In The NEWS

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
In partnership with It's Skinny

> "The Bachelor" contestant Jenn Tran tapped to become first Asian American "Bachelorette" (More) | "Wonka" and "Dune" star Timothée Chalamet signs multiyear deal to both act in and produce upcoming Warner Bros. films (More)

> NFL owners approve major overhaul to kickoff rules for 2024 season intended to increase number of returned kickoffs (More) | NFL sets two Christmas Day games in 2024, despite the holiday falling on a Wednesday (More)

> US music revenue hit $17.1B in 2023, an 8% rise from 2022 and the eighth consecutive year of revenue growth (More)



Science & Technology
> OpenAI releases set of seven videos created by professional filmmakers using its new Sora text-to-video generator (More) | Tool made waves last month, producing lifelike clips made by AI; see overview (More)

> Researchers discover protein that stimulates regrowth of optical nerve fibers; may help lead to treatments for retinal damage, including glaucoma, which affects more than 3 million Americans yearly (More)

> First known symbolic gesture observed in birds; scientists recorded the Japanese tit using repetitive wing movements to signal "after you" to others (More)


Business & Markets
> US stock markets close lower (S&P 500 -0.3%, Dow -0.1%, Nasdaq -0.4%); S&P 500 falls for third consecutive session (More)

> Visa, MasterCard agree to cut and cap credit card processing fees charged to merchants (and often passed down to consumers) as part of settlement in long-running suit; US businesses expected to save at least $30B in five-year deal (More)

> Outerwear maker Canada Goose to lay off roughly 17% of its corporate staff as part of cost-cutting measures (More)


Politics & World Affairs
> Robert Kennedy Jr. announces San Francisco attorney and Democratic donor Nicole Shanahan as his vice president pick in his third-party bid for the presidency (More) | See latest polls (More)

> US Supreme Court questions whether groups seeking to restrict access to abortion pill mifepristone have standing to sue the FDA; decision expected in June (More) | See previous write-up (More)

> UK court delays WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's extradition; US has three weeks to provide guarantees about his First Amendment rights and protection from death penalty (More)

SOURCE:   1440 News

The Tenacity of Donald Trump

 One could easily say that Donald Trump is like a bull in a china shop, and you would not be far from the truth.

I remember going to the gym in 2016 and watching FOX News and listening to Bill Hemmer make fun of this billionaire businessman and his bid for the Presidency.

His words were crude, and phrases disjointed but he touched the hearts of the working men and women across the country when he won, he surprised the hell out of everybody.

The Democrats were so pissed off that he had won and beat Hillary Clinton that they spent the four years Trump was in office trying to get rid of him through the impeachment process that failed twice.

They did this by spreading lies and using mainstream media and social media to sell their message to the public.

When he lost to Biden, Trump could not wrap his head about the fact that he lost and that is when more troubles began for him.

During the four years that Biden was in office, the Democrats continued to attack Trump and eventually charged him with 91 felony counts.

Each time he was indicted on another charge, his poll numbers increased.  Now that NYC is in the process of seizing his assets and bank accounts, he is once again being placed in a financial situation from which it will be difficult to return.

However, during the last couple of years, he has been working with the SEC and he will soon merge Truth Social with another company and go public.  Once the IPO is history, there is a good possibility that Donald Trump will be 4 billion dollars wealthier.

As the Democrats keep attacking Trump, Trump continues to grow in popularity and wealth.  One would think that the Democrats would learn their lesson by now.

Soon, the Supreme Court will rule on his claim of Presidential immunity, and how his first and eight amendment rights have been violated.  They will also decide if the Democrats have used the DOJ and FBI to keep him campaigning for President because he is court.

While Trump may not win all the decisions, he will win enough to keep him afloat, and a lot of people will be piss off because of our legal system and elect him to a second term in office.

Trump would not be where he is today without tenacity and there is not telling the tantrum the Democrats will throw when that happens again.

