As literally EVERYONE mocks Donald Trump's "candidacy" for being ridiculous,. His seemingly sole supporter is the also ridiculous Sarah Palin.

Of course I wrote yesterday about Palin's Facebook post welcoming Trump to the 2016 race, but MSNBC noticed that it seemed she was Trump's only real supporter.

This courtesy of MSNBC:  

When real estate mogul Donald Trump announced his bid for the 2016 presidential race on Tuesday, he faced fast-flying ridicule from the likes of comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Stewart even thanked Trump for providing comedy gold for his final six weeks as host of “The Daily Show.” 

However, Trump does have one staunch, high-profile supporter — everyone’s favorite Alaskan, Sarah Palin.

Okay let me stop everybody right here to say that if Sarah Palin is your favorite Alaskan, you do not understand Sarah Palin, and you certainly do not understand Alaska. 

The former Alaska governor offered Trump words of encouragement in a Facebook post published on Wednesday. She congratulated the businessman for making “the malcontents go ballistic in the press” and backed Trump’s assertion that he will be “the greatest jobs president that God ever created.”

“His own success is testament to the job-creating achievements made possible when one applies the courageous and tenacious pro-private sector precepts we need to fire up the economy,” she said.

Yep, she's pretty much the only idiot besides Trump himself who would say all of that. The article then goes on to  mention that while Palin was stroking Trump's enormous ego she was also took shots at Hillary Clinton and the media.

They then mentioned Trump's invitation to once again join him for a slice of pizza on paper plates.

Thank you Sarah--Let's have pizza in New York soon with you & your great family https://t.co/SQ6LsNZ6UC

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 17, 2015

This got me thinking that Trump may be the ONLY political candidate who is immune to the Palin curse. Because let's face it, NOBODY could possibly damage Donald Trump's reputation more than Donald Trump.

Which of course includes the fact that it is now proven that he paid actors 50 dollars a piece to stand in the audience during his announcement and act like they gave a shit. 

Personally I hope Palin takes him up on that offer, after all what else does she have to do?

Speaking of things to do, exactly where is "Everyone's favorite Alaskan?"

Former Alaska Gov. and VP nominee @SarahPalinUSA is with us at the @MotorsportsHOF auction/dinner. pic.twitter.com/xeZET0KP9B

— Motorsports HOF (@MotorsportsHOF) June 18, 2015

Oh. She's in Michigan posing with cars.

Interesting.

Perhaps a little more interesting considering the fact that currently there is a deadly fire, which has already destroyed 12 square miles of forest and displaced 275 Alaskans, burning less than thirty miles from her house in Wasilla.

But hey who can be bothered with all of that when there are Facebook posts to write, candidate asses to kiss, and cars to pose next to?

Audi just made diesel gas out of air and water. Welcome to the future.

Courtesy of Science Alert:  

German car manufacturer Audi has reportedly invented a carbon-neutral diesel fuel, made solely from water, carbon dioxide and renewable energy sources. And the crystal clear 'e-diesel' is already being used to power the Audi A8 owned by the country’s Federal Minister of Education and Research, Johanna Wanka. 

The creation of the fuel is a huge step forward for sustainable transport, but the fact that it’s being backed by an automotive giant is even more exciting. Audi has now set up a pilot plant in Dresden, Germany, operated by clean tech company Sunfire, which will pump out 160 litres of the synthetic diesel every day in the coming months. 

Their base product, which they’re calling 'blue crude' is created using a three-step process. The first step involves harvesting renewable energy from sources such as wind, solar and hydropower. They then use this energy to split water into oxygen and pure hydrogen, using a process known as reversible electrolysis. 

This hydrogen is then mixed with carbon monoxide (CO), which is created from carbon dioxide (CO2) that’s been harvested from the atmosphere. The two react at high temperatures and under pressure, resulting in the production of the long-chain hydrocarbon compounds that make up the blue crude. 

Once it's been refined, the resulting e-diesel can be mixed in with our current diesel fuel, or used on its own to power cars in a more sustainable way.

Okay I know, I KNOW, that this will not get anywhere near the attention as some of my previous posts.

But I have to reiterate folks that THIS is what is really important, and THIS is what should excite and inspire all of us.

Just take a minute to imagine what this kind of a breakthrough could mean for the future of this planet. 

Less pollution, less raping of the planet, less money spent on energy, fewer reasons to go to war, and that is only the beginning.

I have said it before, but it bears repeating, this is an amazing time to be alive.

Drivers with guns in the car more likely to drive aggressively. Also more likely to have a violent response to road rage.

Courtesy of CNN:  

According to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration, 66% of traffic fatalities are caused by aggressive driving. Over one-third (37%) of aggressive driving incidents involve a firearm, according to research for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. Research also indicates that aggressive or risky drivers are more likely than safer drivers to: be young and male, have been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, have received driving citations (for moving and non-moving violations), score higher on measures of aggression and psychiatric morbidity, use illicit drugs, drive more miles per day, drive in denser traffic more often, abuse alcohol, have higher levels of stress, and be more likely to attribute blame to other drivers. 

