DNA samples will determine if Jupiter residents aren't picking up behind their pooches

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/dna-samples-will-determine-if-jupiter-residents-arent-1568967.html

Another reason for owning a single family home.

Maryland Adds Environmental Literacy in High Schools.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/06/27/maryland-adds-environmental-literacy-in-high-schools/?test=latestnews#content

Redrant:  It should be an easy requirement for fullfill.  Virtually every school child in the US has been force to view the Gore movie.

Comment I saw posted for a Star Tribune study.

http://comments.startribune.com/comments.php?d=content_comments&asset_id=123952734&sort=E&section=/opinion/otherviews&page_nbr=3&ipp=10

winning1Jun. 16, 119:51 AM

Just so you know, a study commissioned by the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership, jointly funded by the British government and the car industry, found that a mid-size electric car would produce 23.1 tons of CO2 over its lifetime compared with 24 tons for a similar gas car. Emissions from manufacturing electric cars are at least 50 per cent higher because the batteries are made from materials such as lithium, copper and refined silicon which require much more energy to be processed. And as to ethanol, running maize in cars has only distorted the economics of agriculture; we are now staring straight into another artificially induced, government manufactured asset bubble.

Not quite "hyper-miling" but my best mileage ever. 28+MPG.

A neighbor has some property near Lake Millacs in Northern Minnesota.  My main vehicle is a 2005 Ford Ranger standard transmission 2.3 liter four cylinder two wheel drive.  Cargo was a 500 pound Snapper lawn tractor, a Lazy Boy chair, wheelbarrow and two-hundred pounds of other stuff.

Hard fuel top off north of the Twin Cities ($3.49.9 cash) and a hard top off when we got back into town.  With this hard top off of gas 40% with load, 60% return with less stuff.  Speed was 60 to 70 MPH.  Few stop signs and stop lights.  28 MPG.  Original 2005 EPA was 29 highway.

Conrad Black: Why America is suffering

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/06/11/conrad-black-why-america-is-suffering/

" The U.S. economy in 2008 had reached $1-trillion in legal fees, $1-trillion in consulting fees, and over $2-trillion in financial transactional and facilitation fees. The United States, like the West generally, is paying a heavy price for having too many people who don’t actually produce added value. All these activities are effectively taxations on wealth production."


READ FULL ARTICLE AT LINK

http://detnews.com/article/20110607/AUTO01/106070368/1148/rss25

GM's Akerson pushing for higher gas taxes

David Shepardson and Christina Rogers/ The Detroit News

Detroit — General Motors Co. CEO Dan Akerson wants the federal gas tax boosted as much as $1 a gallon to nudge consumers toward more fuel-efficient cars, and he's confident the government will soon shed its remaining 26 percent stake in the once-bankrupt automaker.

"I actually think the government will be out this year — within the next 12 months, hopefully within the next six months," Akerson said in a two-hour interview with The Detroit News last week.

He is grateful for the government's rescue of GM — "I have nothing but good things to say about them" — but Akerson said the time for that relationship to end is coming because it's wearing on GM.

"It's kind of like your in-laws: It was a nice long weekend. We didn't say a week," Akerson said with a laugh.

And while he is eager to say goodbye to the government as a part owner of GM, Akerson would like to see it step up to the challenge of setting a higher gas tax, as part of a comprehensive energy policy.

A government-imposed tax hike, Akerson believes, will prompt more people to buy small cars and do more good for the environment than forcing automakers to comply with higher gas-mileage standards.

"There ought to be a discussion on the cost versus the benefits," he said. "What we are going to do is tax production here, and that will cost us jobs."

For the years 2017-25, federal officials are considering 3 percent to 6 percent annual fuel efficiency increases, or 47 mpg to 62 mpg. That could boost the cost of vehicles by up to $3,500.

"You know what I'd rather have them do — this will make my Republican friends puke — as gas is going to go down here now, we ought to just slap a 50-cent or a dollar tax on a gallon of gas," Akerson said.

"People will start buying more Cruzes and they will start buying less Suburbans."

With gas already over $4 a gallon in parts of the country, a higher gas tax is a hard sell.

Rebecca Lindland, an analyst with IHS Global Insight, said higher gas taxes in Europe did lead consumers to buy more fuel-efficient cars.

