Tuesday, December 24, 2024
https://www.lewrockwell.com/political-theatre/trump-to-leave-nato-as-brussels-attacks-musk/
Trump to leave NATO as Brussels attacks Musk?
By Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
November 11, 2024
*** begin quote ***
America first, no foreign wars, protect America’s borders.
US out of NATO and the UN. Put the troops on the Mexican border.
NATO threatened Elon not to have the twitter space with Trump, we should leave NATO.
I want to stop Ukraine and Russia war and NATO should indeed need to reevaluate
There is no NATO, there is the United States. We shoulder pretty much all the burden.
Leaving NATO and threatening to leave NATO is a bargaining chip for negotiations.
Good. Kick out the UN next.
*** end quote ***
No “alliances”. Period! Full Stop!
NATO is an idea who’d time has passed. Let Europe defend itself.
The UN was a Wilson pipe-dream. It has failed to bring peace and, in fact, their “peacekeepers” are a problem.
—30—
Leave a Comment » | 
Policy | Tagged: America First, DJT47, Elon Mus, Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr, no foreign wars | 
Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
Monday, December 23, 2024
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2024/12/a_half_century_of_miseducation.html
December 17, 2024
A Half Century of Miseducation
By John M. Grondelski
*** begin quote ***
The New York Times reported December 4 that math and science test scores for U.S. fourth and eighth graders have been essentially stagnant since 1995. Nor have they have been stagnant near the top — lots of countries outrank us — but rather in the middling middle. American elementary/middle school students perform behind Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, England, Ireland, and Poland.
“’This is alarming,’” opined a Department of Education commissioner.
Yes, it is, but perhaps not just for the reasons the article identifies.
The spin of the article is that scores are down and American kids have lost significant ground as a result of the pandemic. Author Dana Goldstein says the results corroborate “a large body of research showing significant academic declines since the Covid-19 pandemic began.” “Experts are debating potential causes,” reports Goldstein, including maybe the fact that American public schools were shuttered comparatively longer than in other countries.
Let me argue that spin is far too limited and selective.
*** end quote ***
I’m not an “educator”, but I can observe some factoids that do NOT inspire confidence.
- Everyone might have seen the 8th grade tests from the turn of the century. Some of those questions even I couldn’t answer. As a fat old white guy retired injineer, I should have been able to “nail” the math and geometry questions. Not so.
- There’s a meme on Facebook that talks about a circa WW2 car owner’s manual that decribes how to adjust the valves. Today’s say “don’t drink the battery acid.”
- The amount of money spent on education in 1988 per pupil was enough the send kids to the private Petty School in Princeton. Those amount have gone up from there.
- Teacher’s pay has stagnated. But budgets keep rising. Teachers’s unions in the Pepuls Republik of Nu Jerzee dominate the state legislature.
- All the stats say either we are birthing stupider children or “education” ain’t educating.
- Asian children seem to be doing just fine. Indicating that non-Asian parents are not motivating their children to excel at anything other than “feeling good about themselves”.
- And, my perpetual gripe, “participation trophies” that denigrate accomplishment and fail to teach children to deal with setbacks early in life.
In summary:
“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” — attributed to Einstein
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” — attributed to Einstein, Ben Franklin, and Rita Mae Brown
So what can we change?
- Eliminating the Department of Education seems like a reasonable start.
- Returning “education” to the local communities’ control
- Disempowering teachers’ unions
- Ending “public education”!
Seems “simple” to me.
—30—
Leave a Comment » | DISCOURAGING | Tagged: americanthinker.com, John M. Grondelski | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
Sunday, December 22, 2024
https://nypost.com/2024/12/17/us-news/beloved-texas-detention-officer-dead-after-being-assaulted-by-pure-evil-inmate/
Beloved Texas detention officer dead after being assaulted by ‘pure evil’ inmate
By Associated Press
Published Dec. 17, 2024, 10:14 p.m. ET
*** begin quote ***
WAXAHACHIE, Texas (AP) — A Texas man being held in jail fatally assaulted a detention officer who was returning him to his cell following the one hour he was allowed out of his lockup each day, a sheriff said Tuesday.
Isaiah Patrick Bias, a 28-year-old who worked at the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office for over six years, was assaulted Monday afternoon at the county jail in Waxahachie, south of Dallas.
Sheriff Brad Norman said during a Tuesday news conference that Arron Semeion Thompson, 45, from nearby Ennis, has been charged with capital murder in Bias’ death.
*** and ***
Officials said Thompson has been in jail since last month on charges of assaulting a public servant, public intoxication and evading arrest.
Thompson’s bond in Bias’ death was set at $2 million. Jail records did not list an attorney for him.
Norman said the Texas Rangers will investigate.
*** end quote ***
As a little L libertarian, I don’t think we should ever permit the Gooferment from using the “death penalty”. If we do, then political opponents are at risk from their adversaries.
The one exception that I make — every good rule has exceptions — is when the convict is too dangerous for the people we ask to guard them. This appears to be such a case.
As a species, we need to have firm rules of acceptable behavior. For our own survival, this should be one of them. “Kill a correction officer and forfeit your ‘right to life’.” Simple self-preservation.
—30—
Leave a Comment » | GOVERNACIDE | Tagged: Arron Semeion Thompson, assaults, Associated Press, Dallas, death by convict, Isaiah Patrick Bias, nypost, police, police officers, Texas, WAXAHACHIE | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
Saturday, December 21, 2024
TCN Morning Note: Capitol Hill in Chaos, Government Shutdown Looms
Tucker Carlson Network
*** begin quote ***
Commentary
If guilty, Luigi Mangione deserves to spend the rest of his days in prison. Anyone who purposely takes a human life should never walk free again. Independent of the need for justice, such a man poses too much of a public safety threat to ever return to America’s streets.
