HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: tylerh@cco.caltech.edu (Tyler R. Holcomb)
Subject: GM electric vehicle Update pt 1
Summary: Posting from GM about electric vehicls
Keywords: impact electric vehicl GM
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 1992 23:49:19 GMT


                                     G M

                              Electric Vehicles

                                                      July 23, 1992


We're glad to see support for electric vehicles continue to grow.  As we move
toward the  introduction date, there are several issues we are addressing. Some
examples include:

         * Charging at home
         * Standard charging for all electric vehicles
         * Safety during charging
         * Convenient charging stations

As we address these issues, we'll keep you informed through periodic updates.

Vehicle range is also important. A lot of people we've talked to are concerned
that the  range of an "EV" may preclude their owning one. So we've developed a
few questions to  help people see if an "EV" would satisfy their driving needs.

        * How often do they drive more than sixty miles one way?
        * How often do they carry more than one passenger?
        * How often do they spend less than two hours at any one location 
                during the day?

The answer to these questions is usually "almost never. " That means that most
people  are candidates for a General Motors electric vehicle. We believe that
people will still  own an internal combustion engine vehicle for long trips.
But, an electric vehicle will  be a viable alternative for their second car.

Please tell us what questions and issues are important to you. Enclosed is a 
questionnaire regarding zero-emissions and alternative-fuel vehicles. We would
appreciate it if you would complete it and return it to us. This will help us
better plan the  information we provide in our communications with you.

In the meantime, if you have any questions about our program or electric
vehicle issues,  feel free to call at (800) 25-ELECTRIC or (800) 253-5328.


                                  Sincerely,

                                  John R. Dabels
                                  Director, Market Development

Enclosure 

General Motors Electric Vehicles Resource Center 
432 North Saginaw Street, Suite 801 Flint, MI 48502

1-800-25-ELECTRIC (1-800-253-5328)


-- 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tyler Holcomb   *   "Remember, one treats others with courtesy and repsect *
tylerh@juliet   *   not because they are gentlemen or gentlewomen, but     *
  caltech.edu   *   because you are."  - paraphrased from Garth Henrichs   *

-- 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tyler Holcomb   *   "Remember, one treats others with courtesy and repsect *
tylerh@juliet   *   not because they are gentlemen or gentlewomen, but     *
  caltech.edu   *   because you are."  - paraphrased from Garth Henrichs   *
From: ecologycntr@igc.org (Ecology Center Fund)
Newsgroups: ca.environment
Subject: Re: LETTER: Attention DESERT LOVERS
Date: 12 Aug 92 16:13:00 GMT
Nf-ID: #R:hpmwgip4.sr.hp.com:39990001:cdp:1332900103:000:2563
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!ecologycntr    Aug 12 09:13:00 1992



/* Written  1:56 pm  Aug 11, 1992 by scottt@hpmwtd.sr.hp.com in
cdp:ca.environment */
/* ---------- "Re: LETTER: Attention DESERT LOVERS" ---------- */
/ hpmwgip4:ca.environment / jym@mica.berkeley.edu (Jym Dyer) /
1:51 pm  Aug  6, 1992 / writes:
>
>The bill is opposed by miners, ranchers and off-roadsters.
Seymour, a
>Southern California developer, gets much of his campaign funding
from
>this collection of lobbyists. (The Bureau of Land Management
estimates
>the desert's potential mineral value at $1 trillion, so you can
imagine
>the political pressure to rip it open.)

Gosh, you don't imagine that his lack of support for S21 is in any
way related to the large number of people who showed up at the
public input meetings on the bill.  The ratio of people against
the bill vs supporting it was about 3:1 in the articles I read.

>The desert is both the most fragile ecosystem, and the last area
lacking
>comprehensive environmental protection. (There is no desert
analogue
>to the California Coastal Commission, for example.)

The BLM has a desert management plan which spells out how the
desert resources are to be managed.  I only wish they would follow
the plan they have established instead allowing the complex
process of managing the desert to be jerked around by a bunch of
armchair environmentalists.  I agree that there are sensitive
areas of the desert that need special protection, but closing most
of the desert and concentrating the public's recreational use to
practically nothing is not a reasonable solution.

And it's "off-road vehicle enthusiasts" not "off-roadsters".

Happy Trails, Scott

I like the way you define "public recreation" to exclude the 98
percent of desert enthusiasts who DON'T own one of those
fume-spewing, tortoise crushing, phallic replacements you call an
off-road vehicle.

