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Ok. What happens if we don’t buy them?

The Biden Administration is out to get your truck. The newly mandated EPA standards can only be met if 25% of truck sales by 2032 are electric. The standards mean that automakers can produce large vehicles such as SUVs and pickups but will have to balance them with hybrids, plugin electrics and totally electric cars. Automobile manufactures lose thousands of dollars on every EV they sell and are only profitable because of the gas and diesel powered SUVs and pickup trucks. 

There is a reason why pickups are the best selling vehicles in America. We love our trucks.  I thought Biden liked autoworkers? Seems to me that this is a sure fired way to get them laid off. Regards, the only vehicle that American automakers build that is really popular is the full sized pickup. While car sales of American manufacturers have fallen, only the full sized pickup holds its own. No manufacturer can meet the standards if the current ratio of truck sales to auto sales holds. This would mean that the government would force the auto companies to make fewer trucks. Zowie! Our congressional politicians are gutless and won’t sue the EPA for exceeding its authority. Perhaps, like before, they are waiting on the republican AGs to sue for them.

Maybe the American public will sit on its hands and meekly accept the EPA forcing you to buy electric trucks. Talk about white rage! Well to be honest, that rage will be colored in that I own a F-250 diesel. The EPA will kill the travel trailer industry. I pull a 35 foot fifth wheel behind my truck. If I had a Ford F-150 Lightening I would hitch it up to the fifth wheel and spin out the tires. I guess I would have to camp in the RV storage lot. The motorhome industry is seeking an exemption because the heavier batteries and limited range will effectively kill that industry as well.

I hope that these mandates are repealed because they will have virtually no impact on the environment. They will raise inflation in the country as prices on everything will rise given the increase in purchasing vehicles and the cost of transporting them. I predict a robust market for used pickups. My car it is a decidedly nongreen Mercedes cabriolet and my SUV is a Mercedes GLS 430. I am proud of my carbon footprint. What the new EPA standards mean is that I will keep my pickup, car and SUV forever. I pity future generations and in particular my grandkids for having to deal with the crap put on them by this current crop of politicians.

Are you a RINO?

I hate the term “RINO” (Republican in name only). As I have noted before, the voting records of the most conservative – or should I say least liberal – Democrat in the Senate are more liberal than the voting records of the least conservative senators. Yes Mitt Romney, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski are vilified by those on the far right, but those three senators all voted for Trump’s supreme court nominees. They also have consistently voted against left wing bills in the senate while those in the Democrat caucus have had a united front.

I am a Republican because I am a laissez-faire, free market, free trade, government with a small “g” economist. The Wealth of Nations was the most influential book in my college years and shaped my thinking. Subsequent empirical evidence has confirmed most microtheory and shown Adam Smith to be correct. Government interference in market decisions are always suboptimal. Industrial policy is a failure. Economic freedom, private property and the freedoms enumerated in the Constitution have led to the lifting out of poverty and economic advancement of millions, perhaps billions. Yes this country is not perfect but rather than being ashamed of its faults – to err is human, I am proud of its accomplishments. Yes, my African ancestors were enslaved, survived the middle passage and were dehumanized but their fortitude and bravery made me what I am today. If they had not been brought here, I would likely be scraping the soil for cobalt in the Congo for $5 per day.

I see the Democrats and the so-called progressives as the major impediment to economic progress of all people, not just minorities. The climate “existential” threat agenda, public schools, the welfare state, the administrative state all conspire to keep minorities impoverished. Their policies are anathema to what I believe and know to be right. I feel that to be a Republican one must have similar values although I wonder sometimes. Our Washington politicians are mostly big government, tax and spenders regardless of party. The Republicans just a little less so than the Democrats. Republicans should unite around those basic priniciples rather than carry on internecine warfare amongst themselves over issues that are trivial in comparison. It is a tragedy that social issues have come to dominate Republican politics. One’s fealty to the party is now judged on issues such as abortion and gun control rather than economic ones. We can no longer disagree and those who do are deemed less than pure and are called RINOS. That is a disservice and leads to the wildly dysfunctional Republican caucus in the House of Representatives. Isn’t it ironic that the small group that considers itself “pure” has found itself voting with the Democrats to oust Kevin McCarthy from the speakership and with the Democrats on killing the FISA bill? Now some of that same bunch who once touted Speaker Johnson as a “true conservative” want to oust him because he actually wants to govern and the only way to do that is to work with the Democrats.

