Energy Bill Passes House

A major energy bill has just barely passed in the house. The bill will now move to the senate. We can only hope it will pass in the senate. This is a major piece of legislation that will greatly change how our country tackles environmental and energy related concerns.

While the naysayers will tell you this will raise your taxes, what it really does is allow us to finally try to right climate change, something that is expensive but something that we are all in together.

It should be noted that Americans would be willing to pay $19/month to handle climate change. The proposed plan will cost approximately $15/month to the average family.

Netflix prize has been won!

Wow, that took a lot longer than anyone thought.

Michael Jackson 1958-2009

It is sad to see the passing of such a talented artist, even though he was a bit odd. The work he did through the 70s, 80s, and early 90s will likely not be matched for some time.

SCOTUS says no to strip searches at schools

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/25/scotus.strip.search/index.html

In a victory for the right to privacy, the Supreme Court has ruled
that it is illegal to strip search students, at least in the case
presented. I think it is unlikely that schools will continue this
practice. However, the plaintiff is not able to sue the school based
on this ruling, so it is only a partial victory for her.

Governor of South Carolina Scandal

This whole scandar with Mark Sanford gets better by the minute.

 

First, he disappears and not even his wife or staff knew where he went.  He shows up several days later, saying that he went on a hike of the appalacian trail... during naked hike day. 

 

OK, so right now that's pretty bizarre, but then someone said they had spotted him at the Atlanta airport.  Ooops!! 

 

So then he says he took a spontaneous trip to Argentina and walked around.

 

Just now he reported he was having an affair. 

 

Bobby Jindal, Sarah Palin, Mark Sanford.  All of them rising starts within the GOP who have now fallen.  Who is left?

 

 

Infrastructure under stress

Last night I watched the excellent History special "The Crumbling of America". This documentary raised several areas of concern for every American. They detailed several classes of infrastructure that are degrading quickly:

Bridges

Dams - Some states, such as Alabama, do not even have a dam inspector.

Levees - Surprisingly, the state most in danger is California, particularly Sacamento.

Roads

Sewers

Water Mains - Montgomery Co. MD, a rich suburb of DC, was singled out in this segment.

For anyone who has drived around the Rust Belt (e.g. Detroit) this will not come as any surprise. As a country, we spent several decades and a lot of money building this infrastructure. But since the boom in the 50s and 60s the state and federal governments have not taken action to properly maintain these roads, generally because they were too busy spending money on other items, which they deemed more important.

At this point, it will likely cost several trillion dollars to repair our infrastructure. Some of this will be done with the recent stimulus package. While republicans may balk at this figure and claim that it is the responsibility of the states, the states simply do not have the money to undertake this project. Once the tap water shuts off for weeks due to major water main breaks, or a bridge near your house fails and you need to drive an extra 50 miles to work each day, I think this issue would hit home with any American.

This is going to cost a lot to fix. This is also not a partisan issue. Today in Detroit, the democratic city council voted against an increase in the sewer/water tax. Sure, people in Detroit may have trouble affording an increased water bill; but if the infrastructure which delivers and cleans the water fails, they will be paying a lot more.

Deadly Metro Crash on Red Line

At least 6 people are dead in the worst accident in the history of the Metro. Early reports indicate that both trains were stopped and then one started moving towards the other. I would think that the train in which the operator was killed was likely the one that moved, since that would carry them forward, unless the positions of the train were somehow reversed.

JD Power Quality Results have some surprises

The JD Power quality rankings are a bit interesting this year.

 

Lexus is #1, followed by Porsche.  Cadillac is in number 3.  Most surprising is Hyundai at #4, ahead of Toyota, Honda, Ford, and others.  The best domestic brand other than Cadillac is Ford.

 

Unsuprisingly, BMW, Audi, Volvo, and Saab are all below average.  Subaru is way down there too, which IS a surprise.

 

And bankrupt Chrysler has all of its brands below average.

 

http://www.autonews.com/article/20090622/ANA05/906229989/1197

Why the right is wrong on Iran

Since the disupted Iran election results came forth a week ago, President Obama has managed to condemn the violence while walking the thin line between the two sides who are wrestling for control of the country. Many conservatives have criticized the president for not coming down harder on the current Iranian regime, but such action would be counterproductive.

If Obama came forward on the side of the opposition, they would lose a lot of credibility with their own people, since they would be seen as a pawn of America (like the Shah). We need to let the Iranians sort this out for themselves, and reach out to whomever comes up on top. This is the right strategic move.