Life After Death

 

Tobacco Road

 

7,000-Year-Old Settlement

Together with cooperation partners from the Museum of Vojvodina in Novi Sad (Serbia), the National Museum Zrenjanin and the National Museum Pančevo, a team from the ROOTS Cluster of Excellence has discovered a previously unknown Late Neolithic settlement near the Tamiš River in Northeast Serbia.

"This discovery is of outstanding importance, as hardly any larger Late Neolithic settlements are known in the Serbian Banat region," says team leader Professor Dr. Martin Furholt from the Institute of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archaeology at Kiel University.

Geophysics reveals a 13-hectare settlement structure
The newly discovered settlement is located near the modern village of Jarkovac in the province of Vojvodina. With the help of geophysical methods, the team was able to fully map its extent in March of this year. It covers an area of 11 to 13 hectares and is surrounded by four to six ditches.     READ MORE...

Train

 

Finding Your Way Economically

 

There have been numerous times during my FORTY-FIVE-year career that I have been without a job for one reason or another.

During those times, I worked at least THREE part-time jobs until I found full time work.  One of these part-time jobs was consulting based upon the skills that I had learned in my previous job.

What helped me more than anything else, was being very careful about spending money and doing without EXTRAS so that I could pay off my DEBT.  Once my debt was gone by flexibility and mobility increased.

The other issue was I was never TOO PROUD not to do certain types of work like manual labor or work that I felt insulted my intelligence.

The last issue was that I was not going to let what other people thought of me bother me.

I stopped EVERTHING that I need not really need, like:

• smoking cigarettes
• drinking alcohol
• buying unnecessary clothes
• buying new cars
• eating lunch out
• going out to dinner
• staying at the beach only five days

My vehicles are ONE YEAR OLD when purchased that have been LEASED with low mileage.  I saved $12-$15,000.  

I stopped going into debt beyond a MONTH.  If I could not pay off the debt in one month, I would not buy it.

Instead of buying canned beans, I purchased dried beans that took a little longer to cook and required planning.

I went to a technical school and learned how to build and repair computers.  Technical school also gave me the skills to sit for the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer exam.

After my debt was gone, I gradually got more and more technical training to help me acquire part-time or full time jobs.

All of this was done after earning my master's in business administration from Wake Forest University, after earning my bachelor's from Elon University.  Bear in mind, I had no LOAN DEBT because my two years in the NAVY paid for all of my education via the GI Bill.

Hardly anybody wants to go into the military anymore and that is a mistake.

When I was 60 years old, my college degrees were not finding me work so I had to use my technical education to secure employment.

What helped me the most was convincing myself that it did not matter what my parents thought of me, my siblings, my relatives, my friends, or strangers...  

I WAS GOING TO DO WHAT I THOUGHT WAS BEST FOR ME AND IF I FAILED, I WOULD CONTINUE TRYING UNTIL I GOT IT RIGHT.

Tornado

 

TWELVE TON Electric Robot Tank

The official YouTube channel for the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) unveiled a new phase of testing of its 12-ton autonomous RACER Heavy Platform (RHP) diesel hybrid. 

The new testing included an autonomous route, which was tested for mobility and demonstration, including sensor point cloud visualizations.

The agile and fast tank utilizes the Textron M5 base platform, which was previously developed and used in US Army campaigns of learning for robotic combat vehicle requirements and acquisition. 

The fourth experiment of RACER was performed by teams from the University of Washington and from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). DARPA remarked that RACER is on track to continue its autonomy development and experiment spirals with a new round of testing roughly every six months.     READ MORE...

Canned Heat

 

Sunday Misc

Heavy rains in Houston area cause flooding, trigger evacuations.
Officials of Harris County, where Houston is located, have ordered residents who live along the East Fork of the San Jacinto River to evacuate due to ongoing flooding and heavy rainfall. More than 9 inches of rain have fallen in the area since Thursday. The river was expected to rise to 77 feet above sea level Friday; the river is typically 45 to 50 feet above sea level. See photos and videos here.



US job growth slows in April, economy adds 175,000 jobs.
The nonfarm payroll growth for April is below the 240,000 jobs economists had expected and down from 315,000 in March. The unemployment rate rose to 3.9%. Average hourly earnings rose 0.2% month-over-month and 3.9% year-over-year, both below economist estimates. Analysts say the data show the labor market is cooling, potentially paving the way for interest rate cuts in late summer.



