World Views

[Amigoo]

Re: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/0 ... eed-442903

"The House on Friday passed a landmark bill that would remove federal penalties on marijuana and erase cannabis-related criminal records."

"The bill passed by a vote of 228-164, with several Republicans on board. While the MORE Act is not expected to come up in the Senate this year, and likely won't in the next session of Congress either, its passage nevertheless marks a monumental step in marijuana policy."

It's bewildering that society is effectively renewing support for the inhalation of burned plants (aka "smoking"), long proven to cause lung damage in humans! Perhaps, smoking will soon be redefined as the "sacrificial but beneficial filtering of community air".

See also: https://www.healthline.com/health/smoke ... lung#risks
One of hundreds (if not thousands) of anti-smoking articles.

Rod

[Amigoo]

Re: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-55199058

"Argentina has passed a new tax on its wealthiest people to pay for medical supplies and relief measures"
"Those with assets worth more than 200 million pesos ($2.5m; £1.8m) - some 12,000 people - will have to pay."

Apparent administrative logic: If you got lotsa money, then you help pay for societal virus expense.
That the lotsa people might have lotsa expenses is unimportant. "From each according to their ability,
to each according to their needs" comes to mind.

Rod

[Amigoo]

Re: https://www.newsbreak.com/texas/amarill ... 9-patients

"Smaller hospitals in rural Texas struggle to find beds for critical COVID-19 patients"

More news contrast to the "non-existent" (or "just another flu") virus.

Rod

[Amigoo]

Re: https://www.businessinsider.com/jamba-u ... rt-2020-12

"A robot is now making Jamba smoothies in a California Walmart in less than 3 minutes"

Good potential to reduce inventory of similar pre-packaged drinks
... and these can be personalized when ordered!

Add video of attendant discussing the drink (or whatever)
to soften the obvious trend: "Robots Rule!"

Rod

[Amigoo]

Re: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/hea ... 839888001/

"Doctor who bragged that he and his staff don't wear masks has license suspended in Oregon"

Evidence that, regardless of protest, making it so public forces "the system"
to respond with significant counterpoint. And with so much online busyness,
becoming a martyr might result in just a minor footnote to history.

Rod

[Amigoo]

Re: https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/03/tech/aut ... index.html

"Self-driving robotaxis are taking off in China"

" 'Some of the company's lessons so far include how to better adapt to traffic conditions in each place,' according to Xiao. 'In Shenzhen, for instance, motorists often have to watch out for delivery workers on bikes and scooters, and drivers are known to drive more aggressively than in the United States,' he said. 'The traffic scenarios are much more challenging,' he added. 'For our AI, we had to do a lot of work to adapt to the local Chinese way of driving.' "

Interesting AI problem, for it suggests that a cross-country trip might require a change of "drivers" for certain cities. Of course, even this could be automated, but informing the passengers of a new "driver" - ahead of time - seems reasonable customer service. And having a passenger identified as the backup driver for unexpected situations might be helpful (for vehicles still human-drivable).

Finally, being able to request an immediate (but safe) stop would be reassuring*. Or a user-pushed big red button might suffice where a safe stop is automatic. And the company could charge a fee for testing this Quick Stop, with increasing cost for each Quick Stop.
* real world possibility: one passenger is threatened by another.

OMG! A driverless taxi needs to compensate for other tasks performed by a human driver
... such as loading and unloading grandma's big heavy suitcase.

Rod

[Amigoo]

Re: https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/thi ... ern-times/

"Going To Be The Worst Winter For The U.S. Economy In Modern Times"

"In a year still ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout however, it appears many will be struggling through the most festive part of 2020. A survey finds over 60 percent of Americans say they’re now living paycheck-to-paycheck as the year draws to a close."

At least the stores are piping the traditional Ho Ho Ho music.
... but most retirees these days live "paycheck to paycheck",
as defined by their "paycheck" (and/or part-time job).

Rod

[Amigoo]

Re: https://dnyuz.com/2020/12/07/steaks-gro ... d-outrage/

"Steaks Grown From Human Cells Spark Interest and Outrage"
“Ouroboros Steak - cultivated from human cells & expired blood"

"Where's the faux beef (or cow)?" omnivores prefer to ask.
Perhaps, a burro steak would be preferable to an Ouroboros.

Best guess: What people will eat depends on the condiments.

