The Days Between Aug. 1st - Aug. 9th

Well happy birthday Jerry!

We still miss you, and love you more than words can tell.

Mama, mama, many years I've come since I first left home.

Thanks Jerry! Happily, my life will never be the same.

Meet Electra!

She's my new electric bike!

All of this sitting around waiting for the end of the world of fossil fuels hasn't been sitting right with me. And while I've wanted to ride my bike to work for a long time, the truth was that I didn't want to show up to work all sweaty and in need of a full change of clothes and a shower. What an American. Whatever.

So for my 47th B-Day I got my bike (that has gotten about 50 miles on it in the past three years) converted to a front wheel electric hub motor that is powered by a 37 volt lithium battery.

I'm very excited that I will now be commuting the 6 miles to work on a bike and getting a lot more out of it then I do in the 6 minutes it takes to get there in my car. The one thing that I had to have was the ability to still be able to ride my bike, you know, get some exercise! So now instead of sitting on a bike or eliptical at the gym (always the most boring part) I can get it riding to and from work. Just riding it home was exhilarating!

note* I just got it set up with an iHome bike-to-beach speaker - tinyurl.com/bike-to-beach - for it so now I will be rocking out on the way to work (which I did this am without the speaker for the first time and kept having the same two songs over and over in my head%^))

Anywhoop, here are some photos I took of it and promised I would show:
gallery.me.com/sfierro#10...k&view=grid

Impact of GM Destroying the EV1 - Great article!

seekingalpha.com/article/8...ng-the-ev1

The documentary Who Killed the Electric Car comes to a number of conclusions. On the encouraging side, the EV1 proved an electric car could be reliable fun to drive, and very well liked (one might say loved) by its owners. The car was clean, performed admirably, and a tune-up consisted of rotating the tires and topping up the windshield fluid compartment..

On the disturbing side, the documentary points out the complete failure of government at both the state and federal level to support the car - not merely by financial incentives, but by policy. The California Air Resources Board [CARB], the same bureaucracy that initiated the zero-emission policy in the first place, abandoned the EV1 at the very point in time the car proved it could meet the board's requirements. Bush and Cheney then pulled the bait-n-switch to hydrogen fuel-cells, a technology they both know will never be cost-efficient. The EV1's were then recalled by GM (GM) (the cars could only be leased - no leasers were allowed to keep them), and they were sent to the car crusher so all evidence of its success could be destroyed forever.

What are the economic, environmental, and political repercussions due to the demise of the EV1? The repercussions are gigantic.

Economically, the US is even more addicted to foreign oil and sends $700 billion a year to Russia, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Iran. The resulting trade deficit and economic reverberations have played a major role in the US dollar's 50% devaluation under the Bush administration. America's current economic stagnation due to its addiction to high-priced foreign oil is even harder to digest given the oil-induced inflationary environment its citizens are currently learning to live with. The economic implications of the resulting stock market sell-off will be felt by retirees, working people's 401k plans, and investors for years to come.

Meanwhile, some analyst are predicting bankruptcy for GM, who switched from making EV1's to Hummers. Meanwhile, thousands of GM employees and entire communities will feel the negative effects of GM's consistent reporting of billion dollar losses. It's interesting to note that GM, facing bankruptcy, losing market share to the hybrids and fuel-efficient vehicles Toyota (TM) and Honda (HMC) developed because of the CARB mandate, and seeing its stock price sink to decade lows, still doesn't mention reviving the EV1.

Environmentally, the lack of an electric car in the US has been disastrous. Some have estimated the US would be using 50% less gasoline today if the California mandate and EV1 had been allowed to take its natural course. Considering that each gallon of gasoline burned in an automobile's internal combustion engine can emit 15 lbs of CO2 into the atmosphere, well, you do the math.

Politically, it's just one more nail in the coffin of the American "democratic" system of government. The US at this point is more fascist than democratic. The industrial powers call the all the shots. If the EV1 is any indication, these industrial powers (like GM) seem hell-bent on destroying even themselves. Recent Bush administration-supported efforts by Bernanke and Paulsen show the government is in the process of nationalizing the country's mortgage market and will soon do the same to the banking industry - including the investment banks. This will be yet another mechanism of federal control (along with the wars on terror and drugs) in order to take US taxpayer money and give it to the small number of well connected in power. US capitalism is on its last legs.

