• CALIFORNIA WINS AGAIN: BOTTOM RANKING AS WORST OF ALL 5O STATES in “return on investment for taxpayers.” A Wallet Hub survey on quality of government services, including education/ health/ safety/ economy/ infrastructure, versus total state & local taxes paid by residents aged 18 & above, California ranked 35th in overall government services and 50th in taxes paid per capita. Slightly better were Hawaii, New Mexico and Arkansas. [ACCOUNTING TODAY – 10/23/23]
  • PEOPLE HAVE A TENDENCY TO DISLIKE MUSIC FROM THE GENERATIONS WHICH FOLLOW, generally dismissing it as tasteless or disgusting, and especially today’s iterations from artists who have grown up with automated repetition of endless Streaming/ YouTube/ TikTok playlists. However, much of today’s music actually combines familiar sounds – just in bold & unexpected ways – and can provide exceptional listening experience if/when given a chance. “While streaming platforms have become the default mode for listening to music today, the trick is to treat them as a resource rather than a concierge.” Some excellent tips on how to discover and appreciate new music: https://psyche.co/guides/how-to-find-new-music-amid-all-the-streaming-abundance
  • “THE BIGGEST THREAT TO AMERICA ISN’T NECESSARILY EXTERNAL, rather, it’s posed by the numerous digital devices in our hands and homes. When mindlessly using Digital devices, slouched over and spaced out, our brains are abused day in & out, making the attainment of satisfaction increasingly effortless, spending ever more time in a passive and vegetative state while the visual processor in back of the brain gets bombarded with sensory input that impedes both short and long-term memory… By 2050, the number of U.S. adults over 40 living with ‘Digital Dementia’ is expected to reach 10.5 million, along with millions of unsuspecting youngsters under 25 also at risk (when their brain region responsible for planning & decision-making fully develops) … Along with demographic decline, the U.S. is also wrestling with the unholy trinity of spiritual, psychological and intellectual decline; the country is becoming fatter, sicker, older and dumber. The movie ‘Idiocracy’ wasn’t a parody; it was a prophecy.”  [EPOCH TIMES – 11/15/23]
  • “THERE IS MORE TO ‘TIME’ THAN MEETS THE EYE… Much research has focused on perception of time, which is influenced by just a few but critical factors: (1) Our assumption that we live in the present – the Now – while actually our brain syncs up what we see (like lips moving) with sound of a voice, which moves slower than light; (2) Our consciousness experience and memories, which are actually based on concentration and emotion that simply gives us some measure of control; (3) The language we use, like being in ‘front’ or ‘behind’ oneself, or conceiving time as a horizontal line moving from left to right or vice versa; (4) That stress or brain disorder can prompt speed up or stopping of internal processing, especially in dangerous situations, including athletes who can train their brain to create a focused time warp on demand… ‘Time’ is therefore just a human construct.” https://bbc.com/future/article/20231110-11-mind-boggling-facts-about-time  Just FYI.
  • THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK:

Last month, a class-action lawsuit found the National Ass’n of Realtors and several large real estate brokers guilty of “conspiracy to keep sale commissions high,” awarding $1.8 billion to residential home sellers; Some analysts think that damages in copycat suits could reach $400 billion. The issue is NAR’s requirement for split of up to 3% commissions to any seller’s broker who utilizes the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), increasing selling cost and pricing to buyers “up to triple the amount in any other rich country.”  [ECONOMIST].

Moderna, whose only product in 1921- 1923 was the Covid-19 vaccine, received nearly $5 billion in federal funding and profited over $43 billion. A British Medical Ass’n Journal investigation has revealed a ‘revolving door’ between FDA officials tasked with regulating those vaccines, with two senior level officials responsible for the review of ‘expedited regulatory Standards & Approval, having taken jobs at Moderna just months after signing off on vaccine licensure… An earlier study by Science Journal found 11 of 16 FDA Medical Examiners (involved with 28 drug approvals) left the agency to join or consult for companies whose products they’d recently regulated, including the FDA Commissioner who joined Moderna’s predecessor.  [EPOCH TIMES]

If you’re still a trusting Tucker Carlson fan, this is a doozy: “Trial by Ordeal.”  https://twitter.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1715465410856841628?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1715465410856841628%7Ctwgr%5E96c9e15309ea9f06ab3746a37fc89cbceef0d104%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Frevolver.news%2F2023%2F11%2Ftrial-by-ordeal-the-chauvin-verdict-and-the-dark-embarrassing-truth-of-the-american-jury-system%2F