Politics At The Barbershop

My son and I were in desperate need of haircuts, so we went downtown for a buzz. Unfortunately, The View was on.

"Ever watch this show?" my barber asked in her mid-30's Italian American accent, with just a tinge of tar in her throat and lungs.
"Never," I replied.
"It's pretty good."
I made sure not to roll my eyes.
"It's better without Rosie."
"Yeah, she can be opinionated."
"Oh being opinionated is ok. It's when a person gets obnoxious about it that's wrong."
"She is that."

Thanks to Countdown, I knew about the blow up between Rosie O'Donnell and Elizabeth Hasselback, but I deliberately didn't give a shit enough to learn the details.

"I mean, it's like she's a terrorist in her own country."

I don't give a fuck about Rosie O'Donnell so I made no effort to defend her. But a terrorist?

"You just can't go against your own country. We had an election. You'll just have to wait until the next one. There's nothing you can do."

So apparently we should all shut the fuck up about the shit that's gone wrong the last 6 1/2 years.

I would've loved to spoken up at this point, but for three reasons:
1) I didn't want to appear like I was defending Rosie O'Donnell,
2) This woman was cutting my hair and made my already bad hair worse
3) My latest poison ivy rash was flaring up again and I just wanted to go

"Invading Iraq was a mistake, but we just can't leave those people. I don't know what the solution is."
"I don't think there is one."
"It's not like Bush is a bad person. He just made a bad decision and he's going to have to live with it for the rest of his life. It's not like what Clinton did. I can't believe he did that. What an example to set for our kids. Not that I have any, but I'm a values voter. That's what's wrong with this country. Morality's gone out the window."

Wow, I actually met one of the much ballyhooed "values voters" from 2004, right here in Connecticut. And she's willing to give W a pass on his Iraq mistake but Clinton should be drawn and quartered for his oral sex infidelity. I was dying to say, "Well, at least no one died from the blow job," but the snip snip of the scissors, the twitching of my forearms as blisters yearned to pop, and my son being right there too, kept me quiet.

Shame on me for my cowardice. I should've worn a butchered hair cut with pride.

Keep it up Karl. The propaganda is still working.

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DED

On to the Cup (Finally!)

I really don't know which idiot it was that decided to wait so long for the Cup finals to begin. Game 1 started tonight at the score is tied at 1 after the first period. IMO, they should've started Thursday night and taken advantage of the weekend. It's big 6 days. Football can get away with a two week gap between the Conference Championship and the Super Bowl, hockey can't. Besides, football in February is seasonably acceptable. Hockey in June? Uh-uh. Hockey's my favorite sport but even I'm done with it by now. I've been in shorts all week. So there's no way the average joe is going to watch a winter sport during the prime of baseball and Nascar seasons. The average Canuck, well, that's another story. It's probably still snowing somewhere in Canada.

In the interim, former Ranger great, Brian Leetch, announced his retirement. He didn't play last year. Couldn't get an acceptable deal anywhere. With teams already planning for next season (it's only 4 months away after all), several were in touch with him. Leetch hit the gym and the ice to get his body conditioned, but the drive to compete was gone. He knew it was time to hang up his skates.

It's a shame his career ended like it did. Despite a vastly improved defense, the Rangers could've used him this season. But fucking Glen Sather in his infinite wisdom had to trade him away in the pre-lockout roster purge. He was one of the best players to ever wear a Ranger jersey, and certainly one of the best Americans to play the game. Next stop: The Hall of Fame.

Here's the recap from the last round:

Senators Foil Cup Hopes For Sabres

I guess I should've stuck with the Senators all the way. As the only person who had them even making it past the first round, I suppose I'm the least surprised of the pool that the Senators have defeated the Sabres. Well, maybe after watching Ottawa dispose of the Penguins and Devils others thought that the Sabres wouldn't be treated any differently. Ottawa fans certainly didn't think so.

5 seems to be the magic number for Ottawa. They've dispatched each of their opponents in only 5 games, building an impressive 12-3 playoff record this year.

