Quadsville

Broadcaster Paul Harvey died today. We’ve enjoyed his take on things
for many years. Even though he is gone I’m sure we’ll hear the Rest of the Story.

On another note, when the stimulus bill passed it did so without the cash for clunkers bill in it. The SEMA Action Network sprang into action and stopped the bill. I am proud to say that I am a member of this group.
This is the at least the third time SAN has worked to successfully defeat this bill. We hope it is the last.

We have the vote on the Promise coming up Tuesday. If you haven’t voted early, please vote on Tuesday.
Comments are always welcome.

We recieved the mailer from the Friends of Davenport Promise. The glossy front hass a nice picture of high school graduates with captions about how the Promise will allow them to go to St. Ambrose, Scott Community College, Capri, the University of Iowa, and an undisclosed nursing school. Having an inquiring mind, I thought I’d find out just how much it actually cost to attend some of these colleges.

From the St. Ambrose website I located the cost page and this is what it provided for undergraduate costs.
Tuition and fees- $21,610
Housing per semester-$1,800
Meals per semester- $2,025
Plus textbooks and supplies.

The University of Iowa website broke it down like this for in-state students-
Tuition and fees- $6,824
Room and board- $8,004
Books and supplies-$1,090
Personal expenses- $2,630
Transportation- $890
For a grand total of $19,438 per year.

The Scott Community College website broke it down like this for a computer course for in-state students-
Tuition and fees- $6,528
Books and supplies-$1,500
This comes to a grand total of $8,068 per year.

Would these kids on the front of the card be smiling if they knew this? Each site I visited had at least one webpage devoted to student aid. Scott Community College claimed there are no less than 3 federal loans, a pell grant, and several scholarships available to students. I wonder what recieving money from the Promise would do to the grants for students from lower income families.

The last paragraph on the flip side says: “The Cost? Great news, nothing new! There will be NO tax increase. If the Promise vote passes, up to 30% of the existing one cent City sales tax will be used to fund the program. The remainder of the penny will go towards supporting police and fire and our infrastructure needs.”

I don’t like the sound of that. I thought it WAS 30%, not up to 30% for the Promise. I also thought we were voting on 30% for the Promise, 10% for public safety, and the remainder to be used as it always had. Am I wrong? Are the Friends of Davenport Promise wrong? Has somebody shuffled the numbers without telling us what we’re voting on? Inquiring minds do want to know.
Comments are always welcome.

We are another day closer to voting on the Davenport Promise. I still can’t see why people think this is a good program. The proposal has so many red flags in it someone should call the National Guard.

I don’t like using tax monies meant for another purpose to fund it. If this really is the best thing since sliced bread; why aren’t private monies rolling in to fund it? And where are the funds going to come from to cover the 40% reduction for the original use?

Something else I don’t like that is mentioned often is a statement that the citizens of Davenport are getting older and poorer. As an older citizens of this burg who has been paying taxes for years I get offended. Excuse me for living! We are not poorer but we do pay taxes and spend our money here. Is the city going to pass a law that says nobody over 60 can live here unless they own a bank?

And to those who can’t figure out why our schools are losing students; can you say 75% graduation rate? I’ve noticed at some of the informational meetings that some have said these numbers are misleading. Well then; does that mean that the schools in surrounding areas also have a higher graduation rate than the study shows, or just us?

Adding public safety to the Promise appears to be nothing more than an attempt to make us who vote against it feel guilty. But, the mayor has been saying that the monies for public safety will go into a general fund. If it goes into the general fund, will any of it ever trickle down to public safety?

Those who back this program say the administration of the Promise will be funded with private donations. But our mayor went to Washington, DC, to beg for money for the administration of the Promise. And don’t forget kids, Ken Croken said that it would be four years before any adjustments could be made to the program.He felt it could be a learning curve, but at what cost?

Then we have statements that this program will bring families with children to our city. To quote a city leader “if you put lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig.” That same city leader is now claiming “if the Promise passes, taxes will go down”. I’ve been saying for some time, find out why people aren’t moving here and fix it. Don’t expect a program backed by flawed studies to improve a problem it wasn’t
intended to fix.

Lastly is something my Dad told me years ago when I wanted my first car. He told me that while he could afford to buy me a car, he wouldn’t. He told me that if I worked and bought it with my own money I’d appreciate more. At 15 I thought he just enjoyed ruining my life. Later I saw the wisdom of his words.

Tuesday we will go to vote and by Wednesday most of us will be talking about another subject. Regarless of what position you have on this issue, you should vote on Tuesday. If you don’t vote your position, you have no right to bitch later on. Please vote on Tuesday if you haven’t already.
Comments are always welcome.

There’s a few things I want to mention before I get really busy. The
first is that the dogs have found a good home and are still together.
A friend of the dogs family said the response was amazing.

The Midwest Writing Center will honor the 11 best writers in a recent
contest. Writers were given 24 hours to write a fiction or non-fiction
story, or a poem. They were given one sentence to start with. “Why do they always have to be red?” Davenports own Keith Meyer came in second in the fiction division. Congratulations.

There will be a celebration tonight at the Bucktown Center starting at 7 pm. The Bucktown is located at 225 East 2nd. Street in Davenport. The winners are scheduled to read their winning entry in the “Iron Pen Contest”. The galleries will be open, there will be a chili cook-off and free libations.
Sounds like a good time, I wish I could make it.

Next week is going to be hectic as the wife is having knee replacement surgery on Tuesday. I don’t like hospitals and I especially don’t like hospitals at 6 am. If my posting is a little a sparse next week, bear with me.

Lastly, the vote on the Promise is just around the corner. If you haven’t yet made up your mind on how you are going to vote, please get informed. On Tuesday the polls will open and I hope everyone votes.
Comments are always welcome

We have a family with a problem who is asking for help. They don’t
want money or donations; they want someone to give their dogs a good home. They are moving from an house to an apartment that doesn’t allow pets. They want to keep the two labs together because they have have been raised since pups together. We’ll let them tell their story-

As many of you know, we are moving in just 2weeks.Unfortunately, I have still not been able to find a good home for Cookie and Coco .
We’re not able to take our beloved doggies with us and I’ve been
desperately trying to find a home for both of them ‘together’.
They were raised together and pine without each other. The Lab rescue have already said that they would probably separate them, so this is my last resort.

Recently I tried to take Coco out in my car alone and she
TOTALLY refused to even get into the car without Cookie…..!!!! She
absolutely pulled back on her haunches until Cookie was by her side. Both doggies are in great health, have been spayed and have ID chips
implanted under the skin.

