Anybody want to talk Spec Vintage Dallara? Silly season's starting early. Dixon and Rosenqvist are headed to Arrow McLaren...so who's out at McLaren? Siegel, probably, but are they really going to axe Lundgaard (4th in the points, and just won at Road America) or O'Ward (the most popular driver)? A third of the crowd at St. Pete were Spanish-speaking whites in O'Ward gear.
Holy shit. Chip must have given Palou more base salary than Dixon and Scott isn't having it. Sad really. There's only so much you can do in the war on aging.
Marc Marquez falls from his heights of the past two races to finish mid-points pack (7, 5 in sprint and race).
Marc's brilliance, however, led to him pushing Bez so hard in the opening laps of the race that Bez had a massively fast crash that a) I am glad he didn't get injured from b) meant 0 points for Bez three races (75 points) in a row! The clear favorite early in the season has had his points lead sublimate to the ether and now he is overtaken by Jorge Martin who has a 7 point edge.
Acosta exited the race with Carpal tunnel symptoms leading him to nearly collide with a rider ahead, and he has had surgery to relieve the condition for his return at Sachsenring.
The real stars of the weekend were Alex Marquez, back from brutal injury back and collarbone injury after the collision with Acosta and subsequent wreck, Raul Fernandez, and Ai Ogura.
Ai Ogura, who has shown incredible late race pace, managed a front row qualifying. From there he would place 2nd in the sprint after being a little beat up, and take a win for Japan in the race by a dominant margin. This included a scare with his ride height device not unlocking for a short while, and overcoming a ~3s margin. What a talent on display!
Fernandez from the second row won the sprint, and came second in the race.
Jorge Martin, from pole (and part of the front row Aprilia lock out of Martin -> Ogura -> Bez) finished 5th and 3rd.
Aprilia still fighting hard to win the championship this year, but with an ever healthier Marc Marquez and some tracks more in his favor the 40 point lead doesn't seem like much with the inconsistent performances from the factory Aprilia rider (Ogura also has a real chance along with Digiantonnio).
I now want a new Corvette more than I already did. Which was quite a bit, lack of stick shift notwithstanding.
"I’ve long believed that the death of Christianity in Europe as an operating principle simply rerouted the Puritan and/or Calvinist impulses into secular religion substitutes, like “the climate” or “wir schaffen das."
I used to really enjoy telling people I was a Calvinist, only to reveal ten minutes later that I was actually talking about Calvin and Hobbes.
I applaud Bill Watterson's integrity, but it does pain me that he wants nothing to do with this thing he created, even though said creation has brought so much joy to so many:
The regulatory environment has gotten out of hand and I agree that that was the most consequential decision of this last week. In a few years maybe it won't take a few years to build anything in this country like it does now.
We will require more Presidents with the will to carry on this struggle. It's uncertain whether this will ever happen. Certainly no Democrat ever will. Possibly a former Republican governor might.
Trump is sui generis for better or worse, sometimes both. This would have never happened if he had been reelected in 2000. He was an outsider with all the liabilities of one, mostly having no organization to step in. He was able to recognize that and build one for 2024.
My wife and I have commented often that a published history of that would perhaps be the most meaningful and fascinating nonfiction book of the 21st century. I just don’t now who I would trust to write it accurately.
Europoor here, all the houses owned by me or the family have AC. Not central, just splits. They are off 90% of the time, as I'm perfectly fine sitting in a 78F house. I turn them on if it gets higher than that. If the media is to be believed I'm in the minority here, which I'm fine with. I personally can function up to 100F but I have relatives from 5 to 95 years who don't have that good of a temperature regulation, and I'd consider it cruel to let them suffer for some unreachable greater good. The EU Parliament meanwhile, in a move that is not unlike the photograph of John and Yoko waiting for their maid to make the bed, turned off their AC in solidarity but only on the lower levels where the chinovnik sit.
I don't really get all the uproar I see in social media about the Supreme Court decisions. This should be considered a net win by anyone but the far-right. Ok, so the anchor baby loophole remained but that doesn't mean you instantly gain 8 Malaysians with every birth. Those kids can't sponsor anybody until they are 21 or older. It can mostly be tought of like a delayed timebomb but is it really? No matter how hard I tried coaxing Grok or OpenAI, the number of birth-touristm in the US is somewhere 20-30.000/year. Not to mention moving your family from a low-cost-of-living place to the US isn't exactly straightforward. I don't think this is the migration path the citizenry should be concerned about.
When we were stationed in Germany we did the same. We had it in the living room area of the house but it was beefy enough to do a decent enough job of cooling the entire house.
We also rarely needed to turn it on, even with a newborn.
Most folks don't understand cooling very well, the idea is to remove excess heat and most of the heat in any dwelling is the refris heat output, you don't realize it but adding a simple 21" (or larger) box fan in a kitchen window will make a startling reduction in the entire place's heat level, more if you get cool enough in the evenings to be able to open a window on the far side of the house to let cooler outside air in .
Spoken like a Californian! In most of the US, the primary value of air conditioning is _dehumidification_, not cooling per se. I've lived in a house with a "whole house fan," in a region that most would consider dry, where I couldn't use the fan during the summer because the overnight dew point / humidity is far too high.
I too don't have AC in my house, I'd like to try a split unit but I'd have to install it and I'm getting to where picking up my tools is a thing I apparently avoid often =8-( .
I lived 6 miles inland from the Pacific in San Diego. The summers still really, really sucked. Our house would sit around 80-82* all day, even with very careful control of the blinds and opening the windows as soon as it was cooler outside than in. I embraced the insane cost of electricity and moved to a 90s house further inland, but packing both a whole house attic fan AND air conditioning AND double pane vinyl windows!! I play a game in Boise to see how long I can go before turning the AC on (winning is waiting until June), but when it's 88*+ out there, you better believe I'm running the aging unit constantly and still opening some upstairs windows at night.
I forgot to mention maybe 1/5th of my windows are now double paned and wow what a difference, they insulate against the endless traffic noise too =8-) .
San Diego is only 200 miles South of Los Angeles yet it's *much* hotter all year 'round .
It's a nice place to visit but I I'd not live there for free .
Which is why we installed a large bunch of solar panels on our house here in SD area. Lets us run the ACs (now heat pumps) a lot without insane electric bills.
SC, I couldn't disagree more about removing "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" from the 14th Amendment. Virtually no other country has _jus soli_ citizenship.
I've heard as many as 1/7 of births in the US are to illegal and/or temporary residents, including Kamala Harris (Indian mother, Jamaican father on student visas; reared in Montréal) and Vivek Ramaswamy (8 months pregnant to 2 Indian nationals, father still refuses any association with US), and Juan Carlos Valencia González, head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (his citizenship restricts the type of intelligence / counterterrorism tactics that the government would ordinarily use against a foreign adversary).
It's very easy to get to the US on a temporary basis.
Also, you may remember a British territory in Asia called "Hong Kong": how did that work out?
"One of the reasons why the British had to give up Hong Kong in '97 rather than try to hold on to it is that so many mainlanders had poured onto the island and had children there who were birthright citizens and could thus pressure the British on behalf of the PRC, to which they remained loyal, while also exerting economic and demographic pressure
The Hong Kongers called them Locusts
Thus were elections swayed ot mainlander-friendly candidates, and the island filled with locusts loyal to the regime in Peking rather than the crown
Their presence helped make continued British presence and rule untenable
Below is a poster from Hong Kong warning of the presence of migrants"
3. Tourist/Illegal (largest numerically): I've been hearing all the way back to the turn of the century about pregnant women taking TAXICABS across the Tijuana/San Diego, Matamoros/Brownsville border directly to an American ER to give birth to a "citizen" at US taxpayer expense. This is the stereotypical "anchor baby," which makes the parents very difficult to deport, although I consider all three, including, notably, {Kamala} and {Vivek}, to be "anchor babies."