The accused CEO killer is not a heroic figure. He is a villain. That will remain true no matter how many Nintendo-costume-donning protestors rally in his defense. As we wrote last week, “He is smug, lazy, and ultimately, a groveling coward.” With that being said, the government’s apparent aim to have him sentenced to death is a disturbing and destructive objective.
In addition to being nonsensical and hypocritical, the idea that we must kill killers to prove that killing is wrong is emblematic of modern American leadership’s tragic disregard for the sanctity of human life. We see this in foreign, immigration, and domestic policy.
Permanent Washington has spent the past three years fervently funding the war in Eastern Europe, cheering on the slaughter of an entire generation of Ukrainian men. Fentanyl overdoses kill tens of thousands of Americans each year, but the government actively works to make it easier for people to smuggle those deadly drugs across the Southern border. And since the turn of the century, the left has transformed its abortion rhetoric from describing the deadly procedure as “safe and rare” to telling women to “shout your abortion.”
It’s not clear what’s behind this shift, but it’s remodeling America away from its religious roots and instead in the image of a frightening death cult. We must reverse course.
Abolishing capital punishment would be a logical first step. No matter what heinous acts a person may commit, they are still human. And judging them is up to God, not their fellow man.
*** end quote **
Dona Nobis Pacem
—30—
Leave a Comment » | GOVERNACIDE | Tagged: capital punishment, Tucker Carlson Network | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
Saturday, December 21, 2024
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/shipwreck-near-kenya-may-be-from-vasco-da-gamas-final-voyage-and-would-be-archaeological-stardust/
Shipwreck Near Kenya May Be from Vasco da Gama’s Final Voyage and Would Be ‘Archaeological Stardust’
By
Andy Corbley –
Dec 12, 2024
*** begin quote ***
While the true provenance of the vessel is unclear, the discovery would be of monumental importance to the study of maritime archaeology, and the history of European exploration.
It was originally identified near the city of Malindi in 2013 by Caesar Bita, an underwater archaeologist at the National Museums of Kenya who received a tip from a local fisherman.
*** and ***
Lying at shallow depths of just 20 feet, this ship is protected by the local population, who are part of a community archaeology project and who the team intends to train so that they can monitor the finds and participate in their recording and analysis.
Elephant ivory and copper ingots have been excavated from the wreck, where few timbers from the ship remain. The divers have uncovered pieces of the hull after digging some trenches on the seafloor, but other features remain covered in coral.
*** end quote ***
While it may NOT be the headline making ship, it still has some historical significance.
I’m amazed that in 20 feet of water, it’s still basically unexplored.
I’m also amazed at the Educational Institutions that have such niche fields of study.
What can we learn? Not even a clue, but anything we do learn shinks that Fourth Qaudrant of the JoHari window (“what I can’t see and what you can’t see). That has to be good. Ignorance of human history is a fatal flaw.
—30—
Leave a Comment » | HALL OF FAME, INTERESTING | Tagged: archaeology, goodnewsnetwork.org, Malind, maritime archaeology, National Museums of Kenya | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
Friday, December 20, 2024
EMAIL FROM AMAZON
*** begin quote ***
Please edit and resubmit your review
Hello Ferdinand J. Reinke,
We couldn’t post your review because it focuses on one or more of these topics:
Sellers
Delivery
Packaging
Pricing
Availability
Why isn’t that allowed?
These aspects vary by order and won’t be relevant to all customers. That said, we want your feedback about sellers and packaging, just not in product reviews.
Please edit and resubmit your review. Before you do, make sure it meets all of our community guidelines.
Your review
Apple AirPods Pro 2 Wireless Earbuds, Active Noise Cancellation, Hearing Aid Feature, Bluetooth Headphones, Transparency, Personalized Spatial Audio, High-Fidelity Sound, H2 Chip, USB-C Charging
I think the sale was a scam!
I took advantage of a Prime Day sale on the new AirPods. Funny that package NEVER gets delivered. All my other Amazon deliveries go off with no problem. I suspect that this was bait and switch. Advertise a great deal and then never deliver. I am…
*** end quote ***
AMAZON sale was a scam!
—30—
Leave a Comment » | BIGOTRY - RELIGIOUS, Ranting | Tagged: amazon | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
Friday, December 20, 2024
https://palexander.substack.com/p/operation-northwoods-never-forget?publication_id=579356&post_id=153249104&isFreemail=false&r=onvra&triedRedirect=true
Operation Northwoods, never forget, see below for reminder of what US DoD can & will do; I believe 100% JFK’s rejection of the plan lead to his assassination; Breggin says DoD controls those drones,
- Stack is in cue where Ginger & Peter explain it’s incentive Cloward-Piven style, e.g. a PATRIOT style act to constrain us where DoD is akin to an arm of the global predators conspired against 47
Dr. Paul Alexander
Dec 17, 2024
*** begin quote ***
let me remind you of Operation Northwoods in 1962 that JFK rejected and which in part IMO led to his assassination; in that the US government’s DoD would stage attacks on its very own US military and people, on US populations, using remote controlled planes (this is in 1962, 911 happened in 2001 yet they could remote control fly planes then, commercial planes); thank God RFK as POTUS rejected the DoD’s dangerous and insane plan yet this declassified memo and what we know today about Operation Northwoods, tells us to never believe anything the US government tells you or any government and the lengths to which a government can go and will go to achieve an objective, in this case the US’s DoD:
*** end quote ***
“to never believe anything the US government tells you”
Seems like a good rule of thumb.
They need to be shut down or reduced in size and influence as best that we can.
To start with, DJT47 needs to fire the entire SES (“Senior Executive Staff”). Will it cause confusion, sure will. But the replacements will be worried that they are next.
