We split our time this week between greenhouse improvements, waiting for the right short entry, and finding human “onboard Human PGP.” So if this morning’s column feels a lot like three simultaneous billiards games – on the same table – then so be it.
Breaking: Productivity and Costs
Just out from Labor:
Nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased 1.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today, as output increased 1.5 percent and hours worked decreased 0.2 percent. (All quarterly percent changes in this release are seasonally adjusted annualized rates.) From fourth-quarter 2024 to fourth-quarter 2025, nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased 2.5 percent. (See table A1.) Annual average productivity increased 2.1 percent from 2024 to 2025.
Unit labor costs in the nonfarm business sector increased 4.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2025, reflecting a 6.3-percent increase in hourly compensation and a 1.8-percent increase in productivity. Unit labor costs increased 2.4 percent over the last four quarters.
Didn’t move the needle on the market…give it time?
Table 1: Finance
Early futures today were a mixed bag. The Dow was down a few points, the S&P rolling even, while the techs were showing a bit of “green skirt.”
One reason to hope for higher before lunch? Gold and silver have gotten up from the guillotine.’ And Bitcoin was over $71,000. Toss in Oil futures looking, well, still over $100 but no one is talking $200 (*for the moment) and a sale could be made that a bright future is still ahead.
Which leaves old, deranged, overweight, lazy options-shooters like me waiting for the Winds of Change to pipe up. (Did I mention ugly, too?)
War of Words
Taco Tuesday? The partisans love to say “Trump Always Chickens Out.” But, is that really the case here? Live Updates: Trump calls off Strait of Hormuz ultimatum as Iran receives U.S. message from mediators.
Of course, the anti-Trump crowd is also pointing to Iran’s claims there were no talks, but this is warfare, and no one can be trusted. Everyone seems to have an opinion on this: There’s reason to be skeptical of Trump’s ‘productive’ talks with Iran.
Even the L.A. Times seems, well, a bit skeptical Destitute and at war, Iran surrenders to a joyless Persian New Year.
Holiday, or not, Iran is making big talk about what they might attack next. Holiday hotspots in range of Iran missiles revealed in list and map | Wales Online.
So, it drags on in day whatever this is. The real deal for most Americans is that gasoline (per Triple A) is rolling a shade under $4 nationally today. A month ago it was more than a dollar lower. Not that US supplies are really impacted (except for planned refinery maintenance). You know the old saying, though: never let a good crisis go to waste. Copy that.
One reason for those of us in Texas to worry a bit? Since we’ve been insulated somewhat from gasoline price shocks: Explosion hits Valero refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, southern United States.
And the UK sends a sub! HMS Anson nuclear sub reportedly deployed to Arabian Sea amid Iran tensions.
Table 2: Back Burner
Mail-in voting is likely to be a very big deal as the mid-term elections are coming this fall. Ahead of it? Court action: The Supreme Court Appeared Poised to Limit Mail-In Voting Deadlines.
On the “R” side of the aisle, the “fools on the Hill” got something done. Not a great BIG thing – but an important one: US Senate confirms Trump ally Markwayne Mullin as homeland security chief.
Then there’s the ongoing mess with the GovDown II. Travelers are dreading the coming week because TSA isn’t being funded. And to show just how “tango uniformed” this is, following that La Guardia plane crash? NTSB Begged TSA to Get Investigator of Fatal LaGuardia Crash: Report
Last but not to be missed is voting in Denmark. Denmark votes in an early election that follows a crisis over US designs on Greenland. Hmm… Will Trump be able to get out the vote in the land of canned hams and butter? Coffee and a kleiner (a Danish cookie) while we wait for tomorrows frikadeller. (Meatballs.) (Velkommen.)
At the Ranch: Mechanical Enlightenment
The big story today comes from one of our favorite YouTube hosts, Lex Fridman. Here’s a good summary of what’s happening: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang drops a bombshell — “I think we’ve achieved AGI.”
