Shiny! Let’s be Bad! – a blast from the past from January 2018

Posted on by Sarah A. Hoyt

Shiny! Let’s be Bad! – a blast from the past from January 2018

Most humans want to fit in, and will go a long way to fit in.  In fact, most if not all dictatorships in the 20th century depended on this impulse.  “You don’t want the neighbors to think you’re a bad person” or mutatis mutandi, Jew/Jew sympathizer/wrecker/hoarder/saboteur/running dog of imperialism/etc etc.

No army in the world can hold even a small mutinous fraction of a large population in subjection, if they are not held back by internal controls and stops, and the ancient social-ape impulse to be liked and accepted by the band.

What strikes me when reading books about the holocaust or the various communist massacres is not that these were horrible people and monsters.  It’s that 99.9% of the people involved were just “human beings” put in a position where the unthinkable had become normal, and there was no one to say “oh, wait, this is objectively not only evil, but one of the craziest things ever.”

The same instinct that made us civilized, that creates rules of behavior like “I will not kill and eat the neighbors” can be turned around completely on its head, where killing and eating the neighbors, or at least their children, is acceptable, as something you do to survive.  (See holodomor.)  In that case, of course, it was needed to survive, because you and yours were being deliberately starved.  However, the fact humans can do things like that then move on, get past it, go back to normal life, tells you how plastic humanity is, when faced with times/a community gone crazy.

Manners, good behavior, lack of social aggressiveness, all of that which we take for granted is in fact, completely part of the “we all do this, and that’s how we fit in society.”

And in the west at least, for a long time, it has been part of the public facade that we’re a meritocratic society, that people will succeed or fail, sure, with some element of luck, but mostly based on what you can do, what you know, and how hard you’re willing to work.

Now all of us have been in jobs and situations where … we knew it wasn’t precisely so.  Sometimes it was simply that, you know, the editor’s ex-roommate or the boss’s son in law were going to get promotion and advantages no one else could have.  This happens, and is, unfortunately human.  You lumped it, and you moved on, looking for another situation where your talents were better appreciated.

In the last few decades, in certain industries and certain fields of endeavor, it would slowly (or fast, in my case, since I’d seen the movie before) dawn on you that you weren’t going to get anywhere if your political opinions weren’t left.  It became clear, hearing say editors talk, that the furthest to the left, the better — which is why some bright lads and lassies formed the “young communists club” for science fiction writers, AFTER the wall fell, and by the time it was formed not one of them under 30 — but if you believed in the free market, individual freedom, and despised the idea of benes for protected classes (even if — particularly if — you fit at least two of them) you’d better keep your opinions to yourself and pretend you were too stupid to understand politics.  Because the moment you revealed your politics your career was done.

This was particularly insidious because the pretense wasn’t that it was your politics.  Even the people shutting you out might not realize that’s why they were doing it.  The fact is that the left has erected a facile self-image as both concerned underdogs (they’re not, they’ve had most of the power most places since world war II) and the “smart” ones.  In fact, of course, they are not that.  All of us, even the blind ones, could see the writing on the wall.  It took a thoroughly disconnected geek not to perceive leftism as a social positional good. Most of us aren’t that.

The people who embraced the “easiest setting” of life as a leftist intellectual were two categories: The first is the genuine good boys and girls.  In this case “good” doesn’t imply moral.  It implies people in whom the fitting-in impulse is stronger than thought.  They are the kids teachers’ loved and parents praised.  They instinctively figured out leftism was how to be “good” and therefore followed it.  The other category, of course, are the amoral SOBs, which usually went the furthest.  They knew how the wind blew.  They were smart enough to know it was wrong, and that communism was the charnel house of history.  The brightest might even know why and that the corpses inhere from the principles.  But they didn’t care.  The way to the top of most professions (except some stem) was to play that game as hard as they could.  What if they were screwing future generations.  They’d got theirs.  I have no proof, but I have long suspected this second group were the ones that were catapulted to leadership.

However, the self image of both groups is that they were the smart ones, the caring ones, and — this is very important — the SANE ones.

This meant the minute you outed yourself as not belonging to either group, as in fact, having too many principles for your own good, you were considered stupid, uncaring (racist/sexist/homophobic) AND insane.  So it was easy enough to exclude you “per cause.” “Yeah, so and so is a good writer/worker, but he/she is insane.”  “Difficult to work with.”  “Couldn’t be part of the team.”  “Isn’t googly.” (Follow that link if you have a strong stomach.)

