Notes From All Over, Part 1 -- October 22, 2019

First things first: the EF-3 tornado that hit Dallas Monday night was all over the national news last night. The devastation was much worse than most imagined. There were several tornadoes in that 24-hour period from Texas to Arkansas. This particular tornado followed a major thoroughfare, on a 17-mile track from the southwest to the northeast, covering that length in about 30 minutes. The swath appears to have been about a half-mile wide. A category 4 hurricane has wind speeds of 130 - 156 mph; this tornado, and EF-3, had wind speeds of 140 mph.

EVs: we have a huge new sprawling "outdoor" retail area going up in the area just to the south of where we live -- about five minutes away on my bicycle. Name a  retail outlet and one can probably find it in this area. Generally, the one retail outlet we don't see in these developments is a service station. Interestingly enough, my favorite service station brand just opened this past month: QT. Quick Trip. Least expensive gasoline in the area, generally speaking. Also, largest selection of different coffee choices and huge, huge selection of one's favorite breakfast items and snacks. I'm not seeing new EV charging stations going in. Anywhere. With a Tesla dealership just a few miles to the northwest (in Southlake, TX) this region of the US must have one of the highest concentrations of Teslas per capita -- and to the best of my knowledge, only one Tesla charging station -- about ten units in a parking lot in a shopping mall in Southlake.

Politics: new Iowa poll -- USA Today -- three days after the most recent debate, again, this is Iowa, link here:

• Biden: 21%; pretty much unchanged since the debate; Iowans just don't warm up to this 3rd-rate candidate
• Pocahontas: at 20.7% -- pretty much unchanged
• Buttigieg: media buzz -- he is surging after the debate -- in fact --
• CBS/YouGov, before the debate: 14%
• Emerson, around the time of the debate: 16%
• USA Today, immediately after the debate: 13%
• I just love the media spin; Buttigieg surging; LOL
• Sanders: imploding; down to 14.3% in Iowa; tied with Buttigieg
• Harris: for all the media attention in Iowa, an appalling 3.3%
• Steyer, Iowa: 2.7%
• Iowans love to hunt: Beto "hell, yes, we will take your guns" -- 1.0%

Politics:

• Julian Castro: campaign going broke; two months from now -- out of the race

Politics:

• biggest takeaway -- weakest slate I've seen in modern politics; okay, I'm giving Dukakis too much credit.