The Dump [Part I]

When I was a kid growing up on Long Island, my Dad would load up the trunk of the _______________ (insert model of Chrysler vehicle here) with a week's worth of trash. 

The garbage would be stored in galvanized steel cans with matching lids held held in place with bungee cords. 

He would drive to the local Town Dump, back to the car to the lip of the landfill, get out of the car, walk back to the open trunk while the swirling vortex of sea gulls took flight.  

Then my Dad would...

Dump. 

All trash accumulated during the week was released into the open maw of the landfill. 

Ownership of this trash was transferred from my Dad to the 'Dump'.

WIN : WIN

The empty cans would find their way back into the trunk, the car would start, and with a wave of recognition to the half-drowsing bulldozer operator, my Dad, and his co-pilot, my dog Maxie, would be on their way home again.

Dad was happy.  The dog was happy (a.k.a.:  'Barking Maniacally' at sea gulls).  The gulls were happy.  Most happy of all was the bulldozer operator knowing that he could go back to sleep beneath the large blue-striped canvas cover which protected his balding head until the next trash-dumping interloper arrived. 

Week in, week out, 52 weeks a year.  For years.

Yes.  This is 'The Dump' I remember from those trips I took with my Dad, and my dog, to 'go see the birds' at our friendly neighborhood Dump.


Of course, the above is not the ACTUAL Dump I'm talking about today.

The subject of today's post - the 'Dump' begins now...

Over the past several weeks there have been quite a few things I wanted to write about but never found the time.  Some of the items below were not suited to being the subject of a stand-alone post.  

For others, if I started writing about them individually I'd never end them because there's just so MUCH to comment on.  If you've been reading my posts for a while you already know that I do tend to RUN ON, and on, and on, and on...   Yeah, see what I mean?

And so, the Dump begins:

THE DETROIT FREE PRESS ONLINE:  Does GM's Chevy Volt ad signal return to advertising toward gay and lesbian buyers?

Gay and lesbian consumers prefer fuel-efficient cars, account for 5% of new car purchases and have average household income in the six figures -- more than that of heterosexual households, according to a recent marketing survey.

So it's little surprise that General Motors ran a gay-themed advertisement last month for the Chevrolet Volt, the type of car studies show gay and lesbian consumers tend to like.

GM didn't count on the ad drawing national attention.

First published for $750 in the Motor City Pride edition of Between the Lines, a Michigan gay and lesbian newspaper, the ad ended up being viewed 11 million times through social media.

...

"If it's a manufacturer's desire to bring in wealthier, better-educated, younger customers, then the lesbian and gay market would be an avenue to that demographic," said Chris Travell, vice president of consulting for Maritz Research, which surveyed 200,000 consumers in 2011 and found that gay and lesbian households made 10% more money.

The Volt ad "told us that this was something worth undertaking when the opportunities present themselves," said GM spokesman Tom Henderson...


[Moos Note:  The circle is complete.  GM, bailed out by ALL US Taxpayers, is using your tax dollars to subsidize the sale of GM Volts to "wealthier, better-educated, younger customers" who also happen to be a Democrat Party voting block.  Why?  Because they are smarter than you AND they don't need the back seat of this little POS electric car to haul kids around.  Oh, and they make 10% more money than you.  Not that there's anything wrong with that...  Oh my, I'm starting to think like a Democrat!  Somebody help me...]

USS Nimitz

CHICAGO TRIBUNE ONLINE:  Senators gird for fight over U.S. Navy's "Green Fleet"

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senators who support the Pentagon's push to expand its use of biofuels said they have a plan to answer critics who argue the fuel is far too expensive to help develop at a time when the military faces massive cuts.

The battle on Capitol Hill comes as the U.S. Navy's "Great Green Fleet" prepares to run military exercises in the central Pacific that will, on Thursday, feature its first operational test of biofuels.

The U.S. military is the world's largest single buyer of oil. The Obama administration has argued "Green Fleet" spending on biofuels could help boost production to commercial levels, eventually lowering prices for alternatives to oil, and reducing dependence on supplies from the Middle East.

For Thursday's demonstration project, the Navy paid more than $26 per gallon for the fuel, made from renewable sources like algae and chicken fat, a $12-million outlay that sparked congressional anger.
[Moos Note:  Traditional fuel?  $3.80 per gallon.  Renewal fuel?  $26 per gallon.  ANY idiot can plainly see that spending 6+ times MORE to use chicken fat to fire the 'Engines of Freedom' is the ONLY way to go.  And given that this Administration is chocked to the brim with 'any idiots', how could we rationally come to any other conclusion than using a nice algae / chicken broth blend to fuel our naval fleet? 

A couple of questions remain, however: 

Can chickens be successfully bred at sea to be skinned and run through the fuel tanks?   

And, if you're trying to 'sneak up on someone' (while aboard your aircraft carrier), wouldn't you worry about bad guys sitting on deck at night, sniffing the air and racing to the gunner and saying, "Omar, I smell KFC - there is big ship nearby.  Shoot gun where you hear seagulls..."]         

The Dump continues...  Later.