Supersonic Nuclear Powered Plane

This concept for a supersonic nuclear-powered plane would fly from London to New York in just 80 minutes.  Let’s put that into perspective.

The vision of Barcelona-based designer, Oscar Viñals, The Hyper Sting would travel at a speed of 4,287 km/h (2,664 mph).  That’s more than three times the speed of sound and almost twice the speed of Concorde.  Put simply: it would cut the transatlantic flight five-fold.

It’s being hailed as the potential next generation of air travel – but it’s not the first foray into supersonic passenger air travel.  Viñals is the designer behind other large-scale, fast-flight projects, including the Sky Whale and Big Bird.  It would fly 170 passengers within its 328ft (100m) interior – that’s 100ft (30m) longer than the Concorde.

Plus its wingspan of 169ft (52m) dwarfs Concorde’s 85ft (26m).  READ MORE...

Life's TRUTHS

Unlearning Knowledge

 Let me start with a story.  

There was a student who wanted to learn as much knowledge as possible which led him to search and find the GREAT TEACHER who was living high up a mountain side in a cave.  After climbing up the mountain and entering the cave, he found the GREAT TEACHER and told him the mission he was on.  First, the GREAT TEACHER said, let's have some tea.  

When the tea was ready, he handed the searching student a cup and saucer and began pouring the tea.  The tea filled the cup and began pouring over the cup, onto the saucer and onto the floor.  GREAT TEACHER the searching student exclaiming, the tea you are pouring is overflowing and spilling onto the floor.  

The GREAT TEACHER stopped, smiled and said, just as you must empty the cup before you can put more tea into it, so too must you empty the mind before you can put new knowledge into it.

What the hell does this story mean?

Preconceived ideas and biases will PREVENT you from learning new knowledge because this new knowledge does not fit the paradigm of the old knowledge.  Therefore, this knowledge will be rejected.

Over the years, new knowledge in the form of new ways of teaching have been rejected by the educational establishment because they did not fit the old paradigm.

Similarly, companies today believe:  IF IT AIN'T BROKE THEN DON'T FIX IT.

This mentality is worse than just being foolish and stupid because it can bankrupt your company.

Not only is this a problem in EDUCATION and BUSINESS, but it is also becoming a problem in GOVERNMENT.

That is to say, a new generation is hungry to take over the reins and ride the new horse of government.  The current philosophy is that SOCIALISM is bad and that every country that has adopted SOCIALISM has destroyed itself.

That is not necessarily true.

There are quite a few countries that have decided that taking care of the people is more important than fighting wars or than trying to control the world.  Sweden and Norway come to mind.

Some believe that CAPITALISM and SOCIALISM cannot lie in the same bed...  well...  maybe they can and we just have not given it a try because of our paradigms.

It is time to turn the country over to the next generation and see what they can do with the USA...

Somewhat Political

 

Large Structure in Space

The universe is more connected than you might think: In recent years, scientists have used new tools and techniques to map the “cosmic web,” which is made up of intertwined strands of gas structures known as filaments that link galaxies. Now, a team of researchers have identified a new “large-scale structure” in the universe that they call the “Cosmic Vine.”

The researchers hail from numerous universities and institutions across Denmark, Chile, the U.K., and the Netherlands. They published a preprint of their work to the arXiv server on November 8. According to the study, the Cosmic Vine was spotted after poring over data collected by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), humanity’s most powerful tool for peering into the far reaches of space and time.  READ MORE...

Blind Faith

 

UPS to Use 3,000 Robots in Warehouse

United Parcel Service just opened its largest warehouse, a sweeping 20-acre facility on the outskirts of Louisville, Kentucky. But don’t expect the break room to get too crowded.

The package-handling giant plans to fill the $79 million facility with more than 3,000 robots by the end of next year to handle tasks like lifting and reduce the need for manual labor. That level of automation means UPS can run the warehouse with about 200 workers, which are expected to increase over time.   READ MORE...

