Shotty Contractors Killing U.S. Soldiers In Iraq

There are many ways to die in war if you are a soldier but you would not expect one of those ways to be from being electricuted while trying to take a shower. Contractors in Iraq involved in providing services and facilities to the U.S. army have been cutting corners to such an extent that it is endangering the lives of soldiers. A july 11th U.S. senate inquiry has uncovered that contractors in Iraq such as Halliburton and K.B.R. (Kellogg, Brown, & Root) once they secure contracts from the United States government to build support facilites for U.S. forces often turn around and instead of hiring experienced, competent American contractors to build these facilities will hand over the work to inexperienced, shotty Iraqi workers who are not competent and the result is sometimes death for American soldiers. The Senate inquiry uncovered that since 2003 there have been 13 U.S. soldiers in Iraq who have been killed while taking showers because of poor and faulty electrical work. The shower facilities are usually hooked up to water heaters that run on electricity that are there to heat the water for showering. When this delicate electrical wiring is not done properly or competently the water can often come into contact with the electrical wiring and cause an electric shock which can kill. Many of the workers that Halliburton and K.B.R. hire to do this work are not only inexperienced and suspect but in many cases do not even speak english. The reason they do this is simply money. These "local Iraqi contractors" are willing to work for much less money than their skilled American counterparts and so by hiring them they save money on labor costs. The Senate inquiry has also revealed that in a six month period during the war there were a total of 283 incidents of electrical fires which damaged or destroyed U.S. facilities in Iraq.

Can The Electric Car Really Save The Planet?

The Auto makers of the world are jumping all over themselves to be the first ones to come out with a viable electric car. An environmentally friendly, zero emissions, gonna save the planet electric car that the driving public will be able to run around town in without feeling any guilt about destroying the environment for future generations. Japanese auto maker Nissan announced this past May that it is working on such a vehicle and has already unveiled a prototype. It figures it will have it in mass production by sometime in 2010. U.S. auto makers are not standing put either. The much touted and highly anticipated Chevy Volt, which is a gas-electric hybrid car from GM, is set to be ready in about 2012.
The technology comes with a few drawbacks that have not yet been worked out however. The first one is cost. An electric car runs on a rechargeable lithium battery that can cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $25,000 each. Another problem with them is that they cant take you very far on a charge which means your time on the road will have to be limited. It will only be useful for short trips. You will not be able to travel very far from home and get back before the battery dies on you.
Perhaps the biggest drawback is the increased harm that electric cars may do to the environment. In order to run electric cars there will have to be an increase in the amount of electricity that is produced nationwide. Most of the electricity that is generated in the United States still comes from the burning of coal primarily. The increase in demand for electricity from using electric cars will mean an increase in the amount of coal that will need to be burned to generate that added electric power and that may be the worst thing that can happen to the environment from a perspective of global warming, not to mention the added pollution it will bring and a reduction in the quality of the air people breathe and all the added health problems that also may bring. The electric car is a great idea on paper but in reality it may not be the savior we have all been waiting for. A better answer might lay in the way auto makers go about making cars. The average American car since 1985 has increased in weight by nearly 1000 lbs. The amount of horse power in the average engine has also increased by nearly 100% going from about 100 horse power to 200 in that same time. These changes all lead to greater usage of gasoline and further straining of the environment instead of moving in a more productive direction such as a car called the Mini cooper which comes out of Britain. It is a small compact car which has been around for decades and can run for nearly 40 miles on one gallon of gas. Lighter and more fuel efficient cars are a more impacting solution to the crisis of global warming in the immediate future.

Iran Tests It's First Long Range Missiles

The nation of Iran has been feeling a little bit threatened in the last few years by The United States over it's highly controversial nuclear program and has begun testing a new batch of medium and long range missiles in an attempt to intimidate and deter the west from any aggression towards it. On July 9th they successfully tested a new and improved version of a missile called the Shahab-3. The potential range of the missile is 1250 miles which means it has the capability to strike and hit Israel, certain strategic U.S. bases in Saudi Arabia and throughout the middle east, and parts of southern Europe. The tests were carried on Iranian television and are meant to be a display of Iran's ever increasing military capabilites.