Cat Massage

 

2,000 Year Old Carving

Brazilian archaeologists have discovered a vast number of 2,000-year-old rock carvings that depict human footprints, celestial-body-like figures, and representations of animals, such as deer and wild pigs.


The discovery was made during three expeditions between 2022 and 2023 in Jalapão State Park, located in the state of Tocantins. Researchers with Brazil's National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN) identified 16 precolonial archaeological sites, all located on rocky cliffs close to each other.

"This proximity suggests a possible connection between the sites and clarifies settlement patterns of the ancient communities that inhabited the region," Rômulo Macêdo, the archaeologist who led the work, told Live Science via Whatsapp.     READ MORE...

Results No

 

Hey Joe

 

China's New Aerial Cluster Drone

Chinese scientists have developed a new type of war drone that can rapidly multiply midair, a tactical shock and awe phenomenon against potential adversaries like the US, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.

The new drone is similar to a consumer-grade Chinese DJI multirotor, which can split into two, three or even six smaller drones depending on battle needs.

Each drone has only one blade but can hover, move freely like a regular drone and communicate with other drones. Each can also play a specific role such as command, surveillance, tracking and even attack while collaborating to complete a mission.

SCMP notes that progress in this technology has been slow due to the significantly decreased flight efficiency of traditional drones combined.     READ MORE...

Somewhat Political

 

In The NEWS

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
In partnership with The Ascent

> Comedian and actor Kevin Hart becomes 25th recipient of prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor (More) | Golden Globes tapped to air on CBS for next five years (More)

> Brazilian soccer star Dani Alves released from prison after posting $1.1M bail while appealing rape conviction (More) | Tiger Woods' tech-infused golf league TGL set to launch January 2025, one year later than anticipated after the league's dome collapsed in November (More)

> Sean "Diddy" Combs' residences in Miami and Los Angeles raided by federal officials amid ongoing investigations of sex trafficking and sexual assault (More)



Science & Technology
> European regulators announce probes against Google, Apple, and Meta, the first set of investigations under the European Union's new Digital Markets Act antitrust law (More)

> Engineers use large language models to help robots predict motions to allow them to self-correct after mistakes, continue on without needing human intervention (More)

> Honeybee colonies in the Pacific Northwest at risk of collapse as temperatures warm; study suggests older worker bees emerge earlier in the spring, grow fatigued and die before new replacement workers emerge (More)


Business & Markets
> US stock markets close lower (S&P 500 -0.3%, Dow -0.4%, Nasdaq -0.3%) to start shortened trading week (More) | Truth Social owner Trump Media and Technology Group to begin trading today on Nasdaq under stock ticker DJT (More)

> Civil fraud trial of former cryptocurrency giant Do Kwon begins in New York; Kwon, who will be tried in absentia, is accused of driving a $45B crash of the TerraUSD and Luna coins in 2022 (More) | Adam Neumann reportedly submits bid to buy back WeWork for over $500M (More)

> Electric vehicle startup Lucid Motors raises $1B from affiliate of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (More) | Electric vehicle startup Fisker shares halted after falling 28% since Friday on news of potential deal collapse with large automaker (More)


Politics & World Affairs
> New York appeals court temporarily pauses enforcement of $454M judgment in former President Donald Trump's civil business fraud case if Trump posts a lowered bond of $175M within 10 days as appeals process plays out (More) | Trump's hush money trial set to begin April 15 with jury selection (More)

> Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signs legislation banning children under 14 from signing up for social media accounts while requiring 

parental permission for 15 and 16 year olds; the law, effective Jan. 1, is expected to be challenged (More)

> US charges group of China-linked hackers with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, accuses group of spending 14 years targeting US and foreign critics, businesses, and political figures (More)

SOURCE:  1440 News

Lack of Time

As an adolescent, a teenager, and a young man in my 20s and 30s, I had no concept or concern (might be a better word) with or about time.  If I noticed anything at all, it seemed like good days went by quickly and bad days went by slowly - even though the length of time for both days remained the same.

During my 40s, 50s, and 60s, there was an awareness of time as all days whether good or bad seemed to pass by quickly.  Although, I never thought about the end of time in a cosmic sense nor the end of time in an individual sense.  I just lived my life as best I could with the time I had each day, oftentimes wishing the days were longer so that I could have more time to get my stuff done.

When I retired at the age of 67 (2015), time became an issue of relative importance because I soon grasped the concept that there was not that much time left, especially with the understanding that it (time) was moving faster than anticipated.

I joked that I never had a bad day because each day went by so quickly.

Around the time of my retirement, I began to notice either on my side or my wife's side, that our friends were beginning to die rather unexpectedly or so we thought.  Some of them had been battling diseases for years and finally lost the battle.  Others died from accidents and other died of fast moving diseases, lasting no longer than 6 months after diagnosis.

My wife and I began to focus on our own lives and our life together, enjoying as much as we could when and as we could, not worrying about the various diseases that were inside our bodies.  Our attitudes became positive and resolute and our actions direct and positive.

Now, we are both in our 70s and know that our time is limited to 20/25 years or less - the 5 year difference is in our actual age of 76 and 71.  And while 20 years seems like a lot, it too will pass by quickly and unnoticed as each year has done in the past.

WE ONLY HAVE TODAY...

Angry Bull

 

A Chinese Humanoid Robots Sets Record

The human body isn’t really an ideal template for a robot. Out of the entire family of primates, Homo sapiens are the only ones who spend a majority of their time on two feet—a biological outlier that isn’t exactly easy to replicate in artificial form. In the past decade, many companies have created impressive facsimiles: robots that can run, jump, and stumble just like a real boy. But none of them have been able to generate very much speed while doing so. That’s beginning to change.

Earlier this month, the Chinese robotic company Unitree uploaded a sizzle video to Youtube that highlighted the impressive attributes of its H1 humanoid robot. Chief among those impressive attributed is the robot’s startling speed, clocking in at an impressive 3.3 m/s, or roughly 7.4 mph. That beats the previous record holder, Boston Dynamics’ Atlas, which can book it at a steady 5.59 mph. Unitree claims that its artificial creation can even reach speeds of up to 11 mph.     READ MORE...

Smoke of the Water

 

Convoy

 

Worst Polluted Cities

Morning walkers seen during a cold and hazy morning at Kartavya Path near India Gate on December 9, 2023 in New Delhi, India. Arvind Yadav/Hindustan Times/Getty Images  Hong KongCNN —

All but one of the 100 cities with the world’s worst air pollution last year were in Asia, according to a new report, with the climate crisis playing a pivotal role in bad air quality that is risking the health of billions of people worldwide.

The vast majority of these cities — 83 — were in India and all exceeded the World Health Organization’s air quality guidelines by more than 10 times, according to the report by IQAir, which tracks air quality worldwide.

The study looked specifically at fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, which is the tiniest pollutant but also the most dangerous. Only 9% of more than 7,800 cities analyzed globally recorded air quality that met WHO’s standard, which says average annual levels of PM2.5 should not exceed 5 micrograms per cubic meter.    READ MORE...

Definitely Political

 

In The NEWS

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> The second round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament wraps; see Sweet 16 bracket (More) | The second round of the women's tournament continues today; see latest bracket (More)

> "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" hauls in $45M to lead domestic box office in its opening weekend (More)

> IRS investigating Los Angeles Dodgers' interpreter for Shohei Ohtani amid allegations he stole millions from Ohtani to cover gambling debt (More)


Science & Technology

In partnership with Timeline

> Flight startup Boom successfully carries out first live test of its supersonic aircraft; prototype is the first step in a planned supersonic commercial travel (More)

> Study suggests pregnancy accelerates biological age—the presence of genetic markers seen as bodies grow older—but the post-birth period may reverse many of the effects (More) | Biological age 101 (More)

> Engineers develop fingertip-sized device to detect toxic chemicals from pharmaceutical waste in water (More)


