Sunday, March 5
Downsizing
To make a long story short, when my dad died, my mother sold the house and went into a retirement community where she lived in a one bedroom apartment for another 14 years until she died...
So, what's the point of this narrative so far?
My parents lived in a big house that they did not need because they could financially, not necessarily because they wanted to. Most of their time was spent in the bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and back porch. Sometimes, they would used the TV room, but my parents did not like to watch a lot of TV unless there was a football game or a tennis match being televised.
During my first marriage, we purchased a small house that had a full basement that we never used, During my second marriage, we also purchased a small house with a full basement that we never used.
My wife and I have been retired for 7 years and we are already thinking about downsizing because our house and yard are too big and we are getting too old to take care of it all...
Why do we purchase these big homes?
We would be better off to purchase a small home and put the rest of the money in the bank for retirement... and yet, very few of us do that... we have been trained to think that BIGGER is BETTER.
A Spiritual Observation
This also begs the question... why did God allow som many different religions to develop, then send his SON JESUS to earth to let people know that there is only ONE RELIGION in which to believe? What is odd about this is that Jesus was sent to the Middle East area at a time when there was no global communications so how were the people living in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Russia, China, India, Africa, and Australia going to find out that there is only one religion?
Why wasn't Jesus sent all over the Globe to let people know that there is only one religion in which to believe?
Instead, limited the area of exposure, and it would appear that this was done intentionally... and then stated that the only way to heaven was through Jesus, condemning all these other cultures who were not give direct exposure to Jesus or God.
It leads me to believe that God wanted this controversy to exist and he wanted all the other religions to develop...
So why did God want this?
Does it make any sense, given how powerful GOD is?
Allowing other religions to exist, seems counterproductive both religiously and spiritually... and, puts mankind into a very uncomfortable position trying to CONVERT the rest of the world to Christianity...
IS THERE NOT ENOUGH ROOM IN HEAVEN FOR ALL OF US? ALL OF MANKIND SHOULD BE IN HEAVEN... NOT JUST THE CHRISTIANS...
The Magic Bank Account
THE AUTHOR IS NOT KNOWN.
IT WAS FOUND IN THE BILLFOLD OF COACH PAUL BEAR BRYANT, AFTER HE DIED IN 1982 in Alabama...
Imagine that you had won the following *PRIZE* in a contest:
Each morning your bank would deposit $86,400
In your private account for your use.
However, this prize has Rules:
The set of rules:
1. Everything that you didn't spend during each day would be taken away from you.
2. You may not simply transfer money into some other account.
3. You may only spend It.
4. Each morning upon awakening,
The bank opens your account with another $86,400 for that day.
5. The bank can end the game without warning; at any time, it can say, Game Over!" It can close the account
And you will not receive a new one.
What would you personally Do?
You would buy anything and everything you wanted right? Not only for yourself, but for all the people you love and care for. Even for people you don't know, because you couldn't possibly spend it all on yourself, right?
You would try to spend every penny, and use it all, because you knew it would be replenished in the morning, right?
ACTUALLY, This GAME is REAL
...
Shocked ???
YES!
Each of us is already a winner Of this *PRIZE*.
We just can't seem to see it.
The PRIZE is *TIME*
1. Each morning we awaken to Receive 86,400 seconds as a gift of Life.
2. And when we go to sleep at night, any remaining time is not credited to us.
3. What we haven't used up that day is forever lost.
4. Yesterday is forever gone.
5. Each morning the account is refilled, but the bank can dissolve your account at any time WITHOUT WARNING...
So, what will YOU do with your 86,400 seconds?
Those seconds are worth so much more than the same amount in dollars. Think about it and remember to enjoy every second of your life, because time races by so much quicker than You think.
So take care of yourself, be happy, love deeply and enjoy life!
Here's wishing you a wonderful and beautiful day.
Start spending....
"DON'T COMPLAIN ABOUT GROWING OLD…!"
SOME PEOPLE DON'T GET THE PRIVILEGE!
Tik Tok Facing Global Bans
The backlash against China-owned TikTok in the U.S. and other Western countries escalated in recent days, as some U.S lawmakers pushed to give President Joe Biden the authority to impose a ban on the app for all users.