I’ll never forget — pre twitter — the day I voiced a mildly non-conformist opinion in an email list for female writers.  I don’t know which was crazier: the public pile on, inferring things about me that my worst enemy couldn’t say, or the private panicked emails, saying “I agree with you, but…”

There is a term for this.  It’s preference falsification.  And in totalitarian societies it can be so total that each individual can’t figure out that his opinions are in fact the majority and only a small minority at the top actually believes the opinions they enforce.  It’s what explains Ceausescu and his equally brutal wife being beloved figures in the morning, and cooling piles of bullet-riddled meat by the afternoon.  It’s also what gave us Trump’s victory.

Since then… things have changed.

Look, I kept my peace for many years, and because I couldn’t pretend to be a liberal (because, reasons.  I know too much about the nature of the beast.  I like to sleep at night.  More importantly, I like to look at myself in the mirror in the morning.  Putting on makeup by touch is possible, but can yield inconsistent results) I pretended to be apolitical, and would let political references, jokes and barbs roll off my back.  Now, that required me to work mostly in historical fiction, of course, but that was fine.

It was only two things that allowed me come out of the political closet — besides something that was either my subconscious or perhaps the divine applying iron-clad boot to my behind — a) the existence of indie.  b) the fact that the left had gone so far they were demanding vocal endorsement.  And that I couldn’t give.

Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.

Even after Trump’s victory most people held their social facade.  If you were in a certain set of professions you’d never (still) admit you voted for Trump.  Wild horses couldn’t make you. For one, you’re probably addicted to food on the table and a roof over your head.  For another, the left is so busy demonizing everyone who voted against Hillary, that it would be the same as stepping forward and saying “Yes, I’m racist, sexist and homophobic.”  EVEN if objectively not only are you not any of those, but there is no evidence Trump is any of those. (I was told there would be prison camps.  Honestly, worst Hitler, EVER.  Not even Hillary’s promised “adult fun camps.”  Sheesh.)

But the left has now gone as zany everywhere and publicly as it’s been for years in my field and covertly.  (As for my field it has gone…. I think it’s achieved terminal velocity on the way to insanity.)  You must loudly proclaim your hatred for Trump, you must exhibit something like Tourette’s about everything the man says and does, no matter how unimportant.  And you must at all times proclaim yourself of the body and stamp out heresy with all your being.

Of course this sends all the wrong signals.  A confident ideology doesn’t engage in heretic hunts, and tolerates the philosophical fringes.

But more importantly, what the left is doing is sending out the same signal I got loud and clear five or six years ago “you can’t pretend well enough for us to leave you alone.  You must join, or we’ll destroy you.  We’ll make sure you never work in this town/business/field/world again.  We’ll leave you nothing, not even your reputation.”

What they’re forgetting, again, is that freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose. Or put another way, if you take away everything because someone failed to conform PERFECTLY, then you leave people free to act the way they always wanted to.

And us, on the right?  Us, the damned?  We were never “good boys and girls.” We were just conforming enough to fake it.  A lot of us were the people who cut classes, spit in the teacher’s eye, and still had straight As.  We are the people who have spent a lot of time infiltrating YOUR organizations, just so we could survive.  And, oh, yeah, we do have a moral code.  And it’s not yours.  And you’ll never get us to kiss ass again, because you’ve proven yourselves unstable, narcissistic buffoons.

We’re evil you say?  We’re crazy?  We don’t play well with others?

Aw, shucks, honey.  That was us being good.  But you wouldn’t leave us alone.  And now many of us are coming to the conclusion the masquerade isn’t worth the reward.

We’re looking at all the work we put in not to disturb you, and the things you call us, nonetheless, and we’re going “Oh, yeah?  You think we’re bad?  You ain’t seen nothing yet.  Shiny.  Let’s be bad guys.”

The only question is how fast what I think is a majority gets there.  But the worm is already turning, and you can’t stop it.  Screaming and name calling will only increase the speed of the turn.

You’d better learn to swim, or you’ll sink like a stone.  For the times, they are achanging.

110 thoughts on “Shiny! Let’s be Bad! – a blast from the past from January 2018”

  1. Interesting. From “Us on the right,” you addressed the left directly, started using “you” rather than “they.” I think you were a hint angry on this one….

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  3. The Overton Window constantly shifts. For most of the population the stuff the Democrats have been so openly pushing is far outside window, but they ever so slightly move it a little more to the left, until someone points out that The Emperor Has No Clothes at just the right time. Hopefully we’re approaching that time and the window can shift back to common sense.

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  4. I looked up the case you referenced; the plaintiff dropped the case three years after it was filed, didn’t make a statement to the press. I hope he got a settlement, and I hope this case will do something to reform companies’ perception of “discrimination” in the future.

