XCR1250

https://news.yahoo.com/gma/2-american-hostages-held-since-182500429.html

Yup, we have boats, 2 ATV's and a SXS..

DeLorean Flies Again with Corvette-Based V8 and Iconic Gullwing Doors Johnny Puckett Thu, October 19, 2023 at 10:00 AM CDT·2 min read ⚡️ Read the full article on Motorious This is an interesting build. In an unexpected twist on automotive heritage, a new DeLorean is on the horizon. And it's got a Corvette heart beating beneath its gullwing doors. Kathyrn DeLorean, CEO of DeLorean Next Gen Motors and daughter of the legendary John DeLorean, recently shared some electrifying news with Hagerty. The company plans to unveil a C8 Corvette-based car, stripping away the Chevrolet exterior to drape it in a bespoke DeLorean skin, replete with those unmistakable gullwing doors. Kathryn expressed the weight of the DeLorean legacy, stating, “I needed to give the DeLorean community something they've been longing for. They'd never forgive me otherwise." The revelations don't stop there. The new Corvette-based car is just the appetizer. The main course? A hand-crafted ‘Model JZD’ - an electric vehicle with only 42 units planned for production. This limited-edition model will also sport the signature gullwing doors. However, fans should brace themselves, as it’s bound to have a much heftier price tag than its Corvette sibling. The arrival date for these reborn legends remains veiled in mystery. If only we had a DeLorean with time-travel capabilities to sneak a peek! Intriguingly, another DeLorean-themed company, unaffiliated with DeLorean Next Gen Motors, is in the mix. Spearheaded by former Karma Automotive executive, Joost de Vries, it's developing its own revival called the Alpha5. The plot thickens with a direct call-out from Kathryn DeLorean on Instagram, asserting her father's original legacy and its separation from de Vries' venture. Adding yet another layer to this automotive drama, Classic DMC enters the narrative. Founded by Stephen Wynne, a Liverpool mechanic, the company once specialized in creating spare parts for the original DeLorean lineup. While Classic DMC hasn’t unveiled any modern take on the DeLorean, there's a buzz that Wynne has a stake in the company crafting the Alpha5. As the DeLorean tale continues to unfold, enthusiasts everywhere wait with bated breath to witness the rebirth of a legend. Stay tuned as the future of this iconic car revs back into the limelight.

I retired at age 44 back in 1991.

We must put a stop to the electric vehicle revolution – before someone gets hurt Allison Pearson Wed, October 18, 2023 at 2:00 AM CDT·7 min read What the blazes is going on? We are familiar with the stand-up rows caused by a chronic lack of charging points for electric vehicles (EVs) but, so far, there has been remarkably little debate about their safety. Manufacturers deny that EVs have an unfortunate tendency to burst into flames, but fire brigades across the world beg to differ. They have taken to producing an amusing annual calendar with a different Tesla in flames for each month of the year. So frequent are these blazes that the ‘Burning Tesla 2024’ calendar is already full. One wag posted a video of an EV with a small bonfire on the backseat with the caption: “Tesla Holiday Version with built-in fireplace”. In the past couple of years, two huge ships carrying thousands of cars have gone up in flames, apparently because of battery electric vehicles. A fire on board car carrier Felicity Ace in February 2022 led to the vessel sinking in the Atlantic, along with its cargo of 4,000 vehicles. Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries were cited as a factor in keeping the fire ablaze. More recently, the Fremantle Highway cargo ship caught fire in the North Sea. It was alleged that batteries in EVs on board had overheated. During the salvage operation, all the cars were washed to remove any chemicals from the fire before they came off the ship. One charred vehicle, in which the fire appeared to be extinguished, actually reignited as it was lowered into the water. Investigators were quick to say: “No fire on board a ro-ro [roll on/roll off] or PCTC [Pure Car Truck Carrier] has been proven to have been caused by a factory-new EV.” It was the same nothing-to-see-here story with the towering inferno this month at Luton airport. At least 125 flights were cancelled after a huge fire, which started on level three of the airport’s multi-storey car park, caused the entire £20 million structure to collapse. Up to 1,500 vehicles are unlikely to be salvageable. A huge deal, you might think. A topic for a heated debate at the very least, particularly as people could have been hurt but, once again, the conflagration has been tamped down. Authorities said the blaze “appeared to have been accidental and began in a parked car, believed to be a diesel vehicle”. Well, not according to one witness, who managed to snap a picture of the vehicle that was suspected of causing the fire, which looked very like a Range Rover Evoque. There was none of the thick black smoke you would expect with a diesel fire. Instead, the blaze was focused on the front left seat of the car under which – well, I never! – the lithium-ion battery happens to be located in some hybrid Range Rovers. The aftermath of the fire at Luton airport - John Robertson It’s not just cars. My gardener friend says he knows of two gazebos that burnt down when the battery pack powering their fairy lights burst into flames, causing third-degree burns to one owner. Such fires can be fatal. An e-bike left charging is believed to have caused the house fire that tore through a maisonette in Cambridge over the summer, killing a mother and her two young children. The London Fire Brigade (LFB) has warned that e-bike fires are up 60 per cent this year. Firefighters have been called to an e-scooter or e-bike fire every two days since the start of 2023. At least 12 people have died and a further 190 have been injured in suspected e-bike and e-scooter blazes in the UK since 2020. (Data from the London Fire Brigade for 2019 showed an incident rate of 0.04 per cent for petrol and diesel cars fires, while the rate for plug-in vehicles is more than double at 0.1 per cent) The LFB has even started a campaign called #ChargeSafe to alert people to the potential dangers of the bikes’ lithium-ion batteries. They say there is no smoke without fire, but vested interests are creating as much smoke as possible to obscure the cause of these fires, I reckon. Why? Well, meeting the notably insane and economically disastrous net zero target by 2050 is predicated on the UK giving up fossil fuels. Rishi Sunak recently pushed the ban on new petrol and diesel cars back to 2035, but even meeting that will require a huge number of us to switch to battery electric vehicles powered by lithium-ion batteries. What if those dense concentrations of electrochemical energy and lithium are prone to catching fire unexpectedly or exploding and the ensuing inferno is very hard to put out? To maintain the momentum in decarbonising transport, I would guess it’s rather convenient if that question doesn’t get answered. Someone who really does know the answer is Professor Peter Edwards. He holds the chair in inorganic chemistry at the University of Oxford and tells me he is extremely worried about the “real danger” posed to the public and emergency services by lithium-ion batteries which were developed by his predecessor in the chair, the late Professor John B Goodenough, the so-called “Father of the Lithium Battery”. “Lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles can develop unstoppable so-called ‘thermal runaway’ fires which burn uncontrollably,” says Prof Edwards. “As well as intense heat, during a battery fire, numerous toxic gases are emitted, such as hydrogen cyanide and hydrogen fluoride. The emission of these gases can be a larger threat than the heat generated.” Sounds really good for the atmosphere, doesn’t it? Just to add to the fun, Prof Edwards says a “potential catastrophe” awaits with all the large-scale lithium-ion battery storage sites sprouting up all over the country, especially on solar farms. “These are not normal fires,” he says of the recent blazes in electric vehicles. “They are triggered and fuelled by an internal chemical reaction that generates and releases a huge amount of heat and, in complete contrast to a conventional fossil fuel car, can continue without a supply of oxygen or indeed a visible flame. Furthermore, the large amount of stored electrical energy presents significant challenges in any attempt to mitigate these battery fires.” Basically, they’re a bugger to put out. One fire brigade used 20,000 gallons of water to bring a single EV fire under control. Imagine if an EV were to self-combust in the Channel Tunnel, in an underground car park or in the garage next to your house. It would be disastrous, so where is the official investigation into the safety of these vehicles? Silence. Prof Edwards believes there is a “concerted campaign” to demonstrate how safe EVs are, regardless of the evidence. “Official statements discounting any possibility of battery fires are issued in unwarranted haste after any such event. One has a clear feeling that any fatalities, injuries and environmental damage are seen as acceptable collateral damage for a transition to a renewable energy future.” Ironically, the Father of the Lithium Battery foresaw all this. When Prof Edwards was working with Prof Goodenough, he says his Oxford predecessor “did wonder whether safety issues with lithium might preclude the battery’s widespread adoption. Particularly so, given the fire brigade had been called to his laboratory to put out a lithium battery fire... nowadays politely called a thermal runaway event.” What a fiasco the whole electric car thing has become. Too few charging machines and then too many charging machines out of service, forcing people to drive around for a viable charging point, only to end up calling breakdown services for run-down batteries. The mileage the cars can do is a lot lower than advertised, unless you drive at 20mph (perfect in Wales, but hopeless everywhere else). The cars are too expensive, their second-hand value is risible, the batteries only last about 15 years and cost thousands to replace. If, that is, you get lucky and they don’t burst into flames first. Towards the end of his distinguished life, the Father of the Lithium Battery told colleagues in Oxford that he didn’t think a mass rollout was wise because of the considerable fire hazard. How lucky we are that our country’s entire future energy strategy isn’t riding on an invention that can explode at will and cause fires it’s impossible to put out…