You know, I would really like to go hiking in the Algodones Dunes
someday.  Unfortunately, the BLM has seen fit to reserve that area
exclusively for "vehicular recreation", effectively EXCLUDING
everyone else.  Imagine the California Coastal Commission saying
"No, we're sorry, this part of the Pacific is reserved for
Powerboats: no swimming, diving or surfing allowed."  No one would
stand for it.

Fortunately, ORV areas will, within 75 years, be a thing of the
past.  People will learn to appreciate the desert for its quiet.
And ORV users will die out, probably from exhaustion after trying
to hike 200 yards to the road from their disabled machines.

Unfortunately, lots of other species will die out at the same
time.

Chris Clarke
Newsgroups: ca.environment
From: rawynde@netcom.com (Rob Wynden)
Subject: Green Party Needs HELP
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 92 23:16:25 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 
Distribution: ca

The California Green Party is in serious trouble!

We need help with our computer system immediately or
the Party could go broke very soon!!!!

Specifically we use a 9 track tape drive to read our
voter registration tapes and the tape subsystem can not
be made to function!

We currently use a 386 with a 9 track tape drive controller
card (Laguna Pertec card) to read our voter reg tapes. But
both Kennedy tape drives we have (a 9400 and a 9000) are
not working!!!  We need help with getting this equipment 
going or we need an alternate 9 track tape drive!

Without voter reg data the Green Party can not generate
operating funds and will soon cease to exist!         

Please Help!

All interested parties should contact
Rob at

rawynde@netcom.com

HELP!!!!!!
From: karplus@ararat.ucsc.edu (Kevin Karplus)
Newsgroups: ca.environment
Subject: Re: non-chlorofluorcarbon
Date: 13 Aug 92 00:39:17 GMT
Distribution: ca
Organization: UC Santa Cruz CIS/CE
NNTP-Posting-Host: ararat.ucsc.edu

The SunFrost refrigerator is sold by Real Goods (Ukiah, CA) and is quite expensive.
The main energy efficiency comes from thicker insulation, but it also has more efficient
motors and puts the compressor on top.

I considered getting a SunFrost, but figured out that payback time was more than twenty
years.  For people using solar electricity (Real Goods's market) the payback time is much
shorter as photovoltaic panels are still quite expensive.

The Sunfrost could be made cheaper if it were mass-produced, but it probably wouldn't come
down to the price of the mass market refrigerators.

Incidentally, I believe that putting the compressor on the bottom is largely a safety
feature---it makes the refrigerator less likely to tip over by putting the center of gravity
lower.
Newsgroups: ca.environment,sci.engr.mech,rec.autos.tech
Newsgroups: ca.driving

In ca.driving, neilw@informix.com (Neil Williams) writes:


> I was also wondering - what if I had just registered from 
> scratch instead of "renewing" my registration.  Could I have
> avoided the late fee?  Just an idle thought.

Perhaps, if you were to claim non-operation and sign a affadavit
stating you did not operate the vehicle on public streets. 

But that would probably be difficult to justify, since you probably
drove the car to the DMV and since it was a address mixup, they would
probably give you a hard time about trying this.

You would have to have your "story" perfectly rehearsed, and 
plausible.  I did this with a boat trailer once, the only problem
I ran into was the non-operation period included a period of time
that I did not own the vehicle, and they needed the actual owner
at the time to sign the affadavit.  This I was not able to do, so
I wound up paying 

    
Newsgroups: ca.driving
From: aland@informix.com (Colonel Panic)
Newsgroups: ca.driving
Subject: Re: Buying a used car -> sales tax
Date: 12 Aug 92 02:20:38 GMT
Organization: The Helen Keller Bondurant High Performance Driving School for the Blind

In article <53410019@hpcc01.corp.hp.com> joanne@hpcc01.corp.hp.com (Joanne Petersen) writes:
>I gave away my father's old Buick to my cousin (I needed another car like 
>a hole in the head) after Dad died.  Due to the possibility of problems 
>like the one described here, I put down that I "sold" it to her for $5.00
>(though of course I didn't get any money for it).  The car was several
>years old (1973, this took place in 1990) and I guess there wasn't any
>blue book to check against it, since she didn't have any trouble getting

The DMV has a separate form for "no fee" transfers, e.g. change-of-name,
intrafamily transfer of title, etc.  There is no percentage attached to this
service (though by now, they've probably added some "nominal" fee for even this
operation).

