Somewhat Political

 

In The NEWS

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
In partnership with Seed

> Indiana Fever take Iowa's Caitlin Clark with top pick in 2024 WNBA Draft; see complete list of draft picks (More) | NBA Play-In Tournament kicks off today; see full schedule (More)

> "The Gates" to premiere in January 2025 on CBS and will be first daytime network soap opera in over 30 years to primarily feature a Black family (More)

> Kenya's Hellen Obiri and Ethiopia's Sisay Lemma win women's and men's titles at 128th Boston Marathon (More)

Science & Technology
> Stanford University releases its annual artificial intelligence index report, finds AI systems now match or exceed human performance on a number of basic tasks (More) | OpenAI's GPT-4 cost $78M to train, Google's Gemini cost $191M; see full report (More)

> New RNA-based vaccine shown effective against all strains of a virus, may eliminate need for annual boosters against illnesses like the common flu (More) | The hunt for a universal vaccine (More, w/video)

> Astrophysicists resolve mystery of Pluto's heart-shaped structure, conclude it was created with a 400-mile-wide planetary object early in its history; study also suggests Pluto has no subsurface ocean (More)


Business & Markets
> US stock markets close lower (S&P 500 -1.2%, Dow -0.7%, Nasdaq -1.8%) as Middle East tensions weigh on investor sentiment (More) | US retail sales rise 0.7% month-over-month in March, up from economist forecast of 0.3% and the second consecutive monthly rise (More)

> Goldman Sachs tops earnings and revenue expectations, reports 28% increase in first quarter profits of over $4B, or $11.58 per share—the highest earnings per share since the third quarter of 2021 (More)

> Salesforce shares fall 7% on reports of potential deal to buy data-management firm Informatica, valued at $10B (More) | Trump Media and Technology Group shares fall 18% as it eyes issuing more shares (More) | Live Nation shares fall in after-hours trading on report of possible Justice Department antitrust suit (More)



Politics & World Affairs
> Former President Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial in Manhattan begins; first day concludes with no jurors selected, more than 50 in the jury pool dismissed (More) | See our previous write-up (More)

> US Supreme Court allows Idaho law banning gender-affirming care for minors to broadly take effect—excluding plaintiffs who challenged the law—while appeals process plays out (More) | Supreme Court rejects hearing appeal over whether a Black Lives Matter demonstration leader can be sued for an injury to a police officer caused by a different protester (More)

> At least four people, including a bishop and a priest, wounded in a knife attack during a church service in Sydney, Australia; police arrest teenage suspect, treating attack as terrorism (More)

SOURCE:  1440 News

The Right to Defend

 

If you are an American or if you in this country legally, then the umbrella of the First Amendment (Freedom of Speech), should apply to you.

In other words, if you want to organize a group of people for the sole purpose of yelling out to everyone:

DEATH TO AMERICA

Then you should have the right to do so.  However, my question is:  Why are you even here, participating in the freedoms and resources that exist here in America.

If you manage to kill all Americans, our freedoms DIE WITH US...

More importantly, you have not yet seen the anger of an AMERICAN once he or she feels like their family is being threatened, especially since we also have the Second Amendment (Freem to bear arms).

Let me suggest that you watch the movie RAMBO because something like that has a good possibility of happening.

EVERYONE...  EVERY COUNTRY...  has a right to defend themselves from aggression.  It does not matter if you country is in the EU, or in Africa or South America, or is part of Asia, or is Russia or China -  if another country acts in an aggressive manner towards you, then you have a righ to RETALIATE.

Case in point...  Hamas attacked Israel, so Israel can retaliate.  Hezbollah attacks Israel - Israel can retaliate.  OR...  If Israel attacks Syria and that pissed IRAN off - then Iran can retaliate as well...  providing that Iran understands that Israel will respond in kind.

When Iran sent missiles and drones to Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom, Jordan, and France helped to defend Israel.

CONSEQUENTLY:  DEATH TO AMERICA

It is very surprising that President Biden authorized the US military to become involved since Biden is a bit of a pussy when it comes to acting TOUGH.

