Thursday January 28, 2021

AutoSketch: 1952 Continental 195X - Lincoln's First Dream Car

Ford Motor Company used dream cars - now referred to as 'concept cars' - to create interest in their standard offerings and to attract people to their displays at auto shows.

The Continental 195X was Lincoln's first postwar dream car and was introduced at the Chicago Auto Show in early 1952. The five-seater two-door coupe was not a running model, rather a fiberglass and plaster pushmobile. The public received the futuristic vehicle with great enthusiasm. Many were fans of the original Lincoln Continental and were excited that a second version might be forthcoming.

The 195X was designed by ... (more >>>)

Nice Cars - Big Bucks: A red 1955 D-Type Jaguar was the top seller at RM Sotheby's live, in-person Scottsdale auction, fetching $6 million.

This racing Jag ... (more >>>)

Future Possibility: According to AutoForecast Solutions LLC, an automotive global forecasting company, an all-electric Lincoln Corsair-E crossover is supposed to debut in 2026 and will be built at Ford's Oakville, Ontario, assembly plant ... if the Lincoln brand lasts that long.

The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Political Electric Fantasy: Joe Biden's plan to replace the government's fleet of 650,000 cars and trucks with electric vehicles assembled in the U.S. by union workers is just a dream at this point. Right now, there's not a single model fits his criteria: battery-powered, made in America, by union workers.

Overinflation Causes Explosion: German porn star Sexy Cora - real name Carolin Berger - died after suffering a brain hemorrhage during her sixth breast enlargement operation. She was in hospital to have her breasts boosted to 34G.

This can happen with tires, too.

'Seattle Is Dying' is a 60-minute film released in 2019.

This documentary, produced by the Seattle's KOMO television channel, shows that the appeal of the once-beautiful city is giving way to rampant crime and homelessness and disgrace. Homeless camps are everywhere. Homeless in run-down campers and motorhomes seem to have taken over South Seattle, once a thriving industrial area. In the 1980s, I had quite a few customers there and spent much time in the area.

This one-hour video demonstrates that almost all homeless are wacked-out druggies - meth and heroin use is widespread. 'Homeless' is just a euphemism for ... (more >>>)

Annus Horribilis: Economist Scott Grannis summed up 2020 thusly, "In April of last year I predicted that the shutdown of the US economy would prove to be the most expensive self-inflicted injury in the history of mankind. Unfortunately, I turned out to be right. We now know that an economic lockdown is virtually useless to stop a contagious pathogen, but it is powerfully destructive of economies, business, livelihoods, and the social fabric. Along the way it spawned enormous, unprecedented, and far-reaching changes in both the economy and the financial markets."

As for the economy, the shutdown was the perfect "Black Swan" event which shocked the US and the global economies to their foundation."

Scott is predicting "a replay of the slow-growth Obama years. We probably have another 3-6 months of catch-up growth with recovery tailwinds for help, but beyond that it is tough to see robust growth. That's not an outlier forecast, though, since the current level of real yields is consistent with very weak long-term growth expectations. So I hope I'm wrong."

Investment Advice: If you're saving up for new shrubbery for your home, tell people you're investing in a Hedge Fund. It sounds more impressive.

Headline Of The Week is from The Onion: 'Johnson & Johnson Introduces Self-Lotioning Baby'.

"Responding to increased demands for easily moisturized infants, the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical company unveiled its latest product Monday, a self-lotioning baby."

"Parents no longer have to worry about manually lubricating their newborn infants," said spokesman Dale Rosteroz, couples need only mail in their sperm, an egg, and specify if they want their baby to secrete lavender or unscented lotion. "Nine months later, we'll send them a baby who can produce up to 40 fluid ounces of dermatologist-tested and dye-free lotion every month."

Rosteroz added that if parents act now they will receive 10% off a Johnson & Johnson "bronchial atomizer to remove the lotion that will inevitably build up in the baby's lungs."

Joke Of The Day is from Henny Youngman: "The Harvard School of Medicine did a study of why Jewish women like Chinese food so much. The study revealed that this is due to the fact that Won Ton spelled backward is Not Now."

Tuesday January 26, 2021

Entropy At Work: Car and Driver reported that its Tesla Model 3 long term test vehicle had "lost 7% of its battery capacity in 24,000 miles."

The car has suffered "a loss of about 22 miles of rated range from the original 310-mile EPA combined figure. This is based on the range data from the nearly 500 times we've charged our car to 90 percent of its capacity or above. … If our car's battery continues to erode at this rate, it will qualify for replacement under Tesla's warranty."

You know what doesn't lose 7% of it's range in 24,000 miles? Internal combustion engines. The only thing worse is the reliability of the electric grid in California to keep all those electric cars recharged.

C/D said that the battery's degradation thus far equates to a drop of roughly 2.9% in pack capacity every 10,000 miles, which, if it continues at this rate .. (more >>>)

Snake Sale: Mecum Auctions recently sold Carol Shelby's silverey-green 1965 Cobra 427 roadster for a whopping $5.94 million.

"This was Carroll Shelby's personal Cobra that he owned from the day it was built until his passing; and Shelby restoration expert Peter Klutt spent between 2,000-3,000 hours restoring this street legend to exacting standards."

