China granted Trademark protections, not Patents (very different things) to multiple Trump brand names, most owned by Donald Trump’s business interests (run by his sons, that he’s still drawing money from), the rest owned by Ivanka Trump (who is sort of a government employee but there’s no indication she’s divested…

Ten minute chat and granting a number of lucrative trademarks to Trump businesses. Our President is easily bribed it seems.

I think they are also worried about people forgetting to turn them back on when they leave the track. Then their wife or teenager drives the car the next day and gets in an accident that the one of those systems could have prevented. You can see the lawsuit, “The track people told me to turn them OFF but never…

YMMV but for me the Jetta has been a VERY good car to own. It’s been my daily driver since the day I brought it home from the dealer 16 years ago. It’s been on a few long road trips around the Pacific Northwest and will probably do another one next year. The engine and transmission have been virtually trouble free…

I own a 2001 VW Jetta VR6 and absolutely love it. It’s a great little car that serves all my needs. I don’t hate the current generation of Jettas but they just don’t do anything for me. While the styling has improved they still look like ‘Passat Jr’ and kind of blah. And power and performance wise, they just feel less…

The world as a whole would be much better off if humans in general could figure out the difference between needs and wants.

Actually it was season two that took the hardest hit from the writer’s strike with the season opener being a reworked script from the Star Trek II series Paramount was working on in the 70s.

The problem is the Auto industry is doing the same/similar thing the housing industry did in the 00’s to increase sales to record levels despite ridiculous housing prices. The industry is pushing long term loans (5-7+ years is becoming the norm). They are extending financing to people who have no business getting…

The ‘market’ did great under Bush Jr as well. Real wages continued to collapse for most Americans and the ‘great’ market turned out to have been built on sub-prime loans that blew up in everyone’s faces giving us the ‘Great Recession’. I don’t consider the stock market to be a good barometer of the overall health of…

If Ryan dumps the “The Hastert Rule” he could actually move quite a bit of legislation through The House. There are enough Center-left and Center-right Democrats he could easily pick up 20-25 and push the Freedom Caucus over a cliff. But as long as he’s trying to pass every bill with only Republican votes he’s stuck.

The Democrats have largely usurped them. Never forget the ACA is a HERITAGE FOUNDATION plan first implemented by a then Republican Governor Romney.

Seriously do the research on what Republicans did in 2011. It was designed for just this type of storm. Those 40 or so members of the Freedom Caucus are not worried about losing to Democrats in 2018 they’re worried about losing in primaries to even more right-wing candidates.

Look up the information on Republican gerrymandering in 2011. It was designed so in several states they could lose the popular by as much as 5-7 percent and still retain the majority of House seats from that state. Unless Democratic turnout is massive (and I do mean Presidential election year levels) than the…

And yet the odds are they will retain control of congress after 2018 (most definitely the House). Between gerrymandering, voter suppression and general low turnout the Republicans will continue to control the majority of the levers of power.

I wonder if Mitch McConnell is quietly lobbying House Republicans to vote ‘no’ because he does not want this disaster of a bill in the Senate.

Which only matters if it translates to votes in 2018.

Funny detail. There are men who are at high risk of breast cancer (very small percentage). Doctors recommend that men who have high risk factors get regular mammograms

Senator Pat Roberts form Kansas. Scary thing is he’ll win reelection by a wide margin.

“Added to the long list of people who hate Trump’s nasty little budget proposal are Republican governors, who—oops!—actually do need help from the big bad federal government.”

Restoration Garage did an OK job showing the work for its first two seasons. The current season has shifted the focus to the owners going to auctions and events and away from the guys in the shop doing the work.