Threads 2.3

Threads 2.3 10/23/08

Threads Contents Editorial -A Note From My Desk Page One - A world beyond fuel Page Two -A world beyond fuel cont’d -The dark side of financial crisis Page Three -Dark side continued -Dear Atlas Page Four -The new space race -In the news A NOTE FROM MY DESK:

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fter last week’s work putting together 2.2, I have decided that for now, eight pages will be the exception and not the rule for Threads. So I am reverting back to the standard four pages for this issue. I personally would like my readers to feel as if they’ve learned something with each issue. But I really do encourage feedback, because without it, I don’t know if I’m doing something wrong. This issue I fear will just make deadline as I am simultaneously working on the reformatting of Threads 2.4, so the next issue will look a bit different. I’ve decided to start with small changes, and focus on the larger ones later. But that is all for now, as always, this one is for you… Enjoy.

2.3

“Mediocrity kills”

A world beyond fuel There is no question that there is a dependency on fuel in the world. Although gasoline prices have recently been going down, some automobile companies Above: The Magnetic Air Car, Below: the Seatare Brisa making a push to eliminate the use of the fossil fuel altogether using renewable resources is on the rise. As large auto retailers focus on manufacturing hybrid and electric powered cars, smaller companies around the world are thinking out side of the standard alternative fuels. Pretty soon, the same elements that humans require to live will also power our vehicles. Magnetic Air Cars Inc, a company based in San Jose, California is currently developing a car that will be the first fuel-less car. Although the exact technology behind the cars is not known, the car will have a battery made up of "an electrolyte of silicon [that] uses chemosynthesis to deliver a more environmentally friendly, high-capacity, quick-charging, [with a] 10-year life." The car however will be powered using magnetic technology and compressed air. The air will be channeled through the engine, according to enviromentalgraffiti.com, and the resulting air flow will be [through an unknown process] converted to torque which will power the axis and move the car. This process will be powered by the battery. A car running on air is not a new idea however, the first air car that was conceptualized can be traced all the way back to the 1890's with General Herman Haupt who seen Robert Hardie's air powered locomotives that would run on the streets of New York City and believed the same would work for cars. In 1937 the first U.S. Patent (#2,030,759) was made for an air powered engine. Bob Neal, a shoemaker from Arkadelphia

Threads 2.3 10/23/08 Beyond fuel Continued Arkansas created the engine which worked using a series of high and low pressure valves. Neal had to fly his invention to the Patent office in order to prove that his engine really worked and wasn't another perpetual motion machine. But the first working Air Car was built by Bill Truitt in 1920. Although the initial design wasn't perfect, by the 1970's he had corrected his earlier mistakes and gave the rights to his vehicle to NASA and the Army. Truitt released all but two aspects of his design in a disclosure, these two "aspects" of his design he kept confidential. In the 21st century however, a car powered by compressed air still has not been successfully developed. India car maker Tata Motors was set to be release the first air powered car, called the Air Car in India this year, but it hasn't happened yet. "The Air Car still requires nearly two years of work, to refine its technology." said Tata Motors corporate communications leader in January of this year. But there is a lot of skepticism behind cars powered by air. Numerous people find the concept of a car that runs on air unlikely, and perhaps even a scam.

The Dark side of the financial Crisis The financial crisis that is sweeping the nation and the world is having a horrific effect on many people. Financial troubles are causing many people to feel they have no where to go to get out of the situation that they are in, and many across the country are resorting to desperate measures, including suicide. On October 6, in a small gated community called Sorrento Pointe in Los Angeles California, an unemployed man, facing mounting financial issues shot and killed his wife, his three sons ages 19, 12 and 7, his mother-in-law then shot himself. The man had an advanced finance degree and had recently lost his job at Pricewaterhouse Coopers and Sony Pictures. They family had lived in the home for a year but they did not own it. In Taunton Massachusetts, 53 year old Carlene Balderrama faxed a short note to her insurance company that was about to put her home up for auction. The note read; "by the time you foreclose on my house, I'll be dead." Balderrama's body was found by the police after getting notified by the insurance company of the note. She had fatally shot herself with her husbands rifle. In Prineville Oregon, 71 year old Raymond and 69 year old Deanna Donaca committed suicide after losing the battle to keep their home. The couple started the engine on their

