The best part of math for me was the story problems; you know the “If Johnny has six apples and you have no apples, and the government takes three apples from Johnny so it can give you one apple’s worth of applesauce while putting another apple in a “lockbox”, what happens to the remaining apple?”

Today’s Fixit column (it used to be “Mr. Fixit” before the surgery) took me back to those happy schoolboy days when a letter writer asked, “Does it burn more gas and so cost more money if you drive 75 miles per hour to get to a destination than if you drive 60 mph?” as opposed to ultimately saving money by getting there sooner.

Fixit offers this example in response:

Bob and Jim each need to drive 60 freeway miles from City A to City B. Both cars get 30 miles per gallon at 55 mph, the posted speed limit.

Bob travels at 55, but Jim speeds and does 75 mph — wanting to get there sooner.

At 75 mph, it would take Jim about 48 minutes to reach the destination.

At 55 mph, it takes Bob about 65 minutes to reach the destination.

At 55 mph, Bob used 2 gallons of gasoline. At $2.80 per gallon, that’s $5.60 to drive the distance.

At 75 mph, Jim would use 2.5 gallons of gasoline. At $2.80 per gallon, that would be $7 to go the same distance.

Fair enough. Jim pays an additional $1.40 to get to his destination 17 minutes sooner. Maybe it’s worth it to Jim to pay roughly the cost of a tall dark roast at Starbucks (no decaf for him, thank you) so that he can do something else with those 17 minutes of his life. Certainly the StarTribune columnist wouldn’t want to get into judging someone’s lifestyle choices, right?

However, it turns out that Jim paid $155.60 for this trip and arrived later than Bob.

How did this happen?

He was ticketed for speeding on the way and was fined (which could raise his insurance rates), and the stop slowed him down. (If they had traveled together in Bob’s car, both would have saved even more.)

Hmmm. Funny that it didn’t mention how much the boys would have saved (but not the taxpayers) if they had taken light rail. Or the bus. Or how much more time those options would have taken out of their lives. Funny, too, that speeding ticket scenario was gratuitously added in as Professor Fixit stepped from the chalkboard and up onto the soapbox.

In the same spirit, let’s assume that Jim, driving at 75 mph and closer to the prevailing speed of the rest of the traffic than Bob, doesn’t get a ticket and that he and Bob are competitors on their way to call on the same prospect. Jim gets there first, makes the sale and is on his way out to lunch with his new client by the time Bob is easing into a parking space. Or, let’s say Bob is really delayed because of the beat down he received from the long line of angry drivers that got stuck behind him, not to mention the related medical expenses that further drives up the cost of his trip.

Oh, but there’s more:

By the way, federal income tax credits of $250 to $3,400 are available in 2006 and 2007 to purchasers of hybrid-electric or diesel vehicles, based on the vehicle’s efficiency and fuel savings. (Tax credits are dollars deducted from taxes owed.) Act fast. After each auto manufacturer has sold 60,000 hybrids, the credit begins to phase out. See www.ase.org/taxcredits for details. (Check out local excise tax reductions and other benefits for hybrid purchasers, too.)

I don’t think Fixit read the article by Jamie Lincoln Kitman in the same newspaper, Best way to save gas may be to avoid hybrids, or this report: Hybrids Consume More Energy in Lifetime Than Chevrolet’s Tahoe SUV.

Numbers are fun!

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This isn’t a particularly deep or thoughtful post, but I saw something to make me roll out my Keanu Reaves impression: “Whoa.”

Z-blog cites the following from a LA Times article:

Last year more transistors were produced, and at a lower cost, than grains of rice, according to the Semiconductor Industry Assn. Moore estimates that the number of transistors shipped in 2003 was 10 quintillion, or 10 to the 18th power — about 100 times the number of ants estimated to be stalking the planet.

Wow, transistors are more plentiful and cheaper than rice — and they probably end-up feeding more people, too, when you think about how essential they are to everything we take for granted these days. I can’t think of anything that’s produced today — even food — that isn’t affected by the technology that solid-state transistors make possible. Furthermore, without them your iPod would be full of tubes and about the size of an old Victrola. (What’s also amazing about this story is that somewhere we have an estimate for the number of ants in the world).

