Another EV issue…

Coming soon in California, maybe…

Boyden Gray PLLC law firm partner Michael Buschbacher, who worked in the Justice Department’s Environment Division in 2020-21 and specializes in environmental law at his current firm, said in an appearance on FOX Business Network’s “The Big Money Show” that California’s effort to ban the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035 could result in dirtier air than intended. The California proposal is under review by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

California’s regulatory plan to ban new gas-powered vehicles more than a decade from now is aimed at protecting public health by reducing the amount of particulate matter — like dust, dirt and soot — that’s in the air. Although gas-powered vehicles in the past have emitted more particulate matter, technological updates to engines have made it so there is little particulate matter produced from gas cars, Buschbacher said.

Full article, HERE from Fox News.

Interestingly, the tire wear issue is NOT a new one. In the early 2000s, when the first hybrid cars were getting sold, one of the issues found by VADOT in the HOV lanes coming up to DC was the ‘extra’ wear on the lanes…

When they started measuring the weight ‘footprint’ of the hybrids, they found that they were actually wearing the concrete faster than SUVs due to their hard, narrow tires (to reduce rolling resistance and keep mileage high).

Of course that was immediately poo pooed by the left as being an ‘attack’ on the new ‘clean’ cars…

And now, we’re right back in that same situation, this time due to weight (and hard tires again).

Funny how there aren’t any calls to limit the EVs due to weight in accidents like they did with SUVs a 10 or so years ago. Remember that? SUVs had to go to ‘protect’ the folks in Hondas, Nissans, and Toyotas from being in wrecks with SUVs… sigh…

Personally, I think if California pushes the issue, there won’t BE very many new vehicles sold in California because the manufacturers won’t be building enough to make a dent in the cars needed, regardless of what California wants, but that’s just me…

This is getting…

Ridiculous!!!

Despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling on Monday overturning Colorado’s attempt to remove Donald Trump off the state ballot, Democrats are not giving up. With polls showing that Joe Biden is behind Trump in both national match-ups and battleground state surveys, they simply have no stomach for allowing democracy to take its course.

Soon after the Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling dropped, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) rushed over to the friendly audience at CNN and announced to Democrats nationwide that the fight to bar Trump from the ballot is by no means over.

Full article, HERE.

Soooo, their plan is to do EXACTLY what they accused Trump of supposedly doing on Jan 6th…

The powers that be need to remember that ‘we’ the voters are the actual people that make the choices, NOT the elites (regardless of how they try to steal the elections).

If your primary is tomorrow, go vote. I don’t care WHO you vote for, but go and exercise your rights while you still have them!

Book promo…

Raconteur Press has another anthology out- Space Marines III

As always, click on the cover for the Amazon link.

The blurb-

Space Marines combine the confident, tough spirit of the warrior with the fearless, intrepid pursuit of the unknown. We love skilled men and women making war to keep their homes and their fellow citizens safe from tyranny, oppression, or being eaten by aliens. The marriage of the strong soldier with the beauty and wonder of space is a combination that can’t be beat.

Blotter Report by Spearman Burke

How to Decline Lodgers With Extreme Prejudice by Lori Janeski

Full Moon Men by Charles Hackney

Call to Quarters by Wally Waltner

Incident at Spurgle Station by Tom Rogneby

Just One by JJ Lynn Daniels

Semper Fi by Bruce Erling Strange

The Assassin’s Blade by Daniel G. Zeidler

Walking in the Black by Michael Morton

Remember the Avalon by J. Kenton Pierce

And I would like to thank those of you who left reviews for my novella, Ice!

Over 50 reviews, and a 4.6 average!!! Thank you very much! And more thanks to those who went and picked up books in the Rimworld series, which are linked on the sidebar. New readers are always appreciated and I hope you like what I write.

I know I cannot please every reader, but please, honest reviews are appreciated! Reviews are an indie writer’s meat and potatoes (and literally can put food on the table).

A small win…

In an odd place, all things considered…

An Arizona federal judge is upholding a state law that requires voters to provide verification of their U.S. citizenship before their votes can be counted. 

Following a lawsuit that led to Arizona legislators facing accusations of discrimination for requiring voters to verify their U.S. citizenship, Judge Susan Bolton ruled on Thursday that such requirements were not discriminatory. 

Full article, HERE.

I’m sure this one will be appealed as soon as possible, but to have AZ do this after 2022, is amazing!!!

And I wish more states would do this!

And yes, I early voted this week.

And now it begins…

NY AG James is on a…roll???

New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing JBS USA, the world’s largest producer of beef, over the company’s emissions and for “greenwashing” by allegedly misleading the public about its environmental impact.