The Sabres were the odds on favorite to win the Cup (3 people in the pool had them winning it). Their strong performance during the regular season, except for an injury induced slump in mid-season, just made them seem indominatable. But cracks in the armor appeared during their series with the Rangers. If the Rangers had the depth that Buffalo had, they might've even beaten them. The Sabres would soon learn that Ottawa had that depth.

Game 1 was a 5-2 rough up with Buffalo committing 19 turnovers, two of which resulted in goals. Ottawa outshot Buffalo 34-20 and had 2 PPG's. Game 2 was closer but the Sabres blew a 2-0 lead early in the 1st period. Down 3-2 late in the 3rd, Buffalo pulled off another late game miracle. Briere scored with just 6 seconds left, forcing the game into OT. But Buffalo's comeback was stymied as Corvo scored the game winner in the 2nd OT.

The series went to Ottawa with the Sabres down 2-0. From here it was just a matter of time. While the Sabres were quite capable of winning on the road, losing the first two at home was an ominous portent of their fate.

Technically, Game 3 was won on a fluky goal by Ottawa captain Alfredsson, who was back in the good graces of Senators fans who were calling for him to step down during the season. Buffalo goalie, Ryan Miller stopped 31 of 32 shots, keeping his team in the game. But his offense let him down. The Sabres managed a paltry 15 SOG. Their power play was inept and had fallen to 0 for 18 in the series.

Buffalo narrowly avoided the sweep by winning game 4, by a score of 3-2. They even got their first PPG. Again, they managed only 22 SOG to Ottawa's 33. So Buffalo wasn't dead. After all, 2 teams have come from 3-0 deficits to win a series. But Ottawa didn't want to go into the history books that way. They had a different plan in mind: playing for the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history.

Ottawa nearly blew it. They had a 2-1 lead going into the 3rd period but they got sloppy. They gave Buffalo 5 power plays. Eventually, the Sabres scored on one of those opportunities forcing OT. Once again, Alfredsson came through for Ottawa with the series winning goal sending Buffalo fans home dejected.

Ducks Still Mighty

In 2003, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks were the #7 seed and became the giant killers of the Western Conference playoffs. It took the Devils 7 games to beat them and snag the Cup. Alot's changed since then. The team dropped "Mighty" (though I still call them that) from their name, was sold, and the roster, as well as the front office, went through alot of turnover. Only 4 players remain from the 2003 team: Giguere, Rob Niedermayer, Andy McDonald, and Sammy Pahlsson.

This was anyone's series until Game 5. Each team took a game at home and on the road. The Red Wings' 5-0 slam in game 3 made it seem as if the series was going to go their way, but Anaheim bounced back in game 4 with 5 goals of their own. With 47 seconds left in regulation, Detroit was holding onto a slim 1-0 lead while trying to kill off Datsyuk's interference penalty. That's when Scott Neidermayer ripped one passed Hasek, who, judging by the reply, just didn't seem to see it. Hasek only faced 18 shots through regulation.

Reinvigorated, the Ducks kept the momentum going through OT, outshooting Detroit 8-3. The game winner came from Teemu Selanne, who'll be playing in his first Stanley Cup series at the tender age of 36. He forced a turnover, drove to the net, and flipped a backhander over a sprawling Hasek.

Back home for game 6, the Ducks could smell victory in the air. The home crowd was already energized when Rob Neidermayer got a shorthanded goal less than 4 minutes into the game. At that point, there was no way the fans would accept anything other than a win. As the 3rd period dawned, the Ducks were up 3-0.

I couldn't help but wonder if the Red Wings missed the plane and were still in Detroit. They were being outshot 26-13 and facing elimination! It finally sunk in and the team finally played hard. Zetterberg got a goal at 3:15, but Pahlsson answered at 5:54. Clever work by Chelios and others got Detroit a man advantage. 2 PPG's by Datsyuk later and the Red Wings were down by only one. Although they outshot Anaheim 16-3 that period, it was too late. The Ducks held on to win it.

So now we've got the Ottawa Senators and Anaheim Ducks playing for the Stanley Cup. Neither team has ever won it so this will make the 3rd season in a row that a team will be winning it for the first time.

