VOCABULARY: Here’s dunkelflaute or why we can’t depend on wind or solar power

Tuesday, November 19, 2024

https://www.schiffsovereign.com/trends/if-you-think-bitcoin-is-on-fire-just-wait-for-the-natural-gas-boom-151726/

If you think Bitcoin is on fire, just wait for the natural gas boom
by James Hickman
on November 12, 2024

 *** begin quote ***

So, wind and solar are somewhat price competitive. But they carry a security risk: do you really want China manufacturing your entire power grid? Is it possible they built a kill switch in their software?

More importantly, they’re not terribly reliable. There are times (like night!) when the sun doesn’t shine. Germany (which generates nearly 60% of its power from renewable energy) recently experienced yet another dunkelflaute, i.e. a foggy, doldrum period in which there is neither sunshine nor wind.

*** end quote ***

Thanks Schiff Gold we know have another “loaned-word” from German.  Akin to a portmanteau, English is not afraid to borrow good words for a unique description.

In this case, what is wrong with wind and solar power  —  dunkelflaute!

—30—

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TECHNOLOGY: An idea for a competive App store?

Monday, November 18, 2024

FROM: TLDR Information Security 2024-11-18

North Korean-Linked Hackers Were Caught Experimenting With New macOS Malware (2 minute read)

Three variants of a new macOS malware have been detected. One variant was written in Python, one in Golang, and one using Flutter, which heavily obfuscates code by default. The malware was embedded in a clone of Minesweeper. No evidence of exploitation has been found – the callback domain returns a 404. The malware appeared to target cryptocurrency developers. It had several of the hallmarks of a Lazarus group attack. 

# – # – # – # – # 

If someone would make an App Store that certified apps as “malware free”, then I bet they could make a lot of money.  I’d just surcharge the app’s price by a dollar or two.  Maybe even just charge a fraction of a bitcoin.

If I was younger and richer, then I’d try to exploit that niche.  Alternative App Stores to Google Play and Apple Apps Stores.  The EU and the US Gooferment are going to force Google and Apple to support alternatives.  So you have to make that alternative App Store have a significant value proposition.

IMHO

—30—

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NOTRECOMMENDED: Putting a child on an andriod phone

Monday, November 18, 2024

Tried to put him on two different android phones.

Apparently, “FAMILY LINK” doesn’t work.

I wind up with a device that constantly reboots.

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

I now have two devices that just reboot over and over again.

Maybe I’ll just buy him an obsolete iPhone.

Argh!

—30—

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SURVIVAL: How to NOT survive, don’t be ‘exhausted and ill-prepared’

Monday, November 18, 2024

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/california-search-team-rescues-hikers-19894482.php

Bay Area & State
Calif. search team rescues ‘exhausted and ill-prepared’ Mount Whitney hikers
By Sam Mauhay-Moore, Trending News Reporter Nov 7, 2024

*** begin quote ***

Inyo County’s Search and Rescue team has once again taken to social media to scold a set of hikers who needed assistance after being unable to summit Mount Whitney on Saturday. 

The two hikers began their trek on Friday evening with the intent to summit the mountain on Saturday, Inyo SAR posted on Facebook. Equipped with “150lbs of newly-purchased gear plus 5 gallons of water,” the pair made it 2.7 miles before stopping to camp on the trail at about 3 a.m. “They were exhausted, and one subject had two blisters and a bad headache,” Inyo SAR wrote. They later woke up to snowfall, with their shoes full of snow. 

The “exhausted and ill-prepared” hikers then called the search and rescue team for assistance, Inyo SAR wrote. 

*** and ***

Inyo SAR listed several things that went amiss before and during the incident, the first being the hikers “attempting Mt. Whitney without prior experience, proper preparation, or essential items such as a map, weather forecast, and bear canister.” Weather forecasts for that weekend predicted up to two feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada, and the U.S. Forest Service warns that fall conditions on the Mount Whitney trail often include hazardous pockets of snow and ice that require hiking with gear like crampons and ice picks. The Forest Service also recommends hikers train extensively before attempting to summit Whitney, as the 22-mile round trip hike is notoriously gnarly and includes over 6,000 feet of elevation gain. 

*** end quote ***

Did they say 150# of newly-purchased gear plus 5 gallons of water?

For the uninitiated in “survival”, 5 gallons of water is about 40#.   Go to your local supermarket and carry FOUR 10 pound sacks of spuds just to the checkout and you’ll get a sense of what that really means.

There’s a reason that USAF survival school, as well as private one, spend a lot of time talking about “weight”.  In a survival situation, you are urged to review everything you THINK you need and pare it down to what you must absolutely have.  Then take a short hike  —  in the military that’s FIVE miles  —  in the USMC that’s 20 or 30 miles  —  then reassess what you are carrying.  That’s why Amazon hawks “extra light weight” stuff of campling.

I’m glad the hikers survived and perhaps their story will educate everyone else.

Once again, I question “Who pays?”.   Certainly, it shouldn’t be the Taxpayer.  Perhaps, at these “attractive locations”, “rescue insurance” should be sold with big sign as to what an uninsured rescue will cost.  Maybe then we will have a lot less “rescues” needed!

