Monday, April 14, 2025

Insider trading?

T-rump is accused of manipulating the stock market - via the tariffs - for his own gain. That should alarm us all. I think it's right to at least see if there's  "anything there."  We deserve to know. 

Richard Nixon famously talked about never profiting from his public service and welcomed an investigation. And here 52 years later, all the mouthpieces for el donaldo simply say it's a witch hunt. 

I assume they don't want to be reminded that the guy they prop up IS a crook. Because then they'd have to do something. It's easier to just let it bet. 

That's just dumb. 

Nixons famous line: 

And by the way, isn't it interesting that GOP members of Congress may have likewise been complicit.  

It's likely there is something to all of this. 


Sunday, April 13, 2025

Snowball the giant cat

In 2000 Cordell Hauglie played with photoshop and … well … the results went viral. 

There was some amount of (tongue-in-cheek) reporting that blamed atomic radiation. It was featured on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Good Morning America. 

He said later: 
"My daughter wanted to send an electronic photo of her cat to her friend. I got a little carried away.

"[that's the] the dangers of email … if some dumb guy and his dumb cat can go around the world, you've got to be careful".

Photographer Ken Light had a helpful suggestion when you see a photo doesn't feel right.  
"Trust the photographer, know the source. Look closely – if photos seem too fantastic, they probably are."



A redux of something I posted in 2016

I firmly believe that it's time to Make America Smart Again.  That is, it's time for us, as individuals and groups living in his great nation, to do everything we can to use reason, to think, and to cut though the noise that exists in our lives. 

I will be embracing the idea in my corner of the world, and I encourage you to do the same. 

Here is my mantra, the five things I will be doing to make myself better.  I admit that some of these are affirmations of things I already do, but I wanted to share them and clarify my position.   

1. First up: TV.  I will not watch reality shows, or any network news. On the former, it's dullness offends the senses and encourages one not to think.  And likewise, I won't be following the lives of any celebrity and their absurd behavior.  It serves no purpose. Regarding the latter, it is clear that 24 hour news outlets are motivated by profit and are not in the "news" business; they are businesses that are in it for money - and ratings are directly tied to that revenue. It's as pointless as reality tv.

There are still things to watch: educational programming, some sports, and the occasional movie or tv series are reasonable choices that educate and entertain.

2. Before repeating anything, I will seek to learn if it is true. I will not regurgitate any talking points, or mis-represent facts. In short, I will not accept lies, half-truths, or spout any nonsense. It's counter-productive and shows a lack of intelligence to do otherwise. I won't speculate wildly about anything, either, because the truth matters. If you say something to me, I will ask for your sources and will reject what you are saying if you give me the "inflammatory headline" that isn't supported.

3. I pledge to read more.  My goal is a minimum of 6 novels, or "good books" a year. There can be fiction and non-fiction among the works I'll read, and I will get to the actual library regularly because it's a tremendous resource we have available.  I won't, however, let any one book (however good I think it is) dictate how I think or live; the most it can be is a component of enriching myself.

I will also read more science journals and articles, and will post a link to at least one interesting article a week. On this point, science is the one thing we can look to for meaningful, observable behavior.  It has no agenda, it is the absolute truth and it doesn't care if you believe in it or not.

4. Stop the insanity! Social media is out of control.  It's a part of the bigger problem. I will use it to let you know about things that are going on at Disney, and to occasionally pass on interesting facts.  But I won't be using social media to engage in meaningless banter, or to simply pass judgement.  I also can not accept memes as a way of exchanging information.  It dumbs us all down, and you won't see them from me. And where it's appropriate I'll reject what you are saying here too.

5.  And finally, I will continue to exercise my mind through various activities.  Personally, I will look at new entrepreneurial ideas, app development on a more regular basis, and explore my roots as an engineer to remind myself why I got this education. You may have some other things that you are good at and passionate about - I encourage you to pursue them.

Doing these things will make me a better person, and helps me stay sharp and smart. I hope some of you will take a similar view and help to do your part. 

Do what you can to use your mind. Make yourself smart, continue your education if that's on your list, and share what you learn.  Only then, can we Make America Smart Again.

Plant based waterproof materials

Here's a product that is being developed which is based on cellulose and will break down naturally (and relatively quickly) which could upend the single use plastic industry. 

As one researcher points out, this is a positive step but changing behaviors away from single use materials should be the ultimate goal. 

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2475826-plant-based-waterproof-material-could-replace-single-use-plastics/


Coca Cola and disinformation

Here's a review of a book that paints the Coca Cola company in a maybe not so great light. 

In short: The company worked hard to make their products look somewhat healthy and blamed other factors for people having medical issues or obesity. 

Which is … what?

Another lesson in how companies are innit for their own benefit! So we always have to be on guard and look to actual science for guidance on what should be easily understood as reality. 

https://www.thecooldown.com/green-business/coca-cola-disinformation-soda-drink-company/

From plastic to electricity?

This sounds ridiculous. And the fact that there isn't much more than his own assertions posted on his website and then parroted through interviews and carried to other posts, suggests that this may be hokum. 

