Not your average economy car....

If you have any interest in improved fuel efficiency (and with gas over $3/gal who doesn't), please read this article (Motorhead Messiah). If even half of what this guy claims is true this could be huge! Basically using existing components (GM duramax diesels), some bolt on kits, and a intuitive knack for figuring out how to make engines run more efficiently, Johnathan Goodwin has figured out a way we might have our cake and eat it too. Fuel efficiency AND power AND full sized (hell large) cars/trucks. I don't know about his claims of 60-100mpg for his conversions, but given that Mercedes now sells an E-series with a diesel capable of over 35mpg and 0-60mph under 7 seconds....who knows? Maybe a little of John's hot-rodder mentality is just what we need to help reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

Sure tweaking an off the shelf engine for great economy/performance gains sounds improbable, but I can recall in the late 80s or early 90s my dad (a mechanic) showing me an article on what was then the latest incarnation of Chevy's small block V8. In large part by reversing the coolant flow through the engine, it ran cooler, allowing for higher compression ratios which helped it develop more power, and improved fuel efficiency....this from a basic design that traced its roots to the 50's. Now I'm sure some other factors came into play, but if simply changing the direction of coolant flow could have a dramatic impact on the performance of a 40-50yr old design, why isn't it possible that Mr. Goodwin from Kansas has performed some measure of mechanical alchemy? Has he devised a way for us to have powerful automobiles that deliver enough economy to wipe the smug "We're Greener than you!" grins off the faces of thousands of Prius owners?

Oh yeah...this is the same guy that was responsible for an MTV Pimp My Ride episode that converted a 65 impala to a high performance diesel. How high? 800 hp, doubled fuel economy from 12 to 25mpg, and Smoked a Lambo in the 1/4 mile!


Whoever is elected President....I have a suggestion for the director of the Department of Energy. On second thought....keep John in the garage until I can afford one of his conversions. I have a '94 Chevy K1500 that could use an upgrade. :)

Burns my bacon.......

OK, so I'm watching TV and one of those ads comes on for some attorney or law firm promising IRS debt relief. Several satisfied clients proudly claim that the service helped them reduce their IRS debt to pennies on the dollar....$40,000 settled for $500....or some such nonsense. For some reason, that ad just sent me through the roof. Never mind that I think the claims are about as legitimate as all the "satisfied clients" using male enhancement products. It's the fact that someone thinks it's OK to encourage people to seek out a service that effectively screws the honest citizens paying our share of taxes every day.

Maybe it's because tax season is looming, maybe it's my background in collection systems, maybe I'm cranky about not getting enough sleep...but this ad really pissed me off. Now I'm no fan of the IRS, nor do I wish to see insult added to injury with interest and penalties piling on to the point that a person can't see how to dig out from their burden. But cry me a river if you owe several thousand in honest to goodness taxes because you "forgot" to file a return for the past 5 years. Seriously, these jerks are offering to help negotiate your debt to practically nothing. Do you think the lawyers and services really care why you have that unpaid debt? Guess what...if Joe Blow isn't paying his fair share who do you think is picking up the tab? That's right...all us honest folk.

Thankfully there's more of us than them, but the sheer boldness of these ads just burned my bacon. Such ads are likely casually dismissed by most of us as harmless. Nobody stops to think about what's being promised and who is likely to take them up on that promise. What if they were advertising to help you settle some nasty old alimony or child support debt? Wouldn't people have some sense of outrage? How dare they take money from those poor children or spouses! Yet promise some schmuck to help stick it to the IRS, and well we all just collectively ignore it (some may even applaud it) while unconsciously bending over to grab our ankles. It's not the IRS they're sticking it to.

Now before you pile on about extenuating circumstances, I'm not heartless. Lost your job, home wiped out in a national disaster, nearly bankrupt from trying to pay for medical care for an extended illness or injury....sure, I'll gladly grant you time to pay off the tax debt. First things first. If I had the choice between paying taxes or paying for my child's cancer treatment, of course I'd pay the doctors first. But I would also pay my taxes as soon as I could...it's how I was raised. I can't imagine how an honest person would agree to having a substantial portion of ANY legitimate debt wiped out. (Let's ignore for the moment whether Federal Income Tax is legitimate, legal or constitutional...another time, another blog.) Now, if someone or some group offers charity to help pay that tax debt for you...fine, no problem. Someone agreed to pay more than their share for you. God bless 'em for their selfless choice. However, I won't trust an attorney or law firm to be so scrupulous when choosing to represent a client in their quest to alleviate tax debt...or rather, pass that debt on to the rest of us.

Another 4 yrs?....Remix....

Wow, another 4 years already?

I started this blog on a whim 4 years ago, and it's gathered dust during most of that time. Yet, in reviewing an earlier post against the backdrop of this latest round of "Pick The Prez", I'm struck by how little has changed. Red states, blue states, here we go again. Yet there are some signs of change...

I guess I have a few answers to some of my earlier questions.....
"Should moderates try to take back their own parties, wresting control from the more extremist members who currently have the reigns? Or are we moderates just too darn lazy to put up much of a fuss, and we'll be resigned to picking the lesser of two evils for decades to come?"
To the 2nd question, I won't speak for all moderates, but I obviously was too darn lazy to put up much fuss. One blog in 4 years? Ok, I'm pathetic. No effort to get involved in a campaign, or even at a local level. No real political movement or discourse...other than the occasional rant and enthusiastic "hell yeah" when Dennis Miller or Jon Stewart so artfully express my current frustrations with the status quo. Yep....lazy might be an understatement.

As to the first question....should we moderates take what's rightfully ours? I don't have firm stats, but I have to believe that most registered members of either party would rightfully shun the label of "conservative right" or "liberal left". And there would seem to be glimmers of hope. While Obama may never be confused as a moderate, he is at least different...outside the mainstream (or as outside as you can be and still hold the title of Congressman). As for the GOP, a supposedly moderate (Sen. McCain) is all but certain to be the Republican nominee. This despite the fact that most of the press (traditional and other) had written him off as unappealing to the "conservative base". Heck if you believed Rush or Ann Coulter, he's not even worthy of calling himself a Republican. Say what you will about Huckabee and Romney splitting the base, but I think the GOP primaries unveiled a dirty little secret that the talk radio conservatives and pundits would rather not admit....all Republicans aren't Right Wing conservatives.....in fact most probably don't appreciate being lumped in with Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and the Moral Majority.

So how do we end up with this minor turn of events? Dumb cosmic luck, or were some of you moderates a lot less lazy than I? Did this shift in the Republican power come from the fed up moderates taking control of their party? Have those in the Democratic Party who are tired of business as usual, finally put forth a candidate who appears to be anything but business as usual?

I don't know....but I do know that in spite of my cynicism for the process....I'm once again drawn in. Like a moth to a flame --or more likely a rubber-necker to a broken down minivan at rush hour-- bring on the polls....show me who's bringing in the single-latino-upwardly-mobile-mother vote this minute! CNN, MSNBC, FOXNews.....wow me with all your little graphs and maps. Let the pundits make predictions, and then don't hold them to task when they're flat out wrong. Just please...in between the eye-candy and the fluff...please, give me some substance. You know "Issues"? At least give me and my lazy compatriots a shot a finding out where the candidates stand so that this time when we vote for the lesser of two evils, we are casting that ballot content in the knowledge that we have an "informed" opinion and aren't wasting our votes.