What Iran and its proxies DON'T WANT is a war with America.  If that were to happen, then Russia would support Iran and quite possibly China as well as other middle eastern countries.

BUT, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Japan, Australia, and other countries would support Israel and the USA.

What we would have is WWIII and only a fool would want a global war to become nuclear.

With that said, whatever you believe or don't believe, all countries have a right to defend themselves and retaliate if applicable.  To think otherwise, is naive ignorance.

Panda & Chair

 

Synthetic Antiferromagnets

Researchers have discovered merons in synthetic antiferromagnets, advancing the field of spintronics toward more efficient, compact, and sustainable computing.

For the first time, teams from Germany and Japan have successfully identified collective topological spin formations known as merons within layered synthetic antiferromagnets.

Our everyday electronic devices, such as living room lights, washing machines, and televisions, operate thanks to electrical currents. Similarly, the functioning of computers is based on the manipulation of information by small charge carriers known as electrons. Spintronics, on the other hand, introduces a unique approach to this process.

Instead of the charge of electrons, the spintronic approach is to exploit their magnetic moment, in other words, their spin, to store and process information – aiming to make the computers of the future more compact, fast, and sustainable. 

One way of processing information based on this approach is to use the magnetic vortices called skyrmions or, alternatively, their still little understood and rarer cousins called ‘merons’.   READ MORE...

The Cream

 

Big Tree

 

New Era in Health & Space

Researchers are exploring the world’s most powerful laser, which is now functional in a research center in Romania. The equipment holds the potential to bring about significant advancements in various fields, including space exploration and health.

The French technology company Thales uses ideas that have won Nobel prizes to run the laser at the European Union’s Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) center, located close to Bucharest, the capital of Romania.

The equipment at ELI produces the shortest and strongest laser pulses the world has ever seen by amplifying, compressing, and extending an extremely brief laser pulse over time. This has helped researchers overcome a crucial limitation with lasers: boosting power while keeping the intensity safe.

The technology has already been used in corrective eye surgery, but it has also made it possible for researchers to keep increasing the power of lasers.     READ MORE...

Somewhat Political

 

In The NEWS

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
In partnership with LMNT

> NBA regular season wraps with the play-in tournament set to begin tomorrow night; see playoff bracket (More) | WNBA Draft is tonight (7:30 pm ET, ESPN) with Iowa's Caitlin Clark widely projected to be the top pick (More)

> "Sunset Boulevard" is big winner with seven awards at the 2024 Olivier Awards, the British equivalent of the Tonys; "Operation Mincemeat" wins best new musical (More)

> Denver tops Boston College to win 10th NCAA men's hockey national championship (More) | NHL regular season wraps this week; see latest playoff picture (More)

Science & Technology
> SpaceX reaches milestone for reusable rockets, successfully launching satellites aboard a Falcon 9 rocket on its 20th liftoff (More)

> Scientists discover cell structure in algae that naturally converts atmospheric nitrogen into useful chemicals; may one day allow crops to produce their own fertilizer from the air (More)

> New study challenges view of bonobos as a largely peaceful primate species, finds they can be more aggressive than chimpanzees; conflicts play out mostly through individual fights between males (More)


Business & Markets
> IRS says it received more than 100 million tax returns ahead of today's deadline to file returns or extensions for 2023 (More) | See the top 10 fraud cases from last year (More)

> Stocks fall Friday on slow start to earnings season (Dow -1.2%, S&P 500 -1.5%, Nasdaq -1.6%); S&P 500 closes worst week since October (More) | JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup all report a drop on income from net interest in first quarter (More)

> US Steel shareholders approve $14.9B sale to Japan's Nippon Steel at $55 per share, a roughly 33% premium over the stock's Friday price at close; deal for the second-largest US steelmaker still faces political opposition (More)


Politics & World Affairs
> A 40-year-old man stabs and kills seven people Saturday at the Westfield Bondi shopping mall in Sydney, Australia, injuring at least a dozen more; police attribute the cause to mental illness (More)

> Somali pirates release a Bangladeshi ship captured last month and its 23-person crew in exchange for a $5M ransom from ship owner KSRM Group (More) | More piracy attacks occurred in early 2024 than any other time in the last six years (More)

> Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) vetoes bill that would have banned transgender medical treatments for minors, including surgery and hormone replacement therapy (More) | See list of states that have enacted bans (More)

SOURCE:  1440 News

Gifts and Donations

 

If you are like me, then you watch television during the day or early evening.  Whether you watch programs from cable or a dish or via a ROKU, you probably are inundated with commercials.  

