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Same Family, Different Purpose

Drive Time

Here’s a little mind game.

Say you were offered two cars to own and keep.  These would be to take care of you and your family (ad arguendo, you were of that age, say mid-forties, with a wife and two preteen kids).

The only catch is that the cars must come from the same brand:  Chevy, BMW, VW and so on.  In other words, the badge on the hood or grille must be identical to the other one.

The cars can be older, or modern, and they’re in excellent running condition — showroom condition, so to speak.

Which would you pick?

And just so it’s a little more clear, here are a couple of pairings:

BMW M3 / BMW X3
(Yeah, I mixed up the model years so you can get an idea of the scope.)  Another:

Chevy Camaro and Suburban

Feel free to specify the model years and the reasons for your picks.

Here are mine:

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RFI: Wetherspoons

Food & Drink, Travels

This one is especially for my Brit Readers, and it was sparked by this article.

Since visiting her first Wetherspoons with her now husband Andrew in 2024 — it was The Moon Under Water in Watford, in case you’re wondering — Stacey Gitten has now visited 71 Wetherspoons up and down the country. It’s a mission that has seen her travel as far as Edinburgh from their home in Southampton, and she ‘even went to Wales just to go to a Wetherspoons’, she tells me. 

But despite having visited 71 of the chain’s carpeted pubs — a mission that she has documented on TikTok under the handle @staceyintheUK (she moved from Chicago to be with her husband) — Stacey has tried surprisingly little of the menu. In fact, she has a go-to order; her control she uses to compare across the ‘Spoons outlets.

(It’s Eggs Benedict, by the way.)

For my Murkin Readers, Wetherspoons (or “Spoons”) is a budget-friendly alternative to the typical pubs and restaurants Over There, with a common menu across almost all establishments, with some local variations.

Okay, I have an admission to make:  I’ve never been to a Wetherspoons pub.  There’s no reason for this, unless it’s a subconscious desire not to go to any chain restaurants when I’m Over There.  I remember being tempted by The Bear in Melksham (I went to that town often because it’s just down the road from Free Market Towers), but never went inside.

Perhaps I should have.  (Unless it was because they didn’t serve Wadworth 6X?  I dunno.)

Anyway, is our Murkin transplant in the article an idiot?

All input will be gratefully received.

News Summary

Bad News


...make it a long prison term, y’all.


...ditto.  Also:


...pictures show the “protesters” waving Mexican flags, when the bullets’ recipient was actually Venezuelan (I told you they all look alike).  I guess ActBlue didn’t have any Venezuelan flags in stock.


...”hard-right” being the equivalent of “centrist Democrat”, in U.S. terms.


...oh look:  Asshole Muslim Nation #1 is bombing Asshole Muslim Nation #2.  Any more of that popcorn around?


...fraud in Minnesoduh?  Well I never.


…in which we play our popular game of “Guess The Race”.  (Hint:  Louisiana)


...once our problem, now Canuckistan’s.  Whatever.


...that’s not news.  “Penelope stuns in black garbage bag”… oh wait, that wouldn’t be news either.


...oh, how these poor people suffer for their art.  Although it must be said, the Mara sisters would not be my first choice for a cinematic threesome.
#Penelope&MonicaCruz

Oil Prices

Economics

Matt Walsh says we’re wrong to ascribe our current sky-high gas prices to the Iran/Gulf business:

According to Goldman Sachs, the price difference between diesel and gasoline in the United States is now over $60 per barrel, when it was just $3 a barrel one year ago. So there’s much, much more money to be made by refining diesel right now. And because refineries are already operating at full capacity, any effort to refine more diesel means that less gasoline will be refined. 

That’s why global exports of gasoline have dropped 24% in the past year. Everyone’s switching to diesel if they can swing it. From March to August of this year, diesel yields in the United States are well above their historical averages, while gasoline yields have been cut. Meanwhile, demand for gasoline hasn’t gone down. In fact, it’s gone up, especially in Russia, since many of their oil refineries have been blown up.

So if Ukraine agreed to stop bombing Russian refineries, and allowed the world’s number-two diesel exporter to get back to refining diesel, that would be great news for the American consumer — unequivocally.

Of course, they won’t — for the simple reason that Ukraine is involved in a life-and-death struggle with the Russians and every gallon of diesel they destroy means less fuel for the invaders.  Hard to argue about that.  But as Walsh suggests, it’s very definitely a part of the puzzle we face as we deal with the ridiculous cost of gasoline.

Walsh’s article is a long read, but very much worth the patience required.  I hadn’t thought about all the linkages in the global petroleum industry, but I should have.  The Iran thing is just one part of the issue.