In The NEWS

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Richard Lewis, comedian and actor known for starring role on "Curb Your Enthusiasm," dies at 76 of a heart attack (More) | Michael Jones, WWE star better known by wrestling name "Virgil," dies at 61 (More)

> NFL scouting combine workouts kick off today from Indianapolis; see schedule and preview (More) | ... and latest NFL mock draft (More)

> Disney and Indian conglomerate Reliance will merge their media businesses in India, valuing the combined joint venture at $8.5B (More) | Donna Summer's estate sues Ye, formerly Kanye West, and Ty Dolla $ign for using an uncleared sample of Summer's "I Feel Love" on Ye's new album (More)


Science & Technology
> Researchers pinpoint key mutation, which potentially leads to the loss of tails in humans and primate relatives roughly 25 million years ago (More)

> Gene editing technique targeting the epigenome—compounds that help guide the human genome and tell it what to do—shown to help reduce cholesterol in mice for up to 11 months without drugs (More) | What is epigenetics? (More, w/video)

> New study suggests faint dwarf galaxies born shortly after the Big Bang were responsible for clearing away the universe's dense hydrogen fog, a key period known as reionization; long-running mystery was solved by data from the James Webb telescope (More)


Business & Markets - In partnership with Pernas Research
> US stock markets close lower (S&P 500 -0.2%, Dow -0.1%, Nasdaq -0.6%) ahead of inflation data to be released tomorrow (More) | Bitcoin surpasses $63K for first time since November 2021 (More)

> Payments giant Stripe's valuation rises to $65B after inking deal with investors allowing current and former employees to cash out their shares (More) | Google hit with $2.3B antitrust lawsuit by Axel Springer, other European media companies over its advertising practices (More)

> China's Country Garden faces liquidation petition over nonpayment of $205M loan (More) | Amazon merchant aggregator Thrasio files for bankruptcy (More) | Bumble to lay off 350 workers, or roughly one-third of workforce (More)

From our partners: Missed NVIDIA’s legendary run and looking for the next breakout stock? Pernas Research, run by a former $3.5B fund manager, has a verified track record of picking winners for the last 7 years (beating the S&P by 13% annually), and their latest report predicts a major comeback from an undervalued legacy stock. Get their detailed analysis and winning picks; sign up here, free for a limited time.

SOURCE:  1440 News

The Global Elites

 

China's Aggressive & Insidious Behavior in the Pacific

Soldiers from Charlie Company, 1st Battalion 69 Infantry Regiment , New York Army National Guard acting as an opposing force defend their positions during the final battle of Exercise Talisman Sabre at the Shoalwater Bay Training Area, Queensland, Australia on July 19, 2017.U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. Michael Tietjen



The US Army is conducting various training and exercises with international partners in the Indo-Pacific region.

US Army Pacific's commanding general said the land power network across the region is stronger than ever.

The increased partnership is the "greatest counterweight" to China's "aggressive, insidious" approaches, he added.


Facing challenges from China and the possibility of a future fight in the Pacific, the US Army is training closer than ever with its international allies and partners to harness the skills needed for land combat across the challenging and diverse region.

Those exercises, from biennial training in Australia to US Army Pacific's new Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center rotations in Alaska and Hawaii, and the "persistent state of partnering" with allies is "the greatest counterweight" against China's "aggressive, insidious" behavior, US Army Pacific's commanding general told Business Insider during an interview at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks, Alaska.     READ MORE...

Somewhat Political

 

In The NEWS

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Sony's PlayStation division to lay off 900 employees, roughly 8% of its workforce after missing its sales target for the PS5 console (More) | Disney's film production president Sean Bailey steps down after 15 years (More)

> Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan headline 2024 Outlaw Music Festival Tour; see full list of performers and concert dates (More)

> Spotify generates $4.5B for independent labels and artists (More) | Sean "Diddy" Combs accused by male music producer of sexual assault, now the fifth such lawsuit against Combs (More)


Science & Technology
> OpenAI asks judge to dismiss key part of New York Times copyright infringement lawsuit, accusing the news organization of "hacking" ChatGPT to produce copyrighted results (More) | See case background (More)

> Hearing live music triggers more brain activity in regions responsible for processing emotions than recordings of the same song, MRI study suggests (More)

