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Denny Laine, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame musician who was a founding member of The Moody Blues and Wings, dies at 79 (More)

Multidisciplinary artist Jesse Darling wins 2023 Turner Prize, widely considered most prestigious award for British artists (More)

NCAA proposes new athletics subdivision that would allow certain schools autonomy to directly compensate student-athletes (More)

Numbers

 

Our Lives are Hardly Ever Planned Out

 Life happens when you're making other plans...  John Lennon

Carpenters measure twice or thrice and cut once...  they claim...  and, that makes sense.

Nobody goes on vacation without knowing where they are headed.  although, I suppose some of us just get in the car and drive.

Most successful companies develop rolling STRATEGIC PLANS (1-3 years or in some cases 3-5 years), evaluate their progress quarterly, making adjustments to the plan if and when they are necessary.

NOTE:  most Japanese companies develop strategic plans for 15-20 years...

Different management mindsets...

MOST OF US, but not ALL, live our lives without any planning taking place at all.

1. After high school, we go to college, go to a trade school, get married, or join the military.
2. We take the first job we can find and stay there until we retire, or we change jobs every 3-5 years using our experience to get a better job.
3. We retire without really knowing what we are going to do to keep busy and do whatever until we die.
4. If we do any retirement planning at all, it is during the last 10 years of our careers.

Does this sound familiar?

We do not know in the statement made by John Lennon if his statement making other plans was intended to mean:

• what to do today
• what to do this week
• what to do this year
• what to do this decade
• what to do this lifetime

I doubt very seriously that we think about our retirement when we are:

• 18 years of age
• 25 years of age
• 30 years of age
• 40 years of age
• 50 years of age
• maybe we do at 60 years of age

How many houses do you plan to buy?

How many wives do you plan to have?

How many children do you plan to have?

How many of those children will go to college?

How many cars do you plan to buy?

How many jobs do you plan to have?

How many companies do you plan to work for?

How many states do you plan to live in?

How much money do you plan to save?

How do you plan to become debt free?

How many times do you think you will be laid off?

How many car accidents will you have?

How many speeding tickets will you get?

How often do you think you will become seriously ill?

Somewhat Political

 

US Math Scores Down Again

Math scores for American 15-year-olds dropped to an all-time low between 2018 and 2022, according to the latest results of an international exam, the first large-scale study marking the pandemic's impact on education. The Program for International Student Assessment, representing 620,000 students throughout 81 education systems in 38 countries, compares math, reading, and science academic performance.


The US saw a 13-point drop in its average math score—from 478 (of 1,000) in 2018 to 465 in 2022—with one in three students scoring below the basic level of proficiency. US reading and science scores stayed mostly even. The US ranked sixth in reading, 10th in science, and 26th in math among participating countries, an improvement from 2018 (largely because of declines in other countries). 


Overall, the average math score across participating countries fell by 15 points—the equivalent of three-quarters of a year of learning. International reading scores fell by 11 points, while science scores remained relatively steady.   READ MORE...

White Rabbit

 

Copperhead Road

 

Israel Advances Further into Gaza

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli warplanes heavily bombarded an area around Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Monday as the military ordered mass evacuations from the town in the face of a widening ground offensive that is pushing Palestinians into a progressively shrinking portion of the besieged territory.

The expanded assault posed a deadly choice for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians — either stay in the path of Israeli forces or flee within the confines of southern Gaza with no guarantee of safety. Aid workers warned that the mass movement would worsen the already dire humanitarian catastrophe in the territory.

“Another wave of displacement is underway, and the humanitarian situation worsens by the hour,” the Gaza chief of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, Thomas White, said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.   READ MORE...

Female Dancers

 

TIPS for Cruising the High Seas

 My wife and I have been on TWELVE (12) ocean cruises of 7 days or longer since 2015.

