Sunday, February 2
Saturday, February 1
American Politics
We have two parties in this country of ours, the Democratic party and the Republican party. In the past, these two parties would disagree and argue until the cows came home but, in the end, they would always reach some sort of compromise, and we would more forward.
Today that no longer happens. Let me give you an example.
From 2012-2015 Obama was president and when Trump began president from 2016-2019, he reversed everything that Obama had set into motion, creating his own version of those programs.
From 2020-2024, Joe Biden was president, and he reversed everything that Donald Trump had done, creating his own version.
In 2025, Donald Trump became president and reversed everything that Joe Biden had done putting in his own programs.
In 2029, if a Democratic wins the presidency, they will reverse Trump's programs and put in their own.
Since we no longer have political parties that want to compromise, we simply reverse what was previously done, and start something else. This accomplishes nothing, the country does not really move forward, and the US citizens are the ones who must pay the negative price to this to happen.
In The NEWS
> The 67th Grammy Awards to be presented Sunday (8 pm ET, CBS); see nominations and predictions for all categories (More) | Marianne Faithfull, Grammy-nominated singer and actress, dies at age 78 (More)
> NFL Pro Bowl Games kick off, will continue Sunday (3 pm ET, ESPN) (More) | Miami Heat's Terry Rozier under federal investigation for alleged involvement in illegal sports betting scheme (More)
> Denver selected as National Women's Soccer League's 16th team (More) | 2025 Leagues Cup format, teams, and matchups announced (More)
Science & Technology
> Pair of astronauts stuck aboard the International Space Station take first spacewalk together since their arrival in June following a malfunction on their Boeing Starliner; return expected as soon as late March (More)
> Archaeologists discover 76-million-year-old fossil of a juvenile pterosaur with a puncture wound on its neck; researchers suggest the animal was killed by a prehistoric crocodile (More)
> Humans have herded sheep for at least 11,000 years, genetic analysis suggests; samples taken from locations ranging from Ireland to Mongolia shed light on role the domestication played in ancient human societies (More)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close higher (S&P 500 +0.5%, Dow +0.4%, Nasdaq +0.2%) as slew of companies report earnings (More) | US economy grew at 2.8% annualized pace in 2024, lower than 2.9% in 2023, per new data (More)
> UPS shares tumble 14% after the shipping giant issues weak full-year revenue guidance and plans to slash Amazon deliveries by more than half (More) | Apple reports Q4 revenue growth but misses iPhone sales estimates partly due to 11% drop in China sales (More) | Intel tops Q4 revenue and earnings forecasts (More)
> Justice Department files antitrust challenge to block Hewlett Packard Enterprise's proposed $14B acquisition of Juniper Networks (More)
Politics & World Affairs > Senate confirmation hearings for Trump Cabinet continue, with FBI director pick Kash Patel and national intelligence director pick Tulsi Gabbard; health secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. begins second hearing (More) | See tracker (More) > Hamas releases eight hostages from Gaza and Israel releases 110 imprisoned Palestinians under ceasefire deal (More) | See war updates (More, w/maps) > Authorities in St. Kitts and Nevis launch investigation after 19 people found dead in vessel drifting at sea in the eastern Caribbean (More) |
Changing
Life changes as we get older; we see things a little differently than we did as a child, a teenager, or even a young adult. Most of the time, but not all of the time, we change from being liberal to being conservative in the way we think and act; however, the change hardly ever pertains to our political views and opinions.
This transformation is particular obvious in the way we spend our money. When young, we borrow whatever we can, whenever we can, to have whatever we can. That behavior typically puts us eyeballs deep in debt. As we age, our desire is to remove/eliminate that debt and spend the rest of our lives only spending the money that we have.
Another example might be the clothes that we wear being more flamboyant and exotic when we are young and more sedate as we get older. Same holds true for the vacations we take, the excursions we go on, or our desire to body surf in the ocean not too worried about the waves or riptides that might be present.
There is nothing wrong with being either liberal or conservative in the way we behave, it is just an observation that this is the transition through which must of us pass on our way to death. It does not mean that once we are through this transition that we will soon die, it just means that we are close to death than we were before.
