Signs of Life on MARS

A school science experiment is answering questions that are out of this world. While there had been concerns that any evidence of organic matter on Mars might be obscured by the planet's geology, new research suggests this might not be the case.

A group of budding young researchers has helped to demonstrate how evidence of life on Mars could be found.

Students from St Bernard's Convent High School in Westcliff-On-Sea, Essex, assisted scientists from the Natural History Museum and University College London in an experiment to see what evidence any potential ancient life may have left on the red planet.  READ MORE...

All My Loving

 

DOUBLE STANDARDS in our Justice System

When I was growing up in Alexandria, Virginia, I became aware of the fact that if your parents were financially well off, then the law was applied differently to the children of those financial well-off parents than it was to children of parents who were not financially well-off.

At the time, it did not bother me that much and I just rolled with the punches and took my punishment that the good little soldier I was and kept my mouth shut.

As I got old the double standard in the Justice system pissed me off more and more because that was not the way our legal system was designed to work.  JUSTICE WAS SUPPOSEDLY BLIND.

NOW...  I am 76 years old, a Vietnam Era Veteran, and retired after a working career of 45 years, and I get really mad as an American when I see this double standard.

This double standard in our LEGAL SYSTEM is obvious when DEMOCRATS break the law than when REPUBLICANS break the law.

Before this political division in the Justice System, there was an equally horrific difference in the application of the law between BLACKS and Whites, with the BLACK on the losing end of those unbalanced scales.

In My Humble Opinion, there will always be a difference in our JUSTICE SYSTEM because that is just the way Americans want to be...  

As a result of our American and WIN/LOSE mentality, most everything in our society will in some way embrace this attitude...

For example:  Biological males are competing in women's sports creating a new set of winners and losers which is a form of a non-double standard in a perverted way.

Made in USA

 In the 1970s/1980s, we were buying products where the label on the back said made in USA...  we later discovered that these products were made in USA, Japan...  a town was specially named USA in Japan so they could make that claim...  the public was fooled but not for long.

BUT HERE IS THE DILEMMA...

because American workers are paid more than workers from other parts of the world which also includes paying workers for holidays, vacations, and providing health insurance, the COST OF LABOR is substantially more in the United States than it is in third world countries.

SO...  because of that high COST OF LABOR, American companies decided to manufacture overseas where the labor costs are lower...  as a result, the companies are selling their products at a cheaper cost.

If we want to buy from those companies that manufacture in the United States, then we must get prepared to pay TWICE AS MUCH for that item.

The American consumer is currently bitching about the high cost of FOOD, UTILITIES, and GASOLINE and that they are living from paycheck to paycheck...  

How do you think this same consumer is going to feel if they can only purchase goods that are MADE IN THE UNITED STATES?

I just purchased a replacement female end of an extension cord from Lowes for about $5 and it was made in CHINA...  I would have paid $10-$12 for that some item, if it had been made in the United States...  I can say this honestly because there were some of those items on the shelf and I elected to buy the cheaper one which in my opinion was just as good.

I buy Japanese vehicles because they are manufactured better than vehicles made in the United States.

I've been in auto manufacturing plants in the United States and there is a hatred between management and labor that results in labor getting back at management by not caring that much about their job resulting in poor quality of an important item that goes into our American vehicles.

Most of the companies that manufacture parts for American vehicles are located in the SOUTH because labor costs are lower than in the north.

This is just the type of country that we have grown into becoming...  there is not right or wrong...  it is just the way it is nowadays.

Big Oil Not Worried About Climate Change

London  (CNN) —  Is this the beginning of the end of the fossil fuel era? The world’s latest climate deal could be that milestone. But recent events show the oil and gas industry still has a very different vision of the future.

Following marathon talks, the COP28 climate summit in Dubai struck a deal Wednesday that makes the unprecedented call for “transitioning away from fossil fuels.”

