Just when you thought the economy was tanking and rumors of major American carmakers’ financial woes are floating, two manufacturers are in the news—the good news—confirming an intent to funnel money into a Southern state. Prof. Martin Winterkorn, CEO of Volkswagen AG was quoted in a news release at the Tenn. Dept. of Economic and Community Development: “Volkswagen will be extremely active there. This plant represents a milestone in Volkswagen’s growth strategy. We will be selling 800,000 Volkswagens in the U.S. by 2018, and this new site will play a key role. This, along with our growth strategy, is a prerequisite for the economic success of the company in the dollar region. We look forward to establishing an important mainstay for ourselves when we become the biggest European carmaker there.”

Nissan Americas CEO Carlos Ghosn offered a statement in his company’s news release: “Nissan Americas is an investment in our future,” Ghosn said. “We purposefully designed the building to inspire and enhance collaboration among our employees. The building also is a statement about our confidence in the continued growth of Nissan in the Americas and our unyielding commitment to environmental sustainability.” In May, Ghosn unveiled Nissan’s five-year business plan, GT 2012, including an outline of Nissan’s commitment to leadership in the design, development, manufacture and distribution of zero-emission vehicles.

While the vehicles themselves will be environmentally friendly, they will rely on a power infrastructure for batteries to recharge.

Disclosure: I drive a Nissan Altima and I am crazy about that car.

For sources, click on 'References' link below this post. Photo of Nissan's Franklin headquarters from Nissan Americas website.

Bees are important to our economy in more ways than one. Most states have beekeeper’s associations, and the Florida organization’s website has some interesting facts about honey bees. According to an article at the Florida Beekeepers Association website, by Laurence Cutts, honey bees aren’t native to the U.S. They were brought over from Europe by colonists. Cutts says American Indians called them “white man’s flies.” In the 1970s and 1980s, Florida was ranked first in the nation in honey production. But the nasty little tracheal mite caused a decrease in production, and now the state ranks fifth.

When I read the story about the Minneapolis incident, I learned something even more interesting—bees travel. Cutts writes: “Florida beekeeping has now become almost totally migratory. Most bees in the state are moved from two to six times annually, either interstate or intrastate. About half of Florida’s bees move to northern states in the summer for pollination or honey production. They pollinate everything from blueberries in Maine to almonds in California.”

Is there anything that smells as good as fresh honey, and is there anything better to stir into your cup of hot tea? I don’t think so. Florida’s Orange Blossom and Tupelo honey aren’t just popular stateside—these brands are known worldwide for quality.  The Florida Dept. of Agriculture website has some interesting information about the state’s honey in general, not just the two most esteemed brands: “Seventeen million pounds of honey are produced in Florida each year and enjoyed around the world. “ The state’s honey industry alone generates $13 million, and that’s without the work these creatures do in pollinating over 100 fruits and vegetable varieties. So next time you see a honey bee, don’t swat it.

Honey is just one of the gifts these busy creatures give us, and obviously, as indicated by the wrecked honey bee carrier, the bees don’t mind traveling to provide us with benefits.

[Text by Kay B. Day; photo from Florida Dept. of Agriculture: Apiary Inspection]

*Links to sources cited are in 'References' below this post.

I read McCain's essay, and just like the Arizona senator, it's straight, unfettered and to the point. I am at the moment reading both of Obama's books. I started with 'The Audacity of Hope,' and I experienced a revelation. Obama is an excellent writer, philosopher and even maybe a poet. His prose reads gracefully, like poetry. I don't know a single brilliant writer or poet I'd turn the country over to, especially with the Democratic Party in control of Congress.

There’s an interesting forum on ‘hypermiling,’ a term I didn’t even know. CleanMPG offers this: “Hypermiler is a term coined by Wayne Gerdes to describe a driver who strives to exceed their vehicle's EPA fuel economy rating.” There are a number of tips on the site, and a special discussion thread on hypermiling, and a constant caution to refrain from doing anything illegal. Some advanced tips having to do with tire pressures and types of oil seem complicated to me—my knowledge of car engines is limited to starting and stopping.

The Environmental Protection Agency also has a few tips for fuel economy—observing the speed limit, avoiding idling, and ditching excessive weight in your trunk. I never thought much about that last tip until a young man helped me with my groceries. “Wow! You got a clean trunk!” he said. I asked him what he meant. “You oughta’ see the stuff people have in their trunks.”

