BendGovernment

Radio Ham Communications Magazine Antiques

2008-05-13T17:11:00.000-07:00

The Radio1 issue is from 1942

These early issues of S/9 are from 1935

The Hytron Tube ad is a magazine back cover.

The real romance of radio & shipping. . . eh?

Remember to click on the image for a closer view. Images may have been better if I had removed the plastic covers.

US Dollar Value Inflation Risk. India & Euro OK

2008-05-01T13:04:00.000-07:00

Avoid US dollar value shares?

Stick to Canada, Netherlands, German, India and more reliable currency values?

Addison Wiggins thinks so, because . . .

** Today, there are simply too many dollars in circulation for the currency’s own good. Why? Americans have been living beyond their means for more than two decades. The U.S. dollar’s problems stem from a single cause. **If there’s a bubble,** wrote David Rosenberg, chief economist at Merrill Lynch, ** it’s in this four–letter word: debt. The U.S. economy is just awash in it. **

You’ve seen it firsthand: John Q. Public now holds more credit cards and outstanding loans – with a higher and higher total debt load – than ever before. Outstanding consumer credit, including mortgage and other debt, reached $ 9.3 trillion in April 2003 – a significant increase from its $ 7 trillion total in January 2000 – but by the third quarter of 2007, debt had nearly doubled since 2000, to $ 13.7 trillion. With consumer spending alone responsible for approximately 70 percent of U.S. GDP, that’s quite a hefty personal debt load.

The corporate debt picture is no better. American companies have never depended so much on sales of their corporate bonds. Between 2002–2007, investment – grade corporate bond sales increased nearly 60 percent, growing from $598 billion to $951 billion. But junk bond sales for that same period broke the bank, surging from $57 billion to $133 billion.

The third leg of the debt problem, following consumer and business debt, is Uncle Sam. Government debt as of November 7, 2007, officially passed $ 9,000,000,000,000. That’s about $ 30,000 for every man, woman, and child in the country. This total includes debt owned by many types of investors, from individuals to corporations to Federal Reserve banks and especially to foreign interests. (By 2004, foreign central banks had stockpiled more than $ 1.3 trillion worth of dollar – denominated Treasury bonds and agency bonds at the Federal Reserve. By 2007, foreign debt had nearly doubled, to $ 2.033 trillion.)

What the $ 7.8 trillion figure does not account for are items like the gap between the government’s Social Security and Medicare commitments and the money put aside to pay for them. If these items are factored in, the government debt burden for every American rises to well over $ 175,000. In 2005, the Methuselah of investment mavens, Sir John Templeton, then 93, said you should get out of U.S. stocks, the U.S. dollar, and excess residential real estate. Templeton believed the dollar would fall 40 percent against other major currencies, and that this would lead the nation’s major creditors – notably Japan and China – to dump their U.S. bonds, which would cause interest rates to run up, thus beginning a long period of stagflation. He was right.

Don’t let his age fool you – Templeton was still sharp in 1999 when the financial industry hacks in Florida were urging their customers to buy more tech stocks. Templeton warned that the bubble would soon burst. He was right; they were wrong. Of course, he was only 87 back then. He is almost certainly right again. Other great investors, too, are getting out of the dollar. For the first time in his life, Warren Buffett is investing in foreign currencies.

George Soros, who made a fortune selling sterling in the 1992 ERM crisis, warns that the U.S. system could “ blow up ” at any time. Richard Russell, the influential editor of the Dow Theory letters, speaking at the New Orleans Investment Conference, warned: “If ever there was a crisis that could shake the global economy – this is it.” Jim Rogers is teaching his daughter to speak Chinese. When old – timers nod their heads in agreement – especially when they happen to be the most successful investors in the world – their advice may be worth listening to.

American consumers, companies, the U.S. government, and the country as a whole owe more dollars to more people than ever before. But perhaps the greatest threat to the U.S. economy is its foreign creditors. There is – or should be – a limit to the number of dollars foreigners are willing to buy and hold and thus a limit to their willingness to service our credit habit. Why? Because the United States, while still the world’s number – one economic power, is showing itself to be an unreliable steward of its own currency.

Regards,
Addison Wiggins
The DailyRekoning.com
=============================
= TG

Respect and Honour Muslim women

2008-01-14T20:07:00.000-08:00

Wonderful woman who has been there and seen that.

Excellent focus.

Total clarity without a flood of detail.

Communicating principle to us in her second language.

This is the atrocity Saudi religious police enacted against girls caught in a school fire because their faces were not covered.

http://muttawa.blogspot.com/2004_04_01_archive.html

North America should see this video from time to time but alas, Britney Spears stands in the way. = TG

Bargain laptop $299 - Van 2500 Euros [ no gas ]

2008-01-05T11:55:00.000-08:00

Things are looking up for us ** Poor Boys**

To go along with the new modern Asustek laptop bargain at $299,

http://tinyurl.com/2zt7et

you will soon be able to buy a car that uses no gas or diesel for 2,500 Euros.

