This past Saturday was a genuine hassle for me, brother Bark, my son, and Mrs. Baruth; we spent most of it trying to fix a broken recoil starter on the kid’s TopKart. I’d already paid to have it fixed; it just wasn’t fixed properly. Or at all.
Click the jump to see some video of the kart in motion. I got most of it done but it took Danger Girl to get the spring wound and placed correctly. We’ll also cover what Bark and I published last week.
Now if only I can figure out how to mix enough oil so the engine doesn’t seize but not so much that it blows oil through the exhaust on fire.
Bark had one not-so-controversial post, about dealer surveys, and one post that proved to be hyper-controversial, since it was about Bark himself.
I didn’t get my second TTAC article on the week submitted on time, so all I put on that fine site was a semi-humor piece about fractional SUV ownership.
Luckily for my ever-dwindling bank balance, I was able to get R&T to run a veritable cornucopia of articles:
- Don’t hang stuff on your rearview mirror.
- Consider the purchase of a Viper.
- Is there a low-option M2 coming to America?
- Let’s bring truly British automobiles back to the scepter’d isle.
As always, thank you for reading!
Waiting to read your opinion on this incident:
“Now if only I can figure out how to mix enough oil so the engine doesn’t seize but not so much that it blows oil through the exhaust on fire.”
what does the engine manufacturer call for? Zenoah 26cc two-strokes are popular among us R/C boaters; they’re basically water-cooled chainsaw engines. We push them pretty hard with tuned pipes, so most of us run double the oil they recommend. Zenoah recommends a 25 to 40:1 gas:oil mix, we run about 16:1 without much smoke or oily residue. But we also use some of the more expensive 2-stroke oils like Amsoil or Klotz.
Since the conspiracy theory view of history is the most accurate predictor:
I’m assuming the blow up over comments that led to the long, dark tea-time of navel gazing was a convenient way to institute moderators and offload a thankless job for a commenting system that was already described as horrible and on the way out at TTAC.
Everybody has decided that comments are no longer worth it. It is because we have this cockamamie idea that a comment being allowed to stand on an article somehow means that the proprietor endorses every ounce of badthink and micro-, macro-, or midi-aggression therein.
I am most surprised that not one commenter mentioned the odd photo featuring the steepled fingers and a green screen background.
Deadweight comments are almost the high point of the TTAC experience. How is it that he is not writing there?
Because he’s a one trick pony.
Personally, I’m more worried about Jaguar/Land Rover becoming permanently unbritish now. You do realize that for the first time in so many years, Jaguar and Land Rover essentially do all their R&D, engineering and marketing, and production from the UK, right? No stupid Ford trying to put a Jaguar badge on a Mondeo now. And they make money too - how long since that’s happened?
Now? I’m concerned that Tata will move the entire business to either mainland europe - or to India. Why would they stay in the UK when they won’t have any access to the EU market anymore (and please, don’t tell me a UK business will have the same access as they do now. Any such arrangement will require open borders, and since Leave basically an anti-immigration vote, that won’t happen).
Why would Tata sell a profitable unit? And why would any investor decide to invest in the UK? The uncertainty is a massive warning sign - and the credit rating downgrades don’t help.
Rolls Royce, Mini, and Bentley are already German in almost every way except for the badge, and they will stay that way. I have no idea what Lotus and MG even do these days. Aston Martin and McLaren soldier on - but they’re at the rarified top. Jaguar and Land Rover are the last mainstream (mostly, not necessarily budget) automobile companies that work out of the UK - and we’re probably going to see it become unbritish too.
Nope, there’s not going to be a surge of nationalistic fervor that’ll suddenly bring back. It’s wistful thinking - money, capital and investing don’t quite work that way. I really wonder, Mr. Baruth, what is it about Tata ownership that really bothers you? That’s a British company working out of Britain, paying British taxes, and creating British jobs for British workers. Now, all of that is at risk. Don’t give me a wishy washy answer about how it’s just not british anymore - that’s hardly any different from a college kid complaining about microagressions. Both are instances of simply being unable to deal with the real world.
Meanwhile, racist harassment has had a nice spike since the Brexit vote, with UK born UK citizens being told to “go back to their own countries” - just in case anyone was really wondering what the Leave vote was really about. I’ve often wondered how people tell apart an immigrant from a citizen - I usually can’t unless they start talking and there’s an accent, but I guess I do know now - it is skin color after all. Good old racism.
