chuck kottke

Welcome & glad you could join in here Jake! Greetings fellow midwesterner! ;) Good to see you here! Hello Vera from Portugal! You've set a course for a fantastic forum! :sunny: Hello Miss Rola, happy you could join us, the merry band of coldplayers!! :) Welcome Back! ;) :laugh3:Greetings Tiffany! I have to agree - their music is fantastic, and their messages are to the heart. Welcome Kyle! Cleverly hidden here on the internet, but glad you found it!;) Hugs to you maniseti, keep the bells chiming there in Belgrade!:cool::sunny:

Yes, you're right Lory, and it looks pretty bad at the present. But we also have a tradition of reinventing ourselves from time to time, and righting the wrongs and imbalances caused by the great disparities in wealth and opportunity. Economic downturns can be upturns in awareness and activism, if average citizens are given the facts and a central rallying point to press for reform. And I think the central issue is the need for getting the big money out of politics; social concerns only get addressed when government acts on our behalf as a whole, that is, when it represents the interests of the citizens as a whole, and enacts full measures to help those in need. Some of those with great wealth see the world as a game, and simply want to "win" at it. Small minded they are, ultimately cheapening the world they live in. If instead they saw that when social needs are met, all citizens can be more productive, and the shared wealth of their society and world increases their wealth in that the world is a safer, more enjoyable place for them, as well as for every man, woman, and child on the planet. With fairness in the process of selecting representation, we all gain a government that acts as a promoter of well-being and harmony, protects the shared commons, and invests in long-term needs in society. It can put resources into the things that matter most, and throttle back on the resources being squandered. It can reward good business practices, and reduce bad business practices in the country, and by extension of trade policy, the world.

Pretty Cool David!:cool: You must have a relatively hassle-free drive in then I gather? Here, it would be tourists on my tail all the way (never mind that they're going a short hop to the lake).. Hypermiling is really great though! Hypermiling :: Even without a hybrid car, no more need to compare gas prices I am going to start hypermiling, to heck with the heavy pedal types! :sunny:

Hello from North Eastern Wisconsin to North West England!:sunny: Glad to hear the Glastonbury Gig was fantastic! And what sort of name is Studio2 BTW?:inquisitive:

So what I am interested in is to Make Elections Fair. Because to Make Trade Fair, one has to have honest governments that work for the will of the people and the rights of mankind. Make Elections Fair = Make Trade Fair

The usual path to amending the US Constitution is to first have states (or counties, then states) support the amendment by enacting similar legislation, until it becomes nation-wide, then propose an amendment at the Federal level, to which states then approve. However, the problem we run into today is that the higher up you go, the more the moneyed interests block this reform, and with a supreme court tipped 5-4 in favor of preventing both campaign finance limits & balanced financing, progress often gets reversed after it becomes state law. That, and getting congress to approve limits is difficult, even though they all say they are tired of having to hawk for more money to get re-elected. The gamblers all know the game is doing them and everyone else harm, but they're too locked in to back away from the table. So where do we go from here? Since if it isn't written in stone, the high court conservative justices seem unable to understand we have an inalienable right to fair elections, which inherently requires that the candidate race & elections process be on equitable terms for all qualifying candidates. So, if we elected a progressive president, and there is a possible opening for a successful appointment & approval of a progressive court member to the Supreme Court, then we better the odds of getting real progress on this major issue. If the popularity of an amendment were such that it became an undeniable force, then Congress would be hard pressed to block it, in essence there would be so much pressure to pass the amendment that any member voting no would face very poor re-election prospects and tons of bad press. Concurrent to this would be the necessity of applying great pressure through public support at the state level to pass this amendment, and while that may be a little less difficult, it is still a formidable task, and requires lengthy state-by-state efforts to approve the amendment. But I cannot see any other way forward - either we remain mired in corruption, or free ourselves to promote the blessings of liberty. The nature of progress is a spiral, but it's time for an upswing!;)

The soft syncopated hum of two computer fans, and the underwater :thinking2::sunny: outboard motor sounds of a hard drive.

A Fiesta :sunny: That's pretty good mileage, although I already get around 37 with my Chevy Cavalier - Pontiac J2000 familiar Oldsmobuick. I think we need to think leapfrog when it comes to mileage. Aim for 120 city, 100 highway - we need to get to this level pretty quickly to keep our planet from really overheating, and it's feasible today. But on the other side of the equation, 37 / 44 MPG is pretty good, if you bike most places whenever possible, walk, take the train, or even carpool. (If one thinks of it, 3 passengers per car is like each person getting 100 MPG+ per trip). So many convenience trips, if we redesigned things for ease of cycling and walking, save lives with healthy exercise and save oodles of fuel..:escaping3:

