Nov 4
Actually, I think he’d prefer you vote for him for governor. You’ve gotta respect a candidate who knows where he’ll get the most bang for his campaign dollar in this state. (He also sponsored a Silverado in the truck race, too.)
More pictures from Friday:
I’ve always been a bit skeptical of the feasiblity of ethanol as a gasoline replacement. Two things always struck me as major problems with the idea:
Besides that, I’ve doubted whether the economic incentive was there to switch. As energy sources go, it’s always been a pretty safe assumption that oil was the cheapest option. And Detroit’s recent enthusiasm for ethanol seems to be rooted more in damage control and a desire to preserve the status quo for the internal combustion engine than out of real concern for the environment or the political ramifications of importing oil from the Middle East.
I take it back.
This presentation makes a really convincing case for ethanol, and addresses all of my previous criticisms. My only real remaining concern for the viability of a switch to ethanol is the enormous financial and political clout held by the petroleum economy.
The really cool thing about the idea is that it can all be done with existing technology, and only modest changes in infrastructure. And it would require virtually no changes in consumer behavior. In fact, we already have a model for the switch: Brazil has already done it.
Seriously, this presentation is really intriguing. It’s an hour long, but it’s worth it even if you only watch the first 10 minutes. This really could be a win-win for just about everyone except the oil companies (that recently made the biggest profits in the history of profits) and a few despotic nations in the Middle East and Africa.
Click here to see what I’m talking about.
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PS – Enterprising “do-it-yourselfers” in the Appalachians have been making ethanol for over a century. It’s called moonshine.
Jan 16
“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”
More word from Becky Orander, the Executive Director of the Arlington Life Shelter:
Thanks to everyone for your help so far in the disaster recovery process. There has been a tremendous outpouring of volunteer support and much-needed items. Unfortunately, this is just the beginning of quite a long process.
From what I’ve seen, Arlington has primarily guests from New Orleans that were receiving a great deal of social service support back home and will need the same here. Few owned cars and are used to public transportation systems, so Arlington’s limited transit options will be a shock to them.
Shelters are pretty much in maintenance mode. Volunteers are now being scheduled through the city at (817) 462-3700. The most pressing needs right now in Arlington are hair care products, perm kits and makeup for African Americans, furniture, mattresses, household setups (brooms/mops/cleaning products, etc). Drop off is Mission Arlington located at 210 W. South St., (817) 277-6620. Thank you in advance for your continued support.
Becky makes an important point in her note: An astonishing number of the people displaced from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama were already impoverished before they were hit with this tragedy. This is a region that has always struggled with poverty. For example, click here to see a map (PDF) that shows the percent of people in Orleans Parish who made below common measures of a living wage as of the 2000 Census. The amount of purple on the map should be an eye opener. (This and more info can be found at the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center.)
As many of you may know, I work for an online dating company. Well, over the last year or so, this industry has become pretty darned crowded. There’s a lot of competition out there now, and one major trend is specialization. There are sites for religious matching, sites for people with specific jobs, and even sites that focus on finding people with compatible pets. But the latest site to enter the market really took me by surprise:
“Hannidate 2005, where you may find your perfect match through Hannity style romance.”
Yes, Sean Hannity.
I tell you, if his service doesn’t match him up with Alan Colmes, there’s no justice in this world.
If you think this pile is big, you should see the one Congress has been stacking up in D.C.
From New Scientist magazine:
Pentagon reveals rejected chemical weapons
Funny. I thought Tom Jones invented the “Sex Bomb” years ago…
Most bizarre among the plans was one for the development of an “aphrodisiac” chemical weapon that would make enemy soldiers sexually irresistible to each other. Provoking widespread homosexual behaviour among troops would cause a “distasteful but completely non-lethal” blow to morale, the proposal says.
This is fantastic news! CNN has fired rabid Troy Dungan impersonator Tucker Carlson from Crossfire. (And will likely fold Crossfire, altogether.)
Check out the story on Yahoo News:
CNN Lets ‘Crossfire’ Host Carlson Go
Key quotes:
The bow-tied wearing conservative pundit got into a public tussle last fall with comic Jon Stewart, who has been critical of cable political programs that devolve into shoutfests.
“I guess I come down more firmly in the Jon Stewart camp,” [CNN boss Jonathan] Klein told The Associated Press.
And the most promising to me:
“I doubt that when the president sits down with his advisers they scream at him to bring him up to date on all of the issues,” he said. “I don’t know why we don’t treat the audience with the same respect.”
So I’m dreaming of California.
If I lived there, I could live off of one day’s wages. That’s right — one day’s wages.
California has imposed a ban on spyware, and this might just be my ticket to riches!
According to their new law, “Consumers are able to seek up to $1,000 in damages if they think they have fallen victim to the intrusive software.”
Check out the details in this story from BBC News
Here’s my plan:
I figure I could have 80 spyware applications installed by 10am, and have my legal papers drawn up and served by dinnertime.
See you on the beach!
Right now, I’m watching a documentary on the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and I tell you, it’s fascinating. The film, Bonhoeffer (2003), is fascinating.
Bonhoeffer was a protestant theologian and Nazi resister who was hanged shortly before the end of WWII. Add this documentary to your NetFlix queue. Order it from Amazon. This is truly an amazing man.
Here are a couple of quotes from his writings:
On the waning of The Church:
Christ is really present only in the community. The church is the presence of Christ, just as Christ is the presence of God. But our church today is bourgeois: the best proof is that poor working classes have turned away from the church. Whereas the bourgeois, the petty officials, the artisans, and the merchants have remained. When the community is split, is Christ himself divided?
On the failing of man to act on Christ’s teachings:
We have been silent witnesses of evil deeds: we have been drenched by many storms; we have learnt the arts of equivocation and pretence; experience has made us suspicious of others and kept us from being truthful and open; intolerable conflicts have worn us down and even made us cynical. Are we still of any use?