Saturday, April 8
Saturday Article
Incandescent lightbulbs have been providing light in American homes since the 1800s, when Thomas Edison patented the bulbs. But now, the nation has evolved into a more energy-efficient society and LED lights have become the new norm.
The federal government’s warnings started in January and have been getting progressively more aggressive as they want to make sure Americans don’t go back in time. The government announced a ban on the manufacturing and selling of incandescent bulbs, saying it will help Americans save money and help the environment.
At Straus Paint & Hardware in Queens, the word “incandescent” won’t be seen on any new purchase orders. “We saw this coming a long time ago, tried to phase them out for a while,” said Gary Straus, the owner of Straus Paint & Hardware. The store shelves were stocked with almost every shape, size and lumens of LED lights imaginable. “It will save energy and it will be cheaper in the long run,” Straus said.
The Department of Energy said LED lights provide more light using 75% less energy than incandescent lights. LEDs also last about 25 times longer. Starting in July, DOE will make manufacturing or selling most incandescent light bulbs illegal.
The agency also claimed that discontinuing inefficient incandescent lights will save Americans nearly $3 billion yearly and substantially reduce carbon dioxide emissions over 30 years. The DOE warned manufacturers and retailers about the change at the beginning of the year in January, with full enforcement beginning in July 2023.
Manufacturers who violate the ban could face a maximum penalty of $542 per illicit bulb. For restaurants like Blend Astoria, where its dimly lit ambiance draws steady crowds, retrofitted LED lights have saved the business cash.
The average cost of an LED light bulb ranges from $5 to $7 each while an incandescent light bulb would normally range from $2 to $3 a bulb, according to a report from Lifehacker. However, LED bulbs save money in the long run because they use less energy to run and last longer. READ MORE...
Friday, April 7
Radio Signals From Space
(CNN) -- Astronomers have detected a repeating radio signal from an exoplanet and the star that it orbits, both located 12 light-years away from Earth. The signal suggests that the Earth-size planet may have a magnetic field and perhaps even an atmosphere.
Earth’s magnetic field protects the planet’s atmosphere, which life needs to survive, by deflecting energetic particles and plasma that stream out from the sun. Finding atmospheres around planets located outside of our solar system could point to other worlds that potentially have the ability to support life.
Scientists noticed strong radio waves coming from the star YZ Ceti and the rocky exoplanet that orbits it, called YZ Ceti b, during observations using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array of telescopes in New Mexico. The researchers believe the radio signal was created by interactions between the planet’s magnetic field and the star.
A study detailing the findings was published Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy.“We saw the initial burst and it looked beautiful,” said lead study author Sebastian Pineda, a research astrophysicist at the University of Colorado Boulder, in a statement. “When we saw it again, it was very indicative that, OK, maybe we really have something here.”
Magnetic fields can prevent a planet’s atmosphere from being diminished and essentially eroded away over time as particles release from the star and bombard it, Pineda said.
How strong radio waves occur
In order for the radio waves to be detectable on Earth, they must be very strong, the researchers said. “Whether a planet survives with an atmosphere or not can depend on whether the planet has a strong magnetic field or not,” Pineda said.
Previously, researchers have detected magnetic fields on exoplanets similar in size to Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. But finding magnetic fields on smaller planets the size of Earth is more difficult because magnetic fields are essentially invisible.“What we’re doing is looking for a way to see them,” said study coauthor Jackie Villadsen, assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, in a statement.
“We’re looking for planets that are really close to their stars and are a similar size to Earth,” she said. “These planets are way too close to their stars to be somewhere you could live, but because they are so close the planet is kind of plowing through a bunch of stuff coming off the star. If the planet has a magnetic field and it plows through enough star stuff, it will cause the star to emit bright radio waves.”
YZ Ceti b only takes two Earth days to complete a single orbit around its star. Meanwhile, the shortest orbit in our solar system is the planet Mercury, which takes 88 Earth days to complete a lap around the sun. READ MORE...
In order for the radio waves to be detectable on Earth, they must be very strong, the researchers said. “Whether a planet survives with an atmosphere or not can depend on whether the planet has a strong magnetic field or not,” Pineda said.