Cookie turned 3 December 10th and Coco will be 3 April 1st.
Cookie is my mellow-yellow, and just loves her tummy rubbed. Coco is adorably funny and lives for her “ball”. She also loves the water….. Cookie loves lots of attention. Both doggies are loyal and love to walk. They have been raised with my 3 kids running around all over the place, and have survived Sammy’s constant hugging and love of ‘dress-up’, so they are fantastic family dogs. This is by far one of the most difficult decisions I have ever had to make, but under the circumstances I have no choice.

Please, Please forward these pics to all you know and help me
find a great home for these fabulous doggies. They are just adorable
and it’s heartbreaking to let them go. In a perfect world, I hope that we could find someone local so that we can still keep in touch and visit them. I pray that someone, somewhere can help us keep Cookie and Coco together, and love them just as much as we do. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

If you know someone who could help, contact me at cruisinblog@yahoo.com and I’ll get you in touch with them.
Comments are always welcome.

The Promise vote is almost here and there seems to be a meeting every night discussing the issues. According to the QC Times there were even a handful of people at the last meeting who were undecided. We hope they get enough information before they vote to make up their minds.

I recieved another email that involves Genesis. I am told that the CEO Doug Copper posted on the Genesis employee blog. I don’t know the url of the blog, or the length of the post, but the unanymous concerned citizen was bothered by one papragraph and sent it along. The paragraph from the CEO to the employees goes as follows:
On March 3, Davenport voters will go to the polls in the “Davenport Promise” referendum. If passed, this program will reallocate existing sales tax revenues to attract more people and jobs to Davenport. This will increase our patient volumes significantly and strengthen our staff recruitment efforts dramatically.

While this makes it sound like he really has the best interests of our city in mind, we have to wonder. If he is such a supporter of our fine city, why is he having a huge new house built in Pleasant Valley?

Chicago police have made an arrest in the shooting last friday of three teenagers. It is not known yet if more shooters were involved with the drive-by shooting. If you want to read the latest on the story go to
the story.
Comments are always welcome.

The Davenport Promise is the issue of the day. Todays QC Times ran another large article on the program complete with charts. To me the article was pretty much a pep rally to vote for the Promise. This is fine since the paper has made it known from the beginning they think it’s a good idea. Since myself and others disagree, I’ll point out a few reasons why I’m against it.

Before I get to that, the people behind Promise Davenport have put their final report on their webpage. Also on the website is
a link to the No More Promises group. If you’ve read the article in the Times and would like to see what these groups are saying, it’s worth a look.

I’ve said all along I believe that public monies should not be used for this program. Especially at the expense of property tax relief and other areas. Then of course we have the administration end of the program which may or may not be paid for with public monies.
Will the administration be paid for privately or with stimulus money?

We also have the fact that the program is basically welfare in that it costs many for the good of a few. Add to that the fact that the less wealthy members of our city may actually lose grants if they take the money to help them through school, and it just doesn’t make sense.

There is also the fact that assessed values would go up which would mean an increase in taxes, and that this program could actually hurt the city’s bond rating. Public Safety was also tacked on this I feel to make those who oppose the program appear to against public safety monies. Such is not the case, and I believe even if the Promise
is passed it won’t equate to more police and fire.

At the 5th Ward meeting, Mr. Croken wanted us to forget about the Upjohn report, and forget about details. I don’t think so. I do agree that this is an important issue, but I don’t think it’s a good deal in its present form.
Comments are always welcome.

We don’t know what’s going on or whose to blame, but we’ve gotten several emails about ‘Vote No Promise’ signs being stolen. It started with a sign on West Loucust and has spread. Now two four foot by eight foot signs have been stolen. One was on Brady St. and the other on 46th. If you took one of these signs, please put it back.

When someone puts the time, effort and money into a sign in their yard, it should not be stolen. The Promise is an important issue that we will soon be voting on and these people thought enough of their decision to back it up with a sign. Rather you disagree with what these signs say is irrelevent, they are not your property.

So leave the signs alone, they’ll only be up a short while anyway. To inject some good news into this post, I have not recieved any emails concerning ‘No Promise’ buttons being stolen.
Comments are always welcome.

It never ceases to amaze me that a person can read something and not catch some piece of information that they should. Today, I am that person. An article in the QC Times by Tory Brecht was the something. I read it and didn’t notice anything I thought was out of place until I recieved an email. It pointed out one sentence that didn’t fit what we’ve been told about the Promise program.

“The mayor talked to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan about getting money to help administer the Davenport Promise if it is approved by voters on March 3.” I thought, and had been told, the administration of the Promise was going to be funded with donations. This does not sound like private monies to me, but more public money going into this program.

This leaves me once again with more questions than answers. Is the administration of the Promise going to funded with private or public money? If it is funded by federal tax dollars and said taxes are raised, is it considered a tax increase? And lastly, if this was the plan all along and we’ve been lied to, what else is going to get changed and at what cost?
Comments are always welcome.

Three kids were murdered today on Chicago’s south side. The kids were fatally shot near East 87th Street and South Exchange Avenue. Not a news story there you say? How about the fact that the victims are 13, 15, and 17 and an assault weapon was used.

The 13-year-old was indentified as Johnny Edwards and Monday would have been his 14th birthday. Some of the three may have been gang members, but relatives claim they weren’t active members. There was an earlier fight in which none of the boys were involved. They were waiting for a friend when the shooting started at 3:15 pm.

It would appear the problem is getting worse according to comments made. Instead of bailing out banks perhaps the government should take care of our gang problem before more kids end up in coffins.

To read the whole story please go here.
Our condolences to the families.
Comments are always welcome

The big news locally is the fire on Harrison Street. The vacant 3 story building on the northwest corner of 14th and Harrison is now a crumbling shell. Harrison will be closed for a while over this one, so you may want to avoid the area. I remember when a parts jobber was on the first floor of this very building.

The following is from a newsletter sent by State Representative Olson. If Iowa is trying to be business friendly, this isn’t the way to do it. There is a reason Ohio repealed a similar bill in 1997. It doesn’t work.

On Monday, February 16, the House Labor Committee approved HSB 149, the prevailing wage bill.

The bill requires a contractor to pay workers the same hourly wage plus fringe benefits for certain public improvements as the contractor would pay workers for a private construction or improvement project. The bill allows the per-hour wage rate to be based on what is normally paid in the area by contractors for similar projects, and to be adjusted on a yearly basis by the department of workforce development. The bill includes specific criteria, such as cost of the public improvement and the population of the city or county, for the project to qualify for the prevailing wage rate. The wage rates that the workers must be paid shall also include benefits such as medical care, life insurance, overtime pay, and vacation and holiday pay. The bill applies to any public improvement that receives money from a public body and includes most types of public improvements from construction to road maintenance.