At the sale auction, a red 1971 Plymouth 'Cuda convertible fetched $962,500. "It proved to be one of 17 assembled with the highly desirable V-Code 440-6 big-block engine. Said to have received an extensive restoration, it also featured a TorqueFlite automatic (making it 1 of 12 convertibles with the engine/trans combo), the A34 Super Track Pak package with a 4.10:1 final drive ratio, power brakes, documentation, and more. At the time of it's cataloging, the 'Cuda was also showing 21,026 miles on the odometer."

I'll gladly sell my Plymouth at that price.

His Car May Be The First Use Of The Term 'Vaporware': Jerry Wiegart, engineer and developer of the stillborn Vector supercar of the 1970s and '80s, has died at age 76.

In Autoweek's March 23, 1987 issue, Dutch Mandel wrote a story called 'The Great Vector Myth', in which he took apart the Wiegert campaign piece by mil-spec piece.

"It is an intoxicating dream, one that has suspended Wiegert in his own Neverland for more than 15 years," Mandel wrote regarding the continuous praise Wiegert got. "Now, after a decade and a half, a single car, what Wiegert calls a Vector W2, exists, but whether it will ever become more than one man's smoothly designed, crudely rendered plaything, remains to be seen."

These days, CES seems to be 40% vehicles, but, at an early-1980s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, I saw only one car on display - the mega-hyped, never-produced Vector W2 mid-engined supercar, with its twin-turbocharged, 600 horsepower V8 motor. Top speed was claimed to be 242 mph. That's the only time I saw a Vector in real life.

In my opinion, the Vector was the Tucker of the late 20th Century. RIP, Jerry.

"Awright … We Have A Caller From Wichita." Larry King, the suspenders-sporting everyman whose broadcast interviews with world leaders, movie stars and ordinary people helped define American conversation for a half-century, as died at age 87.

A longtime nationally-syndicated radio host, he was a fixture on CNN with 'Larry King Live'. The show ran from 1985 to 2010 and it seems like he interviewed almost everyone, from ex-presidents to over-the-hill Hollywood stars, to psychics, ex-convicts and politicians. Ross Perot was a frequent guest in the early '90s. King even interviewed Vladmir Putin in 2000.

King never lost his Brooklyn accent and was married eight times. Larry had five children and nine grandchildren, as well as four great-grandchildren. RIP

Flour, Corn Or Juan? A 22-year-old Brooklyn man died after falling into a tortilla-mixer in NY. Investigators believe that the freak accident happened when he tried to retrieve an item after dropping it inside the waist-high machine.

Philly Nuts: Near the Ben Franklin Bridge, just before the Frankford Elevated descended underground, there was the Lummis Peanuts plant, at 139 Water St. just north of the Ben Franklin Bridge. The building is now demolished - it once proudly carried the Lummis name on the water tower.

Sometimes ... (more >>>)

January Virus Update: Clark County has 4,120 new cases in January, down 4% from last month Hospitalizations remain relatively low at 53 people and the mortality rate remains low at 0.63% and continues its steady decline. I have updated the monthly table here.

As vaccine inoculations become more widespread, I would expect new cases to fall.

As of January 22nd, cumulatively, there have been 152 confirmed covid deaths in Clark County, Washington, a rate of 317 per million, from the China virus. There were 26 new deaths in the past month. Of the 152 total deaths, 136 were folks ages 60 and up. 146 had underlying medical conditions.

The death rate for Washington State is ... (more >>>)

And Yet He 'Won': Rasmussen Reports, one of only about three reputable pollsters out there, found that Joe Biden’s first ever job approval rating as president is a pathetic 48%. President Trump's exit approval rating was 51%. When President Trump took office in 2017, his first job approval rating in this same poll was 56% - eight points higher than Biden.

Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado) asked, "Is the fencing in DC to keep Joe from wandering off?"

Attention-Grabbing Headline: 'Woman Ticketed After Goats Caught Mating'. In Dibble, Oklahoma, a woman received two tickets from police after her goats were caught mating and relieving themselves on her own yard.

"City law said it is illegal for any two animals to have sex in public within Dibble city limits. It's also against law for them to relieve themselves in public even if the animal is fenced in on private land."

Quote Of The Day is from Mark Twain: "Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint."

Friday January 22, 2021

Costly Vehicles: The average price for a new vehicle in the United States has now surpassed $38,000, both JD Power & Associates and LMC Automotive report.

The average transaction price for new vehicles sold in the U.S. is expected reach another all-time high, rising to $38,077, a 9% increase from a year ago.

An increase in luxury vehicles sales remains a key driver, coupled with disciplined incentives and discounting, and the shift towards more expensive trucks and SUVs have combined to driven up prices. Trucks and SUVs are on pace to account for 79% of retail sales of vehicles in the U.S. this month compared with 75% a year ago.

Motorama Formal: In the early days of the automobile, coachbuilders began to offer a specific bodystyle known as a Town Car, featuring a comfy, closed passenger compartment for the wealthy while providing a basic open compartment for the chauffeur.

One of the vehicles in the 1956 General Motors Motorama was the 1956 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham Town Car, a one-off concept car done in the traditional Town Car style, featuring an open chauffeur's compartment. As is the case with many one-off dream cars, it was too low to be practical - 55 inches in height - but it looked sleek, riding on a long 129.5-inch wheelbase.