"This concept has been going nowhere for the last 10 years, they make promises that are never kept. They prey upon investors fantasies of owning an auto factory. Their business plan itself is flawed, but it is flawed for a reason," said one commenter on the Popular Mechanics website. " The car has never traveled more than a few miles in tests, but they are always claiming to be ready to go to production. If you take all of the information and videos ever disseminated by these "inventors" you will see many contradictory statements, and reasoning that defies logic, and performance claims that defy the natural laws of the universe. Compressed air is a very low energy content storage medium, the size of the air tank claimed for the car will never move the car the distances claimed." Despite the criticism, several companies like Magnetic Air Cars Inc still push forward with their ideas. Another car company however is developing a car that runs exclusively on solar energy. The three wheeled Seat Brisa has an exoskeleton made out of solar panels which is converted to energy to propel the car. The car was designed exclusively for leisure driving and in the event the sun weren't out, the Seat Brisa does have a back up source of energy; a battery that can be charged beforehand.

1981 Cadilac Eldorado, shut all the windows and doors and let the carbon monoxide kill them and their four golden retrievers. In Bay City, Michigan, David and Sharron Hetzel, both 56 lost their home due to foreclosure. David sent a letter of apology out to his family then later in the evening hit Sharron who was sleeping, over the head with a golf club then stabbed her numerous times with a kitchen knife. David then proceeded to start parts of his home on fire and laid down next to his wife and killed himself. And in Ohio, 90 year old widow Addie Polk shot herself in the chest as she was about to get evicted from the place she called home for the past 38 years. Polk is currently being treated in the hospital. She was losing her home after falling prey to a lending company. Stories similar to these have been making head line news all across the country. The Suicide and Crisis Center of North Texas experiences 400 calls a day, a majority of them of people facing foreclosures, mounting debt and job loss. With no other way to turn, many desperate people are making calls to local suicide hotlines for support. The Samaritans of New York have seen calls rise over 16 percent due to the financial crisis and the Switchboard of Miami has received more than 500 calls related to foreclosures to date.

Threads 2.3 10/23/08 Financial Crisis Continued "A lot of people are telling us they are losing everything. They're losing their homes, they're going into foreclosure, they've lost their jobs," said Virginia Cervasio, executive director of suicide resource center in southwest Florida's Lee County.

boats, how will they be affected by an ebbing tide?" said Oxford University economist Anthony Atkinson.

As these stories begin to emerge throughout the country, more bad news erupts as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development released a report stating that the gap between the rich and the poor is increasing. The report indicates that things are not getting easier for people.

With growing inequality among the people due to the financial meltdown, finding a solution will inevitably become tougher. But Atkinson does offer a solution that could potentially cure this financial strain; job creation.

"What will happen if the next decade is not one of world growth but of world recession? If a rising tide didn't lift all

Opinion

Dear Altas An excerpt from Ayn Rand's book Atlas Shrugged was on my mind this past week as I went through the work week, the portion where Francisco d' Anconia is speaking to Hank Rearden about the martyrdom of industrialists. "If you saw Atlas, the giant who holds the world on his shoulders, if you saw that he stood, blood running down his chest, his knees buckling, his arms trembling but still trying to hold the world aloft with the last of his strength, and the greater his effort the heavier the world bore down upon his shoulders - what would you tell him to do?" Asks d'Anconia. "I … don't know. What … could he do? What would you tell him?" replied Rearden. I've written this quote out six different times, each time replacing Atlas' name with the name of one of my friends, putting myself in Hank Rearden's place as Francisco d' Anconia spoke to me - and questioned me. What would I tell a friend who carries with them such a heavy burden? I did my best to out smart d'Anconia's answer, writing potential responses on scrap receipt paper at work, or jotting down potential responses next to the quote I had transcribed at home. "I'd help them with the burden" "Encourage them" "Nothing" There was something about my first set of responses that I did not find plausible. I knew that some burdens only weigh on the backs of those who possess them - so "helping' a person - or friend with a burden doesn't always

The report says that the United States has the highest poverty and inequality rates, after Mexico and Turkey, of the 30 countries studied.

