SURVIVAL: 12-year-old Uses Boy Scout Know-How

Sunday, November 28, 2021

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/12-year-old-rescues-lost-couple-and-injured-dog-on-a-hike-in-waimanu-trail/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_medium=weekly_mailout&utm_source=24-11-2021

12-year-old Uses Boy Scout Know-How to Rescue Lost Couple and Injured Dog on a Hike
By Andy Corbley – Nov 19, 2021

*** begin quote ***

First, he suggested they build a stretcher by using two lengths of wood and stringing their t-shirts across it—a technique David had learned from his eagle scout older brother.

“It was his idea to make the stretcher,” said Christine. “We didn’t think it would work because we didn’t think the dog would get onto the stretcher. Smokey was just happy to, and we just carried him out.”

Someone (presumably David) knew the way back to the parking lot as well, and so they all worked together, sometimes in twos, sometimes in fours, to get Smokey to safety, who despite his injuries occasionally hopped off to give some relief to the exhausted hikers.

David would later take the opportunity to tell KHON2 News when you’re off on a hike, a good way to be prepared is to imagine what could go wrong, and plan for that.

*** end quote ***

How can anyone let themself get “lost” without a compass, a map, and the knowledge to use them?

—30—


PRODUCTIVITY: Have the doctor “rat out” the old driver

Saturday, November 27, 2021

https://www.state.nj.us/mvc/drivertopics/reportconcern.htm

Reporting A Concern 

Serious concerns about an individual’s driving skills can be reported to the MVC’s Medical Review Unit using the process described below. The Medical Review Unit screens and establishes cases based on referrals from medical professionals, police, courts, social workers and family members. Physicians are required by law to notify the MVC if patient suffers from a recurrent seizure, recurrent periods of unconsciousness or for impairment or loss of motor coordination due to conditions such as, but not limited to, epilepsy. (NJSA 39:3-10.4).

Anonymous reports cannot be accepted.

The American Medical Association (AMA) 1999 ethical guidelines states that all physicians are ethically responsible for notifying their state motor vehicle department if they believe a patient may not be able to drive safely.

In order to report a concern:

Write a letter detailing the motorist’s medical condition and as much of the following information as possible: name and address, driver license number and date of birth. Include your full name and address, your relationship to the driver and your observations regarding the person’s driving safety.

# – # – # – # – #

Having ruined a family relationship by “taking away the keys”, when the situation arose gain, I recommended making the person’s doctor the villain in this particular morality play.

So what if you have spend a few extra eons in Purgatory for a “little white lie”, it’s better than an eternity in Hell for your part in maimin or killing someone.

—30—


GOVEROTRAGEOUS: Social Security is the biggest Ponzi scheme ever!

Friday, November 26, 2021

66247127 10158072914274381 3119017886148984832 n

# – # – # – # – #

I usually joke that I have to live to 132 to steal all my soccer contributions back.

Now I’m not even sure that will be enough.

How did “We, The Sheeple” ever let the FDR and his socialists pull off the greatest theft in human history?

Now, how do we unwind it?

—30—


INTERESTING: Mama dolphin smack the leader of a human diving group?

Thursday, November 25, 2021

https://www.futilitycloset.com/2021/11/23/lodging-a-complaint/

Among the most compelling anecdotes suggesting that dolphins have concepts of ‘wrong’ behavior is Thomas White’s description of how a human snorkeler observing Atlantic spotted dolphins off the Bahamas went outside the bounds of the norms of behavior expected by the dolphins of human observers at that site. The swimmer approached a calf engaged in learning to fish with its mother, a no-no in the rules of engagement between swimmers and these dolphins built up over years. When this happened, the mother then swam not to the hapless trespasser but to the leader of the group of swimmers, whom she could identify, and tail-slapped, her displeasure apparently directed at the leader who had not controlled the behavior of those being led.

— Hal Whitehead and Luke Rendell, The Cultural Lives of Whales and Dolphins, 2015

# – # – # – # – #

Fascinating!

Speechless.

Nearly human?  Maybe better than human.  The was some humans act in traffic, for sure.

—30—


SAFETY: Get your exercise and walk around the care and install a dash cam

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10230701/Shocking-footage-captures-moment-vehicle-blows-red-light-hits-pedestrian.html

​Maybe all the cars should come with dash cams; not backup cameras.