The Town Car foretold the styling of the production 1957-58 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham, a four-door hardtop priced at $13,000.

The body of the Caddy Town Car was constructed ... (more >>>)

Who Knew? Sometimes, Hillary Clinton looks like an old Cadillac:

I'm still trying to figure out if Teddy Roosevelt looks more like a 1953 DeSoto or a 1950 Buick. (permalink)

New Skyscraper: In the Japanese town of Inazawa City, there's a new structure that dominates the skyline. Mitsubishi has erected a tall, skinny, hollow, 567-foot tower filled with elevator shafts for testing high-speed lifts. The $50MM project will allow Mitsubishi's elevator division to test new drives, gears, cables and systems.

G.K. Chesterson Explains … the simultaneous existence of PETA and Planned Parenthood: "Wherever there is Animal Worship there is Human Sacrifice."

A Great Man And A Great President: Delroy Murdock wrote, "One hundred years from now, a fair-minded assessment of Trump's presidency will recognize his abundant domestic and international accomplishments. Liberals unborn may be appalled. Conservatives unconceived may applaud. But both should agree that Trump was a consequential president whose sleeplessness achieved significant things, often while astonishing foes and friends alike."

He provided ... (more >>>)

Comeuppance: Fox News political editor Chris Stirewalt has been fired. Fox New's ratings are in the toilet because of its turn toward anti-Trumpism over the last year or two. Viewers have abandoned the network for NewsMax and OAN. Stirewalt used to be funny but became fatter and more smug recently. Fox won't begin to recover until it ditches Chris Wallace, Neil Cavuto, Marie Harf, Karl Rove, Juan Williams, Donna Brazile and other Trump haters.

RIP: Fifties pop singer Jimmie Rogers has died at age 87. He was born in nearby Camas, WA. In 1957, his recording of 'Honeycomb' shot up the charts and became a number one hit. He followed it with 'Kisses Sweeter Than Wine', 'Oh, Oh I'm Falling In Love Again', 'Secretly' and 'Are You Really Really Mine', all of which were top ten hits during the 1957-58 period. Then his recording career stalled.

In the 1970s, his earlier hits were used in jingles, one for SpaghettiOs and another for Post's Honeycomb breakfast cereal.

I Just Learned A New Phrase: A New York University associate professor has attributed black support for Donald Trump to "Multiracial Whiteness."

Using Marxist critical race theory, associate prof Cristina Beltrán "argues that the sneaky ideology of 'whiteness' has colonized the minds of many black and Latino Americans. If blacks or Latinos support Republicans or Trump, that just shows the nefarious impact of 'multiracial whiteness'."

She proclaimed, "Rooted in America's ugly history of white supremacy, indigenous dispossession and anti-blackness, multiracial whiteness is an ideology invested in the unequal distribution of land, wealth, power and privilege - a form of hierarchy in which the standing of one section of the population is premised on the debasement of others. Multiracial whiteness reflects an understanding of whiteness as a political color and not simply a racial identity - a discriminatory worldview in which feelings of freedom and belonging are produced through the persecution and dehumanization of others." M-kay.

Black is white. Up is down. In is out. And so on.

Quote Of The Day is from Rodney Dangerfield: "My luck is so bad that if I bought a cemetery, people would stop dying."

Wednesday January 20, 2021

Nice Polish: Here's a 1957 eye-catching, vintage female cheesecake ad for ... (more >>>)

Shedding Light On Headlights: The very earliest vehicle headlamps were acetylene-powered and not very good. Unless the driver kept pressure up with a small handpump located near the steering wheel, the lights would go out.

Electric headlamps debuted in 1898 and, by 1915 or so, most cars had electric lighting systems. Headlights were part of front-end styling and, in the absence of regulations, some curved glass beauties could ... (more >>>)

Monday Old Car Drive: The winter weather has been the usual combination of lotsa rain with occasional sun. Luckily, we've had no snow so far this season. At 1:30 pm, the temperature was a chilly 45 degrees but the sun was shining. I hadn't driven my '39 Plymouth coupe in over a month, but the 81 year-old beast fired right up.

Traffic was light and didn't slow me down one iota. Or half an iota. There is construction on my usual loop, so I took a different one north to the edge of town, east for a couple of miles and then headed back home.

It was mostly cloudless overhead with beautiful, pale Winter-blue skies - that odd color for which there's no Crayola match. I even got a brief glimpse of snow-covered Mt. St. Helens on my drive.

It was a real treat to be behind the wheel, listening to the V8 rumble through the Glasspacks while 'The Joe Niagara Show: Cruisin' '57' blasted from the speakers. It made me feel like I was 16 again. Except I tolerate the cold much less well than I did in 1959.

I had a very enjoyable drive. Absence makes the old-car heart grow fonder.

How To Kill A Brand: General Motors is weighing whether to expand its Corvette lineup – currently a two-seat sports car – and add its first-ever Corvette crossover SUV.

Bloomberg reported that GM has designers working on several Corvette-brand concept vehicles that target a wider range of buyers, likely as an all-electric crossover SUV as early as 2025.

