• IF/WHEN AN ‘APOLOGY’ IS NECESSARY to repair something that went awry, and if you’re clear in your mind as to what went wrong, some guidelines to best remediate the situation are: (1) Do it as soon as possible and face-to-face if possible, and not by email or text; (2) Forget any desire to ‘win’ – it’s about removing the dissonance and keeping or maintaining a relationship; (3) Keep the message clear of ‘buts,’ excuses or blame game; (4) Don’t let your voice, expressions or body language send a non-verbal conflicting message – which people tend to believe more than words; (5) Try to sympathize; once someone feels heard and that their feelings are validated, they don’t need to keep talking; (6) Be accountable and accept responsibility for your (or your company’s) role in the issue; (7) Do what you can to fix the injury. [PATTI WOOD.NET – Oct 16]
  • ‘QUANTUM’ COMPUTERS ARE CLOSE AT HAND – “a leap forward in capability far greater than that from an abacus to a modern day supercomputer, with performance gains in the billion-fold realm and beyond… allowing solutions of complex problems that are intractable for conventional computers, with more calculations than there are atoms in the universe.” Implications are staggering, including applications for Machine Learning, Medicine, Chemistry & Climate Change, Material Science, Engineering, Biometrics, Energy Systems, and more. Currently, the most powerful supercomputer on the planet is called Tianhe-2 – half the size of a football field, costing some $400 million and burning enough electricity to power twenty-thousand households. The Quantum race between Google, IBM, and Rigetti (a Silicon Valley startup) anticipates ‘Quantum Supremacy’ within the next 18 months, leading to “a single chip more powerful than Tianhe-2.” Amazing. [PETER DIAMANDIS REPORT – Oct 9, 16]
  • “ETHNIC CLEANSING USED TO BE A BAD THING. But in America, when it happens to white people, it’s called progress… Santa Ana, California has almost been purged by a massive influx of people speaking a different language and bearing a different culture who expected everyone to adopt to their norms. At nearly 80% Hispanic and less than 10% white, that city now demographically, perfectly mirrors many cities in Mexico… The culture of documented and undocumented visitors are not even giving lip service to assimilating anymore; they are replacing American culture with their own and are proud of it… We have surrendered our own culture, even our language, in this silent invasion. And because illegal immigration brings in largely low-skilled people who can be easily addicted to welfare and become model democratic voters, liberals love it… Everyone votes now – citizen or non-citizen, living or otherwise. In California, illegals are entitled to drivers licenses; their children can receive state-funded health insurance; and those in positions of power cooperate in helping more illegals come.” [AMERICAN THINKER – October 16] 
  • THE LATEST POLITICAL CORRECTNESS CAVE-IN is from Princeton University which has now banned all “sexist language from all campus documents” because some may interpret gender nouns or pronouns as “non-inclusive or micro-aggressive which can cause trauma.” Out-words now include fireman, chairman and mankind. With up to 32 non-binary gender identities, instead of shouting man overboard, others on the boat could “hold a quick poll to avoid “marking them as shameful oppressors, and perhaps best let the individual drown and get the gender right later, at the autopsy.” [THE WEEK – OCT 14, 16]
  • P. C. NOW ALSO DEFINES ACCEPTABLE ‘SWEAR’ WORDS. Almost universally, such words emanate from attitudes about “sex, religion, bodily wastes, or slurs” which stood the test of time. In America, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) imposes six-figure penalties when a broadcaster “allows even a fleeting expletive on air” and the Supreme Court allows banning of swear words in public places to assuage sensitive folks – whom research has shown can experience “sped-up heart rates, sweating palms, and/or severe disrupted concentration on tricky tasks.” P.C. now also impacts the degree of sensitivity. “In 2000, a survey found British respondents rating wanker more unacceptable than nigger; a 2016 study found the reverse. Words like cripple or retarded, formerly unimpeachable medical terms, have now become unusable in polite company.” [THE ECONOMIST – Oct 8, 16]
  • THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK: ‘Independent’ workers say they are “happier and more satisfied professionally than in traditional jobs,” according to a McKinsey poll. In America & Europe, over 160 million people are Independent workers.

       Some glitches remain with “unfriendly dye” and absence of waterproofing, but “smart fiber, energy-generating textiles” can now produce and store enough energy to power Chinese smart phones. Solar fabric clothing is around the corner.  

      In recent years, hungry animals are increasingly turning to fermented berries & vines, with subsequently reported “unusual behavior”:  Australian Wallabies love opium poppies; Amazonian Jaguars enjoy yage – used in the hallucinogenic drug ayahuasca; and Canadian Big Horn Sheep have discovered psychoactive lichen.