POLITICAL: Bad policy message by DJT47 gets rejection by all men of good will

Monday, April 13, 2026
https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/04/05/easter-morning-message-of-hope
 
It’s getting harder to tell which side is the authoritarian theocratic regime run by demented hateful nut jobs. (You Crazy Bastards would be an excellent title for a book on the Trump 2.0 administration.)
 
By John Gruber
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https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/07/tucker-carlson-rips-donald-trump-easter-iran-truth-social-post-00861281
 

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“How dare you speak that way on Easter morning to the country?” Carlson said in a monologue on his podcast. “Who do you think you are? You’re tweeting out the f-word on Easter morning.”

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https://podscripts.co/podcasts/part-of-the-problem/bridge-and-power-plant-day?scroll_to_words=Tucker+Carlson&search_type=basic

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“Because these are laws that are not created by people. They supersede people. But on January 4th, when the President of the United States told us he was stealing that our country was stealing something that didn’t belong to us, people should have piped up and said something, but they didn’t. And that got us all the way to yesterday, which was Easter Sunday. “

*** end quote ***

https://podscripts.co/podcasts/part-of-the-problem/trump-backed-down?scroll_to_words=Tucker+Carlson&search_type=basic

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Did Tucker Carlson coming out against Trump, his biggest, the number one right wing, you know, show in the country? Maybe, maybe it did. But what? Even if it did have an effect, what did it do? Stop Donald Trump from doing bridge and power plant day? Okay. All right, fine. Stop just more death and destruction from coming that still wouldn’t have opened the straight of her moose or overthrown this regime. Man, look, we will see where all of this goes. Obviously, it’s still a very, very risky situation. but I will say I will end this on the note that I started it on, which is that thank God Donald Trump was just completely bluffing.

*** end quote ***

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​This is what set off a Tucker Carlson rant.  And that rant was cited by @ComicDaveSmith.  That’s how I found it.  It really made the case that DJT47 is not a Christian and really terrible human being. 

Can’t say that I disagree.

Remember the Gooferment and almost all the politicians and bureaucrats are immoral, ineffective, and inefficient. As well as untrustworthy.

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VOCABULARY: “digital campfires” — niche forums where the signal-to-noise ratio is actually managed by humans

Sunday, April 12, 2026

https://www.fark.com/comments/14032190/Fark-NotNewsletter-The-newest-trend-on-internet

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So apparently there’s a “new” “trend” called “digital campfires.” Harvard Business Review wrote about it back in 2020, Deloitte picked it up recently, and now every marketing consultancy on the planet is releasing breathless reports about how the future of the internet is small, gated, high-trust communities where people actually know each other instead of screaming into the algorithmic void. The metric of success has shifted from “reach” to “resonance,” they say. A million followers is worth less than a thousand active participants.

Sound familiar?

The basic idea is that people are abandoning the public town square of social media, which is now roughly 51% bots anyway per a report that dropped last week, and returning to niche forums where the signal-to-noise ratio is actually managed by humans who give a damn.

Discord just crossed 200 million monthly active users, and 90% of all activity on the platform happens in small servers. Ninety percent of their private servers have fewer than 15 members. The guy who co-founded it literally said the small servers are where people “developed true connections and belonging.”

So on the one hand you have the open internet turning into a bot farm, and on the other hand you have humans quietly migrating to smaller spaces where they can verify that the person they’re talking to has a pulse. Consultants are calling it “the Great Fragmentation” and charging six figures for the insight.

*** end quote ***

Interesting that the Great Fragmentation is occurring to the internet?

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MONEY: Going cashless is a very BAD situation

Saturday, April 11, 2026

FROM FACEBOOK

A cashless is a very BAD situation. We should absolutely resist it. While it may feel convenient, the amount of monitoring and control it gives the government over your money is frightening.
 
Do not give any business to businesses that don’t accept cash!
 
