United States Biden administration policies and actions - megathread

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S'task said:
Gasoline is just... ridiculously good as a fuel to the point I think most people don't actually realize just how good it is. It basically checks every box that you could want a fuel source to have, including ones most people don't think about.

Like, for instance, what happens when you spill gasoline? Yes, it's toxic, but it's not THAT toxic. You can clean up the spill with a basic absorbent, and the risk of fire is actually quite low. Heck, you can literally toss a match into a barrel of gasoline and you know what happens? The match will get snuffed out once it hits the gasoline and sinks in. Gasoline is more safe to handle than the typical batteries in normal cars. Spill gasoline on your hand? OH NO it's... oh right, mostly inert, wash your hands before eating. Spill a lead-acid battery on your hand? Well, off to the ER with you, maybe you can save your hands, oh and now have a risk of lead poisoning.

Then you get into the weight vs power aspect of gasoline and it just... well, blows pretty much everything non-nuclear out of the water. My understanding is that for the same given mass, gasoline provides more power than batteries, though that same mass will take up more volume than a battery will. The only things with better power to mass ratios are things like Uranium, etc. when used in nuclear fission reactions, and, well, let's be honest, nobody really wants fission powered vehicles.

Also, being a liquid is like, a perfect form for a fuel. Solid fuels are a pain in the ass to handle and transport and then use in a vehicle, requiring complicated mechanisms to feed into things. Gases are even WORSE, needing systems to maintain constant pressure and seals and if there's a leak things can get nasty quickly. Liquid? A bit harder to transport than solids, but leaks are easier to manage and you don't have to keep the same level of airtight seal going at all times. Plus liquids can use very basic pumps and pressure to distribute without needing complicated gas systems or the complicated mechanical systems a solid fuel needs.

Seriously, there's a reason gasoline and diesel became the standard fuel choices for vehicles. It was the fact they were straight up the best things we've had, and still have, for the job.
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Hmm. You have me pondering a potential sci fi future where clean eco friendly cars involve some kind of a synthetic type of gasoline that's clean to produce (no more drilling) and highly efficient emissions systems in cars to prevent air pollution, instead of electric. I've always pictured it as electric, rather than highly efficient gasoline.
 
Rocinante said:
Hmm. You have me pondering a potential sci fi future where clean eco friendly cars involve some kind of a synthetic type of gasoline that's clean to produce (no more drilling) and highly efficient emissions systems in cars to prevent air pollution, instead of electric. I've always pictured it as electric, rather than highly efficient gasoline.
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The issue with purely electric cars is that storage for electricity is... complicated.

Ironically, there ARE areas where electric cars are better, electric motors are are very superior to mechanically driven motors like internal combustion engines (ICE) use. They can produce more torque faster (IE, electric cars can in general accelerate quicker than gasoline ones) and you actually have less waste energy using electric cars than ICE vehicles (we only use a fraction of the power released by an ICE, a huge chunk of the released power is waste heat). Heck, there's fewer moving parts in an electric car and there's simply less wear and tear on the engine too (I mean, remember, ICE work by HARNESSING EXPLOSIONS, that takes it toll).

The issue is that batteries are just terrible at storing energy and also take a long time to recharge, whereas gasoline stores so much more energy and takes very little time to refuel.

In reality, hybrid cars make a lot more sense than pure electric ones, you can harness a lot of the advantages of electrical vehicles while keeping the advantages of a ICE vehicle. The ideal vehicle would be some form of ICE-electric hybrid where you use the ICE to just run a generator that then charges batteries and provides power to electric motors that turn the wheels. We've used a similar system in trains for decades at this point, as that's basically how a Diesel-Electric train works, and you get some serious mileage and power out of those. The big thing there is making a small enough generator that outputs enough power to make it viable.
 
S'task said:
Gasoline is just... ridiculously good as a fuel to the point I think most people don't actually realize just how good it is. It basically checks every box that you could want a fuel source to have, including ones most people don't think about.

Like, for instance, what happens when you spill gasoline? Yes, it's toxic, but it's not THAT toxic. You can clean up the spill with a basic absorbent, and the risk of fire is actually quite low. Heck, you can literally toss a match into a barrel of gasoline and you know what happens? The match will get snuffed out once it hits the gasoline and sinks in. Gasoline is more safe to handle than the typical batteries in normal cars. Spill gasoline on your hand? OH NO it's... oh right, mostly inert, wash your hands before eating. Spill a lead-acid battery on your hand? Well, off to the ER with you, maybe you can save your hands, oh and now have a risk of lead poisoning.

Then you get into the weight vs power aspect of gasoline and it just... well, blows pretty much everything non-nuclear out of the water. My understanding is that for the same given mass, gasoline provides more power than batteries, though that same mass will take up more volume than a battery will. The only things with better power to mass ratios are things like Uranium, etc. when used in nuclear fission reactions, and, well, let's be honest, nobody really wants fission powered vehicles.

