RIGHT ON - DeMint Says Energy Should Be Top Priority

WATCH THIS VIDEO ....

Senator Jim DeMint ... he is RIGHT ON !!! COMMON SENSE ...

Now, this is telling the truth!

Hypermilers driven to maximize gas mileage

Hypermilers driven to maximize gas mileage (see video)

11:38 PM CDT on Tuesday, July 8, 2008

By IAN HAMILTON / The Dallas Morning News
ihamilton@dallasnews.com

Chuck Thomas regularly putters along on the highway at 50 mph in his Honda Insight, swerves into turns rather than hitting the brakes, and, when nobody is looking, jumps from the car and pushes it into a parking space.

All just to save a little gas.

Mr. Thomas of Lewisville belongs to an emerging subculture born of the ability to track gas mileage via a dashboard gauge. Hypermilers use a variety of techniques to maximize fuel efficiency: airing the tires up to or beyond the recommended pressure, forgoing air conditioning, coasting whenever possible (sometimes with the engine off), timing their arrivals at intersections to hit green lights and traveling around 50 mph on the highway.

Since he began hypermiling, Mr. Thomas has been squeezing 85 to 90 mpg out of his hybrid Insight, a car rated at 53 mpg.

"Fanatic is what the lazy call the dedicated," notes Mr. Thomas at the bottom of his posts at CleanMPG.com, a Web site devoted to the hypermiling community and its fuel-efficient techniques.

Hypermilers cite several reasons for maximizing mileage, including protecting the environment, saving money, having fun while driving, and even decreasing American dependence on foreign oil.

"Hypermiling is a little addictive," said Reid Stewart, an attorney from Irving who started when he bought a BMW with a gas mileage gauge. "It becomes a competition with yourself to see how well you can do."

The mpg gauge is built into virtually every hybrid car and in many newer gas-powered vehicles. Most vehicles without the gauge can have one installed for about $150. It reveals immediately how various conditions, driving habits and even vehicle modifications impact gas mileage.

Depending on the vehicle, optimal speed on the highway is around 47 to 53 mph, according to well-known hypermiler and Illinois resident Wayne Gerdes.

For Mr. Stewart, the revelation came during a business trip. He was not in a rush, so instead of speeding along at 75 or 80 mph, he drove around 60 mph. He boosted gas mileage by 20 percent.

"Then I really started paying attention to the gauge," Mr. Stewart said.

He researched techniques and began to hypermile in the BMW. But he realized he wasn't using the sports car the way it was intended and traded it for a Honda Insight. Now he gets around 100 mpg, double the car's rated fuel economy. He saves substantially on gas and no longer drives aggressively.

"What I notice is that I'm arriving at work a lot more relaxed," he said.

Not everyone agrees that hypermiling is a great idea. Critics suggest it’s rude, dangerous and a hindrance to normal traffic.

Lt. Charles Epperson with the Dallas Police Department’s traffic division said it is potentially hazardous to drive so far under the speed limit.

"I'd rather see a car going down the road at the posted speed limit than going 15 to 20 miles under the limit. It could cause a pretty massive bottleneck," Lt. Epperson said.

Mr. Gerdes said standard hypermiling practices should not aggravate other drivers or impede traffic. In fact, he said, hypermilers can even help regular drivers save gas.

He explained that hypermilers build a large buffer between themselves and the next vehicle that collapses when stop-and-go traffic comes to a standstill. If the timing is right, traffic will be moving again by the time the car coasts through the buffer. This practice sets a constant traffic flow that can improve the fuel economy of the vehicles around them, he said.

And, he said, the same is true about approaching red lights. Hypermilers are practiced in timing light changes so they can coast through green lights rather than stopping and starting at red ones. Other drivers slowed by hypermilers on the way to a red light will benefit, he said.

"If I can hold the whole conga line back to help the entire line save fuel so they catch a green light, I'll do it," Mr. Gerdes said.

Jake Fisher, senior automotive engineer at the Consumer Reports auto test division, said most hypermiling techniques are safe and beneficial, but some drivers may go too far and endanger others.

On a Consumer Reports blog, Mr. Fisher described an episode in which he was following a Honda Insight whose driver was hypermiling. After picking up speed going down a hill, the driver used the momentum to carry the car uphill, slowing with gravity on the way up. The driver maintained a slow speed as the two cars approached an intersection. The Insight missed the green but coasted through the red light anyway.