This is a very bad idea, as inappropriate as Louis Farrakhan at a bar mitzvah. It was probably dreamed up by clueless MBAs who didn't drink from the fountain of knowledge - just gargled.

These ninnyhammers know nothing about cars ... or heritage.

Deals On Wheels: You can score a new Aston Martin DB11 for a discount of $24,330. According to AutoBlog, "That's a 12.1% cut off the car's average retail price of $201,820 and it means buyers are paying an average transaction price of $177,490."

Acura NSX hybrid supercar buyers are seeing discounts of nearly 14% for an average transaction price of $138,648. "The Rolls-Royce Phantom carries an average sticker price of $537,500. But buyers are getting about 4% off that for an average transaction price of $516,333."

Are You Surprised? States have siphoned off 21% of their gasoline taxes and other highway user fees to pay for mass transit and other non-highway activities in 2019.

State diversions of highway user fees to non-highway programs have grown rapidly since 1980.

Government will always waste your money and then lie about it. "Then it lies about the lies. Then it lies to you about lying about the lies. Then it makes you feel like you are the crazy one."

The only way to fix this is to decrease the size of government. Less government equals fewer lies.

Fake Money: Bitcoin is now valued at $36,000-plus. Late last week, it sold for almost $40,000. A year or so ago, it was trading at $7,200.

Talk about an unstable currency - Bitcoin's price swings are more seismic than a high-rise penthouse in Indonesia. Over the past 30 years or so, the Euro has traded between 85¢ and $1.40. In the past 40 years, the British pound has vacillated between $1.04 and $1.35. That's what real currencies do, because they are trusted and backed by something.

Bitcoin is a made-up internet currency that is backed by nothing, in the same way that 'Seinfeld' was a show about nothing. Crypto-experts say that it's stable because it is protected by blockchain, whatever that is. If you question blockchain, someone will probably tell you it's backed by brickrope.

I think I acquired some Bitcoin last year in my Easter basket. It was a gold-colored foil with a milk chocolate center. I traded eight of them for a solid-chocolate bunny.

Stop It, Just Stop It! I'm seeing TV and internet pundits make predictions about the 2024 presidential race. As Bob Newhart, playing the $5 per hour psychiatrist on a MadTV sketch, said, "Stop it!"

I just updated an essay I wrote 13 years ago - it documents that people can't even predict presidential politics a year in advance, much less four.

So … stop it!

Pettiness Personified: NYC mayor Bill de Blasio, under whose incompetent management the city is rapidly disintegrating, took time out to terminate all business relationships with the Trump Organization because he hates Donald Trump. The Trump Organization is under city contract to operate the two ice rinks and a carousel in Central Park as well as a golf course in the Bronx. The contract is worth about $17 million - a pittance to the Trump Organization.

I suspect this is an illegal breach of contract and will end up in court. Trump will probably win and the taxpayers of NYC will foot the bill for damages and legal costs - all because de Blasio's massive ego must be fed. In the meantime, it wouldn't surprise me if some newly-formed minority and/or women led organization will snag the contract and screw things up royally. I'm betting on some branch of Sharpton, Inc.

Meanwhile, to give an idea of how dismal things are in New York, a condo on NYC's famed Billionaire's Row sold for a record 51% discount recently. The property is a 58th floor apartment in New York's One57 building. The condo in question is a 4,483 sq. foot parcel that was purchased in 2014 for $34 million. It was sold this week for $16.75 million. And New York City apartment tenants are more than $1 billion in debt from missed rent payments during the coronavirus pandemic.

No nightlife. No Broadway. No fancy restaurants. You might as well live in Battle Ground, WA.

It Was Probably Rump Roast: The Italian Supreme Court has ruled that an unexpected slap on a woman's bottom (aka - pacca sul sedere) at work could not be labeled sexual harassment as long as men didn't make a habit of it.

I swear I saw 'Pacca sul Sedere' on the menu at the Olive Garden. On the 'Taste of Tuscany' page, I believe. (permalink)

Something To Avoid: Omaha Steaks' Meat Lasagna. Too salty, limp noodles with Godfather's Pizza style meat pellets. The beef had that unpleasant Fourth Time You Reheat Pot Roast Taste™. We'll never buy it again, although OS's Stuffed Baked Potatoes are quite tasty.

We used to order OS's triple-trimmed beef filets but now buy our steaks from local sources - better quality and lower prices. How do I feel about OS's Potatoes au Gratin? Just pronounce it phonetically: Ugh, rotten.

Quote Of The Day is from Winston Churchill: "I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle."

Monday January 18, 2021

Maybe It's The Red Color ... but the 2021 Daihatsu Copen Spyder Ver concept car looks like the grandson of the 1958 Berkeley Sports SE328:

The English firm Berkeley Cars Ltd. produced sporty microcars with motorcycle-derived engines from 322 cc to 692 cc and front wheel drive between ... (more >>>)

New Name, New Combined Company: Fiat Chrysler and French automaker Peugeot SA have merged to form Stellantis, the fourth-largest automaker in the world. PSA also owns the Opel and Vauxhall brands.

"FCA CEO Mike Manley - who will head Stellantis' key North American operations - has said 40% of the carmaker's expected synergies would come from convergence of platforms and powertrains and from optimizing R&D investments, 35% from savings on purchases, and another 7% from savings on sales operations and general expenses."

