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"The Relay" Online Newsletter
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I got my wish about the election - we knew who won on election night. The incoming Trump administration is going to make some big changes to the federal government. He has promised to stop EV mandates and the war on "fossil" fuels. Strange that name fossil fuels since oil and natural gas have nothing to do with fossils.
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Virginia Gov. Can’t Remove State From Greenhouse Gas Initiative, Judge Rules
From Hagerty
A Floyd County judge found the Air Pollution Control Board acted unlawfully when it voted to withdraw the state from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration cannot withdraw from a multistate initiative designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions without gaining approval from the state Legislature, a judge ruled Monday.
Judge C. Randall Lowe issued the ruling in Floyd County after finding Virginia’s Air Pollution Control Board acted unlawfully when it voted last year to withdraw the state from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).
Virginia joined the initiative under Youngkin’s Democrat predecessor, Ralph Northam, in 2020, at a time when Democrats also had control of the Legislature.
The RGGI, a cooperative effort among 11 states to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from power plants, is the first cap-and-invest regional initiative implemented in the United States.
It requires each power plant within participating states to pay for each ton of CO2 it emits at quarterly auctions in order to offset said emissions.
Since taking office in 2022, Youngkin has sought to pull Virginia from the carbon emission-capping program, arguing that Virginia’s participation effectively amounts to a direct tax on all households and businesses because the RGGI fees that power companies pay to purchase carbon offsets are passed down to customers.
The governor has further argued there is zero incentive for power producers to reduce carbon emissions, while the State Corporation Commission has estimated the typical monthly bill for Virginia households could increase by $2 to $2.50 for the years 2027 to 2030 under the program.
Youngkin’s attempts to withdraw from the program have prompted pushback from environmentalist groups who argue the policy is one of Virginia’s strongest tools to slash pollution.
Supporters such as the Environment Virginia Research & Policy Center say the RGGI has generated more than $827.7 million in revenue for Virginia’s various energy and climate projects between 2021 to 2023.
Youngkin’s efforts were also repeatedly rejected by Democrats in the state Legislature until the State Air Pollution Control Board voted 4–1 to exit the agreement last year, and Virginia later exited the initiative.
Environmental Groups Welcome Ruling
However, in his ruling Monday, Lowe said the only body with the authority to repeal the RGGI regulation is the General Assembly.
“This is because a statute, the RGGI Act, requires the RGGI regulation to exist,” Lowe wrote.
The judge further noted that if Youngkin’s administration had merely amended the RGGI Regulation in ways that were “not inconsistent” with the RGGI Act, it is unlikely that their authority to do so could be challenged.
“But that is not what happened here,” the judge wrote. “For the reasons set out in this opinion, the Court finds that the attempted repeal of the RGGI Regulation is unlawful, and thereby null and void,” he concluded.
The ruling was welcomed by environmental groups including the Southern Environmental Law Center, which filed the lawsuit against Virginia on behalf of four clients challenging the withdrawal in August 2023.
“All along we knew that the actions taken by the Air Board and DEQ were wrong,” Billy Weitzenfeld, former executive director of the Association, said in a statement.
“This is a win for communities across Virginia who have benefited from the state’s participation in RGGI in the past and those that now will have a chance to continue to see those benefits,” Weitzenfeld added.
Elsewhere, Youngkin’s spokesman, Christian Martinez, told multiple media that the state plans to appeal the judge’s ruling.
“Governor Youngkin remains committed to lowering the cost of living for Virginians by continuing to oppose the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which fails to effectively incentivize emission reductions in the Commonwealth,” Martinez said.
A Twist on the Classics: Themed Car Shows Attract Enthusiasts and Collectors Far and Wide
By Jennifer Dawson
About 11 million consumers are estimated to attend U.S. auto shows each year, highlights the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA). While a classic show is synonymous with vintage and antique vehicles, themes can make for an unforgettable experience for longtime collectors and enthusiasts alike. From the twists put on the classic show to how modern concepts continue to keep things interesting, a themed car show has more in store than just a collection of old-school rides.
A blast from the past
Classic car shows always guarantee the presence of vintage and antique vehicles, though some shows narrow the criteria for a theme that is exclusive to vehicles of a specific era. In Parsippany, New Jersey, Lead East, also known as ‘the world’s largest oldies festival’ features “a vibrant celebration of ‘50s-style fun,” highlights one Patch article. Great diversity can be found via a collection of classic cars, though live music works to bring those in attendance back to the good old days of rock ‘n’ roll. Patch goes on to note that Lead East attracts more than 250,000 visitors, many who return year after year, event organizers highlight.
Themed car shows can also be found in a more high-end atmosphere as well. Amelia Island, Florida, for instance, is home for the truly unique and rare car show that sticks to a theme of its own. The Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance is described by USA Today’s 10 Best as “a beauty pageant for rare and vintage cars,” with the annual show that features nearly 300 vehicles that come from collections around the world. “Attendees can peruse entries across 35 car classes, enjoy live entertainment, and relax in a Bavarian beer garden,” the article highlights.
Modern themes unveil innovation and excitement
Germany’s International Motor Show, also called the IAA (as the show is referred to as the Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung) is known for its themed events that take place each year. The IAA’s themes tend to be broad, though never cease to intrigue and attract visitors — for example, the 63rd IAA Commercial Vehicle show (2010) focused on environmental technologies, while the theme for the 67th IAA Car show (2017) featured the motto of “Experience the Future,” which encompassed “the entire range of innovations for mobility, from digitization and electromobility to new mobility concepts in cities.” In 2023, the motto was “Experience Connected Mobility,” a theme for IAA MOBILITY 2023 that served as a platform for mobility, sustainability and technology. The 2023 show was noted to attract more than 500,000 visitors from all over the globe.
If you’re an enthusiast of the classics, shows that feature modern vehicles are a great way to discover today’s top models, especially if you’re in the market for a new practical everyday vehicle, like an SUV. Reviews of midsize SUVs are crucial when the goal is to gain first-hand insight into top-rated vehicles and their features, while a car show can further complement your research through an in-person experience. This can be an ideal way to get a full account of newer vehicles and their features — armed with information via reviews (from price points and optional equipment), and an in-person look at the vehicle, the determination of what vehicle will fit your needs can become less of a challenge.
2024 has brought with it a number of creative themes, such as Friendsgiving, an alternative celebration that focuses on Thanksgiving with friends rather than family. A Friendsgiving themed November 9th show in Bradenton, Florida, at Hooters featured a night of classic cars in addition to trophies and prizes as part of the “Lance’s Cruzin to the Hop Car Show.” The holidays pave the way for additional themed events in regard to classic vehicles. The Gilmore Car Museum in Michigan, for instance, hosts a Winter Wonderland Holiday Experience presented by DeNooyer Automotive Family that features a variety of things for the whole family to do and see.
