TECHNOLOGY: 16 Ways to Use Your AirTags

Sunday, July 20, 2025

https://www.makeuseof.com/genius-ways-to-use-airtags/?utm_source=MUO-NL

16 Genius Ways to Use Your AirTags (That Aren’t Just for Keys)
By Jack Mitchell
Published 2 days ago

<< EDITOR ADDED DATE 2025-07-10>>

*** begin quote ***

Track Mailed Items

If you’re sending a valuable item, sensitive documents, or something irreplaceable to friends or family, consider dropping an AirTag in the package (which they can return to you later). This way, you can track its journey to ensure it arrives at its destination, especially when delivering items overseas or sending gifts back and forth during the holidays.

*** end quote ***

Not sure if that’s allowed due to the battery?

FWIW I use them extensively. 

  • Haven’t put them on remotes yet.
  • Nor have I “tagged” a pet; not “chipped” either. Argh!
  • Nor have used one for my wallet; should, but haven’t yet.  
  • Don’t have a drone.
  • Have them in cars, luggage, bags, and on my keys.
  • Battery replacement is easy.

And, I put their location (for example in the car) in the name (i.e., Rogue glove box 1/1/25) so i can find them when the battery needs replacing.

YMMV

— 30 —


SURVIVAL: Children should ALWAYS have a way to communicate with their parents or guardians

Saturday, July 19, 2025

https://nypost.com/2025/07/10/us-news/camp-mystic-cabins-were-in-known-flood-zone-despite-recent-5m-overhaul/?utm_source=sailthru

Almost 20 Camp Mystic cabins were in known flood zone — despite recent $5M overhaul of century-old site
By Anthony Blair
Published July 10, 2025, 4:05 p.m. ET

​*** begin quote ***

In addition, many of the campers and counselors didn’t have their phones on them, as the children were not allowed access to any technology, camp counselor Nancy Clement, 18, told the Times.

*** end quote ***

I think that children should ALWAYS have a way to communicate with their parents or guardians. Argh! I’m well aware of all the negatives of “having a cell phone” in screen-free “zones”, but I think the alternative — being out of touch with the world — is much worse.

— 30 —


TECHNOLOGY: “Free” VPNs are too expensive

Friday, July 18, 2025

https://www.makeuseof.com/thread/how-do-you-feel-about-free-vpns/?utm_source=MUO-NL&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=MUO-202506290800&user=cmVpbmtlZmpAZ21haWwuY29t&lctg=7e6c3cd411d6a815afa18582d54bd455914c43c5f69df1448b8ec20ee4959f71

How Do You Feel About Free VPNs?
Ben Stegner

<< EDITOR ADDED DATE 2025-06-29>>

*** begin quote ***

Security-minded folks usually advise against using free VPNs, since they have few privacy guarantees, lack features, and are slower compared to paid VPNs. However, depending on your purpose for using one, a free VPN can be suitable. If you’re just trying to see what a website looks like from another country, get around a block, or test what using a VPN is like before committing, they can work OK.

How do you feel about free VPNs; do you use them or stay far away? I wouldn’t use one all the time, but as a quick way to test something or get around a blockage, I would be open to them.

*** end quote ***

# – # – # – # – # 

If it’s “free”, “you” are the product. I pay for anything that’s “free”. Sometimes in money; other times in data. I think a VPN is important enough to spend money on.

— 30 —


GOVERNACIDE: ‘Flash Flood Alley’ warning system was considered “too expensive”

Thursday, July 17, 2025

https://nypost.com/2025/07/07/us-news/texas-officials-scrapped-flash-flood-alley-warning-system-before-27-kids-killed-at-camp-mystic-because-it-was-too-expensive/

Texas officials scrapped ‘Flash Flood Alley’ warning system before 27 killed at Camp Mystic — because it was too expensive
By Anthony Blair
Published July 7, 2025, 8:45 a.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

But the county, which has an annual budget of around $67 million, lost out on a bid to secure a $1 million grant to fund the project in 2017, county commission meeting minutes show.

Instead, local officials relied on a word-of-mouth system to pass messages about raging floodwaters downriver from the camps upstream.

In a recent interview, Rob Kelly, the Kerr County judge and its most senior elected official, said residents were hesitant about the high cost of a warning system.

*** end quote ***

Sure, blame it on “the residents”!  Argh!

I’d like to go line by line through that budget and see all the stuff that was NOT “too expensive”.

How about the cost of the “rescue and recovery”?  What do you think the parents of those children would think about “too expensive”.  Bet the Insurance Companies aren’t happy with that trade off either.

No consideration of “User Fees” or “Special Project Zone”.  

Argh!

— 30 —


SOFTWARE: LastPass stops supporting their Mac desktop app 

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

https://support.lastpass.com/s/document-item?language=en_US&bundleId=lastpass&topicId=LastPass/lastpass_for_safari_extension_move.html&_LANG=enus

*** begin quote ***

Transition to LastPass for Safari: Replacing the legacy Mac desktop app 

We’re replacing the LastPass Password Manager (Mac desktop app) with LastPass for Safari, a modern, secure, and optimized solution for managing your passwords on Mac.

*** end quote ***

FYI, I do NOT use Safari.

Argh!

I’ll be transitioning to BITWARDEN, which supports all platforms.