But I'd be interested to see if there's anything to the idea that you can somehow use plastic to create electricity. The theory sounds plausible. It's the execution that I question.  

What I love about science

There's a theory of evolution. And some associated theories about who lived in various places, who they interacted with, when they migrated, and so on. 

And then, we learn something new. And each of these theories is tested and some get updated. Maybe this group migrated from a different place than expected and didn't interact with the other dwellers in the region. 

It's fascinating to learn more and start to understand how the populace lived. 

Plus, we also learn more about the earth itself, and how it has evolved and adapted. 

I'd also like to point out that while there ahas always been some amount of climate change in the millions of years the earth has existed, the current conversation is more focused on man-made climate change. And how these changing climates are impacting our lives - and what we can do to help mitigate it. 

https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a64383417/saharan-mummies-dna/

Another example of how climate change is impacting us

But by all means, Florida, focus on ensuring we call it "the gulf of murica" and trynna make sure everyone has access to guns. 

Who cares if what was traditionally the biggest industry in Florida ceases to exist.

https://www.thecooldown.com/sustainable-food/florida-citrus-industry-orange-juice-cost/

This is just sad

Cuts to aid and climate change will cause food scarcity issues in other parts of the world….which undoubtedly will cause a ripple effect to us as well.

But the harm that we're doing to other humans is just plain sad. 

Saturday, April 12, 2025

A reminder about "fake news"

Back in 2016, NPR posted this information for how to spot fake news in order to protect yourself. 

Its still useful today, so I thought I'd share.

And because Pubic Radio is in the cross-hairs as somehow being biased, might I suggest a donation to keep public radio operational?

Thursday, April 10, 2025

North Korea infiltrates Fortune 500 companies...

... in a most unexpected way.  They have agents/spies creating fake profiles and submitting applications for jobs.  And at least a few times (that we know of), a person has slipped through and gotten hired. 

Heck, even one of the leading IT security firms got duped - but recognized their mistake before the person ever got access to any information.

But one HR person came up with a very, very simple way to determine if the person is working for North Korea: 

"He now screens candidates with an unusual test that few North Koreans will pass—he asks them to criticise Kim Jong Un during the interview. A move that has caused applicants to panic or disappear."

Genius!

Cuba's immigration crisis

This is an interesting take on how the policy toward Cuban immigrants is changing - and gets into some detail about how Cubans became such staunch republicans (think Kennedy/Bay of Pigs), and how the republicans are now turning their backs on them.
 

Tuesday, April 8, 2025

Olympic champion banned for failing a gender test

This happened over 60 years ago. A polish sprinter was deemed to be a man and stripped of her medals. 

And yet she went on to have children. 

The thing is that the "test" included a humiliating ritual. The kind of thing that's being bandied around now. 

Talk about out of touch

In Florida, we have Senator Rick Scott who has been associated with a sort of continental Congress that wants to rewrite the constitution to be some weird GOP vision of the world. He also put in his bid to be the senate majority leader. And he totally holds trumps bag. 

He's not in it for Floridians. He's in it for himself. 

And until recently we had lil Marco, when he placed his head firmly into T-rumps bulbous arse. He was (and is) a special kind of tool since he embodies what T-rump is chasing down in his vision of Murica. But he is totally into the GOP because of Cuba and the bay of pigs. So there's no way out for him. 

Anyway, he gets promoted and that leaves his seat empty. Under Florida law, the governor got to appoint someone who was like minded, to serve out the remainder of rubios term. 

He selected his own AG, Ashley Moody. Shocking. I know. 

Even though I know that they simply DO NOT CARE about the people they "represent"  I feel the need to correspond with them. 

Of course, I wound up on senator moodys mailing list.

It's absurdly self serving, talks a lot about trumps agenda, how bad the Dems are, the fentanyl crisis, and on and on.

And she even has a section in the recent newsletter about transgender athletes!

Glad she's focused on important stuff.

Because everything else is just noise AmIRight?

She makes a good point…

Abigail Disney says any billionaire who can't manage to share their wealth is 'kind of a sociopath'



https://finance.yahoo.com/news/disney-heiress-says-billionaire-t-173348468.html

Another downside to these ill-conceived tariffs

Oh look, China is cutting off some supplies that the US doesn't have access to. Things critical to national defense. 

The Big Secret About Medicaid: It’s a Middle-Class Benefit

Here's a tale about Medicaid. And just how harmful it's removal would be. 

NYTimes: The Big Secret About Medicaid: It's a Middle-Class Benefit

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/21/your-money/medicaid-trump-long-term-care.html

On tariffs.

Holy guacamole. I wouldn't put it past this group of idiots to do just this…

Did team T-rump use Chat GPT to decide on tariffs?

A sphincter says what?

Asshats were clamoring to ensure that they could have free-dumb from doing business with people they didn't like. You may recall the nonsense about bakers not wanting to make a wedding cake for a gay wedding because it went against their beliefs. 

And they won to a large degree. They can discriminate if it violates something about their religious freedoms. 

The ruling was pretty vague, with language that made pretty much any objection on questionable religious grounds acceptable. 

I said at the time that the religion of Dave, which I founded at that moment, would allow me to overtly discriminate against stupid people. Especially those wearing red hats. 