Just like all of those ants, these little transistors are often overlooked. Still, it’s mind-boggling that they can be produced in such quantities and at such prices. Let’s hear it for markets and innovation!

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Kevin Ecker of Eckernet infiltrated the St. Paul rally for illegal immigrants on Sunday and has an interesting report with photos. Apparently a group from Pheasants Forever was there to show solidarity and to advocate for the rights of countless birds who regularly thumb their noses at U.S. immigration laws and officials with only sporadic opposition from the Minute Man project and Dick Cheney.

NBC Dateline was also on the scene with people dressed as Muslim terrorists to see if they would be discriminated against, but left when their subjects went completely unnoticed by government officials and other fellow immigrants.

That’s not to say the day wasn’t without some conflict, however. A brief confrontation did occur between an on-looker and a member of the Pheasant group.

Onlooker (a large, regal looking fellow): “Bloody pheasant!”

Marcher: “Oh, what a give-away. Did you hear that? Did you hear that, eh? That’s what I’m on about. Did you see him repressing me? You saw it, didn’t you?”

The aftermath of the rally was much neater than the typical protest, however, as several groups of marchers engaged in a spirited bidding war with St. Paul mayor and DFLer Chris Coleman for the job of cleaning up afterwards. One group actually won with a low bid of $3.75 an hour, but the deal fell through when the mayor said that they wouldn’t be allowed to smoke. The city ultimately settled with another group at $4.50 an hour plus the mayor’s invitation for them to vote as often as they liked in the next election regardless of their citizenship status.

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I tend to think that markets are efficient and I’m also not much of a union supporter but if there’s anything that can get me off of these positions it is Northwest Airlines (NWA).

Having lived in the Twin Cities for nearly 26 years I’ve become all to familiar with the lies, the arrogance and the public relations tin ear of the company. Whether it’s wresting a financial bailout from the state in exchange for jobs, maintenance hangers and training centers promised for Duluth that never materialized, or just decades of lurching from one crisis to another it appears the only thing NWA is any good at is forcing upstart competitors out of the local market. Despite a succession of new owners it seems there’s something in the water that keeps them from running a good business, and I don’t think it’s solely their labor costs. In my gut I feel as if there ever was a company that deserved a good slapping around from its unions, NWA should be first in line (though they probably still wouldn’t be “on time”).

The NWA management and unions usually tear at each other in a way that would make any dysfunctional family proud, but that doesn’t mean they forget their customers who also come in for our own share of abuse (such as the time a loaded NWA jet was kept sitting on the tarmac in Detroit for more than 17 hours without being able to unload its passengers – and the airline didn’t send out extra food, drink or even a honey wagon). The latest brainstorm came today with the announcement that if you want to sit on an aisle or in an exit row your seat is going to cost $15 more.

Of course, this is being promoted as an improvement in “customer service” for people who book late, though I wouldn’t be surprised if the company just came out and said “We’re doing it to grub more money out of you and we’re doing it because we can, and what are you going to do about it, walk to Tulsa?”

Yes, yes, I know, markets are efficient and airline seats that offer a modicom more comfort or room are a commodity like anything else so, as a capitalist, I should applaud this effort to leverage more money for the share-holders — or at least for the bonuses to company executives. (In which case, though, let’s just put every seat up for bid and let the airline live with that). I’m sure there’ll be letters to the editor tomorrow from the same egalitarians who complain about the injustice of having the HOV lanes converted to toll lanes. I completely supported that initiative because I figured if enough people were willing to use the extra lane I would still benefit by seeing reduced traffic in the “free” lanes. There’s no similar trade-off or benefit for me in the NWA scenario, and, in fact, it increases the risk that I’ll end up in a middle seat.

