Bitchin Dave's Newsletter - October 7th
Three stories out of Florida for your consideration. First, there's a bill that has already been submitted (the legislative session starts in January, by the way) that would eliminate property taxes in Florida, so that Flori-duh could be the freest of the free states, and some wealthy property owners can save a few dollars on their taxes. The property tax pays for schools, police, fire fighters, a lot of infrastructure, and assorted things we might actually use as citizens. But don't worry! The bill also includes raising the hotel tax on non-residents by an additional 5% (which would push it over 20%, I believe). It would add an additional 3-5 cent state sales tax for everyone (and remember that last year, they actually attempted to lower it! How regressive to pass this along). And the state would impose a 5% tax on all property sold. See, they would fix it! And cities that would no longer get their "fair share?" Well, sucks to be you. Second, the state wants to do away with Home Owner's Associations (HOAs), which on the surface seems like a nice idea. Except that if one lives in a community that has some amount of "community property" or infrastructure (like a gated community, security service at the door, or an elevator), or if its a collective like a condo that secures insurance on the whole property, this becomes a problem. Who would manage this? That's not addressed. Half assed plans always have consequences. And finally, the governor of Flori-duh wants to use eminent domain or something to take land from Miami-Dade county, and gift it to the orange menace, in order to build a hotel …. And *maybe* a museum dedicated to him (one of his sons actually stated it offhandedly this way). The plan is to situate this "presidential library" next to the freedom tower, because it's where the Cuban community came during the 1960s when they emigrated to Miami. Naturally that is right on the bay, in a location that sticks its middle finger at the city and county. The land he wants to use is currently a parking lot. I may be misremembering the details(!), but I think it remained "undeveloped" because there were Native American artifacts found on the site, and it was negotiated with the Seminole tribe to leave it as is and not develop a high rise on it. |
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All of this is certainly debatable. But it's interesting that there continues to be evidence suggesting that Columbus was not who we thought he was, and that the history is more complicated than we might have assumed. |
On September 9th, the US Congress convened hearings on UFOs. Because, you know, what could possibly be more impactful to everyday Americans? "The American people deserve maximum transparency from the federal government on sightings, acquisitions and examinations of UAPs and whether they pose a potential threat to Americans' safety." Right. Our safety. Never mind about public health. Guns. The rise of extremism. Or the orange menace himself. No! We gotta worry about things that don't matter. They also said: "It is time to give Americans the answers they deserve, which is why I am honored to lead this bipartisan task force that seeks truth and transparency." Fooking hilarious. Transparency in this day and age is part magicians deception (hey look over here, while I do something over there!) and part whatever those in power say something is. Oh. But what's this? It was not all about UFOs? There's stuff buried in the agenda that are other conspiracies that they wanted to manipulate: "We will also investigate UAPs/USOs, the Epstein client list, COVID-19 origins, and the 9/11 files." We are all so screwed. |
I stumbled onto a couple of articles that focus on innovations in EV charging that are worth sharing. The first is about a guy that wanted to be able to buy a Tesla range extender, which Tesla teased at some point, but never delivered. An EV has a battery pack that holds a charge, and allows for a "range" (ie, some number of miles that can be driven) based on the general characteristics of the car, climate conditions, speed of travel, etc. Like a gas powered engine, which needs to refuel when your tank is empty, an EV needs to recharge when that battery is exhausted. A range extender would allow for you to go longer distances. It's like an extra battery pack - or in gas parlance, an extra fuel tank Since he still wanted one, he built it himself for $11,000, and can travel an additional 100 miles by using it. It's not integrated, so he has to stop and plug it in to his car. As many pointed out, it's more efficient to simply go to a supercharger than to plug in this device. But that's not really the point. This is about innovation and learning. He sees how (theoretically) it could be integrated. He also sees that he's had no change in the range he was getting, even though this device is fairly heavy and always in his car. And he's stirred some creative thinking on the part of others. So there's potential for future growth of innovation. Second is a pretty remarkable breakthrough. Shell has developed a means to cut EV charging time down to 10 minutes, by using a "magic fluid" to assist the charging. 10 minutes would be much closer to the time to gas up a car. Excellent. Hopefully they can prove this in the field. And third is a story about Stellantis (working on charging for GM cars). The innovation here is that they have removed some of the mechanical charging components from the system. In current cars you need a power inverter and a means to distribute the power to each battery. Stellantis engineers have found a way to directly charge without the need for either part, and control more of the system through software. It's a nice evolutionary leap that should spur other innovations. The effect on the cars weight is under 100 pounds, and the mileage gain is around 2 extra miles of driving. But, bigger than that is a 15% reduction in charging time. These are all benefits, but it is more about rethinking the batteries. |
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In a shock to no one, Elon bends the rules to his liking. |
Aside: You may have noticed that he comes up a lot in things I have to say. And I thought I'd take a moment and explain why.
No doubt he's a lightning rod, but its more than that. He's a modern day Thomas Edison to some degree. He takes ideas from others and helps them to grow them, but then focuses attention on himself as "the guy" even though its mostly smoke and mirrors. He may be smart, but he didn't invent the things that are attributed to him.
He's kind of got an evil genius thing going on, and maybe you could equate him to Lex Luthor from Superman.
He started with some money from dad, and has managed to parlay that to be one of the worlds richest (and most recognizable) people.
Maybe many people are over him in general, though he certainly gets a lot of "love" because of his wealth, and because he's "not afraid to speak his mind" (ie, act a little crazy, maybe).
But by many accounts, he's not a good person. We heard reports that his father was racist, and there are certainly whispers that he is too. It appears as though hes a misogynist too. There was the nazi salute. The drug use. The absurd braggadocio.
To me, though, the deal breaker is his family life. He has multiple children from multiple different women - that is what it is. But he is at least guilty by association of being aligned with people who deride this from people who are not white. And he has disowned HIS OWN child, when they identified as trans. Everything else aside, that is inexcusable. Its your child. You love them unconditionally, and don't act like an ass hat when it comes to them.
So I continue to mention him because I loathe what he stands for.
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