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Chris Sinnard

Published Letters: 4634
Editor's Choice: 8

Tuesday, November 13, 2007 09:17 AM

And what do the other candidates propose to save the environment?

And what do the hypocritical elites have in store to save the planet? Toilet paper regulation? They can spread the message with their private jets while Joe Six pack watches his wife get felt up by some butch dike TSA agent.

Maybe Gore's idea of "carbon offsets"? Or maybe a Carbon Tax? Yay, more taxes, that'll solve everything. How about a fart tax?

I don't see solutions period. All I see are big, entrenched corporations and lobbies trying to stay big and entrenched. A guy who didn't even graduate from high school can trick a hummer out so that it gets more than double the MPG, more than double the horsepower, and 80% less emissions, all with an engine that runs on grease in the dumpster behind your local KFC and is so quiet all you can hear is the fan. GM engineers told him that "GM said this couldn't be done.", and his reply was, "yeah, well here it is."

The whole thing is nothing but an uber politicized joke.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007 09:24 AM

The article

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/120/motorhead-messiah.html

If Goodwin is an artist, though, his canvas has been the Hummer. His first impression of the thing was inauspicious. In 1990, he bought an H1 in Denver and began driving it back to Kansas. Within 50 miles, the bolts in the transmission shook loose, forcing him to stop to fix it. "By the time I made it home, after three roadside repairs, I pretty much knew that the Hummer was not all it should be," he told me. He didn't think much of the 200 horsepower engine, either, which did "zero to 60 in two days. It was a piece of junk."

So Goodwin decided to prove that environmentalism and power could go together--by making his new lemon into exhibit A. First, he pulled the gas engine so he could drop in a Duramax V8, GM's core diesel for large trucks. Diesel technology is crucial to all of Goodwin's innovations because it offers several advantages over traditional gasoline engines. Pound for pound, diesel offers more power and torque; it's also inherently more efficient, offering up to 40% better mileage and 20% lower emissions in engines of comparable size. What's more, many diesel engines can easily accept a wide range of biodiesel--from the high-quality stuff produced at refineries to the melted chicken grease siphoned off from the local KFC.

"Think about it," Goodwin laughs. "A 5,000-pound vehicle that gets 60 miles to the gallon and will do zero to 60 in five seconds!"

Putting a diesel engine in the Hummer, however, required Goodwin to crack GM's antitheft system, which makes it a pain to swap out the engine. In that system, the engine communicates electronically with the body, fuel supply, and ignition; if you don't have all the original components, the car won't start. Goodwin jerry-rigged a set of cables to trick the engine into believing the starter system had broken, sending it into "fail-safe mode"--a backdoor mechanism installed at the factory. (At one point in his story, Goodwin wanders over to a battered cardboard box in the corner of the garage and hauls out an octopuslike tangle of wires--"the MacGyver," his hacking device. "I could have sold this for a lot of money on eBay," he chuckles.)

Once he'd picked the car's lock, Goodwin installed the Duramax and a five-speed Allison--the required transmission for a Duramax, which also helps give it race-car-like control and a rapid take off. After five days' worth of work, the Hummer was getting about 18 mpg--double the factory 9 mpg--and twice the original horsepower. He drove it over to a local restaurant and mooched some discarded oil from its deep fryer, strained the oil through a pair of jeans, and poured it into the engine. It ran perfectly.

I imageine that soon we will be killing millions of people to secure billions of drums of fast food grease.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007 09:34 AM

If the race is between Scoop and Dump and Hillary

The country is doomed, but hey, you reap what you sew.

If it is between Hillary/Ghouls, then Paul should run third party with a popular, "liberal" Democratic VP and a "transpartisan" cabinet. They would win. If he doesn't do that and still runs third party with a "conservative", then it will be amount to a "Paul's 3rd party run is going to tip the election for Hillary" cryfest.

Of course, that is assuming Clinton or Scoop and Dump even get the nod.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007 09:45 AM

Lol

Lol, this whole site has been a turnoff for anyone who has supported Ron Paul for months. I imagine the preachy, holier than though attitudes of the "regulars" here have done more to turn people off from this site in general than any number of "potential Ron Paul supporters" I've turned off from reading my comments in a handful of Salon articles.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007 11:31 AM

Hey, Darkie is here! hi Darkie!

What's up Darkie? Have you come here to make more shit up and show everyone how racist you aren't?

Not intending to pick on you, specifically, Chris, but WT collects these typos.

Yes you are, and I could care less about what any of you collect.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007 11:34 AM

Come on, anonymous

Don't you have any clever racist jokes you can be telling while you try to smear Lew Rockwell?

Tuesday, November 13, 2007 11:43 AM

more conspiracy?

Using these useful idiots as cannon fodder. Tempting them into the breach to be mowed down like so many arcade ducks. To what end? Diversion? Who knows? Who cares? Whatever. After Glenn stops digging this rut, unless he's trolling for traffic, we all hope he comes to his senses. You win some, you lose some.

I think you need more sugar in your Kool Aid. You should stick to racist jokes, Darkie.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007 11:45 AM

Anonymust

My post wasn't directed at you, it was directed at Darkie, the witty anonymous poster who makes racist jokes while smearing people to show everyone how racist he isn't.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007 11:50 AM

no need anonymust

Darkie knows I am talking to him, or I wouldn't call him by his name, right Darkie?

Tuesday, November 13, 2007 11:55 AM

where I can rest?

Does that mean it will be silent? Are you taking me to one of your gigs?

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