Here is a brief summary of why we continue to be “buddies” with the Saudis
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That, and Saudis in power are rich as [expletive] and heavily invest in American corporations that, in turn, contribute to political campaigns.
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India just blocked visas for Canadians.
A lot of this “reaction” is pursely for domestic consumption in India. Modi wants to paint India as the “victim”.
India is in my view increasingly skewing authoritarian and nationalistic, and given the lower levels of education in the country, the masses there eat this sort of propaganda up.
From the looks of things, the assasination was probably cooked up Modi’s national security advisor with deniable support from Modi.
Operational security on something like this is almost impossible to achieve, so I assume the CIS rolled it up pretty quickly once they got a hold of the evidence trail.
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Agree that Modi is a problem. It seems he wants India to be like Saudi Arabia in some ways. He wants to make an ultra-wealthy ruling class and then share just enough of that with the masses to keep them loyal. Not sure if he can pull it off though. I don’t think the US wants to fund that plan, and I don’t think China does either.
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I like that with the left of the leaf cut off, it looks like Punk Rock Michigan (lower peninsula).
Another first in Canadian politics after our first Black Speaker of the House was chosen yesterday.
Manitoba has a First Nations premier. The Conservatives campaigned for tax cuts while the victorious NDP promised health care improvements. Large youth vote helped propel the shift to the left.
I was in the US of A this weekend: lotsa big 
truuuhks and SUVs!!!
If I need a 12,000-pound 6-wheeled lifted truck to move my son’s twin bed twice a year to and from college, that’s my GOD GIVEN RIGHT as a MURICAN!
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We get the same thing in Canada. Any rural area, the overwhelming volume of vehicles are large pickups.
Speaking as a pickup owner, but I have a valid reason. I have to haul gear, boat, atv, etc around a good number of weekends every year. I’d like to have a small vehicle for intown trips and still keep the truck for hauling, but that doesn’t make any financial sense. So, I just resign myself to the fact that the truck also gets used as a personal vehicle.
I’ve considered buying a 20-year-old shitbox with 180k miles, Liability-only coverage for hauling purposes. Only comes up every couple of months but I’m guessing it’s a hammer/nail situation.
However, no need for a $44,000 2024 model with touch-screen and surround sound. I want one with the muffler and bumper both held on by wire and the gas tank needle doesn’t work.
my old saab actually had this problem…
I drove a car long ago with a gallon of gas in the trunk just in case, as the needle only gave “something around here-ish”.
I think you might be off by $20k+.
My dad has one of these. New trucks are massive today. I had a mid-size 4 door years ago and it would look like a toy next to his.
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Fuckin’ hell. I wrote $35k and thought, “Nah that’s already a lot, but I know they’re more” and did 0 research
Years ago I worked for an insurance company where a number of my co-workers had the same interest in an old truck. They formed a co-op and shared the truck. Luckily for them, one of the members was a lawyer.
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S/he got them out of jail time?
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I just looked up F150 pricing. If you get the top-of-the-line Limited model it starts at $83k, and then you can add options from there. Holy crap. I had a hard time pulling the trigger on my Model Y Performance, I don’t know how much money I’d need to make in order to feel like I could swing one of those.
My old vw bug had no fuel gauge. There was a lever on the floor that you could flip with your foot whenever it started to stall because you were out of gas. That activated a 1-gallon reserve tank. Then it was a 20-mile scavenger hunt to find the nearest gas station.
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