There is a BBC video waiting for you at:
AutoBlogGreen.com

French designed, India made at Tata Motors and a new plant going up in Melbourn Au.

Soon, a car and a great laptop for 9K. = TG

President Bush Signs 35 mpg CAFE into law

2007-12-19T22:51:00.000-08:00

35 mpg CAFE into law? 86 mpg Honda Insight..No problemo!

December 19, 2007
Now it's pen-on-paper official:

Let's just be thankful that the 35 mpg standard survived all the backing down. And the Detroit News mentions this: **a measure in the bill that will provide at least $90 million annually for battery research to make plug-in hybrids a reality.**

Somehow I thought the PHEV money had been stricken. Hey, it's nice to be wrong. While the 35 mpg number won't kick in until 2020, the bill mandates changes starting with the 2011 model year. My, that's soon.
========== AutoblogGreen.com

PHEVs are a reality, only not in large scale production yet. There is a thriving business in converting the Prius and other makes from hybrid to PHEV. = TG

Flex-fuels beat Opec oil and terrorism

2007-12-05T02:00:00.000-08:00

Venezuela's Hugo Chavez says he wants to send oil to $200 a barrel. Robert Zubrin has a plan to stop him. In his just released book, Energy Victory: Winning the War on Terror by Breaking Free of Oil,

The clever Saudis are the most lethal enemy of our Western free world. Osama was / is a Saudi. 1999 oil income approx 4 Billion$…2007 oil income 800 Billion$. The Saudis finance madrasses world wide where hungry young men are offered regular meals along with anti-western brain washing.

Robert Zubrin correctly suggests a stroke of the pen in USA congress that will limit oil price gouging. There is NO shortage.
================== Expert and Author: of Energy Victory.

In a nutshell, his proposal is this: that the American congress should pass a law mandating that all new cars sold in the United States be flex-fueled, which is to say able to run on any combination of gasoline or alcohol fuels. Flex fuel is proven technology which only adds a few hundred dollars to the cost of a car.

[ In 2008/09, 100% of all new cars sold in Brazil will be 100% Flex fuel.= TG]

In 2007, roughly 90 percent of all cars sold in Brazil were flex-fueled, but outside of that country, their market share was quite low - comprising about 3 percent of US auto sales, for example. However, as Zubrin argues convincingly, if it were mandated that every new car sold in the USA had to be flex fueled as a standard feature, then practically every auto manufacturer in the world would be forced to switch their lines over to flex fuel.

[ If you own a Flex fuel vehicle you have a choice. Gas at $1.05 -litre or E85 or M85 at 49 cents per litre. If the Saudis / Opec lower gas prices to compete, you can revert to gasoline anytime the price is below biofuel prices.= TG]

Thus the effect of a US flex fuel mandate would be global, and within a few years, put hundreds of millions of cars on the road worldwide capable of running indifferently on either methanol, ethanol, or gasoline.

With such a market available, alcohol fuel pumps and associated infrastructure would quickly appear, and the vertical monopoly that the oil cartel holds on the world's vehicular fuel supply would be broken, as gasoline would be forced to compete everywhere against alcohol produced from multiple sources, including biomass, coal, stranded natural gas, recycled urban trash, and so forth.

To be sure, such a development would not quite destroy OPEC. Alcohol fuels are only competitive against oil when the price exceeds about $50 per barrel. So in a free market, the best Zubrin's plan could accomplish would be to send oil prices back down to that level. Still, in the face of current oil prices of $100 per barrel, and much worse potentially in the offing, forcing the price back to $50/bbl and containing it at that level would certainly be an enormous accomplishment.

[Hugo Chavez is suggesting Opec pricing go to $200 per barrel. ]

Which brings us to Zubrin's idealism. He doesn't just want to take away the Saudi's treasure. He wants to use it to end world poverty. He says: **Instead of financing terrorism, our energy dollars could be used to fund world development. Instead of selling blocks of our media to Saudi princes, we could be selling tractors to Africa. Instead of paying for death, we could be helping to spread life. Instead of buying arms for our enemies and chains for ourselves, we could be building a world of prosperity and freedom.**

http://www.energy-daily.com/reports/The_Plan_To_Destroy_OPEC_999.html
====================
As Zubrin puts it: **So the crux of the matter comes down to this: Do we want to win or lose? The issue at stake in energy security is not a matter of whether the price of gasoline will be $2 per gallon or $3 per gallon; it is who will determine the human future. Do we want to have the enemy's fate in our hands, or do we want to have ours in theirs?**

[BTW… gasoline in the UK sells for about $8 a gallon.. ]

Laos harvests sweet yams for bio fuels. China has been ramping up production. Brazil learned the lesson of 1972/73. North America*s and UK*s ExxonMobile, Chevron, Shell, BP and all are in bed with the devil.. Too bad for us. = TG

Do You Drive? Vehicle Manufacturers Promises..click on link

2007-11-03T22:02:00.000-07:00

TonyGuitar: Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association [Debunked]

Hydrogen? - Battery?- BioFuel? No, Air Taxi

2007-05-31T23:54:00.000-07:00

France: Your taxi in Paris is likely to run on compressed air. Sometimes the French seem more frugal than us Scots.