Close this content, you can also use the Escape key at anytime Burning electric cars must be dunked in baths of water to stop fires spreading Noah Eastwood Mon, October 16, 2023 at 11:00 AM CDT·5 min read 1 Around 13pc of electric vehicle fires reignite, sometimes hours later, making the fires harder to extinguish than those of petrol or diesel cars - Pro Shots/Alamy Stock Photo Car park spaces should become wider and burning electric cars dunked in baths of water, under proposed government guidelines to prevent battery fires spreading out of control. Ministers have been told that battery-powered vehicles pose a medley of risks in indoor car parks, which could render 1960s-era fire safety laws dangerously out of date. Areas of concern addressed in a government-commissioned report included explosions of flammable vapour clouds emitted by electric vehicle batteries, as well as jets of fire and toxic water run-off from firefighting. The report, from consultancy Arup, which makes a series of recommendations for changes to fire safety rules, said that there was a “high degree of uncertainty” about data on the fire risks of electric cars and that it is “not yet understood” whether their batteries become more of a fire hazard with age. The report suggested that water used to tackle the blazes would need to be contained and treated at a plant before being released into sewage - News Scan The consultancy has previously advised the Government on a number of infrastructure issues, including how to replace lost fuel duty revenues from electric vehicles with toll roads and higher income tax. Solutions presented in the report included increased space between parked cars as well as greater distance between indoor car parks to manage the risk of fire spreading between cars and buildings. It said indoor and multi-story car parks should adopt larger parking bays to help firefighters reach burning vehicles, with one example in the report proposing a 90cm to 1.2 metre gap between vehicles. It comes as residents of a Labour-run council in London fight to block plans to build an electric bus garage under a development of thousands of new flats amid fears battery fires could cause a “volcano”. Fires in indoor car parks can cause widespread damage to other vehicles. The Luton Airport car park blaze, though not said to be caused by an electric vehicle, is estimated to have destroyed up to 1,500 cars. The report, published in July, goes on to detail how water used to put out burning electric cars is contaminated by toxic chemicals in lithium-ion batteries and can pose a “significant ecological impact” in some areas. It suggested that in these locations that water used to tackle blazes would need to be contained and treated at a plant before being released into sewage. On top of this, it warned that around 13pc of electric vehicle fires reignite, sometimes hours later and multiple times, adding the fires were harder to extinguish than those of petrol or diesel cars. Another risk identified by the report is flammable vapour clouds emitted by batteries during a chemical reaction known as “thermal runaway”, when a battery overheats, which are said to potentially result in flash fires, explosions and flaming jets. While petrol and diesel vehicle fires typically took five minutes to extinguish, electric vehicle fires can take as much as 49 minutes to put out, it said. It referred to examples trialled in China where burning electric vehicles had been put out by being submerged in external tanks and constructing mobile baths around electric cars to flood their batteries. It said that battery-powered cars did “not present an increased likelihood of fire” when compared to conventional fuel cars based on current data, but acknowledged that “as electric vehicles age and become more widely used [the] risk of fire may increase.” The report included responses from the National Fire Chief’s Council (NFCC), which advised of additional risks to firefighters due to potentially limited access to a burning vehicle in a car park. While the NFCC was said to be reviewing its approach to putting out electric car fires, new equipment to tackle electric blazes is still developing and “limited” in the UK, according to the report. Six electric buses were destroyed last May in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, after one caught fire - Twitter The majority of fire safety guidance for England’s car parks has not been “updated significantly” since the 1960s and may not fully reflect risks posed by modern cars, including electric cars, the report warned. Indoor car parks are common in urban areas and are frequently used to house vehicles in the basements of apartment complexes and at shopping centres and airports. Simon Tudor, director of London Fire Consultants, a fire safety risk assessor, said more research needs to be undertaken to bring fire safety laws up to modern standards. He said: “I think more guidance needs to be put into place with regards to charging points particularly with residential accommodation. “I don’t think we fully appreciate [that] technology is moving along. I don’t think I would like to try and attempt to fight a fire with a portable extinguisher on an electric vehicle. “Obviously you’ve got an increased risk with people sleeping in an apartment on top of car parks packed full of charging electric cars.” He added: “The high-risk areas are where you get a block of flats and you get an underground car park. “That’s going to have a detrimental effect if you don’t have detection”. He said that placing burning electric cars in tanks of water to put out fires was “going to be very difficult to do obviously in an underground car park”. A government spokesman said: “There is no evidence that electric vehicle fires are more likely to occur than petrol or diesel vehicle fires and it remains safe to have them in covered car parks. “This guidance is part of our commitment to keep fire prevention, fire detection and fire-fighting under review for all vehicles and provides the industry with best practice on how to keep car parks safe.”

