Intelligent or Smart?

 

Moon Base

 

How I Enjoyed My LIfe

I was never in a high paying job, but I always made more than I needed, even when I worked for $2 and $10/hour.  Remember, when I was working for $2/hour, gasoline was on $0.18/gallon and hamburgers were $0.15 each, and cigarettes were $0.25/pack.  Rent was between $75 to $125/month or 1-2 days pay for a 1-bedroom apartment.

For the 45 years that I worked, I always brought my lunch except for once or twice a month.  This saved me $25 to $50 each week...  or $1,250 to $2,500 each year.  Over a 40 year career that is $50,000 to $100,000....   JUST FOR LUNCH...

Can you imagine what you would save, if you gave up cigarettes, alcohol, buying new clothes each year to stay in fashion, or a new car every 3-5 years?

Speaking of cars...  I don't buy new cars.  I buy cars that are a year old that have been leased with low mileage.  I typically save thousands of dollars.  My 2015 Venza was a leased car that I drove to Ohio to purchase that only had 5,000 on the odometer.  It was a fully loaded Venza on top of that with a moon roof.  I saved over $10,000 and paid cash for the car so there would be no debt.  

Over 7 years later, I only have 80,000 on the odometer.  This car was purchased the year I retired, so I don't drive that much anymore.  A perfect investment.  I plan to keep it another 5 years or until I turn 80 years old...  I will pay cash for my next car as well.

Thirty-five (35) years ago, I quit smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, and buying things that I really did not need.  Can you imagine the amount of savings I have acquired over these last 35 years in addition to not buying lunch at work?

When I moved over to TN from NC in 1990 and met my second wife in 1993 and married her in 1998, we went somewhere every weekend until we both retired in 2015.  When we retired, we went on a week's vacation every month just because we could and we still were able to save money.

HOW DID WE DO THIS?

1. We drove instead of buying airline tickets
2. We used Delta frequent flyer points
3. We did not stay in the best hotels
4. We did not eat in the best restaurants
5. We book our time between weekends when the rates were cheaper

NOTE:  we have an American Express Delta credit card that we charge everything we can on from mortagage payments to utilities to tires, clothes, food, etc.  Each dollar gives us 1 point.  We still have 300,000 of unused Delta frequent flyer points to use someday.  We pay the credit card off before any interest is charged.

For the last 30 years, my second wife and I have lived a frugal lifestyle while not giving up anything that we wanted to do.  We are living no different financially than when we were both working, earning collectively almost $100,000 each year.

We have enough money saved to pay our bills for the next 30 years knowing that we will be blessed if we live another 20.

 

Invisible Dark Matter

Some of the tendrils of the cosmic web as visualized by the Evolution and Assembly of Galaxies 

and their Environments (EAGLE) Project. (Image credit: EAGLE Project)

Light produced just 380,000 years after the Big Bang was warped by the universe's dark matter exactly the way Einstein predicted it would be.

Astronomers have made the most detailed map ever of mysterious dark matter using the universe’s very first light, and the "groundbreaking" image has possibly proved Einstein right yet again.


The new image, made using 14 billion-year-old light from the turbulent aftermath of the Big Bang, shows the enormous matter tendrils that formed not long after the universe exploded into being. It turns out the shapes of these tendrils are remarkably similar to those predicted using Einstein's theory of general relativity.

The new result contradicts previous dark matter maps that suggested the cosmic web — the gigantic network of crisscrossing celestial superhighways paved with hydrogen gas and dark matter that spans the universe — is less clumpy than Einstein's theory predicted. The astronomers presented their findings April 11 at the Future Science with CMB x LSS conference at Japan's Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics.  READ MORE...

Gas Emissions

 

Sometimes

 

Brick 'n' Mortar Schools Are Going Away

 Some of you can only learn, if you have an teacher, instructor, or professor SPOON FEED you what you need to know...  and yet, you will need to be teaching yourself something for the rest of your life simply because technology changes our society and lifestyles.

