NEWJERSEY: Why don’t we have competition in energy?

Sunday, May 18, 2025

https://patch.com/new-jersey/southbrunswick/s/jbt17/major-announcement-as-nj-braces-for-large-increase-in-electric-rates?utm_source=alert-breakingnews

Major Announcement As NJ Braces For Large Increase In Electric Rates | Across New Jersey, NJ Patch

  • Gov. Phil Murphy’s announcement comes less than a month before a statewide rate hike scheduled to begin on June 1.

Megan VerHelst, Patch StaffVerified Patch Staff Badge
Posted Wed, May 14, 2025 at 10:36 am ET Updated Wed, May 14, 2025 at 12:36 pm ET

*** begin quote ***

NEW JERSEY — Gov. Phil Murphy unveiled a series of executive actions on Wednesday that he said will help New Jersey residents manage electric costs ahead of a rate hike scheduled to begin on June 1.

The announcement comes two weeks after the state Board of Public Utilities (BPU) said it would require New Jersey’s four electric utility companies — Atlantic City Electric, PSE&G, Jersey Central Power & Light and Rockland Energy — to come up with plans to mitigate overall bill impacts to residential customers during high usage summer months.

The state also asked the utility companies to defer rate increases until later in the year during lower-usage months, as well as identify other opportunities to stabilize rates and provide cost-saving opportunities wherever possible.

*** end quote ***

20% increase thanks to the Pepuls Republik of Nu Jerzee Gooferment.

Argh!

One can only hope that the politicians and bureaucrats responsible for this and their “green energy” policies get swept out of power.

Argh!

Why don’t we have competition in energy?

Clearly, the BPU ain’t looking out for the consumer.

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ENCOURAGING: A modern internet eqivalent of the Library at Alexandria

Saturday, May 17, 2025

https://standardebooks.org/blog/a-kind-of-bolshevism-in-an-uncanny-bookshop

Free ebooks in this post

  •     The Haunted Bookshop, by Christopher Morley
  •     Madame Bovary, by Gustave Flaubert. Translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling
  •     The Practice and Theory of Bolshevism, by Bertrand Russell
  •     The Story of Utopias, by Lewis Mumford
  •     Disenchantment, by C. E. Montague

# – # – # – # – # 

Here’s a great resource for out of copyright books.  At a price everyone can afford  — free.  All the books I was supposed to read in high school and a few from grammar school.  This is like the Library at Alexandria before the fire.  A virtual treasure of dikw (i.e., data, information, knowledge, wisdom) for free.  Stunning.

And yes, I have put my money where my mouth is and contributed. So in that way I’m biased.

Besides how else would I reread the Hardy Boys of my earliest reads.  Now if Heinlein’s copyright would ever expire my internet blogging / email life would be over.

Laugh!

No such luck for you poor “usual suspects”.

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GOVEROTRAGEOUS: Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is unscientific and killing birds for no good reason

Friday, May 16, 2025

https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/canada-orders-mass-culling-of-400?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Canada Orders Mass Culling of 400 Research Ostriches Over Bird Flu, Refuses to Test Surviving Birds for Natural Immunity

  • Farmers face fines and jail time for seeking independent testing as the Canadian Food Inspection Agency fights to reinstate the culling order.

Nicolas Hulscher, MPH  —  Mar 11, 2025

*** begin quote ***

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has ordered the culling of 400 ostriches at Universal Ostrich Farm in British Columbia, citing concerns over H5N1 bird flu. However, this decision is not based on sound science and could have serious consequences for both food security and medical research.

*** and ***

Lack of Transparency and Scientific Process – Despite the importance of this research, the CFIA has refused to conduct further testing on the birds and has banned the farm from conducting its own tests, under threat of heavy fines and possible imprisonment. Why is the Canadian government refusing to study the potential antibodies ostriches have developed against H5N1 bird flu?

*** end quote ***

One has to wonder where the Gooferment gets off on its “wild goose”  —  in this case ostrich — chases?  

I can imagine a conference room fill of bureaucrats sitting around trying to justify their paychecks.  Hard to imagine ANY value coming out of that room.  

In the mean time, the farmers on the ground are in a much better position to dictate the course of action.

Argh!

I hate politicians and bureaucrats.

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ECONOMICS: in libya, stable coins get a better exchange rate than the U$D?

Thursday, May 15, 2025

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1922004098192494598.html?utm_source=tldrcrypto

@tikhbana

May 12 • 1 tweets • 1 min read •

Read on X

*** begin quote ***

had a call with a freelancer in tripoli, libya last week

he found us by asking perplexity:

“how do i send an invoice where my client pays by card and i receive crypto?”

we got on a call. he said he uses stablecoins because shops in libya will swap them for cash at a better rate than USD. but his client don’t want to pay in stables, but he wants to receive it. so he needed a way to bridge that.

then he said:

“getting paid in stablecoins is like your client handing you cash, instantly, across a border.”

*** end quote ***

here’s an interesting factoid about the U$D and stable coins.  in libya, stable coins get a better exchange rate than the U$D?

Very interesting to me.  A use case for stable coins in international trade?

So if you’re going overseas or on an international cruise, then carrying some stable coins makes sense.

How will the various Gooferments enforce “money laundering” or “capital controls” when there’s nothing to show that value or wealth is crossing the boundary?

The use case for ₿ (bitcoin) of that Ukrainian crossing into Poland (I think that was the fact) with the clothes he had on and his memorized 24 words.  

Demonstrates the freedom of ₿ and crypto in general.

YMMV

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HEALTH: But I like hot dogs and sausage … …

Wednesday, May 14, 2025

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2025/05/13/ultraprocessed-foods-cardiovascular-deaths.aspx?ui=f9839516412491bb1e06c9e47058c6fb81b9b9b6acedf03e65e93dfdb263c1b9&sd=20210317&cid_source=dnl&cid_medium=email&cid_content=art1HL&cid=20250513&foDate=false&mid=DM1746242&rid=291736034 

Ultraprocessed Foods Linked to 4 in 10 Cardiovascular Deaths and Increased Mortality Risk
Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola   
May 13, 2025

*** begin quote ***

Story at-a-glance

  • Nearly 38% of cardiovascular deaths in Canada are linked to ultraprocessed foods. These products contribute to 96,000 new heart disease cases and 17,400 deaths each year
  • Eating just one additional daily serving of ultraprocessed food raises your risk of obesity by 7%, abdominal fat by 5%, and Type 2 diabetes by 12%
  • Ultraprocessed foods increase cognitive decline risk by 16% and stroke risk by 8%, with the strongest effects seen in Black participants
  • Processed meat products like hot dogs and deli meats are linked to a 43% higher risk of death from neurodegenerative diseases and a 13% higher all-cause mortality risk
  • Even small amounts of ultraprocessed food trigger inflammation, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial dysfunction that accelerate aging and drain your energy daily

Ultraprocessed foods dominate grocery store shelves today in the form of frozen dinners, packaged snacks, and fast-food items. While they offer convenience, they are engineered to hijack your appetite and flood your system with harmful compounds. These products, stripped of real nutrition and loaded with additives, trans fats, and artificial ingredients, are slowly clogging your arteries and setting you up for a heart attack or stroke.

According to a recent study, nearly 38% of all cardiovascular disease deaths in Canada are directly linked to ultraprocessed food consumption. 

*** end quote ***

OK OK ok, I am a believer.  But I still like hot dogs.  Don’t eat them anywhere as near as used too but old habits are hard to break.

Luckily my significant other is pescatarian who likes to cook; so I get lots of “good for me food” that’s very tasty.

We’ll see if that helps me make it to 132 (to steal back all the social security dollars “they” stole from me  — ignoring the time value of money!).

Diet-wise I’ve been doing better and losing some weight and keeping it off.

My target is 175  — the weight I was in the military  —  so I have long way to go but I have all the time in world.  Laugh!  Or so I think.  (Remember the fellow who said “think of your age in decades?  So I’m only 7!)

YMMV but what’s the harm in trying to avoid soda and UPF (ultra processed foods)?

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ECONOMICS: Just End The Fed now for good

Monday, May 12, 2025

https://x.com/rickydoggin/status/1902482549609545959?s=51&t=fNifJ9M-EU2FgGneNcz51w

G. Edward Griffin, author of the legendary “The Creature From Jekyll Island,” outlines seven compelling reasons why the Federal Reserve should be abolished. 

1) It is incapable of accomplishing its stated objectives.

2) It is a cartel operating against the public interest.

3) It is the supreme instrument of usury.

4) It generates our most unfair tax.

5) It encourages war.

6) It destabilizes the economy.

7) It is an instrument of totalitarianism.

# – # – # – # – # 

As Ron Paul pointed out, the fiat money steal wealth from the poor, those on fixed income, and the young trying get ahead.

My particular gripe is with the “2% inflation target” that devalues our savings.  The Ponzi scheme of “Social Security Insurance” (what a joke)  — while transfer wealth from poor minority men to rich white women  —  take my dollars in “contributions” and returns inflation ravaged “dollars” decades later that are worth a few pennies in purchasing power.  Argh!

