http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2006/5/19/194157/712#1
Thanks d.
The status of becoming anti-gas-guzzler-status. Kind of dialectic!
Saw a huge, obscene stretch hummer limo out in front of a prom party at the Duluth convention center last night. Teens seeking status.
I was there for a John Prine concert. He revived his Vietnam era anti-war song.
Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore
© John Prine
"While digesting Reader's Digest
In the back of a dirty book store,
A plastic flag, with gum on the back,
Fell out on the floor.
Well, I picked it up and I ran outside
Slapped it on my window shield,
And if I could see old Betsy Ross
I'd tell her how good I feel."
Chorus:
"But your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.
They're already overcrowded
From your dirty little war.
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reason's for,
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more."
"Well, I went to the bank this morning
And the cashier he said to me,
"If you join the Christmas club
We'll give you ten of them flags for free."
Well, I didn't mess around a bit
I took him up on what he said.
And I stuck them stickers all over my car
And one on my wife's forehead."
Repeat Chorus:
"Well, I got my window shield so filled
With flags I couldn't see.
So, I ran the car upside a curb
And right into a tree.
By the time they got a doctor down
I was already dead.
And I'll never understand why the man
Standing in the Pearly Gates said..."
"But your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.
We're already overcrowded
From your dirty little war.
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reason's for,
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more."
Commenting before the last chorus: "I wrote this song in 1968, and put it on the mantle in 1975. I revived it by a special request from the president. He doesn't know it, but he asked for it."
He did his new anti-war song too. To thunderous roaring applause!
"Have you ever noticed, when you're feeling really good
There's always a pidgeon, that'll come shit on your hood
Or you're feeling your freedom, and the world's off your back
Some cowboy from taxas, starts his own war in iraq"
"Some humans ain't human, some people ain't kind
They lie through their teeth, with their head up their behind
You open up their hearts and here's what you'll find
Some humans ain't human, some people ain't kind"
http://www.lyricsdir.com/john-prine-some-humans-aint-human-lyrics.html
From a discussion on "The Energy blog":
http://thefraserdomain.typepad.com/energy/2006/05/bill_ford_ceo_o.html#comment-17233702
Here is the economics of a home based solar/wind system charging a plugin.
The typical electric power consumption is 10,000 kwh per year per home.
Cut that in half for a super insulated, smaller home that features solar/wind heating/cooling and the latest flat screen tv/computer technology, mini-flourescent lighting, and energy efficient appliances.
Typical gasoline consumption for a very efficient car is around 8 gallons per week. Figure 500 gallons per year to be safe. A conservative estimate of 7.5 kwh, in a plugin vehicle, equal to one gallon of gas in a gas powered car means that around 4000 kwh would more than do it.
That original 10,000 kwh per year would power this system. A rooftop and parking area solar system that produces electric power and heat, combined with a home sized wind system could produce enough power to do this in many locations. And actually produce enough extra to sell into the grid to offset remote charging of the plugin car too.
Wind, water, and solar power on a larger scale could power the homes, buildings, and vehicles not covered by their own systems. These larger installations could also power industrial and commercial applications.
Only a fraction of a percent of land and sea area would be needed to do the job. It's a shame that the capital needed to acomplish this is squandered on oil wars, wasting energy, and the greenhouse gas destruction of life as we know it here on spaceship earth.
Were even the subsidies to the oil industry alone given to homeowners instead, to install these systems and purchase plugins, the capital needed would naturally flow to meet the demand created.
The resulting mass production would bring costs down impelling a frenzy of investment.
Like the former booms created by techological advances, but powered by renewable energy, providing a sustainable growth curve rather than the boom and bust of former economic cycles based on less substantial footing.