The Fiscal Note from 2007 stated that Workforce Development would need $889,000 and 11.0 new FTEs, the Board of Regents would need $556,000 and 6.0 FTE positions in order to comply with the bill. In addition, construction cost estimates by the Board of Regents, Iowa State Association of Counties, and the Iowa Association of School Boards all indicate an approximate 10 percent to 12 percent increase in project costs due to prevailing wage.

In 1997, Ohio repealed its prevailing wage law for new school construction. According to the Ohio Legislative Budget Office, the change resulted in a 10 percent decrease in project costs while having virtually no impact on the quality of the construction. In addition, worker wages increased at a 77 percent greater rate than when prevailing wage was used.

According to the Iowa Association of Counties, county governments spend $150 million annually on projects. They project an increase of 10 to 20 percent on project costs, which would increase annual costs by $15 million to $30 million, not counting the additional administration expense.

According to the City of Des Moines , they have 71 projects worth $60 million. A conservative 5 percent increase would mean $3 million in additional costs, not counting the additional administration expense.

Everyone agrees that workers deserve to be paid fair wages. However, this legislation is not fair for the workers or the contractors. Iowans pride themselves on hard work and honesty. This legislation is attempting to address a problem we do not have. HSB 149 places an undue burden on local governments and will undoubtedly cause an increase in property taxes or a scaling back of public works projects. Many rural contractors will no longer be in business if this legislation is passed.

HSB 149 was approved on a party-line vote.

House Republicans will judge every bill this session with the question “Does this bill help grow Iowa 's economy?” Prevailing wage mandates will hurt Iowa 's economy and will be opposed by the caucus.

(Contact: Lon Anderson, 1-5184)
Comments are always welcome.

Thought I’d do a post about a few things around town. Tonight from 6 to 9 pm, is a sneak preview of the John Bloom exhibit at the Figge Art Museum. The exhibit will officially open Saturday and run through September 27th. Tickets run $7, $6 if you’re 60 and older or a student, and $4 for kids 3-12.

If you like art you can understand, this may be the exhibit for you. You can look at his work and know what he was trying to get accross. If you like living in the midwest, you’d like this one.

Our friends at Good2Go just put out a newsletter about their new hours. You can go to the website and see what they have to offer. They have specials that change regularly and they’re adding new things all the time.

If you’re getting cabin fever, or just getting tired of polishing your hot rod with no place to go, here’s a list of some upcoming cruise-ins.

The River Valley Classics have set the following dates for the Northpark Cruise-ins:

Starting at 6pm - ???
All 50/50 proceeds go to charities

June 20
RAK Productions
July 18
3D Sound w/ Dave Palmer
August 15
Band to be announced.
September 12
RAK Productions
October 3
3D Sound w/ Dave Palmer

And the Quad Cities Cruisers have the following schedule:

Saturday, April 18, 6-9:30 pm Southpark Mall
Saturday, May 16, 6-9:30 pm, Southpark Mall
Saturday, June 13, 4-9:30 pm, Southpark Mall (XXVII Car Show)
Saturday, July 11, 6-9:30 pm, Southpark Mall
Saturday, August 1, 6-9:30 pm, Southpark
Saturday, September 26, 6-9:30 pm, Southpark
Saturday, October 10, 6-9:30 pm, Southpark

The schedules may be subject to change so if we get an update, we’ll pass it along. Comments are always welcome.

My last post seemed to light up my inbox. That’s not all that unusual sometimes, but since I always try to look at both sides I asked around with a few other people who were there. The main bone on contention is my statement of what Alderman Lynn said about the 10% of the local option sales tax would go to public safety.

Here are two emails. The first came from City Administrator Craig Malin and the second is from another person who attended the meeting. I emailed concerned citizen and asked if I heard correctly what Alderman Lynn said at the meeting. Here’s the emails-

Cruiser:

I'm not sure of the context of Ald. Lynn's statement regarding the public safety component of the Promise, but, if the citizens say 10% of local sales tax is spent on public safety, every penny must be spent on public safety. To do otherwise would be illegal.

If you have any questions, let me know.
Craig

Cruiser,

You heard it right. Bill said that an addition of $1.5 Million could free up that amount of money that could be used elsewhere. He specifically said that there was no guarantee that additional police or firemen would be hired.
Concerned Citizen

There’s both sides of this story for what it’s worth. I can’t say one way or the other but I do know what I heard at the meeting sounded true. I do know that if 40% of the LOST goes to property tax relief now, it isn’t working real well.
Comments are always welcome.

I survived the 5th Ward/Promise meeting tonight. There was a pretty good debate on the Davenport Promise with Kenneth Croken from the Davenport Promise task force and Mark Nelson from Opt4Better. I would have to say that Mr. Nelson won the debate, if for no other reason than I think Mr. Croken may have popped a blood vessel in his eye.

At one point he loudly told us to “forget the Upjohn report”. That had us scratching our head because the pro-Promise people seem to like quoting from it. At another point he lost his cool when someone mentioned our high drop-out rate. He came back loudly with “forget about the schools it’s an economic development program!”

Alderman Lynn stated that the 10% for public safety just wasn’t true. It would go into a general fund and COULD be used for public safety if needed. It also came out that if the Promise failed it would take at least four years to get rid of it, and it could be a money pit even if it succeeded.

After the Promise discussion the meeting moved on to business of the ward. It seems it’s only a matter of time before Iowa Street Mart is history. The owner is using up all the appeals but we were told it will close and not reopen as a liquor store.

When I got home I checked my mailbox. I know there wasn’t any mail today, but if people have something they’d like me to see they put it in the box. In it was a copy of an email to a former employee of a Genesis Hospital. And just by coincidence it was from Kenneth Croken, V.P. Coporate Communication & Marketing of Genesis Health System. I do not know Mr. Croken, but after reading the email it appeared to be a veiled threat of what could happen if the Davenport Promise wasn’t passed. It also included an absentee ballot request form from the Friends of the Davenport Promise. He also states he will mail an absentee ballot request to the home of the recipient. I don’t know if this was done to all employees with email addresses or not. I don’t even know who this one was emailed to, except they claim to be a recent ex-employee who is still on the email list.

I don’t know if this borders on an ethical problem or not, but it seems like a strange way to get votes for the Promise. I don’t believe in people trying to coerce others on what to vote for. That’s just my take on it, I’m sure someone has a different take which is why comments are always welcome.

For those of us who live in the 5th Ward, Alderman Lynn is holding
a Ward meeting tonight at 6 pm. It will be held in the Police Station
located at 416 Harrison St. in the community room. This will be the
last meeting before we vote on the Promise and I’m sure the subject
will come up.

In the QC Times is a story about gas prices. It was about the reason
gas prices are going up while crude prices are down. While the article
put a good spin on it I don’t believe it covered the whole story. We
seem to have a perfect storm brewing for the price increase. For one
thing, our new President isn’t going to lift the ban on offshore
drilling, or drilling in Alaska.

