Trump+Musk: Folie à Deux - Trump thread #137

[Spandauer]

The clock is already ticking and he's an old man. Mid-terms: November 3, 2026

Thanks to @AcrossThePond55 for the thread title.

Previous thread:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5206120-the-grown-ups-have-left-the-building-trump-thread-136

I hate my "double flush" loo, which I'm pretty sure was fitted by an incompetent ape that couldn't type the Mr Men books (luckily I also have a proper one to use).

About the bulbs - I sew, using LEDs gives me migraines. I've tried different brightness etc, but I still can't use the damn things for more than 20 mins before feeling ill, so I'm sticking with incandescent. There is an upside - one side of my hair dries faster after a shower...

EVs. They all seem to be enormous. I like a small, simple petrol car, manual gearbox, handbrake not a button, no tech other than a CD player, opens with a key attached to my keyring. I do not want to open it with my phone, because then I'd have to buy a bloody phone as well. I'm sitting this round out and waiting for Hydrogen.

Don't ask my opinion on Air Source Heat Pumps.

One thing though. Somebody, somewhere is making a fortune (not just Leon) out of Green tech...and not all of it is that "green" or an improvement.

EVs are also a) extremely heavy b) extremely expensive to insure.

My council have replaced all the street lights with LED bulbs that shine a bright white but cast absolutely no light on the pavements and surrounding area. When you walk under them at night it's pretty much darkness on the pavement so you feel much less safe; especially as a woman walking alone.

Also, we pay for a permit to park on the road here. The council stuck in a couple of large spaces just for electric vehicles to recharge. Despite the fact that they are rarely used and people who do have EVs round here have charging leads coming out of their houses. So we now have less parking space available on the street where parking space is already a premium. When Dh wrote to the council saying we already pay for permits and no consultation was done etc they just gave a reply about the council always thinking forward to the green option. And nothing about how we pay already for parking. But this kind of thing massively affects people who are lower income. Who can't afford to replace a car easily and pay for the extra insurance expense etc.

EVs are also a) extremely heavy b) extremely expensive to insure.

They are sideshows compared to the fact that they are EVs.

I find it amusing and possibly indicative that EVs started to be "a thing" around about the time no one saw a milk float any more. I suspect a graph could reveal a truth there.

Don't get me wrong - EVs are obviously the future. Just not these EVs. Which are what happens when business collides with politics having avoided the difficult science. And as we know, trying to bully and gaslight consumers into switching to EVs has proved less than effective.

Given the average intelligence of the population, there is a real danger that some people will assume "all EVs=Musk" and add that to their antipathy towards them.

We now have a head of national intelligence who is not only unqualified, but presents an actual danger to our national security. Not to mention that foreign nations are no longer going to be willing to share intelligence with us, so let's add 'untrustworthy' to boot. And later today we'll have a Director of National Health who is just as unqualified and dangerous. Not to mention his self assertion that he 'has a worm in his brain'.

So now are people going to stop scoffing or sarcastically mention 'Godwin's Law' when we compare Trump/Musk to Hitler?

Having read a bit about Tulsi Gabbard, she is nothing more than a Russian asset

On another subject, has anyone seen the footage of Musk's 4yo child telling Trumper in the Oval Office 'you are not the President, you need to go away'

I have looked everywhere and it doesn't appear to be dubbed or false.

Trump looks pissed 🤣

So now are people going to stop scoffing or sarcastically mention 'Godwin's Law' when we compare Trump/Musk to Hitler?

Of course not!

Why would they give up a tool to silence us?

Godwin himself said ""Yes, it's okay to compare Trump to Hitler. Don't let me stop you.[...] when people draw parallels between Donald Trump’s 2024 candidacy and Hitler’s progression from fringe figure to Great Dictator, we aren’t joking."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law

But there are plenty of people who don't want us to talk about the Trump administration's behaviour.

They resort to "Ooh, Godwin's Law!" or "Trump Derangement Syndrome" as a thought-terminating cliche to shut us up.

Shall we also discuss LED headlights that blind all other traffic??! Drive me potty.

Critique of a Republican Congressman waking up

The car thing is tough, though. If you need a new one now, what are you buying? Electrics have some real flaws, hydrogen powered are few and far between, but it's hard to feel like buying an ice vehicle is the right choice at this point in time.

It's impossible to believe there could be a worse development in automotive technology than EVs, but amazingly the spivs managed to pull "hydrogen power" out of the bag. Proving that the average person knows fuck all and remembers less about basic chemistry.

Remember, you don't have to drive anywhere. And at the turn of the last century you couldn't drive anywhere unless you were one of the 1% who owned their own personal transport. Maybe if we as a society looked into that we'd save the planet faster rather than looking in vain for aces up the sleeve of science.

It's not that I'm not environmentally aware. Just that I'm not stupid.

One word really should kill any masturbatory fantasies about hydrogen.

Hindenburg.

Yes, but in the real world we do need to drive to some extent. So what's the right answer?

Not just rhetorical as we need a new car.

I repeat the askance look at "need". As I noted it's a relatively modern "need" and completely invented.

