loki

let's play some , use quotes to open discussion.... “The problem with fiat money is that it rewards the minority that can handle money, but fools the generation that has worked and saved money.” - Adam Smith “By this means (fractional reserve banking) government may secretly and unobserved, confiscate the wealth of the people, and not one man in a million will detect the theft.” - John Maynard Keynes, The Economic Consequences of the Peace (1920) “In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation […] Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the “hidden” confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in the way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of property rights.” - Alan Greenspan, Gold and Economic Freedom (1968) “Give me control of a nation’s money and I care not who makes the laws.” - Amschel Rothschild guess this one!!! The responsibility of the state. “Economic activity, especially the activity of a market economy, cannot be conducted in an institutional, juridical, or political vacuum. On the contrary, it presupposes sure guarantees of individual freedom and private property, as well as a stable currency and efficient public services. Hence the principal task of the state is to guarantee this security, so that those who work and produce can enjoy the fruits of their labors and thus feel encouraged to work efficiently and honestly.... Another task of the state is that of overseeing and directing the exercise of human rights in the economic sector. However, primary responsibility in this area belongs not to the state but to individuals and to the various groups and associations which make up society.

baby avalanche? or 'lanche 2.0? at least for GM. actually small trucks certainly seem like a segment that, if given a few options and price, would be easy to sell.

anyone listen to the .. i think it was like, radiolab, now i forrget what program did it and kinda went through the history of how this happened.. mostly the collapse of oil prices and that the government spent money like it was going out of style because of the oil $ coming in.... then prices sollapsed, chavez was doing somewhat ok , but he died then his successor did everything wrong and just made it worse..

the thing about "large" sedans now... they are all quite similar in available space for passengers. power trains are the biggest difference between them. is the impala pretty much the same size as the lacross? my point, lots of overlap(generally) and the shrinking sedan segment by sales. Mazda has 2 sedans with 2 engines. (the mazda 2 is sold as a toyota) Chevy has ..4? with 6? engines (not including diesel) sonic, cruze, 'bu and impala. GM can more easily do this cause of size, but i would say in the next 4 years, they'll probably need to simplify/hybridize down to ...4? engines. will the differentiation be in the trim(price point) in the future, or something else?

Thanks. what it "used" to be called https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Railway_Equipment_Company i guess i could update that page with some info.... it shouldn't be secret....?

Title is me. Still in IL for now, no certain plans for the next few weeks, but will be moving to Cincinnati. unless i have to find a job closer to there anyway. Either the Locomotive business is being terrible last and this year, or NRE may be crumbling.

in terms of the tires, once the dunlops are done,..most anything will be an improvement. i put pilot sport a/s3+s on mine. much quieter. does have a ~2lb/tire weight penalty though. still love my 6, just need to fix or disconnect the passenger door sub. any good advice to get this fixed by mazda,even though it happened after the mile warranty would be appreciated.

i bet the mpg difference is the gearing plus "lockup ratio" difference from auto to manual... that power is even better than what i had in my '83 regal wagon... a 2x or 3x the gears. lol

so when will the Cyclone make a grand re-entrance?

use the principal of subsidiarity for taxes.

all hail the power of the state! haha... still not really that much.

think perhaps the 2.5L may have some mazda tech in it... because of the scion iA that's now a ...yaris?

“The problem with fiat money is that it rewards the minority that can handle money, but fools the generation that has worked and saved money.” - Adam Smith

off the top of my head, since our family had one, '91 camaro RS...ok, so maybe this wan't rated over 200... we did have a couple w-bodys, but i'd go with some super charged one.

i like the grill change... iffy on the "chin". Yay for the diesel! Hopefully the oil issue has been corrected and power figures are very close to overseas. not that i plan to buy a new car again anytime soon, but looking forward to what the next 6 holds... and bring a wagon too Mazda!

1 thing, if the car is parked, how often will a tesla be outside and not parked in a garage? but otherwise cool...be using solar city tech i'm sure.

BAS is the future... or was... GM was ahead of their time.

your pics of the center stack, that's a nicer layout than the '13 i know. hers is not very intuitive, i think. while also being quite busy with a more phone like dialer/ button area. like below. the '13 has a small, idk, divot for change and stuff hanging on the left side of the shifter area. as shown it the pic above.

my g/f has a 13 focus. that transmission is a source of issues. very annoying issues, but not tragic ones.

about mazda, yeah, but just make a mazda3 speed already?! haha. I do like the torque peak mine has at 3250... it can tool around in 5th from 30-40mph fairly well.and if the road is flat estimates at 60MPG on my DIC is common. be interesting if mazda skipped the 2.0L and turboed the 1.5L for ~150HP... just because.. hehe. you think that'd be better than the 2.0L in the MX-5?

most of us probably remember Dwightlooi's many technicals about large displacement, low piston count engines and such... good times, and interesting. why not an atkinson cycle ~3L I4 using ~2.6L of it with a low/medium pressure turbo probably good for 230+HP possible, but really good low/mid torque and decent FE...?

perhaps Europe will reconsider it's displacement tax?

my mazda's was like 479 for ~25K, 5 years refied down to ~356 for 5.5 years, but am at pace to pay it off in the original 5 years.

about close engine horse power... ask that about the sonic, the cruze.... and other GM vehicles for comparison...

balth.. it's TomTom.... just sayin.