Foghat - I Just Want to Make Love to You (live 1974)

In The NEWS

FTC sues drug intermediaries for allegedly inflating insulin prices.

The Federal Trade Commission accuses the three largest pharmacy benefit managers—CVS' Caremark Rx, Cigna's Express Scripts, and UnitedHealth's OptumRx—of illegally overcharging for insulin used by diabetes patients. The three PBMs control 80% of all prescriptions filled in the US, deciding which drugs are covered and often setting patient out-of-pocket costs.



Secret Service identifies failures preceding July Trump shooting.

An agency report released Friday concluded communication failures between local and federal law enforcement contributed to missed opportunities in stopping the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in July during a rally outside Pittsburgh. Problems included ineffective radio transmissions between the Secret Service and local police, as well as failure to place a team on the roof where the shooter was perched.



Georgia election board requires November ballots be hand counted.

The state election board ruled 3-2 Friday in requiring local precincts to count ballots by hand and to confirm the figures with the machine counts before certifying the results in the November elections. The new rule could lengthen the time it takes to tally the results in the battleground state (see overview). Separately, early in-person voting kicked off Friday in Virginia, Minnesota, and South Dakota.



Researchers reconstruct Earth's climate over 485 million years.

The effort is considered the most rigorous reconstruction of Earth's past climate and offers new insights into the link between carbon dioxide and global temperatures. The findings—based on 150,000 estimates derived from fossil evidence and climate models—show the planet's climate has varied more than previously thought, with the average temperature fluctuating between 52 and 97 degrees Fahrenheit during the Phanerozoic Eon. The Earth's current average temperature is 59 degrees Fahrenheit.



Sri Lankans to vote today for their next president.

More than 17 million eligible voters in the South Asian island nation are poised to vote for their next president for a five-year term. Nearly 40 candidates are running in the race, with top contenders including Marxist-leaning lawmaker Anura Kumara Dissanayake and current President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is running as an independent. The election comes after Sri Lanka's economy collapsed in 2022, spurring nationwide unrest and prompting the former president to flee the country.

SOURCE:  1440 NEWS

Family

 

My father, through his example, showed me what hard work was all about and how discipline and determination were both keys to one's success.

My father, did not, however, provide me with the motivation to make more money, even though throughout his career he was constantly changing positions and getting salary increases.

Consequently, I had no desire to relocate up north where I would have, by default, doubled or tripled my salary from what I was earning down south.  

Since my dad only worked for the Department of Agriculture for 40 years, I was reluctant to move any farther than from North Carolina to Tennessee.  My sister was similar in her actions, but our brother was not as was my daughter, but her son also stayed and worked in North Carolina.

Was it the influence of our parents or just the influence from our different personalities, lifestyles, and culture.  Our brother was 8 years younger than me and 12 years younger than our sister.  Our brother grew up in a different environment and he was the only one or us to attend a PREP SCHOOL.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with living in the south, but living in the south means:

• lower wages
• lower state and local taxes
• lower cost of living
• less opportunities

Therefore, there are less people in the south.  Less crime and violence.  Less traffic, less pollution, and less waiting in line for services.  However, this is not true for life in large southern cities like ATLANTA, MIAMI, NEW ORLEANS,     and DALLAS, etc.

There are even major differences between Southern States like the cost of living is less in Tennessee than it is in North Carolina - although smaller towns in North Carolina are more than likely similar to Tennessee and vice versa when it comes to larger cities like Nashville.

What I have discovered, much to my surprise, is that many southerners go up north for their careers and higher salaries, then cash out when they retire and move down south to cheaper locations like Knoxville or Bristol, Tennessee.    A $750,000 house up north can buy the same size in TN for $300,000.  The rest or the money is put in the bank to earn interest.

Cost of living up north may be two to two and half times what it is down south.  $3500/month versus $7500/month or higher.  Plus, TN has no state income tax.

For one reason or another, northern people look down their noses at southern people.  I am not sure why, but they do.  Northern people are typically rude whereas southern people are typically not rude.

I like it down south and I am glad that I have lived most of my life here so far, and plan to die here as well.

Somewhat Political

 

Code for Time Travel

Can you imagine going back in time to visit a lost loved one? This heart wrenching desire is what propelled astrophysicist Professor Ron Mallett on a lifelong quest to build a time machine. After years of research, Professor Mallett claims to have finally developed the revolutionary equation for time travel.

