Tele Vue Eyepieces

In 1610 Galileo Galilei discovered the four largest moons of Jupiter, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto (now known as the Galilean moons) using a the improved telescope that he designed. This is thought to be the first observation of moons other than Earth's.
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(Note, however, that Chinese historian of astronomy, Xi Zezong, has claimed that Gan De, a Chinese astronomer, made this discovery of one of Jupiter's moons in 362 BC with the unaided eye, nearly 2 millennia earlier.)

Ganymede, the largest of the four Galilean moons, has a diameter greater than that of the planet Mercury.

Galileo was born in Pisa and used the leaning tower there to test out some of his theories on gravity. I’ve been there and seen the tower, and I’ve also been to the church where Galileo is buried in Firenze (Florence, Italy).

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the stars and is absolutely gigantic. Jupiter weighs two and one half times as much as all the rest of the planets COMBINED!

Last night (the night of May 30) around 2:00 a.m. I took my eight inch Dobsonian Newtonian out in the back yard. I moved the chaise lounge nearby so that my little doggie could enjoy the night with me. I wanted to try out my new Tele Vue eyepieces which were recommended by the president of the El Paso Texas Astronomy Club. Tele Vue makes the very finest astronomical eyepieces, and as one would expect (like Nikon) they get paid quite well for their amazing high quality optics. You can pay more for a good Nikon lens than for the camera body, and the same comparison applies to telescopes and quality eyepieces.

LINK: http://www.televue.com/engine/page.asp?ID=221

I tried out all the different astronomical filters I have so as to try and enhance the view. I was able to see very well the four Galilean moons and the bands in Jupiter’s atmosphere. I also aligned my green laser pointer and the various smaller pointer scopes that I have mounted on my light bucket.

It was wonderful seeing Jupiter. It is amazing to realize to think that using a cheap $50- beginner’s telescope you can see as much or more than Galileo did.

Afterwards I pointed the telescope over to Ursa Major and looked at the double star in the dipper handle.

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


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Last night (31 May) there was a star party held by the El Paso Astronomy Group at their dark sky site about 100 km east of El Paso out in the Chihuahuan Desert.




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It was so lovely out there. The coyotes were baying, and there were lots of rabbits. The stars were incredible.




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Glaser Slug

I am reading the novel by Hugh Laurie about international arms dealers. It is a great book. Really funny and also riveting as hell. I don't know why I expected otherwise, but Hugh Laurie is an excellent writer.

About 2/3 of the way through Hugh Laurie's book I read this:

“The bullet of the Glaser Safety Slug, Thomas, is a small cup made of copper. Filled with fine lead shot in liquid Teflon. On impact, the Glaser is guaranteed to dump ninety-five percent of its energy on the target. No shoot-throughs, no ricochets, just a lot of knocking down. Big, big holes in your body.”

I looked it up on the internet and this is not some sort of gun phreak fantasy. These rounds seem to be the ultimate in self defense ammunition, so I ordered some in both .38 special + P and .44 magnum for my revolvers.

You sure don’t want to be wasting these bullets on target practice. Kind of like shooting silver bullets. Including the shipping expense, each round costs almost $5.00

I am not some kind of lunatic right wing gun freak. I'm not a member of the NRA, and the first and only animal I have killed (excluding flies and roaches) is the one jackrabbit that I shot when I was about 12 years old. I think gun fanatics are weird and dangerous.

But if some drugged up punk wants to come into my house late at night at threaten me with injury or death, I am perfectly prepared to shoot him dead. Being prepared for self defense is just plain good common sense. Especially in lawless times like now.

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Link: http://www.dakotaammo.net/



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Why Not To Vote For Senator John McCain

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John McCain is a nice man. A war hero and a gentleman.

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But his policies are essentially Bush light.

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Sunrise

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Sunrise in El Paso, Texas was at 6:01 this morning.

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The beauty of the sun rising over the Chihuahuan desert is hard to beat.

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Rose Garden

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My little doggie and I went to the Municipal Rose Garden in El Paso, Texas today.

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I can't say anything other than FIRST CLASS!!

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Friend in The Netherlands

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I got an e-mail today from a good friend of mine. He lives in The Netherlands.
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Neat guy. He is a successful businessman who drives a Harley. He was the Best Man at my third and final wedding.
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He let me know that there in Europe gasoline is now selling for EUR 1,61 per liter. Converted to U.S. Dollars at the current exchange rate and to U.S. Gallons this comes out to $9.62/gallon.
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Wow. And here people are about to freak out because gasoline is selling for $4.00 per gallon. And yet they continue to drive their enormous gas hogs. I used to think Americans were very smart people...I am beginning to wonder.
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Formaldehyde in Katrina Trailers

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There are many thousands of people who have suffered long term health effects from exposure to formaldehyde fumes. The cause is deregulation.