Some countries, including the United States, welcomed the firmest-ever commitment to moving away from energy sources responsible for most planet-heating emissions, but critics were quick to point out that the agreement falls far short of requiring the world to “phase-out” oil, coal and gas, a position more than 100 nations had supported.  READ MORE...

Peace of Mind (Joy)

From the very first time we become consciously aware and can articulate our own thoughts, we are put into a situation where all influences push us to WANT MORE...  this idea of wanting more is nothing more than GREED.

As we grow older we want more expensive birthday and Christmas presents.  After high school we go to college because we can earn more with a college degree than with a high school diploma.  Our first job, we want a new car and if married a new house, but the house has got to be bigger than the one we grew up with.

While all of this is taking place, we are inundated with religious indoctrinations that our only course of salvation, redemption, and an afterlife is by accepting Jesus into our lives.

Then, when and if, we retire, we are constantly searching for things to do so that we don't bored, or become too lazy which is not good for either our physical or mental health.

All of a sudden, we find ourselves at 80 years of age; our children are out of the house and on their own, and our grandchildren are old enough not to want to spend that much time with the grandparents.   We might play a little golf; we might go out to dinner with friends; we might go on vacation, and we might invite friends over for a drink and conversation.

BUT...  we wonder about the purpose of life.  We wonder about our purpose in life.  We finally understand that religion does not provide us with any answers, and we begin to doubt if there is any truth in religion or ever was.  We struggle with our own identity because we just don't have any answers and life just seems to be more than what we have experienced so far.

IS THIS ALL THERE IS???

Unfortunately, society has created our anxiety and rather than listen to ourselves, we listened to society.

Some of us on the other hand, did not listen to society and went our own way and was criticized by those around us for not being more ambitious.  However, when we turned 80, there was no anxiety.  

We were comfortable with who we were/are and what we had become.   We were not pushed along by Greed and we accepted a simply lifestyle rather than one that was complex.

In so doing, we achieved HAPPINESS, PEACE OF MIND, and our life was full of JOY because we were alive and appreciated everything around us.  There are still disappointments and heartaches as that is just part of life.

We are content and at ease with ourselves and who we are...  needing very little...  life is what it is and not what you want or try to make of it.

Somewhat Political

 

E-Books and Corporate Surveillance

Three in ten Americans read digital books. Whether they’re accessing online textbooks or checking out the latest bestselling e-book from the public library, the majority of these readers are subject to both the greed of Big Publishing and the priorities of Big Tech. In fact, Amazon’s Kindle held 72% of the e-reader market in 2022. And if there’s one thing we know about Big Tech companies like Amazon, their real product isn’t the book. It’s the user data.  READ MORE...

Spiral

 

No Whites Allowed

 

Our Christmas Spirit

We are halfway through the month of December and if you are like me, you don't feel the Christmas Spirit at all, even though your Christmas Tree and outside decorations are up...

WHAT GIVES???

Has the Christmas Holiday lost its magic here in the good ole US of A?

Is there so much bullshit going on in the world that none of us feel like celebrating the holiday?

Have we lost our religious beliefs?

Many colleges and universities no longer call it the Christmas Holidays...  they call it something else, like Winter Break or something...  I am sure that grades K-12 don't refer to it as Christmas either.  So, in the minds of our students it is just a few days off from school and studies.

I remember when I was in college, all of our end of the semester exams took place when we got back from the holidays, so we had to take our books home and study, so it wasn't much of a holiday.

There are only 10 days left until Christmas Day...  and, for many of us, this means going to parties, getting shit-faced drunk, over-eating, displaying asinine behavior around our families, arguments at dinner, and opening presents...  for many of us, illegal drugs will also figure prominently into this holiday as well.

I think for many of us, we have shifted the focus away from religion for some reason.  I hesitate to try to label the problem because it varies with each person.  For me, I just don't believe the Bible or the sermons I heard in Church.  However, I do believe in a superior being and I believe that something or someone created the universe because something from nothing is just not possible or logical.

I remember being told by numerous ministers that Jesus said the following:  MY KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD...  now, what exactly does that mean?   I see the word WORLD and think EARTH so his kingdom is not of earth.  So, where is it?  

