Slip Sliding Through

 

The Race to Space

The race to provide high-speed internet from satellites is well underway – but another, more ambitious competition, to connect directly from space to devices like smartphones, began in earnest earlier this year.

The potential untapped market — which hinges on, but extends beyond, sending a text via space — is spurring a tale of two strategies: Those putting specialized antennae in phones, versus those putting high-powered antennae on the satellites themselves. For some companies, it means billions spent on what could end up being a losing approach.

“The satellite industry is really niche and – if they can tap into connecting billions of smartphones – they can start talking about market sizes that are way greater than they’ve ever been able to address before. Everything before has been in the millions,” Caleb Henry, senior analyst at boutique research firm Quilty Analytics, told CNBC.  READ MORE...

Wild Flowers

China Leads USA in STEM Research

Forty years ago, China sent huge cohorts of students off to study abroad.

Then, Chinese paramount leader Deng Xiaoping argued this wasn’t a flight for human capital, but rather an investment that would eventually return to make the country more educated and innovative.

“We need to send tens of thousands,” Deng said. “This is one of the key ways of…improving our level of scientific education.”

A recent working paper for the National Bureau of Economic Research proved the politician right. China now accounts for about 23 percent of scientific publications in the international journals indexed by Scopus, adjusted for the Chinese share of addresses or names on publications. This means the nation is now the “largest contributor to global science”.  READ MORE...

Changing

NO Television for Trump Testimony

WASHINGTON (AP) — Raising the stakes on its extraordinary subpoena to Donald Trump, the House committee investigating the Capitol riot indicated Sunday it would not consider letting the former president testify live on television about the direct role that congressional investigators say he played in trying to overturn the 2020 election.

The committee is demanding Trump’s testimony under oath next month as well as records relevant to its investigation. To avoid a complicated and protracted legal battle, Trump reportedly had told associates he might consider complying with the subpoena if he could answer questions during live testimony.

But Rep. Liz Cheney, the committee’s vice chair, on Sunday rejected the possibility. She said the committee, which makes its major decisions with unanimous consent, would not allow Trump’s testimony to turn into a “food fight” on TV and she warned that the committee will take action if he does not comply with the subpoena.  READ MORE...

Pomegranite

 

Strings of Time

 

Strings of Time is a series of novels, the number of which is yet to be determined written in the Science Fiction Genre.  The first book is entitled A Place in Time and will be about three Guardians fighting the Dark Lord Ji' Ji' Ki who has taken over two continents on the planet Kona Tre located in the Zeta Quadrant of the Dah Rat Solar System.  This them of good versus evil is nothing new and has been used by writers for hundreds of years.

However, what is new is this concept of Strings as it relates to String Theory.  

String theory proposes that the fundamental constituents of the universe are one-dimensional “strings” rather than point-like particles. What we perceive as particles are actually vibrations in loops of string, each with its own characteristic frequency.

String theory originated as an attempt to describe the interactions of particles such as protons. It has since developed into something much more ambitious: an approach to the construction of a complete unified theory of all fundamental particles and forces.

Previous attempts to unify physics have had trouble incorporating gravity with the other forces. String theory not only embraces gravity but requires it. String theory also requires six or seven extra dimensions of space, and it contains ways of relating large extra dimensions to small ones. The study of string theory has also led to the concept of supersymmetry, which would double the number of elementary particles.

The Guardians learn to use the power of the strings to form the basis of their powers that revovle around the natural forces of a pretty much any planet that can sustain life.  Using the power of the strings, the Guardians can travel from one dimension to another and from one universe to another.  But first, they must defeat the Dark Lord.

And, therein lies their problem because the Dark Lord is actually a former Guardian who somehow discovered the evil side of the strings.

Using a concept from the Bible that states the human race was brought about by Adam and Eve.  Logically, the only way that this can happen was for Adam and Eve to have mated with their children.

Only a special female can mate with a Guardian and each time that female mates with her son and then her grandson and great grandson, the resulting Guardian is more powerful than the previous one.  The Dark Lord is the result of a third generation mating.

I just started writing this series and I left a couple of novels unfinished to at least begin the first book of this series.  So far, I am on Chapter 3 of an anticipated 12 Chapter length.

Time Decades

One way to look at our lives is in a decade of years...

1. 1 - 10
2. 11 - 20
3. 21 - 30
4. 31 - 40
5. 41 - 50
6. 51 - 60
7. 61 - 70
8. 71 - 80
9. 81 - 90
10. 91 - 100

 And, the milestones associated with each decade...  like:

• starting school
• graduating from high school
• old enough to drink alcohol
• serving in the military
• going to college
• getting married
• having children
• children graduating from high school
• children getting married
• having grand childrens
• retiring
• DEATH

As one moves through these time decades, and one ages, one begins to realize that there becomes fewer and fewer time decades to experience...  in other words, we all get old...  we all experience aging differently but likely than not, your body and its ability to do things will change and you will be doing less and less.

