Bitchin Dave's Newsletter - November 3rd

A reminder that today is election day.  If you haven't already gotten out to vote, remember to do so before the polls close this evening.  And if you have already voted, good on you for "voting early," now it's time to "vote often." (chuckle)

If there is one thing to be thankful for today, it's that these absurd ads will finally stop.  They are mind numbingly stupid.  

My personal fave was the one that said "socialist candidates" are bad, and will do all of these bad things!  And in the backdrop, they show a soviet flag on the screen (yes, the hammer and sickle!).... which is, in its own way, hilarious because (a) they're conflating socialism and communism, and (b) it is a little  peculiar, given the deference given to Putin by a certain someone in power.  

There's also a few ads that note that so-and-so "socialist" candidate got wealthy by investing, and that's bad! Which is kind of the ultimate moment of hubris.  I mean, isn't that what the other "not-socialist" candidates talk about when they tout getting wealthy through capitalism?

Strange times, indeed.  Sheesh. That's all crazy loco nonsense.

====


US lawmakers closed their on-campus voting sites. HBCU students marched miles to vote anyway | North Carolina | The Guardian

And speaking of elections, here's a story about a group that had voting restrictions imposed, only to find a way to vote anyway.

I have nothing but contempt for the idiots-in-charge who want to restrict voting. 

But props to the students who found a way to get out the vote, in a much more public way. (that in general was an in your face to the aforementioned idiots)



Donated Bison Herd Grows From 300 to More Than 2,500 in 33 Years

Nature often finds a way. 

A rancher donated 300 bison to a nature conservancy. In the 30+ years since the donation, the herd has flourished, growing to nearly ten times the size. And the land has become more fertile too, because the bison tromp down on the earth. 

That’s a nice win for the environment. 



Growing greens indoors

I rather enjoyed the story of a Taiwanese woman who wanted to find produce that was not mass produced and flavorless, and which hadn’t been treated with pesticides. But none of the Asian grocers have those products. 

So, she did what made sense: she decided to grow her own. But because she was living in NYC, she had an additional hurdle of figuring out where she could grow greens. 

Creativity struck and she built an indoor grow facility, found someone to partner with who was familiar with the techniques, and started planting seeds. 

They are experimenting and learning. But so far, have a successful business that reaches beyond her local community. She sells some of her products to Sprouts markets in the northeast corridor. 

And she hopes to continue to grow her business. 

A fundamentally good idea, a little capital, and some amount of blood, sweat, and tears can really go far. 

The video is a look at her and her business. The link to her website gives more detail about her story. 



Deposit System and Space Trucks Target Space Debris Reduction

Space debris is a real problem.  As more and more launches are happening (without any “real” plan for dealing with the satellites once they’ve reached their end of life), there needs to be some thought given to how to better manage the near earth orbital space. 

Money paid for launching, with an eye on cleaning up later is a reasonable step. 

But I’m mostly intrigued by the idea of cleaning the satellites up … and disposing of them somehow. I’m not entirely clear what would happen once the discards are picked up. 

But I’ll take steps forward. 
 



Plant Power Prevails In Vegans Vs Meat Eaters Strength Showdown

What a bit of fun. As the article notes, the fact that it was competitive and ended in what amounts to  a win for vegans (spoiler!) reminds us that you don’t have to eat meat to build muscle or be considered “manly” (suck it, dumbasses who espouse that point of view). 

Plant powered protein is synthesized in the body in a way that builds strength, and provides other benefits (tangible and more abstract). 




Disney World and Disneyland Are Quietly Improving Ride Reliability and Capacity - Disney Tourist Blog

This is a pretty good, long-form, piece about Disney and its attempts to increase ride performance and increase guest satisfaction. 

And truth be told, this is the core of industrial engineering, and what Disney was doing drew me to the field in the first place. 

This is all part of the strategy and everything noted within the article is part of the bailiwick of IEs. 

I am forever fascinated by what Disney has done - and continues to do - in order to improve the experience. 



Bonus: Sadly, we lost a gifted actor - and good person by all accounts - this week, with the passing of Sir Patrick Stewart (who, if you didn't know, played Captain Jean Luc Picard on Star Trek: The Next Generation).

Two quick stories I remember about him.  The first was that he was a Shakespearan actor who was asked to audition for the role. His agent encouraged him to do so because it could make him some money, and why not do a half dozen / dozen episodes and then move on?  It was a trick of sorts, because while the days were long, it was enjoyable and he got a lot out of the role, and obviously was there for the entire run, the movies, and a followup series.

Which leads to the second story.  During that first season, he was at a party back in London where there were some royals, knights, and others in the British upper crust in attendance.  He was embarrassed about being in an American TV show about fantasy, and tried to only talk about his serious theater roles. But those in attendance kept asking about Star Trek and Hollywood.  And he changed his opinion about all of it.

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

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bitchin Dave's Newsletter - May 27th

Image
The sitting president of the United States held a "private event" - which we know because it was made clear that he was acting as a private citizen and not in an official capacity, so that he would not have to reveal who was in attendance.  First of all, that's an absurd thing to say. Everything he does is somewhat public. And because there were people from other countries in attendance then this should be classified as a state function.  Second, the event itself is problematic. It was all about his own crypto currency. The invitees were his "biggest investors."  This raises many questions about them exchanging money for access to him. This violates the emoluments clause, which I remind you says "No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, ...
Read more

Bitchin Dave's Newsletter - May 6th

Image
With all that's happening in the world, it sure feels like we are being destroyed from within.  Which calls to mind an address  Abraham Lincoln made to the  Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois in 1838. He w arned us against the dangers of mob violence and the erosion of respect for law and government.     How then shall we perform it?--At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it?-- Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow?   Never!--All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years. At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destructi...
Read more

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 de...
Read more