India Challenges China on Technology

For years, China has been Asia’s technology powerhouse.

It is home to what once were some of the world’s most valuable companies, from Tencent to Alibaba. It is where most of the world’s iPhones and other electronics products are produced. And it is now a serious player in electric vehicles.

But a shift appears to be underway, with other countries in Asia trying to take China’s crown.

India is one of these contenders. New Delhi has sought to woo foreign tech companies and has been increasingly successful, with giants like Apple increasing their presence in the country.

India is looking to boost areas such as high-tech electronics and semiconductor manufacturing, as well as support its burgeoning yet challenged startup scene.     READ MORE...

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

Making the Internet Better

 

From THE VERGE

Engineers and major companies are pushing a technology called L4S that they say could make the web feel dramatically faster. But how?

Building for tomorrow
A few months ago, I downgraded my internet, going from a 900Mbps plan to a 200Mbps one. Now, I find that websites can sometimes take a painfully long time to load, that HD YouTube videos have to stop and buffer when I jump around in them, and that video calls can be annoyingly choppy.

In other words, pretty much nothing has changed. I had those exact same problems even when I had near-gigabit download service, and I’m probably not alone. I’m sure many of you have also had the experience of cursing a slow-loading website and growing even more confused when a “speed test” says that your internet should be able to play dozens of 4K Netflix streams at once. 

So what gives?  READ MORE...

New Science

Scientists identify almost 200 new CRISPR molecules after searching through databases of rare and unusual bacterial systems; may open new types of gene editing applications in mammals (More) |CRISPR 101 (More)

Study finds bladder-like cells on resilient plants like quinoa fend off insects and disease, are not used to store water for droughts; findings overturn a century-old theory in plant biology (More)



Astronomers detect second-most energetic cosmic ray on record; origins of the subatomic particle traveling near the speed of light remain a mystery (More)

Another Technology Wave

Amid all the hype, hope, and handwringing about artificial intelligence (AI), another technology tide has quietly been rising, and attracting massive amounts of investment.

It's all around us and keeps proliferating unabated -- in sensors, trackers, production machines, appliances, wearables, vehicles, and buildings. Welcome to the edge, which is likely to shape and shift our jobs and businesses before AI makes its mark. Many of the devices and products seen here at ZDNET represent the edge wave.

The edge and Internet of Things (IoT) are big business. At least 23% of respondents to a survey from the Eclipse Foundation say they spent between $100,000 to $1m on IoT and edge in 2022, and 33% expect to spend this much in 2023. 

One in 10 anticipate spending more than $10m in 2023. More than half (53%) of enterprises currently deploy IoT solutions, with an additional 24% planning to introduce them within the next 12 to 24 months.

Hybrid cloud is the vehicle on which edge projects are riding. At least 42% of respondents suggest that edge deployments are made possible by hybrid cloud. The intersection of edge and the cloud -- typically seen as polar opposites in technology landscapes -- has not been lost on cloud vendors, especially Amazon Web Services (AWS).

"More and more new use cases and customer requirements have increased the need to have edge computing on top of cloud," says Yasser Alsaied, vice president of IoT for AWS, in a discussion with ZDNET. "Edge infrastructure is important for companies that want their applications closer to their users."  READ MORE...

AI Replaces US Jobs

The growing strength of artificial intelligence threatens millions of jobs, but if regulators stay away, the emerging tech may make society wealthier and more productive.

History has repeatedly shown the same result for other technological advances dating back to the Industrial Revolution, economist Peter St. Onge said.

"Throughout history, we've gone through tremendous technological revolutions. Generally, technologies kill jobs," St. Onge, with the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital. "What happened? Well, you know, we had lots of new jobs. Almost nobody today works on a farm.

"This is sort of the way of the world," he added. The reason why you see technological improvements for any labor-involving function is in order to kill jobs - which is also known as saving work.

St. Onge pointed to the early 1800s, when most people worked on farms, and how the dawn of the mechanization of agriculture killed such employment as farmers turned to machines instead of hiring teams of laborers.  READ MORE...

Inevitable Growth

Since the birth of the USA, about 250 years have passed by to get us to where we are in 2022...  Since a generation spans about 20-30 years (25 on average), those 250 years have given us 10 generations...  10 generations is a lot of time, for instance:

• My family
• My Parents
• My Grandparents
• MY Great Grandparents is still only 4 generations and I have no memory of my Great Grandparents because I never met them...  and, about the only memory of my grandparents were when I was a young child up through my first marriage that my grandfather attended.  Shortly thereafter he died...   I was 21 years old.

