You Ain't Got No Alibi

Naturally this refers to the hideous looking Honda Crosstour.

In fact, all of the new Honda's are rather unfortunate looking. But earlier this week I looked in my rear-view mirror and was startled by the grotesqueness of what was there. It was something like this:



At that moment I knew I had to find out who Honda's chief designer was so that I could run far away from anything they were involved in. The NYT provided all that I needed to know. Would you rather buy something designed by a guy who looks like this:


(Dave Marek, chief designer and senior manager at Honda's American auto design studio)

or this?:


(Jonathan Ive Senior Vice President, Industrial Design Apple)

Come On!

Every Journey Begins With A Step. Or A Pedal

Via NPR: A National Network Of Bike Trails? It Could Happen

"We’ve put almost all of our resources into roads," LaHood says. "If the commitment when President Eisenhower signed the interstate bill had been to high-speed inner-city rail, we'd be in the same position Europe and Asia are in today."


LaHood is also floating the idea of a nationwide interstate biking system — the two-wheel equivalent of Eisenhower’s highway system.

In getting ready to post this I looked around and found that a group has been preparing for a nationwide bicycle route and even has a numbering system in place.

From the NYT: Highway Group Approves Basic Plan for a Network of Bicycling Routes

The group is the Adventure Cycling Associaton and they have frequent updates at their site for the U.S. Bicycle Route System

Here's a proposed map:

Via BikingBis: Uneven support for U.S. Bicycle Route System

Evidence That Republicans Have Lost Touch With Reality

There's been a meme on the interwebs recently called "epistemic closure" that was started by Julian Sanchez - basically saying that conservative republicans have so ensconced themselves in a self-selected world that they have lost touch with reality.

The news recently seems to support this contention.

-James Fallows comments on the similarities between Arizona and China: Yet Another Arizona-China Convergence

-The GOP in the south is warning people from supporting moderate Republican candidates based on a loyalty oath: 'Party Loyalty Oath' would prevent Republicans from backing Crist [Yet these same wingnuts went crazy over a satirical piece about an Obama loyalty oath.]

-Oklahoma passed an anti-abortion bill that puts the government in charge of a woman's reproductive health.

-And Utah, apparently not content with being anti-science and anti-education, will now execute a prisoner by firing squad.

Eating Non-Fat Is Nonsense

Or Atkins was right.

Via SciAm: Carbs against Cardio: More Evidence that Refined Carbohydrates, not Fats, Threaten the Heart

Seed Bombs For Sale

This must be what people mean by "Markets In Everything" - a seed bomb vending machine.

Via TH: Seed Bomb Vending Machine Dispenses Guerrilla Gardening Fun

Carbon Disclosure

Google Finance is now listing the 'Carbon Disclosure Rating' for participating companies in the Key Stats and Ratios window (lower right-hand side when looking at a stock)

Via 3P: I’d Like a Little CDP With My GDP: Google Adds Carbon Data To Finance

Three Species Of Orca

Not one.

See SciAm: Orcas are more than one species, gene study shows

This reminds me of something I saw on television recently that showed Orca's had somehow learned that if they could launch a surprise attack on a Great White Shark and then hold it upside down for 15 minutes then they could have their way with it. It was amazing.

See DailyMailUK: Pictured: The moment a whale delivers a deadly 'karate chop' blow to a killer shark

It Is Hard To Be Ironic When You Are Struggling

Or as this Slate headline says: Are There Really No Hipsters in China?

Irony-resisting Chinese bicyclists have skipped the fixed-gear trend that has swept the rest of the world.

Pat Buchanan Is All Kinds Of Crazy And Un-American

I don't subscribe to my town's newspaper, but my mom still likes to have it around and since she is babysitting for awhile there is always a copy in our house. Earlier this week I was flipping through the pages and saw an opinion column by Uncle Pat: New Tribe Rising?

In this piece he basically says the Tea Party is made up of white ethnonationalists and it is a good thing and everybody else better watch out because this kind of uprising has a long history (though Tecumseh, Hitler, and Milošević were unsuccessful, maybe it was because the right person has not tried it yet).

The conservative blog Little Green Footballs even thinks he's crazy: Pat Buchanan: Tea Parties Are a 'New Tribe Rising'

This kind of tribal thinking is essentially un-American. The promise of America, and what continues to be a goal for Americans, is the concept of the "melting pot" as cliched as that may be - but it is a cliche because it is true. Buchanan is arguing for fascism.

Not only is racial based tribal thinking antithetical to the ideals America represents, but it also makes for bad economics. See TheAtlantic: Why Nations Struggle or Thrive

It's also clear that the most troubled societies -- those with the highest reported levels of suffering -- also, generally speaking, face the highest levels of intolerance.

