Fred Nile Tries to Ban Smoking in Cars

Christian Democratic Party MLC Fred Nile has drafted a private member's Bill to legislate against drivers smoking whilst driving. Here is the story.

I would actually support a move to fine drivers who smoke while they have children in the back seat. But when I'm driving by myself? That is a disgrace. What is Australia coming to? It is also a disgrace that a man such as Fred Nile has so much sway over the government here in Australia.
How dare he suggest I'm not allowed to smoke as I'm driving to work by myself. Who does he think he is? What is a religious leader doing in parliament anyway? We have massive crime problems here in Sydney, with people getting bashed shot and stabbed on the streets every weekend, and this guy wants to ban smoking in cars.

This is the same guy that thinks he knows what you and I shouldn't read and see. He wants our internet filtered so we can't have access to things that he feels are inappropriate. To be honest, I don't have anything personally against the guy, he is entitled to his views, but when his twisted views are inflicted on my life, I get really angry.

Fred Nile can get stuffed. I'm going to continue to smoke in my car. It is because of people like Fred Nile and the way they attempt to turn Australia into some kind of religious state by infiltrating parliament that I have forever turned away from the church. Well there are a few other reasons too, but that's another post:)

VP V6 Commodore Specifications

Here's all the specs for my VP:

Engine: 3800 V6

"V" configuration. OHV design with cross flow cylinder heads. Multipoint fuel injection. Engine management computer. 91 octane fuel. Low friction technology. High energy distributorless, ignition fired by magnetic pulse from crankshaft, via computer. Triple coils. Computer activated electric cooling fan. The engine control module (ECM) is a Delco 1227808.

Capacity: 3.791L
Induction: multipoint EFI
Valvetrain: overhead valves, 2 valves / cylinder
Bore x Stroke (mm): 97.0 x 86.0
Compression ratio: 8.5:1
Maximum Power: 127 kW @ 4800 RPM
Maximum Torque: 293 Nm @ 3600 RPM

Transmission:

GM Hydra-Matic 4L60 - 4 speed automatic transmission with overdrive and lockup torque converter. Also known as TH700R4.

Ratios:

1st       3.06
2nd       1.63
3rd       1.00
4th       0.70
Reverse   2.29

Diff Ratio: 3.08:1

Suspension:

Front: MacPherson strut, incorporating wet sleeve shock absorbers. Direct acting stabilizer bar. Progressive rate coil springs.

Rear: Trailing arm with 5-link location. Panhard rod. Progressive rate coil springs. Double-acting shock absorbers. Stabilizer bar.

Steering:

Type: Power-assisted, variable assistance, variable ratio rack and pinion

Turning circle (m): 10.7

Brakes:

Front: ventilated disc
Rear: disc

Dimensions:

Wheelbase: 2731mm

Track:
Front: 1451mm
Rear: 1478mm

Length: 4890mm

Width: 1812mm

Height: 1403mm

Back to the Rotary Engine

I love rotary engines. A couple of years ago, in what seems like a past life, I had an old series 2 with a mild port 13B in it. It had a decent exhaust, stock carby and ignition and on an old school motor out of an RX-4. It went quite well and probably pulled mid to high 15s but it seemed faster, and was a sheer joy to drive

The series 2 has a great weight distribution and the chassis is very strong. The light motor is mounted as far back in the engine bay as possible, and the driver/passenger sit quite close to the rear wheels.

The series 1, 2 and 3 RX-7s that were sold in Australia had 12A rotary engines. Mine had a 13B put in it which is a bit bigger and more powerful. I was impressed at how much fun the rotary engine is to drive. They rev effortlessly out to 7 grand, making more and more power as the revs increase. They are incredibly smooth, and to me they seem like a great idea. The rotary engine does not have any pistons, valves or anything like that. It has much fewer moving parts than a conventional 4 stroke engine and make more power for it's weight. This makes them ideal for small cars that want to go round corners like an RX-7.