Apparently (and obviously) I'm not the only one, and you're seeing the maga tears flowing. This was supposed to be about THEM discriminating against anyone they didn't like. But people are taking a stand and refusing business from these idiots. 

And the red hat wearers are quite laughably saying it's not fair. 

Is this really what Jesus would do?

I'm not religious. But I (mostly these days) *had* friends and relatives who were (and presumably are still) varying degrees of Christians and very aligned with maga. 

I know one of these pastor-types who was saying it was that god answered prayers in getting T-rump elected. 

But here's the thing. Now that we're seeing people being deported, literally taken from their homes and put into detention with no ability to contact family or friends - or a lawyer. Then being sent to a for-profit prison that arguably treats them inhumanely, and ultimately being sent to somewhere (maybe another country, maybe the country they came from) where they are treated worse…

How can any of them support *that*?  I'm sure Republican Jesus (tm) would say it's okay because they're not white. 

Quick aside: I don't recall any specific verses from the Bible. But I do recall that there was a lot in there about the poor. About immigrants. And even about the wealthy needing to share with the poor. If I can remember that, then certainly people who read it all the time must realize that they're hypocrites. 

Anyway, in the case of the pastor guy, his family is from one of the countries to where people are being deported. 

So not only is in contrary to what the Jesus who is portrayed in the Bible would do… now it's that you're essentially condoning what's happening to YOUR FAMILY. 

I say to all of you who are accepting this. Especially the ones who are supremely religious. Take a look in the mirror. You're a racist hiding behind religion. 

Suck it Rafael

Sounds right

That’s on brand.

Sunday, April 6, 2025

Help this make sense

Maybe it's just me. But.

5 or so years ago we were talking about the orange menace and his fitness to serve. There was some (mostly idle) talk about removing him using the 25th amendment because there was a sense that maybe he didn't have the mental acumen to be president.

And here we are today .. and it's all this talk about how crazy his policies are and how much harm he's doing.

But where did we lose the focus on his mental abilities? He's 5 years older. It's not like there's some magical cure. And that he somehow "got better" and whatever mental issues he had went away.

It's just weird how the conversation changed from HIM not being fit, to HIS POLICIES being ridiculous.

How is no one reporting on the actual problem: his declining mental abilities?

Why are we not talking about him having whatever issues he has - and that's the reason he's acting this way? 

Saturday, April 5, 2025

SuperSonic flight

This is cool. 


Chinese researchers have unveiled a supersonic aircraft so quiet that it can zip passengers at 1.6 times the speed of sound and still be as quiet as a hairdryer




https://luxurylaunches.com/travel/china-whisper-quiet-supersonic-airliner-04012025.php

Senators: uphold and defend the constitution

I remind you, again, that there are three branches of government. 

The executive is acting like a dilettante as it relates to being in a a position of power. The judicial is holding the executive branch accountable as is prescribed in the constitution. But the executive is literally thumbing his nose at judicial and ignoring them. 

That leaves the 3rd branch, the legislative, in which is not doing much, and tacitly approving of the executive doing whatever he wants, and undermining the constitution. And worse, some members have openly discussed removing justices who stand in the way of the executive branch, which is subverting the constitution. 

Do your job Senator. Uphold, protect and defend the constitution. The three branches are equal in power. Don't let one branch simply take over and become a dictatorship. 


To our senators on tariffs and the economy

Mr Trump continues to run roughshod over the economy. His tariffs and related uncertainty about his policies are having a damaging effect on everyday Americans.  And tariffs on uninhabited islands show what utter nonsense this all is. 

Prices for nearly everything are on the rise. It would appear as though we are headed quickly toward a recession. Consumer confidence is at a low point. And the stock market is tumbling in a way we haven't seen in our lifetime. 

There is no reasons for this to be happening. The economy was in a good place, and there was no need for tariffs like these. Especially only a few months after he took office. 

It's your job to represent Floridians, and really all Americans, in ensuring that he doesn't destroy the economy. 

He himself said years ago that any president who oversees a Dow drop of *a lesser magnitude* should be impeached. That's his own standard, and yet you aren't even willing to have a meaningful moment of standing up to him for his actions. Or even of taking back control over tariffs. 

Seniors in our state are struggling. Workers are seeing their retirement saving investments being wiped out. And it's expensive to put food on the table. 

I can only imagine the uproar you would be in if, say, Kamala had won and was doing something like this. 

Don't put politics ahead of everything else and let our country be financially ruined and perhaps scarred forever. 

Friday, April 4, 2025

A lesson in why it’s hard for companies to adapt quickly

Here's a (not so well written) story about how India changed its laws so that beverage giants have to use recycled materials in their plastic bottles. 

They must be 30% recycled material this year, ramping up to 60% in three years. 

But there are only a few companies that can make recycled bottles at scale - and not enough to meet the demands of the likes of coke and Pepsi. 

One executive notes that:
"We are investing in capacity, but capacity increases are two-three years away."

And so in India, the beverage companies want to take legal action because they know they can't meet the need. 

