HEALTH: Think about a visual of a “credit card per week”?

Friday, February 28, 2025

https://johnklar.substack.com/p/maha-vs-microplastics-to-ensure-the?publication_id=779141&post_id=156807700&isFreemail=true&r=3vwsqx&triedRedirect=true

MAHA vs Microplastics – To Ensure the First, Get Rid of the Second!

American children are being sickened by toxic partisan ideology.

John Klar

Feb 19, 2025

*** begin quote ***

If Americans are ever to be healthy again, an effective response to ubiquitous microplastics will be essential. Recent confirmation hearings of the MAHA maven Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. focused on his supposed vaccine and abortion positions while mainly ignoring his opening statement centered on American diets. Industrially-backed officials may thrust their ostrich heads in the political sands, but America’s babies and children are left exposed to toxic chemicals in the meantime – especially microplastics.

*** and ***

Studies increasingly demonstrate toxic threats to developing children’s bodies from microplastics and chemicals called phthalates (plasticizers) used in plastic containers and food service gloves. A recent study of human brains found an average equivalent of a plastic spoon’s worth of microplastics per brain, an increase of 50% in eight years. A 2023 study estimated that humans are inhaling the equivalent of a credit card per week of microplastics.

*** end quote ***

The visual of a “credit card per week” made a traumatic impression upon me.  Don’t know why?  For me at the end of life’s journey, not much worries me. 

BUT, (and there is always a BIG butt), what about the little children?

That can’t be good for them.  Not sure how the average parent prevents that, but I’d sure like to know.

Argh!

—30—

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ECONOMICS: 108 Economists were wrong because they saw Milei’s Results through their politics as opposed to their science

Thursday, February 27, 2025

https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/how-did-108-economists-predict-mileis-results-exactly-wrong/

How Did 108 Economists Predict Milei’s Results Exactly Wrong?

  • Leading lights on the left said Milei’s free market reforms would be disastrous. Instead, they’ve been hailed as a miracle.

Jon Miltimore
February 15, 2025

*** begin quote ***

“Their understanding of how markets work and of how governments work is superficial,” writes Henderson. “I wonder if any of them, seeing the apparent success of Milei’s policies, are questioning their prior views. We can always hope.”

Indeed we can. But for now, it’s not unfair to assume from their silence that they’ve learned little from Argentina’s economic progress. 

As President Donald Trump begins his own second term as president, there’s much he can learn from Milei’s first year in office. 

This includes ignoring economists who claim that cutting government spending, regulations, and bureaucracy will result in economic devastation. And perhaps most importantly, the danger of using government printing presses to avoid making difficult budget decisions.

*** and ***

Jonathan Miltimore is Senior Editor at AIER. His writing/reporting has been the subject of articles in TIME, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Forbes, and the Star Tribune. He is a contributor at the Washington Examiner and has had bylines in Fox News, Newsweek, National Review, the Epoch Times, Real Clear Politics, the Washington Times, and other media.

Prior to joining AIER, Jon served in editorial roles at the History Channel magazine and the Foundation for Economic Education. He also served in the Bush Administration as an intern in the Department of Speechwriting. When he is not working, Jon enjoys reading, watching movies, and spending time with his wife and three children. He also coaches youth football, baseball, and wrestling.

*** end quote ***

All the little L libertarians knew that, if allowed, Milei’s free market reforms would radically change the incentive structure in that socialist economy.  Just like that, freeing people’s competitive skills and ability from the chains of a Welfare State would stun all the pessimists.  And it did.

Inflation from 300% to 2.4%. GDP of 5%. 

I guess that the people of any country would want stats like that.  Now it’s time to get the leadership that will give it to them.

—30—

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QUOTES: Don’t let mistakes live rent free in your head

Wednesday, February 26, 2025

“You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it. Don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.” – Johnny Cash

Today is the anniversary of the worst day in my life.  While she and I always lived with the expectation it would happen, it still was metaphorical punch in the gut when it happened.

I wrote about it in my book long before it did happen.

“You can’t be afraid. It’s not right to be afraid. It’s as if you don’t trust the Lord with our lives. I’m not a big Bible Banger, but it seems rude to joggle God’s elbow. Like a little kid, who has no concept of what is happening.” — character “John” in CHURCH 10●19●62 Volume 2 Page 206

“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

And each year I reflect on the thing I might have done to delay or prevent it.

“You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it. Don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.” – Johnny Cash

I have a theory that, unless you care crazy, you always make the best decisions among the available options at the time.  Hence there are no “mistakes”.  There are only choices that worked out well and those that worked out badly.  Like in sports, doing the high percentage play doesn’t guarantee in the short run; maybe not even in the long run either.

Unfortunately, we live in the Fourth Dimension of Time. And, there’s no do overs to test other outcomes.

“… 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

Wish I had that Eternal Possibilities Machine to go back and look at all the other paths possible and their results.

But, unfortunately, no such device exists.  (Yet?)

So we just have to trudge along.  “Let’s go forth and speak no more of this.”

So today ends my reflection.  I’ll put the mental folder away for next year and put one foot in front of the other on my way to whatever life has in store for me next.

Sigh!