Rod

[Amigoo]

Re: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/arti ... IDDEN.html
"Daters vote on WORST pick-up lines, with 55% insisting they should be FORBIDDEN"

" 'I got my library card and I'm checking you out' was voted the worst one-liner
followed by 'Are you from Tennessee? Cause you're the only 10 I see' "

Possible response to uncomplimentary rejection ...
"The librarian told me to fuhgetaboutit - you're long Overdue for a date."
"My contacts were upside down - I see that you are '01' - not '10' "

Among the winning lines to actually work were:
'Are you a Pokemon? Cause I'd like to take a Pikachu'
'Can I have a picture of you so I can show Santa what I want for Christmas?'

Possible response to uncomplimentary rejection ...
"Thanks for the Pokemon! At least it was a response!"
"Never mind - Santa sent me the picture (lump of coal)."

Rod

[Amigoo]

Re: https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/unr ... st-winter/

"NYC reportedly spent $12M per inch of snow plowed last winter"

The article also comments on the complexity of snow removal
but with more focus on increased costs over the years (2003 - 2020).

However, the "per inch of snow" rating is such a statistical snow job ...

Considering only snowplow equipment, an inch of snow (forward direction)
does not indicate the horizontal length (across many snow plows*)
nor average height of that inch (amount of snow).

* "2,300 plows, ice machines that melt 60 tons of snow an hour,
smaller plows for bike lanes and intersections, and front-end loaders"

Rod

[Amigoo]

Re: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... -says.html

"the extraterrestrials wanted to work with American agents to study 'the fabric of the universe' "

A bit too much woof to this warp (extraterrestrials would need to know more than mankind
about the 'fabric of the universe' in order to travel to Mars; to choose desolate 'n distant Mars
for a home base suggests a warped warp).

Rod

[Amigoo]

Re: https://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/barc ... nfluencers
"Restaurant calls out 'influencers' who wanted free food in exchange for exposure"

"Roberta and Mikel offered to sample the restaurant’s cuisine in exchange for posting photos and video on social media,
documenting their experience."

Typical "entrepreneurship" in this pandemic, but highlights that social media is acceptable communication for intentional "influencing".
However, restaurants that decline the "beneficial" contract might at least offer an unconditional discount on the next meal.

Rod

[Amigoo]

(slighlty "political" but very informative of current "World Views" - even a bit amusing!)

Re: https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/gon ... ting-week/

"Gonna be an interesting week"

"The State of Texas filed a lawsuit directly with the U.S. Supreme Court shortly before midnight on Monday challenging the election procedures in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin on the grounds that they violate the Constitution."

“You may all go to hell and I will go to Texas.” - Davy Crockett, 1835

... comes to mind.

See also: https://www.andrews.edu/~rwright/Oldwww ... ckett.html

Rod

[Amigoo]

Re: https://www.foxnews.com/us/minnesota-re ... ful-impact

"St. Anthony, Minnesota resident Kim Hunt received an anonymous letter from a neighbor on Monday
chastising she and her husband for their Christmas light display."

"The letter then challenges Hunt to 'respect the dignity of all people, while striving to learn
from differences, ideas, and opinions of our neighbors'."

Puzzling complaint since it required the Hunts to be previously informed about not displaying lights
... or that they should have assumed that the neighborhood would not display lights this year.
Maybe a prank complaint to push emotional buttons for the sender's entertainment.

Rod

[Amigoo]

Re: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech ... below.html

"Flow of hot rocks rising from the Earth's core beneath central Greenland
is melting the ice from below and contributing to sea-level rise"

[a comment] "The volcano that erupted several years ago in Iceland spewed out more carbon than human beings created in the last 100 years. Some ... claim change is caused by humans... There's a lot more evidence that climate change is naturally occurring."

Of course, humans can still contribute to a reduction of climate change.

Rod

[Amigoo]

Re: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech ... ation.html

"Alien life 'unlikely' on Proxima b: Closest Earth-like planet is bombarded with deadly levels of 'sterilising' radiation"

"This is our nearest stellar neighbour at just 4.2 light years from the Earth... It is a small red dwarf star with two planets
including a rocky Earth-like world... As it is so small the habitable zone where liquid water could flow is close to the star
and researchers found planets in the zone were bombarded by radiation"

Good indication of the size of our galaxy and how far aliens (if human-like)
must travel (at speed of light) to interact with earth's humans.

Rod

[Amigoo]

Re: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/arti ... ryday.html

"A woman has revealed the reason why she has taken a bite out of her husband's sandwich every day of their 41-year marriage."

"I continue to do this frequently (unless it's tuna or pimento cheese)"

Who can tell
Fast food sandwiches might sell with a bite mark ...
and could be a sandwich maker's employee benefit.