In an announcement, James noted that beef production has the largest greenhouse gas footprint of any major food commodity and that animal agriculture accounts for 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. According to James, JBS USA’s various net-zero pledges for 2030 and 2040 are therefore misleading and “not feasible” given the scope of its worldwide beef production operations.

Full article, HERE from Fox News.

So now this suit is over something that hasn’t happened yet, but she’s going after them anyway…

Cue the moving vans to New York as the big boys scramble to get out of Dodge before she sues them. Remington is probably thankful they’re already out, and I can’t help but wonder ‘which’ Wall Street firm will be the first to leave.

Everybody laughs at Berkshire Hathaway being located in Omaha, NB, with no offices in NY, but they may have the last laugh…

The other issue here is that JBS is the largest beef producer in the world! If they go under, what does that do to beef prices, not just here, but world wide?

Back in the day…

Somebody(s) did a survey of the ‘top’ cultural moments in the 60s…

The Top 10 Pop-culture Moments of the 1960’s

10. Woodstock Music Festival: In 1969, the Woodstock Music & Art Fair brought together half a million people for a three-day celebration of peace, love, and music. Iconic performances by artists like Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin solidified Woodstock’s place in history as a symbol of the counterculture movement.

Sigh… didn’t make that one…

9. The Beatles’ Invasion: The British Invasion reached its peak in the 1960s with The Beatles leading the charge. Their appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in 1964 marked a cultural watershed, sparking a Beatlemania craze and forever changing the landscape of popular music.

Ironic that this one is on the list twice- Lots of great Brit bands back in the 60s. The Who, the Animals, the Rolling Stones, and the Kinks were pretty good too!

8. The Twist Phenomenon: Chubby Checker’s “The Twist” dance craze took over the 1960s, influencing dance floors across the globe. The simple yet infectious dance moves became a symbol of youthful rebellion and freedom.

And got us in a LOT of trouble…

7. James Bond’s Debut: Sean Connery introduced the world to the suave and sophisticated British spy, James Bond, in the 1962 film “Dr. No.” The Bond franchise became a cinematic phenomenon, shaping the spy genre and pop culture for decades to come.

And that series is STILL going strong 60 years later!

6. The Summer of Love: In 1967, the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco became the epicenter of the counterculture movement during the “Summer of Love.” A wave of psychedelic music, vibrant fashion, and experimental lifestyles swept through the youth, leaving an indelible mark on the decade.

Not all it was cracked (literally) up to be. Bathing was not a ‘thing’ with them… Patchouli and marijuana are the two ‘scents’ I remember in addition to body odor…

5. The Civil Rights Movement: The 1960s witnessed a significant push for civil rights and racial equality. Events like Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech and the March on Washington in 1963 became pivotal moments in the fight against racial discrimination.

We never thought about it, and had plenty of friends of all ethnicities!

4. The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show: The Beatles’ appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 drew a record-breaking 73 million viewers. It marked the beginning of the “British Invasion” and solidified The Beatles as cultural icons.

This one I do remember seeing on TV!

3. Pop Art Emergence: The 1960s saw the rise of Pop Art, with artists like Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein challenging traditional art conventions. Their use of everyday objects and mass media imagery had a profound impact on the art world and popular culture.

And Robert Crumb, Keep on Truckin! And Ed Roth’s Rat Fink and hot cars toons!

2. The Kennedy Assassination: The assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 shocked the world and left an enduring impact on American society. The tragic event marked the end of an era and led to increased scrutiny of political and social issues throughout the decade.

In junior high, math class. Teacher brought a transistor radio in and was crying as we listened to the news reports from Dallas.

1. The Moon Landing: In 1969, the Apollo 11 mission achieved a historic milestone by successfully landing the first humans on the moon. Neil Armstrong’s iconic words, “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind,” echoed worldwide and marked a pivotal moment in space exploration.

Watched it in a bar in Rome in the middle of the night! I also remember talking to both my grandmothers and grandfather who’d been born in the late 1800s and literally remembered Kitty Hawk and then watching man land on the moon!

How many of them do you remember? And remember where you were?

 

Utter failure…

The recent rollout of Google’s Gemini AI was an absolute disaster by any measure. Over the course of several hours, users across the internet quickly realized the large language model developed by Google had erased white people. The AI model wasn’t just prejudiced based on skin color, but would only give far-left ideological answers to various questions. For example, Gemini refused to acknowledge the shortcomings of communism when prompted. It was able to articulate, however, a diatribe about the folly of capitalism.

Full article, HERE from the Federalist.