Hey Conservatives - Don't Let Facts Get In The Way Of Your Opinions

From the FourthBranch.com: Government Spending

This is a map showing which states paid more in taxes than they received back from the Federal government (red states were getters, blue states givers):


and this is from the last election:

There is a very strong correlation, then, between a state voting for Republicans and receiving more in federal spending than its residents pay to the federal government in taxes (the rust belt and Texas being notable exceptions). In essence, those in blue states are subsidizing those in red states. Both red and blue states appear to be acting politically in opposition to their economic interests. Blue states are voting for candidates who are likely to continue the policies of red state subsidization while red states are voting for candidates who profess a desire to reduce federal spending (and presumably red state subsidization).

All of this makes current Republican rhetoric frustrating, to say the least. Republicans tolerated spending under Republican presidents for 30 years, accounting for 59% of our total national debt, all the while benefiting from federal spending at the expense of their counterparts in blue states, only to then go bananas when a Democratic president and Congress spend money to rescue a floundering economy.

[Via Ezra]

An Easier Way To Pick Seafood

GOOD has a new transparency up: Which Fish to Eat?

The easiest thing to remember is first look for U.S. Farmed, then these species: Arctic Char, Barmundi, Catfish, Cobia, Tilapia, Rainbow Trout, Striped Bass (not ill tempered), Clams, Bay Scallops, Mussels, Oysters, and Spiny Lobsters.

They are not listed, but Crawfish are good and sustainable option too.

Slow Cookers Reviewed

Metaefficient picks their top slow cookers: The Best Slow Cookers

That's So Gay

Or as the linked article ends, "mating isn't only about multiplying".

There are more than 450 vertebrate species that get busy with the same gender. So not sure how homosexuality can be considered unnatural.

See the Frontal Cortex: Gay Animals

Life Was Made In Pinedale

Well, just a little bit, the sage grouse part.

See the Sublette Examiner: ‘Life’ filmed near Pinedale

Official site: Life at the Discovery Channel

Brilliant Politics

President Obama made a lot of noise by opening up some parts of the continental shelf to drilling, then a couple of days later the E.P.A. released new fuel economy standards for cars and trucks AND issued rules for how much CO2 cars can release.

Funny that the drilling got all the attention but the E.P.A. are what will really matter.

We are in the midst of a political magician.

See:
U.S. Issues Limits on Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Cars

Offshore Drilling's Payoff May Not Be Energy

VW's New Design Language And One Other Thing

Via FC: Volkswagen Unveils Its First Hybrid

Brandishing an iPhone, he added: "Otherwise, why would my friend Steve Jobs design this! Our design is about honesty and responsibility."

The other thing via GCC: Diesels Account for 85% of All Jetta SportWagens Sold in March

TDI killed the ethanol star.

Another Luxury Wagon

Like the Japanese companies, GM will be offering a Cadillac sport wagon to compete with the traditional European station wagons.

See USAToday: Cadillac CTS-V sport wagon bulks up on power

Not sure why anyone would buy a GM vehicle though. Listen to This American Life's podcast about the NUMMI plant if you are ever thinking about buying GM

I hope Ford is paying attention. Perhaps a Lincoln version of the UK's Modndeo wagon?

Teleprompt This

Via WaPo: Obama's 17-minute, 2,500-word response to woman's claim of being 'over-taxed'

Related, from Salon: Is right's obsession with Obama's teleprompter racist?

Mammals Don't Need Maps

And neither do people.

See:
NewSCi:Learning to use nature's GPS

Wired: Make Like a Dolphin: Learn Echolocation

I Have Always Admired Judge Posner

First in the 1990's when I first read his work. Now as an author for The Atlantic.

His writing is prolific yet clear.

He's also a realistic libertarian. And when the facts could not support his opinion he then changed his opinion. Which is difficult. I went through a similar transformation politically. But I am not as smart as Judge Posner so I cannot explain it as well.

See his interview at Harper's: Six Questions for Richard Posner on Capitalism and Crisis

Crash Course On Palestine

The Israel-Palestine conflict is not something I follow closely, but I think I understand it much better after reading Juan Cole's The Map: The Story of Palestinian Nationhood Thwarted After the League of Nations Recognized It

Bicyclist Have A Posse

It is the Federal Department of Transportation.

See FC: Transportation Secretary Announces "Sea-Change" for American Transport: Bikes!

LaHood's announcement... is backed by a set of eight guidelines, which will be sent to state DOT's and communities:

* Treat walking and bicycling as equals with other transportation modes.
* Ensure convenient access for people of all ages and abilities.
* Go beyond minimum design standards.
* Collect data on walking and biking trips.
* Set a mode share target for walking and bicycling.
* Protect sidewalks and shared-use paths the same way roadways are protected (for example, snow removal)
* Improve nonmotorized facilities during maintenance projects.

Which frankly all sounds rather dull, but here's the important thing: LaHood, as Transportation Secretary, is essentially saying, "If you want federal DOT dollars, you better think more seriously about adding bike paths to the projects you propose."

"Christians understand their faith only in privatized terms"

I have been wondering how conservative Christians in America can hold so many discordant views. Reading this helped me understand a little why they are so crazy but not the how.

See HuffPo: Why Conservative Christians So Often Fail the Common Good