So yeah, if the 1/7 figure that I have seen (but not verified) is true, this is a major issue (and has been for decades). Even if an anchor baby today won't be eligible to vote and/or sponsor for a few years, EVERY vintage 2008 anchor baby gets the same number of votes as I do in this year's midterms.
There was a case last year where they investigated a Chinese couple who ran some shady surrogate operation; Guojun Xuan and Silvia Zhang in Arcadia, CA.
Police discovered 21 young children (mostly under age 3, born via surrogates), many with crew cuts or short hair. Neighbors described the kids as looking "like soldiers" and mentioned regimented routines.
"the President can fire heads of government agencies without cause, simply for political reasons or because he doesn’t like the cut of their jib"
Whenever a self righteous member from the Ministry of Truth complained about another ranking member of the Deep State being shown the door it brought to mind an oft repeated line from every liberal's favorite television drama, The West Wing.
"I serve at the pleasure of the President".
Late at night with the Chardonnay box running low and the viewing screen flickering in the dark do any of these people reflect on lost idealism?
I refer people who don't like the Slaughter decision to the org chart in the Constitution. Which one of the branches do these bureaucrats work under? There is no fourth branch. Are there Legislative or Judicial employees who cannot be fired for working at cross-purposes?
It is said that the new mid-engine Vette platform was marketed as a way to target younger generations. It was similarly said that front engine long nose Corvettes of yesteryears were targeted to Boomers and so on. Yet the rear of the new Corvette C8 is designed so Boomers can continue driving their Vette with their golf clubs in back to their favorite country club. The dichotomy makes one wonder. And hence the design choices.
I put my gym bag in the back trunk about 3 days a week when I go to workout. And last night it held a few groceries. I don’t hate the look but I love the functionality. I have the HTC so the roof doesn’t need to go in there.
As a thirty three year old, C4 through C7 are getting prettier by the day while the C8 is still dog dick ugly to me. Even good color ones, like that metallic mocha color they have. Saw an actually nice silver with red seats, top off, still bad.
And the E and Z cars are worse than the Stingrays.
It makes me wonder too, the kids like drifting, LS swaps, takeovers. What does a mid engine, dual clutch, LT-hybrid package have to offer for such a buyer?
The supreme Court has always been wild buts it's been really wild the last few years. I mean, it took how many years to overturn Roe V Wade which was obviously a very bad judicial ruling, regardless if one's thoughts on abortion.
Part of the problem was that for some ungodly reason, it seemed for years as if it was settled law on birthright citizenship. Keep in mind that not only did the writers understand the concept of unlawful residents as there were many such unlawful Chinese in the states at the time, but it was considered that the amendment didn't extend to native Americans. So yes, at the time the consideration of illegal immigrants.
"persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens, who belong to the families of ambassadors or foreign ministers accredited to the Government of the United States"
Now the question of this text by the author is if foreigners and aliens only extends to diplomats or if they are separate. Either way, the writers understood the concept of illegals.
I thought they'd split the baby: legal residents would have birthright citizenship but not illegals.
The more horrific decision was that somehow ACB argued that states run elections but somehow use a federal service to determine when that election would end.
Some lawyers are even stating that the ruling was so broad that states could essentially determine to never seat a representative if who they want is looking to lose buy just stating: "We are waiting for all of the ballots to come in"
ACB believes that election day isn't a deadline but yet she's supposed to be a textualism? Yeah, I'd believe that if she wasn't swatted. Probably the same reason she voted the way she did on birthright citizenship.
Maybe it's a good thing I might be dead before we have a hot civil war or before the country is being ran by foreigners.
ACB is beyond awful and probably the single worst thing done under Trump. Anton must be rolling in his grave. Every decision by Roberts cements the theory that he was a Lolito Express frequent flyer (yes, that's an 'o' at the end).
The federalist structure for election regulation, despite perpetuating all the usual frustrations associated with the varying state frameworks, remains, objectively, an important protection of liberty against consolidated national despotism. Justice Barrett is right to preserve it, even if the details look weird.
It's amazing how quickly people forget things. Under Biden, he Democrats had their version of the SAVE Act teed up -- the "For the People Act" -- which would have turned the whole country into California when it comes to voting procedures. McConnell stopped it, thank heaven -- using the filibuster.
For MAGA to turn around, a mere five years later, and agitate for the same structural change -- national control and regulation of election procedures -- is quite something to behold.
The only good that came of the ruinous Iran war was that it sank the SAVE Act.
"The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators."
We have election day prescription by Congress. ACB doesn't think election day is a deadline. By her own argument then I should be able to vote at any time as long as the state recognizes the vote. If election day isn't a deadline, the what does Congress mean?
Hate the law, not the lawyer. The ruling was based on interpreting the meaning of a Federal LAW. Not every SC decision has constitutional implications. Many are about the interpretation of administrative regulations or statutes. This is one of those.
The argument would be sound if the state didn't rely on the federal government for ballot delivery.
It's also ludicrous to think that there is any fairness in a federal election if one state has a very different system than another. Elections mean nothing then. Just look at ahe the Virginia governors latest rubber stamp.
While people want to get panties in a bind of LA mayoral election: I don't care since I don't live there.
But if the same legalized fraud is allowed in a federal election, I do care. States can't sue another state even if that states own citizens are disenfranchised.
A small part of the civil war was over elections. If a state decides it doesn't want to seat a federal representative or send electors for a president while waiting on ballots, it could get ugly.
I've counted at least 2-3 dozen "it could get ugly" fuses sparking and crackling in this country. It's frankly amazing that not one of them has yet fired off the dynamite.
Not arguing about ACB one way or the other but I'd have to agree with her on the voting decision. Coffee & Covid has a good explanation. I'd recommend going over there and reading both the Tuesday and Wednesday Substacks which are mainly devoted to the decisions of the last several days.
"The majority’s decision did not rest on the Constitution but turned on federal law. And those statutes can be changed, for example, through the SAVE Act.
“As we have said time and again, policy arguments are properly directed to legislatures, not courts,” Justice Barrett explained. “The question today is not whether requiring ballots to be received by election day is a good or bad idea; the question is whether the idea has made its way into the United States Code.”
"In other words, SCOTUS punted back to Congress, saying, “Don’t ask us to fix your mess.” It’s fine to argue that the Justices should have fixed the late counting problem, but then we must grapple with the time-worn complaint about judicial activism, which conservatives are supposed to eschew."
So Congress prescription has election day for just grins then? It means nothing? I get what your saying but pragmatically no one will agree on a deadline.
Her argument for birthright citizenship was far more legally correct than her arguments for allowing states to do whatever they want.
I'd also argue that her and even potentially Kavanaugh could be compromised over assassination attempts and swatting.
As an aside, I’m at a client and working with an accounting team based in Bogota. They had no problems voting a couple of Sundays ago and showing ID with no mail in ballots.
