apple juice

Every morning when I drive to work, I pass an bright yellow H2. It is parked, in the driveway. The owner’s brand new house and garage do not accomodate the size of his new vehicle.

In the winter when I passed this vehicle, everyday, exhaust billowed out of the tailpipe as the owner warmed it up.

One day I actually saw this car in motion. (I was running a little late) Amazingly, I saw the length of the trip. I saw it back out of the driveway. Start down the street, pull across the street onto my side of the street, drive down to the corner and stop. His daughter was in the front seat. They were waiting for the school bus. 1 block away.

As I was taking evasive manuveurs to avoid crashing into this hulking mass, I stared, dumbfounded, as I passed. He gave me the finger.

I didn’t flash my brights, honk my horn or do anything of that nature. I was confused. He gave ME the finger.

His wife drives a bright yellow “sport edition” Cavalier. It looks like Nascar barfed all over this car. (Racing stripes and what not.) I pass her when I leave work in the afternoon. She drives really fast through her neighborhood. So fast that the old guys at the retirement homes shake their fists as she drives by.

There has been a bunch of press about the SUV small business credit. Write off up to $50k on an SUV for your business! What a deal! The H2 has a giant sticker on it for what I can only assume is his small business.

Today there was a new hulking mass of steel in front of H2 Man’s House. Some sort of vehicle from the 50’s, white washed tires, the length of 3 of my cars. Texas plates.

These are the conclusions I have drawn:

• If Texas were to secede, and Puerto Rico became a state:
• We wouldn’t have to change the flag.
• GWB would no longer be eligible for another term.
• The NRA could move there, and leave us all alone.
• If fuel were $4/gal:
• People would think a bit more before purchasing such a huge vehicle.
• Americans would be skinnier.
• We would have more rail transit.
• We would pollute less.
• I am a giant hypocrite.
• I drive 1.9 miles to work everyday.
• I could ride my bike to work, but don’t.
• My furnace is from 1967.

Here’s what I would like to see happen.

• Give a tax credit to vehicles that get “really good” mileage.
• Fully fund rail transportation in this country and in our state. (Pass the Northstar!)
• Expand the hiawatha light rail line into a whole system of light rail.
• Tax fuel to pay for all this.
• Get Texas to secede

Happy hour with George and Dick

The president did not mention, but we will remind everyone, that the White House historically has made the commission’s work more difficult. Indeed, if it was up to the White House, the panel would not even exist. The White House opposed the creation of the 9/11 commission in the first place, and tried to cut its funding after it was created. It has been slow to produce documents from the Bush and Clinton White Houses. Bush tried in vain to speak only to the two co-commissioners, not the entire commission, and for only one hour. Condoleezza Rice initially refused to appear in public and under oath before the panel, and did so only after the White House struck a deal that the panel could not call any other White House officials to do the same. These are the people who have “nothing to hide.”

There is an excessively linked version of the above paragraph at the salon website.

It just kills me when I hear quotes about Bush and Cheney’s testimony like,

“there were no tense moments”

“there were moments of laughter”

“I wish the American people could have seen it.”

I would like to know exactly what the hell could be worth laughing about when you’re discussing the events that led to the deaths of 3,000 people?

To be fair, those came from Former Govenor of Illinois, John Thompson. And he seems to be a bit of a looney. Most of the quotes from commision seem to indicate that it was a good session. But why did they confiscate all the notebooks after the session, why could there not be a stenographer? Why no recordings or TV cameras. Why Bush and Cheney together?

In yet another excellent (and heavily link referenced) salon.com article, author Joe Conason examines some recent comments by Karen Hughes. Entitled: Karen Hughes’ high-octane gall, I highly suggest you read it. (blah blah premium ad view)

The gripping but brief account of Bush’s training and service ends vaguely, with this sentence: “I continued flying with my unit for the next several years.” That’s false; he quit flying after less than two years. He and his ghostwriter don’t mention that he quit flying no later than August 1972, after he missed a flight physical and was suspended. His disappearance into Alabama to work on a Republican Senate race, when he was supposed to be pulling duty, is also left out.

On that chapter’s concluding page, Bush proclaims: “I am proud of my service. Yet I know it was nothing comparable to what our soldiers and pilots were doing in battle in Vietnam.” Having written those words, Hughes should remember them whenever she feels the urge to demean Kerry, who still carries a piece of shrapnel in his left buttock. And should she open her mouth about this subject again, someone should ask her what the president did with his medals.

I will send $50 to any reporter that has this exchange with a “high-ranking” member of the Bush administration or Bush campaign:

High-Ranking Person: And John Kerry threw his medals away! The Traitor! He is unfit to be President!

Soon-to-be-$50-richer reporter: And what did President Bush do with his medals from his service in Vietnam?

Send me your article from the major news organization that employs you, and I will paypal you $50

Let me once again suggest my daily reads for news:

• salon.com
• Slate.com

Those two are all you need.

Is anyone going to the Living Green Expo in Minneapolis next weekend? Does anyone from Minneapolis actually read this site? Feel free to add a comment if you have answers to either of those burning questions.

I was hoping to go check it out, but time on the weekends is a hot commodity right now. Going to random expos in my leisure is among the things I hope to do once we move up there. But for now, the weekends are filled with action and little downtime.

I wonder how this device will compare to the iTrip, for which I wrote a quick review. It’s called the PodFreq from Sonnet.

It appears to have a few things going for it that iTrip and other FM transmitters don’t have.

• An external antenna.
• External Controls for the frequency

I don’t actually have a 3rd Generation iPod, so I will have to convince one of my friends to purchase a PodFreq so I can check it out. Unless of course someone wants to buy me a new iPod?

Aside from the title: GOP “playa hatas” this is another excellent article from Salon.com (and the image of Rush with Andre 3000 is awesome)

“Hip-hop transcends race in America,” Chavis adds. “That’s the greatest fear of the right wing: a generation who would dare to transcend racial division and embrace a vision of a new America that is more inclusive.”

AlterNet: O Canada; Oy Vey United States

The U.S. and Canada share a common border and much else. We are alike ethnically and economically. We eat the same foods. We watch the same movies. We speak the same language. But we think and act differently. And this difference has become more and more evident in recent months.

We’re moving to Canada.