Bitchin' Dave's Newsletter - Mar 12

 Dave’s Musings

Another year, another time change. For some reason, we're still hung up changing the time twice a year. And though we voted in Florida to stay on Daylight Savings Time .... 6 years ago! ... we're still doing the same business. Because it takes a literal act of congress to officially make this permanent. And they're much too busy with the mishegas of the day to have a straight up/down vote that might take 5 minutes.

By the way, its more complicated, because the suggested legislation leaves it open to the states to decide what to do, but proposes Savings Time should be the year-round answer. And of course, there's a group lobbying for it to be Standard Time. Which leads some legislators to urge "more study" before committing to something.

It never made any sense to have the time change, and its history is very suspect. But here we are.

On the bright side, there are very few clocks to physically change, and other than having a moment here and there where you feel out of synch a little (which lasts for a few days), it really doesn't make much of a difference, really.

Back in late February, a satellite that has been in space since 1995 fell back to Earth. It was not at all unexpected, as the satellite had served it purpose, and the owning European agency had done any preparations they could to reduce the risks. And they had even predicted the trajectory and location, though their time estimates were off by about 2 hours. It supposedly "burned up on re-entry" but there are questions about that, and no one can verify what happened, since it fell into the pacific ocean. Still, the risk is very real with all the junk we have floating above our planet. At some point, a satellite may re-enter Earth's atmosphere and stay largely intact, and could pose a threat somewhere. There needs to be more of an effort to plan for end of life for these space objects, more effort in understanding and predicting when/where they will return, and naturally finding a means to clean up more of it before it becomes a problem. https://www.space.com/ers-2-satellite-crash-space-junk-wakeup-call

Climate change has a direct impact on everyday life. In the attached story, TV host and food blogger Andrew Zimmern talks about why there was a $24 bill at Five Guys that went viral. Essentially, there are water shortages, there are fires and floods, there are other climate factors that have affected the cattle population. And that is in addition to crops being similarly impacted, increasing prices on tomatoes and other produce. Its a good read; he lays it out well and shares some insights. When reading it, think about the in the context of climate change. It really does affect us all. [Please note that the site this article appears on is a conservative news outlet. While I found it interesting, there are linked articles, other content on the page, and comments that belie the nature of this particular piece] https://komonews.com/amp/news/nation-world/andrew-zimmern-explains-why-your-five-guys-order-is-24-bizarre-foods-travel-channel-beef-prices-anti-trust-inventory-cattle-texas-fire-tomatoes-labor-rights-wages-benefits-addiction-low-costs-chicken-ukraine-russia-grain-oil-fast-food

This is an interesting article that talks about Disney being "woke" but notes that Disney has essentially always been that way, and has changed perceptions by using their ability to tell stories, specifically regarding the environment. I would argue that its even more profound. Walt Disney himself had an outstanding ability to unite people and bring about some changes (both in reality and in our way of thinking). You can call it whatever name you want, but Disney has always been a kind of bellwether. The company can change perceptions, typically for the better. https://time.com/6693810/disney-environmental-films-woke/

This story is sad in so many ways, but still highly amusing. In short, a vegan storefront purchased donuts from a local baker. They were supposed to be gluten free and vegan. They tested them, and they were neither. And some of them had a frosting with a trademarked "D" from Dunkin. Apparently, this bakery was passing off Dunkin donuts as their own, and mislabeling them to boot. This is the world we live in... https://www.delish.com/food-news/a60113389/vegan-baker-selling-dunkin-donuts/

Latest video

Here is my take on Moon Landings: https://youtu.be/a9GdCy-4DWY?si=7mSvsHVn-HWfHnur

One Little Spark …

The United States effectively eradicated measles as a disease in the late 20th century. And yet, thanks to foolish people, and even more foolish (and misguided) people in positions of power who guide in-DUH-viduals, we have seen measles outbreaks occur throughout the US in recent years. A few weeks ago, we had an outbreak at an elementary school here in South Florida. But here's the oddity of it all: the state, and the local school board, require that all students have a signed health form which includes a requirement that they have had the MMR vaccine. And yet, apparently they (and many other students) didn't fill in the required forms to attend the school. The school responded by essentially saying and doing nothing - though they did offered free MMR vaccines to students and their families. The problem here actually lies with the state, and in particular the surgeon general who appears to have graduated from medical school, but who is decidedly anti-vaxx and sees this not as a public health problem, but rather an indication that people are "listening" and not vaccinating. Somehow this is twisted to being good, and the state tacitly accepts waivers from those pesky health requirements - just don't turn them in! This is a problem that will (sadly) only grow over time. People listen to their crazy uncle, and eschew actual science. And some of those people get into positions of power and cause harm to us all.