Sleeper Buses: I had never heard of them before but road vehicles with Pullman-style accommodations were cruising the nation's highways and byways in the 1930s.

Last month, I watched the 1939 movie 'Babes In Arms', starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. In one scene, Judy boards a double-decker sleeper bus to travel from ... (more >>>)

Technology Confuses Me: I thought Linux was a 'Peanuts' character.

I'm Sooooo Glad To Be Outta There: Chicago has a bad reputation. Probably because of all the TV coverage of drive-by shootings every weekend. And that stupid midget lesbian black mayor with the face like a fish. And maybe Al Capone.

Stacy McCain reports that my old home town Philadelphia is worse. "I can't imagine why anyone would want to live in that Democrat-controlled hellhole - Philadelphia is actually worse. Under Democrat Mayor Jim Kenney, violent crime in Philadelphia, which was already worse than Chicago, increased more than 40% in 2020.

More people were murdered in Philly last year than in all of 2013 and 2014 combined. The only time more people were slain in the city was in 1990, when police reported 500 homicides as violence surged alongside an intensifying crack-cocaine epidemic. The media would have you believe that crimes other than homicide have not increased …" but they have.

Read the whole thing. Stacy concluded, "When you vote for Democrats, you vote for crime. But don't worry. If you get murdered in Philadelphia, you can continue voting for Democrats after you're dead. They're "inclusive" like that."

Imagine That - Mexico Loves Free Speech More Than Democrats: Mexico's president Andrés Manuel López Obrador has vowed to lead an international effort to combat what he considers censorship by social media companies that have blocked or suspended the accounts of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Obrador's administration is reaching out to other governments to form a common front on the issue.  "I can tell you that at the first G20 meeting we have, I am going to make a proposal on this issue. Yes, social media should not be used to incite violence and all that, but this cannot be used as a pretext to suspend freedom of expression."

Thank you President Obrador for looking out for your northern neighbor. You have also been a loyal friend to Donald Trump. If only the Republican Party were as loyal.

Interesting Observation comes from Alexandrea Brown - aka: Alex The Chick: "The Tea Party was the polite request, Trump is the less polite request. It does not get more polite from here."

On a related note, two days after the 2020 election, a defiant Kathy Griffin retweeted the notorious picture of her holding a prop that looked like the bloody head of a decapitated Donald Trump. Earlier last year, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, tweeted out a call to his followers to destroy Israel. Both tweets passed the censorship rules of Twitter's 20-something 'judges' in San Francisco.

Griffin is a skank and Jack Dorsey and his minions are fascists.

Hate Trumps Rationality: Democratic Congresswoman Nikema Williams - Georgia's Democrat Party chairwoman in the Biden steal - has introduced a bill "to ban President Trump from entering the U.S. Capitol building for the rest of his life."

I Guess Democrats Now Believe That Walls Work: Massive fencing has now been erected outside the Capitol. The eight foot, non-scalable fence is gone. Now, a 12-foot wall is going up. Razor wire surrounds the U.S. Capitol ahead of Xi Biden's Inauguration.

25,000 National Guard forces have been deployed in and around the Capitol - more troops than we have in Afghanistan and Iraq combined. Guard members are in full uniform, including ballistic helmets, and are armed. 125 Air National Guard aircraft flew 134 sorties in the last three days They airlifted 2.3 million pounds of cargo from around the nation into DC. They're even flying in 80 Guardsmen aboard a KC-135 Stratotanker into DC from Alaska. The volume of aircraft, personnel, and equipment is unprecedented. All this for a guy who can't get out of his basement without "fracturing his foot."

One wonders - will Hunter be at the inauguration? Will he bring a date? Will she be older than twelve?

Remember when liberals screamed and yelled that President Trump was creating a fascist police state by having the National Guard clear the park near the White House after "mostly peaceful protesters" torched St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square, the historic church across from the White House?

Just look at DC now. Nothing says freedom like razor wire.

Misheard Music: Between the awful car audio systems of the '60s-70s - I use the word 'system' as an act of generosity; for many cars of the era, it was an AM receiver and one, cheap, tinny speaker - and my loss of hearing, resulting from running noisy injection molding machines, saws and routers in those manly, no-earplug, pre-OSHA days, I've probably misunderstood half the songs I've listened to.

Last week, I was losing myself in the sublayers of a Google search, when I came across the lyrics to 'Let 'Em In', one of those trite but can't-get-it-outta-your-head ditties from the mid-1970s. By Wings. You know the one. With the McCartneys warbling, "Someone's knockin' at the door ..." I always thought it was some kind of bizarre religious/political statement:

"Sister Suzie, Brother John,
Martin Luther, Falun Gong ..."

Well, Google informed me that there is no reference to the China-outlawed spiritual group, Falun Gong. The correct phrase is "Phil and Don" - a nod to the Everly Brothers, who were an inspiration to Paul in his early years.

To Phil and Don Everly, my sincere regrets.

I'm still not yet ready to apologize to Neil Diamond over that 1978 song about the pseudo-hip preacher, 'The Reverend Blue Jeans.'

Quote Of The Day is from President Donald Trump, "They don't hate you because they hate me. They hate me because they hate you."