So, this should impress upon you the the absolute length of 250 years.

1772/1776

1. Underwater warfare - submarine - the Turtle
2. Chronometer - accurate time
3. Underwater exploration with scuba
4. Indoor Plumbing
5. The Kitchen Stove
6. Electricity
7. Mechanical Motion
8. Steam Engines
9. Multi-tasking - revolving bookstand
10. The Spinning Mule
11. The Cotton Gin
12. Bubbles in Water (Soda)

EARLY 1900s 

there were 600,000 telephones in American homes across the USA

by 1905 - 2.2 million telephones

by 1910 - 5.8 million telephones

by 1915 - first transcontinental cable laid connecting telephone service from USA to Great Britain.

by 1973 - first mobile phone released to the public

First Computer

1830s -  Charles Babbage invented the first digital computer

1951 - first keyboard invented to access computer

1974 - the first personal computer

What do we have in 2022?

You name it, we have it...

• smart phones
• smart vehicles
• smart homes
• wristband computer phones (iwatch)
• electric vehicles
• surgeon robots
• artificial intelligence
• online classes
• virtual learning head devices
• students can perform virtual surgeries
• space flight
• reusable spacecraft (returning to base, landing upright

How Fast is Technology Growing? 

By 2025...

38.6 billion smart devices will be collecting, analyzing, and sharing data.
The web hosting services market is to reach $77.8 billion 
70% of all tech spending is expected to go for cloud solutions.
There are 1.35 million tech startups.
Global AI market is expected to reach $89.8 billion.
There are 4,383 million internet users.
Solar energy adoption has grown by around 50%.

Global Concerns of Women at Davos - WEF

At the World Economic Forum’s virtual Davos Agenda Week back in January, some of the world’s highest-profile women leaders shared their thoughts on the biggest challenges facing us today – and how to tackle them.

As these thoughts came before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, they don't reflect the new reality of the world's geopolitical challenges and all that they involve. You can read more about this on Agenda.

1. Rebuilding trust
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, “This year, like never before, trust is the most valuable currency when we speak about the state of the world. Trust in science and vaccines can make a difference between life and death. 

Trust among countries can tilt the balance of international affairs towards cooperation instead of conflict. Trust in functioning societies based on the rule of law channels higher levels of long-term private investment, giving these societies an edge over competitors – and this trust is also essential to all of Europe’s main ambitions.”  READ MORE...

STEM Education in the USA

VISION STATEMENT

“All citizens can contribute to our nation’s progress and vibrancy. To be prepared for the STEM careers of the future, all learners must have an equitable opportunity to acquire foundational STEM knowledge. The STEM Education of the Future brings together our advanced understanding of how people learn with modern technology to create more personalized learning experiences, to inspire learning, and to foster creativity from an early age. It will unleash and harness the curiosity of young people and adult learners across the United States, cultivating a culture of innovation and inquiry, and ensuring our nation remains the global leader in science and technology discovery and competitiveness.”

Rapid technological advancements and societal changes are our daily reality. While the future of work, the economy, and society is uncertain, one thing is not: To maintain the nation’s leadership in science and technology discovery, we must create an approach to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education that prepares and advances the U.S. for this future.

Experts agree that science, technology, engineering and math will drive new innovations across disciplines, making use of computational power to accelerate discoveries and finding creative ways to work across disciplinary silos to solve big challenges. To remain competitive going forward, our nation must continue to design and build a thriving innovation economy, supported by a citizenry that is invested in the STEM enterprise. To succeed, the nation must invest in new research and innovation infrastructures that include all people, regardless of their background.

HOW DO WE ACHIEVE THIS VISION?

We instill creativity, innovation, and a passion for STEM from an early age, and we maintain that engagement and enthusiasm throughout their lives. Doing so will unleash an innovation culture, teaching learners of all ages to take risks, be creative, and problem-solve. Today, we are far from this goal. 

Many Americans are entering the workforce without a basic grasp of STEM facts and approaches. Equally worrisome, amid the stagnant or dipping numbers of U.S.-born STEM workers, there is a critical lack of women, people with disabilities and African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans who remain underrepresented in STEM. This underrepresentation is especially evident in several strategic areas critical for U.S. progress and security, including computer science, mathematics, and engineering. 

