Not Our Fault

There is a crisis at our Southern Borders with the influx of Immigration from Mexico, Central and South America, many of whom cross over into the United States illegally and President Biden says that it is not my fault...  even though it is on his watch that it is happening...  and, even though he has reversed all the restrictions that the previous administration had imposed...  yet, it is not his fault...

I don't mean to be rude, but that is a careless, reckless, and a totally irresponsible and illogical statement to make...

How many days, months, years will it take for the present administration to STOP BLAMING THE PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATION?

AND...  how long will it take for mainstream media to come to their senses and realize how stupid these comments really are because it does not reflect the reality of the situation...

The irresponsible mainstream media believes beyond a shadow of a legal and reportable doubt that:::>

• Liberals good
• Conservatives bad
• Democrats good
• Republicans bad

💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛

The Liberals, Democrats, and Progressive Democrats basically believe that a large Federal Government is good while a small Federal Government is bad...  and that everything that society needs should be paid for by the wealthy regardless of whether or not the wealthy approve of that logic.

First...  let me state that government bureaucracy is more incompetent than it is competent.  Government workers are not effective or efficient in their output because being fired or reprimanded is never going to happen so why should they work hard?

Second...  the wealthy for the most part is not stupid or ignorant and knowing that they are going to be heavily taxed by the Democrats, understand that they MUST HIDE THEIR MONEY in tax shelters to substantially reduce their tax burden.

Third...  the rest of the world does not give a shit about our internal problems other than the fact that it is easier to take over and/or surpass a divided country than it is a united country.

Fourth.... having a little debt is necessary and offers a certain degree of financial leverage but having a lot of debt is financially irresponsible and will eventually bite those in debt in the ASS and that bite is like a snapping turtle...  it ain't about to loosen its grip.

Optical Illusions

 
Michael Bach explains...

They also teach us about our visual perception, and its limitations. My selection emphazises beauty and interactive experiments; I also attempt explanations of the underlying visual mechanisms where possible.

»Optical illusion« sounds derogative, as if exposing a malfunction of the visual system. Rather, I view these phenomena as highlighting particular good adaptations of our visual system to its experience with standard viewing situations. These experiences are based on normal visual conditions, and thus under unusual contexts can lead to inappropriate interpretations of a visual scene (=“Bayesian interpretation of perception”).

If you are not a vision scientist, you might find my explanations too highbrow. That is not on purpose, but vision research simply is not trivial, like any science. So, if an explanation seems gibberish, simply enjoy the phenomenon...  TO SEE THE VARIOUS EXAMPLES, CLICK HERE...

Komic Korner Kartoons

 

Preparing to Retire

East coasters are best positioned to retire with flush nest eggs than Americans in other parts of the country, according to new data.

Connecticut residents have the highest retirement savings account balances out of the entire country with an average of $523,568 saved per household, according to data from Personal Capital, an online financial advisor and personal wealth management company. The analysis is based on balances of IRAs, Roth IRAs, 401(k)s, and 403(b)s of 2.8 million anonymous users across the country.

Other New England and Mid-Atlantic states follow Connecticut, such as New Hampshire (No. 2) with an average of $494,562 saved, New Jersey (No. 3) with an average of $489,664, and Virginia (No. 5) with $468,579 saved. The geographic outlier is Alaska (No. 4) with an average balance of $489,070.  READ MORE

Sandpipe Cove - Destin, FL

First Impressions on First Arrival...

We had been here before so we knew where the arrival desk was located and we knew that we had to check in at the Guard Desk to get our parking assignment and access codes...  so, none of that was a surprise to us...  and we knew how the condos were numbered so it was a simple matter of finding the right road that began with our number group.  But, what we did not expect was that the keys that we were given did not work...  and, the office manager that came to our rescue brought over about 6 different sets associated with this property and none of them worked either.

The office manager knew the condo had been inspected and the cleaning crew had gotten access so our very apologetic office manager called the crew, found out where they were and went to retrieve the key.  That key worked but we have gone into 90 minutes of wait time after our initial arrive.  We unpacked the car and got things situated inside...  now we are waiting on the office manager to return with our new set of keys...  and the waiting time before we can do anything has jumped to over 2 hours.