And we have a more complex reason for prices going up and staying up. A group is pushing the idea that by 2030 biofuels could replace up to one third of all gas used in our country. Some of us already know that by 2022 a federal mandate calls for 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel to be blended into gas. Groups are looking into cellulosic ethanol that uses switchgrass, wheat straw, and other non-food crops.

While all this sounds like a noble effort to keep our earth green, I
have some problems with it. One big one would be that ethanol pollutes as much, or more, than regular gasoline. Another is that gas prices have to be higher and stay higher for ethanol producers to make a profit. Some in the ethanol industry say that the government would need to protect the industry from low-priced competitors. There’s a novel idea, have the government step in to regulate an industry to keep prices artificially high to discourage competition.
Comments are always welcome.

I’ve been holding this post for a little while, but I felt it was too important
to put off much longer. The 2009 National Gang Threat Assessment has been released
by the National Gang Intelligence Center (NGIC) and the National Drug Intellegence
Center (NDIC).

The findings show that gangs are moving into suburban and rural areas. Gangs are
doing this to expand their influence, to expand their drug distribution areas,
increase their revenue, hide from law enforcement, and escape other gangs.

In some communities gangs commit as much as 80% of all crimes. Typical gang-related
crimes include drug trafficking, assault, armed robbery, extortion, fraud, home
invasion, identity theft, murder, weapons charges, and alien smuggling.

We now have approximately one million gang members who belong to more than 20,000
gangs criminally active in our country as of September 2008. If you go to the FBI website you can
get the whole story. There is a link to the assessment and a section on the biggest
gangs.
Comments are always welcome

First I’d like to wish everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day. I hope your significant other at least remembered, or if not your sense of humor gets you through.

In an earlier answer to anonymous I feel I didn’t do the question justice. First off, the answers were borrowed from Alderman Lynn’s newsletter. Since I took things out of context, I thought I’d include the entire section on the Promise. Here’s his thoughts on the Promise-

Right now I would say the proposed Promise Program is the biggest issue on the horizon. As you know, the City is proposing that we use part of the local option sales tax to fund a program to pay for college tuition for Davenport students. It would cover students that attend Davenport public schools, private schools, and home schooled children. They must live in Davenport. The program would pay the equivalent of the first two years tuition at Scott Communtiy College and the equivalent of the last two years turition at the University of Iowa. The money could be used at at any college or training program in the United States.

Other items included would be a grant to a returning veteran that purchases a home in Davenport ($7,500) and a freeze of city property taxes for low income senior citizens and disabled home owners; it would allow the city to use 10% of the local option sales tax (about $1.5 million) for public safety. This does not necessarily mean an increase in the public safety budget. It simply means we will be able to free up about $1.5 million in the operating budget and it could be used for public safety or something else.

While I agree that some type of training or education beyond high school is necessary in today’s job market, I do not believe this is the right approach. I cannot provide a detailed analysis for the entire program in this newsletter, but it will be available on my website at www.profbilllynn.com

We are being told that without this program Davenport’s population will decline, but if we implement this program, our population will increase. This argument is based on results from the Kalamazoo, Michigan study. This study was done by the Upjohn Research Institute. I have read the study and I attended the presentation- at best the estimates are based on very little information. An economist at Iowa State University reviewed it and conclude the results were not supportable- as an economist, I agree.

The problem is that the supporters are basng their claims on the Upjohn study. They are saying that we will be able to generate more tax money and the school district will be able to recieve more state aid if we implement this program. This assumes that more people will move to Davenport, that property values will rise (and the revenues), and the school district will recieve more money since they will have more students (about $5,500 per student in state aid). They further claimed that without the Promise Program we will need to raise taxes and fees.

If their results do not occur, then Davenport will have a problem. We will not have as much money for capital improvements and debt service. Further, if the program does not work as proposed, then we are stuck with it for an unknown period of time. We will be committed to funding it for many years, thus creating an entitlement at the city level.
————–
Comments are always welcome.

With Valentines day tomorrow, American Muscle has come up with another
contest. If you love your Mustang, you could win. For more on the contest
go
here.

The second part of this post is my take on the pork-laden bill that our President and lawmakers are trying to ram down our throat. I wasn’t going to do a post on this issue because other blogs are doing a great job. The more I hear about this bill, I felt I had to throw me two-cents worth in.

I believe our government has a lot of nerve calling this pork laden bill and economic stimulus. It is the most expensive bill in the history of our country, and much of it has nothing to do with stimulating our economy. Millions of dollars are in the bill for anti-smoking campaigns, STDs, ACORN, and office furniture. Hundreds of millions are in
the bill for Hybrid vehicles for government fleets, and tens of billions for infrastructure repair.

But it gets scarier than that. They have a cost accountability clause for health care. The government has already taken over the banks and automakers, and now they want to take over our health care. How can this government tell anyone how to save money? Government wants the authority to tell Doctors how to treat us. This is just a fancy name for socialized medicine. If this goes through it will affect too many people to even guess the number. Of course us smokers will automatically get less health care, but others also. Overweight? You won’t get a knee replacement until you lose weight. Over 65? Oh, sorry but the treatment would get better results with a younger person. Diabetic? Follow the guy who needs the knee. Got cancer? Oh, sorry; chemo is too expensive and not cost efficient.

Here’s a thought for Nancy Pelosi, Chris Dodd, and Barney Frank; the American people have lost confidence in you. We are saving our money and won’t be buying new cars or houses until we feel it’s safe to do so. An extra $14 a week in our paychecks won’t change that.
Comments are welcome.

Today is the 30th anniversary of the Guardian Angels. Happy Anniversary to CurtisSliwa and every member of the Angels. You’ve reached a milestone that many organizations don’t. As someone who went on patrols for over a year I have a pretty good idea what
it’s like. Congratulations to all, and thanks for all that you do.

Here’s an another example of what can be done if people work together. A group of business owners and car enthusiasts helped to stop legislation we thought was harmful to our hobby. The alert below is copied in its entirety from a newsletter.

SEMA Legislative Alert-

THANKS TO YOU U.S. CONGRESS REJECTS
“CASH FOR CLUNKERS” PROGRAM

In recent weeks, thousands of SEMA members and SEMA Action Network (SAN) enthusiasts responded to a call for action urging lawmakers to reject a Cash for Clunkers program as part of the economic stimulus being drafted in Congress. Your efforts were successful. Both the House and Senate versions of the bill are “clunker-free.” Congratulations!