The idea of bending time to our will – revisiting the past, altering history, or glimpsing into the future – has been a staple of science fiction for over a century. But could it move from fantasy to reality?

The inspiration: A father’s love and a classic novel
Professor Mallett’s obsession with time travel and its equation has its roots in a shattering childhood experience. When he was just ten years old, his father, a television repairman who fostered his son’s love of science, tragically passed away from a heart attack.

Devastated, the young Mallett sought solace in books. It was H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine that sparked a lifelong fascination.

Wells’ opening lines became his mantra: “Scientific people know very well that Time is only a kind of Space. And why cannot we move in Time as we move about in the other dimensions of Space?”         READ MORE...

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Voodoo Child (Slight Return) (Live In Maui...

Business and Government

 

Part of my problem is that I am educated in the area of BUSINESS, receiving an MBA from Wake Forest University in 1981.

After going through two years of business courses, I switched from favoring Democrats to favoring Republicans.  

I was not too keen on Donald Trump in 2016 and did not vote for him but after witnessing EIGHT YEARS of relentless attacks and false accusations on the man, I have decided to NEVER AGAINS give the Democrats a second look.  They are horrible people for what they have done to that man and his family.

GOVERNMENTS do not exist to give BENEFITS to their citizens.  Governments exist to protect and serve their citizens making sure that they can offer as much as they can to their citizens that they CAN AFFORD without going into debt.

If taxes don't pay for all the programs you want, you don't raise taxes but increase the population.  This takes us to our current ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION problem.  On the surface it makes sense because there is more tax revenues, but the Democrats are wanting immigrants here only to VOTE FOR DEMOCRATS and end Republican control and power.

This rationale is simply WRONG.  It defeats the purpose of a democracy as well as the purpose of government.

Businesses and Corporations and Entrepreneurs are the backbone of Capitalism...  They provide jobs, products and services in such a way that our economy is not just healthy but so that it will consistently grow and prosper.

INFLATION never helps the economy or the people and yet, inflation happens all the time.

WHY?

Too much money in the economy and not enough goods and services to absorb that money.

Basic supply and demand.

Basic business classes.

The government should work with business to construct a healthy economy, not against them because the government believes that business is taking advantage of the people.  People buy what they need and/or want, and if business does not supply that at a reasonable cost, the people will look elsewhere.

IT IS JUST THAT SIMPLE

Censoring

 

What the USA NEEDS

 

How I vote is MY BUSINESS but my political views, I can share...

I don't think much of people who vote STRAIGHT PARTY TICKET because oftentimes, that is NOT WHAT'S Best for the USA.

I also think it is silly and stupid to switch from one party to the other party every four or eight years because the previous party is not doing a good job.

My POLITICS is very simple:

• I want low taxes
• I want a low cost of living
• I want 2-3% inflation
• I want a balance budget
• I want no national debt
• I want no illegal immigration
• I want a strong military
• I want a strong economy
• I want reasonable healthcare costs

We pay Americans too much money and offer too many benefits which makes AMERICAN PRODUCTS MORE EXPENSIVE...

For those who want to buy American that is fine...  I am going to buy the lowest price with the highest quality.  If that is American, that is fine.  If that is not American, well then, it is nothing personal.

If you want my business produce quality with a low cost.  It can be done, because as a consultant before retiring I taught companies how to do that.

POLITICS always gets in the way of common sense as politicians want to stay in their jobs for 20-30 years and when they do, nothing gets accomplished except their re-election bids.

If you don't believe me, check out the political issues of the 1960s and see for yourself that they are the same as 2024 except for ROBOTS.

In The NEWS

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani becomes first MLB player in history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases (More) | 2024 WNBA regular season wraps with the playoffs set to begin Sunday (More) |

> "Saturday Night Live" announces lineup of hosts and musical guests for the show's 50th season set to begin Sept. 28 (More)

> Judge dismisses lawsuit against New York Knicks and Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan alleging sex trafficking and assault alongside Harvey Weinstein (More)


Science & Technology
> EU regulators give Apple six months to comply with interoperability requirements under the recently passed Digital Markets Act; rule would enable non-Apple devices to easily interact with iPhones and Apple Watches (More)

> Pocket-sized nuclear battery up to 8,000 times more efficient than existing comparable technologies demonstrated by researchers (More)

