The New Frugality June 16, 2009March 15, 2017 HOPE FOR (EVEN) MORE AUDACITY It won’t surprise you to know I am a huge fan of the President and proponent of his agenda – from more efficient health care delivery and an entirely revamped energy footprint to ramped up stem cell research and equality for people like Charles and me. (If I die tomorrow, the hundreds of thousands of dollars I’ve paid in Social Security tax over the years would yield Charles no survivor benefit. Why is that fair?) Some think he’s trying to do too much. Leave it to Bill Maher to find a trenchant way to encourage the President to do more – and be tougher. If you missed it, here’s the clip. Whether it’s politically practical for him to be tougher (i.e., whether it would achieve more, or actually wind up achieving less), I don’t know – and neither does Bill Maher. But it can’t hurt to ask. Speaking of a little audacity . . . MAYORS FOR EQUALITY The nation’s mayors are bold enough to believe in equal rights for all. Yesterday the U.S. Conference of Mayors passed this resolution calling for passage of, well, everything: Resolution No.46 Submitted by: The Honorable Christopher Cabaldon Mayor of West Sacramento The Honorable David N. Cicilline Mayor of Providence The Honorable Sam Adams Mayor of Portland, OR EQUALITY AND CIVIL RIGHTS FOR GAY AND LESBIAN AMERICANS 1. WHEREAS, The U.S. Conference of Mayors adopted a resolution in 1984 calling for the legal protection of gay and lesbian rights at all levels of government, and within two years dozens of cities had adopted anti-discrimination policies or executive orders; and 2. WHEREAS, The U.S. Conference of Mayors has long supported granting the protection of federal hate crimes laws to all citizens, including lesbian and gay communities, and adopted its first resolution calling for increased vigilance in preventing hate crimes in 1991, citing statistics compiled by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force; and 3. WHEREAS, subsequent hates crimes resolutions were adopted by the Conference in 1992 and 1994, designed to strengthen protections for all communities; and 4. WHEREAS, the Conference of Mayors, in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has awarded nearly $12.6 million in HIV/AIDS prevention grants, and the Conference took the lead in issues affecting gay/bisexual men of color, conducting a national HIV prevention needs assessment as well as 48 local HIV prevention project; and 5. WHEREAS, hundreds of mayors have been at the forefront of the battle for marriage equality, from the historic leadership of Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco in early 2004 granting marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples, to a paradigm-shifting news conference by Mayor Jerry Sanders of San Diego in 2008, to Mayor Adrian Fenty of Washington DC in 2009 signing legislation to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states; and 6. WHEREAS, then-Conference President Wellington Webb of Denver spoke on behalf of the nation’s mayors at the Millennium March for Gay and Lesbian Rights in 2000 calling for federal action on hate crimes, employment discrimination protection, repeal of don’t-ask-don’t-tell, and marriage equality; and 7. WHEREAS, current Conference President Manuel A. Diaz of Miami co-chaired the statewide campaign against marriage discrimination in 2008, and incoming President Greg Nickels of Seattle issued an executive order recognizing same-sex marriages; and 8. WHEREAS, The U.S. Conference of Mayors has a long record of leadership in advancing civil rights and equality for all, answering President Kennedy’s call for national mayoral action in support of the civil rights movement at the Honolulu annual meeting in 1963, 9. NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that The U.S. Conference of Mayors endorses the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, the Uniting American Families Act, and the Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act; and 10. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that The U.S. Conference of Mayors supports marriage equality for same-sex couples, and the recognition and extension of full equal rights to such unions, including family and medical leave, tax equity, and insurance and retirement benefits, and opposes the enshrinement of discrimination in the federal or state constitutions. ☞ Meanwhile, in a separate development, the long-time roadblock to marriage equality in New York State, former Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, yesterday announced that his thinking had evolved, and we now have his support. Is this a great country, or what? THE NEW FRUGALITY From Gluskin Sheff chief economist David Rosenberg’s “Breakfast with Dave” daily letter: The market may well have bottomed, and maybe the economy will soon too (though we are not necessarily convinced). Even so, remember that both bottomed in the summer of 1932 and the depression did not end for another eight years. Moreover, despite more than a half-decade of New Deal stimulus and government incursion in the capital market and the economy, we finished off the 1930s with a 15% unemployment rate, consumer prices deflating at a 2% annual rate, the equity market extremely volatile and the long bond yield heading below 2%. The equity market was volatile and pattern-less following the immediate aftermath of the post-lows surge in the summer and fall of 1932, and the enduring story was one of deflation, not inflation, and of income growth, not capital gains. It was not until 1954 that a new bull market began, and the economy never did manage to sustain above-trend growth until World War II. What was a lingering theme during the 1930s, as is the case today, was frugality; living below one’s means after more than a decade of living above one’s means (the 1990s and early 2000’s were the new 1920s as the savings rate dipped into negative terrain during both go-go periods). Have a look at A New Spirit of Sobriety Takes Hold in the special insert section of the weekend Financial Times and the story behind why it is that consumer discretionary items like Swiss watches are down 24% on a YoY basis — the first time this has ever happened.
