Ok... so I ended up getting a new car. I was really hoping to put off getting rid of the Subaru until I'm done with school... that way I can go carless. But I'm not as hard core as some of my friends. ;)
The Subaru was nice, quiet, and great in the snow. The gas mileage was... well... better than most, but certainly not where it should be. But then again, no cars are as efficient as they could be. It lasted me 160k with no problems. Then the head gasket started leaking oil into the radiator. :(
So... without much research and with absolutely no desire to buy a car... I went car shopping. It would have been nice to look around and get something I really wanted... like a light, small, biodiesel that I could feed Blimpie's or Hardee's. But... it's too cold to ride my motorcycle and my school/work schedule doesn't afford me enough time to bike back and forth between the two. And... I'm still waiting on that train they promised us.
Anyway... it seems that car salesman want to steer you away from anything "alternative." None of the sales people knew anything about any of the cars on their lot with respect to which would run alternative fuels and what type of mileage they got with it.
So... I drove 3 different used cars. The first two really sucked. One had compression problems, I'm guessing it was the catalytic converter. The other had seats that felt like they were eating you. The I drove the Chevy Impala. It was a quiet, smooth, comfortable ride.
I remembered seeing the Impala listed as one of the cars that could run ethanol, depending on the model. I had also looked into fueling stations and had found that there are quiet a few of them in the midwest. (Lack of fueling stations is the reason I didn't get the Civic CNG for $10k new.)
So, I got the car and brought it home and read the manual. Apparently the 3.5L 2006 Impala only runs flex fuel if the 8th number in the VIN is a K.
So, if it's a K then it's OK that it 8 e85. If it's an N it's NOT.
I checked my car and it was a K. So... I found the nearest e85 station and filled up. It was $0.50 less a gallon than gasoline and so far it seems to be getting better mileage than my Subie got on petrol.
Now... time for my hard core bike friends to tell me the bad news!
I know that cars are incredibly inefficient. I know that the US paves the hell out of everything. I know the chemicals used and the mining to get the materials cause damage. I know it takes a lot of energy to build a car. All that aside for the sake of this conversation....
What are the drawbacks to ethanol? I know the positives... they're played up a lot. What are the honest to goodness drawbacks?
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Happy Easter?
You fucking sick people. How the hell can you even live with yourselves? How the hell can you dare call yourself "Christ-like?" This is just about the WORST behavior I have seen in a very long time!
This is absolutely disgusting!
...and people wonder why I don't care to associate myself with the word "Christian"...
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-4116.html
12th April 2007 13:01
PinkNews.co.uk writer
A funeral service in the Carribean island of Jamaica has been disrupted by a mob attempting to attack a group of mourners.
The Easter Sunday funeral of Kirk Wayne Lester, a Jamaican businessman, was attended by "gay cross-dressers," reports Real Jamaica Radio.
A mob surrounded the church and attacked people thought to be gay with knives, stones and bottles.
Missiles where thrown through the windows.
The island's gay rights movement, the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All Sexuals and Gays (J-Flag), is forced to operate underground and anonymously.
It called on police to find the people who attacked the church in Mandeville.
Pressure group Jamaicans for Justice agreed that a urgent police investigation is needed.
JFJ said it is deeply disturbed by yet another incident involving mob violence against gay people latest incident is particularly daring because it occurred during a church service.
In February three gay men were stoned by a huge mob in a homophobic attack in Jamaica.
Police came to rescue the men from a pharmacy in Saint Andrew Parish, where they had been hiding for almost an hour.
An angry crowd had gathered outside the pharmacy, hurling insults and threatening to kill the men.
When the police arrived, the mob demanded the men be handed over to them.
The police tried to escort the men to their car, but the crowd began to throw stones at the objects of their hate, hitting one of them on the head.
Finally, officers were forced to disperse the crowd with tear gas. According to the Jamaica Observer, as many as 2000 people were involved in the attack.
International human rights organizations have described Jamaica as one of the most homophobic places in the world.
Gay and lesbian relationships are largely conducted in secret.
