An idea

[Guest guest]

,

Technically this has been done. There is some called CAFE, which is roughly the minimum miles per gallon for vehicles. However, the law was poorly written and applied to the fleet average rather than per vehicle class.

That is a car company could produce the SUV's that got 16 MPG as long as they also made enough little cars to achieve the average of about 24 MPG. They've actually fallen a bit behind because SUV's became so popular so they are really closer to 23MPG fleet average.

I think, however, that we are beginning to see a more effective way of getting people into more efficient cars. Gas prices are going up and people are showing more interest in hybrids and other fuel efficient cars. If the prices stay high or even rise some more, people will be pushing for more hybrids. The problem is that people are stuck with SUV's that they already had because no one wants to buy them now, making their resale and trade in value very low.

Now, I think the government could help by pushing the car companies to make more hybrids focussing on fuel efficiency. Unfortunately, they are instead pushing hydrogen which is a waste of time and energy. This is because it will take a lot of power to crack water to make hydrogen and that power could be better spent doing other things. The best use of resources would be to build more efficient hybrids which would require no new infrastructure of any kind to be built. Switching to hydrogen would require a huge expense as a parallel infrastructure was built. Very wasteful.

Hydrogen is serving its purpose, however. It allows the politicians to hold out this pie in the sky idea and pretend they are actually doing something when really they aren't. They know most people won't pay enough attention to realize how long it will take or how expensive it will be to switch to hydrogen. It will also keep the people from fussing too much about the "high" gas prices and let the pols continue to do nothing productive.

P.S. Americans do seem like big babies when they scream about gas at $2.50 per gallon when in Holland it is nearing $7.00 per gallon.

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 8/17/2005 7:44:45 PM Eastern Standard Time, globalmerchantorg@... writes:

I don't drive, I never want to either.

Reality and the minds of the politicians are two different things.

I think with population growth, other countries developing as well as other factors will require the need for overall forced efficiency not only in the U.S but globally.

When it costs a trucker $500 to fill a tank and it takes away from profits people do get upset especially when they have families to feed.

I don't drive either unless I really have to. Too many crazy fools out there on the road.

Increasing development around the world is good reason for more efficiency and alternative fuel sources. The problem is, those developing countries seem to care even less about doing something about high gas prices than the West does. China's solution is to do business with every nasty customer the UN and the West tries to put sanctions on, like Sudan.

Truckers are taking a major hit. Eventually those prices will be passed on into comsumer prices. They already are to an extent, but the price creep has been gradual enough not to cause more than minor grumbles. That could change, especially if Venezuala cuts the flow to the US as they are again threatening to do (Bush made a serious mistake putting Chavez back in power). Of course, once the US leaves Iraq that country will probably fall apart and Iran could close the Bosphorus straights again cutting most of the flow of oil from the MIddle East. Its a shame we have allowed the most unstable and dangerous nations on earth to hold so much power over us.

[Guest guest]

I don't drive, I never want to either.

Reality and the minds of the politicians are two different things.

I think with population growth, other countries developing as well as other factors will require the need for overall forced efficiency not only in the U.S but globally.

When it costs a trucker $500 to fill a tank and it takes away from profits people do get upset especially when they have families to feed.

VISIGOTH@... wrote:

,

Technically this has been done. There is some called CAFE, which is roughly the minimum miles per gallon for vehicles. However, the law was poorly written and applied to the fleet average rather than per vehicle class.

That is a car company could produce the SUV's that got 16 MPG as long as they also made enough little cars to achieve the average of about 24 MPG. They've actually fallen a bit behind because SUV's became so popular so they are really closer to 23MPG fleet average.

I think, however, that we are beginning to see a more effective way of getting people into more efficient cars. Gas prices are going up and people are showing more interest in hybrids and other fuel efficient cars. If the prices stay high or even rise some more, people will be pushing for more hybrids. The problem is that people are stuck with SUV's that they already had because no one wants to buy them now, making their resale and trade in value very low.

Now, I think the government could help by pushing the car companies to make more hybrids focussing on fuel efficiency. Unfortunately, they are instead pushing hydrogen which is a waste of time and energy. This is because it will take a lot of power to crack water to make hydrogen and that power could be better spent doing other things. The best use of resources would be to build more efficient hybrids which would require no new infrastructure of any kind to be built. Switching to hydrogen would require a huge expense as a parallel infrastructure was built. Very wasteful.

Hydrogen is serving its purpose, however. It allows the politicians to hold out this pie in the sky idea and pretend they are actually doing something when really they aren't. They know most people won't pay enough attention to realize how long it will take or how expensive it will be to switch to hydrogen. It will also keep the people from fussing too much about the "high" gas prices and let the pols continue to do nothing productive.

P.S. Americans do seem like big babies when they scream about gas at $2.50 per gallon when in Holland it is nearing $7.00 per gallon.

[Guest guest]

Awesome idea, Jodi! Congratulations for finding something that works!

How old is ? My son is almost 4. He doesn't like having me read to him. He likes to hold books and look at them by himself. He'll let me look with him and comment, but he has to be in charge of the pacing. Also, he gets "stuck" on certain favorite pages and won't want to go through the whole book, but rather stay on that one page. Any ideas on increasing my son's joint attention with books? I know, maybe I can feed him one bite each time he lets me read a page to him ;-)

in Long Beach

*************

We've really had a hard time getting focused on eating. This morning I had an idea. I started reading him a book. When I got to the end of a page I would say "Okay, take a bite and I'll turn the page!" That is the best he has ever eaten his breakfast! And we got our morning reading in too. =) Jodi

[Guest guest]

Awesome idea, Jodi! Congratulations for finding something that works!

How old is ? My son is almost 4. He doesn't like having me read to him. He likes to hold books and look at them by himself. He'll let me look with him and comment, but he has to be in charge of the pacing. Also, he gets "stuck" on certain favorite pages and won't want to go through the whole book, but rather stay on that one page. Any ideas on increasing my son's joint attention with books? I know, maybe I can feed him one bite each time he lets me read a page to him ;-)

in Long Beach

*************

We've really had a hard time getting focused on eating. This morning I had an idea. I started reading him a book. When I got to the end of a page I would say "Okay, take a bite and I'll turn the page!" That is the best he has ever eaten his breakfast! And we got our morning reading in too. =) Jodi

[Guest guest]

I did read this before Jodi. Yes. The joys of bribery! It does teach kids consistency though, as long as we are.

I think you're doing great with him!

Love,

Francine

In a message dated 5/19/2007 12:05:30 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, jjkgardenier@... writes:

I don't think this posted before. I will try again because it might help someone. My son has a hard time focusing on breakfast. I have started reading a book while he eats. I say "Okay, take a bite and I can turn the page." It works for us! Gets some reading time in also. Jodi

See what's free at AOL.com.

[Guest guest]

An idea..

My Ice cream has been so successful I'm going for another non commercial flavor.

I just had a friend request my recipe for Triple Pear Purée and I thought Pear

Ice Cream. I've never seen it! So I think I'll do it and give it a good splash

of Pear at the end.

Actually, I was thinking if doing small cream puffs today filled with a pear

flavored cream but I like the ice cream idea more.

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