Canadian police arrest three suspects in killing of Sikh activist.
The three men face charges of first-degree murder for allegedly being involved in last year's killing of Sikh Canadian Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was shot outside a Sikh cultural center in British Columbia. Canadian officials previously accused India of being linked to the alleged assassination, which India denies. Nijjar was involved in a movement to establish an independent Sikh homeland in India. See our previous write-up here.



President Joe Biden presents Medal of Freedom to 19 recipients.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation's highest honor given to civilians. This year's recipients include NASA astronaut Ellen Ochoa, who was the first Hispanic woman in space; Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky, who is the most decorated women's swimmer; and actress Michelle Yeoh, who in 2023 became the first Asian to win an Academy Award for best actress. See the full list here.



Trump's former senior aide Hope Hicks testifies in hush money trial.
Friday concluded the 11th day of former President Donald Trump's criminal trial in Manhattan. Hick's testimony revolved around the Trump campaign's response to allegations about Trump and women, including a 2016 Wall Street Journal article on a hush money deal involving former Playboy model Karen McDougal.



China successfully launches mission to the far side of the moon.
China, which aims to put astronauts on the moon by 2030, launched its Chang'e-6 lunar probe (named after a Chinese mythical moon goddess) Friday to collect samples from the moon's less-explored region. The 53-day mission, if successful, would make China the first nation in the world to retrieve samples from the side of the moon that faces away from Earth.

SOURCE:  1440 News

Increasing the Minimum Wage Revisited

For those of you who have visited this blog more than once and those of you who have read my postings more than once, you will no doubt remember this one.

It is about the minimum wage and why increasing it willy nilly is a bad thing to do, no matter how much workers piss and moan that they need more money.

First of all, as soon as the minimum wage is increased, other items like health insurance and taxes increase as well.  There have been times where I have turned down a salary increase because it put me into a higher tax bracket and the increase was not enough to offset the increase in taxes.

However, something worse also happens and that is that employers are faced with a few choices when the minimum wage increases:

1. employers lay off workers
2. employers raise their prices
3. employers relocate their plants
4. employers hire older workers
5. employers reduce their profits

This last one will hardly ever happen, but some firms have been known to do this.

More than likely, employers will raise prices and in so doing this has a ripple effect on the economy and within about 90 days to 6 months, other companies have raised their prices and we have INFLATION.

THREE PERCENT inflation is good economic growth, TWO PERCENT is better...  ONE PERCENT is not so good.

Increases in wages and salaries should take place when the economy is growing a 2-3 percent because the increase can be easily absorbed into the normal growth cycle.

BUT...  it is during these times that the workers don't need money so no one is bitching and complaining about not earning enough.   AND...  employers are hesitant to pay workers more with just meager growth opportunities.

CURRENTLY, the worker is hurting and needs more money but if that happens, they will probably be no better off after the increase than before and there is a good possibility, they could be worse off.

SO....

what can the worker do?

First - the worker can cut back on their current lifestyle and/or quality of life.  That is to say, stop buying alcohol and cigarettes.  Drink more water.  Exercise to reduce stress.  Keep the car instead of buying a new one.  Take cheaper vacations. Don't spend as much money at Christmas or for birthdays and other holidays.

Second - the worker can look for another job at a different company in the same area or outside of the area or even outside of the state.  The wages are higher up north but so is the cost of living...  and this point goes back to NUMBER ONE.

Third - the worker can work a second job or the worker can return to school for more education or training that would qualify s/he for a better paying job.

There are other things that workers could do but I am saving those items for another posting.

Somewhat Political

 

The Cat's Paw Nebula

An illustration of 2-Methoxyethanol found in space for the first time using radio telescope observations of the star-forming region NGC 6334I. (Image credit: Fried, et al)





Scientists have discovered a hitherto unknown space molecule while investigating a relatively nearby region of intense star birth, a cosmic spot about 5,550 light-years away. It's part of the Cat's Paw Nebula, also known as NGC 6334.


The team, led by Zachary Fried, a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), examined a section of the nebula known as NGC 6334I with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). This revealed the presence of a complex molecule known as 2-methoxyethanol, which had never been seen before in the natural world, though its properties had been simulated in labs on Earth.     READ MORE...