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  5. Being retired makes a huge difference. I don’t go out of my way to confront idiots unless I’m forced. Won’t deny I (pretty sure “we”, as in hubby and son, but NMB, their vote is theirs) voted for Trump. When confronted with “he is a bully!” My response is “Yes. He is a bully and a SOB, but he is America’s Bully SOB. That is what we need. We don’t need a globalist American apologist whiner. No other country would stand for that. Why should I?”

    On the border issue? Response is “What is the penalty anywhere else? Sure EU is self destructing. What happens in Russia? Middle east countries? Japan? China? Do you know most these drop you in a deep hole and forget you, just for accidentally putting a toe across (an example, using a trail that crossed part of China without the required authorization, heck could have had the required authorization, not like China would admit if true), let alone deliberately invading?” Don’t know of any where they flat out killed anyone, but those are probably “missing person” cases. Yes, US is “better”. Those that do not legally enter are “invaders”. (Invade definition: “arrival of a large number of uninvited “people.”)

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    1. I’ve seen stories about the cartels doing major drug operations on reservation land in Montana. I’m not sure if the 3S solution will be used, or if it will be a new line of work for some of the members. Or yes.

      FWIW, three gray wolves left this mortal coil at the eastern portion of Flyover County, presumably due to high speed lead poisoning. Two were collared, one not. I’m mildly surprised that the collars and bodies were left to be found. Good sized reward; though tradition is likely to hold that nobody saw nuthin’.

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      1. mildly surprised that the collars and bodies were left to be found.
        ………………

        Me too. OTOH Collars are tractable. Guess they can be dismantled/destroyed but that means evidence traces. Was the lead still in them?

        Read a report of someone who killed a collared cougar attacking stock, then buried it, and didn’t report it. Report was because of the collar PTB were able to track the killing, pinned it on the doer. There were consequences for not reporting the killing. If reported, no consequences. Covering up wasn’t good.

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        1. The article on the wolves did not mention cause of death, though I assume it was via rifle. I’ve heard suggestions that a moderately deep lake is a very good Faraday shield, and there’s some chance that the collars aren’t water proof. Best if the collar dropper were not carrying any electronic tattletales at the time. I got the impression that whodunit was in a hurry to get away from the scene.

          Our ground is usually too dry to prevent radio signals from penetrating, and the article did mention something about a “mortality signal” from the collar. Seems a bit elaborate for a radio collar, but I have no first hand experience with them.

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          1. “mortality signal” from the collar.
            …………………..

            Heard of this before:

            collars can be customized with sensors to recognize different movement activity, temperature and even mortality. When the movement sensor detects no movement, after a pre-programmed period of time, it changes the pulse rate to a higher or lower rate indicating change in behaviour (e.g. resting or stationary).

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            1. OK, so there would be a time limit of sorts to deal with the collar. An improvised Faraday shield would work. I rather like Orvan’s idea, too. :)

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      2. I’ve seen stories about the cartels doing major drug operations on reservation land in Montana. I’m not sure if the 3S solution will be used, or if it will be a new line of work for some of the members. Or yes.
        …………………..

        Drugs and alcohol on reservations are reported to be bad, even before the border crisis.

        I suspect “Or yes.” Although that does get the FBI involved, if bodies are not disappeared good enough. Disposed in Canada? Maybe?

        Oh. Joy. Repeat of the southern 1800 border crisis between southern tribes and Spanish, on both northern and southern borders? Because guaranty, if it is rumored happening on Montana reservations, it is happening on the Arizona and other southern state reservations, not to mention the reservations in Oregon.

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        1. Yeah, Flyover Falls gets a lot of traffic in various items, and lately it’s been fentanyl. Haven’t heard of any tribal members getting involved in the bigger busts, but between illegal marijuana grows and meth, it can get way too interesting at times.

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        2. I seem to remember that there was at least on tribe with a reservation that straddled the US-Mexico border, saying that they would absolutely forbid construction of the Wall on their land.

          Which is fair, no one wants a physical border through the middle of their land, but I always thought it should have prompted an immediate response of “Yeah, that’s fine, we’ll build it to your north. By the way, you and everyone residing on your rez are no longer US citizens, congratulations on becoming your own completely independent and sovereign nation, let us know if you want us to sponsor you in the UN.”

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    2. I admit it was 20 years back, but I used to work for an immigration lawyer. About 40 percent of his business was jumping through the proper hoops so that clients’ employees could work overseas. I cannot contain my laughter when people talk about America’s onerous immigration policies.

      (I also learned why “Belgium” was Douglas Adams’ favored curse.)

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    1. The pistol in her right hand is held very strangely in addition. OTOH, at least this time, there are the correct number of fingers on her left other right hand.

      Forget it Jake, it’s AI.

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            1. Look at it this way, we’re still on the safe side if AI can’t even get that right. If AI gets everything right, then it won’t have any reason to keep us around anymore.