> Researchers find striped marlin communicate with each other by changing the shade of their stripes during high-speed hunting; discovery sheds light on the evolution of predatory group behaviors in fish (More)


Business & Markets
> US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 +0.2%, Dow -0.3%, Nasdaq +0.4%) as investors await this week's inflation data (More)

> Macy's to close 150 underperforming namesake stores, or about 30% of its total stores, by 2026; company expects to add new locations of higher-end department store Bloomingdale’s and beauty chain Bluemercury (More)

> Apple cancels decadelong project to develop autonomous electric vehicle, pivots to artificial intelligence (More) | Financial Times launches new investment arm for media and technology companies, makes first investment in future-of-work startup Charter (More)

SOURCE:  1440 News

The Pareto Principle

 This principle originally stated meant that 80% of our revenue comes from 20% of our products...

Subsequently, it has been used to explain a variety of situations and circumstances such as:

• 80% of the wealth is held by 20% of the people
• Only 20% of our graduates will be successful
• 80% of the population can be easily manipulated
• 20% of our career will provide 80% of our net worth
• 20% of our employees will control 80% of our employees
• Only 20% of Americans will become wealthy
• 80% of all Americans will be followers not leaders

Fortunately, or unfortunately, the Pareto Principle has been proven correct 80% of the time.  And it is for this reason that it is constantly being used by people in a management position.

What does that mean for the rest of us?

1. We will never be wealthy
2. We will always be followers
3. We will be easily manipulated
4. We will never be as successful as we want to be
5. We should accept our loser positions
6. We should pick our leaders well
7. We must see life as more than just wealth/power
8. We must understand that 20% will always be better
9. Government equity programs will not change anything

Once we understand what we are and what we will never become, we can accept our position and learn to find happiness with what we have.  Spending money to make it look like we are wealthy will simply get us farther and farther into debt.

Many of us turn to religion because religion teaches us that life after death will be better than our current life...  However, life after death will never be living like we are living now - at best it will be in spirit form without substance.  True, spirits will never get serious diseases or experience pain, but I am not sure what kind of relationships spirits will have with each other...

But, since I am in the 80%, I might be wrong.

Following Mom

 

China Hacking US Documents

More than 570 documents reported to be from a Chinese state-backed hacking group were posted online.


They mentioned targets in at least 20 countries and territories, The Washington Post reported.


Officials have issued repeated warnings about China's hacking operations.


A reported trove of leaked Chinese hacking documents may have given the world a glimpse of how widespread and effective China's hacking operations could be.


More than 570 files and documents were posted to the developer platform GitHub last week, The Washington Post reported. They appear to document hacking activity across multiple countries and come from iSoon, which the Post identified as a private security contractor with ties to China's Ministry of Public Security.  READ MORE...

FREE

 

Just Plain Talent

 

Illegal Immigrant Charged with Deputy's Death

A Guatemalan migrant who is accused of killing a police officer last year is now leading a lawsuit against the deceased deputy’s estate, another law enforcement officer and the county, alleging he was the victim.

Virgilio Aguilar Mendez, 19, was charged with aggravated manslaughter of an officer after a scuffle involving several law enforcement officers in May 2023 left one of them dead. Attorneys representing Aguilar Mendez filed a new federal civil rights lawsuit Thursday, seeking compensatory damages from the incident as they claim the officers violated their client's civil rights.  READ MORE...

Landing

 

In The NEWS

Science & Technology - In partnership with Knightscope

> Mistral AI releases large language model Mistral Large and chatbot Le Chat; company aims to compete with AI leaders OpenAI and Anthropic by focusing on efficiency and lower costs (More)

> Escaped gut bacteria that make it into the retina may in part cause blindness and eye diseases previously thought to be inherited (More)

> Engineers demonstrate 3D-printed titanium structure with strength-to-weight ratio 50% greater than advanced metal alloys used in aerospace applications (More)



Business & Markets

> US stock markets close lower (S&P 500 -0.4%, Dow -0.2%, Nasdaq -0.1%); Amazon joins 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average, replacing Walgreens (More)

> Lord Jacob Rothschild, British banker, financier, and philanthropist, dies at 87; Rothschild was known for leaving his family's banking dynasty in 1980 to build his own financial empire in London (More)

> Boeing safety procedures fell short due to lack of communication between management and employees, Federal Aviation Administration panel finds; review comes after 2018-19 crashes that killed 346 people (More)



