That pesky “law of unintended consequences”

The state of Florida wanted to crack down on immigration and thus caused many migrant workers to leave, and left the farmers in the state without workers to work the fields. 

So as this example points out, strawberries are rotting because they aren't picked. And the state says that's because they're not hiring the right people. 

Which are…. Who, exactly? 

And the net result is that the cost of doing business goes up - and consumers will have to pay more just to keep the farm open. 

https://www.npr.org/2024/04/26/1242236604/florida-economy-immigration-businesses-workers-undocumented

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Still wondering if climate change is real?

An above average temp is expected across most of the US this summer…

https://www.axios.com/2024/04/23/summer-2024-heat-weather

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Bitchin' Dave's Newsletter - Apr 23

 Dave’s Musings

In the "we can be better" category, there was a story about a fast food worker who didn't miss a day of work in 27 years (and by the way, that's one of those things that bugs me; sometimes you're sick and you really should stay home rather than infecting those around you and handling food). To say thank you, the owners of the franchise gave him some stupid things (like a pen and a roll of lifesavers?).

While he was humble about it all, he posted a video about his gifts, and it went viral. And then someone setup a group collection, and they raised rather a lot of money - enough for him to buy a house.

Its great that people stepped up to help, and that there is a kind of happy ending. But it bothers me that the guy worked - loyally - for nearly 3 decades and got no reward for doing so, and could not afford a house on his salary in all that time.

More here

SE

The chief of SETI was asked about any evidence of aliens, and he emphatically said there isn't any. The attached article is interesting and details out his comments. Its worth a read. One of the more interesting things he suggests is a thought experiment about the vastness of the universe and our ability to traverse it. He notes one other thing: its still statistically possible that there is life out there, we just haven't found evidence of it - yet. https://www.space.com/seti-chief-bill-diamond-ufos-alien-visitation

While its simply theoretical research for now, there's a study which suggests placing reflective materials on various surfaces can cool the ambient temperatures in cities. But what's unique about this is the general simplicity of the design. The reflective surfaces could include the reflectors used in roadway design (those little yellow reflectors you see); simply positioning a mirror inside these devices could reduce the temps by around 5F. I can't wait to see this being applied. https://metro.princeton.edu/news/retro-reflectors-could-help-future-cities-keep-their-cool/

There was an item that made the news cycle a few weeks back about how Disney was revising the "Disability Assistance Pass" at the theme parks. For context, the DAP is a means for people with certain types of disabilities (say autistic individuals who can't stay in line) to essentially hold a spot in a virtual queue to make waiting an easier process. I should note that until about 2016, there was another process that essentially gave guests with disabilities zero wait time. But it was changed because too many guests were abusing the system - especially 3rd party guides who were getting paid to bend the rules for entitled people. As it turns out, there are still too many people taking advantage of the system in order to get to the front of the line. So Disney has altered the policy again, and have threatened lifetime bans for those that abuse it. Make no mistake, Disney knows exactly who these changes target, and its a warning to them.

A navigational buoy off the coast of the Florida Keys broke free and rode the Gulf Stream up to Scotland.  It wound up on the shore, along with some other world travelers. It's crazy how our oceans work, isn't it? You can read more about the Gulf Stream here: https://scijinks.gov/gulf-stream/

Latest video

Here are some insights about the Contemporary hotel at Disney World https://youtu.be/-TB6VXP5zUk?si=RTbt8soPI_YrxhkH

One Little Spark …

You could certainly spin this story to be more about greed, but its hard to overlook the overtones. The basic story is that there's an older cemetery for black, mostly enslaved people, outside of Atlanta - one which has multiple generations dating back to before the civil war.  A developer bought the land and wanted to relocate the bodies to elsewhere. Legal action ensued, and the developer agreed to leave the cemetery in place, and to maintain it, and give the public -  especially the family - access to it. Only, he fell short of his promises and blames the HOA and the families for lack of access and maintenance.  They are suing to rectify the situation. What I find off-putting is how easily this developer just moves on when there's no money to be made. And worse, the people who are afflicted are ignored because they aren't able to help him financially.   https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/30/us/piney-grove-cemetery-buckhead-lawsuit/index.html

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The deep state

People seem to complain this all the time. About how our rights are being trampled by large scale government conspiracies. 

