Interesting contrast....

After congress changed CAFE standards, GM predicts the demise of the american muscle car. The $100k Corvette is now on the brink of extinction....let me shed a tear. What a load of crap from GM. Because while they are whining, Telse Corp is finishing work on the Tesla at a lower price then the Corvette, with a 0-60 under 6 seconds.

Correcting George F. Will

George F. Will, on December 23rd, 2007 (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/21/AR2007122101922.html):


"..our polymath Congress continued designing automobiles to make them less safe (smaller) and more expensive..."

Reality check, George....contrary to conventional wisdom, many small cars have lower fatality rates among their own drivers than SUVs or pickup. The background reading is here: "“An Analysis of Traffic Deaths by Vehicle Type and Model”

"...lest the automotive industry design cars people want"

I want a car that is significantly more fuel effiecient. So I bought a Jetta. The big three make big gas hogs, and all three are now in the dumps. See what happens when American automaker "make cars that people want"? They don't want them!

Yet another sad story linked to Global Warming

I love to dive, and one of the most magical places is among the coral reefs. Yet here is a story that breaks my heart....Coral Weakened by Warming.

What really gets me is that so called "christians" turn a blind eye to the damage being done to God's creation. They come up with a hundred and one reasons not to act, nor to change their ways.

To me, coral reefs and the amazing life present there is a testament to God's creation. And to me, it is my Christian duty to act, to help protect those places.

Why Detroit deserves what it is getting....

Here is a story that at the same time makes me steaming mad and hopeful for the future. Motorhead Messiah.

First, I am angry that this technology and know-how is out there and available, and that this guy is doing things that GM and Ford should have been doing years ago.

Second, I am hopeful because this guy is getting attention, is getting noticeds, and is busting the myth that American cars cannot be fuel efficicent.

Augusta Board of Supervisors Race.....

The Staunton News leader has a nice feature on the races in the district; video footage of the candidates in short interviews. I looked forward to seeing the candidates....but:

Travis Smithdeal: "I have been trying to figure out how to squeeze an hour out of this campaign schedule and regular work schedule and family life and just cannot find it." Will you find time to actually govern this county?

Michael Shull: "I won't get a fair shot. You're bias (sic)" It is a change to present yourself to the voters. How is appearing on video to tell YOUR message biased?

Jeremy Shifflett: Didn't show; came up with a lame excuse.

It look to me like the three republican candidates, supported by the Augusta Rebulican Commitee, are dancing to the tune of the same drummer. The News Leader is the only daily paper in this part of the county; that you would shun them for endorsements and interviews tells me that you would shun all voters that are not part of the little club run by Kurt Michael.

The Patriot Act

It bothers me when I hear comments along the lines "...I support the Patriot act; I have nothing to hide..." You may think you have nothing to hide, but our Government can make terrible mistakes, and can turn your innocent life into a living hell. Here is a story for you...(I am trying the trackback thing; hope is works).

mail harmless bacteria go to jail from the Aetilogy blog.

Some thought on the presidential race...

The party of family values:

Fred Thompson: divorced
Rudy Giuliani: divorced, twice
John McCain: divorced
Mitt Romney: married 38 years, and the only Rebuplican candidate still married to his first wife.

"She said, '[Of] four leading Republican candidates for president, only one has one wife -- the Mormon,' " Mitt Romney quoting National Review Washington editor Kate O'Beirne.

More thoughts on global warming....

I hear several arguments against global warming, some of which I want to address. First, the critisism that "consensus is not science"....

You are confusing consensus and the scientific method – proof of global warming by the scientific community is due to a consensus of the research – research performed under and supported by the scientific method. Consensus as a concept alone on this issue has NOT taken the place of the scientific method; it does however describes the overall body of evidence.

"Ice sheets in Greenald are growing!" Global warming may actually assist new ice sheet growth in Greenland because growth depends less on cold temperatures than on a strong supply of moisture and very heavy snowfall over northern land masses. Go to the original research as reported by Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center (NERSC) in Norway.

"James Hansen profits from Global Warming". The assertion that Soros paid Hansen $720,000 is, simply put, a lie. Two minutes of investigative journalism will uncover what this story is really about. Take a moment and read Hansen’s response to this ludicrous charge: http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/distro_Lawlessness_070927.pdf

“CO2 can't pollute the atmosphere because it has a specific gravity of 1.54 which means that is 150% heavier than air.” What you forget is that CO2 is a gas, and gasses behave to fill the volume of whatever container they are placed in. Thus CO2 would disperse and be found in the atmosphere in fairly uniform concentrations. This is elementary science.