Politics & World Affairs

> Michigan holds presidential primaries today; former President Donald Trump leads GOP race by double digits in recent polling (More) | Trump appeals $454M judgment in New York business fraud case (More) | Manhattan district attorney requests gag order on Trump in hush money trial (More)

> US House expected to deliver impeachment charges against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate as soon as this week; Democrats expected to seek to dismiss case (More) | Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel to step down March 8 (More)

> Hungary's parliament approves Sweden's bid to join NATO, clearing final hurdle for the country to become the 32nd member ofthe transatlantic military alliance (More) | Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was to be freed in prisoner swap between Moscow and the West before his death, according to reports (More)

SOURCE:  1440 News

Importance of 2024 Election

The 2024 Presidential election is an important one and not because of Biden and Trump, especially since neither of them should be running.  It is important because it will either change the course on which the USA is embarking or it will stay the course on which it is embarking.

If the stays the course:

1. illegal immigration will continue
2. our national debt will continue to increase
3. illegal drugs entering from Mexico will continue
4. crime and violence will continue
5. people will continue to leave CA and NYC
6. our education system will continue to decline
7. college graduate will continue not to find jobs
8. our country will continue to be severely divided
9. our enemies will see us as weak
10. our taxes will increase
11. our economy will continue to grow slowly
12. war on fossil fuel will continue

It is my opinion that neither Trump nor Biden should be candidates for the 2024 election...  and, it does not really matter who are our candidates if it were not Biden and Trump, because this election boils down to Democrat versus Republican.

The Democrats want to stay the course...

The Republicans want things to change...

The American people, regardless of their political knowledge should be awarded the PRESIDENT that they deserve...

Americans have forgotten what happened on NINE ELEVEN and I think it is time that we need to be reminded that the rest of the world HATES US...  Our allies tolerate us because of our money and all our nuclear weapons but they are not really our friends either.

All great empires FALL/DECLINE if you are a student of history and believe what you read...  The USA is considered a great empire and I think its time is getting very near.

 

Waves

 

Tax Evasion by Millionaires

A version of this article appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.

The nation’s millionaires and billionaires are evading more than $150 billion a year in taxes, adding to growing government deficits and creating a “lack of fairness” in the tax system, according to the head of the Internal Revenue Service.

The IRS, with billions of dollars in new funding from Congress, has launched a sweeping crackdown on wealthy individuals, partnerships and large companies. In an exclusive interview with CNBC, IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said the agency has launched several programs targeting taxpayers with the most complex returns to root out tax evasion and make sure every taxpayer contributes their fair share.     READ MORE...

The Sound of Silence

 

Dog and Child

 

Materialism Matters

A short disclaimer before we read further: I’m a materialist. Materialism is a branch of philosophy to which the sciences, particularly the physical and life sciences, owe a lot. Materialism posits that the material world — matter — exists, and everything in the Universe, including consciousness, is made from or is a product of matter. An objective reality exists and we can understand it. Without materialism, physics, chemistry, and biology as we know it wouldn’t exist.

Another branch of philosophy, idealism, is in direct contradiction to materialism. Idealism states that, instead of matter, the mind and consciousness are fundamental to reality; that they are immaterial and therefore independent of the material world.

A lot of scientists and researchers don’t necessarily have a conscious philosophy, or else don’t consider philosophy to be particularly relevant to their day-to-day work. But by not having a conscious philosophy, scientists – like anyone else – can unconsciously pick up other philosophies and outlooks in the society around them.   READ MORE...

Somewhat Political

 

WE, The People...

Giving everyone the feeling that this country revolves around them is a nice statement to make, but it has been a lie from the GETGO...

In other U.S. elections, candidates are elected directly by popular vote. But the president and vice president are not elected directly by citizens. Instead, they are chosen by "electors" through a process called the Electoral College. The process of using electors comes from the Constitution.

So, when you think you are voting for the President, you are not really...  even though there is a lot of hoopla around presidential elections.

It is possible and has happened that the Electoral College does not elect the President who was elected by the popular vote.

If you did not pay attention to your civics lessons in high school, you do not know this.

Our founding fathers did not TRUST the general public as they are easily motivated and do not take the time to properly research political candidates.  The Founding Fathers knew that WE THE PEOPLE would never really work when it came to Presidential elections.