While these commercials are necessary to sell products that grow our economy, they also put the viewer inside an uncomfortable point of view, not really knowing what to do...  that is to say, how to spend your money.

For me, the commercials that stick in my mind are the ones that ask us to make donations.  We can donate our money to disabled veterans or children with cancer or animals that have been abandoned or treated cruelly.

It seems like to me that humans are more important than animals and that children are more important than veterans...  but for some, the decision is not that simple.  They struggle and anguish with their decision.

Additionally, the country is deeply embedded in a structural inflation process that does not seem to be lessening anytime soon.  We are struggling with our money just to keep our heads above water.  So, begging us to contribute is just another way to make Americans feel bad about themselves.

In addition to this, we are being asked to contribute to RUSSIAN JEWS who are starving.  So, forget the problems that we have in this country, let's give are hard earned money to someone outside of this country...  that makes a lot of sense.   And, if we do not then we are labeled as not very religious.

I understand that commercials are important, and I would also agree that charitable gifts and donations are important as well... but, no one takes into consideration the negative mental impact that this pressure has on the VIEWER - especially if that viewer is ELDERLY.

Cats

 

Evidence of Gravitons

A research team led by Chinese scientists has provided the first experimental evidence hinting at the existence of gravitons, theoretical particles believed to mediate the force of gravity, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

This discovery marks a significant step towards bridging the gap between quantum mechanics and general relativity, two pillars of modern physics that have remained largely incompatible.

The research, carried out by a collaboration between scientists from Nanjing University in eastern China, the United States, and Germany, involved placing a thin layer of semiconductor under extreme conditions. 

By cooling the semiconductor to near absolute zero and applying a magnetic field 100,000 times stronger than the Earth’s, the team managed to excite the semiconductor’s electrons to move in unison. This collective motion caused the electrons to spin in a manner consistent with predictions about gravitons, despite not confirming the particle’s direct existence.

“Our work has shown the first experimental substantiation of gravitons in condensed matter since the elusive particle was conceptualized in the 1930s,” Du Lingjie, the study’s lead author from Nanjing University, told state news agency Xinhua, as reported by SCMP.  READ MORE...

Nuclear Power

 

SpaceX Starship's Re-entry

 

Mountains Storing Clean Energy

Mountains—could soon store a whole lot of clean energy. These vertically blessed places are ideal spots for a well-established form of energy storage that is getting renewed attention: pumped storage hydropower.

As the country transitions to a clean power grid, researchers are searching for the best ways to store energy to use when winds slow down, clouds block the sun, and the grid needs a boost. 

Some experts are hoping to forge better batteries, like the well-loved lithium-ion batteries that power electric cars. But batteries are like cheetahs—they often run best for short distances. 

Pumped storage hydropower may be older technology but, like us endurance-running humans, can outlast their competition, often storing energy for eight to 12 hours at a time or more. 

Utility-scale batteries are often too expensive if they are built to store more than four hours of energy.  READ MORE...

Somewhat Political

 

Dysfunctional America

 

Whether RIGHT or WRONG, this is what America looks like to me...

America is being inundated with ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS some of which are criminals, pedophiles, terrorists, spies, and those who want a better life.

It is estimated that there are 10-15 million ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS in the USA and what are the odds that they will continue to break our laws.

Americans are being hurt by inflation while at the same time are being helped by all of Biden's spending that will eventually explode in our faces because of all the debt we are creating.

Instead of building up our military for defense, the present administration is building up social welfare programs instead that ultimately force people to depend more and more on the government.

