I have a new page I’ve created at the top of the blog, entitled 2006 Prius Lifetime Gas Mileage.  In it I chronicle the lifetime history of my Prius mileage, at least to the best of my ability to do so.  I am a bit behind, and have a few more entries to input in order to be up to date; but, I’ll get there.  My prior Prius posts are here.  As time has borne out the wisdom of this purchase, I am vey happy not to have to spend as much on gas as I did a little more over two years ago, when I was driving a suburban.

On June 5, 2008 I drove to Orange County, and set a new high mileage record for me, anyway: 62.1 miles per gallon.

To achieve this mileage, you have to slow down, and enjoy the trip.  Other than setting the cruise control at 55 mph, and enjoying the trip, I didn’t do anything special to get to 62.1mpg.   This is a great car!

O.J. Simpson, of cold blooded killer fame over a decade ago, is finally getting closer to life inside of a prison cell. The Los Angeles Times reports this morning that co-defendants charged in his most recent Las Vegas escapade are pleading guilty, placing more and more pressure on O.J. and his attorneys:

LAS VEGAS — Two of O.J. Simpson’s codefendants in an armed robbery case have agreed to testify against him, increasing pressure on the former pro football star and his legal team.

Walter Alexander and Charles H. Cashmore had each faced nine felony charges — including kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon — in connection with the alleged theft of about $80,000 in sports memorabilia from two collectors at the Palace Station Hotel & Casino.

Alexander and Cashmore each will plead guilty to a single felony count during a hearing scheduled for Oct. 23, their attorneys said Monday. Alexander could face up to six years in prison for conspiracy to commit robbery; Cashmore could face up to five years for an accessory to robbery charge. The men’s attorneys said they would ask for probation.

Simpson, 60, and three other men are scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing in November. If convicted on the 10 felony counts he’s charged with, the Heisman Trophy winner could face life in prison.

“O.J. is the big fish,” said Laurie Levenson, a Loyola Law School professor and a former federal prosecutor, “and I think prosecutors are trying to line up everybody to point the finger at him.”

Simpson’s attorneys could not be reached for comment.

Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. My only regret? Well, if O.J. is finally imprisoned, who’s going to continue the search of America’s golf courses for the “real killers?”

Just a quick post–sorry no photos this time–to document my latest trip to Los Angeles, over 10/11 and 10/12/07. I made the trip on less than one tank of gas, averaging just over 55 miles per gallon. The drop in mileage was likely due to increased speed. I traveled about 60 miles per hour rather than the 55 mph reflected in the most recent Prius post; but, still 55 miles per gallon is nothing to laugh about, particularly with oil now hitting about $86.00 a barrel. America, we need to slow down, consume less, and drive smarter. Those things alone would ease demand on oil, and lower the prices. I’m doing my part–what about you? Note, the round trip from Nipomo to Los Angeles and back again is approximately 356 miles.

I drive a 2006 Toyota Prius, a hybrid vehicle. I have decided to change my driving habits, and this is one way that I have decided I can have some impact, for the better in helping our country become less dependent on foreign oil and consider alternative energy sources.
I’ve enjoyed my Prius so much, that we sold my wife’s car, and bought the Toyota Camry Hybrid. We will never return to a traditional gasoline powered vehicle again. This last week, I took my Prius down to Los Angeles (actually Long Beach), a little over 200 miles. On that trip I averaged just over 60 miles to the gallon. The proof is in this photo I took of the mileage screen after I pulled into my destination.

Yes, you have to change your driving habits to achieve this type of mileage; but, it is a small price to pay. Yes, I arrive at my destinations in a bit longer time than I used to; however, I use almost half the gasoline I used to use before I bought my Prius. So, I save money, help reduce (however slightly it might be) demand on oil, and help our own energy independence. In my view, hybrids are worth the investment. I recommend them to anyone considering the purchase.

Overall, I was pleased with California’s congressional representatives, and particularly mine, on their war funding votes.  Senator Boxer voted NO on the war funding, as did my representative, Lois  Capps.  Unfortunately Senator Feinstein voted YES on the war funding, and this is going to cost her some political support, specifically mine.  If Senator Feinstein runs again, and if she has a primary opponent I will look closely at supporting that individual rather than Senator Feinstein for the nomination.  There is just no good reason to have voted to allow George Bush unfettered, uncontrolled, and continued mis-management of this war.  I am deeply disappointed in Senator Feinstein’s vote.