In other news, my Indian friend tells me that the Indian media is celebrating the Brexit vote because they think a weakened EU and a weakened UK will mean better deals for them. I can’t confirm this of course, but anyway, if that’s what people in India are thinking, that’s likely what people in China are thinking too. Right, give up even more influence that way. India doesn’t bother me nearly as much as China does - at least they’re democratic and speak English, but, honestly, I’d rather see North America and Western Europe and the values of liberty they represent stay as the most powerful forces in the world. These are the same forces that make the smartest people in the world work for western countries. I’ve lived and worked in multiple countries - and trust me, the smartest people in every room are nearly always willing want to work for the western world. I wonder how long it’ll stay that way if people keep insisting on driving away the people and tearing down the institutions that ensure Western supremacy.
Perhaps, my disappointment is my own version of not being able to face a world where the balance of power is shifting away from the West and liberty, but then again, I always thought that’d happen when the west gets overtaken - I never even considered that people would just randomly decide to tear it all down one day…
“Jaguar and Land Rover essentially do all their R&D, engineering and marketing, and production from the UK, right?”
Yes, and the same is true for Honda in the US with most of their products. Does anybody think of Honda as an American company? Are the final decisions made in the US?
“Why would they stay in the UK when they won’t have any access to the EU market anymore (and please, don’t tell me a UK business will have the same access as they do now. Any such arrangement will require open borders,”
This is a case of you being naive, I think. Open trade is in the best interest of all the people with all the money. It’s bound to happen, or something close enough will happen. And what, exactly, is the percentage of JLR sales to the Continent, compared to the UK, US, and China? (not much).
“I really wonder, Mr. Baruth, what is it about Tata ownership that really bothers you?”
I have no wish to do business with Indians. India is engaged in economic warfare against the United States. They are perhaps not quite an enemy, but neither are they an ally. Nor do I want to buy an Indian Jaguar. The last Jag I bought was a John Egan Jaguar.
“Meanwhile, racist harassment has had a nice spike since the Brexit vote, with UK born UK citizens being told to “go back to their own countries” – just in case anyone was really wondering what the Leave vote was really about.”
Oh, who gives a shit. Racism is the New York Dolls of political issues — nobody can shut up about it and it doesn’t matter one bit. The Western world is the least racist group of humans in world history, yet we continue to self-flagellate about racism. It’s pathetic. Everybody in the UK and US can vote, own property, work any job they want, live anywhere they want, marry anybody they want. The rest is gingerbread and feelsville.
“I’ve often wondered how people tell apart an immigrant from a citizen – I usually can’t unless they start talking and there’s an accent, but I guess I do know now – it is skin color after all. Good old racism.”
Yup. Go to Japan or India or China and you’ll have a chance to see real racism in action.
“I’d rather see North America and Western Europe and the values of liberty they represent stay as the most powerful forces in the world.”
It’s too late for that. Europeans and people of European descent stopped having children. In a hundred years, the US will be Mexico and the EU will be the Third World. There’s no such thing as magic dirt. It was the people, the religion, and the culture that created Western hegemony, and we’re throwing all of that in the dumpster.
“I wonder how long it’ll stay that way if people keep insisting on driving away the people and tearing down the institutions that ensure Western supremacy.”
You mean Christianity, heterosexuality, the classical liberal mindset, and the willingness to shed blood on principles other than Sunni/Shia sectarianism? Those were the institutions that created, and ensured, Western supremacy. And they’re gone, man.
“Perhaps, my disappointment is my own version of not being able to face a world where the balance of power is shifting away from the West and liberty, but then again, I always thought that’d happen when the west gets overtaken – I never even considered that people would just randomly decide to tear it all down one day…”
The only way to even have a fighting chance at saving the world is to close the borders and reclaim the American (and British) way of life.
I know you’ve traveled the world. I’ve been to New Mexico. It’s basically our version of Brazil now — a few privileged white people in enclaves while Mexicans run the street. That’s the American future. That’s what happens when you promote lifestyles that don’t include having children. Voluntary extinction.
