Wednesday, April 9
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and "Giant" win top awards for best new musical and best new play at the 2025 Olivier Awards, the British equivalent of the Tony Awards (More)
> Jay North, child actor best known for playing titular role on "Dennis the Menace," dies at age 73 (More) | Clem Burke, longtime drummer for the rock band Blondie, dies at age 70 (More)
> Toronto Blue Jays sign Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to 14-year, $500M deal—the third largest contract in MLB history (More) | NBA regular season wraps up in one week; see the latest playoff picture (More)
Science & Technology
> New hormone found to stimulate ovulation in zebrafish; discovery may lead to new fertility treatments in humans (More)
> Study finds cytokines—small proteins that act as messengers between cells—that help fight infections can also infiltrate the brain, influencing behavior such as anxiety and sociability (More)
> Researchers discover a new family of microbes that live in the "critical zone" of the Earth's soil, the near-surface area that extends to depths of around 700 feet where groundwater is naturally cleaned of pollutants (More)
Business & Markets
> US Steel shares close up 16% after President Donald Trump orders national security panel to conduct new review of proposed US Steel sale to Japan's Nippon Steel; former President Joe Biden blocked the nearly $15B deal in January (More)
> Shopify CEO Tobias Lütke orders managers of the e-commerce software giant to prove AI can't perform a job before seeking permission to hire new workers (More)
> US crude oil falls below $60 a barrel midday to lowest level since 2021 as tariff tensions fuel recession concerns (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> Supreme Court lifts order blocking deportations under 1798 Alien Enemies Act, says migrants must still get a court hearing before being deported from the US (More) | Supreme Court temporarily pauses lower court's deadline for the Trump administration to bring back wrongly deported Maryland man from El Salvador (More)
> President Donald Trump hosts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for discussions covering tariffs, Gaza, and more; Trump also announces he will begin direct talks with Iran on its nuclear weapons program this weekend (More)
> Idaho mom Lori Vallow Daybell, who was convicted in 2023 of killing her youngest two children, begins trial over allegedly murdering her fourth husband (More)
SOURCE: 1440 NEWS
East Tennessee
WHY?
- Lower cost of living (food & housing)
- Low crime rate
- Moderate year long termperatures
- Less automobile traffic
- Excellent places to eat
- Outstanding recreational activities
- Proximity to healthcare & airports
- Good return on one's investment
Cons:
- low wages
- minimal job opportunities
- poor K-12 education
- high sales tax
- not modernized
- allergies
I moved from NC to TN because for my education and training, there were more opportunities here than in NC precisely because of the cons listed above. I remained precisely because of:
- the weather
- the low cost of living
- the low crime rate
- traffic
In 2015, my wife and I retired and it has been an EXCELLENT place for our retirement...
Lots of northerners move down to Florida to retire and move half way back to Tennessee because they have discovered the same issues that my wife and I have discovered.
TENNESSEE IS PERFECT FOR RETIREES
What to do in East TN:
1. NASCAR
2. Dollywood & Pigeon Forge
3. Great Smoky Mountains
4. TVA Lakes, parks, recreation
5. ORNL - Secret City (WWII - Atomic bomb)
6. Nashville - Country Music
7. Memphis - Elvis Presley
8. TN barbeque and moonshine
9. Chattanooga Zoo
10. Southern living and cooking
$8.4 Bn mine found in America — It will smash China, Russia and Ukraine
Tuesday, April 8
Robert Reich
In unity, there’s strength to confront Trump. In disunity, cowardice
Friends,
Let me first congratulate the 504 law firms that have thrown their support behind Perkins Coie in a friend-of-the-court brief. Perkins Coie was the first firm to receive a vindictive executive order from Trump that jeopardized its ability to represent government contractors and limited its access to federal buildings, all because one of its attorneys had helped investigate Russia’s support for Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
The 504 firms rightfully declare that Trump’s attack on law firms poses “a grave threat to our system of constitutional governance and to the rule of law itself.” Their brief goes on to say:
“Unless the judiciary acts decisively now, what was once beyond the pale will in short order become a stark reality. Corporations and individuals alike will risk losing their right to be represented by the law firms of their choice and a profound chill will be cast over the First Amendment right to petition the courts for redress.”