"You can't be driving for sport, whether it's street racing or trying to get the best gas mileage," Mr. Fisher said in an interview with The Dallas Morning News. "Only a very small minority of them are taking [the techniques] to an extreme.”

Drafting, which is driving behind another vehicle to take advantage of decreased wind resistance, is another way to increase gas mileage.

In 2007, Discovery Channel's Mythbusters TV show demonstrated that driving 50 feet behind a big rig at 55 mph improved gas mileage by about 20 percent. The practice, widely discussed on hypermiler forums, is generally dismissed as overly dangerous. The hosts of the show drew the same conclusion.

Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Lonny Haschel said vehicles should drive with at least 2 seconds of stopping time between them.

"You're trying to save gas but you're going to maybe end up paying that money back in hospital bills," Trooper Haschel said.

The most dedicated hypermilers are relatively few and mostly hybrid early adopters. Hybrids, with their part-electric and part-gasoline engine, come standard with the mpg gauge and benefit most from hypermiling techniques.

Still, Mr. Gerdes maintains 48.5 mpg in his Honda Accord and 38.5 mpg in his Ford Ranger. Both figures are drastic improvements from the rated economy of the gas-powered vehicles.

Hypermilers do sacrifice travel time for the sake of gas mileage. In a televised event, Mr. Gerdes and a reporter each drove from Chicago to New York in a hybrid Toyota Prius. According to Mr. Gerdes, the reporter made it in 13 hours at 39 mpg. Mr. Gerdes needed 15½ hours, but he did it on one tank of gas at 71 mpg.

"There's a thousand reasons to choose to be a hypermiler," Mr. Gerdes said. "There's only one reason not to, and that's: 'I've got to be there first.'"
KEYS TO BETTER GAS MILEAGE

Digital mileage gauge: This device hooks into the vehicle's computer and gives instant feedback on fuel consumption, allowing drivers to see what practices burn excess fuel. It costs about $150.

Tires: Filling tires to the recommended or maximum pressure can have a big impact on fuel economy. While there is less friction in a highly pressurized tire, it also can make the ride bumpier.

Speed: Varying speeds can be ideal for gas mileage, but driving more than 60 mph always decreases fuel economy substantially. Every 5 mph over 60 mph reduces fuel economy by the equivalent of 30 cents per gallon.

Weight: Keep the car as light as possible. Every 100 pounds off the vehicle can increase fuel economy by 1 percent to 2 percent.

Gas and brake pedals: Only use the pedals when absolutely necessary, which means keeping an eye on the road ahead and planning your drives accordingly. Don’t accelerate toward a stop sign. Coming to a complete stop nets 0 miles per gallon, so setting a pace in a traffic crunch and timing green lights can go a long way toward helping gas mileage.

Sources: fueleconomy.gov and hypermiling expert Wayne Gerdes

Zero Pollution

I ran across this a few weeks ago and thought I blogged on it but guess not. It's really interesting and I understand that they TATA is involved too.

Amazing AIR - yes, Compressed AIR - engine design: http://www.engineair.com.au/

http://zeropollutionmotors.us/

http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars/4251491.html

Auto Articles

Some interesting calculators, comparing hybrids to current vehicles you might own, showing if it's worth it or not to buy a new hybrid, etc.

Interesting articles ...

Do hybrids actually save you money?

Toyota Prius vs. Corolla is "Politics" vs."Economics"

Should You Dump the SUV for a Gas Sipper?
Calculate Gas Savings When Switching Cars

• Look at this calculator!

Consumer Reports The most fuel-efficient cars that CR has tested

Go get one if you can find one ...

The most fuel-efficient cars that CR has tested

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/new-cars/buying-advice/most-fuelefficient-cars-206/index.htm

Big Oil! Mercedes exec says Big Oil conspiring to kill U.S. diesel market

http://www.leftlanenews.com/mercedes-exec-says-big-oil-conspiring-to-kill-us-diesel-market.html

Mercedes exec says Big Oil conspiring to kill U.S. diesel market
June16

Mercedes-Benz has accused profiteering oil companies of ripping off diesel buyers and fears such action may kill the U.S. diesel passenger car market in its infancy. While oil prices have hit new highs, the pump price of diesel has surged to be more than a dollar a gallon higher than gasoline in some U.S. states, even though it is cheaper and less energy intensive to produce.

