let you know that the Google Assistant on your mobile device is being discontinued, and Gemini—our next-generation AI-powered assistant—is now the assistant experience on Android.1
What This Means for Your Mobile Device
As we transition our mobile experience to Gemini, Google Assistant will no longer be available on your mobile device. We will begin removing access to Google Assistant starting on September 4, and expect that this process may take a few weeks to reach everyone. Once availability is removed, you will no longer be able to use or switch back
to Google Assistant on your phone, tablet, or paired devices.
If your Android device meets the minimum system requirements2 and you are in a region where Gemini is available,3 Gemini will be the Google-provided assistant on your mobile device. When you invoke your assistant, for example, by saying “Hey Google” or long-pressing your power button, Gemini will appear instead of the previous Google Assistant.
Changes to Accessories and Paired Devices
When you set Gemini as your mobile device assistant, it also becomes the assistant on devices that are paired with your mobile phone. This includes:
• Watches running Wear OS
• Headphones or earbuds compatible with Gemini
• Vehicles running Android Auto projected from a user’s mobile device. For cars with Google built-in, Google Assistant will continue to function beyond September 4, 2026.
Like your mobile device, starting September 4, users will lose the ability to use Google Assistant on these paired devices.
Google Assistant on Other Devices
These changes are only for the assistant experience on your mobile device and accessories that pair to your phone, like watches, headphones, and car infotainment systems.
You can also read more about our separate plans to bring Gemini to Google TV devices
and Google Home speakers and smart displays.
Next Steps & More Information
We are committed to providing a smooth transition and are confident that Gemini will
offer you an even more capable and helpful assistant experience.
Thank you for being a valued Google user,
The Google Team

*** end quote ***

I find Gemini is a PIA on my mac, Rose, and haven’t figured out how to get it to just go away.

It’s preempted the 🌐 key that I need to use with delete.

Argh!

And, of course, no thought of the User Interface implications.

— 30 —

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GRAVEYARD: Microsoft sends PUBLISHER to the mortuary; no reduction in price or refund

Sunday, August 9, 2026

https://m2.infomails.microsoft.com/rest/head/mirrorPage/@x6-bK_5WcZF67WfMcc3Am7IYxtg4JLXZIy3tL3eMfEqtFW8xCwNbS-gqrgkP1cchUb7nyMaehIX6xTPutjxSaguIVKoOAO-8eL5mimKdgHl9q1uM.html?ocid=

*** begin quote ***

Beginning 10/1/2026, Microsoft Publisher will no longer be supported as part of Microsoft 365. Many common Publisher scenarios are available in other Microsoft 365 apps, including Microsoft Word and PowerPoint.

*** end quote ***

As always, we get less as they make more!

Something not fair in all this.

What if someone really uses this?  

We all paid for it.

Sigh!

Motto for the Inet: 3 is 2! 2 is 1! 1 is none! Look for redundant capability; not redundant gear!

That goes for software as well.  Watch out for depending upon a “product” that is an “island”.  Make sure it’s as easy to get off as it is to get on.

Argh!

And, of course, no thought of the User Interface implications.

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ENCOURAGING: Are shrink-wrapped licenses and HIPPA forms really “Informed Consent”?

Saturday, August 8, 2026

FROM 1440 https://join1440.com/

https://link.join1440.com/view/66c4b9c55d78644b3a882a4drwypm.5vq/c0a68b98

1440 Explains: Can Doctors Use Your Tissue Without Asking?

*** begin quote ***

Henrietta Lacks never consented to her cells being used in research. About 75 years after her cells were taken without her consent or knowledge, are patients still at risk of the same thing? 1440’s Health & Medicine editor, Dina Fine Maron, sits down with bioethicist and lawyer Anna Mastroianni from the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics to find out.