As a boy he lived on the streets for years. Now he’s opened his home to kids as a single foster dad Faith Karimi, CNN Sat, October 14, 2023 at 6:56 AM CDT·10 min read 109 The nervous 11-year-old showed up at Peter Mutabazi’s doorstep around 3 a.m., wearing blue pajamas and a gray Batman blanket over his shoulders. He carried a duffel bag holding a sweater, a pair of sneakers and not much else. A social worker had called Mutabazi hours earlier to tell him about the boy, who had been abandoned at a hospital by his adopted parents and desperately needed a place to stay for the weekend. It was January 2017. Mutabazi wasn’t ready to take in more kids – he had just said goodbye to two foster siblings and needed time to regroup. Then he remembered what it’s like to feel scared, alone and unwanted. As a boy he fled an abusive home and lived on the streets of Kampala, Uganda, before a stranger paid his high school tuition, leading to a college scholarship and an eventual move to the US. “His adopted parents … never said goodbye or told him why,” said Mutabazi, who now lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. “So once I heard the story, I revisited my childhood running away. I was like, you know what? Bring him.” Within minutes of his arrival, Anthony asked Mutabazi if he could call him dad. “I said, ‘oh no, no, no. You’re just here for the weekend, so just call me Peter,’” Mutabazi says. But Anthony insisted. “He told me, ‘They said I can choose my dad since I’m 11 now, and I choose you.’” Anthony, who had been in the foster care system since he was a toddler, never left Mutabazi’s house that weekend as planned. Mutabazi adopted him in November 2019 and gave him his last name. Last month, Mutabazi adopted two more children: siblings who’d lived with him for three years. Isabella, 8, is the new boss of the house, he says, while Luke, 7, is a shy boy with a sweet smile. Theirs is an unconventional family – he is Black, and his adopted kids are White – but Mutabazi, 49, believes that love transcends racial differences. “I’m a girl dad now. Sometimes it feels surreal,” he says. “I look at them and I can’t believe that they are my kids, they have my last name. I can’t believe that this once homeless and hopeless person has now created this crazy family filled with love.” He’s a rarity in the foster parent community There were almost 400,000 children in foster care in the US in fiscal year 2021, according to the Department of Health and Human Services’ most recent statistics. Mutabazi is not married and belongs to a rare group – federal data shows that only about 3% of foster parents are single men. And as an immigrant and a Black man, Mutabazi is part of an even smaller subset within the foster parent community. Since becoming a foster father in 2016, he has hosted about three dozen kids of all races and cultures. Some of his foster children were reunited with their families, while others remain in his care. Mutabazi shares glimpses of his life as a foster dad with his 328,000 followers on Instagram to encourage other men to be active fathers and signal that a healthy family is based on love, not skin color, he says. After playing outside, Peter Mutabazi serves his foster kids ice cream in their Charlotte, North Carolina, home. - Sean Mcinnis/The Charlotte Observer/Zuma He blurs the faces of his foster kids to maintain their privacy. But to mark Luke and Isabella’s adoption, he posted a video of them slowly removing their sunglasses and revealing their faces to his followers for the first time. After he signed the adoption papers, the family had a dance party. Mutabazi currently has six kids in his home, including three foster children. His youngest foster child, who’s 2, is Luke and Isabella’s youngest sister. His five-bedroom home is unlike most bachelor pads. It’s a chaotic mix of squealing kids and two energetic dogs, Simba and Rafiki. Stuffed animals sit on white bunkbeds. Squiggly colorings adorn the fridge, and rooms are scattered with toys. Mutabazi says it’s not easy being a single dad and relies on a community of other foster parents to help. But he’d not have it any other way, he says. His afternoons and evenings are filled with school pickups, helping the kids with homework and teaching his now-teenage son how to drive. He prepares most of the family meals and has introduced his adopted children to traditional African foods. One of their favorites is chapati, a tortilla-like flat bread popular in East Africa and India. As a boy he survived on the street by carrying others’ groceries In his 2022 book, “Now I Am Known: How a Street Kid Turned Foster Dad Found Acceptance and True Worth,” Mutabazi details how he ran away from home at age 10 to escape a physically abusive parent. He lived on the streets of Kampala for five years and carried people’s groceries to their cars in exchange for money to buy food. At times, his only meal was a banana or an orange stolen from their shopping bags, he says. Then one day, a stranger asked him his name. Young Peter was stunned because it was the first time anyone had done that in his years of living on the streets, he says. The man enrolled him in a boarding school and essentially became his foster father, he says. Now Mutabazi says he wants to pay it forward by advocating for other children. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration at Makerere University in Kampala and later won a scholarship to study crisis management at Oak Hill College in London. Two decades ago, he moved to Santa Clarita, California, to study theology at Master’s University. Since then he’s worked for child advocacy organizations, including Compassion International and World Vision US, where he now serves as a senior child advocate. Instead of waiting for a spouse to start a family, Mutabazi decided to create his own – one that’s not defined by race or societal norms. “It does not make sense to waste those years while waiting,” he says. He gets questions from strangers as the adoptive father of White kids Mutabazi says he does not choose the kids he fosters and has opened his home to White, Latino, Native American and African American children. The related expenses can add up. In North Carolina, foster parents receive between $500 to $700 monthly per child depending on the child’s age, according to the group Fostering NC. As the adoptive father of three White children, it’s not unusual for people to ask his kids where their parents are when they’re out in public, he says. He recalled a recent incident when his children wanted to taste food samples at Costco. “The lady said, ‘Hey, I cannot feed you until you go get your dad or your parents. My kids are like, ‘but he’s right here,’ ” he says. “I asked her, If I was White, would you have asked the same thing?’ She said no, because I see White families with Black kids every day.’” Mutabazi gives his oldest son Anthony a haircut. "Simple things go a long way to show someone you see them and you care," he says. - Courtesy Peter Mutabazi Mutabazi says he carries paperwork to prove he’s their adopted father or foster parent everywhere he goes. He started doing that after people constantly called the police to report that they’ve seen a suspicious Black man with White children, he says. He hopes to change the narrative of what adoptive parents look like, he says, offering examples of Angelina Jolie, Madonna and other famous people who’ve adopted African children. “It’s considered natural for them, a noble cause,” while a Black man adopting White kids is seen as going against the system, he says. Mutabazi hopes his story encourages men of all races to be present for the kids who need them. He reminds his children over and over that they belong Mutabazi says one of the biggest challenges he faces as a foster father is trying to explain to the children why their parents are not coming for them. It’s heartbreaking to see them lose the dream of going back to their families, he says. “Not being able to say, ‘it’s going to be OK.’ When a child loses a mom or family member who’s still alive, and they ask you, ‘why can’t I see my mom?’, and you know the reason is – for example, drugs – and you can’t tell them, it’s hard. It’s pain you cannot carry for the child,” he says. All he can do, he says, is create an environment where the children feel safe and loved. He tries to be there for them every step of the way. Mutabazi says that overcoming his childhood trauma and becoming the father he wished he’d had is one of his biggest joys. He hopes it teaches his children that it’s OK to show your emotions and that they are loved unconditionally, even on their worst days. “That is what I needed the most and no one ever did for me. I was never held. As a kid, affection was never given to me. All I thought about was survival, survival, survival,” he says. Mutabazi, 49, poses in the kitchen of his Charlotte home. “I’m a girl dad now. Sometimes it feels surreal,” he says. - Sean Mcinnis/The Charlotte Observer/Zuma He says he wants his children, who come to him with their own traumas, to just enjoy being kids. One child psychiatrist says it’s crucial for foster parents to provide a stable environment and to fulfil the emotional needs of children under their care. “Foster parents can help by providing a home that is safe and predictable. The value of this basic foundation cannot be underestimated,” says Fleisher, medical director of the Boston Child Study Center in Los Angeles. At the same time, foster kids also need space to process feelings that they’re not ready to share, Fleisher says. “Successful foster parents provide love, emotional stability, patience, flexibility and use discipline as a tool for teaching, not shaming,” he says. Transracial adoptions – when parents adopt a child of a different race or ethnicity – have significantly gone up in the past two decades, experts say. Research on transracial adoptions shows that children of a different skin color than their parents can thrive in a loving home, Fleisher says. However, he notes, foster parents should consider incorporating cultural traditions and a social network from the community the child comes from. This is especially important for minority children who are fostered by White parents and need to learn how to navigate issues such as racism and other injustices. To remind his children that they are loved, Mutabazi writes affirming words in places around the house, including the fridge and a closet. “You are seen. You belong. You matter. You’re chosen. You’re not alone. You’re a gift. You’re loved,” these messages say. He’s also inscribed them on the bandanas that their dogs wear around their necks so that the kids can see them while they’re taking the dogs on walks. Mutabazi recalls a recent incident when Simba peed on the carpet, leaving him sighing in frustration as he cleaned up the mess. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Anthony was watching him. So he quickly checked himself and reassured Simba. He wanted to send a message to his son that nobody in the household – including the dogs – needed to be perfect to win his undying love and commitment. Anthony listened, then chimed in. “It’s OK Simba,” the teen told him. “You are loved. We are a family. You belong here.”

