Sunday, July 31
The Wealthy Dump Luxury Properties
The rich are now paying attention to prices and their income, lament high-end agents in hotspots like Miami and San Francisco. "It's pretty sudden," one said.
After a decade of feeling invincible, the tech industry is suddenly facing something new: financial insecurity. Valuations are down, layoffs are up, startup funding no longer feels limitless, and an air of fear has started to permeate the sector, as bosses and workers alike adjust to a harsher version of reality.
In cities like San Francisco, New York, and Miami, luxury real estate agents are starting to notice the effects of the tech downturn on their business, they tell Motherboard, as wealthy tech clients grapple with the fact that raises, bonuses, and job offers no longer seem as inevitable as they did a few months ago.
“The elephant in the room these days is that there's a recession coming,” said Karley Chynces, a blockchain-focused real estate agent at Sotheby's International Realty in Miami.
Nationally, rising interest rates for home loans have combined with record home costs to price out potential homebuyers. But within the pockets of the country where tech workers tend to throw money down on housing, interest rates are less of a concern than the decline of tech stocks and the constant barrage of layoff announcements, according to conversations agents have had with their clients. READ MORE...
Saturday, July 30
Observations of a Lesser Kind
I have lived my entire life in the South except for 4 years when I lived in a foreign country and while I enjoyed living in Cairo, Egypt, I have always preferred the southern lifestyle even though I have only visited other parts of the US and never lived in those place for longer than a week or two which does not really give you a proper perspective of that lifestyle. However, I can say without exception that the weather is warmer down south than up north. As I get older, the colder weather seems to bother me even more than high humidity.
The wages are less down south as is the cost of living. Depending on one's lifestyle, I doubt that the entire state of Tennessee has fewer bars than New York City but that kind of lifestyle has never been one I cared much for, even though I did my fair share of drinking in college.
One thing that has caught my attention in some southern states is the number of churches that one sees around the urban areas... and, most of them are Baptist. Seems like a waste of money to have so many of these Baptist churches in one area when one or two would suffice.
The other thing that has caught my attention is the number of pickup trucks I see on the road. Like SUVs, it is difficult to see around pickup truck to get an idea of what is in front of you before it is too late. What I find rather humorous is that whenever I see the driver get out of their pickup truck that person is always under 6 feet tall. I have concluded that only short people drive pickup trucks. I know that is a false conclusion but that is all I have seen.
Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky are the states in which I have lived. Most of my years have been spent in Tennessee actually 32 in total. I like Tennessee the best but not because I have lived here the longest but because it fits my lifestyle and mentality.
I live simply with no debt for the last 15 years. I can walk around the community without the fear of getting harmed. There is no state income tax. We have an adequate number of franchised restaurants. There is minimal traffic except during rush hour in Knoxville. I can do everything that I want to do.
One thing that I have decided to do which happened recently is I am going to donate my body to the University of Tennessee Medical Center for research when I die. Consequently, I will have no funeral expenses.
I turn 75 in 3 months and figure that I have no more than 20 years left to live. That is not a very pleasant thing to think about but it is a reality for me. So, sometimes in the morning when I am drinking my coffee, I think about what I would like to do these next 20 years that I have not yet done or accomplished. And I can think of nothing...
How Do You Take It?
Minute by minute
Hour by hour
Day by day
Week by week
Month by month
Year by year
Decade by decade
Our perception, I am told, changes with age, experiences, influences on and by others, as well as our financial situation...
For me... I take it day by day... as the AA programs suggests and one thing is for sure and that is that you never look back... looking forward is risky unless you are really isolated... so logically that just leaves us with one day at a time.
I am just finishing up my 14 year of being treated for cancer and the last half of those years, I received treatment for two cancers simultaneously. Yet, I do no live under the fear of becoming terminal although I am sure that is a possibility and I am not sure how I would initially feel if my Oncologist were to tell me something like that...
