Somewhat Political

 

Theory Unites Gravity and Quantum Mechanics

A radical theory that consistently unifies gravity and quantum mechanics while preserving Einstein's classical concept of spacetime has been announced in two papers published simultaneously by UCL (University College London) physicists.

Modern physics is founded upon two pillars: quantum theory on the one hand, which governs the smallest particles in the universe, and Einstein's theory of general relativity on the other, which explains gravity through the bending of spacetime. But these two theories are in contradiction with each other and a reconciliation has remained elusive for over a century.

The prevailing assumption has been that Einstein's theory of gravity must be modified, or "quantized," in order to fit within quantum theory. This is the approach of two leading candidates for a quantum theory of gravity, string theory and loop quantum gravity.   READ MORE...

Life Lessons

 

Putting Up the Christmas Tree

Regardless of your ethnic or religious affiliations, most everyone puts up a Christmas tree.  I have been told that Sadam Hussein put up a Christmas tree for his two sons, Uday and Qusay.

It appears that putting up the Christmas tree is a family tradition in most every household in the USA.  It certainly was for me growing up.

I cannot remember too much about my first marriage and that's probably why I am no longer married but my second marriage is a Christmas Tree putting up marriage.

Our tree goes up a week or two after Thanksgiving and it is an all-day spectacle.

First, we pull out our WalMart plastic containers that are full of all sorts of Christmas people and items, placing them all over the living room.  Some sit on the floor, others sit on tables or on shelves, while some sit on the fireplace mantel with the Christmas stockings

By the time we are finished, our family room looks like a Christmas store, and we only used half the items.

Next, we go out to the front porch and set up a family of deer (with lights) in the front yard, with a multi-colored rotating spotlight in front of them.  Around these deer are Christmas presents with bows and bells on top and lights on the inside.  Lights are spread across the front porch as well,

Obviously, there are multiple extension cords that congregate as a central location where there are other devices for plugins, but the whole point of all these cords is so that we only end up with one or two connections to plug in and unplug each night.

We can never put the decorations up outside when the weather is nice, we always have to wait until the temperature drops and we are wearing heavy coats, toboggans and gloves, making it a lot easier to handle these small plugs.

Back inside, we assemble our three-part tree that we purchased from Big Lots or WalMart depending upon the price.  The trees come with lights, but we also put on all sorts of hanging decorations so that after the tree has been properly dressed, you hardly can tell it's a tree other than it triangle shape.

A snowman with a red tophat always sits on the very top...  even when the tree does not have the strength to hold it up.  PVC pipe is inserted inside it's head and tied to the tree's center with electrical ties.   It's in the back so it cannot be seen.

This all day tradition is executed by my wife and I with me getting down everything and her deciding where everything goes.   I assemble the tree but then she puts everything around.  She does this because I don't have the same creative eyes that she does.

She also decides where the family of deer are going to live which is fine but like the inside decorations, the deer get relocated at least six times before she decides their locations are satisfactory.

I wouldn't change a thing about my putting up the Christmas tree experiences.

Saturday Morning

It is raining in the valley this morning as it is along most of the east coast today.  According to the forecast, it is supposed to rain today and tomorrow with highs in the low 60s today and low 50s tomorrow.

We were going to put up some outside cameras today but it looks like that is going to have to wait.

FOX News reports SOS... (same ole shit)...  so, nothing has really changed.

• Trump faces 91 felony charges and is going to trial
• DOJ/FBI continue to protect President Biden
• Hunter Biden charged with tax evasion
• War continues in Ukraine
• War continues in Israels
• Global hatred of JEWS continues
• Prices are coming down a little
• American Families keeping heads above water
• War against fossil fuel continues
• Illegal Immigration continues to increase

Personally, I feel like the LEFT is trying to destroy the economy/culture that made them successful, and the LEFT believes that the RIGHT is also trying to destroy democracy...

• Both cannot be right
• Both cannot be wrong

My wife and I have been retired since 2015 and we do not feel the financial pinch that other Americans say they are experiencing...  and this is coming from people who are working... LEADS ME TO BELIEVE - they are living above their means, or they are in an area with an unusually high cost of living.

East TN has a low cost of living...  but my wife and I have no debt and do not purchase anything that we don't need.  We also don't smoke cigarettes, nor do we drink alcohol which saves us a lot each month.

It would appear, based upon the news, that life in America is not really going to change much, if at all, in the next few days, next few weeks, or next few months.

My concern is not so much about inflation, war on fossil fuels, the 2024 election, or the two wars that are going on...  no, my concern is about all the terrorists that have entered the US as a byproduct of our illegal immigration policies and the terrorism that they plan to conduct in the next few months.

