Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

DeSantis transforming Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

T R E 4 5 O N

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

Books are my comfort food!

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Republicans in disarray!

Come on, man.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Shut up, hissy kitty!

You are here: Home / Elections 2024 / Thursday Night Open Thread: Amusing Ourselves to Death

Thursday Night Open Thread: Amusing Ourselves to Death

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We “report”; you deride!

But just maaaaybe…

Reader Interactions

147Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    Cutting off your nose to spite your face may lead to a loss of smell, some doctors suggest

  6. 6.

    kindness

    Am I surprised to see Trump loyalists turn obvious truths inside-out to support Trump?

    No.

    Am I surprised to see Republicans line up against the courts and law in order to support Trump?

    Again, no.

    Am I surprised to see ‘liberals’ bag on Joe Biden so hard they end up supporting Trump?

    Yea, I didn’t see that coming although I probably should have.

  7. 7.

    Baud

    Via reddit

    President Joe Biden says he will not pardon his son Hunter Biden if he’s convicted on gun-related charges
    The president also told ABC News that, regardless of the verdict, he would accept the outcome of the trial, which began this week.

  8. 8.

    Scout211

    Thanks, AL.  Sometimes ya gotta laugh instead of scream.

    This fun fact makes me laugh, too

    When 12 Manhattan jurors returned after a day and a half of deliberations on May 30 and convicted Donald Trump of 34 felonies, they added to an astonishing losing streak for the former president.

    Trump and his company have been unable to win over a single juror, out of 42 total, in recent criminal and civil trials.

    “It’s a very remarkable thing. In all these jurors, he didn’t succeed in getting one, not one person,” said criminal defense attorney Robert McWhirter.

    The juries — two in state criminal trials and two in federal civil trials — have unanimously and quickly ruled against Trump. Winning over just one juror is often the baseline hope for defense attorneys, because a jury that can’t reach consensus — known as a hung jury — results in a mistrial. One juror can save a defendant from defeat, at least in the short term.

    Not very competent at criming and not very competent with juries of his peers.

  10. 10.

    moonbat

    I want to say that our national televised news started dropping off a cliff as soon as the news divisions were handed over to the entertainment side of the network. And then we were literally in Network, the movie, where the fate of the nation is played with for ratings.

    Newspapers saw the internet cutting into the their profits and said, “Hey let’s do the same thing!”

    I’m heartsick about WaPo being taken over by a bunch of Murdoch cast-offs. Going to go donate to ProPublica.

  13. 13.

    Scout211

    Trump fans are dropping like flies.

    Eleven people have been hospitalized while waiting for a rally featuring Donald Thursday in Phoenix, where temperatures climbed to a sweltering 110 degrees and lingered in the triple digits.

    City fire officials confirmed that number at 3 p.m. local time, saying all had been transported to local hospitals due to heat exhaustion while waiting to get into a Turning Point rally featuring the former president. Reporters on the scene shared video and photos on social media of rally attendees being carried off in stretchers and receiving intravenous fluids outside the venue.

    That’s not funny.

  17. 17.

    Baud

    /r/Canada on Reddit is a cesspool of Canadian MAGA, but /r/Ohio seems to be full of libs.

    Go figure.

  19. 19.

    Baud

    @Peke Daddy:

    I’ve been remembering Brave New World recently.  I should reread it. It’s been a long time.

    ETA: the major thing he got wrong was “feelies.” Indulging sex isn’t a recipe for control.

  21. 21.

    Geminid

    @Scout211: He has an outdoor rally scheduled in Las Vegas Sunday. It’s supposed to start at noon, when it will be only 98°.

  22. 22.

    Alison Rose

    Ahoy, jackals. The prodigal bitch has returned. Temporarily. Because I’m in need of (non-monetary) help and I’m getting desperate and am therefore totally shameless. Which makes me sound like Trump but them’s the breaks. (Also ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha guilty MFer.) (Also too the sentencing date is my birthday so I am hoping for a nice gift from Justice Merchan.)