They are also more likely to carry firearms in their car. 

Of course, not all gun owners are alike, just as not all drivers are. But if the gun owners who drive with a gun are more likely to drive aggressively than those without a gun in the car (gun owners or not), the risk rises not only that a road rage incident will occur, but that it will become lethal. Many studies have found that where there are more guns, there are more deaths -- not fewer.

I think for many of us this falls into the "no shit Sherlock" category.

However I found this next part a little surprising.  

Ample research also documents that the mere presence of a weapon can intensify aggression. 

One study compared responses to a pickup driver stalled at a light for 12 seconds. When the truck sported a military rifle in the rear window, other drivers honked more quickly and more often at the driver than they did if no firearm was visible. This so-called weapons effect counters the "polite society" argument, showing that weapons provoke visceral responses that increase aggression.

That seems a little counter intuitive. One would think that the presence of a weapon clearly on display might make people a little hesitant to anger the driver. But instead it seems that merely seeing a gun makes even unarmed drivers respond more aggressively.

One of the pieces of advice that I give to young people that I work with that are just starting out as drivers is to always be a polite driver and to not overreact to poor drivers they may come across on the road.

I sometimes add that since this is Alaska it is quite reasonable to assume that the driver of the car that just cut you off in traffic is packing heat and will shoot you during an angry confrontation.

Now I am wondering if that might not have made some of these youngsters even more likely to pull up to them at a stoplight and flip them the bird.

Statistics suggest that this year guns may surpass cars as the leading instrument of death for Americans.

Courtesy of The Economist: 

According to data gathered by the Centres for Disease Control (CDC), deaths caused by cars in America are in long-term decline. Improved technology, tougher laws and less driving by young people have all led to safer streets and highways. Deaths by guns, though—the great majority suicides, accidents or domestic violence—have been trending slightly upwards. This year, if the trend continues, they will overtake deaths on the roads. 

The Centre for American Progress first spotted last February that the lines would intersect. Now, on its reading, new data to the end of 2012 support the view that guns will surpass cars this year as the leading killer of under 25s. Bloomberg Government has gone further. Its compilation of the CDC data in December concluded that guns would be deadlier for all age groups.

It is also important to note that the main purpose of cars in transportation, while the main purpose of guns is to end life.

Cars also MUST be registered with the government, and operators MUST pass both a written exam and be tested on their ability to handle the vehicle before being given a license to do so.

Most states ask for none of that in order to buy and use a firearm.

And yet the right to own only one of these is guaranteed by the Constitution. 

Just thought it was important to point all of that out.

Car dealer associations across the country are lobbying hard to keep Tesla Motors from establishing dealerships. The answer as to why this is the case is one that we know all too well. Oil.

Courtesy of Wired:  

Car dealers fear Tesla. In states across the country, powerful car dealer associations have lobbied to ensure the electric car maker and its direct-sales model are kept out. This movement claimed another victory this week when New Jersey banned Tesla stores in the state. 

On the surface, the fear is hard to fathom. In New Jersey, for instance, sales of Tesla’s $70,000 Model S reportedly number in the hundreds. But if you dig a little deeper, it becomes obvious why dealers are worried. They don’t just fear Tesla’s cars. They fear Tesla’s plan to create a world where you never have to bring your car into the shop again. 

The first and most striking way Tesla kills the dealer service department cash cow is downloads. As part of its sales pitch, Tesla says you should think of its Model S sedan as “an app on four wheels.” That may sound like vacuous Silicon Valley marketing copy, but the company isn’t just being metaphorical. Software is at the heart of what keeps Teslas running. These internet-connected cars are designed to self-diagnose their problems. The vehicles can also download software fixes or updates — even new features — much like an iPhone when Apple puts out a new version of iOS. When fixes happen over the air, there’s no need for a shop in the first place. 

The ability to repair a car via software is especially important when the vehicle itself consists of so much new technology that traditional mechanics don’t know how to fix. The flip side is that without an internal combustion engine, there’s not as much to fix. I’ve written before that a Tesla without its outer shell looks like a cell phone on wheels. It’s basically just a big battery. That means no spark plugs, no air filters, no fuel pumps, no timing belts. In short, Teslas don’t have any of the parts that force you to take your car in for “regularly scheduled maintenance” — services that can cost dearly at the dealer. But it’s hard to charge for an oil change when there’s no oil to be changed.

As you can imagine a vehicle that requires no gasoline and no oil changes, would drive the oil companies into  a near panic.

And so it has. Enough so that it has a long history of working against the electric car industry.

I think there is little doubt that this is the wave of the future, and speaking just for myself, the idea of a car that can self diagnose and solve problems via the internet is incredibly attractive.

However, and I almost hate to bring this up, before this country puts all of its eggs in the electric car basket, we need to completely overhaul our electrical grid, beef up security, and move to more solar power to meet our energy needs.

Right now we are incredible vulnerable to sabotage, and before we dispense with fossil fuel powered cars altogether that must be addressed.

