Wednesday, October 2
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> MLB postseason kicks off today with the Wild Card Series; see playoff preview and predictions (More) | ... and WNBA playoff semifinals are underway; see latest playoff bracket and schedule (More)
> Gavin Creel, Tony-, Grammy-, and Olivier-winning stage actor, dies of cancer at age 48; Creel was known for roles in "Hello, Dolly!," "Hair," and "The Book of Mormon" (More)
> Oasis announces North American concert dates for their reunion tour; the band announced in August they would be touring again after a 15-year hiatus (More)
Science & Technology
> Last operating coal power plant in the UK shutters; country has no coal-fired power for the first time since 1882, completing shift to a mix of natural gas, renewables, and nuclear (More)
> New analysis suggests Viking cultures traveled thousands of miles to the Arctic to hunt walrus, with the resulting ivory transported through medieval trade networks as far as the Middle East (More)
> Engineers develop headset to noninvasively predict the risk of stroke; device uses lasers to measure blood flow in the brain (More)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close higher (S&P 500 +0.4%, Dow +0.0%, Nasdaq +0.4%) after Federal Chair Jerome Powell signals further, smaller rate cuts (More) | Chinese stocks rise in biggest single-day rally in 16 years after Beijing last week unveiled sweeping economic package (More)
> DirecTV buys Dish TV, Sling TV from EchoStar for nominal fee of $1 plus the assumption of $9.75B of debt to create largest US pay-TV provider with 20 million subscribers total; AT&T sells its stake in DirecTV to private equity firm TPG (More) | Explaining nominal fees, plus other $1 deals (More)
> AI chip startup Cerebras Systems files for initial public offering in bid to take on Nvidia; Cerebras last valued at roughly $4B in 2021 (More) | What are IPOs? (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> Vice presidential candidates Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) and Ohio Sen. JD Vance (R) to debate tonight (9 pm ET, CBS) in New York City (More) | Former President Jimmy Carter (D) turns 100 today; he is the longest-living former president in US history (More, w/photos)
> Israel begins limited ground raids against Iran-backed Hezbollah militants near the border in Lebanon ahead of its imminent ground invasion (More) | See updates on the Middle East conflict (More)
> Georgia judge strikes down state's 2022 six-week abortion ban (More) | Biden administration tightens asylum restrictions from June, says border crossing seven-day average must be under 1,500 per day for 28 days before restrictions can be lifted, rather than a week (More)
SOURCE: 1440 NEWS
LIFE... LIBERTY... PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
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Americans were given these rights back in 1776 and for 245 years, not one of our citizens questioned those rights... until now.
LIFE - is obvious. If and when we are born, we automatically have life and live on this great earth of ours for 80-100 years, unless some disease, illness, wars, or some unexpected tragedy takes our life prematurely.
LIBERTY - is nothing more than freedom. The USA was the only country in the entire world that had COMPLETE FREEDOM. However, this freedom or liberty is now in question because the Democrats want to SILENCE their OPPOSITION. The Democrats also want to control the flow of information, which underscores our Liberties and Freedoms.
We are now at the point where the general public is not sure if they are being told the truth, misinformation, or disinformation and to make matters worse, when one side tells the truth, the other side says it is FAKE NEWS.
Our liberty and freedoms as we know them to be are about to come to an end...
Sadly, we will never know what we had until it is gone and too late to retrieve.
PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS - has now become an illusion and for the most part unattainable unless you are WEALTHY. Now, I don't mean wealthy like a multi-millionaire or billionaire, but wealthy is now 3-5 million dollars or more.
However, that amount of money depends on one's geographical location.
- 2-5 million may be good in the South
- 5-7 million may be good in the Middle of the USA
- 7-10 million in the West and North and East
Although, the generality varies in each of these areas as well.
It is all but certain that if you have 10-20 million, then happiness is no longer illusive no matter where you live.
