Monday, August 5
GREED: Power and Control
Quantum Mechanics United with General Relativity
These two theories, which have been the foundation of physics for over a century, have long been at odds with each other, and their unification has remained an elusive quest.
Today, we dive into the world of quantum gravity, a field of study that aims to bridge the gap between the quantum realm, which governs the behavior of particles at the smallest scales, and the macroscopic world, where gravity shapes the very fabric of spacetime.
While the prevailing consensus has been that Einstein's theory of gravity must be modified to fit within the framework of quantum theory, a new theory, coined as a "postquantum theory of classical gravity," challenges this assumption in a thought-provoking way. READ MORE...
Sunday, August 4
My Retired Life
My wife and I have been retired since 2015 or almost 9 years at the end of 2024. Our health is not excellent but moderate to good when compared to other people our age (76/71).
My wife is about to have her second hip replacement and has been in cancer remission for over five years. She is suffering from severe arthritis in her spine, whereas I am a little worse off with a fused lower back (5 disks), heart disease (2009 heart attack), and I am currently under treatment for two cancers (lymphoma and melanoma).
While my illnesses may seem like a lot, I still feel fairly healthy from one day to the next except for daily fatigue. Daily fatigue is a result of my current treatments plus the fact that I have been receiving treatments for sixteen years. Symptoms build up in your body over a period of time.
My daily routine:
- I am usually awake and out of the bed by 7:30/8:00 am.
- After peeing and taking my thyroid pill, I give a treat to our three cats and let them outside.
- Coffee is made and I watch FOX News for no more than two hours while I allow the caffeine to stimulate my bowels.
- Breakfast is made and eaten while I work on my two daily blogs.
- My blog activities usually take me to noon or 1:00pm.
- My morning pills are taken.
- Lunch is made
- I work on my novels for 2-3 or 3-4 hours in the afternoon, in and around mowing the yard and/or weed eating (outside activities last 60-90 minutes).
- There is sometimes an afternoon nap of 1-2 hours
- Dinner is made.
- A movie is watched in the evening, or I listen to an audible book.
- I will read postings on "X" or watch a Dan Bongino podcast on Rumble.
- Take my evening pills
- Go to bed sometime between 9:00-10:00pm
- family doctor
- oncologist
- dermatologist
- cardiologist
- treatments
- urologist
- physical therapy
- ENT visits
- Dentist
- UT Medical Center is 45 minutes away
- Knoxville airport is 60 minutes away
- Grocery stores and gas stations are 1-2 miles away
- Restaurants are 10 miles or less away
- Smokey Mtns are 60 minutes away
Our Political System
There is a very small independent party and while there have been several independents elected to Congress, they are in a minority and usually vote with the Democrats.
However, inside the Democratic Party, you have Progressive Democrats, Traditional Democrats, and Socialistic Democrats. Within the Republican Party, traditional conservatives, religious conservatives, and pragmatic conservatives.
Unfortunately, all these political divisions, alone, are not strong enough to form several different parties that compete for the general public vote. Consequently, and for the most part, the general public is completely dissatisfied with both political parties because neither party is really doing anything for the general public other than doing what THEY THINK IS BEST for their constituents or what will get them re-elected.
At the present time, the Democratic Party has the added support of the mainstream media, and numerous federal agencies, as well as numerous big tech companies to help them spread their message. In so doing, there are numerous instances of where the conservative voice HAS BEEN CENSORED.
IF AND WHEN, the conservative party is so censored that they never again have an opportunity to control the Congress (House and/or Senate) or get elected to the Presidency, then America, BY DEFAULT, becomes a one party ruled country.
Here are examples of one party ruled countries:
- Russia
- China
- North Korea
- Iran
- Cuba
In The NEWS
US regulators sue TikTok over child privacy violations.
The Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission filed the challenge against the video-sharing app and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, Friday. The regulators allege TikTok breached a federal law requiring services to obtain parental consent to collect personal information from children under 13. TikTok has roughly 170 million active US users, while ByteDance faces a legal deadline from the US government to sell TikTok or withdraw from the US market.
Harris secures Democratic nomination for president.
Vice President Kamala Harris made history Friday as the first Black woman and Asian American to become a presidential nominee from a major party in the US. Harris secured a majority of the votes (at least 2,350) needed for the nomination a day after voting opened. She will accept the nomination next week.