I have three modest proposals. First, any motion to vacate should have with it a nominee for Speaker. Second, the splinter group of Republicans should change parties and cross over to the Democrats. Then they can create havoc among their true adversaries. They could then prevent any Democrat from becoming Speaker. They could torpedo any leftist legislation. They could finally do some good. The third is for the Republicans to unite around the issues that are truly important and sue the executive over the border, Biden’s abuse of executive orders, the out of control Federal agencies, budget reform, the federal debt and the issuances of mandates that exceed their authority. But no, they are letting the Republican attorneys general sue instead rather than acting like responsible adults. Some are more interested in news clips and publicity. Surely interviews on Fox News and CNN shouldn’t be more important than governing.

Lastly, to me any Republican that does not believe in the basic principles I outlined above is the true RINO. Now RINO is being used to label people who do not agree with Donald Trump who has called otherwise conservative politicians who disagree with him as “RINO”. But what about someone who hates free trade, imposes tariffs on our allies, threaten national security by trashing our alliances, allows big businesses to stay open while shuttering small ones during a pandemic? That is a person opposed to conservative principals. Is that person a RINO? If so, then Donald Trump is a RINO.

April 9, 2024

Andy Enfield left USC for SMU before he could get fired. Enfield who rode an upstart 15 seed Florida Gulf Coast team to the Sweet Sixteen in 2013 to big bucks at USC never could duplicate his earlier success. After a 14-16 season despite having Bronny James on his team Enfield bolted for SMU. Now leaving California for Dallas is a smart move regardless. Enfield is going to a no income tax state to a school with zero expectations of being competitive in the “Atlantic” Coast Conference. Enfield was replaced by Eric Musselman who had been at Arkansas. One must question Musselman’s sanity. Perhaps he would rather live in glitzy Los Angeles than Fayetteville, Arkansas but why? Surely it is preferable to coach before sold out crowds of 20,000 at Arkansas than before a half full arena at USC. But Musselman is a gypsy and probably got bored living in one place for five years. He had modest success at Arkansas reaching the Sweet 16 three times. However, this year Arkansas was only 16-17 overall and 6-12 in the SEC. So perhaps he left before being asked to leave. Musselman is being replaced by the legendary John Calipari who had worn out his welcome in Lexington. The Big Blue Nation is not very happy with UKs failure in the NCAA tournament in recent years. I think that Arkansas will re-energize Calipari who will continue to recruit 5 star players and will have plenty of NIL money with the Walmart family, Jerry Jones and the Tyson chicken folks as backers. Look for Arkansas in the Final Four within the next three years. What is interesting is that Arkansas is supposed to have offered Ole Miss’ Chris Beard and Kansas State’s Jerome Tang the job and was turned down. One must wonder about the sanity of those two. Obviously, Calipari was not the third choice but became available and fell into Arkansas’ lap. Who will replace Calipari? Mitch Barnhardt the UK athletics director knows that he must make a splashy hire. It is not hard to imagine that the next UK coach will have already won a national championship. Some have said to go after UConn’s Dan Hurley. But Hurley is too prickly for UK fans and will instantly grate on southerner sensitivities. Others mentioned are Scott Drew and Jay Wright. Some have mentioned Bruce Pearl -who doesn’t have a championship and would be a controversial hire. But what about Bill Self, Tom Izzo or heavens forbid Rick Pitino? I think Izzo would be a spectacular hire. Although Barnhardt would not dare do it, I think the perfect hire would be Seton Hall’s Shaheen Holloway who may be the best young coach in the country. But given the reaction of Big Blue Nation to the hiring of Tubby Smith from Georgia even after he won them a national championship, Barnhardt will play it safe and hire one of the old guys.

Harold A Black

April 8, 2024

It is not inconceivable that the “winner” of the presidential election in November might not become president. The Founding Fathers were fearful of the tyranny of the majority and established the Electoral College. One of the purposes of the College was, along with the Senate, to keep smaller states relevant in the political process. Each state would have two senators regardless of population and the president would be elected by the Electoral College and not by popular vote. The number of electors would be determined by the number of representatives and senators for each state. 