(Weren’t / aren’t drivers taught to walk around the car  before starting?  I still do.  Never found anything, but hate it if I didn’t and destroyed anything.)

What else are people being taught?

  • Stop at the red lights!
  • Open driver’s door with you right hand.
  • Lock the car and take the keys.

Argh!

—30—​


GOVERNACIDE: Time for the FBI to be “defunded”

Tuesday, November 23, 2021

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10233133/Stoneman-High-School-massacre-families-127-5MILLION-payout.html

  • DOJ to pay $130M to Parkland massacre families after FBI failed to investigate tip off that student Nikolas Cruz was planning a mass school shooting
  • Family of 16 of the 17 killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland have reached a monetary settlement with the government
  • Settlement comes over the FBI’s failure to stop the gunman even though it had received information he intended to attack
  • Attorneys said the settlement’s details are confidential, but a person familiar with the deal said the government will pay the families $127.5 million overall

By ASSOCIATED PRESS and HANNAH PARRY FOR DAILYMAIL.COM 
PUBLISHED: 01:55 EST, 23 November 2021 | UPDATED: 04:23 EST, 23 November 2021

*** begin quote ***

The families of most of those killed and wounded in the 2018 Florida high school massacre announced Monday have reached a multi-million dollar settlement with the federal government over the FBI’s failure to stop the gunman even though it had received information he intended to attack.

Attorneys for 16 of the 17 killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland and some of those wounded said they have reached a monetary settlement with the government over the FBI’s failure to investigate a tip it received about a month before the massacre. 

The 17th family chose not to sue.

*** end quote ***

I don’t understand Family #17’s decision.  That would be a good follow up story.

OK, what heads rolled at the FBI.

We’ve seen all the instigation and entrapment stories.  Now it’s time for “We, The Sheeple” to lower the boom on the FBI as an organization.

Perhaps in needs to be reformulated into strictly a technical assistance to the appropriate agencies of the State’s.

Perhaps the Secret Service can take over it’s duties as “law enforcement”.

Argh!

—30—


GOVERNACIDE: Testing killed people

Monday, November 22, 2021

https://nypost.com/2021/11/20/biggest-us-nuclear-bomb-test-destroyed-an-island-and-lives/

Biggest US nuclear bomb test destroyed an island—and this man’s life
ByEric Spitznagel
November 20, 2021

*** begin quote ***

Just before dawn on March 1, 1954, John Anjain was enjoying coffee on the beach in the South Pacific when he heard a thunderous blast, and saw something in the sky that he said “looked like a second sun was rising in the west.”

Later that day, “something began falling upon our island,” said Anjain, who at the time was 32 and chief magistrate of the Rongelap atoll, part of the Marshall Islands. “It looked like ash from a fire. It fell on me, it fell on my wife, it fell on our infant son.”

It wasn’t a paranormal experience. Anjain and his five young sons, along with the 82 other inhabitants of Rongelap, were collateral damage from a “deadly radioactive fallout from a hydrogen bomb test… detonated by American scientists and military personnel,” writes Walter Pincus in his new book, “Blown to Hell: America’s Deadly Betrayal of the Marshall Islanders” (Diversion Books), out now.

*** end quote ***

I’m speechless.

It just goes to show you that Gooferment is immoral, ineffective, and inefficient. As well as untrustworthy.

—30—


INSPIRATIONAL: Missed shots and accepting criticism

Monday, November 22, 2021

https://www.positivityblog.com/keep-your-head-up-quotes/?utm_source=pocket_mylist

83 Keep Your Head Up Quotes (+ My 3 Favorite Tips for Tough Times)
By Henrik Edberg Updated October 29, 2021 

*** begin quote ***

Sometimes life is simply tough. And it is hard to stay motivated and to keep a positive mindset.

So in the first part of today’s post I’d like to share 83 of the most powerful quotes that will help you to keep your head up, reload your motivation and to keep going even through difficult days.

And in the second part I’m going to share 3 of my favorite tips that have helped me many times through dark or uncertain times.

*** and ***

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” — Michael Jordan

*** and ***

2. Learn from criticism but remember that all criticism you get is not about you.

When you get criticized, don’t just dismiss it. Instead, first ask yourself questions like:

  • Can I learn something from this piece of criticism?
  • Is there perhaps actually something here that I may not want to hear but that could help me to improve?
  • Remain clear-headed, open and take a couple of minutes to figure out if there is something here that can help you.

