Medicare Fraud Guilty Plea

 8/27/26 KTLA:

An Anaheim woman pleaded guilty Thursday to submitting more than $2.2 million in fraudulent Medicare claims for hospice care for patients who were not terminally ill, federal prosecutors announced.

Lynn Galbraith, 60, pleaded guilty to one count of health care fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.

Galbraith was the co-owner and operator of Garden Grove-based Azure Hospice Care Inc. from September 2019 until July 2022, when she became its sole owner. She remained the owner until February 2024.

During that time, prosecutors said Galbraith knowingly submitted claims to Medicare for hospice services provided to patients who did not have a terminal illness with a life expectancy of six months or less, as required to qualify for the benefit.

According to her plea agreement, Galbraith either knew the patients did not qualify for hospice care or knew there were insufficient medical records to support diagnoses and prognoses that would make them eligible.

Prosecutors said she also did not routinely coordinate with patients’ primary care physicians about their purported conditions or terminal prognoses.

In one example cited by federal officials, Galbraith submitted a $6,600 Medicare claim in October 2022 for hospice services provided to a patient despite knowing there was insufficient medical documentation to establish that the person was eligible for hospice care.

Can we balance the budget. Sure "A million here, a million there, after a while it adds up to real money." And put off the inevitable bankruptcy of Medicare. 

4/16/26 U.S. Attorney's press release:

SAN DIEGO – Former teacher Jeanett Valenzuela Ayub pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that she conspired with others to launder millions of dollars of health care fraud proceeds.

In total, Valenzuela admitted that she and her co-conspirators billed Medicare nearly $51 million for bogus prescriptions and were paid approximately $20 million, ultimately laundering at least $14 million dollars of Medicare proceeds and paying $3.7 million in unlawful kickbacks.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The core mission of the Fraud Division is to zealously investigate and prosecute those who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars.  Department of Justice efforts to combat fraud support President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs

According to her plea agreement, Valenzuela and co-conspirators owned and operated multiple durable medical equipment (DME) companies, which sold orthotics – including back, wrist, and knee braces – to Medicare beneficiaries.

Valenzuela admitted that in operating the DME companies, she and co-conspirators paid unlawful kickback payments to sham marketing companies who provided bogus prescriptions for DME. The prescriptions were signed by physicians who had no legitimate doctor-patient relationship with the beneficiary; had not conducted a legitimate medical evaluation of the beneficiary; and had not impartially determined that the beneficiary actually needed the DME.

 

This Brings Back Memories

 I was taking first semester American History at Sonoma State University. Another student asked a question that degenerated into an anti-capitalist diatribe. At the break, I approached him: "Is your Dad a banker or a CEO?" 

"Banker. How did you know?"

8/29/26 New York Post:

Two NYC Democratic Socialists of America leaders have been caught living the ultimate capitalist dream, with one quietly collecting millions in real estate flips and another nesting in a sleek $500,000 Brooklyn apartment, The Post has learned.

Labor Coordinator Olivia Gonzalez Killingsworth sold a luxe Upper West Side triplex in a brownstone building for $2.4 million on Sept. 12, 2022, according to public records.

The “huge, versatile” two-bedroom, three-bathroom triplex just a block away from Central Park boasts sweeping 10-foot-high ceilings overlooking a fireplace, marble shower stalls, bay windows with a view of the gorgeous Callery Pear blossoms that line the street.

“Once again we’re finding out why DSA actually stands for Daddy’s Savings Account. Selling a multimillion-dollar Manhattan Triplex to go play pretend bohemian with your rich comrades in Brooklyn is a luxury working-class New Yorkers will never have,” said NYC Councilwoman Vickie Paladino (R-Queens)....

Also plotting to seize the means of production from the comfort of her fully owned one-bedroom apartment is DSA Steering Committee chair Julie Swoope, who has a half-million-dollar pad in Brooklyn.

The $510,000 one-bedroom co-op located blocks away from Prospect Park boasts of high ceilings, skyline views and great closet space, per its Streeteasy profile.

It was purchased in 2021, according to public records....

Swoope’s mother, Gail Cunningham Swoope, was an artist who traveled for three years on her “live-aboard sailboat” and was a member of the New Smyrna Beach Boat and Ski Club, according to her obituary.