--
Alan Denney      aland@informix.com      {pyramid|uunet}!infmx!aland

"I must have gone through 20 Porsches in the last 15 years.  Now I own 
 a Ferrari Testarossa.  My body would reject a Plymouth."
        -- Willie Brown, speaker of the California State Assembly
Newsgroups: ca.driving
From: dman@netcom.com (Dallman Ross)
Subject: Re: Guilty until Proven Innocent
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 92 07:54:27 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL4

Thanks for posting that.  Very good.

--
 __D_a l_l m a_n  _ R o_s s _ |dman@netcom.com  /or/  |"You sound like a man|
 l  \\ l\\   /l  /\\  l\\   l |dross@well.sf.ca.us    |with a rubber nose." |
 l   >)l \\ /ll /  \\ l \\  l |vox/fax: 1.510.645.1883| -- One-Lung Bill    |
 l  // l  \X ll/--- \\l  \\ l |350 Perkins St., #108  |     Remmer (deceased)
_l//______________________\\l_|Oakland,_CA__94610-3422|_____________________|_
Newsgroups: ca.driving
From: ed@Tekelec.gecko.uucp (Ed Campbell)
Subject: taxes
Originator: ed@rover
Organization: Tekelec Inc
Distribution: ca
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 19:14:21 GMT

Mark E. Slagle says,

>Were you under the impression that the tax laws were
>supposed to make sense?  Are you laboring under the
>misapprehension that "double taxation" is against the
>rules?  (Think corporate income tax, for example)

>We don' need no steenkeeng reasons!

	A quote from "That's Jake" about a year ago;
 "Of course tax formes are complicated. If anyone
 could understand them, there'd be a congressman
 hanging in every oak tree from here to Memphis."
Newsgroups: ca.driving
From: astallon@us.oracle.com (Anthony Stallone)
Subject: Re: Post office and DMV
Organization: Oracle Corp., Redwood Shores CA
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 18:38:29 GMT
X-Disclaimer: This message was written by an unauthenticated user
              at Oracle Corporation.  The opinions expressed are those
              of the user and not necessarily those of Oracle.

Word of Caution regarding Change of Address Forms

I registered a change of address with the DMV about two months before
my registration expired.  I never got a reminder to re-register and by
the time I figured this out (two days late), I had a $60 penalty.
When I told them I never received the notice, AND I showed them a copy
of the dated change of address form, the nice person behind the
counter informed me that it takes about three months for a change of
address to register with the renewal reminders department.  Wish they
were that efficient at applying the penalties!
Newsgroups: ca.driving
From: dman@netcom.com (Dallman Ross)
Subject: Re: Guilty until Proven Innocent
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 92 09:33:59 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL4

Laird P. Broadfield (lairdb@crash.cts.com) write:

>Amusing daydream, but since I'm *not* an agent, etc......

Years ago, I heard a biker-type who lost in a "hanging judge's" traffic
court get 3 days for contempt when he said that he had not found justice
in that courtroom.

My case was called next.  It was not funny.  In fact, I'd gotten up at
3:30 a.m. to drive the 300 miles to that courtroom (Santa Maria, CA).
I lost.

--
 __D_a l_l m a_n  _ R o_s s _ |dman@netcom.com  /or/  |"You sound like a man|
 l  \\ l\\   /l  /\\  l\\   l |dross@well.sf.ca.us    |with a rubber nose." |
 l   >)l \\ /ll /  \\ l \\  l |vox/fax: 1.510.645.1883| -- One-Lung Bill    |
 l  // l  \X ll/--- \\l  \\ l |350 Perkins St., #108  |     Remmer (deceased)
_l//______________________\\l_|Oakland,_CA__94610-3422|_____________________|_
Newsgroups: ca.driving
From: chu@freebie.jpl.nasa.gov (Eugene Chu)
Subject: Re: Buying a used car -> sales tax
Organization: SAR Systems Development & Processing, JPL
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 08:06:53 GMT

In article <1992Aug14.000229.7720@berlioz.nsc.com> mikel@berlioz.nsc.com (Michael G. Lohmeyer) writes:
>In article <1992Aug13.064136.347@aero.org> helfman@aero.org (Robert S. Helfman) writes:
>>>They get plate tax every year and gas tax on every gallon of fuel you buy.
>>>Stop planting flowers and start fixing/building the roads.  This state
>>>spends big money on stuff most states just let grow wild.  They should
>>>fix the roads first and leave the gardening to nature.
>>
>>Most states get enough rainfall that something will grow wild. I was
>>born here and believe me, south of Stockton, nothing grows wild except in
>>the late winter and early spring. By June, most stuff has cured out and
>>is nothing but a fire hazard. If we depended on natural rainfall for
>>freeway landscaping, it'd be pretty barren. (Nerium oleander grows
>>pretty well with no watering but it's fairly scruffy by mid-summer.
>>Two dry years in a row, and it's all over.
>
>     The same is true for the government, althought they haven't seemed to 
>to figure it out.  If they don't have the money, then they can't
>afford to plant flowers along the freeways.  The government has to 
>prioritize things and stick to the priorities.  If, after taking care of
>the most important things, they still have money left over, then they either
>give it back to the tax payers (ya right) or plant flowers along the 
>freeway.  I can think of a lot more important things than pretty 
>freeways.
>
>Mike