And here's how my hockey playoff pool ended.

CORRECTION: The Ottawa Senators won the Cup back in 1927.

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DED

Toyota Camry Hybrid

Before last weekend's brewfest, the wife and I got to put the babysitting time to good use. We test drove a car. Not to say that beer drinking wasn't a good use, but it wasn't as constructive. Anyway, we wanted to compare a couple of hybrids but we ended up with just one. The Saturn Aura - Green Line wasn't available at our local dealership. Not due to arrive for another 5-6 weeks. Someone should've done a better job coordinating marketing with product delivery. I suppose it's just as well. My wife had her heart set on the Toyota Camry Hybrid.

The hybrid runs the same dimensions as the regular versions. There's no way to distinguish a hybrid Camry from one that isn't. They look exactly the same. The hybrid version just states its identity on the nameplate affixed to the rear. There's no compromise on comfort in the cabin either. It's quite spacious, at least by our standards. We're used to driving a Honda Civic sedan and Subaru Outback so the Camry is a step up for us.

The ride is smooooooth. Acceleration was fine. Its rated at 187 horsepower, which blows a couple of other hybrid models away. The transmission was weird. It never really shifted like you'd expect in an automatic (both our cars are standards so automatics are foreign to us anyway). Its an electronically controlled continuous variable transmission (ECVT), if that's helpful to anyone. Braking was really sensitive, even for ABS (at least when compared to my Subaru and it had a brake job just last year). Forget about stopping on a dime, you could stop on a grain of sand. A by-product of regenerative braking I suppose.

One feature I was unaware of beforehand was electronic steering. There's no linkage here, thus less parts to wear down. A care with the sensitivity of power steering but without the system. No power steering fluid levels to monitor. No pump to break down. Sweet!

Obviously they had to compromise somewhere, so Toyota chose the trunk. Whereas a regular Camry has 14.5 - 15 cubic feet of trunk space, the hybrid model has 10.6. Not a big deal to me, though it might be to others. It also has a 17.2 gallon gas tank while regular Camry's have 18.5

Fuel efficiency is rated at 40 city / 38 highway. 24/34 is the rating for non-hybrids.

Price is certainly a big deal. Unlike the Prius, this isn't an hybrid entry level vehicle. The Camry is for grown ups with a solid income. You're looking at $26,200 for the base model, though there are so many standard amenities that I think most people would stop there. Still, when you consider what people are willing to plunk down on a truck or monster SUV, $26k is certainly reasonable. The federal tax credit, though reduced, is still in effect for a few more months and Connecticut doesn't charge sales tax on hybrids.

We're going to buy it. We have a few things to take care of first but we should be ready to make the deal in mid-June. When we do, I'll take pictures of the various parts so that readers can see something of it without having to walk on a lot and get assaulted by a salesman (though ours was surprisingly casual by salesman standards). In the meantime, I really recommend the website to learn what you can.

One can easily see Toyota (and Honda) are the leaders in hybrid technology. While Ford has scored some points with their Escape SUV, they've squandered their momentum. Their next hybrid, a version of the Five Hundred, isn't due out until 2009. Meanwhile, Toyota's working on the Volta, a hybrid sports car rated at 408 horsepower and will go from 0 to 60 in 4 seconds, all while sipping gas at a reasonable 31 mpg. Now that's technology worth getting excited about.

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DED

Olbermann Rips The Cave-In

If the Democrats thought that the American public was going to give them a pass on their cave-in to W's demands, they've got another thing coming. The troops are get to die some more in order to secure a victory at the polls in 2008. Well, that seems to be the rationale anyway. Maybe Americans will finally wake up and consider other political parties to represent them. Neither Republicans nor Democrats seem capable of leading this country. They're too concerned about retaining political office than doing the right thing. With Iran threatening Israel again and China reminding us that they have us by the balls, and Osama bin Laden (remember him Mr. Bush?) still on the loose, America's military needs to bring the troops home to heal and repair its sand and IED blasted equipment. If Shiite and Sunni wish to slaughter one another in a civil war, so be it. If you're willing to hold grudges after several hundred years, then far be it for the West to intervene. If Britain or France had intervened in our own Civil War, would we have forgiven them to come to their aid during both World Wars?