All this is very interesting to me because I interviewed with the GM engineering group during the mid 1980s in Kokomo, Indiana. They were looking to hire someone to work on the electric car project, and wanted to hire me to work on the braking system. The idea was to reverse the electric fields during braking thereby re-charging the batteries. Interesting job, but Kokomo seemed a strange place to me, and the GM environment even stranger. The real estate agent showing me around asked what kind of car I had, and when I replied that I had a Toyota truck he said, and I quote, "that might work in San Diego, but you had damn well better get rid of that truck before you move here!" He was right too. Not long after returning to San Diego, I saw on TV Toyota trucks getting smashed in the parking lot of the mall right there in, you guessed it, Kokomo, Indiana. What a different world we might live in today had those workers been focused on making quality EV1 automobiles rather than destroying Japanese imports.

Bottom line: Hydrogen fuel cell technology isn't gonna happen. It's a distraction to keep us from realizing that electric cars are possible and WORK. We should be focusing our transportation effort on electric and hybrid plug-in automobiles and electrified high speed rail systems. We should build out the electrical infrastructure to support new energy supplies to fuel these transportation systems from wind, solar, and nuclear energy sources. Just as important, the 50 states should band together and call for a constitutional convention to dismantle the current United States government. We should start over with just the US Constitution and Bill of Rights to guide us. We need to take back our country's government from the fascist powers who are at this very minute plotting to take total control of it. The same powers that killed the electric car.

To put this all into perspective: Seeking Alpha commenter 'lminsky' just pointed out, in a comment he posted to my article on T. Boone Pickens' approach, for all the money the US has wasted in Iraq, it could have instead bought 100,000,000 hybrid vehicles to replace US citizens' gas-guzzling SUVs. Obviously this would have not only been a much wiser use of US taxpayer money, but would have cut foreign oil dependency, helped to clean up the Earth's atmosphere, saved many lives, and perhaps have rescued the faltering US economy and currency from its current oil-dependent death spiral.

Free Obama button!

Hey,

Want a free Obama button? MoveOn's giving them away totally free--no strings attached. I just got mine, and wanted to share the opportunity with you.

Click this link to get a free Obama button:

pol.moveon.org/obamabuttons/

Thanks!

The Friend We Want To Be - Daily OM

Evaluating Our Relationships

There comes a time in all our lives when we may need to evaluate our relationships, making sure that they are having a positive effect on us, rather than dragging us down. Without realizing it, we may be spending precious time and energy engaging in friendships that let us down, rather than cultivating ones that support and nourish us along our path. Life, with its many twists, turns, and challenges, is difficult enough without us entertaining people in our inner circle who drain our energy. We can do so much more in this world when we are surrounded by people who understand what we’re trying to do and who positively support our efforts to walk our path.

We can begin this evaluation process by simply noticing how we feel in the context of each one of our close relationships. We may begin to see that an old friend is still carrying negative attitudes or ideas that we ourselves need to let go of in order to move forward. Or we may find that we have a long-term relationship with someone who has a habit of letting us down, or not showing up for us when we need support. There are many ways to go about changing the status quo in situations like this, having a heart to heart with our friend showing through example. This process isn’t so much about abandoning old friends as it is about shifting our relationships so that they support us on our journey rather than holding us back.

An important part of this process is looking at ourselves and noticing what kind of friend we are to the people in our lives. We might find that as we adjust our own approach to a relationship, challenging ourselves to be more supportive and positive, our friends make adjustments as well and the whole world benefits.

Kucinich makes history again: Impeach Bush

From the Huffington Post:

www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph...93.html

There are four things you can do right now to support him and to make this happen.

1. I ask that you PLEASE contact Rep. Kucinich and thank him for his leadership and patriotism. Please take a moment and give him a call and show your support. You can call his DC office at this number (202)225-5871.

2. Contact Speaker Pelosi at this number and ask her for her support and action. You can call her DC office at this number 202-225-0100.

3. Contact both of your Senators and your Representative and let them know you support this. You can search for all of your US elected officials by entering your zip code at www.votesmart.org.

The Life of American Vagabonds - A photo journey

Interesting...

www.socialdailynews.com/divers...nds.php

RIP Albert Hoffmann

I owe you so much! Godspeed good sir.

www.dosenation.com/index.php

A poster on reddit today has announced that Albert Hofmann, beloved inventor of the best drug on the planet, passed away yesterday evening:

This isn't in the news yet. I'm from Basel and Hoffmann lived close (in Burg). My friends mother helped to look after him, he died last night (of old age probably, he was 102).

You might not belive one source you don't know and who has no way to back up his claims but it's true. It will probably go public soon.


I'm posting this here as it has been confirmed to me by several sources within the community. Let's all take a moment to bow our heads in silence for the passing of a truly visionary individual. So long Al, thanks for EVERYTHING.
LINK : reddit.com