YMMV

—30—

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POLITICAL: Perhaps Gooferment Skrules are the problem. Home schooling points the way

Wednesday, February 26, 2025

https://wokespy.com/study-homeschoolers-have-highest-life-satisfaction-better-families-least-divorce-rates-and-are-least-depressed/

Study: Homeschoolers Have Highest Life Satisfaction, Better Families, Least Divorce Rates, and are Least Depressed
By Martin Tribe / February 17, 2025

*** begin quote ***

A Cardus Educational Survey (CES) has discovered that homeschooled children outperformed their non-homeschooled peers on various psychosocial issues. Between 2019 and 2021, school enrolment declined by 2.1 million while homeschooling increased by 30%.

The trend was largely influenced by the pandemic when homeschooling was mandatory. However, many parents continued to teach their children at home even after physical classes resumed.One key finding was that homeschooled adults exhibited better mental health than their non-homeschooled peers amid the nation’s ongoing mental health crisis affecting teens and young adults.

The CES report that studied adults between adults 24 to 39 years old analyzed economic, mental health, civic, spiritual, and family formation among homeschooled and non-homeschooled individuals. 

*** and ***

One key finding was that homeschooled adults exhibited better mental health than their non-homeschooled peers amid the nation’s ongoing mental health crisis affecting teens and young adults.

*** and ***

While the short-term financial gains might be appealing, they are costly in the long due to depopulation which is an existential threat. The mental health crisis also requires more funds to address, resulting in the loss of otherwise productive members of society through depression and suicide. Likely, that is why nearly 60% of all “gun crimes” in the US are suicides instead of accidental shootings or homicides.

*** end quote ***

While “home schooling” is a daunting undertaking, it does point out that the problem is Gooferment Skrules.  Mixing in non-Gooferment schools and comparing that to “home schools” confounds the data and makes Gooferment Skrules’ flaws not as obvious.

In the 80’s, I proposed a voucher solution for the Pepuls Republik of Nu Jerzee that would eliminate Gooferment Skrules over forty years.  (Enough time for everyone to get comfortable and shift the “Overton window” on “education”.  The essence of the plan was to give Gooferment Skrules to the teachers and staff of every school. In the first 20 years, 5% of the students could use their “green” voucher anywhere they wanted, while everyone else would have a “red” voucher that he’d to be used at their local school.  Each year, the 5% would grow by 5%.  (New students entering the system would get via a lottery either a “green” or “red” voucher.)  The school would get a chance to adapt to a free market.  Then in the second 20 year period, the amount of the voucher would decrease by 5% each year.  At the end of forty years, no Gooferment Skrules.  Of course, the property tax portion of real estate would decrease. School “corporations” would have to compete in the free market.

Hard to imagine what this would look like but I’d bet that schools would adapt to be wonderful places.  Not the pre-prison incubator of illiterates that they are today.

—30—

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HEALTH: COVID-19 brain fog cleared in N-of-1 trial

Tuesday, February 25, 2025

https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/breaking-first-in-man-oral-proteolytic?publication_id=1119676&post_id=157693736&isFreemail=true&r=3snn7d&triedRedirect=true

BREAKING–First-in-Man Oral Proteolytic and Thrombolytic Dissolution of Intra-Arterial COVID-19 Vaccine Thrombi

  • Complex Blend of Oral Enzymes and Natural Ingredients Clears Brain Fog and Removes Impending Stroke Risk in Heavily Vaccinated Patient

Feb 24, 2025
By Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH

*** begin quote ***

While McCullough Protocol Base Spike Protein Detoxification with Ultimate Spike Detox has quickly grown to a global standard for managing long-COVID and complications after COVID-19 vaccination, at the McCullough Foundation we continue to seek innovative solutions to more rapidly and completely manage the health problems brought on by the pandemic.

In this breaking interview, Dr. Takuji Shirasawa from the Ochanomizu Health and Longevity Clinic describes a 60-year old Japanese man who took 4 Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines and presented with a loss of mental clarity otherwise known as “brain fog.” Shirasawa used MR angiography to demonstrate sessile bilateral arterial thrombi in the carotid bulbs. His hypothesis was that mini-blood clots may be responsible for the neurological and cognitive symptoms.

Shirasawa performed a N-of-1 trial giving the patient a complex blend of oral proteolytic and thrombolytic enzymes featuring nattokinase, bromelain, serrapeptase, and papain adding over a dozen natural ingredients given in proprietary blends from Texas based Phytomedic Labs. The patient was also administered aspirin 100 mg per day.

*** end quote ***

This certainly good news.  It proves that “brain fog” really does exist by MR angiography.  So anyone who says the symptoms are all in your head is correct but not in the way they mean it (i.e., psychosomatic).

I was also fascinated by the term of art “N-of-1 trial” that I never heard of.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N_of_1_trial 

*** begin quote ***

An N of 1 trial (N=1) is a multiple crossover clinical trial, conducted in a single patient.[1] A trial in which random allocation is used to determine the order in which an experimental and a control intervention are given to a single patient is an N of 1 randomized controlled trial. Some N of 1 trials involve randomized assignment and blinding, but the order of experimental and control interventions can also be fixed by the researcher.[2]

This type of study has enabled practitioners to achieve experimental progress without the work of designing a group comparison study. This design, especially if including blinding and wash-out periods, can be effective in confirming causality. N-of-1 trials, if used in clinical practice to inform therapeutic decisions concerned with the patient participating in the trial, can be a source of evidence about individual treatment responses, fulfilling the promise of personalized medicine.[3][4] 

*** end quote ***

Never heard that before.  Heard of “case reports” as anecdotal evidence.  But those were always dismissed as “unscientific”.

