The Message... Thank God!

Are you as tired as I am of listening to the endlessly stupid garbage being tossed around by the Party-of-Just-Say-No-About-Everything-to-Wreck-the-U.S.-Ecconmy-So-Obama-Won’t-be-Re-Elected – the Republicans and the Hide-Our-Heads-and-Hope-the-Republicans-Go-Away – the Democrats?

Frankly, I’m frightened that the Tea Party dominated Republicans will come out on top while President Obama stands by, trying to be a conciliator and our national train runs off the cliff, plunging us into the deepest depression yet to be witnessed on earth.

Now is the time for leadership and I pray that it appears.

Fortunately, a few of our governors recently heard that message at the National Governors Association Annual Meeting, 17 July 2011. Thomas Friedman, Foreign Affairs Columnist, New York Times, a Pulitzer Prize, three-time winner, delivered it.

I sure hope someone was listening.  You can. Go here: http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/MeetingClo

What Does It Take? Here's One Idea

Often we are so occupied with thinking nothing can be done; that all the innovation and new ideas are created somewhere else... anywhere else... but not here in the USA. The following is a report about a game-changing innovation which may very well be the spark that ignites a new industry which could employ millions and help give us the energy independence we so desperately need.

Solar power goes viral

MIT researchers use genetically modified virus to produce structures that improve solar-cell efficiency by nearly one-third. by David L. Chandler, MIT News Office April 25, 2011

Researchers at MIT have found a way to make significant improvements to the power-conversion efficiency of solar cells by enlisting the services of tiny viruses to perform detailed assembly work at the microscopic level.

In a solar cell, sunlight hits a light-harvesting material, causing it to release electrons that can be harnessed to produce an electric current. The new MIT research, published online this week in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, is based on findings that carbon nanotubes — microscopic, hollow cylinders of pure carbon — can enhance the efficiency of electron collection from a solar cell's surface.

Previous attempts to use the nanotubes, however, had been thwarted by two problems. First, the making of carbon nanotubes generally produces a mix of two types, some of which act as semiconductors (sometimes allowing an electric current to flow, sometimes not) or metals (which act like wires, allowing current to flow easily). The new research, for the first time, showed that the effects of these two types tend to be different, because the semiconducting nanotubes can enhance the performance of solar cells, but the metallic ones have the opposite effect. Second, nanotubes tend to clump together, which reduces their effectiveness.

And that’s where viruses come to the rescue. -more-

Welcome to Grosse Ile!

Tie up, have lunch, pick up a missing tool or part, at the Grosse Ile Public Dock, East River at Grosse Ile Parkway.

We welcome visitors to Grosse Ile.

Some come by SUV or car, some bike and some drop in by plane. But, none arrive by boat. That is to say, none of our friends can stop by, tie up and enjoy lunch or a cool drink at our Macomb Street businesses off East River. Why? Because there is no public dock facility available.

Today, we have an opportunity to create one. Prime property off East River Road at Grosse Ile Parkway has become available to the Township.  You’ve driven by a million times. If you are a longtime Islander, it’s likely you dropped a line into the river at this spot and enjoyed the spectacular view.

It’s time to turn this neglected beach into a spectacular public area, put in a dock for our boating and sailing friends, and welcome them to their new home on Grosse Ile!

Tom's Letter

When I opened my eyes today I discovered a compassionless nation.

Millions of my fellow citizens are struggling to put food on their tables, if they have tables. Millions have lost and millions more will soon lose their homes. Millions will live this day through without even a glimmer of hope for basic medical care.

Each direction I look I see people begging for a chance to work again; to provide for their families and themselves. And after years of turndowns, millions more have stopped seeking work, fallen off the charts, and fading into shadow people.

The minority, those who still have jobs, bank accounts, homes, cars – a “middle class” American life – avert their eyes and look away. Fearing contamination, they refuse to see what is happening and declare the victims to be the criminals. They don’t want to acknowledge what is happening.

But soon, they too, will join our ranks. It is inevitable because through their avarice, the tiny few who are “coin operated” have once again “stolen” the wealth of the many.

Those who remember reading now understand that history does repeat. None of us, even for a split second, thought the countless revolutions of the past would be revisited on us… by us.

Still, here we are, simply trying to regain what our parents had and our children will never see unless we unite, rediscover the path our ancestors walked and walk it ourselves. Our numbers have become vast. We have nothing to lose and only a smidgen of a chance to retrieve what has been stolen from us.

The tiny few who “have” all the mega wealth now do have much to fear. Because the country has long since stopped working for the many.

Sooner or later the shadow people will be visiting the mega wealthy people, unless in self-interest, the tiny few become enlightened and allow the many to hold at least a piece of the American Dream once again.

History teaches that a tomorrow will come. At similar tipping points in the past other shadow people summoned up their courage to retrieve their collective rights; found the strength to correct injustice; and then took back their stolen wealth, homes and savings. Eventually, the shadow people will become empowered to repeat the cycle and try to create a new society, a new government.

It is time, for: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.”

Something To Say... About Detroit, Chrysler and Detroiters

I'm not much of a Super Bowl person. Nor am I much of  a "car guy" any more.

But, I am a believer in the inherent goodness, strength, persistence, and ingenuity of salt-of-the-earth people. They are my heroes. Sooner or later they will come through. Bet on it.

The Detroit area is overflowing with heroes… The Greatest Generation, our police and firefighters, our hospital personnel, our emergency responders, our teachers, our Peace Corp. vets, our clergy, our military vets… Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraq, Afghanistan… and all those who served our nation in unnamed, unacknowledged service. Most importantly our workers... hundreds of thousands of our workers... who have repeatedly taken it on the chin during this depression and haven't given up.

These are the people who come to my mind when I think of Detroit. Heroes all.

I see all this and more in this commercial… yes a car commercial. And it’s Eminem taking a lead role, too! Irony. That is what it is.

I’m about as far away from “rap” as one can be. So, here’s one star I would never have considered if I had been in Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne’s shoes. Fortunately, he is the MAN and he made an incredibly good call.

The results are obvious.

I’m proud he chose Eminem and Proud for Detroit, Chrysler / Fiat. And, now I’m proud to call myself a Detroiter, too.

Watch this commercial. You'll understand. Imported from Detroit.

Some Hope for the World

Over the past few months I admit to feeling depressed.

It's been difficult for millions of us who have lost our homes, are out of work and without medical care.

Of course, that's just the beginning of the 2010 list of woes, which is capped by the horrendous loss of life; untold “collateral” human carnage; plus trillions of dollars in stupidly squandered wealth, wrought by two monstrous wars.

But, my perspective has brightened a little due to a recent New York Times article, “Ben Franklin’s Nation”, written by David Brooks, in which he directs his readers to Swedish professor Hans Rosling’s YouTube video, “… about global wealth and well-being over the past 200 years.”

Perhaps it’s a strange accident, but today I live in the Metro Detroit area, which is often given a secondary title to “Motor Capital”, as one of the “birthing places of middle class America”.

Further, I live within the boundaries Grosse Ile, a beautiful island which is in turn is surrounded by the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge.

So, today, I’m counting my blessings and inviting you to view the professor’s video and read Brooks column, in which he concludes:

“For centuries, people have ridiculed American culture for being tepid, materialistic and middle class. But Ben Franklin’s ideas won in the end. The middle-class century could be another American century.”

Detroit/Wayne County Port Making Come Back

Construction on the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority's riverfront dock and terminal building is well underway. Last week, work began on its off-shore wharf, which will enable docking of vessels of various sizes. The construction entails the construction of a 200-by-30 foot steel pile-supported structure that will reach 40 feet into the river.

"The wharf will allow us to have multiple berths and still use the sea wall," says John Kerr, the Port Authority's economic development specialist. "It's meant to handle different-sized vessels, accommodate small crafts and large, plus it gets us into deeper water."

Kerr envisions users to be Great Lakes cruise ships, party yachts like the Ovation and Infinity, tall ships, visiting Naval frigates and a commuter ferry service between Detroit and Windsor.

The latter just got a major boost from the Obama administration, when Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood recently named the ferry as an initial project of the American Marine Highway program, making it eligible to compete for future funding once feasibility analysis is complete.

The terminal building is 21,000 square feet and will hold a customs processing area, ticket counters, restrooms and a lounge area, the port authority's office and a public plaza with space for special events and educational interpretive exhibits.

The $22 million project has been funded entirely through competitive grants, including USDOT TIGER funds. "We've been successful in bringing some of these dollars back to Michigan," says Kerr, who hopes all construction will be complete by the end of 2010.

While the wharf is being built, likely through the fall, a small portion of the Detroit RiverWalk between the General Motors Renaissance Center and Hart Plaza will be closed and pedestrians and cyclists will be re-routed onto Atwater Street.

Go here for more information: Detroit/Wayne County Port AuthorityWriter: Kelli B. Kavanaugh