Ok, I'm getting sidetracked. Keith Olbermann ripped the Democrats and then W in his "special comment" last night. He, for one, is not going to let our elected officials get a pass on this one. And neither should the rest of us.



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DED

2007 Connecticut Craft Brewers Festival

I'm watching the Ducks and Red Wings battle it out for the Western Conference championship so now's as good a time as any to write up my review of the 2007 Connecticut Craft Brewers Festival.

After a week where we saw temperatures fifteen degress above normal, a colossal cold front blew in on Wednesday and gave us a tornado and temperatures fifteen degrees below normal. While that puts a shiver in Spring, it's damn good beer drinking weather.

The usual suspects were there. My wife and I were joined by Bob, Big Ed, Adam, and Cooper. After hitting the food tent before the lines could form, we split up and began sampling various breweries under the tents. Later on, we'd bump into one another and compare (mental) notes on what we found. Granted, our tastes in beer were diverse, but we made recommendations anyway.

Tammy and I started the day off right with Olde Burnside's Ten Penny Ale. This beer is hard for me to get as it's only available in 1/2 gallon growlers. My local liquor store is a bit hesitant in devoting so much shelf space for a relatively unknown brewery (despite in-state accolades). But Beer Guy is slowly caving. Anyway, Ten Penny Ale is a great Scotch Ale, probably the best of the line IMO. It isn't overly sweet like other scotch ales. I can drink this one all night.

Tammy suggested that I take a run over to Bru Room @ Bar (a microbrew located in a bar/nightclub in New Haven) and check out their Raven Haired Beauty. I took her up on it and got some. It was a good brown ale, but I had their Smoked Porter and thought that was better. And yes, it was definitely smokey. Unfortunately, I don't think that their beer is available anywhere except at the bar.

I don't remember the order of the breweries I sampled so I'll just start going through the list.

Lagunitas, which is made in California, typically sells for $10 a six pack in my local store. That's way too steep for me to just try at random so this was a golden opportunity for me to try them. Tammy had their Brown Shugga, a seasonal. She said that it was very strong tasting. It was good, but not great and not worth $10/six pack. I had the Censored Copper Ale and was disappointed. Definitely lacking. Needless to say, I won't be blowing my money on them any time soon.

Cooper is a big Rogue fan, another West Coast brewery (Washington) present. He's more into pilseners and lagers than I am but this time recommended their Juniper Pale Ale. I had to agree with him. The juniper berries jump out at you, though I didn't find them overwhelming. Might make for a good summer ale.

I'd seen Smuttynose's Hanami Ale in my local beer store but hadn't worked up the courage to buy it. The brewfest was my chance. Tammy and I both had it. It's made with a generous helping of cherries. We found it to be sour, very reminiscent of a lambic. It wasn't a bad beer. It was drinkable, but not something I'd buy.

What was a pleasant surprise was Harpoon's UFO Raspberry Hefeweizen. I haven't been a fan of Harpoon. Many years ago I had one of their beers and didn't like it at all. I can't remember what it was but I've avoided it ever since. Now, it looks like I'm headed back. Both Tammy and I liked it. The raspberry flavor made for an excellent complement to the hefeweizen style. While it was tart, it wasn't overly so. Made for a nice finish.

I've been meaning to pick up Stone Coast's Black Bear Porter. I had some while I was there just to remind myself.

Otter Creek was there, of course, but since I've had alot of their line, I was hoping they'd have something different. Sure enough, they had a couple of beers from their "World Tour Series." I reviewed their Otter Kilter recently and I liked it. They had their Cuckoo Bock, which was a German Mai Bock. I was surprised to find myself liking it. Can't wait for this one to appear in stores.

Another pleasant surprise was Berkshire Brewing's Shabadoo Black & Tan. I think it was Big Ed who recommended it. It was very good. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be available in the local area.

