Jack White Pleads Guilty
The White Stripes frontman pleaded guilty in Detroit to assaulting Jason Stollsteimer of The Von Bondies. Jack took a plea bargain which avoided any jailtime, a risk he courted had he decided to let a jury determine the facts of the case. Read about it here, from the BBC News. The charges against Jack could have landed him a year's stint in jail
Tuesday, March 09, 2004
Fire Rod Paige
Bush's Education Secretary, Rod Paige, called the United Teachers' Association a "terrorist organization" because they demanded that Bush actually come through on his promises to fully fund education. Paige went over the line and should get canned for it. Go here, to sign a petition calling for Bush to fire this idiot. Over 90,000 have already signed.
Bush's Education Secretary, Rod Paige, called the United Teachers' Association a "terrorist organization" because they demanded that Bush actually come through on his promises to fully fund education. Paige went over the line and should get canned for it. Go here, to sign a petition calling for Bush to fire this idiot. Over 90,000 have already signed.
Sunday, March 07, 2004
Running Out Of Oil - And Time
Read this opinion piece, from the Commentary section of the LA Times, about the reality of oil supplies decreasing and then one day, stopping. We're talking the total destruction of the global economy unless we have already switched over to non-oil energy and transportation by that time. The article says remember the 1979 oil crisis, when oil shot up to $80/barrel (in today's money). And that was a temporary decrease in supply. When the global oil reserves begin drying up, prices will skyrocket and never come back down. How long do we have? 10 years, 15? Clock's ticking!
Read this opinion piece, from the Commentary section of the LA Times, about the reality of oil supplies decreasing and then one day, stopping. We're talking the total destruction of the global economy unless we have already switched over to non-oil energy and transportation by that time. The article says remember the 1979 oil crisis, when oil shot up to $80/barrel (in today's money). And that was a temporary decrease in supply. When the global oil reserves begin drying up, prices will skyrocket and never come back down. How long do we have? 10 years, 15? Clock's ticking!
Hybrid Vehicles
The two hybrid gas-electric cars popular today, the Toyota Prius and the Honda Civic Hybrid, are now feeling the first stings of a PR attack on them. Read it here, also from the LA Times. It's a little subtle, but here are the clues: the EPA rated these cars as getting around 60 mpg. A private test was done by Edmunds car website, and the cars only got about 45 mpg. Edmunds is trying to use this to say that the hybrid cars really don't add up to any savings, saying that over a five year period the hybrids will cost drivers an extra $1000 over what the cost would have been to drive a gas powered car. Hey buddy, the whole point of "green" machines, is that they help save the environment, they pollute less, and they decrease our addiction to Arab oil. Remember oil? It's that stuff we valiantly fought to protect in the Gulf War, and it's the same stuff we're dying in Iraq to protect now. Islamic terrorists get their money from oil too.
My Jeep was sticker rated at 23 mpg but in reality got only about 18 when it was new, and about 15 now. You know how much cash I'd be saving if it got 45 mpg? With gas at $2.10/gallon, I would save about $80 per month. It would be like getting 2 free fillups with every one I buy, That's real money. Pollution would decrease, fewer allergies and asthma, the skies would be clearer, your lungs would get less scarrification. And maybe we could get closer to the day when we don't need to send our nation's young men and women overseas to die for oil.
The article then tries to scare people by reminding them that the car batteries cost $3000, so watch out if you have to replace one! Come on. Every little bit helps. The big 5 car manufacturers want you to keep buying heavy artillery like Escalades and Navigators and Mountaineers, because they make huge profits on them. Going green is going to put a crimp in their lifestyle, but their days of pollute and gouge have done plenty of damage to everyone else.
The two hybrid gas-electric cars popular today, the Toyota Prius and the Honda Civic Hybrid, are now feeling the first stings of a PR attack on them. Read it here, also from the LA Times. It's a little subtle, but here are the clues: the EPA rated these cars as getting around 60 mpg. A private test was done by Edmunds car website, and the cars only got about 45 mpg. Edmunds is trying to use this to say that the hybrid cars really don't add up to any savings, saying that over a five year period the hybrids will cost drivers an extra $1000 over what the cost would have been to drive a gas powered car. Hey buddy, the whole point of "green" machines, is that they help save the environment, they pollute less, and they decrease our addiction to Arab oil. Remember oil? It's that stuff we valiantly fought to protect in the Gulf War, and it's the same stuff we're dying in Iraq to protect now. Islamic terrorists get their money from oil too.
My Jeep was sticker rated at 23 mpg but in reality got only about 18 when it was new, and about 15 now. You know how much cash I'd be saving if it got 45 mpg? With gas at $2.10/gallon, I would save about $80 per month. It would be like getting 2 free fillups with every one I buy, That's real money. Pollution would decrease, fewer allergies and asthma, the skies would be clearer, your lungs would get less scarrification. And maybe we could get closer to the day when we don't need to send our nation's young men and women overseas to die for oil.
The article then tries to scare people by reminding them that the car batteries cost $3000, so watch out if you have to replace one! Come on. Every little bit helps. The big 5 car manufacturers want you to keep buying heavy artillery like Escalades and Navigators and Mountaineers, because they make huge profits on them. Going green is going to put a crimp in their lifestyle, but their days of pollute and gouge have done plenty of damage to everyone else.
Is Justice Scalia For Real?
It's hard to believe this guy is a Supreme Court Justice, as opposed to some good ol' boy holed up in some whisky-soaked backwater one-horse town in the middle of Redneckland. Scalia recently was the keynote speaker to a Philadelphia anti-gay group, and this is after hearing a court case seeking to overturn recent laws that have helped gays. Can you say, "conflict of interest?" The Supreme Court jesters are not bound by the same laws of conduct that apply to Federal justices, although they use those laws as a guide. Any rational, non-partisan person can tell that this is another outrageous act by a jester who makes no pretense of being fair and impartial. Read about this here, from the LA Times. Scalia, in his speech, said that the "moral disapproval of homosexuality is an American tradition," which it is.
Just like racism, alcoholism, wife-beating, and ignorance are time-honored American traditions.
It's hard to believe this guy is a Supreme Court Justice, as opposed to some good ol' boy holed up in some whisky-soaked backwater one-horse town in the middle of Redneckland. Scalia recently was the keynote speaker to a Philadelphia anti-gay group, and this is after hearing a court case seeking to overturn recent laws that have helped gays. Can you say, "conflict of interest?" The Supreme Court jesters are not bound by the same laws of conduct that apply to Federal justices, although they use those laws as a guide. Any rational, non-partisan person can tell that this is another outrageous act by a jester who makes no pretense of being fair and impartial. Read about this here, from the LA Times. Scalia, in his speech, said that the "moral disapproval of homosexuality is an American tradition," which it is.
Just like racism, alcoholism, wife-beating, and ignorance are time-honored American traditions.