A FEW THOUGHTS FOR THE NEW YEAR

my car dealer buddy tells me the reason americans don't like electric cars is lack of acceleration and the inability to drive long distance. fair enough.

but why don't we use electric school buses? think about it. they run the same routes every day, driving less than 50 miles at a time and lack of acceleration would only add to the safety of the kids on board. we all see school buses parked in the same place every night so those could easily become charging stations.

diesel fuel....buses get around 7 miles per gallon (on a good day)and with diesel around four dollars a gallon, it costs $49 to drive a 50 mile route. cost of electric to drive the same route? about three bucks for a daily savings of forty-six dollars. multiply that by 180 scool days and you save $8000 per bus each year. i know the initial cost of an electric bus would be double that of a diesel burner but the fuel savings would make up the difference in ten years and you would be 'driving green' and eliminate the problems of trying to budget fuel costs in a volatile and unsteady market.
what's the down side?

hey, remember our disabled cop in iowa who had to kennel his service dog because it was part pit bull? well, the feds informed the town fathers that he could have whatever breed he liked and their ordinance violated his federal rights as a disabled person. town fathers blinked first. case closed.

the iowa caucaus ended the run of this year's village idiot, michelle bachman, who will now reside in the sarah palin hall of fame.

rick perry, the governor of texas, took a big hit in iowa and will get crushed in new hampshire next tuesday. the fat lady will be singing for him shortly.

and so it boils down to mitt romney, ron paul, rick santorum and our old buddy, newt gingrich. it appears that gingrich will not survive the constant attacks from paul & romney. look for newt to bow out after the south carolina primary on january 21.

i still think it would be a great idea strategically for president obama to urge VP joe biden to 'retire' and name hillary clinton as his running mate. that move would guarantee his re-election.

have your house up for sale? be careful when potential buyers do a walk through of your home. guy in crown point, indiana, took a $40,000 rolex out of a dresser drawer and never broke stride. good reason to accompany all buyers as the look around.

just heard they arrested 4 people for the murder of the chicago cop working security at a grocery store. they're saying it was a case of mistaken identity and they really meant to kill a DIFFERENT cop. oh, that makes it better.

finally, to help you enjoy the new year, 5,000 artifacts from the titanic are going up for auction on april 11th in new york city. before you get the idea of bidding on a hat or a locket or a ring, please know this: all of the pieces are being sold as ONE LOT and the last appraisal valued the collection at $189 million smackareenos. and by the way......if you buy the lot, you must agree to maintain the items and display them for the public occassionally. hey, it'll give you something to do during the winter.

bye for now.