— 30 —


NOTRECOMMENDED: Don’t buy “gift cards” throught zillionsgift offers on gift card racks in Walgreens

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Don’t buy “gift cards” throught zillionsgift offers on gift card racks in Walgreens.

They are counting on you to become frustrated trying to transform them into a useable gift card for so site you like.

My experience:

  • The fine print says the card can only be redeemed at their website
  • Took several tries to get to the website “zillionsgift.com”; the fine print isn’t easy to read; mistakes take you to cyber squatters waiting for you to fall into their trap
  • Getting the card info in and verifying your humanity took three tries
  • After getting thru that hurdle, you need to select values for your favorite destination site that work (i.e., 40$ gift card must be taken as two 20$ Amazon gift cards)
  • Then it says “tilt” and an obscure error message
  • Try that twice, then give up at call their 1-833 (?) number
  • After a brief hold, you get a call center fellow (Philippines?) who makes your repeat all your info and then tells you to try a mobile or another browser (Hey, I’m an IT pro. Already did that!  Argh!)
  • Then he graciously agrees to send you a paper check to your home address in 3 or 4 weeks
  • Argh!  I’m saving all the papers and card in an envelope with 8/15/25 on it

Feel free to check back for my update.  Argh!

— 30 —


TECHNOLOGY: Amazon has “sunset” Freevee — like the Google Graveyard

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

https://www.androidauthority.com/amazon-freevee-app-shut-down-august-3573688/

Amazon’s Freevee app gets an expiry date, but here’s how to keep watching for free

Prime Video is the new home for all of Freevee’s ad-supported content.

By Pranob Mehrotra

July 3, 2025

*** begin quote ***

  •     Amazon confirmed plans to sunset its free streaming service, Freevee, late last year.
  •     The company has now notified users that the Freevee app will be shut down in August 2025.
  •     Freevee’s extensive library of movies, TV shows, and live TV will be available through Prime Video.

After announcing plans to wind down its free video streaming service late last year, Amazon has now confirmed that the Freevee app will finally be shut down in August. But there’s some good news for those who enjoy Freevee’s vast library of TV shows, movies, and live TV.

*** end quote ***

Remember if it’s “free”, then you are the product!

Now like the Google Graveyard, we have an “Amazon sunset”!

Amazon’s Dash buttons are no more. Remember the “Tide button”, and other product buttons to make reordering easy?  I don’t remember Amazon “sunseting” other things.  And certainly not as frequently as Google does.

— 30 —


MEME: Find the value of Pi serial number

Monday, July 14, 2025

# – # – # – # – # 

Great, now when I check my U$D FRBies aka Federal Reserve Notes  —  The Federal Reserve Bank is a misnomer. IT ain’t “federal”. It reserves nothing. And, it ain’t a “bank”. It is a private cartel of the elite banks run for their benefit and that of the entrenched politicians.  —  I can find the value of Pi serial number an have a million dollar winner!

— 30 —


QUOTE: “Time is money. It’s not. Money is time.”

Sunday, July 13, 2025

https://cdn.mc-weblink.sg-mktg.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?utm_campaign=website&utm_medium=email&utm_source=nautilus-newsletter

From “Nautilus”

*** begin quote ***

In your book, Time Smart, you write, “Nothing less than our health and our happiness depends on reversing the nearly innate notion that time is money. It’s not. Money is time.” What do you mean by that?

Behavioral scientist Ashley Whillans: We’re indoctrinated with this idea that money and productivity are the path to greater happiness and success. My data speaks to the fact that this is not necessarily the best way by which to measure the satisfaction, productivity, and meaningfulness of your life. If anything, focusing on money is a path to unhappiness as opposed to satisfaction. My colleagues and I find consistent evidence that people who feel time-affluent, and in control of their schedules, report greater happiness, less stress, better health. They’re less likely to get divorced. They’re more likely to choose jobs that are satisfying. Time is not money, but happiness.

*** end quote ***

“Time is money. It’s not. Money is time.” — Behavioral scientist Ashley Whillans

— 30 —

Also I like:

“Not to live as if you had endless years ahead of you. Death overshadows you. While you’re alive and able — be good.” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 

and

“The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.” – Bertrand Russell

FWIW (For What It’s worth)

TANSTAAFL (“There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch” From Robert Heinlein’s classic) 

faiwwypfi (Free Advice Is Worth What You Pay For It! ?zero?)

— 30 —


SECURITY: Your own domain can prevent phishing

Saturday, July 12, 2025

An Original Thought

May I suggest that you have your own domain?

The common wisdom, or is that common whizdumb, is to own your own name as a domain name. I own “reinke.cc”. (I like saying “sea sea me at reinke.cc”! me@reinke.cc will actually work!) 

It gives one quite a bit of control. And, it’s very cheap. I know three solutions: wordpressdotcom with gmail, email only with 1and1, and domain+email+webspace also at 1and1. 

My point is not that you should use 1and1. http://www.1and1.com/?k_id=9113251 I could care less which one you use. It’s that getting on to your own domain with email is cheap and easy. 

And, it’s not aol, hotmail, yahoo, or gmail. It IS your own “personal brand”. And, the “bad guys” can’t fool you!

If you have your own domain, you can “bulletproof” your email from phishing and frauds!