"The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere as minuscule". How about going into a room with a CO concentration of 100ppm? You will be dead at the end of the day. Dioxin is measured as a danger pollutant at parts per Billion. Don’t under estimate the ability of chemical reactions solely based, in your view as minuscule, on a ppm or ppb.

Thoughts on global warming

From a rant against global warming: "Democrats, especially Al "BOAR" want to run our lives and will go to great lengths to put a guilt bag on us..."

It always amuses me when personal attacks become part of a scientific debate; it lets me know that the losing side has become desperate, and has no logical retort.

Up until recently, slow and predictable changes in the Earth's movements determine the amount of sunlight that hits the Earth. During a 100,000-year cycle, the Earth warms and it cools, with the warm period lasting approximately 10,000 years. Historically, temperatures rise first, followed by increased levels of CO2. Pre-industrial levels of CO2 varied, but never crossed 280ppm; today those levels are at 380 ppm and climbing.

The reason CO2 levels in the atmosphere are important, is it that CO2, water vapor, and methane trap heat in the atmosphere. Without this trapped heat, the Earth's average temperature would hover around -18C. The "minuscule" amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is critical, because 99% of the gases (mainly nitrogen and oxygen) absorb little heat.

The general role of CO2 in the atmosphere and the Greenhouse effect itself are well understood. It is based on basic physics, basic science.

There are an overwhelming number of studies (in peer reviewed, scientific journals) that have shown:

1. Surface temperature measurements in the US that have shown an accelerating trend towards higher temperatures
2. Temperature in the troposphere is increasing
3. While the Earth and the lower atmosphere are warming, the stratosphere is cooling. This is what would be predicted by the anthropogenic global warming theory. This cannot be explained by solar variability theory.
4. Ocean surface temperatures are increasing,
5. Ocean temperatures at various depths show warming as far down as 1500 meters.
6. The sea level has been rising
7. There is a net ice loss in Greenland and Antarctica.
8. There is significant sea-ice loss in the Arctic, and the loss is dramatically accelerating.
9. There is glacier loss in Greenland and in Antarctica.
10. There is an increase of the tropopause (the actual atmosphere where “weather” occurs).
11. Species adapted to climates are migrating towards the poles.
12. Hurricanes are becoming more intense.
13. Almost every glacier, worldwide, is declining.
14. Permafrost is thawing, and getting warmer at greater depths.
15. The ocean circulation patterns are changing.

Senator Inhofe gave his passionate 45 speech on the senate floor, “debunking” global warming. Instead, scientific evidence “debunked” every single one of his points. The “Great Global Warming Swindle”, a documentary film by Martin Durkin, argues against the anthropogenic warming theory. The critique of the film is summarized by the bulletin of the Australian Meteorological Society “The [movie] does not represent the current state of knowledge in climate science” Many of the scientists in the film felt they were “completely misrepresented” and “totally misled”.

The words of Martin Reese, President of the Royal Society (the Academy of Sciences for the UK), ring ever so true “Those who promote fringe scientific views but ignore the weight of evidence are playing a dangerous game. They run the risk of diverting attention from what we can do to ensure the world's population has the best possible future.”

I challenge anyone who thinks that Global Warming is a hoax or who thinks the anthropogenic theory is incorrect to cite a peer reviewed scientific journal article that proves their point.

Blogging Again

Sorry for the absense. If you knew me, you would know why....I will pick this up again, but try to focus on short posts just to keep my thoughts out there.

Seatbelts and Helmets....

For a bit of irony:

http://www.snopes.com/autos/accident/seatbelt.asp

Instead of regurtitating other's ideas, this one pretty much sums up what I feel:

http://www.reason.com/news/show/32805.html

For a nice summary of why this is such a viceral issue:

http://www.reason.com/news/show/33169.html

In your riddle, Mommy dearest would make sure Daddy stays in line. But here is a reason why you should not equate seatbelt laws to helmet laws: if you are NOT wearing a seatbelt, your ability to control your vehicle could be significantly compromised, putting other drivers and people in your path at risk. Now there is a compelling reason for the State to make you wear your seatbelt. Lastly, as a father, how could you not make sure you do everyting to not only keep your kids safe, but also to keep yourself alive and functioning? But again, those are my values. Your mileage may vary.

P.S. The riddle part....http://forums.newsleader.com

The MLK Speech I did not give.....

