Friday, March 14

Italian Breakfast | Healthy Breakfast Ideas

Quick Clips








 

In The NEWS


Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

> Harvey Weinstein's retrial of his 2020 rape and sexual assault conviction set for April 15; Weinstein's conviction was thrown out last year by the New York Court of Appeals (More)

> UEFA Champions League quarterfinals set after second leg of Round of 16 wraps (More) | See latest bracket (More) | Tiger Woods biopic film in the works, to be produced by Barack and Michelle Obama (More)

> Spotify paid out all-time high of $10B in royalties to music industry in 2024, including more than $1M to nearly 1,500 individual artists (More) | Sequel to 1984 cult comedy "This Is Spinal Tap" set for Sept. 12 release (More)



Science & Technology
> The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration lays off more than 1,000 people as part of Trump administration's workforce reduction plan; agency's duties include collecting data to monitor and predict storms, coastal restoration, and more (More)

> DNA analysis reveals Stone Age Europeans successfully voyaged overseas to North Africa roughly 8,000 years ago; marks the first evidence of sea voyaging across the Mediterranean during this period (More)

> Google reveals Gemma 3, an open-access AI model for developers that can interpret text, images, and short videos (More)


Business & Markets
> US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 +0.5%, Dow -0.2%, Nasdaq +1.2%) after cooler-than-expected inflation data and as traders scoop up tech stocks, including Nvidia (+6.4%) (More) | US consumer price index rises 2.8% year over year in February, down from 3% in January (More)

> iRobot shares fall over 35% after Roomba maker raises doubt about its future (More) | Intel shares rise over 11% in after-hours trading after former board member Lip-Bu Tan named as CEO; comes three months after former CEO's ousting (More)

> US budget deficit rises in February, surpasses $1T for first five months of fiscal year 2025; the figure sets a record and is up $318B from the same period in 2024, or roughly 38% higher (More) | Understanding the deficit (More)


Politics & World Affairs
> Senate Democrats expected to reject GOP-led House-passed funding bill as Friday midnight shutdown nears; House adjourns for the week (More) | Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) won't run for reelection in 2026, adds to list of open seats in states like Michigan and Minnesota as Democrats seek to regain Senate majority (More)

> Immigration officials arrest more than 32,000 migrants who have been living in the US without legal status since Jan. 21, per latest Homeland Security data (More)

> Pakistan's army says insurgents who attacked passenger train Tuesday killed 21 hostages; security forces rescued more than 300 others and killed all 33 assailants (More)


SOURCE:  1440 NEWS

My Sick Vostro


HP Chromebook was probably one of the worst computers, I have ever had the unfortunate experience of owning.  My HP's software is more like APPLE than Microsoft so that may have something to do with it...


My Dell Vostro 7620 replaced the HP Chromebook and right now I am using my HP Chromebook because my Dell Vostro is at the Advance Repair Center since the online tech support cannot locate the issue.  I have had the hinges on the case replaced, the power port replace, the power source replaced, and the keyboard/touch pad replaced FOUR times...  not to mention the hours I have spent on the phone troubleshooting with the techs who take remote control of my laptop.


Surely, Dell has spent more trying to fix this damn computer than I spent buying it.


I was told by the Dell Technician that he hardly ever has a service call to work on a BAD LATTITUDE, just the lower priced units.  Of course that does not make me feel any better.


I usually buy a new laptop every five years but with the way technology is advancing and the more power, speed, and space, laptops need, one needs to upgrade every three years.  Hard to believe that the owners of these computer companies have become BILLIONAIRES...  lol


I was told that my Vostro will be gone 5-7 days...  they did not specify business days but I am sure that is what they meant, not including travel time either, I suppose, although they did not say that either.


We'll see...   


 

Somewhat Political

 











Albert Camus: Intellectual Titan




French author Albert Camus at the office of his Paris publishing house, 1957. “I don’t like to work sitting down,” Camus said. “I like to stand up—even at my desk. I probably need to wear myself out.”       Loomis Dean/Life Picture Collection/Shutterst






In 1968 LIFE magazine summed up the appeal of French philosopher and author Albert Camus with a single sentence: “Camus looked directly into the darkness as saw sun—the human spirit.” The line came from a review of Camus’ book “Lyrical and Critical Essays.” And the fact that LIFE was reviewing such books at all is a throwback to a time when mainstream American media regularly chronicled the doings of French intellectuals.

LIFE ran its biggest story on Camus in October 1957, right around the time he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for fictional works such as The Stranger, The Plague and The Fall, and philosophical writings such as “The Myth of Sisyphus.” Camus was a mere 44 years old at the time, and he remains the second-youngest person to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature, after Rudyard Kipling.     READ MORE...

