Senate approves Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act, ensures a future for noise pollution
December 13, 2010 No Comment
If you’ve been lucky enough to occupy the driver’s seat of a hybrid or electric vehicle you’ve surely enjoyed the bliss that comes from smoothly and silently pulling away from a stoplight. You’ve also, surely, run over at least a couple of pedestrians while doing it. (We hit at least eight of the poor souls during our latest Volt test drive .) Sadly, here comes John Kerry and the rest of the US Senate to ruin our Carmageddon -esque fun. The Senate has unanimously approved the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act, which requires: …minimum level of sound emitted from a motor vehicle that is necessary to provide blind and other pedestrians with the information needed to reasonably detect a nearby electric or hybrid vehicle operating at or below the cross-over speed How much sound? Well, they haven’t figured that out yet, nor have they figured out up to what speed it must be required, nor what sort of noise is required, but by golly there will be noise . Those answers will in theory be found through the course of a study that will take no more than 48 months to complete, leaving us wonder if current noisemaker options on the Volt , Leaf , and Prius will meet the need. Regardless, if you want a quiet car you’d better start your financing. Senate approves Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act, ensures a future for noise pollution originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Dec 2010 10:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Somewhere, George Bush is laughing . . . That was the image in Joe Scarborough's mind this morning.
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‘Social Network’ named best film by LA critics; ‘Narnia’ cruises to No. 1 debut with modest $24.5M; Nicole Richie weds Joel Madden in LA. (Dec. 13)
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Image credit ::Modern Mechanix When Richard Masoner of Cyclelicious asked “What came first, the bikes, or the bike lanes? Do bike facilities encourage people to bike? Or are they a response to increased demand after there are more bikes on the road?” I sent him a link to a post we did showing that bike lanes existed in 1928 , but another co… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …NPR Newscast Promotes ‘Revolutionary Nutcracker’ Ballet in San Francisco
December 13, 2010 No CommentThat taxpayer-funded leftist sandbox called National Public Radio promoted the latest work/wreck of “progressive art” on Saturday morning's Weekend Edition . In San Francisco, they're twisting the classic ballet The Nutcracker into a radical-left jeremiad. Anchor Scott Simon announced nonchalantly: “'Tis the season for The Nutcracker. One production in San Francisco is decorated with a grab-bag of liberal political causes. In the Revolutionary Nutcracker Sweetie, the ice caps melt during the dance of the snowflakes and Clara is an undocumented Latina maid.” Liberal reporters think liberals aren't at all noteworthy so they get no label. When the media elite announces something has “liberal causes,” it's extremely leftist. Reporter April Dembosky interviewed the show's writer and director, Krissy Keefer, about her twisted take on Tchaikovsky: KEEFER: We are a political dance company in that we try to make work that is socially relevant, that is responding to the real ideas and real needs of people today in the community. read more
Continue reading …End of Suburbia Director to Launch ResilientCITY – the Future of Our Cities (Video)
December 13, 2010 No Comment
Image credit: Resilient Planet The End of Suburbia and its sequel, Escape from Suburbia, might just be the most influential documentaries within the environmental movement to be seen in recent years. True, they may not have achieved the mainstream success of An Inconvenient Truth , but I have met so many people whose worldview was profoundly shaken by film makers Gregory Greene and Barry Silverthorne and their uncom… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Images Credit DBCSC Swiss designer Colin Schaelli tells the story of John Doe, who was so tired to going to the Big Swede for cool furniture on a budget. Really, his only friend from Scandinavia is Billy. “All others appear too unappealing to him. And who could disagree? Nobody wants acquaintances he needs an extensive manual for, right?” So Colin designed con.temporary furniture , really simple designs that go together without screws and don’t need a manual. … Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Photo via OH6DC For people who have a thing for Morse code, you might want to make sure you have a plant like this sitting on your desk. It’s called the Amaryllis telegraphiensis. It’s an exceedingly rare species, and must be carefully bred and well tended, but diligent owners will find they have in their possession an amazing cyborg of an amaryllis, one that can send telegrams! Check out how the inventor turned the bulb’s stem into a sideswipe CW key. … Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Photo: Elemental Herbs Using herbs for preventative or curative health is as old as humankind. But these days before we put some lotion or other on our skin it seems we need a PHD in chemistry to understand the product’s ingredients. Elemental Herbs take a different approach and make lip balms, sun creams, and such like, from stuff we know the names of like: calendula, comfrey, lavender, yarrow, extra virgin olive oil, beeswax, vitamin E, and so on. Most of which are certified organic as well. Throw in a solar-powered kitchen, strawbale greenhouse, biodiesel vehicles, recycled packaging, composting toilet, and much more and you begin to… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Heavy rains and flooding have forced evacuations in western Washington State. A record rainfall dumped up to six inches during the day Sunday causing widespread flooding and mudslides. (Dec. 13)
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