    Back to the point: Are any of you a non-retired MD, ideally a GP or psychiatrist, in California? Or perhaps your spouse or child or sibling or someone else close to you is? I know that might sound like I’m inviting you aboard the Good Ship Unethical, but I promise this is for nothing questionable, except for how I question both my own existence and that of this G-dforsaken country at least ten times per day.

    If you answered “aye” to either question, please could you email one of the FPers and ask them to forward you along to me.

    Thank you, gracias, merci, danke, Дякую, תודה, bedankt, mahalo, and so on and so forth.

  23. 23.

    mrmoshpotato

    News Analysis: Donald Trump says he is prepared to prosecute his political enemies if he is elected this fall. Simply making those threats, legal experts say, does real damage to the rule of law. https://nyti.ms/3wV36it

    Oh really??   You Dump-humping shitstains at the fucking New York Times!  Tell us more!

    Also, go back to 2015 and go fuck yourselves!

  31. 31.

    Quadrillipede

    @Baud: /r/Canada on Reddit is a cesspool of Canadian MAGA

    Canadian Make America Great Again and now my brain hurts…

  33. 33.

    karen marie

    @Baud:  I read Brave New World many decades ago, but recently listened to it as an audio book.  I was shocked at how nonsensical it is.  The one that still scares the shit out of me is 1984.

  34. 34.

    Shalimar

    Reminder that Stormy Daniels was a one-night stand.  Karen McDougal was the mistress for a long period of time, and Trump didn’t have to pay her because he got the National Enquirer to do it and then refused to pay them back.

  35. 35.

    SpaceUnit

    So I was out for a walk about an hour ago and noticed that one of my neighbors has begun flying an upside down American flag on their porch.

    This seems to cry out for some good old fashioned after-midnight fuckery.

  38. 38.

    Quadrillipede

    Wow, it’s been quite a while since I’ve considered which is the more dystopian of 1984 and Brave New World. I kind of feel like perhaps the society depicted in Brave New World is more insidiously coercive than Airstrip One ever was… 🤔

  39. 39.

    SpaceUnit

    @karen marie:

    Nothing too extreme.

    There was a camper parked in the driveway and I think a Biden 2024 bumper sticker on the back would dress it up just fine.

     

    ETA:  I mean, if he wants to draw attention to himself . . .

  41. 41.

    Suzanne

    @Scout211: I remember that day SuzMom and I attended a Trump rally and heckled and screamed shit. It was also fucken hot that day.

    I no longer have to deal with that shit, and that is fantastic.

  42. 42.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    When Larry King was still on CNN he once had Dr. Phil on who was selling a snake oil book on the secret to weight loss which he identified as willpower.

    It was the height of hucksterism, a portly person gaslighting the gullible with hollow cliches.

  43. 43.

    Jay

    @Baud:

    @Quadrillipede:

    reddit is often a cesspool where like meets like and drives out the others.

    Sadly the border doesn’t exist on the internet, so the stupid knows no borders.

    At the “Truckers” blockaide at the Coutes Border Crossing, the moron labe influenced “common clay of the new West” planned to kill RCMP officers and start a race war.

    At the refinery, because it was a $2 billion dollar upgrade, ( that wound up costing $3.5 billion), they brought in a bunch, (450+) of “specialty” workers from Alberta and Sask, so, lot’s of stupid, like “pureblood” bumper stickers, etc.

    I printed up a bunch of bumper stickers at home, like “tell me you are a Moron, with out telling me you are a Moron” or for truck balls, “I had my trucks gender changed, my pronoun is Idiot” and engaged in a little light vandalism.

  44. 44.

    Jackie

    @SpaceUnit:

    This seems to cry out for some good old fashioned after-midnight fuckery.

    Assume that flag will be under camera surveillance.

    Call 911 and tell them your neighbor is signaling for help.😏

  45. 45.

