GOVERNACIDE: And you expect the Keystone Kops to keep you safe?

Saturday, January 4, 2025

https://wokespy.com/new-orleans-police-superintendent-says-city-had-barriers-to-prevent-new-years-attack-but-she-did-not-know-about-them/

New Orleans Police Superintendent Says City Had Barriers To Prevent New Year’s Attack, But She Did Not Know About Them

9 Comments / By Shay Bottomley / January 3, 2025

*** begin quote ***

New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick confirmed that the city had effective anti-vehicle barriers available to be deployed on New Year’s Eve, but says they weren’t because she was unaware of their existence.

*** end quote ***

If I was a hunch and had to use that as an excuse, then she should fall on her sword and resign so that someone more competent can protect the citizens.

Along with everyone in the chain of command who didn’t take the initiative and deploy them.

—30—

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SURVIVAL: Sasquatch hunt by the unprepared ends badly

Saturday, January 4, 2025

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14233227/Two-men-dead-searching-sasquatch-national-forest.html

Two men found dead after searching for sasquatch in national forest
By SAMANTHA RUTT FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
Published: 00:30 EST, 29 December 2024 | Updated: 01:11 EST, 29 December 2024

*** begin quote ***

Two Oregon men who ventured into the woods of Washington state on a Christmas Eve hunt for Sasquatch have been found dead, authorities confirmed on Saturday.

*** and ***

With no signs of foul play or injury, authorities speculate that the pair’s lack of preparation for the extreme weather may have led to their deaths.

The Sheriff’s Office pointed out that the weather conditions and the men’s inadequate gear were major factors in the fatal outcome.

The pair’s ill-fated trip began on Christmas Eve when they set out to search for Sasquatch, the elusive creature of folklore often said to roam the forests of the Pacific Northwest.

*** end quote ***

How many times do we have to read: “lack of preparation”?

Don’t humans recognize how fragile we really are?

And having done a two week USAF survival school in the Pacific Northwest under very carefully supervised experienced instructors, I know first hand it’s no picnic.  I was there in October and I was cold, wet, and hungry for most of the two weeks.  I saw all sorts of rookie mistakes  — can’t build a fire with wet wood, can’t camping a ravine that is really a dry stream, and certainly can’t catch small wildlife or protect from big (hungry?) wildlife.  And this was under very controlled conditions.  

Can imagine just going for a nice December stroll looking for Sasquatch?

What were they planning to do if they found it?

Argh!  Not good to talk ill of the dead, but there is a lesson in this for all such Sasquatch hunters.  Don’t!

—30—

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SURVIVAL: Bubble boy at sea rescued — luckily

Friday, January 3, 2025

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14230841/boy-floating-inside-bubble-middle-sea.html

Moment boy, 8, is found floating inside a bubble in the middle of the sea
By ADRY TORRES FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
Published: 22:56 EST, 27 December 2024 | Updated: 00:08 EST, 28 December 2024

*** begin quote ***

This is the moment a boy was found inside a bubble adrift in a Brazilian sea.

Video footage showed a person on a boat strapping a rope around the bubble and dragging it to the shore at Lázaro Beach in Ubatuba, São Paulo, where the child, who is around eight years old, was reunited with his parents.

Rafael do Prado told Metropoles news outlet that the child was in the bubble playing in the beach when its cable snapped and got dragged further out to sea.

*** and ***

The fire department official added that the bubble the boy was found in provides ‘a false sense of security.’

‘For every three deaths at sea, a drowning process begins with floating objects,’ Magalhães said.

‘Whether it’s a surfboard, an inflatable mattress, or these buoys, floating objects at sea are not safe.’

*** end quote ***

Hopefully this story makes an impression on all the beach authorities around the world.  

While I’m not a big fan of beaches in general, I have seen children of all ages on inflatable toys in the surf by themselves.  (Knowing how quick children can get into trouble, I’m never more than an arm’s length away from any that I’m responsible for.  Hate to lose anyone’s.)

Bubbles are for pools.  Elsewhere at risk of tragedy,

—30—

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FUN: “We’ll see” … won’t we?

