Bitchin Dave's Newsletter - June 16th
The World Cup kicked off this week, and there's rather a lot going on, beyond the pitch.
First off, let's talk about ticketing. When it was first announced that the World Cup would be making its way to the US for the first time in some years, I was intrigued. And when some games were announced for Miami, I was excited. Games in my backyard? Maybe I could catch one! Except that the price point was well beyond what it was 4 years ago (10x the amount!), and there was some weird lottery to get in. There have been investimagations into price gouging, and it appears as though not all tickets have actually been sold, contrary to what we're told. And attendance appears to be low. While the TV broadcasts may intentionally not show it, social media sure does: swaths of empty seats!
FIFA president Gianni Infantino assured us that it's all simply okay, because the average price was only(!) $500 per ticket. And empty seats are because people are "in the concourses." Then went on to say "Let me say that we are very relaxed about it because before starting to sell 7 million tickets, we checked what we would do with the best lawyers or experts In California, we sold 800,000 tickets for the games in Los Angeles and San Francisco....We'll present everything and make our case. But it's most important that every dollar that we generate goes back into football." (by the way, that's a funny way to say that FIFA takes all the profits and keeps them!)
Then, it was a lot of information about the sheer grift that was happening in host cities. Money was being spent to "upgrade" stadiums and to get fans to games. But at our expense as taxpayers, rather than by FIFA.
Oh, and by the way, the owner of the Miami stadium gets a huge tax break for "major events" that are hosted there, and we get to pay for that, too.
Chicago wisely backed out as a host city. And Los Angeles asked FIFA what was in it for them and got the amusing answer that the event “puts them on the map,” because clearly no one has ever heard of LA.
And then there was the absurdity of visas for fans travelling from other places. The state department was moving so slowly, and there was an (since rescinded, but not after having the intended effect) "entry bond" placed on some of what this administration thinks are undesirable countries. And many people just couldn't get visas to come and watch their country play.
Some fans managed to secure visas, only to have them later rescinded. Some players and referees had difficulty getting the visas. A few were turned away as they went through customs. Some were subjected to intense searches, silly humiliating public spectacles (wand searches on the tarmac?), and detainments that lasted for many hours.
Infantino addressed this too: "Believe me when I tell you, or don't believe me if you don't want, but we try always to find solutions, always. But then we need to respect that we are not the kings of the world who can rule over governments and police forces and I don't know what. We are a sports organization, we try to do our best with the means that we have."
Referring to the referee who was stopped in Miami - who the US said has an "association with suspected members of terror organizations" - Infantino said "It is unfortunate what happened to Omar, the referee from Somalia, but again we don't control everything. We try, we'll discuss, we'll see. Maybe sometimes it's good as well to chill, relax. We work on everything, we try to resolve everything. Sometimes to immediately start screaming and shouting has the opposite effect in terms of finding a solution. We always try to find solutions, always. But then we need to respect that we are not the kings of the world who can rule over governments and police forces."
Funny that he gave T-rump the first ever FIFA peace prize... and then when the guy in charge doesn't embody that, its met with a shrug and an urgence to "relax"... man is this all dumb.
Meanwhile, hotels, which had expected a surge of customers, have low bookings.
And did I mention the heat due to climate change? Yeah, it's too hot in some cities to play soccer, according to the player rep organization - they set a threshold of 26C (80F) to play games. But, FIFA says the cutoff to postpone is when it hits 32C (90F). Several cities (Miami included) hit that daily. But you can imagine they won't postpone matches. Because there's money to be made! And anyway they use the excuse that they have hydration breaks (which they've done before) to make sure no one gets overheated; these are weird and disrupt the flow of the game.
It’s a bit of a mess. Here’s to hoping the games we see on TV are good! (and so far they have been)
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The stated intent here is:
Researchers at UC Santa Barbara believe they may have found an answer that avoids the need for massive battery systems or reliance on the electrical grid. Writing in the journal Science, Associate Professor Grace Han and her research team describe a new material capable of absorbing sunlight, storing that energy in chemical bonds, and later releasing it as heat whenever needed. The material is based on a modified organic molecule called pyrimidone and represents a new step forward in Molecular Solar Thermal (MOST) energy storage technology.
Now that’s an advancement in a clean energy storage system.
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This can’t end well. The DOJ asking for a list of everyone who downloaded an app sets a dangerous precedent for surveillance. These people may not have done anything wrong, or perhaps downloaded it in error.
And yet their names will appear on a list that will surely lead to enforcement.
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The finding of large gaps in the climate data are maybe not so surprising. They do note that the way data is collected and the use of automation does affect the data that’s reported.
And of course there is observer bias. But they note:
“We will never estimate emissions with perfect accuracy, but we must ensure that the data shared with policymakers and the public is unbiased and meets best practices and the most rigorous scientific standards available. Without this, we mislead decision makers and potentially lose public trust in our ability to tackle climate change.”
And yes. That should be the fundamental basis for all scientific endeavors.
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Let’s give it up for the beavers!
They turn out to be more important in a changing climate than anyone ever assumed.
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This is a pretty good summary of the Ingenuity helicopter that nasa placed on mars.
It was wildly successful and continues to guide future development that can be used far away from home.
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Bonus: Here's a bit of terrible news as it relates to climate science. We've been faithfully recording what is happening in our oceans for many years. But under cuts to climate science under T-rumps weird obsession with things he can't understand, we won't be doing that anymore.
Sure, let's bury our heads in the sand and cry "climate science isn't real!"
Good thing that other countries will take it more seriously. I guess?
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