Author: reinkefj

I am very proud of my Bachelor's degree from Manhattan College in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, achieved when IT was only available to the big companies. He also has an MBA in Management and MS Comp Science from FDU. https://keybase.io/reinkefj

INTERESTING: Goodhart’s Law — never ehard of it

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https://builtin.com/data-science/goodharts-law

How to Mind Goodhart’s Law and Avoid Unintended Consequences

  • One of the first steps to solving a problem — data science or otherwise — is determining the right metrics to gauge success. Choose wisely.

Written by Will Koehrsen
Published on Oct. 19, 2021

*** begin quote ***

What Is Goodhart’s Law?

Goodhart’s Law is expressed simply as: “When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.” In other words, when we set one specific goal, people will tend to optimize for that objective regardless of the consequences. This leads to problems when we neglect other equally important aspects of a situation. 

*** end quote ***

Hmmm, I never fell into that trap.

—30—

VETERANS: Memorial Day is a day to ask why are we creating more Gold Star families?

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http://www.legiontown.org/ownwords/10760/remember

Remember

The freedom we share is surely not free.

It’s paid with lives given for you and for me.

All the brave that have fallen, at air, sea and land.

So we remain free and our Nation may stand.

Let us keep in our hearts, remember always and today.

All of those who just for us, their own lives gave away.

Author, Tom Wigington

# – # – # – # – # 

I echo Former Republican Congressman Ron Paul spoke out Sunday afternoon at the “Rage Against the War Machine” rally in Washington DC, where he suggested that ways to end the wars could include the abolition of the Federal Reserve and having 18-24 year olds vote on the wars.

“WAR is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.” –Major General Smedley Butler

Old men send young boys and girls to die for unfathomable reasons.

“End the Fed” which feeds the War Machine.

Sadly.

—30—

GUN: Five agian one victime demonstrates the need for a gun at the ready

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https://www.breitbart.com/local/2023/05/23/maryland-father-killed-protecting-his-son-from-bullies/

Maryland Father Killed Protecting His Son From Bullies
Elaine Mallon  —  23 May 2023

*** begin quote ***

A Maryland father is dead after three teens and two adults showed up at his house on Friday demanding to fight his 14-year-old son.

The fight first broke out at Brooklyn Park Middle School, and the gang reportedly came to finish it at Christopher Michael Wright’s house, WBLA TV reported. The 43-year-old told the assailants that his son would not be going outside to fight them. Wright’s fiancée, Tracy Karopchinsky, said the group threatened to come inside and take him. She heard the group tell her fiancé that he had to go outside and fight in his son’s place.

His three children were all home at the time, and a neighbor’s video camera caught the incident on camera.

Wright suffered a traumatic brain injury.

*** end quote ***

“Better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6.”

Maryland is a gun control state and look how that worked out for the poor dad.

Time to send all five to jail for a long long time for murder.

—30—

RANT: Yet Another “Unfair Labor” practice?

Published on by reinkefjLeave a comment

https://ritholtz.com/2023/05/tip-demands-inflation-higher/

POS Tip Demands Are Driving Inflation Higher
May 22, 2023 10:00am by Barry Ritholtz 

*** begin quote ***

 If you leave a few singles in a jar by the register, you assume the recipients are the staff who work there. We have no idea where the Square POS tips go. Recall Doordash and other weasels pocketing driver tips during the pandemic (we should make sure that’s not happening here). All POS tip demands should be mandated to show a disclosure as to where the money goes — and both Square and the retailer should be on hook if it does not go where advertised.

*** end quote ***

I remember first seeing this at Olive Garden when they first mandated that all Users paying by credit card use their POS (point of sale which happened to be a Piece of <synonym for excrement>) device.  It automagically “suggested” 18% “tip”.   I had no idea but a sneaky suspicion that this was not on the all up and up.  So I always tipped in cash  — and not 18%.  After all I was now doing some of the work and we used to get thin mints with the receipt.

It would seem that “tipping” needs to be disclosed.  Who gets it and how much does the server have to “tip out” to others.  I’m most concerned that this is nothing more than a “DoorDash” price increase.  

Argh!