And second hand, apparently somebody asked for a list of presidents, and Trump was not listed!!! I was at doctor’s appts all day yesterday, so I didn’t get a chance to test that one for myself, but I did see a black George Washington… sigh

White people were only displayed as shoplifters (2 cute, well dressed females).

When you add this to the other issues with Goober, you really need to think about Bing or DuckDuckGo for a web browser to get ‘clear’ results that aren’t ‘massaged’ for your viewing pleasure by the left…

Oh and Happy Birthday to y’all that only have a birthday every four years… 🙂

A few interesting quotes…

From various places…

If the assumptions are wrong, so are the conclusions. [Murphy’s Laws of Combat, Marion F. Sturkey]

No man’s life, liberty or property is safe while the Legislature is in session.  [Mark Twain]

Old age is like a plane flying through a storm. Once you are aboard, there is nothing you can do about it.  [Golda Meir]

The older I get, the more clearly I remember things that never happened. [Mark Twain]

Never confuse education with intelligence, you can have a PhD and still be an idiot.  [Richard Feynman]

Ain’t but three things in this world that’s worth a solitary dime, but old dogs and children and watermelon wine.  [A 65-year old gentleman in Miami, Florida]

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good. [Samuel Johnson]

I don’t get my news from CNN for the same reason I don’t eat out of the toilet.  [Roger Stone]

Tell a man that there are 400 billion stars and he’ll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint and he has to touch it.  [Steven Wright]

What can be added to the happiness of the man who is in health, who is out of debt, and has a clear conscience.  [Adam Smith]

Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.   [George Bernard Shaw]

The Frenchman may fight for France, but the American fights for mankind, for freedom; for the people, not the land.  [Michael Shaara]

If someone despises me. That’s their problem.  [Marcus Aurelius]

Social media made y’all way too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it.  [Mike Tyson]

A man who fears suffering is already suffering from what he fears.  [Montaigne]

You are the only person who cares about your excuses.  [Shane Parrish]

One day, you will wake up and there won’t be any more time to do the one thing you’ve always wanted. Do it now.  Paulo Coelho]

Change your opinions, keep to your principles, change your leaves, keep intact your roots.  [Victor Hugo]

History, in general, only informs us what bad government is. [Thomas Jefferson]

When setting out on a journey, do not seek advice from those who have never left home.  [Rumi]

In the short term, you are as good as your intensity. In the long term, you are only as good as your consistency.  [Shane Parrish]

When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a king. The palace becomes a circus.  [Turkish proverb]

Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.  [Voltaire]

Being dead is like being stupid. Everyone knows it but you. [Unknown]

Always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. [Elie Wiesel]

Humanity has won its battle. Liberty now has a country.  [Marquis De Lafayette]

One of the painful signs of years of dumbed-down education is how many people are unable to make a coherent argument. They can vent their emotions, question other people’s motives, make bold assertions, repeat slogans – anything except reason.  [Thomas Sowell]

So many of these are even more applicable today… sigh

Linguistics…

Or how do we use ‘words’, ‘names’, and other things in our writing…

I don’t think any author today goes to the extent J. R. R. Tolkien, HERE

Many authors use ‘unusual’ names, especially in fantasy, space opera, or other genres. David Weber used differently spelled names to show language drift in his Safehold series for example.

Names are another thing that can be used to ‘cue’ the readers to the time period. Modern names don’t really work in historical fiction or westerns. For example, Wendy didn’t become a ‘name’ until the early 1900s in the Peter Pan story.

Made up names are another way to do that, too. I use a random name generator, HERE, for my series, as it does country specific names, in addition to some bio data if desired. Here is a random Native American name/bio-

Basics
Gender: Masculine
Type: Adult
Nationality: American
Location: Montana, United States
Language: English
Life & Times
Age: 49
Birth date: September 28, 1974 (10:43 AM)
Physical
Height: 163 cm / 5 ft 4 in
Weight: 42 kg / 94 lbs
Handedness: Right
Blood type: A+
Future Outlook
Death date: September 30, 2063 (12:38 AM)
Lifespan: 89
Cause of death: Alzheimer’s

Another thing you can do is ‘structure’ dialog to break out characters. An example, provided by the gent that corrects my bad Spanish, is that the older generation of Hispanics who learned English as a second language NEVER use contractions when they speak or write. They were never taught to use them!

Depending on the genre, say westerns, some use of dialect can also be used to add color to the story. This is the way I do it-

Jeb rode up with three hands from the Nevell place, and Alice smiled. “Thank you for coming. I know this is short notice—”

Evan, the oldest of the Nevell hands, laughed. “We wuz wonderin’ what took y’all so long. Y’all been mooning around each other for the last month and a half. Plain as the nose on yer face!”

