Can They Use Them in Hospitals?

 

February 26, 2026

 

An article in yesterday’s paper reminded me about using smart devices to track one’s health.

 

I’m hoping that at some point, they can be modified (and unhackable) so that hospitals can monitor patients’ vital signs without hooking them up to wires that make it difficult to sleep comfortably, and that won’t have bright monitors or beeping sounds to further disturb patients who really don’t need any more unwanted sensory input.

 

Since I’m chronically behind on technology advances, maybe that’s already in the works, or they’ve even been developed already.

 

One can only hope.

 

 

A False Sense of Security

 

February 20, 2026

 

Kristi Noem, head of the Department of Homeland Security, has apparently been lulled by the complacent reactions to the Trump administration’s most absurd claims and fantasies into thinking that people will buy anything.

 

She thinks that people will actually believe that she’s buying a luxury jet to help transport deportees out of the country.

 

Which is more unlikely: That she would approve of anyone being deported being comfortable, or that she would allow people that she clearly despises anywhere near a jet that she would also use?

 

 

 

Addendum to "The Savvy Business Owner"

 February 24, 2026

 

Actually, if companies would check their records, they would know what dates they started passing the tariffs on to the consumers. They could say, "Bring in your receipts, and we'll refund the tariff." 

 

Assuming that they got 100% of what they paid back. 

 

That part is doubtful, but there are ways that they could provide some consumer refunds. 

The Savvy Business Owner

 

      

February 23, 2026

 

Tariffs are out, says the Supreme Court.

 

Businesses and some Democratic leaders are asking the government to refund the tariffs to the businesses; the Democratic leaders are suggesting (merely suggesting) that the businesses refund them to their customers.

 

We all know that it’s an impossible tangle, and that customers aren’t likely to see a dime, even if the businesses do.

 

However: In addition to President’s Day sales, Easter Sales, Memorial Day sales, etc., some savvy business owners may decide to hold a Tariff Refund Sale.

 

And if it were just the renaming of a previously scheduled sale, they wouldn’t lose an unscheduled dime. They would, however, make consumers feel like they were getting a bit of tariff relief passed on to them.

 

So, go get ’em, Business Owners. Start planning your feel-good strategies now.

 

 

(Actually, if companies would check their records, they would know what dates they started passing the tariffs on to the consumers. They could say, "Bring in your receipts, and we'll refund the tariff." 

 

Assuming that they got 100% of what they paid back. 

 

That part is doubtful, but there are ways that they could provide some consumer refunds.)

 

 

 

More on Dealing with Big Business

 

February 21, 2026

Re: That deal between Amazon and Montgomery County for the data center.

 

 

I worked up a scenario in which a town negotiates with a big corporation that is trying to gouge the town with tax breaks, etc.

 

First, the town holds a meeting to see what they want to change and what they don’t want to change about their area. (Broad strokes only, as no two people, let alone an entire town, will ever agree on details.)

 

In order to find tough negotiators, they should survey wedding planners and hospitality businesses, and ask for a list of their most demanding, entitled clients. Those clients would be the negotiators.

 

For cutthroat legal representation, they should contact the lawyers who represented the ex-spouses of the big business’s negotiating team in their divorce settlements.

 

 

(I have a scenario in my head of a town hall meeting, with the representatives of the big business looking sneeringly from the front of the room at the citizens in the audience. Once the town’s leader mentions digging up the demanding clients, the sneers vanish; and once they bring up getting the divorce lawyers of the ex-spouses as the town’s counsel, several of the representatives turn pale. I think it would make an excellent movie scene.)