Quote:INTERESTING PERSPECTIVE

  
Earth's Population Statistics in Perspective

The population of Earth is around 7.8 Billion.

For most people, it is a significant figure. However, if you condensed 7.8 billion into 100 persons, and then into various percentage statistics, the resulting analysis is relatively much easier to comprehend.
Out of 100:
11 are in Europe
5 are in North America
9 are in South America
15 are in Africa
60 are in Asia
49 live in the countryside
51 live in a city,
 
75 have mobile phones
25 do not.

30 have internet access
70 do not have the availability to go online

83 can read
17 are illiterate.

33 are Christians
22 are Muslims
14 are Hindus
7 are Buddhists
12 are other religions
12 have no religious beliefs.

26 live less than 14 years
66 die between 15 - 64 years of age
8 are over 65 years old.

If you have your own home, Eat full meals & drink clean water, Have a mobile phone, Can surf the internet, and have gone to college, You are in the minuscule privileged lot.
(in the less than 7% category)

Amongst 100 persons in the world, only eight live or exceed the age of 65!

If you are over 65 years old, be content & grateful Cherish life. Grasp the moment.
If you did not leave this world before the age of 64, like the 92 persons who have gone before you,
you are already the blessed amongst humankind.
Take good care of your health. Cherish every remaining moment.

If you think you are suffering memory loss, read on.

Anosognosia, very interesting:

In the following analysis, the French Professor Bruno Dubois,
Director of the Institute of Memory and Alzheimer's Disease (IMMA) at La Pitié-Salpêtrière - Paris Hospital addresses the subject in a rather reassuring way:

"If anyone is aware of their memory problems, they do not have Alzheimer's."

1. forget the names of families.
2. do not remember where I put some things .

It often happens in people 60 years and older that they complain that they lack memory.
"The information is always in the brain, it is the "processor" that is lacking."

This is "Anosognosia" or temporary forgetfulness.

Half of people 60 and older have some symptoms that are due to age rather than disease. The most common cases are:
- forgetting the name of a person,
- going to a room in the house and not remembering why we were going there,
- a blank memory for a movie title or actor, an actress,
- a waste of time searching where we left our glasses or keys.

After 60 years most people have such a difficulty, which indicates that it is not a disease but rather a characteristic due to the passage of years .

Many people are concerned about these oversights hence the importance of the following statements:

1."Those who are conscious of being forgetful have no serious problem of memory."

2. "Those who suffer from a memory illness or Alzheimer's are not aware of what is happening."

Professor Bruno Dubois, Director of IMMA, reassures the majority of people concerned about their oversights:

"The more we complain about memory loss, the less likely we are to suffer from memory sickness."

Now for a little neurological test: Only use your eyes!

1- Find the C in the table below!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

2- If you found the C, then find the 6 in the table below.

99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
69999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999


3- Now find the N in the table below. Attention, it's a little more
difficult!

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMNMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

If you pass these three tests without problem:
- you can cancel your annual visit to the neurologist.
- your brain is in perfect shape!
- you are far from having any relationship with Alzheimer's.

We are truly blessed, So, share this with your over-55 friends, it can reassure them.

In any case, if you are over 65 and complaining about a few aches and pains, think again

........ 92% of people didn't even get that opportunity!!
 
So be pleased with your situation and be happy.

We are living in a liminal time, in a liminal world.

The concept of "liminality" involves a between-ness, the "'tween". It is a time, a place, or any other transitional thing that is neither one nor the other, neither the old nor the new, but a transitional position between the two,

AJ at "The Why Files" has an entire video explaining the concept, with examples:





Liminality leaves most folks with a feeling of anxiety, often a troubled feeling that one can not quite put a finger on, but an unsettled feeling nonetheless. It happens when we find ourselves in a transitional time or place, where we are no longer anchored on the old, nor have we a firm grip on what comes next. We feel adrift, in an alien place, and desperately want to be firmly in one or the other, but not "between".

These are the times we find ourselves in currently. We are unmoored, adrift, moving, but seemingly without a direction, and without a compass to point the direction out. It's leaving most of us feeling unsettled, anxious, despondent. What was, is no more, and we have no soil to root ourselves in any longer, and no clear view of what's on the other side, or how to get there..

Because we feel this way, we have a desire to lash out and place the blame on the "other", whichever polarity is opposite our own, "They" are either propelling us into a reality we don't want to go in to, or else retarding our progress in getting to shore again, where we can firmly plant our feet and become grounded once again. Which one of those it is depends entirely on our beginning orientation. An example is "Conservatives vs, Liberals". Which one we place the blame on is whichever is opposite to the place where we once were, and felt comfortable.

