21. Pakistan's current state of affairs

Since writing this post, it has been brought to my attention that the issue is apparently more complicated than I initially thought. Apparently, Musharraf had his own set of unresolved issues... so I guess the choice was just between the lesser of many evils. I still attest that the key to success in Pakistan is education, which we haven't seen yet.

A lot of people have asked me about recent events in Pakistan. There is a major flaw with the Western viewpoint of the situation, which is basically that "elected leaders are always better than non-elected leaders." Although I am far from an expert in political science, I do know what it's like to live in Pakistan... so here's my synopsis of recent Pakistani political history for those of you who want to know the real facts instead of just believing the skewed truth that comes from the popular media corporations.

Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. I don't live in Pakistan at the moment, so my views may be outdated... but the purpose of this post is to show the other viewpoint to the average American whose only source of news is CNN.

First off: Islamic extremists won't ever take over the country... politicians just say that because they want the support of the Western population in their election campaign. There aren't many people in the country that are sympathetic with the plight of the extremists, but the extremists are outspoken enough to make the world think that they're everywhere.

Politicians say whatever they need to say to get elected. Here is a true story:

People voted for politician A, who then stole a lot of money from the public and got fired. Then politician B was elected, stole lots of money, and got fired a few years later. By that time, people had forgotten about the past and they voted for politician A again. Then politician A stole money again and got fired again, so they voted for politician B again. Then politician B stole money again and lost power in a military coup, at which point an honest leader took power. Unfortunately, the honest leader wasn't elected, so everybody in the world thinks that he was a bad ruler. Politician B came back and tried to run for office again. The military ruler placed her on house arrest to prevent the country from descending into ruins again and the US started to yell at him because he's interfering with democracy. The problem is that the democracy there is so corrupt that it's basically pointless.

Politician A is named Nawaz Sharif
Politician B is named Benazir Bhutto
Military leader is Pervez Musharraf

Benazir and Nawaz have both been elected twice and fired twice. They were both living in exile until recently... they both came back and now Musharraf is concerned that the stupid public will vote them in again and destroy the country. When they were in power, inflation was rampant, international relations were terrible, and the country was in shambles. So Musharraf places Benazir (a known criminal... here is a good summary with citations to neutral primary sources that you can feel free to examine) on house arrest and the world gets pissed at him because she's an eloquent speaker. He managed to successfully kick Nawaz out of the country (since Nawaz promised in 1999 to stay out of Pakistan for 10 years as part of an agreement with Saudi Arabia to help him... then, of course, he broke his promise and went back to Pakistan), but Benazir is still there and she's still trying to take power. The West likes her because (a) she's a woman who is unbelievably good at playing the gender card, and (b) she's promised to let the US invade the northwestern tribal areas (which will undoubtedly not only lead to thousands of American casualties, but will also undoubtedly cause a civil war in Pakistan... those tribal areas are full of rough terrain and millions of tribal citizens who carry AK-47's and believe that they are independent from Pakistan).

Democracy in Pakistan sucks. There are 2-3 people with power and you can only get into powerful positions if you use unethical means to get there. Because of that, all of the powerful politicians are corrupt. If a reasonable person tries to run for office without first brainwashing an entire political party, they will be shot. That's why the military leaders are usually the only honest leaders of the country... they are the only people who were systematically promoted based on good leadership and great loyalty to their nation. Although past military leaders have occasionally made bad decisions, the decisions were always what they believed was in the best interest of the country.

I think the moral of the story is that democracy doesn't work when the population is uneducated. Many people just vote for the candidate of the same ethnic group, while others just try to choose the least of several evils. Personally, I prefer an honest military leader (who has stabilized what is left of the economy during his tenure) over a dishonest elected leader (who destroyed the economy).

Elections are great when your population actually has options and law enforcement is a reality. Unfortunately, that is not the case in Pakistan... if a person who doesn't have enough bodyguards tries to run for office, they shouldn't expect to live to see the election. The people who have a reason to have a lot of bodyguards, on the other hand, are usually people who need a lot of protection because they exchange favors with the kinds of people who you need protection from.