Blacks was reparations and/or put in a situation where they pay no taxes causing the white population to be forced to take care of them.  At the same time, Blacks are pushing CRT and DEI with the understanding that ALL WHITES are supremacists and will continue to suppress the black population.

In my opinion, this is creating RACISM is escalate...

America's educational system is declining BIG TIME and our education knowledge is being diluted and watered down so more and more unqualified college students can graduate.

America's poor education will only allow other countries who have intensified their educational process to leap above Americans intellectually.

America's politicians care more about their own re-election than they do about doing what is right for the American people.  Not getting anything accomplished each year because of each side not wanting to compromise will eventually bite us in the ass.

Not only is SOCIALISM coming to America which is right now being financed by a declining capitalistic society, but humanoid robots with AI will soon be replacing jobs.  However, there is the claim that robots will create more jobs than they replace.  DO YOU BELIEVE THAT???

Russia is fighting in Ukraine, Israel is fighting in Gaza, and IRAN is vowing DEATH TO AMERICANS and will continue fighting us until all Americans are destroyed.  Meanwhile, China is eyeballing Taiwan for take-over and many strategists believe that we are now closer to WWIII than we have ever been before.

American LIBERALS want to destroy American CONSERVATIVE so that they never have a majority in congress again - creating a ONE PARTY government in the USA...  A one party government is no longer a democracy and freedom of speech will no longer be a part of American life.

At 76 years of age, this change in America will not influence me much or these last few years that I am alive....  BUT, it will impact all of the rest of you and if you wait too long, it will be too late to stop the change.  We may have passed that point already.

YOU DON'T MISS WHAT YOU HAD UNTIL IT IS GONE... 

Whales

 

Liquid Circuits and Brain Computers

Liquid circuits that mimic synapses in the brain can for the first time perform the kind of logical operations underlying modern computers, a new study finds. 

Near-term applications for these devices may include tasks such as image recognition, as well as the kinds of calculations underlying most artificial intelligence systems.

Just as biological neurons both compute and store data, brain-imitating neuromorphic technology often combines both operations. These devices may greatly reduce the energy and time lost in conventional microchips shuttling data back and forth between processors and memory. 

They may also prove ideal for implementing neural networks—AI systems increasingly finding use in applications such as analyzing medical scans and controlling autonomous vehicles.   READ MORE...

U-2 Planes for Secret Missions

 

In The NEWS

US issues travel warning for Israel as Iran attack believed to be imminent.
Iran has vowed to retaliate after Israel's airstrike on an Iranian embassy complex in Syria earlier this month that killed three senior military officials and wounded four others. The US State Department has restricted its employees from traveling to parts of Israel and has reportedly sent more US troops to the Middle East.



US House passes bill renewing contentious surveillance program.
The House approved the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, by a vote of 273-147, ahead of an April 19 deadline. The bill extends the act for two years, down from a previous proposal for a five-year extension. FISA's provisions (see overview) include allowing the US government to collect the communications of non-Americans located outside of the country without a warrant. A separate vote on an amendment to require a warrant failed with a tie.



At least one dead after semitrailer crashes into Texas public safety office.
A stolen 18-wheeler crashed into the Texas Department of Public Safety office Friday, killing at least one person and injuring 13 others. The driver, identified as 42-year-old Clenard Parker, was taken into custody. The office had rejected Parker's renewal for a commercial driver's license a day earlier.



Biden administration to forgive $7.4B in student debt.
The Biden administration announced it would be canceling student debt of more than 277,000 borrowers as part of its latest action geared toward income-driven repayment plans. The White House claims the latest effort brings the total amount of student loan forgiveness to $153B under the current administration.



Oil and gas companies to pay more to drill on public US lands.
Energy companies will need to pay 16.67% in federal royalty fees, up from 12.5%, for drilling on public lands, per final rules issued Friday by the US government. The new fee will last until August 2032. Other measures include requiring companies to pay $150K per lease on federal lands, up from $10K, which was established in 1960.



