Favre and Packers Turn it Around

What a difference a year can make. A year ago Brett Favre was the captain of a faded Green Bay Packers NFL team that finished with an 8-8 record.

Favre’s own skills appeared to be fading. Desperate for wins, Favre at times played wildly, throwing lots of interceptions. He talked openly of retiring, and debated for three months after the season’s end before deciding to play for one more year.

A year later Favre is having one of his finest seasons. He has set records for the most touchdown passes and most yards passed, among other milestones. His quarterback rating puts him near the top of the league, and Favre has been smiling his boyish grin frequently. Sports Illustrated Magazine named him Sportsman of the Year.

Last week the 14-3 Packers beat Seattle in a playoff game played in a Lambeau Field Blizzard. It was Favre's first blizzard game, he had a blast. This weekend he will face the Giants at Lambeau Field for he NFC Championship. One year makes a big difference.

GM: Don't expect a Dirty Dog to Learn Clean Tricks.

General Motors says its planned plug-in electric car, the Chevrolet Volt, will take longer to hit dealer showrooms than promised. GM's key battery supplier is having a tough time coming up with cells that will give the cars necessary power and range.

Even if the Volt does manage to hit the road as promised in 2010, don’t expect the vehicle to be popular with consumers. GM has little experience with hybrid technology. It's likely too much to ask for GM to come up with an appealing car that can also operate on electricity full time. That would be killing two birds with one stone, an unlikely feat from the fading auto giant.

But do count on Toyota’s planned plug-in hybrid version of the Prius to hit showrooms in about the same time. The current Prius is a well tested and popular. In addition, a whole cottage industry has arisen that specializes in converting the Prius to a plug-in electric vehicle. Toyota will have the advantage of learning from the small time modifiers as it readies its own design.

GM’s plans for a plug in electric are either naïve, or the latest example of the General’s cynical campaign to paint itself as environmentally friendly while doing little to actually offer cleaner cars.

Take, for example, GM’s introduction of flex-fuel capable versions of its popular models. Modifying a hulking Chevy Silverado pickup to accept an 85% ethanol blend of fuel is easy. A quick reprogramming of the engines electronic controls does the trick.

Yet few drivers have access to flex fuel at their local filling station. And ethanol itself has been getting a black eye lately: production of the fuel consumes vast amounts of energy and water, and has caused corn prices to rise.

GM has also been touting a hydrogen car concept. But a vast hydrogen fueling infrastructure will have to be built to support such a vehicle. No one has stepped up to fund that. And hydrogen, like ethanol, is dirty to make.

The promise of greener cars helps GM to hide the fact that it sells mostly gas guzzlers. If its electric and hydrogen car programs pan out, they'll succeed only in moving the direct blame for pollution to the electric utilities that will charge electric vehicles by burning more natural gas and coal.

GM has proven time and again that its clean tricks are really just that.

Questioning Hillary's Fortitude

Yesterday Hillary Clinton nearly cried when she told a rally of New Hampshire supporters that her run for the presidency isn’t only political, it’s personal. I’m not sure how that makes Clinton different from any other candidate who has his or her ego on the line.

Clinton’s choking up made me feel a tinge of empathy for the woman herself, and that bothers me. When a candidate has to tug at my heartstrings to get my support, it must mean that her message isn't coming across. Barack Obama has the momentum going into today’s New Hampshire primary, and Hillary Clinton can’t figure out how to best him. So she asks for our symapthy.

What happens if Hillary gets elected and comes up against a hostile Congress? Will she fight, or shed a few tears hoping the Senators will decide not to override her veto?

Obama and Edwards have put on fighters faces at times when their campaigns have been in trouble. Hillary, whose ambitions suddenly look imperiled, has spent the last week attacking her competition while begging voters for mercy.