> Engineers develop "ventilator-on-a-chip" that allows real-time study of ventilator-caused lung injuries at the cellular level (More)


Business & Markets
> US stock markets close higher (S&P 500 +1.7%, Dow +1.3%, Nasdaq +2.5%); S&P 500 and Dow rise to fresh records following the Federal Reserve's larger-than-expected rate cut a day before (More) | See previous write-up (More)

> Nike CEO John Donahoe to step down Oct. 13, will be replaced by longtime Nike veteran Elliott Hill, who retired from the brand in 2020 (More) | The Walt Disney Co. to stop using Salesforce-owned Slack after hack exposed company data (More)

> US existing home sales drop 2.5% month-over-month in August, the slowest pace since October 2023; median home price of $416,700 is up 3.1% from a year ago and is highest median price for any August since records going back to 1999 (More)


Politics & World Affairs
> Hezbollah and Israel exchange strikes following pager, walkie-talkie explosions that killed at least 37 people; Hezbollah rockets kill two Israelis while Israel says it destroyed dozens of rocket launchers (More) | See war updates (More)

> Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) takes unconventional step to advance stopgap government funding bill in the Senate following defeat in the House (More) | How the federal budget works (More)

> North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R) denies CNN report claiming he posted numerous controversial and sexually explicit messages on adult sites, including calling himself a "Black Nazi"; Robinson says he will stay in the race (More)

SOURCE:  1440 NEWS

Rights

 

• Boys who want to be girls
• Girls who want to be boys
• Males who want to be females
• Females who want to be males

They all have a RIGHT to be whatever it is that they want to be and I will support that right as long as I live...  

The issue for me is that I do not want to be around any of them.

AND...  believe it or not...  THAT IS MY RIGHT...

• I don't think biological males should play in female sports.
• I don't think biological females should play in male sports.

If males want to marry males and females want to marry females, that is their RIGHT and the laws should support that marriage and not just marriages between male and female.

BUT...

I don't want to live next door to that kind of a couple...

That is MY RIGHT.

If a female wants to have sex and then abort the baby for whatever reason, that is certainly HER RIGHT.

A woman's age has something to do with that and if they are underage, then the parents (of both the male and the female) should be held responsible financially for what their children did.

HOWEVER...

• The federal govt should not police these rights
• The church should not police these rights
• It is the responsibility of the STATES and local communities

According to our CONSTITUTION, all Americans have a fundamental right to pursue:

Life 

Liberty

Happiness

BUT...

a line needs to be drawn to protect others because my right to happiness should not infringe upon your right to happiness.

MINORITIES should not dictate policies for the majority...

UNFORTUNATELY, it appears that this is exactly what is happening in the good ole US of A these days.

This needs to end.

Somewhat Political

 

Friendly But Secretly Disliking You Behaviors

In this article, we’re going to unravel those hidden cues. We’ll explore 8 specific behaviors that people, who act friendly but secretly dislike you, often display.

Don’t worry, this isn’t about creating paranoia, it’s about understanding human behavior better.

Let’s get started.

1) Overly enthusiastic greetings
Have you ever noticed how some people, despite their warm and enthusiastic greetings, leave you with an odd feeling?

This could be one of the first signs. They might be compensating for their lack of genuine affection by going overboard with their greetings and pleasantries.

Sometimes, people who secretly dislike you can be overly enthusiastic or excessively nice when you first meet them. This is done to mask their true feelings and to throw you off the scent.

But don’t take this as a hard rule. Some people are just naturally enthusiastic. The key here is to look for a balance and consistency in their behavior.

If their enthusiasm feels out of place or inconsistent with how they interact with others, it might be a sign that they’re not as friendly towards you as they seem.

2) Compliments that don’t feel quite right
This one hits close to home. I remember a colleague of mine who always had a compliment ready. But somehow, those compliments always felt a bit off.

She’d say things like “You’re so brave for wearing that outfit!” or “I could never pull off such a bold hairstyle!”. Initially, I took these as compliments. But over time, I realized they were thinly veiled criticisms.

These ‘compliments’ were her way of expressing her dislike without being overtly rude. They were subtle, backhanded compliments that were intended to undermine rather than uplift.

TO DISCOVER THE OTHER SIX, CLICK HERE...

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band/With A Little Help From My Friends...