I doubt very seriously that terrorists have entered the USA for a holiday.

Christmas Joke

Three men died on Christmas Eve and were met by Saint Peter at the pearly gates.

'In honor of this holy season' Saint Peter said, 'You must each possess something that symbolizes Christmas to get into heaven.'

The man from Nova Scotia fumbled through his pockets and pulled out a lighter. He flicked it on. 'It represents a candle', he said.

'You may pass through the pearly gates' Saint Peter said.

The man from Saskatchewan reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys he shook them and said, 'They're bells.'

Saint Peter said 'You may pass through the pearly gates'.

The Newfoundlander started searching desperately through his pockets and finally pulled out a pair of women's panties.

St. Peter looked at the man with a raised eyebrow and asked, 'And just what do those symbolize?'

The Newfie replied, 'These are Carols.'

And So The Christmas Season Begins......

Our Upcoming Holiday Season

At the end of each year, we always celebrate TWO EVENTS:  Christmas and New Years Eve.  At one point in time, we referred to these days as the Christmas Holidays, but that offended people who were not religious, and it was referred to as THE HOLIDAY PERIOD...  in which some of us were off from work while most schools closed down to celebrate the NON-RELIGIOUS HOLIDAY SEASON. 

What I have always thought as interesting was the fact that these people who claimed to be non-religious still put-up Christmas Trees and still purchased presents and pretended to their young ones they were brought by Santa Claus from the North Pole.

These non-religious people want the Christmas Celebration they just don't want the religious aspect of the Christmas celebration.

Gift-giving has its roots in pagan rituals held during the winter. When Christianity folded these rituals into Christmas, the justification for bearing gifts was redirected to the Three Wise Men, the Magi, who gave gifts to the infant Jesus. But in early modern Europe, it also had its roots in Christmas begging.   Source: Weston Nurseries

It really is a wonder that the RELIGIOUS CHRISTMAS has lasted as long as it has...  especially with students in school learning science that completely contradicts most of the teachings of the Bible.

It is also surprising because of all the UFO sightings that we have had, further indicating that there is life out there in the universe other than human beings....   and, if that is the case which it seems to be, why didn't the BIBLE speak about that???

More questions than answers but clearly RELIGION as we knew it or know it to be is in error with reporting TRUTH.   And, if religion is our truth, and we are wrong, then the creator and his son must be extraterrestrials...  not HUMANS.

• If that is the case, do we still have religion?
• Do we still have a creator?
• Do we still have his son who died on the cross for our sins?
• How does an extraterrestrial know about our sins?

Somewhat Political

 

Individual Molecules Entangled

For the first time, a team of Princeton physicists have been able to link together individual molecules into special states that are quantum mechanically "entangled." In these bizarre states, the molecules remain correlated with each other—and can interact simultaneously—even if they are miles apart, or indeed, even if they occupy opposite ends of the universe. This research was recently published in the journal Science.  READ MORE...

Walk the Line

 

A Retirement Story

I have a friend who lives in Canada and who worked for P&G for 25 years and was offered early retirement at the age of 47.  The retirement package was so beneficial to him that he accepted.  When I retired at 67, he had already been retired for 20 years.  P&G gave him a lump sum that he invested along with a month allowance similar to our Social Security that included 100% medical benefits.

Who would not have wanted to retire, especially when one could be paid in retirement what you were making by working full time.  However, he got no raises in retirement and position increases which could have jumped his annual salary up tremendously.

Like me, he is 76 years old (or almost) and is enjoying the life of retirement...  being retired almost as long as he had worked.   And, all he had was a Bachelor's degree from a small 4 year university in NYC.

The home he purchased 30 years ago for $250,000 is now worth 1.5 million...  So, he could always sell his home and move into an apartment if he ever needed money.

He never had any student debt because his parents paid for his education...  however, he went to college from 1966-1970, so the tuition was about $1,500/year... His entire tuition was about $6,000...  and, he did not pay room and board because he lived with his parents, so my guess is that his entire tuition was closer to just $5,000.

Nowadays, it is about $40,000 per year to attend college which does not always include room and board.   And, there is a question if the education today is as good as the education in 1966...

Of course, living in Canada is not always all smiles especially as we get older.  The cost of living in Canada is more than in the USA.  The quality of life is about the same as living in the USA.  However, in the winter it is colder than a witch's tit in a brass bra...   age does not do well in the cold.

You might be saying to yourself that life in the 1960s is not the same as life in the 2020s and I would agree with you.  The options to a successful life are still there...  one just has to look around and not wait on the government to take care of them all the time.
 