Let’s assume that you have “your own domain” named “yourowndomain.com”, and you bank at “your bank” at “yourbank.com”.

You give “yourbank.com” your email address as “yourbankcom@yourowndomain.com”.  (Be prepared for some strange looks when you do this because the folk never heard of such and email address.)

Then you can set up an email filter  — let’s use Gmail as an example  —  that says:

  • Comes from “yourbank.com” and
  • Is addressed to “yourbankcom@yourowndomain.com” and 
  • You specify an label of “yourbank”

So all your email comes into GMAIL and gets assigned a label “INBOX”.

  • Anything that comes in that purports to be from “yourbank” MUST have the GMAIL assigned label of both “INBOX” and “yourbank”.
  • You can also set up an email filter for addressed to “yourbankcom@yourowndomain.com” and NOT addressed from “yourbank.com” and label it “PHISHING ATTACK”.
  • You can also set up an email filter for addressed NOT to “yourbankcom@yourowndomain.com” and addressed from “yourbankcom@yourowndomain.com” and label it “BANK GAVE OUT YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS”.

Pretty tricky and quickly eliminates PHISHING ATTACKS and identifies when the “BANK GAVE OUT YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS”.

Applause please?  

Why the email providers can’t protect you by using the appropriate internet protocols is beyond me!

*** begin quote ***

Email authentication methods and protocols 

  • SPF (Sender Policy Framework)

    A sender policy framework (SPF) is a record published in your DNS that lists all the IP addresses that are allowed to send emails on behalf of your domain. When an incoming email is received, the recipient server will check the SPF record to verify if the sending IP address is authorized to send emails for that particular domain. If it’s not listed in the SPF record, there’s a higher chance that the email will be marked as spam or blocked altogether. While SPFs can help to prevent spam and phishing attempts, they also may reject legitimate emails in situations where the sender’s domain SPF records aren’t properly configured.

  • DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)

    DKIM stands as a pivotal technology in the battle against email spoofing by attaching a digital signature to each outgoing email, linked directly to the sender’s domain name. This signature enables the recipient’s email server to verify whether an email purportedly sent from a specific domain is authorized by that domain’s owner. Given that emails often undergo multiple hops—redistributed by mailing lists or forwarding rules—DKIM ensures that signed messages can be reliably relayed by any server, maintaining their integrity and authenticity throughout their journey.

  • DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance)

    The DMARC protocol was built on top of SPF and DKIM, and relies on senders and receivers sharing information to ensure a smooth validation process. DMARC refers to SPF and DKIM records to validate a sender’s identity, along with testing whether the domain they use is found in the “from” address. If an email does not pass the validation test, DMARC provides rules on how to treat the message based on certain conditions. This protocol can help domain owners block phishing attacks by filtering such messages into spam, or rejecting them altogether.

  • BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification)

    If you’ve ever seen an email from a brand that included their logo right in the sender column, that brand was using BIMI. Improving email security with BIMI involves using an authentication system that enables trusted senders to display an icon of their choice directly in senders’ inboxes. BIMI can boost recipients’ trust in your messages, while heightening visibility of your brand.

  • MTA-STS (Mail Transfer Agent Strict Transport Security)

    MTA-STS is a security standard that enables you to send and receive messages securely over an encrypted SMTP connection. The MTA-STS protocol enhances email security by enabling an SMTP client to confirm the server’s identity during the TLS handshake. It does this by requiring the server to present its certificate fingerprint, which the client then matches with a trust store of certificates from verified servers. This process ensures the client does not connect to fraudulent servers, maintaining secure communication. 

  • TLS reporting

    TLS reporting is a mechanism that enables email senders to report issues with TLS connectivity.

    T is more effective when used alongside MTA-STS. The strict enforcement mode of MTA-STS will prevent email delivery if TLS issues are detected, ensuring a higher level of security and reliability in email communications.

  • ARC (Authenticated Received Chain)

    ARC acts as a “chain of custody” for email messages. It enables every entity involved in processing the message to clearly see which entities have previously interacted with it. At every stage of handling, it provides a detailed authentication assessment. The primary advantage of ARC, now adopted by the majority of mail servers, is its solution to a significant issue: previously, when a DMARC-protected email was forwarded, it would fail DKIM authentication and, consequently, DMARC. ARC preserves all original authentication information, allowing the final recipient’s mail server to verify that the email was DKIM authenticated before being forwarded.

*** end quote ***

— 30 —


POLITICAL: Did he just plea out because of the death penalty?

Friday, July 11, 2025

FROM 1440 https://join1440.com/

https://apnews.com/article/kohberger-idaho-students-killed-91eeb98eebd3d9b007e4a5cae0f81030?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter&user_id=66c4b9c55d78644b3a882a4d

Bryan Kohberger to plead guilty to killing 4 University of Idaho students in deal to avoid execution
By REBECCA BOONE, GENE JOHNSON and MARK SCOLFORO
Updated 12:35 AM EDT, July 1, 2025

*** begin quote ***

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Bryan Kohberger has agreed to plead guilty to murdering four University of Idaho students as part of a deal to avoid the death penalty, an attorney for one victim’s family said Monday.

*** end quote ***

I always wonder if he really did it, OR did he just plea out because of the death penalty?

