Happy Appalachian Hospital Day
Youtube.com videos of the day
As a CI attorney, on the day after Memorial Day, I spend most of my time talking to clients about the stupid situations they got themselves into over the holidays. You know "Look what I can do!"-type stuff. Last year, I gave the day after Memorial Day the name "Appalachian Hospital Day" in honor of the SNL skits of the same name. In that spirit, I post a link to the youtube.com video(s) of the day, all involving trampoline accidents.
Trampoline accidents
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Fantazyland
Fantazyland: The World's Worst Theme Park
Just to get you ready for vacation season, I'm posting a link to pictures of Fantazyland in Cairo, Egypt. "Dubaidave" posted these pictures to themeparkreview.com. These pictures make post-Katrina SFNO (Six Flags New Orleans) look good.
Fantazyland
Just to get you ready for vacation season, I'm posting a link to pictures of Fantazyland in Cairo, Egypt. "Dubaidave" posted these pictures to themeparkreview.com. These pictures make post-Katrina SFNO (Six Flags New Orleans) look good.
Fantazyland
Pontiac wants to go RWD?
Pontiac now wants to specialize in rear-wheel-drive cars. The catch? There are hardly any RWD Pontiac cars. There's the Solstice and - uh, that's it. They used to have the GTO, but they killed it. Pontiac might get a version of whatever is going to replace the Camaro. There may be a new large RWD platform to build on. All the other product development money has been committed for the forseeable future. Go RWD? Might as well specialize in flying cars while you're at it.
Pontiac to go RWD or RIP?
Pontiac now wants to specialize in rear-wheel-drive cars. The catch? There are hardly any RWD Pontiac cars. There's the Solstice and - uh, that's it. They used to have the GTO, but they killed it. Pontiac might get a version of whatever is going to replace the Camaro. There may be a new large RWD platform to build on. All the other product development money has been committed for the forseeable future. Go RWD? Might as well specialize in flying cars while you're at it.
Pontiac to go RWD or RIP?
Monday, May 29, 2006
Memorial Day Book Review
Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway, by Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tulley
I'm going to diverge from the automotive and economic focus of this blog to thank and honor our servicemembers, past and present, for their sacrifices. The past year has seen the release of two new books about the Battle of Midway, the June 1942 turning point of the Pacific Theater in World War II. I've read both of these books, and found them both worthy reading. The Parshall & Tulley book, in particular is a standout, so I'll go over it first.
Shattered Sword is a thorough examination of the Battle of Midway from the Japanese perspective. Even though this book is primary author Parshall's first full-length book, it stands beside John Lundstrom's: The First Team: Pacific Naval Air Combat from Pearl Harbor to Midway, to bookend all modern treatments on the subject. Whereas Lundstrom's book focuses on the American aviators who fought the first six months of the Pacific War, Parshall's book focuses on here-to-fore unexamined Japanese source material. With this material in hand, Parshall has the amunition to unwisen conventional wisdom concerning the battle. Although the title is Shattered Sword, actually myths are what this book shatters.
The first shattered myth is that the American forces were overmatched by the Japanese. By examining Japanese records, Parshall determined that several of the Japanese carriers were sailing with incomplete compements of aircraft. Since each American carrier carried more planes than a Japanese carrier, there was not a big difference in carrier aircraft. When American shore-based planes from Midway are counted, the Americans had the advantage. He also shatters the myth that Miday atoll would have been defenseless hd the Americans lost the naval battle. Pashall goes over the Midway defenses and suggests that the Marine garrison could have repelled the Japanese invasion. The Midway defenders were dug in with heavy weapons and even a few tanks. They roughly matched the number of Japanese invasion troops. There are other tidbits for the true WWII wonk, including technical details on the Japanese carriers. Did you know that first Japanese carriers were originally built with three flight decks?
Here are links to the shatteredsword.com website. The Amazon Webpage for the book and Pashall's main website, combinedfleet.com. The combinedfleet.com site has information on virtually every Japanese Navy ship.
Shattered Sword
Shattered Sword Amazon
Combined Fleet
Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway, by Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tulley
I'm going to diverge from the automotive and economic focus of this blog to thank and honor our servicemembers, past and present, for their sacrifices. The past year has seen the release of two new books about the Battle of Midway, the June 1942 turning point of the Pacific Theater in World War II. I've read both of these books, and found them both worthy reading. The Parshall & Tulley book, in particular is a standout, so I'll go over it first.
Shattered Sword is a thorough examination of the Battle of Midway from the Japanese perspective. Even though this book is primary author Parshall's first full-length book, it stands beside John Lundstrom's: The First Team: Pacific Naval Air Combat from Pearl Harbor to Midway, to bookend all modern treatments on the subject. Whereas Lundstrom's book focuses on the American aviators who fought the first six months of the Pacific War, Parshall's book focuses on here-to-fore unexamined Japanese source material. With this material in hand, Parshall has the amunition to unwisen conventional wisdom concerning the battle. Although the title is Shattered Sword, actually myths are what this book shatters.