And Mercedes-Benz, which introduced its E320 BlueTEC diesel passenger car into the U.S. in 2006, is fighting back, with Daimler board member, Dr Thomas Weber, insisting there was no demand-driven reason for diesel prices to be so high.

“We knew this surge was coming in the U.S.,” Dr Weber, who heads up the Mercedes-Benz Research and Development division, told Leftlane.

“I believe there is definitely optimization of earnings by oil companies to take advantage of the higher usage of diesel today. There is not another plausible or economic explanation.”

While diesel sales are up in Europe, the economic downturn has lowered volumes in the U.S., where it is primarily a heavy transport fuel.

Even so, the U.S. Government’s Energy Information Administration reveals that diesel users have suffered more than double the gas price rises in the last year. Once cheaper, diesel is now significantly more expensive than gas everywhere in the United States.

The EIA’s data shows that while gas costs 443 cents a gallon in California, diesel there costs 499.2 cents and, in a nationwide trend, it is 72 cents more expensive on the East Coast and 63 cents more expensive in the Mid West.

While gasoline has risen 113 cents a gallon in California in the last 12 months, diesel has surged by 199.5 cents in the same period and its pump price surge has outstripped gasoline by 95.7 cents on the East Coast and 95.3 cents in the Mid West.

“The most important driver is a huge trend in diesel use in Europe, but that doesn’t explain it,” Dr Weber insisted.

“There are limitations on capacity on the refining sites, but that’s not it, either, really.

“Diesel production costs are less than the gasoline production costs so the only idea you can find is that these companies are in the business of making a profit, so that is what they do now.”

The EIA’s pump price breakdowns seem to confirm Mercedes-Benz’s allegations. While the cost of the basic crude oil accounts for 73 percent of the pump price of gasoline, it only accounts for 61 percent of the diesel price.

Instead, the EIA figures show oil companies are slugging diesel buyers by more than double diesel’s refining costs compared to gasoline. Only 10 percent of the gasoline price is in refining, while that figure leaps to 21 percent for diesel.

Nevertheless, Dr Weber predicted the massive gap between gasoline and diesel prices in the U.S., Australia and Europe would soon come to an end and, even in the meantime, they would not affect Daimler’s upcoming plans to hit the U.S. market in force with its diesel engines.

“For the customer, if they experience the advantages of diesel, they will stay with diesel anyway,” he insisted.

“The technology is 20 to 30 percent more efficient than gasoline and has more torque at lower rpm and that’s what most buyers actually use.”

Benz will launch BlueTEC diesel versions of its R-, GL and ML-class SUVs in October after receiving 50-state registration approval for the technology in March this year.

Words by Michael Taylor.

Crazy person! A Fire+Car Protest

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080627/koddities/oddity_fiery_protest

German man torches his BMW in protest against high gas prices

June 27, 2008
By The Associated Press

BERLIN - A German man doused his BMW with gasoline and torched it today in protest at skyrocketing fuel costs.

The unemployed 30-year-old man drove the black 1995 BMW sedan onto the lawn outside Frankfurt's convention centre grounds at about 7:30 a.m. He then jumped out, emptied a canister of gas over the vehicle, and set fire to it.

The Bavarian man, whose name was being withheld because he has not been charged with a crime, told police that gas prices were so high he could no longer afford to drive the vehicle.

Chuck Norris - Drill Drill Drill

American Solutions says DRILL DRILL DRILL ...




Here's a good interview with Church Norris and Fox News/Fox & Friends.

Beck + More Than Big Oil

Glenn Beck: Who makes more than Big Oil?
http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/11200/

CNBC interview with Sen DODD: (Unbelievable!!!)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=766303893&play=1

• http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=26822
• http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichelleMalkin/2008/06/04/planned_parenthoods_obscene_profits

Asked by a North Carolina voter whether he supported a Jimmy Carter-era windfall profits tax, McCain responded: "Um, I don't like obscene profits being made anywhere -- and I'd be glad to look not just at the windfall profits tax -- that's not what bothers me -- but we should look at any incentives that we are giving to people or industries or corporations that are distorting the market."

Glenn Beck: Who makes more than Big Oil?
June 11, 2008 - 12:54 ET

GLENN: Did he ever do private business? Dan, do you know? Did John McCain, was he ever in private business? Joe, you would probably know this. Look it up.

