So, I heard an ad on the radio today by a local car dealership (sorry, can’t remember which dealership) touting its fleet of flex-fuel cars. I like to think I’m pretty aware and up on the latest movements, but that was a new one for me. Obviously, there are a few hints in the name and with all the current momentum regarding finding alternatives to oil dependency I had a few ideas, but not a solid understanding.

Once I got home, I looked it up, and it seems that for the best insights, one should go to Brazil, where ethanol accounts for 40% of fuel that goes into the cars that fill their roads and highways. Many of these cars sport engines that allow the driver to switch between ethanol and gasoline – and that, albeit a simple definition, is a flex-fuel car.

The part I found rather ironic is that, although it isn’t a type of car that has ever been mentioned much by the car industry or mainstream media here in the States, it is one that various American automakers have produced on some level – and that level was the one where they sought to do a little bit to get breaks from fuel-economy standards (for more information on this topic, just search the internet for CAFE standards, there are all kinds of articles out there). But if the law of unintended consequences kicks in, won’t it be interesting to see if this type of car could actually gain more traction in the markets?

And yes, one could argue that the move to flex-fuel cars would not be an unintended consequence based on the original purpose of CAFE, but I doubt that increased production and sales of this type of car were ever the intention of the automakers. Plus, increasing popularity of this type of car is just speculation at this point, but it might be interesting to keep a lookout in the Denver area and see if this car can move into the mainstream and if it is even a part of any viable energy solution.

Any input on where you can get ethanol in Denver is also welcome since I have no idea on this part of the topic.

My wife pointed my to this last night. Very handy information to keep around come DNC-time.

Road Closures and re-routes during the DNC

“Downtown parking at lots, garages and meters will be “largely accessible,” with “the majority” of downtown meters available.”

So the limited and usually full parking will be “mostly” available. I’m sure glad I don’t park down town!

“Light rail going into downtown — including the D, F and H lines — won’t be disrupted during the convention, but there will be no light rail service to and from the Pepsi Center and Denver Union Station stops.

Light rail C and E line passengers going downtown will need to switch to the D, F and H lines. C and E line passengers will have to get off at the Invesco Field at Mile High light-rail stop.”

Wouldn’t closing stops and making people change trains, be a disruption? Maybe my dictionary isn’t up to date :)

Read the whole thing for details, but definitely keep in mind, getting to, from, and around Downtown, is gonna be the epitome of teh suck come DNC-time

The beggars are coming to town
Some in rags and some in jags
And one in a velvet gown.”

Can’t Obama help Denver pay for the move to Invesco? We’re having trouble getting the basic requirements and now this is going to cost an extra $3 million which would be a small portion of the interest he gets on his campaign funds.

How ’bout helping out the common man a little, mister?

According to the Post (my new favorite source of info, it seems!) McCain will be at the Denver Center for the Performing arts, tomorrow at 10am.

From the article

“People can enter the Donald R. Seawell Grand Ballroom to see the Republican presidential candidate starting at 10 a.m. Monday.”

Have republicans, say ‘hi’ to your boy for us, maybe he can scope out a job here in Denver, since winning the election sure ain’t in the cards ;)

The Denver Post has an article and poll right now on the topic.

It seems that Senator Obama is looking to give his acceptance speach at Invesco Field, in order to accomodate more of the public. w00t!!! is all I gotta say. I’d love to be at the DNC, but it’s pretty unlikely. But if the Senator decided to give his speach at Invesco, I’ll be there! Funny that the first (and maybel only) time for me to be there won’t be to see the Broncos, LOL.

From the Post

“The move would mark a major departure from tradition, but would be in keeping with the candidate’s desire to build a large grass-roots campaign focused on “change.” “

What I’ve always liked about Obama is that he does change things. Just because “it’s the way it’s always been” doesn’t make it right, and I think that’s especially super duper 100% the case in politics!

I figured I’d try out polling tool out, too so feel free to read the Post’s article and do their poll, but do ours too, Come on Metbog readers! Get Involved!!!

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it all started here...but it looks like…she’s done. The Mayor turned on her yesterday with this.

“Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper is changing his tune. Initially, Hickenlooper soft-pedaled the surprise performance of the “Black National Anthem” by a popular jazz singer who had been tapped to sing the Star-Spangled Banner at his annual State of the City address Tuesday. But by Wednesday, the mayor belted out some harsh words for the chanteuse.

“The city asked Rene Marie to sing the national anthem at (Tuesday’s) State of the City event. She agreed to do so. We expected her to sing the national anthem, and she deceived us,” the mayor told reporters at a news conference in front of the City and County Building.

“Her actions show a certain lack of understanding for how strongly our community feels about patriotic symbols and traditions, and certainly overshadowed a day of great importance to our city,” Hickenlooper said.”

And he managed to find his courage…how quaint. Mayor, you have a lotta work to do if you think this is going to change the knee-knockin’ impression you’ve seared on my brain…you are sorely mistaken.

“But in a tradition-laden civic ceremony that included a law enforcement color guard presenting our flags and the Pledge of Allegiance — making a personal substitution for the national anthem was not an option. We asked for the Star-Spangled Banner and that’s what we expected,” he said.

“We will do whatever it takes to ensure that a situation like this never occurs again, even if I have to sing the national anthem myself,” Hickenlooper added.

The mayor said it would be “close to impossible” that Marie would be invited to sing at another city function again.

Even Ritter (who I still am fussed with over the union move) expressed his dismay. When you’ve lost Ritter…you’ve lost your standing. And of course…Tancredo lets loose.

Other elected officials took aim at Marie on Wednesday, too. On talk radio, Gov. Bill Ritter called her actions “disrespectful.” “I think the problem here is that she was invited to do one thing and she chose to do another, and that’s unfortunate for a variety of reasons,” Ritter said on the Mike Rosen Show.

“I think it’s a fair interpretation to say it’s disrespectful,” he said. U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Littleton, “condemned” Marie — as well as the mayor — “for the national anthem debacle that took place during the State of the City address,” according to a press release from Tancredo’s office.

And now Obama has brought down the hammah’ on her.

Sen. Barack Obama said today a jazz singer’s decision to sing the ‘Black National Anthem’ at Denver’s State of the City speech this week was wrong.

“Well, ‘Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing’ is a beautiful song that has been sung in African-American churches and other events for a very long time,” Obama told the Rocky in phone interview. “We only have one National Anthem. And so, if she was asked to sing the National Anthem, she should have sung that. ‘Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing’ is a beautiful song, but we only have one National Anthem.”

I don’t think anyone is really about to defend this woman for the lack of logic she exhibited. In fact, with Obama wagging his proverbial finger at her…she’s lost the whatever high ground she thought she had. The Rocky took her to task with a editorial. She’s either going to come clean…or just be all Ward Churchill on us and say, “Nope, I’m right and y’all are wrong…so there…pbbbbbbt!”. I wouldn’t suggest the latter. Tends to put you in a small little corner with a few energetic supporters. But still few.

What do you think? Here’s a handy dandy non-scientific-easy to skew poll to decide.  Because I care.  Or something.  :)

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7/2/2008: update at the bottom…

Ok, we’ve apparently hit a running stride in the race of “let’s put Denver in the news for all the wrong reasons”. First it was Hick being funny and not so funny…and now it’s someone getting all racial up in my city. By golly I do believe I’m offended. Or bothered. Or like Hick, “disappointed.” This is the kind of stuff that boggles my mind.

We as a country strive for racial equality. I personally don’t think of people as “Black” or “African American”. Got citizenship? You are an American. The color of this country runs all along the spectrum…but some people are not all the way on that bandwagon. See the stories below with the links for the fun. Seriously…can we for once move beyond being racial and dividing ourselves according to color?

9News.com says, “stirs controversy”. I say something else.

Instead, she performed the song “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” which is also known as the “black national anthem.” When she finished, the audience responded with mild applause. The national anthem was never performed.

Marie told 9NEWS she kept her plans to switch songs quiet until the very last moment. She says only she, her husband and a friend knew she was going to sing something other than the “Star-Spangled Banner.” She says she wanted to express her love of her country by mixing the lyrics of “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” with the melody of the “Star-Spangled Banner.” “When I decided to sing my version, what was going on in my head was: ‘I want to express how I feel about living in the United States, as a black woman, as a black person,’” said Marie.

