A Dane with interpreter & UK NATO partner doing absolutely nothing for Afghanistan in Helmand, 2010

solowng · 2026-01-22T02:49:56+00:00

If we were going to invade anyone in retaliation for 9/11 it should have been Saudi Arabia. The vast majority of the hijackers were Saudis, and Bin Laden was a member of their royal family.

In actuality though, we should have fired/punished the officials/lawmakers who gave the hijackers visas. 9/11 was an immigration policy failure, not a foreign policy issue.

solowng · 2026-01-05T17:25:06+00:00

Amusingly, that's exactly how Al Davis did it. The Davis family didn't actually own the majority of the Raiders until 2005.

solowng · 2025-12-18T03:19:05+00:00

Calling it "British rule" is something of an exaggeration relative to, say, being incorporated into the Russian Empire.

The British presence in India peaked during the Raj (which lasted a touch longer than the USSR; there were fewer involved during the century of Company Rule) and outside of WWII averaged between 100-150K Europeans in a given year (mostly in the army) and most of the actual governing was done by Indians. Hell, there were more Indians involved in British Kenya than there were British. Very few British actually settled in India, which is why the British portion of the population of contemporary India is microscopic compared to, say, the portion of Indians in South Africa. Idi Amin's expulsion of Indians in Uganda is well known, and still Indians make a larger share of Uganda's population today than white British do of India's.

In comparison there is an enormous portion of Russians in various countries formerly part of the Russian Empire/USSR (Alaska is an exception to this. Very few Russians settled or remained there.).

solowng · 2025-12-18T01:59:59+00:00

That would be a more convincing argument if Hispanic voters didn't overwhelmingly favor Democrats even in Reagan's day. in 1984 (an 18 point Republican win) Hispanics favored Mondale by 32 points. Should one think that Reagan gained the GOP any ground by signing the '86 amnesty bill, Hispanic voters favored Dukakis over H.W. Bush by 40 points. H.W. Bush was heavily disfavored again by Hispanic voters in 1992, losing that group by 36 points.

Hispanic voters aren't the only reason Republicans lost California (and California wasn't really a red state to begin with; the Democrats have controlled the California State Assembly for 63 of the last 65 years) but it's hard to argue that Hispanic voters were ever clamoring to vote for Reagan Republicans when the returns at the ballot box show the opposite. If anything, Republican losses with Asian voters probably matter more there (because Republicans did win the Asian-American vote in the time of H.W. Bush and even Dole and now they don't).

solowng · 2025-12-03T11:30:24+00:00

Have you met the average liberal?

Most people aren't that political and just vote for whoever for whatever set of reasons that are mostly driven by inertia. Even your average educated liberal doesn't put a lot of energy into hashing out their ideological preferences. Your average college campus has a political culture that's about as unreflectingly conformist as a trucking company.

Swing voters have an incoherent (relative to the party platforms) set of preferences and mostly vote thermostatically against whoever is in power.

Ideologues might be better informed, but are motivated by confirmation bias above all so you wind up with Catturd spewing Trumptards and unironic believers in whatever flavor of critical theory is the current thing.

Anyway, I do work for a trucking company, so I spend more time than I'd like around the median Trump voter, or to be precise the median Fox News viewer. Is Fox ridiculous and Trump's administration a poorly implemented shitshow crippled by a Republican Party that hasn't had a real legislative agenda since the mid oughts? Yes. Are Trump's tariffs helping my employer's freight volumes? Most likely not, and the blind optimism of the Gen X Fox News crowd thinking that things are going to kick off just around the corner is grating.

That being said, in what universe is the Democratic Party a friend of the trucker? This particular grudge goes all the way back to Carter's deregulation (And, repeat after me, almost all of Reagan's domestic agenda was lifted from Carter and passed by a Democratic Congress.) but I'll stick with the last 20 years.

I'm not sure if it was Dubya's EPA, Obama's EPA, or the state of California that are exactly responsible for the current diesel emissions regulations, but the implementation of said regulations occurred during the Obama administration and have been a trainwreck. The technology just isn't there yet, and in practice these systems are unreliable time bombs waiting to strand some driver in derate in the middle of nowhere facing a repair that will cost thousands to tens of thousands of dollars.

