Sunday’s Forum

FILED UNDER: Open Forum
Steven L. Taylor
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog). Follow Steven on Twitter

Comments

  1. CSK says:

    A spew of toxicity:

    http://www.cnn.com/2021/06/06/politics/trump-election-lies-north-carolina/index.html

    And…Lara Trump has declined to run for the senate from her home state.

  2. de stijl says:

    The denigration and defamation of Dr. Fauci by RW organs and press outlets puzzles me.

    What are they hoping to do? There must be some purpose.

    We, as a nation, waffled early about masks basically because we did not have enough and those that existed should be preserved for health care folks. That was a rational take.

    Those folks are effing convinced that since Fauci did not predict every wrinkle in an ongoing public health disaster with a mutable virus, and responded as a scientist would, he is a bad actor and must be punished.

    Why?

    What exactly is the message they are sending? To what purpose?

    Warnings morphed (especially about masks) as new info came to light. Fauci has fuck-all to do with the CDC.

    What, exactly, is the point? Scientist adjusted his stance with new data is bad?

    That is bad? That is how it works. New information changes everything.

    It changes the approach and, with a virus, how we respond.

    I literally do not not get why the RW is dead set on gutting Fauci. He was giving advice as was appropriate given knowledge available at that time.

    In a rapidly evolving situation, he evolved too.

    I do not get it. He was doing his job.

    I think the jab is he undercut Trump on hydroxycloroquine, and bleach, and internal use of light sources as a prophylactic. You know, as any doctor would, because that is crazy talk.

    I believe that the antipathy towards Fauci is because he undercut Trump.

    The hatred towards Fauci in particular is very weird. And illustrative.

    It shows how these operations think and work. Blame that guy. Everything is political.

    I fucking hate that whole mess. Bah! Goddamn morons.

    6
  3. OzarkHillbilly says:

    @de stijl: Why?

    Because they were wrong. About everything. And it cost hundreds of thousands of lives. So they want to hide these inconvenient truths behind a facade of convenient alternative falsehoods.

    What exactly is the message they are sending?

    “He made mistakes toooooooo. So we were right! About something! Don’t ask me what just now but trust me, it was something big!”

    To what purpose?

    Obfuscation.

    The hatred towards Fauci in particular is very weird. And illustrative.

    Their hatred is the epitome of Cleek’s Law: “Today’s conservatism is the opposite of what liberals want today, updated daily.” Liberals wanted a voice they could trust during the pandemic and t rump wasn’t it. Fauci was.

    10
  4. OzarkHillbilly says:

    The BBC: Why electric cars will take over sooner than you think

    I know, you probably haven’t even driven one yet, let alone seriously contemplated buying one, so the prediction may sound a bit bold, but bear with me.

    We are in the middle of the biggest revolution in motoring since Henry Ford’s first production line started turning back in 1913. And it is likely to happen much more quickly than you imagine. Many industry observers believe we have already passed the tipping point where sales of electric vehicles (EVs) will very rapidly overwhelm petrol and diesel cars.

    It is certainly what the world’s big car makers think. Jaguar plans to sell only electric cars from 2025, Volvo from 2030 and last week the British sportscar company Lotus said it would follow suit, selling only electric models from 2028. And it isn’t just premium brands. General Motors says it will make only electric vehicles by 2035, Ford says all vehicles sold in Europe will be electric by 2030 and VW says 70% of its sales will be electric by 2030.

    This isn’t a fad, this isn’t greenwashing.

    Yes, the fact many governments around the world are setting targets to ban the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles gives impetus to the process. But what makes the end of the internal combustion engine inevitable is a technological revolution. And technological revolutions tend to happen very quickly.

    It will make city living a whole lot cleaner and healthier. The incidence of asthma alone should be world’s smaller.

    4
  5. de stijl says:

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Blame the guy who was telling the truth as was understood at the time.

    They want him to have perfect understanding of a rapidly evolving public health crisis in advance of subsequent findings. Fuck that. That is an unpassable bar.

    Because Fauci’s advice changed over time with new information we were proved correct is a studiously bad take and ignorant as hell.

    Best information now may not be proven true later.

    One of the purposes may be to justify Trump’s dissembling. Perhaps the main purpose.

    If a scientist changes his position then that obviates everything, apparently. It was madness. And still unfolding. HCQ and bleach out of the mouth of Trump.

    Counter-revolutionary Fauci must be punished.

    5
  6. OzarkHillbilly says:

    #TuckFrump
    @realTuckFrumper

    ·
    Jun 4
    Kayleigh McEnany Whines: Why Won’t Vogue Take Photos of Me Like They Did Jen Psaki

    I thought s/he was being sarcastic, painting a caricature. Nope:

    Kayleigh McEnany Whines: Why Won’t Vogue Take Photos of Me Like They Did Jen Psaki

    First of all, it is soooo typical Kayleigh to be complaining on national cable television about something this trite and personal only to her. Of course, we are talking about her bitterness and jealousy that Jen Psaki has received so much good coverage in the press, while Kayleigh received… less.

    Second of all, what in the world does Kayleigh have to complain about? Everyone knew from her first week that she took the job to guarantee her spot as the next up-and-coming young, attractive, blonde, and utterly absurd host on Fox. She got what she wanted! What the ffff, why does she care what people say!

    Because she’s Kayleigh.

    But third, as is typical of Kayleigh, she assures herself that it’s nothing more than politics and the conservatives always get the shaft when it comes to political coverage (Snowflake alert!) We will allow that some politics might play a role but it’s a small one. The bigger issue – much bigger – is that Jen Psaki actually treats the press as her equal. Despite the fact that the left celebrates “Psaki bombs,” they really aren’t so much “bombs” as great answers that leave a reporter feeling a little silly for asking. More importantly, Psaki treats the press with respect. Sure, there is antagonism, there always will be. But just like she’s there to do a job, she knows the reporters also must do their job.

    In contrast, in every Kayleigh briefing (and she only did one or two a week) she gave the briefing for an audience of one. Trump wanted her to beat up the press. Trump wanted her to tell his lies. And yet, despite Trump’s demands, a more talented and experienced press secretary could have done what Trump “sort of” wanted without making it personal, without lecturing the press as to what they should cover, without insulting them and walking off in a huff, like a teenager. This was Kayleigh’s style.

    But she wonders why Psaki gets better coverage? Yes, she does. As she said on “Outnumbered” (a show in which she’s a host, her longtime dream) she whined about the personal slight. Complaining about her coverage she said: “Instead of the glowing profiles, there were hit pieces repeatedly, time and time again.” Some of those “hit pieces” were more hits on the lies that were told. And some of them were based on the fact that she spent her time hitting the press, they hit back.

