Pharoah Sanders with Floating Points & London Symphony Orchestra: "Promises"

No, President Biden, the pandemic is not over (WaPo Editorial Board)

2,700 CBP officers can access the data without a warrant

according to the Washington Post article.

"U.S. government officials are adding data from as many as 10,000 electronic devices each year to a massive database they’ve compiled from cellphones, iPads and computers seized from travelers at the country’s airports, seaports and border crossings, leaders of Customs and Border Protection told congressional staff in a briefing this summer." What could possibly go wrong?

More information:

• CBP Compiles Massive Amounts of Travelers’ Data through Border Seizures - Electronic Privacy Information Center:
  https://epic.org/cbp-compiles-massive-amounts-of-travelers-data-through-border-seizures/


• Automated Targeting System (ATS) - Electronic Frontier Foundation: https://www.eff.org/cases/ats


• Wyden Reveals New Details About U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s ‘Egregious Violations’ of Americans’ Rights During Warrantless Electronic Device Searches - Sen. Wyden: https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-reveals-new-details-about-us-customs-and-border-protections-egregious-violations-of-americans-rights-during-warrantless-electronic-device-searches


• Border Agents Are Grabbing Data From Americans' Phones Without Warrants and Storing It for 15 Years - Gizmodo: https://gizmodo.com/border-patrol-surveillance-cell-data-no-warrants-1849540504

Retirement has many advantages, and some potential pitfalls.

First the pitfalls. One I've noticed a lot is that you can blow a lot of time doing the simplest things. It's common to hear retired people say, "How did I ever have time to work? I can barely get everything done now!" To some extent in my case, that's because I'm older and slower. It's also because as the old saying goes, "Work expands to fill the time allotted to it." So, for example, when deciding on some product to buy, I can easily get sucked into way too much research, whereas when I was working and had very little spare time, I might just drop the hammer and make a decision in 15 minutes because that's all the time I had that evening.

Also, depending on your personality type, you could end up aimlessly drifting at times. Some of this is desirable, at least in the first year or two. It's just so great to be free of the shackles of employment that you may want to revel in being able to sleep late, bum around, and be unproductive. (I sure did, when I could.)

Ultimately, though, you will want to have some feeling of purpose or accomplishment. This can be as simple as planting a garden, or doing some long-postponed home repairs, traveling to places you've wanted to visit for a long time, learn a new skill (or improve an old one), etc. In my case, one of the first things I did was to replace the garage roof. It's kind of crappy looking, to be honest, but it doesn't leak(!) and nobody can see it except the squirrels and birds on the other side of the garage. It was a great project for me because it was a) low risk, b) low cost, and c) completely different from what I'd done for work for many years (fairly stressful corporate desk job).

The advantages of retirement, though -- oh man! One of the main ones is being able to avoid crowds during the day on weekdays. This may or not be a big deal, depending on where you live. I'm in a busy metropolitan area, so being able to go to a grocery store, restaurant, or movie theater while most other poor saps are working or in school is delightful (although I'm sometimes amazed at how many young and middle-aged people buy groceries on a Tuesday morning!).

When I first retired, I would frequently notice what I was missing at work. (“Oh, man! It’s 10:00 on Monday morning and I’m NOT in a staff meeting! Ahhhhhh...”)

I also took extreme pleasure in doing exactly what I wanted during what used to be work hours. I’ll never forget the absolute bliss of just wandering around my local public library at 2 p.m. on a weekday, randomly browsing and sitting down with a book to learn about something I never thought would interest me. I also spent a lot of time biking to local coffee shops where I could chill and browse the web, write down some thoughts, enjoy the morning sun, or whatever.

Eventually, that initial feeling of getting away with something has subsided, and I don't think about work much any more. (And my dreams are much more creative and much less stressful than they used to be when I was working, which is great!)

Over the upcoming few months, I look forward to more of the things I haven’t felt comfortable doing the past couple of years due to COVID: in-person volunteer work, extensive traveling, and frequent indoor dining to name just a few.

You are also retiring at a great time. Two years after I retired, COVID hit, and many things either ground to a halt or had to be considered very carefully. I still haven't been able to take full advantage of retirement due to having to be extra-careful since Spring 2020. But you're entering your years of freedom as the pandemic is in a much better place.

Congratulations, and enjoy yourself. You've earned it!

The Crypto Geniuses Who Vaporized a Trillion Dollars

Social Security is poverty insurance.

All American workers pay premiums so that all beneficiaries will have at least some measure of economic security into old age.

Libertarian/Republican Me-Firsters don't see it this way, of course. They also tend to delude themselves when it comes to their own investing prowess, thinking they can beat average market returns, avoid stupid mistakes, and so on.

Social Security — and pensions (R.I.P., for most American workers) — help insulate against financial calamity. But insuring a decent quality of life for all Americans is of little interest to Libertarians and Republicans.

I personally could probably get by just fine without Social Security, thanks to good fortune and a reasonable balance of risk and restraint in my investments. And, knowing what I know now, as my 40+ years of work life are in the rearview mirror, I might have been able to equal the "returns" of Social Security by investing those premiums myself. But that's truly beside the point. Focusing only on my personal security is a pretty myopic, lame way of evaluating the viability of such a program.

I'll have a greater degree of comfort once my Social Security benefits start rolling in, but for others, it's the difference between real poverty and a manageable standard of living.

All this falls on deaf conservative ears, of course. That's why the rest of us can never waver in our advocacy for Social Security.

"Marcel" - Disasterpeace

Richard Dworsky: "Exultation"

Never forget.

Joey Alexander Trio: 'Tis Our Prayer