New York City on alert

New_York_2007624, originally uploaded by pkingflorida.

I took this photo on a recent family vacation to New York City.

The SWAT Team was on alert after a car bomb was found in London. I can tell you this is a bit unnerving when you’re with your family in the big city. Used to be we were frightened by muggers but when you see a SWAT Team in Times Square your focus shifts, you look around at the big picture and wonder “what if a bomb goes off in Times Square?” It’s the same feeling in Grand Central, I found myself walking through the terminal with thoughts of “what if” with regard to terrorism.

The Terminator is Coming to Florida!

Have you heard? Arnold Schwarzenegger is coming to Florida Summit on Global Climate Change to impart his wisdom on energy conservation and global warming California style?As a collective state we need to evaluate nuclear power as an option; 14% of Florida’s current energy demands are met with nuclear power and to this date have been done so without major incident. As we move forward and consider nuclear the concern mounts for the waste but I would hold up France and their nuclear program as a model for further study. Look at the independence they have established from reliance on gas and oil and the economic benefit of selling power across Europe.I’m not a nuclear power spokesman or anything of the sort and feel Florida should be careful not to pass quick judgement on coal fired plants. Consider this, in Germany they are working on developing coal fired plants that discharge no CO2. While still several years away and also facing the issue of what to do with the stripped out CO2 waste, I hope lawmakers proceed this week with caution as to coal fired plants, since coal is still very abundant and relatively less expensive.

So, welcome Mr Terminator and I hope that your comments stir productive debate on the energy needs of Florida and are not just sound bites from a former movie star

Out of the Peleton

What a marvelous finish to Stage 1 at the Tour De France yesterday!

Robbie McEwen demonstrated some incredible professional cycling tactics after crashing then moving up from behind the peloton to the perfect timing of his winning sprint.

Regarding the Tour, someone commented to me  that with the casualties to the big names and doping there would be less interest in this year’s Tour. That may be true among non-cyclists, I don’t know, but I find myself drawn to this year’s tour because of the fact each day is an unknown. In years past I would watch to see if Lance would retain his title, no question it was a great draw for the Tour among the US contingent.   This year it appears to me that on any given day of the Tour anyone can win giving exposure to some of the world’s other fine cycling athletes. 

Chris Carmichael had a great piece on McEwen’s tactics and how the team cars and other vehicles play a role in getting a rider back to the Peleton. There is quite a bit of strategy on both the part of the team drivers and the rider for that team, something I had never known. Here is the link to that article:  http://www.trainright.com/articles.asp?uid=2170

Powering Florida

Let me first say that I work for a utility company in Florida and so bring along a bias but I have some questions regarding Govenor Crist & the shelving of plans to build the Taylor County plant.

I do hear the environmental concerns although today’s coal fired plants are vastly cleaner than their predecessors but still release toxins into the air. I still have not heard a convincing, fact based argument on the real effects of global warming ( I saw Inconvenient Truth & was not impressed after researching GW facts) and in my mind Global warming is mostly a political argument until scientist prove otherwise, it is giving Al Gore a second career…

My questions:

Where is the dialogue on meeting Florida’s future energy demands?

Why aren’t we discussing nuclear power?

The environmental/conservation discussions are great but conservation methods alone will not keep up with our energy demands. Nuclear power, costly to build, has improved and warrants more exposure and discussion. European countries such as France have successfully built nuclear programs but like the global warming debate we never really look in depth at the facts to make decsions rather it becomes emotionally or politically skewed.

I hope Crist & the gang address energy demands soon or I would recommend that generator on sale at Lowes…

Thanks Lebron…

Lebron James performance last night against Detroit was for me sort of a “Re-connect” to the NBA Post-Jordan,Bird and Magic.

Turned off to the NBA by player antics and just sheer boredom, I was jumping out of my seat last night upon James swishing a fade-away 3 pointer in overtime, OMG! Let’s see, last time I bounced out of the chair was Jordan’s incredible lay up, double dip thingy against, if I remember, the Lakers in playoffs gone by.

I can’t say I’m completely rehabbed back to being an NBA fan but last night was incredible and I would think boosts a league suffering from some image problems and like I said, boredom. (I couldn’t watch San Antonio vs Utah, boring, boring, boring, although I will say the Phoenix series wasn’t bad.)

So, you go Lebron, keep evolving because many of us want to be engaged and last night was a performance for the books!

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