Thursday, August 29
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Travis and Jason Kelce sign three-year deal with Amazon's Wondery worth a reported $100M for exclusive distribution rights to their "New Heights" podcast (More)
> Leonard Riggio, who was chairman of Barnes & Noble bookstore for nearly 50 years, dies at age 83 of Alzheimer's disease (More) | Alzheimer's explained (More, watch)
> NASCAR to host Cup Series race in Mexico City in 2025, its first-ever points-paying event outside the US (More) | What is a points-paying race? (More) | NFL owners approve plan to allow up to 10% private equity ownership per franchise (More)
Science & Technology
> Security researchers say Chinese government-backed hackers targeted US internet service providers in recent months; analysts say goal was to use hack as an entry point to access corporate networks (More)
> New AI-powered model predicts whether a person's brain is aging at a faster rate than their chronological age; platform analyzes how well different brain regions communicate with each other (More)
> Event Horizon Telescope makes highest-ever resolution detection of black hole details made from Earth; advance offers a 50% increase in detail of the objects and their surrounding region (More) | Black holes explained (More, watch)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close higher (S&P 500 +0.2%, Dow +0.0%, Nasdaq +0.2%) (More) | Nvidia earnings report today expected to show triple-digit revenue growth for fourth straight quarter amid AI boom (More)
> Home prices reach record high in June, up 5.4% year-over-year per S&P Case-Shiller Index; New York, San Diego, and Las Vegas see highest jumps (More)
> Lyft tests rider verification program in nine US cities after announcing pet-friendly rides earlier in the week, following similar Uber initiatives (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> Special counsel Jack Smith files revised indictment accusing former President Donald Trump of 2020 election subversion; indictment includes same four counts but limits scope of evidence per last month's Supreme Court decision (More) | See previous write-up (More) | Trump adds ex-Democrats Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to transition team (More)
> Israel rescues 52-year-old hostage from Gaza's underground tunnel, the eighth hostage to be rescued in a military operation since the 11-month war began; Israel says 108 hostages remain in Gaza, with 40 dead (More) | See war updates (More)
> Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg writes in letter to House Judiciary Committee the Biden administration pressured Meta to remove content related to COVID-19 in 2021; also said the company temporarily demoted content related to Hunter Biden's laptop in 2020 while fact-checkers investigated the story (More)
SOURCE: 1440 NEWS
Legacies
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What is a legacy?
It is something that we leave behind to our spouse and children when we die.
The typical legacy is a life insurance policy, a house, and some personal property.
Those who are wealthy want to leave behind much more. They want a building, or a town named after them. Some will settle for a bridge or a river.
Oddly enough, two generations after someone's death, the legacy they left behind is all but forgotten, which leaves me wondering why they wanted to leave that kind of legacy in the first place.
US Presidents like to leave behind ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
What will Biden be remembered for?
Illegal Immigration and Inflation
What will Trump be remembered for?
Impeachment & an outstanding economy
What will Obama be remembered for?
First black president... (maybe)
What will Clinton be remembered for?
Oral sex in the oval office
What will Bush be remembered for?
The 9/11 attack
What will be your legacy?
As our economy worsens, it is doubtful that the common individual or couple will be able to leave behind too much of anything.
I know from reading history books, that our ancestors expected their children to be better off financially than they were. That worked for several generations and then children found themselves in positions where they were living no better than their parents and some were worse off.
Not much of a legacy there...
Plasma Instabilities Observed
Whether between galaxies or within doughnut-shaped fusion devices known as tokamaks, the electrically charged fourth state of matter known as plasma regularly encounters powerful magnetic fields, changing shape and sloshing in space.
Now, a new measurement technique using protons, subatomic particles that form the nuclei of atoms, has captured details of this sloshing for the first time, potentially providing insight into the formation of enormous plasma jets that stretch between the stars.
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) created detailed pictures of a magnetic field bending outward because of the pressure created by expanding plasma.
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) created detailed pictures of a magnetic field bending outward because of the pressure created by expanding plasma.