Two proposals were put forth and then withdrawn during the Congressional debate. The first was a $8 billion program targeting SUVs and pickup trucks of any year that make less than 18 mpg such as Chevy Silverados, Dodge Rams, Ford F-Series and Jeep Wranglers. The second would have provided $16 billion worth of cash vouchers to individuals making less than $50,000 a year ($75,000 for families) who allowed their turned-in cars to be destroyed. A Cash for Clunker proposal may reemerge later this year. SEMA will remain vigilant in educating legislators on the need to oppose programs that do not spur car sales, reduce emissions or raise fuel economy.

The Senate economic stimulus bill includes a SEMA-supported amendment allowing taxpayers to claim a tax deduction for car-loan interest payments and excise taxes when they buy a new car in 2009. If enacted in the final stimulus bill, the provision should provide a healthy boost to auto sales.

Members of Congress recognize that our industry played an important role in scrapping a federal Cash for Clunkers program. SEMA thanks all member companies and SAN enthusiasts who donated their time and effort to contact legislators. Your voice helps protect our industry and hobby.
Comments are always welcome.

Two informational meetings are coming up at the Genesis Heart Institute,1236 E. Rusholme St., in Davenport. The first is tonight at 7 pm and will be hosted by 6th Ward Alderman Jeff Justin. Someone from the Davenport Promise task force will be on hand to review the Upjohn report and to answer questions.

Sunday, at 1 pm, also at the Heart Institute, another meeting will be
hosted by 8th Ward Alderman Mike Matson. Tanisha Briley, the assistant to the city administrator will discuss the program and answer questions. If you have questions on the Promise program you should attend one of these meetings.

Some of us don’t like the program while some do. If you don’t think you have enough information to make an informed vote, please go to one or both of these meetings. You can go online and get more information to help you vote for what you think is best for our city.
Comments are always welcome.

I seem to be looking into the man-made global warming myth I so
will mention it again. Since Al Gore is the poster boy for the movement
why not start with him. Most of us can remember his movie ‘An Inconvient Truth’. Since the release of the movie the earth has actually cooled, the rising of the sea has slowed, the Anarctic sea ice area has grown, and ocean temperatures have failed to get warmer.

In December 2008, a U.S. Senate Minority Report was released that detailed the fact that over 650 scientists from around the world were dissenting from the man-made global warming fears promoted by the UN and Al Gore. This is bad news for our former Vice President.

This information came from the Curmudgeon At Large blog. His post on
the subject has a ton of links to check facts. The scientists listed include a NASA superviser and NASA scientists, former UN scientists, chemists, and physicists. I also used the picture above from his site.

I don’t know when the rock star status of our new President will end, but he got on my short list with his non-speech. I don’t watch much TV that isn’t news or reality, so imagine my surprise when I decided to catch a new episode of House and heard the chosen one stammering instead of Dr. House chewing someone out. This is unacceptable. He’s going to have to pick one channel for his speeches so those of us who have no desire to listen to his BS have an alternative.
Comments are always welcome

For sake of argument, lets say global warming is a real problem. Problems
have causes; so what if the dreaded CO2 (carbon dioxide) wasn’t the main
cause of the problem? Does that mean the internal combustion engine is not
going to be the downfall of civilization as we know it? Would this send
scientist looking at the real cause and ways to stop it?

I hope to answer at least a few of those questions. Due to a diligent
search of scientific websites, a slow day, and a little luck, I’ve found
some things that might bear looking at.

The first concerns a scientific paper that will be published tomorrow by
Dr. Peter L. Ward of Teton Tectonics. It’s Dr. Wards claim that CO2 is not
the real cause of climate change, Sulfur Dioxide is. Sulfur Dioxide (SO2)
emissions regulate the ability of the atmosphere to clean itself by
oxidizing greenhouse gases. It’s more complicated than that, but I’ll put
links at the end for those who want to know more.

For those who remember the late ’70s, an effort that reduced acid rain
actually help cut power-plant sulfur emissions. And in 2000, global
temperatures stopped increasing and that’s a fact that can’t be explained
by current climate theories. There’s more good news; sulfur dioxide
emissions are easier than CO2 emissions to reduce, and we know how to
do it now.

Dr. Ward will also hold a press conference tomorrow in Chicago at the
Swissotel, Edelweiss Room, 323 E. Wacker Dr. at 11 am.
For more information go here.

And from the New York Times and article by Elisabeth Rosenthal entitled
Biofuels Deemed a Greenhouse Threat. For all the ethanol fans out there, read it and
weep. As I’ve been saying, and now some scientists agree, biofuels are not the
answer to our problems. If fact, they may cause more harm than good. You
can read the article and draw your own conclusions. If you believe everything
your government tells you, it will seem ludicrous. If you like to find out
for yourself, it will be eye-opening. So, does this mean our government really
want us to go green?
Comments are always welcome.

 The government has been trying to get us all into hybrid vehicles
to help green up the planet. They’ve been telling us that the better
gas mileage a vehicle gets, the less it pollutes. If this is true,
are Hybrids the answer to all our problems?

 Since government says we should all drive hybrids, I looked to this
months Motor Trend magazine and the road tests they did on two of the new hybrids. For the test they chose the 2010 Toyota Camry Hybrid, and
the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid. I would like to add another car to the
mix. A 1995 Ford Escort LX. I had one and knew the mileage, a friend
bought it and knows the mileage, and another friend is very happy with
his.

 According to the EPA, the new Fusion Hybrid gets an estimated 41 mpg
city and 35 mpg on the highway; the new Camry Hybrid gets an estimated
33 mpg city and 34 highway. This is information that would be on the
window sticker along with options and price. I’ll be honest and say
I don’t know the EPA estimated mileage figures for the Escort. But let’s
talk actual mpg in an actual road test and not an estimate from a government agency. In the Motor Trend road test the Camry Hybrid actually got 26.5 miles per gallon in city driving, and the Fusion Hybrid got 24.9 mpg. My old ‘95 Escort with 180,000 miles on the odometer gets 30 mpg in city driving.

 Doesn’t that make the 14 year old Ford more fuel efficient than a
new hybrid? Doesn’t that mean the old car pollutes less than the new
ones, and at a lower operating cost? Who’s doing the lying about the
estimated mpg? It’s tests like these that point out the differences
between claimed mileage and actual mileage and should prove a couple
of things. The first is the government should get out of the automakers
business,the automakers should be able to keep it simple and affordable, and these Hybrid won’t really make a difference in air quality, just the in
the cost of the car payments.
Comments are always welcome.

 We have to do something. That’s the lawmakers response when
people voice displeasure in the stimulus package. As usual,
I have a few thoughts on the issue. I will even make some
suggestions that won’t cost a trillion dollars, will help the
economy, and might even shorten the economic problems we
now face.

 Congress has been telling us the banking industry is corrupt.
I’d guess banks have been around since there’s been people. Now
after all this time, in our lifetime, we get all the lemons.
They’ve also told us our automakers are inept and greedy. Our
country has a one hundred plus year history with the automobile.
And once again, we were cursed enough to get all the bad apples
running all the companies into ruin during our lifetime.
 Man, what did we do to deserve this? We elected them.

