Bitchin Dave's Newsletter - March 25

I recently watched "The Good Place."   It's a lot of fun, has some good acting, deals with some intriguing topics, and includes a Florida-man for some comedy relief.

Anyway, this is worthy of a mention because (spoiler if you haven't seen it) the underlying premise is that  the scoring system that sends people to the afterlife hasn't kept up with our overly complicated world.  

But, there's another theme that emerges along the way: what we do next is more important than what we've done before. We can grow and become better people. 

It's uplifting and feels good.  I know the show is from a while ago but there is a lesson in there that becomes even more relevant today.  Be your best self, and always strive to be better.

There's more to it, of course.  The classic good vs evil story.  Some subtle takes on religion. What the afterlife is like for eternity.  There are clear reflections on where we are today as a society, and to me, those cut pretty deep.

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A Chinese breakthrough in space travel


The Chinese believe they have unlocked a solid state fuel to get us out of Earth's atmosphere. 

For those not quite sure what that means, we use a liquid rocket fuel coupled with a liquified oxygen in a controlled explosion that creates thrust. 

A solid rocket fuel would be something more stable and with an even greater level of control. If you remember the model rockets many of us had as kids, it's like the rocket packs that were stable and safe that we'd use to launch a rocket. 

By the way, the article notes that watching Boeing's failure with Starliner helped jump start their plans. 


Disney's court battle over streaming


Looks like Bob Chapek may have fudged some numbers to make streaming look better to investors.

While many of his decisions were suspect in a way, this one rises to the level of the board taking action and removing him, I would say. 

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/disney-streaming-court-battle-1236141437/


Origins of phrases


Here are 13 common American phrases and the origin of them.

And on a related topic, don't forget to push the envelope on what you can learn and do!



Revolutionizing the charging game


I've said for a while now that Tesla's "secret sauce" is their charging network.  But now GM is trying to get in on it too.  But rather than build their own, they are partnering with Chargepoint to create a network of stations that can be used by many types of cars.


And speaking of GM, they are now the second biggest marketer of EVs, which is kind of exciting. 

In theory, they could be a serious competitor to Tesla … assuming the tariff and trade nonsense can be worked out, and Elon musk doesn't use his power to stifle competition. 

I look forward to exploring GM as an option when I'm looking for my next car. 

https://www.thecooldown.com/green-business/gm-market-share-doubles-ev-manufacturer/

Another company doing the wrong thing


Ben and Jerry's was founded by a couple of former hippies. And their world views were decidedly liberal. 

They ran a good company and espoused their views through their marketing. It was at the core of their business 

In 2000, they sold out to Unilever, but they had an agreement that they could continue to run as they always had.

In the acquisition agreement, Unilever agreed to carry on the company's tradition of engaging "in these critical, global economic and social missions"

Ben and Jerry are no longer involved in day-to-operations, but the (until recently) current CEO followed the same rules of the road. 

And then Unilever decided that he wasn't doing what they wanted and fired him. (And the mouth breathers celebrated, of course). 

If you read through the article, it seems quite clear it was because he was being a social activist, contrary to Unilever's company views. 

https://www.fastcompany.com/91301964/ben-jerrys-ceo-fired-unilever-social-policy-liberal-views

So. If you want to do something about this, the answer is to avoid Unilever products. Find a listing of them here:


Young inventors!


There's a group that encourages young deaf people to come up with a solution to one of their personal issues with their cochlear implants. 

Then this group reviews these ideas and invites some of the most innovative ones to Austria for a competition of sorts and helps develop these ideas further, helping others. 

I did notice there was one entry from the US, a 12 year old from Florida. You can see her story in the YouTube below. 





Bonus Item: This is an interesting nugget that is worth a quick read, related to egg prices. 

"Most of consumer behavior is dictated by perception rather than reality,"

Yeah. That checks out. And not just about eggs. 

https://blog.medium.com/why-egg-prices-are-rising-or-how-humans-respond-to-scarcity-885b3bd04351



Bitchin' Dave's newsletter is published weekly.  Please feel free to forward it around. If you want to subscribe or unsubscribe, send an email to geezergamer92@gmail.com

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