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Sunday, June 14, 2026

Post #7725 Social Media Digest

 Twitter/X

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Post #7724 M: Trump Storms Out of "Meet the Press" Interview; The Truth About Socialism in Scandinavia; McClanahan on FDR, Trump, and Massie

 Quote of the Day

When Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb, 
he didn't start by trying to improve the candle. 
He decided that he wanted better light and went from there.
Wendy Kopp

Trump Storms Out of "Meet the Press" Interview


The Truth About Socialism in Scandinavia

McClanahan on FDR, Trump, and Massie

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Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Gary Varvel via Politico 

Musical Interlude: 1964 Top 100 Hits

Memphis - Johnny Rivers

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Saturday, June 13, 2026

Post #7723 J

 Endemic Report

The latest weekly CDC stats:



The Sick Times:




We do see infections  up in Texas and Florida, although, as TST  concludes above, it's unclear whether it's a random event during a fading winter wave or the signs of an early summer surge. Probably the biggest news of the week was a multi-state settlement with a COVID test producer.

COVID-19 news this week:
  • "Ensitrelvir Prevents Household COVID-19 Transmission in Phase 3 Trial"
  • "COVID-19 era outdoor dining disappearing in downtown Norfolk"
  • "FDA Approves Tocilizumab-bavi for CAR-T-Induced CRS, Pediatric COVID-19"
  • "Leading OB-GYN society breaks from CDC on recommended vaccines for pregnant women, including COVID-19"
  • "New study shows metformin given during acute COVID-19 infection reduced risk of clinician-diagnosed long COVID by 50%"
  • "COVID-19 still kills over 30,000 a year in Japan; old people at risk"
  • "Severe COVID-19 reveals distinct immune patterns tied to metabolism, not just antiviral response"
  • "Study links menstrual cycle timing to COVID vaccine side effects"
  • "Israeli, Czech scientists recreate COVID-19’s evolutionary journey in a test tube"
  • "Lani Pallister Calls Catching COVID for 5th Time “So Random”"
  • "Invivyd doses first participants in COVID-19 vaccine trial"
  • "SARS-CoV-2 Infection Carries Greater Autoimmune Risk Than Vaccination"
  • "AI-designed universal vaccine clears first human trial, targets future coronavirus threats with needle-free delivery"
  • "Excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic was especially high among older persons and men"
  • COVID relief fraud/other crimes:
    • " Nevada fraud case targets seven men over COVID-19 relief loan applications"
    • "Georgia Man Gets Prison Time for SBA COVID Loan Fraud"
    • "Moberly man pleads guilty to $284,000 COVID-19 rental assistance fraud"
    • "Frisco couple gets 40 years for $30 million COVID-era pyramid scheme targeting thousands"
    • "Former ATF Investigator Accused of Defrauding Covid-19 Program"
    • "Chickaloon man sentenced to prison for COVID-19 fraud conspiracy"
    • "Man accused of trying to steal $170K in COVID relief funds given prison time"
    • "Marina del Rey Man Faces Sentencing for $3M COVID Loan Fraud"
    • "Dayton-area case ends with nine convictions tied to COVID-19 relief fraud"
  • Legal/political issues:

Other Notes

The blog continues to average nearly 1K pageviews daily. Maybe this is the new normal.. I'm somewhat surprised that my journal post, which is normally my highest-performing, wasn't up to expectations. I thought the write-up on my last federal contracting gig was compelling. As to X/Twitter, I was startled to see I lost 4 followers overnight. It's not necessarily losing followers, but it usually happens more slowly over time.

I haven't watched Hallmark to see if they've started to promote the annual Christmas in July interlude. But I've been on the competing Great American Family channels enough to realize they are doing the same.

I will not wait until the end of game 5 of the Finals with my Spurs down 3-1 and facing elimination. The Knicks had a horrible first half on offense, but the Spurs are only up by 5. The Spurs have blown double-digit leads in each game. Bad hot selection, too many unforced turnovers, etc. Blowing a 29-point lead in New York in Game 4 was unforgivable.

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Post #7722 M: Trump Cries Election Fraud in California; SOHO Debate: Should ICE deport all illegal aliens?; Stossel on The Case for Economic Freedom

 Quote of the Day

Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other 
but in looking outward together in the same direction.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry  

Trump Cries Election Fraud in California

SOHO Debate: Should ICE deport all illegal aliens? 