As a gun-owning pro-life pro-choice little L libertarian, I’m against the death penalty for moral and irreversible grounds.  Moral because the Gooferment shouldn’t be able to do anything I can’t do since Gooferment is a fiction and represents a collection of individuals.  Irreverable since mistakes happen and there is no way to un-die someone.

We have the saying that “better a hundred guilty go free that one innocent be imprisioned”.  Plea bargains, regardless of the guilt or innocence, seems to make a mockery of our sense of “justice”.  Any more than poor “defendants” get Legal Aid and rich “defendants” get the best money can buy.  Also, even a rich “defendant” can be impoverished when faced with a Gooferment bureaucrat with unlimited funds to convict them.  

Finally, how fair is our “justice system” when some civil and criminal cases “cost” a staggering amount of attention, time, and money?  A Pyrrhic victory is a win that comes at such a significant cost to the victor that it is almost tantamount to defeat.  One has to wonder.

— 30 —


TINFOILHAT: Anyone think Epstein was stupid enough to keep a client list?

Thursday, July 10, 2025

> On Jul 8, 2025, at 9:18 PM, reinkefj found and shared:

https://x.com/glennbeck/status/1942442921103614098?s=12

*** begin quote ***

Glenn Beck

Digital disruptor. Truth-teller. Philanthropist ($250M+ raised). Founder of The Blaze. Building The Torch. Empowering the people, not the system.

The Epstein “Evidence List” isn’t just damning—it’s clarifying. No matter what you believe about Epstein’s past or fate, five conclusions can be logically drawn from the material seized.

This thread is for anyone who still cares about truth. 

1. This Was Not a Small or Isolated Operation

Dozens of devices. Thousands of photos. Labeled photo albums. Surveillance tapes. Blueprints. Foreign passports.

This wasn’t one man with a dark secret. This was infrastructure. Logistics. Coordination.

A system.

2. There’s a Massive Digital Footprint

Hundreds of hard drives, USBs, CDs, backup servers—some labeled with things like “nude girl pics book 4.”

Travel logs. Employee directories. Video tapes.

The real question:

Why hasn’t this been fully disclosed to the public?

3. Intelligence Involvement Isn’t a Stretch

An Austrian passport with Epstein’s face. Honeytrap-style setups. International mobility.

Too much precision, too much reach, too many decades undetected.

This isn’t wild theory.

It’s a logical hypothesis.

4. The System’s Silence Is Itself Evidence

If anyone else had even 1/10 of this material—underage photos, coded filenames, flight logs—they’d be under a prison.

But here?

Crickets.

No prosecutions. No answers.

That’s the real scandal.

5. Our Institutions Are On Trial

This is bigger than Epstein.

It’s about media complicity.

Justice deferred.

Power protected.

Truth buried.

Until this case is fully revealed, every elite institution carries a stench they can’t wash off.

To dismiss this as “conspiracy” is to admit you no longer believe in accountability.

Truth about Epstein is not morbid curiosity.

It’s a civic test.

And every day we fail to demand answers, we normalize elite immunity.

If we don’t confront what’s in those files…

We’ve declared that truth in America is now negotiable.

That justice is a luxury of the unimportant.

That power is a shield for the perverse.

The Epstein case isn’t over.

It’s the Rosetta Stone of public trust.

And if we don’t get to the bottom of it,

we’ll never restore what’s already been lost.

*** end quote ***

AND

Michael Weaver ✡︎ 🇺🇸 🇮🇱 @MichaelGWeaver

*** begin quote ***

@TheJusticeDept claims there’s no “list”, this is simply not true. The faces of the perpetrators on those videos as well as the 20,000 images from Epstein’s mansion in Manhattan that’s on multiple hard drives is a list. The flight logs to pedo Island is a list. The bank accounts of the individuals that paid for “services” to the bank account that Epstein had (which was later seized and became the Epstein Compensation Fund) is a list. I don’t believe for an instant that the @FBI couldn’t cross reference these three sources together and come up with a definitive list of individuals to, at the very least, indict and bring in for questioning. So if @FBIDDBongino and @FBIDirectorKash are going to double down, then make sure the sick, evil pedophiles who were associated with Epstein never see the light of day again.

https://x.com/FBIDDBongino/status/1942373596589965618

*** end quote ***

# – # – # – # – # 

My Luddite friend responded: “Anyone think Epstein was stupid enough to keep a client list?

I replied: “Yes!”

I’m often accused of having a “tin foil hat” and will believe any assertion of a conspiracy by the elite.  

“Just because you’re not paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t after you.” — Andy Grove

I should have been keeping a better list.  Because it’s a moral certainty in my mind that “We, The Sheeple” are being defrauded, killed, and kept in the dark by a cabal of “powerful elite”.  The Dead Old White Guys were rightly afraid that the American Revolution would devolve in a French inspired “Reign of Terror”.  And rightly so, imho. 

Here we have the spark that could set it off in the USA.

Like many other Conspiracy Theories, I deem this one checking the Conspiracy Theorist “thermometer”  — Conspiracy Theory Taxonomy and Ruler (Type and Veracity)  — 

Type: Political

Class 2. Likely

Bottom line: What is “We, The Sheeple” going to do about it?   Probably nothing.