    Old Dan and Little Ann

    @SpaceUnit: My wife saw a double AA baseball game in Salt Lake City the other night.  The Sugar Land Space Cowboys vs. The Salt Lake City Bees.  I had to look up Sugar Land,  It’s near Houston.

  48. 48.

    Elizabelle

    Speaking of amusing ourselves:

    FTF NYTimes:  saw this headline, and knew it was Peter F. (for effing) Baker.  (Narrator:  Reader, it was.)
    Forty Years Later, Biden Seeks to Echo Reagan’s Legacy of American Leadership
    At Pointe du Hoc in Normandy, President Biden plans to follow one of the former president’s most iconic speeches with his own testimonial to democracy and the need to resist isolationism.

    And, while they often don’t open the Imperial Peter Baker’s articles to reader comments, they did for this one.

    And:  the top liked reader comment.  Refers to the pitchbot.

    The President’s speech was great, and should be judged for its inspiring words and, above all, its success in reaching out to other nations to join in defending Democracy. But Baker, instead, begins with the assumption that Biden will fade in the shadow of Reagan, and Americans will therefore ignore it. There’s a classic “pitchbot” that declares “here’s why that’s bad for Joe Biden.” Once again, Peter Baker has chosen that route, instead of fairly judging this President’s call to our duty to one another and to democracy.

  51. 51.

    Ken

    @Quadrillipede: it’s been quite a while since I’ve considered which is the more dystopian of 1984 and Brave New World.

    If you want a third point of comparison, Jasper Fforde’s Red Side Story, the sequel to Shades of Grey, is out.

  54. 54.

    Elizabelle

    Also, for anyone planning to follow Omnes’ plans for the evening (no, it’s watching The Longest Day):

    Amazon has made it available today for a really low price, whether renting or buying it.

  55. 55.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @Baud:

    Most of us in Bolt world (I bought a 2023 Bolt EV last Sep) follow this rather closely.

    The Leaf isn’t really a competitor in terms of overall value at this point given Nissan is still using really dated tech.  The low-trim version, which gets around 160m of range is coming in at 29K and if you get one that’s got greater range, the cost goes up.  Plus it has an outdated charging port.

    That being said, I’ve got a buddy here who just leased the low-trim one for…$55/month.  That’s practically free.  Plus, I know a slew of Leaf owners here with really old ones with no range that just love em.

    Oops, where was I, oh yeah, the next-gen Bolt or as we call it the Boltium.  It should be an awesome car with better charge rates than now, similar range (260m) and if GM can get it at around $30K, it’ll do wonders to help “de-gentrify” the EV car market.

    The Bolt is actually a really well-designed and well built car.  The joke, not really a joke, was that it took GM 5 years to get it right, ie., make a fantastic car, only to cancel it.  Nonetheless, the 2023 Bolt EV is probably the best urban car ever made, this coming from somebody whose last GM product was a ’72 4-door Nova with a 307 V8 and lifters that tapped like mad.

    At our neighborhood picnic last weekend, one little side event was an “EV Show” where we got some people in the neighborhood to bring their EVs for the “EV Curious” to sit in, look at and have us answer questions.  Two Teslas (Y and X), my Bolt, a Kia EV6 (really purty car) and a Volvo XC-30, that last one can go 0-60 in 4.3 seconds which is insane.

  59. 59.

    Elizabelle

    Aha.  A few comments down, on the FTF NY Times Reagan glorification article by Peter Imperial Baker:

    … Yet, I must mention my disgust that this newspaper shows so little respect for our current hard-working president that it didn’t even include his picture with this article. Ronald Reagan was a fairly good actor. Joseph Biden is a very good man. Character matters.

  60. 60.

    Ishiyama

    In August of 1864, the consensus in in Washington, D.C. was that Lincoln and the Republicans were doomed in the Fall elections. Lincoln famously wrote a memorandum, sealed it, and had every member of his cabinet sign it.

    This is the beginning of June; the election is an eternity away, and anything can happen.

  61. 61.