As one ages one experiences pain, agony, and disappointments that influence one's mental outlook and personality.  Youth never or hardly ever comes into contact with these life changing events...  such as:

• getting a speeding ticket
• crashing a car
• being shot at
• going to war
• becoming disabled
• losing one's job
• relocation
• death of a child
• death of a spouse
• death of a friend
• death of parents
• going bankrupct
• divorce
• heart attack
• retirement
• living paycheck to paycheck
• having a serious disease

Most of the time, we hardly ever think of the negative aspects of life...  only the good times and having fun...  drinking alcohol and acting foolish...  smoking marijuana and feeling high and floating...  dancing with one's lover...  making loving all morning...  cutting class...  skinny dipping...  or maybe eating a great meal and never gaining weight.

Innocence is great while it lasts...  but, it does not last long and we need to respect those who have been through more shit than we have...

Rotation and Time

 

Earth is one of several planets in our solar system that revolves (rotates) around the sun.  The orbit around the sun takes 365 days and while earth makes that orbit, it is spinning around every 24 hours...  two simultaneous rotations.

What would happen if those two rotations increased or decreased?

Human beings on average live about 80 years +/-.  If the rotations increased we would reach our 80 years quicker (appearing to have a shorter life) and if our rotations decreased it would take longer to reach our 80 years (appearing to have a longer life.

Our solar system is one of many solar systems in our Milky Way Galaxy and each solar system has planets that are revolving around something like a sun or a moon.  Each of these planets in each of these solar system in the Milky Way Galaxy are revolving around as they move along the arc of their orbits...  and the same logic around increasing/decreasing the spin is applicable.

Our Galaxy is one of many Galaxies in the Universe in which the same thing is happening with their various solar systems and with their various planets.

This spin/rotating orbits of planets, solar systems, and galaxies have a direct corelation with not just gravity but with TIME.   And, while we do not have any scientific proof that there is life on all these planets, then we cannot say that there is a direct correlation with LIFE except on the planet earth.

If we stopped spinning and rotation in our solar system and on the planet earth as well, THEN TIME WOULD STOP...  There would be no past-present-future construct or concept of time.  We would not age and if we did age, there would be no way we could measure that aging process.

If the spinning rotation (orbiting) stopped would there still be LIFE???

Is life contingent upon TIME?

We could speculate as to what might happen but we do not know for sure...   and, if we do know, then no one talks about it...  

Would the laws of physics still apply if there was no TIME?

Would we still have spacetime?

Or, for that matter the speed of light?

Drivers Looking

 

California's Economy Declining

California officials are sounding the alarm after recent statistics showed that fewer corporate and start-up activity in the state was leading to a decline in tax revenue, according to a report by Bloomberg News.

This year, just nine companies based in the state had held initial public offerings (IPOs), which is when a company first lists shares for sale on the stock market – considered a milestone in its growth after strong activity and high valuation, the report revealed. 

In 2021, California – whose start-up ecosystem in ‘Silicon Valley’ is considered the most prodigious in the world – saw 81 companies conduct IPOs, making 2022 a year of a nine-fold decrease.

Moreover, the value of these IPOs was far lower than in the past, raising merely $177 million, or 2% of the total amount of money raised by U.S. companies that went public in 2022. 

By contrast, in 2021, California’s share of the revenue generated by IPOs was 39%, by far the largest of any state.  READ MORE...

Classic Sunday Morning Newspaper Cartoons

 

Student Absent in Virginia

A Virginia high school canceled all activities this weekend after almost half of its students called in absent this week due to a flu-like illness.

“Due to the high number of student and staff illnesses reported this week, all Stafford High School activities and athletics scheduled through Sunday, October 23, are canceled,” wrote Stafford High’s official Facebook account on Friday.

The school said that it would follow up on illness levels over the weekend and reassess conditions on Monday.

The Hill has reached out to the Stafford County Public Schools office for comment.

NBC 4 Washington reported on Friday that about 1,000 students were absent from Stafford High School, which is located just outside Fredericksburg, Va.  READ MORE...

The Great Escape

MidTerm Rankings

A little more than two weeks stand between now and Election Day, and it’s likely going to come down to the wire as Republicans and Democrats duke it out for Senate supremacy.

The two sides are fresh off of third-quarter fundraising releases and squarely in the middle of debate season, with Republicans starting to feel that the economic tide has turned in their favor at exactly the right moment.