The reason China, India, Syria, and Zimbabwe are the way they are is the people. When you let those people run the show in the West, you won’t have a liberal wet dream of the West where people of color magically act like German Lutherans the moment they step onto the magic dirt. You’ll have Chinese, Indian, Syrian, and African values instead of Western ones.
America’s best chance to survive is to take the Swiss route. Close the borders. Arm the citizenry. Enforce the culture. It’s not pleasant to contemplate but the alternative is worse.
“Go to Japan or India or China and you’ll have a chance to see real racism in action.”
I’ll agree with that - though perhaps I’d be more concerned about it if I was black…it’s kinda smooth sailing otherwise.
“The Western world is the least racist group of humans in world history, yet we continue to self-flagellate about racism.”
Not going to deny it - but I simply happen to have higher standards for the west. I couldn’t care less that Saudi Arabia is utterly openly racist towards anyone who isn’t arab, and I couldn’t care less that India has an entire industry built around the fairness of skin.
“When you let those people run the show in the West, you won’t have a liberal wet dream of the West where people of color magically act like German Lutherans the moment they step onto the magic dirt.”
I think this is the crux of our disagreement. I’m going to have to type in a long answer for this.
In general, by the time you get to second generation Americans, you won’t be able to tell the difference except for skin color. America is an assimilation machine. Or at least it was. The left wing has decided to engage in cultural segregation by pretending all cultures are separate but equal, and is slowly destroying that machine. But that’s another problem.
The problem is, however, not all people assimilate equally well. Some take far longer than others - that’s a function of a combination of class, professional status (i.e. skilled vs labor) and culture they’re from. While this varies tremendously even within the same immigrant groups (for example, immigrant from a big city with heavy western influence vs a tiny isolated town) - the averages are pretty clear. For example, the Hispanic immigrant group - taken as a whole, is worse than the American native group, whether it’s crime, education, earnings or whatever. While on the other hand if you take the Asian immigrant group, it’s the exact opposite - all the indicators are better than those for american natives. I cannot find any reliable data on other groups - but I suspect I can’t find any data because it is uninteresting or too small to matter.
Why is this? I think part of it has to do with the kind of immigrant that actually travels across from each of these places. The Hispanic group is primarily a labor group - uneducated losers in their home economy fleeing for greener pastures. The Asian group is primarily a white collar group - highly educated professionals and/or kids of rich families who compete to move to the US because it offers greater opportunities for professional and economic achievement than their home country could. The first group is some of the worst of the country while the second group is some of the best of that country.
The crucial thing to note here is that the home countries of all those Asian immigrants would love to have all that talent that keeps emigrating from their shores. We’re basically poaching all of their top talent - after their home countries have brought them up and given them a college education, or we get the kids richest and most successful families so that they can get a college education here (this is a Indian vs Chinese thing…but it’s a complicated picture). They assimilate quite well too. Their kids are basically American, except they show higher levels of education, lower levels of crime, higher average income, and a much higher orientation towards stable families. This is such an incredibly fortunate state of events that I’m surprised that all those Asian countries even let their citizens emigrate.
So, yes, secure land the border and prevent illegal immigration - that’s really not helping us. That was the GOP position even before Trump came along. My take is that we give all the illegal immigrants currently here low skill work visas of some sort, and force their employers to pay them minimum wage plus a tax for each low skill employee. Maybe even have a large universal basic income of some sort for all citizens (replacing the entirety of the welfare system). This gives employers an economic reason to hire American labor, and lets them compete. Most of the labor migrants will go home on their own - no nonsense hysteria about mass deportations or accusations of racism, all under the guise of legitimizing their status. The few that do remain, will remain because their employers liked them enough to pay more than the cost of American labor, or there was a real labor shortage. On the other hand, keep and encourage highly skilled immigrants - all the indicators show that they’re good for the country. What on earth does the west gain by scaring off smart people with all this xenophobia and racism?
tl;dr, it depends on the “people of color” and the magic dirt takes about one generation to work its magic. My dream of the future west does have people of color acting like German Lutherans - it’s just that we have to pick those people of color carefully.
The worst part of all this is the demographics of it all - whether you like it or not, young people don’t agree at all with your worldview, Mr. Baruth, neither in the US, nor in the UK. Brexit and Trump are short term. Young people, possibly as a side effect of the internet, are extremely globalist in their outlook. The tide of demographics will eventually win. The extremist, and frankly obnoxious stances being taken around the world today will make it all but impossible to simply carefully prune out the wrong kind of immigration at the right places. All gains will be temporary, and will eventually be reversed to the other extreme and both outcomes drastically weaken the liberal western order as a whole.