We have been on the following Cruise Lines:

• Carnival
• Celebrity
• Norwegian
• Royal Caribbean

Our list of cruises:

• East-West-South Caribbean
• Mediterranean Sea
• Alaska
• Hawaiian Islands
• Bermuda

Debarkation Ports:

• Baltimore
• Ft. Lauderdale
• Maimi
• Vancouver, Canada

OUR TIPS:

1. Try to get on board as early as possible
2. Have a day bag in case your luggage arrives late
3. Confirm your restaurant reservations before lunch
4. Familiarize yourself with the ship before ship leaves port

What to bring with you:

1. 2-3 pairs of shoes (flip flops for pool, sandals for dinner, tennis shoes for visiting ports
2. Sunglasses and hat
3. bug spray 
4. suntan lotion & ChapStick
5. sea sickness pills
6. bring your passport and driver's license for ID.
7. buy lanyard to carry your sea pass card.
8. wash your hands often.
9. bring large empty water bottle for port visits and fill up in cafeteria.
10. most places will take any credit card but there are transaction fees and exchange rates
11. bring packages of handwipes for port visits
12. use your phone as an alarm clock if you have an inside cabin without a porthole.
13. wear flip flops in shower
14. keep valuables in safe
15. bring zip lock bag for your phones.
16. your medications (we use an AM/PM pill case and put it inside a sock to keep it from opening)
17. Dress pants/knit shirt or slacks/blouse for dinner
18. One bathing suit - difficult for most ladies
19. underwear for each day
20. 2 pairs of shorts only along with 3 tops for each pair
21. magnetic hangers
22. phone charger - can use your phone in ports but not on ship - make sure your provided knows where you are going and take out text messages to contact home if you need to - cheaper than making phone calls.
23. use phones as camera and leave camera at home, heavy and bulky
24. bring light weight back pack or tote for excursions
25. at each port you are allowed to come back on ship with 1 liter soft drink per person
26. bring cash and a fanny pouch to carry it in to prevent theft
27. bring small power strips.  we found a square one that had 4 plug ins and brought two
28. we did not bring dress clothes for dinner as they ships never enforced the rule...  they are claiming that they are going to
29. bring small umbrella and plastic poncho
30. bring two containers, one for coffee and one for juices...  beverages in cafeteria are free all day long
31. bring clamps to hold towels to chair on sea day...  get up early to get chair you want but you cannot save for very long...  this may require you eating meals one at a time while the other one saves the chairs.
32. Beverage packages are expensive so the choice is yours
33. Rooms are small so you don't want to bring large suitcases with all sorts of clothes and have them take up space
34. we always got inside rooms on lower levels so we could spend more money on excursions...  but when passengers were on ships that were locked down due to covid, they were forced to stay in those inside rooms...  something to think about.
35. oftentimes, you can arrange your own excursion with taxis that are half price of what the excursion charges but you need to be well prepared with what you want to see.
36. we always went to the early dinner so we could see whatever entertainment there was after dinner.
37. attend the free sessions that tell you about what to see at each port.
38. be prepared to gain 5-10 pounds or follow the three to four bite rule.  Just take 3-4 bites of everything you want to eat.
39. we would put fruit and cereal boxes in the backpack for snacks when we visited the ports.
40. Set a gambling limit each day and walk away.  We used $20.

Somewhat Political

 

More Than 1,000 Qubits

One of IBM’s latest quantum processor has improved the reliability of its qubits. Credit: Ryan Lavine for IBM



IBM has unveiled the first quantum computer with more than 1,000 qubits — the equivalent of the digital bits in an ordinary computer. But the company says it will now shift gears and focus on making its machines more error-resistant rather than larger.

For years, IBM has been following a quantum-computing road map that roughly doubled the number of qubits every year. The chip unveiled on 4 December, called Condor, has 1,121 superconducting qubits arranged in a honeycomb pattern. It follows on from its other record-setting, bird-named machines, including a 127-qubit chip in 2021 and a 433-qubit one last year.

Quantum computers promise to perform certain computations that are beyond the reach of classical computers. They will do so by exploiting uniquely quantum phenomena such as entanglement and superposition, which allow multiple qubits to exist in multiple collective states at once.  READ MORE...

St. Jude Hospital for Children

 

The Wealthy

 Ask yourself...

• Are you wealthy?
• Do you know any wealthy people?
• Do you socialize with the wealthy?
• Do you want to be like the wealthy?

Only 5% of the population are wealthy and only 2% of population are really wealthy and only 1% of the population are super wealthy.

The odds are you will never be in that group if you ain't there already.

Is there something wrong with you if you are not wealthy?