Guns and Roses - Sweet Child of Mine

Thursday, March 13

The Big THINK


There are 7 states of matter; “topoconductor” isn’t one of them

Italian Breakfast | Healthy Breakfast Ideas

Dan Bongino

 

Diamond & Silk

 

Lara Trump

 

Robert Reich

Why we need a new free speech movement


How to see tonight's lunar eclipse.

The actor who inspired Homer Simpson's "D'oh!"

Australian school learns boulder is actually dinosaur fossil.

The short and somewhat odd history of pickleball. (via YouTube)

How animals sound across languages.

Boy calls the cops after his mother ate his ice cream.

The hair fashion show at Minnesota's high school hockey tournament.

B-Dubs unveils multivision goggles for March Madness fans.

Clickbait: TSA finds live turtle in man's pants.

 


5 Foods I STOPPED Eating to Improve My Health | Healthy Eating Tips

Quick Clips








 

In The NEWS



Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> "Othello," starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal, hauls in $2.8M to break record for highest-grossing week for a Broadway play (More)

> Wendy Williams taken to hospital after being removed from her assisted-living home following a wellness check by NYC police (More) | Stanley R. Jaffe, Oscar-winning producer known for "Kramer vs. Kramer" and "Fatal Attraction," dies at age 84 (More)

> College basketball conference championship week is under way; see schedules and odds for the men's tournaments (More) | ... and complete schedule for the women's tournaments (More)


Science & Technology
> Researchers demonstrate recycling process that breaks down common plastics using only an inexpensive catalyst and moisture pulled from the air (More)

> Scientists create "berkelocene," the first metallic compound using the element berkelium; with an atomic number of 97, the achievement sheds light on chemistry with elements heavier than uranium (More)

> Water droplets flowing across a surface generate as much as 10 times more electric charge than previously believed; results shed light on the microscopic physics of interfaces, may lead to improved fuel systems (More)


Business & Markets
> US stock markets close lower (S&P 500 -0.8%, Dow -1.1%, Nasdaq -0.2%) amid trade policy uncertainty (More)

> Ontario, Canada, temporarily suspends planned 25% surcharge on electricity exported to US states; comes after President Donald Trump vowed to raise Canadian steel and aluminum imports tariffs to 50% before reversing course (More)

> US job openings rose to 7.7 million in January, after falling in December, per the Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey report (More)


Politics & World Affairs
> Education Department sends reduction-in-force notices to 1,315 staffers yesterday evening, while 572 employees have accepted separation packages in recent weeks and 63 probationary workers were laid off last month; roughly 50% of around 4,000 agency employees have been let go (More)

> House Republicans vote 217-213 to pass bill to fund the government through Sept. 30, includes increasing military spending by $6B and rolling back $20B in IRS funding; bill heads to Senate ahead of shutdown deadline at midnight Friday (More) | Former US Rep. Katie Porter (D, CA-47) to run for California governor (More)

> UK police arrest 59-year-old man on suspicion of manslaughter a day after a container ship struck an oil tanker in the North Sea, leaving one crew member missing and presumed dead; 36 others were rescued alive (More)

SOURCE:  1440 NEWS





y (More)




> Ontario, Canada, temporarily suspends planned 25% surcharge on electricity exported to US states; comes after President Donald Trump vowed to raise Canadian steel and aluminum imports tariffs to 50% before reversing course (More)




> US job openings rose to 7.7 million in January, after falling in December, per the Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey report (More)












Politics & World Affairs




> Education Department sends reduction-in-force notices to 1,315 staffers yesterday evening, while 572 employees have accepted separation packages in recent weeks and 63 probationary workers were laid off last month; roughly 50% of around 4,000 agency employees have been let go (More)




> House Republicans vote 217-213 to pass bill to fund the government through Sept. 30, includes increasing military spending by $6B and rolling back $20B in IRS funding; bill heads to Senate ahead of shutdown deadline at midnight Friday (More) | Former US Rep. Katie Porter (D, CA-47) to run for California governor (More)




> UK police arrest 59-year-old man on suspicion of manslaughter a day after a container ship struck an oil tanker in the North Sea, leaving one crew member missing and presumed dead; 36 others were rescued alive (More)

POV of a layman


Click here...

to see what global countries in 2022 charged a tariff on imported goods from the USA.


While I did not count myself, it appears that almost every country in the world charged us some sort of tariff to protect their own goods.


What do tariffs accomplish?

Simply put...

