So, Chevrolet has created a new concept car, The Volt, which can run solely on electricity, provided your commute is no longer than 40 miles round trip. If your trip is longer than 40 miles, the engine can switch to running on gasoline/E85/biodiesel for the remainder of the drive. And if your trip is very long, while the engine is running on gasoline, your battery is being recharged and once recharged, will kick over and once again run the vehicle emission-free. At night, you can plug your vehicle into a standard 110-volt outlet to re"fuel". Ok, so my gut reaction after reading this is, electricity probably costs more than gasoline. Well, Chevy approximates that a relative "gallon's worth of electricity" costs only $0.60. Wow, very impressive, even for living in Illinois under the price uncertainty of our current monopolistic electrical company. Two questions that go unanswered, however, are, "how much is the car?" and "how fast can i accelerate and top out at" when running on electricity? But, if the answer to the former is even close to the current prices for hybrids, we may have a future winner in our sights.

So, another inconceivable case has come up in court. A man raped a girl. Went to jail for it. Served his time. Is now free. He is back in court again...as a prosecutor...fighting for parental rights to the child he 'helped' conceive when he raped his victim. Now, this is just one of many cases that I figured would never come up, but it has. And what the heck do you do about it? Is it so far off to believe that the man could have found redemption behind bars during those years. That the man is looking to do the right thing after years of doing wrong? Obviously, the child's safety is of utmost concern in this scenario. But, what if this ex-rapist now gets married to a new women and has children. The state surely would not take them away from this man. But, our conscience desperately wants to keep him away from this child. What to do?

This format of "Ten on an Island" will be the basis of a series of questions to come in order to develop a possible political/governmental upgrade from western democracy. The premise is that there are ten people on an island, they are a sovereign nation, and they are trying to determine how to best govern themselves. Question #1: One of these ten is a religious extremist who believes that a refusal to believe in his god deserves death. His publicly spoken goal is to to destroy the unbelievers, and is actively pursuing this goal. As the 9, what do you do?

So, there's a coffee shop in Seattle where prices are flexible. Specifically, you order a sandwich, chips and a coffee, and you pay what you think it's worth. I admire a man willing to give people the benefit of the doubt. I definitely would not have...until I heard his results. He claims to be making nearly exactly what he would if he put prices on each item himself. He says some people tend to cheap out and pay a dollar for a nice lunch, but some customers tend to overpay, because they like the idea of being part of something like this. It's a fascinating study in human character, and if this store can remain successful longterm, is very encouraging re: the state of our union.

New York State Sen. Carl Krueger introduced a bill that would make it illegal to enter a city crosswalk while engaging in the use of an electronic device. His contention is that people who are listening to music, typing on their blackberry, talking on their phone, etc. are not aware of the sounds of traffic around them, and cites three recent examples of citizen fatalities because of this. Of course, by this logic, Sen. Krueger must also be under the contention that deaf people should not be allowed out in public. In other disabled news this week, the proposed Maryland law that would promote the use of eco-friendly "hybrid" cars is being opposed by advocates of the blind, because hybrid cars are much quieter, and traffic sounds are critical for the blind to be able to get around safely. These advocates are looking to require some sort of reverse muffler for these eco-vehicles. Which goes to show you something, I'm just not sure what.

"Spend the beginning of your life surrounded by brilliant people who can give you a solid foundation of knowledge and wisdom, and spend the rest of your life surrounded by people who will make you question it."

So, Chief Illiniwek is giving his last rain dance this week, and is officially retiring as the University of Illinois mascot. So, I understand the reasons behind this, but I don't understand the choosing of "offendiest". When I was in junior high, they took away our Washington Warriors mascot, and replaced him with a thunderbird. Yet, the NFL team, the Washington Redskins are still alive and kicking? Is it because the NCAA and District 203 care more about their rep than the NFL? But, then again, why doesn't the NCAA care about the Fighting Irish, insinuating that Irish people are nothing more than ugly, intoxicated midget boxers? I found this replacement idea made by some students from the University of Illinois to be an appeasing substitute. But, if they ever play any schools in the Southern Belt, we may have another Ford's Theater upon us.

Can a woman participate in in vitro fertilisation while morally being anti-abortion? Is there a conflict here, since more embryos will be created than are used?

Alright all you venture capitalists out there, do I have the next hot web trend for you! Move over Myspace, enter Wiccapedia - your online encyclopedia for everything you need to know about the damned.

So, there's a lot of kids out there who, even after public school health class, don't really understand how sexual interaction works. The school nurse gives them condoms, but is that really enough to prepare them for the sexual world? I propose a mandatory Sexploration class. It could replace a gym credit if necessary (cardio). The school would provide clean beds, clean sheets, and most importantly a safe place for children to explore their changing bodies. After all, these children are going to be having hundreds of sexual partners anyway. We need to ensure they have a safe environment in which to do so.