As always, this is just hearsay until it happens to you or a loved one.

Nice to know such a treatment exists and appears to work.

—30—

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NEWJERSEY: Time for some judges and prseecutors to be fired!

Monday, February 24, 2025

https://nj1015.com/violent-record-roman-romanovskiy-nj-man-charged-murder-lauren-saldana/?lh_aid=84349&lh_cid=7kirmfg475&di=a842a82fc065ea5c55c94d390ad9f7cd

NJ courts kept letting him go until mom of 4 was killed in front of her kids
Erin Vogt
Published: February 10, 2025

  • Lauren Saldana, 38, was strangled to death
  • The murder suspect has a long history of violence
  • Victim’s daughter now pursues justice

*** begin quote ***

Prosecutors and judges kept giving him new chances. And he kept returning to his girlfriend’s life.

It was a decades-long cycle of brutal violence and lenient justice that came to a head on Jan. 9 in South Brunswick when Roman Romanovskiy, not for the first time, placed his rage-filled hands around the neck of a woman, police said.

But this time, Lauren Saldana, 38, did not survive. This time, a 5-year-old boy witnessed the homicide of his mother by his father, just steps from his newborn brother.

This time, Romanovskiy, just seven months into a probationary term of four years for a seemingly unprovoked assault on two other people, was accused of the most heinous charge after a life of terrorizing others.

“This isn’t fair and was never supposed to happen,” Saldana’s oldest child said in a heartbreaking post on Facebook two days after her mother was killed. “I will fight for her memory and make sure justice is served for her 3 sons and myself, no matter what it takes.”

*** end quote ***

OK, let’s start names and kicking asses. (Yeah, I said it.)

Sorry but this criminal was not some young first-time non-violent offender who deserved the benefit of the doubt or leniency.

Everyone involved should be publicly outed and scorned.

Judges should be impeach for poor judgement.  The attorneys involved should be censured. And any prosecutors, politicians and bureaucrats should be fired.

And, by the way, what was Roman Romanovskiy immigration and drug testing status?

Argh!

—30—

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ECONOMICS: The “true cost” and environmental impact of wind turbines

Sunday, February 23, 2025

https://dailyreckoning.com/blissful-ignorance-now/

Blissful Ignorance Now
By Sean Ring
Posted February 13, 2025

*** begin quote ***

I was recently watching Landman, which is a TV series about the oil industry in West Texas. Tommy Norris, the Landman, explained to his female lawyer colleague the economics and environmental impact of wind turbines and how oil companies use them to power the wells. They need to use those monstrosities because the wells are off-grid.

*** and ***

Tommy: “Do you have any idea how much diesel they have to burn to mix that much concrete or make that steel, and haul this shit out here, and put it together with a 450-foot crane? You wanna guess how much oil it takes to lubricate that fucking thing or winterize it? In its 20-year lifespan, it won’t offset the carbon footprint of making it. And don’t get me started on solar panels and the lithium in your Tesla battery. And nevermind the fact that if the whole world decided to go electric tomorrow, we don’t have the transmission lines to get the electricity to the cities. It’d take 30 years if we started tomorrow. And, unfortunately, for your grandkids, we have a 120-year petroleum-based infrastructure. Our whole lives depend on it. And hell, it’s in everything. That road we came in on, the wheels won’t every car ever made, including yours. It’s in tennis rackets, and lipstick, and refrigerators, and antihistamines, pretty much anything plastic. Your cell phone case, artificial heart valves, any kind of clothing that’s not made with animal or plant fibers, soap, fucking hand lotion, garbage bags, fishing boats, you name it. Every fucking thing. And you know what the kicker is? We’re gonna run out of it before we find its replacement.”

Rebecca: “It’s the thing that’s gonna kill us all as a species.”

Tommy: “No, the thing that’s gonna kill us all is running out before we find an alternative. And, believe me, if Exxon thought them fucking things right there were the future, they’d be putting ’em all over the goddamn place. Getting oil outta the ground is the most dangerous job in the world. We don’t do it ’cause we like it, we do it ’cause we run outta options. And you’re out here trying to find something to blame for the danger besides your boss. There ain’t nobody to blame, but the demand that we keep pumping it.”

*** end quote ***

Funny how we have to rely on TV fiction to “explain” why “green energy” is fictional concept.

And, even more peculiar, that we need nuclear power before we run out of oil.

The alternative is we die off as a species.

ECONOMICS is truly the dismal science of limited resources and the recognition there of.

Argh!

—30—

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QUOTE: Each morning … …

Saturday, February 22, 2025

“Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today.”

– Groucho Marx

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MEME: DNF Laken Riley

Saturday, February 22, 2025

—30—

UPDATE:

White House

Trump signs Laken Riley Act into law as first legislative victory in new administration

‘America will never, ever forget Laken Hope Riley,’ Trump said before signing the law

By Diana Stancy

Published January 29, 2025 2:46pm EST 

—30—

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QUOTE: Gooferment Skrules have made us helpless!

Friday, February 21, 2025

—30—

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SURVIVAL: Get out of bad weather road conditions

Friday, February 21, 2025

https://nypost.com/2025/02/13/us-news/about-100-cars-and-trucks-involved-in-oregon-highway-pileup/

100 vehicles involved in Oregon highway pileup in treacherous whiteout conditions
By David Propper 
Published Feb. 13, 2025, 10:40 p.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

A highway pileup involving 100 vehicles, including big rigs, grinded an Oregon highway to a destructive halt during a nasty whiteout snowstorm Thursday, according to authorities.