The time has come to get into rotarys again. I'm soon to move house and will be purchasing an old 13B to rebuild, and a reasonable series 1/2/3 RX-7 body to put it in. I need the car to be decent, as I don't want to initially put much thought into it. I want to concentrate on developing a home-built pheripheral port engine, which should make up to 300kw, although it may not last longer than 80,000kms. The beauty of the rotary engine is that there is nothing holding it back. All you have to do is let it get the air/fuel it wants by making the holes (ports) bigger. A pheripheral port is a totally re-located inlet port that allows the engine to draw close to maximum charge, creating insane amounts of power for the size of the engine. It also burns some of the fuel incompletely, and there is some blow-through at idle, causing unburned fuel to come out the exhaust. Especially when cold. Such an engine can cost $20 worth of fuel just to get warmed up. I have to build one.

I will document the whole process on the web, although I will probably create another blog/site and do the whole thing properly with photos and everything. Of course I will put a link here.

I couldn't be botherered writing any more. It's really hot tonight and I'm going to go downstairs where the air-conditioning is.

Mainstream Media In Decline

This is an interesting article which looks at the way alternative news sources on the internet are gaining popularity over the corporate owned mainstream publications.
As a reader of both styles of media, I think one has to be just as skeptical when reading alternative news sources as when reading mainstream media.
Sometimes I find the best perspective can be gathered by comparing mainstream news from various different countries. For example, an article about Australia which appears in the BBC news, but doesn't appear anywhere in any Australian mainstream publications is always worth a deeper look.

23rd August 2001, Supreme Court, Justice Richard Chesterman on the media:

"The appellant's argument exaggerates the influence of the tabloid media. The public is well aware that its function is to generate income for its proprietors and that the dissemination of information and expression of opinion by it is secondary to that purpose. Information published by the media is often inaccurate and is frequently distorted by the need to create sensation. The distortion is sometimes deliberate. Journalistic opinion tends to be populist rather than responsible and is often the product of ignorance and prejudice. Contrary opinions are suppressed."

This article illustrates the state of things quite well.

Mainstream media attempts to discredit blogs and internet sources in order to try and regain control.

4WDs - Blowing Away The Lies

The green lobby and the likes of Harold Scruby of the "Pedestrian Council" would have us all believe that four wheel drive vehicles kill thousands per year and should be taxed off the road.

While there are better vehicles to trundle around the city in, and I have no interest in getting one (Wouldn't have the time to take it to the bush and use it for what it's designed for), Australians have a right to drive these vehicles. We should not just lie down and let these uninformed idealistic clowns change our way of life, let alone dictate what we can and cannot drive.

It's 4WDs today, it'll be V8s tomorrow, then turbos, and before we know it, we will all be legislated to drive little hybrid cars with GPS tracking and speed limiters, or even worse, we will be herded onto government owned trasnport. (Or more public/private partnership scams to build mass-transit systems).

Imagine picking up a trailer load of fence pailings from Bunnings in a Toyota Prius (Not that I have anything against those cars, I actually think they are a great idea, but I'll CHOOSE if I'm going to drive one, thankyou).

I'm actually beginning to think that the green side of politics is lobbying for anti-independance. They want me to rely on the Government to transport me around. What a joke, ever tried to get to work on a train in Sydney?

Anyway, here is a page from the Australian National Four Wheel Drive Council which covers the lies that are being put forth by the anti-4WD lobby, and illustrates the massive flaws in their argument, as well as touch on a few issues that our anti-4WD friends are obviously unaware of (Or maybe they conveniently over-look them).

Traffic Lights Sabotaged at 400 Sydney Intersections to Funnel Motorists Through Tollway.

A parliamentary committee has revealed that sequencing was modified on 400 sets of traffic lights around Sydney when the Cross City Tunnel was opened.
In short, this means that our state government has allowed the corporation that built the tunnel to make the rest of Sydney's road more inefficient (Roads that Sydney residents have paid to build and maintain), so they can force more motorists to use their poorly planned and overpriced Cross City Tunnel.
Getting this information was like blood from a stone. The RTA even cited "terrorist concerns" as a reason for not releasing the traffic light changes.

This is the latest article

I hope the Cross City organisation is sent to bankruptcy for conning and manipulating the people of Sydney in such a way.
With Peter Samson in charge of Cross City, (An Ex-RTA Chief Executive) I guess they have the required expertise and experience at the top of their organisation to screw the motorists of Sydney very efficiently.
After all, the RTA is second to none when it comes to screwing motorists.