Close this content, you can also use the Escape key at anytime A Tesla owner says his 'heart missed a beat' when he received a $20,000 bill after the battery was damaged by rain Jyoti Mann Mon, October 16, 2023 at 5:14 AM CDT·2 min read 229 A Tesla-owning couple said they received a £17,374 bill, or $20,698, after their vehicle broke down. One of the owners, Johnny Bacigalupo, told Edinburgh Live that the bill was "absolutely obscene." They were told by a Tesla customer support rep that the battery was "damaged due to water ingress." A Tesla owner said he was "flabbergasted" when he and his partner were hit with a hefty bill to fix their electric vehicle. Johnny Bacigalupo and Rob Hussey told Scottish news outlet Edinburgh Live they were given a £17,374, or $20,698, bill to fix their Tesla after its battery was damaged by rain last week. "I honestly can't believe that this has happened. When I first got the call I thought we would get a bill for £500 or £1,000," Bacigalupo told Edinburgh Live. "When they said over 17 grand – it's absolutely obscene. My heart missed a beat, honestly." Elon Musk said in 2019 that it could cost between $5,000 and $10,000 to replace a Tesla battery, J.D. Power reported, noting that the figures are different in 2023. Recurrent, which reports on EV battery health, said battery replacement could cost anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000. After being unable to start their vehicle and arranging to have it delivered to Tesla Edinburgh by a collection firm, Bacigalupo and Hussey received a call on Wednesday informing them that the battery was "damaged due to water ingress." The 8-year warranty didn't cover this, and they were asked if they wanted to proceed with a repair costing $20,698. "Did I wish to proceed?? I was flabbergasted and couldn't really find my words," Bacigalupo said, who told the Tesla representative that the couple wasn't at fault. The outlet said it verified the bill via correspondence between Tesla and the couple and that it had seen an email from Tesla customer relations, which says it's investigating the complaint. A similar incident occurred last year when a Canadian Tesla owner was told it would cost $26,000 to get a replacement battery for his vehicle, Fox Business reported. The owner, Mario Zelaya, shared his experience in a TikTok video and said he was locked out of his Tesla Model S after the battery died. Zelaya said he eventually sold his Tesla after he spent $30 getting replacement ownership papers, which were locked in the vehicle. EV batteries can deteriorate at various rates depending on numerous factors, including how they were charged and the environment in which the vehicle was driven. Tesla Europe didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. Read the original article on Business Insider

Threats in U.S. rising after Hamas attack on Israel, says FBI director ANDRES TRIAY, ROBERT LEGARE, JEFF PEGUES Updated October 15, 2023 at 8:16 PM Patrick Semansky / AP Threats in the U.S. have been rising, since Hamas invaded Israel a week ago, FBI Director Christopher Wray and FBI officials said Sunday in a rare phone briefing for reporters. "The threat is very much ongoing and in fact, the threat picture continues to evolve," Wray said. "Here in the U.S., we cannot and do not discount the possibility that Hamas or other foreign terrorist organizations could exploit the conflict to call on their supporters to conduct attacks on our own soil." He said that Jews and Muslims alike, as well as their institutions and houses of worship, have been threatened in the U.S. and told reporters that the bureau is "moving quickly to mitigate" the threats. Wray, in an address Saturday to the International Association of Chiefs of Police, also noted "an increase in reported threats" and in particular warned that "we've got to be on the lookout ... for lone actors who may take inspiration from recent events to commit violence of their own." He urged police chiefs to "stay vigilant" because as first responders, "you're often the first to see the signs that someone may be mobilizing to violence." Senior FBI officials said most of the threats are not credible, and some have been addressed. As Wray suggested, the bureau's biggest concern is a lone wolf-style assailant who is not on their radars. This type of threat is best addressed through tips from the public, the officials said. They told reporters that there have been threats against Muslim facilities as well as Jewish facilities. Threats against Muslim centers are up, although the level of antisemitic threats is also spiking. The FBI is working through Joint Terrorism Task Forces to mitigate threats and keep these communities safe, Wray said. The FBI director twice said that he was "horrified...by the brutality committed at the hands of Hamas" and said that countering terrorism is the bureau's No. 1 priority. "We will not tolerate violence motivated by hate and extremism, he said. Wray also said that the bureau's legal attaché office in Tel Aviv is working with Israeli and U.S. Embassy partners "to locate and identify all Americans who've been impacted in the region, including those who remain unaccounted for." He added that victim services specialists are working with victims and their families at home and abroad.

May take awhile but Hydrogen ICE vehicles will overtake EV's in the near future, it makes the most sense. https://www.energy.gov/articles/biden-harris-administration-announces-7-billion-americas-first-clean-hydrogen-hubs-driving