The series of crashes caused a SUV fire and closed a part of Interstate-84 where numerous drivers and passengers were trapped in their vehicles late morning, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office said.

*** and ***

The conditions were so treacherous the Oregon Department of Transportation closed the highway in both directions between La Grande and Baker City – a stretch of roughly 50 miles between the two cities.

“Closures are due to blowing and drifting snow with visibility less than 500 feet,” the state DOT wrote before later reopening that section. 

*** end quote ***

Lucky that no one was killed or seriously injured.  First rule in survival training was “AWARENESS”.

Did these folks not realize the danger of the weather?

Visibility of less than 500 feet didn’t happen because the weather gods waved a magic wand.  I’ve driven some costal roads, even in Oregon, and fog can be just around the next bend.

At 30 MPH, and 10 second reaction time, you’ve used up your 500 feet.  

And, seriously who goes 30?

The other night was a passenger in car and all the drivers in the car thought 15 was fast.  Yet we were being passed by drivers doing far in excess of 50.  No way they could stop on an ice covered road.  Even at 15, we could all feel the slip of the tires on gentle curves.

I guess I’m getting old.  But, I think drivers in the Pepuls Republik of Nu Jerzee are all insane!

—30—

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TINFOILHAT: TWO SHOOTERS … … want to see back up of this claim

Thursday, February 20, 2025

https://www.theburningplatform.com/2025/02/12/is-anyone-really-surprised-there-were-two-shooters/

https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1889411775696896438?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1889411775696896438%7Ctwgr%5E3ed66cd690aca4194a6f5dffe88699ac141ba215%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theburningplatform.com%2F2025%2F02%2F12%2Fis-anyone-really-surprised-there-were-two-shooters%2F

Libs of TikTok
@libsoftiktok

*** begin quote ***

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna says her FIRST investigation will be the JFK assassination.

“Based on what I’ve seen, the initial hearing held in Congress was FAULTY. I believe there were TWO SHOOTERS.”

*** end quote ***

The official story never made sense.  

Never had a fair investigation,

The events surrounding the body, autopsy, and Zapruder film are prima facie evidence of a high-level conspiracy.

The assassinations of RFK, Dorthy Kilgallen, and numerous others were cleaning up loose ends.

“Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Whose gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinburg? I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago, and you curse the Marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know. That Santiago’s death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don’t want the truth because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post. Either way, I don’t give a damn what you think you are entitled to.” Colonel Jessep in A Few Good Men played by Jack Nicholson

TO BE CONTINUED

—30—

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CLOUD: I fail the cloudflare robot test

Wednesday, February 19, 2025

Here’s an odd bug that no one seems interested in: 

Using opera air when I go to signon I fail the cloudflare robot test. Argh! I’m not a robot. When I click on the cloudflare link it knows I’m not a robot. Suggestions?

*** begin quote ***

Sorry to hear you are having troubles! Unfortunately, we have no control over what Cloudflare returns in these challenges. If you have any add ons or extensions enabled, you could try disabling these in case they are interfering with the validation.

Another option would be to use the login link option from the login page. This will email you a link that will log you in to your account automatically.

—

Cheers,
The Penzu Support Team

*** end quote ***

Of course, CLOUDFLARE has no end User support.  Interesting that I’ve never seen that happen before.

YMMV.

—30—

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INTERESTING: “America’s Checkbook” is an interesting idea, but may not satisfy a “deep dive”

Wednesday, February 19, 2025

https://nypost.com/2025/02/11/opinion/make-doge-stick-let-taxpayers-monitor-americas-checkbook/

 Make the DOGE revolution stick: Let Musk and taxpayers reveal what’s really in America’s checkbook

By John Hart 

Published Feb. 11, 2025, 6:29 p.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

A federal judge’s decision to bar Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from reviewing the Treasury Department’s payment system is most likely a temporary setback — but it illustrates the urgent need to secure a permanent win for transparency.

Progressives are panicking because their 100-year, largely successful assault on American constitutional government is in danger of being reversed.

Thanks to Musk’s wise plan to follow the money, he has a historic opportunity to mount a coup — not on behalf of himself or President Trump, but for We the People.

*** and ***

Crowd-sourcing oversight will shift the balance of power away from the bureaucracy and back to individuals.   

“America’s Checkbook” will give citizens a megaphone and silence critics.

It will prove our leaders’ confidence in the wisdom of We the People, our system of checks and balances and the genius of America’s founders.

John Hart is the chief executive officer of Open the Books and the former communications director for US Sen. Tom Coburn.

*** end quote ***

Not sure how that could possibly work but I like the idea.

But I’m a like foggy on the usefulness of:

“Check #, Payee Joe Blow, Amount 1B$”

But it should give investigative journalists a lead.  (If there are any such left? Other than Sharyl Attkisson and James O’Keefe.

