VETERANS: Senior VA execs get off scott free

Thursday, March 3, 2016

FROM Mike Berger’s March Bugle Blasts

Appeals judges reverse punishment for senior VA execs – source Military Times

*** begin quote ***

VA officials’ attempt to punish a pair of high-ranking executives over mismanagement issues has been knocked down by appeals judges who ruled the department’s other disciplinary moves have been too inconsistent to justify punishing those two. The news comes a month after Justice Department officials announced they would not charge the two women with any criminal activity, despite accusations from the IG the executives manipulated the hiring practice and unjustly pocketed about $400,000 in federal funds.

*** end quote ***

Argh!

The corruption in Gooferment and its inability to “police” itself is demonstration that it’s immoral, ineffective, and inefficient. As well as untrustworthy.

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INVESTING: Evaluate “tuition” as an ROI

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

http://www.edelmanfinancial.com/radio

Episode 02.20.16

Topic: How to Handle Student Loans Later in Life

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No secret that I like Ric Edelman and I am a “client”.

He made what I thought was an interesting off-the-cuff observation with respect to “education” expense.

The caller was an older 50-ish woman who had a 20K$ student loan at less than 5% and wanted to pay it off. In delving into her circumstances, he found out that she was earning 45k per year after incurring that debt. And, he raved over the ROI.

Not sure that it’s that cut and dry, but I think it was an astute observation.

While she may have paid more than 20K$ for the “educational investment”, the decade, that she will be earning 45k annually, will earn 450K$. 450k/20k = ROI 22½. Roughly. Ignores the time value of money and that it was probably more than a 20k total investment. Ignore the opportunity cost of the time spent. Etc. Etc. Etc. But not bad for a radio show podcast.

And, also, importantly, that 20k$ loan NOT paid off should earn at least a ten year market average while preserving liquidity (i.e., the lady still has her twenty k if she needs it).

Many of the education “horror stories” reported in the media are from some very poor decisions. Picking some obscure specialties with no real market value and spending a few hundred thousand dollars that results in 100k to 200k of student loan debt is a recipe for disaster.

On 101.5 D&D show the other day, http://nj1015.com/tuition-and-wedding-costs-on-the-rise-stolen-bank-info-and-more-on-dd-today/ chatted about the cost of tuition and invited callers to tell their stories. Some of the tales were pretty interesting. The divided into two types — medical doctors with ½ million of debt and then “regular people”. Argh! Worst case: 200k$ debt for an ART DEGREE!

So this “national problem” is all about bad decisions amplified by poor Gooferment policy (i.e., cheap government insured loans at artificially low rates). 

What to do?

Make “good decisions” about education ROI and the financing of that education.

Hold the politicians and bureaucrats accountable for the stupidity of these policies.

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  • How to Handle Student Loans Later in Life

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HARDWARE: Maybe a fix for WiFi’s poor performance?

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

http://fortune.com/2016/02/23/eero-home-networking-review/

Struggle with Wi-Fi speeds and coverage in your home? Eero has the answer.

*** begin quote ***

A year ago, startup Eero surfaced with a bold claim: It had developed a product that would fix Wi-Fi in our homes. Using a series of small white boxes, Eero would create a smart network capable of providing a consistent connection to Wi-Fi hungry devices throughout your home.

*** end quote ***

Steep price for a better experience.

One thing is for sure the current crop of wireless routers provided by ISPs are all no bargain.

I have FIOS, Optimum, and TWC. Gal pal has another optimum setup.

Performance is AT BEST less than perfect; in Gal Pal’s case almost unusable.

She is much less demanding and much more tolerant of the flaws than I am.

My standard is I pay to use it; not work around it, debug it, and reset things.

Argh!

Maybe I should go back to IT leadership as a career. At least, I might be able to fix the Customer experience?

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POLITICAL: Dig into the CIA connection to the Bushes and Clintons!

Sunday, February 28, 2016

https://www.lewrockwell.com/podcast/roger-stone-endorses-trump/

Roger Stone Endorses Trump
Tells Lew Rockwell about how he will wreck the Hillary and Jeb crime families.
October 30, 2015

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24 minutes

In the beginning of the podcast, he destroys Jeb and Bill.

Roger Stone really excoriates the Bush / Clinton CIA connection.

He sticks the fork in these “politicians”.

Argh!

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GOLDBUG: The Banksters are going attempt a robbery of “We, The Sheeple”

Sunday, February 28, 2016

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2016/02/clive-maund/curb-enthusiasm-just-little/

Gold Market Update
By Clive Maund
CliveMaund.com
February 22, 2016

*** begin quote ***

The big banks have plans to seriously mine their customer’s accounts, and we are not talking about charging half a percent a year here, we are talking about 2 or 3 percent of your account money being siphoned off into their coffers every year for the privilege of you being able to hold an account with them. Of course, any rational person knowing this was coming would withdraw their money and stuff it under a mattress or buy gold, so they are going to be prevented from doing so, by the introduction of the “cashless society”. 

*** end quote ***

This situation is shaping up to be a robbery of “We, The Sheeple”.

Not sure how the average Joe Sixpack can avoid this theft.

Maybe save some nickels?

Argh!