—30— 

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CRYPTO: It may have been fraud, but savers did NOT diversify

Sunday, November 17, 2024

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/life-savings-of-an-entire-small-town-recovered-from-the-depths-of-a-cryto-scam-by-fbi/

Life Savings of an Entire Small Town Recovered from the Depths of Cryto-Scam, Thanks to FBI
By Andy Corbley – Nov 7, 2024

*** begin quote ***

A Wichita courtroom rang out with sobs and cheers when over two dozen people learned that their life savings had been recovered after being lost by a local bank.

Over $8 million in children’s university funds, retirement accounts, funds for eldercare, and bequeathments to children and grandchildren were returned after the FBI located and seized a cryptocurrency wallet linked to an account in the Cayman Islands.

The bank’s founder Shan Hanes, claims he had unintentionally lost it all by investing in a sophisticated cryptocurrency scam, though he ultimately lost his defense and received 24 years in prison for defrauding depositors and investors.

In August, Heartland Tri-State Bank was put into receivership by federal regulators after being drained of cash. The FDIC paid out $47 million to everyday depositors and other investors, but the rural, community-owned bank had 30 shareholders who had carefully planned long-term accounts that were not insured.

*** end quote ***

While I am happy that the insured depositors were made whole, they should have diversified their deposits.

One lady had 250k$ in one IRA account.  That far exceeds the risk she should be taking.  Four partial roll over accounts of 50k$ each would have mitigated her losses.  She was lucky to get it back.  Yeah, it makes for more paperwork, but look at the alternative,

There are accounts available with private insurance up to ¼ million last time I looked.

In short, having large sums of money requires you to take a modicum of care.

Don’t trust anyone.  (Even me!)  Verify!  Lawyers and accountants may seem expensive, but are cheap in the long run.

YMMV but I know what I do and preach.  

—30—

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POLITICAL: Bill Maher makes some good points but misses a couple I’d have liked to hear

Saturday, November 16, 2024

https://nypost.com/2024/11/09/us-news/bill-maher-urges-kamala-harris-democrats-to-look-in-mirror-after-trump-presidential-election-win/

Bill Maher urges Democrats to ‘look in the mirror’ after Kamala Harris’ election loss
By Nicholas McEntyre 
Published Nov. 9, 2024, 5:08 a.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

Bill Maher slammed the Democratic party as “losers” and urged them to “look in the mirror” following Kamala Harris’ presidential election loss to President-elect Donald Trump.

Maher, who once predicted that Harris would win the election, revealed that he “did not vote for the winner,” but accepted the election results — unlike his late-night counterparts earlier in the week.

“We had an election,” Maher said during his “Real Time” monologue on HBO Friday night. “I did not vote for the winner, we’ll see what the winners do now. They won, now they have reality they have to deal with. We’ll see what they do.”

*** end quote ***

The lady Sarah Isgur made an excellent point about inflation. That everyone just breezed by and ignored. It is one thing to say “inflation is down”. But what is meant is that the rate is down. People are forced to look Iive with the inflated prices. Those prices n ever return to previous values. To real people see that is what they think of as inflation. As Bill Clinton famously told his team “it’s the economy, stupid”. And he was so right. People see the inflated prices as their economy. And the host and liberal guest just breezed by the crux of their “inflation problem”.  

Bil Maher made some other excellent points. 

  • The floating garbage in the ocean!
  • High stock market and low unemployment. 
  • The liberal condecension
  • The R’s became the party of the working man. 

But he did not:

  • The missing 15 million Biden voters proving the 2020 fraud
  • The perfidy of Harris and the D’s that Joe Biden was “sharp as a tack”
  • The media’s disinformation was against “We, The Sheeple”

Make no mistake Bill Maher is a liberal with whom I disagree a lot with.  But like Piers Morgan, I think he is an “honest” liberal who I can respect and listen too.  I don’t need an echo chamber.  Although where would a little L libertarian find one?  

There’s a meme going around Twitter and Facebook about political opinions.

Different opinions.Different opinions.

Now that I can get behind.  Different opinions but still can listen to what they say.

—30—

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POLITICAL: Address “taxes” as the first priority

Friday, November 15, 2024

https://townhall.com/columnists/calthomas/2024/11/14/trumps-chance-to-change-taxation-n2647729

Trump’s Chance to Change Taxation
Cal Thomas | Nov 14, 2024

*** begin quote ***

If any constitutional amendment can be hated, it would be the 16th Amendment.

Passed by Congress in 1909 and ratified by the states in 1913, it allowed Congress to “levy income taxes without apportioning them among the states based on population.” At first the collection of revenue came from the very wealthy and in a small percentage, but World Wars I and II put the country in debt and Congress, using the power given to it by the 16th Amendment, began spreading the burden around until we arrived at our present moment when half the country and corporations are paying taxes (when state, local and other taxes are included, that amounts to more than half their income in states like California and New York). Half the people pay little or no federal income tax at all.

*** and ***

Younger workers would have freedom of choice (a phrase Democrats like when it comes to abortion, but oppose if it involves schools and the stock market). Workers could choose a new retirement system Forbes called Personal Retirement Accounts (PRAs).

