Finally! you've got the pic that shows
the donold at the Highest Office for
which he's sufficiently Qualified:

handing out those
"beautiful" French fries
to the folks at the Drive thru.

Well Done, @tS!
well fucking Done.

now do bibi
nutnyahoo.

The Stranger: Divest Boeing! Shut it down! No weapons for Israel!

Also The Stranger: Pay Boeing machinists more! Union solidarity!

@1 FTW!

F that McDonalds. F Rooney and the Steelers for hosting that fuck last night, too.

@4: OK, it wasn't Rooney. It was Woody Johnson, the Jet's owner. F him. Guess the Steelers couldn't say no.

"we as a society do not seem keen on mass behavioral change {regarding climate change]"

I don't think that is entirely true even though we are facing massive systemic changes to effectively remediate global warming. It's far from being a perfect analogy but we changed a lot regarding an addictive substance like tobacco.

I believe our lack of action has more to do with lack of political will considering we mostly have the technological solutions worked out and a good understanding of what it will take to address the even bigger problem of ecological overshoot. the 2 main issues blocking change are a) the control of congress by the oil and gas sector and b) the lack of public understanding due to corporate media spending the last 4 decades mostly denying the extent and urgency of the problem when they weren't denying the problem entirely.

In the 'read and weep' department:

‘I’m not voting for either’: fracking’s return stirs fury in Pennsylvania town whose water turned toxic

[..]
The company behind the drilling, Texas-based Coterra, was barred from the area for years for its role in poisoning the private water wells Dimock relies upon and, in a landmark later move in 2020, was charged with multiple crimes. But it has now been ushered back into the area following a deal struck by the state’s Democratic leadership.[..]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/21/fracking-dimock-pennsylvania-trump-kamala-harris

@4: But for Trump's base, it's catnip. Seen as "one of the people" and a FU to Kamala for pretending she worked at McDonalds.

Cenk Uygur:

'Some in the press called Trump's McDonald's photo-op bizarre. This is how you lose credibility. That was a home run photo-op. He looked like a real person there, connecting with the average American. If you can't see that, you're totally blind.'

https://x.com/cenkuygur/status/1848359707011915929

@6, "I believe our lack of action has more to do with lack of political will considering we mostly have the technological solutions worked out."

Any energy delivery involves three things. Cost, reliability, and sustainability. Focus on any one, and the other two go to hell.

The argument is that wind and solar are cheap and sustainable. Not quite. The Bonneville Power Administration (Govt Agency) says it must make $2 billion in upgrades to the transmission and power distribution system for the Northwest to accommodate those power generation sources. Factor that in and those generating sources aren't so cheap. For context, the agency had $257 million in net revenue last year with $60 million operating margin after expenses. Last years capital expenditures were $722 million.

That doesn't count the tens to hundreds of billion more of investment that the utilities (E.g. Seattle City Light, Puget Power) served by BPA need to make. For example, there is no way in hell we can have much more EV penetration without substantial need for upgrades to SCL substations, transformers and neighborhood grids.

None of those costs factor in massive battery farms, hydro pump storage reservoirs with the environmental impact that goes with them. The latter has a huge adverse impact on salmon and orca.

Factor those things in and wind and solar aren't the cheap kids on the block anymore.

For the consumer, EV's aren't cost competitive with ICE vehicles. The average car owner owns for 8 years. To come out ahead with an EV, you have to own for 15 years.

Nor is wind very sustainable. The turbine blades can't be recycled. They have adverse impacts on birds and bats, some of which are endangered.

Solar panels take up huge amounts of land with adverse impacts on agriculture and wildlife.

We have no economical way to recycle car batteries. So that creates sustainability issues for that tech.

End use consumer and users aren't going to adopt alternative energy sources until the cost comes in line with existing technologies.

Cost, reliability, and sustainability. Focus on any one, and the other two suffer. It's a series of trade-offs.

Burning fossil fuels kills 6 to to 8k people a year.

Nuclear, because its fuel and waste (which we need not have if we would allow repossessing of fuel rods) is so dense, avoid many of the issues with both fossil fuels and other renewables. At present, its too costly. Even with Chenobyl and Fukishima, it kills less people per unit of power produced, that any other tech but solar, and they are so close that its statistically nearly a tie.

@6 the problem the climate industry has right now is that the solution is worse than the problem. If we were to immediately reduce carbon emissions by the 40-50% they say we need you will essentially grind transportation and supply chains to a halt. Millions of people will starve, there will be massive power shortages, prices for items will soar due to scarcity. I don't see how you get there with those kind of restrictions. The only way forward is to enable new energy production so you can phase out fossil fuels (which has to include nuclear) and invest in carbon capture but even then it will need to be a gradual transition or you will end up killing just as many people.

