In The NEWS

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> UK government to investigate Ticketmaster over its "dynamic pricing" following soaring opening day prices for Oasis' reunion concert (More) | US judge puts temporary hold on former President Donald Trump's campaign from using popular Isaac Hayes song amid lawsuit by the late singer's estate (More)

> James Darren, former teen idol known for starring roles in "Gidget" and "T.J. Hooker," dies at age 88 (More)

> Georgia leads first regular season AP college football Top 25 poll after Week 1 games; Ohio State and Texas round out the top three (More)


Science & Technology
> Clearview AI fined $34M by Dutch regulators for violating European privacy laws; officials say company collected biometric information via facial images without getting consent (More) | Listen to a deep dive on Clearview AI (More)

> SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission officially cleared to launch, scheduled to blast off Friday; fully private flight will take humans roughly 870 miles away from the Earth's surface (More) | The history of SpaceX in three minutes (More, w/video)

> Scientists map genome of the Entomophthora muscae fungus, capable of turning flies into zombies; study is expected to shed light on how simple organisms ultimately control behavior in others (More)


Business & Markets
> US stock markets close lower (S&P 500 -2.1%, Dow -1.5%, Nasdaq -3.3%), driven by economic reports indicating slowdown in manufacturing sector (More)

> Rite Aid emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy as private company, names its chief financial officer as next CEO (More) | Costco membership price increase goes into effect for first time in seven years (More)

> Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott experience staffing shortages amid strike; around 10,000 hotel workers are striking in at least seven cities, seeking better pay (More)


Politics & World Affairs
> Former aide to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) arrested, charged with acting as a Chinese spy; allegations include blocking Taiwanese officials from access to Hochul's office, revising statements to align with Chinese interests (More)

> US Justice Department charges Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, five other senior militants with terrorism and other crimes in connection with Oct. 7 raid; Sinwar is believed to be hiding in Gaza's tunnels (More) | The UK suspends 30 of its 350 arms export licenses with Israel, impacting sales of fighter jets, drones, helicopters (More)

> Migrant boat capsizes in English Channel, killing at least 12 people, most from the East African nation of Eritrea; more than 2,000 people have traveled to Britain on migrant boats in the past week, per UK government figures (More)

SOURCE:  1440 NEWS

Greed versus Wanting More

Greed is the intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth, power, or food.

The definition of self-improvement is pretty self-explanatory: Self-improvement is the improvement of one's knowledge, status, or character by one's own efforts. It's the quest to make ourselves better in any and every facet of life.


Self-interested individuals care about their own outcomes. Greedy individuals are similar, but mostly motivated by the insatiable desire to get more; more than is needed and sometimes even more than is possible.

Self-interest

Self-improvement

Bettering oneself

Greed

Aren't all of these words, similar even though their definitions are slightly different.

• When does bettering oneself turn into GREED or vice versa?
• When does WANTING MORE change from bettering oneself to GREED or vice versa?

The evolution of wanting more:

• We want more for ourselves
• We want more for as a couple
• We want more as a family

If our basic instinct is to SURVIVE, can we do this only if we are GREEDY or can simply wanting more help us to survive?

There is a negative connotation that revolves around greed making the word seem negative but without GREED, would we have ever wanted our independence from Great Britain?  Would we have wanted to write the Bill of Rights that contained both the first and second amendments?  Would we have wanted to explore the western side of America or formed all the companies that made the USA great?

We say, it is nothing more than WANTING MORE and when is WANTING MORE not SELFISH???

And when is SELFISHNESS not INTENSE?

Somewhat Political

 

China's Robot CON

BEIJING, Aug 26 — As China seeks to race ahead in humanoid robot development, its supply chains showcased cheaper and innovative parts at the world robot conference in Beijing, but some executives warn the industry has yet to improve product reliability.

Wisson Technology (Shenzhen), known for its flexible robotic manipulators, doesn’t depend on motors and reducers – transmission devices commonly used in robotics – but instead uses 3D-printed plastics and relies on pneumatic artificial muscles to power its robots.     READ MORE...

Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Fanfare For The Common Man (Live at Olympic Sta...

Artist

Hito Steyerl is a filmmaker, moving image artist and innovator of the essay documentary. She is interested in technology, the global circulation of images, and, in particular, in the effect that those images have on our society. She is primarily known for her video works which often push the boundaries of filmmaking as such and are soaked in conceptuality. Steyerl’s works could be seen in prominent biennials including the ones in Venice, Istanbul and Shanghai. 

Her films are rich, mixing fiction and facts, computer-generated images and documentary footage. They explore heated issues of our time, among them militarisation, surveillance, corporate domination, alienated labor, but also protest culture and the rise of alternative economies. This dense political content is usually combined with appealing pop aesthetic and witty humor.

Hito Steyerl, Factory of the Sun, 2015. Courtesy of Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York

Social Security

 

Hero

 

How Many Horses?

 

For Men Only

 

Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Fanfare For The Common Man (Live at Olympic Sta...