 And now the Democrats are dancing in the streets because they
got rid of George Bush, who couldn’t run again anyway; and have
the majority in the House and Congress. Now we are tirelessly
reminded that Obama inheirited a $1.2 trillion deficit. Instead of
learning from the mistakes that got us to that figure,
our new President, and his Democratic legislature have decided it
would be better for us citizens if that figure was doubled in his
first month in office. Even knowing that the stimulis didn’t work
last time, won’t work this time, and will most likely prolong the
economic woes, this group has decided pork is more important than
progress.

 So What’s the alternative to a gazillion-dollar pork-laden
stimulis package? Glad you asked. First, we have to get people
back to work.How? Put people to work securing our border, and
them put more people to work sending illegal aliens back accross
the border. Fix the our rotting roads and failing infrastruture.
Make realistic wages a reality for everyone. While a CEO isn’t
worth $100 million a year, a person working on an assembly line
at one of the automakers isn’t worth $75 an hour and a kid who
is learning to flip burgers isn’t worth $10 an hour.

 Next, we should look to technology we have. Let’s use coal and
nuclear power. We should also get our national electric grid more
secure. We should look at ways to lower utility bills, and the
fuel bills of our trucker friends. A lot of people forget that
while gas prices are down, diesel prices are still high. Get the
prices down and it would help with our grocery costs.

 We should also revamp our schools. Not by throwing more money
into them. Put the money into finding the reason our school costs
are the highest in the world but on math tests our children score
32nd. We have a high dropout rate, and a lot of our graduates are
not prepared for college. That is unaceptable. Our children are
our future. At some point they will take over.

 A serious effort should be made to lower our health costs. They
have balloned to an almost unaffordable level for working families.
We don’t need government insurance, we need affordable insurance.

 Then we should take a long hard look at how our politicians are
running the store. There should be an instant pay freeze for all
member of the House and Senate. They’ve been giving themselves
a pay raise every year and calling it COLA, regardless of their
record. Well, why the rest of us are tightening our belts, they
should do the same. Instead of spending trillions on an unwanted,
unneeded stimulis, cut spending. Term limits should be enacted,
and the retirement should also looked at with a fine tooth comb.
Where else can you work a few years and get retirement?

 We should limit campaign fundraising, and length of campaigns.
We should also have a limit on inauguration spending. It is not
a corination, it is taking over an elected office.
Then it wouldn’t hurt to look into lobbyists, special elections,
early voting. On top of getting rid of the pork we have to rid of
the fat.

 It also wouldn’t hurt to look at all subsidized programs. Ethanol
comes to mind. Ethanol producers can make money if gas is above $3
a gallon, and the 54 cent a gallon subsidy is in place. All this
hocus-pocus to make ethanol appear a dime cheaper than regular at the pump.
To me, this is corporate welfare. It cost many to benefit a few.
Spend less money and let things work themselves out. By all means
help, just don’t put all of us in the poorhouse doing it.

 Not all these ideas are mine, but are my take on how they could be
implemented.There are a lot more things that could be done, but I
don’t want to turn this into a novel.
Comments are always welcome.

 How time flies. Congratulations to Curtis Sliwa on the 30th Anniversary
Of the Guardian Angels. On February 13, 1979 Mr. Sliwa and 12 other
voluteer citizens began the first patrol. Some, like then mayor Ed Koch,
called them vigilantes but the public expressed admiration for the groups
anti-crime efforts. The rest, as they say, is history.

 Since then the Guardian Angels have chapters in over 140 cities in 12
nations accross the world. Now when mayors sense crime getting out of
hand they contact Mr. Sliwa to help. Mr. Sliwa is very good at getting
people organized to help their communities.

 In the 30 years since the group started with the safety patrols on the
subways they’ve added school programs to stop bullies and also for gang
awareness, and helped comunitees all over the world get proactive in
prevention of violence. The group also has the Cyber Angels, the world’s
largest interent safety group in the world.  Comments are always welcome.

 I recieved a little nudge, by email, that I hadn’t mentioned the Auto Show now in progress at the River Center. Since this blog is sometimes about cars I thought,better late than never. We haven’t attended the show for a few years because my wife no longer believes me when I say ‘it doesn’t cost anything to look’.

 The show runs today through Sunday at the River Center on East 3rd Street in our downtown area. I’m not sure of the hours, but have been told it will be 10am to9pm Saturday, and 10am to 6pm Sunday. Admission is $6 for adults, $3 for children 7-12, and under 6 are free.

 I’m told there are 150 vehicles from 29 manufacturers. That also includes some pretty heavy iron. There is a 2010 Camaro, a 2010 Mustang, and two 2009 Challengers.Nissan also has a Z car. We’re told the colors have to be seen to be believed. And if you don’t want to look at cars all day, theres an IGX Video Arcade with a multi-platform, muti-screen environment that’s free. It features Nintendo Wii, Microsoft XBOX 360 and Sony PS3 game systems with latest games. There’s even a Guitar Hero Tournament at 4 pm Saturday.

 So, it’s supposed to hit the 50s on the thermometer tomorrow, why not check out what you could be driving this summer. If you go let us know how it was. My wife won’t let get around that many neat vehicles anymore.
Comments are always welcome

 This post is an opinion piece. As I’m prone to saying, that and two
bucks will get you a cup of coffee in some joints.

 It would appear that when candidate Obama talked change he was talking
about the time it took to get legislation passed. He doesn’t seem real
happy that the stimulus package hasn’t passed yet. I can’t figure out
why, when it took George Bush eight years to get the deficit to $1.2
trillion, he wants to double it in his first month is office.

 I always get a kick out of it when somebody says ‘it’s a crisis’.
To who? We have a roof over our head, running water, and haven’t had
to resort to eating cereal boxes for fiber. The cost of just about
everything has risen, and I’m sure lawmakers are staying up nights
around Washington, D.C. thinking of new ways to tax us, but we’re not
even close to being destitute.

 There’s a lot of talk of getting rid of the dreaded conservative media
around these days. Anytime someone wants to silence the opposition it
makes me wonder what they have to hide. A majority of American citizens
elected this guy and told the rest of us how he was going to change the
country. I’m seeing change alright, and I don’t like it. Chicago politics
has no business going national.

 Then there’s the cigarette tax to give health insurance to unisured kids
who parents only make $64,000 or less a year. The only problem with that
thinking is you’re spending money you don’t have. Some people will quit
smoking altogether, some will cut down, and some won’t be affected by the
tax hike. Whatever figure you came up with that this tax would raise could
realistically cut in half.