The first shattered myth is that the American forces were overmatched by the Japanese. By examining Japanese records, Parshall determined that several of the Japanese carriers were sailing with incomplete compements of aircraft. Since each American carrier carried more planes than a Japanese carrier, there was not a big difference in carrier aircraft. When American shore-based planes from Midway are counted, the Americans had the advantage. He also shatters the myth that Miday atoll would have been defenseless hd the Americans lost the naval battle. Pashall goes over the Midway defenses and suggests that the Marine garrison could have repelled the Japanese invasion. The Midway defenders were dug in with heavy weapons and even a few tanks. They roughly matched the number of Japanese invasion troops. There are other tidbits for the true WWII wonk, including technical details on the Japanese carriers. Did you know that first Japanese carriers were originally built with three flight decks?
Here are links to the shatteredsword.com website. The Amazon Webpage for the book and Pashall's main website, combinedfleet.com. The combinedfleet.com site has information on virtually every Japanese Navy ship.
Shattered Sword
Shattered Sword Amazon
Combined Fleet
Friday, May 26, 2006
Youtube Clip of the Week: Shatner Sings
ROCKETMAN
This is a clip from a Sci Fi Convention in 1978. William Shatner Sings Elton John's Rocketman. He's in a trio with William Shatner and William Shatner.
Shatnerman
ROCKETMAN
This is a clip from a Sci Fi Convention in 1978. William Shatner Sings Elton John's Rocketman. He's in a trio with William Shatner and William Shatner.
Shatnerman
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Good New Comes in 3s For General Motors
Good News Comes in 3s for General Motors
Fewer Employees - Higher Stock - New Hybrid
After what seemed like unrelenting bad news, GM has received some good news and good press lately.
First, GM's restructuring plan is ahead of schedule, with about 30,000 employees so far electing to take the early retirement buyout.
Second, Wall Street took the buyout information as a positive sign, and GM stock has rallied to about $26.50. It started the year under $19.00.
Third, GM released availability information about the Saturn Vue Greenline SUV. The Greenline is a so-called "mild" hybrid that relies on a belt-starter-alternator to allow the car to shut down the vehicle while stopped at a redlight. This system has the advantage of easy integration into existing vehicle designs, and without large battery packs, it is much cheaper than the systems used by Toyota and Honda. As a trade-off, it does not result in as much of a fuel efficiency gain. Still, the Greenline Vue's projected EPA MPG ratings are 27 city and 32 highway. That's in the same ballpark as the more expensive Toyota Highlander hybrid. The Vue Greenline is slated for availability "later this summer" at a starting price of $22,995, about $4,000 less than the Highlander.
This same powertrain is slated to become available in the Chevrolet Malibu and the Saturn Aura, but there have been no release dates set for the release of these models. At about 3200 lbs, the Vue weighs about the same as the Chevrolet Malibu, but it is not as aerodynamic. I would expect that a hybrid Malibu would deliver about 30/35 MPG.
Good news for GM
2007 Saturn Vue Greenline
Fewer Employees - Higher Stock - New Hybrid
After what seemed like unrelenting bad news, GM has received some good news and good press lately.
First, GM's restructuring plan is ahead of schedule, with about 30,000 employees so far electing to take the early retirement buyout.
Second, Wall Street took the buyout information as a positive sign, and GM stock has rallied to about $26.50. It started the year under $19.00.
Third, GM released availability information about the Saturn Vue Greenline SUV. The Greenline is a so-called "mild" hybrid that relies on a belt-starter-alternator to allow the car to shut down the vehicle while stopped at a redlight. This system has the advantage of easy integration into existing vehicle designs, and without large battery packs, it is much cheaper than the systems used by Toyota and Honda. As a trade-off, it does not result in as much of a fuel efficiency gain. Still, the Greenline Vue's projected EPA MPG ratings are 27 city and 32 highway. That's in the same ballpark as the more expensive Toyota Highlander hybrid. The Vue Greenline is slated for availability "later this summer" at a starting price of $22,995, about $4,000 less than the Highlander.
This same powertrain is slated to become available in the Chevrolet Malibu and the Saturn Aura, but there have been no release dates set for the release of these models. At about 3200 lbs, the Vue weighs about the same as the Chevrolet Malibu, but it is not as aerodynamic. I would expect that a hybrid Malibu would deliver about 30/35 MPG.
Good news for GM
2007 Saturn Vue Greenline
Sunday, May 21, 2006
SUV Pancake
"REAL" Truck vs. SUV
Truck 1 : SUV 0
Here's the youtube.com video of the day. Giant Dump truck vs. Land Rover.
Bye Bye Rover
Truck 1 : SUV 0
Here's the youtube.com video of the day. Giant Dump truck vs. Land Rover.
