grayhair

Wow, yeah, it's crazy. Every where I look there's a new hydrogen fuel station. (Not.) I've been all over TX, OK, and FL in the last 6 months and haven't seen any construction work on any of these new hydrogen refueling stations. Zero, zip, nada. Gotta buy the properties, get local approvals and permitting for tanks with explosive materials, etc. Maybe there will be hydrogen trucks long before there is actually a place to refuel them. "Hello, is this Pilot Truck Stop on I-20? Yeah, good, listen, I'm about 15 miles east of you. Can you bring me 40 lbs. of liquid hydrogen? Hello? Hello? Damn, I think he hung up on me."

Wow! Very nice!

You sold the two low-gas-mileage machines. I had a '73 Vette, 454, 4 speed. The good news was that t would go 110 mph in 3rd and still push you back in the seat when you put it in 4th. The bad news was the 10 mpg while you were just tooling around town. Fast as it was, it was no match for my '72 Pontiac Ventura sleeper with a worked over 428, bored .040 over, Crane cam, Hookers, etc. That thing also got lousy mileage due to the cam and the special HO Q-jet with the "beer-can" secondaries. Or maybe just due to the swept volume and heavy foot situation.

Ya gotta love it when he says "You pull back the chamber and let it go and the bullet goes into the hole."

Yeah, the hits just keep coming...

When you're talking Ford Motor it is apparent that there hasn't been anyone at the wheel for some time now. If you're an investor then this isn't news. Consider... $10,000. invested in NAV stock (Navistar) on 4/30/15 @ $29.86 / share got you 334 shares. Value today of those shares = 334 x $26.91 = $8988.00. A 10.1% loss. $10,000 invested in F stock (Ford Motor) on 4/30/15 @ $11.47 / share got you 633 shares. Value today of those shares = 633 x $11.47 = $7261.00. A 27.4% loss. Ah, but you say Ford paid dividends and NAV did not. So, lets add in the $1.80 of dividends paid x 633 shares = $1139. And $1139. + $7261. = $8400. A 15% loss. So, like I said, this isn't news for long suffering Ford share holders. Their patience with Mark Fields is puzzling. I'm getting old so maybe my math is bad (in which case I'm sure you'll let me know.) Fields is no Troy Clarke and that could well be the difference.

More "alternative facts"- In this and several other cases the counties along the tracks bought the railroad to protect the asset with an eye to resume service. The counties own the tracks, but lease them to a private sector operator. We have several shortline operations like this in Minnesota and surrounding states. One of the largest is in South Dakota, where the state bought up all the Milwaukee Road tracks in the state when the railroad went bankrupt in the 1980s. Most of these tracks are in use again, and the state has sold some of the tracks to BNSF. BTW, the "government bureaucrats" you hate are largely our overworked and underpaid rural county commissioners, who have shepherded these abandoned railroads back into service. I stand by my statement. The major railroad companies own their own track with the exception of Amtrak. Amtrak operates on tracks owned by freight railroads, not public owned. Sure there are some short-line tracks that may be publicly owned but that track would be completely useless if the majors like Union Pacific, CSX, BNSF, etc. didn't exist. And the majors DO own their rails. I was taking exception to your statement "Rowdy, the tracks are publicly owned and the railroad operator pays to use them"

Not true. The railroads own and maintain their railways. And hundreds of government bureaucrats continue to piss away taxpayer monies studying the economics of intramodal, infrastructure impact, avoided highway maintenance cost, etc., etc . You can read all about it here: https://www.fra.dot.gov/Page/P0528

No wonder a nicely-equipped Chevy pickup truck costs $65K here in the U.S. And talk about management being slow on the uptake. Coke, Clorox, and others saw this coming and closed facilities. But not the super sharp GM management. Idiots.

Yes, Golden Spike National Monument, Promontory, UT. Nice place to visit if you are in the area... But there is nothing else in the area. Very nice people manning the place, tourist friendly. Here is better half talking to one of the engineers.

And at a National Monument no less... 2009 loco.avi

Yo, '41, I salute you and your dad! My heartfelt thanks for your service.

And, if the decision is to remove him from the plane, then you stand him up, handcuff him, and walk or carry him off. Not drag him off, bouncing off things, causing a concussion and loss of teeth. And, I didn't see any flight attendants asking the removal thugs to treat the guy any more carefully. And I suspect the CEO of United is a real dud, a lemon. He keeps bouncing around from job to job suggesting no well-run company wants him in charge, wants this lemon running things. He was president of CSX Corp. for 3 years only, 2 years only at AT&T, a stint at Coca Cola and also a stint at Pepsi. I suspect he didn't voluntarily quit these jobs. He may have "re-accommodated" a few of the wrong people.

Many of the flight attendants really hate their jobs and are seething with anger. There is always the announcement that it is a federal crime not to follow the instructions of the crew. They almost dare you to object to anything they might say. And I believe some look forward to asserting their authority by getting a passenger arrested. Lobbyists have persuaded our representatives to fashion all these rules and regs that favor the airlines over their customers. You may have "right" on your side and you have your "rights." However, my advice is to be cautious about exercising your rights lest you end up spending a night in jail.