Jew Hatred

 

In The NEWS

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> TikTok to bring back millions of songs to its platform after settling dispute with Universal Music Group over royalty payments and AI policies; deal includes TikTok’s assurances to remove AI-generated music and better credit UMG artists (More)

> Duane Eddy, Grammy-winning guitarist and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, dies at 86 (More) | Peter Oosterhuis, six-time Ryder Cup participant and longtime golf analyst, dies at 75 (More)

> Screen Actors Guild signs deal with Nielsen to provide viewership data for streaming content (More)


Science & Technology
In partnership with Incogni

> China set to launch Chang'e 6 lunar mission to retrieve rock samples from the far side of the moon early this morning (More) | Samples were collected from earlier lander; see what makes the far side of the moon interesting to scientists (More)

> Scientists pinpoint cells in the brainstem that help regulate the body's immune system response; findings shed light on the brain's role in inflammation and may lead to new therapies for autoimmune diseases (More)

> Researchers recreate the face of a 75,000-year-old Neanderthal woman after reassembling skull fragments found in an Iraqi cave (More)


Business & Markets
> US stock markets close higher (S&P 500 +0.9%, Dow +0.9%, Nasdaq +1.5%) as investors look ahead to today's US jobs report (More) | Apple announces $110B share buyback—the largest in the company's history; also reports 10.5% year-over-year drop in iPhone sales amid headwinds in China (More)

> Sony Pictures, Apollo Global extend $26B all-cash offer to buy Paramount Global, marking Apollo's second bid to buy the entertainment giant; Paramount currently weighing merger with Skydance Media (More) | Nvidia-backed CoreWeave raises $1.1B in funding, valuing the cloud-computing startup at $19B (More)

> US weekly jobless claims hold steady at 208,000 for the week ending April 27; figure matches number of weekly jobless claims from prior week, which has been the fewest since mid-February (More)


Politics & World Affairs
> At least 2,000 people reportedly arrested so far at dozens of US colleges over pro-Palestinian protests; crew begins cleanup at University of California, Los Angeles, campus, where at least 200 people were arrested (More) | See updates on the Israel-Hamas war (More)

> Rescue teams recover and identify body of fifth construction worker who died in the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge in March; one construction worker remains unaccounted for (More) | See previous write-up (More)

> Brood XIX cicadas begin to emerge in Arkansas, one of 17 states expected to see trillions of cicadas in a double brood event this year (More) | What is a cicada double brood event? (More)

SOURCE:  1440 News

Free Speech and all...

 

Those of us who live in the US of A, are fortunate enough to enjoy this country's FIRST AMENDMENT rights...

Those of who are CITIZENS of the US of A, are fortunate enough to understand what that right really means...

Those of us who are VETERANS have experience what no other citizen who is not a veteran, has experienced and that is defending this freedom...

Those who are protesting ANTI-JEWISH sentiments in the US of A, do not know what it is like to live in a Muslim country that practices Islam...

Not only am I a US of A veteran of the Vietnam War, I also lived in a Muslim country that practiced Islam for FOUR YEARS...

So, I understand both concept!

Freedom of Speech is a right to Americans and is shared with those who live in the US of A.  We are free to protest until HELL FREEZES OVER if we so desire.  We are free to say what we want and free to carry signs and free to have a peaceful assembly of like-minded people.

HOWEVER, when your free speech turns to HATE, then you are no longer protected by the first amendment.  And when your peaceful protest turns violent, you are no longer protected by the first amendment either.

At that point in time, you either belong in jail or if you are not a citizen, you need to be DEPORTED.

What is really interesting here is that ALL OF THOSE FOREIGNERS here in the US of A, if they were in their respective countries, they would be shot or imprisoned without a trial.

Consequently, these foreigners are TAKING ADVANTAGE of our system...  and it is starting to piss off a vast majority of American citizens who are tired of our government and law enforcement tolerating this shit.

What the rest of the world DOES NOT want to do is PISS OFF AMERICANS...

Somewhat Political

 

Photons Explain Dark Energy

 

Share If photons have mass, could they explain dark matter? on LinkedIn

When it comes to the Universe, there are some things we can be confident are out there based on what we observe. 

We know that the Universe was hotter, denser, and more uniform in the distant past. We know that the stars and galaxies in the Universe have grown up and evolved as the Universe has aged. 

We know that gravitation has formed the large-scale structure in the Universe, and that structure has grown more complex over time. 