—30—

GUNS: When seconds count, the police are late to the scene

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https://nypost.com/2023/05/21/man-is-brutally-attacked-by-mob-of-cyclists-in-downtown-la/

 Video shows man brutally attacked by mob of cyclists in downtown LA

By Ronny Reyes 

May 21, 2023 6:21pm

*** begin quote ***

A man driving a pickup truck was pummeled by a group of young bicyclists during a broad-daylight attack in the downtown Los Angeles jewelry district.

Video footage captured the moment the victim was knocked to the ground by a group of people who stomped and kicked him ruthlessly near Hill and 6th Street on Thursday.

A witness said the fracas started when the cyclists claimed the man struck one of their bikes.

The victim, who has not been identified, covered his head as the assailants delivered brutal kicks.

A group of local jewelers quickly arrived and yelled at the group to stop.

One bystander could be seen removing his belt and whipping it around to scare off the cyclists. 

*** end quote ***

One msn versus a number of thugs; how to even the “playing field”?

And, the police arrive after everyone has left.

If the victim had been armed, then the incident probably would have never happened.

And if the attackers were shot at, shot, wounded, or (heaven forbid) killed, then I am sure we would see the victim prosecuted and the attackers lauded as “good little children”.

Argh!

—30—

NEWJERSEY: Did Murphy swear to protect and defend the Constituion?

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https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/05/17/nj-gov-murphy-well-defy-scotus-to-save-lives-if-they-rule-against-abortion-pill/

NJ Gov. Murphy: We’ll Defy SCOTUS ‘to Save Lives’ if They Rule Against Abortion Pill
Ian Hanchett  — 17 May 2023

*** begin quote ***

On Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Katy Tur Reports,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) stated that prescribing abortion pill mifepristone in defiance of any Supreme Court ruling against the drug is “on the table,” and that such a ruling will “cost people’s lives, women in particular, sadly. And so, if that’s what’s at stake, we’ll do whatever it takes to save lives.”

Host Katy Tur asked, “Is there anything you can do as a Governor if mifepristone gets struck down by the Supreme Court?”

Murphy answered, “Oh my Lord. I listened to your reporters talk about some of the positions these judges in New Orleans are taking. We’ve gone to the CEOs of both Walgreens and CVS to make sure that we had unencumbered access. We have considered a bulk acquisition. We have clearly joined in legal action as an amicus matter. Everything is on the table, and please, God, it doesn’t come to that, but we will continue to fight it like heck.”

*** end quote ***

Hitler once asked: “How many division does the Pope have?”

SCOTUS has decided that abortion is NOT a Federal issue.  Does Murphy object to that decision too?

So the question asked but unanswered is: When does life begin?  The follow up question is: When does a human being get the rights that our civilization, society, State, community, or person guaranty?  

Is it at conception, when they have a heart beat, perhaps when they can survive outside the womb, or as one Libertarian suggested when they can fight and take them?

I don’t know.  But as in most moral questions, as a fat old white guy injineer, I’d draw the line where it appears to be most clear: either maybe at conception or definitely at birth.  All the other lines seem arbitrary.

That’s my opinion.  And I really don’t care what the politicians and bureaucrats think about it.

FWIW!

—30—

TECHNOLOGY: Give a smartphone too young and you can hurt the youngster?

Published on by reinkefj1 Comment

https://www.ft.com/content/da7bd5c6-1d29-4c40-8578-05966b84346b

FT Magazine Mental health

A decade on, I still wonder if I was wrong to give my daughters a smartphone

  • New research links young people’s worsening mental health to the age they received their first phone

Gillian Tett 

*** begin quote ***

Either way, Haidt thinks there is “a classic collective action problem” making it difficult for parents or schools to impose controls or limits on phone use without “centralised norms”. He thinks, say, that schools should ask kids to leave phones in lockers while in class, but knows that parents might object since they worry they cannot “reach their child if something happens, like a school shooting”.  There are small signs of hope. In Texas, a “Wait Until 8th” grade movement has emerged, with more than 45,000 families signing up. And norms do shift, though as the history of tobacco shows, it took decades even with hard evidence of the damage done by cigarettes.  If you have young children, brace yourself for the battle ahead. If only some genius entrepreneur would invent a dumb cell phone that would appeal to kids but without the addictive lure of the internet. That would be real tech innovation. 

