"#Kentucky lawmakers gave final approval Thursday to a bill stripping the state's Democratic governor of any role in picking someone to occupy a U.S. Senate seat if a vacancy occurred in the home state of 82-year-old Senate Republican leader Mitch #McConnell.
"The legislation calls for a special election to fill any Senate vacancy from the Bluegrass State." FRANKFORT, Ky.
The #legislation’s passage in the #Senate is not in doubt — it has the support of President #Biden (cuz it’s better than nothing), Senate Majority Leader Chuck #Schumer & Minority Leader Mitch #McConnell. But a single senator can throw up procedural roadblocks & push the govt past the #shutdown deadline….
…>½ of #IRS employees would face furloughs at the height of #tax filing season. #Border Patrol officers & about 1.3M active-duty #military#service members would remain on the job #withoutPay.
On Tuesday the Republican leader in the Senate, #Mitch#McConnell, told reporters ⭐️Johnson should “let the House speak”. ⭐️
Asked about Republican proposals to offer aid to Ukraine as a loan not a grant,
👉McConnell said it was more important to act quickly.
“The only way to get relief to the #Ukrainians and the #Israelis quickly is ♦️for the House to figure out how to pass the Senate bill,” ♦️he said, adding:
“We’ve got a bill that got 70 votes in the Senate. Give members of the House of Representatives an opportunity to vote on it. That’s the solution.”
OVER THE WEEKEND, the Wall Street Journal published a long report on the accidental death of the shipping magnate #Angela#Chao, sister to former transportation secretary Elaine Chao and sister-in-law to soon-to-be former Senate Republican leader #Mitch#McConnell.
News of Angela Chao's death first appeared in shipping trade publications with no explanation, then was vaguely reported as an automobile accident;
McConnell, in announcing his plans to resign from his leadership post, said her dying had prompted him to think about the end of his own career.
What the Journal reported was that Chao had #drowned inside her #Tesla Model X after accidentally backing it into a pond on her Texas estate, on the short drive between the guesthouse and the main house.
According to the story, she called a friend in the guesthouse from inside the sinking car to ask for help:
While making a three-point turn, she had put the car in reverse instead of drive, she said.
It is a mistake she had made before with the Tesla gearshift.
The car had zipped backward, tipping over an embankment and into a pond.
By now, whenever anyone dies in a Tesla, the natural question to ask is whether or not the Tesla killed them, or helped kill them.
How do you put a car into reverse instead of drive?
The online manual for the Model X, has a diagram showing how you put the car in gear
It shows an interface on the Tesla's touchscreen.
It has no label for either "Drive" or "Reverse"; the blue arrows, judging by the diagrams in the rest of the manual, are not part of the display, but the manual's indication of how the driver is supposed to move their finger.
The text explains:
When you press the brake pedal when parked, the drive mode strip displays on one side of the touchscreen. Use the drive mode strip to shift Model X: swipe up for Drive, swipe down for Reverse or touch the P for Park or N for Neutral. The drive mode strip is always available on the touchscreen when you touch Controls.
Even by Tesla's ridiculous design standards, this is a shockingly bad control system.
There is no stable convention around whether swiping up means "go up" or "go down";
notoriously, Microsoft and Apple have completely opposite theories about which way makes sense.
And that dispute is only about manipulating text on your computer screen, not setting a two-and-a-half-ton vehicle into physical motion.
Tesla's choice of direction
—flicking the little car-glyph upward, as if you're pushing the car itself, rather than flicking it down, as if you're pulling the landscape so the car moves forward
—is not only the opposite of the way you advance along the road on a touchscreen in Google Maps, it's the opposite of how you drop a normal automatic-transmission car into Drive with a physical shifter.
The wrist and shoulder rotate down and back, and the car goes forward.
Presumably this had something to do with why Angela Chao had previously had trouble shifting the Tesla into the correct gear.
#Elon#Musk's design team, committed to his adolescent theories of futurism
—and to moving as many controls as possible from physical buttons, knobs, or levers to the much cheaper touchscreen, even in a car that starts at $79,900
—built a system that runs contrary to a driver's muscle memory of how to put a car in gear.
It's also theoretically possible that the Tesla put itself in gear.
The Model X includes a beta feature, which a driver would need to specifically activate, in which the car scans its surroundings and makes a guess on its own as to whether it should shift into Drive or Reverse:
When Auto Shift out of Park is enabled, Model X is designed to automatically select Drive or Reverse. The instrument panel displays the selected drive mode when the driver's door is closed and seat belt is buckled.
To override the selection, press the brake pedal and use the drive mode strip on touchscreen to shift into your desired drive mode (Drive, Reverse, Park; see Shift Using the Touchscreen).
Confirm the drive mode selection and follow the instructions on the instrument panel before you press the accelerator.
With your car rolling backwards out of control, simply turn your attention to the touchscreen
—because there is no physical button to feel for
—stab your finger at the letter P, hit it precisely, and hold it there.
I think we know--other than Trump-- who has cognitive issues, and it's not Biden.👇🏼
Via Scott MacFarlane:
At news conference, Sen. Mitch #McConnell (R-KY) comment on Sen. #KatieBritt (R-AL) response to State of the Union: "We were proud of Senator Britt. Thought she did a great job. I have zero criticism of her performance. I thought it was really outstanding"
#McConnell had a chance for actual bravery—to nudge his legacy a least a little towards the right side of history—and he folded like Ted Cruz’s favorite blow up doll.
Rick Wilson:
I mean, it's not like Mitch McConnell is going to become a working lobbyist when he leaves. There's literally nothing in the realm of reason that drives an endorsement of Trump, aside from wanting his grave to reek of ammonia.
#McConnell endorses #Trump
🤬🤬🤬
The #Senate minority leader is the highest-ranking #Republican to back Trump, & the move could help the f⁕⚠︎er w/major #donors “It is abundantly clear that …Trump has earned the requisite support of Republican voters to be our nominee for President of the United States,” #MitchMcConnell said in a statement to The Washington Post.
#McConnell — who has announced he will step down from his leadership role in Nov — is one of the most influential Washington #Republicans to back #Trump, & the #endorsement was a remarkable, if expected, move from the Kentucky Republican. He has held out in recent weeks as other Republicans have lined up to back Trump, including many who wanted a different nominee, & his endorsement means that almost every #powerful cog in the Republican apparatus is directly behind TFG.