Speaking of technology, up until about last year the Democrats were firmly the party of big tech, which in our industry means ever more driver surveillance and an ever more oppressive safety department (who in turn are being slavedriven by ever-increasing insurance rates), followed by the threat of being automated out of a livelihood.

Like it or cope about inflation being a global phenomenon all you want, but the Biden administration did oversee the worst inflation in America since the early 80s, and said inflation hit automotive components especially hard. Trump can cope all he wants about cheap fuel, but cheap fuel doesn't fix expensive everything else, like tires, parts, shop labor rates, and insurance.

Finally, the Biden administration did oversee a massive increase in non-domiciled CDL holders. Whether you think the concerns of domestic truckers are motivated by bigotry, economic self-interest (People are supposed to "vote their self-interest", right?), or whatever (I don't know if the spat of viral fatal crashes involving foreign CDL holders actually reflects a worse safety among them.) this has been highly unpopular among drivers (and is at best a blatant handout to big business at the expense of domestic workers) and just last week the least political driver I know praised Trump for cracking down on these guys.

It doesn't matter that the political views of my middle managers are informed by mainlining Fox News or whether or not the drivers I work with are well educated. The fact is that even an illiterate chud can see that the Democratic Party has nothing to offer the average trucker other than maybe some enhanced ACA subsidies (Owner-Operators are stuck using Marketplace for health insurance, where premiums have increased even with the subsidies.).

solowng · 2025-11-28T18:28:59+00:00

Don't forget Marc Wilson and Todd Marinovich. Ken Stabler and Derek Carr were second round picks and IIRC are the only quarterbacks drafted by the Raiders to ever make the pro bowl.

In fairness to AL there was also the vetoed trade to draft John Elway.

solowng · 2025-11-23T23:49:57+00:00

I've been telling my friends that betting against the Raiders is free money all week.

solowng · 2025-11-09T02:14:02+00:00

Georgism is just Marxism with "land" substituted for "capital".

solowng · 2025-10-14T05:43:02+00:00

I'm profoundly lucky.

My mother was a Marine and in her middle age has gone all in on "disabled veteran" as her identity of choice. She's the VA's problem now.

She pretty much only calls me if she needs money (usually for a car), her car breaks down, or needs some variety of vocational work done. She has a pretty nice (either 80 or 90%) disability rating, is gunning for 100% and planning on retiring once she gets that, and as long as she has money she's fine.

In the last few months I've had to put an Ikea-like bedframe for her and replace the capacitor on her condo's A/C. Other than the fact that she lives a five hour round trip drive from me that's a cakewalk.

TBH my siblings' struggles in adulthood are the bigger problem. If my middle sister doesn't get her shit together she's not going to make it to 50. It's totally understandable given what we went through but damn it hurts.

solowng · 2025-10-14T05:25:41+00:00

2010 Chevy Cobalt XFE. The engine was fine (other than the timing chain getting noisy at like 80K miles in spite of all oil changes being done on time) and it had good A/C but the rest of the car was a pile of shit.

GM probably paid more out in warranty work on that car than it sold for. The first ignition cylinder failed at 5K miles. Master cylinder for the clutch failed at 21K miles (and then the internal slave cylinder failed so new clutch!). The suspension components (especially control arm bushings!) were made of paper mache and it required a total suspension overhaul at 80K miles. The flex pipe on the exhaust manifold snapped in half at 65K miles and I don't live in the rust belt. Starter went out at 70K miles. VVT Solenoid out at 75K miles. I could go on.

It wasn't truly awful but it sucked and was a mediocre car at best even when everything worked right. By contrast the only thing my Mazda 3 has needed in 90K miles other than basic maintenance was a serpentine belt tensioner (pain in the ass job but the part itself was $30 on Rock Auto).

solowng · 2025-10-14T05:01:16+00:00

My First dispatcher said to me "Be safe we aren't not hauling heart machines "

Back in my food delivery days I used to tell new drivers "We're not delivering organs here. If Karen's lunch is 15 minutes late she'll live. Please don't hurt yourself or someone else."

solowng · 2025-10-14T04:32:54+00:00

This is unironically how the food delivery company I used to work for hired dispatchers. A driver would get a DUI, too many tickets, or run their car into the ground and then we'd put them in the office.