Canada banned TikTok on government-issued mobile devices on Monday, following a similar ban from the European Union last week.
TikTok, which has more than 100 million monthly active users in the U.S., has faced growing scrutiny from government officials over fears that user data could fall into the possession of the Chinese government and the app could ultimately be weaponized by China to spread misinformation.
However, the fight to ban TikTok risks imposing undue limits on free speech and private business, mimicking the type of censorship for which some Western countries have faulted China, according to some experts and civil liberties advocates. READ MORE...
Saturday, March 4
Cost of Living Exoduses
California has 39.24 million residents and only 60% of the households pay taxes... the other 40% pay no taxes at all...
California is losing about 1% of each population annually... which is going to seriously impact its ability to collect taxes.
But California is not the only state to lose residents, people are leaving: New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Hawaii and dother states as well.
The states that are seeing the biggest increase in people relocating are: Texas, North Carolina, and Florida... and to a lesser extent other southern states.
WHY?
Taxes and the cost of living
States that have NO INCOME TAX are:
- Alaska
- Florida
- Nevada
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Washington
- Wyomng
NOTE: Many of these states have a high sales tax to compensate as well as a state lottery...
As more and more families and businesses relocate to less expensive states, there will be an increase in demand for goods and services, but this will be offset by the economic impact of the money they will be spending annually.
States like New York and California will have a difficult time raising revenues and paying for the services they provide their residents. Consequently, these states will have no choice but to cut services or file for bankruptcy...
These cities will eventually die because tourists will stop visiting them as restaurants and events close down.
IT IS NOTHING PERSONAL BUT THE GENERAL PUBLIC WHICH REPRESENTS 60-70% OF THE POPULATION WILL WATCH HOW THEY SPEND THEIR MONEY... AND AS PRICES CONTINUE TO INCREASE THEY WILL CONTINUE TO CUT BACK... THE REAINING 30% WILL NOT BE ABLE TO COVER THE SHORTFALL...
State governments will soon learn that they cannot provide all the goods and services that their residents are demanding...
Sad but interesting is the fact that the poor people made the wealthy people wealthy by their spending and when the poor people stop spending, then the wealthy people will have to adjust their lifestyles as well... just not so quickly.
Globalization
Is a definition of globalization that I can understand
and to which I now can relate:
Question:
What is the truest definition ofGlobalization?
Answer :
PrincessDiana's death.
Question:How come?
Answer :
An
English Princess
with an
Egyptian boyfriend
crashes
in a French tunnel,
riding in a
German
car
with a
Dutch engine,
driven
by a Belgian
who was
drunk
on
Scottish whisky,
(check the bottle before you
Challenge the spelling),
followed
closely by
Italian
Paparazzi,
on
Japanese motorcycles,
treated
by an American doctor,
using
Brazilian
medicines.
This is
sent to you by
a
Canadian,
using
American
Bill Gates' technology,
and
you're probably reading
this on your computer, or phone
that
uses Taiwanese chips,
and a
Korean
monitor,
assembled
by
Bangladeshi
workers
in a
Singapore plant,
transported
by Indian
truck drivers,
hijacked
by Indonesians,
unloaded by
Sicilian longshoremen,
and
trucked to you by
Mexicans
Who are in the
US Illegally.
That, my friends, is Globalization
Dark Times Ahead
Economist Nouriel Roubini paints a bleak future for a world facing ‘megathreats’ – including global economic meltdowns.
In a world faced with threats and challenges, many cynical politicians would rather kick the can down the road – and win votes – than make the tough decisions needed now.
At the same time, billions of people would happily trade globalisation for their old way of life, with nations embracing a “me first” attitude and eschewing inter-country cooperation and compromise for the collective good – even in dealing with pandemics and natural disasters.
Economist Nouriel Roubini, nicknamed “Dr Doom” for predicting the 2008 crash of the United States economy years before it happened, tells host Steve Clemons how a US “debt trap”, artificial intelligence and deglobalisation are part of the bleak future that awaits humanity within the next 20 years.
