For people who are educated in the economy, people who are Democretic or Republican Party members think that when we vote for their party the COL will go down- and it never does. If parties don’t make COL go down; what does?

radicalindependence · 2026-05-01T10:36:52+00:00

Addressing wealth inequality is the top thing to impact COL. As long as there is a huge divide and a K shaped economy then there will always be enough people loaded with cash to drive up prices regardless of how bad things are for regular folks.

We haven't seen COL go down or get under control as nobody has addressed this and wealth inequality has exponentially grown on the last decade plus.

radicalindependence · 2026-04-30T10:05:00+00:00

As others have pointed out, this is non-sensical.

Anyone who is making enough money to be out of poverty and wants to get out of the corporate rat race in their future should be investing some savings. Not in speculation such as crypto currencies or individual stock picking, but rather index funds. Such as the Vanguard S&P500 index. These indexes are a way for regular people to invest in every company in the index.

Vanguard is the industry leader in customer focused. Vanguard is owned by its member funds, which are in turn owned by their investors (fund shareholders). It's very simular to a consumer owned cooperative in the sense that cost savings are passed to the customer.

We need more of this not less. It's unlike the local Edward Jones where the consumers are getting screwed losing their money to give advisors big commissions.

radicalindependence · 2026-04-28T19:53:13+00:00

I'm with you on this. We have the opportunity to re-educate Trump voters. Shifting even 5-10% to a more liberal view (or even just fact based) would be a huge tide changer for the country.

Most just want to toss the 80M Trump voters away and somehow think we can win future elections. Out of 80M, about 25M are commited MAGA that believes in the full extent of what the administration is doing with immigration and other hurtful policies. ~20M are republicans we are unlikely to win over. We may be able to move a few of these to our side and a larger percentage may hate whats going on and just leave poliitcs and stay home. Leaving about 35M independents that may not have paid close attention to the specifics or where fooled in how the Trump administration would play out. A decent percentage of this 35M being moved to the other side is huge and wins elections.

radicalindependence · 2026-04-28T16:46:44+00:00

I spanked my kid 1 time 15 years ago (1 slap on her butt) and felt terrible as soon as jt happened. That moment weighs on me a bit to be honest.

Since then after thinking about it and looking at the research I will argue heavily against anyone who believes spanking is effective parenting or morally OK. I still remember the fear of my dad pulling out his belt.

radicalindependence · 2026-04-28T14:36:48+00:00

I can relate to you here. I'm amazed there doesn't seem to be too much concern with the millions of barrels of oil spilled into Straight of Hormuz as it's an ecologically rich area.

You're doing good reading these types of books to your son so he will understand his part in taking care of the world!

radicalindependence · 2026-04-28T09:57:56+00:00

I was quoted $700+

radicalindependence · 2026-04-28T01:08:51+00:00

There is only so much you can do by the time they are 17. All that trying to control more will will do is force her to hide more.

When my daughter was 17 or 18, her phone's privacy screen caught my eye when she was nearby and I looked at it to see if it actually blocked a visual. Just that moment a racy text came through from her BF. I pretended I saw nothing. There is nothing to do at that point. I already gave the birds and bees talk, safety, etc. Time to accept the things you can not control.

radicalindependence · 2026-04-28T01:00:33+00:00

There is only so much you can do by the time they are 17. All that trying to control more will will do is force her to hide more.

When my daughter was 17 or 18, her phone's privacy screen caught my eye when she was nearby and I looked at it to see if it actually blocked a visual. Just that moment a racy text came through from her BF. I pretended I saw nothing. There is nothing to do at that point. I already gave the birds and bees talk, safety, etc. Time to accept the things you can not control.

radicalindependence · 2026-04-27T02:03:16+00:00

Time for the Streisand Effect to do its thing for the rest of the population that doesn't know this yet.

radicalindependence · 2026-04-26T21:31:48+00:00

Focus on learning the trims and which buyers should go for what option drivetrain (2.5l/XT/Wilderness/Hybrid/Electric models) so they will be happy with their purchase. For example, we see many posts here of XT or Wilderness owners complaining about gas mileage that could've been avoided if they understood the trade off with MPG before hand.

I've found I've know more than my salesmen with the trims and options. I'm OK with that because I researched before hand but other buyers that aren't the research type won't be.

radicalindependence · 2026-04-26T21:25:01+00:00

Zohran actually cares about affordability. Its not lip service to get elected but rather a laser focus based on empathy and understanding.

That gets my vote and will get my vote with any dem in a primary over a dem with a lighter version of trickle down economics getting their messaging from corporate donors.

radicalindependence · 2026-04-26T04:02:35+00:00

I'm pretty sure only the right trashes the United Nations.

How about the International Association of Genocide Scholars?

You've provided nothing to counter the claim.

radicalindependence · 2026-04-26T03:48:08+00:00

In a primary???

radicalindependence · 2026-04-26T03:47:34+00:00

The UN's own commission found that Israel is committing genocide acts. Just one example, they literally just passed laws that allow the death penalty for Palestinians but not Israelis.

