This is starting to look really bad , i wonder what will be the " solution" to this ?


Overlooked Treasury Report Supports Musk’s Warning About Federal Deficits Sinking the U.S.


Think Uncle Sam Owes $37 Trillion? It's Far Worse Than That

Quote:Overview

Elon Musk recently stated that “rich people” should “be caring more” about federal deficits because “if the ship of America sinks,” “we all sink with it.” This may seem like hyperbole, but a widely overlooked report from the U.S. Treasury shows it is a likely scenario unless major changes are made.
The Treasury report, quietly released in January, shows that if the federal government reported its finances in the same manner that large corporations are required by law to report theirs, the primary measure of federal red ink wouldn’t be $36 trillion in national debt but $143 trillion in debts, liabilities, and unfunded obligations.
This staggering figure equals 85% of all the wealth Americans have accumulated since the nation’s founding. It also equates to an average burden of $1.1 million on every household in the nation.
Unlike other measures of federal finances that cover an arbitrary period, extend into the infinite future, or ignore government assets, the figure of $143 trillion applies strictly to Americans who are alive right now and accounts for the value of the government’s commercial assets. Thus, it quantifies the full federal financial burden on today’s Americans.
Complete v. Incomplete Accounting
Federal law requires the U.S. Treasury to publish an annual report that details the government’s “overall financial position.” In addition to the national debt, the “Financial Report of the United States Government” also includes the government’s explicit and implicit financial commitments, such as:

    federal employee pensions and other retirement benefits like healthcare.
    environmental liabilities like contaminated nuclear sites.
    unfunded obligations for social insurance programs like Medicare and Social Security.

Such “fiscal exposures,” as explained by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, “represent significant commitments that ultimately have to be addressed.” Hence, GAO stresses that ignoring them can “make it difficult for policymakers and the public to adequately understand the government’s overall performance and true financial condition.”
Although the Treasury published the report almost two months ago on January 16, Google indicates that no prominent politician or major media outlet has explicitly mentioned it. Meanwhile, the same people have frequently cited the national debt and federal deficit, which are incomplete measures of the federal government’s red ink.
The national debt and federal deficit are mainly based on cash accounting, which is the simplistic process of counting money as it flows in or out. Thus, liabilities like pension benefits for federal workers aren’t measured until they are actually paid, which is often decades after they are promised.
In contrast, the Treasury report mainly uses accrual accounting, which measures financial commitments as they are made. This is how the federal government requires large corporations to report their finances. In the words of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, which is tasked by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to create private-sector accounting rules, accrual accounting is the “most relevant and reliable” way to measure the financial health of pension plans.
The same applies to other retirement benefits like healthcare. The accounting rule that governs such benefits explains that “a failure to accrue” implies “that no obligation exists prior to the payment of benefits.” Since an obligation does exist, failing to account for it “impairs the usefulness and integrity” of financial statements.
The Grand Total
A methodical tally of accrual accounting data in the Treasury report shows that the federal government has amassed $143 trillion in debts, liabilities, and unfunded obligations beyond the value of its commercial assets. This reflects the government’s finances at the close of its 2024 fiscal year on September 30, 2024.
The primary components of this burden, which are unpacked below, include:

    $28.3 trillion in publicly held national debt.
    $17.2 trillion in liabilities that are not accounted for in the publicly held debt.
    $105.8 trillion in unfunded social insurance obligations.

These figures tally to $151.3 trillion in debts, liabilities, and unfunded obligations. Offsetting this is $7.9 trillion in commercial assets owned by the federal government, leaving a grand total shortfall of $143 trillion.
Numbers in the trillions are hard to conceive, so it’s revealing to place them in context. The figure of $143 trillion amounts to 85% of the net wealth Americans have accumulated since the nation’s founding, estimated by the Federal Reserve to be $169 trillion. This includes all of their assets in savings, real estate, corporate stocks, private businesses, and even consumer durable goods like automobiles and furniture.
The government’s $143 trillion shortfall also amounts to:

    $421,108 for every person living in the U.S.
    $1,085,022 for every household in the U.S.
    4.9 times annual U.S. economic output (GDP).
    28 times annual federal revenues.