I would bet that 99.9 percent of the American population have no idea what the January 6 “insurrection” was all about. Perhaps they think that it was an organized plot to overturn the results of the election of Joe Biden. But how could the results be overturned? Indeed, Donald Trump had been alleging all along that the election was stolen and he has been investigated for inciting the storming of the Capitol on January 6. Because civics is seldom taught in our schools, few realize that the president is not elected in the November election. Rather, the voters vote for electors and the electors vote for the president. The electors form the Electoral College and cast their votes for the president and vice president on the first Monday after the second week in December. The results are sent to the president of the US Senate – who is the vice president of the United States – along with the Archivist of the United States. The “insurrection” took place on January 6 because on that date, the Congress meets to certify the winner of the election. Each state announces its votes. Again, the number of vote in each state is equal to the number in its congressional delegation. The vice president as president of the Senate presides over the proceedings. After the vice president announces the results, any member of Congress can object to the results. The Democrats in the House tried unsuccessfully to block the election of George Bush in 2001. Democrats also objected in 2005 and 2017 and failed again to overturn the votes of the Electoral College. I don’t recall any of the Democrats being indicted for trying to overturn these elections. Recall that Trump did not want his vice president Pence to certify the results? If Pence had not, then the House and the Senate would vote on whether the objection were valid. 

Let us suppose that Trump – like before – loses the popular vote but wins in the Electoral College. When the results go to the Congress let us suppose just like in 2001, 2005 and 2017 the Democrats object and call for a vote in the Congress and Kamala Harris refuses to certify the results of the Electoral College. What happens next? Here both the House and the Senate will vote as to whether the objection is valid. If they vote differently, the objection fails. But if they both agree that the objection is valid then the House will vote for the president with each representative getting one vote. The Republicans have a very slim majority in the House but the Democrats have the majority in the Senate. It is not inconceivable that the Republicans who squabble amongst themselves more than they govern, might have a few deflections and elect Biden. There would be no doubt that the Democrats would be united in voting for Harris for vice president. On the other hand, if the Republicans hold firm and elect Trump, the Senate might still elect Harris! Can you imagine that? Donald Trump as president with Kamala Harris as his vice president? Some small part of me would love to see it.

April 4, 2024

Good Morning. I am not a women’s basketball fan and thus have not paid much attention to all the adoration for Caitlin Clark. I did not watch the Iowa-LSU game, although my better half did. I spent my time working on my latest jigsaw puzzle. Even when I was on the faculty at the university of Tennessee, I went to very few of the Lady Vols games. I never could get over how many layups were missed in the women’s game. Just like I have always been puzzled how poor the free throw shooting is in the men’s game. I am simply not a basketball fan. Yet I was surprised and disappointed when UT fired the women’s coach, Kellie Harper. I served on UT’s athletic board and remembered her as a guard on three of Pat Summitt’s national championship teams. She became a very good coach and I was delighted when she came back to Knoxville to replace Holly Warlick who had followed Summitt. I thought Harper was doing an excellent job with her only shortcoming was the lack of being able to recruit star caliber players. By the time she came to Knoxville, South Carolina was the dominant SEC team followed by LSU. On the national scene Gene Auriemma’s UConn teams who had eclipsed Summitt’s UT teams were no longer dominating the national scene. UConn was still unbeatable in the Big East but was not even a number one seed in this year’s NCAA tournament. Back at UT, Harper was 108-52 (.675). This season UT went 20-13, 10-6 in the SEC and lost to an undefeated South Carolina team on a last second lucky three point shot by a player who had never before made a three pointer. UT lost in the tournament to a North Carolina State team that made the Final 4. Harper had never gotten past the Sweet 16 and I guess that many have been her downfall. By firing her, Tennessee lost her two five star commits and her replacement will likely do worse. 

The women’s game has changed but I don’t think Tennessee should have fired Harper. Her firing is reminiscent of Texas’ firing of current Tennessee men’s coach Rick Barnes. Barnes has always been a good coach. His Texas teams were always good but never great even when they had unbelievable talent such as T J Ford and Kevin Durant. Barnes was 402-180 (.691) in Austin. He went to the Sweet 16 five times, to the Elite 8 three times and to the Final Four once. Ultimately he was fired despite that record. He could never win the big one.