Worm Hole

 

Employers Not Hiring College Grads

Employers don't value college degrees as much as originally thought, recent survey data shows, and the disdain is behind a restored appreciation for blue-collar job-seekers that bring skill and experience over education.

The study, known as the Freedom Economy Index (FEI), a joint project of job recruiting service RedBalloon and PublicSquare, surveyed opinions from 70,000 small businesses between Oct. 25 and Oct. 30, with 905 respondents, a 3% margin of error and a 95% confidence level.

When asked about the "return on investment" of higher education, a whopping 67% of participating employers responded "strongly no" when asked if they believed institutions of higher education were "graduating students with relevant skills that today's business community needs."  READ MORE...

My Special Chili

 

I cooked the Navy beans first in the Instant Pot, using tomato juice instead of water, then poured in all the other ingredients, like,

• Kidney beans
• Lentils
• Diced Tomatoes
• Corn
• Diced Onion
• Diced Bell Pepper
• A Chili mixture
• Diced Turkey burgers
• A variety of spices

I let it boil for about 20 minutes then put it on slow cook for 3 hours.  Of course, it did not taste like regular chili cause I used turkey instead of hamburger but it was still pretty good.

I divided the soup into three containers, froze one and put the other two in the fridge.  Each container serves two meals.

My FORTY-FIVE Year Career

From 19661967 to 1967/1968 to the end of 1968, I attended ELON COLLEGE or 5 semesters, leaving college in the second semester of my junior year.  I left college because I was not enjoying my experiences in the classroom.  My guess is that I wasn't enjoying my experiences because of what the Dean of Students said on the first day of Freshman Orientation...

"...Look to your left, and look to your right, neither of those students will be here by the end of the year.  Our job is to try and flunk you out, so that we are left with the best of the best continuing to graduation..."

As a result, my first two years of college was nothing more that digging deeper into the courses I had in high school and the taking of standardized tests at the end of each semester that lasted 4 hours for each course.

I was not prepared for that type of education.  I left school, got married in 1969 and enlisted in the US Naval Reserves in what was called a 2X6 program.  Two years of active duty with 4 years of reserve work.  One of those reserve years took place before I went on active duty.

I was on active duty for 21 months not 24 months because I got a 3 month EARLY OUT to return to college.  My job in the Navy was in COMMUNICATIONS which basically revolved around the collection and analysis of data to determine the movement of foreign nations not friendly to the USA, namely Russia at the time.  We also monitored our own Navy to see what our enemies might learn about us.  The photo to the right is what I looked like on the day I was honorably discharged from the US Navy in 1972.  My daughter was also born that year.

I returned to Elon College and pursued a degree in English, graduating in 1974 with a BA in English and a GPA of 3.75.  Elon College was not the same kind of school when I returned.  They had changed their focus from eliminating students to helping them stay in college.  Their focus was on the student but in reality, it was to generate more revenue so that the college could grow.

In 1980/1981, I attended the Babcock Graduate School of Management at Wake Forest University, receiving my MBA with a focus in Strategic Planning.  Students could not graduate without maintaining a GPA of 3.0 or higher throughout the entire program.

THE GI BILL not only paid for my two years at Elon College, but it also paid for my two years at Wake Forest.  In addition to paying my tuition and books, it gave me a monthly stipend because I was married with a child.  

During those 4 years of education, I worked FULL TIME as well.  I had NO STUDENT DEBT to pay back once I graduated from both schools.

During my 45-year career, I held the following positions (partial list):

1. Director of Product Efficacy for a microbiological media manufacturer
2. Executive Director of the Alamance County Arts Council
3. Director of Focused Industrial Training for a Community College in NC
4. Instructor of Quality Management and Team Oriented Problem Solving at that same college
5. Director of the Center for Quality and Productivity Training at a Community College in TN
6. Assistant Professor of Quality Management at that same college
7. Quest Training, Inc. Owner/CEO - consultant for quality and productivity training in TN
8. Corporate Director of Quality Improvement at an injection molding company in TN
9. Director of Industry Training at a Community College in Chattanooga, TN
10. Dean of Students at ITT Technical Institute, Chair of Business, and Professor of Technical Project Management in TN
11. Director of Education at Daymar College in Belleview, Kentucky
12. Visiting Professor of Business at Carson Newman University in TN (3 years prior to my retirement)

NOTE:  At no time during my 45 years career did any employer asked to see my transcripts as a pre-requisite for hiring nor did they care about my GPA.  They were only interested in whether or not I could ACHIEVE RESULTS.

