Who Killed The Electric Car?

As I read the news about the auto makers industry needing a possible bailout, I cannot help but recall this DVD I watched awhile back.

If you have any doubt that we should have had electric cars already, and have wondered whether the idea of cars fueled by electricity has been swept under the rug by the very companies who need help now, take a look at this DVD.

Who Killed The Electric Car? is a great documentary, and you will nejoy it if you are looking for info on this fascinating topic.



Here is the brief description I read before watching it:

In 1996, electric cars began to appear on roads all over California. They were quiet and fast, produced no exhaust and ran without gasoline. Ten years later, these futuristic cars were almost entirely gone. What happened? Why should we be haunted by the ghost of the electric car?

Do yourself a favor and educate yourself about elecric cars, why we should already have them and how they were swept under the rug so Hummers could be sold.

Lots of cameo appearances by movie stars who owned prototypes of the cars and loved them! Martin Sheen, Mel Gibson and more.

Get your copy of Who Killed The Electric Car? today.

Exxon

Exxon has made the highest ever quarterly profit by a US company. If anyone is a winner, it is Exxon, not the people having to pay the price of gas in America.

"Exxon Mobil made a profit of $14.83bn (£8.97bn) between July and September, smashing its own record for the highest quarterly profit by a US company."



According to the BBC: Another record profit for Exxon

In the second quarter this year, when oil prices were still rising, the oil giant made a profit of $11.68bn.

The new record represents a 58% rise on profits compared with the same period last year.

Profit for the first nine months of this year was $37.4bn, up 29% on the same period last year.

The $1.6bn sale of a natural gas transportation business in Germany helped boost profits.

Meanwhile, because of his gas prices, Americans are struggling to pay the cost of gas...

Rex W Tillerson, chief executive of the company, said: "Exxon Mobil's strong results demonstrate the continued success of our disciplined business approach."

I bet the increase of profit has more to do with them raising the cost of gas to over $4 a gallon, which is probably what they refer to by "disciplined business approach."

It comes as no surprise Exxon is making record profits, the highest corporate quarterly profits in history, at a time when America are paying more than ever at the pump. When families are spending more than $100 per week just to get to and from work, yeah, Exxon is doing well...

Even Pepsi Cutting Jobs

Looks like even Pepsi is cutting jobs, over 3,000 this time.

Oct. 14 (Bloomberg) -- PepsiCo Inc., the world's largest snack maker, said it will cut 3,300 jobs after profit fell more than analysts estimated and the company lowered its forecast for the rest of the year. The shares dropped as much as 14 percent in New York trading.

PepsiCo wants to save $1.2 billion over three years as it closes as many as six plants and pares 1.8 percent of its workforce, including ``overlapping'' marketing and sales jobs, Chief Financial Officer Richard Goodman said today in an interview.

The maker of Gatorade and Pepsi-Cola will use some of the savings to boost marketing of its beverages in North America, which make up a fourth of PepsiCo's annual revenue. Drink sales in the U.S. and Canada decreased 3 percent in the third quarter as consumers cut back on soft drinks in groceries and convenience stores to better afford higher priced gasoline and food.

``The initiatives come at a time when it's evident they're necessary,'' Mark Swartzberg, a New Jersey-based analyst with Stifel Nicolas & Co., said today in an interview. ``Beverage performance in North America continues to be challenging and worse than expected.'' He recommends holding the stock.

Full-year earnings excluding some costs will be $3.67 to $3.68 a share, lower than its prediction of $3.72 in July, the Purchase, New York-based company said. The dollar's increase against other currencies will hurt profit in the fourth quarter, it said.

PepsiCo, the world's second-largest soda maker, dropped $5.44, or 8.8 percent, to $56.33 at 9:41 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares decreased 19 percent this year before today, compared with a 23 percent decline for Coca-Cola Co.

Americans are spending less on soda, to afford gas prices right now?

How Can Anyone Still Be Undecided?

Last night was the first time I actually started thinking about people who are "undecided" in regards to the upcoming election. "How can anyone still be undecided?" I thought. And it still has me pondering. So I started to look up some articles about these undecided voters to see if I could understand why they are still debating which side to vote for.

Some undecided voters are leaning toward Obama.

With disgust dripping from his voice, Mr. Sullivan read aloud a story on page 4B of USA Today about how AIG agents had spent $443,000 on a week-long retreat at a California resort six days after the government bailed them out. When he came to the part about Joseph Cassano, the head of AIG’s finance division, taking home $34 million and then being placed on a $1 million-a-month consulting retainer in February, he smacked the paper.

“They should have had these CEOs in handcuffs yesterday,” he said looking at the accompanying photograph of two former AIG CEOs taking an oath before testifying to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. “I would have liked to have heard someone say ‘Bailiff, bring the shackles.’ I want outrage, I want heads to roll.”

Mr. Sullivan does not believe either Sen. Obama or Sen. McCain is forceful enough to lead the country out of its current economic morass but he is increasingly convinced Sen. McCain is too tied to the special interests in Washington to be given a chance try.

