So measles is "the canary in the coal mine" for a whole host of other communicable, VACCINE PREVENTABLE, diseases. Oh, goody.

We're suffering through silly headlines on the end of EVs in the U.S. etc. We knew sales in Q4 + Q1, maybe Q2, would be lower as incentives ended. They are. But one positive of the last 3 years of sales growth is that a lot of used #EV models are coming off lease. They may be the best EV buys now.

Oh, @reuters.com ... "LINK TK" ??

There'll always be a @nypost.com to bring us the crucial stories of New York. In this case, the grandfather whose pee-themed license plate was cruelly revoked by the heartless, humorless State DMV.

"When the Entry-Level Driver Training Rule became law in Feb 2022, it carried a federal requirement Congress specifically ordered: a minimum training floor. "By the time the final rule cleared the lobbying process, that floor was gone. What remained: a Registry FMCSA staffs on an honor system."

As US President Trump prepares to deliver the traditional State of the Union address to Congress at a fraught moment for his presidency, a poll shows 6 in 10 Americans think he has become erratic as he ages. I often wonder about those other four ....

Definitely not the #EV stuff (+ politics) I usually post, but people seemed to like the Lagonda. So, pix of what I rode + drove in for the last six days. If you like our random old-car stuff, follow @temptingfatetours.bsky.social. Not only here on Bluesky, but also on YouTube + Instagram.

A dozen public health experts are arriving in South Carolina to help the state contain the largest US #measles outbreak in more than 30 years. They're not coming from the CDC. They're coming from a nonprofit organization that still apparently believes in #science.

OK, now THAT's a headline I paid attention to! Well done, MIT Tech Review.

Good morning with good news: EV battery recycling surges from today's $2.5 billion market to a $70 billion market by 2040. EU requires in 2030 that 70% of EV battery lithium be recycled. RMI finds EV batteries could be made from 100% recycled materials. thenewswheel.com/2-5-billion-... #energysky

Interesting question ... why DOES it, @waymo.bsky.social ??

Hey, all you folks in the LBC: Watch for a two-tone green 1955 Lagonda in your nabe tonight + tomorrow! If you see Tom, say hi.

I find myself startled to be quoting @jefftiedrich.bsky.social ... "Fascism, but with morons" ... but here we are. Context: @pkryan.bsky.social is my local #NY18 Congressman.

Just shoot me now.

Today is February 23. It's exactly 4 years since Russia invaded the independent country of Ukraine. "By late January, ground commanders are expected to escalate—not for strategy, but for trophies. Putin needs visible wins to sell the illusion of inevitability + keep his throne." None this year.

So about that NYC snowstorm ...

"The Court, striking down Trump’s tariffs, [would have let] him defiantly retreat from one of his most unpopular policies; he could have blamed the judiciary + moved on. "Instead, Trump put himself on the wrong side of 2 issues where supermajorities oppose him: tariffs + obeying rulings by judges."

The ripples continue to spread. "Police are understood to be investigating whether victims were trafficked on the paedophile financier’s private jet into UK commercial airports as well as RAF bases including Northolt, a sector station in Ruislip that played a pivotal role in the Battle of Britain."

How much more LA can it get? Roof of the Petersen Auto Museum ... Academy Awards Museum ... and our @temptingfatetours.bsky.social 1955 Lagonda 3 Litre.

Anyone in LA at Petersen Breakfast Club C+C ?? Nowish?

Read. This. Thread. Whether or not you've been asked to verify your age or identity on any given website. Read. This. Thread.

"I reviewed hundreds of pages of documents, multiple court filings + spoke w/18 people who have known [FL Rep Cory] Mills. "Those who interacted with him expressed bemused outrage + unadulterated disgust about his rise to power...incredulous at him in Congress...but not surprised by his scandals."

A first‑of‑its‑kind survey on interracial relations among nearly 5,000 American adults finds "people are not as committed to division as their online feeds may suggest." Your 264th reminder: SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT REAL LIFE.

Actual #Tesla Semi on I-5. Going slower than all other traffic.