So, it's either "those damned Liberals are wrecking our world!" or "those damned Conservatives are blocking our progress!"... but, in reality, it is neither. We are simply in a place of liminality, a time of transition, and neither Conservatives nor Liberals have any control over the way the wind is blowing us at all. We are simply in a time of change, and neither "they", nor any other group ("the Elites", for example), has any damned control over the situation at all. it just IS, and it's just in flux. Where it ends up is anyone's guess, and under no one's control. That's just about as unsettling as anything else, until you realize a few things.

First, this is nothing new to the human experience. It happens ever time a civilization collapses, in the in-between time before a new one coalesces.

It happened around 1180 BC, during the Bronze Age collapse. It happened at the end of the Roman Empire, what is now called "The Dark Ages" came before a new civilization and social order arose - the Renaissance. It happened in Russia during the 1917 revolution, and again some 70 years later when the Soviet Union collapsed, before the Russian federation became a thing. It happened in America, first during the American Revolution, then 80 years or so later during the Civil War. That last one was the transitional period from a true Republican form of government to a more centralized and authoritarian form of government called a "democracy".

It has happened time and time again, all around the world, in various times and various places, although not often in all places all at once. Some transitions were larger, and some smaller - the fall of Rome was a larger one, the collapse of the Soviet Union a smaller one, but the conditions and the way folks felt at those times and in those places were and are always the same. They feel unsettled and anxious until something new and substantial comes along.

We also need to recognize that none of us, neither "side", in in control of it. Instead, it has a randomness and chaos brought about by the swirling eddy currents created by everyone trying to seize control all at the same time. The tussle and the struggle of that produces chaotic vortices, that will continue to swirl and destroy - as well as create - until it settles back down into the new system, whatever that may be. We all have some small degree of influence over the eventual outcome, but none of has, or even can have, absolute control of it. The outcome is actually determined by all of those little bitty bites of control that we each have. The new system forms itself out of those.

Understand as well that this is nothing new, nothing that humanity has not survived over and over again on multiple occasions. We will survive again through this one as well. Perhaps not all of us individually, but humanity as a whole will continue onward, forging the Brave New World to come in the aftermath of the fall of the last one we had.

All we can really do, as individuals, family units, and communities, is to hold on for dear life. Just ride this spinning raft until is settles on a beach somewhere, and enjoy the ride as much as we can until that time comes. Understand that the time WILL eventually come that it settles back down again, and order is once again restored. It may not be the same order we had gotten used to before, and probably won't be, because it seldom is, but it WILL come again, and is not under the control of any one faction of us, but rather under the micro-control of all of us, thousands of tiny cuts that will eventually lead to the shape of the final sculpture.

We, individually and in communities, can control NOTHING that is beyond the length of our own arms... and the world is much bigger than that. We can have  a small, local influence, but that which comes will be much wider than our reach. We must be prepared to adapt to whatever it is. Adaptability is the greatest strength humans posses. It's gotten us through all, each and every one, of the previous liminalities that humanity has endured and conquered.

As a final thought, Douglas Adams had it exactly right in "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" - DON'T PANIC! It'll all eventually work out. The less stress you bring upon yourself by worrying over an inevitability that you have no personal control over, the better.

.

I found this amusing. I guess she didn't "trust the science" when it came to attempting to do away with her husband! 

Quote: The attorneys for a former Norton Commons doctor accused of hiring a hitman to kill her ex-husband are trying to prove that she was "delusional" and acting under "extreme emotional disturbance" in fear of her children's safety at the time of the crime.

As proof, the defense recently included text messages Stephanie Russell sent a Brazilian "spiritual healer" saying she was "looking for a death spell" for her ex-husband, asking how much it would cost and whether a sacrifice would be used.

I was particularly interested in the carrier USS FORRESTAL which had a really bad day with over 100 lost souls.

Quote:0:00 Introduction 0:54 NAVAL AVIATION 4:19 THE CAMERAS 6:46 DECK ACTIVITY 9:02 TAKEOFFS 11:08 Control System Failure 17:11 RAMP STRIKES 19:50 BARRIERS 22:01 HARD LANDINGS 27:00 PLANE GAURD 27:37 NO EASY DAYS 34:59 USS FORRESTAL

https://x.com/MeCookieMonster/status/176...90276?s=20

it appears to that the dem ones are starting to go after shrinkflation.

a couple of dem senators jumped on it real quick, one turned out to be just a campaign fund raising bumming sales pitch.

