Dodge EV Concept. Electric.
Honda Insight. Gasoline-electric hybrid.
Mini E. Electric.
The LA Auto Show takes place November 21-30 at the LA Convention Center.
NaBloPoMo 16
Author: glyphic
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No bailout for the automotive industry
I could care less if the Big Three were to disappear overnight. For decades they’ve existed as marketing and financial bureaucracies–not car companies, putting out shitty products propped up by nostalgia, misguided patriotism, cheap fuel, and cheap money. In the meantime, their foreign competitors have innovated, diversified, and invested wisely, building their brands over years, if not decades. The American automotive industry seems to be institutionally incapable of learning anything; it’s time to stand back and watch those institutions implode. This doesn’t mean we won’t have an automotive industry; it just means that new companies will have a chance to grow and innovate without being overshadowed by these soulless monstrosities.
However, I’d be perfectly happy to have the Feds relieve them, and American businesses in general, of the twin clusterfucks we know as defined benefit retirement plans and employer-based health insurance.
NaBloPoMo 13
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The Census Bureau is one of my favorite government entities
The Constitution declares that “[an] Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.” The primary purpose was to assign Congressional delegates to the member States based on population, but the Census Bureau does a lot more than just count heads. They collect all sorts of data, and employ math/stats people to come up with estimates for those years when we don’t have a census.
Here’s something I bet you didn’t know (I didn’t know until I looked):
2006 Census Estimate Households Percentage Married-couple family household 55,521,868 49.7% Male householder, no wife present family household 5,121,415 4.6% Female householder, no husband present family household 13,920,783 12.5% Nonfamily household 37,053,336 33.2% Total households 111,617,402 Given the data:
- …should tax policy favor married people?
- …should housing developers and planning policies assume that residents will be married-couple family households?
- …should people be smacked when they continue to claim that half of marriages end in divorce?
Only the third one is a rhetorical question (the answer is yes).
NaBloPoMo 9
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California Department of Insurance
Soon after I bought the S2000 I started shopping around for a new insurance company. I’d been with the Auto Club for years, but I figured I could save some money if I looked. A friend of mine recommended Wawanesa, but I wanted to get more information.
The California Department of Insurance, as it turns out, has some fantastic information on insurance companies.
The Consumer Complaint Study ranks insurance companies “based on the number of Justified Complaints to 100,000 Earned Exposures.”
The Automobile Premium Survey features “an interactive tool for consumers to use to obtain a premium comparison between insurance companies.”
Wawanesa ranked third-lowest out of fifty in the complaint study and lowest in premiums for my particular insurance needs ($400 cheaper than anyone else!). Highly recommend!!! A+++
NaBloPoMo 6
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Last night at the Century Plaza Hotel
Traffic is snarled along Avenue of the Stars in front of the Century Plaza:
In the Century Plaza lobby after the election is called for Obama:
NaBloPoMo 5