In The NEWS

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Adnan Syed's murder conviction reinstatement upheld by Maryland Supreme Court; Syed, whose case was featured in the "Serial" podcast, has been free since his release from prison in 2022 after a judge overturned his 2000 conviction (More)

> Johnny Gaudreau, Columbus Blue Jackets winger and NHL All-Star, dies at age 31 while biking after being struck by a suspected drunken driver (More) | Fatman Scoop, Grammy-winning rapper and DJ, dies at age 53 after collapsing onstage during concert (More)

> World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler wins PGA Tour's FedEx Cup and $25M bonus (More) | Defending champ Coco Gauff loses in US Open's fourth round to fellow American Emma Navarro (More) | Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese breaks WNBA single-season record for rebounds (More)


Science & Technology
> NASA successfully deploys prototype "solar sail"; roughly 900-square-foot satellite generates thrust from photons from the sun, similar to wind-driven sailboats (More) | What's a photon? (More)

> Archaeologists discover 5,600-year-old stone bridge on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca, suggesting human habitation at least 1,000 years earlier than previously thought (More)

> Engineers develop method to vaporize plastics, creating reusable hydrocarbons that can be turned into new consumer products (More)


Business & Markets
> Roughly 10,000 hotel workers across 24 hotels in eight US cities begin striking over Labor Day weekend after contract negotiations stall with Marriott International, Hilton Worldwide, and Hyatt Hotels (More)

> US stock markets close higher Friday (S&P 500 +1.0%, Dow +0.6%, Nasdaq +1.1%), with Dow reaching another record high; personal consumption expenditures price index rises as expected in July (More) | US consumer sentiment index increases in August for first time in five months (More) | The history of the stock markets in three minutes (More, w/video)

> Intel shares rise nearly 10% Friday on reports chipmaker is exploring strategic options with investment bankers to turn itself around, including a potential sale or spin-off of underperforming units (More)


Politics & World Affairs
> Oregon ends first-in-the-nation, four-year experiment with decriminalizing possession of small amounts of fentanyl, heroin, meth, and other hard drugs (More) | See previous write-up (More)

> Russia, Ukraine continue to trade airstrikes; at least 47 people wounded in Ukrainian city of Kharkiv from Russian strikes Sunday (More) | Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fires air force commander after new US-made F-16 fighter jet crashes, killing its pilot (More) | See war updates (More)

> US seizes plane used by Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro over sanctions violations (More) | Helicopter crash that killed Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi and seven others in May caused by weather conditions, final report concludes (More)

SOURCE:  1440 NEWS

Live Life Lovingly

 

I have lived in several different worlds and while that does not make me special, it does make me uniquely experienced.

For example, I have:

• grown up relatively poor
• experienced a mild form of wealth
• been an enlisted person in the military
• lived overseas in an underdeveloped country
• travelled through Europe 
• been the black sheep of the family
• been disowned by my family
• been badly treated by my employers
• been disrespected and ridiculed
• lived paycheck to paycheck
• had a had a heart attack
• been and continue to be treated for cancer
• lived off of minimum wages
• have been in deep debt
• been married and divorced
• lived and worked in the south
• been and am currently retired

It is just what life is all about.  Some of us have it good while others do not.  Some of us scape by while others live the life of luxury.  It is what it is, no more and no less.

When I die, and we are all going to eventually die, I will not regret my life, nor will I regret how I lived and/or experienced my life.  As I ponder over my life, I realized that I have lived my life and continue to live my life, just as I was expected to life my life.

How do I know that?

I just do...

Does that mean there is a creator of sorts?

Not really.

It means that I believe there is a superior race that has been watching over us for a long time.  They see our future before we live it.

Perhaps they modified our DNA, perhaps not.

We may never know until we die.

While some of us may have more during life, we all have the same after life.  There will be no difference.  We will all be, whether we like it or not, SPIRITS - the essence of who we were when alive.  That spirit will live forever - it will have no past, nor will it have a future.  It will live in the moment.

Somewhat Political

 

Quantum Time Flip

It’s been 35 years since Cher first wanted to turn back time, but it turns out that quantum mechanics might have allowed for this wild reversal all along. In new research, scientists from China and Hong Kong show that—in certain quantum systems—the time variable can be reversed by creating a double superposition (one each in opposite directions) and still bear out valid results. 

What results from this little bit of quantum trickery is both an input and output that are considered indefinite, meaning that either one can be the input or the output. Basically, the after can go before the before. The peer-reviewed research appears in the journal Physical Review Letters.

In our day-to-day lives, we perceive time as marching inexorably forward, and that means many processes aren’t easily reversible. You can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube, so to speak—it’s a lot more difficult to reset an object back to its original state than it is to change it in the first place. This is called time’s arrow, and we believe it’s partly caused by the fact that our universe has been ever-expanding since the Big Bang.     READ MORE...