HOME ELECTRIC VEHICLES A shortage of these vital professionals is killing electric vehicles in America A lack of these essential workers can destroy dreams of electric cars in the U.S. James Ochoa Oct 13, 2023 4:36 PM EDT Running out of gas is a shared experience associated with car ownership. Whether drivers are stretching the distance between fill-ups or on a long road trip, the anxiety that comes when the fuel needle goes past “E” and the light turns on is too familiar. What can make the horror story worse is the terrible sight of a closed gas station, but, imagine if you cannot find an operational gas station for tens or hundreds of miles. Despite not fueled by fossil fuels, this sort of scenario is too familiar to electric car owners, as working EV charging locations can come few and far between and a new finding can make this horror story much worse than it already is. More From TheStreet [?] Discover Proven Quant Ratings for Successful Investing Action Alerts PLUS: Professional portfolio guidance to take control of your financial future. A very dire situation A user charges a new energy vehicle in Lianyungang City, Jiangsu Province, China, Oct 8, 2023. (Photo by Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images) NurPhoto/Getty Images A report in Automotive News states that the EV charging network in the United States is in a lot of trouble. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, nearly 4,000 public EV charging stations with 7,000 ports were out of service as of early October, an outage rate of more than 6%. To try to work this out, both government and private entities are trying to make more chargers available to the EV driving public. Along with its push to make zero-emissions vehicles half of new vehicles sales by 2030, the Biden administration has called for the installation of 500,000 fast chargers throughout the U.S. In addition, the administration recently announced that it would provide $100 million in federal funds to repair and replace existing broken parts of the charging infrastructure. A group of carmakers consisting of BMW (BMWYY) , General Motors (GM) - Get Free Report, Honda (HMC) - Get Free Report, Hyundai (HYMTF) , Kia, Mercedes-Benz (DDAIF) and Stellantis (STLA) - Get Free Report also announced in July that they will be launching a joint electric vehicle charging network on highways and urban areas. Additionally, a growing list of carmakers like Kia and Hyundai have adapted to using the North American Charging System, or NACS plugs, which is compatible with the Tesla (TSLA) - Get Free Report supercharger network. The problem can only get worse A technician removes bubble wrap during the installation of a street-side electric vehicle (EV) charging station, operated by Qwello GmbH, in Frankfurt, Germany, on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022. The German government has said it wants 1 million public charging points by 2030, the majority of which it wants to be fast charging points. Photographer: Alex Kraus/Bloomberg via Getty Images Bloomberg/Getty Images Despite all the promise of these shiny, new EV chargers, there is one crucial element missing from the pot – the people to install and maintain them. Matt Trout, president of Trout Electric, which specializes in the installation and service of EV chargers in Southern California, told Automotive News that finding qualified high-level electricians, known as journeymen, specifically ones trained on EV chargers, is a huge challenge. "If you came to me right now with a journeyman that's been in the EV charging industry for the last couple of years, he'd be hired on the spot," Trout said. Qmerit, a company that provides installation services for EV charging and other electrification technologies for homes and businesses, estimates that the country’s electrification push, including EV charging and solar panels will require at least 142,000 more certified electricians by the Biden Administration’s 2030 deadline. There is a strong demand for electricians, as clean energy in itself requires lots of them, but, the job is not easy to be qualified for. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, electricians need four to five years of apprenticeship experience before getting a license on top of having a certification to work on EV chargers. Even among the ranks of electricians, many do not carry the certification to install or fix EV chargers. According to an analysis by electrician training company ChargerHelp! and engineering organization SAE international, only 1,000 qualified electricians will handle 825,000 service request calls this year, or 825 calls per one person. By 2030, the industry needs 17,000 qualified electricians to take on 14 million service request calls they anticipate. Possible solutions 02 August 2023, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Rostock: Sebastian Schuh holds a charging plug for charging an electric bus at the new depot of Rostocker Straßenbahn AG (RSAG). Photo: Jens Büttner/dpa (Photo by Jens Büttner/picture alliance via Getty Images) picture alliance/Getty Images There is a slight sense of hope. Chargerhelp! and SAE are developing training certifications to add EV charging to the skills of electricians. Already, Chargerhelp! has trained more than 1,000 charger technicians since 2022 and anticipates to train more with the partnership with SAE. Chargerhelp! CEO Kameale Terry noted that software skills are needed on top of traditional electrician skills in this line of work. "If someone goes out to change the connector but doesn't understand the full breadth of the ecosystem, it's hard for them to know if changing that connector was good enough," Terry said. Lack of a reliable charging infrastructure is one of the reasons why EV adoption has been slow, with many skeptical buyers turning to hybrids as a result. Already, EV buyers face a steep price tag when buying their cars, and the lack of a working chargers can the experience much worse for everyone.

Hamas commander killed in Israeli drone strike NICOLA SMITH October 14, 2023 at 8:01 AM Israeli defence forces say they have killed the leader of Hamas’ air forces in an overnight air strike in the Gaza Strip - Getty Images Israeli defence forces have announced that they have killed the Hamas commander who led last weekend’s deadly terrorist attack on communities bordering the Gaza Strip. Israel’s air force announced that Ali Qadhi was eliminated with the help of intelligence agency Shin Bet in an air strike on a Hamas base. It also released a black and white aerial video of a massive explosion engulfing the compound where he was reportedly located. Qadhi had previously been arrested in 2005 for the abduction and killing of Israelis, but had been released as part of the Gilad Shalit hostage release deal. The deal was brokered in 2011 between Israel and Hamas to release Gilad Shalit – an Israeli soldier kidnapped and held captive for five years – in exchange for 1,027 mainly Palestinian and Arab-Israeli prisoners. Earlier on Saturday, the Israel Defence Forces said it had killed the leader of Hamas’ air forces in an overnight air strike in the Gaza Strip. Murad Abu Murad was killed in a bomb targeting the headquarters of the terrorist group’s aerial activities, reported the Times of Israel, citing the IDF. According to the Israeli security forces, Abu Murad “took a big part in directing terrorists during the massacre” last weekend, which began with a barrage of missiles and attackers who entered Israel from the air on hang gliders just after dawn. The Israeli Air Force confirmed the strike on Twitter, saying: “During the last day, fighter jets of the air force attacked the operational headquarters of the terrorist organisation Hamas, from where the organisation’s aerial activities were managed. “During the attack, Murad Abu Murad, the head of the air formation in Gaza City who took a large part and directed terrorists in the murderous attack on Saturday, was killed.”

All the "Green" Crap including EV Junk is a major joke.

https://news.yahoo.com/biden-admin-sent-tens-millions-080047580.html

Retired Israeli general who rescued his family under siege from Hamas is being compared on social media to Liam Neeson's character in 'Taken' Rebecca Rommen Sat, October 14, 2023 at 6:12 AM CDT·5 min read A grandfather and retired IDF general rescued his granddaughters from their kibbutz as Hamas attacked. Noam Tibon, 62, is being compared on social media to Liam Neeson's character in "Taken." On the way, Tibon helped kill Hamas militants and then fought his way onto the kibbutz to save his family. A former Israeli general's rescue of his son's family from Hamas fighters attacking their kibbutz is being compared to Liam Neeson in "Taken" on social media. Award-winning journalist Amir Tibon was at home in Nahal Oz, a kibbutz bordering Gaza, when Hamas attacked communities along the border on October 7. As the sounds of gunfire came closer to the safe room Amir's family was sheltering, he rang his father, Noam Tibon, a 62-year-old retired major-general living in Tel Aviv. On hearing the news, the grandfather, who spent his military career specializing in counter-terrorism, replied to his son: "Trust me, I will come.'" He knew that I would come. This is my profession, nobody can stop me," Noam told NBC Nightly News. He immediately left Tel Aviv with his wife, armed only with a handgun, and drove south intent on saving his family, battling Hamas gunmen along the way, rescuing survivors of the music festival massacre, and helping wounded Israeli soldiers. His son Amir told The Atlantic, "After 10 hours, we hear a large bang on the window, and we hear the voice of my father. Galia, my oldest daughter, says, 'Saba higea' — 'Grandfather is here.' And that's when we all just start crying. And that's when we knew that we were safe." Noam's outstanding bravery has been hailed on social media, with users declaring him a real-life Bryan Mills, a former black ops specialist played by Liam Neeson in the 2008 movie "Taken" who rescues his teenage daughter from human trafficking kidnappers. Many compared Tibon's comment, "This is my profession, nobody can stop me," to the oft-quoted line from Mills to his daughter's captor: "If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career, skills that make me a nightmare for people like you."