Correct. Once the USPS (and the Feds that matter) have the barcodes of every mail-in ballot postmarked by Election Day, if other ballot bar codes appear in a final vote count, the Feds will have its proof of criminality.
All of the USPS changes Trump made are merely procedural. Good luck contesting them.
Yes the climate panic plays into this, but the main reason public buildings aren't retrofitted, is money. The public households and the public health insurance are so deeply underwater, they cannot afford to install, maintain or run a/c, apart from the mayor's office maybe. Case in point: in some EU office building only the floors for the executives have been cooled during this heat wave. For the lower bureaucrats it has been shut off.
Commercial HVAC contractor here, so perhaps my perspective is skewed
... but people find the money for the things that are important to them. I grew up in a home where my dad made great money, but we didn't run the A/C until it was over 90 deg (and humid, and then only upstairs, and then only at night).
When we got married, my wife's family had never even had central air. We had nothing, literally poor as church mice -- but I worked on A/C all day, and I was going to be a monkey's uncle if I didn't have it in my own home (apartment). I ran it when I made $8/hr and had a wife who didn't work outside the home and a 1 y/o daughter.
In the modern day, a mini-split can be installed for $3000 and $2000 of that is labor Euros aren't going to pay at the same rate we do here. "Mr. Cool" makes it a DIY proposition. With SEER ratings above 20, it's even cheap to run (comparatively). A window shaker for the bedroom is a <$200 proposition. It's not a "luxury" any more than power windows and cruise control is a luxury. It's a modern convenience.
Big statement coming: not having A/C in 2026 is a personal decision not driven by money.
The EU continues to model why big, all-powerful government is horrible for individuals just trying to live their lives, secure their liberty, and pursue their happiness.
I have a hundred hilarious stories I could tell about all of this, but the big one is this:
The utilities (with government money, no doubt) have been offering aggressive rebates on "high-efficiency mini-splits" -- enough so that a couple of years back, it was possible to get a 2 ton system for <$500 in material, and a 1 ton for free.
What happened in reality? Every home in America ended up with an air-conditioned garage. Net energy consumption went up.
It's quite something. Government intervention just skews behavior.
I am retired now, but in my working life I was a trailer reeferman, I didn’t have air conditioning in my house until 2005, when I installed a 2.5 ton central air and furnace, before that, I had a window shaker, it was adequate, but I don’t believe that I would ever squander the resources or use the energy to aircondition or heat a garage, I think that a large portion of Europe has been brainwashed into believing that the world is going to die because of climate change.
I have a minisplit in my garage (and my shop which is the other third of the building). Why? It gets incredibly hot and humid here in the summer and IF I need to work on a project during those months of the year, then I'm going to do it in 80 degrees and lower humidity - because I'm old and I can afford it.
That being said, it rarely gets used. (The one in the shop however is a different story).
Sidenote: Minisplits are shit. If I had it to do over again, I would have put central air in the building with two zones. In the long run, Central Air is significantly cheaper, by an order of magnitude. Because Central Air lasts for decades. Minisplits last 5 years (if you're lucky). They are designed to fail and you need to invest in a secondary control system to manage them, or they just run nonstop 24/7 until they die.
100%. Mini-splits are disposable appliances. Try getting parts even 5 years later.
I have a garage/shop and a separate business garage/shop.
I’ve got conventional split system ducted furnace/A-C in both.
By FAR the cheapest way to heat/cool a garage or shop is with a gas-fired hanging unit heater and a window shaker or 3 running in a wall sleeve for cooling. Close second is a mini-split or 3 for cooling only and the unit heater for heat.
As I stood dripping sweat onto my workbench in the garage last night I spent a few mins thinking about a mini-split just for the real hot days like these. Good to know they aren't durable.
Ironically, until the AC is turned on in the house, the garage is the coolest place due to the concrete slab, directional positioning, and trees sheltering it from the sun.
"Every home in America ended up with an air-conditioned garage." DUDE I WISH! It's touching 100 here in Deeetroit and I just can't bear being in the garage for more than 15 minutes.
I use a portable, floor-standing AC unit in the garage in the summer here in Houston. Its a life saver. I route the exhaust out through the kitty door.
That'd be nice too! My garage walls are cinderblock for better or worse. Roof is really beefy old wood construction. So I'm not sure how to really cut a hole for a window unit or a vent tube from a floor unit. Plus there's no ceiling insulation, which is more a concern keeping heat in the winter, but I wonder how much higher the power bill would be if I ran an AC unit for the really hot days. Would be nice though, cause the heat is keeping me from working in my car and therefore I can't drive my Challenger on this 4th of July weekend.
Just back from Florence Italy and fortunately the first part of the trip included seeing Academia and Uffizi Gallery to see the sculptures and paintings before their ac took a dive. They closed a day or two after the visit.
Even when we were visiting you could tell some galleries were where they wanted (interior of the building) and struggling mightily (hallways with windows and curtains). Never was I so happy to drive and have ac. All the places I stayed including a 13th century fortress had ac.
I don’t get it. Relatives in Germany and Poland have ac or at least splits for a room or two.
Just cruel to the young and elderly to not have it available when hot.
Living in NC and having family in Phoenix AZ the humidity was not horrible there.
2 or 4 / 55 ac in a car was not bad and what many were doing, but I had a new rental so why not use it.
And what Stan said.
When I get that Hot Tub Time Machine I may tell my past self after law school to go back and become an electrician, plumber, engineer or into HVAC. Working through problems and people who can break down a problem are a lot more fun to speak with than most. I don’t regret what I have done but there are other paths.
Skipping AC is a personal choice that happens to be wrong. It's like skipping plumbing. I don't know how they can argue otherwise when they have thousands of dead as a consequence.
Fortunately I don't think all euros are this stupid. The last time I was in Italy I remember heat pumps hanging off every apartment unit, though certainly not the street facing side.
Another point re: European retrofit ac systems. It is worth noting that much of the buildings in places like central Paris or Rome are listed buildings. Adding AC isn’t a simple proposition from a technical or financial standpoint when you consider the very onerous regulations around historical listed properties.
As an aside - I have lived in UK and travelled the continent extensively for the last 15 years or so. The whole issue of AC in Europe is largely overblown IMO. Newer or non listed detached properties and nicer apartments definitely have AC, and people use the units (albeit not as often as Americans or Canadians would).
Also- when I lived in Germany my small village was probably 50% owned by one family, who happened to be the farmer of the area (and likely owned everything and decided to diversify a bit). Everyone rented from them. What’s the chance they were going to put AC into everyone’s apartments? The buildings were individual style homes and had apartments on each floor, common for Germany. We never noticed the heat that I can remember but the first thing I did was install ceiling fans in the living room and bedroom.
I was waiting for this, lol. I would bet all I have that the 1% types in Paris have AC in their mansions but aren’t boasting about it on instagram because they aren’t crass Americans and there is history there of the lower classes beheading the elites.
More Europeans die from lack of air conditioning than Americans do from gun violence, and the gun violence could well be protecting us from progressive policies that would cost us our air conditioning. On the other hand, gun violence in the US could easily be curtailed to sub-European levels merely by locking up violent habitual criminals and leaving them locked up, which is being prevented by the same sort of people who are keeping Europeans expiring from the heat.
Or, we could have mandatory firearm safety and handling classes for school age children, that'd have the same effect without making everyone paranoid .
That would probably increase the kill/shot ratio of the typical gangbanger autosear Glock spray and pray event. If it put more of them in the morgue instead of the bystanders usually hit, I would support this.