“And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: What would things have been like if every Security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive and had to say good-bye to his family? Or if, during periods of mass arrests, as for example in Leningrad, when they arrested a quarter of the entire city, people had not simply sat there in their lairs, paling with terror at every bang of the downstairs door and at every step on the staircase, but had understood they had nothing left to lose and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush of half a dozen people with axes, hammers, pokers, or whatever else was at hand? . . .” — Alexander Solzhenitsyn

We may have reached that point!

— 30 —


SURVIVAL: Disney Cruise passengers – father and daughter – went overboard

Wednesday, July 9, 2025

https://nypost.com/2025/07/01/us-news/disney-cruise-passenger-describes-terrifying-moment-a-father-and-daughter-went-overboard/

Disney Cruise passenger describes terrifying moment a father and daughter went overboard

# – # – # – # – # 

​I don’t know if I would jump over. It’s probably one of those “reaction” to stimuli — in USAF survival skrule, we were taught that in a crisis, 80% of people will “freeze”, 15% will “panic”, and 5% (or less) will immediately take effective personal action due to prior planning or training. We had to tread water for 60 minutes although we were allowed to use our pants as a life jacket as we were trained. Not sure I could do that now. Kudos to the crew and cruise line for being prepared for an accident or a drunken fool.

— 30 —


PARADIGM: Just do it now

Tuesday, July 8, 2025

Just do it now.

Seems simple.

Nike says “Do it” but that seems too simple.

Wife says “do it NOW!” But that seems impossible.

So I’ve come up with a new “heuristic”  — heuristic (rule of thumb)  — for myself.

Have a thought?

Estimate time to complete!

If less than a minute, be NIKE and “just do it”.

If less than FIVE minutes AND time permits, listen to wife and “do it NOW!”

For all other ideas, tasks, dikw (i.e., data, information, knowledge, wisdom), just “capture it”!

When “capturing”: first option is use GOOGLE TASKS, second option is write it in my Little Black Book in my back pocket, third is scribleit somewhere to be transcribed later, fourth is dictate to Siri or any such tool.

Let’s see how that works?

— 30 —


TECHNOLOGY: “Mail Send Delay” universal option?

Monday, July 7, 2025

AN ORIGINAL THOUGHT

After sending an email to the wrong list of people, I wondered why I couldn’t have a “Mail Send Delay” universal option?

Can’t do it in GMAIL!

Can’t do it in APPLE MAIL!!

Can’t seem to find it in ANY EMAIL Client! ! !

Argh!

It’s as if every time you sealed an envelope, then you immediately had to run to the Post Office and send it out.

Argh!

Where are the User Interface coders getting their specs?

Certainly not from this User!

— 30 —


NEWJERSEY: Toms River school district faces bankruptcy amid funding cuts

Sunday, July 6, 2025

https://nj1015.com/toms-river-schools-budget-bankruptcy/?lh_aid=84349&lh_cid=avnwclefpx&utm_campaign=major_school_district_going_bankrupt&utm_medium=email&utm_source=letterhead&utm_term=nj1015&di=ca6ddcd42fe88d809a7b373af906834f

Facing bankruptcy, Toms River schools defy New Jersey education officials
Rick Rickman
Published: July 2, 2025

*** begin quote ***

  • Toms River refuses to pass budget amid $175 million in state cuts
  • School officials won’t follow orders to stop programs
  • Taxes would need to go up by nearly 13%

TOMS RIVER — The largest school district in Ocean County, on the verge of declaring bankruptcy due to funding cuts, is slamming the Murphy administration for demanding that it stop student services.

On Monday, the Toms River school board refused to pass a budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

The district, which serves over 14,600 students, has lost $175 million in recent years due to changes in the state funding formula.

*** and ***

Local lawmakers say the problem is Toms River’s spending, it’s Gov. Murphy’s cuts.

In a statement, a group of Republican lawmakers representing parts of Ocean County condemned changes to New Jersey’s school funding formula.

“Toms River is one of the most efficient and fiscally responsible districts in the state. This is a revenue problem, created entirely by a deeply flawed and politically driven funding formula, implemented with zero transparency and even less accountability,” the group of state lawmakers said.

*** end quote ***

Ahhh, Gooferment Skrules, the flash point of Taxpayer unrest.

Putting mytin foil hat on, might the “State” currently in the hands of the Democrats be seen as punishing Ocean County for its continued Republican support?  I’m sure that thought NEVER entered the “good” politicians and bureaucrats, who only want the best for the State, its “subjects”, and the Taxpayer aka slaves who pay for “good Gooferment”.  Argh!

Sorry but it all goes to the core of several issues (imho):  

  • Should we have Gooferment Skrules with the “Teachers’ Union” controlling State politics?
  • Should “taxes” be collected at the State level or should they only be collected at the lowest local level? (Remember the Golden Rule  —  he or she, who has the gold, makes the rules.)
  • Shouldn’t the Taxpayers’ have a representative body that can veto taxes? (When I has a house in Seaside Heights, I paid taxes but had no voice in objecting to tax hikes or intrusive regulations.)

Yesterday, I proposed my plan to end State funded Gooferment Skrules over 20, 40, or 60 years.  I was getting traction until the “leadership” of the Hands Across New Jersey tax revolt group sold out to the Republican Party establishment.

Maybe some young conservative can pick up that “flag” and advance it over the goal line.

