AutoblogGreen

I live now in Germany. The garbage truck pass only once every two weeks, and its OK. You get used to it, you try to reduce the amount of rubbish to a minimum. Also, the garbage truck is driven and operated only by one guy. Very efficient!

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I currently pay 9k in property taxes in Wisconsin. I'd glady have trash pickup every two weeks, not to mention having no police patroling my neighborhood (where there is no crime).

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Every town and city needs to re-evaluate their emergency response needs, as well. In my area, they tend to grossly overreact -- sending 4-10 emergency vehicles to a common fender-bender. There's always a fire truck and 2 ambulances, even when they're not needed.

I've actually seen a full hook-and-ladder fire truck sent to a scene where a young boy fell off a bicycle. Has anyone ever seen a 10-year-old child burst into flames as the result of a skinned knee?

Every community is terrified of negligence lawsuits and they send "the works", no matter what the cost is -- and there is a cost.

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I'm sure some of the police officers idle their engines unnecessarily or accelerate too quickly for no reason. Getting rid of such habits could save significant amounts of money for cities.

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What's the problem? All they have to do is give more tickets.

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Considering that most police officers spend nearly half of their time idling their cars so that they can enter data into their computers, it is a shame that the Crown Vic wasn't the second hybrid Ford built. Can you imagine the county planners/mayors as they announce that they are 'going green, and that our police department is cutting its carbon footprint by 30-40%'. The hybrid Crown Vic would have sold faster than it could have been built. Ford, unable to keep enough cars on the showroom floor...
Uhhh... Never mind, that is what happened to the Toyota Prius, an ugly, underpowered car that barely outperforms a Civic on mileage, saving only about 14 gallons a month, and is a pig of a ride in every other respect. Not to mention that the Prius is $5,000 more and looks like a gravid skateboard. At 14 gallons a month, how long will it take the Prius to 'pay for itself ?', if it is $5,000 more than a comparable econo car?
I don't know what is more pitiful, the current selection of automobiles offered in the US, or the selection of presidential candidates; a self-righteous empty suit vs. an egotistical old man, what a choice.

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They could save $64b a year by ending the illegal drug war.

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I say we should have a requirements where no police officer can be over 200lbs. Remember every 100lbs of crap you haul takes out about 1MPG. So by my estimates each car would save 1.5 MPG.


But seriously urban patrolling, Meter maids, NEVs will be fine. Police shouldn't be allowed to idol and switch to hybrids or even forced induction direct injection small displacement 4 bangers.

They don't need v8s even in pursuit. The crownvics burns gas like a V8 and makes less power then any V6 sedan on the market

dont forget the pointless war on drugs cost 64 billion a year and and removes another 100 billion of productivity on our GDP

Before drugs where illegal 1.5% of the population was addicted to something, Today it still stands at 1.5%. It doesn't matter if its crack pot or porks rinds its not the chemical they addicted to but an imbalance in their brain that leads to dependency on anything.

We are also a join the ranks of iran, north korea,
pakistain, saudi arabia, syria,burma, and cuba. In capital punishment.
Pretty much we are the only western nation that allows it and you wouldtn want to live in any county that does allow it
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Death_Penalty_World_Map.png

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I thought this was a blog about automobiles... Please put political comments on capital punishment, the drug war, and everything else "non-auto" on some other blog. Thanks.

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It's all well and good to suggest less patrolling by cops. What happens the first time someone dies because emergency services where cut back? The lawyers will be lining up to take the case and sue the municipality. How much will one lawsuit cost a city?

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KF31 is now the moderator for Autobloggreen?

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Let's cut back on lawyers.

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At the very least, I expect city officials to approach their purchasing decisions differently in the future. In the unlikely event I'm ever presented with a traffic ticket that includes a fuel surcharge, I'm gonna ask if the idea for the fuel surcharge came from the same genius who felt the department needed to buy SUVs for patrols.

I don't need trash picked up every week, but I suppose a single guy generates less trash than a family of four.

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Is Tim suggesing he annoits/approves moderators at ABG, or is Tim suggesting that only moderators can label discussion as grossly irrelvent?

kf31's point about the moot topical meandering in the comment that preceeds his is valid, regardless of Tim's thoughts on moderators.

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I think it's absolutely retarded for the police in this country to be patrolling around in gas-guzzling pieces of sht...absolutely ridiculous. The stupidity of humans sometimes astounds me.

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