Germany, European Union, and Twitter

A senior German official said on Thursday Twitter should join other tech firms in being directly monitored by the European Commission, saying the company’s erratic behaviour under new owner Elon Musk posed a threat to free speech.

Sven Giegold, the state secretary in charge of competition policy at Germany’s economy ministry, pointed to Twitter’s abrupt suspension of journalists’ accounts and restrictions on the access to some links.

In a letter to two European Commissioners, Giegold called on the EU to launch an investigation and said the Commission should act to prevent what he called Twitter’s “anti-competitive behaviour”.

Twitter did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The European Commission confirmed receiving the letter and said it would reply in due course, adding that it was following the developments at Twitter closely.

“General terms and conditions that change almost every hour, erratic justifications for extensive restrictions on links and the blocking of journalists threaten freedom of competition and pose a risk to freedom of expression, information and the press,” Giegold wrote on Twitter, while sharing his letter.  READ MORE...

Same O... Same O

The US of A, at least for the forseeable future, is the best place in the world to live...

Why is that?

Mainly because of the freedoms and opportunities that we enjoy that the rest of the world does not enjoy...

The other reason, I would suspect is our quality of life that again is not experienced throughout the rest of the world.

HOWEVER, that quality of life is changing because of inflation, increasing gas prices, cost of healthcare, cost of vacations, cost of food...  then, you add in all the crime and violence that is taking place all over the US of A, and many people no longer want to visit many of our great cities like:  New York City, Washington DC, Atlanta, St. Louis, Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Vegas, Portland, etc.

The other issue that is beginning to bother many people is the number of illegal immigrants that are coming across our borders...  telling us with their actions that they DO NOT RESPECT OUR LAWS...  it is a subtle message, but a message nonetheless.  If they do not respect our immigration laws, then what other laws will they disrespect?

An even bigger issue are all the illegal drugs that are coming across our borders and what will be the healthcare impact of all those drugs, not the mention all the deaths from those drugs.

Why are Americans buying more and more and more drugs???

Supplies only increase when there is an increase in demand.

Americans are destroying themselves...     

Third Term Begins with Problems

Shortly after President Xi Jinping took power in 2012, he outlined his “Chinese Dream” for national rejuvenation. A decade later, he’s entering his most challenging period yet for turning that vision into reality.

The Chinese leader emerged from the Communist Party’s secretive summer retreat on the Yellow Sea this week facing mounting problems at home and abroad. Xi has just a few months to make sure they don’t overshadow his greatest achievement yet: securing a precedent-breaking third term as leader at a party congress later this year.

With economic growth forecasts being slashed, Covid cases rising to a three-month high and the US pushing back over Taiwan, each week seems to bring a new crisis. That’s left Xi focused on reining-in risks and trying to project stability, rather than promoting his achievements and marching toward a coronation.  READ MORE...

Time Moves Forward - Never Backwards

Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future.It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to compare the duration of events or the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change of quantities in material reality or in the conscious experience. Time is often referred to as a fourth dimension, along with three spatial dimensions.

Time has long been an important subject of study in religion, philosophy, and science, but defining it in a manner applicable to all fields without circularity has consistently eluded scholars.  Nevertheless, diverse fields such as business, industry, sports, the sciences, and the performing arts all incorporate some notion of time into their respective measuring systems.  SOURCE:  Wikipedia

All of us will get older each day...  not younger...  and there is a possibiity that our views on life will change as we get older, but the odds are what we believe earlier we will always believe...  Not sure why that happens other than we just do not want to be aware of the world around us...  taking our existence for granted...  and making the assumption that someone will always be taking acare of us.

When Einstein was alive, he said time was relative...  although, he also referred to it as space time and that space time or the fabric of space time was curved and warped which was one of the reasons we had gravity.  But, more importantly, space time continues until it curves back in on itself and the end of time merges back with the beginning of time...  that point in time, is referred to as a singularity.

Life is a circle or a ring a space time.  It is also believed that all points in time happen at the same time so that the past, present, and future are all happening simultaneously as we move through space time.  So, what happens to the time that we left or continue to leave each nanosecond of our existence?  I can see what I typed a second ago as it is still on the screen but my body has still gotten older and has gradually changed.

Another interesting fact of life is that spacetime seems to move faster the older we become.  Our days seem shorter and move by quicker.  And, when we get in our 70s we begin to see this transition and realize that most of our life is gone and there are only 1-2 decades left for us.  Our views on life change and we see life around us differently...  However, this does not happen to everyone...  Many people don't reflect on this transition at all...  we are just oblivious to space time.

Heating Differently

“We are six in the family, we have a house of 200 square meters and, at the moment, we put the central thermostat at 15°C maximum“. In the living room of Geoffrey Van Moeseke, in Louvain-la-Neuve, in central Belgium, the thermometer reads 14.5°C. Outside, the temperatures are negative. 

Despite the frost, we sees through the large windows of his living room, he assures that he does not feel the cold.For the third year in a row, the engineer applies to his home the principles of the SlowHeat project – “slow heating” – for which he is both a researcher and a guinea pig.