—30—

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SECURITY: Time to end credit card number and social security numbers

Tuesday, February 18, 2025

https:///174085/cyber-crime/google-tag-manager-gtm-e-skimmer-software-in-magento.html

https://securityaffairs.com/

Crooks use Google Tag Manager skimmer to steal credit card data from a Magento-based e-stores

Pierluigi Paganini

February 11, 2025 

*** begin quote ***

Crooks use Google Tag Manager skimmer to steal credit card data from a Magento-based e-stores

Threat actors are using Google Tag Manager (GTM) to install credit card skimmer malware on Magento-based e-stores, according to Sucuri researchers. The malware hides in a website’s database and steals credit card information entered during the checkout process, sending it to the attackers’ server. This sophisticated attack demonstrates how criminals are using legitimate platforms like GTM to deploy malicious code that is difficult to detect. 

*** end quote ***

Isn’t it about time to retire the concept and strategy of using numbers for identification?

Social Security Numbers, credit card numbers, account numbers, or any kind of numbers are just not secure enough any more.  I even have my doubts about crypto keys used for “wallets”.

The Gooferment and Visa are the primary actors that we need to lead the change. 

Medicare transitioned from a number to an alphameric string to stop the frauds.  Why can’t social security?  

I’m not sure what should take its place but how about a secure hash of your name?

“John Q Public” could easily become “9YWJSN0BSVR3IKNV11A2HZM 8X70I24JXUA6REACFTXYD7WC436”!

Go ahead hackers guess that!

—30—

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ENCOURAGING: One standard for EVERYONE in a meritocracy!

Monday, February 17, 2025

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/02/epic-president-trump-releases-powerful-ad-support-secret/

EPIC! President Trump Releases POWERFUL Ad in Support of Secret Service Prior to Super Bowl LIX – Can You See What’s Missing?

by Jim Hoft Feb. 9, 2025 5:00 pm

*** begin quote ***

President Donald Trump released a powerful new ad on X Social and Truth Social in support of the US Secret Service prior to the kick off to Super Bowl LIX.

*** end quote ***

Made sense to appeal to American pride.  So far, the Secret Service has not been involved in any scandal.  Although their (DEI influenced) performance in Butler PA was not up to snuff.

All physical standards should be reviewed in every aspect of the Federal Gooferment.  No more “accommodations”.  And, I include fat old out-of-shape men; not just slightly built short women as bodyguards.

One standard for EVERYONE in a meritocracy!

—30—

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ECONOMICS: Economics teaches that monopolies don’t last

Sunday, February 16, 2025

https://nypost.com/2025/02/07/business/investors-take-aim-at-nba-with-plans-to-create-5b-basketball-league/

Investors take aim at NBA with plans to create $5B basketball league: ‘Opportunity is massive’
By Reuters 
Published Feb. 7, 2025 Updated Feb. 7, 2025, 5:54 p.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

A group of investors are looking to create a new basketball league that will span Asia and Europe to one day rival the NBA, with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund as a strategic partner and Swiss bank UBS serving as an adviser.

The Financial Times reported that the $5 billion basketball competition plans to create six men’s teams and six women’s teams that will compete in eight host cities.

*** end quote ***

​Interesting. The NBA is a “monopoly”. Economics teaches that monopolies don’t last since competition seeks to “eat their lunch”. Here’s real life proof of that economic ‘lesson”.

From Standard Oil on to every other attempt to corner the market, we see monopolies destroyed without Gooferment intervention almost immediately after they come into being.  Remember Standard Oil went from 100% market share to under 70% in a decade due to competition.  And, then the Gooferment got involved.

The only way you can have a monopoly today is with a Gooferment grant of immunity.  Like Baseball, the Post Office, or Amtrak.  And, it usually comes with subsidies (i.e., why does the Gooferment build NFL stadiums?) that return to the politicians and bureaucrats as payoffs (i.e., campaign contributions).

 In the end, the Taxpayers and the Customers get <synonym for the act of procreation>!

Argh!

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SURVIVAL: Even the “best hikers” can need help and learn a lesson

Saturday, February 15, 2025

https://www.foxnews.com/us/hikers-tallest-mountain-northeast-rescued-from-whiteout-snowstorm-5000-feet

Hikers on tallest mountain in Northeast rescued from whiteout snowstorm at 5,000 feet

Mount Washington in New Hampshire known for extreme weather conditions

By Stephen Sorace Fox News

Published February 6, 2025 7:55am EST 

*** begin quote ***

Two experienced hikers were rescued from the tallest mountain in the Northeast after a whiteout snowstorm stranded them at about 5,000 feet on Sunday, authorities said.

Kathyrn McKee, 51, of Southborough, Massachusetts, and Beata LeLacheur, 54, of Westborough, Massachusetts, were trekking through a challenging Mount Washington trail in New Hampshire when the weather turned severe, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department (NHFG) said.

Temperatures dropped and winds kicked up, blowing snow so that the trail the friends were following was completely erased. The pair pushed through chest-deep snow, lost on the mountain.

*** and ***

Temperatures at the summit fell to -2 degrees and sustained winds blasted at 50-60 mph, often with gusts significantly higher, by the time the agency began a rescue operation at 8:30 p.m., Holmes said.

*** and ***

A half hour later, the rescuers found the two hikers alive and coherent, though both were suffering from cold weather injuries. The rescue crew set up emergency shelters and began to warm both hikers, who were able to move on their own after about an hour, officials said.

*** end quote ***

Experienced hikers with advanced training still got in trouble.  Imagine being in their situation.  