No more career bureaucrats. Or career politicians for that matter.
Age limits and term limits. No pensions. (Ordinary folks don’t have them. Why should our “employees”?)
—30—
Leave a Comment » | GOVEROTRAGEOUS | Tagged: JFK, palexander.substack.com, Paul Alexander | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
Thursday, December 19, 2024
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-14182585/heart-transplant-transfer-memories-personality-changes.html
Groundbreaking research suggests organ transplant patients are inheriting donors’ MEMORIES and personalities
By EMILY JOSHU STERNE HEALTH REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
Published: 21:00 EST, 11 December 2024 | Updated: 08:23 EST, 12 December 2024
*** begin quote ***
People receiving organ transplants have reported strange changes in their emotions, tastes, and memories.
This phenomenon is most common in heart recipients, but those who received kidneys, lungs, and even faces have also noticed changes to their food preferences, music choices, and even sexual orientation.
For some patients, their new hobbies and preferences mirror those of their donors, which has led experts to question if recipients are also receiving their donors’ memories.
*** end quote ***
There seems to be so much that we don’t understand. Reference JoHari window quadreant four — what neither of us can see. Will this spur research into all sorts of areas that are now dormant or ignored or misunderstood. I’d heard of this phenomenon before but never thought too much about it. Now I wonder what new “doors” could open?
—30—
Leave a Comment » | INTERESTING | Tagged: Dailymail.com, EMILY JOSHU STERNE, emotions, faces, heart recipients, kidneys, lungs, MEMORIES, organ transplants, tastes | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
Wednesday, December 18, 2024
https://www.theblaze.com/news/politifact-lie-year-trump-biden
PolitiFact decimated on social media after awarding ‘Lie of the Year’ to Trump
# – # – # – # – #
Has to be that Befuddled Joe wouldn’t pardon Hunter!
—30—
Leave a Comment » | Ranting | Tagged: biden, Hinter | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
Wednesday, December 18, 2024
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2024/12/ryan-mcmaken/hunter-bidens-pardon-is-exactly-what-we-should-expect-from-the-us-regime/
lewrockwell.com
Hunter Biden’s Pardon Is Exactly What We Should Expect from the US Regime – LewRockwell
By Ryan McMaken
<< EDITOR ADDED DATE 2024-12-12>>
*** begin quote ***
Nor should we be surprised when we are presented with yet more evidence that there are two legal systems in America: one for the regime and its friends, and another for everyone else. (By “regime,” we mean the permanent administrative government and its attendant ruling class.)
*** and ***
When Barack Obama targeted and murdered American citizens without any due process, his AG, Eric Holder, simply declared that the law allows such things, and the Bill of Rights doesn’t mean what it says.
We could contrast this sort of impunity with what happens to regular people who commit far more benign infractions of federal law. For example, at about the same time James Comey was declaring that it was perfectly fine for Hillary Clinton to mis-use dozens of classified documents, a low-level Navy sailor, Kristian Saucier, was sentenced to six months house arrest for taking a few photos on board a US submarine.
Similarly, it has become routine for federal whistleblowers to serve time in prison while those who actually commit the crimes exposed by the whistleblowers face no punishment at all. Chelsea Manning is one such case, as is John Kiriakou who exposed the CIA’s illegal torture programs. Kiriakou is the only person connected with the CIA’s criminal conspiracy who has ever faced any legal sanction.
And, of course, there are the cases of Edward Snowden and Julian Assange. Snowden was forced to flee to Russia to avoid prosecution for telling the truth of the regime’s widespread violations of our basic property rights. Assange, who exposed various federal lies about war crimes in Iraq, finally escaped a federal prison cell only after the American state took its pound of flesh. The American intelligence “community” conspired for years—with the help of Trump, Biden, and Obama—to rob Assange of years of freedom while he holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy or fought extradition from a British prison.
*** end quote ***
“It’s a big club, and you ain’t in it! You, and I, are not in the big club.” — George Carlin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5dBZDSSky0
George had it right. And “We, The Sheeple” are too stupid or too complacent to hold the parasite class (i.e., “celebrities”, politicians and bureaucrats, other “gliterati”) to account,
“It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong.” — Thomas Sowell
How do we change the “system”?
I can only think of one way — succession. Personally withdraw from supporting these activities.
If enough of us join together, then who can stand against us?
—30—
“It’s a big club, and you ain’t in it! You, and I, are not in the big club.” — George Carlin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5dBZDSSky0
Thomas Sowell Quotes. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved December 12, 2024, from BrainyQuote.com Web site: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/thomas_sowell_392884
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2014/mar/19/kesha-rogers/four-us-citizens-killed-obama-drone-strikes-3-were/
Kesha Rogers stated on March 19, 2014 in statements on her campaign website
Leave a Comment » | GOVEROTRAGEOUS | Tagged: Barack Obama, Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden, Hunter Biden, James Comey, John Kiriakou, Julian Assange, Kristian Saucier, LewRockwell.com, Ryan McMaken | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
Tuesday, December 17, 2024
https://nypost.com/2024/12/16/science/ancient-inscription-is-new-evidence-of-early-christianity/
Ancient engraved amulet could ‘turn back history’ of Christianity, experts claim
By Asia Grace
Published Dec. 16, 2024, 1:39 p.m. ET
*** begin quote ***
Just ahead of the holidays, archeologists have “digitally unrolled” a 1,800-year-old silver amulet to decipher an inscription that’s being hailed as the oldest known evidence of Christianity in Europe.
Authentic evidence of pure Christianity north of the Alps has never existed before now. And the findings have the potential to change holy history forever.
*** and ***
Researchers consider him the “first Christian north of the Alps,” and speculate that there could be more historical, untapped Christian burial sites around Europe.