Barring any last-minute design changes on the way to production, the Air Car should be surprisingly practical. The $12,700 CityCAT, one of a handful of planned Air Car models, can hit 68 mph and has a range of 125 miles. It will take only a few minutes for the CityCAT to refuel at gas stations equipped with custom air compressor units; MDI says it should cost around $2 to fill the car’s carbon-fiber tanks with 340 liters of air at 4350 psi. Drivers also will be able to plug into the electrical grid and use the car’s built-in compressor to refill the tanks in about 4 hours.

http://www.mdi.lu/fra/affiche_fra.php?page=citycats

So, French ingenuity allows us to bomb around town all day, [usually less than 125 miles], and there is no suckling at the breasts of Chevron or ExxonMobile. Hey, I like that! A sort of real freedom, at last! = TG

Evs and Hybrids in Big City Mayors plans

2007-05-25T19:18:00.000-07:00

This is a Nissan AltimaAV

Major city mayors are doing things concrete to make a clear air difference in places like Mexico city and New york .. ..

** I had the good fortune earlier this month to share the podium in Mexico City with Mayor Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon when he committed his city (the third most populated one on the planet) to a major initiative of battery EV use by the municipal government. The program will shortly expand to taxi cabs and the hybridization of transit buses.

The following week in New York, Mayor Ebrard joined peers from the 40 largest cities in the world to discuss their efforts to reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg used that occasion to announce his city's plans to convert the entire 13,000 vehicle fleet of yellow cabs to hybrid vehicles over the next five years.
Brian Wynne
President
ElectricDrive.org
================EDTA

Looks like progress to me. = TG

New battery in GM Hybrid auto future

2007-01-10T20:42:00.000-08:00

This is the interesting end part of a CBC article about the woes of American auto makers and future plans.

cbc.ca/news/background/autos/bigthree.html

Will GM and Ford be able to turn it around? The automakers, of course, say yes. Analysts say they'll need to chop vehicles, models or brands that are unprofitable (much as GM announced the phase-out of its Oldsmobile brand in 2000). They'll also need to modernize an outdated dealer network and boost investment in their remaining plants and products.

As part of that investment, GM announced a $2.5 billion program in March 2005 to upgrade plants and boost research and development in Ontario. In November 2005, DaimlerChrysler said it would invest $768 million to upgrade and modernize its Ontario operations.

======= Gradually, ever so gradually ===== TG

And, as industry aficionados gathered in Detroit for the 2007 North American International Auto Show, GM announced it was working on a lithium-ion battery that would significantly boost the gas mileage of hybrid sport utility vehicles. GM's Saturn Vue Green Line gets about 13.5 kilometres per litre on the highway. The new battery could more than double that to 30.

=== Li is misleading =meaning, pay royalty to large format NiMH patent holder, Chevron? See TonyGuitar.blogspot.com === TG
Update While Chevron holds the *large format* NiMH patents for North America, Exxon-Mobile make the Lithium Ion seperator film,[like a thin white plastic], backbone of the Lithium battery. Exxon-Mobile $39 billion$ *06 profit.

Meanwhile, Canadian and American automotive journalists chose Saturn's Aura and Chevrolet's Silverado as the car and truck of year. The Aura beat the Honda Fit and Toyota Camry for the award. The Silverado was picked over the Ford Edge and Mazda CX-7 crossovers.

The honours have been handed out annually since 1994. Japanese and European brands have taken top marks seven times. With this year's wins, North American carmakers have also come out on top seven times.

=== Hint, buy American. Malibu, Impala and Cobalt are good value.= TG

Hybrid, Battery, Plug-in, Hdrogen = Oil price drop

2007-01-07T21:48:00.000-08:00

Auto consumers are voting with their dollars for smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles, as auto makers are scrambling to provide alternatives, such as hybrids and fuel cell.
January 06, 2007: Gerry Malloy
http://www.thestar.com/article/167911

We looked into the future ...

Although they still represent a relatively small proportion of the market, hybrids have been the most visible of these technologies. And their availability is growing.

Nissan and Mazda will soon have hybrids on the road [Altima and Tribute, respectively].

Saturn will be offering a gas-electric version of its Aura mid-size sedan, followed by a similar variant of the 2008 Chevrolet Malibu.

Others are just over the horizon. One of the most significant will be the 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe Two-Mode Hybrid – the first fruit of a hybrid collaboration among BMW, DaimlerChrysler and General Motors.
====
Excellent example of pooling a technical standard for group economy of scale savings. = TG
====
It will be followed by a Dodge Durango hybrid, as well as more GM variants and others from BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

While they will share core hybrid systems, the rest of the vehicles, including their internal combustion (IC) engines, will remain unique to each brand.

