American

 

In The NEWS

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> "FireAid" benefit concert (Jan. 30) expands as Olivia Rodrigo joins Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Stevie Wonder, and more at fundraiser for Los Angeles wildfire relief (More)

> Lynne Taylor-Corbett, two-time Tony-nominated choreographer known for "Swing!" and "Footloose," dies at age 78 (More) | Cecile Richards, former Planned Parenthood president, dies of cancer at age 67 (More)

> Man arrested in Jan. 16 stabbing of Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan; Khan is currently recovering in a hospital (More)


Science & Technology
> X, Bluesky roll out vertical video feeds as the status of TikTok—the short-form video-sharing platform that relies largely on the format—remains in limbo (More)

> Study suggests sleeping pills restrict the brain's ability to clear cellular waste from the brain during non-REM sleep cycles (More) | Learn how the brain uses cerebrospinal fluid to clear waste (More)

> Researchers detail the evolution of bacteria behind Pierce's disease, which decimates grapevines and causes $100M in annual losses in California alone; specimen was isolated from a 120-year-old grapevine sample (More)


Business & Markets
> Annual World Economic Forum begins in ski resort town of Davos, Switzerland, hosting government leaders, multinational CEOs, and global financiers (More) | Billionaire wealth grew by $2T in 2024, report finds; at least five trillionaires expected to emerge over next decade (More)

> Bitcoin hits new record above $109K after President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump launched a pair of meme coins; bitcoin has jumped roughly 40% since Trump was elected in November (More)

> Apple under investigation by Belgium for allegedly using "blood minerals" from the Democratic Republic of Congo—mineral sources that finance armed conflict and are associated with human rights abuses (More)


Politics & World Affairs
> Vivek Ramaswamy (R) to run for Ohio governor and leave colead role on President Donald Trump's federal spending watchdog group, known as the Department of Government Efficiency (More) | Senate confirms Marco Rubio (R) as secretary of state (More)

> UK teen pleads guilty to murder in July 2024 stabbings of three girls at Taylor Swift-themed dance class (More) | China executes two men for separate deadly attacks in November; one man killed 35 people in car rampage, another man killed eight people in school knife attack (More)

> At least 100 people killed and 11,000 displaced from guerrilla violence in Colombia following the government's failed peace talks with the rival National Liberation Army (More)

SOURCE:  1440 NEWS

Climate Change

Roughly 1.3 billion years from now, "humans will not be able to physiologically survive, in nature, on Earth" due to sustained hot and humid conditions. In about 2 billion years, the oceans may evaporate when the sun's luminosity is nearly 20% more than it is now..." Kopparapu said.
Ravi Kopparapu, is a planetary scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, told Live Science.

It would appear that we have a few years before there is anything that we really need to worry about...

I guess what bothers me about this is the fact that all these climate control scientists say that if we don't reverse our current pollution by 40% by 2030 that earth only has 20 years of habitability left.

It is because the Democratic party believed this that the Biden administration tried to push EVs on Americans to force them away from Petroleum Crude Oil and gasoline.

The American people rejected that approach, but it did not negate the fact that half the USA believes that climate changes is going to destroy the planet in a few short years.

Their worries are coming from several PhDs who believe their concerns are valid...

So, why is this NASA scientist saying something differently???

Somewhat Political

 

China Outnumbers US

After being overtaken by China in naval strength, a senior US military official has now warned that by 2027, China’s modern fighter jet fleet will outnumber US forces about 12 to 1 in key regions of the Western Pacific.

Brigadier General Doug Wickert, commander of the 412th Test Wing at Edwards Air Force Base, shared the information regarding the anticipated dominance of Chinese aerial power during the Back-in-the-Saddle Day event on January 6.

The US Air Force General stated that the speed at which China is modernizing its military is “unprecedented,” further noting that it is “far outpacing” comparable modernization efforts by the United States.

The warning follows the PLA’s introduction of two new combat aircraft on December 26, touted as sixth-generation fighter jets, to celebrate Chinese Communist Party founder Mao Zedong’s birthday.     READ MORE...

The Byrds - Eight Miles High - 9/23/1970 - Fillmore East (Official)

TOLD YOU

 

Timing

 

Pays

 

Bar

 

Sentenced

 

In The NEWS

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> "Moana 2" becomes Disney's third 2024 release to top $1B at global box office (More) | ... and Disney's "Mufasa" leads MLK weekend box office (More)

> Coco Gauff, Novak Djokovic, and Carlos Alcaraz among tennis stars advancing to 2025 Australian Open quarterfinals (More)

> Bob Dylan memorabilia auction nets $1.5M from the sale of around 60 items, including draft of lyrics for "Mr. Tambourine Man" that garnered $508K (More)


Science & Technology
> Apple suspends AI-powered news feature over inaccurate summaries of headlines and stories (More)