Under his calculation, in 1999, younger workers could deposit 4 percentage points of their Social Security taxes into their own PRAs and increased their contributions as follows:

  • In 2003 – 5 percentage points.
  • In 2004 – 6 percentage points.
  • In 2005 – 7 percentage points.
  • In 2006 – 8 percentage points.

Forbes wrote that if his idea had been adopted, a single working mother who was 25 in 2000 and retires in 2040 could have earned a nest egg of $1.2 million in her PRA. She could then purchase an annuity that pays her$100,000 annually, nearly twice as much as she would receive under Social Security. A high school graduate who was 18 in 2000, Forbes wrote, and retires in 2040, would have a nest egg of $2 million.

Among the reasons Democrats have refused to reform Social Security and Medicare, both of which are projected to become insolvent in the 2030s without reforms, is politics. If they solve the problem, they lose the issue.

*** end quote ***

Let’s do both:

(1) Repeal the 16th Amendment and substitute tariffs.  (The Taxpayer pays for either.  But it changes the incentives.)

(2) Let “We, The Sheeple” put a small portion of their Social Security taxes  into the proposed Personal Retirement Accounts (PRAs) and allow a tax free rollover to an annuity at any future date,

This way we’ll get the best of both suggestions.

And, let’s enact the Flat Tax while we are repealing the 16th.

Then, we can repeal the 17th too.

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: You can feel the emotions in this writing

Friday, November 15, 2024

https://daringfireball.net/2024/11/how_it_went

How It Went
By John Gruber
Friday, 8 November 2024

*** begin quote ***

My mom died at the end of June this year.

I know, and I’m sorry — that’s a hell of a way to open a piece ostensibly about a depressing, worrisome, frightening election result. But here’s the thing I want to emphasize right up front: my mom’s death was OK. It really was. She was 78, which isn’t that old, but her health had not been great. She was hospitalized for several days in May, just a month prior, after she had collapsed at home, too weak to stand, and for days it wasn’t clear what was wrong. Then some more test results came back and we had the answer. She had ovarian cancer, bad. It had already metastasized. The prognosis was grim: months to live, at best. And those months, toward the end, would inexorably grow ever more painful and profoundly sad.

*** and ***

So, when my dad called me Tuesday morning, I thought it would be the election on his mind. It was all that was on my mind, that’s for sure. He had, in fact, just come back from voting, but it was something else. His voice was chipper, upbeat, but I could tell it wasn’t a good story. I know him too well.

Turns out, he had gone out to eat, by himself, Monday evening. In fact, at the very same restaurant where he and my mom ate their last meal together. He ate, drove home, and once home went to wash his hands before going to bed. That’s when he noticed his wedding band was missing from his finger.

It was lost.

He looked around to no avail, and went to bed without it. In the morning light, he retraced his steps. He felt certain he had it on while at the restaurant — not because he took any note of it while dining, but because he knows he’d have noticed its absence. If you wear a ring every day on the same finger, you know how true that is. He almost never took that ring off.

At some point when I was a little kid, my dad told me he had never once removed his ring since my mom put it on his finger at their wedding, the year before I was born. 

*** and ***

I told my wife about my dad’s ring and she almost burst into tears. She loves him so much. “He just lost your mom”, she said.

*** end quote ***

Maybe I’ve just had too much emotion this week.  A lot of deaths since last Thanksgiving, a lot of deaths of people near me, a lot of deaths of celebrities I “knew” as a child, and even deaths of fellow alumni I never knew.  Sigh!

In recounting the death of the author’s Mom, I could feel again the pain that it brings. Sadness can be overwhelming.

Not sure what lesson to take away from this.  

But one can NOT wallow in self-pity.  It happens to everyone everywhere in every age.

“My love, were it in my power, I would sadly grant thee this boon. But, we have to continue to follow His Plan for us. Let’s go forth and speak no more of this. Who ever is last will be last. It will be His choice; not ours. We’re but humble custodians of His temple on earth. It’s not our place to trump His plan. Whatever that plan be, know that I will be with you to my last breath.” — character “John” in CHURCH 10●19●62 Volume 2 Page 399

That’s all I can say now. “Who ever is last will be last.”

—30—

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INTERESTING: The Japanese don’t give children tests until Fourth Grade.  Maybe they are on to something?

Thursday, November 14, 2024

FROM 1440

A Timeline for Teeth

Humans’ tendency toward long childhoods may have evolved earlier than previously thought, a new study found, potentially even predating our large brain sizes. The study challenges the prevailing hypothesis the two evolved simultaneously.

The study, published yesterday in Nature, centers on the 1.8-million-year-old fossil of a roughly 11-year-old child discovered in Dmanisi, Georgia. Researchers studied X-rays of the child’s molar teeth to identify stress lines and nutritional patterns, which they used to create a visual timeline of the child’s dental development (see video).

The study suggests the child experienced slow early dental growth, relying on milk teeth for the first five years of life. Because the child belonged to a Homo species with only slightly larger brains than modern chimpanzees, the authors say long childhoods—in which humans rely on parents, grandparents, and other adults for support—may have predated humans’ ability to grow larger brains. 

Learn about long childhoods and the human brain here (w/video).

# – # – # – # – # 

I found this an “interesting” factoid.  Not sure what to make of it or how we use it in child rearing.  Maybe children have to be allowed to be children a little longer.  I’ve read that the Japanese don’t give children tests until Fourth Grade.  Maybe they are on to something?

