Errata

Some thoughts on various issues. Seemingly disconnected but perhaps interrelated. You decide...

Al Qaeda sleeper cells? More like the gang who couldn't shoot straight. The arrests in New Jersey, just go to show how the threats are overblown for the purpose of creating fear. Attacking a military base with a squad sized unit, no matter how well armed, is like taking on an elephant with a BB gun. (They did plan to die in the attack, but give me a break…) Yet the FBI wants us to be afraid, be very afraid. Right. These guys were idiots living some sort of fantasy. I doubt they would have ever carried out the attack unless goaded into it by an informant/infiltrator.

As I watch the Democratic, pre Presidential, campaign I realize how little I trust both Hillary, and Obama. Obama especially. This is in part because he refuses to lay out specifics for anything. Also, because I don't trust his rapid rise to prominence. I look at a piece of legislation he sponsored, to limit greenhouse gas emissions and see a classic example of greenwashing. It is a toothless bill, co sponsored by “Joementum” Lieberman. To me Obama is the Energy and Agribusiness candidate. A stealth version to be sure, but in reality just W in sheep’s clothing.

On the Republican side, I wonder why the GOP can’t do better. Why can’t they get beyond the extreme conservatism that has gotten us into the mess we are in? Being from Kirtland, Ohio I have little worry about Romney’s religion. That is a red herring from my perspective, and he is the least scary of the GOP candidates. But why can’t someone who would be a darn good President, someone like former New Jersey Governor Whitman, succeed on a national level? We know the answer. The extremists still control the GOP, and will continue to hang on in spite of multiple failures. This is a good thing.

A few posts ago I wondered about what caused the tipping point in the attitudes of the elites toward global warming? I see Citicorp is going to invest $70 billion in green technology. This follows a plan by Bank of America to invest $20 billion announced in March. Two years ago this was all so inconclusive. A hoax designed to ruin the American economy. While I am glad to see the change. A tin foil hat wearing nut like me, always likes to ask why? 5 times.

A little math to put things in perspective: Price of a Honda hybrid, well equipped, $25K or 2.5 x10^4. Number of passenger vehicles sold in North America every year, about 17 million, or 1.7x10^7. Cost to convert the entire vehicle fleet to hybrid technology for 1 year =4.25 x 10^11 or $425 billion. Wait! That doesn't make sense… How much have we spent on the war in Iraq? The current estimate is a mere $424 billion. In other words, for what we have spent on the war in Iraq we could have given a hybrid car to every American who purchased a vehicle last year. To quote a song by an old punk band: “I’m not crazy…You’re the one who’s crazy…” Oh well, I have to inspect my funny hat to make sure there are no holes in it.