2024 is the third year of the Winter Wonderland Holiday Experience — the Gilmore Car Museum notes that this year will involve an expanded amount of holiday lights and displays that span across the 90-acre museum campus. Interactive exhibits, holiday lights, and winter-themed classic automotive artwork are all set to be in presence, in addition to a unique experience that allows participants to take in “hundreds of thousands of lights from the inside of a vehicle right out of the Museum’s collection.” The Dashing Through the Snow family rides can be taken in Ford Model T’s, a Checker Taxi Cab, and a ‘63 Cadillac convertible, and more, highlights the Museum’s page.
A red sports car parked in front of a building by Luca Hooijer. Clean Lamborghini Countach from Unsplash
Cars that bring the personality
Aside from shows that have their own theme, vehicles themselves that are themed can bring character to a classic car show as well. One late 2024 BBC article, for instance, highlights a Barbie-themed Aston Martin. After a crash in a rally in Mexico at the La Carrera Panamericana event two years ago, the 1967 Aston Martin DB6 was repaired and painted pink, just in time for the Classic Car Show in Birmingham. “Initially I thought ‘what have we done?” David Pearce-Martin, who renovated the vehicle with his team in East Sussex. “But surprisingly I now think it works quite well,” he told BBC Radio Sussex.
Vehicles featured at the Concours d’Lemons in California at the Seaside City Hall lawn is another great example in which the cars present bring a unique twist to the show. A 2024 Monterey County Now article covers the unusual sights that can be found — Robert Peterson of Salinas, for example, was a recipient of the “Sight for Sour Eyes” award. The unsightly (yet award-winning) 1998 Chevrolet Metro wasn’t the only winner, either. The lighthearted event also featured a Worst of Show award, which went to a fur-covered 1975 Lincoln Continental owned by Chris Overzet of Brentwood, highlights Monterey County Now.
Car shows are a great way for enthusiasts and collectors alike to enjoy and discover prominent vehicles throughout the ages. While a classic show is always a great time, a themed car show can make for a truly unique experience that is fun for the whole family.
Jewels Found On Ebay
Here are a couple of hot finds from Ebay Motors.
eBay item number: 335663087831
$6,500 opening bid - no bids
eBay description: Started project, selling for parts. Clean title but lost it. Needs to be towed.
Vehicle is located in Philipsburg,NJ. For parts, needs to be towed
1972 Ford van for parts .
Engine runs fine,no abnormal noise from engine.
Many parts already replaced.
Brakes,master cylinder,fuel pump front brakes line.
Extra doors front and rear included.
Yikes! Another vehicle with a lost title. Since the Vermont loophole is gone for titles then you'd have to deal with the Jersey DMV - good luck with that. And check out what is left of the floor. This thing is pretty much scrap metal.
Next up is another "project".
eBay item number: 146189990952
$5,575 or best offer
eBay description: Original convertible
neglected project car
tons of issues of rust
(it will need floors firewall to rear bumper, including rear wheel wells, both quarters, both doors, both fenders, hood and trunk lid)
doors all open and close, the body is not bent or have major structural issues. it could be rebuilt or just used as a doner car
most of the rack is there and in good condition some pieces are rotted, the tub, rest of the unit looks good
the good solid chassis, all glass, lots of trim, complete dash
most of the convertible only items are there (just one pinch well trim missing)
no vin or cowl tag are on the car or available (no title)
car rolls with no flat tires and steering works
car is an original v8, auto (no motor, trans)
hood is not included
car comes as pictured
Yikes again! Another vehicle with no title - but wait there's more - this car doesn't have much of anything - except for rust. Too bad I only have a couple of photos because some of the photos online of this convertible are kinda of stunning - it's just amazing what rust can do to metal - and with this car it did it as best as rust can. You could make a game of this car by trying to find what usable parts are still there.
eBay item number: 375787722261
$9,500 or best offer
eBay description: 1971 CHEVROLET CORVETTE STINGRAY CONVERTIBLE ROLLING PROJECT CAR. ORIGINAL MATCHING NUMBER 350/270 HORSEPOWER V-8 WITH MUNCIE 4 SPEED TRANSMISSION. THIS 71 VETTE LEFT ST LOUIS IN BRANDS HATCH GREEN WITH DARK SADDLE VINYL INTERIOR. SITTING OUT SIDE SINCE AT LEAST 1993. BODY IS VERY SOLID AND VERY STRAIGHT. FRAME IS MOSTLY SOLID BUT PICTURES SHOW SOME HEAVY RUST THRU AREAS. FRAME COULD BE REPAIRED BUT REPLACING WOULD BE BEST ROUTE. WE SEE SOME BIRDCAGE RUST AT THE BASE OF THE WINDSHIELD FRAME AND BOTH DOORS HAVE RUST AND SHOULD BE REPLACED. ENGINE COMPARTMENT IS COMPLETE AND CORRECT EXCEPT FOR M/T ALUMINUM VALVE COVERS. MOTOR IS STUCK AND DOES NOT TURN. SHIFTER IS FROZEN IN PLACE. HARD TOP ONLY WITH SOME SUBSTRUCTURE RUST. ALL TRIM IS PRESENT BUT HEADLINER IS MISSING. 69 FACTORY SIDE EXHAUST HAS BEEN ADDED. THIS IS A MOSTLY COMPLETE AND MOSTLY ORIGINAL 71 VETTE THAT WILL NEED EXTENSIVE REPAIR AND RESTORATION. PERFECT FOR A SEASONED MECHANIC AND CAR GUY BUT PROBABLY TOO MUCH FOR A DAD AND SON PROJECT. CLEAR VIRGINIA TITLE. MUST BE PAID FOR WITHIN 5 DAYS OF LISTINGS END AND MUST BE PICKED UP IN VA BEACH VA. THANKS FOR LOOKING. JESUS LOVES YOU!!!
Rust, rust and more rust - needs a frame replacement, both doors, engine froze, shifter froze and more rust. Just how valuable is this car? The classic car guide says depending on condition anywhere from $1500 to $45,000. And this Vette has the base engine. I doubt a shop could restore it for 45K.
US Traffic Deaths Are a ‘Growing Public Health Crisis,’ NTSB Chair Says
From The Epoch Times
Car accident fatalities are reaching the level of a public health crisis in the United States, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chair Jennifer Homendy said, emphasizing the urgent need for systemic change during a meeting on Nov. 19.
“There is no doubt we are in the midst of a growing public health crisis on our roads,” Homendy said.
“Last year, 2.7 million people were injured, and 40,990 people died on our roads. That’s about 112 people every day.”
Comparing the United States to other developed nations, she said that “unlike most developed nations, U.S. roadways have grown more deadly over the last several decades.”
Advocating comprehensive overhaul of traffic safety measures, Homendy emphasized the adoption of a “safe system approach.” This model builds in many layers of redundancy, she said, so that if one layer fails, people are still protected.
“At the NTSB, we believe the only acceptable number of injuries and crashes on our roads is zero. Zero,” Homendy said.
She countered skepticism by pointing out that “many villages, towns, and cities around the world are having incredible success saving lives on their roads, including right here in the United States.”
A collective responsibility is required to achieve this goal, Homendy said.
“They all have one thing in common: They embrace the safe system approach to traffic safety,” she said. “Places that have successfully eliminated traffic deaths also understand that everyone, every part of society, shares the responsibility for safety.”
The Nov. 19 meeting was convened to discuss the findings of an investigation into a fatal collision in Louisville, New York, in 2023.
On Jan. 28, 2023, a box truck crossed the centerline on New York State Route 37 and collided with a bus carrying migrant workers from a solar farm construction company. Six bus occupants died, and several others were injured. The driver of the box truck was also seriously injured.
“Our investigation found that those responsible for transportation safety and federal oversight failed to do their part,” Homendy said regarding the crash. “This includes motor carriers and regulatory agencies, including the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and the states of New York and Montana, among others.”
The NTSB’s investigation revealed multiple safety issues that contributed to the collision. Among them were the truck driver’s fatigue because of insufficient sleep, the truck motor carrier’s lack of a structured fatigue management program, and ineffective oversight by the FMCSA.
The board criticized the FMCSA for failing to identify and intervene in safety issues associated with the truck operator, Aero Global Logistics. The bus operator was able to register its buses out of state in Montana, which is why recommendations were also made for that state, according to the board.
“It is crashes like this, and so many others that we even investigate that make me wonder what the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is doing to protect the traveling public,” Homendy said.
She said the FMCSA has a duty to act as a safety stopgap.
“In carrying out its duties, the administration shall consider the assignment and maintenance of safety as the highest priority,” Homendy said.
The NTSB issued 12 new recommendations and reiterated three previous ones related to occupant protection, federal and state oversight of motor carrier operations, and fatigue countermeasures. These recommendations were directed at FMCSA, the NHTSA, the states involved, trucking industry groups, and the motor carriers implicated in the collision.
The final report on the Louisville crash will be published on the NTSB’s website in the coming weeks.
Dodge’s Straight-Six–Powered Charger Is Reportedly Coming Sooner Than Expected
From Hagerty
Enthusiasts waiting for the twin-turbocharged straight-six-powered version of the new Dodge Charger might not have to wait until the end of 2025 after all. While the gasoline-burning model remains scheduled to land in showrooms several months after its electric counterpart, a new report claims Dodge is fast-tracking it to the market in the wake of a shifting political landscape and a lack of demand for EVs.
Citing anonymous sources, Mopar Insiders claims deliveries of the Hurricane-powered Charger will start in the beginning of summer 2025. The model was previously scheduled to reach dealers toward the end of next year, so this news means Dodge has allegedly moved the launch up by five months. Any report pegged on unnamed sources should be taken with a Ram truck-sized grain of salt, but this one isn’t entirely surprising.
EV sales aren’t growing as quickly as many carmakers, government officials, and analysts predicted. Ford, General Motors, and even Volvo—once one of the industry’s loudest EV cheerleaders—are among the companies that have scaled back their electric ambitions in recent months. To add premium-unleaded to the bonfire, the incoming administration is expected to put a much smaller focus on boosting the nation’s EV take-rate than the outgoing one, so electric cars might not enjoy the government support they’ve benefited from in recent years. With these bits of added context, fast-tracking the ICE-powered Charger makes sense.
The EV’s launch timing has changed as well, though it got pushed back instead of forward. Earlier in 2024, Dodge delayed the model by about three months to fix software issues discovered during final shake-down testing, which is a problem that many of its peers and rivals have had to deal with as cars become increasingly reliant on electronics. Dodge opened the Charger EV order book in September 2024, and the first cars are now tentatively scheduled to reach dealer lots in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Dodge hasn’t commented on either report—we’ll be sure to provide updates as more concrete timing unfolds.
The Briefs
Ford Motor Company’s announced decision to halt production of its electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck at its Dearborn, Michigan, plant underscored the problems facing automakers as they try to adhere to local mandates to rapidly implement electric vehicles. From November 18, 2023, to January 6, 2025, the production facility will be paused as Ford recalibrates its EV production strategy. This development reflects a broader struggle for legacy automakers who, pressured by federal EV mandates, must balance ambitious electrification goals with sluggish consumer demand for electric trucks.
About a third of Americans with an auto loan owe more than their vehicle is worth, according to a new economic analysis. As vehicle prices continue to rise at a rate greater than overall inflation, Americans are struggling to pay for the cars they already purchased. On Oct. 29, The Kobeissi Letter, an economic and trading analysis service, posted on social media that its analysis indicates that about 33 percent of Americans who financed their cars are now behind on their loans. That translates to about 31 million Americans, according to the note’s interpretation of data maintained by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Adam Kobeissi, the organization’s editor-in-chief, told The Epoch Times the analysis based that figure upon data published by Edmunds. Edmunds said in an Oct. 15 release that in the third quarter of 2024, the average amount owed on an upside-down loan hit an all-time high. In that quarter, the average underwater loan amount was $6,458. The previous record of $6,255 was set in the second quarter of 2024.
Moreover, according to Edmunds, 22 percent of vehicle owners in a negative equity situation owe more than $10,000 on their car loans, and 7.5 percent owe more than $15,000.
New York City has officially legalized jaywalking, allowing pedestrians to cross streets outside designated crosswalks and against traffic lights. Jaywalking — that time-honored practice of crossing the street outside of the crosswalk or against the traffic light — is now legal in New York City.
Legislation passed by the City Council last month officially became law over the weekend after Mayor Eric Adams declined to take action — either by signing or vetoing it — after 30 days.
Hades(?) Funeral Services in Stalowa Wola, Poland, had to apologize after a mishap with a corpse on Oct. 19, the Associated Press reported. "As a result of an unexpected technical failure of the electric tailgate lock in the hearse," the company announced, "during the transport of the body of the deceased, an unfortunate event occurred" -- that is, the corpse came flying out the back of the car and landed in a crosswalk. The accident "does not reflect the high standards of our company ... and the respect we always show to the deceased," Hades claimed.
