The beginning of an article on the website
UM Solar reads:
The University of Michigan Solar Car Team has crossed the finish line for the 2008 North American Solar Challenge after traveling nearly 2400 miles from Plano, Texas to Calgary, Alberta. The team finished ten hours ahead of its nearest competitors to bring back Michigan's fifth National Championship in nine races.
While some would have us waste time drilling, and spilling in hopes of being independent from foreign energy source, and destroying our environment, they should be working to see that we keep these wonderful minds in the state to help us in the transition to alternative fuel sources.The only unanswered question on the minds of many in the state of Michigan is how much faster the car could have been had it been painted a more traditional racing color.
The beginning of an article on the website UM Solar reads:
Posts
14 comments:
Green and White would have been nice.
I have been reading futurist stuff, lately, and in fifty years it is expected that the USA will become the #4 country in the world. Ahead of the USA will be Brazil, where many of the great buses in Costa Rica come from. The typical person in the USA associates Brazil (if they can actually recall where it is) with naked savages along the banks of the Amazon trying to avoid man-eating fish.
My opinion is that the UofM is close enough to our decaying and obsolete car factories to suggest that perhaps the internal combustion engine is not even an option of importance anymore, and that the physics of transporting 200+# of lard inside a 4000+# HumVee is borderline insanity and absolutely stupid strategy.
Perhaps some of these college kids could build a bus that would compete with the Brazilians and hire some of the unemployed union people who are capable of competing in the global marketplace.
When the lure of our ostentatious lifestyle dulls a bit, the huge market in China will shift from illogical one-car, one-person, vehicles to transportation answers for multiple passengers.
We might be able to pay back what we borrowed with bus dollars.
Apparently Wolverines building something other than F150s is not very attractive.
Since this post is relatively private, I would like to suggest that the title of the poll be tweaked. Somewhere it should be pointed out that the race to the poll only relates to the Republican Primary. This should be the most significant race in the General Election of the entire Barry County fiasco.
After August 5, the Republican circus will be narrowed down to one ring, and that champion of all that is right with the USA will face a serious problem. Suddenly the focus will shift from the Republican clothesline and identical dirty shorts to the single standard bearer of the entire Democrat Party in Barry County. Go Rosemary!
Every time the word "Republican" gets used, an image of gun-slingers, violence, occupational troops into infinity, Whack-job fundamentalists, 911, County clericals, and other nightmare strategic policy failures will "surge" up from our digestive systems. What word describes best our reaction to the last endless years of hate and fear? ANGER!
Go Rosemary!
Somewhat like watching little kids blowing up balloons, all Rose will have to do is sit back and watch as the huffing and puffing inevitably ends with self-destruction.
All of the rest of the huffing and puffing will end on August 5, but whoever emerges from the Republican Primary for Ditch Commissioner will have the center ring all to himself, and at least half of the voters in the county are female. So what?
As wonderful as Green Gables is, it only scratches the surface of domestic violence in Barry County. Every woman voter knows a fellow female who is not being treated with respect. Do you suppose these ladies will miss the chance to take coup? Few have a dog in the Drain fight, or care about who runs the drain program, but recognizing the bravery of Rose to stand against the existing power structure has to be too tempting to ignore.
As the only game in town in November, Rose will represent the only Democrat in Barry County with enough courage to stand on her hind legs.
Rose will be facing the representative of violence, (if not the representative of national evil) and many former Republicans will come to the rescue of this damsel in distress.
While it may be true that the Ditch Commissioner probably can't bring home the troops, Rose's opponent will be seen as an advocate of invasion, perpetual occupation of sovereign nations, a frightener of little children, pandering to the oil barons, and the cause of rising fuel prices and refusal to agree to global treaties.
Go Rose!
Don't make a check mark! Blacken the eye-shaped balloon!
"Green, Green...."
"Green, Green ..."
"Pink up the dang phone!!!"
"Yellow, statue?"
grillo,
I have written it here before, it will not matter who gets the Reb. nod, come Nov. Anger will win out over barrel huggers every time.
If puppetmaster happens to win on 8-5-08, her margin will be double figures come Nov.