At Tennessee, Barnes is 202-101 (.667). Tennessee has gone to 6 NCAA tournaments under Barnes. But similar to his tenure at Texas, Tennessee has been a disappointment in the tournament. They have been to the Elite 8 only twice and never played in the Final 4. Thus, Harper’s record at Tennessee is similar to that of Barnes. She even has a higher winning percentage. Yet there is virtually no chance that Barnes will face the same fate as Harper. One wonders why. Vol great Kara Lawson (one of my former students) is the head coach at Duke. She is one of those rumored to be the next Tennessee coach. Yet Lawson has only been at Duke since 2020, is 69-33 overall and only 32-23 in the ACC – a conference not as strong as the SEC. Her team this year made it to their first Sweet Sixteen. Lawson is one of my favorite people but her record at Duke is not better than Harper’s. She is building a strong program at Duke and can make that her legacy. She cannot have that at Tennessee where Summitt looms larger than life. At Duke she can become the women’s Mike Krzyzewski.  She cannot do that at Tennessee. I hope she stays at Duke.

March 25, 2024

Some of us are old enough to remember when West Virginia was solidly democrat. Republicans were rarely elected to statewide office. Bill Clinton won the state by 13 points. Robert (KKK) Byrd and Jay Rockefeller were the senators and Gaston Caperton was elected governor. Yet twenty five years later Donald Trump carried the state by 40 points and Joe Manchin was the only statewide elected democrat. All three of the state’s representatives were republicans. What happened? Mainly it was coal. West Virginia is coal country and democrats starting with Barack Obama declared war on coal. Hillary Clinton declared that she was going to shut down the coal industry in pursuit of climate change. Sure enough, the EPA has caused coal production in the state to decline by more than 30 percent and unemployment had sharply increased. Thus, West Virginian’s voted in their economic interest and not with their traditional identity. Of course, today’s “progressives” have abandoned rural poor whites with no college degree and that demography is the majority in the state. Nationally, the democrats have done the math. Most voters live in urban areas and the democrats have courted urban college educated higher income voters. This group is more liberal and has adopted diversity, equality and inclusion so long as they don’t have to live it. Consider that Hillary Clinton won almost 3 million more votes than Trump but only won 500 of the country’s 3,100 counties. That statistic is why democrats want to end the electoral college and have a popular vote instead. If that occurs, it will be almost impossible for a republican to be elected president.

One wonders if Biden’s war on the internal combustion engine will lose him Michigan. That state has a democrat governor whose reelection spoke volumes to the disarray in that state’s republican party. Both senators are democrats. But 6 of the state’s 13 representatives are republicans. Michigan’s union leadership is 100 percent democrat but its members may not be. Again it is not in the members’ economic interest to support a party that is intent in destroying diesel and gas vehicles and displacing thousands of workers. That the union membership doesn’t vote out its so-called leaders is puzzling. It will be interesting to see if Michigan does not join West Virginia in the solidly republican column – with the exception of Detroit.

Detroit will likely stay democrat because of its black majority. Jason Riley has pointed out in the Wall Street Journal, Hispanics are also now leaving the democrat party out of their economic interests rather than clinging to their traditional ethnic identity. Riley is implying that this is not true with most blacks, although growing numbers of black men are supporting Trump. This is part of the realignment of the parties that we have seen over the past 30 years. No longer are poor whites democrats. No longer are educated upper income whites republicans. Indeed, a recent poll of educated high earning whites showed that 82% supported Joe Biden! So despite all the envy politics where Biden says that this group is not paying their “fair share” and advocates the raising of their taxes, they overwhelmingly support him. Who said that these folks were smart?

Nine states are following the EPAs lead and are banning the sale of gas cars and trucks in 2025. Of course one is California, the others are New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Maryland. Vermont, Colorado and Virginia are slated to follow. Again, it is amazing that the voters in these states favor what their politicians are doing to them. But if they do not vote them out, they deserve the higher vehicle prices, the shorter tire life, the thousands of dollars to replace the batteries, higher energy prices, the higher insurance costs, the longer waits to fill up, the lack of range in the winter and the lithium battery fires.

Harold A Black

March 29, 2024

I am at a loss as to why there is virtually no pushback from Republican legislators on Biden’s quest to electrify the planet. Thus far only John Kennedy of Louisiana has taken any action – albeit a futile one. Senator Kennedy in objecting to the halt of new approvals of liquid gas exports has vowed not to let any nominations for positions at the State Department and the Department of Energy. Whoopie! Biden is ignoring Kennedy. Why can’t the senator do something more forceful is beyond me.