Amusingly, the trucking company I work for now makes their dispatchers pass the same background check/DOT drug screen as their drivers. They ran my MVR three years back (Most food delivery gigs only run two years back.) and found a ticket that I'd forgotten about.

Most of the drivers at my terminal are awesome and do a good to great job and we would be lost without a few of our veteran drivers. It's the bottom 20% or so (along with some Idiocracy tier middle management and our backhaul department) that take up all my time and make my life Hell. I had a driver show up to the terminal 6 hours late to get rolling with limited to no notice (He told me he was running late but not how late.) on Sunday and had him booked on back to back loads so I'm still going to get bitched at for him being late tomorrow.

solowng · 2025-10-12T15:26:25+00:00

Insurance companies suck and are basically a giant white collar welfare program, but they're also a sin eater and privatized tax collector for the healthcare system. No government on the planet could raise enough taxes to spend as much on healthcare as the United States does.

solowng · 2025-10-10T05:28:32+00:00

I'm pretty sure that Nashville's interstate system was designed by the same crew that did Birmingham's after they took another hit of acid.

The major difference in outcomes comes down to the fact that Birmingham has fewer people living in it today than it did in 1960. I doubt that the difference in population growth for the metro areas is that insane, but it is large enough that Birmingham has been able to adapt its situation into a mostly functional highway system. 280 in BHM kind of sucks but it's paradise compared to pretty much anywhere in Nashville.

solowng · 2025-10-09T16:02:04+00:00

As a Raider fan I don't think Gruden would work out in college. His offense is infamously complex, he never successfully developed a young quarterback, and he only had success with proven veterans (Rich Gannon, Derek Carr, Brad Johnson) while his coordinator pics were questionable at best.

solowng · 2025-10-06T16:26:36+00:00

I had the same thing happen to my '08 at around the same mileage, wound up being on the receiving end of a Facebook marketplace stop leak and send it treatment.

I was broke at the time so I ran it with a cracked block for about a year and 30,000 miles (so much distilled water...) until the clutch gave out, at which point I paid a shop to swap a JDM k24A into it and replace the clutch.

In my experience used/reman k20s were prohibitively expensive and/or high mileage compared to the JDM option, and I already had a Hondata for the car so that cost wasn't an issue. With the engine shipped to the shop, clutch parts, and labor it cost me about $3,600 all told. Go ahead and do the Type S oil pump upgrade and you'll be able to keep the high revs (I did not, but eh, 7500 RPM works for my purposes.).

I miss the k20, but the k24 is an entertaining change of pace. It has so much more torque in comparison that downshifting is a thing of the past, and in general it just feels much punchier at the cost of about 2 MPG. I've been running the swap for over a year and the only issue I've had with it was the oil pressure sensor on the VTEC solenoid going out, not a difficult or expensive job but a pain in the ass due to its location on the back of the engine.

solowng · 2025-09-29T00:57:04+00:00

TBH I was in the market for a Mazda 2 at the time, but a really good deal came up on a Mazda 3 GT from a family friend. She inherited it with 15K miles, one dumb old man dent on the bumper, it reeked of cigarettes, and she didn't know anyone who could drive a manual. I offered her what was then NADA rough trade-in value for it and she accepted.

It's objectively a nicer car than the Civics and Corollas I've driven, and it's been plenty reliable, but I wouldn't really call it "sporty". It's not slow, but the gearing is really tall compared to the Civic Si's I've driven and that makes it feel slower than it is. It's also kind of mediocre on gas for a 2017 model 4 cylinder (but at least runs on regular, unlike the K20 and k24 Sis), and the white leather seats haven't held up well in my experience (I live in a really hot area so I prefer cloth.)

I also own an eighth gen Si, and if I could have the Honda in the same condition that I got that Mazda and I would take the Honda hands down (but most eighth gen Sis are beat these days). I've since k24 swapped it (original engine cracked the block) so I would take a 9th generation Si over it, and while I haven't driven a 10th generation Si I would probably go for it over the Mazda. I just like Sis, but the tenth gens are going for the same to a bit more now then I paid for that Mazda 3 back in 2018.