While these early applications will be rear-wheel drive, GM will offer a green package in front-wheel-drive form in the next-generation Saturn Vue.
==================
PLUG-IN HYBRIDS

The next major step in fast-moving hybrid technology may be plug-in hybrids. Ford, GM and Toyota are working on them, with production applications in mind.

With greater battery capacity and the potential to be recharged from the electrical grid, as well as by their IC engines, they offer many of the advantages of pure electrics, without many of the disadvantages. The ability to charge a larger battery pack yields an increased driving range on electric power only.

As with pure electrics – and we haven't seen the last of them – the issue remains of how electricity for the grid is generated. If not from renewable, non-nuclear sources, it may be a case of simply shifting the environmental burden from the automobile to somewhere else.

Nevertheless, plug-ins are going to happen, perhaps sooner than you think.
======================
HYDROGEN FUEL CELLS

These remain the Holy Grail of powerplants for many.

GM will build 100 Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell vehicles in 2007 – right here in Canada. They will be put into fleet service throughout the U.S.

Honda has announced that it will put 100 of its recently revealed FCX fuel-cell sedans into similar service, probably in 2008.

Of course, the same question applies to hydrogen as it does for electricity: where will it come from, and what energy source will be used to produce it?

Looking a little further out, the driveable version of GM's Sequel fuel-cell vehicle takes the technology a whole lot further. Built from the ground up as a fuel-cell vehicle, Sequel takes advantage of everything the technology has to offer, including a fully electric/electronic drivetrain, with drive-by-wire steering and brakes that spurn hydraulics. (Electric motors squeeze the brake pads against the calipers and release them.)

Such features are another step toward the demise of mechanical componentry – the bedrock of the auto for more than 100 years.
=====
Iran*s intensity can be reduced through the coming drop in oil demand. Oil prices are now on the decline as the market looks forward, taking super efficient cars and alternate fuels into account. = TG
=====

EVs _ Is Government ready?

2007-01-02T17:09:00.000-08:00

Is government ready for EV [Electric Vehicle] Era?

New super power cells like the ones being developed by Eestor will usher in the new EV era of quiet reliable and non-polluting transport. The EV wave is well under way.

http://TonyGuitar.blogspot.com

Big oil and Big auto did lobby the US government to reverse stringent California emission standards in 1993. The result was all of GM*s EV-1 leased Evs were recalled and crushed at a secure GM site in Arizona.

Dilemma: Above all, Canadian and US governments want to be re-elected.

Has government looked ahead and developed a tax income model for Evs that will provide the huge cash flows that oil and gas provide for government today? Not much room for that when 8 cents of hydro power pays for 250 km of travel.

Has government thought up a transition plan for the massive unemployment coming in the oil and gas distribution and auto-mechanical manufacturing sectors?

Government re-election is very doubtful if future plans are not carefully designed and carried out.
This future planning for Evs is an urgent priority for many reasons, not the least of which is removing the fire from a fast moving terrorist movement financed through oil revenues to

http://tinyurl.com/yk3hgb

countries like Iran, Pakistan , Saudi-Arabia, Indonesia, and soon, Venezuela.

Oilwars.blogspot.com

Russia Mafia Servers and Crime

2006-12-17T13:19:00.000-08:00

Beware: Valuehost.co.uk and 5755.ru
Attackers target Russian hosting firm

At least 470 Valuehost sites carrying malware scripts
Shaun Nichols in California, vnunet.com 04 Dec 2006

A Russian hosting company with ties to the UK and the US has become the victim of a huge hack attack, a security firm warned today.

Valuehost is reportedly hosting over 470 servers that are infected with scripts that attempt to run malware on a user's computer.

Security firm Kaspersky Lab reported that a user contacted the company after he had noticed " strange behaviour" from his browser. The antivirus software vendor said the site contained scripts that downloaded a Trojan installer.

According to Kaspersky, the user visited www.5755.ru after seeing the site advertised on TV. Upon visiting the site, a second browser window was launched and the malicious scripts then attempted to run.

Kaspersky Lab said that it later found that more than 470 other servers had been compromised with the same attack. Those servers, according to Kaspersky, were all traced back to Valuehost.

Valuehost offers hosting services to more than 60,000 Russian sites, and the company also offers hosting in the UK and the US. 5755.ru, valuehost.com and valuehost.co.uk were all down at the time of publication of this article.

Valuehost had not responded to requests for comment as of press time.===== [ Typical ] ===

In May, Valuehost's email addresses were spoofed in order to carry out an email Trojan attack.

http://tinyurl.com/yn8q3r
=============
Russian Servers crime is on Overdrive. = TG

Nuclear energy power generation a waste

2006-10-21T13:36:00.000-07:00

Nuclear plants long overdue at Tech Museum

One more scheme draining away your tax dollars.
Nuclear power is a terrible drain on our public funds under the cloak of **hidden economy funding**. The secretive nature of nuclear allows that, while a powerful lobby protects Nuclear power generating interests. Nuke plants belong in the tech museum.

