phoenixvoice
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Come to think of it, according to the signs that have popped up at hospitals and urgent cares and the like since Covid, failure to respond to a health care worker’s instructions or not following their requests can be considered “aggressive behavior” under the law. This is not heading to a good place.
Kris Mays
I weary of “officials” summarizing facts for me. There is always an agenda…it is always a form of soft coercion. So, she says that those indicted conspired to not allow Arizonan votes to count in the 2020 presidential election…and that is doublespeak for…what exactly? Would I summarize the facts viewed by the grand jury in that fashion?Another example:
Daughter has been experiencing abdominal pain from an enlarged spleen, a side effect of mono. It was becoming pretty painful yesterday, so at night we went to the ER to have it checked out. For reasons that I’m not going to currently guess at, the hospital no longer bothers to supply forms at the outset, when I could read them at my leisure while I am waiting for hours, before I am uncomfortably dozing off in a chair. No, instead the forms appear after four hours, after my daughter has been examined by the doctor. I am given an iPad with the form loaded onto it, and expected to sign with my finger. I hate writing with my finger, and the no-battery stylus in my purse does not write on iPads. For the second, the hospital person tells me that the form “is so doctors can talk with one another.” I remembered that, wait, I need to READ this stuff first (I was a little groggy at 1 am,) and saw that the form authorizes my daughter’s health information to be put into an online health exchange. I have to formally decline this once a year at her primary care physician. “No,” I replied, “it’s not. It’s to put my daughter’s data into an online health exchange.” The hospital person said, “But…” ( I don’t recall the specifics.) I interjected: “No — I’ve had three notices in the past 6 months about my data being breached online. No data online is safe.” So, instead there was document #3, which looked like the standard stuff about billing insurance. I signed that. Come to think of it, I didn’t read much of it…it was probably the standard stuff. I forgot to ask for copies. A few minutes later the nurse came in the room with physical papers. The first was a simple form to sign (with a pen! A pen that glided and wrote well!). It had a single sentence: I have read the discharge instructions and have had my questions answered. She asked me to sign and then explained that after the signature she would review the papers with me. I objected and pointed out that I couldn’t sign that I had read documents and had my questions answered before I actually saw the documents. She seemed irritated with me, took back the stack of papers, and reviewed them. I signed afterwards. I had no questions.I suspect that one large contributing factor to these practices are the software EULAs that we began clicking “I agree” to back in the 90s. I weary of this. Paperwork isn’t fun, but abbreviating the part where the signee actually reads the document before signing is the wrong part to cut short. (A realistic solution is to keep documents short and devoid of complex legalese.). I long for the day when the courts begin to systematically void these documents because of deceptive practices on the part of the companies pressing for quick signatures.
Waiting for signatures until the signee is exhausted and almost ready to leave is a strategy to obtain signatures without the signee having adequately reviewed the document. What is being hidden?
Student testing
Something to be aware of — most testing nowadays is on computer. There is a real disadvantage to scoring math tests on computer. Multiple choice math tests tend to be too easy. Short answer would tend to be the ideal solution, but the programs being used are not using AI, and they tend to be too literal. Added a dollar sign? Mark it wrong. A comma after the thousand place? Mark it wrong. Put in a decimal when a fraction was expected? Mark it wrong. Students are endlessly trying to second-guess the intentions of the person who crafted the test, and test crafters do not consistently specify the required format for the answer. These are simple issues that a real human would easily spot.Also, a gripe about the internet:
There is a plethora of “fluff” information. Want to know the “official” medical information about mono? Easy to find at hundreds of websites, often with identical language. Want specifics about the experience various people with mono? Nothing — or, so far down the list of results as to be non-existent. Want to know how much clearance is needed around the hole when joining round duct to flat duct? The results are all about how to connect round duct to flat duct with ZERO information about how much clearance is needed. It is more efficient to find someone with relevant experience and ask that person rather than search it up online.Catnip
I decided to grow catnip – I’ve got lemon balm growing as a perennial, why not catnip. I started it from seed and put it out in a pot once it was large enough. My cats commenced endlessly knocking the pot over. Finally, I put it in the ground to save it from pot-knocking. Then, my two cats and a neighbor cat proceeded smothering the small catnip plant until it was nearly dead and full of cat fur. Finally, I put a wire basket on top of it, secured in place by a few sticks. Now the little plant is thriving. Once it grows through the wire basket, the cats may begin rolling all over it again.Newsflash! There are only two sexes. Yes, there are a few rare souls who, for quirks of genetics and biology, are not clearly one sex nor the other, but are some sort of uncommon mixture of the two. This does not mean that there are more than two sexes…it just means that sometimes the two are not clearly delineated. Gender roles and traditions are human constructs that humans place on top of biology. A man can wear high heels (why not? — France’s Sun King did, too,) a dress, fake boobs, and fishnet stockings…but this does not change his biological sex. Nor does surgery nor hormone therapy. I became the breadwinner for my children, in addition to the nurturer, in 2012 — this did not turn me male, nor did it diminish my femininity in any way.