Nate, respectfully I’d pay my last dollar to watch you go around the Philly schools and try to teach these kids the Weaver stance with a switched Glizzy, Freedom Writers style of course.
That's my entire point : begin teaching them when they're grade school age and they'll grasp the whys of the Weaver Stance so its a win - win for all .
I looked this up yesterday. Roughly 60% of gun deaths are suicides. Roughly 20% are “gang” related whether that be actual gang activity or “gang” activity. The latter would be informal gangs, disagreements between friend groups, etc.
Permanently locking up such violent societal effluent would indeed be a great first step. Executing them would be even better, and (in theory, not practice) a whole lot cheaper...
The weather related death rate is more a factor of native European demographics than anything else. The young imported Mohammedans and subsaharans are probably doing just fine with the heat.
'At this rate they will be hardcore tradwives within the decade.' By definition, a tradwife must be fertile.
I believe Jeff Zwart has been racing there and coaching racing there for decades. Outside of the car he is driving he must have some advantage from all of his experience.
Just curious have you met Jeff Zwart? By accounts I have read he is a nice guy, a photographer who got in with Porsche and made a great career out of it.
As I understand it there is a significant chance of death at Pikes Peak should you go off the course I wouldn’t fault anyone for 7/8 effort.
Maybe they run it again and switch vehicles and see how Zwart does in the Corvette.
Seems like every other Hagerty video has Larry Chen in it these days. At least he does cover some interesting things. And doesn’t have an English accent.
In re posting rules: Can I talk about Sammy Hagar at all? I did see him play and sing with Montrose in '74 and became a fan regardless of who he's fronting.
I kind of want to see what type of Amazon-style "we are out of the common names and we don't understand the english language all that well and we also don't care" branding we get for this. "The shift knob of the Hxxunicssl 35000xx1 fell readily to hand..."
I write from my in-laws’ 100y/o cabin in northern WI on family vacation. It is maybe 1600sq ft, 3br, and aside from the lone bathroom, it has no ceilings, just walls for each room, all open to a cathedral ceiling. It’s mid/high 80s and humid so we’re running two ancient (one from my 45y/o SIL’s college apartment) window A/C units from evening to morning, and I’m under two blankets right now because it’s positively cold in here by morning.
OTOH, when I worked for Siemens, in the building automation department no less (renamed Smart Infrastructure, primarily HVAC controls, security, fire alarm components, etc) they opened a new global HQ in Zug, Switzerland. It famously had no A/C. The President’s office was immediately deemed uninhabitable due to the solar gain making temps in that room over 85-90°. Our US based execs, even the German ones, bitched and moaned about having to go there a wear a suit coat all day and work in the hot conditions. It was absolutely inconceivable to us American proles that the “Smart Infrastructure” people could build a building with no infrastructure and make it unusable. What a sales technique. Stupid fucking eurotrash.
Anybody want to talk Spec Vintage Dallara? Silly season's starting early. Dixon and Rosenqvist are headed to Arrow McLaren...so who's out at McLaren? Siegel, probably, but are they really going to axe Lundgaard (4th in the points, and just won at Road America) or O'Ward (the most popular driver)? A third of the crowd at St. Pete were Spanish-speaking whites in O'Ward gear.
Holy shit. Chip must have given Palou more base salary than Dixon and Scott isn't having it. Sad really. There's only so much you can do in the war on aging.
Where’s Sting Ray Robb going? That’s the real question.
Maybe he will get together with Corvette Vicki.
Sounds like a plot line for the next installment of GILF Hunter.
MotoGP in Assen
Marc Marquez falls from his heights of the past two races to finish mid-points pack (7, 5 in sprint and race).
Marc's brilliance, however, led to him pushing Bez so hard in the opening laps of the race that Bez had a massively fast crash that a) I am glad he didn't get injured from b) meant 0 points for Bez three races (75 points) in a row! The clear favorite early in the season has had his points lead sublimate to the ether and now he is overtaken by Jorge Martin who has a 7 point edge.
Acosta exited the race with Carpal tunnel symptoms leading him to nearly collide with a rider ahead, and he has had surgery to relieve the condition for his return at Sachsenring.
The real stars of the weekend were Alex Marquez, back from brutal injury back and collarbone injury after the collision with Acosta and subsequent wreck, Raul Fernandez, and Ai Ogura.
Ai Ogura, who has shown incredible late race pace, managed a front row qualifying. From there he would place 2nd in the sprint after being a little beat up, and take a win for Japan in the race by a dominant margin. This included a scare with his ride height device not unlocking for a short while, and overcoming a ~3s margin. What a talent on display!
Fernandez from the second row won the sprint, and came second in the race.
Jorge Martin, from pole (and part of the front row Aprilia lock out of Martin -> Ogura -> Bez) finished 5th and 3rd.
Aprilia still fighting hard to win the championship this year, but with an ever healthier Marc Marquez and some tracks more in his favor the 40 point lead doesn't seem like much with the inconsistent performances from the factory Aprilia rider (Ogura also has a real chance along with Digiantonnio).
MotoGP runs at Sachsenring next week.
I now want a new Corvette more than I already did. Which was quite a bit, lack of stick shift notwithstanding.
"I’ve long believed that the death of Christianity in Europe as an operating principle simply rerouted the Puritan and/or Calvinist impulses into secular religion substitutes, like “the climate” or “wir schaffen das."
I used to really enjoy telling people I was a Calvinist, only to reveal ten minutes later that I was actually talking about Calvin and Hobbes.
Huge Calvin and Hobbes fan here, as are my kids.
I applaud Bill Watterson's integrity, but it does pain me that he wants nothing to do with this thing he created, even though said creation has brought so much joy to so many:
https://therepublicofletters.substack.com/p/calvin-and-hobbes-and-the-price-of?triedRedirect=true
The attached article is well done indeed, and I'm with you; it's a shame that Watterson's so thoroughly over it.
I read that too, that is well written. Who didn't love C&H has no heart.
Sounds like used C8s are piling up. Shop early for best selection.
They’ve sold nearly 300k of them so yeah lots to choose from.
Almost unbelievably successful car, truly.
300k. Wow. Imagine if they put a proper gearbox in it.
I imagine that almost every day.
New ones, too.
My FiST wore a HOBBES 1 vanity plate with a bootleg stuffed tiger kept buckled in the back seat.
That's dedication right there, sir. Bonus points for being a FiST owner, those are seriously cool cars.
I miss it dearly. 100,000 miles and I decided it was time for it to go.
They were. Only problems I had were with the Sync III system.
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a69265125/tremec-six-speed-manual-transaxle-chevy-corvette-c8/
Good ol' M-. MM-. Mexican ingenuity to the rescue. There, I said it.
Calvin and Hobbes was (is still) awesome. Only a slight bit behind Bloom County.
Oop ack
The regulatory environment has gotten out of hand and I agree that that was the most consequential decision of this last week. In a few years maybe it won't take a few years to build anything in this country like it does now.
Now that unaccountable agencies have less freedom to make law, I guess Congress will have to do i—-HAHAHAHAHA.
That Article 1 is such a kidder.
"That Article 1 is such a kidder"
They're following the 1st Amendment cafeteria style:
"Congress shall make no law"
We will require more Presidents with the will to carry on this struggle. It's uncertain whether this will ever happen. Certainly no Democrat ever will. Possibly a former Republican governor might.
