Category: Conspiracy

2023 Week 7 – Lock-n-Load

Feb 27, 2023 – I just realized this post was still sitting in the Drafts folder!

The last two posts have had a lot of food content in them so I’ll start this one with just one piece of food news. According to Eater, In-N-Out is expanding eastward and opening up an office outside of Nashville, TN to oversee “expansion”. My son & I tried In-N-Out on a trip out west several years ago and while we both enjoyed it, we liked Del Taco better.

Given all thats going on in the world these days, I found it very interesting an Air Force General sent his troops a memo telling them to get prepared to go to war with China in 2025.

“I hope I am wrong. My gut tells me will fight in 2025,”

Gen. Mike Minihan in a memo sent to the officers he commands and obtained by NBC News.

Gen. Minihan feels the upcoming 2024 elections are going to be a distraction where China will invate Tawain & provoke a war. I sure hope he’s wrong!

8888 Keystone Crossing, Indianapolis, IN, 46240 - Coworking Space on ...

Here’s a link to a fun video about Keystone at the Crossing, the Fashion Mall at Keystone and the Bazaar (YouTube would not let me embed it into the post). The facility was opened prior to the completion of final leg of 465 in October, 1970 between Keystone and Shadeland Avenues. You can (kind of) see the 465 construction in the background of the arial shots. I visited it before it’s demolition in 1986 and only remember the wood paneling and the stairs everywhere (so many stairs)… Evidently the mall even had a Disco called Lucifer’s.

And finally… Speaking of history, it’s been 20 years since Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart during re-entry creating the largest crash site ever on record. The following is a very well produced video shoing what happpened.

2023 Week 5 – Peek-a-Boo!

Pretty quiet week if you don’t count the Chinese “weather” balloon that made its way across the continental U.S. It’s reported that the balloon had some remote control abilities and happened to float over some sensitive military installations. After clearing the eastern seaboard, a U.S. fighter jet shot down the balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach.

*PoP*

In food news, we made a few discoveries this week. While picking up a salad at Whole Foods, a young lady was at a display stand sampling Soy Sauce, and Chili Crisp made in Cincinnati. After tasting a little of the soy sauce on a veggie sushi roll, I bought a bottle (it’s delicious!).

https://www.cinsoyfoods.com

CinSoy Foods makes several foods, including Tofu, Soy Sauce, Soy Salt, and Make at Home Miso Kits. I’m looking forward to trying their Soy Sauce in a few upcoming recipes.

If you’re craving Lasagna but don’t have the time or energy to make a big batch, I highly recommend the Giovanni Rana brand. It’s located in the refrigerated section at Kroger. The Meat Lasagna I picked up looked and tasted homemade. The package is vacuum sealed and has about a 3-week shelf life in the refrigerator before consuming or freezing it. I can’t see this lasting more than three days in my fridge. Giovanni Rana also has a line of fresh pasta and sauces.

Packaging
Before cooking!

And last but not least, RXBar added a new variation to its line of Protein Bars. The A.M. RXBar mixes in Oats to give the product a little more flavor and soften up the texture of the traditional RXBar. After sampling the Honey, Cinnamon, and Peanut Butter flavor, I immediately ordered a 12-pack from Amazon (for around $20). These have been my go-to light breakfast on mornings when I need something to hold me over until lunch.

And finally… The Economics Of Unused Gift Cards. The Hustle posted a video on YouTube about how companies make money on Gift Cards. I was surprised to learn Indiana is one of the states that allows maintenance fees to be collected after a period of time that will eventually render gift cards worthless.

2022 Week 51 – Goooaaaal!!!!

WOW, what a game. I just finished watching the World Cup finale between Argentina and France, and it was one of the best games of the event. I had a $1 bet on Team USA to go all the way, and that would have paid $175 (kind of like playing the lottery). All in all, it was a good World cup with the typical upsets. Unfortunately, we lost an American reported under suspicious circumstances.

I was planning on recommending an inexpensive last-minute gift or stocking stuffer, as I highly recommend the Leatherman Micra, which usually costs $20-30. I’ve carried one for the past 15+ years and use it regularly. I say planning to recommend it because when I went to post a link to it on Amazon, it’s now retailing for $66! This is crazy, and I can only imagine it’s due to the holiday demand.