By the way, at this time it is illegal in NJ for most businesses to refuse to accept cash, and you can report them. They will be fined.
 
# – # – # – # – #
 
Have to look into this.
 
Robert Wood Johnson has gone cashless across all their practices and locations?
 
Argh!
 
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GRAVEYARD: Samsung Messages goes to the Samsung version of the graveyard

Friday, April 10, 2026

https://www.androidauthority.com/death-samsung-messages-good-why-3655062/

The death of Samsung Messages is good for everyone
So long and farewell, Samsung Messages.
By Joe Maring
2026-04Apr-07

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Samsung fans, it’s almost time to pour one out for one of the company’s oldest Android apps. On April 4, Samsung announced that its longstanding Samsung Messages texting app will finally shut down for good this July. As has been the case with more recent Samsung phones, remaining Samsung Messages users will be migrated over to Google Messages for their new default texting app.

*** end quote ***

I’m not sure what hardware makers are thinking by trying to SHERLOCK an existing Google product.  But it can’t be needed or good for the bottom line. 

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RECOMMENDED: CLAUDE as Artificial Intelligence

Thursday, April 9, 2026

​https://claude.ai

I’ve been playing with my new little friend “ClaudeAI”. Free of course. I’ve had several surprising results. Just today I saved myself a lot of time.

I input “extract all emails to or from Austrian Airlines in 2026” and “export to document” and got this in about 3 minutes “All 10 emails are exported to the Word document. It includes a cover page with a summary, then each email in chronological order with a color-coded header (blue for inbound from Austrian Airlines, green for your outbound replies) showing date, from, to, and subject — followed by the full message body.”

Used up all my “free time” until later in the afternoon, but it was great. I would have had to find all those emails — hoping I didn’t miss any one of them — and then print each individually. I figure that would take at least an hour.

If you haven’t tried it, then you should. Of course, don’t use it for anything you don’t want to share publicly. Who knows where it goes?

I have used it to recover a spreadsheet, find my Father’s military info, and summarized a few (long boring TL;DR) articles. It flubbed a few times on complicated jargon or slang.

But all in all, it seems like a great tool.

YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary!) FWIW (For What It’s worth) FAIWWYPFI (Free Advice Is Worth What You Pay For It! ?zero?)

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GRAVEYARD: Microsoft Publisher will no longer be supported — off to the Microsoft Mothball Vault

Wednesday, April 8, 2026

FROM AN EMAIL BY MSFT

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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.

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Microsoft is killing Microsoft Publisher just like it did with its ChromeOS competitor.  Off to the “Microsoft Mothball Vault”.

Of course there’s no reduction in price. Argh! Call it what it is “shrinkflation”. They give it the FU treatment and  “deprecate” it. Or whatever you want to call it — “sunsetting”!

Unlike when Google  SHERLOCKED (i.e., copy a successful product and give it away for free) like BITLY, they “deprecated” it like so many other GOOGLE “products and services”.

So to recap, we have seen: the #Google Graveyard, #AT&T_ashcan;  IoT products to their own graveyard; #DROPBOX  dustbin; Amazon has “sunset”; and … … … …

 … … … … the worst of all Google introduced “End of Life” to Chromebooks when I thought that Google had created the computer that was closest to an appliance like a toaster. But they threw in the EOL as planned obsolesce!

At least a toaster just sits there are works, unlike all this other <synonym for excrement>!

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RANT: To “turn the page” and see the next outrage

Tuesday, April 7, 2026

FROM FACEBOOK

*** begin quote ***

FOX 13 News

Dozens of people who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol are suing the federal government, accusing responding officers of using excessive force.

The class-action lawsuit, filed in federal court in Florida, alleges U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department “indiscriminately” fired chemical munitions, pepper spray and other projectiles into a crowd gathered on the Capitol’s west side.

*** end quote ***

Generated some heat.

I responded:

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Everyone can sue about anything. It’s a real shame that everyone is trying to “win the lottery”.