We are in dire need of STEM role models and leaders for the future. By 2060,1 Black and Hispanic youth will comprise nearly half of all U.S. school-age children. However, STEM faculty from these backgrounds are currently scarce, and trends among the number of domestic students who pursue advanced research degrees in STEM disciplines—particularly computer science, mathematics, and engineering...  READ MORE...

Macro Trends 2020-2030

We outline 12 macrotrends set to shape the 2020s. These represent major shifts in the demographic, environmental, economic, technological, political and cultural landscapes that can be foreseen with a relatively high degree of certainty, though their implications are often more uncertain or ambiguous. We then focus in on a subset of the macrotrends to explore this ambiguity and suggest how the global business community might seek to influence the way these trends play out in order to accelerate progress on Vision 2050. Crucially, too, all the macrotrends are interconnected: how they interact with one another is central to how the next decade will play out. We explore some of these interconnections briefly in the introduction to each landscape.

Macrotrends emerging over the next decade: 

DEMOGRAPHICS 

1. GENERATIONAL HANDOVER Political, economic, cultural & innovation power is shifting. 

2. POPULATION GROWTH IN ASIA & AFRICA Sustaining geopolitical shifts and straining scarce resources. ENVIRONMENT 

3. WORSENING CLIMATE IMPACTS More frequent and more severe weather becomes harder to ignore. 

4. LOCAL POLLUTION, DEGRADATION & SCARCITY CREATE IMPETUS FOR INNOVATION Loss, suffering, instability, displacement & innovation. 

ECONOMY 

5. SHORT-TERM CRISIS, LONG-TERM SLOWDOWN Under-investment, low productivity, weak demand and COVID-19. 

6. PEAK GLOBALIZATION & THE RISE OF ASIA Rival blocs form as economic and political power pivots. 

TECHNOLOGY 

7. AUTOMATION IMPACTS EVERY INDUSTRY & COUNTRY Automation changes lives, industries and economies. 

8. DATAFICATION, FOR BETTER & WORSE Smarter, more efficient, more surveilled – massive efficiency and productivity gains come at a price. 

POLITICS 

9. POLARIZATION & RADICALISM ON THE RISE High levels of dissatisfaction create appetite for radical alternatives 

10. GEOPOLITICAL INSTABILITY Weakened multilateralism and nations in decline – the incentives for stability slowly fade away. 

CULTURE 

11. POST-MATERIALISM: ATTITUDES AND LIFESTYLES DIVERGE Changing aspirations are helping on-demand service models to spread globally. 

12. CULTURE WARS ESCALATE Cultural clashes (youngold, rural-urban, rich-poor) contribute to polarization.

We propose 10 “wildcard” disruptions that could plausibly materialize during the 2020s, resulting in significant impact. Indeed some of them already have, with impacts still snowballing. However, the wildcards are not all negative – they simply have the potential to significant disrupt the landscape that business operates in. The macrotrends and disruptions are deliberately not presented as risks and opportunities. Every risk contains the seed of an opportunity within it – and every opportunity the seed of a new risk. What matters is how we respond to and influence the dynamics of the world around us.

Potential “wild card” Disruptions

1. FINANCIAL CRISIS How much will COVID19 cost, and how will we pay when the next crisis comes? 
2. GLOBAL PANDEMIC No country is fully prepared to handle a pandemic, and neither are any economies. 
3. MAJOR CONFLICT Cyber attacks, e.g. on critical infrastructure will touch all ordinary citizens in a conflict.
4. AN ECONOMIC “SINGULARITY” What happens when new jobs can’t be created where jobs have been destroyed?
5. POPULAR REVOLTS & REGIME CHANGE Inequality will continue to rise making more frequent and severe protest likely.
6. A CLIMATE “MINSKY MOMENT” Costs, disclosures, social pressures all reorient financial flows – but how fast?
7. ENERGY TRANSITION TIPPING POINT Market forces lead to fossil fuel demand peaking and the energy transition accelerates.
8. BIOTECH BOOM Disruption comes to food, health and materials as biotech’s potential emerges. 
9. GLOBAL GREEN (NEW) DEAL Citizens embrace the chance to improve jobs, communities and environments.
10. SOCIETAL “TECHLASH” Society sours on the costs of free tech, treasuries tire of lost taxes and competition.

TO READ MORE ABOUT THESE MEGATRENDS, CLICK HERE...

