THREAD: Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs)

Global car sales shrank by ~14% in 2020
* Sales of electric cars grew ~50% (from a very low level)
* Sales of SUVs declined ~10%, but share of sales went from 39% to 42%

→ What about emissions from SUVs?

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https://t.co/WBN3Lup2hU

The Melbourne Stars' 10 years of Big Bash history is genuinely some of the most hilarious sports in Australian history. Don't do this normally but, a thread:

BBL01: a somewhat conventional semi final loss to Perth, but look at the batting lineup they were rocking, they had Matty Wade at 8. 2/88 chasing 175 until Ben Edmondson (!) takes a double wicket maiden.

BBL02: The hilarity begins. Faulkner "captains" as Warne is risking a ban for slow over rates from the H&A stage. Scorchers need three off the last ball and Faulkner bowls a noey. Calamity. As an aside, Alex Keath on debut goes 1-0-27-0.

BBL03: Stars go 8-0 in the H&A with a NRR of 2.2. Utterly dominant. But it's a knockout 1 v 4 in the semi and you know what happens...Hobart restrict them to 141 and Paine makes 65 as they chase it down easily.

BBL04: Third time in four years, Stars lose a semi in Perth. Only chasing 145, with KP batting with Luke Wright, nine wickets in hand at halfway, all out 126.

35 years ago today, in Moscow, Russia, "The Italian Stallion" Rocky Balboa defeated "The Siberian Express" Ivan Drago via 15th round knockout in what is still considered one of the greatest wars in combat sports history 🥊

Many questioned Balboa's decision to fight Drago following the death of his friend Apollo Creed during an exhibition bout with the Russian earlier in the year. Balboa was criticised for failing in his duty as a cornerman by not throwing in the towel when Creed was clearly done.

Drago showed no mercy and no remorse for the former heavyweight champion of the world. Creed would pass away in the ring in what is still considered one of the darkest days in boxing history.

It didn't take long for Balboa and Drago to come to terms and agree to throw down but even the press were stunned to learn the date and location at the pre-fight press conference. Christmas day in the Russian capital.

Drago was heralded as the perfect combination of genetics and science, using some of the most state of art training facilities and equipment available at the time. The result was the highest punching power ever achieved by a boxer. A record that still stands to this day.

The U.S.-China Rivalry

The US and China are the 2 greatest rivals in the 21st century. It’s American democracy vs Chinese socialism at the level of Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal in the 2008 Wimbledon Men’s Final. Who’s the better player? American democracy or Chinese socialism?

2/Probably no people have scrutinized American democracy more than China has, the world’s oldest civilization. “American exceptionalism” is under Beijing’s microscope. American democracy has catapulted the US into becoming the world’s greatest superpower in less than 200 years.

3/China, whose momentum will overtake the US in GDP by mid-century, has the same drive as Nadal (who proclaimed Federer was “the greatest player in the history [of tennis]") going against Federer at Wimbledon Final in 2008. Ever cautious, patient and wise, China respects its

4/opponent (as did Nadal) for its achievements. In order to better the US Beijing knows it must be more competitive, up its game and improve its skills. The US-China rivalry is one wherein “iron sharpens iron”. Yet whereas Beijing views American democracy thru an objective,

5/ideologically unbiased lens, the same can’t be said of US Congress, many of whom fear/think China wants to “take over the world” (to wit SoS Mike Pompeo) to “spread communism”. Having 5,000 years of culture, including Confucianism, China has the clearer and more objective view