Archive for May, 2007
May 31st, 2007 by Eric
Gasoline. Diesel. Electricity. Ethanol. Propane. Methane. Hydrogen. Solar. Biodiesel. Natural gas. Vegetable oil. Air? Yep, air. Ex-Formula One engineer, Guy Negre, has developed an engine that runs on compressed air. Here it is from EcoGeek.org:
The Air Car uses compressed air to push its engine’s pistons. It is anticipated that approximately 6000 Air Cars will be cruising the streets of India by 2008. If the manufacturers have no surprises up their exhaust pipes the car will be practical and reasonably priced. The CityCat model will clock out at 68 mph with a driving range of 125 miles.
Here’s how it works. A lightweight, carbon-fiber, air tank holds 3,000 psi. That air runs the engine at lower speeds, primarily in the city, up to that 125-mile range. At higher speeds and longer distances, most models will adapt by using fuel engine to assist or to refill the air tank, in a similar fashion to today’s gas/electric hybrids. That technology would likely “squeeze” a cross-country trip out of a single tank of air.
There are two refueling options. The vehicles come with a built-in air compressor that plugs in to a standard outlet and takes about four hours to “filler-up.” If you’re lucky enough to drive by an increasingly ubiquitous (in India, at least) custom air pump. All that plus zero tailpipe emissions.
The CityCat model is being developed by the Indian automobile manufacturing company, Tata Motors. With the number of new drivers in India and China skyrocketing, it nice to know that some of them will have zero impact on the environment and won�t contribute much to the global fuel economy. We could afford to take a recycled page from that book on this side of the pond.
It hard to believe that there could be naysayers when it comes to air-powered vehicles, but naysayers there are. Their paper-thin argument is that it still takes electricity to fill the air tanks and that electricity usually comes from burning coal. While true, even at four hours fill-up time the carbon emission and the cost is a drop in the proverbial bucket. And, sure, it’s not exactly vehicular “eye candy,” but that seems like a small price to pay.
As an added bonus, since the process of compressing air creates heat, the exhaust of these vehicles is cold air. A quick redirect of that air into the cabin and…. Ahhh. Plus, no more expensive air-conditioning repairs. This technology is definitely a “breath of fr…., okay, I won’t say it.
May 31st, 2007 by Matt
Besides being the greatest tune John Lennon inked post-Beatles, Instant Karma is a new campaign being waged by Amnesty International to help stop the genocide in Darfur. Officially called “Instant Karma: The Campaign to Save Darfur,” the project is fairly simple in its action, fairly Incredible-Hulk-powerful in its aim.
As we noted two Wednesdays ago, the situation in Darfur, Sudan isn’t “a situation” at all: it’s a mass-killing, a raping and pillaging, and a starvation of innocent and helpless Sudanese people. In short, it’s one of the most horrific human rights catastrophe imaginable. And it’s happening while much of the world watches at best, ignores at worst.
So Amnesty International has teamed with Yoko Ono and 50 musical artists to record an album of Lennon’s songs. But it’s not limited to the music. The music is simply a vehicle calling for action.
According to the site:
The CD, “Instant Karma: The Campaign to Save Darfur,” will be released by Warner Brothers Records and arrive in stores the week of June 12th. Additional singles from the album will be released leading up to the full album, along with special product offers coupled with opportunities to take action. Proceeds derived from the entire campaign will go directly to support Amnesty International’s urgent work on Darfur and other human rights crises worldwide.
So you’ll get a disc with phenomenal covers of phenomenal songs, and you’ll help protect the innocent. Three of the songs — covered by Green Day, R.E.M., and Los Lonely Boys — are already available for download through iTunes.
But if you swing by the site, you can do even more by taking simple actions of your own. From the Instant Karma “Take Action” page, you can sign a petition to President Bush urging him to use the UN to create a peacekeeping force that can protect the people of Darfur and of Chad, and to take the necessary actions to stabilize the region. You can also write your Senators and Representative in Congress to do several things in their power, not the least of which is funding the necessary peacekeepers. You can also join Amnesty International — it’s easy, trust us.
So, in short, look for the album come June 12th. Sign the petition. Write your members of Congress. Protect innocent people suffering atrocities we could only concoct in our worst nightmares. Let’s not wait a moment longer. It shouldn’t take another 300,000 people slaughtered to finally wake up.
May 30th, 2007 by Progressive Wednesday
Problem:
Yes, yes, yes, dear readers, I realize that Memorial Day was “celebrated” on Monday, but there’s two things to consider: first, Memorial Day is actually today, May 30, we just “observed” it on Monday; second, it seems odd to us that we’d remember those who’ve died in the name of our country for only 24 hours, if that. The majority of us, yours truly included, spent the vacation day gobbling bratwurst and watching baseball on the idiot box.
So, this Wednesday, this Memorial Day Wednesday, we’re going to do something for the troops so they needn’t just be in our memories.
But that’s not the biggest problem we’re facing today. Today, we’re facing a continuation of our senseless occupation of Iraq. On Friday, May 25, I realized, once again, why I belong to no political party: politicians aren’t listening to the people, the 9/11 Commission, the Iraq Study Group, or the rest of the free and not-so-free world. The Democratically controlled Congress and the Republican president just agreed to legislation to continue funding our occupation of Iraq with no end in sight (I suppose “never” is technically a time, but it’s rather far off).