US oil production hits all-time high, conflicting with efforts to cut heat-trapping pollution SETH BORENSTEIN Updated Fri, October 13, 2023 at 5:41 PM CDT·4 min read 355 FILE - The sun shines through the clouds as it begins to set behind a pumpjack, March 30, 2022, outside of Goldsmith, Texas. United States domestic oil production has hit an all-time high, contrasting with efforts to slice heat-trapping carbon emissions by the Biden administration and world leaders. (Eli Hartman/Odessa American via AP, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)More United States domestic oil production hit an all-time high last week, contrasting with efforts to slice heat-trapping carbon emissions by the Biden administration and world leaders. And it conflicts with oft-repeated Republican talking points of a Biden “war on American energy.” The U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration reported that American oil production in the first week of October hit 13.2 million barrels per day, passing the previous record set in 2020 by 100,000 barrels. Weekly domestic oil production has doubled from the first week in October 2012 to now. With the United Nations and scientists saying the world needs to cut carbon emissions — from burning coal, oil and natural gas — by 43% by 2030 and down to zero or close to it by 2050, several developed countries across the world are dangerously producing more, not less, fossil fuels, experts say. “Continuing to expand oil and gas production is hypocritical and not at all consistent with the global call to phase down fossil fuels,” said climate scientist Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics which helps track global actions and policies to curb climate change. “The U.S. support for expanded fossil fuel production will undermine global efforts to reduce emissions.” But the U.S. isn’t alone in this. Hare pointed to Norway, Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada, adding France because of support of the company TotalEnergies. And the designated president of upcoming climate negotiations heads the United Arab Emirates national oil company, which has announced plans to boost drilling. “From Exxon-Mobil to Shell, Guyana to Cote d’Ivorie, those with fossil resources seek to boost production and delay action to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions,” said MIT professor John Sterman, a senior advisor at Climate Interactive, an organization that models future warming based on countries' proposed actions. He said that path will lead to “catastrophe.” Stanford University climate scientist Rob Jackson, who heads the emissions-tallying group Global Carbon Project, said no country or company wants to cut oil and gas production if someone else is going to sell oil anyway. “We’re in a fossil trap,” Jackson said. White House officials have long considered increased oil production inside the United States as a bridge to help soften the transition to renewable energy sources. Officials have closely tracked domestic production, noting that output has risen by an average of more than one million barrels a day over the past year. It’s evidence that many of the oil price increases reflect the policy choices of other countries including Saudi Arabia on what is a globally priced commodity. The Biden administration has committed several hundred billions of dollars in government incentives for moving away from fossil fuels to limit the damage from climate change. Just because the United States is increasing oil production, that doesn’t mean it won’t phase down emissions, said Samantha Gross, director of energy security and climate at the centrist Brookings Institution. She said U.S. oil is less carbon-intensive than other oil, an argument the UAE’s oil company also makes. “So long as oil is demanded,” Gross said. “Demand drives production — we need to change the whole system to reduce oil demand.” “Replacing oil in power production is a lot easier than replacing oil in transportation,” Gross said in an email. “We need changes in the transportation sector, along with policies to reduce demand for transport — like teleworking, walkable neighborhoods and good public transportation.” The Energy Department’s EIA in a separate document predicted global carbon emissions will rise, not plummet, through 2050. “If the EIA is right, we’ll add another trillion tons of CO2 pollution to the atmosphere by 2050 and millions of people will die,” Stanford’s Jackson said. “There’s no other way to see it.” Republican senators and congressmen, including the House Energy and Commerce Committee, this year have repeated the phrase “Biden’s War on American Energy.” Jared Bernstein, chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, pushed back on that last month. “There are thousands of available permits — places where oil companies could drill,” Bernstein said. “They’ve been highly profitable. They’ve been highly productive. So, I don’t think that’s the problem.” Stanford’s Jackson said the Biden administration has swung back and forth on energy exploration, approving the Willow oil project in Alaska but cancelling drilling permits in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. “It’s clear that the Biden administration is not running a war against fossil fuels, or if it is, it’s a very unsuccessful war,” Climate Analytics Hare said. Associated Press reporter Joshua Boak contributed from Washington, D.C.

'Top secret' Hamas documents show that terrorists intentionally targeted elementary schools and a youth center Anna Schecter Fri, October 13, 2023 at 6:15 PM CDT·3 min read 594 Documents exclusively obtained by NBC News show that Hamas created detailed plans to target elementary schools and a youth center in the Israeli kibbutz of Kfar Sa'ad, to "kill as many people as possible," seize hostages and quickly move them into the Gaza Strip. The attack plans, which are labeled "top secret" in Arabic, appear to be orders for two highly trained Hamas units to surround and infiltrate villages and target places where civilians, including children, gather. Israeli authorities are still determining the death toll in Kfar Sa'ad. The documents were found on the bodies of Hamas terrorists by Israeli first responders and shared with NBC News. They include detailed maps and show that Hamas intended to kill or take hostage civilians and school children. One page labeled “Top Secret” outlines a plan of attack for Kfar Sa’ad, saying “Combat unit 1” is directed to “contain the new Da’at school,” while “Combat unit 2” is to “collect hostages,” “search the Bnei Akiva youth center” and “search the old Da’at school.” Another page labeled “Top Secret Maneuver” describes a plan for a Hamas unit to secure the east side of Kfar Sa’ad while a second unit controls the west. It says “kills as many as possible” and “capture hostages.” Other orders include surrounding a dining hall and holding hostages in it. The detailed plan to attack Kfar Sa'ad is part of a trove of documents that Israeli officials are analyzing, according to one source in the Israeli army and one in the government. Surveillance video of Hamas terrorists entering a kibbutz on Oct. 7 shows tactics similar to those laid out in the documents obtained by NBC News. The Israeli officials said that the wider group of documents show that Hamas had been systematically gathering intelligence on each kibbutz bordering Gaza and creating specific plans of attack for each village that included the intentional targeting of women and children. "The dental office, the supermarket, the dining hall," an Israel Defense Forces source said. "The level of specificity would cause anyone in the intelligence field's jaw to drop." The plan of coordinated attacks flies in the face of recent claims by Hamas that it did not kill children. A video released by Hamas on Friday showed armed terrorists holding and feeding Israeli children taken hostage, including babies. The Hamas documents, footage of the aftermath of the massacre and interviews with eyewitnesses and first responders tell a harrowing story. "I saw murdered babies. I saw murdered children. I saw mothers and children murdered together," said Yossi Landau, a commander of ZAKA, an Israeli first responder organization. Kibbutz Kfar Aza was one of the worst hit locations in the unprecedented terror attack on the morning of Saturday, Oct. 7. The Hamas maps obtained by NBC News show blue circles around Kfar Sa’ad and three other villages that also border Gaza: Kfar Aza, Nahal Oz and Alumim. Two Hamas units were to approach Kfar Sa'ad separately from two different assembly points, according to the documents. The also described the numbers and types of vehicles to be used by each group. "Group 1 assembly point: HAMZA transportation: one jeep and four motorbikes... "Group 2 assembly point: ABDEL RAHMAN transportation: one jeep and four motorbikes." Exactly how the vehicles should drive to the target villages was also laid out: "Length of platoon train: approximately 125 meters... "Shape and length of each group on the motorbikes: 50 meters for each group." One IDF official, who declined to be named while the investigation is ongoing, said he was astounded by the degree of planning that went into ensuring maximum civilian casualties. He said, "I've never seen this kind of detailed planning" for a mass terrorist attack. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com

Hamas flaunt Israeli babies and children in chilling video Susie Coen Fri, October 13, 2023 at 3:28 PM CDT·2 min read 2.9k A Hamas terrorist holding a crying baby placed on top of his rifle Hamas has released chilling footage that appears to show terrorists picking up and cradling Israeli babies and small children. The 49-second video includes a clip of a gunman clutching a crying baby placed on top of a rifle. In another, a baby gurgles as a Hamas terrorist pats it on the back while walking out of what looks like a living room. The footage also shows a little boy sitting on the knee of a terrorist, surrounded by at least eight more, in the garden of what appears to be a family home. A masked man is also seen holding a small boy and another baby as he speaks to the camera in Arabic. It is not known where or when the footage was taken or whether the children, or their parents, are still alive. It is not known where or when the footage was taken or whether the children, or their parents, are still alive The 49-second video includes a masked man holding a small boy and another baby as he speaks to the camera in Arabic Hamas released the footage as Israel Defense Forces prepare to mount a ground assault in Gaza after warning 1.1 million civilians to evacuate their homes. Dozens of Israeli children are known to have been killed or kidnapped by Hamas after it mounted its attack last Saturday. It is feared that more than 100 Israeli hostages will be used by the terrorists as human shields. The video may have been also released in response to some of the horrific images published by the Israeli government which appear to show babies and infants murdered by Hamas. The images showed a blood-stained infant, still dressed in a babygrow and nappy, lying inside a small body bag. “This is the most difficult image we’ve ever posted. As we are writing this we are shaking,” the Israeli government’s foreign ministry said in a post on Twitter. “We went back and forth about posting this, but we need each and every one of you to know. This happened.” On Friday, the foreign ministry posted another two graphic images. One showed a man who had been shot in the head, while another showed a limp, half-naked body being driven away on a motorbike. Alongside the images, it wrote: “Women and girls raped. People burned alive. Young kids kidnapped. Babies tortured and murdered. Parents executed in front of their young children. Hamas is ISIS.”

