MY WRITING JOURNAL

Thursday, February 20

Real Clear Politics

Thursday, February 20

Democrats Are Learning: It's Not 2017 All Over Again

Byron York, DC Examiner

Was Bidenomics a Big Mistake?
Guida & Furman, Politico

Harris Made Me Cringe. Vance Shows We Deserved Better
Nicole Russell, USA Today

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Eric Adams?
Elie Mystal, The Nation

Dems Should Help Clean Up Illegal Immigrant Crime
Miranda Devine, New York Post

How About a Daily Democratic Message?
Robert Kuttner, American Prospect

Voter Rolls Like They Oughta Be
Doug Truax, RealClearPolitics

Leftist-Led WI Court 'Guts' Challenges to Election Violations
M.D. Kittle, Federalist

How Liberalism Became Uncool
Clare Haber-Harris, Slate

Pagans Infiltrated Society, Declared Everything Good Is Bad

Alex Karp, CNBC

Trump Is Back, and It's No Longer Business as Usual
Lou Barletta, RealClearPolitics

Why I'm Rooting for Rubio To Fail in Saudi Arabia
Bill Kristol, The Bulwark

After Insane Biden Era, Diplomacy Has Resumed
Glenn Greenwald, System Update

This Is a Key Test: Elbridge Colby Must Be Confirmed
Donald Trump Jr., Human Events

How Gutfeld Toppled Fallon and Colbert in the Ratings
Tatiana Siegel, Variety

Margaret Brennan's CBS Humiliation
Paul du Quenoy, The Telegraph

Organized Dissident Alumni Rise Against Campus Wokeness
John Murawski, RCI

Al Jazeera

The reasons why America

has abandoned democracy

Ultra Easy Healthy Meals | But Cheaper

Dana Awartani (Arabic: دانا عورتاني; born 1987) is a Saudi visual artist, of Palestinian ethnicity. She works in various mediums including painting, video art, and sand mosaic; and incorporates traditional methods of Islamic art. Awartani was born and raised in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia where she lives today.

Awartani employs a variety of media in her work, including painting, video and sand mosaics. Her work is unique in that it seeks to incorporate the traditional methods of Islamic art into a contemporary world. Rich in geometric patterning and the most intricate of details, Dana’s work often integrates the patterning styles of Islamic art.

Specializing in geometry as well as illumination, tile-work and parquetry, Awartani's work explores the relationship between geometry and nature, as well as how truths can be translated through art using geometric principles, visualizing a sacred language through a symbolic and multi-layered aesthetic.

Her method that emerged over 1,000 years ago as a substitute for the forbidden depiction of divine figures. It is still being practiced, although less and less, today, by specialists such as Dana.

¿Qué pasa?

Quick Clips

In The NEWS

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Rapper A$AP Rocky found not guilty in 2021 shooting; Rocky had faced two felony assault charges, which carried up to 24 years in prison if convicted (More)

> Racing legend Lewis Hamilton makes first public appearance with new Formula One team Ferrari at F1 75 season launch event in London; Hamilton will officially debut at the Australian Grand Prix (March 16) (More)

> Paul Simon announces four-month tour across 20 North American cities; Simon previously retired from touring in 2018 due to hearing loss (More) | China's "Ne Zha 2" hauls in $1.69B at box office to pass "Inside Out 2" as the highest-grossing animated film ever (More)

Science & Technology
> Elon Musk-owned xAI releases Grok 3, the latest version of its flagship AI model (More) | Former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati launches AI startup Thinking Machines Labs (More) | How generative AI works (1440 Topics)

> Engineers develop "bio-glue" by combining proteins extracted from the human body with polymers inspired by mussels; biomedical adhesive is water- and bacteria-proof (More)

> Researchers reveal how the bacteria that causes staph infection extracts iron from the hemoglobin in blood; discovery may help develop treatments for antimicrobial-resistant strains (More) | What are superbugs? (1440 Topics) | What's in our blood? (1440 Topics)

Business & Markets
> US stock markets close roughly flat (S&P 500 +0.2%, Dow +0.0%, Nasdaq +0.1%); S&P 500 reaches new record (More) | Intel shares close up 16% in best day since March 2020 on report of Broadcom, TSMC exploring potential deals (More)

> Coca-Cola introduces prebiotic soda brand Simply Pop in the US Southeast and West Coast in bid to compete with startups Olipop and Poppi (More) | KFC moving headquarters from Kentucky to Texas (More) | Nike partners with Kim Kardashian's shapewear brand Skims to launch women's activewear brand this spring (More)

> Argentine President Javier Milei faces fraud probe for role in promoting cryptocurrency token $LIBRA, whose value collapsed shortly after launch (More)

Politics & World Affairs
> Federal judge allows Department of Government Efficiency staff access to Department of Education databases, including federal student loan information (More) | White House says Elon Musk is not leading day-to-day DOGE operations, is a senior adviser to the president (More)

> Hamas to release six Israelis Saturday, return the bodies of four others Thursday; hostages would be the last freed under the first phase of current ceasefire (More)

> New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) to attend hearing today over Justice Department-led dismissal of corruption charges; seven federal prosecutors and four Adams aides have resigned over the fallout (More) | See previous write-up (More)

SOURCE: 1440 NEWS

Social Media Platforms

BLUESKY is a liberal social media platform and TRUTH SOCIAL is a conservative social media platform. Obviously, very few conservatives are users of BLUESKY and very few liberals are users of TRUTH SOCIAL. When that does happen, the users of the platform BRUTALLY ATTACK the opposition in the hopes that they will leave.

