There's a Statistics Institute (or something) that turns up now and then, in the Times maybe, having broken down some complex issue into charts. Then at the end it asks if anyone has an issue they'd like to see turned into charts by them. So I was drunk on power and I said, 'why not trace the number and location of hirings for brand new jobs brought about by the Inflation Reduction Act, as they happen? Otherwise we'll never hear about them.' And there are plenty of dimensions of that law that could be measured. But I guess they thought it was NOT IMPORTANT. And I think they must be real schmucks.
Update: the problem was not "shitty charger" but "shitty instructions in the owners manual." Thanks to the interwebz I am now charging at 12A, able to get a full charge overnight. Thanks, interwebz!
We like the shitty charger. We charge overnight. 6 pm to 6 am is plenty of time for a ‘ tickle charger.’
Bought a used Nissan Leaf for $10,000 six years ago! Not a penny for gas, no oil changes, no emissions inspection. And no brake work or brake pads either, probably thanks to regenerative braking. It’s so financially sound it’s crazy. And has good pick-up when you hit the ‘gas pedal.’
Factory charger only draws 6 amps, so a 12-hour charge takes my battery from 1/4 to 1/2. I'm upgrading to a 15-amp charger, which should get me close to full in the same time period (without hiring an electrician to upgrade the circuit to 230V). I left the house this morning with a full charge, and got 132 mpg on my morning commute, with 1/2 battery left for the return trip. I'm happy.
A West Virginia school system will become the first in the state to run entirely on solar power after reaching an agreement with a state solar developer, prompting lame duck U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin
(an asshole who watered down the bill with Sen Sparklepants)
to credit the federal climate package. (Associated Press)
The bubbling anger among Arab and Muslim Americans over the president’s handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict could threaten his chances of reelection.
Boycott politics are a traditional way to show that a bloc has actual power and must be taken seriously.
But that is in normal times. If they result in Trump being elected now we may never get another electoral chance.
Sure there would then be a lot of schadenfreude when he enthusiastically supports Israel smashing into the West Bank as well but it would be Phyrric schadenfreude as the United States stops being a democracy.
Fuck these self-important gasbags and the media that is elevating them.
Many people were decapitated. Is it okay if it was a 20 year old? Is it okay if they cut off her feet and breasts in front of her parents before they killed her? And is it okay if they gouged out the father’s eyes before they killed him in cold blood? Well, at least they didn’t decapitate the babies who they murdered. Yea, let Hamas rule Gaza again.
While you’re at it, why not let ISIS have a center in New York?
Hamas reveled in the atrocities. Please stop trusting whatever source pushed that report to you. #NeverAgainIsNow.
I read an article linked to forensics that said the bodies were burned so brutally it was not clear if the heads of the infant's head had been severed before or after death. I have linked some information here. The decapitations are well documented. I think cutting off the head of a corpse of an infant you have brutally beaten to death or cutting it off while you are beating it to death is kind of distinction without a difference.
The second link has pictures of charred bodies. The first is text. Use a blocker if you do not want to see the images but it documents decapitation. The third video they blur the bodies because the images are horrific. And because the people are decent scientists trying to put together bodies brutalized beyond belief.
Baseless claim that Israeli media probe found no babies beheaded by Hamas
I believe you in that case. I don't know where that was, but I don't read any crazy sites. I'll tell you how it is-- -- well I won't. It's just a problem, in my view. It's all a problem, from the time Israel was founded, but I vowed I'd shut up about it. I mean, you probably know what I mean. And I send my best wishes. Also, it does seem as if Hamas was almost in cahoots with Netanyahu to give him his chance to go nuts on Gaza.
Supporting Hamas is supporting genocide. It is in their charter.
Israel is not doing ethnic cleansing. That is just modern blood libel.
Gaza is being held by the theocratic, autocratic, torture-living, genocide-advocating bunch of fucking terrorists. Abortion is illegal. Being gay is a death penalty offense. Since 2006 supporting Fatah is literally illegal. No elections. Gender segregated education. Basically a hellscape.
Here, enjoy looking at what you are advocating for:
OK but you can be against killing Gazans indiscriminately without being pro Hamas the same as you can be pro Israel and anti Netanyahu. In fact Netanyahu has done exactly what Hamas wanted. Which is create an entire generation that hates Israel with the passion of a thousand burning suns. It will not end well.
“The lesson is not that you can win in urban warfare by protecting civilians. The lesson is that you can only win in urban warfare by protecting civilians,” he said. “In this kind of a fight, the center of gravity is the civilian population. And if you drive them into the arms of the enemy, you replace a tactical victory with a strategic defeat.”
True, but a kid who wasn’t born in 2008 and saw his whole family killed in the most violent and gruesome way imaginable probably woulda’t see it that way.
It's also the start of COP-28, which means I am extra busy fighting against climate anti-science and bullshit on the Intertubes. This is not, in general, a difficult task. I know the science pretty well, and I'm very familiar with the eviscerated and resurrected and zombified arguments form the anti-science dimwits that frequent news article comment sections. And let me just say for the record: These people are NOT smart. No single argument requires more than a couple of working brain cells to refute. However, the sheer volume of garbage is exhausting! They usually start out pretending they are "real scientists" and claiming that climate science is not real science. I usually declare victory after incinerating them in the third iteration of flame wars. I figure that by then, any stolen credibility they claimed is lost. I'll also stop when they cry.
I do that too sometimes, re vaccines. I get all involved with them and my friends say why do you do that? Because it's a trip into a super-puzzling unknown territory for me. What I find is a blast of hatred towards everything I consider valuable and well-meaning. So I don't get very far, except more bummed out. "Why would your dr want you to get this super-dangerous injection?" Big Pharma money! So I say, why not get a dr you feel you can trust?
But I read in The Failing New York Times that nobody is buying EVs and they are piling up on dealer lots and voters are sour on the economy and this is all bad news for Biden
Here's a great article on a recent National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) convention. Car dealers are state mandated middle men who add nothing of value to purchasing vehicles, while jacking up prices, and actively steering consumers away from EVs. Car dealership owners comprise a surprisingly large percentage of the 1%, they are highly organized lobbyists for their interests, and they donate immense sums to Republican climate deniers. Even if you already hate car dealers, and salespeople, it turns out you don't know the half of it.
But you know, I always appreciate my car salesmen, who try really hard to help me out by going back to talk to their managers even SEVERAL TIMES, to try to get them to make an exception because I really want my dream car though I only can pay ?$$$$$$ over the needless markup.
Here's another article (gift link) which reports on a guy who got so frustrated about being lied to about EVs by car salespeople, he designed an informational website about EVs where you can learn about some of the basics of becoming a new EV owner, learn about features and prices for different EVs for all the various manufacturers, etc. A very helpful tool when EV shopping, so you aren't confused or distracted by dealership propaganda.
Hell, most regular pickups run close to that, and once you're done adding things like 4WD, you've gone past it. Then again, most regular pickups can fit a bicycle in the bed, which Muskrat's latest ego trip can't.
The next car we buy will either be a hybrid or an EV. We're waiting for the Honda to die - it's been 27 years and it still defaults to 80 mph on the Interstate if you're not paying attention. The Miata is only 13 years old so it's got a bit more life in it as well. Come 2027 though, the Honda will be 30 years old and time to be put out to pasture as as a teenager's beater car.
I had a rental and had to buy gas. It was so nasty. And it was while I was driving, rather than just charging overnight so the car is ready.
I bet you will never go back. The one bit of advice I know is correct --- get a home charger. People without home chargers are significantly less happy than those with.
I would just say Level 2 or better. A Level 1 is not enough for most people. I am absent-minded and feared I would forget to plug in at night. I have a Level 2 and have been very happy with it.
I have a converted for a regular outlet. I have spent more than one night in a hotel with the car slow-charging at the standard outlet, or at a friend's house plugged in overnight. But it is *slow*.
I think most of them are pretty good. When we ordered our EV, we had to run 220 to our detached garaged, so as long as we were at it, we had another 100 amp circuit box installed in the garage. The electrician installed a 14-50 NEMA outlet for the charger. Some people like a hardwired charger, but we went with a charger which plugs into the outlet. We read a lot of reviews, and ended up going with JuiceBox which was on sale at the time.
I'm hoping to keep my old-enough-to-vote Forester running until I retire, so two moving targets that I hope converge in my favor. Retirement might involve a relocation to another country (looking at you, 2024 election results), so yet another unknown quantity. I don't want to invest in another vehicle until I know where and how I will be living.
If it's a place with plenty of EV charging stations available, and with tax credit supports for EV purchase and use, that's a heavy thumb on the scale. I imagine there are a lot of people in my position who see their lives as transitional and don't want to invest tens of thousands in transportation until they have more clarity about their future.
If I end up some place with a strong public transportation system, that's another option. As they say, the vehicle with the least environmental impact is no vehicle.
Where would you move to? You know how even if we had Trump for president-- oh gosh-- other countries have their creepy foibles you don't know about till you live there.
Agreed. But sometimes, if one is very lucky, one finds a place that makes that risk worth it, and which one is sufficiently attuned to have an intuition about how to walk carefully.
Western Ireland speaks that way to me. And there is a darkness there, but it is a familial darkness that part of me recognizes and negotiates without consult with the frontal lobe or anything that I’ve learned in the last eight or ten centuries.
It feels like home there. It’s the only place I’ve ever been which feels that way.
There's a 24-hour station in the town I live in. It is more-or-less equidistant between the two closest stations, each a little over 100 miles away. If I'm making a break for NYS, I best do it in a gas-powered vehicle.
Never thought about it, but my car has a definite female vibe--sassy, intrepid, sense of humor, draws deep when it needs to come through, appreciates being pampered. The thermometer tanks at -22F, so it usually sits there when it gets colder than that. But one winter the temps really fell off the cliff, and the thermometer read "FC", and I had to agree.
You might not want to mention the smokes and wine option to Sven--it sounds like vices will not improve his personality.
It's really true. I remember most cars with 100,000 miles being pretty well trashed. Of course, then my dad went and bought a Mercedes diesel with 300,000 miles on the odometer that was somehow nearly pristine. He sold it with 400,000+ but by then the odometer has broken. So, that one was unusual. But remember what pieces of shit most 80s vehicles were?
Somehow that doesn't surprise me! It's one of those intractable situations I first noticed in my 20's. A friend who was younger than me got cancer. We were all sitting around the table having dinner. And it was so terrible and strange to realize she had that big problem-- a problem we couldn't divide into sections and attack. We had to just sit there. So now I know your situation and-- can't do anything about it. Except-- I bet if you did find a better van everybody would try to help you get it.
Mine is good enough for now. Although, I think the modern ramps might be much better with curbs. I had to try about 5 spaces to park and meet with my father this afternoon.
Greenlighting the Biden impeachment inquiry is deeply cynical, destructive of our democracy and dangerous to American security. So back off, you empty suit, you cheap actor, you credulous boob.
This sanctimonious shit disturber is damned dangerous. His assertions regarding such nefarious charges against Biden have the potential to stoke the same sort of angst and ignorant, indignant aggression that resulted in January 6.
I don't think I'm being too paranoid about such vagaries.
So, what is a POD? I am, apparently. It's nice that Emirates is training their staff and updating their airport amenities to accommodate people with disabilities, but I assume it's a pricey airline and a quasi-fascist government.
Mouth Magazine (if you're not familiar, you should be) ran a contest for us to name ourselves, and that was the winning entry.
They also had a sex issue, which was awesome, and a letter to the editor from a librarian who canceled her library's subscription when she saw the sex issue, which was AWESOMEREST!
Money quote:
"It is unseemly to bring sex to the attention of the disabled."
When that issue came out, I was living in a house of 4 adults with disabilities and one child oh, about 6 months old. You cannot believe how many "it is unseemly" jokes were made over the next year. It started when guests would bring up their partners, branched out to jokes about 2 of the housemates who were actually partnered up and how the other two of us would act shocked when they smooched, then later we hit on the idea that how babies are made is actually sex, so asking someone to take care of the kid for a couple hours might be unseemly.
I was in an elevator at Covenant House with a rich couple of possible donors-- the young woman of the couple was highly made up-- and the guide was describing the many companies who donated clothes and gear, which included make-up, and here the young woman said, ' You let them have make-up?' I don't know what it is-- this attitude charitable conservatives get. But it IS charitable conservatives. THEY CAN HAVE THE MINIMUM. Sorry to get between your two conversations.
Just looked up Mouth Magazine. And on the first page there's a tribute to Ed Roberts. I met him a couple of times, but very much in passing. I do have a lot of respect for his mother, whom I knew a little better. She had been a labor activist, so she was able to be a help to him. She's also the neighbor my mother went to when I had my accident and cried...
I recall an article about how Emirates Airlines had one zillion different honorifics available for booking tickets, which says a lot (wealthy people caring about their honorifics flying on their airlines). It did crack me up, and also, come on, people. Can I fly as "Her Serene Highness" as long as I pay a million dollars for a ticket and go somewhere I have desire to go?
"Our forecast: Economists will find troubling undercurrents in any good news, cause for worry in any so-so statistics, and gloating angst in the slightest reduction from Q3."
Intriguing idea. I would think that general usage on public roads will be very difficult and expensive to successfully implement. Better first few use cases might be:
1. electric buses since buses run fixed routes and typically travel slowly. But since bus barns have dedicated charging stations, it might be a false savings.
2. Office and shopping mall parking lots. Longer time spent charging, etc. But as someone mentioned below, inductive charging is very inefficient. Lots of costs to compare: many charging stations vs the induction costs.
"“It’s just not feasible or economically viable,” said Chris Mi, chair of the electrical and computer engineering department at San Diego State University who is an expert on electric vehicle charging. A one-mile demonstration is doable, he told Grist, but at the larger scale there are several practical and economic barriers.
Making new cars compatible with a wireless charging road tacks on thousands of dollars to the cost of a vehicle. “You have to build a receiver that is capable of receiving that kind of power,” Mi said, a price tag that could be high enough that no one would buy the car. Current electric vehicles would not be able to utilize the new road without purchasing an after-market receiver.
[ . . . ]
Mi also estimated that a driver would gain just seven to 10 miles of charge from driving 60 miles per hour on the one-mile road, assuming a charge rate of 120 kilowatts per hour. It has yet to be decided, however, what rate the new Metro Detroit road will charge — it could be lower than the engineer’s estimate.
Weather is another major issue. “Michigan in the winter gets potholes all over the place, which means any of the wireless transmission systems you buried down in the road will be damaged in a couple of years,” Mi, told Grist, having researched wireless charging at the University of Michigan for several years. "
Wireless car charging technology is not there yet. May never be there.
There are far better things to focus on while researchers play with this stuff.
Hell, wireless phone charging technology doesn't work all that well in general, and we are talking many orders of magnitude less energy transfer in orders of magnitude closer proximity.
There are already wireless home (Level 2) EV charging systems commercially available. Pricey, but safe and workable. Road embedded wireless charging is a long way off.
Agreed – though there are some real world problems it might solve: like city dwellers not having driveways so EV charging is more of a challenge. Having induction charging in parking areas (street or lot) might be a solution.
Funny how every article out there is about how EVs are in the crapper...it's almost like they are lying!
Plus, Toyota announced a breakthrough in solid state batteries that will give their cars a 745 mile range and a ten minute charge time.
Toyota is like the technology leader.
There's a Statistics Institute (or something) that turns up now and then, in the Times maybe, having broken down some complex issue into charts. Then at the end it asks if anyone has an issue they'd like to see turned into charts by them. So I was drunk on power and I said, 'why not trace the number and location of hirings for brand new jobs brought about by the Inflation Reduction Act, as they happen? Otherwise we'll never hear about them.' And there are plenty of dimensions of that law that could be measured. But I guess they thought it was NOT IMPORTANT. And I think they must be real schmucks.
I just brought home my new plug-in hybrid last week. Now I just need to upgrade from the shitty charger that came with it and I'm all set.
Update: the problem was not "shitty charger" but "shitty instructions in the owners manual." Thanks to the interwebz I am now charging at 12A, able to get a full charge overnight. Thanks, interwebz!
We like the shitty charger. We charge overnight. 6 pm to 6 am is plenty of time for a ‘ tickle charger.’
Bought a used Nissan Leaf for $10,000 six years ago! Not a penny for gas, no oil changes, no emissions inspection. And no brake work or brake pads either, probably thanks to regenerative braking. It’s so financially sound it’s crazy. And has good pick-up when you hit the ‘gas pedal.’
Factory charger only draws 6 amps, so a 12-hour charge takes my battery from 1/4 to 1/2. I'm upgrading to a 15-amp charger, which should get me close to full in the same time period (without hiring an electrician to upgrade the circuit to 230V). I left the house this morning with a full charge, and got 132 mpg on my morning commute, with 1/2 battery left for the return trip. I'm happy.
Better write them a stern letter and maybe they'll reimburse you, or apologize.
A West Virginia school system will become the first in the state to run entirely on solar power after reaching an agreement with a state solar developer, prompting lame duck U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin
(an asshole who watered down the bill with Sen Sparklepants)
to credit the federal climate package. (Associated Press)
https://energynews.us/newsletter/west-virginia-school-system-goes-100-solar/
Thank you Dok. I love you man!
And now I have to track down some story, probably in the F(ucking)NYT decrying the collapse in the market for BEVs. Did anyone see that?
Not all states, just swing states. Right Politico?
𝗦𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴-𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗺 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘁𝗼 ‘𝗮𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻’ 𝗕𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰
The bubbling anger among Arab and Muslim Americans over the president’s handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict could threaten his chances of reelection.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/02/swing-state-muslim-leaders-biden-00129758
I would like to see their notes where they do better under Trump
Boycott politics are a traditional way to show that a bloc has actual power and must be taken seriously.
But that is in normal times. If they result in Trump being elected now we may never get another electoral chance.
Sure there would then be a lot of schadenfreude when he enthusiastically supports Israel smashing into the West Bank as well but it would be Phyrric schadenfreude as the United States stops being a democracy.
Fuck these self-important gasbags and the media that is elevating them.
Fuck them and fuck their support of fucking Hamas.
Did you read that strange item the other day-- that the IDF can't confirm that any babies were decapitated?
Many people were decapitated. Is it okay if it was a 20 year old? Is it okay if they cut off her feet and breasts in front of her parents before they killed her? And is it okay if they gouged out the father’s eyes before they killed him in cold blood? Well, at least they didn’t decapitate the babies who they murdered. Yea, let Hamas rule Gaza again.
While you’re at it, why not let ISIS have a center in New York?
Hamas reveled in the atrocities. Please stop trusting whatever source pushed that report to you. #NeverAgainIsNow.
I read an article linked to forensics that said the bodies were burned so brutally it was not clear if the heads of the infant's head had been severed before or after death. I have linked some information here. The decapitations are well documented. I think cutting off the head of a corpse of an infant you have brutally beaten to death or cutting it off while you are beating it to death is kind of distinction without a difference.
The second link has pictures of charred bodies. The first is text. Use a blocker if you do not want to see the images but it documents decapitation. The third video they blur the bodies because the images are horrific. And because the people are decent scientists trying to put together bodies brutalized beyond belief.
Baseless claim that Israeli media probe found no babies beheaded by Hamas
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2023/10/31/post-falsely-claims-newspaper-reported-no-babies-beheaded-hamas-israel-fact-check/71394076007/
And this
https://themedialine.org/top-stories/evidence-on-display-at-israels-forensic-pathology-center-confirms-hamas-atrocities/
And this is a forensic report.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoTItPHa6mw
"Father, Child Tied Together, Burnt Alive" | What We Saw At Israel's Foreign Media Briefing | Hamas
"I saw people without heads. I can not say how they were beheaded."
I read this today where they described young adults at a music festival murders that included decapitation.
"Hamas gang raped and beheaded women at rave massacre, fresh testimony reveals"
https://www.thejc.com/news/israel/hamas-gang-raped-and-beheaded-women-at-rave-massacre-fresh-testimony-reveals-blp0ghdl
I believe you in that case. I don't know where that was, but I don't read any crazy sites. I'll tell you how it is-- -- well I won't. It's just a problem, in my view. It's all a problem, from the time Israel was founded, but I vowed I'd shut up about it. I mean, you probably know what I mean. And I send my best wishes. Also, it does seem as if Hamas was almost in cahoots with Netanyahu to give him his chance to go nuts on Gaza.
They don't like him getting hostages released?
Getting hostages released is just virtue signaling. Y'know.
That's just stupid. Are they going to vote for the pro-Arab Republican candidate?
Yeah, no shit. They'll probably vote for Jill Stein or somebody.
That woman is such a unifier.
Everyone hates her.
Supporting Hamas is supporting genocide. It is in their charter.
Israel is not doing ethnic cleansing. That is just modern blood libel.
Gaza is being held by the theocratic, autocratic, torture-living, genocide-advocating bunch of fucking terrorists. Abortion is illegal. Being gay is a death penalty offense. Since 2006 supporting Fatah is literally illegal. No elections. Gender segregated education. Basically a hellscape.
Here, enjoy looking at what you are advocating for:
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-screens-harrowing-footage-of-hamas-attack-worldwide-to-get-message-across/
Israel will leave Gaza again but not to Hamas nor the incredibly incompetent and corrupt UNRWA.
Yes but you know who's dying in Gaza.
Yes. It is terrible. Hamas should end the war.
Without Hamas, a free Gaza is possible. I remember the hope when Israel withdrew.
Hamas ended the new ceasefire instead of continuing to release hostages.
Of course there was also a ceasefire Oct 6th.
"Hamas gang raped and beheaded women at rave massacre, fresh testimony reveals"
https://www.thejc.com/news/israel/hamas-gang-raped-and-beheaded-women-at-rave-massacre-fresh-testimony-reveals-blp0ghdl
OK but you can be against killing Gazans indiscriminately without being pro Hamas the same as you can be pro Israel and anti Netanyahu. In fact Netanyahu has done exactly what Hamas wanted. Which is create an entire generation that hates Israel with the passion of a thousand burning suns. It will not end well.
" create an entire generation that hates Israel with the passion of a thousand burning suns"
Netanyahu sucks.
And people are responsible for their own bigotries and hate.
This is from Secretary Lloyd Austin
“The lesson is not that you can win in urban warfare by protecting civilians. The lesson is that you can only win in urban warfare by protecting civilians,” he said. “In this kind of a fight, the center of gravity is the civilian population. And if you drive them into the arms of the enemy, you replace a tactical victory with a strategic defeat.”
True, but a kid who wasn’t born in 2008 and saw his whole family killed in the most violent and gruesome way imaginable probably woulda’t see it that way.
It's also the start of COP-28, which means I am extra busy fighting against climate anti-science and bullshit on the Intertubes. This is not, in general, a difficult task. I know the science pretty well, and I'm very familiar with the eviscerated and resurrected and zombified arguments form the anti-science dimwits that frequent news article comment sections. And let me just say for the record: These people are NOT smart. No single argument requires more than a couple of working brain cells to refute. However, the sheer volume of garbage is exhausting! They usually start out pretending they are "real scientists" and claiming that climate science is not real science. I usually declare victory after incinerating them in the third iteration of flame wars. I figure that by then, any stolen credibility they claimed is lost. I'll also stop when they cry.
I do that too sometimes, re vaccines. I get all involved with them and my friends say why do you do that? Because it's a trip into a super-puzzling unknown territory for me. What I find is a blast of hatred towards everything I consider valuable and well-meaning. So I don't get very far, except more bummed out. "Why would your dr want you to get this super-dangerous injection?" Big Pharma money! So I say, why not get a dr you feel you can trust?
The only advance better than vaccines in terms of public health is plumbing.
So I expect them to start shitting in their own yards.
Oh no, and they'll go straight to their dr for every ailment they themselves are scared about.
That’s exactly what I was taught in grad school.
They are also relentless. No amount of logic or facts will ever make them realize they are wrong.
There's a Dilbert strip: "Never give reasons for your opinions. That only gives your opponent fodder for proving you're an idiot."
"Then how can I win a debate on social media?"
"No one knows. It has never been done."
Scott Adams, proving my mother right: Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
I only quote from his funny stuff, not his annoying stuff.
But I read in The Failing New York Times that nobody is buying EVs and they are piling up on dealer lots and voters are sour on the economy and this is all bad news for Biden
Here's a great article on a recent National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) convention. Car dealers are state mandated middle men who add nothing of value to purchasing vehicles, while jacking up prices, and actively steering consumers away from EVs. Car dealership owners comprise a surprisingly large percentage of the 1%, they are highly organized lobbyists for their interests, and they donate immense sums to Republican climate deniers. Even if you already hate car dealers, and salespeople, it turns out you don't know the half of it.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/05/rich-republicans-party-car-dealers-2024-desantis.html
Elon Musk sucks and is horrible.
That said ...
A Tesla costs what it costs. They opened one dealership in each state. And every car is officially "sold" at that "dealership".
But you know, I always appreciate my car salesmen, who try really hard to help me out by going back to talk to their managers even SEVERAL TIMES, to try to get them to make an exception because I really want my dream car though I only can pay ?$$$$$$ over the needless markup.
And make you wait 20 minutes each time.
Well, yes. To think about my salesman's anguish. Or were they just smoking a joint in there?
https://wapo.st/3R0xb66
Here's another article (gift link) which reports on a guy who got so frustrated about being lied to about EVs by car salespeople, he designed an informational website about EVs where you can learn about some of the basics of becoming a new EV owner, learn about features and prices for different EVs for all the various manufacturers, etc. A very helpful tool when EV shopping, so you aren't confused or distracted by dealership propaganda.
https://www.ev.guide/
I posted that link ... the car dealers are *whining* which means they aren't making boatloads of profit on them.
What's funny is Hyundai dealers (the ones who are actually trying to sell EVs) can't get enough of them.
It's shaking up the income they used to get from the service departments. That's where the dealers make money.
Elmo mockery OT of the day
Hellsite but it’s making fun of him so it’s fine
https://x.com/iamhappytoast/status/1731004701993210076?s=46&t=QTHD9GMfDGpAyfUoOmtJMw
Can’t wait to use one of the three horns that all play la cucaracha
Hell, most regular pickups run close to that, and once you're done adding things like 4WD, you've gone past it. Then again, most regular pickups can fit a bicycle in the bed, which Muskrat's latest ego trip can't.
The next car we buy will either be a hybrid or an EV. We're waiting for the Honda to die - it's been 27 years and it still defaults to 80 mph on the Interstate if you're not paying attention. The Miata is only 13 years old so it's got a bit more life in it as well. Come 2027 though, the Honda will be 30 years old and time to be put out to pasture as as a teenager's beater car.
My plug-in hybrid charges on 110V in about 5-1/2 hours.
I had a rental and had to buy gas. It was so nasty. And it was while I was driving, rather than just charging overnight so the car is ready.
I bet you will never go back. The one bit of advice I know is correct --- get a home charger. People without home chargers are significantly less happy than those with.
Do you have a recommendation for home charger? I just got an Ioniq 5 used, and have been trickle charging and charging at work so far.
I would just say Level 2 or better. A Level 1 is not enough for most people. I am absent-minded and feared I would forget to plug in at night. I have a Level 2 and have been very happy with it.
I have a converted for a regular outlet. I have spent more than one night in a hotel with the car slow-charging at the standard outlet, or at a friend's house plugged in overnight. But it is *slow*.
I think most of them are pretty good. When we ordered our EV, we had to run 220 to our detached garaged, so as long as we were at it, we had another 100 amp circuit box installed in the garage. The electrician installed a 14-50 NEMA outlet for the charger. Some people like a hardwired charger, but we went with a charger which plugs into the outlet. We read a lot of reviews, and ended up going with JuiceBox which was on sale at the time.
I don't see the downside of a charger that plugs into an outlet. Might even be more useful if you had to take it somewhere, or thought you'd move.
I'm certain we'll get something that's UL certified and not from some mysterious company on Amazon.
I'm hoping to keep my old-enough-to-vote Forester running until I retire, so two moving targets that I hope converge in my favor. Retirement might involve a relocation to another country (looking at you, 2024 election results), so yet another unknown quantity. I don't want to invest in another vehicle until I know where and how I will be living.
If it's a place with plenty of EV charging stations available, and with tax credit supports for EV purchase and use, that's a heavy thumb on the scale. I imagine there are a lot of people in my position who see their lives as transitional and don't want to invest tens of thousands in transportation until they have more clarity about their future.
If I end up some place with a strong public transportation system, that's another option. As they say, the vehicle with the least environmental impact is no vehicle.
Where would you move to? You know how even if we had Trump for president-- oh gosh-- other countries have their creepy foibles you don't know about till you live there.
Agreed. But sometimes, if one is very lucky, one finds a place that makes that risk worth it, and which one is sufficiently attuned to have an intuition about how to walk carefully.
Western Ireland speaks that way to me. And there is a darkness there, but it is a familial darkness that part of me recognizes and negotiates without consult with the frontal lobe or anything that I’ve learned in the last eight or ten centuries.
It feels like home there. It’s the only place I’ve ever been which feels that way.
Sounds dreamy. Ever hear the most beautiful song recorded.... Bridget O'Malley by Silly Wizard. It's the most beautiful recording ever imho.
I’d like to start a campaign to force all Costcos to have a dozen free charging stations. Then dare other retailers to match them.
New York State welcomes you.
There's a 24-hour station in the town I live in. It is more-or-less equidistant between the two closest stations, each a little over 100 miles away. If I'm making a break for NYS, I best do it in a gas-powered vehicle.
My Forester is also eligible to vote. And becoming able to buy wine and smokes next year. I call him Sven. He's a stubborn old bastard.
Never thought about it, but my car has a definite female vibe--sassy, intrepid, sense of humor, draws deep when it needs to come through, appreciates being pampered. The thermometer tanks at -22F, so it usually sits there when it gets colder than that. But one winter the temps really fell off the cliff, and the thermometer read "FC", and I had to agree.
You might not want to mention the smokes and wine option to Sven--it sounds like vices will not improve his personality.
Another thing about NYS below Saratoga and 4,000 feet: it virtually never goes down to minus 22.
Well-thought out of you.
I used to want to feel really cold temperatures. Then I went to the Colorado Rockies and got my fill.
Interesting how the world has changed..
When I got my driver's license in 1974, a ten-year-old car was ready to be relegated to teenager's-beater-car status.
It's really true. I remember most cars with 100,000 miles being pretty well trashed. Of course, then my dad went and bought a Mercedes diesel with 300,000 miles on the odometer that was somehow nearly pristine. He sold it with 400,000+ but by then the odometer has broken. So, that one was unusual. But remember what pieces of shit most 80s vehicles were?
In the 90's this guy had a 60's something car and he exclaimed "They don't make 'em like THAT anymore!" to which my dad replied, "Thank god."
I'd love to have a '68 Chrysler 300 Convertible.. maybe if I win the lottery..
But let's be honest.. today's cars ride and handle far better than ANYthing from the 60s.
I had a 66 Mercury Montclaire 2 door hardtop and it was close in size to an oceanliner, and at 100 mph it felt like it was flying.
And they're safer, more efficient, harder to steal, etc. But I still miss my old cassette player...
There is nothing like ejecting a tape and some of the tape stays permanently in the dash somewhere ;)
You mean the case comes out but you end up crying?
I'm waiting for the time when used wheelchair electric vans become available/affordable. So, I'll probably be a Fishy-Come-Lately to the EV world.
No teen-age banger ones yet?
Anyway, I hope you don't feel you owe it to the climate to have one of those.
If I had legs and carshare were still a thing, that would so much be my preference...
Somehow that doesn't surprise me! It's one of those intractable situations I first noticed in my 20's. A friend who was younger than me got cancer. We were all sitting around the table having dinner. And it was so terrible and strange to realize she had that big problem-- a problem we couldn't divide into sections and attack. We had to just sit there. So now I know your situation and-- can't do anything about it. Except-- I bet if you did find a better van everybody would try to help you get it.
Mine is good enough for now. Although, I think the modern ramps might be much better with curbs. I had to try about 5 spaces to park and meet with my father this afternoon.
Meanwhile, this smarmy little shit
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/speaker-johnson-says-i-believe-gop-has-votes-to-formalize-biden-impeachment-inquiry_n_656b5bd3e4b066e398b7ad17
Speaker Johnson Says 'I Believe' GOP Has Votes To Formalize Biden Impeachment Inquiry
House Republicans' impeachment inquiry has yet to come up with evidence of wrongdoing
Greenlighting the Biden impeachment inquiry is deeply cynical, destructive of our democracy and dangerous to American security. So back off, you empty suit, you cheap actor, you credulous boob.
Speaker Johnson also believes in Noah's Ark. Just sayin'
This sanctimonious shit disturber is damned dangerous. His assertions regarding such nefarious charges against Biden have the potential to stoke the same sort of angst and ignorant, indignant aggression that resulted in January 6.
I don't think I'm being too paranoid about such vagaries.
You are not....
Johnson is just Pence with more personality.
Like Ecru instead of Eggshell house paint.
which doesn't take much personality..
High crimes and misdirections.
They have to impeach him because pab was impeached and something something something.
He says tfg's impeachment was political, but this one's different.
Dude. ALL impeachments are political. By definition.
Yep. Just republicans destroying one more guardrail of our democracy in service of a rapey halfwit crime boss.
Also because Nixon had to resign. It's not fair!!!
He went to China!
Sorry, but this picture is cringeworthy
"Joey, have you ever seen a grown man naked?"
https://diplomaticwatch.com/20688/lifestyle/travel/dubai-airports-embraces-inclusive-travel-for-people-of-determination/
"Dubai airport embraces sexist hiring standards. Remember out slogan! Dubai: It's for men."
So, what is a POD? I am, apparently. It's nice that Emirates is training their staff and updating their airport amenities to accommodate people with disabilities, but I assume it's a pricey airline and a quasi-fascist government.
*sigh*
My favourite euphemism was "dislabled".
Mouth Magazine (if you're not familiar, you should be) ran a contest for us to name ourselves, and that was the winning entry.
They also had a sex issue, which was awesome, and a letter to the editor from a librarian who canceled her library's subscription when she saw the sex issue, which was AWESOMEREST!
Money quote:
"It is unseemly to bring sex to the attention of the disabled."
When that issue came out, I was living in a house of 4 adults with disabilities and one child oh, about 6 months old. You cannot believe how many "it is unseemly" jokes were made over the next year. It started when guests would bring up their partners, branched out to jokes about 2 of the housemates who were actually partnered up and how the other two of us would act shocked when they smooched, then later we hit on the idea that how babies are made is actually sex, so asking someone to take care of the kid for a couple hours might be unseemly.
SO MANY UNSEEMLY JOKES.
Sigh.
Those were the days.
Can't you just behave yourselves?
I was in an elevator at Covenant House with a rich couple of possible donors-- the young woman of the couple was highly made up-- and the guide was describing the many companies who donated clothes and gear, which included make-up, and here the young woman said, ' You let them have make-up?' I don't know what it is-- this attitude charitable conservatives get. But it IS charitable conservatives. THEY CAN HAVE THE MINIMUM. Sorry to get between your two conversations.
Just looked up Mouth Magazine. And on the first page there's a tribute to Ed Roberts. I met him a couple of times, but very much in passing. I do have a lot of respect for his mother, whom I knew a little better. She had been a labor activist, so she was able to be a help to him. She's also the neighbor my mother went to when I had my accident and cried...
I recall an article about how Emirates Airlines had one zillion different honorifics available for booking tickets, which says a lot (wealthy people caring about their honorifics flying on their airlines). It did crack me up, and also, come on, people. Can I fly as "Her Serene Highness" as long as I pay a million dollars for a ticket and go somewhere I have desire to go?
"Our forecast: Economists will find troubling undercurrents in any good news, cause for worry in any so-so statistics, and gloating angst in the slightest reduction from Q3."
Really going out on a limb there.
Dok is a reckless man.
Another article on wireless EV charging roads:
–https://grist.org/transportation/michigan-plans-to-build-the-countrys-first-wireless-ev-charging-road/
Intriguing idea. I would think that general usage on public roads will be very difficult and expensive to successfully implement. Better first few use cases might be:
1. electric buses since buses run fixed routes and typically travel slowly. But since bus barns have dedicated charging stations, it might be a false savings.
2. Office and shopping mall parking lots. Longer time spent charging, etc. But as someone mentioned below, inductive charging is very inefficient. Lots of costs to compare: many charging stations vs the induction costs.
___________________________________________________________________________________
"“It’s just not feasible or economically viable,” said Chris Mi, chair of the electrical and computer engineering department at San Diego State University who is an expert on electric vehicle charging. A one-mile demonstration is doable, he told Grist, but at the larger scale there are several practical and economic barriers.
Making new cars compatible with a wireless charging road tacks on thousands of dollars to the cost of a vehicle. “You have to build a receiver that is capable of receiving that kind of power,” Mi said, a price tag that could be high enough that no one would buy the car. Current electric vehicles would not be able to utilize the new road without purchasing an after-market receiver.
[ . . . ]
Mi also estimated that a driver would gain just seven to 10 miles of charge from driving 60 miles per hour on the one-mile road, assuming a charge rate of 120 kilowatts per hour. It has yet to be decided, however, what rate the new Metro Detroit road will charge — it could be lower than the engineer’s estimate.
Weather is another major issue. “Michigan in the winter gets potholes all over the place, which means any of the wireless transmission systems you buried down in the road will be damaged in a couple of years,” Mi, told Grist, having researched wireless charging at the University of Michigan for several years. "
Wireless car charging technology is not there yet. May never be there.
There are far better things to focus on while researchers play with this stuff.
Hell, wireless phone charging technology doesn't work all that well in general, and we are talking many orders of magnitude less energy transfer in orders of magnitude closer proximity.
There are already wireless home (Level 2) EV charging systems commercially available. Pricey, but safe and workable. Road embedded wireless charging is a long way off.
B-b-but . . . it worked for Elektra Woman and Dyna Girl!
Agreed – though there are some real world problems it might solve: like city dwellers not having driveways so EV charging is more of a challenge. Having induction charging in parking areas (street or lot) might be a solution.
The urban EV issue is a real problem...
But my gut says there has to be a better solution.
We need to think harder.
Trolleys?
Doesn't that cause .... problems?
Only if you dislike live, uninsulated electrical wires in your streets.
Charging stations at parking meters?
Inverse square law is a bitch.
OT and WTF, Daily Show?
https://open.substack.com/pub/vajenda/p/the-daily-shows-obgyn-expert-had?r=3hto3&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
Wow.
Michelle Wolff sucks. She made it clear what she was okay with when she started palling around with Dave Chappelle and his misogynistic enablers.
She did the Gridiron dinner once? She's got the Daily Show? If you answered yes to either question all this is terrible or Why not Don Rickles?
Huh?
Why not Don Rickles?
I still have no idea what you're talking about.
I used to think she was smart and funny. Her shows weren't either, but I just put it down to her not doing her best. This isn't good.
This is inexcusable.
Honestly, her whole episode was cringe, she made some "jokes" that seemed to minimize sexual abuse.
I hadn't watched it, because I'm not impressed with her. Now? I don't much care who's on, it's off my list.
Agree.
I agree.