Ultra Compact Camera

Scientific ingenuity means cameras keep on getting smaller and smaller, and the latest to appear is not only incredibly tiny – the same size as a grain of salt – it's also able to produce images of much better quality than a lot of other ultra-compact cameras.

Using a technology known as a metasurface, which is covered with 1.6 million cylindrical posts, the camera is able to capture full-color photos that are as good as images snapped by conventional lenses some half a million times bigger than this particular camera.

And the super-small contraption has the potential to be helpful in a whole range of scenarios, from helping miniature soft robots explore the world, to giving experts a better idea of what's going on deep inside the human body.

Existing micro-sized camera (left) versus the new model (right). (Princeton University)

"It's been a challenge to design and configure these little microstructures to do what you want," says computer scientist Ethan Tseng from Princeton University in New Jersey.

"For this specific task of capturing large field of view RGB images, it was previously unclear how to co-design the millions of nano-structures together with post-processing algorithms."

One of the camera's special tricks is the way it combines hardware with computational processing to improve the captured image: Signal processing algorithms use machine learning techniques to reduce blur and other distortions that otherwise occur with cameras this size. The camera effectively uses software to improve its vision.  READ MORE...

Journalists Surveillance in China

The Chinese province of Henan is building a surveillance system with face-scanning technology that can detect journalists and other "people of concern".


Documents seen by BBC News describe a system that classifies journalists into a "traffic-light" system - green, amber and red.


Journalists in the "red" category would be "dealt with accordingly", they say.The Henan Public Security Bureau has not responded to a request for comment.


The documents, discovered by the surveillance analyst firm IPVM, also outline plans to surveil other "people of concern", including foreign students and migrant women.


Human Rights Watch said: "This is not a government that needs more power to track more people... especially those who might be trying to peacefully hold it accountable."


'Thematic libraries'
The documents, published on 29 July, are part of a tendering process, encouraging Chinese companies to bid for a contract to build the new system, won, on 17 September, by NeuSoft.


NeuSoft has not responded to BBC News request for comment.The system includes facial-recognition technology linked to thousands of cameras in Henan, to alert authorities when a "person of concern" is located. READ MORE...

US Bitcoin

China's share of global Bitcoin mining has fallen to effectively zero, research by the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI) suggests.

In June China told banks to stop facilitating transactions, and issued bans on mining.

At its peak in Sept 2019 China accounted for over three quarters of all Bitcoin mining.

China's crackdown initially led to a 38% fall in mining globally CBECI said.

However this was partially offset by a 20% "bounceback" over July and August, "suggesting that some Chinese mining equipment has been successfully redeployed overseas", researchers said.

China has since declared all Bitcoin transactions illegal - though that occurred after the period covered by they Cambridge research.

Miners earn money by creating new Bitcoins, but the computing power needed to do it consumes large amounts of energy.

They audit Bitcoin transactions in exchange for an opportunity to acquire the digital currency.

Global mining requires enormous computing power, which in turn uses huge amounts of electricity, and consequently contributes significantly to global emissions.

The CBECI, which is produced by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, tracks the geographic distribution of computing power used for mining Bitcoin - receiving data from a number of commercial Bitcoin mining pools.  READ MORE...

We Didn't Start The Fire

 

Listening to the lyrics of this song brings back memories of the 60's...     70's...    80's...    etc.     Lyrics  to  songs  about our past cause me to reflect upon the fact that very little has actually changed in the United States and throughout the world, except for maybe  the INTERNET and TERRORISM...  Millionaires and Billionaires and immigration...   wages have not  really increased proportionately to those of management... 

• Governments start fires
• Wealthy people start fires
• Rebels start fires
• Politicians start fires
• Hatred starts fires
• Progress starts fires
• Technology starts fires
• Education starts fires
• Incompetence starts fires
• Religions start fires
• Ignorance starts fires

WHAT FIRES HAVE YOU STARTED???

Fifty Percent Versus Fifty Percent

I am 73 years old, born in 1947 and this is the first time that I have ever seen this country SO DIVIDED outside of the HIPPIE PROTESTS of the 1960's...  which was not really a 50/50 division at all but more of a ONE GROUP DISAGREEMENT...  however, the only positive thing that came out of the 1960's was the lyrics of the rock and roll music.

I have been retired since 2015 and to be quite honest with you (implying I have not been honest before) I have not voted in an election here in the USA for over 20 years.  The original reason was so that I would not be called for JURY DUTY but then over the years, I have not been able to support either the Democrats or the Republicans.