Both apartments are over $100,000 above the average home price in the United States, which is $387,400, according to 2026 US Census and Department of Housing and Urban Development data.

Nearly 70% of NYC residents are renters, leaving the two socialists woefully out of step with the needs of the working-class people they claim to represent, critics said.

The two women join NYC DSA co-chair Gustavo Gordillo as part of Gotham’s socialist landed gentry.

Gustavo, who was booted from the electricians union after ghosting his employer, was gifted a $1.5 million Bed-Stuy townhouse by his telecommunications millionaire father.

The revelations about the Yale-educated sculptor have rattled the secretive organization and his days may be numbered, the source close to the organization told The Post.

Those of us who grew up poor are unsurprised. 

Stalking Poseidon

If you know the Odyssey, you know why the name matters. Over the years, as my daughter has acquired robots to vacuum the house, mow the lawn, and clean the pool, she has named each of them.

So far, we have only one robot: an Auquabot that cleans the pool which we named Poseidon, which we hope is less vengeful than the Greek god of the sea.

Lillie, our hyperactive Springer Spaniel, has decided that Poseidon is prey of some sort. She stands at the edge of the pool, barking and growling as it crawls the walls of the pool. Even though she loves to swim, she has shown no willingness to enter Poseidon's domain.  Look how it worked out for Odysseus!

The Odyssey: Awesome

But loud in places. Worth seeing in theaters. Unfortunately, the Sea Peoples are again getting blame for the collapse of the Eastern Mediterranean Bronze Age societies. If you recall my review of 1177 B.C., we now know that climate change likely disrupted complex globalized trade networks, causing collapse of all but Egypt  

Things Very Southern

You knock down spiderweb one day. The next day, they are back.

Names That Just SCREAM South

 The town is Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee.

Long Time Coming

We closed on Caldwell house.

Price Changes: 1986-2026

 Widener's has an interesting discussion of how prices for guns and ammo have changed since 1986. Guns have roughly followed inflation. Ammunition has often not risen as fast:

The Biggest Surprise: 9mm Got Much Cheaper

In 1986, a box of 9mm cost $22.50, or about $0.45 per round.

In 2026, it averages $10.00 per box, or $0.20 per round.

Even without adjusting for inflation, that’s a dramatic decrease. When adjusted for inflation, 9mm is significantly cheaper today than it was in the 1980s.

I Do Not Live There Anymore, But This Problem is Not Local

 8/25/26 Idaho Statesman:

Idaho Department of Health and Welfare officials determined that the 41-year-old suspected of killing a young man on the Boise River Greenbelt isn’t competent to stand trial. Despite the findings of that evaluation, however, the decision to commit Ross Wardlaw for behavioral health treatment in an attempt to restore his competency for his murder trial hasn’t been decided.

Health and Welfare was ordered to evaluate Wardlaw’s mental condition after his public defender raised concerns of “a competency issue” last month. Not only did the evaluation, which is sealed from the public, find that he’s unable to make informed decisions about his treatment and case, but it determined that he’s “dangerously mentally ill,” 4th Judicial District Magistrate Judge Theodore Tollefson said in court Tuesday. Someone designated as such presents “a substantial risk of physical harm to other persons as manifested by evidence of homicidal or other violent behavior” and is “dangerous to such a degree that a maximum security treatment setting is required,” according to state law. When asked whether the prosecution objected to the report’s findings, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Robert Bleazard asked the judge for additional time to review other documentation regarding Wardlaw’s mental health history in order to allow his office to do its “due diligence.”

This guy has a long history of mental illness-related crimes. So much damage done to satisfy the fantasy that mental illness does not exist.

Sadly, not unique. 8/19/26 WJON:

LK RIVER (WJON News) -- A man accused of killing his mother in a brutal 2020 attack in their Big Lake home has been found not guilty by reason of mental illness.

A Sherburne County judge has ruled that 26-year-old Eric Jordahl was laboring under such a defect of reason that he didn't know the nature of his acts or the wrongfulness of his behavior. He was previously found guilty of 1st-degree premeditated murder and two counts of 2nd-degree murder in the killing of Rosalie Johnson....

In the judge's findings of fact from the first phase of the trial, Jordahl beat his mother, stabbed her several times, then began to dismember and cannibalize Johnson while she was still alive. Court records show Jordahl perceived his mother to be a non-human entity that a higher power commanded him to kill.