Also, being a liquid is like, a perfect form for a fuel. Solid fuels are a pain in the ass to handle and transport and then use in a vehicle, requiring complicated mechanisms to feed into things. Gases are even WORSE, needing systems to maintain constant pressure and seals and if there's a leak things can get nasty quickly. Liquid? A bit harder to transport than solids, but leaks are easier to manage and you don't have to keep the same level of airtight seal going at all times. Plus liquids can use very basic pumps and pressure to distribute without needing complicated gas systems or the complicated mechanical systems a solid fuel needs.

Seriously, there's a reason gasoline and diesel became the standard fuel choices for vehicles. It was the fact they were straight up the best things we've had, and still have, for the job.
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I am pretty sure there would be a market for fission powered vehicles.
 
S'task said:
In reality, hybrid cars make a lot more sense than pure electric ones, you can harness a lot of the advantages of electrical vehicles while keeping the advantages of a ICE vehicle. The ideal vehicle would be some form of ICE-electric hybrid where you use the ICE to just run a generator that then charges batteries and provides power to electric motors that turn the wheels. We've used a similar system in trains for decades at this point, as that's basically how a Diesel-Electric train works, and you get some serious mileage and power out of those. The big thing there is making a small enough generator that outputs enough power to make it viable.
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Also, with hybrids you can optimize the ICE for efficiency without worrying as much about torque and responsiveness.
 
S'task said:
The issue with purely electric cars is that storage for electricity is... complicated.

Ironically, there ARE areas where electric cars are better, electric motors are are very superior to mechanically driven motors like internal combustion engines (ICE) use. They can produce more torque faster (IE, electric cars can in general accelerate quicker than gasoline ones) and you actually have less waste energy using electric cars than ICE vehicles (we only use a fraction of the power released by an ICE, a huge chunk of the released power is waste heat). Heck, there's fewer moving parts in an electric car and there's simply less wear and tear on the engine too (I mean, remember, ICE work by HARNESSING EXPLOSIONS, that takes it toll).

The issue is that batteries are just terrible at storing energy and also take a long time to recharge, whereas gasoline stores so much more energy and takes very little time to refuel.

In reality, hybrid cars make a lot more sense than pure electric ones, you can harness a lot of the advantages of electrical vehicles while keeping the advantages of a ICE vehicle. The ideal vehicle would be some form of ICE-electric hybrid where you use the ICE to just run a generator that then charges batteries and provides power to electric motors that turn the wheels. We've used a similar system in trains for decades at this point, as that's basically how a Diesel-Electric train works, and you get some serious mileage and power out of those. The big thing there is making a small enough generator that outputs enough power to make it viable.
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thats actually a common problem.

Why don't we have power armor? Batteries suck

Flying cars? battery suck

Jetpacks? Batteries suck.

Cool cybernetics batteries suck.

A lot of cool things from sci fi actually are here the problem is shitty batteries are holding everything back. The future came and batteries were not included.
 
Cherico said:
thats actually a common problem.

Why don't we have power armor? Batteries suck

Flying cars? battery suck

Jetpacks? Batteries suck.

Cool cybernetics batteries suck.

A lot of cool things from sci fi actually are here the problem is shitty batteries are holding everything back. The future came and batteries were not included.
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We'll get there eventually; I'm fairly certain that the next generation of batteries will enter the consumer market by the end of the decade.
 
The big distinction i think is that helicopters are immobile on the ground while flying cars would have movement over ground and air.

Just like aquatic cars can do both land and water as opposed to boats just doing water.
 
Doomsought said:
Flying cars are functionally identical to helicopters. The only difference is what people think they should look like. It is purely a cosmetic distinction.
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The accepted definition of flying car requires it to also drive on roads like a car. Helicopters can't do it. The closest match is an autogyro and indeed those are extremely popular with hobbyists and largely associated with short pleasure flights due to their carlike nature.
 
U.S. Trade Deficit Widened to a Record $75.7 Billion in June
www.bloomberg.com

U.S. Trade Deficit Widened to a Record $75.7 Billion in June

The U.S. trade deficit widened to a record in June, consistent with a rush by domestic importers to meet business investment and household spending.
www.bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com

The U.S. trade deficit widened to a record in June, consistent with a rush by domestic importers to meet business investment and household spending.

The gap in trade of goods and services grew 6.7% to $75.7 billion, according to Commerce Department data released Thursday. That exceeded the median estimate for a shortfall of $74.2 billion in a Bloomberg survey of economists.


The value of goods and services imports increased 2.1% to $283.4 billion in June, driven in part by inbound shipments of higher-priced petroleum products. Exports rose 0.6% to $207.7 billion.


