Saturday, February 03, 2024
Friday, February 02, 2024
that's not a blizzard of snow, it's just more confetti than I've ever seen in a parade
this was Mexico City, 2 million people lined the route to shower JFK and Jackie, as they were the first Catholic couple to lead the USA, and visit Mexico, where Jackie spoke fluent speeches in Spanish.
And without the confetti
Thursday, February 01, 2024
wtf! Hamilton is switching to Ferrari after a career driving for Mercedes... that's really startling
Mercedes noted in its statement that Hamilton chose to activate a release option in his contract, which was renewed for two years just this past August.
He was with Mercedes 11 years, (2013-2023, and won the championship 6 times.
unmodified 87 Mustang 5.0 GT with only 19k miles... did you know these were only factory-rated at 225 hp and 300 ft lbs of torque?
good torque, but sure ain't much power
Its bid to 13,5 https://carsandbids.com/auctions/3RbYdDvX/1987-ford-mustang-gt-coupe
EVs vs guard rails
Given the fact that over 100,000 run-off crashes in the U.S. each year involve barriers, there has been a study to discover just how American guardrails stand up to today’s heavy EVs
To do this, researchers performed a crash test using a Rivian R1T pickup traveling at 60 mph and a guardrail, with somewhat alarming results.
The 7,000-pound pickup essentially “tore through” the guardrail – which is made from 12-gauge corrugated steel attached to 6-inch deep steel posts – and didn’t slow down much after the fact
facebook is a good source of hobbyist's photos for nearly every hobby there is, and has a lot of trains and railroad pages... just came across a new one today
bonus, there's in IH Travelall rail inspector!
Wednesday, January 31, 2024
If you recall, last week I posted about hundreds of protesting German Farmers. Now? There are French Farmers protesting, and they have a better publicity dept, who realized they needed a celeb to help get some sympathy and attention for their cause. They picked Jeremy Clarkson
As of Tuesday morning, all major highways into Paris were blocked by some 500 tractors and similar operations were underway around other key French cities. Three separate convoys were also attempting to blockade the Rungis wholesale food market south of Paris which is the source of fresh food for the French capital.
French farmers say their sector is on the brink of collapse as incomes fall due to rising environmental regulations, red tape and competition from cheaper imports, all issues Clarkson has talked about in his show in relation to British farming.
“We need one of our French celebrities to do the same thing as Jeremy Clarkson in Amazon Prime Series Clarkson’s Farm,” protesting French farmer Robi Leduc told a reporter
https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/french-farmers-block-roads-with-tractors-press-government-for-action
In Belgium, farmers angry with EU environmental policies and cheap imports, plan to block access roads to the Zeebrugge container port in Belgium from Tuesday.
Since 2022, farmers in northern (the Netherlands, Germany), southern (Italy) and eastern Europe (Poland, Romania, and Lithuania) have been setting up shop outside government quarters and camping tractors and forestry trucks on main roads.
French farmers have vowed to blockade the Paris region until their demands are met, keeping up the pressure ahead of an extraordinary European summit on 1 February. On Wednesday, over one hundred roads were blocked and 10,000 people demonstrating across the country, according to the French interior ministry. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, just named to lead the government, is grappling with his first crisis, with grievances focused on new environmental norms, fuel taxes, free trade and wages.
In France, the government, wary of seeing the protests escalate and with an eye on the European elections, has already dropped plans to gradually reduce subsidies on agricultural diesel and promised to ease environmental regulations.
https://theconversation.com/french-tractor-protests-are-the-latest-rebellion-of-eu-farmers-against-unfair-competition-and-red-tape-will-their-strategy-pay-off-222212
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2024-01-29/france-wants-eu-law-changes-this-week-to-help-protesting-farmers-minister
In France, the government, wary of seeing the protests escalate and with an eye on the European elections, has already dropped plans to gradually reduce subsidies on agricultural diesel and promised to ease environmental regulations.
https://theconversation.com/french-tractor-protests-are-the-latest-rebellion-of-eu-farmers-against-unfair-competition-and-red-tape-will-their-strategy-pay-off-222212
interesting Maserati was converted into a fire truck for F1 race track
All five of the Maserati firetruck conversions were sold following their service in F1 and have exchanged hands several times since then.
Masshole news flash that surprises no one... "Massachusetts troopers were charged with taking bribes"
Two current and two former Massachusetts State Police troopers were among six people charged Tuesday in a scheme to allegedly take bribes including a new snowblower and driveway
2 retired state troopers were arrested in Florida Monday. In addition to the 2 active duty Massachusetts troopers, they face more than 70 counts on a range of charges including conspiracy to falsify records, extortion and making false statements.
interesting situation, guy finally tracks down his dad's Road Runner... and the owner won't sell, will only trade, so he has to find a similar or better car to buy to trade to the guy for his dad's car.
These are not rare, a 69 383 bucket seat Road Runner with the 4 speed...
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10220237027996404&set=pcb.2127760447394242
I think the only way the owner will be happy and trade, is if this guy tells HIM to find the right car, and then pay for it, deliver it, and drive his dad's car home.
Tuesday, January 30, 2024
interesting book, and good read. Quite the page turner, IF you want to learn about what it was like for the secret service when protecting Jackie Kennedy on vacations and visits to rulers of other countries
being the 1st lady, Jackie was friends with the richest people in the world, such as the owner of Fiat, Agnelli, and would vacation with his family
I had no idea that JFK had a golf cart at one of the homes... a place called Glen Ora that I'd never learned of before now. Instead of using Camp David, the Kennedy's bought a 130 acre place nearby-ish, so that Jackie and the kids would be free from paparazzi and enjoy the horse riding.