But age changes one's outlook on life even if you are perfectly healthy as priorities change and things that were once important don't seem so important anymore. And, the reverse is true as well... things that were once not important now take on at least the appearance of being important.
If there is something over which I have NO CONTROL or very little control, then I simply do not worry about it... then only issue that I can really control are my own choices and thoughts and actions... and quite possibly reactions.
However, I find myself becoming more impatient as the years pass and I really get angry at INCOMPETENCE and believe me there is a lot of that in our society these days.
The younger generation no longer wants to learn or retain any information and wants everything handed to them on a silver platter and not gold because some one on TV told them that silver was in short supply.
How many push mowers do you see being used to cut grass these days?
I guess these people are getting prepared to have their jobs replaced by robots so they are practicing to become lazy.
I betcha you don't even care or have never thought about how you take life... you just exist... and go through your routines without even thinking... letting your phone do all the thinking for you.
Best Cities In Which To Retire
Living on a fixed income during retirement doesn’t mean you have to miss out on any opportunities to have a fulfilling retirement. While it might seem difficult to find a place to retire that is affordable and also checks off all your boxes in terms of climate and social life, there are several cities that have it all.
To help you find a place to retire that fits your economic and lifestyle needs, GOBankingRates has created a list of the best places to retire for $2,000 a month that are not only affordable but also feature warm weather and sunny skies.
12. Pittsburgh
Total Monthly Expenditures: $1,776.08
Livability score: 75
In Pittsburgh, retirees can rent a one-bedroom apartment for the cost of $990.40 per month. The city features a monthly grocery average of $415.95, and monthly healthcare falls on the lower end at $369.72. Those looking for social opportunities during retirement might want to consider this city, as 20% of the population is 65 and older.
11. Temple, Texas
Total Monthly Expenditures: $1,794.41
Livability score: 75
Temple is a great option for retirees looking for a warm and sunny climate, as the average temperature high for the city falls at 78 F and the average low at 55 F. Temple’s monthly rent falls at $971.40 and grocery costs for this city average $401.95 per month.
10. Roanoke, Virginia
Total Monthly Expenditures: $1,750.60
Livability score: 75
Roanoke is a great place for social butterflies as 20% of the city’s population is 65 and older. The city’s rent falls at $887 per month and the monthly grocery costs fall in the middle of the pack at $392.07.
9. Longview, Texas
Total Monthly Expenditures: $1,684.45
Livability score: 78
In Longview, retirees can expect to save the most on groceries as the average monthly cost falls at $378.89 — the cheapest out of the cities on this list. The rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Longview falls at $877.60 and monthly healthcare falls in the middle at $427.97. The weather is nice too with an average high of 77 F.
8. Huntsville, Alabama
Total Monthly Expenditures: $1,703.78
Livability score: 79
Retirees in Huntsville can rent a one-bedroom apartment for an average cost of $855 per month. The grocery bill for this city falls in the middle at $395.36, with monthly healthcare costing $453.42. The average low here is only 51 F. TO DISCOVER THESE OTHER CITIES... CLICK HERE...
Becoming Healthy Easily
Is punching health data into your phone or constantly checking your watch to see how much oxygen your blood has starting to feel like a chore?
We live in a time where the line between our bodies and our data is getting increasingly blurry. With the availability of apps that track our menstrual cycles and watches that can tell how stressed we are, there's pressure to keep tabs on any incremental changes to our health metrics. If we don't, how can we possibly know if we're healthy?
While tracking such metrics can be helpful (or even fun), it's not necessary to live a healthy life. In fact, if you stay tuned in to your body, you'll be able to gauge your well-being through some key patterns.
Here are a few health clues.
You're 'regular'
This applies to both bowel movements and menstrual cycles (for people that have one). Just like the nonexistent hands on our smartwatches, our bodies like to keep a rhythm.
