Interlude One

 

Switch Off Streetlights to Save Energy

A draft budget in the U.K. city of Newport is proposing to switch off streetlights to cut back on costs, but officials are concerned that the move would put residents at risk.

The city, located in South Wales, included the measure in its 2023/2024 draft budget. If implemented about half of the town’s lights would be off between midnight and 6 a.m., BBC News reported.

Newport’s Green Party councilmember Lauren James said it was imperative that safety considerations be considered.
"I hope that the council is looking into it, and make sure that there are things like high-visibility strips on steps, so it’s safe for those who do have to be out at those times," she said.

Another council member, Andrew Sterry, said his constituents had expressed concerns over a possible increase in crime.

"I am against this proposal as I received many comments from my residents and they’re extremely concerned about crime rates going up," he said. "It wasn’t that long ago that all the street lights were changed to LED to save costs."

A draft budget was made available to the public on Dec. 15, 2022. It is due to close on Feb. 2, 2023.

Among the other plans is a 9.5% council tax hike because of "increasing costs and pressures faced by the council."

Costs of living in the U.K. have soared in recent months. Late last year, inflation in the U.K. hit a 41-year-high of 11.1%, driven by sharply rising energy and food costs.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
By Bradford Betz is a Fox News Digital breaking reporter covering crime, political issues, and much more.

Bird Catches Fish

 

Flowers

 

What Will A Recession in 2023 Look Like?

Recessions, like unhappy families, are each painful in their own way.

And the next one -- which economists see as increasingly possible by the end of next year -- will probably bear that out. A US downturn may well be modest, but it might also be long.

Many observers expect any decline to be a lot less wrenching than the 2007-09 Great Financial Crisis and the back-to-back downturns seen in the 1980s, when inflation was last this high. The economy is simply not as far out of whack as it was in those earlier periods, they say.

While the recession may be moderate, it could end up lasting longer than the abbreviated, eight-month contractions of 1990-91 and 2001. That’s because elevated inflation may hold the Federal Reserve back from rushing to reverse the downturn. READ MORE...

Flashback

 

Teach Your Children Well

Opinions are like assholes, everybody has got one...  and I am no exception...  most of my opinions people do not agree with but sometimes I made a comment or two that resound with people and they support my thoughts but those times are rare...

On January 16, 1919, booze by Congressional Law was banned in the United States and guess what happened?  Over 80% of Americans broke the law in one way or another simply because they did not like the law and refused to obey it...

CIVIL DISOBEDIANCE is the term that refers to these characters...

It seems that the USA has a history or disobeying laws they do not really care for or support.  In other words, Americans always find a way around the law, sometimes legal and sometimes not so legal...  but the law is ignored nonetheless.

What do parents tell their children when that happens???

Parents support the breaking of laws but only when the are breaking it.  They teach their children it is ok to break the law if and when you do not agree with it.

How many of us take pens and paper home from work?

Do we ask our bosses if we can do this?  NO...

Do we brag about it to our friends and neighbors?  YES...

Do we get upset when people steal from us?  YES...

The Artist And His Art

 

Tech Trends in 2023

Alibaba’s research arm Damo Academy has recently published a list of top trends that are likely to shape the technology landscape this year.

Chief among them is the rise of generative AI, which recently set the world abuzz with ground-breaking applications like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, alongside promises of faster and better quality decision-making through the use of machine learning (ML).

Here’s a round-up of top trends from Alibaba, which was put together by analysing public papers and patent filings over the past three years and conducting interviews with nearly 100 scientists, entrepreneurs and engineers around the world.

Generative AI
Generative AI generates new content based on a given set of text, images, or audio files. Currently, Generative AI is mainly used to produce prototypes and drafts and is applied in scenarios like gaming, advertising and graphic design.

As the technology advances and becomes available at a lower cost, generative AI will become an inclusive technology that can enhance the variety, creativity and efficiency of content creation. In the next three years, Alibaba expects business models and the ecosystem around generative AI to emerge and mature, helping people to take on more creative tasks.  READ MORE...

Dog and Ball Machine

 

Seeing the Light

 

The Truth About Electric Vehicles

 

True Version of the Three Bears Story

A far more accurate account of the events of that fateful morning....


