Saturday, May 3
Robert Reich
Where will we go from here? | The Coffee Klatch for May 3, 2025
With Heather Lofthouse and yours truly, Robert Reich
At A Glance
Bookkeeping
> 27%: The percentage of managers globally who were engaged at work last year, down from 30% in 2023.
> $340K: The approximate value of 15 pounds of gold found in the Czech Republic.
> 466 years: The age of the oldest domestic cat remains found in the US in a 1559 Spanish shipwreck off the Florida coast.
Browse
> A statistical analysis of the greatest karaoke songs of all time.
> Ranking Europe's 50 best beaches.
> Tennessee Titans seek artists to help decorate new stadium.
> The 75 most iconic "Star Wars" quotes.
> New snail species with cubist shell named after Picasso.
Listen
> The history and science of low- or no-alcohol beverages.
Watch
> How Hollywood movie cars are built.
> Inside a California home made from the mountain it stands on.
Long Read
> What was American food like before the FDA?
> How understanding yourself, as the ancient Greeks advised, increases happiness, empathy, and success in modern life.
> ... and an argument for how resilience—in nature, business, and life—comes not from efficiency but from having wiggle room.
Most Clicked This Week: Forbes' list of the richest person in every state.
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> The 78th Annual Tony Award nominations announced with "Death Becomes Her," "Maybe Happy Ending," and "Buena Vista Social Club" leading with 10 nominations apiece (More)
> Sean "Diddy" Combs turns down plea deal on sex trafficking and racketeering charges; jury selection is set to begin Monday (More)
> Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Michael Bolton reveals brain cancer diagnosis (More) | "Rust" released in theaters today, three and a half years after the on-set shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins (More)
Science & Technology
> OpenAI CEO Sam Altman debuts his biometric eyeball-scanning cryptocurrency World in six US cities; users reportedly visit Apple-like physical stores to enroll (More) | Learn more about cryptocurrency (More)
> Facial microbiome study reveals how different strains of C. acnes develop and populate on the skin during teenage years; findings may help lead to more effective probiotic defenses against acne (More)
> An individual California sea lion becomes the only known nonhuman mammal capable of high-precision rhythmic beats; analysis opens questions on other animals' ability to measure time (More)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close higher (S&P 500 +0.6%, Dow +0.2%, Nasdaq +1.5%) (More) | Reddit shares rise 6% in after-hours trading after posting strong Q1 results and upbeat sales forecast fueled by digital ad spending (More)
> Amazon beats Q1 expectations, reports 19% year-over-year revenue growth in online ad business; shares fall on light Q2 guidance (More) | Apple tops Q2 earnings and revenue estimates, thanks to iPhone demand (More, Apple 101) | McDonald's reports largest US same-store sales drop since 2020 due to lower foot traffic (More)
> Kohl's fires CEO Ashley Buchanan after external probe found he violated ethics policies by arranging lucrative business deals to benefit a romantic partner (More) | Trump family's stablecoin chosen for $2B Abu Dhabi investment in Binance (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> Federal judge blocks Trump administration from using the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans without a court hearing; ruling does not block deportation of migrants under the Immigration and Nationality Act (More)
> Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. requires placebo-controlled trials to test all future vaccines (More) | Agency invests $500M into a project aiming to develop a universal flu vaccine (More)
> Iran-US nuclear negotiations postponed as the US unveils new sanctions on Iranian-linked companies (More)
SOURCE: 1440 NEWS
Spring
.jpg)
Most of us like the Spring and Fall of each year where the weather is mind and the environment around us is changing. Some of us like the heat and humidity of summer while others like the cold and snow of winter. For the most part, our likes and dislikes are predicated upon where we grew up, although they change as we grow old with many older couples in the north move south when they retire.
For me, I have always been in the south, if you consider Northern Virginia in the south, with a break of four years in the hot but dry climate of Cairo, Egypt from 1962-1966. It was there that I attended high school, growing up away from the bad influences of an American high school. I went to school with sons and daughters of diplomats from fifteen different countries and it was their influences that molded me.
As I grow older, I find that not only do I like the south because of its lifestyle and low cost of living but because of its mild and short winters. As a result, where we live in the south only has 10-12 weeks of cold weather and maybe (just maybe) 3-5 weeks or really cold weather.
This leaves us with FORTY WEEKS of relatively great weather.
Spring can start in the middle of March and Fall can last until the end of December.
With that said, Spring is my favorite season not just because nature is growing back out of winter, but because of the warm but not too warm temperatures and the lack of humidity. As my wife and I grow older, humidity and freezing cold really bothers us.
In the spring, the trees and bushes start to grow back after being trimmed in the fall. The leaves on the trees start to grow out. We begin to see squirrels and rabbits moving through the yards. Birds of all kinds are out, letting everyone know where they are. We plant flowers, put out our deck furniture, and plant our vegetable from which we will eat most of the summer, freezing what we cannot eat for the winter.
Spring brings the pollen but that does not seem to bother me as much as it does my wife. What bothers me are the bees and the insects and mosquitos that bite me, causing me to wear long pants and long sleeve shirts when I work outside.
BUT EVEN THEN... this is the time of the year I prefer...
US scientists discover never-before-seen quantum ‘species’ in twisted material
Quantum mechanics governs the world of fundamental particles, where we can see a variety of quantum phenomena that emerge due to the collective behavior of particles like electrons.