Most schools are NON PROFITS, but even so, they are allowed to generate as much money as they can as long as they do not pay their board members a salary.

Conseuently, more and more schools are being managed by those Presidents who have some sort of a business background or experience.

One of the best ways to increase revenue and reduce costs is to remove the actual school buildings and put all the classes ONLINE.  Schools still have to hire professors for the classes and course designers and graphics specialists but it is still cheaper than a building, dorms, and a cafeteria.

COVID taught many educational administrators that buildings were no longer necessary and while that is a bitter pill to swallow, once it is mixed with the waters of profits, it becomes much easier.

ONLINE learning is filled with opportunities for students to cheat or get someone else to take the class for them.  There is no way of telling if a student has an open textbook during the exam or not.  There is no way of telling if that student is actually doing the work or not.  

Online classes are labor intensive with lots of reading and writing but does nothing to prove that knowledge has been transfered.  

Group projects are difficult to monitor to ensure everyone is working.  Meeting are difficult as students can be from all over the world, therefore meeting times will not be convenient to all.

I would not be surprised to hear in the next 3-5 years, that there will be no need for college at all.  Students find their own way to teach themselves a subject or many subjects...  Then, they must show up in person to take an online compentency test in order to acquire their degree.

This is the process for IT certifications and it works exceptionally well.

This same process could be used for:

• Doctors
• Surgeons
• Lawyers
• Dentists
• CPAs
• Engineers
• Pilots
• Teachers

Isn't it also interesting to note that these are the same jobs that will be replaced by AI/ROBOTS?

Good News

 

Aggression

 

Artificial Intelligence

Sam Altman of OpenAI

It was a blockbuster 2022 for artificial intelligence. The technology made waves from Google’s DeepMind predicting the structure of almost every known protein in the human body to successful launches of OpenAI’s generative A.I. assistant tools DALL-E and ChatGPT. 

The sector now looks to be on a fast track toward revolutionizing our economy and everyday lives, but many experts remain concerned that changes are happening too fast, with potentially disastrous implications for the world.

Many experts in A.I. and computer science say the technology is likely a watershed moment for human society. But 36% don’t mean that as a positive, warning that decisions made by A.I. could lead to “nuclear-level catastrophe,” according to researchers surveyed in an annual report on the technology by Stanford University’s Institute for Human-Centered A.I., published earlier this month.

Almost three quarters of researchers in natural language processing—the branch of computer science concerned with developing A.I.—say the technology might soon spark “revolutionary societal change,” according to the report. 

And while an overwhelming majority of researchers say the future net impact of A.I. and natural language processing will be positive, concerns remain that the technology could soon develop potentially dangerous capabilities, while A.I.’s traditional gatekeepers are no longer as powerful as they once were.

“As the technical barrier to entry for creating and deploying generative A.I. systems has lowered dramatically, the ethical issues around A.I. have become more apparent to the general public. Startups and large companies find themselves in a race to deploy and release generative models, and the technology is no longer controlled by a small group of actors,” the report said.  READ MORE...

Speed of Light

 

Who Really Cares About Any Of It?

Now that we have ALL reached the same conclusions that there are TWO SETS OF LAWS and/or STANDARDS...

• One for the Haves and one for the Have Nots

...and...

• One for the Liberals and one for the Conservatives

It is time to make a change, if we are going to SAVE this wonderful country of ours...  this change is necessary so that we are all on the same page and there is no more controversy or needless arguing...  it is just causing too much stress and anxiety in our society and it MUST STOP.

I PROPOSE THE FOLLOWING SOLUTION(S)...

First - do away with all our borders, if you can get here, then you are automatically a citizen of the USA

Second - Let's legalize all illegal drugs and place a high tax on those drugs regulated by our government

Third - Let's do away with all law enforcement except in the case of murder...  as killing someone is really not nice.  If the people want someone from the store and they don't hae the money, why not just let them steal it?  It will solve lots of problems.