Yes. The defense attorney does not even need to argue this case. Those facts alone are sufficient.

8/12/26 WNEP:

"Our investigation found that Samantha Bruno shot her father, Anthony Bruno, twice in the head, causing his death. We further determined that she killed her father's dog before turning the firearm on herself and dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Investigators found no evidence that any other person was involved. No additional suspects are being sought, and there is no threat or danger to the Jessup community," said D.A. Brian Gallagher, Lackawanna County District Attorney's Office....

Both Boettcher and Gallagher confirmed that Samantha Bruno had been suffering from addiction and mental health issues for some time.

Gallagher asks the public to be aware of the warning signs and to seek help as soon as possible. "We have to be more willing to speak openly about addiction and mental illness and crises occurring inside our own homes. Asking for help is not a weakness. Reaching out is not betraying a loved one. Early intervention will, can protect that person, can protect that family, and prevent an incident such as this."

1/14/26 WRAL:

A legislative committee plans to comb through the details of a Raleigh murder case as part of its review of the state’s procedures for treating people with mental health problems. 

Legislators last week asked the House Select Committee on Involuntary Commitment and Public Safety to look into how judicial officials handled Ryan Camacho, who is charged with murder in the Jan. 3 death of Ravenscroft teacher Zoe Welsh at her Raleigh home. 

Camacho has a documented history of mental illness. When he faced breaking-and-entering charges in a separate incident last year, prosecutors asked during that hearing to have Camacho committed to a mental hospital — a request that was denied by Wake County Judge Louis Meyer. 

“How could a person who was found to not be competent to proceed to trial … be released not involuntarily committed, even at the request of the district attorney?” Republican state Reps. Erin Paré and Mike Schietzelt of Wake County wrote in a letter to committee members. 

1/15/26 WRAL:

Four felony charges from April 2025 reduced to single misdemeanor

Public records reveal Camacho avoided a multi-year prison sentence in 2025 due to a plea agreement that reduced four felony charges to a single misdemeanor.

A conviction for any one of the four Class H felony charges he faced would have resulted in a sentence between eight and 10 months. Had Camacho been convicted of all four charges, he would have faced a prison sentence between three and four years.

A felony conviction could have seen Camacho behind bars on Jan. 3. Instead, he is suspected of killing Welsh.

In July 2025, Camacho pleaded guilty to a Class I misdemeanor charge of breaking and entering and was sentenced to a maximum of 120 days. The Durham County Sheriff’s Office said Camacho was behind bars from July 6, 2025, until Aug. 4, 2025. 

We have made great progress reducing violent crime, especially murder, these last few years. How much more can we make by treating mental illness early on?

1/22/26 Orlando channel 13:

KISSIMMEE, Fla. — The suspect in an Osceola County triple murder, 29-year-old Ahmad Jihad Bojeh, is behind held without bond and is accused of killing three people visiting from out of town over the weekend. Currently, he’s facing three counts of first-degree murder with a firearm.

Data from the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office reveals the agency received 41 calls for service to Bojeh’s home from 2006 to 2022. Sixteen of those calls were about “aggressive” behavior, Bojeh not wanting to go to school, and potential drug use directly involving Bojeh.

State Attorney Monique Worrell from the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida is weighing in on a previous case involving Bojeh, where he was acquitted in 2022 of an attempted murder charge from a 2021 case by reason on insanity. As part of that court ruling, Worrell said Bojeh was supposed to receive proper mental health treatment.

“My understanding is that that treatment was originally costing $7 a month and that after a period of time, that $7 a month bill went up to $150+ a month,” Worrell said during a press briefing on Thursday. “That the individual was no longer in compliance with his treatment because of inability to pay for that treatment.”

Worrell said the stop of services for Bojeh was a “failure” in the system, addressing an overall need for improvement in mental health services for people in need.

“The criminal legal system is not adequately equipped to deal with mental illness, nor should it be. That is a role of community partners. That is a role of mental illness hospitals, but not the Department of Corrections or the state attorney's office,” Worrell said. “However, studies have shown that our jails and our departments of corrections are the largest mental health providers in our communities. That's a problem. It's a problem because when things go wrong, people are looking for someone to blame.”

Worrell said that Bojeh went through the legal system and at the time of the offense, the court found he was “legally insane.” However, she stated that during the time of his sentencing in 2022, it was found that he was not a danger to himself or others.

