Friday, December 29
Thursday, December 28
In The NEWS
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas traveled to Mexico City yesterday, meeting with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador over a record number of migrants flowing through Mexico toward the US border.
The New York Times sued Microsoft and OpenAI yesterday for mass copyright infringement, estimating damages to be worth billions of dollars. The Times, the first major media company to file a lawsuit against Microsoft and OpenAI, accuses them of using its articles to train artificial intelligence chatbots without permission.
South Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun was found dead Wednesday of an apparent suicide in central Seoul. His death came amid a national investigation into his alleged drug use, reports he denied and characterized as extortion. He was 48.
NBA approves majority stake sale of Dallas Mavericks from Mark Cuban to casino magnate Miriam Adelson for a reported $3.5B (More) | Detroit Pistons' losing streak reaches NBA single-season record 27 games (More)
US domestic box office hauls in $8.58B in 2023, the highest since the pandemic and a 15% jump from 2022; see year-end box office numbers for each studio (More)
Tom Smothers, comedian best known as half of the Smothers Brothers musical comedy duo, dies of cancer at 86 (More)
Apple Watch ban paused by US appeals court as regulators consider whether proposed software updates are sufficient to end ongoing patent dispute (More) | Series 9, Ultra 2 watches were banned for US sale Tuesday; see previous write-up (More)
Researchers demonstrate glucose-responsive insulin, capable of regulating blood sugar for up to a week; may eventually provide an alternative to daily injections for patients with Type 1 diabetes (More)
The Small Magellanic Cloud is likely made up of two separate dwarf galaxies, with one situated behind the other (More) | The galaxies are viewable from the Southern Hemisphere and played a role in the lore of ancient societies; see overview (More)
Pizza Hut franchises in California to lay off 1,200 in-house delivery drivers in February ahead of new state law boosting fast-food minimum wage to $20 an hour (More)
At least five people killed in Ukraine's southern city of Kherson after Russia fires nearly 50 drones, knocking out power for 70% of households (More) | The US to deliver $250M military aid package to Ukraine amid congressional stalemate over future assistance (More)
SOURCE: 1440 News
The Basics of Our Government
Our constitution gave us three branches of government: Judicial, legislative, and Administrative and provided laws to the States that were not exclusively reserved by the federal government.
States Rights versus Federal Rights has always been a bone of contention as evidenced by some states legalizing marijuana while the Federal government still sees it as being illegal.
Nowhere else will something like that (above) exist in the world today. That makes the USA incredibly unique while at the same time separates from the rest of the world, that is controlled by dictators, socialists, and communists. While the UK and the EU are forms of democracy as well, they still don't have all the freedoms that we have here in the USA.
Our two party system, Democrats (liberals) and Republicans (conservative) is what perpetuates our democracy by providing the people with TWO POINTS OF VIEW.
Liberal want:
- Large government
- High taxes
- Small military
- Social welfare programs
Conservatives want:
- Small government
- Low taxes
- Large military
- limited social welfare programs
Note: there are several other issues, but these are the main points.
Take for instance ABORTION.
Republican don't think the federal government should pay for abortions and the decision to make abortions legal or not, rests with STATES not the federal government.
Democrats believe just the opposite.
Currently, the USA is leaning heavily in the direction of SOCIALISM that has been approved by both parties over the years. Here are some examples of socialism:
- public education
- public parks/recreation
- social security
- unemployment insurance
- medicare/medicaid
- public transportation
Here's the question that also separates the two parties: Should our Federal Government go into debt to pay for all the social programs given to its citizens, knowing that the wealthy hide their money from taxes?
Republicans say no
Democrats say yes
Let me leave you with this thought...
The most effective form or government, maybe not the most efficient, is COMMUNISM, not DEMOCRACY.
- People who argue with a Communistic government go to jail
- People do not strike for higher wages in a communistic government
- People are not exposed to all the news or all the truth in a communistic government
- People do not protest in a communistic government
- There is no private ownership in a communistic government
- There is no freedom of speech or religion in a communistic government
- The government easily controls the people in a communistic government
America's New Oil & Gas Boom
Last week I pointed out in a TikTok video that the U.S. is poised to set a new oil production record. In response, someone took exception to my claim by stating that he works in the industry, and drilling rigs are stacking up.
It is correct that the rig count has fallen. According to data from Baker HughesBHI, the number of rigs drilling for oil and gas has fallen by about 20% in the past year.
This decline reversed a steady increase that began after the rig count bottomed out below 300 in the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. The rig count recovered back to nearly 800 rigs by the end of 2022 but has since declined back to about 620.
Nevertheless, U.S. oil and natural gas production are both poised to set new annual production records, after monthly production has risen steadily all year. How can that be if the rig count is falling? READ MORE...
Wednesday, December 27
Odds and Ends
My professional career lasted 45 years and in 1990 I formed and incorporated a consulting company through which I flowed all my money, and which afforded me a reduction on my taxes. I was also able to purchase three homes when I was unemployed by using my company's income tax returns.