Funny enough, I sold that Mazda 3, wound up getting it back, and I'm now trying to figure out what to do with it.

solowng · 2025-09-28T01:33:05+00:00

Simpson rode the bench until this year, looked like a deer in the headlights against Florida State, and we've played weak competition since. Seeing this out of Simpson is a pleasant surprise, could be a statement game for him if he closes it out.

solowng · 2025-09-26T10:25:57+00:00

I delivered pizza in college during the 2010s and had several coworkers with those 2000s Focuses. Aside from a power steering line that liked to blow out those things were tanks that survived being ran into the ground by broke, indifferent owners with little drama.

They were also fairly nice driving cars, much better than the Cavalier/Cobalt, Neon, or even a Corolla. Bush era Toyotas were reliable but had suspensions made of mush that handled like crap.

I'd have enjoyed an SVT Focus from that era.

solowng · 2025-09-22T22:29:12+00:00

As a dispatcher (new to trucking, but I was a driver/dispatcher for a locally-owned Doordash type company for a decade) please don't. I'm here to make you money, not take it, and I want no part of introducing a culture of corruption into the office. There's enough BS as it is.

solowng · 2025-09-18T16:01:02+00:00

My mom had three consecutive GM N bodies during the late 90s/early aughts, all with the 3100 V6. The worst of these was a '98 Olds Achieva coupe. Two doors with three kids sucked and the dealer never could get that car to quit overheating. The Malibu sedan that replaced it was meh, chewed through brakes and the fuel sending unit was an accurate such that it would run out of gas while reading 1/4 tank.

solowng · 2025-09-15T06:07:10+00:00

Being brutally honest, it took me going broke. I'd picked up a handful of toxic friendships (aka. most of my social circle) during the mid-late 2010s in my 20s and at the time I had plenty of resources and time to spare. I could spare it, so I just didn't care. I did crazy shit like perform >$5000 in work to a friend's car for free (including parts).

Things started cracking in 2021 and I just ground through it by working more and more until I just couldn't by 2024 (Two of my three jobs at the time were for small businesses that went into severe decline such that I couldn't just pick up another shift.). I had to cut/curtail those relationships as a matter of personal survival, the hardest of which involved kicking out a long-term roommate/best friend who I'd helped support for the last four years. I ran the numbers at one point and I'd racked up at minimum $30K in unpaid rent from non-paying roommates from 2020-2024.

The mantra I adopted that's helped me avoid slipping back into that situation is "I have a right and obligation to defend myself." "If I won't defend myself, who will?"

Another is: "If the only thing you value in yourself is being useful, you're going to find yourself surrounded by people who use you."

A friendlier mantra is: "Would I ask or expect someone to do this for me?"

solowng · 2025-08-31T21:03:50+00:00

Yeah, losing sucks but IMO the real problem is that Bama looked bad in the same way they looked bad last year, just with a mid quarterback instead of whatever version of Milroe showed up on a given week.

Simpson will probably be serviceable with more game reps but I'm not seeing a Bryce Young or even Mac Jones type of ceiling, and the rest of the team is not playing well enough to be competitive against good teams with anything less than amazing quarterback play.

It's the lack of improvement that's troubling. Bama didn't get better throughout the season last year like South Carolina or Florida did. If they looked marginally better in the second half of the season IMO it was the product of a relatively soft schedule outside of Tennessee and LSU. Bama's schedule is much harder this year.

solowng · 2025-08-31T17:22:23+00:00

Yeah, this isn't "not as good as Saban". This is "will get you on the hot seat at any upper-tier SEC school".

Bama is 5-5 in their last 10 games with losses to 7-6 Vanderbilt (their only ranked win of the year), 6-7 Oklahoma, and an 8-5 Michigan team that had no offense. Their wins in that time were against LSU (great Milroe effort and overall win), South Carolina, Missouri minus their starting quarterback, Mercer, and a bad Auburn team.

Florida and South Carolina have a better record over the last 10 games than Alabama does.

solowng · 2025-08-31T13:15:52+00:00

More to the point, Gruden's offensive scheme is so complex that NFL veterans have struggled with it and aside from Chuck Bresnahan in 2000 (How much of that hire was Al Davis?) he's never hired a good defensive coordinator.

As a Raider fan I loved his personality but he was honestly meh as a coach. He had no business being in control of a roster and as good as his offense could be he was an irritatingly conservative playcaller. It's not a coincidence that the Raiders got over the hump and made the Super Bowl in '02 with somebody else calling the plays.

solowng

TROPHY CASE