Bitchin Dave's Newsletter - March 24th

The outcome of the World Baseball Classic was somewhat satisfying last week. Venezuela beat the US in a hard fought final.  And, hey, it's a small measure of redemption for Venezuela. 

To be clear, it's not that I was rooting for the US to lose, or anything like that. I was simply happy to see teams from around the world competing with joy and passion.  Many of the players competing play in the MLB, but there was a sense of national pride that drove them in their games. It wasn't about money, it was about playing a game for the love of it. 

One note: as the game ended, players from Venezuela thanked god for their win (as is common these days). Maybe it's just me, but given what has happened over the last quarter century in Venezuela, it seems weird that god would care about a simple game, rather than the bigger human condition.  (but what do I know?)

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African soccer confederation strips Senegal of Africa Cup title and declares Morocco the champion | AP News


And in another sports-related story, here's a truly bizarre one. Back in December, you had the African Confederation soccer championship that pitted Senegal against Morocco. 

It was a very wild game that Senegal won in Extra Time! I summarized a lot of what happened here:

Chaos at the AFCON 2025
https://youtu.be/e2YAcAJvmbw

But now - months later - FIFA is stripping Senegal of their win. If I understand the ruling correctly, it's because the coach sent the Senegal team to the locker room. So they essentially were ruled to have "abandoned the game" … of course he did this to reign in the chaos. The fans were out of control and the players were hot. He was trying to de-escalate the situation. 

And in my humble opinion, he was completely right. And coming back now, to change the outcome, is just stupid. 


And of course Senegal responded …


Kryptos - the sculpture at CIA headquarters.


Back in 1990, artist Jim Sanborn created a sculpture for the CIA that was appropriate; it had 4 parts, each of which had a code embedded on them. The codes were all different and he challenged anyone to decipher them all. 


The first 3 were deciphered fairly quickly by cryptographers at the CIA, though the results were kept secret for a few more years. 

But the 4th one remained unbroken. Until a couple of reporters very recently figured out a way to break the code via "a side door" - at the national archives. 

They're not saying what the answer is, and the code itself remains undeciphered, still. 

And the person who owns the key to all of it tells us that there is a 5th cypher that hasn't revealed itself yet. 

This is kind of amazing and the article breaks it down for us. 



NASA just picked a new upper stage for its SLS moon rocket amid Artemis shakeup | Space


NASA made a big announcement about a change to the Artemis moon program.  Look, after so many problems and delays, this was expected. 

There are several pieces to this announcement. The first is that they're going to move away from the more intricate design that required several different types of rockets to be built, and they'll be focused on one type of rocket. 

Next, they're evolving the thinking on the lunar module. The design will be simplified and (if I understand it correctly), they'll be changing to a model more like the Apollo rockets lunar module, where they won't be landing the whole unit. 

And finally, the plan is to increase the frequency of launches to accelerate the program. 

Meanwhile, SpaceX and Blue Origin are also on the hunt to get to the moon and have some plans to build out solutions that may get us there sooner, too. 


Jared Kushner's conflicts of interest become even more controversial


Son-in-law and "Jack of all trades" Jared Kushner made his way into the news once again.  There's some reporting by the NY Times (behind a paywall; a summary is in the first link), and by MSNBC (in the second link, which  includes another summary plus a clip of Rachel Maddow talking about it).

Essentially, Kushner has had *private dealings* with Saudi Arabia, in his business of private equity.  They (the country and prominent individuals in it) have invested significant sums (billions) into his company and he is helping broker a deal for them to purchase Electronic Arts (you know, an American gaming company, which would now be foreign owned - Make America Great!).  

He is also some kind of envoy to middle east affairs.  He has met - in a weirdly official US capacity, without any official title (and likely in violation of federal law) - with Iran, Israel, and Saudi Arabia.  

And the kicker is that because he doesn't have a title, he apparently doesn't have to report on any money he accepts! Conflict of interest much?





This plastic is made from milk and it vanishes in 13 weeks | ScienceDaily


Scientists racing to tackle plastic pollution have created a surprising new contender: a biodegradable packaging film made partly from milk protein. Researchers at Flinders University blended calcium caseinate with starch and natural nanoclay to form a thin, durable material designed to mimic everyday plastic. In soil tests, the film fully broke down in about 13 weeks, pointing to a realistic alternative for single-use food packaging.

Josh D'Amaro officially takes the reigns as the CEO of Disney


Attached are two articles with slightly different points of view on the succession that has now happened at Disney. 

I'm hopeful that the company manages to get it right this time and that Josh is ready to step in as the leader of one of the most recognized brands, with a long and illustrious history. 

But one thing that I can't quite understand: why him? What makes him more qualified than anyone with experience with the company? (And if I wanted to sound petty, why wouldn't someone who is a long time Disney cast member, who is a disciple of Walt's beliefs, even get consideration?)

A brief summary (because that's all there is) of Josh's bona fides: he graduated with a degree in business in 1993 from Georgetown. He went to work at Gillette for a couple of years.

Then, he moved to Disney as vice president of sales and travel trade marketing. 

And it's been a rise ever since.

It's not like he's a wunderkind, exactly. 

But as I said, I hope it works out. 




Bonus: This is a fun video about the Oscars after-party.  It's worth a watch.  So much planning and preparation goes into the event.  


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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