When I was in USAF survival school in “good weather” during October in (I think) Idaho, I was cold, wet, and befuddled.  And, we had “instructors” nearby to make sure we didn’t kill ourselves.  And, it sure seems in retrospect we were trying: “camping in a dry stream bed that became wet at night”, blundering around a night to find “firewood”, making a fire with wet tinder, etc. etc. … And they in the “after action session”, we found out that we weren’t “the worst”.  One group tried to make a tea out of hemlock and another tried to take down an adult female deer with a Swiss army knife.  The instructor kicked over the tea and the deer was last see scampering out into the night with a Swiss army knife in her butt about a quarter inch. 

Seriously, I think that the various parks should have rescue insurance so the taxpayer doesn’t have to bear the costs.

When I think how much calling an ambulance in the city costs, calling for rescue should be expensive enough to be “instructive” to avoid it in the future.

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INTERESTING: Which comes first — seeing or believing?

Friday, February 14, 2025

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2025/02/ira-katz/believing-is-seeing/

Believing Is Seeing – LewRockwell
By Ira Katz

<< EDITOR ADDED DATE 2025-02-06>>

*** begin quote ***

This short explanation cannot do justice to such a broad and important topic. But I hope you will see that while seeing is believing has a certain veracity, it is more important to understand that reality is conceived such that believing is seeing.

*** end quote ***

selective attention test

# – # – # – # – # 

I didn’t see it and now I understand the limitations of “perception”!

What to make of it?

Like the JoHari window, I realized then to always look for what I can’t “see”. 

Maybe if I had learned this much much younger, then my whole life could have been completely different!

“… 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

Laugh!  I could really use that tool today.

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JOBSEARCH: Federal government employees are learning that “Nothing is 100% risk free” the hard way

Thursday, February 13, 2025

FROM 1440 https://join1440.com/

*** begin quote ***

Cruise to slash workforce by nearly 50%, or roughly 1,000 employees, after owner General Motors ended funding to robotaxi unit (More) | Estee Lauder to trim up to 7,000 jobs, or around 11% of workforce; shares drop 16% on the news (More) 

*** end quote ***

# – # – # – # – # 

Given the wholesale downsizing of Gooferment employees, every one of the “wage slaves” in the USA should reassessing their unemployment risk profile.

*** begin quote ***

JOBSEARCH: Your reputation as a master networker has qualified you

Get started. When the axe does fall, as it always does, you’ll have bought yourself time, help, goodwill, and possibly some wisdom. I’ll probably have landed in my final spot before I hear from you. But be advised, I’ll be rooting for you from upstairs or down, where ever I’m sent.

*** end quote ***

And …

*** begin quote ***

JOBSEARCH: The risk inherent in the status quo of employment

I counsel job seekers and potential job seekers that they must rigorously and honestly evaluate just how much is at risk in their current state. One tool is my “how much money do I need to have to get another job”. Age, level of education, hotness of field, hotness of your geography, level of position you’d accept, what’s your burn rate, how do you look, and unfortunately sex all combine in strange complex calculus to determine the risk of the status quo. In more than one instance, 

*** end quote ***

As you can see, once I woke up to the  “status quo is not risk free” after my first “promotion outside”, I preached to anyone who would listen that “wage slaves” were at great risk of “downsizing”, “rightsizing”, or just a plain old corporate bankruptcy,

I remember that Gooferment employees would tell me that they’re 100% secure in their Gooferment GS13 position.  Wonder how they would evaluate that now with DOGE chainsawing whole departments and agencies.  I used have heated discussions with those poor confused souls that “Nothing is 100% risk free”.  I pointed to my and my mother’s experiences at AT&T.  We both had “gold watch” syndrome (i.e., the good corporation would care for its valued people from cradle to grave).  I took the buyout and she didn’t.  And she never realized that the “rules” had changed.

One piece of advice that often preached:

“Success for your generation is: (1) ruthless financial discipline — no bad debt; (2) a life long interest in learning — education — a degree — they can’t take it away from you; (3) a NON-OFFSHORABLE white collar job in order to save big bux; (4) a blue collar skill for hard times — never saw a poor plumber; (5) one or more internet based businesses — your store is always open; (6) a free time hobby that generates income; and (7) a large will-maintained network of people who can “help” you.

has held up very well over the decades.

Hope this helps and is not seen as “dancing on graves”.

As always, YMMV.

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APPLE: Forcing Apple to support EU Porn App is just wrong

Wednesday, February 12, 2025

https://www.macrumors.com/2025/02/03/apple-doesnt-approve-eu-porn-app/

Apple Says It Doesn’t Approve of EU Porn App

Monday February 3, 2025 1:15 pm PST by Juli Clover

*** begin quote ***

Apple does not approve of the “Hot Tub” pornography app that was released for the iPhone in the EU using alternative app distribution, Apple said in a statement to MacRumors. Further, Apple is concerned about the potential user safety risks with a pornography app, and says that it undermines consumer trust in the Apple ecosystem.

*** end quote ***

I agree with Apple.  Not that they are “saints”, but forcing them to support an app (Apple’s Notarization process only checks for malware, fraud, and other egregious issues) is a violation of their independence. 

I thought, that by “alternative App Store”, Apple would have no part in the process of putting an app on their hardware.  Guess I was wrong!

I see a whole slew of issues and “finger pointing” when some app bricks the hardware.  Apple’s response should be “Nie mój cyrk, nie moje małpy” . . . literally, “not my circus, not my monkey;” figuratively, “not my problem.”

