A Horse With No Name

The economy is tanking, for real.

Thank you!

I shop at CVS for prescription drugs and little else. Rarely shop at the others. I dislike the marketing, product, and management of a lot of American companies. Would not shop at most of these if our government was made up of absolute saints. It goes beyond political to me just not really liking or caring about the companies above. Interesting VW test.

When we have this revolution I will be the countries number one supporter and wear red, white and blue every day for the rest of my life. I am just as disgusted with a ton of the dems as I am with the republicans. I think the US needs to stop thinking like an empire and take care of our people here.

Yes on the BBC story.

His party and the forces that put him there will still be in power though. He has obvious dementia just like Biden. Trump's father lived to like 92 but had extremely severe dementia. I don't expect much good from the white house for awhile, if ever. More on the truck. Lots of claims by Ford, we will see what happens. But a nice video summing this up.

Its busting now in seemingly permanent ways. The Chinese built ports and made deals with Brazil and Argentina for things like soybeans and other crops after the first Trump administration. It was easy for them to pivot, destroying red states who rely on this, just like China is also boycotting Kentucky Bourbon, as well as the Europeans, Africans, South Americans, etc. BRICS has 35% of the worlds production and over 50% of the worlds population. Countries are looking to India and China rather than the US, and increasingly, The EU. Look for the G7 to lose share proportionally. The G7 I think is like 25% of worlds economic share, so BRICS is already larger. Getting back to Ford, they will be fighting a ten year headwind when they finally get products with this new platform fully online about 2029. China has a solid ten year plus head start in terms of EV, and the BRICS advantage matters because BRICS countries have a built in desire to buy from China. Plus, the move away from the dollar is a stated goal of BRICS, and fewer and fewer reserves worldwide are kept in the dollar all of the time. Selling Chinese cars with a non dollar currency exchange is an easy way to de dollarize for big ticket items. When i was in Mexico, I saw 5 (five) Harley Davidson motorcycles on the streets, and thousands and thousands of Chinese motorcycles. The advantage of scale that China will have will be interesting to watch. I obviously am just some dude in Ohio with a "pink Carnation and a pickup truck" as the song says. But we are getting closer to the day the music dies for legacy car makers. Music video with the song, and 1950's American cars, at a time when American cars really were relevant. Good day, folks. ...and meanwhile, Xi is not returning Trumps phone calls, this should tell you all you need to know about American decline and what's going on.

Not by 2029 but I am not sure that this isn't a giant Hail Mary by Ford. That being said, my current ranger is pushing 118,000 trouble free miles on the odometer, it has been to like 25 or 30 states and hauled everything imaginable. Its done everything I have asked of it with efficiency and grace and amazingly, is probably one of my favorite ever vehicles. Would Love, love, love to see Ford succeed with this. It might win my cynical a$$ back into a Ford Dealership to buy another Ford product, my political feelings about things non withstanding. America is a dying empire and this is reflected in the vehicles it produces. just like the 50's and 60's were a time of growth, and THAT was reflected in the vehicles we built then. Without getting political, we have been moving away from the rule of law, working together,working towards the future, and moving forward for a few decades now. Its not just one orange man, its the system. Oddly enough the Ranger is popular in South America, I could see buying another one if I become an expat elsewhere.

I am really convinced Honda has lost the plot as well, love this Aussie commentator.

The economy is cooked. I ate breakfast at a place that's normally packed Sunday morning, three other people eating. The economic downturn is going to be brutal.

Wine in Portland does not seem to have a similar decline. What I am most sad about is that Micro breweries seem to be in decline also. yes, i said that I don't buy many of their products any more, but it also seems small independent breweries went from brewing just good independent beer to brewing stranger and stranger stuff to be original and get attention.

FAFO has hit Kentucky. The bourbon industry can't collapse fast enough as far as I am concerned. Lots of domestics in Canada, lots. But I think outside of trucks American legacy car makers are pretty much cooked. Interesting. I have visited NYC a ton, lots of Hybrids with stupid high miles used in Taxi fleet service there. America is a dying empire, and will be for the next 50 years. Don't expect positive change from DC regardless of party in charge. One reason to boycott everything corporate and US, corporate media included. If I could buy almost nothing American, I would be a happy guy.

I try to support small local business, yes, and I am aware of the contradiction. But really disgusted with the country right now, have been for a long time. Both a lack of export sales and a lack of domestic sales account for some of the issue.

I love her videos.

Everything is going to s#!T in this country, even the feed at C and G (Sarcasm) Probably taking Maverick off the table for a new vehicle, although I would love to own one. At this point, paying cash for an older Jeep XJ or something almost is more appealing than anything new.

He was an amazing guy! Thank you. Trump is making the next century the Chinese century. its inevitable at this point. Chinese EV's are everywhere. Worse, people will not invest in a country that is unstable. It's not just Canada. And I have switched from drinking American micro brew beers to imported wine when I eat out. Not supporting American business when our country acts like this. This YANK is buying Canadian over American every chance I get.

One of my best friends passed away, he was only 58. Flying to San Francisco the weekend of the 23rd for a celebration of life.

Given the direction of our economy, cats and dogs will literally be on the table in a few months. I ate breakfast Sunday at a restaurant that's usually packed with a wait list, three other folks ate in the whole place with me. 2008 esque $h! storm coming. The Salad at the little family owned restaurant I sometimes get lunch at ahs gone from $8.99 to $15.00 in three years. The inflation we are going to face is pretty epic. And we can't stop deficit spending. The world will move away from the dollar, and then the whole house of cards collapses. I hope to live in South America and watch from a distance as the whole thing burns to the ground. The decline of empire is inevitable.

All I want is an Airbus or an Embraer wheels up headed for somewhere calm and sane. I am studying Spanish. Explains how I am feeling.

Interesting, a train for carrying Nuclear Waste.

We chatted about Corvettes, here is a C3 that has a VERY wild ride in a drag race, driver saves it at the last second. Race is at the 35 minute mark, you see more of the car at the 40:45 mark. Extremely impressed with the fabrication and build quality of this thing. Clapped out C4 is sent over a cliff in Alaska, you see the car at 1:13, see it go over a cliff at 39:45.

Lot of folks also gambling locally, so I don't see Vegas coming back.

If I could dump American Citizenship for Canadian, I would do it this afternoon. No hesitation. AT 60K, my house is almost paid off, hell I could buy that in a few years comfortably. I want to travel, badly. More evidence the economy is going in the tank. Salad I eat sometimes at lunch was $8.50 in 2022, 12.50 last fall, now $15.00. A trade war and other things, we are going to have double digit inflation and double digit unemployment before this is over. I don't know that the car market as we know it will survive. Interesting video.