On the Democratic side, abortion remains the hallmark issue that candidates are messaging on far and wide in order to help keep control of the upper chamber.

Here’s a look at the seven Senate seats most likely to flip next month:

Click Here...  to see those results...

Ice Breaker

 

Leave The Gate Open

If you leave the gate open, the cow will wander off. So, if you intentionally leave the gate open, you want the cow to wander off. You can't blame stupidity or laziness. It was intentional.

If you cut police budgets, you will get more crime on the streets. So, if you intentionally cut police budgets, you wanted more crime on the streets.

If you cut back the supply of oil, gas prices will go up. So if you intentionally cut back the supply of oil, you wanted gas prices to go up.

If you print trillions of dollars without increasing the supply of goods, inflation will hit hard. So if you intentionally print trillions of dollars without more goods you wanted inflation to hit hard.

If you leave the southern border wide open, you get more drug trafficking and human trafficking. So if you intentionally leave the border wide open, you wanted more drug trafficking and human trafficking.

If you shut down 40% of the supply of baby formula in February, you'll get a huge shortage. When you KNOW a huge baby formula shortage is coming because of the FDAs actions, and you purposefully do nothing to prevent it, month after month, until the crisis finally hits hard, you INTENDED this crisis.

It is time to recognize the evil people behind that old man. They want crisis. They want chaos. They want riots. They want conflicts in your town.

Their stated purpose years ago with Obama was to "take the US down a few notches on the world stage." You can feel the quality of your life going down with the country.

These are not foolish or misguided people. They are taking our country somewhere we don't want to go....

Forward this if you understand what is happening.

Migrating Horses

 

AOC Mocks Constituents

A now viral clip of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., made the rounds on Twitter as people across the political spectrum criticized the progressive political figure.

On Wednesday, protestors crashed Ocasio-Cortez’s town hall in Queens, shouting at her and holding signs. While protestors began chanting "AOC has got to go," Ocasio-Cortez sat on the stage and pretended to dance to the beat of the chants.

Eventually, a majority of the room turned on the protestors, allowing Ocasio-Cortez to speak.  READ MORE...

Not Interested...

Refusing to Remove Shipping Containers

The Grand Canyon State won’t be contained.

​Arizona is balking at a White House demand to remove shipping containers the state’s Republican governor ordered double-stacked along the Mexico border because they were not cleared for use on federal land.

The US Bureau of Reclamation informed state officials ​last week that using the containers to plug gaps in the border wall near Yuma violates federal law — the latest dispute between the Biden White House and Republican-led border states over the ongoing migration crisis.

Gov. Doug Ducey, expressing frustration at President Biden’s failure to address immigration, ordered the building of a border wall by stacking more than 100 22-feet-high shipping containers on top of one another earlier this summer.  READ MORE...

Gotcha...

Don't Say Gay Bill

House Republicans have introduced legislation that some critics are describing as a national "Don't Say Gay" bill – inspired by the controversial Florida law that bans instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation in kindergarten through third grade classes.

If the federal bill were to become law, which is unlikely in the current Congress, its effects could be far more sweeping, affecting not just instruction in schools, but also events and literature at any federally-funded institution.

Here's what's in the bill – and what people are saying about it.

The bill's language is broad and consequential
The measure was introduced on Tuesday by Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., and co-sponsored by 32 other Republicans.

"The Democrat Party and their cultural allies are on a misguided crusade to immerse young children in sexual imagery and radical gender ideology," Johnson said in a statement, calling the bill "commonsense."  READ MORE...

The Wave

 

The Fourth Quarter

 

The fourth quarter does not refer to football nor does it refer to the last financial quarter of the year.  My fourth quarter is seasonal and refers to the weather forecast of October, November, and December.  And while these three months have a special event, activity, or holiday associated with them like Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas...  my thoughts are more along the lines of what kind of weather should I be expecting here in East Tennessee, as it will be different in other parts of the country obviously.

October can be a bitch of a month as we have already seen with temps that range from 30 degrees to mid 70 degrees, making this 30% of the fourth quarter not just unpredicable but down right nasty in that many of us will get the flu...

As a boy, I remember Halloween trick or treating being as cold as night where we had to wear tobagons, ear muffs, and gloves.  Of course, we always came home with a full A & P paper grocery bag full of all sorts of candy...  but, because of evil people parents don't trust sending their kids out to houses anymore unless they know the people that live there very well.  And, no child walks around anymore...  their parents drive them.