DAN: I don't think so.

GLENN: I don't think he was. I think he went from didn't he go right from the military right to congress? So there is a chance that he didn't understand how the economy works because he's always been in government. But this is his quote yesterday. Quote: I don't like the obscene profits that are being made anywhere and I'll be glad to look not just at the windfall profits tax. That's not what bothers me. But what we should look at is any incentives that we're giving people or that industries or corporations that are distorting the market.

Do you have the clip? Play this.

McCAIN: I don't like obscene profits being made anywhere and I'd be glad to look

GLENN: Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. He doesn't like obscene profits being made anywhere. Is anyone talking about the hedge funds? Is anyone talking is anyone in congress talking about the hedge funds? You know why? They are not talking about the hedge funds because the hedge funds give them all kinds of money. The hedge funds, these guys Chelsea Clinton works for a hedge fund. John Edwards worked for a hedge fund. Al Gore works for a hedge fund, owns his own hedge fund. Nobody wants to talk about hedge funds. You want to talk about obscene profits. Now, I don't believe this is an obscene profit. I really don't. I think if you can make this kind of a profit, God bless America. God bless America.

But here's their profit margin.

Their profit margin in hedge funds is 87%. 87% profit margin. That is printing money. So you want to talk about an obscene profit margin, there it is. Again, as a capitalist I say God bless you. But that is ten times the profit margin of oil.
Oil's profit margin is about 8.5%. This is ten times the profit.
Why are we going after them?

• How about healthcare facilities? 48%.
• Publishing, periodicals, magazines is 34%.
• Information delivery services, 23%.
• Silver is 22%.
• Application software industry is 22%.
• Shipping, 21%. Well, not anymore.
• Copper is 19%.
• Tobacco products, 19%.
• Drug manufacturers, 17%.
• Insurance brokers, 16.
• Beverages, wineries, distilleries, 15%.
• Long distance carriers, 15.8%.
• I mean, railroads, railroads, 13.9%.
• Steel and iron, 13.8.
• Cigarettes, 13.7.
• Integrated circuits, semiconductors, 13.6.
• I mean, the list goes on and on and on and on.
• Money center banks, 10.8.
• Hotel/motels, 10.6.
• Asset management, 10.5.
• Beverage, Brewers, 10.5.
• Resorts and casinos, resorts and casinos are 10.5. Casinos are 10.5.

Oil is 8.5.

I mean, when a casino makes 10.5 and a hedge fund makes 81.7, you've got to ask yourself what's an obscene profit margin. Why aren't you going after those guys? That's not the way this system works, and as soon as America figures this out, these guys are toast. When America figures out and I really believe, I believe that she will. Here's why. Here's why I have more optimism than ever before. These you know these tours always give me faith. Getting out of New York City always gives me faith. Going around the country and talking to as many people as we do. You know, we had another sold out show last night, we've got another show tonight in Portland, Maine. You know, I listen to these crowds and I listen, you know, in the first two shows because it was down in the South people were shouting stuff out and I could hear it. I mean, I could hear the frustration and I could hear the answers. The answers are there, and for the first time this is why I have more faith because for the first time I believe that the people who are normally slugs and don't say anything, they are starting to shout those answers out. They are starting to say that's not the way it works! And they are starting to get involved more than ever before. And I just don't think I think people are going to be asking questions this time, and conservatives, conservatives, not Republicans, conservatives have the answer, and the answer is not to take these oil companies and pound them into the dirt. It is to give them tax incentives to go find it. It is for congress to stay the hell out of the way. When that happens, we'll have a return to sanity. But you know what? I read the front page of the Wall Street Journal today and I have to tell you, inflation is going up. Do you know, what was the country that I said inflation went up, doubled overnight? In India, went from 4 to 8% inflation in two days! And they're all blaming it on the United States of America.

Beck + Stein

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/11207/

Glenn Beck: No relief in sight for Gas $$$

June 11, 2008 - 12:57 ET

GLENN: Ben Stein is out in California. How much are you paying for gas out in California, Ben?

STEIN: $5.19 a gallon. And I'm very happy to get it. I'm just worried about the day when you can't get it at any price.

GLENN: You know, there was a scuffle out in, I think it was Los Angeles. A guy took a tire iron to somebody who tried to cut in front of him in a gas line in California.