“This extraordinary find affects many areas of research and will keep science busy for a long time to come,” said Ina Hartwig, Frankfurt’s head of culture and science.
“This affects archaeology as well as religious studies, philology¹ and anthropology,” she continued. “Such a significant find here in Frankfurt is really something extraordinary.”
*** end quote ***
I was intrigued by the concept of “digitally unrolled”. I can’t imagine how they did this. With something like an x ray? I would have enjoyed a follow up on this concept.
It impressive when technology rolls out new dikw (i.e., data, information, knowledge, wisdom) for us.
p.s., Had to look up that word — philology!
# – # – # – # – #
philology¹ The study of language, especially in a philosophical manner and as a science; the investigation of the laws of human speech, the relation of different tongues to one another, and historical development of languages; linguistic science.
Leave a Comment » | HISTORICAL | Tagged: anthropology, Asia Grace, christianity, Christmas, Europe, jesus, jesus christ, nypost, philology, Religion, religious studies | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
Tuesday, December 17, 2024
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2024/12/james-anthony/make-healthcare-efficient-again/
Make Healthcare Efficient Again
- The single biggest wasteful spending inside and outside governments is on healthcare. To make healthcare efficient and innovative, customers need usable healthcare-product descriptions.
By James Anthony
December 11, 2024
*** begin quote ***
Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency plan is to cancel major regulations, reduce headcounts, and defund inadequately-authorized expenditures and waste, but not to shrink entitlement programs.
This plan would require legislators to stop using the executive power to allocate budgets, presidents and bureaucrats to stop using legislative power to pass rules, and judges to start opining quickly and broadly against presidents and bureaucrats.
Congressmen, presidents and bureaucrats, and judges have other plans.
*** and ***
Also, the rules would need to make healthcare product descriptions sufficiently simple and clear that customers could use these descriptions to make their best choices when they shop:
- A fee for office work could be like a lawyer’s rate for office work. A fee for surgery could be like a lawyer’s rate for courtroom work.
- Test instructions could be transmissible to testing producers. Also, testing producers could list their pricing.
- Therapy recommendations could be readable by customers. The recommendation on a drug, for instance, could provide all the information that would be needed to shop for the drug if it was available over-the-counter.
- Procedures could have full packages of features built in, like auto models have. Foreseeable complications could be priced separately, and a worst-case total not exceeded.
- Quality could be quantified. Procedure sellers could use their past rates of complications to calculate their customers’ average cost for complications.
- Customers could then compare procedure sellers’ total price plus complications, like customers compare product sellers’ total price plus shipping.
*** end quote ***
I especially like my fiancé’s pharmacy experience overseas. She walks into the Phamacia and says I want X. The pharmacist says here it is or “I don’t have it but I do have Y”. And for pocket change, she has all she needs. Of course, she knew what she needed. But she could have consulted a hotel doctor, or got a list from the Embassy.
But on a transaction basis, it was quick, easy, and cheap. Of course, “illegal drugs” would be clean, exact, and cheaper than the street deals.
All the money in “prohibition” could be put to “rehabilitation” for those that want it. Like Portugal.
Argh!
—30—
Leave a Comment » | Healthcare | Tagged: bureaucrats, Congressmen, Department of Government Efficiency, James Anthony, judges, Lew Rockwell, LewRockwell.com, presidents | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
Monday, December 16, 2024
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2024/12/laurence-m-vance/one-agency-that-trump-shouldnt-nominate-anyone-to-lead/
One Agency That Trump Shouldn’t Nominate Anyone To Lead
By Laurence M. Vance
December 11, 2024
*** begin quote ***
President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be the administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has withdrawn. This is one agency that Trump shouldn’t nominate anyone to lead.
*** and ***
It is not the business of the government to concern itself with the personal eating, drinking, or smoking habits of Americans; with the nature and quantity of any substance Americans inhale or otherwise take into their body; with restricting or monitoring any harmful or mood-altering substances that any American wants to consume; or with regulating the consumption, medical, or recreational habits of Americans.
Since the DEA is the main federal agency responsible for the drug war, it needs neither an administrator nor agents. The agency should be shuttered, completely and permanently.
*** end quote ***
Clearly there is no Federal authorization in the Constitution for this continued intrusion into the Rights of ordinary Americans and usurpation of individual States’ Rights.
Argh!
The “(pseudo) War on (some) Drugs” has been a total disaster in so many dimensions.
It’s a good thing to stop. Period!
(And confirm the point that Libertarians have been making for a long long time.)
—30—
Leave a Comment » | GOVEROTRAGEOUS | Tagged: DEA, DJT47, Drug Enforcement Administration, Laurence M. Vance, LewRockwell.com | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
Sunday, December 15, 2024
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-14174993/dogs-chernobyl-nuclear-disaster-mutated-new-superpower.html
Dogs living near Chernobyl nuclear disaster have mutated to develop new superpower
By ELLYN LAPOINTE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
Published: 16:18 EST, 9 December 2024 | Updated: 06:01 EST, 10 December 2024
*** begin quote ***
Dogs living near the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster have mutated to develop a new superpower – they are immune to radiation, heavy metals and pollution.
Scientists collected blood samples from 116 stray dogs living in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ), finding two different populations that were both genetically distinct from other dogs in the surrounding area.
This suggests they have adapted to withstand long-term exposure to this toxic environment and would explain why they have continued to thrive in the wasteland.
*** end quote ***
Hopefully something great can come from this disaster. Imagine if we learnt how to survive and thrive in hostile environments. Might be needed for space travel where such exposures are likely. The “exclusion zone” maybe habitable to humans, but who’d want to live there. Like Sweden, the Amish, and the California Seventh Day Adventists, we don’t often have such obvious control groups. We have so much to learn that we can’t afford to be stupid and unobservant.