At A Glance
Visualizing concert ticketflation.
A day on Uranus is now 28 seconds longer.
The evolution of golf courses over the past 145 years.
America's 51 most beautiful places to visit.
How to make someone feel seen and heard.
Ronin the rat sets new landmine-sniffing record.
"Geesekeepers" protect goose nesting at Chicago's Wrigley Field.
The wild "freakosystem" born in Hawaii.
Clickbait: Cast your vote in the battle of the chickens.
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin scores his 895th goal, passing Wayne Gretzky to become the NHL's all-time leading goal scorer (More) | Carmelo Anthony and Sue Bird headline Basketball Hall of Fame's 2025 class (More)
> "A Minecraft Movie" hauls in $157M in its opening weekend, the top US domestic debut of 2025 and the biggest opening ever for a video game adaptation (More)
> Ed Sheeran and Weezer join Green Day, Lady Gaga, Travis Scott, and Post Malone as headliners for the 2025 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (April 11-13, 18-20) (More) | What is Coachella, anyway? This week's 1440 Society & Culture newsletter goes deep into the festival (Sign up here)
Science & Technology
> Meta releases Llama 4, the latest version of its flagship family of large language models (More) | Anthropic researchers suggest reasoning models—where chatbots explain how they arrived at an answer—cannot always be trusted (More)
> Researchers who discovered and characterized GLP-1, the hormone behind new weight-loss drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound, lead winners of 2025 Breakthrough Prizes (More) | How semaglutides work (1440 Topics)
> Scientists uncover new cellular mechanism that weakens bones as we age; cells that have stopped replicating release chemicals that make bone structures more brittle (More) | Aging 101 (1440 Topics)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets plunge Friday (S&P 500 -6.0%, Dow -5.5%, Nasdaq -5.8%) as countries respond to President Donald Trump's tariff plan (More) | Universal 10% tariff went into effect Saturday, additional tariffs that vary by country kick in Wednesday; see breakdown (More) | Trump adviser says multiple countries have signaled interest in beginning trade talks (More)
> Payment processor Klarna and ticket platform StubHub delay initial public offerings amid economic uncertainty (More)
> Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer, reports highest first quarter revenue on record and 24% year-over-year growth; growth driven by demand for AI products (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> "Hands off!" protests held in cities across the US Saturday; estimates say hundreds of thousands of demonstrators call for end to Trump administration efforts, from federal cuts to deportations (More) | See photos (More)
> Pope Francis makes surprise visit to crowds at the Vatican's St. Peter's Square; appearance comes two weeks after the 88-year-old pontiff was released from the hospital after a severe respiratory infection (More)
> Death toll from Myanmar quake rises above 3,350 as storms continue to slow rescue efforts (More) | See previous write-up (More)
SOURCE: 1440 NEWS
Tues OPED
I read the news today, oboy, the stock market is crashing because of the uncertainty of Trump's tariffs...
This kind of news makes me laugh because the stock market is comprised primarily of two investor groups:
- THOSE THAT PANIC
- THOSE WHO DON'T PANIC
Ever since I graduated from grad school in business, I have had the understanding that the real strength of investing in wall street is not the quick growth money but the LONG TERM MONEY.
It was beat into my head not to invest in wall street unless your investment is money you don't need and money you are not going to touch for 20-40 years.
For example, a mutual fund is a group of stocks (about 150-200) that you money is invested into equally so that when one stock goes down, another goes up, and the investor breaks even.
Over a 20 year period of time, mutual funds average between 8-10% each year although some years they are down.