Thursday, January 2, 2025

FROM FARK

https://www.fark.com/comments/13505092/175607260?f=Fbwk_SWHpPoHWXUxWu4P2ImyyIB4OduZrcMdD#c175607260

*** begin quote ***

dryknife   2024-12-25 11:29:28 AM    

There was an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit.

“Such bad luck,” they said sympathetically.

“We’ll see,” the farmer replied.

The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses.

“How wonderful,” the neighbors exclaimed.

“We’ll see,” replied the old man.

The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune.

“We’ll see,” answered the farmer.

The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out.

“We’ll see,” said the farmer. 

*** end quote ***

Funny but very understandable.  Wde don’t always see the good and the bad immediately.  If ever.

—30—

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INTERESTING: What worked in the past, didn’t really work, and now is part of the problem

Thursday, January 2, 2025

https://www.oftwominds.com/blogdec24/past-solutions12-24.html

What If Solutions That Worked in the Past No Longer Fix What’s Broken?December 26, 2024
“Of Two Minds” blog
Charles Hugh Smith

*** begin quote ***

You see the irony here: the more successful the old solutions were, the greater our compulsion to cling to them even as they fail.

Humans use inductive reasoning to solve problems. If a solution fixed a problem in the past, we assume it will solve the problem again. This is a rational expectation based on prior experience.

But if conditions change, the solution won’t fix the problem. It might even make things worse.

*** and ***

Make America Great Again is an explicit call to return to the solutions that worked in the past, specifically The Reagan Revolution of the 1980s, which was characterized by these policies:

1. The federal government is the problem, not the solution. The solution is to reduce the influence and financial footprint of the federal government.

2. Deregulation of private industries, starting with finance. Loosen regulations to enable financial / market solutions, even if they’re disruptive.

3. Focus on growth. Grow the economy by loosening up credit, drill baby drill, reducing regulatory burdens and taxes, etc.

4. Pursue a muscular global policy of America First. No more wishy-washy playing nice: choose sides, but choose carefully because there will be consequences.

5. It’s morning in America. We can get back on track by unleashing America’s native optimism and vigor.

These solutions from the past are compelling because they delivered decades of growth. Of course reality is complicated, and it wasn’t just these policies by themselves that spawned decades of expansion. Demographics, the “peace dividend” and many other factors helped.

*** end quote ***

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” — attributed to Einstein, Ben Franklin, and Rita Mae Brown

The Federal Gooferment is “the problem” and it’s made possible by the FED  conspiracy and the “valueless unbacked” paper dollar.

I’m tired of always coming back to the same nagging over and over.  But the fundamental flaw in this problem is an unrestrained Federal Gooferment.  

Until that is put back under control and sharply limited, we have no hope of ever getting out from under the 37T$ debt.

Just silently defaulting by inflation which is what is being done to the detriment of “We, The Sheeple”.

Argh!

—30— 

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QUOTE: “Although no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.” – Carl Bard

Wednesday, January 1, 2025

QUOTE: “Although no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.”

– Carl Bard

—30—

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RANT: Yet another heart attack?

Tuesday, December 31, 2024

https://nypost.com/2024/12/30/sports/juan-jaime-former-braves-pitcher-dead-at-37-after-heart-attack/

Juan Jaime, former Braves pitcher, dead at 37 after heart attack
By Justin Tasch 
Published Dec. 30, 2024, 2:50 p.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

Juan Jaime, a pitcher who made several appearances for the Atlanta Braves in 2014 and ’15, has died of a heart attack, according to MLB reporter Hector Gomez.

Jaime was 37.

*** end quote ***

Sorry but what was his covid vax status.

Thirty year olds don’t have “heart attacks”.

Argh!

Is anyone paying attention?

—30—

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TECHNOLOGY: Drone saves a life in Christmas miracle

Tuesday, December 31, 2024

https://nypost.com/2024/12/28/us-news/california-malibu-police-use-infrared-drone-to-rescue-missing-man-on-christmas-eve/

Infrared drone used to rescue missing 78-year-old man on Christmas Eve

By Shane Galvin 

Published Dec. 28, 2024, 2:43 a.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

California authorities used a heat-seeking drone to find an elderly man who went missing while going to fetch his mail on Christmas Eve.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Malibu Search and Rescue Team sprung into action to locate the 78-year-old who suffers from early-onset dementia, according to an Instagram post.