On the fourth day of April, 1968, in Memphis Tennessee, shots rang out, shots heard around the world, shots fatally wounding one of our greatest American heroes, Dr. Martin Luther King. Four years, seven months, and six days before that dark day in April, Dr. King stood at the Lincoln Memorial and spoke those famous words that we still hear and carry with us today. Words that will be spoken at elementary schools, words that will be written in newspapers, words that will be posted online, and words that will echo across college campuses “I have a dream!”

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

How powerful those words were then; how powerful they still are today.

We stand now at the start of a new millennium, and more than forty years have passed since Dr. King gave us, gave our nation, a powerful dream. We have traveled far down the path to give all people in this great nation equal justice, equal opportunity, and an equal chance at the American dream.

Last week, a woman finally broke the glass ceiling in congress and became Speaker of the House. On January 28th, 2005, Dr. Condoleezze Rice was sworn in as the first Aafrican-American female Secretary of State and broke the glass ceiling in the White House. Before her, Colin Powell became the highest ranking African-American in the Executive Branch and was the highest ranking African-American in the military in the history of the United States. In 2008, Barak Obama may well find himself as the first African-American president of the United States.

But we celebrate these accomplishments NOT because of the color of their skin….NOT because they are women….but because they are Americans. We judge them by their deeds, by their actions, by their abilities, and by their accomplishments. We look beyond race, beyond gender, and celebrate them for the hope the bring in realizing Dr. King’s dream.

Although we have traveled far down this road, we still carry many burdens and we still have many miles to go. Today , as the stock market reaches recod highs, 35% of African-American children still live in poverty.ⁱ One in three black men between the ages of 20 and 29 is either in jail or prison.ⁱⁱ The wage gap between men and women is NOT shrinking, earning only 77% of what men earn.ⁱⁱⁱ As congress debates increasing the minimum wage, the gap between the rich and the poor has not only grown, it has ballooned.^iv

We should all be reminded that, as Dr King told us “their destiny is tied up with our destiny” and that “their freedom is inextricably linked to our freedom.” We should recognize that we have a long way to travel down the path Dr. King has set before us. We should embrace each other as people, as Virginains, as Americans. We should celebrate who we are, our diversity, our accomplishments, our hopes and our dreams. We should not let our religions, our faith, our gender, or the color of our skin divide us. We should stand tall, and live the dreams Dr. King set out for us.
Indeed, let freedom ring.

Let freedom ring from our all our fifty states.

Let freedom ring in Virginia.

Let freedom ring in Staunton.

----------

i http://www.childtrendsdatabank.org/indicators/4Poverty.cfm
ii http://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/usa/Rcedrg00-01.htm
iii http://www.now.org/issues/economic/122006wagegap.html
iv http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0817-02.htm

Thoughts on our Constitution.....

I should remind you that President Bush in his oath as president swore “…to the best of [his] ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” To this end, he has failed miserably. As a matter of fact, he has tried to eviscerate the bill of rights, and on that fact alone should be impeached.

It is NEVER acceptable for the government to monitor my calls, to read my mail, to check my bank statements, to snoop on me UNLESS there is reasonable evidence that I am guilty of or about to commit a crime AND that a warrant has been issued by the judicial branch of government. To willingly allow this fundamental right to be abridged is cowardly and shameful. Our founding fathers recognized the critical importance of this right, and placed it squarely in the bill of rights, not in some footnote of the Constitution.

It is criminal to hold indefinitely and to torture American citizens, in violation of the fifth, the sixth, and the eight amendments. This is precisely what our government has done to Jose Padilla. The irony now, as Jack Balkin from Yale Law School points out is that “"You can't believe Padilla when he says we tortured him because he's crazy from all the things we did to him." In December 2003 the 2nd circuit ruled that “"the President lacked inherent constitutional authority as Commander-in-Chief to detain American citizens on American soil outside a zone of combat.” Yet he is still in custody and has still not been tried.

If you take the guarantees of civil liberties for granted, what will go next? Will you sit still while the second amendment gets gutted? While you remain silent as the first amendment gets burned to ashes?

It is ONLY when we strictly adhere to the principles of the Constitution and only when we genuinely protect civil liberties, ONLY when we truly treat people justly and fairly, that we maintain legitimacy not only with the American people, but with the world. And it is only then that we fully realize the benefits of democratic governments.


Note: This was originally posted by me on the Staunton News Leader Blogs on 1/6/07.