Trade was a drag on second-quarter economic growth, shaving 0.44 percentage point from gross domestic product, government figures showed last week. Net exports have subtracted from GDP for the last four quarters as the U.S. made headway recovering from the coronavirus pandemic.

The surge in consumer demand, along with steady business spending on equipment, has left inventories extremely lean. At the same time, domestic producers have struggled to ramp up output because logistics bottlenecks have knocked global supply chains out of sync, resulting in backups at ports, a wide range of materials shortages, and soaring shipping rates.

Digging Deeper
  • The merchandise trade deficit grew to $93.2 billion, also the largest on record
  • The nation’s surplus in services trade decreased to $17.4 billion
  • The value of motor vehicles and parts imports fell by $704 million to $28.5 billion, while exports increased by $195 million to $11.6 billion
  • The value of petroleum imports rose to $17.4 billion
  • On an inflation-adjusted basis, the June merchandise trade deficit increased to $105.2 billion
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'Woke America is like N.Korea': Defector Yeonmi Park reveals she was mugged in Chicago by three black women but when she restrained one she was called racist and forced by white bystanders to let her GO
  • Park, 27, made allegation during appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast on Tuesday
  • She said she was mugged in her hometown of Chicago in August of last year
  • Park said when she tried to call the police, she was branded racist by bystanders
  • She said three black women approached her and one of them stole her wallet
  • Park said that she held the arm of the thief while trying to call the police
  • The thief then punched her and managed to get away, according to Park
  • Chicago Police said they arrested Lecretia Harris, 29, in connection with theft
  • Harris was sentenced to two years in prison after striking plea agreement
  • Park said 'woke' culture in US reminds her of her childhood in North Korea
  • She said speaking out about the incident has made her the 'enemy of the woke'
A woman who defected from North Korea and came to the US says she was mugged by three black women outside a Saks Fifth Avenue store in Chicago last year but was prevented from calling the police by white bystanders because doing so was ‘racist.’

Yeonmi Park, the Columbia University student who along with her mother was sold into slavery by human traffickers after fleeing North Korea when she was just 13, alleges the incident took place during last summer’s looting in the Windy City.

Park alleged that police and prosecutors declined to charge the thief, but public records indicate that 29-year-old Lecretia Harris was sentenced to two years in prison after her arrest in connection with the incident.

One of Harris’ accomplices managed to evade arrest.

At around the time of the incident, the city was in the midst of widespread unrest as vandals smashed windows of dozens of businesses and made off with merchandise, cash machines and anything else they could carry.

Park said that bystanders encouraged Harris to run and were hostile to her when she tried to call the police. Some who witnessed the crime branded her a racist for trying to dial 911, according to Park.

By speaking out about the incident, Park said that she has 'become the enemy of the woke.'

Yeonmi Park, the Columbia University student who along with her mother was sold into slavery by human traffickers after fleeing North Korea when she was just 13, says she was called a racist by bystanders in Chicago last year after she tried to call police after she was mugged by three black women.


During an appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Park said that she was accosted by three black women near the Saks Fifth Avenue on Michigan Avenue - right along the city’s famed ‘Magnificent Mile.’

‘Last year, during the looting in Chicago, I was robbed by these three black women,’ Park told Rogan on Tuesday.

‘Anybody can become a murderer or a thief, but it just happened to be a black woman.’

Park said that her nanny, who is a Muslim wearing a hijab, was carrying her stroller behind her.

She claims that one of the women robbed her of her wallet. Park said that she then grabbed onto the thief’s arm to prevent her from fleeing and held onto it while attempting to call the police.

According to Park, a group of white bystanders who witnessed the robbery started calling her a racist for seeking to call the police.

Park appeared on Tuesday's edition of the popular podcast The Joe Rogan Experience, hosted by comedian Joe Rogan (seen left with Park) ‘They were telling me that the color of their skin doesn’t make them a thief,’ Park said.

‘Calling a black person a thief is racist.’

Park alleged that the thief punched her while she held onto her arm.

‘I tried to call the police and they (the bystanders) prevented me from calling the police,’ she said.

When asked who was preventing her from calling the police, Park replied: ‘All the people along Michigan Avenue [who witnessed the incident.]’

‘That’s when I was thinking, “This country lost it”.’

Park said that while holding her arm, she told the thief: ‘I’m not accusing you of anything. Can you wait here until the police come?’

She said that if a similar event happened in North Korea, bystanders there ‘would help the victim.’

‘They’re not going to just, out of nowhere, scream: “You’re a racist”.’

Park claimed that the police obtained video footage of this incident but the authorities declined to prosecute the culprits.

At around the time of the incident, the city was in the midst of widespread unrest as vandals smashed windows of dozens of businesses and made off with merchandise, cash machines and anything else they could carry. Staff board up Louis Vuitton on Magnificent Mile in Chicago on August 10

She told Rogan that at Columbia University, she was told by a humanities professor that a man holding the door for a woman was an example of 'toxic masculinity' since men are 'overpowering' women when making the gesture.