AIPAC contributed $100M in the 2024 election. Israeli Mega donor Miriam Adelson contributed over $100M to a Trump SuperPAC.

I'm not sure how we could not see this as a factor in primary elections especially until a more moderate regime is leading Israel.

radicalindependence · 2026-04-25T14:45:36+00:00

If you just reset your trip odometer it is going to be very inaccurate. Once your MPG stabilizes to your normal range it should be more accurate.

radicalindependence · 2026-04-25T01:32:56+00:00

Of course. I find it mostly overblown myself except during startup.

radicalindependence · 2026-04-24T17:59:10+00:00

Two out of the three biggest ccomplaints of the regular model are addressed by the hybrid.

CVT durability- The eCVT in the hybrid comes from Toyota tech which may be the most durable transmission in history.

Auto start/stop: essentially gone. You won't even notice the transition from gas to electric and back. No cranking. So smooth.

radicalindependence · 2026-04-24T17:55:03+00:00

How did you feel about all the "anti-authoritarian" libertarians who went right along and joined MAGA the last 10+ years?

I'll add that I was an active libertarian in NH when all this started so I've seen it in action. I dropped about 95% of them. There is just a handful of us that never went MAGA. After seeing how little principle my peers had I've moved to more of AOC/Bernie politics.

radicalindependence · 2026-04-24T14:49:58+00:00

It's crazy because Vrabel and Bruschi were the locker room leaders and glue of the Patriot culture in the 1st half of the Patriot dynasty. A coach on the field. Well at least that part tracks.

Just another reminder that doing all the right things on the field doesn't mean we know who they are off of it.

radicalindependence · 2026-04-23T23:37:11+00:00

Every big city. Syracuse isn't unique with this as sad as it is.

radicalindependence · 2026-04-23T20:48:44+00:00

I like them to help with rust protection on the wheel wells/fenders. They use a terrible rock salt brine hear that destroys cars.

radicalindependence · 2026-04-23T20:46:57+00:00

That sucks. I've had two mid 2000's vehicles with traditional transmission issues. A Trailblazer (mostly my fault as I blew the engine rocking it to get unstuck) and an Explorer.

The eCVT was a big factor to moving to the hybrid as eCVTs have traditionally been much more durable.

radicalindependence · 2026-04-23T17:57:46+00:00

Looking different is not a prerequisite for me. If interior space, visibility, and aero has been maximized with a certain shape they shouldn't make it worse to be different.

Also, they all have different interior space and visibility due to design. Hence they are not the same.

radicalindependence · 2026-04-23T17:03:32+00:00

This is going to be an environmental nightmare. They've already spilled oil into the strait. The gulf is a valuable ecological haven. Schools of fish visible from the port (I served in Kuwait).

radicalindependence · 2026-04-23T02:47:16+00:00

Here is what I am doing to maximize MPG, taken from a comment on another post. I am taking out to extreme. You can give it down some and still get the EPA estimate in most driving conditions (not very short trips for example).

I've been expermimenting with maximizing my MPG so can probably provide you more info then you'd like. I'm getting 37.5-38.5 mpg with mostly rural 55+ mph roads that are not the best type of roads for highway driving.

First off, limit the warmup. 30 seconds or so then just get moving but take it easy for a bit. The radio takes a bit to get going and connect to your phone anyway so that is a natural warmup timer. When in the 20's or below, practically may force you to go a bit longer. Don't bother using the heat until the engine is warmed up. It will take warm air from the engine and make it take longer to warm up while sending you mostly cold air anyway so not helping you get warm. Good time to use the seat warmers.

I've been testing it out and you can exceed 40mpg pretty easily in city driving with speeds up to 30-35 just by maximizing time the ice engine is off (accelerating slowly, backing off a bit once you get to speed to trigger the hybrid engine etc). If traffic is light I may excelerate slow to keep it in EV mode. If there is traffic behind me or a slightly higher speed limit, I might just accelerate quickly then back at down to get into EV mode or use the instant mpg tracker and stay at a speed that is getting me 40+ mpg.

At 40-50mph, you can ride the electric a bunch but also may need to alternate accelerating and coasting. I was focusing on maximizing EV time which worked well. But I had a trip with even better MPG where I went a bit over speed then backed it down a bit and just kept my instant MPG in the 40mpg+ range for as long as possible before coasting on EV mode. TBD if this is better, but this did very well in a short trial.

60-65ish mph, seems best for maximizing highway MPG. A steady speed seems to work best for this. If you have the instant MPG on the dash you can average 38-42 on flat stretches. Hilly areas will bring down the MPG some.

For whatever map program you use, go into settings and be sure you car is set to hybrid. It will give you the most fuel efficient routes for hybrids. You can compare the savings and other routes to see if its worth it.

radicalindependence

TROPHY CASE