Somewhat Political

 

Around the Corner

 The United States is the undisputed heavyweight when it comes to the economies of the world. America's gross domestic product in 2022 was more than 40% greater than that of China, the world No. 2. Even more striking, U.S. GDP was over five times that of the next two largest economies, Japan and Germany.

The United States is by far the BEST place in the world to live in terms of what is made available to its citizens, legal immigrants, and visitors.  What is made available that other countries cannot match is:

• Freedoms
• Military Protection
• Healthcare
• Quality of Life
• Economic Opportunities
• National Resources
• Quality of Food
• Quality of Housing
• Quality of Entertainment
• Quality of Vacations
• Quality of Retail Stores

A few years ago, I would have added education to this list, but the USA is no longer the world's leader of quality education.

While the economy of the USA leads the world, there is an ever-increasing wealth gap between the wealthy and the middle class.  However, this wealth gap is a NATURAL BYPRODUCT of CAPITALISM...  and the younger generation is not too keen on this concept being perpetuated.

More and more, there is a growing sentiment that the WEALTHY should be the ones that pay for everyone else through HIGHER TAXES and not being able to shelter their money from taxes.

These young Americans want:

• A guaranteed income whether they work or not
• Free Education
• Free Healthcare
• Free Housing
• Free Clothing
• Free Food

These young Americans want the GOVERNMENT to become their parents once they graduate from high school and can finally be on their own.

It is doubtful that the WEALTHY AMERICANS and BILLIONAIRES will agree to this kind of extortion, but I suppose stranger things have happened here in the USA recently like trans females competing against females and winning everything.

What our government first has to come to terms with is the 15-20 million ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS that are already inside the USA who bring NO SKILLS with them.

How are they going to:

• buy food
• buy clothes
• pay for housing
• pay for healthcare

If the government FORCES the middle class to pay for these demands, there is a good possibility that a new President and Congress will be elected as a form of retaliation.

If the government FORCES the wealthy and billionaires to pay for this, there is a good possibility that they will resist by shutting down their companies so that there will be no income to tax.

What the government has not thought about is the NATIONAL DEBT that is hanging over our heads and the fact that if we cannot pay our debtors, then the REST OF THE WORLD will retaliate against us.

No one knows what that might look like.

ADDITIONALLY, humanoid robots with AI will soon be taking jobs, and the jobs that the government claims will be made available to HUMANS will end up NOT BEING THERE...

YOU DON'T BELIEVE THAT THE GOVERNMENT AND THE BIG TECH COMPANIES ARE ACTUALLY GOING TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH, DO YOU???

Wake Up

Unlimited Power Source Deep Inside the Earth

Scientists and engineers at Quaise Energy, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology spinoff

have made a significant breakthrough in harnessing an abundant, largely untapped energy source beneath our feet using powerful microwave-emitting drills called gyrotrons.

Many energy companies and governments are eyeing geothermal energy — produced by extracting hot water and steam in underground reservoirs heated by Earth's core to generate power — as a way to bolster intermittent energy from solar and wind power.

Diversifying energy sources is also critical to reducing the planet-warming pollution driving extreme weather, worldwide crop failures, and higher energy prices because of increased strain on the grid. A well-rounded renewable energy mix will help lower energy bills while safeguarding people from the increasing threat of natural disasters.  READ MORE...

The Middle Class

 

Rolling Stones Live

 

King's Tomb Discovered in China

Archaeologists have unearthed a luxurious 2,200-year-old tomb in eastern China, the largest, highest-ranking, and most structurally complex ever unearthed, which may have belonged to an emperor of the state of Chu during a critical period in Chinese history.

Chu was one of the seven Warring States, along with Qin, Han, Wei, Zhao, Qi, and Yan. The unification of these states is recognized as the start of modern China.

The 2,200-year-old Wuwangdun tomb, which is situated in the Anhui Province of East China’s city of Huainan, has yielded over 1,000 artifacts, including figurines, musical instruments, bronze goods, and everyday utensils and lacquerware artifacts, dating to about 220 BC.

At Wuwangdun, one of the largest-scale Chu state archaeological sites, researchers previously uncovered a cemetery spanning 1.5sqkm, with a chariot and sacrifice pits and a tomb, believed to be that of the cemetery’s owner.     READ MORE...

Somewhat Political

 

Why Should I CARE?

 

Most of the people that are in the news today, are offering their opinion about a variety of things, such as:

• Illegal Immigration
• Inflation
• Death of Gasoline
• The Rule of Law
• Education
• The American Dream
• Anti-American Beliefs
• Being WOKE
• Transgendered

Most, if not all, of these comments and opinions are coming from DEMOCRATS, SOCIALISTS, and/or those who are simply against what America stands for...

So, what does America stand for?

That depends on if you are liberal or conservative.

Conservative thinking people favor capitalism and the free-market enterprise system.

Liberal thinking people DO NOT favor any of those.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, our democracy is predicated upon the fact that the MAJORITY RULES whether the minority likes it or not.

Right now, the majority is leaning towards an end of Democracy and our two-party form of government with the understanding that the only viable party is the liberal party.

If this is what the majority WANTS, then this is what the majority should HAVE.

While everything is moving into the direction of the liberals, it may still take a decade or two (maybe less) for this transition to become 100% complete.  That is to say that, right now and not counting the illegal immigrants, the USA is divided 50/50 between liberals and conservatives.

