Peddling former president paraphernalia

On a trip to the beach traveling through South Carolina, I saw two retail stores related to the former president. They each had “TRUMP STORE” in big letters complete with numerous American flags. 

It should be noted the sign on the second one said “Only Patriots Allowed” so I guess we should shout something pro-Trump so we can enter using their definition of patriot, whatever that means. We passed on the opportunity. To me, their patrons support a person who betrayed our country and divided (and still divides) us further. That does not sound much like a patriot to me. His niece Mary Trump said “he will burn it all down to avoid losing the election” while former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney called him a “coward” for lying to his fans.

It reminded me of the Mel Gibson movie “The Patriot” ironically based, in part, on the infamous American patriot Francis Marion of South Carolina who was known as “The Swamp Fox” as he battled the British. His namesake Marion, SC is only twenty miles from where we spotted the second store. Marion was fighting for our freedom from British rule, while Trump’s patriots are supporting an illicit acting and bullying person who acts like the king that George was. Like king George, some have questioned his mental acuity.

As we passed the first store, my wife said aloud “you have to be kidding me.” Then, we saw the second one and she lamented “there is another one.” To me, this is clear evidence that Trump is the barker for the traveling medicine show. You know the one selling mostly alcohol in a medicine bottle that will cure all of one’s ails.

To me, this shows Trump should not be taken seriously as he and his followers want to peddle his wares. Of course, I have often said what Trump spews is his sales schtick where truth and lies don’t matter – sales do. I even saw wife Melanie is peddling something. I guess someone has to pay his legal bills and fines. Buy a Trump bible, a Trump constitution, a Trump cap, etc.

I tell you what we should do. We should tell him we will all buy some Trump merchandise if “you will just go away.” Stop hurting our country. Stop lying and bullying people. Stop groping women without their permission. Stop treating our allied relationships as transactions. And, as former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney said above, stop being a “coward” and accept that you lost the election. And, Cheney added “Trump knows he lost and lost big.”

Lara Trump adds her name to the untruthful Trump election fraud claims

An article in The Guardian yesterday by Martin Pengelly called “Lara Trump’s RNC robocall falsely claims ‘massive fraud’ in 2020 election,” speaks volumes about the lack of veracity in the Trump family and Republican Party. The subtitle defines the ongoing problem, “Call shows the Republican party to be ‘more committed to the big lie than ever’, says Democratic lawyer.”

Here are a few paragraphs that tell the sad Trump tale:

“Marc Elias, a Democratic lawyer who repeatedly defeated Trump in cases over alleged electoral fraud after the 2020 election, said the RNC robocall showed the Republican party to be ‘more committed to the big lie than ever’.

Donald Trump, who installed his daughter-in-law at the RNC last month, lost the 2020 election conclusively to Joe Biden and was told by closeaides including William Barr, his attorney general, and Chris Krebs, his head of cybersecurity, that there was no widespread fraud.

Regardless, Trump pursued his fraud lie through the courts – losing every case (but one in PA per me) – and ultimately by inciting the deadly attack on Congress on 6 January 2021.”

What needs to be said with every news report like this is Donald Trump has had ample opportunity to prove his election fraud claims. Yet, he has lost all but one of 65 or so court cases and EVERY vote recount, review and audit he contested. Further, due to perpetuating Trump’s election lies, Fox News admitted in court documents they purposefully gaslit their public perpetuating Trump’s lying. Thus far, Fox News has settled $1.1 billion in two defamation lawsuits with three pending cases, one for $2.7 billion,

The Trump name stands for untruthful action. Lara is just following the untruthful lead of her father-in-law. It should be noted the former president is facing election meddling charges in Georgia. And, as Trump advised his staff per the book “Enough” by American hero Republican Cassidy Hutchinson, “I cannot tell people I lost, go change it.”

A very energetic idea

In an article in Politico by David Ferris called “Big winner in Biden’s EV charging revolution: Gas stations,” an obvious trend is taking shape. Here are a few paragraphs:

“When Americans steer their electric vehicles off the highway and into shiny new charging stations — many paid for with federal tax dollars — they’re likely to find them in a curiously familiar place: the gas station.

More than half of the charging stations being built so far from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law are rising at truck stops and gasoline stations, according to data exclusively provided to E&E News by EVAdoption, an EV data consultancy. In essence, the law’s $7.5 billion pot for charging is reinforcing the very fossil-fuel infrastructure that the EV era would seem to consign to oblivion.

That raises the prospect that money intended to cut emissions could throw a lifeline to companies that traditionally have raised them. Even so, many experts say the two industries are a natural fit.

