balthazar

Years ago when Newt was Speaker and most of my casual information sources were the mainstream media, I thought what I was told to think; that he was... a bit off kilter, to be kind. In the past year I have heard him speak or be interviewed about a dozen times, and each time only reinforces the impression that's he a very smart, informed & common-sensical man. He seems to see issues in a very broad view, consequence-wise, and that's as it should be. Based on the above- I hope somehow his influence finds its way into U.S. energy policy-making. >>"We haven't had a seismographic survey since 1984 on fuel reserves...."<< Fascinating.... yet we're asked to believe Pelosi's arrogant contention that everything is as they say it is (little capacity, Big Evil Oil isn't drilling on leased lands, it'll take 12 years to get to market, etc etc...). All unsupported lies.

Saw 2.16 down by the Burlington Bristol Bridge between NJ-PA Sat night. Diesel down to 2.99 Sunday.

I agree with WMJ 100% - excellent points. I could see the point of the intial argument if all the money were to go to alternative fuel development / infrastructure, but to use it anywhere else besides that & roads is just fleecing the captive motorist. Here's an idea : liberals should be more than happy with a percent tax on the purchase of vehicles over a certain level of economy; those people want to do something positive, let them subsidize those who can't afford to. >>"It would be the most patriotic thing that we could do."<<{/i] Hoo boy - if this phrase isn't getting whored out recently.....

Yea- the darkness very well may be related to the intital oil fill and whatever break-in additives Saturn may have in there. That doesn't bother me nearly as much as the level being too high. Get it changed ASAP. I also would never use a Jerky Lube or the like- too many horror stories heard.

To be accurate- that's a detachable hardtop. Altho, to be further accurate, it's not a hardtop at all; it's a coupe. A factory 'hardtop' for the 1st gen Corvette is NOT ringing any bells for me, I don't recall ever seeing one before. Beyond the top, the story is obviously the fantastic surviing condition of the car. Major cool that 'time capsule' stuff like this is still being 'found'.

>>"Voting to keep someone out of public office due to race is far more vile than voting to put someone in a public office due to race."<< So here you ARE saying voting based on race is still 'vile'. Very good. Will you not further brand these people "usless' ?? since they are not basing their decision on anything of substance ?? >>"not everyone who voted for Obama is black..."<< No... but almost~ Clinton : 54% white / 44% black Obama : 85% black, 15% white Something was going on there....

Interesting... so if I get you correctly, those who refuse to vote because of race are 'worthless', but those who vote because of race are fine ? Or did I miss you condemndation ? Way I see it: any decision based primarily on race, whether for or against, is racist. I wouldn't go so far as to dub them "worthless", tho.

BO made $4M last year. His sub-prime, backdoor deal McMansion also cost well over a million. His wife was pulling down $325+K in a PR position for a Chicago hospital. They're both lawyers. He's basically been walking on a crushed red carpet for the last 2 years, making pointless speeches as a U.S. presidential candidate in Germany as a "world citizen" and rubbing elbows for years with the radical A-list. This isn't the 'common man' experience, either. Of course- no reporter has ever asked BO how many houses he owns or how many cars he owns (unless it was the reporters BO threw off his press junket Thursday because their papers endorsed JM- more squashing of the opposition voice- this guy is going to be GREAT at working against bipartisanship).

Just calling it as I see it.

Nice toyota!

>>"...Make no mistake, Detroit was more than culpable for their predicament, that has already been well-documented by me and others ad nauseam."<< After DuhLorenzo finishes patting himself on the back, I would be curious to know if he ALSO sufficiently "documented ad nauseum" the predicament that >>"We allowed Japanese automobile manufacturers to dump ..."<< etc etc, but I'm betting he was part of the critic mob that ignored this for decades in lock-step with the government.

How about those voting FOR obama because he's black ?? Will you also dub them 'too far gone to be of use to society' ???

There's 7 vehicles at my house - and I would certainly label myself as a 'common man'.