WHY SOME PLYWOOD GIVES OFF FORMALDEHYDE GAS:
There are many thousands of people who have suffered long term health effects from exposure to formaldehyde fumes produced by their houses. This is nothing new, and the cause is well known and well studied.

Plywood has been manufactured for many years. A form of plywood was made in ancient Egypt, and in more modern times plywood was used to manufacture some airplanes in WWII.

Plywood has some significant advantages over conventional wood in terms of warping and strength. Plywood is made from several (odd numbered) thin layers of wood. These thin layers of wood are glued together under pressure and heat at 140 degrees C (280 °F) in a press under 19 MPa (2,800 psi) of pressure. The layers are placed so that each layer has the grain of the wood running at right angles to the adjacent layer. Placing the grain of each layer at 90 degree angles to the next greatly increases the strength and reduces warping.

The glue or adhesive that is used to make plywood is usually phenol formaldehyde resin. There are several grades of this glue, and as one might expect, the cheaper glues tend to give off more formaldehyde gas even after the plywood is built into one’s furniture or house.

If the temperature, pressure, or time used in the laminating process of manufacturing the plywood is lowered, this reduces the cost of production, i.e. increases profit. The unfortunate byproduct of this reduction in cost of plywood production is improperly cured resin between the layers of wood in the plywood, resulting in dangerously unhealthy amounts of the cancer causing gas formaldehyde being released into the air.

All of the above is well known and is absolutely no surprise to anyone familiar with the industry.


DEREGULATION IS A FOUR LETTER WORD:
The reason that American citizens tolerate taxation (see taxation without representation) is so that the government will protect the people and properly regulate industries which might harm the public.

It is the job of government, both elected officials and governmental employees, to regulate many different things in order to protect the citizens.

Some of our tax money goes to fund the military, so that they will protect us. The government has a responsibility to protect the citizens from unhealthy food products, either those manufactured in America, or those imported from other countries. The government is expected to make sure that the toys our young children put in their mouths do not have excessive levels of lead in them. It is the responsibility of government to regulate pharmaceuticals so that the citizens don’t take medicines which are just ineffective and unhealthy snake oil.

It is the government’s job to make sure that the money we put in the bank is safe, that the U.S. dollar does not suffer unreasonable amounts of inflation or deflation, and it is the government’s job to regulate financial markets so that they don’t go from boom to bust. The government is expected to enforce building codes so that our houses don't fall down on us. The government has the responsibility to provide fire protection and a well-functioning police department which catches criminals while respecting the rights of the citizens.

The government is expected to make sure that our old age pensions are secure and sufficient to provide a decent retirement income. The government has the responsibility to make certain that the water we drink from our taps is not unhealthy and that the air we breathe is safe. The government is expected to help out those of us in dire straights with the assistance in food stamps, unemployment payments, and health care for poor people and old folks.

The concept of deregulation is now seen as one of allowing corporations and wealthy individuals to increase their wealth, while allowing the normal citizens of American to suffer because of exposure to dangerous products which are no longer properly regulated by the government.

This deregulation is abdication of responsibility by the government.

So that next time someone spouts the virtues of deregulation, understand that they have been seriously misguided. In general these people who support deregulation are not the robber barons who will benefit from the deregulation. They are just seriously misinformed.
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Shrillary Hillary Rodham Clinton

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President Clinton was tepid in his support of Al Gore. And we suffered through George Bush II.

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Now Senator Hillary Rodham (Dishonest) Clinton appears to be doing a Ralph Nader.
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The Clintons will do anything to hold onto power. Unending ambition. The longer this farce drags on, the stronger the Hillary-Hate becomes among a large part of America. The team of her and her husband (Slick Willy) are just so polarizing. Their time is past.
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Sad. Poor Hillary. And sick. Really sick.
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Rattlesnakes

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I was up in a nearby state park earlier in the week. They had a really interesting sign to educate the public about rattlesnakes. It contained some excellent advice:

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"Rattlesnakes are not hunting you, because you are too big to swallow! They bite people only in self defense, so try to avoid offending them."