    6
  7. de stijl says:

    Psaki is smart and truly competent at her job and that maddens them.

    When she dismisses fools, she embiggens America.

    6
  8. gVOR08 says:

    @de stijl: Same reason they’re so sure China deliberately caused COVID. Conservatives need an enemy.

    2
  9. Kylopod says:

    @de stijl:

    If a scientist changes his position then that obviates everything, apparently.

    It’s the same playbook as creationists and global warming deniers. Any inconsistencies between what scientists say now and what they said at some earlier point in time is seized on as proof that they’re either fraudulent or don’t know what they’re talking about.

    7
  10. OzarkHillbilly says:

    I joined the oil rush to an American boomtown. Guess who got rich?*

    Life in a modern boomtown is living on the frontier but with a smartphone. “Capitalism on crack” is the way historian Clay Jenkinson referred to it – everyone taking what they can get, as fast as they can.

    I spent nearly a year in an oil boomtown: from summer of 2013 to winter of 2014, I worked in the Bakken oil patch out of Williston, North Dakota. At the time, politicians, geologists, and much of the national media claimed the town would be booming for decades to come. They were all wrong.

    The piece pretty well matches my own boomtown experiences, especially this part:

    It is impossible to say how many individuals found financial success during Williston’s boom. I know I didn’t. I left town with less cash than I’d arrived with. Admitting that makes me feel dumb, but I’m hardly the only one.

    That life just chews people up and spits them out.

    *Michael Patrick F Smith is a former oilfield hand and the author of The Good Hand (A Memoir of Work, Brotherhood, and Transformation in an American Boomtown). This essay is adapted from his 19 May testimony before the oversight and investigations subcommittee of the natural resources committee of the United States Congress.

  11. de stijl says:

    Afaict, they basically *are* the the enemy.

    Ain’t trying to make a better America in my book. Practically, making it worse. By their actions.

  12. OzarkHillbilly says:

    @Kylopod: But it’s not evidence that they are learning. No, never, not that.

  13. CSK says:

    Today is the 77th anniversary of D-Day.

    3
  14. de stijl says:

    @Kylopod:

    Everything that makes a scientist a scientist drives RW’s nuts. Observation. Explanation. Understanding.

    They despise the concept.

    2
  15. Teve says:
  16. Teve says:

    @de stijl: I actually know a young conservative who complains about how Fascist his side is.

    1
  17. OzarkHillbilly says:

    @Teve: Ah yes, the almighty Free Market. Another thing conservatives don’t really believe in.

    2
  18. Teve says:
  19. Kylopod says:

    @Teve: I guess he now can join the ranks of at least one cinematic president.

    1
  20. CSK says:

    @Teve:
    Eeeuuu. What’s the deal with those weird wrinkles?

    Somebody suggested the pants might be elastic-waisted.

  21. de stijl says:

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    The North Dakota shale oil surge made elbow-monkey crank labs profitable miles around.

    I have been in that neck of the woods. Ain’t nothing there.

    Any right thinking kid skedaddles off to Minneapolis or Denver when she graduates.

    Northern rural towns are dying.

    1
  22. OzarkHillbilly says:
  23. de stijl says:

    @Kylopod:

    My ideal weight is roughly 155 lbs. It is hard to maintain, man.

    Currently 17 pounds above optimal, but currently working on the disparity.

    I have the propensity towards love-handles which drives me nuts. I can be be 5 pounds overweight and I get the dad-body love handles. I hate pre-determination.

    1
  24. OzarkHillbilly says:

    Chasing lightning: a photographer’s pursuit of the elements – in pictures

    You definitely want to drive by for a perusal. Beautiful pics of violent weather.

    4
  25. OzarkHillbilly says:
  26. Moosebreath says:

    @de stijl:

    “The denigration and defamation of Dr. Fauci by RW organs and press outlets puzzles me.

    What are they hoping to do? There must be some purpose.”

    I strongly suspect the “thinking” is that if Fauci opposed Trump, and Fauci is proven wrong, then Trump must have been right. Just as they believe he is about everything.

    2
  27. de stijl says:

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Iceland has the best weather for photography. It rolls in fast and hard.

    Iceland is a photographer’s dream location.

    The whole joint is pretty awesome.

    1
  28. CSK says:

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    They were great.

  29. Kylopod says:

    @Moosebreath:

    I strongly suspect the “thinking” is that if Fauci opposed Trump, and Fauci is proven wrong, then Trump must have been right.

    Yes–but it’s also that Covid skeptics are desperate for anything to boost their credibility, and they think that tearing down Fauci serves that goal. That’s tied to Trump because Trump was the biggest voice promoting Covid skepticism, but it isn’t limited to him.

    1
  30. MarkedMan says:

    Yesterday there was a discussion about the number of people who are are insured and won’t become bankrupt due to Obamacare and that is a wonderful thing. But the ACA is more than just insurance. For instance, Hospice care. Late Thursday night my mother in law passed away in her own home, surrounded by her family, a daughter holding each hand. No intubation, no noisy monitors, just an oxygen cannula and pain/comfort meds. When we let the doctors at the hospital know this was what she wanted, that she had signed the proper forms so the hospital could not be held liable, the process was smooth and automatic. A “comfort pack” of drugs were ready at the nearby pharmacy, the nurse that arrived knew how to make her comfortable (she wasn’t conscious), knew what meds were needed and when. She lasted three more days, peaceful, in her own home.

    Think about what it takes to implement such a program at a national level. All the practicalities and rules and reimbursement structures. And that’s just one of the many, many things in the ACA. For all the Democrats faults (and there are many), when they had power, that’s what they worked on. That’s what they used their power for.

    The Republicans? Well, they latched onto one tiny provision. It turns out that the Dems, who actually understand the practicalities of legislation, thought it through and realized that the written and signed document giving the DNR and outlining the care desired was going to be important and it was best done way ahead of time. And thinking that through they realized that people might want to discuss this with their doctors but that, since they were not going in for an illness or condition, such a consultation wouldn’t be covered by insurance. So they wrote a provision into the law that explicitly stated one such visit must be covered. And the Republicans seized upon that one tiny clause, rebranded the doctors visit as a “Death Panel” and screech and shrieked to the rafters that the “Dems wanted to kill granny”. So whatever power the Republicans had, that’s what they used it for.

    8
  31. MarkedMan says:

    @de stijl: Imagine if they ran their whole life with the same attitude. I envision a MAGA head driving a car on the highway and the brakes fade on the exit ramp and they almost die trying to cut the speed. They get it to a mechanic who mentions that it might be the master cylinder. A few hours later they get a call from the mechanic who now says that once they had the car up on the lift it turned out to be a seized piston that caused the brake fluid to boil. The MAGA head would become enraged. “You don’t know anything! First you say one thing and then another! Give me the car back as is! Since I don’t trust you anymore I’ll drive it with no repairs!”

