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chaosducks · 7 months ago

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you belong to the Smiler

Everyone's heard of the 14 inverting Gurstlauer coaster with one of the most infamous histories in the history of roller coasters. The smiler opened on 31st of May 2013 after having been delayed many many months due to teething problems. To make way for this beast of a coaster, the Black hole had to be removed, or rather, its tent did since the attraction closed in 2005.

Manufactured by German company Gurstlauer, the smiler was the first Infinity coaster smashing records with its many inversions and immersive theming.The ride also consists of two chain lift hills (one of which is at a 90° angle) and a soundtrack to drive you mad which is blasted in your ears the second you enter the X-sector area.

During the 2012 scarefest, the backstory of the ride was released in the form of a scare maze. This maze would take guests through the Sanctuary, run by the ministry of joy. It would introduce us to Dr Kelman and Miles Cedars(the first smiling advocate) and the story of The Smiler. As well as this, Towers released a four part mini horror series titled “Smile.Always'' which would be a slogan for the ride that gave enthusiasts insight into what the ride would be about. However, after the crash most of the backstory behind the ride had to be removed.

Unfortunately I can't talk about The Smiler without bringing up that tragedy that happened on June 2nd 2015. The smiler crash was a human error, yet it causes many theme park goers to feel hesitant about the ride. So, how did it happen? On a particularly windy and particularly busy day in June 2015, The Smiler ride broke down around midday due to technical difficulties- it shouldn't have been open in the first place with gusts exceeding 46 miles per hour(the ride should only operate in gusts under 34 mph) and due to the high queue times a fifth train was added to the tracks. However, the people who added the train (The ride operators for that day) never told the maintenance team that the train had been added and since the train wasn't weighted with water dummies to help it make the course of the track. This caused the train to stall in a valley near the ride's batwing element. Once the train had come to a complete stop, a loaded train had already been dispatched sending guests up the first lift hill. It stopped. This is a good thing, the ride is supposed to stop at this point since sensors were likely to have detected something obstructing the track and is called a block section. The maintenance team were still on site and so assumed that the block section had been triggered by a ghost train yet the empty carriage was no ghost and very much real. After the override of the block section, the train continued along the track, reaching the same valley of the empty train.

The collision caused what some have described as “a horror scene”, “similar to a 90 mile per hour car crash” and Alton Towers was fined millions of pounds to compensate for the 16 injuries that were caused.

This mustn't mislead you, The Smiler (and other rides similar) are safer now that the crash has happened and it is safe to say that it will not happen again. So, you shouldn't be scared of The Smiler, not for those reasons anyway. The ride is safer and still thrilling nine years after the crash occurred.

#There's more on the way #Can it Evynn #The smiler #The smiler crash #Tw: crash #Alton towers #Theme parks #My writing #Non fiction writing

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charles2027 · 4 years ago

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40%) can be chalked up to consumers' hesitation to make huge purchases on mobile devices. And also, long sales cycles produce a great deal of non-converting clicks. Sector Typical Mobile Google Ads CVR (Look) Typical Mobile Google Advertisements CVR (GDN) Arts & Enjoyment 3. 54% 1. 36% Manufacturing 2. 28% 0. 54% Computers & Electronic devices 1.

31% Money 3. 50% 0. 41% Medical care 4. 24% 0. 80% Residence & Garden 2. 21% 0. 50% Education 2. 82% 0. 22% Law/Legal 6. 95% 0. 31% Retail 3. 11% 0. 49% Travel & Hospitality 2. 40% 0. 48% Automotive Service & Repair 4. 06% 0. 47% Hair Hair salons 5.

45% Organization Services 3. 16% 0. 43% Internet & Telecommunications 3. 33% 0. 35% Consulting 2. 04% 0. 30% Nonprofits 2. 63% 0. 37% Transport 3. 83% 0. 45% Building 4. 64% 0. 74% Yupnearly $150 to drive a single mobile conversion on display screen. When you layer customers' hesitation to take action while utilizing their smart devices in addition to the laziness connected with the GDN, you get a recipe for super high costs per conversion.

Also on search, where your prospects are typically extra disposed to doing something about it, you're still considering a mobile price per conversion criteria that's greater than 60% greater than what we see when checking out desktop and mobile with each other. It might be rewarding to rather limit your mobile search campaigns such that you're mostly concentrated on high-intent key phrases.

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96) might be due, partly, to XMX Ltd. builders london the capability of their leads to acquire items (e. g., tickets) straight on the SERP. The exact same goes with Hairdresser marketers ($ 19. 35) and also appointment reservations. Somewhere else, advertisers in the Automotive Solution & Repair work industry ($ 50. 54) likely take advantage of the necessity people exhibit when they require quick options to car-related troubles.

78), Consulting ($ 258. 46), or Non-Profit ($ 308), make sure your expectations for mobile screen projects are reasonable. It's most likely best to concentrate your efforts on staying top-of-mind and also inspiring your potential customers to look for you on Google. Industry Ordinary Mobile Google Ads Cost per Conversion (Search) Typical Mobile Google Ads Cost per Conversion (GDN) Arts & Entertainment $22.

42 Manufacturing $82. 73 $120. 37 Computers & Electronics $95. 13 $174. 83 Financing $82. 58 $144. 87 Medical care $95. 92 $99. 05 House & Yard $105. 99 $156. 81 Education and learning $108. 60 $284. 78 Law/Legal $54. 68 $127. 45 Retail $55. 38 $75. 91 Traveling & Hospitality $57. 29 $91.

54 $85. 91 Hair Salons $19. 35 $170. 64 Organization Solutions $125. 60 $132. 17 Net & Telecommunications $140. 40 $154. 26 Consulting $117. 75 $258. 46 Nonprofits $81. 70 $308. 00 Transportation $66. 57 $139. 77 Building and construction $93. 16 $101. 84 Ecommerce advertisers selling low-cost items in high-competition industriesClothing & Clothing (2.

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78%) tend to turn clicks right into purchases at a greater price than marketers in premium sectors like Chemical & Industrial (0. 83%) and House & Yard (1. 31%). Obviously, this isn't an universal legislation; home window A/C systems aren't necessarily cheap, however HEATING AND COOLING & Climate Control marketers (3. 30%) drive higher typical ecommerce conversion rates than anybody else.

It interests keep in mind that the average ecommerce conversion rate (1. 91%) is roughly half the general Google Ads search benchmark (3. 75%). This might be due, in part, to Google's expansion of the pool of search inquiries that activate Buying ads on the SERPs. If these advertisements are being shown for increasingly more high-funnel queries, that could describe the fairly low ordinary ecommerce conversion price.

2. 70% 1. 77% 0. 83% 2. 20% 2. 16% 2. 94% 1. 98% 1. 31% 1. 88% 2. 07% 1. 29% 2. 78% 2. 45% 2. 20% 1. 07% 3. 30% Vindication! Although Shopping advertisements might not convert rather as usually as conventional Google text ads, ecommerce marketers can expect the conversions they do drive to be, on standard, about $10 less costly.