— 30 —

 

 

 

 


NEWJERSEY: Unfortunately, the New Jersey taxpayers have to live in the real world.

Saturday, July 5, 2025

https://savejersey.com/2025/06/this-isnt-leadership/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=this-isnt-leadership&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=this-isnt-leadership

This isn’t leadership
June 28, 2025
Dawn Fantasia

*** begin quote ***

My heart is breaking for the state of New Jersey — and I am furious.

The Democrats push preschool expansion for 3- and 4-year-olds while ignoring the crumbling schools we already have — schools with no busing, failing test scores, stripped extracurriculars, and students forced to pay to participate in basic activities. All while their parents are crushed by obscene taxes.

Meanwhile, irresponsible school districts are using our tax dollars to go on lavish trips to Honolulu, hold open bar events, and spend $225,000 on balloon decorations — while holding their hands out claiming there’s no money for teachers, programs, or transportation.

They’re seizing a multi-generational family farm through eminent domain to force mandated “affordable” housing that our communities can’t afford and our infrastructure can’t support.

They’ve turned their backs on clean, affordable natural gas and shut down reliable power sources — chasing green energy fantasies that don’t exist — while we import energy from fossil fuels and coal-burning states and pretend it’s progress.

*** and ***

 About Dawn Fantasia 8 Articles

Dawn Fantasia (R) represents New Jersey’s 24th Legislative District in the General Assembly. 

*** end quote ***

The Pepuls Republik of Nu Jerzee has been “fiscally raped” by the Democrat party, the “Teachers’ Union”, and all sorts of leftist liberal midwest with dreams of an “ideal world”.

Unfortunately, the New Jersey taxpayers have to live in the real world.

All the economics are headed in the wrong direction.

Dismal results, escalating costs, and a complete utter failure of any type of political supervision or will to address the problem.

When faced with an utter collapse, I suggest we “declare victory” and let the parent do what they want.

In the HANDS ACROSS NEW JERSEY tax revolt, I proposed a 60 year “solution’ to migrate from the current system to a radial solution.  It was simple:

  • Recognize that for what the Taxpayer spends on “education”, all students could go to the Princeton Hun Academy (obviously absurd)
  • All schools would be “gifted” to the schools’ staff to organize (subject to some restictions on selling the real estate)
  • All students would be giver “red vouchers” representing the State’s contribution to their education.
  • For the next 20 years, each year 5% of the red vouchers would turn “green” meaning the parents and guardians could “spend” them at any accredited school (meaning there would be a few rules around it)
  • For the following 20 years, 5% of all “red vouchers” would turn “green”.
  • For the final 20 years, the State would reduce the gross voucher amount by 5%
  • At the conclusion of 60 years, “public education” would no longer exist
  • I had a lot of details that (1) schools would have to post a bond to guarantee that they would stay in business; (2) School share holders would be locked in for some period of time; and (3) anyone moving in state would be “green”,

And, we could finally be free of the Gooferment Skrules, the Teachers’ Union (influence in politics), and the Prussian Model of “School” (making cannon fodder for the Army, willing morons for the factories, and useful idiots to vote for and be led by the elite).

Unfortunately, I wasn’t up to the task of selling the idea.   The R’s (republicans as opposed to the Democans) infiltrated the HANJ organization and destroyed any hope.

Sigh!

Imagine the Gooferment took over the shoe industry and only made average one-size-fits-all size 8½ shoes. How would that work out?  Yup, just like today’s education “system”. 

Argh!

— 30 —


INSPIRATIONAL: Red Skelton’s Pledge of Allegiance

Friday, July 4, 2025

https://youtu.be/pGcwRnQUmUw?si=fcL2zf6rcYMx9CQc

Red Skelton’s Pledge of Allegiance

In 1969, Red Skelton performed … a salute to Old Glory, we revisit an all-time classic rendition of the Pledge of Allegiance.

# – # – # – # – # 

I remember that on TV.  Who would miss Red Skelton?  Like Johnny Carson, unmissable!

— 30 —


INSPIRATIONAL: 17,000 traditional folk songs preserved by Alan Lomax

Thursday, July 3, 2025

FROM 1440 https://join1440.com/

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2025/6/one-man-recorded-over-17000-traditional-folk-songs-to-preserve-the-true-sound-of-america?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter&user_id=66c4b9c55d78644b3a882a4d

One man recorded over 17,000 traditional folk songs to preserve the true sound of America
By Katherine Gross
Published 13 June 2025

*** begin quote ***

To take a break from his studies, at 17 he joined his father on a work trip sponsored by the Library of Congress to collect folk songs around America. It was from this trip in 1934 that Alan’s legacy as an ethnomusicologist would blossom – over the course of his nearly 70-year career, he would document over 17,000 traditional songs, dances, interviews, and social practices from independent cultures within America to preserve the traditions and diversity of our heritage. 

*** and ***

His life work was collected by the Library of Congress in 2004, and can be explored in the Lomax Digital Archive.

*** end quote ***

I vaguely remember hearing some of these in 1972-1974 when I was stationed in DC.  While the recordings were far from the pristine sound we get today, they were fascinating.  Like saving the Library at Alexandria, humans have a rich history that needs to be preserved.