@ Dr. John Day
Daughter was just diagnosed with mononucleosis…any insight into supplements, etc., to help support her immune system? (At least now we know what is going on.)@ oxymoron
I hear you about the kangaroo video, (it looked staged, to me.). My home was invaded by roof rats to longer than I care to admit. I was very frustrated the day that spouse told me he had been sitting on the pot and seen a rat creep out from under the tub in our bathroom, and how CUTE it looked. They may be cute. They may have hands. They may even live, but NOT in my house, and stay away from my orange tree!
I was ready to whoop for joy when I finally rooted out the last one. I had a re-infestation for a couple months this past winter, but now that I know how to get them out and keep them out, the house is rat-free once again. They leave their excrement and urine everywhere and never stop chewing — I’ve been repairing wiring damage in my attic. But, hey, if TSHTF, I can help others catch their roof rats and then supply them to one of my cats, as he enjoys eating them. It’s healthier than cat kibble.
@ WES
Thank you for the words about your daughter. I read them to my son.@ John Day, true, my son will miss out on meeting some people…but some people need “baby steps,” and this son does. He was bullied in elementary school and subsequently decided the avoid his peers and have friends who are are adults. It is going to be interesting to see what he does, once his peers *are* the adults. All in good time.
@ JB-hb
Yesterday: I’m waiting to see even a female Jordan Peterson or Carl Benjamin.There are fundamental differences, as much as the Woke want to erase them. Most “quality” people have committed relationships and children. Most “quality” women are highly invested in the process of child-rearing. I wanted to be for my children the kind of mother that mine was (is = she is still alive, but I have not been a minor child in a very long time.). I had to be more — I also had to be the breadwinner. As I look over the past 18 years, I realize that I physically could never have worked a full-time job and been a great mom to my kids. I will have minor children for only 20 years. My youngest sister just had #6 when her eldest was 15…for her, child-rearing will span 34 years. Quality women tend to have children and tend to be quality mothers — this means that they have much less time to devote to “greatness” than is available to the broader public. So, they are very far and few between.
Hannah Arendt had no children. Vandana Shiva is an interesting woman. Brene Brown has made contributions. I wonder what Tulsi Gabbard may yet contribute publicly.
Ouroboros: Complexity terminates itself eventually
Yes, I’ve noticed that. One of my sons is slated to attend ASU next year. ASU’s website is so convoluted that navigating it is like navigating a labyrinth, and every turn looks just like the last. Twice now he has resorted to their live chat option…when the live chat person says “let me google that,” I can’t help but roll my eyes. The system is so complicated that those paid to be guides barely know what is going on!
Ah…and ASU is so immersed in current culture that it is annoying. I have observed this son carefully over the past five years, seeking to understand what post-secondary trajectory will serve him best, given his attitudes, interests, abilities, and the available scholarships. Given that he is a “homebody,” not very social, and prefers to sleep at home, he expressed no desire to move out and live on campus. So I looked into the option of commuting on the train. We visited ASU last year, traveling there on the train, rather than me driving, so that he would see what that is like. ASU strongly recommends that all freshmen live on campus, and in their online promotional literature for incoming freshmen gives no information for those who choose otherwise. Yesterday he second-guessed himself, wanting to consider living on campus.