Which leads us back home. T-rump has imposed tariffs to encourage growth of American made products. He's been in office for about 3 months and expects there to be some "pain" while this gets sorted out. 

If we use the situation in India as sort of a guide, we should realize that it will take *years* for companies to figure it out and be able to make products at scale. And that is if they can do it all. 

These tariffs, then, hurt everyone. The company, the consumer, shippers, the places from whence products come. For a very long time. 


Thanks obi wan. 

Thursday, April 3, 2025

Another Japanese breakthrough.

Scientists in Japan have been discussing the possibility of using a material called perovskite for solar panels as opposed to the traditional silicon-based cells.

And now they have had their first trials and seen the results. The panels are cheaper, more lightweight, and bendable so they can go on more surfaces. 

Plus, they have a max output 1.5 times traditional silicone collar cells. 

https://www.ecoticias.com/en/japan-super-solar-panel/12474/

Retrieving lithium from used batteries

Taking the materials out of batteries is a tricky proposition and no one has yet mastered it. 

But here's a team that is using cooking oil and water to break down the materials and allow for the removal of lithium in a simple, environmentally friendly, quick, and easy way at room temperature.  

We could go further with electric if we didn't have to worry about the environmental impacts of disposed batteries. 

https://tech.yahoo.com/articles/scientists-revolutionary-breakthrough-cooking-oil-111535092.html

Transparent solar cells

A group of researchers in Japan have come up with a means to create small, lightweight, and clear(!) solar cells that can be adapted for most situations - including putting them on homes or cars, while not changing the aesthetic or the ability to see through a windshield. 

"Our approach improved the power conversion efficiency over 1,000 times compared to devices using standard ITO electrodes," 

Now that's something that could revolutionize the solar industry. 

https://www.thebrighterside.news/post/transparent-solar-cells-generate-power-1000x-more-efficiently-than-traditional-panels-2/

American culture and return to office

There have been many, many, many articles about forcing workers to return to offices, chiding them for not putting in "enough" time, of companies and ceos being bullies because they can. 

They say things like "We are more productive" or "we can collaborate" when what they mean is that they can control everyone who works for them. 

And now we're seeing articles about how it's impacting these companies. More pushback. More incivility. 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/workplace-incivility-spiraling-companies-rile-161658844.html

And meanwhile in Europe, they're taking a different approach. Here's one outcome in Germany that suggests treating employees well pays off. 


But we'll never get there. Instead we will all become a kind of indentured servant to the large corporations. 

Rocket radar?

DARPA's AtmoSense program seeks to use Earth's atmosphere as a global sensor by measuring acoustic and electromagnetic waves propagating through the atmosphere, and attempting to trace them back to a specific disturbance event that took place on Earth. In doing so, DARPA hopes to be able to trace underground explosions or other national security threats using the signals detected from the atmosphere.


https://gizmodo.com/darpa-unintentionally-invents-new-rocket-radar-thanks-to-spacex-2000584008

Watch "Propellantless Propulsion Device | Charles Buhler" on YouTube

Dr Buhler thinks he has found a new force that allows for a a drive system that has no propellant. 
 

"Essentially, what we've discovered is that systems that contain an asymmetry in either electrostatic pressure or some kind of electrostatic divergent field can give a system of a center of mass a non-zero force component.

 "So, what that basically means is that there's some underlying physics that can essentially place force on an object should those two constraints be met."

Which is somewhere between an interesting theory and just using jargon to obfuscate. 

Personally, I'm learning toward this being hokum. But I am willing to keep an open mind and see if there's any merit to what he's saying. 

Innovative new design in wind energy production

Spanish company, Vortex Bladeless Ltd., has designed turbines that are entirely without blades. They generate electricity by jiggling.

The structure of these bladeless turbines works by attracting whirlwinds. Depending on the speed and direction of the wind, these whirlwinds develop at certain frequencies. At the base of the bladeless turbine are two rings of repelling magnets. When the wind pulls the turbine in one direction, the magnets pull it in another, causing the tube to wiggle.

Energy reaches a peak when the frequency of the vortex or whirlwind coincides with the frequency of the turbine. This peak is established due to the aeroelastic coupling that arises at this point. It is at this moment that the energy is absorbed and converted from kinetic energy into electrical energy.

To simplify, the whirlwinds produced by the wind cause the turbine to vibrate. This kinetic energy is converted into electrical energy and used to power our homes.



https://www.ecoticias.com/en/say-goodbye-wind-power-unlimited-energy/12905/

Simple question

What is wrong with us?

An anonymous social media post tells a made up story about some college girl and it goes viral; the story even appeared on a national show. 

Wednesday, April 2, 2025

Tuesday, April 1, 2025

Elon 🖕🏼

You tried to buy an election, presumably for your own personal gain. 

But Wisconsiners? Wisconsinites? Aren't having it. 

Suck it. 

Here's to hoping they come after you for breaking the law, ya blatherskite 


April Fools

 

I was admittedly a bit of a prankster in college.  I perpetrated several different elaborate pranks just because, and on April Fools I tried to think "bigger."  

For several years running on April Fools, I would look for a free-standing newspaper machine (like the one pictured here).  I would switch 10 copies of the paper - 9 from the stack, and the one that was facing the world in the window - with ones from the previous year.  (this prank took some serious planning!).

I would then take the 10 current ones, and return home with them, and save them for the following year.

And for the record, since this was a prank, not a theft, I also carefully considered how to ensure everyone came out "even" on the deal.  I paid for the newspapers! (they only cost $.25 a the time, so I didn't see it as a big deal for a fun prank)

Sunday, March 30, 2025

On tariffs

A little self own by the GOP. Fact checking yourself to remind people that WE will be paying for these tariffs and not whoever made and sold them is enlightening. 

So $100 billion divided by 300 million people means, on average, we will be spending $333 more a year. It may not seem like a lot, but it disproportionately skews down to lower income people, where the income is smaller and it takes a larger bite out of what you have already budgeted. 

And then T-rump saying he doesn't care if WE have to pay more for a car? That's crazy. An already expensive $50,000 automobile will now cost $62,500. That made what was unaffordable now unattainable. But I'm sure some company will be happy to write you a loan for that amount for a ridiculous amount of interest.  

Saturday, March 29, 2025

This guy….

A shell game

I saw a headline "Elon Musk sells [the platform formerly known as twitter]"

The subhead is that it's for a lot of money and something about it being a valuable property and he profited from it!

Except that it's just some made up nonsense to generate a headline when no one checks any facts. 

He personally owned the platform. He "sold it" to another company that he owns, and rolled it under that company. 

That's an accounting trick of sorts, that allows for obfuscation of profits, losses, tax liability and such. 

It was a "stock swap" so that no actual cash changed hands. Another accounting trick!

The valuation was whatever he said it was since he owns both companies. 

And in the end, he still owns the social media platform, and can do whatever with it. But he'll tell you otherwise. Because him putting some distance between his name and any company he's involved with is better for his bottom line. 

Greenland, Panama, and the assumed agenda

Throughout history, controlling trade routes has been an important part of opening the world. Through various large companies and through government action, routes opened and people benefited - from the sellers to the buyers to the people and companies that facility the trade. 

What was the Silk Road? A trade route. What of Marco Polo and other early traders? They looked to open trade. 

The new world opened trade routes that now needed military ships to protect these routes. (And if you think about it, the stamp act, the tea party, and other pre-revolutionary war actions were fueled by this trade being unfavorable to the colonists) 

The Panama Canal opened as a means to make trading with Asia easier. 

Germany looked to disrupt trade routes in order to further their goals of European domination. 

Oil and natural gas are always commodities that travel along some routes to literally fuel our lives. 

In the early 20th century, wealthy industrialists made their mark, too. They looked to own certain passages, owned shipping companies, harbors and ports, and then sought to make ways for the goods to be delivered. 

And here we are in the 21st century and it's playing out again, and still. 

Putin took Crimea and is still trying to take Ukraine. Why? Because there are ports to be had and trade to control. 

And that brings us around to the topic at hand. 

Why does T-rump want the Panama Canal? Because it is still a vital part of trade with Asia. And of course the US no longer controls the canal, and several other nations are working to create a new shipping channel through part of Panama to bypass the old canal. So there's money to be made that we are missing out on. 

Funny enough, some of these venture capital companies now own a lot of ports that are useful in the area, but they could be even more profitable if they had a "friendly" agreement with the owners of the canal. 

And then there's Greenland. Its seems illogical that the US would show such great interest in it. 

Except that with climate change comes melting ice, meaning that new shipping channels are starting to open much further north than they ever could have. And Greenland would be part of the shipping channel, a place where goods could be held before shipping to the Americas or other places further south. 

And there's your proverbial killing two birds with one stone. Saying climate change isn't real while using it to your advantage to increase potential profits, all the while acting like 20th century robber barons, T-rump stands to reshape global trade. And meanwhile he can take any natural resources he wants from Greenland.  

And he and his allies get rich. 

It's so 19th and early 20th century diabolical. But in the great magicians trick, pay no attention to that. DEI! That's what we need to focus on!

Wake up people. 

Friday, March 28, 2025

Anyone else notice this?

Tesla has come under scrutiny, mostly because of Elon Musk. 

Sales are down. Stock price was plunging. And people hate the cars because of the guy. 

The obvious answer for the company is to remove him as the CEO. 

But…. Because he is the shadow president, there's another option. First step is to whine a lot. Then, he opted to use the White House as a showroom (because nothing screams decorum like branding at the highest level of government).  And finally he got his BFF to slap tariffs of 25% on any cars not made in the United States. Which is all of his electric competition. And most of the other cars. 

Voila. Stock price goes up like magic!

Talk about manipulating everything to your advantage.  Sigh. 

Education is under fire

At the Federal level, there is an admittedly half-assed plan to do away with the department of education. 

The net result is that there would be limited, or perhaps no, funds that are sent from the federal government to states that ensures that the education offered will be "excellent" …

Meanwhile in the state of Florida, there is a proposal to do away with property taxes, which are used for some services, and most importantly, education. 

Florida has no state income tax. The only other sources of direct revenue are highway tolling, and sales tax. Highway taxes do pay for a lot of things but not education. And don't look to sales tax, as there's also a proposal to *lower* the rate, meaning there will be less revenue for everything. 

