Training

Based on announcements from March 2026, Samsung is committing over $73 billion in 2026 for chip capacity expansion, R&D, and facility improvements, with a significant focus on strengthening its American manufacturing base. They are partnering with schools and community colleges to support a diverse set of training, reskilling and education programs that build skills for careers in advanced manufacturing and the digital economy. Samsung is focused on training workers for roles in advanced manufacturing, from engineers to technicians. These new manufacturing plants will not be like old days when people stood and performed repetitive tasks but will require special knowledge to operate complex machines that will increase overall productivity which means higher compensation. This same emphasis on training workers is common in all the new foreign investments coming to the US. With over 8.5 million job openings in the US, new manufacturing and trade industries are intensely focusing on training high school graduates to bridge critical skills gaps

Iran bomb

The world is coming together on keeping Iran from getting a nuclear bomb but they are closing their eyes to the transporting of the bomb. The theory is that if Iran gets enough enriched uranium, they will be able to make a bomb and so they must be prohibited from getting the uranium. That is a red herring. We hear this week that Russia is supplying weapons to Iran. In only takes 55 pounds of enriched uranium to build a bomb, the kind that hit Nagasaki in WW 2. Russia could send them that much uranium and more. Nagasaki is 43 sq miles in area and Jerusalem is 48 sq miles. Getting a bomb is much easier than delivering the bomb to the target area. That is why it is important to prevent Iran from developing the means to transport the bomb and thus to destroy their rockets.

Bosnia

In 1999, the NATO coalition, including the United States, bombed Yugoslavia for almost three months. According to the Serbian authorities, around 2,500 people were killed and 12,500 injured. The Balkan war did not pose a vital or direct national security threat to the United States. The US intervened primarily to stop a humanitarian disaster, prevent the war from spreading to neighboring countries and stabilize Europe. The US was the primary international force in ending the war through decisive military intervention. In the end the US sent 20,000 peace keeping troops to the country.

Star Wars

As the anti-ballistic missiles continue to knock rockets out of the skies with a 90% kill rate many have forgotten how this idea was laughed at. Here are a few quotes. The U.S. media and political opponents heavily ridiculed President Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), commonly known as "Star Wars". Media coverage frequently highlighted the immense cost and technical impossibility of the proposed space-based laser systems, dismissing the initiative as a "scheme" Senator Kennedy's, and other Democrats', characterization of the program as "reckless" became a cornerstone of opposition, aiming to highlight the potential for accelerating the nuclear arms race rather than preventing it. The New York Times maintained a consistently critical, often skeptical stance regarding President Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), widely known as "Star Wars," during the 1980s. In today’s world these remarks would be called misinformation.

Nuke safety

The standard one gig nuclear power plant will have over 100 tons of fuel in its reactor at any given time. With a small modular reactor, the fuel is added as needed and therein lies the basic, walk away safety feature. The small reactor cannot melt down because if the power is lost the addition of fuel is interrupted and the core cools. The new small nuclear reactors use pellets of uranium for fuel. This has been enriched to 3.5%. These pellets are coated with materials that seal in much of the unwanted waste and are easy to store on site. Urenco USA in New Mexico is the sole operating commercial centrifuge enrichment facility in the US. When thorium is used as fuel it does not have to be enriched and can eliminate this step.

SS savings plan

When the discussions of how to save social security (SS) come up, one area that is pointed out it that stock holders have averaged 11% return over the past 50 years, while wages for working people have stagnated. The conclusion is that stockholders should be assessed to pay for the SS shortfall. Another way to look at the problem is to realize that if SS had been privatized 50 years ago the people not just the stockholders would have earned 11% and SS would not be in trouble. A little math shows that if that had been the case, people retiring today would have a greater benefit just from the interest from their account and would be able to pass on the principal to their heirs. Here is one example. A man starts work at age 22 and earns $40,000 and his wages increase 3% per year and he invests 8% of his wage at 11% return, how much will he have in 40 years and the answer is $2.5 million. If he lived off the interest which at 11% would be $275,000 per year, he could then pass on the $2.5 million in principle. In contrast his social security benefit would be $2,000 per month or $24,000 per year. Even if the man only earned one percent on his principle after retirement, he could still collect the same as SS but he could retain ownership of the principle. SS is 6.2% of wages matched by the employer but 2.2% must be set aside to cover disability claims and survivor benefits leaving 8% to invest. We could start to privatize SS next year and it would take 40 years to convert all workers over. Since 1986 all federal employees have participated in the Thrift Savings Plan, where their savings have been invested in stocks and it has been a resounding success.

Iran oil

Prior to the development of the oil fields by US engineers the countries in the Middle East were just desert tribes living in tents. Since that time these countries have prospered except for Iran. The GDP per capita in Saudi Arabia is $36,000, in Kuwait $32,000, in UAE $49,000 and Iran $4,000. Oil reserves in Saudi Arabia are 260 billion barrels, Kuwait 101 billion, in UAE 111 billion and Iran 208 billion. In answer to the question is the Iranian leader rich, Google AI responds: Yes, Mojtaba Khamenei, appointed as Iran's new Supreme Leader in March 2026, is reported to control a vast, hidden financial empire. Investigations estimate his wealth, built through shell companies and oil revenue, exceeds $100 billion, including luxurious real estate in London, Dubai, and across Europe, controlled via proxy It is time for the world to help the Iranian people to stand up to this autocratic regime.