I place a tariff on the goods I import from your country, it makes your goods more expensive relative to the cost of my goods, so my citizens in order to save money, will buy local goods rather than imported goods.


IN MY OPINION...

The problem with tariffs, especially in the USA, is that, if the US goods are cheaper to buy than imported goods, like:

  • Cars
  • Computers
  • Cell phone
Then what incentive, do I have as a company, to invest money into my manufacturing process to improve the quality of my product?

I have no incentive because my goods are cheaper and the consumer will buy my product.

So, why would any government want to protect their companies like that so their citizens are buy poor quality products?

Does not seem very smart to me unless the GENERAL PUBLIC is not that smart and does not realize what is happening to them...

Something to ponder.

 

Somewhat Political

 





New Theory Bridges Quantum Mechanics and Gravity


Diagrammatic representation of the entropic quantum gravity action. The action for gravity is given by the quantum relative entropy between the metric of the manifold and the metric induced by the matter field and the geometry. Image Credit: Queen Mary University of London




In a recent study that was published in Physical Review D, Queen Mary University of London Professor Ginestra Bianconi, offered a novel framework with the potential to completely alter knowledge of gravity and how it relates to quantum mechanics.



The study bridges the gap between Einstein's general relativity and quantum mechanics, two of the most fundamental but seemingly incompatible theories in physics, by introducing a novel method that derives gravity from quantum relative entropy.
The Challenge of Quantum Gravity



Physicists have been trying for decades to make sense of the differences between general relativity and quantum mechanics. General relativity explains the force of gravity on cosmic scales, whereas quantum mechanics controls the behavior of particles at the smallest scales. One of the most elusive objectives in contemporary science has been to bring these two frameworks together.  READ  MORE...

MICHAEL JACKSON - BILLIE JEAN 1997 Gothenburg

Wednesday, March 12

Oregon News


'They/Them/Turtle': Oregon mental health advisory board includes member who identifies as terrapin species


 

Probiotics


This gastroenterologist says probiotics are ‘a waste of money.’ Here’s what you should be doing instead

BBC


Who is Mahmoud Khalil, Palestinian student activist facing US deportation?

At A Glance



Why honey never expires—really.

Eighty-five women who made history.

The tale of Nikola Tesla's "mind-controlled" boat.

Visualizing the best age to take Social Security.

How do two-way mirrors work?

The 100 best sports moments in the last 25 years.

Vegetable-playing orchestra wins world record.

The octopus that takes drastic measures to survive mating.

Clickbait: The hologram doctor will see you now.

Amber May Show

 

SNACKS

PUBLISHED BY 

Robert Reich


Trump is a traitor, and Europe is now alone
A view from France

Mar 11





Friends,

From time to time, I bring you views from outside the United States on what we are enduring here. The following is an English translation of a speech made last week by by Claude Malhuret, a French senator who is largely unknown outside France. Malhuret’s words are chillingly relevant to what is now happening in the United States.



Europe is at a critical turning point in its history. The American shield is slipping, Ukraine risks being abandoned, Russia strengthened.

Washington has become the court of Nero, an incendiary emperor, submissive courtiers, and a jester high on ketamine in charge of purging the civil service.

This is a tragedy for the free world, but it is first and foremost a tragedy for the United States. Trump’s message is that there is no point in being his ally since he will not defend you, he will impose higher tariffs on you than on his enemies and will threaten to seize your territories while supporting the dictatorships that invade you.

The ‘king of the deal’ is showing what the art of the deal is on his stomach. He thinks he will intimidate China by lying down in front of Putin, but Xi Jinping, seeing such a submissiveness, is probably accelerating preparations for the invasion of Taiwan.

Never in history has a US President capitulated to the enemy. Never has any one of them supported an aggressor against an ally, trampled on the US Constitution, issued so many illegal executive orders, dismissed judges who could have prevented him from doing so, dismissed the military senior staff in one fell swoop, weakened all checks and balances, and taken control of social media.

This is not an illiberal drift, it is the beginning of the confiscation of democracy. Let us remember that it took only one month, three weeks and two days to bring down the Weimar Republic and its Constitution.

I have faith in the strength of American democracy, and the country is already protesting. But in one month, Trump has done more harm to America than in four years of his last presidency. We were at war with a dictator, now we are fighting a dictator backed by a traitor.

Eight days ago, at the very moment that Trump was rubbing Macron’s back in the White House, the United States voted at the UN with Russia and North Korea against the Europeans demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops.

Two days later, in the Oval Office, the military service shirker was giving war hero Zelensky lessons in morality and strategy before dismissing him like a groom, ordering him to bend or resign.