I guess we will find out if it has merit. The lady who was shot and killed by the Capitol Police officer has a case. But others?

Remember that this was all a mess and we never found out all the facts (i.e., who opened the doors; why was there no extra security; the fake bombs at the DNC and RNC). Never mind the various Conspiracy Theories about why there was a riot to stop the objections to contested ballots, Georgia voter fraud, midnight mail in ballot dumps in the mid-west, etc. etc. etc.

Like most abuses, “We, The Sheeple” have no choice but to “turn the page” and see the next outrage. The undeclared war with Iran, the uninvestigated Epstein débâcle, the various financial frauds in Minnesota / California / New Jersey, unpaid TSA agents, as well as the perennial favorite issues — national debt, the unfunded liabilities, the deficit that Congress ignores, and “birthright citizenship”.

No wonder that people just have to move along and just get along with life. But at some point in time, like Bill Mahr says: “We need more people speaking out. This country is not overrun with rebels and free thinkers. It’s overrun with sheep and conformists.”

“If voting made any difference they wouldn’t let us do it.” — Emma Goldman ― often incorrectly attributed to American humorist Mark Twain ― but very very true imho!

TL;DR summary: There are so many “outrages” that ordinary people don’t have the attention span, time, energy, or will to focus on them all.

*** end quote ***

“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

Just turn the page in the Book of History and move on to the next disaster.

Dona Nobis Pacem

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HEALTHCARE: Here’s one way of lowering the cost of prescription drugs!

Monday, April 6, 2026

https://www.boredpanda.com/unknown-interesting-facts-msn/

Published Apr 01, 2026
57 Interesting Facts To Make Your Boring Day Feel More Productive
Edvinas Jovaišas
BoredPanda staff

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#18

North Dakotans are used to pharmacists like Schlecht and to having pharmacies in small towns like Forman. In North Dakota, there are no Walgreens or Walmart pharmacies. Instead, North Dakotans get their medications from the 171 independent and locally-owned pharmacies throughout the state. This is no accident: It’s the result of a forward-thinking policy choice, the Pharmacy Ownership Law, that, since 1963, has given North Dakotans pharmacy care that outperforms care in other states on every key measure, from cost to access.⁠ ⁠ In North Dakota, prescription drug prices are more affordable than in two-thirds of all states. Pharmacies are more plentiful, with more per capita than in neighboring South Dakota, Minnesota, or nationally, and they’re more broadly distributed; North Dakota’s rural areas are 51 percent more likely to contain a pharmacy than similarly-populated areas of South Dakota. And in general, independent pharmacies provide higher quality care, studies and surveys of customer satisfaction find.⁠ ⁠ North Dakota reaps economic benefits, too, from this local ownership. Without the Pharmacy Ownership Law, a 2014 report from ILSR estimated, about 70 of North Dakota’s independent pharmacies would close. Chain pharmacies headquartered around the country and out-of-state mail order companies would fill the gap, and ILSR estimates that direct economic losses to the state’s economy would be at least $17 million, and as high as $29 million, without accounting for indirect impacts such as lost tax revenue.⁠ Instead of focusing on corporate profits, North Dakota’s policy prioritizes health care, and the state’s residents are the ones who benefit.⁠

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“People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.” George Bernard Shaw

The States often show us they way to do the impossible.

Imagine the uproar from Big Pharma if this became a national law!

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GOVEROTRAGEOUS: To ban Styrofoam, people have to choose to not use it

Sunday, April 5, 2026

https://johnklar.substack.com/p/connecticut-ban-on-styrofoam-packaging?publication_id=779141&post_id=192102107&isFreemail=true&r=3vwsqx&triedRedirect=true

Connecticut Ban on Styrofoam Packaging Frustrates Struggling Restaurants
Lost customers and increased overheads feared.
John Klar
Apr 02, 2026

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A pending Connecticut bill that would ban Styrofoam take-out packaging and impose numerous other mandates on restaurants in the Constitution State illustrates the classic metaphor of roads to Hell being paved with good intentions. Some restaurants perceive that Connecticut’s constitution is being crumpled up and burned in the legislature’s drive to stop Styrofoam from being crumpled up and landfilled.