This is the effect of subtle programming, of propaganda, of soft-coercion. ASU does not know my son, does not love my son, does not know our finances. ASU is doing what is best for ASU. (Since living on campus in a shared room costs at least 4 times more than it costs my son to live here, with his own room, I suspect that ASU is going to have to live with my son commuting.)
I have been digesting the information from The Great Taking the past few days.
Yesterday, my spouse received an updated credit card agreement for the credit card he has with the credit union where his accounts are at. I use this card for convenience when making online purchases or if I make a purchase that is more than the cash I happen to have in my wallet at the moment.
The following is not for his CU, but the verbiage is identical, especially the box at the top.
https://www.cfcu.org/files/cfcu18/1/file/Disclosures/Credit-Card-Agreement-and-Disclosure.pdf
SECURITY INTEREST
You grant the Credit Union a security interest under the Uniform Commercial Code and under any common law rights the Credit Union may have in any goods You purchase.
If You give the Credit Union a specific pledge of shares by signing a separate pledge of shares, Your pledged shares will secure Your Account. You may not withdraw amounts that have been specifically pledged to secure Your Account until the Credit Union agrees to release all or part of the pledged amount.
You grant Us a security interest in all individual and joint share and/or deposit accounts You have with Us now and in the future to secure Your credit card Account. Shares and deposits in an IRA or any other account that would lose special tax treatment under state or federal law if given as security are not subject to the security interest You have given in Your shares and deposits. You may withdraw these other shares unless You are in default. When You are in default, You authorize Us to apply the balance in these accounts to any amounts due. For example, if You have an unpaid credit card balance, You agree We may use funds in Your account(s) to pay any or all of the unpaid balance.
Unless otherwise prohibited by federal and/or state law, collateral securing other loans You have with the Credit Union may also secure this loan, except that a dwelling will never be considered as security for this Account, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any other Agreement.I have seen cc agreements at a CU where account balances could cover credit card balances in default. And, of course, there are “secured credit cards” for folks with poor credit, where an amount is held by the financial institution. But I have NEVER seen a credit card where the issuer was granted a “security interest” in the items purchased with the card. The verbiage, citing the “uniform commercial code” reminds me of terms from The Great Taking.
Ironically, my spouse currently has a credit score of 815. Today, he is planning a trip to the CU to close the credit card account.
NPR’s CEO Katherine Maher on the truth:
I think, perhaps, that she is confusing “The Truth” with “personal values.” Personal values are often called “personal truths,” because they are regarded as “truth” by individuals, and they are foundational for how individuals build their narratives of the world.
One of the beauties of the human knowledge that is called science is that it is predicated upon experiments that are REPRODUCIBLE. This is key, because reproducibility means that, in theory, I don’t have to take someone’s word for it, I can test it for myself. Therefore, science is a method at reaching “universal truth.”
Many have noted that the ethical/moral underpinnings of the large human religions share many of the same principles or tenets. I remember a famous book with the title All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten , which touches on many of these same concepts. We can infer that these are representational of some other “universal truths” about humans and their interactions.
Personal values guide people, and can lead them to have strikingly different opinions. Since we are a herd-based population, we need to have some methods to get along to some degree. One way to do this is to have glorious discussions based upon our personal values to find common ground — and often common ground is found when we discover “universal truth.”
Ms. Maher seems to be suggesting that we skip the “glorious discussion” part and cut straight to the compromise part. While I don’t deny that there are times when that may be necessary, it is through finding universal truths that we forge lasting compromises and lasting societies where all or most agree and will support without coercion.
Melanoma/skin cancer
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3906570/
I don’t know what is causing skin cancer to increase, but it is increasing. (Maybe the sun is going through some sort of high-power phase, for all I know. Or, it could be diet related.). Based on the warty stuff on my 8 year old dog that I suspect to be skin cancer, I doubt the increase can be all attributed to sunscreen use, as I’ve never put sunscreen on him. Sun exposure definitely causes the skin to dry and age more rapidly. And, people living longer lives generally could lead to more skin cancer diagnosis, as it seems to be more prevalent in older populations. It is fun to see an “expert” not go along with generally accepted dogma….
In a far-reaching new essay in The New Atlantis, the environmental researcher Ted Nordhaus makes a damning and authoritative case that while the basic science of CO2 and climate is solid, it has been abused by the activist class in service of a wildly irresponsible and unscientific climate catastrophism.
It makes sense to have some caution about dramatically changing the environment. We *don’t* know what the effects will be. It makes sense to study the issue and try to come to understand it and adjust our economies and societies to mitigate the damage. Of course, it is human nature to throw refuse “away,” and ignore it until it becomes a problem.
However, we humans have a bigger problem: some humans are obsessed with power and seek to subvert and control the rest of us. We can’t deal with our tendencies to be poor stewards of the environment when the power-obsessed have too much control.A Great Awakening is taking place all around the world as people wake up and realise what has been done to them.
Some of us never fell asleep in the first place….Lockheed Martin Wins $17BN Interceptor Contract To Protect US Homeland
I remember how, over 20 years ago, in the aftermath of 9/11, I was “weirded out” by the term “homeland” being used in conjunction with the US. It gave me chills and reminded me of the German “fatherland.” I was correct.60% of trans identifying boys have mothers with a borderline, narcissistic, antisocial, or histrionic personality disorder. Traits include lack of empathy & remorse, exploitation of others, attention seeking behavior, shallow emotions, superficial charm, selfish goals & behavior. https://t.co/DENQSQdsCi
— The Redheaded libertarian (@TRHLofficial) April 15, 2024
The topic of this tweet is an eye-roll, and isn’t the reason why I posted it.
Instead, look at how much the boy resembles his mother — even the glasses, lips, and makeup. It is as if he is trying to look exactly like his mom…or maybe the mother is trying to get her son to be just like her? Uncanny. I wonder if the mother had her hair like her son’s when she was a teen?With the Israel/Palestine problem it can be helpful to do a thought experiment where all religion is ignored, (we’re all human, after all,) and, instead simply look at who lives where, money, power, politics, and control. It is obvious that those who have come to Israel since the 1940s have been systematically oppressing the people who had lived there for generations. On both sides there is rhetoric about exterminating the other side — this sort of thing happens in these sorts of situations. However, one side has more power, and that side is also experiencing greater success in carrying out said extermination. In human families and communities some leaders understand that “healthy” leadership involves seeking to understand the strengths and needs of those who are led, involves caring for those who are led, and seeking the well-being of those who are led. Other leaders have been schooled in “unhealthy,” authoritarian leadership forms, where those who are led are to follow, and those who lead are to push their will onto those who follow. (Of course, there are variations and hybrids of this.) With healthy leadership, those who are led are edified and generally not oppressed. With Israel/Palestine, neither side is perfect, but it is glaringly obvious that one side is dying by the thousands while a majority (not all, of course,) of the other side is gloating.
Truly, the Jews are short-sighted. They had been oppressed in Europe for hundreds of years. Due to the Holocaust, they became darlings of the west, and an “international treasure.” This was predicated upon collective guilt — guilt that some Europeans had colluded to murder them. What happpens when a large subset of the Jews reveal themselves as blood-thirsty egoists who think that God told them that they are better than the rest of humanity? Revealing themselves as guilty of the same evil that was perpetrated on them by the Nazis? It is likely to negate the collective guilt from the Holocaust and dredge up the general anti-Semitism that preceded it. This is foolishness on the part of the Jews — instead of building bridges with the national community of Arabs around them, instead of forging peaceful coexistence with their brothers who had never left the Holy Land, they relied upon the power of the US and her allies to sustain Israel. For the political and economic leaders of The West, support of Israel has been tied to oil, but for the populations of The West, support of Israel has been predicated upon principle, upon religion and guilt. What happens when the reasons of principle, religion, and guilt are swept away, and all that is left is political and economic stratagem?
“eerily accurate prediction from 1965 on how to destroy the fabric of society.”
Paul Harvey turned 18 in 1936.
His early life was in the middle of the “the fourth turning.” By 1965, he had seen the 4th and first phases pass, and the 2nd phase was ongoing. Was he prescient? Or was he simply speaking of what he had observed and heard the adults talking about in his childhood?Zerosum
I’m with you on that one — reducing the needed energy.
And reducing the resources required.
Spouse was talking about all of the cheaply manufactured solar landscape lights sold yesterday. The plastic breaks and disintegrates. Before the solar panels stop working the mechanism falls apart. Think of all the lithium and cobalt in the batteries put into cheap and poorly designed devices…it is a complete waste of resources and energy. Our large televisions are designed to be impossible to repair and when minor things go wrong, the entire unit is junked.
I don’t think that heavy governmental regulations are the answer, but some “smart” regulation coupled with citizen/consumer movements could make a huge difference. For example, “right to repair” laws can make it illegal to design products to break when repair is attempted. There can be incentives from government and/or independent groups to design products that can easily have the resources harvested by recycling programs at their end-of-life and large manufacturers can be obligated to responsibly manage their products post-consumer waste. However, the most important component is regular people who are disgusted with “planned obsolescence,” demanding higher quality, longer lasting products, upgrades to current products instead of whole scale replacement, interest in learning to repair, and valuing used stuff rather than automatically preferring brand-new goods.This Fani recording shows how ridiculous she is. I can understand making the recording — and simply not checking on Maryland law first. I am aware that recording laws vary from state to state. But that an attorney would release the recording publicly without checking on the Maryland law first? She deserves citizenship in Idiocracy. Throw the book at her.
A stray cat mother gives her kitten, hoping she gets adopted
I love cats — fascinating creatures. They see something in we humans; we see something in them.(Side note: I’d much rather my federal taxes be used to cancel student loan debt than send military aid to Israel!)
Biden is now moving as fast as he can to forgive $144 billion more in student loans.
Again, traditional templates are often out of place. Yes, wholesale forgiveness of debt isn’t exactly fair to those who paid off student loans through their own hard work, and it is somewhat inexplicable when the government is in debt and getting further indebted every day. (Most likely explanation: it is a bone thrown to the “stupid” Democrat base.) However, the student loan program for at least 40+ years has been driving up the cost of higher education until college has become a form of indentured servitude. Nearly 20 years ago the bankruptcy code was changed to exclude student loans. Most people would agree that older generations have a moral obligation to educate younger generations and it has been generally understood for more than 50 years that higher education is the key to financial stability. Lifting the burden of student loan payments from off of the backs of younger adults is a way to inject money into the economy, as they then will be more likely to purchase homes and new vehicles, go on vacations, and (ironically) start families.
Rejecting a government policy merely because one detests the person or administration enacting the policy just makes navigating this mess more difficult. I don’t know whether or not wholesale forgiveness of student loans is the answer (a hatchet when a scalpel would be better?) but the civic conversation needs to be had about student loans, higher education, and the astronomic costs involved.
Jews are getting erased, literally chased out of cities, harassed out of college, and replaced with ululating Hamas enthusiasts.
Here is the challenge of the brave new world that we live in — all of the things that we take as givens have been mixed up and confused. This is not simply some “liberal plot,” is is likely a part of “the fourth turning.” Old templates are not quite applicable, and to chart a course we have to go back to principles and values and analyze what is going on.
My spouse was talking last night about the ideology he rejected in his childhood home. His family followed a orthodox Jewish sect that embraced Zionism. His father loved Fiddler on the Roof — especially the part when Tevye rejects his daughter who married a gentile. His older brother once explained at the dinner table that the Nazis had gotten it all wrong because they, the Nazis, where not a “chosen people,” but that philosophy was correct for the Jews, because the Jews were a “chosen people.”
I am glad that he rejected that philosophy….
March 31 has been Cesar Chavez Day since 2008: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesar_Chavez_Day, a commemorative federal holiday enacted by Obama, and celebrated by closing Phoenix city offices.
