Gridlock News

It ever heard the tale about the race car driver who would not drive his own personal car on the interstate?

The concept is simple, he basically didn't want to drive with a bunch of amateurs, who drove like crazy fools.  Driving on a NASCAR track with professionals may be somewhat dangerous due to the high speeds involved, but it leaves everybody is trained and practiced at driving in a circle.  (Who was that guy, I can't find the interview anywhere.  Was it Dale Earnhardt?

What does it really say for the state of our roads and the skills of our drivers and professional drivers won't drive on our roads?

It's kind of the American dream to drive a car whenever you want and where ever you want.  It's this weird subset of American culture that probably grows out of our former dependence on riding horseback.  Maybe there's something actually coded into our DNA over the last couple of centuries that makes us want to be able to freely travel and taken a turn that we choose.

But more and more the roads are filling up with gridlock and too many cars driving around like slot cars out of control, released slot cars controlled by the remote control of a deranged child that takes a light and watching the cars crash over and over and over again.

There has got to be a better way to get around.

A very smart MIT student (according to fellow classmates) named Star Simpson (no known relation to OJ yet) was arrested for doing something very stupid. She made an outfit that looked like she was strapped up with plastic explosives.  Now, that may or may not be a good example of bad fashion sense.

However, when she wore that to a major airport, carrying a brick of playdo shaped like plastique it caused an armed response that could have killed her. 

MIT has developed a premadonna reputation over the years.  This was fueled on to encourage creative thinking and even portrayed in a 80's movie about students tricked into creating a space based laser capable of assassinating people anywhere in the world.

The reality is that this stupid little stunt will probably be forgiven.  This type of behavior is almost encouraged by default.  Star will probably end up having to get serious and taking a job with the DoD or the NSA.

For many college students a stupid stunt like this would mean that they would be selling outdoor lighting at Lowe's, but at MIT they'll be funneled off and owned like monkey's on a short but creative leash.

Her Taste in Art? Scary, Police Say

This week is received a lot of attention over the controversy surrounding the Jena six. Today more controversy came home when some stirred up but was drove a pickup truck through a group of protesters with nooses tied to the back of a pickup truck. That type of behavior goes way past racial insensitivity converges on inciting a riot.

It's a complete fiasco that has taken place and Jena Louisiana. White students hung nooses from a whites only tree in front of a high school. The school tried to suspend the students or the remainder of the year, but the ignorant Board of Education stepped in and said that was too stiff penalty.

That response ultimately raised tensions and a fight broke out on the schools campus. Six African American Students in a town with an African American population of less than 20%, were then arrested for beating up a fellow student. The prosecutor, who could find no law to prosecute the noose students for, through the book at the African American students and attempted to have them tried for attempted 2^nd degree murder.

The controversy was ignored all summer as people looked at many other issues from Michael Vick to President Bush to Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton.

But eventually the rest of the country came around and learned of the injustice. Rallies sprung up this week as people bussed themselves in from all around the country.

That apparently stirred up some Bubbas, who today drove their red pickup truck through a group of demonstrators with nooses tied to the back of their truck. Two teens were arrested for this latest incident, but no one yet has done anything to reduce the tension and right the wrongs. The problem is that a foul has been committed and there is nothing in the justice system to make two or three wrongs into a right. You can’t just send everyone on a Florida vacation and pretend nothing happened.

Alan Greenspan gave George Bush counsel as he did several President's over a span of 19 years and George Bush unlike his predecessors was to stupid, stubborn or incompetent to follow that advice.

According to Greenspan's new book, George Bush had the opportunity to veto legislation that could harm the country financially and Bush opted to seek more power instead.  Anyone that has been watching the Bush administration bring itself to a slow roast over the last seven years could probably see the same thing. 

If Bush has a modus operandi, its to always choose more power over choosing correctly, always choosing to continue upon a chosen path due to an excessively strong stubborn streak rather than admit he was wrong or made a mistake and then learn from that mistake and make amends.

Conservatives have long championed Alan Greenspan as their hero for years, because he made so many conservatives very wealthy.  He in fact made many liberals wealth conservatives.  He probably did more for the conservative cause than anyone in the last 50 years, and President Bush has done more to hurt that conservative cause than anyone in history.

