- The Fiat 500e isn't on the road yet in the United States,
but the Italian automaker received a significant boost in its efforts to make
the car more appealing late last week when the Environmental Protection Agency
gave it an official rating of 87 miles per charge, better than other electric
vehicles in its class as well as all U.S.-market EVs produced by high-volume
manufacturers. The electric hatchback – which must still overcome being a
hatchback – has a decided edge of the Smart ForTwo Electric Drive (68 miles per
charge), Mitsubishi i-MiEV (62 miles) and the Nissan Leaf (73 miles). Not
included in those rankings are the Tesla Model S and its reported 265-mile estimated range or the 2012 Coda Sedan (sold in California
only) with its 88-mile range. To better illustrate the performance of the 500e,
its per-gallon equivalent is a combined 116 city/highway with a 122 MPGe city
rating and 108 MPGe highway rating. According to EPA estimates, a full year of
driving (15,000 miles) would cost the owner of a 500e $500 for charging,
compared to $550 annually for the i-MiEV and identical $600 yearly charging
costs for the ForTwo and Leaf. Power is always a question for all-electric cars
and according to Fiat data, the 500e’s 111-horsepower electric motor propels
the subcompact to a maximum speed of 85 mph. The vehicle runs on a 24-kilowatt-hour
lithium-ion battery with an estimated charge time of less than four hours on
240-volt Level 2 charging. One major drawback for the 500e is that the battery
has an expected charging time of 24 hours on 120-volt power to reach full
capacity. Californians will get the first crack at the 500e when it goes on
sale in the second quarter of 2013………
- It feels safe to say that Colorado basketball coach Tad
Boyle is not a huge fan of technology in sports at the moment. In fairness to
Boyle, his team was just f*cked out of an important conference win due to a
sketchy call based on an inconclusive replay, so maybe grant him some leeway
for now. Boyle and his Colorado Buffaloes were losers in a hard-fought game
against No. 3 Arizona in the Pac-12
opener in Tucson, dropping a 92-83 decision in overtime. The controversy
actually occurred at the end of regulation, when Sabatino Chen's buzzer-beating
3-point bank shot was waved off by the officials after they went to a courtside
monitor and reviewed the play to see if the ball left Chen’s hand before the
clock expired. After a lengthy replay, the officials waved off a shot that
would have handed the Buffaloes a stunning 83-80 victory. Instead, the game went to overtime, the Wildcats prevailed and
Boyle….well, boiled over with rage. He emerged from his swirling storm of
surliness with a simple, backwards-thinking solution that is the polar opposite
of the direction every college and professional sports league is moving: get
rid of technology. "Get rid of instant replay," Boyle said.
"In basketball, football, human error is part of our game. If human error
is part of the game, let the officials call the game. Players, coaches and
officials will make mistakes. It's part of the game. "We spend all this money on replays and we still can't get it right.
Get rid of it." It’s a truly moronic argument and one born out of utter
frustration, but Boyle should be granted a little latitude in his stupidity as
long as he doesn’t continue to advocate this asinine position going forward. In
response to Boyle’s bile, Pac-12 coordinator of officials Ed Rush issued a
statement saying in part that the call was made according to NCAA rules and
that he had “reviewed the video replays and agree with the ruling." Boyle,
not placated, said he planned to call Rush for further explanation………
- Do prison officials in Arapiraca, Brazil have a cat-sized orange
jumpsuit? They are currently in need of such attire after the New Year’s Day
apprehension of a cat carrying a mobile phone, drills, an earphone, a memory
card, batteries and a phone charger. Prison guards spotted the
contraband-toting feline as it attempted to walk through the prison gates at
the facility in northeast Brazil. One of the guards saw the white cat
approaching the gate with tape wrapped around its back and stomach. A closer
look revealed the stowed items, believed to be intended for an inmate at the
jail, located in the city of 215,000 people in the state of Alagoas. Corralling
the cat was the easy part of the equation; figuring out who the animal was
working with will be decidedly more difficult. While all 263 detainees in the
prison are considered suspects in the plot, local police will have a hell of a
time trying to figure out their next step in a case where the chief suspect
can't exactly be questioned. "It's tough to find out who's responsible for
the action as the cat doesn't speak," a prison official lamented. Rather
than be stuck in a room with no windows and have a harsh light shone directly into
its eyes before being put through the good cop/bad cop routine, the cat was
taken to an animal disease centre to receive medical care. In the meantime, the
investigation continues and whomever was behind this simple, unassuming plot
needs to find a new angle and perhaps a smarter animal to use next time.