This research project, coordinated by the University of Louvain, involves four researchers and around twenty citizens. The idea is simple: “Heat the bodies, not the walls”. In other words, look for back-up solutions that allow local heating while spending much less energy than with central heating. 

First reflex advocated by researchers? Adapt your wardrobe! “Currently, I’m wearing a cotton sweater, quite classic, over which I have an old, fairly warm vest. Underneath, I still have two layers: a T-shirt and technical sports clothing, exterior, which really brings a quality“, he explains.

For the feet, socks and “old stuffed slippers which are extremely warm”. Second advice: favor electric radiant heaters. Geoffrey Van Moeseke owns two of them, which he lights one to two hours a day: one in the living room, the other in his eldest son’s bedroom, the coldest room in the house – the average temperature exceeds rarely 12°C. 

This radiant panel – table placed on the desk – emits powerful heat quickly. On their site, the researchers also recommend the electric heating cap whose purchase is “paid for in a month”, they assure. Facing the computer, some of them use heated mouse pads.  READ MORE...

Storm Coming

 

HOLIDAY -- Day After Christmas

Christmas Greetings

I have a list of people

All written in a book -

And every year at Christmas time

I go and take a look.

And that is when I realize

That those names are all a part -

Not of the book they're written in

But of my very heart.

For each name stands for someone

Who has crossed my path some time -

And in that meeting they've become

A treasured friend of mine.

And once you've met some people

The years can not erase -

The memory of a pleasant word

Or of a friendly face.

So when I send an email

That is addressed to you -

It's because you're on that 'Special List'

Of folk that I'm indebted to.

And you are one of several folk

In times past that I've met -

And happen to be one of those

I don't want ever to forget.

And whether I have known you

For many years or few -

In some way you have had a part

In shaping things I do.

So this the Spirit of Christmas

That forever still endures -

May it leave its richest blessing

In the hearts of you and yours.

                     

HOLIDAY -- Christmas Day

ENJOY 12 HOURS OF CHRISTMAS MUSIC... 

A White Christmas

 

HOLIDAY - Day Before Christmas

Weather Forecast

December 2022

What does this month represent?

• Christmas Holiday
• Winter Holiday
• End of the year/decade
• Beginning of Winter
• Cold and Snow
• Tax Deductions
• Soliciting Money
• Family Closeness
• Suicides & Loneliness

What is really interesting, at least to me, is the fact that one can be in the presence of family and friends and still feel lonely and alone...  in part by the way they are treated and in part by what is going on inside their minds, that no one is paying attention to.

So, why is December the month that brings all of these emotions to the surface?

By product of affluence perhaps???

However, there is more positive stuff going on that negative stuff, so I am sure that is also part of it as well...  negative people are ignored as most of us want to focus on the positive...  even though we may be hiding our true feelings.

It is difficult sometimes to be around family...  while we anticipate it happening, it does not always unfold the way we planned, and as these tensions expand they sometimes explode in arguments because things were not done like we wanted to be done...  or people did not help out like they should have helped out.

And, we all know that we are really glad once the holiday is over and family goes back to where they were living originally...  then, as we debrief ourselves, we are again sad that we acted the way we did around family, wishing that we could have handled it differently.

Sometimes, we are completely oblivious to those emotions and nothing flows through our minds at all...  and, those people aren't treated kindly...

These are our families and we would not want it any different than it is...  we anticipate it and look forward to it...  because it is the holidays.

US Economy -- End of 2022

"The U.S. economy, though clearly facing a growing risk of recession, continues to exhibit remarkable strengths, particularly in the labor market, as illustrated by continued job creation and another drop in the unemployment rate in the September 2022 jobs report."  Harvard Business Review

This is good...  right?

Well...  no...  it is not...

Why?

Working people spend money...  and, the more money that is spent causes prices to increase because the supply of goods and services has not changed...

"Yet, right now that strength is a curse more than a blessing. With every sign of strength, it will get harder to rein in persistent and broad-based inflation without the Fed raising rates to levels that make a recession inevitable. And the risk is not linear: Though inflation is high today, expectations of long-term inflation are still modest. For nearly 40 years, we’ve lived in an era of structurally anchored inflation, where inflation doesn’t move much within the business cycle. If expectations unanchor, the cost would be far higher than a downturn — it would be an era of higher volatility and a less favorable business environment." Harvard Business Review  (same article as above)

Be sure to vote Democrat the next time there is an election because they are the ones that are causing this inflation and if you are like me, I want it to continue...  don't you?

Yes...  I know...  I have a tendency to be sarcastic and my type of sarcasm is not always appreciate...  but, I use sarcasm to get you to think...  especially about what is going on in our economy.  Question our leaders...  both liberals as well as conservatives because they both LIE and try to spin the truth to their advantage.

Our political system needs to be replaced...  Over my lifetime, it has become apparent that pretty much ALL AMERICANS LIE AND EXPECT OTHERS TO DO SO AS WELL...  If they are not lying they are withholding information or using words behind which they hide their true feelings.

You cannot trust anyone anymore...  SAD, when you think about it...

