Welcome to the DBD, a W4C community board where one can talk about pretty much anything… like how wombats lay cubic turds. They stack them to attract mates. Ick.
I misheard the building manager on the phone because I couldn't comprehend how a skylight could fall on my car, and thought he said satellite (dish). But no, a skylight got sucked out of the building and LANDED ON MY CAR.
Growing up I remember our parents taking us out to watch some parachutists. One went off course and landed right on top of my dad's car and hopped right off.
FYI: the picture is of "Patrick", a resident of the Ballarat reserve in Australia. And can be expected of Aussies, he's more colloquially known as Fat Pat the Wombat from Ballarat. At the time of the picture, Patrick was the oldest Wombat in captivity at 29. He lived to the crusty age of 32 before passing over the rainbow bridge five years ago
Sad to hear he's passed on. But any time you go years beyond the previous record, its been a better run than could be expected, or most of us will ever accomplish!
I wonder if Tesla coming down to earth will affect the industry. I think other carmakers were coming out and saying they are shifting to EVs because they were jealous of Tesla’s market cap
There are going to be significant restrictions on selling cars with ICE in the EU, so in a lot of cases it's a question of commercial viability / regulatory compliance for these companies. There has been some effort by Porsche to pivot to the idea of synthetic gasoline made from recaptured CO2, but I don't know if I'd anticipate their ability to demonstrate scale of production for it to be a meaningful alternative for eliminating emissions.
I will not argue that choice factors in here. But, I've long suspected the reason many folks chose Tesla over the Leaf, Prius EV, or others is because the Musk brand is that of a disrupting futurist and owning a Tesla allowed wealthy folks to be a part of this brand and to flash their wealth. I suspect Tesla owners bought into this brand despite subtle signs that Musk is nothing more than a a self-serving, corporate billionaire, opportunist. It's just since Musk took over Twitter, his Tweets and behavior have brought the essence of Musk to the light of day and folks can no longer deny that he is a f***ing pariah.
I would argue one of the major reasons people picked Tesla over a Leaf or Prius was the electric range. The early Leaf and EV Prius only got about 100 miles per charge. Tesla being about 250 miles per charge, plus the touchscreen and overall design of a Tesla were far superior to the early Leaf and Prius.
I can only speak for myself, but I bought a used 3 in 2020 because it was electric, really fun to drive, provided the best range for the price point and rather practical in terms of trunk space/payload(?) for my purposes. Aside from a couple software fixes and a back seat belt bolt recall (both fixed in my driveway with mobile service) it has been a hassle free vehicle.
Musk can kick rocks for all I care, just keep the superchargers running.
From so far away I don't know about the fights between him and his workers, but I do know my niece's husband had a pretty good job there and walked away from it.
I thought I've always wanted a Testa. However, when renting a car in Florida, I initially selected the Tesla, but when I went to pick it up they had a Polestar so I thought I'd give it a shot. I really liked it. The interior is so much better than the Tesla. And the lower end ones start at only 45K. Though the range isn't as good so that would be the drawback.
I think Tesla hit on four main things that really gave them some strength:
- early to market
- use of tax subsidies (for buyers and for emissions trading)
- charging stations
- emphasis on range that most people would find reassuring in terms of periodic longer trips.
They also have a core customer base who are all-in on "we're embracing the future" which is a dream for a company, but as time goes on, their design "quirks," quality issues, and social capital hits from their CEO certainly could steer people elsewhere.
The one thing that would make me buy Tesla is the supercharging network. After having to charge the Polestar by finding a Level 2 or higher charging station and then having to pay by CC and everything, it would be nice to be able to just plug in and not have to do anything else. Though I think my electric car would be more for local drives and not long roadtrips so maybe that isn't a huge issue.
I always thought Polestar was a separate company that made custom versions of Volvo cars. Like I think they used to have a Polestar version of the T5 wagon in their blue that was more sporty. Kind of like TRD or STi, except a 3rd party company.