> Ant study reveals the insects use simple rules via chemical signals to achieve smooth travel in large groups; researchers hope to apply learnings to autonomous vehicle traffic flows (More)

> Researchers discover bacteria growing in a polymer solution form long, twisting cable-like structures; finding has applications ranging from treating cystic fibrosis to making new biofilms (More)


Business & Markets
> US stock markets close up Friday (S&P 500 1.0%, Dow 0.8%, Nasdaq 1.5%), with S&P and Dow posting best week since early November (More)

> Justice Department sues Walgreens, alleges the chain knowingly filled millions of unlawful opioid prescriptions; suit follows four separate whistleblower complaints (More)

> President-elect Donald Trump launches cryptocurrency; $TRUMP passes $11B market capitalization in two days, with fully diluted value near $60B (More) | What are meme coins? (More)


Politics & World Affairs
> TikTok briefly goes dark, turns back on for US users as President-elect Donald Trump signals he will sign 90-day extension after taking office (More) | See previous write-up (More)

> Death toll in LA fires reaches 27, Palisades and Eaton fires about 50% and 75% contained with risk of extreme wind returning this week; see updates (More) | See map of fires (More)

> CNN found liable of defamation over 2021 story suggesting US Navy veteran Zachary Young charged excessive fees and implying he was part of a black market to evacuate Afghans; network to pay $5M in damages (More)

SOURCE:  1440 NEWS

Past - Present - Future

 It is the day after the inauguration and MLK Jr celebration, of which I watch neither.

I have discovered in my limited time here on earth that celebrations come and go and don't really impact my life on little bit.

People remember, get emotional, say things good or bad about the event, eat, drink, regurgitate, remember very little of what happened the next day, and a week later, all is forgotten, and life goes on.

That is just the kind of people we are.  We concentrate on the PRESENT, forget or overlook the PAST, and seldom pay attention to the FUTURE unless we are theoretically or actually making a PLAN that we may or may not execute.

When I turned 40 years of age, I made a plan and stuck with that plan for over 30 years and don't plan to stop now.

I gave up:

• cigarettes
• alcohol
• red meat
• sweets
• fried foods

2-3, maybe 4 times a year I cheat on that plan with everything except cigarettes, but as I get older, I do less and less cheating.

I also paid off my debt and started saving as much money as I could each month.  Today, I am very glad I did that because it has made my life so much more financially secure...

Somewhat Political

 

Alignment of SEVEN Planets

A very rare treat is about to grace Earth's night skies.

On the evening of 28 February 2025, all seven of the other planets in the Solar System will appear in the night sky at the same time, with Saturn, Mercury, Neptune, Venus, Uranus, Jupiter, and Mars all lining up in a neat row – a magnificent sky feast for the eyes known as a great planetary alignment.

But that's not all. Between now and then, on 21 January 2025, six of the seven other planets will appear in the sky at once in a large alignment – Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Venus, and Saturn, with the exception of Mercury.

An illustration of the upcoming January planetary alignment as seen from the Northern Hemisphere. (Star Walk)

Actually, it's not uncommon for a few planets to be on the same side of the Sun at the same time, but it's less common for most, or even all of the planets to align.

Any number of planets from three to eight constitutes an alignment. Five or six planets assembling is known as a large alignment, with five-planet alignments significantly more frequent than six.

Seven-planet great alignments are, of course, the rarest of all.     READ MORE...

Jefferson Airplane -Somebody to love , White rabbit (live at Woodstock)

Paid Damages

 

No Justice

 

Protection

 

Help

 

Done

 

Tina Turner

 

Our New POTUS

 

President Trump will be sworn into office today as our 47th POTUS...

And, there is a lot of concern throughout the USA as well as the rest of the world because of:

• Trump is a convicted FELON pending appeal
• Trump has been convicted of rape in a CIVIL court, not criminal
• Trump is an alleged insurrectionist, only convicted by a few states to keep him off the 2024 ballot, but not by any other court.
• Trump and his supporters are considered to be FASCISTS, even though our constitution does not allow dictators

Trump has made lots of claims of what he will accomplish during his second term in office, some of which include:

1. Removing all illegal immigrants
2. Lowering taxes
3. Reducing inflation and lowering costs
4. Drilling for oil
5. Becoming energy independent via oil
6. Standing up to foreign aggression
7. Building up our military forces
8. Building a strong economy
9. Bringing businesses back to America
10. Ending all DEI programs

We all know, based upon our previous experiences, that all campaigning presidential nominees make promises to get re-elected of which few are kept.

Trump is no exception.

So, we will just have to wait and see...

Somewhat Political

 

Quantum Mechanics and New Particles

Amid the many mysteries of quantum physics, subatomic particles don't always follow the rules of the physical world. They can exist in two places at once, pass through solid barriers and even communicate across vast distances instantaneously. 