    7
  32. CSK says:

    @MarkedMan:
    Good analogy.

    1
  33. George says:

    @de stijl:

    Its the mark of good science that opinions change with evidence — and in fact, to want new evidence that forces a change in opinion. For instance, most physicists are madly hoping that the G-2 experiments show there is a hole in our current understanding of particle physics (the Standard Model). Settled-science is a curse-word to scientists.

    What you want is statements along the lines of “According to our best current theories”. Things like climate change fit in with that — it’s clearly the theory that best fits current evidence, and though our theories on it may well change, for now erring on the side of caution is the smart way forward.

    The problem comes when scientists give an impression of certainty that just isn’t there, and that’s what happened with much of Covid. For instance, the WHO could have said current limited knowledge suggested masks didn’t help, that Covid wasn’t airborne, but the level of research was low, so err on the side of caution (ie wear masks and act as if it was airborne). Instead they strongly stated that masks didn’t help and shouldn’t be worn, and that Covid wasn’t airborne so the 6′ rule etc was all that was required. And because of how certain they seemed in their statements (possibly for political reasons), they lost a lot of credibility when they had to backtrack.

    The nature of science is that theories progress. Its always best to give an indication of the uncertainty when giving out current best practice.

    4
  34. Mister Bluster says:

    @Teve:..did Trump put his pants on backwards?

    TRIGGER WARNING! This is disgusting!

    I suspect he has had his pecker relocated so he can fuck himself anytime he wants to.

    1
  35. Stormy Dragon says:

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Most of the uptake of electric cars are from the perspective of suburban home owners who have garages where they can easily install a charger. That’s left then half of car owners, and the thing that’s ultimately going to be a roadblock at some point is that as long as they take hours to charge, they won’t be scalable for everyone else.

    People don’t have time to spend hours at the EV equivalent of a gas station one or more times a week, and even if they did, imagine a world where there’s a dozen “ev stations” for every currently existing gas station, because that’s what will be necessary from a throughput standpoint.

    Now if one of the various techniques for massively increasing the charge rate of EV batteries pans out, that will be a game changer, but until then, there’s a ceiling for EV adoption.

    3
  36. CSK says:

    @Mister Bluster:
    I doubt anyone else will, including Melania.

  37. Jim Brown 32 says:

    Pasted from the Flynn Forum but I thought the sentiment my interest the broader audience.

    ____________________________________________________________
    Well to be honest–most on the Military side of the decision-making process knew COIN strategy wasn’t solving the right problem–including McChrystal. This is one of those cases where you know the sensible COA–withdrawal–is not politically viable to POTUS/SECDEF. We had to do “something” different and the only option left after the traditional nation-building playbook failed was to see if we could precision kill-capture our way out of the problem.

    The problem with COIN is its only effective if the Insurgents are an anomaly in the dominant culture–that wasn’t true of the Vietcong and it isn’t true of the Taliban. Sure, the Taliban are a few degrees more repressive than the standard Afghan–but they are on the same street and block ideologically.

    There has to be a significant catastrophic event to change a dominant culture and precision raids don’t have the scale to cross this threshold. I say this to say–I don’t give Flynn any credit for being particularly enlightened on this. Sometimes DOD has to draw up a hailmary play to give POTUS a shot at getting what they want. Even the best designed hailmary–is still a desperation play with low likelihood of success. Was Flynn good at providing intel needed to drive operations? Absolutely. Cudos to him–but he did so in an utterly toxic manner that wasn’t worth the squeezed. Very few people in DOD are irreplaceable–there are a handful. I have no doubt that some Intel Colonel that had to retire because they didn’t make GO could have done as good of a job without being the jerk that Flynn was.

    3
  38. CSK says:

    Texas AG Ken Paxton told Steve Bannon that if there had been expanded mail-in voting, Trump would have lost Texas.

  39. Jim Brown 32 says:

    @CSK: Amazing…I think next year will put it closer to the Civil War than to the present. Time flies

    2
  40. Jim Brown 32 says:

    @Teve: I couldn’t take my eyes off the front butt to notice TBH

  41. CSK says:

    @Jim Brown 32:
    Certainly nearer to the start of the Civil War. It was the seminal event of the 20th century.

    2
  42. CSK says:

    @Jim Brown 32:
    Ya gotta eat a lotta hamberders to get a gut like that. t really is an unsettling sight, isn’t it?

    1
  43. Just nutha ignint cracker says:

    @CSK: Yahoo News had a picture of him standing near Lara while she was speaking to the crowd. In addition to the sneer being a bad look, he looked about as much like “death warmed over” as I remember in a long time. It’s probably good that he uses that spray tan crap. If he didn’t, I swear his skin would probably look gray.

    1
  44. CSK says:

    @Just nutha ignint cracker:
    I winder how he’s reacting to all the speculation about his pants being on backward. He must be frothing at the mouth with rage.

  45. Just nutha ignint cracker says:

    @OzarkHillbilly: My money is on it happening, but all of the manufacturers other than GM (big maybe even there) missing their target dates by at least five years. Even at that, I’m not sure how long the changeover will take. New cars are basically a luxury goods item now, electric even more so. And at last check, I still can’t drive to Luddite’s house and back on one charge if I get caught in a traffic jam, so there are infrastructure problems to overcome.

    Not saying it won’t be a good thing, though. Improvements usually are.

    1
  46. Just nutha ignint cracker says:

    @CSK: They look like they’re made from poor quality polyester, too. I wouldn’t think Brioni would make such a cheap suit as that one looks to be. Yikes!

  47. Just nutha ignint cracker says:

    @MarkedMan: Moreover, the original concept that it could be a medical service covered under Medicare came from Newt Gingrich–who got the idea from, IIRC, Lutheran Social Services.

    2
  48. CSK says:

    @Just nutha ignint cracker:
    I know; they were shiny. Maybe he got this get-up on clearance at Men’s Wearhouse.

    I read somewhere that his suits hang so badly on him because he doesn’t have the patience to stand still for a fitting.

  49. CSK says:

    @Just nutha ignint cracker:
    You can see the true color of his skin in the photo accompanying this article on how he’s re-branding himself as “45.”

    http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/45th-why-trump-abandoning-his-iconic-brand-number-n1262935

  50. CSK says:

    Snopes said Trump didn’t wear his pants back to front.

  51. Kylopod says:

    @CSK:

    Snopes said Trump didn’t wear his pants back to front.

    Depends….

    4
  52. de stijl says:

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Awesome!

    I did a few trips to Finland when I was living in Stockholm Well, three. Three definitely counts, dammit.