Publicly Held Debt
The simplest major item quantified by the Treasury report is the publicly held debt, which is $28.3 trillion. This is the money the federal government owes to non-federal entities like individuals, corporations, state governments, and foreign governments.
Publicly held debt is a partial measure of the national debt that excludes $7.1 trillion the federal government owes to federal programs like Social Security and Medicare. The Treasury report also details these intergovernmental debts and consolidates them with the items below.
Liabilities
Pension and other retirement benefits are a large part of compensation packages for government employees. With these generous benefits included, civilian non-postal federal employees receive an average of 17% more total compensation than private-sector workers with comparable education and work experience. Postal workers receive even greater premiums ranging from 25% to 43%.
In 2023, federal, state, and local governments spent $2.4 trillion on employee compensation, costing each household in the nation an average of $18,328.
The Treasury report shows that the federal government currently owes $15.0 trillion in pensions and other benefits to federal employees and veterans that are not accounted for in the publicly held national debt. To pay the present value of these benefits will require an average of $113,451 from every household in the United States.
The Treasury reports other liabilities of the federal government, such as:

    $134 billion in accounts payable.
    $666 billion in environmental and disposal liabilities.
    $106 billion in insurance and guarantee program liabilities.

Altogether, the Treasury records $17.2 trillion in liabilities that are not accounted for in the publicly held debt.
Social Security & Medicare
A similar but far more expensive situation exists with social insurance programs like Social Security and Medicare. This is because—contrary to popular belief—these programs don’t save workers’ taxes for their retirements. Instead, they immediately spend the vast majority of those taxes to pay benefits to current recipients. Thus, they are called “pay-as-you-go” programs.
In stark contrast, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis explains, “Federal law requires that private pension plans operate as funded plans, not as pay-as-you-go plans.” The reasons for this, as explained by the American Academy of Actuaries, are to increase “benefit security” and ensure “intergenerational equity.”
Social Security and Medicare, on the other hand, have levied multiplicatively higher tax burdens on succeeding generations of Americans, thus creating severe generational inequity. And unless retirement ages are raised or benefits are reduced in some other way, taxes will need to be increased again to keep the programs solvent.
Musk recently referred to this situation when he called Social Security the “biggest Ponzi scheme of all time” and said, “When you look at the future obligations of Social Security, the actual national debt is like double what people think it is because of the future obligations.”
Federal actuaries measure the unfunded obligations of Social Security and Medicare in several different ways, but only one of them approximates accrual accounting. This is called the “closed-group” unfunded obligation, which is the money needed to cover the shortfalls for all current taxpayers and beneficiaries in these programs.
In the words of Harvard Law School professor and federal budget specialist Howell E. Jackson, the closed-group measure “reflects the financial burden or liability being passed on to future generations.” These burdens are $49.8 trillion for Social Security and $53.9 trillion for Medicare. Placing these figures in context:

    Social Security’s unfunded obligations amount to an additional $272,237 from every person who currently pays Social Security payroll taxes.
    Medicare’s unfunded obligations amount to an additional $201,932 from every U.S. resident aged 16 or older.

Those shortfalls are what remain after the federal government has paid back with interest all of the money it has borrowed from Social Security and Medicare.
Social Security and Medicare differ from true pensions because taxpayers don’t have a contractual right to receive these benefits. Nevertheless, paying these benefits is an implied commitment of the federal government, and federal law requires that these programs be included in the Treasury report.
The Treasury report estimates that the combined closed group unfunded obligations of Social Security, Medicare, and some smaller social insurance programs are $105.8 trillion. This figure doesn’t include intergovernmental debt, which is consolidated with other data in the report.
Federal Assets
The Treasury also records the federal government’s commercial assets, such as:

    $1.2 trillion in cash and other monetary assets.
    $1.3 trillion in property, plants, and equipment.
    $1.8 trillion in receivable loans, mainly comprised of student loans.

