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Gaseous Omissions

Today President Bush signed into law new legislation that, among a few other things, requires automakers to increase fuel efficiency to an industry average of 35 miles per gallon (mpg) by 2020. That would be in 12 years from now.

Last September I bought a used 1988 Toyota Corolla to drive back and forth to Jacksonville. The car gets 36 mpg and it has a carburetor. The Japanese made that model 20 years ago.

Make the words come back ....

As the the Writers Guild of America continues its strike, its first walkout in 20 years, network television just isn't looking the same. Apparently, reruns and reality do not a television season make.

So we don't forget how important show-business writers are for the industry and American culture, we only have to look back to the hilarious 1995 Saturday Night Live sketch with Will Ferrell and Nancy Walls as co-anchors of a morning TV show called "Wake Up and Smile!" and with David Alan Grier as the weatherman. As they get ready to celebrate the show's 20th anniversary on the air, the teleprompter breaks and there are no longer any words. Things fall apart from there. The script is available here. Better still is the hilarious video segment.