You're off and running with the battery change stations then! Its been a long-talked about idea here, perhaps there are some in sunny California, but it sounds like you Danes will make it really happen! There's one good answer to the range problem - and as long as the battery change is relatively simple, then it will be a "go". :) I had temporarily forgotten about this idea, I suppose because I assumed it was too difficult for car operators to deal with - glad to see someone made it simple and easy!! That's the key to jumpstarting the wide adoption of electrics - making it possible to go long distances, freeing them from the tether of home base. Thanks for the news Nancy!;)

Conjunction Junction

A sing along to the Preamble! :hat:[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLP_HGKq-jg]YouTube - School House Rock Preamble[/ame]

Leaving out the defense stuff from the preamble, it does sound a lot like a socialist writing! .."We the People, In order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the United States of America." Imagine that - our government is supposed to promote the general welfare (well-being) of the citizens, secure our liberties (whether they be penned or not), and do so for not just ourselves, but for future generations! Sounds pretty progressive to me. When one considers it, here we had just fought and won a war against a government which was under the spell of a giant corporation (East India Co.), and which fostered great inequities. And consider also, it was a war over resources - we wanted our timber rights (the equivalent of oil in that day and age), over lands here that were being exploited on the cheap.. How does this compare to what the Middle Eastern countries are dealing with today... hm... The problem we face today is not just who we elect for President, but how the elections are funded. It's the central problem gumming up progress in our nation - the need to make the elections fair and to equalize supporter's power in supporting candidates, so the candidates reflect the will of broad bases of support. Central to getting true representation is the dire need for comprehensive campaign finance reform. If it takes an amendment, then that is what we must do. But it's something that I think has broad support in the nation as a whole, candidates in the past campaigned on it and got significant support even as outsiders, so now is the time for setting down a clear right which for so long has been neglected and abused by those with the money to control the process.

Well, I'm sure they'd be glad to see you! ;) I would remain calm, and discuss the current events in the Middle East with them, maybe over a hot cup of tea. Or three cups of tea. And if they needed any help in any way, I would be glad to offer my assistance.

> Yes, I agree - there is that clattery sound, which in this day and age auto companies should be able to silence - it comes from the injection and burning fuel in the combustion chambers. One might imagine sound-proofing insulation or some type of noise dampering system would be effective in almost eliminating the noise. Clangitty, clappity, clapp clappity clap.. ! Quaint in an antique Diesel, but today the engines should be quiet, or at a minimum, the engine compartment should silence any engine noise. > And that too - the lack of smoothness is an issue. But since the Diesel is a superior engine for efficiency, one might imagine a good application for one in the hybrid design, where electric drive takes away the engine's jittery feel as one accelerates. But who knows - perhaps the answer is in another engine design.. > I understand - smoothness of operation is a desirable thing without a doubt . Perhaps the hydrogen - electric car of your dreams is not too far off in the future - quite a few advances on the hydrogen storage front, and given sufficient wind resources, one can imagine hydrogen being a contender in more places than just Iceland!;) (BTW congratulations on driving so few miles in a year!)

Greetings Nick!

;):laugh3: Hm, wonder why the aversion to Diesels? Is it because the exhaust is smelly, or is it because the engines make knocking noises? There's room for improvement in those areas, I agree - but used in a hybrid, they have greater efficiency than a gasoline engine, and the noise issues can be reduced, the exhaust cleaned up. Perhaps then, as fuel gets expensive, you would be more willing to switch to alcohol fuel, if the car were designed to handle it, and it were made efficiently from biomass? Or how about an all-electric, if it had a great range?

> It works with newer ones too, to my knowledge. But yes, Diesels - they can be run on either vegetable oil, or biodiesel - with the veggie oil, in cold climates, one has to run a line of heated cooling system fluid around the veggie oil line, filter, & tank to keep the liquid from gelling. That, and filter it real well beforehand, lest the fuel filter gets clogged, But basically, it works! That, or go with biodiesel, which takes some processing, but yields a much less viscous fluid with a much lower 'freezing' or gelling point. For gasoline engines, the main biofuel option available is ethanol, which currently has numerous drawbacks in terms of energy inputs and crop issues, although that may be changing with newer technologies to make it. But the best thing is to go high-efficiency first, which is worth at least 1,000 liter tankful a year in savings per car.

I found the new Prius to be an interesting & sophisticated machine - quite the interconnected systems! Lithium Ion batteries under the hatchback area, nickel metal hydride in the front for the engine hybrid system, and yet another battery for the lights and accessories. A few things could use improvement, such as utilizing space beneath the vehicle for expanded lithium battery packs, and cutting the vehicle weight in half with composite bodies. Both of these require cost reductions in materials, and improvements in storage capacity for lithium-based batteries, but this seems like something which we have the wherewithal to overcome, especially when one considers the true costs of energy, and the risks we run by not focusing on efficiency and solar. Getting the weight down and improving aerodynamics could improve the mileage per charge to double the current level (on batteries, the operator said you can go around 13 miles (21 km) per charge highway, 26 miles (42 km) per charge city). Doubling that would make it much more attractive to commuters here in the U.S., where the average commute is 15 minutes one-way. Price-wise electricity costs about 1/4th as much as gasoline in the U.S. (and gas is set to rise substantially higher), and opting for a solar-roofed car port with wind turbine could make buying electricity from the grid a non-issue for many. So for the short hops, one might spend $1.00 vs. $4.00 per "fill-up", which adds up pretty quickly X 300 busy days a year! All in all though, I liked the car, it's smart in being able to use liquid fuels for long-distance drives, while the common commutes can be made eco-friendly. More batteries, lighter body, and using biofuels might make it a great model for the future of autos.