Malibu SAR deployed several drones to help in the rescue — including one advanced drone that uses infrared heat-seeking technology to locate targets.

*** end quote ***

Seems like this is the future of “Search and Rescue”.

Looking at the picture, if it is the original untouched image, it’s obvious what it is.

This has implications in lost children, snipers at war, and who knows what else.

Seems like a new “mandatory” piece of gear in toolboxes around the world.

Maybe I could ever get branches off my roof easily,

—30—

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FUN: I was in the peanut gallery for the Howdy Doody Show once

Monday, December 30, 2024

https://cordcuttersnews.com/its-howdy-doody-time-first-premiered-77-years-ago-this-week/

“It’s Howdy Doody Time!”: First Premiered 77 Years Ago This Week
By Luke Bouma on December 29, 2024

*** begin quote ***

The show, originally titled “Puppet Playhouse,” quickly gained popularity and was renamed “The Howdy Doody Show.” It introduced audiences to a colorful cast of characters, including the freckled marionette Howdy Doody, the friendly ringmaster Buffalo Bob Smith, the mute clown Clarabell, and a host of other memorable puppets like Phineas T. Bluster and Chief Thunderthud.

*** end quote ***

I remember the beautiful Princess SummerFallWinterSpring.

—30—

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POLICY: Sharyl Attkisson’s list for HHS actions

Monday, December 30, 2024

https://sharylattkisson.com/2024/12/100-health-priorities-for-the-nation-in-2025/?vgo_ee=ODFiLopsmAquOJDTUNtt5qHQxMjNcKfJv5bPxxQdP6o%3D%3A9R6%2B4imedbgiNUNTW99SImhi4xaBGD%2Ft

100 Health Priorities for the Nation in 2025
By Sharyl Attkisson | December 27, 2024

*** begin quote ***

…and that’s just for starters

The following was first published on Sharyl Attkisson’s free Substack.

Our health systems are so broken that there are many thousands of things that need to be done to try to set them right.

Therefore, the following list of 100 is not intended to be comprehensive. 

But it does scratch the surface regarding some important issues that should be addressed.

In the comment section, add your own ideas!

MISSION and PRIORITIES

1. Quickly move to end reliance on foreign countries, particularly adversaries like China, for critical medicine.

2. Transform the Health and Human Services (HHS) mission and goal into one that prioritizes identifying the causes of illnesses and preventing them, over simply treating them with pharmaceuticals and other therapies.

*** end quote ***

And 98 more great ideas.

Hope that RFKjr just tacks this list to the front of his office door!

Seems like she’s done a lot of the work already.

—30— 

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DISCOURAGING: America’s “sportsmanship” in action

Sunday, December 29, 2024

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/college-football/article-14233673/College-football-fans-want-Fernando-Carmona-Arkansas-Razorbacks-banned.html

College football fans want Arkansas’ Fernando Carmona banned for life after his ‘disgusting’ act

By MAX WINTERS

Published: 08:15 EST, 29 December 2024 | Updated: 10:13 EST, 29 December 2024

*** begin quote ***

Furious college football fans want Arkansas left tackle Fernando Carmona banned for life after a shocking piece of foul play in their game on Friday. 

The Razorbacks beat the Texas Tech Red Raiders 39-26 in the Liberty Bowl in Memphis but there was one controversial moment that infuriated fans.

*** end quote ***

Is this what best represents America’s “sportsmanship”?

Maybe it is the NFL-effect where bad behavior is condoned on and off the field.

I’m not sure what the proper response should be?  Maybe a suspension of Arkansas’ bowl participation for some period of time.  Maybe even a bowl forfeit  —  if such means anything.

Criminal prosecution for assault seems to be a must!