We were not in a hurry this morning when we left Montgomery, Alabama where we spent the night to break up our 8 almost 9 hours of drive time...  but, in the course of conversation with the office manager, we heard that our unit was good to go yesterday which mean we could have gotten into our condo upon arrival.

The weather forecast changed and we arrived at Destin in a barrage of afternoon showers which were not predicted yesterday or the day before when we checked...  however, Mother Nature can never be held accountable for anything that she does or does not do for vacationers.

Americans and Politics

 

Most Americans...  and, I use that word liberally...  don't give a rat's ass about politics...  that is to say that they are either liberal or conservative but they do not let the opposing party's leadership negatively influence their day-to-days lives...  They work and play regardless of what party is in power and regardless of immigration and regardless of taxes or the cost of living...

Most Americans simply try to do the best they can, given their opportunities and limitations and don't piss and moan if things do not go their way...  like a lot of these BLACKS are doing...

Most Americans are white (60% of the population) but they do not think their lives have been based or predicated upon WHITE PRIVILEGE...  although, they do believe that the WEALTHY WHITES have been living a life based upon or predicated upon white privilege...  but, there is really nothing that they can do about it...  so they just GO WITH THE FLOW...

Personally...  I really don't give a shit about the wealthy whites or black lives matter or cancel culture, the WOKE Mob, the tearing down of Confederate Statues, Slavery, or the Defunding of the police...  in fact, I hope the police are reduced or re-indoctrinated or restructured...  BUT what I cannot tolerate is TAX INCREASES...

If illegal immigrants move into my location, I will simply ignore them as I have always done...  My retired life will continue regardless of what happens here...  if America changes...  then, it frigging changes...  Life goes on for me...

Made in America

This morning on FOX News, it was reported that in Biden's first State of the Union Address to Congress. in addition to pushing his extremely bold and costly spending agenda and not really mentioning the crisis at the boarder, he articulated in no uncertain terms that his administration was going to push made in America or purchased in America which is somewhat redundant; however, it is the same rhetoric that was originally used by Donald Trump about which the Democrats and the liberals would not support...

Many of us should find that ODD INDEED.

Destin, Florida

I am watching FOX News in the breakfast room of Days Inn in Montgomery, Alabama because my wife and I are on our way to a vacation at a private condo with a private beach in Destin, Florida... and driving from TN to this location took us about 5-1/2 hours instead of the 8-1/2 it would have taken if we had driven straight through.  As we get older we understand and respect the fact that we can no longer drive long durations without stopping.

I awoke first and decided to have breakfast while my wife continued to sleep which brings me back to the origins of this post.

My breakfast consisted of several cups of coffee which always seems to taste better away from home than at home and a couple of tiny bran muffins that were sprinkled with oats on top.  The bran muffins were perfectly cooked and tasted better than most that I have had as I recall...  and, while I ate my breakfast, I watched FOX News on the screen mounted on the wall.

The trip to Montgomery was for all intents and purposes uneventful except for a couple of areas where driving through congested cities slow the traffic down a "tad," but for the most part, the vehicles on the interstate drove no slower than 80 mph and most of them were clipping along at 100 mph and wanted you out of their way immediately as they approach you from the rear.

Since we were not in a hurry, I maintained a speed of 75-80 mph which was still 5-10 miles over the posted speed limits  while most of my fellow drivers took those posted speed limits to be a suggestion rather than the law.

No matter where we stopped...  either at a rest area, a fast food, or a gas station, NO ONE was wearing their facemasks...  except us...  even though my wife and I have had both our COVID shots and it has been a month since our second one.

This morning we are going to remain at the Days Inn until we have to check out because the rest of our journey is only going to take 3 hours and we cannot check in until 5:00 pm so even if we left at noon, we would still have a 2 hour wait until we can get settled in...  knowing that, we decided that we would probably do our grocery shopping while we waited.

This is our first vacation in over a year due to COVID, the 3-4 maybe 5-6 that we normally take each year were cancelled or not booked because of COVID.  We are hoping that the weather will be nice on the Gulf Coast.