Illegal Immigrants will CHANGE those demographics as the influence of these illegal immigrants will be to CHANGE THE USA FOREVER...

It will not be surprising at all for the demographics to change from 50/50 to 60/40 before 2030 and since we are already well into 2024 that is not very far into the future at all.

Once those demographics change from 50/50 to 52/48 the transition will be unstoppable and will progressive separate further.

What does this mean for the USA?

1. The USA will no longer be a super power
2. The USA will lean more towards Socialism
3. Opposing political views will not be tolerated
4. Education will become more watered-down
5. Equity/Equality will be more important than skill/knowledge
6. Female athletics will disappear into Trans Athletics
7. Our taxes will increase substantially
8. Humanoid Robots with AI will replace jobs
9. There will be no gasoline vehicles only EVs
10. Our power grid will be substantially overhauled
11. The US middle class will disappear
12. The USA will be no better/worse than any other country
13. The religion of Islam will replace Christianity
14. China/Russia will be our economy leaders
15. All countries will have nuclear war capabilities

In 2030, I will be 83 years of age and really will no longer give a shit as to what happens to the USA or to the rest of the world for that matter.  The great American experiment of 1776 will be DESTROYED, and no one will care what Americans think nor will they care what they do.  

The global economy will have shifted to ASIA...

Down the Steps

 

Archaeological Mystery Solved

Ancient symbols on a 2,700-year-old temple, which have baffled experts for more than a century, have been explained by Trinity Assyriologist Dr. Martin Worthington.

The sequence of "mystery symbols" was on view on temples at various locations in ancient city of Dūr-Šarrukīn, present-day Khorsabad, Iraq, which was ruled by Sargon II, king of Assyria (721–704 BC).

The sequence of five symbols—a lion, eagle, bull, fig tree and plow—was first made known to the modern world through drawings published by French excavators in the late nineteenth century. Since then, there has been a spate of ideas about what the symbols might mean.     READ MORE...

New York vs Trump

 

Start me Up

 

Our Garden

 

Before my wife and left on our vacation, we put together a small garden at our new home.  At our old house that we sold a year ago, our garden was composed of 4 garden boxes with dimensions about four feet by three feet.

At our new house, we had the space for a similar arrangement but did not want to invest that much money in materials, especially at our age.

We found some landscaping ties left under the house by the old owners and we attached them down one side of the house in the back yard.  It is about 40-50 feet long and about 2 feet wide, so it is not large enough to plant much.

At one end we have squash and zucchini, the cucumbers, tomatoes, and green peppers.

I built the makeshift planting box and poured in the garden soil and my wife did all the planting.  Over the years, I have learned not to say anything negative about her planting style but she likes to plant stuff too close together.  As they grow, there is simply not going to be enough room.

I think this is especially true for the tomato plants, but I said nothing.  However, I think all the other plants were spaced properly for good growth, but what do I know.  We will just have to see how it goes.

My interest with the garden is eating fresh squash and zucchini - cooking them in the frying pan with onions - or perhaps dicing them to put in a soup.

Whether or not we continue to do this each summer will depend on how much out bodies can take of bending over and lifting.  We may soon find ourselves buying our summer veges from a farmer's market.

The Short Trip

Inside Your Little Brain

With a name that means 'little brain' in Latin, the cerebellum comprises just 10 percent of the entire brain's mass. Don't let that small size fool you, though; with more than three-quarters of the brain's neurons packed within that small space, there's a lot going on inside.

Traditionally it's thought this part of the nervous system located at the base of the skull is mostly concerned with coordinating motor functions like balance and movement. Now new research backs up a hypothesis that's gathering momentum: it also plays a key role in learning.

In this new study, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and Columbia University wanted to build on previous research identifying the cerebellum's posterior-lateral region as playing a role connecting what we see to the movements we make.     READ MORE...

Steve Miller Band

 

Athletic Expressions

 

Vacation 2024

 My wife and I are leaving today for a week-long vacation because we need a break from our life of retirement...  LOL

We decided to take a vacation twice a year when we first got married thirty years ago and we have never reduced this goal but have sometimes increased it.

In 2015, we both retired and until COVID shut everything down, for about 5 years we took a vacation every other month.  Those vacations included:

• Cruises to the Caribbean, Alaska, Hawaii, and the Mediterranean.
• Several flights to Los Vegas, Vancouver, Europe, the United Kingdom, Texas, Mexico, New Orleans, and Florida.
• And always two weeks at Myrtle Beach, SC.

Even though COVID halted our traveling, we were both losing interest in traveling so much and since we really enjoyed Myrtle Beach and knew what to expect when going there, we decided to just go there twice a year.

However, we did not want to go there when there were a lot of tourists going there as well, so we decided to go before and after the season.  This meant May and September.

Myrtle Beach in May is not always that warm, so this year we decided to go to Florida.

So, today we are on our way to Ft Lauderdale to spend a couple of days at a resort FREE OF CHARGE and listen to a presentation, then drive to St Augustine for another five days until returning to TN.

The presentation will give a $100 just for listening, so we will use that money to pay for our gasoline there and back.

Twelve hours down to Ft Lauderdale, stopping after 8 hours, then continuing on Sunday.  Tuesday, we drive north 3 or so hours to St. Augustine, then five days later, will only have an 8-hour drive back to TN.

We will take chairs and umbrellas with us as many of the resorts do not provide them on the beach.

I will share the highlights of our days on vacation as they unfold but I do not expect spectacular to happen.

Dancing Birds