WHY?  This is an easy answer:  Nothing has changed in this country since the 1960's as we basically have the same problems today (2021) that we had  back then...  and that is the fault of BOTH PARTIES.

BUT...  it seems that we have a bigger problem here in the US of A and that is that we are divided RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE...  half are liberal and democrat and half are conservative and republican with a handful of socialists and libertarians who bitch the loudest but who are in essence ignored behind the scenes...  as if they are spoiled children.

This division in the US of A while a natural by product of DEMOCRACY and our Democratic Republic form of government and is more or less a healthy expression of one's beliefs...  is a source of pleasure for our enemies because it is much easier to take over a country if that country is divided.

The other issue with a equally divided country is that neither party who has governmental control really has a mandate from all of the people to do whatever it is that they want to do...  This lack of support causes an upheaval in direction every 4 years and keeps the residents of the country angry at each other rather than divided.

However, what remains constant is that THE WEALTHY will continue to get WEALTHIER as we ignore them and fight among each other.  The second issue here is that TECHNOLOGY will continue to advance and the general public will be caught off guard when AI ROBOTS replace 50% of their jobs in just a few years.  

These advances in TECHOLOGY will change our lives forever...  some for the better and some for the worst as we adapt, change, and modify our behaviors.

What is even more hideous is the fact that while our Federal Government spends money (that it does not have) to give the people (you and I) more benefits, this same government will NOT BE PUTTING INCREASES OF MONEY INTO THE MILITARY while China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea will be ignoring their citizens and beefing up their militaries.

What does this mean?

This means that while you will have FREE EDUCATION, FREE DAY CARE, and a FREE GUARANTEED INCOME, the global economy will shift away from the USA and move east towards Russia, China, India, Asia, Japan, and parts of Europe and the Middle East...  rendering your free education WORTHLESS for all intents and purposes.

How will this happen?

Our Federal Government COUNTS on your short term focus rather than on your long term focus of 10 years or more.

One of the facts-of-life, that I realize after living for 73 years is that TIME MOVES QUICKLY by us all and the older we become, the quicker time seems to move.  In no time at all, I am in my 70's when my last really congnizant thoughts about all of this, I was in my 50's...  and, while you may just think it is just me and my behavior...  but, this is a comment you hear for ALL OLDER PEOPLE which is why they encourage you to live for the day and pursue your dreams.

Technology: A Double Edged Sword

Troy Frisby Reports...

From a lost kayaker whose phone saved his life to a missing man found thanks to a bracelet, here are stories of tech with the ability to save lives and impact the lives of Americans.

Like William Rogers, a tech school teacher who fell through the ice on a frozen river. Hypothermia quickly set in.

"First thing I did was try to walrus up on the ice, knowing that I needed to get out of the water as quickly as possible, and the ice just kept breaking underneath me," he said.

Thankfully, while he didn't have his phone on him, William was able to use his Apple Watch to call for help.  "I told them that I probably had 10 minutes before I was not gonna be able to respond anymore," he said.

Fortunately, firefighters made it there in five minutes.

Elsewhere, a high school lacrosse player's near-death experience led to a protocol change in the league.

Peter Laake was hit in the chest by a routine shot, but he fell and was unresponsive. On-site doctors began chest compressions, but they didn't work, so they used an automated external defibrillator (AED), which reset his heart.

"I heard voices for a couple seconds, and my eyes wouldn't open for a couple seconds," Laake said. "But when my eyes did open, I remember seeing seven to eight people just in a circle around me. So, pretty crazy."

Moving forward, USA Lacrosse decided to make chest protectors mandatory for all players, not just goalies.

In another story, a National Guardsman invented a new beacon that might just be the future of rescue methods, using drone technology.

Saige Martinez, who has a math degree, said, "The time that it takes search and rescue personnel to get to the person, it’s supposed to fill that gap and provide first aid supplies and live updates about the situation as well as GPS location."

The beacon was his final project for a college course he took to break into the tech field.

So a hiker just has to find it and click a button. The device records their location and their oxygen levels, but Saige decided to make it more resistant to the elements.

China's New Future

According to Arjun Kharpal at CNBC...

GUANGZHOU, China — China is looking to boost research into what it calls “frontier technology” including quantum computing and semiconductors, as it competes with the U.S. for supremacy in the latest innovations.