I believe Polestar used to be separate but got absorbed, a bit like AMG with Mercedes Benz (and I think Alpina is going to formally become part of BMW)
Lawyer who defended Alex Jones gets his licenses suspended in CT for six months. This may mean that he was couldn't appear in today's sedition case where he's defending a Proud Boys leader in DC because the District requires members be in good standing in all jurisdictions.
Judge rules that Trump has to disclose the name of his private investigators to the DOJ, which essentially would put them on a subpeen list to act as witnesses that Trump is hiding secret documents.
[NYT} 950 charged in connection w/ J6. Of that amount, 18 charged with seditious conspiracy, all of whom belonged to Oath Keepers or Proud Boys. 284 charged with assaulting/resisting an officer (of which 100 or so were more serious charges), 295 w/ obstruction of an official proceeding, and other charges. None have been card-carrying ANTIFA members. So far only 45 have completed the trial phase, 44 were convicted of most of their charges.
McCarthy turns 13 of the 20 holdouts, but does not have enough votes to be elected Speaker. The holdouts are - Biggs (AZ-5, Jordan), Boebert (CO-3, Hern), Crane (AZ-2, Hern), Gaetz (FL-1, Jordan), Good (VA-5, Jordan), Harris (MD-1, Jordan), and Rosendale (MT-2, Hern). Victoria Spartz (IN-5), who had voted "present" in earlier ballots, voted for McCarthy.
The usual order is to take another vote if the Clerk declares that no one has a majority. However, that does not preclude someone moving to adjourn. And such motion to adjourn indicates a time at which the House will reconvene.
So, yes, the House could adjourn to make deals and to return at a specified time to resume business.
Need to have some place to create sound and video clips that can be used out of context for political and campaign purposes, and they are more convincing when not obviously photoshopped.
9th through 11th votes were same 20 deck chairs not voting for McCarthy, but some of them switching over to Hern. Again, I'm not sure what the Freedumb Caucus' end game is because Hern isn't voting for Hern. Ken Buck (R) took the afternoon off and will be absent for a good part of today, presumably with the Whip's knowledge.
Hamlin's been extubated and talking to people over Facetime! Major progress and what I've been waiting to hear about. Should be transferring out of the ICU at some point (i.e., downgraded from critical) though that's is sometimes more a logistical issue than medical one (just like discharge from hospital is).
Right decision. There's no football reason to play it and no convenient time. Maybe we'll see the matchup again in the playoffs with Hamlin present (even if not playing).
A similarly good showing by Santa Clara last night against the Zags that similarly fell short. The kid Podziemski on Santa Clara totally killed them with some ill-advised hero ball. He's like an amalgam of all of the types of players I hate to play with--selfish, aggrieved, stubborn, not as good as he think he is.
I only recently came to the realization that we're probably finishing last in the conference in football next year, which will give Knowlton and Christ a nice bookend for the basketball program.
Women's BB takes on number 2 Furd Sunday at Haas at 4:00. Cal guard Jayda Curry has made a three point shot in 36 consecutive games, the third longest such streak in Pac 12 history. She is four behind UW's Kelsey Plum's forty-game streak.
I wonder how much the sunk cost is of recruiting hours, coaching, training, a scholarship, food and housing is for a player after one or two years? To have a player say sayonara after that expenditure of resources costs the University. Does anyone think the NCAA will require schools that are taking in players from the portal to pay a commensurate fee to the originating school?
Well the blue bloods are already spending a lot of money so it wouldn't mean anything. Teams without money, like Cal, will not be able to land players from the Portal. We can benefit when players transfer from Cal, but that means we lose players.
I would hope no one would think that will happen...because it won't. It would be more productive to work on giving students more reasons to stay and fewer reasons to leave.
The young lady seems to be enjoying playing with her beaver. . . or ground hog or whatever.
https://twitter.com/geneandtonic/status/1611218363556188160?s=20&t=-kykPaHMw_iZJAa_LZYXJQ
IT WAS A FUCKING SKYLIGHT.