    Helsinki was very cool. I had a great time. Better core city architecture than Stockholm and waay better than Reykjavik which is bland apparently by design.

    There is a persistent notion that we abut Russia. We must not rouse the bear.

    The Finnish language is godamned fascinating.

    Most folks in bars or shops speak Swedish way better than I do and English too, but the native Finn language is super interesting.

    Finno-Ugric is weird in sentence structure and definitives. Very interesting. Utterly unlike languages that surround them. A pocket of old-school north Eurasian linguistic resistance. Love it.

    Finland is super cool. Culturally distinct from the other Scando nations. Highly recommend.

  53. Kurtz says:

    @Stormy Dragon:

    Most of the uptake of electric cars are from the perspective of suburban home owners who have garages where they can easily install a charger. That’s left then half of car owners, and the thing that’s ultimately going to be a roadblock at some point is that as long as they take hours to charge, they won’t be scalable for everyone else.

    Yes. This rings true to me for several reasons. The coming takeover of x pretty much always take much longer than expected if it happens at all. And when it does, it looks completely different from the predictions.

    Not only that, it assumes that resistance of vested interests doesn’t exist or those interests capitulate without pushback.

    I suspect this is part of the reason for that weird law Florida passed that had a bunch of implications for how municipalities treat fossil fuel vs. renewable infrastructure. Things like a local government can’t ban new gas stations nor can they require that those gas stations have charging stations.

  54. de stijl says:

    @MarkedMan:

    Kudos on the hospice care piece. Much appreciated.

    2
  55. CSK says:

    @Kylopod:Perhaps he was in a …no fly zone.

    4
  56. de stijl says:

    @George:

    Very well said.

  57. de stijl says:

    @Teve:

    Reminds me of Kris Kross.

    (A gimmicky one-off rap duo where the schtick was they wore their clothes back-ass. It was stupid.)

  58. Joe says:

    @Teve:
    The disconcerting part is that there is no evidence of a fly that you would expect to see on the front of men’s trousers (though a belt buckle shows momentarily). I would think they were backwards, but for the physical impossibility of him closing them up behind his back. But, yeah, weird look.

  59. Liberal Capitalist says:

    @CSK:

    Here is the link…

    Texas AG Says Trump Would’ve ‘Lost’ State If It Hadn’t Blocked Mail-in Ballots Applications Being Sent Out

    So… Voter Fraud DOES exist… Just not the way the GOP publicly states it does.

    3
  60. de stijl says:

    @MarkedMan:

    I lost all respect for Grassley when he went “death panel”. Back when Rs were capable of being not awful and could be considered as respected people representing a different viewpoint.

    When Grassley went “Ds want granny to die” I was so over him.

    My family trait is dementia and Alzheimers, apparently. I have seen it. It is fucking awful. The total obliteration of the self. That is a husk that used to contain a loved one.

    There is no future there. I would and will consider radical means to prevent myself from walking down that particular path.

    Strongly consider. Very strongly.

    Outside of Oregon, euthanasia is basically illegal. That has to change.

    If I am losing my self and it is an inevitable loss and decline, I will need an out. Legal is preferable, but any means necessary will do.

    I will not go down that path. Nope. Ain’t gonna happen.

  61. Stormy Dragon says:

    @Joe:

    The image of Trump with no fly is a doctored photo. As this Getty image of the event shows, he clearly did have a fly on his pants:

    Former President Trump Addresses The North Carolina GOP Convention

    3
  62. Stormy Dragon says:

    @de stijl:

    I would note that euthanasia is very different from assisted suicide and confusing the two helps Republicans because people are understandably concerned with creating a system where some insurance middle management guy can have them offed to make their quarterly financials look better.

    1
  63. JohnSF says:

    @CSK:
    And the vile “Taki” in the Spectator a little while ago published a piece arguing that the Wehrmacht were the real heroes of D-Day.
    (I could link to the article but I’m not going to do so.)

    In contrast there’s a quote from the son of a Wehrmacht soldier, at the dedication yesterday of the British and Canadian D-Day memorial above “Gold” Breach.

    “You defeated my father; but you liberated me.”

    (I’ve personally heard something similar from an actual Wehrmacht veteran:”Thank God you won.”)

    3
  64. de stijl says:

    @Kurtz:

    If we can, as a society, run electricity, water (and sewage), and cable to basically every house in the nation, we can, if we decide to, accommodate electric cars.

    We are Americans. We can do this. We can do infrastructure when we put our minds to it. Witness the inter-state highway system, which is fucking awesome.

    We need a new Eisenhower.

    4
  65. Mimai says:

    @de stijl:

    The Finnish language is godamned fascinating.

    Ain’t that the damn truth! I played soccer with a bunch of Finns (Swedes, Norwegians, and Danes too) and, despite many years trying, couldn’t even get close to cracking their language code. It made my brain hurt.

    Those Finns also made my liver hurt. I like to say that each night out with the Finns took weeks off my life. And taking a sauna the morning after is not my idea of a hangover remedy. But damn they were fun and so it was all worth it. Fun…and so very odd. Loved it and them.

    It seemed that the closer their childhood home was to the Arctic circle, the squirrelier they were. I suppose that’s to be expected. One of the guys I was closest with now lives with his family in Åland. What a cool looking place…definitely on my travel list. You ever stop over on your way to or from?

    1
  66. de stijl says:

    @de stijl:

    Looking back, I think Biden won the nomination on basic decency. He is a good guy.

    He was not my first choice. But he’s rocking it anyway. Good on him.

  67. JohnSF says:

    @Kurtz:
    There are already some fast charging battery cars available; and the potential for even more in the future.

    At any rate, the “plug-in” hybrid is still a very reasonable alternative over the next couple of decades while infrastructure and technology matures.
    If I was buying a new car tomorrow and given the choice of “pick any one, money not much of an object, but don’t be silly” I’d go for a Volvo 90 or 6o PIH.
    ‘Cause they’re very economical for short/medium commutes; and capable of acceleration that can scare a Ferrari – S60 Polestar hits 0-60 in 4.4 sec 🙂

    1
  68. de stijl says:

    @Stormy Dragon:

    Point very well taken.

    Euthanasia is distinct from assisted suicide and I lumped those two together. Thank you for pointing that out.

    But both should be options available to us.

    Whatever happens I am going “ice floe” if it breaks bad for me. The other option is not acceptable to me. Nope.

  69. gVOR08 says:

    @Kylopod: They do the same thing with the “lamestream” media. Any correction by NYT or WAPO or the networks is not evidence of integrity, it’s proof they never get anything right.

