Monday, July 20, 2026

Day one nutritional menus for breakfast, lunch and dinner, per USDA RDA guidelines

Here is a balanced, one-day menu designed to meet general daily nutritional recommendations (approximately 2,000 calories, lean proteins, healthy fats, and fiber). [1, 2, 3]

Breakfast: Nutrient-Packed Scrambled Oats
  • The Meal: 2 scrambled eggs, $\frac{1}{2}$ cup of cooked oatmeal made with low-fat milk, topped with 1 tbsp of chia seeds and $\frac{1}{2}$ cup of mixed berries.
  • Why it works: Provides a solid mix of protein from the eggs, complex carbohydrates for steady energy, and omega-3 fatty acids. [4, 5, 6, 7]
Lunch: Mediterranean Grain & Salmon Bowl
  • The Meal: 4 oz of grilled salmon served over 1 cup of cooked quinoa, accompanied by a large mixed greens salad with cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and 1 tbsp of olive oil and lemon dressing.
  • Why it works: Packed with lean protein, heart-healthy omega-3s, and essential vitamins from the fresh vegetables. [8, 9, 10]
Dinner: Lean Turkey Stuffed Bell Peppers
  • The Meal: 2 bell peppers stuffed with 4 oz of lean ground turkey (or plant-based alternative), $\frac{1}{2}$ cup of brown rice, black beans, diced tomatoes, and spices. Serve with a side of steamed broccoli.
  • Why it works: An excellent balance of fiber, lean protein, and micronutrients like Vitamin C and iron. [11, 12, 13, 14, 15]
Daily Snacks (Optional)
  • 1 medium apple with 1 tbsp of natural peanut butter.
  • $\frac{1}{4}$ cup of raw almonds. [16, 17]


 

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Brief History of WHO Radio

WHO Radio began broadcasting from Des Moines, Iowa, on April 10, 1924, on a frequency of 570 kHz with 500 watts of power. The station was originally established by the Bankers Life Company under president George Kuhns. Kuhns cleverly chose the call letters because listeners searching the radio dial would constantly ask, "Who is it?".

Key Milestones and Power Increases

  • Power increased to 5,000 watts in 1925.
  • Joined NBC network in September 1927.
  • FRC ordered frequency sharing with WOC Davenport.
  • Alternated daytime and nighttime weekly broadcast shifts.

The Central Broadcasting Era

Bankers Life exited broadcasting in 1930. They sold the station to Central Broadcasting Company. The new owners were led by B.J. Palmer.
The station successfully synchronized as WOC-WHO. However, an audio dead-zone plagued the midpoint region. To resolve this issue, a massive upgrade began.
On April 22, 1933, a 50,000-watt transmitter debuted. It launched from a new site in Mitchellville, Iowa. This established WHO as a powerful clear-channel station. WOC personnel subsequently relocated to Des Moines. Among them was young sportscaster Ronald Reagan.

Frequency Adjustments and Engineering Feats

  • In 1934, installed a 532-foot diamond Blaw-Knox tower.
  • Shifted to the iconic 1040 kHz frequency in 1941.
  • Alignment followed the North American Radio Agreement.
  • Replaced the original transmitter with Westinghouse gear in 1950.
  • Erected a massive, groundbreaking 780-foot Franklin tower.

Programming and Cultural Impact

WHO pioneered agricultural reporting with its dedicated farm department. Its popular "Iowa Barn Dance Frolic" drew over a million live fans. The station expanded into new frontiers by launching WHO-FM in 1948. It expanded further into television with the arrival of WHO-TV. Through decades of public service and high-power broadcasting, it earned its reputation as the "Voice of the Middle West."
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Sunday, July 12, 2026

What's bugging me: Healthcare vs medical services

The average American will spend roughly $320,000 on healthcare over their adult lifetime, which requires dedicating about $8,000 to $10,000 working hours just to cover these expenses. Yet, when actually seeking care, patients spend hours navigating waiting rooms and endless paperwork to receive an average of only 20 minutes with a doctor.

