All-Electric Cars: Making a Comeback

Electric vehicles, including some pretty stylish models, were introduced in California way back in the 90's, and were getting quite popular. If not for a change in the law that had forced the car companies to come up with these new models, we would probably have far more of them on the road now, and be that much farther along in the battle to beat global warming. But, no... The oil and car companies fought the zero-emissions law and won, and thousands of all-electric cars -- which had been leased, not sold -- were recalled and destroyed.

After that, due to environmental concern and consumer demand, hybrids were brought on the scene, which of course, still used gasoline. Finally, it appears the all-electric vehicles are poised to make a comeback, and I say, it's about time!

Check out this recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle by Michael Taylor:

All-Electric Cars About to Be Resurrected
"The all-electric car, which had a brief heyday less than a decade ago and then went the way of the dodo, killed off by the car companies, is about to make a comeback. These silent electric autos will be plugged into home outlets at night and during the day will be able to travel 100 miles or more without stopping for a charge. Nissan said recently it has developed a mass-market electric car, due out by the end of next year, that will seat five and can have its battery charged to 80 percent of capacity in 26 minutes."

Earth Day - a good time to view this video

If you missed this episode of NOW on PBS, I urge you to check it out... this article has a link to viewing it online. An excellent, beautiful and disturbing documentary. With all the problems, economic, energy, environmental, etc, that we're dealing with, it's easy to get numb to the global warming threat. But it's real and progressing.

NOW | On Thin Ice
http://www.truthout.org/042009U
Seventy-five percent of the world's fresh water is stored in glaciers, but scientists predict climate change will cause some of the world's largest glaciers to completely melt by 2030. What effect will this have on our daily lives, especially our water and food supply? With global warming falling low on a national list of American concerns, it's time to take a deeper look at what could be a global calamity in the making.

Right-wing slime machine working overtime

The right-wing media is doing all it can to vilify Obama, not waiting for the next election to ramp up their slime machine. That's all they ever do, it's all they know how to do, is bash liberals. You won't hear a word about any type of alternative policy proposals, or any real intellectual debate, just slime directed at the man who embarrassed them in November.

President Obama inherited a terrible situation, it's not going to be easy getting the economy back on track. I don't agree with everything he's doing, but no matter what course you pick in the face of such a confluence of disastrous events as we're experiencing now, you're going to have detractors. And you're not even going to be able to see if your plan is working for months or years.

His foreign policy makes a lot more sense than the political isolationism Bush brought (other than his military forays, of course, which were a disaster -- another thing Obama has to deal with).

Republicans, don't believe everything Fox News and the rest of the hate media have to say. As I recall, when Bush was in the White House, their mantra was, "If you didn't support the president, you are unpatriotic." Now they call the president a socialist, a fascist and every other damaging term they can conjure up, and it's supposed to be ok. Very hypocritical.

Their rants are getting so paranoid, people like Fox's Glenn Beck are calling for revolution. This is inspiring idiots like the guy who shot the cops the other day, because he was afraid Obama was going to take his guns away.

The Republicans are showing themselves as immature, terrible losers. Instead of fomenting fear and paranoia, they should be looking at themselves to figure out why the voting populace rejected them.

George W. Bush Presidential Librarium plans revealed!

Good news!

Although completion of the George W. Bush Presidential Library at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas may be stalled indefinitely, due to an apparent lack of funding and support, all hope is not lost.

An architecture firm has unveiled plans for a George W. Bush Presidential "Librarium!"

Explore the exciting features of this much-more-fun-than-a-silly-library librarium! Move your mouse around to zoom in on exhibits and rides and read about them. Oh, fun! W will be remembered after all!

http://www.goodnightbush.com/librarium/

Tell your reps: Support the public health care option!

To my mind, it is critical to do all we can right now to pressure Congress to support the public health care option.

MoveOn.org says:

Exciting news on health care: The New York Times editorial page joined Paul Krugman, Dr. Howard Dean, and 77 progressives in Congress in support of President Obama's public health insurance option. This option is the key to finally covering everyone and lowering premiums by as much as 30 percent.

All this momentum means the right-wing fear mongering about "socialized medicine," is only going to get louder. And the insurance industry is ramping up its campaign to stop this critical reform as we speak. That means we'll need to work hard to make sure others in Congress are demanding a public health insurance option too.

I agree. This is the first real opportunity we've had in decades to get real health care reform, and the public health care option in particular will give people the option of bypassing the greedy insurance industry.
Please take a few minutes to call your representatives and sign this petition.

It's a small effort to make for a healthier future for our country. Thanks.

Dean campaigning for public health insurance option (Medicare-type option for all)

Good news!

Gov. Howard Dean (an M.D., remember), has declared he's hitting the road to campaign for a health care plan that will give people the right to choose a Medicare-type option.

In his announcement, he said:

During the election, President Obama proposed a health care plan that would give every American the freedom to choose between keeping their private insurance—if they have any—and choosing a universally available public health insurance option like Medicare.

But for-profit insurance companies and HMOs are already working hard to strip this public health insurance option from any upcoming health care bill. They don't want us to have a choice, and they'll stop at nothing to kill real reform. Trouble is, some in Congress are siding with the insurance companies—and against what's best for the rest of us.

Today, we draw a line in the sand. A public health insurance option is the only way to guarantee health care for all Americans. And to show that we mean business, we all need to tell Congress we won't settle for less.

We need a single-payer system for the most efficient, humane system overall, but at the minimum, people should be able to choose a medicare-for-all type option. Gov. Dean's rhetoric suggests Obama would sign such a health care bill, which surprised me, as I thought he was not open to that when he said single-payer was off the table.

I believe providing this sort of choice is the way to real, needed change in the way we provide health care coverage in this country. I think it will end up proving that most people already want single-payer, and many more will figure out it's the best way to go when they see the choice.

Please go here to sign Dean's petition, and please agitate as strongly as you can for a public health insurance option!