GOVEROTRAGEOUS: Airlines are “zombie companies” due to Gooferment bailouts

Tuesday, April 12, 2022

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/bitcoin-songsheet-airline-miles?utm_source=Bitcoin+Magazine&utm_campaign=4e1027bcbe-&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f7d45fbb67-4e1027bcbe-357073741&mc_cid=4e1027bcbe&mc_eid=386b7b0895

Bitcoin Songsheet: Airline Miles Are The Original Altcoins

  • Airline miles are the original altcoin, allowing zombie companies to issue value for nothing while encouraging people to be “Miles Chasers.”

Jimmy Song
Apr 11, 2022

*** begin quote ***

Because governments view airlines as a display of national prestige, there’s a tendency to bail them out of their troubles. The three major U.S. airlines (Delta, American and United) have gone through at least one bankruptcy in the last 20 years. The bankruptcy proceedings usually result in a merger or some new company that’s injected with government funds. Even airlines that might go bankrupt are bailed out by the government such as during the travel shutdowns of the pandemic. The result is that airlines are now zombie companies that repeatedly get revived through government intervention.

Zombie companies typically don’t do that well in the marketplace. It’s no coincidence that air travel times are slower now than in the ‘70s. Planes might be more fuel efficient, but they’re not really faster or more convenient. The way these zombies have survived, besides government intervention, is through the financialization of their miles programs.

*** end quote ***

One really has to see the link between bailouts and inefficient zombie companies.

Real competition between financially healthy airlines would make air travel faster, more convenient, as well as “cheaper”.

The DHS / TSA “airport security” is “security theater” at best and further allows zombie airlines to shift costs to the public at large.

Argh!

—30—


HEALTH: Eat your blueberries … every day?

Tuesday, April 12, 2022

https://nutritionfacts.org/2022/04/05/benefits-of-blueberries-for-artery-function/?utm_source=NutritionFacts.org&utm_campaign=b8f251f008-RSS_BLOG_WEEKLY&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_40f9e497d1-b8f251f008-25228005&mc_cid=b8f251f008&mc_eid=f40a62cbab

Blueberries Can Improve Artery Function
Written By
Michael Greger M.D. FACLM
on April 5, 2022

*** begin quote ***

If you eat blueberries week after week, you also get chronic benefits, in terms of reduced artery stiffness and a boost in your natural killer cells, which are one of your body’s natural first lines of defense against viral infections and cancer. How can blueberries have all these amazing effects if the anthocyanins—the blue pigments in blueberries purported to be the active ingredients—hardly even make it into our system? Indeed, women were given more than a cup of blueberries to eat, and the researchers couldn’t find hardly any in their bloodstream or flowing through their urine.

At 2:47 in my video, you can see a chart called a chromatogram. The spikes show all of the anthocyanin peaks in blueberries. Before eating blueberries, there is no sign of the pigments in the participants’ blood, which makes sense because they hadn’t been ingested. After one hour of eating them, however, you start to see the spikes appear, and, a few hours after that, they become a bit more distinct. All in all, though, just a few billionths of a gram per milliliter show up. So, “either anthocyanins are extremely potent and, therefore, active at low serum [parts-per-billion blood] concentrations…or their dietary occurrence or bioavailability has been underestimated.” Researchers decided to radioactively tag them and trace them throughout the body.

*** end quote ***

Can’t hurt!

—30—


TECHNOLOGY: Old fashioned keys are “better” than fobs

Monday, April 11, 2022

https://newjersey.news12.com/folly-of-the-fob-skyrocketing-car-thefts-more-proof-that-old-metal-keys-were-better

Folly of the fob: Skyrocketing car thefts more proof that old metal keys were better
Apr 08, 2022, 6:32pmUpdated 10h ago
By: Brian Donohue

# – # – # – # – #

I agree.

It’s funny when I switch cars and look for the start button to press in the truck.

Force of habit and a lack of mindfulness.

How many people still walk around their vehicle and look underneath before driving?  I was taught to look at each of the tires reporting the .  Yes, I’m older than dirt!  Was driving long before tires reported they were flat.

It’s like the habit of opening the (left) driver’s side door with your right hand.  And visa versa.  (With distracted pedestrians on the sidewalk, one has to look out for those fools as well. Argh!)

FWIW.

—30—


BITCOIN: Bitcoi … … makes sanctions quite ineffective

Sunday, April 10, 2022

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/russia-sanctions-bitcoin-conundrum?utm_source=Bitcoin+Magazine&utm_campaign=993d277006-&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f7d45fbb67-993d277006-357073741&mc_cid=993d277006&mc_eid=386b7b0895

SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA POSE A CONUNDRUM FOR BITCOIN
Bitcoin is a free and open monetary network, accessible by anyone — which makes sanctions quite ineffective.
DOMINIC COLLARD
MAR 31, 2022

  • This is a guest post by Dominic Collard. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.

*** begin quote ***
 
Almost half of Russia’s $630 billion reserves have been seized by foreign governments since the invasion of Ukraine. It was relatively easy to do given modern financial infrastructure.

The mainstream temptation is to react favorably to this move. Russia will be poorer and so less able to fund its war. The baddies lose, the goodies win.

*** and ***

The Bitcoin community risks confirmation bias by not thinking through the full implications. It would be naive to think there is only upside. They say Bitcoin changes people; that it is “F-you money” and with it you are no longer beholden to anyone. But what if the person, or the government, with bitcoin needs to be held down. What then?

*** end quote ***

Maybe I’ve become to cynical of all the politicians and bureaucrats.  I wouldn’t assign labels of “baddies” or “goodies” to anyone.  Just a lot of gray.

That being said, I think — as the Canadian Truckers demonstrated — “We, The Sheeple” should be more afraid of “our” Gooferment than some one a great distance away.

“Would you tell me please, Mr. Howard, why should I trade one tyrant three thousand miles away for three thousand tyrants one mile away? An elected legislature can trample a man’s rights as easily as a king can.” Mel Gibson as the character Benjamin Martin in the movie The Patriot http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0187393/quotes

“Think locally; act locally.” — BrionMcClanahan (where I first heard it)

—30—


TECHNOLOGY: Automating a beehive?

Saturday, April 9, 2022

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/beewise-hives-save-colonies-from-colony-collapse/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_medium=weekly_mailout&utm_source=05-04-2022

Company’s Innovative Smart Beehive Gets $80 Million in Funding to Save Bees From Any Hazard

*** begin quote ***

The traditional hive most commonly used in the world today (the Langstroth box) was designed by humans about 150 years ago. Most people are so used to them they mistakenly confuse them with bees’ natural habitat.

By completely redesigning the beehive, a company called Beewise was able to address many of the inefficiencies of the box and significantly improve bees’ well-being and life longevity.

*** end quote ***

I found this fascinating.

And, an example of replacing a 150 year old solution with an improved one.

400$/month? Too rich for my backyard.

Maybe a GoFundMe could put one in a park as a way of “helping”?

—30—


TINFOILHAT: Did Will Smith Smack Chris Rock on Behalf of Big Pharma?

Friday, April 8, 2022

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2022/04/06/big-pharma-advertising-at-all-time-high.aspx?ui=f9839516412491bb1e06c9e47058c6fb81b9b9b6acedf03e65e93dfdb263c1b9&sd=20210317&cid_source=dnl&cid_medium=email&cid_content=art1ReadMore&cid=20220406_HL2&mid=DM1147686&rid=1454211325

Big Pharma Advertising Dollars Are at an All-Time High
Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola
April 06, 2022

  • The drug industry influences and manipulates media through advertising dollars. In 2021, drug companies spent an aggregate $6.88 BILLION on direct-to-consumer advertising (DCTA), up slightly from $6.86 billion in 2020
  • The U.S. and New Zealand are the only two countries that permit DCTA, making media in these countries more likely to have pro-pharma bias
  • The Will Smith-Chris Rock drama during the Oscars may have been nothing more than a subliminal publicity stunt for Pfizer’s upcoming alopecia drug

*** begin quote ***

Over the past year, the U.S. government spent $1 billion of U.S. taxpayers’ money to advertise the COVID jab, which is the most dangerous and least proven drug ever marketed, while simultaneously calling for the censorship of anyone who dared to address the risks of this novel treatment
By law, drug ads must not be false or misleading, must present a “fair balance” of information describing both the risks and benefits of a drug, must include facts that are “material” to the product’s advertised uses, and must include a “brief summary” that mentions every risk described in the product’s labeling. Few if any ads for the COVID jab have fulfilled these requirements

How do you control major media? The short answer — illustrated in the video above — is: through advertising dollars. Big Pharma advertising dominates, making up a large portion of a given media outlet’s revenue, and that funding gives Pharma the power to dictate what ends up in the news and what doesn’t.

While Big Pharma has frequently spent more on advertising than on research and development, over the past couple of years, ad spending has increased to new heights.1

In 2021, drug companies spent an aggregate $6.88 BILLION on direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA), up slightly from $6.86 billion in 2020.2 And, remember, DTCA is only permitted in two countries in the world, the U.S. and New Zealand, so media tend to be particularly biased in favor of Big Pharma those two countries.

Did Will Smith Smack Chris Rock on Behalf of Sponsors?

Pfizer, Novartis, Eli Lilly, Incyte and Exact Sciences even sponsored the 2022 Academy Awards, which was “an unusual turn for the industry,” according to some biopharma professionals.3 Chances are you heard about how Will Smith smacked Chris Rock across the face. Smith supposedly took offense over a comment about his wife’s lack of hair.

Jada Pinkett Smith has alopecia areata, which is believed to be an autoimmune disorder. Isn’t it amazing, then, that Pfizer, a primary sponsor of this year’s Oscars,4 is working on an alopecia drug? They announced “top-line results” from a Phase 2b/3 trial in August 2021.5

 
It’s especially curious since three of the other sponsors — Eli Lilly, Incyte (partnering with Lilly) and Novartis — also have alopecia drugs nearly ready to go.6,7,8 Coincidence? Or a cleverly disguised publicity stunt for soon-to-be-released drugs? If the latter, it would put a whole new spin on the concept of subliminal advertising.

*** end quote ***

Well, here’s a a Conspiracy Theory that needs some watching?  

Clearly, like all “good” Conspiracy Theories, it has some plausibility.  Money, motive, opportunity … …. and best of all it has “that’s just crazy” defense.  

I’ll have to dig out my “conspiracy theory” ruler to measure how to label this.

Remember my 2010 taxonomy on conspiracy theory: (1) Government; (2) Political; (3) Historical; and (4) Miscellaneous. S0 I may have to add a “Commercial” category.

Can’t find my conspiracy theory ruler.  Guess I’ll have to reinvent it. Argh!  The scale would go from “Generally Accepted As True” all the way to “Generally Accepted As False” with “tab stops” at “unlikely”, “plausible”, “possible”, “less likely than not”, “more likely than not”.  I welcome input on my scale.

For this one, I’d assign it a label of “plausible”.  I take no opinions but would like to see evidence (i.e., a Pfizer email; a check to the parties involved).  Rumors and innuendo can move it on the scale.

—30—

Conspiracy Theory Ruler

“Generally Accepted As True”
“unlikely”
“plausible” — plausible conspiracy theory
“possible”
“less likely than not”
“more likely than not”
“Generally Accepted As False” 

Taxonomy

Government
Political
Historical
Commercial — commercial conspiracy theory
Miscellaneous.

—30—


RANT: Hollywood hypocrisy — Will Smith outrage; Roman Polanski award

Thursday, April 7, 2022

https://nypost.com/2022/04/04/spare-me-hollywoods-nauseating-hypocrisy-over-will-smith/

Spare me Hollywood’s nauseating hypocrisy over Will Smith — these same people gave Roman Polanski an Oscar after he raped a child
By Piers Morgan
April 4, 2022 4:55pm  Updated

*** begin quote ***

There are few better illustrations of Tinsel Town’s warped morality than the shocking case of acclaimed film director Roman Polanski who was 44 when he drugged and raped a 13-year-old girl. 

He admitted unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor but before he received his full sentence, he fled America in 1978 and has never returned to face justice for his despicable crime.

Now, given Hollywood’s current fit of faux-indignant moral rage over Will Smith’s slap to Chris Rock’s face, and its frantic effort to cancel him off the face of the acting planet, you might assume that it reacted with far greater fury and disgust to someone who abused and sodomized a young girl after plying her with quaaludes.

But you would be wrong.

Instead, Hollywood carried on hiring Polanski to direct movies from his European exile, and in 2003, it awarded him the Oscar for Best Director at the Academy Awards for his work on The Pianist.

Of course, he wasn’t there to receive it in person … … … 

*** end quote ***

Once again I find myself on the same side of an argument as Piers Morgan.  What’s the world coming to?  Who’s moving which way?

I really don’t care what “celebrities” do or say.  And, especially when the hypocrisy is overflowing.

That goes for politicians, bureaucrats, and “experts” who are out of their area of expertise.  

In this case, Piers Morgan is spot on and “over the target”.

Careabout

—30—


GOVEROTRAGEOUS: You really didn’t think that Hunter’s art work was worth a kool ½ mill $ each. Did you?

Wednesday, April 6, 2022

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2022/04/02/mark-levin-biden-may-be-the-most-corrupt-president-in-american-history/

Mark Levin: Biden ‘May Be the Most Corrupt President in American History’
JEFF POOR  2 Apr 2022

*** begin quote ***

Earlier this week, during an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity,” conservative talker and host of FNC’s “Life, Liberty & Levin” Mark Levin weighed in on the ongoing saga of corruption allegations aimed at President Joe Biden, his son Hunter Biden and other members of Biden’s family.

Levin described President Biden as possibly the “most corrupt president in American history” and called for a special counsel to investigate.

*** end quote ***

“Possibly”?  “May Be”?

I’d suggest there is no “possibly” or “may be” at all. 

It the Biden’s were R’s, then the mob would be “outraged”.

You really didn’t think that Hunter’s art work was worth a kool ½ mill $ each.  Did you?

Argh!

—30—

https://justthenews.com/accountability/russia-and-ukraine-scandals/ron-johnsons-unanswered-2020-questions-joe-biden-loom

*** begin quote ***

  1. Why did you meet with Devon Archer, your son’s now-convicted business partner, at the White House on April 16, 2014? What was discussed?  Did you discuss anything related to Ukraine, Hunter Biden or Burisma?
  2. Were you aware that Devon Archer joined the board of Burisma six days later?
  3. In April 2014, you gave a speech in Kiev calling for Ukraine to expand its natural gas production, Burisma’s core business. In private emails, Hunter Biden and Archer took credit for the language in the speech. Why did you make the request and did your son or his business partner have anything to do with it? (NEW)
  4. Were you aware that Burisma’s owner, Mykoloa Zlochevsky, was generally viewed as a corrupt oligarch and that his London bank account containing $23 million had been seized by British officials only15 days before Hunter Biden joined the board of a company he owned?
  5. Was Hunter Biden aware that British officials had seized Zlochevsky’s bank account?
  6. When did you first become aware of Zlochevsky and Burisma’s reputations for corruption?
  7. Do you believe Zlochevsky and Burisma are corrupt?
  8. Were you aware in April 2014 that Hunter Biden joined the board of Burisma? When did you first become aware that Hunter Biden joined the board of Burisma? When did you become aware of how much Hunter Biden was being compensated by Burisma?
  9. Why do you believe Burisma recruited and paid Archer and your son to be on its board?
  10. What skills or knowledge do you believe Hunter Biden possesses that qualified him to be on Burisma’s board and receive $50,000 to $166,000 per month for his and his partner’s services?
  11. When did you learn your son had not paid taxes on some of his overseas work, including on monies received from Burisma?
  12. When did you first learn your son was facing a federal investigation?
  13. State Department officials have testified your son’s work for Burisma while you oversaw [as vice president] Ukraine policy created the appearance of a conflict of interest and they further wrote in a classified email in 2016 that the conflict had undercut U.S. anticorruption efforts in Ukraine. How do you respond to those criticisms? (NEW)
  14. What exactly had Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin done that caused you to threaten to withhold $1 billion in desperately needed aid from Ukraine if President Poroshenko didn’t fire him?
  15. What do you know about Hunter Biden’s business dealings in China?
  16. A 2017 series of memos referred to a Chinese business deal your son was involved in that reserved 10% equity for the “big guy.” What did you know about it and were you that “big guy?” (NEW)
  17. What if anything do you know about your son’s dealings with Russian oligarch Elena Baturina?
  18. Did you ever meet with any of Hunter Biden’s foreign business partners from China, Russia or Ukraine, including but not limited to Burisma’s Vadym Pozharskyi or Baturina or her Moscow mayor husband?
  19. What do you know about financial benefits your brothers and sister-in-law have obtained because of their relationship to you?
  20. Emails on your son’s laptop now in the hands of the FBI refer to shared accounts or bills between you and him. Did your son ever give your any money, gift or financial benefit from his business dealings? (NEW)

*** end quote ***

—30—


GUNS: “Disarm the population” is NEVER a good idea for the poor slob who is sent to it!

Tuesday, April 5, 2022

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/04/02/al-gop-senate-hopeful-mike-durant-in-2011-disarming-the-population-would-be-a-pretty-good-step-toward-law-and-order-in-u-s-cities/

AL GOP Senate Hopeful Mike Durant in 2011: Disarming the Population ‘Would Be a Pretty Good Step Toward Law and Order’ in U.S. Cities
JEFF POOR
2 Apr 2022

*** begin quote ***

U.S. Army veteran Mike Durant, the current frontrunner in Alabama’s U.S. Senate Republican primary race, once suggested applying military philosophy to restore “law and order” in some U.S. cities by disarming the population.

In 2011, Durant discussed the violence initiated by United Nations forces going door to door to seize firearms in a speech before the U.S. Army War College.

As an aside, he speculated about how doing that in “some of our U.S. cities” could be a means to achieving “law and order.”

“[F]rom a military perspective, the first thing that needs to be done is disarm the population,” he said. “Let’s face it, if we could do that in some of our U.S. cities, that would be a pretty good step toward law and order. But you ever ask yourself, why don’t we do it here? Because it’s hard. It can result in rioting and widespread rebellion and you know, making the situation worse than it already is. But for some reason, we sort of hand-wave all that kind of stuff and go head and hand all those missions down to our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines. And that’s what happens here.”

*** end quote ***

I don’t this it’s fair to paint him as having recommending this.  He said: “ask yourself why”.

For all the gun grabbers, who want to disarm “We, The People”, I invite them to go into the big cities and have at it. 

No, they want others to their dirty work for them.  And a lot of good people will get killed in another “fool’s errand”.

Let’s bring all the girls, boys, women, and men home now! We have so many politicians and bureaucrats to send in their place if it’s really needed!

—30—


EDUCATION: Another reason for the separation of “education” and the State?

Monday, April 4, 2022

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/04/03/south-carolina-womens-basketball-team-refused-to-take-court-during-national-anthem/

South Carolina Women’s Basketball Team Refused to Take Court During National Anthem
WARNER TODD HUSTON 3 Apr 2022

*** begin quote ***

Ahead of Friday’s NCAA Final Four tournament game, the South Carolina Gamecocks refused to take the court and remained in the locker room during the playing of the national anthem.

*** end quote ***

I’m sure that the Taxpayers of South Carolina, the veterans —  disabled or not — in and from South Carolina, as well as all the parents of the KIA, MIA, WIA, and other war related casualties are very “proud” of these snowflakes expressing their opinion while risking nothing.

As a little L libertarian, I’ll just add this to file “Reasons Why the Gooferment should not be involved in EDUCATION”.  (Among other things.)

—30—