In total, the government estimated that it owned $5.7 trillion in commercial assets at the close of its 2024 fiscal year. This figure is likely lower than reality because the Treasury report measures the value of the federal government’s:

    gold and silver according to laws that require it to assess gold at $42.22/ounce and silver at $1.29/ounce, which are small fractions of the market prices.
    property, plant, and equipment at the cost of purchasing these items and then depreciates them, which fails to account for inflation and the appreciation of assets like land.

Using data on the market value of gold and silver and an extremely rough, non-generalizable estimate of the difference between the historical cost and fair market value of a government entity, Just Facts estimates that the federal government has about $2.2 trillion more in assets than the Treasury reported. Including this, the federal government has about $7.9 trillion in commercial assets.
The Treasury report doesn’t account for federal stewardship land and heritage assets, such as national parks and the original copy of the Declaration of Independence. While these items have tangible value, the report explains that they “are intended to be preserved as national treasures,” not sold to the highest bidder to cover debts.
Adding up the federal government’s debts, liabilities, and unfunded obligations and then subtracting the value of its commercial assets yields a fiscal shortfall of $143 trillion.
Root Causes
As with other policy issues, the media and politicians have repeatedly misinformed the public about the root causes of the federal government’s fiscal deterioration.
For example, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (D–TX) claims there’s “not” a “lot” of “waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government.” In reality, the Government Accountability Office estimates that the federal government loses $233–$521 billion per year to “fraud alone.” This costs every household in the nation an average of $137,000–$305,000 over a lifetime, not counting waste or abuse.
Those numbers show that if the bulk of fraud were eliminated, it could put a significant dent in the problem, but it would not be nearly enough to fix it.
Another recent example of misinformation comes from PolitiFact, which claims that “tax cuts were the biggest of four types of legislation that have added to the federal debt since 2001.” PolitiFact bases this assertion on a study that puts all tax cuts into one bucket while splitting added spending into three buckets. Placing the added spending into one bucket, the study shows that it accounts for 61% of the added debt.
Furthermore, the study states that those figures fail to account for the “effects of the built-in spending growth in certain parts of the budget, while it takes for granted the built-in growth in revenue.” Because such revenue increases are baked into federal law, most “tax cuts” are actually “tax evens” that correct for bracket creep, which consumes an ever-growing share of people’s incomes over time. That’s why despite the passage of numerous “tax cuts,” the portion of the U.S. economy consumed by federal taxes has been roughly level for eight decades:

Meanwhile, federal spending has soared from 3% of the U.S. economy in 1930 to 23% in 2023. Yet, a scientific survey commissioned in 2020 by Just Facts found that 25% of voters believe tax cuts were the main driver of debt. This accords with numerous news stories that blame the debt on tax cuts.

The same survey found that another 25% of voters believe the main driver of rising national debt is military spending. This conforms to the reporting of media outlets that frequently blame the debt on military spending. In reality, military spending has plummeted from 53% of all federal expenses in 1960 to 17% in 2023:

As shown in the charts above, the primary driver of the national debt is increased spending, particularly on social programs. These programs—which provide healthcare, income security, education, nutrition, housing, and cultural services—have grown from 21% of all federal spending in 1960 to 61% in 2023. Yet, only 39% of voters correctly identify social spending as the primary cause of rising debt.
In total, social programs and interest on the national debt—which mainly stems from social programs—account for 75% of all federal spending. Also, the vast bulk of the government’s unfunded obligations are due to Social Security and Medicare.
The Congressional Budget Office projects that the main drivers of future debt will be Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, Obamacare, and interest on the national debt. Under the weight of these, the publicly held debt is due to skyrocket to unprecedented levels over coming decades.
Harmful Effects
The national debt doesn’t always manifest in the obvious fallouts of increased taxes or reduced government benefits. A broad range of academic publications document that the consequences of excessive government debt also include intensified inflation, lower wages, weak economic growth, and combinations of such results.
The linkage between those economic scourges and government debt are not always obvious to voters, and politicians who run up debt often blame “greed” for the harms that their deficit spending has caused. The media also promotes this false storyline. Hence, the harmful effects of government debt continue.
Contrary to those who allege that the U.S. government can spend and borrow with abandon because it can print money, the Government Accountability Office warns that “the costs of federal borrowing will be borne by tomorrow’s workers and taxpayers,” which “may reduce or slow the growth of the living standards of future generations.”
Such effects may have already begun. Although association does not prove causation, the national debt has risen steeply over recent decades, and with this, the U.S. has experienced episodes of rapid inflation and historically poor growth in gross domestic product, productivity, and household income.

Europa Clipper launched late last year on its 5 year mission to boldly go to Jupiter's ice Moon Europa which is believe to host an ocean bellow its icy crust , today we learn that on a flyby of Mars the Clipper's radar was tested and it "Aced" that test , the radar will be used to examine the ice and hopefully peer at the ocean bellow and the shoals of fishies swimming in it , or not.

Quote:NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft just aced a key radar test while flying past Mars, proving its ability to detect structures beneath planetary surfaces—something that couldn’t be tested on Earth. The radar, known as REASON, will eventually be used to explore Europa, an icy moon of Jupiter believed to harbor a subsurface ocean.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20...233103.htm

Full title - "China’s chikungunya outbreak spreads amid government secrecy and forced quarantines"

Quote:    A rapidly spreading outbreak of chikungunya fever has gripped southern China, with over 4,000 confirmed cases since early July. Yet the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) appears to be downplaying the crisis while enforcing costly quarantines on infected citizens.
   
    Originating in Foshan city in Guangdong Province, the mosquito-borne virus has now reached Guangzhou, Yangjiang and even the capital Beijing – raising fears of a wider epidemic. Local residents report being forced into mandatory hospital isolation at their own expense, a policy that echoes the CCP's controversial Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdowns. With China's history of suppressing health data, the true scale of the outbreak remains uncertain.

Quote:    FDA Approves Vimkunya (chikungunya vaccine, recombinant) for Prevention of Disease Caused by Chikungunya Virus COPENHAGEN, Denmark, February 14, 2025 – Bavarian Nordic A/S (OMX: BAVA) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Vimkunya (Chikungunya Vaccine, Recombinant) for injection, the first virus-like particle (VLP) single-dose chikungunya vaccine in the U.S. for persons 12 years of age and older.

Quote:    VLPs are useful as vaccines. VLPs contain repetitive, high density displays of viral surface proteins that present conformational viral epitopes that can elicit strong T cell and B cell immune responses.[sup][16][/sup] The particles' small radius of roughly 20-200 nm allows sufficient draining into lymph nodes. Since VLPs cannot replicate, they provide a safer alternative to attenuated viruses. VLPs were used to develop FDA-approved vaccines for Hepatitis B and human papillomavirus, which are commercially available.[sup][17][/sup]

Quote:    Therapeutic and imaging agents - VLPs are a candidate delivery system for genes or other therapeutics.[sup][13][/sup] These drug delivery agents have been shown to effectively target cancer cells in vitro.[sup][14][/sup] It is hypothesized that VLPs may accumulate in tumor sites due to the enhanced permeability and retention effect, which could be useful for drug delivery or tumor imaging.