Now, this is a very big deal because, as you likely know, I have been a leading advocate of the notion that “another intelligence has joined humans.” That’s the core of my latest book, Co-Telligence.
What’s fascinating over the arrival of AI on the planet is to see how a lot of academics are scared spitless. And they should be.
Because AI isn’t here to replace humans (any more than spreadsheets replaced bonehead math in college). It’s here to help.
What has happened is that most people have never independently considered how humans have been “migrating out of their heads” for millennia. (That was my book Mind Amplifiers.) When you look at how “humans work” and walk as we do – members of the tribe (so to speak) – it makes perfect sense. Humans today are not the “end product.” We are a product on a migration path.
Thing is, a lot of “locked humans” who can’t comprehend that we are (slowly) working our way toward perfection, have decided to gather with pitchforks outside the labs and proclaim AI is bad – spawn of the devil – and here to wreck humans.
But here’s the point most miss entirely – being anxious to adopt ideas of others instead of doing their own brain work: AI could just as easily be The Angels. (Oh…forgot that little partisan detail, did we?)
OR – more likely, AI will turn out to be like nuclear power. On-balance neutral. Back when coming out of centrifuges in a belligerent state (Iran) it was very bad – but at breakfast today it’s really pretty good at producing 18 percent of all U.S. electricity.
Are internal combustion engines inherently good or evil? No. Like AI, it should be a lifestyle choice (Ure nods with respect to the Amish).
But already, the (possibly fake) academics are circling their wagons. And groups like Elsevier (which now runs SSRN) are already rejecting papers like one I recently submitted. Because their automatic screeners appear to have flagged an LLM-like turn of phrase
Ever see a polite “buzz off” from a (supposedly) science-based group?
“Memory Layering: As Sequential Write-Read Cycles (Abstract ID 6371379):
Thank you for submitting your paper to SSRN. All submissions undergo a thorough evaluation. After review, your manuscript does not meet the criteria for posting on SSRN. This decision is final, and we do not provide rejection details. We appreciate your interest. For general information, please review our FAQs at…” blah blah
Here’s my recent US Patent Application (which went in as a PPA) because it hints at how AGI might be achieved. Mimicking the human bicameral brain structure.
Is the patent what SSRN said no to? Nope. They didn’t like the foundation I laid for it – in a paper. So screw ’em, I won’t give them the rest of it – which has already been shared on Peoplenomics.
A_Four_Track_Human_Memory_Model
They claim to serve scholarship while using opaque gatekeeping that may be filtering out original work for stylistic reasons rather than substance. Back on the Mayflower….to the caves!
Welcome to Bounce-Work
What makes AI useful isn’t a single AI, but rather multiples. Let’s say I have a law issue. I can task one AI to go search Justiça for case law and draft something up. Then I bounce it to another AI for legal review. It’s like having a legal scholar, and learned experts go over everything.
Using Bounce Work (multiple AIs) because my hemispherical model isn’t widely deployed, yet, it becomes child’s play to invent “breakthroughs.” Almost a point n click thing.
The next one will be on Peoplenomics tomorrow. Because – as it turns out – there is a fifth track to us four-track humans. That’s the God/Universe/Ontology/call-it-whatever track.
And the breakthrough isn’t seeing it. It’s comprehending what we learn about how the whole of reality is laid out.
And the yet-to-be-proven? We may be on to the personal PGP – that “privacy protocol” that prevents humans from being able to communicate telepathically. Oh, and it will be featured in my upcoming novel Co-Dreaming – which is the next level up from where my first novel (DreamOver) began.
Oh yeah, the future’s so bright, got to wears shades. Because the alternative is going back to the caves and living on a burned out cinder.
No, thanks. I like the future. Bright.
Write when you get rich,
George@Ure.net
“And the yet-to-be-proven? We may be on to the personal PGP – that “privacy protocol” that prevents humans from being able to communicate telepathically. ”
What chu talkin bout, Willis?