World's First Eco-club Opens In London

In the ongoing effort to save the world from a future ecological disaster even party goers will soon be able to join in on the fight simply by hitting a club and dancing the night away. It opens in London on July 10th and it is called Club4climate and its slogan is "All you have to do is dance to save the world." The way the club is hoping to manage this is with the use of new technology. They will feature a dance floor that is designed to harness the energy of people pounding their feet when they dance and convert that into electricity to run the lights and play the music and such. The dance floor is set on springs that are placed underneath it. As the clubbers dance the energy that is produced is transferred from the springs to a set of batteries that are rechargeable. The batteries can then be used to provide electricity to run the club and thereby help reduce its carbon footprint. They wont be able to eliminate their "carbon footprint" totally but the club owners are stating that the human powered dance floor may be able to provide up to 60% of the clubs energy needs. Most scientists believe that this figure is a bit high. Whatever the amount of energy is that they can produce it is a step in the right direction. The human powered dance floor is not the only step the club is taking to go green though. They will also feature "Bio-Beer", which is brewed by a process that is supposed to be less harmful to the environment, The toilets in the club will be flushed with rainwater that is stored in collection tanks, and it will offer free admission to any club goers who can prove that they traveled to get there either on foot, by bike, or by using public transit.

High Fuel Costs Forcing More Cops To Walk The Beat

You may soon be seeing more thin police officers, or at least thinner police officers, patroling the streets of your city on foot due to the rise of fuel costs nationwide. The skyrocketing price of gas is forcing many cities to get their cops out of their squad cars and put them on bike and foot patrols more often than ever before. Some places have even set targets for cutting fuel usage. The Georgia State Police for example have been ordered to cut their driving time by 25% annually. Other police departments in the country have been telling their cops to cut back on the number of donut runs using their department issue police cars. In the long term it is believed that these modest measures will lead to significant reductions in fuel consumption. An additional by product is expected to be improved relations between the local police and their communities because it will give more cops a chance to get to know some of the members of the public they serve better by walking a beat.

U.P.S. Fights High Gas Prices With Right Turns Only

In the brave new world of $4 a gallon gasoline companies and individuals alike are being forced to come up with ever increasingly innovative ways of saving on the use of fuel for their transportation needs. United Parcel Service (U.P.S.) may have one of the more interesting ways to try and do this that anyone has heard of so far. The company tries to save on fuel for its gas guzzling boxy delivery trucks by ordering its drivers to only make right turns on their routes. They even go so far as to plan the routes in advance the day before to insure that their drivers do not make any left turns. Apparently making left turns with a vehicle is wasteful and expensive in terms of the use of gas because it usually involves having to wait before you can make the turn for oncoming traffic to pass such as at an intersection. This waiting uses up fuel and ends up being very costly on an annual basis for the company. Making right turns however involves a lot less waiting and is usually a faster and more natural turn to make on the roads. The company actually studied this and found it to be true generally. U.P.S. estimates that this move will save the company about $3 million dollars a year in fuel costs.

Ebay Being Sued Over fake Goods

Everyone knows that when you are buying something on the Internet auction website Ebay that you are taking a chance. You never know what you are going to get. Its a little like the old wild west. There are some companies out there now who are interested in maintaining their good names and are now cracking down on Ebay and the amount of fake and second rate merchandise that it allows to be sold on its site. More than one company in fact has already sued Ebay successfully and there are likely more to come in the future. On June 30th a french court ruled that Ebay had to pay $63 million in damages to a group of luxury brand makers which included Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Givency. The court stated that these companies are owed the damages because Ebay was not doing enough to prevent the sale of knockoff merchandise that is being sold on its site in these company's names. A month earlier another french court ruled that Ebay owed $32,000 in damages to luxury retailer Hermes for the same reasons. Back here in the U.S. Tiffany and Company has a suit against Ebay which is currently awaiting a ruling. These companies all claim that their brand names are being damaged by Ebay because it allows cheap knockoffs to be listed on its site as genuine merchandise and that the site does little to stop it. Ebay has appealed the rulings.