Wednesday Morning Links

by | Nov 20, 2024 | Daily Links | 234 comments

No surprises really with the CFP rankngs. Ohio State suffered a devastating injury to their center and will have to lay musical chairs, once again, with the offensive line. Which sucks coming into the home stretch. The NFL is going to piss off a bunch of woketards. Rafael Nadal has officially retired. He was an all-time great. And that’s really it for sports. So I’m moving on.

This is an interesting piece. I wonder how much US taxpayer money has gone into it.

Good luck with this. Chevron is getting gutted and “make regulations for…” bills are going nowhere fast. So whatever is done will likely be DOA when it gets to the courts anyway.

So stunning and brave. I’m sure this will get her and her retarded commie husband some points on the left. So much for “when they go low, we go high.”

I can’t believe this farce is still going on. To recap: the star witness admitted to lying under oath, the video shows the man still alive after the incident but cops refusing to perform CPR, and the prosecution continues to suppress exculpatory evidence. A ridiculous perversion of justice.

This was one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen. I strongly suggest you watch it and laugh your ass off.

OVERTAKEN! This it meaningless, yet stop funny.

I assume this will escalate things. Which is not what the world needs right now.

Funny how experience matters to the media all of a sudden. Not that the experienced people at the DoEd for the last several decades have done anything but make schools shit.

This is not surprising.Not to anybody who has ever been on a big boat while drunk, anyway.

Such a lovely melody. What a lovely track. And here is one of my all-time favorites. Enjoy them both.

And enjoy this lovely Wednesday, dear friends.

About The Author

sloopyinca

sloopyinca

234 Comments

  1. SDF-7

    Senate Dems demand action

    I thought they had plenty of action in their staff rooms….

    • Nephilium

      Sort of like the moms who demand it?

      • SDF-7

        That was, of course, my very first thought. Too bad for the Moms the senate folks apparently aren’t interested in their action.

    • Grumbletarian

      I was hoping for another term for Betsy DeVos.

      • R C Dean

        I had the same thought.

      • Fourscore

        After Linda wrestles control of the Ed Dept from the ‘crats she’s going to resign, right?

      • Grummun

        After Linda wrestles control of the Ed Dept from the ‘crats she’s going to resign, right?

        After she moves the headquarters to a town in Nebraska with bad cell service and establishes a full-time in-office work policy, she’ll resign for lack of staff to manage.

  2. UnCivilServant

    Do we need an Education Secretary? Can’t we just shut down the Department and not fill the seat?

    • SDF-7

      Your mouth to DOGE’s ears.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      Yeah this just makes me nervous that the DoE is not actually going away.

      • juris imprudent

        Not only not going away, not even getting a budget reduction.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        Waahh

      • J. Frank Parnell

        What about a slight reduction in the rate the budget increases?

      • Grumbletarian

        What about a slight reduction in the rate the budget increases?

        People will Die!

      • SDF-7

        Right wing austerity!

      • Urthona

        The DOE is totally not going away.

        “Conservatives” have been running this Lucy with a Football move for decades.

      • Gustave Lytton

        *Zombie Reagan has entered the chat*

        “Along with DoEd, I’m going to get rid of mandatory Selective Service registration*”

        * haha, my admin is going to prosecute those failing to register instead

    • rhywun

      I expect at a minimum something like “ditch the anti-American propaganda or pay for it yourselves.”

  3. SDF-7

    I wonder how much US taxpayer money has gone into it.

    Since a good chunk of it goes back to China for the batteries, panels, rare earths, etc. and another good chunk goes to Dem crony companies historically? I’d be willing to bet a good chunk of the slosh in the trough, yeah. It can’t all go to Raytheon and Boeing, after all… the other hogs have to get their snouts wet.

  4. Not Adahn

    Dafuq is Erdogan’s wife wearing?

    • Chafed

      That’s the Starliner spacesuit.

  5. SDF-7

    Other outstanding safety provisions the senators are seeking status reports on include an annual recall completion list, automatic shutoff for vehicles with keyless ignition systems, setting minimum standards for crash avoidance systems, distracted driver reduction research, updates to hood and bumper standards, a study of existing reporting requirements for vehicle manufacturers regarding potential safety issues, requirements for new vehicles to be equipped with advanced impaired driving prevention technology and a requirement aimed at reducing the likelihood a child is left in a hot car by equipping new vehicles with a system to alert the driver to check rear seats.

    Love all the “Monitor Ze Driver, JA!” stuff in there. And of course — gee, I wonder why US cars are so damned expensive to buy and maintain…. can we just put a server rack on wheels? Less computing power and probably cheaper — but it might not stream telemetry to the manufacturer and the NSA….

    • Nephilium

      Don’t forget to complain about the car companies “gouging the poors” since the vehicles cost more, and the increased cost of repair.

      • AlexinCT

        Well, if you just bend the knee and lets us change things so you own nothing but will be happy (or else), this shit solves itself…

      • juris imprudent

        You just bend the knee for a moment, you don’t stay there, because then you can’t dance like the little monkey you are.

      • rhywun

        For some reason I’m reminded of certain locals complaining – simultaneously! – that the rent is too damn high and that the “green new deal” isn’t proceeding fast enough.

    • Grummun

      advanced impaired driving prevention technology

      In other words, everyone has to blow in a tube to start the car.

      • Not Adahn

        That would only detect people drunk before starting the car. We need real-time monitoring of all impairing substances, probably by an intravenous attachment.

      • Nephilium

        Not Adahn:

        Just wait until we’re all driving around in South Park’s IT.

      • Grummun

        Business opportunity: hang around bar parking lots charging $5 a blow to start cars

      • SDF-7

        Not sure I’m up to do professional blow jobs, Brummun. Winston’s Mom might do it — but it would be $20… same as downtown.

      • Not Adahn

        The IV attachment to operate a car is just silly.

        A permanent monitoring implant would be so much more practical.

  6. Certified Public Asshat

    clean energy, which is harder for Russia to destroy

    Wut.

    • sloopyinca

      The whole article is an attempt to make “clean” energy more attractive. It’s full-on retarded.

      • AlexinCT

        The biggest racket in our history has been this climate change/green energy racket. Trillions have been stolen from those impacted the hardest by this shit and funneled into the pocket of the connected. There should be public hangings.

      • Drake

        A few solar panels in a playground will replacement that coal power plant and the transmission grid that got blown up.

    • SDF-7

      Distributed energy, so there’s some logic there (lots of scattered panels, maybe windmills? I assume just panels)…. has to make it hard to run a grid, but I assume they’re just using them for local purposes for the time when they can, not trying to tie them all together. Harder to find than big power plants, that’s certainly true.

      • CPRM

        You could scatter thousands of 450HP diesel generators as well. Probably cheaper.

    • UnCivilServant

      To be fair, since it self-destructs, the Russians don’t have a chance to destroy it.

    • Strange Brew

      Solar panels are bullet proof, duh!

      • AlexinCT

        How will they stand up to Jewish space lasers? Or weather machines?

      • SDF-7

        As I recall they don’t do well, come hail or high water.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        Windmills generate extra electricity when the missiles fly by.

    • Fourscore

      Although it doesn’t appear that Russia has any trouble destroying Ukraine. When that war is over the Ukes will have a lot of broken windows to repair. The economy will be booming.

  7. SDF-7

    I can’t believe this farce is still going on.

    Yeah — when the guy was still alive when the cops got there but the medical examiner insists he gave the cause of death based on a video and it would require it to happen before the cops got there, I would definitely have expected it to be thrown out.

    But they must feed the race hatred they’ve stirred up, I guess. Yay progress…. so glad the party of love is in charge of law and order in NYC and all.

    • rhywun

      the guy was still alive when the cops got there

      I didn’t even know that.

      protesters outside the courtroom

      I didn’t know about that either but yeah, of course. There is no way this guy gets a fair trial.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        He was still alive, after announcing to the train he was going to kill them of course.

      • slumbrew

        I assume said protesters are there spontaneously and in no way organized by the usual suspects

    • slumbrew

      Other that the usual grifters, I don’t think NYC subway riders of any shade are particularly outraged by Penny’s actions. The opposite, in fact.

      Turns out that not wanting to have your life threatened by crazy people is something that transcends racial lines.

    • R C Dean

      As we learned in Chauvin’s trial, being restrained by a white man reverses any massive drug overdoses in your system.

      • juris imprudent

        And sitting in a police car complaining you can’t breath has no relation at all to being on the ground and claiming the same thing.

    • Rat on a train

      A ridiculous perversion of justice.
      It is New York.

      • Sensei

        Where mentally deranged felons stab and kill 3 people during the morning rush hour.

        The plebs have been instructed not to interfere.

  8. Not Adahn

    International concern surrounds the cutting of the 730-mile C-Lion 1 cable

    It’ll be tough to tow a new one out there.

    • SDF-7

      They just need to run another cable under the Arctic. Goo-goo-kachew.

    • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

      You have to see the lion to tow the lion.

  9. Not Adahn

    Frigate HDMS HVIDBJØRNEN might be present too

    If you’re going to use AI to write articles, at least check to make sure it’s producing actual words.

    • SDF-7

      “Doctors say you can guard against HVIDBJØRNEN-24 with Pfizer’s new vaccine or Raytheon’s new medium range anti-ship missile system, whichever fits your budget…”

      • AlexinCT

        Woah

    • J. Frank Parnell

      Frigate HDMS HVIDBJØRNEN might be present too

      They just need to take it out of the flatpack box and assemble it first.

  10. rhywun

    Rafael Nadal has officially retired.

    Finally, the world is spared from watching him constantly twitching and “adjusting”.

      • SDF-7

        I’d likely give you one if I had the least idea who that is (other than he must have something to do with Sports, I suppose) and cared enough to DDG him. Since I don’t and don’t…. you get a resounding “Meh” at best, sorry.

      • juris imprudent

        He was the less entertaining version of John McEnroe.

  11. rhywun

    Ukraine has seen success in building clean energy, which is harder for Russia to destroy

    Literal “OFFS!”

    If this doesn’t define “graft”….

    • AlexinCT

      What clean energy is it they are using? Human labor?

    • R.J.

      A light hail storm will take out solar panels. I would think wind power is a no-go due to the cold winter.

      • Nephilium

        It’s not necessarily cold weather that causes issue with wind power, but most of the big wind turbines (at least around here) only operate in a narrow band of wind speeds. Wind speeds get too high or drop too low, and they can’t generate power. In winter, if the lake freezes, wind speeds will routinely be higher than the wind turbines can handle for power generation.

  12. SDF-7

    Be honest, Sloopy — you linked the “Overtaken!” link solely so we’d have an excuse to root for the anti-hero and start a T-swizzle pun thread and annoy Swiss.

    Well, not going to deprive you of your happiness after you set this up with such style. Long story short, she might end up an exile – but she’s fearless enough to bounce back and find her peace. She’s not going to let Trump start the last great American dynasty, after all.

    And if Swiss is too haunted by all of our puns, we can just erase the thread so it is a blank space in which we can begin again.

    • R.J.

      You mean “Swiftly erase the thread?”

      • juris imprudent

        Nah, I think it has to do with how Trump’s suits are so well taylored.

    • rhywun

      Is this a thread that requires one to know, well, anything about her music? I’m afraid I’ll have to sit this one out.

      • Nephilium

        Pretty sure I only know Taylor Swift from the Magicians, and Miley Cyrus from Black Mirror.

      • slumbrew

        She was in The Magicians?

        Been awhile – don’t know if I punched out before she appeared or I just had no idea who she is.

        Best part of that show was them trying to pretend the hot, juggy blond lead was just a plain looking girl.

      • rhywun

        I tapped out near the beginning of S02. No particular reason, except maybe everyone was so unlikeable.

      • Nephilium

        slumbrew:

        No. But her music (specifically Shake It Off) was used as a big set piece in several episodes as Quentin was a Swiftie and was mocked for it by Penny.

      • Not Adahn

        It got sufficiently woke that I bailed out before the last season.

        However, it did clarify a human reaction for me:

        Evil character is evil: He raped a little boy!

        Little boy grows up to be a wizard, uses magik to give the Evil character the ability to experience pain beyond human sensory limits, induces said pain, magiks him more to keep Evil character alive, and then preserves Evil character in said state for centuries.

        Main characters find Evil character in agony state, free him, realize why Evil character had been placed in agony state, and then work to re-establish the status quo ante.

        They (and the audience) find this all justified because to them, the kiddie rape is recent news so for them just happened. Now Evil character has by any measure experienced MORE trauma at the hands of little-boy Wizard than he inflicted or could ever inflict. This is not seen as sufficient punishment, nor do characters/audience see anything wrong with third parties taking it upon themselves to inflict additional pain. Because for them, the crime they are punished is not in the past, but new.

      • Grummun

        I tapped out near the beginning of S02. No particular reason, except maybe everyone was so unlikeable.

        Ditto. I tried reading the first book, and it was just as bad.

        The only thing I liked from the show is the idea that spell casting involves physically demanding rituals that require extraordinary dexterity. Now that is a ‘somatic component,’ more than just twiddling a stick and shouting absurd pig latin.

      • Not Adahn

        I liked that the reason everyone craved coming back to Narnia Fillory was the airborne opium.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        Slumbrew, oddly enough, the “hot, juggy blond” is from the same town as me.

        And, no, I didn’t know her (about 20 years younger than me.)

      • slumbrew

        ZWAK – she’s totally Q-worthy but “look, she wears glasses and dark clothing, she’s totally plain”. Nope, that’s not working.

    • DrOtto

      He doesn’t Tailor his threads to our needs.

  13. SDF-7

    Not that the experienced people at the DoEd for the last several decades have done anything but make schools shit.

    I just assumed Federal, state, most locals…. all these folks are experienced at increasing the money thrown at the Teachers’ Unions who give them kickbacks / turn out the votes for their side, the schools are just the sad-eyed-kitty for them to wave when they want the next slice of flesh from taxpayers.

    • Fourscore

      All school money is local. While it may get circulated (skimmed) by the state and feds it comes from the locals. Locally voters just turned down a $1500 per student increase.

      MN kids, regardless of family income, get 2 meals a day on the taxpayer dime. Not sure how the kids eat on week ends though

  14. SDF-7

    So… was Castreau just nervous all the whiners might mean it this time?

    • rhywun

      (SIDE NOTE: Why not start the video sitting?)/blockquote>

      LOL

      Things must be really desperate there for him to say these things.

  15. rhywun

    it offered the chance to mingle with beautiful people

    Where do I sign up?!

    • R.J.

      *Rhywun boards ship
      *It’s just Michael Moore with a beer, asking for help with sunscreen

    • slumbrew

      “Best I can do is glibertarians.com”

      • Fourscore

        At least a Glibertarian convention would be quiet.

      • juris imprudent

        You haven’t been on one of the Zooms have you?

      • slumbrew

        As I wrote, JI, “best I can do”.

      • EvilSheldon

        I can testify from personal experience that most of the Glibs clean up pretty nice (at least as compared to cruise ship average…)

  16. Sensei

    WTF is “copper concentrate”?

    There, the scrap is melted with copper concentrate from mines to produce fresh slabs of metal.

    Your Junk Is Needed for the New Electric Era
    In remote Quebec, mining giant Glencore is turning America’s electronic trash back into treasure

    https://www.wsj.com/finance/commodities-futures/your-junk-is-needed-for-the-new-electric-era-504a7e8f?st=3LKbdF&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

    I assume this only works because of cheap “hydro”. And I wonder if that’s the only subsidy.

    • Ted S.

      I’m more worried about what they want my junk for.

      • slumbrew

        Whachu gonna do with all that junk?

    • UnCivilServant

      My first guess would be copper oxide slurry.

      I mean the most concentrated copper you can get is just metallic copper.

    • Suthenboy

      Ore is concentrated before it is fully refined into metal. Copper concentrate is partially refined ore.

  17. Rat on a train

    when they go low, we go high
    When has that ever been true?

      • Fourscore

        Glad I read down before I said the same thing

    • Dr. Fronkensteen

      The foreigners feigne ignorance of Swiss pun laws.

      • Dr. Fronkensteen

        feign

      • juris imprudent

        [hock psaki] That ignorance is Jen-u-eine Herr Doktor.

    • Suthenboy

      All cultures are equal.

  18. Suthenboy

    “I cant believe this farce is still going on”

    That covers just about everything, doesnt it?

    • Fourscore

      Climate control? Dept of Ed? Any /all of the others?

  19. Sensei

    It was a “tough decision to be made,” said Kurt Barton, chief financial officer of Tractor Supply. “The social activism…really ended up creating some sense or perception that our goals, or our targets or anything that was occurring, had a political or social agenda to it,” he said.

    Because it actually DID and people didn’t like it. Yet it appears they still don’t realize it.

    Companies Walk a Tightrope on Diversity; ‘No Industry Should Feel Safe.’
    https://www.wsj.com/articles/companies-walk-a-tightrope-on-diversity-no-industry-should-feel-safe-39a1d82d?st=zJFjgn&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

    • Fourscore

      Walmart has about the most diverse group of employees and without making a fuss about it.

      • UnCivilServant

        The People of Wal Mart are diverse in the wrong kind of way.

    • WTF

      I guess just selling your products and not being political is just not feasible for some reason?

      • pistoffnick (370HSSV)

        A Chick-Fil-A opened here last week. There are 2 cops directing traffic. It is really popular.

        The local proggies are miffed at all the normies eating “homophobic chicken”.

        Erry ting is political to them

      • Suthenboy

        Proggies are miffed. They are always miffed. It doesnt matter what you do or say they are going to try and shit on it. Stop paying attention to them. Their number one strategy is to bait people into a self-own. Just ignore them.

      • Fourscore

        I see a repository for your chickens, PONick.

        Chick-Fil-A and Nick’s chickens could work together to bring joy to the lonely hearts of the North Shore folks.

    • R C Dean

      That’s the thing, though. For people in the wokist bubble, it’s not political, it’s Just The Right Thing To Do(tm).

      • juris imprudent

        I disagree, it is political with them. Everything is political.

    • rhywun

      Roughly 15 companies already have felt the heat of his attacks, and all have announced retreats from their diversity, equity and inclusion policies in response, he said.

      It’s almost like companies are relieved to have an excuse to ditch that crap.

      Winning!

  20. Rat on a train

    HOV-3?

    A Manassas couple was temporarily detained in Fauquier County Tuesday evening after a funeral home tipped off police they were transporting a relative’s dead body.

    Deputies removed the couple from the car and “confirmed the presence of the deceased wrapped in blankets in the backseat/trunk of the car,” the sheriff’s office said.

    • Sensei

      Funeral home was unhappy they didn’t get their state enforced “vig”.

      • slumbrew

        My immediate thought as well

    • R C Dean

      Is that illegal in VA? I know it’s not in TX, because when I worked there I had to look into when a family wanted to move their dearly departed from the hospital to, I forget where, but it was a long drive. Turns out in TX, there’s no law against it, so we gave them the body and off they went.

      • Rat on a train

        No?

        Getting a Permit to Transport the Body
        Unlike many other states, you don’t need a special permit to move a body in Virginia, as long as final disposition will occur within the state. However, if you plan to remove the body from the state for final disposition, you must obtain an “out-of-state transit permit” from the local registrar after filing the death certificate. (Va. Code § 32.1-265 (2024).)

      • R C Dean

        So why did the cops even stop them?

      • Bobarian LMD

        Ignorance of the law is no excuse, Officer?

  21. Sensei

    Absintheurs kept in touch mostly in the hope that a tip would lead them to the next unearthed, unopened pre-ban bottle. Prices could go as high as 3,000 euros.

    Who would have thought that this might encourage fakes? Good news is I’m not a fan… Although I’d read the book.

    ‘The Absinthe Forger’ Review: Chasing the Green Fairy
    https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/books/the-absinthe-forger-review-chasing-the-green-fairy-61b83919?st=6in3L2&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

    Funny how the ban hammer came down with cheerleading from the wine industry. What a surprise!

    • UnCivilServant

      Fun fact, Wine forgeries are more common than fake Absinthe. More profit in that bloated market.

      • R C Dean

        Wine forgery is just a genius market to get into. The really pricey ones, the ones worth forging, are most likely going to go into a collection and never be opened. There’s probably no way to really check a good forgery (I mean, if the label and bottle are good enough) except to open it, which a collector is not going to allow. And even if you open it, wouldn’t it be a subjective claim whether it’s the real deal or not?

        Plus, most collectors will never want to admit that the got scammed, so they won’t even let an investigation go forward.

    • Nephilium

      It is possible to order absinthe with thujone in it online from overseas. Those distributed here in the US have it removed.

      • Sensei

        Can you really taste the difference?

      • EvilSheldon

        Taste? No. The overall effect? Maybe. One of these days I need to order a bottle of King Of Spirits absinthe and conduct my own blind (drunk) taste test.

      • WTF

        It’s not a matter of taste, it’s a matter of psychoactive effect:
        “Thujone is thought to excite your brain by blocking gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA), a neurotransmitter that has calming effects on the central nervous system. Although this compound may have several benefits, consuming thujone in excess is toxic and has been linked to seizures and even death ( 4 ).”

      • Sensei

        Yeah, I always question all of these psychoactive claims on lots of substances.

      • Nephilium

        Sensei:

        As the others have stated, it’s for psychoactive effect. It’s one of the reasons it’s believed people hallucinated when drinking absinthe. Even though (based on analysis of old bottles), there wasn’t enough to cause hallucinations (let alone health problems) unless you drank more than Hemmingway.

        Diving into the cocktail world, especially when you start getting back to the early days, there’s lots of questions about the taste of the spirits used then versus now. Old Tom Gin is another one that has all sorts of mystique and mystery built up around it.

  22. The Other Kevin

    Sloop, I love that we have a shared affinity for New Order. I always enjoy your song choices.

  23. The Other Kevin

    Hope all you West Coast Glibs are safe. I hear that bomb cyclone thing is no joke. My kid has power on the Navy base, but she’s sending screen shots of the power outage maps around her.

    • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

      Doing OK, just wet.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      Hasn’t hit me yet. We are expected to be on the southern edge of it. Power will probably go out once the first drops start to fall, because that’s what’s been happening so far this year. PG&E claims it’s due to some detection system they’ve deployed that shuts down power in high winds, but I suspect that the massive rodent population we had this year chewed through the insulation on underground lines.

  24. UnCivilServant

    While I haven’t yet saved up for it and my current vehicle is still running, I was browsing vehicle options (I was bored at the time) and thought that the form factor of the Ford Maverick might fit me. (For those who don’t know it’s a small truck with a short bed and short wheel base that looks for all the world like someone turned the cargo area of an SUV into a truck bed). What other small trucks of a similar class are there to compare it to? I prefer simpler, fewer gadgets, less expensive where possible. (I get that the market is so distorted that things are costing mortgage prices these days)

    • Nephilium

      I’m pretty sure the only correct answer is an El Camino.

      • UnCivilServant

        I would love an El Camino, but they don’t make it anymore.

        And I haven’t got the space to take care of an original one.

        *sigh*

      • Fourscore

        I always had to check the legroom and then it always came back to a full size pick up. My son drives an Altima, though I don’t know how.

      • Bobarian LMD

        I have a ’72 Ranchero, that would fit right in with a Mad Max sequel.

        Just need to mount my Quad Spear Gun in the bed.

    • Sensei

      Not much at the moment. Ford turned a unibody FWD platform into a pickup. Hyundai/Kia did the same, but I don’t think its still being sold.

      It’s a smart choice for light duty hauling and professional use. The next step up would be a Honda Pilot, but it is much larger. Although not as large as a body on frame pickup.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        *Ridgeline not Pilot

      • Sensei

        Thank you! Sad part is we own a Ridgeline too.

      • slumbrew

        Kia Santa Cruz is the same sort of thing.

    • Tundra

      My neighbor has both a full size pickup and the Maverick. He says that he drives the Maverick most of the time now. It’s a nice vehicle.

      The other “small” pickups really aren’t. The Frontier, Tacoma and Ranger are only marginally smaller than a full size. The Ridgeline is super nice but quite expensive.

      I’ve seen the Hyundai Santa Cruz around a bit lately – it might be one to check out.

      • Sensei

        Hyundai Santa Cruz

        That’s it! I couldn’t find it on their web site and thought they stopped selling. Smooth Hyundai! If you just search by vehicle classifications it doesn’t show.

      • pistoffnick (370HSSV)

        Tacoma

        Damn those things hold their value. Almost as well as a jeep.

      • UnCivilServant

        I haven’t gone in depth yet, the only thing I have identified about the Santa Cruz is that built as similarly as I can, it is almost exactly $2k more expensive. (6.6% difference, so not terrible)

        *For some reason, my initial typing had the name as “Satan Cruz”

      • UnCivilServant

        @Sensei – For some reason the Santa Cruz is listed as an SUV on Hyundai’s site.

      • Tundra

        @Nick Same with the 4Runner. I was pricing them awhile back and used were damn near the price of new. My son drives a 2022 Taco (with a manual!) and he gets emails from the dealer all the time wanting to buy it. But the new ones have the 4cyl and “mild hybrid” so he noped right out.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        Lol the Tacoma hybrids. Yes, people get hybrids for MPG increases not slight improvements in horse power and torque. I’m really not sure what the hell Toyota was thinking. The new Tacomas are also enormous (for what should be a small truck).

      • slumbrew

        I imagine they’re thinking “we need to meet these stupid CAFE standards”

      • Sensei

        “we need to meet these stupid CAFE standards”

        Winner + plus crazy global emission regulations.

      • Tundra

        @CPA it’s all about emissions and CAFE. Almost everyone has ditched V8s and 6s for turbocharged 4s with the hybrid system. They did the same with the 4Runner.

        It’s insanity, but that’s the price of over regulation.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        Yeah, the last Frontier I had was a stick, and they had to put a six speed in it with the dumbest gear ratios to get it to pass CAFE.

        My brother got around it with his Jeep Gladiator(?) by increasing the tire size and diff gear change. I just didn’t want to mess with things that much.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Yeah, a Colorado or Ranger are both much larger than my Uncle’s ’75 F250 and are considered ‘midsize’.

      • Muzzled Woodchipper

        Used 4Runners are priced dam near new, but I bought one anyways.

        It’s a 22 that only had 22k miles. Was a dealer lease. The manager drove it around. Great condition.

        Love that car.

    • Certified Public Asshat

      I’m probably getting a Maverick or Ridgeline next year, as I want/need the bed but don’t ever plan on towing anything.

      The 2025 Maverick has an AWD/hybrid option that will 2x the MPG vs. a Ridgeline AND still be cheaper overall. A nice green paint option as well.

      The Ridgeline is just a nicer vehicle overall though (and has a trunk, if that is important to you).

      Both pass the “can it haul a 4×8 sheet of plywood/drywall” test.

      • Sensei

        The Ford mileage is a huge win. The simplicity of Honda’s V6 for long term use is the trade off you make.

        For us the mileage is less important than the complexity of the Ford’s powertrain. Plus after being a Ford family for like 30 years I’m done with them after the crap quality of our Ford Explorer.

        That said on paper the Ford is very appealing with little competition.

      • UnCivilServant

        In 2007 I got my Ford Focus. The first thing that failed was the sound system, I eventually wired in an aftermarket one. The only other two pieces of character not related to something bumping into it were A: the sleeve on the shifter that indicated it was in park and let you remove the key broke and you would have to manually pull it up. B: in very cold weather the cam on the driver’s door latch didn’t rotate and stay open when you opened the door so it wouldn’t close until you manually rotated it back to normal open position. Then someone parked a Buick in the wheel well in 2017, and I had to replace it.

        The C-Max also had a sound system failure wherein the USB port no longer registers, so I use external speakers and a walkman for audio. In terms of other character… the screw holding in the driver’s side sun visor has fallen out four times. In terms of annoyances, that’s quite minor. The regenerative braking system means more care has to be taken to keep the brakes from rotting, and the weight does wear tires faster. Other than that, it’s been solid (wiper blades, pads, filters, are normal things that need changing)

    • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

      I have a Nissan Frontier four door small truck. Absolutely love it, and have driven it across the country twice. My neighbor has one of the Mavericks, seems ok for a hybrid.

      My grandfather had an ’68 El Camino, 350 with a 350TH. Sold it two weeks before he had a stroke, otherwise it would have been mine.

      • UnCivilServant

        Oh, I wouldn’t be getting the hybrid, ICE all the way for my next vehicle.

    • R.J.

      Your choices are somewhat limited. The Maverick is nice, and it is front wheel drive which makes it a better driver up North in snow if you don’t go 4 WD. I believe KIA/HYUNDAI has a small truck. Nissan and Toyota’s small trucks grew into another species. GM has some “smallish” trucks (Canyon, I think) which is still larger than the Maverick, but has been around a while and is a stable platform.

      • Bobarian LMD

        The Maverick is available with AWD, but only with the eco-boost, non-hybrid set-up. Unless they changed that this year.

      • UnCivilServant

        According to Ford’s online builder, the 2025 model year has AWD for both types of power plant.

    • The Other Kevin

      * Biden grins *

    • Grummun

      What’s the fallout pattern if Russia nukes Kyiv? At some point in the past, someone had posted a link to a nuke yield/fallout simulation website.

    • Muzzled Woodchipper

      Elon is on board that train anyways.

      Hello, Federal Workforce.

      As of Jan 21, all federal employees will be on a mandatory 5 days a week in-office schedule. Please see the appendix for the new location of your department’s physical offices, as they’ve changed. If you do not agree, please see the comptroller for your severance of 2 pay periods and 60 days of insurance.

  25. Sensei

    Interesting Jag appears to have disappointed marketing people as well.

    Jaguar has rebranded when it needed to revitalise

    https://www.marketingweek.com/jaguar-rebranded-needed-revitalise/

    I was unaware they are going significantly upmarket. This is not going to go well as the Germans are there with RR and Bentley as well as MB and BMW.

    That new car will sell for roughly double the price of current Jaguar vehicles and the company expects to retain only 10% to 15% of its current customer base. Jaguar will shift its targeting to younger, wealthier, more urban shoppers that the company describes as “design-minded” and “cash-rich, time-poor”.

    • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

      Same failure as Tractor Supply; don’t listen to 20somethings straight out of school. They don’t know anything.

      • Sensei

        My opinion coming from the Fortune 100 is they looked around saw what their peers were doing and said we have to do the same. They reviewed those programs, copied them and hired from them.

        Nobody bothers to think about first principles. It’s not restricted to DEI. Nobody in the C-Suite wants to explain why he or she was caught flatfooted on something with industrywide ramifications. It’s easier to chuck a slug of cash to address the issue and move on to the next issue.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        Fortune 100 execs should be above that, and able to spot damaging trends. And these things are damaging.

    • Gustave Lytton

      They’ve only moved down market as buyers started buying up. I remember when Jag was a rare and expensive car company (even if owned by Ford). Then I got to Kuwait and there was a Jag on every street.

      Do love how branding nazis continue to think using the same font and color palette throughout all marketing is more important than any readability or pleasantness.

  26. The Late P Brooks

    The return of federalism

    The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday approved a so-called “sanctuary city” ordinance that bars city resources from being used for immigration enforcement and city departments from sharing information on people without legal status with federal immigration authorities, in anticipation of potential mass deportations under President-elect Donald Trump.

    Councilmembers voted unanimously on the measure, joining more than a dozen cities across the United States with similar provisions. Sanctuary cities or states are not legal terms but have come to symbolize a pledge to protect and support immigrant communities and decline to voluntarily supply information to immigration enforcement officials. Advocates say they are havens for immigrants to feel safe and be able to report crime without fear of deportation.

    “Advocates”

    Do I want a “Papers, please” America? No, I do not. But I want to see the borders and immigration laws enforced.

    • rhywun

      This is how the not elites get fed up and eventually demand a “Papers, please” America.

    • The Other Kevin

      Sorry, people in blue states who voted Republican for the first time over this issue. You’ll just have to keep suffering so the Dem leadership can virtue signal. And also, you still owe the Dems your votes.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      It also shouldn’t be that hard to hand over people have been arrested on other crimes for deportation.

      • R C Dean

        That’s exactly what sanctuary cities don’t do – instead, they hustle them out the back door and release them into the wild before the feds can get their hands on them. That’s why you read about all these illegals who commit serious crimes and are released, to commit more serious crimes.

    • Grummun

      I’m sure a vindictive Federal Executive could find some way to punish “sanctuary cities”. Shame about the loss of federal funding, etc.

    • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

      I am with you on the “papers, please” but this is what happens when a chunk of the country fucks around with the laws. You get counter laws, and laws about things that shouldn’t need to be said, and will come back and bite everyone on the ass. But someone had to go and fool around with things.

      It’s Chesterton’s Fence all over again.

  27. The Late P Brooks

    I was unaware they are going significantly upmarket. This is not going to go well as the Germans are there with RR and Bentley as well as MB and BMW.

    I was blissfully unaware of their “pause and reset” until yesterday. At this point, does anybody even know what Jaguar is or does?
    They should abandon manufacturing and sell vintage logo t shirts and trinkets.

      • slumbrew

        Their new logo is a crime against good taste.

        “Let’s replace our iconic logo with one that’s just all-lowercase sans serif letters”

      • Sensei

        I think in some markets you can do that, but only on low volumes.

        No way to make it meet the 1,001 regulations of a modern cars.

      • Tundra

        They are only planning on 10-15% of their current sales. Which are shit. They can probably skirt some of the regs.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        Turning an E-type into an EV? That is a bigger autocrime than owning a Honda.

      • Tundra

        Sure, to you and me, but if Jag is trying to attract a new audience they gotta do better than an overpriced CUV.

      • R C Dean

        The 2-door sports cars they were selling are good looking cars:

        https://www.jaguarusa.com/all-models/f-type/models/index.html

        Of course, their marketing department also fucked the dog by having the pics of their cars be dark blue on a dark blue background, so you can’t see shit.

  28. The Late P Brooks

    Jaguar will shift its targeting to younger, wealthier, more urban shoppers that the company describes as “design-minded” and “cash-rich, time-poor”.

    Professional athletes? Sure, that’s a solid business model.

  29. The Late P Brooks

    And it’s especially hard for Jaguar, given it is currently a car brand without any cars. But maybe a longer advertising hiatus might have served the brand better than a person in an orange gimp suit holding a neon hammer.

    If I were a younger, less experienced marketer, I would sit back and assume I was missing something and only later realise it had been pants from the start. But I am old and wizened from so much other marketing madness that I know the smell of imminent brand immolation when I whiff it. And the fumes are unmistakable.

    A Viking funeral for an English car maker?

    • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

      I am amazed Jaguar has hung around as long as it has, considering the idiotic maneuvers that destroyed the rest of the British auto industry.

      1960: “lets switch from Whitworth tooling, which we have and it is all paid for, to SAE. That will allow us to use up a ton of operating capital!”

      1980: “lets switch from SAE to Metric, not that we have rebuilt our operating capital from when we did that 20 years ago, but we need to be MODERN!!”

      2000: “Welp, only two left to kill: Jaguar and Land Rover. Ooops, Jaguar is on life support now…”

      • Gustave Lytton

        but we need to be MODERNEuropean.

        “We are a part of the EEC”

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        And thus Nigel Farage.

    • Bobarian LMD

      It’s a faithful return to the ’70s, when Jags were plagued with tranny problems.

  30. The Late P Brooks

    Or make these only:

    An all electric E-type; will it play the sound of a twin can six and gearbox whine through loudspeakers?

    • Tundra

      Not sure if you saw the Harry’s Garage review of the new Macan EV, but that’s exactly what they do lol.

      • Sensei

        And you can download additional “zoom zoom” sounds for something like close to a grand.

    • Gustave Lytton

      I’m surprised there isn’t a market for aftermarket EV sounds, like ringtones.

      I’d go for an Avro Vulcan howl.

      • Sensei

        I think there would be, but the manufacturers put them behind paywalls for anything that plays inside the vehicle.

        Musk let you change them on the outside pedestrian safety speaker, but regulators balked and he had to remove the feature. That said he thought it stupid and gave you all kinds of approved options including one that sounded like the Jetson’s “car”.

  31. The Late P Brooks

    Not sure if you saw the Harry’s Garage review of the new Macan EV

    Not yet, anyway. My interest in the Macan, EV or not, is pretty much nil.

    • Sensei

      I generally don’t watch Harry’s reviews on modern mass mass market stuff. And only 50% of his super/hyper car stuff.

    • Tundra

      The towing thing caught my eye. It was a short video.

      I do enjoy his classics videos much more than the new/exotic stuff.

  32. JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

    “The NFL is going to piss off a bunch of woketards.”

    My local paper has had at least one article on it’s main page about Nick Bosa’s support for Trump ever since he wore the MAGA hat on TV. It really seems to bother them.

    • R C Dean

      Well, they thought the NFL was another institution they captured, and it mostly is. But, totalitarians gonna totalitarian.

      • Muzzled Woodchipper

        The institution of the NFL is captured, but the players, apparently are not.

    • Tundra

      There are still plenty of retarded platitudes on the backs of helmets. Why can’t they just be satisfied with that?

    • Mojeaux

      Oh you should have seen the blowup when Mama Mahomes displayed her MAGA hat.

      I was honestly surprised she was a Trump fan and also, every time someone does the Trump dance in the endzone. Then there was Brittney Mahomes simply LIKING a Trump post and then refusing to apologize (to be fair, she always claps back if she’s getting shat upon). Maybe that’s just a vestige of being used to all the right everybodies hating Trump.

      The View was appalled that someone in a mixed race marriage with mixed race kids could like Trump. DOESN’T SHE KNOW THAT [insert eyerolling statement about what Trump is alleged to have done]???

  33. The Late P Brooks

    Common sense wage control

    Proponents estimated that the measure would have benefited 2 million workers, including hotel and grocery employees.

    “Proposition 32’s failure to pass is disappointing for all Californians who believe that everyone who works should earn enough to support their families,” said Kathy Finn, president of UFCW 770, a Southern California union representing nearly 30,000 workers in various sectors.

    The current minimum wage rates are $16 per hour for most workers and $20 in the fast-food sector. The health care sector will eventually see its minimum wage reach $25 per hour under a law that Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed last year and took effect in October.

    Living wage for some, homelessness for others.

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