    Lyrebird

    @Elizabelle: That is awesome, thanks for posting your comment.  Love the tip of the hat to the Pitchbot, and also gosh it’s good to see a GOOD comment.

     

    This may not relate to the thread, but I did just get an email from the Lucas Kunce campaign saying that VoteVets has endorsed him, with a quote:

    “Let’s be clear, with its strong tradition of split-ticket voting, a record-breaking Democratic challenger with a record of serving his country, and abortion now on the ballot this November, Missouri’s Senate race is no longer a dark horse.”

    I don’t have a link other than a complicated one that goes to the fundraising page, but I wanted to spread the word at least.

  65. 65.

    RaflW

    @lowtechcyclist: I say this with no pleasure whatsoever: Pretty soon millions more people will be living in places that hot, without moving.

    I bailed on Texas when C+ Augustus was just a middling asshole governor. But even in the early 1990s, Austin was both a fun town and hot as heck for too many months. Back then, yeah it did crack 100ºf occasionally, but really not that often.

    It’s super common now. Not Phoenix hot, numerically, but what people not in Austin don’t realize is, there is humidity. It’s not far enough west in Texas to be past the dry line.

    It’s probably findable, but for now I’ll just say that I’d be curious to see a side-by-side of summer heat index highs in Phoenix and Austin. Or, g-d help us, Houston which is goopy humid and hits 100 fairly often, which it did not in the 1980s when I cursedly lived there (except the horrendous summer of 1980 when we moved from relatively temperate Pittsburgh, PA).

  71. 71.

    Suzanne

    My VO2max has gone up in the past couple of weeks. Anyone know why? Is it related to the warmer weather? I sweat buckets, I’m disgusting.

  74. 74.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: On a related note, I was pleasantly surprised to discover there’s now a Tesla Supercharger in Arnold, CA which will make far more practical to explore that part of the Sierras. In past years, I have taken my Tesla 3 over the Sierras from west to east, but it was close the limit of its range.

    Sadly, the Supercharger that was supposed to open in Lee Vining—on the other side of Tioga Pass from Yosemite—probably has fallen victim to Elon temper tantrum firing of the entire Supercharger team. Would’ve made exploring that part of the Eastern Sierras much easier. At least I’m now seeing a lot more non-Tesla fast chargers, which I can use with an adapter, in the mountains.

  76. 76.

    wjca

    @lowtechcyclist: I just can’t imagine wanting to live in a place where it gets that hot.

    Definitely says something impressive about Joelle that the Blog Father is contemplating doing so.

  77. 77.

    Dan B

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: Weve leased Leafs for 8 years.  The first had 85 Mike’s range!  Our current ’23 top model with 230 miles range is sweet, dark blue metallic finish, heated seats, great amount of buttons instead of all on-screen controls.  The charging issue means we will be getting something different.  My partner is determined to get a Tesla Y.  I’ve told him I won’t ride in something that can be messed with by Tesla HQ.  He’s determined.  Oy!  I’m not sure what’s better and affordable.  He wants the SUV size to transport “guy stuff” from Home Depot.  We’ve got a small pickup.  Why do we need a “guy stuff” carrier?

  80. 80.

    Fair Economist

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage:

    The Bolt is actually a really well-designed and well built car.  The joke, not really a joke, was that it took GM 5 years to get it right, ie., make a fantastic car, only to cancel it.

    GM has epically bad timing. They cancelled the Volt in 2019, when hybrid cars still normally made more sense than all battery, and then the Bolt in 2023 when, as you say, it was a nice car at a fantastic price. And *now*, just as full battery cars are about to blow hybrids off the table with plummeting battery prices, *now* they want to revive hybrid production. Sheesh.

  84. 84.

    ...now I try to be amused

    @Quadrillipede:

    Wow, it’s been quite a while since I’ve considered which is the more dystopian of 1984 and Brave New World. I kind of feel like perhaps the society depicted in Brave New World is more insidiously coercive than Airstrip One ever was…

    I think the main difference between the Ingsoc of Nineteen Eighty-Four and the world state of Brave New World is that the first is poor and the second is rich. BNW’s world state can afford less obviously oppressive means of control.