Then there is the new mandate from the EPA that will effectively ban automobile internal combustion engines starting in 2032. Alert! That is only 8 years away. The new rule requires that 70% of new vehicles be either electric or hybrid. Clearly, the market has shown that EVs are not ready for prime time and the only way that the public can be forced to buy EVs is to limit the production of gas and diesel vehicles. The public be damned. I have yet to hear the Republicans confront this latest attack on American industry and the American public. Right now the public has shown that the current production of EVs has outstripped the demand for the vehicles. EVs sit languishing on dealer lots. Manufacturers have scaled back production and continue to lose billions. Some startups are near bankruptcy. I saw an ad for the Ford Lightning that offered $15,000 in incentives. However, the Lightning is a vanity pickup. It cannot haul or tow nearly the loads of the gas truck and its range is compromised when it tries to haul or tow. Then it is $17,000 more for an inferior product.

That the EPA would issue its rules now was a surprise. I thought they would wait until after the election. Because of the rule, Biden will lose Michigan. Although the Michigan Republican party is in disarray, the automobile industry is the main industry in the state. The EPA mandate will shrink the number of automobile workers and shutter all those companies that produce parts for the industry. None of these should now vote for Biden.

Then there is the problem of power generation. Our electric grid is not ready and will not be ready to handle 10 million new EVs (assuming that the rule is implemented). Consider that New York currently has less than 2,000 chargers for EVs. In 2032 it will need 40,000. What about the demands on the grid? Currently, California and other states are experiencing more brown outs and black outs due to the unreliability of solar and wind. What happens as coal and natural gas are phased out? Remember when California was asking residents to curtail the charging of EVs due to the strain on the grid? Then too the EPA is issuing rules that will shut down many power plants due to carbon emissions. This will make things worse. New transformers, cables, relay stations and infrastructure will be needed and will not be ready by 2032. Also all of this comes at a higher costs. What about the burden on the poor?

I’ve written before about the environmental damage that comes from the mining of the minerals use in EV battery production. I’ve also written about the impact of wind and solar on animals, birds and ocean wildlife. I’ve also written that China is the main beneficiary of Biden’s rules. Again, was Hunter on the Chinese payroll too?

EVs are too expensive for the majority of car buyers. Used EVs sell poorly because of their limited range, cost of charging, cost of insurance and battery replacement. The only way to get to the 70% number is to eliminate the tariff on cheap Chinese EVs. BYD, the largest Chinese EV manufacturer, has announced it is building a plant in Mexico. Trump has said that he will hit BYD with a 100% tariff. But Trump will be around only 4 years if he is elected. BYD can wait.

Again, the Republican senators and representatives are doing nothing to stop this onslaught of rules and regulations that will severely damage the economy as well as the environment. I hate to call them gutless. But…

Lastly, someone wrote “Imagine we lived in a world where all cars were EVs and then along comes a new invention, the “internal combustion engine”! Think how well they would sell: a vehicle half the weight, half the price that will almost quarter the damage done to the road. A vehicle than can be refueled in 1/10^th of the time and has a range of up to 4 times the distance in all weather conditions. It does not rely on the environmentally damaging use of non-renewable rare earth elements to power it and use far less steel and other materials. Just think how excited people would be for such technology, it would sell like hot cakes!”

Knoxville Focus

March 25, 2024

Why do white people eat so many casseroles? I don’t think I ever had a casserole while growing up – unless mac and cheese is a casserole. 

I love to cook and get several emails a day from cooking sites. Almost daily comes another recipe for a casserole including links to things like “Grandma’s 142 favorite casseroles.” I have yet to try any.

Southern Living magazine has an article “Why do Southerners make casseroles?” saying “These 12 recipes will tell you exactly why Southerners, if given a chance, will almost always make a casserole”. Actually, the title should be “Why do White Southerners make casseroles?” 

The magazine also announced “50 Bake and Take Casseroles Your Neighbors Will Love.” If my neighbors brought me a casserole, I would consider moving.

What about “15 irresistible au gratin potato recipes”. Fifteen? Is au gratin a casserole?

Growing up I thought that you ate because it prevented you from starving to death. My mother was an awful cook. She knew it. But Dad was worse. Once when Mother was in the hospital, Dad cooked us breakfast. We could not recognize what he put on our plates. My brother and I took over the cooking until Mother got back. 