Of training course, the quantity of money an ecommerce advertiser agrees to pay to safeguard a conversion is mainly informed by the price (or profit margin) of the end product they're selling. In the instance of an Arts & Songs advertiserwho may be promoting low-cost items like paint brushes or drum sticksit does not make feeling to spend an entire great deal of cash trying to convert a single user.

New Residential Construction - Census Bureau

A wonderful method to drive down your Google Purchasing costs per conversion is to allocate your highest quotes to top quality campaignsthat is, Purchasing projects that branded search queries. By doing this, you'll spend one of the most money on clicks that are very most likely to transform while spending much less cash on clicks coming from greater in your marketing funnel.

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foureverdrivingschool-blog · 6 years ago

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appalledbc · 5 years ago

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“Our House is on Fire,” and Carbon Taxes Are Not Enough to Save Us

In 2008, British Columbia implemented North America's first broad-based carbon tax. Between 2007 and 2016, provincial real GDP grew by 19%, while net emissions were reduced by 3.7%. Although GDP growth over nine years is impressive, the meagre 3.7% reduction in emissions over such an extensive period is, to say the least, dismal. Add another year, the results look even worse: in 2007, BC emitted 64.76 tons of Greenhouse Gas emissions; in 2017, 64.46 tons - a mere .30 ton drop in emissions or 0.46%, less than one-half a percent, over ten years. And these recent figures do not take into account all the carbon emitting forest fires in BC over these years - a situation, one could easily surmise, that would add significantly to the total amount of emissions recorded over this ten year period.

Nonetheless BC’s initiative continues to be frequently looked to as a model strategy for carbon emissions reduction. But, in our current context of a climate emergency, it is not really, I would argue, an effective enough method for reducing emissions as aggressively as we must in order to have a truly habitable world. It is instead a good example of market based economics that has been successfully sold politically, especially by neoliberal economists, and that is why it continues to be pushed in at least 50 jurisdictions around the globe as a relatively comfortable method for dealing with emissions by those in particular who have a stake in the business-as-usual game that serves their economic interests.

It is this sort of strategy, that is, putting a price on carbon, that our current federal government has adopted as its main strategy in its Greenhouse Gas Pollution Act of 2018 and, with variations, some of the major federal parties advocate - specifically a fee-rebate structure - but it, like the BC initiative, is also woefully ineffective. We don’t have a recent report, but as of 2017 emissions in Canada (716 million tons of carbon dioxide) have been reduced by a mere 2% since 2005 levels, we are 79 mega-tonnes short of the Paris Agreement targets, and emissions in 2018 have risen 7% since 1997, the year we signed the Kyoto Agreement. It’s doubtful they dropped significantly in 2019.

The fee/tax is supposed to provide an incentive to change one’s carbon behaviour. What works against such an incentive, however, is a politically motivated tax credit payable to just about everyone to use as they wish - except the big industrial polluters who have a different market based scheme based on industry sector thresholds that is also inadequate. Such compensation, in effect, undermines any real incentive to change one’s carbon behaviour. Unless one is a committed environmentalist, why should one change one's carbon behaviour when there’s little or no pain? And in what way are such fees an incentive, say, to drive less when one has no other choice but to do so, as many do, for example, in rural Canada, where there is no public transportation to speak of, or to opt for a green vehicle or home energy source when one cannot afford the capital outlay even with government subsidies, now only available from the federal government in Ontario? Not to mention that, despite the tax credit, any fee or tax on fossil fuels disproportionately wounds those with lower incomes who cannot afford to absorb increases even with a dividend.

Even if the fee were higher, as some have suggested it should be for the process to work effectively, is anyone who isn't in the 10% going to stop driving a fossil fuel car? Is any medium size business suddenly going to switch its energy sources and green its infrastructure without significant subsidization? We're all deeply locked into fossil fuel capital investments and inscribed in the global infrastructure of fossil fuels - our houses, our cars, our businesses - and because we've naturalized that situation so deeply, we won't abandon them completely until we absolutely have to do so in order to survive.

That day may be coming: a report synthesizing all the recent research by the Science Advisory Group of the UN Climate Action Summit to coincide with the UN Summit on climate change reveals that 2014-2019 is on track to be the hottest six year period on record and that emissions reductions should really be three times what the Paris Accord recommends. Issued just two days later, the UN International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report co-written by 100 scientists synthesizing 700 recent scientific studies indicating that conditions are even worse than they anticipated in their 2018 report underscores once again the monumental crisis we're facing without aggressive action.

Yet carbon tax strategies remain attractive to governments and political parties, and it would seem many climate conscious environmental organizations also think they are a good strategy. Why? Because they are more politically palatable and would seem to balance some effort against climate change with a business-as-usual economy. But it is, alas, no longer business-as-usual: there are no jobs on an uninhabitable planet.

There is of course considerable resistance, propagandistic and otherwise, from the vested interests of fossil fuel production corporations, their financial backers, and their friends in media and government to any efforts to wean us off fossil fuels and to shift us exclusively towards sustainable green energy sources. Ask yourself who benefits from political inertia? Who benefits from climate inaction? We have a considerable number of those especially in the Western world who indulge in classic whataboutism too: what about China? What about the recalcitrance of Brazil, Turkey, and Russia? What about all the developing countries still burning coal?

And there is also what has now become a desperate resistance from climate change deniers who, when they behave with a degree of civility on social media and elsewhere, masquerade as philosophical skeptics with a veneer of reason and dance around the massive amount of globally coordinated scientific evidence on the existential reality of global warming and climate change. (Check out the hashtag #climatebrawl.) Their goal is essentially to keep the issue in doubt and a contested state. Recent cooperative research from the University of Montreal and the University of California at Santa Barbara, however, reveals that the majority of people in every single federal riding in Canada with the exception of three accept the fact of climate change and suggest that some sort of action should be taken. Indeed, with the exception of the three all say their province has experienced climate change.

No wonder they say that. The planet’s average surface temperature in 2018 was the fourth highest since 1880, when record keeping began. Nine of the ten warmest years in recorded history have occurred since 2005 - soon to be ten of the eleven warmest. This past June, the month ER visits in Ontario uncharacteristically but perhaps not coincidentally spiked, was the hottest June ever recorded, while July was the hottest month in human history, the four-hundred and fifteenth straight month of temperatures higher than the twentieth-century average. We also learned recently that September 2019 was the hottest September in recorded history. But, worse news of all, we have increased C02 emissions globally by 20% since 2015, in mere 3 and 3/4 years. 20%!!

The simple fact is that Canada is the ninth biggest emitter in the world, that Canada has the highest per capita carbon footprint of any country in the G20 (16 tonnes), that we are the tenth biggest emitter in the world if emissions are counted from 1900, that Canada’s North is warming at three times the global average, and that Canada in general is warming at twice the global rate, among the major effects the devastation in the North about which we learned this spring and summer - melting ice and refreezing ice slabs, eroding permafrost, raging fires, warming oceans - and several sustained dome-like heat waves in the South.