‘I’ve always kind of assumed that the combination of fueling station and convenience stop would dominate,’ said Loren McDonald, the founder of EVAdoption. ‘They’re safe. They’re well lit. They have bathrooms on site. They have restaurants and stores. They check a lot of the boxes.’”

This is an idea that makes total sense. Having consulted with convenience stores, they make most of their profit when petrol users come in the store for food and drinks. This is a key reason these stores are fast food franchise holders as well. Since, charging a battery takes more time than gassing up, this should be a win-win for consumers and store owners.

Saturday in the park (April, 2024)

Now that I have left you with an ear worm courtesy of the band Chicago, let me do a walkabout with my mind full of miscellaneous thoughts and pollen. Being a city of trees leads to heavy pollen exposure here. Achoo.

Technology, connectedness, AI….They are designed to help us and do. But, they are our bane when they don’t work well, we have operator error or connected things cause breakdowns in other areas.

Then there is AI which has long grown faster than our ability to control it and will continue to do so. I am reminded of one of the best Star Trek episodes called “The Menagerie” where a very smart race of aliens could no longer fix the machines to run their lives. It gives me pause, as we are not that smart.

I have argued we should use technology, but maybe stop short of connecting everything to one device. When the device or connection is lost, the ability to control things is compromised. It reminds me of the song lyric of the guying wearing his mind on his sleeve, but he keeps losing his shirt.

Another suggestion is to remember prerecorded phone numbers when you call them up. Addresses, numbers, important passwords, get forgotten when unused or remembered. When I hit a name to call, I try to remind myself of the number it is calling. As for passwords, don’t have a device using the app remember them for you.

Finally, please remember this one fact. People want your money. Not all attempts to get it are moral or legal. Phishing occurs often via phone calls, texts and emails. Passwords saved are accessed by folks who are aware when you are online. Hacking occurs far more often than reported, as data hacked is saved and used later. AT&T just had a huge breach on pre-2019 data, for example.

A premise to follow is simple. Nothing is safe. Some are safer than others, but expert hackers find a way to get in. One security guy used the analogy that accessing a hotel’s wi-fi is like eating food off the floor. You don’t know what you are eating.

As for phishers, top of mind there are the IRS scam, Microsoft scam, grandparent scam, local utility scam, Social Security scam, Amazon scam, account breach scam, cybercurrency scam, etc. (If you don’t know these scams, you should familiarize yourself). And, while you are at it, don’t gamble on line and don’t play the lottery. You are just giving your money away.

More than change in the couch cushions – SC Comptroller discovers $1.8 billon in unaccounted for funds

Per CFO Magazine this week, a nice problem to have was discovered for the state of South Carolina. Money was discovered in the proverbial couch cushions. A lot of it.

“Last month, the state of South Carolina’s comptroller discovered an unaccounted-for $1.8 billion in one of their many financial accounts. As findings have begun to develop, it’s evident that poor financial controls, a major communication breakdown between the state’s treasurer and comptroller, and sloppy bookkeeping have resulted in a mess for a state with both recent and historically substantial accounting errors.

According to reports, Brian Gaines, appointed to his position of state general comptroller in May of 2023, discovered the $1.8 billion in a ‘flow-through’ account. These accounts are used to allocate spending money to individual state agencies.

Rather than have unspent funds sitting in these agencies’ accounts, this money is invested to create additional state revenue and made subsequently available through flow accounts when the money is to be spent. This likely means the unaccounted-for cash isn’t just a lump sum of $1.8 billion, but rather a collection of funds that were either allocated and never spent, or money that belongs to other accounts.

In 2017, when the state implemented a new accounting system, they ran two sets of books for two years to ensure the systems produced the same outcomes. It was during this process that the account in question was created.

‘This one account was like the catch-all account where that unaccounted cash went in but was never credited back to the proper accounts,’ said state Senator Larry Grooms, R-Berkeley, in a statement, who is overseeing a Senate Finance subcommittee investigating the accounting error.

According to Gaines, the lack of information about the money is the issue — not the cash or account itself.

‘The existence of the fund is not the issue,’ said Gaines to local media. ‘The fund is designated as a non-reportable pass-through fund that should always maintain a $0 balance.’”

Oops. But, a very good oops rather than owing $1.8 billion. The state should also be happy that it is just a sloppy accounting job, not a nefarious one. The story is also the size of the fund, which I am sure is not inconsequential to the state’s annual budget. So, after the embarrassment and finger pointing subsides, I am sure the politicians will stumble over themselves on what to do with the windfall.