@6, If you want to further explore the trade-offs involved, PBS has an excellent series on just about all aspects of energy issues and the environmental benefits and problems that go with the technologies we can choose from.

Energy Switch

https://www.pbs.org/show/energy-switch/

@8, To believe this is to believe the average American is so fucking stupid they can be duped by an obvious photo op that overshadows 8 years of his place in American politics, not to mention 4 decades of his place in pop culture as a guy who shits on a gold toilet. It’s simultaneously out of touch and elitist while accusing others of being out of touch and elitist. Not one single vote will be moved by seeing Trump putting fries in a bag.

@12: Trump is not doing it for votes, but rather for the optics, to stay in headlines, and to troll Kamala. You're overthinking these things over people who don't think.

@8. Kamala grew up with a single mom on the streets of Oakland. Now she is VP. And she has been confirmed to have worked at McDonald's too. Why are you peddling in falsehoods? Anyone who knows what it's like to grow up in the Town knows how hollow a staged photo op like this looks as an appeal to the everyman. The visual rhetoric doesn't matter if it is true, the spectacle is a lie. Character, substance, compassion, and a serious approach to law enforcement come from growing up in hardship. Trump didn't have enough adversity in his childhood and life to develop a conscience and sense of compassion. He is as aritificial and unhealthy as McDonald's, and just as addicting to his cult who are clogging their arteries with his diet of junk food politics. It's time for real leadership.

Am I the only one booking the soonest possible round-trip to New Zealand's Dunedin airport car park to fondly shag one or more people goodbye?

13, That is not the sentiment expressed in the idiotic, elitist tweet you shared.

The purpose of every campaign event is to gain votes. To argue it’s anything else is to have no understanding whatsoever of what a political campaign is.

@16: No, Cenk (hardly an elitist) is referring to the spin and optics as well. It doesn't matter that Trump is running his campaign unconventionally.

@14: "And she has been confirmed to have worked at McDonald's too."

My God, I wish that was true. I really do. There's no record of despite her word. It seems like a negligible issue blown out of proportion, but it comes across as an intolerable lie to low-information voters.

@17, “Spin” and “optics” are just words stupid people use because they think it sounds smarter than just saying “votes”.

It’s a campaign, dumbass. Trump is trying to win an election, Cenk is a member of the media elite trying to position himself as a man of the people, and you’re an absolute mark if you fall for any of this shit.

@19: Calm down now. Trump wants to win, but will try to steal it otherwise. He's not rational. I'm sorry that's news to you.

@20, What the fuck are you even talking about?

More importantly, what happened to Ronald and Nancy? I was wondering why you were posting so much more under Phoebe and when I looked for raindrop 2.0 I saw that profile also go the boot. What did you say this time?

@21: I'm only me.

These photo ops are nothing new, and they do often hurt more than help. Remember when George H.W. Bush was amazed by the supermarket scanner and thought it was new tech? Donald Trump finally learning that french fries get made in oil at age 78 isn’t exactly giving off in touch with the people.

22 you’re raindrop doing a really bad Catalina impression and it’s obvious not only by your tortured concern-troll logic and overwrought English but the frequency of your activity when your main profiles get banned

the Tell
was the
Woman's
Face accepting
a bag (of likely dogshit)
from a FORMER FUCKING
"president" current fucking
Felon but a few little things
like That'll NEVER DISSUADE
those with neither the Time nor
Inclination to delve any deeper in-
to the Chaos the TeeVee bestows up-
on them whilst just hoping to eat & Escape

'Politics'?
FUCK THAT!!!
cantchya See I-
'm a little BUSY!

her Face lit up
like a 24-carat trumpf
diamond guaranteed to
be NO LESS THAN 1/4 CARAT!

& all for Only
$99.99 for
Life*

if it'd been Me
at PCC accepting
my well-bagged box
of Goodies, from Bernie
Fucking Sanders, I'd likely've
the same shit-eating Grin on My
face too. a Brilliant move by a Very
Troubled 'soul.' so -- for eltrumpfster:
that's One. you better keep Up, Kamala!

*Yours, your Progeny's
Their Progeny's their
Progeny's Progenies
well you got the Pic

Phoebe, dear, 99.99999% of the voters have no idea who Cenk Unger is, and no one other than him and a few neurotics care what he thinks or listens to what he has to say. Most people think of trump at a McDonald's and the first thing that comes to mind is Donald McDonald, or perhaps the Hamburgler. Who knows? Maybe his base will be angry that he took one of those "fancy" jobs.