And the effects of carbon emissions will be with us forever: the temperature we experience at the Earth’s surface will not decrease if/when we actually manage to stop carbon emissions. It will remain at whatever level it is at the precise moment when we fully stop emissions. That's why net zero* strategies are ineffective: they still allow for the continuous production of CO2 emissions, and seldom do the offsets actually balance that output. Recent research on the significant carbon debt incurred between old forests and new forests of four decades to 100 years are a good example of that failure. In other words, biomass/biofuels (whose carbon debts are misleadingly not budgeted accurately in national carbon ledgers) as well as reforestation are not quite the salvation we might think they are as raging forest fires spewing carbon around the world continue.**

Our carbon dioxide*** emissions are 415 parts per million and accelerating. We burn two-thirds more fossil fuels today than in 1990, and one-half of all fossil fuels burned in human history have been burned since 1990. Another way of saying that: emissions have gone up by 46% in the last 300 years, half that amount in the last 30 years! They will be with us for thousands of years. In other words, the longer we wait to get the process of aggressive decarbonization going, the hotter it will be and the more the economic fallout even if we finally do manage to stop emissions completely.

Much, much more than a carbon tax is required. We'll find out soon enough that only binding government legislated regulations with legal consequences will actually work to reduce emissions and mitigate their effects with the dramatic intensity we need. We will learn that we need to shift the focus to the larger perspective of systemic change - no easy task given that the entire global economy is driven by fossil fuels. Carbon taxes can play a supporting role,**** to be sure, but the sooner all our political parties stop flirting with a price on carbon and market based solutions in general as their main climate change policies, the sooner we can get on with the job that needs to be done right now.

That job is five-fold: 1) Recognize fully at every level of government the scale of the challenge and that we all have a moral responsibility to work against the undeniable harm being inflicted on our world. Global warming even now affects every single aspect of our lives. Its effects are economic, social, and psychological; and it is already emerging as the number one health issue in the world as conditions worsen. 2) Reduce carbon emissions radically now through legally binding regulations. 3) Aggressively mitigate through whatever methods available the effects of carbon emissions already present in the atmosphere. 4) As politically difficult as this might be, shut down through legislation the production of any and all fossil fuel infrastructure (no more pipelines no more new extraction, no more subsidies). And 5) develop adaptation and survival strategies in all our communities big and small. Why this last? Because we long ago reached the point of no return and there is no going back.

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*Net zero emissions or emissions neutrality means that the amount of emissions generated is no more than the amount taken out, a theoretical complete offset. But the new emissions generated in this process nevertheless remain in the atmosphere, thus extending the presence of those emissions in the atmosphere for decades to come. This is an inadequate form of mitigation in my judgment simply because we’re still burning fossil fuels and emitting carbon. What we need to get to is a state of carbon emissions negativity whereby our carbon footprint is less than neutral by reabsorbing the carbon emissions already in the atmosphere. That job is undermined with net zero strategies. As long as we continue to burn fossil fuels at our current rate, that will not happen and matters will only get worse.

**See Eddy Isaccs in his recent report from The School of Public Policy (https://tinyurl.com/y3vdfc5m): “This is because of the time lag between the instantaneous CO2 release from combustion of wood and the decades of regrowth required“ - 44 to 100 years.

***Why Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is a Problem

Two conditions are always in play with respect to Earth’s atmosphere: the amount of sunlight (solar radiation) that reaches the Earth’s surface through the electromagnetic spectrum and the amount of greenhouse gasses in the air.

Greenhouse gas levels control the amount of heat (infrared radiation) absorbed into the atmosphere as it radiates up from the Earth.

Nitrogen and oxygen make up 99% of the atmosphere, but they really don’t have an effect on the Earth’s temperature because they do not absorb heat (infrared radiation). Carbon dioxide does indeed absorb heat, a process that prevents CO2 escaping from the atmosphere into space. Thus the more CO2 in the atmosphere, the hotter the Earth’s surface temperature. Fossil fuel emissions are the biggest source of C02 emissions, and C02 can last in the atmosphere for thousands of years.

****I agree with Eddy Isaccs in his recent report from The School of Public Policy (https://tinyurl.com/y3vdfc5m) that revenue from pricing carbon emissions should focus not on recycling that income for whatever reason, political or otherwise, but on investments in solar and wind infrastructure that can actually contribute directly to the reduction or mitigation of emissions.

#climate emergency #climatechange #climatecrisis #globalwarming #climatestrike

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f1 · 2 years ago

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It was proper racing says Verstappen after withstanding Sainz assault to extend title lead in Montreal

Max Verstappen extended his lead at the top of the drivers’ strandings to 46 points after the Canadian Grand Prix. But he was made to work hard for it by his former Toro Rosso team mate Carlos Sainz, Verstappen relishing in the “proper racing” with the now-Ferrari driver. Verstappen was looking set for a relatively stress-free afternoon in Montreal, leading comfortably from Sainz in the opening stages, having claimed pole on Saturday. But after Verstappen dropped behind the Spaniard after making a second stop, Yuki Tsunoda then crashed into the Turn 2 barriers, the Safety Car allowing Sainz to pit and close up behind Verstappen – with the pair then treating fans to a fantastic 16-lap battle to the flag as green-flag racing resumed, with Verstappen holding on to win by just 0.993s. READ MORE: Verstappen survives late Safety Car to beat Sainz to Canadian GP victory “It was a tough race,” said Verstappen. “I expected to have a little bit more pace, but we seemed to lack a little bit compared to Carlos… It was a bit more difficult than I expected. “We did our strategy, and I think for us it worked, that was the right one to do. At that second stop, of course I had the fresher tyres and I was closing in on Carlos, but I wasn’t sure if I’d actually fully close that gap to the end of the race. “But then the Safety Car came out and I was also not very happy with that, because then I knew of course he had fresh tyres behind me, and already with I think a little bit more pace compared to me… But the last 15, 16 laps, we were flat-out pushing to the limit, and I knew of course that I couldn’t make a mistake. But it was good racing. It's always more enjoyable to be able to really push in a Formula 1 car instead of just saving your tyres.” Verstappen held off his former team mate Asked what the key had been to keeping Sainz at bay, Verstappen replied: “Well, of course you always had to make sure that the places where he had DRS, you have a good exit the corner before. But it was all about just really pushing to the limit, not making a mistake in general, because I knew even in Sector 1, if I made a tiny mistake Carlos would gain a tenth on me and that might have been enough to then be closer in the first DRS zone and then in the second. DRIVER OF THE DAY: Leclerc's superb recovery drive gets your vote “It was proper racing, proper pushing. I had my moments where I had a bit of oversteer, then I looked in the mirror and I saw Carlos having the same amount of moments! So it was really on the edge but that's good to see.” With Verstappen’s advantage in the drivers’ standings now close to two race victories over team mate Sergio Perez – who failed to finish in Montreal after a Lap 8 technical issue – the Dutchman could be forgiven for believing that the 2022 title was already going his way. 2022 Canadian Grand Prix: Verstappen holds off Sainz to take victory in Montreal But the Red Bull driver refused to follow that line of thinking, despite having won five of the last six races. “It's still a very long way [to go],” said Verstappen, whose Red Bull team have also won the last six races, a feat they’ve only achieved once before. “I know the gap of course is quite big, but I also know it can switch around very quickly. I mean, race three I was 46 behind, so we just need to stay calm, we need to focus and we need to improve because today we were not the quickest. HIGHLIGHTS: Watch the action from an exciting race in Montreal, as Verstappen holds off Sainz to seal victory “It swings a bit,” he added. “Last weekend [in Baku] it looked good in the race, now it didn't look as good, but we still managed to win and that I think is also a quality, and we just have to work together with the whole team try and just find little improvements in the car.” via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com

