I always wondered why all roofs aren’t hail proof solar. They last forever and pay for themselves, and then some. I guess Kia in Georgia lost thousands of new cars in a parking lot of their factory. A solar roof seems to be the solution.

Kia Lost Millions To Hail In 2023. Its New Protection System Is A Solar Plant

Is Ted Cruz the Zodiac Killer? He may have a higher body count after this week. From The Guardian (UK).

Ted Cruz ensured Trump spending bill slashed weather forecasting funding

This is so cool. The solar panels themselves have gotten so cheap they can be used in ways that don’t care so much about efficiency (on walls, in Canada, different colors). From Interesting Engineering.

World’s largest 34,500 sqft solar mural turns building into giant power generator

Just wanted to point out that my post on the government, and in particular Texas Governor Greg Abbott, was trying to kill me was written on June 28 (The Government is Trying to Kill Me). This was almost a week before the deadly and devastating floods in Central Texas.

At least 120 dead, 173 missing in historic Texas flooding, as search continues

A good read on the latest US tariff status from the BBC. No peace in Gaza or Ukraine. No tariff deals. But the Billionaires got their big tax cut.

Trump delays tariffs as the rest of the world plays hardball

We live in Placitas, NM with a nice view of the 10,000 foot Sandia Mountains. There is a cable car / tramway that will take you to the top and to a restaurant and a ski area. You can also go around the back side and take a (paved) road to the top, mostly to access trails. There is also a shorter way directly from Placitas but it is an unpaved road and we decide that would not be a good idea in the Tesla.

it was about an hour drive to the top, starting at about 5000 feet rising to 10,000. I had never tested the Tesla in this sort of environment so I kept an eye on the range, just to make sure we had enough juice to get home. We started with a full charge at 258 miles. When we got to the top it was about 170, or about 90 miles of range for a 51 mile trip. So the altitude cost about 40 miles of range. Ok.

On the way home things got interesting. Going down the steep part of the hill we added range, maybe 15 miles total. But I’m not sure the battery was ready to take on this charge (there was some green light that kept going on and off on the console). The rest of the ride was still downhill but less so. It took a while for the range to go down at all an eventually it got back to 170, where we were at the peak, but by the we were almost home.

I didn’t really keep close track of the numbers but it was roughly a 100 mile round trip, and total range was maybe 110.  Not much of a penalty for a 5000 foot climb.

List of all full EVs and their efficiency. Did not realize there were so many EVs.

Energy consumption of full electric vehicles

My family on my father’s side was part of the group expelled from Spain during this era. Family history says we were Moors (Muslim) but I have always found it unlikely. Mostly because my family does not resemble Moors (tall and dark skinned). I suppose it was easier to be ex-Moors to ex-Jews in that era. Oddly I live in the southwest now where it appears many converrsos moved here as the New World was settled. A good article from London Review of Books.

Who is a Jew?

I find myself thinking more and more about Fascism and the Spanish Civil War lately. In the 1930s a Spanish military leader named General Francisco Franco sought to overthrow one of the last ruling kings on Europe, King Juan Charles I. The only problem was Franco was basically looking to exchange one totalitarian leader (the king) for another (himself).

What was unique was the use of new communication technologies to control his message and even the very thoughts of his followers. In Germany another leader picked up the thread and used new reels, amplified sound, radio and other modern technologies to secure power.

Two enduring pieces of art that came out of this Spanish political transition was Picasso’s Guernica that showed the horrors of civilian arial bombings, a novelty at the time. Of course the German fellow was not far behind and began arial bombings of London with then-new rocket technology.

The other enduring piece of art is the writings of a George Orwell. He understood the use, or rather misuse, of language was maybe the most powerful weapon of all. He warned us in his novels particularly 1984.

So today when I hear people using grandiose language to describe things that are at best inappropriate at worst complete fabrications, I think of Orwell. I wish us all Freedom on the July 4th. And I mean that.