Ferrets tend to be good in these pressure-packed situations……..
- Taxi drivers and hookers have a few things in common,
mostly the amount of time they spend doing business on street corners in major
cities. With these two groups around one another so much, maybe it’s logical to
ask those on the legal side of the situation to keep an eye out for those who
are walking on the wrong side of the line. New York City has decided to do
exactly that, calling on its taxi and livery drivers to watch for
prostitutes when they are out on their routes. Technically, all the drivers are
being asked to do is watch a nine-minute video on sex-trafficking awareness
before they can receive or renew their licenses, but awareness is the first
step. “Sex trafficking is a serious problem, it’s not a victimless crime and we
want to make sure that taxi drivers, car-service drivers are not
participating,” said David Yassky, commissioner of the Taxi and Limousine
Commission. There is a small (99 percent) chance this is due in large part to
the scandal that came to light last year in which a father and son were charged
with running a sex-trafficking ring that used cabs to transport victims,
sometimes even using the cabs like they were private bedrooms. What is odd
about the TLC’s new approach is that taxi drivers will not be on the hook for
picking up hookers and could actually be fined if they turn down fares even if
they know the customer is a prostitute. In short, the video is simply to
reinforce the fact that they cannot be knowing participants in sex-trafficking.
It may even push the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” philosophy into the world of paid
transportation. The reason cabbies cannot refuse a ride to a likely hooker is
the TLC’s existing policy that no individual can be denied a fare based on
appearance. As per the instructional video, the cabbie simply cannot knowingly
take these ladies of the night to their johns. David Pollack, executive
director of the Committee for Taxi Safety, smartly pointed out that requiring
drivers to watch the video is just one more line of bureaucratic red tape for
already-overregulated cab drives to battle through. “Taxi drivers don’t have to
be reminded not to commit a crime, New Yorkers are smarter than that,” Pollack
said. Yes, but what is any government-regulated enterprise without pointless
rules and ordinances………..
- Death and carnage always sell and remain a wonderful way
to ring in a new year. That lesson has been hammered home once again after “Texas
Chainsaw 3D” debuted in first place this weekend, notching $23 million in its
opening frame to wrest the top spot on the box office earnings list from “The
Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.” Not only did “Hobbit” lose the top spot, but it
tumbled to third behind “Django Unchained,” which held steady in second place
with $20 million for a two-week total of $106.4 million. “Hobbit” ranked next
on the list with $17.5 million and has amassed $263.8 million in domestic
earnings in four weeks of release. “Les Miserables” was strong once again with
$16.1 million and crossed the $100 million barrier in domestic earnings with
$103.6 million and counting. It was another underwhelming weekend for Billy
Crystal’s “Parental Guidance,” which trudged along to the tune of $10.1 million
for a fifth-place finish and $52.7 million two-week domestic tally. “Jack
Reacher” couldn’t kick enough ass to climb higher than sixth place, adding $9.4
million to its coffers to give Tom Cruise’s latest over-the-top action flick a
three-week bank roll of $64.8 million. Seventh place belonged to “This Is 40”
and its $8.6 million weekend. Through three weeks, the Paul Rudd-led effort has
accumulated $54.5 million and counting. “Lincoln” remained strong in its ninth weekend,
locking down eighth place with $5.2 million to up its overall domestic take to
$144 million. The über-awful “The Guilt Trip” somehow landed in ninth place with
$4.6 million and has ground out $31.2 million in three weeks in theaters. “Promised
Land,” still in limited release, landed the last spot in the top 10 with $4.2
million and has banked $4.7 million after two weeks of limited work. “Monsters,
Inc. (3D)” (No. 11) and “Rise of the Guardians” (No. 17) both dropped out from
last week’s top 10……..
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