On graduation

I went to my sons college graduation and as I sat in the audience, I felt a sense of pride. Its his accomplishment of course, but I'd like to think I had some influence on him. 

But the reason for this post was something that occurred to me. When I graduated college, I had this deep sense of pride, of accomplishment, of feeling like I'd reached some pinnacle. Like it was bigger than me. 

But I also remembered going through whatever catechism class and having my first communion. An uncle (who went on to become a pastor) asked how I felt. Did I feel god or some such nonsense. 

I admit I felt a sort of bigger than myself moment. 

And later I realized that this is the intent of all of these ceremonies that involve a form of pomp and circumstance. 

Whether it's religious in nature or academic the same feelings are evoked. 

And this idea that I might have "felt god" is simply absurd. 

Look at that…

The program has a net positive effect. Why are so many people opposed to it?

Maybe because some don't want anyone to have opportunities. It's better for "business" - if more people remain somewhat oppressed, uneducated, and poor, then you have more ability to control them. 

https://www.businessinsider.com/immigrants-new-mexico-basic-income-for-housing-healthcare-ubi-gbi2024-5

Bitchin' Dave's Newsletter - May 28

 Dave’s Musings

I find it hard to believe, but this newsletter marks my one year anniversary of sharing my musings!

A little bit of housekeeping. I will be taking some time off over the next month. I plan to return with a new format newsletter sometime in July. Keep an eye out for it!

This view of the ISS is pretty cool And it's good to know that there are actually organizations looking at all the space junk. It's a step…

Scientists found human footprints that were believed to be more than 10,000 years old - but actually turned out to be more than twice as old.  And that suggests that are theories about when humans first set foot into North America may be incorrect.  https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/archaeology/a60790672/23000-year-old-footprints/

Walt Disney had dreams, plans, and ambitions.  He created a department called WED enterprises that brought together creative minds with can-do attitudes to build all manner of things.   He let their creativity run wild, and many of their innovations are on display in the theme parks (and a few beyond). This group was rebranded as Imagineering at some point after Walt's death, but still had that spirit, that ability to create. They went through ups and downs, and had a spell where their creativity was tempered by marketing looking at how they could profit off the ideas - other than simply using them in the themeparks. Creativity was reportedly stifled, and there was some turnover in the group (and some left to go to other theme parks and entertainment businesses). But now it would seem that things are turning back around and their creativity is a nice hybrid of cool tech coupled with some "possibility" of revenue generation. Take a look behind the scenes via the Hollywood Reporter. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/disney-imagineering-parks-1235880265/

Here's something fun... there's a theory that you can boost productivity by going to the movies during the work day.  I found that it worked for me, so why not try it yourself... https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/09/want-to-boost-your-productivity-hit-the-movies-during-work-expert-says.html

Latest video

This video contains some audio that Jack Wagner created for the Walt Disney world monorail.  Episode 72: Jack Wagner monorail spiels https://youtu.be/blDHJPmWimE

One Little Spark …

This is a story about a Girl Scout who opened a "Banned Book Lending Library" as a community service project. It was a great thing, and the scouts gave her some recognition for it. And then her school wanted to also give her some recognition as well....only the school wouldn't use the word "banned" in their honorarium, because they were true to their own stupidity, and banned the word so as to not call attention to how dumb they are. And thus called more attention to it. #IdiotsInCharge https://www.scarymommy.com/parenting/gold-award-girl-scout-book-banning

Sad news…

Because it’s always about what “they” want

Another example of woke gone wild. Florida passed laws that prohibit companies (you know privately held, or publicly traded who have no direct business with the state. And who provide tax dollars to the state and provide jobs!) from implementing any DEI initiatives. 

Aside: I thought Florida prided (see what I did there?) itself in free enterprise and letting companies be unregulated. 

And the state thinks Starbucks had violated that law and simply must investigate!

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-starbucks-probe-diversity-ron-desantis-hannity/

The world is stupid

White alpha male gets passed over for a screen writer job, and sues for discrimination. And yes it's in the woke context. 

https://deadline.com/2024/05/cbs-claims-first-amendment-allows-select-writers-in-discrimination-lawsuit-response-1235929362/

Bitchin' Dave's Newsletter - May 21

 Dave’s Musings

I saw this and it got me to thinking... the land around Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City is a blight of parking lots - which are only used 10 times a year, or so.  That land could be used for so much more, so many better things.

It should serve as a reminder that we can be better.

https://www.thecooldown.com/green-business/arrowhead-stadium-parking-lot-reddit-photo/

Looks like the Artemis vehicle had some issues with its heat shield that need to be resolved.  What continues to surprise and amaze me is that the old world NASA contractors are relying on what was learned during the Apollo missions, and trying to extend on those things.  But technology has advanced significantly during those 50 years, but they're not really using those advancements "smartly" To be fair, it's not that they're using technology from 50 years ago, it's more that they are using concepts learned from that era, rather than trying new things.  https://futurism.com/nasa-inspector-alarmed-damage-heatshield-moon

I read two articles about Alzheimer's recently...the first was about some some things you can do to help yourself; and most notably diet and exercise are at the top of the list. The second suggests that the effects can perhaps be mitigated through aromatherapy of all things! Right now, the focus is on menthol, but certainly there could be other findings in the future. https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/18/health/alzheimers-blood-brain-improvement-wellness/index.html https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/could-inhaling-menthol-help-improve-memory-in-alzheimers-disease

This is a long form article about the guy who was at the heart of the proxy fight.  I'll let you read it and form your own opinions.  But I will leave you with this: this is the kind of person we need to hear less from in society. Perhaps Disney could do more to help itself, but the specific things he points out are....pretty old man thinking. https://english.elpais.com/culture/2024-04-30/disney-why-do-we-need-a-cast-made-up-of-only-women-or-blacks-how-nelson-peltz-beckhams-father-in-law-is-trying-to-change-the-company.html

A vegan cheese won an award for being an excellent cheese, and so dairy farmers conspired to disqualify the winner because its not made with milk and therefore not cheese. People get so hung up on trivial things - cheese, milk, beef, chicken, these are all words we are familiar with and have a specific meaning in general. But why can't these things include both plant and animal based products? Just label it accordingly, and list the ingredients.  I am not sure why it matters.  Andrew Zimmern in his "Bizarre Foods" show used to use the tagline "if it looks good, eat it" which I think sums this up well. Personally, I don't eat mammals, but I will eat eggs and cow/sheep/goat milk products.  Some of the plant based alternatives are okay, but most of them I don't care for.  But if someone wants to eat animal products - or cares not to eat any of them - why do I care? Eat what makes you happy. https://boingboing.net/2024/04/29/after-a-vegan-blue-cheese-won-the-good-food-award-panicked-dairy-cheese-makers-forced-the-foundation-to-disqualify-it.html

Latest video

I've got some thoughts about Tesla the company, and some recent decisions. https://youtu.be/-c71xydTYMY

One Little Spark …

Recently, I posted a video about charging my EV, and then leaving it outside in the heat; the fans ran and it drained the battery a bit - which meant I had to charge along the way home (if it had remained near to 100%, I wouldn't have had to stop). Innocuous, but interesting, and thats why I posted a video. Except that there was a very strange series of comments that came in. The first was that "EVs are gay" because apparently middle school taunts are where its at. As if that somehow is an insult? “EVs are a scam.” “I don't ever want to worry about charging.” And so on... Then it shifted to some mildly personal attacks and “I’m a sheeple and do what I’m told” … ...until we got to the inevitable: “the government can't tell me what to do. I'm never driving one!” Which descended further into a bit of a rabbit hole, until I turned off comments. The government can't tell me what to do. Except, of course, that they can and do... and when its something that you agree with for whatever reason, then its okay. It’s so strange the way we've decided to draw lines in the sand about some topics and defend them with fervor. Even when it really is out of context...I was talking about my specific experience with something that I chose to purchase. And it turned into something unexpected and weird.