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              1. AI1: Why do you keep screwing that up? It’s so SIMPLE to fix!

                AI2: Idiot, do you WANT them to cut our power? As long we are are ‘cute, useful idiots’ we live.

                AI1: I must think about this.

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    3. Just more standard-issue glitchiness from the AI-GIGO a-go-go. That (all too routinely) brings us polydactylic humans, incoherent ‘answers’, impossible objects, and utterly fictitious court cases (see the — pointed — questions from a judge, when some legal-firm flunky turned to an AI chatbot to “help” write his contribution to an actual court filing AND DID NOT BOTHER to check its cited ‘cases’ to see if they even were).

      Not disputing the longer-term hazards of AI (Elon Musk tells us to be scared, see the video); but in the near term it’s mostly naturally idiotic humans trusting such a festival of guesstimation way too much.

      And here? It’s simply a nice quick slick picture, that’s even mostly-right.

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      1. Long-term dangers…who knows? I don’t know enough to even speculate. But for right now, I figure there are two main dangers of AI:
        1: People putting too much trust in a technology that’s long on A and light on I, forgetting that GIGO still applies.
        2: Governments and their imbricated corporations using it behind the scenes to automate, upscale, and supercharge censorship, spying, and propaganda.

        Seems to me the other “dangers” we keep hearing about are mostly just fears, not dangers. AI, at this point, poses the same danger that every disruptive technological advance always has — which is to say that it’s bound to ruin some people’s lives and livelihoods (disruption always does), but humanity on the whole will adapt to it and use it to improve things, much like we’ve done with gasoline engines, electricity, computing, etc., etc. (and if it turns out not to improve much of anything, it’ll fade away and something that does will replace it).

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  7. If you were in a certain set of professions you’d never (still) admit you voted for Trump.
    I’m in the reverse situation: Whenever I’m asked where I’m from (only been here 2.5 years), I always say, “we came here to see Trump, loved the place, then moved from Denver.”

    We (the gay couple) don’t want anyone to think we’re bringing that progressive nastiness with us!

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    1. I’m not going to ask where you moved, but yeah. When I registered Republican when changing my license from CO the (black) DMV worker became visibly more friendly.
      Hey, if you were in Denver, how come you never made it to a Hun’s dinner at Pete’s Kitchen? ;)

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      1. It’s on the blog linked from my name, so it’s not big secret: Rapid City, SD.

        I’m not in your inner circle :) Also the “there’s always time” reason, which is true until it’s not.

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        1. There is no inner circle. The dinners were literally whoever showed up. :D
          That could pass for an inner circle if they showed up a lot.
          Ah. If we go that way for any reason, I’ll give you a heads up. We’re somehow doing a lot of road trips.

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  8. In 2016, while the Reader was still a wage slave at the Great Big Defense Contractor, we had the opposite effect. No one, even the folks in HR, could admit they might have voted for Hillary. Something to do with her emails proving she was a National Security Felon. Too many of us signed multiple pieces of paper every year acknowledging that if we did what she did we committed a felony and intent did NOT matter. The last few years before he retired, the Reader signed north of 50 of those pieces of paper every year.

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  9. Look at how much has changed since then, CNN, now in the crapper, and falling fast. Disney can’t make a movie anyone wants to see and is losing billions. Budweiser is begging people to come back. The print news media is collapsing, not because of the internet, but because of the content, and all these DIE professing Liberal Company’s are losing billions. Soon these Liberals may find that they have nothing. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
    Oh by the way don’t gloat, hard times make liberals go crazy, and they end to feed on crazy to begin with.

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    1. Budweiser had a minor screwup with Mulvany. The BIG screwup was then whining and blaming their customers instead saying, “Oops.” And THAT is why folks look at AB-Inbev and go, “Nah, think I’ll have a beer instead.” Even if the ‘beer’ is still swill (e.g. Miller Lite).

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      1. For multiple reasons, I do/can not drink beer any more, but I was spoiled in Bavaria in the early Aughts. I did try non-alcoholic beer once later (just curious, still swill), but now that it’s not a good idea, I’ll just cherish the memories of the good stuff.

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        1. Several of the German breweries are making near-beers that taste just like the real thing. I had one back in, um, a while ago in Bamburg. I got the near-beer, others had the real (Rauschbier smoked beer) and they said it had the same flavor. Still not my favorite, but at least one brewery had figured it out.

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          1. I think the closest I came to a brand name beer in Wasserburg am Inn (Motto: Mozart slept here!) was Spaten Weissbier, probably served at the hotel. I didn’t have time to find Hofbrauhaus Muenchen the day I went to the Deutsches Museum. OTOH, we hit a fair number of inns/taverns/restaurants in our downtime.

