Sandbox – 27apr15

April 2015
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Sandbox – 27apr15

27 April 2015

[For the record, 27apr15 The Union published my letter critiquing Mr George Boardman's column. The letter was also copied into the 23apr15 sandbox's comment stream as its opening comment.]

Posted in Comment Sandbox

150 responses to “Sandbox – 27apr15”

fish

01 May 2015

Posted by: Jon | 01 May 2015 at 10:01 AM
That looks pretty cool….just don’t be an early adopter.

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Jon

01 May 2015

Agree fish.
Re: Baltimore, am real surprised at the murder charge for the driver…going to be a tough one to convict on that one- unprecedented for sure…nothing like that murder of Walter Scott in cold blood.

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Jon

01 May 2015

We will now (if not already) be hearing the legal talking heads endlessly droning on and on about the definition of Depraved Heart Murder in Maryland law.

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Todd Juvinall

01 May 2015

I disagree that things are out of whack. Unfortunately for whatever reason, blacks make up the bulk of crime and way out of proportion to their 11% of the population. Most live in the cities and in those cities there is runaway crime and murder. Mostly black on black. If the people don’t do the time don’t do the crime. JEEZE!. So rather than fixing the problems with the minorities, the country’s policies are “lower” the goal posts. Crime in America s way down because the system put the bad guys in the clink. I think the thousands of people alive today because the bad guys are incarcerated is a good thing. All the burglaries and thefts, all the car jacking and murders avoided because the perps are in jail is and should not be apologized for but PRAISED.
We Americans afford a FREE education 1-12 of every kid. Rather than dropping out and selling drugs on the corner in Baltimore these “kids” should become plumbers, electricians, etc.
Sure there are always some bad apples in any profession but our police are trained very well and most respect the people they are arresting even though many get killed by the perps.

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Walt

01 May 2015

What the Hell?? Taking pot shots at me for no reason? Just because I change the landscape
for a living by NO means, makes me uneducated. Funny,, everything I own is PAID for. Even my house. Can you say the same “jon”? Yup, money in the bank TOO! So go screw thy self.
As for the Tesla Batt.,, those in the know are not impressed. There are better and cheaper batt.s already on the market. Even the stock price dropped on the news.
And a convention held in Hawthorn? How many gross polluting private jets flew in for that event? ( The drive sucks enough)
So place your order “jon”,, that should set you back a good 30 grand. ( solar panels,Batt.s, inverters, control panels, wires, installation,,,) And it won’t pay itself off for at least 15 years, if not more for when things fail and need replacing. I doubt that batt. will even last that long.
The price WHOLESALE is $3500 for 10kWh and $3000 for 7kWh,, so add 15% for retail.
Backup power? I have a whole house generator that kicks in when needed, and can run for as long as the gas holds out. ( two weeks on a full tank)
Cost,, 5 grand installed.

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George Rebane

01 May 2015

Re our constabularies. PatriciaS’ 1010am and ToddJ’s 1100am are both in more concord than a casual reading reveals. As argued here before (e.g. search RR on NYC’s Stop & Frisk) the crime stats are real and they are stacked against young black males. but that does not excuse summary torture and execution of arrested blacks. All we are asking is that the law enforcement officers act according to their own adopted and publicized professional standards. Perhaps body cameras will help. But there is no denying that the policing methods used over the last twenty years have reduced crime rates all over. Saying that in no way excuses the FBI from collecting national data on deaths at the hands of the police.
Re Walt 1111am – Yes, we do need a means of storing electrical energy at the household level for a number of practical, financial, and environmental reasons. And, taking Tesla at its word, a battery pack in house appears as the best solution now. But the real reason the concept doesn’t pencil out today are the rate cards and regulations that drive how utilities buy/sell electricity. We all know that we’d like to buy and store during the demand ‘valleys’ and minimize drawing from the grid during the ‘peaks’, but the utilities currently don’t pass through such savings for, say, night battery charging and subsequent cost savings during the day when they don’t have to bring additional generating capacity on line. The problem is political, and I’m sure that Tesla’s lobbyists are working on that.