This staggering imbalance—trading thousands of hours of your life for mere minutes of care—constitutes a profound moral indictment of our system. While it may not fit the tidy framework of courtroom litigation, the American people have a profound, legitimate cause of action against a society that commodifies a basic human right.

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Crude oil policy initiative to return to the people their entitled ROI

Don't tell me that there's no way in which crude oil -- an American natural resource -- cannot be valuated and credited back to the people! Take the sold-for price, deduct the verified cost of taking it out of the ground, and return the balance to the public coffers.
 
This policy transforms publicly owned natural resources into a direct economic dividend for citizens. By claiming the net profits from crude oil extraction, the state ensures that the wealth generated by American natural resources benefits the public rather than exclusively private corporate interests.

The Core Mechanism
  • Asset Valuation: Calculate the total market value of all crude oil extracted from public lands and waters over a fiscal year using the U.S. Energy Information Administration pricing data.
  • Cost Deduction: Subtract the audited, verified extraction and operational costs incurred by private operators.
  • Direct Dividend: Return the remaining net balance directly to the public through a universal, yearly state dividend (similar to the Alaska Permanent Fund model).
Key Arguments & Justifications
  • Right of Ownership: Crude oil is an American natural resource. Its underlying value belongs to the people, not just the corporations extracting it.
  • Economic Equity: Provides a steady stream of income directly to citizens to combat inflation and rising costs of living.
  • Corporate Accountability: Ensures operators deduct only strictly verified and audited costs, eliminating unchecked corporate profiteering at the expense of public wealth.
  • Future Security: Establishes a permanent trust fund to continue payouts even after fossil fuel reserves are depleted.
Economic Formula

The dividend payout per citizen is calculated as follows:$\text{Dividend} = \frac{\text{Total Sold-for Price} - \text{Verified Extraction Costs}}{\text{Total Number of Eligible Citizens}}$

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Wednesday, July 1, 2026

How datacenters are eating American prosperity

 

Server farms are "eating" American prosperity by extracting finite local resources—like land, water, and grid capacity—while offering few permanent jobs in return. This AI-driven data center boom drives up consumer utility bills, deepens environmental and health crises, and permanently removes highly fertile agricultural land from the economy. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]

1. Extractive Resource Drain

Data centers function much like traditional strip mines: they demand immense upfront construction labor but leave behind heavily automated buildings that provide as few as 50 to 100 permanent jobs per massive facility. Despite this low local labor impact, these facilities demand:
  • Enormous Energy Consumption: U.S. data centers currently consume roughly 176 TWh annually, accounting for about 4.4% of total U.S. electricity. This is expected to triple as early as 2030.
  • Water Scarcity: To cool servers and maintain evaporation, massive data warehouses require millions of gallons of water daily. Over 40% of the nation's planned and existing server farms are located in areas facing high or extremely high water scarcity. [12, 13]
2. Spiking Consumer Utility Bills

To feed the colossal power demands of the artificial intelligence revolution, utility companies are forced to upgrade transmission infrastructure. The costs of these overbuilt, underutilized, or hastily constructed grid upgrades are often passed directly onto residents and small businesses. [4, 14]

3. Squeezing Agricultural Land

The servers powering the internet require vast, flat, and affordable land. Consequently, corporate developers are out-bidding local farmers for prime agricultural real estate. This permanent conversion of farmland removes crucial acreage from the domestic food supply, ultimately affecting community food security and resilience. [2, 15]

4. Public Health and Environmental Externalities

Because the current power grid cannot handle data center surges, utilities are often forced to delay the retirement of coal plants or ramp up natural gas generation. This reliance on fossil fuels degrades air quality. Economists at institutions like the Ohio River Valley Institute note that the resulting air pollution and public health impacts cost the U.S. economy billions annually. [6, 7, 14, 16]



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How Nixon Shock poisoned everything

 

The "Nixon Shock" of August 1971 neutered financial accountability by ending the dollar's convertibility to gold. By replacing a tangible, finite standard with a purely fiat system, this policy removed the built-in constraints on government spending, enabling unprecedented debt accumulation and obscuring the true costs of inflation. [1, 2, 3, 4]

