Posts tagged new york times

Hammer Out Passive Houses

December 30, 2008 · Filed under business, cars, development, economics, family, green living, politics, renewable energy · Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

It seems intelligent people are interested in passive housing construction.  (Rosenthal’s article maintains its top spot on most emailed New York Times article- day 4?)  Profit driven individuals who recognize good ideas when they’re shoved in front of their face seem very interested in passive houses.  Way to be among the visionary elite about to seize the reigns and create change for good as soon as Obama and his cusper crew enter the oval and the shoe dodging dingo slinks into oblivion.

As design teams and construction companies scramble to get LEED certified , becoming leaders in energy and environmental design, house construction halts here at home due to our current financial crisis.  But some of the millennials are coming up and thinking about starter houses.  Think about the near future consumers- who value high mpg vehicles (useful during ice storms) and aren’t lulled into tryptophan unconscious by the convenient lowering of gas prices in the winter just as house heating bills skyrocket.  (Just wait till next summer all you new truck drivers… SUV sales this December will outnumber small car sales for the first time in a while…)

My advice- study hard and produce for me.  I am your target market.  An intelligent, up and comming owner who is not quite there yet but will be as soon as you all get your products figured out and produced.  I’m not buying until the green good stuff comes out anyway.

Better Place’s electric car network will test in Israel. Perhaps passive houses could test in Gaza since there’s a whole area that needs to be reconstructed…  Talk about an environmentally savvy peace offering.  (German construction in Gaza, what a concept.)  In fact, teach citizens of Gaza LEED construction techniques and send them out to do their own reconstruction (teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for life).  Pride in reconstruction might keep everyone’s minds off of rockets for a few minutes.

As a side note, I’m a firm believer in the power of the reality tv show.  If we made the whole reconstruction transparent and had the world vote on the best construction designs,  keep the entire process open to observation and critique. It’ll create jobs.

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Detroit Out – Denmark and Tel Aviv In?

December 11, 2008 · Filed under business, development, economics, green living, politics, public transporation, renewable energy · Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Thomas Friedman strikes again.  He wrote a fantastic op-ed in NYT, as he tends to do, about a possible future for the auto industry.  Forward thinkers unite.  (Even Huffington is picking it up, that’s how awesome he is.)

“…someone in the mobility business in Denmark and Tel Aviv is already developing a real-world alternative to Detroit’s business model.”

Someone was bound to do it.

Check out Better Place, from Palo Alto, California, they’re building an electric car network and it’s gonna happen in Hawaii first.  (I already wrote about how amazing Hawaii is looking about now with Gov Lingle’s green energy collective negotiating strategy for change…)

All I have to say to all the depressed, scared, oh woah is me Midwesterners- stop freaking out and get involved.  Change gonna come.  We all hope for sooner rather than later.  If you don’t have the Vision to see, talk to someone who does.  We’ll bat away all of your excuses and nay saying.  (I practiced over Thanksgiving, I’m really good at it.)  There are better ways of doing everything and while you might be too old to switch gears, we have a whole energized  movement of younger, capable individuals who are ready and willing to collectively step to the plate and figure all this crap out.  The best thing you can do, Bush et all, is get out of our way and let us get to work.  It’ll happen sooner and more quickly thank you think.

Don’t bail out the dinosaurs.  Give 34 great ideas a billion dollars each.  Let America decide.

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The Solution for the Detroit Situation

December 5, 2008 · Filed under business, development, economics, green living, politics, public transporation, renewable energy · Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

So I’m reading the New York Times review of today’s congressional hearing, you must read it. and I’m coming up with THE SOLUTION.  Congress is debating all of the reasons to NOT bailout the Big Three that we’ve all been thinking about.  The companies aren’t competitive.  They haven’t been for a long time. The unions… (I can’t even go there, unions are such a good idea in theory…) Their product line is inconsistent with the needs of today (my consumer generation) and the people running the show think that it’s impossible to figure it out in time.  (As was suggested by the “tight calendar” line.)

Hey, I think to myself, that’s my money honey!  I have a BETTER idea.  (Actually, I believe many intelligent people have better ideas.  You can probably find a few of them here in the bloggoshere.  FYI, I love how Adrianna Huffington pronounces ‘bloggoshere!”)

What ELSE could we do with 34 billion dollars BESIDES give it to a crappy company.  (This is business, it’s not personal.  Ten cents for everytime you’ve heard that line…)

How about fund 34 of the best ideas for new green transportation (independent and community centric) with a billion dollars each.   Idea makers, lawyers, promotions people, sales people, producers, developers, engineers, advertisers, web people, (I could go on) start your engines!  What do you think will happen??

Alright- before the reveal- I don’t have a good name for this yet, you know, something catchy, quirky, with alteration… feel free to write in with ideas…

AMERICAN TRANSPORT THE TV SHOW!!!!!  Yes!! I said it!!  Make a reality tv show about our collective future.  It would be SO AWESOME!  As every intelligent reader knows, if there are 34 good ideas put on the MARKET, only the best idea will survive to change the world.  Or maybe a few of them will.  Who knows, this is live tv, I mean, economics.  The penultimate businesses will be voted of the island, the market won’t support them/America knows best.  The market naturally chooses the ideas that make the most cents/sense.   Great ideas surface like dot coms and blogs and only the best survive/ inspire audience participation.  (Well, except the Jennifer Hudson fiasco.)   A billion dollars is enough to get the process rolling and we can document it all, show it to America and we can call in and vote.  No,  I’m actually serious.  We vote on the best singers, the best dancers, Trump fires the crappiest employee, Heidi K tells the worst designer that he or she is out, even crappy chefs get chopped up, ON TV!  Let’s talk future transportation.  Let’s document it.  Let America Vote/Buy.  I mean, we are the target market, right?

I’d watch.  I’d call in, or text, or whatever.  If texting fees apply, maybe that can become a slush fund to the winner or something.  I actually think this could be the best idea I’ve ever come up with.  This would be the coolest show, so many people would get jobs.  These are my people.  We all  need jobs!!  Real jobs.  Crackberry style jobs.  Green adverting dollars…. Green fashion… Oh ya, did I mention that it’ll be good for the planet?

This is team building baby.  The bigger the ideas, the bigger the discussion, the better the outcome after everything is thought out.  I’m glad that congress isn’t just a Yes Man for the Big Three.  Way to debate you guys.  Points to Wagoner for a great statement, it’s just lacking proof… My way is better. It’s a huge idea.  Mind blowing actually.  But- we can do it.  Seriously.

Alright, the idea’s out now.  If anyone wants to collaborate, I’m right here.  Just think, you could save me from law school.

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