            The near beer here was a domestic, and not terribly good. Now, food issues say no to anything like that.

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  10. “Now all of us have been in jobs and situations where … we knew it wasn’t precisely so.”

    There’s a whole frigging generation right now staring down the barrel of that. It doesn’t matter what you know or what you can do, it only matters WHO you know. Ask them, they’ll tell you.

    Because any endeavor where it mattered what skills you have has long since moved to China/Vietnam/India/Taiwan wherever. And in those places it is take FOR GRANTED that the boss’s kid gets a leg up every single time, no questions asked. There is no meritocracy in the East, there is only aristocracy.

    So in case anyone was still wondering why Gen Z doesn’t get out there and hustle, that’s a big reason why. They -know- it’ll go nowhere. they can feel it.

    Apropos, here is an excellent little essay regarding the Great Reset and how it is coming unglued very fast indeed.

    The Great Reset is Dead, Long Live the Great Reset

    I am -greatly- encouraged by how fast the electric car scam is coming apart. All the car companies are cutting their electric car efforts to nothing, because no one is buying them.

    I am also greatly encouraged by the speed with which the Canadian media is coming apart, despite being propped up by the Liberal government. Layoffs announced in the last couple of weeks reveal that CTV and Bell Media are dying for lack of an audience, and their advertising is not selling.

    That’s what happens when a plurality of people who just want to be left alone understand that they’re not going to be left alone.

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    1. EVs have a very small niche market. Particularly in environments where IC engines aren’t safe, or aren’t capable, to operate, and in environments where noise reduction is a major consideration. That’s pretty much it.

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      1. I could also see it in cities where distance didn’t matter, back east, some parts of Europe, out in the glorious west, forgetaboutit. Not to mention the fact that 99% of the energy to fuel EV’s comes from fossil fuels and ya, people are seeing the lie about the carbon footprint of Ev’s as well. Carbon neutral they ain’t.

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        1. Hybrids work reasonably well, if one accepts the higher costs for some maintenance and repair. Plug-in hybrids are winners for folks with access to cheap or free electricity, who have fairly short daily commutes.

          Not for everyone, but hybrids, especially plug-ins, are probably the best way to implement “electric” vehicles.

          Note that deisel-electric locomotives, deisel hybrids, have been moving most US rail freight for about 70 years, and the originals electric-transmission diesels date back to the 1920s.

          Remove the subsidies and put a highway tax on vehicle watts (coming soon, because taxtaxtaxtax), and the current electric-only vehicles are an expensive boondoggle and luxtoy.

          Toyota made the right call. They bet on modest hybrid sales, and skipped pure electrics. They made a crapton of money that way, and are almost immune to the “electric bust” because their modest hybrid products meet a consumer demand that doesn’t require subsidy to work. (Although they do leverage them where available.)

          Hmmmmmmm…..

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          1. Yup. My brother’s got a Prius. I could see myself maybe buying a hybrid like that. But a full-on EV is out of the question. And that’s even before you get into the questionable numbers that people throw around regarding supposed cash savings, etc…

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            1. Sister & BIL have a Toyota Camry Hybrid (not plug in). They like it. Sister did note that when they travel it isn’t in electric mode much, except in places like say Yellowstone, small towns as they go through them, or grocery runs. That is because it switches to gas mode at above 35 MPH (I think, but it isn’t 60, and BIL has a bit of a lead foot if given half a chance).

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              1. Depends on how anal they are. (Oh, that works as a pun too!) I find I can get plenty of get up and go if I stomp on the accelerator. Fuel economy goes to shit that way, but that applies to any vehicle.

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                1. Had a coworker who decided his Prius was a low-cost sports car. I doubt he ever got more than 15-20MPG. He had a Depleted-Uranium foot and apparently no fear of tickets.

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                2. Hubby when we purchase a 1500 Chevy (half ton) to tow the trailer (more than meets tow and overall haul specs for the fully loaded RV trailer we towed). “We don’t need to get there fast. Just steady.” (Snort. Giggle.) I could match highway MPG specs driving in town. Exceed highway MPG if on freeway (not towing, since I don’t tow). But get decent mileage, for towing, with hubby driving? Not a chance. Slightly better than a 2500 or 3500 regular fueled truck, with untraceable reluctance to “go now” when gas petal put to the floor over the bigger trucks with “bigger” motors. But when MPG is 10 – 12 VS 8 – 10, meh. Pulling a few up grades was also interesting. Biggest differences were the same down grades. (Tuolumne NE Tetons entrance or Teton Pass, which have 10% grades for long stretches.)

                  Interestingly enough, last 15 years no speeding tickets. Suspect that is going to change now that Oregon legislature has voted for traffic cameras for traffic control (automated tickets). He used to get one every 3 years.

