China et al Ditching Dollar

A growing number of countries are opting to diversify settlement currencies, stepping away from only using the "US-weaponized" dollar, or ditching it altogether in favor of the yuan, the increasingly internationalized currency of China – a top trading partner of more than 140 countries.

If Beijing abandons the US dollar in trade settlements, the United States will be faced with "stark" consequences, a Chinese news outlet has warned.

Underscoring that a "new trade order is emerging," the report highlighted the global trend of de-dollarization as paving the way for China's currency - the yuan. 

As the People’s Republic of China boasts the status of one of the world's largest trading countries, if Washington opts to "decouple" from China, this might set off a domino effect, with increasingly more countries preferring to trade with China using the yuan as an exchange currency, it was noted.

“We are for de-risking and diversifying, not looking to decouple,” US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said at the Brookings Institution in late April, in reference to China’s economy. 

However, the report underlined that imports of consumer goods by the US plunged 20.6 percent year-on-year in the first three months of this year. If the decline trend continues, it will, in turn, "accelerate the global de-dollarization trend," warned the publication. Meanwhile, the share of the yuan - also referred to as the renminbi - in the Republic of China's cross-border payments shot up to 48 percent in March, data cited by the report showed.  READ MORE...

Minds

 

Experience

 

Facts

 

The Future's Future looks Uncertain

 At 75 years of age, I figure that I am going to live no more than 20 more years...  or somewhere around 90-95.  With that said, there are certain things that I can tell you FOR SURE that I WILL NOT DO...

I will not:

1. support socialism
2. buy an electric or hybrid vehicle
3. support reparations for blacks
4. support equity programs for blacks
5. vote of a democrat/liberal
6. support WOKE
7. feel guilty about slavery
8. support CRT
9. see China as anything but an enemy
10. support biologicals males in female sports
11. support the end of petroleum crude oil
12. support any kind of GREEN initiative

With this said, no one really gives a shit about what I think or what I will or will not support.  I know this but I am still going to voice my opinion and will still talk to as many people as I can find and share my feelings.

More than likely there are many others who feel like I do and if that is the case, then this GREAT COUNTRY OF OURS is really, really DIVIDED...  and that division is not healthy nor is it beneficial should another country try to take us over.  I will fight for those of like minds, but I will not fight for those of unlike minds.

Over the next 20 years, the USA will be dramatically changing and most of that change will be negative rather than positive.  Unfortunately, the negative consequences might not manifest themselves for several years...  but, whe they do, it will be hell to pay.

Once I get past 80/85, I will no longer care what happens, because I will not be around to see it.  Bear in mind that sometimes those with the least to lose can see issues that the others cannot...  especially those who have lots to lose and their choices are based upon that loss.

Being

 

Longeviry Food

 

Naked

 

Economy Coming to an End

Warren Buffett, whose economic insights are craved for Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s deep ties to the American economy, had a gloomy prediction for his own businesses: the good times may be over.

The billionaire investor expects earnings at the majority of Berkshire’s operations to fall this year as a long-predicted downturn slows economic activity. He made his comments at the conglomerate’s annual general meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, after Berkshire posted an almost 13% gain in operating earnings to $8.07 billion for the first quarter.

“The majority of our businesses will report lower earnings this year than last year,” Buffett, 92, said, before crowds of thousands at the event on Saturday. During the last six months or so, the “incredible period” for the US economy has been coming to an end, he said.

Berkshire is often seen as a proxy for economic health owing to the expansive nature of its businesses ranging from railroad to electric utilities and retail. Buffett himself has said Berkshire owes its success to the incredible growth of the US economy over the decades, but his prediction for a slowdown at his firms comes as upheaval at regional banks threatens to curtail lending as inflation and higher rates continue to bite.

Buffett’s long-time business partner Charlie Munger, 99, who joined him on stage, said the more-difficult economic environment will also make it harder for value investors, who typically buy stocks that look cheap compared to the intrinsic value of the businesses.

“Get used to making less,” Munger said.

Geico Revived
Still, Buffett said he expects earnings at its insurance underwriting operations — which are less correlated to business activity — to improve this year. Berkshire already reported higher earnings at those businesses including auto-insurer Geico, which swung to profitability following six quarters of losses.  READ MORE...

Lone Tree

 

Solar Flare

 

Americans Are Becoming Less Produtive

Brian Bouser, 22, says his recent experiences in the workforce have prompted him to go into business for himself.  Brian Bouser

All of the quiet quitting rolling through the country is starting to make some real economic noise.