I misheard the building manager on the phone because I couldn't comprehend how a skylight could fall on my car, and thought he said satellite (dish). But no, a skylight got sucked out of the building and LANDED ON MY CAR.
Growing up I remember our parents taking us out to watch some parachutists. One went off course and landed right on top of my dad's car and hopped right off.
A(nother) bullet?
The housing from an overhead light?
no
That's a big rodent. [edit: Wombats are marsupials]
FYI: the picture is of "Patrick", a resident of the Ballarat reserve in Australia. And can be expected of Aussies, he's more colloquially known as Fat Pat the Wombat from Ballarat. At the time of the picture, Patrick was the oldest Wombat in captivity at 29. He lived to the crusty age of 32 before passing over the rainbow bridge five years ago
Sad to hear he's passed on. But any time you go years beyond the previous record, its been a better run than could be expected, or most of us will ever accomplish!
Some of them used to be much bigger. The Australian Museum has a life-size replica of a wombat that was about the size of a Mini Cooper.
The largest rodent is a capybara which can reach 150 pounds, a native of South America.
Cubic
relevant https://www.instagram.com/reel/CliBPwijPqu/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
THICC
One of my favorite recent terms is "thicc six" when a D-lineman returns an interception for a TD
I believe Homefield apparel has a thicc six t-shirt
I just checked it out and it looks like it was a limited-time release from this past spring. Excellent shirt, though
I think Mike Golic Jr had a hand in designing and/or coining of said phrase
I think whoever has Bk97 in the secret santa now has a gift idea.
DBD Street Journal
Used Tesla prices are slumping as demand dries up and speculative positive-carry disappears
https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-price-used-dropping-model-y-3-x-s-deals-2022-12
I wonder if Tesla coming down to earth will affect the industry. I think other carmakers were coming out and saying they are shifting to EVs because they were jealous of Tesla’s market cap
There are going to be significant restrictions on selling cars with ICE in the EU, so in a lot of cases it's a question of commercial viability / regulatory compliance for these companies. There has been some effort by Porsche to pivot to the idea of synthetic gasoline made from recaptured CO2, but I don't know if I'd anticipate their ability to demonstrate scale of production for it to be a meaningful alternative for eliminating emissions.
Musk has lost the virtue-signaling wealthy.
They have more choices now anyway.
I will not argue that choice factors in here. But, I've long suspected the reason many folks chose Tesla over the Leaf, Prius EV, or others is because the Musk brand is that of a disrupting futurist and owning a Tesla allowed wealthy folks to be a part of this brand and to flash their wealth. I suspect Tesla owners bought into this brand despite subtle signs that Musk is nothing more than a a self-serving, corporate billionaire, opportunist. It's just since Musk took over Twitter, his Tweets and behavior have brought the essence of Musk to the light of day and folks can no longer deny that he is a f***ing pariah.
I would argue one of the major reasons people picked Tesla over a Leaf or Prius was the electric range. The early Leaf and EV Prius only got about 100 miles per charge. Tesla being about 250 miles per charge, plus the touchscreen and overall design of a Tesla were far superior to the early Leaf and Prius.
I can only speak for myself, but I bought a used 3 in 2020 because it was electric, really fun to drive, provided the best range for the price point and rather practical in terms of trunk space/payload(?) for my purposes. Aside from a couple software fixes and a back seat belt bolt recall (both fixed in my driveway with mobile service) it has been a hassle free vehicle.
Musk can kick rocks for all I care, just keep the superchargers running.
The virtue-signaling while flashing wealth is why I look with a certain skepticism at the politics of certain family members who are Tesla owners.
That is all.
Well, the fights between him and his workers in Fremont was revealing already!
Selfish bastard
From so far away I don't know about the fights between him and his workers, but I do know my niece's husband had a pretty good job there and walked away from it.
I thought I've always wanted a Testa. However, when renting a car in Florida, I initially selected the Tesla, but when I went to pick it up they had a Polestar so I thought I'd give it a shot. I really liked it. The interior is so much better than the Tesla. And the lower end ones start at only 45K. Though the range isn't as good so that would be the drawback.
