The Most Hideous Car You Will See This Year

Yeah... It's not real, but Nissan is planning it. Aztek V2.0?

American Perseverance

GM recently ran an ad during the Olympics that featured a rather beat up truck with melted headlights. If this doesn't seem like your typical car commercial, that's probably because it's not.

Craig Monahan and his Chevy truck were at the South tower on 9/11. When it came time to leave the scene, now in a much more disastrous state than when he arrived, Craig's truck was a little worse for wear, but fired right up when he turned the key. A change of a tire was all that was needed to drive the truck back to the firehouse after the tragedy.

This article from the Daily News is a good piece about how one truck and one man embodied the spirit of American perseverance.

Big Brother is Watching

This article popped up in the Washington Post a few days ago. It discusses the recent use of GPS tracking devices to record the whereabouts and migration patterns of potential criminals.

It doesn't sound like a huge deal, until you get to the part where they explain these devices were put in place on the suspect's car WITHOUT A WARRANT.

That's right, if the police suspect that you're a criminal, they are now legally free to place a tracking device on your vehicle and keep track of just how many times per week you go and hang outside that Victoria's Secret on your lunch break.

As with many "Big Brother" arguments of this type, the first thing defenders of the practice say is, "Well if you have nothing to hide, it shouldn't bother you..."

Umm, you know, there's this little document that grants people freedom from this sort of practice. It's called THE FREAKING CONSTITUTION. The idea of personal freedom was the tenant our entire nation was founded upon. Our forefathers are rolling in their graves...

This is not a new trend in American law enforcement, and one that's of particular interest to me as a purveyor of personal freedom. You might see more articles like this in the future.

A Married Man

This past weekend was the wedding of my good friend, Andy, and his beautiful wife, Nicki.

It was a fantastic time, and I wish them the best for many years to come!

Andy looking a little bit surprised at this new object that's found its way to his finger:

Close Call!

Not really, but kind of interesting nonetheless.

During my leisurely ride on Sunday, a giant powerplant seemed to rise out of the distance. It was made even more strange by the fact that there's mostly farmland all around there, so it looked uniquely out of place.

I snapped this photo while I was there:


Well, I was watching the news last night, and it seems that the day after I visited it, part of one of the cooling towers collapsed!


Edit: More here.

Intentional Misuse of Red Cross Symbol

The recent rescue of Ingrid Betancourt and her fellow hostages from Farc captivity is a brilliant story, that played out much like a sensational movie plot. Disguises were used, double agents assisted the rescue, and everything came together to make the rescue a complete success.

After the fact, however, details have emerged to cast a dark shadow on the rescue operation.

Recently, a video of the rescue operation was leaked by members of the Colombian military. In this video, it's shown that the rescuers wore the symbol of the ICRC, otherwise known as the International Committee of the Red Cross.

This misuse borders on violation of the Geneva Convention. Aid workers of the ICRC need to be able to move freely through warzones in order to provide care to wounded soldiers, civilians, hostages, etc... By posing as Red Cross workers, the rescuers violated the trust of the Farc rebels.

Some might argue that all is fair in love, and especially war. Once you start taking liberties like this, however, you have to wonder if it opens the door for others to do the same. Others that might use such deception for less than pure purposes.

In this case, the "Good Guys" misused the emblem. Who knows what could happen if the situation was reversed?

Just something to think about on this early Wednesday afternoon.

Myself, My Bike, and the Open Road

Some of you may or may not know that I recently purchased a motorcycle. After a long wait to get the bike legal, and for my gear to be shipped to my apartment, I finally hopped on.

It was scary at first, getting onto the open road with cars all around me. I did a lot of slow speed riding in my apartment parking lot prior to getting plates on the bike. I'm glad I did, because I'm pretty sure that taught me to ride the bike a lot better than if I'd just hopped on it and tried to ride.

Once I got the hang of it, I started to realize just how much fun I was having. It clears my head like nothing else. The feeling of riding out in the open air, with the sun shining down on me, and the beautiful farmland scenery surrounding me, smells and all, is something that can't be matched.

There's also an intimacy between rider and machine that you don't get anywhere else. The feeling of carving through turns is phenomenal.

I'll write about it more later, but I just wanted to at least mention the fact that I recently got a bike, and have been enjoying myself immensely. :o)

(Now you know why it's been so long since my last post!)

One more self portrait from my first real ride. You can tell I'm smiling.

Olympic Swimmers Face Mind Games Before Races

I found this article in the New York Times earlier today. It's pretty interesting, and gives a peak into the stressful world of a world-class olympic athlete.

Sheesh. I need to do a few more pushups...

And is that a tattoo of the Olympic rings to the right of his junk? Classy.