Black Market Grass

Noxon, whose name has been changed, started selling weed about eight years ago in Dutchess County.

His legitimate job barely paid rent and bought food, but the discretionary income from selling weed and concentrated cannabis, including THC vape cartridges, which he said are diverted from the legal market in California, gave him what he called “a quality-of-life cushion.”

He has no plans to stop.

People don’t like paying taxes, Noxon said of the prospect of competing against legal adult-use cannabis in New York, especially when they already have an established black-market connection.

Noxon, and the black market as a whole, is one of the many wild cards in determining how many cannabis consumers in the state begin to purchase marijuana legally once dispensaries open. But a low tax rate on cannabis could shift consumers to the legal market more successfully than states like California.

After years of starts and stops, legislation legalizing adult recreational marijuana was signed into law by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on March 31. The Marihuana Regulation and Taxation Act [MRTA] was intended to make up for a $15 billion budget shortfall, nearly all of which will be filled by the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, though the law is still on the books.  READ MORE

Intelligence or Not...

Psychologists and other experts have come up with many ways of looking at human intelligence.

You’ve probably heard of IQ (intelligence quotient) tests. These assessments are specifically designed to measure aptitude and ability.

But intelligence isn’t all about IQ, and here’s why:

• IQ tests measure specific skills like reasoning, memory, and problem-solving. They can’t capture the broader picture of your capabilities overall.
• IQ tests don’t assess important traits like creativity or emotional skills.
• People from different backgrounds have varying levels of familiarity with test concepts and structure, so low scores may not always represent actual intellectual abilities.
• A 2016 research reviewTrusted Source suggests people with autism often have higher intelligence than standardized IQ tests indicate. This intelligence is simply imbalanced in ways that can negatively affect social interactions and task performance.

Many experts believe a single test can’t give a clear picture of intelligence, in part because there are multiple types of intelligence to consider.

One popular theory, introduced by psychologist and professor Howard Gardner, suggests nine different types of intelligence exist.

Wondering how intelligence shows up for you? Here’s a look at 11 signs of varying types of intelligence.  READ MORE

Democrats and Liberal Progressives

 As far as I am concerned, these people can do whatever the hell that they want to as long as my taxes do not increase that much...  a little increase in taxes is fine and can be easily accommodated  but a substantial increase in taxes should only be directed towards the wealthy.

Conservatives believe that if you tax the wealthy they will not put as much money back into the society as they did before the tax increase in terms of jobs, investments, and donations...  I find that to be a load of horseshit...

The wealthy are going to invest their money regardless of their tax burdens into ventures and investments that are going to make them more money...  because they are financially greedy.  And...  their greediness will never slow down or stop...  it is their nature.

Since I am no longer working in the marketplace, I don't give a damn if jobs go to the unqualified or not...  yes, it does mean that the US will no longer be as competitive but that trend started a long time ago when this country lost its STEM focus.

While Democrats are fighting Republicans, and Liberals are fighting Conservatives and Blacks are fighting Whites, CHINA is gaining SUPERIORITY over the US in both the economy and in the military...  and, no doubt, it will soon be seen in SPACE as well.

Just HOW STUPID ARE WE?

Visualize

 

A Relationship With Creativity

People under the influence of psilocybin — the active component of magic mushrooms — report having more profound and original thoughts, but tend to score lower on cognitive tests of creative ability, according to new research published in Translational Psychiatry. But the findings indicate that the psychedelic substance can still boost creative ability in the long-term.

The study also collected functional magnetic resonance imaging and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy data, providing some new insights into the underlying neurobiological mechanisms associated with creative ability.

“Creativity is an essential cognitive ability linked to all areas of our everyday life, allowing us to adapt to an ever-changing environment and come up with ways to solve problems,” said lead researcher Natasha Mason (@NL_Mason), a PhD candidate at Maastricht University.

“Importantly, as well as being an essential process for everyday functioning, the (in)ability to think ‘outside of the box’ has also been associated with psychological disorders, such as depression and anxiety. These individuals can get stuck in maladaptive thought patterns, which can facilitate habitual (negative) behaviors. Thus, finding a way to enhance creativity is of broad interest.”