Stossel on The Case for Economic Freedom

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Political Cartoon

Courtesy of John Darkow via Politico

Musical Interlude: 1964 Top 100 Hits

Twist And Shout - The Beatles

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Friday, June 12, 2026

Post #7721 M: Trump’s Losing Streak Seeps Into Iran; War, Reconciliation, and the Righteous Cause; Unions - NOT the cause of our 40 hour workweek

 Quote of the Day

A society grows great 
when old men plant trees 
whose shade they know 
they shall never sit in.
Greek proverb 

Trump’s Losing Streak Seeps Into Iran 

War, Reconciliation, and the Righteous Cause

Unions - NOT the cause of our 40 hour workweek

Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of M. Wuerker via Politico

Musical Interlude: 1964 Top 100 Hits

 G.T.O. - Ronny & the Daytonas

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Thursday, June 11, 2026

Post #7720 M: Californians Move to Texas | Season 2 Finale; McClanahan on The False Ghosts of the Confederacy?; Why Populism Leads to Decline

 Quote of the Day

If I only had three words of advice, they would be, 
Tell the Truth. 
If I got three more words, I'd add, 
All the Time.
Randy Pausch  

Californians Move to Texas | Season 2 Finale

McClanahan on The False Ghosts of the Confederacy?


Why Populism Leads to Decline

Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Nick Anderson via Politico

Musical Interlude: 1964 Top 100 Hits

The Animals - House of the Rising Sun

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Wednesday, June 10, 2026

Post #7719 M: Which of these J6ers deserves some cash for their troubles?; Stossel on Extreme Weather Deaths Are Declining; Dumb BLEEP of the Week

 Quote of the Day

Contentment is natural wealth, 
LUXURY is artificial poverty.
Socrates  

Which of these J6ers deserves some cash for their troubles?

Stossel on Extreme Weather Deaths Are Declining

Dumb BLEEP of the Week

Choose Life

Political Cartoon 

Courtesy of Matt Davies via Politico

Musical Interlude: 1964 Top 100 Hits

Walk On By - Dionne Warwick

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Tuesday, June 9, 2026

Post #7718 M: Trump's pool chart was labeled, “Our pool is bigger than skyscrapers"; SEIZED CASH: Americans Struggle to Get Property Back; Is this the dumbest health care law?

 Quote of the Day

I'm a great believer in luck, 
and I find the harder I work 
the more I have of it. 
Thomas Jefferson  

#Trump's pool chart was labeled, “Our pool is bigger than skyscrapers.”

SEIZED CASH: Americans Struggle to Get Property Back

Is this the dumbest health care law?

Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Pedro Molina via US News

Musical Interlude: 1964 Top 100 Hits 

 You Don’t Own Me - Lesley Gore 

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Monday, June 8, 2026

Post #7717 M: Trump Claims Iran Agreed to Abandon Nuclear Weapons; Why Government Power Must Be Limited; McClanahan on Did Decentralization Build the American Economy?

 Quote of the Day

You have to allow a certain amount of time 
in which you are doing nothing 
in order to have things occur to you, 
to let your mind think.
Mortimer Adler  

Trump Claims Iran Agreed to Abandon Nuclear Weapons

Why Government Power Must Be Limited

McClanahan on Did Decentralization Build the American Economy?


Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Michael Ramirez via US News

Musical Interlude: 1964 Top 100 Hits

Dusty Springfield - Wishin & Hopin'. A Personal Favorite

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Sunday, June 7, 2026

Post #7716 Social Media Digest

 X/Twitter

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Post #7715 M: Trump Brags About His Brain; Why Socialism Won't Deliver Government Efficiency; Was Lincoln More Radical Than We Remember?

 Quote of the Day

What you are 
will show in what you do.
Thomas A. Edison  

Trump Brags About His Brain

Why Socialism Won't Deliver Government Efficiency

Was Lincoln More Radical Than We Remember?


Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Chris Britt via US News

Musical Interlude: 1964 Top 100 Hits

Let It Be Me - Jerry Butler & Betty Everett

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Saturday, June 6, 2026

Post #7714 J

 Endemic Report

The latest CDC weekly stats:

The macro stats (tests, hospitalization, deaths, etc.) weren't updated over the past week



The Sick Times:


We are seeing the lowest post-wave lull in years, with only Florida showing an infection spread. The biggest news items over the past week involved FDA drug approvals.

COVID-19 news items this past week:

Other Notes

The blog continues to dubiously attract almost 1000 pageviews daily (over the blog's history average). No new essay yet this month. X/Twitter followers remain stable.