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INSPIRATIONAL: Peyton Manning — hero or villain

Saturday, February 27, 2016

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2016/02/william-l-anderson/media-driven-character-assassination/

Narratives, Nonsense, and Media-Driven Character Assassination: The Manning Saga Continues
By William L. Anderson
February 22, 2016

*** begin quote ***

Let us step back and look at the big picture. Two weeks ago, Peyton Manning achieved what no one believed was possible just a few months ago. He was badly injured and was benched for backup Brock Osweiler, and most observers had concluded that Manning was finished.

When Manning’s injuries had healed enough for him to return to practice, he took snaps with the scout team, which also is known as a “practice squad” or the “taxi squad.” (These are players who are not on the roster and do not play in games. Their purpose is to help the players on the regular team get ready for games.

Many quarterbacks, and especially future hall-of-famers, would have refused such duty and would have wreaked havoc with the coaching staff. Manning quietly did what was needed, even though such a demotion would have been truly humiliating. However, in the last regular-season game against the San Diego Chargers, Osweiler faltered and Manning came in and led his team to victory.

He then played all the snaps for the two playoff games and the Super Bowl. Manning, who at 39 is the oldest quarterback ever to have won a Super Bowl, was not spectacular and he certainly was not the Peyton Manning of even two years ago, but the Denver Broncos won and that was all that mattered. At least then.

*** end quote ***

I’m not sure I’ve seen or heard enough to convict the man of anything other than some bad commercials.

The “media” certainly doesn’t have as much credibility as he does.

So, until there’s some “evidence”, it’s innocent until PROVEN guilty. 

And, not by some witch hunt in the media.

Although, the National Enquirer did unmask John Edwards and TMZ did the same for Ray Rice and some other woman beaters.

So there is an investigative media out there; it’s just not in the mainstream newspapers or TV.

Argh!

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QUOTE: Don’t allow sadness to dwell in your soul, for sadness prevents the Holy Spirit from acting freely. #‎StPadrePio

Friday, February 26, 2016

2016-Feb-26

Don’t allow sadness to dwell in your soul, for sadness prevents the Holy Spirit from acting freely. ‪#‎StPadrePio‬

What else can be said.

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Don’t allow sadness to dwell in your soul, for sadness prevents the Holy Spirit from acting freely. ‪#‎StPadrePio‬

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LIBERTY: Categorically against the “death penalty”

Thursday, February 25, 2016

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/02/20/lawmakers-strike-political-compromise-to-fix-florida-s-death-penalty-law.html?intcmp=hplnws

ISSUES
Lawmakers strike political compromise to fix Florida’s death penalty law
Published February 20, 2016  FoxNews.com

*** begin quote ***

“This bill is cloaked in procedure, but soaked in a hateful policy,” Rep. Darryl Rouson, a Democrat, told The Florida Times-Union. “This bill is cloaked in process, but soaked in the cries of innocents and the exonerated.”

*** end quote ***

As a pro-life pro-choice little L libertarian, I am categorically against the “death penalty”.

My reasoning is very very simple. You can NOT correct a “mistake”.

“Perhaps the bleakest fact of all is that the death penalty is imposed not only in a freakish and discriminatory manner, but also in some cases upon defendants who are actually innocent.” -Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., 1994

The execution of a person who can show that he is innocent comes perilously close to simple murder. -Justice Harry Blackmun, Herrera v. Collins, 1993

Sorry, but I don’t condone the Gooferment killing anyone.

If life in prison is too dangerous for the guards, then surely we can create a “Devil’s Island” somewhere?

Argh!

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INTERESTING: UTC is the ONLY “time zone”!

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3452639/Should-time-zones-SCRAPPED-Plan-global-universal-clock-end-confusion-travellers.html

Should time zones be SCRAPPED? A global universal clock based on the Earth’s rotation could ‘end confusion for travellers’ (but it might be dark at midday!)

  • Researchers claim the internet has ‘annihilated’ time and space on Earth
  • There are 40 different time zones in use in different parts of the world
  • These create confusion for travellers, financial markets and governments
  • Adopting UTC around the world would simplify things, the scientists argue 

By RICHARD GRAY FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 06:18 EST, 18 February 2016 | UPDATED: 08:39 EST, 18 February 2016

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Yes.

I’ve ranted about this often.

As early as 3/14/10!

https://reinkefaceslife.com/2010/03/14/technology-just-use-gmt/

Argh!

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SECURITY: Help wanted — an info sec person for an LA hospital

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3452178/Los-Angeles-hospital-paid-17-000-ransom-hackers-regain-control-computers.html

Los Angeles hospital paid $17,000 ransom to hackers to regain control of computers

  • Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center was hacked on February 5
  • The cyber criminals had demanded $3.4million to give them control back But the accepted a lower fee – the cash equivalent of 40 bitcoins 
  • CEO Allen Stefanek said patient care was not affected during the attack 

By WILLS ROBINSON FOR DAILYMAIL.COM and ASSOCIATED PRESSPUBLISHED: 20:17 EST, 17 February 2016 | UPDATED: 22:12 EST, 17 February 2016

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I guess they need to fire their current CEO, CIO, CTO, CISO, CDRP, and their IT audit leadership.

Some these should be working as clerks in Walmart or McDonalds. If they can make the cut!

Oh BTW where were “the regulators”?

Argh!

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