• NOT IN TIME FOR THIS HOLIDAY SEASON, BUT A MECHANISM THAT “SWITCHES OFF FAT PRODUCTION AFTER EATING” has been developed at Univ. of Illinois, according to a study published in Nature Communications. Evidently, “lipogenesis – the process by which digested food is turned into fat by the liver – is turned off by a gut hormone released in hours following a meal.” As yet inapplicable to obesity, the potential for “putting the brakes on fat reduction” will be a stupendous breakthrough for majority of humans.  [IMPACT LAB – 12/15/20]
  • ROBOTAXICABS WILL ALSO BE HERE SOONER THAN LATER. Driverless Fiat-Chrysler minivans are now on the road in five Chinese cities, “carrying passengers, navigating around loading trucks, veering past pedestrians, avoiding delivery workers on bikes & scooters, and performing U-turns.” The technology is now available to other vehicle manufacturers, so it’s just a matter of time and politics of the regulators. [CNN BUSINESS – 12/8/20]
  • BUT BE AWARE OF DISTRESSING PREDICTIONS FOR THE NEXT DECADE from the World Economic Forum, all suggesting a “profound change in how people work & live… in which the technological possibilities will be used by institutions and a few high-tech companies as a tool of enslavement, repudiating values like individualism, capitalism, liberty & pursuit of happiness, in favor of collectivism and imposition of a ‘common good’ as defined by the self-proclaimed elite of technocrats…The major thrust is that (1) Privacy and Private Property, including consumer goods, will be abolished; (2) People would have to rent and borrow necessities from the State, as sole proprietor of goods, rationed in line with a ‘Social Credit’ points-system; (3) ‘Universal Basic Income’ then would be allocated, via a digitized-money cashless society, based on a ‘leveling’ of wages, with all spending supervised by government and sanctionable for undesirable behavior; (4) Every personal move tracked electronically, food supply mainly vegetarian, and all production subject to requirements of clean energy and sustainable environment; (5) Government would provide basic accommodation, food & transport; (6) Electric cars replace combustible engines, with roads & parking spaces becoming green parks & walking zones; (7) The masses ‘assured’ of comprehensive health care with drastically increased life expectancy; (8) The U.S. no longer leading superpower, with a handful of countries dominating; (9) Massive displacement of people with billions of refugees… The WEF is silent about the question of who will rule in this new world.”  [ZEROHEDGE.COM – 12/12/20]
  • ANOTHER STIMULUS PAYMENT IS NOW FINALLY HAPPENING. Most are skeptical of the process, and many question the objectives. A quick summary of biggest issues & options circulating online: (1) What actually IS an ‘Economic Stimulus’ payment? Money that the federal government will send to taxpayers. (2) Where will the government get this money? From taxpayers and borrowing. (3) What is the real purpose of this payment? To ‘stimulate’ economic Recovery by purchasing Products. (4) But isn’t that mostly stimulating the economy of foreign companies and governments? Mostly yes – options include spending at Walmart with money going to China; on gas with money going to Arab countries; on a computer or technology with moneys going to India or Taiwan; on fruit & vegetables much of which comes from Mexico or South America; on a Japanese or Korean or German auto; or just paying down credit cards or investing in stocks a huge portion of which goes to corp execs and/or goes offshore. (5) So what to do? Maybe keep in the country by spending at yard sales, for beer or tattoos or other Essential businesses like liquor, pot stores, casinos or strip clubs. Or, consider saving it for when we get back to restaurants/ ballgames/concerts/movies/ and any kind of normal life, hopefully sooner than later!
  • WORD OF THE YEAR: BLURSDAY – “The fuzzy merging of time since the pandemic shut down so much of the world, making it difficult to determine what day of the week it is.”
  • THOUGHTS TO END THE YEAR:   Common Sense is like deodorant. The people who need it most never use it.

   Every month, nearly 200 Billion masks, gloves and disinfectant wipes end up in the world’s oceans, according to the journal of Environmental Science & Technology. But, at least on the West Coast, plastic straw dumping is down.

 HAPPY END OF 2020 AND WISHES FOR A FAR BETTER 2021