Ruth
Been busy
I’m sorry for the silence.
On 8/9/2023 my Tibetan Mastiff Apollo crossed the rainbow bridge. He was 12.5yrs old. His health had been struggling for the last year, but the vet visit was supposed to be a routine check. Instead we walked out carrying his collar and harness and leaving him behind. His ashes are home, we haven’t decided where to scatter them yet.
I took a weekend off to visit my parents for their 50th wedding anniversary.
And I’m still trying to take my chainmaille to as many craft fairs as I can.
Back in May we added two new cats to the household. Siblings, barely a year old. So basically kittens in adult sized bodies. Its been, interesting, having two kittens at the same time.
So free time has been at a premium even when I’ve had an interest in blogging.
Scam FB Ads
I’ve been seeing a new trend in Facebook Ads the last few years, and especially this calendar year.
I started noticing it in 2020.
Customers were coming into the store, having purchased this AWESOME DEAL on patio furniture online, after clicking on a Facebook ad. The ad said it from Home Depot. The page looked like Home Depot’s site, the emails said they were from Home Depot. And the final email said to pick up their purchase at the local store!
There was just one little tiny problem. Neither the ads, website, or the emails were from anyone at Home Depot. The actual website address wasn’t HD’s, the email addresses weren’t from HD.
Most of these folks didn’t have a screenshot of the ad they’d clicked on. And I have no clue if they were able to get their money back.
Beginning of this summer I had a customer come in looking for “the raised bed kit you have on sale”. After a bit of back and forth, with me insisting we don’t have a raised bed kit on sale, he pulls out his phone, opens up his FB app, and right there front and center is the advertisement. With the link out clearly showing it wasn’t an HD page, even though the big bold print said Home Depot.
Oddly enough none of these ads were coming across MY feed. I was seeing plenty of scam ads, but none of these spoofed pages. But the last few months I started noticing a new trend in the scam ads, and that was the scammers were hacking actual real business pages (small medical practices appear to be popular), and placing scam ads via those pages. Then just the last few weeks, I apparently clicked on something that told FB I wanted to buy postage stamps. Suddenly my FB page was filled with scam pages selling fake forever stamps. Yay.
Yesterday however I got my first fake Lowes ad, and then another, and another.
You’ll notice that the profile image isn’t Lowes, and the website listed isn’t Lowes. Here’s the actual page that the ad is from:
Betting thats a hacked page.
I failed to get a screenshot of the page this next one is from, but still, can you spot the problems:
Or here, the ad, and the website it went to when I clicked through:
Just a heads up, if someone is selling a Honda Inverter Gen, new, for under $900, run far and fast and don’t give them your info.
links 8/6/23
I try to pick links without paywalls, but occasionally things change after I pick the link. Other times I forget I have a subscription. For most of the Substack links, if it asks you to enter your email and subscribe, ignore the enter email box and click “just let me read” or “continue reading” (which ever it offers), and most of them will let you through to read.
California Panel Approves Reparation Payments for Black Residents Up to $1.2 Million Each
Spiraling in San Francisco’s Doom Loop
Owner of SF’s Largest Hotel, the Hilton Union Square, Is Walking Away, Surrendering It to Lender
California Electricity Bills Will Soon Be Based on Income. Here’s How It Might Work
Gas Lines Are Back Baby!
Navy doctors and dentists are told they owe 3 more years of service after military admits to another record-keeping error
The World Health Organization will take up the EU system of digital COVID-19 certification to establish a global system that will help facilitate global mobility and protect citizens across the world from on-going and future health threats.
We found half of interventional long covid studies did not even require prior COVID.
