DISCOURAGING: Michigan Legislators Push Orwellian Vaccination Laws

Monday, January 5, 2026

https://johnklar.substack.com/p/michigan-legislators-push-orwellian?publication_id=779141&post_id=182175531&isFreemail=true&r=3vwsqx&triedRedirect=true

Michigan Legislators Push Orwellian Vaccination Laws
Restricting parental choice in the name of empowerment.
John Klar
Dec 30, 2025

*** begin quote ***

Michigan Legislation of Intimidation

Yet Michigan has launched a series of bills that would require all schools to release immunization status reports on students (HB 5344); all child care centers to release similar reports (HB 5346); a “childhood immunization registry” (HB 5346); all parents to sign a form on their child’s vaccination status (HB 5347); a statewide registry and forms for students seeking an exemption (HB 5348 and 5349); local health officer reports (HB 5350); vaccination recommendations by the Michigan state advisory committee in lieu of the CDC (HB 5351 and 5352); insurance companies must still cover state immunization recommendations even if CDC does not (HB 5353); and expands authority to issue “standing orders: for mass drug roll-outs (HB 5354).

This is a fearsome array of measures to “empower parents” by empowering the state. Health and Human Services Secretary Kennedy and ACIP empowered parents to confer with the doctors they trust; this is a reactionary statist power grab of parental choice.

Isaac Newton’s Third Law of Motion holds that to every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This obtains in politics as in physics, through the vaccine wars – Kennedy’s common sense fuels radical Orwellian countermeasures that intrude between parents and their healthcare providers through strong arming.

*** end quote ***

I’m sure hoping that the Michigan voters “educate” their (supposed) representatives that parents, and only parents, should decide what is “best” for their children. IMHO (In My Humble Opinion) the best way to do that is too “unelect” them in the next election.   I really don’t care who their opponents are; this has to be punished.

It’s apparent that “democratic socialism” is a plague that infects “representatives” with God-like power grabs.

Argh!

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INSPIRATIONAL: Johan van Hulst spent the rest of his 107-year life haunted by the children he couldn’t save.

Sunday, January 4, 2026

May be an image of text that says 'Weird ፕየብዮ He ran a a school eside a nursery holding Jewish children awaiting deportation. For months, he passed babies over a hedge to safety, saving over 600 lives. What tortured him wasn't the risk or the fear-but choosing which children lived today, and which he had to leave to die.'

*** begin quote ***

Weird but True

This is the story of Johan van Hulst – the teacher who smuggled babies out of a Nazi deportation center for months, and spent the rest of his 107-year life haunted by the children he couldn’t save.

Amsterdam, 1942. 

Johan van Hulst was 31 years old when the Nazis turned his neighbor into a death sentence.

*** and ***

Van Hulst had to choose which children to save.

The crèche held dozens, sometimes hundreds of children. The resistance could only handle a few at a time—they needed families willing to hide them, false papers, transportation, safe houses.

So every day, van Hulst had to pick.

Which baby gets saved today? Which toddler goes over the hedge this afternoon? Which children have to wait—knowing that waiting might mean they’re deported before you can come back for them?

How do you make that choice?

Van Hulst later said in an interview:
“I took twelve children with me. Later on, I asked myself: ‘Why not thirteen?'”

That question haunted him for 75 years.

*** end quote ***

What would you do?  What would I do?

We have a similar situation going on today in Gaza and the Ukraine.

And what are we doing?

I’m only one odd soul and all I can do is tell my “elected representatives” that if they don’t cut funding for these wars, I’m not voting for them in the next election.  I can only imagine the impact if all 350 MILLION citizens echoed the same message.

Dona Nobis Pacem

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RANT: Dental malpractice insurance rates will go up as a result of this

Saturday, January 3, 2026

https://nypost.com/2025/12/25/us-news/final-photo-of-arizona-man-killed-during-routine-dental-procedure-resurfaces-as-family-settles-wrongful-death-suit/

Final photo of Arizona man killed during routine dental procedure resurfaces as family settles wrongful death suit
By Caitlin McCormack
Published Dec. 25, 2025, 2:24 a.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

A haunting selfie taken by an Arizona man hours before he suffered a fatal brain injury during a routine dental implant procedure has resurfaced as his distraught parents settled his wrongful death lawsuit.