*** end quote ***

This reinforces some concerns that my significant other has for her grandson.  It is addictive.  And, she does limit “screen time”.   I wonder how this all works out in the end.  Seeing other children in restaurants locked into tablets, I can understand her concerns.  I used to think “what harm can it do”; I watched a lot of TV when I was a kid.  Maybe it warped me?

YMMV FWIW

Very provoking article.

—30—

 

RANT: A Leftist college professor demonstrates how to be “stupid”!

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https://nypost.com/2023/05/22/nyc-hunter-college-professor-cursed-out-anti-abortion-students-tabling-at-school/

 NYC college professor cursed out anti-abortion students tabling at school
By Allie Griffin  —   May 22, 2023 11:39pm

*** begin quote ***

A Manhattan college (NB: not manhattan.edu) professor flipped out on a group of students who set up an information table opposing abortion inside the school building — cursing and tossing their pamphlets, video of the interaction shows.

Shellyne Rodriguez, an adjunct professor, told the pro-life students they were “triggering” her students by tabling inside Hunter College in Manhattan earlier this month.

The footage was posted to Twitter by Students for Life of America.

“You’re not educating s–t. This is f–king propaganda,” the art professor told the students tabling on May 2. “What are you going to do like anti-trans next?”

A male student behind the table calmly told her, “I mean no, we’re talking about abortion” and said he was sorry about “triggering” her students.

Rodriguez claimed their demonstration was “violent” and yelled at the male student behind the table that he wasn’t sorry “because you can’t even have a f–king baby,” the video shows.

*** end quote ***

This is secular “higher” education.  

How can you reason when the Leftists refuse to keep the peace?

Disgraceful and un-American.

—30—

RANT: DEFUND the NIH

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NIH has reinstated the Eco-Health Alliance grant to resume controversial bat research

The following is an excerpt from Nature. The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has reinstated a grant to a highly scrutinized research organization that studies bat coronaviruses — but the agency has placed several stipulations on the scope of the research and on the organization’s accounting practices. The move caps a years-long saga that has thrust

# – # – # – # – # 

Are you kidding me?  Have these people no shame?

—30—

INTERESTING: Stop the presses on history books; time just got pushed back by a few thousand years

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https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/7000-year-old-road-uncovered-in-croatia-paved-in-stone-a-sensational-find/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_medium=weekly_mailout&utm_source=16-05-2023

7,000-year-old Road Uncovered in Croatia is Paved in Stone–A ‘Sensational Find’
By Andy Corbley – May 12, 2023 

*** begin quote ***

But Korcula road, featuring sophisticated stone-stacking and some sort of material to encase the stones in their positions, was made around 1,000 years before Ur and Eridu, to an epoch where agriculture and animal domestication were still developing or state-of-the-art technologies.

*** end quote ***

It really is amazing how little we “know” about “history”.  It is almost like routinely “we” find new evidence that proves just how wrong we were. 

What can you trust as “facts”?

The answer is “not much”.

—30—

The A’s are at an impasse with Nevada legislators over public funds for $1.5B stadium construction | Daily Mail Online

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The A’s would receive a free nine acres of the lot they bought from Bally’s – worth an estimated $180 million – from Bally’s, depending on the team finding middle ground with the Nevada legislature.
— Read on www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/mlb/article-12106421/The-impasse-Nevada-legislators-public-funds-1-5B-stadium-construction.html

Why should the taxpayer be involved?

—30—

INTERESTING: Will this change how crime scenes are investigated?

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https://theconversation.com/you-shed-dna-everywhere-you-go-trace-samples-in-the-water-sand-and-air-are-enough-to-identify-who-you-are-raising-ethical-questions-about-privacy-205557?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter

You shed DNA everywhere you go – trace samples in the water, sand and air are enough to identify who you are, raising ethical questions about privacy
Published: May 15, 2023 11.01am EDT
Jenny Whilde  — Adjunct Research Scientist in Marine Bioscience, University of Florida
Jessica Alice Farrell  —  Postdoctoral associate, University of Florida

*** begin quote ***

Ethical implications of collecting human eDNA

Our team dubs inadvertent retrieval of human DNA from environmental samples “human genetic bycatch.” We’re calling for deeper discussion about how to ethically handle human environmental DNA.