I am not wealthy, nor am I well off financially but I have saved just enough money to pay for my wife and my expenses until we are both age 95. At which point, I will have no money at all. We will both die broke. Both our children have told us that never counted on receiving an inheritance from us so they have prepared for their own retirement accordingly.
During the course of my lifetime so far, I have struggled with understanding mankind's purpose on earth. Some believe there is going to be a spiritual afterlife, but I cannot imagine what it would be like to live life as a SPIRIT. Having awareness but no physical form. The evidence is strong that there is no spiritual life but not conclusive.
Which brings me back to PURPOSE.
Why live just 80-100 or so years and then one's life is over.
What's the point of making tons of money when all you do is leave it behind to family or give it to charity?
Whatever one has achieved will be forgotten 5-10 years after their death.
Do you still think about Reagan, Nixon, or Kennedy?
How many dead celebrities do you think about?
So, if it is not about money or accomplishments, what is our PURPOSE?
- To endure life's struggles
- To give to those that don't have
- To achieve global peace
- To learn as much as we can
- To enjoy and be thankful for what we have
At 76, I no longer want for anything. I don't need a fancy car or house or expensive clothes. I don't care if you like me or not. I don't care if you don't approve of how I live. I expect very little, but I am grateful for waking up each morning.
After I retired, 90% of my stress was gone. The other 8-10% comes from tying to understand my wife and this new technology in which we all must live now. For me the technology is frustrating and difficult to understand, while at the same time incredibly convenient. I cannot imagine my life without a tablet and a cell phone.
I have split it up between 8-10% because I think at least 2% is me trying to deal with myself, my internal criticism and lack of motivation, compared to what it used to be like.
Still, none of this resolves my PURPOSE...
In The NEWS
Top Israeli officials are reviewing a draft peace proposal crafted by neighboring Egypt to end fighting in the Gaza Strip, focusing on initial steps including renewed hostage and prisoner swaps, according to reports yesterday. The role of Hamas in a postwar governing structure—a nonstarter for Israel, say experts—remains a key hurdle. Hamas and partner militant group Islamic Jihad were said to have quickly dismissed Egypt's plan.
A ban on the sale of two of Apple's flagship smartwatches will continue for the foreseeable future after a ruling by US trade regulators over a patent dispute went into effect yesterday. The Biden administration declined to veto the decision, which affects US sales of the Series 9 and Ultra 2 watches, early yesterday morning.
Temperatures across much of China rose above freezing for the first time in weeks Sunday, capping the most severe cold snap in the country in seven decades. Thermometers in Beijing had remained below 0 degrees Celsius since Dec. 11, with some parts of northeastern China reaching minus 40 degrees (in both Celsius and Fahrenheit; see here).
Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" breaks Spotify record for most streams in a day, bringing in nearly 24 million streams on Christmas Eve (More)
Taylor Swift's "1989 (Taylor's Version)" returns to No. 1 on Billboard 200, tying Swift with Elvis Presley for most weeks by a solo artist spent atop the album charts (More)
"The Color Purple" musical film adaptation leads domestic box office with $18M on opening day, the second largest Christmas Day opening ever (More) | Kamar de los Reyes, "One Life to Live" star, dies of cancer at 56 (More)
Apple expects to ship an estimated 500,000 Vision Pro headsets in 2024, going on sale in the first two months of 2024; $3,500 device is Apple's first big step into virtual reality (More)
Study suggests reindeer can go to sleep while eating, allowing the animals to maximize energy conservation during Arctic winters (More)
Engineers develop fiber offering similar warmth to down jackets despite being 80% less thick; material mimics polar bear fur, with each strand possessing a porous core and a waterproof outer layer (More)
SOURCE: 1440 Hews
String Theory Requires Extra Dimensions
String theory found its origins in an attempt to understand the nascent experiments revealing the strong nuclear force. Eventually another theory, one based on particles called quarks and force carriers called gluons, would supplant it, but in the deep mathematical bones of the young string theory physicists would find curious structures, half-glimpsed ghosts, that would point to something more. Something deeper.
String theory claims that what we call particles—the point-like entities that wander freely, interact, and bind together to make up the bulk of material existence—are nothing but. Instead, there is but a single kind of fundamental object: the string. These strings, each one existing at the smallest possible limit of existence itself, vibrate. And the way those strings vibrate dictates how they manifest themselves in the larger universe. Like notes on a strummed guitar, a string vibrating with one mode will appear to us as an electron, while another vibrating at a different frequency will appear as a photon, and so on. READ MORE...
Learning From History is MEANINGLESS and IRRELEVANT
- The Democrats HATE Trump with a passion
- Joe Biden is probably corrupt and his sone Hunter will probably go to jail
- Russia CANNOT defeat Ukraine which makes them a third rate power
- Iran is using is OIL MONEY to try and destroy Israels and its allies via proxies
- China is a GLOBAL VOYEUR thinking it can gain power by watching other countries destroy each other
- You piss Israel off and they will KICK YOUR ASS
- The USA is more divided than it was during the Civil War
- The US Congress has not done a damn thing to help the citizens of the USA
- Illegal Immigration will forever change the dynamics of this country
- You cannot buy love with money or presents
You are asking yourself what do any of these points have to do with Christmas???
