Recycling Gulf oil booms into Chevy Volts

By on December 21, 2010 in Uncategorized

So, this is kind of cool. GM is recycling used oil booms from the Gulf oil spill into new Chevy Volts.

Plastic boom material that soaked up oil in the Gulf of Mexico has found a new use as components in General Motors Co.’s high-tech Chevrolet Volt car.

Recycling the booms means producing more than 100,000 pounds of plastic resin for vehicle components, Mike Robinson, GM vice president of environment, energy and safety policy, said Monday. The booms are floating tube-like barriers that contained the leaking oil.

Reusing the booms means, he said, “about 100,000 pounds of waste was avoided through our recycling project.”

“Watching the spill in the Gulf unfold, we wanted to do something to help if we could,” Robinson said.

…


Read full story • Comments { 0 }

President Obama will sign DADT repeal Wednesday

By on December 21, 2010 in Barack Obama, President Obama

President Obama will sign the bill that repeals the odious, discriminatory Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy tomorrow (Wednesday.)

The White House says President Barack Obama will sign the repeal of the military’s ban on openly gay service members on Wednesday morning at a Department of Interior auditorium.

With a stroke of his pen, the president will end the Pentagon’s 17-year, “don’t-ask, don’t tell” policy. In repealing the ban, Obama will fulfill a 2008 presidential campaign promise.

Another campaign promise made and kept. Check it off the list, Gibbs.

I’m just sayin’…

…

Read full story • Comments { 0 }

What?! Liberals DON’T hate President Obama? Who woulda thunk it?!

By on December 20, 2010 in Barack Obama, President Obama

Daily Kos diarist, RenaRF, has a fascinating diary up right now (Read ‘Em and [insert emotion here]) that brings out some of the results of a new CNN/Time poll. The results are gratifying to those of us who don’t hate the President. I won’t reprint her entire diary but here are a couple of choice bits:

Overall Approval:
Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as president? (Dec. 17-19 2010)

  • Approve 48%
  • Disapprove 48%
  • No opinion 4%

The approval rating is unchanged from November of 2010. The disapproval rating went down just a bit from 50% to 48% from November 2010.

…


Read full story • Comments { 0 }

Tim Walberg now part of a 7-member Government Shutdown Caucus

By on December 20, 2010 in MI-07

Think Progress reported this past week that the so-called “Shutdown Caucus” expanded to seven members when Representative-elect Steve Womack (R-AR) joined their ranks.

Some Republicans, like former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, look back at the 1995 government shutdown debacle as a cautionary tale of the practical and political costs of shutting down the federal government. Others view it as a how-to guide for the 112th Congress.

Rep.-elect Steve Womack (R-AR) has opted to draw the latter lesson. According to The Hill, Womack said he would be “open” to a government shutdown over the issue of federal spending after he takes office in January.

…


Read full story • Comments { 0 }

Help build a skateboard park in Ann Arbor (it’s free!)

By on December 20, 2010 in Ann Arbor

There’s a move afoot to build a skateboard park in Ann Arbor (a2skatepark.org). If you’d like to help, you can vote in Pepsi’s “Refresh Everything contest where the A2 Skatepark is in the running for a $250,000 grant. They are currently in 20th place but that could change.

With YOUR help.

How? Simply text 104839 to Pepsi (73774) (standard text messaging rates apply.)

Alternatively, visit the “Refresh Everything” website and vote there.

You can vote once a day between now and December 31st. I’ve been doing it for the past few days. It only takes a second.…


Read full story • Comments { 0 }

McConnell to vote NO on passage of the START Treaty

By on December 20, 2010 in GOPocrisy

He doesn’t appear to have any justified objections. He’s just being a dick when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says he won’t vote to ratify the START Treaty.

Hours earlier, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., dealt a blow to the administration’s hopes for strong bipartisan support, criticizing the treaty’s verification system and expressing concern that the pact would limit U.S. missile defense options even though Obama insisted Saturday it imposes no restrictions on missile defense.

~SNIP~

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Detroit, said failure to support the START treaty would “damage national security.” Levin, appearing on CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday, dismissed GOP opposition as “a straw man argument”.…


Read full story • Comments { 0 }
Jammin

Jammin’ – I hope ya like jammin’, too

By on December 19, 2010 in Eclectalife

This weekend was all about jammin’ in the Eclectahouse. This past summer we spent time picking Michigan blueberries, Michigan tart cherries and wild blackberries. Yesterday, we made about 100 jars of jam including a magnificent blend of cherry/blackberry. Earthy, tart and sweet, it’s one of the best blended jams we’ve ever made.

Photos by Anne Savage. Please do not reproduce without permission.


Mashed up and ready for the pot


Jam love…


Fillin’ the jars


Out of the boiling water after processing


The final product

Once you’ve had homemade jam it’s pretty hard to go back to Smuckers. It’s easy, it’s fast and doesn’t require any special equipment other than a large canning pot.…


Read full story • Comments { 0 }

Rachel Maddow: “This is the President’s victory & his base will reward him for it.”

By on December 18, 2010 in Barack Obama

Rachel Maddow weighed in today after the passage of the bill to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. First there was this tweet:

Then there was this statement:

This is a difficult promise kept. It’s not just a promise that was kept. It was one that was hard to keep, that cost a lot of political capital and a lot of work and this is the President’s victory today and his base will reward him for it.

Commentator: Rachel, what’s your reaction now to six Republicans voting for the repeal of Don’t Ask, Dont Tell.

Rachel Maddow: You know, a lot of people said that once it was clear that it was going to pass that it would open the door to some unexpected “yes” votes.

…


Read full story • Comments { 0 }
eXTReMe Tracker