 Some will say ‘we got some people to quit’. While that may be true, since
cigarettes are not illegal; shouldn’t they quit because they want to and not
because of unrealistic taxes spent on pie in the sky government programs?

 How many millions, if not billions, is our government spending on these
anti-smoking commercials? Correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t most people
of legal age know smoking can be harmful?

 And lastly, global warming. It’s now said over 60% of the public don’t buy
into the the global warming/go green hype. Scientists are still debating what killed off the dinosaurs. Now they are claiming to see into the future. They seem to forget one basic thought, weather changes. There are reasons for areas to be designated flood plains. If you choose to live in such an area, have good insurance. If you choose to live near the hurricane ridden Gulf coast, have good insurance. If you choose to buy carbon credits to ease your conscience, bless your heart. I don’t care how big my carbon footprint is.

 Comments are always welcome.

 I’m going to include an excerpt from a newsletter from State Representative
Steven N. Olson. He represents the 83rd. District and lives in DeWitt, Iowa.
I’d like to thank him for keeping us in the loop. He is on the following
comittees; Agriculture, environmental protection, government oversight, and
public safety. His newsletter is called Olson’s Observations-

Leadership in the legislature from both parties are questioning if Governor Culver's 6.5% across the board cut will be sufficient to balance the state budget.  The governor is recommending FY 2010 General Fund appropriations of $6.211 billion. This is an increase of $147.7 million (2.4%) compared to the estimated net FY 2009 appropriations (after the 1.5% across-the-board reduction). By the state constitution the legislature must pass a balanced budget.  The indicators from the governor's office are that constitutional responsibility will be met by having a state fire sale of assets and raiding the state's emergency fund.

The results of the governor exempting some state programs from cuts (teacher pay, early childhood education, public safety and Medicaid), will cause other programs to have even larger reductions.  The Departments of Agriculture, Economic Development, Elder Affairs, Public Health, and the Courts have not experienced large increases of their budgets over the past years, some no more that 1.5% annually.  But many programs in these agencies would see their funding cut by as much as 10% next year if the Governor's proposal becomes law.

Local property taxpayers may be asked to share the burden of balancing the budget.  You would also be asked to pay an average $63 more a year, as the Governor has recommended, reducing the money the state gives to local governments to pay for your property tax credits.  Local governments have received $160 million in property tax credits since 2003.  Governor Culver would reduce the amount to $110 million.

The Kaiser Family Foundation reports that for every one percent increase in a state's unemployment rate, state tax revenue falls by 3 to 4 %.  Iowa could see a loss of an additional $185 to $240 million in the next year if the recession continues to worsen.

Iowa's budget is much like our nation's economy.  This state government has been living beyond its means.  We have grown government at a faster rate than the needed revenues to support it.  An example of this is the increase in state employees.  Since 2007, 2,600 new positions have been created by the state of Iowa .  According to the Legislative Services Agency, only 1,000 of these positions are currently filled.  The unfilled positions represent $70 million which could be used to reduce the budget.

Iowa House Republicans have announced the launch of a new feature on their website designed to get Iowans' input for budget savings.  The page is located on www.iowahouserepublicans.com and is part of the Republicans' plan to bring more truth and transparency to Iowans.  This goes along with our commitment to find waste and cost-saving measures in the budget process.  This will be a useful tool for the legislature and allows Iowans to participate with their government.

In January a group of minority legislators filed the Iowa Taxpayer Transparency Act of 2009.  This act would develop a single, searchable website for Iowans to see how and where their taxpayer dollars are being spent.  The minority party has asked the governor to freeze spending on pork projects and review unfilled full-time employee positions as a way to reduce spending and balance the state budget.

It is not a surprise to most of us that the so called Fair Share legislation has resurfaced.  The talk is that the proposal will establish a fee for new employees who choose not to join a union.   

The Public Safety Committee, which I am a member, has been addressing Iowa 's 2,000 foot compliance for sexual offenders.  There is federal legislation that has passed, known as the Adam Welch Act, which could make changes necessary in Iowa 's law.  Failure to address the issue could result in the loss of some federal funding. 

It was announced this week that the Camanche Community School was selected to receive a $30,450 matching grant from the Iowa 's Bus Emissions Education Program to purchase a new diesel school bus.

Always feel free to contact me on any issue before the Iowa Legislature.  I can be reached at 515/281-7179 during the week or by e-mail at steven.olson@legis.state.ia.us.
———————————————————————————-

 If this is the state of our state, do we really want to divert money for the Promise. I’d almost be willing to bet that the pro-Promise group will mention the portion set aside for
public safety. How can we be against more money for Police and Fire protection? We’re not. We just feel the Promise is not the way to get it.

 The newsletter speaks for itself. Funds are going to be cut, property taxes could go up an average of $63, and the state could lose up to $240 million next year. They may not raise taxes because of the Promise, but it looks like they’re going to have raise taxes.
Comments are always welcome.

Well it looks like the Promise issue is going to start heating up. Pacts both for and against the Promise are mentioned in our morning papers. There are going to be press conferences, and meetings in the weeks leading up the day we vote on the issue.  I have to wonder though; if this is best thing since sliced bread for our community, how come it doesn’t have have the full support of our City Council?

Since we know how the pro-side of things work in this city, is it any surprise that pact is waiting a few weeks before launching their campaign? It’s no secret I’m against this and have been from the onset. As long as public monies are funding it I will remain opposed. As I’ve said, if you don’t have a position on the issue, listen to both groups and make an informed decision.

A city poll conducted by a group out of Kansas also made the papers today. I find it interesting that the number one issue is quality of streets and infrastructure. Are you listening down at City Hall?

I don’t know what’s going on in Washington, D.C., but I don’t think I’d drink the water there. It looks like the first steps were taken towards nationwide government healthcare. If 4 million more children need insurance, does it really cost over $30 billion to do so?  And why should we smokers finance it?

Comments are always welcome.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Mark Nelson, Chairman 563-340-2597 or  Email opt4better@mchsi.com

Newly Formed Taxpayer Watchdog PAC to Oppose Davenport Promise Program

A news conference will be held at the Davenport Library, 321 Main Street, Davenport, IA on Friday, February 6, at 10:30am to outline the opposition to the Promise Proposal.

A non-partisan PAC, Opt4Better, has been formed to promote limited government and lower taxes in the Iowa Quad Cities. “There is a need for regular, reasoned opposition to programs expanding the scope of local government, and increasing the burden on Davenport’s taxpayers,” says Mark Nelson, founder of Opt4Better. The PAC will follow local political activities, and engage in issue and candidate support.

Its first project is assisting the taxpayers of Davenport in working to defeat the Promise Program, in the March 3, 2009 referendum. “This program is an unnecessary and unsupportable burden on Davenport’s taxpayers,” says Nelson.  Bill Lynn, 5th Ward Alderman, will introduce Mr. Nelson, and join him in the news conference.

