Attack of the Killer Minivans

Here's a site dedicated to turbocharged Chrysler minivans. Drag racing in a minivan? It seems like a win-win proposition. If you win it's "Ha ha, you got beat by a minivan!" If you lose, it's "what did you expect, it's a minivan."

Useful Link:
Edmund's Guide to Maintenance Schedules, Recalls & Technical Service Bulletins

Just enter your make, model & year at this link and get all the relevant info for your model of vehicle.

Latest at Sema: $2000 Polycarbonate Wheels

Query: If it's clear, is it still "bling"? The latest thing at the SEMA aftermarket equipment show is clear polycarbonate wheels. Polycarbonate is the material that is used for bulletproof glass, shatterproof eyeglasses and iBook chassis. Now (or soon) you an buy 20" to 24" wheels made out of the stuff. Per Autoblog.com, if you want a set of four, it'll cost you $8,000.

Animal Site of the Week:
Underwatertimes.com

I stumbled upon this neat site when I Googled Gustave, the Killer Croc, from a PBS Special. This site collects news stories about shark attacks, crocodile attacks and more killer sea creature stories, but it also collects news items regarding ocean exploration and ecology in general.

Underwater times

Auto Industry News 10/31/06

The Month of October is going out with a bang. I'm too busy to provide links but here are some headlines of the day. You can Google them if you are interested. Do you see a pattern here?

Ex-Delphi CEO Charged with Civil Fraud
Workers Threaten Strike - Goodyear Closes Plant
Dura files Chapter 11
Visteon Posts $177 Million Quarterly Loss
First Mississippi-built Altima Rolls off the Line
Ford Cuts Production 8-12% for first half of 2007.
Reprts Grow of DCX Split

Halloween Craft of the Day:
Make a "Rat Throwie"
Jeopardy style lead in:

Answer: You stuff a dead rat and replace the eyes with glowing red LEDs.

Question: How do you make a rat throwie?

Peyton Manning
NFL MVP

Excuse the brief detour to hometown boosterism. I watched the last quarter of yesterday's Colts/Broncos game, and what I saw was one of the best quarterbacking jobs I've ever witnessed. The Denver Broncos have one of the best defenses in the NFL. IN the first six weeks of this season, they only allowed two touchdowns. Peyton Manning hit 32 of 39 passes for 345 years and 3 touchdowns, everyone of them needed, to move the Colts to a 34-31 victory. This game both teams treated like a playoff game. It would not be surprising to find at the end of the season that the outcome of this game determined home field advantage for the playoffs.

The most impressive thing was the control and the poise that Manning demonstrated. It was clear that he would not let himself lose this game. It didn't matter that the Colts defense couldn't have stopped the runs if it had a case of Ex-Lax, Peyton was not going to lose. If anyone else is going to be MVP of the NFL this year, he's going to have a lot of work to do better than Peyton Manning.

GM 3rd Quarter Results in - Better than Expected
North American Operations Profitable before "special charges"

General Motors posted a net loss for the third quarter of $115 million. While that may seem bad, this time last year, GM posted a third quarter loss over a billion dollars. GM sold fewere cars, but lost less money, a sign that sales of unprofitable (e.g. fleet) cars have been reduced.

Overall, things are going in the right direction for GM.

Ford's 3rd Quarter Loss $5.8 Billion . . . and Counting

Ford just released its 3rd quarter financial results. Ford reported a $5.8 billion dollar loss. Ford's North American operations lost $2.0 billion, up from $1.2 billion last year. Results in the rest of the company were mixed, and it looks like about half of the $5.8 billion dollar loss was attributable to restructuring costs including the recently-announced employee buyout.

The "and counting" portion of the headline to this entry refers to Ford's announcement that Ford Motor Credit plans to restate results going back to 2001. Apparently, there were some accounting issues that rendered previously announced statements inaccurate. Let the lawsuits begin.

Bush Press Secretary Disses Ford

Maybe George W. isn't the biggest idiot in the White House after all. Press Secretary Tony Snow went on an incredibly ignorant rant about Ford pensions during a press conference according to a story at Jalopnik.com. Here's what he said:

"One of the things that's really hit Michigan hard, for instance, at Ford, are defined benefit plans that were bankrupting the company...I mean, I know this personally because people very close to me are now having to make the decision that the pensions that have been promised to them are not going to be available and they're going to have to take a cash payout."

Where do you begin in explaining the errors in such a statement? Ford isn't bankrupt. Even if it goes bankrupt, the pension won't necessarily be insolvent. Even if Ford goes bankrupt, the pension is unlikely to be the cause. After all, Ford has been salting away money into the pension fund for decades, and pension obligations should hardly be considered to be a surprise. For workers taking buyouts, it's rarely a pension-driven decision, since in the plans I've seen vested employees keep their accumulated pension rights.

Snow should go back to work at Fox News, where getting the facts wrong isn't just expected, it's part of the job description.