PS. All my musings about different immigrant groups are partly anecdotal - but they’re also informed in large part by surveys and the like. Here’s one for example
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/files/2013/04/Asian-Americans-new-full-report-04-2013.pdf
It’s long, but very interesting.
PPS. One of the things I do not understand is the GOP’s idiotic insistence on scaring away natural constituencies like the Asians. The reason I was annoyed with the Abigail Fisher case was that she was an utterly horrible figurehead in the fight against Affirmative Action - seriously, all they had to do was find an Asian kid who got screwed over, and they get screwed over far worse. That immediately shuts down the leftist argument that “Republicans are racist” while simultaneously making inroads into a new constituency. But no, we went with Trump instead.
Omar Mateen disagrees with you.
That makes as much sense as liberals trying to ban “assault weapons”.
You can try to get rid of Islam altogether - but then you’ve essentially said you want to repeal the first amendment, and I have as little in common with you as I do with a left winger who wants to repeal the second.
Restrict immigration from war torn countries, sure. Restrict low skilled labor or refugees, sure. That’s what I said. But just like the left wing drones on and on about “assault weapons” though they are statistically meaningless, the alt-right needs to see that some immigrant groups are statistically less likely to be criminal.
I’m a millennial. I agree 100% with Jack. Watch the alt-right on twitter. Lots of them are young. Lots of them don’t give a damn that they’re called racist. Everyone who has ever voted for a republican or been slightly right of center has been called a racist for the flimsiest of reasons and a lot of us don’t take it seriously or care anymore.
Demographics are percentages. And percentages have said otherwise for years. And it’s only getting worse.
Loud voices on Twitter is an anecdote. Anecdotes are just as meaningless as the GOPer who said “I don’t know anyone voting for Trump. He can’t win”, while all the numbers showed him in the lead for months leading to the primary.
I’m looking at ways to counter this trend, and steal some demographics back - but Trump have shown any signs that he’s going to do be able to do that.
JLR sales figures for 2015 show that the continent is responsible for the majority of their sales volume and YOY growth.
http://www.jaguarlandrover.com/gl/en/investor-relations/news/2016/01/08/jaguar-land-rover-reports-strong-full-year-global-sales-for-2015/
The difference between Honda USA — a subsidiary of Honda but a Japanese brand set up by a Japanese OEM… and JLR a historically British car company, that continues to design, engineer, manufacture, operate based out of the UK — with ownership by an Indian multi-national industrial conglomerate — is that I would wager that JLR product planning/engineering/design are less accountable to their Indian ownership than Honda USA is to Honda Japan.
How exactly is India engaging in economic warfare against the US? They’re not manipulating their currency the way China does?
What does your ideal America look like, one in which Kennedy never opened up green cards, we still had race based quota’s?
Who is an “American” to you — Switzerland is a small country w/ a relatively homogeneous population — how does that model translate over to America — are you only an American if your ancestors were here pre-1960 what’s the cut off? America’s a melting pot — and saying that non-white immigration is going to be the death of America makes it sound like you think the identity of being ‘America’ or ‘American’ is linked to America being a white majority country.
I’m surprised by how well JLR does in Europe, although we’re still only talking maybe 21% of their volume
“I would wager that JLR product planning/engineering/design are less accountable to their Indian ownership than Honda USA is to Honda Japan.”
That’s probably not a safe bet, if only because JLR has been under the gun to turn a profit while American Honda has been the primary builder and vendor of Honda vehicles by volume since 1990 or so.
“How exactly is India engaging in economic warfare against the US?”
Their multinationals engage in racist, discriminatory behavior against American workers that distorts the H1-B program and uses it as a method to send $72 Billion home to India:
https://developers.slashdot.org/story/15/04/16/1526218/it-workers-lawsuit-accuses-tata-of-discrimination
http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2015/10/23/indians-are-sending-home-a-record-amount-of-money-this-year-world-bank/
“What does your ideal America look like, one in which Kennedy never opened up green cards, we still had race based quota’s?”
It would be one where a reasonable number of immigrants of all races and faiths integrate fully into American society.
“saying that non-white immigration is going to be the death of America makes it sound like you think the identity of being ‘America’ or ‘American’ is linked to America being a white majority country.”
“White” is a construct. America has historically been a nation of European immigrants and their descendants. Italians and Swiss don’t share much genetically or culturally. The base culture of America is inherited from the United Kingdom. It is Christian, liberal (in the traditional sense) and ethical.
An America that consists primarily of non-assimilated Mexicans is not America; it is Mexico. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, as long as you believe that the Mexican way of life is of equal or greater worth to the American one. But if you believe that, why come here in the first place?
America :
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ALL immigrants welcome .
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_ASSIMILATE_ or perish , just like any other Country .
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-Nate
But the left is devolving into cultural segregation, and the right is devolving into cultural war.
Neither asks for, allows for, or even encourages assimilation.
This is madness.
Interesting stat, about the remittances. But then Indians are the richest demographic in the US with a yearly median household income of ~90K, and the Chinese have a median household income of ~65K - and they’re two of the most numerous Asian immigrant groups in the US. But in the very WSJ article you linked to has France at number 4. That was a little odd - so I looked into it and I found this.
http://labs.time.com/story/where-immigrants-send-the-most-money-home/
The average migrant from India sends back $5.4K yearly (out of median household income of ~90K)
The average migrant from China sends back $6.8K yearly (out of a median household income of ~65K)
French - $13K yearly
Belgians - $21.9K yearly
Mexicans - $1.9K yearly <-waht?
Guatamala and Honduran migrants are about ~$5.8K yearly
Swedish - 11.4K
Australians - 4.8K
Germans - 3.8K
I dunno what you wanted to say, the asians appear pretty average when it comes to remittances - and especially so, considering how much they earn.
The French and the Belgians on the other hand :O
Jack, if you’re worried about immigrants sending money home, then you should be looking at the European migrants who are likely funding retirements there. 21k a year ! come on.
That is true mercenary shit. Those people are not assimilating or hoping to stay here. Are they somehow forgiven for the quantity of their remittance because they’re europeans?!
The vast majority of Asian/Indian immigrants came here for the opportunity for themselves and their children. They hope to grow old here and raise their children in an environment where anything is possible. Yea they tend to be engineers, doctors and scientists, but thats the nature of immigration from Asian countries. they do not just let anyone over.
That tata story if true and proved is horrible, but these H1b sponsoring companies are using american laws to turn corporate profits for themselves and american corporations. its not pretty, its probably not right, but Donald Trump admits to doing the same thing!! Hes used/abused the bankruptcy laws in this country to make vast profits. He’s even refused to pay small businesses which have supplied his companies.
It has to be said there are a lot of STEM jobs begging for bodies. My father is a civil engineer The firm he works for needs people, but no one here studies civil engineering. its a 60k job for a 21/22 year old with a easy bump to 80-90k by the mid to late 20s. There are jobs in this country that pay well, but you might actually have to graduate college and study shit that is kinda hard. From my experience, people who tried to follow that path, broke off when it got too hard and they didnt have the cajones to actually spend time away from the party scene that is college to do right by themselves. These people now work in sales or some other bs profession and are itching for papa trump to level some sort of uneven playing field.
I’ve heard those stories as well… but the stats don’t necessarily support them being commonplace:
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2014/09/15/stem-graduates-cant-find-jobs
As far as Europeans sending home money, we have a trivial number of Europeans in this country, but we have 800,000-plus Chinese and Indian foreign nationals earning money in the US through H1-B. I have no beef with them for coming over; I’d do the same in their shoes. But the system that allows corporations to use H1-Bs to drive down wages is corrupt and I think Trump can fix it.
“No stupid Ford trying to put a Jaguar badge on a Mondeo now.”
yeah, “stupid Ford” had one misfire, all the while enormously improving Jaguar’s product lineup and quality. If it hadn’t been for Ford, Jaguar would have been sent to hell along with the rest of British Leyland. I don’t think you realize what utter trash they were making before that.
Correct!
The Brexit piece is being kind-of hidden by R&T. It showed up the FB feed when posted 6/24, but is not present above the fold on the R&T.com, within the “Avoidable Contact” strip. When one clicks on the “Avoidable Contact” link on the main page to go to archives, the Brexit article is not to be seen. One can only access it were one to search for “Brexit” in the R&T search box.
