Expressing Opinions

This image is what comes to mind each time I purchase gas.

Thank you for visiting Expressing Opinions.

So I am reading the news today and come across a link on the AP to an article on SignOnSanDiego.com about fat people and seat belt use. Oh brother!!! Why is there news stories on this? Isn’t there more important things to report or have studies on?

In the news piece states:

Vanderbilt University psychologist David Schlundt studied the relationship between seat belt use and weight after noticing that obese people sometimes struggled to fit into the auto restraints.

“They really have a hard time getting that belt buckle over them,” Schlundt said. “They have to stretch it out and then over and then some can’t see the buckle.”.

Seat belts are made to fit a person with a 47 inch hip circumference and most manufacturers provide an average of 18-20 inches of extra belt length. That is a lot of seat belt!

Personally I think obese people should be held accountable for packing on the pounds and we as a society should not be made to bare the burden of higher health care costs, because these people would rather lift a Twinkie instead of a barbell. It is not like they do not have control over when they open their pie hole and shovel in the food. There are plenty of other health issues which should be funded for study and I don’t think obesity is one of them.

The only thing I will get out of it is a laugh when Leno includes the story in his monologue. Thank you for visiting Expressing Opinions.

With all of the toy recalls lately, it makes you wonder what is safe for your child? Today I came across the child seat ease of use ratings site from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). I know some of those child seats are a pain in the posterior to use and this site was useful, easy to navigate, and actually provided quality information. How did a government site pull that off? WOW!

The page has a short 3 minute video explaining how the rating system works with an actual comparison between child safety seats. If you scroll down the page to Search Ease-of-Use Ratings and click on the type of child seat you are going to purchase, the page will list child safety seats and offer a rating of one to five stars for a variety of features on various brands. Click on 2008 Car Seat Ease-of-Use Ratings to learn more.

Thank you for visiting Expressing Opinions.

If know you are polluting the environment by driving your car does not motivate you to do something, then how about money?

I like math and seeing how the numbers impact my world and the world around me. Everyone thinks the EPA estimate on the window of that new car means something. So let me introduced you to the Miles Per Dollar calculator, where you can calculate how many miles you can drive for each dollar of gasoline you consume. Better yet calculate in how much money you will by not driving to work and instead using alternative transportation.

Now after doing the math you will literally know how far your dollar is taking you.

Thank you for visiting Expressing Opinions.

I have been around the Internet long before there was a www (WorldWideWeb) and I must admit I have seen some pretty good spoof sites like DHMO.org and heard some wonderful legends. So today when I came across this story, I thought it was kind of strange and possibly one of those Internet Legends.

It was a story about a Ford Mustang owners club who wanted to produce a calendar featuring their cars. The headline was from a story on BoingBoing and it stated, “Ford: Car owners are pirates if they distribute pictures of their own cars.” But as I dug around on the web I came up with a little more info from the club.

On the BMC web site they had a posting from Lisa stating:

I got some more info from the folks at cafepress and according to them, a law firm representing Ford contacted them saying that our calendar pics (and our club’s event logos - anything with one of our cars in it) infringes on Ford’s trademarks which include the use of images of THEIR vehicles. Also, Ford claims that all the images, logos and designs OUR graphics team made for the BMC events using Danni are theirs as well. Funny, I thought Danni’s title had my name on it … and I thought you guys owned your cars … and, well … I’m not even going to get into how wrong and unfair I feel this whole thing is as I’d be typing for hours, but I wholeheartedly echo everything you guys have been saying all afternoon. I’m not letting this go un-addressed and I’ll keep you guys posted as I get to work on this.

I’m sorry, but at this point we will not be producing the 2008 BMC Calendar, featuring our 2007 Members of the Month, solely due to Ford Motor Company’s claim that THEY own all rights to the photos YOU take of YOUR car. I hope to resolve this soon, and be able to provide the calendar and other BMC merchandise that you guys want and deserve! This thread will remain open for you to comment however you wish, and I’ll update it as needed.

Thanks for all your support of the BMC!!

Is this real or is the BMC pissed at Ford and decided to give them some bad publicity? If it is not real then they are doing a good job of setting themselves up for legal issues. If it is real, I can understand copyrights and infringing on someone else’s work. But is Ford and their attorneys really that anal? Oh please! And they wonder why sales are going down?