International Transgender Day of Visibility, according to Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Transgender_Day_of_Visibility, has been around since 2009, and was proclaimed “a thing,” (but does not, that I can tell, have any federal holiday status,) by Biden in 2021.
I suppose that, to the Biden admin, any transgender person is more valuable than a deceased civil rights activist any day, but especially on March 31.
The Gnostic explanation reminds me of Ancient Greek mythology and The Lord of the Rings.
Eggs…if we didn’t eat hen eggs, then most, (if not all,) hens would not be alive. The reason to keep hens was first for the eggs, second for meat. Having said that, hens are delightful, (if somewhat dim-witted,) birds, and it is a sorry thing when creatures are tormented in life for their eggs and meat. However, quite frankly, we live in a system where cost is everything, and it costs less to torment chickens for their eggs and meat than to provide them with sufficient space for an enjoyable life.
CCP/bridge
Doesn’t seem right to me. The CCP may very well have a capacity that approaches what is described, but squandering it in that manner and revealing it’s hand doesn’t strike me as something that the CCP would do right now. I suspect that this was some sort of attack. However, it is interesting that no one has come forward to claim responsibility. This suggests that the aim was to cripple US infrastructure, but *not* to rile up the American people. Cui bono? Whom does it most serve that US infrastructure be compromised in this way and that has the capacity to pull it off? Similar to the Nordstrom pipeline — destroying it was clearly in line with US desires to get Europe off of cheap Russian natural gas. Whose efforts are best served by the destruction of this bridge?The Democrats’ idea of preventing liberal 3rd party candidates on the ballot is highly flawed. They are supposing that it will be easy to present their candidate as “better than Trump” in a purely 2-option race. This is foolishness. We already had Trump as president, so we know what he is like. I disagree with Trump on many issues but he was tolerable, and his presidency was much better for the US than Biden’s has been. I enjoy voting for the candidate of my choice, whether or not that person will likely win. The fact of the matter is, a third party candidate is more likely to garner my vote from *Trump*, not from Biden. In a 2-option race I would vote for Trump without hesitation.
Baboon
We have become so dependent upon our digital gadgets that we have largely abandoned other technologies, crafts, and learning. We often see animals as dependent pets (fur-babies) or part of “The Natural World,” which we must preserve in parks and manage with rangers and BLM staff. (Bureau of Land Management) But the native man interacting with the baboon sees the baboon as a resource and appreciates the abilities, personality, and knowledge of the baboon. It is refreshing to see a different perspective on interacting with the world and reminds me that current social mores may appear static, but are in actuality fluid, and will change.
@ Dr D
…the sun is hotter; sunburns happen faster…
Is there more than anecdotal evidence of this? I grew up in Colorado & So California, spent my 20s in Utah, and have been in Phoenix, AZ for 20 years. I sunburned most frequently as a teen in SoCal — but that was from going to the beach, etc. The sun does seem hotter in Phoenix, but I have always figured that was because it was full-on desert! The Phoenician sun is unrelenting in the summer, and destroys plastic rapidly. I almost never sunburn in Phoenix, because I don’t sunbathe — I like going to the city pool after 4pm in the summer, when the sun is low on the horizon, and less likely to cause sunburn — I don’t use sunscreen for late afternoon pool dips, and it isn’t needed.Elon in Berlin
I believe that the quality of the relationship a parent has with their own children says a great deal about the person. Elon has been appearing in public often with a child in tow. The question in my mind: is the child there because Elon longs to bond with the child, and is looking for opportunities to be with his kids, or for optics? Following behind Elon is a dark-haired woman, who expected him to hand the child to her so that she could put the child in the car seat. He did not, instead setting his child in the car seat himself. Then he moved away, answering the question, and the woman leaned into the car to fasten the child’s seat buckles. He handled the child with ease, without seeming aware that others might be analyzing his interaction with the child.
Plastic roads
…might work in some places — like the Netherlands — where there are not days upon days of over 110 degree F weather, and are located more to the north (or equivalent south) and receive less solar intensity. Perhaps vinyl fencing works well there as well. But the sun and heat in Phoenix DESTROY plastic…especially black plastic.I’m going to guess that it isn’t great for the surrounding area to have plastic from the road leeching out…but tar can’t be that great either, so it may be just substituting one problem for another.