Haven't you heard?  They ARE cutting back on things like MediCal and
education, the non-essentials.

Seriously, I think part of the reason the roadside plants are kept alive
is to prevent them from turning into fire hazards.

There was a year in which a tax rebate was given to each an every
filer of income taxes in California (I think 1986), a dubious move
at best.  It was not a fortune (I think I got about $50), but I
imagine it must have cost nearly as much to execute as sending out
tac forms to everyone.  Had they simply kept it in even a simple
interest bearing account, they could have either saved the tax payers
some money next year (like prepaying taxes), or maybe put it to good
use.  Most likely, they would have probably wasted it on something
like more landscaping.

I do have to admit though, that the California freeway system is far
more advanced than that of a lot of other states.  (anyone driven in
Massachusettes recently?)  This is where your vehicle and fuel taxes
are supposed to be going.

eyc
Newsgroups: ca.driving
From: stgprao@xing.unocal.com (Richard Ottolini)
Subject: Re: Buying a used car -> sales tax
Originator: stgprao@xing
Organization: Unocal Corporation
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 00:57:40 GMT

In article <1992Aug12.050915.2569@verity.com> Anders Wallgren <anders@verity.com> writes:
>In article <1992Aug11.210938.13926@aero.org> Robert S. Helfman,
>helfman@aero.org writes:
>>The tax rates (even taken as Federal, state, and local, together)
>are
>>still miniscule compared to almost any other industrial Western
>democracy.
>
>Excuse me, but after ~30% in federal income tax, ~20% in SS tax
>(counting employer contribution) and ~11% in CA state tax, plus
>various and sundry sales, disability, use and sin taxes, this is
>becoming less and less true.  Even Sweden is beginning to reform
>their evil ways...

The cumulative tax rate for various countries is compared now and then in
newspaper article.  For a typical factory worker making @$30K a year it is
in the high 20s for Americans and the 40s in most socialized European
countries.  Many European countries and Canada have a nasty national
sales tax in the teens.
Newsgroups: ca.driving
From: wisner@netcom.com (Bill Wisner)
Subject: do insurance companies know about out-of-*country* tickets?
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 92 04:35:29 GMT
Organization: Trailing Edge Technologies, Mountain View, CA

The Subject pretty much says it: can insurance companies discover tickets
issued in other countries -- specifically, Canada?
From: glaird@hpscit.sc.hp.com (Gordon Laird)
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 21:11:28 GMT
Subject: Re: Does the CHP still exist?
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Santa Clara, CA
Newsgroups: ca.driving

keith garrard writes:

> I came all the way up I-5 from LA to I-580, and I averaged about
> 85 MPH.  I had come across the country, so I was used to really 
> flying.  Anyway, I didn't see any CHP either, and I am glad of it. 
> It really is a good example of a place where there should be no speed
> limit.  I-5 is about as clear as it gets.  --Keith

   As a long time resident of the People's (bannana) Republic of CA, I would
caution everyone from getting too secure about the volumes of cars moving 
at efficient speeds on I-5.  I know several individuals who were caught
in what the southern section of I-5 is notorious for.  The CHP often makes
mega sweeps of large clumps of cars, and will ticket dozens, enmass, for
speeding.  All this in one single stop.
   So, just because you are cruising with a clump, does not mean you are
safe.  I will also note, that in every case that I heard about, the speeders
were caught be aircraft.
Newsgroups: ca.driving
From: astallon@us.oracle.com (Anthony Stallone)
Subject: Used Car FAQ, Call for Submissions 
Organization: Oracle Corp., Redwood Shores CA
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 20:37:34 GMT
X-Disclaimer: This message was written by an unauthenticated user
              at Oracle Corporation.  The opinions expressed are those
              of the user and not necessarily those of Oracle.

What are the sticky details with buying/selling used cars?  What do
you need to know about title transfers, cash transactions, taxes,
etc.?  What's your best protection to keep from getting ripped off
buying or selling a used car?  (We all know you get ripped off when
it's new!)