Having at least one bowel movement a day is a good sign that your digestive system is working properly, and anywhere from three a week to three a day is considered normal. (Bonus points if you normally go around the same time each day.) Painful or infrequent bowel movements could be signs of constipation or irritable bowel syndrome -- conditions that flag a reason for a doctor's visit. READ MORE...
This applies to both bowel movements and menstrual cycles (for people that have one). Just like the nonexistent hands on our smartwatches, our bodies like to keep a rhythm.
Having at least one bowel movement a day is a good sign that your digestive system is working properly, and anywhere from three a week to three a day is considered normal. (Bonus points if you normally go around the same time each day.) Painful or infrequent bowel movements could be signs of constipation or irritable bowel syndrome -- conditions that flag a reason for a doctor's visit. READ MORE...
Focusing on Rotten Publishing
When I say that white supremacy makes for terrible readers, I mean that white supremacy is, among its myriad ills, a formative collection of fundamentally shitty reading techniques that impoverishes you as a reader, a thinker, and a feeling person; it’s an education that promises that whole swaths of the world and their liveliness will be diminished in meaning to you. Illegible, intangible, forever unreal as cardboard figures in a diorama.
They don’t know how to read us, I’ve heard fellow writer friends of color complain, usually after a particularly frustrating Q&A in which a white person has either taken offense to something in our books or in the discussion (usually the mention of whiteness at all will be enough to offend these particularly thin-skinned readers), or said something well-meaning but ultimately self-serving, usually about how their story made them feel terrible about your country.
White supremacy is a comprehensive cultural education whose primary function is to prevent people from reading—engaging with, understanding—the lives of people outside its scope. This is even more apparent in the kind of reading most enthusiastically trafficked by the white liberal literary community that has such an outsize influence, intellectually and economically, on the publishing industry today.
The unfortunate influence of this style of reading has dictated that we go to writers of color for the gooey heart-porn of the ethnographic: to learn about forgotten history, harrowing tragedy, community-destroying political upheaval, genocide, trauma; that we expect those writers to provide those intellectual commodities the way their ancestors once provided spices, minerals, precious stones, and unprecious bodies. READ MORE...
Friday, July 29
Democracy Is In Trouble
Our experimental government has created the:
- strongest military in the world.
- strongest economy in the world.
- best education programs in the world.
- best healthcare in the world.
- best employment opportunities in the world.
And it is because of this list above that we now have a divided country and that division is getting worse each year. This division started to manifest itself about 2012 during the second term of Obama. It worsened in 2015 when Donald Trump campaigned and won the Presidency and escalated into high gear from 2016-2020. And, even though Trump is no longer President the division in this country is worsening.
It is my belief that Russia, China, and several multi-billionaires are financing and promoting this division through a campaign of misinformation.
According to the Brookings Institute:
Democracy in the United States is in serious trouble. A review of some recent public opinion research shows just how much.For example, an NPR survey conducted earlier this year found that 64% of the American population believes that U.S. democracy is in crisis and is at risk of failing. A strong indication that the situation is getting worse and not better is that over 70% of respondents in that poll said that democracy is more at risk of failure now than it was a year ago.
Similarly, a Quinnipiac University survey reveals that 76% of respondents think political instability within the country is a bigger danger to the United States than external adversaries. Amazingly, this suggests that Americans recognize that we are a bigger threat to our own democracy than any other potential external threat. Sadly, according to this poll, over half of Americans (53%) expect political divisions in the country to worsen over their lifetime rather than get better.
One of the drivers of decreased confidence in the political system has been the explosion of misinformation deliberately aimed at disrupting the democratic process. This confuses and overwhelms voters. Throughout the 2020 election cycle, Russia’s cyber efforts and online actors were able to influence public perceptions and sought to amplify mistrust in the electoral process by denigrating mail-in voting, highlighting alleged irregularities, and accusing the Democratic Party of engaging in voter fraud. The “big lie” reinforced by President Trump about the 2020 election results amplified the Russian efforts and has lasting implications on voters’ trust in election outcomes.