—30—

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TECHNOLOGY: GPS device is forbidden under Indian law

Sunday, December 29, 2024

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14207135/canadian-runner-tina-lewis-arrested-india.html

Canadian tourist’s dire warning to others as she’s arrested in India over common tech device
By SHEILA FLYNN FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
Published: 17:19 EST, 18 December 2024 | Updated: 18:40 EST, 18 December 2024

*** begin quote ***

A Canadian trail runner enjoying a months-long trip to India found herself in trouble with airport authorities in Goa after they detected an illegal item in her bag – a mini GPS device, forbidden under Indian law by legislation that’s nearly a century old.

Tina Lewis, who now lives in Colorado, had already been through multiple other Indian airports without problem when she caught the attention of security in Goa.

‘I brought my Garmin inReach device as I do for many of my international trips for camping, possible mountain adventures, and to use when there is no cell reception for safety as a solo female traveler,’ Lewis wrote on Instagram this week. 

*** end quote ***

WOW, wouldn’t have even occurred to me.

Isn’t every CELL PHONE a GPS device?

And, why would such a thing be illegal anywhere?

The only thing I can think of is to mark a target with GPS coordinates.  But can’t you do that now with Google Earth or a topological map?

Sorry but this seems to be a case of an obsolete diktat by a Gooferment out of touch with technology.

Argh!

—30—

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VETERANS: Pearl Harbor survivor passes only a few left — Never forget!

Saturday, December 28, 2024

https://nypost.com/2024/12/28/us-news/warren-upton-the-oldest-living-survivor-of-the-attack-on-pearl-harbor-dies-at-105/ 

Warren Upton, the oldest living survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor, dies at 105

By Associated Press 

Published Dec. 28, 2024, 1:54 a.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

After Upton’s death, there are only 15 still alive.

*** end quote ***

Sad day in history with only a few left.

—30—

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NOTRECOMMENDED: Apple AirPods2Pro for the hearing test

Saturday, December 28, 2024

After a very frustrating day of “escalations”, broken return calls promised, and countless connect / disconnect / in case / out of case / reconnect, I gave up.

This product is not ready for prime time,  I felt like an alpha tester.

Argh! ** 3

They hyped the “hearing test” so much I really wanted it to work. 

Frustrated to the full extent.

—30—

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VETERANS: Maybe only Vets should vote?

Saturday, December 28, 2024

https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/26352/did-heinlein-advocate-the-apparently-militaristic-if-not-fascist-society-of-sta

Did Heinlein advocate the apparently militaristic, if not fascist society of Starship Troopers?

Asked 12 years, 1 month ago
Modified 3 years, 8 months ago

Viewed 17k times

*** begin quote ***

In the classic 1959 Sci-Fi novel Starship Troopers, Robert Heinlein lays out a view of the future where only the military is allowed full citizenship and suffrage. He presents democracy as intrinsically flawed and physical punishment as an essential part of child-rearing. The novel is often seen as advocating militarism if not fascism.

*** end quote ***

“Older men start wars, but younger men fight them.” ~ Albert Einstein

Perhaps we’d have peace if we sent all the politicians and bureaucrats who want a war, to go fight in the first wave.

Probably be a lot more peaceful and circumspect about the whole topic.

*** begin quote ***

Jeannette Pickering Rankin (June 11, 1880 – May 18, 1973) was an American politician and women’s rights advocate who became the first woman to hold federal office in the United States. She was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican from Montana in 1916 for one term, then was elected again in 1940. Rankin remains the only woman ever elected to Congress from Montana.

*** end quote ***

Give her credit, it took real courage to vote your conscience.  And, in retrospect, she was correct about the reasons for both wars.

Wonder how vets would vote?

—30—

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FUN: A Christmas tradition that I think is “priceless”

Friday, December 27, 2024

https://www.fark.com/comments/13494756/175388094?f=Fbjk9mpT0wsasZqUb92Wa3pw_oGgAw5zU7Q88#c175388094

*** begin quote ***

In 1981, we drew names and everyone had to go to a garage sale and buy the ugliest thing there – the kind of thing that the seller put $.25 on just so someone would think it had *some* value and wasn’t just junk.