But also keep in mind that all criticism you get will not be helpful. And some of what people may tell you are simply attacks.

What can you do then?

Well, what works for me is to kindly remind myself that criticism isn’t always about me.

Because in real life people will have a bad day or month. Some will – at least at this point in time – hate some part of their life or not be well.

*** end quote ***

Anyone who knows me, knows that from Halloween to Saint Patrick’s Day is my “blue period”.  Too many reminders of sad date, “celebrations”, and past mistakes.

I learned from my sainted Mother to forgive myself of all my sins of omission and commission after a year.  On her deathbed after 6 decades, she still was regretting who she picked as my father.  Little did she know that she had caused me to formulate a heuristic (a big word for “rule of thumb” or approximation), “Less than a year, it’s a mistake; more than a tear, it’s a lesson”.  Still in all it’s hard for me to believe that I was that stupid, made that many mistakes, and | or missed so many opportunities.

Well here’s a good quote and a great tactic.  Maybe you can teach old dog’s new tricks.

—30—


MONEY: The US dollar that is the fraud

Sunday, November 21, 2021

>>>> I really wish I understood the crypto world better. It seems like such a scam.

There are numerous good videos on crypto, bitcoin, etherium, and other “distributed blockchain ledgers”.  Some sites will even give you coins to watch their tutorials.

Essentially a bitcoin is nothing more than having a number that is the product of two large prime numbers.   For example, 77 is the product of 7 and 11.  You prove that “77” is yours because you have a public key of 7 and a private key of 11.  This “ownership” is written in a “distributed ledger” in lots of places.  That’s all you really need to understand.  

The “mining” that everyone talks about is people finding these pairs and writing the public key found and their private key to the distributed ledger.  Then, transfers are done by someone combining that public key to your wallet’s public key using their private key and writing it to the ledger.  Copies of the ledger are then created by all the other ledgers who repeat that calculation and confirm it. 

Sounds complicated but it really isn’t.

What makes these “coins” of great interest is that, in the case of bitcoin and bitcoin/cash, there is a limited supply that can not be inflated by anyone.  Including the Gooferment.  As such, it becomes “maney”, similar to gold and silver.  Especially as it gets wide spread adoption, it will become that store of value that every one seeks who realizes that the fiat Federal Reserve Note is essentially being made worthless by the Gooferment inflating the number of “dollars” in circulation.   

Just like the Romans devalued the denarius (silver) coin and the French the (gold) franc, so to the USA is devaluing the dollar to give politicians the money to spend on our version of “bread and circuses”.

Like all empires, the USA will financially collapse … … sooner or later.

BITCOIN might emerge as the money of the future.  

I probably won’t be around to see it, but I believe it WILL happen.  

If you’re looking for a scam, it’s the US dollar that is the fraud.

Sadly.  Sigh!

—30—


GOVEROTRAGEOUS: Rent control — yet another lesson in socialist ekkynomics

Saturday, November 20, 2021

https://fee.org/articles/st-paul-just-implemented-the-nation-s-strictest-rent-control-law-it-s-already-backfiring-tremendously/

St. Paul Just Implemented the Nation’s Strictest Rent Control Law. It’s Already Backfiring Tremendously
It’s one of the strictest rent control measures in the US—if not the world.
Tuesday, November 16, 2021
Brad Polumbo

*** begin quote ***
 
Swedish economist once remarked that rent control “appears to be the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city—except for bombing.” Unfortunately, we may soon see the destructive consequences of laws limiting rent increases running rampant in St. Paul, Minnesota.  

The city just approved a rent control measure that will limit landlords’ ability to increase rents on its 65,000+ rental properties. They will not be able to increase prices by more than 3 percent each year under the new law. Controversially, the initiative does not account for inflation and applies to new construction, not just existing properties. This makes the St. Paul rent control measure one of the strictest in the US—if not the world.

Opponents of the measure made all the usual critiques. They pointed out, for example, that a supermajority of economists, 81 percent per one survey, oppose rent control because of its long-run consequences. Yes, some renters save money in the short term by enjoying artificially low rents. But the restricted prices limit future construction and housing supply which ultimately leads to a housing shortage and less affordable housing in the long run.

In St. Paul, these consequences are already starting to materialize.

*** end quote ***

Economics is call the “dismal science” because it forces us to acknowledge that resources are scarce and limited.  Everything is a trade-off.  You can have X or Y but not both.  And no matter what a politician promises, they can’t make more of X or Y.  If anything, they make less of both X and Y.  Someone has to pay them for their “sage” “leadership”.

