Brad Messer radio talk host

Jail or the Army. Peter Holt had to choose
Spurs owner's life of battles, bottles
Tractor heir, veteran and onetime drunk shuns the spotlight.
"We flew pretty low to the ground. I was making the pilots keep landing and buying me beer at these little convenience stores. What could they do? They worked for me. I was going to fire them if they didn't stop."
Thanks for the link, Wimberly Boy

Texas drought changing lives West Texas residents report another telltale sign of the drought that has locked much of Texas in a searing clench: Thirst has caused wild animals to lose their fear of humans.

Naval Academy boss: I'll kill you if you disclose file-swapping scandal Vice Admiral Richard Naughton knew that nearly 100 midshipmen were using a high-speed military Internet line to swap music and movies illegally, but he didn't want word to leak out.

Texans will vote on using homes for lines of credit

email

Brad,

I was listening to your show on the way home from San Marcos awhile ago 6/16/03 . You were talking about following the President blindly about Iraq and not asking any good questions. I kept hitting the steering wheel and saying, "Yes! Yes! Yes!"

You referrred to "you Vietnam people" and that would be me and my husband, who retired after 20 years in the Air Force in 1973 and passed away in 1995. The whole time he was in Vietnam we exchanged daily letters. I sent him clippings from the paper about the war news and he wrote back what the truth was in the cases he knew about. It was amazing. We often wondered if it was the same war.

A lot of people wonder why people involved in Vietnam have so much trouble living with it. Maybe we were some of the first to realize that Presidents and their administrations are, after all, politicians with their own agendas. and they very often use our very expensive and valuable military to their own ends. It's not a good feeling to realize that this is true and what you have been asked to do in the name of patiotism.

I'm not saying we should disbelieve everything that comes out of Washington, no matter how tempting. I'm saying we should think for ourselves and not follow blindly, just as you have been doing. And I did notice your support for the troops, which was appreciated greatly. That's another thing that was very difficult about Vietnam.the apathy or outright hostility of our neighbors, who were all civilians.a good many with jobs directly or indirectly connected to the military budget.

So, even though they were military brats, our kids grew up being admonished to "think for yourself".and now I've started on the grandkids.

Gee, it felt good to say all that. I've been wanting to for a long time. Keep up the good work, Brad. Even when I don't agree with you, it's good to listen to someone who doesn't sound like a parrot. Listening with an open mind,
S.S.

added to bradmesser.com 6/16/2003, with my thanks to whoever dropped it at the station front desk

EPA questions value of emissions tests
Ward’s AutoWorld
June 2003, page 24
by Bob Brooks

Growing concern at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regarding the value and “fairness” of state-run inspection/maintenance (I/M) vehicle emissions testing programs has kicked off an internal EPA review, with new directions to be announced by late summer.

The EPA acknowledged in 1999 that the focus should be taken off the emissions testing process and instead put on “cleaning the air by whatever method makes the most sense.”

Greg Green, director of the EPA’s Certification and Compliance Section in Ann Arbor, MI tells Ward’s the emissions-reduction gains attributed to I/M programs are small - and declining annually because of the annual turnover to new vehicles with more effective emissions-control systems.

He says the EPA also is increasingly concerned about the cost to repair older, complex-technology vehicles. State-run I/M programs, whether using tailpipe testing or data generated by the vehicle’s onboard diagnostic (OBD) systems, require owners to have the vehicle repaired - often at considerable cost - in order to be driven legally.

Green acknowledges emissions tests that rely on OBD systems magnify motorist repair liability by signaling more “problems,” some of which are temporary. And older owners, who drive infrequently and seldom at speeds and loads adequate to clear catalysts from sulfur effects, are another group disproportionately impacted by emissions testing.

A spokesman for the Missouri AAA Motor Club says the impact of I/M on lower-income drivers must be viewed in context with the unfortunate fact that 30 percent to 50 percent of urban motorists don’t carry legally required vehicle insurance, and there is a growing problem of stolen license plates and registration tags. The spokesman says expensive repair consequences of I/M programs effectively adds to the number of vehicles driven illegally.

While the EPA is now reacting to the situation and shows concern for the social consequences of expensive emissions-related repairs, states with emissions-test programs are finding it difficult to adjust.

One example is Illinois. Its EPA office recently issued a forecast (state implementation plan) for vehicle pollution reduction. But in a document obtained by Ward’s, Illinois’ SIP does not outline its I/M programs’ actual contribution to pollution reduction.

Meanwhile, the EPA’s latest computer-model estimates (M6) indicate that in a typical urban area, about 95 percent of vehicle hydrocarbon reduction can be attributed to ongoing vehicle technology improvements - and just 5 percent to I/M programs. The data has led one researcher to label emissions-testing programs as “irrelevant.”