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. 

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

That sure is a weird looking strawberry. 

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

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/

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

 

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

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