Quote:    Assembly - The understanding of self-assembly of VLPs was once based on viral assembly. This is rational as long as the VLP assembly takes place inside the host cell (in vivo), though the self-assembly event was found in vitro from the very beginning of the study about viral assembly.[sup][33][/sup] Study also reveals that in vitro assembly of VLPs competes with aggregation[sup][34][/sup] and certain mechanisms exist inside the cell to prevent the formation of aggregates while assembly is ongoing.[sup][35][/sup]

Quote:Thunder cracks overhead as monsoon clouds swallow the North Vietnamese jungle, hiding entire columns of NVA troops as they drive supply trucks and artillery through the storm. The men march with confidence. No enemy could possibly spot them through the wall of wind and rain. Suddenly, a low roar cuts through the grey skies. Some swear they see a shadow flicker above. "Just more thunder!" a commander shouts, but before he is even done talking, the bomb hits. Trucks cartwheel through the air, crashing upside down in the mud. Troops can barely dive out of the way. Some men raise their rifles skyward, but can see nothing through the pouring rain. Then comes another strike. Entire gun crews are torn apart in seconds. As word reaches Hanoi, commanders demand to know how it is possible for the Americans to have found them in the middle of a monsoon. The strikes were too precise for luck. Somewhere in the mountains, the enemy must have a secret new weapon, one capable of finding the North Vietnamese even when flying blind. And whatever it is, it has to be destroyed.

• As images and footage of actual events are not always available, Dark Docs sometimes utilizes similar historical images and footage for dramatic effect. I do my best to keep it as visually accurate as possible. All content on Dark Docs is researched, produced, and presented in historical context for educational purposes. We are history enthusiasts and are not always experts in some areas, so please don't hesitate to reach out to us with corrections, additional information, or new ideas. -
  

The oldest known religion found so far was around 35,000 years ago (call it Paleolithic spirituality) located in Manot cave; some where around Israel . There was another recent find of a possible religious site dated to 51,200+ years ago.. I figure as long as people were smart enough to reason and be afraid of the unknown there was some kind of religion ...????

When I think of all the Gods that have been prayed to since mankind developed a semi inquiring superstitious mind it really is mind boggling to anyone who thinks about such things. I don't get faithfully excited about the latest Sky Fairy that insist on killing all non believers as this is but one more example of idiots being superstitious idiots IMO.. 

Mesopotamia prayed to 3600 gods as they believed a separate god was responsible for just about everything. No wonder it was finally decided one all powerful "TRUE" god was easier to remember after Mesopotamia's society was destroyed. I wonder what the god of a good bowel movement looked like ?

Most of the ancient gods existed until the society that spawned them was destroyed in war, famine, or pestilence.. Think of all the people on their knees praying to their god and protector to save them as the blade, stone axe, or bullet descended to take their life. Your Enemy is evil, as you are to your enemy, and both sides pray to their god (s) for victory.. One side will be disappointed. 

Animism, Shamanism, Divination, you name it as some people will believe in anything. I remember some soldiers rushing to get a certain Buddhist tattoo that would protect them from enemy bullets.... Those who survived swore it was due to their faith and the tattoo while those who died did not have enough faith or maybe the tattoo artist messed up.. People will believe in anything if afraid enough. 

About one billion people believe and are part of the Hindu faith...4000 years of their gods and still chugging along..
  
I remember during a mortar attack as stuff was being blown up around me through my own lips passed, " God please make them stop !" My Prayer was answered sometime later because the bad guys ran out of mortars or god was listening ?

So people can believe anything they want if it brings them peace and fulfillment as long as they do not force themselves upon others like, "you believe my way or burn in hell for all eternity," or,,, we cut very important pieces of your body off until you believe like us.. 

This story comes from the Amazon:  The Chief's/head man's  daughter got pregnant which meant her boyfriend would be found and killed; she would be banned from the tribe as she was not married to the boy (serious birth control IMO). This particular tribe believed the White river dolphin was a shape shifting spirit that could change form so..... the girl claimed the River dolphin came to her during the night and got her pregnant and promised her the child would be special. Case closed as who would argue with the Chief's daughter ?? 

All of us have or want some kind of spiritual connection and many will go to extreme links to establish a connection whether real or imagined. Religion has been just another way of coping with the unknown and giving solace to the afraid who believe if they tow the religious party line when they die it will be wonderful. 72 virgins comes to mind... Wonder what the Virgins think about all that ? Just another example of Overwhelming Propaganda Dominance by so called leaders who want control.. 

