Tbe

No, tbe is not an abbreviation for some agency or saying. Just as I have written that I often type “agaib” on my computer keyboard instead of “again,” at least two-thirds of the time when I try to text “the” on my phone I text “tbe” instead. Some times, that mistake really frustrates me, but I have never claimed to be well-adjusted.

******************

THE END OF AN ERA

 

 

This is my new office desk. Yesterday, my wonderful wife helped me disassemble the old one and assemble the new one.

I had used my previous desk for almost 13 years. I purchased it in July of 2010 when we moved into our lovely home in the mid-Atlantic in which we lived for 10+ years.

Although I keep writing that I don’t believe in karma, a small part of me felt my old desk was a jinx, an albatross, as I had purchased it on the assumption I would keep working in baseball via my consulting company for years to come, only to have the business basically fall apart in October of 2010. The desk was too large for my office in our first Arizona home and its large left-hand return proved to be an obstacle after we moved to the Goose Bumps house 7+ weeks ago. The new desk has a much better, more practical design. Its more open layout with no large wood panels in the back also seems to have greatly improved the Wi-Fi signal of my computer.

Still, the desk changeover is not trivial to me. I lived with that desk in three different houses in two different states for well over a decade. Even OCD-lite can be a stern taskmaster.

******************

Now, a pictorial interlude:

 

 

Maybe I’m romanticizing the features of the desert, but I cannot recall ever seeing clouds that looked quite like these that I photographed yesterday. I took these pictures from the courtyard; I like the sound of that.

Oh, this post might be quite long. Perhaps I should have led with that.

******************

This article is titled, “The EV Transition Is Harder Than Anyone Thinks > Clueless policymakers, skeptical consumers, greedy automakers—and the tech isn’t ready either.” Here is a very interesting fact from the piece, which I highly recommend be read:

 

“For example, in January 2023 the sales of EVs in the United States reached 7.83 percent of new light-duty vehicle sales, with 66,416 battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and 14,143 plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) sold. But consider that also in January, some 950,000 new ICE [Internal Combustion Engine] light-duty vehicles were sold, as well as approximately another 3 million used ICE vehicles.”

 

The recently proposed EPA regulations basically mandate that two-thirds of all new vehicles sold in the US must be battery-electric by 2032. That is a ludicrous and absolutely impossible goal. It’s as if EV makers have admitted they will not be the majority of sales in this country anytime soon so they have successfully lobbied the US government to eliminate the competition.

Once again (yes, I first typed “agaib”), we are supposed to be living in a country with a capitalist, not socialist, economy. In a capitalist system, the consumer–NOT government–is supposed to be the primary decision-maker. Another remark from the piece,

 

“Government policymakers assume that they can incentivize the supply and demand of EVs while paying relatively less attention to the capacity of global supply chains to produce them, along with the energy conversion complex needed to power them. Shifting the auto industry, an apex industry supporting a host of others to meet a new knowledge economy around EVs will be no easy task.”

 

It is beyond a fool’s errand to arbitrarily choose a deadline after which we all must be driving electric vehicles. It is also a sign of smug, self-righteous and arrogant public officials and citizens to attempt to impose such artificial deadlines.

For the nth time, if half the money spent on EVs and EV infrastructure had been spent on the development of synthetic fuel production, we would probably already be on the other side of the transition. Companies involved in synthetic fuel production, like Porsche, believe that such fuels can be produced in quantities orders of magnitude greater than at present in just 3-5 years. Synthetic fuels will not require the wasting of billions upon billions of dollars needed for building charging stations, new repair facilities, etc.

Yes, I am probably fighting a losing battle, but it is a battle that must be fought. Virtually everyone told me that I would never work in major league baseball, either. While I don’t seek out contrary positions, I am not afraid to take them.

#DeathBeforeEV

******************

No, I still don’t have the Maserati. Repairs were supposed to be completed yesterday, but I never heard from anyone and didn’t call anyone, either. If I haven’t heard in another 1-2 hours (it’s about 10 AM here in Arizona as I write this), then I will call someone.

Of course I am beginning to have doubt about the purchase; I’m only human and never claimed to be otherwise. I can only hope that, to quote Winston Churchill, “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

Some pictorial reinforcement:

 

******************

A remark relevant to foolish government policies:

 

“All government, in its essence, is a conspiracy against the superior man: its one permanent object is to oppress him and cripple him. If it be aristocratic in organization, then it seeks to protect the man who is superior only in law against the man who is superior in fact; if it be democratic, then it seeks to protect the man who is inferior in every way against both. One of its primary functions is to regiment men by force, to make them as much alike as possible and as dependent upon one another as possible, to search out and combat originality among them. All it can see in an original idea is potential change, and hence an invasion of its prerogatives. The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable, and so, if he is romantic, he tries to change it. And even if he is not romantic personally he is very apt to spread discontent among those who are.”

― H.L. Mencken

 

In that vein is this CNBC article titled, “The federal government wastes at least $247 billion [my emphasis] in taxpayer money each year.” This assessment is from the GAO, Government Accountability Office, which is a government agency. By the way, that amount is very close to the amount spent by the Department of Veterans Affairs for ALL of fiscal year 2022.

While I believe our government spends too much on defense, I mean $2 billion per day seems excessive to me, that is not the category on which the government spends the most money, contrary to the idiots on the Lunatic Left. Defense ranks fourth behind Social Security, Health and Income Security. The federal government spends almost $1 trillion a year on Health. That HAS to make healthcare more expensive for everyone by stimulating the demand for it.

I think the federal government spends too much money on everything EXCEPT aid for vocational and technical training, but I will not expound on that here and now. By the way, $247 billion is about 4 percent of total federal government outlays. I suspect the “waste percentage” is higher, but even that amount is about $2 billion every 3 days.

 

OK, the word counter in the lower left is screaming at me to stop writing. PLEASE feel free to submit thoughtful comments and PLEASE let your friends and acquaintances know about this blog. Thanks.

 

#Tbe

#DesertClouds

#EVsAreNotTheAnswer

#DeathBeforeEV

#GovernmentIsNotAPanacea

#somanyCARSjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

If you like this blog please tell your friends and share the blog URL (https://disaffectedmusings.com). Thanks.