The CleanMPG website has a lot of information about electric vehicles as well as information about fuel efficiency in older vehicles. The site banner claims members have saved more than 189,000 gallons of fuel.

Text and photo by Kay B. Day

In April, Perez-Laguna’s co-defendant, Ciro Bustos-Rosales, was sentenced to 70 months in prison, ordered to pay restitution, and ordered to comply with similar terms and conditions of release as those included in Perez-Laguna’s sentence.

During their guilty plea hearings in September 2007, both men admitted that they were involved with transporting a 14-year-old girl across the border between the United States and Mexico and the border between North Carolina and South Carolina in order for the minor to engage in prostitution. Additionally, both men admitted that they harbored illegal aliens for the purpose of prostitution.

"Perez-Laguna and Bustos Rosales ruthlessly stole the innocence of young girls and profited from their exploitation," said Kenneth Smith, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Office of Investigations in Atlanta. "Bringing these criminals to justice would not have been possible without cooperation among international, federal, state and local law enforcement agencies."

Many Americans express concern not over immigration, but over those who come to the US illegally, possibly with intent to commit crime. Gary Bauer, in the essay, ‘Will Obama’s ‘hateful rhetoric’ draw Hispanic voters?’  for Human Events, noted, “During the first half of 2008, ICE deported 5,889 illegal immigrants in Florida, including 1,251 criminal aliens with criminal records that included everything from murder and sex offenses to drug crimes.  ICE also has played a key role in arresting persons involved in child pornography.” Bauer further notes, “In the first nine months of fiscal year 2008, ICE returned 7,345 illegal aliens to their home countries who had been living in Washington, Oregon and Alaska, a 39 percent increase in the volume of deportations from the three states since 2007.  Of the more than 7,300 deportations, over 2,000 had prior criminal convictions in addition to being in the country illegally.”

Perez-Laguna and Bustos-Rosales are two of three defendants indicted in August, 2007 by a federal grand jury in Columbia following a federal sex trafficking investigation. The third co-defendant, Guadalupe Reyes-Rivera, also known as "Mama Martina," is a fugitive.

[Source: Dept. of Justice Release, Jul, 18, 2008; no photo of the fugitive was posted with the release. Photo by Kay B. Day: Traffic heading north on I-95.)

I've written a number of stories here at The US Report about global warming/climate change, with some recent ones in the Environment category.

I do believe America should develop alternative forms of energy. I do not believe we can do that overnight; politicians have put this off for the last 16 years. It will take time to reduce our use of oil. But the insane political frenzy about this subject is costing people in our country ridiculous amounts of money. In other countries where there are internal conflicts and corrupt leadership, food donations people depend on from us are being diverted for fuel. We have to do something, but it cannot be done overnight.

In the video below, the young man who says he advocates $8 a gallon gasoline took a cab to see  Al Gore who arrived with a motorcade. Gore's driver idled the engine for 20 minutes so the car would be cool.

Neither that young man nor Gore can begin to imagine what it is like for a senior living on a small fixed income or a single mother trying to keep a roof over her children's heads. I know what that is like because I have delivered food to people like that. In person.

On Dec. 9, 2007, Davis pleaded guilty to using the names, Social Security numbers and birth dates of three separate victims, without their permission, to purchase two homes in Lee's Summit. Davis worked as a mortgage broker at firms in Liberty and Gladstone from November 2003 through January 2005.  Between Nov. 19 and 25, 2003, Davis used a stolen identity to obtain a $317,894 loan from Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., for the purchase of a Lee's Summit residence at 704 S.W. Winterstar Dr. Between July 2 and Sept. 17, 2004, Davis used another stolen identity to obtain a $347,438 loan from Countrywide for the purchase of another Lee's Summit residence at 2520 Wintercreek Dr. Between Dec. 31, 2004, and Jan. 7, 2005, Davis used a third stolen identity to obtain a $362,424 loan from Accredited Home Lenders, Inc., for the purchase of the second Lee's Summit residence (at 2520 Wintercreek Dr.), ostensibly by the third identity theft victim.

So I wonder how much of this “mortgage crisis” is really a crisis. Congress spent tons of time investigating allegations of steroids in baseball players, an act that really cost me nothing even if the players had used steroids. But the mortgage crisis which will definitely cost taxpayers money received little attention in the way of investigations, at least until now at a point when it's basically too late. And you wonder why this Congress has such low approval ratings.