chuck kottke

:) Welcome to you! Please do post here from time to time!!:sunny:

In today's world, building your own car is really a big achievement! And an electric nonetheless - cool:cool:. > Hm, very very interesting.. so there seems to be companies in the business of supplying parts for home-built electric cars then. Hm, well kit cars are not all that unusual, as well as build-it-yourself cars with common central components. I suppose, just get the right basic components, assemble it the way you want it - three phase motor, battery racks, drive trains, etc. I thought about it for an electric as well, some of the ones that I like are very expensive and only available in California - maybe just redesign the basic shape of the body, change things up to suit one's own desires, and make your own! :wideeyed: So what does this electric car look like? Perform like (since it's made from "performance electric" components)?

We have the right to an honest government, beholden to We the citizens and our interests, not preferential to the interests of corporate masters or wealthy plutocrats, nor preferential to any special interest other than those of the citizens as a whole. In that right, it is essential to safeguard our system of democratic representation by checking against conflicts of interest between powerful interests and our elected representatives in government, be they Senators, Representatives to the House, or the President. Maintain a citizen's panel to oversee the communications between petitioners (termed lobbyists) and elected or appointed officials. This is one aspect of checking the current abuses of power. Another is to ensure that conflicts of interest do not arise when elected officials are no longer in office - to prevent the revolving door effect, as it corrodes our democracy severely at present, eating away at the very foundation of our republic. In correlation to efforts underway to protect forests, it helps to have a government which operates on higher principles, which can formulate better policies to assist in protecting the rainforests of the world. Otherwise, if big money is allowed to block measures designed to support fair trade and ecologically sound forest management, we all suffer in the end, first when climate change accelerates as the tropical forests become savanna, and secondly as the timber resources are lost down the line. Policy affects market practices, to really encourage good practices requires honest government.

Fjord, that sounds vaguely Norwegian!:hair2: Did the Norwegians team up with the Spanish:sombrero: to establish the Fjord Fiesta? :P (sorry, I just had to try this dixie cup / jolly good joke!:laugh3:)

A Warm Hello to you Marley. :)

Welcome to the site, and all things begin in experimental form, so play around, draw something, see what you like about it. :sunny:

If you want to get more involved: About Us | Move to Amend

I have thought this for a while - as what now is the case in California with citizen boards that are determining political district boundaries, it makes good sense to have citizen boards, composed of ordinary citizens, as go-betweens. I thought this about the case where on the one hand, there is a need for the exchange of information between lobbyists and elected officials, and on the other hand the need for transparency and oversight concerning communications between the various interests and our representatives in government. As an added check, having citizens' panels overseeing these exchanges would prevent some of the corrupt practices from occurring.

I think basically what we want are representatives who work for us, do not become ensnared by special interests, and may serve consecutive terms, but for reasons of potential abuses of power, can only serve a set number of terms at most. The problem we face today is when the pay-off happens after their terms are over, when they get lucrative consulting and lobbying jobs for special interest groups, and maximize returns on investments indirectly the result of actions undertaken by them while in office. So, I thought about this, and wonder if, for our sake, they be divested in things for which their office and committee assignments puts them in a position of oversight over. The prevention of conflicts of interest must extend beyond the terms of office for which they serve.

:laugh3: Thanks Nancy, but it's a long, long shot to success in doing so. My only hope is that with enough efforts, something will make it - like an electron quantum-mechanically tunneling through a solid plate of steel. One might get through, the more attempts there are. I often wonder, if writing amendments is a lost art almost - given all the years since any have passed, and how fewer and fewer are proposed each year. But it seems simple enough, as long as one can condense the essence into a few short sentences.. But there are other challenges too - leveling the playing field for candidates is one thing, but the revolving door is still a big issue (politicians becoming lobbyists, like caterpillars emerging as moths). Then there is the power of incumbency, which is another part of the problem. And the funding of wards and redistricting issues are rights concerns as well - to be fair, election places should have equitable funding and clear information as to where to vote. (1). Fair Elections (2). Protection of the Public Trust, preventing the quid pro quo between special interests and elected officials, whether in office or out of office. Quid pro quo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (3). Term Limits