    I argue that conservatism is best understood as a psychological inclination. Whether they’re religious or not, they have a religious bent. They believe what they believe because they believe it, end of story. And everything they believe is by definition true. So they see evolving views as a weakness. (Their views are notoriously flexible, but somehow they don’t notice. Whatever they believe this week about, say, Mike Pence is what they’ve always believed. Even if you remember them saying the opposite last year. )

    1
  70. CSK says:

    @JohnSF:
    Yes. The original title of the piece was “In Praise of Wehrmacht: The Real Story of D-Day Is the Heroism of the German Soldiers Who Were Vastly Outnumbered But Fought Nobly and to the Death.” The magazine had to change that p.d.q.

    Taki must have needed a break from writing endless articles about taking tea with Countess Schmutski-Putski or getting drunk with his dear old friend Baron Gravenstein-McIntosh-Winesap.

    3
  71. Kurtz says:

    @JohnSF:

    At any rate, the “plug-in” hybrid is still a very reasonable alternative over the next couple of decades while infrastructure and technology matures.

    Yes. No doubt that hybrids are likely part of the solution. And advances in battery technology will make a huge difference. But my understanding of the original contention is that we’re on the tipping point of an electric takeover. If I’m mistaken, so be it.

    Pledges by manufacturers notwithstanding, I think @Stormy Dragon’s points are legitimate reasons to express skepticism about those sorts of exuberant proclamations.

    Not that the response should be cynical, unrestrained pessimism, either. But put me down as skeptical that it’s going to be a quick transition.

    I suspect that most of the people who have lifestyles and homes less conducive to electric charging likely live in cities that would also be willing to build out infrastructure necessary to the change. But rural Americans are like Garth, they fear change. Unlike Garth, they will ostentatiously fight change because . . . well, reasons. Eephus pitch guess: they mistake assertiveness as an intrinsic virtue.

    1
  72. de stijl says:

    @Mimai:

    I was looking at a house in Duluth on a realtor website and that house had a sauna in the basement. Solid middle class house for Duluth going for maybe 150k. Passably mentioned as a feature. Kinda as an aside.

    Finnish Americans do not dominate northern Minnesota, but they definitely contribute to the mix well and hard.

    Miner stock, mostly.

    I love saunas and sauna culture. Public cleansing of ill humors. Self flagellation what with the pine branches and all.

    The whole cultural bit is very cool in my book.

    As far as I know, it is the only notable Finn exclave in the US. Correct me if I am wrong.

    The best bit of the sauna is the jump into cold water or into a a snow pile to cool off. The abrupt change is the key. The steam emanating off your body as you emerge is so invigorating to see.

    Your adrenaline goes *POW*

    It is idiotic and unnecessary and therefore cool as shit.

  73. Stormy Dragon says:

    @de stijl:

    Suppose I’m renting an urban row home with on street parking. Are you going to install a charger at every street spot? Who pays for that? Can anyone use any charger? If so, who’s paying for the electricity? If not, what happens if I get home and someone’s parked in front of “my” charger? Is all on-street parking suddenly reserved instead of public?

    2
  74. Mimai says:

    @de stijl:

    Don’t get me wrong, I dig sauna. A lot. Just not after a night out. For that I prefer rassolnik or pho.

    I also agree with your affinity for alternating sauna with cold water plunges. There’s also emerging scientific support for saunas. (thousands of grandmothers roll their eyes)

    I believe the UP has a large Finnish community as well.

    1
  75. Mimai says:

    @Stormy Dragon:

    I reject the assumptions of this thought exercise!

    Of course I won’t be installing the chargers. I’m no electrician.

    Of course not everyone can use any charger…..some people don’t even have things to charge.

    What’s with this “my” charger nonsense……have you not read Buddhist philosophy?!

    (Did I do that right?)

    5
  76. de stijl says:

    @Stormy Dragon:

    We built out electricity to every home. The last mile bit is essentially done. Putting up power chargers on streets is relatively easy. Lots of digging up stuff which municipalities love to do.

    Across the street Des Moines has decided to dig up the old pipes, uninstall the old, and install the new, for three years running. Apparently that is one fucked up water junction.

    Seriously, they dug out and reinstalled just last summer. But they just did it again. Baffling.

    I actually have a friend fairly senior in the public works arena. She might know why apparently fruitless work has happened at the same intersection three years running.

    It is fucking baffling.

  77. de stijl says:

    @Mimai:

    I totally spaced out on the UP.

    Good call.

    1
  78. de stijl says:

    @Mimai:

    Sauna is best on a Friday or Saturday night when everyone is kinda tipsy. Public nudity is a hard barrier.

    Sauna on a Tuesday would be weird.

    Tipsy is good. Difficult psychological barriers become surmountable. Ineffectually because you are drunk, but the effort was there. There is that.

  79. OzarkHillbilly says:

    @MarkedMan: And the Republicans seized upon that one tiny clause, rebranded the doctors visit as a “Death Panel” and screech and shrieked to the rafters that the “Dems wanted to kill granny”.

    And then Republicans did exactly that.

    Fk them ckskers.

    3
  80. OzarkHillbilly says:

    @Stormy Dragon:

    Now if one of the various techniques for massively increasing the charge rate of EV batteries pans out, that will be a game changer, but until then, there’s a ceiling for EV adoption.

    I have read of several.

    1
  81. OzarkHillbilly says:

    @de stijl: We need a new Eisenhower.

    And fewer Republicans. And yes, I recognize the ironic contradiction in what I said.

    3
  82. OzarkHillbilly says:

    @de stijl: The whole cultural bit is very cool in my book.

    As far as I know, it is the only notable Finn exclave in the US. Correct me if I am wrong.

    There must be one down in Arkansas. Arkansas cavers love to inflict saunas upon themselves.

    The best bit of the sauna is the jump into cold water or into a a snow pile to cool off. The abrupt change is the key. The steam emanating off your body as you emerge is so invigorating to see.

    Fuck that shit.

    Your adrenaline goes *POW*

    MY adrenaline goes to, “Haven’t you afflicted enough pain on your body????”

    It is idiotic and unnecessary and therefore cool as shit.

    Where “cool” is “What kind of an idiot are you??????”

    😉 😉 😉 😉 😉 😉 😉 😉 😉

    2
  83. de stijl says:

    @JohnSF:

    Dude! Blast from the past – Aztec Camera. “Good Morning Britain”

    Aztec Camera had a brilliant cover of “True Colors” too.

  84. OzarkHillbilly says:

    @Stormy Dragon: Is all on-street parking suddenly reserved instead of public?

    Funny how nobody expects a gas pump in front of every house.

    1
  85. de stijl says:

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I am a huge idiot. Idiocy is my self-starting state.

    Sauna outside of respectable spaces means poorly regulated sex work places.

    With “sauna” I mean percolating in a fucking hot little room until you reach your limit of temperature tolerance. Then temperature release.

