How Much Money Was Stolen?

 3/21/25 New York Post:

The founder of a Minnesota-based charity was convicted Wednesday of hatching a brazen ruse that pilfered close to $250 million in pandemic relief funds from a federal program meant to feed hungry children in need – in what prosecutors said was the nation’s largest COVID-19 fraud scheme.

Aimee Bock, the 44-year-old founder of Feeding our Future, was found guilty on federal charges of wire fraud, bribery and conspiracy for recruiting a network of people and organizations to operate as many as 250 fraudulent meal assistance sites throughout the state, according to the US Attorney’s Office in Minnesota.

Prosecutors said her non-profit took advantage of a COVID rule change that allowed for student meal-assistance programs to operate off school grounds, as well as for the involvement of for-profit restaurants – blowing federal funding meant to feed underserved children during the pandemic on her “lavish” lifestyle. 

Okay, relative to the overall disaster that is our national budget, $250 million is not much.  How much was stolen by more competent (or connected) thieves? 

France Environmental Quirks

The greeen stuff is turned up to 11 in France.   A few interesting quirks:

1. Single-use water bottles have attached lids.  When you unscrew the lid, a small strand of plastic holds the lid to the neck.  Does this reduce the overall environmental load?  No, but it does not reduce the number of loose bottle lids on the ground.  This is a costless gain.

2. The room lights are dependent on having the room keycard in a slot at the entrance.  This is annoying, because if you need to leave the room, whoever is in the bathroom is suddenly in darkness.  Yes, you can get a second cardkey.  I have seen this in a couple U.S. hotels as well.

It Is Easy to Forget That France is Heavily Agricultural

On TGV

It is unfortunate that the combination of population density and economics make something like this impractical in the U.S.

In the West, there are not enough people to make this pay for itself.  Idaho has 250,000 Sq. Km. and 2 million people.   In the East, density is high enough, but passenger traffic is second priority to freight trains.  The cost of welding tracks together, required to make the ride smooth and safe, would be huge.

A Lazy Day

6 61 miles at Versailles and walking around Norte-Dame.

Eiffel Tower

Like the Arc de Triomphe, pictures fail to convey scale.  This is an amazing construction.

We did not have tickets to the top but even level two was pretty amazing views.  It was cloudy with sprinkles, so going to the top was perhaps not such a loss.

Why Transgender Needs to Go Back into The Closet, At Least

 3/12/25 Fox News:

Members of a Washington state city council will hold a special meeting just days after appointing a new councilor who identifies as a "bisexual transwoman" while operating an OnlyFans account, according to reports.

MyNorthwest.com reported that Jessica Roberts was the Lynnwood City Council’s original choice to fill a vacant seat, though, on Thursday, the council plans to consider rescinding the appointment after it was discovered Roberts had an account on the subscription-based platform where some creators share explicit pictures, videos and messages.

While Roberts’ account has been taken down, the account's bio reportedly identified Roberts as a "bisexual transwoman." The bio also included graphic details about Roberts' body parts, the publication reported.

Other reports, to which I will not link, are so horrendously misognystic that I will not link.  I had run into the LGBT cannibalism fetish before.