Archives visibility:
Brexit visible when you click http://www.roadandtrack.com/author/2556/jack-baruth/
But not visible in http://www.roadandtrack.com/avoidable-contact/ — even though the Brexit piece is putatively an Avoidable Contact one.
That’s more a feature of the Avoidable Contact section not being updated regularly.
Stuff goes missing in the catch-alls all the time. When I write the weekly roundups, I have to go through the main page. My “author” page doesn’t always work. Neither does the A/C one. It’s odd.
Here I was, fomenting a conspiracy theory about R&T’s liberal puppet masters deciding what goes into the memory hole, and you pi$$ on it with a plausible explanation. Avast ye!
If there’s any explanation, it’s that Hearst hates me.
I loved watching Jr. zip his cart around ! .
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I assume you’re using synthetic ‘ smokeless ‘ two stroke oils ? .
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I cannot give good mix ratio advice but I/we have not seized one since going to synthetic oils and using a plastic mixing cup .
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I hope it wasn’t a Dealer mechanic who failed to fix the recoil starter ~ dishonest / incompetent Mechanics piss me off so much .
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-Nate
More video of Jack’s son karting here:
I only have experience fixing recoil starters on RC cars.. Bloody things always broken. Hey Jack, have you thought about building an RC car kit with the kid? That’s where I started learning what kind of voodoo magic make differentials work and what goes into suspension tuning etc. Tamiya kits are still solid and they are available as actual kits and not just a ready to run set. And they can take a real beating.
Looks like the clone is having fun in the Kart. I remember my first time driving one, they went up to maybe 50kph and it didn’t take many laps to figure out the line so I could (just)keep it floored around the whole track.. Wore the right rear tyre down to the canvas in my 10 minutes in it. They guy in charge was not happy about having to change the tyre..
I’m going to use this as an excuse to post this video of me driving an automatic 95hp diesel Opel Corsa around a “mini-nurburgring” in Lithuania. Bloody fun track, particularly the “Witches Cauldron”. I know I lost a lot of time not keeping it floored at around 1:20 and 1:45; my racing drivers excuse is that the automated manual combined with a small diesel was extremely slow to react and we only had six laps in total.. 😉 Still, second in class over a two day event across three Baltic countries. With my father as co-driver. http://youtu.be/xSO5pFfbjhY
Building a Tamiya? That’s a brilliant idea! Thank you for that. I liked the Hornets and whatnot when I was a kid but never had the money for one myself.
That’s a fascinating track. The trees are awfully close. Are you using your portable hand controls?
It’s a brilliant and fun way to teach what makes cars work. Mechanics in general, actually. I learned an incredible amount building them, even did a few races in my second hand 1/10 Yokomo. They have a reissue of the Hornet if you want to go full nostalgia, or hell even the Bruiser with it’s three speed gearbox!
Yeah I had my hand controls. Not ideal on track, but it works. EBD on new cars really helps going for the “EXTREME-ULTRA-SUPER-LATE-BRAKING!” as that one pompous idiot in the S15 said in that one anime… I had the least powerful car in the whole event, some of the locals in the higher classes were in more or less fully rally prepped STI’s going a hell of a lot faster on some awesomely dangerous tracks. Including a hill-climb up a service road for a Latvian bobsleigh track.
But this one was probably the most insane “track” of the rally, extremely narrow road(ski track in the winter) and tyres right next to and sometime on the actual track making it even narrower. Many of the tires still had the rims in them. And the trees are REALLY close. From what I head some faster cars actually got some decent air.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FHrBcX3vHQ
Funny story about that stage, my friend partook in the rally with a Seat Leon Cupra wagon which is basically a 280hp GTI wagon with the locking diff.. They finished that 3.2km stage within a couple of secs from he winning STI, and later the organisers congratulated them and asked what they thought of their notes. “What notes?!”, my friend asked. You should have seen the organisers face when they realised a mad Finn in a family wagon press loaner had almost beaten a prepped STI on semi-slicks who had notes.. The notes were freely available and up to rally standards, but no one cared to mention it in English at the brief so we never knew of them until after the stage was finished. It was the only stage with notes, otherwise it was just a map of the general layout which wasn’t really that helpful on this stage.