Menendez accused of acting as foreign agent for Egypt while helming Senate Foreign Relations Committee Erica Orden Thu, October 12, 2023 at 11:55 AM CDT·4 min read 269 Alex Brandon/AP NEW YORK — Federal prosecutors accused Sen. Bob Menendez on Thursday of secretly acting as an agent of the government of Egypt while serving as the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, adding to the slate of criminal charges for which the New Jersey Democrat was indicted last month. Prosecutors in the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office unveiled an updated indictment adding the charge of conspiracy for a public official to act as a foreign agent, alleging that Menendez; his wife, Nadine Menendez; and a New Jersey businessman, Wael Hana, used his Senate position to benefit the government of Egypt without registering as foreign agents. The new indictment comes three weeks after a federal grand jury charged all three — along with two other New Jersey businessmen — with conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and conspiracy to commit extortion. That set of charges also centered on Menendez’s alleged efforts to advocate for Egypt. In combination with the earlier charges, the new indictment paints a damning portrait of a sitting congressman allegedly using his office not to benefit his constituents but to advance the interests of a foreign nation. The original charges accused the Menendezes of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in cash, gold bars, a Mercedes-Benz C-300 convertible and home mortgage payments. In exchange, prosecutors said, the couple benefitted the three New Jersey businesspeople and the government of Egypt between 2018 and 2022, “including with respect to foreign military sales and foreign military financing.” Menendez had significant influence over those matters as the chair and, prior to that, as the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. All of the defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges in the original indictment. In a statement Thursday evening, Menendez insisted he is innocent. “The government’s latest charge flies in the face of my long record of standing up for human rights and democracy in Egypt and in challenging leaders of that country, including President El-Sisi on these issues," he said. "I have been, throughout my life, loyal to only one country — the United States of America, the land my family chose to live in democracy and freedom. An attorney for Hana, Larry Lustberg, called the allegation against his client "as absurd as it is false." He added: "As with the other charges in this indictment, Mr. Hana will vigorously defend against this baseless allegation.” The new indictment accused the Menendezes and Hana of a more extreme level of advocacy on behalf of Egypt, saying that the senator “promised to take and took a series of acts on behalf of Egypt, including on behalf of Egyptian military and intelligence officials,” and that his wife and Hana “communicated requests and directives from Egyptian officials” to the senator. The indictment details several specific instances in which Menendez allegedly sought to benefit Egyptian officials. In May 2019, the senator, his wife and Hana met with an Egyptian intelligence official at Menendez’s Senate office, where they discussed an American citizen who had been injured in a 2015 airstrike by the Egyptian military using a U.S.-manufactured helicopter, according to the indictment. The incident had resulted in some members of Congress objecting to awarding military aid to Egypt. Shortly after the meeting, Menendez searched for information about the incident online, according to the indictment, and a week later the Egyptian official told Hana in an encrypted message that if Menendez were to help resolve the matter, “he will sit very comfortably.” Hana replied: “orders, consider it done.” The official then sent Hana screenshots of a statement from the American citizen’s attorney, which Hana sent to Nadine Menendez, who forwarded it to her husband. The indictment also alleges that in the spring of 2020, after Nadine Menendez arranged a meeting between her husband and the same Egyptian official about a dam on the Nile River that “was generally regarded as one of the most important foreign policy issues for Egypt,” Menendez wrote a letter to the then-Treasury secretary and the then-secretary of state to push them to resolve negotiations over the dam. “I am writing to express my concern about the stalled negotiations between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan over [the dam],” Menendez wrote, according to court papers. “I therefore urge you to significantly increase the State Department’s engagement on negotiations surrounding the [dam].” Although Menendez had said prior to the September indictment that he planned to run for reelection in 2024, he appeared less certain after facing the first set of charges. “I’m not going to jeopardize any seat in New Jersey under any circumstances,” he told reporters earlier this month, saying he hasn’t made a decision yet.

https://apnews.com/article/steve-scalise-blood-cancer-house-republican-leader-f98d35f1d09e8c8009e180068b191daa

How many G- warts you have?, Take some pics for the Liberal clown posse, they'll get all wound up.

Tesla owner slams the car company after finding a litany of issues with his $140,000 Model S: ‘Absolutely horrible’ Jeremiah Budin Thu, October 12, 2023 at 4:00 AM CDT·2 min read 994 EVs are only getting more popular, and Tesla certainly deserves a big portion of the credit for showing drivers that high-end electric vehicles are more than just a fantasy. Still, when it comes to actually manufacturing these cars, the evidence continues to pile up that Tesla has more than its share of shortcomings. One Redditor recently posted a video on r/Wellthatsucks detailing all of the problems with his brand new $140,000 Tesla Model S Plaid. “I don’t understand,” he says while poking around the loose, unsecured door trim, front trunk, and more. “Can somebody please explain to me the build quality of Teslas?” “I understand Teslas are pretty much computers and they happen to manufacture vehicles,” he continues, “but the bits and pieces don’t fit, nothing is flush. It looks like toddlers put this together during recess.” The unhappy driver’s fellow Redditors were quick to weigh in. “Sister and her partner have a Model X,” one commenter writes. “The doors never close 100% making it absolutely horrible for your feet in winter.” “My friend has the same model,” another commenter adds. “Can confirm the same quality build. But he showed me the dash bends and moves just as bad!” “Some assembly is required!” writes a third. “All jokes aside, that must sting for the owner.” As for the reasons why this incredibly expensive car seemingly has so many issues, many commenters speculated that the company’s treatment of its employees was part of the problem. This is far from the first time that Teslas have made the internet buzz for their faultiness. The company is currently under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for several crashes where self-driving Teslas ran into parked emergency vehicles, including one where the driver was killed. There have also been reports of Tesla steering wheels falling off while the car was in motion, and Tesla batteries spontaneously bursting into flames. Luckily for any prospective EV buyers, however, there are now many other EVs on the market that cost a fraction of Tesla’s asking price and don’t come with a litany of assembly and safety issues

https://news.yahoo.com/lifestyle/driver-went-viral-strapping-mountain-161300691.html

