Saturday, January 28, 2006

Of Cars and Hurricanes

With the prospects of higher gas prices, Americans seem to be staying away from the SUV's. The hybrids are a great way to save gas and they're good for the environment. The Honda Civic Hybrids are available at most Honda dealers, and the Toyota Prius might be available in larger numbers soon. As a proud owner of a Honda Civic Hybrid, I can tell you that I am getting great gas mileage (45-51 mpg highway/35-44 city).

Another alternative to the current line up of cars, is the Smart Car. These cars are made by Daimler-Chrysler, and were expected to be available this year in the USA. The Smart Car is available in Europe.

Did you know that hundreds of thousands of cars were damaged during last year's hurricanes? Be very careful if you plan to buy a used car.

A New York Times article paints a confused, slow to respond White House just before and immediately after Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast. The article may leave us wondering if this administration has the ability to respond to any emergency. Some excerpts follow: The White House was beset by the "fog of war" in the crucial days immediately after Hurricane Katrina, leaving it unable to respond properly to the unfolding catastrophe, House investigators said Friday after getting the most detailed briefing yet on how President Bush's staff had handled the events....
...The White House, Mr. Rapuano said, finally received confirmation about the levee breach about 6 a.m. on Tuesday, the morning after it occurred. But even then, it does not appear that word got immediately to Mr. Bush, who was on vacation and who later said that he had had a "sense of relaxation" and had thought the city had "dodged a bullet."

"We are left with a picture of a White House that was plagued by the fog of war," said David Marin, the Republican staff director to the House committee investigating the government's response to the hurricane. "The committee is likely to find a disturbing inability by the White House to de-conflict and analyze information — and that had consequences..."