Human eDNA could present significant advances to research in fields as diverse as conservation, epidemiology, forensics and farming. If handled correctly, human eDNA could help archaeologists track down undiscovered ancient human settlements, allow biologists to monitor cancer mutations in a given population or provide law enforcement agencies useful forensic information.

However, there are also myriad ethical implications relating to the inadvertent or deliberate collection and analysis of human genetic bycatch. Identifiable information can be extracted from eDNA, and accessing this level of detail about individuals or populations comes with responsibilities relating to consent and confidentiality.

*** end quote ***

Some one I know LOVES “crime” shows.  Often, DNA can “hang” a crime on a criminal several decades after the event.  Recently, we have been seeing some “solved” by “forensic genealogy”.  The DNA from a crime scene can be linked to a family and, by diligent police work, the criminal is identified, tried, and convicted.

Some SciFi shows have said that forensic evidence can be tampered with  — even DNA.

Now with this article, maybe the air, dirt, or whatever at a crime scene can be captured and cataloged.

One of the crime shows had the police trailing a suspect to get his DNA from a discarded cigarette butt or a water bottle.  Maybe now, just test the air in the interrogation room might be all that is needed.

Shades of 1984.

—30—

GOVEROTRAGEOUS: Is the FDIC outlived its usefulness and far exceeded that 205k$ limit

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https://wallstreetonparade.com/2023/05/fdic-seizure-of-foreign-deposits-at-svb-opens-pandoras-box-at-jpmorgan-chase-and-citi-which-hold-a-combined-1-trillion-in-foreign-deposits-with-no-fdic-insurance/

FDIC Seizure of Foreign Deposits at SVB Opens Pandora’s Box at JPMorgan Chase and Citi – Which Hold a Combined $1 Trillion in Foreign Deposits with No FDIC Insurance
By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: May 15, 2023 ~

*** begin quote ***

If you have been following the banking crisis, you have likely read at least a dozen times that on March 12 federal banking regulators, with the consent of the U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, invoked the “systemic risk exception” in order to protect both insured and uninsured depositors at the two banks that failed in March – Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.

That’s why there were gasps of shock on Saturday evening at around 5:30 p.m. when the Wall Street Journal (paywall) published the stunning news that depositors in the Cayman Islands’ branch of Silicon Valley Bank had their deposits seized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which they are unlikely to ever see again.

As Wall Street On Parade has previously reported, under statute, the FDIC cannot insure deposits held on foreign soil by U.S. banks. What it can do, however, is to sell those deposits to the bank that acquires the collapsed bank. In the case of Silicon Valley Bank, the acquiring bank was First Citizens Bancshares which, apparently, declined to purchase the foreign deposits in the secrecy jurisdiction of the Cayman Islands, a jurisdiction most notable recently for housing Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto house of frauds.

*** end quote ***

It’s hard to imagine any Gooferment policy, program, or agency that doesn’t far outlive its usefulness.

In this case, foreign depositors get screwed.

Soon it will be US depositors.  Time to unwind all the Government Sponsored Entities  — FDIC, FHA, FHLB, Fannie, Freddie, and Sallie.

Before it’s too late!

If it isn’t already.

—30—

GOLDBUG: And, the Decline of the (American) Empire began … …

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https://dailyreckoning.com/dec-23-1913/

Dec. 23, 1913  — “I’ll do the deed first,” said the president of the United States, Woodrow Wilson. “And then I’ll have something to say.”

By Byron King  — May 13, 2023

*** begin quote ***

The Dollar’s Lost 99% of Its Value Since 1913

And as the U.S. monetary system stood, this is how things were established on Christmas Eve, 1913, when President Wilson used four gold pens to sign a new law to create a central bank for the U.S., and to help U.S. business better function in a world still working on a classical gold standard.

Now, not quite 110 years later and in no small measure due to long-term efforts of the Federal Reserve, that old $20 American gold coin is worth nearly $2,000 just for the precious metal, let alone the scarcity premium and markup for whatever value may come with numismatic rarity.

In other words, do the math here: Over the past century and one decade, the value of a dollar has declined by 99% if you use gold as the basis for comparison.

Looking ahead, where do things go? Well, we could discuss it all day.

*** end quote ***

Penny candy, the nickel cigar, the dime store novel, and three silver dime gas  — all represent the counterfeiting of the dollar.