As far as electrification goes, it's not distribution that's the trouble (transformers and wires get upgraded all the time). It's how we make power (generation) and how we get it here (transmission) that are the real stinkers. Both are expensive, have (rightfully) lots of regulations around them, and take forever to build. Plus there's the NIMBY's, who know how to work the system. Anyone who has followed PSE's plan to add more eastside transmission ("Energize Eastside!") can tell you all about it.

I can tell you, there's plenty of mutterings about Nuclear these days. In the most unexpected places.

@9 Might want to put your glasses on. Maybe aging is having an effect on your prescription and you're getting a little near-sighted? As usual, you're wrong on just about everything. But so /confidently/ incorrect, so at least you're on brand. Perhaps MyopiaMan would be a better username.

New renewable generation plus storage have functionally equivalent levelized cost of energy to natural gas generation and beats coal by miles. And that's before any tax credits for renewables. Onshore wind is particularly attractive in the PNW because of excellent wind resources in the area. https://gasoutlook.com/analysis/u-s-renewable-energy-beats-fossil-fuels-on-cost-study/

Cost of ownership: Every state but WV and ME shows a 5-year cost of ownership for EVs than ICEs. https://www.autonews.com/mobility-report/evs-cost-less-own-similar-gas-vehicles-most-states

raindrop/dewdrop's
no longer Here
@tS ~ tho A
few're Sad
about
that

but if Pheobe's
dewey why then
I'll eat trumpfy's hat

pretty sure
you're barking
up the wrong tree:

phoebe hasn't the
Same animosity nor (hope-
fully!) gluttony for Punishment

Swifty's tree house is lonely.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/21/palestinians-describe-being-used-as-human-shields-by-israeli-troops-in-gaza

Will wonders never cease /s

@26: It's so just interesting about the psychology of Donald's unraveling. Good to watch Mary Trump's podcasts.

So do you feel the same about Ana Kasparian and the other progressives over at TYT?

@24: Catalina impression? Ha! I wouldn't dare. We both go back to the early days of Slog though, long before you were born.

31, You have dared, albeit poorly, but even if I believed there could be more than one Slog commenter who uses words like “pontifications” in every day speech, Phoebe’s commenting frequency went from monthly to daily when raindrop was banned and probably followed the same pattern when Ronald and Nancy was nuked too. You may be fooling some of us but not me, dude.

Also Ana Kasparian is like 75% of the way through her “the left left me” arc and will probably be full right-wing within the next 2 years. She has already done an apology tour through the reactionary podcast circuit. These people don’t believe in anything and just say whatever gets the most clicks and views.

Maybe Trump can get a job in the prison kitchen after he's sentenced.

@32: Would you prefer I comment less frequently?

if the donold's prison-bound
I can easily see him ratting out
his co-conspirators, one-day-off
at a time -- he may not Last 'as long'
as his veryclose Buddy Jeffrey Epstein

when 'the cameras
Failed!'* for what,
an Hour or so?

@32 ~ apparently mother nature
Abhorred the giant soul-Sucking
Sound of el dewey's Well-timed
Departure & phoebe merely
stepped up whilst the
steppin was Good.

there's Still
the thumpfer
situationalities

*or the tape was
'accidentally'
erased? we
know how
That goes:

just another
Sooey-
cide.

@32: Good luck untangling the tale of Slog trolls, but Phoebe once had another account, “Jackkay,” banned years ago. “Divorcee and Trophy Wife” was obviously an immediate post-ban raindrop, of course, but it’s a bit of a stretch (at least, to me) if, back in the day, Phoebe, Jack, AND raindrop were all the same person — that’s a lot of comments. (Perhaps those accounts were shared amongst a group?)

Oh Phoebe... Have you always included part time jobs on your resume?
I'm close to retiring, but if I was going to submit a resume today, I would list three things.
My 10 years as a vet tech at the U of [redacted] vet school, my 4 years as A/V production manager at [redacted] and my current job of senior chef/manager at [redacted]. Going on 18 years there.
Point being, I've had many part time jobs that I wouldn't put on a resume. Are those not real? Did I fake all those side jobs (W-2 required)? When I had two or three when I was between the big jobs listed above, were those fake? Or when I would take an extra job for gravy money. Was that fake just because it's not on my resume?
Just because I didn't put them on a resume?

But no, anything to shit on Kamala.

I see you.

@37 Interesting... I remember Jackkay, but never made that connection to Phoebe.
I kinda wish Slog would let people keep their names, just add 'ver 2.0' or something to it so we know without having to guess who is who.
I lost my original slog account when my Hotmail account got hacked (I know, I know. Please don't shame me). Could never get the T/SARY to fix it. My old account is still there (same 'nym, no number), and I really want that avatar back. I lost the original when the phone bricked. (I know, I know).