Trump is sui generis for better or worse, sometimes both. This would have never happened if he had been reelected in 2000. He was an outsider with all the liabilities of one, mostly having no organization to step in. He was able to recognize that and build one for 2024.
I wonder how much of that was him going looking, VS people with agendas going looking for him?
My wife and I have commented often that a published history of that would perhaps be the most meaningful and fascinating nonfiction book of the 21st century. I just don’t now who I would trust to write it accurately.
Shellenberger, Taibbi, Berensen, there are a few. Baruth would do it but I doubt he has the patience.
The problem is access and agenda of the interviewees.
The other problem is such a book not descending into left wing AND right wing slop.
Europoor here, all the houses owned by me or the family have AC. Not central, just splits. They are off 90% of the time, as I'm perfectly fine sitting in a 78F house. I turn them on if it gets higher than that. If the media is to be believed I'm in the minority here, which I'm fine with. I personally can function up to 100F but I have relatives from 5 to 95 years who don't have that good of a temperature regulation, and I'd consider it cruel to let them suffer for some unreachable greater good. The EU Parliament meanwhile, in a move that is not unlike the photograph of John and Yoko waiting for their maid to make the bed, turned off their AC in solidarity but only on the lower levels where the chinovnik sit.
I don't really get all the uproar I see in social media about the Supreme Court decisions. This should be considered a net win by anyone but the far-right. Ok, so the anchor baby loophole remained but that doesn't mean you instantly gain 8 Malaysians with every birth. Those kids can't sponsor anybody until they are 21 or older. It can mostly be tought of like a delayed timebomb but is it really? No matter how hard I tried coaxing Grok or OpenAI, the number of birth-touristm in the US is somewhere 20-30.000/year. Not to mention moving your family from a low-cost-of-living place to the US isn't exactly straightforward. I don't think this is the migration path the citizenry should be concerned about.
All right Mr DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up.
If you didn’t own your home would you install AC?
I bought one of those 3kW mobile units for my little brother when he was renting
When we were stationed in Germany we did the same. We had it in the living room area of the house but it was beefy enough to do a decent enough job of cooling the entire house.
We also rarely needed to turn it on, even with a newborn.
Most folks don't understand cooling very well, the idea is to remove excess heat and most of the heat in any dwelling is the refris heat output, you don't realize it but adding a simple 21" (or larger) box fan in a kitchen window will make a startling reduction in the entire place's heat level, more if you get cool enough in the evenings to be able to open a window on the far side of the house to let cooler outside air in .
-Nate
Spoken like a Californian! In most of the US, the primary value of air conditioning is _dehumidification_, not cooling per se. I've lived in a house with a "whole house fan," in a region that most would consider dry, where I couldn't use the fan during the summer because the overnight dew point / humidity is far too high.
Absolutely .
My house was built in 1923, has a flat roof (bad beyond belief) and zero insulation .
I've added a membrane typ roof that also helps insulate a bit .
Humidity is what kills me and why I run the AC in my vehicles continuously .
Try a dehumidifier, they really help .
-Nate
I too don't have AC in my house, I'd like to try a split unit but I'd have to install it and I'm getting to where picking up my tools is a thing I apparently avoid often =8-( .
-Nate
I lived 6 miles inland from the Pacific in San Diego. The summers still really, really sucked. Our house would sit around 80-82* all day, even with very careful control of the blinds and opening the windows as soon as it was cooler outside than in. I embraced the insane cost of electricity and moved to a 90s house further inland, but packing both a whole house attic fan AND air conditioning AND double pane vinyl windows!! I play a game in Boise to see how long I can go before turning the AC on (winning is waiting until June), but when it's 88*+ out there, you better believe I'm running the aging unit constantly and still opening some upstairs windows at night.
Yep ;
I forgot to mention maybe 1/5th of my windows are now double paned and wow what a difference, they insulate against the endless traffic noise too =8-) .
San Diego is only 200 miles South of Los Angeles yet it's *much* hotter all year 'round .
It's a nice place to visit but I I'd not live there for free .
-Nate
Very much depends on exactly where in SD vs LA. On the coast here it is rarely hot. 20 miles inland it is often hot.
Fair enough but I spent years driving from L.A. to Mexico and could feel the heat rise as I drove South on the i5 .
-Nate
I live in PA. The game I play is no heat until Thanksgiving day. My wife isn't a fan so I haven't won in the last few years
I keep the thermostat at 71-72 year round and just flip the switch between heating and cooling.
Which is why we installed a large bunch of solar panels on our house here in SD area. Lets us run the ACs (now heat pumps) a lot without insane electric bills.
#MeToo I run 72 year round. Don't care about the gas bill in winter and with solar, the electricity is almost free.
BTW. How many ACF-ers are in San Diego? I count at least three by now.
Almost no one in western Washington had central air until around 20 years ago when it became a status symbol.
SC, I couldn't disagree more about removing "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" from the 14th Amendment. Virtually no other country has _jus soli_ citizenship.
I've heard as many as 1/7 of births in the US are to illegal and/or temporary residents, including Kamala Harris (Indian mother, Jamaican father on student visas; reared in Montréal) and Vivek Ramaswamy (8 months pregnant to 2 Indian nationals, father still refuses any association with US), and Juan Carlos Valencia González, head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (his citizenship restricts the type of intelligence / counterterrorism tactics that the government would ordinarily use against a foreign adversary).
It's very easy to get to the US on a temporary basis.
Also, you may remember a British territory in Asia called "Hong Kong": how did that work out?
https://xcancel.com/Will_Tanner_1/status/2072276792803492263#m
"One of the reasons why the British had to give up Hong Kong in '97 rather than try to hold on to it is that so many mainlanders had poured onto the island and had children there who were birthright citizens and could thus pressure the British on behalf of the PRC, to which they remained loyal, while also exerting economic and demographic pressure
The Hong Kongers called them Locusts
Thus were elections swayed ot mainlander-friendly candidates, and the island filled with locusts loyal to the regime in Peking rather than the crown
Their presence helped make continued British presence and rule untenable
Below is a poster from Hong Kong warning of the presence of migrants"
"Also, you may remember a British territory in Asia called "Hong Kong": how did that work out?"
after watching police story i wanted to visit hong kong but thats impossible now
Expanding on this, it seems to be a pyramid:
1. CCP Birth Tourism: small, but extremely dangerous
2. Work/Student Visa Replacement (significant): Every F-1 student, OPT, H-1B, L-1, H-2A, EB-1A, etc., is a potential citizen-birther: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/all-visa-categories.html
3. Tourist/Illegal (largest numerically): I've been hearing all the way back to the turn of the century about pregnant women taking TAXICABS across the Tijuana/San Diego, Matamoros/Brownsville border directly to an American ER to give birth to a "citizen" at US taxpayer expense. This is the stereotypical "anchor baby," which makes the parents very difficult to deport, although I consider all three, including, notably, {Kamala} and {Vivek}, to be "anchor babies."
So yeah, if the 1/7 figure that I have seen (but not verified) is true, this is a major issue (and has been for decades). Even if an anchor baby today won't be eligible to vote and/or sponsor for a few years, EVERY vintage 2008 anchor baby gets the same number of votes as I do in this year's midterms.
Apparently, the Chinese are exporting sperm to America and hiring surrogates.
There was a case last year where they investigated a Chinese couple who ran some shady surrogate operation; Guojun Xuan and Silvia Zhang in Arcadia, CA.
