Prius, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways…

I really tried to coerce my ’94 Honda Civic VX into starting again after it died in the parking lot at work. New plugs, rotor blade, distributor cap – words that previously had no meaning to me, until Ricardo explained, and helped me install them (thanks Ricardo!) – but to no avail. Hybrid car shopping commenced. Continue reading “Prius, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways…”

MoveOn.org kickin’ it

If you want to rein in the reign of King George and his cartel, get on over to MoveOn.org and sign up to call voters in swing states this November. They have a website that steps you through the calls. You have to make them on your own dime, with your own phone. I thought about killing my caller ID, then said screw it, I’m ready to shout it out. And with most decent cell phone plans, an hour of long distance a week is no problem. It’s empowering – even if America continues to so*o*ize itself this November, at least you can say you officially objected.

MoveOn Call For Change


STRATFOR on target with terrorism analysis

STRATFOR summarized my thoughts nicely, regarding how we are letting terrorists “win the war”, in their latest report. We need to shake it off and stop letting them call the shots (read: Impeach Bush Now). Excerpt:

Terrorism: Psychology as Force Multiplier

With that psychological component in mind, terrorist acts do not
have to be tremendously successful (in terms of physical casualties
or damage) in order to be terribly effective.

Continue reading “STRATFOR on target with terrorism analysis”

“What went wrong” in Iraq according to STRATFOR

Here‘s some pretty detailed analysis of the current situation in Iraq and the Middle East, from STRATFOR.

My nephew Tom pointed me to this site – he’s an Army pilot and commanding officer on the Apache, getting deployed to Iraq next month. So consider me just as mad as ever. Bush really screwed the pooch, and everyone involved in the war, including our men and women in uniform, are paying a heavy price.

I found it interesting in that you don’t hear this depth of analysis ANYwhere. Why is that? And I still am unsure of any bias of STRATFOR, they’re used by “military personnel and oil executives.” But it reads with authority.

Electric Car update

I’ve been waiting for my practical electric car forever. As a followup to “An Inconvenient Truth”, another movie I need to check out is “Who Killed The Electric Car?” In the meantime, there’s lots of great information at the EV World website. This story explains how Ovonics, through their Cobasys venture, holds a monopoly on the best battery technology (the kind used in the Prius), and rabidly protects it – to the point of slapping Toyota with a gag order and making it illegal for them to manufacture larger NiMH batteries (for use in, oh, say, ELECTRIC CARS). Ovonics has high-level people from GM and Texaco, and the company is all about making a profit, a real shocker there. This is from the front page of their website:

  • Our strong nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery intellectual property position has enabled us to license all NiMH major manufacturers and to protect high-profile markets, such as hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), for our Cobasys joint venture.
  • In Ovonics’ defense, Wikipedia states that “over a period of about 40 years, it is estimated that ECD (Ovonics) spent half a billion dollars before any profit was made.” Ouch. Not sure how to get the ball rolling faster on this one…

    This story explains why a plugin car is better, here’s the 2-second ballpark summary:

    20-Mile Drive
    20-mpg car takes 1 gallon = 24 lb co2
    20-mile-range plug-in hybrid takes 5kW hours = 5 lb of coal = 7 lb co2
    And the winner… my bike! 0 lb of co2, whoop! :P

    Democracy Has Failed

    In the infamous words of Raymond’s dad, H O L Y C R A P.

    Americans have proven that they are sheep easily led astray by lies and distortions. They are not the critical thinkers our founding fathers hoped would be inheriting this country. This was born out most strongly by exit polls showing that “morality” was the most important issue to the voters that swang the election. Why the @#%#$ did the press hardly touch that issue until AFTER the campaigning? Karl Rove caught us off guard. We falsely assumed people had the supernatural power to DISCERN.

    We MIGHT have picked up on this if we hadn’t assumed. My election-night-eve streetcorner discussions with my homophobic fundamentalist zealot neighbors, for example – I tried to argue for the “core concepts of the Bible” with them with no luck. I shouldn’t have assumed they were some extremist splinter group – they were the ones that showed they have the power to derail this country.

    I’ve been through various stages of grief at the death of my country’s vitality. First sadness, then anger, now frustration. Not sure what’s next. I’ve never felt so emasculated and victimized in my entire life…

    The county red-blue map from electoral-vote.com shows that the entire nation isn’t insane, at least… time to root out the good guys and network…

    UPDATE: This blog is supposed to cover my personal and family life in an upbeat and lighthearted manner, so this will be the last post on the election. I will, however, add new comments under this story, as required, to keep my sanity. Continue reading “Democracy Has Failed”

    Bringin’ the Election Home

    Politics aren’t all that is going on in my life – our kitchen has been a shambles the last couple weeks as we get the leaky dishwasher repaired and new tile installed; we are helping poor Owen fight off lymphoma as best we can; Reiley’s soccer championship is tomorrow; and both Wren and Reiley are cranking out unbelievable masterpieces in art class. Even so, the biggest issue of the moment is the upcoming presidential election. Andrea and I just cannot fathom why it is a dead heat. Anyway, more fuel for the fire…

    My Uncle Chuck passed on an editorial about how we have to stand behind Bush now to show our strength. How scary. Here was my reponse:


    Hey Uncle Chuck!

    Thanks for sharing the editorial – that’s what makes democracy great, that we can all have dissenting opinions. No offense intended, but here’s a sampling of views closer to my own perspective, which of course in *MY* opinion, is closer to reality. :-) Give them a look over if you have time.

    Neo-conservatism
    as stated by the New American Century
    (“straight from the horse’s mouth”, as they say)
    A Humanist’s explanation of the current Imperialism
    Unprecedented corruption goes to the very top of the chain of command
    Garrison Keillor covers the bases
    Inverted Totalitarianism

    I agree that we’re dangerously close to setting a new precedent, but I see it as one of neo-conservative unilateral U.S. aggression across the globe. Ask anyone outside the U.S. for their perspective on this. You’ll find a lot of agreement.

    It sure is shaping up to be an interesting election – I’ve heard “most important of our lives” more times than I can count. I know I’m glad to be involved.

    Peace.

    So we’ve got the New World Order (TM) brand imperialism on the march, and that should be enough to scare you straight to the polls. Can you imagine four more years of Bush (along with a Republican Congress) unrestrained by worries about getting re-elected?

    Only one way to stay sane – keep a sense of humor going. But even that is tinged with far too much truth to laugh for long.

    But there are just so many other ways to show the current administration as bumbling idiots, we Kerry fans are starting to wonder if the whole country’s gone bonkers. See the comments after the previous post for a viewpoint I sent to the local paper, on Bush’s wreckless spending, for example. Or, if you want one of those heart-felt emotional arguments, listen to a few of Bush’s own relatives pour out their hearts.

    The Final Stretch

    More notes as we move toward election day. Pretty much a dead heat – I don’t think I can take it much longer. I certainly can’t UNDERSTAND it. I’ve really been trying, too. Most Bush supporters I’ve talked to say…

  • “No handouts to anybody”
  • “I worked hard for my money and want to keep it”
  • “Free markets are the only way”
  • or they talk some nationalistic nonsense…

    So, at the end of the day, my gut was right all along: selfish, shallow thinking rules our land. Is it the end of the run of this great land? I am still holding on to hope, but if Bush gets re-(sic) elected, it will be the saddest day of my life.

    In the meantime, if you’re frustrated with your state’s situation, try hooking up with someone on the fence in a swing state, at VotePair. What a great idea!

    Hang on for a wild ride, it’s getting nasty out there