Episode 25: Xanny the Nanny

We've got some high-powered pharmaceuticals to aid Yeti's weather-inspired neurosis. However, we've figured out a few additional steps in our animal-guidance workflow that largely mitigates the problem.

Covid hysteria is on the upswing, but the media has coronated the climate crisis as its new crisis du jour. What used to be a week of hot weather is now an existential emergency. Case in point: graphic artists for local weather teams are shaping the perception of mid-summer hot weather.

When you are looking to take control of your diet and your health, the United States' government is probably the last source of information you should turn to.

This is what our generation was taught and it's so bad, I wouldn't be surprised if it were deliberate misinformation by enemy intelligence.

Tuft's University in Boston is trying its hand at a food analysis algorithm . Apparently, in beta testing, it seemed ok based on the inputs of the upper class intellectual elite in western Massachusetts, but as soon as normal people start dumping in the shit they encounter on their grocery store shelves, it starts prioritizing breakfast cereal over cheddar cheese, eggs, and butter. Sorry, but canned peaches are not a better food choice than ground beef.

Now, for this next part... first of all, this is a terrible title for the video. Thomas Massie did not "shock" Pete Buttigieg with his electric car stats. Second, Massie had the makings of a good argument, but completely failed in his execution of delivering the message. Saying Americans would use double the electricity to charge an EV than they do to run their refrigerator or air conditioner is a weak argument because I don't think the majority of Americans know the relative proportions of electricity consumption in their homes. If you zoom out and look at average household consumption TODAY with barely any electric vehicles in day to day use and look at what widespread adoption would mean for power generation, you can make a much better argument that the goals of the government to have 50% EV sales within 8 years is foolish and physically impossible. We re-iterate several times that not only have we had two electric vehicles, but we also have an absolute shit-load of solar panels to support them, so we are not anti-solar or anti-EV. That said, there is no realistic way the United States is going to increase it's electricity supply by 50% in the next 8 years to support 50% of car sales being electric vehicles. We are all in on solar panels and electric cars and it's our opinion that it's not the panacea that it's being touted as by the administration. This topic is incredibly complex with lots of dynamic aspects that are always in flux. I'm sure we'll re-visit some of these issues in later episodes.

I mentioned Norway as a country proponents would point to as a success story for EV adoption. Norway has a population of 5.4 million. To compare, that's less than the population of Minnesota. In 2019, which was pre-covid, 142k cars were sold in Norway. Going on 2021 numbers, 65% of cars sold in 2021 were EVs... but car sales dropped off precipitously during the covid era. That represents fewer than 95,000 cars. Compare that to 15 million new cars sold in the US in 2021. So, in the US, 4% of the population purchased a new car compared to 1.7% of Norwegians in the same period. This suggests a difference in transportation methodology in Norway vs the US, not to mention the economic differences between the two countries as discussed in the podcast.

Here's a link to a redacted version of our electric bill for the last month.

Sara mentioned the Excalibur food dehydrator. On their website, ours is closest to the 3926TB model. It's not exact, but ours is several years old.

So, that's the podcast this week. National issues and the national "conversation" is intersecting with things we have firsthand knowledge of, so that's fun. Feel free to refute our firsthand knowledge on these issues and provide counter information. I'd love to hear opposing views.