Now consider the notable exception of the one man who has an army (literally) of armed, professionally-trained "guards"... and it's for an honest, patriotic reason. That man is the chief of army staff, also known as the current leader of Pakistan.

20. Great tips on how to save gas (you probably never thought of some of these things)

I saw this post on one of my favorite car forums. The author is very well-reputed on the forum (bluefox280 on VWvortex), which is one of the largest car forums online. I have the same engine as he does and he claims to get at least 25 mpg in the city (while I get 20-22) and at least 31-32 on the highway (while I get 29-30).

All of these suggestions make sense, but a lot of them are very easy to ignore/forget (especially the "General Assistance Ideas" section). Everything below this point is a direct copy-paste from his post (I want to make sure to give credit where credit is due), except that I might have changed some fonts/colors so that they are more visible with my blog's color scheme.


"Ugh... another summer of $3.00+ prices on regular unleaded fuel; make the madness stop!"

As much as we hate the gas increase due to the natural supply + demand and inflation of petrolium, you still need... more some than others.
However, this IS NOT an arguement of soaring prices of gasoline, this is more a reminder guide to help increase your fuel econ.
Simple and straight forward, yes. But many tend to forget what you can really get out of your 2.0L, 1.8T, and yes even the VR6 in terms of fuel econ.
With that, lets begin...

Powertrain:
1.) Air Filter - The common thing that the engine needs for good combustion is air. Pure and simple. Air filters, both in paper form and a composite fiber work well. The major thing on an fiber filter is the "oil" that keeps the filter 'wet' to trap particulates. The downside of that is the oil may be sucked off the filter and attach to your MAF sensor which can give you erroreneous metering issues. All in all, change or clean your filter often to get the best unblocked flow.

2.) Throttle Body - Keeping the throttle body clean along with the upper intake manifold really does matter. Using some sensor safe throttle cleaner along with a Throttle Body Adaptation (TBA) via a VAG-COM does assist in saving mileage every tank.

3.) Ignition Components - Worn plugs, wires, and ignition coils or coilpacks don't give you the best spark source to completely burn the air / fuel mixture in the combustion chamber. That's not only wasted fuel, but wasted power to boot. Replacing spark plugs with effective and cost effective copper cores gets the most bang-for-buck results since it's the most electrical conductive material for the price range.

4.) Clean Fuel Line - Most never think that clogged fuel filter would actually help with fuel econ, but it's been shown to help since the injectors don't stay on or "open" as long to inject the fuel into the engine. Better burning and the burning completely of a mixture is majorly dependant on pressure of dispensing for atomization of the fuel molecules. A better mixture equates a better burn, and less fuel required to get the same power stroke.

5.) System Cleaners - As a helper of removing "deposits" inside the intake manifold, valves, and such, using a intake cleaner and fule system cleaner every 10K miles really keeps things clear of crud and carbon build up.

6.) Oil / Tranny Fluid - Yes, even on a molecular level, there is friction that taking away perfectly good power. So to get the same power output more input is reuired; keeping fluids up to spec with bolth oil and transmission (both manual + automatic especially) reduces the losses found in old fluids and poor lubrication.

Suspension / Wheels:
1.) Tire Pressure - Think you can't get better mileage just by bumping up the pressure in your tires? Think again; with low tires pressures, the drag of rotation increases greatly. Set tires 7 - 15psi less than the maximum pressure; ride quality isn't lost, but less gas is required to hold a constant speed.

2.) Alignment - Scrubing the tires due to poor or incorrect toe or camber will also great affect required power to keep the car at a constant speed.

3.) Tire Compound (thanks pirate golf) - Softer and stickier tires will adhere to the hot road surface increasing the rolling friction of the car. If you're not going to be a track star, some medium to medium-hard tires is all you'll need.

4.) Tire / Wheel Combination Weight (thanks Yetta1.8) - Unsprung mass easily robs power that could have been used to rotate the wheels at the same wheels with less fuel used. Now, not everyone can afford expensive lightweight 18"+ wheels, however there are great 17" wheels that are decent in price and have less weight than the OEM cast aluminum wheels.