I've been a Spurs fan since my undergrad days at OLLU. Last night they lost the second home game of the finals, which means they have to win 2 of a possible 3 games at the Knicks' home court to win the championship. Only 5 have come back from 0-2, and none when those were at home. Victor Wembanyama, the young phenomenal 7'4" center, the best big man I've ever seen, particularly at foul shots and 3-pointers, has had a couple of bad games. The Knicks in Game 1 seemed to force him into turnovers every time he tried to dribble the ball, and he was largely ineffectual in the first half of last night's game. He was a big factor down the home stretch, where the Spurs battled back from a double-digit deficit. The Knicks had failed to break the tie when Victor pushed the ball up court and passed to an unsuspecting teammate, leading to a turnover and a desperation foul; one foul shot scored, and the Spurs missed a final shot to win.

Another in my series of experiences of dealing with incompetent federal employees. I'll try to simplify the discussion of technical issues. Software vendors, like Oracle, often want access to a client system to diagnose issues. And they have sophisticated tools to access your network and environment. I remember working on a local Lockheed phone portability project for the Chicago area; we had a multi-master database replication with a second instance in NY. I think they had a dedicated data line, but they wanted redundancy via the Internet, which was then supported by new, advanced networking software. I tried to install, and it failed. I filed a bug. It was something stupid, like the Oracle product developer had failed to set some compile flag. (Oracle never tested the installation software before creating the product disk.) And Oracle was wary about promising the fix because the developer was unavailable, and there was a code of honor: you don't compile someone else's code. Oracle demanded access, so they could "rush" the fix. They basically bragged to me about how they could see with their sniffer and other tools.

That was not a federal project, but it provides relevant context for network security. With DB version 10G, Oracle offered an optional, extra-cost Advanced Security Option that included features such as encryption of user session data flows and encrypted data storage. Oracle, by default, doesn't encrypt (except for passwords; cf. earlier discussion of sniffers). Now, most government databases I've had access to as a DBA have sets of security and other quality standards called STIGs for which databases and their infrastructure must be in compliance. At some point, Oracle made native network encryption available at least for the enterprise edition of its DBMS software.

The point is, the Oracle STIGs required the "free" network encryption to be configured for use. More recently, they've also wanted encrypted tablespaces, which require licensed ASO — something no government agency in my experience has acquired. (There's been some ambiguity; for example, in the past, one has said tablespace encryption unconditionally, while another said if the manager takes the risk, it can be waived.)  I've repeatedly raised this issue with government managers, to no avail. A further discussion: if a STIG.is serious enough (CAT-1), your production database server can be dropped from the government network. And serious STIG non-compliance must be documented with POAMs, including a documented path to full compliance.

In my experience over the past decade, no federal database environment I worked in had encrypted network traffic compliance (there are ways to, in effect, simulate sniffing via user trace files). And there are some nuances in the STIGs that specify restrictions on encryption algorithms, e.g., delisting older, weaker standards under 10G, but new algorithms for the 12C RDBMS.

I have to provide context for the 2019 gig to explain the context for the 2024 gig. The former included feeds from other databases.  I enforced encryption in phases, first with an optional 12C-compliant encryption algorithm, then with it being required. A government DBA (who had been notified) running an old, unsupported Oracle version went nuts. It turned livid when he discovered his obsolete Oracle client software didn't work for the data transfer. I explained a simple workaround: install the 12C client in a separate Oracle home and source your transfer script to the relevant executable. No, he insisted, you need to downgrade the encryption to meet my client software requirements. No way was I going to cause a STIG violation to accommodate an incompetent, uncooperative federal employee when 97% of the feeds were STIG-compliant. He immediately escalated to sympathetic civilian management; it was like "Who the f*ck does this contractor think he is telling a government employee what to do?"  I reported the incident to the cybersecurity gods, knowing they had to back the STIGs.

This provides the context for my 2024 gig at a DoD facility in Annapolis across the river from the Naval Academy (a bitch of a commute through the Baltimore tunnels. Typically, stop-and-go each way often takes 3 hours total, even though I live maybe  32 miles away. The security contractor was not an Oracle SME, and somehow, past STIG audits didn't identify unencrypted data flows. I didn't have access to the application server, so I didn't know about the Oracle client software on it (and the knowledgeable reader can probably guess what happened). I was not briefed on the app server, but I had assumed they had installed a 12C client for their 12C database, and the app server had been STIGged. So as soon as I enforce encryption, all hell breaks out. Memories from 2019 client error messages of the type "I don't know what to make of this algorithm". I'm absolutely convinced they had old client software on the app server. The dumbass civilian app manager immediately scapegoated me, even though I backed out the changes almost immediately and confirmed resuming the status quo. I had to surrender my CAC before leaving, and my subcontractor boss called to tell me I was done. I can only hope that Musk and Trump fired one particular ungrateful, incompetent, mediocre civilian app administrator.
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