Aides to our current president cannot figure out how to spend an extra half-TRILLION dollars on defense. The White House budget chief was among those who internally objected to the current defense secretary’s plan to increase military spending by roughly 50 percent. Even if renamed "War". Oh.

Turns out that 'algorithmic radicalization' is actually a real thing. Oh.

Well, DAMN. There's an Ekranoplan ride simulator in the Mecklenburgian State Museum of Technology in Wismar, Germany. Since I will never get to see an actual #Ekranoplan (it's in Russia + that's a major problem, for me especially), this may be the closest I could get. Hmmmm. [scans airline sites]

So #Tesla has a new, lower-priced $60,000 Cybertruck. But there's a catch The price is good for, uh, 10 days only. "Musk has diverted his attention from #EV manufacturing to other business lines, looking to transform Tesla into a robotics + self-driving company. Tesla sales have notably sagged."

Voice of America's goal was to provide reputable news about democracy to citizens of Communist countries. Given the players behind it, the goal of this initiative seems to be to provide Europeans with free access to extreme sexual content + far-right white nationalist propaganda. Same thing, obvs.

Yup. We're at it again.

China is working to reshape global trade to insulate its $19 trillion economy from US pressure far into the future. It plans to stitch its vast manufacturing base into the EU, Gulf States + within a trans-Pacific trade pact, incl efforts to clinch 20 trade deals in total, many years in the making.

I hadn't much followed Trump's media company. Staggering summary here. "The business is burning money at an alarming rate + has done so since its inception. It has never brought in more than $4 million per year while losing hundreds of millions of dollars." Plus: Bitcoin investments at peak price!

A hell of a thing ... and then some.

A legal clash between the Trump administration + California over the state's 50-year ability to set its own pollution rules is coming to a head. The result will affect both #EV makers, including #Tesla, and the established automakers dependent for profits on today's fossil-fuel vehicles.

The clock is ticking for 194,000 "non-domiciled" truck drivers with Commercial Driver's Licenses that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration claims have lasted beyond their legal period of residence in the U.S. States targeted are CA, PA, NC + now Illinois. Plan for driver shortages ...

"Westerners keep waiting for the Russian economy to collapse. It won’t. But nor will it recover. "It has entered what mountaineers call the death zone: the altitude above 8,000 metres at which the human body consumes itself faster than it can be repaired."

Gee, this is what white supremacists do to memorials like Emmett Till’s. Except now they're doing it to a memorial for a white woman who the entire world saw on viseo being executed by a masked man in broad daylight. Oh.

Hey @trangirlismo.bsky.social: Did you cover this in Epstein's dubious automotive history? From the files: Epstein trades Maybach for Bentley in 2017. Flying Spur? "attached is final invoice totaling 278,120.24 which included 10,000 discount negotiated, 50,000 deposit and 135,000 mercedes trade".

Hmmmmm ...

Very favorite post text of the day.

You don't say. But ... let's see how it actually plays out before popping any champagne corks, hmmmm?

UPDATE: Colbert’s conversation with Talarico quickly became the host’s most-watched interview in months. By this afternoon, it was on pace to overtake his interview with pop star Taylor Swift which has approximately 1.4 million views. Streisand Effect FTW !!

In half a dozen #EV models over 28 years, Ford has never designed one from the ground up. That's now changed. Its development team gave us more details on the design + tech for its 2028 midsize electric pickup truck, first of many EVs to be built on the dedicated Universal Electric Vehicle platform.

Oh.

This 21-min 'Late Show' segment on Christian nationalism + Texas politics with Senate hopeful James Talarico was preemptively pulled by the CBS legal team (under its new owners) to avoid conflict with new "equal time" enforcement guidelines proposed by FCC Chair Brendan Carr. Streisand Effect ??

Did you know that strawberries are not berries, and are actually mammals?

Hey #weirdcarBS and #carbluesky ??

A proposed constitutional amendment giving Congress the power to block presidential pardons gained its first House GOP cosponsor. Didn't see this one coming. Of course, can't IMAGINE why it would be needed. Wonder if it has legs. My Q: Is it retroactive? (De-pardon the Jan 6th insurrectionists!)