  85. 85.

    frosty

    @Alison Rose: Hi prodigal bitch! Good to see you, I’ve missed you. I hope you get the help you need and you have a wonderful birthday present.

  86. 86.

    Soprano2

    @schrodingers_cat: The press wants TCFG back as president. The Biden presidency bores them to tears and doesn’t make them any money or get them lucrative book deals. I agree, I hope “normies” figure it out.

  87. 87.

    FastEdD

    But on eliminating every other reason for our sad demise
    They logged the only explanation left
    This species has amused itself to death

  90. 90.

    eversor

    I have hope.  Four of my younger relatives, all women of color, will not vote this time around because the Democrats aren’t standing up to Christianity.  Not only have they left that horrid faith they oppose any institution that is not anti Christian to it’s core.

    They now approach their relatives and say since they didn’t sell their house and become homeless they can’t be Christian.  This is the way.  End Christianity.  Make them live up to it.  Who here has a laptop they didn’t sell off to give to the poor is not following Christ.

    Not only that my nieces now will not speak to Christians, date them, and are distrupting Churches and tell them to live in poverty like Christ commanded.

    I am proud.  If you are Christian and you have a laptop to post that you didn’t give away for money to give to the poor, you are a fucking liar.  Alito is actually real.

    More of this.  All of the time.  Fight back in the war.

  93. 93.

    SpaceUnit

    @eversor:

    I wish this blog allowed us to post pics and such.  Because if any comment deserved a GIF of SpongeBob grinning and making the jackoff motion it’s yours.

  94. 94.

    JaySinWA

    @SpaceUnit:

    one of my neighbors has begun flying an upside down American flag on their porch.

    This seems to cry out for some good old fashioned after-midnight fuckery.

    Or a call for a welfare check. That’s a literal cry for help.

    I see

    @Jackie:

    got there first.

  97. 97.

    KrackenJack

    @Manyakitty: Philip Bump is also on Mastodon. That’s usually where I first see about his articles. They’re often not shown on the WaPo front page.

  99. 99.

    Chet Murthy

    @Alison Rose: Alison, I have nothing to contribute to answer your Q, but ….. WE MISSED YOU!  So happy to see you pop in, even if it isn’t permanent (though if you wanna return, that’d be sweet!)

  100. 100.

    Steeplejack

    @HumboldtBlue:

    😹  Three Year Letterman—best troll account on Twitter! It’s been years, and still people take him seriously and argue with him. Mostly people who financed their waterbeds, but still . . .

  104. 104.

    Chet Murthy

    @Sister Golden Bear: Seconded.  I’d like to live in a world where I’d be ashamed of that sentiment, but this isn’t that world.  They want to kill us, and I can’t do anything other than rejoice at their suffering

    ETA: or as a famous philosopher once said, “It is what it is”.

  108. 108.

    eversor

    @Shalimar:

    By the logic here we should be screaming to the skies about the TRUE conservatives.  TRUE republicans.  TRUE rich.

    But you won’t.  Because you only reserve that defense for the one most evil of all things that runs all those things.  Because you are it’s ally.  Enabler.  You are the first enemy then that must be crushed and this fight is coming.  You can’t dodge it.  You can’t opt out of it.  You’re going to chose.  Christianity or Humanity.  I see you are anti humanity.  You’re… a… Nazi!  You fucking Christian.

  110. 110.

    Chris T.

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage:

    At our neighborhood picnic last weekend, one little side event was an “EV Show” where we got some people in the neighborhood to bring their EVs for the “EV Curious” to sit in, look at and have us answer questions. Two Teslas (Y and X), my Bolt, a Kia EV6 (really purty car) and a Volvo XC-30, that last one can go 0-60 in 4.3 seconds which is insane.