Derek Swanson, 40, took a picture of himself beaming in a dentist’s chair on March 3, 2023. He captioned the photo: “Yesterday, new car. Today, implant! Fun never stops.”

*** and ***

The grieving parents are also looking to amend Arizona law to require a dentist and an anesthetist to be present during dental surgery.

The current laws state that a dentist can perform surgery and administer anesthesia without an anesthetist present so long as they have the proper state permit.

“We would like to not have another family go through what we had to go through and are going through and will be for the rest of our life,” Swanson told the outlet.

*** end quote ***

I bet all the malpractice insurance rates will go up as a result of this.  If I was an insurance company, then I wouldn’t wait for the politicians and bureaucrats to update their diktats.  I’d be reviewing every individual dental procedure insured, as well as every individual practice’s methods for safety and their results.

The free market, if truly free, would have an “instant” feedback loop of price to adjust for risk.

Argh!

Gooferment is immoral, ineffective, and inefficient. As well as untrustworthy.

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DISCOURAGING: “Rent Control” is dumb Gooferment policy

Friday, January 2, 2026

https://www.facebook.com/stephen.trynosky/posts/pfbid02sbBQzsLi71gqTNvtMr1qnHQQ3PcGEvhtPHep7zQpFmsg87m8YH9DDKCo5gxUJe7wl?notif_id=1766595016000000&notif_t=close_friend_activity&ref=notif

S Kent Troy’s Post

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The Bronx burned in the 1970’s because of many factors but the primary one was Rent controls which froze rents in 1942 and only loosened them in 1971! Hence, no turnover, no bank lending, no money for maintenance, no money for the heating fuel crisis. Prove me wrong and do NOT use that old chestnut about landlords burning down their own buildings. The smaller owners couldn’t even sell their properties and just walked away.

*** end quote ***

*** begin quote ***

If rent caps worked, cities using them would have abundant, well maintained housing.
 
They do not.
 
Housing improves when building is allowed, supply can respond, and people are free to create solutions instead of freezing failure in place.
 
Shortages are not a market failure.
 
They are a policy outcome.

*** end quote ***

I remember my (enlightened?) uncles sitting around the dinner table after a few beers portray the then current bunch of politicians and bureaucrats as “stupid communists”.  And how they “couldn’t buy a building and live off the rents in their old age”.

I was too young to really understand how right they were.  The politicians were the modern equivalent of the old “snake oil” salesman who promised a remedy for all things and everything.  Even if you didn’t know what ails you. Argh!

Now in my old age, I realize how right they were on a mutlitude of topics.

I can’t imagine what they’d think of a REAL COMMUNIST (aka “democratic socialist) being elected the mayor of New York City.  What are those SHEEPLE in the Pepuls Republik of Nu Jerk thinking?

Argh!

“Lessons in life will be repeated until they are learned.”  —  Frank Sonnenberg

Seems like the “rent control” lesson will be repeated again in NYC!

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INSPIRATIONAL: Nothing can tell us why someone is the way they are

Thursday, January 1, 2026

https://www.makeuseof.com/84-years-later-this-is-still-cinemas-greatest-one-word-mystery/?user=bXVvQHJlaW5rZS5jYw&lctg=28d2ed2b3c7a64795f347195bfd302ab46e112a2d0fa032e2ba5de55cc388ab7

84 years later, this is still cinema’s greatest one-word mystery
By Dan Selcke
Published 1 day ago << EDITOR ADDED DATE 2025-11-26>>

  • “Rosebud” is emblematic of the fact that the puzzle can never be solved
  • No one thing can tell us why someone is the way they are

*** begin quote ***

Kane becomes an incredibly accomplished person, but he’s always unsatisfied. He builds a newspaper dynasty, but the money isn’t enough. He runs for governor of New York, but the adulation of the people isn’t enough. He marries twice, but family isn’t enough. “Rosebud” seems to reveal what would have been enough. Kane was robbed of his childhood. He wanted to be a kid and grow up with his parents’ love in his life. If he can only go back in time and fix what happened to him when he was 8 years old, then he could be happy, but he can’t, so he never will be.

*** end quote ***

“Rosebud”?

