• FOR MOST PEOPLE, CAUTION IN DECISION MAKING IS THE RULE – a phenomenon called Loss Aversion, the idea (supported by years of psychological & economic research) that coin flips are never better than 50:50 and that “losses loom larger than gains.” However, studies at Northwestern University now suggest that when the stakes are potentially life-altering and people “see an opportunity to be ‘courageous,’ they are more likely to opt for a high-risk/ high-reward path… especially when a task is linked to a higher-order goal or a sense of purpose… People want to see themselves as courageous – the ability to take purposeful action in face of fear – a trait widely prized across cultures and among just six values shared by every philosophical & religious tradition… So, when risk level is within their control, peoples’ appetite for risk increases.” Examples are like leaving secure jobs to start a business, moving away from a comfortable & familiar environment, or risky plays in high-stakes games. [KELLOGG INSIGHT -2/4/21]
  • TECHNOLOGY UPDATE: (1) Pseudo-Steak – 3D bioprinting at Israel Institute of Technology has now cultivated the world’s first rib-eye steak, by “printing living cow cells that are then incubated to grow, interact, and possess the textures & qualities of a real steak, in similar shape & structure to the raw steak we’re familiar with.” [GIZMODO -2/10/21]  (2) Converting air into water – Chemical engineers at UC-Berkeley, funded by DARPA, are advancing on a portable device to serve 150 people, first military soldiers in desert environments and eventually available for up to two billion people globally who have limited access to water for parts of a year.  [3DPRINT.COM]
  • ‘NILF’ IS AN ACRONYM FOR AMERICAN MEN ‘NOT IN THE LABOR FORCE’ during peak employment years (25 – 54) who are neither working nor looking for work. A five-year study of these labor force ‘dropouts’ found (1) Over seven million collecting $600 weekly government pandemic unemployment benefits during the pandemic, irrespective of poverty status; (2) In the lead up to the pandemic, one-in-ten prime age men were neither working, looking, nor seeking skills that might help them return to the workplace; (3) The average NILF was spending almost 7½ hours daily on ‘socializing, relaxing & leisure’; (4) over half reported they were taking some form of pain medication daily, sitting in front of TV or computer screen, while numbed or stoned… As the notion of a Universal Basic Income – i.e., unconditional, guaranteed payment without work or means testing” – is being touted by Congress in the name of ‘Economic Justice,’ hopefully proponents will consider that “instead of producing new community activists, composers and philosophers, more worklessness in America might only further deplete our nation’s social capital at a time when good citizenship is already in painfully short supply.”  [INSTITUTE FOR FAMILY STUDIES – 2/8/21]
  • “THAT WARS ARE STARTED BASED ON AN ADVERSARY’S WEAKNESS IS A LESSON OF HISTORY. War has not diminished with civilization or democracy. Rather, in the last 3,500 years of recorded history, only 320 have seen no war somewhere in the world, including every year of the last five decades… In every era, there are regimes that are barbaric or seek domination of their people and often the regions around them… Currently, China’s program to detain, physically abuse and re-educate millions of Uyghur Muslims is the worst… It is not unrealistic to anticipate that, under new American policy which recognizes ‘culturally different norms that each country that their leaders are expected to follow,’ the world could be plunged into an international crisis sooner than any of us could have imagined.”  [EPOCH TIMES – 2/17/21]
  • THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK:

         History will judge today’s ideological Wokeness as a “failed generation,” with results (as in all totalitarian revolutions) overwhelmingly opposite from their purported objectives. An astounding Reality Check on where history is headed:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7b-HT3DLh0&feature=youtu.be

         The absurd $1.9 trillion additional ‘Covid aid’ package being pushed by Congress & Biden administration (which has a minute percentage of actual ‘aid’ to American citizens or needy businesses), not only adds to an already $1 trillion budget deficit, but ignores the facts that (a) one trillion dollars still remain unspent from prior packages, (b) Covid-19 is winding down, and (c) our economy is measurably rebounding.