Strictly Political

 

Robots Impacting the Food You Eat

 

Heading Into Christmas 2022

Winter Storm heading down from Canada and will disrupt our travel plans going into the holidays...  it will bring frigid temperatures all the way down to Texas and the southeastern United States including Tennessee but it is doubtful that it will extend farther into this area.

Meteorologists are predicting a BOMB CYCLONE which is where the pressure drops 24 milibars in 24 hours...  a drop in pressure means the winds are getting stronger and that indicates a strong storm is building.

In these situations, I am glad that I live in Tennessee as opposed to the north, south, or east...  The east coast has hurricanes.  The south has humidity and insects.  The north has cold weather and wind.

The center of the US is flat and boring and the west coast is way too liberal in its thoughts and actions.  I think I would have liked the west when I was 15 to 30 years old, but once I matured, those liberals views logically no longer made any sense.

Christmas at 75 years old with children 50 years old is not as special as it was 20 years ago when we were all thinking our lives might be different.  When you hit age 75, life ain't gonna git any different.  The only difference is that one is heading for...   is death.

What I find odd is that everyone, at least in the USA, wants to celebrate their form of Christmas, but very few of those who celebrate want to acknowledge why the season is important.  They don't see it as a Christian Holiday... they see it as a winter holiday...  but why give presents and put up a tree if we are just experiencing a winter holiday?

We celebrate a Christian Holiday without admitting it is a Christian Holiday...  and how do we explain the fact that our government has acknowledged UFOs and quite possibly the existence of extraterrestrials...

How does UFOs and extraterrestrials change the meaning of Christmas?

How does it change the birth of Jesus?

Jesus said...   "...my kingdom is not of this world..."

Is he an extraterrestrial?

If Jesus was an extraterrestrial, would we still want to call the Christmas Holiday a Winter Holiday?

Tunnel

Robots and Human Workers

Robots and artificial intelligence (AI) are expected to permeate our daily lives by 2025. This could have huge implications on several business sectors, most notably healthcare, customer service and logistics. Already, AI is responsible for medical research breakthroughs and climate research, not to mention self-driving cars.

Will robots replace human workers?
The answer to that seems to be divided. According to Pew Research, about half (48%) of experts surveyed felt that robots and digital agents will displace a significant number of blue- and white-collar jobs. Their concern is that this will increase income inequality and create a mass of virtually unemployable people. The other half (52%) expect robotics and AI to create more jobs than they take. This latter half believes that while AI will replace humans, these experts have faith in human ingenuity to create new jobs, industries, and new ways of making a living—much like at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution.  SOURCE:  Forbes:  May 3, 2022  by Ashley Stahl

There is a good possibility that one or both of these views are correct...  my concern is that since I received my MBA from Wake Forest University (not an Ivy League school), I have learned that business exists for two reasons and the first is to continue to exist and the second is to pay stockholders a nice dividend every 3 months.

In order to pay a nice dividend, business must increase sales or reduce costs or both...  and one way to reduce costs is to invest in robots and not by increasing jobs...  especially American jobs since the benefits that must be paid are very costly.  For every $50,000 in salary, it is expected a total commitment of $150,000 because of benefits or $100,000.  Sick leave, Annual leave, Holiday leave, Healthcare, Lost Productivity...

Eventually, robots will be created to manufacture and program robots...  Writing program code is something that a robot can do better and faster than a human being while testing the code simultaneously.  So, those initial jobs that might increase will decrease faster than they were created...  business is already anticipating that with their long range strategic planning process.

The key here is not the robot but the artificial intelligence...  the closer we get to AI that replicates the mind of a human being, the closer we get to robots replacing everyone...   there will no longer be any need for CEOs, Presidents, Chairmen of the Board, or even stockholders...  wealth will be created without the need to distribute that wealth because there will be no need for investors.  The raw materials will not need to be purchased because there will be no employees to pay...  robots will collect the materials and simply take them to the company for processing.

The manufactured items will not be sold they will be given away as there will be no need for money.  You will simply be given what you need so that you are better off than you were before.  No need for greed.

The Future of Twitter

Elon Musk's poll, asking whether he should stand down as the boss of Twitter, appeared hours after he was photographed at the World Cup final in Qatar.


That photo tells us two things: firstly, Musk was standing beside Jared Kushner - the son-in-law of Donald Trump, the former US President whom Musk has tried, and failed, to entice back to the social network he now owns.


Musk knows that a bombastic Trump tweet would likely provide a controversial, but 'jackpot' moment for Twitter - and bring huge audiences to the platform.


Trump knows this too, of course, and has his own agenda - specifically his own social network, Truth Social, to which he has so far remained loyal.


Pardon the pun but Musk's trump card remains unplayed.


The second point about the photo? It proves Musk was geographically in the vicinity of Saudi Arabia - home to Twitter's biggest investors. Did he drop in, and did they - along with millions of people who use Twitter every day - pose some serious questions about his leadership during the past couple of months?



And then there's the matter of the poll itself. How we view the results - 57% of the 17.5m votes cast were in favour of Musk standing down as Twitter CEO - depends on what we think he wanted to achieve by it.  READ MORE...