The shift fundamentally altered financial structures and accountability in several ways:
  • Removal of the Tangible Anchor: Under the Bretton Woods system, foreign central banks could exchange U.S. dollars for gold. When President Richard Nixon closed the "gold window" on August 15, 1971, he severed this link. Without a commodity standard to enforce discipline, the U.S. government and Federal Reserve gained the power to print money without a physical constraint, making it easier to hide deficits and the true burden of debt.
  • Shift to Trust Over Proof: Financial systems were forced to transition from being accountable to strict gold reserves to relying purely on market trust in political promises. This allowed governments to rapidly increase spending without the immediate threat of running out of gold reserves, shielding fiscal policy from the consequences of over-issuing currency.
  • Explosion of Debt: Uncoupled from a hard asset, global and national debt skyrocketed as money creation outpaced real economic growth. The long-term consequences of this systemic shift are still debated by macroeconomists, with many historical perspectives pointing to 1971 as a turning point for global debt expansion.
  • Creation of Modern Fiat: By ending the gold standard, the Nixon administration effectively created the modern fiat currency era, where central banks can inject immense liquidity into the economy during crises, permanently altering the value of money. [1, 10, 11]


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Monday, June 29, 2026

Buckeye, Arizona officer accused of beating handcuffed detainees in seperate incidents

Former Officer Carri Carrico
A Buckeye, Arizona police officer was indicted on May 27 after a months-long investigation into two separate use-of-force incidents. Former Buckeye Police Officer Carri Carrico allegedly beat up two people that were in custody and restrained in handcuffs.

Her first victim, back in November, was a 21-year-old woman who was 9-months pregnant. That assault occurred at the police station with few, if any, witnesses present. After that, Carrico was promoted to training officer. Then, two months after the first assault, while training another officer, Carrico beat up a handcuffed man at the Maricopa County Jail, where multiple witnesses observed her behavior.

It was only after the second incident that an investigation into the first case was initiated, presumably by Chief of Police Robert Sanders. During questioning, the officer attributed her violent outbursts to her training kicking in, along with the fact that the public treats officers badly.
It's not as though the first incident wasn't known. It was, but the police department was able to keep a lid on it -- that is until people at the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office came forward and reported Carrico's behavior during the second arrest at the jail.

This presents a real leadership problem for City Manager Doug Sandstrom and Mayor Eric Orsborn. It was their job to oversee the police department and they failed miserably.

The bad apples are bad apples because they think they can get away with it. Because they often do. In this instance they not only ignored Carrico’s misconduct, but they rewarded her for it, in essence ratifying her unchecked behavior. That's not a training issue, but one of accountability. It vividly paints a picture of a dangerous culture of fear & secrecy among the rank-and-file. For that, Chief Sanders needs to be terminated.

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Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Do police departments favor dumber officers?

In Jordan v. City of New London, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that police departments can legally reject applicants who score too high on intelligence tests. Robert Jordan, a college graduate, was denied an interview after scoring a 33 on the Wonderlic Personnel Test (equivalent to an IQ of 125), which exceeded the city's maximum limit of 27. [1, 2, 3]

The Background

  • The Cutoff: The City of New London, Connecticut, implemented an unconventional hiring policy by establishing both a minimum and maximum score for police applicants. 
  • The Reasoning: The city argued that candidates who scored too high on cognitive ability exams (like the Wonderlic) were at a higher risk of becoming bored, experiencing job dissatisfaction, and leaving the department shortly after undergoing expensive police academy training. 
  • The Lawsuit: Robert Jordan sued the city in federal court, arguing that dismissing candidates based on high intelligence violated his civil rights and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. [1, 5, 6]  

The Verdict

  • Court Decision: The courts ultimately ruled in favor of the City of New London. 
  • Legal Rationale: The courts and judges concluded that because the city applied the maximum score policy to all candidates equally and fairly, it did not constitute unconstitutional discrimination. The policy was deemed "rational" from a fiscal and economic standpoint. [1, 2, 4, 7]  