—30—


SURVIVAL: Due to that unprepared hiker’s age, she would not be qualified for a Darwin Award.

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

https://nypost.com/2025/06/24/us-news/hiker-suffers-hypothermia-during-trek-on-new-englands-highest-peak-amid-east-coast-heat-wave/

Hiker suffers hypothermia during trek on New England’s highest peak amid East Coast heat wave
By Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, Fox News 
Published June 24, 2025, 8:21 p.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

In a striking contrast to the sweltering heat gripping much of the East Coast, a 55-year-old hiker from Texas was rescued in frigid and treacherous conditions Friday evening from the high peaks of New Hampshire’s White Mountains.

Caroline Wilson, 55, of Austin, Texas, was found hypothermic and unresponsive on the Gulfside Trail, approximately one mile north of the Cog Railway tracks, while hiking Mount Washington, New England’s highest peak, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department said in a release.

The department said Wilson became incapacitated during the hike, prompting her husband to call 911 at 5 p.m. He told authorities that she could no longer move or communicate.

*** and ***

The White Mountains can be pretty unforgiving,” she said. “Weather changes here in a flash.” Photos from the scene of the rescue captured the misty environment and steep rocky terrain.

New Hampshire Fish and Game Department conservation officers, along with volunteers from Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue, Pemigewassett Valley Search and Rescue, Mountain Rescue Service and personnel from the Mount Washington Cog Railway, mounted a complex response in severe alpine conditions to rescue Wilson.

*** end quote ***

Again, another unprepared hiker not ready for “severe hypothermia” in the middle of a heat wave.  Gets cold and wet in the mountains.  

And, from personal experience, I saw those conditions twice.  

First, in USAF Survival School, at ground level somewhere in the Idaho Montana forrest, we had hiked a few miles (maybe five) on a hot fall afternoon.  We camped out (think of a bunch of city boys playing Boy Scouts) and it start to rain.  The temperature dropped like a rock (Say 30 degrees) and everyone was cold, wet, and hungry.  Oh what fun!  At the debriefing from the “exercise”, the Senior Chief asked what we learned.  After eliminating the profanity, his message was “be prepared for the weather to change on a dime, Mother Nature ain’t your Mom”.  A lesson I soon forgot.

Second, a decade later, in Switzerland, as a tourist, we took ride to a (short) mountain by tram for five bucks a head and when we got out at a few thousand feet up, it was <synonym for the act of procreation> COLD.  I got the pleasure of buying a (one size too small) sweater at the Gift Shop at a premium price (which I donated before we left).  I remember that Senior Chief saying “I told you so!”.

Due to that unprepared hiker’s age, she would not be qualified for a Darwin Award.  But Mother Nature is not very strict about the award rules when handing out death sentences.  Again, look at all the resources used to save her.  Who pays?

—30—


EVLYNN: Sharp elbow; warm heart

Tuesday, July 1, 2025

https://www.lulu.com/shop/ferdinand-reinke/sharp-elbow-warm-heart/paperback/product-1k9n26ne.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Sharp elbow; warm heart
Ferdinand Reinke

The journey of a girl born into poverty, 
From a tenement walk up 
… to … 
a quiet passing into heaven 
… with frequent stops: 
to help people, and
love all the children along the way.

The Evlynn Marie Mahoney Reinke story (Version 1.1)

Details Publication Date Jan 26, 2012
Language    English
Category     Biographies & Memoirs
Copyright     All Rights Reserved – Standard Copyright License
Contributors     By (author): Ferdinand Reinke

Specification
Pages    292
Binding Type    Paperback Perfect Bound
Interior Color    Black & White
Dimensions     US Letter (8.5 x 11 in / 216 x 279 mm)

# – # – # – # – # 

A sad day for me.  Here’s her story.

—30—   

2025-Jul-01 

https://youtu.be/bD-5OtnoD28

Ricky Gervais has a great answer. ;-(

A tear jerking moment. 

Kudos to him for being authentic.

— 30 —


NOTRECOMMENDED: Liberty Mutual Insurance — tech support

Monday, June 30, 2025

Couldn’t logon for several days.

First call into them; they changed UserIds to emails. Argh!

Second call into them; send us a screen shot.

Sent it in and then they said: “three to five business days”.

Argh!

I fail to understand how they are going to diagnose and fix this. And, five days, someone must be INSANE!

Nevermind that no one is interested in WHY I need to get on their website.

Argh! Argh!

Maybe I need to change?

— 30 —


POLICY: Pull the USA out of NATO … … and the UN while you’re at it

Monday, June 30, 2025

FROM 1440 https://join1440.com/

*** begin quote ***

NATO Spending Hike

NATO leaders are expected to agree to ramp up defense spending when the two-day summit concludes today. Countries may commit to spending 5% of their gross domestic product on defense by 2035—up from the current 2% target, which 22 of the 32 member countries have met. 

The commitment responds to a call from President Donald Trump, who has conveyed skepticism about the military alliance’s value to the United States. The US is one of NATO’s biggest contributors, responsible for roughly 16% of the alliance’s collective $3.5B budget last year. It is also the only country to have triggered Article 5, which assures collective defense for all member countries. Spain struck a deal with NATO to be exempted in the final communique, instead committing 2.1% of its GDP to defense. Learn more about NATO here. 