Lockdown benefits ‘a drop in the bucket compared to the costs’, landmark study finds
Kids in one school district in NJ were still being required to mask in April 2023
Did Covid-19 quarantines hide the flu?
study of 666 Rhode Island childcare centers from June 1st-July 31st 2020: Only 0.6% (4/666) of childcare centers had even possible evidence of secondary transmission & this was without child mask requirements
New Onset Multiple Sclerosis Post-COVID-19 Vaccination and Correlation With Possible Predictors in a Case-Control Study
District agrees to $400,000 settlement over COVID policies
If Your Toddler Isn’t Talking Yet, the Pandemic Might Be to Blame
Two years to late: New York lifting COVID vaccine mandate for health care workers
“There Was No Pandemic in 2020“
Korean nationwide study reports 8 cases of “sudden cardiac death (SCD) attributable to VRM [vaccine-related myocarditis] proved by an autopsy”
WHO Warns Of ‘Unusual’ Surge in Severe Myocarditis in Babies
Pfizer’s Maternal RSV Vaccine Clears FDA Advisory Committee
FBI misused surveillance tool on Jan. 6 suspects, BLM arrestees and others
Twitter Files Extra: The Covid Censorship Requests of Australia’s Department of Home Affairs
the prospect of reforming cancer trials
Mammography Screening Is a Failed Experiment
The Infomercial Comes to The Wall Street Journal
Chemical found in ‘widely used sweetener’ damages human DNA, new study says
US Military Is So Worried About Drug Safety It Wants to Test Widely Used Medicines
Shortage of lifesaving chemo drugs adds to cancer patients’ fears
Women who started the pill as teens have 130% higher rate of depression: study
Norway advises against child sex changes, joins Finland, Sweden, and UK in rejecting gender ideology
A reduction in long-term spatial memory persists after discontinuation of peripubertal GnRH agonist treatment in sheep
Electric cars losing their value twice as fast as petrol alternatives
Texas to charge EV owners $400 to register vehicles, $200 every year
Germany faces electricity shortages and can expect to see industries leave the country due to green energy policy ‘disaster’ that saw nuclear power plants ditched for renewables, business chiefs warn
The surface of the Greenland ice sheet has gained almost 600 billion tons of new snow since September 1, 2022… above the 1981-2010 average
Democrats accuse GOP of stoking culture wars with bills limiting gas stove rules
shows an armed security guard flanking surveyors as they enter private land without permission for a pipeline they don’t even have the permit to build yet.
Telomere Length Correlates with Life Span of Dog Breeds
Egyptian lawyer sues Netflix over Queen Cleopatra
At New Chicago Walgreens, You Can Only Browse 2 Aisles — The Rest Of The Store Is Locked Away
Lawyer apologizes for fake court citations from ChatGPT
A judge has denied the motion for preliminary injunction in our lawsuit challenging Washington’s “assault weapon ban,” saying that the banned firearms “allow a shooter to fire as fast as they can pull the trigger, unlike previous guns.”
2020: DEFUND THE POLICE! 2022: ITS ALL GREAT* crime rate 111% higher than nat’l ave* 2023: FUND THE POLICE!
Edmond parent files lawsuit after daughter ‘severely beaten’ in bathroom by trans student
Biden Admin’s $40m ‘Anti-Terrorism’ Program Targets Breitbart News, Conservatives
To Address The Loneliness Epidemic, The Feds Want To Control Your Town And Friends
I think of this often when I hear trust the science and trust public health officials. Oh like the ones who ran an actual Eugenics Board and sterilized women on the application of social workers? Like that?
Nope, I’m still going to hell. This whole situation still makes me laugh: Eric Adams asks judge to suspend New York’s “right to shelter” policy because this open border thing is just becoming too much to handle
NYC Mayor Eric Adams wants to install “resource kiosks” to stop thieves from looting retail stores
NYC Comptroller joined NYC Mayor and Department of Finance in limiting City of New York deposits at the two banks. The Comptroller also voted against designating three others that failed to submit required anti-discrimination plans
The phone-free are finding themselves unwelcome in more places
The Parents Saying No to Smartphones
BREAKING: Senator Chuck Grassley asks USDA-HHS to stop writing Dietary Guidelines until conflicts of interest are fully released 95% of last committee had at least 1 tie to food/pharma Guidelines need transparency to serve the people, not corporations
Lawmakers in the Empire State are following California, where the Assembly just approved a bill to ban key ingredients in certain candies.