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FOX News

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In general I feel that Fox news is disgraceful. It embodies the very worst sort of profit-driven journalism and exploits dumb down, right wing biases.
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BUT...
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The FOX network sure has some good TV shows. Last night the TV shows "Bones" and "House" were both truly outstanding! And each will be continued next week.
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Alexander (R.A.A.) "Sandy" McCall Smith, CBE, FRSE

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NPR just had a great interview of Alexander McCall Smith.
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If you are not familiar with his books, you really should become so. You are missing something wonderful:
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The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series
1998 The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency
2000 Tears of the Giraffe
2001 Morality for Beautiful Girls
2002 The Kalahari Typing School for Men
2003 The Full Cupboard of Life
2004 In the Company of Cheerful Ladies (also known as The Night-Time Dancer)
2006 Blue Shoes and Happiness
2007 The Good Husband of Zebra Drive
2008 The Miracle at Speedy Motors

LINK: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_mccall_smith
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David Attenborough

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"The main thing is to avoid waste, to recognize that waste is actually sinful, and it is a gross damage to the world's environment from all kinds of points of view. Wasting energy is an appalling thing to do, and the way that we have squandered energy -- and particularly fossil energy -- not knowing what we were doing, is a catastrophe."
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LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjE0Kdfos4Y
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National Astronomy Day

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Yesterday, 10 May 2008, was National Astronomy Day in America. Here is El Paso, Texas there was a nice little star party held to celebrate the event.
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The Gene Roddenbery Planetarium (yes, the originator and writer of Star Trek was from El Paso), the Sun City Astronomy Club, and the astronomy clubs from several schools cooperated together to put on an impressive event.
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They met at a football field at a school where the light pollution is as minimal as is possible in a metropolitan area of 2,000,000 wasteful, air and light polluting human beings. Just to help people understand the massive size of the El Paso Metropolitan Area and the Texas Size Distances, I drove from my house to this field (staying inside of the City of El Paso) and drove 30 miles (48 km) each way. My little black doggie Inu went around and made friends with almost everyone there.
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I didn't count them, but I'll bet there were at least 30, maybe 50, telescopes set up for the public to look through. Each telescope had a person in charge of it who would aim it, focus it, answer questions, etc. There were several nice refractors which must have been around 100mm objective size, a few cassegrains including one really big one, and a horde of invading Dobsonians. Including one massive 14 inch (I think) dob which actually had an original marks-a-lot signature on it's tube made by John Dobson on one of his visits to El Paso. A few of the people (who really had their acts together) had brought along their binoculars too.
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One of the experts there walked me through collimating my dobsonian using a collimation eyepiece. After having read numerous descriptions on paper and the web, and after doing it various times with my laser collimator, now I finally really do understand the process.
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Well done El Paso astronomers!!

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LINKS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dobsonian

------------- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Roddenberry

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Immunodeficiency in CLL Patitents

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This is a link to Dr. Terry Hamblin's blog and his excellent article on this subject:
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http://mutated-unmuated.blogspot.com/2008/05/immunodeficiency-of-cll.html
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Best Friends

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A friend of mine has this on the back of his Toyota pickup truck.

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------------------ Right On!

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U.N. Suspends Aid Supplies to Myanmar

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A terrible storm hit Burma. At least 25,000 people are dead. Maybe far more.
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The government of Burma has been clear that they will welcome aid supplies, but do not want foreign workers and journalists.
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Now the U.N. appears to be stopping these aid supplies. The U.N. is taking the arrogant position, "My Way or the Highway."
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Right after Katrina the U.S. did not openly welcome journalists and aid workers from foreign countries that we don't like - such as Libya, Cuba, and North Korea.
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The government of Burma apparenty is even far worse than the George Bush II regime. Nonetheless we as nations that are more prosperous have a moral duty to help out. And if the Burmese want the aid, but not the aid workers or the foreign journalists, we don't have to like it, but we do have to go along with it. Holding the aid shipments hostage is absolutely immoral.
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LINK: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/10/world/asia/10myanmar.html?ref=world
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Elitist Politicians

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This revolting old woman is delusional. She has lost. Period. Full Stop.
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And now just like the Corvair guy (who also is a lawyer), she is going to let her massive ego hurt the entire country. -------- Absolutely Disgraceful!-
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Great YouTube Video: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=a0e5O0aBrOU&eurl-


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LINK: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/08/AR2008050802807.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter
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Senator John McCain