Leatherman Micra Pocket Tool

Leatherman has it listed on their site for a more respectable $35, but it may not make it to you by Christmas. If you’re out and about, I’ve seen the Micra in Big Box and local hardware stores closer to the $25 retail price.

I love maps. They come in all shapes and sizes, and they do way more than tell you where you are. In fact, there are maps that explain all kinds of facts like this… “How many countries other than the United States do not use the metric system?” Two!

https://www.farandwide.com/s/amazing-world-maps-74d6186e6d0e414b

100 Amazing Maps of the World is an interesting site with a lot of great maps. I particularly like the map showing all of the rivers that flow into the Mississippi river.

And finally… What do you get when you take an 862HP Subaru Wagon, strap Travis Pastrana in the driver’s seat, and turn him loose on the streets of Florida? You get Gymkhana 2022. Pay special attention for a guest appearance by Cleetus McFarland.

2022 Week 50 – Nazis in the USA?

About the only thing good about Winter is it gives me more time to read. I happened to catch a Joe Rogan clip on YouTube about Operation Paperclip (OP) with author Annie Jacobsen who wrote a book under the same name. As a history buff, I’m really enjoying the book and the details of OP are quite incredible.

Operation Paperclip was a secret United States intelligence program in which more than 1,600 German scientists, engineers, and technicians were taken from the former Nazi Germany to the U.S. for government employment after the end of World War II in Europe, between 1945 and 1959.

Wikipedia
34 minutes long but very interesting!

Here we go again… Real ID Deadline for Domestic Fliers is Extended. Again. In 2005, in response to the September 11 attacks, the US Government decided travelers needed to have more identification than an easily forged driver’s license. May, 2023 was the latest deadline but it’s been pushed out 2 more years because we’re still not ready to implement it. This is embarrassing, to say the least. It’s been 17 years!

And finally… What does your pet do when you leave the house? This pet owner strapped a GoPro to his Lab and left him alone for the first time.

2022 Week 45 – Lights Out

70-degrees in November? I’ll take it! We had some BIG wind gusts that came through Indiana yesterday, and about half the houses in my neighborhood ended up without power for a little over 5-hours. Luckily I work off laptops and iPads, so I had enough power to get through most of the day using my iPhone as a hotspot. As the sun started to go down, I even broke out the Jackery 500 Portable Station to run a few of my USB Camping lights.

Jackery 500 Portable Station

In September, the Washing Post ran an article titled “Customs officials have copied Americans’ phone data at massive scale.” In it, they detail the breadth of the program and how it’s raised some concerns on Capital Hill. As someone who plans on taking a couple of International trips in the next 12 months, this is a little scary, to say the least.

Contacts, call logs, messages and photos from up to 10,000 travelers’ phones are saved to a government database every year

Washington Post

Although I’m not part of the demographic they are looking at, “individuals who are of a significant law enforcement, counterterrorist, or national security concern,” the fact remains this database exists and appears to have little oversight in its use.

And finally… Ken Block is at it again, this time with a fully electric rally car on the streets of Las Vegas. The electric motor sound is not as pleasing as the turbo-charged gas engine, but the impressive abilities of his latest vehicle almost make up for it.

2022 Week 9 – New Mouse in the House

Another ‘Fake Spring” in Indiana with temps in the 60’s followed by below-freezing nights in the same week. The first couple months of the year are my least favorite time of year, and spring can’t get here fast enough…

At the recommendation of a co-worker, I picked up a new mouse last week. The Logitech MX Master 3 is unlike any mouse I’ve used before. First off, it’s a big boy size-wise, but, weighing in at 4.9 oz (140 grams), it’s surprisingly light for its stature. It also has a LOT of buttons and wheels. Something it’s going to take a while to get used to, especially since you can customize EVERY control and wheel depending on the application you have in focus. The fit in hand is comfortable, and the USB-C rechargeability makes this an excellent replacement for the Apple Magic Mouse I’ve been using for more years than I can remember.

