Tag: Stupid people

Sanity Returns, Part XVIII

Corporate Fuckery, Drive Time, Eco-Crap

Then:

GM CEO Mary Barra said in 2021 that the company would exclusively offer EVs by 2035, citing carbon emissions.

“For General Motors, our most significant carbon impact comes from tailpipe emissions of the vehicles that we sell — in our case, it’s 75 percent,” Barra said. “That is why it is so important that we accelerate toward a future in which every vehicle we sell is a zero-emissions vehicle.”

From another GM management dweeb, Dane Parker, former GM chief sustainability officer:

“We feel this is going to be the successful business model of the future,” he said in 2021. “We know there are hurdles, we know there are technology challenges, but we’re confident that with the resources we have and the expertise we have that we’ll overcome those challenges and this will be a business model that we will be able to thrive in the future.”

Yeah, about that:

General Motors has announced plans to expand production of gasoline-powered vehicles and SUVs in Michigan as well as the manufacturing of pickup trucks.

The Detroit-based auto manufacturer said in a statement on Tuesday that it will “begin production of the Cadillac Escalade, as well as the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra light duty pickups at Orion Assembly in early 2027 to help meet continued strong customer demand.”

Yeah, it seems as though not that many people want to buy their, or anybody’s Duracell cars after all — at least, not enough to keep once-mighty General Motors in business.

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to borrow Sarah Hoyt’s Shocked Face.

But Wait! There’s Less!

Eco-Crap

In a development which should surprise absolutely nobody (with a brain and possessing the magic power of Logic), we have this shocking crisis:

The Netherlands is rationing electricity as its overloaded power grid buckles under the pressure of rapid electrification and ambitious climate goals.

More than 11,900 businesses are stuck in a queue for access to the network, alongside public buildings including hospitals, schools and fire stations. 

After shutting down production at the massive Groningen gas field last year, the Dutch government has pushed a fast transition to electric heating, solar power and battery storage. 

But the national grid has failed to keep pace, creating widespread bottlenecks and driving up costs.

…in trying to escape the much-prophesized “catastrophe” of Global Warming Climate Cooling Change©.

My favorite part of the report:

Thousands of new homes are also waiting to be connected, with some areas warned they may have to wait until the 2030s.

 Imagine buying a new house and being told that you’ll be living in medieval style for the next five or six years.  (The throngs of Muslim “refugees” from the Middle East and Africa might be able to cope, that situation being little different from back home;  the sophisticated Dutch, much less so.)

What amazes me is that the practical and hard-headed Dutch fell for the climate change hoax in the first place.  But perhaps it’s not so surprising given that the Dutch have always been supporters of the European Union;  and we all know what fuckheads those Brussels-based bureaucrats are.

Nope

Conservatism, Foreign Affairs, Politics, Trumpism

Let me make myself crystal clear on this topic:  every single time in the last century and a half that some asshole has tried to create a third political party (e.g. Theodore Roosevelt’s  Bull Moose, Ross Perot’s Reform) the net result has been an electoral victory for the Democrats.

So Elon, buddy, unless you want to see ALL your good works on DOGE and such overturned, quit this bullshit about forming a new “America” party.  You’re acting like a spoiled child who fucks up everyone’s Christmas because you got a green bicycle with 3-speed gears instead of a red one with a 10 speed.   Yeah, the BBB wasn’t everything we wished for.  But it sure as hell was better than anything else on offer.

Because make no mistake:  if Musk’s little exercise ends with the fucking Democrats taking control of the White House and/or Congress (which is what history tells us will happen), they will reverse everything that Trump has managed to get done:  closing the border, ending the USAID boondoggle and hamstringing the loathsome Dept of Education, to mention just three of the domestic wrongs righted.

What this steaming bunch of Communists will inflict on the world with their pathetic attempts at foreign policy of appeasement of shitholes like Iran and China cannot be imagined.

Here’s what I hope, if Musk gets this silliness operational:  that Trump ends all repeat all subsidies for the “alternate energy” industries like wind power and electric car manufacturers — because in the latter case, all that will happen will be that expensive electric cars like Tesla will have to face sky-high retail prices (in a market that is already in a tailspin as ordinary people turn away from the Duracell models), resulting in Tesla pretty much becoming an expensive toy for rich people.

And Tesla isn’t Ferrari, in case nobody’s noticed it before.

Oh, and one last thing.  There’s no need for a third political party in the U.S. because we already have one:  it’s called “MAGA” and it’s not a party but a movement.

One would have thought that a smart guy like Elon Musk would have figured this out.:  politics is the art of the possible, not the display of spite when the possible wasn’t perfection.

If Musk had always let the perfect be the enemy of the good, his rocket program would have ended after the first failed launch.  Why he now wants to embrace that policy ideal makes me wonder if he is as bright as everyone seems to think he is.

