L4S: Faster internet? Maybe. And Apple involved. Link here.
Shohei Ohtani: signs for $700 million. LA Dodgers. Wow, there are times I wish I still lived at 605 Prospect Avenue, South Pasadena, California!!! Such an innocent time. Such exciting times. Wow, this brings back many memories. One of many links here. Ohtani comes up with innovative idea allowing LA to fill out its roster!! Shohei Ohtani rhymes with “show me the money.”
Football: holy mackerel — at the half, NDSU clobbering USD, 35 - 3. NDSU, unranked; USD, ranked #3. Could USD come back to win? All of a sudden, things are getting exciting! Nope, early 4th quarter, looks like a rout. Fargo to Missoula: 14 hours. Fargo to Billings: 8 hours. Don’t even think of an EV unless you want to make it a several-day trip. All of a sudden, the Montana game is huge next week. For newbies: Division I football.
Original Post
Reminder: one today plus two = three Saturdays until Christmas. Christmas Eve, December 24, 2023. Saturday, December 23, 2023, is going to be huge, especially in the malls in southern California.
Great 1000-piece puzzle or still life painting:
Now back to college football. Three games today, including the three Dakota teams: UND, SDSU, and USD.
Last night:
My predictions: see comments -- hope I have this right -- if not see -- comments from reader ---
top bracket: NDSU vs USD; winner (prediction): USD {Wrong! Huge NDSU win.}
top bracket: Villanova vs SDUS; winner (prediction): SDSU
bottom bracket. UAlbany vs Idaho -- winner (prediction (UAlbany)
semis (prediction, updated): NDSU vs (2) Montana; winner (prediction): Montana
semis (prediction: (5) UAlbany vs (1) SDSU; winner (prediction): SDSU
Championship (prediction): Montana vs SDSU: winner (prediction) SDSU
Disclaimer: in a long note like this there will be typographical and content errors along with factoids and personal opinions.
Updates
December 26, 2023: must have been a slow news the day after Christmas -- MSN re-posts this same story. Biden announces, distribution of $8 billion to two bullet train projects in California ahead of 2024 -- in anticipation of a presidential election year.
Original Post
From today / overnight, your tax dollars at work:
More than $6 billion is going to high-speed electric rail projects in California.
President Joe Biden made the announcement today in Las Vegas.
The money is slated for two different projects, one connecting Las Vegas and Los Angeles and another linking Bakersfield with Merced. LOL.
Supporters hope the billions of dollars will get the high-speed rail system back on track.
More than $3 billion is set to help build nearly 175 miles of track between Bakersfield and Merced.
In 2008, Californians gave the green light to the 500-mile project, which promised to carry passengers between San Francisco and Los Angeles in under three hours on a fully electric train traveling at speeds of up to 220 miles per hour.
For folks living in North Dakota who do not understand the geography of California, a high-speed train from Bakersfield to Merced would be similar to a high-speed train from Williston to Stanley. Without the fruits and nuts.
The $3 billion will go a long way in bridging the funding gap.
$130 billion.
Buffett is always looking for a big opportunity. Warren Bufffett's cash hoard:
Ukraine, to date:
Black Friday, consumer spending:
Isn't it time for California to simply transfer the entire bullet train project (LAX to SFO) to Elon Musk's RailroadX company? The project will be completed by 2026 and will come in under budget. The only downside: having to read all those mean tweets.
Unlike California’s rail effort, the Las Vegas project is not government-run but rather a private-public partnership led by Brightline, a Florida-based company that runs a successful commuter line within that state.
The 218-mile “Brightline West” project is expected to have speeds of at least 186mph, resulting in a proposed trip time of 2 hours and 10 min.
The company reportedly wants to price the cheapest one-way ticket at around $100, so that it is competitive with the cost of air travel.
A formal announcement of the project funded by the $1trillion 2021 infrastructure law is planned for Friday, December 8, 2023.
A total of $8.2bn in rail awards are to be announced on Friday by the White House.
The announcement comes after Gavin Newsom, the California governor, asked Joe Biden in October for a $3 billion federal grant to support his state’s high-speed rail project connecting San Francisco and LA, which is estimated to cost $88 billion to $128 billion.
The federal investment would allow the state to complete an initial 119-mile segment of the route between Merced and Bakersfield.
The trip on the 218-mile electrified line from Rancho Cucamonga to Las Vegas will take just over two hours, with stops in Hesperia or Apple Valley, according to Brightline.
The trains can reach speeds of 200 miles per hour. The company already has the federal permits, the labor agreements and the land — a swath in the wide median of Interstate 15 — to build the line. Construction is expected to begin early next year.
More: will run down the wide swath between opposing lanes of I-15.
The states “own” the interstate highways once completed, meaning there will be no regulatory issues and in this case, no geographic issues like mountains. If they can’t get this done on time, under budget, light rail is doomed in this country.
Taylor Swift:
Rumor: if this works out, this will be just in time for the newly proposed Swifty Casino Bar and Grill, to be the largest casino on the strip. This will be located across the street from Barbie's Pink Hotel And Ken's Casino.
The United States is on track to ship more diesel to Europe this
month, with Europe’s diesel imports from Asia and the Middle East
falling so far this month.
While Europe’s desire to wean itself
completely off Russian fuel supplies, Europe’s appetite for imported
diesel and gasoil hasn’t diminished. In fact, it is estimated that it
will increase this month to 290,000 bpd. This is the highest level of
diesel and gasoil imports since July of 2018.
U.S. Gulf Coast exports of diesel spiked as soon as refinery
maintenance season was complete. But Panama Canal bottlenecks created a
chokepoint for US exports of diesel to Latin America—opening the door
for exports to Europe, who has been on the lookout for additional
supplies.