*** and ***

“Informed consent is not just the signing of a form. Informed consent is about a thorough process of communication between patient and provider.” —Dr. Aaron Fink

*** end quote ***

Certainly, shrink-wrapped licenses, HIPPA forms, and all manner of paperwork shoved in your face at time of purchase is NOT “Informed Consent”.

I’d be interested if this ever becomes a bone of contention in a courtroom.

I’d certainly find that there little ever “Informed Consent”!

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AI: Gave Claude my drug list and the new UHC formulary to correlate

Friday, August 7, 2026

2026-08Aug-07

When UHC hit me with a “new” formulary, I would usually spend some amount of my time, attention, effort, and whatever dikw was needed to play “Find Waldo” (i.e., look for changes that affect me in a mass of mouse print)!

Now with AI in my tool chest, I downloaded the formulary pdf, and then uploaded it to CLAUDE_AI (which I weirdly call CLAUDIA).  I upload my drug list and give CLAUDIA the go ahead.

*** begin quote ***

Correlate my drugs with the formulary and show me the results

*** end quote ***

Before I can say the MAGIC WORD —  Shazam! — CLAUDIA tells me no surprises.

Since my short-term memory sucks,

*** begin quote ***

Save result in an appropriately named text file in CLAUDIA/TEXTS directory

*** end quote ***

And poof all done!

Easy Peasy!

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POLICY: Wars should be fought by the leaders?

Thursday, August 6, 2026

https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/noel-loomis/short-science-fiction/text/electron-eat-electron

Short Science Fiction

Noel Loomis
Electron Eat Electron

  • This ebook is the product of many hours of hard work by volunteers for Standard Ebooks, and builds on the hard work of other literature lovers made possible by the public domain.
  • Noel Loomis was a prolific writer of short fiction for popular pulp magazines from the 1930s into the 1970s. While he wrote many western novels and some western short fiction, the majority of his short-form work was science fiction.
  • It was first published in 1946, in Planet Stories.

*** begin quote ***

This had been a concession to left-wing agitation that, if there was to be another war, it should be fought by the leaders and not by the ranks.

*** end quote ***

What a novel idea!

To bad no one listened in 1946!

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GOVEROTRAGEOUS: Anthony Fauci is convicted by his own diary entries and with it the Gooferment’s censorship apparatus

Wednesday, August 5, 2026

https://www.themahareport.com/p/tony-lyons-why-censorship-never-works

Cartoon of hands labeled FBI, DOJ, Pelosi, Psaki, Schiff and Schumer covering Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s mouth

Censorship
Tony Lyons: Why Censorship Never Works

  • Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the man the government tried to censor, is now the head of HHS. ‘The Real Anthony Fauci.’ the book they tried to censor, sold over a million copies

Jul 30, 2026

[Tony Lyons, President of MAHA Action and host of the weekly MAHA Media Hub, introduced Wednesday’s show with the below words – just hours after Sen. Rand Paul’s hearing with former NIAID director, Anthony Fauci.]

*** begin quote ***

Let me start with the man himself, in his own words. Over the weekend, Senator Rand Paul released more than a thousand of Anthony Fauci’s diary entries and you’d think a man at the center of the deadliest health crisis in a century would focus on the lives lost, the families destroyed, the decisions that kept him up at night. That’s not what’s in there.

On a day in the spring of 2020, with global deaths mounting and Americans terrified, here’s what Fauci found worth writing down: “Big front-page article about me appeared in the Washington Post. Very flattering.”

“It is not hyperbole to say that today I am the most famous and talked-about person in the country, and one of the most recognizable persons in the world.”

He bragged that the entire Secret Service corps was coming over to chat him up, waving him through the gate without even checking his ID. He kept a running tally — not of the dead, but of his television hits, proudly logging that he’d done all five Sunday shows in a single morning. Pure vanity.

Secretary Kennedy put it best this week: the starkest impression you get reading these diaries is the massive dichotomy between what Fauci was saying privately, behind closed doors or in his journal, and what he was saying publicly about where Covid really came from, about how deadly it actually was, about how well those vaccines really worked. And it goes higher than that: Senator Paul and others believe the record shows Fauci, along with Deborah Birx, didn’t just mislead the American people — they misled the President of the United States himself.