    It sounds daft, but it is so fucking awesome.

    I cannot describe the surge psychologically that happens. It is massive. BAM! SUPER ADRENALINE!

  86. de stijl says:

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I am a huge idiot.

    But I will always stand by sauna culture.

    Seriously, do it. The temperature shock just floods your body with “feel good” chemicals.

    It is so freaking awesome.

  87. de stijl says:

    California house prices are insane.

    How is it even practical to buy?

    It astounds me.

  88. DrDaveT says:

    @de stijl:

    The best bit of the sauna is the jump into cold water or into a a snow pile to cool off. The abrupt change is the key.

    Yep, that’s what causes the aneurysms all right — that abrupt change. Nothing like a huge spike in blood pressure to make you feel alive… briefly.

  89. Mimai says:
  90. DrDaveT says:

    @de stijl:

    We built out electricity to every home. The last mile bit is essentially done. Putting up power chargers on streets is relatively easy. Lots of digging up stuff which municipalities love to do.

    I live in a ~500 unit high rise condo development. Three towers, four levels of parking. There is very little electrical wiring in the parking garage — just enough to support maintenance crew equipment. To provide charging stations that a significant fraction of residents could use at once would be an enormous expense, which the residents would have to pay for through an increase in their condo fees. I don’t see that happening any time soon.

  91. de stijl says:

    @de stijl:

    Iceland lacks the continental size and mass to have persistent systems.

    Weather just washes over their tiny outpost and moves on.

    Face it, it is an outpost. Stuck in a northern ocean. Relatively obscure. Awash by storms.

    Damned beautiful, though. And nice folks as a general rule.

  92. Jax says:

    @de stijl: Sounds perfect. Let’s go! 😉

    1
  93. de stijl says:

    @DrDaveT:

    The developers designed your building to accommodate parking cars.

    I miss living in a high rise. The view. Roughly a third of my adult life was that.

    I cannot prove this, but you have big thoughts in a high rise because you have a balcony. Your understanding becomes bigger. Less mundane. You see puny humans differently.

    Their tick-tock certainty as a general class.

    If you have not and have the means, I highly recommend a few years in a city up high. Let it percolate. It does affect you. You change a bit.

    1
  94. Kurtz says:

    @Stormy Dragon:

    Suppose I’m renting an urban row home with on street parking. Are you going to install a charger at every street spot? Who pays for that? Can anyone use any charger? If so, who’s paying for the electricity? If not, what happens if I get home and someone’s parked in front of “my” charger? Is all on-street parking suddenly reserved instead of public?

    This is a good point. IIRC, there was some issue with Tesla’s first models and their offer of unlimited charging at no cost for x amount of time.

    I’m blanking on the details. But unless this just didn’t exist at all, the point is still worth investigating as the details themselves are not that important. It strikes me as the unlimited internet thing ISPs went through. Offer it, then realize, oh shit, our infrastructure can’t really handle that much bandwidth during the busiest hours!

    It gets worked out for the majority of people, yes. But your questions speak to similar issues of exactly how this is going to play out.

    It’s going to require investment in infrastructure. It’s going to require a change in culture among people. It’s going to reduce the workforce in some areas and increase it in others.

    Oh, and there are going to be new companies or existing ones (Lyft/Uber, automotive companies) that exert a lot of influence in yet another area where law/regulation doesn’t move quickly enough to stave off social conflict.

    None of that shit has exactly gone well recently.

    1
  95. de stijl says:

    Lots of buildings were built before x. All of them accommodated the new x. Or they were torn down because they could not accommodate x. Because x became compulsory.

    We can do electric cars if we wish. You are nibbling at windmillism. If your high rise cannot in the future accommodate electric car charging that is a you problem.

  96. de stijl says:

    @DrDaveT:

    Wiring the garage is very easy. It’s basic. They have electric lights down there, yes?

    When I was in a high-rise I used to get a tax statement for my unit and also for my parking space.

    My parking space in the garage was taxable. I kinda get it, but face it, it is very crazy too. It is space I technically own.

    I only had the one vehicle. If you had more I supposed you’d have to buy a new space. Interesting.

  97. de stijl says:

    @DrDaveT:

    I bet a smart person could figure out how to put charging stations for electric cars in your your garage pretty easily.

    Building out the space to accommodate the cars for your high rise was way harder than wiring it.

    I lived in one in a city prone towards spring river flooding. I had to sign a waiver. A decade or so back the garage flooded entirely. Signing that was part of the purchase process.

    I have moved since but maybe think about water pumps. You know rationally since we are building beneath the mean water line. Might be prudent.

  98. Joe says:

    Thanks for the fact check, Stormy Dragon. That detail did match the surroundings, and I would prefer to be a criminal viewer.

  99. Stormy Dragon says:

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Funny how nobody expects a gas pump in front of every house.

    If it took 4-6 hours to fill up a car’s gas tank, they probably would.

  100. Stormy Dragon says:

    @de stijl:

    If your high rise cannot in the future accommodate electric car charging that is a you problem.

    If enough people live in building that can’t accommodate electric car charging, it stops being a “their” problem and becomes and “us” problem.

  101. de stijl says:

    @Stormy Dragon:

    Boo!

    Bad call.

    You are stuck in petrochemical stories about how e-cars suck. Obvious and not helpful.

    You sleep, yes? Your car charges when you sleep. You do get that, yes?

    Wow, pushback I did not expect.

  102. de stijl says:

    @Stormy Dragon:

    Still a you problem.

    What building would that be, exactly?

    This is stupid. You do not know it but you should.

    Wow! You should understand this. It isn’t hard.

    Anyplace that has electricity from a grid can host an e-car no problem.

  103. DrDaveT says:

    @de stijl:

    I bet a smart person could figure out how to put charging stations for electric cars in your your garage pretty easily.

    The problem is not “figuring out how”. The problem is paying for it, which is a nontrivial expense. If Joe Biden’s White House or the Bill and Melinda Gates Were Once a Thing Foundation were to step in and say “Hey, this project is shovel-ready, here’s the cash to make it happen” then all of the residents would say “Amen” and applaud.

  104. Gustopher says:

    I don’t see all-electric as a one-fit-for-everyone thing, because of all these issues. Charging is slow, and doesn’t work with on-street parking (ok, you could create an infrastructure, and a billing system for chargers along every city street with parking… but it will take a while.)

    It also means buying the electric car limits your housing choices after that during the transition.

    The use case of “I need to drive 350 miles without pausing overnight partway through” is too common to be discounted completely as well.

    Sure, we can put chargers in both cracker’s house and luddite’s house, and they can drive back and forth and change while visiting. That’s easy. But that’s not the big problem.

    Unless we can figure out how to get a charge in 3-5 minutes, it’s a massive change in the nature of cars.