—30—

 

 

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IPHONE: IOS telling other iphones to reboot and lock up?

Thursday, November 14, 2024

https://www.androidauthority.com/confiscated-iphones-reboot-en-masse-3497803/

Mobile
Feature or bug? iPhones confiscated by cops reboot en masse

  • iOS in the BFU state is significantly more secure, making unauthorized data extraction much more challenging.

By Mahmoud Irani
5 hours ago

<< EDITOR ADDED DATE 2024-11-08>>

*** begin quote ***

TL;DR

  •     iOS 18 is reportedly causing confiscated iPhones to reboot after a day of inactivity or disconnection from the cellular network.
  •     After restarting, these iPhones seemingly send signals to other nearby iPhones to trigger the same behavior.
  •     It’s unclear whether this is a new iOS 18 security feature or merely the reboot bug that impacted certain iPhones a while back.

*** and ***

The company has long offered system-level features that prevent thieves and law enforcement officers from easily accessing user data on a locked iDevice. 

*** end quote ***

Well this seems like a good feature, since thieves seem to be everywhere and not all police have to obey a Fourth or Fifth Amendment rights, if they have them in their jurisdiction.

It’s a good admonishment to Users to restart their phones when thieves or police are about,

FWIW

—30—

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INTERESTING: Elephant demonstrates the use of a tool — not something seen in other than humans

Wednesday, November 13, 2024

https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/11/this-elephant-figured-out-how-to-use-a-hose-to-shower/

An elephant never forgets

This elephant figured out how to use a hose to shower
Jennifer Ouellette – Nov 12, 2024 6:06 PM 

*** begin quote ***

An Asian elephant named Mary living at the Berlin Zoo surprised researchers by figuring out how to use a hose to take her morning showers, according to a new paper published in the journal Current Biology. “Elephants are amazing with hoses,” said co-author Michael Brecht of the Humboldt University of Berlin. “As it is often the case with elephants, hose tool use behaviors come out very differently from animal to animal; elephant Mary is the queen of showering.”

Tool use was once thought to be one of the defining features of humans, but examples of it were eventually observed in primates and other mammals. Dolphins have been observed using sea sponges to protect their beaks while foraging for food, and sea otters will break open shellfish like abalone with rocks. Several species of fish also use tools to hunt and crack open shellfish, as well as to clear a spot for nesting. And the coconut octopus collects coconut shells, stacking them and transporting them before reassembling them as shelter.

*** end quote ***

It’s pretty funny to watch.  I wish I had a trunk like that for my showers.  And, the way she tosses it like a trunk extension is amazing to me.

Maybe we need to redefine “intelligence” or “human like”?

Certainly we shouldn’t be shooting them for any reason other than to alleviate suffering.  

We could learn “humanity” from animals.

—30—

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POLITICAL: Lessons from the DJT electoral landslide

Wednesday, November 13, 2024

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2024/11/has_the_left_learned_anything_from_the_election.html

americanthinker.com
Has the Left Learned Anything from the Election?
By Susan Quinn

<< EDITOR ADDED DATE 2024-11-07>>

*** begin quote ***

Trump’s election to the Presidency is a breathtaking achievement. So many thought he had too many issues working against him and were certain that the country would not elect a convicted felon or a man who “planned to be a dictator” on his first day in office.

But they were wrong.

It’s a worthwhile exercise to study the Left’s positions now that they’ve lost the Presidency. A major factor in their loss is that they ignored the people.

  •  The Left (which includes the legacy media) paid no attention to the desperation of the people when they cried out about the economy and inflation. Kamala Harris made some pathetic promises in her campaign to help the people, but at that point, I think that no one believed her.

*** and ***

  • Regarding legislation, the Republicans must stop agreeing to pass laws that increase our debts. If they want to pass another part of the legislation, they must free it from large financial commitments. Fiscal responsibility must become our goal.Regarding legislation, the Republicans must stop agreeing to pass laws that increase our debts. If they want to pass another part of the legislation, they must free it from large financial commitments. Fiscal responsibility must become our goal.

*** end quote ***

I’d say that the legacy lame-street media is dead.  Podcasts bypass the filters and take ideas directly to “We, The Sheeple”.

Further, I’d say that DJT4547 has a long list of things he has to do.  Day 1  — pardon all those unjustly imprisioned  — repeal ALL of the Executive Orders ever signed  —  Close the Department of Education and move the Department of Agriculture to Kansas.  Send Elon Musk and Ron Paul into the swamp to cut the size and shape of the Federal Gooferment bureaucracy.

Day 2  — make peace your number 1 priority.

—30—

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TECHNOLOGY: AI generated books are killing real authors?

Tuesday, November 12, 2024

https://www.survivalmonkey.com/threads/note-to-my-readers-ive-pulled-my-books-from-sale.72020/

FROM A POSTER:

*** begin quote ***

Have to sell books to make $$$.

The market is saturated with BS AI generated ‘survival ‘ books.

Last year I logged $37 in sales for the year…. 

*** end quote ***

AI generated books are killing real authors?