However in the meantime I am looking forward to helping my daughter purchase a car that will NOT leak oil all over my driveway, and one which I can plug into the wall to charge rather than to stand in the freezing cold at a gas station spending money to support oil producing countries in the Middle East.

Even though we are going to be inundated with advertising today, I thought that this car safety ad from New Zealand was well worth sharing.

Yep, hits you right in the feels.

Finally there has been a Sarah Palin sighting.

Gotta be her, right?

The death of journalist Michael Hastings. IS this bothering anybody else, or is it just me?

Okay now if that video did not bother you enough there is also this: 

WikiLeaks says journalist Michael Hastings, 33, killed in a fiery crash early Tuesday morning after his Mercedes plowed into a tree near the corners of Melrose and Highland Avenues, had contacted the organization hours earlier to say he was the subject of an FBI investigation. 

The tweet, issued Wednesday to WikiLeaks' 1.9 million followers, reads, "Michael Hastings contacted WikiLeaks lawyer Jennifer Robinson just a few hours before he died, saying that the FBI was investigating him." 

Here's the tweet:

Michael Hastings contacted WikiLeaks lawyer Jennifer Robinson just a few hours before he died, saying that the FBI was investigating him.
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) June 19, 2013

Look I don't want to turn into Alex Jones here, but this thing really stinks and I cannot be the only person smelling it.

But then another part of me thinks that if you were going to murder a high profile journalist, WHY would you do it in such a suspicious manner? But then again the guy had no lack of enemies, both within the government and out, who would have liked to see him dead.

I don't know, I'm just saying that I am having some difficulty digesting this as an accident.

Maybe I'm just paranoid.

Did you know that bicycle riders create more pollution than the drivers of cars? No? Well that's because you're not a Republican. Update!

"Wait, what was I saying?"

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

The ranking Republican member on Washington state’s House Transportation Committee thinks that riding bicycles causes more pollution than driving cars, the Seattle Bike Blog reported Saturday. 

State Rep. Ed Orcutt (R) wrote an email to a constituent who disagreed with his support for a new tax on the sales of bicycles, a proposal being considered as part of a larger piece of transportation legislation. Reached by the Seattle Bike Blog, he confirmed the email is real. 

In his message, sent to the owner of a bicycle shop, Orcutt wrote: “If I am not mistaken, a cyclists [sic] has an increased heart rate and respiration. That means that the act of riding a bike results in greater emissions of carbon dioxide from the rider. Since CO2 is deemed to be a greenhouse gas and a pollutant, bicyclists are actually polluting when they ride.” 

He added that when citizens drive cars they are helping to pay for the roads, whereas bicyclists “need to start paying for the roads they ride on rather than make motorists pay.” 

Reached for comment, Orcutt told Seattle Bike Blog that “you would be giving off more CO2 if you are riding a bike than driving in a car,” although he admitted to having no evidence to back the claim.

So essentially this scientifically ignorant Republican is upset that bicyclists get to ride on roads that they don't pay for. (Apparently road repairs are paid for through gas taxes, though that may soon change.) Though I would argue that the contribution to wear and tear on the roads, which creates the the need for much of road repair, is substantially less from bicycle tires than from heavy automobiles.

However back to Orcutt's point about the fact that bicyclists create more CO2 pollution than do automobile drivers. Essentially that's bullshit!

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that each passenger vehicle in the U.S. generates on average 4.8 metric tons of CO2 every year, not accounting for emissions resulting in damage to the vehicle and local infrastructure, along with the actual production of fuel. The European Cyclists Federation, however, puts CO2 emissions from biking at about 10 times less than driving a car (PDF), even after accounting for the emissions required to make the bike and emissions linked to food the rider eats to power the device.

You know you would think that after so MANY ridiculous attempts to use science to support their argument, that the Republicans would simply stop using it.

The earth is six thousand years old, women getting raped can "shut that whole reproductive thing down." Mitt Romeny is going to win by a landslide, all completely, and embarrassingly, wrong.

No wonder the Republicans are constantly attacking education. If they can't figure out reality, then dammit they will keep others too dumb to figure it out too!

Update: Apparently Orcutt received so much backlash due his ridiculous statements that he has decided to walk them back:  

"My point was that by not driving a car, a cyclist was not necessarily having a zero-carbon footprint," Orcutt wrote in an email delivered to constituents. "In looking back, it was not a point worthy of even mentioning so, again, I apologize."

Well it's nice that he realizes what he said was ignorant, and I have one response to his apology and desperate attempt to put this behind him.

"Too late!"

You know it's all fun and games until somebody's city is underwater.

Damn this is brutal!

But you certainly can't say the son-of-a-bitch doesn't deserve it.

My hope is that people start to really start to put two and two together and start voting these climate change deniers out of office as fast as they possible can, so we can start creating serious policies to deal with it.

Things are starting to change by the way. For instance this was the first year that an electric car, the Tesla Model S, was named car of the year by Automotive magazine. That might go far in finally removing the stigma attached to the electric car.