Roadtrip! Today (in a few minutes) I will embark on a couple of great roadtrips. I am not sure where we are going for sure, but do have a few plans. Trip one will be to take Sinclair to PCH to Strategic Intelligence Camp. The trip there should last about 12 hours, but I am sure that we will take longer. Then Peyton and I will get to spend a few days in New York City doing his Passport to Purity. Then Wednesday we head back and pick up the rest of the family and head back to PCH and get Sinclair then head to Colonial Williamsburg for a few days of relaxing time learning about early Colonial life in America. You can follow us at Twitter.com/TheDigitalLife, and of course the blog here at http://thedigitallife.net/blogger.html.

When there are dark clouds, get out the umbrella: I am perpetually amazed at the ignorance that some people have when it comes to seeing the signs and not doing anything about it. Take Katrina. The people in New Orleans knew (and bragged) that they lived below sea level and that any severe hurricane could devastate the city. They had days to prepare and evacuate, but many chose to stay and paid with their lives. Some had the audacity to claim that they just never knew that the storm could be that bad.

When it comes to the economy people are just as ignorant. They don't want to admit that things are bad, or that they have the potential to get bad. This week the IndyMac Bank of California was closed by the government. They have been reporting problems for months and their stock has slipped from $30 to 28 cents. So what's up with all these people going to the bank on Friday trying to withdraw money and finding that the bank is closed? One of the guys that was interviewed admitted that they probably had over $100,000, more than that which is insured. That goes beyond ignorance.

US Bank closed at $25.80, so I guess I am safe for now.

Maybe It’s Time for Some Change:  I don’t mean change like politicians say it, I mean change like really doing things different.  Politicians say change, what they mean is that they want their party in power and want to do things the same old way that their party has been doing it. But sometimes you have to just throw away the rule book and start all over.

What I am talking about is our dependence on foreign oil. I drove in today to see that the price was steady at $4.07 and I was actually glad. When we moved here it was $1.99 and that was considered high.  And I really don’t see it coming down. So we have to do some drastic things. Some propose conservation, but conservation only helps a little. Some say alternative fuels, but they take a while to get to market and they are currently contributing to the global food shortage (who was the Einstein who thought taking food and making it fuel wouldn’t disrupt things?). We could drill off the coast, but that will take years to get to market. We could drill in ANWAR, but that is also years away.

I have an idea, let’s do it all! Seriously, if we take all of the solutions and adopt them all then we could really see some change.  Let’s lower the national speed limit to 55MPH (and allow those who feel the need to drive at 45 MPH drive in the slow lane). Let’s start looking at raising the CAFE  standard so that the next generation of vehicles get better mileage than what we have on the road today.  Let’s back plans to install wind farms all over the Midwest so that our home electricity isn’t based on oil or coal.

If you know me you know that I don’t buy in to the global warming myth, so why all this talk about saving fuel? It comes down to money and dependence on others. One thing that I enjoy is not being dependent on anyone else.  I long for a day when I can drive to work and then plug in at night so that the commute doesn’t cost me a dime (right now it is about $12 a day for the commute).

 

The Conflict of Data: Today I found this really fun picture of a floating city. While I love this kind of stuff, it is interesting why this "city" is being developed. The Lilypad cities are for "climate refugees". This is of course because the earth is going to be submerged because the oceans are rising because we have too many cows. The article states as fact that the oceans will rise 3 feet by 2100. This is of course in direct conflict with the global warm prophet Al Gore who has stated that all of Manhattan will be under water in 25 years. Of course, if Manhattan is 8" above sea level these two facts might not be in conflict, and my comments are all wet. Also in conflict, Charlotte broke a 123 year old record today, for the coldest July 3rd on record. Hmmm.