So Florida schools will be funded … how exactly? I imagine the only viable options for those that can afford it will be some form of private school (that doesn't have to adhere to a curriculum, and surely will weed out anyone who doesn't "fit in") or some crappy, overcrowded schools that won't be able to provide transportation or pay for teachers. 

But, hey, not to worry, because the state has plans to allow anyone to teach, to pay below minimum wage for "certain jobs" (teaching is not among them for now), and to allow children to work. 

Maybe they can just let students teach the class! 

This is insanity. 

Who needs an edumacation anyway?


Thursday, March 27, 2025

Stupidity? Ineptitude? Or part of a (seemingly ridiculous) strategy?

This sending of battle plans to a reporter is just bizarre.  So I ask the question in the title.  

And in the end, it doesn't matter which one it is... because the reality is that everything is part of a complete disregard for everything and just about an agenda to destroy the country from within.  

Not that we haven't heard this before.  In 1838, Abraham Lincoln addressed the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois. He warned us against the dangers of mob violence and the erosion of respect for law and government. 

How then shall we perform it?--At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it?-- Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow?
 
Never!--All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years.
 
At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.

And a little under 200 years later, it seems to have come to pass. 

Watch "West Ada washes off chalk messages amid 'everyone is welcome here' movement" on YouTube

This story is really something. 

A teacher is told to remove an "everyone is welcome here" sign from her classroom - because that's who we are these days. 

She says no. It goes viral. The community comes out in support. They raise awareness. Sell tshirts.  Get a lot of attention. 

Then, they have a community effort to write messages of inspiration in chalk on the sidewalk around the school, and the education department. 

The school board sees it and instructs the custodial staff to "remove graffiti left by vandals."

The media picks it up and asks why they had it removed and they actually said it was so that chalk wouldn't be tracked onto the carpeting. 

You just can't make this stuff up. 

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

Megyn (who has a stupid spelling of her name) Kelly 🖕🏼

She has the audacity to (a) say that she has any integrity and is a fair minded "journalist" and (b) says she's tired of hearing from George Clooney. 

Why? Because he spoke the truth? 

Sunday, March 23, 2025

The deportation of hundreds of thousands of people fleeing violence and dictatorships

Of course, T-rump ended the TPS status for very many people from various countries, in spite of the fact that he was the "tough guy" and lured them into thinking he would fight for them - and their family and friends voted for T-rump. 

Then, he started deporting people who were suspected of gang activity. 

The song  "I never thought the leopard would eat my face" comes to mind…

And now he turns to people who were given a path to citizenship by Biden, as they left their home countries. Yep. They, too, have been told they will be deported. 

All of these nearly 1,000,000 people in total across all of these "groups" will face danger and hardship. All because of this xenophobic nonsense. 

And here's where Republican leadership from south Florida is in a tough spot. They wholeheartedly support T-rump. But they also love their communities and are proud of where they come from, and they and protect the people who come from similar places - or, heaven forbid, they actually care about people in their community. 

Their responses to this is to try and thread that needle. The one that kind of sums it up for me is Maria Elvira Salazar:

"Trump is cleaning up Biden's political mess, and the legal limbo the Cubans, Venezuelans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans are facing is entirely Biden's fault. He fooled them. They came here fleeing failed, communist countries believing in Biden's empty promises. The Trump administration should take this under consideration and not punish them for Biden's mistakes."

Right. Blame Biden! Got it. 

This is the article that contains the quote, but there are many others that cover it in varying level of detail. 

I'll grant you the issue is complex. The immigration programs from the Caribbean, central, and South America evolved under Obama. T-rump never touched it in his first term. Biden offered some solutions, but surely didn't go far enough. And T-rump is simply harming people, ignoring the law, and eschewing due process because … yeah I don't know how you to end that sentence. 

Thursday, March 20, 2025

The underwater turbine

Here's some new tech being deployed to try and create green energy from the oceans. 

Conceptually, I like it. I do wonder what impacts it will have on the local ecology and what maintenance will be like (salt water is notoriously corrosive). 

Another company doing the wrong thing

Ben and Jerry's was founded by a couple of former hippies. And their world views were decidedly liberal. 

They ran a good company and espoused their views through their marketing. It was at the core of their business 

In 2000, they sold out to Unilever, but they had an agreement that they could continue to run as they always had.

In the acquisition agreement, Unilever agreed to carry on the company's tradition of engaging "in these critical, global economic and social missions"


Ben and Jerry are no longer involved in day-to-operations, but the (until recently) current CEO followed the same rules of the road. 

And then Unilever decided that he wasn't doing what they wanted and fired him. (And the mouth breathers celebrated of course). 

If you read through the article it seems quite clear it was because he was being a social activist, contrary to company views. 

https://www.fastcompany.com/91301964/ben-jerrys-ceo-fired-unilever-social-policy-liberal-views

So. If you want to do something about this the answer is to avoid unilever products. What they are can be found here:

NASA astronauts get a $5 per diem each day

This is a fun, quirky story about how the two astronauts who were unable to get home for a year were given their government allotted per diem. 

