US Politics, March 2020 — There’s a very good chance you’re not going to die.

The Phase IV soundtrack was reissued, or maybe first issued in 2015. It is excellent!

Me, I'm looking forward to the lush swirl of

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tROZ-QijxoM/V9ODBm4AJ7I/AAAAAAAAWLk/bGsL6osb_yMetNYYehl20yhmkkUM1NINQCLcB/s1600/mxr-phase-95.jpg

My proposal to the politically correct Automobile Companies would lower the average price of a car to consumers by more than $3500, while at the same time making the cars substantially safer. Engines would run smoother. Positive impact on the environment! Foolish executives!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 31, 2020

here's what I would do if I ran a hospital: I'd make my own ventilators for cheap. they'd be much better than the ones we've got now. everybody lives!!

what's really sad is that he's talking there about his administration's decision to roll back the fuel economy standards that obama set into place, not even as a favor to the automobile industry (believe it or not they actually advocated for keeping the existing standards, which are more in alignment with Europe and other countries), but just because obama did it.

honestly I think this will be like his attempts to save the coal industry - ie a failure because the market's already made its judgment

obviously lying about the positive impact on the environment (shocker: in terms of climate change, this is his biggest and final move to increase US emisisons). and on the face of it it seems VERY dubious to tell people that the price of cars is going to go down by $3500 while not mentioning that they're going to have to buy more gasoline per mile.

by the way, the standards they dropped it to are so low that they're below even what the industry is already doing by itself:

The new rule, which is expected to be implemented by late spring, will roll back a 2012 rule that required automakers’ fleets to average about 54 miles per gallon by 2025. Instead, the fleets would have to average about 40 miles per gallon.

To meet the new number, fuel economy standards would have to rise by about 1.5 percent a year, compared to the 5 percent annual increase required by the Obama rule. The auto industry, without any regulation, has recently achieved an average annual increase in fuel economy of 2.4 percent.

why bother with the carrot and the stick? you don't need either! just do whatever

if it's a failure to make climate change even worse, than that's the best case scenario. but the pessimist in me also notes it's also a failure to press for strong economy standards that actually PUSH the auto industry to improve fuel economy more than they otherwise would. in other words, in an ongoing climate crisis, it's a very obvious missed opportunity to at least press them to do something more than BAU

guys my band's opening for the trump show. doors at 5.

its such a strange thing to get hung up on, nobody's advocating this and there's no constituency for it. it really is just trying to further shit on Obama's legacy

hey, if you see trump, please yell at the top of your lungs "YOU TREASONOUS WHITE COLLAR MURDEROUS FUCKING ASSHOLE!!" as many time as possible. find the tv cameras and look for the boom microphones sticking out of them. find the guys with headphones near the cameras - they are likely producers or sound dudes, and will have mics as well. aim your bad words toward those microphones, it's the only way

I will. Hang on!

ALfred!
ALfred!
ALfred!

curse! curse! curse! curse!

it's a low-probability thing but i am going to go ahead and make a weird witch's brew of cursing ingrendients, foliage, body parts, powder, etc, and come up with something that i can throw at him as well. hoping one of the ingredients will literally put a curse on him and he'll die

The most hilarious part about this is that the auto industry is raising fuel standards because they are hopelessly politically correct.

i am so sick of these liberal "PC" heavy manufacturing industries

fucking farm to table SUVs

I automatically read the last sentence in that tweet in a Gollum voice, makes a change from reading it all in a Paul Stanley voice like I normally do to keep myself sane

https://twitter.com/nahaltoosi/status/1245103140610936832

Trump pushes $2 trillion infrastructure package in next coronavirus bill. Citing low interest rates, the president tweeted that now is the time to push forward with a “VERY BIG & BOLD” infrastructure package.

Always a bad sign ...

I didn't watch yesterday's Trump conference but CNN seemed to be painting it last night as some kind of pivotal moment where he was forced to face reality and lay out some serious shit for the US people (and he did a bad job, well duh). Anyone else get that sense?

US Politics, April 2020 -- Where's the Vax Returns?