As noted in the Upjohn Study, conducted on behalf of the City of Davenport, “a high level of uncertainty clouds the fiscal impact estimates of the Promise.”  Nelson states, “Beyond this ‘uncertainty,’ there are several assumptions within the report that compound the level of problems. We want the taxpayers to be fully aware of the limited benefits and substantial risks associated with approving this massive expansion of local government.”

Mark Nelson was born and reared in the Quad Cities. For the past 15 years he has lived in Davenport, working as a commercial real estate appraiser. Mark currently serves as the Chair of the Davenport Park and Recreation Advisory Committee. He previously has worked on several City of Davenport task forces, including Duck Creek, Fejervary Zoo and Credit Island. He has also been active in politics, chairing his precinct’s January 2008 Republican presidential caucus, running for local office, is a past Chair of the Libertarian Party of Iowa and the former Treasurer of the Libertarian National Committee.

For additional information you may contact Opt4Better’s website at Opt4better.org

Today is Tuesday. If you live in the 2nd ward, today is the day you vote for the two candidates who will be on the ballot next month to be your Alderman. Get out and let them know who think would do the best job.

A representative from Castrol sent me an email about one of their new products. It’s an oil called Castrol Edge and it’s supposed to be superior to Mobil 1. If you want more information on the product, or want to watch their Super Bowl commercial go to the website.

I’ve noticed some letters to the editor from people who support the Promise.
In one they said this is “thinking outside the box”. I beg to differ. To think outside the box you have to have a new idea. Since the Promise has been in use in other communities I’d call it “grabbing at straws”.

It’s about time for this issue to heat up. A month from tomorrow we’ll vote on it. Expect to see more movement from both those who support it and those who don’t. If you haven’t decided how you’re going to vote you should listen to what both sides have to say and make an informed choice.

Comments are always welcome.

I’m going to be busier than usual for a few days, so I thought I’d do a different kind of post today. This is a quiz for people who know everything! I found out in a hurry that I am not one
of those people. These are not trick questions. They are straight questions with straight answers.

1. Name the one sport in which neither the spectators nor the participants know the score
or the leader until the contest ends.

2. What famous North American landmark is constantly moving backward?

3. Of all vegetables, only two can live to produce on their own for several growing seasons. All other vegetables must be replanted every year. What are the only two perennial vegetables?

4. What fruit has its seeds on the outside?

5. In many liquor stores, you can buy pear brandy, with a real pear inside the bottle. The pear is whole and ripe, and the bottle is genuine; it hasn’t been cut in any way. How did the pear get inside the bottle?

6. Only three words in standard English begin with the letters ‘dw’ and they are all common words. Name two of them.

7. There are 14 punctuation marks in English grammar. Can you name at least half of them?

8. Name the only vegetable or fruit that is never sold frozen, canned, processed, cooked, or in any other form except fresh.

9. Name 6 or more things that you can wear on your feet beginning with the letter ‘S.’

Here are the answers:

1. The one sport in which neither the spectators nor the participants know the score or the leader until the contest ends. Boxing

2. North American landmark constantly moving backwards. Niagara Falls
(The rim is worn down about two and a half feet each year because of the millions of gallons of water that rush over it every minute.)

3. Only two vegetables that can live to produce on their own for several growing seasons. Asparagus and Rhubarb.

4. The fruit with its seeds on the outside. Strawberry.

5. How did the pear get inside the brandy bottle? It grew inside the bottle.
(The bottles are placed over pear buds when they are small, and are wired in place on the tree. The bottle is left in place for the entire growing season. When the pears are ripe, they are snipped off at the stems.)

6. Three English words beginning with dw. Dwarf, dwell and dwindle.

7. Fourteen punctuation marks in English grammar. Period, comma, colon, semicolon, dash, hyphen, apostrophe, question mark, exclamation point,quotation marks, brackets, parenthesis, braces,
and ellipses.

8. The only vegetable or fruit never sold frozen, canned, processed, cooked, or in any other form but fresh. Lettuce.

9. Six or more things you can wear on your feet beginning with ‘S’. Shoes, socks, sandals, sneakers, slippers, skis, skates, snowshoes, stockings, stilts.
Comments are always welcome.

We recieved the newest issue of Motor Trend in the mail today, and as usual, it got me thinking. A technology article by Frank Markus called “whacking moles” had information I hadn’t heard before.

By now I’m sure everyone is aware the government wants to wean the country off foreign oil. Sounds resonable. Their solution? Electric cars. We’ve said for some time our technology isn’t ready. But what if it was? That would solve all our problems. Or would it?

Electric motors used to use cobalt for the permanent magnets. Most of the world’s cobalt comes from Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo). Of course the cost is as unstable as the political unrest of the area. But we lucked out. GM and Sumitomo Corporation of Japan united to develop neodymium as a replacement for cobalt. Now it’s the component used in the electric motors of most hybrid and electric vehicles. The problem? 95% of all neodymuimcomes from China. And now China is talking about not exporting any.

Electric motors not using rare-earth metals are being developed, so it
might not be all bad. So let’s talk about batteries. Most of us are aware of lithium-ion batteries. But where do you think all the lithium-carbonate and lithium-chloride salts are? Well if you guessed here in the mid-west, guess again. The vast majority is located in the high-altitude deserts in the Andes. And most of that is in Bolivia. As you may know their government is not open to the idea of helping international mining companies. China has access to reserves near Tibet, but a rush of lithium-ion battery powered car production would probably set up a materials rush in South America. And then we have the fact that lithium-ion batteries have a short lifespan.

Two battery alternatives are in the research and development stages now; Zinc-air and vanadium-boron-air batteries, or fuel cells. Heard of them? Me either. zinc-air batteries are cheap, light and energy dense. For about a third the cost of lithium-ion, doubling the power output, and zinc is plentiful. Problem is the recharge cycle isn’t practical for electric cars. That leaves the zinc-air fuel cell. These can be mechanically recharged with new zinc anodes or electrolyte. But these won’t appeal to any mass market because there won’t be recharging stations with zinc anodes and eletrolytes on every corner.

And now researchers at U-Mass Boston are doing well in the
development stage of a vanadium-boron-air fuel cell that has double the energy density of gasoline. Vanadium is found in magnetite, which is abundant in the U.S.m Mexico, and Europe. The biggest producers of boron are Turkey and the U.S. Of course there’s a slight downside, it can’t be recharged. It also needs anodes replaced to be recharged. And once again,there won’t be battery recycling stations to replace the anodes.

So, the next time you hear the politicians saying we have to go electric, remember our technology just isn’t there yet. And do we really want to replace a dependence on foreign oil with a dependance on foreign minerals?
Comments are welcome.