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! 

https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/this-plastic-bag-wont-hurt-animals-it-actually-fee/

https://avanieco.com/about-us/

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.

Nasa’s Artemis astronaut feared they would never get home as they flew around the Moon | The Independent

The mission had a specific point at which the spacecraft was to get to (its apogee) and then it would fire the rockets to return. 

But as it rounded the moon, the indicator of how many miles from earth “ticked past” the number they were using. 

And that caused a mild panic among the astronauts. Reed discussed what he was thinking as he saw the ship continue on into what we would consider deep space.  

https://www.independent.co.uk/space/nasa-artemis-moon-mission-astronaut-reid-wiseman-b3069143.html

When ICE Comes for a MAGA Supporter - The Atlantic

The story is behind a paywall, but in short, an immigrant from Ghana to Canada emigrated to the United States. 

He became a pastor and maga influencer. And he talked about deporting all illegals - “including me”…

And ICE did just that. 

That, in turn, led to some reactions from maga. Some (of course) don’t care. All means all. But a larger group sees this as an affront, because it’s supposed to be about deporting the bad people, not the disciples. 

As they say, F— Around and Find Out

https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/2026/10/ice-maga-supporter-samuel-sey/689180/

YouTuber Invents Device That Hides License Plates From Flock Cameras

Color me intrigued. I mean it might be technically illegal, but the design is interesting. What this person created is a piece of smart glass that covers the license plate. 

He then wired it to an Arduino, which is like a raspberry pi - a small computer, basically. And he wrote a little code that checks the cars GPS position against the database with the flock locations. 

When it triggers, the glass goes grey so the camera can’t see the license plate; the greying lasts for just a moment or two, but that’s the part that is most likely illegal. You can’t technically obscure your plate, but the law is broad enough to make this a question of interpretation. 

And I’m not saying I plan to install one, just that I am intrigued by how people think. And using these small computers for a purpose is interesting. 

https://www.jalopnik.com/2301648/youtuber-invents-device-that-hides-license-plate-flock-cameras/

Tarek El Moussa Defends Buying 16-Year-Old Daughter Taylor a $150K Car

The headline should read “entitled people doing entitled things” with a subhead “guy who supposedly was poor and rose to fame forgets what it is to be poor and flaunts his wealth like other über wealthy”

She earned it?! My ass! I hate people. 

https://people.com/tarek-el-moussa-defends-buying-16-year-old-daughter-taylor-150k-car-for-her-birthday-earned-it-12202135

Paul Pierce wants relief from child support because he spends $7K a month at restaurants | SB Nation

This may be the dumbest argument I’ve ever read. 

I need to eat expensive things, so I’m okay with my kids going (relatively) hungry. 

$7000 / month is about $230 / day. Thats a lot of money 

https://www.sbnation.com/nba/1133911/paul-pierce-child-support-nba

US lawmakers closed their on-campus voting sites. HBCU students marched miles to vote anyway | North Carolina | The Guardian

Contempt for the idiots-in-charge who want to restrict voting. 

But props to the students who found a way to get out the vote anyway, in a much more public way. 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/27/north-carolina-at-hbcu-student-voters

Donated Bison Herd Grows From 300 to More Than 2,500 in 33 Years

Nature often finds a way. 

Here’s a story about a rancher who donated 300 bison to a nature conservancy. In the 30+ years since the donation, the herd has flourished, growing to nearly ten times the size. And the land has become more fertile too, because the bison tromp down on the earth. 

That’s a nice win for the environment. 

https://people.com/donated-bison-herd-grows-from-300-to-more-than-2500-12182755

Growing greens indoors

I rather enjoyed the story of a Taiwanese woman who wanted to find produce that was not mass produced and flavorless, and which hadn’t been treated with pesticides. But none of the Asian grocers have those products. 

She did what makes sense: she decided to grow her own. But because she was living in NYC, she had an additional hurdle of where she could grow greens. 

So she built an indoor grow facility, found someone to partner with familiarity in the field, and started planting seeds. 

They are experimenting and learning. But so far, have a successful business that reaches beyond her local community. She sells some of her products to sprouts markets in the northeast corridor. 

And hopes to continue to grow her business. 

A fundamentally good idea, a little capital, and some amount of blood, sweat, and tears can really go far. 

The video is a look at her and her business. The link to her website give more about her story. 

https://youtu.be/W17_Q_iCdRs?is=EApl4E2lf0JHXIX6

https://www.allwellgreens.com/

Deposit System and Space Trucks Target Space Debris Reduction

Space debris is a real problem.  As more and more launches are happening (without any “real” plan for dealing with the satellites once they’ve reached their end of life), there needs to be some thought given to how to better manage the near earth orbital space. 