Frankly, it’s not a direct impact for me. Almost all of the air travel I do is corporate and my company pays the bill. My travel profile with my company’s travel service already pretty much guarantees me an aisle seat, and I’ve learned how to use NWA’s on-line facility to change seat assignments and preprint my boarding pass to score exit row seats. That was my way of “sticking it to the man” to make up for the various and sundry other indignities endured for the sake of not having to hook up with a wagon train in order to get to Oregon. This new policy, however, may make this strategy more difficult for me.

Why doesn’t NWA just say, “Thank you for choosing us as your airline. Would you like the physical beating or non-beating seat today? Non-beating? Of course, there is an additional charge.”

So, yes, I’ll pay it (or my company will — and don’t blame me if your life insurance premiums go up). Sitting in a middle seat in the fetal position while hoping to avoid an embolism is already bad enough. The risk of ending up in a middle seat between Mitch Berg and King Banaian, however is too terrifying to contemplate.

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“After careful review by our government, I believe the transaction ought to go forward,” Bush told reporters who had traveled with him on Air Force One to Washington. “I want those who are questioning it to step up and explain why all of a sudden a Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard than a Great British company. I am trying to conduct foreign policy now by saying to the people of the world, `We’ll treat you fairly.‘” (Breitbart/AP)

Um, okay, Mr. President. How about, “Because the British haven’t attacked us since 1812?” Not that that has to be the precedent, of course. Hey, I’d be willing to reconsider selling control of six of our largest ports to a Middle Eastern company in, say, maybe half that amount of time.

Update:

Related posts from other blogs: The Impudent Finger, Blogizdat, Bogus Gold, the Psycmeistr and Hammerswing.

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Readers outside of Minnesota might not be aware that this state is the first place where a group called Midwestern Heroes is running a series of ads featuring Iraq war veterans and families of soldiers killed in Iraq. The vets and families speak out in favor of America’s involvement and positive accomplishments in Iraq in an effort to counter the typical reporting and commentary on most MSM outlets.

The local Democratic party is reacting as predictably as Islamists to the publishing of cartoon Mohammeds – and using the same tactics, demanding that the ads not be shown and urging the faithful (the Party faithful, that is) to protest. (The ads can be viewed here.) As succinctly reported on Powerline:

Brian Melendez is the chairman of the Minnesota Democratic Party. This past Thursday Melendez called a press conference and condemned the first of the two advertisements — the one featuring the veterans — as “un-American, untruthful and a lie.”

That ad features Lt. Col. Bob Stephenson, who is the co-chair of Minnesota Families United for Our Troops and Their Mission. This is a man, Powerline notes, who has 10 years of active duty experience and is being called “un-American” for publicly supporting the U.S.’s foreign policy.

Apparently, daring to question someone’s patriotism is okay after all as long as that person (or persons) disagrees with you. (This will be a great relief to Jeff, who also has this post detailing the advertising controversy and the parties involved.)

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I’m keeping my eyes open for a good cell phone deal. It’s mind-boggling to keep track of all the features that are available now: camera-equipped, web-ready, text messaging, GPS, walkie-talkie, hands-free, digital, tri-mode, biodegradable.

Biodegradable?

From Zblog:

In 2004, the University of Warwick, Motorola and materials firm PVAXX developed a biodegradable cell phone case with a hidden sunflower seed in it. When the phone died, users were instructed to plant the case and simply wait for the summer bloom. Needless to say, the prototype generated a great deal of enthusiasm from environmentalists across the globe and they have been waiting patiently for its official release in the stores.

So where is the biodegradable cell phone today? It turns out, Japan got the job done first. Made from potatoes, corn and kenaf, the outer shell of the NEC N701 rots and then completely decomposes when you toss it in the compost pile. For those of you pining for your very own, you might have to wait just a bit longer. The NEC N701 is only available in Japan but a similar model will probably be hitting European markets next year, just in time for the fall harvest.

Made from potatoes and corn? What a great phone for the Minnesota emergency survival kit in the trunk of your car! If you break down on a remote section of our tundra you can use the phone to call for help. Out of range of a cell? Eat the phone!

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