Clunker June 15, 2009March 15, 2017 TAX DAY On the remote chance you expect net taxable gains for 2009 – or have other reasons to be filing estimated income tax (other investment income, income from self-employment, gambling winnings) – don’t forget to send in this form and a check. PCL Anne V: ‘What do you think of the Schafer analysis?’ ☞ He is a smart guy and his analysis persuades me to sell. He may be wrong, but he may be right. Surely if the stock drops anywhere close to his target, I would buy it back for all the reasons I bought it in the first place. CASH FOR CLUNKERS – TERRIBLE IDEA Why on earth should we scrap things that still work, as per this plan to give people $3,500 to buy a new car that gets 4 mpg better mileage than the old one? (Remember, we don’t have $3,500, we have to borrow it. And remember, it’s not more cars we need to build to strengthen our economy – nor more dishwashers or Jacuzzis – it’s more windmills and solar film and a smart electric grid and bridges that don’t collapse.) The bad reason to do this clunker thing is to put people back to work making things we don’t need. The good reason is to improve the fuel efficiency of our automotive fleet. But the environmental – and energy cost – of building a new car (tons of materials extracted, processed, shipped) far exceed the benefits of a 4mpg boost in fuel efficiency. If your clunker gets 18 mpg and you drive 12,000 miles a year, you save 120 gallons a year by getting 22 mpg instead. Not nothing – but, for most people, easily saved in their existing cars by hypermiling. Far better to run your existing car at least until it dies (or at least until you face some huge repair bill). Like this 89-year-old lady (thanks, Alan), who has 540,000 miles on her ride – and packs heat, so don’t mess with her. (It’s also a dumb idea, if I understand the plan, because it doesn’t distinguish between the millions who would have bought a new, better mileage car anyway – if not instantly, within a year or two – and those for whom it was the $3,500 cash incentive that made the difference. If there is one of the former for each of the latter, we’re borrowing $7,000, not $3,500, for each clunker we get off the road.) INSIST ON A TRUE PUBLIC HEALTH CARE OPTION Learn about the issue here, here and here. And visit the Health Care Action Center and join the fight for health care reform.
At Least We Should Try Plus: The Latest from Bill Gross June 12, 2009March 15, 2017 SOUTH PACIFIC I don’t usually miss a Frank Rich column, but I missed this one. Turns out, he got choked up, too. (Thanks, Paul.) EARTH 2100 – NEEDLESSLY ALARMIST? Andy Long: “I have five words (well, two names and three words): Ricardo . . . Malthus . . . Club of Rome.” ☞ Let’s hope they were wrong and not just early. And actually, isn’t the larger point that human ingenuity rose to the challenges – we found ways to farm more productively, extract more effectively – and that, with luck and lots of good judgment and hard work, we still will? But it just won’t “happen,” we need to make it happen. Which is why we need to see the challenges for what they are (crises? inconvenient truths?) and then come together in devising and accepting solutions. It’s not clear we’ll succeed – tax cuts seem about the only “solutions” to anything we readily accept – but, inasmuch as civilization hangs in the balance, we should probably try. WHEELTUG® Dudley: “In view of the length of time that you and, by extension, all of your readers have been following the saga of the Wheel Tug, I don’t think there is any need to let us know your thoughts on this conundrum anytime soon: what can possibly be the reason the airlines are not immediately embracing the Wheel Tug in order to capture the obvious cost savings? I think I speak for legions of readers who would sure like to know.” ☞ You speak for me as well. I think partly they’re skeptical the WT management can pull this off (where, for example, is a single plane with such a motor actually installed and working?) and don’t see it as their role to provide the capital still required to bring the motors into production . . . partly because airplane makers suffer as much as anyone from the “not invented here” syndrome (winglets were the same story and took forever to be adopted) . . . partly – perhaps – because by making inefficient planes more economical it extends their useful life, which cuts down on the demand for new airplanes, which is what airplane makers are in business to sell. CRTX Mark Klein: “Cornerstone is up nicely. Is it time to unload?” ☞ Suggested here by Chris Brown of fledgling Aristides Capital at $3.80 in April, CRTX closed last night at $8.47. It’s always nice to more than double your money in under two months, so of unloading here, Chris