#F1 #‘It was proper racing’ says Verstappen after withstanding Sainz assault to extend title lead in Montreal #Formula 1

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kingfisher95 · 7 years ago

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A Little Apology And Then Some

So last year I dropped off of the face of tumblr, basically because uni was absolutely kicking my ass. But sadly that meant I left many things unfinished. One of these was a fic exchange which I got far far too dedicated to and kept saying to myself I would finish. I never did. @avatarquake I am so so so sorry. My prompt was - Daisy/Coulson, their vehicles and car races [fanfic, graphic, fanart]. Here below, for you and every Skoulson and Formula 1 fan, the first 2000 words of my fic which I do hope to keep working on. It’s very close to my heart, but I haven’t even got to the shipping aspect.

I also do not think I will return to tumblr for several more months, probably not until well into 2018.

“Give me an update, where is Loki?” Phil thinks he manages to sound nonchalant even in the heat of battle, bracing his body and throwing the wheel left praying the tyres will grip. Of course they do, 7 laps old and there’s no give at all but it’s always a gamble. They bite and bite and bite and the apex roars around and now he can hit the gas again, franticly climbing gears as he’s pressed back in his seat by the acceleration.

“All good Phil. You’re 6 seconds up, he’s got the edge in sector 3 but you’ve gone purple in sector 1 the past 2 laps. Fuel is on target,” May crackles in his ear, breezily calm, he can almost picture her leaning in to the telemetry screens with that tiny crease of concentration between her brows, working the best way to keep their agile little car ahead of the overpowered Asgardian brutes.

The next corner races at him and he lifts off and he fights the instinct to brake, carrying all the speed he can, deeper, deeper.

NOW. His foot stamps on the brakes and he wrenches right. This time the tyres slip just a millimetre before they catch and he’s flooring it again, racing toward the start-finish line to start lap 45/51 and sector 1, a fast and tight set of corners which test the aero package to the limit and makes his heart race like a derby stallion.

“Purple again, how are the tyres?” May asks as he punches in to sector two.

“Tyres are good,” he manages to grind out as he maxes out and the force of the acceleration pushes him backwards into his seat and the heat of the roaring V12. The back straight wings past the corners of his sight in a blur of colour, eyes fixed on the approaching corner, a vicious left hander where drivers can experience in excess of 4 G.

“Loki closing we need to hit 1:39,” crackles the radio as the force of his braking causes the webbed harness to bite into his shoulders and Coulson hits the confirm button as he flicks the car into the corner just a fraction too late, running wide and setting him up wrong for the sweeping right hander. The tires squeal in protest, smoking and drowned out by the engine’s roar and he runs far too wide onto the curb. Coulson swears violently, wrestling the car back onto the tarmac and hitting the accelerator down the third straight.

“Sorry Phil. Damage report on the lockup?”

“Intact. Tyres will make it to the end of the race if I’m careful.” Honestly he’s not sure if they will and Copse is closing on him, a corner taken almost flat. The sweat is running in his eyes now and he can see a flash of the golden Asgard livery in his right mirror.

Copse is over in a flash and the frantic weave of the next few corners feels all the worse as Coulson starts to feel the back end slide by increments. Around Stowe the back end steps out like an American drifter, smoking violently.

“Box. Box.” May still sounds calm but Coulson can’t believe she’s calling him in, 6 laps to the end. 6 laps, he’ll make it last. “Box Phil, and confirm.”

Coulson wings past the pit lane entry and on to the start finish straight, glancing at the timing board that still shows him in 1st place. He’s in the 1.41’s and suddenly Loki’s car is looming large in his mirrors. The SHIELD engine is vastly underpowered compared to the Asgard team and a tight feeling develops in his chest as he throws the car in to the first set of corners of lap 46. He’s got to rely on his aero package and pray the tires make it.

“Coulson when I give an order, I expect it obeyed. Box this lap unless you want your ass handed to you extra crispy,” the radio booms with Fury’s voice. “Confirm.”

Coulson doesn’t have time to confirm. Loki’s gotten better drive out of Aintree and the superior horsepower is telling. He’s forced to go deep in to go defensive in to Stowe, compromising the right hander for the second time running. It’s a horse race down towards Copse and Coulson doesn’t bother touching the brakes as he flings the car into the pass. Its rear end steps out like a ballet dancer as Loki dives towards the inside line, trying the undercut, the smell of burning rubber is everywhere and all Phil can see is smoke and yellow livery and then black.

A fierce joy rises inside Daisy as she flies through the final corner of the penultimate lap. Spa-francorchamps, the fastest race on the calendar. The black tarmac glistens festively, varnished with rain, and the chunky inters throw plumes of water to her left and right.

“1:55.2,” the radio intones. Daisy flicks the confirm and surges across the line. She needs to shave a quarter of a second off this lap and she knows exactly where to do it. The track is rising beneath her and she punches the gas, following the fading racing line to the crest of the hill in Eau Rouge, a terrifying blind corner and she turns in with a thrill in her heart the same as every time she takes this corner which betters even the bravest of drivers.

All she can see is trees and sky and then the track falls away beneath her as she turns in on faith. With a snap the track comes back in to view but she’s carrying too much speed to make the left hander. She punches the brakes and the tyres lock in protest, skating over the soaking track and the gravel trap spits as she slides to a halt and the screen flickers black.

Daisy slams her hands against the wheel in frustration and rips off the VR headset, revealing the dark room and the cheap plastic of the simulator’s walls. May perches to her left, tablet in hand and a steely look in her eyes.

“You just wasted an hour and half driving time to crash out on the final lap. You knew you were taking eau rouge too fast, that was stupid and reckless.” She clips out in her emotionless voice, reaching for Daisy’s wristband and flicking to her heart rate monitor. It’s hovering around 85, and the older woman makes a noise of approval. “Good recovery. But you can do better.”

May drops Daisy’s wrist and stands up, tapping on her tablet with a small crease between her brows. Daisy unclips the steering wheel and places it in front of her on the nose of the sim. Unbuckling the racing harness, she stands, rolling her shoulders to relieve the tension of being cradled in a carbon fibre cocoon for nearly 4 hours. She hops neatly out, and turns to start unscrewing her seat, a custom made mould of her body, from the skeletal sim car.

“No need for that,” May interrupts, looking up and snatching the steering wheel. “You’re back down here this afternoon.”