Friday, March 3
A Few Mind Benders
"A gun is like a parachute If you need one, and don't have one, you'll probably never need one again."
The definition of the word Conundrum is: something that is puzzling or confusing.
Here are six Conundrums of socialism in the United States of America:
1.America is capitalist and greedy - yet half of the population is subsidized.
1.America is capitalist and greedy - yet half of the population is subsidized.
2.Half of the population is subsidized - yet they think they are victims.
3.They think they are victims - yet their representatives run the government.
4.Their representatives run the government - yet the poor keep getting poorer.
5.The poor keep getting poorer - yet they have things that people in other countries only dream about.
6.They have things that people in other countries only dream about - yet they want America to be more like those other countries.
These three, short sentences tell you a lot about the direction of our current government and cultural environment:
1. We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics.
Funny how that works. And here's another one worth considering…
2. Seems we constantly hear about how Social Security is going to run out of money. But we never hear about welfare or food stamps running out of money ! What's interesting is the first group "worked for" their money, but the second didn't.
Think about it.....and Last but not least :
3. Why are we cutting benefits for our veterans, no pay raises for our military and cutting our army to a level lower than before WWII, but we are not stopping the payments or benefits to illegal aliens.
Am I the only one missing something?
"If you do not take an interest in the affairs of your government, then you are doomed to live under the rule of fools." – Plato
These three, short sentences tell you a lot about the direction of our current government and cultural environment:
1. We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics.
Funny how that works. And here's another one worth considering…
2. Seems we constantly hear about how Social Security is going to run out of money. But we never hear about welfare or food stamps running out of money ! What's interesting is the first group "worked for" their money, but the second didn't.
Think about it.....and Last but not least :
3. Why are we cutting benefits for our veterans, no pay raises for our military and cutting our army to a level lower than before WWII, but we are not stopping the payments or benefits to illegal aliens.
Am I the only one missing something?
"If you do not take an interest in the affairs of your government, then you are doomed to live under the rule of fools." – Plato
Searching for Missing Genomes
Enormous strides have been made to unravel the secrets of the human genome, so why are we missing the genetic information of most of the planet?
In the summer of 2020, a 63-year-old African American woman with colon cancer was treated with a common chemotherapy known as fluoropyrimidines at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Centre in Bethesda, Maryland. But over the coming weeks, she began to develop a severe side-effect known as pancytopenia – a rapid and sudden decrease of red and white blood cells and platelets – causing her to be rushed into intensive care.
This kind of reaction is surprisingly common. Around 38,000 cancer patients in England and approximately 154,000 patients in the US are initiated on fluoropyrimidine-based treatments every year. While fluoropyrimidines help save lives, between 20% and 30% of the people who receive these drugs require lower doses, because their bodies struggle to process them. If given the standard dose, they experience reactions which can vary from severe to fatal.
Like many adverse drug reactions, this is thought to be at least in part due to variations in the human genome, the strings of billions of letters or chemical bases which comprise our DNA. But while all humans share 99.9% of our genome, the remaining 0.1% varies markedly from one individual to another, or between ethnic groups. Differences in the underlying sequence behind a particular gene – which can be anything from a few hundred to several million bases – can have profound and far-reaching consequences for our health.
In recent years, genetic-sequencing studies have started to get to the bottom of why some people react so badly to fluoropyrimidines, pinpointing four different variations of a gene called DPYD which is involved in metabolism, as the likely cause. Healthcare systems around the world have now begun sequencing the DNA of certain cancer patients and screening for each of these four variants before determining their chemotherapy dose.
The only problem is that these studies were done entirely on white people, or as geneticists say, "individuals of European ancestry". While different variants of DPYD may serve as warning signs for people of other ethnicities, we do not have enough data to be sure of which variants are most applicable to different ethnic groups. "Ethnic minority patients will usually be given conventional doses of the drugs," says Munir Pirmohamed, a pharmacologist at the University of Liverpool in the UK. "Some of these patients will carry other ethnic-specific variants which also affect their ability to metabolise these drugs, but we do not currently genotype for those, largely because we do not know." READ MORE...
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