—30—
Leave a Comment » | HEALTH | Tagged: California Seventh Day Adventists, Canine Medicine and Genetics, Chernobyl, control groups, Dailymail.com, ELLYN LAPOINTE, Sweden, the Amish | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
Saturday, December 14, 2024
https://www.makeuseof.com/use-amazon-lockers-maximum-privacy/?user=cmVpbmtlZmpAZ21haWwuY29t&lctg=7e6c3cd411d6a815afa18582d54bd455914c43c5f69df1448b8ec20ee4959f71
Why I Use Amazon Lockers for Maximum Privacy (and So Should You)
By Vinayak Guhanarayan
Published 1 day ago
<< EDITOR ADDED DATE 2024-12-10>>
*** begin quote ***
- The Basics of Amazon Lockers
- Make Sure Only You Open Your Packages
- Keep Your Home Address Private
- Prevent Package Theft
- Convenience When You’re Away
- They’re Perfect for Surprise Gifts
One of the perks of shopping on Amazon is that anything you order is delivered right to your doorstep. And while this is an undeniable benefit for many, there are times when doorstep delivery isn’t practical or even feasible. It’s times like these that Amazon Lockers come in handy.
*** and ***
They’re Perfect for Surprise Gifts
When purchasing surprise gifts for my family and friends, I use Amazon’s Archive Order feature for privacy. I also opt for these deliveries to end up at an Amazon Locker. This way, I don’t have to worry about the recipient accidentally opening the package.
This is especially helpful during the holiday season, when most people are likely to order several gifts.
*** end quote ***
I recently had two surprise gifts ruined by delivery at the door.
I really had not considered this option. (Yeah, I’m old, dumb, and don’t think things through to their logical conclusion. My bad!)
The use cases the author outlines are prefect for anyone like me who doesn’t want surprise ruined or package theft.
YMMV but I like this idea.
—30—
Leave a Comment » | Technology | Tagged: Amazon Lockers, makeuseof.com, Package Theft, Vinayak Guhanarayan | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
Friday, December 13, 2024
https://techcrunch.com/2024/12/08/apple-sued-over-abandoning-csam-detection-for-icloud/
Apple sued over abandoning CSAM detection for iCloud
Anthony Ha
10:26 AM PST · December 8, 2024
*** begin quote ***
Apple is being sued over its decision not to implement a system that would have scanned iCloud photos for child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
The lawsuit argues that by not doing more to prevent the spread of this material, it’s forcing victims to relive their trauma, according to The New York Times. The suit describes Apple as announcing “a widely touted improved design aimed at protecting children,” then failing to “implement those designs or take any measures to detect and limit” this material.
Apple first announced the system in 2021, explaining that it would use digital signatures from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and other groups to detect known CSAM content in users’ iCloud libraries. However, it appeared to abandon those plans after security and privacy advocates suggested they could create a backdoor for government surveillance.
*** end quote ***
In this case, I think the risk of “backdoor for government surveillance” is less valuable than the prevention of Child Abuse. IMHO.
I’d be pushing the tech companies hard in the war against children’s exploitation.
Maybe even their devices (i.e., iPhone, Android phones, tablets) should use digital signatures from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
—30—
Leave a Comment » | Technology | Tagged: Anthony Ha, child sexual abuse, CSAM, ICLOUD, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, techcrunch | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
Thursday, December 12, 2024
https://cordcuttersnews.com/walmarts-vizio-watchfree-has-a-ton-of-action-holiday-movies-in-december/
As the weather cools, VIZIO brings the heat with a lineup of thrilling action films this December! Whether you’re in the mood for heart-pounding chases, explosive showdowns, or sharp-witted humor, WatchFree+ has something for everyone. Stream these cinematic favorites for free on your VIZIO TV or the VIZIO mobile app—no subscription required, just a free VIZIO account. Cozy up and enjoy these action-packed blockbusters at no cost.
# – # – # – # – #
I’m always up for free content. You too?
https://www.vizio.com/en/watchfreeplus
—30—
Leave a Comment » | Technology | Tagged: cordcuttersnews, VIZIO, Wal-Mart | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
Thursday, December 12, 2024
FROM 1440 https://join1440.com/
*** begin quote ***
College Football Playoffs
The field for the inaugural 12-team college football playoff was revealed yesterday, with Big Ten champion Oregon capturing the top seed. The Ducks are followed by No. 2 Georgia, No. 3 Boise State, and No. 4 Arizona State, with each of the top four receiving a first-round bye.
Under the new system, the opening round will have the higher-seeded teams host games on campus: No. 5 Texas will host No. 12 Clemson; No. 6 Penn State will welcome No. 11 SMU; No. 7 Notre Dame faces No. 10 Indiana; and No. 8 Ohio State will take on No. 9 Tennessee. The biggest debate of selection day was SMU, which lost the ACC championship on a last-second field goal, nudging out Alabama.
A significant amount of money is at stake. Roughly $115M will be distributed across the conferences based on which teams advance (see details).
The first round will be held Friday, Dec. 20, and Saturday, Dec. 21. See the full schedule of bowl games here; see a playoff bracket here.
*** end quote ***
Sorry but all this chatter about “non-profit”, “amateur athletes”, and “student athletes” is just a “Barbara Streisand” smoke screen for Gooferment Skrules to rake in big bucks from “We, The Sheeple”.
Time to divest “education” from “entertainment”.
Argh! Now that “amateur athletes” can make big bucks from “Name, Image, and Likeness”, lets cut the <synonym for excrement> and stop fooling everyone.
This is nothing more than gambling by Gooferment institutions using Taxpayer money and defrauding those same Taxpayers at the same time.