Hunter Biden to be sentenced in November for gun conviction.
The younger Biden became the first convicted child of a sitting US president in June when a jury found him guilty of three felony charges related to lying about his drug use in 2018 when purchasing a gun. Hunter Biden will be sentenced Nov. 13 in the gun case and faces a different trial in September for separate tax-related charges.
Intel shares plunge the most in 50 years.
Intel's shares fell 26% Friday, marking the chipmaker's second-largest single-day drop, behind a 31% drop in July 1974. The company's shares were trading at a level last seen in 2013. The decline came a day after Intel announced it would cut 15% of its workforce and pause dividends beginning in the fourth quarter as part of cost-cutting measures.
Chevron to relocate to Texas from California.
America's second-largest oil and gas company is moving its global headquarters from California—its home state for more than 140 years—to Houston, Texas, considered the US energy capital. The announcement comes weeks after Elon Musk said X (formerly Twitter) and SpaceX would move their headquarters from California to Texas and follows a growing trend.
Tropical storm warning issued for parts of Florida.
As of this writing, a developing system in the eastern Gulf of Mexico is expected to turn into Tropical Storm Debby today and drench the west coast of Florida this weekend. Up to a foot of rain is possible in some areas of the state, with flash flooding and heavy rainfall to continue through next week.
Prisoner SWAP
Meditation and Mindfulness
Since mindfulness is something, you can practice at home for free, it often sounds like the perfect tonic for stress and mental health issues.
Mindfulness is a type of Buddhist-based meditation in which you focus on being aware of what you're sensing, thinking, and feeling in the present moment.
The first recorded evidence for this, found in India, is over 1,500 years old. The Dharmatrāta Meditation Scripture, written by a community of Buddhists, describes various practices and includes reports of symptoms of depression and anxiety that can occur after meditation.
It also details cognitive anomalies associated with episodes of psychosis, dissociation, and depersonalisation (when people feel the world is "unreal").
In the past eight years there has been a surge of scientific research in this area. These studies show that adverse effects are not rare.
A 2022 study, using a sample of 953 people in the US who meditated regularly, showed that over 10 percent of participants experienced adverse effects which had a significant negative impact on their everyday life and lasted for at least one month.
According to a review of over 40 years of research that was published in 2020, the most common adverse effects are anxiety and depression. These are followed by psychotic or delusional symptoms, dissociation or depersonalization, and fear or terror. READ MORE...
Educational???
is the longest word typed with only the left hand
And "lollipop"
is the longest word typed with your right hand.
(Bet you tried this out mentally, didn't you?)
No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple.
"Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt".
(Are you doubting this?)
Our eyes are always the same size from birth,
but our nose and ears
never stop growing.
The sentence:
"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog"
uses every letter of the alphabet.
(Now, you KNOW you're going to try this out for accuracy, right?
The words 'racecar,'
'kayak'
and 'level'
are the same whether they are read
left to right or right to left (palindromes).
(Yep, I knew you were going to "do" this one.)
There are only four words in the English language which end in "dous": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.
(You're not doubting this, are you?)
There are two words in the English language that have all five vowels in order: "abstemious" and "facetious."
(Yes, admit it, you are going to say, a e i o u)
TYPEWRITER is the longest word
that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.
(All you typists are going to test this out)
A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.
A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.
(Some days that's about what my memory span is.)
A "jiffy" is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.
A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.
A snail can sleep for three years.
(I know some people that could do this too.!)
Almonds are a member of the peach family.
An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
(I know some people like that also)
Babies are born without kneecaps. They don't appear until the child reaches 2 to 6 years of age.
February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.
In the last 4,000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.
If the population of China walked past you, 8 abreast, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.
Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors
Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite!
Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.
The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.
The cruise liner, QE 2
moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.
The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.
(Good thing he did that.)
The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls froze completely solid.
There are more chickens than people in the world.
Winston Churchill
was born in a ladies' room during a dance.
Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
Bonus!! All the ants in Africa weigh more than ALL the Elephants!!
Now you know (a little) more than you did before!!
The Rain-Thomas Kinkade
This is a Thomas Kinkade painting It's rumored to carry a miracle! They say if you pass this on, you will receive a miracle.