@37: You left out Knarf. (just kidding)

@38: Practically everyone has early jobs they no longer have documentation of or get corroborating evidence. If it's become a campaign brouhaha, better make a press statement asap saying you can't prove it and take the heat instead of saying it just happened.

avatars
dammit
we Need
avatars for all!
separate the riffs
from the damn raffs

@40 His name is Fnarf, and I don't think he has ever posted anything under any another name here.
And if part time jobs are unimportant, why are you amplifying this as an issue? I think you just want to be a scold and "TSK, TSK" at other people. That seems to be your primary skill.

I see you.

@40 Ahem. Harris already said that she didn't have documentation of that job. So yeah, she's already doing exactly what you said she should. Is that good enough for you, or is there another level of concern trolling still to come?

If the Trump campaign is making an issue of a summer job she had in college then let them stew over it. Every second he spends dragging her for not producing w2s from a job she had 40 years ago is not spent talking about something voters actually care about. Zero downside for her letting them whine about something they could never prove even if they were right.

Let the would be oligarchs flush their money down the latrine of fool's good. Their money cannot buy your vote or turn lies into truth! Money is only monetized consent for ownership. Take it away and therein lies your true value. The office of the presidency demands the highest standards of discipline and conduct. Only Harris has what it takes to keep our country free. Trump will sell us out to the highest international bidder. Don't let our country go the way of Twitter. Neither Trump nor Musk have any business sense and made their fortunes off the innovation and hard work of others. They are charlatans peddling bibles, mad science, and artificial enslavement.

@42: "Amplifying the issue"? I commented on one of the news items Nathalie selected. But yes, merely by doing that is amplification I suppose. Pardon me then.

@43: Really? OK then. But if only Stephanie Rule had asked Kamala if she can verify she worked at McDonald's instead of asking "did you ever, serve Two All Beef Patties, Special Sauce, Lettuce, Cheese, Pickles, Onions on a Sesame Seed Bun" and Kamala said yes, but can't prove it. It would have nipped it in the bud.

Why is Nathalie covering completely meaningless drivel relating to McDonald's, when Elon Musk is openly ignoring federal election law, and buying votes with his million dollars a day drawing for registered voters in swing states? I remember when Starbucks got in trouble for offering a free drip to anyone with an "I Voted" sticker on.

Or how about more coverage of Trump promising to arrest his political opponents and send the National Guard or military to crush public protests against his rule, if elected?

@39: "I kinda wish Slog would let people keep their names, just add 'ver 2.0' or something to it so we know without having to guess who is who."

When my personal IT problems locked me out of my first account here, I opened my second account, but with "na" appended, literally for "new account". So everyone knew it was me.

Getting banned is another matter. Some take the hint, some don't.

@40: You, Miss, are not now, nor have you ever been, Fnarf. ;-)

Part-time or full time, the determining factor for appearance on a resume is usually how long ago it was, which itself derives from relevance to the position under consideration. Slinging fries as a teen/young adult vs. Leader of the Free World? Not much to recommend inclusion of that one.

@27, That analysis doesn't figure in differences in purchase price.

https://www.picknrg.com/en/resource-center/can-ev-save-money/

If you own for 15 years, then, AND ONLY THEN, do EV's become cheaper.

As noted, the average consumer only owns for 8 years.

“ The 2021 study compared vehicles of multiple sizes and found that while the total cost of ownership over 15 years is similar between electric vehicles and their gas-powered counterparts, electric vehicles are slightly cheaper to operate per mile”

That’s not saying you have to own your EV for 15 years to achieve savings. 15 years is just the timeframe they chose as their metric to compare EVs to gas cars.

@50: huh, hybrid-electric turns out to be the best. guess all those Uber drivers in Priuses know what’s up.

@50, Data isn't your thing is it. They chose 15 years because that is how long it takes to make up for the higher up front cost of an EV (purchase price). You have lower fuel (electricity) costs with an EV and less maintenance (although less frequent, the cost per event is higher). So you need to own longer for those savings to make up for the higher up front costs (that manifest themselves in car payments). What is your total out of pocket cash for each choice to drive? They don't equalize until year 15.

@50, The cheapest choice is no car at all. No insurance and car payment during the 90% of the time your car isn't taking you anywhere. Car payments and insurance while it sits in the driveway or the parking lot at work. Even factoring renting a car to go hiking or out of town for the weekend, its still the cheapest option. If you can work from home, the savings are even greater (no voluntary donations to the fare box).