*** end quote ***

https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_67655.htm?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter&user_id=66c4b9c55d78644b3a882a4d

#getoutofNATO, #NATO, #endNATO

# – # – # – # – # 

Given the USA’s fiscal state, I would like to see us pull out of NATO and the UN.

“Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.”
— Thomas Jefferson

Can anyone give a good reason not too?

—30—


RANT: Hey, “kill the ump” isn’t even acceptable these days

Sunday, June 29, 2025

https://nypost.com/2025/06/25/sports/diamondbacks-ketel-marte-cries-on-field-after-fans-disturbing-comments/

Diamondbacks’ Ketel Marte cries on field in heartbreaking scene after fan’s disturbing comments
By Mitch Fink 
Published June 25, 2025, 8:36 a.m. ET

​*** begin quote ***
“I hope MLB can do something with that guy. I don’t know who it was, but they’ve got to do something. We can’t continue to do that [expletive] here in MLB … he should be banned, for sure. Everybody knows Ketel lost his mom. She was the world to him.”
*** end quote ***

I’d hope that MLB would ban this bozo fan for a decade. Hey, “kill the ump” isn’t even acceptable these days. I think that the “bread and circuses” crowd has lost all public decency. Cheer, boo, whatever, but personal slurs are, or should be, severely punished.

Same with verbal and physical assaults at ANY sporting event should be prosecuted to the full extent of the local law. It’s a real “HATE” crime. (Even though as a little L libertarian, I don’t believe in “hate enhanced penalties”.)

I can’t imagine how I’d react if I was really focused on my job and performing it to the best of my ability and someone came up behind me and yelled slurs about my sainted past wife.  I’d probably try and deck the guy.

Argh!

—30—

UPDATE: 2025-Jun-30 

https://1057thehawk.com/ixp/385/p/branchburg-youth-baseball-umpire-assault/

*** begin quote ***

Read More: Major win for youth umpire punched by coach at NJ baseball game | https://1057thehawk.com/ixp/385/p/branchburg-youth-baseball-umpire-assault/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral

In March 2023, he was sentenced to five years’ probation. He also had to complete five months of anger management counseling, NJ.com reported.

*** end quote ***

FJR: No jail time? To light IMHO.

— 30 —


DISCOURAGING: My favorite topics — only vet vote, end the income tax, end direct election of Senators, and make more memebers of the House

Saturday, June 28, 2025

Remember Heinlein’s Starship Troopers’ universe? One does not merely have the right to be a citizen and vote by virtue of what Heinlein called the mere accident of birth; rather, one has to earn this right through Federal Service that tested one’s ability and willingness to sacrifice for the greater good of the polity. Bet not a lot of vets would vote for all the undeclared wars the USA has been in since WW2?

And, my many posts about repealing the 16th (income tax) and 17th (direct election of Senators) Amendments. 

Go back to funding the Federal Gooferment with tariffs and excise taxes.  If the Federal Gooferment needs more money then let it ASK the State Gooferment to impose a sales tax and forward the money to the Federal Gooferment!

Return the power to select Senators to the State Legislatures as the Dead Old White Guys designed it.  As a State’s check on Federal power.  Restore it and get the money out of elections and politics.  Too many carpet baggers buying their Senate seats.

And, how about creating more Representatives in the House? What was the representation ratio in the House when the Union was formed? One per some number of citizens in the thousands.  With technology today, it can be a virtual meeting.  With a population of 350,000,000, we can set the number of Representatives at 3500 (one per hundred thousand). Guess these folks never heard of Zoom calls.  We don’t need politicians and bureaucrats in DC where they can conspire easily about how to oppress us. Argh!

—30—


SURVIVAL: Another person is almost a Darwin Award winner

Friday, June 27, 2025

https://nypost.com/2025/06/24/us-news/hiker-rescued-after-falling-out-of-tree-and-getting-lost-in-washington-woods-for-nearly-a-week/

Hiker rescued after falling out of tree and getting lost in Washington woods for nearly a week
By Caitlin McCormack 
Published June 24, 2025, 7:02 p.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

A hiker survived nearly a week lost in the woods of Washington state, including a fall from a tree, and was finally saved after someone heard his desperate cries for help.

*** and ***

The man’s calls in the woods of Suquamish were heard by a nearby tribe member who called 911 on Saturday around 12:30 a.m. to alert authorities, the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office said.

Rescue workers attending to an injured person. 3

A hiker was rescued after spending four or five days lost in the woods in Washington. Kitsap County Sheriff

When a sheriff’s deputy arrived, he too heard a “faint, distressful voice coming from the woods from a man saying he had fallen from a tree,” the office wrote in a Facebook post.

The deputy quickly helped form a search party with assistance from the Washington Explorer Search and Rescue, Kitsap Search Dogs, Olympic Mountain Rescue, and the Suquamish Tribal Police Department.

*** end quote ***

Another person is almost a Darwin Award winner!

Unprepared for a day in the woods; let alone a week.  Sorry but Mother Nature doesn’t forgive foolishness easily.  Look at the number of organizations, amount of human hours, and just the sheer effort.  Who pays for all that?

No compass, no map, no cell phone … …. I could go on and list all the things that he should have had.  Not the least of which is a hiking buddy.

Hiking alone is a sure fire way of winning that Darwin Award!

—30—