*** end quote ***

In short, we can not trust anything that the Gooferment or its media allies (emphasis on the word lies) push out to us.

Millions killed, maimed, lives ruined, careers aborted, as well our time, attention, effort, and dikw wasted.

Argh!

Someone other than John Q. Public, Joe Six Pack, and the ordinary wage slaves needs to pay a very heavy price!

Argh!

— 30 —

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VOCABULARY: Defining the “x – factor” whatever that is

Tuesday, August 4, 2026

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/tag/nfl-newsletter/?source=athletic_scoopcity_newsletter&campaign=19094208&userId=30483772

The Athletic NFL
By Jacob Robinson

*** begin quote ***

Bengals’ X factors

Around the league, at least 15 players fit the dictionary’s “X factor” definition (“strong but unpredictable influence,” per Merriam-Webster, in case you were curious) this season.

Among them, the Bengals’ playoff hopes rest on their linebackers specifically, as Robert Mays explains in this clip:

“People are looking at all the moves the Bengals made this offseason: Dexter Lawrence, multiple big free-agent acquisitions, and saying, ‘All right, here we go.’

“There’s plenty of reason to believe that this group will be significantly better than it was a year ago. (But) if the linebacker play from (Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight) does not take a step forward and looks even marginally close to what it did last year, that could be enough to sink this unit.

“That is the position group on this team where they did nothing to upgrade this offseason.”

Carter and Knight are second-year players who struggled when thrust into starting roles as rookies. They improved in the latter half of 2025, but not enough to quiet concerns about Cincinnati.

*** end quote ***

Interesting. I’d never hear that defined before.  I always thought of it as a “fudge factor”.  You know when an ingineer does a load calculation and at the end multiples by two or three “just to be sure”.

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SECURITY: A scammer almost got me; I must be ready for the home!

Monday, August 3, 2026

*** begin quote ***

On Thu, Jul 30, 2026 at 12:20 PM Harold Kane <{Extraneous Deleted}> wrote:

I need to get an Amazon eGift card by email on Amazon, but I can’t do this now because all my effort purchasing it online proved abortive. I intend to buy it for a friend of mine who is diagnosed with breast cancer. Could you get it on Amazon online and have it sent to her email? I’ll reimburse you bask as soon as possible, Please let me know if you can handle this, so I can provide you with her email address.

Thanks,
Harold

*** end quote ***

Since the email looked legit, I << ALMOST >> fell for it.

I did think to ask the sender something, a shared secret, that could be used to prove identity.

Argh! 

Hard to believe that some                                        one as cynical as me <<ALMOST>> took the bait.

Stay sharp my friends the ne’er-do-wells are getting better!

— 30 —

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POLITICAL: Birthright Citizenship is a national disaster in the welfare / warfare state

Sunday, August 2, 2026

https://johnklar.substack.com/p/birthright-citizenship-is-the-law?publication_id=779141&post_id=204431619&isFreemail=true&r=3vwsqx&triedRedirect=true

Birthright Citizenship Is the Law of the Land
US Supreme Court holds children of illegals are Americans.
John Klar
Jul 30

*** begin quote ***

If Americans wish to override the Supreme Court on the issue of birthright citizenship, they have a challenging pathway ahead.

Since he is obviously no king, President Trump finds his hands are now tied in his response to what Justice Alito called “birth tourists” (people who travel to the United States to give birth). Even a majority-conservative Congress cannot sidestep the Fourteenth Amendment, and additional statutory hurdles remain (as Justice Brett Kavanaugh explained in his concurrence).

It’s been a long time since America ratified a new amendment to the Constitution, and it is particularly unlikely when the nation has rarely been so politically divided.

*** end quote ***

Seems like a good time to pass one.  

