Cobalt, EVs and Unicorns

My apologies in advance for not extracting the pertinent information from the many links in this post. Blame it on Latter Day Luddite computer skills.

Electric vehicles are the coming thing according to the (P)regressives and evironazis.  Not so fast Bucky. Buried in Xiben’s master plan is a smoke and mirrors “tax Incentive”. Those vehicles require batteries of which 40% must include minerals sourced in the USA. Those quantities don’t exist!

https://www.eenews.net/articles/climate-bill-would-create-roadblock-for-full-ev-tax-credit/

Key point. The climate deal struck yesterday by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin would significantly expand consumer tax credits for electric vehicles by offering a $7,500 tax credit to people buying an EV made with a certain percentage of minerals mined or processed in nations with U.S. free trade agreements, or recycled in North America.

But there’s a catch: The EV supply chain required for the tax credit doesn’t exist.

Minerals required to make market-ready EV batteries — lithium, cobalt, graphite and nickel — are primarily mined, refined and processed in China and Russia or in less adversarial nations like the Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia that aren’t parties to U.S. free trade agreements (Greenwire, Feb. 24).

Should your stomach tolerate it, here is the official White House bill of goods.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/09/14/fact-sheet-president-bidens-economic-plan-drives-americas-electric-vehicle-manufacturing-boom

One of several key materials needed for the batteries is cobalt. While batteries can be made without cobalt, they then operate at higher temperatures which decreases efficiency (and increase the risk of fires).

Go EV and support child slavery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcJ8me22NVs&ab_channel=SkyNews

Develop our own sources? Not that easy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXEjBXp0lPY&ab_channel=ABCNews

Another metal needed is lithium. We have a potential domestic source. From an older blog.

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/5926528617816553064/2737377660155309278

Why would we want to exploit this source? The existing infrastructure (highways, railroad) are nearby. A skilled labor pool of experienced workers doing similar work is in place. The raw materials needed for the extraction process is nearby in large quantities from mining operations operating for decades.

To answer my own question, too many rice bowls will be broken and the owners of those bowls wield vast influence.

Enter now a key player, the Environment Protection Agency. While some estimates place the number of lawyers in the agency at 1,000, the agency officially acknowledges 185. How many mining engineers?  One clue is a letter from 2015 in response to the Gold King Mine mitigation disaster.

https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-12/documents/gkmaddendumattachment3.pdf

This is our reality. The regulatory oversight is so burdensome ten years is the expected time for securing all the required sign offs. Large sums must be invested by the private sector with payback measured in decades. At anytime the political winds may change and the projects halted.

“If you build it, they will come” might work for baseball. That is no guarantee for anything else. My take is the environazis pushing this agenda believe, if there is no other choice, people will make it happen. Personally, I can envision other outcomes.

As many other bloggers have pointed out, the generating capacity needed to charge all those batteries doesn’t exist and will take decades to create. Even if enough electricity is available to individual house (people will want to charge overnight) those homes were never wired to handle the amperes need. How many people will sit for an hour at some charging station? There are many charging stations I drive by and I seldom see any in use.

As always, YMMV

Triangulation

You may wish to clutch your pearls as I’m about to say something praising Bill Clinton.

 The current political climate is uglier than anything I remember. The strident personal attacks and rigid ideology positions is dividing our country in ways I never imagined.

 Clinton faced big problems after 1994 with the election massacre of the Democrat candidates and the Republican control of Congress. He turned to triangulation, which Dick Morris claimed credit.  It worked by sidelining the extreme wings of both parties. We need something like this now, IMO, before our country implodes.

 For all I bitch about (P)regressive trust fund snots I recognize they have strongly held beliefs that should be respected. On the other spectrum you have the Lauren Boeberts on the right . Their strongly held beliefs should be respected.

Triangulation is a way for a compromise all can live with, grudgingly, instead of the current climate where one side believes, rightfully, they are disrespected and positions anathema  to their beliefs are shoved down their throats.

