Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) Program Final Rule Released
"NHTSA has released the final rule for the Car Allowance Rebate System, the $1 billion Federal program that will help consumers purchase a new, more fuel-efficient vehicle when they trade in a less fuel-efficient vehicle. Consumers could receive a $3,500 or $4,500 discount from the car dealer when they trade in their old vehicle and purchase or lease a new one. CARS will run until Nov. 1, or until the funds are depleted."
"The CAR Allowance Rebate System (CARS) is a $1 billion government program that helps consumers buy or lease a more environmentally-friendly vehicle from a participating dealer when they trade in a less fuel-efficient car or truck. The program is designed to energize the economy; boost auto sales and put safer, cleaner and more fuel-efficient vehicles on the nation's roadways. Consumers will be able to take advantage of this program and receive a $3,500 or $4,500 discount from the car dealer when they trade in their old vehicle and purchase or lease a new one. Consumers you do not need to register anywhere or at anytime for this program. However, to find out eligibility requirements click here."

The government rejiggered gas mileage figures on about 100 older vehicles last week in a way that changed whether they would be eligible for up to $4,500 in sales inducements. The Environmental Protection Agency says the changes resulted from a double-check of its fuel-efficiency ratings on more than 30,000 1984 and newer vehicles in advance of the official start of the clunkers program Monday. About half the 100 suddenly did not qualify because their combined mileage rating was revised upward; others unexpectedly got in. "As a result of the review, roughly an equal number of vehicles became eligible as those found to be not eligible," said the EPA in a statement. "Eligibility for about 100 vehicles was affected." FIND MORE STORIES IN: Edmunds.com Car-shopping website Edmunds.com said Monday that it discovered the switcheroo because potential buyers were complaining on its discussion boards. Some said it made them ineligible at the last minute for car deals they already had on deck. "We had everything lined up. We had a couple car dealers that had verified our car qualified, and we were ready to purchase a new car this weekend," wrote one potential buyer, identified on the site as John1152. "But it will not happen now because at the last second the EPA updated the information at their web page for a 1993 Toyota Camry wagon ... from 18 mpg to 19 mpg."
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2009-07-27-cash-for-clunkers-list-changes_N.htm


New York animal trainer Lyssa Rosenberg has taught her terrier to obey simple written commands. Willow plays dead when she sees the word 'bang', stretches a paw in the air when she sees 'wave' and gets up on her back feet to beg when she sees the words 'sit up'. "She's an unbelievably quick learner," said Ms Rosenberg, who has trained other dogs to appear in TV adverts and pose on photo shoots. "She can do 250 different things and I used to joke that I would teach her how to pour me a martini. Then for a bet I told a friend I would teach her to read.” She won the bet.
http://blogs.dogtime.com/all/by-tag/lyssa%20rosenberg

Featured artist: James Ensor
James Sidney Ensor, Baron Ensor (1860-1949), was a Belgian painter, whose unique portrayals of grotesque humanity made him a principal precursor of 20th-century expressionism and surrealism. Ensor was born April 13, 1860, in Ostend, Belgium, and, except for three years spent at the Brussels Academy, from 1877 to 1880, he lived in Ostend all his life. His early works were of traditional subject landscapes, still lifes, portraits, interiors painted in deep, rich colors and lighted by subdued but vibrant light. In the mid-1880s, influenced by the bright color of the impressionists and the grotesque imagery of earlier Flemish masters such as Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Ensor turned toward avant-garde themes and styles. His work had an important influence on 20th-century painting, his lurid subject matter paving the way for surrealism and Dada, and his techniques particularly his brushwork and his coloristic sense leading directly to expressionism. He died on November 19, 1949, in Ostend, where there is now a museum devoted to his work. In 1994 a new audience was introduced to James Ensor when They Might Be Giants released the song Meet James Ensor, which aptly describes him as "Belgium's famous painter". http://www.biographybase.com/biography/Ensor_James.html
The Museum of Modern Art in New York is exhibiting Ensor’s paintings through September 21.

The New York Times posted a story reporting that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) withheld more than 250 pages of research into the risks of driving while operating a cell phone. The 2003 government report was obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit pursued by consumer advocacy groups Center for Auto Safety and Public Citizen. (The full report can be accessed here as a pdf.) The Times article exposes that the government learned then of the significant dangers associated with combining telephone use with driving, and it accuses the government of suppressing the findings for political reasons. http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2009/07/nhtsa-ny-times-cell-phone-driving-dangers-study.html

Carnivorous jumbo squid have been washing up on San Diego beaches and swarming in Southern California's coastal waters, freaking out scuba divers and bathers this month, but a biologist now says these beasts are not man-eaters, despite concerns expressed in the media. Reports started coming in earlier in July that dozens of the squid, also known as Humboldt squid , were washing ashore and interacting with divers. Jumbo squid can grow up to 7 feet long and usually prefer to live in deeper waters. Lately, off-shore divers have reported seeing large groups of the squid, which can swim as fast as 15 mph. University of Rhode Island biologist Brad Seibel, who has dived with jumbo squid several times, called the reports "alarmist."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32110292/ns/technology_and_science-science/

Q. What is an azimuth?
A. angle of the horizon
http://dictionary.babylon.com/Azimuth

Point Udall at the east end of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands is the easternmost point (by travel, not longitude) in the United States including territories and insular areas. It was named for Stewart Udall, United States Secretary of the Interior under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Udall_(U.S._Virgin_Islands)
A sundial known as the Millennium Monument was built above Point Udall for the New Year's celebration in 2000—it marks the azimuth of the first U.S. sunrise of that year.
http://www.stcroixtourism.com/st_croix_pictures/point_udall.htm

Point Udall is the westernmost point (by travel, not longitude) in the territorial United States, located on the Orote Peninsula of Guam. It lies at the mouth of Apra Harbor, on the end of Orote Peninsula, opposite the Glass Breakwater of Cabras Island which forms the northern coast of the harborThe point is named for former Arizona congressman Morris "Mo" Udall. It was called "Orote Point" until it was re-named "Point Udall" in May 1987. In 1987, H.R. 2434, proposed by Denny Smith of Oregon, proposed renaming the point to "to honor the service and accomplishments of Morris Udall."[1] It was referred to the House Subcommittee on Insular and International Affairs.[2] In May 1987 it was officially designed Point Udall by the governor of Guam. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Udall_(Guam)

Extreme points of the United States including interpretation of easternmost and westernmost and extremes of elevation are at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_points_of_the_United_States

expatiate (ek-SPAY-shee-ayt) verb intr.
1. To speak or write at length
2. To move about freely
From Latin exspatiatus, past participle of exspatiari (to wander or digress), from ex- (out) + spatiari (to walk about), from spatium (space) A.Word.A.Day