 

Wrong Species

 

China Is Second Biggest Trade Currency

SHANGHAI/SINGAPORE, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Global companies are making a beeline for China's debt markets, issuing record amounts of yuan-denominated bonds and borrowing heavily from mainland banks, capitalizing on rock-bottom yuan interest rates as funding costs elsewhere jump.

Companies and banks are raising record amounts of cash through yuan bonds issued in mainland China and in Hong Kong, known as panda and dim sum bonds, respectively.   READ MORE...

Emerson, Lake, & Palmer

 

A Special Kind of Chili

When my wife and I retired in 2015, she informed me that she was no longer cooking and if I wanted to eat, I needed to cook my own meals.  She does cook a Thanksgiving dinner.

I am not a chef, don't intend to be a chef, and don't like following recipes which is not a particularly smart trait to have.

The foundation of most everything I cook involves:

• Onions
• Celery
• Garlic
• Bell Peppers
• Mushrooms
• Black Pepper
• Virgin Olive Oil

Today, I have decided to make my own version of chili.  I will start with the basics listed above and to that I will add:

• Navy Beans
• Lentils
• Corn
• Diced Turkey Burgers
• Diced Tomatoes
• A package of Chili mixture

I have something already prepared for lunch today which is a soup I made with potatoes, lima beans, corn, and onions.   It is ok but not great.  I used water instead of a broth which was a mistake.

My chili soup will not be prepared and cooked until later in the day, long after this posting.  So, I will need to let you know Monday how it went.  If I remember I take some pictures with my cell phone.

Wisdom

 

Classic Sunday Morning Newspaper Cartoons

 

We Gotz Aliens Amongst Us

1. The Roswell Incident 1947
2. The US Air Force concludes the Roswell Incident of 1947 was just a weather balloon
3. In 2021, the US government, in a report, would not confirm nor deny the existence of UFO's
4. In 2023, a whistleblower alleges that the Federal Government is not sharing with the general public all that it knows about UFO's.

In the television show, Ancient Aliens, the various hosts make the general conclusion that there are many examples throughout our world of structures that may not have been built by humans without the interference of a SUPERIOR RACE of people. 

There are wall paintings that depict these aliens, but critics say it is just the imagination of the artist.  There are written words talking about people coming down from the sky, but critics say it was just their imagination.

We are at a crossroads with mounting evidence that proves the POSSIBILITY of extraterrestrials.

One day, we will know conclusively but that day is not today.

My concern is what is the government hiding?

What is the military hiding?

Why are both these departments giving us BS answers?

NASA scientists have concluded that the building block of our DNA originated in outer space and were deposited here on earth by crashing meteorites.  To read more about this, click here...

Does this mean that extraterrestrials had something to do with that?  NOT REALLY...

But what it does mean is that our DNA did not come from EARTH...  it came from outer space.

If it came from outer space, could it have originated on another world?

The real question is not if they messed with our DNA but are they are living with us here on earth?

Classic Sunday Morning Newspaper Cartoons

 

Selfies

 

Artificial Intelligence on the Production LIne

As Doritos, Walkers and Wotsits speed along a conveyor belt at Coventry's PepsiCo factory - where some of the UK's most popular crisps are made - the noise of whirring machinery is almost deafening.

But here, it's not just human workers trying to hear signs of machine failure above the factory fray.

Sensors attached to equipment are also listening out for indications of hardware faults, having been trained to recognise sounds of weary machines that risk bringing production lines to a grinding halt.

PepsiCo is deploying these sensors, created by tech firm Augury and powered by artificial intelligence (AI), across its factories following a successful US trial.   
The company is one of many exploring how AI can increase factory efficiency, reduce waste and get products onto shelves sooner.     READ MORE...