    Many years ago, a local (to where I lived then, I was not in WA state at that time) Nissan dealer had a “bring your EV or PHEV or electric bike etc to our electric vehicle show”. I brought a Fisker Karma, a beautiful albeit often problematic PHEV. It was supposed to do that sort of 0-60 time, but they’d never been able to get the inverters to supply the full 300 kW needed, topping out at about 200 kW.

    They had a giveaway for various items and I won an electric leaf blower. The sales guy said “now you have two leaf blowers”, referring to the Karma.

    (Alas, the Karma was totaled on a freeway when I was in stopped traffic and people behind me didn’t stop. I was fine though. I now have a full-electric EV that’s a lot more reliable.)

  113. 113.

    Chris T.

    @Dan B:

    We’ve got a small pickup. Why do we need a “guy stuff” carrier?

    You don’t, but he should consider a Porsche Taycan, they’re very nice (arguably significantly nicer than my rather nice non-Tesla EV).

  114. 114.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    “The Longest Day” was on TCM tonight.    Terrible movie.   No football. No car chase. No buddy cops.  No steamy romance.  No lasers.  No Tom Cruise.   Terrible.

  115. 115.

    Martin

    @Chris T.: Wow, Karma bit of a unicorn out there. They did one of the launch events outside my office. Sat in it. Was pretty nice. That was before first bankruptcy.

  117. 117.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    @Fair Economist: There are a lot of people in the mid west and eastern seaboard who drive long distances, rather than fly.  Hybrids fit that market segment.

    I personally know people who prefer to drive from Chicago to Dallas, from Charlotte to Miami than fly.

  118. 118.

    Martin

    @Dan B: I do woodworking as a hobby. Lots of guy stuff. I get some of what I need on my ebike and have the rest delivered for about $45. You’ll never haul enough guy stuff at $45/trip to make up for the extra vehicle.

  119. 119.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    @SpaceUnit: Not a single blonde bombshell, either!

    No Scarlett Johansson. No Margot Robbie.  No Charlize Theron .  What were they thinking!

  122. 122.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    @SpaceUnit: and then I thought my tee vee was broken because there was no color, but no, they intentionally filmed it in black and white!

  126. 126.

    NotMax

    @Ma href=”https://balloon-juice.com/2024/06/06/thursday-night-open-thread-amusing-ourselves-to-death/#comment-9215537″>David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    Classic Calvin and Hobbes ‘splains it all.
    :)

  127. 127.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @kindness:

    Democrats could replace the donkey with the more appropriate Tonya Harding since we seem to be the best at kneecapping ourselves.

    She might even appreciate being relevant again!

  132. 132.

    Ramalama

    @Jay: you are incredibly versatile with the actions you take. So many clever and varied responses. You must be a really fun neighbor neighbour naber.

  133. 133.

    Daoud bin Daoud

    @Quadrillipede:  I think it will be Brave New World for our  neo-feudal overlords (Musk, Bezos, ad nauseum) and 1984 for the rest of us. (So, a lot like Russia.)

  134. 134.

    trnc

    I knock on NYT a lot, but the DT/Rule of law story is a good one and I’m having some trouble figuring out why quoting legal experts is a problem in a story that describes at length what DT plans to do and why it’s so bad. It’s a hard news story, not an editorial. Several legal experts were quoted in the story, so it’s entirely proper to say that up front.

    The piece doesn’t hold back, and it has the added bonus of a headline that doesn’t hide the story. Take the win.

  136. 136.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @Chris T.: ​

    PHEVs “The Worst of Both Worlds”
    @Dan B: ​
     

    Agreed, that makes no sense, the Tesla Y.

    That being said, I sat in one at our modest neighborhood EV show and it’s a deceptively big car on the inside so you could put a lot of crap in there.

    But a small pickup truck is the absolute best “guy stuff” truck around. Oh wait a minute, back in Central Misery, the “guys” drove pristine big-assed pickup trucks and the only thing the bed ever saw was a cooler and empty beer cans.

  137. 137.