Money paid for launching, with an eye on cleaning up later is a reasonable step. 

But I’m mostly intrigued by the idea of cleaning the satellites up … and disposing of them somehow. I’m not entirely clear what would happen once the discards are picked up. 

But I’ll take steps forward. 

 

https://www.chosun.com/english/industry-en/2026/10/21/BVHBSE47H5DWDILR2N2BLGFQJQ/

Plant Power Prevails In Vegans Vs Meat Eaters Strength Showdown

What a bit of fun. As the article notes, the fact that it was competitive and ended in what amounts to a a win for vegans (spoiler!) reminds us that you don’t have to eat meat to build muscle or be considered “manly” (suck it, dumbasses who espouse that point of view). 

Plant powered protein is synthesized in the body in a way that builds strength, and provides other benefits (tangible and more abstract). 

https://plantbasednews.org/lifestyle/health-and-fitness/vegans-vs-meat-eaters-strength-challenge/

Disney World and Disneyland Are Quietly Improving Ride Reliability and Capacity - Disney Tourist Blog

This is a pretty good, long-form, piece about Disney and its attempts to increase ride performance and increase guest satisfaction. 

And truth be told, this is the core of industrial engineering, and what drew me to this field in the first place. 

This is all part of the strategy and everything noted within is part of the bailiwick of IEs. 

I am forever fascinated by what Disney has done - and continues to do - in order to improve the experience. 

https://www.disneytouristblog.com/disney-world-and-disneyland-are-quietly-improving-ride-reliability-and-capacity/

Amazing game

In case you missed it, this may have been one of the best college football games played, ever.  It was the underdog, middling, UCF taking on the #2 ranked BYU.  And it was chaotic and fun, and the referees were oddy involved.

There was drama, poor clock management, and a likely mistake on the clock by the officials.  And there was overtime!  With more drama!

So much fun!

https://youtu.be/9PeHoZE98f8?si=cqyKfiz8JYsM5L7W

Incidents of Guest Misconduct at Disney World

In the early days of Disney World, the term "Guest Misconduct" was almost never used.  People came into the Happiest Place on Earth, followed the rules, and left the typical exit and went home.  Then, as we entered the late 80s, there were incidents of note.  But they were handled discreetly, and you mostly heard about them through whispers from friends.

By the 90s, that started to change.  Guests were behaving badly at times, and police - uniformed officers - started to appear at the parks more often.  And then by the early '10s, there was an alarming regularity to incidents.  

One reason that I can pin to all of this is entitlement.  People feel like they deserve more, and because they are paying more, their expectations go way up.  And of course because its "me-first" many times, this just gets worse. 

And social media these days is a central reason we hear more about things - because some guests filmed themselves to make their own 5 minutes of fame, and others figured they could report on it and get their own likes.

With that, I'd like to call attention to a few incidents that have happened in the last couple of years.  It just goes to show how people have changed behaviors.  I should note that in nearly every incident, the Cast Members step in and call the sheriffs office who handles it from there.  Its unknown what happens in each case, unless there is a police report and we know the person was arrested or otherwise charged.  Sometimes the guests are simply escorted out, sometimes they get a ban for a day, a week, or a lifetime.  And sometimes they have charges pressed against them

1. Guest decides to climb out of the boat and dive into the water on the 3 Caballeros ride at Epcot  https://www.instagram.com/p/DeK8a4vCZ6H/
2. Man takes a plunge into the lagoon at Epcot  https://www.instagram.com/p/CywhJG5rr80/
3. A guest climbed up the stairs at the Mexico pavilion at Epcot https://www.facebook.com/7NewsMiami/videos/man-climbs-pavilion-at-epcot/10153290431702613/
4. A former Cast Member drinks water from decorative fountains, and rates it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z82RiZwUXk
5. A guest climbed up to a balcony on Cinderella's castle for a photo https://www.reddit.com/r/disneyparks/comments/praey3/guest_standing_on_cinderella_castle_balcony_at/
6. A guest wanted to get drone footage of the fireworks show (drones are forbidden, and the story is that many have been confiscated by security) https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2020/06/05/drone-pilot-tries-to-get-perfect-disney-world-footage-but-gets-trespass-warning-instead/
7. A man riding the Land boat ride at Epcot apparently dropped his phone into the water, and exits the boat to retrieve it https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLVR9ncPOVe/?hl=en
8. A guest needed to go to the bathroom really badly on Kilamanjaro safari and later apologized saying he *really* needed to pee https://www.tiktok.com/@itsedwinlv/video/7636259939542928653
9. A couple of guests hopped off of Pirates of the Caribbean (I think this incident was at Disneyland?) and hung out with the animatronics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rzxli1VUnjw
10. A guest wasn't willing to wait and left Its a Small World with their child, but had trouble getting past the gate and nearly got injured https://www.tiktok.com/@mgkaty._/video/7340846096689810734
11. A man got drunk and started pounding on a hotel room door, which was not his.  He wound up getting arrested https://nypost.com/2026/03/26/lifestyle/drunk-disney-guest-arrested-after-banging-on-wrong-hotel-door-in-wild-viral-meltdown-video/
12. A verbal altercation led to a guest punching a Cast Member, all around a refund https://insidethemagic.net/2026/03/guest-allegedly-strikes-a-cast-member-after-verbal-altercation-at-disneys-animal-kingdom-rl1/
13. A man was upset that he didn't get what he wanted when his family met a costumed character, got physical, and was arrested. https://insidethemagic.net/2026/03/guest-allegedly-strikes-a-cast-member-after-verbal-altercation-at-disneys-animal-kingdom-rl1/
14. A woman wasn't happy with the service at Steakhouse 71 in Disney's Contemporary and bad behavior ensued.  She was detained by police.https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/irate-disney-guest-smashes-glasses-shoves-employee-over-party-dispute

