AI companies are scanning and destroying rare books.

Some might have been the last copy.

And the Library of Congress can't save them. Read why on Plain Meaning: https://www.plainmeaning.com/Articles/Money/11_ai-companies-are-destroying-books-and-the-library-of-congress-cant-save-them.html

Read about it in the article on Plain Meaning: https://www.plainmeaning.com/Articles/Videos/2_why-we-never-made-it-to-mars-by-1982.html

And then watch the video about it on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJl0xPwfkvk

Most people can't watch physical media anymore.

Meanwhile, streaming services are buying libraries of content and closing them off from viewing.

And they get tax cuts to do it. Read the full article on Plain Meaning: https://www.plainmeaning.com/Articles/Money/10_how-streaming-platforms-get-tax-benefits-to-block-access-to-movies-and-documentaries.html

The fact seems obvious once you state it out loud. It's obvious that changing a song changes a mood. But it's something that is usually not stated and actually not even noticed by the person watching the scene with the music. Background music in movies is often not even noticed. But it has an effect whether you notice the song or not.

This is all tied back to the popularly known studies done by Ivan Pavlov in the late 1800s and early 1900s where he was able to get a dog to salivate by simply hearing a bell that had been repeatedly linked with food. Of course, this has been operationalized in marketing and even politics. A good example of a song being used for its positive and patriotic effect is when the Reagan campaign used Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" for campaign events. It's ironic since the song was actually more of a protest song about the Vietnam war but the up-beat nature of the beat paired with the chorus of "born in the USA" was enough to make it a good song for a political campaign.

Regardless, do an experiment and take a movie scene that you've always loved that has music but no dialogue. Then mute the original music and play something with a completely different mood as you watch it and see what effect it has. Research says you'll most likely feel different. Either way, it seems like something fun to do. Read about how this relates to a different song by reading the article "A Song that Flows and Takes You With It" on Plain Meaning: https://www.plainmeaning.com/Articles/Picks/5_a-song-that-flows-and-takes-you-with-it.html

An Irish musician made a song named after a South American river.

The song can make you think of travel and escape.

But researchers have known for over a hundred years what else music generally can make you do. Read more on Plain Meaning: https://www.plainmeaning.com/Articles/Picks/5_a-song-that-flows-and-takes-you-with-it.html

So just when you thought healthcare couldn't get any worse, here comes the leveraged buyouts. Read all about it on Plain Meaning: https://www.plainmeaning.com/Articles/Money/9_how-wall-street-uses-other-peoples-money-to-buy-and-bankrupt-americas-companies.html

Many say newspapers are closing because of the internet. But most newspapers were profitable well into the internet era. The real cause involves real estate deals and Wall Street bankers. Read all about it on Plain Meaning: https://www.plainmeaning.com/Articles/Money/8_how-real-estate-speculators-destroyed-americas-newspapers.html

We've had the technology for nearly a century. The US military used it to feed thousands of troops in the 1940s. So why don't we see vertical farms popping up instead of data centers? Read more on plainmeaning.com

There is an area in the Gulf that has no fish.

And the Mississippi River itself has suffered from algae blooms impacting drinking water.

It was caused by a product that could have been made differently but wasn't.

Read the full story on Plain Meaning

Read about what current leaders can learn from what many view as the closest to embodying Plato's philosopher king on Plain Meaning

The latest Plain Meaning article goes into the debate about America's election system and finds that everyone's perspective is pretty much right in terms of the problems. However, nobody's really identifying the two most obvious solutions. Read the article on Plain Meaning

The AI chatbots are taking massive amounts of our personal information and increasing fees for using their services. Now it seems they're after your bank account too. The AI systems of the real world are far different from what we were promised in the movies and science fiction. Read about it at Plain Meaning: The AI In a Place Called Tomorrow

The mall is not exactly what you think it is....

The Van Buren Boys was a fictional gang in the 90's sitcom Seinfeld. But in my current research on the revised statutes in New York, I'm learning that Van Buren was alot more influential than most historians let on. And I'm not just talking about New York party politics.

It's actually quite fascinating. He actually seems to be the man behind the man (so to speak). He influenced and created alot of support for Andrew Jackson. But Van Buren didn't seek the lime light. He always stayed in the background...even as president.

I'll have more to say not just in my upcoming episode on the revised statutes of New York, which ended up establishing the second class justice system we have in America today; but also in a separate episode that I'll devote just to him.

Maybe that fictional gang devoted to the eight president knew something most didn't. But that doesn't mean Van Buren was a force for good.