Sex between men in Jamaica is illegal, and punishable with up to ten years in jail, usually with hard labour.
In December 2003, a World Policy Institute survey on sexual orientation and human rights in the Americas said that:
"In the Caribbean, Jamaica is by far the most dangerous place for sexual minorities, with frequent and often fatal attacks against gay men fostered by a popular culture that idolises reggae and dancehall singers whose lyrics call for burning and killing gay men.
"Draconian laws against sexual activity between members of the same sex continue to be in force not only in Jamaica, but in most of the English-speaking Caribbean."
According to Amnesty International, the gay and lesbian community in Jamaica faces "extreme prejudice" and are ‘routinely victims of ill-treatment and harassment by the police, and occasionally of torture."
Amnesty has highlighted the growing problem of vigilante action against gays and lesbians – Wednesday was just one example of this.
In 2004, the organisation revealed that "gay men and lesbian women have been beaten, cut, burned, raped and shot on account of their sexuality," and that they are one of the "most marginalised and persecuted communities in Jamaica."
Political parties have ignored the issue of gay rights. Indeed, homophobia is flourishing amongst politicians and the police.
For example, opposition leader Bruce Golding vowed last year that "homosexuals would find no solace in any cabinet formed by him."
This is absolutely disgusting!
...and people wonder why I don't care to associate myself with the word "Christian"...
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-4116.html
12th April 2007 13:01
PinkNews.co.uk writer
A funeral service in the Carribean island of Jamaica has been disrupted by a mob attempting to attack a group of mourners.
The Easter Sunday funeral of Kirk Wayne Lester, a Jamaican businessman, was attended by "gay cross-dressers," reports Real Jamaica Radio.
A mob surrounded the church and attacked people thought to be gay with knives, stones and bottles.
Missiles where thrown through the windows.
The island's gay rights movement, the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All Sexuals and Gays (J-Flag), is forced to operate underground and anonymously.
It called on police to find the people who attacked the church in Mandeville.
Pressure group Jamaicans for Justice agreed that a urgent police investigation is needed.
JFJ said it is deeply disturbed by yet another incident involving mob violence against gay people latest incident is particularly daring because it occurred during a church service.
In February three gay men were stoned by a huge mob in a homophobic attack in Jamaica.
Police came to rescue the men from a pharmacy in Saint Andrew Parish, where they had been hiding for almost an hour.
An angry crowd had gathered outside the pharmacy, hurling insults and threatening to kill the men.
When the police arrived, the mob demanded the men be handed over to them.
The police tried to escort the men to their car, but the crowd began to throw stones at the objects of their hate, hitting one of them on the head.
Finally, officers were forced to disperse the crowd with tear gas. According to the Jamaica Observer, as many as 2000 people were involved in the attack.
International human rights organizations have described Jamaica as one of the most homophobic places in the world.
Gay and lesbian relationships are largely conducted in secret.
Sex between men in Jamaica is illegal, and punishable with up to ten years in jail, usually with hard labour.
In December 2003, a World Policy Institute survey on sexual orientation and human rights in the Americas said that:
"In the Caribbean, Jamaica is by far the most dangerous place for sexual minorities, with frequent and often fatal attacks against gay men fostered by a popular culture that idolises reggae and dancehall singers whose lyrics call for burning and killing gay men.
"Draconian laws against sexual activity between members of the same sex continue to be in force not only in Jamaica, but in most of the English-speaking Caribbean."
According to Amnesty International, the gay and lesbian community in Jamaica faces "extreme prejudice" and are ‘routinely victims of ill-treatment and harassment by the police, and occasionally of torture."
Amnesty has highlighted the growing problem of vigilante action against gays and lesbians – Wednesday was just one example of this.
In 2004, the organisation revealed that "gay men and lesbian women have been beaten, cut, burned, raped and shot on account of their sexuality," and that they are one of the "most marginalised and persecuted communities in Jamaica."
Political parties have ignored the issue of gay rights. Indeed, homophobia is flourishing amongst politicians and the police.
For example, opposition leader Bruce Golding vowed last year that "homosexuals would find no solace in any cabinet formed by him."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)