Friday January 15, 2021

Truckin': The shift from sedans and coupes to light trucks, including SUVs, is illustrated by ... (more >>>)

The Great Race: Which is growing faster? Technology? Or bad taste? Think: Moore's Law vs. Dogg's Law. Presenting PimpStar LED wheels. Using full color LED lights, a microprocessor and wireless modem, these chromey dubs can display any images you like.

Images can be changed on the fly even as you're driving. You can shift, say, from a photo of the Palace at Versailles to an image of the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Or from the Playboy bunny symbol to a flashing red neon message for streetwalkers, "Call me, bitch ho!"

Ghetto fabulous and yours for only $12,000.

The Pause That Refreshes: One of my Christmas gifts was a 1:48th scale late 1950s-era red and white Coke machine for my O-gauge train layout. It is well-detailed and ... (more >>>)

Before The Storm ... (more >>>)

Making A List, Checking It Twice: Many disgruntled Trump supporters are putting together lists of useless Republican congress-critters who failed to support Donald Trump.

Jamie Herrera Beutler - aka: Ridgefield Barbie - is the U.S. Representative for Southwest Washington's 3rd congressional district and should be added to everyone's list.

An alleged Republican, Herrera Beutler was appointed to the Washington House of Representatives in 2007 and elected to that body in 2008. She has been largely ineffective in Congress, and has vacillated between being a Never-Trumper and a very reluctant supporter. She remains in Congress because she has a sick child and needs the medical benefits. She never shows up in-person in her districts; any town hall meetings have been via screened telephone - this was the case well before the China virus struck.

She refused to vote for Donald Trump in the 2016 election. This week she voted to impeach the president.

In 2022, Butler is one of the useless Rinos - and there are many throughout this land - who should be "impeached" at the voting booth.

Just for the record, alleged-conservatives and now confirmed Trump haters include Ann Coulter, Paul Ryan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, National Review's Kevin D. Williamson as well as most of the NR crew, Bill Kristol, Jonah Goldberg, Steve Hayes,Twitter-chief and fascist Jack Dorsey, Jeff Bezos, Colin Powell, retired General James Mattis, John Kelly, John Bolton, Marc Thiessen of the Washington Post, Paul Gigot of WSJ, Rex Tillerson, Rod Rosenstein, Nikki Haley, Liz Cheney, Mitt Romney and many more.

Notable Trump-loyalists and all-around good guys include Wilbur Ross, Dr. Ben Carson, Ric Grenell, Mike Pompeo, John Kennedy, Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley.

Where's Joe McCarthy When We Need Him? Former U.S. senator Barbara Boxer has registered as a foreign agent for a Chinese surveillance firm accused of abetting the country's mass internment of Uighur Muslims.

She joins her China Communist Party friends and fellow Californians Senator Dianne Feinstein and Representative Eric Swalwell as tools of the Commies. Don't expect Biden to investigate; his son is already on Xi's payroll.

Welcome To 2021 … where everything's racist. HBO's Bee Gees documentary falsely claims that the demise of disco music was because of racism. And homophobia.

To get the real story, HBO should have interviewed Disco Stu. In my opinion, Stu is the only real black guy on 'The Simpsons'. He's the worst of stereotypes ... (more >>>)

Book Review: 'Is This Anything?' by Jerry Seinfeld

It's hard to believe that Jerry is almost 67 years old and that he started his career working stand-up gigs in 1975. His television show ran from 1988 to '98. So long ago.

This is a very funny book. At times, I was laughing out loud as I read it. There are some old bits here but I'd guess that 80% is new material - to me. It's not a traditional joke book; it's Jerry's familiar observational humor - his reflections on the absurdities of life.

Here are some tidbits ... (more >>>)

Just So You Know: When I die, I don't want T-shirts given out as souvenirs at my memorial service.

How tasteless and tacky. A memorial pamphlet? Sure. A DVD? Well, goodness knows I've had enough face time on video during my life. So, I guess that would be OK. But not memorialized clothing.

We Make The Mess; You Clean It Up: The Vatican has called on Catholics everywhere to atone for the sex abuse scandals that have engulfed the Church in recent years by taking part in what may be the largest global prayer initiative ever seen.

Give me a break! Asking me to atone for a bunch of perv priests is even more wrong that those slavery apology demands.

During the time that blacks were being enslaved and oppressed in the United States, all of my ancestors were in County Mayo, Ireland - being systematically oppressed, run off their lands and starved by the English.

During the time that altar boys were being sodomized by creeps, I was busy raising a family and trying to make ends meet.

So, leave me out of it. (permalink)

Teletubbies Finally Got Jobs: In Bradford, Yorkshire, men with TVs strapped above their heads are walking the streets to warn public about disobeying Covid lockdown rules.

Quote Of The Day: Say what you want about Hitler, but he did kill Hitler.

Wednesday January 13, 2021

Big Bucks: Almost half of the 2021 Cadillac Escalades have sold for over $100,000.

"The redesigned 2021 Escalade starts at $77,490 for the base Luxury trim, but GM reports that 43% of buyers paid more than $100,000 for theirs." Cadillac sold 9454 Escalades during the last quarter of 2020. The Escalade's fourth-quarter retail deliveries were up 19%.