Fourth - No one should ever be charged with a crime again as it takes too much time and expends too many resources that can be used in other places.

Fifth -  Let's give each and every black person 16 years of age and older, $10,000,000 (Tax Free) simply because they are black and their ancestors suffered the consequences of white arrogance.

Sixth - If blacks still want to work, let's give them hiring priority over WHITES until the black population equals the population of the whites.

Seventh - The Congress should pass a law that there can never be another WHITE person allowed to generate enough wealth as to become a BILLIONAIRE.

Eighth - All education is FREE both public and private

Nineth - We should do away with all branches of the military except for the coast guard who will be patrolling our coastline for boating accidents.

Tenth - Let's do away with all competitions both amateur and professional because no one likes to lose.

Eleventh - Let's do away with all private property.  All property, including government lands, are now public and Americans can live on any land they want as long as they don't take land away from someone else.

Twelfth - Whites can no longer have the majority in any local, state, or federal office.  Whites can no longer have more than 20% of the available political seats, even if a vacancy cannot be filled.  This holds true for medical care as well.  If you are white, you are a liability for the USA.

Americans Want What They Want When They Want It

BILL OF RIGHTS

Amendment 1 Freedoms, Petitions, Assembly
Amendment 2 Right to bear arms
Amendment 3 Quartering of soldiers
Amendment 4 Search and arrest
Amendment 5 Rights in criminal cases
Amendment 6 Right to a fair trial
Amendment 7 Rights in civil cases
Amendment 8 Bail, fines, punishment
Amendment 9 Rights retained by the People
Amendment 10 States' rights

NINE of these first 10 Amendments to the US Constitution pertain to the Founding Fathers being pissed off at the King of England because these rights were denied there...  The Founding Fathers did not think they should be denied so they created this BILL OF RIGHTS...  So, it is our Founding Fathers who actually decided what rights THEY THOUGHT we should have, not because we really needed them but they were denied by the King of England.

Were these then the actions of SPOILED CHILDREN?

I can understand the freedom of speech and religion as being important when establishing a new country...   And, I can see where there is a need for everyone to have weapons in case we are attacked and before we have created an army for protection...

But most of the others except for the last one deal with the courtsand receiving a fail trial...  why did they think these were that important?  Were they expecting a lot of crime to be commited in this new country?  Did they think that they, the Aristocrats, would take advantage of the rest of society?

Later Amendments

Amendment 11 Lawsuits against states
Amendment 12 Presidential elections
Amendment 13 Abolition of slavery
Amendment 14 Civil rights
Amendment 15 Black suffrage
Amendment 16 Income taxes
Amendment 17 Senatorial elections
Amendment 18 Prohibition of liquor
Amendment 19 Women's suffrage
Amendment 20 Terms of office
Amendment 21 Repeal of Prohibition
Amendment 22 Term Limits for the Presidency
Amendment 23 Washington, D.C., suffrage
Amendment 24 Abolition of poll taxes
Amendment 25 Presidential succession
Amendment 26 18-year-old suffrage
Amendment 27 Congressional pay raises

These later amendments discuss slavery, voting, taxes, term limits, pay raises, and the fight that we waged against alcohol and lost...  Americans demand their guns and alcohol and soon we will be passing an amendment that deals with ILLEGAL DRUGS...

Similar to alcohol, Americans have let their elected officials know that they are going to purchase illegal drugs whether they like it or not...  and the Mexican Drug Cartel is taking advantage of that DESIRE/DEMAND.

Just like alcohol, let's legalize drugs and tax it like alcohol...  we could use those TAXES to pay for our SOCIALISM...

The USA is changing...

It no longer matters if those changes are good or bad...

They are changing that are taking place.

We need to embrace those changes.

