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Love to the mars rovers family!

Haven't seen anything about Ingenuity on tumblr yet, so I guess I'll make a post about it

Ingenuity (sometimes called Ginny) was an companion craft to Perseverance, one of the rovers currently on Mars. As opposed to any of the past rovers, however, Ingenuity was a rotorcraft intended to fly above Mars' surface.

After landing on Mars in February of 2021 and completing its first flight on April 19th, 2021, Ingenuity became the first aircraft to fly on another planet. Its original goal was only 5 flights, but it well surpassed that number, logging 72 flights with over two hours of in-air time.

On January 18th, 2024, Ingenuity lost contact with Perseverance midway through a flight, and a few days later, NASA had confirmation that the rotors were damaged, leaving Ingenuity incapable of flight.

So long, Ingenuity. You did so much <3

Source:

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2024-opinion-biden-harris-accomplishment-data/

"In the race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, the polls are tight and their policy plans are underwhelming. But there is another way to compare their ability to do the job that gets far too little attention: Both candidates have a record to run on — and the data tell their own story."

Even though it's past election day, it's still a good thing to inform people what has been happening. Even as I talked with some folks the day after, I realized pretty quickly that there's a lot of people who don't know what's going on in the country when it comes to the topics that people like to blow up about. Also, DO NOT FORGET that the president is the figurehead, it's all the people they employ that do all the work. If you voted at all, you were voting for a staff of people, not just one person.

I just want to highlight a few graphs.

Btwn year 2-3 of Trump, it was already increasing, that's right before COVID became a thing. Trump's approach to life is emboldening violence.

Again, Trump didn't do anything spectacular besides being on par with most other presidencies, until the administration truly failed. Biden's administration blew the past 3 presidents out of the water. And yet people are still crying over the economy.

Speaking of economy, the article highlights there were proposals to try to reign in price gouging. Some folks might be familiar with the concept of rent control and the like. It was disappointing that these things were not enabled. But for conservatives, it's something they don't want to hear because they don't want to let the government manage business but cry out why the government is not managing business.

I'm just going to copy/paste what the article has for this one:

Presidents love to take credit for a booming market and disavow a sagging one. The truth is they have little to do with either.

Still, some policies are better for asset prices than others, even if it’s difficult to quantify how much. Trump wants to extend the 2017 tax cuts and lower corporate taxes, which could boost spending and corporate earnings, pushing stocks higher. On the flipside, his proposed tariffs could hurt companies, particularly if US multinationals face retaliatory levies.

Harris wants to raise corporate taxes and steer that money to workers and families as tax credits and support for first-time homebuyers. Companies would presumably be worse off from higher taxes, although putting money in consumers’ pockets is generally good for business. The risk for fixed income is clearer: Both Harris and Trump’s proposals are likely to result in higher deficits and debt, which could stoke inflation and force the Fed to raise rates, giving bonds a whacking.

Most likely, though, what drives markets will have little to do with these plans.

The day after the election, of course I heard from the mouths that don't care that the stock was booming. That's because stocks are speculation and really just operate off perception. The people who are in dire need of funds don't have stocks. Those are the people who will get no benefit from increased stocks and yet they see it and think it's great when it only serves a few.

Don't forget, taxes fund the functioning of government. It's absolutely needed. Do you want taxes to come from you or from big corporations?

Honestly, no administration is perfect. But after this abysmal election, I'm not going to shut up about being informed of what's really going on. The truth of how this country is performing and making sure that people are asking the right questions. I already have some questions out of this report, such as what's going on at the state level? The federal level can only do so much. As an example, taxes at the state and city levels can help mitigate and perform better for their own community.

And if we work to better our own communities, maybe that can help funnel up.

Noooo! I was lamenting the past year about how mass market paperbacks are becoming more and more unavailable. They've been the best format for carrying around. Honestly, I wish they stopped pushing hardcover. People still want pocketable stuff, even young people.

I will even take the new format I saw which was still pocket width but the height was just a little taller. Example: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/333560/lord-of-the-flies-by-william-golding-afterword-by-lois-lowry/9780399501487/

Mass Market Paperback | $12.00 Published by Penguin Books Dec 16, 2003 | 224 Pages | 4-3/16 x 7-1/2 | ISBN 9780399501487

PublishersWeekly.com

Publishers Plan for a New Mass Market Paperback Winnowing

While it may not quite be a death knell, Readerlink’s decision to end distribution for the format is likely to push publishers to dramatical

So this is interesting. :/

Parenting is hard.

There are so many other words that follow but no more energy to do it.

My first Utada song and video. I still love this jam to this day. Yay for HD update!

New-York Tribune, New York, November 25, 1920

I never saw this before. Albeit saw it happening live from my classroom window. Being a kid living through a tragedy is pretty different than being an adult, and on live tv.

“Breathe. You’re going to be okay. Breathe and remember that you’ve been in this place before. You’ve been this uncomfortable and anxious and scared, and you’ve survived. Breathe and know that you can survive this too. These feelings can’t break you. They’re painful and debilitating, but you can sit with them and eventually, they will pass. Maybe not immediately, but sometime soon, they are going to fade and when they do, you’ll look back at this moment and laugh for having doubted your resilience. I know it feels unbearable right now, but keep breathing, again and again. This will pass. I promise it will pass.”

— Daniell Koepke

Seattle Public Library is doing this awesome program called Books Unbanned that allows teens and young adults (ages 13-26) access to their collection of e-books and e-audiobooks from anywhere in the USA. All you need to do is fill out a simple form and you get their Books Unbanned card. Please share this information far and wide. I know they're not the only ones to have done this, but the more the merrier!

It's still a monopoly when the company owns the business chain.