The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, April 29, 2025

Comments

1. Dennis C Rathsam says

   April 29, 2025 at 9:32 am

   After the tariff deals are made, & TRUMPS tax cuts take affect, America will take off like a rocket! As the manufacturing of goods here at home will provide many new jobs & opportunities for all Americans.Biden,s dismall 4 years, & all his ignorant policies, have now been erased. TRUMP unleashed the oil industry, more drilling more wells more jobs! No more made in China shit. TRUMP will bring America back from the dead. We will prosper like never before. The future is looking bright for all Americans! The American dream will again be realized by many young families. After 4 years of the failed Biden policies, his failure to stop inflation, or corrall interest rates, TRUMP brings hope & salvation. TRUMP talks to the press, he doesn’t hide, like some demented old fool. He talks questions, & gives answers….How refreshing. It’s been a great 100 days for TRUMP. Despite the democrate resistance, TRUMP has close the border, he didn’t need an act of Congress, like the liar Biden said It just took a man with balls! Americans voted for change. A new way of doing things that only a business man can do. I thank TRUMP & MUSK for cleaning the kickback house of the democrats, & their waste of our tax dollars. The future of America is Bright again…. Your patients will be rewarded!

2. R.S. says

   April 29, 2025 at 12:12 pm

   I will never understand why we think of killing someone as a penalty. Traditionally, penalties–spanking, sending to one’s room, going to bed without eating, or other forms of inflicting painful experiences–are designed as forms of behavior modification. To avoid the further inflicting of pain, the person so punished will avoid whatever behavior led to the inflicting of pain. Whether that’s even a good method of child rearing or even adult behavior modification, I won’t debate here, although it is a fairly unsuccessful method by all educational statistics. Inflicting death on someone however, cannot be any form of behavior modification. The person is dead, unable to act differently. It’s a pure form of getting even on the part of vindictive people. Statistics also clearly show that killing people does not induce any kind of dseterrence, else states with the death penalty should show a markedly lower number of violent acts than states without the death penalty; but there is no such evidence at all. Morally speaking, a society has a right to protect itself from violence; if not avoidable, even death can be administered in an emergency to protect people; however, in all cases where people are jailed before being killed, there is no threat to the society. They are confined; they cannot hurt anyone. One might also consider that the person who is finally put to death is not the person who did the deed for which s/he is being killed. People change; remorse is real. If there is the slightest danger of a person’s reverting back to violent action, s/he can continue indefinitely being restrained in a proper facility. Finally, judicial error, while it may be devastating on anyone’s life, can be amended as long as the person is still alive. There is no reason for this barbaric act of judicial killing; certainly, it does not improve the world one bit; instead, it encourages vindictive thinking, which in itself is damaging to any society.

3. Ray W, says

   April 29, 2025 at 2:00 pm

   A few months ago, INSIDEEVs examined Nio’s EV battery swapping process. Here are a few bullet points from the resulting article:

   – All Nio models are designed for swappable battery packs, which batteries can either be charged via plug in chargers, or they can be swapped as needed.

   – Nio’s battery swap stations debuted in 2018, with over 57 million swaps since then. Nio drivers can schedule a swap time or simply show up and wait their turn, if necessary.

   – A driver stops in a defined space in front of the swap station, from which location the car is then remotely directed backwards into the station. A platform raises the car off the floor and the battery removal automatically occurs. The removed battery drops below the floor and is shuttled to a recharge station. A new battery charged to an optimum 93%, ensuring the quality of each installed battery, is shuttled to underneath the awaiting car where it is automatically raised and installed. The swapping process is said to take between three and six minutes. During the main battery disconnection time, a tiny secondary battery keeps main non-driving functions operable.

   – Nio now offers its battery swap stations to other manufacturers, provided they design their cars to its specifications.

   – Nio owns a second brand, Onvo. Both brands sell electric vehicles with or without batteries. For example, the Onvo L60 model sells for about $29,000 with battery and for about $21,000 sans battery.

   – Onvo’s 60 kWh battery itself can be leased for $85 per month. Longer range batteries trigger a greater leasing cost. The swapping station determines the level of depletion of the removed battery and charges a small fee for the amount of electricity added by the new battery.

   – Nio’s software algorithms determine the specific numbers and sizes of batteries to meet local demand, including that for holidays, when people might order larger capacity batteries to travel; its largest capacity battery is not offered for sale, only for lease.

   – Nio partners with four other EV manufacturers: Changan, JAC, Geely, and Chery.

   – A taxicab vehicle manufacturer, Beijing, offers its own battery swap technology for its EU5 model.

   – BYD, the world’s second largest battery manufacturer, has developed a use-specific version of its BLADE battery that can be swapped out in Nio’s stations. CATL, the world’s largest battery manufacturer, is working on its own version of swap station.

   – the Onvo L60 is rated as slightly more energy efficient than Tesla’s Model Y, which lacks swappable capability.

   – According to Nio, 70% of its buyers opt for the battery swap service.

   Make of this what you will.

   Me?

   Quality options make for satisfied customers. Not all Nio owners would use the battery swap option, preferring to plug in at home and charge the battery overnight. Others, perhaps condominium or apartment residents lacking easy access to home chargers near parking spaces, would always use the battery swap option.

   I remain encouraged by the idea of extended range vehicles that come with a small battery pack that meets 90% of the average drivers’ daily needs. No need for a larger, heavier long-range battery that costs more to lease. If the smallest option battery depletes to a predetermined level, a purpose-built small ICE starts up to generate electricity that offers a longer range that is rarely needed on a daily basis. A hypothetical Flagler County resident who works from home three or four days a week but has to drive to her Jacksonville office once or twice per week will probably not deplete the small battery in her EREV on a daily basis, but the gas engine will kick on during her once or twice-weekly office commute on her return home. No range anxiety. Greater fuel efficiency because the gas engine is purposely designed to generate electricity at its most efficient operating RPM. No gas usage on the vast majority of daily drives.

   Win, win, win!

4. Dr Bill Hanagan says

   April 29, 2025 at 3:08 pm

   Dennis,

   Have you ever stopped to think about why you’ve tied your identity to another man, who doesn’t know you exist?

5. Endless corruption says

   April 29, 2025 at 3:38 pm

   Haha cheif treason has made his millions from market manipulation! Good luck to all those suffering throughout the globe from the orange stains policies and those being murdered at the death camps! May those responsible face a similar fate!