pondscum comments

Spam? No. Poorly executed? Yes. After the recent rampant data breaches an album "magically appears" No notice. Took an email to support to find out what was going on. Call Apple the spammer if you will. U2 was the product. Not the distributor.

Our house has a GM Hybrid and a Toyota Hybrid. Both have been exceptional. I cannot speak for the ECM data rates. But both drive with seamless smooth accel and decel. I put a carputer in the GM to "Spy" on its different electrically variable trans. Quite fascinating to watch it modulate electric and hydraulic on braking. The Toyota CVT is definitely smoother, but lacks in towing capacity. I just wish both of them would better utilize the batteries. They seem to keep the state of charge in a narrow band. Guessing to extend life for the government required warranty.

There are safer Lithium based batteries out there. NiCd is not an option. LiFePO4 and I believe there is a manganese version also.

Problem is win or lose both the Japanese and American people suffer. Money cannot replace the lost life and happiness. If they "win" the attorneys will get the lions share of the money and Tepco won't pay, it will be the Japanese people paying in higher bills. If you want to truly nail Tepco confiscate the property of the executives and give that to any person that was harmed whether Japanese, American or otherwise. But it won't happen and never will. Us ants will continue to work and the execs will continue to try to figure out which mansion to live in and which yacht to get there. :(

The devil is in the details. The question is what design criteria was given to GE? What requirements did the governmental authorities impose on the project? What did TEPCO specify? In the end it may be what the insurance companie(s) are willing to pay rather than the truth. And us little ones continue to suffer. :(

We should concentrate on Hybrid technology first. The advantages of electric motors low end torque coupled with the gas engines range is a good mix. While appears to be the silver bullet we are searching for, current electrical generation relies heavily on fossil fuels and nuclear. PV efficiency needs to get out of the basement and higher power densities on the batteries. Then we can make some real EV progress. I converted my kids go-kart from 5HP gas to 2HP electric, and then realized I am charging the batteries with power generated from fossil fuels and nuclear. OUCH, a kick in the gut.

@ Wolfpack, yes while things have not gotten better, they have not gotten worse either. Compared to the whole planet, one may consider that progress. The whole mess now is comprised of both sides fighting and nothing getting done. Sad.

Oh great, let's borrow more money from China to give away around the globe.

Guns are not the root of the problem. The lack of respect for life is. Even if you could take away guns these forms of heinous acts would still be happen with explosives, knives or even a motor vehicle could be used to commit a similar act. Perhaps stopping children from making more children would be a start. Who knows.

Although the cost is high, we must make progress for the future. I think the ultimate cost if we don't will be higher.