If we ended welfare, then we wouldn’t need it.

But if they want to keep the welfare state with all the “welfare farmers” —  some four generations —, then you have to put a a hard stop to “intruders”!

— 30 —

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HEALTH: What else but the covid “clot shot” could be responsible?

Saturday, August 1, 2026

https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/international-study-finds-75-of-embalmers?publication_id=1119676&post_id=208693892&isFreemail=true&r=3snn7d&triedRedirect=true

International Study Finds 75% of Embalmers Observed White Fibrous Clots in Corpses

  • Former Pennsylvania Funeral Directors Association President Chris Calvey Jr., former Air Force Major Thomas Haviland, and embalmer Richard Hirschman joined me to discuss.

Nicolas Hulscher, MPH
Jul 27, 2026

*** begin quote ***

Former Pennsylvania Funeral Directors Association President Christopher Calvey Jr., former Air Force Major Thomas Haviland, and embalmer Richard Hirschman joined me to discuss the now-widespread reports of anomalous white fibrous clots being recovered from human corpses.

Haviland recently published the results of a four-year international survey involving 808 embalmers across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

*** end quote ***

Indeed, what else?

Could this be the reason for all the fatalities and strange symptoms?

Checking the Conspiracy Theorist Taxonomy “thermometer” (i.e., Type, Veracity) 

     Conspiracy Theory Type
            • Government
            • Health

   Conspiracy Theory Veracity
           • Likely

IMHO!

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HEROIC: Armin Wegner — a perfect example of moral courage

Friday, July 31, 2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17CroyVA4z/

*** begin quote ***

Old Historical Pictures
Mari Lewis 

In 1916, in Constantinople, a German medic was leaving the Ottoman Empire with evidence of a genocide hidden against his body. Armin Wegner was smuggling photographic plates inside his belt.

Born in Germany in 1886, Wegner studied law and became a pacifist. Yet, when World War I started, he enlisted anyway—as a medic. During the winter of 1914–1915 in Poland, he treated the wounded under heavy fire, earning the Iron Cross for his bravery.

By April 1915, he was posted to the Ottoman Empire, a German ally, on a support mission. His orders were clear: treat German soldiers, take no photographs, and document nothing. Because Germany and the Ottomans were allies, any bad publicity would hurt the war effort.

But Wegner heard rumors of Armenian massacres, death marches, and systematic killings. Ignoring his orders, he started investigating, and what he found was absolute hell.

Armenian families were being forced from their homes and marched into the Syrian desert without food or water. Children were dying of starvation, bodies lay everywhere, and mass graves lined the way. Wegner documented everything, taking hundreds of photographs.

*** and ***

Back home, Wegner testified at trials, wrote articles, and gave speeches. But most people didn’t want to hear it. Germany had lost the war and was facing economic collapse. Who cared about dead Armenians?
By the 1920s, Wegner had become a successful writer and a celebrity author, enjoying a comfortable life. He could have stayed quiet, enjoyed his success, and forgotten about the genocide. Instead, he saw history repeating itself.

When Hitler came to power in 1933, the persecution of Jewish people began, starting with the April 1 boycott. SA stormtroopers stood outside broken windows, shouting, “Don’t buy from Jews.” Wegner saw the exact same pattern and the exact same hatred that had fueled the Armenian deportations.

On April 11, 1933—Easter Monday—he wrote a six-page letter to Hitler and sent it to Nazi headquarters. “The persecution of the Jews is not just the fate of our Jewish brothers,” he wrote, “but the fate of Germany.” He listed their immense contributions to the country, from Albert Einstein to Fritz Haber, spanning centuries of achievement. He warned, “There is no Fatherland without justice!” and stated that this persecution would disgrace Germany forever.

*** and ***

What makes Wegner extraordinary is that he witnessed two separate genocides, thirty years apart, and risked everything both times. First, he smuggled evidence out of the Ottoman Empire to prove the Armenian genocide. Second, he wrote a letter defending Jewish people when nobody else would. He connected the dots that others missed, recognizing the dark pattern early on.

