to pullout or not to pullout, that is the question

I thought this was an insightful link, it's refreshing to hear a different point of view. It seems the stuff coming out of the media over here is a lot more watered down.

though I've never been a fan of the pullout method, I think what is happening in Iraq is a civil war, and it is not our job to stop them from having a civil war. Just imagine if England had policed our civil war, they would not have solved the problems we had only put a band-aid on them.

Iraqis are going to have to figure it out for themselves, the only reason the U.S. is still there is to protect the investments of rich corporations and their stockholders (can you say Halliburton?)

It's sad that most of the sacrifices are made by the lower and middle classes but the super-rich are the ones who call the shots because they make all the campaign contributions.

Ara James

'Sí votamos', dicen líderes hispanos

Un día después de que Al Día y The Dallas Morning News publicaran un análisis que muestra que los latinos tuvieron una participación inferior a la de los negros y los blancos en la elección municipal del 7 de mayo en Dallas, líderes latinos se mostraban renuentes a aceptar la realidad de los números. link here

mi primer "post" en spanish, mas o menos.

Get custom Texas plates and make a difference.

These custom plates are kind of expensive but most of the money goes to a good cause. If you get the plates, it’s 30 or 40 dollars a year depending on which one, with 22 or 32 dollars going straight to the sponsoring organization, respectively. The 40 dollar plates are the God Bless America or God Bless Texas ones and they benefit the 4-H, Keep Texas Beautiful, March of Dimes, Texas Reads, and of course my favorite Share The Road.

Wagging the Blog

So I just sent an email action to my representatives via bikeleague.org

It was the least I could do, after all, a dog is a man's best friend and I don't want my owner getting run over out there. Watchdoggie out.

"Oregonizing" Texas

This is exactly what I'm talking about people, let's all get a Bicycle Bill passed in Texas! Here is the bill itself, it looks good to me, all we have to do now is get it passed in Texas. I wasn't planning on going statewide with this but a dog's gotta do what a dog's gotta do. A quick search turned up this link , which lists Texas, California, Florida, and New York as the states where most bicycle accident fatalities occur.

I'm not going to bother with the pollution statistics right now, most people know Texas is not known for it's outstanding air quality, I think it's obvious that we need to curb our toxic emissions. Less smog would mean healthier kids, less lung cancer, it's hard to argue against that.

Bikes aren't the whole solution, of course, other things I would like to see is more electric or hybrid cars. Biodiesel for all the long haulers and biodiesel hybrid cars for those that want a vehicle that can go the distance (electric cars have a very limited range.) The reason for biodiesel is that we already have the infrastructure, we don't have to wait ten or twenty years for hydrogen fuel cells to be affordable/practical. All we have to do is use the infrastructure we already have for gasoline/diesel fuel. Here is a link on where to get biodiesel in Texas. Also here is a link about Denton's biodiesel plant, which was going to be the largest in Texas until this one came down the pike. Since that link sucks let me just put it out here.


Biodiesel plant headed for Houston - 2/2/2005
A Boston developer of renewable energy products is expected to break ground on a biodiesel plant at the Houston Ship Channel in mid-2005. Natural Fuel & Energy president and chief executive Ronald Reilly said the $60 million facility, with a capacity of 36 million gallons a year, will be the biggest biodiesel plant in the country. Biodiesel is a renewable alternative fuel made from soybeans or other natural fats or oils. Reilly said the new Houston plant will be located at an existing storage tank terminal along the channel and should be operational in the second quarter of 2006. [Houston Chronicle]

Biggest in the U.S. baby! Kind of funny they're putting it in Houston, which is usually number one or two worst cities for air pullution (L.A. and Houston have been trading off number one for a few years.) It kind of renews one's faith in humanity if you ask me. Dare we hope? Us environmentalists need some good news today after hearing about the Arctic wildlife refuge being opened up to drilling.

Peace out.