*** and ***

This demonstrates the difficulty in changing consumption habits – if consumers do not demand change, it is difficult for either government or businesses to impose it from on high.

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A wise Persian king asked his advisers to bring him something that would make him happy when he was sad and vice versa. They eventually brought the king a ring on which is inscribed “This too shall pass.”

Most already see that recycling is a joke.

We see our carefully sorted waste products all dumped in the same truck. It’s no longer profitable for companies to recycle, but we continue to have “recycling theater” making us waste time and effort.

So too banning Styrofoam is fruitless; we the people know what we want. And politicians of bureaucrats should just get with the program.

Argh!

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NEWJERSEY: Whatever happened to the famous “clean hands”?

Saturday, April 4, 2026

https://nj1015.com/workers-rights-immigration-status-nj/?alef=&lh_aid=84349&lh_cid=cusy9rx0mh&di=e30645710cafb597f9350d761535fb4a

Rick Rickman
Published: March 20, 2026
NJ law protects workers who are in the country illegally, court rules 

*** begin quote ***

  • Top court rules all workers must be paid regardless of immigration status
  • Employer who hired immigrant worker now on the hook for years of unpaid labor
  • Decision impacts all businesses using off-the-books employees.

The highest court in New Jersey has ruled that all employees must be paid for their work, including unauthorized immigrants hired illegally.

Under federal law, employers cannot hire unauthorized migrants. Civil penalties for businesses that break this law range from $250 to $10,000 per person hired illegally. Employers who engage in a pattern of hiring unauthorized migrants can face up to six months in prison.

In New Jersey, state law requires employers to pay their workers overtime and at least minimum wage. Put simply, a person must be paid for their work. The state Department of Labor says it enforces the law “without regard to immigration status.”

*** and *** 

However, Chief Justice Rabner said the lower court ignored the employer’s responsibility to keep accurate records.

*** end quote ***

Whatever happened to the famous “clean hands” criteria made famous from Judge Judy?

Remember the sources of my education: I’m just a fat old white guy low index Jasper injineer with “degrees” in: Law from watching Judge Judy, Medicine from watching Doctor Phil, Building from watching “Holmes on Homes”, Investing from watching Bernie Made-off, and sensitively Managing Human Resources from watching Chef Ramsey. 

What the Chief Justice ignores is that while “employers cannot hire unauthorized migrants” Lopez AND Ruane BOTH knew he was an unauthorized immigrant. 

Therefore, IMHO, neither had “clean hands” and the matter should have been immediately dismissed.  The Chief Justice should have: remanded both Lopez and Ruane to jail, notified ICE about Lopez and Ruane to the Federal Deputy Attorney General for New Jersey. 

Also, Congress, and Pepuls Republik of Nu Jerzee politicians and bureaucrats should ALL get a collective kick in the ass for “birthright citizenship” and an insane non-recognition of peaceful law abiding “illegal immigrants”.   

If I was “king”, I’d solve this in a heartbeat.  

  • Change the rules about federal funds for States who don’t abide by or hinder Federal law (i.e., don’t take federal funds if you don’t want to follow federal law).
  • End “birthright citizenship” PERIOD!
  • ALL peaceful “illegal immigrants” get a green card which is IMMEDIATELY revoked upon a felony convictions.  
  • Naturalized citizens are “denaturalized” IMMEDIATELY  if they committed fraud or a felony.
  • Illegal immigrants, who came is as children, get a green card and must abide here in peace without committing fraud or felonies.  (We don’t punish people for what their parents do!)

Simple, easy to understand, fair to the 

Argh!

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