It does make you want to look for accounts you forgot about. By the way, most states have funds of forgotten and unclaimed bank accounts or settlements. You should look into state funds where you lived to see if you forgot anything.

Florida has invited measles and other diseases back to the party

In an article in The Guardian called “Florida is swamped by disease outbreaks as quackery replaces science” by Richard Luscombe in Miami, a very troubling trend is building. The subheadline notes “The state is in the grip of a measles outbreak, yet Joseph Ladapo, the surgeon general, continues to ignore medical science to stop it.”

Here are a few paragraphs to tell more of the story:

“Shortly before Joseph Ladapo was sworn in as Florida’s surgeon general in 2022, the New Yorker ran a short column welcoming the vaccine-skeptic doctor to his new role, and highlighting his advocacy for the use of leeches in public health.

It was satire of course, a teasing of the Harvard-educated physician for his unorthodox medical views, which include a steadfast belief that life-saving Covid shots are the work of the devil, and that opening a window is the preferred treatment for the inhalation of toxic fumes from gas stoves.

As the highly contagious disease raged in a Broward county elementary school, Ladapo, a politically appointed acolyte of Florida’s far-right governor, wrote to parents telling them it was perfectly fine for parents to continue to send in their unvaccinated children.

‘The surgeon general is Ron DeSantis’s lapdog, and says whatever DeSantis wants him to say,’ said Dr Robert Speth, a professor of pharmaceutical sciences at south Florida’s Nova Southeastern University with more than four decades of research experience.‘His statements are more political than medical and that’s a horrible disservice to the citizens of Florida. He’s somebody whose job is to protect public health, and he’s doing the exact opposite. Ladapo’s advice deferring to parents or guardians a decision about school attendance directly contradicts the official recommendation of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which calls for a 21-day period of quarantine for anybody without a history of prior infection or immunization.“

Having been born and raised in Florida, this callous and inane disregard for rational medical recommendations is concerning. The governor has a history of driving through protocols like a Mack Truck endangering people, so his appointment of someone who just agrees with his inane comments is par for the course.

I have known about DeSantis long before he was governor when he was a Trump sycophant in Congress. While Trump can be goofballishly charming on occasion to offset his profane and inane behavior, DeSantis is just a mean-spirited Trump toadie. Neither are tolerant of criticism, though.

Yet, no one should look to either of these people for medical direction. And, it looks like the Florida surgeon general falls into the same mix. Vaccines are not perfect, but the percent of people negatively impacted is quite small. But, do look at the data and listen to people who know what they are talking about and not these three people.

Pig butchering – a scam to be wary of

Pig butchering. What a term! It is being used to define a scam meant to lure piglets into a a false sense of security as they are fattened up for the slaughter.

Targets receive a simple erroneous text. It could be “Susan, are we still on for lunch tomorrow?” even though your name is not Susan. They are looking for a response such as “I am not Susan,” and through apologies, a back forth relationship is started.

The scammers are following a playbook they have been trained on. Befriend the target. Build trust. Listen and feed back later what they heard as phishing data. They then will speak of investing in cybercurrency helping the person set up their own account. Yet, it is not a real account, but looks like one with a very sophisticated reporting on success.

The target appears to be making money and sometimes they draw in other investors. When they go to cash in, they realize they cannot and sometimes are asked for taxes due, so even more money is lost.

The people who lose money are not as gullible as you think. They often did some checking. The tracking app gets high marks and good user ratings. But, it is all smoke and mirrors. A story on John Oliver’s “Last week tonight” speaks of a bank president losing a bank’s assets. A woman and her father were taken for $2 million. Another women lost $2.5 million.

The other sad part of the story Oliver reports on is the scammers are terrorized captive slaves or employees of organized crime. They are working sixteen hour days as they are beaten when not productive. So, the people you want to be mad at turn out to be victims, too. And, in some countries, government officials are in bed with organized crime. So, complaints actually fuel worse actions on the scammers.

So, be wary of these innocent emails that are phishing for a response. Once, they get one, they will work to reel you in. These scammers will pretend to be an attractive suitor using fake names and pictures. I have seen some of their attempts on LinkedIn using very attractive model-like people doing friend requests.

My wife and I both have received such texts on our phones. So has my sister. Be on your guard and on your toes. Don’t be a piglet and watch your wallet.

Another letter sent to Nikki Haley

The following is another letter I sent I Nikki Haley today:

Ms. Haley,

Please stay in the race as your party and country need you to challenge the illicit acting former president. Setting aside the three recent fraud adjudications and settlements, two defamation and one sexual misconduct judgements* and 91 charges including words like sedition and election meddling, the highly vindictive and hateful nature he presented at CPAC is reason enough to move away from Trump.