Not really...  but, the wealthy people think there is something wrong with you and look down their noses at you...  tolerating you when they absolutely have to...  most of the time, ignoring your existence altogether.

• For the wealthy, they think or perceive it is a badge of honor to live in a 15,000 square foot home.
• They think it is normal to own a $100,000 vehicle.
• They think it is AMERICAN to hide their money in off shore bank accounts to avoid taxes.
• They see themselves as special and elite for owning multiple homes and spending money on items they will hardly use.
• They boast about their success not through their comments but through their purchases.
• They have no empathy for anyone who is not them.

The wealthy are really no different...

1. they have to eat
2. they have to sleep
3. they have to defecate
4. they have to get sick
5. they have to die

The wealthy are a necessary evil for our society just like mothers-in-laws...  leaving behind their money, buildings with their names on them, and other legacies that are soon forgotten by the new generation who will ignore they even existed...

• The wealthy don't fight wars
• The wealthy pay others to work
• The wealthy use lawyers to fight their battles
• The wealthy use proxies when it is time to vote
• The wealthy pay very little in taxes
• The wealthy give nothing back to society but their arrogance
• The wealthy only give to charity because they need a tax deduction

DAMN DON'T YOU WISH YOU COULD BE LIKE THEM???

Janis Joplin

 

Around the World

Amazon to use rival SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets to deploy the first batch of its space-based internet satellites; SpaceX operates competitor Starlink, which already provides near-global coverage (More)

Israeli forces push south into Gaza amid US pressure to protect civilians; Palestinian death toll surpasses 15,000, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry (More)

Atmospheric river expected to drop month-worth of rain in Pacific Northwest over next few days; flood watches issued for portions of Washington state (More)

Hungry

 

My Wisdom Implies Age

Stand up straight facing something of which you are really fond.  Place your legs a little wider that shoulder length apart. Bend over and put your head between your legs, pucker up, and kiss your young ass GOODBYE.

The USA is on the verge of a mental breakdown.  It is similar to what Great Britain used to do to the Scots when an outlaw was finally captured.  Tie a rope onto each arm and each leg and tie those four ends to a horse saddle on a horse that a Brit is riding.  Order each animal to march forward simultaneously and the man is the middle is QUARTERED.

Right now, USA citizens are facing DISUNITY on several fronts:

1. Racism
2. Gender Inequality
3. Wage Inequalities
4. Humanoid Robots with AI
5. Anti-Jewish
6. Anti-Palestinian
7. Police Brutality
8. Chinese Threat
9. Russian Threat
10. BRICS Threat
11. Nuclear Arms Race
12. 2024 Election Candidates
13. Fake News
14. Liberal Censorship
15. War on Fossil Fuels
16. Inflation
17. Illegal Immigration
18. Increasing National Debt
19. End of American Dream
20. Credit Card Debt

If that is not enough, the current administration is trying to push ELECTRIC VEHICLES on us, forcing us to do away with gasoline vehicles.

• EVs are more expensive
• Cost more to recharge
• Not enough charging stations
• Replacement batteries are costly
• Resale value drops more than gasoline cars

WHAT TO DO...   WHAT TO DO...   WHAT TO DO???

As a compromise, there are many of us buying hybrid vehicles that do not require CHARGING...  but there is still a large battery cost in 5-7 years.

What kind of damage will the ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS do when they cannot find:

• Jobs
• Housing
• Healthcare
• Buy Food
• Buy Transportation

HOW FAST WILL HUMANOID ROBOTS WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCES START REPLACING US IN JOBS???

• 2025?
• 2027?
• 2030?

NOTE:  China and Elon Musk are mass producing humanoid robots with AI in 2024/2025...

ARE YOU BENDING OVER???

Fishing

 

In The News

Gravitational waves from the aftereffects of the most powerful merger of two black holes observed to date detected by researchers; "ringing" effect comes from new black hole assuming a spherical shape (More) | General relativity 101 (More, w/video)

Google delays launch of Gemini, a large language model expected to compete with OpenAI's ChatGPT-4, until January; reports say the model has trouble with some non-English prompts (More)

Ancient redwood trees can recover from severe fire damage by tapping long-buried buds, which have laid dormant under their bark for centuries (More)