Towards the end of the session we went to Paper City Brewing. Some overexuberant guy gladly filled up our pint glasses. Tammy got the Cabot Street Summer Wheat, a Hefeweizen. Tammy said it was great. I had Riley's Stout which was excellent.

I followed this one up with a Blonde Ale from Thomas Hooker Ales. This was good too. Actually quite refreshing.

I know what you're thinking. "DED, weren't all the beers good by this point?" And the answer is, "No." My very next beer was awful. I went back to Paper City and the overexuberant guy was really pushing his neighbor's beer. He insisted it was "the best beer." His neighbor? High & Mighty. I asked the neighbor what he had, but had trouble hearing him. I tried their Beer of the Gods, a blend of Kölsch and Altbier styles, which I figured had to be good to earn that name. But it wasn't. I thought it sucked ass. I couldn't finish it, it was so bad.

I couldn't end the night on a bad note so I scrambled over to the place where I started: Olde Burnside. I grabbed a Dirty Penny, which is a 60/40 mix of Ten Penny Ale and their "signature stout." It cleansed that crappy beer taste out of my mouth and all was right again in the Beerverse.

And that's it. Next beerfest will hopefully be the Brass City Brewfest in Waterbury, which has been pushed up a month from October to September. Only four months to find a babysitter. I'd better get crackin'.

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DED

Beer In Review: The Best Brown Ale

I've been dying to write about this one since I started reviewing beer in this blog. It is, by far, the best brown ale in existence. Yes, even better than Newcastle. It even beats out the original formula for Pete's Wicked Ale, which was the beer that got me hooked on craft brewers. I'm talking about Old Brown Dog Ale from Smuttynose Brewery. I've been drinking Old Brown Dog since 1998. I can't remember if I stumbled across it on my own or if I was introduced to it from a friend, but I remember bringing it home to my soon-to-be-wife and her loving it as well.

On the pour, you get a solid head over top of a medium brown body. Sticking your nose over the glass gets you a mixed bouquet of hops and malt. All American hops are used. Cascade and Williamette, both offshoots of the British Fuggles, are grown in the Pacific Northwest. Cascade is the dominant hop, building a mild bitterness to the ale. The Williamette hops rounds off the bitterness and smooths it out. Balancing out the bitters are a solid team of barley malts: Pale Brewers, Munich, Crystal 60°L, and Chocolate. This is nothing short of delicious.

Old Brown Dog is 5.7% ABV and available throughout the northeast and as far south as Virginia. And for some reason, Wisconsin, home to the former beer capitol of the US, can get it too. Buy a 6 pack. You won't be disappointed.

Revenge of the Blithering Idiot: Since Bob's a fan of barleywine, I thought that I'd let him take a shot at the Blithering Idiot. He liked it, so it must not be as bad as I thought. I guess you have to have a taste for these things. I certainly don't.

The 2007 Connecticut Craft Brewers Festival is this Saturday. 40 breweries will be represented. And it looks like there's a 95% chance I'll be there. I'll report back here with my findings.

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DED

$36,500 per day

Jeb Bush is up for election as a director at Tenet Healthcare. If elected, he'll make $474,500 for 13 days of work.

That's $36,500 a day. And the "work" consists of sitting in a board room, so it's not exactly heavy lifting.

If the board meetings last an average of four hours, you'll be pulling in $9,125 an hour.

Not bad for a guy who could manage only a B.A. in Latin American Studies from the University of Texas. Many of Tenet's 65,000 personnel are qualified medical staff with years of experience. Yet according to public filings, their average salary and benefits last year came to around $69,000 for full-time work.

You get that in two days.

Who says all the good jobs are going to China?

A clear sign that the American aristocracy is alive and well.

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DED

NHL Semifinals Done

More of my commentary to those in my NHL Playoffs Pool.

Ducks Beat Canucks

The Ducks have beaten the Canucks in 5 games, just like the Minnesota Wild.

Vancouver managed just 8 goals in the series and never more than 2 in one game.