There is nothing preventing Humans from Communicating Telepathically, nothing at all but Ure own Perception/Mis-Perceptions. Thoughts are “Things” as is the Qi…I would talk Original Source, but alas perceptions have been “warped” very HARD on the “Urban” population. Once people can let go of past “teachings” , learn to Meditate on a regular basis, Remote Viewing will become a Benefit, Telepathy plays a role in RV-ing. Telepathy is how everyone (ET) communicates. In my QiGong practice, Telepathy is considered a Latent Ability, a Benefit when it happens.
This subject, Telepathy is what mk ultra program was all about, and what Familial childhood rape is all about(See most recent DuPont family case) in ..breaking open the human mind by forcing them to learn how to Disassociate, before they reach Puberty.
Nasty business, and what TRUMP and his masters are all about .
Not That any of that matters to anyone hear cheering on the Genocides in ME and ukraine.
So in the spirit of urban survival – Go WAR !
! Lets KILL EM ALL for bibi & co!
sickos or is it the clotz shotz & shedding ?
Either way – still NO Bitcoin for G !
Remote Viewing is both fascinating and boring. It exercises a part of the mind that can lead to serious headaches in some of us, not just me. I’ve tried it and it’s hard work. I’m not good at it and certainly not a natural. Others are. I can certainly experience “Knowing” but I don’t see anything. I just know it, and I don’t have to write or draw a thing to know it. It’s unpredictable, and that’s unfortunate. It limits utility.
I have no use for war! It simply reduces human potential, along with eliminating lots of humans. Leave Iran alone and stop cooperating with warlike powers. Stop entangling alliances. Certainly repel attacks on our land with prejudice, but don’t start wars. That’s beyond stupid.
GU : “… a lot of “locked humans” who can’t comprehend that we are (slowly) working our way toward perfection, have decided to gather with pitchforks outside the labs and proclaim AI is bad – spawn of the devil – and here to wreck humans …”
George. You and I witnessed and played with the new fangled internet from birth to baby to beast. It’s a wonderful information source and little else to me. Per prior, what comes of AI or multiple AI servants will out. Sadly, the models scraped / scrape from weirdo social media source so know what are our foibles and failures. Any model desiring to do so can (and maybe will) use those human deficiencies against us. The good news is you, and others like you, are also teaching your virtual tools too.
Alexa+ wants to chat with Mrs. E. Thankfully she has thus far respected my request. Just the facts Ma’am. When AI does something useful I appreciate it. So far? Whatever. Self driving v2 sounds swell as we age. That for when no longer allowed to self drive v1.
GU : “… Ure nods with respect to the Amish …”
The Plain Folk are struggling with modernity. We have a pretty vibrant community nearby, centered in Shipshewana (Shipshe). Old fellas, the longbeards, are already plowing with teams of draft horses, the gentle giants, where modern equipment would bog down. Internet? AI? No matter.
https://visitshipshewana.org/
There ^ has been an attempt to market what they have.
Sit and watch a team turn rows.
Spectacular!
ATL : 27F and hard frost overnight.
C’mon Springtime!
Egor ~/)~~
you could be a robot mate . unbelievable. i dont understand jack since you turned up . ramble on whatever
must have caught people doing things with dogs eeaaaww
Here’s a good one:
“U.S. military officials are actively considering the deployment of a combat brigade of 3,000 to 4,000 soldiers from the Army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division directly into Iran to capture Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export hub. ”
WW2 thinking works until Iran sets them all on fire using an advanced thermobaric device of some sort.
G____: You do realize you posted a lone scare crow in Ure comment section all day?
My friend TEF??? One of us will be right I held oute for higher before lower, but this is how finwizards work
George,
1929 and 2026 have two very similar competing daily terminal growth and incipient decay fractal models where incipient decay is interpolated in terminal peak growth. On the basis of 2026 hourly fractals, this one appears to be correct.