Look at what has happened in this country leading up to the 2020 election...  the Democrats created a FALSE NARRATIVE about Trump's collusion with Russia.  IT WAS A LIE...  but a majority of the people believed it to be true.

Our Founding Fathers knew that the general public was basically stupid and naive...  the Electoral College was designed to compensate for that ignorance.

WE THE PEOPLE were just words on paper to make the naive people believe that they really had a say so in the US government...

GUESS WHAT?   We have been fooled all these years and continue to be fooled.

The EV Movement is Over

 

Global Debt Hits New High

LONDON, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Global debt levels hit a new record high of $313 trillion in 2023, with developing economies scaling a fresh peak for the ratio of debt to their gross domestic product, a study showed.

The Institute of International Finance (IIF), a financial services trade group, said on Wednesday that global debt surged by over $15 trillion in the last quarter of 2023 year-on-year. The figure stood at around $210 trillion almost a decade ago, according to the data.  READ MORE...

Rockin' Robin

 

Long Time Gone

 

US Coast Sinking Fast

Parts of the East Coast of the United States are sinking so fast it could threaten infrastructure, farmland and wetlands, according to NASA.

Some areas have seen a drop of more than 2 millimeters per year from 2007 to 2020.

Satellite data shows the two biggest changes are from Savannah to Myrtle Beach and off the coasts of Maryland and Pennsylvania.

Charleston is one of the fastest-sinking cities. It is more than 2 inches lower than it was in 2007, and that’s a big deal for a city that’s just 10 feet above sea level.

Because of that, the city is considering building an 8-mile seawall.   READ MORE...

Somewhat Political

 

Copy Dog

 

Illegal Immigration

 ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION has affected all states in the contiguous United States to some degree or another, even those states and cities that wanted to have SANCTUARY STATUS...  

Most ever state is asking the Federal Government to give them more money to deal with the illegal immigrant crisis...

Some states and cities want to treat illegal immigrants better than they treat their own residents, especially those that are poor and/or homeless...

Does this make any sense to you???

NOW...  Biden, who blames the illegal immigrant crisis on TRUMP, wants to implement several Trump policies that he did away with immediately after he became president....

GO FIGURE???

• Illegal Immigrants are committing crimes
• Illegal Immigrants are draining resources
• Illegal Immigrants are trashing wherever they live
• Illegal Immigrants don't speak English
• Illegal Immigrants don't have skills
• Illegal Immigrants are lowering our quality of life

Yet, our federal government does nothing to stop them from coming across the border...

If you continue to vote Democratic this will continue to happen...

Playing

 

Microplastics Detected in Human Placenta Samples

A flurry of recent studies has found that microplastics are present in virtually everything we consume, from bottled water to meat and plant-based food. Now, University of New Mexico Health Sciences researchers have used a new analytical tool to measure the microplastics present in human placentas.

In a study published February 17 in the journal Toxicological Sciences, a team led by Matthew Campen, PhD, Regents' Professor in the UNM Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, reported finding microplastics in all 62 of the placenta samples tested, with concentrations ranging from 6.5 to 790 micrograms per gram of tissue.  READ MORE...

Blowing in the Wind

 

In The News

Science & Technology
> AT&T network experiences hours long outage across the US, cause remains unclear as of this writing; an estimated 70,000 people affected, less than 1% of the network's estimated 100 million people serviced (More)

> Researchers discover antibody capable of neutralizing venom from a wide variety of snake species across the globe; discovery may lead to universal antidote for snakebites (More)

> New advanced CRISPR tool edits strands of short-lived RNA instead of DNA, allowing gene editing without the risk of causing permanent errors in a cell's genetic code (More) | CRISPR 101 (More)


Business & Markets
> US stock markets close higher (S&P 500 +2.1%, Dow +1.2%, Nasdaq +3.0%), S&P 500 hits another high after Nvidia's blockbuster earnings report Wednesday; Nvidia rises 16% (More) | Japan's Nikkei stock index breaks 1989 record, closing at all-time high of over 39,000 (More) | Europe's benchmark Stoxx 600 index closes at all-time high (More)

> Reddit files to list initial public offering on New York Stock Exchange, invites power users to invest; company's market debut is expected in March and will mark the first major tech IPO of the year (More) | Reddit strikes $60M deal allowing Google to train AI models on the online discussion site (More)