And the thing is that they're right, but they're looking in the wrong place. It's a small group of people who influence in ways you might not expect. 

In history, you had the "daughters of liberty" who were women from the defeated south, that managed to influence politicians after the civil war to somewhat re-write (or whitewash) history. In a way, they are why we're still struggling to teach about slavery and you still hear terms used that make this sound less awful, and why there were confederate monuments in place at all. 

More recently, in Florida, you have one woman who is primarily responsible for ensuring gun legislation is the way SHE wants it. 

And then you have the wife of Supreme Court Justice Thomas, who heavily influences the court, on what they hear, and helps to frame some of the cases that are causes she feels strongly about. 

She was involved in the insurrection. Full stop. Yet her husband does not recuse himself from any such cases. And they will hear any/every case related to January 6, in an effort to rule that there was "nothing to see here"…

So if you want to see this deep state, look to the individuals and small groups who influence the policy makers and judiciary who make things happen. 

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Another example of benefits going away

It seems like all the time spend - rather than loyalty - is the driver of decisions to provide any sort of benefits 

https://thriftytraveler.com/news/credit-card/amex-statement-credits-are-out-of-hand/

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That sounds right

If you read the article, you see that the production of meats causes more environmental damage - in part because of the large herds needed (they need large amounts of natural resources and produce methane) and the processing plants likewise taking a fair amount of power and other resources. 

https://www.forksoverknives.com/wellness/sweeping-new-report-climate-scientists-urge-consumers-governments-toward-plant-based-diets/

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Legal tender

National parks are a treasure,  and now more people are starting to explore them (personally I've been to about a dozen, and hope to make it to many more in the future). 

But with the increased traffic comes a delay at entry because many of them have a small entrance fee. 

The park service decided to respond by making some of them cashless (though it's soon to be all of them). It speeds thing up when the rangers don't have to make change, they say. 

People have voiced their concerns and at times rangers have suggested that people simply go to a local Walmart and buy a gift card for cash and use that for entrance. 

But here's the thing that people point out: the NPS is a government agency. And they are saying this government agency will not accept the legal tender (ie dollars issued by the government).  There's something wrong with that. 

And then that begs the question: why is there a fee at all? The NPS gets a budget from the government. The fees are to cover the cost of vehicular traffic causing road wear and tear. They are nominal, but they exist. Why not increase the congressional budget by a few percent and remove the fee?

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The choice is, uhhh, clear

I read something last night about the clear TSA pre check. The headline was that California has introduced legislation to outlaw its use in the state. 

But it's the details and the subtext that are interesting. 

First off, the legislation is proposed because it creates an unfair practice. You are allowing people to buy their way out of standing in line. Which is exactly the intent of the program.  That doesn't seem right in a way. Everyone is heading to the same airplanes to go their destinations. And yet people with the means can pay to not stand in line (well perhaps "for as long")

Among other things you've got the wealth inequity on full display. 

And then there's the subtext. A single for-profit company has partnered with airports and the TSA to allow you to pass through more quickly - and is making money in the process. 

How is that a fair business practice? How did one company get a contract with the entire country to make not standing in line a thing?

And when did we become SO IMPATIENT that waiting in line… to simply go to the gate and wait for your flight … matters?

Why can't everyone just pre-register and speed things up?

It's a microcosm of everything happening in society. 

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Doesn’t anyone do any sort of copy editing anymore?

That sure is a weird looking strawberry. 

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Bitchin' Dave's Newsletter - Apr 16

 Dave’s Musings

You may have noticed that chocolate prices are increasing. Why, you may ask? It's a combination of things including illegal gold mining, mismanagement of the land, and everyone's favorite topic: climate change.

Once again, climate change has a direct impact on us, and threatens something most of us enjoy.

