Walking Over The Electric Band-Aid

So we all finally agree it's climate change! If your decision is still out on this, then you must be raking it in as an oil executive, or major petroleum shareholder

So what are we to do in our quest to make a difference and stop contributing to this tragic situation. Well, if you are not able to go car-free like myself, then you are likely considering one of those high priced hybrids, or even a hard-to-find electric car. Which is reasonable since our politicians refuse to pass a simple law that would require all cars sold in the US to get at least 44 miles to the gallon.

With this basic piece of legislation, which has proven effective in other countries, cars would get better mileage than Toyota's best hybrid. We would no-longer need to import middle east oil, and we could reduce the pollution in major cities across the nation by possibly 50%.

A bill filed in Feb 2007 by Rep. Dwayne Bohac, R-Houston, and Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, proposed a 10 percent rebate on the sale price of any vehicle that averaged 44 miles to the gallon. What I am talking about here is nothing revolutionary.

Unfortunately our elected political leaders have been purchased by the auto and oil industries, packing lawyers and payoff's like six shooters who gun down any state legislation attempting turn this situation around outside of the corruption of Washing-a-ton of money in our nations capital.

For me the saddest observation amongst all this hype about redesigning the way we commute with alternative fuels, electric, hydrogen, and hybrid cars is that no one talking about redesigning our communities, holding the civil engineers, and municipalities responsible for creating urban plans that require most Americans to use a car just to buy a loaf of bread in the first place. There has been no discussions, legislation, nor major media coverage on creating more pedestrian friendly communities, cluster based, self sustaining regional economies. Why is no one encouraging businesses and industries to work within a residential region that minimizes the need for lengthy commutes in the first place?

Why is walking considered such an unreasonable form of mass transit when it is completely free, and while I am at it, what is going on with these $100. sneakers that are manufactured by a child making .14 cents a day on the other side of the world. Has any legislator designed a hybrid policy for fair and equal trade in this ever increasing corporate global econonemy?

The Smug Mug

The recent news that Starbuck's coffee outlets will soon out number McDonald's around the world reached me with a shuttering silence, sending a Frappuccino chill up my spine which settled above my left eye like a brain freeze from too many PopRocks washed down with a Slurpee.

To be honest I was never big a coffee drinker. The bitter, watered down chemical taste had always left me longing for something a little more... tasty. If I needed a caffeine fix, it was always easier to get it from a can of Coke, or a few No-Doze, that didn't produce the gastrological side effects of pouring 16 ounces of bitter bean water down my gullet.

Then I had a chance to live in Italy and my snobbish addiction began. Just about every corner in every city of Italy has a place where you can belly up for a cup of delicious dark brown elixir that is served with dignity, in a reasonably sized 8-oz china cup, or shot glass radiating with fragrances and tastes from every genus of mineral and vegetable imaginable... woody, grassy, nutty, fruity, and more. The best part of ordering at a cafe in Europe at 8:30 am is that you will get exactly what you request. Unlike the obsessive US coffee chain stores, serving up over sized, caffeine fortified bean water, where the Barista is a sassy gum chewing freshman, who initiates a line of questioning for one cappuccino that sounds like Sgt. Friday interrogating Alex Trebec. " Do you want that Grande, or Tall? What kind of milk, skinny, soy, lactose free? Did you want cinnamon, carmel, chai infusion...?" Dear God, it's not even 9:am and I have to make a half dozen executive decisions for a friggin cappuccino that is going to be served like a Big Gulp in a paper cup the size of a barrel, with enough foam to cover the emergency tarmac at JFK.

It leaves me longing for my surly Roman Barista with a PhD in Piazza S.Eustachio. Sure its a bustling mob scene and tables are hard to come by, but I get what I asked for at this crusty hole in the wall. A delicious cup of "real" coffee served with dignity, in a china cup, by a man who knows what he is doing, with no questions asked, for .75 cents.

While the hard working American has been busy with email, commuting, shopping and too many hours at the office, the chain stores have diluted their tastes, esthetics, communities, and regional economies, and the average Joe has swallowed it with a cup of crappy coffee that costs $3 dollars, what a shame.