I think we should start a petition to replace the current one with this, as it is so much appropriate as a representation of his "presidency"
Thursday, August 24, 2023
Tuesday, August 22, 2023
Bitchin' Dave's Newsletter - August 22
I have been away for a few weeks, but I did keep up with the news - particularly as it relates to the weather. Hurricanes in California? Fire in Maui? Tornadoes, wildfires, extreme heat> They all showed up as very real threats.
I heard someone say this will be the coolest summer for the rest of our lives, and that hit home. We need to appreciate that climate change is happening around us, is a real and present danger.
And not to belabor the point, but its time for all of us to do more. As they say "think globally, act locally" - surely there are little things we can do to help.
There was an interesting case presented in Montana: a group of youths sued the state for not providing a clean environment, as required by the state constitution.
The state didn't put up much of a defense, and said that no matter the outcome they had no plans to change anything.
But the youths won, with the court noting that the states environmental policy violated their right to a clean environment. The state (naturally) said they will appeal.
Here's the key takeaway: after Parkland there was a notion that "the kids will win," and here we are. The kids are seizing the day and winning.
Other than that, we can see how a small group can challenge the status quo and do something bigger and bolder.
Read more here: https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/montana-youths-win-climate-lawsuit-fossil-fuels/story?id=102260674
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Tuesday, August 15, 2023
Bitchin' Dave's Newsletter - Aug 15
One of my lifetime bucket list items is to experience the aurora borealis; to see it overhead is a bit of a dream.
I have been traveling for a few weeks through Vancouver, into whistler, and over to Vancouver island to visit Victoria. Any or all of which “could” provide viewing opportunities.
But unfortunately, there was only one day where the northern lights were visible - and only through a camera lens, not with the naked eye. So my quest remains unfulfilled for now.
But I did have some amazing star filled skies and the persied meteor shower was completely visible one night. So it wasn’t a total loss.
There’s a Facebook enthusiast group I was following; someone posted a cool video from the night it was almost visible:
Take a moment to consider what happened in Ohio last week. Like many states, Ohio grants citizens the rights to propose a constitutional amendment, if they can get enough signatures on a petition. Then, the amendment goes on a ballot and needs a simple majority to be an amendment to the states constitution.
The state GOP wanted to pass legislation to ban abortion. But the citizens got the required signatures to keep abortion legal, as a constitutional amendment. The GOP saw that as a threat and proposed a change to the law and change the rules on constitutional amendments to require a 60% threshold (rather than simple majority), and a few other punitive things.
They held a special election (which may have violated the law as it’s written, that’s still being determined) and cost the taxpayers money. Holding it on a random day in August, they thought maybe voter turnout would be low…
And the voters were motivated and turned out in force to vote down the changes. Voters who normally didn’t vote in such things. Voters who live in rural areas who may or may not vote for the abortion issue turned out.
It reminds us all that the power of democracy is still strong. And we can do a lot with that power.
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Wednesday, August 9, 2023
Bitchin' Dave's Newsletter - Aug 8
I am a bit of a soccer fan. Some may find it “boring” and can’t accept that games can end in a tie. But me, I enjoy the subtle strategy and the nuances of the game. These are true athletes, having to play twice a week, running somewhere close to 10 miles in a game while showing agility and a skill with the ball.
Recently Lionel Messi - who may very well be the greatest all time to play football - joined InterMiami. He’s older, and I admit I wasn’t sure how he’d fare …but he had been nothing short of outstanding. And is absolutely worth watching if you get the chance. He is on another level.
And he’s raised the specter of the MLS from an okay league to something enjoyable to watch.
The state of Florida has a huge insurance issue. The Washington Post did a piece recently hilighting the general issue and focusing in one particular company, UPC, and their insolvency, the states’ utter incompetence in handling the situation, and how the company used parent companies to absolve themselves of liability yet still remain enormously profitable.
All the while, real people got screwed and have damaged homes and lives. And the rest of us who live in the state have to make up for the company’s insolvency by paying an additional fee to help the people who got screwed.
As a reminder to those of you who aren’t paying attention, this all happened under the watchful eye of current governor (and can’t-be-bothered with citizens problems because he simply doesn’t care) desantis. The cautionary tale is that when you elect someone who is only in it for themself, you get someone who is only it for themself.
And the secondary takeaway is that there need to be some guard rails to regulate these companies - because companies can’t be trusted to act in the best interest of anything or anyone other than the people with the largest financial stakes in the company.
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Tuesday, August 1, 2023
Bitchin' Dave's Newsletter - Aug 1
I’ve been keeping up with the news about “return to office,” and what I find most intriguing is that from a company’s perspective they feel they can “better manage” their employees, mentor them, and produce some nebulous “better results” with people who they can see. Even though the unexpected nature of sending people home during the pandemic caused high productivity and record profits for most companies!
But there’s rent to pay, certain corporate tax breaks for having offices, and the commitment to the community that are important (the sandwich shop on the corner and the dry cleaner around the block rely on people coming for the office, for example).
For employees, the flexibility to work a more balanced schedule, with the ability to stop and start, take reasonable breaks to do things, and to generally help the work-life balance is a win. Plus, of course the lack of commute and commuting costs is huge.
We’re clearly going through a renaissance of sorts. Much as we did when people moved to suburbs and started first commuting to offices. If you look back in history, this caused similar sorts of issues that had to be solved.
How this ends is anybody’s guess. But I think it’s safe to say that it will be different than it was - and different than it is today.
The state of Florida (shamefully and reprehensibly) has implemented a new curriculum to teach black history. It quite literally white washes history and uses phrases like slaves "learned skills they could use later in life," stays away from mentioning them being enslaved, and ignores simple truths.
They go on to talk about the Ocoee massacre (it happened right here in Florida: people of color were killed, their community destroyed, because a black man had the audacity to vote) using the rhetoric that “people on both sides committed violence” - downplaying it as much as possible.
It’s incredibly disheartening to realize that a group of white people created a curriculum for students in Florida, without using the wealth of information that exists on the topic, and without consulting scholars on the topic. They want to create a point of view that "doesn't make white people feel bad." Talk about snowflake behavior. It’s not that hard to confront reality, and then learn from it.
More here:
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