Growing up, Italian was canned Chef Boyardee. Eggs were soft scrambled. Meat was floured and fried except for turkey and roasts – although once she deep fried a roast. There was a grease can on the stove. Vegetables were cooked to death so that the only way we could tell them was by the color. Squash was fried and okra boiled. I refused to eat them then and won’t eat them now. Biscuits were from a can. However, because Mom grew up on a farm meant that we got breakfasts with fried catfish and grits or fried pork chops and grits. Dad loved fried oysters and grits (with Mother’s canned biscuits). I grew up thinking oysters were a breakfast food. Its still a bit strange to see oysters on a dinner menu.

My food enlightenment started when I lived in Germany finishing my dissertation at the University of Konstanz. The local pizzeria had wonderful pizzas, calzones and pasta. Here I had my first taste of pesto and knew that this was confirmation that there was a God. My favorite pizza was spargel (asparagus) pizza with pesto. I thought about expatriating knowing what food I would face when I got back to the states. But I was homesick and asked my mother to send me some red dirt. She sent it in a small box and I was called into the customs office and asked “Was ist das?” I said “dirt”. “Schmutz?” “Ja. Schmutz.” They just shook their heads, handed me my box of Georgia clay and let me go.

I moved back to the states and took my first job at the University of Florida in 1971. I weighed 235 pounds having sat on my behind during the four years in graduate school eating mostly fast foods. In Gainesville I lived in the same complex as the great marathoner Frank Shorter. Inspired I started to lose weight by changing my diet and starting to run. So I stopped eating meat and all fried foods. I gradually lost weight and kept running. I started running in the local races. I was no Frank Shorter and in my first marathon I was passed by a race walker. But eventually I was running a weekly 10K, two half marathons and a full marathon yearly. I weighted 165.

Gainesville had great fresh water fishing and quick access to salt water. Soft shell crabs confirmed the existence of God. Later when I moved to Knoxville, I was fishing with a friend weekly until deer season when he quit fishing to hunt. He took me one day and although I did not see anything living, I became addicted to the solitude and peacefulness. I remembered following my grandfather around the family farm in Gray, GA with my little 22 while he hunted squirrels or rabbits. Since I now hunt deer, I eat them and the only red meat I have eaten since 1971 is what I kill myself.

One of my favorite memories is when my son was around six he was asked what was his favorite food and he said “ziti with pesto”. Hopefully, that is not a casserole.

March 21, 2024

Jason Riley wrote in the Wall Street Journal that “Hispanics tend to put economic interests above their ethnic identity”. That is another way of saying that blacks do not. How else to explain blacks voting for those who oppose changing the method of “education” that keeps black youth functionally illiterate? Or keeping black teenage employment high through increases in minimum wages? Or keeping policies in place that have destroyed the black nuclear family? Or promoting policies of welfare dependence rather than independence? Clearly the democrats hate blacks and want to keep them dependent on the largesse of the welfare state.

The media frenzy over Trump’s bloodbath comment ignored the really important statement behind the comment – that if the Chinese choose to build automobile factories in Mexico to avoid the 25% tariff on their cars, Trump would institute a 100% tariff. Much was written about Republican senator’s Josh Hawley’s endorsement of the idea but less has been written that the increase also has the support of Democrats such as Michigan’s Haley Stevens and Illinois’ Raja Krishnamoorthi. 

Trump again showed his sway over the Republicans who vote in primaries with Bernie Moreno’s impressive victory for the open senate seat in Ohio. The Democrats had hoped to face Moreno with Chuck Schumer’s PAC spending over $2 million in ads supporting Moreno. This is a democrat tactic that has been successful in other races where the democrats seek to boost the candidate they consider to be the weakest in the general election. Be careful what you wish for. 

I love grilled chicken and grilled whole turkey. But my venison burgers are best cooked in a skillet. However, my two gas grills (one in Knoxville and the other at the Georgia farm) sit idle most of the time. I hate the clean up.

The banning of Tik Tok is antithetical to the basic principle of free speech. However, if the vast majority of Gen Z – who are intellectually lazy and gullible to boot – get their news from Tik Tok and it is a propaganda arm of the Chinese Communist party, then there should rightly be some concern. How does one deal with misinformation? This is particularly interesting since the Biden Administration is a trove of misinformation aided and abetted by its propaganda arm – the mainstream media. Some have postulated that the Gen Z anti-Israel, pro-Hamas stance is due to Tik Tok which censors pro-Israel posts.