Grand Funk Railroad I'm Your Captain

Let's Get Trump

 

Presidents since WWII

1. Truman
2. Eisenhower
3. Kennedy
4. Johnson
5. Nixon
6. Ford
7. Carter
8. Reagan
9. Bush Sr.
10. Clinton
11. Bush Jr.
12. Obama
13. Trump
14. Biden

I have lived under all fourteen President but am only aware of thirteen.

Given all of these PRESIDENTS, the DEMOCRATS have decided only to DESTROY one - Donald Trump.

Mainstream media, the FBI, the DOJ, and some High Tech CEOs have joined forces in helping the Democrats reach their goal.

WHY?

How can one man be so HATED AND FEARED?

What is happening to TRUMP has been largely brought about by FEAR...

• FEAR that he will destroy Democracy
• FEAR that he will destroy America
• FEAR that he will become a Dictator
• FEAR that he will promote misinformation and disinformation
• FEAR that he will control CONGRESS
• FEAR that he will be like Hitler
• FEAR that he will destroy Social Security
• FEAR that he will remove all the illegal immigrants
• FEAR that he will stop EVs
• FEAR that he will END ABORTION
• FEAR that he will destroy the Supreme Court
• FEAR that he will be controlled by RUSSIA
• FEAR that he will slow down Socialism
• FEAR that he will put his enemies in JAIL
• FEAR that he will encourage Climate Change

Did Trump do any of this during his first four years in office?

NO...  he did not...

So...

What brought about this HATRED and FEAR?

In The NEWS

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> The 2024 Paris Paralympics competitions kick off, including cycling, swimming, table tennis, and Taekwondo (More) | See latest medal tracker (More)

> The Cure to release two new songs on "eco-vinyl" made from sustainable material, the first new music from the iconic English rock band in 16 years (More)

> Steph Curry signs one-year, $62.6M extension with the Golden State Warriors, on track to make him the third NBA player to pass $500M in career earnings (More) | 2024-25 UEFA Champions League groupings for "league phase" set; see full schedule for the new 36-team format (More)


Science & Technology
> Brain study finds the prefrontal cortex—the region responsible for decision-making and other executive functions—is also the first to show age-related deterioration (More) | Why is the prefrontal cortex special? (More)

> Shoebox-sized telescope goes online after being launched into orbit via a SpaceX satellite; device was made for under $1M and was designed and developed in under one year (More)

> Decadelong study shows vultures form fewer social bonds as they age; findings, expected to aid conservation efforts, support theory animals become more ingrained in habits and social circles over time (More)


Business & Markets
> US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 -0.0%, Dow +0.6%, Nasdaq -0.2%); Dow notches record close (More) | US economy grew 3% year-over-year from April through June, faster than preliminary assessment of 2.8% (More)

> Dollar General shares close down 32%—its largest single-day drop on record—after retailer reports lower-than-expected Q2 results, slashes full-year guidance (More) | Affirm shares close up 32% in biggest rally in three years, a day after "buy now, pay later" fintech company beats Wall Street expectations (More)

> US pending home sales index falls 5.5% year-over-year in July to lowest level since records began in 2001 (More) | US average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage falls to lowest level since May 2023 at 6.35% (More)


Politics & World Affairs
> Vice President Kamala Harris, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) sit down for first joint interview on CNN; see takeaways (More) | Staffer of former President Donald Trump, Arlington National Cemetery employee reportedly clash in altercation after employee tries to stop Trump campaign from filming on the grounds (More)

> Israel says its forces killed local commander of Iran-backed Islamic Jihad group, four other militants in second day of West Bank raids (More) | Israel, Hamas agree to zoned three-day pauses in fighting in Gaza to allow for polio vaccines (More)

> Justice Department watchdog finds FBI mishandled child sexual abuse cases, including failing to comply with mandatory reporting requirements in roughly half of cases examined (More) | View findings (More, click "Read Report" for PDF)

SOURCE:  1440 NEWS

Self-Preservation

 

I remember being told twenty plus years ago, that if one took ALL OF HISTORY, it could be boiled down into one word:   SURVIVAL

The more I thought about that, the more I began to realize that person was correct.  The person who told me that was a retired chemical engineer who had worked for a well-known employer, whose name will not be disclosed, for forty years, retiring at age 62.

Nature survives

Mankind survives

Countries survive

Our world survives

It all makes sense to me as it should to you...  but what is the cost of that survival that you might be willing to accept?

Russia invaded Ukraine because of its inherent right to acquire territory.  Ukraine fought back to protect its right to survive under its own terms.  Many live have been lost and many more lives will be lost as a result of this conflict.

HAMAS invaded Israel, killed numerous civilians and took hostages.  Israel fought back to defend its right to survive and believes that more attacks will take place in the future until it destroys HAMAS.  Lives have been lost and more lives will continue to be lost.

Whose right to survival takes precedence?

Is it up to the rest of the world to control and decide who has a right to survive and who does not?

Without the rest of the world coming to the rescue of these smaller countries, our world will continue to fight each other until our entire world is destroyed.

This is not a threat...

This is INEVITABILITY...

Somewhat Political