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“As of July 1, riders in New York City are subject to a minimum $440 fine for having a muffler or exhaust system audible more than 200 feet.”

The HD’s that the NYPD operates can be heard at 200 feet+.Not when they idle, but when they accelerate. In fact the scooters that a lot of messengers operate in NYC can be heard at 200 feet and they sound like weed whackers. These ordinances are really open to selective enforcement. I run a ‘67 Triumph that has the stock cans on it. DEFINITELY can hear that at 200 feet at IDLE. It doesn’t make the extreme pop and crackle of a shovelhead with shorty turnouts but still...When I ran this bike in the ‘70s, I got ticketed more than once for disturbing the peace (and other fictional regulations like “demonstration of excessive speed”) for just riding it through sleepy burgs in the early AM hours. Any officer inclined towards harassment (and it’s been my experience that they are the minority in most places) is going to pull you over with or without these ordinances. Your chances of being pulled over will increase if you:

1.Aren’t “clean cut”
2.Are operating a bike that isn’t “stock” (the further removed, the higher the risk)
3.Operate your machine in a manner that is or appears unsafe/unlawful
4.Stare at the Police

In fact, those four points would likely apply to car drivers as well.In some measure, also to Pedestrians.

For those of you who applaud this kind of legislation, think of where it could logically lead - Regulations on ALL motor vehicles that prohibit ANY alteration of said motor vehicle compared to the state in which it was originally sold to the public and was certified by the DOT. First comes no alteration of the exhaust then you get no alteration of the vehicles engine then No Alteration of the vehicles suspension, tires, wheels. .....Don’t be so quick to dismiss this eventuality. Other regulations exist in some states that were expressly written to remove certain types or classes of vehicles from the road. When last I was in PA (admittedly some time ago), a DMV reg said that there could be no RUST on your vehicle or it was out of State inspection compliance. That regulation was put in the books to weed out older cars that were seen as unsafe in the lawmaker’s eyes. Enterprising people solved their problems with Bondo.

Back to bikes

Straight Pipes are really only good for one thing: DRAG RACING where you are opening the throttle to the stop. For any “real world” riding, you need the back pressure that a muffler provides. Tuning and properly jetting your carbs - be it a single or multiple to take advantage of the top-end gains that straight pipes can provide almost always makes the motor perform sub-par at lower rev ranges.

The Brits I work with actually jokingly refer to Stella as "Wifebeater". Apparently domestic violence on a Saturday night has been linked somehow to overindulgence in that particular brand...odd.

Personally, I've found Paulaner Hefeweisen a special treat and Chimay is great stuff but for those special occasions, I keep a few of these handy: Absolutely KICK ASS

I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he did surface on WABC - 770. Bob Grant was guesting in the 7-9PM slot last Thursday...and he was wished into the cornfield many moons ago for similar verbal slippage that gave some “I’m Offended” professionals enough ammo to get him off the air. I recall it was something said about Ron Brown.

...and this guy got wished into the cornfield MIGHTY fast

He disappeared faster than this one...

"The bill also provides $250 million a year over the next three years to help states meet those goals"

If one were to take AP literally, the answer would be that the funding comes from the bill. Of course WE know that the money will be coming from OUR pockets but the average Joe on the street and the overwhelming number of Rats and Libs will say that the money is going to come from Washington (which has this big safety deposit box in Kentucky that they guard with actual TANKS!!!!. And we all know that all Washington needs to do is crank up the presses in Philadelphia and Denver and VIOLA! $250 million in no time flat. See how easy?

"The continued troubles in the housing market lowered demand for real estate ads in the quarter. The year-ago period also was bolstered by ads related to the Olympics and political spots ahead of the national elections." BS!

