So what is available in SUV land?

 

Since Detroit is no longer making sedans, I thought I would take a look at SUV’s.  Start with Chevy.  They offer 7 different SUV’s from a 5 passenger Trax and Trailblazer and working up to the 9 passenger Suburban. Other than size, they all look pretty much the same.  The small ones have really dinky engines, 1.4 liters (call it 87 cubic inches) and even the big ones don’t have much engine, 2.5 and 3.0 liters.   Gas mileage on even the dinky little engines is unimpressive, 27 city 31 highway.  I owned a full size 1999 Cadillac De Ville once with the Northstar V8 engine that did as well.  No manual transmissions just slush boxes. 

   They all come with an “entertainment package” featuring a 7 inch touch screen.  It is not clear if you get an AM-FM radio or a CD player with the “entertainment package”. A lot of new cars come with just a satellite radio that requires you pay the satellite company for service. 

  Pricing can be slippery.  On of them claimed a list price of $30K but they wanted $51K for the SUV pictured.  The options and this and that can be expensive, like $200 for floor mats.  They want $40 for a front license plate bracket.  It was not clear if this bracket was needed to mount a front license plate or was just a trim piece to dress up the license plate. 

Detroit is going, going, gone

 A piece from one of the car mags, "Best sedans of 2021".  They were all imports, from Korea and Japan and Germany.  No Detroit iron. 

Let's all get on Cuomo's case

 Newsies have been trying to get President Biden to call for Cuomo's resignation.  Biden did not comment.  What Biden should have said (and did not) was "Cuomo is a matter for the voters and elected officials of New York to handle.  I am from Delaware and a federal official."

Lets regulate the Internet

 So said a TV ad on Fox News.  It said something like "We have been improving the technology of the Internet for 25 years.  It is now time to improve the regulation of the internet."  Then in smaller type it said "This ad paid for by Facebook".   Facebook has gotten so big and bought up or run out of business all its competitors.  They own the social media business lock stock and barrel.  What kind of regulation could Facebook want?  

   I suppose they might like some regulations supporting or requiring everyone to censor Republican posts.  Facebook is doing it, and taking some heat about their censorship.  Perhaps they think the regulator could take the heat off of them. 

How Green is my airliner?

Ordinary jet fuel is a hydrocarbon, a compound of carbon and hydrogen.  When jet fuel is burned, in the engines, the hydrogen mates up with oxygen from the air yielding H2O or water.  The carbon mates up with oxygen yielding CO2 or carbon dioxide.  

Aviation Week features a seven page spread on "Sustainable Aviation Fuel"  SAF for short.  This miracle compound burns without producing CO2.  The Aviation week spread claimed that all the industry needs to do is convert over to SAF and that will get the greenies off the industry's back.  

   In this entire spread Aviation Week does not tell us what a "Sustainable Aviation Fuel is made from nor does it say how the stuff is made.  Nor what it costs.  They have made enough SAF for a handful of flights in real aircraft and existing engines work just fine on the stuff.  

   This is the first I every heard of SAF.  I have my doubts as to how much could be produced, especially produced at the cost of ordinary jet fuel, which is essentially kerosene.

Instapundit thinks Susan Rice and Dr. Jill are running the country

 Most of us don't think Biden is running the county.  We think Biden just signs or reads aloud anything his handlers put in front of him.  A figurehead.  The interesting question is who is pulling Biden's strings.

Instapundit thinks it is Susan Rice and Dr. Jill.  He does not give any evidence to support this belief. 

Wall Street is OK with the $1.9 Trillion "Covid-19 Relief Bill"

 The Dow Jones Average reached a new high after Biden signed the bill yesterday.  Of the $1.9 Trillion bill only 10% of the money does anything for Covid-19 work.  The rest of it goes to favorite Democrat programs, like the National Endowment for the Arts.  

   The US GNP is only a bit more than $17 Trillion, so this Covid-19 Relief Bill equals better than 10% of the entire GNP.  The money will simply be printed, debasing the currency, and creating inflationary pressures.  Everything will be a little more expensive due to Covid-19 Relief.  

Not to worry says Wall Street.