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McCain appears to be a nice old man who has a great deal of integrity. In fact integrity is the main thing he has going for himself. Other than being the son of an admiral, a former POW, and having a good looking wife with big tits who owns a beer distributorship.
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His ideas on Iraq basically mirror Bush II. McCain opposes universal health care. He freely admits that his background in economics is weak.
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Now it has started coming out that he has been a big supporter of land swaps where private land is traded for Federal Government land which is then developed. It turns out that some of the largest donors to his campaign for president have prospered from these McCain land swap deals.
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I would hate to see it, but maybe John McCain is just sanctimonious. Puclicly favoring good laws, but not always applying them to himself or his rich friends.
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LINK: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/08/AR2008050803494.html?wpisrc=newsletter
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Hypermiling

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I recently have read several articles on hypermiling.

This is a word referring to some fanatics who do virtually ANYTHING to improve their fuel economy. Raising the tire pressure far beyond the car manufacturer’s recommendations, tailgating 18 wheeler trucks (drafting), going to extremes to not use the brakes, etc.

This all sounded interesting to me, so on the most recent tank of gas I decided to do everything possible to get good gas mileage. Like setting the cruise control at 50 mph when on the freeway, even when the speed limit is 70 mph. Of course I got plenty of honks and obscene gestures from the dinosaurs who were racing along, speeding up and slowing down, getting miserable gas mileage.

I almost always get just above 40 mpg on my Toyota Corolla. But this tank I did much better. Granted it was almost all (probably 90%) highway mileage. But there were a few times when I went into the supermarket and left the car running outside so that the air conditioner would keep my best friend cool and comfortable.

I went much further on this tank than normally. So I knew the mileage was going to be superb. But it even surprised me: 48.6 mpg!!
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Goodby You Rude Bitch

Lawrence Ferlinghetti

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Ferlinghetti is an amazing man. He is 89 years old, so he is near the final chapter. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferlinghetti

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Click on this picture to the right called Pity The Nation so that it will enlarge to a readable size, and take the time to read it slowly.

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What an amazing mind this guy has!

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Thanks to Melanie in Los Angeles)

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Cinco De Mayo

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-------------------------------- (all of the following is from wikipedia)
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Cinco de Mayo (Spanish for "5th of May") is a regional holiday in Mexico, primarily celebrated in the state of Puebla. It is not an obligatory federal holiday. The holiday commemorates an initial victory of Mexican forces led by General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín over French forces in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. The date is observed in the United States and other locations around the world as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride.
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A common misconception in the United States is that Cinco de Mayo is Mexico's Independence Day; Mexico's Independence Day is actually September 16 (dieciséis de septiembre in Spanish), which is the most important national patriotic holiday in Mexico.
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Cheap Gas

I'm getting a little weary of hearing people complain about gas prices in America. Compared to most other places around the world, gasoline is cheap in the USA. If you want to spend a great deal less on gasoline you can. You can also do your part in combating international terrorism. Instead of sending so much of our money to the Islamic fundamentalist countries like Saudia Arabia.
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It really is simple. As soon as possible get rid of your 10 mpg pickup truck or SUV, and buy a vehicle that gets good fuel economy.
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Don't fall for the sales pictches about performance or sex appeal. Start the discussion by asking what the fuel economy is in city driving. This is 99% of what matters. Pretty much all cars are reliable nowadays. And they all have good sound systems and satisfactory air conditioners. So the important factor is what MPG does the vehicle REALLY get driving around town?
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If the actual, real-life gas mileage driving around town is less than 35 mpg don't even think about buying it.
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And if you are an elected official, work towards a system where each year when the vehicle is registered and fees are paid to the state, the fees are based upon fuel economy. So a Toyota Prius might have licensing fees of $10- per year, a Toyota Corolla or a Honda Fit might be $40- per year, and a behemoth SUV or a big, heavy pickup truck might be in the range of $1,500- to $2,000- per year.

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Mission Accomplished

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It was five years ago in May 2003 that the shamefully ignorant president of the USA, George Bush II, stood aboard the aircraft carrier the USS Abraham Lincoln and said,

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"Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed. And now our coalition is engaged in securing and reconstructing that country."

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This recovering alcoholic with his perverted Republican economics of lowering taxes on the wealthy while reducing the government services and regulations which act as a safety net for the disadvantaged, and which reduce the tendency of market economies towards boom-and-bust, has done serious and permanent damage to the country.

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The sooner America sees the back side of these Republicans, the better off we will be.

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