Tracks and events like this would never fly here in the politically correct Nordics, but in the Baltics the attitude is still the proper “hey, If you fuck up and die in a fiery accident it’s your own damn problem!”.
In that R/T article about the UK car industry, you forgot that Toyota cranks out the Avensis and Auris, Honda makes Civics (hatchbacks to come here soon) and CR-Vs, and Nissan churns out Qashqai/Rogues, Leafs, Notes, Jukes and even the new Infiniti Q30 to the tune of 600,000 vehicles a year. BMW shoddily assembling MINIs and JLR are just two of the foreign-owned factories. MG (SAIC) screws together next to nothing, a few thousand bad cars a year and is completely irrelevant except to that peculiarly eccentric small band of Brits who wander around appreciating and espousing the joys of mediocrity by denying reality. It’s their hobby.
The average person in the UK has no clue what the EU is; witness the rush to google it after the Leave side won. It’s not as if EU policemen are going around door to door harassing people. EU compliance by officers is conducted at the corporate level - at the street level you get the usual local police and health and safety busybodies, plus municipal officers. British laws are merely amalgamated with EU ones - that’s the way it works, why people stuck it to the local politicians by voting Leave and blamed them not Eurocrats. Same with France, which is on strike everywhere at the moment lest one forgets, while the “socialist” government tries to cut back on social programs - the French are having none of it.
People in England are just cheesed off at the end result of globalization, don’t even know the word as such, but they sure as hell recognize that the end result since Thatcher has meant no jobs, bad-paying jobs and bad housing. And they voted to piss off the elite running the place, all of whom urged them to Remain except for Murdoch (Fox News) the shit disturber and his newspapers - the EU itself is a distant thing as I’ve said. And if I’m not mistaken, most of the global elite are/have been American, not European, but they’re on the catch up these days, happily consolidating wealth and chucking Greece to the dogs. The EU’s institutions and bureaucracy are as neoliberal as in the US, with deference to banking in particular, because everyone making a killing sees that’s the way to get ahead. Trickle-down is about as helpful there as it is in the US - a chimera quoted by one’s “betters” as “truth” to keep the poor dolts down and chewing the cud, zoned out.
Well, time ran out on that brand of horse manure in the UK, and it’s pretty obvious the two main political parties are status quo neoliberal, so there’s likely to be some real trouble keeping the peasants down in future. Politicians yakking their political heads off won’t put better food on the table, and they seem to not have the first clue what to do next and them arguing for some income redistribution is about as likely as hailstones in hell. A recipe for internal trouble. God knows what was going through Scots heads in voting to Remain in the Euro version of capitalism, which the typical American without the first clue or interest in actual reading and learning calls socialist. Hah! Right. How wrong you are.
What the EU has succeeded mightily in doing is convincing many that political correctness is wonderful, that free mass movement of labor between countries is being open-minded even as it lowers wages, and that the EU represents the epitome of tolerance itself socially. So if you disagree, you’re a knuckledragger/fascist and must reform your ways. It’s conformity writ large to make people think the society they live in is socially forward-looking and not just a way for the rich to get richer. Sure, it’s fine if you have a half-decent job. Just like in the US. Then you can just forget the travails of low income and zero opportunity and feel really, really good about yourself. Trouble is, the absolute number of good jobs is declining, just like the hollowing out of the US middle class. It’s becoming ever more noticeable.
It’ll be the same in the US after Trump gets in, forgets whatever it is he said the day/month/year before, denies it and does the opposite, the people expecting jobs don’t get them and they finally realize they’ve been fucked yet again. Everyone will blame brown immigrants, because that’s easy and avoids answering the real questions of who is gathering up all the loot. Strife will occur. Count on it. And the innocent will get trampled. It was ever thus.
Greed with no bounds and essentially flat or falling incomes among the majority are what will trigger some real response from the masses. That’s if the NSA/FBI haven’t got everyone with a smartphone’s movements nailed down, so that appropriate SWAT teams can be deployed to keep the Adelsons and the Koch Bros of the US riding the wave of coining more money to the detriment and on the backs of the working poor.
I was born in the UK, left at eleven, went back for 5 years as an adult, so I have some idea what I’m on about there. Relatives and friends y’know plus visits.