Ernest T. Bass has nothing on Roy Clowder, 37, of Coden, Alabama. On Oct. 11, WALA-TV reported, Clowder, who was already on probation, allegedly approached a woman who had stopped at a convenience store and asked her for a ride home. She agreed to take him, but he displayed a gun and told her to move to the passenger seat. Clowder took her to a local church, where he and the woman had a "makeshift wedding" on the church steps. They returned to the car, where Clowder assaulted her while driving around Mobile County; he eventually released her and her car. Authorities arrested Clowder the next day, charging him with first-degree sexual abuse, first-degree kidnapping and first-degree robbery. He's being held without bond.
Meet Tisha Booth and Keisha Edem.
The women were on a “road trip to reconcile” their relationship when they exited Interstate 85 in Lavonia, Georgia last week, according to local cops.
Following the duo’s 7 PM pit stop, cops received a “report of Indecent Exposure at the rear of the RaceWay Gas Station,” an incident report states.
Responding officers “located a white female on top of a black female and each of them had their pants pulled down exposing their pelvic regions.” The suspects were found on a patch of grass between the RaceWay and a McDonald’s restaurant.
“Booth was sitting straight up, with her pants down on top of the Edem’s pelvic region which was also exposed. The two were in the process of having intercourse in public view when Law Enforcement arrived,” investigators allege.
Booth, 49, and Edem, 37, were arrested for public indecency and booked into the county jail on the misdemeanor charge.
The alleged tryst, cops say, occurred “in broad daylight in the grass beside the street.” In a Facebook post, police recommended that if individuals were tempted to “reconcile your relationship” with “your life partner,” they should “get a room” or “go home.”
Angry that her Domino’s pizza was delivered “cold and uncut,” a Florida Woman allegedly drove from her residence to the restaurant, where she quarreled with an employee, flung the pizza, and damaged the store’s telephone, according to an arrest report detailing the 1:30 AM altercation.
Police early Saturday arrested Ricqui Holly, 22, for criminal mischief, a misdemeanor, following the alleged pizza rage incident.
After spending the night in jail, Holly was released from custody on her own recognizance. A judge ordered the St. Petersburg resident to stay away from the Domino’s outlet, which is 1.4 miles from her home.
The arrest report does not indicate what, if any, pizza toppings Holly requested (or if any stuffed cheesy bread was part of her order).
It used to be that heads of state and royalty bragged about their “invincible” bulletproof limousines that shed gunfire, but the Lucid Air Sapphire, built with “military-grade armor,” can go beyond simple ballistic lead.
Priced at an enormous base price of $475,000, this version of the super fast all-electric Air Sapphire sedan, created by the US Armor Group, is delivered with ballistic windows and lightweight laminated, transparent armor that replaces the factory-installed glass. The armor is capable of stopping a round from a .44 magnum.
Tesla Stocks Soars by a Whopping $125 Billion Following Trump’s Victory, Elon Musk Becomes $25 Billion Richer for Betting on the Right Candidate.
Elon Musk has been handsomely rewarded for his strong support of Donald Trump after the latter spectacularly won the 2024 presidential election. Following Trump’s victory, Tesla’s stock rose 15%, increasing Musk’s personal wealth by $25 billion.
Tesla reaches $1T market cap as shares close up 8% Friday.
The rally marks the first time Tesla stock has risen above $300 per share since September 2022. The increase in the electric vehicle maker's share price is attributed to optimism surrounding CEO Elon Musk's relationship with President-elect Donald Trump and potential benefits for Tesla under a Trump administration, including lighter EV regulations and potential advantages over competitors.
Brothers Amir and Ohad Hever had the idea for UVeye a decade ago, after witnessing the clunky system, involving manually checking underneath vehicles using mirrors, being used to sweep cars for bombs in a secure facility in Israel. The platform that they designed uses computer vision to identify and report issues. UVeye, founded in 2016, initially focused on military applications, but has found a second life on civilian streets, with customers including car rental companies and those running vehicle fleets, including Amazon, using the tech to check cars for damage. Half a million cars are scanned a month, and the platform is used in 300 dealerships across the U.S. “You enter a dealership, drive through the system, and within 20 to 30 seconds, get a full condition report,” says Amir Hever.
India’s Hero MotoCorp is one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of two-wheeled vehicles. But its new Surge S32 is different: It can convert from a motorcycle to a three-wheeled vehicle (and vice versa) in three minutes. The battery-powered S32, which took four years to develop, is designed to allow users to choose modes so that they can zig-zag in traffic during rush hour, while going with three wheels later at night when roads are less busy. Hero MotoCorp has filed for more than 40 patents related to the design of the versatile vehicle, which will be on sale in India by the end of the year. “People have been calling it the Batmobile,” says Pawan Munjal, the billionaire executive chairman of Hero MotoCorp.
In 2022, more than 16,000 people across the U.S. were killed in car crashes involving distracted or impaired drivers, according to the National Traffic Highway Safety Administration. Volvo has worked to keep car exteriors safe, says Mikael Ljung Aust, senior technical safety leader at Volvo Cars’ Safety Center, but it “became clear that assessing the driver’s state inside the vehicle was just as critical.” Thus the automaker’s new system for its EX90 model: Two camera-based sensors monitor the driver’s gaze, while a capacitive steering wheel checks that hands are on the wheel. “If impairment is detected, the car will adjust its responses,” Aust says, meaning it will alert the driver to take action or, failing that, autonomously stop the car on the side of the road and activate its hazard lights.
“So many cars on the road today look angry,” says Mark Gillies, director of PR and reputation at Volkswagen U.S. “The ID. Buzz looks friendly and happy.” The first EV minivan to hit the U.S., the ID. Buzz takes its design cues from the famed VW minibus, originally released in 1950. Although nostalgia is undoubtedly part of the appeal, Gillies argues that the seven-seater is a practical vehicle too: “You get the same interior space as a full-sized SUV, but it’s 30 in. shorter.” A long wheelbase and the hefty batteries beneath the floor make the minivan incredibly stable, and the fast-charging lithium-ion battery charges to 80% in just 30 minutes with maximum charging speeds. The vehicle goes on sale in the U.S. this fall.
Japanese automaker Nissan to cut 9,000 jobs worldwide—roughly 6% of around 133,000 total jobs—and halve CEO pay after reporting drops in quarterly operating profit and sale.