I guess monkeys are “problems” in Poland, and circuses are where “problems” come from. If it’s not your monkey, and it’s not even from your circus, then it’s not your problem. 

And, the User should seek help from the EU technocrats.

Tough nuggies but that’s what the EU wanted.

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MONEY: ₿itcoin as opposed to 529?

Tuesday, February 11, 2025

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-02-01/bitcoin-btc-college-savings-plan-parents-ditch-529-funds-for-crypto?leadSource=uverify%20wall

Parents Ditch 529 Plans and Embrace Bitcoin for College Savings

  • Despite the risks and volatility, some families are investing in cryptocurrency to build wealth for their children. 

By Charlie Wells and Claire Ballentine
February 1, 2025 at 11:00 AM EST

*** begin quote ***

Most parents typically worry about funding 529 college savings plans, brokerage accounts or high-yield savings vehicles for their kids. Now, a subset are eschewing the old ways, pushing instead to pile up enough Bitcoin to help their children in the years ahead.

Some say it’s because stock gains aren’t good enough. Others view it as reasonable diversification. Plenty are true believers — convinced that, despite a more than 500% gain since the depths of the last “crypto winter,” Bitcoin’s climb has only just begun. The world’s biggest cryptocurrency surpassed the $100,000 mark for the first time in December, having changed hands for less than $16,000 in November 2022.

Still, these parents argue their children have long enough time horizons to stomach Bitcoin’s intense volatility.

*** end quote ***

Anytime I blog on financial topics, I always disclose faiwwypfi (Free Advice Is Worth What You Pay For It! ?zero?) and I have no hidden interests.  I am willing to buy and sell ₿, goldbacks, and bullion.

Before jumping into this topic, you must be absolutely sure that you won’t lose the keys to the kingdom.  Your wallet should be backed up and secure.  

And, remember you may not be around to extract the value.  Everyone dies  —  sooner or later.  Remember the guy in the UK who threw away his back up hard drive with his ₿itcoin keys on it.  Millions of dollars in a landfill.

It also should NOT be an exchange wallet since “not your keys; not your coins”.

So you are going to have to have a young person to understand and hold keys.

A hardware walled that multi signature is essential.

Remember the Ukrainian tech guy who escaped Ukraine with nothing but his clothes and his twelve word pass phrase?

YMMV

That being said: (1) ₿ is an inflation proof asset; (2) it avoids the Gooferment; and (3) might be a hidden “lottery ticket”.

—30—

 

 

 

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GUNS: Old man kills a young robber — so sad for all involved

Monday, February 10, 2025

https://nypost.com/2025/02/02/world-news/moment-78-year-old-fatally-shoots-teenager-trying-to-rob-him-in-argentina/

Shocking video shows 78-year-old fatally shoot teenager who tried to rob him in Argentina
By Ronny Reyes 
Published Feb. 2, 2025, 9:13 p.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

A 78-year-old retiree shot and killed a 15-year-old boy who tried to rob him outside his home in Buenos Aires, Argentina, shocking video shows.

*** and ***

The teenager, who was described by a friend online as a “great person,” was holding a fake gun meant to resemble a gray .22-caliber mini Bersa Thunder, Page 12 reported.

*** and ***

Local prosecutor Diego Rulli, who is in charge of the case, will not seek charges against the 78-year-old man, who he said acted in clear self-defense with a weapon that he is licensed to carry and use.

*** end quote ***

It seems like a gang related crime and a case of “kill or be killed”.

Fake gun or not, in the heat of the moment, the old man really had no choice.

I can’t imaging how he must feel especially after finding out it was a fake gun and a teenager.

FAFO is the common refrain we hear these days and this is an example of the “FO” part.

Can not fathom the depth of evil that this teenager go into.

Guess that this will put a damper on car jackings.

As I’ve blogged before:

“I particularly like unlimited concealed carry. If the criminal regards the general public as sheep to be shorn, then let’s sprinkle in a few “sheepdogs” with big teeth in the flock.

Guess which gay to bash? Buzz, wrong, you picked a Pink Pistol and you’re dead!

Guess which woman to bash? Buzz, wrong, you picked a Paxton Quigly and you’re dead!

Guess which brown person to bash? Buzz, wrong, you picked a Massad Ayoob and you’re dead!”

https://reinkefaceslife.com/2006/11/02/guns-lets-sprinkle-in-a-few-sheepdogs-with-big-teeth-in-the-flock/
GUNS: Let’s sprinkle in a few “sheepdogs” with big teeth in the flock
Thursday, November 2nd, 2006 at 20:26

—30—

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ENCOURAGING: A foreign good soul puts in a lot of effort to help someone they don’t know

Sunday, February 9, 2025

FROM 1440 https://join1440.com/

<< EDITOR ADDED DATE 2025-02-08>>

*** begin quote ***

Today, we’re sharing a story from reader Richard B. in Springfield, New Jersey.

“My daughter left her handbag with her phone and passport in the back of a taxi in Paris on the eve of a Sunday. Flight with her family was scheduled for 1 pm the next day. At 2:30 am, our phone rings in New Jersey with a 510 area code. When it rings a second time, my wife answered. A voice says, ‘Please don’t hang up as I have been trying to call someone for the last 6 hours. I work for Boeing in Seattle and my sister lives on the outskirts of Paris and has Felice U.’s pocket book. She doesn’t speak English but would like to return it. Her husband found it in the back of his cab.’”