Calculation:
- $100,000 yields about $400/month
- $1,000,000 yields about $4000/month
- $5,000,000 yields about $20,000/month
- $10,000,000 yields about $40,000/month
Like Einstein's Theory of Relativity, these amounts of money are relative, because, if you only had 10-20 million, then you could not own:
- a private jet
- a 200-foot luxury yacht
- a 20,000 square foot mansion
BUT THE FACT REMAINS THAT LIFE, LIBERTY, AND PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS IS NO LONGER A VIABLE CONCEPT FOR 80-90% OF AMERICANS...
And while, 80-90% is a substantial majority of Americans, these Americans have NO DESIRE to do anything about it.
NASA's InfraRed Delivery
NASA’s TBIRD (TeraByte InfraRed Delivery) demonstration and its host spacecraft — the PTD-3 (Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator-3) — have completed their technology demonstration.
The TBIRD payload spent the past two years breaking world records for the fastest satellite downlink from space using laser communications.
NASA’s PTD series leverages a common commercial spacecraft to provide a robust platform for effective testing of technologies with minimal redesign in between launches.
NASA’s PTD series leverages a common commercial spacecraft to provide a robust platform for effective testing of technologies with minimal redesign in between launches.
After launch in May 2022 on the SpaceX Transporter 5 mission, the PTD-3 spacecraft entered low-Earth orbit and shortly after TBIRD began sending laser communications signals to an optical ground station in Table Mountain, California. READ MORE...
Tuesday, October 1
Conflict in the Middle East
It would appear that IRAN has decided to belly up and challenge Israel to a duel.
Iran had decided to show its proxies (Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, and Syria) that it no longer hide behind closed doors.
TAKING SIDES
With Iran and its proxies will stand:
- Russia
- China
- North Korea
With Israel, will stand:
- USA
- UK (?)
Note: Israel is not a member of NATO but is considered one of its allies.
Another interesting development about Israel and its incursion into Lebanon is the fact that the USA WAS NOT INFORMED OF ITS PLANS...
That is to say that Israel has mad the decision, right or wrong, that the USA can no longer be trusted to support Israel in its actions...
AND YET,
US warships in the Mediterranean Sea helped destroy the missiles that Iran recently sent into Israel. So, there is some type of agreement, perhaps under the table, of US support.
ANYWAY,
If there is an undeclared war or a declared war between Iran and Israel, the USA will more than likely support Israel.
This is especially true, if Russia and China lend a helping hand to Iran.
CAVEAT
Iran and North Korea are damn close to having a nuclear weapon and when they do, Israel will be the first place that a bomb like that will be deployed...
If and when that happens, the world will have taken a GIANT STEP TOWARDS WWIII.
Make no mistake, a WWIII will be one to remember especially with all the ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS already in the USA... maybe of which are ISLAMIC TERRORISTS...
For The Good of the WHOLE
This is going to be the toughest question that our government will have to answer for its citizens.
Do we protect an individual's right to work and therefore have inflation forever and be seen as ineffective, inefficient, and unproductive...
<OR>
Do we do expedite automation and robots with AI and bring the USA to a competitive position with the res of the world...
Currently, there is a longshoreman strike on the east coast for HIGHER WAGES and to STOP AUTOMATION which includes robots.
Manpower is LESS PRODUCTIVE than automation and therefore will increase prices and allow inflation to continue which will slow down our economic growth.
I understand what these longshoremen are going through with all these high prices but if they want higher wages, then other worker's groups (unions) will demand more money as well.
This is not good for the USA...
What these people do not realize is that higher wages create higher prices, and you are right back where you started.
UNIONS cause companies not to be able to layoff but a certain number of workers, so these companies have no choice but to raise prices to the consumer.
While it may not be totally understood by the general public, it will become the role of government to make sure what is BEST FOR THE WHOLE takes precedent.