Wake up people!

When we were on a gold standard, prices deflated, savings were easy in gold coins, and life was predictable.  Now with fiat dollars (it’s a dollar because the Gooferment says it is), the Gooferment gets an endless spending spree, forever wars, and welfare to but votes.

Sigh!

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RANT: What happened to Intego Mac Podcast?

Sunday, May 11, 2025

One day they just signed off.  

Where will I get my Mac Security information?

Argh!

What happened?  Did @intego pull their funding?  Argh!

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SECURITY: SMS is not a good 2FA (Second Factor Authentication)

Saturday, May 10, 2025

https://www.makeuseof.com/security-apps-protect-your-data/?utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=MUO-202505090800&utm_source=MUO-NL&user=cmVpbmtlZmpAZ21haWwuY29t&lctg=7e6c3cd411d6a815afa18582d54bd455914c43c5f69df1448b8ec20ee4959f71

Install These 5 Security Apps Now to Protect Your Data
Jowi Morales

<< EDITOR ADDED DATE 2025-05-07>>

*** begin quote ***

Authenticator

Usernames and passwords are no longer as secure as you might think; that’s why you should switch to two-factor authentication (2FA)to help secure your online access. You can easily set this up on most accounts, including your accounts on Google, Meta, and more, ensuring that any potential hacker who has compromised your username and password combination still needs a one-time password to gain access.

However, we don’t recommend using SMS for your 2FA code because of its many disadvantages. For example, if you’ve been specifically targeted by personal identity thieves, they can trick your mobile provider into transferring your number to a SIM card that they have (called SIM swap), meaning they will receive your OTP codes on their device. Furthermore, SMS messages can be intercepted, meaning someone targeting you can easily steal your OTPs even if you did not lose access to your SIM card. And if you lose your phone signal (or your service provider runs into problems), you won’t get your codes and will be unable to access your accounts.

*** end quote ***

Personally, I use Google Authenticator. But I have AUTHY, LASTPASS, and BITWARDEN. Can’t say I prefer one over another, but given how stuff gets “deprecated” (i.e., abandoned), I’m ready to switch.

I have a running debate with my bank about their use of SMS.  So far, I’m losing but I’m still nagging.

Argh!

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ENCOURAGING: a team of ~50 make a “triple play”

Friday, May 9, 2025

https://nypost.com/2025/05/07/health/10-year-old-heart-transplant-patient-saves-lives-of-two-toddlers/

Hero 10-year-old heart transplant patient pays it forward — to save the lives of two toddlers
By Diana Bruk  — Published May 7, 2025, 6:00 a.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

Doctors at New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital performed an extremely rare series of surgeries in July that changed the lives of three children forever. 

A heart from a deceased donor was transplanted into 10-year-old Hend Almesafri, who paid it forward by then providing her pulmonary valve to John Catoliato, 2, and her aortic valve to Teddy Carter, 3. 

*** end quote ***

Again a team of ~50 make a “triple play” IMHO.  Three beautiful babies all getting a new lease on a real life without the future of more surgeries in the future.

Really amazing.

Just goes to show you what humans are capable of when someone really “makes it happen”.

I don’t care what it cost because it’s time, attention, and resources well spent.

Now let’s focus on the “lessons learned” and AAR (after action reports).  

How can we as a society of caring responsible adults make this the norm rather than the “news”?

I pray this inspires everyone to look around to make their own “miracles”.

Dona Nobis Pacem

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HEALTHCARE: Time to repeal ’86 SHIELD ACT

Thursday, May 8, 2025

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2025/05/04/whats-the-real-story-behind-vaccines.aspx

What’s the Real Story Behind Vaccines?
Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola  —  May 04, 2025

*** begin quote ***

The 1986 Act shields vaccine manufacturers from lawsuits, which may reduce their incentive to conduct thorough safety testing. This could influence your health decisions, encouraging you to research vaccine safety independently to protect your well-being.

*** end quote ***

“MAY”?

Are you kidding me?

It’s apparent that “ACT” alone is responsible for BIG PHARMA’s failure to do ANY safety testing.

And the number of childhood vaccinations “required” has exploded from a few to almost 100.

Sorry, but RFK jr, for all his wild ideas, is NOT automatically wrong to point out that AUTISM rates are skyrocketing and COVID vaxes are killing us.

Time to repeal ’86 SHIELD ACT.

Let the vaccine injured have their day in court.  Where’s an “Erin Brockovitch” bitching about the fate of all those harmed?

Argh!

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