Analysis: Voters have concerns about President Joe Biden’s age. Biden’s team has been unwilling to answer those worries. President Joe Biden in Washington on March 17. Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images file Oct. 11, 2023T By Chuck Todd Amid all of the news and issues on the top of political minds, there is one non-versation that continues to dominate: Can Joe Biden do this again? I call it a “non-versation” because the folks wringing their hands the most about whether Biden is up to the task of winning in 2024 are people who, in many cases, have already endorsed him for re-election. A few even work directly for him — and are still having the same uneasy feeling as they watch Donald Trump methodically consolidate Republican support while a right-wing information ecosystem turns the Biden brand into the Clinton brand circa 2016. Ultimately, Democrats in Washington — in both the executive and the legislative branches — share the same concern voters have been expressing for the last six months: They fear voters can’t be convinced Biden is up to the job, and they don’t have confidence the team around Biden fully appreciates the concern. The caveats before this non-versation are all very similar. “He’s really done a remarkable job, given the circumstances,” goes a common one. The handwringing after the various caveats are set aside all has the same sound to it, too, with answers hidden in questions like: “Do you think he looks too old?” Team Biden has tried to brush off the concern, pointing to the unpopularity of the last two Democratic presidents at this same moment in their presidencies — before they went on to win re-election. At this time in 2011, Barack Obama was bruised by a protracted standoff with House Republicans over the debt ceiling and government spending levels. It was the low point of his re-election campaign. Bill Clinton’s first-term struggles and low point were a tad earlier, but in the spring of 1995, things were grim enough to spark talk of a Bill Bradley primary challenge. And then there’s the one Republican president Team Biden is fond of using for age-related comparisons: Ronald Reagan. Like Reagan, Biden battled a nasty inflation issue at the start of his term. Like Reagan, Biden was the oldest president ever elected. Reagan had a brief moment in 1984 when it appeared the age issue could become a problem, but he joked his way out of it and did enough campaigning to reassure the country he was up to it. Of course, given all we learned about Reagan’s health in his second term, perhaps there should have been more of a rigorous debate about his abilities, in hindsight. Still, all three examples — Obama, Clinton and Reagan — are reassuring historical points that offer potential Biden parallels. But one of the worst afflictions that can affect the political class and the Washington media class at times is “been there, done that disease.” Just because something happened a certain way the last time doesn’t mean things will turn out the same way this time. And yet, an overreliance on historical precedent can delude the normally intelligent mind. At the end of the day, it could turn out that negative feelings about Trump and anger at the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision on abortion are enough to secure Biden’s re-election. It’s probably the most likely formula, given what we are witnessing in just about every election held since the Dobbs decision. But while the power of the abortion issue might save Biden, it’s separate from the question of whether he owes the public a better picture of his ability to do the job. So far, Team Biden has decided not to accept the premise of the age question. It publicly chalks it up to the media, even going so far as to say the media should stop asking about it in polls. There’s a naive belief among some Biden partisans that if you don’t mention his age, it won’t be an issue. In the real world, concern about Biden’s age is an issue, and the voters are screaming it. Every reputable pollster who has asked has found more than 50% of registered Democrats want a primary campaign. The numbers stem from a simple fact: A number of Biden supporters were never enamored with him but saw him as the safest way to get rid of Trump. When you look at these numbers, it’s as if Democrats are ready to hand Biden a gold watch and thank him for beating Trump, making Congress slightly more functioning and expanding NATO — and call it a legacy. So what will it take to fire up Democrats for Biden? The best elixir for him could well be a primary challenge. The best way to disprove the age and ability issue is to run an active campaign, something Biden has yet to do. This advice may be easier to give than receive. For one thing, Team Biden will remind any skeptic like me that running a “Rose Garden”-style campaign from his Delaware home in 2020 worked, though there’s a counterclaim about whether he would have won by more — or had longer coattails — with a more robust campaign. Biden partisans also argue that his focus on democracy instead of inflation in the midterms was the right call, given his party’s overperformance against the GOP. Personally, I think history will remember the 2022 midterms more as the first evidence of the Dobbs fallout over abortion more than its being evidence of Trump’s unpopularity in key swing states. As Yogi Berra has been credited with saying, “it’s getting late early” in this Biden handwringing story. If others are going to run, they have to do it now. And this is where Biden ought to be saying “bring it on,” answering this whisper campaign wondering whether he has what it takes to win again by showing voters. Currently, this White House has decided a “do no harm” strategy is the best way to go about this. It has basically given up fighting the news cycle and instead is trying to ignore it — or to use certain media outlets or media personalities to talk to certain constituency groups on their terms. What you don’t see is Biden barnstorming the country. He’s spending very little time with voters, though the few times his team has had him with the people (see the UAW picket line event), he has done pretty well. A confident Biden team would push the president to say things like: “If I were a voter, I’d be concerned to about my age. So watch me.” Well, right now, folks are watching, and they don’t love what they see. At some level, it’s about trusting the voters. The voters know the difference between someone who is 80 but still has it, even if at a slightly slower pace, and someone who is 80 and doesn’t seem to keep a schedule that any previous modern presidents have kept. So get out of the White House and Delaware. The more he’s out on the trail or with the people, the more any single gaffe will get minimized. Need a proof of concept on that? Just look at all things Trump. He’s so ubiquitous with his grievances and outrages that when he ends up stepping on himself in some way, the moment (while it goes viral and gets dunked on by his critics) disappears as fast as it comes, because there’s something else he says or does for his supporters and detractors to chase. Right now, every Biden public appearance seems unique, not ubiquitous. It only serves to elevate any gaffe or misstep. But if he is campaigning a lot and tripping over himself every once in a while, it becomes “Biden being Biden” more than “Biden showing his age.” And it’s that perception the current White House and campaign team have some control over. They simply have to believe it’s better to let Biden be Biden, no matter what. As our polarization becomes more ingrained, it does make it seem as if every annual election cycle — be it an even-numbered year or an odd-numbered one — is now nationally important. This year is no different — though in my 30 years covering campaign politics, this election cycle has been among the most ignored by the national media. Part of the reason is that the three main statewide races are in three states that don’t share a media market with Washington, D.C., or New York. The year after presidential elections, races for governor of Virginia and New Jersey easily get nationalized and produce nationally ambitious winners. That hasn’t been the case in Kentucky or Mississippi or Louisiana, the three states holding governor’s races this year. And yet, this election cycle features what may now be among the best national bellwether elections: Kentucky governor. Since the turn of this century, the party that has won Kentucky’s Governor’s Mansion has foreshadowed the party that wins the presidency the following year. In 2003, Republican Ernie Fletcher flipped the Governor’s Mansion to the GOP. A year later, George W. Bush won re-election. In 2007, Democrat Steve Beshear (father of the current Kentucky governor) defeated the incumbent Fletcher; a year later, Democrats would expand their majorities in the House and the Senate and win the presidency. In 2011, in tough economic times, Beshear won re-election quite handily. A year later, Obama won re-election with over 50% of the vote, one of the largest vote shares any Democratic presidential campaign has received since LBJ in 1964. In 2015, a conservative firebrand named Matt Bevin was the surprise GOP nominee (upending the Mitch McConnell-led GOP establishment) and won the governorship. Bevin was the canary in the Kentucky coal mine for Trumpism and the grievance politics that handed the White House to Trump in 2016. In 2019, Andy Beshear (son of the former two-term governor) defeated Bevin, foreshadowing Biden’s defeat of incumbent Trump a year later. And that brings us to 2023 and 2024. Right now, Beshear looks like a solid favorite for re-election. The GOP nominee, Daniel Cameron, while he’s a McConnell protégé, has tied himself in knots on the abortion issue and can’t seem to find a safe political position. So does a Beshear re-election victory foreshadow a Biden re-election victory? In some ways, the political climate one year before a presidential election is usually more similar than it is different a full year later. And the singularity of the abortion issue in Beshear’s re-election definitely could foreshadow the issue terrain Democrats believe plays in their favor nationally. As Kentucky goes, so goes … America? We could find out soon enough.

Gasoline today is $3.34 a gallon near us in Exland. Coming down..