But she acknowledged that's virtually impossible to see in the United States.

"It's career suicide for a politician to call for raising gas taxes," Lindland said.

Akerson isn't the first auto exec to float the idea of a gas tax to encourage consumers to buy fuel-efficient vehicles. Ford Chairman Bill Ford Jr. has previously advocated a gas tax increase.

On Monday, a Ford spokeswoman said the company "will leave the policy decision to Congress"; in 2009, GM CEO Rick Wagoner called a higher gas tax "worthy of consideration."

Stock boost sought

Akerson believes the Treasury's continued ownership stake in GM — 500 million shares — is dragging down its stock price, which has fallen 23 percent this year, and closed Monday at $28.56. That's well below the $33-per-share it fetched in November's $23 billion initial public stock offering.

"I think that it is an overhang — to have 500 million shares sitting out there — it's a problem," Akerson said, adding that unrest in the Middle East and oil prices also are depressing GM's share price. "They don't know when (the Treasury is) going to come out. Investors hate uncertainty."

David Whiston, an auto analyst at Morningstar, agrees that government ownership is impacting investors' interest in GM.

"There are a lot of money managers that are waiting for the government to exit before jumping in," Whiston said.

The Treasury, which rescued GM with a $49.5 billion bailout and once held a 61 percent majority stake, "will likely look at another (stock) sale in August, after second-quarter earnings are announced, Akerson said.

The Obama administration has made clear it is eager to exit GM — but hasn't laid out a precise timetable.

Asked if GM is considering buying back its stock, Akerson paused for eight seconds before declining to answer directly. "But we have a lot of cash," he added.

At the current stock price, U.S. taxpayers would be out more than $12 billion on GM's bailout. Still, Akerson believes that, in the end, taxpayers will see the government made the right call in saving the automaker, as well as crosstown rival Chrysler.

"We are in the midst of transforming an iconic American company so 20 and 30 years from now (taxpayers) will look at this company and they'll say, 'Absolutely it was the right thing to do,'" Akerson said. "And it shouldn't be measured on did it sell for $43 or $53 (a share) or did they lose a couple billion dollars?"

GM was saved, he said, because of the extreme generosity of Americans — a spirit that helped restore Europe and Japan after World War II and rebuild cities such as New Orleans after natural disasters.

"We're the most generous country, even in terrible times," Akerson said. "We don't walk to the disaster as a nation. … We can't wait to help."

Things are looking up for GM's image, he said. Pollster Peter Hart, conducting research for GM, found 16 percent had a positive view of GM before the bailout. But that had risen to 65 percent early this year, Akerson said.

"I couldn't believe the press we got on the IPO — it was like a $100 million gift," Akerson said.

GM's rebound, he believes, was a "proxy" for the U.S.

"OK, we took the blow as a nation, we weathered the worst, and my God, we're back," Akerson said. "It's why I came here. It was a story of underdog that tripped as we all have in our lives — it was a good feel-good story."

Call for tax hikes

In his interview with The News, Akerson also weighed in on the nation's debt ceiling, saying Congress should raise it from its current $14.3 trillion mark. The government could default on its debt on Aug. 2.

"We're too good a nation to let ourselves be a banana republic," Akerson said, warning that a default would be "unimaginable" and could hurt auto sales.

But he agrees with those who say the country has been spending money it can't afford.

"Now, we need practical decisions," Akerson said. "I think you need to cut the hell out of the budget and you've got to increase taxes … on everybody — including the middle class and the rich people."

Akerson, who describes himself as "a Colin Powell Republican — not a Sarah Palin Republican" — said President Barack Obama has "done a pretty good job on the economy," which, he said, was "a nightmare.

"I don't think he can fix it in four years and I think we just have to stay the course," he said.

Despite his Republican stripes, Akerson is frustrated with the political climate and the media.

He was invited to appear on CBS' "Face the Nation," but said: "I can't go on it. I'm toxic. I'm like a lightning rod. I couldn't have an intelligent discussion without someone saying, 'He's a welfare guy from the bailout.'"

But he noted the bipartisan spirit of GM's rescue and the rest of the U.S. auto industry.

"If we had gone down," he said, "the supply chain would have gone down. … And Ford was hanging on by its fingernails, too."

