Sleeping with pets can be unhealthy. We don’t let the dog upstairs when we go to bed at night. Sometimes I fall asleep downstairs, though I move around too much in my sleep and Lisby would rather sleep on the foot of the sofa than on it.
Green takes green from Los Angeles community colleges. I suppose that most of these plans were put in place before their budget got so tight, but still. Seriously?
No surprise that I would agree with Daniel Engber about leaving the fat kids alone. Particularly noteworthy is the fact that obesity takes the greatest physical toll on those portions of the population where fat is most stigmatized. Not only will they likely fail to lose weight, but the stress may be worse for them than the fat.
Fake tweets by a socialbot fooled hundreds. I actually have a “follower” that I reciprocally followed that I am not sure is actually a person. But “he” provides interesting links, and that’s what really matters to me.
The disturbing tale of someone that has apparently perfected the ability to rape without getting caught.
Subaru is releasing its first two-wheel drive car in quite some time. They’re teaming up with Toyota (who will be releasing their own variation) for a new sporty sport car. The price on it looks really good, though it dilutes Subaru’s North American market niche. Besides, Subaru needs to be worrying about the coming CAFE standards and figuring out how they’re going to meet them. If they’re going to start releasing 2WD vehicles, it ought to be towards that end. And they need to bring back the Justy.
Men who propose condom use are seen as less romantic.
Slate notes the ten most common fraud scams.
How Americans spend their money (and other nations, too).
Chart: Radiation Dose Chart.
Chart: How to have a rational discussion.
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Health risks or not, I often have no choice but to let Maggie the cat into the bedroom, as she has a habit of howling outside the door in the middle of the night. Oddly enough, none of the other cats do the same, even though they have plenty of other bad habits.
re: condom use, what’s the relevant alternative here?
Peter,
Lisby is surprisingly understanding about being left down stairs. The only time she whines is in the late morning when we’ve slept in. She has an internal clock that tells her “Hey! They should be up by now!” Hopefully our next dog will be as accommodating.
AC, depends largely on circumstances and which chances you want to take. Chances are, a woman for whom condoms were “unromantic” is not a woman I would likely be very compatible with. On the other hand, if condoms were problematic for other reasons, I had other strategies in place (including foregoing sexual opportunities, if necessary).
From the energy article:
Inspectors for the agency, which was created after school collapses in the Long Beach earthquake of 1933, were concerned that heavy steel solar panels to be built over a parking lot on Western Avenue could crash onto bystanders during a temblor.
Eisenberg suggested mounting the panels on wheels — not because that would be safer but to escape the state’s jurisdiction over fixed school structures built on foundations.
Fuck safety, we’re saving the planet!
Besides, Subaru needs to be worrying about the coming CAFE standards
All they have to do is start releasing some models in the States with the smaller displacement petrol and gasoline engines seen overseas. Otherwise, they could always build the penalty into the prices for some of the higher end models. IIRC, the BMW and Mercedes* simply pay the fines to the government than deal with the American standards for emissions and gasoline which make importing some high fuel efficient models difficult.
*Plus, admittedly, what luxury car buyer wants a 4 cylinder model with low horsepower? To sell a car at that price point could destroy the cachet of those brands according to some.
And they need to bring back the Justy.
Given the lukewarm sales in this part of the car market, I’d wonder if Subaru would bother at this point. FWIW, the Jusy has been superceded by the Dex which is based on the Japanese version of the Scion xB. Even though small cars of that size are somewhat popular in Europe, they’re not even bothering to sell it there…
Subaru is releasing its first two-wheel drive car in quite some time.
There are some rumours that the Subaru version may never be released in the US or that it may actually be AWD like other models. Regardless, that drawing in the link seems out of place given that a concept photo was recently released a month ago. I’ve jokingly said that the only reason Toyota bothered is that Hyundai ended up insulting the Japanese marques with the Genesis Coupe, that’s manufacturer’s first real rear wheel drive sports car. If I had the money, I’d definitely consider the Genesis Coupe*, but I’m tempted to stand in line at the Toyota dealer and buy the FT-86 and rebadge it with “Celica”.
*It has allegedly sold less than expected since some people will refuse to buy a Hyundai and for nearly the same price you can buy a used Infiniti G35/37 coupe, Nissan 350/370Z, or a 3-Series Coupe. It’s a car for the import buyer, and not for the guy crossing shopping Mustangs, Camaros, or Challengers. Besides, the economy has sorta tanked at since it’s introduction…
Very small cars do seem to have a following in the United States. The Mini has sold quite well for several years, and now FIAT* is back in the U.S. market with the tiny 500 model.
* = Fix It Again, Tony
David, the problem is, as it stands, not a single one of Subaru’s models meets CAFE’s requirements. The whole CAFE model is built around the assumption that carmakers offer a full range of vehicles.
I don’t see how they get around that without offering vehicles outside of their element. My Justy recommendation wasn’t entirely serious, but I do think that they’re going to have to consider releasing smaller cars.
The window on another not entirely serious idea is that they sell Smarts. It may seem counterintuitive given the different market segments they sell, but they are both popular with yuppies and both (to different degrees) big in Zaulem, at least. But apparently Smart is already working out a US distro network.
Just paying the fines isn’t something that really occurred to me, though. Maybe that’s what they’ll have to do.
The window on another not entirely serious idea is that they sell Smarts.
Yeah, they’re far more likely to sell some Kei car made in Japan than a Smart. Mind you, as I’ve said before, Subaru will probably just skate by with importing diesel engines and smaller engines with less horsepower. For example, in the US, the Forester is offered with a 2.5L engine, but overseas, a 2.0L* engine is available. Also, I wouldn’t discount that Subaru is doing some R&D work now to replace engines that are slightly updated models of older engines and their old transmission designs.
*For example, the 2.0L diesel engine in Australia manages was tested to achieve 36mpg on average (i.e “highway + city). The gasoline version in the UK averages 31 miles per US gallons on average. In the US, said average is 23 mpg with the non-turbo 2.5L engine.
Just paying the fines isn’t something that really occurred to me, though. Maybe that’s what they’ll have to do.
Allegedly, said cost is averaged into the cost of the luxury marques at roughly a couple hundred dollars per car. Subaru could skate by doing that and hope that wonders of AWD and great, albeit questionable to some, handling of the Boxer engine design, and the pure fun of a turbo continue to attract their current clientele of AWD junkies, wagon lovers, and young men looking for a racer.