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Jon

01 May 2015

Predictable Walter the Naysayer about the changing landscape of energy. Getting more than ridiculous. Hey Walt..um..you don’t need new or existing solar panels for the Tesla battery. It recharges during off-peak times. Its nowhere near a 30K total cost if you don’t include some extensive solar system, so lets not exaggerate there Walt. Why would the installation cost anything more than 5K tops? It won’t, once installers are trained. I am with fish and will wait it out a bit. But definitely a great quiet, hassle free alternative to gas powered generators.

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Jon

01 May 2015

Todd, bad news for you and others of your sentiment, sitting up in rural America with all the answers to our urban problems. The criminal justice system is going to be a front-and-center election issue, with even Rand Paul supporting changes to these insane mandatory minimums for non-violent drug offenses. But thanks for your ostrich-like approach to police treatment of the poor, marginalized population.

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Todd Juvinall

01 May 2015

“Jon” 12:14pm, You are welcome. I am glad people like you see the rational side of we in the real world’s arguments. Police are not perfect but what is clear is you libs make up your own facts. All I have stated are true facts, most come from the FBI, you know, the organization Obama is in charge of? So, you libs can keep your lying ways in the city while we in the country insist on the truth. I cannot think of a better example of liberal buffoonery than you “Jon”.

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Walt

01 May 2015

As it is right now, you get charged the same be it at noon, or midnight.
If you want to pay the big bucks for “green” power, have at it. Your the one that will need to pay for it. ( nope, it’s not cheap)
Until battery life can be extended beyond a few years, and the cost comes WAY down, your not going to sell me on it.
Even to day the taxpayer is eating a good chunk of the cost to get people to buy into it.
Do we need to get into the subsidy discussion again? ( BAD for farmers, but GOOD for electric cars and batteries.)
OK “jon”,, lets hear the pricing for an average 2000,sq. foot home. Here are our requirements.
1.. run the place for as if it was on the “grid”. ( lights, water heater, elec. stove, etc.)
2.. When the “grid” goes down, the place must function as if nothing happened for a min. of 72 hours. ( the average down time in these here hills)
Make some calls. lets have the full cost. Don’t forget to ask about batt. life, and replacement costs.
Then ask your insurance Co. about the added cost, since solar panels DO catch fire.
( Solar panel fire insurance?) Or does the manufacturer provide their own?
It all adds up pal.
I will stick to the cheaper and more reliable.
OH.. And one more thing. Solar installers most likely never saw a day of collage, let alone the odds of finishing high school are questionable. ( or speaking good English)
But HAY!! keep taking cheap shots at my education.

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Jon

01 May 2015

Walt, HAY, no need to take anymore shots. Especially since you didn’t weigh in on the local school system discussion. But hay, I assume you’ve heard the term- the gift that keeps on giving?
Walt, If you look at the Tesla specs, got your 72 hrs. covered Walt. Unless you have 5 refrigerators, 2 or 3 HVAC systems and multiple wells. And do take a look around you my man- solar paneled roofs everywhere in Nevada County. Mine were replaced because they were really old and inefficient, and still deciding on future options. But the world of energy is exciting and keeps moving ahead yet again, leaving old Walt and the naysayers behind.

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Walt

01 May 2015

Well that explains a LOT. ” jon” is a “city boy”. At least in our “country” schools, we were learned the proper way to spell “John”. That’s what happens with inner city outcome based education ( a LIB idea) ” close is good enough”. ( and he bitches about my education)

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Jon

01 May 2015

Great catch there Walt! I know, I know, everyone knows there is no one named Jon out there. But you know, I went through school and my life with it, and now I’m too old to go back and start spelling it correctly as John. Yeah, only a city boy could make that mistake- you got me there.

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Walt

01 May 2015

My Generator is “really old” and still works fine. 20 years, and still no need for replacement. LOL!! sucker, Keep pissing away money. Up here in the hills,, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” I put money in the bank while your making payments at God knows at what interest. So.. how much of that was paid by the taxpayers? ( solar subsidies..BIG selling point)

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Jon

01 May 2015

Walt, I think I just implied that I agree- the first generation solar panels from 20+ years ago were garbage compared to today’s technology. I wasn’t the original owner/purchaser of those old panels, but I scrapped them. Weighing options now. Not buying any Tesla battery now either, but fascinated, as are most people.