Thoughs on our "strong economy"......

You are correct; we have a very strong economy....if you get your income from the stock market or if you are a CEO. Average CEO compensation has risen 150% in the last decade, while the minimum wage has grown 0%. Average incomes have gone up, but only because the top incomes (the far right on the bell curve) have grown - median family incomes have actually fallen, with low income families falling the furthest.

Things are especially good if you are a war profiteer like David Lesar, CEO of Halliburton. Your pay went up 170% while from 2003 to 2004, all while the government is investigating $1.4 BILLION of questionable spending by Halliburton. By the way, Halliburton's stock traded at $6.55 in the fall of 2001. By January 2006, it was at $39 a share, almost a 650% increase.

The reality is that that the “war on terror” and the Iraq war are a financial bonanza for the US ruling elite. And thus some of the measures we use to gauge the economy, like the Dow and NASDAQ, are up.

But what you would realize if you study the economic theory of John Keyes, which says that a government should take on debt in an economic bust cycle and erase the debt in the boom cycle, is that the money borrowed now to pay the military complex leads to short term benefits. Long term economic viability will require that we continue to spend enormous amounts of borrowed money to maintain our vast war machine.

In simple terms, our economy looks good now because the federal government is pumping massive amounts of deficit spending into the economy. This cannot continue.

Already we owe almost $9 trillion ($9,000,000,000,000; if divided out equally, $120,000 for each family of four). We spend almost as much on the military ($540B) as on interest payments ($460B). Mostof the debt (and thus the interest payments) are owed to foreign banks; much of it to the Chinese, by the way.

In 2005, the federal government reported a $318 billion deficit. If you follow standard accounting rules, however, the deficit was closer to $760 billion for 2005. If Social Security and Medicare are included may have been as high as $3.5 trillion. Washington is able to report lower deficit because they don't count the growing burden of future pensions and medical care for federal retirees and military personnel.

Note: This was originally posted by me on the Staunton News Leader Blogs on 1/6/07.

My thoughs on I-81 (Part I).....

Transportation departments in other states have learned the hard way a lesson I hope will not be learned in the I-81 corridor: “if you build it, they [too many] will come”

The VA DOT points to the fact that traffic counts on I-81 through Augusta County are reaching 40,000 to 50,000 vehicles per day. The obvious solution, in their opinion, is to build bigger interstates. But the fundamental question has not been asked. Do the people of Augusta and Rockbridge counties want 100,000 vehicles passing through their counties belching exhaust every day? Speaking for myself, the answer is a resounding NO, and I am certain taht I am not alone in this sentiment.

The DOT makes several fundamental mistakes in their philosophy. The first is their emphasis on highway construction. Other states, such as Texas, Georgia, and California have attempted to resolve traffic issues by adding and adding lanes. The results have been uniform across the country. Gridlock on ten lanes instead of two, momentous cost overruns bailed out by the tax-payer, and uncontrolled urban sprawl and haphazard growth. The reason for a highway-centric tilt is that the DOT is managed and staffed by highway engineers and that traditional role of a DOT has been to build highways. As the short-comings of this approach have become evident, other DOTs have become just that, Departments of Transportation, with an understanding of and an emphasis on planning that encompasses the entire spectrum of transportation capabilities. The archaic monolith of the Virginia DOT needs to make this same transformation.

The second mistake is that the DOT has taken estimates of vehicle counts as gospel. As is so prevalent in planning documents, the figures that are used to justify an end are based on out-of-thin-air assumptions. The real fact before the DOT is that traffic counts MIGHT reach the 100,000 mark, and therefore we MIGHT have a need for more interstates. As the price of fuel continues the march toward $3 per gallon, traffic growth rates may stabilize or even decline.

But let us assume the figures are correct. We then reach the DOT’s third major mistake. If, given current trends, we will reach 100,000 vehicles per day, the first question that must be asked is do we want vehicle counts to get this high. The answer is not for the DOT to decide, but for us, and the answer should be NO. The DOT’s job then becomes the management of our total transportation infrastructure so those vehicle counts remain reasonable. How we choose to act on the prediction of vehicle counts determines whether those counts become reality.

The final mistake that the DOT has made is its failure to manage our infrastructure effectively. Current traffic counts on I-81 include 20,000 trucks per day, 12,500 above the design of the interstate. While trucking is an essential part of our economy and has its place in moving goods, it is the least efficient mode of transportation. The lack of a sensible state policy regarding the trucking industry has led to a proliferation of trucks as the primary mode of transport. It is the trucking industry that is the major contributing factor to traffic problems on I-81. To simply build bigger interstates is nothing more than a multi-billion dollar taxpayer subsidy of the trucking industry. Since the DOT and the state political machinery are so wedded to this industry, little is likely to change.

