Monday, August 12
Sunday, August 11
In The NEWS
Plane crashes in Brazil, killing all 61 people aboard.
The passenger plane, operated by Brazilian airline VoePass, crashed outside its destination of Sao Paulo. Authorities are still investigating the cause of the incident as of this writing. Video footage captured by a bystander shows a plane spiraling toward the ground in the city of Vinhedo; see footage here (warning—sensitive content).
Sha’Carri Richardson and US women's 4x100 relay team win gold.
The victory is Richardson's first Olympic gold medal and teammate Gabby Thomas's second. The US men's 4x100 relay team was disqualified, extending a 20-year streak without an Olympic medal. Separately, the US women's basketball team beat Australia to advance to the final, marking their eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal game. The US will face France Sunday. See latest medal count here.
Remnants of Debby pummel Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
Tornado and flood watches are in place through the weekend from the Carolinas to New England, with the weather service warning of up to 25 inches of rain in some areas. The death toll has risen to at least nine people. Debby made landfall in the US as a Category 1 hurricane on Florida's Gulf Coast Monday and as a tropical storm off South Carolina's coast Wednesday. It was downgraded Friday to a post-tropical storm with winds of 30 mph. Track Debby here.
Third suspect arrested in alleged terror plot at Taylor Swift concert.
An 18-year-old man was taken into custody a day after two other suspects were arrested for allegedly plotting a terrorist attack near the concert venue in Vienna, Austria. Swift canceled her three upcoming Eras Tour shows in the city, where roughly 195,000 people had been expected. At least one of the suspects is believed to be affiliated with ISIS.
Microsoft warns Iran hackers appear to target US election.
Iran is ramping up online activity that appears intended to influence the US election, Microsoft announced Friday. Iran's online activity includes propping up US-based news sites to target voters from opposite political parties to sow division and targeting a presidential campaign with a phishing attack (see 101). Iranian groups were also found to have impersonated US activists. See Microsoft's findings here.
Study finds serotonin changes how people react to adverse outcomes.
According to the study, people with increased serotonin levels were less sensitive to negative information, such as losing money in a game, and were able to control their behaviors better when encountering such moments. The findings shed light on serotonin's role beyond boosting positive moods.
WE, the PEOPLE are to BLAME
As I have mentioned several times before, I became involved and more acutely aware of politics in the 1960s and in particular 1966 when I was in my first year of college.
We had problems with:
- Racism
- Wages
- Education
- Healthcare
- Global relationships
- National Debt
- Gross Domestic Product
- Prices
- Manage "v" labor
- Vietnam war
- Government intrusion
NOW... almost 60 YEARS later, we are experiencing damn near the same problems with a few new problems added, mainly that revolve around technology and the censorship of conservatives and liberalism pushing hard toward socialism and going green.
While there is nothing wrong with going green, we are moving too quickly in that direction with proper infrastructure and what I think is KEY to our STUPIDITY is that very few other countries are actually planning to go green even though they have stated that they will. When other larger countries like: CHINA, RUSSIA, INDIA, AFRICA, SOUTH AMERICA say they are not jumping into going green because of the COST, then that makes us look FOOLISH.
BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY WHY HAS ALL OF THIS SURFACED RIGHT NOW???
BECAUSE.... we the people... voted for these assholes that are pushing for all of this.
We the people... elected these politicians and we are responsible for the way they are voting.
- We the people did this to ourselves.