You are ABSOLUTELY dead-on. The quote is a load of bull SPECIFICALLY the supposed Real Estate ad downturn. Of all the advertisers whose knee-jerk reaction during a "downturn" is to cut ad spending, Real Estate agents and agencies actually crank up the adspending when things are not turning over as fast as they would like them to. Think about it....if the total market inventory is in surplus (compared to a few years ago)because properties are not moving as fast, Agents and agencies have more to show and NEED to get as much printspace as they can to compete and show all they are offering. The howler is that of ALL the professions save show business, Real Estate is more like a Personality Cult than any other single business sector. A third or MORE of the Real Estate ads feature JUST the Real Estate agents. These "Vanity" ads are on the Upswing! Granted, they do actually serve a purpose since more than a few prospective home sellers may be swayed by the Vanity ads when they choose a firm/person to represent them in their sale.

It is a TOTAL Newspaper adspace demand downturn you are seeing. Ad Buyers have had to get smarter (read "FRUGAL") in buying Newspaper adspace because instead of attracting more business by lowering page rates, the newspapers have RAISED rates to keep profits up. What sense does it make to be paying MORE to advertise in a medium that reaches less and less people?

To top that, they are claiming that due to the election cycle,they can't count on boosted revenue due to political ads? And this is something new? Really, now. The bulk of that money goes to TV anyway.

I used to enjoy Kingfisher with Boti Kabab Masala or Rogan Josh BUT someone decided that having an outfit in Upstate New York brew it instead of importing it was a smart move.

It isn’t the same just like Guiness brewed in Canada isn’t the same.

Besides, they altered the label and omitted the phrase “Most Thrilling Chilled” that was the end for me.

There are some decent Indian beers (Golden Eagle, Heywood 5000)but the only one that is always available is Taj Mahal.

The comical thing is that two of my local favorite Indian restaurants use Singha (Thai beer) glassware when they serve up Indian beer.

All in all, the type of beer you pair with any one Indian dish matters a LOT and it’s far better to have variety available.

I think they have paid attention to the “rattles and squeeks” but all they really needed to do was add a rubber or teflon grommet here and there and they wouldn’t have had the problem in the first place. One thing I’m likely to do soon is install Dynamat inside the door panels. The car is far from noisy but the stuff does wonders.

One thing to keep in mind is that they switched powerplants and did some changes to the body from 2006 to 2007 model year. Up until 2006, they were using Peugeot-sourced motors and a supercharger on the “S” models. They are using a different motor from 2007 onwards and the “S” model has a Turbo. The air intake on the “S” models formerly directed air over the intercooler. Now the intake on the “S” is there for looks.

If you end up with a Supercharged model, a popular upgrade is installing a 15% smaller Supercharger pulley. I drove one with the upgrade and there was a decent power bonus from the standard 170 claimed horses. With a smaller pulley, an aftermarket or Works intake and some other small tweaks, you’re looking at over 200 HP. There is a JCW re-worked top end that, if you added it to the mix would bring you into the 230-250 HP range (they claim). Considering how light the car is in the first place, you can turn an already fast little Hot Wheels car into a rocket.

In 2005, they re-configured the gearing and 2005-2006 gearboxes are said to have better-chosen ratios than previous models. Starting in 2005, you could get factory installed Limited Slip Differential (comically referred to in the literature as “LSD”)as a $500.00 option so it will be uncommon to find and aftermarket-installed unit on 2004 or previous models. Also, in 2006 the JCW (Works) components were being installed at the factory in Oxford UK. Previously, the dealer did all the work. No matter if the dealer or the factory did the work, it carried the same guarantee/warranty.

There are some good websites out there if you want to read up on it all.

I couldn’t help but notice, however, in a JD Powers quality survey that I was looking at that the Mini brand was near the bottom.

JD Power is SOMEWHAT misleading sometimes. Many Little things can add up to a bad rep. I can tell you that I've had some problems with the MINI...Nothing preventing the car from driving but ANNOYING things that shouldn't go south. The entire speedo cluster died. The clock ran fast. The dealer replaced the lot in four hours...once they had the whole unit in stock which took a week to happen. I had to keep the car topped off all the time in the meantime.

There are some other issues people have reported. Some of the interior pieces may get a tiny bit loose and rattle after 10k miles (less if you drive scabby roads). My passenger door panel goes loose often and buzzes. I've heard that the washer/turn signal stalk is prone to breakage. Replacing run flat tires is quite costly too.