George Bush's tenure has stained the kitchen sink of conservatism a rust red.  Alan Greenspan's own legacy is tarnished by association with George Bush.  Unfortunately for Greenspan and conservatives, replacing the kitchen faucets will not remove the stain from the basin.  It will take decades of scrubbing to fix the problems that Bush has created or allowed to fester and even bloom. 

BBC NEWS | Americas | Greenspan attacks Bush on economy

Next week on Monday General Patraeus (dragon naturally speaking transcribed his name as 'betray us') will go to Washington and give his report of the surge in Iraq. According to the media, it's highly expected that he will provide a fairly honest appraisal of the situation even though it will probably be fairly upbeat.

He seems to be a straight shooter for the most part and even more so a can-do type of person. He seems to want to make things happen and he seems to be the type of person that does make things happen. The challenge here is that he's trying to make things happen in an area of the world that is extremely troubled and very much out of control on many levels.

He may have been the right person for the job a couple of years ago, unfortunately he got the job a little too late and as such the politics of the situation are excruciating.

Regardless of what happens or what he reports, it is almost certain that the Democrats and the Republicans will fight over his answers and try and use his answers to further their own political goals. At this point both parties are basically sitting on their bar stools like a couple of drunks refusing to see logic from any perspective or quarter. Therefore, its almost a sure bet that both parties will here just what they want to here to advance their next drunken argument.

I was watching a show in the science channel last night.  It was one of those doom and gloom types of scientific shows where some scientists get together and brainstorm about fantastic catastrophes that are certainly possible, but distinctly morbid.

This one covered the concept of a volcanic island off the coast of Africa that is about 16,000 feet off the ocean floor and 6,000 feet above the ocean.  Its built up by volcanic rocks that have been perilously stacked on top of each other over the years. 

Long story short, it looks like about 200 cubic miles of mountain are going to fall off the side of this volcano some day, any day and it could create a 200 foot tsunami that could wipe out most of the coast lines all around the Pacific (South America, North America, Africa, Europe and Antarctica). 

The idea that stuck

Well anyway as I was watching this show, I was looking for something positive to take out of the show.  They talked about how a volcano has very porous rocks and that these rocks hold water like sponges.  That's bad when they heat up as it jettisons steam and makes the volcano very unstable.

However, I've been to a more built up volcano before in Hawaii.  I thought to myself, that these porous water holding rocks might actually be a good source of water.  This could make Hawaii an even better place to live as it would give more access to fresh water if people could learn to squeeze the water out of rocks.  That could be a boon for Hawaii real estate and might make Hawaii something of a coastal safe haven if the Atlantic rim gets wiped out.

Now, I'm not suggesting anyone should short their East coast real estate today and move to Hawaii tomorrow.  However, the bucking of conventional wisdom in this case does kind of show that there is truly no safe place on the planet.  We live on a volatile rock surrounded by water and that we need to be ready to continue adapting.

As a side note if you are interested in learning more about Hawaii real estate, I'd recommend this real estate blog. 

By the way a giant tsunami of 130 feet hit in the late 1880's when Krakatau (krakatoa) blew it self to katmandu (well not that far, it really just ceased to exist, but the ash that went into the air, covered most of the planet and prevented the northern hemisphere from experiencing a summer).  You may be used to seeing 100 year floods, but how about 100 year volcanoes?

The ninth circuit court of appeals denied a last ditch effort by several groups working together against Mexican trucking firms moving across the border into the United States.

Groups including the Teamsters led by Jim Hoffa (Junior) and the Sierra Club and others fought to prevent Mexican trucks from rolling on US roads and they failed.  Under the NAFTA agreement the trucks will finally come across the border despite cries from many groups about public safety and American jobs.

All of this comes under the back drop of broken borders, broken homeland security and poisoned food shipments and recalls from China.  Fortunately, for all Americans the courts and the politicians know when to remove the gridlock. 

Forty Years Ago, A new beef alternative  Soy OIL (meat) Nutritional Treatments as opposed to Nutritional Supplements.  It is rumored to come in a green can and cost half as much as beef, with a taste that is about the same.  Some are referring to it as something called SOILENT Green.  The new product will be shipped out of Mexico and should reduce the number of over weight Americans directly while helping to put other Americans on a leaner diet. 

Mexico trucks to roll on U.S. highways | Politics | Reuters