=========== Is the Author Qualified? ============
Dr. Hermann Scheer is General Chairman of the World Council for Renewable Energy (WCRE). Recipient of the First World Solar Prize by the 2nd World Conference on Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conversion in Vienna, 1998. [Awards list too long for here]

Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europa since 1987. President of the European Association for Renewable Energies EUROSOLAR. University studies in Heidelberg and Berlin, PhD at FU Berlin, Dr. h.c. of Technical University Varna, Bulgaria.
=============== You decide. ==================

An electrical generation capacity of 16,000 Megawatts has evolved in Germany over the last twelve years as a result of the renewable energy law. New facilities with 3000 Megawatts were realized in 2003 alone. If this initial rate were reproduced over the next 50 years, a total capacity of 166,000 Megawatts would result, equivalent to conventional capacities of 55,000 Megawatts.

Nevertheless it is a very widespread fallacy to think in isolated substitution steps and ignore increasing efficiency potentials. Renewable Energy has unimagined advantages. Short energy chains replace long energy chains from the mines to the final consumer with losses of energy at every step of conversion and transformation. A relatively few highly centralized power plants will be superseded by many decentralized facilities. The need for wide-area infrastructure development declines dramatically.

Four additional reasons speak against the future viability of nuclear power: ==============

- Their enormous water requirements for steam processes and cooling conflicts with intensified water emergencies due to climate change and the water needs of the growing world population.
- The excess heat of nuclear power plants is poorly suited for combined heat and power generation because of the high financial burdens of district heating systems appropriate to central nuclear power blocks.
- The danger of nuclear terrorism, not only by missile attacks on reactors, continues to grow with the intensification of asymmetrical conflicts.
- Full-load operation of capital-intensive nuclear reactors that is indispensable for their profitability can only be guaranteed if governments again regulate the electricity markets and obstruct alternatives. The nuclear economy remains a (concealed) state economy.

Renewable Energy News

= TG

This is the powerful lobby [Public Relations site] in Canada:
The CNA

Government spoof logo

2006-10-19T11:14:00.000-07:00

**A spokesman for the Department of the Interior explained that their ultimate goal is to block all weblogs, not just conservative blogs. He gave two justifications for the policy: that blogs are not work-related, and that blogs are offensive.

Guess the thought to post a simple notice is too simple a solution.

======================================
NOTICE:
======================================
Porn sites = Trojans and key loggers.
Poker sites = Viruses Loggers & Trojans

Severe penalties apply to accounts who expose
this PC station to compromise and/or infection:
You are warned! = *US Dept of Interior*
=======================================

Some Interior employees complained that only conservative blog sites were being blocked. The news was broken by
Gates of Vienna, a conservative political blog. Gates of Vienna posted an e-mail from an Interior employee that listed 15 conservative sites that were blocked and seven liberal blogs that were not blocked. Quimby said a review of access to 22 blogs on Oct. 13 showed that only five of the 15 conservative sites were blocked while two of the seven liberal sites were blocked.

Either way, all blogs will be blocked as the new Internet filters are fully rolled out, Quimby said.
Sean Gleeson

= TG

US electric car firm launch a winner

2006-10-10T18:00:00.000-07:00

Electric sports car maker sells out its first round of cars.
August 15, 2006 11:35 AM PDT

Will people pay $100,000 to plunk down on an electric sports car? Yes, says Tesla Motors.

Tesla, which has created an all-electric sports car, has already booked deposits for its first 100 cars, according to Martin Eberhard, Tesla's CEO. The $100,000 deposits guarantee that the buyers will get the cars, which will come out next year.
"All 100 are gone," he said.

The company unveiled its Tesla Roadster on July 19 in a glitzy event in Santa Monica. At the time, around 37 people had already plunked down deposits. Many early buyers, such as Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and Ebay co-founder Jeff Skoll, are investors in Tesla. So far, only a few cars have been fully completed.

The Tesla Roadster goes from zero to sixty in about four seconds, about as fast as a Ferrari. But, unlike a Ferrari, it doesn't make a vrooming noise or smell like gas. It sort of makes an eerie hum, like those cars in the 70s cult classic Death Race 2000.

They are fun to ride in. See the video here.

Tesla

From the excellent Cnet News ** = TG

My ComoxVally classified auto ad:
http://comox100.selterra.com/classified/index.php?clearoff=1

4WD Auto sales

<--- Be sure to click September on the lower left Below <

Russian bombers Canadian fighter jets

2006-09-29T23:45:00.000-07:00

This military muscle flexing rings familiar. During times of stress like the Cuban Missle Crisis, we used to track Russian bombers in exactly the same routine way. In those days SAC intercept jets used to take off from points I will not mention and the bombers would never have a remote chance of getting to target.