Logitech MX Master 3 Mouse

Priced at $100 the Logitech MX Master 3 is not cheap but the improved ergonomics and extreme customizability are worth it in my opinion. After using it for about 2 weeks I can’t imagine going back to a “normal” mouse again.

And finally… 60 Minutes (Australia Edition) aired a piece earlier this month about the Malaysia Airlines flight 370 disappearance. A aerospace engineer claims he has determined, with great confidence, where the flight went down. He did this by analyzing disruptions in Ham Radio communications, of all things, during the flight. Let us know what you think after watching in the comments below.

2022 Week 2 – Don’t Look Up!

It’s starting to get cold in Indianapolis after record warm temps in December. I’m ready for spring to get here so I can get back outside and off the couch. Also, I’m hoping the rental car situation improves this year because I’m dying to make a trip to Portland, Maine, to do some hiking, fishing & eating. In 2019 there were non-stop flights from Indy, but it looks like those are no longer available, so that means I have to go through Boston & drive north.

As much as we’re all trying NOT to catch COVID, we have to be realistic and accept the fact we’ll all probably get it at some time. If you’re concerned about what to do when that day comes, The Atlantic had a great writeup in December with recommendations on what to do.

This Monday, the College Football Championship is in Indianapolis, with Alabama playing Georgia at 8 pm. Lots of festivities downtown, including several concerts on Monument Circle. The weather looks a little iffy, but I hope it holds off so people can enjoy the festivities.

Meanwhile, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution sportswriter Chip Tower slams Indianapolis as the host city for the 2022 College Football Playoffs National Championship. Happily, Indianapolis Monthly had a reply.

And finally, “Don’t Look Up” on Netflix was a surprise hit. After watching it, I could totally see how the movie’s premise could happen…

Two low-level astronomers must go on a giant media tour to warn mankind of an approaching comet that will destroy planet Earth.

IMDB.com

2021 Week 48 – You ARE Being Watched

I took some time over the long holiday weekend to finish a book I had started a few weeks ago and promptly start another related one.

Permanent Record by Edward Snowden is an eye-opening tale centering around a late 20-something NSA contractor who exposes the US Government’s mass surveillance system created after 9/11. Love him or hate him he brought to light the vast data collection of US citizens by their government.

No Place to Hide by Glenn Greenwald starts up with his interview of Snowden while he hides in Hong Kong before his trove of documents is released to the public by various medial outlets. Meanwhile, Laura Poitras films a series of interviews for her documentary Citizen Four. It goes into incredible detail about the surveillance systems in use around the world, by many countries, and details just how far they have gone to invade your privacy.

If you have any interest in this kind of stuff it’s well worth your time to seek out these books or at least watch the full documentary (available on YouTube with Ads (that will track you, haha)). It will chill you to the core and make you think about what you do online going forward.

As I wrote earlier this year everyone needs to be using a Password Manager application. My favorite continues to be Bitwarden. The free version is more than enough for most people but the $10 paid version adds some advanced features and helps support the development. Getting started with a Password manager is NOT difficult and is NOT a good excuse for NOT using one. Bitwarden for Beginners is a great place to start.

NordPass just released their annual Top 200 Common Password list. It shows what people are actually using to secure their private data as well as how long it takes to crack and gain access. If your password is on the list you should assume your accounts have been compromised because you probably use the SAME password in multiple places. The benefit of a Password Manager is that you can use a different, unique, password for every account and only need to remember ONE (secure) master password/phrase. The tool generates and documents the login details for you.

Another security tool you should consider using, especially if you use your devices in public, is a personal VPN account. This tool encrypts your traffic and protects you from anyone wanting to access your data. Sounds a little overkill but it’s not uncommon for someone to sit on a public network and watch for unsecured traffic to exploit. In fact, as far back as 2013 AT&T and Starbucks encouraged it! My personal favorite is Private Internet Access (PIA) which works on all devices including your phone and tablet. An annual subscription is $39.99.

I think that just about wraps things up for this week. It’s hard to believe 2021 is 90% over & we’re getting ready to settle down into the winter months. At least I have a stack of books to go through while hunkering down inside for the next 3 months. See you next week!