Sunday, January 4, 2026

Bitchin' Dave’s Blog: SuperBowl prediciton

Back in week 10, I made a prediction that one of the top 8 teams in point differential would win the superbowl.  Indianapolis, Kansas City, and Detroit were eliminated, leaving one of these 5 teams as the next champion. Which one will it be? 

New England
Denver
Seattle
LA Rams
Green Bay



The Panama Sea stopped “breathing” in 2025, and what satellites and fishermen saw had never been recorded in four decades

An interesting story about how we can see climate change and its effects. And how quickly things can change.  

A letter to my elected representatives about Venezuela.

The Venezuelan community in Florida is undoubtedly happy. And those among us who cherish a functioning democracy are not particularly sad that Maduro is out of office. 

However, invading a sovereign nation without provocation and without congressional approval (much less even notification) is unconstitutional and should be considered a war crime. 

And the reasons for this attack are just as appalling. There was no threat to our nation. There is no direct benefit to us as Americans. This was done as a kind of a favor to big oil, opec, and the nations that are at the head of opec. In short, he used the military for the benefit of large companies. That is about as unconstitutional as you can get as commander in chief. 

And there's also the matter of Maduro standing trial in the US for things he did in Venezuela. We hear through the media that these will be some sort of narco-terrorism charges. How the US judicial system can take that on is beyond me. This certainly feels extra judicial and an abuse of the system, and perhaps an abuse of power. 

I know this falls on deaf ears, but I am standing up to tell you to hold Mr Trump accountable for these actions. 

This isn't presidential. It's not American. It's just a man abusing his power for the benefit of others, and likely himself. 


Saturday, January 3, 2026

New plastics

Here's an interesting bit of research being done in Japan. Researchers are taking cellulose and salt and creating various forms of plastic that are useful in many applications - and the best part is that they are actually biodegradable under very specific conditions (that are easy to replicate).



A Japanese Team Built a Sensor So Precise, It Might Have Found a Way to Track Dark Matter

Dark matter is estimated to make up around 95% of our universe, yet we have no way to accurately test for it. 

Enter a team at the university of Tokyo who are using a quantum method to detect it, and so far they are having some success 

Tiny Fiddler crabs are hoovering up and breaking down microplastics, study finds | Euronews

Here's an interesting story about how fiddler crabs can ingest and break down plastic patties - more efficiently than sun and water can. 

Nature somehow finds a way, doesn't it?

Watch "Disney World cast member blocks runaway 'Indiana Jones' boulder from hitting audience" on YouTube

Over the holidays, this happened at Walt Disney World. The 400 pound boulder in the Indiana Jones's Epic Stunt Spectacular bumped off the track and headed towards the audience. 

A cast member stepped in and blocked it… kudos to him! And it's a reminder that the Disney bubble exists in the real world, and sometimes bad things can happen. 

Thursday, January 1, 2026

German Spies Detonated 2 Million Pounds of Explosives in New York Harbor in 1916: The Statue of Liberty's Torch Has Been Closed Ever Since | Military.com

This is an interesting story about the explosion that happened in New Jersey during World War One. 

As a nation, really didn't think about how to guard against infiltrators trying to prevent the sale of munitions, have a means to stop it (considering that may of the actors involved had served in the US military), or prosecute those responsible. 
 

Thursday, December 18, 2025

That sounds about right.

The dolphins owe him a  truckload of money, and that's their problem for signing him to a lucrative contract when he never really showed much on the field


Wednesday, December 17, 2025

Winning at soarin

That's my player in the top spot. And would you look at the response time! 0.0 seconds! Man am I awesome. Lol

Sunday, December 14, 2025

Raya Power makes a solar-battery system you can put in… | Canary Media

Here's a pretty nice approach to adding cellular to your home without having to attach it to the roof. It's more flexible and it would seem adds more flexibility. 
 

Thursday, December 11, 2025

Scientists Generate Power At Night By Passively Beaming Heat into Outer Space. It's "Like Solar Cells in Reverse"

That's pretty cool. Scientists have refined what's known as a Stirling engine - one that captures heat dissipation to generate power - to collect heat that's being released from the earth at night. 

They're calling it a sort of reverse solar cell. 

Experts warn ongoing concern with Atlantic Ocean will be direct threat to dozens of nations: 'Consequences for at least 1,000 years to come'

There have been several articles about changes to the Atlantic current that will have a direct impact on our climate. 

And why is it changing? It's maybe still debatable, but appears to be as a result of the worlds changing climate. Then this will have a follow on effect on our climate. 
 

Canada launches $1.2 billion push to attract talent, as U.S. charges $100,000 fee for H-1B visas - CBS News

You go, Canada! Way to try and build yourself into a competitive world power. 

Scientists will be happy to make there way to the great white north and help build something lasting. 

A 180-Year Assumption About Light Was Just Proven Wrong : ScienceAlert

I always enjoy reading about how scientific notions, assumptions, and theorems can be challenged and sometimes disproved or updated. 

Here's a case where the Faraday effect on light was shown to be affected by magnetic fields. It's a bit to digest, but the basic idea is that light that is polarized can be nudged by a magnet, in addition to electric fields (which was known). 

And they sum it up thusly. 
 
Finally, this work is tantalizing because it reminds us of one of the cornerstones of science – namely, that researchers may discover other as-yet unknown properties of light or other electromagnetic phenomena at any time, even in well-established models.

Sunday, December 7, 2025

A fun podcast

I recently listened to a podcast from Radio Lab called "the creation story" ... it was an interesting half hour or thereabouts.

Latif (the host) interviewed Ella al-Shamahi, who is described as a real-life Indiana Jones.  She is quite interesting and explores anthropology and history through her work, and several shows she hosts.  

But this podcast was about her story, and how she got here.  She was born Muslim (in England) and followed all the traditions and beliefs growing up.  When she went to school, she decided that she was going to prove Charles Darwin wrong because evolution couldn't be a thing.

And as you might guess, she couldn't.  Because evolution is demonstrably true and try as she might to poke holes, the evidence didn't support her point of view.

So....she changed directions and now tries to elucidate and educate others, but not in a confrontational way.  I found that most interesting, and wanted to share.

A few things are worth noting: it's okay to question the world around you, but you should keep an open mind.  Trust science and look at the body of evidence that's presented to you (rather than something "your crazy uncle" posted).  And realize that some people need time to get to a sort of enlightened thinking (and some may never get there), but you can take an approach where you share ideas and try and explain what you know while listening to why they believe in something that may not be reality.

Thursday, December 4, 2025

How Blue Origin Plans to Beat SpaceX to the Moon

Blue origin - until very recently - was known for providing space tourism.  People with a bit of money to burn were taken aboard a flight that let them experience weightlessness. 

But the purpose of these missions was to slowly grow the company's ability to get into space.  To test out their rockets, and their reusability. 

And so they started launching satellites, and in early November had a rather remarkable moment where the booster returned and "missed" the drone ship it was to land on by a few yards or so.  The rockets fired and it hung in the air while the drone ship moved underneath it, then it landed successfully.

Next stop is a moon venture.  They are planning missions in 2026, because they feel they are ready.

The rockets they'll use are purpose built, and not as heavy as starship, and won't require the complexity of refueling. 

Okay, game on.  Let's see what Jeff Bezos can do. 

Wednesday, December 3, 2025

The cryptobros bought themselves a president (plus, we’re in The Guardian)

I received this earlier today. Thought it's worth sharing, if you want to understand one of the bigger things that's happening right now. 

---------- Forwarded message ---------

͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌    ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­

Paid for by The Dekleptocracy Alliance, a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization.

Copyright (C) 2025, Dekleptocracy Alliance. All rights reserved.


Our mailing address is:
Dekleptocracy Alliance
PO Box 6580

2850 South Quincy

Arlington

VA, 22206-9998


Goodbye to solar energy ― Sweden starts mining "moon" energy over the seas with this underwater kite

As we know, the moon is what affects the seas, and causes the tides to shift. 

Here's a company in Sweden that is trying to harness that natural power by placing a sort of kit under the ocean, and capturing the power generated when the tides shifts. 

Neat idea!