The Dead Old White Guys knew the result of paper money.  They had seen France descend into “democratic” chaos as the franc went from a gold hockey puck to thin shirt button.  

The rich got richer until the mob chopped off their heads.

Is the USA heading for the same fate?

IDK but at best it might dissolve just like the Soviet Union.  

Hopefully, the ₿itcoin or gold might save us from chaos.

—30—

GOVEROTRAGEOUS: Mexican police and “justice” fail!

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https://nypost.com/2023/05/17/roxana-ruiz-convicted-for-strangling-rapist-to-death/

Roxana Ruiz, who strangled her rapist, sentenced to 6 years in prison, activists slam decision
By Snejana Farberov  — May 17, 2023 1:27pm 

*** begin quote ***

Ruiz fought back and struck him in the face, causing a nosebleed.

The man then allegedly threatened to kill her.

In the struggle that followed, Ruiz grabbed a T-shirt and used it to strangle her attacker.

In a panic, Ruiz stuffed the man’s body in a bag and dragged it out to the street, where passing police caught her red-handed.

Despite telling police she had been raped and acted in self-defense, Carrera said a forensic exam was never taken — a crucial step in prosecuting sexual violence cases.

Instead, an officer allegedly told Ruiz that she probably wanted to have sex with the man at first and then changed her mind.

“I regret what I did, but if I hadn’t done it, I would be dead today,” Ruiz said in an interview last year.

“It’s evident that the state wants to shut us up, wants us to be submissive, wants us closed up inside, wants us dead,” she added.

*** end quote ***

Why are the police deciding not to do a “rape kit”?

If the facts as stated are correct, then this appears to be a miscarriage of justice.

Maybe she showed bad judgment but 6 years?

—30—

 

Women’s rights groups have repeatedly accused Mexican authorities of revictimizing survivors and failing to judge cases with a gender perspective.

POLITICAL: US Government Is Totally Corrupt — so what is the solution?

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https://www.lewrockwell.com/2023/05/paul-craig-roberts/it-appears-that-the-us-government-is-totally-corrupt/

It Appears that the US Government Is Totally Corrupt
By Paul Craig Roberts  — May 11, 2023

*** begin quote ***

“It doesn’t make much sense to investigate the guy who brings you the allegation rather than the allegation.” — Former Federal Prosecutor Bud Cummins

On October 4, 2018, Bud Cummins brought evidence to the attention of US Attorney Geoff Berman of criminal behavior by Vice President Joe Biden. Instead of investigating Biden, Berman investigated Cummins. This is the Department of Justice today. The DOJ is just as corrupt as the FBI, which is part of DOJ, the CIA, NSA, FDA, and all the rest. Try to find an honest federal agency or institution.

If you don’t believe the FBI is corrupt, consider the Hunter Biden laptop. The information on the laptop revealing clear criminal behavior has been known for years, and nothing has been done about it. The corrupt FBI even declared the laptop to be a Russian plant in an effort to influence a US election. Really.

*** end quote ***

I don’t have an easy answer, or a hard one for that matter.

We can’t “vote the bums out” since they control the elections.

We can’t “defund” them since the system allows them unlimited (fiat paper) money to spend.

We can’t even criticize them on “social media” since they control that too.

I’m beginning to become a hardened cynic that there is any solution.  

Bullion, bandaids, beans, and ₿bitcoin are the tactical response.

imho

—30—

INTERESTING: The NFL schedule is like horse race handicapping

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https://www.insidehook.com/daily_brief/sports/nfl-schedule-four-teams-out-primetime

Sports | May 12, 2023 12:12 pm

NFL Schedule Predicts That These Four Teams Will Stink

  • Only four of the league’s 32 teams are not scheduled for a primetime game
  • The NFL doesn’t think Atlanta QB Desmond Ridder is ready for primetime.

By Evan Bleier @itishowitis

*** begin quote ***

The release of the full NFL schedule on Thursday night revealed that the league is planning to have three editions of Monday Night Football that will feature two games being played simultaneously in primetime. It’s an interesting strategy and will force fans to choose between Saints-Panthers and Browns-Steelers in Week 2, Eagles-Buccaneers and Rams-Bengals in Week 3 and Titans-Dolphins and Packers-Giants in Week 14. 

