• SO, WE’VE MADE IT TO 2024, albeit with the geo-politics of our planet at their most precarious and perilous low-point since WWII. Today’s fractured international system and western political dysfunction have evolved primarily over the past five years from a few fundamental factors: (1) The uncontested seizure of Crimea by Russia – the first outright territorial annexation of another sovereign country in five decades; (2) Germany’s unilateral decision to ‘embrace’ over a million migrants (“a staggering display of political delusion & stupidity”) which fostered endless and permanent importation of 3rd world beliefs & behaviors that have destroyed the culture/ social/ economic norms of European citizens; (3) The Open Border policies of the Biden Administration; (4) The resulting “triggering of reaction, breaching untold numbers of democratic conventions, norms & laws in the process, done with the connivance of ‘mainstream’ media. Mistaken Western assumptions and analytical incompetence denotes a repeated, systematic and catastrophic failure of our elites to meet the most basic standards of effective policy-making, which portends major geo-strategic risks in 2024 — from the Russia/Ukraine war, Middle East chaos which may spread onto American streets, and the China/Taiwan resolution which could trigger a 3rd world war including nuclear exchanges. Nothing is preordained, but 2024 could turn out to be the most dangerous year in living memory.” https://www.realclearworld.com/2023/12/29/brace_for_geo-strategic_impact_in_2024_1001829.html?utm_source=rcp-today&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=mailchimp-newsletter&mc_cid=65d06a21ed&mc_eid=afc66dfbec
  • A. I. HAS POTENTIAL TO ADDRESS COUNTLESS HEALTH CONCERNS THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA – “as sort of an echocardiogram and first point of contact for many people, already spotting warning signs of suicide or self-harm.”  Facebook algorithms now identify posts that don’t pose an immediate threat and initiate replies with resources including an option to connect with a crisis hotline; ‘urgent’ posts warranting immediate action may also be reported directly to local police in the user’s area code (who may then pinpoint the person through cell phone pings). Trained computers can also now identify trends in the Instagram pics of those depressed, “which typically contain fewer people than those of healthy peers, are bluer/ darker/ grayer/ or rendered black & white with filters.” There’s a huge privacy issue likely to arise, but this is now happening. [WEB M.D. – JAN 2024]
  • FAKE NEWS DISSEMINATED BY MEDIA isn’t a new problem, but overwhelmingly exacerbated by the internet and online chatter.  Widely circulated hoaxes have included a fake AP story about Microsoft submitting a bid to buy the Catholic Church, and about a 6-year-old boy floating away in a homemade balloon (initiated by parents purely seeking publicity, resulting in Nat’l Guard rescue helicopters dispatched and a subsequent felony charge with jail time). 2024 will unquestionably be loaded with media reporting that, at best, is biased and embellished. Just be on guard before assuming ANY ‘report’ is fully factual.    
  •  CHILDRENS’ TEMPERAMENT IS BIOLOGICALLY AND GENETICALLY BASED. From birth, children play a major role in their own development, “making emotional, bodily and attentional reactions to sights/sounds/smells/tastes/touch, as well as self-regulation of emotion, behavior and attention, by adapting, resisting, observing, reacting, ignoring, and changing in a bi-directional relationship with their parents… The environment can influence temperament and some psychological outcomes. However, in acutely stressful environments, a child’s capacities to self-regulate their feelings, behavior and attention are likely to matter more.”  https://www.realclearscience.com/2023/12/30/our_temperament_is_mostly_baked_in_from_birth_1001936.html?utm_source=rcp-today&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=mailchimp-newsletter&mc_cid=8b5114d4c2&mc_eid=afc66dfbec
  •  THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK:

 75% of America’s largest public pension funds – workers in government, schools, universities, etc. – have invested nearly a billion dollars into China, where two-thirds of workers earn less than $75 weekly.  [EPOCH TIMES]

      How did we get here? A computer simulation of the evolution of the universe provides insight into how galaxies formed and perspectives into humanity’s place in the universe over 13 billion years:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSivvdIyeG4&t=16s