"While in space, NASA astronauts are on official travel orders as federal employees."

This means that in addition to their annual salary — about $152,258, according to NASA — Mr. Wilmore and Ms. Williams received around $1,430 for their 286 days in space.

Ms. Williams and Mr. Wilmore did not exactly see their extended stay as a hardship. "This is my happy place," Ms. Williams told reporters in September. "I love being up here in space. It's just fun, you know?"


Astronaut Clayton Anderson who also had an extended stay in the early 2000s added "it IS a government job with government pay. I would have done WAY better with mileage!"


A look inside imagineering

Crunchlabs was able to go inside Disney imagineering's labs and shows us around!

You can see many of the things they are working on. It's wicked cool. 

From a personal standpoint, this was always my dream job …. So it's really fun to take a peek at what they're doing. And I do appreciate that several imagineers remind kids that they can create the future through imagineering, engineering, or simply being creative. 


Disneys Cotino community

You may recall that back in 2022, Disney announced plans to create a master planned community near Palm Springs. 

Well, the first part is set to open soon. Disney has fulfilled on its desire to create some kind of storybook living. 

And in a way, you could argue that this is at least a little like the original plans for Epcot. Its a place built (and managed, I think?) by Disney. 

https://people.com/disney-cotino-planned-community-reportedly-set-to-welcome-first-residents-this-spring-11699853

Hope for paralysis

Here's a piece on a Chinese research team and their attempts to help people who have been paralyzed. In summary:

The Chinese team's advance was made possible by implanting electrode chips in the brain and spinal cord to create a bridge or "neural bypass" – thus reconnecting the body's own pathways.

Which is a hopeful finding. 

But also not to be missed is the fact that they take some not-so-subtle jabs at Elon in the article. Which goes to show how much of a Dr Evil he's become. 

Intriguing idea for the future of power sources

The idea of a Natrium power source isn't new, but it's always been somewhat theoretical until recently. 

The concept is to create a nuclear reactor and use liquid sodium to cool the materials, rather than water. 

This would have two benefits: it would increase energy production and decrease the risk of an accident. 

They're building a power plant in Wyoming, to test this out. I look forward to seeing how this works out. 

And by the way, the article notes that Bill Gates thinks this is a good direction for the future of energy. I just wanted to point out that Gates is smarter than Elon is; so I can at least accept that through independent thought he might have some idea what he's talking about.  But maybe that's just me. 

https://jasondeegan.com/bill-gates-argues-that-the-future-of-energy-isnt-in-renewables-or-fusion-but-in-natrium/

Tuesday, March 18, 2025

Another leap forward in science

Here's a look at how scientists are developing up better means of transmitting power with less loss, over longer distances by using different materials and configurations of those materials.  

This is who we are?

What the actual frick?

A guy is connected to a terrorist organization (in a guilty by association sort of way), loses his residency, and is deported. All without due process 

And lil Marco defends it as something necessary. 

Wow. We suck. And we are truly failing people, and treating no one with dignity, apparently. 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/marco-rubio-mahmoud-khalil-arrest-face-the-nation/

That qualifies as an oops...

Here's a cautionary tale of how bad actors can infiltrate our lives through something innocuous - and that can spread in a terrible way.

The short summary is that a guy downloaded a piece of software from the internet to his home computer.  It had a trojan horse buried in it, and that allowed someone access to any and all personal information he had stored on it - and that wound up carrying over to his logins at the Walt Disney company, where they suffered a data breach as an end result. (and of course, we all heard about that breach, but not how it came to be)

The FBI got involved, and it was a whole thing.

Its such a strange world we live in...

And it should serve as a reminder to never download anything you don't trust from the interwebs.

It’s a non stop assault on everything

Mr Trump has made several decisions and issued orders that have drawn a rebuke from the courts, ie the judicial a branch. 

That is their job. To provide part of the checks and balances on the executive branch. 

However, Mr Trump has decided that he simply doesn't care, and doesn't have to listen to them as only his actions matter. 

When it comes to the alien enemies acts, he is misapplying the context to suit his actions. 

And as another branch of government (ie the legislative branch, using basic civics) you are the third part of the checks and balances.  

It is your sworn duty to uphold the constitution.

When Mr Trump does something that oversteps the bounds of his office, or in this case misapplies acts created by the legislature (even if it was before your time) you need to hold him to account for it. 

And when he violates his oath of office, and ignores the constitution, then it is your job to remove him from office. 

That is what our founding fathers set forth in the document you swore an allegiance to. 

Do not let him act like a king or tyrant. 

Do your job and support the judicial branch in calling out his actions. 

Monday, March 17, 2025

This sh*t is getting serious

Last week, we heard from Mr. Trump a plan to weaponize the DOJ.  He outright said that everyone must do as he says and he plans to go after anyone who opposes him. He's said he wants people arrested for simply "being mean to him"

Is this enough for you to actually take action?  You can't stand idly by and let him pull from the dictator's playbook.  I expect you to represent Americans and call out this sort of unacceptable and un-American behavior.

