Lure via left hand/dagger in the right

[mandru]

A disturbing trend here in the U.S. is the huge push towards electric cars which by the way I've never seen the President's family or for that matter any govt. official higher ranked than a dog catcher actually use for anything other than a photo opp.  Touted as saving the Earth "they use no gas!" Charge your car overnight then you can run errands around town quickly and get home before the battery goes flat.

However I've yet to see the impact on a family's monthly power bill for switching from gas pump to wall socket instead we are fed the positives like "By using a 240V connection you'll cut the recharge time in half!".  We get the raw numbers of the charge load capacity of a battery and can look up what we're paying per Kilowatt but no one is bragging about the cost per mile ratio before buying into the fad.  I wonder why that is.  >:D

Then again no one is mentioning that there is a war being waged against power companies and their customers by our Environmental Protective Agency who can now create law by fiat (no matter how this is viewed it absolutely violates our Constitution which gives only Congress the power to add or remove laws but the current administration doesn't hold that dirty old thing in very high regard unless it can be used to further their agenda).  In this last year alone the EPA has removed a further 10% of our current and future energy sources completely off the table.  Environmental watchdog or Cerberus?  :D

Bottom line?  We're being steered (remember that a steer is a gelded bull to promote docility for the safety of their handlers) towards the GM (read as Govt. Motors) Chevy Volt (the irony of mobile electric chairs doesn't elude me) by a grinning mockery of a real Leader who wants to be reelected for his elite high minded and far reaching vision.  Yet at the same time the cronies he's personally appointed to head the EPA who share identical long term goals are working on turning out all the lights.

Yeah, that Chevy Volt will look great sitting parked in my garage with no power to charge it other than the expected necessity of meeting the annual fulfillment of my patriotic responsibilities of sustaining the administration's "perfect economy" by trading up every year for the latest model.

If the GM/Chevy dealer has a delivery and pick-up service so that I never have to drive at all I should really be able to save a bundle on my insurance rates.  >:((


Which circle of hell is devoted to leaders who gain political power by cutting off power to their citizens.  :-D

[Art Blade]

I like the idea of mobile electric chairs (as in electric-powered wheelchairs, in accordance with gas saving policy) because it will cut down insurance companies' expenses. You see, if the driver of such a vehicle gets electrocuted and turns himself into a pile of smouldering goo either driving or trying to recharge his chair the insurance company's comment on the matter might be along the line of "the driver executed poorly thus sparked off an event of, we are sorry to say, undoubtedly terminal character which wouldn't have happened if the old chap had been encouraged to use a regular wheelchair. Sorry, no compensation."  :-D

[mandru]

 

[Fiach]

what is a prius good for?


'nuff said :)

[Art Blade]

nice.  :-()

[PZ]

  :-X   that's hilarious!

[Dweller_Benthos]

I always wonder about these people who think they are "saving the planet" when they buy a hybrid or full on electric car. First off, the real reason deep down is they think they are going to save money by getting a car with higher gas mileage. They don't seem to take into account that these cars cost upwards of $3000 more than an equivalent gas only car, and heaven forbid if anything breaks on them, repair costs are quite a lot more as well. So, to offset that initial high cost? Better keep that car for 15 years at current gas prices. Before you break even, that is.

So, that shoots down the "I'll save money" idea, what about saving the planet? Bullshit. Here in the US, from what I remember, a good percentage of our electrical supply comes from coal. Yes, coal. So, even though you can "buy" your electricity from any source you want, like that hydro dam in the Pacific northwest that's a clean source of renewable energy (to hell with the salmon who need to get by it to spawn) you're still really getting electricity mostly from coal, so your fancy hybrid car? Mostly coal powered, I'm afraid, how's that for saving the planet.

To sum it all I recall that episode of South Park where the owners of all the hybrid cars are so smug and self-satisfied for the good they are doing, move to San Francisco and sniff their own farts.

Now, if they could invent a car that runs on farts, I'd be all set. 

[Art Blade]

Hehe, that is in part reality already. The combustible components of a fart are methane, hydrogen sulfide and hydrogen. It might smell horribly but so does diesel  :-D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_vehicle

Here something regarding natural gas (contains lots of methane) vehicles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_gas_vehicle

[PZ]

... what about saving the planet? Bullshit.

Absolutely; they also don't consider the consequences of battery disposal.

[mandru]

Thanks Fiach, I needed that.  :)