So now Saint Paul will have less housing in the future.  And, what do you think that does to the cost of existing housing?  If you said the price goes up, you get a gold star.  And if the price is not alloweded to rise because of politicians, then what happens?  Quality goes down.  A black market emerges.  There’s a shortage of available housing for people who really need it. 

And, the people blame the “free market” and not the politicians who cause the problem.

It’s time to call them to account.

Too bad that cities are destroyed by “rent control”.

But that’s the cost of the lack of any education in economics.

Life is tough; it’s tougher when humans are stupid!

—30—


RANT: Does Gavin Newsom have Bells Palsy?

Friday, November 19, 2021

https://www.theburningplatform.com/2021/11/17/gavin-newsom-is-lying-about-his-vaccine-injury-and-heres-how-i-will-prove-it-to-you/

Gavin Newsom is lying about his vaccine injury and here’s how I will prove it to you
Guest Post by Steve Kirsch

*** begin quote ***

He’s a hypocrite. Not only did he lie about his vaccine injury, but his kids aren’t vaccinated either. He wants YOUR kids to be vaccinated, but he won’t vaccinate his kids. Here’s why…

Recently, I wrote a very popular article recently about Gavin Newsom being vaccine injured. It got over 250K views, my most popular article so far.

As expected, Newsom denied it:

Naturally, PolitiFact, FactCheck.org, and Newsweek immediately “fact checked” my article and deemed it to be false. Of course, none of them could explain why Newsom was a no-show at the UN Climate summit via Zoom. Not even for 5 minutes via Zoom!?! Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Not a very thorough fact check. And none of the organizations analyzed the before and after Newsom videos either by asking a prominent neurologist for their opinion. I guess it is hard to find competent help in the fact checking department nowadays.

Well, I just got confirmation I was right

Not only was Newsom himself vaccine injured and deliberately covered it up, but I found out that his kids aren’t vaccinated either. Want to know why? Because his wife is smart: she knows that vaccines are dangerous. She doesn’t want their kids to be vaccine injured. And she’s right! Good for her. Bravo!

But Gavin’s stance is horrible. He’s not just offering his advice on how you should care for your kids. The governor is dictating medical treatment for your kids based on what he believes. He’s forcing his opinion on your kids. But for his own kids? No way are they going to get vaccinated.

*** end quote ***

Sorry, but politicians and bureaucrats lie, cheat, and steal.

Two sets of rules — one for me and another for thee.

If the people of the Pepuls Republik of Kaliforkneeah accept this behavior then they deserve everything they get.

The only answer is secession.  Let everyone go their own way in peace.  The Federal Gooferment with its one size fits all policies just encourages bad behavior.

A plague on all their houses.  Why should we allow them such power to “LORD” over us little people.

As far as Newsome is concerned, “I wouldn’t believe you, if your tongue came notarized.” … attributed to Judge Marilyn Milian, but may have an earlier history.

—30—


MEME: Daughter

Thursday, November 18, 2021

Dont raise daughter look for knight raise sword herself

[JR: There is so much truth in this, it just stuns me. Should be a comparable one for sons: “Don’t read your son to be knight; raise him to …

… “find an equal warrior to get through the tough times ahead.”?]

—30—


TECHNOLOGY: APPLE and GOOGLE with suck at tagging photos

Wednesday, November 17, 2021

I like to phot everything that passes through my hands.  ID cards, letters, people, etc. etc.

From time to time I need to find the “needle in a haystack”.  Unfortunately, I can’t “tag” photos to indicate what they are and why they’d be important.

Argh!

I have to create “albums” and “folders” and what not that some developer thinks is “kool”.

Argh!

Why not tags like Twitter and Facebook?  Why reinvent the wheel?  Like labels in Gmail but not in photos.

Argh!

—30—


RANT: This was a crime!

Tuesday, November 16, 2021

https://nypost.com/2021/11/10/basketball-cheap-shot-leaves-teen-girl-concussed/

Teen girl concussed after brutal basketball attack
By Ryan Glasspiegel
November 10, 2021 6:02pm  Updated

*** begin quote *** 
 
A disturbing cheap shot during a California basketball game left a teen girl concussed and her mother “in shock.”