And finally, there’s this:

Quit co-opting our patriotic symbol to further your own little ego trip.

When Reality Bites

Eco-Crap, Economics

It’s all very well to espouse boutique nonsense like Net Zero, except that at some point reality will come and beat you over the head.  Hence situations like this one:

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), Monday directed the New York Power Authority (NYPA) to develop and construct a nuclear power plant of not less than one gigawatt. The new plant was needed, Hochul said in her announcement, in order “to support a reliable and affordable electric grid, while providing the necessary zero-emission electricity to achieve a clean energy economy.” 

It was a surprising announcement for a state that closed and dismantled the Indian Point nuclear power plant only five years ago. The consideration of nuclear in the energy mix is part of a pattern seen in other blue states committed to eliminating electricity generated from fossil fuels. California has now delayed the closure of its only nuclear power plant, and Michigan is looking to restart a previously shuttered nuclear power plant. 

In all three cases, it appears that the states are coming to grips with the reality that intermittent wind and solar backed up by short-duration, expensive grid-scale batteries won’t be enough to supply the power needs of the state, especially as AI places more demands on the grid. Still clinging to the hope of a fossil fuel-free grid, these states are looking to nuclear as a more politically tenable option. 

Cue wailing and weeping from the anti-nuke brethren and watermelons in 3…2…1…

Me, I’d be quite happy if these idiots — and the people who voted them into power — broiled, froze or suffered permanent blackouts for a few years as a result of their foolishness, but perhaps I’m being too harsh.

Here We Go Again

Retailing

In another one of those “Custer Having Difficulties With The Sioux” headlines, we have this nonsense from the Truly Ignorant:

Supermarket bosses are under fire for charging higher prices in shops serving the UK’s poorer communities while customers in leafy suburbs pay less. An investigation by MPs found food can be up to 38% more expensive in smaller “local” or “express” stores, which typically serve lower-income customers, than in full-blown supermarkets owned by the same company, often in wealthier areas or accessible to customers with access to transport.

There’s so much foolishness in this article that I even hesitate to talk about it.  But what the heck, here we are so I might as well.

Actually, as I’ve said before, “zone pricing” is not only common, it’s ubiquitous.  That policy is very much driven by market forces — whether it’s a higher incidence of shoplifting, or the higher cost of doing business (compare the rental cost of a city vs. suburban store, for example) — the simple fact remains that in order to maintain profitability (e.g. sales per square foot at x% gross profit), some stores will have to charge more for the same items than others.

Ignore too the wealth envy in the article — “poor people aren’t as mobile as wealthy people, so they’re trapped into paying higher prices” — because it isn’t relevant:  organizations don’t charge more because of profit opportunity unless they’re a monopoly and can afford to do so.

Of course politicians (and journalists) are going to get involved because it’s an easy way for them to garner both publicity and popularity.  The facts of the issue aren’t important as long as they are Seen To Be Doing Something.

And of course when inner-city stores are forced to close because of government action, the Pore Folx are going to find themselves in a “food desert” that is entirely of their own and their politicians’ making — and I for one will have a simple reaction to this situation:

Stupidity should be punished and not rewarded.

4-Bangers Aus

Corporate Fuckery, Drive Time, Eco-Crap, Morons & Idiots

Yeah, with the demise of EV Duracell cars, it wouldn’t take long for Mercedes to notice that their other pet Green project wasn’t too popular with their client base:

Mercedes-AMG is transitioning away from the four-cylinder plug-in hybrid powertrain and back towards the inline-six and V-8 powertrains more traditionally associated with the brand. That isn’t to say that AMG had a change of heart concerning the merits of the four-cylinder powertrain, but rather that the automaker is responding to customer criticisms. “Technically, the four-cylinder is one of the most advanced drivetrains available in a production car. It’s also right up there on performance. But despite this, it failed to resonate with our traditional customers. We’ve recognized that.” 

“Failed to resonate”, as in “WTF do you idiots think you’re doing?”

Yeah, forgive us if Merc fans don’t care about the gee-whiz technology when it replaces the brilliant engines that have served Mercedes since the 1920s.  And the same driver skepticism that accompanied the stupid EV-only diktat  would apply no less to the plug-in hybrids too.

I couldn’t be bothered to look up the numbers, but I bet the technology R&D costs for both Green projects will have run to the billions of dollars:  all wasted.

And just add to that the cost of bringing nuclear power generators back on line after the most un-German-like panic following the Fukushima disaster, which was caused by a tsunami — last time I checked, the likelihood of the same affecting the German nukes was.. what? oh yes, zero — and which took place halfway around the world.

Yeah, that Green eco-thing is really working out well for the Krauts, isn’t it?