I'd like to collect your advice on what-you-really-need-to-know when
it comes to used car transactions.  I'll collect any responses you may
have.  Please(!) limit personal accounts to what's relative to the
issue and please do not post directly to ca.driving.  Since this is
*CA*.driving, feel free to mention any California specific traps to
avoid.  Maybe we can incorporate it in to the general FAQ, too. 
(Question and answer format might come in handy.)  Either way, I'll
post the results here.


Regards,
Tony
(astallon@us.oracle.com)


From: jefftb@hpmwtd.sr.hp.com (Jeff Brown)
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 22:50:30 GMT
Subject: Re: safety?
Organization: HP Santa Rosa Site (NMD MTA MWTD)
Newsgroups: ca.driving

 Are total bike ridership/miles up? This is an interesting statistic.

Newsgroups: ca.driving
From: dman@netcom.com (Dallman Ross)
Subject: Re: Where to Find "Fight Your Ticket" Book
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 92 00:06:33 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 
Distribution: ca
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL4

chrisk@hercules.esd.sgi.com (Chris Kotsiopoulos) writes:
: I know the FAQ mentions this book, but I need to know where to get it soon.
: I have gone to several bookstores in the Mountain View area, like
: Tower Books, Crown Books, B Dalton, etc.
: and have yet to find this book in stock. Since I have a court date in
: a six weeks, I would like to hear if any of 
: you have seen this book in stock recently in any bookstore in Silicon
: Valley. 
: 
The new edition either just came out or will be coming out very soon.
Many are not stocking the old in anticipation of this.

You can call Nolo Press directly and charge it on your credit card:
(800) 640-6656.

Nolo is in Berkeley (950 Paraker St., 94710).  Their local number is
(510) 549-1976.

--
 __D_a l_l m a_n  _ R o_s s _ |dman@netcom.com  /or/  |"You sound like a man|
 l  \\ l\\   /l  /\\  l\\   l |dross@well.sf.ca.us    |with a rubber nose." |
 l   >)l \\ /ll /  \\ l \\  l |vox/fax: 1.510.645.1883| -- One-Lung Bill    |
 l  // l  \X ll/--- \\l  \\ l |350 Perkins St., #108  |     Remmer (deceased)
_l//______________________\\l_|Oakland,_CA__94610-3422|_____________________|_
Newsgroups: ca.driving
From: helfman@aero.org (Robert S. Helfman)
Subject: Re: Buying a used car > sales tax and other state taxes
Organization: The Aerospace Corporation, El Segundo, CA
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 06:33:11 GMT

In article <58@cnmhnet.UUCP> keithg@cnmhnet.UUCP (keith garrard) writes:
>I also agree that I want value for my tax dollars.  CA is a real rip-off
>when it comes to taxes on vehicles.  
>	So where do our taxes go in CA?  The roads, while quite extensive, 
>are in bad need of repair and resurfacing.  Everytime I cross the Bay Bridge
>or Golden Gate Bridge, it costs me $1.00 or $3.00.  Where does that money
>go?

The tolls on the San Francisco crossings (all of them - the Bay Bridge,
the Richmond, the San Mateo, the Dunbarton, the Carquinez Straits, the
Antioch, and the Golden Gate) go pretty strictly for bridge maintenance. The
maintenance (mostly due to salt water corrosion) is fierce. The Bay Bridge
is being painted all the time and takes two years to complete from one
end to the other.
From: keithg@cnmhnet.UUCP (keith garrard)
Newsgroups: ca.driving
Subject: Re: Does the CHP still exist?
Date: 17 Aug 92 21:12:50 GMT
Organization: California-Nevada Methodist Homes

In article <63951@cup.portal.com> ts@cup.portal.com (Tim W Smith) writes:
>I recently drove from Cupertino, IOU to Merced, IOU, and then from there
>The only evidence of CHP I could find was on the radio: the head of some
>large CHP grouping was a guest on KGO.
>Where are they?
>--Tim Smith

Who cares where they are??? Just be glad they weren't there when you 
happened by.  You were able to make good time and didn't hurt anyone
by going the speed you were.  I did the same thing about a year ago. 
I came all the way up I-5 from LA to I-580, and I averaged about
85 MPH.  I had come across the country, so I was used to really 
flying.  Anyway, I didn't see any CHP either, and I am glad of it. 
It really is a good example of a place where there should be no speed
limit.  I-5 is about as clear as it gets.  --Keith