More here: https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2024/3/30/chocolate-prices-to-keep-rising-as-west-africas-cocoa-crisis-deepens

Another player emerged in the space launch arena. Stratolaunch is doing something similar to Virgin Galactic in that they are dropping a hypersonic aircraft from a larger airplane. So far, they are focused on payloads that need to be hypersonic for various reasons - but the plan is to be able to send the craft into low Earth orbit for experimentation or to release a satellite. https://gizmodo.com/stratolaunch-first-hypersonic-test-flight-roc-ta-1-1851325099

Scientists have discovered that Miassite, when grown in a lab, can perform as superconductors - materials that can conduct electricity without energy loss. Its incredible to find this out, since it is a naturally occurring element that can be formed in a lab to increase its viability. And because this can happen at a temperature close to room temperature, and doesn't react with other elements (like metal does) this has exciting possibilities. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-scientists-reveal-unconventional-superconductor-mineral.html

A while ago, there was a rumor that Tesla and Disney were partnering to update the old "go karts" that run on gasoline, to go fully electric. It seemed fanciful yet pretty cool. Autopia at DisneyLand and The Tomorrowland Speedway would help lead to a new future, and we could finally get rid of the gas fumes. Sadly, that turned out to be nothing more than a rumor. But a good idea is a good idea. And about a week ago, Disney announced that they will be changing over to electric, on their own, at Autopia in DisneyLand. Details will be forthcoming, and it remains to be seen when a transition might happen at Disney World, but I'm definitely in favor of Tomorrowland being forward-looking for the first time in a while.

Europe has been charging hard at Apple for some time. And now the Department of Justice is coming at them, too. But I admit to being a little confused about this. Apple came up with a phone that was proprietary and then came up with an eco system that it resided within. And because of their own patents and business practices, its working as it was designed. But at issue is that they "don't play nice" with their competitors and that they are anti-competitive with what they do. But isn't that essentially what corporations do? Don't they carve out a niche and then excel at it? It seems odd that this is a problem. But maybe that's just me.

Latest video

Here is the story about the Haunted Mansion at DisneyLand and Walt Disney World https://youtu.be/2Esfyq-gxXc

One Little Spark …

There's a pretty good long form article (behind a paywall, of course) about how Amazon ran a bit of a scheme to reduce their workforce by putting people on "improvement plans" for various reasons, and then getting rid of them (ostensibly) for cause, so they wouldn't be due any sort of separation package. They refer to it as "quiet firing" ... This caught my attention because I recently visited Texas, and read and heard about its rather rich history, with regard to Mexico, the slave trade, how they dealt with indigenous people, and how they came to be a republic and later a state. Free, white people felt a sense of pride to be from there. But others, maybe not so much. A term that kept coming up was "obligation" - for those that were involved in fighting against Spain, Mexico, and later against the Union, it was about being a part of something. About becoming Texas. But for those that were not, it was about being obliged to follow along and just go with it. They had little to no say, and generally weren't treated that well. And I know, I'm painting with a broad brush here. It just struck me that the idea of the company having control - and rank and file employees just having to roll with things was interesting in that context. https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-hr-document-employees-pip-layoffs-performance-improvement-plans-2024-3

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Buoy goes missing off the Florida keys and ends up in Scotland?

The buoy is (or was) a navigational aid that broke free and rode the Gulf Stream up to Scotland. 

It's crazy how our oceans work, isn't it?

You can read more about the Gulf Stream here:

https://scijinks.gov/gulf-stream/

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Street flooding and racism

Here's an article about how widening the interstate impacted residents in a predominantly black neighborhood. 

Given that there appear to be text exchanges about the DOT knowing about this and proceeding anyway is really just sad. 

As one resident said - 

'There's no more lynchings and hangings. It's coming after your finances.'

Pete Buttigieg took it seriously enough that he visited the area. Now let's hope that someone does something about it. 

https://abcnews.go.com/US/buttigieg-visits-predominantly-black-alabama-community-abc-news/story?id=109087152

 

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The roots of racism run deep

You could certainly spin this story to be more about greed, but its hard to overlook the overtones.

The basic story is that there's an older cemetery for black, mostly enslaved people, outside of Atlanta - one which has multiple generations dating back to before the civil war.  A developer bought the land and wanted to relocate the bodies to elsewhere. Legal action ensued, and the developer agreed to leave the cemetery in place, and to maintain it, and give the public -  especially the family - access to it.