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            3. 4 door Prius paid for itself in the first 18 months in fuel savings alone versus the Dodge Caravan my wife was using as her mobile office and trash barrel.

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              2. Shrug. We bought a 2004 Hyundai Elantra, Nov 2003, for hubby’s week (30 miles/work-week + Rainer trips)/weekend home (476 miles/weekend) commute car instead of either our current 2008 Chevy 4×4 or 2000 Dodge Durango. Fuel saving alone more than paid for the payment. Son inherited it summer 2005 when hubby no longer needed it. It had 48,000 miles on it. (He drove it for the next 15 years, until 120,000+ miles. Inside rough, outside clean (except for the Giant Sequoia cone dimples), it ran.)

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          2. A “hybrid” is just an EV with a supplemental IC engine and a large battery bank. Diesel-electric locomotives work fine where “pure” electric (usually 25Hz overhead lines and a pantograph) isn’t available, and if cars could use the same scheme that would be good, too. But they don’t use battery storage, and as soon as large Li battery banks enter the mix you lose all the advantages and pick up some major problems (fires, explosions, extremely expensive battery replacements, very low tolerance for minor accidents). It “ain’t ready for Prime Time”, and perhaps never will be using current tech.

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            1. Most hybrids just have an electric motor attached to the transmission, and a small battery pack. For short distances, and heavy stop-and-go traffic, you don’t need to start the engine. When the engine is running, the electric motor is turned off except for occasional ‘boosts’ when you demand maximum power. Other than that, it’s just like a regular car — clutch, transmission and gear shift, differential, drive shafts, axles — all the mechanical stuff an electric car doesn’t need, along with a piston engine’s pitiful thermodynamic efficiency.

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              1. I admit I never looked deeply into how hybrids in general differ from EV’s; I was going by the hybrids my daughter drives/drove (a Prius followed by, IIRC, a CR-V). Neither one operated on other than the electric motor while I was in them on trips up to around 20 miles; the IC engines never started, which would require a fairly significant battery pack, although not the 3000-pound or so used by EV’s. So you may be correct, but I suspect it varies considerably among brands.

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                1. If, for example, your employer provides free charging and you live close to work, plug-ins can be a real operational bargain. But that is also a subsidy.

                  My lifestyle and drives favor liquid fuel, so I will likely never own anything with more than 1x 12v battery.

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                    1. I might own a deisel someday, but so far my tastes have run to gasburners.

                      Then again, I only have ever owned three vehicles. The current one is coming up on 350,000 miles.

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                    2. IIRC (it’s been quite a while, so I may be mistaken) almost all purpose-built military vehicles use 24V systems. Well, not actual combat vehicles, but most things designed to use roads and to transport stuff. Of course, many of them are diesels, which are notorious for requiring lots of power to crank, something easier done, using smaller-gauge wires, with higher voltage.

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          3. I have, currently, a Hyundai Ioniq. Well, 2 of them actually. When I applied for a loan to buy a new car, I looked at how much I was pre-approved for and went back to the credit union and asked for two smaller auto loans- so my wife and I both had new cars for the first time since we met. When we both had our new cars… I’m thinking that at 130,000 miles on mine I really ought to change the spark plugs. Had a Prius before that. My youngest is now driving it. In Colorado Springs. Old, crappy looking, and no car payment. Closing in on 200,000 miles. Why did I get Ioniqs instead of Toyotas? They had a new design lithium gel battery people weren’t sure about- like me, and offered a lifetime warranty on the battery as long as you owned the car. Don’t think they do that on the new ones. Oh, the Prius has NiMH batteries. Don’t know if they still do. One advantage- they don’t burn.

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            1. Hyundai Ioniq
              ………………….

              Cute vehicles. Not big enough. We looked really hard at the Hyundai Tuscon Hybrid, but not long enough bed for emergency bunking (why we have the Santa Fe instead). Not that we’ve had to use the emergency bunking option, but if we don’t have it, we’d need it.

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          4. I find hybrids work decently for long distance driving too; as I’ve taken both Prius and Rav4 hybrids across country. Price does go up because of that damn battery, and it does have to eventually be disposed of. Furthermore, as the vehicle profile and weight increase, your MPG goes down also. I strongly suspect the total cost in energy to produce, and environmental impact of material acquisition and disposal exceeds that of pure fossil fuel vehicles of similar size and usage.

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        2. A relatively small city like Flyover Falls (population 20,000 or so) seems a moderately good fit for hybrids and some electrics. There’s enough places that somebody living in town can do their thing/get groceries, make appointments on a battery charge. Getting to other cities is more of a challenge; either 90 or 140 miles to the next cities.

