Corolla!

Tee Vee News Saves the Day

No, really:

On Thursday, the Lubbock, Texas city council voted to delay installation of red light cameras after a local television station exposed the city's short timing of yellow lights at eight of the twelve intersections where the devices were to be installed. "Many folks believe this is a money grab and then we found out through KCBD Television there's a discrepancy in timing,"

Earlier this month, (KCBD) cited the rule-of-thumb that Lubbock City Engineer Jere Hart asserted as the basis for timing lights at city intersections. At most of the proposed camera intersections, Hart did not follow his own rule.

At 82nd and University, the 50 MPH speed limit suggests the need for a 5 second yellow, but it currently set at just 4.3 seconds. At 82nd and Frankford, the speed of traffic requires 4.5 seconds of yellow, but the public is only given 4.0.

Short yellows assure a steady flow of red light camera ticket revenue. A Texas Transportation Institute study found that an extra second of yellow time added to the current ITE formula yields a a 53 percent reduction in the number of tickets issued along with a 40 percent reduction in accidents.

So no one has bothered to look into preventing more crashes by adding a bit of time to the yellow cycle. They went right to the plan to issue after-the-fact tickets from a glorified vending machine only because it raises revenue. On top of that, the yellow cycle is/was to be shortened to issue even more tickets for even more revenue.

More and more, we elect and appoint people who know and care nothing about freedom, liberty, the role of government or pragmatic civic management. These people are only motivated by the glory they think will be due them as they ram bullshit through. Bullshit, chosen by them, that represents the way they think things should be, regardless of legality or common sense.

Getting the Needle From the Headline

This guy can't get the Government of Australia to send him to the global warming love in, so he's going on his own - using his frequent flier points.

Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer rejected Senator Brown's bid to become part of the official 50-member Australian delegation, so he is using frequent flyer points to get to Johannesburg.

Anyone who's got that many miles, according to Gore & Co., Inc., must have a carbon footprint must be the size of Borneo.

Senator Brown said he plans to meet other greens and environment ministers at the world summit on sustainable development, which has attracted 65,000 environmental experts and lobbyists from 189 countries. The Howard Government has very much got its head in the sand," Senator Brown said. "Its got the coal industry with it. Its got the big manufacturing industries - they don't want to cut back on their greenhouse gas emissions.

Right . . .and flying 65,000 people to one place is cutting back how?

Today's Featured Writing

Lileks on the non-secular action at the Oscars:

You must believe that this disaster can be prevented with fluorescent light bulbs, whirring cars that run on pixy dust, methane traps strapped to the hindquarters of cows, and magic federal dollars that invent new forms of energy by virtue of being congressionally bequeathed. You must believe that ruining the American economy will somehow convince India and China to ruin their own.

There's also a curious form of self-loathing involved in the lights-off movement, a revolutionary's hatred of the old order's glories. Once the bright lights of a city stood as a sign of civilization, a candle that cast out the night and brought the boon of Prometheus to every humble shack; now darkness is a sign of enlightenment. The sensitive soul who feels the planet's ceaseless shrieks in all his various chakras is supposed to feel relief when the lights go off, as if darkness is aloe on a burn.

Why, look at those satellite photos of North Korea at night. State control of energy usage, no industry, no cars, no messy pointless "freedom'' to hurt our one and only Mother. Seen from above, it's utterly dark.

More for Your Money

Sure it was nice to see the Wild dismiss the Oil in largely uninhabitable Edmonton, but they really gave 'em a show in DC:

Washington - Brooks Laich shootout miss
Tampa Bay - Vincent Lecavalier shootout saved
Washington - Tomas Fleischmann shootout saved
Tampa Bay - Brad Richards shootout saved
Washington - Alexander Semin shootout saved
Tampa Bay - Martin St. Louis shootout miss

Washington - Alexander Ovechkin shootout saved
Tampa Bay - Vaclav Prospal shootout miss

Washington - Jiri Novotny shootout saved
Tampa Bay - Filip Kuba shootout miss

Washington - Kris Beech shootout saved
Tampa Bay - Ruslan Fedotenko shootout saved

Washington - Ben Clymer shootout saved
Tampa Bay - Eric Perrin shootout saved

Washington - Brian Pothier shootout saved
Tampa Bay - Ryan Craig shootout saved

Washington - Donald Brashear shootout saved
Tampa Bay - Dan Boyle shootout saved

Washington - Matt Bradley shootout saved
Tampa Bay - Nick Tarnasky shootout goal

Thursday Night

Deprived on the Gulf Coast

Mid 80's, sun, humidity, spring training - what a drag. Now THIS is what early March is all about:

Left work early, since no one was there. Shovelled the wet'n'heavy for about an hour, ate some dinner with Mrs. Octane and am now enjoying a Molson along with Walter Love.