Heard today the passenger (victim) suffered a broken nose and two teeth were knocked out. l wonder if those teeth will end up on Ebay?

Interesting stuff. Some of these snowflakes are in for a rude awakening when they leave the shelter of college and have to make their own way in the world. They will find that some of their future employers don't give a darn about their inclusiveness views. In fact their views, if voiced, may get them fired. But then there is always the Peace Corps or Planned Parenthood.

Usually it is safer to fly than to drive. But sometimes not... This poor bastard trusted United to get him safely to his destination...

So really, the value of a contract that one might have with United is $1000.00 at most. After $1000.00 they resolve a dispute with violence. They couldn't or wouldn't increase their offer for a volunteer to give up a seat. They could have increased the offer to $1500. or $2000. but no! We reserve the right to screw you over and have some thugs teach you a lesson! United is a POS. Caveat emptor.

Partly the passengers fault for flying United. United stinks and that's not new news. I learned my lesson many years ago. My air travel over the last 10 years, 1.3 million miles American, 300,000 other airlines, United, zero. I'm retired now but my standard instructions to the company travel agent were: a. minimum 2 jet engines, b. no United, Spirit, or Jet Blue.

Amazing, This is typical liberal tax and spend. Their planning always assumes there will be no behavioral change by the people or entities they are taxing. They assume people will just bend over and live with it, i.e. no companies will relocate, no jobs will be lost, no ships will unload at a different port in a different state. Their revenue projections are bogus because they ignore the spending behavior changes that are sure to happen. This from a CNBC article in 2012 described what happened when the State of Maryland jacked income taxes on the wealthy. So the wealthy just moved to a different state. Duh, who'd a thunk that could happen? "A new report says wealthy Maryland residents may be moving out due to recent tax hikes – a finding that is sure to escalate the battle over taxing the American rich. The study, by the anti-tax group Change Maryland, says that a net 31,000 residents left the state between 2007 and 2010, the tenure of a "millionaire's tax" pushed through by Gov. Martin O'Malley. The tax, which expired in 2010, in imposed a rate of 6.25 percent on incomes of more than $1 million a year. The Change Maryland study found that the tax cost Maryland $1.7 billion in lost tax revenues. A county-by-county analysis by Change Maryland also found that the state’s wealthiest counties also had some of the largest population outflows. In total, Maryland has added 24 new taxes or fees in recent years, Change Maryland says. Florida, which has no income-tax, has been a large recipient of Maryland's exiled wealthy." “Maryland has reached the point of diminishing returns. We're taxing people too much and people are voting with their feet," said Change Maryland Chairman Larry Hogan. Full article here in which some liberals argue it ain't so. I say it is. Once again they ignore some facts like manufacturers choosing lower-tax states for new plants and distribution centers. Spending foolishly and then raising taxes to cover the shortfall always, eventually, ends badly. http://www.cnbc.com/id/48120446

Gee, traffic jams and crumbling roads. Maybe the traffic would be bearable if some of California's 2.4 million illegal aliens went home.

I think they are busy planning what kind of grass to plant on the various factory roofs and the mowing schedule for same. Gotta keep the "greens" happy. http://www.greenroofs.com/projects/pview.php?id=12

Sounds to me like a victory for the U.S. taxpayer.

Headline - In accordance with their long-standing tradition, Ford pushes a major problem to it's customers. No matter its a new vehicle we sold to you... We say Caveat emptor. You are screwed anyway. DETROIT (AP) — The U.S. government's auto safety agency is reviewing a Ford Motor Co. recall of thousands of cars, SUVs and vans that can run low on coolant and potentially overheat and catch fire after the company proposed a remedy that doesn't fix the coolant problem. Ford notified the agency about the recall, which has caused 29 engine fires, in paperwork dated last week. The automaker said it would install a sensor that warns owners when coolant is low in the 1.6-Liter turbocharged engines. The sensor does not solve the underlying problem of vanishing coolant. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Tuesday it is reviewing the recall. "The agency will take appropriate action as necessary," an agency spokeswoman said in a statement. She would not provide further details. The agency confirmed the review after The Associated Press raised questions about Ford's remedy. NHTSA could determine that the fix solves the fire problem, or it could open an investigation to see if more repairs are needed. Experts say coolant shouldn't become depleted in newer cars, and that Ford may be cutting costs by shifting responsibility for the problem to owners. Coolant could be leaking from a number of places, or the engine could be burning it, both of which could cause significant engine trouble down the road — especially if owners don't religiously watch coolant levels and act immediately if they get low. "All you're doing is monitoring a symptom, not solving a problem," said John Nielsen, managing director of automotive engineering for AAA. "A healthy engine doesn't leak coolant at all. Ever." The recall includes about 230,000 vehicles in North America. Ford said engines can overheat if coolant gets low, causing the cylinder head to crack and spew oil that can catch fire. No injuries have been reported in any of the fires. Parts won't be available to install the coolant-level sensor until later this year. In the meantime, Ford will send letters to owners telling them how to check coolant and add some if it gets low. Elizabeth Weigandt, a company spokeswoman, said the sensor solves the safety problem. "You would stay informed as to how much coolant you have in the engine," she said. "That would address the unique risk of the cylinder head cracking." The new sensor would turn on a dashboard warning light, she said.