If you use my Tax dollars, then you can’t use them for anything but “education”! Privatize these “State Actors” away from the font of Taxpayer money.
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Leave a Comment » | Ranting | Tagged: 1440, amateur athletes, College Football Playoffs, Oregon | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
Wednesday, December 11, 2024
FROM TWITTER AKA X
*** begin quote ***
Matt Van Swol
@matt_vanswol
FEMA seems to be very confused about why #WNC residents receiving the “maximum” payout are still upset.
Let me explain:
a) You’re living in your retirement home in Chimney Rock at age 68 with your wife, you both saved up forever for this home.
b) Helene comes in and carries that home down into the lake below, your whole life savings along with it.
c) You barely escape with your life and a few weeks later submit a “housing assistance” form on FEMA’s website.
d) FEMA shows up and takes a look at where your home used to be and says, “Yep, that sucks, you qualify!”
e) You feel lucky, many of your neighbors didn’t qualify so you wait on FEMA to get back to you.
f) A few days later you receive a payout into your bank account of $42,500.
g) You turn to your wife and say… wait a minute, we still have $120,000 left on our mortgage, but we don’t have a house!
h) You call FEMA and say, “Hey, I’m grateful for the $42,500, but I don’t have a home and I still owe 6 figures on the one that doesn’t exist. What do I do now?”
i) FEMA says, totally get it, we can put you up in a hotel for 31 days.
j) You say, I don’t need a hotel, I need a plan to rebuild my home and get my life back together!
k) FEMA says, “Oh right, about that… you can’t actually build on the land your house once existed on because it’s in a flood plain now.”
l) You sit there in silence. Finally you respond, “So my home is in a lake, I only have $42,500 to my name, I owe $120,000 on my mortgage, and the land I currently own, I can’t even build on?”
m) FEMA goes, “That’s correct, here’s a 31 day hotel voucher.
That’s why people are pissed.
*** end quote ***
# – # – # – # – #
Speechless!
Argh!
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Leave a Comment » | GOVEROTRAGEOUS | Tagged: #WNC, @matt_vanswol, Matt Van Swol | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
Wednesday, December 11, 2024
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2024/12/trump_should_bring_a_constitutional_gun_to_the_senate_swamp_knife_fight.html
Trump Should Bring a Constitutional Gun to the Senate / Swamp Knife Fight
By Vince Coyner
<< EDITOR ADDED DATE 2024-12-04>>
*** begin quote ***
But of course, the leftists eviscerated the Founders’ original intentions about the Senate with the 17th Amendment. As a result, the Senate has become simply a more entrenched version of the House. Therefore, if a cabal of geriatric swamp-loving RINOs wants to try to shanghai the president’s mandate because the close balance of party power in the chamber allows them to do so, to paraphrase Sean Connery in The Untouchables, Trump should bring a constitutional gun to their knife fight and keep them from doing so.
*** end quote ***
Once upon a time, in a place far away, the Dead Old White Guys tried to ensure that “these United States” would have a strong voice in the Federal Gooferment. Unfortunately, a befuddled “We, The Sheeple” agreed to strip the “these United States” this power.
Talk about getting money out of politics, Senate “campaigns” funded by rich donors create a “dark money” swamp of conflicted interests. Maybe today’s “Senators” should be like race car drivers and wear the logos of those that “own” them.
Repealing the 17th Amendment would go a long way towards restoring Federalism that the Dead Old White Guys want to restrain tyranny.
Hard to do? Not so much now as “We, The Sheeple” seem to be fed up with the current system.
“Would you tell me please, Mr. Howard, why should I trade one tyrant three thousand miles away for three thousand tyrants one mile away? An elected legislature can trample a man’s rights as easily as a king can.” Mel Gibson as the character Benjamin Martin in the movie The Patriot http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0187393/quotes
Well, at least, you can have the petty tyrants close enough to “influence” them or tar ’n’ feather them. Bringing the selection of Senators back to the local legislature makes more sense than having something that duplicates the House of Representatives.
And, now that we have Zoom meetings, why not keep all the Senators and Representatives “locked up” in the home States? No need for them to go an conspire with these other drones and parasites.
Argh!
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Leave a Comment » | Political | Tagged: americanthinker.com, DJT47, JD Vance, RINOs, Vince Coyner | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
Tuesday, December 10, 2024
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14176379/Piers-Morgan-gleeful-reporter-Taylor-Lorenz-joy-death-UnitedHealthcare-CEO-Brian-Thompson.html
Piers Morgan goes nuclear on gleeful ex-WaPo reporter Taylor Lorenz for saying she felt ‘joy’ after death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson
By EMMA RICHTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
Published: 01:41 EST, 10 December 2024 | Updated: 07:58 EST, 10 December 2024
*** begin quote ***
Piers Morgan was left in shock after gleeful former Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz said she felt ‘joy’ following the death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
On Monday night, Lorez joined Morgan on Piers Morgan Uncensored, as the broadcaster questioned her about her controversial social media posts following Thompson being gunned down in Manhattan on Wednesday.
*** and ***
‘Should they all be killed, these healthcare executives? Would that make you even more joyful?,’ he asked.
Lorenz laughed and then said: ‘Uh, no,’ as Morgan asked her ‘Well, why not?’
‘Why are you laughing? You seem to find the whole thing hilarious. A bloke’s been murdered in the street. I don’t find it funny at all.’
*** end quote ***
As a little L libertarian, I don’t often agree with Piers Morgan but from time to time, he is right on target.
How can you laugh at the murder of anyone?
There are humans who are so broken that it’s hard to feel compassion (i.e., murderer, rapists, genocidal maniacs, the insane). But we should feel sadness every time an irreplaceable life has been lost.
While some deaths are wither unavoidable or unforeseen, deliberately killing anyone is a very serious matter. That’s why we have jury trials.