I think Tesla hit on four main things that really gave them some strength:
- early to market
- use of tax subsidies (for buyers and for emissions trading)
- charging stations
- emphasis on range that most people would find reassuring in terms of periodic longer trips.
They also have a core customer base who are all-in on "we're embracing the future" which is a dream for a company, but as time goes on, their design "quirks," quality issues, and social capital hits from their CEO certainly could steer people elsewhere.
I agree and I would also add over exterior and interior design were superior to a Leaf or Prius.
The one thing that would make me buy Tesla is the supercharging network. After having to charge the Polestar by finding a Level 2 or higher charging station and then having to pay by CC and everything, it would be nice to be able to just plug in and not have to do anything else. Though I think my electric car would be more for local drives and not long roadtrips so maybe that isn't a huge issue.
I road-trip too much to ever even entertain a Tesla!
The other benefit for going to the office was that the offices in Hillsboro, and probably all their major sites, all have free charging for cars.
For some reason, I've always thought Polestar was a Chinese company.
Volvo and Polestar are owned by Geely, a Chinese company. And Polestar's cars are made in China.
I always thought Polestar was a separate company that made custom versions of Volvo cars. Like I think they used to have a Polestar version of the T5 wagon in their blue that was more sporty. Kind of like TRD or STi, except a 3rd party company.
I believe Polestar used to be separate but got absorbed, a bit like AMG with Mercedes Benz (and I think Alpina is going to formally become part of BMW)
ahh..that makes a little more sense.
Ask me a question. I'll answer it. Then edit your question to make me look bad.
Does the Buzz Lightyear movie tell a real story?
I'd say it's fake, but only because I want Buzz to take a swing at me.
New? Or late 60's early 70's?
so who judges these things?
Is it true that John the Baptist was actually an Episcopalian?
He was Jewish.
What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?
What do you mean? An African or a European?
What is your favorite meat?
Quokka
how did you get coronavirus?
I got it from Reddit.
OUR CRUMBLING GROUNDHOGS DAY
Lawyer who defended Alex Jones gets his licenses suspended in CT for six months. This may mean that he was couldn't appear in today's sedition case where he's defending a Proud Boys leader in DC because the District requires members be in good standing in all jurisdictions.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/06/politics/alex-jones-lawyer-suspended-sandy-hook/index.html
Boebert takes a big bite of the onion
https://twitter.com/ChaoticVegasMan/status/1611412591594856449
Only two nominations for Speaker on the 13th ballot. That may be a signal.
Trump Politicized the Military. Was That the Real Problem With the Jan. 6 Response?
The dangerous politics of calling in the troops. [e.g., "Marshall" law]
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/01/06/trump-national-guard-jan-6-00076691
Judge rules that Trump has to disclose the name of his private investigators to the DOJ, which essentially would put them on a subpeen list to act as witnesses that Trump is hiding secret documents.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/05/us/politics/judge-trump-documents-justice-department.html
Standard - identity of private investigators are not privileged for trial.
A common misconception. They investigate privates.
That means that OB-GYN and urologists are privates investigators.
A zookeeper could be a gator privates investigator
I wish I were clever enough to understand this joke.
allii....gator
George Santos seen sporting a $7,800 Cartier watch. It's either a fake like him and/or working at a call center pays really well.
https://twitter.com/RobertMaguire_/status/1611001141814349824
CPAC's Matt Schlapp accused of groping a male staffer's crotch against his well. It's all projection, right?
