I remember Comptech. They made a lot of really fine bits and pieces for Hondas. Expensive, but good stuff. Always had their swaybar / tiebar combo on my Integras. Sounds like the blower kit is a good one.

Rule #1 — Don't buy and attempt to drive a 700+hp Challenger on the street?

Gratuities are still supposed to be variable according to the level of service though, right?

Telling someone to tip the same no matter the level of service and simply complain to management doesn't make any sense. It's fine to point out restaurants have managed to put servers and patrons in this stupid situation in…

Elements of the auto and petroleum industries conspired to undermine clear scientific findings about the impact of leaded gasoline on the environment. They went so far as to engage their own "expert" to testify that the levels of lead present in peoples' bloodstream were innate, and therefore not related to…

Michael Hastings. Had "burned" then-NATO Afghanistan commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal in a Rolling Stone article by revealing his contemptuous comments about President Obama, leading Obama to relieve him of command.

Hastings had recently told friends he was on to a "big story" that might cause the FBI to interview…

In fact, wasn't "They come from countries where deadly diseases still run rampant!" a big justification for Republicans demanding we send child refugees back to their home countries?

Bad trannies. Had an '86 and an '87.

Totally legit — it says "© 762 B.C." right inside the nice antique polyurethane cover.

Excellent. Could not stop until I finished the whole piece — fascinating and informative. I blame both Archer and Top Gun (I know, Navy) for the fact that I could not get that stupid Kenny Loggins song out of my head the whole time. Fully worth it though — thank you.

Model X. The profile's very close to the prototype, and it's sitting up too high to be anything else.

Ha. I remember a local news story a few years back about a dealership in town where they'd throw people's keys onto the roof of the building to keep them from leaving. Not sure how they got away with that even briefly, or why anyone would buy a car from someone who pulled such a silly stunt, but apparently the…

Yep. I still own my Type S. It's got everything that was fun about the Integra, plus all that was missing, like normal headlights and a smidgen of torque. It's been paid off forever, but I can't think of anything to replace it with unless VW brings the Golf GTD here. I still look around when I visit Acura dealerships,…

Not at all — long I have waited for a chance to make an oblique reference to my screen name.

I owned a Gen 3 '95 Integra GSR and an '02 RSX. The GSR was definitely a '90s car with those weird little round headlights. Didn't think the refresh really improved the looks much, although I think I ended up with the newer…

Those are both really Gen 3. The 4thGen Integras were the DC5s sold in the U.S. as the RSX beginning in 2002.

... or the cat.

I'd think just a few runs at 2 or 300 mph would disintegrate a normal knee / ankle / foot as well.

Definitely need supplementary powers for super speed or flight.

If super speed were your only power, wouldn't you be in constant danger of killing yourself or other grievous bodily harm?

When we were dating, my now-wife asked me whether I'd prefer the power of flight or invisibility, asserting it as some kind of personality test. I picked flight, having had the same thoughts in the post that invisibility would lend itself mostly to transgression (the whole power is the ability to hide, after all). She…

She did sound a wee bit defensive on the topic. Extremely defensive, actually. Like one would be about a question that was threatening in some way.

I once asked an assistant U.S. attorney I knew from high school, very politely (I thought) whether RICO forfeiture laws created any kind of problematic incentives for law enforcement.

She whipped her head around with an audible snap and shouted that only she and her immediate superior even understood how RICO works…