THOUSANDS of fraudulent registrations found requesting absentee ballots on NY voter rolls: study
China Hacks Critical U.S. Infrastructure, Microsoft Says
Breathe less oxygen to live longer, study suggests
Twitter thread: Since the WaPo decided not to include this info in their article, here is a review of the books that were removed by the Forsyth County schools
Uber suspends diversity chief over ‘Don’t Call Me Karen’ events
Cavewomen may not have adhered to strict gender roles formed centuries after their deaths, now now these poor prehistoric women are non-binary
400 Grail blood test users were incorrectly told they may have cancer: report
Killer whales are sinking boats off the coast of Europe in orchestrated attacks
Homework Machine Hand Writes AI-Generated Assignments
Amazon Ring, Alexa accused of every nightmare IoT security fail you can imagine
Maybe there is *something* in the water….
Virtual fencing for beef cattle
The Great Electrician Shortage
This Skinny Toronto House Is Listed For Almost $2M & Has A Toilet In The Bedroom
Sheep to Shawl competition
Reserve Marine Foils DC-area Human Trafficking Ring Just Hours Before Fitness Test
The Sound of Freedom: History vs Hollywood
Women who fish are happier and healthier, study shows
Chronic wound healing using glass
Former Philly Starbucks manager wins $25.6 million after being fired for being white
A catatonic woman awakened after 20 years. Her story may change psychiatry.
Parrots learn to make video calls to chat with other parrots, then develop friendships, Northeastern University researchers say
The fastest family on earth
The improbable story of the bra-maker who won the right to make astronaut spacesuits
Brain scans of coffee drinkers suggest there’s more to feeling alert than just the caffeine
‘It’s been crazy’: Meet the I-75 cowboy who roped a steer in now-viral video
Links 7/1/23
According to educators, this will be a kind of lost generation: under-educated to the point where it drags down their future, and ours.
Last year this would have been classified as mis-information: The World Health Organization has tailored its COVID-19 vaccination recommendations for a new phase of the pandemic, suggesting that healthy children and adolescents may not necessarily need a shot but older, high-risk groups should get a booster
New Study on Long COVID in kids and young adults FAILS to link COVID to Long COVID
Twitter thread: I may never get over the fact one of the most important findings of the last 3 yrs: That transmission rates of infected people to others (secondary attack rate) was unrelated to # of vax doses received was buried in the supplements of this Danish study
Twitter thread: For 3 years, Americans have been given the impressions that Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, NYC, was the “epicenter” of overwhelmingly high patient volume fueled by sudden spread of covid-19.
Occupancy Data for New York’s Covid “Epicenter” Hospital Contradicts Perception
Were masks in hospitals a waste of time? Hated NHS policy made ‘no difference’ to Covid infection rates, study finds
Study finds that masking reduces blood ox, increases blood co2
CDC data shows wearing an N95 for longer than an hour at a time causes bad things
The Harms of Masking
Possible toxicity of chronic carbon dioxide exposure associated with face mask use, particularly in pregnant women, children and adolescents
Review shows mask-wearing may contribute to stillbirths, irreversible cognitive deficits in children, testicular dysfunction, and much more.
Switzerland stops the Covid vaccinations: All vaccination recommendations have been withdrawn, doctors can only administer the controversial vaccines in individual cases under certain conditions – but then bear the risk of liability for vaccination damage.
The “Covid Death” Reckoning
The Shifting Narrative on Vaccine Effectiveness
New Study Looks at Vaccine-Associated Cardiac Deaths in Young People
Healthy, athletic 14 yo girl dies 2 days post Pfizer dose 3 diagnosed w/”vaccine-related multiple-organ inflammation.”
