Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as petty tyrants, AI uncertainties, $Trump Coin Club, sub 2 hour marathon history, 150,000 Chase Sapphire Reserve offer, college cost facts, financial advisor compensation methods, software eating itself, Iran war energy crisis spreading, losing a daughter, best luxury hotels in US National Parks, most walkable cities, the best photography links and of course always all of the most important developments in the crazy world of frequent flyer miles and points at the lower half of the post. And much more. Enjoy the weekend.
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This blog started way back in 2012 focusing on my crazy hobby addiction of traveling with frequent flyer miles, hotel and bank points. It has since evolved to curated posts featuring the best web content along with my commentary.
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BLOG HOUSEKEEPING
This is truly a one man labor of love operation, enjoy it while it lasts.
This blog is my own crusade to do my part to fight rampant enshittification on the internet. I bring to you handpicked web content worthy to pay attention to. Because nothing matters more than what you pay attention to.
Thank you to everyone who reads my blog, I am grateful you chose to stop by here in my little corner of the web that acts as my outlet for personal creativity and keeps me busy and out of trouble. When I find some time I hope I can upgrade the look of my blog because I know it sucks. And also upgrade the look of the email to subscribers. One day I promise…
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“He who has overcomes his fears will truly be free” – Aristostle
MUST READ GEMS
This is very important:
The Rise And Fall of ‘Petty Tyrants’
History shows that bad leaders can successfully undermine democracy — but the story always ends the same way.
These images will blow your mind:
Winners of the GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2026
PERSONAL FINANCE
A few college related links for you, there is plenty of great stats in each post:
Average Cost of College & Tuition
The average in-state student attending a public 4-year institution and living on-campus spent $27,146 in academic year (AY) 2022-23.
The average private, nonprofit university student living on campus paid $58,628 in AY 2022-23; $38,421 of that cost went toward tuition and fees.
I have been a member of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors NAPFA for almost thirty years. It was this renegade tiny group of financial planners proud to be fiduciaries who banned any compensation that did not come directly from the clients. Fee Only compensation defined us. We swore off ANY sales commissions and believed in fully transparent compensation. Paid ONLY by the clients. Anyway, after many years the brokers, insurance and annuities salesmen and all sorts of other species looking for that big sales commission started confusing the public that they too are somehow fiduciaries and now they are compensated by fees. But fee based. Which is a bunch of crap because in that way they get paid by fees AND allow themselves the juicy sales commission by selling you the fancy and totally unnecessary and incredibly expensive (hey, someone has to pay that sales commission to them!), yikes. So, if you are looking for a financial planner these days, I recommend the following:
Must have CFP (Certified Financial Planner)
Independent Registered Investment Advisor RIA
NAPFA member
Comprehensive financial planning advice
CPA or Enrolled Agent (EA), offering integrated full tax planning & preparation
Here is a resource with what questions to ask prospective financial planners you are interviewing: Financial Advisor Comparison Tool. For more consumer resources, please check HERE.
Most people spend more time planning a vacation than finding a financial advisor. Our industry has a bad reputation because it is filled with charlatans out there hunting for their next victim. Take your time finding one, it is probably one of the most important decisions of your life.
Good luck finding one these days. For the record, I am in the back end of my career and not looking for new clients.
Fee Only still matters today. By one of the co-founders of NAPFA:
“In the early years, we were simply trying to do the right thing. Fee-only compensation is a logical concept for anyone who stops to think about it. Would you rather have your financial advisor focused on their personal compensation, or on your well-being as an investor? Fee-only financial planning is straightforward. It removes the product incentive and keeps the focus where it belongs — on the client.”
To learn more if interested: The Radical (at the Time) Concept That Led to Client-First Financial Planning.
More than 40 years later, their core insight remains relevant: How an advisor is paid can influence how advice is delivered. For investors seeking advice that prioritizes their interests, the pioneers of fee-only financial planning left a simple message that still resonates today: When advisors are paid directly by their clients, the relationship starts with clarity, transparency, alignment and trust.
CRYPTO/TECH/SCAMS
This one is more about AI than software and I made an executive decision to place it here. It is amazing the speed of decisions in this venture when it is only run by just one human lol. Software Eats Its Own. A grim overview of what is taking place lately…
The people who build software are busy wiring up the machines that will build software in their place. Call it automation. Call it augmentation. Call it whatever makes you sleep. What it actually is, is software industrialization, happening right in front of our eyes.
Writer gets invited to party with billionaires at a Jeff Bezos retreat and you would not believe what happened next. Actually, what happened was he never got an invite to one of these parties ever again lol: What I Learned About Billionaires at Jeff Bezos’s Private Retreat. For the richest men on Earth, everything is free and nothing matters.
The latest Ponzi Scheme Roundup for April 2026 is out. It’s the typical stream of fraudsters promising the moon, crypto crap, etc. But once in a while we get gems like this:
Vincent J. Camarda, 62, pleaded guilty to charges that he ran a Ponzi scheme as an investment officer. He is the ex-CEO of A.G. Morgan Financial Advisors and used investor funds on plastic surgery for himself and luxury goods. [Thou shalt not steal…even if you are that ugly to do it for plastic surgery, come on!]
Taino Lopez aka Tai, 48, was sued by the SEC on charges that he was running a $112 million Ponzi scheme. Tai is a YouTuber who sold get-rich-quick advice courses. [You Tuber selling get-rich-quick advice courses…it’s a dead giveaway!]
Grifting era smh:
AI
Excellent recap where we stand in AI and pondering what happens down the road: Our Uncertain Uncertainties. It begins like this below and it gets better, enjoy:
Even the experts inventing AI don’t know what will happen next. Is artificial general intelligence even possible? Can scaling continue? Will we need massive compute centers to make AI, or can we do it with a mere 25 watts like we do in our brains? What will humans do as AI gets smarter? What does the future of the economy, of warfare, or civil society look like?
I may have posted this before, this is not a good trend: AI Articles Have Overtaken Human Written Ones.





Gold! Jeez, I made it into the blog! Wow! Tons to read so this will last the weekend as I dip in and out. Glad the renovations are coming along well! Yes, I think both point earning AND using are getting tougher and more expensive in a lot of ways. I am also slowing, not chasing SUB’s like I used to. Age has a lot to it. But now there is a non-stop from SEA to FCO so I think this fall there is another flight for me.
Thanks for all the work you do putting this together! It is much appreciated!
Good morning!
What Carl said!
And … thanks for the ponzi update! I was impressed by the guy who was running a ponzi
while in prison for running a ponzi. Woozer!