Just in Case it Matters to You
Weekly Report 20-55
- THE RESIDENTIAL 30-YEAR MORTGAGE LOAN RATE IS NOW BELOW 3% – lowest in four decades – now available to borrowers with strong credit scores and sufficient earnings or cash flow after large down payments, which is motivating home buying across the country. Rates will likely be influenced further downward or upward based on direction of Covid and anticipated timing for a vaccine but it should soon become a sellers’’ market.
- GOOGLE RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT DIVISIONS are moving rapidly toward “hardware prototyping of wearable concepts, including sunglasses that project holographic icons, a virtual reality controller that lets you feel the weight of virtual objects, and now: a temporary tattoo that, when applied to skin transforms your body into a giant living touchpad. Dubbed ‘Skin Marks,’ the tattoo can be applied to fingers or parts of the hand that we control with instinctive fine motor skills – so using the sensors through a bend of the finger or squeeze of the fist could become like second nature.” [CNET and FUTURISM – 7/15/20]
- 16 WEEKS UNTIL ELECTION DAY, AND THEN WHAT?! As if the nation already doesn’t have enough to deal with, the “dizzying mosaic of federalism, a political patchwork determining the most basic function of democracy – Voting – does not provide a federal voting code… Combining an electoral system strained by coronavirus, aggravated by partisan suspicions, and half the States having laws on the books allowing state officials to make general changes to election laws in times of emergency… could trigger the capstone train wreck of 2020.” Beyond normal partisan challenges to accuracy of counting from cybersecurity risk of voting machine manipulation, delay in tallying votes cast by mail, and the verification process in each state, battles are now waging as to acceptability of: (1) Voting Day sign-up versus pre-Registration; (2) Ballot Harvesting – submission of paper ballots solicited by others versus in-person casting, and (3) mass distributed ballots for mail-in versus only as pre-requested by registered voters. The likelihood for ‘decision’ on voting night is remote. [REAL CLEAR POLITICS – 7/16/20]
- KEEPING SCHOOLS CLOSED UNTIL “GUARANTEE that no one affiliated with the nation’s schools will get coronavirus” (postured by media and teachers’ unions) is absurd and impossible. And that “going back to school presents the biggest risk for the spread of coronavirus” (postured by federal congressional leader Pelosi)…is just as crazy a claim as there needs to be a single nationwide guidance when every community America is facing radically different situations.” According to most legitimate health experts, “risk to children for this disease, for fatalities is nearly zero… Most children learn most of what they learn in school from social engagement, from learning how to solve conflicts and from dealing with others… Missing months of learning is a matter of their health in a multitude of factors and dimensions – their emotional well-being, mental well-being, and particularly for kids from low-income and vulnerable populations, this is devastating to be out of school and not learning for months on end.” [FEDERALIST – 7/14/20]
- “VIRTUALLY EVERY TECHNOLOGY CAN BE USED TO THE DETRIMENT OF SOCIETY,” but today it’s Twitter and Facebook which are polarizing society globally, as people “eagerly accept, believe and share any ‘news item’ they see that supports their viewpoint.” Beyond propagandists or just malicious actors, the “proclivity of Mainstream Media to use social media as a news source can amplify a disinformation pipeline a hundred-fold before it’s proven false or bogus, and once information is out there, like the evil genie, it becomes impossible to put back into a bottle… But those platforms have become the arbitrators of not only what’s true or not, but also what’s demeaning/ inflammatory/ or mean-spirited, in a way that’s okay with every country/ culture/ religion/ ethnic group/ & language – which is simply not possible.” It’s hopeful and likely that sooner or later, social media “will get replaced with a platform that insulates and removes itself from our most egregious human behavior.” [FUTURIST THOMAS FREY – 7/16/20]
- THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK: A laboratory petri-dish is only the first step, but medical scientists at University of California San Diego have “for the first time grown fully-fledged sperm cells – an eventual game-changer for the entire human species.”
FOR PERSPECTIVE: A nine-minute video presents, for non-Conservative voters genuinely interested in understanding the perspective of Conservatives, a summary of theory (which many may choose to regard as ‘Conspiracy Theory’) that “the country is being torn apart by the biggest political hoax and mass media disinformation campaign in living history,” in a battle for power. https://www.youtube.com/embed/-fhGV1LxeKQ