Congress votes today for an Iraq war funding bill. If you oppose this war, as I do, I invite you to write your senators and representatives to express your opposition and to ask them not to vote for the current bill funding the war without any timetables for withdrawal. You can find your representative here, and your senators here. Write to each of them. Below the jump is a sample letter you could use if you are pressed for time. It is the letter I sent to my two senators and my representative:

Dear Senator Boxer,

I am one of your constituents. I vote in every election. I do not take the time to send emails to my elected representatives on very many occasions; however, I believe the Iraq war is the pre-eminent moral and security issue of our time. This war must end. The funding of this was must stop. George Bush has no intention to heed the voice of the American people and end this war. It is up to Congress to stop this immoral war and its concurrent assault on American values. The American voters elected a democratic majority last November to change course in Iraq. So far our government has not changed course.

This war has not made our country more safe. It has made us less safe. This war has lowered our country’s esteem world wide. We have alienated long trusted and valued allies. We have inflamed the passions of the most radical fringes in the middle east.

I urge you to vote AGAINST the current proposal for funding this war. Please do not vote to fund this war without a timetable for withdrawal.

Congress has the power to declare war (which I might add it declined to do in this case). Congress has power to fund or de-fund a war. I urge you to take all necessary steps to stop this war by taking away its funding. It is your responsibility as a United States Senator to oversee and hold George Bush accountable. Please do so with your vote.

I will remember your vote on this issue, if and when you run again for reelection.

Regards,

Guy W. Murray

My efforts may not make a difference in the long run; but, at least I know I did what I could to help hold George Bush accountable and to help stop this war.

Lt. General William Odom, delivered the Democratic weekly radio address at the request of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. General Odom’s topic was the Iraq war, and he brings an impressive array of experience, which gives his message instant credibility.

Townhall reported on his remarks calling for George Bush to sign the Iraq war funding bill:

WASHINGTON — President Bush should sign legislation starting the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq on Oct. 1, retired Army Lt. Gen. William Odom said Saturday.

“I hope the president seizes this moment for a basic change in course and signs the bill Congress has sent him,” Odom said, delivering the Democrats’ weekly radio address.

Odom, an outspoken critic of the war who served as the Army’s top intelligence officer and headed the National Security Agency during the Reagan administration, delivered the address at the request of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. He said he has never been a Democrat or a Republican.

The general accused Bush of squandering U.S. lives and helping Iran and al-Qaida when he invaded Iraq.

“The challenge we face today is not how to win in Iraq; it is how to recover from a strategic mistake: invading Iraq in the first place,” he said. “The president has let (the Iraq war) proceed on automatic pilot, making no corrections in the face of accumulating evidence that his strategy is failing and cannot be rescued. He lets the United States fly further and further into trouble, squandering its influence, money and blood, facilitating the gains of our enemies.”

Odom said he doesn’t favor congressional involvement in the execution of foreign and military policy, but argued that Bush had been derelict in his responsibilities. This week Congress passed an Iraq war spending bill that would require Bush to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq on Oct. 1.

Maybe its just me; but, when someone the caliber of General Odom whose expertise is military and strategic issues, advocates a certain course of military action, people ought to listen. The one on the top of that list should be George W. Bush. Most significant is that General Odom hails from the Regan administration, and is not at all a cut and run defeatist. Or, is that not the case Mr. Bush and Cheney?

George Bush should indeed sign that bill. Bring out troops home. For a couple of other interesting articles by General Odum see here and here.

Former Senator Gary Hart has written an open letter to Rudy Giuliani, one of the Republican candidates for the presidency. It is short, factual and directly to the point:

Dear Mayor Giuliani:

Since you have based your presidential campaign almost exclusively on your reaction to terrorist attacks on New York City, and since you have recently accused Democrats of being on the defense against terrorism and therefore guilty of inviting more casualties, I have one question for you: Where were you on terrorism between January 31, 2001, and September 11th?

The first date was when the U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century issued its final report warning, as did its previous reports, of the danger of terrorist attacks on America. The George W. Bush administration did nothing about these warnings and we lost 3,000 American lives. What did you do during those critical eight months? Where were you? Were you on the defensive, or were you even paying attention?

Before you qualify to criticize Democrats, Mr. Giuliani, you must account for your preparation of your city for these clearly predicted attacks. Tell us, please, what steps you took to make your city safer.

Until you do, then I strongly suggest you should keep your mouth shut about Democrats and terrorism.

You have not qualified to criticize others, let alone be president of the United States.

Gary Hart
(co-chair, U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century)

P.S. You might ask these same questions of George W. Bush while you are trying to find a better reason to run for president.