After allowing 5 goals in game 1, the Canucks settled down an won game two, 2 to 1 but required two OT periods to do it. In the end, 3 games went to OT.

The series was tied at 1 when it relocated to Vancouver, but Anaheim disappointed the home crowd by taking both games. Game 4 proved to be the back breaker for Vancouver as a two goal lead was squandered in the 3rd period, forcing the game into OT where Anaheim's Travis Moen scored the game winner.

In game 5, it seemed like Vancouver might survive to fight another day. Luongo was having a stellar day and ultimately made 56 saves. But it was a shot from Scott Niedermayer at the blue line, bench side that did him in. From the replay, and in post game interviews, Luongo thought that there was going to be a penalty on Rob Niedermayer's hard check on Jannik Hansen and he looked towards a referee and gestured for a call. It cost his team the game and ultimately the series.

Its possible that Vancouver was just too worn out after the first round struggle with Dallas to offer much resistance to a well rested Anaheim. Vancouver won 3 of their last 9 games and 5 of their last 12.

Senators Drive Off The Devils

Like the Penguins before them, the New Jersey Devils succumbed to the Ottawa Senators in 5 games. Brodeur wasn't too difficult a puzzle for the Senators as they scored at least 2 goals in every game, even the one they lost. Game 1 was a shocker as Ottawa scored four goals in the 1st period. The Devils eventually recovered but fell short. After that game, both goaltenders knuckled down.

After splitting the first two games in Jersey, Ottawa snatched both home games to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. There was some controversy in the 3rd period of game 3 as Brodeur exaggerated incidental contact (which I couldn't even see on the replay) between him and Senators center Mike Fisher. Seconds later Tom Preissing got the first goal of the game. Brodeur was hoping to draw a penalty but, for once, it came back to bite him in the ass.

It didn't matter that game 5 was back in Jersey, the Senators could smell victory and took it. I wonder if Lou Lamoriello will fire himself as coach to "shake things up" for next year.

Sabres Stave Off Rangers

The Buffalo Sabres dashed the Cinderella aspirations of the New York Rangers, though the latter didn't give up without a fight. After a 5-2 thrashing in game 1, the Rangers rebounded in game 2, but lost a 2-1 lead heading into the 3rd period. Back in New York for games 3 and 4, the home crowd pumped up the team and they won two top notch defensive games 2-1 (with game 3 going into double OT) to even up the series.

Holding down the league's top offense was no easy feat. The Rangers had to play their best defense for every second of these games because they knew they weren't going to beat the Sabres on offense. Buffalo is just too explosive. Blink and they're past you. And that's what happened in game 5. With just 7.7 seconds left in the game, Chris Drury tied it up and sent the game into OT. Maxim Afinogenov, who was benched for game 4, scored the game winner a little over four and a half minutes later.

The wheels fell off the bus in game 6. Buffalo scored 4 goals over 10 minutes in the 2nd period. Henrik Lundqvist, who'd been outstanding in net for most of the playoffs and the last two months of the season, was suddenly vulnerable. Although the Rangers rallied, the Sabres were always one step ahead of them.

And I have to add that Sean Avery was nowhere to be found in this series. The Sabres ignored his antics and pre-series Manson-like ramblings and dumped his ass on the ice. Unlike Atlanta, they didn't take the bait and never let losing frustrate them into stupidity. Definitely a sign of a team with focus.

Red Wings Foil Sharks

The Red Wings have finally gained some respect. After early departures from the playoffs the last couple of years, they've advanced to the Conference Finals. Many critics thought that the Sharks were the better team, but they didn't play like it. They took game 1 in Detroit 2-0 with a mere 19 SOG. Nabokov faced down 34. Game 2 was looking to be a repeat as the Sharks were up 2-0 just 5 minutes into the game. But the Red Wings settled down and finally figured out Nabokov, eventually winning 3-2. Once again, San Jose had just 19 SOG.