British Man Died of Rare Blood Syndrome Linked to AstraZeneca’s Vaccine
Elevated Rate of Facial Paralysis Identified After Pfizer COVID-19 Booster in Elderly: FDA
Chinese Load Cow’s Milk with mRNA Exosomes–Successfully Immunize Mice
Untangling The Adderall Snafu
Pfizer’s RSV Vaccine in Pregnant Women
Coincidences happen, but the fact that the IRS showed up at Matt Taibbi’s house the same day he testified before the new committee investigating weaponization of the federal government is both ironic and highly suspicious
Missouri v. Biden will test the government’s ability to suppress speech in the name of fighting ‘misinformation’
Biden rule will redistribute high-risk loan costs to homeowners with good credit
Biden Administration ‘Facilitating’ Trafficking Of Child Refugees, Florida Grand Jury Charges
Doctor shortages distress rural America, where few residency programs exist
The Paradox of “Clean” EVs and the “Dirty” Lithium Mining Business
EPA approves California rules phasing out diesel trucks
Biden Admin Going Full Steam Ahead with Light Bulb Ban
Japan Breaks With U.S. Allies, Buys Russian Oil at Prices Above Cap
Federal Court Blocks California City’s Gas Stove Ban, Turning Up The Heat on Democrats
New York becomes the first state to ban natural gas stoves and furnaces in most new buildings
Farmer: Wind turbine fire in rural Western New York caused contamination to family, livestock, and land
Tokyo winters have been cooling since 1984
The Internet Archive has lost its first fight to scan and lend e-books like a library
A proposed new law would give the government the power to filter what Canadians see in their news feeds, on YouTube and on social media
NYC jury finds Douglass Mackey GUILTY in first-ever meme trial after making memes that disparaged Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election
Transgender athlete research rejected after professor called trans women ‘males’
After Massachusetts superintendent candidate wrote ‘ladies’ in email, the School Committee rescinded its offer
Oregon mother sues after state refuses adoption for not affirming trans procedures
UN-linked report calls for decriminalization of all sexual activity, says children can consent to sex
Is having no social life as bad for you as smoking?
ChatGPT’s history bug may have also exposed payment info, says OpenAI
ChatGPT falsely accused me of sexually harassing my students
Schumacher family planning legal action over AI ‘interview’ with F1 great
Cracker Barrel follows Walmart’s lead in shuttering its remaining locations in Portland
Walmart closing half of their Chicago stores
Whole Foods FLAGSHIP San Francisco store shuts after just one year
REI to shut down Portland store
Professor Eric Stewart, accused of faking data that makes racism against black and hispanic Americans seem more common than it is, suddenly exits FSU.
Federal judges announce they will refuse to hire clerks from Stanford Law School
A major commodity trader received containers full of painted rocks instead of the $36 million shipment of copper it paid for
Sudan conflict threatens supply of key soft drink ingredient gum arabic
Manhattan garage worker charged with attempted murder after shooting thief. Oh wait, never mind.
The NYPD Can Now Shoot GPS Trackers at Your Car
Turn off Wi-Fi calling, VoLTE to protect your Android from Samsung hijack bugs
Hackers hacking computerized farm equipment
The Billionaire Who Controls Your Medical Records
Cop warrant orders Ring to cough up footage from inside this guy’s home
The L.A. County Board of Supervisors has quietly added a proposal on Tuesday’s agenda that seeks to “decarcerate” and “depopulate” LA jails by directing law enforcement & courts to vastly expand the use of “cite and release” & return to COVID emergency bail schedule.
This woman left her AirPods on a plane. She tracked them to an airport worker’s home
Man tracks down stolen truck using Apple Airtag
Turns out the 2017 Las Vegas shooter lost $1.5 million gambling just weeks before the shooting
Here’s how the media covered the arrest of a Florida kid who threatened to shoot up a middle school
If you may need a passport or to renew your passport in the next two years you need to get it done NOW.
Agatha Christie novels reworked to remove potentially offensive language
To comply with a new sesame allergy law, some businesses add — sesame
Indiana Public School Officials Admit Lying to Parents About Critical Race Theory
A Farmington man was denied homeowners insurance after describing a plan to disconnect his oil burner and replace it with a mini-split heat pump and pellet stove
Ohio School District Arms Staff
heist at Toronto Pearson airport leads to $20M in gold, high-value goods stolen
Dog allergen levels in homes with hypoallergenic compared with nonhypoallergenic dogs
Now, however, the state of Colorado has become the first to give farmers the legal right to repair their equipment without being forced to pay for a manufacturer’s repair teams.
