chrisniccolls

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The Fighting in Gaza Is Just The Latest Part of a Very, Very Old and Complicated Conflict in the Middle East

The name has changed, but the questions about who owns “Israel” have been a cause of conflict and bloodshed since God promised the land to Moses 4,000 years ago. “To your descendants, I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates – the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.…

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Are You Ready for the Latest Trend In Toys This Christmas, Artificial Intelligence For Children?

The year has passed swiftly, and the Holiday Season is just around the corner! What will be this year’s hottest toy? Something Star Wars? Legos and Crayolas are always good stocking stuffers. Anything Barbie is definitely on the list after the HUGE success of the Barbie movie (or should I say… the first Barbie movie?). But will anything this season match the explosive success of Tickle Me Elmo in…

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More Bad Days in the Middle East: What We Can Expect From The Latest Israeli-Hamas Conflict?

Israel’s High-Tech defense weapons just became obsolete. Expect more anti-swarm weapons… soon. Once again, the Middle East is at war. Hamas attacked, Israel responded, and months (if not years) of retaliations are ahead. This back-and-forth fighting with Hamas has become a well-choreographed dance. Hamas leads with expendible soldiers and low-tech rockets. Israel follows with a swift, high-tech…

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Trump's Corrupt Accounting Threatens The Future of Every American

“Pump and Dump” is a well-known and highly illegal form of stock manipulation where companies collude to buy large amounts of stock to “pump up” the price. Seeing rising stock prices, uninformed investors buy the targeted stock. When the price peaks, the scammers dump the stock and profit from the inflated stock price. Everyone else loses money as the stock crashes. Trump is on trial for a real…

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The New Real Estate Market: When Did We Stop Building BIG... And What Does It Mean For The Economy?

In the early 20th century America built big. America was becoming the biggest economy in the world, and New York City was the most prosperous city in America. The biggest of the big buildings were going up in NYC. Starting with the Flatiron building in 1902. Its steel framework allowed it to be built taller, and at 285 feet tall it was the world’s first skyscraper. That was the start of a global…

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The Writer's Strike Is Over: Now What? Big Issues for Media and Music Around the World.

No, that’s not Morgan Freeman… but it is why Hollywood is terrified! The strike is over, but the struggle is just beginning. Unlike the Auto Workers Union, it is MUCH more difficult to draw a line from a labor contract to what an individual members of the Writer’s Guild of America is paid. Just the use of “Union” vs. “Guild” tells you that these two groups have a different relationship to their…

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Putin And His Terrible, Horrible, No Good August!

The barely visible remnants of the LUNA 25 space probe… and of Russia’s hope for a space industry. When Putin invaded Ukraine in 2014, he got what he wanted Little has gone the way that Putin wanted since his invasion of Ukraine, at little personal cost. Inside Russia, Putin gained even more power. By the time world leaders figured out how they would respond, Russian troops were already on their…

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Is "A Chinese Spy Balloon" Just The Latest Punchline In The World Of International Spying?

I am shocked and horrified at the Chinese weaponization of balloons, and their use against innocent Americans. But it was inevitable. With the growing influence of Chinese financial institutions, our political and business leaders should have predicted that American families would be dangerously vulnerable to inflated balloon payments on their home mortgages. While it is difficult to say why…

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Armored Tanks Aren't Dead Yet, But Unmanned Armored Vehicles Have Arrived

Armored Tanks Aren’t Dead Yet, But Unmanned Armored Vehicles Have Arrived

Russian Tanks have NOT lived up to their reputation! The war in Ukraine continues to drag on, and China seems ready for a copycat war with Taiwan. Every week we see weapon systems in the news. Today’s front-page stories resemble those of the Cold War era. Whether they are real, exaggerated, or imagined… military threats are always newsworthy! Especially when full-scale war with Russia or China…

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Tanks But No Tanks: Did The Ukrainian War Put An End to the Armored Tank?

Tanks But No Tanks: Did The Ukrainian War Put An End to the Armored Tank?

This armored prototype is electrically powered and remote-controlled. Is it still a TANK? The battle protection (armor) and destruction (arms) is as old as time. At first, hiding behind a tree, a big rock, or (much later) a wall was good enough. But hiding sacrificed mobility. When armies came out from behind walls, they needed armor. Layers of padding and leather, and bits of metal helped.…

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The Sinking Of The Moskva: Lessons Not Learned From Previous Wars

The Sinking Of The Moskva: Lessons Not Learned From Previous Wars

Warships: the most powerful, the most expensive, and the most vulnerable machines ever created. War is a business. This business is driven by changing trends and new technology, but it is also a seasonal business. Sometimes war factories run full blast; sometimes they are on vacation. When a war is near, the military starts to wake up. But it often stumbles around a bit before it can find its…

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Are We There Yet - When Will Schools Be Back To Normal?

Are We There Yet – When Will Schools Be Back To Normal?

How far do we have to go to reach “Normal”? The last couple of years has been a bumpy ride, for everyone. Masks, vaccinations, closed restaurants, toilet paper shortages, remote work, ships stuck in the Suez canal, droughts in the west, and the earth actually being on fire in the West. It’s a lot to take in for anyone to take. But for kids, it’s worse. It is… traumatic. Adults want to get back…

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Can Maslow's Hierarchy Explain the Great Resignation?

Can Maslow’s Hierarchy Explain the Great Resignation?

Have your basic needs been met? In the 1940s, the famed psychologist Abraham Maslow formed his theory of “Hierarchy”, that the major decisions in our lives (school, work, friends, family) were driven by our internal needs. These needs form a pyramid, with the most basic and immediate needs at the base, and our highest aspirations at the peak. We all need that base to survive. Not everyone,…

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Can Jeff Bezo's Massive Bet On A "Lord of the Rings" Series Actually Pay off?

Can Jeff Bezo’s Massive Bet On A “Lord of the Rings” Series Actually Pay off?

Rings? Who said Rings? Amazon passed on LotR and bought rights to an obscure history book. In case you’ve missed it, a Cambridge professor of language once wrote a story about a ring, a quest, elves, and magic. Spoilers! The quest is to destroy the ring, and that’s what they did. This story, “Lord of the Rings” (LotR), sold… well. By “well”, I mean hundreds of millions of copies. It also spawned…

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Will Our Future Be Little More Than An Endless Succession of Pandemics?

Will Our Future Be Little More Than An Endless Succession of Pandemics?

You get to go home, but it’s Ground Hog day for medical workers! Well, yeah. It’s looking that way. Since the beginning of the 21st century we’ve lived through MANY pandemics. We just haven’t noticed all of them. It’s like asking a fish, “Do you know you’re wet?” Do fish even know what it’s like to not be wet? Pandemics have become a part of our way of life. In the past, most of what you saw,…

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Will We Ever Learn The Secret of India's Ivermectin Miracle?

Will We Ever Learn The Secret of India’s Ivermectin Miracle?

Something happened in India’s most populous state. Was it Ivermectin? Have you heard about the “miracle” in India? Since the start of the Pandemic, India has been featured in a lot of doomsday discussions. It’s the second-most populous nation on Earth, with a vast number of poor. India could be devastated by COVID. They night suffer more deaths than the rest of the world combined. Or so the…

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Happy Thanksgiving to Hard Working Americans Everywhere!

Happy Thanksgiving to Hard Working Americans Everywhere!

Did you have a happy Turkey day? Or at least a day off? Did you get a chance to spend time with your family? Believe it or not, there was once a time in America where everyone expected a (paid) day off on at least Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year. Your family’s major holidays may differ, but Americans used to believe that everyone needs some time off, and we all have family obligations.…