To the 1929 peak: 4.5/10/4 of 9 days :: x/2-2.5x/2x, a truncated 3-phase growth fractal series where day 4 of the 3rd fractal is the 3 Sept 1929 DJIA peak. The 9 day 3rd fractal containing the 3 Sept 1929 peak then becomes the 1st decay base fractal of a 9/19/18/10 day :: y/2-2.5y/2y/1.5y” crash 4-phase fractal decay series where y” is 1.5 times ( the 3rd decay fractal length divided by 2.5)
To the 25 Feb 2026 ACWI peak: a truncated 3-phase growth fractal series: 5 Feb 2026 4/8/4(25 Feb peak) of 8 days :: x/2x/2x. The 8 day 3rd fractal becomes the 1st fractal decay base of a 8/18/16/10 day :: y/2-2.5y/2y/1.5y” 4-phase crash fractal decay series. Today 24 March was day 16 of an 18 day 2nd fractal with expected lower low terminal 2nd fractal nonlinearity during the next 2 trading days.
The corroborating ACWI hourly fractal series coincident to the above daily series is a 5 Feb 2026 3:30 PM EST 20/46/50 hour :: x/2-2.5x/2.5x 3-phase truncated growth series with peak valuation on 25 Feb, hour 28 of the 50 hour 3rd fractal. The 50 hour 3rd fractal becomes the base fractal for a 50/125/100-115/60-68 hours ::y/2.5y/2-2.5y/1.5y” where y” is 1.5 times ( the 3rd decay fractal length divided by 2.5) The 125th hour low of the 2nd fractal is anticipated at 330 PM EST 26 March 2026.
Better take a closer look- that was tbs (BCN), not TEF, No TEF post visible for 3/24.
Today we are down near the river and a pass to the sea. High tide and it looks as if it’s relatively easy to navigate with care. But the morning before dawn had me seeing the life that exceeds floating… flying it is. Watched a beautiful white bird, large, fly across the river and soar above and into the forest cover on the island across the river. Then some moments later it emerged and went back over the river, dived and caught food, then back to a tree. I think it is an Ibis. There are many here, strange long round beak, honky cry, big wingspan.
Flying with no mechanical stuff. That beats it all for sure. Freedom is a word for flying free.
Stiks
JONATHAN LIVINGSTON SEAGULL by Richard Bach
Read it if you haven’t
“gasoline ”
Today I bought $40.00 of regular gasoline and received nine gallons. I noticed people are still idling their cars in the Taco Bell line and also idling while waiting for their Big Pharma munchies. 4D. America will be great again. Some soldiers will not see it but that’s their pain.
As I previously mentioned, I suffered an injury Saturday scouting a bicycle route into a suburban area with a supermarket and strip centers, about six miles from the house. Mending slowly, but still riding.
I reported the unmaintained and incomplete condition of the route to a couple of jurisdictions, not knowing who was really respondible. I received a response back yesterday from the jurisdiction which wasn’t responsible. They were happy to forward my complaint to the guilty parties. You gotta love it.
The addiction to behemoth combustion engined relics is ego and identity driven. People idling in line at the drive through is who Americans are. Only little disenfranchised people walk and ride bicycles. Big shots drive full ton vehicles thtough the drive through. Just ask one.
The biggest obstacle to adapting to a leaner operating environment is between citizens ears, and between the ears of elected, appointed, and hireling municipal and state employees. Don’t get me started on Federales.
so all the stuff of interest we used to talk about here is now obsolete . its war , trump god , AI from heaven . must be playing the mamas and papas all day long some folks here . soon we will have the florida picker advertising california herbs .. youll see the lot of yous
My most recent quote from the series Boston Legal by Denny (William Shatner): “Don’t waste your time trying to get in my head………. there’s nothing there”
got swelling? apply ICE, as cnn covers the atlanta airport story
https://x.com/alx/status/2036462752215024048?s=20
Elliot Wave Int’l, Magnificent 10 ready to dive?? Chart of impulse pattern from 2022.
https://youtube.com/shorts/9IeDBDV0g5c?si=67zPRNIdItUyPPWX
Republicans are going down in flames.