responds, “There’s certainly no sin in doing so. I still like it better than the market, so I’ve kept some. It’s all a matter of valuation. I think it’s going to earn $1.20 in 2011, and I think it is going to continue to have the sort of stable eps growth that will garner about a 14 multiple on that, so that would make fair value about $16.80 two years out. My plan is to hold it, at least until we are late into an earnings season and I have so many good new ideas that have the potential to make money quicker that I need to make space in the fund, at which point it would probably be first on the list of long-term positions that would be cut.” BILL GROSS’S LATEST OVERVIEW Here. Two short excerpts (it’s worth reading the whole piece): . . . The fact is that supply-side economics was a partial con job from the get-go. Granted, from the 80% marginal tax rate that existed in the U.S. and the U.K. into the late 60s and 70s, lower taxes do incentivize productive investment and entrepreneurial risk-taking. But below 40% or so, it just pads the pockets of the rich and destabilizes the country’s financial balance sheet. Bill Clinton’s magical surpluses were really due to ephemeral taxes on leverage-based capital gains that in turn were due to the secular decline of inflation and interest rates that at some point had to bottom. We are reaping the consequences of that long period of overconsumption and undersavings encouraged by the belief that lower and lower taxes would cure all. . . . The obvious solution to both dollar weakness and higher yields is to move quickly towards a more balanced budget once a sustained recovery is assured, but don’t count on the former or the latter. It is probable that trillion-dollar deficits are here to stay because any recovery is likely to reflect “new normal” GDP growth rates of 1%-2% not 3%+ as we used to have. Staying rich in this future world will require strategies that reflect this altered vision of global economic growth and delevered financial markets. Bond investors should therefore confine maturities to the front end of yield curves where continuing low yields and downside price protection is more probable. Holders of dollars should diversify their own baskets before central banks and sovereign wealth funds ultimately do the same. All investors should expect considerably lower rates of return than what they grew accustomed to only a few years ago. . . .
This Bus Is Getting Crowded June 11, 2009March 15, 2017 YIN AND YANG In Shanghai, they are replacing bicycles with cars. In New York, they are replacing cars with bicycles. BUY A CONDO IN DENVER? BUFFALO? PITTSBURGH? So if Miami and Manhattan will be underwater (“Earth 2100”) – New Orleans is already eight feet below sea level – then truly long-range planners may want to stake out vacation and retirement homes on higher ground. Click here for elevations. TOO MANY PEOPLE What environmental problem wouldn’t be made better with fewer people? (“Yeah,” says Jerry Seinfeld in that wonderful moment with George Costanza: “People. They’re the worst.”) The problem is, getting from today’s 6.8 billion (up from 2.5 billion in just the few years I’ve been breathing!) down to some more manageable number in any relevant time period is – let’s hope – impossible. I say “relevant time period” meaning the crucial decades ahead, before we’ve learned to produce nearly-free energy and (say) colonize space. And I say “let’s hope” because, of course, there are ways to reduce population – four of them, to be precise – and each of them rides a horse. We don’t want that. Indeed, world population is likely to hit at least 7.5 billion before turning down . . . and very possibly 9 billion or more. It’s getting awfully crowded on this bus. There are no attractive solutions. (Witness China’s pragmatic yet troubling one-child policy.) But what if you could find a group of people who frequently volunteered to be childless uncles and aunts. Who frequently volunteered to be adoptive parents. Oh, wait! There are such people. (I think you know where this is headed.) BOREF Why do I always have to start with, “I know, I know. But still . . .” Well, for obvious reasons. But still . . . here is the latest WheelTug® press release. It even includes a photo of the motor. (Meanwhile, the iron deposits at Roche Bay may yet have some value – here.) ALTU Craig D.: “ALTU is back to where you recommended it, 50 cents. I hope we can make a little money on it.” ☞ It closed at 68 cents last night, and this could be a good time to call it quits. My guru was initially bullish because of a specific drug in development that a cash squeeze forced them to offload. The stock may do fine, but he feels the compelling reason for owning it is gone. Nibble at INCY instead?