But, what you must remember is this, if puppetmaster wins, be prepared for an invesitgation to be launched looking into the drain comm. office and how it is run, don't be surprised if the now famous "E" word is used in the news confernece held on the lawn by "barney & big boy"
this will help get puppetmaster into office, so vote for Anger come Nov.
ts
Back to the thread on transportation....
GM just admitted to huge losses for the second quarter, caused by lower demand for guzzlers.
For clarification:
A "guzzler" is an auto with an internal combustion engine designed to haul one person. A "sucker" is a person who bought one.(The latter category includes banks who will be repossessing these in huge numbers, soon, and having less demand value than the balance of their unwise investments in obsolete collateral.)
Oh look! More endorsements in the Barry County races! www.RightCuz.com
DCuz
David, I tried to leave a comment on that blog but never got the e-mail to verify.
I would reccommed Carl Reed Jr for District 2 County Commissioner Thornapple and part of Irving townships. He is a fiscal conservative who is not a bored retiree, an ex-coach, or a puppet for the zoning guy.
Hi. It did post. Sometimes it takes a second or two. Thanks for doing so!
DCuz
The Big three have always built the wrong car at the wrong time. GM developed and built a pratical electric car and the scrapped the project and the cars, I don't have any sympathy for them.
A solar powered car is not practical. It just won't meet the needs of an average family. And it won't solve our energy woes.
We need a short term solution with a long term goal for alternate energy.
We have the oil we need if only the enviro-nazis would let us drill for it. E-85 isn't the answer either, it cost more to produce, it has to be subsidized to compete with gasoline, and its being made from corn that is used for feed. So we are paying to make the cost of food go up. Only the Federal governmet can create this kind of stupidity.
Gradually, due to the built-in "creative destruction" of the free-enterprise capitalist system, the inefficient and non-productive enterprises will fall by the wayside and be replaced by better ideas that are more sustainable. This works faster and better during times of stress, because consumers will give some thought to what they are buying.
The introduction of plastic money has slowed this down a bit, and the consequences for those that continue to borrow plastic money for consumables beyond their ability to pay will be very serious for all of us. At this point, the rising markets of China, India, and Brazil have not faced this distortion of false riches. When this happens, the entire world will face the limited financial collapse that we are starting to experience, and the situation may become worse than we know how to control. Imagine a retail industry being forced to revert back to cash.
Historically, the USA has been able to grow its way out of depressing conditions because increasing demand created opportunities within our borders. The coming problem is that the opportunities are now also available worldwide, and the more efficient suppliers are not in the USA. While we whine about the unfairness of unemployment, perceived environmental abuses, etc. the rubber hits the road when a worker in a low-wage country gets an opportunity to rise out of potential starvation.
If we are waiting for him to apologize for working his butt off for what we consider slave wages, don't hold your breath. He has to work hard in order to compete without our fancy automated machines. He is hoping to outproduce us while we are leaning on the water-cooler producing nothing except excuses.
The solution to our steadily increasing consumption of fossil energy is not in figuring out how we can continue without changing our behavior. This is basic high school economics. The only question is how high the price of fossil energy (gasoline, fuel oil, coal, etc.,etc.) will have to get before we change our wasteful uses. The chemical companies will outbid us for the remaining supplies of hydrocarbons for uses other than burning them up. The automobile is about to be relegated to use as a taxi. Maybe you can rent out your garage for storage space.
I'd buy an electric or hybrid car today IF I had the money to spend and the prices were affordable to the average person. Let's face it no one should go into hock for 30 years for something unless it's a home.
Regarding the color, all I can say is that I have noticed in demolition derbys and racing cars that the yellow car almost never wins.
That would be "maize".
Even the militaristic country of Panama has better public bus service than Michigan.
If "the prices were affordable to the average person" they would be equal to half of a years pay, which they would be if all the people in the world lived in Barry County.
However, the "average person" in the global economy needs half of a years pay to buy a bicycle. If you make more than a dollar a day, your income is "above average".
Workers in the richest country in the world, Dubai, earn $4-$5 an hour and are flooding into the country to get the construction jobs and to share in what is planned to be the highest standard of living in the world.
To the rest of the world, that is very old news.
Right now, the highest standard of living in the world is in Finland. What do you think they are driving?
ow - buy some garbage bags and a electric lawn mower and clean up you own property first. now that would be a treat for all of us.
Tutu,
Cold legs, cold heart.
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