AOC

 

Setup

 

Rape

 

Problem

 

In The NEWS

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> YouTube influencer MrBeast and Amazon sued by five contestants in the upcoming "Beast Games" reality show over alleged unsafe working conditions and sexual harassment (More)

> JD Souther, singer-songwriter known for penning hit songs for artists like the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt, dies at age 78 (More)

> Portland selected as home of WNBA's 15th franchise, will begin play in 2026 (More) | Las Vegas Aces star A'ja Wilson breaks WNBA single-season record for rebounds; Wilson also set the record earlier this year for most points in a season (More)


Science & Technology
> Researchers link obesity with fatty buildup around neurons in the brain's appetite control center; substance may be responsible for insulin resistance in diabetic patients (More) | Blood sugar, insulin, and diabetes explained (More, w/video)

> Quantum entanglement demonstrated for the first time in quarks, the fundamental subatomic units of matter; experiment carried out at the Large Hadron Collider, which straddles the France-Switzerland border (More) | What is entanglement, or "spooky action-at-a-distance"? (More)

> Largest-ever black hole jets observed by astronomers, stretching 23 million light-years in length; structure is equivalent to 140 Milky Ways lined back to back (More, w/video)


Business & Markets
> Boeing temporarily furloughs tens of thousands of employees to cut costs amid ongoing strike from its largest union; affected employees will be furloughed for one out of every four weeks until the walkout ends (More)

> Tupperware Brands files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy following recent slump in sales; company intends to continue operations and will launch 30-day bidding process to find a buyer (More) | 23andMe independent board directors resign over CEO's plans to take the genetic testing company private (More)

> Google wins court challenge to overturn $1.7B antitrust fine imposed by the European Union in 2019 related to tech giant's digital advertising business (More)


Politics & World Affairs
> The House votes 220-202, with some Republicans joining Democrats to reject a stopgap government funding bill brought by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R, LA-4); bill included measure to require proof of citizenship to register to vote (More)

> New analysis shows national, year-over-year drop in overdose drug deaths, in some states by as much as 20% or 30%; marks the first decrease since 2020 (More) | How opioids affect the body (More, w/video)

> Armenian prosecutors accuse Russia of paying six Armenians almost $2,400 each in monthly salaries for military training in preparation for an armed coup (More) | Ukrainian drones hit large missile depot in Russia (More)

SOURCE:  1440 NEWS

2023 Taxes

 

Every year, my wife and I file for an extension on paying our taxes from April 15 until October 15...   there is no restrictions to do this but we do this because some of the tax docs that we need, we do not receive until August each year.

This SIX-MONTH extension allows us to collect another 6 months of interest from our investments.  As a result, the interest earned more than covers the taxes owed, so we NEVER reduce our PRINCIPLE, and our finances are always growing.

What baffles me is that our friends, both Democrats and Republicans, Liberals and Conservatives, Capitalists and Socialists, ALL COMPLAIN about having to pay TAXES.  AND YET...  if you are not a capitalist, a republican, or a conservative, you are voting for candidates who want to INCREASE YOUR TAXES.

This attitude simply makes no sense to me.

Either you want higher taxes or...

You do not want higher taxes...

Now, for the wealthy folks here in the US of A, they don't give a shit about higher taxes, because their money is sheltered and when taxes go up, they only pay the increase on what they claim, not what is sheltered.

It is perfectly legal to do this but what the wealthy people are causing is for the US govt to always have a shortfall in taxes.  The middle class pays the burden for the wealthy being able to shelter their money.

CONGRESS WILL NOT CHANGE THIS LAW...  mainly because most of Congress is also sheltering their money away from taxes.

AMERICANS ARE TYPICALLY NOT VERY SMART WHEN IT COMES TO PAYING TAXES OR TRYING TO AVOID PAYING TAXES...

Somewhat Political

 

BlockChain and Quantum Computing Warning

Insider Brief

• Quantum computers could potentially break current blockchain encryption, risking billions in cryptocurrency assets, according to a quantum policy expert.
• Quantum-resistant cryptography and quantum random-number generators are emerging as vital solutions to protect blockchain networks from quantum attacks.
• Companies are already developing quantum-secure blockchain technologies to counter these future threats.

Cryptocurrencies are maturing.

Quantum computing is maturing.

Both crypto and quantum are earning attention from Presidential candidates and global policymakers, eager to tap into both the power of these new technologies, as well as the extensive communities of advocates.