@49 Put your glasses on and read the article a little closer. The hint is in the term Total Cost of Ownership. Which by definition includes the purchase price. Surely as an accomplished international law attorney and transit union shop steward you'd know that? I mean, if you're not being willfully ignorant. Again.

And no doubt you'd like to update that 2021 economic analysis you cite--after all nothing important has happened in EV sales, availability, and pricing between 2021 and 2024, amirite? It is on brand for you to be living in the past though. Of course, the analysis should factor in the fact that WA has higher gas prices than average, making electric cars more likely to pencil out in a shorter term.

52, I’m a data scientist but you don’t need to be one to understand the description of their methodology. Nonetheless, you’re reading it wrong.

It’s not possible to directly compare EVs and gas cars because they are always going to be different makes and models so any given study is going to have to define metrics to compare by. The study you shared chose the average cost of 15 years of ownership between EVs and gas.

This study looks at 3 year ownership comparing specific makes/models by vehicle type:

https://www.caranddriver.com/shopping-advice/a32494027/ev-vs-gas-cheaper-to-own/

The study cited here looks at 7 years of ownership comparing specific makes/models by vehicle type:

https://www.nrdc.org/bio/isabella-sullivan/cheaper-and-cleaner-electric-vehicle-owners-save-thousands

There is no such thing as a definitive study, particularly when you can only rely on observational data. They all have slightly different findings because they’re asking the question differently. There is nothing wrong with that, it just means you as the consumer need to understand what the study is telling you.

@55, To be clear, the 3-year and 7-year studies both found savings for EV owners

@54: Electric cars do have a higher up-front purchase price (ask me how I know 🙄) and you have to rig your house for charging (🙄) and repairs are a bear (🙄), but supposedly you get a lower operating cost over time. Factoring in total cost of ownership, when does the break-even point occur between an EV and an ICE? Notmyopic keeps saying it’s 15 years, and you keep saying that number is wrong. So when is it? 10 years? 8 years? NEVER, as I’ve come to suspect? 😂

@55: Eh, the three-year survey appears to omit the cost of setting up a fast charger in your home. No one who drives an EV wants to trickle charge, it sucks! 😂 Throw in the cost of a high-speed charger, and the EV savings immediately vanish, at least on a three-year horizon.

Slight correction: the 3-year study finds savings for the truck but not the car. Also they are directly comparing same make/model in EV and gas.

@30 Nadav Weiman, a former IDF sniper and now BTS director, said: “From what we understand it was a very widely used protocol, meaning there are hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza who have been used as human shields.

“Palestinians are being grabbed from humanitarian corridors inside Gaza … and then they’re being brought to different units inside Gaza – regular infantry units, not special forces.” Weiman said. “And then those Palestinians are being used as human shields to sweep tunnels and also houses. In some cases, they have a GoPro camera on their chest or on their head and in almost all of the cases, they are cuffed before they are taken into a tunnel or house to sweep and they are dressed in IDF uniform.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/21/palestinians-describe-being-used-as-human-shields-by-israeli-troops-in-gaza

@60: Oh, NOW you’re against the use of civilians as human shields in Gaza? 😂😂😂

@57 If you read the link I helpfully provided, you'll see the breakeven time is less than 5 years on average in nearly all states. If you buy a $200K EV supercar, it's probably never. Our (used) Leaf broke even after a year or two.

@58 Yeah, except that for most people's driving habits, a 110VAC "trickle" charge is plenty to keep up with daily driving. It adds around 5 miles of range per hour of charging, more than enough to cover the average commute with an overnight charge. But why deal in facts when you can scaremonger?

@62: Ha ha ha, please! The problem with EVs isn’t that they suck as commuter cars, it’s that they suck for everything else. I can tell you’ve never owned one or you wouldn’t be talking about how trickle charge is all anyone needs! 😀

@61 I have always been against the PROVEN use of human shields in Gaza. Unsubstantiated or poorly substantiated IDF claims do not qualify.

There is also a substantial difference between guerilla hiding among the population in the most populated walled ghetto on the planet and beating Palestinians civilians into clearing a path free of bombs for regular army units.

@64: Aw, the army guys were just “hiding among the population!” 😂🤣😂🤣

@65 shitty emojis fall well short of substantiation. It's amazing how many jokers think that posturing will carry the day

Note that if I had as little ethics as our resident thugs, I would claim that Thumpus not expressing disapproval of the IDF using human shields means that he supports these war crimes

I wish the Orange Turd would choke on a BigMac and we could finally be done with it.

China's BYD will take hold of the world's EV market.

@45 CDizzle (Garb Garblar?): +1 For the WIN!!!