Also, that replacement by section thing is incompatible with running wires and pipes through the hollow center,
Leopard and fawn
Perhaps there is not so much incongruity in fondness for my flock of hens while I continue to eat cooked chicken….
The somewhat awkward smile of the old white guy to Letitia James’ left when she says (and repeats): “Too male, to pale, and too stale.”
Any information that you have saved that helps you to understand the tyranny that is engulfing us should be stored in thumb drives and not in the cloud as all information undermining of the “consensus-building institutions” will be consigned to the memory hole.
A word to the wise: Don’t use thumb drives to store valuable information. They are notorious for going bad, and when they do the data is often irretrievable. (Seriously — unless it is a name brand thumb drive for which the manufacturer has published what is needed to access the “lost” data or an identical, working one can be located to swap parts in a high-tech clean room environment.). Thumb drives are excellent for short-term transfers of data — they are highly portable.
Do “air gap” your important data, storing it in a way where it does not touch any computer or device that is connected to the internet. Do have it stored in at least two places. And, a faraday cage may be a good idea.
I appreciate the reminders about the problems of plastics. It is impractical and nearly impossible not to use any plastics. But, it is possible to have a goal of reducing their unnecessary use. I can remember to buy olive oil in glass bottles and toothbrushes with bamboo handles. Buying second hand almost always reduces plastic. I suppose some would say that just one person doing this is not enough — that is a valid argument. However, the elites would force us to change. We can change instead by choice, by voluntarily adjusting our values. My kids know that, in general, I don’t like plastic, but they also know that some things are simply best made in plastic — like Lego. Lego is also quite durable, and when treated well can serve the creative needs of more than one generation of children.
“Not A Single Child Tested Proficient In Math In 67 Illinois Schools”
So…most kids used to test as proficient, but now do not? We have yearly test scores — perhaps we should go back and analyze the trends and what else was going on culturally and see if there are any obvious correlation — such as “online school” during a pandemic, the introduction of the iPhone and Android smartphones,GMOs, cell phone towers, increases in the vaccine schedule, etc. It doesn’t fly that kids are simply stupider, or teachers don’t care anymore — something has changed. What is it?Bill giving illegal immigrants the right to vote
That is preposterous. I know of someone who is likely undocumented, has been in the US for 32 years, since age 15 — he came alone from Honduras. In the intervening years he has worked hard, run small businesses, married a divorcee stay-at-home mom with two daughters who received no child support and has supported her and the girls. Now, his mother in Honduras, whom he hasn’t seen since age 15, living in the home he bought for her, is ill and he is selling all of his US possessions — including business, home, vehicles, tools — to return to Honduras to visit his mother, then will go to Mexico to wait out the requisite 2 years so that he can apply for a green card based on his marriage to someone in the US with legal status. (His wife plans to join him in Mexico for this duration.) This man, who has contributed positively to the US economy and social fabric for 32 years, after all of these steps, will still not have attained the right to vote, as he will not be a US citizen.
And people walking across the border, should this bill be passed, would be granted a huge shortcut to citizenship? Are the writers of this bill insane? I do not advocate for people to enter the country illegally, however, when they do AND they work hard and positively contribute over the course of years, I don’t have a problem with there being paths open to them to legal status, even citizenship, if they desire it. However, it is imperative that illegal immigration not be encouraged, nor rewarded. A path to legal status should exist…but it does not need to be an easy path. Valid contribution to society should be rewarded…but not following the rules cannot be encouraged, and even for those who have proven their worth, not following rules means that there are annoying hoops to jump through. (Such as: selling everything and waiting two years outside of the country.)
Tesla vehicles
There is likely a place in the economy for electric vehicles…but replacing fossil fuel vehicles entirely isn’t it. Additionally, they need need to be safe, (not prone to explosion,) not promote human misery in open pit mines in the Congo, and at a price point that makes them competitive for their niche.
