An open letter to our senators

Senator,

Over these last few months, we've seen Mr Trump continue his assault on literally everything we hold near and dear as citizens of this great nation. He continues with unchecked executive power to simply try and change things with a stroke of a pen. 

We haven't heard much from you, and yet, we've seen the courts continue to hold him accountable, as most of these actions are unconstitutional!

I also want to call attention to the fact that Mr Trumps physical health has been declining, very publicly, comments from the Whitehouse to the contrary not withstanding. 

And then there is his "brain health."  His speech is slurred. He goes off on wild tangents. More than 5 years ago there were questions about his mental faculties; he has aged, and as we all are well aware, it's not possible to have somehow "gotten better."

It appears to some of the public (and from what I gather some elected officials as well) that he is unfit to serve. Maybe you should take that into consideration as you look at his deeds and actions. 

Don't remain on the sidelines and simply allow him to remain unchecked.  I might remind you that one of your primary jobs is to protect and defend the constitution. 

I ask you to do just that; protect the constitution *from* him. 

Digging into the Epstein case

I'm setting this up by saying that I can't vouch for the truth in all of this. The guy has some details that line up with what we generally know about Epstein. 

But is it factual? I don't know. 

It's a nice story in a way. And probably has some general truth in it. 

So I'm sharing. 

Part 1

https://youtube.com/shorts/9NqFD6_pyiY?si=emmXwewOZRgfVw2g

Part 2

https://youtube.com/shorts/rE90leBYSi4?si=d8oBcolcfncqEq56

And speaking of Karen’s …

A group of teens (including some of my kids) went to the "Hamilton in the movie theater"...

This is the premise - "yes, this is unlikely to be your normal theater-going experience, but that's a good thing…. in that prologue, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom, Jr., and the rest basically encourage you to sing along, applaud, and feel your feelings however you feel them as you watch Hamilton in a whole new way."

The group took it literally and made it a sing-a-long!!

But of course, there was a Karen who told them to be quiet, to shut up, and got nasty. She got the manager at one point, and they held up the film for a couple of minutes while they resolved it.  

It did NOT go as she hoped,  and the film resumed along the the sing along. 

The entitled joyless jackhole, frustrated, got up and left.

It's a fun show. Get over yourself. Why you gotta be that person?!

Watch "Wh!te Woman Breaks Down Why Karens Love Trump" on YouTube

The first 9 or so minutes are quite good; the woman talks about Karen's. 

The remainder is someone's analysis. So whatever. 

 

https://youtu.be/qcwvtU8fC8c?si=ijp0U1-3OVNEHSB0

These “plastivore” caterpillars can devour a plastic bag in just 24 hours

Here's another way that we (collectively) are trying to deal with plastic waste. Waxworms are capable of eating through certain types of plastic and digesting it. 

It's not quite ready for a wide scale solution, but as one researcher notes, it sets the stage for finding potential organisms that can be used in various ways to help with the plastic problem. 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/08/250827010736.htm

After ‘humiliating’ raid, Burkina Faso halts ‘gene drive’ project to fight malaria

This is one of those unbelievable stories that show the problem with fake news extends well beyond our borders. 

The summary is that the government of Burkina Faso was funding research into how to reduce the spread of malaria. 

Since mosquitos are the way the disease ia spread, the research team focused on eradicating the mosquito population. They did some genetic manipulation and made it so that the offspring would all be male, and therefore they couldn't reproduce. 

And then came the fake news. Ten research team was accused of creating a synthetic virus that they were using the mosquitos to spread in order to (something something). 

The government stopped the research. Hassled the scientists. And accused them of various nefarious deeds. The mosquitos they created were killed off. 

And we're right back to where we were. With no means to stop the spread of malaria. 

https://www.science.org/content/article/after-humiliating-raid-burkina-faso-halts-gene-drive-project-fight-malaria

AI paves the way toward green cement

First off, I had no idea that cement production accounted for 8% of all CO2 emissions. 

Second, this is an appropriate and good use of technology to improve life. Using modeling, and machine learning to try and find new ways to reduce emissions without having to spend a lot of time and money on trial and error is pretty cool. 

And they think they've found a way to reduce their carbon footprint. Very nice.  

https://techxplore.com/news/2025-06-ai-paves-green-cement.html