Sure, I some times think it'd be fun to have a monster 2-stage job with lotsa power, but I'm just obstanent enought to think that shovelling builds character (Who am I kidding? One more dump like this and I'm off to Sears).

Sure, it's a bit tough to get around, but I do have the Blizzaks.

Liars, Cheats, Scams, Weasels, Hoods & Finks

Nice crop of despicable idiots you elected:

While Democrats try to restrict how President Bush can spend the $100 billion he wants for Iraq, they also hope to load his measure up with $10 billion in add-ons -- from aid for Great Plains farmers to help for children lacking health insurance and better levees in New Orleans.

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio: "Our focus must be on supporting our troops in harm's way -- without strings attached -- not on using a military spending bill as an excuse to fund pork-barrel projects and other unrelated projects."
Bush and GOP leaders on Capitol Hill managed to keep prior war funding bills largely free of such pork when Republicans controlled Congress. Now that Democrats are in charge, the party's leaders are eager to use the cost of the war as leverage to force Bush to accept spending that the GOP has killed in the past.

Just another gem from the Democrat-controlled congress that'll be long forgotten before the next election cycle.

Hypocrisy Meter Pinned

Pots and kettles both remain pretty dark:

WASHINGTON, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Billionaire investor George Soros said on Wednesday he bought 2.1 million shares of CVS Corp, and 1 million shares of Rite Aide in the fourth quarter of 2006. Soros also added 1.9 million shares of Halliburton and 1 million shares of Take-Two Interactive Software to his portfolio during the quarter.

Chickens Roosting at Home

After years and years and years of Big Labor buying Democrat politicians, the Democrats are finally doing Big Labor's bidding.

After losing innumerable certification elections and seeing its steady decline in numbers, Big Labor is turning to the U.S. Congress to secure crucial changes that will rig the game in its favor and allow it to force workers into unions.

Under existing law, before a union is recognized, an employer has the right to request a federally supervised secret ballot election. This allows both the union and the employer to make their case and lets workers decide on a union without fear of reprisal.

(H.R. 800) would allow unions to organize via so-called “card check” campaigns, in which union representatives can collect signatures to form a union without any privacy protections. A recent McLaughlin poll found that 89 percent of the public prefer the current process to the card-check procedure, and a recent Zogby poll found that 78 percent of union members prefer the current process to one with less privacy protection.

Why are Democrats discarding principle and pushing for such an undemocratic, unpopular measure? Because Big Labor, one of their key constituencies, is desperate.

Labor unions make up 10 of the top 15 contributors to all political candidates. All 10 lean strongly (70%-89%) to Democrat candidates. The fact that now Big Labor is getting its way in spite of public sentiment should not surprise anyone.

Limiting Your Access to Language

Be careful of what you say, print or imply; the words you want to use might be owned by a entertainment industrial giant:

Serial Number 78804122. Filing Date February 1, 2006. Original Filing Basis 1B.

Published for Opposition January 23, 2007

Owner (APPLICANT) NFL Properties LLC LTD LIAB CO DELAWARE 280 Park Avenue New York NEW YORK 10017

Attorney of Record Paula M. Guibault

Word Mark THE BIG GAME

IC 041. Entertainment services in the nature of football exhibitions; providing sports and entertainment information via a global computer network or a commercial on-line service.

Serial Number 78803677. Filing Date January 31, 2006.

Current Filing Basis 1B

Original Filing Basis 1B

Published for Opposition January 23, 2007

Owner (APPLICANT) NFL Properties LLC LTD LIAB CO DELAWARE 280 Park Avenue New York NEW YORK 10017

Attorney of Record Paula M. Guibault

Disclaimer NO CLAIM IS MADE TO THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO USE "GAME" APART FROM THE MARK AS SHOWN

This outfit, that regularly employs felons and other scum, will take a church to court for showing a freely televised football game and sue you for uttering "Super Bowl," now seeks to take more language away from you and me.

Still sweating the Patriot Act?

Wow, is it Hot in Here?

Or is my Oscar® still plugged in?

Gore’s mansion, located in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville, consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service (NES).

The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy. In 2006, Gore devoured nearly 221,000 kWh—more than 20 times the national average.

Since the release of An Inconvenient Truth, Gore’s energy consumption has increased from an average of 16,200 kWh per month in 2005, to 18,400 kWh per month in 2006.

The biggest obstacle these frauds have to overcome is the whole inconvenient "do as I say" vs. "do as I do" problem.

UPDATE: Check out W's place in Crawford:

Geothermal heat pumps located in a central closet circulate water through pipes buried 300 feet deep in the ground where the temperature is a constant 67 degrees; the water heats the house in the winter and cools it in the summer. Systems such as the one in this "eco-friendly" dwelling use about 25% of the electricity that raditional heating and cooling systems utilize.