Doesn’t everyone have something in their past that they wish they could go back and change?

“If he can only go back in time and fix what happened to him when he was 8 years old, then he could be happy, but he can’t, so he never will be.”

That really rings true in my life and I bet in most people’s life.

I wrote about the concept in my Magnum Opus.

“… checked the Eternal Possibilities Machine, which generates all the possibilities for use in creating the alternative worlds. In all those probability lines …” CHURCH 10●19●62 (Vol 1) 978-0-557-08387-9 page 45

Were there such a tool like the “Eternal Possibilities Machine” so we could see the “alternative worlds” that would give us the most happiness.  Were it possible to go back and fix these “mistakes”.  But there isn’t and that’s an eternal fact of life.

“You have to play the hand you’re dealt; not the one you could have had.  (Don’t regret what could have been; you might have been hit by a bus!)  And certainly don’t envy somebody else’s ’cause you don’t know what you don’t know’.  Their hand always turns out to be worse than yours.  In other words, there’s always always some one worse off and some one better off. Get over it and move on!” — Anonymous 

“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

At this time of year, I always get sad, maudlin, and sappy.  It’s now “easy” to see the mistakes.  

“I think we all wish we could erase some dark times in our lives. But all of life’s experiences, bad and good, make you who you are. Erasing any of life’s experiences would be a great mistake.” — Luis Miguel

I’ve always thought there are NO “mistakes” in life.  There are choices we’ve made based on incomplete dikw (i.e., data, information, knowledge, wisdom) or choices made in haste or choices that were “against the odds”.  

“It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not weakness, that is life.” – Jean-Luc Picard

“There are no regrets in life. Just lessons.” – Jennifer Aniston

“So, pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile.” — a World War I marching song written in 1915 by George Henry Powell and his brother Felix Powell.

[FJR: Writing this makes me feel better.]

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TECHNOLOGY: Google Photos reminders users how deleting works across devices

Wednesday, December 31, 2025

Google Photos reminders users how deleting works across devices

https://9to5google.com/2025/12/19/google-photos-delete-content-guide/

 

# – # – # – # – #

 

As always, backup backup and backup!

 

3 is 2!  2 is 1! 1 is none!   Look for redundant capability; not redundant gear!

 

I recommend that everyone use at least two different backup capabilities for the all important photos.

This was brought home hard when it looks like Google Photos “barfed” and took out BOTH the local device and the Google cloud backup copy.

 

Needless to say, that was traumatic.  Luckily a restart unbarfed Google Photos.  We immediately set up another backup capability on DROPBOX.

 

Suggest that (1) you should be backing up your phone’s pictures SOMEWHERE; (2) have a redundant capability for at least two independent backups; (3) consider using a cheap disk drive  —  usb or ssd  —  to create that complete off line archival backup.  

 

After the disaster, it’s no good to say shoulda, coulda, and woulda! 

 

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

 

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MONEY: Spend Gold Freely Again

Tuesday, December 30, 2025

https://www.goldback.com/spend-gold-freely-again-did-we-fix-money/

Spend Gold Freely Again: Did We Fix Money?

Written by Kim Coleman, Director of Strategic Relations

*** begin quote ***

Goldback is making it possible to spend gold freely again. In this short series, we will examine how gold freedom was lost, what the Constitution authorizes and prohibits regarding gold freedom, and what steps can be taken, with your help, to make it possible to spend gold freely again.

“Specie [gold and silver coin] is the most perfect medium because it will preserve its own level; because, having intrinsic and universal value, it can never die in our hands, and it is the surest resource of reliance in time of war.”

Thomas Jefferson

The State of Money Today

Despite their best warnings, it wasn’t long before paper became the predominant currency. There is almost nothing left resembling the intent to base the nation’s monetary system on gold and silver. In fact, the government rejected it entirely when it seized private gold in 1933, ended redemption of Federal Reserve Notes for physical gold in 1934, and removed the U.S. dollar from the gold standard in 1971. This resulted in a full fiat currency system that has suffered the same issues our Founders described.

We see it. We feel it everyday. The green piece of paper we hold in our hands purchases much less than it did even five years ago—25% less!1 Americans are losing their purchasing power and hopes for future prosperity. But there are options to regain that power, and Goldbacks can play a key role in that.