A lot of the "ownership experience" is dependent upon the dealer and how they service the car. A lot of the dealers are really offshoots of bigger BMW dealers so service may occur at a larger "boutique" where you could be treated as an alien to the total "BMW Experience". My dealership is fine and the service is good but I've heard some bad stories (and come into contact with some severe a$$holes demanding that they be FIRST because they have a $70k car. Scared one of them out of his docksiders when I nearly backed over him in the Range Rover.)

Overall, I'm pleased with the car. I've outdriven two M3's, a new GT Mustang and a half dozen Boxters. The car is capable but a lot has to do with the driver. I'm guilty of thrashing that little car on occasion. I wanted to make sure my limits were higher and thankfully they are...but not by a lot.

I will be thinning the herd soon. If you’re near CT, we could work a few things out.

-The ‘65 Atlas has Mikunis on it and no gas tank
-I’m keeping the ‘67 Thruxton..might sell the ‘73 T140V (has oversize barrels)
-There is a first series Moto Guzzi LeMans buried under boxes(under 20k miles on that one...forgot about it)
-The 441 needs a top end but it is a Road Victor - the kind that will take your leg off
-The Gold Star is staying
-The Sporty has and aftermarket kicker kit, is bored and stroked to EVIL proportions and the carb is one-off to handle the amount of gas the motor needs. Wife wants it gone - says it has bad Mojo.

Offsite there is an older TR6R motor in boxes, Most of a Henderson KJ, A 30-something ULH in pieces and a running Kawi H2 that will kill someone if it gets the chance.

Come Summer I’ll be looking to deal some.

No offense taken...really.

What a lot of people haven’t figured out (and I’m happy to keep them in the dark) is that a lot of the young gals who drive MINIs are getting “involved” by going to events. They learn more about their cars and get quite excited by being involved. The Male-Female ratio at the events can often be heavily in favor of single guys (my other half is none too pleased about this).

Tell a pretty 22 Y.O. brunette that she can get better handling out of her stock car if you install a Strut Tower Brace (and BTW, I have tools...LOTS OF TOOLS)and there is no telling what kind of gratitude may be offered in return.

I have a therapy session planned.

I’m thinking of cutting down a few trees and taking the Land Rover for a trip through the mud. After that, some plinking with the .303 at a paper target of the Monster-In-Law’s face and some wine bottles.

I got a good deal on some Czech ammo. Need to hear many loud BOOMs. That should set me straight.

Stripped/Rebuilt Mk1’s Concentrics, Monoblocks, SU’s, Bendix, etc...pretty much any fuel delivery system that you could bolt to a Henderson, Indian, HD, Norton, Vincent, Triumph, BSA or Velo (1 Atlas,1 XLH, 3 Bonnies, a 441 and a Gold Star in the barn right now...should NOT have sold the Scout)

But I drive a MINI Cooper S so by some people’s judging here, I must be a Show-tune luvin’ Socialist Homosexual. Oh and the Sportster is a 39 Year old Girlie Bike. I wish someone told me that a few decades ago.

Time to seek counseling. I have too many GAY vehicles.

"...So Viacom (and everyone else) waited."

Really, that is the key to all of this . No matter what positive effects having content on YouTube has on sales of DVDs, it's really a LICENSING rights issue and when you hear LICENSING rights, it is really industry jargon for who's lined up with their hands out looking for residual payments:

For TV shows and Music Videos (at least more recent ones where the ownership/rights chain have not been consolidated down to a sole owner),l the compensation chain is REALLY long (in no particular order and not always including all of the below):

The Content Owner (e.g. Viacom)
The original Production House
The Writers
The Producers
The Actors
The Authors of the Screenplay
The Publishing house that produced the original work that was Adapted for Movies/TV
The Author of the original work
The entity holding copyright to the music used
The SHEET MUSIC copyright holder
ANY holder of Liens against the aforementioned

At one time, I was involved with the owner of a fairly significant library of older TV programs and films. You would be absolutely STUNNED at the amount of money one could command for licensing just CLIPS of older content - especially if some larger company LIKE Viacom wanted to produce anything where they wanted to use older footage that another company owned.

One major reason a lot of musical footage and content only shows up on YouTube and is passed among traders is because of the Music Rights. A Gigantic mess of legal entanglements in a lot of cases. YouTube or Google aren't nearly big enough to legally clear JUST the music footage. There aren't enough courts, lawyers and investigators to trace down all the entities legally entitled to compensation when that footage is shown FOR PROFIT.

Viacom has one of the largest libraries of TV and film on the planet. In a rough guesstimate, they probably have at least TRIPLE the content in vaults than what you can see on DVD or Broadcast. That stuff is held back because of legal issues and/or the reluctance to spend the time and effort to clear it.

A duty but also a responsibility. I know that the terms are interchangeable for a lot of people but I find that the term "responsibility" is more fitting. You're right, too many people are ignorant of some very key factors and motivators - it skews their judgment and perception I've been lucky to learn at the feet of some amazingly intelligent persons. Among the many maxims was this:

What is the PRIMARY PURPOSE of Broadcasting?

Answer: TO MAKE MONEY.

Whatever lofty and altruistic answers you may ever hear to this question (and you hear a LOT of them), the truth remains that Broadcasting (and for the most part the remainder of mass media)is first and foremost a Profit -motivated enterprise. Understanding that can help anyone understand "what's under the hood" better and more clearly.

Some media Math to help those who want to decipher "the Numbers":

Rating: A percentage of the total POSSIBLE viewing audience which is known as The Universe

Share: The percentage of Households or Persons watching the target program from among the Households or Persons watching television AT THE TIME THE PROGRAM AIRED.

People hear the terms thrown out all the time but since "Share" is dependent upon time, you can only compare the Share of persons from among those programs airing at the same time relative to each other. The share percentage or "points" is usually higher than the associated rating for any particular program.

I think knowing "The Business" behind what you see and what is written can only give a greater understanding to what goes on. There are too many things the public isn't aware of. Those on the left think that the media is balanced ideologically - mainly because they hear what they agree with and they don't think of themselves as being "Left" or "Liberal". It comes as a shock to them when they hear someone like Katie is in third place...sometimes so shocked that they simply don't believe it.

As with many things, if you follow the money, all manner of truths are revealed. In this case, the public is kept pretty much in the dark as to how the money actually flows.

Glad to be of any help making sense of it all.

"...they vote with their wallets - or in this case, with their TV remotes, which is known to have a side effect on revenue $$$$ from advertisers.

There is an Ad industry measure called CPP or "Cost Per Point". It refers to the amount a buyer is willing to pay for a spot (A.K.A. a commercial placement)on any given program. The "Point" in the term refers to a percentage point of the total available viewing audience. Ratings are shown in percentages of the viewing public. If the CPP of a specific program is comparable to other programs in the genre, the spot on that program with the greater viewing audience is going to cost more so it is the PRIMARY goal to deliver the greatest amount of viewers to maximize revenue. The entire negotiation process for purchasing airtime has a much greater complexity but in a nutshell, that is how it works. Furthermore, if you have a lower-performing program and you increase your CPP relative to your competition, buyers will HAMMER you and your negotiating power on the SELLING end will fall away.

What you are seeing here in a way is Katie mouthing the company line. They want to charge a premium for spots on her newscast and they want to convince people that "Quality" transcends ratings and therefore, your "spot" would produce better ROI on her show than the other alphabets.

Buyers at ad agencies have to answer to their clients because it is the clients' money being spent. I have yet to see anyone make (or try to make) a case for spending a client's money on a lower rated program because the BROADCASTER claimed it was of higher quality.

I only hope that there are enough people out there not bamboozled by their minstrel show come election day. I sometimes fear that we are too close in time to their evil to know the true extent of it.

History being written by the winners, I pray that there isn't a massive whitewash in store for my heirs. It's one thing to forge documents, in this electronic age, how quickly could one go about altering all the digital information?