Sunday, November 8, 2026
Rock on!
This is the background on Allie Phillips, who won a seat in the Tennessee House of Representatives, beating a GOP incumbent.
Disney eyes thousands of layoffs, asks managers to target 20% savings, Bloomberg News reports | Reuters
Disney wants to cut 20% of their costs, and to get there, the plan is to lay off thousands of employees across the company.
The thing that caught my attention in all of this is a plan to increase the use of AI. But surprisingly, Disney had made a significant investment into a large AI company, but about a week ago announced that they were terminating that agreement.
Now I know that Disney has a large tech division, and partnerships with other companies that have AI services, but I have to wonder what their future plans are in the AI space.
I mean in guest-facing jobs in theme parks, you can’t move toAI. And the maintenance department maybe could be aided with AI, but you can’t eliminate those roles.
While it’s possible that they want to streamline sports reporting or streaming, you still need to produce content.
I guess we’ll see what they do.
Saturday, November 7, 2026
You miserable, vomitous mass…
If you weren't aware, Floridas amendment 3 is intended to "eliminate property taxes"... it hastily passed through the legislature, then they wrote a ballot measure. A legal challenge was brought to the wording that was used, but for unknown reasons (!) the judge allowed it to go forward, in spite of him saying it was confusing and something about how the measure should be reviewed again.
It needed 60% of the vote... and naturally it got there...hey! Sounds great! Not!
It won't actually eliminate property taxes, of course. There will be some amount, perhaps less than what we're paying now, maybe? We don't know yet, because they haven't written the actual amendment.
Since we have no other taxes in "the free state of Florida" other than a sales tax, there will have to be something. How does the state pay for any services, schools, etc? (And did I mention that they want to reduce the sales tax?!)
Anyway, outgoing governor desantis wants hold a special legislative session this month to make this happen for implementation next year. Of course, his rationale is that he wants to have his name on it, because he wants to run for president in 2028.
No doubt, whatever they write will be shit, and will leave many gaps and loopholes. And cities and counties will find other new and fun ways to tax us going forward. In the end, I have no doubt we'll be paying more.
... I should also mention that the race for governor and the senate were very close. They should have gone to democrats. But, when the votes were tallied, they both stayed red.
And unsurprisingly, a giddy desantis says he "saved Florida from a blue wave" because amendment 3 was on the ballot, and it brought more people to vote.
I guess I should give him a little credit for being "savvy" in putting politics over the needs of the state, and screwing us in either services or taxes (or both) with a promise of something, in order to advance his own career.
Friday, November 6, 2026
Leaving maga?
The story is that people are leaving maga. And that’s all fine and nice.
But.
They have to find their own way back out of the cult. And to seek redemption through their own journey.
I am willing to “be the bigger man” and at least open a dialogue with any of them who 1) own up to their getting sucked into a cult, 2) atone for their transgressions, the rhetoric, and the general disgusting behavior that they embodied or endorsed (or overlooked), 3) that they do some good somehow, some way, for others. Volunteer somewhere or get to know their neighbor who doesn’t look like them, and 4) understand that we are one nation, and stronger when we all work together. Stop shutting people out under the guise of your religion.
And if you can’t do those things, then I guess we still can’t be friends.
And a note to people I know who are from immigrant families that joined the cult: you are the most egregious and have a lot more work to do. We can talk again in a decade or so when you see what harm you caused to people like yourself.
What comes next?
I am well aware that it will take some time and effort to normalize things again. It won’t be easy. And Congress can’t just snap their fingers, and of course T-rump is still an obstacle.
But he has no real power anymore. Congress can use that to their advantage.
Here are some of the things I hope to see happen:
* Congress retakes control over things that are theirs constitutionally, like tariffs
* Congress puts some governance around this Iran conflict. They never declared war. Now it’s time to ask what we’re doing there and winding it down. All while holding those in power accountable for any acts of aggression that violate the law.
* It’s time to reign in ICE and the deportation process. They obviously can’t control all of it, but they can see what DHS is doing, and remove funding if that’s the right course.
* Review what health and human services is doing and try and end this madness with vaccines and generalized health. We have a constitutional duty to provide for general welfare. This, ain’t that.
* Use their fiscal power to undo Medicaid cuts and restore the subsidies to individuals in the affordable care marketplace.
* Release the full Epstein files with appropriate context. We deserve to know the complete truth.
* Open investigations into people around T-rump regarding their shady businesses that abused power. That should include his associates, family, and that musk fellow. People got rich, and suspicious activity took place. And most of them are not government employees, so if they used access to enrich themselves, then they may have broken the law.
* Reverse any (and all) executive orders that exceed his authority, including any sweetheart deals regarding our national parks.
* I don’t see a need or reason to impeach T-rump at this point. That could change through the aforementioned investigations if he abused his power or sufficiently violated the constitution. It serves no real purpose, other than to be symbolic and to make it seem political. But cabinet members should all be up for review to ensure that they didn’t abuse their power, and where possible, some should be held accountable and removed through a review process.
The objective here should be to undo most of the things T-rump has done, and make him the object of mockery as he slogs through two years of being “dead man walking”… to make this as embarrassing as possible during this lengthy lame-duck session.
Wednesday, November 4, 2026
Avani Bioplastic “Eco Bags” Feed Animals, Doesn’t Hurt Them
The article is from a few years ago. But Avani showed up in the news again recently with an expanded product line (beyond the plastic bags).
The plastic is derived from cassava pulp, while other products are made from other otherwise-discarded plant matter.
A win for the environment!
WOW. The outcome was crazy and so cool. (election edition)
As I noted previously, this election felt different than others. We were battling for the "soul" of the country to a large degree. Would we head more toward autocracy, from which recovery would likely be long, or would the pendulum swing back toward the middle and start us back on the path of a functioning democracy?
Heading into the midterms, it was never really clear what would happen. Sure, there were hopes and dreams that there might be a "blue wave" that would hand at least some control back to the democrats and keep the orange man in check. But it would take all of us to get out and vote to make it happen.
Quick aside: polling was all over the place, I would assume because polling methods have become more political, and don't necessarily ask the right questions or keep up with the way people behave, hiding behind anonymity. So they were no help in understanding what might happen.
Anyway, we - all of us - came through! At a national level, the results could not have been more clear. Senate and House both handed resoundingly to the democrats. Governors and other local elections went to dems all over (and in unexpected places). The gerrymandering efforts brought by the GOP failed spectacularly.
While the orange man talked about "being on the ballot" heading into the election, afterward he told us all that if he had been on the ballot he would have had a resounding victory. And, blamed any - and every - one for the defeats.
But the reality is that this is a middle finger directed AT him.
And don't miss that what happened in Texas was a rebuke of that Musk fellow. He spent a ton (though it's obviously not much to him) to try and get Texas to go how he wanted. And voters thoroughly rejected him.
All of that said, Flori-duh did what Flori-duh does best, and acted stupidly. Apparently the memo that was circulated about a "blue wave" didn't reach the state, so most things went very MAGA. Sure, some of the gerrymandered seats went to the dems. But overall, it was a bit of a failure at the state level. I suppose you can argue that the races were close, and the dems broke the long-standing supermajority in the Florida legislature.
But overall, I take this is a step in the right direction.
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