My hope is the midterm elections will bring something of a balance and more level headed politicians will use triangulation to get our country moving forward.

As always, YMMV

Aimless Wandering

OCD

If you are afflicted this post may not suit you as it is an aimless ramble.

352 Miles

The company that employees me as an agent often can’t find people willing to travel outside their self imposed comfort zone. Me? If the money is right I will go most anywhere. Monday was a trip through Northeast Colorado and the Nebraska Panhandle, returning by way of Cheyenne.

Highway 34/Weld County Road 49

Blocked this morning by  truck vs car crash. Not uncommon and I know the detours so my delay was minimal.

Briggsdale

Being dead center in the oil patch, and the only place for miles, this place does a brisk business. They make their own burritos in the back and I’m a sucker. The food plan goes out the window.

Pawnee National Grasslands

Bladder call, and I noticed this plant in the ditch. There were several along the road. I can’t remember noticing one before and I don’t know what it is. Any ideas?

Chimney Rock

Alongside the highway between Bridgeport and Gering/Scottsbluff this was an important landmark for wagon train travelers. I’m too cheap to pay the $20 admission to view it close up.

Good Excuse

When nobody answers the door I leave an envelope taped to the door with the owner(s) name and stamped CONFIDENTIAL.  As I was taking my notes a young lady across the street, retrieving her garbage cans called out, “Sir, you won’t get a response. He passed away”. Just a guess on my part but that might be why the payments are in arrears.

Things seen

There is always something interesting to see in most small towns.

Banner News

Now ten years old, he has a lot of gray hair. Next month is his annual physical. Poor dog, he will require several shots and a new rabies shot. Along with a year’s supply of heart worm medicine, it won’t be a cheap visit. He is worth it.

Delayed Hike

I think we will wait for colder weather before exploring this area.

Should you make it this far, thank you for reading. Perhaps the muse may visit me and something more pointed will get written, probably political.

I feel blessed that I can still, at 78, do useful and productive work. The knees hate stairs and the bladder rules the clock but I can still work around the challenges.

Encouraging

These arrived in the mail yesterday to our 96 unit building. Next to the mailboxes is a trash can. Very few ended up in the trash can.

Seniors tend to vote more than most demographic groups and this indicates to me my neighbors are taking this election as important. Two years ago the trash can was overflowing.

Inflation is now the topic of conversation in our common areas. With most residents on fixed incomes, Section 8, etc., inflation bites hard.

Several neighbors have told me they regret voting for Biden.

If, and this is a big if, we have honest elections this may be a turning point in our country.

A recent newsletter from the Veterans Administration encouraged vets to become poll watchers; that there is a shortage of poll watchers nationwide. I’m not doing it for one reason, a 45 minute bladder.

As always, YMMV.

(Maybe someday I will learn how to get photos to post the way I want – someday)

 

Sobering

 While poking fun at less than stellar police work in my last post, this was happening.

Weld County Sheriff's Office

eoSnrotdpsc805t593auita11c6119mh1tlh39ftuu6956mc3711m9mu0at0  · 

Weld County Sheriff’s Office seeking information about driver in fatal hit-and-run

The Weld County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help with information about a driver involved in a fatal hit-and-run crash north of Greeley.

The crash occurred about 5:30 p.m. between a white van and a motorcycle near the intersection of AA Street and Weld County Road 37. The driver ran from the scene as deputies were responding to the area.

Deputies, Colorado State Patrol troopers and officers from local agencies are actively searching for the driver of the van. He is described as a slightly heavy-set Latino man, in his 40s and standing about 5 feet, 7 inches tall. He was last seen wearing a dark blue shirt, blue jeans and white tennis shoes as he ran into a nearby cornfield.

Anyone with information is asked to call 911 immediately.