STEIN: I don't doubt it. Gas is life. Gasoline is life.

GLENN: Are there gas lines in California?

STEIN: I haven't seen any gas lines but people are in a pretty bad mood when they get up to the pump, I'll tell you that.

GLENN: Do you think that you know, I keep reading and it makes sense that as the economy just goes further and further into the crapper because of oil that oil is going to start coming back down because nobody can afford it and so supply and demand is going to play a bigger role.

STEIN: Well, demand is falling in the industrialized world, is rising rapidly in the developing world, rising very, very rapidly in the countries that produce oil. But demand is definitely falling in the U.S. Glenn, I've told you before and I will tell you with all due respect I think the price at this point is a bubble for the next few months but the long term trends are terrifying. And the problem again is not having gasoline at any price. That's what we're really scared of.

GLENN: You know, I have to tell you, Ben. First of all, you're a (inaudible). You believe in the future of America's economy is not going to be real grim, right? You haven't changed that, right?

STEIN: I don't think it's going to be grim at all.

GLENN: And so you are a very optimistic guy. Yet when you say things like, you know, I worry about gas at any price, that kind of, you know, perks my ears up because I don't hear things like that from you.

STEIN: I'll tell you why, Glenn. I'm worried about it if the government steps in and screws up everything. If we leave it to the private sector and if we have a combination of private sector allocating by price and government having, as you said and your phrase is exactly right. A moon shot ever to get alternative fuels that work, I think we'll get through it. But if we have government price controls, governments slamming the oil companies, we're in trouble. I was very, very upset to see Obama saying that somehow putting a tax on the oil companies is going to get us more oil. What's that about?

GLENN: Yeah, here is Chris Dodd yesterday on CNBC. Co host Joe Kernen called the Connecticut senator on the idea asking if he was going to apply the same strategy to other types of businesses and that is windfall profits tax. He said, are you going to go across the industries all across the board and decide what congress thinks is a fair amount of profit and drawing lines on what's fair and what's not for corporations? He emphasized the point that's not the way it's done in this country, senator. It could never be done that way, could it? Chris Dodd said, yes, it could be.

STEIN: Well, that's a Bolshevism. I mean, that's pure Bolshevism. That's terrifying. I'm glad you brought it to my attention. It's really, really scary and I don't know what to say if that's going to be the attitude, then I'm no longer optimistic about the U.S. economy.

GLENN: That is the attitude. You know and I know that we have Bolsheviks in Washington. We have people who are full fledged Marxists. If you've got Barack Obama coming in I mean, where is the oh, shoot. Where is the Wall Street Journal today? I had the do you have all the papers? Hang on just a second. There's all this stuff that I pulled out today on Obama's taxes. Listen to this.

STEIN: Oh, his tax policy is terrifying. I mean, terrifying.

GLENN: Listen to this. He says he's going to let President Bush's income tax expire. So that means that the highest tax rate now is going to be almost 40%. He's not going to change the corporate income tax. He wants to give middle class tax breaks. However, to pay for all of that, he also wants to raise the top rate on capital gains tax. Then he wants to take the estate tax up to 45%. Then on top of that he wants anybody who's making over $250,000 a year to start kicking in to Social Security again. Just the Social Security tax will be the largest tax increase on the wealthy of any time in our nation's history.

STEIN: Well, I think that it was larger in World War II but it's a very, very

GLENN: No, no, increase.

STEIN: Yes, the increase. I think even the increase was larger in World War II. It's a very big increase, and his idea that you're wealthy at $250,000 a year is comical. I mean, that's upper and middle class but not by any means wealthy.

GLENN: So what exactly happens if you start taxing the oil companies? And that's what

STEIN: If you start taxing the oil companies, what you are really doing is taxes the pension funds and the individuals who have stock in the oil companies and cutting down on their ability to retire. What you are really doing is saying to the 50% or so of the stock owners of oil companies who are retirees, look, you are not going to get your dividends anymore, you are not going to get your capital gains anymore, and for no if you were. It will not increase oil production. When I saw Obama say we're going to to get more oil production we're going to put a windfall profits tax on the oil companies, I thought, this guy is dumber than Jimmy Carter. I mean, what is he talking about? I like him and I think he's a hard working, intelligent guy but somebody's giving him terribly bad advice.

