What You Missed If You Didn’t Read Today’s NYTimes

No need to worry about poor and elderly minorities being disenfranchised by new Voter ID laws. They’re disenfranchised by death before it becomes a problem, according to the Bush administration’s civil rights czar.
The Marines get fashion conscious.
The Maine Middle School Contraceptive Controversy: “It brings home the fact […]

That’s right, folks, it’s time to get our presidential wannabes to discuss global warming.
And what can you do to save the environment?Here’s ten out of 50 suggestions from JustGive.org:
1. Recycle everything: newspapers, bottles and cans, aluminum foil, etc.
2. Don’t use electrical appliances when you can easily do by hand, such as opening cans.
3. Use cold […]

AL GORE WINS NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

Right-wingers must be biting the heads off their own children this morning.

Now, will the hopes that Gore begin a presidential campaign come true?

From Popular Mechanics:
The diesel-electric hybrid hype has met its match: the U.S. Army. After focusing on hydrogen fuel cells in its original version of “The Aggressor,” a high-performance, off-road Alternative Mobility Vehicle (AMV) for military ground exploration and scouting missions, the Pentagon is now going the way of Detroit—with batteries.
The new, second-generation prototype will still […]

Forbes lists America’s Twelve Worst Traffic Traps, and, surprisingly, Austin isn’t on the list. These are among the worst, read the full article for all of them with pictures.

The Los Angeles US-101 and I-405 Interchange, which results in 27 million plus hours of delay each year;
Houston I-610 and I-10 Interchange, which costs 25 million hours […]

I wonder when the new MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle) will go on sale for consumer purchase. Thousands of Hummer drivers are waiting to trade in.

(I have to admit that I love the way military, construction and certain other vehicles designed for purely utilitarian purposes without the unnecessary aesthetic add-ons look.)

In all the wrong ways, once again:
America may spew more greenhouse gases than any other country, but some states are astonishingly more prolific polluters than others — and it’s not always the ones you might expect.
The Associated Press analyzed state-by-state emissions of carbon dioxide from 2003, the latest […]