But as a pro-life little L libertarian, I’m anti-death penalty for anyone. Gooferment can’t be trusted with the power to end someone’s life. Maybe if a convict is too dangerous to put in prison, then maybe it’s morally justifiable.
Left liberals seem to be the only ones who thing that insurance company executives are so evil as to be joyfully murdered.
Argh!
Piers is right on this one. Again, he and I are on the same page.
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Leave a Comment » | DISCOURAGING | Tagged: Brian Thompson, DAILYMAIL, Emma Richter, Piers Morgan, Taylor Lorenz | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
Tuesday, December 10, 2024
https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/robot-balloons-capture-nyc-sized-areas
12-pound US robot balloons capture NYC-sized areas in jaw-dropping details
- These autonomous balloons operate at altitudes ranging from 60,000 to 85,000 feet.
Updated: Nov 28, 2024 07:36 AM EST
Mrigakshi Dixit
*** begin quote ***
As per Space.com, a single balloon can capture the same amount of data as 800,000 drones in a single flight.
Moreover, the balloons can map large disaster zones in detail within hours, rather than weeks.
“Many insurance companies are still relying on aerial data collection methods from the 1950s to assess 2024’s climate risks,” said Rema Matevosyan, CEO of Near Space Labs.
“When you consider that only six percent of the $250 billion in losses from Hurricane Helene may be covered by insurance, it becomes clear that outdated risk assessment methods are creating a domino effect: poor data leads to inadequate policy pricing, which leads to carrier losses, which ultimately forces insurers to abandon entire markets—leaving homeowners stranded and unable to secure mortgages,” Matevosyan added.
*** end quote ***
While I don’t pity the “poor” insurance companies, it makes sense that better data can help EVERYONE properly assess risk.
My personal experience with “federal flood insurance” is dismal.
In the case of shore house, I carried the required policy even after the mortgage was paid off. When there was a flood, I wasn’t covered because it wasn’t my primary residence. So why did I pay those premiums for all those years? “You made a mistake” was their response. Luckily, all I lost was an outside hot water heater; my neighbor’s house, which was 4 inches lower than mine, had a ¼ of a million dollars in repairs. It literally killed him when he was ripped off by contractors.
In the case of my primary residence, I paid flood insurance for decades. When the flood hit, my neignborhood was three feet ABOVE the high water mark. Asking about that was another exercise in stupidity. “You’re in the flood plain.” Revise the map. “No, it’s set by the Federal Government.” Argh!
So maybe if had access to better topology, some politicians and bureaucrats could accurately assess my risk,
Argh! Sure as soon as pigs fly.
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Leave a Comment » | Technology | Tagged: 12-pound US robot balloons, INNOVATION, interestingengineering.com, Mrigakshi Dixit, robot balloons | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
Monday, December 9, 2024
https://www.wcax.com/2024/11/27/14-year-old-accidentally-shoots-16-year-old-accomplice-two-tried-carjack-man-police-say/?tbref=hp&ICID=ref_fark
14-year-old accidentally shoots 16-year-old accomplice as the two tried to carjack a man, police say
By First Alert 4 Staff and Amanda Alvarado
Published: Nov. 27, 2024 at 9:10 AM EST
*** begin quote ***
ST. LOUIS (KMOV/Gray News) – A 14-year-old suspect accidentally shot his 16-year-old accomplice as they tried to carjack a man on Monday.
According to police, the teenagers approached a 73-year-old man who was sitting in a parked car. The teens allegedly pointed a gun at him and demanded his keys. The man threw his keys in a nearby open field.
*** end quote ***
First, gun safety needs to be taught early in life. Eddie Eagle says: “Don’t touch a gun”, Clearly, this youth missed class the day they taught that.
“I told you that ‘juvenile delinquent’ is a contradiction in terms. ‘Delinquent’ means ‘failing in duty.’ But duty is an adult virtue—indeed a juvenile becomes an adult when, and only when, he acquires a knowledge of duty and embraces it as dearer than the self-love he was born with. There never was, there cannot be a ‘juvenile delinquent.’ But for every juvenile criminal there are always one or more adult delinquents—people of mature years who either do not know their duty, or who, knowing it, fail.” ― Robert A. Heinlein, Starship Troopers
All I can suggest is that these young men be charged as adults.
Horific, as that sounds, how else can we send a message that we as a society will not tolerate lawlessness by anyone.
“An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.” — Robert A. Heinlein
Obviously, the 73 year old man needs the means to level the playing field. Time to up the stakes by making “crime” a risky course of action.
“I particularly like unlimited concealed carry. If the criminal regards the general public as sheep to be shorn, then let’s sprinkle in a few “sheepdogs” with big teeth in the flock.
- Guess which gay to bash? Buzz, wrong, you picked a Pink Pistol and you’re dead!
- Guess which woman to bash? Buzz, wrong, you picked a Paxton Quigly and you’re dead!
- Guess which brown person to bash? Buzz, wrong, you picked a Massad Ayoob and you’re dead!”
https://reinkefaceslife.com/2006/11/02/guns-lets-sprinkle-in-a-few-sheepdogs-with-big-teeth-in-the-flock/
GUNS: Let’s sprinkle in a few “sheepdogs” with big teeth in the flock
Thursday, November 2nd, 2006 at 20:26
Ferdinand John Reinke
I still feel this way.
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Leave a Comment » | GUNS | Tagged: Amanda Alvarado, First Alert 4 Staff, KMOV, ST. LOUIS, wcax.com | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
Sunday, December 8, 2024
https://petermcculloughmd.substack.com/p/is-the-nypd-looking-for-the-wrong?publication_id=1119676&post_id=152760792&isFreemail=true&r=3snn7d&triedRedirect=true
Is the NYPD Looking for the Wrong Guy?