Democracy is the heart and soul of the United States and the ONLY REASON that we are and continue to be the most successful country in the world.
Yes, we have Democratic Progressives here and yes we have Socialists here who want the government to pay for everything while requiring that the wealthy foot the bill... and while that sounds a lot like being taken care of by our parents, it is not going to be healthy for our economy... unless the wealthy volunteer to do this on their own.
Moving fast in having only a GREEN economy, is foolish, childish, economically unsound, and illogical. Transitions like this must be gradual and to say we are going to stop using petroleum crude oil, is just blatantly IGNORANT.
Plant Based Diet
A plant-based diet could be helpful if you want to lose weight, avoid diabetes, or reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s.
New study argues that all doctors should be aware of the benefits of plant-based diets for these six health conditions.
According to a recent commentary in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, all doctors should be aware of the advantages of a plant-based diet for six different health conditions, including COVID-19, diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and weight loss.
“The field of medicine, despite its prominent influence in society, has invested little to promote healthy lifestyle choices,” says the commentary co-authored by Saray Stancic, MD, FACLM, director of medical education for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
“The consequence of this is reflected in our ever-rising chronic disease statistics, most notably obesity and diabetes rates. READ MORE...
Pest Working Its Way Across the Country
“It was like it was raining lanternflies when you walk outside,” Gavyn Essner told FOX 29 Philadelphia of the sheer number of bugs in his yard.
The spotted lanternfly is not only pervasive and invasive but deadly to plants. The plant-hopping bug pierces plants with their mouth and sucks sugary sap out of the stems, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.
“Our yard – this was the worst year so far,” said Essner about the insects. He started noticing lanternflies three to four years ago in his Williamstown, New Jersey yard. “The previous years we have seen them here and there, nothing major, but this is by far the worst. I had to wrap tape around the trees this year.”
The lanternfly is even more destructive to hardwood forests, orchards and vineyards. It deprives plants of sap, causes wilting, dieback and makes plants more susceptible to other diseases and pests.
“Some vineyards have seen a 100% crop loss,” Sharon Powers of Pennsylvania’s Department of Agriculture told FOX Weather’s Katie Byrne. “They are a threat to our economy as well as our quality of life.”
In addition to sucking sap, the fly that travels in swarms and covers plants also produces honeydew.
“The honeydew that the insects squirt out covers the plants, blocks photosynthesis, so the plant doesn’t get the sunlight it needs,” explained Powers. “And the plant is basically smothered, but it’s also covered with a black, sooty mold that destroys the plant.”
Honeydew is a sugary substance that promotes mold growth. The mold is not harmful to humans but can be a mess when it covers decks, play sets and outdoor furniture.
“Stop, scrape and squash!” says a yard sign the Pennsylvania Ag Department distributes to remind residents to eradicate the bug that is not harmful to humans or pets. READ MORE...
Chocolate Vessel Found in Cave
Archaeologists have recovered a Maya chocolate-type vessel from the Cueva de la Cruz, near the coastal resort of Playa del Carmen, in Mexico’s Yucatán.
Researchers from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) recovered the 13cm tall vessel after being notified by the Cenotes Urbanos project.
The vessel was partially submerged and buried in soft sediment, deposited by the rainy season that tends to flood the entire cave.
“It has a reddish colour on the outside and a black slip on the inside, partially covered by calcium carbonates. The decoration seems to provide a phytomorphic image, similar to a pumpkin”, said archaeologist Antonio Reyes abounds.
The vessel dates from the Late Preclassic period (300 BC to AD 250), and although lacking a spout, archaeologists suggest that the vessel was used for drinking chocolate.
Maya chocolate was consumed as a hot liquid beverage, seasoned by mixing the roasted cacao seed paste into a drink with water, chilli peppers and cornmeal, and then transferring the mixture repeatedly between pots until the top was covered with a thick foam.
The drink was used in official ceremonies and religious rituals, as funerary offerings, as a tribute, and for medicinal purposes. READ MORE...
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