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Walt

01 May 2015

“jon”… You one of those “roof leasers”? If so, your place is worth 15% less.
And being and ECO guy,, how can you live having a toxic hazard waiting to happen under your own roof? Batteries DO explode, not to mention prone to leakage. ( I can give you the # to my old boss when I worked as a HAZMAT guy for many years) OUCH.. That will be an expensive cleanup.)

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Walt

01 May 2015

No “jon” “most people” are “not” fascinated by the Tesla batt. As I said in opening.
There are better and cheaper ones already on the market, and the stockholders were not impressed either.

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Jon

01 May 2015

Whatever you say, Walt. OK, its just me and fish who are fascinated. No one else. There’s no growth in solar either. Everyone is afraid of explosions on their roof. Millions are removing their panels all over America. Back to coal and oil!

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Walt

01 May 2015

Just checked Tesla stock. A good sell off after the “news”. It did scratch and claw back up a little, but still a loss for the day. It’s also down 22.4% off the year high.
At least Ruger pays dividends.

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Jon

01 May 2015

Don’t own the stock Walt. But apparently billions of dollars of VC was more patient than you, and knows about business plans in disruptive industries. Agree, the future of one company is always in doubt, but others always take the place if they cannot operate a business in the end. Maybe you remember Amazon and the billions in losses they racked up in the early years?

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Walt

01 May 2015

Just not a “fan” of solar. Especially when taxpayers get stuck with plenty of it’s costs.
It’s still way too inefficient, and a Progressive money pit. Ca. LIBS love it, but we can’t even build a solar panel here. ( I will let you figure out why) Even “big solar” can’t survive without burning gas to stay in the game.
Want an electric car? I suggest you read the fine print in the owners manual. You should see the MSDS the fire and rescue crews need to study when dealing with one involved in an accident.

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Walt

01 May 2015

My money is in guns and ammo. There is no going wrong there. When the dividends are paid,, BUY MORE!
I will never trust my life or safety to a rechargeable battery. Every cycle it’s life gets shorter. Your cell phone of proof of that. Just two years old, and won’t make it through the day.

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Jon

01 May 2015

Walt, Oh I see- its the costs. I guess the real costs of energy sources such as coal are lost on you. Millions of America taxpayers have paid heavily for the reliance on coal for decades- with their lives and healthcare expenditures, wiping out their family wealth.

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Walt

01 May 2015

Back to that line of crap? The world RUNS on it. People get sick every day, and “blaming” coal for it is a piss poor excuse. Your “green” crap can only be afforded by the rich, on a self imposed guilt trip. Remember? Solar and wind are supposed to fight (not) AGW.
Even S.F. snobs wouldn’t cough up the x3 cost for “guaranteed” green elec.
There autta be a law where those that preach “ECO” live by it. All their power, and water,come from “green”, yup,, transportation as well,, The roof over their heads come the same way. ( Sorry, no lumber products. No cement products either. (anti mining?) )
Life sure would be tough. DAMN!! what about food? It was harvested by a diesel powered tractor! It got to you by a truck too! Thank your lucky stars for gas, oil and coal.

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Walt

01 May 2015

Berkeley strikes again. The high educated can’t figure out which bathroom to use.
http://dailycaller.com/2015/05/01/berkeley-students-now-leaving-fake-pee-around-campus/

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Jon

01 May 2015

Walt, you’re going out on quite the limb of assumptions and wild statements don’t you think? Many people around here already grow their own veggies and raise chickens, ducks and other animals for meat/milk/etc. Yes, I purchase much of my food brought by truck. I can still work toward reducing my footprint, and I do. Its a process, Walt, a process. But seriously, don’t let the trends of our time get the old blood pressure up. Gotta learn to roll with it Walt! These things are not going away.

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Jon

01 May 2015

Walt, here’s something to warm the heart of a guy like you.
http://yubanet.com/regional/SYRCL-Receives-Funding-for-Meadow-Restoration-in-the-Yuba-Watershed.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+YubanetRegional+%28YubaNet.com+-+Sierra+Nevada+News%29#.VUQTlcJ0zcs

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Todd Juvinall

01 May 2015

Well the cops are three white and three black and one is a black woman. What are the race hustlers to do? I think they are innocent after listening to the State lawyer. Anyway, her hubby is apparently on the City Council? Jeeze, they need a change of venue.