Ambulance hits cyclist, rushes him to hospital, then bills him $1,800: lawsuit. An Oregon cyclist who was struck by an ambulance that made a right turn into him — fracturing his nose and leaving him with scrapes and other injuries across his body — has filed a $997,000 lawsuit against the ambulance provider after workers scooped him up, drove him to the hospital and then billed him for the service, according to the suit.
Attorney Travis Mayor says the ambulance provider — Columbia River Fire & Rescue — sent his client, 71-year-old William Hoesch, a $1,862 bill for the ambulance ride. That’s among about $47,000 in medical expenses that Hoesch has racked up so far and another $50,000 of medical costs he expects in the future, the suit states. The crash happened in front of Columbia River Fire & Rescue’s Rainier station, as the ambulance was returning from a trip. According to police reports, the driver who struck Hoesch and a passenger in the ambulance estimated the ambulance was going between 2 and 10 mph when they heard a thump, stopped and saw Hoesch injured. Hoesch estimated to police that he was going 5 mph to 10 mph and said he didn’t think the ambulance was going to turn in front of him. His bicycle was crushed under the ambulance wheel.
Hoesch’s lawsuit also seeks $900,000 for pain and suffering, stating he suffered decreased range of motion, reduced grip strength and other issues.
A recent Oxfam investigation disclosed that the World Bank has lost track of up to $41 billion in climate finance funds between 2017 and 2023. This amount constitutes nearly 40% of the climate funds disbursed by the Bank over this period.
The Bank’s accounting method records funds at project approval, not completion, leading to a lack of transparency regarding actual expenditure.
Oxfam criticized the Bank for poor record-keeping, suggesting that the absence of clear records makes assessing the impact of these funds nearly impossible. This financial mismanagement has sparked concerns about the effectiveness and oversight of climate finance initiatives.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she has decided to remove the pause she placed on congestion pricing in New York City and that the program, with $9 tolls instead of the $15 originally envisioned, will begin on Jan. 5, 2025.
Drivers who enter Manhattan below 60th Street will pay the fees, in addition to any other standard tolls and expenses, in order to help the city qualify to receive $15 billion worth of bonds to finance far-reaching upgrades to public transportation.
In theory, the policy aims to relieve air pollution as commuters seek out alternatives to driving to work.
The governor hinted at her likely decision earlier this week, sparking a flurry of protests from lawmakers in New Jersey and the New York City suburbs, who argued that charging of new daily tolls to commuters who live in their districts would be unfair and impracticable.
Advance Auto Parts has announced a major restructuring plan, including closing 727 stores and several distribution centers, after a challenging third quarter.
Happy Christmas Shopping!
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s announcement on Nov. 25 to reinstate a zero-emission vehicle rebate and possibly exclude Tesla from the program has sparked criticism from CEO Elon Musk and other officials.
“Even though Tesla is the only company who manufactures their EVs in California! This is insane,” Musk posted on X Monday.
Newsom’s announcement called for restarting the state’s rebate program to bring down the price of electric vehicle purchases if the incoming Trump administration removes federal incentives.
“We will intervene if the Trump Administration eliminates the federal tax credit, doubling down on our commitment to clean air and green jobs in California,” Newsom wrote in a statement Monday.
The state was issuing up to $7,500 in tax credits to buy or lease a new plug-in hybrid electric, battery electric, or hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle, but the state phased out the program in 2023 after helping to fund nearly 600,000 vehicles, according to Newsom’s office.
However, according to the governor’s office, Tesla—the state’s only major electric vehicle manufacturer which also sells the most EVs in the state with nearly 55 percent of the market’s share—could be excluded from the new state rebate program in order to foster market competition. The state Legislature would have to step in and create a new program.
Electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Rivian said on Nov. 26 that it has received conditional approval for a loan of up to $6.6 billion from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to build a factory in Georgia.
Rivian, founded in 2009, plans to manufacture sport utility vehicles and hatchbacks at its new factory in Stanton Springs North, near the Atlanta-area city of Social Circle, Georgia
The company said that while a conditional commitment reflects the department’s intent to finance the project, “certain technical, legal, environmental, and financial conditions” must be satisfied before the DOE funds the loan.
If the DOE and Rivian sign a contract, the agreement will be binding and in effect before President-elect Donald Trump’s Jan. 20, 2025, inauguration.
The company plans to build the facility in two phases, each with an annual production capacity of 200,000 units or vehicles. This would allow Rivian to service both the domestic and international EV markets, creating new jobs in the Atlanta metropolitan area. Stanton Springs is less than an hour’s drive from downtown Atlanta.
The first phase is expected to start production in 2028.
Repair Mistakes & Blunders
From Rock Auto
My son, who lives in another state, called me up one day to ask how to get a stripped lug nut off. He was replacing the rear brakes on his old Ford Ranger and couldn’t get the wheel off because one nut was rounded off. He had spent hours and tried everything, but since the nut was recessed deep into the wheel, he was limited to what he could do. I told him to look in the hole with a light to see if any flats were left on the nut. He said there weren’t. We discussed various possible solutions, and he unsuccessfully tried them all. Finally, I suggested that an impact wrench with an extractor socket might work, so he went out and bought a wrench, a compressor, an air hose, and a set of impact sockets.
I didn’t hear back from him that day, so I called him the following day to find out if he got the wheel off. He did succeed in doing so, but only after discovering that it was a locking lug nut, and the key was in the glove box!
Dan in Arizona
What To Expect From Trump - More Drilling
From Zero Hedge
The former president said that he wants to cut federal regulations on drilling for oil and natural gas, a move that he says would lower energy costs and inflation. In multiple instances, Trump said he would reauthorize drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, which was suspended under the Biden administration.
Meanwhile, he would pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Accords, a worldwide plan that claims to reduce carbon emissions. Trump also said he would roll back some federal policies around electric vehicles.
In his campaign, Trump has often said that gas prices were much lower under his administration than they have been under the Biden administration. He has suggested that prices would again fall when he takes office.
“When I left office ... gasoline had reached $1.87 a gallon. We actually had many months where it was lower than that,” Trump told reporters over the summer. “But we hit $1.87, which was a perfect place, an absolutely beautiful number.”
According to AAA, the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline stands at around $3.10. The highest recorded average price for a gallon was on June 14, 2022, when it reached $5.01, AAA figures show.
The federal Energy Information Administration’s data show that the average annual price for a gallon of gasoline did not exceed $3 under the first Trump administration.
Chasing The Past - A Southeast Gassers Film
North Texas Hero Saves Two Lives After Spending 20 Years In Prison
From NBC Dallas/Fort Worth
An Ellis County man was in the right place at the right time and saved someone’s life – and then six weeks later, he did it again.