That was unusual, usually SHIELD only gave their young drivers half days on the simulator, here and there, crumbs off the tables of the big boys. Now it was Winter break Daisy had expected to have even less time with Barton and Romanoff back and needing to run the predicted spec for next year and learn the new track in Azerbaijan.

“Why’s that?” she asks, tugging off the worn racing gloves and instead tossing them in to the chair. She’s instantly suspicious. “You finally convinced them I’m a rockstar worthy of recognition?”

May doesn’t even look up.

“After that display?” she says coolly. “Not likely. Get some lunch Johnson, I expect you back here at 1.30.”

“Yes ma’am!” Daisy darts up the stairs into the sun-filled atrium, breathing in deep, clean lungfuls of air, wonderfully fresh after the stuffy sim room. The glass the room, like a giant fishbowl, is bedecked in twinkling lights and icicles. A colossal Christmas tree takes pride of place, it’s boughs heavy with silver SHIELD-sponsored baubles and a selection of perfectly wrapped cuboidal presents crowd at its feet in silver and black paper. Daisy pauses to examine the thing with distaste, a heavy-handed tribute to consumerism, and glances round at the clipped sound of heels approaching.

“Hiya Daisy!” Bobbi chirrups, and Daisy spins and hugs a statuesque blonde woman in greeting.

“Bobbi! Long time no see! I didn’t expect to see you here, they running you though the mill too?”

“Yeah, Fury’s giving us some big inspirational speech and then I’ve got sim drills, according to my timetable.”

“Yeah, I spent all morning down there with the cavalry, apparently I’ve got to go back there this afternoon. Don’t fancy a swap do you? Who’ve you got?”

Bobbi chuckles as they cross in to the swinging doors of the canteen.

“No chance girl. I’ve got a hot date with Hunter. Besides, you know May’s the best at what she does.”

Daisy groans and rolls her eyes melodramatically, snatching up a bottle of water with one hand and an apple with another.

“Sure, but would it kill her to crack a smile every so often?”

The plastic canteen chairs scrape on the faux wood lino as they sit by one of the curved bay windows and Daisy bites in to her apple with a crisp crunch. The room is rapidly filling with a buzz of noise as more and more people file in and she glances around curiously. Fury is lurking ominously in a corner, dressed in a black leather biker jacket.

“You gotta remember what she’s been through Daisy.” Bobbi reproves as she pokes her salad with a plastic fork.

“Yeah and what was that exactly,” mutters the smaller woman. “Nobody seems to be able to tell me. And why does that mean she gets to put me through the ringer. She made me drive Spa twice this morning. In the wet.”

Bobbi casts her a sympathetic look and opens her mouth to reply.

“Ok PEOPLE,” comes the bellow. Fury is standing at the front of the room, flanked by Fitz-Simmons, head engineer and biomechanics respectively. He builds the cars and finds the limits of their capabilities, she does the same to the drivers. Daisy hates them both. Neither of them deign to work with anything or anyone below top level, Daisy who gets a morning in the sim a score of times a year is quite beneath their notice.

“I have been informed that we are performing… suboptimally,” he glances fiercely at the gawky Scot on his left who blinks robotically at the attentive crowd. “Our competitors are churning out better, faster and stronger drivers. SHIELD has not had a package to rival for the championship since Rogers. We are going to be making big changes around these parts, starting this afternoon. We are working towards a more integrated, innovative system. The board wants results. You all gotta pull your weight, or you might find you have no weight to pull. Engineers of all descriptions, report to Fitz for debriefing in the garage. Drivers, PR, trainers, personal engineers, report to Simmons right here. “

#skoulson #cousy #formula 1 #long post #writing #to be continued #formula 1 au

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cars4starters · 5 years ago

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You’d think most people would be worried about running out of power when it comes to electric cars.

But research in the UK has found that one in five drivers are more concerned about the dangers of driving in an electrical storm.

Yep, the same Brits who are probably scared of being attacked by sharks or snakes, seems to be frightened of driving in an electrical storm — and presumably hit by lighting.

Seriously.

Interest in green motoring continues to grow as Brits look to cut their carbon footprint and reduce running costs, with sales of all-electric cars up by 151 per cent in October.

Despite this growth and Government plans to phase out conventional petrol and diesel cars by 2040, several myths remain around electric vehicles (EVs).

The survey of petrol and diesel drivers revealed 22 per cent would not feel safe charging an electric car.

While 18 per cent or 1 in 5 said they didn’t think it would be safe to drive through a lightning storm, and 12 per cent wouldn’t feel happy about charging their phone in an electric car.

In London the figures are even higher.

The city boasts more than 20,000 electric vehicles, 1700 electric taxis and Europe’s largest electric bus fleet.

But it is here where petrol and diesel owners are most concerned about the supposed dangers of zero emissions driving.

One in three or 29 per cent of Londoners were worried about driving in lightning, with the same figure having safety concerns about driving in the rain.

In comparison, just 11 per cent of people in East Anglia were worried about going out in an electric car in the same conditions.

Hyundai conducted the myth-busting research with OnePoll as society looks at ways to reduce its carbon-footprint.

The automotive sector is already investing billions to bring more electric vehicles to market, helping to manage the transition to a zero-emissions motoring future.

Of the 2000 petrol, diesel and alternatively-fuelled vehicle (AFV) drivers surveyed, 56 per cent said the Government was doing the right thing by encouraging motorists to switch to AFVs by 2040.

It follows another study undertaken by the car manufacturer which found that 46 per cent of motorists cited range anxiety as one of their major concerns about buying an electric car.

This is despite the average Brit driving around 30km per day and the UK boasting more public charging stations than petrol stations.

The existence of myths could be explained by a lack of education about electric cars, with 28 per cent admitting they don’t know enough about EVs.

Hyundai’s Sylvie Childs said it has been fascinating to hear about some of the misconceptions that people still have about electric vehicles.

“We’ve all been told you don’t mix electricity with water, but when it comes to EVs there’s absolutely no extra risk of driving in a lightning storm �� they are just as safe as a petrol or diesel car,” she said.

“Range anxiety is also an interesting one. When electric cars first came out the range was an issue we had to tackle, but these days you can get almost 300 miles (480km) on a single charge and this will increase further in time.

“The NEXO hydrogen fuel cell car can travel even further with a range of over 400 miles (640km) and takes less than five minutes to re-fuel with hydrogen.

“But despite these common misconceptions, our research, along with the growth in sales figures, shows there is a real appetite for low emission vehicles in the UK.

“It’s for us in the industry, working together with Government and electricity providers, to make sure drivers understand the reality of EV ownership.”

Hyundai is launching its Drive Different campaign in the UK, which looks at our attitudes towards eco mobility, what impacts our driving style and how this changes in an AFV.

Top 10 electric car concerns:

Range anxiety bringing you down?

Don’t panic. A typical electric vehicle (EV) covers between 160 and 320km on a single charge and even longer on some models with ranges of more than 300 miles. Hyundai’s KONA Electric can actually go as far as 450km with one charge.