South Pacific June 10, 2009March 15, 2017 Are you supposed to cry at the revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1949 musical South Pacific? No? So why did I get choked up through the last half hour? Somehow, I had never actually seen it before – Charles was actually IN it in the sixth grade. He played “the Frenchman” and had this one line: “Non, non, Nellie – en Francais! en Francais!” But I saw it for the first time last week. Besides the obvious romantic places where you’re supposed to get a little teary, I kept thinking back to my dad and his generation who went off to fight World War II . . . and that gets me thinking of ALL the epic struggles our forefathers and foremothers endured to get us where we are today . . . and how easy Charles and I have had it, and how amazingly blessed we are. “Posterity, who are to reap the blessings,” wrote Abigail Adams to her beloved John, “will scarcely be able to conceive the hardships and sufferings of their ancestors.” Before you know it, I’m thinking of the Holocaust and of Schindler’s List. Of slavery and the movie Glory. Of Angels in America and all the friends we’ve lost to AIDS. And I just feel I have lived such a long time, and so want to see the story – which could so easily spin out of control – turn out right. And now comes this amazing President and First Lady, so committed to the best in all of us, such an inspiration to so many here at home and around the world, and I read Dreams from My Father – which in my case means listening to the President read his life story to me, on my iPod – and I feel as though we are living at an almost mythical, pivotal time. Have you read that book? The story of his life up to 1995? Or, better still, have you listened to it as I did in his own voice? When it ends, I nearly shut it off, but – just when I expected to hear, “Random House Audio hopes you have enjoyed this book” – up instead comes the sound of applause, and then thunderous applause, and I realized I was back in Boston in 2004, on the floor of the Convention, listening to “the speech.” An addendum. What a journey this has been – and what a journey it still needs to be. And yes, of course, this is sappy. I don’t dispute that. But isn’t every word of it true? Isn’t the country – and for that matter, the species – in really serious straits? And don’t we have a President who sees the need to transform and renew our economy and rejoin, and once again lead, the community of nations? So now he asks us to help him, because it’s hard – tellingly, on something as simple as appropriating $81 million to move Guantanamo prisoners to stateside Supermax facilities from which no prisoner has ever escaped, he got just 6 of 99 votes – and in answering that call we are given the opportunity to be part of the solution, to make the world better for those who follow us, to honor the memories of those who went before us, and, perhaps, to give our own lives greater meaning. Our good friends on the other side are outraising us. For them, it’s an investment in lower taxes . . . they take PAC and lobbyist money, we don’t . . . none of them think their work is done, where many of us think ours IS done – we won. But that’s the point. Winning just got us the job. Now we have to DO the job. And not everyone wants to see it done. Indeed, some of our friends on the other side own large monkey wrenches. Which is why we are asked to fund OFA – Organizing for America, the DNC’s central project – to organize hundreds of thousands of neighborhood advocates to help move the President’s agenda, spread the word, push back on misinformation, and encourage sometimes-wavering Senators and Representatives to step up to the plate. Many of us wish we could do more – make the policy, write the speeches, wield a magic wand. (I have always wanted to be able to levitate.) But as prosaic as it is, wielding a credit card is the most sacrifice most of us are called upon to make. If you are in a position to help, that would be great. All we need is your credit card. If you are down to your last $125, see South Pacific instead. If you don’t have $125, watch the ABC Special I’ve been pushing, “Earth 2100,” that suggests this may be the final century for human civilization – we really do need to get an awful lot of things right, in a hurry – and then spread the word. After 5 billion years of evolution (a scientific theory this White House accepts), it really does come down to the next few decades. If you do click the link to contribute, I have it rigged to let me know so I can say thanks.