But was that what you were asked to do? I do not believe so, but then again I’m a white person living in the United States. Does it make it bad that I am criticizing this action? Does it make me racial first? How do we define the pulling of said, “Racial Card”? How does this whole racial conversation of who did what go anyway? Does the Geneva Convention cover this? Seriously. This is what our city gets covered for. Wonderful.

Michelle Malkin covers it while Slapstick Politics brings the latest news to the story.

Here’s my thing. There’s a time and place to make your point, whatever it was originally. This was not that time. Maybe you accomplished getting your name and face on the blogs, news stations and all that…and maybe that was your point. I don’t know. All I know is this kind of thing doesn’t help us move forward on Racial Issues…it just mucks up the thing even more.

You know the drill kids. Let’s talk it out in comments.

7/2/2008 11:22am:  Ed Morrissay over at Hotair.com points out some possible future events coming down the pike and echoes what I was thinking this morning…

In addressing the media, Marie displayed the self-centeredness of people who hijack events for their own aggrandizement.  “When I decided to sing my version, what was going on in my head was: ‘I want to express how I feel about living in the United States, as a black woman, as a black person,” she explained.  However, the event wasn’t staged to give Marie a platform for her political views; it was an official speech by the Mayor to communicate the status of city government to its citizens.

Unfortunately, Denver had better get used to this kind of It’s all about how I feel as a [blank] thought process over the next two months.

As I thought more and more last night and into this morning I realized what she had done hadn’t been for the “Black” community or even for anybody else.  It was just for her in that moment to celebrate herself.  Now was that her conscious intent?  Probably not, but it came across that way to many in the city of Denver.  If she’s smart, she’ll apologize and do that whole, “oops” thing.  If she’s going to fight this, she’s going to lose.  There are still a good group of people in Denver, and the United States who believe that the National Anthem is just that.  THE National Anthem.

There are some things that make us all citizens of these United States.  And no separate anthem does that.

Hey Hick…you can’t be serious?!

Denver Mayor says “no” to fried foods?  I mean…seriously?  This is the big issue facing the convention right now…like, we need to do this?  As Ms. Malkin says and I echo…what about the Southern Dems who love their fried food?  Heck, even I love me some of it.  I mean…SERIOUSLY?

See the Malkin Write Up Here. LittleGreenFootballs noticed our mayor too..

Look, I’m all about eating right and being healthy…but mandating and taking away the choice with the catering?  That’s a little…too much.

Aight, let’s talk this out in comments.  :)

Came across this little gem on another blog I read.

I wasn’t planning on being one of the many wing nuts penned in in the protest pits, but if I was, I’d be thinking twice for sure!

Mud Butt!!

Maybe they’ll deploy from those kick ass black hawks we all saw the other week? that’d be cool. Well not for the those it was used on, but for those of us watching :)

Be careful you protesting lot, August is a hot month to have dirty breaches.

This is an excerpt of the information being distributed to employees all around the Downtown area about the DNC.

“There are five main web sites coordinating locations for several protest groups:

www.recreate68.org
www.unconventionalaction.org
www.crashtheconventions.com
www.dncdisruption08.org
www.tentstate.org

Some peripheral groups will include both Pro and Anti-abortion groups, Anti-war groups,
All Nations Alliance, Earth Liberation Front, the Animal Liberation Front and the
Anarchist Movement.”

While I’m hoping no one gets hurt or no property is destroyed, I love the idea that major protests will happen in our Mile High City. I was 3 years old and living in Chicago during the 1968 DNC. I can’t believe 40 years have passed and now I live near the city where a DNC will be held, and one group, Re-create 68, is drawing on the past to protest for the future.

I can’t help but wonder how large the turnout of protesters. The city is calling for a combined total of 30,000 protesters and other visitors. This number seems low. Again, is the City of Denver anticipating protester turnout based on more recent conventions of the past ten or so years? It seems to me that issues like the environment, gas prices, war, the economy, etc are more heated this time around. But I guess all we can do is wait and see.

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In case you missed this article, here’s a link to more info on protesting: Arapahoe County mulls protest rules.