My dad ended up being given an 18″ tall plaster bust of Queen Nefertiti from someone’s ceramics class. It was painted in light blue with a bright red jewel in her headpiece.

The next year, it was given to someone else, but we recorded with a black sharpie who it had been given to each year.

The rule is that if you receive it, you have to display it in your house in a prominent place. No sticking it in a closet.

It’s been passed down every year with few exceptions (Covid being one and a well-meaning but ill-advised prank being the other).

Somewhere along the way we started recording births and deaths on it.

CSB: My mother has threatened to smash iat several times – not because she hates it, but because she’s gotten it the least.

CSB 2: Was in a store and found several duplicates once. If I’d had the money, everyone would have gotten one. 

*** end quote ***

I just thought this was a great idea!

Made me laffffff, and glad I don’t have “family” traditions.

—30—

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GOVEROTRAGEOUS: The USPTO grants very broad patents for ideas that are neither new nor revolutionary

Friday, December 27, 2024

https://www.zdnet.com/article/open-source-fights-back-we-wont-get-patent-trolled-again/

Open source fights back: ‘We won’t get patent-trolled again’

  • Businesses using open-source projects like Kubernetes are being targeted more often by patent trolls. Now the open source community is launching a counter-offensive and looking for volunteers.

Written by Steven Vaughan-Nichols, Senior Contributing Editor
Nov. 14, 2024 at 12:41 p.m. PT

*** begin quote ***

Edge Networking is a patent troll. This means it buys up patents — not to use them but to extort money from anyone who might want to use the patent. Let’s say you’ve posted a job listing for a Kubernetes engineer. An Edge bot will spot this, assume you must be using Kubernetes, and then slap you with a cease-and-desist note claiming you’re violating its Kubernetes patent and you must pay them a licensing fee. Welcome to the wild, wonderful world of 21st-century patent trolls!

*** end quote ***

So, here we have the root of the problem  — the USPTO.  And, vultures use the USPTO flaw to extract wealth from the finances of companies.

Too expensive to fight so they just fold and pay,

Seems like the Gooferment needs to rebalance the scales of justice in this case.

When the USPTO invalidates a patent, it should charge the patent holder a fee for the wasted effort.

If the patent troll has several patents invalidated, the Federal District Attorney should review the facts for an abuse of process claim.

It’s only fair.

—30—

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POLICY: Biden commutations are not a strict rejection of the federal death penalty

Thursday, December 26, 2024

https://nypost.com/2024/12/23/us-news/biden-commutes-death-sentences-of-child-killers-and-mass-murderers-2-days-before-christmas/

Biden commutes death sentences of child killers and mass murderers 2 days before Christmas
By Steven Nelson 
Published Dec. 23, 2024, 5:00 a.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

President Biden on Monday commuted the sentences of 37 of 40 men on federal death row — a list that includes at least five child killers and several mass murderers — in a stunning act of clemency just two days before Christmas.

Biden, 82, gave the reprieve to the nation’s most violent murderers — nine of whom were found too dangerous to live after butchering fellow inmates — as part of his effort at “ensuring a fair and effective justice system,” the White House said.

President Joe Biden speaks during a Hanukkah reception in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Dec. 16, 2024. 7

President Biden speaks during a Hanukkah reception in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on Dec. 16, 2024. AP

“Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss,” Biden said in a statement.

“But guided by my conscience and my experience as a public defender, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Vice President, and now President, I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level. In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted.”

Biden, who opposes the death penalty, lowered each of the 37 sentences to life in prison without parole. He did not say why specifically he considered the original penalties unjust.

*** end quote ***

If he commuted EVERYONE, then I could believe that this is his moral decision.  (Which BTW I’d agree with!)  By his other actions, killing people and not extending commutation to everyone, I doubt his sincerity.

Some of these commutations cover a convict that is too dangerous to keep confined.  (This is my exception to the “no death penalty” policy.)

So, I don’t understand his partial view of morality.  And, he doesn’t explain his “in good conscience” rationale.

Befuddled and befuddling.

