Official Off Topic Discussion Thread #1

[jjohnwm]

People are stupid. Those gravestones sound like they were an accident waiting to happen...and this was likely obvious for years before tragedy actually struck. I wonder if any of the locals during that time ever requested or petitioned for something to be done about the stones proactively?

Everybody expects...in fact, they think somehow that they "deserve"...to live their lives in safety and comfort. But people still die from such things as lightning, traffic accidents, diseases, animal attacks, human violence and a host of other dangers. Some of these are simply unavoidable bad luck, but many or most of these deaths could have been avoided if people would simply think about what they are doing.

The internet now can and does report everything that happens everywhere to everybody. And of course we have people who think that the answer to these tragedies is legislation; ban this, restrict that, forbid everything else. None of these dog maulings would have happened if dogs were banned. Why would we allow those dangerous heavy grave markers to be left standing around where kids could get close to them? Drunk driving caused a death? Well, obviously if we ban alcohol...or cars...or maybe both...we'd all be safer. A guy standing in a field during a thunderstorm is killed by lightning? Just forbid going outside, that'll solve the problem.

Life is fraught with peril; existence is dangerous, and the universe wasn't designed to make life safe and easy. People need to think and to be aware of the dangers around them. That means finding ways to avoid them, rather than wishing them out of existence.

One of the giants of science fiction, Philip K. Dick, said: "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away".

 

[esoxlucius]

People are stupid. Those gravestones sound like they were an accident waiting to happen...and this was likely obvious for years before tragedy actually struck. I

Some of the gravestones are from a past life when gravestones were maybe a lot cheaper than they are today. It's as if price was no issue and there was some kind of competition going on to see who could go bigger!

Some are huge, you'd think royalty were buried there! Nowadays all the modern headstones are of a similar small size, they aren't a problem.

It's not as if the families can be held responsible for keeping their eye on the gradually deteriorating stones because many of the very old ones are generations old. All the family members are dead!!

It's purely down to the local councils who are responsible for the upkeep of the cemetery. They'd point to government funding. Over the years council budgets all over the country have been slashed. As a result public libraries, swimming pools, public toilets etc etc have all suffered.

At the end of the day it's all down to money, and a little boy was crushed to death as a result.

 

[Ulu]

They’ve been going crazy in California trying to promote the sale of electric cars, and they are not selling well at all. They keep trying to scare people with stories of $10 a gallon gasoline, but the fact is that after half a million illegals left Fresno County the gas prices dropped, and they have stayed down.

I remember seeing prices as high as seven dollars for diesel and now you can get it for $4.75

 

[skjl47]

They’ve been going crazy in California trying to promote the sale of electric cars, and they are not selling well at all. They keep trying to scare people with stories of $10 a gallon gasoline, but the fact is that after half a million illegals left Fresno County the gas prices dropped, and they have stayed down.View attachment 1569954

I remember seeing prices as high as seven dollars for diesel and now you can get it for $4.75

Hello; Don't know if this will be good news for you and others in California. Currently regular 87 is $2.43 and has been under $3.00 for some time.

 

[skjl47]

They’ve been going crazy in California trying to promote the sale of electric cars, and they are not selling well at all.

Hello; I am on a mustang forum. The push for EV's, green energy & other save the planet agendas have been thoroughly debated. Could have been on here as well except for the way this site is run. After the "other peoples money" that is taxpayer funded incentives went away EV sales are slumping all over. EV's will have to compete on merit of which they sorely lack.
Recently the onerous MPG standards have been removed. So now car companies should be able to stop trying to do the near impossible. Back in the 70's & 80's I had car that would easily get over 40MPG.
Now i hope things such as cylinder deactivation will go away. A flawed tech which uses modified hydraulic lifters to shutdown cylinders. Only gave modest fuel savings at best but were prone to engine damage or even complete engine destruction.
In addition some of the basic information pinning the "fear factor" of global warming/climate change have been discredited.

I did have family in California. We have lost touch so i do not know if any still live.

 

[jjohnwm]

I remember as a teen listening to horror stories about $1 for a gallon of gas; we often swore that we would stop driving if that ever happened. Currently, I'm paying around $1.20 for a liter of the stuff...but of course, they charge much more than twice that for a liter of drinking water at the same gas station so everything's relative.

I think the basic premise of powering vehicles with electricity is sound; battery technology has advanced so far that we are close to making them practical as vehicles rather than as mere virtue-signalling devices for new-age thinkers. We could be much further along that path, but in a world that literally runs on petroleum products, such a paradigm shift is too dangerous to too many powerful people, and thus the change slows to a crawl as those same movers and shakers control and steer it in such a way as to remain in power.

Did I mention that people are stupid? That helps the movers and shakers a lot. Hiring spin doctors who can say even the most outlandish things over and over and over with a straight face, and present even the most ludicrous ideas in a manner that sounds reasonable to the masses, allows them to make the general population believe almost anything.

 

[skjl47]

I think the basic premise of powering vehicles with electricity is sound; battery technology has advanced so far that we are close to making them practical as vehicles rather than as mere virtue-signalling devices for new-age thinkers.

Hello; My objections have not been about the EV's themselves. Had they proved to have lived up to the hype it would be a very different situation. Folks who cam make an EV work for their lifestyle ought to be able to give it a go. That lifestyle should not be on the financial backs of others is perhaps a main ideological objection. Had the EV's been practical and even approached being green they might have bypassed more fundamental objections.

The batteries are much better than the older style lead-acid batteries. That much is true. Range became a focus point because folks tried to fancy an EV as being an all around replacement for ICE. EV's are well suited for a limited set of uses.

Cost has been and continues to be the ultimate big deal with EV's. The EV champions knew this so tried to use "force" to make owning an ICE much more expensive. That strategy was almost completed but we currently have a period of reprieve if we can keep it.

 

[Ulu]

I’m sure people in Frisco are paying at least a dollar more. It has always been so.

 

[skjl47]

Hello; 87 regular was $2.42 at Krogers today. Did not go by the Wal-Mart but the Murphys usually is 3 cents lower than Kroger. I use Kroger because i get fuel discount points for shopping & for filling out online surveys.