I was in shock when I read this story this evening. According to a report leaked to the British media, Jean Charles de Menezes had already been subdued when he was shot to death by British Police. According to the report, which was generated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission, there was nothing suspicious about Menezes aside from the building he left. However, upon recieving “positive identification” from their superiors, the Police officers grabbed him and executed him on the spot. I keep telling myself that this couldn’t happen here, but you have to wonder.
250 Miles Per Gallon?
CNN: 250 miles per gallon? They’re doing it – Aug 15, 2005
While the title is a bit misleading, the article has a good point. This is something the auto industry has resisted for a long time. If you mostly do light commuting and you’re handy with electronics, this might be a good project for you. Perhaps now that a few people are trying this, the industry will wake up and start offering this as an option on some of the current hybrids. One can only hope…
Here is a link to the Prius+ site on Yahoo Groups. The guy mentioned in the above story is a member of this group which has done a lot of work on Prius PHEV conversions. Check it out..
Discovery makes it back to Earth
The space shuttle Discovery has made it’s way safely back to Earth. Congratulations to the Crew and to NASA for a job well done! Let’s hope they can get the last few problems fixed and get these old birds flying again.