Robert MacNeil, creator of 'PBS NewsHour,' dies at 93.
In 1975, MacNeil, along with the late Jim Lehrer, launched a half-hour nightly news program that later became America's first hourlong evening broadcast. The show won a plethora of awards, including an Emmy for its live coverage of the Senate Watergate hearings. MacNeil left the show in 1995 to focus on writing; Lehrer took over until 2009 and died in 2020. MacNeil died Friday due to natural causes.



Roberto Cavalli, Italian fashion designer, dies at 83.
Cavalli launched his namesake fashion brand in the 1970s and was known for bold animal prints and "stretch jeans," which he pioneered by adding Lycra (a synthetic elastic fiber) to denim. His designs have been worn by celebrities, including Taylor Swift, Madonna, and Zendaya. The cause of his death was not announced.



James Webb detects origins of brightest cosmic blast since Big Bang.
In 2022, researchers discovered the brightest gamma-ray burst ever recorded, dubbed the "BOAT" for the "brightest of all time." The event is now known to have come from the explosion of a giant star. Such explosions, known as supernovas, have been theorized to produce heavy elements like gold and platinum. However, no such metals were found from the BOAT, leaving researchers to question how these metals are produced.

SOURCE:  1440 News

Diversity - Equity - Inclusion

 A few weeks ago, I read an article where some high school was no longer offering advanced courses for gifted and talented students because it made all the other students FEEL BAD.

First of all, human beings are not EQUAL.  They are born with different mental, artistic, and athletic skills and there is nothing that we can do to change that phenomenon.

Diversity is an important issue as well as many of us should appreciate different points of view.  If fact, I went to high school in Cairo, Egypt and there were 28 students in my graduating class from 18 different countries.  Diversity in high school was the best thing that ever happened to me.

BUT...  you cannot force diversity on people in general if they do not want it.  If you were to visit some of these larger cities in the USA, you would see that each ethnic group lives in their own little section of the city - they do not live together nor do they intermingle with each other.  If the government tried to force this upon them, it would not be well accepted and eventually the ethnic groups would move out of the city.

The same situation will take place with this concept of inclusion.  

Can you imagine telling black folks that they have to start attending white churches in the spirit of inclusion.  Of course, the same resistance would take place if you told the white folks they had to start attending black churches.

Our government is trying to FORCE DEI into education and into the workforce and all they are doing is creating more animosity among the different races.  Mainly they are trying to put blacks into primarily white schools and businesses in an effort to fight against WHITE SUPREMACY.

As long as the white population of the USA is the predominate population, the blacks will say there is WHITE SUPREMACY. 

Somewhat Political

 

Our Consciousness

How Vast Is Consciousness?

Recent neuroscience recognizes two basic forms of consciousness. It all starts with the divisions we make: "Two broad types of consciousness must be distinguished" based on the neurobiological domain (LeDoux, 2023, 219). Creature consciousness is attributed to all organisms with a nervous system. 

The other form of consciousness, associated with more complex nervous systems, is mental state consciousness. It is "the ability to experience the world and one's relationship to it" (LeDoux, 219).

Recently, another category of consciousness has been added: existential consciousness. (Reber, Baluska and Miller, 2024). Here, consciousness is rooted in cellular intelligence as an expression of a living, self-organizing order.

This view of the cellular basis of cognition offers a promising new perspective on the vastness of consciousness in life. Is it necessary to stop seeing the possibility of consciousness as a form of sentience based on the presence of a nervous system?  READ MORE...

Roy Orbison

 

In The NEWS

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> The 2023-24 NBA regular season wraps up this weekend; see latest standings and playoff picture (More) | US federal investigators accuse MLB star Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter of stealing $16M from Ohtani (More)

> Taro Akebono, American-born sumo wrestling icon, dies at 54 (More) | DJ Mister Cee, longtime radio host and hip-hop pioneer, dies at 57 (More)

> The 2024 Cannes Film Festival (May 14-25) lineup announced, headlined by films from Francis Ford Coppola and Paul Schrader; see full festival lineup (More)


