Daily Archives: 10 January 2022

More Threats

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Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, ahead of the upcoming Geneva “talks” regarding Russia and Ukraine, has instructed President Joe Biden (D) that he, Biden, must answer for the Russian’s demands vis-à-vis Ukraine and Europe, and do so promptly.

We need to figure out quite rapidly whether there is a basis to work on some of those issues. Our military will be there, and then we will see whether there is any basis to continue on a diplomatic track.

And

I cannot exclude negative effects on some arms-control arrangements we maintain with the US, and a big question would be put on the advisability to continue the strategic security dialogue[.]

And, paraphrased by The Wall Street Journal,

Mr Ryabkov said that if diplomatic efforts fail, the Russian president would look into options prepared by his military experts.

The WSJ headlined its article Russia’s Demands on Ukraine Must Be Addressed Urgently, Russian Official Says.

In one respect, Ryabkov is right. It’s growing ever more urgent that the US, and NATO, answer the Russian’s demands. It’s absolutely imperative that the US, and NATO, send defensive and offensive weapons to Ukraine and train those soldiers to use them. It’s growing ever more urgent that the US, and NATO, begin air defense and ground force joint exercises in Ukraine. It’s growing ever more urgent that the US redeploy its forces not involved in joint training, particularly those currently in Germany, into southeastern and northwestern Poland and to move naval forces into the Baltic Sea to within striking range of Kaliningrad.

It’s critical to apply, now, economic sanctions against Russian officials, from Vladimir Putin, through his cronies in the Kremlin, down through his cronies in the Duma, and economic sanctions against the state of Russia.

Waiting until Russia invades will be too late.

Usefulness

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Detroit plans on a big move into battery-operated cars and pickups, with Chrysler committing to go all battery all the time by 1928.

Aside from the enormous pollution, environmental damage, and carbon footprint of so-called electric cars, there are practical, driving-oriented considerations.

GM says its Silverado EV pickup will be able to go 400 miles on a charge, Rivian is claiming 314 miles for its R1T pickup, and Ford is claiming 300 miles for its F-150 Lightning pickup. Chrysler claims that one of its automobile models will have a range of some 400 miles before needing a recharge.

Those ranges are (finally) compatible with my Fusion’s 300+ mile range on a tankful of gasoline. But I can fill my gasoline tank from nearly empty to full—and those 300+ miles—in about five minutes.

What’s the time to go from nearly discharged to fully charged—and those 300-400 miles—for the battery cars and trucks? So far, that time is measured in hours.

Also, there’s a gasoline station every time I turn around in the populated parts of the US, and they’re easily common and accessible in the wide open spaces of the Midwest and the arid west and southwest. Where are all the recharging stations, even the time-consuming ones?

And this: when the weather turns hot or cold, my gasoline burns just fine. Those batteries, though—well, good luck. They lose power in hot weather, and they lose it even faster in cold weather, even just sitting at the curb with the motor turned off.

Finally, this: when I’m on the road, I have more important things to do than sitting around in a roadside convenience store sucking coffee while my batteries (slowly) charge up. I’m driving to get from here to there, or to sightsee something more interesting than those roadside charging stations.

Oh, yeah: my gasoline tank doesn’t wear out. Those batteries can only be cycled (again, so far) for one or two hundred thousand miles—and then they have to be disposed of, expensively, as hazardous waste.

Update: 2028, not 1928. [sigh]