Baby bear goes downstairs, sits in his small chair at the table. He looks into his small bowl. It is empty.

'Who's been eating my porridge?' he squeaks.

Daddy Bear arrives at the big table and sits in his big chair... He looks into his big bowl and it is also empty.

'Who's been eating my porridge?!?' he roars.

Mummy Bear puts her head through the serving hatch from the kitchen and yells,

For God's sake, how many times do I have to go through this with you idiots?

It was Mummy Bear who got up first.

It was Mummy Bear who woke everyone in the house.

It was Mummy Bear who made the coffee.

It was Mummy Bear who unloaded the dishwasher from last night and put everything away.

It was Mummy Bear who swept the floor in the kitchen.

It was Mummy Bear who went out in the cold early morning air to fetch the newspaper and croissants.

It was Mummy Bear who set the damn table.

It was Mummy Bear, who walked the bloody dog, cleaned the cat's litter tray, gave them their food, and refilled their water.

And now that you've decided to drag your sorry bear-arses downstairs and grace Mummy Bear with your grumpy presence,

Listen carefully, because I'm only going to say this once...

'I HAVEN'T MADE THE F......... PORRIDGE YET!

New English Word

Love this new word we should use it daily until it no long applies

New English word: Every once in a while somebody hits it right out of the park…. Not yet found in the Oxford dictionary, but discovered to be a "coined" new word on T-shirts sold on eBay: Read slowly, absorb the facts that in this definition! I love this word and believe it will become widely recognized. Finally, a brand new English word that describes not only the present but our future:


INEPTOCRACY - A DEFINITION


Ineptocracy (in-ep-toc’-ra-cy) - a system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers .

 

 

Flying By

 

World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland

The World Economic Forum (WEF) is set to hold its annual meeting for heads of state and executives next week in the alpine resort town of Davos, Switzerland, as the global economy teeters on the verge of recession.

This year's forum will be the first at its usual time in mid-January since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was canceled in 2021 and postponed to May last year, resulting in reduced attendance. It's scheduled to begin Monday and will run through Friday.

World Economic Forum President Borge Brende noted the economic headwinds hanging over this year's event.

"There is no doubt that our 53rd annual meeting in Davos will happen against the most complex geopolitical and economic backdrop in decades," Brende said.

Attendance is expected to be back to its typical level when the forum begins next week. Brende pointed to "record participation" by at least 52 heads of state, more than half of them from Europe, and nearly 300 government ministers. Several recently elected leaders will attend the event for the first time in their current roles, including President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines, President Gustavo Petro of Colombia and President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea.

Several Biden administration officials, including Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, FBI Director Christopher Wray, U.S. Agency for International Development Samantha Power and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai will attend.

Additionally, senators Chris Coons, D-Del.; Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.; and Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., will reportedly be in Davos as part of the U.S. delegation.  READ MORE...

Aztec City

World's Elite in the Swiss Alps

Yesterday, the world's elite gathered in Davos, Switzerland while a majority of the world's citizens worried about how to pay their bills over the winter.

Ever since the very first civilization was created, we have always had a group of elites who lived differently from the people over which they ruled.  It started with power and military might and gradually changed over to wealth as one group sold what the others needed.

The wealthy sold items like:  food, shelter, vehicles, clothes, shoes, pots and pans, cleaners, machinery, appliances, computers, computer chips, utilities, entertainment, etc.  Companies would buy out their competition allowing them to grow bigger and bigger.

Then those who purchased goods and services as they were able to generate more than they needed demanded more and more, allowing those companies to become wealthier and wealthier.

A American company moves down to Mexico and pays the worker $1 an hour which is twice what they were earning.  A year later, those same workers want $5 and hour.  The American company pays the increase but raises its prices to compensate.  The American company get wealthy in the process because most of their expenses remained the same and they were able to increase profits.

The Mexican worker did not care about what they were doing until the American company shut its doors because their labor costs were too high...  The Mexicans went back to $.50/hour and cussed the American company.

Not everybody is a farmer...  but damn near everybody has to buy food from a farmer if they want to survive...  The farmer gets wealthy...  and that's how it works.
 

Cheat Sheets

 

Jetson one