I have to say, Senator Hart has a point, and he knows what he is talking about. As his letter indicates he was the co-chair of the United States Commission on National Security/21st Century. He was serious about terrorism against our country long before it became fashionable do to so, and long before Rudy Giuliani and George Bush. Well, Mr. Giuliani, your response?

For more on Mr. Hart’s terrorism credentials, see this Salon article.

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In other words, I am a Mormon. I am also a BYU alum. I am embarrassed that BYU will allow Dick Cheney to speak at its commencement this week. I am further embarrassed that BYU will honor such a dishonorable man with an Honorary Doctoral degree. I have cross posted over at my religious blog, Messenger and Advocate my protest of this travesty. I cross post it here below the jump.

Both the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News report the unthinkable: BYU is going to award Dick Cheney an Honorary Doctorate of Public Service. I had resigned myself to the fact that my alma mater had acquiseed to Dick Cheney’s self invitation to speak at its commencement; however, I cannot begin to fathom the thinking that went into the decision to award Dick Cheney an honorary degree of anything.

Not only is he undeserving of this honor, it cheapens the commencement service, and all others who are receiving actual degrees or other honorary degrees.

From the Deseret News:

PROVO — Brigham Young University will bestow on Vice President Dick Cheney an honorary degree Thursday when he speaks at the university’s commencement exercises, a decision that further frustrated Cheney’s opponents on campus.

BYU and its board of trustees will give Cheney an Honorary Doctorate of Public Service and award honorary doctorates to four long-time university supporters.

The other recipients are Ira Fulton, Honorary Doctorate of Engineering; Mary Lou Fulton, Honorary Doctorate of Education; and Jack R. and Mary Lois Wheatley, Honorary Doctorates of Humane Letters.

There are many who are unhappy with this decision. Such an action implies tacit endorsement by BYU, and by extension the Church of Dick Cheney and the Bush Administration’s abhorrent political excesses and policies:

A number of professors and students who either opposed Cheney’s visit or welcomed the visit while criticizing the vice president’s policies had said that if BYU chose to bestow an honorary degree on Cheney, it would feel to them like an endorsement of Cheney’s policies by the university and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which owns the school.

“There are a number of faculty and students who are shocked and surprised and dismayed that Mr. Cheney will not only be honored as a commencement speaker but also receive an honorary degree from BYU,” business professor Warner Woodworth said. “I believe this is the first time in BYU history the school has so honored a commencement speaker who is in the process of being impeached by Congress.”

Cheney will arrive in Utah Thursday at 1:55 p.m. and meet with the First Presidency of the church at 2:30. Commencement begins at 4 p.m.

Professor Woodworth’s observation is well taken. Awarding such a degree to Dick Cheney at BYU, “makes reason stare.”

fMh has a related post up about the alternate commencement being held in Provo. Russell over at Times and Seasons also has a great post about the Cheney protests and alternative commencement. Also check out Ronan’s letter to Mr. Cheney over at BCC. All these posts are worth reading.

I wish those who are protesting Dick Cheney’s appearance this week at the Lord’s University well. I hope they turn out in force. I will even go so far as to advocate some type of protest inside the Marriot Center when Cheney’s degree is bestowed.

This is a sad and dark day in BYU history. Shame on this decision to link BYU and the Church to an individual of such questionable moral character and repute. As Hugh Nibley once observed this of all commencements will commemorate the gathering of those in clothed in the black robes of a false priesthood.

My other BYU–Dick Cheney protest posts: here, here, here, and here.

I love good space photos, and thought this one was pretty cool.

Double click on the photo to enlarge it to its full size. It’s in high resolution so the full size is quite striking. Below is the explanation of the photo:

Credit: ISS Expedition 13 Crew, NASA

Explanation: Looking out a window of the International Space Station brings breathtaking views. Visible vistas include a vast and colorful Earth, a deep dark sky, and an occasional spaceship sent to visit the station. Visible on September 20 of last year was a Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft carrying not only supplies but also three new astronauts. A few days before this picture was taken, the U.S. Space Shuttle Atlantis had just departed. The three new approaching astronauts were American Michael E. Lopez-Alegria, Russian Mikhail Tyurin, and Iranian-American Anousheh Ansari. Ms. Ansari visited the International Space Station (ISS) briefly as a paying spaceflight participant for the Federal Space Agency of Russia, and wrote a popular blog about her experiences. Lopez-Alegria would lead the ISS crew dubbed Expedition 14, which included the flight engineer and Soyuz pilot Tyurin, flight engineer American Sunita Williams, and flight engineer German Thomas Reiter. Tyurin returned to the Earth with Lopez-Alegria.