8/18/26 Fox News. Even when hospitalized, our system often seems to need clown noses:

An accused illegal immigrant murderer who fled the United States last month after being granted a 48-hour pass from a Virginia mental health facility was previously allowed to leave the institution on unsupervised visits, staying at a taxpayer-funded apartment while on leave.

Abdulloi Doniyor Toshpulodzoda left the U.S. on July 6 while on a weekend pass, boarding a one-way flight from Washington Dulles International Airport to his native Tajikistan via Istanbul. The Turkish Airlines ticket was purchased under Toshpulodzoda's name using an American Express card, according to court records.

Despite the murder accusation, Toshpulodzoda was permitted to leave the Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute (NVMHI) for up to 48 hours to stay at an Alexandria apartment made available through the Fairfax Permanent Supportive Housing Program, court records state....

In 2019, Toshpulodzoda fatally stabbed Mohammad Hemmatian inside his Vienna, Virginia, home before responding police found him covered in blood.

He was ultimately found not guilty by reason of insanity of second-degree murder and committed to a state psychiatric facility in 2022. To be found legally insane, a defense expert, and then a separate, independent expert for the prosecution evaluated the defendant, Laura Birnbaum, chief of staff for Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Steve Descano, told Fox News Digital. 

There are more tragedies like this than I have time to summarize.

 

Beautiful Day

Temperatures in the 70s and low 80s. Not very humid. Much nicer than Boise when we left. We ate outside at The Mustard Seed in downtown Kingsport.  Lovely. 

Racist Storms

 I see that racism is getting the blame for days of Memphis not having power restored.  A few days ago, I saw someone on X blaming Trump for the lack of power in a Red state: Indiana. Looking at news accounts, I think I see a more proximate cause. 8/15/26 Chicago Tribune:

The City of Gary is coordinating with law enforcement to line up security for NIPSCO workers after linemen working to restore power after the storm were shot at Friday night.

Utility crews were working in the city when they were fired upon, USW Local 12775 President Ryan Baker said Saturday. The workers, who weren’t injured in the shooting, were driving a marked NIPSCO Jeep they use in assessing damage, he said.

If you know anything about Gary's demographics, I doubt these were Trump voters. 

Over Target

When they name a law after you, and you are still alive. 8/22/26 New York Post:

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed California’s controversial “Stop Nick Shirley Act” into law on Saturday, just days after a radical left-wing operative crashed the journalist’s Capitol interview and launched a crude personal attack on him.

Assembly Bill 2624 expands California’s Safe at Home program to employees of nonprofits that serve people navigating the immigration system.

Critics have blasted the measure as a way to intimidate people “trying to shine light on bad behavior,” such as Shirley’s investigative reports on fraud in California and Minnesota.

The program already covers domestic violence survivors, elder abuse victims and reproductive and gender-affirming health care workers by providing substitute mailing addresses for people considered particularly vulnerable to targeted attacks and violent threats.

Democratic Assemblywoman Mia Bonta (D-Alameda), introduced the bill in February after reports of increased threats and harassment against immigration service providers.

“Our immigrant service providers are living in fear because of extremists looking to demonize the work that they do and the populations they serve,” Bonta said Saturday. “That is an intolerable consequence of the anti-immigrant rhetoric that exists right now.”

They could have punished threats and harassment, but that would have allowed muckrakers to continue exposing fraud. 

Not As Offensive As Maplethorpe's Piss Christ...

Still amazingly clear evidence that modern art is stupid.

Amazing: Guilty Plea in COVID Records Case

 8/18/26 CBS News:

Washington — A former senior adviser at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has pleaded guilty to a charge stemming from a scheme to hide federal records during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Under a deal reached with federal prosecutors in Maryland, David Morens, 78, agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit offenses and to defraud the United States. He faces up to five years in prison.

Morens, a senior adviser at NIAID's Office of the Director from 2006 to 2022, was indicted in April and charged with five counts for what prosecutors said at the time was his role in a scheme to defraud the U.S. by shielding federal records related to the COVID-19 pandemic from the public. 

Tim Belevetz, a lawyer for Morens, said, "By pleading guilty today, Dr. Morens has taken responsibility for what he did and will continue to do so."

