VETERANS: My loyalty is tarnished by “free meals” from hypocrits

Monday, November 11, 2024

https://patch.com/new-jersey/southbrunswick/s/j0qb1/veterans-day-2024-discounts-freebies-and-deals-in-nj

Veterans Day 2024: Discounts, Freebies And Deals In NJ

  • Businesses are thanking NJ’s veterans and active-duty military personnel for their service with special special Veterans Day deals.

Russ Crespolini, Patch Staff

*** begin quote ***

NEW JERSEY — Restaurants, coffee shops and other businesses are thanking NJ’s veterans and active-duty military personnel for their service with special Veterans Day discounts, freebies and deals. Veterans Day, which is always observed on Nov. 11, falls on Monday this year.

*** end quote ***

I think this cheapens being a veteran when our brothers-in-arms are second class to illegal immigrants, being denied the mental and physical health care promised, and used a political pawns on the global stage.

Tell me about your offers for them!

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VETERANS: Remember determined U.S. naval air attacks, limited Japanese situational awareness, and pure dumb luck of the Americans

Monday, November 11, 2024

https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/wars-conflicts-and-operations/world-war-ii/1944/samar.html?ICID=ref_fark

 history.navy.mil

The Battle off Samar: The Sacrifice of “Taffy 3”
<<Author Unknown>>
Published: Thu Oct 31 13:34:56 EDT 2019
<<Year Unknown>>

*** begin quote ***

The initiative, aggressiveness, and outright heroism demonstrated by Taffy 3, combined with determined U.S. naval air attacks, limited Japanese situational awareness, and pure dumb luck of the Americans had stymied Vice Admiral Kurita’s intent to destroy U.S. landing forces in the Leyte Gulf. Along with the defeats in the Sibuyan Sea, the Surigao Strait, and off Cape Engaño, the Samar engagement blunted or destroyed much of the Japanese navy’s remaining offensive capabilities and turned its surviving surface forces into a “fleet in being”—a concern for Allied commanders, but never again the threat it had still posed into early 1944.

*** end quote ***

Hard to imagine living and dying in these situations.

Hand Salute!

To these valiant warriors.

On both sides, men stepped up to do their duty as they saw it.

Hope we never run out of such men, and now women, or “waste” their efforts.

Dona Nobis Pacem

—30—


INTERESTING: Do we have “guardian angels”?

Sunday, November 10, 2024

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/books/article-14042965/truth-guardian-angels.html

The truth about guardian angels. Countless people have reported a mysterious ‘Third Man’ who helps in times of need – and their stories offer a tantalising glimpse of what lies beyond

  •     READ PART ONE HERE: ‘If you could see what I do, you’d know I can’t stay.’ Astonishing visions of heaven revealed by dying patients and doctors in a startling book show there’s nothing to fear – and the surprises that wait on the other side
  •     READ PART TWO HERE: The dead do come back to us: As scientists reveal astonishing proof, the stories that will convince you, from a drowned son who returns for bedside chats to the astronaut who spoke to his father’s ghost

By Patricia Pearson

Published: 06:55 EST, 5 November 2024 | Updated: 06:59 EST, 5 November 2024

*** begin quote ***

A new book, Opening Heaven’s Door, will make you re-think everything you thought about death. Here, in the third part of our spine-tingling series, survivors of shipwrecks, air crashes and terrorist attacks tell how they were mysteriously guided to safety.

 As he lay sleeping in a muddy trench in France one night, William Bird woke to find someone shaking him. It was 1917. He’d just been through the Battle of Vimy Ridge, and he was exhausted. Irritably, he tried to pull away — but whoever it was continued to shake him with some urgency.

So Bird — a journalist in civilian life — wearily opened his eyes and, to his utter astonishment, recognised his brother, Steve, who’d been reported missing in action two years earlier.

‘Steve put his warm hand over my mouth as I started to shout my happiness,’ Bird recalled. ‘Then he pointed to the sleepers in the bivvy and to my rifle. “Get your gear,” he said.’

*** end quote ***

I am something of a agnositic atheist.  As a fat old white guy electrikal injineer, I can see electricity but I “know” something is there.  So too, I see trees sway in the wind, but I can see wind.  

And, my “sainted” wife was so lucky I suspect that she had precognition (i.e., see around the bends in the river of time to know what was coming).  I want her to go to Duke University and be tested; she never did.  As she aged that “ability” faded.

So, I know that there is a JoHari window for all of us.  I readily admit that I don’t know what I don’t know.

BUT, big butt, I suspect here is a whole lot we, as a species, don’t know.

Sigh!

Very hard to make decisions based on incomplete information!  For sure, there is a LOT of dikw (i.e., data, information, knowledge, wisdom) that we are unable to comprehend.

Dona Nobis Pacem

—30—


TECHNOLOGY: Was able to reread Stainless Steel Rat

Saturday, November 9, 2024

https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/harry-harrison/the-stainless-steel-rat

The Stainless Steel Rat
Harry Harrison

James “Slippery Jim” diGriz is a criminal in a galaxy where crime has almost been eradicated. In his own words, he’s a rat in the wainscoting of society, and now that society is all ferroconcrete and stainless steel only a stainless steel rat can find the gaps. Despite a nose for the hustle and a healthily paranoid survival instinct, Jim’s luck has to run out at some point—and when it does, it isn’t a prison cell he’s offered, but a job with the Special Corps.

The Stainless Steel Rat—a fix-up novel based on two earlier short stories for Astounding magazine—was the first in a long series of books by Harry Harrison to star the anti-hero. It is never less than a breathless ride, with twists and turns at every corner. As well as the twelve novels and additional short stories, the Stainless Steel Rat has appeared in numerous comics and games over the years, and has become Harrison’s most enduring character.

# – # – # – # – # 

As good as I remember reading it decades ago.

Funny that the technology makes it so available.

If this had existed when I was a kid, I’d have never stopped reading EVERY sci-fi book available.

—30—


FUN: Kiss a llama and avoid airport rage?

Saturday, November 9, 2024

https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/11/03/nx-s1-5173755/therapy-animals-portland-airport-llama-alpaca

HEALTH NEWS

Anxious at the Portland airport? Beni the Llama is here for you, spreading joy
NOVEMBER 4, 2024 · 5:00 AM ET
By Katia Riddle

*** begin quote ***

When Beni the llama and Captain Jack the alpaca saunter with their handlers through the front doors of the Portland International Airport on a recent morning, time seems to stop.

People who were moments earlier hustling to their gates stand still. Those who were occupied with their phones look up and stare. Some take videos. A crowd quickly forms. Within minutes, a dozen people are lined up for the chance to have their picture taken with one of these animals.

*** end quote ***

Cute.  Llamas are strangely attractive. And all I’ve seen at a llama farm are friendly.  Could be due to the fact that we had “llama food” and they’re all on special diets.

Scratching them was uniquely and strangely calming.  Mush like petting a dog. 

Wonder what the magnetism is?

—30—


GUNS: The Gooferment has to STRICTLY enforce “felon in possession” and enhanced sentences for crimes using a firearm

Friday, November 8, 2024

https://bearingarms.com/tomknighton/2024/11/07/requiring-ids-doesnt-prevent-illegal-gun-sales-n1226822

Requiring IDs Doesn’t Prevent Illegal Gun Sales
By Tom Knighton | 12:29 PM | November 07, 2024

*** begin quote ***

One thing many anti-gunners want is for there to be an ID requirement for each and every gun sale in this country. The fact that many also oppose ID requirements for voting seems kind of hilarious to me, but it is what it is.

Most of us have had to show ID while buying a firearm at one point or another. Maybe not for face-to-face transfers, but any gun bought in a store required an ID. 

This, some would argue, makes those sales nice and secure.

Yeah, about that…

*** and ***

ID requirements may sound good, but the truth is that it just means the market for fake IDs gets a little bigger. Similar can be said about literally everything else means to thwart criminals in their efforts to arm themselves.

It’s a lost cause and a waste of time to keep beating heads against walls and calling it gun control.

Tom Knighton

Tom Knighton is a Navy veteran, a former newspaperman, a novelist, and a blogger and lifetime shooter. He lives with his family in Southwest Georgia. He also puts out a daily newsletter of non-Second Amendment stories at https://tomknighton.substack.com/

*** end quote ***

The Gooferment has to STRICTLY enforce “felon in possession” and enhanced sentences for crimes using a firearm.

I hope DJT4547 requires each of his Assistant Attorneys General to report how many convictions they get for “felon in possession”.  The following month, the lowest scoring AAG, and their next in command, should be required to report in person, a la Apprentice style, why this happened and how it’s to be remedied.  If DJT4547 doesn’t like the excuses, then their second in command can give it a try.  I bet crime with guns will drop like a rock within a year.  Criminals are not stupid.

—30—


PEACE: A call for “family-friendly, anti-migration, pro-peace” sounds like the best path for peace

Friday, November 8, 2024

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/orban-liberals-have-had-their-place-sun-its-time-defeat-them-every-election-starting

Orbán: “Liberals Have Had Their Place In The Sun, It’s Time To Defeat Them In Every Election, Starting With Donald Trump”

by Tyler Durden
Saturday, Nov 02, 2024 – 07:00 AM
By Thomas Brooke, of Remix news

*** begin quote ***

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has defended his administration’s conservative policies on migration and family support, emphasizing Hungary’s stance as a “conservative island” in a “liberal European ocean.”

*** and ***

“If the liberals had won here in Georgia, it would be the news everywhere in Western Europe today that your democracy is in top shape. But in the same election, the conservatives won, so debates are expected in the international press,” Orbán said in support of the incumbent Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidzeon.

He called for a shift toward a “family-friendly, anti-migration, pro-peace” leadership in Europe, expressing confidence that “this new center” would soon gain prominence within the bloc.

“We need prime ministers who are on the side of the people, representing the interests of the European people,” he said, claiming that European liberals have had “their place under the sun” and “must be defeated in as many elections as possible.”

*** end quote ***

I am moved by several images: children mining cobalt in thirds world countries, babies dying in Gaza and the Ukraine, and worst of all “migrant” mobs of all young males (people of color) overwhelming the various welfare states.

It would seem that we, as a society, have lost our collective minds.  Clearly the Welfare / Warfare State has bankrupted the USA and other European countries.  Only a radical “reformation” can avoid the inevitable collapse of the Empire.

Dona Nobis Pacem

—30—


DISCOURAGING:Here’s a crime that I hope doesnt come to the USA

Thursday, November 7, 2024

https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/27/europe/criminals-atm-robberies-europe-intl/index.html

Criminals are looting millions from ATMs in Europe. Here’s why Germany is a prime target
By Sophie Tanno, CNN
Updated 5:58 AM EDT, Sun October 27, 2024

*** begin quote ***

In Germany – Europe’s largest economy – thieves have been blowing up ATMs at a rate of more than one per day in recent years. In a country where cash is still a prevalent payment method, the thefts can prove incredibly lucrative, with criminals pocketing hundreds of thousands of euros in one attack.

Europol has been cracking down on the robberies, carrying out large cross-border operations aimed at taking down the highly-organized criminal gangs behind them.

Earlier this month, authorities from Germany, France and the Netherlands arrested three members of a criminal network who have been carrying out attacks on cash machines using explosives, Europol said in a statement. 

*** and ***

A decline in ATM machines in the Netherlands and the introduction of enhanced security measures to crack down on the crime – including the installation of glue protection systems that can render bank notes worthless – has also led Dutch criminals to look further afield, according to Reuters, citing Dutch police. 

*** end quote ***

Never underestimate the inginuity of rats — either the four legged or two legged kind.  Like that meme about “making stuff idiot proof and the Universe makes smarter idiots”.  I guess we always had “highwaymen” robbing trains and stagecoaches.  At least now with ₿itcoin, there is nothing physical to steal.

—30—

 


INSPIRATIONAL: So you think you’re so smart? These young ladies put us to shame

Wednesday, November 6, 2024

https://www.livescience.com/physics-mathematics/mathematics/high-school-students-who-came-up-with-impossible-proof-of-pythagorean-theorem-discover-9-more-solutions-to-the-problem?utm_placement=newsletter

High school students who came up with ‘impossible’ proof of Pythagorean theorem discover 9 more solutions to the problem

By Sascha Pare published 2 days ago

<< EDITOR ADDED DATE 2024-10-28>>

*** begin quote ***

In a new peer-reviewed study, Ne’Kiya Jackson and Calcea Johnson outlined 10 ways to solve the Pythagorean theorem using trigonometry, including a proof they discovered in high school.

Two students who discovered a seemingly impossible proof to the Pythagorean theorem in 2022 have wowed the math community again with nine completely new solutions to the problem.

While still in high school, Ne’Kiya Jackson and Calcea Johnson from Louisiana used trigonometry to prove the 2,000-year-old Pythagorean theorem, which states that the sum of the squares of a right triangle’s two shorter sides are equal to the square of the triangle’s longest side (the hypotenuse). Mathematicians had long thought that using trigonometry to prove the theorem was unworkable, given that the fundamental formulas for trigonometry are based on the assumption that the theorem is true.

Jackson and Johnson came up with their “impossible” proof in answer to a bonus question in a school math contest. They presented their work at an American Mathematical Society meeting in 2023, but the proof hadn’t been thoroughly scrutinized at that point. Now, a new paper published Monday (Oct. 28) in the journal American Mathematical Monthly shows their solution held up to peer review. Not only that, but the two students also outlined nine more proofs to the Pythagorean theorem using trigonometry.

*** end quote ***

These young ladies make me feel dumb. Wonder how many hidden young talents are out there? Lost over the decades because humans as a species are really “dumb” too.


RANT: Our old “friend” shrinkflation is in the news; it’s this a deceptive trade practice

Tuesday, November 5, 2024

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/yourmoney/consumer/article-13998363/kelloggs-cereal-mocked-extreme-lengths-hide-

Kellogg’s ridiculed for drastic efforts to hide shrinkflation: ‘Just laughing at us’
By Tilly Armstrong Assistant Consumer Editor For Dailymail.Com
Published: 08:36 EDT, 28 October 2024 | Updated: 12:09 EDT, 28 October 2024

*** begin quote ***

Kellogg’s is resorting to ‘deceptive’ ways to distract shoppers from its shrinkflation tactics.

A photo shared on Reddit highlights how the brand has made its family-size Special K box taller – while actually reducing the amount of cereal inside. 

Shrinkflation is when products shrink in size or quantity while the price remains the same or even increases. 

*** end quote ***

Unlike “price gouging” that I approve of, “shrinkflation” IMHO is a deceptive trade practice designed to fool “We, The Sheeple”.  As such, it should be actionable.  Companies should not be permitted to defraud the consumer this way.  (Other ways may be permissible?)

At the very least, the FTC should force them to rebrand their packaging.

Maybe as punishment, they should be required to put a “shrinkflation” notice prominently.

—30—