Set aside this particular election cycle and its candidates. Consider that Michigan’s Democrats (along with Florida) decided to move their primary date earlier in the cycle without concurrence from the National Committee. Indeed, the DNC said to both Michigan and Florida, if you do that, your delegates will not be seated at the convention. Ironically, the point to move the primaries forward was to make the states more relevant in the primary process.

Well, the states moved the primaries anyway and the DNC seems to have followed through with the consequences of not having the primaries in these two states count, although, that’s where the Dumb Michigan Democrats come in. In the state, the Democratic leadership, the very same people who got them into this mess, are now touting a “do over”. They’re now working to get the Michigan Legislature to approve new rules that would allow a second primary which would be privately funded to happen before June 10. Florida seems to be exploring similar tactics, but isn’t as far along.

Without boring readers about everything that needs to be done to pull this off, it looks like a long shot. However, even entertaining this notion is rank stupidity. The states knew what was at stake, they acted in the manner that triggered the consequences, they need to own those consequences, learn from them and not repeat them. Set aside the candidates and what’s actually happening in the campaigns, let’s think about the precedent that would be set. It’s not a good one and Michigan Democrats ought to be intelligent enough to understand that.

This morning while driving to Palo Alto, I heard about the latest mortgage meltdown victim, a subsidiary of the Carlyle Group, where there is apparently a $21B exposure. Taking a step back from the macro economic view, I have to wonder where the business people are in all this? After all, there is live tangible property with value backing these securities. Why aren’t these institutions working with borrowers to renegotiate the terms of the loans where payment will happen vs. simply say “we quit, we’ll never get the value out, so we’ll just foreclose and write-it-off.”

In some cases, the value of the loan is wildly separated from the intrinsic value of the property and people (lenders and borrowers) made poor decisions to enable themselves to get into that situation. However, in most cases, I have to believe that if the value of the home and the balance of the loan are within 20% of one another, there must be a way to negotiate a debt servicing scheme if only the lender and the borrower are willing. And since lenders don’t wish to become brokers, that’s in their interest (and oh, by the way, cash flow is happening for them too) and for borrowers, who wants to lose their home?

The answer may be that loans are now packaged and resold from originators to servicers in groups of loans. Since they’re now “financial instruments” it’s perhaps so abstract that people are unwilling or unable to reduce the problem to a single lender/borrower situation for solution. But I have to believe everyone would be better served if a little business and common sense were to break out around this issue.

Last night, I was in Palo Alto for an unrelated event and bumped into a real, live Tesla on the street. Apparently, there was some sort of Tesla party at the Blue Chalk Cafe – it was quite the event. But it was nothing compared to the car, wow. It’s compact, it’s sleek, and we want one. For your viewing enjoyment, here’s a picture of a live production Tesla Coupe.

How can a competitor who trails in delegates, popular votes, and states won have the unmitigated nerve to propose to that the front runner serve as her Vice President? One good thing about the long primary contest is that it really does expose candidates for what they are and Mrs. Clinton, you’re suffering from exposure. Obama is not a perfect candidate, no one is. Could he be more experienced? You bet. But of the democratic contenders, one is a leader and one craves power. It’s clear which is which and this is on plain display for anyone who cares to notice.

Given that there is only one viable candidate now, this is the official call for Mrs. Clinton to concede. Continuing to fight all the way down is good for no one, you lost on Super Tuesday and it’s highly unlikely that you’ll be able to recover. The only thing continued campaigning does is provide the opposition with data on what works and doesn’t work. They’re smart enough, they don’t need the help. Therefore, if you want to help your country, concede. It’s time. You might be a good technician, perhaps a Secretary of State or Attorney General, but the Oval Office is not in your future. It’s time to concede.

As the price at the pump continues to rise, the transportation segment looks for more ways to reduce cost of fuel. It is possible that there are a few very simple things we can do that will reduce our gasoline consumption by as much as 10%. Most are simple, most are common sense, and most are very inexpensive. Here are some simple ideas to increase fuel efficiency:

• Remove Unnecessary Mass – Each reduction of 45kg (100lbs) will increase fuel efficiency as much as 2%. “Another good reason to diet.”
• Proper Tire Inflation – This simple item can increase fuel efficiency as much as 3%. Even if you must pay for air, you’ll get a return on your investment.
• Tune Up – Having the right grade and fresh motor oil along with a clean air filter can increase fuel efficiency as much as 5%.
• Drive Sensibly – Interestingly, the thing that is right in our control is the thing that we least frequently do. Drive the speed limit, avoid hot rod starts and stops, and try to use your brakes as little as possible. Depending on your driving technique, this can yield 5-33% better fuel economy.
• Combine Trips – This pre-planning makes it possible to reduce overall driving and fuel demand.
• Don’t Idle – Any stop longer than a traffic light and you should consider switching your engine off; idling simply burns fuel with no forward momentum.
• Alter the Commute – There are several ways to do this including biking to work, taking public transit, telecommuting, and even shifting your work schedule to spend less time simply sitting in traffic.

Try some or all of the techniques above and see how your fuel efficiency changes. Most importantly though, measure your consumption. Before you change anything, establish a baseline consumption level, once that is calculated, make one change and observe the result. Then make the next change and observe the result. In this way, you can make a 10% difference and know which items have the most impact in your situation.