These daily reports about wall street are as foolish as not flushing the commode after someone takes a crap.
Another idea that many investors use is selected a company that gives you a guaranteed rate of return whether the market goes up or down. It is probably going to be a lesser return but it is guaranteed.
DO YOUR RESEARCH...
Theoretical physicists completely determine the statistics of quantum entanglement
For the first time, theoretical physicists from the Institute of Theoretical Physics (IPhT) in Paris-Saclay have completely determined the statistics that can be generated by a system using quantum entanglement. This achievement paves the way for exhaustive test procedures for quantum devices.
The study is published in the journal Nature Physics.
After the advent of transistors, lasers and atomic clocks, the entanglement of quantum objects—as varied as photons, electrons and superconducting circuits—is at the heart of a second quantum revolution, with quantum communication and quantum computing in sight.
What's involved? Two objects prepared together in a quantum state—two horizontally or vertically polarized photons, for example—retain the memory of their common origin, even if they are moved far apart from each other. When the quantum state of the two entangled objects is measured—their polarization, in the proposed example—a distinct correlation is observed between the measurement results.
Measurement obeying quantum statistics
What does this correlation depend on? First, the degree of entanglement between the two objects may vary, depending on the nature of the source of the entangled quantum objects—in the example, horizontally polarized photons may be produced more frequently than vertically polarized ones. Then, a choice of measurement must be made—such as selecting a direction in which to measure the polarization—which may impact its result.
Monday, April 7
Robert Reich
Trump is creating national emergencies to gain more power. In the process, he’s subjecting millions to real harm.
Friends,
It’s hard to remember that only 10 weeks ago, the American economy was quite good, our foreign relations were on the whole positive, we were on the way to dealing with climate change with subsidies for wind and solar energy, and we still lived in a democracy.
Today, all that is disappearing. The economy is in acute danger, our relationships with traditional allies are collapsing, we’re subsidizing fossil fuel polluters, and we’re turning into a dictatorship.
This has happened in part because of Trump’s continuing creation of fake national emergencies.
He has declared foreign trade a national emergency and used the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 to raise tariffs to levels not seen since the disastrous Smoot-Hawley tariff of 1930.
During his 2024 campaign, Trump pledged to bring Americans immediate relief through lower prices. Scratch that. Americans now face higher prices for automobiles, groceries, clothes, and other goods.
At A Glance
Can the CEOs of major companies be replaced by AI?
Pepsi's new challenge—winning back pop lovers.
Scientists suggest the cause of near-death experiences.
The origins of the world's strangest-shaped countries.
Ranking music's greatest two-hit wonders.
YouTuber arrested after visiting isolated Indian tribe.
... and an island of penguins and seals now faces US tariffs.
Clickbait: Mars rolls away from the Kennedy Center.
In The NEWS
The NATO exercise that almost led to nuclear war
The "SNAFU" podcast, hosted by actor and comedian Ed Helms, explores some of history's biggest blunders. Season one focuses on the 1983 NATO Able Archer military exercise, a war game that simulated nuclear attacks on the Soviet Union. The USSR mistook the exercise for a genuine threat and prepared its forces for war. Listen to a lighthearted account here.
NATO's missions around the world
"NATO Through Time" is a podcast exploring NATO’s history and its impact on today’s world. This episode features Gen. Jennie Carignan, Canada’s top military leader, as she shares insights from her NATO missions in Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq. If you’re curious about the role and purpose of NATO after the Cold War, listen to this fascinating podcast episode.
When Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons
After the rapid collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine was left with over 1,700 nuclear warheads positioned throughout its territory. A massive global effort ensued, led by the United States, to return these and other nuclear weapons in former Soviet-allied states to Russia. This BBC podcast explores the negotiations that led Ukraine to denuclearize. Listen here.
The Soviet Union's response to NATO: the Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact, created in 1955, was the Soviet Union’s direct response to the NATO military alliance. The pact included Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the USSR. The pact established collective security and a joint military command between the member countries. Learn more here.