The Russian exercise seemed pointless and a waste of money unless there is some military advantage to making icebergs radioactive.
===================== CTV ===

NORAD scrambles jets to intercept Russian bombers
Updated Fri. Sep. 29 2006 11:06 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

NORAD launched Canadian and American fighter jets to intercept two Russian bombers near U.S. airspace, officials said Friday.

Russian military officials had warned the United States the bombers would be conducting an exercise in the region. But as the planes crossed a 20-kilometre buffer zone around U.S. airspace, the NORAD planes moved in.

At about 6 p.m. ET Thursday, NORAD scrambled three pairs of fighter jets -- including two CF-18 jets from Cold Lake, Alta.

The American aircraft included four F-15s from Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska.

*It was the Americans who found the bombers first. They came to within metres of the bombers,* reported CTV's David Akin. *There was no radio contact. After a period of time, the Russians turned and went home.*

The bombers never crossed over into Canadian or U.S. airspace. And according to Major Jason Proulx, such incidents are not rare.

*It's not just something we do with foreign aircraft,* he told CTV Newsnet. *NORAD is responsible for monitoring suspicious aircraft within our own domestic airspace as well.*

Even though NORAD knew the Russian planes would be flying in the area, he said the incident was still "exciting" for the Canadian military.

*It's always exciting to be involved in this line of work,* Proulx said.

*We have pilots and support people that train to do this; people that monitor the skies 24/7. And it's interesting when ... their training is put to the test. An example such as this was perfect: they're trained to do it, they responded, they intercepted and everything worked out great.*
=================== CTV ==

The Russians are bright boys. I suspect they do this to discover our regular approach patterns and to determine how many lines or groups of intercepts usually rise to the bait.

I hope our approach always varies so that their target attitudes can never be preset. = TG

Soldiers, troops, military and our support

2006-09-19T14:29:00.000-07:00

Are you anywhere near Ottawa?..UPDATE:== [ Great Success!] Next = TORONTO!

Support our troops: Rally in TORONTO ]Friday, Sept. 29; God bless CFRA, Ottawa.
http://www.cfra.com/red-fridays/index.asp?id=8

"News Talk Radio 580 CFRA is proud to support the grassroots effort brought to Petawawa by the wives of two men serving in the Canadian Forces. The concept of wearing something red - whether a red shirt, jacket, cap, bandana or whatever - every Friday is meant to let the soldiers and their spouses and children know they are not alone.
We appreciate the sacrifices they are making on our behalf. We thank them for their service to our country and their fight for peace and justice wherever in the world they are sent.

REPORT SEPT 25: = SUCCESS! GREAT TURNOUT.. THE HILL WAS A SEA OF RED.

================ UPDATE;==
Toronto is the next centre for another troops Friday support meet and be
sure to WEAR SOMETHING RED AGAIN IN TORONTO NEXT FRIDAY!.

For more information on supporting our troops, visit http://www.marriedtothecanadianforces.com

PLEASE SHARE THIS PAGE WITH EVERYONE ON YOUR CONTACT LIST. HELP SPREAD THE WORD, AND WEAR RED THIS FRIDAY!

For more information on supporting our troops, visit http://www.marriedtothecanadianforces.com

Mark in Ottawa / TG in Courtenay

Electric cars and brick walls

2006-09-17T11:04:00.000-07:00

Three major brick walls to be specific.

[1] Governments are addicted to the cash cow of oil and gas tax revenues. The recent bump up in gas prices have been a huge windfall to the government, when half of that immense wealth goes to government. Electric vehicle? No fuel tax? - - - No way!

[2] Employment disruption: Loss of jobs in engine block manufacturing; making of Radiators, oil, gas and water pumps, muffler and catalytic converters, fuel injector systems, gas tanks, fuel lines, ignition systems, Air oil and gas filter systems and rubber hoses galore.

[3] Big Auto profits: The endless complexity in all the elements in the conventional vehicle provides a guaranteed high price and on-going parts and repair profits to auto makers. When the auto is simplified to Electric motor, Charger - controller, power steering and brakes, the overall cost will drop to lower levels when volume and competition take effect.

Like everyone else in business, I like profits, but there are no profits to be had when other countries sell us the efficient cars we want. Toyota, [Prius], Honda, Volkswagen, BMW, Mazda, Subaru, Kia, Hyundai. Do our corporations and Government have the same foot - dragging attitude that lost the British Motorcycle business to Japan?