Earth 2100 June 9, 2009March 15, 2017 MASTERS & JOHNSON – MASTERS OF FABRICATION Remember them? Masters & Johnson, the world famous sexologists? They even appeared on “Meet the Press” 30 years ago. Well, it turns out that the case studies they used to prove the possibility of “conversion therapy” (gays could be “cured”) were simply made up. All that agony you underwent to change your sexual orientation? The electro-shock therapy? Oops. “Never mind.” THE END OF HISTORY Friday I suggested you watch the two-hour ABC Special “Earth 2100” – here. It tells the story of Lucy, born in 2009, looking back at 91 to tell us how things turned out. (They turned out very, very badly.) Even better than watching may be to read it here (part 1), and here (part 2), and here (part 3). It’s quicker and you get to see footnotes that elaborate on many concepts just briefly touched on in the film – like vertical farming: The concept of indoor farming is not new, since hothouse production of tomatoes, a wide variety of herbs, and other produce has been in vogue for some time. What is new is the urgent need to scale up this technology to accommodate another 3 billion people. An entirely new approach to indoor farming must be invented, employing cutting edge technologies. The Vertical Farm must be efficient (cheap to construct and safe to operate). Vertical farms, many stories high, will be situated in the heart of the world’s urban centers. If successfully implemented, they offer the promise of urban renewal, sustainable production of a safe and varied food supply (year-round crop production), and the eventual repair of ecosystems that have been sacrificed for horizontal farming. (Source: The Vertical Farm Project.) Dickson Despommier became the guru of vertical farming because his students were bummed out. . . . ☞ Don’t miss this ABC Special. 0 TO 60 IN 2 SECONDS On two wheels . . . but it’s almost as fast with four. Here. (Thanks, Stewart.)
What the Cairo Speech Has to Do with Your Money June 8, 2009March 15, 2017 DID YOU LISTEN TO THE CAIRO SPEECH? You can watch it here. Or read the transcript here. But it’s really worth the time to watch. HE WAS AT THE CAIRO SPEECH Jim Busek: ‘A friend forwarded this from a friend of hers who works in the public affairs office of the US Embassy in Cairo. It tells EXACTLY why I voted for Barack Obama.’ It is difficult to start to describe yesterday because so many descriptions come to mind. “Wow” seems to be a good starting place. Then comes “proud” quickly followed by “emotional.” And I certainly can’t exclude “relief.” So let’s start with “wow.” Even though there is some disappointment that Obama didn’t provide more concrete policy proposals on the peace process, almost universally Egyptians that I spoke with, saw on TV last night or read on their blogs gave this speech a big thumbs up. Of course, there was pride of place — Egyptians were so excited that Obama chose Cairo as the venue for this speech. But after the speech, that gave way to the feeling of a personal connection with the American president. He used verses from the Koran, he spoke about things that mattered to real people, he wasn’t afraid to talk about democracy and he did it with a graceful and rousing prose that just doesnt’ exist in Egyptian political life. During the speech students shouted “We love you Obama!” They chanted his name, they cheered on their feet when entered and they gave him the loudest standing ovation I have heard in Egypt when he left. I think part of the appeal (maybe a big part) is the Egyptians want their own Obama. They do want change, but led by someone who has intellect and humility, two traits of Obama’s which have been highly praised after the speech. (Actually, some commentators didn’t know what a teleprompter is and they thought he was speaking extemporaneously…) So while they wait for their Obama, they seem happy enough to adopt ours. On to proud…which is mostly my reaction. As I sat there and listened to an American president talk truthfully, even painstakingly so, and passionately about shaping a relationship with Muslim countries based on mutual interests and mutual respect, I teared up. Really. He didn’t lecture, threaten or swagger. There wasn’t a cowboy bone in that body. He wasn’t apologizing, either. He very clearly laid out what US interests are and was clear that he will defend them. But here’s the difference from the past eight years – he framed our interests in terms of human rights and peace. And then he was able to communicate that using language that his audience not only relates to, like verses from the Koran, but in a way that demonstrates he can see all sides to a problem – that he can see the world from their eyes, too. By doing that, he affirmed the dignity of his audience – and did America very proud. Ok, so all of that is emotional, but there were even greater emotions among Egyptians that went beyond “wow” and “pride.” Maybe some of my more eloquent friends can give me a better word to describe the impact of the whole day. But let me try to describe the sense in the example of one very prominent TV journalist. She always plays her cards close to the chest and is a very tough interviewer with US officials. I usually consider her to be fair, but not “pro” U.S. Well, yesterday tears were streaming down her face. She was in a bit of panic, too, because she had to go live right after the speech and was frantically touching up her make up. Later I saw her and without me even asking what she thought, she started in. Her view was that never in her life had such a cross section of Egypt been together in one room. Egyptian government officials, opposition leaders, religious leaders, bloggers, journalists, activists, students, Muslim Brotherhood, the Israeli ambassador (he was invited with other regional ambassadors), intellectuals and artists. To her there was suddenly hope. If Obama can bring these people together and speak to each group’s different concerns, she thinks he just may be able to do it on a bigger scale and actually achieve peace in the region. She said she had long lost a hope for peace but that it was “woken up,” as she put it. And that surprised her and overwhelmed her. So now to the question I have received from many — did I meet him? No, I didn’t get to shake his hand. I did get within about 20 feet of the President, but no handshake…I guess I will have to wait until next time. I got back home around 1030, had a nice scotch and fell asleep. It was one long, emotional, proud and wow day. ☞ So what does all this have to do with your money? It suggests the possibility we may have seen ‘the bottom’ (albeit not the certainty) because the world has a leader willing to confront immense, intractable problems, acknowledge them for what they are, and, perhaps, inspire participants to find a constructive way forward. We’ll see. But how bullish would true Middle East peace be? Compared to that, fixing Social Security is kids’ play, and even meaningful health care reform seems possible. Reanimating our inner city schools? Possible! (See this wonderful New Yorker piece.) Retooling for an efficient green economy? Possible! I think it’s going to be a tough decade; mindlessly happy days had best not soon be here again. But I can’t watch that Cairo speech and not be buoyed.
