Make America Grate Again
Yesterday's depressing news was Trump's latest attempted slaying of the Hudson Tunnel Project, which may be more expensive to shut own than to complete. But that's just my off-the-wall take. The real story is far more complicated.
Today's depressing news is the end of the CIA World Factbook, one of the most useful publications the world has ever known.
Because that's the way of the tech world
Three hundred journalists were laid off by the Washington Post, while it slowly dies. (Or is being murdered. Take your pick.) In Substack, Miranda Green says, "The alternative is this. Substack." But Substack ought to be called Subsilo. Because that's what it is. Yes, it's a very slick host for blogs (yes, that's what they are), but as a writer on Substack you are at the mercy of the entitiy that owns it, and will certainly enshittify it eventually.
Reduxion
Traffic to this blog went up an order of magnitude when somebody (not sure who, or what), drove traffic to this post, which I put up 10.5 years ago. It was good and right for that time in history, which is much worse now.
Kill the lottery
I have a simple suggestion for getting rid of tanking in pro sports.
Hope he gets the hat tip
Progress is the process by which the miraculous becomes mundane. Aviation, for example. At any moment a million people across the world are airborne and traveling safely. (Stop now and watch this bit by Louis CK. Yes, I know he's been canceled, but the bit is brilliant.) So yesterday, we flew from North Eleuthera (ELH) to Indianapolis (IND) by way of Atlanta (ATL), all on Delta (though the first flight was on Delta Connection). It all went better than well. The first flight was clear all the way, with excellent views (for me, the devout window-sitter and scene-shooter) of several Bahamian islands, coastal Florida, and Georgia from Savannah to Atlanta. The second flight wasn't the near-midnight one we were scheduled on, but one we noticed, while passing the gate in late afternoon, was boarding for Indianapolis. They gave us the last two seats on that plane, and it got us to Indy in time for dinner at Iozzo's, one of our favorite restaurants. Nice!
Then this morning, I got a survey from Delta. I tend to fill those out if I've had a very good or bad experience. But surveys still suck, because they're not human, meaning not conscious or aware of their existence. They're a pro formality that paints pictures with numbers. But I did want one human rewarded, so I filled it out. The human was Isaac, or something like that, on the second flight, Delta 3120. When the drink cart came by, I asked for a cup of ice. He said they didn't have any, and gave me a bottle of water, which was fine. But later, without being asked, he brought me a cup of ice anyway (presumably from the business class ice bin). That was nice and worth a mention.
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