Prosecutors said Morens worked with two co-conspirators. The first, "co-conspirator 1," served as the president and CEO of a New York-based nonprofit that received a grant in 2014 titled "Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence." The Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China, received a subaward from the New York group on the coronavirus grant, prosecutors said, though the National Institutes of Health terminated the award in April 2020 following allegations that COVID-19 emerged from the lab. The NIAID is part of the NIH.

The second co-conspirator was described in charging documents as a physician, scientist and professor who worked for an academic institute that received federal grants.

Emails made public by the GOP-led Select Committee on the Coronavirus Pandemic indicate that the New York-based nonprofit is the EcoHealth Alliance and co-conspirator 1 is its president, Peter Daszak....

According to the guilty plea, Morens and the two co-conspirators agreed to exchange emails about COVID-19 and its origins, as well as the terminated coronavirus grant, through Morens' personal Gmail account, rather than his official NIH account, to hide federal records and evade public records laws.

Morens and his co-conspirators also used his Gmail account to share nonpublic information from the NIH about COVID-19 and "back-channel" information to an unidentified senior NIAID official, who appears to be Anthony Fauci, the institute's former director, according to court filings.

Nothing says integrity like hiding records.

Let Me Bang the Drum for an Amazing Mexican Restaurant in Kingsport

I was a bit concerned that we might have difficulty find good Mexican food so far from the Southwest. Santa Fe Mexican Grill has now far exceeded our expectations both with Carne Asada Tacos and Chicken Fajitas. I notice many dishes on the menu that I have never seen before. I am aware that many Mexican restaurants in the Southwest reflect Sonoran traditions. I wonder if we may be seeing more dishes from other states?

My Wife's Comments on Cultural Change

Sitting at the Foot of the Mountain:

Thank you, dear readers, for your patience. I like to be consistent in my postings, but having moved cross country from Idaho to Tennessee, it's been a challenge!

It's interesting to move to a place where the evidence of Christianity is everywhere. Just like in Idaho, there are numerous churches. In Idaho, it was the LDS church that made its presence greatly felt; here in Tennessee, you find a plethora of Baptist churches.

People are polite here. They smile, call you "honey" and have a friendliness that is very endearing. Idaho used to be like that. When we first moved there 25 years ago from northern California, it was refreshingly nice. People looked you in the eye, smiled and said, "hello." I felt we had died and gone to heaven.

Change is inevitable, to be sure, but it's the kind of change that can be discouraging. Idaho experienced a boom in population that I have never seen before. After Covid, our state was flooded by people who were disgusted with how their governments handled the epidemic. For some, it was the final straw.

We came to Idaho after 9/11 caused my husband to lose his job in telecommunications. HP in Boise offered him a job and we are forever grateful to God for opening up that door to us.

Around 2020, we saw a shift. People no longer looked you in the eye or smiled; they didn't say, "hello" and seemed almost offended if you did. The drivers became more aggressive, bullying you by tailgating and some used the interstate to race other like-minded individuals.

Thank George Soros

8/22/26 The Hill reports on scromiting, a cute expression formed from screaming and vomiting. Isn't that adorable? The formal description is:

Cannabis (or cannabinoid) hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) is as serious as it sounds. The condition, which can cause excessive vomiting with recurring bouts of severe stomach pain and nausea, was first detected in Australia two decades ago. Some have referred to a combination of CHS symptoms – screaming, due to the intense pain, and vomiting – as “scromiting.”

 Heavy marijuana use. It does wonders. 

Wolfettes Beserk

 The wolfettes went mad, barking. I looked out the front window and there was a majestic doe on the front lawn. Lillie was saying, "Please let me out! You won't need to feed me for a week!"

Andrew Ross Sorkin 1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History--and How It Shattered a Nation

I confess that because this was a Christmas gift from a progressive relative, I had some misgivings. It does seem to take a traditional view of what happened: too many people who could not afford to buy stocks using margin accounts, which when prices fell caused widespread margin calls, which caused immediate selling pressure, which caused a feedback loop of margin calls and more panic selling.  While catastrophic for ordinary people in over their heads (like Winston Churchill) and some speculators who lost millions more than they had, what really sank the economy was the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930.

Where the book is weak is money supply discussion. The Austrian school argument about N.Y. Fed Chair Strong inflating the money supply 1920-28 to bail out the Bank of England is not examined although he acknowledges that inflation in the 1920s played a part in creating the bubble.