The series moved to San Jose for games 3 & 4 where the Sharks have been fearsome. They took the first game 2-1 with both teams firing away at their opponent's goalies. Game 4 looked to be more of the same, except the Sharks weren't shooting as much (In the end, Detroit outshot San Jose 49-27). It looked as if the Sharks were going to take a commanding 3-1 lead but Robert Lang saved the day with just 33 seconds left, sending the game into OT. Matthieu Schneider would eventually get the game winning goal.

"We blew the game in the last minute," Sharks coach Ron Wilson said. "Some people have to take a good look in the mirror why they were in the position they were in on the ice - cheating on the offensive side of things when the other team has pulled their goalie. If you get on the right side of the puck, nothing bad happens and you don't have to worry about overtime."

This would be the turning point in the series.

Game 5 went to the Red Wings with a 4-1 win at home. Down 2-1 after two periods, the Sharks got sloppy and started taking penalties. Detroit capitalized on these mistakes to put the game out of reach. Unfortunately, the game got ugly in the final minute as the Sharks took their frustration out on Detroit with a wee bit of roughing.

Game 6 was back in the Shark Tank but there was no bite left in San Jose. They floundered around the ice, losing 2-0. One golden opportunity came right after Mikael Samuelsson scored the first of his two goals. Hasek was out of the net playing the puck but he botched it. Mike Grier snagged the puck and went for a wraparound in the empty net but a diving Nick Lidstrom saved Hasek's ass, deflecting the puck at the last second.

Detroit will now face Anaheim without star defenseman Mathieu Schneider, who broke his wrist in game 5 and is done for the season. With a depleted core of defensemen, Chris Chelios and Nicklas Lidstrom will be forced to pick up the slack and push their aging legs as far as they can go. Hasek should consider staying in the net and not wander out.

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DED

Batteries

There was a great article on the state of battery technology in Wired back in November. While it was focused on batteries for laptops and other electronic gadgets, it serves as a good primer for anyone who's interested in electric cars. The same principles apply.

Those of you who have The History Channel will be able to catch a peek at Hybrid Technologies Lithium ion battery in use for NASA vehicles. May 16th at 10PM on the show "Modern Marvels".

Filmed at Hybrid's development facility in Mooresville, North Carolina, the episode focuses on success stories relating to NASA's highly prestigious Space Act Program. Hybrid signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA in 2006 for the development of zero-emission vehicles including the lithium-powered Smart Car, the lithium-powered PT Cruiser and the lithium-powered assault and surveillance ATV.

Full Disclosure: I own 26 shares of Hybrid Technologies.

And in other news, Uranium is now being traded as a commodity on the NYMEX. Jim has told us about uranium's rise in value and suggested that it would be a good investment to make. This article talks about the uranium market. I don't know if this is a good thing for the common man as the price of uranium has skyrocketed, which in turn has inspired nuclear power plant owners to push up rates to cover higher fuel costs. Of course, in regulated markets, utilities will have to eat the costs while petitioning state regulators to let them raise rates. In deregulated states, like Connecticut where we're paying 16.8 cents/kW-hr, we're eating it. Makes me yearn for the day when I can afford to generate my own electricity.

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DED

Thoughts on the 1st Republican Debate

Well, I can't say that I thought that there was a clear "winner" in the debate, though there were a few losers. The evening would've made for a brutal drinking game though. Since the debate was held in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, the memory of Reagan was symbolically represented by the retired Air Force 1, a Boeing 707, which loomed over the stage and the audience like a massive prehistoric god. As such, almost every candidate (I don't think Ron Paul did) felt compelled to invoke Reagan, comparing his stance on an issue to the Gipper's. If you had to drink every time someone said "Reagan" during the 90 minute worshipfest, there's no way there'd be a sober person in the room.

Here are a few of my thoughts on the debate:

Although Bush couldn't get Roe v Wade overturned with Republican control of Congress and a culturally conservative Supreme Court, women who want to be anything more than baby machines (not that there's anything wrong with that, so long as it's their choice), should consider stockpiling birth control pills if one of them wins. Actually, there were a couple of guys who were willing to let states decide.

The Governator was there. When asked if they were willing to amend the Constitution to let foreigners run for President (no conditions of the change were given other than removing the native born requisite), all but two said No (Huckabee was one). Good luck getting Arnold's support guys.