And we also know how much normal matter, altogether, is present in the Universe, and that it isn’t sufficient to explain the full suite of the gravitational effects that we see on its own.  READ MORE...

On The Road Again

 

Credence Clearwater Revival

 

Evidence We Live in a Simulation

In the 1999 film The Matrix, Thomas Anderson (a.k.a. Neo) discovers a truth to end all truths—the universe is a simulation. While this premise provides fantastic sci-fi fodder (and explains how Neo can learn kung-fu in about five seconds), the idea isn’t quite as carefully relegated to the fiction section as one might expect.

University of Portsmouth scientist Melvin Vopson, who studies the possibility that the universe might indeed be a digital facsimile, leans into the cinematic comparison. In an article published on website The Conversation this past October, Vopson invoked the Wachowskis’ sci-fi masterpiece, and around the same time, he published a book on the subject—Reality Reloaded, a subtle hat tip to the title of the less successful Matrix sequel. While he is just one among many who’ve contemplated the idea, Vopson claims to have one thing that those before him lacked: evidence.                READ MORE...

Somewhat Political

 

In The News

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Harvey Weinstein to face retrial this fall after a New York appeals court overturned his 2020 rape conviction last week (More)

> Paul Auster, novelist best known for his "The New York Trilogy" series, dies at 77 (More) | Brian McCardie, actor known for roles in "Line of Duty" and "Rob Roy," dies at 59 (More)

> TV producer Dan Schneider files defamation lawsuit against "Quiet on Set" docuseries producers for implying he sexually abused children on the set of various children's TV shows (More)


Science & Technology
> Endurance exercise has noticeable impact on nearly all bodily tissues and roughly 35,000 biological molecules, even organs not associated with exercise; study is part of effort mapping exercise-related health benefits at the cellular level (More)

> Intel engineers demonstrate ability to read single electron qubits—the unit of information in quantum computers—in silicon; marks a key step toward high-throughput manufacturing of quantum computing devices (More) | How quantum computing works (More)

> Neuroscientists map brain circuit believed to play a critical role in human consciousness; network spans at least five regions of the brain (More)


Business & Markets
> US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 -0.3%, Dow +0.2%, Nasdaq -0.3%) as investors weigh latest round of economic data (More)

> Exxon Mobil Corp. reportedly reaches agreement with Federal Trade Commission over the oil giant's nearly $60B acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources; deal bars Pioneer's former chief executive officer from joining Exxon's board (More) | See previous write-up (More)

> Johnson & Johnson proposes paying $6.5B over 25 years to settle thousands of current and future US lawsuits that claim its baby powder and other talc-based products caused ovarian cancer (More)

Politics & World Affairs
> Arizona state lawmakers pass law repealing Civil War-era law banning nearly all abortions; Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) to sign (More) | Florida law banning most abortions at six weeks of gestation takes effect (More) | See map of abortion laws by state (More)

> Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R, GA-14) announces plan to force a floor vote next week to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson (R, LA-4); Democrats have announced intention to side with Republicans to defeat the vote (More)

> Saudi women's rights activist Manahel al-Otaibi sentenced to 11 years in prison for online posts calling to loosen dress code and male guardianship laws (More)

SOURCE:  1440 News

An Abundance of Churches

 Jefferson County, Tennessee 

• 314 square miles
• population is 56,727
• churches - 75+
• 756 people per church
• 4 square miles per church

Each one of the churches requires a building and a parking lot and no doubt each one of these churches has a paid minister and staff.  

Some of the larger churches have more buildings for Sunday School, and more than likely each church has a basement in which there is one large room, tables, and chairs, with a kitchen for lunches and other celebrations.  

If the weather cooperates, there is probably an outside picnic area with a concrete floor and roof.

With a church every 4 square miles, there is a lot of duplication that is taking place and a lot of church members have donated money for these duplications.  

Additionally, all the outreach programs and missionary programs are duplicated by the members of each church donating money.

There are 95 counties in the state of Tennessee and while some are smaller and some larger than Jefferson County, Jefferson County is of average size.

This means that there are approximately 7,000 churches in the state of Tennessee or more.

Our large cities like Johnson City, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Nashville, and Memphis are going to have more churches than in the counties that surround them, because the population is greater as is the wealth.