Where it is strong is describing the people involved in the disaster: their quirks, their weaknesses, their greed and sometimes their well-intentioned efforts to prevent the disaster and then to alleviate it. That many of the speculators and political figures who created the Federal Reserve System were Democrats who tried to blame Hoover as a distraction from their roles in this is mentioned, and not subtly. Hoover comes across as a well-meaning person who got stuck with a mess properly blamed on Coolidge, Harding, and a lot of greedy, shortsighted speculators.

I am about halfway through.

On p. 321, he quotes FDR that the gold standard would be "unflinchingly maintained."

Why Was Our Dog So Desperate to Get in Front Yard?

Rhonda saw a buck in velvet as she descended the driveway and Lillie is definitely more wolfette than Canis familiaris.

Forensic Astrology

Apparently, some of Clancy's defenders are relying on this. What is it?

Forensic astrology is a specialized branch of astrology that applies astrological techniques to investigate past events, solve crimes, locate missing persons, and profile suspects.  It utilizes event charts, horary charts, and natal charts to analyze planetary alignments and zodiacal degrees for clues, rather than predicting the future.

Key aspects of this practice include:

• Chart Analysis: Practitioners examine specific houses, such as the 7th house for perpetrators or the 8th house for death and transformation, to determine motives and outcomes. 

• Techniques: Methods include analyzing angular planets, mutual receptions, and fixed stars like those in the Via Combusta zone to identify danger or violence. 

• Applications: It is used to map disappearance points, trace timelines for missing persons, and interpret crime scene data, often appearing in crime fiction and true-crime analysis. 

• Resources: Notable texts include Forensic Astrology for Everyone by Caroline J. Luley and Exploring Forensic Astrology by B.D. Salerno, which detail methods for amateur and professional astrologers. 

The Headline Was Disturbing

 8/20/26 CNN:

FBI raids former Rep. Eric Swalwell’s home, seizes devices in probe tied to sexual assault claims

The clarification in the article got us out of naughty land:

Federal agents seized electronic devices from former Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell at the San Francisco airport on Saturday and then raided his home in Washington, DC, the next day as part of an ongoing probe connected to sexual assault allegations, sources familiar with the investigation told CNN.[emphasis added]

Postpartum Depression

 Earlier this year, I blogged about Lindsay Clancy's suit against her doctors for failure to properly treat her for postpartum depression. So far, my mass murder research has found 112 mass murders that were clearly postpartum depression and 261 that were likely caused by postpartum depression. This is just stupid. She is not a victim. She is not disputing that she killed her children. There is nothing inappropriate about trying her. She has a very strong case for not guilty by reason of insanity.

We can grieve for the father and the deranged mother. But wearing pink, a politically charged color?

Home Warranty, Air Conditioning

At our Caldwell house, we had purchased a home warranty plan from American Home Shield. We were not impressed. When the dishwasher failed, it was not a crisis so several days for them to get a technician out was okay. The replacement went okay.

The second incident disappointed us muchly. The well pump failed and we could not seem to impress upon the Third World support team that this was a serious matter. For all we knew, they may have assumed we could just go to the village well. (Okay, I am being sarcastic; more likely, what they pay third parties to take a look left them with few vendors.) 

After several days of flushing toilets with irrigation canal water and using bottled water for drinking, cooking and washing dishes, they agreed to let us hire our own well company. We had already made the appointment. Then we discovered that well pumps were limited to $1500. That will get you a very dedicated illegal with a long straw.

It was only $5000 to replace the well pump. The technician from Burgess Pump & Well (who I can highly recommend), explained that it was too small a pump for the motor, which they ran at too high a voltage to overcome this. While it let them come in below responsible well drillers, it meant less than three years of life. American Home Shield sent us a $1400 check ($1500-deductible).

For this house we picked the well-rated First American Home Warranty. The HVAC technician found frost at the compressor, which usually indicates a Freon leak in the system. As this unfreezes, the system starts working again. This explains why it started working again many hours later. 

She also explained the repair process. First American has them check for a Freon leak. If that solves it, great. Only afterwards will they look at replacing the compressor. She indicated previous owners may have suffered this same problem and an HVAC tech told them the compressor needed replacing. They would, of course, have not spent that much money.