Previously, researchers have detected magnetic fields on exoplanets similar in size to Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. But finding magnetic fields on smaller planets the size of Earth is more difficult because magnetic fields are essentially invisible.“What we’re doing is looking for a way to see them,” said study coauthor Jackie Villadsen, assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, in a statement.
“We’re looking for planets that are really close to their stars and are a similar size to Earth,” she said. “These planets are way too close to their stars to be somewhere you could live, but because they are so close the planet is kind of plowing through a bunch of stuff coming off the star. If the planet has a magnetic field and it plows through enough star stuff, it will cause the star to emit bright radio waves.”
YZ Ceti b only takes two Earth days to complete a single orbit around its star. Meanwhile, the shortest orbit in our solar system is the planet Mercury, which takes 88 Earth days to complete a lap around the sun. READ MORE...
Divide and Conquer
This is one of the first rules of WAR... if you can divide your enemy, you are more easily able to have victory over them...
Unfortunately, the USA does not think that it has any enemies, so the division inside this country is NOT A PROBLEM...
Is Biden compromised by the Chinese? Quite possibly...
Was Trump compromised or did he collude with the Russians? Absolutely not...
But, for the last 6+years, the Democrats and the mainstream media have been after Trump and all those attacks HAVE DIVIDED THIS COUNTRY...
Let's look at our divisions:
- Liberals versus Conservatives
- Republicans versus Democrats
- Trump Haters versus Trump Supporters
- Blacks versus Whites
- Religious versus Non Religious
- Educated versus Non Educated
- Weathy versus Not so Wealthy
NOTE: you may not think there is a difference between the first two, but I can assure you there is a difference... not all Democrats support the views of the liberals like: abortion, gay rights, transgenered, crt, and equity... but they do support large government, high taxes, and more services to the citizens... I would also say that no all Democrats support ending fossil fuels so quick without the infrastructure to back it up... while at the same time would like to put balls to the wall in going green.
The indictment of former President Trump who is the GOP front runner for President in 2024 is being criticized by leaders of countries all over the world...
WHY?
Because indicting the leading opposition candidate, whether the charges are fair or not, is what DICTATORS and COMMUNIST countries do to insure re-election.
The USA is no longer the GLOBAL BENCHMARK for democracy...
and, while you may not think that is a big deal, it really is.
If we are just like Russia, China, Iran, Iraq, and North Korea, then we are no longer special in the world and there is NO NEED for the rest of the countries TO FOLLOW OUR LEAD... because our lead has been tarnished.
This indictment will be used by our enemies to show the rest of the world that the USA is JUST LIKE THEM... so, why not support us instead of the USA?
Those Democrats, Liberals, and Progressives who think the indictment of Trump is the next best thing since sliced bread, ARE NOT LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE... they are blinded by their personal feelings and biases.
In 2030 or earlier when the world turns against the USA, the Trump Haters are going to wonder WTF just happened?
- Countries no longer seeing the USA as their role model
- Countries no longer wanting to us the US dollar
- Countries no longer wanting to support the USA at the UN
- Countries no longer wanting the USA to be in NATO
- Countries deciding they are better off supporting China
- Countries who would rather trade with China than the USA
What the Trump Haters also do not understand nor do they want to accept is the fact that:
- China is our enemy not our friend
- China's GDP is bigger than ours based upon population
- China's military is bigger than our military
- China's navy is bigger than our navy
- China's air force is bigger than our air force
- China wants to dominate and lead the world
What does the USA have that the rest of the world does not have yet?
MORE NUCLEAR WEAPONS - which will not make much difference if we are all DEAD...
China Buying the World
From South America to the South Pacific, China has spent billion and billions of dollars to exert economic and political control over developing nations across the globe. Saddled with debt and faulty Chinese-built infrastructure, these countries are now dependent upon Beijing and have become de facto "Sino-States."
Last week, Ranil Wickremesinghe, who became president of the island nation of Sri Lanka last summer, was finally able to succeed where his beleaguered predecessor had failed: An agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to reschedule $3 billion in debt.