At an event in Southern California, 15-year-old Lauryn Ham was sucker-punched by one of her opponents. According to her mother, she’s still recovering from the brutal punch over the weekend.

“Of course I was in total shock,” the victim’s mother, Alice Ham, told ABC7. “Just couldn’t believe that could happen to my child.”

Ham said her daughter was disoriented when she came home after the game.

“The person in question went down the court and shot a 3-pointer, landed, fell backwards into my daughter,” Ham said. “As they got up and turned and were walking back down to the other side of the court, her mom says to her, ‘You need to hit her for that.’ And the child in question sucker-punched my daughter.”

*** end quote ***

It was a vicious assault.

I agree with the victim’s Mom it was criminal.

At the very least, there should be public outrage.

What are we as a society coming to?

—30—

FOLLOW UP:

https://nypost.com/2021/11/12/ex-nbaer-corey-benjamin-apologizes-for-daughters-sucker-punch/

[JR: New mother told her to hit the girl? Sounds like the mom needs to go to jail too.  What are they teaching children these days?]

—30—


TECHNOLOGY: Shouldn’t we have universal distress alarms

Monday, November 15, 2021

https://www.cnet.com/news/missing-teen-girl-rescued-after-using-hand-signal-learned-on-tiktok/#ftag=CAD590a51e

The Women’s Funding Network created the sign as a lifeline for those trapped at home with abusers during the pandemic.

# – # – # – # – #

Like keystones on a computer or a pin sequence at an ATM.

For an ATM pin, I’d suggest 9111 being that duress alarm.

Tellers have such a button, but why not have it as keystrokes on their keyboard?

—30—


APPLICATION: Address Book — anyone have a good solution?

Sunday, November 14, 2021

I’m really tired of struggling with various address books  — IOS, OSX, Android, Google.  Does anyone have an evernote template that could be the universal address book.  I remember an old Windoze app “Little Black Book” that just allowed one to print out specialize address books for different purposes.  For example, I used to print various ones for older relatives that only had “their” items of interest.  Now, it just seems to be a virtually impossible to print something that would look like an address book without a lot of manual effort.  Any suggestions?

—30—


GUNS: Retired Chicago Firefighter 1, armed robber 0 — permanently

Saturday, November 13, 2021

https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2021/11/08/retired-chicago-firefighter-fatally-shoots-would-be-armed-robber-n51826

Retired Chicago Firefighter Fatally Shoots Would-Be Armed Robber
By Cam Edwards | Nov 08, 2021 9:30 AM ET

*** begin quote ***

According to the Chicago Tribune, a 77-year old retired Chicago Fire Department captain was working in an open garage on Saturday afternoon when a vehicle pulled up on the alleyway fronting the garage.

An assailant got out of the vehicle, pulled out a gun and demanded the man’s property.

The 77-year-old took out his own gun and shot at the would-be robber, hitting him in the head and chest, police said. The robber, whose identity was not released, died at the scene, police said.

The 77-year-old man was not injured.

Both guns were found at the scene, police said. The 77-year-old man, who retired from the department about 15 years ago, has a valid firearm owners identification card and conceal carry license.

The man didn’t need a concealed carry license to possess a firearm in his garage, and it would have been nice for the Tribune to point that fact out to its readers, but at least we know the would-be victim was a legal gun owner. And the fact that the Tribune didn’t mention anything about the would-be robber having a FOID card or a concealed carry license in his possession is an indication that, just like the vast majority of Chicago’s violent crimes, this latest attack was carried out by someone who’s not legally possessing their gun.

As for the fact that the retired firefighter was attacked in broad daylight in his garage, the truth is that carjackers and armed robbers aren’t waiting for the sun to go down before they hit the streets. The website CWB Chicago says police are investigating several carjacking crews that have no qualms about committing their crimes while the sun is still shining.

*** end quote ***

I’m a pro-life little L libertarian.  But the right of self-defense is so basic.  Seems like Chicago is closer to the Law of the Jungle than it should be.  But I’m glad that there’s one criminal less to plague the good guys.

Seems like Chicago should be encouraging concealed carry to even the sides between the citizens and criminals.