> Vaccine-maker Moderna shares rise 15% after company reports better-than-expected quarterly profit despite decline in sales of its COVID-19 vaccine (More)


Politics & World Affairs
> Israel agrees to resend negotiators to participate in Qatar-mediated cease-fire talks to pause fighting in the Gaza Strip; meeting comes ahead of a multilateral weekend summit in Paris (More) | Gaza death toll nears 30,000 according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry; see updates on the war here (More)

> State appeals court rules New York law allowing green card-holding noncitizens to vote in local elections unconstitutional (More) | Texas judge finds Houston-area high school dress code, which resulted in a student's suspension over the length of his dreadlocks, did not violate state law; case gained national attention beginning in August (More)

> Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador publicly releases address of local New York Times bureau, following report by the paper US officials had investigated his potential ties with drug cartels (More) | Read report (More)

SOURCE:  1440 News

Quest for Youth and Beauty

Americans are FAT, DUMB, and UGLY in their older years and now that trend is reaching down into the younger generation who only seem to think about BOOZE and ILLEGAL DRUGS...

Advertisers take advantage, mainly of females but also males, convincing them both that they need to lose weight, whiten their teeth, dye their hair, eliminate wrinkles, and dress like they are YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL rather than admitting that age has gotten the best of them.

These males and females may have an outward appearance of being youthful and beautiful but inside their bodies are old, aging, and having problems.

Millions of dollars, perhaps billions of dollars are spent each year on these items to look young and beautiful when that money could be used for something more constructive and beneficial.

If you drink coffee all your life, your teeth are going to be stained and the images of white teeth these advertisers are using of young people and there are no guarantees that they ever drank coffee in the first place.

• Americans are being deceived because they want to be deceived.
• Americans drink alcohol because they want to drink alcohol.
• Americans use illegal drugs because they want to use illegal drugs.
• Americans are obese because they want to be obese...

What is the point of a white-haired female dying her hair so that she will look younger?

Is she that vain that she needs that kind of attention from other females and males?

Does she have a self-esteem problem?

• I will never dye my hair.
• I will never whiten my teeth.
• I will never pay for a diet to lose weight.
• I will never wear young looking clothes.
• I will never get a hair transplant.
• I will never try to eliminate my wrinkles.

My money will be spent on things I enjoy and want to do and if people think I look old and old fashioned...  well, that is exactly who I am.

The Path

Staying Happy as You Age

Growing older… it’s something we all do. But who says it has to be full of frowns and worry?

Believe it or not, waving goodbye to certain habits can make our later years a whole lot happier.

So, settle into your favorite chair and let’s chat about 12 behaviors to ditch if you want to smile more as you age.

You may just find a new lease on life!

1) Hanging onto grudges
We’ve all been hurt or wronged at some point in our lives. But clinging to these past hurts? That’s a one-way ticket to Unhappyville.

Holding a grudge is like carrying around a backpack full of rocks – it’s heavy, it’s uncomfortable, and it makes the journey so much harder than it needs to be.

As we get older, it’s time to put that backpack down. Forgive those who’ve hurt us. Not for them, but for us. For our peace of mind and for our happiness. Forgiveness doesn’t mean forgetting or saying what happened was okay. It simply means we’re choosing our happiness over our hurt.     READ MORE...

Paperback Writer

 

In The NEWS

Nuclear Space Warning
The US has warned Russia not to deploy nuclear weapons in space, noting it would violate a 1967 treaty that bars weapons of mass destruction in space. It marks the first indication of the Biden administration’s approach to Rep. Mike Turner’s (R, OH-10) warning last week alluding to a “serious national security threat.”


Lunar Lander Success
The Odysseus spacecraft successfully reached the lunar surface yesterday, becoming the first-ever private-sector mission to land on the moon while remaining operational. Its arrival also represents the first US-built spacecraft to land on the moon in more than 50 years, following the final Apollo mission in 1972.


Wendy Williams Diagnosis

Daytime talk show host Wendy Williams has been diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia, according to her representatives. Williams, 59, was diagnosed last year and currently resides in an undisclosed care facility.


Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
In partnership with NativePath
> Vice Media, which filed for bankruptcy protection in May 2023, announces it will stop publishing content on its news site Vice.com and plans to cut hundreds of jobs (More) | See our previous write-up (More)

> Yale becomes second Ivy League university to reverse pandemic-era test-optional policy, will require submission of standardized test scores for admission (More) | See our previous write-up (More)

> Tiger Woods' son Charlie, 15, falls short in pre-qualifying event for next week's Cognizant Classic, failing in bid to qualify for his first PGA Tour event (More)

SOURCE:  1440 News

TRUST

Truth is defined as firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.

It is not a good idea to use the word you are trying to define as part of the definition but that is what I found online.

So, what we have is a belief in the reliability, the ability, and the strength of someone or something.  What is interesting to me is that HONESTY is not mentioned in the definition.

Therefore, TRUTH is not based upon being honest but in one's belief of that which is being presented.  That is why, our history books are written by those who won the wars not the ones who lost.

Truth is WINNER's TRUTH.

Truth is only that which can be proven in a court of law and has nothing to do with right/wrong or good/bad or the reality of events.

It is for this reason, that I have NO TRUST IN TRUTH...

Right now, truth is based upon what the Democrats believe or do not believe.

A few months ago, they were not acknowledging a crisis with illegal immigration, now they are saying there is a problem, but it is because of the former President Trump.

SO, WHAT IS THE TRUTH HERE?

A few months ago, the Democrats said the economy was healthy and growing faster than the economy under the former President Trump.  Now, they are saying there may be a problem with inflation.

SO, WHAT IS THE TRUTH HERE?

Mainstream Media:  CNN, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, and PBR all support the Democrats and are broadcasting most of what the White House tells them to broadcast.

SO, WHAT'S THE TRUTH HERE?

DO YOU HAVE TRUST IN THE TRUTH?

Somewhat Political

 

A Preordained Universe Implied by Quantum Theory

Was there ever any choice in the Universe being as it is? Albert Einstein could have been wondering about this when he remarked to mathematician Ernst Strauss: “What I’m really interested in is whether God could have made the world in a different way; that is, whether the necessity of logical simplicity leaves any freedom at all.”

US physicist James Hartle, who died earlier this year aged 83, made seminal contributions to this continuing debate. Early in the twentieth century, the advent of quantum theory seemed to have blown out of the water ideas from classical physics that the evolution of the Universe is ‘deterministic’.

Hartle contributed to a remarkable proposal that, if correct, completely reverses a conventional story about determinism’s rise with classical physics, and its subsequent fall with quantum theory. A quantum Universe might, in fact, be more deterministic than a classical one — and for all its apparent uncertainties, quantum theory might better explain why the Universe is the one it is, and not some other version.     READ MORE...

Mainstream Media

 

Trucker Boycott

 

Offensive Cyber Attacks Via Generative AI

Microsoft said Wednesday it had detected and disrupted instances of U.S. adversaries — chiefly Iran and North Korea and to a lesser extent Russia and China — using or attempting to exploit generative artificial intelligence developed by the company and its business partner to mount or research offensive cyber operations.


The techniques Microsoft observed, in collaboration with its partner OpenAI, represent an emerging threat and were neither “particularly novel or unique,” the Redmond, Washington, company said in a blog post.  READ MORE...

Somewhat Political

 

Retirement Life

The retirement age to draw Social Security is 67 years old right now and there are indications that the age will increase, and the amount paid out will decrease to about 75/80% of what it is presently.  That means is someone gets $2,000 each month, that will be reduced to $1,600 each month.

In some cases, a person can also retire (but not draw SS) at 55 years of age if they have worked a one company for 20-25 years.

So, what is retirement life like, when one retires at 67 like I did?

Retirement varies upon these factors:

• geographical location
• physical health
• amount of savings
• current amount of debt

There are other factors but those are the main ones.

East TN is one of the cheapest places in the US to live but, if you are in poor health, have minimal savings, and still have debt to pay off, your retirement is not going to be very enjoyable.

The best I can offer is my own situation.

• My wife and I are debt free
• My wife and I have minor to serious health issues
• My wife and I live in East TN
• My wife and I have savings to last for twenty-five years (when we both will be 95 years old)

With this said, we go out to eat once a week, have two - seven day vacations (April/Sept), have two reliable vehicles, own our own home, and have absolutely not debt that we don't pay off at the end of the month.