Anyone with information regarding this or any other crime is asked to call the Weld County Sheriff’s Office at (970) 356-4015 or Northern Colorado Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). Tips can also be submitted through the Crime Stoppers website at www.crimeshurt.com. Those submitting tips through Crime Stoppers that lead to the arrest and filing of charges on a suspect(s) may be eligible for a cash reward.

The victim was a 24 year old correction officer on her way to work. The accident occurred just a few blocks from her work.

 The driver who struck her fled but left behind a forged green card and social security card in the van. The authorities have his name. As of now, he remains at large. Surprise! Alcohol was involved.

 Funeral arrangements are pending with a call for donations to her family. I scratched a check payable to the Weld Country Sherriff Posse, Weld County Sherriff Department, 2110 O Street, Greeley, CO 80631.

 R.I.P. Deputy Alexis Hein-Nutz

UPDATE: As of midnight 9/20 a suspect is in custody

Oops, Police Division

Police chase ends with the offender stopped just over three train tracks. The officer who made the stop was still on the tracks. After the offender was cuffed, the police car wasn’t moved. Other involved agencies placed the offender in the car still on the tracks. A Union Pacific freight train then hits the police car with the handcuffed offender still in the car. The offender is now in the hospital.

Now, the manure will hit the fan. Can you say, “Lawsuit”?

https://www.greeleytribune.com/2022/09/17/platteville-police-train-hits-vehicle/

I’m fortunate to live in a safe small city in a tough on crime county. That is diluted by living in a Blue State. Our local police chief lays it on the line.

https://www.greeleytribune.com/2022/09/17/opinion-chief-adam-turk-addressing-crime-in-colorado/

Day in and day out our police deal with “people”. I couldn’t do it.

https://www.greeleytribune.com/2022/09/15/greeley-cop-log-caller-complains-of-neighbor-seducing-husband-two-drive-thru-fights-reported/

My plan is to simply enjoy the day. This morning was the monthly $9.00 breakfast at the VFW. Visiting with family and friends is always welcome. Banner waited in the car but was let out to say hello and got a piece of bacon and petting from all present.

Yesterday Banner spent the day at my sister’s house while I worked.

I’m not sure what to make of this.

Life is good!

Memory Lane

While not owning a television for several years, I do enjoy offerings on YouTube.  For whatever reason, I enjoy watching tow trucks, especially off road recoveries. One channel I watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShwQHSU0S34&ab_channel=CaseyLaDelle

This one was different and involved gold dredges. That stirred a memory. In the aftermath of WWII returning veterans found scarce jobs, as much hadn’t changed from the Great Depression. My Dad found a job in Breckenridge, CO operating a gold dredge. One day while trying to put cable back on pulleys, his coworker took up slack while my Dad’s fingers and thumbs were wrapped around the cable. All his finders and thumbs were broken. The local doctor used metal splints to fix his broken fingers. My Dad had his brother bend each splint until my Dad’s hands were in a claw shape so he could still grasp the dredge controls and continue to work. His main complaint was not being able to button his Levis.

Along that same time I, at age four, fell out of the back of an old Ford sedan doing 40 mph or so on a dirt road landing on my head. The scars remain to this day. My Dad and uncle held me down on the floor while the “doctor” stitched my scalp together. The “doctor” was a former service medic/corpsman and what was available in what was then a remote Colorado mountain town.

For many years I was teased about having, “rocks in my head”.

So, WSF, is there a point to this? Yes, woke breath, generations in this country survived by doing what was necessary to survive. The solutions weren’t elegant. You survived or didn’t but nobody seemed to be appalled and nobody looked to the “government” for help or even expected help.

We have lost that expectation and are poorer as a people and  a nation, IMO. As always, YMMV.

Angst

A horrid weekend for Colorado football fans. Other than the Air Force Academy (who beat CU) all the major college teams lost; CU, CSU, and UNC. Then, tonight, the Broncos lost to Seattle.