I believe Christopher J. Peters has it right when he writes in the Baltimore Sun that we must reclaim the authority over our Democracy, or risk loosing it forever. Campaign finance reform: It's time to overrule the Supreme Court on campaign finance reform - baltimoresun.com A few quotations, for your consideration: "To deny democratic government the authority to impose reasonable regulations on political campaigns is to deny the people the capacity to shape the government under which they live - hardly a democratic outcome.... ...The Supreme Court ought to be developing thoughtful constitutional principles to guide campaign regulation - principles that balance the various interests at stake, promote fair and meaningful participation, and filter out cynical attempts at incumbent self-dealing" "..it's time for a Constitutional Amendment"

All other rights, from freedom of speech to protections against abuses of power, derive their protection through equitably selected representation, forming the basis of our government. It is therefore essential for the protection of natural rights to have a government composed of individuals selected by the will of we citizens through honest means, where the base of support of any given candidate is broad, where the donation level is affordable to the broad majority of citizens, and where competing candidates have equal access to the press of the day, that being principally television, internet, print medias, radio, and the like. Equality in candidate funding, in essence the ability of candidates to choose equitable access to the press, is a right. Fair Elections yield honest governance - true representation requires it, and it is a prerequisite for the protection of all other rights we hold dear. This, I believe, is a universal right, essential for all democracies to achieve their full potential, and for humanity to achieve a higher level of harmony, success and enlightenment. If we are to live up to the creed that All Men are Created Equal, then we must honor this basic right, to protect and enhance our essential liberties.

>> Fussy! You're just biased towards anyone with the last name Martin:P I thought it was great! Boston's Pops are great too - and fireworks are top rated, but hey, I like a variety show! ;)

:laugh3: On thing that works for me is to take a sip of water and just keep swallowing, again and again. - that some how calms the hiccups.

I can't say what I'm thinking right now - I just can't. All I can say is know & find out the real deal on things.

Hm, something.

But The Capitol Fourth was fantastic on TV, wasn't it?! :) They even had Little Richard and Steve Martin!! :hat::elvis: A Capitol Fourth | America's Independence Day Celebration | PBS & Matthew Morrison & Jordan Sparks & Jimmy Smits and Josh Groban!

Basically, Laptops overheat. Solutions: use a laptop cooler, or make a fan base to place below it. One suggestions was to use leg pads, extra-thick rubber nubs, so more air can flow beneath. Work in a cool room, preferably the walk-in cooler at a local store;).. I suppose someone offers Peltier junction (semiconductor) coolers as well, or one can adapt one for laptops.. For a quick fix, get a shallow pan that it fits in, fill the pan with ice, and support the laptop just above it on some wooden slats, letting the cool cool air get pulled in to the laptop.. Or, if you just want to run it for a short while, maybe place it in the refrigerator for two hours, and then take it out and use it for a while - that should prolong the run time, and keep it "fresher" too. :P

The answer is to sell Chris's hair clippings for charity. :laugh3: That way, all the fangirls can have a lock on Chris. ;)

Yes! & I am going to paint my car.

:flutterby:Wild:flutterby::hippy::daisy::sunny::mudkip::sunny::flutterby:

It's sophisticated stuff, easy for something to malfunction. So you get to enjoy two shows then!! :) For independence day, I will be finding out more about Arizona's reform measures, and Maine's, looking into what can be done to bring round fair elections. Good to keep in mind what Independence day really means: In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America. When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the causes of the earth the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitled them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.______________ We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness ____ That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed, _____ That whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such Principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all our experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariable the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security. _____ Such has been the patient Sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.

> Interesting... more into this that I though there would be! :inquisitive: From micro-buses in the 60's to bodies to guitar bodies! :cool: real Freedom

> Good advice, thanks for the boost & the hug smiley Zemy! :hug:Turbulence can make some good waves, hope you catch a good wave and surf it for all it's worth! :sunny: Take Care Zemy. :)

So electing better representation at the local levels betters our odds, then passing non-binding resolutions is one way to promote amendments for fair election. Non-binding resolution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Representation is for all of us, on an equal and just basis. Make it so.:wink: