Bear Pit: now the sole domicile of politics at LuLa

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

I love my leisurely Prius. It does 0 to 60 in less than a day, but I seldom have to prove that. It's quiet enough so I can sneak up on unwary pedestrians and gently push them out of the way if necessary.   

[Alan Klein]

The unfortunate thing is that most people who buy fast cars are not very good drivers.
Unless you want to take a car to a race track, getting a fast car outside of Germany is utterly pointless. Taking off like a rocket from a traffic light and pressing a brake after 100 yards is equally pointless.

I like the extra push when you need it like when changing lanes, entering a highway, and jumping through an intersection past a red light when it's about to come on.

[James Clark]

The unfortunate thing is that most people who buy fast cars are not very good drivers. .

It’s true.  Hi-po Mustangs leaving car meets and crashing is a thing

[LesPalenik]

I like the extra push when you need it like when changing lanes, entering a highway, and jumping through an intersection past a red light when it's about to come on.

Acceleration is overrated. My first car was Citroen 2CV with 2 cylinders, 16PS and 100kmh max speed. Acceleration from 0 to 60 took about 30-50 seconds, depending on the road inclination, passenger weight and wind direction. I travelled in it through half of Europe on Autobahn, through Alps and Arctic, and never had a problem entering a highway or changing lanes. Occasionally, I even overtook other Citroens and fully loaded trucks.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

I like the extra push when you need it like when changing lanes, entering a highway, and jumping through an intersection past a red light when it's about to come on.

Around Boston that would be "jumping through an intersection past a red light when it's only been red for ten seconds or so."

[Alan Klein]

Acceleration is overrated. My first car was Citroen 2CV with 2 cylinders, 16PS and 100kmh max speed. Acceleration from 0 to 60 took about 30-50 seconds, depending on the road inclination, passenger weight and wind direction. I travelled in it through half of Europe on Autobahn, through Alps and Arctic, and never had a problem entering a highway or changing lanes. Occasionally, I even overtook other Citroens and fully loaded trucks.

It must be embarrassing getting a speeding ticket from a cop on foot patrol. 

[LesPalenik]

It must be embarrassing getting a speeding ticket from a cop on foot patrol. 

I fondly remember that once I was overtaking on a 2-lane Autobahn a truck, and the whole manouver took at least a mile and more than one minute. Quite a long line formed behind me with a Mercedes convertible right on my bumper. The driver was a patient and understanding gentleman and his passenger was an attractive blond who smiled at me and clapped vigorously after I changed back to the slow lane and they flew beside me.   

[digitaldog]

It must be embarrassing getting a speeding ticket from a cop on foot patrol. 

It should be far less embarrassing than posting misinformation, mistruths and assumptions and yet, some here are never embarrassed by doing so, nearly on a daily basis. Then ignore the corrections and facts while digressing with "jokes". 

[Peter McLennan]

Just to clarify, my comment about "if you're into dissing Teslas, don't drive one" referred to smoothness, quiet, efficiency, comfort and fun. It referred only tangentially to acceleration performance, even if that is part of the fun. Of course a heavy right foot is going to eat into vehicle range.  High school physics applies to ICE vehicles as well as EVs.

One-pedal driving whether by Tesla or others is going to change urban traffic flow for the better and cripple the vehicle maintenance business.

[kers]

The unfortunate thing is that most people who buy fast cars are not very good drivers....

This guy managed to hit a tree with his Ferrari during a test drive..

[Alan Klein]

This guy managed to hit a tree with his Ferrari during a test drive..

Who pays for repairs?

[digitaldog]

Who pays for repairs?

https://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=137509.msg1229916#msg1229916

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Who pays for repairs?

The tree, obviously.
It should have known better than to get in the way of a Ferrari.

[Alan Klein]

What did Biden expect when he pulled out without protecting these people first and getting them removed from the country before we exited?  It;s a disgrace what we did to these people who aided us.

US and other countries 'deeply concerned by reports of summary killings' in Afghanistan
More than 20 countries, including the United States, issued a joint statement Saturday expressing deep concern over allegations of extra-judicial killings and disappearances of former member of former security forces in Afghanistan.

The statement comes after a report was released by Human Rights Watch on Tuesday alleging more than a hundred former Afghan security forces had been killed or forcibly disappeared by the Taliban since their surrender in late summer.
The report, based on interviews with witnesses, relatives and friends of the victims, detailed "the summary execution or enforced disappearance" of military personnel, police, intelligence service members and paramilitary militia, who had surrendered to or were apprehended by Taliban forces between August 15 and October 31.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/04/asia/us-afghanistan-taliban-summary-killings-intl-hnk/index.html

[PeterAit]

What did Biden expect when he pulled out without protecting these people first and getting them removed from the country before we exited?  It;s a disgrace what we did to these people who aided us.

US and other countries 'deeply concerned by reports of summary killings' in Afghanistan
More than 20 countries, including the United States, issued a joint statement Saturday expressing deep concern over allegations of extra-judicial killings and disappearances of former member of former security forces in Afghanistan.

The statement comes after a report was released by Human Rights Watch on Tuesday alleging more than a hundred former Afghan security forces had been killed or forcibly disappeared by the Taliban since their surrender in late summer.
The report, based on interviews with witnesses, relatives and friends of the victims, detailed "the summary execution or enforced disappearance" of military personnel, police, intelligence service members and paramilitary militia, who had surrendered to or were apprehended by Taliban forces between August 15 and October 31.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/04/asia/us-afghanistan-taliban-summary-killings-intl-hnk/index.html

There's no doubt that the Afghan pullout was a mess. There's also no doubt that it could not have been otherwise. You cannot seriously think that it would have gone well if the Orange Menace had still been president. Some situations are just a pile of crap and cannot be fixed. And I would bet that if the Orange Oaf was still president and the exact same thing happened, you would be defending him.

[digitaldog]

What did Biden expect when he pulled out without protecting these people first and getting them removed from the country before we exited?

Same answer:
https://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=137509.msg1229916#msg1229916
And now this for our your amusement from indeed the “Orange Menace”:

Twice-impeached former President Donald Trump blasted out a brief statement on Saturday night that appeared to unintentionally refute his own long-running (and bogus) claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him. “Anybody that doesn’t think there wasn’t massive Election Fraud in the 2020 Presidential Election is either very stupid, or very corrupt!” the statement read.
Trump’s (apparently) accidental double-negative means the opposite of what Trump and numerous conservatives have been falsely insisting about the 2020 presidential outcome.

[Alan Klein]

There's no doubt that the Afghan pullout was a mess. There's also no doubt that it could not have been otherwise. You cannot seriously think that it would have gone well if the Orange Menace had still been president. Some situations are just a pile of crap and cannot be fixed. And I would bet that if the Orange Oaf was still president and the exact same thing happened, you would be defending him.

Biden owns it. He's president.

[digitaldog]

Biden owns it.

Yup, refreshing that someone can own up to their actions; do try it some day. 

[Robert Roaldi]

What did Biden expect when he pulled out without protecting these people first and getting them removed from the country before we exited?  It;s a disgrace what we did to these people who aided us.

US and other countries 'deeply concerned by reports of summary killings' in Afghanistan
More than 20 countries, including the United States, issued a joint statement Saturday expressing deep concern over allegations of extra-judicial killings and disappearances of former member of former security forces in Afghanistan.

The statement comes after a report was released by Human Rights Watch on Tuesday alleging more than a hundred former Afghan security forces had been killed or forcibly disappeared by the Taliban since their surrender in late summer.
The report, based on interviews with witnesses, relatives and friends of the victims, detailed "the summary execution or enforced disappearance" of military personnel, police, intelligence service members and paramilitary militia, who had surrendered to or were apprehended by Taliban forces between August 15 and October 31.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/04/asia/us-afghanistan-taliban-summary-killings-intl-hnk/index.html

That is a very sad situation but the trouble I have with this kind of statement is that you're asking me to believe that there is widespread concern for those dead people. You're asking me to believe that this criticism isn't primarily politically motivated. It is cynical of me to suggest that, I know. But I remind you of the situation re Charlie Wilson.

Something else very cynical also pops up in my head. I am trying to imagine a situation in which Biden had announced before the pullout that the US was going to evacuate and bring to the US all those Afghans who aided the US military (the allies as they are referred to). I am having a very difficult time imagining that would have been met with equanimity on the part of Trumpistan or the Proud Boys or the various militia or all the people who are now criticizing the current situation.

Bottom line is that the US and others were there for close to 20 years and not much must have been accomplished or it wouldn't all have fallen apart so quickly. Who is going to own that.

[Alan Klein]

That is a very sad situation but the trouble I have with this kind of statement is that you're asking me to believe that there is widespread concern for those dead people. You're asking me to believe that this criticism isn't primarily politically motivated. It is cynical of me to suggest that, I know. But I remind you of the situation re Charlie Wilson.

Something else very cynical also pops up in my head. I am trying to imagine a situation in which Biden had announced before the pullout that the US was going to evacuate and bring to the US all those Afghans who aided the US military (the allies as they are referred to). I am having a very difficult time imagining that would have been met with equanimity on the part of Trumpistan or the Proud Boys or the various militia or all the people who are now criticizing the current situation.

Bottom line is that the US and others were there for close to 20 years and not much must have been accomplished or it wouldn't all have fallen apart so quickly. Who is going to own that.

President Biden owns it. It was his plan, it was his decision. He was warned by his military advisors to leave some troops there and not too close Bagram Air Base before the evacuation. He disregarded their advice. As commander-in-chief and as chief executive of the United States government, he's responsible.

What's even more scary, is that Russia and China who now have joined forces because of democrat opposition to Trump, we now may be facing a war against Taiwan and a war against Ukraine. Iran basically has stopped negotiations. No one is afraid of Biden. That creates adversaries who are willing to take chances figuring America won't do anything. That's very dangerous.