We make many electric vehicles in North America, but most are of ugly design , some with three wheels, and most with no chance of widespread acceptance aside from the GM EV1 [discontinued] , and the Tesla Roadster, 90K, luxury sports model. Photos = http://TonyGuitar.blogspot.com

Motorvation or wake up GM

2006-09-10T10:38:00.000-07:00

The number of over 10 year old cars on the road ,[my trusty *87 Jeep included], now stands at about 6.8 million cars [2005 figure. Canada]

===== Toronto Star ==
Automobiles are now living longer; 6.8 million decade-old cars on the road Manufacturers building better vehicles; [ONT Edition]
Tony Van Alphen. Toronto Star. Toronto, Ont.: Sep 5/06. pg. D.1

People: DesRosiers, Dennis
Section: Business
Text Word Count: 486
Document URL:

Abstract (Document Summary)

[Dennis DesRosiers] said that over the years, auto manufacturers have been building vehicles better so they last longer. For example, galvanized steel started replacing carbon steel in the late 1980s and reduced body corrosion dramatically.

At the same time, DesRosiers said governments aren't doing much to put the brakes on the trend and force older vehicles off the road through requirements for better fuel economy ...
==== Article reprint = $3.95 ==

Ok, I can save you $3.95 here.

That is Dennis of DesRosiers Automotive Consultants who adds that a consumer shift to more truck purchases has also added to vehicle longevity.

At the same time governments are not doing much to stop the older vehicle trend through emissions or mileage standards, he said.

Dennis rejects the argument that many can not afford new models because statistics indicate real prices have dropped in recent years.

== I say, give me an incentive to buy a new car! My *87 Jeep Wagoneer looks as good as the new Jeeps. I admit one of the electric windows is sticky and it*s starting to use oil, but it is still respectable transportation.

Give me the chance to by an Electric car for about 16G [overpriced for electric simplicity], and I am your new car customer. Motorvation by controlled gas explosions is old fashioned , stinky and needlessly dangerous. Not to mention poison anti-freeze. = TG

<--- Be sure to click August on the lower left Below <

Hybrid to Purebred EV

2006-08-29T14:35:00.000-07:00

By Wired News Report | Also by this reporter 09:15 AM Oct, 02, 2003

TOYOTA CITY, Japan -- Toyota Motor showed off the production site of its gasoline-electric hybrid cars to journalists for the first time Thursday with a powerful message: The fuel-saving autos don't have to be expensive to make.

Not long ago, many leading automakers, including the world's biggest, General Motors, questioned the benefit of developing hybrid cars, arguing that the gas-sipping autos are merely an interim solution before zero-emission fuel-cell vehicles take over.

They accused -- possibly accurately -- Toyota and Honda Motor, the only other mass producer of gas-electric hybrid cars, of selling them at a loss given the labor-intensive assembly required.

There may have been some truth to that argument before, but no longer, says Toyota, which launched its second-generation Prius hybrid sedan in Japan last month.

"We used to build the previous Prius on an exclusive assembly line at the Takaoka plant, and later at Motomachi," said Kenji Takahara, head of administration at neighboring Tsutsumi plant, which now builds the Prius.
"Now, it shares a line with four other mass-production sedans," he said.

That's a big and necessary step for Japan's top automaker as it aims to offer the hybrid option on most of its models in the not-too-distant future. Toyota is hoping to sell 300,000 of the fuel-efficient vehicles a year starting mid-decade. [Wired News]
=============
When the hybrid goes purebred, we will finally have a true marvel of transportation.

Doing away with the gas motor and all of its many moving parts, the oil pump, gas pump, fuel injection, fuel ignition, radiator and rubber hoses, exhaust system, muffler, catlytic converter, air oil and gas filters, will also mean fewer repairs.

Zero emission Electric autos are here now and zero emission fuel cell cars coming soon will make hybrids passe.

http://www.pluginamerica.com/whyev.shtml

Some hybrid owners are converting their cars to run predominately on battery power. = TG

United Democratic Nations - shot down he-he

2006-08-20T13:07:00.000-07:00

Finally, A deletion debate record….

Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/United Democratic Nations
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The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.
The result of the debate was Delete. (aeropagitica) 20:43, 18 March 2006 (UTC)
[edit]

United Democratic Nations
Delete. This organization does not exist, and external links are to the author's personal pages. Stephen Gilbert 16:51, 13 March 2006 (UTC)
Delete per nom. Fiction. Slowmover 17:02, 13 March 2006 (UTC)
Delete per nom, WP:NFT. [1]. PJM 17:34, 13 March 2006 (UTC)
Delete as fiction, WP:NFT. --Kinu t/c 17:44, 13 March 2006 (UTC)
Delete a pipe-dream of some nut who thinks his organization is going to replace the UN. --djrobgordon 18:09, 13 March 2006 (UTC)
Delete as net.kookery. --BWD (talk) 19:48, 13 March 2006 (UTC)
Delete WP is not for things made up in school one day. (aeropagitica) 21:28, 13 March 2006 (UTC)
Delete as WP:NFT per Mr. Pagitica. Kuru talk 02:46, 14 March 2006 (UTC)
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.
==================================== Author Reply:

**Delete a pipe-dream of some nut who thinks his organization is going to replace the UN. --djrobgordon 18:09, 13 March 2006 (UTC) **

United Democratic Nations is merely a proposed title name for a possible alternate entity for the presently troubled United Nations. Ambassador Bolten himself suggested the need for same. http://tinyurl.com/psdhw

DirobGordon imagines that suggestion of this name, UDN, somehow makes me :

[1] **some nut **

[2] ** an organization owner **

[3] ** someone who hopes to replace the UN **

One has to wonder about the emotional maturity of persons wielding destructive power at WP.
Does this mean that any constructive or original proposal is automatically destroyed?