Worried you won’t find anywhere to charge?

No need to be! There are currently more than 14,500 public charging points in more than 9000 locations in the UK and the network is growing rapidly.

Think an electric vehicle is too expensive?

Think again. With more and more affordable and competitive options and fewer moving parts to fail or need replacing, EVs are in fact cheaper to run than conventionally fuelled vehicles.

Worried that electric vehicles are too sluggish?

Not true! Instant torque delivery means EVs can accelerate just as quickly and if not much quicker than their petrol or diesel counterparts. For example, Hyundai’s Kona Electric can accelerate from 0-100km/h in just 7.9 seconds.

Think you can’t take an electric vehicle through the car wash or drive in a lightning storm?

Of course we’ve all been told that you don’t mix electricity with water, but when it comes to EV’s its perfectly safe to use a car wash and there’s no extra risk of driving in a lightning storm.

Not enough choice in the market?

The electric car market is expanding rapidly. In fact, Hyundai currently has the largest e-mobility fleet in the world including the latest in electric, hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

Worried that electric vehicles’ batteries are adding to the landfill crisis?

EV batteries can be recycled just like the batteries in petrol or diesel cars. EV power cells can be used to store solar and wind energy, or they can be broken down with their more-valuable elements reused.

Doubting the safety of electric vehicles?

Rest assured that EVs undergo the same rigorous testing and meet the same safety standards required for petrol or diesel fuelled cars.

Worried about your breakdown cover?

No reason to be. The majority of breakdown suppliers now provide services for all EVs as well as conventional vehicles.

Don’t think an electric vehicle will fuel your petrol head needs?

You won’t be disappointed. As soon as you push down on the accelerator, the transition from stationary to speed is almost instantaneous.

Hyundai Kona Electric

Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuelled electric vehicle.

Mini electric

CHECKOUT: Renault launches ‘in-Seine’ electric boat

CHECKOUT: Solar project powers electric cars

Sharks, snakes and may lightning strike your electric car #Aussie #carnews #carphotos #carreviews #cars4starters #notjustcars #electriccars #lightning #top10concerns You'd think most people would be worried about running out of power when it comes to electric cars.

#Aussie #car news #car photos #car reviews #cars4starters #electric cars #lightning #not just cars #top 10 concerns

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mikemortgage · 6 years ago

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Cenovus swings to profitability but frets over Kenney’s oil-by-rail cancellation threat

CALGARY — Cenovus Energy Inc. is concerned the domestic market’s fragile balance and lift from higher heavy oil prices could be jeopardized if Alberta’s new government cancels oil-by-rail contracts.

Cenovus pulled in $110 million in net earnings in the first quarter of this year, compared with a $914 million loss in the same period a year earlier and a $1.35-billion loss in the fourth quarter of 2018.

The debt-laden company’s fortunes turned around in Dec. 2018 when the previous Alberta government under Premier Rachel Notley announced a historic intervention in the market, supported by opposition parties, and ordered oil companies to reduce their output in the face of record-setting $50 discounts for Canadian crude amid a lack of pipeline infrastructure. She also announced a $3.7-billion plan to buy railway cars to pull crude out of the province using trains.

Cenovus kicks off oilpatch earnings with big miss and 7% cut to output forecast

Cenovus CEO estimates production curtailments will deliver billions to taxpayers

Cenovus president and CEO Alex Pourbaix said on an earnings call Wednesday that before the production-limiting order, his company had a royalty credit with the government of $29 million because of rock-bottom prices within Alberta.

Since then, and with the rebound in prices, the company has paid $200 million in royalties, and Cenovus “only accounts for about 10 per cent of Alberta’s total oil production,” Pourbaix said.

“This curtailment order is contributing between $8 billion or $10 billion or even higher in increased royalty revenue (over the course of the year) for the government,” Pourbaix said.

But United Conservative leader Jason Kenney, who is preparing to enter the legislature, has vowed to cancel the oil-by-rail contracts, which many domestic oil companies including Cenovus believe is needed amid a lack of new export pipelines. Kenney has expressed support for curtailments.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that we need oil-by-rail in this province if we ever hope to get away from curtailment and get back to a point where we can add production,” said Pourbaix in an interview.

The executive was an early and vocal supporter of the province’s curtailment order and said he hopes the oil industry and government can reach an agreement where those contracts are not cancelled but transferred to the private sector.

“It would be a more efficient outcome since they’re needed anyway, moving them to the private sector,” Pourbaix said, adding that his company has already signed oil-by-rail deals but “if there was an opportunity for us to participate in those discussions and potentially be helpful then I’d certainly be willing to do that.”

Cenovus moved 20,000 barrels of oil per day on railway cars at the beginning of April, but Pourbaix said new tank cars were arriving and the company would be ramping up shipments to 100,000 bpd by the end of the year.

But rail shipments of oil out of Western Canada have dropped since the government imposed its curtailment order because the discount for heavy oil has shrunk to the point where producers can’t justify the cost of shipping by rail.

Data released by the National Energy Board on Wednesday showed oil-by-rail movements declined 60 per cent to 130,564 bpd in February, from 325,499 bpd in January.

Another downside of the curtailment order was that large oil producers such as Cenovus are expected to post higher costs as they report first quarter earnings this year because per-barrel operating costs are now being spread over fewer barrels of production. Pourbaix said this was a temporary problem and a small negative compared with the upside of significantly higher realized prices.

“We are honestly talking about really, really modest changes to our operating costs. These are temporary,” he said.

Cenovus’ earnings were below analyst expectations but the company announced that it had been able to pay off US$515 million worth of debt since the beginning of January and, thanks to higher oil prices, would be able to “make significant progress” to reaching its net-debt target of $5 billion this year.

The company’s net debt stood at $8.1 billion at the end of the first quarter.

“One time or not, the good news is that these windfalls are allowing the company to more aggressively pay down debt, which remains a key catalyst driving sentiment in the name,” Raymond James analyst Chris Cox said in a note.

Cenovus was down 2.14 per cent on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Wednesday, but is up 46 per cent for the year.

• Email: [email protected] | Twitter: geoffreymorgan

from Financial Post http://bit.ly/2DyGbuj via IFTTT Blogger Mortgage Tumblr Mortgage Evernote Mortgage Wordpress Mortgage href="https://www.diigo.com/user/gelsi11">Diigo Mortgage

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729renegades · 6 years ago

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UP CLOSE & PERSONAL – BEN TREHARNE-FOOSE

Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of Up Close & Personal. Today’s guest is a well-travelled entrepreneur, I think it’s safe to say. I first met this guy 2 years ago in a networking event and we’ve done a little bit of business together, but we’ve become great friends to boot as well. I’m looking forward to you hearing his story because it does pan the globe. From a small town in rural Illinois, to the depths of Japan and back to where he now calls home, in the deepest darkest valleys of the beautiful South Wales. Like most people who stay, or end up in Wales, it’s not just because they love the scenery and the country. It’s normally for love, and in this case, it’s for the love of a good woman. This guy started in graphic design and has helped loads of charities and is passionate about helping others. What started out in the charity sector, now sees him dealing with the vultures of the business world, in his business Webfibre. They specialise in app development and DRM lead generation campaigns. Without further ado, I think I need to introduce him. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Duke of Direct Response and the Lord of Leads… Ben Treharne-Foose. Ben how are you Buddy?