Tonight, he took another step into infamy by stopping the delivery of weapons that had been promised. What to do in the face of this betrayal? The answer is simple: confront it.

And first of all, let’s not be mistaken. The defeat of Ukraine would be the defeat of Europe. The Baltic States, Georgia, Moldova are already on the list. Putin’s goal is to return to Yalta, where half the continent was ceded to Stalin.

The countries of the South are waiting for the outcome of the conflict to decide whether they should continue to respect Europe or whether they are now free to trample on it.

What Putin wants is the end of the order put in place by the United States and its allies 80 years ago, with as its first principle the prohibition of acquiring territory by force.

This idea is at the core of the United Nations, where today Americans vote in favor of the aggressor and against the attacked, because the Trumpian vision coincides with that of Putin: a return to spheres of influence, the great powers dictating the fate of small countries.

“Give me Greenland, Panama, and Canada. You can get Ukraine, the Baltics, and Eastern Europe. He can get Taiwan and the China Sea.”

In the dinners of the oligarchs of the Gulf of Mar-a-Lago, they call this “diplomatic realism.”

So we are now standing alone. But the idea that Putin cannot be confronted is false. Contrary to the Kremlin’s propaganda, Russia is in bad shape. In three years, the so-called second largest army in the world has managed to grab only crumbs from a country three times less populated.

Interest rates at 25 percent, the collapse of foreign exchange and gold reserves, the demographic collapse, all show that [Russia] is on the brink of the abyss. The American helping hand to Putin is the biggest strategic mistake ever made in a war.

The shock is violent, but it has a virtue. Europeans are coming out of denial. They understood in one day in Munich that the survival of Ukraine and the future of Europe are in their hands and that they have three imperatives.

Accelerate military aid to Ukraine to compensate for the American abandonment, so that it holds out, and of course to impose its presence and that of Europe in any negotiation.

This will be costly. It will be necessary to end the taboo of using frozen Russian assets [and] circumvent Moscow’s accomplices within Europe itself by a coalition of only the willing countries, which includes, of course, the United Kingdom.

Second, demand that any agreement be accompanied by the return of kidnapped children, prisoners and absolute security guarantees. After Budapest, Georgia and Minsk, we know what agreements with Putin are worth. These guarantees require sufficient military force to prevent a new invasion.

Finally—and this is the most urgent because it is what will take the most time—we must build a European defense, too-long neglected to the benefit of the American umbrella since 1945 and scuttled since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

It is a Herculean task, but it is on its success or failure that the leaders of today’s democratic Europe will be judged in the history books.

Friedrich Merz has just declared that Europe needs its own military alliance. This is a way to recognize that France has been right for decades in arguing for strategic autonomy.

It remains to build it.

It will be necessary to invest massively, strengthen the European Defense Fund outside the Maastricht debt criteria, harmonize weapons and munitions systems, accelerate the entry into the [European] Union of Ukraine, which is today the leading European army, rethink the place and conditions of nuclear deterrence based on French and British capabilities, relaunch the anti-missile defense and satellite programs.

The plan announced yesterday by Ursula von der Leyen is a very good starting point. And much more will be needed.

Europe will only become a military power again by becoming an industrial power again. In a word, the Draghi report will have to be implemented. For good.

But the real rearmament of Europe is its moral rearmament.

We must convince public opinion against war weariness and fear, and especially in the face of Putin’s cronies, the far right and the far left.

They argued again yesterday in the National Assembly, Mr Prime Minister, before you, against European unity, against European defense.

They say they want peace. What neither they nor Trump say is that their peace is capitulation, the peace of defeat, the replacement of “de Gaulle Zelensky” by a “Ukrainian Pétain” at Putin’s beck and call. The peace of the collaborators who have refused any aid to the Ukrainians for three years.

Is this the end of the Atlantic Alliance? The risk is great.

But in the last few days, the public humiliation of Zelensky and all the crazy decisions taken during the past month have finally made the Americans react.

Polls are falling. Republican lawmakers are being greeted by hostile crowds in their constituencies. Even Fox News is becoming critical.

The Trumpists are no longer in their majesty. They control the executive, Congress, the Supreme Court, and social networks.

But in American history, the defenders of freedom have always prevailed. They are beginning to raise their heads.

The fate of Ukraine is being played out in the trenches, but it also depends on those in the US who want to defend democracy, and here on our ability to unite Europeans, find the means for their common defense, and make Europe the power it once was in history and that it hesitates to become again.

Our parents defeated fascism and communism at great cost.

The task of our generation is to defeat the totalitarianisms of the 21st century.

Long live free Ukraine, long live democratic Europe.