Bryce, stoic and hunched, merely smiled, and Skeeter nodded. “Proud to see it.” He glanced over at Anna. “Proud to see both y’all hitched. We wuz always worried them Kidd boys gettin’ stupid.”

I would also note it can be overdone. What I do it to try to replicate the sound of the word in addition to dropping letters, and different word choices.

Lastly, research! There are a lot of ways to find period information on the web for the genre you’re writing in. It might be food, economics, weapons, transport, or??? I would caution to always cross check your data, once you find it, and remember that you don’t HAVE to include all of that data in your writing, just use enough to get the ‘point’ across!

Oh yeah, and watch out about using acronyms. The same acronym may not mean the same thing to all readers! (learned THAT the hard way)… sigh

 

Bias and two tiers…

Of…’justice’???

One state prosecutor and one civilian plaintiff have already won huge fines and damages from former President Donald Trump that may, with legal costs, exceed $500 million.

Trump awaits further civil and criminal liability in three other federal, state, and local indictments.

Full article, HERE by VDH.

Mr. Hanson hits the nail on the head, as usual, and doesn’t pull any punches either.

Here’s a list, direct from him on the ‘new’ precedents set by the left for national politics.

Here are 20 some precedents they now have established for America in the future:

1) When in control of the Senate, demand the end of the filibuster; when not, don’t.

2) Call for the end of the Electoral College–but only if it appears to recently favor the candidate of the opposition.

3) In an election year, change any state balloting laws deemed unhelpful through administrative fiat or court order to favor your political candidate.

4) Seek to flip electors from voting in accordance with the popular vote count in their states; indict as an insurrectionist any of the opposition who dare do the same.

5) Raid the home of any opposition ex-president who removed classified files; exempt any sitting president of your party who did the same.

6) Swarm the private homes of, and then bully and intimidate any, Supreme Court officials, politicians, or citizens you oppose.

7) Appoint two special counsels: one to go after the current chief presidential opponent in an election year; the other to exempt and excuse the sitting president for the very crimes charged against his rival.

8) Lobby to remove any oppositional president through the 25th Amendment; smear any one as ageist who suggests a cognitively challenged sitting resident of your party should be subject to similar invocations of the 25th Amendment.

9) Exempt thousands of arrested rioters from charges of 120 days of arson, looting, injuring 1,500 law enforcement officers, and assault—but only if they are radical supporters of your party.

10) Excuse any demonstrator or rioter for desecrating public monuments and cemeteries or shutting down bridges and freeways, or swarming and disrupting the Capitol Rotunda—but only if they agree with you and/or are pro-Hamas. Otherwise, ensure the charged face lengthy prison sentences.

11) Try to pack the Supreme Court—but only if justices you don’t like are in a majority.

12) Seek in an election year to remove a presidential opponent off state ballots for crimes for which he has never been charged, much less convicted of.

13) First target a presidential opponent, and then change, warp, or redefine laws to convict him. Weaponized prosecutors should always indict their political opponents in jurisdictions where they are guaranteed like-minded justices and jury pools.

14) Violate the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution (the prohibition of “excessive fines”) by having sympathetic judges level multimillion-dollar fines to bankrupt the opposition candidate during a presidential campaign. The more there is no victim of a crime, the higher fines should be leveled for “damages”.

15) Open the border by destroying all the protocols and executive orders of a predecessor president. Then welcome 8-million illegal aliens to “surge” into America on the premise a new constituency might support agendas that American citizens do not. Then call the nonexistent border “secure,” while blaming a predecessor president for having left it secure.

16) Have local prosecutors invent criminal acts of an opposition national presidential candidate in efforts to make it impossible for him to campaign for the presidency.

17) Use the FBI to hire out social media auditors to censor any news deemed problematic for the correct presidential candidate.

18) Hire a foreign national to concoct a smear dossier about one’s opposition political nominee. Ensure the FBI also uses and pays the foreign national to spread untruths among the media and administrative state.

19) On the eve of any major national or midterm election, ensure a president drains the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lower gasoline prices.

20) On the eve of any major national or midterm election, ensure a president promises to cancel billions of dollars in contracted federal student loans.

It is pretty apparent the left/dems/libs will do ANYTHING to maintain power, not caring a bit about legalities and the gloves are truly coming off this year as they are deathly afraid of Trump getting back in office.

This year is going to get uglier and uglier as the months roll on. I just hope and pray they don’t ‘flip the switch’ we all know is hanging out there.

I’m back in battery and enjoyed sleeping in my own bed last night! 🙂

h/t Stretch for the VDH quotes