It would seem like to me that if these churches really want to help the poor, that they will get together and combine churches into one large church that has several services throughout the day to accommodate all of the people...  which would mean one parking lot as well.

This way, more money could go to the poor.

Winning Shot

 

A Paradigm Shift in RAM

Your computer wouldn’t be very useful without RAM, which is short for random access memory. These chips function as the temporary storage for an operating system, and speed is of great importance, as they’re constantly needing to access bits of memory to keep everything running smoothly. 

For more than two decades, the most advanced version of this technology—magnetoresistive RAM, or MRAM—has been the go-to tech for the kind of intense computing necessary in industrial, military, and space applications.

Now, a new breakthrough discovered by scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has illustrated how a mechanism in a laser beam can control the magnetic state in solids, which the scientists describe as a “paradigm shift” in our understanding of the behavior between light and magnetic materials. 

The results of the study were published earlier this year in the journal Physical Review Research.           READ MORE...

Dangerous Places

 

Solar Panels

 

Israel's Headless Humanoid

Israel’s Mentee Robotics has just unveiled its artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled household chore robot, Menteebot. After two years of research and development, the new robot certainly looks impressive.

Developed by Amnon Shashau (the former founder of Mobileye), Professor Shai Shalev-Shwartz, and Professor Lior Wolf, the new robot is gearing up for official orders in the first quarter of 2025. The unit’s price is still a mystery, but it is being marketed as “affordable.”

“We are on the cusp of a convergence of computer vision, natural language understanding, strong and detailed simulators, and methodologies for transferring from simulation to the real world,” explains Mentee Robotics.

“Menteebot represents a significant leap forward in humanoid robotics, designed for comprehensive functionality across diverse environments,” Mentee Robotics explains in a promotional video on LinkedIn.  READ MORE...

Somewhat Political

 

In The NEWS

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> "Hell's Kitchen" and "Stereophonic" haul in 13 nominations apiece for the 2024 Tony Awards (June 16); see complete list of nominations (More)

> UEFA Champions League semifinal kicks off; see full preview and match schedule (More) | The US and Mexico drop out of contention to jointly host 2027 Women's World Cup, will instead focus on 2031 bid (More)

> Taylor Swift claims a record-breaking top 14 positions on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; Swift also charted 32 of the top 100 spots, a record for a female artist (More)


Science & Technology
> Environmental Protection Agency bans consumer use of methylene chloride, a cancer-causing compound typically found in paint stripper (More) | Breast cancer screenings should begin at age 40 for women, down from 50, per recommendation from national advisory panel (More)

> Researchers demonstrate first fetus-to-fetus kidney tissue transplant; carried out using kidney tissue in rats, experiment may lead to treatments for human fetuses with fatal developmental conditions (More)

> Primordial black hole capture may explain the lack of pulsars—highly magnetized neutron stars—at the center of the Milky Way, new study suggests (More) | See 1440's new video explainer on the different types of black holes and how they're created (More, w/video)


Business & Markets
> US stock markets close lower (S&P 500 -1.6%, Dow -1.5%, Nasdaq -2.0%) following higher-than-expected US wage data ahead of Federal Reserve's interest rate decision today (More)

> Starbucks shares fall over 11% in after-hours trading after missing revenue and earnings estimates, reports 4% quarterly drop in same-store sales (More) | Amazon tops revenue and earnings expectations as AI boom boosts cloud-computing unit (More) | Eli Lilly shares close up nearly 6% after beating revenue and earnings estimates, raises 2024 revenue forecast by $2B (More)

> WeWork strikes $450M restructuring deal to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy by end of May, rejecting financing bid from founder and former CEO Adam Neumann (More)


Politics & World Affairs
In partnership with International Intrigue

> US Drug Enforcement Administration reportedly set to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I to Schedule III drug, easing federal restrictions on the substance; will require sign-off from White House Office of Management and Budget (More) | Drug scheduling 101 (More)

> House Democratic leadership announces they will vote to keep House Speaker Mike Johnson (R, LA-4) in his role if Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R, GA-14) forces a vote to oust Johnson (More) | Former President Donald Trump fined $9K for violating gag order nine times in criminal hush money trial in New York (More)

> Indonesia's Mount Ruang volcano erupts again, less than two weeks after its first eruption since 2002; latest eruption forces 12,000 people to evacuate, prompts tsunami warning (More) | See previous write-up (More)

SOURCE:  1440 News