Park said that when she objected to that characterization and thought it was an act of 'decency,' she was told she was 'brainwashed.'

'Here, in the name of a space space, you can't have anything other than the mainstream view,' she said of her time at Columbia.
Park said that students who attend colleges and universities in the US are being indoctrinated with 'anti-racist' ideology.

She said that the concept of 'white privilege' and 'white guilt' was 'so new to me.'

'How are you guilty for what your ancestors did?' Park asked.

'You didn't choose to be born as white. I don't choose my birthplace.'

Park said that she was told by tech executives that they would never set foot in Texas because it's 'Trump Country.'

A spokesperson for the Chicago Police Department told DailyMail.com that officers responded to a report of an incident on the 800 block of North Michigan Avenue at around 4:12pm on August 14, 2020.

'The victim, a 26-year-old female, related she was at the above location when two female offenders approached,' according to the police.

'The offenders struck the victim and took personal property from her before fleeing northbound on foot.

'The victim declined medical assistance on scene.'

The spokesperson added: 'According to the report, officers were called to the scene and responded by 4:15pm.

'One of the offenders was placed into custody on August 21, 2020 and charged accordingly.'

The suspect was identified as Harris. She was charged with a felony count of robbery.

In January, Harris, who has several prior convictions including aggravated battery, pleaded guilty to a charge of unlawful restraint. In exchange, she was given a two-year prison sentence.

As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors dropped the robbery count.

Police and prosecutors also said there were two perpetrators rather than three and that one of them was a man.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Park seeking to clear up the discrepancy.

Prosecutors said that Harris used a stolen credit card to pay for a taxi cab ride, the CWB Chicago reported last year.

Police then used the information from that transaction to track down Harris.

Prosecutors said that Harris and another man approached Park, who was walking with her nanny and her baby just outside the Water Tower Place mall on Michigan Avenue in Chicago.

Harris and the man approached Park and the nanny and had an ‘interaction,’ according to authorities.

That’s when Park noticed her wallet was missing from her purse, which was unbuttoned.

Park then ran and caught up with Harris and the man in an attempt to stop them.

She then pulled out her phone and called the police.

At that point, the man punched Park in the chest while Harris knocked the phone out of her hand and threw it on the sidewalk, according to prosecutors.

Park is then said to have retrieved her phone and started recording Harris and the man. She then went into a nearby store and called 911.

Investigators tracked down Harris. Park then identified her in a police lineup.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Saks Fifth Avenue and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office seeking comment.

DailyMail.com has also filed a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain video footage of the incident.

Park and her mother fled North Korea to China over the frozen Yalu River in 2007, when she was just 13, and the two were sold into slavery by human traffickers.

They were ultimately able to flee to Mongolia with the help of Christian missionaries and trekked across the Gobi Desert to eventually find refuge in South Korea, where Park, now 27, attended college before transferring to Columbia in 2016.

'I literally crossed the Gobi Desert to be free and I realized I'm not free, America's not free,' she said.

'I expected that I was paying this fortune, all this time and energy to learn how to think,' she told FOX News in June.

'But they are forcing you to think the way they want you to think.'

'I realized, "Wow, this is insane",' she recounted, 'I thought America was different but I saw so many similarities to what I saw in North Korea that I started worrying.'

In an interview with FOX News in June, Yeonmi Park said she saw similarities between her homeland of North Korea and American educational institutions

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Park said that her professors would give them 'trigger warnings' and allow them to opt out of readings and discussions.

'Going to Columbia, the first thing I learned was 'safe space,'' she told the New York Post.

She explained that when she started school at Columbia, she was excited to learn more about history, a subject she said was discouraged in her homeland.

But when her teacher, discussing Western Civilization, asked if students had an issue with the name of the class topic, most did, saying there was a 'colonial' slant.

'Every problem, they explained us, is because of white men,' she said, reminding her of her home country where people were categorized based on their ancestors, according to the Post.

During her orientation, a professor asked who the class who liked classical books, like Jane Austen.

Park is seen above posing for a photograph alongside former TODAY show co-anchor Katie Couric
'I said, 'I love those books,' Park said in an interview with FOX News. 'I thought it was a good thing.'

'Then she said, 'Did you know those writers had a colonial mindset? They were racists and bigots and are subconsciously brainwashing you.'

From there, she said, her classes were filled with 'anti-American sentiment, reminding her of her childhood in North Korea, where students were constantly taught about the 'American bastard,' which was the only way they were allowed to refer to Americans.

Park lives in Chicago with her husband, Ezekiel Charlesworth, the 36-year-old managing director of Charlesworth Research, a stock trading company.

They have a young son.
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