If you "need" to drive then own it, stop fucking around with paper straws and all the meaningless "initiatives" and just drive. Bearing in mind that even if you account for removing automobiles, their production and running from the equation you're still positive for emissions.

Dd and I did a 7 hrs drive with a 15 minute stop for her sport in January. It's a regular on the calendar. We've done the journey a few times. I'm not convinced that an EV would manage it without causing me a lot of concern about making the journey.

Yes yes re led headlights @Piggywaspushed !

What's happening with hybrid cars? Are they still ok? Or will they soon become obsolete? Or have they obvious flaws?

The orange one is due to give a news conference imminently, announcing a raft of new tariffs.

Out of the last 12 journeys by Uber, 9 have been in a Prius.

If the key goal of EVs was to reduce harmful emissions, we wouldn't have allowed commercial interests to jockey for position in the competition to develop the worst option that was guaranteed the second exchangeable batteries were discounted.

But, no. In the greed and $$$ manufacturers all rushed forward with "their" option and here we are. A cavalcade of crap EVs with crap performance and no chance to go back and correct the mistake.

All the more painfully embarrassing for capitalism that this is industries second bite of the cherry. The very first cars on our tracks were electric. Over 120 years ago.

The easiest way to get the c 1.71 Giga Joules of energy into a car is by pumping gasoline in. Takes about 3 minutes. Until that part of the performance can be replicated with an EV, you may as well walk.

Swapping batteries - especially if automated - could possibly be done in less than 3 minutes. Which would put EVs ahead of ICE cars.

However (once again) the slavering uncritical worship of "the free market" fucked everything up.

We currently have a swasticar 🙁and have decided we'll take whatever hit necessary to get rid of it. We've definitely done similar drives without any problem, so not worried about that. It's more about what's the best option right now. Having driven an electric, with all their flaws and faults, they feel so much cleaner than petrol. It makes it hard to contemplate going back.

@SerendipityJane You've been a bit snappy on this thread lately. Hope nothing's amiss. I don't personally mind paper straws, but most people seem to. While I agree it's a drop in the bucket on plastics, they do specifically harm marine animals, so, while I note the irony that straws are most often used when drinking from single use plastic cups, I don't think it's a completely pointless initiative. I also recognise that individuals making choices is a small part of the picture, but I don't think that absolves us of trying to make the best ones open to us.

Meanwhile Musk is meeting the Indian Prime Minister at the President’s guest house…..

In the last 2 years none of my drives has been more than 20 miles. And I could park 4 swasticars off road with charging points if needed.

Not meaning to be snappy. Although I guess its proof that either I am real, or my algorithms are improving. I'm as OK as can be and am touched by the concern. I read so many upsetting and sad things in threads I pollute and think more than post in support of people who have more right to complain than me. Sorry if I am and Bless you for asking.

This is how those that would oppress us would have it. A population weary, frightened, hungry and distrustful. And I am fucked if I will allow them the pleasure. Bread and circuses bought peace. Circuses alone won't cut it. And that isn't a threat or a warning. It's an observation from all recorded history.

'old' style hybrids tend to have 2 motors. one ice one electric. which add weight and space.

new hybrids only have an electric motor and the petrol engine only generates electricity for the electric motor. much more efficient.

I have an electric car for the last 4 years. It's fine, really, it's an ok option. None of this mucking around with filling up with mucky diesel, low service costs and quiet comfortable motoring. No need to go back to ICE.

Electric vehicles also don't have consistent charging points. I know 2 People who tried to drive Glasgow to London. About 5 hours in petrol and 9 hours + in electric given charges (sometimes 10 min, sometimes30).

Electrics are also a nightmare to extinguish if they catch fire. They can spontaneously reignite up to 3 weeks later.
Cf the Los Angeles fires

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-66866327

Thank you for the info @bloodredfeaturewall .

Surely the best thing for plastics is to come up with a way to make them biodegradable? Some new material that makes them environmentally friendly. Presumably it's being worked on but obviously costs and speed of production come into play.

And isn't paper only recyclable once anyway? Or has technology moved on?

The trouble with these things is a replacement is found and people say "that'll do" waaaay too early. And the conspiracy theorist in me wonders who stands to gain from a shoddy replacement that fails against the requirements of basic functionality?

Another area similar is DEI. Which is a great concept imo; but in practice is a blunt tool that doesn't work as well as it should. Being very personal here, my 25 year old ds says he perceives the job market, for eg, works against him with DEI because he's a middle class white male. But my 29 year old dd, diagnosed with autism and ADHD, says job advertisers are just playing lip service, virtue signalling with their inclusion lists. And job recruiters are still biases against disabilities. This are just the examples in my family, and I'm sure the reality is far more complicated. But I do think DEI is often seen as not really addressing the heart of the issue. Probably largely down to expense.

This is a reason (excuse?) for people to be attracted to Trump and Reform and be turned off by the alternative.

"they're drinking vodka straight out of the bottle tonight..."

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-far-done-telling-putin-russian-leader-wants-hear-rcna192062

😅https://bsky.app/profile/financialtimes.com/post/3li2yvlha422w

Donald Trump’s son has backed a proposed sports event for athletes using performance enhancing drugs as the US president shakes up health policy and sports governance.