Overall Vehicle:
1.) Lighten Up! - All that junk in your car? It's dead weight. That big overpowered amp + subs? Dead weight, but provides sound. Clean out what you DON'T need on short + long trips. Carry what you have to have for emergency reasons and such.

2.) Quick Fuel Stops (personal thought thanks to dv_death3x) - When you get gas only fill up your tank half or 2/3 of the way. Filling it all the way up = added weight. Yeah sure you dont need to stop as often but im sure most people can spare an extra 3 minutes of their life every now and then.

3.) Aerodyanmics & Exterior Options (thanks Here's Johnny) - Avoiding the "body-kit" arguement, this directed more to luggage / ski / bike rack owners; removing of the mounts and bars reduces the aero drag of vehicle. Be aware of when you need or don't need the excess on.

Driving Characteristics:
1.) Feather Foot - And you wonder why grandma can run here car for about a month without refueling? Well, not mashing the gas off every stop sign and light is an great way to save tens of dollars every week. Give up the led foot unless you're willing to pay for it; there's a time and a place to mash the gas when it's needed.

2.) Gear Selection - So, you're cruising @ 40mph, and you think, hey to save fuel I can just dump the car into the lowest gear and coast right? Not always actually, at lower speeds it's acutally consuming more fuel in a lower gear than one of the middle. Barely touching the gas @ 35mph in 3rd gear can save over giving 25% throttle in 5th gear.

3.) No Boost [1.8T] (thanks dragon813gt) - When accelerating, keep shifts under 3000 RPMs before the boost builds on the turbocharger. This will keep the fueling requirements low since you're not pressurizing the intake system.

4.) Cruise Control Use (thanks the_journalist) - Maintaining speed on flat ground is cost effective with the electrical cruise control. However on hills and changing terrain, your foot can actually throttle the car better without "over-using" the throttle to maintain a constant speed.

5.) Drafting (thanks uberwagn) - Think the NASCAR drivers only can draft? No way! When traveling longer distances, catching up with a semi-truck and / or convoy and following it really keeps the fuel econ high. Why? Easy, the truck pushes a wake of air around the truck and trailor creating a low pressure at the end of the trailor; similar to a "vacuum". If you stay in the vacuum, minimal throttle is required to hold speed... however, keep in mind of the possible rock chips, and being closer for reaction speed.

General Assistance Ideas:
1.) Temperature - Fill up your car or truck in the morning when the temperature is still cool. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground; and the colder the ground, the denser the gasoline. When it gets warmer gasoline expands, so if you're filling up in the afternoon or in the evening, what should be a gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and temperature of the fuel (gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products) are significant. Every truckload that we load is temperature-compensated so that the indicated gallonage is actually the amount pumped. A one-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for businesses, but service stations don't have temperature compensation at their pumps.

2.) Mixing - If a tanker truck is filling the station's tank at the time you want to buy gas, do not fill up; most likely dirt and sludge in the tank is being stirred up when gas is being delivered, and you might be transferring that dirt from the bottom of their tank into your car's tank.

3.) More than Half - Fill up when your gas tank is half-full (or half-empty), because the more gas you have in your tank the less air there is and gasoline evaporates rapidly, especially when it's warm. (Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating 'roof' membrane to act as a barrier between the gas and the atmosphere, thereby minimizing evaporation.)

4.) Depense Time - If you look at the trigger you'll see that it has three delivery settings: slow, medium and high. When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to the high setting. You should be pumping at the slow setting, thereby minimizing vapors created while you are pumping. Hoses at the pump are corrugated; the corrugations act as a return path for vapor recovery from gas that already has been metered. If you are pumping at the high setting, the agitated gasoline contains more vapor, which is being sucked back into the underground tank, so you're getting less gas for your money. Hope this will help ease your 'pain at the pump'.

Got proven tricks that work? Post em'. I'll add to the list to benifit all owners.
With the following above, I do obtain [on my 1.8T] 360+ miles in the city and easily over 450+ miles on constant highway driving...
And that's with some common "performance modifications".

- Erik