PR for environmentaly friendly NASCAR

After watching portions of NASCAR’s Daytona 500 with the biggest race fan I know, my grandfather, something came into my mind. I wonder how many miles to the gallon these high power race cars get? Being very concerned with environmentalism naturally I was curious as to how this sport affects the environment and how people were trying to make these cars more friendly to the environment.
Although the Indy Racing Leaguehas switched to ethanol, NASCAR only recently switched from leaded to unleaded fuel and its cars still use carburetors instead of fuel injection. Carburetors do not burn gasoline a completely as cars with fuel injection systems. According to Google Answers, the typical racecar only gets 4 to 6 miles per gallon of gas. With some races that are over 200 miles long and about 40 cars running in the race, that is a lot of gasoline being used (approximately 1600 gallons)! Not exactly environmentally friendly or shying away from our dependence on oil.
NASCAR recently hired a director of “green innovation,” and NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France has spoken to former vice president Al Gore about making the sport more environmentally friendly. Jack Roush, co-owner of Roush-Fenway NASCAR team, has set out to use propane as a possible alternative fuel for race cars of the future.
Propane is a waste product from the production of gasoline and other petroleum products so it does not eliminate our need for oil. The main upside of using propane is that it burns much cleaner than gasoline, making it better for the environment. Propane get about 13% less miles per gallon compared to gasoline, but the loss in efficiency can be offset when large business fleets take advantage of wholesale propane prices that have been below $1 per gallon this year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s web site.
The Roush propane conversion isn’t cheap, it costs just shy of $9,000 for parts and installation on a Ford pickup, but it is step closer to giving users more options in alternative fuels. Our energy problem will not be solved by one miracle fuel, but by multiple fuels to fulfill each particular need. This seems to be a perfect setting for a public relations situation to keep extreme environmentalists at bay.

Have you ever watched the news and saw a story that just made you think, "wow what was that person thinking?!" Well I saw Dateline Tuesday night and they had a story about a lady named Nadya Suleman that had octuplets through Invitro fertilization. This may have not been such a big deal to anyone because this kind of thing happens all of the time these days. What has so many people in an uproar is the fact that this lady has six other children, is single, and does not have a job. Her only source of income is her excess financial aid from her student loans from going to college. She does not want to take charity from other people, and thinks that she can make it with her financial aid. She is living with her parents in not that big of house and feeding her children with food stamps. Much of the debate is weather the mother will be able to support her now 14 children.
It is not my place to judge this women. It is her right as an American to have as many children as she wants. We have Social Services that will take these children if they feel the mother is unfit to provide for them. I am sure that very few of the people condemning her for having the children do not have a degree in Social Services and do not fully understand all of the options a mother has for taking care of her children. If she does make it through college she will need to find really good job that will pay a lot because finding daycare will be very expensive with that many kids. Through my experience you always need to have a back up plan, and from hearing Nadya’s story it does not seem like she has “plan B” and that is not a very responsible way to be raising 14 children. I hope in my heart that the next headline is not about the death of a women and her 14 children.

lead found in venison leads to questions about safety

being born and raised in the wonderful state of North Dakota, i full fill the cliche of being a redneck and an avid hunter and fisherman. most of my friends share these values with me and every single one of us is proud of it! i am also a firm believer in eating what i kill. my father raised me to take only what i can eat or use, nothing goes to waste. Last year, early December, a study was done to determine the amounts of lead found in venison (deer meat) after it had been killed with high power rifles firing lead bullets. this study found that 5.3% of deer meat tested had trace amounts of lead even after it had been processed into the final product. i wasn't at all shocked when i read about this study. the only reaction i had was to what was going to happen North Dakota's hunting traditions when radicals get ahold of this information? i may be thinking rash but who is to say that there isn't someone out there just looking for a reason to ban hunting? this study could be the basis to someones argument against hunting. the link above isn't some "radical" person ranting about the cons of hunting, it is just an article warning consumers not to eat venison.

From personal experience, i have been eating this stuff since i was able to eat solid foods, and i am just fine! now i know what you may be saying to yourself, "how does he know that he doesn't have high levels of lead in his blood system?" because i have the proof! when venison was found to contain lead from lead bullets i took the initiative to have my blood tested for lead at the local clinic. at the clinic i filled out a questionnaire asking about my average intake of wild game taken by lead bullets. this included deer meat and upland game (pheasants, grouse, partridge, and dove) all of which are commonly taken with lead shot from shotguns. studies haven't been done to confirm, but it is believed that because shotgun pellets are so small, they could be easily ingested. back to my results. i received a letter in the mail about 3 months after my blood test with my results. now it was a long time ago that i read these results so the exacts numbers are fuzzy in my memory, the letter said that more than 10 µg/dL (micrograms/ deciliter) of lead in the bloodstream was dangerous. my results showed that i had approximately 0.25 µg/dL of lead in my bloodstream, far below the dangerous levels.

so there ya have it! no need to worry bout that the lead that may or may not be found in the wild game you got sittin in your freezer. now obviously the amount of lead is mostly dependant on the way your meat is processed. avoiding bloodshot meat and areas of meat located near a bone shattered by a bullet fragment will greatly reduce the amount of lead that ultimately finds it way into your system. North Dakota's Game and Fish department has an extensive PR department that deals with issues like this on a regular basis so i feel that my heritage as a North Dakota hunter is safe for now.

Illegal to text while driving? How ridiculous!

What has this state come to? Some one has let our mothers take over legislature in Bismarck! It seems that these days, you no longer have the ability to decide for yourself if something could adversely affect your health. Our nations definition of "freedom" is narrowing. First they make it illegal to drive without wearing your seat belt, than they take away your ability to smoke in a public place, now they want to take away our ability to communicate with others via text message. this has gone too far. Bismarck state representatives have introduced legislation to ban "driving while texting." Offenders would have to pay a $100 fine and get a two-point driver's license penalty. Am I the only one that thinks this is a total violation of our rights? Maybe the people who like to find ways to control our lives should take a look at this pretty important document when going on their rampages. it seems like whenever a new technology is introduced the people that don't understand it, try to eliminate it from their worlds. good thing they haven't been introduced to the navigation systems found in today's newer vehicles! it is harder to pay attention to the road with one of these things compared to the few seconds it takes a person to type the average 50 characters per text message. So the morel of the day is, think things through and listen to both sides of a story before passing judgment. thank you and have a good day.

My first post as a blogger

I never thought i would give in, but i no longer have a choice! I am finally writing my first blog. There are so many people that i know that have blogs and that write on them religiously, now is my turn to see what all of the fuss is about! I am no realizing how hard it is to come up with something to write about, i have never been good with writing down my thoughts and ideas. I think that I am just going to write about what we did this week in my Public Relations class. I started off the week by creating a homepage on Blackboard which included some of my personal information and some of my favorite Internet links. I posted three links; www.pandora.com which is a radio that plays all of the users favorite music. www.gf.nd.gov is the North Dakota Game and Fish website which i visit often because has all kinds of information on outdoors. My third website was www.ebay.com which is a well known website for buying and selling just about anything. Hope everybody checks out my homepage on Blackboard to get the full scoop on me!