Taken separately, practitioners of those fields may be excited about this developments. However, the two deep techs are on a collision course.

Quantum computing is poised to disrupt a wide range of industries, and the world of cryptocurrencies is no exception, points out Arthur Herman in a recent op-ed in the Korea Herald. Herman, Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute and Director of the Quantum Alliance Initiative, writes that the same technology that could unlock immense computational power might also render existing cryptographic systems, including those that secure blockchain networks, vulnerable to attacks.

This alarming possibility, he argues, should be a wake-up call for the cryptocurrency industry and for anyone relying on blockchain technology.   READ MORE...

Paul McCartney - SGT Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band/The End (Live)

Border

 

Excuse ME

 

Half

 

Republicans

 

In The NEWS

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> The 2024 Primetime Emmys bring in 6.9 million viewers, a 54% jump over the previous broadcast (More) | California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signs law aimed at protecting actors from AI digital clones being used without their consent (More)

> Team USA gymnast Jordan Chiles files appeal with Swiss court in effort to overturn decision to take away an individual bronze medal she won at the Paris Olympics (More)

> Shortlist of six novels selected for prestigious Booker Prize for fiction, including a record five female authors; winner set to be announced Nov. 12 (More)


Science & Technology
> New estimates project deaths from drug-resistant infections to rise by 70% by 2050, claiming roughly 2 million lives per year (More) | What are superbugs, and where do they come from? (More)

> Astronomers propose measuring the wobble of Mars along its rotational axis to test whether dark matter—an unknown substance making up about 26% of the universe's matter—could be made of tiny black holes (More) | Black holes 101 (More, w/video)

> Social messaging platform Snap unveils new operating system for its fifth generation smart glasses; debut signals a renewed push by the company into augmented reality (More)


Business & Markets
> US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 -0.0%, Dow -0.0%, Nasdaq +0.2%) ahead of anticipated Federal Reserve decision to lower benchmark interest rates at end of two-day policy meeting today (More) | What is the Fed, anyway? (More, w/video)

> BlackRock and Microsoft to launch $30B investment fund to build data centers and secure energy sources to power resource-heavy AI systems (More) | Why does AI require so much energy? (More)

> AT&T to pay $13M to settle Federal Communications Commission investigation tied to 2023 cloud data hack; issue is separate from hack revealed this year to have compromised 73 million customers' Social Security numbers and passwords (More)

Politics & World Affairs
> House Speaker Mike Johnson (R, LA-4) to hold vote today on stopgap bill ahead of Sept. 30 government shutdown deadline; bill includes provision requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote (More) | Democratic-led bill to establish nationwide right to in-vitro fertilization falls short of 60 votes needed to advance in Senate (More)

> Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to launch investigation into assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, parallel to FBI investigation (More) | See updates (More)

> Canada's ruling Liberal Party, led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, loses Montreal parliamentary seat in special election; defeat is the second recent upset for Liberals following loss of long-held Toronto seat in June (More)

SOURCE:  1440 NEWS

Fixin' the Economy

Since I am not an ECONOMIC EXPERT, I can offer my views on how to fix our FAILING ECONOMY...

First of all, I would say that the government has to STOP ITS SPENDING.  Not only does government spending increase INFLATION but it also increases the NATIONAL DEBT which is going to bite us in the ASS one day.

With that said, the government SHOULD (but it will not) REDUCE SPENDING.

So, what area(s) of the budget would you reduce?

• Social Programs
• Education
• Unemployment insurance
• Healthcare
• Social Security
• Military
• Green Energy
• Other

Secondly, the government needs to reduce corporate taxes so that companies will invest in the future and grow their companies.

This one is difficult to understand because the mentality is that companies want to make profits at the expense of the workers and the consumers.

Thirdly, the government needs to convince CONGRESS that we need to pass a law that states the wealthy CAN NO LONGER shelter their money away from taxes in offshore bank accounts.

Millionaires can afford to pay several hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes and Billionaires can afford to pay several millions of dollars in taxes.

This one is not going to be easy to pass or swallow but it needs to be done.  And the sooner we realize this the sooner we will begin to be better off.

Fourthly, the government needs to STOP PUSHING the GREEN ECONOMY...

WHY?

Because:

1. of its initial cost
2. of our weakened economy
3. the rest of the world is not going there
4. oil/gasoline keeps our economy strong

Somewhat Political