In August, Jacob Bell saved a drowning swimmer at Lake Waxahachie, and then in early October, he pulled a man from a burning car after a crash.
Long before any of this, Bell was sentenced to 35 years in prison. He made the decision to change his life, and because of that, he was able to save two others.
“Makes me feel like a hero,” Bell told NBC 5.
If anyone has earned the right to say that, it’s Jacob Bell. This month, the North Texan was driving a truck in rural Comanche County when he encountered a crash scene.
“Caught on fire, it was upside down next to another telephone pole,” said Bell.
Moments earlier a driver had crashed off the road and their car had broken out in flames. Bell told NBC 5 that instinct took over.
“For me, I didn’t even think about it,” said Bell. “I knew I could physically get him out of there, and I was going to do it.”
He smashed in the car window and was able to pull out the driver, a 72-year-old man who wasn’t breathing.
“I felt for a pulse, I pulled him out and kind of got him on the ground and felt for a pulse, I couldn’t feel anything,” said Bell. “I started CPR on him. And after maybe five or 10 seconds, I could feel a faint pulse.”
At the scene, the man started to breathe again. Suffering from smoke inhalation, Bell was taken with the driver to the hospital in Fort Worth.
NBC 5 spoke with the man rescued, who said he was still suffering from broken ribs but will recover.
“It’s been pretty amazing, the randomness of it,” said Bell.
Bell wasn’t just talking about this rescue. Six weeks earlier, he was on a boat at Lake Waxahachie when he saw a teen girl struggling in open water. He jumped in and saved her, swimming the girl back to shore.
Bell also recovered the body of 21-year-old Lincer Lopez, who had fallen beneath the waves.
“I’m still dealing with a lot of that,” said Bell. “The fact that Lincer lost his life that day is still heartbreaking.”
Bell said he’s still been working through feelings of anxiety after these traumatic incidents, but he was proud of both acts of heroism – because only a few years ago, they would have seemed impossible.
“I got charged with a burglary in 1996, and they gave me 35 and a half years,” said Bell.
Jacob Bell spent 20 years in prison and could have still been there today. He committed to changing his life, leaving prison six years ago, and now has a wife and child. After all this, maybe the most important rescue Bell made was himself.
“Spent most of my life thinking that I was just a nobody, and a castaway, never was going to get my self-worth back,” said Bell. “And this has really shown me that it’s possible to give back and to feel good about yourself, and that means something.”
Only at Walmart
Police Crack Down On Street Takeovers With High-Tech Surveillance As 4th Amendment Battles Loom
From ZeroHedge
LOS ANGELES—As police across California crack down on illegal street racing, takeovers, and sideshows, technology companies are marketing new surveillance tools to meet the demand—prompting questions about the implications for privacy rights and Fourth Amendment protections.
In the Bay Area and Los Angeles, where incidents have become increasingly brazen and violent in recent years, often drawing hundreds of attendees and overwhelming police, agencies already rely on planes, drones, and automatic license plate reader (ALPR) cameras as they aim to reduce the risk to first responders.
And they’ve begun to see results.
On Oct. 25 in the Bay Area, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) reported the seizure of 16 vehicles that had been involved in two separate takeovers a month prior. Officers couldn’t reach the center of the sideshow before it moved to another location, but they collected video evidence from cameras placed around the Bay Bridge. That led investigators to a list of vehicles, allowing them to request seizures orders from a judge.
Armed with these technologies, CHP officers sent to Oakland to crack down on illegal sideshows and rising violent and retail crime have seized more than 2,000 stolen vehicles since February.
And a controversial surveillance system used by police to detect gunshots and fireworks is now being remarketed as a tool to listen for the sounds of illegal street racing, takeovers and sideshows—like screeching tires—according to an Oct. 23 announcement from Flock Safety, an Atlanta-based company that leases surveillance systems to thousands of law enforcement agencies across the United States.
Audio detection offers an additional angle that can be integrated with existing camera networks and analytics, which Flock said in its announcement will provide a “deeper layer of insight, enabling [police] to track repeat offenders and analyze patterns linked to sideshows.”
When the cameras mounted at intersections are used in conjunction with audio detectors, the analytics system generates a report that lists vehicles, ranked by frequency, near confirmed shootings, fireworks, sideshows or takeovers, according to the company.
The selling point is that the AI-powered system identifies patterns nearly instantly that would typically take hours or days for humans.
The newly reconfigured technology raises old questions about the balance between privacy and public safety, which civil rights groups have already been litigating—in the courts and in the public sphere—for years.
For critics, the deployment of such technologies is part of a long march, a stealth encroachment on constitutional rights that has accelerated in the years since 9/11.
“Some of these are mass surveillance technologies that shouldn’t be permitted to operate in a democratic society,” Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst with the American Civil Liberties Union, told The Epoch Times. “We don’t watch everybody all the time, just in case somebody does something wrong somewhere.”
Technologies like Flock’s cameras and audio detection devices, mounted at public intersections throughout the country in an increasingly dense network, raise questions about the “boundary between what can be done in today’s technology and what should be done,” Stanley said.
According to a February 2020 report by the state auditor, nearly all of California’s law enforcement agencies already use surveillance cameras that automatically read and report license plate data along with other details of the vehicle, time, and location.
These typically use infrared cameras to read license numbers and feed them into databases, but some cameras, like Flock’s, can capture more than license plates—things like car color and make, as well as small identifying details.
According to Flock’s website, police departments in New York, California, Illinois, Texas, and Louisiana are among those already using the company’s Raven system for gunshot detection, which the company claims is 90 percent accurate in identifying gunshots.
Accuracy Claims
Various reports have called such claims into question—including a May annual review by the City of San Jose, which initially found around half of alerts were confirmed to be gunshots, with around a third being false positives. After some adjustments to the system, the confirmed number went up to nearly 80 percent.
Critics argue the tendency of acoustic gunshot detection toward false positives can put people at risk, for example by sending police to a location expecting gunfire where there are innocent people. Such technologies can also record human voices, which law enforcement agencies have used in court.
“As is so often the case with police surveillance technologies, a device initially deployed for one purpose (here, to detect gunshots) has been expanded to another purpose (to spy on conversations with sensitive microphones),” said the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit focused on the intersection of civil rights and digital technology.
Some cities have canceled contracts with Flock or similar providers after analysis revealed disappointing results.
A 2021 investigation of Flock competitor ShotSpotter found the acoustic gunshot detection system generated more than 40,000 dead-end deployments in Chicago in less than two years, with the vast majority of alerts turning up no evidence of gunfire or related crime.