Each platform only wants to be around other users that share their POINTS OF VIEW and opposing views disrupt the natural order of things. Users are viscous, rude, and disrespectful to those who don't agree with them and show absolutely no signs of being civil with them.

What does that tell you about these USERS?

I am not a psychologist or a psychiatrist but what each side displays is a voluntarily and a willingness not to respect the other side without exception... This voluntary willingness shows me that our country is so horribly divided that it is difficult to believe that anything will ever get better.

A divided country does not really progress into the future and if it does move forward, it is very slowly. Examples:

Trump undid everything Obama put into place
Biden undid everything Trump put into place
Trump undid everything Biden put into place
In 2029, if POTUS is Democratic then everything Trump put into place will be undone

It does not take a nuclear physicist to see that NO PROGRESS or VERY LITTLE PROGRESS takes place.

Social Media Platforms are MICROCOSMS of the USA, and can be used, in my opinion, to predict our future to some degree,

Somewhat Political

theory of relativity with quantum mechanics

For over a century, quantum mechanics and Einstein’s general relativity have stood as the cornerstones of modern physics, yet their unification remains one of science’s greatest challenges.

Now, researchers at University College London (UCL) have introduced a groundbreaking theory that challenges conventional approaches to this problem.

Quantum gravity seeks to bridge the gap between the microscopic world, where quantum mechanics governs particle behavior, and the macroscopic realm, where gravity shapes spacetime.

Traditionally, physicists have assumed that Einstein’s theory must be modified to fit within the quantum framework. However, UCL researchers propose a striking alternative: a "postquantum theory of classical gravity" that reexamines the fundamental relationship between these two domains. READ MORE...

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Foxey Lady (Miami Pop 1968)

Wednesday, February 19

Health

26 Helpful Tips

for Diet and Fitness

Movie

Rule of 72

The "Rule of 72" states that to estimate how long it takes for an investment to double, you divide 72 by the annual interest rate; for example, if you invest at a 10% annual return, your money will double in roughly 7.2 years (72 divided by 10).

Example scenarios:
8% interest rate:
If you invest with an 8% annual return, your money would double in about 9 years (72 divided by 8).

12% interest rate:
At a 12% annual return, your investment would double in approximately 6 years (72 divided by 12).

5% interest rate:
With a 5% annual return, it would take roughly 14.4 years for your money to double (72 divided by 5).

Key points about the Rule of 72:

Simple calculation:
It's a quick and easy way to estimate how long it takes for an investment to double, without complex formulas.

Approximation:
While not perfectly accurate, the Rule of 72 is generally considered a reliable estimate for most interest rates.

Application to inflation:
You can also use the Rule of 72 to estimate how long it takes for the purchasing power of your money to halve due to inflation.

Smithsonian

Black History Month

John Oliver

Don Bongino

American Education

In 2025, the United States ranked 13th in the world for K-12 education, according to research.com. The U.S. performed above average in reading and science, but below average in math.

Explanation
The U.S. consistently ranks among the top countries in global education, but its exact position depends on the ranking system and criteria used.

In 2022, U.S. students scored above the international average in reading and science, but below average in math.

The U.S. has improved significantly since 2015, but still lags behind top performers like China and Singapore.

The U.S. was once ranked number one in high school and college education, fueled in part by the Montgomery G.I.

Other top education systems
Other top education systems in the world include:

United Kingdom, Australia, Netherlands, Sweden, France, Denmark, and Canada.

Elon Musk: We’re watching the ‘thrashing’ of bureaucracy

BEGINNERS GUIDE TO HEALTHY EATING | 15 healthy eating tips

Sir Grayson Perry - Artist

Sir Grayson Perry (born 24 March 1960) is an English artist. He is known for his ceramic vases, tapestries, and cross-dressing, as well as his observations of the contemporary arts scene, and for dissecting British "prejudices, fashions and foibles".

Perry's vases have classical forms and are decorated in bright colors, depicting subjects at odds with their attractive appearance. There is a strong autobiographical element in his work, in which images of Perry as "Claire", his female alter-ego, and "Alan Measles", his childhood teddy bear, often appear. He has made a number of documentary television programs and has curated exhibitions.

He has published two autobiographies, Grayson Perry: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Girl (2007) and The Descent of Man (2016), written and illustrated a graphic novel, Cycle of Violence (2012), written a book about art, Playing to the Gallery (2014), and published his illustrated Sketchbooks (2016). Various books describing his work have been published. In 2013 he delivered the BBC Reith Lectures.