*** end quote ***

As I have said many times, the schedule determines the fates of teams.  It’s not a random draw; in a sense, it’s like horse race handicapping.  Hard to repeat when the table is tilted against you.  That make some teams’ records interesting.

Word to the wise, don’t bet against the handicapper or on anything that talks.

—30—

VOCABULARY: What is an “esthetician”?

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esthetician?

FROM GOOGLE

*** begin quote ***

The practice of Esthetics means providing services for a fee or any other consideration to enhance the appearance of the face, neck, arms, legs, or shoulders of a human being by the use of compounds or procedures including makeup, eyelashes, depilatories, tonics, lotions, waxes, or sanding and tweezing.

*** end quote ***

And, this is different from a “beautician” or “make up artist”?

I’d call it “word inflation”.

Argh!

—30—

FBI, DOJ failed to observe ‘fidelity to the law’ in Trump-Russia investigation: Durham

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The FBI investigation of former President Donald Trump’s campaign over allegations of collusion with Russia was “seriously flawed” and had no basis in evidence, special counsel John Durham has found.
— Read on nypost.com/2023/05/15/fbi-doj-failed-to-observe-fidelity-to-the-law-in-trump-russia-investigation-durham/

So where does he go for “justice”? Who gets fired or jailed?

—30—

VETERANS: Sorry but vets should come before illegals

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https://www.breitbart.com/border/2023/05/13/ny-hotels-boot-homeless-veterans-to-shelter-released-migrants/

NY Hotels Boot Homeless Veterans to Shelter Released Migrants
Bob Price  — 13 May 2023

*** begin quote ***Upstate New York hotels began kicking homeless veterans from their properties to make room for migrants being bused to the region from New York City. The homeless veterans, many Vietnam-era veterans, were receiving temporary shelter in the hotels through the efforts of a nonprofit agency.

The New York Post reports that nearly two dozen homeless veterans “have been booted from the upstate hotels to make room for migrants.” One of the hotels told a 24-year-old Afghanistan war veteran their temporary housing was being pulled out from under them and they would have to move somewhere else.

Sharon Toney-Finch, CEO of the Yerik Israel Toney Foundation, told the New York Post, “Our veterans have been placed in another hotel due to what’s going on with the immigrants.”

Toney-Finch said they moved the veterans from the Crossroads Hotel in Newburgh, New York, to other nearby motels and hotels. The properties were located about 20 minutes from where they were displaced.

Orange County, New York, is now the target of a migrant busing campaign by New York City Mayor Eric Adams. The mayor is moving the migrants out of his sanctuary city to Upstate New York to relieve migrant overcrowding in his city.

*** end quote ***

Anyone, who votes for D, deserves to be ashamed of how vets are treated in the USA.

Not that the R’s are much better, but at least they pretend to care more.

Heartbreaking.

—30—

INSPIRATIONAL: If you need a lift, this short video never fails to do it for me

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https://www.themarginalian.org/2023/05/07/ode-to-joy-flashmob/

Som Sabadell flashmob – BANCO SABADELL https://youtu.be/GBaHPND2QJg via @YouTube 

Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” Brought to Life in a Spanish Flashmob of 100 Musicians

  • A touchingly human reminder of our capacity for ecstasy and transcendence.

By Maria Popova

*** begin quote ***

Imagine what life would be like if lived, in May Sarton’s lovely phrase, with “joy instead of will.” That is what Beethoven imagined, and invited humanity to imagine, two centuries ago in the choral finale of his ninth and final symphony, known as “Ode to Joy” — an epochal hymn of the possible, half a lifetime in the making.

In the spring of 2012, the Spanish city of Sabadell set out to celebrate the 130th anniversary of its founding with a most unusual, electrifying, and touchingly human rendition of Beethoven’s masterpiece, performed by a flashmob of 100 musicians from the Vallès Symphony Orchestra, the Lieder, Amics de l’Òpera and Coral Belles Arts choirs. Watching the townspeople — children with kites, elders with walkers, couples holding hands — gather to savor the unbidden music in a succession of confusion, delight, and ecstasy is the stuff of goosebumps: living proof that “music so readily transports us from the present to the past, or from what is actual to what is possible.”

*** end quote ***

Sappy, but I love the children really getting into the swing of it.