The Champaign Police Department in Illinois last year opted not to renew its contract with Flock after results fell short of marketing claims. Data obtained by local journalists showed 59 out of 64 alerts were “unfounded,” with 21 of those likely caused by fireworks.
“To date, the system has not yet lived up to performance expectations, including misidentifying some sounds—such as fireworks or a vehicle backfire—as possible gunfire,” a police official told CU Citizen Access.
Flock did not offer an estimate of accuracy in its announcement of the Raven systems repurposed to listen for vehicular chaos, nor did it respond to an inquiry about how many communities use Raven to detect the sounds of street takeovers. But other media have reported at least two Bay Area law enforcement agencies are already using it.
A Growing Network
Cameras that read license plates and microphones that listen for gunshots have been around for decades, but in recent years, California municipalities have expanded their surveillance networks—and rapidly developing AI-powered technology is adding an unprecedented accelerant.
On Oct. 22, the San Diego Sheriff’s Department announced plans to install 60 additional cameras in unincorporated areas, adding to five cities that have already used them with “significant investigative success,” including solving homicides, kidnappings, vehicle theft, burglaries, and assaults.
Nodding to privacy and data security concerns, the Department said it has implemented “strict protocols,” including adherence to Senate Bill 34, state legislation from 2015 that regulates how data is used, stored, and shared, and requires regular audits to ensure compliance. San Diego keeps ALPR data for a maximum of one year unless it is being used in ongoing investigations.
Earlier this year, San Francisco installed 400 ALPR cameras, and Oakland, in partnership with the California Highway Patrol, installed 480 Flock cameras that read license plates and other identifying details.
“When we’re talking about car break-ins and car theft ... when we’re talking about sideshows and some of the other issues that have happened in our city, automatic license plate readers can play an invaluable role in helping us to track some of the perpetrators of these crimes and hold them accountable,” San Francisco Mayor London Breed said at the time.
In some California cities, police can now also access private security camera networks if neighbors grant them permission.
For example, Sacramento currently has 809 cameras registered in a program that allows people to register their cameras with the police department, which lets investigators know where the camera is and request video evidence in case of an incident. Businesses and residents can also choose to “integrate” their cameras, giving the police department direct, live access to the feed.
And “real-time crime centers” in major cities across the United States already combine these modalities. Last month, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department opened its first center in Agoura Hills, and LAPD plans to open multiple in the coming months.
These centers can tap into license plate readers and existing cameras at intersections, as well as footage from private cameras if businesses or residents allow it.
Citing low staffing levels and rising crime—including 50 car burglaries across the course of a single weekend in one L.A. City Council District—an LAPD report to the Board of Police Commissioners cited “an acute need to explore new measures, like the use of technology, to mitigate these impacts and improve the department’s response to crime.”
Privacy Regulations
In an April memo, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said the “crime-fighting cameras” installed at Oakland intersections would protect privacy by limiting data storage to 28 days and not disclosing footage to third parties beyond other law enforcement agencies, while complying with recent bulletins from the California Attorney General’s office outlining state law that governs data collection, storage and use, including SB 34.
Police can use ALPRs to match license plates with those on a “hot list” of known offenders. But even if they don’t match, the data is still stored in a database, prompting questions about how it is protected and used.
The ACLU raised this issue in a 2013 report titled “You Are Being Tracked,” noting that the readers “would pose few civil liberties risks if they only checked plates against hot lists and these hot lists were implemented soundly.” But the networked systems store the compiled data, not just license plates of vehicles that generate hits.
The “enormous databases” of motorists’ location information that are created as a result, and often pooled among regional systems, are often retained permanently and shared with little to no restriction, the report argued.
The 2020 state auditor report found that while most California law enforcement agencies use the technology, “few have appropriate usage and privacy policies in place.”
The report looked at four agencies—the Fresno and Los Angeles police departments, and the Sacramento and Marin County sheriff’s offices. All of them accumulated a large number of images in their ALPR systems, but most of those did not relate to criminal investigations.
For example, 99.9 percent of the 320 million images Los Angeles stored at the time were for vehicles that were not on a hot list when the photo was taken.
And according to a Sacramento grand jury investigation, a vast ALPR system deployed by the county’s sheriffs department and city’s police departments couldn’t distinguish between cars used for criminal activities and those operated legally.
“And we subsequently learned that both the Sheriff’s Office and Sacramento Police Department have been lax in following state law regarding how ALPR data is shared with other law enforcement entities,” the report said.
In fact, the investigation found that those departments regularly shared license plate data out of state, which is prohibited by SB 34.
In an emailed statement, the California attorney general’s office told The Epoch Times such technological tools “are helpful in deterring and investigating crime, serving both to prevent wrongdoing and ensure accountability for those who violate the law,” but that they must be used with “the utmost respect for ethical and legal standards.”
The attorney general’s office said that recently it has been working with local agencies “to ensure that they are using ALPR systems for their intended use.”
4th Amendment Concerns
A federal lawsuit filed Oct. 21 against the use of Flock’s surveillance network in Norfolk, Virginia, alleges the city is violating Fourth Amendment rights by tracking “the whole of a person’s public movements,” thus amounting to a search.
The City of Norfolk gathers information about “everyone who drives past any of its 172 cameras to facilitate investigating crimes,“ and in doing so, ”violates the long-standing societal expectation that people’s movements and associations over an extended period are their business alone,” the complaint states.
With all of this done without a warrant, the complaint continues, “This is exactly the type of ‘too permeating police surveillance’ the Fourth Amendment was adopted to prevent.”
Flock released a statement to media countering that Fourth Amendment case law shows license plate readers don’t constitute a warrantless search because they photograph cars in public, where there is no reasonable expectation of privacy, and case precedent in numerous states has upheld the use of evidence from ALPRs as constitutional without requiring a warrant.
Jay Stanley, the ACLU policy analyst, noted courts are still in the relatively early stages of grappling with these technologies.
“But courts have also made a number of rulings that sweeping surveillance technology is not consistent with the Fourth Amendment. ... I think that automatic license plate readers raise a lot of the same concerns that the Supreme Court addressed in some of the big privacy cases in recent years,” he said.
Among those are United States v. Jones, in which the government tracked someone’s vehicle with a GPS tracker without a warrant for 28 days, subsequently securing a conviction with the resulting data; the court held that such constituted a search under the Fourth Amendment. Previously a lower court had ruled the data was admissible because the suspect had no reasonable expectation of privacy when his car was on public streets.
And in Carpenter v. United States, the court held that acquisition of a suspect’s cell-site records—historical location data from cell phone providers, obtained without a warrant—constituted a Fourth Amendment search.
