well there's that

Maybe its just me, but calling it the "free state of Florida" is funny.  Florida was most definitely a slave state in the antebellum period.  

And while its nice that the gub-nor setup a commission (with our taxpayer dollars) to honor America's history, the results are kind of what you'd expect.  A lot of "history" distilled down to a sentence or two, with no hint of context, or any details.  And its very whitewashed.

For example, they note that Chief Osceola was the Indian chief known for his tactics in the second Seminole war, as he tried to protect his land; he was captured by trickery.  But they of course note the western name he was born with, and give no hint that the tribes were being brutally attacked and driven into reservations, so that settlers could move in ... And its done that way intentionally,

How about if we embrace actual history and move on?

  

Come on man!

As if we needed to have more to generally be concerned about, right on cue T-rump conducts several "bits of business" this week that are worth noting.

First, he quite literally is stealing from the treasury.  He wants to be repaid for legal fees in the suits brought against him by the government, which he lost.  

Second, he is offering a sort of financial bailout of the country of Argentina (mainly because the guy he backed won an election), while at home railing about helping actual Americans.

Third, there's a story about him offering for Qatar to build a military base here in the US.  I'll admit its confusing and there are many questions about what is really going on here, but quite clearly the US is allowing a foreign nation to create a military presence here in America.

And finally is this bosheet about the White House, and him treating it like his property.  He wanted to expand the ballroom (ostensibly so he can host wrasslin and fights for his amusement). Congress said "probably not, but you have to wait for us to approve any changes" - and so he proceeded to collect private donations from unknown parties and then just started demolition, without any sort of review.  

There are many, many issues with that last one, not the least of which is that the presidential emergency operations center was under the demolished portion.  But the sycophants do what they always do - and just wait in line to kiss the ring (or more appropriately to stick their noses up his bulbous arse)

Fun way to watch a game.

Games 3A and 3B of the World Series happened last night … and early this morning. 

I say it was two games(ish) because it went to nine (!!) extra innings!

Ohtani had tied it up, late, and it was clear they were going to extras. 

I wasn't *that interested* And was tired, so I went to bed….

I woke up at around 2am ET, and wondered how it went… 

It was still going on! 

I wondered if I could find a little play-by-play?

…I wound up finding a "reaction video" on YouTube.  The guy was doing a sort of play by play, while showing this real time video game view. It was wild, but really cool.

I know I've seen this with large companies doing this sort of thing for events (espn for football games, and whichever network for the Australian open tennis), but just some random guy doing it was crazy. I wonder how he managed to pull it off. 

It was a computer generated video game view of the game. 

California insurance commissioner issues enforcement action against Tesla | Courthouse News Service

This is just plain dumb.

Tesla has been accused of not responding to customers. The complaint notes 

"[The companies] concede that they have not been able to keep staffing on pace and acknowledge that they are responsible for the staffing shortfall," officials noted.

So a company that wants to pay the ceo a trillion dollars can't be bothered to hire a few people to respond to customer emails. Got it. 

https://courthousenews.com/

Drinkable water from the sky — A solar device condenses 1.5 liters straight out of air

I'm sensing a theme here. There are very many companies and individuals attacking a challenge related to one of our most basic needs: access to clean drinking water. 

Here's yet another group of individuals who have come up with a solar powered device that can pull a liter of water from the air using solar.  

https://www.ecoportal.net/en/drinkable-water-air-sky-a-solar-device/13512/

Floridians are hurtling towards economic disaster • Florida Phoenix

That's not good…

https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/10/20/floridians-are-hurtling-towards-economic-disaster/

Just in time for Halloween

Disney's imagineering series takes a look behind the scenes in the haunted mansion

https://youtu.be/CXLICqOYoh0?si=i4z3sxZlC4Rm_nda

And of course you can see my retrospective in it here:

Episode 70: The Haunted Mansion
https://youtu.be/2Esfyq-gxXc