Sunday, March 16, 2025

Natural disasters

During the election cycle, T-rump told us that in order to get federal funds for disaster relief, everyone had to kiss the proverbial ring (which in this case, is affixed to his voluminous buttocks).  

California's governor would have to apologize to him, and agree to certain things if they wanted any sort of funds for disaster relief, related to their fires.  Because, after all, its all about him.

And he also said that FEMA was wasteful and he wanted to do away.with it, because why would he want to help anyone?

Since he moved back into the oval office, there have been a great number of calamities in "red states" - from fires, to tornadoes, to floods.  People have been left homeless and somewhat helpless.

And of course, the response from T-rump has been mostly crickets. He did have some limited thoughts about some of it, but not much.  FEMA won't be arriving.  And they'll have to wait on federal aid ... until .... who knows?

The governors of the states impacted are really not sure how to act,  When you hear them, they say confusing things about the need for help and don't want to disturb dear leader as he continues his assault on everything to make government "more efficient" (?).  They're taking care of their people! (even if they aren't)

And so their residents suffer.  

Meanwhile, there's another side to this too.  These disasters are happening with an alarming frequency, where they used to be more sporadic. Gutting agencies that study this, cutting off funding on how to help understand and combat these things, and burying your head in the sand and saying "climate change isn't real" will only make matters worse as these things become more frequent and we move closer to a 3rd world country.

And the hits just keep on coming (health edition)

Last week, the uninformed idiot in charge of Health and Human Services (who banks on nothing but his name, and whose brain was apparently totally consumed by the brain eating amoeba), decided to tell us that some things are bad for us and we need to get healthy again.

Now I'll grant you that in general, he's right.  We have too much processed food, artificial dyes are bad, and generally we need to combat chronic illnesses.

But its the details that are at issue here,  He's telling everyone - from his position of power - that vaccines are bad (with nothing to back that up other than the voices in his head), and he wants to change how they are approved and distributed.

He's already given some hair-brained theory that the measles outbreak can be thwarted by making sure children have enough Vitamin A.  Which is dangerous, reckless, and stupid.  If only there was a very long-tested, effective, and safe alternative that essentially previously eradicated measles (but which some celebrity types decided to be vocal against) that we could use.... 

And then there was this week's photo op, and plea for a free meal.  He went on about how seed oils are bad, and some nut and vegetable oils, too.  And the science suggests that maybe he's right, so, please, do go on... 

He then proceeded to say that animal fats are good, and better than these other types of plant-based things.   Which the science does not support, but why does that matter?  The amoeba told him so!  

If you are moving away from animal products for personal health reasons, or you don't trust that the animal products we consume are safe, or perhaps you just care about animal welfare. then this is perhaps a little more egregious.  It feels like a nod to the cattle industry to a large degree.  

Anyway, the company Steak N Shake proudly announced that they would "make their fries RFKd"  and that prompted a visit from the man who sat down and had a burger and fries while being interviewed by faux news.  (his plea for a free meal paid off!)

The other side of this story is that Steak N Shake grew during the 90s and had many stores east of the Mississippi.   They touted themselves as serving "steakburgers"  and I would argue that they had a quality product.  But then, recessions hit, they changed their model to be more affordable chain to compete with the likes of McDonalds.  Their quality suffered, and they shuttered a large number of stores.  And recently they've been on the verge of bankruptcy.

But opportunity struck.  All they had to do was say they'd go along with what the guy said, and they'd get a ton of free advertising.  Sure, it might alienate some diners, but when you're looking for any hope, you take that risk.

Opportunistic company meet amoeba man!

The company may have bought themselves a little time, but their trajectory still isn't good.

No one actually wins here.  But yet, we all lose.

At least the memes were epic.  For example:


 

Saturday, March 15, 2025

flori-doge?

Read an article yesterday about our governors desire to create a sort of doge to find inefficiencies. (like spending tax payer dollars on migrant flights NOT IN Florida-duh?) But the amusing part is that the legislature does not want this. 

They are Republican controlled and have been for about 30 years. Their fear is that the light will be shone upon their wastefulness and residents might not take kindly to knowing that things aren't so good BECAUSE of them.

It's almost comical. 

Watch "Why Tariffs Won’t Save Manufacturing" on YouTube

Truth. Love this. 

In short, its that tariffs don't actually help anything.  They shift problems and essentially make life more expensive for everyone.

The example of cotton is a good one.

Friday, March 14, 2025

They saved how much?

The DOGE idiot is claiming $115 billion in saves! Amazing isn't it?

But there is simply no way that's true. Sure, trimming some costs here and there will help. And closing a few buildings can't hurt. 

But one of the biggest expenses that was saved on was labor. But let's do a little back of the envelope math. 

Let's say the average laid off worker (who may or may not be actually laid off) makes $100k a year. And let's suppose that 10,000 people were laid off. 

That's $1 billion in cost reductions (on paper anyway) for a year. 

Is he claiming it's more? Like a million federal workers? Huh? That would be half of all federal employees. 

It ain't adding up. 

And just for context, that $1b in savings amounts to just three F22 fighter jets or half of one B2 bomber. 

Maybe if you're looking for savings, you could find a similar amount in the military budget. Just saying.