- We cause the high national debt
- We caused inflation
- We caused racism
- We caused the rest of the world to hate us
- Inflation
- An increasing national debt
- A slow growing economy
- A global hatred for the USA
- Illegal Immigration
- Crime and Violence
- CRT & WOKE
- A weakened military
- Minimal law enforcement
- Electric Vehicles
- An end to gasoline
Wealthy Asteroid Now Visible
A NASA spacecraft is still on its way to explore an ultra-valuable, metal-rich asteroid. However, you don't have to wait for the space agency to beam back pictures of the so-called "golden asteroid" in a few years to see it. Per Astronomy Magazine,
Saturday, August 10
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Chi Chi Rodriguez, Hall of Fame golfer and eight-time PGA Tour winner born Juan Antonio Rodriguez, dies at age 88 (More)
> Paramount Global to lay off 15% of its US workforce in preparation for merger with Skydance Media (More)
> Colin Jost ends stint as Olympics correspondent in Tahiti after sustaining foot injury resulting in a staph infection (More)
Science & Technology
> Apple reportedly to release its smallest desktop to date, using the company's in-house built M4 chip (More)
> NASA discovers two new "super-Earth" exoplanets located dozens of light years away (More) | Everything you ever needed to know about NASA (More, w/video)
> Chemists discover new reaction to develop polymers for use in drug delivery, electronics, and more (More)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close higher (S&P 500 +2.3%, Dow +1.8%, Nasdaq +2.9%); S&P 500 notches best day since 2022 following latest labor market data (More) | US weekly jobless claims fall to 233,000 for week ending Aug. 3; figure is lower than estimates and largest drop in 11 months (More)
> Palantir shares close up 11% after announcing partnership with Microsoft; will sell secure cloud, analytics, and AI capabilities to US defense and intelligence agencies (More) | Bumble shares fall to all-time low in intraday trading after slashing annual revenue forecast (More)
> US mortgage rates fall to 15-month low, with average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 6.47%; total application volume rises 1% week-over-week (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> Former President Donald Trump, Vice President Kamala Harris agree to participate in Sept. 10 presidential debate on ABC; Trump says he has proposed two more debates on Fox and NBC (More) | See latest polls (More)
> Japan issues major earthquake warning after 7.1-magnitude earthquake strikes off eastern coast of southern Japanese island of Kyushu (More) | Tropical Storm Debby makes second US landfall in South Carolina, with flood threat expanding to northeast US; death toll rises to seven as of this writing (More)
> Barcelona police search for former Catalonia leader Carles Puigdemont, who returned to Spain despite an outstanding arrest warrant over his failed 2017 independence bid; two officers arrested for allegedly assisting in his getaway (More)
Am I Better Off?
My wife and I have more money at our disposal than we have ever had before in our married lives, because we had developed and implemented a savings plan. Therefore, the longer you live, based upon our plan, the more money we are able to save.
Not everyone is in our same situation, so it is really difficult to make a comparison other than to say that SAVING MONEY is the key or at least one of the keys as the other one is NOT SPENDING.
Obviously, couple have to spend money to pay their bills but after bills are paid, what you spend your money on needs to be addressed.
- Is you home bigger than you really need?
- How much debt do you carry or add annually?
- Do you buy the most expensive?
- How much do you spend on:
- clothes?
- vacations?
- birthdays?
- holidays?
- entertainment?
- inflation
- nursing care
- out of pocket medical
- no state income tax
- low cost of living
- excellent healthcare
- no much traffic or crime
- people are laid back
- moderate annual weather
- plenty of recreation
- people here love their second amendment
Nuclear Reactor Breakthrough
The US has set a target to produce 100 percent of its electricity using renewable energy sources by 2035, and nuclear power will play a major role in its clean energy transition.
About 20 percent of all the electricity produced in the US already comes from nuclear power plants. However, this isn’t enough. If the country wants to become a leader in the clean energy space, it needs to boost its nuclear energy program and make its nuclear plants more efficient than ever.
A big issue with nuclear reactors is their dependency on nickel-based alloys, which are expensive and are abundantly found in countries (like Russia, Indonesia, Philippines) that are not always on good terms with the US. Moreover, the high moisture content of nickel ore poses transport challenges as well.
Addressing these issues, a team of researchers from Department of Energy‘s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory (AGL) have developed a framework to find material that could replace these nickel-based alloys. Using their framework, the AGL team identified and tested some promising materials.
In fact, the researchers have identified a new material that can successfully endure intense radiation testing and withstand extreme reactor conditions for extended periods. READ MORE...