>>"You walk out to the parking lot of the Olive Garden together, only to find out she (he?) drives a (insert car here). Did it just burst your bubble?"<< Depends; how nice is her rack ? Seriously- no; doesn't matter. I'd certainly note it mentally, and over the long term I might 'work' on that, but initially it doesn't mean anything.

The irony RE the Obamanites is that as often as they condemn the stereotype of the 'religious right', they fail to see they're having what amounts to a religious experience themselves, based not on experience or accomplishments, but on 'belief' & 'hope' & 'change' and other smoky nothingness. This woman is not in anyway unusual among BO supporters; remember all the fainting at his early speeches?

>>"I'm sure gas prices will be back at $4 or more next summer...."<< It's just not that seasonal. This past sumer's $4/gal was NOT related to the appearance of robins, either. The recession is not going to encourage a doubling-plus run on oil by next spring- everyone is saying '10 before we see a decisive economic upturn.

>>"...MG? Once the second biggest car company of the world."<< Somehow, I don't think so.... not even remotely close.... ever. Or were you thinking of British Leyland (of which MG was part of) being the 2nd largest in the UK ?

>>"Aaaaaand now he has taken my car keys and put them someplace. I assume he threw them into a wormhole or some sort of trans-dimensional port, since they dont seem to be anywhere in this dimension. "<< Years ago, I bought a few auto-related items thru the mail, received the box and opened it upon arrival. One tidbit was a round 2.5"-dia MoonEyes magnet. Bright yellow, eye-catching. My son was little, between 2 & 3. He was interested, I let him hold it. He bolted, running with it in one hand; out of the kitchen, thru the living room, thru the dining room and back in the other end of the kitchen. Elapsed time, approx 12 seconds. No MoonEyes magnet. "Where'd the 'sticker' go?" I asked, perturbed. I had held it all of 3 seconds. "I dunno," he replied. He was already on to whatever was next. I searched, and I'm a master at locating lost items. Gone. About 9 years later, on an inspired cleaning spree, guess what I find, black side down, clinging to the bottom of the stove? Kids.

Maybe he can run with :

smallchevy -- Look at the pic above with the locomotive. It's on 'track 1' and this is the same track seen in the color pic I took up top; running along the stone wall. Track 2 & 3 went over the underpass, track 4 curved under 2 & 3 and then ran next to track 1. This arrangement was an elevation issue- track 1 & 4 followed a lower grade and went thru a newer (1908) tunnel. Right where the 3 bars are there were 4 tracks, but around the end of the wall seen in my '08 pic, track 1 merged into track 2 (this is 1948 I'm talking. Since then track 1 was realigned, eliminating the 'S' that was there via the switch to join with track 2). Again- I don't see anything lining up with these marks in the photos I have access to... I don't see them as practical for communication for anyone on the train as far as switches / # of tracks go when the train passes the marks at speed.... but most of all, with there only being 1 track since about the early '80s, I see no reason why someone would have repainted the marks if anything RR-related they could have signified has been gone for 25 or so years. Now I wish to hell I had inspected them up close...

For me, the whole short deck thing harkens back to the pony car, and in general I don't care for it. I prefer a short hood / long deck proportion, or at least something more balanced. Some treatments work, others like the toyota GS, don't.

'bout .4 or .5 mile.

>>"Maybe the military will work with Toyota on building green tanks powered by Prius drivetrains"<< Pretty sure the military spec does not allow for grinding to a dead halt in the middle of a maneuver.

Diesel dropped 24 cents from Friday to Monday ($3.35 -> 3.11). 87 was $2.22 @ one local station.

Here's another pic I took this past weekend (duh- the '08 shot), looking the other way from the up-top pic of this thread : 1948~ 2008~ No strange symbols spotted anywhere this way, and I have been about half-again as far as you can see down those rails. There is a huge railroad over/underpass in the woods this way, you have to be hiking thru the woods in order to spot it, where it rises from the rustling murmur of the forest, an abandoned monolith to American industrial might. The right-hand track curves to go under this underpass and join back with the left-hand track. 1948~ 2008~ I find 'industrial archeology' fascinating.