—30—

 


RANT: TWITTER is blocking stuff about Covid 19

Friday, November 12, 2021

*** begin quote ***

Ferdinand Reinke
@reinkefj
 
@nutrition_facts
https://bit.ly 3BQbTi5

Fisetin has been shown to reduce the burden of COVID-19 in the lab and an animal model with significant results; researchers are now testing it in skilled nursing facility Fisetin is a flavonoid/need to eat 37 strawberries day

*** end quote ***

I follow “Nutrition Facts dot org” for their plant-based evidence-based diet information.  I saw an article from Mercola about a strawberries being tested in a Covid 19 study.  Since this would be right up Dr. Greger’s alley, I went to tweet it to @nutrition_facts.

Bang!  It was blocked. 

They are blocking anything from Dr. Mercola’s site. 

BUT by the subtly use of a space in the link, I was about to bypass their block. 

Note this is calling one Doctor’s observation to another Doctor’s attention.  No one was offering advice or an opinion. No one was asserting that this was a cure all.

(Personally I like strawberries and could easily enjoy 37 per day. Any Covid benefit would be a good excuse.  And, as far as I know, there are no harmful side effect from overdosing on strawberries. Laugh!)

That’s why this whole kerfuffle is so DUMB!

Leave people alone to follow what they perceive as their own best interest.  We are not sheep to be lead by a Judas goat like Twitter.

—30—


VETERANS: Pvt. Henry Gunther should be the icon for all of America’s wars

Thursday, November 11, 2021

https://dailyreckoning.com/a-tribute-to-pvt-henry-gunther-and-others

A Tribute to Pvt. Henry Gunther and Others
By Brian Maher
Posted November 11, 2020

*** begin quote ***

102 years ago today, on the 11th month, 11th day and 11th hour… the guns went quiet on the Western Front…

And the white doves of peace took wing.

Today we turn away from the Sturm und Drang of the present — from the world of manna, from the election, from the virus — to reflect briefly upon that morning of Nov. 11, 1918… and a little-known chapter of history.

*** and ***

Three words spring to mind:

Spite. Ambition. Stupidity.

But there were careers to consider. Consider the general who invaded Stenay so his men could bathe — a certain William Mason Wright.

After the war he was promoted. Executive Assistant to the Chief of Staff of the Army was his new title.

He could claim the distinction, after all, of capturing the final American objective of the war.

A less gaudy distinction fell to a young man under his command that morning — Pvt. Henry Gunther by name, of our former city of Baltimore.

This poor fellow was the last allied fatality of that fateful day, Nov. 11, 1918 — and of the Great War itself. Time of death:

10:59 a.m.

Below, we show you why the American entry into WWI was a foolish idea, in addition to other foolish ideas that have landed America in trouble. 

*** end quote ***

Let’s no forget Pvt. Henry Gunther and all the other MIAs, KIAs, and all the other broken casualties of war.

And, the politicians and bureaucrats that fight pointless wars with other people children!

Remind them often.

—30—


GOVEROTRAGEOUS: Is the FBI Joe Biden’s clean up squad?

Wednesday, November 10, 2021

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/5-unanswered-questions-fbi-raids-project-veritas-over-missing-biden-diary?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zerohedge%2Ffeed+%28zero+hedge+-+on+a+long+enough+timeline%2C+the+survival+rate+for+everyone+drops+to+zero%29

5 Unanswered Questions As FBI Raids Project Veritas Over A Missing Biden Diary
BY TYLER DURDEN
SUNDAY, NOV 07, 2021 – 03:00 PM
Authored by Jonathan Turley

*** begin quote ***

There is a curious story out this weekend on reported FBI raids of writers or associates of Project Veritas, the conservative investigative journalism outfit. Project Veritas has been described variously as “Gonzo” or “guerilla” journalism and some insist it is more of a political than a press organization. However, it fits the definition of journalism, in my view, and that makes the raids troubling. All the more troubling is the cause: the missing diary of President Biden’s daughter Ashley.

*** and ***

There are a host of unanswered questions. Here are five to start with:

  • What was the context for the diary’s loss? (Did Ashley Biden leave the diary in a room or was it stolen?)
  • What is the alleged federal crime (and what is the precedent for a major federal investigation over such an alleged theft)?
  • What precautions were taken by the Biden Administration in light of the claimed media status of the targeted individuals?
  • Why was there a delay in this action being taken if the alleged theft occurred a year ago?
  • Has this matter been under investigation for a year and did the White House request the intervention of the FBI?

Regardless of how one feels about Project Veritas, there should be calls from media outlets for some answers to these basic questions.  Likewise, Congress should be seeking such answers as part of its oversight responsibilities.