> Thanks Nancy for your kind words of support!:) By comparison, how does Denmark address this issue?

I think if the heliocentric lift ring assembly were driven possibly using a turbojet engine or a light, strong electric drive powered by high capacity lithium ion batteries, it might create the necessary lift, and maintain stability with the gyroscopic motion and mass of the lift ring. I pondered the idea of turning the whole lift ring assembly into a jet engine (pilot in center), but I wasn't sure if today's materials could handle that much stress from the centripetal forces, or bearing be designed to hold up. Perhaps this is possible - which would make the craft's lifting ability marvelous. For horizontal propulsion, I thought about a louvered jet, or louvering the vertical propulsion gases to move along the X-Y horizontal axis, and a means to compensate for the counter-rotation forces in the central crew cabin. The idea of retractable landing pads on antenna legs would be an interesting choice, and fits better with the general mode of the crafts design - vertical lift, use pneumatically actuated landing legs, thinking this could be akin to three or four retractable antennae. For visibility, having the crew cabin's bubble extend a bit below the craft makes sense, except for the added drag when cruising horizontally. So either that, or an aerodynamic probe to allow for the operator to "see" where to take the craft. Anyhow, just ideas. What sort of craft had you in mind?

> I suppose I could work on the plans, but I've got a lot of irons in the fire already.. of course, it wouldn't be unidentified as such, but I think I can get a flying saucer type craft to fly and lift a human into the air. Going from earth to space is more than I have planned as of yet, although space to earth might be feasible. One thing seems to be true - the more one makes it popular, the better the odds of it happening!;)

True, one of the greatest loves of the ancient Greeks was love of the familiar - and so it is, here in our republic modeled after Athens', Rome's, and Venice's. But even if voters stuck with the two major parties, if the supporters of each had equal pull within their parties, that could result in candidates who, when in office, would support broader legislation that works for the citizens as a whole, as opposed to the interest group or individual who pours the most money into the campaign. If the campaign funds were equal, and the maximum amount per real citizen were no more than 1% of an average person's wages, I think the legislative efforts from either party's candidates would begin to reflect common sense policies and greater protection of our shared commons. And if one candidate has more supporters than the other, even if the other took the make-up money, those who feel they have an interest in one vs. the other, will be more energized to spread the message to the voters. But either way, the results would be better - a government of, by, and for We the People. And if things didn't get better, then if some 3rd party candidate came along with a reform message (here I think back to La Follette, Anderson, Nader, Perot), the odds are that they would have a significant impact in the election outcomes, so that the better policies would have to be adopted by major party candidates, or the new party would gain more and more seats until they became a major party.

:laugh3: That definitely explains everything! Now, exactly what sort of hats does this U2 band wear, and what could they be hiding up in there?

> Which all leads me back to the central issue of the money behind the candidates being used to sell the candidates on TV. True, smart is better, ethical is best, but what sells is often what gets past the censors upstairs in the minds of the viewers. Since it's 50-50, that leaves it up to the last-minute undecided voters! But either way, the financing is too similar, too much, too lopsided, and that turns off a large number of voters. And those who take the most get in, generally speaking - negative campaign ads get results. Yes, some of those wonderful conservatives are uber-wealthy megalomaniacs, which is part of the plutocracy gumming up our democracy. But for the true conservatives, the Eisenhower conservatives, I really wish they held more cache within the Republican camp. Sensible people deserve the best chance of getting elected, and for that we need campaign finance reform, if necessary an amendment.

> Yes, it's almost as though if you just put on the "all-American" cheese label, that alone sways the simpletons. I was pondering the though that perhaps since things in the modern world have gotten so complicated, the desire for simple isms and folksy language has an even stronger appeal than ever before among those who feel overwhelmed by modernity. Then what seems to matter in times of uncertainty is someone who can make the masses feel confident in selecting a comfortable sounding candidate they identify with. With that, throw in God, Country, Apple Pie, Big Daddy and Den Mama, Flags aloft, and you're set. Oh, and do the USA USA USA USA chant too. After all, George Bush was a cheerleader for Yale once!:laugh3: But yes, it's quite embarrassing the people who make their way into high office sometimes. That's why it's up to us, the rational thinking Americans, to make sure we show up to vote!