I love Ohio State (as well as the University of Georgia) yet I hate NIL and Ohio State’s buying the best talent available in the transfer portal – with exception of the Texas A&M tackle who signed with Ole Miss.

I am opposed to the inclusion of the four Pac 12 teams into the Big “10”. I still question the inclusion of Rutgers. Don’t be surprised if my old place of employment, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, becomes a Big “10” target if Clemson and Florida State can figure out a way to get out of their contractual agreements with the ACC. 

Did confusion over shifting into drive on Teslas caused death of McConnell’s sister-in-law? Other cases have been reported of shifting into drive and the car instead going backwards (and vice versa).

EVs pollute more than ICEs because tires pollute more than tailpipes. Who knew?

The small market for used EVs is due to range anxiety, cost of battery replacement, and high insurance and repair costs.

Due to the rising costs of electricity because of “renewable” energy, it now costs more to “fill up” an EV than a gas powered car. This is especially true if you have to use public chargers other than home chargers.

Trump has said that he would only give foreign aid to our friends. If that were the case we would cease giving out aid. I would give no aid to countries that vote against us in the UN.

Our soldiers were killed at a base in Jordan. Why are we there?

The world is a dangerous place with armed conflicts in at least 30 countries and terrorists active in at least 30 more. Doesn’t it feel that it has gotten more dangerous on Biden’s watch? 

Why do we have bases in so many countries? Do we need such a large presence in Europe especially Germany? Maybe we are still afraid of the Germans and are there to watch them rather than the Russians.

Germany is one of Israel’s strongest allies. Personally, I don’t see how the Jews could ever forgive the Germans.

Then again, I don’t see how the Japanese could forgive America for the firebombing of Tokyo that killed 100,000 civilians and the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

To paraphrase Henry John Temple, Lord Palmerston: Countries have permanent interests not permanent friends.

March 18, 2024

Is it safe to take an electric car through a car wash?

If it weren’t green, the save the climate crowd would ban wind turbines, solar farms and lithium batteries. Wind turbines kill whales, sea animals and nearly 1 million birds a year. Solar farms pollute waterways and their disposal constitutes an environmental hazard. It is estimated that solar panel disposal will reach a staggering 80 million tons annually. Lithium is mined by my relatives who were left behind in the Congo under horrific conditions and the batteries themselves are a fire hazard. Saving the planet through green energy is akin to the soldier in Viet Nam who said that “We had to destroy the village to save it”.

I have never believed in organized religion even as a child. I asked my bible school teacher why was there a hell. She said it was for sinners. I then asked her if anyone was in heaven.

I later asked my pastor why was there a heaven. He said it was a reward for being virtuous. Again asked if anyone was in heaven.

Later I asked my parents (Dad a good Baptist while Mother was AME) if only Christians go to heaven and Dad answered that Christian heaven was for Christians and other religions had their own heavens. I said “You mean heaven is segregated?” My parents then told me to go talk to the pastor.

My pastor essentially confirmed that each religion has its own view of the after death uniting with God. I then asked if was Christianity the only correct view and all the rest of the non-Christian world would go to hell. He demurred.

Of all the major religions only Buddhism does not have a concept of an afterlife where the soul leaves the body after death and transitions into another existence. So are the 600 million Buddhists condemned to Christian hell?

I came to the opinion while in high school that each person would transition (or not) to whatever they believed since it seems presumptuous to assume that only a few enlightened only know the truth. I remember seeing a woman with a t-shirt on that said “The Bible said it. I believe it.” I asked her what version of the Bible did she believe and she got totally confused. But if you believe in a heaven with angels, harps and cherubs strewing flowers then that will be your heaven. If you believe in hellfire and brimstone with a red devil beating you with cat-o-nine tails, then that will be your hell.

My mother would always make me blow leaves and weed eat several acres of land at the farm. I hated it so one of my hells will be to be greeted by St Peter who will have a weedeater in one hand and a leaf blower in another and condemn me to blowing leaves and whacking weeds for all eternity.

My second hell will be to have St Peter say “Welcome. You love craft beers so let me take you to my favorite brew pub.” Inside we see 38 taps of IPAs and I say “You would think in heaven there would be at least one stout” and St Peter would say “What makes you think you are in heaven?”

I hate sailboats. I love powerboats and have owned one continuously since 1971. It is that when sailboats tilt, it is time for me to get on shore. So my last hell would be stuck for eternity on a sailboat with Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.

What’s your hell (or hells)?