Blind Faith

 

Going Nowhere

 

Donating Money to Charities

 Being retired, I probably watch more news now than when I was working while I am drinking my coffee in the mornings.  

The television commercials are constantly asking for money, like:

• Tunnel to Towers
• Disabled Vets
• Jews in Russia
• Children's Hospitals

are just a few that come to mind...  but then there are those non-profits that don't have commercials like:

• Animal Shelters
• Leukemia Foundation
• Make A Wish
• Fire Departments
• Police Departments
• Homeless People

But the asking does not stop there...

• Local churches
• Local schools
• Girl Scouts
• Mission Programs
• Attended Colleges

I get a grant each year from the Leukemia Foundation to pay for my expensive Lymphoma medication...  Should I give my extra money to that organization?

Should I donate money for Cancer research in the hopes that a drug will be found to KILL MY TWO CANCERS?

Do you pick a non-profit that you are touched by and donate to them each year or should you spread your money around by donating to a different charity each year?

Is it better to help children with cancer or disabled Vets or a church mission group trying to convert Africans to Christianity?

And then there is YOURSELF...  as you get older, more stuff happens to you.  For me, it is a heart attack, lymphoma, melanoma, possible prostate cancer, a five-level disk fusion in the lower back, failing eyesight and hearing, and the real possibility that I may have to pay a nurse to take care of me and my wife.

Do I save my limited money for that eventuality?

The thing is...

• I am not a billionaire
• I am not a millionaire
• I am not worth hundreds of thousands of dollars
• I am in the lower middle class
• I am a recipient of charity

What would you do???

Somewhat Political

 

CRISPR Gene Editing

HAMAS Did Not Count on This

  

The Animals

 

America's Priorities

WHAT ARE/OR SHOULD BE AMERICA'S PRIORITIES???

NOW - More or Less

• Green Energy
• Social Programs
• Illegal Immigration
• Inflation
• Terrorism
• War against Democracy
• Crime and Violence
• War on Fossil Fuels

CURRENTLY

1. China has a bigger Navy, Air Force, and Army than America
2. Russia has more nuclear weapons than America
3. China has declared they want to be the global leader, replacing America
4. BRICS has started a global movement against using the US dollar for international trade
5. American education ranks number 15th in the world
6. Set Congressional Term Limits
7. America's military cannot meet recruitment goals
8. Humanoid Robots will be mass produced soon
9. Terrorists have entered the US through our southern borders
10. The US Congress has been ineffective for over 20 years
11. The US has lost its global respect and is no longer a country to be feared or followed

WHAT SHOULD BE THE PRIORITIES FOR AMERICA???

• Bring back fossil fuels - gasoline
• Lower Taxes
• Build a strong military
• Strengthen education by teaching students to retain rather than just memorize
• Train in high school for the future
• Increase Wages
• Stop fighting wars overseas
• Eliminate the United Nations and move towards more arrangements like NATO and/or OPEC
• Put a freeze on price increases
• Build defense systems to destroy nuclear missiles in the air rather than more nuclear missiles or bombs
• Use AI/Robots for medical research
• Gradually move towards EV & infrastructure
• Get the wealthy to pay their fair share of taxes or be forced in invest in the future
• Eliminate people living in poverty
• Build jails in Artica or Antartica and send prisoners there.  Have them guarded by robots.
• Seriously stop the flow of illegal drugs into the US
• Stop Illegal immigration and deport all illegal immigrants in the US

Google's DeepMind AI

Artificial-intelligence (AI) firm Google DeepMind has turned its hand to the intensive science of weather forecasting — and developed a machine-learning model that outperforms the best conventional tools as well as other AI approaches at the task.

The model, called GraphCast, can run from a desktop computer and makes more accurate predictions than conventional models in minutes rather than hours.

“GraphCast currently is leading the race amongst the AI models,” says computer scientist Aditya Grover at University of California, Los Angeles. The model is described1 in Science on 14 November.  READ MORE...