“When you have enough license plate readers out there, it becomes tantamount to being tracked with a GPS. And so it raises the same issues that the court has already ruled on,” Stanley said.
He suggested that communities need time to digest these technologies and their potential consequences before adopting them at such speed and scale.
“Communities need to decide whether they want to allow the police departments that serve them to have the new powers these technologies convey and whether they’re even effective at reducing crime and ultimately making communities a better place—which is the whole point of law enforcement and government,” he said.
US Auto Sales Jump Nearly 10 Percent in October
From The Epoch Times
Auto sales volume rose by almost double digits this month in the United States, with inventories breaching the 3 million unit level for the first time, according to S&P Global Mobility.
In October, 1.3 million units of light vehicles—passenger cars and light trucks—are estimated to have been sold, up by 9.75 percent from the same month last year, the firm said in an Oct. 29 statement.
“As we begin the final quarter of the calendar year, there’s potential that automakers will look to provide some additional support for consumers,” said Chris Hopson, principal analyst at the automotive data company.
“This would be warmly received by new vehicle shoppers who continue to be pressured by high interest rates and slow-to-recede vehicle prices, which are translating to high monthly payments.”
Data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis show that new vehicle inflation jumped by nearly 11 percent between September 2021 and September 2024.
In June, the average amount financed for new cars was $39,266, up from $33,914 three years back. Meanwhile, rates for 60-month auto loans have risen to 8.4 percent in August 2024 from 4.6 percent in August 2021.
Amid high prices and interest rates, auto inventories are rising.
“This surge aligns with a broader trend we’ve observed over the past two years, where inventory levels consistently rise in the fall,” said Matt Trommer, associate director at S&P Global Mobility.
Although the October numbers show a positive growth in auto sales, several major car manufacturers reported lower sales in the recent quarter. For instance, Stellantis announced a 20 percent year-over-year decline in total units sold in the third quarter.
Matt Thompson, head of U.S. retail sales, said the company introduced an “aggressive incentive program” beginning in the third quarter.
“We continue to take the necessary actions to drive sales and prepare our dealer network and consumers for the arrival of 2025 models,” he said.
General Motors reported that the number of vehicle units sold in the third quarter fell by 2 percent in the United States.
Ford saw a marginal 0.7 percent annual increase in unit sales for the third quarter. In the third quarter of 2023, the company saw unit sales rise by 7.7 percent.
EV Sales Situation
According to the S&P report, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) have made up more than 8 percent of light vehicles sold in the United States every month since June. Two years back, EV share was about 6 percent.
“September BEV share was estimated to reach above 9 percent, and we expect October BEV sales to remain above that level again,” the company stated. “Electric vehicle sales are expected to advance over the remainder of the year.”
A September report from Cox Automotive pointed out that although dealer sentiment regarding EV sales improved in the third quarter following a low point in the previous three months, a majority of dealers continued to report that sales were worse than a year back.
Expectations for future EV sales declined in the third quarter.
“A majority of dealers feel their EV sales will decline in the months ahead, not grow,“ the report reads. ”The future EV sales index scores for both franchised and independent dealers were lower quarter over quarter and year over year in the third quarter.”
Several firms have scaled down their EV projects. In August, Ford, for example, stated that it canceled plans for a fully electric three-row SUV and delayed the production of next-generation pickup trucks, citing pricing challenges from high battery costs. Ford claimed that it would prioritize the development of hybrid electric vehicles.
John Lawler, Ford’s chief financial officer, said the decision was taken to ensure profitability and capital efficiency of its EV business. Ford CEO Jim Farley said the new plan will benefit customers.
“We learned a lot as the number-two U.S. electric vehicle brand about what customers want and value, and what it takes to match the best in the world with cost-efficient design, and we have built a plan that gives our customers maximum choice and plays to our strengths,” he said.
Earlier, GM reduced its 2024 production forecast for electric vehicles by 50,000 units, pointing to weaker demand and a risk of oversupply.
Musings Of An "Old Timer"
1. So, now cocaine is legal in Oregon, but straws aren't. That must be frustrating.
2. Still trying to get my head around the fact that 'Take Out' can mean food, dating, or murder
3. Dear paranoid people, who check behind their shower curtains for murderers. If you do find one, what's your plan
4. The older I get, the more I understand why roosters just scream to start their day.
5. Being popular on Facebook is like sitting at the 'cool table' in the cafeteria of a mental hospital.
6. You know you're over 50 when you have 'upstairs ibuprofen' and 'downstairs ibuprofen'.
7. How did doctors come to the conclusion that exercise prolongs life, when the rabbit is always jumping but only lives for around two years, and the turtle that doesn't exercise at all, lives over 200 years. So, rest, chill, eat, drink and enjoy life!
8. I, too, was once a male trapped in a female body, but then my mother gave birth.
9. If only vegetables smelled as good as bacon.
10. When I lost the fingers on my right hand in a freak accident, I asked the doctor if I would still be able to write with it. He said, "probably, but I wouldn't count on it".
11. Woke up this morning determined to drink less, eat right and exercise. But that was four hours ago when I was younger and full of hope.
12. Anyone who says their wedding was the best day of their life has clearly never had two candy bars fall-down at once from a vending machine.
13. The biggest joke on mankind is that computers have begun asking humans to prove they aren't a robot.
14. When a kid says, "Daddy, I want Mommy", that's the kid version of "I'd like to speak to your supervisor".
15. It's weird being the same age as old people.
16. Just once, I want a username and password prompt to say: "CLOSE ENOUGH".
17. Last night the internet stopped working, so I spent a few hours with my family. They seem like good people
18. We celebrated last night with a couple of adult beverages, Metamucil and Ensure.
19. You know you are getting old when friends with benefits means having someone who can drive at night.
20. Weight loss goal: To be able to clip my toenails and breathe at the same time.
21. Some of my friends exercise every day. Meanwhile, I am watching a show I don't like because the remote fell on the floor.
22. For those of you that don't want Alexa or Siri listening in on your conversation, they are making a male version, it doesn't listen to anything
23. I just got a present labeled, 'From Mom and Dad'. I know darn well Dad has no idea what's inside.
24. Someone said, "Nothing rhymes with orange". I said, "No, it doesn't".
25. There's a fine line between a numerator and a denominator. Only a fraction of people will find this funny.
26. Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are.
27. I have many hidden talents. I just wish I could remember where I hid them.
28. My idea of a Super Bowl is a toilet that cleans itself.
29. Apparently, exercise helps you with decision-making. It's true. I went for a run this morning and decided I'm never going again.
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