 Ask yourself why does ignorance and superstition seem to be a universal trait with humans? There was a time when some of the greatest minds of Europe were debating on just how many angels could dance upon the head of a pin.. Just another worth while endeavor for a bunch of devout superstitious individuals. I do think Science is the answer as few people can figure anything out by praying except for their own selfish desires/goals being laid bare. When I say Science I mean real science not the bought and paid for out come science rammed down our mental throats.

 I am of the opinion that Noah's Ark and other plagiarized fairy tales are just stories written by man to reinforce and put the fear of god in the uneducated/unknowing which the religious institutions use as societal control. Yep all the ancient written records have a flood myth but only one Noah in the christen bible. The whole inbreeding thingy must have been waved to repopulate the earth, no ?? 

 Religions in many cases are a destructive force which has been responsible for untold thousands of deaths and wars, all in the name of some silent unseen sky fairy who has mankind write what the god supposedly wants us to believe. Key words being "man writes what is to be believed" and then the man claims his hand was guided by some supreme god. Thousands of years of stifled growth and advancement due to some written words supposedly by a god who promises paradise after you are dead yet written by men who seek power "NOW " and live in a fantasy of their own creation..

 To many gods and great human deeds have been buried in the sands of history, all forgotten to never have been known in history what actually happened; much less the reasons for so many souls to give up their lives as their gods were forgotten long ago.

 Sad


Nothing earth shattering just some random thoughts

Former President , Prime Minister and now Deputy chair of Russia's Security Council Dmitry Medvedev has once again threatened Russia's "Soviet Era" Nuclear deterrent on the World , only this time his comments were pointed to President Trump who in response has ordered the movement of 2 Nuclear Subs to "appropriate regions" following Mr Medvedev's 'highly provocative' comments.

Quote:It comes after Mr Medvedev, who is now deputy chair of Russia's Security Council, told the US president on Thursday to remember Moscow had Soviet-era nuclear strike capabilities of last resort.

On Friday, Mr Trump wrote on social media: "Based on the highly provocative statements of the Former President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, who is now the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that.
"Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"

https://news.sky.com/story/trump-orders-...s-13405255

If you been reading lately twitter , you must seen the Researcher Beatriz Villarroel findings, the balls or spheres, a network or surveillance grid or what ever is the right term.


I think being skeptical, critical is needed . This feels like too much to deliver an idea / concept to public .

I tryed to look litle their " facts " , but i am not so convinced....

Any thoughts about this ?  is it another scam ? 

I do believe there is something , other than us here in this planet. But the way Villarroel present it...nah ? 

Interestenly , Beatriz Villarroel is linked to people who i would think having history with CIA ....look up The Sol Foundation . Seems like it`s allmost allways either CIA or Pentagon who have great need to push narratives , and it feels like now 2025 even more ?  2025-2027 might be really super disinformation push season ?

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ETMN posted a link in Shoutbox to a subject called Dyson Spheres, and "Dyson Swarms" in particular.  There's some really good subject matter here to discuss, so I thought I'd create a thread about the same (hopefully this is okay with you, ETMN).

I'll first post the link which ETMN posted in Shoutbox, and also another related link.

The link which ETMN posted...
Lifespan of a Dyson Swarm

Here's another link giving some background on what a Dyson Sphere is...
Dyson Sphere

