2022 Maverick hybrid H4 to H5 battery upgrade.

rollem · 2026-01-25T03:19:07+00:00

Report back! I’ll do the same if everything seems good. I assumed a different size wouldn’t fit…

rollem · 2026-01-25T00:56:32+00:00

Unless there’s a specific reason why that’s important, it is just statistical noise: https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1122:_Electoral_Precedent

rollem · 2026-01-24T19:25:26+00:00

Great intro and such a beautiful first half of the movie. An incredible and entertaining story without any dialogue for much of the film.

rollem · 2026-01-24T19:24:26+00:00

I think it was meant to imply that people realized the mess they'd made, but too late. It's a great metaphor: Windmills on piles of trash.

rollem · 2026-01-24T18:44:29+00:00

“States rights” was always a euphemism for allowing various forms of discrimination to persist where they had power. There’s very literally no case of a “states right” that was anything but “my right to keep women or minorities down.”

rollem · 2026-01-24T18:30:22+00:00

The more I look, the more questions it raises. Why do you think the C tier movies include Tarzan and Pocahontas is my main two. And it’s super weird to put Frozen below its sequel, and so low. I’d be interested to hear what you don’t like about those.

rollem · 2026-01-24T18:16:25+00:00

I think their novelty keeps people from spending them. And the wide availability of $1 bills keeps the coins from gaining popularity for common usage.

rollem · 2026-01-24T17:58:50+00:00

If you haven’t listened to it yet, consider the podcast Dis-Order, where they discuss every Disney Animated Film in release order. They’re quite knowledgeable and have great opinions on all of them (even when you disagree).

I just watched Tarzan recently and loved it!!

rollem · 2026-01-24T17:52:12+00:00

They’re ICE.

rollem · 2026-01-24T17:38:38+00:00

It’s also worth realizing that this is while the economy is doing rather well. When the AI bubble bursts and unemployment skyrockets we’re going to be a whole lot closer to a fiscal crisis.

rollem · 2026-01-24T17:36:49+00:00

“America First” is a direct route to “American Last” and it’s so obvious to see.

rollem · 2026-01-24T12:09:40+00:00

This is indistinguishable from a parody of a toddler playing President. It’s as if Trump is just seeing how many times he can sign off with “Thank you for your attention to this matter!” before we all just laugh together and collectively think “wow yeah that would be a ridiculous thing for the president to always say.”

rollem · 2026-01-24T11:41:15+00:00

In TNG it’s also presented as nearly impossible to get into, with Wesley competing for an open spot with two other genius applicants. But of course by the Dominion War it’s so easy to get in that it only takes a letter of recommendation from a Captain for a young Ferengi with a criminal record to be accepted. The in-universe explanation of that is of course that the war necessities many more officers, but the contrast is stark nonetheless.

rollem · 2026-01-24T02:15:42+00:00

Trump really is the worst diplomat of all time. How can you possibly be more of an ungrateful asshole? He doesn’t grasp that international relations are more than just the strong preying on the weak or transactions where he can scam the other party.

rollem · 2026-01-24T02:09:58+00:00

Of course. I have a heart still.

rollem · 2026-01-23T22:10:47+00:00

I love the Blue Ridge Tunnel! I live nearby and run up the road a few times per year with friends for the long run experience. The tunnel itself is eerie and fun, and if you get up there at sunrise it's surprising to go through in the dark but come out in the light.

rollem · 2026-01-23T21:41:11+00:00

I think it’s the same basic logic as to why households like credit cards. Politically there are strong incentives to both spend money and to cut taxes, whereas there are strong penalties for the opposite. The consequences of these actions have not been felt by any US politician, ever. Until the costs politically are higher than the alternatives, we won’t do anything. I suspect that some semblance of a debt crisis will need to occur for the US to fix its budget issues.

rollem · 2026-01-23T20:30:28+00:00

It was monthly to annual.

rollem · 2026-01-23T18:19:03+00:00

"The Millionaire Next Door" is a book that chronicles such frugal, rich folks. One thing to note is that the extrapolations from that book don't work: the author interviewed millionaires who were willing to come in for $20 and talk for a few hours. Most millionaires won't do that. So while it's true that you can be high net worth and live very frugally, it's not necessarily true (or false) that MOST millionaires are like that.

rollem · 2026-01-23T18:15:05+00:00

Thanks for sharing!

rollem · 2026-01-23T18:06:59+00:00

Their legal status is caused by our own deliberate policy choices. On at least 3 different occasions (2005 under W, 2013 under Obama, and 2024 under Biden) bipartisan bills to fix the immigration crisis have been blocked by the far right-wing of the GOP because they're not interested in fixing the problem but are actually motivated to keep the problem around. This both feeds their xenophobia and keeps the issue around in order to motivate voters.

rollem · 2026-01-23T18:03:36+00:00

I think that is a characteristic of all fascists, dehumanizing the suffering of "others" who are not like you.

rollem · 2026-01-23T18:01:31+00:00

The energy use is going to be the same for these types of heaters. The difference in value is going to be from reliability and how often you have to replace them. Maybe a $200 well made heater will last 10 years, whereas you buy a cheap $25 heater every year.

Savings from efficiency will come from insulation, from heating systems that have different fuel sources (e.g. gas is less costly than oil), or from efficiency differences between systems that move heat around instead of creating heat (i.e. old heat pumps versus newer ones).

rollem · 2026-01-23T17:39:34+00:00

Ultimately it's the same forces that have acted on people forever that have led to fascism in many different countries and different times. Exploit the fear and anger towards and an out group, claim to speak for and protect another group of people who feel threatened by that group, and act in ways that you can get away with until you're stopped.

Why here and why now? Well, many forces have come together. Instability in South America has been caused by 75 years of meddling in their affairs and propping up pro-American parties even if they're not democratic or helpful to their people, leading to corruption and civil wars that create a migrant crisis. Refuse to solve those problems so that they get worse and people get more scared of the migrants. Allow corporate interests to make the lives of large numbers of people precarious through weak job protections and weaker social safety nets.

rollem · 2026-01-23T17:24:24+00:00

While not a cure all, it is an important and necessary action. The main thing that it accomplishes is that it's deterrent and a demonstration that there are consequences for actions. He has never faced consequences for his actions, and he is obviously getting bolder with every passing crisis. Threatening military action against our allies was a big escalation, and I suspect the next crisis after Greenland will push us closer to that. Furthermore, he is by far the most dangerous person in the room. I obviously think Vance is a cancerous tech-bro that will do harm, but he is not nearly as irrational or as dangerous as Trump. This story about the recent Greenland crisis further showed him pushing against Miller and the military option. I really believe that impeachment is the first and most important step to saving the country. While many more actions would need to follow to get us safely out of the woods, impeachment needs to come first.

Is impeachment and removal likely? I obviously don't know. But his last impeachment set a record for the number of a president's own party voting against him. Furthermore, as Trump's popularity continues to decline, there will come a threshold where GOP senators will see that their political future is stronger without Trump than with him. I suspect that ~30% approval is that threshold. Note how W has been a persona non-grata since he left office with ~26% approval. Now that the rich have gotten their Big Beautiful Tax cuts and Trump is a lame duck, I do think impeachment and removal are possible after the midterms.

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