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Walt

01 May 2015

Yaa,, those hobby gardens within the urban jungle are really going to stem the tide.
But good for you. Now when you can grow enough to get through Winter and into the next picking season, then your getting somewhere. Chickens in the city? When did the law banning those critters get repealed? Things are looking up! There is usually some busybody demanding their immediate execution. I hope your city makes allowances for water use for those hobby gardens. Your Uncle Jerry is out to bust those who take a six minute shower.
I’m right there with ya’. I grow plenty of my own too. The neighbor’s horse supplies the fertilizer, and so doe’s the other neighbor’s chicken coup. Tomatoes the size of smart car tires.
We just grow the basics. Heck I even buy some chicks for the other guy to grow, and we get the extra eggs, and a fryer now and then.
But we don’t do it to be “hip”. We grew up farming. And you wonder where I learned to move dirt for a living.
Nice story on West Nile mosquito habitat. They gotta piss the money away somewhere.

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Walt

01 May 2015

Seems Everest lost some height in the earthquake. ( or the snow settled a tad.)
http://www.foxnews.com/science/2015/05/01/mount-everest-shrank-as-nepal-quake-lifted-kathmandu/?intcmp=obmod_ffo&intcmp=obnetwork

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Bill Tozer

01 May 2015

Walt, when Global Warming gets into full swing because of cow farts and people not buying enough 12 packs of Tesla batteries for the fridge, the snow on Mount Everest will melt like Frosty the Snowman. That is a good thing, a very good thing. No snow on the Himalayas equates to no climbers buried by avalanches. We are saving mankind one can of chili at a time.

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Gregory

01 May 2015

Schools in Baltimore spend nearly $16k per student per year. Average SAT from their high schools is 379/376/381.
The question I’d like answered for Baltimore and for western Nevada County is the average and the range of SAT scores for teachers in grades K-12, regular schools, continuation schools and Special Ed teachers.

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Bill Tozer

01 May 2015

Breaking News! California to build new Bullet Train….to haul water to LA.

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Bill Tozer

01 May 2015

Grey’s death ruled a homicide and Mr. Walt, this one is for you. This was not caused by man made fracking.
http://news.yahoo.com/wired-underwater-volcano-may-erupting-off-oregon-194611197.html

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Walt

01 May 2015

Thanks Bill! I learns something new every day. It’s the first I have heard about this.
They keep getting closer to home all the time. We would REALLY be “F”ed if the Sutter Buttes decided to get pissed. Stranger things have happened. But Lassen would act up first. That would still ruin our day.

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Walt

01 May 2015

Here is one that slipped under the radar. Regulation of ceiling fans??,, REALLY!!?
“jon’s” pals in D.C. just know where to stop. And read what else they are up to, and at what cost.
http://dailycaller.com/2015/05/01/rep-blackburn-to-obama-keep-your-hands-off-our-appliances/

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Walt

02 May 2015

Something for Nevada City folks to think about.
http://roadwarriorvoices.com/2015/05/01/calgary-airbnb-renters-return-home-to-find-home-decimated-after-drug-induced-orgy/

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Patricia Smith

02 May 2015

Hey, I saw a car on Shark Tank last night that ran on compressed air! It’s for commuter travel and goes 50 miles an hour with a 100 mile radius. You can fill it with air at the gas station or plug it in to recharge. No fossil fuels or agricultural roducts needed – and it will only cost $10,000. Now how is that for a solution!!

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Patricia Smith

02 May 2015

The DoJ has made $50M available to police departments for body cameras. They should be mandatory for every officer who has any dealings with the public. Hopefully, this will stop some of the atrocities that have happened lately and make the police and the public safer as a result. The revelations of brutality have underminded the public’s confidence in law enforcement which is a real shame.

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fish

02 May 2015

Posted by: Patricia Smith | 02 May 2015 at 09:32 AM
Enjoy your new car Patricia.

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Gregory

02 May 2015

Patricia, Tata in India and others have been trying to design cars like that for awhile, and, hate to break this to you, it will still take oil, nukes and/or hydro to generate the electricity to compress the air to power the air car. It also isn’t very scalable… pressure vessels have to be kept relatively small. There’s also thermal inefficiencies that are unavoidable.
Tata hasn’t managed to surmount problems of poor range and the freezing of the motor (I’m guessing you might not have noticed pumps get really hot when they compress air… when the air expands, it gets cold. Such thermal inefficiencies make air cars use more energy per mile than electric cars.
In short, you aren’t going to get free air at the gas station to power your car. Hey, I know… have a small tank of kerosene, gasoline or natural gas (or maybe a small firebox to burn renewable wood pulp) to boil water to generate steam (a lot like compressed air) and you can have nearly unlimited range!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Motor_Carriage_Company
You could even recover the water vapor to make it a closed system, unlike some public buildings on Planet Frisco that have just been flushing such water into the sewer.
Better yet… have a two man crank that the driver and passenger can turn to compress the air to get to the next place that will let you plug in a compressed air hose or electrical cord to get you to your next stop.
The laws of thermodynamics restated:
You can’t win.
You can’t break even.
You can’t get out of the game.
Wherever you go, the game’s the same.

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Scott Obermuller

02 May 2015

“Hopefully, this will stop some of the atrocities that have happened lately and make the police and the public safer as a result.”
LATELY? Ever since the inception of law enforcement, there has been the abuse of power by law enforcement. Funny how it only becomes an issue when it’s not white folks being abused.
Police brutality is real, but it’s getting side tracked by phoney issues and Obama and Holder had fun fanning the flames of racism for their own political ends.
Please Patricia – let us know when the violent thugs that openly urge violence and looting and arson are sentenced to the long prison terms they deserve.
And please tell us, Patricia – why is it when conservatives decry abuse by the govt and law enforcement against us it’s dismissed or swept under the rug by the left?
“we have a system to address our grievances in this country.”
Oh yeah. Funny how the govt can’t find any emails when the conservatives try to address grievances, but Holder had no trouble digging up emails from the Ferguson Police Dept to smear the entire dept.
The ultimate ‘system’ to address grievances by the govt was enshrined in our Constitution by the founders and the left is constantly busy at work to get rid of it.

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Bill Tozer

02 May 2015

Rather than get all excited by hard top go-carts powered by compressed air, natural gas, nuke juice, hydrogen, algae, mice and/or gerbils spinning the wheel, or boring cold fusion, I think Fred Flinstone set the bar so high on going green that we might never match his wisdom, foresight, and independence from fossil fuels. Even Mr. Rockbottom drove one of those Flintonstone Mobiles through the town of Bedrock on occasion and Fred and Barney did the ride share thang when car pooling wasn’t cool. Much food for thought. Plus, they all ate natural foods and heated their abodes with renewables.

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Walt

02 May 2015

The most “fuel efficient” engine of all (the gas turbine) has yet to be mated to an alternator to power an eco buggy. Those “micro” turbines are actually pretty cool.
They can run on just about anything liquid that burns.
Cruse missile motors are pretty cheap these days. If you do it right, you can have a blue flame like the old bat mobile.
And no extra luggage of monster batteries to slow ya’ down.
Just think. An motor the size of your average toaster oven, mated to a box the size of a microwave oven. A little sound proofing to kill the jet whine, and your down the road.

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Scott Obermuller

02 May 2015

Ah, yes – the car of tomorrow! Always has been and always will be.
In the meantime I own the car of today as I live in the now.

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Bill Tozer

02 May 2015

The Nash Metropolitan was the car of the future but unfortunately appeared on the scene a wee bit premature. The world is just now catching up. Hey, who took my Cushman?

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Russ Steele

02 May 2015

Walt,
Following the energy crisis in the late 1970s TRW build a car on a Chrysler frame, with electric motors in the wheels and with a generator and small diesel in trunk. The turbine technology was not a mature as it is today. Car got great milage, but the tires did not last very long. The computer technology needed to control the speed of each wheel motor was not yet developed, and it was a bitch to drive.
I would like to see a turbine version hooked to an alternator to energize only the front electric drive wheels. Too many times in my life I have been screwed by a dead battery.

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Bill Tozer

03 May 2015

More cars of the future.
http://www.vintagegolfcartparts.com/cgi-bin/ccp5/cp-app.cgi?pg=cat&ref=cushman

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Bill Tozer

03 May 2015

Walt and Russ: Still don’t see how the turbine engine would be great on gas mileage, unless you are accounting for miles per minute.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QsSNfz6Vgsk

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Todd Juvinall

03 May 2015

Sac Bee has a story on a solar plane today. Going to fly 5500 miles from China to Hawaii.

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