How NATO would respond to nukes
NATO countries' main deterrent against aggression is their ability to respond with nuclear weapons. This video from "The Infographics Show" outlines the purpose of this nuclear arsenal, NATO’s strategy to prevent attacks, and its plans in the event of escalation toward nuclear war. Learn more about the history that has shaped NATO policy today.
How NATO responded to 9/11
The collective defense clause of the NATO constitution has only been invoked one time: after the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the United States. This video explores the immediate actions NATO took to respond to the attacks and support the United States. These firsthand clips from 2001 give a sense of the difficult decisions facing NATO leaders at the time.
The "SNAFU" podcast, hosted by actor and comedian Ed Helms, explores some of history's biggest blunders. Season one focuses on the 1983 NATO Able Archer military exercise, a war game that simulated nuclear attacks on the Soviet Union. The USSR mistook the exercise for a genuine threat and prepared its forces for war. Listen to a lighthearted account here.
NATO's missions around the world
"NATO Through Time" is a podcast exploring NATO’s history and its impact on today’s world. This episode features Gen. Jennie Carignan, Canada’s top military leader, as she shares insights from her NATO missions in Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq. If you’re curious about the role and purpose of NATO after the Cold War, listen to this fascinating podcast episode.
When Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons
After the rapid collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine was left with over 1,700 nuclear warheads positioned throughout its territory. A massive global effort ensued, led by the United States, to return these and other nuclear weapons in former Soviet-allied states to Russia. This BBC podcast explores the negotiations that led Ukraine to denuclearize. Listen here.
The Soviet Union's response to NATO: the Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact, created in 1955, was the Soviet Union’s direct response to the NATO military alliance. The pact included Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the USSR. The pact established collective security and a joint military command between the member countries. Learn more here.
How NATO would respond to nukes
NATO countries' main deterrent against aggression is their ability to respond with nuclear weapons. This video from "The Infographics Show" outlines the purpose of this nuclear arsenal, NATO’s strategy to prevent attacks, and its plans in the event of escalation toward nuclear war. Learn more about the history that has shaped NATO policy today.
How NATO responded to 9/11
The collective defense clause of the NATO constitution has only been invoked one time: after the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the United States. This video explores the immediate actions NATO took to respond to the attacks and support the United States. These firsthand clips from 2001 give a sense of the difficult decisions facing NATO leaders at the time.
SOURCE: 1440 NEWS
Maintaining Proper Weight
In 1987, when I was 40 years old, I gave up smoking COLD TURKEY. I had 7 cigarettes left in the pack, so I smoked them and quit... never looked back, and I don't remember if I had a difficult time or not because I was disciplined and determined.
What I do remember is that I gained 30 lbs because of that, substituting candy for cigarettes, as I was spending lots of time in the car. However, the research I did back then indicated that if I controlled my intake of fat grams that I would lose weight... and I did. I counted my fat grams for a year and when I ate above my normal average each week, I gained weight but when I ate below my normal average each week, I lost weight.
I don't remember how many fat grams that was each day but I lost my 30 lbs.
In 2007, when I was 60, I was diagnosed with cancer and the drugs that I took were so toxic that I had to take steroids to prevent sickness. Those steroids put on 30 lbs. According to the research I had done, if I counted my calories and ate below 2,000 calories each day, I lost weight.
It took me of year but after eating less than 2,000 calories each day, I was able to lose the 30 lbs due to steroids. I don't know if fat grams would have worked this time or not, but I decided to go with the most recent research.
Currently at age 77, I have always been one to maintain a proper body weight except during those times that I lost sight of that goal. I suppose at my age, I am entitled to have a few extra pounds but I don't like it and endeavor to eliminate the extra weight when I realize it. Sometimes, one is just not aware of how slowly the weight is put on over time and how difficult it is to take it off.
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