Scientists had found some preliminary evidence in the 1960s that the psychedelic drug LSD could enhance creative problem-solving. There was also some evidence that the psychedelic state induced by LSD could harm creative ability. But the issue has received little scientific attention since then.

“Over the years, a number of anecdotal reports have accumulated suggesting that the consumption of psychedelic drugs, like LSD and psilocybin, can enhance creativity,” Mason said. “Famous examples of psychedelic-affiliated creative breakthroughs include Kary Mullis’ discovery of the polymerase chain reaction, the 1960’s California-based computer industry, and the literary works of authors, such as Aldous Huxley and Ken Kesey. That said, although there are a large number of claims that psychedelics do this, no one has investigated this in a placebo-controlled experimental trial.”  READ MORE

Telling You What To Do

 Do you want our Federal Government telling you

 what to do...

how to do it...

and when to do it???

This is what bothers me more than anything else about the DEMORATS and the PROGRESSIVE LIBERALS...

I am my own person and I don't need the Federal Government telling me what to do with my life...  and, controlling my behavior with MONEY...

If I want to drink alcohol, I will...

If I want to use illegal drugs, I will...

If I want to support abortions, I will...

If I want to own a firearm, I will...

If I want to support the transgendered, I will...

If I want to overeat, I will...

If I want to work or not work, I will...

If I want to steal, I will...

If I want to get more education, I will...

I understand that the wealthy have a fundamental right to become wealthy but I do not think it is appropriate for our Federal Government to take money away from them just because they are wealthy...

If the wealthy want to share their money on their own, then they should be allowed to do that...  and, if the wealthy want to donate money to a political campaign to influence elections then they should have the right to do so.

Relax...

 

Expanding Into What?

The universe is everything, so it isn't expanding into anything. It's just expanding. All of the galaxies in the universe are moving away from each other, and every region of space is being stretched, but there's no center they're expanding from and no outer edge to expand into anything else.

But that doesn't mean that the universe is infinite. That brings us to the long answer. To understand how something could be finite but have no edge, think of the fabric of the universe as the surface of a balloon. As the balloon inflates, the surface stretches and every point on that surface moves away from every other point, but a tiny being on the surface of that balloon could walk forever and never run into the edge of its balloon universe. There's no edge, yet that balloon universe has a finite volume.

The Shape of the Universe
But the balloon is just one example. Scientists aren't actually sure whether the universe is finite or infinite, or even what shape the universe is. There are three options: spherical, flat, or hyperbolic (that is, it curves upward). Evidence from the earliest light in the universe suggests that the second option is on the money, and the universe is, in fact, flat.

Even if the universe is flat and not balloon-shaped, however, it's still easy to think about how it could be finite with no edge. Think about a flat piece of paper. You could take two opposing edges and make them touch, creating a cylinder. If a tiny 2-dimensional rocket ship traveled from one of those edges to the other, it would arrive back where it started. You could do the same thing in the perpendicular direction: Connect the two ends of the tube to each other (pretend this is magically stretchy paper, for the sake of argument) and create a donut shape, also known as a torus. Now your 2-dimensional rocket ship could travel anywhere it likes, and it would never encounter an edge — even though your paper torus has finite volume.

But wait, you might be saying. Paper is flat; a torus is curved. Isn't that cheating? No, and that's because scientists have a very specific definition for the word "flat." When they say flat, they mean "Euclidean," which means that parallel lines always run parallel and the sum of the angles of a triangle is always exactly 180 degrees. This doesn't happen on a sphere or a hyperbola, but it does on a cylinder, a torus, and any other shape you can make out of a flat piece of paper.

This suggests something kind of exciting: If we live in a flat universe, you could potentially travel in one direction for long enough (or build a telescope that can see far enough) to end up right back where you started. Even cooler things happen when you think about other weird shapes — shapes that twist back on themselves could make you arrive back at a mirror image of where you started, for example.