Nancy Reagan was there. When asked if they were willing to support funding for embryonic stem cell research to possibly treat Alzheimer's and other diseases, I think all that replied said No. Some suggested using adult stem cells, others said that there was enough private funding going on that the federal government didn't need to get involved.

Nancy and Arnold sat next to one another. Any time the camera showed them, neither smiled.

Sam Brownback, a senator from Kansas was scary. If he gets elected, expect more W stuff, possibly worse. Cultural conservative with neocon ideologies.

I didn't like Jim Gilmore, the governor of Virginia during 9/11. Another cultural conservative, he and Brownback jockeyed for the position of "the only true conservative."

Rudy Giuliani struggled a little bit on abortion, but held his own relatively well. While he was the leader in the polls before the debate, I'm not sure he still will be.

Duncan Hunter is another cultural conservative asshole. He's good on trade, but its his only redeeming quality. Read his Wiki entry. I don't need to say anything more.

I still like Mike Huckabee. I don't agree with him on a fair amount of his positions, but he doesn't come across as a dickhead like so many of these other guys. He's got at least a little bit of Constitutional conservatism in him, wanting to give the states back some of their rights that the federal government has usurped over the last few decades.

What the fuck was up with John McCain? I thought that I was watching the Looney Tunes' Henery Hawk. You know him as the chicken hawk that was always trying to catch and eat Foghorn Leghorn. Well, that was John McCain tonight. I didn't recognize him.

Ron Paul lacked the charisma needed to really win the crowd (and party) over. He stuck to his libertarian principles, but I really felt like what he was saying fell on deaf ears. But he didn't do anything to embarrass himself and he was the one candidate who really, really distanced himself from W on Iraq, domestic spying, and fiscal policy.

Mitt Romney did better than I expected but he seemed to calculated. I don't know if he'll hold up. He might though.

Tom Tancredo was a clear loser tonight. He seemed ill prepared to speak on his feet in the format. He's a one issue candidate: illegal immigration. Yeah, he's a cultural conservative too.

Tommy Thompson came off ok-ish. Kind of a much lower quality Huckabee.

I didn't hear any questions about the Virginia Tech massacre, but I was out of the room from time to time tending to kids and laundry.

Terri Schiavo and Scooter Libby both came up at the end. Not everyone got to answer both. Of the few people who got to address Congress' involvement, McCain barely came down against it but Giuliani said that it should never have left Florida. Most guys wanted to give Libby a pardon or wouldn't talk about an ongoing court case.

At the end, I'm not too encouraged. If I had to rate them for votability (for me, not the public), I'd go Ron Paul, Mike Huckabee, and... well, that's about it. They're fighting for the support of the base right now. Maybe next year at this time some of the lower quality but better financed candidates will moderate their views a bit to capture the independent voters.

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DED

VC's Going Green

I blogged about Khosla Ventures and their big ethanol investment. Well, here in Connecticut MissionPoint Capital Partners has established a $335 million fund to invest in environmentally friendly energy companies.

For starters, they're backing SunEdison, a solar energy solutions provider. These guys install solar panels on the roofs of big buildings (what else are you gonna do with all that extra space), maintain them, and bill the building's owner for the electricity produced. What's in it for the building's owner? Green energy at retail rates without having to upfront the costs of panel purchase and installation.

Now, how does this differ from these guys? Two ways: 1) They've actually been doing it already (see "customers") and 2) they announced who they're getting their solar panels from (Evergreen Solar, who I own 20 shares of).

I'm pretty sure that I talked to Mort last year about putting those big box stores to good use. It's good to know that someone else (with money) thought about it too.

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Tonight, it's the first Republican debate. There are 10 candidates! I can only think of 6. Hopefully, I'll have time to check it out (I missed the Democrats and had to listen to digested material) before the hockey game and see how these guys react to one another and which faction of the party they woo. I'm not hopeful, as there isn't much to be optimistic about in the Republican Party these days. At the very least I can root for Ron Paul.

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DED