Science & Technology
In partnership with Qualia Mind

> AI startup Humane releases its widely anticipated Ai Pin, a wearable badge that doubles as an AI-powered smart device (More) | Study suggests some peer reviewers of academic papers may be using chatbots to provide feedback (More)

> Scientists pinpoint how cells untangle overwound strands of DNA, avoiding potential errors in copying and reading its genetic information; applications include treatments for bacterial infections and new anticancer drugs (More)

> Google's DeepMind unveils robots capable of playing soccer after being trained on the rules via a type of machine learning known as deep reinforcement learning (More, w/video)


Business & Markets
> US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 +0.7%, Dow -0.0%, Nasdaq +1.7%); Nasdaq closes at record high as technology shares climb, rebounding from earlier concerns over inflation (More) | Apple shares rise 4% in best day since May 2023 (More)

> Investment bank Morgan Stanley's shares close down more than 5% on report that multiple federal regulators are investigating its wealth management unit (More)

> Sam Bankman-Fried, former cryptocurrency mogul, appeals fraud conviction for crimes connected to the collapse of his now-defunct trading platform FTX (More) | See previous write-up (More)


Politics & World Affairs
> Russian airstrikes destroy major power plant in Kyiv, Ukraine, and damage power infrastructures in Lviv and Odesa (More) | Ukrainian parliament passes military mobilization law; measures include tightening registration rules and introducing penalties for evading service (More) | Alexei Navalny's posthumous memoir to be published in October (More)

> Sen. Bob Menendez's (D-NJ) bribery trial to be separated from his wife's, federal judge rules; Menendez's trial over obstruction, bribery charges to begin May 6, while his wife's trial tentatively pushed to July (More)

> Harvard reinstates standized test scores for candidates seeking admission to the school, following other Ivy Leagues in rolling back pandemic-era policy (More) | See previous write-up (More)

SOURCE:  1440 News

American Freedoms

What does Sharia law say about woman?

Shariah leaves considerable room for interpretation. When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan in the past, they imposed a strict one, barring women from working outside the home or leaving the house without a male guardian, eliminating schooling for girls, and publicly flogging people who violated the group's morality code.    Aug 30, 2021                       SOURCE:  The New York Times

Most Americans, I would suspect, would object to living under Shariah law, especially American women; however, I cannot speak for them other than in general terms.

In 1776, we gained our independence from Great Britain and wrote our own constitution that was ratified by all the states a couple of years later.  The first 10 amendments to that constitution were called the Bill of Rights, and the very FIRST AMENDMENT addressed freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

By the year 2,000 many Americans, I would also suspect, do not really appreciate what freedom of speech really means nor do they understand what life would be like without our freedom of speech.

Until a child graduates from high school, he or she lives under the influence and control of their parents with the understanding that most of these children cannot really speak their mind in the presence of their parents.

However, when they graduate, they can and usually do say whatever they damn well please and quite often their comments land them in hot water with their superiors, if they work or with their teachers if they attend college.

It is several years before these high school graduates finally realize the power of the first amendment and how precious it is to be careful what you say and how you say it - even though their comments are protected...

What is not protected is how those comments may be interpreted by others and how that interpretation can influence and change relationships.

In many countries throughout the world if citizens say negative comments about the actions of their government, they are thrown in jail for several years in the hopes that they will eventually learn to keep their mouth shut.

However, that does not happen in the USA.  Nor does Shariah law because it restricts the freedoms of people, especially women.  And that freedom is something that we honor and take quite seriously, especially if you have had that freedom curtailed.

Somewhat Political

 

India Challenges China on Technology

For years, China has been Asia’s technology powerhouse.

It is home to what once were some of the world’s most valuable companies, from Tencent to Alibaba. It is where most of the world’s iPhones and other electronics products are produced. And it is now a serious player in electric vehicles.

But a shift appears to be underway, with other countries in Asia trying to take China’s crown.

India is one of these contenders. New Delhi has sought to woo foreign tech companies and has been increasingly successful, with giants like Apple increasing their presence in the country.

India is looking to boost areas such as high-tech electronics and semiconductor manufacturing, as well as support its burgeoning yet challenged startup scene.     READ MORE...