—30—

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DISCOURAGING: Illegal comits murder after sneaking back in

Thursday, December 26, 2024

https://nypost.com/2024/12/23/us-news/nyc-subway-burn-suspect-is-illegal-migrant-from-guatemala-who-sneaked-into-us-after-being-deported/?lctg=6080ba40747925275a09dcd3 

Fiend accused of burning woman to death on NYC subway is illegal migrant from Guatemala who sneaked into US after he was deported
By Jennie Taer and Joe Marino 
Published Dec. 23, 2024
Updated Dec. 23, 2024, 9:37 a.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

The Guatemalan migrant accused of setting a sleeping F train passenger on fire and then watching as she burned to death sneaked into the country illegally after being deported — and then stayed in the New York City shelter system, multiple sources confirm to The Post.

He first entered the US at the Arizona border in 2018, when he was nabbed and deported just days later for crossing illegally, multiple sources told The Post.

He then re-entered the US at a subsequent unknown date, sneaking past US authorities. It’s unknown how long he has been in New York.

*** end quote ***

Clearly, DJT47 will have his “deportation” chore firmly in mind.  Why do we have to tolerate such behavior?  It’s a stain on all the good people who want to come here.

Argh!

—30—

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PEACE: Let’s never have to entertain troops at war again

Wednesday, December 25, 2024

https://nypost.com/2024/12/21/entertainment/bing-crosby-struggled-to-sing-white-christmas-to-troops/

Bing Crosby struggled to sing ‘White Christmas’ to troops, ‘most difficult thing’ in his career

By Brie Stimson, Fox News 

Published Dec. 21, 2024

Updated Dec. 21, 2024, 10:16 a.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

I asked Uncle Bing one time, ‘What was the single most difficult thing you ever had to do in your career?’ We were out playing golf one day, and I didn’t know what he was going to say,” Howard told Fox News Digital. “I didn’t know if he was going to say, ‘Well, it was, you know, learning lines for the movies or working with a difficult director.’”

He continued, “He didn’t have to think about it at all. He said, ‘Well, 1944, we were over with the USO troupe.’ And he said, ‘We gave an open-air concert for 15,000 GIs and British Tommies in an open-air field in France.’”

His uncle told him Dinah Shore and the Andrews Sisters were at the show “‘and we had a lot of laughs and the boys were having a wonderful time, great fun.’ But he said at the end of the show, ‘I had to sing “White Christmas.” And I had to get through the song with 15,000 guys in tears and not break up myself.’”

“And a lot of those boys died the next week in the Battle of the Bulge,” Howard added.

*** and ***

But he said, ‘If I’m entertaining troops, I’m not going to wear anything phony like a toupee. Forget it.’ So he went onstage without a toupee for the troops, but he also insisted that the front rows at those shows were reserved for the enlisted men. No officers or higher-ups sitting in the front rows. Those were all for the guys on the front lines.”

*** end quote ***

Noblesse oblige

And, why war is terrible on everyone.

Dona Nobis Pacem

—30—

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PEACE: Dona Nobis Pacem

Wednesday, December 25, 2024

From AntiWar.com

https://antiwar.com/donate/

*** begin quote ***

Many American leaders are more interested in using war to fight for peace. Unfortunately, they have convinced many Americans into believing that war is the only path to peace. They do that by using fear and lies.

Antiwar.com works to inform people about what is really going on, and to show them alternatives to the plans of war-hungry politicians.

*** end quote ***

I’m upset that I am paying for Israel to kill children in Gaza. 

I’m upset that I am paying for a war in Ukraine that has wiped out a generation of young men there.

I’m upset that the Military Industrial Congressional Complex keeps finding new wars for the USA to fight.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9, NIV).

Seems like we can never just have peace.

Dona Nobis Pacem

—30—

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POLICY: No “entangling alliances”; No NATO; No UN

Tuesday, December 24, 2024

https://www.lewrockwell.com/political-theatre/trump-to-leave-nato-as-brussels-attacks-musk/

Trump to leave NATO as Brussels attacks Musk?
By Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
November 11, 2024

*** begin quote ***

America first, no foreign wars, protect America’s borders.

US out of NATO and the UN. Put the troops on the Mexican border.