GM's failure also would have led to Detroit's collapse, Akerson said. "I have not seen a city in this bad a shape since I went to East Berlin in 1969."

dshepardson@detnews.com

(202) 662-8735

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110607/AUTO01/106070368/GM-s-Akerson-pushing-for-higher-gas-taxes#ixzz1Oy4X9uvA

PAPER: Activist calls for forcibly tattooing 'climate change' deniers...

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/the-dangers-of-boneheaded-beliefs-20110602-1fijg.html

The dangers of bone-headed beliefs

Surely it's time for climate-change deniers to have their opinions forcibly tattooed on their bodies.

Not necessarily on the forehead; I'm a reasonable man. Just something along their arm or across their chest so their grandchildren could say, ''Really? You were one of the ones who tried to stop the world doing something? And why exactly was that, granddad?''

On second thoughts, maybe the tattooing along the arm is a bit Nazi-creepy. So how about they are forced to buy property on low-lying islands, the sort of property that will become worthless with a few more centimetres of ocean rise, so they are bankrupted by their own bloody-mindedness? Or what about their signed agreement to stand, in the year 2040, lashed to a pole at a certain point in the shallows off Manly? If they are right and the world is cooling - ''climate change stopped in the year 1998'' is one of their more boneheaded beliefs - their mouths will be above water. If not …

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OK, maybe the desire to see the painful, thrashing death of one's opponents is not ideal. But, my God, these people are frustrating. You just know that in 20 years' time, when the costs of our inaction are clear, the climate deniers will become climate-denial-deniers. ''Who me? Oh, no, I always believed in it. Yes, it's hard to understand why people back then were so daft. It's so much more costly to stop it now.''

That's why the tattoo has its appeal.

Not that the other side isn't frustrating. There's a type of green zealot who appears to relish climate change. Every rise in sea levels is noted excitedly. Every cyclone is applauded and claimed as a noisy, deadly witness for their side.

Suddenly, it's as if they have the planet's assistance in their lifelong campaign to bully everyone else into accepting their view of the perfect world. One without any human beings. Except for them. Living in a cave. Wearing an unwashed T-shirt that not only says ''Support wildlife'' but actually does.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/the-dangers-of-boneheaded-beliefs-20110602-1fijg.html#ixzz1OTaYVDhe

New hybrid electric car operation.

http://comments.startribune.com/comments.php?d=content_comments&asset_id=123068993&sort=E&section=/business&ipp=10&start=110

stlane
Jun. 3, 11
9:51 AM
Was riding in a friends Prius the other day. We were trying to get up a hill in south dakota. Gravel road following a rain event (this made the road slippery). Attempted to get up the hill 3 times and all three times the car did not have the power to make it. Tires did not spin it just ran out of power. Similar to a golf cart on low battery. Would not switch to the engine mode (I guess). Was ion power mode (what a joke) Any way two of us had to get out and walk up the hill, about 1/4 mile before the car could make it and then it only just barely made it. Called Toyota about it and they said yes that can happen. Great Technology.

http://comments.startribune.com/comments.php?d=content_comments&asset_id=123068993&sort=E&section=/business&ipp=10&start=150
e72521
Jun. 3, 11
2:33 PM
carlbs - "Who Killed the Electric Car", I've seen it and it's lefty propoganda. As to the Volt, that thing costs over $80,000 to manufacture, so if you pick it up for $33,000 (after taking the tax incentive), $50,000 is being paid for by the U.S. taxpayer. It's not economical at all. As to those batteries, in case you havn't noticed, the raw materials going into them have been going up in price rather sharply. That's a concern at trade in time.

US house price fall 'beats Great Depression slide'

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/us-house-price-fall-beats-great-depression-slide-2291491.html

The ailing US housing market passed a grim milestone in the first quarter of this year, posting a further deterioration that means the fall in house prices is now greater than that suffered during the Great Depression.

The brief recovery in prices in 2009, spurred by government aid to first-time buyers, has now been entirely snuffed out, and the average American home now costs 33 per cent less than it did at the peak of the housing bubble in 2007. The peak-to-trough fall in house prices in the 1930s Depression was 31 per cent –and prices took 19 years to recover after that downturn. 

Obama-solicitor-general-if-you-don't-mandate-earn-less-money.