*** end quote ***

Fiat Money —  paper —  allows the Gooferment to spend without restraint.

“Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon” — Milton Friedman

“Inflation is theft, you’re stealing value from people who save money.”-Ron Paul

We don’t need ANYONE setting interest rates.  Least of all the FED!

(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.)

Time to heed the wisdom of the Dead Old White Guys!

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INSPIRATIONAL: Explore all the particles that make up the Standard Mode

Monday, December 29, 2025

https://join1440.com/t/standard-model?pinned-resource=explore-all-the-particles-that-make-up-the-standard-model&user_id=66c4b9c55d78644b3a882a4d

FROM 1440 https://join1440.com/

*** begin quote ***

Since our ancient human relatives began using stone tools to perform tasks, humans have harnessed scientific knowledge and new technologies to expand the boundaries of our understanding of the natural world. 

*** end quote ***

This reminds me of THE “perodic table” and the fact there are different ones.   

And yet we know so little.  And, in our “clumsy” ignorance, we fiddle with what we don’t understand. 

Luckily, we have wiped out humanity … … YET?

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DISCOURAGING: Students can only receive money from merit-based financial aid or FAFSA.

Sunday, December 28, 2025

https://nypost.com/2025/12/27/sports/ncaa-bans-augsburg-university-cross-country-star-mohammed-bati-over-6000-donation-for-tuition/

Minnesota college running star Mohammed Bati says he was banned for accepting $6K donation to pay for tuition
By Nicholas McEntyre
Published Dec. 27, 2025, 5:26 a.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

The NCAA ruled Augsburg University senior Mohammed Bati — a two-time national runner-up — ineligible for the indoor and outdoor track seasons, the decorated runner said, according to Marathon Handbook on Friday.

The 26-year-old, who is majoring in nursing, revealed he was “struggling a lot with money” last semester at the private Minneapolis school, which is part of the NCAA’s Division III.

“The community around me came together to support me,” Bati wrote on the training platform Strava on Dec. 24. “People helped me with around $6,000 so I could pay for that semester. I’m still grateful for that it was love, it was support, not anything big or business or something bad. Just people helping someone who needed it.”

Division III schools are prohibited from awarding scholarships for athletics. Students can only receive money from merit-based financial aid or FAFSA.

Student-athletes in Division III are not allowed to accept outside financial assistance that pays for tuition unless it fits into the structure of financial aid or NIL guidelines.

“I don’t think some NCAA rules are fair to everyone,” Bati wrote in the post titled “Night Run.”

*** end quote ***

Sorry but the NCAA “rules” are just dumb in this case.

I don’t understand the “rules” and who cares down at Division III.

Argh!

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INSPIRATIONAL: The public domain is a priceless resource … … 

Saturday, December 27, 2025

https://standardebooks.org/about/standard-ebooks-and-the-public-domain

*** begin quote ***

The public domain is a priceless resource for all of us, and for the generations after us. It’s a free repository of our culture going back centuries—a way for us to see where we came from and to chart where we’re going. It represents our collective cultural heritage.

In the past, copyright was a limited boon, designed not to enrich a creator and their children’s children a hundred years from now, but rather to allow a creator to profit by granting a temporary monopoly on reproduction, in exchange for their work to be returned to the public after a few years. Our ancestors—in fact, the framers of the U.S. Constitution—recognized that art builds on art, and that locking up culture benefits a handful but harms the greater public.

Today, large corporations are putting a lot of money into twisting our laws to slowly but surely strangle the public domain, making it increasingly remote and inaccessible so they can continue seeking rent on ideas and culture nearly a century old. Today laws lock up work not just for the author’s entire lifetime, but for the lifetime of their children, and their children. Copyright can’t enrich the dead, but it can enrich powerful corporations … at our—at everyone’s—expense.

*** end quote ***

This site has lots of free classic content. (It has to be in the 100,000’s count.) I like it for old SciFi classics that I read as a child. It’s a shame that Big Publishing keeps locking up content with ever expanding copyright legislation. I wish this was available when I was in school. Now if they just had textbooks, then I’d never have had to take the subway to the library, Laugh!

P.S.: I put a little money into this site to keep it going.

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