Plus, he was recently voted the worst president in US history by 150 + historians with Biden well ahead at 14th best. So, please let as many people know the following – as an Independent and former Republican of 25+ years, I will NOT vote for any candidate who supports Donald Trump for president. Full stop. America deserves so much better than this candidate.


*Note: MAGA fans like to say Trump has done nothing wrong. That is naive. As one very tiny example, his second defamation loss is all on him as he just would not shut up. So, now he is out $78 million more as a result. I would absolutely hate being his attorney.

Recycling plastics has been a fool’s errand

An article by Dharna Noor in The Guardian called “‘They lied’:  plastics producers deceived public about recycling, report reveals” is an upsetting pronouncement. The subtitle says more – “Companies knew for decades recycling was not viable but promoted it regardless, Center for Climate Integrity study finds.” Here are select paragraphs:

“Plastic producers have known for more than 30 years that recycling is not an economically or technically feasible plastic waste management solution. That has not stopped them from promoting it, according to a new report.

‘The companies lied,’ said Richard Wiles, president of fossil-fuel accountability advocacy group the Center for Climate Integrity (CCI), which published the report. ‘It’s time to hold them accountable for the damage they’ve caused.’…

…The industry has known for decades about these existential challenges, but obscured that information in its marketing campaigns, the report shows.

The research draws on previous investigations as well as newly revealed internal documents illustrating the extent of this decades-long campaign.

Industry insiders over the past several decades have variously referred to plastic recycling as ‘uneconomical’, said it ‘cannot be considered a permanent solid waste solution’, and said it ‘cannot go on indefinitely’  the revelations show.

The authors say the evidence demonstrates that oil and petrochemical companies, as well as their trade associations, may have broken laws designed to protect the public from misleading marketing and pollution.”

The gist is the public has been led to believe greater and cost effective success has been achieved in plastics recycling. At the same time, we have huge islands of plastics in our oceans that some of which have been ingested by sea creatures and, in turn, consumers.

We must seek and find truths to deal with this mountainous problem. We also need to have an advertised and concreted effort to greatly reduce the use of plastic. Less bottled water and other liquids is a huge given. Plus we need to move to other types of containers that can be reused, repurposed or easily recycled. This industry seems to have little concern to lying to consumers. We should not forget that key point.

Interesting metaphor on paying for services

As per usual, Donald Trump did what he often does when faced with stiff opposition on something he said. He gauges the reaction of his more strident supporters and then doubles down on his statement. Per an article in Politico Thursday:

“Donald Trump on Wednesday night underscored his controversial position that the U.S. would not defend any NATO ally country that does not spend at least 2 percent of its gross domestic product on defense.

‘I’ve been saying, look, if they’re not going to pay, we’re not going to protect, okay? And Biden who said, ‘Oh, this is so bad. This is so terrible that he would say that.’ No,’ said Trump at a rally in South Carolina, adding that he looked at the defense budgets of each country and said ‘nobody’s paying their bills.’”

It is an interesting metaphor for Trump to use – people not paying for things. Trump has numerous court cases where he was sued or counter sued after he FAILED to pay for services rendered by contractors. One contractor said in an interview on PBS Newshour that “Word on the street is if working with the Trump Organization, get your money up front.”

There is also his practice of using other people’s money to pay for his legal defense, be it donors, RNC donors, campaign donors, etc. What is interesting is more than a few attorneys go unpaid and refuse to work with Trump. This is a one reason he has had poor legal defense on more than a few occasions – think Powell, Giuliani, et al.

Finally, on a smaller more frequent scale, an attorney for Trump said he often went out to lunch without a wallet to see who he could get to pay for his lunch. He likes using other people’s money for his benefit. Picking one recent fraud case, Trump was ordered to pay back his Foundation $1.6 million he used for personal reasons. Note these are donated funds. After paying, The Foundation was disbanded and monies were distributed to charity.

The NATO stance is embarrassing and dangerous. Even if the point that NATO countries need to contribute is sound, threatening not to help them and saying you will encourage an attack is just asinine. Who needs enemies when you have friends like Trump.

But, back to the money thing. Trump needs to start paying people for services rendered using his own money. He could help himself by committing fewer crimes to begin with. As for contractors, the lesson learned late is you are better off working with people who will pay for services. And, if you must work with Trump, get your money upfront.

Trump has a two defamation fines pending totalling just under $80 million. He also has another fraud case verdict pending that may be twice that number. Being in real estate, one of his advisors said he does not have that much cash lying around. So, will Trump ask his donors to pay his fines? My guess is he will try.