Guess I should be flattered that someone could think I owned an organization called United Democratic Nations and that my personal organization could replace the UN. = TG

Another fun project. Nothing like notoriety.

Hezbollah funding scam?

2006-07-27T12:38:00.000-07:00

Plot to undermine our Economy?

Or is this just a BIG rip-off in a small town?

A popular hotel, beer parlour , restaurant, nightclub and adjacent liquor sales outlet all suddenly now stand boarded up and closed here in Courtenay B.C.

I wondered about how this happened when all those businesses were doing a brisk business.

Speaking with someone connected with the city, I learned the following.

The whole hotel complex had been under new ownership for the last three or four months.

Suddenly, the new owners evaporated, left town, vanished. They left, I am told with a bundle , because none of the bills had been paid.

Politically incorrect part…. Brace yourself! Before everything closed , I noticed while attending the restaurant and club that the new owners were Arabian. No idea if they were Shia, Sunni, or Iranian or Palastinian of course, but the thought did occur that this was a fast way to raise great amounts of money for say, a fundamentalist cause and damage your enemy economy at the same time.

OK, you could suggest that I am overly suspicious, yet everything fits so well, there just seems to be a very real possibility that this could be happening in other small towns in Canada.

Grand larceny on a grand scale? Knowing the MSM, we the peons, would be the last to know about it.

Lawyers, notaries public, law enforcement and investigative professionals who read this could possibly find out if this pattern of rip-off has jumped recently in Canada. Those of you who have access to crime trends sites on the net could let us know if hotels and small complexes are being foreclosed due to fraud more frequently than average. This non-violent stuff never shows up in the press.

My city contact said the new complex owners had suggested they were in the Middle East precious gems business and the impression that they had great wealth was unmistakable.

I know, I know. All this is simply word of mouth and there is no documentation. This is in fact only a possible theory. However, I risk reprimand in mentioning it, because if this is happening in other places in Canada, there is no harm in being alerted. A conspiracy theory to be sure, but there is great logic behind it and what*s the harm in debunking it if this happens to just an isolated incident?

In fact, I hope someone can assure us with authority, that this is not a growing trend in Canada. = TG

Hezbollah Hizbullah Hezbullah fundraising

2006-07-27T12:18:00.000-07:00

***
So you don*t think I am completely out of my tree....

In order to finance the training of these *volunteers,* as well as the seemingly endless barrage of rockets that have rained down on Israeli cities, Hezbollah has established an extensive fundraising infrastructure in the United States, as well as in Canada, South America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

Supplementing the nearly $100 million Hezbollah reportedly receives from Iran, Hezbollah operatives in the U.S. have engaged in a litany of criminal activities, including credit card fraud, cigarette smuggling, counterfeiting, drug running, and organized retail theft, that provide millions to the Shiite terrorist organization.

*snip*
Despite Al-Mabarrat-USA’s direct link to a Fadlallah-controlled organization, to date, the U.S. branch continues to operate unfettered.

In fact, the organization appears to have gained a level of credibility in the U.S. as the Detroit Free Press reported earlier this month that *many Muslims in the region have donated to Al-Mabarrat.*

MyRepublicanBlog

= TG

Who killed the electric car?

2006-07-20T00:23:00.000-07:00

This is a link to more photos / info about the ** Who killed the electric car ** movie
Photo Gallery
More EVs
640 HP

Interesting.. what Johnny Maudlin, [who is not maudlin at all], said.

WE do enjoy chiming in on variations of the same theme.

I have bucked that and often tried to steer thinking to different directions.

Doing so has helped me polish skills of diplomacy and the slippery segway.

It is a dangerous game though. When revolt happens it can be vicious, often trending towards suggestions of unusual yoga positions.

In any case, I am proud of having pushed for topics like protection for whistle-blowers legislation... Bill C-11.

The present push is to suggest we should demand electric vehicles... proven viable with 1990 technology..

The GM EV1, loved by ALL 800 lessors and grabbed back in 1993 by GM and destroyed in a secure Arizona facility.

To suggest and warn that hybrids are really two cars in one, needlessly complex and a ploy to stave off pure electric cars by Big Auto and Big Oil.

With Evs, you just take a little generator along for charges in the out back. No need for a whole gas car in parallel.

To suggest there are many choices you can buy today, [I like the Toyota RAV4 EV], and several links are at:

TonyGuitar.blogspot.com

IraqTheModel.blogspot.com

See: 50%? - Actually….. = TG