MY WRITING JOURNAL
Wednesday, November 20
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Shaboozey's "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" tops Billboard Hot 100 for 18th week, one week from tying record for most weeks at No. 1 (More)
> Beyoncé tapped to perform at halftime at Baltimore Ravens-Houston Texans Christmas Day matchup on Netflix (More) | LeBron James' production company merges with UK company behind Grammy Awards and "The Kardashians" (More)
> Pittsburgh Pirates' Paul Skenes, New York Yankees' Luis Gil win MLB's National and American League Rookie of the Year awards (More) | CC Sabathia, Ichiro Suzuki headline group of 14 debuting on baseball Hall of Fame ballot (More)
Science & Technology
> Pennsylvania school closes after a student creates and distributes explicit AI-generated deepfakes of a reported 50 students; head of school reportedly first learned of the issue in November 2023 (More) | How we've entered the age of deepfakes (More, w/video)
> Researchers use AI to identify three subtypes of the congenital brain disorder known as Chiari type 1; affecting roughly 4% of the population, condition occurs when the cerebellum protrudes through a gap in the skull (More)
> Study reveals how dust mites trigger the immune system and cause allergic reactions after being inhaled (More) | See image of a dust mite under a scanning electron microscope (More)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 +0.4%, Dow -0.1%, Nasdaq +0.6%); Nasdaq boosted by Tesla, with EV maker's shares closing up nearly 6% on report of President-elect Donald Trump seeking to relax US self-driving vehicle rules (More)
> Super Micro Computer shares rise 40% in after-hours trading after hiring BDO as its new auditor and filing a compliance plan with the Nasdaq composite to avoid delisting; move comes amid scrutiny on Super Micro's accounting practices (More)
> Boeing to lay off more than 2,000 workers in Oregon and Washington next month as part of broader plan to cut 17,000 jobs or roughly 10% of its global workforce (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> Brazil hosts annual G20 summit this week in Rio de Janeiro, the first to be held in South America's largest economy; early discussions center around Ukraine, China, and Trump (More) | President Joe Biden becomes first sitting US president to visit the Amazon rainforest (More)
> At least one person dead following E. coli outbreak linked to organic carrots from grocery stores; at least 39 cases have been reported across 18 states so far, with 15 people hospitalized (More, w/map)
> At least seven people dead from landslide in the northern Philippines triggered by Typhoon Man-yi (More) | Emergency declared in India's capital, New Delhi, as toxic smog clouds northern parts of the country (More)
What Is In It For Me???
- What's my title
- What's my position
- What's my salary
- What power do I have
- What are my benefits
- What are my growth options
Ancient Galaxies Challenging Cosmic Theories
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the largest and most advanced space telescope ever constructed, has been making remarkable discoveries since its launch in December 2021. Among its achievements is the identification of the earliest and most distant galaxies known, which formed just 300 million years after the Big Bang.
When we observe distant objects in space, we are also looking far back in time. This is because the light from these objects takes billions of years to reach our telescopes. Through the JWST, astronomers have detected several of these ancient galaxies, providing us a glimpse of the universe as it appeared shortly after its inception.
The data collected by the JWST aligns well with existing theories of cosmology—the study of the universe’s origin and evolution—and galaxy formation. However, these observations have also brought some surprises. Notably, many of these early galaxies are much brighter than expected, challenging previous assumptions about galaxy brightness and activity shortly after the Big Bang. READ MORE...
Tuesday, November 19
Liberal Americans
- Trump is going to put Americans in determent camps
- Trump is going to use the military against Americans
- They don't believe that Trump has done anything good for America
- They believe that Trump was and is currently a Russian Spy for Putin
- They believe Trump is a rapist and a liar
- They do not believe Biden weaponized the DOJ
- They do not believe that the 34 felony convictions will be overturned by the Court of Appeals
- They believe Trump will deport Americans
- They are convinced that Trump will be a dictator as President
- They believe Trump's economy was created by O'bama
- They believe that Biden had closed the border to illegal immigration
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Miss Denmark Victoria Kjaer Theilvig crowned 2024 Miss Universe; Miss Nigeria Chidimma Adetshina named first runner-up (More)
> Bela Karolyi, controversial longtime coach of Team USA gymnastics, dies at age 82 (More) | Vladimir Shklyarov, Russian ballet star, dies at age 39 after fall from fifth-floor building (More)
> US Postal Service to honor actress Betty White and musician Allen Toussaint with postage stamps in 2025 (More) | Netflix hauls in 60 million households for Friday night's Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight (More)
Science & Technology
> President-elect Donald Trump selects Chris Wright, CEO of Denver-based fracking company Liberty Energy, to lead the Department of Energy; choice faces Senate confirmation (More) | See running list of Trump appointees (More)
> Researchers create first fully mechanical qubit, the basic processing unit for quantum computers (More) | The amazing science behind quantum computers (More, w/video)
> Stress disrupts memory formation and leads to anxiety in nonthreatening situations, mouse study finds (More)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close lower Friday (S&P 500 -1.3%, Dow -0.7%, Nasdaq -2.2%) (More) | October retail sales rise 0.4%, beating expectations (More)
> The Federal Trade Commission is reportedly planning to investigate Microsoft's cloud computing business; allegations of anticompetitive practices include steep exit fees, other terms preventing clients from migrating data to competitors (More)
> The Exploration Company, European competitor to SpaceX, announces it has raised $160M to develop Nyx, its reusable space capsule (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> President Joe Biden approves Ukrainian use of US-made long-range weapons into Russia in policy reversal (More) | Russia launches 120 missiles, 90 drones into Ukraine in attack on country's power grid, per Ukrainian government, killing at least eight people and prompting blackouts (More) | See war updates (More)
> Israeli strike on Beirut kills Hezbollah's spokesperson (More) | Israeli strikes in northern Gaza kill dozens of people; Israel says it intercepted two rockets launched from the area (More) | See war updates (More)
> California confirms first US case of mpox variant originally identified in eastern Congo; the variant—clade I—is associated with more severe illness than the variant currently circulating at low levels in the US (More) | See overview of cases (More)
Government SHAKE-UP
On November 5th, 2024 I voted like so many other Americans voted, and while my vote is PRIVATE, I am pleased with the results. It has nothing to do with if my vote made a difference or not.
What I am pleased about is, the new administration is about to shake up Washington by reducing the size of government.
Financially, and being retired, I would have fared better under Harris because my Social Security check would have been HIGHER since Dems love to spend money and the CD interest rates would have remained higher as well.
BUT...
Government would have remained FAT and a FAT government has never been what I wanted.
To me, a FAT government, is a government that employs more people than it needs to which is the number one reason why bureaucracies as so DAMN ineffective and inefficient.
Have you ever driven by city workers working on the road, where 2 workers are doing the work, and a half dozen are standing around watching???
Every time I think about that, it pisses me off that my tax dollars are being WASTED LIKE THAT.
Trump wants to reduce government and most, if not all, of his cabinet choices have been selected by their desire to REDUCE GOVERNMENT...
Sec of Defense, Pete Hegseth, has been criticized because he is only 44 years of age, not a general and has no PENTAGON experience.
Let me draw your attention to JFK's secretary of defense, McNamara, who was not a general either, had no pentagon experience, was simply an officer, and was 44 years of age.
JFK was a Democrat, and it was ok for him but not ok for Trump???
Looks like a double standard to me...