Pithy Thoughts

Hungry for Watermelon

 

Cancer Lurking in Your Tattoo

For millennia, tattoos have taken their place as an art form. And it seems as if everywhere you go, more people are embracing them as not only an art, but a fashion choice and a form of self-expression.

If you’ve ever gotten one, you may have thought the only concern would be the possibility of infection, but that’s not the case…

Despite the popularity of tattoos, it’s an industry that’s largely unregulated — at least when it comes to the actual ink that is used.

And after research at Binghamton University, we all may think twice before walking into a tattoo parlor…

“The idea for this project initially came about because I was interested in what happens when laser light is used to remove tattoos,” says John Swierk, Ph.D., the project’s principal investigator. “But then I realized that very little is actually known about the composition of tattoo inks, so we started analyzing popular brands.”

They even interviewed tattoo artists to see what they knew about the inks they use to produce those tats.

And what they found was just plain frightening.

The team discovered that while tattoo artists generally have a favorite brand, they couldn’t tell the researchers anything about the contents of the ink.

And it gets worse from there…   READ MORE...

Dr. Strsnge

 

Quiet Quitting at Work

The idea of slowly withdrawing from overworking has gone viral. This ‘quiet quitting’ has actually been happening for decades – but its newfound popularity says a lot about work now.

On a recent Monday morning, Gemma, 25, finally decided she needed to overhaul her working life. “I opened my inbox to a load of negative emails from the company’s founder,” explains the London-based PR worker. “I was then expected to deliver big results on a tight deadline. I’d just had enough.”

However, Gemma, whose full name is being withheld over career concerns, didn’t resign. Instead, she chose to remain in her current role; she performs her tasks, but has stopped going the extra mile. 

“I think it’s quite clear my spark has gone, and I just get by doing the minimum,” she says. “I used to be online hours before I started work; now, I don’t log on until after 0900. I used to work so late that I didn’t have time for myself; now, I close all work apps at 1800 on the dot.”

Gemma has ‘quiet quit’ her job, a move linked to a trend that first went viral on TikTok. The phrase was popularised by user @zkchillin in a July 2022 video that now has 3.5 million views, spawning an online phenomenon.  READ MORE...

Diving Into Water

She Changed The Game

The marked disappointment of the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd, when Serena Williams hit her final forehand into the net, did not linger for long.

A rousing acclamation soon rang around the stadium for a woman who extended Ajla Tomljanovic into a fourth hour in their US Open third-round match, and whose brilliance spanned more than a quarter of a century.

She and her sister Venus changed the game, and the approach to life of many - whether they had been dreaming of a pro tennis career or simply a better, fairer future for themselves and their family.

Be yourself, was the message. Women, especially those of colour, do not need to hide their emotions or a desperate will to succeed. Many noses were put out of joint in the process, but corrective surgery had been long overdue.

Muhammad Ali and perhaps Billie Jean King aside, has any athlete made a greater impact on society than Serena Williams? And she may be only just beginning.  READ MORE...

Butterfly on Puppy

 

Sunday Morning Perspective

I wonder how long the hatred in this country will last against those who are not liberal minded or support the progressives?  We are a divided nation and out divisions are worsening instead of getting better...  We have little to no tolerance for the other side who believes differently than we do, and have no desire to try and understand their points-of-view.

Our issues are:

1. Abortion
2. Inflation
3. Student Loan Debt Forgiveness
4. Illegal Immigration
5. Illegal Drugs
6. Disinformation
7. Crime and Violence in cities
8. Slow Growing Economy
9. Push for Electric Vehicles
10. Termination of Gasoline
11. Solar Panels from China
12. Energy Grid Not Powerful Enough
13. Increased Racism
14. Raising Personal Taxes
15. Raising Corporate Taxes
16. Wealth Gap
17. Teaching CRT in Public Schools
18. Weaponizing DOJ & FBI
19. Lack of Respect for FBI
20. Legal Double Standards
21. Our Failing Educational Systems

Who Is To Blame?

• Politicians
• Voters
• Citizens & Residents
• Social Media
• Mainstream Media
• Corporate American
• Technology Companies

America no longer has the respect from the rest of the world...

The rest of the world believes that America will not come to their defense if needed...

Russia/China are waging economic war against America and our leaders don't understand or know how to stop it...

Will nuclear power destroy the world quicker than we anticipated?

Will China be able to control outer space before we do?

Are progressives destroying our military superiority?

Will immigration change America into a 3rd World Country?

Oopps

 

Housing Market Decline to Worsen

Will house prices go down in 2023? Depending on who you ask, the forecast for 2023 is mixed. Most experts in the housing industry predict fewer buyer demand, lower prices, and higher borrowing rates. Rate increases, along with a shortage of availability, have pushed many purchasers to the sidelines. Home prices may fall slightly, but not drastically as they did in 2008. Some believe that the housing market will continue to outperform compared to the pre-pandemic.

Hence, there is no clarity regarding housing forecasts for 2023. CoreLogic, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Zillow all predict that home prices will grow next year albeit slightly. If inflation persists, the Fed could tighten more than anticipated by the financial markets. This would result in higher mortgage rates, which will impact the U.S. housing market. If inflation falls or a recession develops in the near future, the Fed may soften financial conditions.

Here's when the home prices can drop in 2022. While this may appear to be oversimplified, it is how markets work. Prices drop when demand is met. There is now an excessive demand for houses in several property markets, and there simply aren't enough homes to sell to prospective purchasers. Home construction has increased in recent years, although they are still far behind. Thus, big drops in housing prices would necessitate considerable drops in buyer demand.

Demand falls mostly as a result of higher interest rates or a general weakening of the economy. Rising interest rates would ultimately need far less demand and far more housing supply than we now have. Even if price growth slows this year, a fall in home prices is quite unlikely. As a result, there will be no fall in house values in 2022; rather, a pullback, which is natural for any asset class. In the United States, house price growth is forecasted to just “moderate” or slow down in 2022 as well as 2023.



By the end of the year, home price growth is anticipated to moderate to around 5 percent. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index increased 20,4% from a year earlier in April, down from 20,6% the previous month. The Case-Shiller Index is the three-month moving average of the prices of houses sold (i.e. February to April).  READ MORE...

Classic Sunday Morning Newspaper Cartoons

 

Ultraprocessed Foods Linked to Cancer

(CNN)Eating a lot of ultraprocessed foods significantly increases men's risk of colorectal cancer and can lead to heart disease and early death in both men and women, according to two new, large-scale studies of people in the United States and Italy published Wednesday in British medical journal The BMJ.

Ultraprocessed foods include prepackaged soups, sauces, frozen pizza, ready-to-eat meals and pleasure foods such as hot dogs, sausages, french fries, sodas, store-bought cookies, cakes, candies, doughnuts, ice cream and many more.

"Literally hundreds of studies link ultra-processed foods to obesity, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and overall mortality," said Marion Nestle, the Paulette Goddard professor emerita of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University and author of numerous books on food politics and marketing, including 2015's "Soda Politics: Taking on Big Soda (and Winning)."

"These two studies continue the consistency: Ultraprocessed foods are unambiguously associated with an increased risk for chronic disease," said Nestle, who was not involved in either study.  READ MORE...

Fat Cat