A college roommate of mine had the "Amazing Stories" issue (or was it "Astounding?") where Robert Heinlein and L. Ron Hubbard debate get-rich-quick schemes. Hubbard proposed founding a cult-church and exploiting its tax immunity and first amendment protections. Scientologists have bought these issues up and destroyed them. I wonder what a copy is worth today. Heinlein's scheme was speculating on corner lots that would be valuable for gas stations. I understand he made more money doing that than writing.

My 2001 Insight gets 62 mpg on the highway, 55 in short, city trips. Acceleration is unexciting but adequate. It's got a 1-liter lean-burn gasoline engine, with a 15 HP electric motor where most cars have a passive flywheel. This was Honda's first try at a hybrid. They did it when GM did the EV1, responding to California's 1999 emissions rules. Unlike GM's, Honda's effort was sincere. They still stock replacement parts. It's not rocket science to build an efficient gasoline car. Detroit just doesn't want to do it. The president of Chrysler said "Who needs front wheel drive? I say give 'em leather, they can smell it."

So if we get the mandated "net neutrality" I read about at Freepress.net, am I still allowed to block traffic from all those spambots? Is my ISP? Is his transit provider? What if the ISP hosting the spambot doesn't want to disconnect it?