Bowyer’s Corner-A Forgotten Ancient Technique
The Gallery of Regrettable Foods
The World’s Blackest Cars
Awbi The Guardian Dog vs The Red Foxes
Little girl keeps stranded octopus alive till rescuers arrive
Sailing boat rescued by the Götheborg
Links 6/6/23
Significant rises in mortality do not pre-date major lockdown events, but rather coincide with them, or follow them very closely. From the same twitter thread: Even as late as April 30th — a point at which many practitioners were realizing default venting was dangerous, @ashishkjha was arguing in the NEJM that we needed more ventilators because they were preemptively venting patients awaiting test results who may not have even had Covid, not because they needed it, but to avoid even the possibility of aerosolization.
The U.K. Briefly Considered Killing All Pet Cats Early in the Pandemic
02/2020: People In China Throw Out Pets From Apartments Over Coronavirus Spread Fears
When a Renegade Church and a Zealous County Health Department Collide. A Church, The State, and a Holy War.
I hope it was more than 1 in 4 parents that lied about following this cruel and inhumane guideline
Single-use masks are mostly made of polypropylene (PP), which takes over 400 years to decompose.
02/2021: Central NY school district closes after many staff sick with side effects from Covid vaccine
the actual points made in the document, which include “Increased length of time spent in isolation/quarantine has been associated with increased symptoms of PTSD.”
teachers union pretended to be a small business and stole PPP money
Signs of waning were observed as soon as 2 months after (bivalent) vaccination……Among the chronically ill… vaccination did not reduce the risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes
Our use of antimicrobial cleaners spiked during the pandemic. Given the potential long-term health risks, it might be worth cutting back again.
In 80% of cases, the CDC exaggerated the severity of the pandemic. More.
Long Covid no more likely in people those whose first infection was with omicron than in people who’ve never had Covid, Swiss study finds
the mayor that refused to unmask toddlers now wants private business to not allow people with masks to enter due to sky rocketing crime
Why the Mental Health of Liberal Girls Sank First and Fastest, Whats behind the decline of teen mental health, The underreported rise in male suicide
The U.S. Maternal-Mortality Rate Soared in 2021
We Need an “Urgency of Normal” for Nursing Homes
Committee tells Board of Regent the lower scores are the “new normal”
FBI’s D.C. Office Tried To Sic Local Agents On Innocents After Bank Of America Volunteered Gun Records
Visa, Mastercard pause decision to track gun shop purchases
R.L. Stine Refutes Report, Accuses Publisher of Editing ‘Goosebumps’ Books for Offensive Material Without His Involvement
Why I Decided to Update the Language in Ursula K. Le Guin’s Children’s Books
‘No foul play’ suspected in death of Georgia businessman whose body was found wrapped in a rug
DA drops most serious charge against officer who locked woman in police vehicle before it was struck by train
San Francisco board open to reparations with $5M payouts
UK woman Eleanor Williams, 22, who falsely accused group of men of raping and trafficking her, sentenced to eight and a half years in prison
Lunchables are going to be rolled out directly to students
Vermont Christian girls basketball team refused to play a rival team with a trans athlete
The Sad Truth about Jazz Jennings
an emerging fungus considered an urgent antimicrobial resistance (AR) threat, spread at an alarming rate in U.S. healthcare facilities in 2020-2021
Hospital Officials Sound ‘Hate Crime’ Alarm Over ‘Noose,’ But Surveillance Footage Tells a Different Story
Masked dad accidentally tried to rob son at knifepoint
Twitter thread: a look at the commercial pilots shortage
Metallurgist pleads guilty to fraud after falsifying steel-test results for Navy submarines
The FBI took her life savings. Now she’s fighting to help others get theirs back.
Council fines roofer £300 for having empty crisp packets and sandwich wrappers in his van – because he doesn’t have a licence to carry rubbish
Fortunate Families? The Effects of Wealth on Marriage and Fertility
Extreme flood control measures
Dogs Of Chernobyl Are Now Genetically Different To Others In The World
To be abundantly clear, it is not a crime to give someone the finger
When your dog pays the mortgage
This Custom-Painted Porsche 911 is a Rolling Black Hole for Light, BMW X6.
3,000-Year-Old Greek Olive Tree in Greece Still Grows Olives
New Hampshire ducks ‘sled’ down snowbank
Pilot lands plane on a helipad