But no matter what shape the universe is, it's not expanding into anything. There's nothing outside of the universe because the universe has no edge.  READ MORE

Division Dilemma

The 2016 Election divided the United States of America along the lines of liberals and conservatives even though there was a division among the wealthy and the not so wealthy that had been lingering around for decades...  or, at least since the 1960's but became more apparent in 2000.  In addition to the wealth and political divisions in this country, we are also facing since the 2016 election a racial division the likes of which has not been seen since the 1960's as well and the era of MLK Jr.

BLM and ANTIFA have exacerbated this racial division along with the pushback from White Supremacists but the black movement against whites has become far more powerful than any push back, especially with the killing of George Floyd.

Blacks now want to tear down Confederate Monuments, Rewrite the US Constitution, Receive Slavery Reparations, Teach Critical Race Theory, and destroy whatever White Privilege really means...  just because it is white I suppose.

What bothers me and no doubt others is the fact that Blacks only represent 13% of the overall population with the whites representing 60% of that same population...  and if, only half the whites FIGHT BACK, there will still be TWICE AS MANY WHITES as blacks...  and, the resulting confrontation could be seriously troublesome.

The last thing that any political administration in power wants is a HIDDEN AGENDA mental battle between whites and blacks...  in other words, each side giving the other side the COLD SHOULDER and refusing to be cooperative and friendly, especially in communities where the opposite was previously taken place.  This silent treatment will foster ill will and resentment on both sides that will eventually manifest itself in more obvious confrontations like refusing to eat at the same restaurant, or attend the same movie or share drinks at a bar...  or allow children to play on the same sports team.

ALREADY, blacks and white attend separate Churches and for the most part live in separate communities, but we shop at the same stores and at the same malls and that could change.

Small businesses not controlled by Government Regulations could stop hiring blacks for a variety of LEGAL reasons, especially in the South and Employee at Will States.

If Americans are forced to direct their efforts to repair divisions between:

• politics
• wealth
• race

then, the rest of the world will be afforded an excellent opportunity to take advantage of the United States because of that perceived weakness.

Retiring Law Enforcement

All over the United States, law enforcement personnel are retiring and/or leaving their jobs because the general public no longer has respect for them...  in addition, the general public is calling for the defunding of the police departments and some members of the US Congress want to abolish the police altogether...

I think this a great idea for America...

We do not need the police...

However, if the general public cannot have the police then elected officials should not have the police either...  whereas, if you are wealthy you can do anything damn thing that you want to do...  and, believe it or not...  the wealthy have been doing that for decades...

I like the idea of violent cities that perpetuate the increase of illegal drugs and crimes...  as long as it stays in these larger cities, it will not move out to the rural areas of the country...  where people like me live.

My wife and I are going on vacation soon and it would be nice to drive as fast as I want to without concern that highway patrol are hiding behind some blind spot trying to give people like me speeding tickets instead of protecting the citizens against violence.

Keep up the good work...  those of you who want to defund the police...  I support your efforts.

Also, I think more and more law enforcement people all over the United States should retire and find some other kind of job like building solar panels or windmills.

Art

 

Chahokia Mystery

For a couple of hundred years, Cahokia was the place to be in what is now the US state of Illinois. The bustling, vibrant city was at one time home to some 15,000 people, but by the end of the 14th century it was deserted – and researchers still aren't sure why.

A new study has been able to rule out one previous idea – that deforestation and overuse of the land around Cahokia caused excessive erosion and local flooding in the area, making it less inhabitable for Native Americans.

Through an analysis of sediment cores gathered near earthen mounds in the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, researchers have established that the ground remained stable from Cahokia's heyday until the mid-1800s and industrial development. In other words, there was no environmental disaster.

"There's a really common narrative about land use practices that lead to erosion and sedimentation and contribute to all of these environmental consequences," says geoarchaeologist Caitlin Rankin from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "When we actually revisit this, we're not seeing evidence of the flooding."

The mounds that the excavation site was next to are in low-lying areas and close to a creek – a prime position for any local flooding that would have happened. Yet there were no signs of sediment left behind by floods in the layers of earth.  READ MORE

https://www.sciencealert.com/the-mystery-deepens-over-why-the-lost-city-of-cahokia-was-abandoned

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