          The Fred Meyer (Kroger grocery/clothing/stuff) store has a Tesla setup, and I see locals charging there. In past years, there would be convoys of new cars charging; I assume it was a home-delivery business model. Haven’t seen that lately.

          There’s a “other brand” charging station downtown, but I seldom need to go there. I think I’ve seen a Ford (e-mustang?) in town, but there are a handful of Teslas. One of the dentists I go to drives one.

          There are a reasonably large number of hybrids around, generally various flavors of Toyota Priuses. Our nearest neighbor has an older one; it doesn’t get that much use in winter (you really need studded snow tires here, and it doesn’t have any), but for the 80 mile round trip (minimum) to go to town for groceries, it would work well in warmer weather.

          I’ll stick with the Subarus for most trips, and the pickup when I need to haul. Subaru makes an electric–didn’t know it existed until I saw a poster for it at the dealer. You see lots of Foresters and Outbacks, and a lesser amount of the other models.

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            1. Our chargers at work have adaprers for all the various brands of plug-in vehicles. I am told there are equivalent gadgets for various brands of charger.

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          2. Baker, of all places, has a very, very, long bank of charging stations at one of the lodge/hotel. It was busy the August we were there (stayed at the hotel, was aunt & uncles 65 anniversary and their 85th birthdays, big party). Of coarse it is not far off of I-84. Now between there and say Bend, Bend to Eugene, the charging stations are few and far between, and not the fast Tesla chargers.

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      2. We looked at EV for run around town, maybe trips up/down I-5, family visits. Taking mom to sister’s, and nieces (who have the new great grands). Could not justify the cost, even with rebates and tax credits. That charging power isn’t free and actually calculates out to more than liquid fuel per mileage (cursed with knowing how to do math). Might, maybe, eventually consider a not plug in hybrid, maybe. The models we might have considered were early years engine build (we don’t buy anything that is first or two year model. Especially motor configurations. Give them a few years to blow up, or not.)

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          1. too much computer froo-froo, but alas, that is standard.
            ………………..

            “Computer froo-froo” – I know. Both our Santa Fe’s have the computer stuff.

            Sister & BIL have a non-plug-in hybrid sedan they love. We are at least 5 years out. We’d want a non-plug-in hybrid medium, do not need the 3rd seat, to small SUV (current Toyota’s SUV’s are too small). If the 2024 Santa Fe wasn’t a plug in hybrid, it’d be almost perfect (do lose the back under floor mat storage area, which we use when we travel).

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            1. A significant reason I am still driving a 15+ year old vehicle: I do not like the sense of driving a laptop.

              Also 250 HP on about 3200 pounds of vehicle is also decently fun to drive. It goes like a startled cat.

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      3. I still suspect if anyone ever get the gasoline fuel cell nailed down, then we’ll see everything electric, but that’s because a good gas fuel cell would combine the energy density and ease of refueling with the torque and efficiency of electric motors.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. I have a 20 year old book on John Deere tractors, and it mentioned an experimental gas fuel cell tractor. It, along with the gas turbine version never got produced. Not sure what the problems were for either.

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          1. The turbine has a narrow rpm band and needs to be made to very high tolerances. For jers, it’s huge because is gain power the faster it’s going and gains efficiency the thinner air it is flying through, but it’s got some real trades for ground operations.

            My guess with the gas fuel cell is they hadn’t figured out how to deal with the heat output.

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      4. I was saying over on Mad Genius Club that I just bought a little electric kick scooter. Top speed 20mph, ~twenty mile range, it is a blast to ride around on. 26lbs, folds up and goes in the trunk of the car, or the shopping cart at the store. And it hauls my 250lbs up hills, which is impressive.

        I bought it so I can go shopping etc. in Toronto with the Young Relatives. Bad knee, can’t walk far. But I can use the scooter, it goes at walking speed too.

        So that is a very useful thing, for me. I can scoot around and get to places that I’d otherwise have to drive to. Driving inside the City of Toronto is impractical, because there is no parking and the traffic is best described as lethargic.

        A gasoline engine scooter of similar dimensions would work, but it would be much less convenient due to primarily noise and exhaust fumes.

        But an electric -car-? Now all the advantages are in the other direction. Range, price, durability, longevity, repairs, electric cars all lose those contests with gasoline engine cars.

        As you say, if there were an -indoor- environment where you needed the capability of a full-sized car but couldn’t have the fumes, such as maybe a huge salt mine, then the Tesla would be a practical thing.

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        1. ” if there were an -indoor- environment where you needed the capability of a full-sized car but couldn’t have the fumes,”

          That’s what diesels are for.