https://www.thedailybeast.com/herschel-walker-staffer-matt-schlapp-groped-my-crotch
Every accusation is a confession
Two years since J6 Insurrection
[NYT} 950 charged in connection w/ J6. Of that amount, 18 charged with seditious conspiracy, all of whom belonged to Oath Keepers or Proud Boys. 284 charged with assaulting/resisting an officer (of which 100 or so were more serious charges), 295 w/ obstruction of an official proceeding, and other charges. None have been card-carrying ANTIFA members. So far only 45 have completed the trial phase, 44 were convicted of most of their charges.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/06/us/politics/jan-6-capitol-riots-prosecutions.html
Speaker of the House election
House is adjourned until 10 PM Eastern Standard Time tonight (7 PM Pacific Standard Time)
12TH BALLOT UPDATE -
McCarthy turns 13 of the 20 holdouts, but does not have enough votes to be elected Speaker. The holdouts are - Biggs (AZ-5, Jordan), Boebert (CO-3, Hern), Crane (AZ-2, Hern), Gaetz (FL-1, Jordan), Good (VA-5, Jordan), Harris (MD-1, Jordan), and Rosendale (MT-2, Hern). Victoria Spartz (IN-5), who had voted "present" in earlier ballots, voted for McCarthy.
Here are the 12th ballot totals -
McCarthy (R) - 213
Jeffries (D) - 211
Hern (R) - 3
Jordan (R) - 4
Present - 0
Not Voting - 3
I was a bit surprised he was able to get Gosar to flip.
Must've promised him to get the wall built. Or keep immigrants out of Az.
13th ballot: McCarthy flips another
...but still denied. He's now 4 votes short because two GOP members have left the Capitol and did not vote.
Hell, I'll do it if they seriously can't find anyone else.
I promise to fast track any legislation that benefits Cal athletics.
Like getting rid of the PHA?
As speaker I'd stay out of politics.
is there some rule that states there should be another vote as soon as one is finished? sort of like the "choosing of the Pope"?
cant they just go off, negotiate, make back room deals, and then vote on Tue (for example) when someone has the votes to win?
They can, if they vote to adjourn.
The usual order is to take another vote if the Clerk declares that no one has a majority. However, that does not preclude someone moving to adjourn. And such motion to adjourn indicates a time at which the House will reconvene.
So, yes, the House could adjourn to make deals and to return at a specified time to resume business.
Over/under on number of votes today?
5 ballots. That's what we had yesterday (ballots 7 through 11).
Is having a little polling app and a video board with the results too difficult? Not all traditions need to be preserved.
Need to have some place to create sound and video clips that can be used out of context for political and campaign purposes, and they are more convincing when not obviously photoshopped.
9th through 11th votes were same 20 deck chairs not voting for McCarthy, but some of them switching over to Hern. Again, I'm not sure what the Freedumb Caucus' end game is because Hern isn't voting for Hern. Ken Buck (R) took the afternoon off and will be absent for a good part of today, presumably with the Whip's knowledge.
DBD AV CLUB
Episode 8 of season 2 of The Affair & episode 6 of Friday Night Lights season 1
Started watching Barry a few weeks ago, and just finished S-1 of White Lotus. Does anyone do dark comedy better than HBO?
The Menu on HBOMax
Thoroughly enjoyed this food/ restaurant film. Not going to get into particulars, but Anya Taylor Joy’s eyes are way too far apart for her face.
18/19 WB
I will not tolerate you speaking this way of ATJ!!
F-ing diabolical man!!! It was great.
Maybe she wasn’t a fan of s’mores
Here is a really good article about HBO's The Last of Us and why I am excited about its release on January 15th
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/the-last-of-us-hbo-pedro-pascal-bella-ramsey-interview-1235290103/
Can't wait. Looks great.
Bad Batch is Back. 2 new episodes.
mildly entertaining, but w/o a good overarching storyline, seems like it might get old.
Veep showrunner David Mandel pens this gem on behalf of former VP Jonah Ryan
https://twitter.com/DavidHMandel/status/1611069355634364416
This is great. And I totally picture Jonah dictating this to someone to write out.
PRO
Hamlin's been extubated and talking to people over Facetime! Major progress and what I've been waiting to hear about. Should be transferring out of the ICU at some point (i.e., downgraded from critical) though that's is sometimes more a logistical issue than medical one (just like discharge from hospital is).
https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/1611378185924497409?s=19
[Golf] A sweet story about Jordan Spieth and South Korea's Tom Kim
https://apnews.com/article/sports-south-korea-jordan-spieth-dallas-patrick-cantlay-220d0d8125a065191cf80490df20ab95
RIP Gianluca Vialli
Just when you think this LIV Golf thing can't get any ickier...