Who Is Isabel Rossi? How a 14-Year-Old Used Game Theory to Improve Earthquake Sensor Placement

This young lady won a science fair…but the work is much more impressive than the run-of-the-mill baking soda volcano. 

She game theory and some mathematics to determine how to better place sensors to detect seismic activity. And she did so in a way that doesn’t require any sophisticated changes, and doesn’t replace the existing sensors (it only adds a few pieces of equipment). 

But her story is equally impressive. She’s been flying model rockets since she was 9, and regularly studied how to improve their performance. 

We should be celebrating this! She should be the story of the day, rather than the mishegas the media typically feeds us. 

https://www.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/who-is-isabel-rossi-how-a-14yearold-used-game-theory-to-improve-earthquake-sensor-placement-1820013287-1

Its election time!

The mid-term elections are right around the corner, and while elections always matter, this one feels like it is more consequential than any in recent memory. 

It seems clear that our country will go through another change as a result of the outcome: either we slide further into some sort of dictatorship OR we see the pendulum start to swing back toward a middle ground.

I'm hopeful that the latter option shall come to pass and we can move forward with better days ahead.  

But to get there, we need to ensure that EVERYONE we know gets out and votes.  Its important to not take this for granted, and to take action!  So get people you know motivated and VOTE BLUE.  

Let's get the next phase started. Of course, we will still have a ways to go, but at last we can be on a different path than we are today.

An enjoyable show

I've been watching Tucci's tour of Italy on Disney+, and I am finding it most enjoyable.  Yes, the food aspects are fun, but its so much more.  Tucci takes on cultural aspects and human interest stories that are timely and topical.

A few examples: he talks about a same-sex couple that adopted a boy, but can't get the country to recognize that they are the parents due to some recent law changes.  There's a story about immigrant communities in an ever-changing landscape, and how everyone comes together to get to know one another by sharing foods from their homelands. And there are threads of Italy's history under Mussolini that are presented from the point of view of people living in the country.  

It's worth a watch IMHO

The joys of scientific discovery

There is a group of people, in cooperation with Purdue University, looking for Amelia's Earhardt's plane.  They've poured over the transmissions, satellite images, maps, and other available data and they thought they had a lead.

Among the reasons were a satellite image that looked like maybe it was a plane, and a transmission fragment where Earhardt says "New York" ... and a shipwreck for the SS Norwich was found nearby. So maybe she was giving a location in a way?

The researchers went in cautiously optimistic, but same up empty.  The "plane" turned out to be fallen trees. And there was no evidence to support her having been on the island.

The researchers were disappointed, but took it in stride, and will examine what they did find to try and learn something about our oceans and how things flow through them. And they will continue to look for the plane.

Maybe they came up empty, but they are still learning something, and attempting to solve a nearly 100 year old mystery.

Bride-to-be calls off wedding, invites homeless to her reception | 13newsnow.com

This happened a while ago but it’s a great story.  In short, the woman thought that the money she already spent on the wedding shouldn’t be wasted, and the food should do some good. 

So she invited 150 homeless people to attend what would have been her reception, arranged for them to get clothes to get dressed up, and bussed them to the venue. 

I live everything about how this turned out in that sense. 

https://www.13newsnow.com/article/news/bride-to-be-calls-off-wedding-invites-homeless-to-her-reception/291-456685013

Short video here. 

https://www.cincinnati.com/videos/news/humankind/2017/07/17/bride-invites-homeless-reception-after-wedding-called-off/103767290/