The Aftermath and Industry Impact

  • Rejection Upheld: The courts established that highly intelligent individuals do not constitute a "protected class" under the law, meaning employers could lawfully reject candidates who are deemed overqualified. 
  • Industry Standards: While the courts found New London's action lawful, many police departments across the country do not employ strict maximum intelligence cutoffs, as there are ongoing professional and psychological debates about whether intelligence directly correlates to job burnout or poor performance. [2, 9, 10, 11]  

[1] https://1cademy.com/node/example-of-cognitive-ability-testing-in-law-enforcement-selection/AOQycnTIyN4Rbus3dETI
[2] https://www.johnrisvold.com/court-oks-barring-high-iqs-for-cops/
[3] https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-06-08-fi-1265-story.html
[4] https://racism.org/articles/law-and-justice/criminal-justice-and-racism/136-criminal-justice-generally/2395-court-holds-a-person
[5] https://www.aele.org/apa/jordan-newlondon.html
[6] https://www.ipl.org/essay/Jordan-V-City-Of-New-London-Case-01CB67030FBD2A29
[7] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/too-smart-to-be-a-cop/
[8] https://www.quora.com/In-Jordan-v-New-London-the-New-London-Police-denied-Jordans-application-to-become-a-police-officer-citing-his-IQ-was-above-the-expected-score-and-rejected-him-worrying-Jordan-would-quit-since-training-is-costly-do
[9] https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/jordan-v-city-new-london-policing-hiring-and-iq-when-all-answers
[10] https://access.heinonline.com/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/polic26&section=27
[11] https://www.emerald.com/pijpsm/article/26/2/298/319923/Jordan-v-The-City-of-New-London-police-hiring-and


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Friday, June 19, 2026

How PR is leveraged to bullshit the public

Organizations leverage public relations techniques to manage crises, often utilizing specialized language to control narratives, freeze out critical press scrutiny, and apply "swine cosmetics"—a PR term for putting a positive spin on an ugly situation. By dictating what information is released and when, organizations can obscure deeper secrets and avoid accountability. [1, 2, 3] 

The Crisis Management Lexicon 
Public relations institutes and strategic communication agencies have built a sophisticated lexicon designed to freeze out aggressive reporters and sanitize unfavorable truths.

  • Swine Cosmetics: The practice of "putting lipstick on a pig." This involves reframing a disastrous situation or deeply flawed policy using carefully selected, sterilized buzzwords to make it appear palatable to the public. 
  • Controlling the Narrative: Establishing a single, rigid version of events that dictates which facts are prioritized, steering the public's focus away from systemic failures. 
  • Strategic Ambiguity: Using vague or complex language intentionally so that an organization avoids making a definitive statement that can later be used against them in a legal or public context. 

Boilerplate Press Release Elements [4]
When a crisis hits, organizations frequently deploy pre-drafted "holding statements". While they project an image of transparency, these statements are often constructed to buy time and release as few hard facts as possible. Common boilerplate elements include:

  • Acknowledge the seriousness of the situation: Standard public relations frameworks dictate that an organization must lead with care and validate public concern, stabilizing the narrative before facts are thoroughly verified. 
  • Reaffirm core organizational values: PR strategies heavily lean on reinforcing commitments to broader concepts like health, safety, and transparency. This psychologically reassures the audience by associating the brand with positive, uncontroversial ideals, rather than the immediate incident at hand. 
  • The rationale for releasing limited information: Organizations protect ongoing investigations, legal liabilities, or core secrets by citing the need to "prevent the spread of misinformation" or stating that "it would be inappropriate to speculate while the investigation is ongoing." This effectively justifies a media freeze and allows the organization to control the timeline of future disclosures. [11, 12]  