November is where we start to notice that fall is REALLY here and that we are going to wear warm clothes more this month than cool clothes...  while there is a variation in temps from one day to the next it is not as extreme as October.  But, when we travel to our relatives and friends or they travel to us, there is always a possibility that we will be eating Thanksgiving dinner on the screen-in porch or out on the deck.

However, dinner will not last long as there are football games to be watched or in some States similiar to Tennessee, hunting season opens...  and the males like to grab their rifles and their camoflauged clothing and act macho for a few hours.

December is the last 30% of the fourth quarter and there is no doubt that we realize that the beginning of winter is here and that cold winter is right around the corner.  Although, while east tennessee has relatively mild temps, cities like Baltimore are really cold as is New York City and Boston, but cities like Toronto are freezing their asses off, knowing it is only going to get colder.

Christmas Day is always a toss-up or least has been one recently where if there is no snow predicted in the forecast, then there is a good possibility that the day (but only that day) will be mildly or or mildly warm.

Very little business is done between Thanksgiving and Christmas and I have yet to understand why because this is a time when retail sales usually increase...  but corporations are reluctant to much strategic planning as they are concerned about end-of-the-quarter as well as end-of-the-year profits...  and not donations to charities are tolerated.

Winter for the marketplace has already begun.

The Day After

 

Journalist are taught to ask and answer the following questions for every story:

• Who?
• What?
• Where?
• When?
• Why?
• How?

Writers learn from experience they should focus on three areas:

• Past
• Present
• Future

In all three areas...  there is always a day after...  so one could say there is only today and tomorrow or yesterday and today...  depending upon one's persepctive.  ODDLY, the present is the only solid piece of evidence that we have as yesterday is always gone and becomes a memory that could be distorted...   the future has yet to happen and cannot be predicted unless we are just looking at a few seconds in front of us.

This kind of forecasting serves little to no purpose...  as I know that I am going to swallow in just a few seconds from now...  but, I can predict what I will be doing in a few minutes from now.  However, if I photograph with my cell phone what I am doing NOW, then I can have an relatively accurate picture of the past...  and if a video was taken, there would be an even more accurate  picture of the past...  but, who has the time or the willing to do that shit?

Therefore, we live in the present with the understanding that there will alway be a day after...  unless we die before the day after arrives...  but that won't matter much to us...  will it?

It is a whole lot easier and more simple not to think about any of this and just live life leisurely, listfully with love.

Rita's Diner

 

Rita purchased a restaurant 20 years ago and renamed it Rita's Diner.  Local families would patronize the dinner weekly and their children after they left home would do so as well.  Students would go to Rita's Diner as well as couples who were on dates and in one case, a man proposed marriage to his date at the diner.  It was a place where people enjoyed themselves and who they were with; it was a place of happy memories.  But, gradually over the years, the patrons at the diner changed and instead of providing happy memories, all they did was argue with each other and Rita's Diner became a hostile environment.  Rita worked at her diner from the moment it opened until the moment it closed each day, seven days a week.  She witnessed this transformation herself.  After a while, Rita got so upset at what she thought her diner had caused, that she sold the place and retired.  And, did not leave her house again until she passed away from loneliness.

Of course, there is no diner named Rita's but the concept is still the same...  families and strangers are arguing with each other over race, politics, abortion, crt in public schools, what caused inflation, electric vehicles, illegal immigration, and why the wealthy always seem to believe that they are above the law.

Our homes, our communities, our places of employment, our churches, our civic organizations have all become hostile work environments because of this.   BECAUSE OF WHAT WE BECAME AND ARE DOING TO EACH OTHER...

Twenty Years AGO, we had different opinions but we were willing to compromise our positions and opinions so that we could move forward as a society, as a nation, and as a community.  That sense of cooperation is gone...  and the Russians did not cause it...  the chinese did not cause it...  terrorism did not cause it...  WE ARE THE ENEMY AND DID IT TO OURSELVES...

If we cannot see this...  then we will never be able to fix it...  and if, we cannot fix it...  then the situation in this wonderful country of our will deteriorate and get worse.

Are we going to have to almost die before we are able to see the light? 

Blue Whate

 

Biden Attempts to Ease Gas Prices

CNN —President Joe Biden on Wednesday formally announced the sale of an additional 15 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in December as he looks to lower gas prices ahead of the crucial midterm elections.

“With my announcement today, we’re going to continue to stabilize markets and decrease the prices at a time when the actions of other countries have caused such volatility,” Biden said in a speech from the White House. “And I’ve told my team to be prepared to look further – look for further releases in the months ahead if needed.”

The President also revealed the administration’s plan to purchase oil to refill the emergency reserve, which is now at its lowest level in nearly 40 years, when prices fall to $70 a barrel.  READ MORE...