*** and ***

He is a perfect example of moral courage—an individual standing firmly against a machine of hatred.

Twice, he chose conscience over safety, and truth over comfort. Both times, he knew the heavy price he would pay, and he did it anyway.

Someone had to witness. Someone had to speak. Someone had to remember. Today, his photographs remain the core witness images of that tragedy, and his letter to Hitler stands as an early, haunting warning of the Holocaust—a lone voice in the wilderness. Armin Wegner saved historical truth, and his only crime was remembering when the world wanted to forget.

*** end quote ***

The Book of Faces is not all near-porn, junk, MLMs, and trivial <synonym for excrement>.  Every once in a while, I find something truly instructive and fascinating like this.

I’m not sure that I would have huevos muchos grande TWICE in my life.  Let alone once!

“Character is what you do when no one is watching you. Are you proud to tell your Mom what you did?” — Unknown Christian Brother on knowing right from wrong

With examples like this, I wonder where he found the courage?

Dona Nobis Pacem

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RANT: Since business now record all calls, so will I!

Thursday, July 30, 2026

“Your call is being recorded for quality assurance and training purposes.”

Great so then NO ONE should have a problem if I record the same calls for blog fodder!

Argh!

— 30 —

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RANT: MORE Bank of America stupidity

Wednesday, July 29, 2026

Sure I’m going to type in 24 random characters, are you ^&$$%#^# kidding me!

*** begin quote ***

2026-07Jul-29 Bank of America_ Sign On.

*** end quote ***

Bank of America has a shit show” running in “Human Resources”.

BOA HR RETIREE has cancelled by health coverage presumably because I moved to FL from NJ. Bear in mind I’ve moved from NJ 2 VA 2 NJ 2 NH 2 NJ, and never had a problem. One befuddled soul on a 3 hour conference call including 2 BOA HR, 2 UHC specialists, and me that my zip code 34787 wasn’t in the USA. P.S., I share the zip code with Disney Orlando. Argh!

And, BOA has sent “voluntary disenrollment” to UHC and CVS. Argh! FML!

— 30 —

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MONEY: Gooferment can’t print a barrel of oil

Tuesday, July 28, 2026

Doug Casey’s International Man

*** begin quote ***

But the fundamental problem facing the oil market cannot be solved with derivatives, interest-rate cuts, newly created money, or manipulating the market.

A massive volume of oil has been removed from the global market as the Strait of Hormuz is essentially closed.

That supply will not be easily replaced.

Alternative pipelines have limited capacity. Spare production cannot be activated overnight. Tankers, ports, refineries, and storage facilities all face physical constraints.

Governments can print currency.

They cannot print a barrel of oil.

*** end quote ***

“There is an old German saying that goes, ‘Whoever does not respect the penny is not worthy of the dollar.’ It expresses the sense that those who neglect or ignore the small things cannot be trusted with larger things, and fittingly describes the problems facing both the dollar and our nation today.” — Ron Paul

Why is there no more “penny candy”, “nickel cigars”, “dime comic books”, or “quarter a gallon gas”?

Because the Gooferment “printing press” (i.e., 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. … … 

… … allows the Federal Gooferment to “spend fiat money” without limit.

Argh!

— 30 —
 

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RANT: Member service advocates — > “go away”

Monday, July 27, 2026

*** begin quote ***

Contact us
Help with your plan
Member service advocates are ready to answer your questions and provide helpful information.
Call 1-866-460-8856 to connect with a member service advocate.
TTY users, call 711
8 a.m. – 8 p.m.localtime: Monday – Friday

*** end quote ***

And what happens when <synonym for excrement> happens outside of those times?

On Friday, I spent THREE HOURS on a joint call with TWO people from UHS (Brenda was fantastic) and at least three different people at BOA.  