NATO threatened Elon not to have the twitter space with Trump, we should leave NATO.

I want to stop Ukraine and Russia war and NATO should indeed need to reevaluate

There is no NATO, there is the United States. We shoulder pretty much all the burden.

Leaving NATO and threatening to leave NATO is a bargaining chip for negotiations.

Good. Kick out the UN next.

*** end quote ***

No “alliances”.  Period!  Full Stop!

NATO is an idea who’d time has passed.  Let Europe defend itself.

The UN was a Wilson pipe-dream.  It has failed to bring peace and, in fact, their “peacekeepers” are a problem.

—30—

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DISCOURAGING: Everyone might have seen the 8th grade tests from the turn of the century … …

Monday, December 23, 2024

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2024/12/a_half_century_of_miseducation.html

December 17, 2024
A Half Century of Miseducation
By John M. Grondelski

*** begin quote ***

The New York Times reported December 4 that math and science test scores for U.S. fourth and eighth graders have been essentially stagnant since 1995. Nor have they have been stagnant near the top — lots of countries outrank us — but rather in the middling middle. American elementary/middle school students perform behind Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, England, Ireland, and Poland.

“’This is alarming,’” opined a Department of Education commissioner.

Yes, it is, but perhaps not just for the reasons the article identifies.

The spin of the article is that scores are down and American kids have lost significant ground as a result of the pandemic. Author Dana Goldstein says the results corroborate “a large body of research showing significant academic declines since the Covid-19 pandemic began.” “Experts are debating potential causes,” reports Goldstein, including maybe the fact that American public schools were shuttered comparatively longer than in other countries.

Let me argue that spin is far too limited and selective.

*** end quote ***

I’m not an “educator”, but I can observe some factoids that do NOT inspire confidence.

  • Everyone might have seen the 8th grade tests from the turn of the century.  Some of those questions even I couldn’t answer.  As a fat old white guy retired injineer, I should have been able to “nail” the math and geometry questions.  Not so.
  • There’s a meme on Facebook that talks about a circa WW2 car owner’s manual that decribes how to adjust the valves.  Today’s say “don’t drink the battery acid.”
  • The amount of money spent on education in 1988 per pupil was enough the send kids to the private Petty School in Princeton.  Those amount have gone up from there.
  • Teacher’s pay has stagnated.  But budgets keep rising.  Teachers’s unions in the Pepuls Republik of Nu Jerzee dominate the state legislature.
  • All the stats say either we are birthing stupider children or “education” ain’t educating.
  • Asian children seem to be doing just fine.  Indicating that non-Asian parents are not motivating their children to excel at anything other than “feeling good about themselves”.
  • And, my perpetual gripe, “participation trophies” that denigrate accomplishment and fail to teach children to deal with setbacks early in life.

In summary:

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” — attributed to Einstein

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” — attributed to Einstein, Ben Franklin, and Rita Mae Brown

So what can we change?

  • Eliminating the Department of Education seems like a reasonable start.
  • Returning “education” to the local communities’ control
  • Disempowering teachers’ unions
  • Ending “public education”!

Seems “simple” to me.

—30—

 

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GOVERNACIDE: Here’s an example for the death penalty; inmate too dangerous to imprison

Sunday, December 22, 2024

https://nypost.com/2024/12/17/us-news/beloved-texas-detention-officer-dead-after-being-assaulted-by-pure-evil-inmate/

Beloved Texas detention officer dead after being assaulted by ‘pure evil’ inmate
By Associated Press 
Published Dec. 17, 2024, 10:14 p.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

WAXAHACHIE, Texas (AP) — A Texas man being held in jail fatally assaulted a detention officer who was returning him to his cell following the one hour he was allowed out of his lockup each day, a sheriff said Tuesday.

Isaiah Patrick Bias, a 28-year-old who worked at the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office for over six years, was assaulted Monday afternoon at the county jail in Waxahachie, south of Dallas.

Sheriff Brad Norman said during a Tuesday news conference that Arron Semeion Thompson, 45, from nearby Ennis, has been charged with capital murder in Bias’ death.