I suppose that is a valid question...
And the answer is simple...
The TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS did not change any of the TEN items.
They were there before Christmas and they are still there after Christmas.
The Christmas Holiday and its so called Christmas Spirit was not even around....
In a few days, we will CELEBRATE the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024... and, while we make all sorts of individual New Year's Resolutions that none of us intend to keep, the world around us will NOT CHANGE.
It will not change because a majority of the people not just living in the USA but throughout the world do not want it to change.
AND... while that does not make much sense, that is exactly what is going to happen because that is exactly what has happened for the last 20 years.
A majority of the world DOES NOT BELIEVE that climate control (change) and Green Energy is necessary...
A majority of the world does not give a damn how many people are killed in the Ukraine or in Israel or in Gaza...
A majority of the world ONLY CARES ABOUT THEMSELVES and could care less how their desires and wants negatively impact other people...
This is the real world we are living in and this is the real world THAT WE MADE...
Spintronics
A recent study has identified the “orbital Hall effect,” a phenomenon that could significantly improve data storage in future computer devices. This discovery, involving the generation of electricity by electron’s orbital movement, offers potential advancements in the field of spintronics, leading to more efficient, faster, and reliable magnetic materials. Credit: SciTechDaily.com
Research suggests a novel approach to enhance spintronics, paving the way for advancements in future technology.
In a new breakthrough, researchers have used a novel technique to confirm a previously undetected physics phenomenon that could be used to improve data storage in the next generation of computer devices.
Spintronic memories, utilized in advanced computers and satellites, leverage the magnetic states produced by the intrinsic angular momentum of electrons for data storage and retrieval. Depending on its physical motion, an electron’s spin produces a magnetic current. Known as the “spin Hall effect,” this has key applications for magnetic materials across many different fields, ranging from low-power electronics to fundamental quantum mechanics.
More recently, scientists have found that electrons are also capable of generating electricity through a second kind of movement: orbital angular momentum, similar to how Earth revolves around the sun.
This is known as the “orbital Hall effect,” said Roland Kawakami, co-author of the study and a professor in physics at The Ohio State University. READ MORE...
Thousands of UFOs Orbiting Earth
Could the truth about UFOs be closer to home than we think? Especially in light of revelations from the United States Space Force shedding light on a multitude of unidentified objects in Earth's orbit?
Established during the Trump Administration to explore UFOs and space anomalies, the Space Force has encountered thousands of such objects, creating a challenge in threat identification, the agency's primary mission, according to The Daily Mail.
Recent communications show the sheer volume of sightings is hindering the Space Force's ability to distinguish potential threats from man-made space junk or “natural debris” like meteoroids. This revelation has sparked significant national interest in the United States and other countries. READ MORE...
The 14th Amendment to the US Constitution
Section 1.
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Section 2.
Representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a state, or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such state, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such state.
Section 3.
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
Section 4.
The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any state shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.
Section 5.
The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified on July 9, 1868. The amendment granted citizenship to those born or naturalized in the United States and guaranteed freedom, due process, and equal protection under the law to all Americans. In doing so, it expanded the scope of the Constitution’s protection of individual liberty; now the Constitution protected rights not only from infringement by the federal government, but from infringement by state and local government as well.
Personal Note:
Those who are wanting to exclude Donald Trump from the 2024 Presidential Election are using the 14th Amendment, specifically SECTION THREE of this amendment because they perceive that he engaged in an INSURRECTION.
However, the 14th Amendment also provides for DUE PROCESS and EQUAL PROTECTION under the law - neither of which have been afforded to Donald Trump.
The 14th Amendment also states that these rights afford to ALL AMERICANS shall not be infringed upon by state or local government which was the case with the Colorado Supreme Court.
Furthermore, it has not been proven in a court of law that Donald Trump actually ENGAGED IN INSURRECTION... the belief that he did engage in insurrection is simply CONJECTURE AND PERSONAL OPINION.
Are we a country of laws that abides by the US Constitution and Democracy OR are we a country not really any different than the Communist countries of Russia and China?
YOU THE VOTERS SHOULD DECIDE THIS QUESTION NOT THE COURTS...
AI Can Reproduce AI On Their Own
A scientific collaboration has achieved a breakthrough in creating larger AI models that can autonomously develop smaller AI models.
These smaller models have practical applications such as identifying human voices, monitoring pipelines, and tracking wildlife in confined spaces.
The self-replicating AI concept has sparked negative reactions on social media, with references to sci-fi scenarios like Terminator and The Matrix. (Trending: Prominent LGBTQ Activist Arrested Over Disturbing Charges)
Yubei Chan, one of the project’s researchers, said “This month, we just demonstrated the first proof of concept such that one type of model can be automatically designed all the way from data generation to the model deployment and testing without human intervention.”
“If we think about ChatGPT and tiny machine learning, they are on the two extremes of the spectrum of intelligence,” he continued. READ MORE...
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