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> MLB regular season wraps with postseason kicking off tomorrow; see playoff bracket (More) | Chicago White Sox set modern record for most losses in a season with 121 (More)
> YouTube blocks content by Adele, Green Day, Bob Dylan, and more amid legal dispute with a performing rights organization (More)
> Kris Kristofferson, Grammy- and Golden Globe-winning country music legend and actor, dies at age 88 (More) | Drake Hogestyn, longtime "Days of Our Lives" star, dies at age 70 (More) | John Ashton, actor best known for "Beverly Hills Cop" franchise, dies at age 76 (More)
Science & Technology
> California passes law expanding its consumer privacy laws to give users of brain-computer interface devices ownership over their neurological data (More) | California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) vetoes AI safety bill, siding with tech execs (More)
> Geologists discover new subduction zone—an area where one tectonic plate slides underneath another—in the Eastern Pacific (More)
> SpaceX launches mission that will eventually return pair of astronauts stranded on the International Space Station following malfunction of their Boeing vehicle; return trip slated for February (More) | See previous write-up (More)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close mixed Friday (S&P 500 -0.1%, Dow +0.3%, Nasdaq -0.4%), with the Dow closing at a record high; key inflation data from August gives traders hope for additional interest cuts this year (More)
> Government-facilitated talks between Boeing and union workers collapse, with no dates scheduled for further discussions; total US gross domestic product estimated to have dropped by $1B since walkout of 33,000 production workers began this month (More)
> WeightWatchers CEO Sima Sistani departs amid 90% drop in share value over the past year; Sistani had spearheaded $106M acquisition of telehealth company prescribing weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> Austria's nationalist-populist Freedom Party leads in yesterday's parliamentary elections with nearly 30% of the vote, the first win of its kind since WWII; remaining parties are in negotiations to form a coalition without it (More)
> Nepal flooding and landslides leave at least 148 people dead, with capital of Kathmandu hardest hit (More)
> The US says its airstrikes in Syria this month killed 37 al-Qaeda- and ISIS-affiliated militants, including two senior operatives (More)
SOURE: 1440 NEWS
OCTOBER FIRST, 2024
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September was a particularly boring month with nothing special to remind us of it, at least, not me and my family.
October plunges us into Fall marked by decreasing temperatures, leaves turning colors and falling, Halloween, and the decorating (carving) of pumpkins.
I've always had good memories of October but maybe because this is my birthday month. However, with that aside, I really like the weather that is typically associated with October, and fondly remember unpacking all my flannel shirts.
Of course, many others see October as being well into College and Professional football and all the tailgating that is going to be done all across the USA. The rest of the world does not quite understand the mania that is associated with football.
Growing up in Alexandria, VA which is located 4 miles south of Washington, DC, my family was focused on the WASHINGTON REDSKINS every time they played. My family always enjoyed watching the Redskins whether they won or lost but I never attended one of their games.
I was highly disappointed when they changed their name.
The downside for me with Fall/OCTOBER is the raking of leaves.
Our house had lots of trees in the front yard, so we had lots of leaves to rake. I would rake them, and my dad would burn them in a drainage gulley that separated our yard from the road. It was an all-afternoon affair and was accomplished over a period of 2-3 Saturdays, since we never did yard work on Sundays.
My mother would always make a big pot of GOULASH while we were raking to be eaten for dinner.
Technology Trends for 2025
Unbelievable as it seems, we’re rapidly approaching 2025. This means it’s time for me to once again pick the trends that I believe will be most important over the coming year.
The biggest trends go beyond mere buzzwords. They identify the direction of travel of the most transformative technologies, set to drive significant change in the way we live and work, as well as how we understand and interact with the world around us.
These are the “big picture” ideas that I believe every individual and business that wants to be ahead of the curve should have on their radar. Each of them presents significant opportunities but also creates risks and ethical challenges that can’t be ignored.
So, we’ll start with my high-level overview of the most important trends, which I’ll then dive more deeply into and explore at a more granular level as we count off the months, weeks and days to the new year! READ MORE...
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