For those unfamiliar, and/or those who don't wish to go to a link, here's a brief summary of what a Dyson Sphere even is...
A 'Dyson Sphere' is a bizarre concept but one which is pretty easy to describe (actually creating one is a whole other matter!)
A Dyson Sphere is basically a 'shell' constructed around a star whose purpose it is to capture solar and radiant energy from said star to power a civilization (in a nutshell).  A Dyson Sphere would be constructed by an advanced civilization presumably living on a planet which orbits this same star.  In practice, the civilization would have to wait until the star goes through a couple phases in the evolution of a star.  The star is first just your usual star.  Then, as the star nears the end of its life, it metamorphoses into a 'Red Giant'.  When this phase is complete, the star then collapses into a 'White Dwarf'.  A White Dwarf is what you build your Dyson Sphere around.  It should be noted that a star can collapse into several things, and a White Dwarf is only one of these.  If it has enough mass, for example, it can also collapse into a Black Hole.  And, there are other variations beyond even these two.  The point here being, the civilization would need to know enough about their star ahead of time to know what it was going to collapse into.  AND, this is kind of important too; the planet which houses the civilization would also need to be at a radius far enough away to survive the Red Giant phase (which is not easy, BTW).  Life on that planet would be mighty cold existing that far away from it's own Sun.  It would be akin to our Pluto, but at a distance to 2x - 3x that of Pluto's.  But I digress.

Obviously, this whole subject is nothing more than an "out there" theory.  No such structure like a Dyson Sphere has ever been observed (not from lacking effort trying mind you), but there is emerging technology (funded by your tax dollars) to build just such a infra-red telescope.  And it would be a BIG puppy indeed!  Very big, to observe something this far away!  Anyway...

Much conjecture surrounds the whole Dyson Sphere concept, even to the point of physicists and astronomers developing theories around how to go about constructing one around our Sun (for example).  The technical challenges of building such a structure are mind bending to say the least.  One simple example of these challenges is, the gravitational forces created by the mass of a star would collapse any rigid structure which was built around it constructed of any materials known to mankind.  This is but one hurdle.  BUT, there is a point here, this challenge also gives way to another concept known as a "Dyson Swarm".

Instead of building a rigid structure, an alternative approach would be to create a constellation of satellites orbiting this star and performing the same function.  (We'll ignore the technical challenges of transporting the captured energy here for the moment).  However, there's a challenge with this approach as well, and that challenge is...how long will this swarm (or constellation) of satellites live/exist before these same satellites start colliding with each other in what is known as a Kessler Storm (also known as a "cascade" where one satellite collides with another, blasting both to bits.  The tiny bits collide with (10) (or 50) other satellites, destroying them too.  And this process continues, exponentially, until they ALL destroy each other.  (Bad ju-ju, right?)

Well, these same astronomers and physicists have already thought of this, and even done calculations about how long it will take for this event to occur (a "Dyson Swarm Lifespan").  Turns out this number is about 41,000 years.  Not very long when you consider it could easily take that long (possibly longer) to construct it in the first place!

This whole discussion begs the question of...How realistic is any of this???  At a very fundamental level, the answer to this question is contained in some basic philosophical discussions.  Things like...is this really the best way to solve our energy crisis, or are there other methods (like maybe nuclear power) which would possibly render this whole concept a non-starter??  In other words, at a far simpler level, should the civilization of the future depend exclusively on solving all their energy needs with solar power?

I won't answer that question with my opinion here (now).  First, I wanted to get the discussion started, and then depending on the responses, I can weigh in with my own opinions on the matter.  There are a lot of really 'bright' (pun intended) people here, so I figured this might be an interesting discussion to get some of the other technical minds here buzzing along.

I'll look forward to your replies.

Cappy remembers the night he was part of an airstrike when the US was pivoting from Iraq to Afghanistan. The poster categories of "policy" as seen from the field after passing down many layers.

Cappy: "This is a personal story of mine from my deployment to Iraq. I pulled from official army field reports, interviews with former teammates and actual gun cam footage to piece this together."




You start with a seemingly simple proposition. We're going to airlift supplies to Gaza while there's a war going on, just like Joe Biden tried with his ill-fated pier. Pretty soon the simple becomes complex.

Cappy: "The problem with AI is someone needs to be in the loop. Someone needs to make the call. Someone needs to be accountable."

With AI you hide the complexity. No one makes the call. No one is responsible.