If it wasn’t serious, (i.e., no medical insurance on 7/31), then it would have been a funny CATCH-22.  At least twice, the BOA person said “not my department, call 1-800-EAT-SHIT” which when called routed right back to her. Argh!

Of course, there was no “supervisors” or “managers” available during this entire THREE hour call.  (Hard to believe!)

Another interesting facet: my zip code 34787 is not recognized.  I’m told that I am “not in the United States”.  (The Governor of Florida might disagree!)

(NOTE: Many address selections on website put 34787 in OAKLAND; not WINTER GARDEN.  Which I wouldn’t mind, if they would at least recognize that their lookup table might be wrong or incomplete.  Of course, there is NEVER a way to contact a REAL human to get it fixed.)

So here I am on a Saturday night, in absolute frustration, with nothing to do but share with any readers, if I have any, my complete and utter disgust of technology, AI, and “Use Cases”.

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” — attributed to Einstein

— 30 —

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TECHNOLOGY: Maybe your backups are corrupt?

Sunday, July 26, 2026

https://www.makeuseof.com/old-files-may-already-corrupting-nothing-warns-you-until-too-late/

I checked my old files and found corruption silently destroying them before I ever got a warning
Windows file system
By Afam Onyimadu
Published Jul 24, 2026, 2:30 PM EDT

*** begin quote ***

Afam’s experience in tech publishing dates back to 2018, when he worked for Make Tech Easier. Over the years, he has built a reputation for publishing high-quality guides, reviews, tips, and explainer articles, covering Windows, Linux, and open source tools. His work has been featured on top websites, including Technical Ustad, Windows Report, Guiding Tech, Alphr, and Next of Windows.

He holds a first degree in Computer Science and is a strong advocate for data privacy and security, with several tips, videos, and tutorials on the subject published on the Fuzo Tech YouTube channel.

When he is not working, he loves to spend time with his family, cycling, or tending to his garden.
Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents:

One of my favorite photos that I had kept for years wouldn’t open. The filename was right, and the size seemed unchanged, yet it was somehow corrupted. Even though I hadn’t touched it in several months, that file was no longer the photo I had taken.

Sadly, computers don’t warn you when a file changes. Maybe it’s because, as far as they know, nothing has changed. But there’s a real chance that your old backups or folders that sat untouched since you saved them have changed.

*** end quote ***

Ouch, this really scares me.  You mean all my time, attention, effort, and dikw into “backing up” and stuff may still be lost?  I’m not a “happy camper”.   Argh!

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

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POLICY: Amish Families in New York should have the Religious Vaccine Exemption

Saturday, July 25, 2026

https://thevaccinereaction.org/2026/07/amish-families-in-new-york-lose-religious-vaccine-exemption-case/

Amish Families in New York Lose Religious Vaccine Exemption Case
by Carolyn Hendler, JD
Published July 23, 2026
Federal & State Courts

*** begin quote ***

Yoder held that even a neutral and generally applicable compulsory education law could not override Amish parents’ religious objection to sending their children to high school. After Mahmoud, that exception applies broadly to any school policy that interferes with parental religious exercise.

The Second Circuit found the New York vaccine law to be a different kind of burden than set forth in Yoder. The court wrote that the law “does not regulate what children are taught, does not require them to affirm any belief, does not expose them to state-selected instruction contrary to their parents’ faith, and does not enlist school officials to displace parental religious formation.” The burden, the court held, “may be serious, but it is not the kind of state interference with a child’s religious development that triggered strict scrutiny in Yoder or Mahmoud.”

*** and ***

New York legislatures voted to eliminate the religious exemption in 2019 after an alleged measles outbreak centered in Rockland County among the Orthodox Jewish community. New York is now one of five states that does not permit religious exemptions to school vaccine requirements. The other states are California, Connecticut, Maine and West Virginia.