I am 76 and she is 71 and we have been retired since 2015.

We both have hobbies that keep us busy all day long so that we are never bored.  We both sleep until 8/9:00am each day unless our cats decide to wake us earlier.  We each have several doctor appointments each month and neither of us have any need to spend money on any additional clothes.

Our neighbors are all very friendly and supportive and have offered to help out anytime we are in need of anything.  Right now, one of our neighbors is in Florida for the winter and we are taking care of their Koi pond.

As far as our retirement goes, we have everything we need and lack for nothing.  However, we do not have a grand lifestyle but a simple one.  The past 8 years have been very relaxing and enjoyable with absolutely no stress at all in our lives.  We are not in the best of health, but our health is better than most people our age.

In 5 years, when I turn 80 years of age, I doubt that we will be taking any vacations unless we fly somewhere and use taxis for transportation.

Road Crossing

 

Minds Blown by Quantum Physics

The quantum world defies common sense at every turn. Shaped across hundreds of thousands of years by biological evolution, our modern human brain struggles to comprehend things outside our familiar naturalistic context.

Understanding a predator chasing prey across a grassy plain is easy; understanding most anything occurring at subatomic scales may require years of intense scholarship and oodles of gnarly math.

It’s no surprise, then, that every year physicists deliver mind-boggling new ideas and discoveries harvested from reality’s deep underpinnings, well beyond the frontiers of our perception. Here, Scientific American highlights some of our favorites from 2022.  READ MORE...

Gender Ideology

 

Donald Trump

 

Ethiopia First to Ban Internal Combustion Engines

Ethiopia has decided that only electric cars may be imported into the country. The move is a major step towards sustainable mobility and is ahead of the European Union's plans to ban internal combustion engines from 2035.  Nicole Dominikowski (translated by Nicole Dominikowski), Published 02/11/2024 Business E-Mobility


While in the past less affluent countries have been the dumping ground for second-hand cars from other nations, Ethiopia is now the first country in the world to ban the import of all cars that are not electrically powered. In contrast to the European Union, which has a ban on the sale of cars with internal combustion engines from 2035, Ethiopia is about ten years ahead of schedule:


A decision has been made that automobiles cannot enter Ethiopia unless they are electric ones.    - Minister Alemu Sime        READ MORE...

Somewhat Political

 

Family Controversy

There has always been the feeling that family was the most important unit around and that it should be preserved at all costs.

While that might have been the case in the 1800s and 1900s, I is clearly not the case today.

In fact, family is not even close to being the strong unit that it once was, especially since there are so many single parent households out there.

Those family units that have managed to stay together, that is to say, not get divorced, no longer have the closeness they once had due to people's ability to move around so freely.

My family for instance, started in North Carolina and has ended up in New York, Tennessee, Michigan, South Carolina, Kentucky, as well as North Carolina.

Birthdays are not the same, Thanksgivings are not the same, and Christmas is not the same as not everyone can get together each year.

While the divorce rate has maintained a 50% level for over 10 years, those families that do not get divorced, fall apart once the parents die.  It was the parents that kept the family together and the children have no desire to maintain a strong family unit.

Wealth is another issue that separates the children of these families because if one sibling becomes wealthy, there is a good possibility that his or her wealth will not be shared with the other siblings, increasing the animosity.

However, in those families where the parents did a better job of bringing the siblings together, there is no problems with sharing the money.

WE ARE EXPERIENCING THE DEATH OF THE FAMILY UNIT 

 

Those Wonderful Church Bulletins

The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals.

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Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.

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The sermon this morning: 'Jesus Walks on the Water. ' The sermon tonight: 'Searching for Jesus.'

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Ladies don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands.

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Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help.

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Miss Charlene Mason sang 'I will not pass this way again,' giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.

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For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.

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Next Thursday there will be try-outs for the choir. They need all the help they can get.

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Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.

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A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall. Music will follow.

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At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be 'What Is Hell?' Come early and listen to our choir practice.

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Eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.

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Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered.

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The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment and gracious hostility.

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Pot-luck supper Sunday at 5:00 PM - prayer and medication to follow.

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The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.

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This evening at 7 PM there will be a hymn singing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.

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The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the Congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday.

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The Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM. Please use the back door.

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The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare's Hamlet in the Church basement Friday at 7 PM. The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.

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Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance.