The Bear Facts...

If you have ever visited or live in Cook County, (AKA; Crook County), or in Chicago, you are not only familiar with Dirty Dick Daley but also with "The Prez" Todd Stroger. Cook County and Chicago are notorious for some of the highest taxes in the nation. Everything in Chicago and Crook County is taxed and not just general sales tax but specialized taxes as well. Chicago and Crook County are the only city and county in the nation that applies taxes to existing taxes. Mayor Daley and the Chicago City Council in their infinite wisdom have even applied a tax to bottled water. Because of Mayor Dick Daley and "The Prez" Stroger, gasoline has skyrocketed well above $4.50 a gallon when anywhere outside Crook County gasoline averages about $4.20 per gallon.

In one of my former lives, I used to be a private investigator. Being a P.I. I did a LOT of traveling. I have traveled as far as Kansas City Missouri and as close as the south side of Chicago. When I was assigned an investigation, I would use a minivan for surveillances. For the most part, a minivan is fairly fuel thrifty, but, not as much of a miser as some of the midsized cars produced today. A majority of vehicles produced today are also "flex-fuel" vehicles or "Hybrids". Even though more and more vehicles are being produced as "flex-fuel" and becoming very popular with consumers, Chicago and Crook county, in their infinite wisdom, (unless one is hidden in a dark remote area like the former speak easy's of the 1920's), has yet to have a fuel station that carries Ethanol, or, by its commercial name; E-85. Outside of Crook County and Chicago, selected fuel stations like "Gas City" do carry and encourage the use of E-85 Ethanol. Even throughout the state of Illinois, E-85 is scarce and a majority of the fuel stations only carry gasoline or diesel. Fuel stations throughout the state of Illinois don't even carry bio-diesel despite several vehicles being converted and produced to burn bio-diesel. However, if you travel to Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin or Missouri, there are hardly any fuel stations that do not sell Ethanol fuel.

While traveling to Kansas City in 2006, "Map quest" suggested a route through Iowa and into Missouri. The trip turned out to be about 9 hours, mostly because I like to sight see and take photographs. Considering the length of the trip, I needed to stop for fuel just outside of Dubuque. One thing that surprised me was the price of fuel in Iowa compared not only to the price of fuel in Chicago but the entire state of Illinois. At the time regular gasoline in Illinois was around $3.10 a gallon and regular gasoline was hovering around $3.25 a gallon. Regular gasoline in Dubuque was about $2.75 a gallon and Ethanol was priced at $2.25 per gallon. I was driving a 2004 model GM minivan which was flex-fuel compatible. Not only did the van run smoother and have better acceleration with Ethanol, I also saved $.50 per gallon by purchasing Ethanol instead of unleaded. While in Missouri, I purchased Ethanol and saved just as much on my fuel.

With so many benefits with Ethanol, I don't understand why there isn't a bigger push toward making more vehicles that burn Ethanol and why Chicago has yet to have a fuel station that actually carries Ethanol. Ethanol is alcohol made from corn. Unlike gasoline, corn is clean burning and does not deplete the ozone layer. Corn can be harvested almost anywhere and is not dependant on drilling or how plentiful crude oil is. We can write off OPEC and not have to depend on Middle East countries to purchase oil at inflated prices. We could actually put funds back into the pockets of Americans who are on financial aid because they are not making a profit with corn crops. America could become another economic super power by producing our own fuel. With the development of Ethanol, we are giving our own farmers a chance to make some decent money for a change because the call for corn would be outstanding. The American farmer could actually make a substantial profit and they could actually live decent lives for a change rather than worry how they are going to make their bills for the month, or, if they can afford to send their children to school. Ethanol is better all around. It's good for the economy, it's good for the farmers and it is good for our environment.

The American farmer has been suffering for years to make ends meet to feed families, buy more land and raise new crops. Every year more and more farmers sell off land that they can not afford because of miniscule profits. More and more farms are "closing" and being sold to developers who build suburban communities rather than use the land for farming. Back in 1978, my uncle moved to Woodstock, Illinois. In 1978, I used to enjoy going out to Woodstock because once you pass Hoffman Estates, there was really nothing but farms and farm land. A few years ago, developers started buying that land and started developing "communities". More and more farms disappeared, more and more "communities" and suburbs stated to pop up. More and more people started moving from Chicago out to these new developed suburbs. When I go out to Woodstock to visit my uncle, I can not believe how many farms were destroyed by these developers. Farms that could now produce corn for Ethanol. Farms that could help our economy by growing corn.

Critics of Ethanol say the refineries would have to pay millions for new equipment to refine the corn into Ethanol and that even if the refineries buy the new equipment, there still would not be enough corn grown to supply the nation with fuel needs. Well, gee, if we actually tried to HELP the farmers rather than develop communities and airports on land where corn could be grown, maybe it would not be a factor. The critics that are opposed to producing Ethanol most likely have some connection with big oil corporation. Right now, big oil can quote prices and use the oil shortage to increase prices and make a hefty profit off of the American consumer. Automobile manufacturers are against Ethanol because they have to develop vehicles that burn Ethanol. The American consumer is brainwashed by big oil and automobile manufacturers to believe gasoline will never be replaced and we will always be dependant upon gasoline as a fuel for our vehicles. If big oil wasn't opposed to Ethanol, why do stations only have one or two pumps dedicated to Ethanol? Why is Ethanol so hard to find in The State of Illinois, Crook County and the City of Chicago? Big oil is opposed to ethanol because they will have to spend money on equipment to produce Ethanol and automobile manufacturers are opposed to ethanol because of the technology they have to devise for Ethanol vehicles.

The only automobile manufacturer who is making real strides is Toyota. Toyota produces a hybrid for almost every model they produce. Yes, Ford does produce Hybrids and Honda also produces Hybrids. But for the most part, all the automobile manufacturers still produce gasoline consumable vehicles. I have seen commercials for Honda's Hydrogen/ fuel cell vehicles. I am sure everyone has seen the commercial at least once. The Hydrogen/ fuel cell vehicle is also a great idea, except, where are they? Consumers are being told that fuel cell vehicles are becoming more of a possibility every day. Ok, how many days do we have to wait for the possibility to be a fact? Gasoline is already over $4.00 a gallon. People can not afford to buy groceries or pay bills because they are buying gasoline for their cars. People like lemmings off a cliff, keep flocking to dealerships to purchase now gasoline burning vehicles. Yes, SOME of the new vehicles produced are more fuel thrifty than previous models, but, they are still GAOLINE POWERED!!!! This goes back to being brainwashed that there is no alternative to and for gasoline.

In the 70's advocates protested Vietnam until the service men were withdrawn. Protesters today are protesting the Iraq war. Boycotts have been established to protest the use of fur, war, employee benefits and work ethics. Why on God's green earth can we as a nation say “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!" and boycott big oil and automobile manufacturers. Don't buy new cars or vehicles. Don't purchase gas or diesel for your cars and trucks. Start walking, riding a bicycle or limited public transportation. The big problem is, Americans are fat, stubborn and extremely lazy. We drive two blocks to the store just for convenience. Instead of walking and getting exercise, we jump in the car and drive two or three blocks to the store for a loaf of bread. Go to Toys 'R' Us, buy yourself a Radio Flyer wagon, go on EBay and the money you spend in a month on gasoline, you could BUY YOUR OWN GROCERY CART!!! Buy a pack mule or horse and wagon. You don't like public transportation and want to use your own? You don't want to give up your sporty convertible? Easy solution, instead of sending a thoroughbred to the glue factory because it is 5 years old and too old to race, adopt it. There you have it, sporty and fast!!! Low carbon emissions and all it burns is hay and alfalfa. Convert all the parking lots in the loop area to stables with hitching posts. Worried about your investment being stolen? Stick a "Lo Jack" up the horse’s butt. The only drawback to adopting a thoroughbred is color options. You basically have your choice of light brown or dark brown. The color dilemma can also be corrected by going to the local Wal*Mart or CVS and purchasing a few boxes of hair coloring. There you have it, you can even have purple, hot pink, or, pumpkin orange if you so desire. Maybe when auto manufacturers and big oil get the message, they will start producing the "promised" fuel cell vehicle, more Ethanol vehicles, more bio-diesel vehicles and the fuel needed to power them. So your $40,000.00 Range Rover or Hummer will smell like the local taco or hamburger stand. So you will have people licking the tail pipe of your Tahoe thinking it's a French fry. So what if you’re Yukon smells like Burger King or Mc Donald’s, you eat there so often you and the staff are on first name basis. I think owning a bio-diesel vehicle or truck is a small sacrifice for our economy and for the environment. It is a proven fact, bio-diesel vehicles produce less carbon emissions than regular diesel vehicles. Annette Bening in "The American President" summed it up perfectly when she was talking to one Congresswoman on the telephone, "Come on board Congresswoman, we'll make your Volvo a classic". Again, this goes back to automobile manufacturers and big oil knowing the facts and refusing to accept them. If we as a Nation say; "enough is enough" and refuse to purchase their "products", that would pressure them to make the change, spend the money needed for development, step in the right direction and have a majority of Ethanol pumps, Hydrogen pumps and bio-diesel pumps and only have one or two gasoline pumps at each fuel station. Put some pressure on Chicago City Council, Mayor Dick Daley and "The Prez" Todd Stroger to encourage big oil and fuel stations to offer Ethanol, bio-diesel and in the future, hydrogen cells instead of gasoline and diesel.

Not too long ago, Chicago gained a new superintendent of police. Jody Weis is a former FBI director from Pennsylvania. Mr. Weis is originally from Chicago and I think he will make great strides in repairing the broken-down Chicago Police Department. A lot of Chicago Police Officers do not like Superintendent Weis because he wants to implement change. Before Phil cline was given the reins of the department, officers requested and were permanently assigned to station desk duty because they get to wear their badge and gun and act like cops, but not do all the "dirty" cop work like actually going out and arresting criminals. Phil Cline changed that and I applauded him for it. EVERYONE pulls street duty regardless of rank or position. His first day as Superintendent Phil Cline made a drug bust. Phil Cline was a street cop who just happened to be the superintendent of police. Bravo Phil. Jody Weis is doing Phil Cline one better. Superintendent Weis is setting a physical fitness mandate for all officers. I am not saying the entire department is fat and lazy, but, the ones who are complaining about the physical fitness mandate are usually the ones who really need this type of ultimatum. One of Superintendent Weis' goals is to supply districts with 4x4 Chevrolet Tahoe’s. I was familiar with a Chicago Police Detective at a condominium I was assigned to. Just after Jody Weis' appointment, I asked the detective's opinion of Mr. Weis. The detective started off with the physical fitness mandate and ended with how stupid of an idea giving Tahoe’s to the districts was. The detective made a comment about the fuel shortage, the price of fuel and how he not only wants to spend money on these big vehicles but on fuel for them. Let's back track a few paragraphs here. Chevrolet offers two or three very substantial alternatives to "gasoline only" Tahoe’s. One major alternative, buy "flex-fuel" Tahoe’s, Caprices and Crown Victoria's and replace the fuel pumps at the district repair shops with Ethanol pumps. Chicago could be known as the city that took a big step in "green environment" and replacing all the gasoline vehicles and pumps with Ethanol and bio-diesel. Another alternative that will put Chicago in the media on a positive note would be to purchase hybrid Chevrolet cars and Tahoe’s. True, they will still burn gasoline, but it is a small step toward a "green city". Third option is getting together with Chevrolet or Ford and making a landmark milestone. Produce and use the very first bio-diesel police Tahoe’s, Explorers or Expeditions. Yes, the cost might be a little high, but think of the positive publicity Chicago would receive for having the first and ONLY Ethanol, Hybrid or bio-diesel vehicles in the nation. In the event critics are doubting this idea and saying it will never work. Let me remind you of one minor detail and fact, race cars do not use gasoline any more. For the last 20 years they have been using Ethanol as a fuel. NASCAR race cars produce 800 horsepower and with a restrictor plate only travels 190mph. If the restrictor plate was removed, they could reach speeds in excess of 200mph. Any doubts on speed or catching fleeing vehicles? Because Ethanol burns more efficient and at a hotter temperature, the fuel produces more power.

What surprises me the most is, all the consumers who want fast sporty cars that can go from zero to sixty in the time it takes to say, "DUH", why automobile manufacturers are not pushing and producing "Ethanol only" vehicles. Everybody wants speed and performance. A person can not even purchase a luxury car without a zero to sixty rating and how much horsepower the engine can produce. Cadillac used to be known for long luxurious vehicles. Lincoln's top selling car at one time was the Continental. The Cadillac Fleetwood was discontinued years ago and I don't even know if Lincoln even produces the Continental anymore. With consumers wanting speed and power, why on God's green earth is it taking the automobile manufacturers so long to force big oil to produce more ethanol and are still dependant on gasoline? Gasoline is dead, we need to stop depending on an almost non-existent fuel and start making strides to produce a fuel that is not only less harmful to the environment, but less harmful to our economy and pocket books.

