I didn’t say you lived in a metro area. I said those distances and travel times are only realistic in the parts of the US people consider very densely populated.

That’s how the US is in certain metro areas. In the boonies there are hundreds of miles of rural back roads where people drive 60mph during rush hour.

I want the latter, and tariffs are not the only way go about protectionism. There is also subsidization, which is how the US has maintained its defense and agriculture industries. If we want stuff made domestically, we’re going to have to pay for it. Subsidies are generally preferable to tariffs because they can be paid through progressive taxation instead of regressive taxes on consumers.

Psshh you won’t trick me. They weigh the same.

the corner shop 500m away

A lot of Americans live 30 minutes from the nearest real grocery store.

But yeah they still don’t need a lifted truck to go there. It’s not like the cashiers at the Wal Mart Super Center are going to be impressed by their Carolina Squat lifted white pavement princess, but that’s what they insist on driving.

There should be a carbon tax, but whoever signs it will be the least popular president in history. One of the flaws of democracy is that sometimes the thing that really needs to happen is unpopular with the moronic citizenry that can’t understand why it needs to happen.

This will be mine:

I think what makes Flock (and Axon, Motorola, etc.) particularly repulsive is the inability to opt out. I can leave my phone at home. I can choose not to bring Smart Devices into my home to spy on me. If there’s a Flock camera at the exit of your neighborhood, your comings and goings are being monitored 24/7. (Before anyone mentions it, I can completely disable and deenergize the “SOS” feature in my car.)

I could imagine plenty of normal people going to work for a company that purportedly wants to use technology to improve the security of communities. A naive person may not think, “wait, isn’t this turning my country into a dystopian surveillance state?” Nobody that works for ICE got there naively. They were selected from the worst America has to offer.

As stupid and lazy as they are, their main problem is being infinitely, shamelessly corrupt.

“We can’t let the environment be a deciding factor” is a preposterous take. There’s practically nothing more important that preserving the environment. Even the Chinese are looking beyond their borders for raw materials these days. If it costs more to extract raw materials in a way that doesn’t fuck up the environment, then subsidize it and pay for it. We can fund the subsidies with a carbon tax.

There are always trade-offs. All polymers deteriorate when exposed to that kind of thermal cycling and chemical exposure. A metal alloy fit for the job can last forever.

Workers in Detroit might get paid union wages, but many auto factories have relocated to the South where they can underpay and abuse workers much more easily. I just did some quick googling and it seems like being a factory worker in China isn’t bad compared to in the US. They work in highly automated, clean, air-conditioned spaces like would be found here. Dirty conditions and manual labor are no longer compatible with today’s automotive quality requirements. Low level workers make modest wages, but they employ a bunch of engineers and technicians just like here in the US, and they have subsidized cafeterias and some provide housing or stipends for housing. You might criticize the expectation of working significant overtime, but I’ve worked in factories which had mandatory overtime in the US, so that sort of structural coercion isn’t unique to China. Compared to a “right to work” state, Chinese workers have stronger protections from being laid off or fired. The main downside seems to be lax enforcement of safety standards. If the government doesn’t notice something unsafe on its own, there isn’t a Chinese version of dropping a hint to OSHA.

Now further upstream in the supply chain? No thanks. That’s where you’ll find abysmal working conditions. Just remember there are good reasons our government wants us to believe everything sucks for workers in China.

A crossover is a station wagon but the entire thing is raised up for no reason. It’s funny how averse the public is to driving a minivan. I drove one as a rental for a week and it was snappy, convenient, comfortable, and could hold a ton of stuff or people.

But I like being able to see over everyone else

• everyone

At this point I’m planning to see under everyone else.

And your Western-made car doesn’t? Ha!

That or this is an elaborate form of advertisement. “Oh wooow guys our product is soo powerful it’s dangerous!”

Also notable:

The spirit is willing, but the flesh is spongy and bruised

• Brannigan 3:5

Yeah. Check out the path they launched the Parker Solar Probe on. That wasn’t into the Sun, but it was as close as anything we’ve ever sent up.

You dropped this \