Bye Bye Rover
Friday, May 19, 2006
The Googleteer(tm) weighs in on the Milberg Weiss Affair
In the limited contact that I've had with the Milberg Weiss law firm, I haven't been impressed. I wasn't surprised at all that the firm got into trouble for allegedly giving kickbacks to class representatives. I've been a member of NACA, the National Association of Consumer Advocates, for almost a decade now. NACA's class action guidelines proscribe a number of ethical dos & don'ts. Milberg Weiss, seems to violate the guidelines on a routine basis. NACA is against coupon settlements. Milberg Weiss? Not so much.
The Sultan of Search himself, the Googleteer(tm), flew into the window and performed the following search
"milberg weiss" "coupon settlement"
and came up with 510 hits.
In the limited contact that I've had with the Milberg Weiss law firm, I haven't been impressed. I wasn't surprised at all that the firm got into trouble for allegedly giving kickbacks to class representatives. I've been a member of NACA, the National Association of Consumer Advocates, for almost a decade now. NACA's class action guidelines proscribe a number of ethical dos & don'ts. Milberg Weiss, seems to violate the guidelines on a routine basis. NACA is against coupon settlements. Milberg Weiss? Not so much.
The Sultan of Search himself, the Googleteer(tm), flew into the window and performed the following search
"milberg weiss" "coupon settlement"
and came up with 510 hits.
GM to Offer 19 New Engines and Transmissions Next Year
Or Not?
GM has issued a press release that it will offer 19 new engines and transmissions in 2007. The tenor of the announcement seemed to suggest that GM is catching up in the engine race, and will be debuting new engines and up-to-date engines across its product lines. As I read further, there are hints indicating that such is not the case.
It appears that more engines will become E85 capable (more of a re-engineering of the plumbing than the engine). General Motors will introduce its delayed integrated starter-alternator system (a very mild hybrid system that mostly just shuts off the engine at idle) on the Saturn Vue Greenline. GM will expand its cylinder deactivation ("active fuel management in GM-speak) offerings. GM will introduce its 6-speed automatic transmisson. None of this is new news. Most of this technology was expected to be introduced by the 2006 model year, so the 2007 introduction is nothing to brag about.
The one truly new item I found only in the Autoblog post published below. According to Autoblog, in 2008, not 2007, GM will come out with a version of its high-feature 3.6 liter V6 with direct injection and a more sophisticated variable valve timing setup. This appears to be a direct response to Toyota's 2GR-FSE 3.5 liter direct-injected engine which puts out 306 horsepower and still bests its less-powerful GM (and other) competitors in fuel economy. While this is a welcome announcement, when it comes to GM engines, an announced date of 2008 really means 2009. By 2009, I mean 2009 for the first car to use the engine, for it to be widely used, it really means 2014. Who knows what Toyota will have by then.
Or Not?
GM has issued a press release that it will offer 19 new engines and transmissions in 2007. The tenor of the announcement seemed to suggest that GM is catching up in the engine race, and will be debuting new engines and up-to-date engines across its product lines. As I read further, there are hints indicating that such is not the case.
It appears that more engines will become E85 capable (more of a re-engineering of the plumbing than the engine). General Motors will introduce its delayed integrated starter-alternator system (a very mild hybrid system that mostly just shuts off the engine at idle) on the Saturn Vue Greenline. GM will expand its cylinder deactivation ("active fuel management in GM-speak) offerings. GM will introduce its 6-speed automatic transmisson. None of this is new news. Most of this technology was expected to be introduced by the 2006 model year, so the 2007 introduction is nothing to brag about.
The one truly new item I found only in the Autoblog post published below. According to Autoblog, in 2008, not 2007, GM will come out with a version of its high-feature 3.6 liter V6 with direct injection and a more sophisticated variable valve timing setup. This appears to be a direct response to Toyota's 2GR-FSE 3.5 liter direct-injected engine which puts out 306 horsepower and still bests its less-powerful GM (and other) competitors in fuel economy. While this is a welcome announcement, when it comes to GM engines, an announced date of 2008 really means 2009. By 2009, I mean 2009 for the first car to use the engine, for it to be widely used, it really means 2014. Who knows what Toyota will have by then.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Heather Mills McCartney - Let the Dishing Begin
The celebrity gossip folks are really starting to dish out the dirt on Heather Mills McCartney. See the story linked below. Some are suggesting that her holier-than-though charitable efforts such as the effort to save baby seals were not all they were cracked up to be. As it turns out, she wanted to save baby seals "so they would become nice juicy adults."
Mills link etc.
The celebrity gossip folks are really starting to dish out the dirt on Heather Mills McCartney. See the story linked below. Some are suggesting that her holier-than-though charitable efforts such as the effort to save baby seals were not all they were cracked up to be. As it turns out, she wanted to save baby seals "so they would become nice juicy adults."
Mills link etc.
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