DISCOURAGING: My favorite topics — only vet vote, end the income tax, end direct election of Senators, and make more memebers of the House

Saturday, June 28, 2025

Remember Heinlein’s Starship Troopers’ universe? One does not merely have the right to be a citizen and vote by virtue of what Heinlein called the mere accident of birth; rather, one has to earn this right through Federal Service that tested one’s ability and willingness to sacrifice for the greater good of the polity. Bet not a lot of vets would vote for all the undeclared wars the USA has been in since WW2?

And, my many posts about repealing the 16th (income tax) and 17th (direct election of Senators) Amendments. 

Go back to funding the Federal Gooferment with tariffs and excise taxes.  If the Federal Gooferment needs more money then let it ASK the State Gooferment to impose a sales tax and forward the money to the Federal Gooferment!

Return the power to select Senators to the State Legislatures as the Dead Old White Guys designed it.  As a State’s check on Federal power.  Restore it and get the money out of elections and politics.  Too many carpet baggers buying their Senate seats.

And, how about creating more Representatives in the House? What was the representation ratio in the House when the Union was formed? One per some number of citizens in the thousands.  With technology today, it can be a virtual meeting.  With a population of 350,000,000, we can set the number of Representatives at 3500 (one per hundred thousand). Guess these folks never heard of Zoom calls.  We don’t need politicians and bureaucrats in DC where they can conspire easily about how to oppress us. Argh!

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SURVIVAL: Another person is almost a Darwin Award winner

Friday, June 27, 2025

https://nypost.com/2025/06/24/us-news/hiker-rescued-after-falling-out-of-tree-and-getting-lost-in-washington-woods-for-nearly-a-week/

Hiker rescued after falling out of tree and getting lost in Washington woods for nearly a week
By Caitlin McCormack 
Published June 24, 2025, 7:02 p.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

A hiker survived nearly a week lost in the woods of Washington state, including a fall from a tree, and was finally saved after someone heard his desperate cries for help.

*** and ***

The man’s calls in the woods of Suquamish were heard by a nearby tribe member who called 911 on Saturday around 12:30 a.m. to alert authorities, the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office said.

Rescue workers attending to an injured person. 3

A hiker was rescued after spending four or five days lost in the woods in Washington. Kitsap County Sheriff

When a sheriff’s deputy arrived, he too heard a “faint, distressful voice coming from the woods from a man saying he had fallen from a tree,” the office wrote in a Facebook post.

The deputy quickly helped form a search party with assistance from the Washington Explorer Search and Rescue, Kitsap Search Dogs, Olympic Mountain Rescue, and the Suquamish Tribal Police Department.

*** end quote ***

Another person is almost a Darwin Award winner!

Unprepared for a day in the woods; let alone a week.  Sorry but Mother Nature doesn’t forgive foolishness easily.  Look at the number of organizations, amount of human hours, and just the sheer effort.  Who pays for all that?

No compass, no map, no cell phone … …. I could go on and list all the things that he should have had.  Not the least of which is a hiking buddy.

Hiking alone is a sure fire way of winning that Darwin Award!

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NEWJERSEY: NJ DOT and locals spar over the Shark River bridge

Thursday, June 26, 2025

https://nj1015.com/shark-river-bridge-repairs/?lh_aid=84349&lh_cid=hydm0pfq73&utm_campaign=closed_all_summer_a_bridge_too_far&utm_medium=email&utm_source=letterhead&utm_term=nj1015&di=132f09dc6d54c8446d82b9c8a80895c5

Jersey Shore official slams NJ over summer-long Shark River Bridge closure
Dan Alexander
Published: June 20, 2025

*** begin quote ***

🚧 The Shark River Bridge is closed to vehicles and pedestrians

🚧 A County Commissioner says the DOT doesn’t properly maintain the bridge

🚧 The DOT says it spends $1.5 million on preventative maintenance

BELMAR — The New Jersey Department of Transportation is defending its oversight of a Jersey Shore drawbridge that will be out of service all summer, the time when traffic in the area is the busiest.

Monmouth County Commissioner Director Tom Arnone blasted state transportation officials for lackluster maintenance, saying that could have avoided the full closure of the Shark River Bridge, which connects Avon-by-the-Sea and Belmar.

*** end quote ***

Why is anyone surprised when Gooferment fails to do its job?

“I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!” Captain Renault in Casablanca

It’s not like the politicians and bureaucrats of the Pepuls Republik of Nu Jerzee don’t know that this bridge is a constant problem.  Why in this day and age do we still have drawbridges?  And especially on critical roadways?

Thanks Governor Murphy; another great success!