A Mar-a-Lago flip: Dems win Trump’s hometown Florida House district
“Democrats sent a jolt Tuesday through reliably red Florida, flipping two legislative seats including the district containing President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.”
Trump did a mail-in ballot even though he is against them and knows they’re used to cheat.
Trump has gone Sybilish –
“As of March 2026, the Trump administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) is actively defending a federal law that bars marijuana users from possessing firearms, even as the Supreme Court shows skepticism toward the ban.”
Vs the end of March
“A major update to Army recruiting regulations this week raises the maximum age a recruit can join to 42, and removes a barrier to joining for recruits with a single legal conviction for marijuana or drug paraphernalia possession.”
Damn … would have been such an easy way to keep from being drafted!
(remember Arlo Guthri’s supposedly real story? convicted of littering, big time littering not just a Minor Midemeanor conviction … thus couldn’t be drafted since then had a criminal conviction on his record, or so the story goes)
Go watch the old movie “Alice’s Restaurant” for a refresher course on the weirdness of US Draft Laws in the 1960’s
GU: Grow food or die, grow food or die…
BREAKING: The nitrogen trap just closed.
Lock one: the Strait of Hormuz. The IRGC permissioned corridor allows oil tankers from friendly nations to pay $2 million in yuan and pass. It does not allow fertiliser vessels to pass at any price.
Lock two: Russia. The world’s largest exporter of ammonium nitrate just halted all AN exports until after April 21. Three to four million tonnes per year, gone from global markets at the exact moment the Northern Hemisphere needs it most.
Lock three: China. Beijing has banned exports of nitrogen-potassium blends and phosphate fertilisers through August 2026. China is the world’s largest phosphate producer and a major nitrogen supplier. The ban removes the last alternative source that could have compensated for Hormuz and Russia. Three locks. Three countries. Three deliberate decisions timed to the same biological calendar.
https://www.howestreet.com/2026/03/the-food-supply-chain-is-breaking-again/
George,
I wonder if this situation could lead the US to mine bat guano from the many caves with a significant bat population, as well as seaside rookeries of bird populations. Soldiers mined caves for bat guano that was used in the production of gunpowder during the War of 1812 and the Civil War. If this need for phosphate fertilizer ever came to happen in our country, then we would hopefully establish a way to protect our bat and bird populations from any harm during the mining process.
Bats pollinate plants and flowers while eating great quantities of insects each night that they are out during the summer months. They hibernate during the winter months, and the areas in caves where bats hibernate become nurseries when they give birth to their young.
We mine our own phosphorous and potash, mostly in Florida and the Carolinas, and produce our own ammonia. Hormuz only affects us by jacking with prices on the “world market.”
We import more than we export:
https://oec.world/en/profile/bilateral-product/fertilizers/reporter/usa
Cows, horses, chickens, goats and rabbits still poop, and it all makes good fertilizer. Just a matter of collecting it and getting it to where it’s needed.
The Native Americans had it figured out, live in harmony with the earth (instead of pesticide and synthetic fertilizer entering the water supply lol):
Eat legume based protein:
https://www.beyondmeat.com/en-US/faqs
Legumes fix nitrogen into the soil:
https://pubs.nmsu.edu/_a/A129/#:~:text=Some%20legumes%20are%20better%20at,Delwiche%20and%20Wijler%2C%201956).
Compost worked extremely well before synthetic fertilizer was used:
https://www.homebiogas.com/blog/compost-and-fertilizer/?srsltid=AfmBOoqGEmzprwOkFLrTp4HpzXU2vvCya6UBEwftz1TYel9zN5yl-Zu9
Your tax dollars at work:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-personal-vendetta-now-costing-america-1-billion/
‘The Trump administration will pay an energy company almost $1 billion to not build offshore wind farms in the U.S. as part of Donald Trump’s vendetta against clean energy.’