A race to benefit our future - another to remember our past

          Two big car races coming up next year will have something for everyone in America. I’m not talking NASCAR here. These two races represent wildly opposite sides of the experience of owning and driving a car.

The first race, set for April 2009, is a competition to promote fuel-efficient vehicles. It’s a race for Progressive Automobile X Prize and the winners  will drive across America in vehicles that exceed 100 mpg with some strict emissions caps.

The one that finishes with the fastest time, like any race, will be the winner.

This winner will get $10 million dollars. In case you think you can run into your garage and whip up an entry, forget it.

It’s open to big and small car manufacturers. The race is sponsored by the X PRIZE Foundation, an educational non-profit institute whose mission is to promote radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity.
        Among 70 teams from 12 countries is Tata Motors Limited of the United Kingdom. I recently wrote about their relationship with Motor Development International (MDI), and the production of air cars in India. For more information, Google citycataircar.com , an informative site for the scoop on compressed-air-technology vehicles. This race will have two classes; mainstream and alternative. Tata Motors will probably enter their air car in the mainstream category. You don’t get any cleaner than zero emissions, and that’s what this country really needs.
       On the home front, Western Washington University and Hybrid Electric Vehicle Technologies Inc. of Chicago, think they have a winning entry. Canada weighs in with an entry from Motive Industries.
        This race is set to start in New York City. The route is booked through nine major cities and the organizers are still looking for other cities to host stages of this year-long competition. I hope this race may prove that a viable alternative to fossil fuels can be mass produced soon.
        Then there’s another race with nothing at stake.
          An organization called Great Race Sports has announced that they will hold a re-enactment of the original Great Race of 1908 from New York to Paris.

They were hoping to do it this year, but you’ll never guess what happened. The Chinese government revoked travel permits for foreigners throughout their country after demonstrations in Tibet over the Olympic Torch Run.
          So the Great Race won’t have it’s 100-year anniversary re-enactment right on time, but better late than never. When the old gas guzzlers get going next year the destination will be Los Angeles, where they’ll  pay some of the highest gas prices in the country. I don’t know if that will dampen their spirits, but if they can afford to drive those antiques across the country I guess the price of gas isn’t an issue.
           The organizers are careful to point out that they will follow the original route, which  ought to be interesting. There have been a few changes in the highway system since 1908. Antique car lovers will swoon when those beauties cruise through their towns.
         A funny spoof of this race was a 1965 movie, called appropriately, “The Great Race.” It starred Jack Lemon, Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood, and won four Oscars.
          I find the differences between these two races to be ironic, and perhaps a social statement. We still revere our gas guzzlers in spite of the economy and global warming..
           Whoever wins the Automotive X Prize, I hope they mass produce their entry for the immediate benefit of the American people. We really need an alternate energy vehicle.
           I’m not against having some fun. The Great Race re-enactment promises to entertain car buffs across the nation. However, the X Prize race obviously  has more to offer all of us than  a nostalgic ride in some shiny gas hogs.
           Next year I’ll follow the progress of these two wildly different races and if they both actually happen, I’ll share the results with you.
          As It Stands, in this competitive world it seems like we’re all in some kind of race.

Four Seasons are cleverly combined in these photographs

  

The four seasons are depicted in each photo using a little digital magic I presume.

Thanks to Spluch for the pictures. You could call it unreal beauty!

  

The Good News: Dubya's Days are Numbered - 41 & counting!

Like millions of other Americans, I'm thrilled to see Dubya's departure from Washington isn't long now.

True to form, he's busy trying to sneak in last-minute laws to benefit his cronies. But, don't worry. He'll be checkmated by Congress though. I checked.

The world is not going to miss this clown. His legacy will be that he's the worst president this country ever had! In eight short years, he and Cheney have pillaged federal funds and deregulated financial markets, leading to our modern Depression.

I wish people would quit calling it a "recession" and other bullshit buzz names. That's Republican talk. Reality says it's a Depression. Yes...we have a lot to thank Dubya for. 

Philanthropist creates mobile shelters for homeless people

  

Peter Samuelson (above) invented the EDAR - Everyone Deserves A Roof - to meet the needs of homeless people. Samuelson, who is also a film producer - "Revenge of the Nerds" - saw the need for a snug shelter for people who are homeless. The EDAR is a cross between a shopping cart and a pop-up camper.

According to a 2007 homeless census there are 73,000 homeless people in Los Angeles alone. A year ago, Samuelson created the EDAR Foundation whose slogan is, "Thinking Outside The Box." The EDAR was developed and currently costs about $500 a unit, which Samuelson thinks will go down to $400 a unit when mass produced.

Three months ago he gave out 60 of the units for testing purposes. By working with charities, like the Mission in downtown LA, he was able to identify people with the most need of the EDAR. His hope is that more organizations will buy the units to give out to those in desperate need.