"If the government can take on the role of lender of last resort, then we should think about the government taking on the role of employer of last resort. Put bluntly, governments have to step up. Step up to the plate as Roosevelt did in the Great Depression," said Atkinson. work. My other two responses I felt were quite heartless. I do not know how encouraging a person who carries with them such a heavy load would do any good. Personally I've found receiving encouragement can be a two-edged sword when under that sort of pressure, meanwhile simply offering "nothing" seemed quite cold. There is no way that I could look upon the face of Atlas - or a friend in similar distress and simply do nothing. I continued to ponder the question, it nagged on me, instead of simply changing names I began to look up images of Atlas on the internet, after finding one that I liked, I began to imagine the faces of my friends in the place of his. I scribbled more potential responses on receipt paper at work; "Somehow lighten the load" "Endure it" "Move it" As I looked over these suggestions when I got home from work I realized not one of these would actually help a friend in such circumstances. It seemed I was attempting to avoid the most plausible answer. I asked myself the question put forth in the quote again. This time while at a friends apartment. "What would I tell Atlas, or a friend in the same position to do?" Then it became clear, the only way for someone to be relieved of such a burden is to rid themselves of it, reluctantly I conceded to d'Aconias answer. "To shrug" - that's what I'd tell them, get the burden off their back, this is the only way to guarantee relief - but, I felt this wasn't enough - I'd also have to provide them a place of rest once the burden is gone, not to mention aid to fix the wounds the burden created.

Threads 2.3 10/23/08

Bring it on! The new space race! Before Wednesday there had been only five successful lunar space launches, the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan and China, but now a sixth launch can be added to that list, India. One year ago China launched its first unmanned lunar rocket, and at 6:22am Indian time, India launched their own. "China has gone earlier, but today we are trying to catch them, catch that gap, bridge that gap," said Bhaskar Norayan, a director at the Indian space agency. The first Indian lunar rocket, Chandrayaan - 1 (translated means "Moon Craft - 1) will be carrying with it two devices from NASA, the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) that will collect moon samples and the Mini-SAR that will look for ice deposits in the moons polar regions. Chandrayaan - 1 lifted off from Satish Dhawan Space Center, which is on the island of Sriharikota in southern India yesterday. The mission is expected to last one and a half years. "Chandrayan - 1 is India's first spacecraft mission beyond Earth's orbit. It aims to further expand our knowledge about Earth's only natural satellite - the moon," said a spokesman for the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) One part of the mission will be an attempt to locate deposits of Helium 3 which could be used for fuel of the next generation of fusion reactors. The ISRO would also like to be able to put men on the moon in the next decade. India is quickly becoming the world leader in science and technology, and this launch is considered another breakthrough in that direction. India wants to be considered one of the emerging technological players in Asia. "When completed, the mission will put India in the very small group of six countries which have thus far sent space missions to the moon. Our scientific community has once again done the country proud and the entire nation salutes them." said India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

In The News • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Georgia believes Russia is massing troops along their borders Foreclosure filings spike 71% Nine Somali Pirates captured by French Navy South Africa’s anti-crime unit to be disbanded A fireworks blast in India kills 25 Atheist’s get first ad campaign on buses in Britain. China arrests 6 in the role of contaminated milk Oil rises to $69 a barrel States target sex offenders before Halloween Al Qaeda supports John McCain 15 California State University campuses to get solar energy Leukemia drug may reverse the effects of Multiple Sclerosis Food allergy in children up 18% in the US Middle age suicide rate rising

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