Business & Markets
> Markets close mixed Friday (Dow -0.8%, S&P 500 -0.1%, Nasdaq +0.2%); Dow drops more than 300 points Friday but still ends with best week since December (More) | FedEx shares jump 7.4% on better-than-expected quarterly profits (More)

> FBI notifies passengers of an Alaska Airlines flight aboard a Boeing 737 Max that lost a door-plug panel midflight they may be victims of a crime; news is the latest in a series of setbacks for the plane manufacturer (More)

> Dog longevity startup Loyal secures $45M in financing to continue development of age extension therapy for canines (More)


Politics & World Affairs
> Russia continues attacks against Ukrainian energy infrastructure early Sunday, fires over 50 drones and missiles in Lviv and Kyiv; Poland claims missile briefly entered its airspace (More) | See war updates (More)

> At least 137 Nigerian students freed Sunday after 17 days in captivity to gangs seeking ransom; number is only half of original group of 280 reportedly kidnapped March 7 in country's northwest Kaduna state (More) | Simon Harris, 37, to become Ireland's youngest prime minister once current PM Leo Varadkar steps down next month (More)

> Pope Francis does not deliver homily during Palm Sunday Mass amid respiratory challenges, a rare move to start off Holy Week (More) | What is Palm Sunday? (More)

SOURCE:  1440 News

Home Cooking

When my wife and I retired in 2015, she said she was no longer cooking except for a meal at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and one or two other special situations.  

She has maintained that position and I have supported her.  She sometimes cooks for herself or eats purchased salads or microwave meals.  We go out to eat once a week and she might bring home part of her meal and eat it the next day.

This has really left me cooking for myself which I do not find to be a problem since I support her desire not to cook.

I am not a cook, nor I make the claim to be a chef since most of the stuff I prepare, very few others would like my choices.  My meals are a combination of things and I hardly ever follow a recipe.  However, I always use extra virgin olive oil, pepper, sea salt, garlic, onions, and bell peppers.

My types of preparations include:  spaghetti sauce, lasagna, cakes, pies, casseroles, breads, fish, soups, and other dishes.  Other dishes might include:  rice, beans, veges, and some sort of meat like chicken, sausage, or vege burgers.  My soups are typically thick and include: veges, meats, broth, milk, potatoes, and cheese.  Sometimes, I will use a submersible blender to make everything smooth and creamy.

My breakfast meals are mostly simplistic but once in a while, I want to fry, onions, bell peppers, sausage, and combine scrambled eggs, creamy grits and top with Colby jack cheese.

I don't mind cooking but I hate cleaning all the dishes so I try whenever possible to cook everything in one pot or pan.

Next week, I plan to prepare, cook, and eat an oatmeal-raisin-apple cake.  For the most part, I will be following a recipe.

Accident

The Quantum Though Experiment

Quantum mystery In 1961 Eugene Wigner imagined a friend doing an experiment in a lab while he waits outside. The paradox is that Wigner and the friend predict different outcomes, yet both are right. (iStock/Floriana)








“Wigner’s friend” is a curious thought experiment that has stumped physicists and philosophers for more than 60 years. Robert P Crease, Jennifer Carter and Gino Elia advise on how to resolve this conundrum.

The quantum world provides fertile material for thought experiments that seem so strange-but-true as to defy logic. One of the most notorious is “Wigner’s friend”, which has challenged physicists and philosophers ever since it was first conceived by the Hungarian-American physicist Eugene Wigner. He published the thought experiment in a 1961 book edited by the mathematician Irving Good entitled The Scientist Speculates: an Anthology of Partly-baked Ideas.

Wigner’s thought experiment is a more humane version of Schrödinger’s less complex but more famous thought experiment a quarter century before, which involved a cat inside a box whose fate hangs on a quantum event. Inside the box Schrödinger’s cat is dead or alive, whereas for someone outside, the cat remains dead-and-alive; it’s in a “superposition”. The bizarre situation only vanishes when the box lid opens.     READ MORE...