Categories
America The Current Situation

We’re now in the “find out” phase of undoing train safety regulations

Screenshot of Fortune article whose headline reads “Trump Rolls Back Train-Braking Rule Meant to Keep Oil Tankers from Exploding Near Communities.” The article was written by Glenn Fleishman and published September 24, 2018 at 8:21 p.m. EDT.
Tap to read the original Fortune article.
Vinyl chloride molecular structure. From the Illustrated Glossary of Organic Chemistry.
Vinyl Chloride’s molecular structure. The dark gray atoms are carbon, the light gray atoms are hydrogen, and the green atom is chlorine.

“Fuck around and find out,” the expression goes, and with the recent derailment and explosion of a train with tanker cars full of vinyl chloride near East Palestine, Ohio, we’re definitely in the “find out” phase.

(In case you were wondering, most of the vinyl chloride made is used to produce its cousin, polyvinyl chloride, a.k.a. PVC, which is used to make lots of things.)

The “fuck around” part is from a few years back, in the United States conducted an experiment in democracy by putting a trollish narcissistic con man at the head of the Executive Branch. It appears to have been one of many measures meant to undo legislation and other changes from the administration of Barack Obama, for whom Trump held great contempt (and made no secret of it). You can find out more in these articles:

Categories
Florida Tampa Bay The Current Situation

An idea that we should try in Florida

Banner: “Let's turn an old school bus into a mobile library, fill it with banned books, drive to conservative areas and give them to the kids. We could call it "Banned on the Run" (their parents might get it).”

…and hey, it’s easy to buy buses here in Tampa!

Need some context? See this New Yorker article, Why Some Florida Schools are Removing Books from Their Libraries.

Categories
Geek In the News

I don’t think I like this remake of “Superbad”

Elon Musk and Rupert Murdoch flanked by two women
The two in the middle? Elon Musk and Rupert Murdoch.
Tap to view at full size.

“Hey, Rupert — you know those stories where the girl wakes up the next day and goes ‘I was so shit-faced that night, I shouldn’t have fucked that guy?’ WE COULD BE THAT MISTAKE!”

Need context? Here’s the Superbad trailer:

Categories
It Happened to Me Tampa Bay

Earlier today…

Joey deVilla and Anitra Pavka in summery dress clothes at Curtis Hixon Park in Tampa.
Tap to view at full size.

Categories
The Current Situation

If you think that spy balloon was bad…

…just wait till you see the next one:

Photoshopped image of the Chinese Spy Balloon with the ubiquitous Shen Yun billboard on the side
Categories
Money The More You Know...

This YouTube channel feeds on your financial fear

The current page 1 of FREENVESTING’s video list.
Click to view the financial catastrophism at full size.

If you visit YouTube but don’t sign in, its suggested videos are based on best guesses based on trends, your location, your recent browsing history and a few other factors. I do this from time to time to see what sort of things YouTube’s recommendation algorithm serves up.

The current page 2 of FREENVESTING’s video list.
Click to view the financial catastrophism at full size.

Last night, it suggested videos from the FREENVESTING channel (and no, I’m not linking to those jackals), which simply describes itself as “An inspiring channel for those who are seeking growth.” Established on September 1, 2020, it’s accumulated nearly 100 million views to date, and it appears to have done so by harnessing the fear of financial doomscrollers.

The current page 3 of FREENVESTING’s video list.
Click to view the financial catastrophism at full size.

The videos feature financial gurus of varying quality. Some are more respectable, such as Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger. Some are semi-respectable: Ray Dalio and Cathie Wood. And then there are the outright assclowns — I’m lookin’ at you, Robert Kiyosaki and Dave Ramsey.

The current page 4 of FREENVESTING’s video list.
Click to view the financial catastrophism at full size.

The videos may change, but the themes and titles on the thumbnails stay the same:

  • Don’t buy anything for 18 months
  • Tell your family to prepare
  • Why is nobody talking about this
  • Everyone is going to be wiped out
  • Most people will lose everything
  • And my favorite, the “collapse” titles, which typically are:
    • The collapse is coming
    • The collapse has begun
    • The collapse never ends

The channel was a little more “tips and tricks from the rich” in the beginning…

The current page 5 of FREENVESTING’s video list.
Click to view the financial catastrophism at full size.

…and they certainly covered all the angles, as you can see from these two contradictory videos, which were released one after the other:

But like any good YouTuber, they did some experimenting and found a winning formula with this gem from Mr. “Rich Shill, Poor Audience”:

…and it’s been doom-a-rama ever since.

You’d think it might be enough to say “watch this channel, but only to recognize hucksters when you see them,” or to learn some tricks if you’re an aspiring YouTuber, but I recommend doing so very sparingly. This sort of fear-based stuff has a way of getting in your head, even if you’re trying to watch it objectively and from a distance.

Categories
Florida of the Day

Florida man unintentionally adds authenticity to Disney World English Pub

A couple of observations from this story, Florida Man Screams at Cast Members and Hits Security With Cardboard Tube Before Arrest at EPCOT:

  1. While I agree he had to be removed, he did give the fake English pub a little authenticity. After all, what’s more quintessentially British than having your steak and kidney pie and stout interrupted by a drunk and unruly patron flailing with a dumb improvised weapon while getting ejected from the premises?
  2. “‘From the investigation which has been made, it is the opinion of the writer that this case is not suitable for prosecution,’ assistant state attorney Aseal Morghem wrote in a court filing, and the court case was closed.” He got off lightly, and quite probably, whitely.