I guess that it is possible to generate a “book” by AI.  Not sure how it’s done, but if I knew I’d do it too.  It’s the old conundrum.  If the cost to “publish” an AI generated book is zero or negligible, then one could “generate” a million and post them.  Regardless of quality, if you can “sell” a few for a profit, then you might hit the mother lode and make some real money.

Argh!

Not sure how to exploit this finding?

Maybe take old blog content and “publish” “2001 Thoughts on Guns”, or “2012 Thoughts on Money”, or even “2007 Thoughts”. 

Could that work?

Opinions?

—30—

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VETERANS: My loyalty is tarnished by “free meals” from hypocrits

Monday, November 11, 2024

https://patch.com/new-jersey/southbrunswick/s/j0qb1/veterans-day-2024-discounts-freebies-and-deals-in-nj

Veterans Day 2024: Discounts, Freebies And Deals In NJ

  • Businesses are thanking NJ’s veterans and active-duty military personnel for their service with special special Veterans Day deals.

Russ Crespolini, Patch Staff

*** begin quote ***

NEW JERSEY — Restaurants, coffee shops and other businesses are thanking NJ’s veterans and active-duty military personnel for their service with special Veterans Day discounts, freebies and deals. Veterans Day, which is always observed on Nov. 11, falls on Monday this year.

*** end quote ***

I think this cheapens being a veteran when our brothers-in-arms are second class to illegal immigrants, being denied the mental and physical health care promised, and used a political pawns on the global stage.

Tell me about your offers for them!

—30—

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VETERANS: Remember determined U.S. naval air attacks, limited Japanese situational awareness, and pure dumb luck of the Americans

Monday, November 11, 2024

https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/wars-conflicts-and-operations/world-war-ii/1944/samar.html?ICID=ref_fark

 history.navy.mil

The Battle off Samar: The Sacrifice of “Taffy 3”
<<Author Unknown>>
Published: Thu Oct 31 13:34:56 EDT 2019
<<Year Unknown>>

*** begin quote ***

The initiative, aggressiveness, and outright heroism demonstrated by Taffy 3, combined with determined U.S. naval air attacks, limited Japanese situational awareness, and pure dumb luck of the Americans had stymied Vice Admiral Kurita’s intent to destroy U.S. landing forces in the Leyte Gulf. Along with the defeats in the Sibuyan Sea, the Surigao Strait, and off Cape Engaño, the Samar engagement blunted or destroyed much of the Japanese navy’s remaining offensive capabilities and turned its surviving surface forces into a “fleet in being”—a concern for Allied commanders, but never again the threat it had still posed into early 1944.

*** end quote ***

Hard to imagine living and dying in these situations.

Hand Salute!

To these valiant warriors.

On both sides, men stepped up to do their duty as they saw it.

Hope we never run out of such men, and now women, or “waste” their efforts.

Dona Nobis Pacem

—30—

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INTERESTING: Do we have “guardian angels”?

Sunday, November 10, 2024

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/books/article-14042965/truth-guardian-angels.html

The truth about guardian angels. Countless people have reported a mysterious ‘Third Man’ who helps in times of need – and their stories offer a tantalising glimpse of what lies beyond

  •     READ PART ONE HERE: ‘If you could see what I do, you’d know I can’t stay.’ Astonishing visions of heaven revealed by dying patients and doctors in a startling book show there’s nothing to fear – and the surprises that wait on the other side
  •     READ PART TWO HERE: The dead do come back to us: As scientists reveal astonishing proof, the stories that will convince you, from a drowned son who returns for bedside chats to the astronaut who spoke to his father’s ghost

By Patricia Pearson

Published: 06:55 EST, 5 November 2024 | Updated: 06:59 EST, 5 November 2024

*** begin quote ***

A new book, Opening Heaven’s Door, will make you re-think everything you thought about death. Here, in the third part of our spine-tingling series, survivors of shipwrecks, air crashes and terrorist attacks tell how they were mysteriously guided to safety.

 As he lay sleeping in a muddy trench in France one night, William Bird woke to find someone shaking him. It was 1917. He’d just been through the Battle of Vimy Ridge, and he was exhausted. Irritably, he tried to pull away — but whoever it was continued to shake him with some urgency.

So Bird — a journalist in civilian life — wearily opened his eyes and, to his utter astonishment, recognised his brother, Steve, who’d been reported missing in action two years earlier.

‘Steve put his warm hand over my mouth as I started to shout my happiness,’ Bird recalled. ‘Then he pointed to the sleepers in the bivvy and to my rifle. “Get your gear,” he said.’

*** end quote ***

I am something of a agnositic atheist.  As a fat old white guy electrikal injineer, I can see electricity but I “know” something is there.  So too, I see trees sway in the wind, but I can see wind.  

And, my “sainted” wife was so lucky I suspect that she had precognition (i.e., see around the bends in the river of time to know what was coming).  I want her to go to Duke University and be tested; she never did.  As she aged that “ability” faded.

So, I know that there is a JoHari window for all of us.  I readily admit that I don’t know what I don’t know.

BUT, big butt, I suspect here is a whole lot we, as a species, don’t know.

Sigh!

Very hard to make decisions based on incomplete information!  For sure, there is a LOT of dikw (i.e., data, information, knowledge, wisdom) that we are unable to comprehend.

