I’m just going out on a limb here, but I’m assuming that most of the males who showed up in the poll updates were probably single and lonely. Hence, they appreciate a relatively attractive womanfolk in power. (Yes, “appreciate” is a euphemism.) Similarly, as stated in some credible biology book published sometime by someone, female Homo sapiens frown upon any other female trying to be “better” than they are. Yes, men are like this too, but everyone already knows that. A jealous female? *Gasp*. Dare I say it… they exist!

Really, how biased is it to accuse Palin is jeopardizing her family life by enlisting herself in such an important political role? Millions of families have to endure even worse. At least her children have two parents. At least they’re relatively well off. And if things were really going to take a turn for the worse, they would have already happened! She has already been a mayor and governor, after all. Now don’t get me wrong, not all females are capable of handling this role. Case in point: Hillary Clinton. I cannot even begin to express my relief that she lost to Obama. The last thing we need is another Clinton in the White House, but I won’t go into detail since I’ll need another post to rant about how much I dislike her.

Anyways, Palin is far different. She actually has a record to support what she says. Females should aspire to emulate her straight-forward nature, sound control of expenses, and most importantly, her mad basketball skills. Many have said that the United States isn’t ready for a woman President. But hey, how about a Vice-President? Any takers out there? I sure am.

No, I haven’t actually conducted any studies on how prevalent this is. It’s just frustrating to imagine: Two people with identical qualifications (admission exam scores, GPAs, extracurriculars, etc.), but one getting in just because he or she is Hispanic. Don’t get me wrong, I know many outstanding applicants of what society considers to constitute minority decent, but this doesn’t change the fact – some people simply get accepted just because graduate schools need the demographic diversity. I hate this. I don’t mean to sound like I’m racist (because I’m not), but if a South Asian person applied as an underrepresented minority (URM) to a medical school, they might be asking for a death wish. If an African American did not apply as a URM, they too would be questioned. All of this is nonsense, if you ask me. Some people are just too comfortable reassuring themselves that their “minority” status will single handedly get them places in life. As Martin Luther King Jr. once so eloquently stated, people should “not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Though there are many hard working “minorities” who deserve their accomplishments, some still prefer to rely solely on their ethnicity (and all the associated hardships) to drive their lives. This simply isn’t fair for those people who really had struggles working against them (ie, the economically disadvantaged). My accolades and admiration go out to those individuals, for they have to overcome actual hardships to get them anywhere in life.

Last year, I was all for hydrogen power. It seemed like such an elegant solution for our current environmental situation. With all the jargon aside, how cool is burning oxygen to create water? Heck, even beloved BMW has developed a V12 hydrogen-gasoline hybrid engine demonstrating the performance and practicality of the fuel. So what’s the point? We’re now paying over $4 a gallon for unleaded gasoline, something which I feel has contributed significantly to America’s economic recession. Consumers don’t have time for scientists to sit around “test drive” new methods of isolating the hydrogen fuel in an energy efficient manner. Growing microbes which produce hydrogen as a byproduct of their metabolism or harvesting solar energy to facilitate the electrolysis reaction of water into oxygen and hydrogen gas are just two of the many options which are far from mainstream implementation. 

The electric car has found its niche at this point. Toshiba developed a lithium ion battery which could be recharged to 80% of its capacity in a minute… and this was over three years ago. We now have methods to condition batteries, make the irritating memory effect a thing of the past, and push battery capacities to new limits. Even politicians are getting involved. Republican presidential candidate John McCain recently proposed a $300 million prize to whoever finds a “better” battery for electric automobiles. Mind you, this is no easy task. Afterall, it’s not like scientists are not trying to achieve such a goal in the first place. But this additional incentive just might spur some people to shift their research interests. 

I was reading a magazine earlier this morning about the Tesla Roadster, a purely electric roadster vehicle which currently sells for around $100,000 (oh yeah, there’s a wait list too). I’ve read about Tesla many times before, but when the suave-looking vehicle was juxtaposed alongside a headline stating “$4 a gallon”, I was more inclined to read about the vehicle’s detailed specifications. Sure it costs money to charge the car, but depending on the source you consult, the Tesla’s petroleum-equivalent efficiency is above 100 miles per gallon (mpg). Of course, saving money on the fuel might be countered by a high initial cost for the vehicle itself, but hey, at least it looks cool. If you think about it, combustion engines haven’t changed too much in the last century. This sad truth is a direct result of convenience. Who needs to worry about efficiency when you can throw some cheap liquid into a tank and ignite it? To me, based on how advanced we’re supposed to be as a society, it’s time for a change. Electric vehicles offer a far less noise pollution. They offer less moving parts and consequently less maintenance costs. They offer more performance (ie, a lot more torque off the line). Why didn’t we think of this sooner? Well, because we didn’t need to.

Basically, it looks like car companies across the world are shifting their focus from gasoline vehicles to gas-electric and purely electric alternatives. Hydrogen power will just have to sit in the backseat for another decade or two, but one day, it too will become a very applicable source of energy. I’m just happy that things are finally starting to get done regarding alternative energy.