Only, he fell short of his promises and blames the HOA and the families for lack of access and maintenance.  They are suing to rectify the situation.

What I find offputting is how easily this developer just moves on when there's no money to be made. And worse so when the people who are afflicted are ignored because they aren't able to help him financially.  

https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/30/us/piney-grove-cemetery-buckhead-lawsuit/index.html

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Voyager 1 update

It looks like a repair is under way to the craft. Apparently, there is a damaged memory chip and they're figuring out how to work around it.

A repair crew is en route; they'll need to show their AAA card to the technician when they arrive. 😆

In the meantime, I rather enjoyed reading how the code was written in fortran(!) and that there's more computing power in car door locks than in this space ship.

That's pretty remarkable.

https://www.iflscience.com/nasa-discovers-cause-of-repeating-pattern-sent-back-by-voyager-1-73772

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Refrigerators and planned obsolescence

Most of the refrigerator manufacturers cut corners (it would seem), and make refrigerators that break much sooner than you'd anticipate.

They complicate things by making them hard to repair or not covering some parts under the warranty, or not having parts in stock.

And that tweaks the bottom line because consumers have to buy another fridge!

But here's a case where a group of consumers are saying whirlpool for this practice.

We - as humans - can be better. Refrigerators are not good for the environment, once their service life is over. So you would think companies might come up with different methods or try and at least make them last.

But you'd be wrong.

https://www.thecooldown.com/green-business/whirlpool-refrigerator-lawsuit-defective-wiring/

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Bitchin' Dave's Newsletter - Apr 9

 Dave’s Musings

There was a recent article in Forbes about wealth inequity in this country. They refer to it as a "New Gilded Age" as layoffs among employees are fairly commonplace, while companies continue to make enormous profits - and the executives of said companies get paid lavishly for their work.

Its yet another reason to hate on the system, and why employee engagement is so abysmally low. There's no investment in employees, no attempt to retain them, and hiring is just absurd with "AI systems" rejecting people for jobs they are eminently qualified for, without the candidate even getting a resume to a hiring manager.

There's so little to build on, as companies just want you to pour everything into a job, and accept that they are giving you a paycheck; all the while they consider you to just be a number.

Florida didn’t get much of a view of the solar eclipse, but nevertheless, it was spectacular to see images coming in from places in the direct path! this is a view from Mazatlan Mexico And a view from Burlington, VT And I would like to point out something: the path of the eclipse is such that only a small swath of the country could see it and have a total eclipse, while the rest of the nation has a partial eclipse; depending on location, a percentage of the moon obscured the sun - less, the further that we move away from the path. And why is that? Because of the curvature of the Earth! If the Earth was flat, then the entire US would have experienced an eclipse.

Here's a cool piece of tech that allows for wireless power transmission; outdoor things can be powered without being connected to an outlet. Its a "puck" that you plug in and attach to a window, then you place a receiver outside which you can plug into via USB. It uses a magnetic field to connect the devices. While its mostly a prototype for now, the concept is very intriguing and could revolutionize way we use power. https://newatlas.com/around-the-home/power-mole-transmits-electricity-window-glass/

Disney's proxy battle came to an end last week. Typically, board room challenges are difficult and the odds are long. Still, the Peltz bid picked up a fair amount of momentum and it was close ... but in the end, the mostly predictable outcome was that the company "won" the proxy fight. As you might guess, the overall reality of the outcome is more nuanced. The board got a wakeup call from big investors, there is acknowledgement that some C-suite thinking needs to evolve, and its clear that Iger needs to start truly succession planning right away. So....in a way, you could argue that Peltz got what he wanted to a large degree.