Hard not to be moved by it.  Something gets stirred in the soul.

What could be if we all just tried harder … … “Peace on Earth” to men of good will.

—30—

Wanted Nevada woman Marion Reyes arrested after commenting on Facebook post about her case

Published on by reinkefjLeave a comment

Marion Reyes, wanted by Las Vegas police after commenting on a 8 News Now Facebook post about her cutting off her own ankle monitor, surrendered to police on Friday.
— Read on nypost.com/2023/05/13/wanted-nevada-woman-marion-reyes-arrested-after-commenting-on-facebook-post-about-her-case/

# – # – # – # – #

Dumb criminal —. episode 1233,456?

—30—

GOLD: End the FED, FDIC, FLIC, Freddie,

Published on by reinkefjLeave a comment

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2023/05/lew-rockwell/the-big-government-big-bank-plot-to-exploit-us/

The Big Government-Big Bank Plot To Exploit Us
By Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
May 8, 2023

*** begin quote ***

Putting an end to inflation requires not only the abolition of the Fed but also the abolition of the FDIC and FSLIC. At long last, banks would be treated like any firm in any other industry. In short, if they can’t meet their contractual obligations they will be required to go under and liquidate. It would be instructive to see how many banks would survive if the massive governmental props were finally taken away.”

We must do everything we can to end our corrupt monetary system, which threatens to bring down our economy through runaway inflation and bank insolvency. We need to restore the gold standard and end the Fed.

*** end quote ***

The only way to get Leviathan Gooferment under control is to starve it of resources, 

A gold based currency would “put the genie back in the bottle”. 

Gooferment politicians and bureaucrats would have to collect taxes and fees to run.  

Finally the “little people” could get a fair deal and opposed to all the other “Deals” they have been getting from Gooferment  — new, fair, square, etc etc.

—30—

MONEY: Is the E-Krona money or, like the CCP, a method of social control by Sweden?

Published on by reinkefjLeave a comment

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/sweden-cbdc-for-financial-surveillance?utm_source=Bitcoin%20Magazine&utm_campaign=b4c3ecc573-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_05_11_08_21&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f7d45fbb67-b4c3ecc573-357073741&mc_cid=b4c3ecc573

With The E-Krona, Sweden Is Attacking The Virtues Bitcoin Is Built To Protect

  • As they increase financial surveillance and control, Swedish authorities are inadvertently making the case for Bitcoin as an alternative.

Peter Bistoletti  —     May 11, 2023

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E-krona is, at present, a pilot project, testing the technical platform and the cooperation of banks, companies and end users. The e-krona will preserve several functions of cash but not anonymity. The volume of e-krona created will not be determined by mining (like it is for Bitcoin), but by the central bank. Positive or negative interest rates will also be determined by the central bank. In a deeper sense, the e-krona without a function like Bitcoin mining is merely a central database controlled by the central bank. 

*** end quote ***

IMHO, it’s the worst of all worlds.

Grab the popcorn and settle in for the show.

Where bitcoin allowed people to avoid capital controls and escape with their wealth, this will not!

—30—

GOVEROTRAGEOUS: Who do these people think they work for?

Published on by reinkefjLeave a comment

https://nypost.com/2023/05/10/fbi-refuses-to-give-congress-informant-file-alleging-biden-took-bribes/?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news_alert&utm_content=20230510?&utm_source=sailthru&lctg=6080ba40747925275a09dcd3&utm_term=NYP%20-%20News%20Alerts

FBI refuses to give Congress informant file alleging Biden took bribes as vice president
By Steven Nelson 
May 10, 2023 3:50pm

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WASHINGTON — The FBI has refused to give Congress an informant file alleging that President Biden took bribes while he was vice president, The Post has learned — setting up a possible showdown over access to the information.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) issued a legally binding subpoena last week requiring the FBI to turn over the file by noon Wednesday, but the bureau instead replied with a six-page letter raising various objections.

“Information from confidential human sources is unverified and, by definition, incomplete,” wrote FBI acting assistant director for congressional affairs Christopher Dunham, who also argued that informant reports must also be kept private to protect sources.

*** end quote ***

Who do these people think they work for?

Congress should IMMEDIATELY defund the FBI!

Suspend the salaries of the non-worker bees (i.e., leadership).

Argh!

—30—