Dona Nobis Pacem

—30—

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TECHNOLOGY: Was able to reread Stainless Steel Rat

Saturday, November 9, 2024

https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/harry-harrison/the-stainless-steel-rat

The Stainless Steel Rat
Harry Harrison

James “Slippery Jim” diGriz is a criminal in a galaxy where crime has almost been eradicated. In his own words, he’s a rat in the wainscoting of society, and now that society is all ferroconcrete and stainless steel only a stainless steel rat can find the gaps. Despite a nose for the hustle and a healthily paranoid survival instinct, Jim’s luck has to run out at some point—and when it does, it isn’t a prison cell he’s offered, but a job with the Special Corps.

The Stainless Steel Rat—a fix-up novel based on two earlier short stories for Astounding magazine—was the first in a long series of books by Harry Harrison to star the anti-hero. It is never less than a breathless ride, with twists and turns at every corner. As well as the twelve novels and additional short stories, the Stainless Steel Rat has appeared in numerous comics and games over the years, and has become Harrison’s most enduring character.

# – # – # – # – # 

As good as I remember reading it decades ago.

Funny that the technology makes it so available.

If this had existed when I was a kid, I’d have never stopped reading EVERY sci-fi book available.

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FUN: Kiss a llama and avoid airport rage?

Saturday, November 9, 2024

https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/11/03/nx-s1-5173755/therapy-animals-portland-airport-llama-alpaca

HEALTH NEWS

Anxious at the Portland airport? Beni the Llama is here for you, spreading joy
NOVEMBER 4, 2024 · 5:00 AM ET
By Katia Riddle

*** begin quote ***

When Beni the llama and Captain Jack the alpaca saunter with their handlers through the front doors of the Portland International Airport on a recent morning, time seems to stop.

People who were moments earlier hustling to their gates stand still. Those who were occupied with their phones look up and stare. Some take videos. A crowd quickly forms. Within minutes, a dozen people are lined up for the chance to have their picture taken with one of these animals.

*** end quote ***

Cute.  Llamas are strangely attractive. And all I’ve seen at a llama farm are friendly.  Could be due to the fact that we had “llama food” and they’re all on special diets.

Scratching them was uniquely and strangely calming.  Mush like petting a dog. 

Wonder what the magnetism is?

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GUNS: The Gooferment has to STRICTLY enforce “felon in possession” and enhanced sentences for crimes using a firearm

Friday, November 8, 2024

https://bearingarms.com/tomknighton/2024/11/07/requiring-ids-doesnt-prevent-illegal-gun-sales-n1226822

Requiring IDs Doesn’t Prevent Illegal Gun Sales
By Tom Knighton | 12:29 PM | November 07, 2024

*** begin quote ***

One thing many anti-gunners want is for there to be an ID requirement for each and every gun sale in this country. The fact that many also oppose ID requirements for voting seems kind of hilarious to me, but it is what it is.

Most of us have had to show ID while buying a firearm at one point or another. Maybe not for face-to-face transfers, but any gun bought in a store required an ID. 

This, some would argue, makes those sales nice and secure.

Yeah, about that…

*** and ***

ID requirements may sound good, but the truth is that it just means the market for fake IDs gets a little bigger. Similar can be said about literally everything else means to thwart criminals in their efforts to arm themselves.

It’s a lost cause and a waste of time to keep beating heads against walls and calling it gun control.

Tom Knighton

Tom Knighton is a Navy veteran, a former newspaperman, a novelist, and a blogger and lifetime shooter. He lives with his family in Southwest Georgia. He also puts out a daily newsletter of non-Second Amendment stories at https://tomknighton.substack.com/

*** end quote ***

The Gooferment has to STRICTLY enforce “felon in possession” and enhanced sentences for crimes using a firearm.

I hope DJT4547 requires each of his Assistant Attorneys General to report how many convictions they get for “felon in possession”.  The following month, the lowest scoring AAG, and their next in command, should be required to report in person, a la Apprentice style, why this happened and how it’s to be remedied.  If DJT4547 doesn’t like the excuses, then their second in command can give it a try.  I bet crime with guns will drop like a rock within a year.  Criminals are not stupid.

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PEACE: A call for “family-friendly, anti-migration, pro-peace” sounds like the best path for peace

Friday, November 8, 2024

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/orban-liberals-have-had-their-place-sun-its-time-defeat-them-every-election-starting

Orbán: “Liberals Have Had Their Place In The Sun, It’s Time To Defeat Them In Every Election, Starting With Donald Trump”

by Tyler Durden
Saturday, Nov 02, 2024 – 07:00 AM
By Thomas Brooke, of Remix news

*** begin quote ***

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has defended his administration’s conservative policies on migration and family support, emphasizing Hungary’s stance as a “conservative island” in a “liberal European ocean.”

*** and ***

“If the liberals had won here in Georgia, it would be the news everywhere in Western Europe today that your democracy is in top shape. But in the same election, the conservatives won, so debates are expected in the international press,” Orbán said in support of the incumbent Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidzeon.

He called for a shift toward a “family-friendly, anti-migration, pro-peace” leadership in Europe, expressing confidence that “this new center” would soon gain prominence within the bloc.

“We need prime ministers who are on the side of the people, representing the interests of the European people,” he said, claiming that European liberals have had “their place under the sun” and “must be defeated in as many elections as possible.”