The DOT must take the following steps to address this problem. First, the DOT must go through a complete needs-analysis that exhausts all possibilities of managing this traffic. Second, the DOT should have an independent consulting agency conduct a thorough environmental impact statement so that we may fully understand the impact of their plan. Third, the DOT should place an emphasis on improving rail capability in western Virginia. Fourth, the DOT should build road to rail facilities in all major cities served by the I-81 corridor. Fifth, the DOT should place an emphasis on public transportation. Sixth, the DOT should limit any road building on I-81 to passing lanes on steep grades, and improved on ramp access. And seventh, the DOT MUST work in concert with all states in the I-81 corridor, if not all states on the East Coast, to define a comprehensive rail plan to move goods from southern ports and southern points of entry.

Saddam's execution.....

Three thoughts....

1. Saddam deserverd the death penalty. He deserved to die for his crimes. But his trial made a mockery of the new Iraqi justice system, and his lynching looked like a bad fraternity ritual. But what is done is done.....I hope the Kurds can find some solace in the fact he is dead, and that they did not get their day in court.
2. Some very interesting reading from an Iraqi perspective.
3. I watched to video; it is difficult to watch someone die. Let me explain....Saddam's atrocities have not touched me directly, so I cannot temper the difficulty of watching someone die with emotions of true anger and vengeance. having said that, here is the link: Cell phone video.

The 5 Things you never knew about me....

I've seen this several blogs now..WestoSshockoe, Waldo, and Vivian Paige...the 5 things list. So here is mine:

1. I was a member of the College Republicans and pres of my fraternity while at Washington and Lee University.
2. I was the first student to get an email at W&L (the year was 1986 and my cousin sent it from Europe. I had no idea what it was). I also graduated with more credits than any other student (171, needed only 121 to graduate). I didn't realize that is was quality, not quantity that mattered with your GPA.
3. I got 25 speeding tickets in 4 years at W&L. That number was only surpassed by the number of parking tickets. The last 3 times I have been pulled over, I talked my way out of it. It took me a while to figure out what to do....
4. I wanted to be a pro-soccer player after college while I worked at the Atlanta Zoo as a horticulturalist to make ends meet.....my dreams ended when a vicious slide tackle tore my lateral collateral ligament and fractured the top of my tibia. This was after I broke my wrist and suffered 3 serious concussions.....
5. I secretly want to be a sheep farmer. Or run a horse farm. And live in New Zeeland.

Darn, I have to limit that list to 5......

My last comments on Waldogate....

Here are the things that have amused me most about this whole debacle:

1. 1. The "Stupid justification for lying about who you are" award goes to Spankthatdonkey [STD didn't lie; he just justified GGD lies] . Lying about being an attorney to confuse people from finding out who you really are? Sorry. That is just dumb. Ok, disclaimer. I have no problems with using pseudonyms. But when you LIE about yourself, you lose all credibility when you post. GGB/JM has no justification for lying and deception.
2. The "Suffering from Hyperbolism award" goes to Waldo himself. The image in question was not pornography. And it was not really that disturbing. If Waldo had just stated the real reason for removing GGD.....most of GGD's posts were a variation of "woof,woof" and added nothing to the debate at hand. While I would not have pulled the blog out of the aggregator, Waldo had every right to. And if he had not, the whole silly mess of GGD/JohnMaxfield ruse would not have been uncovered. So I amend the award with a Kudos asterisks.
3. The Tartuffery reward does to SWACGirl. She puts the "CENSORSHIP!" label on Waldo, and claims to moderate her blog to prevent foul language. The reality is that SWACGirl only allows comments on her blog that praise her; comments that she does not like never appear.
4. The Fatuous award goes to all the bloggers (me included) that have spent time reading, writing, and contemplating this circus. It took away much blog space and time when significantly more pressing issues should have been discussed.
5. "The ugly Bloll" award (A troll who specializes in blogs) goes to GGD. I give him credit for his photoshop abilities. But really, I have seen enough of the "woof, woof" comments and sophomoric writings not to be amused anymore.

Bumper sticker......

[the image will be back up shortly] If you lean left, you know what it means. If you lean right, it stand for "W the Finest".

If you want one, email me.