Landed on the Moon

There are FOUR COUNTRIES that have successfully landed spacecrafts on the MOON:

• USA
• Russia
• China 
• India

Interestingly, three of these countries, DO NOT LIKE THE UNITED STATES... and are members of BRICS, the consortium that wants to end the global dominance of the US dollar.

The USA stands alone against TWO POWERHOUSES...  and, if this was a street fight, which it is not, the USA would LOSE.

Unfortunately, the USA has burned its bridges, when it tried to FORCE USA DEMOCRACY on the rest of the world...  The USA did this especially in South America and is one of the reasons why Brazil is a member of BRICS...  The USA also did this in the Middle East which is one of the reasons why most of the Middle Eastern countries are against the USA.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, the USA had tried to dominate the world and in so doing, has tried to spread American Arrogance throughout the world.  It is this arrogance, similar to wealthy arrogance, that the rest of the world (which is not financially well off) that angers the world against the USA.

NOW... WE ARE IN SPACE...  and are competing against THREE ENEMIES:  Russia, China, & India.  While Russia is struggling in Ukraine, and India is struggling with economic growth and global acceptance, CHINA is second to us globally and could pass us in the next few years.

The reason China could pass us economically, is that we are pushing a green energy agenda and in so doing, has weakened our economy.  Our national debt does not help either.  And, the wealthy shelter their money away from taxes, so the government always falls short of their financial expectations.

Whoever controls the MOON, will control SPACE EXPLORATION, especially if China weaponizes a space station before we do...

Hiding the Truth

Each morning, after taking my thyroid pill, feeding the cats, and making coffee, I sit down and watch FOX News for 2 hours.  My preferred segment is Bill Hemmer from 9-11:00 am.  

I started watching FOX News after going to the gym and walking on the treadmill where there are several television monitors were hung on the wall.  FOX News was always on.

I was watching CNN or CBS for my news because I liked the anchors....  but, when I returned home, I discovered that CNN and CBS were not broadcasting the same stories as FOX News.  In fact, I soon learned that FOX News was more inclusive with the news than were the other stations.

Instead of worrying and wondering why this was taking place, I simply switched to FOX News...

When you think about it, anyone who is not getting the full news cannot make an intelligent decision as to what to support or what not to support.  When this happens, it also undermines our Democracy which supposedly prides itself on FREEDOM OF SPEECH and not CENSORSHIP OF SPEECH.

Countries like Russia, China, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, and countries like these countries DO NOT WANT their residents to know the truth because it will UNDERMINE their POWER.

I believe that some AMERICANS are wondering if FREE SPEECH is really the right way to go...  I am beginning to believe that these Americans want to be like communist countries where is truth is hidden or censored.

THINK ABOUT IT...

Wondering and Pondering

 One of the things that I do more often than not, is think about what may or may not happen based upon what I have heard, bearing in mind that much of what I have heard might just be slanted in a different direction from the actual truth or from reality...

Hard to believe?

Well, not only do some of our broadcast stations that report the news, NOT PRESENT all the news, but foreign countries like Russia and China have bloggers and hackers that post FALSE INFORMATION on the internet.

ABC, CNN, NBC, and CBS have decided NOT TO REPORT some stories that make the Democrats look bad or that exposes the Biden's corruption.  These stations have also not spent much time reporting on the ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT situation.

SO, they are simply withholding the TRUTH in the hopes that it favors the Democratic Party.

This leads me to wonder, ponder, and speculate on just how much information is being withheld from the general public in the hopes of slanting the TRUTH...

Do Americans want to know the truth or do they prefer to just live their lives in harmonious ignorance?

There is actually nothing wrong with ignorance because one exists as if there are no problems at all...  and, if there are no problems, then life is peaceful and calm...

• We go to work
• We eat our meals
• We raise children
• We drink our alcohol
• We enjoy our recreation
• We socialize with neighbors
• We have no fears and no concerns

The Blues Bros

 

Internet On Moon

NASA is indeed bringing a celestial internet of sorts to the moon, but it is not the same internet we know on Earth. The technology employs a “protocol suite” of new networking technologies for transmitting information between astronauts in space and those on Earth.

Additionally, Nokia announced plans to bring LTE/4G to the moon to support communication between the lunar lander and rover.  In March 2023, NASA took to Instagram to share the space agency’s plans to install an internet-like network in space that will connect astronauts with researchers on Earth.