Samuelson, who started the Starlight Foundation three years ago, is a man who believes in helping others with his wealth. The Starlight Foundation is an international charity that provides psychological and social services to seriously ill children and their families. For more information about the EDAR Google www.edar.org

All I can say about this wonderful man is "The planet needs more people like him!"

Outstanding Original Origami Artwork by Taketori

  

The ancient art of origami dictates that you can only use one piece of paper, and

that no glue or clips can be used. It's amazing how this art is created by folding it

numerous times. Photos from "Damn Cool Pics." 

 

Here's a sophisticated home defense system in disguise

So you're lying on the couch when you hear someone trying to get in your front door!

You jump up, grab the end-table/weapon, and in the dark (mind you) you take it apart and are ready for war with however comes through that door!

When friends come by and ask about your odd end table you can take them into your confidence and display the table's hidden function. What fun!

Can you imagine the perplexed home invader when he sees you standing there with a table top attached to your arm and the leg clutched in your steady hand?

That will give him pause...before he shoots you!

Jet crashes into San Diego neighborhood: three known dead

A F/A-18D Hornet from the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, was on a routine training mission when something went wrong with one of the engines. It was trying to land at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar when the pilot had to eject as the plan spiraled downward. The pilot was unhurt.

Illinois Gov. Blagojevich arrested & charged with corruption!

Governor Rod Blagojevich was charged yesterday with conspiring to get financial benefits through his authority to appoint a U.S. Senator to fill the vacancy left by Barack Obama's election as president.

  He was also charged with threatening to withhold state assistance to Tribune Co., owner of the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, and the Chicago Cubs.

The FBI produced a 76-page affidavit detailing the charges against Blagojevich. Court-authorized wiretaps have revealed the information over a three-year period.

 The wire taps were in place right up to this month. The irony of this sting operation is that Blagojevich made public comments about possibly being wire-tapped last month.

Experts say there are numerous way to protect your job...

 

 

Times are hard and people are doing everything theycan to keep their jobs.

I've heard that you are supposed to make yourself invaluable to your boss by multi-tasking.

 Beside always being on time, and always ready to get the boss a cop of coffee, employees must be prepared to do what it takes to please their boss.

 Brown-nosing is now the 21st Century tool for keeping your job.

 A good brown-noser can expect to be the last one laid off before the company goes kaput!

Monday Musings: what's popular with readers recently

This last week has seen the post "Optical Illusions: How many faces can you count?" go International and National, as readers puzzled over it.

 I got my first visitor from China yesterday - Shenzhen, Guangdong, China - and whoever it was, they enjoyed the Optical Illusion post.

 A reader from Madres, Tamil Nadu, India, was another Optical Illusion viewer. Someone in orebro, Orebro Lan, Sweden, also stopped by to check out the Optical Illusion post.

A Jakarta, Jakarta Raya, Indonesia, reader stopped to read about my post on chess - RETI Gambit Opening Theme and fun way to fight the French Defense.

Painting by Penguins and other Animals, was viewed by a reader in Bergen, Hordaland, Norway.

My post on - Slinky Co-Founder, Betty James, passes away at 90 - was viewed by some in Makati, Rizal, Philippines. A viewer from Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia, found the - Monster Pumpkin Feeds on Lesser Gourds! - post amusing. Another viewer from Staffordshire, United Kingdom, found the - Graffiti Art Stretches Across America's Ghettos - interesting.

A couple of Canadians - one from Ottawa, Ontario, and the other from Mission, British Columbia, stopped by two visit. The first looked at the post - Watch Out For Weird Trick-or-Treaters -  and the other one checked out - Looking Like Christmas at Nana and Papa's House.

Other international readers in the last 48 hours include, Dechtice Trnava, Slovakia; Woking Surrey, United Kingdom; Cardiff, United Kingdom; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Bradford, United Kingdom; Quebec, Canada; Raahe Oulu, Finland, and Elgin Moray, United Kingdom.

Tribune Company is exploring bankruptcy filing

         The company that owns the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Chicago Cubs baseball team is preparing for a possible bankruptcy filing as it attempts to renegotiate $12 billion in debt with banks and other creditors, a Tribune Co. executive said Sunday.

Tribune and many other newspaper owners, already hurting from the migration of advertising revenue to the Internet, have suffered even bigger setbacks amid the broad economic downturn.

Other media companies, such as Freedom Communications Inc., which operates the Orange County Register, have been struggling with their debt.

The newspaper industry continues to see extraordinary declines in ad revenues, and Tribune is no exception.
The company -- owner of eight newspapers, 23 television stations and other assets, including a share of the Food Network -- has laid off hundreds of employees and combined operations in an attempt to pay its bills.