And you should never drink untreated surface water, no matter how “clean” it looks: think of the “birds and the bees…” (and the fish). The birds and the bees, no problem; the fish do what they do in the water, however! Water is a very “biologically-active” medium, and when there’s an entire foodchain living, loving and dying in it…you’ll probably want to boil it, first.
(This is what I was referring to by the “W. C. Fields objection.”)
(This is why I said “drinkable rivers” were unrealistic, Mike: all it takes is ONE cow pooping by the side of a stream, in several thousand miles of watershed, and you’re at theoretical risk of e. coli. I cannot imagine of the draconian measures necessary to prevent this from happening…and you’d have to kill off all the wildlife, too, lest Bambi accomplish what Bessie was prevented from doing.)
What flavor kool aide do you prefer? I dunno, I think I’m quite capable of discerning real facts from opinions from possible facts from manure. You gotta realize that not many anymore trust what the government says or what their contractors may say. Some of us study every word to find the wiggle clauses in what is being said and in the garbage can it goes.
Such as: I never directed that . . . (just means someone else did)
We have no information on that . . . (means we didn’t look or destroyed it)
He says he doesn’t beat his wife but 90% of wife beaters don’t admit it.
You get the picture.
Back to cars. Naturally NPR spent an hour on this this afternoon. A Prius owner and others calling in favored keeping stringent mileage standards. Of course they had experts on but they all agreed with each other, so it was one love fest among like minded people. I didn’t catch it all though since I was waiting for the car wash.
I was similarly entertained on a recent Hannety show with Newt Gingrich as guest. They were taking calls discussing the coming increase in federal revenue due to proposed tax cuts. It seems the excess in revenue will be as phenominal as from previous cuts.
Allow me to make a comparison. “Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics”. “Possible Campaign Promises, Near Impossible Campaign Promises, and Complete Fantasies”. Immigration security and improved vetting. Not only POTUS privilege but their responsibility. Attempting to repair the failed ACA. Not easy. Building a multi billion dollar southern border great wall that Mexico will pay for. Complete fantasy. I am only somewhat impressed by President Trump attempting to address his campaign promises unlike most of his predecessors.
yes I remember when Obama was elected. People were high with hopes, I was like he is a politician, and resistance from the senate etc. did not help, Like George Carlin said, is congress the opposite of progress?
In the early 70s the Big 3 were resisting EPA demands and warning that proposed restrictions would bankrupt them and the oil industry was warning that the world’s oil wells would all be dry by the end of the 90s. The politicians have a lot of competition with the lies.
I would call that “being wrong” more than lies. With 1970’s technology, those statements would probably have been true. No one foresaw the revolution in microprocessors that make modern engine control units possible.
Hi again. Another belated request to keep this discussion more focused on the subject as it pertains to the topic of the forum. I won’t shut it down simply for parallels and digressions, but the overall balance of the discussion should be about cars/fuel/what have you. Thanks!
Bob Lutz in his book Car Guys and Bean Counters said the EPA standards is what put the foreign manufacturers in the picture. They had the small cars ready to roll but the US didn’t. He insinuated that it was done on purpose to shut them down. Maybe a little strong but there is usually some truth to every conspiracy theory. He was a little full of it though and never of course did anything wrong himself.
When the OPEC oil embargo hit us and gas prices doubled nearly overnight, people just plain stopped buying Detroit’s gas hogs, EPA standards or not.
Don’t underestimate the power of consumer choice on auto makers. If huge pickup trucks sat on the dealer’s lots unsold, they would stop making them.
Yeah, it was part of a “one/two” combo. The EPA standards spawned the Malaise Era of motoring…but Unsafe at At Speed didn’t help matters, either. GM made a “Beetle Killer” that: had the same CG as the Beetle, had the same swing arm, and the same handling instability. (At least engine-wise, though, it was significantly better than the VW.)
Ralph Nader made an opportunistic hatchet piece that skewered the Corvair (while giving the Germans a “free pass” for substantively similar engineering.) As a result, the Big Three opted to stick to the “big cars we know how to make,” and got caught flat-footed when EPA and OPEC teamed up to make big cars undesirable. I think domestic autos would have had it at least a little better, but for the book.
That was then, but now that’s a reason in favor of thorium.
All we need is a president who looks forward instead of looking back to “greatness” with coal.
Gee, I think it’s pretty “great” when my neighbors are employed at jobs that pay better than retail sales. All I want to se happen is all subsidies for all power generation removed, and let the various sources compete in the marketplace on a level playing field. As it stands, coal can generate electricity at 6c/KW or so. If and when solar beats that, on a level playing field, then its day has come, but not before that day!
All we want, is a fair chance, on a level field. Favoring certain energy sources, and penalizing others, is “dirty pool” on a warped table!