Got the Scent

 

What High School Learned Me

"When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school, it's a wonder I can think at all.  And though my lack of education hasn't hurt me none,
I can read the writing on the wall..."  Kodachrome by Paul Simon

When I was in high school, 1962-1966, I took French classes (2), Math classes (4), English classes (4), Science classes (4), Social Studies classes (4), Humanities classes (2), Physical Education classes (2)...  for a total of 22 credits.

PERSONALLY:

• I never used my French classes
• I never used 3 of my Math classes
• I never used my Science classes
• I never used my Social Studies classes
• I never used my Humanities classes
• I have used my Algebra class
• I have used my English classes

WHAT I WISH HIGH SCHOOL TAUGHT ME

1. Personal Finance and Investing (college)
2. Carpentry
3. Plumbing
4. Electricity
5. Auto Mechanics
6. Preparing a resume (college)
7. Cooking 
8. Interpersonal skills

 

High School has been designed to prepare ALL STUDENTS for COLLEGE and nothing else...

College has been designed to prepare ALL STUDENTS for GRADUATE SCHOOL and nothing else...

PROBLEM:  80-90% of the jobs out there require no college

Are our educators STUPID OR WHAT?

 

Backyard Train

 

Gemini Unveiled

Google this morning announced the rollout of Gemini, its largest and most capable large language model to date. Starting today, the company’s Bard chatbot will be powered by a version of Gemini, and will be available in English in more than 170 countries and territories. Developers and enterprise customers will get access to Gemini via API next week, with a more advanced version set to become available next year.

How good is Gemini? Google says the performance of its most capable model “exceeds current state-of-the-art results on 30 of the 32 widely-used academic benchmarks used in LLM research and development.” Gemini also scored 90.0% on a test known as “Massive Multitask Language Understanding,” or MMLU, which assesses capabilities across 57 subjects including math, physics, history and medicine. It is the first LLM to perform better than human experts on the test, Google said.    READ MORE...

Joan Baez

 

Illegal Drugs Are Winning

What do you think about illegal drugs?

Are you in favor of them?

Are you against them?

Do you think the government has the right to prohibit us from taking illegal drugs by making it a crime?

Think about this...

There are several STATES that have made smoking marijuana legal and yet according to the Federal Government, it is still a crime...  Yet, no arrests are made in those states by the Feds.

This type of contradiction by the Federal Government does not put the Federal Government in a positive light.  Either it is legal or it is not legal...

Personally, I think people should be allowed to take whatever drug trips their triggers...  unfortunately, these drug addicts or drug experimenters don't have the money to pay for their drugs so they commit crimes.

We are allowed to kill ourselves by drinking too much alcohol and by eating too much food, but we cannot kill ourselves with illegal drugs...  does not make much sense to me.

Another issue related to these illegal drugs is law enforcement.  I don't think law enforcement really wants to stop the flow of illegal drugs in the USA or its usage because if they did, they would have to layoff a TON OF WORKERS...  and, that would hurt the economy.

Consequently, the use of illegal drugs is tolerated...

Why do I think this way?

Because in 1966, this government was saying the same thing about how harmful illegal drugs were and that they were going to crack down and stop it.

That was over 50 years ago and if anything illegal drugs has gotten worse not better....  GO FIGURE?

Our IDIOT CONGRESS

There are some Democratic members of Congress who believe Israel's claim that Hamas killed women, children, the elderly, and raped women IS A LIE PERPETUATED BY ISRAEL AND THE REPUBLICANS TO JUSTIFY ATTACKING GAZA...

This belief is still prevalent even after HAMAS posted videos of them doing exactly that on the internet as a form of bragging...

This belief is still prevalent even after some of the hostages that were recently released confirmed that they also saw this happening...

These are esteem members of Congress that we elected to pass laws on our behalf who BELIEVE THIS WAY...

Do you think they might be a tad biased?

Do you think they might have a few pre-conceived ideas that are negative towards Israel? 

Do you think they still have the ability to govern us?

I don't really care about Israel nor do I really care about Hamas or any other terrorist organization...

For your information, AMERICAN SOLDIERS killed women, children, the elderly, and raped women in VIETNAM...  and, what did we do to them as a nation?  NOTHING!!!

When you fight WARS, then you must accept that children, women, and the elderly are going to get killed whether it is intentional or not.  And, you might as well expect THAT BOTH SIDES ARE GOING TO RAPE WOMEN.

To think otherwise is foolish, ignorant, and stupid.

Most of you have not been in a war zone and been right beside one of your friends who just had his head blown off because of an RPG...  That anger that builds up inside of soldiers (on both sides) is tremendous and when it is finally allowed to escape, those soldiers are no longer human...  they become animals.

