Sunday, July 21, 2024

The pesky “law of unintended consequences”

Creating an “anti woke” law creates problems. 

… the letter from the Treasury points out the risk of "creating uncertainty" that could impede the fight against illicit activities such as money laundering and terrorism financing.


https://hoodline.com/2024/07/treasury-department-warns-florida-s-anti-woke-banking-law-could-threaten-national-security/

This is a really cool archaeological find

A house that was added onto during different time periods. 

https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/istanbul-layered-house/




Cooling stadia

There's a product called Hydrochill that says they can cool the ground on synthetic turf by a large amount. 

Color me a little skeptical since their use cases include the Florida marlins who…. Don't use synthetic turf and play in a dome. 

Still the concept is intriguing. 

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

HydroChill is a pre-coated sand that is added to synthetic turf as an infill. It naturally holds moisture from rain or irrigation and during the hottest part of the day, the infill activates and releases that moisture in the form of evaporation, creating an evaporative cooling system that cools the turf up to 50 degrees. This is unheard of, making it the most effective infill of its kind.


If your project is for a poolside, children's' playgrounds, or a general lounge area, then this cooling infill is highly recommended.

Other than cooling, infill for artificial grass helps weigh down the turf and keeps the artificial grass from getting wrinkles or ripples caused by movement and climate change. It also helps the grass blades stand up and keep its real look in high traffic areas. Finally, it creates a layer that absorbs the traffic providing durability for the turf. Infill is absolutely necessary in order to complete the artificial grass project successfully.

NON-ANGULAR SHAPE:
Our silica sand is Guaranteed to be non-angular which essentially means that it is rounded and has no sharp edges. This is very important because Angular silica sand has shark edges and will act like sandpaper and will grind the turf to dust.

WASHED:
Our silica sand is washed so only the sand crystals stay while all of the finer dust particles get washed away. This is very important because if the sand is not washed then those fine dust particles eventually accumulate and clog the drain hole

100% DRY:
Silica Sand is washed with water so after it is washed it is soaking wet which is a problem because it will lump up and not slide into the turf blades easily. Wet sand prior to installation will NOT allow for a successful and professional finish. This is why our sand infill goes through an additional step and gets dried in an oven so we can guarantee that every single bag of sand is 100% dry!


FEATURES:

  • Hydrochill is non-toxic and does not have negative environmental effects.
  • Based on actual lab and outdoor lawn thermocouple testing, Hydrochill has achieved 30°F – 50°F lower surface temperatures compared to a standard synthetic turf system.
  • Protects fibers from matting down
  • Provides weight to avoid ripples





I’m bothered by this.

I recently read a story about a middle class young family that was duped by a fraudster who then managed to gain access to their bank account, and drain it. 

It's horrible how bad actors continually just prey on people and take their money with relative ease. 

But the thing that really got me was the part about their "life savings" … the crooks took it all. But the amount was $9,000. 

And it turns out that most families have less than $20,000 in the bank (less for younger people of course. Source: 

The billionaires (and high net worth millionaires) so disproportionately have all the wealth. 

And that's just absurd. 





Using public funds to help people.

I know the original source is Faux News, but bear with me here. 

A judge has paused payments to families who were receiving $500 a month in a universal basic income program.  For reference we're talking about $10s of thousands of dollars. 

The reason for the pause is that the constitution in the state says that money may not be used for individuals or corporations. 

But yet, various sports teams get public funds ALL THE TIME. On the order of millions of dollars. 


Saturday, July 20, 2024

Polluting our world

Here's a story that breaks down the problem with PFAs appearing in our food chain and drinking water. 

I'm glad someone isn't least studying it. But when will it be time to actually take action? And who will actually take that action?

https://www.thecooldown.com/green-tech/pfas-pollution-drinking-water-food/