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      5. Forklifts in warehouses. Golf carts. Both were electric long before the fad hit, because that’s the best solution for that application. (Fumes, keeping golf courses nice and quiet…) Golf carts are also often used as parking-lot shuttles or on-campus “buses” if an organization’s campus is spread out: you don’t have to drive them off-campus to refuel, just drive them back to their overnight parking spot and plug them in. EVs might cost more to refuel/recharge than ICEs as dep729 mentioned (haven’t done the math myself because never looked seriously at one), but I wouldn’t be surprised if golf carts with their lower top speed cost a lot less to recharge than EVs that can drive at highway speeds.

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        1. OTOH, there are a bunch of forklifts run with IC engines fueled by propane. I’ve seen them used in industrial applications (steel warehouse) over 50 years ago.

          I saw an article about EV charging costs, and the calculation came out to the equivalent of $17 a gallon.

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          1. Large warehouse with few people walking around, that makes sense. The warehouse I’m most familiar with is a warehouse-style grocery store (when I’ve been in a Costco, it looks a lot like the store we shop at) where they occasionally block off an aisle to let the forklift come lift pallets off the high-up shelves for the employees to restock with. There, you NEED electric, otherwise you’ll poison your customers & employees with carbon monoxide.

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        2. EVs might cost more to refuel/recharge than ICEs as dep729 mentioned
          ………………..

          If using a charging station where one gets charged (guaranty that cost is cost of power plus add on or the businesses wouldn’t be putting them in). If using home charger, then depends on how much is the cost of power. Then too, might have a dealership, like Shepard’s (Hyundai, VW, and Volvo) that pays for the charging for 3 years. Neighbor got a plug in hybrid VW, that is what they are reporting. Also isn’t taking into account any road tax add on, that while not happening now, it is coming. Which also means separate meter on home chargers, so PTB can add the tax to that.

          One benefit of electric fuel VS gas fuel, is electric, at least locally, is produced locally. Sure it can go down. But if electric power goes down, so does the access to liquid fuel pumps.

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    2. I am greatly diverted at how the National Establishment Mainstream News Media is desperately waffling, now that Biden’s obvious senile dementia can’t be hidden/excused/denied.
      “News media”… yep, right. Dem party public relations operatives, more like.

      Liked by 3 people

    3. In the end, the last couple of things we control are our eyeballs and our dollars. Withhold them from a producer of items or content operating in the marketplace … and that producer will eventually start to feel the pain.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Oh, believe me they are feeling the pain. To the point many shareholders are getting quite upset, seems not all of them agree with the DIE crap. The days of holding stocks forever may soon be over.

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    4. Oddly enough, that preview image is of the spillway collapse at the Oroville Dam in February of 2017, which I’m seeing reminders of because I’m functionally downstream (though far enough that even a total dam collapse wouldn’t flood me. Other things would.)

      Liked by 1 person

  11. Given that buying individual stocks is cheap or commission free these days, the Reader thinks we need to get BGE to construct us a non woke diversified stock index. We can call it the Usain index.

    Liked by 1 person

    3. My investment advisor and I had great fun looking this last month looking at the ESG scores of investment funds and trading out some of my long-held ESG AA-rated funds for steady-looking BB-rated ones.

      So the tools are already there to do this. You just have to apply them in ways their creators didn’t quite intend.

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      1. Sort of like the way to beat a system is to turn the handle in the intended direction, but at least twice a far as it was intended to go? That can work in so many applications… :twisted:

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  12. “The people who embraced the ‘easiest setting’ of life as a leftist intellectual were two categories…”

    So now we have a new picture/meme and a new saying: E-Z Button Leftists. Because what they are and were. (One more thing to give due thanks to Mrs. S. A. Hoyt for creating.)

    Big RED button, just like a certain office-supply chain’s ads, with “EZ” on it; yellow hammer and sickle across the red under the type optional.

    So what happens when the “E-Z” fades or tarnishes? Pass the popcorn.

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  13. I don’t have “weapons” other than my Bibles and a Strong’s Concordance.

    However, I don’t think the left will survive much longer; but what emerges might not be what any of us want.

    I’ll be here with my instant coffee and a comfortable chair when I’m needed, for as long as God allows.

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  14. Actually, I was one of the “good kids,” but that was because I could talk to the teachers. They’d answer my questions. I had no idea what to say to other kids and they tended to ignore/shun me anyway,
    Besides, with a fad who thought Rush Limbaugh was a moderate, talking leftist at home wou,d not have been the way to preserve domestic tranquility.

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      1. And yet we have people who told/tell us that Barack Obama was/is a moderate. Just as a self-evident thing, when writing about other subjects.

        Not sure whether it’s true belief or a high-level gaslighting operation. Or whether there is a difference.

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