These exotic quantum states are unusual, behaving differently from anything we know, and only emerge under extreme conditions like low temperatures or high pressures. Most of these exotic quantum states remain theoretical, as they are hard to produce due to the fragility and delicacy of the quantum world.
Now, researchers from Japan and the US have observed several previously unseen quantum states in a two-dimensional material. These materials join the growing list of what the researchers call a quantum zoo.
Friday, May 2
Robert Reich
The Great Pushback?
Friends,
Yesterday’s May Day demonstrations across America showed that the opposition to Trump continues to grow.
Hundreds of thousands of people swelled in resistance to his dictatorial agenda. Not just in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Washington, but also in small communities that voted overwhelmingly for Trump.
The size and breadth of these demonstrations will almost certainly lead to larger national mobilizations. On Sunday, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said, “It’s time to fight everywhere and all at once. Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption. But I am now.”
Republican town halls are becoming so combative that many Republican lawmakers have stopped holding them altogether (in many cases, Democratic lawmakers have appeared in their places).
At A Glance
(4/9/25) A 30-second test reveals how well you're aging.
(4/29/25) What your earwax says about your health.
(4/9/25) What is your state's median household income?
(4/2/25) Farmer seeks to revive a biblical superfood.
(4/23/25) The 77-year-old as fit as a 25-year-old.
(4/4/25) Rock used as doorstop turns out to be worth over $1M.
(4/30/25) Child damages $57M Rothko painting.
(4/17/25) Panama City Beach is calling it quits with spring break.
(4/21/25) Meet the northern snakehead, the invasive land-walking fish.
(4/2/25) Why you might be tired despite getting enough sleep.
(4/8/25) America's 51 most beautiful places to visit.
Clickbait: Olympian demolishes other school parents.
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Barbra Streisand announces new studio album to be released June 27; will feature collaborations with Sir Paul McCartney, Mariah Carey, Bob Dylan, Ariana Grande, and others (More)
> Renowned sports agent Jeff Sperbeck dies at age 62 after sustaining injuries from falling off a golf cart driven by NFL legend John Elway (More)
> Nominations for the 78th Annual Tony Awards (June 8) to be announced this morning (8:30 am ET, CBS) (More)
Science & Technology
> Brain study reveals human consciousness may depend more on sensory input than previously believed and challenges two leading theories on its origin in the mind; results of seven-year study may inform treatments for incapacitated patients (More)
> Researchers achieve strongest-ever coupling between a qubit and a light particle; advance may allow the readout of information from quantum computers in a few nanoseconds (More) | Quantum computing, explained (More)
> Young bats learn to tell the difference between the sounds of various prey at an early age, suggesting the ability is not an ingrained evolutionary trait (More)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 +0.2%, Dow +0.4%, Nasdaq -0.1%) as investors digest a batch of new economic data and earnings reports (More)
> Microsoft shares rise nearly 7% in after-hours trading after beating forecasts, with quarterly revenue rising 13% year-over-year to $70B, driven by cloud business (More) | Meta shares rise 5% in after-hours trading after posting stronger-than-expected Q1 results, with quarterly revenue rising 16% year-over-year to $42B (More)
> Amazon plans to invest $4B by end of 2026 and add 200 delivery stations across the US as part of its expansion into small towns and underserved areas (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> Ukraine and the US sign deal giving the US preferential access to Ukraine's rare earth minerals, oil, and gas in exchange for ongoing military support; countries will co-own and manage an investment fund for extraction projects in Ukraine (More) | See latest war updates (More)
> Pakistan says it has credible evidence India will strike within 36 hours; statement comes amid heightened tensions following last week's gun attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir (More) | See previous write-up (More)
> Diabetes deaths fall to their lowest levels in years, new CDC data finds; in 2021, the condition was the eighth leading cause of death in the US (More)
SOURCE: 1440 NEWS
Our Downsized Home
.jpg)
Our downsized home of 1,400 square feet is smaller than our previous of 2,600 square feet but a little bigger than the 1,300 square feet that was on the first level in which we lived 99% of the time.
Our yard was an acre and now our yard is 1/4 to 1/3 of that size and takes considerably less time to mow and maintain.
We have lived in this house for almost two years now and find it a more pleasurable experience that our previous home, especially since there are no stairs to climb up or down.
Our neighbors on both sides and across the street are our age and are very friendly and supportive, plus we have younger neighbors farther away that are also very friendly.
Don't get me wrong, this house was not perfect when we moved in, and we have made a lot of changes and done quite a lot of refurbishing, but we got it to where we are content and pleased.
We have used our experiences and our savings and investments to pretty much have exactly what we want for the next decade and a half of our lives. If we live longer than that, it may be assisted living that we move into next.
Physicists Found an Entirely New Way to Measure Time
Determining the passage of time in our world of ticking clocks and oscillating pendulums is a simple case of counting the seconds between 'then' and 'now'.
Down at the quantum scale of buzzing electrons, however, 'then' can't always be anticipated. Worse still, 'now' often blurs into a haze of vagueness. A stopwatch simply isn't going to work for some scenarios.
A potential solution could be found in the very shape of the quantum fog itself, according to a 2022 study by researchers from Uppsala University in Sweden. Their experiments on the wave-like nature of something called a Rydberg state revealed a novel way to measure time that doesn't require a precise starting point.
Rydberg atoms are the over-inflated balloons of the particle kingdom. Puffed up with lasers instead of air, these atoms contain electrons in extremely high energy states, orbiting far from the nucleus.
Thursday, May 1
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)