Ben Treharne-Foose: I’m very good, thank you Steve.

Steve Matthews: I’ve given you a big build up there Ben.

BTF: You have yea, and I have to say it’s all true.

SM: So, are you going to put that on your business card? The Duke of Direct Response, that would be quite good.

BTF: It is good.

SM: I’ve given you the big build up as I’ve said, so how come, with that fantastic American accent that we all love here in the UK, from rural Illinois, which I guess is Obama state isn’t it?

BTF: It is yea, he was Senator for us for a while.

SM: It’s actually a beautiful day today and the scenery is pretty good, but how did you end up here?

BTF: I wasn’t planning to end up in South Wales… I left the States in 2004. I was working for the Boy Scouts of America, recruiting for members to join different Cub Scout Groups and Boy Scout Groups, and training and working with volunteers so that they could start groups of their own. I was loving that, but I’d never really lived more than 2 hours from where I was born, it’s Illinois so everything looks the same no matter how long you drive, it’s just corn fields.

SM: Is it flat?

BTF: It’s extremely flat, yea… I thought I hadn’t seen much of the world, I’m getting into a career now, mortgages and cars, family and kids were all moving on the horizon and I thought, I hadn’t had an adventure yet. So, I asked my boss if I could go and have an adventure for a year. I said, I want to go and teach English somewhere abroad and when I come back, will you still give me a job, and can I start this career back up again. And he said, “Yep, no problem, if I don’t have anything for you, I’ll find something for you in the organisation”. Boy Scouts, of course go across all of the States, it was a win/win. I could go and have my adventure and still come back to a career. So, I made some applications, I got into a program in Japan, flew to Japan, and within 2 weeks I’d met Gemma who ended up becoming my wife. She was on the same program that I went over on, but obviously she went from Wales, and I haven’t been back… I’ve been back to visit but I haven’t lived in the States since 2014. So, I had 3 years in Japan teaching English, started a charity there to raise money for students who wanted to study English abroad. That was mainly out of boredom because we had so much free time on our hands as teachers, that I started a charity and organised fundraising events just to pass the time really. And then we moved to Wales in 2007, so that my wife could do a Master’s Degree. And at the time it was purely just for a year to do a Master’s Degree, because she had a scholarship to do it in the UK for free and at the school she applied to in the States, it would have cost $50,000. It was a no brainer, so we just moved to the UK. My Grandmother was English, she’s from Northamptonshire. She told me all these stories about life in the UK in the 40’s. I’d always wanted to live in the UK, so that was my chance to have another adventure, and the adventure has not stopped in the 11 years that I’ve now been in the UK.

SM: Grandmother English… We don’t hold that against you here in Wales. But don’t tell everybody that in Wales mind, you know that don’t you.

BTF: I do keep it under my hat.

SM: Actually, that’s a little bit unfair, we don’t dislike English people here in Wales, we love English people. The only English people that we dislike, are the 15 blokes that wear white and play against Wales. That’s it, the 15 English men, everybody else is cool, they’re alright. It’s just those 15 people in rugby, that’s all it is.

BTF: It’s funny, I’ve now adopted that same hatred for those 15 men in white. Granted, I am technically a quarter English.

SM: No, you’re Welsh, and actually it shows how Welsh you are because didn’t you do your citizenship or whatever it’s called?

BTF: I recently became a citizen a couple of months ago. I finally got my British citizenship.

SM: But if I’m not mistaken, you were going to read it in Welsh.

BTF: I was going to and then I chickened out. My wife is a Welsh speaker and my daughter goes to a Welsh speaking school, so there’s a lot of Welsh being spoken around the house. I’m not too shabby, I understand a lot of what they’re saying but I struggle to put sentences together. But that’s in English as well.

SM: Well, I’m a Welsh boy who’s lived here for 46 years and I can’t speak any Welsh, so you’re already one up on me. So, you can actually speak American, English, you also have Japanese, can you speak any Japanese?

BTF: I do yea, I can get by in a conversation as long there’s beer involved.

SM: And obviously you can speak Welsh, so you’re multi lingual.

BTF: Barely, but yea, I’ll accept it.

SM: I struggle with English but that’s another thing… I think there’s a massive thing there already about you and your charity work. I know that when you first started, when you came to Wales, you started up a charity organisation didn’t you? Was it in Penrhys?

BTF: Yes, so my first job in Wales was working for a mental health charity called MIND, then I went and worked for a local authority in Bridgend helping with employment support. So, helping people do their C.V.’s and apply for jobs and from there I went on to working with a small community charity up in the Rhondda Valleys. I set up a social enterprise called Big Click, which was a web site and app development social enterprise. It was a way for us to create some income for the charity, but then also help small businesses and community groups get the most out of technology. So, we built apps for a community radio station and we built quite a few Welsh language apps to be honest, because at the time, there weren’t any. We were the first company to create a Welsh language app for the Apple launch when it came out. It was all about promoting community activism through technology, in a way that technology could support that. And we did that through a lot of apps. So, that charitable aspect has been a big driver for me. The incentive for me to work harder, is how am I improving things for someone else. Either an individual or an organisation, or a business, whoever it may be. So, including the work I did with the Boy Scouts and obviously working with the schools in Japan, I spent nearly 15 years working in a charitable aspect of what I was doing, not working for a private company. My first job out of University was for a private company as a Graphic Designer and I ran the art department for a small print company in Illinois. And I have to say, it really soured me on private enterprise, because the guy I worked for…

SM: Go on, you have to tell everybody his name.

BTF: Ironically, the very first boss I had after University, his name was Dave Dean from Illinois and now of course I work with the wonderful Dave Dean… and they couldn’t be more different. So, I really got soured on the private sector and I found a nice little cosy home in working for charities and government organisations and felt well looked after. Amazing annual leave packages, I could call in sick whenever I wanted to, and nobody cared, and it was very cushy, I have to say. The salaries weren’t amazing, but it was good. I really enjoyed the work. But then in 2016, the charity I was working for in the Rhondda was struggling financially and I could see the writing on the wall. I knew that, although what I was doing, and my team were successful, we had a lot of orders coming in and we were making ends meet; the actual parent organisation was crumbling beneath us. So, I started putting some feelers out and stumbled across Dave Dean and Darren James, and we started working together in 2016…

Listen to the rest of the interview at 729Renegades.com/podcast

from Blog | 729renegades http://bit.ly/2UUv7Cy

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thedeadshotnetwork · 7 years ago

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The Road to Making America Great Again Runs Through Asia

The secret to putting America First may lie in the continent’s rising middle class.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Vietnam's President Tran Dai Quang stand for the U.S. national anthem at the top of a state banquet in Trump's honor at the International Convention Center in Hanoi, Vietnam November 11, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

In the first episode of The Atlantic Interview, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie talks with Jeffrey Goldberg and Ta-Nehisi Coates about race and identity. Listen and subscribe to the podcast.