*** end quote ***

Remember how they acted about Hunter Biden’s forgotten laptop?

And the truth about that has been very neatly dropped down the “memory hole” and forgotten.

Just like the JFK assassination!

When we will EVER get “the truth” about anything?

“Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Whose gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinburg? I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago, and you curse the Marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know. That Santiago’s death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don’t want the truth because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post. Either way, I don’t give a damn what you think you are entitled to.” Colonel Jessep in A Few Good Men played by Jack Nicholson

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NEWJERSEY: MVC reinvents the wheel

Tuesday, November 9, 2021

Boondoggle alert NJMVC is going to build secure doc for phones. Guess google pay and apple wallet are insecure? Or no corrupt contracts to hand out. Argh!

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SURVIVAL: Some apps you should have on your phone.

Tuesday, November 9, 2021

https://theprepared.com/everyday-carry/reviews/mobile-apps/

Best survival apps for your phone
 UPDATED 4 WEEKS AGOBY GIDEON PARKER

*** begin quote ***

Your phone / mobile device is one of the few things you’re almost guaranteed to have nearby in an emergency. This list covers third-party apps worth downloading and lesser-known features built into Android and iOS phones.

*** and ***

  • Citizen (iOS, Android, free) is a crowdsourced incident alert system. If you or others see something such as a fire, police interaction, or terrorist attack, spread the word or even livestream video to notify other app users.

*** and ***

  • Signal (iOS, Android, free) is an all-in-one app for text, voice, and video. SMS text messages (ie. normal/classic texting) are terribly insecure, and most other apps like Telegram and WhatsApp aren’t much better. Signal is the trusted, encrypted king endorsed by security experts like Bruce Schneier and Edward Snowden.

*** end quote ***

And, of course, I recommend what3words to give you a very precise location description.

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TECHNOLOGY: Apple frustrates the “right to repair”

Monday, November 8, 2021

https://www.reviewgeek.com/102499/apple-prevents-iphone-13-screen-repairs-in-what-ifixit-calls-an-unprecedented-lockdown/\

Apple’s Attempt to Prevent iPhone 13 Repairs Hurts Customers and Professionals
ANDREW HEINZMAN NOV 5, 2021, 3:26 PM EDT 

*** begin quote ***

When our friends at iFixit did their first iPhone 13 teardown, they called the device “a new low” for repairability. Apple took unprecedented steps to prevent “unauthorized” iPhone 13 repairs—particularly screen replacements, which (by design) break the phone’s Face ID functionality.

Screen replacements are by far the most common phone repair procedure. They’re also fairly cheap and easy to perform, so as you can imagine, they’re the bread and butter of small repair shops. But unless Apple gives you permission to perform an iPhone 13 screen or battery swap, you will end up with broken features or a non-working phone.

And I’m not exaggerating when I say that you need Apple’s “permission” to repair the iPhone 13. Its components are serialized—meaning that parts like the display and Face ID camera can identify each other using unique serial numbers. To make one of these serialized components work with a donor part, an authorized Apple technician needs to sync each part with Apple’s cloud network and request approval from the corporation.

*** end quote ***

It seems apparent that Apple wants to control its “customers” like sheep to be shorn.

As much as I am a little L libertarian, we are stuck with the current system until “We, The Sheeple” stand up and say “NO!”.

‘I’M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!’ I want you to get up right now, sit up, go to your windows, open them and stick your head out and yell – ‘I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!’ Things have got to change. But first, you’ve gotta get mad!… You’ve got to say, ‘I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!’ Then we’ll figure out what to do about the depression and the inflation and the oil crisis. But first get up out of your chairs, open the window, stick your head out, and yell, and say it: [screaming at the top of his lungs] “I’M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!” — the character Howard Beale played by Peter Finch in the movie Network (1976)

So, I hope the anti-monopoly folks take notice of this.

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TECHNOLOGY: YSK When apps have both a web presence and phone client, try both.

Sunday, November 7, 2021

Recently, on both CLASSDOJO and SHUTTERFLY, I was trying to upload a photo.

In CLASDOJO, the web site would only accept a live photo. (MY workaround was to take a photo of my phone. Argh!). In SHUTTERFLY, I was trying to upload a photo from my laptop and couldn’t get it it.

After calling in and wasting time, I found out that if I used the IOS or ANDROID client, I could easily do what I wanted. In my “after action” review, a habit I got in the military, I could NOT find anything in their “help” sections that would let me avoid the phone call.