I’m a tepid, at best, football fan. Between the woke bullshit and the tons of commercials, I pass it by.

As always, YMMV.

Paranoid

A young friend called today concerned he might be on some government list as a militant radical. They have an eight year old high functioning autistic son they pulled from public school and are  home schooling.

I advised him he was already in someone’s data base with the tattoos he has similar to these.

A terrible place we have reached in this country when productive citizens, simply living their lives as they see fit, have faceless government employees tracking them.

Outrage and Getting Old

You bloggers who can put up something worth reading every day, or even twice or more every day, have my admiration. The muse doesn’t come around and kick my ass that often. I sincerely appreciate those of you who do this, add to my knowledge of the world, and make me think!

Life with Banner is fairly mundane. He has no interest in politics which nicely balances my daily, sometimes hourly, outrage as I read politically slanted blogs, Falsebook positings, and news article. As an example:

https://nationalfile.com/joe-biden-quietly-signed-an-executive-order-seizing-control-of-cryptocurrencies-to-create-a-cashless-society/?fbclid=IwAR0tx4idZPHC-iEaXgznz6hE3tYS3bYUAOwm1KPPJr1RCSi8godKAE_wm_Q

Xiden continues to rule by decree with no enabling legislation to support his actions.  The Constitution? The (P)regressives regard it as some archaic impediment in the way of their “Build Back Better” pipe dreams. After all, they know what is best for us dirt people.

Perhaps Trump’s greatest legacy will be the number of judges he got nominated and appointed to the Federal Courts. A special shout out for keeping Garland off the Supreme Court.

Speaking again of (P)regressives and the Constitution, will they abide by the provisions of the separate but equal provisions? (Yes, I hear the laughter of a certain globetrotting Arizona resident).

One value in my life is, “Don’t bitch about something if you don’t offer a solution and are willing to implement it”.

I can’t stop bitching and am frustrated that I don’t have solutions beyond voting and resisting. I see this at a national level. So many of us “Deplorables” are fed up but are disorganized and fragmented. How does this change?

Also in the mix is the whole getting older business and awareness some mental abilities are deteriorating. The 5am bladder call followed by an hour of the uncontrolled mind going over a lifetime of errors and omissions. The obituaries of people you knew who are younger than you dying. The checklist by my door that includes keys, wallet, glasses and Zipper!

Banner provides a nice counter balance. Food, naps, walks, car rides, stays with Sisty, and the many neighbors who feed him treats and give him lots of petting is his life. He makes me laugh and smile several times a day. His biggest concern is when he gets to prewash the dish will used to microwave my breakfast bacon.

Not winning the lottery means I should keep working. This inflation is devastating to those who only have social security. Many of my neighbors in this 96 unit Senior apartment building rely on the food bank. Today we have a community cookout that may be the only big meal some will have all week. Sad state of affairs.

To end on an upbeat personal note, my health is good with no crippling ailments and, thanks to a CPAP and pacemaker, I’m still able to do much of what I want. Probably won’t try climbing Longs Peak this year, not that I ever did or even want to, but can do short hikes and make minor vehicle repairs.

As always, YMMV.

ADDENDUM; This is a serious news article? More like floating a balloon propaganda. Maybe the Big Guys 10% has been cut off.

https://www.greeleytribune.com/2022/09/04/biden-weighing-actions-to-curb-us-investment-in-china-technology/?utm_email=2324337475602411D46EA5DA6A&g2i_eui=Lx4rIdmvnRa7A%2bqYE6zWoV9Xr2DQfA63&g2i_source=newsletter&lctg=%c2%a02324337475602411D46EA5DA6A&active=yesD&utm_source=listrak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=https%3a%2f%2fwww.greeleytribune.com%2f2022%2f09%2f04%2fbiden-weighing-actions-to-curb-us-investment-in-china-technology%2f&utm_campaign=pmp-greeley-tribune-headlines&utm_content=curated