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/saudi-backed-liv-golf-is-using-pga-suit-to-get-data-on-9-11-families-court-told/ar-AA15XYw9
Peyton Hillis hospitalized in critical condition after saving his kids from drowning in the ocean
https://www.news-herald.com/2023/01/05/former-browns-running-back-peyton-hillis-reportedly-in-critical-condition/
Bills/Bengals game is ruled "no contest" and the rest of the game is cancelled. There will not be a make-up game.
https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-rules-bills-bengals-a-no-contest-and-afc-title-game-may-be-at-neutral-site-as-owners-prepare-to-vote-on-inequities-021730972.html
Right decision. There's no football reason to play it and no convenient time. Maybe we'll see the matchup again in the playoffs with Hamlin present (even if not playing).
ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE
USF led the Zags all game yesterday until the last moment when it mattered.
Such a bummer...they got the shot they wanted: Shabazz with a wide open 3. Coulda been a dagger.
A similarly good showing by Santa Clara last night against the Zags that similarly fell short. The kid Podziemski on Santa Clara totally killed them with some ill-advised hero ball. He's like an amalgam of all of the types of players I hate to play with--selfish, aggrieved, stubborn, not as good as he think he is.
Switch the pronouns and you’ve just described the former Mrs Jimmy C in all things beyond the basketball court…
Chip reloading at running back...
UCLA adds Carson Steele from transfer portal: Ball State RB rushed for over 1,500 yards in 2022 season
https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/ucla-adds-carson-steele-from-transfer-portal-ball-state-rb-rushed-for-over-1500-yards-in-2022-season/
[MBB] Texas' Chris Beard sacked.
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/35386303/texas-fires-men-basketball-coach-chris-beard
U of Washington linebackers Daniel Heimuli and Ruperake Fuavai were suspended for the 2022 season for beating up employees at an Irish bar.
https://www.dailyuw.com/news/two-husky-football-players-suspended-after-bar-fight/article_18d1f1fa-8ca3-11ed-ba6b-3f3b8571517e.html
Anna De Armas, please consider me as a candidate as your husband
https://twitter.com/StephenABC30/status/1611118715965411328?
Did she go to Fresno State?
CAL
I only recently came to the realization that we're probably finishing last in the conference in football next year, which will give Knowlton and Christ a nice bookend for the basketball program.
Women's BB takes on number 2 Furd Sunday at Haas at 4:00. Cal guard Jayda Curry has made a three point shot in 36 consecutive games, the third longest such streak in Pac 12 history. She is four behind UW's Kelsey Plum's forty-game streak.
I'm wrong, Plum's streak was 38 so she's second. The player with the record is Shay Murphy for U$C.
Go Bears!!!
Cal loses Jermaine Terry as blocking TE, gains JT Byrne as TE
https://twitter.com/JTByrne2/status/1611157912801652736
https://twitter.com/AllDayMaine/status/1611094715121926149
Terry won’t be missed, he made little to no impact on the field.
I only fear it’ll be a missed opportunity in terms of this staff’s inability to harness/develop a dude with that size/speed combo.
Doesn't offset losing both Terry and Latu but maybe he'll fit the scheme.
I wonder how much the sunk cost is of recruiting hours, coaching, training, a scholarship, food and housing is for a player after one or two years? To have a player say sayonara after that expenditure of resources costs the University. Does anyone think the NCAA will require schools that are taking in players from the portal to pay a commensurate fee to the originating school?
Well the blue bloods are already spending a lot of money so it wouldn't mean anything. Teams without money, like Cal, will not be able to land players from the Portal. We can benefit when players transfer from Cal, but that means we lose players.
I would hope no one would think that will happen...because it won't. It would be more productive to work on giving students more reasons to stay and fewer reasons to leave.
That means $$$
Yep. Directly and indirectly. Among other things.