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INTERESTING: Jèrriais continued to be used as a secret language for passing messages for the rest of the war

Wednesday, June 25, 2025

The secret British language that was used to outwit the Nazis

17 July 2023
Oliver Berry Features correspondent

*** begin quote ***

Instead of taking up arms, islanders found other, subtler ways to resist. They engaged in a campaign of passive resistance, and Jèrriais became central to their efforts. With its complex vocabulary and regional variations, the language was all but impossible for outsiders – even French-speaking Germans – to follow. As such, it made the perfect secret code, and islanders increasingly used it to exchange information, make clandestine plans against their occupiers and, occasionally, even mock their them right under their noses.

“Jèrriais articles at the beginning of the occupation managed to get through resistance messages,” explained Geraint Jennings, a linguist, scholar and Jèrriais expert who works at L’Office du Jèrriais to promote the language. “Articles openly printed that it’s best to speak Jèrriais so ‘certain people’ won’t be able to understand it – IE the Germans! Of course, they soon cottoned on to that and clamped down with censorship, but Jèrriais continued to be used as a secret language for passing messages for the rest of the war.”

Ironically, despite its wartime role, the use of Jèrriais declined at an alarming rate after liberation in 1945. Like many of Britain’s minority languages, such as Manx, Gaelic, Welsh and Cornish, Jèrriais was derided as a language spoken only by the uneducated, and it had been in gradual decline since the late 19th Century – a trend that accelerated rapidly after the end of WW2.

*** end quote ***

Fascinating stuff.  Like most of the lost languages, “We, The Sheeple” have no idea what has been lost.

Hopefully, AI and some dedicated individuals can capture and save it.

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DISCOURAGING: Air Traffic Control is a national disgrace — privatize it now

Tuesday, June 24, 2025

https://www.schiffsovereign.com/trends/1-2-trillion-later-and-air-traffic-control-is-still-using-floppy-disks-152992/?inf_contact_key=377b13c49cad6e587c923ea16fe66eae0f4081204f40fabd44f4788ebf57ced1

$1.2 Trillion Later, and Air Traffic Control is Still Using Floppy Disks
    by James Hickman
    on June 18, 2025

*** begin quote ***

In 1988, a Professor of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico named Joseph Tainter published a book called The Collapse of Complex Societies.

Now, “collapse” is a strong word that conjures images of apocalyptic scenarios… Mad Max or Hunger Games drama. But that’s not what Tainter intended.

He uses the term ‘collapse’ in its academic, anthropological meaning, i.e. a breakdown of strength and order in society. In fact Tainter’s entire career has been devoted to investigating how large, sophisticated civilizations throughout history ultimately “collapsed”.

I first read Tainter’s book more than 15 years ago. And, even though it is a work of anthropology, it is, in my opinion, one of the best books on economic history ever produced.

From the Roman Empire to the Mayan people, Tainter explores how civilizations are born, grow, peak, and decay… and how, more often than not, the decay phase is a direct result of failed government or leadership.

*** and ***

Floppy disks were removable storage technology that were prevalent in home computers in the 1980s… sort of like a USB memory stick, only MUCH slower and with a fraction of the storage capacity.

A typical 3.5” floppy disk could only hold 1.44 megabytes of data, i.e. not even enough to store even a single photo from your mobile phone’s camera.

Yet this is the technology that America’s air traffic controllers still have to use… because the Transportation Department thought it was a better idea to spend billions of dollars on a handful of electric vehicle charging stations.

*** end quote ***

ATC (Air Traffic Control) is a national disgrace.  Time to privatize this essential function.

Real simple.  The airlines use it every day.  They should run it.  Bet the infrastructure would be state of the art.  Matching the plane’s controls. 

Transition to the private function would be easy  — you fly in the USA airspace then you get to buy in.  

Same with th airports!  You use, you pay, and you get a share of the decision making.  The more you pay the bigger your vote.

I bet the airplane manufacturers and the drone makers would want to buy in too.  Anything to escape the politicians and bureaucrats meddling in technical decisions!

Since the current system is on the verge of “collapse”, why not try something “radical”? The free market solution!

#privatizetheFAA #endtheFAA

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MEME: Just end the “(pseudo) War on (some) Drugs”

Monday, June 23, 2025

Friday Funnies: The Myth of the Mad King

Just watch out for the jokers

Robert W Malone MD, MS

Jun 20

# – # – # – # – # 

Many a true word is said in a joke!

1. Restore us to “honest” commodity money; 2. End the personal and corporate dole; 3. Stop the various wars — foreign and domestic — repatriate the troops home; 4. End the drug war; pardon all non-violent drug offenders; 5. Transition out of gooferment funded public education; 6. Downsize ALL gooferments; 7. Eliminate all taxes but tariffs and excise.

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QUOTE: Who said “better to be uninformed than misinformed.”

Sunday, June 22, 2025

https://quoteinvestigator.com/2016/12/03/misinformed/

“One must select wisely a source of news; otherwise it would be better to be uninformed than misinformed.” — Ezra Taft Benson 

# – # – # – # – # 

*** begin quote ***

Mark Twain? Denzel Washington? Thomas Jefferson? Thomas Fuller? Orville Hubbard? Ezra Taft Benson? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: A cynical attitude toward the media is widespread today, but this is not a new development. Supposedly, Mark Twain made the following remark:

    If you don’t read the newspaper you are uninformed; if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed.