    (Or charger? A standardized fuel cell that is used to charge the battery might work — it can be more expensive, if it isn’t used commonly)

  105. Gustopher says:

    @de stijl: woah, Nellie! Stormy is pointing out a real problem.

    Is it a big problem or a little problem? I think it’s bigger than you expect. And harder.

    Minimizing “you problems” is needed to get this to work.

    3
  106. de stijl says:

    @Stormy Dragon:

    When was the last time you travelled 500 miles on a whim? Everyday travel is x miles to and x miles back.

    You are parroting petrochemical talking points about e-car duration. Gosh, maybe if you want to take a thousand mile trip you might think rail or air.

    E-cars are not gasoline cars, this is true.

    What is the likelihood you need to go 500 miles now without stopping.

    For normal folk almost never. I get family shit, don’t panic. I am not that idiot.

    Most people drive ~ 10 miles a day. 364 days a year. It would be so stupid to design a solution towards the 364 norm, would ‘t it?

    A solution where everybody gets 99.o% of what they want is great but no, some idiot wants to road trip to Omaha, so that solution cannot work. Bullshit.

    To the norm solutions are perfectly acceptable.

  107. de stijl says:

    The past is steeped in shame, but tomorrow is fair game.

  108. Mister Bluster says:

    One’s White…One’s Black…One’s Blonde

    Mod Squad’s Clarence Williams III dead at 81

  109. Just nutha ignint cracker says:

    @CSK: I used to shop at Men’s Wearhouse sometimes. They had better suits than that one. Bleep, even the suit I bought a Burlington Coat Factory was better than that one. I’ve never owned a suit that looked as bad as that one did. And it needed to be pressed, too. And I’m not talking about the reverse lap wrinkles, either.

    I read someplace that Trump’s suits fit badly as a ploy for showing that he’s “too busy” to come for the final fitting. But too lazy is good enough for me. We can go with that.

  110. de stijl says:

    @Gustopher:

    Thankfully I am not a politician and have to pretend that bullshit is actually a problem.

    Rollout of e-cars is really easy. We possess tbe skill and infrastructure right now. No new tech needed.

    This is super simple. Put a meter on your electric company thingie.

    Doing it is not hard. It will cost, but we have done bigger projects before. Y’all are freaking out needlessly.

    Bunch of internal combustion fools. It is not the most efficient manner of converting potential matter into fuel, but it does have its defendents.

    Here too it seems.

  111. Just nutha ignint cracker says:

    @Kurtz: I can’t imagine gas stations not having charging stations as electric cars take a larger market share. It’s a no brainer. In the current world, where I have never seen a car hooked up to a public charging station–ever–the market looks pretty thin. In a few years–especially if charging times become short–station owners will want battery money as much as they want diesel money–which nobody was particularly interested in back in the mid 70s when I fueled my diesel VW at the truck stop.

    1
  112. flat earth luddite says:

    @Gustopher:

    Sure, we can put chargers in both cracker’s house and luddite’s house, and they can drive back and forth and change while visiting.

    Well, sure, we could do that, but where the heck are the rest of you going to charge during the first annual Way Outside the Beltway Cruise In™ to be held in scenic Vancouver WA sometime in the near future?

    Maybe we could go back to live third rails or overhead trolley lines like in my childhood? :^))

    1
  113. flat earth luddite says:

    @Mister Bluster:

    The reported cause of death was colon cancer. This hits me really hard, and leaves me wondering why I came through when so many die. But then again, if I make it to 80 and have a recurrence, I’m confident I won’t have the stubbornness or stamina to fight as hard as I did at 56. RIP sir.

    1
  114. Mister Bluster says:

    @de stijl:..When was the last time you travelled 500 miles on a whim?

    Every chance I get.
    Between 2009 when I retired and 2018 I drove to California and back home to Southern Illinois 12 times. In between those jaunts I drove to Galveston, Texas Washington DC the Florida panhandle, Charlottsville, Virginia and Mackinaw City, Michigan just so I could drive across the Mackinac Bridge to St. Ignace. Those are just a few of the road trips I have taken on a whim. I’ve had to slow down as my “new” 2013 Ford Fusion is closing in on 200,000 miles and the transmission is getting shaky. Hopefully I will soon get a more reliable ride and hit the road again. I want to make the west coast run at least one more time. Or maybe Key West. I haven’t been there yet. Or maybe New York City. Even though I was born in Rochester I’ve never been to NYC. I’m getting old and time is running out.

    2
  115. Just nutha ignint cracker says:

    @de stijl: Grandfather, father, uncle. (As well as potential other relatives from earlier before Alzheimer’s became a thing.) I don’t drink or smoke enough, I’m afraid. 🙁

    1
  116. Mister Bluster says:

    test

  117. de stijl says:

    @Mister Bluster:

    Dude was a good guy.

    There was a time when the organization I was currently working for decided that SOLID was a cromulent acronym.

    Everytime “solid” got mentioned I did the black power fist salute thing.

    It became a meme locally.

  118. Just nutha ignint cracker says:

    @Stormy Dragon: Can’t speak for your street, but the charging station at Fred Meyer in Scappoose requires an account number (which you can set up onsite if you have a credit card with a chip on it). I suspect that would work on your street, too, but I could be wrong, I suppose.

  119. de stijl says:

    @Mister Bluster:

    I envy you.

    Most folks are not you.

    Even then you could do those trips in an e-car, mostly.

  120. de stijl says:

    @Just nutha ignint cracker:

    Wrong bias. With e-cars gas stations are essentially superfluous. I can get the same trickle at home. Cheaper and perhaps faster.

  121. Kurtz says:

    @Just nutha ignint cracker:

    That’s not really my point. Of course they will. Though it’s not as simple as filling up with gas…
    Yet.

    I’m curious about how much those demands will affect the power grid. I haven’t read very comment in the thread, nor have I looked into at all. But I suspect there may be issues there.

    All of this takes time.

    I may not be well versed in the technical side of it. What I do know pretty well is an old story–the human one. Meaning that when vested interests are threatened, there tends to be conflict. When work in one sector dries up, a new sector will take its place and offer jobs. That doesn’t mean that everyone who lost will gain. That tends to create conflict.

    And where there is conflict, there is someone to exploit it politically. And often, it pays for longer to bitch but not fix than it does to bitch and fix.

    I raised the example of that Florida legislation to illustrate this issue. It’s not that it’s going to prevent it. But it is preventing local governments from spurring investment. And this was passed by… the party that long championed the virtues of local government as an engine of innovation and creativity.

    That ought to be all anyone needs to know about how vested interests can slow needed technological advancement.

    (as a parting shot, if you want to call it that, this is exactly what I meant when I referenced center-right in the open thread the other day.

    A center-right party may question the need for sweeping change from a national government in many or even most cases, but they wouldn’t stifle innovation at the local level to protect the interests of dominant industries threatened by those local efforts.

    That’s getting into right-wing territory, or something other than what was once understood as conservatism.)

    1
  122. Just nutha ignint cracker says:

    @Stormy Dragon: Yeah, but with sufficient demand, a high rise with underground parking can attract a provider to wire the building AND SELL CHARGING SERVICE to the residents in much the same way that the cable or satellite company does now. It may even be possible to have the service rolled into the HOA, but it may not be, depending on the demand. You’re overfretting this in a way that make you look like you live in a third world country. (“Sure, but where are WE going to get electricity from, huh?”)

    1
  123. Just nutha ignint cracker says:

    @Kurtz: By contrast to other comments on this topic, that’s a potentially really good question. How much additional demand will there be and will it overload the system will need to be studied. Good point.

  124. de stijl says:

    @Gustopher:

    I am trying very hard not to be a dick.

    In advocating you kinda have to plow over dissenting views.

    Sometimes you have to choose. If that offends someone it is their choice to be so if I advocate correctly. I try quite hard to not ruffle feathers
    .

    It is my absolute goal to not be a dick ever. Hard goal.

    I cannot control someone else’s response. I can only state my thing directly so no one is confused about what I mean.

    I always try to be kind.

  125. Just nutha ignint cracker says:

    @de stijl: I think you are looking a generation ahead. I could be wrong, but po’ folk like me will not be buying electric cars until the inventory of nearly dead ICE cars is gone or until electrics become a large enough used market. Moreover, we won’t be likely to have charging stations in the parking lots that our apartment buildings don’t have anyway, so we gonna need SOMEPLACE to charge our cars when the change arrives.

    Your situation is predisposed to have electric car as a sign of conspicuous spending (although you might well object that the benefits make align the cost with value and could even be right). Me and right now, I don’t got the extra $10k (price of a Bolt, used, is $10000 more than I paid for a Spark in 2o15–just looked it up), so I’ll have to stick with ICE.

    ETA: A generation later, the world will have changed–and I’ll be nearly 100.

    1
  126. Gustopher says:

    @de stijl:

    What is the likelihood you need to go 500 miles now without stopping.

    Except we think of cars are being the freedom to do just that, rather than the “haul my fat ass to the supermarket” machine. So, which gives first, the dreams of freedom, or the reality that we don’t go anywhere?

    Logically, I know what the right answer is, but I’m not sure the logical, right answer wins. Look at America, consider the logical, right answers, and then how often they win.

    Also, range is about 300, not 500. Big difference in driving patterns. Wake up early, drive to the coast, hike a bit, drive to place with good pie, drive home… we’re pushing that limit.

    1
  127. Mister Bluster says:

    @de stijl:..Even then you could do those trips in an e-car, mostly.

    At this time I do not have the resources to buy a reliable electric car with the range I want. However if I win the lottery or find a large sack of cash somewhere I will look into it.
    The only time that charging batteries was ever an issue on a road trip was in 1974 when I drove my quadriplegic friend Joe to California and back. A four week journey. It was his van but it was not rigged for him to drive so I drove most of the way. (we picked up some hitchikers on the return trip and they drove a few hundred miles). Joe had an electric wheelchair that had 2 six volt car batteries. Under normal circumstances he would charge his chair every night and would be good to go for the next day. Since we planned on sleeping in the van at rest stops at night there was no place to plug in. Of course since he was not using his chair much while we were beating it down the still unfinished Interstate Highways he didn’t discharge the batteries during the day. We never did stay in a motel as we wanted to save our cash for beer and weed. Twice on the way west we did stop at campgrounds overnight where we did have access to electric outlets and a shower and when we got to
    San Francisco we stayed with friends so charging the chair was not an issue. I can’t remember what we did on the return trip.

  128. de stijl says:

    @Just nutha ignint cracker:

    For me: grandmother, grandfather, grandmother and my mother.

    I cannot say for certain, but the book is leaning quite hard in a bad direction.

    Will I even be able to discern if I am slipping? I am becoming very concerned about that.

    It was heartbreaking to try to interact with my mother near her end. It was her telling me the same story every time we talked as a cautionary point. Every time. Over and over. It was important to her.

    Alzheimer’s really fucking sucks hard.

    1
  129. Gustopher says:

    @de stijl:

    It is my absolute goal to not be a dick ever. Hard goal. I cannot control someone else’s response.

    I know. It read more dickish than I expected you intended, hence “woah, Nellie!” rather than “don’t be a dick.”

    In advocating you kinda have to plow over dissenting views.

    Eh. I think you’re advocating about 30 years early. And there are a lot of problems that have to be overcome. With work, we can get it to 15 — 75-80% in 10. On street parking in poorer neighborhoods is going to lag.

    On street parking in my neighborhood is going to get people complaining that the chargers are ugly until we make them look like little statues of Lenin or something… (I live not too far from a statue of Lenin)

    And then there are the battery issues. Can we produce that many? Can we refurbish and recycle them to make the used market make sense? We’re making a lot of bets that we can solve these problems before they are problems.

    1
  130. Gustopher says:

    @de stijl:

    It was her telling me the same story every time we talked as a cautionary point. Every time. Over and over. It was important to her.

    Was it an important story that showed who she was, or was it important because it was all she had left?

    Alzheimer’s terrifies me. It sounds like a miserable, awful way to go, which I have been spared from having to witness.

  131. de stijl says:

    @Mister Bluster:

    On of my most salient dream memories is trying to sleep in my car halfway to Rapid City.

    I was tired to the bone but sleep did not come for me then.

    I needed to be there but I was more likely than not to kill myself or much, much worse another lonely traveller poking down that lonely road.

    Sometimes you have to turtle up.

    I buttoned up and tried to sleep. Failure in basically any way it could fail.

    First light my car started.

    Should I continue on?

    I did. It sucked. Nothing I could have done would have changed the situation. It was beyond salvaging. Life sorta sucks sometimes.

  132. de stijl says:

    @Gustopher:

    It was a pointless story about how she was better equiped to deal with the world than her friends were. It was a silly pointless anecdote and she was totally fucking fixated on relating to someone. Anyone.

    I was her anyone at the end. Everybody else was brushing her off because she was not really there.

    I listened and responded. We had a super tenuous relationship.

    She died alone.

  133. de stijl says:

    @Gustopher:

    It was neither. It was a pointless anecdote about a restaurant.

    Her fixation was something tbat happened back wben she could still integrate memories to some extant.

  134. de stijl says:

    @Gustopher:

    If I advocate am I responsible for your reaction to that?