Archive for April 4, 2023

Fast Thoughts Under the Fedora Incentives, Consequences, Does cheap beer trump Culture? A Drag Question, Courage Still the Primary Virtue

Posted: April 4, 2023 by datechguy in crime, culture, politics, under the fedora
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I keep reading that the polls for Trump are great since the indictment. I think that doesn’t matter. I think what matters is how Kari Lake’s lawsuit in Arizona is doing, because since the laws are being enforced selectively what is the incentive for the left to not steal the election in the same key districts that they did the last time?

Seriously even if you think the last election was on the up and up what is there any disincentive for the left to try to steal this election, seriously do you see one.

I alluded to this yesterday but let me say it bluntly. I don’t want any help for San Francisco from the feds. Not a single penny and not a single federal officer to help enforce the law.

This city and this state elected the people who made the laws there that bred what they got, let them clean it up.

Until there are consequences for their actions, consequences that require then to act, nothing will change.

I’m still trying to wrap my head around Bud Light deciding that Dylan Mulvaney is the perfect face for the brand. Cripes it’s not like there are not a million beer choices out there these days for people choose and doing so a week after a transgender shot up a Christian school speaks volumes.

In fairness to Bud lite I suspect their brand was not high on the Transgender’s customer list before today and in even more fairness everywhere I go Bud lite is the cheep beer offered at a discount. Perhaps they’re figuring that teenagers who want to get drunk cheap are more interested in price then they are politics. They’re likely right but I’d love to see how the distributers are reacting to this.

I wish I had come up with this one but I have to give credit to DaWife who saw this somewhere on facebook:

Ask not why the children shouldn’t see drag queens, ask why drag queens crave an audience of children

In fairness before Christianity took hold, the sexualization of children was the norm so the secular left is just going back to their pre-Christian roots.

Finally in the wake of the WPGA Australasian locking down their twitter account after a biological male won his first WPGA tournament I want to quote swimmer Riley Gaines concerning people’s reaction to her vocal opposition to fake women in women’s sports.

None of those people giving thanks had the courage to do what she did, speak the truth out loud against opposition. This is the goal of the left consequences for speaking the truth aloud and no consequences for pushing a lie, but a few people have the courage to fight against it.

It’s those few who prove that courage remains the primary virtue that all others depend on.

Easy street for electric vehicles

Posted: April 4, 2023 by chrisharper in Uncategorized
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By Christopher Harper

When an industry needs federal subsidies, it’s almost certain that businesses are in trouble.

That’s precisely the state of affairs for the electric car industry.

Here in Pennsylvania, the federal and state governments plan to build “alternative fuel corridors” along the interstates, sucking millions of dollars into an industry that should be self-sufficient.

Think gasoline stations. Was there ever a time that gas stations needed federal subsidies?

But Joe Biden plans to spend $7.5 billion for electric vehicle charging stations nationwide. The federal government gives money to Pennsylvania and the other states to distribute, and a second pot of discretionary funding will come straight from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Pennsylvania will receive $171.5 million for electric vehicle charging over the next five years under the program. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is preparing to open grant applications for the first year of funding for about $24.5 million.

We all know that the cost will exceed $7.5 billion because government programs never come under budget.

Here’s an idea: Since Elon Musk has already built an extensive charging system for his Teslas, I would wager he’d create a less costly and more efficient plan than any government.

Silly me! I forgot Musk has the wrong kind of politics!

But there’s more. More money will be needed to subsidize the electric car industry.

Ford’s electric vehicle business lost $2.1 billion in 2022 and has projected $3 billion in losses for 2023. When a company loses that much money, it’s likely to lean on governments for subsidies.

Those losses came despite government rebates for buyers of up to $7,500 and a significant increase in the number of vehicles bought.

All told, Ford plans to spend $50 billion by 2026 on electric vehicles.

Alternatively, the company’s gas-powered business, which it is calling Ford Blue, and its commercial and government fleet, Ford Pro, generated $6.8 billion and $3.2 billion in adjusted income in 2022, respectively.

Biden has made the electric vehicle industry a cornerstone of his executive policy—a policy that includes “voluntary” standards through which he expects half of all new cars to be electric by 2026 and to achieve fuel-efficiency standards of 55 miles per gallon during the same period.

Finally, the electric vehicle “revolution” neglects flyover country for the most part. EVs work fine in balmy climates, where owners drive long distances and have good weather for much of the year.

Simply put, EVs need more frequent charging in Pennsylvania than in California.  

Here’s some sage advice from James Meigs, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and the former editor of Popular Mechanics.

“Governments generally aren’t very good at picking the technologies of tomorrow. Maybe the car of the future will run on batteries; maybe it will be hydrogen fuel cells, maybe it will be super-efficient combustion engines. Nobody knows for sure, least of all state and federal bureaucrats,” he wrote recently. “Instead of limiting our choices, our leaders should let innovation flourish and let Americans drive what they want.”

Amen!