Musings about red herrings and a possible doppelgänger in murder of Brian Thompson
John Leake
Dec 07, 2024
*** begin quote ***
When I saw this, it immediately reminded me of the tail of a White-tailed deer. When I was a boy, my dad told me that if you are watching or hunting White-tail bucks, it’s important NOT to focus too much on their white tails when they run away. Your eye gets padlocked on the tail, but then the fleeing deer will tuck it, and you will lose sight of him. Better to focus on the entire animal as he runs away.
I would like to preface the following by stating that I am merely musing. As a true crime writer, I often begin with a hunch and muse about it for a few days. Acquiring more data will either enable me to develop the hunch into a plausible theory or to dismiss it as mere fantasy.
*** and ***
Reviewing the timeline, I wonder how the NYPD went about connecting the young man who checked into the hostel on Nov. 24 with the murder of Brian Thompson on Dec. 4. Can detectives be sure the guy who checked into the hostel is the same guy who shot Thompson?
Did they track the movements of his cell phone—a cell phone he purportedly ditched in an alley a couple of blocks from the murder scene? NOTE: the fact that the killer ditched his cell phone makes me wonder if it is a red herring—that is, I wonder if he wanted the cell phone to be found.
Reviewing the above timeline, I wonder about the critical period between 5:30, when the suspect left the hostel, and 6:44, when the suspect shot Brian Thompson. Again, can the NYPD be sure that the guy who stayed in the hostel on the Upper West Side is the same guy who shot Thompson? If so, how? By Chief Kenny’s own admission, there is a gap in their video surveillance of the suspect between him leaving the hostel at 5:30 and purportedly arriving at the Hilton at 5:41.
*** end quote ***
I think this fellow is onto something.
And, remember that what the “authorities” say publicly may or may not be “true”, what they are really thinking, or all the “facts” they have.
I give his musing about the phone as a key fact that can’t be overlooked. Killers maybe crazy but they are rarely stupid. He made sure that the authorities saw him making calls and dropped it maybe to be found?
All these red herrings and possibly a doppelgänger have all the makings of a good Conspiracy Theory! Too soon to tell but definitely a possibility,
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Leave a Comment » | CONSPIRACYTHEORY: | Tagged: Brian Thompson, doppelgänger, John Leake, red herrings, UHC | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
Sunday, December 8, 2024
https://nypost.com/2024/12/01/us-news/how-scott-presler-helped-trump-win-pennsylvania/?lctg=6080ba40747925275a09dcd3
How a long-haired gay giant helped Trump flip Pennsylvania red
By Ethan Dodd
Published Dec. 1, 2024, 6:56 p.m. ET
- Standing at 6’5″ and 200 pounds with 22 inches of long brown hair running down his back, the gay conservative political activist told The Post, “I’m a big boy.”
*** begin quote ***
Presler also proved himself to be something of a political titan this year.
After losing Pennsylvania by some 80,000 votes in 2020, former President Donald Trump flipped the Keystone State red this November by 120,000 ballots.
Scott Presler helped register 50,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania, which went for Trump by 120,000 votes. Getty Images
That’s due in no small part to Presler, whose nonprofit Early Vote Action put the Trump campaign’s “Swamp the vote” strategy into action in Pennsylvania, registering Republican voters and getting them to vote early, by mail, or “by whatever means necessary,” the group’s website reads.
*** end quote ***
Quite a fellow. It’s an American success story. Maybe you, the reader <breaking the fourth wall>, could get involved and accomplish something. Anything!
Regardless of how you feel about “politics”, the USA needs patriots to save the nation from the forces of evil. Debt, deficits, “counterfeiting”, dispair, and Crony Capitalism. Time for the “sunshine patriots” to step aside and let “We, The Sheeple” clean our Agean Stables.
If this fellow can do it, so can any of us.
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Leave a Comment » | Political | Tagged: 2024 presidential election, Amish, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Ethan Dodd, fraternities, Hunting, lara trump, nypost.com, pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Republican National Committee, sororities, Swing States 2024, truckers, voting | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
Saturday, December 7, 2024
Well, Hello from Mac Book Air aka BLUE aka MCBA5.
It’s my fifth iteration of Mac Book Airs. Officially known as FVHFD4SHQ6L4. When I spilled coffee on it, I bought MCBA6 aka ROSE while iBLUE was in for repair. When it came back, it was demoted to “spare”. From time to time, I’d fire it up and use it a little.
So the cockatoo got to ROSE and feasted on the keyboard. So I backed it up to portable hard drive in prep for the Apple Store.
Luckily it’s still has an active Apple Care. The repair is supposedly covered under accidental damage and will get a new keyboard. Yay. It’ll be back in a week or so.
No problem,! I’ll just fail over to BLUE.
Wow was that an over estimation of the process.
Now, I am a belt ’n’ suspenders guy. One is none; two is one; and three is bliss.
Sure. Unfortunately all the passwords were screwed up since my last use.
No problem it’s easy now to reset them using the Apple Account to reset them.
(Even my extra DUMMYADMIN account which has the same password across all my MCBXs was trashed?)
Of course, BLUE needs to update the OS and a whole load of apps.
No problem. After the FireFox update, all my settings were trashed.
No problem. I use Mozilla’s sync so it recovered all my settings. Almost.
All my extensions were not on the toolbar. Argh! After about a calendar day, I found the fix.
I’m now back to “business”. Until the next troll, gremlin, or bug pops up.
(Imagine if I didn’t use BLUE for one day on the First of Every Month. Argh!)
YMMV!
—30—
Leave a Comment » | Technology | Tagged: Apple Care, Mac Book Air, MAC OS X | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
Reinke Faces Life 
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