I've seen a few articles recently about universal basic income. Several cities have piloted programs, and there's a group of investors who are doing a controlled study in Denver to see what impact this might have on people's lives. The results thus far are encouraging. We see that the participants in each of the specific cities who are receiving benefits from the government are happier, at least somewhat successful, and are are more self-sufficient. And it seems to curb homelessness - which is always a desired outcome. "For many ... households, a small monthly infusion of unconditional cash can make the difference between stability and deep poverty." And in the Denver story, they're testing various amounts of money over different periods of time to see if one solution works better than others. But in every case, they're seeing positive results. Of course, there are people who think this is a horrible idea, and people should have to fend for themselves. But as we've seen in the past, there is such a disparity in wealth that some people can simply never catch up, through no fault of their own. https://www.businessinsider.com/guaranteed-basic-income-san-antonio-texas-woman-afford-food-housing-2024-4?amp https://www.businessinsider.com/georgia-basic-income-program-low-income-black-women-debt-bills-2024-3?amp https://www.denverbasicincomeproject.org/research

Latest video

This video is about Reusable rockets https://youtu.be/1XiUd76ZVl0

One Little Spark …

I was “downsized” from my job, and a few weeks ago, I opted to apply for unemployment from the state of Florida. [aside: I'm at ease with my situation, and am making a switch to consulting at this point in my career] Keep in mind that unemployment money comes from the companies that do business in the state. It’s paid by them to cover unemployment insurance as a regular assessment; it does not come directly out of the states bottom line. But Florida wants people to work! And so limits you to 12 weeks of payments. The amount you receive is dependent on what you were making while employed, but caps at $275 per week. Which equates to about $6.87 per hour - while in Florida the minimum wage is $12 (federal minimum is $7.25 by the way). Clearly it is a disincentive. And what's this? The amount paid through unemployment hasn't changed in nearly two decades. And by the way, that money is taxed at a rate of about 20%. So it’s nowhere near being enough to live on. (The notion that people are complacent with unemployment and don't want to go back to work is asinine!) Then, there’s the bureaucratic process of applying, which could take up to two weeks before you’re even eligible. And the first week in the system is a non-payment week. Meaning that you only get paid after your 3rd week out of work. Payments are every two weeks, so essentially you have very little money, and a long time between getting it. There’s followup required each week which takes time and effort, and the agency is a typical state agency that is underfunded and has a lot of red tape.  I have to imagine many people struggle with this system, have to take whatever job, or simply give up. In any of those cases, the state can report that unemployment is low! There’s something very broken about our system, and as it stands this greatly favors lower-wage paying businesses who can take advantage of people. It’s pretty sad.

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Never forget. It’s always about the money.

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The world can be kind of stupid...

That's obvious, right? 

Here's my story: I created a youtube video that I published.  It was based on a podcast I had done more than a dozen years ago, and included nothing new - it was a re-edit with videos included.

Having been that long ago, I didn't recall from where I sourced the materials, and rolled with it.  I did do a cursory search, to see if there was anything that I might have borrowed (if you will), but came up empty.

Flash forward to the video being active for a couple of weeks.  Some random guy posts that I have infringed on his copyright via a comment on the video.  I reply, and ask for details and offer an email address to contact me, (aside: sometimes you get weirdos commenting, so its better to take things like this "seriously" - but offline)

No answer.  Then, I get a notification from youtube that they received a copyright notice with a takedown request.  The name is the same as the guy who commented, and now I have an email address.  But two key things:

• the person claimed that his content was used in the entire video.  That was definitely NOT the case.  There is a section where I played audio, which was not his, and another few places where I talked about a few things that I had knowledge about. Those could not have been his. 

• As "proof" he pointed youtube to an archive.org site that contained NONE of what I had in the video.  And his actual site is no longer active. (to be fair, I have a recollection of visiting his site, and getting some info, but what and how much, I can't recall OR VERIFY)

Youtube provides no other information or ability to contact anyone, but suggested I reach out to the content owner to resolve the situation.  I did.  I asked if we could leave it up with attribution (and disabling any monetization), and he agreed.

But then I got notified that I didn't take action and the video was removed and I received a copyright strike.  And I have no further recourse, other than legal action.

So in other words, he claimed it was all his and provided "proof" that was anything but.  My video is gone.  And I can do nothing about it.

That's just stupid.  

Of course, I have thoughts about how this was handled.  The person who made the claim was kind of a dick about all of it.  Come at me and just put a takedown request without a discussion? And when I suggested he - as recommended -  simply rescind the takedown and instead submit a copyright notice, he basically blew me off.
Thanks for nothing, pal.

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