In the future, I’ll try different versions of the same offering on the off-chance that some developer was too lazy to make all the versions functional equivalent. Argh!

I’m putting this YSK on my blog so I’ll remember to follow my own advice.

FWIW YMMV

WHY YSK: I wasted a lot of my time and that of two support organizations because their sites were not intuitive and, I never thought that their IOS / ANDROID apps would be that different. DOn’t make my mistake and ASS-U-ME that everything is identical. It MAY not be.

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VOCABULARY: ‘Typical Rykozhop’ is Russian for Rube Goldberg, or worse

Saturday, November 6, 2021

https://www.boredpanda.com/problematic-design-solutions-typicalrykozhop/

30 Construction Solutions That Don’t Solve Problems, Only Create Them, As Shared By This Instagram Account (New Pics)
Jonas Grinevičius and Mindaugas Balčiauskas
 
*** begin quote *** 
 
Many of us instinctively know whether a design is good and user-friendly or if it’s something clobbered together at the last minute without much thought for aesthetics, the future, or our poor artistic feelings. However, some home design ‘solutions’ are so problematic, they deserve to be named and shamed far and wide.

That’s where the Russian ‘Typical Rykozhop’ project on Instagram comes in. The account documents the most egregious design and construction decisions that would make any design major’s jaw drop (watch some of them faint, too!). Scroll down for the best of the truly worst (or is that the worst of the worst?) and upvote the design solutions that you simply love to hate, dear Pandas.

*** end quote ***

It’s definitely pretty funny to this fat old white guy injineer.  In a few cases, it is hard to figure out what they were trying to accomplish.  And, in one, I was befuddled.

Reminds me when I was working on a new building for a Wall Street datacenter.  Some SVP gave the “baby” electrician aka union apprentice for some trivial thing.  I think the fellow parked in the guy’s “space”; there were no markings or assignments I was aware of.  When the Unions heard about this, they had had enough of the this guy and that was the straw that broke their back.  It wasn’t the first time he’d <past tense synonym for urine output> them off. So they took advantage of a blanket order to work any overtime needed to get the building done ahead of schedule, and that Saturday EVERY TRADE came in to work putting up doors.  They put EVERY DOOR in a nine story building in one day just as it was drawn on the plans by the architect and signed off by everyone in the chain of command.  That Sunday morning, when I came it and did my daily walk thru for site security with my supervisory team, I immediately recognized what had been done.  I got the dubious pleasure of calling my SVP telling him that “I thought” (I knew) EVERY DOOR was installed backward (i.e., the holes were on the hinge side).  Since these were ALL special fire doors, they have to be ordered and remade from scratch. The union’s chief steward suggested that they might want to ask a certain SVP about who could park where and ALL the trades called in sick on Monday.  One of the few times I ever saw the CEO, CFO, and a bunch of other Chiefs was that Monday morning at 7AM walking through the building.  By lunch time, that SVP was fired and, on Tuesday, the doors began to come down very very slowly.  The building was delayed two months.  And, we were all verbally informed don’t mess with the unions.  

Laugh!

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INSPIRATIONAL: A neighbor became suspicious … …

Friday, November 5, 2021

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10158881/Cleo-Smith-WA-police-reveal-forensic-leads-led-officers-Carnarvon-house.html

What led detectives to Cleo Smith: Police reveal a tip-off and ‘needle in a haystack’ forensic clues led officers to house where she was found

  • Tip-off and forensic clues led detectives to Cleo inside a locked suburban house
  • Police found four-year-old about 1am Wednesday after breaking into property 
  • WA top police officer said a ‘needle in haystack’ clue emerged late on Tuesday
  • Ultimately police tip-off led officers to Carnarvon house on Wednesday morning

By CHARLIE COË FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA
PUBLISHED: 21:36 EDT, 2 November 2021 | UPDATED: 21:54 EDT, 2 November 2021

*** begin quote ***

A neighbour told Australia’s Seven News they became suspicious after seeing the arrested man buying nappies from a supermarket.

‘The other day, like, I think it was Monday, we saw him in Woolworths buying nappies but we didn’t click on who it was or what he was buying them for,’ she said. ‘Until now.’

*** end quote ***

Good work by all involved.  Especially the neighbor who noticed the unusual purchase.

An alert citizenry is the best “first responder”.

I wonder when the forensics were that are being held “close to the vest”?

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