T-Mobile

We got a great deal on 1GB Internet and mobile service from Spectrum. We called to switch from T-Mobile. They tried to talk us out of it with a lower rate for six months, gave us a transfer PIN, charged us for not completely paid off phone and told us the phones were unlocked. Spectrum could not transfer over our numbers because the phones were still locked.  After two trips to T-Mobile retail store, multiple useless calls to T-Mobile support, and two trips to Spectrum store, all was resolved.  William at Spectrum store and after some initial resistance, Heather at T-Mobile store fixed it, but what a long involved process.

Yes. My 1GB Internet is actually delivering 920Mbps. Really huge images such as from newspapers.com and Chronicling America just flash up.

News Stories That Make You Go, "Hmmmm"

The first finally had an answer, 50 years later. 

Boone, N.C. (1972)

02/05/1972: The mother called a relative to report three intruders in her home. When police arrived, mother, father, and son had been strangled with nylon cord “while their heads were held under water in the bathtub.” The sheriff told a reporter that “the identities of the three suspects were known.” Fifty years later, police identified four men (three already dead, the fourth already serving life for other offenses), members of the “Dixie Mafia,” who were hired to do this. The son of the surviving murderer told police of his father’s confession. They did not identify who hired them.

Category: family non-resident

Suicide: no

Cause: other

Weapon: strangle, drown[1]

---

[1] "Triple Murders Jars 'Quiet Neighborhood'," Castle, Penn.] New Castle News, Feb. 05, 1972, 2; Jerry Lankford, "50-Year Durham Family Murder Mystery Solved," Wilkes Record, Feb, 8, 2022.

The other one seems to have no final resolution. It smells of Mafia, though.

Portage, Ind. (1972)

02/07/1972: Three partners in a correspondence school, named Biederman, Tobias, and Foley, took out $40,000 life insurance policies payable to the school. They then all disappeared. A prospective buyer of an abandoned motel found Biederman and Tobias shot to death outside. Police found Foley shot to death in Biederman’s car in Gary. “Authorities said the murders looked like the work of professionals.”

Category: public

Suicide: no

Cause: unknown

Weapon: firearm[1]

---

[1] "Three Businessmen Slain," South Bend Tribune, Feb. 12, 1972, 1.

Make Everything Free? What Could Go Wrong?

 8/14/26 Fox News:

Political promises of "free buses" in New York City are contributing to a spike in fare evasion that is costing the city’s mass transit system millions of dollars, transit officials warn.

In July, Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Chairman Janno Lieber blamed political rhetoric for fueling fare evasion, though he never mentioned Mayor Zohran Mamdani by name.

"There’s a trend that broke out," Lieber told reporters following a meeting of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board, according to the New York Post. "With malice towards none, I say all of the talk of free buses, it has an impact."

The MTA reported that paid bus ridership fell nearly 8% in June compared to the same month last year. During Mamdani’s first six months in office, bus fare revenue fell by $31 million compared to the first half of 2025. Agency estimates show nearly half of bus riders now skip the $3 fare.

If this was a program to help the poor, you might have an argument for it. But I am sure middle class New Yorkers are taking advantage of this as well. (I doubt the Park Avenue set is riding city buses.) 

There is an argument that fare box recovery is such a small part of the total revenue that collecting and counting it is not worth the cost. Many years ago, I ran for Santa Monica City Council. In preparing to run, I looked over the financials for various city departments. I was startled to find that fares were a trivial part of the spending. Most of the costs was covered by federal and state revenues. The Santa Monica Municipal Bus Lines cost $4.25/passenger mile. Fares were $0.25 for all but the rare out of zone trips, typically far outside the city. For that actual cost, it would be cheaper to provide free taxi service.

Still, there is a logical error here. Any service that is free to the user will be used with wild abandon: bus trips of two blocks; homeless people spending the day and night in a place that is warm and dry, and relatively safe. Buses will get very crowded.

Another Citation

Barnett v. Raoul (7th Cir. 2026) citing "Knives and the Second Amendment".  Alas not with the desired result.

How Stupid Do You Have to Be?

I waa watching When PIT Maneuvers Are Used With NO MERCY!   I can half-understand why someone in one of the hopped-up up Chargers thinks they might outrun state police but a Toyota Camry or Corolla? Admittedly, many of these idiots have long criminal histories, so they are already among the mentally challenged.