I can understand the frustration this guy feels. All Americans should be upset about this type of stuff. McCain even corrected someone during the second presidential debates for calling it a "bailout," he said he calls it a "rescue." A fine example of how McCain is "out of touch" with ordinary Americans. Americans feels the way Mr. Sullivan does, not the way McCain does.

Watching the debate Tuesday night Mr. Sullivan said he was angered by what he saw as Sen. McCain’s vague promises.

“He said ‘I know how to get America working again,’ but he never said how,” Mr. Sullivan said. “Two weeks ago he said our economy was fundamentally strong, well that tells me for a man who is supposed to be in the middle of the action, his head is in the sand.”

When the debate switched topics to foreign policy, Mr. Sullivan’s interest waned.

“Our house is on fire here, I don’t have time to cut my neighbor’s grass,” he said. “We need a strong domestic economy before we can fix the rest of the world.”

Everyday citizens are worried more about gas prices in America, than about foreign policy.

“There is something fundamentally wrong with our system when I go to my local grocery store and the apples there are from China,” Mr. Sullivan said.

“I’m conservative, I don’t want to see the Democrats get into power and spend like drunken sailors, but the pendulum has swung too far to the right. It needs to be brought back.”

I think many, many, many of us feel the same way right now. Some voters say after the debates, neither candidate "delivered" or "got angry enough."

Are you undecided? If so, please tell me why.

Barack Obama Won Again

Face it, you can't debate it. Barack Obama won again tonight.

I think it was more than obvious that often John Mccain kept using his same distortions as fact. Such as trying to twist Obama's comment about attacking Osama Bin Laden if he were in Pakistan and the government there was unwilling or unable to deliver him, should we take him out?

McCain sought to make it sound as if Obama wanted to attack Pakistan and not just the terrorist Osama Bin Laden.

That's just one example, but enough about McCain, let's talk about the man who did a great job at delivering his points instead of a plea for presidency.

What I saw in Barack Obama was someone who was ready to lead, who cares about America's reputation among the world, and a genuine patriot.

There were a few times where I wanted him to attack and I applauded Obama's insistence to do a follow up retort to McCain's mud slinging regarding the Osama-in-Pakistan comment. However I did cheer out loud when McCain was served and owned on that forced follow up...

McCain wanted to paint Obama as "talking too loud" about what he would do in regards to military force, he even cited Teddy Roosevelt about "talking softly but carry a big stick."

Well, Barack Obama responded with a great reply like, "John, aren't you the guy who was just singing Bomb Bomb Bomb, Bomb Iran?" He did a great job at showing how McCain will condemn Obama while consistently doing something even worse.

McCain talked a lot about "cronyism," but it is his cronyism like with the Keating Five that got us into the financial mess we are in right now.

America needs change and we need to put an end to the Republican policies that McCain has voted alongside Bush and supported.

I also get tired of hearing John McCain cheerleader for "lots of nuclear power plants" even saying "build a bunch of em, they are safe and clean." Is this guy going senile already?? We need energy independence in this country, but we don't need to destroy our land with nuclear reactors and nowhere to put spent fuel that will contaminate our rivers and be around for 10,000 years.

I also thought it was hilarious that McCain mentioned eBay and how many people are doing business on the site, but he left out the fact that eBay has just laid off 1,000 employees... this really shows how out of touch he is with the rest of us. Why? One of his advisers is ex eBay executive Meg Whitman. The people at the top are doing great, but the people who just lost their job aren't doing so well, but McCain will try and make it look like eBay is doing great and everyone is happy. Not the 1,000 who just got laid off.

I watched the second Presidential Debate tonight, and I think Barack Obama won.

Gas Prices In America

We all know gas prices are out of control, they keep rising, then dropping a little then going up again. A hurricane comes along, or a gas line in the Middle East gets blown up by a terrorist and the price of oil just keeps going up and down, up and down. One thing remains the same though, the cost of filling up your vehicle in America is definitely not getting any cheaper, and one thing that is really putting a strain on our economy is the price of gasoline.

Here's a look at the gas prices in America...



This picture shows the gas prices in America. Oklahoma is paying the least right now, at just over $3.13. Alaska is paying the most at $4.84 a gallon. Without going too deep into it, even at the lowest gas prices right now this is putting a strain on American families.

I am lucky enough to not have to drive much to earn my living, but I have two twenty-something year old brothers, and I see what they are struggling with. One having to drive many miles in a day going from home to college campus, back to home, then to work, and so on. The other raising children, managing the bills of a household with multiple vehicles, and putting himself through college as well.

Being the oldest of the brothers I often give my younger brothers advice from time to time, and sometimes it has to do with money management. Because of my brother's job, he needs to have a big truck and it would be impossible for him to drive to work in one of the latest trendy hybrid cars. Long story short, he drives a Nissan Titan, and no matter how many compliments he gets about his truck, he always brings up the gas prices that are eating him up.

At 12 mpg, people in America are riding around in cars they can barely afford to drive back and forth to work in. The average guy doesn't even fill up his vehicle, he just puts in what he can and hopes it lasts him the remainder of the week! Which is what is actually making me want to learn more about the energy independence debate and alternative fuel options facing America.