*** end quote ***

I am moved by several images: children mining cobalt in thirds world countries, babies dying in Gaza and the Ukraine, and worst of all “migrant” mobs of all young males (people of color) overwhelming the various welfare states.

It would seem that we, as a society, have lost our collective minds.  Clearly the Welfare / Warfare State has bankrupted the USA and other European countries.  Only a radical “reformation” can avoid the inevitable collapse of the Empire.

Dona Nobis Pacem

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DISCOURAGING:Here’s a crime that I hope doesnt come to the USA

Thursday, November 7, 2024

https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/27/europe/criminals-atm-robberies-europe-intl/index.html

Criminals are looting millions from ATMs in Europe. Here’s why Germany is a prime target
By Sophie Tanno, CNN
Updated 5:58 AM EDT, Sun October 27, 2024

*** begin quote ***

In Germany – Europe’s largest economy – thieves have been blowing up ATMs at a rate of more than one per day in recent years. In a country where cash is still a prevalent payment method, the thefts can prove incredibly lucrative, with criminals pocketing hundreds of thousands of euros in one attack.

Europol has been cracking down on the robberies, carrying out large cross-border operations aimed at taking down the highly-organized criminal gangs behind them.

Earlier this month, authorities from Germany, France and the Netherlands arrested three members of a criminal network who have been carrying out attacks on cash machines using explosives, Europol said in a statement. 

*** and ***

A decline in ATM machines in the Netherlands and the introduction of enhanced security measures to crack down on the crime – including the installation of glue protection systems that can render bank notes worthless – has also led Dutch criminals to look further afield, according to Reuters, citing Dutch police. 

*** end quote ***

Never underestimate the inginuity of rats — either the four legged or two legged kind.  Like that meme about “making stuff idiot proof and the Universe makes smarter idiots”.  I guess we always had “highwaymen” robbing trains and stagecoaches.  At least now with ₿itcoin, there is nothing physical to steal.

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INSPIRATIONAL: So you think you’re so smart? These young ladies put us to shame

Wednesday, November 6, 2024

https://www.livescience.com/physics-mathematics/mathematics/high-school-students-who-came-up-with-impossible-proof-of-pythagorean-theorem-discover-9-more-solutions-to-the-problem?utm_placement=newsletter

High school students who came up with ‘impossible’ proof of Pythagorean theorem discover 9 more solutions to the problem

By Sascha Pare published 2 days ago

<< EDITOR ADDED DATE 2024-10-28>>

*** begin quote ***

In a new peer-reviewed study, Ne’Kiya Jackson and Calcea Johnson outlined 10 ways to solve the Pythagorean theorem using trigonometry, including a proof they discovered in high school.

Two students who discovered a seemingly impossible proof to the Pythagorean theorem in 2022 have wowed the math community again with nine completely new solutions to the problem.

While still in high school, Ne’Kiya Jackson and Calcea Johnson from Louisiana used trigonometry to prove the 2,000-year-old Pythagorean theorem, which states that the sum of the squares of a right triangle’s two shorter sides are equal to the square of the triangle’s longest side (the hypotenuse). Mathematicians had long thought that using trigonometry to prove the theorem was unworkable, given that the fundamental formulas for trigonometry are based on the assumption that the theorem is true.

Jackson and Johnson came up with their “impossible” proof in answer to a bonus question in a school math contest. They presented their work at an American Mathematical Society meeting in 2023, but the proof hadn’t been thoroughly scrutinized at that point. Now, a new paper published Monday (Oct. 28) in the journal American Mathematical Monthly shows their solution held up to peer review. Not only that, but the two students also outlined nine more proofs to the Pythagorean theorem using trigonometry.

*** end quote ***

These young ladies make me feel dumb. Wonder how many hidden young talents are out there? Lost over the decades because humans as a species are really “dumb” too.

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RANT: Our old “friend” shrinkflation is in the news; it’s this a deceptive trade practice

Tuesday, November 5, 2024

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/yourmoney/consumer/article-13998363/kelloggs-cereal-mocked-extreme-lengths-hide-

Kellogg’s ridiculed for drastic efforts to hide shrinkflation: ‘Just laughing at us’
By Tilly Armstrong Assistant Consumer Editor For Dailymail.Com
Published: 08:36 EDT, 28 October 2024 | Updated: 12:09 EDT, 28 October 2024

*** begin quote ***

Kellogg’s is resorting to ‘deceptive’ ways to distract shoppers from its shrinkflation tactics.

A photo shared on Reddit highlights how the brand has made its family-size Special K box taller – while actually reducing the amount of cereal inside. 

Shrinkflation is when products shrink in size or quantity while the price remains the same or even increases. 

*** end quote ***

Unlike “price gouging” that I approve of, “shrinkflation” IMHO is a deceptive trade practice designed to fool “We, The Sheeple”.  As such, it should be actionable.  Companies should not be permitted to defraud the consumer this way.  (Other ways may be permissible?)

At the very least, the FTC should force them to rebrand their packaging.

Maybe as punishment, they should be required to put a “shrinkflation” notice prominently.