Are these really the words of the famous humorist?

*** end quote ***

I love the investigation of quotes done on this website.  They do a real service to prevent misattribution.

Kudos!

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INTERESTING: Prairie dogs are the Paul Reveres of the Great Plains

Saturday, June 21, 2025

https://apnews.com/article/prairie-dogs-birds-eavesdropping-warning-0430300793f1f0e267e07e9942fad2e9?utm_campaign=website&utm_medium=email&utm_source=nautilus-newsletter

Science
A grassland bird eavesdrops on prairie dog calls to keep itself safe from predators
By CHRISTINA LARSON
Updated 10:04 AM EDT, June 12, 2025

*** begin quote ***

WASHINGTON (AP) — Prairie dogs are the Paul Reveres of the Great Plains: They bark to alert neighbors to the presence of predators, with separate calls for dangers coming by land or by air.

“Prairie dogs are on the menu for just about every predator you can think of”— golden eagles, red-tailed hawks, foxes, badgers, even large snakes — said Andy Boyce, a research ecologist in Montana at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.

Those predators will also snack on grassland nesting birds like the long-billed curlew.

*** end quote ***

Isn’t “nature” amazing?

Who have thought that birds could evolve to listen and differentiate between “danger – ground” and “danger – air”?

I find this almost unbelievable.  I know from all the war movies that listening and smelling was ssential skills in most kinds of warfare and hunting. 

From my time in survival school, I know that animals had no worry about me “sneaking” up and eating them.  I wouldn’t have survived on what I could have caught.  Laugh!

In our modern world of “bread and circuses” is there equivalent skills in keep us safe.  Like “situational awareness” to avoid crime.  “Marksmanship” to end threats quickly.  “Listening” and “reading” to avoid frauds and misinformation.  “Distrust all experts, politicians, and bureaucrats” who seek to deceive us for their own reasons.

Maybe we can be like “the Paul Reveres of the Great Plains” and warn family, friends, acquaintances, others of our species, and other species to the dangers we see?

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RANT: Red Sox fans fume over Rafael Devers trade — Any taxes due?

Friday, June 20, 2025

https://nypost.com/2025/06/16/sports/red-sox-fans-fume-over-rafael-devers-trade-with-100m-conspiracy-theory/

Red Sox fans fume over Rafael Devers trade with $100M conspiracy theory

By Ryan Giancola 

Published June 16, 2025, 9:37 a.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

The owner of the Red Sox, John Henry, also owns the Premier League-winning soccer team Liverpool.

Simmons hinted on X that the possible motive behind the trade was to help finance the newest transfer to Liverpool, Florian Wirtz. Liverpool reportedly paid his former club $100 million for the midfielder.

Devers is in the third season of a 10-year, $313 million contract and had been at odds with the team this spring training, after he was moved from third base to DH for the newly signed Alex Bregman.

*** end quote ***

Good for the Yankees? 

It’s all about $.  Who cares what the rubes think?  They will just keep spending their money on these circuses.

My question is “Is that taxable”?   Short term capital gains, long term capital gains, sales tax?

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MONEY: Walmart and Amazon are going to “mint” Stablecoins

Thursday, June 19, 2025

https://www.wsj.com/finance/banking/walmart-amazon-stablecoin-07de2fdd?st=Uj2rA8&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink&utm_source=tldrnewsletter

Walmart and Amazon Are Exploring Issuing Their Own Stablecoins

  • Corporate coins could take payments activity away from banks and the traditional financial system

By Gina Heeb, AnnaMaria Andriotis, Josh Dawsey
Updated June 13, 2025 4:51 pm ET

# – # – # – # – # 

FROM TLDR 2025-06-16

*** begin quote ***

Walmart and Amazon Are Exploring Issuing Their Own Stablecoins

Several multinational giants, including Walmart and Amazon, are discussing potential efforts to issue stablecoins. Whether these initiatives will go ahead depends on a bill still yet to clear the Senate and House called the Genius Act, which establishes a regulatory framework for stablecoins. Stablecoins could allow merchants to bypass traditional payment rails, which cost them billions of dollars in fees each year. A regulatory framework for stablecoins would enable an alternative payment type for merchants that could significantly lower their expenses and create competition against Visa and Mastercard. 

*** end quote ***

# – # – # – # – # 

To me this is BIG (<synonym for the act of procreation in real time>) deal.

I never understood why Walmart was allowed to establish its own bank.  The politicians and bureaucrats are always whining about the “poor unbanked”.  But Walmart could solve that problem quickly, cheaply, and easily.  So could Amazon.

Stablecoins by either of them could serve the same purpose as a bank without the regulatory hassle.

Let’s wait and see.  Competition in the “traditional financial system” for JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Visa, and Mastercard could certainly be good for the consumers.

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