Electricity, here, today, even in expensive New York, is cheap, thanks to some big waterfalls and nuclear power plants.
( the original Tesla setup at Niagara Falls is still impressive and the museum worth an afternoon before hitting the Casino or dinner )
But the Watermelon Party is doing it's best to shut down the cheap and reliable nuclear power and gravity/dam power is under attack as well. New York doesn't Yet have the rolling blackouts and rationing that's an increasing problem in Kali, and the PLAN of the Watermelon cult is to make it worse and worse.
They don't say that, of course. The cult is fundamentally dishonest.
I know it sounds paranoid, but it's very well documented that the Greens in Europe, are a creation of the Soviet empire to wreck Western Industry and Civilization. ( there's a lot of reasons Putin's War is focused on wrecking power production. ) The KGB connection is better hidden here, but look at Brennan ( CIA & Commie liar ) and the push to go electric in heating, cooking, and transportation, WITHOUT INCREASING GENERATION. And telling them it's insanely stupid just gets laughter and mockery, and more lies. It's not stupid. It's deliberate.
POWER, in the hands of the Party Elite and Only the Party Elite is the end game.
Consider that posting a meme saying even part of the above can now Get You arrested in the UK, California, and Brazil, just to name the obvious and ignore Russia and China. You know,
Ok, it's easy to accuse the Kali Kommandant of hypocrisy for forbidding his Subjects to dine out, ordering all restaurants closed, except the One hosting his fund raiser. And his rich friends didn't wear masks, in a Party! While Newsom had cops bust paddle board riders and hikers.
I can't find the term for the next level of attending orgies while ordering Churches closed.
I will agree that no one wants to buy an electric car that is not a Tesla. The legacy makers and the electric startups lose money on every vehicle they sell.
Teslas, today, are selling well, despite the Agitprop/Censorship Tribe deciding overnight that they Hate Elon for supporting that nasty free speech.
Toyota, who makes the Gold Standard Hybrids, dropped their battery only car and that was basically an E-version of the Rav4, the most popular not a pickup truck in the country?
The local dealer had one parked in the Service waiting area. My sales guy said sales were practically zero. And Toyota KNOWS electric power stuff. It worked. But it wasn't a Tesla.
You look at the "worst cars for mechanical service problems" and there's a string of Stellantis products, with the Pacifica Hybrid near the top of the DON'T list. The regular one is fine, the 6 banger is a solid engine.
My opinion is,
Want electric? Tesla. Hybrid? Toyota. You can argue the rest of the subdivisions, best towing pickup, etc.
Posted on Wednesday, September 25, 2024 - 11:22 am:
Since Bruce Willis is too old to drill the hole, I oppose just blowing up a fission bomb near an asteroid to move it. At least test the silly idea on one that won't endanger our planet or orbital infrastructure.
Build an Orion drive tug to push them, sure. Again, test it on a rock that can't hit us.
The basic problem is physics. Besides the real but extremely tiny push from the photons of a nuke, ( like a flashcube vs. The Sun's spotlight ) it's just a puff of vaporized bomb casing that affects the rock's ballistic trajectory. A REALLY close, contact blast would vaporize a little of the rock and give a push, but that risks breaking the target asteroid into multiple chunks, and getting the vector in the precise direction very challenging.
To do any good, you'd need to basically carve and build an Orion drive on the rock itself, and that's dumb, when you can build a pusher plate and suspension system into a "tugboat" that can safely and efficiently use the nuclear shaped charges ( already developed ) for propulsion, in a reusable and versatile craft. ( you don't want to try the nuclear version of a RPG to reflect an asteroid! )
Think of moving a trailer park double wide, are you going to use a fuel air bomb to shove it, or a bulldozer? Which has a better chance of moving it relatively intact? which has a better chance of avoiding hurting the neighbors? Moving the double wide in a controlled manner? Not turning it into a shrapnel spray?
Boeing reminds me of another company that hired a bean counter to run the place and seems to have lost, ( sold, fired, ignored ) the culture of innovation and tradition, replacing it with same old and CYA, and cheap products from outside vendors.
But unlike a small motorcycle company, Boeing has purchased, absorbed and dissolved competing firms until it's nearly a monopoly, not quite, as even the Pentagon sees the danger in having only one source for all aerospace.
With serious quality control issues and bowing down to the Government Emotional Complex on Woke ideology, Boeing seems to have adopted CYA on levels that put emotions over reality in a field that makes vehicles for an utterly uncaring universe.
Sure, there's a psychological aspect of seating and decor in a commercial airliner. But that look hasn't changed much in decades. Easy to clean plastic and fabrics are just the pretty ( & practical ) shell over frames required by physics to take G loading to meet hard headed regulations on passenger safety.
Given the choice, airline penny pinching would have lightweight double decker seating to cram more passengers in without overloading and higher fuel costs. If only they didn't have to have seats that could keep passengers from slamming into a bloody pile behind the cockpit in case of a runway overshoot. ( with G loading not far beyond slamming on your brakes in your car )
There's a running joke in light aircraft design about G loads and regulations. A typical light aircraft is designed for 6 Gs and that's not just how the wings stay on, it includes the package tray behind the seats. Which, if you assume normal luggage, or just the 50 pound book of FAA regulations, that shelf has to hold 300 pounds of sudden loading or the FAA book crashes through the floor and becomes an illegally dropped projectile. Who says engineers don't have a sense of humor?
Posted on Thursday, September 26, 2024 - 11:49 am:
Awww! Beat the Rav4!
I didn't buy the Rav4 Because it was the most common car that's not a F-150 on American streets, and hardest to find in a parking lot. Not even "The Italian Job" idea of anonymity. ( not planning a Big Heist )
I was going for best fuel economy in a Biden* Regime of deliberate Energy Crisis, with the interior volume that's my proven minimum to haul my canvas medieval tent and gear to events. ( Prius just can't )
For my primary transportation, ( and the above size need ) I'm unwilling to accept the range limitations of an Electric.
With today's choices! If Tesla makes a viable replacement for the now out of production Caravan, I'll seriously consider one. As my secondary, probably, just like my old rusty Caravan.
The Rivian cargo truck used by the local Amazon Corporate drivers is interesting, but range, really poor reliability rating, and Price for value? Nope. 153 miles range? Pitiful!
The Rivian SUV is just too small. ( interior size ) and the promised Adventure Van is not available until next year, if ever.
I suppose the smart thing is to Ask a Tesla owner what he considers a reasonable range!
I grew up with the Dept. Of Agriculture Obesity/Diabetes/Heart Disease Food Pyramid.
I even generally agree with rfkjr that American Processed Food Food is full of Bad Stuff. Heck, call it a eugenics program more effective than Planned Parenthood.
But I'm not onboard with food nanny state madness. Been there, got the prescription drugs to prove it.
Posted on Thursday, September 26, 2024 - 12:46 pm:
Yes I have, have one parked out back with my kite canoe. But I've watched others give in to the siren song of lots of capacity and growth of stuff they can carry.
I can haul everything I Need except an actual mattress in & on a VW Sportwagen or Rav4. And the Caravan can haul the mattress too, if I want.
My problem isn't the basic event & daily stuff. It's the 4x8 plywood and ridiculous toys capacities issue. And a Caravan or regular van does that fine.
Except only GM still makes a regular van today, rear wheel drive truck thing. I've driven them for work, and other than the well designed rear door hinges, they're tinny junk. ( and either rusted out or stupidly expensive, locally ) The Caravan is out of production, but I can get the last year's version '19, and expect a reasonable life out of one. ( 210,000 plus on my '13 )
Sure, I have an unreasonable desire for enclosed cargo capacity from an adult lifetime of driving vans.
Like many, I wish I had a new version of my ( second ) vehicle I owned as a teenager. In my case, a '76 Dodge shorty van with slant 6 and manual transmission.
Except for the stone age crash protection, ( zero, just seatbelts ) and cell/electronics ( science fiction! ) it's not just nostalgic, it's decent economy and capacity, even by today's standards.
My '72 Satellite station wagon (a "midsize" wagon) can carry a 4x8 with the back seat folded and the tailgate closed.
My '01 Ram diesel (2500 4x4 6 speed stick) gets 20 mpg around town in the mountains, fully loaded with my sound system for bands. Towing my '70 Charger back from FL at 80+, it got me 18mpg.
My dream? Find one of the 2000's era GM Savana vans (fullsize) with the Duramax and Allison.
I run Winter tires in winter. Studded, because my biggest hazard isn't snow, it's ice. Do they suck on dry pavement? Yes. Is traction mediocre at best? Yes.
So, why? For years it was because I had to drive to work and the Sheriff wasn't talking about me when he told non-essential people to stay off the roads. Before that, and still today, it's because I'm determined to stack the odds in my favor, despite the downsides.
And, yeah, every Spring, I'm SOOOOO happy to switch to tires that don't make a lot of noise and have much sportier traction. But it's worth the bother and cost, every year when I get home safely. ( and make it into the driveway out of the way of the plows )
And occasionally, when I drive up to the police roadblock from the closed side and give them the road report, that's worth a lot.
I have long maintained that the chief issue with the global warming lemmings (not the leaders - they know it is a lie) is that they fail to zoom out on the temperature timeline. If they did, they would see the lie for what it is.
