1glenn comments

Really? BASE jumping?

How about investing in renewable energy projects?

"Stations will include both CCS and NCAS connectors to support all battery EV drivers."

That, and "30,000," are what I wanted to know. At some point, perhaps everyone making EVs will agree on just one plug type?

Will definitely watch it soon.

Interesting to follow b4f's comments. I too knew many famous people back in the day. My observation was that among the actual stars, they were overwhelmingly very nice people. I can only think of one person, admittedly talented, who was consistently rude and unpleasant to be around. I did meet a lot of people who one might call "flakes," but they were always the hangers on, not the actual stars.

It was, to me, a very pleasant surprise to discover that the people who made Hollywood famous were so friendly, and a pleasure to be around. If they were not so famous, they would have made great neighbors and friends.

I read an article in Scientific American magazine, decades ago, about how the authors think Venus went from having surface water, to being what it is today, in a period of time that is short by some standards. The authors posited that Venus could have completely changed in as little as 200,000 years.

Not a pleasant thing to contemplate. Not that I think it will happen here on Earth. Our current problems are man made, and at some point people will demand corrective action, if we do not take the necessary steps before things get too intolerable.

On a side note......a neighbor, a good friend and a Trump supporter, insisted to me the other day that things are getting hotter because the Earth has moved closer to the Sun. Sometimes I will try to discuss these things with him, but that day I just didn't have the energy.

It does not please me to say that I have been watching Boeing decline for many decades. As a vital part of American commerce, seeing them go downhill is not something I enjoy. Myself, I blame the corporate beancounters. They are great if what you want is to maximize the quarterly company data, but not so great if you are trying to keep a great company flying high for the foreseeable future.

"Honest, we won't attack any more of our neighbors!"

The "Joshua Trees" of the Mojave desert over here come to mind when I look at that picture. True story, many of the Joshua Trees died last summer because of extreme heat. The water stored inside of them became so hot that it killed some of them, from the inside out. I hope that the Mojave desert does not become like the Sahara desert, full of sand dunes, and very little plant life, not even cacti.

In the USA we used to have the Fairness Doctrine, which kept one point of view from dominating a network. Under the Republican, President Reagan, the FCC controlled by him eliminated the Fairness Doctrine. Congress was upset about what was likely to become of the news industry in the USA, and passed a bill to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine. However, President Reagan vetoed the bill.

Today's environment, where a news organization like the Fox Network can be fined 2/3rds of a billion dollars for intentionally inflicting harm by knowingly lying, and then go on doing business as if nothing had happened, is the result of President Reagan's decision to eliminate the Fairness Doctrine. If the Fairness Doctrine had been removed before the administration of President Nixon, it is likely that the lies and misinformation spread by the Fox Network would have made removing him from office impossible, just as their actions during the Trump administration made removing him from office all but impossible.

Very interesting to read the comments here.

I have never been to Japan, though I would love to. That said, I would be very careful with law enforcement officers wherever I go.

Have been to Europe, and had nothing but good experiences with European police. Perhaps being a clean cut, obviously American helped. Even in East Germany I had no problems, though being followed was a strange feeling. When in a police state, be very, very careful not to break law, is my advice, and don't stay any longer than necessary. I took the train from Sweden to Berlin, and as the saying goes, "We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto!"

American police? It runs the gamut, from wonderful to awful. A young police officer friend was ambushed and murdered while on duty. Twenty two years old, married with children. The last time I had lunch with him he was very happy and smiling. IMO, he was what is known as a public servant. Another time I was beaten up by sheriffs for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It could have been much worse. They didn't take any official action, just gave me a beating. I don't recommend it.

Many police are fine, upstanding members of the community. And some of them, too many of them, are indeed monsters. The importance of a free and diligent press corp is hard to overstate. The principle that no one is above the law is also of great importance. The recent Supreme Court ruling that the law does not apply to all people puts our safety in jeopardy.

And who is to say whether or not Trump's actions were part of his official duties; the Supreme Court?

And if Trump has the Supreme Court arrested and thrown into prison, who is to stop him, the Senate?

And if Trump has the both the Supreme Court and the Senate rounded up and thrown into prison, who is then to stop him?

If we are lucky, this will decision will be taught in schools as one of the worst decisions in the history of the United States.

And if we are unlucky, the schools will not teach about this moment at all.

Few sights can match flying over the California deserts in springtime, when miles upon miles of yellow and purple wildflowers are in bloom. Not a fan of the deserts in summer, but in winter and spring they can be amazingly beautiful.

There have been some great Pentax cameras over the years. Thank you.

That said, and having grown up with film cameras, I much prefer the digital format. Though I still own film cameras, haven't used them in decades.

This sort of progress is a must if we want to halt global warming.

Around the turn of the century we here in California got about 20% of our electricity from in-state coal burning. Today, that percentage is about 0.1%

In 2023 our state got 54% of its electricity from renewables plus hydro, with another 7% from nuclear. We are on track to eliminate CO2 emissions from electricity generation.

The shade from the solar panels could have the added benefit of lowering Detroit's temperature in the summer.

I ask because I do not know.....can we expect a fair election, and if anyone other than the religious zealot wins, will he be allowed to serve? Also, do women vote, and can women serve in office?

Yet another example of the very large differences between the candidates, and between the political parties.

People who try to save others demonstrate the very best of humanity. Unfortunately, they sometimes pay the ultimate price. RIP dear woman.

The GOP candidate isn't even endorsed by his wife, his daughter, or his former Vice President. Pretty much the definition of a loser, and that is before mentioning that he is a convicted felon.

In a choice between a man who lies every time he breathes, and a man who can still think well but has trouble talking on the cuff, the choice is obvious.

These days, everything is a terrorist target. What strange creatures these humans be.

Plenty of my neighbors here in South Cal still deny that global warming is happening. Oh well.

I quit using a wristwatch when I started carrying a smartphone everywhere I go, but before that I wore a Casio G-Shock. They make very good watches. The one I wore was solar powered, was synced up with a national radio system for ultimate accuracy, and even reset itself to the proper time zone without any help from me, when I was traveling. I could toss it into a cupboard for months at a time, and when I took it out it was ready to go.

Besides the Chinese government subsidies for EVs, there is the problem that everything manufactured in China uses electricity from coal fired power plants. Making EVs with power from coal plants? Really?

Very sad.

Go Dodgers!

Thank goodness the planned invasion of the home islands was not necessary.

China's GDP is almost 8 times as large as the combined GDP of Russia and North Korea. If China stops bothering its southern neighbors, and turns its gaze towards Russia and NK, China might find that it has easy pickings in these other countries. "Vladivostok" was taken from China in the late 1800s, but so far they don't seem to care. China is far from perfect, but the people of NK would be better off under China than where they are today. Unification with South Korea would be better yet, but the Chinese would feel threatened by a unified Korea.

Xi might find that taking back Chinese Siberia is far easier than going to war with Taiwan.

After subsidizing their domestic EV industry with hundreds of billions of dollars of support, at both the national and local level, other nations have no choice but to either subsidize their own industries (very expensive), or bring the price of Chinese EVs back to reality with import tariffs. The alternative is to close down the auto industries in Europe and North America. After the car markets are owned by the Chinese, they could raise the prices of EVs as high as they want, since the competition will be dead, and consumers will have no choices left.