War documentaries do not and will never show that side of war...

Money Talks

Not all millionaires are Democrats...

Not all billionaires are Democrats...

I am not sure how many billionaires or millionaires are DEMOCRATS and I guess it does not really matter...  However, we all know that George SOROS is a billionaire and a Democrat and likes to fund projects and organizations that are not pro-American...he also funds District Attorneys who think that more white people should be in jail because at the present time, there are more blacks incarcerated than whites.  The law be damned...

But, this is not about SOROS and his idiotic beliefs but it is about Americans who may or may not be Democrats but who believe in BEING FAIR...  hard to believe that some people still believe that.

Ever since MIT, UPenn, and Harvard testified in Congress about allowing anti-Jewish sentiments to flourish while claiming to believe in free speech, there has been a mass exodus of money withdrawn from those schools.  Presidents from these three schools straddled the fence when answering questions about Pro-Palestine protests and claims that they were not protecting their Jewish students.

It seems that these prestigious universities had made the assumption that pro Jewish beliefs were only in the ranks of the Republicans...  therefore, they could allow this to happen on their composes and nothing would happen to them.

Looks like these PHDs weren't as smart as their degrees made them appear.  One Board is now talking with one of the Presidents because there are calls for her to resign or get fired.

Tenured faculty cannot help these Presidents because MONEY TRUMPS EVERYTHING...

Suspicious Minds

 

In The News

Time magazine names Inter Miami star Lionel Messi as its 2023 Athlete of the Year (More)

Cleveland Guardians win top pick in 2024 MLB Draft; see full draft lottery results (More)

Denny Laine, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame musician who was a founding member of The Moody Blues and Wings, dies at 79 (More)

Multidisciplinary artist Jesse Darling wins 2023 Turner Prize, widely considered most prestigious award for British artists (More)

NCAA proposes new athletics subdivision that would allow certain schools autonomy to directly compensate student-athletes (More)

Numbers

 

Our Lives are Hardly Ever Planned Out

 Life happens when you're making other plans...  John Lennon

Carpenters measure twice or thrice and cut once...  they claim...  and, that makes sense.

Nobody goes on vacation without knowing where they are headed.  although, I suppose some of us just get in the car and drive.

Most successful companies develop rolling STRATEGIC PLANS (1-3 years or in some cases 3-5 years), evaluate their progress quarterly, making adjustments to the plan if and when they are necessary.

NOTE:  most Japanese companies develop strategic plans for 15-20 years...

Different management mindsets...

MOST OF US, but not ALL, live our lives without any planning taking place at all.

1. After high school, we go to college, go to a trade school, get married, or join the military.
2. We take the first job we can find and stay there until we retire, or we change jobs every 3-5 years using our experience to get a better job.
3. We retire without really knowing what we are going to do to keep busy and do whatever until we die.
4. If we do any retirement planning at all, it is during the last 10 years of our careers.

Does this sound familiar?

We do not know in the statement made by John Lennon if his statement making other plans was intended to mean:

• what to do today
• what to do this week
• what to do this year
• what to do this decade
• what to do this lifetime

I doubt very seriously that we think about our retirement when we are:

• 18 years of age
• 25 years of age
• 30 years of age
• 40 years of age
• 50 years of age
• maybe we do at 60 years of age

How many houses do you plan to buy?

How many wives do you plan to have?

How many children do you plan to have?

How many of those children will go to college?

How many cars do you plan to buy?

How many jobs do you plan to have?

How many companies do you plan to work for?

How many states do you plan to live in?

How much money do you plan to save?

How do you plan to become debt free?

How many times do you think you will be laid off?

How many car accidents will you have?

How many speeding tickets will you get?

How often do you think you will become seriously ill?

Somewhat Political

 

US Math Scores Down Again

Math scores for American 15-year-olds dropped to an all-time low between 2018 and 2022, according to the latest results of an international exam, the first large-scale study marking the pandemic's impact on education. The Program for International Student Assessment, representing 620,000 students throughout 81 education systems in 38 countries, compares math, reading, and science academic performance.


The US saw a 13-point drop in its average math score—from 478 (of 1,000) in 2018 to 465 in 2022—with one in three students scoring below the basic level of proficiency. US reading and science scores stayed mostly even. The US ranked sixth in reading, 10th in science, and 26th in math among participating countries, an improvement from 2018 (largely because of declines in other countries). 


Overall, the average math score across participating countries fell by 15 points—the equivalent of three-quarters of a year of learning. International reading scores fell by 11 points, while science scores remained relatively steady.   READ MORE...