In its five-year development plan, the 14th of its kind, Beijing said it would make “science and technology self-reliance and self-improvement a strategic pillar for national development,” according to a CNBC translation.

Premier Li Keqiang said on Friday that China would increase research and development spending by more than 7% per year between 2021 and 2025, in pursuit of “major breakthroughs” in technology.

China’s technology champions such as Huawei and SMIC have been targeted by U.S. sanctions as tensions between Beijing and Washington have ramped up in the past few years.

As such, China has concentrated on boosting its domestic expertise in areas it sees as strategically important, such as semiconductors. And now it has laid out seven “frontier technologies” that it will prioritize not just for the next five years, but beyond too.

These areas are:

1. Artificial Intelligence
2. Quantum Information
3. Integrated Circuits
4. Brain Science
5. Genomics and Biotechnology
6. Clinical Medicine and Health
7. Deep Space, Deep Earth, Deep Sea, & Polar Research

The Shadows of our Memories

President John F. Kennedy in the month of November 1963 was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas and the ENTIRE WORLD mourned the loss of a GOOD MAN as he was perceived by the general public according to what the NEWS MEDIA wanted the general public to know about JFK.

I was living in Cairo, Egypt at the time and a classmate at the time called me on the telephone and told me what he had heard.  I did not believe him but told my parents who made a few phone calls and confirmed what I had been told.

Interestingly, Martin Luther King Jr. made his famous I HAVE A DREAM SPEECH earlier that same year in August when my parents, brother, and I were traveling to Cairo, Egypt via several sightseeing stops in Europe after a 12 day ocean voyage across the Atlantic on Holland America's USS Constitution.

1963 was a transition year for me, my family, as well as ALL AMERICANS because that is the year when, like the song APPLE PIE (or When the Music Died) AMERICAN POLITICS DIED as well.

And, for a half century (53 YEARS)  American Politics stopped being FOR THE PEOPLE and became FOR THE POLITICIANS and their hopeful perpetual re-elections.  As Americans became FAT, DUMB, and HAPPY, the rest of the world like:  the Middle East, Russia, China, Japan, Asia and India began to silently grow in population, technology, strength,  power, and most importantly STEM education.

What did Americans do?

We smoked marijuana, snorted cocaine, inhaled meth by freebasing and drank more than our share of alcohol and food...

2016 is not the year and with more than unexpected alarm, a new President is elected but not by the popular vote but by the ELECTORAL COLLEGE which was put into the US Constitution by the Founding Fathers because they PERCEIVED that the American People could be manipulated...  and, not only did this happen but our new President is a political outsider and a disdainful businessman who is a billionaire and exemplifies the heart and soul of our Capitalistic Free Market Enterprise Economic system...

What a crushing blow to the LIBERAL DEMOCRATS who theoretically are the party of the working class and the Middle Class who have no opportunity to achieve such wealth in their lifetimes, even though our advertising brochures for America refer to us as the LAND OF OPPORTUNITY.

And so the attacks begin and as our ECONOMY STRENGTHENS and grows beyond expectations, so too does the attacks on our President.  THEN... the unimaginable happens and China releases a Pandemic and the ENTIRE WORLD is shutdown economically...  and, even though President Trump listened to his health advisors, he is not only blamed for the Virus but is blamed for the destroyed US economy.

Whether the US changes in 2020 or 2024 is not the question...  the question is not a question but a statement of fact...   and, that fact is...  at some point-in-time in the near future, America will change politically and that change will be dramatic and that change will put us into a position economically from which will MAY NOT BE ABLE TO RECOVER...

2030 will be the year to watch...

2050 will be the year that America is no longer even close to being a world power...

It does not take a brain surgeon to see this.  All one has to do is perform an INTERNET SEARCH on Forecasts for 2030 and 2050 and read the results.

Here is an example for 2050

1.  The world economy will double

2.  The world population will double perhaps triple

3.   China and India will have the greatest economies, the USA will be third or fourth behind Indonesia

4.  Shortages of food and water will begin to emerge as problems

5.  The global economy will shift towards China/India and away from NYC/Los Angeles

6.  Technology will be the fastest growing industry

7.  The USA will no longer lead the world in millionaires or billionaires

8.  America's Colleges and Universities will not longer lead the world

9.  America's military will no longer be the most powerful

10.  China will be the most powerful country in the world

If you are 30, 40, or even 50 years old now, you will live long enough to see this happen....

Understanding Technology