Police discovered 21 young children (mostly under age 3, born via surrogates), many with crew cuts or short hair. Neighbors described the kids as looking "like soldiers" and mentioned regimented routines.
of course they would
ten points for the Sunset Blvd. reference
had to, after Jack made that comment on 60yo actresses acting young
"the President can fire heads of government agencies without cause, simply for political reasons or because he doesn’t like the cut of their jib"
Whenever a self righteous member from the Ministry of Truth complained about another ranking member of the Deep State being shown the door it brought to mind an oft repeated line from every liberal's favorite television drama, The West Wing.
"I serve at the pleasure of the President".
Late at night with the Chardonnay box running low and the viewing screen flickering in the dark do any of these people reflect on lost idealism?
I refer people who don't like the Slaughter decision to the org chart in the Constitution. Which one of the branches do these bureaucrats work under? There is no fourth branch. Are there Legislative or Judicial employees who cannot be fired for working at cross-purposes?
"Late at night with the Chardonnay box running low and the viewing screen flickering in the dark do any of these people reflect on lost idealism"
Only if they don't have AC.
It is said that the new mid-engine Vette platform was marketed as a way to target younger generations. It was similarly said that front engine long nose Corvettes of yesteryears were targeted to Boomers and so on. Yet the rear of the new Corvette C8 is designed so Boomers can continue driving their Vette with their golf clubs in back to their favorite country club. The dichotomy makes one wonder. And hence the design choices.
It’s the targa roof storage as much as golf club storage dictating rear styling.
I put my gym bag in the back trunk about 3 days a week when I go to workout. And last night it held a few groceries. I don’t hate the look but I love the functionality. I have the HTC so the roof doesn’t need to go in there.
America: Where we gripe that our discount supercars can go 100K without servicing, but just might have too much junk in the trunk.
As a thirty three year old, C4 through C7 are getting prettier by the day while the C8 is still dog dick ugly to me. Even good color ones, like that metallic mocha color they have. Saw an actually nice silver with red seats, top off, still bad.
And the E and Z cars are worse than the Stingrays.
It makes me wonder too, the kids like drifting, LS swaps, takeovers. What does a mid engine, dual clutch, LT-hybrid package have to offer for such a buyer?
I still maintain the C8 is a Dollar General shopper's idea of what Ferraris looks like.
The supreme Court has always been wild buts it's been really wild the last few years. I mean, it took how many years to overturn Roe V Wade which was obviously a very bad judicial ruling, regardless if one's thoughts on abortion.
Part of the problem was that for some ungodly reason, it seemed for years as if it was settled law on birthright citizenship. Keep in mind that not only did the writers understand the concept of unlawful residents as there were many such unlawful Chinese in the states at the time, but it was considered that the amendment didn't extend to native Americans. So yes, at the time the consideration of illegal immigrants.
"persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens, who belong to the families of ambassadors or foreign ministers accredited to the Government of the United States"
Now the question of this text by the author is if foreigners and aliens only extends to diplomats or if they are separate. Either way, the writers understood the concept of illegals.
I thought they'd split the baby: legal residents would have birthright citizenship but not illegals.
The more horrific decision was that somehow ACB argued that states run elections but somehow use a federal service to determine when that election would end.
Some lawyers are even stating that the ruling was so broad that states could essentially determine to never seat a representative if who they want is looking to lose buy just stating: "We are waiting for all of the ballots to come in"
ACB believes that election day isn't a deadline but yet she's supposed to be a textualism? Yeah, I'd believe that if she wasn't swatted. Probably the same reason she voted the way she did on birthright citizenship.
Maybe it's a good thing I might be dead before we have a hot civil war or before the country is being ran by foreigners.
ACB is beyond awful and probably the single worst thing done under Trump. Anton must be rolling in his grave. Every decision by Roberts cements the theory that he was a Lolito Express frequent flyer (yes, that's an 'o' at the end).
I see what you did there
Not to be confused with the Alito Express
My dabbling in Romance languages pays off!
The federalist structure for election regulation, despite perpetuating all the usual frustrations associated with the varying state frameworks, remains, objectively, an important protection of liberty against consolidated national despotism. Justice Barrett is right to preserve it, even if the details look weird.
It's amazing how quickly people forget things. Under Biden, he Democrats had their version of the SAVE Act teed up -- the "For the People Act" -- which would have turned the whole country into California when it comes to voting procedures. McConnell stopped it, thank heaven -- using the filibuster.
For MAGA to turn around, a mere five years later, and agitate for the same structural change -- national control and regulation of election procedures -- is quite something to behold.
The only good that came of the ruinous Iran war was that it sank the SAVE Act.
My “states’ rights” wind vane really getting a workout!
"The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators."
We have election day prescription by Congress. ACB doesn't think election day is a deadline. By her own argument then I should be able to vote at any time as long as the state recognizes the vote. If election day isn't a deadline, the what does Congress mean?
Hate the law, not the lawyer. The ruling was based on interpreting the meaning of a Federal LAW. Not every SC decision has constitutional implications. Many are about the interpretation of administrative regulations or statutes. This is one of those.
The Overton Window is in motion. That is the news.
A couple of things here.
The argument would be sound if the state didn't rely on the federal government for ballot delivery.
It's also ludicrous to think that there is any fairness in a federal election if one state has a very different system than another. Elections mean nothing then. Just look at ahe the Virginia governors latest rubber stamp.
While people want to get panties in a bind of LA mayoral election: I don't care since I don't live there.
But if the same legalized fraud is allowed in a federal election, I do care. States can't sue another state even if that states own citizens are disenfranchised.
A small part of the civil war was over elections. If a state decides it doesn't want to seat a federal representative or send electors for a president while waiting on ballots, it could get ugly.
I've counted at least 2-3 dozen "it could get ugly" fuses sparking and crackling in this country. It's frankly amazing that not one of them has yet fired off the dynamite.
But it really is just a matter of time.
They keep bugging the people who just want to be left alone.
They shouldn’t be doing that.
Eventually the bear gets tired of being poked.
Not arguing about ACB one way or the other but I'd have to agree with her on the voting decision. Coffee & Covid has a good explanation. I'd recommend going over there and reading both the Tuesday and Wednesday Substacks which are mainly devoted to the decisions of the last several days.
"The majority’s decision did not rest on the Constitution but turned on federal law. And those statutes can be changed, for example, through the SAVE Act.
“As we have said time and again, policy arguments are properly directed to legislatures, not courts,” Justice Barrett explained. “The question today is not whether requiring ballots to be received by election day is a good or bad idea; the question is whether the idea has made its way into the United States Code.”
"In other words, SCOTUS punted back to Congress, saying, “Don’t ask us to fix your mess.” It’s fine to argue that the Justices should have fixed the late counting problem, but then we must grapple with the time-worn complaint about judicial activism, which conservatives are supposed to eschew."
So Congress prescription has election day for just grins then? It means nothing? I get what your saying but pragmatically no one will agree on a deadline.
Her argument for birthright citizenship was far more legally correct than her arguments for allowing states to do whatever they want.
I'd also argue that her and even potentially Kavanaugh could be compromised over assassination attempts and swatting.
The battle over Trump’s post office EO will be both epic and cure what ails much of the election process around mail in ballots.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5939636-trump-postal-service-voter-data/
As an aside, I’m at a client and working with an accounting team based in Bogota. They had no problems voting a couple of Sundays ago and showing ID with no mail in ballots.
Correct. Once the USPS (and the Feds that matter) have the barcodes of every mail-in ballot postmarked by Election Day, if other ballot bar codes appear in a final vote count, the Feds will have its proof of criminality.
All of the USPS changes Trump made are merely procedural. Good luck contesting them.
"One wonders if Yuki, God rest his soul, could have finished fourth in this car. (Or, more likely, last.)"
My money (should I be the kind of guy who wagers) would be on "last". YMMV.
Re: A/C in Europe
Yes the climate panic plays into this, but the main reason public buildings aren't retrofitted, is money. The public households and the public health insurance are so deeply underwater, they cannot afford to install, maintain or run a/c, apart from the mayor's office maybe. Case in point: in some EU office building only the floors for the executives have been cooled during this heat wave. For the lower bureaucrats it has been shut off.
Commercial HVAC contractor here, so perhaps my perspective is skewed
... but people find the money for the things that are important to them. I grew up in a home where my dad made great money, but we didn't run the A/C until it was over 90 deg (and humid, and then only upstairs, and then only at night).
When we got married, my wife's family had never even had central air. We had nothing, literally poor as church mice -- but I worked on A/C all day, and I was going to be a monkey's uncle if I didn't have it in my own home (apartment). I ran it when I made $8/hr and had a wife who didn't work outside the home and a 1 y/o daughter.
In the modern day, a mini-split can be installed for $3000 and $2000 of that is labor Euros aren't going to pay at the same rate we do here. "Mr. Cool" makes it a DIY proposition. With SEER ratings above 20, it's even cheap to run (comparatively). A window shaker for the bedroom is a <$200 proposition. It's not a "luxury" any more than power windows and cruise control is a luxury. It's a modern convenience.
Big statement coming: not having A/C in 2026 is a personal decision not driven by money.
The EU continues to model why big, all-powerful government is horrible for individuals just trying to live their lives, secure their liberty, and pursue their happiness.
The Chinese have been trolling Europoors with pictures of the minisplits on their pig pens.
I have a hundred hilarious stories I could tell about all of this, but the big one is this:
The utilities (with government money, no doubt) have been offering aggressive rebates on "high-efficiency mini-splits" -- enough so that a couple of years back, it was possible to get a 2 ton system for <$500 in material, and a 1 ton for free.
What happened in reality? Every home in America ended up with an air-conditioned garage. Net energy consumption went up.
It's quite something. Government intervention just skews behavior.
I am retired now, but in my working life I was a trailer reeferman, I didn’t have air conditioning in my house until 2005, when I installed a 2.5 ton central air and furnace, before that, I had a window shaker, it was adequate, but I don’t believe that I would ever squander the resources or use the energy to aircondition or heat a garage, I think that a large portion of Europe has been brainwashed into believing that the world is going to die because of climate change.
I have a minisplit in my garage (and my shop which is the other third of the building). Why? It gets incredibly hot and humid here in the summer and IF I need to work on a project during those months of the year, then I'm going to do it in 80 degrees and lower humidity - because I'm old and I can afford it.
That being said, it rarely gets used. (The one in the shop however is a different story).
Sidenote: Minisplits are shit. If I had it to do over again, I would have put central air in the building with two zones. In the long run, Central Air is significantly cheaper, by an order of magnitude. Because Central Air lasts for decades. Minisplits last 5 years (if you're lucky). They are designed to fail and you need to invest in a secondary control system to manage them, or they just run nonstop 24/7 until they die.
100%. Mini-splits are disposable appliances. Try getting parts even 5 years later.
I have a garage/shop and a separate business garage/shop.
I’ve got conventional split system ducted furnace/A-C in both.
By FAR the cheapest way to heat/cool a garage or shop is with a gas-fired hanging unit heater and a window shaker or 3 running in a wall sleeve for cooling. Close second is a mini-split or 3 for cooling only and the unit heater for heat.
As I stood dripping sweat onto my workbench in the garage last night I spent a few mins thinking about a mini-split just for the real hot days like these. Good to know they aren't durable.
Ironically, until the AC is turned on in the house, the garage is the coolest place due to the concrete slab, directional positioning, and trees sheltering it from the sun.
"Every home in America ended up with an air-conditioned garage." DUDE I WISH! It's touching 100 here in Deeetroit and I just can't bear being in the garage for more than 15 minutes.
I use a portable, floor-standing AC unit in the garage in the summer here in Houston. Its a life saver. I route the exhaust out through the kitty door.
That'd be nice too! My garage walls are cinderblock for better or worse. Roof is really beefy old wood construction. So I'm not sure how to really cut a hole for a window unit or a vent tube from a floor unit. Plus there's no ceiling insulation, which is more a concern keeping heat in the winter, but I wonder how much higher the power bill would be if I ran an AC unit for the really hot days. Would be nice though, cause the heat is keeping me from working in my car and therefore I can't drive my Challenger on this 4th of July weekend.
Those units are the shizzle for a lot of applications. I use one in my enclosed trailer hooked to a 3000 watt suitcase generator. Works a treat.
I work outside 95% of the time.
It was 102 and humid today.
I’d fistfight the first person who told me I can’t have air conditioning.
I feel you, friend.
I put a big ceiling fan in my garage that helps a lot. No insulation, but the air movement makes it tolerable.
Yeah I have an old school box fan out there on the bench or the floor depending on what I'm doing. Helps a lot but very directional.
This!
Just back from Florence Italy and fortunately the first part of the trip included seeing Academia and Uffizi Gallery to see the sculptures and paintings before their ac took a dive. They closed a day or two after the visit.
Even when we were visiting you could tell some galleries were where they wanted (interior of the building) and struggling mightily (hallways with windows and curtains). Never was I so happy to drive and have ac. All the places I stayed including a 13th century fortress had ac.
I don’t get it. Relatives in Germany and Poland have ac or at least splits for a room or two.
Just cruel to the young and elderly to not have it available when hot.
I wonder if perhaps a dehumidifier would help ? .
Might take le$$ electricity to operate ? .
-Nate
A dehumidifier is a small AC unit which dumps the heat from the entire operation back into the space. It makes a space hotter.
Living in NC and having family in Phoenix AZ the humidity was not horrible there.
2 or 4 / 55 ac in a car was not bad and what many were doing, but I had a new rental so why not use it.
And what Stan said.
When I get that Hot Tub Time Machine I may tell my past self after law school to go back and become an electrician, plumber, engineer or into HVAC. Working through problems and people who can break down a problem are a lot more fun to speak with than most. I don’t regret what I have done but there are other paths.
I have been very satisfied with my career as a Journeyman Mechanic, I suggest the trades to all who don't mind hard physical labor .
-Nate
I like both the mental troubleshooting and the physical aspect.
Why I work on my own cars to get the satisfaction that work does not provide.
Skipping AC is a personal choice that happens to be wrong. It's like skipping plumbing. I don't know how they can argue otherwise when they have thousands of dead as a consequence.
Fortunately I don't think all euros are this stupid. The last time I was in Italy I remember heat pumps hanging off every apartment unit, though certainly not the street facing side.
Another point re: European retrofit ac systems. It is worth noting that much of the buildings in places like central Paris or Rome are listed buildings. Adding AC isn’t a simple proposition from a technical or financial standpoint when you consider the very onerous regulations around historical listed properties.
As an aside - I have lived in UK and travelled the continent extensively for the last 15 years or so. The whole issue of AC in Europe is largely overblown IMO. Newer or non listed detached properties and nicer apartments definitely have AC, and people use the units (albeit not as often as Americans or Canadians would).
Also- when I lived in Germany my small village was probably 50% owned by one family, who happened to be the farmer of the area (and likely owned everything and decided to diversify a bit). Everyone rented from them. What’s the chance they were going to put AC into everyone’s apartments? The buildings were individual style homes and had apartments on each floor, common for Germany. We never noticed the heat that I can remember but the first thing I did was install ceiling fans in the living room and bedroom.
I was waiting for this, lol. I would bet all I have that the 1% types in Paris have AC in their mansions but aren’t boasting about it on instagram because they aren’t crass Americans and there is history there of the lower classes beheading the elites.
I read about that on the Eugyppius Sustack. I can't imagine the outrage if that happened somewhere in the US.
Those WOKE EUROCUCKS don’t even have Monster Trucks yet. Let alone AC.
More Europeans die from lack of air conditioning than Americans do from gun violence, and the gun violence could well be protecting us from progressive policies that would cost us our air conditioning. On the other hand, gun violence in the US could easily be curtailed to sub-European levels merely by locking up violent habitual criminals and leaving them locked up, which is being prevented by the same sort of people who are keeping Europeans expiring from the heat.
Agreed on all counts.
Or, we could have mandatory firearm safety and handling classes for school age children, that'd have the same effect without making everyone paranoid .
-Nate
A law was passed last year in MI to allow just that:
https://www.abc12.com/news/education/whitmer-signs-bill-for-michigan-firearm-safety-class-in-schools/article_fb929e9a-8667-4dab-b4c8-5a6adea0b562.html
I'll be happy when the training is mandatory .
-Nate
That would probably increase the kill/shot ratio of the typical gangbanger autosear Glock spray and pray event. If it put more of them in the morgue instead of the bystanders usually hit, I would support this.
Tongue in cheek agreement, anyone can see your comment here is pure dogwhistle bullshit but the point is well taken .
Who knows ? maybe those gangbangers will decide they don't like firearms after all, ? it might well change their misbegotten lives for the better .
-Nate
I'm not kidding in the least. I know someone killed in that setting. Father. Taxpayer. The shitbird who shot him should have been hanged on the spot.
not knowing how to shoot is probably the only thing from keeping the death count from exploding
Agree Henry but as I keep repeating.....
-Nate
When I see how the typical thug holds a weapon, it’s a wonder more don’t jam up.
Nate, respectfully I’d pay my last dollar to watch you go around the Philly schools and try to teach these kids the Weaver stance with a switched Glizzy, Freedom Writers style of course.
Lets just do the big 4 and have them handle real (demilled) guns so they can do so safely.
Well ;
That's my entire point : begin teaching them when they're grade school age and they'll grasp the whys of the Weaver Stance so its a win - win for all .
-Nate
huge chunk of american gun violence is suicide and gang violence
gun education wouldnt do anything
Disagree strongly Speed .
-Nate
I looked this up yesterday. Roughly 60% of gun deaths are suicides. Roughly 20% are “gang” related whether that be actual gang activity or “gang” activity. The latter would be informal gangs, disagreements between friend groups, etc.
sounds about right
insane how much of it is just from people killing themselves
Permanently locking up such violent societal effluent would indeed be a great first step. Executing them would be even better, and (in theory, not practice) a whole lot cheaper...
The weather related death rate is more a factor of native European demographics than anything else. The young imported Mohammedans and subsaharans are probably doing just fine with the heat.
'At this rate they will be hardcore tradwives within the decade.' By definition, a tradwife must be fertile.
You get a Like just for using the CS Lewis-era term "Mohammedans."
So a tradwife who ages into being post menopausal ceases to be a tradwife?
Even if she allows.her husband a concubine?
No, but how many grandchildren does she have?
To be determined =8-) .
-Nate
Is the Pikes Peak thing as simple as twin turbo vs supercharger at altitude?
I sincerely doubt it.
I believe Jeff Zwart has been racing there and coaching racing there for decades. Outside of the car he is driving he must have some advantage from all of his experience.
For sure but this is a fellow who quit club racing because he wasn't any good at it, compared to a solid IndyCar driver. I think JR was cautious.
Just curious have you met Jeff Zwart? By accounts I have read he is a nice guy, a photographer who got in with Porsche and made a great career out of it.
As I understand it there is a significant chance of death at Pikes Peak should you go off the course I wouldn’t fault anyone for 7/8 effort.
Maybe they run it again and switch vehicles and see how Zwart does in the Corvette.
Don’t know if paving it made it more or less dangerous.
If you haven’t seen Climb Dance it’s worth the 5 minutes.
https://youtu.be/5zVD-uJIAII?is=cS1rF9rBPSPry-AR
Nice video. ‘88!
‘87 would have been the year to have been there to see Herr Rohrl and the special S1E2.
He and Larry Chen were both always sniffing around the bagel company for free money when I was there. I don't know either of them on a personal level.
Seems like every other Hagerty video has Larry Chen in it these days. At least he does cover some interesting things. And doesn’t have an English accent.
i think he would be more likeable if he wasnt so spineless
does not seem to be much testosterone in his system
Maybe there's something that transfers from Indy to Pikes Peak. The Unser family pretty much owned that mountain for much of the 20th century.
In re posting rules: Can I talk about Sammy Hagar at all? I did see him play and sing with Montrose in '74 and became a fan regardless of who he's fronting.
We accept discussion of all other Hagar projects up to and including Chickenfoot.
At least we can openly discuss Gary Cherone era Van Halen...
Music tends to be a window into one's soul.......
-Nate
What does that say about the people who don't care about music at all?
Good point but not for me to judge .
-Nate
About the chinese fast-toaster review: please don't. Take a day off on our behalf!
This. I’ll read it but I don’t give a shit. Unless you’re going to shit all over it, that I’ll read.
👍👍👍
I kind of want to see what type of Amazon-style "we are out of the common names and we don't understand the english language all that well and we also don't care" branding we get for this. "The shift knob of the Hxxunicssl 35000xx1 fell readily to hand..."
My C64 has got chicom naming covered:
10 FOR I=1 TO 4:PRINT CHR$(65+INT(RND(1)*26));:NEXT:PRINT:GOTO 10
Bonus.. change to RND(26) for your TRS-80 needs
Love it. I still have a working C64.
I write from my in-laws’ 100y/o cabin in northern WI on family vacation. It is maybe 1600sq ft, 3br, and aside from the lone bathroom, it has no ceilings, just walls for each room, all open to a cathedral ceiling. It’s mid/high 80s and humid so we’re running two ancient (one from my 45y/o SIL’s college apartment) window A/C units from evening to morning, and I’m under two blankets right now because it’s positively cold in here by morning.
OTOH, when I worked for Siemens, in the building automation department no less (renamed Smart Infrastructure, primarily HVAC controls, security, fire alarm components, etc) they opened a new global HQ in Zug, Switzerland. It famously had no A/C. The President’s office was immediately deemed uninhabitable due to the solar gain making temps in that room over 85-90°. Our US based execs, even the German ones, bitched and moaned about having to go there a wear a suit coat all day and work in the hot conditions. It was absolutely inconceivable to us American proles that the “Smart Infrastructure” people could build a building with no infrastructure and make it unusable. What a sales technique. Stupid fucking eurotrash.