A 25,000-gallon underground cistern collects rainwater gathered from roof runs; wastewater from sinks, toilets and showers goes into underground purifying tanks and is also funneled into the cistern. The water from the cistern is used to irrigate the landscaping surrounding the four-bedroom home. Plants and flowers native to the high prairie area blend the structure into the surrounding ecosystem.

Not exactly the Raper of Mother Earth as he's often characterized by the mentally lazy.

Hard to Tell

I dunno if this is journalsitic bias or poor reporting:

(Ibrahim Sheikh Ahmed, 37) was arrested Feb. 18 on charges of criminal homicide after police said he hit Ohio student Jeremie Invus with his United Cab Co. van. Another student, Andrew Nelson of Dayton, Ohio, dodged the van as it sped toward them.

According to a police report, the three men had a conversation about religion while in the taxi that "became heated." Shortly after the men paid Ahmed, he chased them in his van across the parking lot and over a curb, police said.

Metro police spokeswoman Kris Mumford said one of the students is Catholic and the other is Lutheran. Mumford said that Ahmed's religion was not known.

Not known. Oh REALLY? Well, what we do know is that reporter chose to reveal the religions of the people Ahmed tried to kill with a van, but somehow didn't ask about who Ahmed just might pray to.

I'm Willing to Believe

You know how when they land the shuttle at Edwards AFB in California and to get it back to Florida, they hoist it up on the back of a 747? You ever see a closeup of the actually mounting point?

Daily Ethnic Humor

An Italian, an Irishman and a Chinese fellow are hired at a Sydney construction site. The foreman points to a huge pile of sand and says to the Italian guy, "You're in charge of sweeping." To the Irishman he says "You're in charge of shoveling."To the Chinese guy, "You're in charge of supplies." He then says, "Now, I have to leave for a little while. I expect you guys to make a dent in that there pile."

So the foreman goes away for a couple hours, but when he returns the pile of sand is untouched. He says to the Italian: "Why didn't you sweep any of it?"The Italian replies in a heavy accent, "I no gotta broom, an' you tella me dat de Chinese'a guy supposa bringa da supplies, but he disappear and I no finda him." Then the foreman turns to the Irishman and asks why he didn't shovel.The Irishman replies in his heavy brogue, "Aye, that ye did, but I couldn't get meself a shovel. Ye left the Chinese fella in charge of supplies, but I couldn't fin' him."

The foreman is really angry now, and storms off looking for the Chinese guy.He can't find him anywhere and is getting angrier by the minute.Just then, the Chinese guy springs out from behind the pile of sand and yells... "Supplies!!"

Dorky Weather Post

All the fearmonger local news outfits and yellow-bellied non-hackers have been shouting "Snow!" incessently for a few days and, sure enough, it came overnight. It was no record dump, nor was it perilous, nor was it unprecedented (for crying out loud this is Minnesota in February) but it was news and if effects everything.


After shovelling out Casa de Octane for two hours this morning, I dropped Mrs. Octane off in front of church and looked for a place to park. After getting stuck twice on unplowed side streets, I figured it I'd be better off in my own clean driveway. I made it home only to realize that she had the house keys. Back near church, I beached the wagon and went in. Getting out wasn't entirely without incident.

Home for a bite, then off to the X to see the Wild dispatch the Oilers and, coupled with Dallas doing Vancouver in OT, saw them move into 2nd place, only two points arears of the Canucks.

Hey, Punk, I'm On Vacation

Third-world hoodlums meet motivated Americans.

One of the tourists - a retired member of the US military - put assailant Warner Segura in a head lock and broke his clavicle after the 20-year-old and two other men armed with a knife and gun held up their tour bus Wednesday, said Luis Hernandez, the police chief of Limon.

The two other men fled when the 12 senior citizens started defending themselves.

Stir Fry TV

The Food Channel has never come in clearer.

Why pay $20,000 for a commercial link to run your television station when a $10 kitchen wok from the Warehouse is just as effective? This is exactly how North Otago's newest television station 45 South is transmitting its signal from its studio to the top of Cape Wanbrow, in a bid to keep costs down. He discovered satellite dishes were between $100 to $400 retail and that smaller dishes, the same size as a wok, were $80. Mr Jones thought he could do better.

Mr Jones said one wok was providing Oamaru with the signal at present and there was no need to provide another wok for some time.

Front End Loaded

Champions League first half tie: Barcalona 1 - 2 Liverpool

Craig Bellamy and John Arne Riise both scored as Liverpool shocked holders Barcelona at the Nou Camp in the first leg of their Champions League tie. Deco nodded Barca in front from Gianluca Zambrotta's precise cross. But Liverpool dug in and they levelled when Barca keeper Victor Valdes let Bellamy's header creep over the line.

Now it comes back to Anfield and the Reds have two road goals . . . oh boy, oh boy, oh boy.

One More From the Roadtrip

A Royale with cheese.