Yesterday, I found the website telling about a new car called the Aptera which will be out on the market late this year (all electric) and it's hybrid model in 2009. The Smart Car is available in several places around the country now. The Aptera (google aptera and take a look for yourself) will only be available in California initially (they're taking orders for it now). It has something to do with the three wheels, and meeting California DOT standards, among other things.

This is an American-made car unlike the Smart Car and others that are imports. I have no problem with imports (I'm driving one now) but I thought I'd throw in that factoid.

Initial price range is $27,000 (for electric) and $30,000 for the hybrid. They say it will run for 120 miles without recharging, and its proposed mileage is incredible (300 miles to the gallon for the hybrid is one number touted). My guess is the big automakers will be finding all kinds of things wrong with the Aptera and strongly discourage folks from buying it. But, my reaction is that the large car manufacturers here in the U.S. have it coming given that many of us warned about the need of having smaller, more fuel-efficient cars way back in the 70s. They didn't listen. Instead, they started putting out SUVs!

Frankly, I don't find moving to an eco-friendly small car something to be depressed about. I think it's a great idea and one well past its time.

...in the hierarchy of the U.S. military and sometimes they even get heard---at least now they do. Not only are some of them spilling the beans before the Senate Armed Services Committee hearings, but others have been busy preparing material on other aspects of the fiasco involving our military and its leaders.

A group, headed by Donald Wright and Col. Tmothy Reese, along with the Army's Contemporary Operations Study Team, have authored a report on their study entitled ON POINT: TRANSITION TO THE NEW CAMPAIGN. It looked at the Army's operations in Iraq from May, 2003 to January 2005. Among its criticisms are charges that civilian and military leaders were so focused on achieving "victory" that they failed to do proper planning for when the war in Iraq ended. (An aside: The war ENDED???)

But what I found most interesting in the report is their charge that Donald Rumsfeld was less interested in the war and its aftermath than of modernizing the military. How he planned to do this is right out of material developed by the Project for a New American Century's study created prior to the Bush administration seizing of power in this country by hook and crook (and many easily-fooled voters). "The intense desire to continue DOD's transformation to smaller and lighter forces, to implement a perceived revolution in military affairs in the information age" is cited in this report as a serious problem. Unfortunately, to get a clearer understanding of what this says one needs to read PNAC material, which outlines among other "modernization" efforts the development of a super soldier who is superior physically and mentally, able to perform on the battlefield in small numbers and, of course, achieve amazing victories. As I read that, my mind's eye visualized a prototype of a soldier pumped up on steriods, implanted with microchips, brain-washed to perform like a robot, and unable to express any type of emotion let alone question orders or techniques (like torture). Come to think of it, we've already seen a fictionalized version of PNAC's "ideal soldier" in both versions of the movie Manchurian Candidate.

So, why should we expect the minions who serve and share this administration's ideology to care about silly things like torture or even death?

...and I'm glad someone of more importance than me actually said it publicly. True, McCain endured imprisonment although, from what I heard from some others who were POWs at that time, he didn't suffer physically any more than they did. I believe the photos you see of him in the film taken at that time show the injuries he got as a result of the plane crash.

And while we're talking about his flying abilities and heroism, doesn't anyone recall the story of how, when he was landing his plane on a carrier, his actions started a major fire which destroyed several other parked planes, injured many people (including McCain) and - I believe - caused some deaths as well.

Wesley Clark was baited and I, for one, think his response was right on!