*** and ***

Officials said Thompson has been in jail since last month on charges of assaulting a public servant, public intoxication and evading arrest.

Thompson’s bond in Bias’ death was set at $2 million. Jail records did not list an attorney for him.

Norman said the Texas Rangers will investigate.

*** end quote ***

As a little L libertarian, I don’t think we should ever permit the Gooferment from using the “death penalty”.  If we do, then political opponents are at risk from their adversaries.

The one exception that I make  —  every good rule has exceptions  —  is when the convict is too dangerous for the people we ask to guard them.  This appears to be such a case.

As a species, we need to have firm rules of acceptable behavior.  For our own survival, this should be one of them.  “Kill a correction officer and forfeit your ‘right to life’.”  Simple self-preservation.

—30—

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GOVERNACIDE: Tucker Carlson agrees that capital punishment is a wrong

Saturday, December 21, 2024

TCN Morning Note: Capitol Hill in Chaos, Government Shutdown Looms

Tucker Carlson Network

*** begin quote ***

Commentary 

If guilty, Luigi Mangione deserves to spend the rest of his days in prison. Anyone who purposely takes a human life should never walk free again. Independent of the need for justice, such a man poses too much of a public safety threat to ever return to America’s streets.

The accused CEO killer is not a heroic figure. He is a villain. That will remain true no matter how many Nintendo-costume-donning protestors rally in his defense. As we wrote last week, “He is smug, lazy, and ultimately, a groveling coward.” With that being said, the government’s apparent aim to have him sentenced to death is a disturbing and destructive objective.

In addition to being nonsensical and hypocritical, the idea that we must kill killers to prove that killing is wrong is emblematic of modern American leadership’s tragic disregard for the sanctity of human life. We see this in foreign, immigration, and domestic policy.

Permanent Washington has spent the past three years fervently funding the war in Eastern Europe, cheering on the slaughter of an entire generation of Ukrainian men. Fentanyl overdoses kill tens of thousands of Americans each year, but the government actively works to make it easier for people to smuggle those deadly drugs across the Southern border. And since the turn of the century, the left has transformed its abortion rhetoric from describing the deadly procedure as “safe and rare” to telling women to “shout your abortion.”

It’s not clear what’s behind this shift, but it’s remodeling America away from its religious roots and instead in the image of a frightening death cult. We must reverse course.

Abolishing capital punishment would be a logical first step. No matter what heinous acts a person may commit, they are still human. And judging them is up to God, not their fellow man.

*** end quote **

Dona Nobis Pacem

—30—

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INTERESTING: Found an old ship wrecked. It can tell us about our history

Saturday, December 21, 2024

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/shipwreck-near-kenya-may-be-from-vasco-da-gamas-final-voyage-and-would-be-archaeological-stardust/

Shipwreck Near Kenya May Be from Vasco da Gama’s Final Voyage and Would Be ‘Archaeological Stardust’

By

Andy Corbley –

Dec 12, 2024 

*** begin quote ***

While the true provenance of the vessel is unclear, the discovery would be of monumental importance to the study of maritime archaeology, and the history of European exploration.

It was originally identified near the city of Malindi in 2013 by Caesar Bita, an underwater archaeologist at the National Museums of Kenya who received a tip from a local fisherman.

*** and ***

Lying at shallow depths of just 20 feet, this ship is protected by the local population, who are part of a community archaeology project and who the team intends to train so that they can monitor the finds and participate in their recording and analysis.

Elephant ivory and copper ingots have been excavated from the wreck, where few timbers from the ship remain. The divers have uncovered pieces of the hull after digging some trenches on the seafloor, but other features remain covered in coral.

*** end quote ***

While it may NOT be the headline making ship, it still has some historical significance.

I’m amazed that in 20 feet of water, it’s still basically unexplored.

I’m also amazed at the Educational Institutions that have such niche fields of study.

What can we learn?  Not even a clue, but anything we do learn shinks that Fourth Qaudrant of the JoHari window (“what I can’t see and what you can’t see).  That has to be good.  Ignorance of human history is a fatal flaw.

—30— 

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