Friday, August 9
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Taylor Swift cancels three upcoming Eras Tour shows in Vienna, Austria, after two men, at least one affiliated with ISIS, were arrested for allegedly plotting a terrorist attack near the venue (More)
> Hampton Morris becomes first American man to medal in weightlifting since 1984, capturing bronze (More) | Team USA takes on Serbia today (3 pm ET, USA) in men's basketball semifinals (More) | See latest medal count (More)
> NFL preseason begins in earnest tonight; see preview for all 32 teams (More) | Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh effectively banned from college athletics until 2028 for "unethical conduct" while serving as Michigan's head coach (More)
Science & Technology
> New device provides first easy-to-use measurement of real-time blood pressure in any place on the body; applications may include at-home health monitoring and use in remote areas with limited access to healthcare (More)
> Researchers attach cameras to eight endangered sea lions, map out nearly 2,000 miles of uncharted ocean floor off the coast of Australia (More)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close lower (S&P 500 -0.8%, Dow -0.6%, Nasdaq -1.0%) as shares of technology companies decline (More)
> Shopify shares close up 18% after e-commerce software giant tops Q2 revenue and earnings estimates (More) | Warner Bros. Discovery shares fall 10% in after-hours trading after reporting $9B impairment charge (More) | Impairment charges 101 (More)
> Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway now holds roughly $235B worth of investments in US Treasury bills, more than the Federal Reserve (More) | What are Treasury bills? (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> Tropical Storm Debby hovers off the coast of the Carolinas, with the region bracing for a second landfall (More) | 5.2-magnitude earthquake strikes Bakersfield in Southern California Tuesday, causing dozens of aftershocks but no reports of deaths or damage (More)
> Rep. Cori Bush (D, MO-1) loses to prosecutor Wesley Bell (D) in second-most expensive Democratic congressional primary in history, with $18M spent on candidates' ads, $8.5M from pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC (More)
> Russia declares a state of emergency in the border region of Kursk after Ukraine launches a rare cross-border ground assault (More) | See war updates (More)
The 2024 Presidential Election Race is ON
Will 51% of the American people elect Trump or Harris?
Make sure that you understand the above sentence... 51% because while that is a majority, it does not reflect the WHOLE COUNTRY.
Our divided country will still be a problem no matter who wins... so, the question is, who will control CONGRESS?
House?
Senate?
Yes, either President will write EXECUTIVE ORDERS to get MOST if not ALL of their work and goals accomplished... BUT whoever wins will be FORCING THEIR AGENDA on almost HALF THE COUNTRY.
SO, what does that mean?
Well... let's start with the mainstream media.
- If Harris wins, the mainstream media will be PRAISING every damn thing she wants to do.
- If Trump wins, the mainstream media will be condemning everything damn thing he want to do.
- The Democrats want:
- More illegal immigration
- Mor government programs
- To continue increasing the national debt
- Less law enforcement
- More whites in prison to balance out the blacks
- A weakened military
- Higher Taxes
- Not to see China as our enemy
- More countries to have nuclear weapons
- A weakened and/or destroyed Israel
- Censorship of the conservative voice
- Government supported DEI programs
Brain Fibers & Quantum Entanglement
Most scientists have resisted the concept that quantum physics plays any role in the brain — an environment that Physicist Max Tegmark argued would be “too wet, warm and noisy” for quantum mechanics to play a meaningful role in cognition or consciousness..
However, recent research from China suggests that quantum entanglement—a phenomenon Albert Einstein famously dubbed “spooky action at a distance”—might play a role in the synchronization of neurons in the human brain, according to a New Scientist article.
The study, peer-reviewed in Physical Review E and also referenced in the online pre-print server ArXiv, examine the potential mechanisms by which quantum entanglement could impact neural synchronization and cognition. While both studies propose innovative ideas, they acknowledge the speculative nature of their findings and emphasize the need for further empirical validation. READ MORE...