*** and ***

The current and past justices serving on the U.S. Supreme Court have given very little indication that they would be willing to overturn the pivotal 1905 Jacobson decision that has underpinned U.S. public health law for more than century. To have the utilitarian Jacobson decision reaffirmed by the Supreme Court in the 21st century could deal a fatal blow to medical freedom in America with repercussions that could last another 120 years.

*** end quote ***

For as much as I admire the Amish for their commitment to their beliefs, I don’t understand their choice.  But that’s my problem; not theirs.  While I don’t want to live that life style, I stand firmly as a little L libertarian with them in the resistance to the Gooferment’s tyranny.

Hard to imagine that “rights” are held in such disrepute.

The principles of little L libertarianism are Life, Liberty, and Property which all flow from the natural right of self-ownership.  I can’t imagine that the RIGHT to self-ownership doesn’t extend to the RIGHT to raise your children as you see fit.  

While it maybe debated as to exactly WHEN the RIGHTS of the child inure — to take or have effect —  the parents’ RIGHTS are paramount.  (Probably, at least when they can assert them, or have their rights asserted for them by a Guardian ad Litem as in cases of physical or mental abuse.)

Clearly, the the New York vaccine law interferes with parental religious exercise and as such should be subject to the strictest scrutiny. IMHO

Argh!

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ConspiracyTheories: COVID-19 vaccine-induced ALS-like neurologic syndrome?

Friday, July 24, 2026

https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/actor-eric-dane-of-greys-anatomy?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1119676&post_id=207775847&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=3snn7d&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

Actor Eric Dane of Grey’s Anatomy Dies of Rapidly Progressive Post-COVID-19 Vaccination Neurologic Syndrome

  • ALS-like illness takes a more rapid and fatal course then previously understood

Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH
Jul 21, 2026

*** begin quote ***

One of the most tragic deaths in my practice over recent years was a man in his seventies who died from a COVID-19 vaccine-induced ALS-like neurologic syndrome. He came to mind when I heard about the death of actor Eric Dane—the man millions knew as Dr. Mark Sloan, on Grey’s Anatomy.
The Cruel Irony of Dr. McSteamy: Eric Dane, Rapid ALS, and the Silence on Vaccination

Eric Dane—the man millions knew as Dr. Mark Sloan, “McSteamy” on Grey’s Anatomy—died on February 19, 2026, at just 53 years old. His death certificate reads amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. What it doesn’t say, and what the celebrity obituaries won’t touch, is the timeline that raises questions the medical-media complex would prefer nobody ask.

Dane’s case was not the typical slow-burn ALS familiar to pre-pandemic neurology. It was a freight train.

*** end quote ***

It would appear that this is a distinct possibility?

Checking the Conspiracy Theorist Taxonomy “thermometer” (i.e., Type, Veracity) 

Conspiracy Theory Type
• Health

Conspiracy Theory Veracity
• Plausible

I don’t know how this gets confirmed or disproved.

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DISCOURAGING: No one ever seems to have tried my idea?

Thursday, July 23, 2026

I’m a retired IT guy. I personally have always been surprised that “newspapers” didn’t figure out and implement a micropayment system.

Imagine if you were asked for 0.0001 of something (i.e., a dollar; a bitcoin; a ruble; a yen) for an article. Not some number of dollars for a year, or month, or such.

When you get on internet scale, it’s not hard to imagine getting 50k readers each paying say a penny for an article. That translates to 500$ for that one article.

The current payment technology doesn’t pay to scale that price point.

But now, a paper could collect a fraction of a bitcoin from someone’s public key and encrypt the article so that only the person’s private key could decrypt it. At that level, it wouldn’t be worth pirating it or sharing you private key to deprive the sender of the revenue.

I think that would be the way to save the “local” paper with digital distribution of content.