An occupation can only end two ways: annexation or withdrawal. Since we’d rather have Puerto Rico or the District of Columbia as the 51st state, we’re calling for an immediate withdrawal from Iraq.
Opponents of a troop withdrawal, the few that remain, may say that to do so will destabilize the region. I’m fairly certain — if there’s any accuracy to the news we’re streamed every day — that the region is pretty well destabilized. I’m fairly certain that those destabilizing the region either despise us, fear us, or are us. But in none of those cases does that mean the Iraqis want to listen to us, particularly if what they’re hearing is mortar shells and machine guns and violent knocks on their doors. Opponents of withdrawal (which I suppose means they want to add Iraq as a state) also spew things like: “If we don’t fight the terrorists there, we’ll fight them here.” Seeing as the vast majority of terrorists don’t live in Iraq, I’m pretty sure our 160,000 troops in that country aren’t actually not fighting many of the world’s terrorists.
Let’s get something straight and straighten out our diction: we are not mired in a “civil war.” We are mired in an occupation of a sovereign country, a country of approximately 27,500,000 people. And we’ve slaughtered at least 64,333 of those civilians for no ties to 9/11, for no ties to weapons of mass destruction, for no semblance of a peaceful democracy.
And the potential blowback from our occupation is rather terrifying. Blowback — not our freedoms, not our wealth, not our (somewhat) equal treatment of women, and not even our McRestaurants — caused 9/11. If we want peace on our land and on others, the sooner we withdraw, the better. We want the world community to respect us, and this is best achieved through a good example (and not imposing), through peace, through fair trade, through humanitarian missions and actions.
So let�s let logic rule this Memorial Day Wednesday. It’s time that we at Progressive Wednesday — our valiant staff and our dedicated readers — take a stand.
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Make Progress:
3,454 American troops have died because of our occupation of Iraq. And here’s another sobering factoid: “In the period from Memorial Day 2006 through Saturday, 980 soldiers and Marines died in Iraq, compared to 807 deaths in the previous year.”
On top of that ugly fact — with 114 American casualties in Iraq this month, May 2007 becomes the third deadliest month since the occupation began, and the highest total deaths since November 2004. In other words, our time in Iraq is getting worse.
So our goal this here Wednesday is simple: let us help bring an end to this mess as soon as possible, and let us properly remember those who’ve fought in our name. Can we? We can. Enough said.
Let’s put away the ketchup and mustard, let’s put the volleyball nets back in the shed, let’s put the kids to bed, and let’s do something. Let us all — united together by the name of our country and our shared values — do something powerfully patriotic.
May 30th, 2007 by Progressive Wednesday
Salute:
We believe the best tribute to our sisters and brothers — those soldiers who’ve served and lived and those we, as a country, have laid to rest — is to help end the occupation of Iraq. As such, we’d like to point you to a fantastic organization trying to do just that: Iraq Veterans Against the War. If you want to help convince the paltry number of those around who think we should stick it out in Iraq with no end in sight, check out IVAW’s webpage for information — they outline it in a pithy and powerful way.
The IVAW calls for the following:
- Immediate withdrawal of all occupying forces in Iraq;
- Reparations for the destruction and corporate pillaging of Iraq so that Iraqi people can control their own lives and future; and
- Full benefits, adequate health care (including mental health), and other supports for returning servicemen and women.
We�re not sure if we could agree more. And what does the IVAW do? Four biggies include:
- Educating the public about the occupation of Iraq through speaking engagements and by contacting the media.
- Speaking to classrooms about the realities of being a soldier.
- Supporting “Conscientious Objectors and others facing military prosecution for their refusal to fight.”
- Pushing for “full funding for the Veterans Administration, and full quality health treatment (including mental health) and benefits for veterans when they return from duty.”
We still haven’t heard anything to disagree with. There are plenty of other organizations fighting to end this occupation. But we think this one has more umph than some of the others. So, here’s the deal: just give five. That’s it. Just give five measly smackers to a fantastic organization doing what those of us without military service can’t do: tell the absolute truth about war. Give by clicking this sentence.
On behalf of our troops, thank you in advance.
May 30th, 2007 by Progressive Wednesday
Watch:
My hombres and mujeres, if you’re somehow not convinced this occupation must end, or if you are convinced but want more fuel for your intellectual and emotional fire, just watch any of the three videos below:
See how well America Halliburton America mistreats our soldiers:
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See the faces of men preparing to return to “normal” lives:
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See a veteran share a shocking recount of his experience in Iraq:
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To see, once again, what our soldiers go through every day, just click this sentence. Please don’t look away. And please remember what you see and hear: that’s true memorializing.
May 30th, 2007 by Progressive Wednesday
Read:
We’d like you to read just three Associated Press obituaries for soldiers who died in Iraq. The 3,454 dead aren’t just numbers. They’re not just names and faces. They’re victims gone forever, lost during an occupation built on lies, perpetuated by lies, continuing to take lives because of lies.
