CLEARING THE MPG AIR, IF NOT THE AIR ITSELF PART 1
CORPORATE AVERAGE Fuel Economy (CAFE) has the news all agog with the Trump administration undoing yet another Obama administration action, this one involving fuel economy and emissions of new cars … Continue reading
ETYMOLOGY: CRONY, CRONYISM
MERRIAM-WEBSTER nails cronyism as “partiality to cronies especially as evidenced in the appointment of political hangers-on to office without regard to their qualifications.” Furthermore, M-W defines a crony as “a … Continue reading
GEORGE CONSTANTINESCU—SCIENTIST, ENGINEER, INVENTOR, AUTOMAKER PART 2
WHEN WE left Romanian-British polymath George Constantinescu, in yesterday’s SimanaitisSays, he had already received plaudits for designing the C.C. synchronization gear used on allied fighter planes in World War I. … Continue reading
GEORGE CONSTANTINESCU—SCIENTIST, INVENTOR, ENGINEER, CARMAKER PART 1
ALLIED AIRCRAFT synchronized armament in 1917. An automotive torque converter in 1926. Let’s celebrate the fellow who devised these two and other technicalities: George Constantinescu, a Romanian-Briton with an office … Continue reading
BLOCKCHAINS AND CRYPTOCURRENCIES PART 2
DIGITAL CRYPTOCURRENCIES rely on blockchains for their bookkeeping. Yesterday, we discussed the basics of why cryptocurrencies may be shady, but blockchains aren’t inherently at fault. Today, we continue this theme … Continue reading
BLOCKCHAINS AND CRYPTOCURRENCIES PART 1
WHAT WITH Bitcoin in the news regularly these days, I believe it’s appropriate to separate this and other cryptocurrencies (there are scads!) from the related topic of blockchains. Today, we’ll … Continue reading
OPERATIC CARS PART 2
WHO WOULD have guessed the closeness of automobiles and opera? We move from yesterday’s Wagner Ring Cycle links to those involving Verdi, Gounod, Berg, and back to Wagner again. A … Continue reading
OPERATIC CARS PART 1
I’M LISTENING to Richard Wagner’s Siegfried, the third opera of his epic Ring Cycle. Early on, in Scene 2, the Wanderer (actually top god Wotan in disguise) tells an interminable … Continue reading
THE KURTIS SPORTS CAR
THE TRUISM “racing improves the breed” was more than justified by Frank Kurtis and his sports cars. Indeed, Frank first displayed his expertise fabricating bodies for race cars in the … Continue reading
MY PRICELESS ORIGINALS
TRUMP’S BOASTING that he owns priceless original art has encouraged me to identify several priceless originals in my stuff. Trump’s Renoir.You may recall the article in news.artnet.com, October 18, 2017, … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 