“Our daughter contacted her concierge and arrangements were made for the brother-in-law to come to the hotel. This was accomplished by 10 am and they made the plane home in time. We still are not sure how the man in Seattle was able to trace us to NJ but his detective work and persistence in attempting to find someone is amazing. Upon their return, my daughter and her family found multiple calls from him on the home phone and my son-in-law’s cell phone documenting his persistent efforts. There are, indeed, good people in this world.” 

*** end quote ***

I’d call what these folks did a “mitzvah”!

https://www.solonchabad.com/templates/articlecco_cdo/aid/294114/jewish/A-mitzvah-is-not-just-a-good-deed.htm

*** begin quote ***

… … a mitzvah, even one he didn’t understand, is a connection n a way to get closer to G‑d that transcends logic. We affix a mezuzah to our doorposts, not just because it makes sense to us, but because this is G‑d’s wish. When we fulfill the request of G‑d, we are strengthening our bond with Him. Next time a mitzvah comes your way, make the connection! 

*** end quote ***

More than just a “good deed”, these folks really made a “connection” with more people than they know or imagine.

—30—

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ECONOMICS: First time in decades that there is a glimmer of hope.

Sunday, February 9, 2025

FROM A EMAIL THREAD:

LUDDITE:

*** begin quote ***

Wow this is beyond mind blowing! The list of blatant wastes of billions of U.S. tax dollars is really hard to comprehend. It will probably reach trillions very soon, there are no words to describe what the scabs have been doing to us!

Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) / X

x.com

https://x.com › doge

Through 1/29/2025, 85 DEIA related contracts totaling ~$1B have been terminated within the Dept. of Ed, GSA, OPM, EPA, DoL, Treasury, DoD, USDA, Commerce,

*** end quote ***

REINKEFJ:

Very sad indeed. And, a lot of “little people” are going to be displaced. It’s not just the “leadership” that gets fired. Argh!

Last tin foil hat estimate I read was that 3T$ could be freed up if 12 Departments, about 15 “agencies”, and a bushel basket full of other types of activities were eliminated.

Sigh!

A YOUNGER RELATIVE:

I don’t think anyone disagrees with cutting poor employees. But, as the reaction to grant programs being cut showed, red states are disproportionately impacted by government program cuts and those senators and congressman got an earful hence that idea was quashed. Today offices across the Midwest and south got hammered by calls regarding the tariffs. Farmers want their government handouts to continue. Biggest welfare group in the country and they have some power in the republican caucus so it’ll be interesting to see. President Musk is certainly leaving his mark but you’d think his lackey will want to regain some control soon. 

REINKEFJ:

Well, it’s about time that EVERYONE got off the dole.  The fiscal ship is sinking and if we don’t want a complete financial meltdown, everyone has to take their cuts.

Farmers, especially the corporate farmers like ADM, have been “milking” the system.  Parity payments for sugar are a classic example.  Paying farmers not to grow crops is another.  America could feed the world if the Gooferment would just get out of the way and allow the really free market to explode our productivity.

Sorry but EVERYONE is not entitled to a handout. Ponzi scheme of Social Security needs to be unwound. 

The Federal Reserve is a huge stumbling block to a healthy economy.  But probably too big for DJT47 to tackle.  Although I did read that his advisors were floating a trial balloon of 50 year bonds pegged to the price of gold as a way to retire the national debt.  If so, then the FED would be unnecessary.  Shade of Andrew Jackson, imaging no Federal debt to service.

I have high hopes that the DJT47 team can turn the Titanic away from the icebergs.

First time in decades that there is a glimmer of hope.

# – # – # – # – # 

I think this dialogue is instructive in that everyone sees the problem but no one wants their “Sacred Cow” to get killed.

Hopefully, if everyone is upset, then the country is getting back on track.  

The good ideas seem to keep flowing in. From “Kill the Department of Education” to defund NPR, nothing is too big or too small to get the AXE.

One thing I learned and was astonished to find out was that “USAID” was not “USA foreign aid” but “USA International Development” and was a CIA front for “foreign adventures”.  Surely that should be axed.

Another surprising revelation, was that all the Ukrainian cash aid didn’t get to Ukraine.  

Finally, the NGO’s like Red Cross and Catholic Charities were getting gazillions for “illegals” “resettlement”.  

No wonder the USA is going broke, too many grifters robbing us blind.

Argh!

—30—

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ENCOURAGING: Kate Middleton looks like she’s enjoying just doing something normal

Saturday, February 8, 2025

https://nypost.com/2025/02/06/entertainment/royal-family-live-updates-news-photos-feb-6/

Royal family live updates: Kate Middleton pairs up with girl, 5, on field trip who has no idea she’s a princess
By Sarah Ng, Kaydi Pelletier and Nika Shakhnazarova 
Updated Feb. 7, 2025, 6:28 a.m. ET

# – # – # – # – # 

Maybe I’m a sucker for a photo op, but the lady looks like she was just having bit of fun doing something “normal”.  I’m sure that the security was really tight wvwn though it was “invisible”.  And the children had no idea something special was happening.  

And, Kate Middleton has a beautiful smile and an air of Noblesse oblige.

Again, she makes you forget just how evil and expensive “monarchy” is.

—30—

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