"There are multiple 2021 Escalade trim levels that start over $100,000, and even the lower trims can crest the six-figure mark with options. As for its competitors, the Lincoln Navigator and long-wheelbase Navigator L, the fully loaded Black Label models are the only versions that can cost more than $100,000. Jeep says its upcoming Grand Wagoneer will cost over $100,000 fully loaded." The fifth-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee L with third-row seating will go on sale in the second quarter of 2021, with two-row and hybrid models to be available by year's end.

2020 Vehicle Sales: According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, annual light vehicle sales in 2020, were 14.46 million, down 14.7% from 16.95 million in 2019. This was the fewest annual sales since 2012.

The UK reported their largest drop in new car sales since World War II.

Thanks, China for sending us the virus that wrecked the world's economy.

General Motors annual U.S. sales were ... (more >>>)

Dust In The Wind: The North American Car (Hyundai Elantra), Truck (Ford F-150) and Utility (Ford Mustang Mach-E) of the Year have been named. I doubt that anyone - other than Hyundai and Ford - really cares. If it's so important, name last year's winners. You can't remember them? Me neither.

In other news, the 2021 Detroit Auto Show has been canceled.

I Knew Them Back When: Flir Systems, Oregon-based maker of thermal-imaging and night-vision technology for the military, domestic security and various industrial and consumer applications, is being acquired by California-based Teledyne Technologies for $8 billion in cash and stock. That represents a 28% premium on Flir's closing share price last week.

Flir is one of Oregon's last homegrown technology companies and employs about 3,000 worldwide. Founded in 1978, Flir has grown steadily for decades in Oregon. Back when Flir Systems was a start-up with only a handful of employees at a rented S.W. Capitol Highway office in SW Portland, I worked with the principals to develop and produce plastic components for their infrared system at my manufacturing company.

No-Open Is Re-Open: Clueless Washington State Governor and Oberführer Jay Inslee loves to keep his constituents in lockdown.

Ari Hoffman wrote last week, "Washington Democrat Governor Jay Inslee announced a re-opening plan for the state that promptly extended a statewide ban on indoor dining as well as gyms and fitness centers. Washington Hospitality Association CEO Anthony Anton called the new reopening plan, 'a roadmap to a near-complete collapse'."

Inslee announced what is called 'Healthy Washington–Roadmap to Recovery', but it does not actually re-open anything ... (more >>>)

Dems Are 'The Unity Party' - Just Like The Nazi Party: Before they rounded up the Jews and other deplorables, the party slogan was "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer."

In America, impeachment is already being talked about, perhaps even after Biden's inauguration, in order to ban Donald Trump from ever holding office again. It probably isn't legal, though. Furthermore, Nancy Pelosi is now looking at the 14th Amendment as a way to expel Republican members of the House for supposedly taking part in an 'insurrection'.

Attorney and legal consultant Mike Yoder posted this reminder: "In 1983, Susan Rosenberg planted a bomb outside the US Senate chamber to assassinate Republican senators. House Judiciary Committee Chairman got President Clinton to pardon Susan Rosenberg. She's now a board member of Black Lives Matter Network, Inc."

William Katz wrote, "Do not ignore this. The Democratic Party, with the full support of institutions like CNN, is going crazy. They will make a mockery of any talk of national unity, they will ruin Joe Biden's inauguration, just to satisfy their radical base. Indeed, they will push Biden aside at the first opportunity."

What's Out? What's In? From The People's Cube:

OUT: If you don't vote, you can't complain!
IN: If you didn't vote Democrat, you can't complain!

Also from The Cube: 'Fact check: a democratic election is the one in which votes are counted until Democrats win.'

At Least There's Some Good News: The unloved media industry was racked by a record 30,711 job cuts in 2020 - a stunning increase of 201% from the year earlier when 10,201 jobs were lost.

The figures included jobs data from the news industry, advertising, television and movie production ... (more >>>)

Question Of The Day: If people from Poland are called Poles, why aren't people from Holland called Holes?

Monday January 11, 2021

Another Christmas Gift: I also received a 1:43 scale model of the 1956 Pontiac Club de Mer, a one-off show car featured in that year's GM Motorama.

The Club de Mer roadster was reportedly ... (more >>>)

No Surprises Here: Using Consumer Reports data, 24/7 Wall St. predicted the least reliable 2021 auto models. The worst is the 2021 Fiat 500X, followed by the 2021 Jeep Renegade, 2021 Land Rover Range Rover Evoque, 2021 Land Rover Discovery Sport and 2021 Maserati Ghibli.

Drink Up! A report from the BBC indicates that the old advertising slogan, 'Guinness is Good for You,' may be true after all. A pint of the black stuff a day may work as well as an aspirin to prevent heart clots that raise the risk of heart attacks. Guinness reduces clotting activity in the blood which doesn't happen with ordinary lager.

While some of the beneficial effects are due to the alcohol itself, researchers believe that antioxidant compounds in the Guinness, similar to those found in certain fruits and vegetables, are responsible for the health benefits because they slow down the deposit of harmful cholesterol on the artery walls. The original campaign in the 1920s stemmed from market research - when people told the company that they felt good after their pint, the slogan was born.