[1] https://www.5wpr.com/new/what-is-crisis-pr-a-comprehensive-guide-to-managing-communication-during-critical-times/
[2] https://www.linkedin.com/top-content/marketing/crisis-communication-in-marketing/public-relations-strategies-in-crisis-management/
[3] https://ivypanda.com/essays/public-relations-and-their-functions/
[4] https://channelvmedia.com/blog/what-is-a-boilerplate-in-a-press-release/
[5] https://www.trizcom.com/blog/crisis-holding-statements
[6] https://elliotcommunications.com/key-steps-for-effective-pr-crisis-management/
[7] https://goelastic.com/crisis-communication-for-nonprofits/
[8] https://www.trizcom.com/blog/crisis-communication-examples
[9] https://www.trizcom.com/blog/crisis-communication-examples
[10] https://www.topofmind-pr.com/why-transparency-with-your-pr-agency-prevents-reputational-risk/
[11] https://www.prsa.org/article/trust-and-transparency-in-times-of-crisis
[12] https://www.5wpr.com/new/the-role-of-transparency-in-crisis-pr/


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Wednesday, June 10, 2026

The History of Ford's Assembly Plant in Des Moines, Iowa

 

The Central Campus building of Des Moines Public Schools, located at 1800 Grand Avenue, is a historic six-story brick-and-masonry structure that was originally built by the Ford Motor Company in 1917–1918 as a Model T assembly plant. It was designed to serve as a massive factory, with dimensions equivalent to six football fields, and later retooled to produce aircraft engines during WWII. [1, 2, 3]

Key Historical Milestones
  • 1917-1918: Constructed by Ford Motor Company.
  • 1920-1932: Served as an assembly plant for Model T, Model A, and later models.
  • 1932-1943: Operated as a Ford sales service branch and warehouse.
  • WWII Era: Retooled for Solar aircraft engine manufacturing.
  • 1953-1986: Transformed into Des Moines Technical High School (known as "Tech High").
  • 1986-Present: Became Central Campus, a regional magnet career-technical academy serving high school students throughout central Iowa. [1, 3, 4, 5]
Educational Evolution - In 1982, the district began the transition from Technical High School to Central Campus to offer specialized high-quality courses that were not available at local high schools. Today, it functions as a "Regional Academy" for Des Moines Public Schools, housing state-of-the-art curricula ranging from automotive technology—which still uses part of the original assembly plant layout—to marine biology, animal science, and culinary arts. The facility was undergoing major, multi-phase renovations as of 2013. [1, 6, 7]



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What's wrong with TIF?

 

Tax Increment Financing (TIF) presents several primary drawbacks, including the diversion of funds from essential public services (such as schools and parks), reduced budget transparency, inequitable distribution of wealth, and the risk of placing an unfair tax burden on property owners outside the designated TIF districts. [1, 2]

Drawbacks of Tax Increment Financing (TIF)
  • Diversion from Public Services: TIF freezes the baseline property taxes available to overlapping taxing bodies. Consequently, entities like local school districts, libraries, and public safety departments lose out on growing tax revenues that would typically fund their operations.
  • Budget Strain: Because TIF districts isolate increments for specific development projects, general city budgets can shrink. This reduction in unrestricted funds sometimes forces municipalities to raise tax rates on properties outside the TIF district to maintain community-wide services.
  • Lack of Transparency: TIF funds can operate outside the normal civic budgeting process. This can result in limited public oversight, making it easier for funds to be misallocated to politically favored projects rather than areas with the greatest public need.
  • Gentrification & Displacement: Subsidies used in TIF districts often accelerate rising property values and rents, forcing long-term residents and local, small-scale businesses out of the area.
  • Overstated Returns on Investment: TIFs are intended for developments that would not occur "but for" the subsidy. However, municipalities frequently use them on projects that would have occurred naturally, resulting in a waste of public funds.
  • Financial Risk: If a development fails to generate the anticipated property or sales tax revenue, municipalities are often left to cover the municipal bonds or debt issued to fund the initial infrastructure. [2, 9]


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Day one nutritional menus for breakfast, lunch and dinner, per USDA RDA guidelines

Here is a balanced, one-day menu designed to meet general daily nutritional recommendations ( approximately 2,000 calories, lean proteins, h...