Dude, American cars are big due to the change in CAFE standards for fuel efficiency that have been pointed out for over 15 years (https://me.engin.umich.edu/news-events/news/cafe-standards-could-mean-bigger-cars-not-smaller-ones/). The Ford Focus is a great little dependable car- but one that couldn't meet the 52 MPG required of it so the model was discontinued. Same thing with the Honda Fit, the Toyota Yaris, etc. The MPG requirements for a small ICE vehicle in the US became unattainable and were all discontinued for vehicles that could be sold, with a large footprint or classified as a truck (which is what 85% of Subarus are).

I want dependable, I want dials, I want a slider for heat, I want 30 MPG, I want low-cost repairs, I want metal and not plastic, I want a computer for the fuel injection and brakes (only), I want boring.

I don't want having to find charging stations, glass control panels, unavailable parts, non-owner serviceable junk. I remember the Yugo, LeCar and all that crap. I have no interest in Chinese cars without a support and parts network that I can tap for repairs and service.

Nice try mate, it's the new progressive politics. Only progressive cities have decriminalized "petty" theft. See AOC's "stealing bread to feed their children" and other progressive moves to de-criminalize pot, hookers and B&E. In the US, it's elected Soros' backed liberal DAs and and progressive prosecutors who believe in letting criminals go due to "racial disparity" and the "unjust burden" minorities face in the racist/homophobic/white power cesspool of western civilization. If it were conservative politics, we'd be back to "broken windows" policing.

Not really. Many items with a USB-C connector still have the standard width of a USB-A cable/dongle/connector, so placing them closer has a tendency to crowd out the ports, making them useless. The width of USB-A connector is a "standard" and should be maintained even with USB-C connectors.

Ah, ya beat me to it. The Despecialized editions are great- everything I remember when I saw it in the theatre as a kid. I get that Lucas modified them. They were his to modify. However, it wasn't what I saw as a kid, and that nostalgia is worth quite a lot to me. In this day and age with the post-adulteration of TV & movies (like Supernatural's music revisions due to licensing) having media with it's original content is very important.

You can say what you want about WA business leaders and their desire to pay less taxes, but WA has a host of self-inflicted problems that it will not recognize as issues it has to correct. They have a (D) supermajority which has been in power for almost 40 years which has been driving the state right into the Pacific. In 2023, WA had a $8B surplus- now it's expected to have a $15B deficit in the next two years. Now 1st in crime, 4th most unaffordable, soon to be 2nd in highest gas prices, and one of the highest incidents of drug/fentanyl use in the nation, WA spends it's time debating on how fast it can get rid if ICE vehicles, how soon it can ban natural gas and how low it can bend the knee to extremist environmentalists and social warriors. It has lost the plot on how to grow and maintain a healthy business community (like a home-town favorite, Boeing, leaving for Chicago), how to be responsible to it's citizens (it's "lost" over $1.17B of state taxpayer money) and how to work with it's citizens for long-term prosperity.

As to K-12, they no longer stress the 3R's, instead they've pivoted to "Social-Emotion Learning", fail to provide a usable curriculum on a state-wide basis and have decided that gender policies are the hill they want to die on. Businesses and people are fleeing the state and the legislature plans on giving it to the remaining population good and hard, hoping to out-California California. I don't blame the businesses one bit. As a 40 year resident, my family is planning on leaving too.

Dude, India and China account for over 40% of emissions, and they're up +197% and +242% over their year 2000 measurements. First world (which arguably is US, CA, EU, AUS, JP and a few middle east countries) account for ~28% and all their numbers have gone down in the last 23 years.(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_dioxide_emissions)

The 3rd world *is* the current problem and without a serious effort on the part of India and China this is all moot.

Another feather in the "Get woke, go broke" cap.

Someday the studios will learn to ditch the politics- we just want decent games.

Learn to use your device, Satan. You're 34, so it's time to put on your big girl underwear and figure out how things work. What a whiner. If you had a VCR it would probably be blinking "12:00, 12:00, 12:00..."

Last thing I want as a geologist is minerals with pronouns based on the mineral they "identify" as.

Reading some of the responses to your comment is hilarious. All the woke scolds going on about the "poor poor persecuted white males" and how they welcome the SJW change to comics. Instead of creating their own space and characters in comics, SJWs can only see taking over established characters and "fixing" them. The funny bit is that they actually don't buy any comics. They're gleeful to take away Iron Man, Thor and Spider-Man from those nasty white males in an attempt to put them in their new place, but they don't actually support it with their dollars.

For 20+ years I pumped $120-150/month (at 60 to $2.50/book) into comics from Marvel, DC, Dark Horse and Image because the art was fantastic, the story arcs were spectacular and it was great entertainment. Then the writers/artists started to change and comics weren't fun and interesting anymore. The industry played to what they though was their new audience, but their new audience had no interest in buying comics; just using them as a bludgeon against "white males", the "patriarchy" or any other stupid cause du jour was in fashion. Comic's decades-long revenue stream vanished and the industry was left with crazy, purple-haired writers/artists no one wanted to read. Happened in comics and Sci-Fi fantasy and is currently happening in movies and video games.

Sure, I'm going to miss it. Those were good times, but a good thing can't last forever. Just like comics, don't expect me to support your lunacy with my dollars. I can't wait until the crazy SJWs burn it all down and blame it on CIS-het white males (again). We're already building something better and this time you're not invited.

Too true. In the 80s we'd have BB gun wars- jean jackets and shop glasses in a free-for-all shoot out (*1* pump maximum!) Childhood was nothing but danger. BB guns wars, bottle rocket wars, tennis ball cannons, improvised zip lines, throwing stars, butterfly knives, M-80's.

I'm a bit more responsible parent (a lot less absent for sure) so the daughters both got Red Rider BB guns at 7 and, upon passing hunter's ed (@11 & 12), take-down 10/22s. Now I hunt with the girls using ARs chambered in .300BLK. They're both deadshots with 2MOA red dots and are definitely taking up the family mantle of putting food on the table.

I seriously hope they'll find guy who can keep up with them, because a young man who spends all his time exercising his thumbs is in for a rude awakening.

Yeah, just wait until your Tesla gets "puffy" battery syndrome 10 years from now....

Sorry NoMoreACs, you're wrong. In WA state it's illegal to record (video or audio) any conversation without consent from all parties, even in a privately owned home (https://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=9.73.030). Have a dash cam and the police stop you? You have to inform the officer you have a recording device. Have cameras around the outside of your house? You have to disclose that you are recording the premises.

Washington state is a two-party consent state, in that it's illegal to record any conversations without consent. With current reveals that Google, Amazon and Apple are "always listening" via their in-home devices, this might constitute a constant-on recording of conversation.

Other states also have two-party consent, so legally you are required to notify others, even in the privacy (if you can call it that) of your own home. WA state even includes a "stick" to help you comply as injured parties can sue for $100/day + legal expenses for not notifying.