    Eyeroller

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: ​I had an EV (a Leaf) and an aging ICE-V (a Subaru). When I finally downsized to one car, I bought a PHEV (Volvo XC-60) and it is perfect for me. I rarely travel out of its battery range so I run on gas mostly when I forget to charge it. (I don’t go out every day.) It’s not a bad idea for me to use gas every now and then since it needs to turn over–I was getting “old fuel” warnings. I will probably never take a road trip again but in the event I might need to, I did not feel comfortable having an EV as my only vehicle. The charging infrastructure just isn’t there. I had a 220 circuit installed in the garage for the Leaf but I just trickle-charge the Volvo on 120 because I am a bit afraid to use the adapter I got on Amazon for its weird 220 socket. I average about 120 mpg.

  138. 138.

    trnc

    @Alison Rose: ​
     
    It’s good to hear from you, and I wish you felt like just being part of the community here would help but I understand that it can be a little fraught sometimes. Take care of yourself and come back when you can.

    FWIW, the verdict did give me a little hope for people in general.

  139. 139.

    trnc

    @Scout211: ​
     

    Trump and his company have been unable to win over a single juror, out of 42 total, in recent criminal and civil trials.

    I’d like to see this fact mentioned in every story about Aileen Cannon’s trial schedule.

    Actually, I have a question. When a judge is assigned to a case, I assume the anticipated length of the case is taken into account. Is she being given more cases to make up the time between the DT hearings, or is she running through the Wordle archive?

  140. 140.

    K-Mo

    @eversor:

    I’m sorry to hear about your younger relatives’ voting plans.  I’ll never understand the people who choose Z in a choice of A vs B.  Then again I don’t understand most of the people who choose B.

  141. 141.

    Another Scott

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage:

    PHEVs “The Worst of Both Worlds”

    I kinda thought that too, until I looked into it more carefully.

    It really, really depends. One has to consider the tradeoffs – there is no perfect vehicle.

    I have a 2023 Kia Niro PHEV. It’s nearly perfect for me. I commute with it and charge it in the driveway every other day and in the warm weather I almost never touch the gas (filled it up last week for the first time in about 6 months). ~ 42-44 real world all-electric miles in warm weather.

    But if I need to drive out to the airport, or want to take a trip a couple of states over, I can drive it like a normal car (~ 60+ MPG in hybrid mode).

    The battery pack weighs 220 pounds, so I’m not carrying around a ton of batteries that a full EV would have that I don’t need 90+% of the time and am not using.

    EVs are the future, but for lots of people they just aren’t practical enough yet.

    “But, but, you still have an ICE and all that weight and maintenance and complexity!” Sure, but most of the time it is just sitting there, not wearing out. And it weighs less than all the extra batteries a full EV has. I think I have used the ICE about 200 miles in the last 6 months. Yeah, it’s a pain that the car demands an oil change based on total mileage rather than ICE miles, but it’s an annoyance I can live with.

    When 1200V electrical systems are cheap and common, and charging takes 10 minutes rather than 3 hours, and real-world 300 mile range is cheap and common, then PHEVs will become less compelling for those of us who need longer range (at least on occasions).

    As always, YMMV. ;-)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  142. 142.

    Ironcity

    @SpaceUnit: The current one is likely too hard for them but give it the old Soviet hammer and sickle on red field and they’ll nail it at least 75%.   Those classic commies were really good at branding.

  146. 146.

    Hamlet of Melnibone

    @Another Scott:

    I got a 2021 Kia Niro PHEV recently, and it has been great.  Like you said, it has cut my gas usage dramatically day-to-day, but when I need to drive more, I can without a hassle.  I’m not an early adopter of technology.  I’m looking for easy at this stage in my life, and this is easy.  I can avoid using gas most of the time, but if I forget to plug the car in, no biggie.

    We go on an annual trip to Northern Wisconsin in a week. For that week it will be pretty much gas only for us, since we stay at a cabin that has wiring that I probably wouldn’t plug a space heater into, much less a car :)

    There are a lot of people that a PHEV is a good option for.  People shouldn’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

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