FWIW YMMV

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SURVIVAL: Dont pet the fluffy cows

Wednesday, July 22, 2026
https://www.malone.news/p/sunday-strip-great-balls-of-fire?utm_source=substack
 
​*** begin quote ***
 
The man was the unfortunate object onto which an already highly aroused rutting bull directed its aggression. Had another person, cyclist, vehicle, or even another bison occupied that same place at that moment, they might well have become the target instead.
That is one reason wildlife biologists often say that rutting bison are among the most unpredictable large mammals in North America. During the breeding season, their behavior can shift from apparently placid to explosively aggressive with remarkably little obvious provocation.
*** end quote ***
 
See the video!
 
Dont pet the fluffy cows.
 
“There are two kinds of bulls: the ones that have tried to kill you, and the ones that haven’t had the chance yet.” —  unknown
 
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​​

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DISCOURAGING: I don’t want my orders sent by USPS

Tuesday, July 21, 2026

A chat with amazon

*** begin quote ***

ME: USPS deliveries are inconvenient and always seem delayed. Can I specify I don’t want my orders sent by USPS?

REP: understand your concern.
I can take this as a feedback so that our team will check the details and will try our best to deliver the items directly

*** end quote ***

Have to tell Puritan’s Pride the same thing. 

If they can’t deliver with UPS or FEDEX 0r something similar, then I have to take my business elsewhere.

Argh!

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APPLE: In messages, all my contacts’ pictures are gone.txt

Monday, July 20, 2026

MAC OSX TAHOE 26.5.2 (25F84)

2026-07Jul-16 DIALOGUE in messages, all my contacts’ pictures are gone.txt

*** begin quote ***

Acknowledged unfamiliar software version, sought current informationAcknowledged unfamiliar software version, sought current informationThis is a known, recurring bug with Messages/iCloud Contacts sync — it’s been showing up across macOS and iOS versions for years, and there are recent reports tied to macOS 26/iOS 26 specifically. Not something wrong on your end.
Quick fix to try first:

Apple menu → System Settings → click your name (Apple ID) at the top
Click iCloud
Find Contacts and toggle it off
Wait about 30 seconds, then toggle it back on
Restart your Mac and check Messages again

If that doesn’t work:

Check iCloud.com → Contacts to confirm the photos still exist there. If they’re intact on iCloud.com but missing on your Mac, it’s a local sync/cache issue, not lost data.
Check your iPhone — if photos are still showing there, that confirms the photos themselves are fine and it’s just your Mac’s Messages app not pulling them.
In Settings → Apps → Messages on iPhone (or the Mac equivalent under Messages preferences), toggling Shared with You off and back on has fixed this for some people.

Unfortunately, honest heads-up: several people on Apple’s own forums report this is a bit whack-a-mole — the fix works for a while, then random contacts lose their photos again weeks later. Apple’s support has acknowledged awareness of it but hasn’t shipped a permanent fix as of the reports I’m seeing. If it becomes chronic, re-adding photos manually in Contacts (Mac) tends to hold better than relying on iCloud auto-sync.

Want me to walk through the manual “re-add photo in Contacts” steps too, in case the toggle doesn’t stick?

*** end quote ***

Shame on Apple. Argh!    

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AI: CLAUDE and TEXTEXPANDER don’t seem to work well together

Sunday, July 19, 2026

*** begin quote ***

TextExpander note:
– TextExpander works in the Claude app/claude.ai input, since it operates at the OS/keyboard level.

Test message logged (2026-06Jun-14 0248):
“Test Book of Faces. 2026-06Jun-14 0248 idk IDK IDIDK GEIW FEIE FWIW fwiw Mother NatureSOME DONT WORK” – appears to be a TextExpander snippet test where some abbreviations did not expand.

*** end quote ***

Time to be an “unpaid ALPHA tester” for the nice folks at TEXTEXPANDER

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AI: CLAUDE doesn’t have access to Google Maps or your saved places

Saturday, July 18, 2026

*** begin quote ***

User: Print it

Claude explained it does not have the ability to send documents to a physical
printer, and suggested the user open the file from Google Drive or download it
to print locally.

*** end quote ***

Well that’s annoying.

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