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TECHNOLOGY: Vivaldi, yet another browser with some unique features

Monday, November 4, 2024

https://vivaldi.com/

https://www.makeuseof.com/vivaldi-most-customizable-web-browser-without-extensions/?user=cmVpbmtlZmpAZ21haWwuY29t&lctg=7e6c3cd411d6a815afa18582d54bd455914c43c5f69df1448b8ec20ee4959f71

This Is the Most Customizable Web Browser Without Extensions
By Ali Haider
Published 3 days ago

<< EDITOR ADDED DATE 2024-10-25>>

*** begin quote ***

If you’ve ever felt restricted by your current browser’s customization options, Vivaldi is the solution you’re looking for. It’s highly customizable and packed with a bunch of built-in tools that might easily become your favorite.

1 Interface Customization in Vivaldi

Vivaldi was created with one primary goal: to give users extensive control over how their browsers look and feel. It’s built on Chromium, the same open-source browser used by Chrome and Edge. This means you won’t miss out on essential security features or sacrificing performance.

*** end quote ***

Anyone, who follows this blog or knows me, knows I am a browser junkie.

I have several different browsers installed for when I “support” different people.  Plus one or two just for “fun”.

(I love when tech support people try and blame my “problem” on my browser because I don’t call in  — I hate people  — until I’ve tried it on my big 3 (Firefox, Chrome, and Opera).  Maybe even Arc, Brave, or Edge if I am really a glutton for punishing myself.)

Well here’s one that has a lot of “features” that claims to be “simple”.  We’ll see.  In any event, it’s nice to have another in the stable,

—30— 

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GUNS: A “restraining order” doesn’t “restrain”; an armed citizen is a good “first responder”

Sunday, November 3, 2024

https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2024/10/26/north-carolina-woman-wont-face-charges-after-shooting-ex-as-he-broke-into-her-home-n1226690

North Carolina Woman Won’t Face Charges After Shooting Ex As He Broke Into Her Home
By Cam Edwards | 8:30 AM | October 26, 202

*** begin quote ***

The local sheriff says Bush had previously violated a protective order on two separate occasions and pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of breaking and entering as well as violating a domestic violence protective order in April of this year. It’s unclear if Bush was sentenced to any jail time after his guilty plea or was instead placed immediately on probation, but he was back in court in August on another charge of violating a protective order. 

That case was dismissed by a judge when the victim failed to appear in court to testify, despite the objections of local prosecutors. If the local courts had cut Bush a break after his first arrest, I can understand why the woman might have been reluctant to go through the ordeal of testifying against him once more, but without her testimony it might have been impossible for prosecutors to produce any evidence that Bush had committed a crime. 

When the victim failed to appear in court, the judge dropped the domestic violence restraining order against Bush, but the woman successfully applied for a new protective order last month; one that was still active when Bush attempted to break into her home.

This incident not only highlights the importance of domestic abuse victims being able to protect and defend themselves, but also the struggles they face to find justice in the courts. Under North Carolina law, violating a domestic violence protective order is a misdemeanor offense punishable by, at most, 150 days in the local jail. With time off for good credit, that five-month sentence can be cut down to four months behind bars, which means that even if Bush had received the maximum sentence allowed he would have been released from custody long before he showed up at his ex’s home earlier this month. 

*** end quote ***

Good thing for that judge who let him out and about, despite several demonstrations of his “respect” for the “LAW”.

As I’ve blogged before:

“Restraining orders don’t restrain squat!  Give the girl a gun and warn the guy if he gets shot no charges against her will be filed.” https://bit.ly/3Ups95v

And, if she needs a gun, then the sheriff should give her one, “loan” her some bullets, and take her to the range for a short course in safe shooting.

“Victim disarmament is the view that it is somehow better to see a woman raped in an alley and strangled with her own pantyhose, than see her with a gun in her hand.” — T.D. Melrose

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INSPIRATIONAL: The greatest books of wisdom are available free — a donation would be appreciated

Saturday, November 2, 2024

https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-social-contract/g-d-h-cole

The Social Contract
Jean-Jacques Rousseau

  • 56,521 words (3 hours 26 minutes) with a reading ease of 50.91 (fairly difficult)
  • Translated by G. D. H. Cole.
  • Part of the Encyclopædia Britannica’s Great Books of the Western World set.  

*** begin quote ***

In The Social Contract, Jean-Jacques Rousseau presents a political philosophy based on the principle that legitimate authority originates from the consent of the people. Individuals willingly surrender their rights in order to create a collective sovereign, which embodies the general will of the people.

Rousseau examines different forms of government, addresses the challenges of ensuring that a government executes the general will of the people, and addresses the need for safeguards against the abuse of power. He demonstrates that active citizenship and a strong social compact are crucial for maintaining a just and free society.

*** end quote ***

I read this in High School because it was on a summer reading list.  (Those Christian Brothers really knew how to ruin a boy’s summer.  Bless their souls.  It sunk in after one or more decades.) I had to go to the library to read it.  (It was only available in an expensive hard cover.  My money went to comic books.)  At the library I saw a complete set of the Great Books of the Western World from the Encyclopædia Britannica.  I was awed by the row.  Didn’t read them but I could have. (Shoulda, coulda, and woulda!)

It is amazing at the “riches” the net provides if it’s just used properly.

—30—

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