Quote:In response, Brown wrote: "Me too, Cookie Monster. Big corporations shrink the size of their products without shrinking their prices, all to pay for CEO bonuses. People in my state of Ohio are fed up — they should get all the cookie they pay for.

Quote:Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pennsylvania, also responded to the hungry blue monster, saying: ‘I’m on it."

"I need your help to hold big corporations accountable for using shrinkflation to rake in record profits," he wrote. "Can you chip in $3 to help fight back?"

Quote:Bill empowers Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general to crack down on corporations reducing product size without a reduction in price

Since fall 2023, Senator Casey has produced four reports detailing his investigations into corporate greed squeezing families’ budgets

Stop Shrinkflation: Casey Introduces Legislation to Crack Down on Big Corporations Shrinking Products Without Reducing Prices

Quote:President Joe Biden on Tuesday will launch a new task force to take on “unfair and illegal” corporate pricing, which Biden sees as a major reason why consumers are not yet feeling the impact of cooling inflation rates and a strong economy.

The task force will be jointly led by the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice, two agencies at the forefront of the Biden administration’s aggressive regulatory agenda over the past three years.

Biden to launch task force to crack down on 'unfair and illegal pricing' amid rising inflation

Quote:13,145 views Mar 6, 2011
The video consist of three defferant versions of happy birthday for bluebell 100th birthday celebration in the year of 2007.The audio sounds were recorded at sugarhill recording studios in houston,texas. The video was shot at and by moffett produtions in houston,texas.The choir version was arranged by joe "qb" stevenson.It was shown in the following states,kansas.oklahoma,texas,louisiana,mississippi,alabama,georgia and a few other southern states.The add ran from april1,2007 until july 2007.

Best vid I've seen on this legend.

Quote:An intensive and thrilling look inside the SR-71 Blackbird, one of aviation's absolute greatest legends.

Special thanks to Air Zoo Aerospace & Science Museum (retired SR-71 Pilots Jerry Glasser and Buz Carpenter, and Arnie Gunderson (retired Pratt & Whitney J58 PM).

CREDITS
Jacob O'Neal - Research, script, narration, 3D modeling / animation, music

SOFTWARE USED
I use Blender 3D to create these models. It's free and open source, and the community is amazing:
https://www.blender.org/

0:00 Intro
03:18 Aerodynamics of supersonic flight
08:13 Radar cross section
10:18 J58 Jet Engines
15:49 Inlet spike
20:39 Engine supporting features
23:12 Start carts
23:48 Fuel system
26:48 Flight control surfaces
33:11 Landing gear
34:20 Cockpits
34:47 Front cockpit
45:07 Rear cockpit
46:08 Cockpits (cont'd)
47:15 Flight suit
49:32 Reconnaissance equipment
53:20 Hero shot
54:11 Credits
54:22 Epilogue

9 to 0 ruling says Colorado and all others have to leave Trump on ballots. Just in time for Super Tuesday..

New musical rabbit hole to drift on down...They are Battery Operated Orchestra (BOO) and this song is "Clown". Artists that create music that challenges official narratives. A bit of retro new-wave from the 80s:




BOO-cast Song Stories: Unbecoming



The Unbecoming song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igc6pADt7f4








BOO-cast Song Stories: Sparrow Dance and the History of Japan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IediO6bduXE

BOO-cast is a monthly livestream about being a DIY synthpop band.


BOO-cast: Synth of the Month: Podcast Playlist

Quote:Doing. Is. Thinking (UK Electronic Sound Magazine)

The Office For Personal Development are here to help you achieve all your personal development goals, and they’re recruiting right now at a particularly depressing shopping mall in the English town of Bexhill On Sea where they have their corporate HQ.

Don’t worry if you can’t take advantage of this opportunity in person, because you can join in with the motivational seminar online thanks to the above video on their YouTube channel.

Director Trevor Deeble, Head of IT Del Querns and Goals Liaison Officer Jenni Love have a warm welcome ready for you over at their Office Supplies website where you can pre-order their debut LP, ‘Doing. Is. Thinking’ on OPD green vinyl and other formats, including the ever-essential floppy disk.

Hi all.

So I see in my account that if I pay of a premium in one go that I don't have to pay extra fees for each payment saving quite a bit. 

Now I want to do this, in order to save some money, my concern is that the premium may go up on the next renewal , because paying the premium amount in one go may make it look like "I have money" and so they will jack my rates up 
Which they will do anyway, so there's really no way of knowing, but maybe someone here can give some insight? 

Thanks