Bitchin Dave's Newsletter - November 4th
There's this weird thing going on (among the many things). It's this idea that we should always live in fear. That the boogeyman will get us.
I follow some of the people who talk about "ugly Americans" and the things they hear from some of those among us who travel outside the country.
The comments often focus on this notion of "personal protection" and not appreciating that other countries don't have an equivalent of the second amendment, and frankly don't feel the need to arm themselves. The locals in the countries mostly coexist and (with a few notable exceptions) feel safe and live their lives. Of course, there are occasions where things go wrong. But when they do, it garners a serious discussion and there is public outrage. Not simply thoughts and prayers, but an outpouring of emotion. Elected folks actively care about the people they represent and don't have to kowtow to a lobbying group that essentially promotes mass murder. It's weird, man.
And I pay attention to the messaging we get sometimes here at home. If you watch the news, or use many of the social media platforms, you see a lot of the same mindset is prevalent. We talk about the right to open carry weapons of war (subtly as merely a means to intimidate) and there are fairly constant ads about how to protect yourself with your trusty gun. They often feature a person in a hoodie who looks threatening and there's an ominous tone. What is that? Why is that? The rest of the world doesn't seem to live in fear of literally anyone, yet here its a problem. Its clearly an "us problem"
And it extends into other things too. We have ads that talk about how illegals are doing bad things! And we need to stop it! By rounding them up in the most ridiculous way possible. (Because you know, someone who maybe overstayed their visa but is making a go of it and even paying taxes is just a bad person, unlike the people who steal from others or commit mass murders).
It's crazy when you stop and think about it.
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The telescope is an amazing leap forward, and it gives us a unique ability to understand our cosmos. Over the last few months, there have been some amazing discoveries that I'd like to share:
Its truly amazing what we are able to do and see using this telescope. |
This year's World Series was about as competitive as it gets. I guess you could make the case with all the extra innings that it went 8.2 games - well beyond the "7 game series" that we expected. And it was Canada vs USA to boot. I don't typically follow baseball, but I found this to be an enjoyable ride with a couple of Japanese ballplayers turning out to be the stars of the show. There was also something I caught on YouTube during one game: it was a kind of a video game re-creation of the action, happening in real time. We've seen technology like this before, in the Australian open tennis tournament, and in several NFL games that got a cartoon treatment. This one seemed to be a lower-budget affair. Somehow, data from the game was scraped and an entirely new visual was created. Its amazing (and maybe a little scary) how these videos emulate the real world in near-real time. No question, though, its cool! |
This is a novel approach to finding an Alzheimer's treatment. Scientists working in collaboration in China and Spain are looking at the blood brain barrier, to see if enhancing its protective boundary can help clear plaque. And in early tests using mice, they've had some success. Meaning that this approach could have some potential to provide a new treatment option. As they say, stay tuned… One aside I will note is that it would seem (in general) more innovative research is happening outside of the US, which feels sad in many ways. |
There have been several stories about scientists finding innovative ways to extract clean drinking water from air. And here's another one, but with a twist. Omar Yaghi of UC Berkeley has won a Nobel prize for his work in the field. He's using a porous metal to harvest water, and he's proven its ability well enough for other scientists to note the remarkable achievement. |
It's all fine and nice that he thanks employees and that he acts like a regular guy. But never forget that last year, his compensation package was $4.92 million, which puts him at nearly 80x the salary of the best paid employees (the general managers). If you really wanted to be "one of the team," then how about only being 10x the salary and spreading the rest around to the staff? Just saying.  |
I am still skeptical of whether this will come to fruition, but the plan at the moment is to give the muppets a new home in the Rock N Rollercoaster, which until now has featured Aerosmith. The new ride will just replace that band with the Dr Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. And have a few preshow scenes with familiar muppets. I happen to like the muppets, but here's another instance where they will be unavailable to me because I can't do rollercoasters. Thanks Disney. Not. |
Bonus: I am aware that this article is opinion and not necessarily news, but the underlying point is solid: crypto being "decentralized" doesn't mean it can't be manipulated in some ways. A few bad actors could theoretically move wealth from the many to the few.
We should consider ourselves warned, and tread lightly.
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