The deal will provide Sri Lanka with an additional four years to satisfy its IMF obligations, which are crippling the nation with inflation.
It’s a good start, but the MIF deal does nothing to mitigate the country’s real debt burden, the nearly $7.5 billion it owes to China.
You’ve heard of “failed states” like Somalia, where the central government has basically ceased to exist. And then there are “narco states” where the trafficking of drugs — and often people — is the chief function of the criminal gangs that run the country.
Located from the South Pacific to South America, Sino states are countries whose ports, railroads, resources – and even governments and economies – are deep in China’s pockets.
And as Beijing further extends its military and economic reach, Sino states are multiplying. “China is on the march globally, bending dozens of countries to its will,” observes Australian defense analyst David Archibald, “and this includes here in the South Pacific, where [China] is eyeing the World War II Japanese base on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.” (Spoiler alert: Last year China lent the Solomon Islands $66 million to upgrade their telecommunications infrastructure.)
Sri Lanka is a prime example of a Sino-state, and so is Ecuador – which currently owes China nearly $4.5 billion in unpaid loans.
This sum includes billions to the Chinese construction company Sinohydro, responsible for Ecuador’s dismally faulty – and corruption-laden – Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant.
The $2.7 billion infrastructure giant – one of four built by China across Ecuador – is not only riddled with thousands of cracks but is at risk of systemwide failure, according to local engineers. READ MORE...
The deal will provide Sri Lanka with an additional four years to satisfy its IMF obligations, which are crippling the nation with inflation.
It’s a good start, but the MIF deal does nothing to mitigate the country’s real debt burden, the nearly $7.5 billion it owes to China.
You’ve heard of “failed states” like Somalia, where the central government has basically ceased to exist. And then there are “narco states” where the trafficking of drugs — and often people — is the chief function of the criminal gangs that run the country.
Located from the South Pacific to South America, Sino states are countries whose ports, railroads, resources – and even governments and economies – are deep in China’s pockets.
And as Beijing further extends its military and economic reach, Sino states are multiplying. “China is on the march globally, bending dozens of countries to its will,” observes Australian defense analyst David Archibald, “and this includes here in the South Pacific, where [China] is eyeing the World War II Japanese base on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.” (Spoiler alert: Last year China lent the Solomon Islands $66 million to upgrade their telecommunications infrastructure.)
Sri Lanka is a prime example of a Sino-state, and so is Ecuador – which currently owes China nearly $4.5 billion in unpaid loans.
This sum includes billions to the Chinese construction company Sinohydro, responsible for Ecuador’s dismally faulty – and corruption-laden – Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant.
The $2.7 billion infrastructure giant – one of four built by China across Ecuador – is not only riddled with thousands of cracks but is at risk of systemwide failure, according to local engineers. READ MORE...
Thursday, April 6
The US Dollar is in Trouble
Last week, China and Brazil reached an agreement to settle trades in one anothers’ currencies. Over the past 15 years, China has replaced the United States as the main trading partner of resource-rich Brazil, and as such that shift may have been inevitable. But within the context of recent circumstances, this appears to be another in a series of recent blows to the central role of the dollar in global trade.
As the world’s reserve currency, the US dollar is essentially the default currency in international trade and a global unit of account. Because of that, every central bank, Treasury/exchequer, and major firm on Earth keeps a large portion of their foreign exchange holdings in US dollars. And because holders of dollars seek returns on those balances, the ubiquity of dollars drives a substantial portion of the demand for US government bonds in world financial markets.
The switch from dollars to a yuan-real settlement basis in Chinese-Brazilian trade is only the latest in a growing trend. Discussions of a more politically neutral reserve currency have gone on for decades. The profound economic disruption experienced by Iran, and more recently Russia, after being evicted from dollar-based trading systems like SWIFT, however, have led many nations to consider imminent contingency plans. India and Malaysia, for example, have recently begun using the Indian Rupee to settle certain trades, and there have been perennial warnings about Saudi Arabia and other energy exporters moving away from the dollar. On that note, China also recently executed a test trade for natural gas with France settled in yuan. READ MORE...
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