Obamacare will be financed by middle income via means tested "co-pays".  The rich can get around it and the poor will have minimal "token" co-pays which will be so low that they provide strong incentives to keep income "off the books".

Obama solicitor general: If you don't like mandate, earn less money

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2011/06/obama-solicitor-general-if-you-dont-mandate-earn-less-money#ixzz1OD4sNmAM

http://hotair.com/archives/2011/06/02/final-bill-for-auto-bailout-14-billion/

Final bill for auto bailout: $14 billion?

Share39

POSTED AT 9:24 AM ON JUNE 2, 2011 BY ED MORRISSEY
PRINTER-FRIENDLY

Taxpayers will lose $14 billion on the overall cost of the bailout for American automakers, the White House announced yesterday in a new report.  They gave it the best possible spin, however, titling the report “The Resurgence of the American Automotive Industry,” and arguing that the bailouts rescued automakers and thousands of jobs:

The report said that of the $80 billion in bailout money supplied to the auto industry, less than 20%, or $16 billion, ultimately may be lost. That’s down from the 60% loss projected two years ago, the report said. The White House’s top auto and manufacturing adviser, Ron Bloom, later specified the loss at closer to $14 billion.

While “there is no joy” in acknowledging that loss, the bailout succeeded in saving jobs and preventing a broader industry collapse, Mr. Bloom said.

“So while we are obviously extremely conscious of our obligation to get every penny we can for the taxpayer, we’re also not going to apologize for the fact that there are literally hundreds and hundreds of thousands of Americans who are working today” because of the bailouts, he said.

The U.S. could lose more than $10 billion in General Motors Co. alone if the government sold its remaining shares of the auto maker at current share prices.

A “broader industry collapse”?  Broader than the failure of GM and Chrysler?  The Japanese, Korean, and German automakers didn’t need American tax dollars to rescue them from their own inability to properly manage their businesses.  For that matter, neither did Ford.  While the other members of the Big Three scooped up taxpayer funds, Ford decided to act independently — and has caught up to GM’s sales for the first time in 80 years. The only failures would have been at GM and Chrysler, and the failure belonged to them alone.

Furthermore, history doesn’t show that these bailouts solve the problem.  Thirty years ago, American taxpayers bailed out Chrysler by guaranteeing loans to prop up the automaker, worth $1.5 billion.  While Chrysler appeared to have turned a corner then, it didn’t take long for it to make more bad business decisions and start losing money — leading up to another bailout, coupled with a politically-engineered bankruptcy and a sale that ended its status as an American automaker anyway.  In fact, the federal government has had to give Fiat billions of dollars in loans to buy Chrysler.

Without a bailout, the American demand for vehicles would still exist.  Had the companies suffered the consequences of their poor decision-making, the assets of GM and Chrysler would have been utilized by new owners (as happened with Chrysler even with the bailout), but used by stakeholders with better business sense.  That is what happens in competitive markets, especially with established and high-volume demand.  Instead, the bailouts allowed the government to not only pick winners (the unions, especially in the bankruptcies), but also keep favored executives in positions despite the failure of the businesses.  Those assets may not have remained in Detroit, but the demand for American-made cars would have prompted other entrepreneurs to get their hands on GM and Chrysler assets to produce them.

Of course, the assembly lines keep churning, and people are still working.  Is that worth $14 billion of public money?

Minneapolis meets goal of 2,000 tornado volunteers

http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/122991098.html

My posted comment:  "bikemiles"When the tornado went through the Phillips neighborhood in the early 1980's everyone pitched in. My then girlfriend lived in Phillips in the early eighties when that hit. People sensed that it was a legitimate need and they pitched in.

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE :The city of Minneapolis announced Wednesday that it has met its goal of recruiting 2,000 volunteers for a cleanup Saturday of light debris from the May 22 tornado on the North Side and has closed the signup.

"Amazing," Mayor R.T. Rybak said in a Tweet about the announcement, concluding with the words: "Thank you!"

The city said that those still interested in volunteering may contact other organizations working in the area or donate to organizations raising money for tornado relief.

The city has opened a satellite office at the former Hamilton school, 4119 Dupont Av. N., to help people with storm damage or their contractors to obtain the necessary permits for repair work. The office is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

STEVE BRANDT

Jun. 2, 119:27 AM