As the plasma pushed on the magnetic field, bubbling and frothing known as magneto-Rayleigh Taylor instabilities arose at the boundaries, creating structures resembling columns and mushrooms. READ MORE...
Wednesday, August 28
Once Upon a Time
This photo was taken in the summer of 1972 when I was twenty-five years of age. I had just gotten an honorable discharge from the US Navy. I was stationed at the Naval Base in Norfolk, VA and Admiral Zumwalt was CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS (CNO).
I owned a 1967 Plymouth Barracuda convertible, living in the Piedmont of North Carolina, was married and had a 6-month-old daughter. I was working full time and was getting ready to return to college in the fall, where I attended as a full-time student while continuing to work full-time.
Being full-time in both these areas was difficult but I managed. My family and I pretty much lived paycheck to paycheck, did not feel disadvantaged even though we did not generate much revenue with both of us working.
I went to classes in the mornings, worked 8 hours as soon as I arrived at work, and then went home and studied or did homework for several hours. I went to three classes on M-W-F and two classes on T-TH and got to work by noon. Home by 8:30 pm and studied until midnight. I always worked a half day on Saturdays.
Life was simple but good and oftentimes rewarding especially because I was in a position to watch my daughter grow rather than always be on a business trip like my father was when I was growing up. In the summertime, we always had a vegetable garden of corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, carrots, potatoes, bell peppers, lettuce, cabbage, and melons.
We were no different than our neighbors... it was just what everyone did back then.
There were no racial tensions back then, at least where I lived, no worries about drunk drivers, crime and violence, and no problems with migrants who worked in the fields around us.
- Gas was cheap.
- Food was cheap.
- Clothes were cheap.
- Car maintenance was reasonable.
- Medical issues were non-existent.
- Neighbors helped each other.
WHY DID LIFE HAVE TO CHANGE???
Neighbors
Last year, my wife and I downsized our house and yard... we are now living on one level...
We moved around the corner from where we were living... so, we are in the same community.
Our neighbors on either side of us and across the street are all retired and while we are not all the same age, we are in our late 60s to mid 70s. All of us are veterans but not all of us have college degrees and yet, we all pretty much have the same amount of retirement income based upon the way we are living, even though none of our finances have been shared with each other.
We all have medical conditions, some worse than others, but those conditions seem to be the topic of discussion, every time we find ourselves outside at the same time and join together in discussion.
While we talk a little politics, we realize that there is not a damn thing that we can do about what concerns us and we all know that regardless of what happens in Washington DC, our quality of life WILL NOT CHANGE even though we may have to pay a little more for that quality.
We look back on our lives and only seems to talk about the good times, never the bad times, unless they are CURRENT. The past is always positive.
What have we really learned from our relatively long life so far?
Well, I suppose not much but on the other side of the coin, I suppose a great deal.