Back when Donald Trump was busy firing people on The Apprentice, corporate brands across America were busy “hiring” his show to advertise their wares. The list included Pepsi, McDonald’s, Cheetos, KFC, Kellogg’s Frosted Mini-Wheats, Wendy’s, Yoplait, Subway, Visa, and Ford, to name just a few. Many of the companies that own those same brands, like PepsiCo (also owner of Cheetos) and Yum! Brands (owner of KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell), have surely been watching President Trump’s ongoing trip to Asia with interest, because they understand a fundamental truth undergirding the global economy: Asia will drive future growth, anchored by a rising middle class hungry for consumer goods. American brands positioned to capitalize on that growth will survive and thrive.

Amid now-President Trump’s talk of winners and losers in the global economy and his pledges to make America great again by “winning” on trade and paring back the massive China trade deficit, one factor is often discounted. The rise of the East could, in fact, benefit the companies and peoples of the West. When President Barack Obama introduced his rebalance to Asia (aka, the “Asia Pivot”), he based the idea on the understanding that the world’s political and economic center of gravity was shifting east. Too often, however, even in the Obama era, the Asia pivot was seen as a policy of containment of China, or a welcome respite from a fractious Middle East.

Multinational companies, however, see the rise of Asia for what it is—a massive opportunity. Companies ranging from Unilever and Nestle, to Coca-Cola and Johnson & Johnson, are experiencing their fastest growth in emerging markets, particularly among middle-class consumers. The vast majority of those consumers reside in the Asia-Pacific: some 1.5 billion today, and a projected 3.5 billion by 2030, according to Homi Kharas, a scholar at Brookings who focuses on the global economy. The Kellogg Company seemed to speak for everyone in its 2016 annual report: “Our success in emerging markets is critical to our growth strategy.” If it fails, the company noted, its results will be “materially and adversely affected.” To make Kellogg, well, great again, it needs to ride the emerging-markets wave.

What Can Trump's China Visit Really Achieve?

Most American multinationals understand the necessity of tapping new areas of consumption growth around the world, and, as the S&P notes, it’s in the emerging markets. And there is no more important part of that story than Asia’s growing middle classes. As Kharas noted, of the next billion entrants into the middle class worldwide, 88 percent of them will be Asian. Asian consumers will account for the overwhelming majority of new middle-class spending through 2030, to the tune of some $29 trillion. Ford, for instance, sold its millionth car in the Asia-Pacific last year.

As the potential of Asian markets expands, American companies are seeing a decline at home. Companies like Pepsi, Subway, and Ford, are seeing their sales in North America flat line. As American millennials increasingly shun big name, older brands of the sort that advertised on The Apprentice in favor of smaller, local, or organic brands, it’s no wonder that the Kellogg Company wants to build its emerging-markets portfolio.

The Asian expansion is in full force. McDonald’s will storm China with some 2,000 new restaurants by 2021, bringing its total there to 4,500. China is well on its way to becoming the number two global market for the Golden Arches, according to the company’s CEO, Steve Easterbrook. If McDonald’s hits its goals, it will be within striking distance of KFC, which already has more than 5,000 restaurants in China. Yum! Brands, the Kentucky-based parent company of KFC as well as Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, earned about half of its global revenues from China last year. Starbucks is also chasing the Chinese middle class, aiming to double its number of locations there from 2,500 to 5,000 by 2021. That’s almost two branches launching every single day for the next four years.

The larger point: U.S. companies that create jobs and drive growth in Americans’ stock portfolios are finding their most rapid growth in Asia. Apple is on pace to generate some $45 billion in revenue from what it calls greater China (including Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan) in fiscal year 2017. “We are very bullish on China,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said on a recent earnings call. “We continue to see a middle class that’s booming there.” Apple also reported strong quarterly earnings this month on the back of China growth.

This is the part of the story that Trump missed with his “America First” economic nationalist speech at a Pacific Rim summit in Vietnam on Friday. “We are not going to let the United States be taken advantage of anymore,” he said. “I am always going to put America first.” This idea—that the world is running circles around America—can hardly be reconciled with the story of corporate America: the biggest, richest, most global, innovative, and dynamic private sector in the world, its products found in every corner of the planet. There are only two countries in the world where the Coca-Cola Company does not do business: North Korea and Cuba. Coca-Cola-stan spans the globe. If Facebook were a country, its user base would make it the largest country in the world. Some of America’s top companies, from Apple to Walmart, have market capitalizations putting them on par with entire nations.

With numbers like these, corporate America can hardly cry foul. Yes, there are areas where tariffs and bans need lifting. But to dismiss the global trading system as one big “globalist” con job as top Trump ally Steve Bannon does and Trump regularly implies fails to take into account the more than 20 million jobs in the United States attributable to exports and foreign investment, according to Commerce Department figures. Last year, China invested $46 billion in the United States, a record-shattering year, according to the Rhodium Group, a New York-based consultancy. Rhodium also noted that China’s investments help fuel economic growth and create jobs.

Of course, every president will need to negotiate the best deals. One area where jaw-boning has worked is beef exports. The Trump administration has resumed U.S. beef exports to China after a nearly decade-and-a-half ban due to a bogus Mad Cow disease claim by China. America’s “Beef Belt,” stretching from Texas to Montana, hailed the China opening. During Trump’s Asia tour, a major Chinese online retailer announced plans to buy up to $1.2 billion of beef and pork from the United States.

Say what you will about the Middle Kingdom, but when Americans go to sleep at night, they better hope they don’t wake up to an economic implosion in China. China today is the world’s largest consumer of energy, metals, movies, most commodities, and even beer. When its economy slows, it brings down the wider Asia-Pacific region and has ripple effects felt from Argentina to Angola to, yes, the United States. China has become systemically important to the global economy—too big to fail.

The same goes for Asia writ large. Consider the S&P 500, the bellwether index of corporate America. Some 8.5 percent of all sales among S&P companies go to Asia, more than Europe. Asia is also the world’s largest importing region, accounting for 36 percent of all global imports. The United States and European Union, combined, account for 31 percent of imports. By 2020, there will be more smartphone users in Southeast Asia than in the United States. And in South Asia, dizzying change is afoot. Every second, three Indians log onto the internet for the first time, and Pakistan has become a hot growth market for U.S. companies.

In a world where more than half of global GDP hails from emerging markets, America’s fortunes are increasingly tied to the rest of the world, especially Asia. Indeed, of the 10.7 million American jobs supported by exports, nearly a third of them are supported by exports to the Asia-Pacific region, larger than Europe or North America.

President Trump may not realize it, but Asia may be a vital anchor for the “Make America Great Again” economic renaissance he promised. Asia’s rising middle-class consumption could, ironically, become an important piece in the rebuilding of America’s own faltering middle class. The “woe-is-us” story of America getting exploited by the world is wearing thin.