GLENN: Wait a minute. Hang on just a second. I like Barack Obama. He seems like the kind of guy you could sit down and talked to. You know, I haven't bombed the Pentagon or something. So I don't know if he would talk to me. But he has horrible, horrible judgment.

STEIN: Yes. About economics for sure and about (inaudible) for sure.

GLENN: And about friends. I mean, I don't know, I don't know how this guy could possibly have worse judgment. But what makes you think that what makes you think that this guy doesn't get it? I think this guy is a Marxist. He does get it. There are forces, Ben, at work in Washington. You know it and I know it when he says that he wants to raise capital gains, even though he understands that capital gains, if you raise that tax, it will actually hurt the economy. When he was confronted with that, he said I understand that, but I want to raise them out of basic fairness. So he will hurt the economy knowingly to be able to take the wealth from one group and give it to another. This is a Marxist.

STEIN: I would agree with you as far as that goes but he's a in that sense you're right. But in the sense that he's a typical Chicago politician who takes money from people who get it in kind of questionable ways in order to enhance his career, he can be, let's say talked to, if I may if you get what I mean.

GLENN: I don't know what you mean.

STEIN: Well, I mean, he's not a doctrine Marxist, above all he wants political contributions, he wants people who are going to be his friends and send him checks and if those people happen to be from the organizations that want to lower capital gains tax, he will listen to them.

GLENN: So Ben, here's the common sense solution that I have. You tell me where I'm wrong. I say we should go after the shale, we should

STEIN: Absolutely.

GLENN: We should convert coal to oil.

STEIN: Absolutely.

GLENN: We should be looking for oil off of our shorelines.

STEIN: And I want to give you credit for this because I thought it was Cuba that was slam filling near Florida but it's China.

GLENN: It is.

STEIN: That they're doing it and we can't do it is insanity, literal insanity.

GLENN: Yeah. I've got a lot a mail from people saying, Glenn, you're totally right. Go for the oil off our shores, change it back into oil, go for the shale, build nuclear power plants, go and continue to develop the new line of solar panels which is the nanotechnology that Kurzweil is pumping, go for the solar energy, do it all, cut your taxes on these companies to encourage them to

STEIN: Yeah, that's what they did in Russia and you pointed that out and you were totally right. The Russians are cutting taxes on the oil companies. Why would we be punishing them? There's absolutely zero point on that. Pure vengeance.

GLENN: Ben, tell me how these people in Washington they are all intelligent people, wouldn't you agree

STEIN: No, I would not agree. I would say not educated.

GLENN: You mean in real life?

STEIN: In real life they are not well educated. Look, I worked for Mr. Nixon and I think even his worst enemies would agree he was probably the smartest President of the post war period in terms of pure IQ. Even he didn't understand economics at all.

GLENN: How is it these people in Washington, however you don't have to understand economics. You have to understand supply and demand.

STEIN: They don't understand that.

GLENN: When they are cutting off how?

STEIN: I don't understand how they can't understand but, look, they understand that poor people, at least their friends who are poor people, are angry at rich people and they want to cater to those poor people. They are catering to anger, envy and jealousy.

GLENN: I have to tell you, Ben, I don't know what it's like out in California but I am traveling the road now doing this comedy show and I have to tell you I have sensed real anger and real frustration.

STEIN: Oh, people are very angry. Gasoline is life.

GLENN: So who do you think this is going to affect in the election? Like it really matters, but who do you think this is going to affect?

STEIN: I think whoever can come up with a forcible explanation to say, look, stop kicking the goose that gives us the golden egg, stop kicking the oil companies, let's get more oil and let's get the environmentalists out of the way so we can get more oil, that's who's going to reap the benefit.

GLENN: How come John McCain hasn't said that yet?

STEIN: He is not very smart about economics, either. He is a brave, brave man, Glenn, but he is not a rocket scientist. I mean, he is not the smartest guy in the class.

GLENN: Ben, I'm a self educated guy. I'm not the smartest guy in the

STEIN: Yes, you are. You are incredibly smart and you are very well self educated. But he has been a busy guy doing other things. Anyway, I've got to go because my publicist is hitting me, literally hitting me to make me go. But I'm going to be seeing you later. So I will call. I'll talk to you later. And by the way, I'm having a delicious cinnamon bun as we're talking.

GLENN: I don't think that's necessary to point it out. Thanks a lot, Ben, I appreciate it. We'll talk to you soon. Okay, bye bye.