| WIKI | FAQ | Tech FAQ | |
 http://csua.com/feed/ | |
| ||||||
| 5/25 |
| 2004/3/31-4/1 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:12940 Activity:kinda low |
3/31 Our policy on cutting down dependency on foreign oil:
http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Taxes/P48468.asp
\_ There are times when I wish Spike Bike were around. -John
\_ Spike Bike?
\_ A cloud of brown dust stretched as far as the eye
could see along old route 126. From my vantage point
behind an old barn, I watched the grim parade. For
the third time in less than a minute, a huge gravel
truck rumbled past, spewing acrid, black smoke and
kicking up more of the brown mud-dust and spreading it
all over everything.
Including me. I'm Spike Bike. I hate cars.
Taking out a tractor-trailer rig isn't easy. You
might be able to get a grenade into the cab, but if
it bounces back at you, you're finished. You can
sometimes shoot out all the tires on one side of the
tractor and the truck will jackknife, but it takes at
least half a mag, and half the time you won't get all
the tires. I had to face the fact that a MAC-10
submachinegun and a few grenades just weren't going
to do the job against these monstrosities.
\_ MORE!
\_ http://members.aol.com/clubnbc/spike_1.htm
\_ Thank you!
\_ Why not just shoot at the external gas tank?
\_ Diesel fuel plus you need lots more oxygen for a
useful response.
\_ Oh, diesel doesn't explode. I see. So all those
action movie scenes where trucks run off bridges and
hit the ground below and then explode are not real.
\_ I have some news that might come as a shock to you
about the tooth fairy, too. |
| 5/25 |
|
| moneycentral.msn.com/content/Taxes/P48468.asp Know when your stocks move Plan for your perfect retirement Pay all your bills with a few clicks Find It! Article Index Finance Q&A Tools Index Site map Related Articles Put tax savings in your wallet now Cut your insurance bills with the right car Give and grow rich with charitable deductions Related Resources Befuddled by tax jargon? Check our tax glossary Decision Center: Best deals on four wheels Decision Center: Tax breaks for the not-so-rich The Basics Save up to $35,000 on a new SUV advertisement The new tax bill quadruples the deduction available on small-business equipment purchases, which include trucks. By Des Toups The SUV loophole just got big enough to drive a Hummer through. Among the provisions of the tax package just approved by Congress is an increase in the deduction allowed for small-business equipment purchases, which rises from $25,000 to $100,000. That means real estate agents, lawyers, doctors - anybody who files a Schedule C or corporate tax return - can write off the entire cost of virtually any big sport-utility vehicle. The deduction for SUV purchases was already pretty hefty, but it came in three parts: A $25,000 equipment deduction, plus 30 of the remaining price courtesy of the 2002 economic stimulus bill, plus the standard five-year depreciation schedule on the remainder. On a $72,000 Range Rover, the deduction came to about $45,000 the first year, for a tax savings of more than $16,000. In contrast, those who buy ultra-efficient gas-electric hybrids for personal use get a tax deduction of $2,000, worth at most $700. And the deduction applies only to vehicles designated as light trucks. Far less generous rules apply to business use of cars and smaller trucks. Bigger is better The catch is that the qualifying vehicle must have a gross vehicle weight rating GVWR over 6,000 lbs. At one time, the limit was believed to be high enough to eliminate all but the loopholes intended target, farm and industrial vehicles. Now added layers of safety and luxury equipment have made all vehicles porkier. Even some midsized sport-utilities just creep over that 6,000 GVWR line. The least expensive SUV to cross the three-ton GVWR threshold is the Dodge Durango, which has a sticker price starting at about $29,000. All of that would be deductible under the new law and would save someone paying the top rates at least $10,000. DaimlerChrysler currently offers a $4,500 rebate on the Durango, which would make the net outlay for a small business owner approximately $14,500 - half its MSRP. Only two sport-utilities would bust the $100,000 limit: the $105,160 Hummer H1 last seen thundering across Iraq in olive drab, and the Porsche Cayenne, which, when loaded with features such as a 450-horsepower twin-turbo V-8 and a $2,300 spare tire, can top $100,000 and 150 mph with ease. The most fuel-efficient SUV to qualify is the $39,500 BMW X5, with EPA ratings of 16 city and 21 highway. Theyre so big they fall outside the scope of the rating system, but expect single digits - and remember that the cost of gasoline is deductible, too. |
| members.aol.com/clubnbc/spike_1.htm PART ONE A cloud of brown dust stretched as far as the eye could see along old route 126. From my vantage point behind an old barn, I watched the grim parade. For the third time in less than a minute, a huge gravel truck rumbled past, spewing acrid, black smoke and kicking up more of the brown mud-dust and spreading it all over everything. You might be able to get a grenade into the cab, but if it bounces back at you, youre finished. You can sometimes shoot out all the tires on one side of the tractor and the truck will jackknife, but it takes at least half a mag, and half the time you wont get all the tires. I had to face the fact that a MAC-10 submachinegun and a few grenades just werent going to do the job against these monstrosities. My weekly raid on the old Joliet Arsenal yielded what I needed: a bazooka and a couple of crates of armor-piercing rockets. As usual, the morons the Army has watching the place didnt see anything. All the approaches to the arsenal are pretty well guarded, but nobody expects a guy on a mountain bike sneaking up from the river bank. I slung the bazooka over my shoulder, stuffed all the rockets I could carry into a set of panniers and a backback, and slipped away unnoticed. Back in the garage, I set about converting the bazooka and some old Reynolds tubing into a bikezooka. When I was finished, it looked pretty much like any other fat-tube bike, except your every-day Kleins and Cannondales arent capable of firing antitank rockets out both the front and back ends. The bike handled a little funny, but I wasnt going to do any criteriums on this baby. I had to ride along 126 for a couple of miles before I got an opportunity to test it. There wasnt a gravel truck in sight, but I spotted an enormous flatbed carrying a bulldozer. Both the truck and its cargo were filthy, covered with mud and chipped paint, just the thing to make my blood boil. He tried to run me into the ditch, but Id expected that, and I dodged him easily as he rumbled past. I waited until he was about 200 feet ahead and let the first rocket fly. It scored a direct hit on the rear axles and blew the wheels clean off. The truck collapsed on the roadbed and the dozer broke loose from its restraints to lurch forward and crush the cab. My second shot ignited the trucks fuel tank and set both the machines ablaze. My first opportunity to take out one of my primary targets came a few minutes later, when I spotted a gravel truck a quarter mile behind me. It was big and ugly and loaded with dirt - a fat hog to be butchered. I loaded a rocket into the nose and flipped the firing mechanism over so I could launch the round out of the back of the bike. I heard him downshift to get more power as he headed straight for me. With the steering box destroyed, the truck promptly and violently jackknifed, turning over in the ditch and spilling its entire cargo of dirt, rocks, and debris off to the side of the road. Id hoped to get a chance to hit another truck, but it was after 5, and most of the truckers had gone home. On the way home, I spotted a big, gaudy, new Pontiac pulling out of one of the myriad construction sites along 126. |