Sandwich maker: "May I bite it for you?"
Customer: "My wife does that every day."

Rod

[Amigoo]

Re: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech ... nding.html

"Amazon's new health bracelet Halo tells users what's wrong with them - including having too much body fat or if they sound 'condescending' "

"Users can upload a near-naked image of themselves to the companion app, which is analyzed by AI to determine their body composition."

Not surprisingly, the bracelet quickly acquired the non-greeting nickname "Hello?!"

Rod

[Amigoo]

Re: https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/10/business ... index.html

"Ben & Jerry's creates Colin Kaepernick-inspired ice cream flavor"

"The progressive ice cream brand on Thursday unveiled its new 'Change the Whirled' vegan ice cream, which is made with caramel non-dairy sunflower butter and fudge chips with graham crackers and chocolate cookies swirled in. The company said it created the flavor to celebrate 'Kaepernick's courageous work to confront systemic oppression and to stop police violence against Black and Brown people.' "

Despite the controversy of the NFL apparently supporting social activism,
the 'Change the Whirled' slogan could also be used for the climate change protest.
But earth tones (green, blue, brown) would be better colors. (lime, grape, caramel)

Rod

[Amigoo]

Re: https://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/mcdo ... -m-haircut

"McDonald’s opens barber shop, offers '90s-inspired 'Golden M' haircut"

"Because the hairstyle bears an alleged similarity to the fast food chain’s signature Golden Arches."

"Say what McDonald's haircut Looks like what "

Actually, a unisex look ... unless you have a bighorn:
https://nhpbs.org/natureworks/bighornsheep.htm

Rod

[Amigoo]

Re: https://www.texastribune.org/2020/12/09 ... s-casinos/

"Previous efforts to legalize casino gambling in Texas have not taken off, though the appetite could be different this session, when lawmakers are faced with a $4.6 billion budget shortfall. That has generated speculation about new revenue sources, including 'sin taxes' such as legalizing casino gambling and marijuana."

Considering the mind numbing (aka "relaxing") effects of marijuana, is being "high" good or bad for casino gambling? Methinks that the flashing colors and sounds of modern slot machines would be too mesmerizing to maintain faster pumpin' of cash into the machines. However, newer machines may detect marijuana usage and pace the visuals/sound to the speed of cash.

Entrepreneur Alert: Casinos should rent sound-reducing (or replacing) headphones for gamblers
to have a different experience ... such as bonding with inner financial lust.

Note: This article's subtle allusion to higher taxes notifies that many cities will soon be impacted
by a smaller tax base because of the coronavirus (e.g., closing of businesses).

Rod

[Amigoo]

Re: https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/flam ... 05625.html

"A drone has been converted into a flying flamethrower in central China ... to eradicate more than 100 wasp nests."

The time is approaching when a personal drone can do your house painting or other higher-level chores:
saw tree branches, get balls off a roof, find your kids in the neighborhood (larger drones will be their taxi),
borrow a burger from your neighbor's barbecue, whatever.

Imagine a future conversation with that burger-borrowing neighbor ...
"I don't mind you dog pooping in my yard, but keep your Drolly (drone named Dolly)
away from my barbecue ... or it will be Dumb Drolly's Final Folly!"

Re: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folly

"As a general term, 'folly' is usually applied to a small building that appears to have no practical purpose
or the purpose of which appears less important than its striking and unusual design, but the term
is ultimately subjective, so a precise definition is not possible."

Who knew
"Folly" could also apply to politicians, institutions, and online info
("appears to have no practical purpose").

Rolly

[Amigoo]

Re: https://summit.news/2020/12/11/nhs-comm ... -of-covid/

"Commercial Terrifies Children by Showing Santa Dying of COVID"

Despite the good intentions (Santa is nursed back to good health),
a child's mind views the episode differently! This is an X-rated commercial
(for adults). What could be worse? Rudolph on the dinner table?!

Rod

[Amigoo]

Re: https://www.debka.com/the-israel-iran-s ... ern-syria/

"The Israel-Iran shadow war locks in on southeastern Syria"

Typical news about continuing conflict in this area, but photo (typical of modern reconnaissance)
suggests that buildings/landscape can no longer be typical (to avoid modern reconnaissance).

Underground works, but why not creative camouflage
Also true for all things observed from the air.

Rod

[Amigoo]

Re: https://www.foxnews.com/world/hearts-ic ... oronavirus

"Sorby and Strøm are staying at the remote Bamsebu trapper’s cabin in Norway's South Spitzbergen National Park."

Good potential for a remote B&B ... but bring your own supplies (including cabin)

Rod