Data now shows that the U.S. workforce is not as productive as just a year ago — it seems people are not producing as much in the hours between clocking in and clocking out each day. 

In the end, this could have a profound effect on the country's well-being, according to economists.

For Brian Bouser, 22, questions about how much effort to put in at work began when he received a text in the middle of art history class at the University of Louisville last year. 

His boss at the car rental company where he made $25 an hour informed him his pay was going down to $13.50 an hour, without any explanation.

Bouser learned that all of his colleagues had seen their wages basically cut in half, and at a moment when companies were desperate for workers and pay was rising across the country. 

Still, he said that in his short time in the American workforce, where he'd already been laid off from another job at the beginning of the pandemic, he knew this is just how it goes with companies.  READ MORE...

Hummus

 

Books

 

Shift

 

REPARATIONS

The government of the United States, my government, our government, has treated groups of people horribly throughout the years.  

For instance:

• Native Americans
• Slavery of Blacks
• Japanese Americans
• Chinese Americans

Because of what we did to our Native Americans, we gave them the opportunity to build casinos and recoup their loses (financially)...  while it was a poor subsitute for all the death we caused...  MONEY does seem to make those that we oppressed FEEL BETTER ABOUT THEMSELVES.

I would like to propose the same for BLACKS...  let them have casinos.  I would even support our tax dollars building those casinos.  But, to give them reparations for what our ANCESTORS did is WRONG...  I am not responsible for what my ancestors did...  and, to give them reparations would only cause our RACISM PROBLEM TO WORSEN...

Blacks are now randomly shooting whites because they are white...

What happens if whites start to randomly shoot blacks in retaliation???

DO WE WANT RACE WARS IN THE USA?

12% blacks

60% whites

Since there are more whites than blacks, everything will favor whites unless we intentionally force everyone to deal with blacks before they deal with whites.

For instance:

1. Hire blacks before whites regardless of qualifications
2. Restaurants serving blacks before whites
3. Hospitals treating blacks before whites regardless of triage
4. Educators giving blacks better grades than whites even though their scores are lower
5. The military deploying whites before blacks if they are to be sent into a war zone
6. Prosecuting more whites than blacks to equalize the racial balance in jails
7. Selling homes to blacks before whites
8. The IRS taxing whites at a higher rate than whites
9. Restricting earnings potential of white millionaires
10. Allowing blacks to sell illegal drugs to whites but not vice versa
11. Limiting the number of white professional athletes to always favor blacks
12. Hollywood hiring more black actors than whites
13. More black movies produced than white movies
14. Hiring more black educators than white educators
15. Only allowing black candidates to run for political office
16. Selling tickets blacks on commercial aircraft before whites, making sure the ratio favors blacks
17. Forcing cruise ships to fill cabins with blacks first and make sure the onboard ratio favors blacks
18. Having social security to pay higher benefits to blacks than to whites regardless of quarters worked

NOW...  if we do this, then we should assume that they WHITES will not retaliate somehow...

GOOD LUCK WITH THAT!!!

Opinions

 

New Earth

 

Understanding

 

Years Ago Human Brains Changed Forever

Like treasured recipes passed down from generation to generation, there are just some regions of DNA that evolution doesn't dare tweak. Mammals far and wide share a variety of such encoded sequences, for example, which have remained untouched for millions of years.


Humans are a strange exception to this club. For some reason, recipes long preserved by our ancient ancestors were suddenly 'spiced up' within a short evolutionary period of time.

Because we're the only species in which these regions have been rewritten so rapidly, they are called 'human accelerated regions' (or HARs). What's more, scientists think at least some HARs could be behind many of the qualities that set humans apart from their close relatives, like chimpanzees and bonobos.

Led by computational biologist Katie Pollard, director of the Gladstone Institute of Data Science and Biotechnology in the US, a team of researchers identified HARs nearly two decades ago while comparing human and chimpanzee genomes.

In a new study, Pollard's team found the 3D folding of human DNA in the nucleus is a key factor in this pivotal moment for our species.


Imagine a length of DNA from our last common ancestor with chimpanzees as a long scarf wrapped around your neck, with stripes of various colors running across its weave down its entire length.

Now picture someone tried to make the exact same scarf, but they didn't quite follow the original pattern. Some of the stripes are narrower, some are wider, and some feature colors in a different order than the original.  READ MORE...