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Jay Thomas Aubin, 36, of Waterville, Maine. He was one of the first six soldiers killed in Iraq.
Marine Maj. Jay Thomas Aubin was so kind, so friendly that his Marine buddies nicknamed him “Sweet Pea.” “He could make a 7-year-old girl feel like she was as important as President Bush,” said his mother, Nancy Chamberlain. Aubin, 36, died March 21 in a helicopter crash in Kuwait, near the Iraqi border. He was stationed in Yuma, Ariz., and lived there with his wife, Rhonda Aubin, and their children, 10-year-old Alicia and Nathan, 7. He grew up in Skowhegan, Maine, and joined the Marines after high school. He served four years before going to the University of Southern Maine, then re-enlisted after graduation. “When he was 4 years old, we all went to the airport and he had sat on one of my airplanes like a grown man,” said his father, Tom Aubin, who operates a small airstrip in Texas.
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Melissa Hobart, 22, of Ladson, South Carolina.
Melissa J. Hobart had a tough start, dropping out of high school and getting her GED, but by the time she graduated as a medic in the Army, she was at the top of her class, friends and family said. “We came a long way from nothing and we made it pretty far,” said Gary Hobart, her brother. “She joined the service so her daughter wouldn’t have to face the hardships we faced as younger persons.” The 22-year-old from Ladson, S.C., collapsed while on guard duty and died June 6 in Baghdad. She was based at Fort Hood. Hobart was spunky and energetic: “She was always on the go and you couldn’t keep up with her,” said her mother, Constance Hobart. The solider played soccer, basketball, baseball and the flute and loved to dance and read, her mother said. The two used to fight over who would get first crack at each new Stephen King book. Other survivors include Gary Hobart, her father, and her 3-year-old daughter, Alexis McCabe.
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William R. Strange, 19, of Adrian, Georgia.
For Pfc. William Strange, being in the military was the first step toward success. “He told me, ‘I was going down the wrong road; I’m going into the service,’” said Daniel McCoy, police chief of Adrian, Ga. Strange’s girlfriend, Teri Peebles, said he had a plan to serve in the military, go to college and eventually marry her. Strange, 19, of Adrian, was killed April 2 when an improvised explosive device detonated in Baghdad where he was setting up an observation point. Strange, who graduated from high school in Swainsboro, Ga., was based at Fort Hood, Texas. “You could have given him a million dollars and I don’t think that would have made him as happy as being in the military,” said his sister, Tawanna Davis. Strange was an outgoing person who loved people and looked out for his family. “He would do crazy stuff just to make us laugh,” Davis said. “He would make funny faces. He didn’t like seeing people sad.”
May 30th, 2007 by Progressive Wednesday
Sign:
I’s been well-documented at this point that our returning soldiers are getting sub-par medical care, far worse than we’d wish on anyone, let alone women and men who’ve sacrificed their minds, bodies, and spirits in our name. So we think this item on this week’s “to-do” list falls under the category of “The Very Least We Can Do, Daddy-O and Mommy-O.”
All we’re asking you to do is to read over this petition provided by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America demanding improved mental health care for our returning vets. Then, please, please, please sign it.
Need some stats and info to better understand the importance of this? Then it’s stats and info you get:
- According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: “In 2002 and 2003, approximately 340,000 male veterans had co-occurring [serious mental illness] and a substance use disorder.” Male vets aged 18 to 25 had a significantly higher rate than those 26 to 54 or those aged 55 or older.
- The Office of Applied Studies, a federal organization, reports that: “In 2002 and 2003, two million of male veterans aged 18 or older were dependent on or abusing alcohol or illicit drugs.”
- From 2002 to 2005, approximately 19,000 veterans of the War in Iraq and the War in Afghanistan were treated for post-traumatic stress disorder at VA medical centers or VA Vet Centers. This is according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
- Again, according the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: “The group [of Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans] with the highest rate of risk for mental health problems and PTSD are those between 18 and 24. Young soldiers were three times as likely as those over 40 to be diagnosed with PTSD and/or another mental health disorder.”
- The Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors — a commission created by President Bush — found that: “The military system does not have enough resources, funding or personnel to adequately support the psychiatric health of service members and their families in peace and during conflict.”
- And it’s not just men afflicted: “Nationwide, the VA has diagnosed 4,000 women with PTSD.”
- It might be hard for those of us who haven�t experiences post-traumatic stress disorder to understand what that means. PTSD is a reaction to stressful events that can lead to flashbacks, nightmares, insomnia, anxiety attacks, outbursts of anger, depression, decreased self-esteem, loss of sustained beliefs about people or society, hopelessness, a sense of being permanently damaged, difficulties in previously established relationships, hyper-arousal (“jumpiness”), memory loss, emotional detachment and numbness, violence, alcohol and drug addiction, and suicide. (This information comes from a variety of sources: the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, the U.S. Public Health Service, and the National Institute of Mental Health, amongst others.)
- But to understand this further, it helps to read a personal account, which you can read by clicking this sentence.
So again, please sign the petition created by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. Just click this sentence. It’ll take you about 16 seconds.
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