AI Models Big Bang
Researchers from the Flatiron Institute and collaborators have developed an innovative method that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to estimate the universe's cosmological parameters with unprecedented precision. This breakthrough could reshape how scientists study the cosmos.
The method, called Simulation-Based Inference of Galaxies (SimBIG), extracts hidden insights from galaxy distributions, offering a significant improvement over traditional techniques.
By leveraging AI, the team reduced uncertainty in key parameters, such as the universe’s matter clumpiness, to less than half that of conventional methods. This enhanced accuracy aligns closely with other observations, including measurements of the universe’s oldest light, further validating the approach.
Published in Nature Astronomy, the findings promise to advance our understanding of the universe's fundamental properties. READ MORE...
Friday, January 31
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> FireAid benefit concert for Los Angeles wildfires takes place tonight, featuring Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Lady Gaga, and Stevie Wonder (More) | Magic Johnson among business and civic leaders tapped to head wildfire recovery philanthropy LA Rises (More)
> William E. Leuchtenburg, renowned US presidential historian, dies at age 102 (More) | Temple University student, 18, dies after falling from light pole while celebrating Philadelphia Eagles NFC Championship victory (More)
> Harvey Weinstein's New York City retrial on rape charges set for April 15 (More) | Rapper A$AP Rocky's trial on felony assault charges is ongoing in Los Angeles (More)
Science & Technology
> OpenAI accuses Chinese AI startup DeepSeek of using its models to train its own chatbots; recent announcement of DeepSeek's cheap-but-powerful R1 model caused shockwaves in Silicon Valley (More) | See previous write-up (More)
> Lab-grown muscle patch developed from stem cells helps patient with heart failure survive until transplant; roughly 6 million people worldwide currently experience advanced heart failure, with demand outstripping organ supply (More)
> Researchers reveal first map of the ice-free land area of Antarctica, which makes up less than 0.5% of the continent; survey expected to aid in future conservation measures (More)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close lower (S&P 500 -0.5%, Dow -0.3%, Nasdaq -0.5%); Federal Reserve holds interest rates steady (More) | Global arabica coffee prices reach record high above $3.60 per pound (More)
> IBM shares rise 9% in after-hours trading after topping Wall Street earnings and revenue expectations (More) | Tesla reports lower-than-expected Q4 earnings and revenue (More) | Meta beats Q4 earnings and revenue forecasts (More)
> Frontier Airlines makes second bid for Spirit Airlines three years after first attempt; comes after JetBlue's failed $3.8B bid to buy Spirit (More) | Trump Media to invest up to $250M in financial services venture with Charles Schwab (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> Hamas expected to release eight hostages today—three Israelis and five Thai nationals who were abducted in Oct. 7, 2023, attack (More) | Ahmad al-Sharaa, leader of rebels who toppled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December, is named country’s interim president (More)
> At least 30 people killed, 60 injured from crowd surge at India's Maha Kumbh Mela festival, considered one of the largest religious gatherings in history (More) | See previous write-up (More)
> Average reading scores for both US fourth and eighth graders dropped five points from 2019 to 2024, per results of latest exam known as the nation's report card (More) | See reading scores (More) | See math scores (More)
End of January 2025
January marks several items:
- First - the beginning of winter here
- Second - presidential inauguration this year
- Third - the beginning of my 17th being treated for 2 kinds of cancers
- Fourth - beginning 11th year of retirement
- Fifth - the end of the first month of winter
- Sixth - the beginning of a new year
- Watch my diet (<2000 calories/day)
- Be nice to my cats/wife
- Continue blogs/writing
- Enjoy my life/proactive
- Maintain my house/yard
Nuke on Truck
US-based NANO Nuclear Energy has announced an expansion of its microreactor technology portfolio.
It has acquired a significant portfolio of intellectual property related to its transportable, modular microreactor technologies.
“We are pleased to expand our intellectual property portfolio with these recently acquired patents, further strengthening the protections surrounding our proprietary, portable and modular microreactor technologies in development,” said Jay Yu, founder and chairman of NANO Nuclear Energy.
These reactors are designed to provide clean, reliable, and on-demand power for a variety of applications, including remote communities, industrial sites, and, more importantly, military bases. READ MORE...