First - we are all still alive
Second - we are all retired (with stories)
Third - we all have children and grandchildren
Fourth - we all own our homes and have no debt
Fifth - we all have gratitude for what we have
Sixth - we all have learned patience and tolerance
Seventh - we all have friends
Eighth - we all have pets
Ninth - we all hope for the best but expect the worst
Tenth - we all have contingency plans
Eleventh - we all don't take ourselves too seriously
Twelfth - we all go out for lunch or dinner often
Thirtieth - we all go on multiple vacations
Fourteenth - we all keep ourselves busy
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> NFL teams must cut rosters down to 53 players by 4 pm ET; see latest cuts for all 32 franchises (More) | Dallas Cowboys to sign wide receiver CeeDee Lamb to four-year, $136M deal, the second-largest nonquarterback deal ever (More)
> Oasis to make announcement this morning, rumored to be of a reunion 15 years after the iconic British band broke up (More)
> Boston Red Sox catcher Danny Jansen becomes first MLB player to play for both teams in a single game after facing the Toronto Blue Jays, resuming a rain-delayed game he started for Toronto in June before being traded to Boston in July (More)
Science & Technology
> Apple announces date for its annual product event Monday, Sept. 9; company is expected to reveal iPhone 16, new Apple Watch and AirPod models (More)
> World's most sensitive particle experiment narrows down candidates of what may make up dark matter, eliminating hypothetical particles known as WIMPs over a certain size (More) | What is dark matter, one of the most significant remaining mysteries in science? (More)
> Brain study reveals different clusters of neurons involved in processing language that operate at different speeds; researchers suggest some regions interpret individual words while others analyze context (More)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 -0.3%, Dow +0.2%, Nasdaq -0.9%); Dow Jones hits all-time intraday high as S&P 500, Nasdaq fall from broad decline in tech shares (More)
> Uber hit by record $324M fine in Netherlands for sending Dutch user data to the US, breaching European Union's privacy laws (More) | Canada imposes 100% tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, including those made by Tesla, matching US tariffs (More)
> Red Lobster's new owners tap former PF Chang's CEO to lead the world’s largest seafood chain as part of its bankruptcy exit plan (More) | Media veteran Edgar Bronfman Jr. drops bid for Paramount Global (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> Russia strikes Ukrainian power grids in barrage of roughly 200 missiles and drones, killing at least seven people and wounding at least 47 others; attack appears to be one of Russia's biggest since the war began (More) | Chinese military aircraft reportedly breaches Japan's airspace in first-known incursion since records began in 1958 (More)
> Judge temporarily halts Biden administration policy offering permanent residency to certain immigrants without legal status in the US who are married to US citizens (More) | Jury selection begins in trial against mass shooting suspect accused of killing 10 people at a Boulder, Colorado, supermarket in March 2021 (More)
> Massachusetts towns on high alert over rare eastern equine encephalitis virus; virus is spread to humans from the bite of an infected mosquito, with an average of 11 human cases reported in the US annually (More) | See EEE overview (More)
SOURCE: 1440 NEWS
Back to School
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How does US education rank in the world?
As of now, the United States education ranking is in the 13th place with a score of 0.883, trailing behind countries like Germany (2nd) and New Zealand (3rd). In the QS World University Rankings 2023, 11 out of the top 20 universities are American, including prestigious institutions like MIT, Stanford, and Harvard. Source: EssayHub
How about that?
When I was in K-12 (1950/1060), the US educational ranking was NUMBER ONE...
What happened?
More importantly....
How do our universities rank so HIGH if the high school graduates are ranked THIRTEENTH?
Parents don't seem to care about their uneducated children either because THEY DO NOTHING ABOUT IT...
Elementary School prepares students for Junior High and Junior High prepares students for High School and High School prepares students for College and College prepares students for Graduate School, and Graduate School prepares students for their Doctorate degrees.
NOWHERE...
does US education prepares students to go out into the workforce (without college) to work... interestingly most of the jobs that are available to potential workers do not require college degrees.
We CANNOT have a workforce of all college educated people - there simply are not enough jobs available at that level.
Our educational system is failing our students and we as parents are just allowing it to happen, willing to trust those who are telling us EVERYTHING IS PERFECT TO ALMOST PERFECT.
Is that what you want for your child or children?
Patient's Progress on Neuralink
"Similar to Noland, Our first participant, Alex broke the previous world record for BCI cursor control with a non-Neurlink device on day one of using Link,” reported Neuralink.
Alex continued testing the capabilities of his Link implant independently by playing the first-person shooter game Counter-Strike 2. He also started learning how to design 3D objects with computer-aided design (CAD) software.
On his second day with Link, Alex used CAD software Fusion 360 to design a custom mount for his Neuralink charger. Alex’s design was 3D-printed and integrated into his setup.
“Taking an idea, putting it as a design, and actually having a physical item as a finished product makes me feel like I’m building things again,” Alex said.
Alex likes building things. He worked as an automotive technician before his spinal injury. Link will enable Alex to continue performing tasks he enjoys.
Tuesday, August 27
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