Golf and History June 5, 2009March 15, 2017 GOLF Skip Sherrod: “That clip comes from the 1938 movie Carefree starring Astaire and Rogers. From Wikipedia: ‘Fred Astaire came up with the idea of hitting golf balls for this number and spent two weeks rehearsing it. It was shot three weeks before the rest of the film, with Astaire performing to a piano track – the orchestrated arrangement was added later. Because of the difficulty of the action, the performance was pieced together from multiple takes, which was very unusual for Astaire, who preferred his dance numbers to be made from a minimum number of long takes.’ I read they used 600 golf balls in the dance sequence (unattributed). Here’s a clip of Astaire doing a short version version of his golf dance with Ed Sullivan. Surely done in one take. Here’s an interesting take on the clip by Mindy Aloff, a dance critic for the New Republic as well as an aspiring golfer.” HISTORY Watch it here. (President Obama speaks in Cairo – 55 minutes.) THE END OF history Watch it here. (ABC’s special “Earth 2100” – 2 hours.)
Betty Bowers Bought a Bit of Biting Bible Babble June 4, 2009January 2, 2017 BELATEDLY, DR. TILLER As he is laid to rest this week, read this in his memory. It’s hard to think his murderer might not have been swayed by this story. THE CASE FOR TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE LICENSE In four minutes, here. BETTY BOWERS ON THE SAME THEME Only without the live cast and even more seriously irreverent, so view at your own spiritual peril. WHEELTUG® Nils, from from Hamburg: “Love your sarcasm! Will we ever ride on an airplane that uses WheelTug?” ☞ Maybe, maybe not. But if we ever do, it will be in First Class. GETTING TO WHITE RIVER JUNCTION Sarah Johnson: “As regards Gary Diehl’s comment about needing to modify the engine: Nope. You don’t have to modify the engine, just the fuel delivery system. I used to have a Mercedes 300SD that ran like a charm on pure veggie. Dual tank system. One tank (main) full of veggie (pre-filtered if used, not pre-filtered if new), one tank (small auxiliary) with dino-diesel or biodiesel when I could get it. Then, a heated fuel line from the main tank, a heated auxiliary fuel filter (lots of filters in that car) and a switch on the dash where I could switch between the two when the engine got up to running temp. The auxiliary was for start-up and purging the lines most of the year before turning off so I didn’t have higher viscosity fuel in the lines to gel while the engine was cold. All the problems that happened with that car were due to it being a 1984 car and that it was owned by someone who had, unfortunately, neglected the maintenance – not the fact it was being run on veggie. It is a tribute to Mercedes’ engineering of the period that it had lasted and lasted pretty well despite the previous neglect. It is still on the road with a different owner (165,000+ miles). “But wouldn’t it be great if we had a completely overhauled transportation system? For example, I live in NYC. I don’t need a car here. Sometimes it would be nice, but I can usually call my favorite ‘Man With Van’ or a car service for those times when I really can’t do something with public transport. The main thing I use the internal combustion engine for is driving to VT to visit friends. I do this on a regular basis. About a mile as the crow flies from the house I stay in is a former train station. There is still track and occasionally a train runs on it, mostly freight. Passenger service was eliminated in 1959, I believe, or thereabouts…right about the time that the Red Car was done away with in LA and passenger service everywhere in the US was severely cut down. (Yeah, yeah, profitability was cited. Well, passengers have never been as profitable as freight. If I recall correctly, the federal gov’t got involved with the rail barons in the 1800’s to force them to carry passengers. Obviously, selling each and every person their own personal ‘train’ – the automobile – is MUCH more profitable.) My is that if that line were still running and on some sort of decent schedule that didn’t require my missing 2/3rds a day of work just to get from NYC to White River Junction, let alone up to that former station to the north, without a doubt I wouldn’t bother driving from NYC. I’d happily take the train and use the 1969 Ford pickup I keep in a barn up there. Although its fuel mileage is terrible, once I’m there I rarely drive more than 10 miles in any direction. I spend my time in the forest. And that vehicle is already built, the whole life cycle of it is very extended and we haven’t had to deal with all the pollution generated from the extraction, refining and manufacturing of lots of new vehicles to supposedly ‘improve’ our transportation.”
Closing Republican Dealerships June 3, 2009March 15, 2017 Do NOT miss the Keith Olbermann clip. But first . . . YOUR STATE FLOWER Here‘s a nice way to see it – at the end, when the music stops. (Thanks, Alan.) THE CURRENT WHEELTUG® HANDOUT I know. I know. But still. DIESEL Peter Kaczowka is still not buying it [and if Shai Agassi’s plan works, he won’t have to!]: “Clean diesel has less pollution-producing sulfur, but recent research shows that the particulates (fine soot particles) emitted by diesel engines are deadly. Diesel engine exhaust kills an estimated 21,000 Americans a year [1]. Clean diesel cars have particulate filters that remove 85% of the particulates [2] so if all our diesel engines were made clean they would ‘only’ kill 3150 Americans a year (15% of 21,000). Clean diesel vehicles emit more pollution than gasoline vehicles, and hybrids are ten times cleaner than either. [3]” ☞ Actually, footnote #2 says 85% or more of the particulates are removed; and it’s not clear that 15% as much pollution equals 15% as much death – it could produce more or less. But I want a solar panel generating the electricity for my Tesla. When I get a Tesla. Or my Volt, when Chevy starts selling them. Zero pollution, except as required to make the car and the solar panels. Stewart Dean: “1) The new 50-state diesels are California CARB compliant. The reason they haven’t been until now is that the US truck and refining industry wanted to stick with high-sulfur diesel. But when you burn sulfur, you get sulfuric acid which eats up tailpipe emission devices. Europe has had ultra-low sulfur diesel for years…and clean emission diesels. The US is just catching up. And I’d ask Peter what the impact of double the CO2 is on the health of the planet, to say nothing of all the nasty heavy metals in the nickel cadmium Prius batteries. . . . 2) Diesel fuel is the same as home heating oil. By supply and demand, it’s more expensive in the winter, cheaper in the summer. It’s now cheaper than gas at any main route service station. . . . 3) Diesel fuel has more energy (it’s heavier), the engine is inherently more efficient that an Otto (gas) engine, the torque (pulling power) of it is better optimized for MPG. . . . 4)Diesels are simpler than hybrids…which means greater reliability, longer life and lower cost. . . . 5) Like Peter, I’d like regenerative braking, too….like BMW puts on its diesels in Europe, where one beat a Prius for MPG in a road test from London to Zurich. Everyone would do the world a favor if they stopped racing up to red lights and then racing away from the green. Most the time you don’t even have to use the brakes if you watch the lights far ahead. When you stop, you throw away energy…so keep moving, just not with such haste.” Gary Diehl: “Just to clarify, running your diesel on straight vegetable oil generally requires modifications to the engine and/or the fuel system to make it work. However If you are inclined to drive cheaply on deep fryer dregs, there are thousands of people who are now doing it by making their own biodiesel. Most small restaurants generally have to pay someone to haul their used oil away so they tend be happy to give it to anyone who wants it. With some processing and easy to acquire chemicals this oil can be turned into a fuel that will run fine in almost any diesel engine without any modifications at all. Processing the oil is definitely not for everyone, but it’s not overly difficult either and in the end you get a perfectly usable fuel for less than a buck a gallon. Anyone interested should go here for the full story.” OLBERMANN ON THE CLOSING OF REPUBLICAN CHRYSLER DEALERSHIPS I love this.