Americans want alcohol not war

Americans was illegal drugs not war

Americans want sex not war

Americans want to be taken care of 

Americans don't care about work

Americans don't care about politics

Americans don't care about education

Americans just want what they want when they want it

Bob Dylan

 

Gas or Electric?

 FILE - A Tesla electric vehicle, left, sits in a charging station at a dealership, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in Dedham, Mass. Shares of Tesla and Twitter have tumbled this week as investors deal with the fallout and potential legal issues surrounding Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his $44 billion bid to buy the social media platform. Of the two, Musk's electric vehicle company has fared worse, with its stock down almost 16% so far this week to $728. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

Hooray for electric vehicles. Someday, they’re going to help slash carbon emissions and get global warming under control.

Getting there, however, is not likely to be an effortless glide on gleaming blacktop. This is going to be a bumpy road, and the faster we go, the bumpier it’s going to get. Get ready to surround yourself with airbags. And get a helmet, maybe.


The Biden administration plans to tighten car-pollution standards in a way that's meant to dramatically speed the adoption of electric vehicles, or EVs. On April 12, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed new rules that would cut the allowable pollution from cars by more than half by 2032. 

The amount of pollution a car produces is directly related to the amount of fuel it burns. Since there's no way to boost the fuel efficiency of gas-powered cars by that much, the new rules will effectively force automakers to build way more EVs, and way fewer gas-powered cars, in order to comply.


The goal is laudable. The implementation, however, could be a multi-car pileup. The Biden administration is basically proposing the forced adoption of new technology on a scale unprecedented in the auto industry. The government has been tightening fuel-economy standards since the 1970s, but that has largely been a gradual process. Even then, unintended consequences have caused unforeseen problems.  READ MORE...

Universal

 

Stock Market

 

Being a Man

 

College Is Not Always The Answer

I graduated from high school in the srping 1966 and began college in the fall of 1966 and dropped out of college after the fall semester 1968.  I enlisted in the military in 1969 during the height of the Vietnam War, was released from active duty in the summer of 1972 and graduated from college in the spring of 1974.  My entire college education was paid for either by me working full time and/or by the GI Bill.  I graduated from college with a 3.5 GPA, mainly because of poor grades during my first two years.

During my 45 year career, no employer ever looked at my grades or my GPA...

My entire continued employment was predicated upon me ACHIEVING RESULTS...

TODAY...  many people graduate from college with a student loan debt of between $50,000 to $200,000...  it could be higher or it could be lower...  but regardless it is a huge amount of debt with which to begin a career.  The higher paying jobs are always UP NORTH...  seldom in the south, unless you have over 10 years of critical experience to the company considering hiring you.

IS COLLEGE WORTH IT?

Yes, if you want to be a lawyer, CPA, physician, dentist, or quack...  but, just to get a college degree for the sake of earning more money because you have one...  NO!!!

You could work building homes for 10 years, get your contractor's license, hire your own crew to supervise and make hundreds of thousands of dollars for the rest of your life without college.

Managing a restaurant is less stressful than being in middle management at a Fortune 500 company because of how management is being measured.  Increase sales by 20%, decrease costs by 20%, increase markets by 20% and increase share price by 20%.

PLUS...  there is pressure being placed on professors to lower their standards so that everyone passes their class and the college/university loses no revenue.  Now there is a movement underway not to give any grades at all...  just pass/fail.

I have talked to numerous college graduates who said that they hardley used any of their college education in their careers...  maybe 20%, if that.

My first job after graduating with a BA degree in English was as DIRECTOR OF PRODUCT EFFICIACY for a microbiological media manufacturer...   WTF did I know about microbiology of efficacy?

My parents pushed me into college because they wanted me to have a WHITE COLLAR job not a BLUE COLLAR job.  Right now, blue collar jobs make more money annually than white collar jobs...  if all you care about is the money.

COLLEGE IS NOT WORTH THE INVESTMENT but you have to make that decision on your own.7

Terra Firma