One would think after the fuel shortage in the 70's we would learn our lesson. This brings me back to us being fat, lazy and I will add one more to the mix, stupid. Yes, I said it, WE ARE STUPID!!!! When we got ourselves into trouble the first time, we should have started looking into alternative fuels. But NOOOOOOOO, we have to be STUPID and not only produce fuel guzzling vehicles, but drool over them, buy them and beg for more!!! When I was growing up, my dad never purchased an American car. Do you know why? Other than being just shy in weight and size of a M1 Abrams tank, after starting the vehicle, if you removed the gas cap, you could see a small whirlpool in the gas tank. fuel economy didn't mean anything to anyone back then because gasoline was so plentiful there would be NO WAY we could EVER burn it all off in a LIFETIME!! Plus, fuel economy didn't matter because there is a gas station on each corner. You just fill up the tank and go block to block refueling as you go. Yes, that is partly sarcasm, but, it is also very true. While American auto manufacturers were producing cars like the GTO, the Mustang, the LTD, the Fleetwood and the Continental Town car, Volkswagen was producing cars like the type 1 (AKA the Bug), the type 2, (AKA the Carmen Ghia) and the type 4, (the square back). Toyota produced a fuel thrifty and not very popular Corolla, Honda only produced motorcycles and Nissan was known as Dotson and produced the 210 and 310 hatchbacks. Up until 1981, my dad always owned and purchased Volkswagens. In 1980, a fairly new vehicle was making a name for itself, the Honda Accord. While all the American auto manufacturers were struggling to make a fuel efficient car that had more room than a shoebox and that didn't explode when a bird feather fell on the back bumper, Honda, Toyota and Nissan already had the field mastered. It is really strange, Japan and Germany lost the war and they managed to produce the most efficient and solidly produced vehicles on the market. Long before gasoline was in short supplies, Volkswagen, Mercedes, BMW, Mazda, Toyota and Dotson were producing fuel efficient vehicles that put ALL American automobile manufacturers to shame.

Times don't change and once stupid, always stupid. We recovered slightly from our scare in the 70's despite gasoline jumping from $.25 a gallon to $1.50 in the mid 80's. What do we do? Start importing oil from the Middle East, declare triumph over the gasoline shortage and go back to out stupid ways of building fast, gas-guzzling vehicles. Care to dispute my statement? Ok, if you REALLY want to be embarrassed, I would be more than glad to oblige. Hummer H1 and H2, Two of the most popular SUV's on the road and two with HORRIBLE fuel economy. But that shouldn’t matter, gasoline is in abundant supply, we REALLY don't need that stupid thing called the ozone layer and who cares if other vehicles can't see around you. Just as long as your ride is "pimped", "stylin" and "phat". The last one I agree on. Your ride is fat. Only it's not spelled "phat"  it IS spelled as "FAT" as in FAT HOG, FAT PIG, and FAT UGLY. Put it this way, when you use up all the gasoline, your "pimped-phat ride" will make a really nice play house for the kids or a nice lawn ornament. You also have the option of busting out the windshield, connecting hitches and making it a "true" horse powered vehicle. Go ahead and make fun of the Amish. I have news for you, they won't look half as dumb and stupid as your ugly FAT HOG being pulled by two Suffolk Punch draft horses. Actually, you could go "Stylin" and purchase two Clydesdales, but you will still look just as stupid. The only thing that would be funnier and even more stupid is seeing a $400,000 Bentley hooked up to a draft horse or a Lamborghini or Ferrari with a Thoroughbred as the driving force. Top speed fro your  priceless Ferrari Enzo? 45mph, (with a tailwind).

For a long time people have made fun of Revolutionist’s who predict "The end is near". Well, the end is near. Not so much the end of the world, however, if we keep going the rate we are now, it will be soon. The end I am speaking of is the end of fuel driven vehicles. Promises are being made and not kept, manufacturers are talking of "flex-fuel" vehicles and not producing, promises of fuel cell vehicles and not one is for sale to consumers. Hybrids are being produced and are helping, but, not everyone can afford the price of a hybrid or the waiting period for a hybrid to be delivered. We are still dependant on the Middle East and gasoline to power our vehicles. A lot of people favor Barack Obama for the upcoming election. A lot of people say he will make changes. If I were Senator Obama, I would make one huge drastic change in one step. I would give the oil corporations, fuel station owners and automobile manufacturers an ultimatum and time limit; within a year and a half, (and in my opinion that is VERY generous), ALL vehicles produced must be 100% Ethanol powered, 100% electric, 100% bio-diesel, or, 100% hydrogen fuel cell compatible. All fuel manufacturers must provide the fuel needed in the time frame allocated. Any manufacturer or fuel producer who fails to adhere to these guidelines will face fines. 

In 1776 we declared our independence from England. We as a nation were tired of persecution and tyranny. We were tired of taxes and tariffs. How long will it take for us to declare our independence from tyranny and persecution of gasoline and gasoline prices? When will we as a nation say "enough is enough" and force a change by big oil and automobile manufacturers? The end is near. Unless we do say; "enough is enough" not only will we see the end of the fuel powered vehicle, we may just see the end of the world from a depleted ozone layer.