• Does his kingdom exist in our solar system?
• Does his kingdom exist in our Milky Way Galaxy?
• Does his kingdom exist in another Galaxy?
• Does his kingdom exist in another Dimension?

Ministers will tell you his kingdom is in Heaven, but no one knows where Heaven is location.  Nor do they know exactly where Hell is located either?

For me that's a BIG PROBLEM...

Chinese Rush for Intelligentized Warfare Alarms Pentagon

The U.S. Department of Defense has warned that China’s artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives have seen heavy integration with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), raising concerns of a possible AI arms race.

"The size, scope and sophistication of Chinese military modernization programs is breathtaking," James Anderson, who served as the deputy undersecretary of defense during the Trump administration, told Fox News Digital. "The report makes clear that Beijing remains hellbent on developing a world-class military force, despite its recent economic slowdown."

The annual Pentagon report on the Military and Security Developments involving the People’s Republic of China argues in the preface that China remains "the" pacing challenge for the Department of Defense as Beijing seeks "national rejuvenation" by 2049 – the centenary anniversary for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).  READ MORE...

Somewhat Political

 

Globetrotters

 

Better Off Today than in 2020?

 When I watch FOX News each morning, a reoccurring theme is how many to most Americans are worse off today than they were in 2020...  and, this is blamed on Biden because he shut down the XL Pipeline project, allowed illegal immigrants to pour through our borders, and put so much money into the economy that it caused inflation and layoffs...

Biden blames all his problems on Trump because if Trump had not done what he did then Biden would not have had to do what he did.  Somehow that logic does not make sense to me, but that is what his administration is saying.

Granted, food prices have gone up and come down a little and gas prices have gone up and come down a little.  When we go out to a restaurant for brunch or dinner, we are paying $20 more than we used to pay.

But, we are using the same amount of money today each month that we were using in 2020... so, from a financial standpoint, I do not feel any financial pain.  However, there are other people who have claimed that they are in a great deal of financial pain since Biden took office...  and, there are retired people who have stated they have had to get a part time job.

I am sure they are telling the truth, but you don't know the specifics of their lifestyle and there might have been areas that they could have cut back...

In other words, I know that prices have increased but that increase has cause no burdens on us and we are spending overall what we used to spend and we are saving overall what we used to save.

I am against the Democrats because I don't support the green energy movement and believe our economy would be better off if we drilled for all the oil we could find.

I am also against illegal immigration.

I am also against our high and increasing National Debt

So, my point is this....  we are worse off today than in 2020 but not everyone feels the pain...

Elephant

 

Supercomputer that Simulates Entire Human Brain

A neuromorphic supercomputer called DeepSouth will be capable of 228 trillion synaptic operations per second, which is on par with the estimated number of operations in the human brain

A supercomputer capable of simulating, at full scale, the synapses of a human brain is set to boot up in Australia next year, in the hopes of understanding how our brains process massive amounts of information while consuming relatively little power.  READ MORE...

Rome's Forbidden Art

 

Learning From One's Past

 It is said that we learn from our past...  and without clarification, one is not completely sure what that entails.

Do we look back 20 years, I am now learning this from my past...  or do we learn as we age?  

We are constantly living in the present, if you had not thought much about it and that present is always pushing us towards our future, so from one second to the next, we have created a past - present - and a future.

I pick up my coffee cup and spill it because I was not paying attention to picking up the cup.  That action began in my present but immediately went into my past, as my present moved into the future.

So, I learned instantly.

I did not wait 20 years, look back and ask myself what did I learn from spilling my cup of coffee twenty years ago.

We can look at history and conclude that the actions taken 200 years ago were wrong...  but can we actually apply that learning process to similar actions 200 years later, since much has changed?  Obviously, we will make different decisions because of different circumstances and learned almost right away, if that was the right thing to do or not.

In other words, I don't think we actually learn that much from the past at all whether it is our past or someone else's past.

Pulp Fiction