Archive for April, 2006

“But hybrids don’t really save you any money…”

I’ve been meaning to write a blurb about this for a long time. I am so fed up with all of the articles out there proclaiming that you don’t save money by getting a hybrid, because the fuel economy savings are not enough to make up for the increased price of the vehicle. I’m not fed up because they’re wrong; they may very well be right. It might be taking me six or seven years to break even for having bought a Prius instead of a Corolla.

Everyone is so damned concerned about saving money that they ignore the reason that hybrids were created in the first place. They don’t pollute! Or at least they are ultra-low pollution vehicles (mine is a SULEV- super ulta low emissions vehicles). I got the damn car because we treat our planet like shit, and I just wanted to do a little something to make it better. It just so happens that the way it’s designed, it gets pretty good gas mileage, too.

People who drive hybrids don’t get tax breaks and get to drive in the HOV lanes because they’re using less gas than everyone else. They’re being rewarded for not polluting.

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2339

Damn me and my constant news-reading. Inevitably, I come across a story like this (don’t click on link if you don’t want to get angry or depressed), and I’m left numb and can’t focus on anything else.

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2333

Senators to push for $100 gas rebate checks

This is absurd. I’ve had enough whining from Americans about gas prices.

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First smoking, now foie gras…what’s next? Sex?

Chicago bans foie gras in restaurants

“It’s terrible!” chef Didier Durand, proprietor of Cyrano’s Bistro and a spokesman for the Illinois Restaurant Association, told AFP.

“In Chicago they banned smoking (in restaurants) now foie gras – what’s next? Sex?”

The ban is an attack on personal freedom and will lower the “gastronomic level” of the city, Didier said.

Yay for animal rights. Too bad for Didier. Nice to read about a good ban for a change, as opposed to Georgia school boards trying to ban Harry Potter.

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American Idol!

Something different for change–my worthless opinions on American Idol performances. I caught it last week, and just about everyone did a great job with their selections from “The Great American Song Book”. Tonight’s theme was “love songs”.

Katharine – thought she awesome and looked stunning; the judges were all over her for bad pitch and stretching her vocals; I thought she was fine (she sang “I Have Nothing”)
Elliott – talented, but he bored me; maybe I just didn’t like the Donny Hathaway song; I don’t get why Paula was crying
Kellie – “I don’t have anyone to play pottery with”; she’s sweet; but her “Unchained Melody” fell flat; I feel so bad for her
Paris – Not much range on her “Memories”; I recall her being great last week, but not this week
Taylor – love the song “Just Once”; hated the arrangement with the backup singers; he was ok
Chris – “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman”; I’m not a big fan of the Bryan Adams recording and actually liked Chris’s better; judges agreed with me.

Last week, my favorites were Katharine and Chris; same this week; I’d vote for Chris if I were voting; don’t feel like re-dialing all night.

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Duke on Newsweek’s cover

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12442765/site/newsweek/

Whatever sells magazines, I suppose. It’s a good article, though, covering several angles. I learned some things I didn’t know before, but I still don’t have an overall judgment on what happened. The lacrosse players are assholes, regardless of their guilt or innocence. But if they are innocent, their lives are ruined, and they don’t quite deserve that. If they are guilty, we’ll probably never know, because it’s hard to imagine the DA getting convictions.

Sadly, I don’t think the culture at Duke is going to change. It seems that the arrogant and obnoxious are making no apologies for past behavior. Alumni think what’s happening to the lacrosse team is unfair. I’m embarrassed to be an alum when I hear some of their remarks.

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Bush at 33% approval

And this is Fox News poll.

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Duke lacrosse rape suspect into human cloning

My name is Collin Finnerty and I am currently a freshman at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. I am joined here at Duke by my brother Kyle who is currently a junior. I am from Long Island, New York and attended Chaminade High School in Mineola. I am part of a family of five kids and parents who maintain a healthy relationship. My interest in human cloning has been ever present since the attempts on Dolly the sheep hit the media. I have been closely following the technological and scientific advances that have been made in the past few years. The endless possbilities cloning, both positive and negative, could provide, is what makes the entire topic so intriguing for me.

http://www.duke.edu/~chf2/aboutme.html

I somehow doubt that Collin got into Duke on his academic credentials.

No webpage for Reade Seligmann. All I’ve learned about him this morning is that he apparently has $40,000 sitting in the bank so that he can post bond.

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Spot on Aremid’s head

There’s a small round spot on Aremid’s head, right above one of his eyes, in which there’s no hair. I just noticed it a couple of days ago. There is no evidence of a wound or a scab. The circle is slightly smaller than a pencil eraser It doesn’t look like anything to be concerned about, but I post this in case someone has ever observed something similar.

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Gmail skins

Another way to make things easier on the eyes…if you use Gmail and Firefox, there’s an extension that lets you customize the color scheme for Gmail.

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