Bitchin Dave's Newsletter - January 13th

Here's to hoping you had a great holiday season, and that we all are having a happy and healthy new year.

The last few weeks have been very strange. And at the tip of that strangeness is the recent shooting of a "bystander" to an ICE action; it really says a lot about who we've become.  

I don't think the conversation should focus on who was right and wrong, but rather we should look at the bigger picture of an organization in ICE that is acting as an unchecked - and quite possibly unconstitutional - entity whose sole purpose is to "remove bad people." But they act extra judicially, with impunity, and conduct warrantless searches, all while hiding their identities.  And there are very many questions about who they are targeting, because it doesn't seem to the bad people as they advertise. 

And of course, there is no accountability.

This is not who we should be.  I would encourage you to write to your elected official and ask them to stand up for what's right and stop this madness.  There has to be a better way.  I might also suggest that if you can find a *peaceful*  protest or other means to take action, then you could do that too.

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NASA's TESS Spacecraft Triples Size of Pleiades Star Cluster - NASA Science


Utterly fascinating.

One of the key things that I took away is that these were known as "3 stars" at some point. Then later, they were known as 3 clusters of stars. And now they have been identified as over 1,000 stars making up this object!

And that's culled from the nearly 10,000 stars that are near enough by the clusters to have been possibly part of it. 

10,000 stars we can see in one location! That just boggles the mind.  



On March 29, 2026, World of Frozen – Along with Many New Experiences – Will Open within Disney Adventure World, the Reimagined Second Park at Disneyland Paris - The Walt Disney Company


Disneyland Paris is undergoing a transformation of sorts. They opened with just a Disneyland park, and a shopping area like downtown Disney. 

Later, they opened a second park as the Paris studios, which was kind of a themepark and kind of a movie studio. 

But it lacked the punch Disney wanted, and so they announced in November that they would be updating the park and re-theming it as Disney's Adventure World. It will be something much more and allow it to have a cohesive theme. 
 



Living cement: scientists turn bacteria-infused cement into energy-storing supercapacitors


In short, a group of Danish researchers found a way to infuse bacteria into cement, so that the bacteria can be "fed" electricity and that can be stored in the cement, kind of like a battery. 

The applications would be that anything made of cement - your home, a roadway, whatever - could store energy at a low cost. And then that energy could be extracted and used. 

And all this without having to extract metals from the earth. 




But Why?


T-rump made a decision to invade Venezuela, and while I am not sad to see Maduro out of office, he made a choice to  invade a sovereign nation, without provocation and without congressional approval (much less even notification). This is unconstitutional and should be considered a war crime. 

And the reasons for this attack are just as appalling. There was no threat to our nation. There is no direct benefit to us as Americans.  Yes, he says its about 'Murica benefiting from the oil, but the relationship he has with Saudi Arabia suggests that its not that simple.

This was done as a kind of a favor to big oil, OPEC, and the several nations that "control" OEPC. In short, he used the military for the benefit of large companies. That is about as unconstitutional as you can get as commander in chief. 

And there's also the matter of Maduro standing trial in the US for things he did in Venezuela. We hear through the media that these will be some sort of narco-terrorism charges. How the US judicial system can take that on is beyond me. This certainly feels like an abuse of power. 

This isn't presidential. It's not American. 

And now he's emboldened by what he did, and is blustering about Greenland. Presumably it's because big shipping companies want easier access and more routes, and he will wield the military to give it to them (note: as warming happens, shipping can take a more northerly route, so Greenland could be used for staging).

Again, this does not appear to be of any benefit to us as Americans, in spite of what he says about security. And the end result surely will be more contention with Europe and an eventual break from NATO due to his actions (which actually falls to congress to decide, not him unilaterally, but surely you knew that). 

And lets not forget about Canada, and the possibility of some sort of invasion on that sovereign nation. I suspect he's after the natural resources in the vast untapped markets, to benefit some other large conglomerates. 

These are dangerous times, and again I'd urge you to contact your elected representatives and let them know how you feel.



Europe goes green at desperate speed — France is creating WindTrees growing 36 artificial leaves


Now here's a clever and innovative idea for power production. Instead of a solar array or a wind turbine, a European group has invented a wind tree. It's a system that uses 36 mini turbines in branches of what look like a tree. 

That is a nice leap forward for economical and environmentally friendly means of creating energy that can be used on a local scale. 



Experts warn ongoing concern with Atlantic Ocean will be direct threat to dozens of nations: 'Consequences for at least 1,000 years to come'

There have been several articles about changes to the Atlantic current that will have a direct impact on our climate. 

And why is it changing? It's maybe still debatable, but it appears to be as a result of the world's changing climate. And it will have a follow on effect on our climate. 
 


Bonus: I'm not sure if this will win photo of the year. But it should. Its a rare combination of a Sprite and an Elve appearing in the sky together


* Sprites are powerful, brief flashes of reddish-orange light that occie high above thunderstorms. 
* Emission of Light and Very low frequency perturbations due to electromagnetic pulse sources are flat red disks that appear

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