In Ireland, newborn babies and postoperative patients are given Guinness, as are blood donors, because of its high iron content.

I'm not much of a beer drinker but, when I imbibe, it's always a pint o' Guinness.

New Words: Here are some nominations for The American Dialect Society's Word of the Year:

• Wrap Rage: Anger brought on by the frustration of trying to open a factory-sealed purchase.
• Quadriboobage: The appearance of having four breasts caused by wearing a brassiere that is too small.
• Connectile Dysfunction: Inability to gain or maintain an internet connection.
• Locavore: someone who eats food that is grown or produced locally.
• Googlegänger: Person with your name who shows up when you google yourself.
• NINJA: No Income, No Job or Assets.

I offer another nominee - a self-developed phrase involving a situation familiar to older males:

• Candygram for Mongo: An urgent telegram from your bowels telling you to get to the bathroom very quickly as an explosion is imminent.

Old Photos Trigger Ancient Recollections: Recently, I was looking at a book, 'Lower Northeast Philadelphia'. This captioned photo album brought back a lot of memories. There was an old B&W photo of the S.S. Kresge 5-10-25¢ store on Frankford Avenue, just south of Cottman Ave.

When I was a kid, my Mom used to take me there. We walked to The Avenue from our house. I got a lot of my toys from that Kresge location, including molded plastic cowboys and Indians and 10¢ diecast cars. I still have some of the cars ... (more >>>)

Sad News: Canadian writer Kathy Shaidle has died at age 56 from ovarian cancer. She was a well-known blogger; her opinionated online quips caught my attention almost 20 years ago.

I have quoted Ms. Shaidle many times on this site. She blogged at 'Relapsed Catholic', later retitled 'Five Feet of Fury'. Kathy was one of the most incisive, witty (sometimes caustically so), and fearless writers on the planet, always standing up for freedom. She was fiercely pro-American and a conservative. Kathy was smart, never boring and had a great sense of humor.

When I found out she was very sick ... (more >>>)

Big Tech And Deep State Are Siamese Twins: According to The Federalist, Facebook and Instagram have banned President Donald Trump from their platforms. He has been banned at Snapchat, too. Twitter has already shut down President Trump on its site, while Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Louis Farrakhan, Richard Spencer and various Chinese propagandists continue to spew vile tweets undisturbed and uncensored.

Lizard King Mark Zuckerberg wrote ... (more >>>)

Bad Pun of the Day: They accused her of stealing the broach but they just couldn't pin it on her.

Friday January 8, 2021

Very Fast, Very Expensive: With a quarter-mile performance of 9.4 seconds at 158 mph, the Bugatti Chiron Sport is now the quickest production road car in Car and Driver magazine test history.

However, its zero-to-60-mph time of 2.4 seconds for this heavy - 3,544 pounds - but powerful - 1,479 horsepower - is no quicker than its predecessor, the Veyron, which is no longer the quickest in all the land.

CD writer Tony Quiroga noted, "Your body, however, is continuously unsettled as the power strapped to your back - the Chiron averages more than 1.00 g longitudinally through 70 mph - is unleashed." Price as tested is $3,710,850. And it only has two cubic feet of trunk space.

iCar? Apple Inc. is targeting 2024 to begin manufacturing an all-electric, self-driving vehicle.

Apple is used to selling high-margin products. But the auto industry is a commodity business with low margins.

"Volkswagen has spent nearly $180 billion on manufacturing plants and equipment over the past 10 years. VW's operating profit margin over that time period is about 7%. Apple, which has spent around $100 billion on plant and equipment over the same time span has an operating profit margin of around 28%. Investing a massive pile of cash in order to earn a smaller margin is not usually a winning idea."

Will the Apple car be made in China, like most other Apple offerings?

Goin' Nowhere: In 2020, we did far less driving than last year, thanks to the China flu. As a retired couple who don't do much long-distance car travel anyway, we put less than 4,000 miles on our three automobiles - a drop of over 40% from 2019.

My wife racked up 2,097 miles on her 2005 Toyota Avalon; the odometer read 76,607 miles at year's end. My 2008 Lexus LS 460 showed 40,995 miles on the odometer; 1,484 miles were added in 2020.

My 1939 Plymouth coupe experienced 357 miles of fun in 2020, mostly driving around the back roads of North Clark County.

Corn Hustle: Professor Emeritus Don Elliott of the University of Northern Colorado claims that ethanol is all-around more expensive than gasoline.

In a letter to the editor of The Tribune, he refutes the newspaper's misleading claim that ethanol is less expensive and produces less pollution per gallon than gasoline.

Using a more realistic measure of cost per miles driven, he shows that a vehicle running on E85 needs 40% more fuel to go the same distance as one burning gasoline, and E85 would cost 9.6% more per mile driven.

These data have been confirmed by other scientific studies.

On the pollution issue, Professor Elliott figures in the emissions from the fossil fuels used to produce the ethanol as well as the greenhouse gasses E85 produces.

When looking at the total pollution produced by each fuel, E85 produces 15.5 percent more greenhouse gasses per mile.

Someday, history books will have a chapter devoted to The Great Ethanol Scam. (permalink)

Remember When? Don Surber wrote that "storming the Capitol was cool in 2018."