These behaviors may seem impossible, but in the quantum realm, scientists are exploring an array of properties once thought impossible.

In a new study, physicists at Brown University have now observed a novel class of quantum particles called fractional excitons, which behave in unexpected ways and could significantly expand scientists' understanding of the quantum realm.

"Our findings point toward an entirely new class of quantum particles that carry no overall charge but follow unique quantum statistics," said Jia Li, an associate professor of physics at Brown.    READ MORE...

The Allman Brothers Band - Whipping Post - 9/23/1970 - Fillmore East (Of...

In The NEWS

Polar vortex set to freeze the US as far as the Deep South.

An arctic blast from a polar vortex is set to bring dangerously cold temperatures to the US this weekend, with wind chills reaching a minimum of minus 30 degrees to minus 50 degrees in some areas. About 120 million people—more than one-third of the US population—are expected to experience subzero conditions, particularly in the Northern Plains and Midwest. See a visual explainer on the polar vortex here.


Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted to fill JD Vance’s senate seat.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R) appointed Husted (R) over other potential candidates, including Vivek Ramaswamy (R), a former presidential candidate and incoming colead of President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency. Husted, 57, will serve until a special election in November 2026.

Separately, Trump's inaugural ceremony has been moved inside the US Capitol due to freezing temperatures. The last time a similar move occurred was in 1985 for Ronald Reagan's second inauguration.


Israel approves Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal.

Israel's full cabinet approved the agreement a little over two days after Hamas and Israel had struck the deal. The plan will temporarily pause fighting in the Gaza Strip and release dozens of hostages held by Hamas as well as hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. The deal—facilitated by the US, Egypt, and Qatar—goes into effect tomorrow. See full details here.



Biden commutes sentences of nearly 2,500 nonviolent drug offenders.

The recent round of clemency follows President Joe Biden's commutations last month of the sentences of roughly 1,500 people and the pardoning of 39 nonviolent offenders. That round, at the time, was the largest single-day act of clemency by a US president since records began in 1900. Biden holds the presidential record for most individual pardons and commutations issued.



Joan Plowright, Tony Award-winning British actress, dies at 95.

Plowright's career spanned over 70 years in theater and film, including on Broadway. Her achievements included winning a Tony Award in 1961 for her role in "A Taste of Honey," in which she played a troubled teenager, and two Golden Globes in 1993, for her roles in the film "Enchanted April" and the HBO TV movie "Stalin." Plowright was also made a dame in 2004. She was married to fellow renowned British actor Laurence Olivier for 28 years, until his death in 1989.



Lavish bathhouse unearthed from ancient Rome's Pompeii. (w/photos)

Archaeologists in Pompeii have uncovered a private spa complex built more than 2,000 years ago, featuring thermal rooms capable of hosting 30 guests. The discovery, connected to an elegant black-walled banquet hall, offers a rare insight into how wealthy Romans used architectural spaces to showcase their culture, social status, and political ambition.

SOURCE:  1440 NEWS

Happiness

 

We are bigger, more important than we think we are, just because we don't have the power and wealth that others have.

Power and wealth do not create happiness...

Your neighbors and friends do not create your happiness...

Nor does your job or things you own...

HAPPINESS is an internal concept that allows you to accept and make the most out of what you have and not feel envious of what others may have.

We have been taught to WANT MORE and when we do not get more, we feel unhappy.

Everyone says that they want a better life for their children and that is why they do what they do.

But what do their children want???

I have two siblings and only one could not stop wanting more.

We had the same parents and the same teachings and influence but there were 12 and 8 years separating two of us from the third.

It was the third child that could not stop wanting more.

Two of us are happy and content, our younger sibling claims that is the case for him, but still mentally wants to get as much as he can before he dies.

HE CANNOT BE HAPPY...

Somewhat Political

 

Wrong About the Origins of Life

In a new peer reviewed analysis, scientists quantify amino acids before and after our “last universal common ancestor.”

The last universal common ancestor is the single life form that branched into everything since.

Earth four billion years ago may help us check for life on one of Saturn’s moons today.

Scientists are making a case for adjusting our understanding of how exactly genes first emerged. For a while, there’s been a consensus about the order in which the building block amino acids were “added” into the box of Lego pieces that build our genes. 

But according to genetic researchers at the University of Arizona, our previous assumptions may reflect biases in our understanding of biotic (living) versus abiotic (non-living) sources.

In other words, our current working model of gene history could be undervaluing early protolife (which included forerunners like RNA and peptides) as compared to what emerged with and after the beginning of life. 

Our understanding of these extremely ancient times will always be incomplete, but it’s important for us to keep researching early Earth. The scientists explain that any improvements in that understanding could not only allow us know more of our own story, but also help us search for the beginnings of life elsewhere in the universe.     READ MORE...