Calls Come In To Can Credit For Plug In Electrics Like Chevy Volt

The Chevy Volt has gotten some real bad press lately. General Motors has had to essentially recall its entire production run of Volts to fix a problem that arose during testing by the NHSTA and IIHS that haven't been found on the street - the potential for a fire hazard due to certain kinds of side impacts. GM rightfully takes a hit over the flaw, and will cost the company an undetermined amount of money.

However, some, including the Washington Post, are using that as an excuse to support killing a tax credit for purchasing plug-in and full electric vehicles. The tax credits amount to $7,500. While that might be a giveaway to the rich for someone looking to purchase a $100,000+ Karma or a Tesla Roadster, the Volt is in the same price range as many fully loaded SUVs.

The Washington Post op-ed misleads about the nature of the power pack problem and the fire hazard. They're playing fast and loose with the fact, and while I have no love lost for GM and its product lines, that's unfair to GM.

The op-ed also fails to understand that once a person installs a charging station, that's a piece of infrastructure that can be used by future occupants and others down the line. That's a durable good that enhances power distribution and makes electric vehicles more feasible down the line. It's the kind of action that should be encouraged, though one can question just how much such encouragement should take.

The $7,500 credit for cars like the Volt or the Nissan Leaf bring the car price down to within the same range as hybrid cars like the Prius Plug In (the Prius is no longer eligible for the credit since the 2007 model year when it exceeded the program limits for cars manufactured). The thinking behind the credit is that by giving a tax credit, more people will be encouraged to buy the product at early stages (early adopters) and manufacturers will accelerate development of new and better models that get better mileage.

Arab League Asks Hamas For Help In Stabilizing Situation in Syria

Yes folks, you've read that headline right. The Arab League has asked the terrorist group Hamas for help on stabilizing the situation in Syria. That's little different from wanting to throw gasoline on a fire or having the fox guard the henhouse.

The head of the Arab League said on Friday he had asked the Damascus-based leader of the Palestinian movement Hamas to ask the Syrian government to work to halt violence in the country.

Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby was speaking alongside Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal after a meeting in Cairo.

"I gave him a message today to the Syrian authorities that it is necessary to work with integrity, transparency and credibility to halt the violence that is happening in Syria," he said.

Earlier Friday, a suicide bomber in Syria's capital Damascus killed 25 people and wounded 46 others, local news station Addounia said.

That comes just hours after the Arab League admitted that its monitors and Syria mission had made mistakes and were looking towards the United Nations for assistance.

Hamas has no interest other than self preservation when it comes to Syria. Hamas leaders have called Damascus home and the terror group has received aid and comfort from the Syrian regime led by Bashar al Assad. What kind of stabilization is the Arab League looking for here? Yet another extrajudicial militia running around Syria killing opponents of the regime? That's what would be the end result.

All the while, Assad's loyalists and security forces continue attacking protesters around the country and there was yet another bombing with 25 killed. Assad blames terrorists and the opposition demands an independent inquiry claiming that Assad's forces are carrying on a bombing campaign to implicate and discredit the opposition as well as justify the crackdown.

Cuomo's Convention Plan Makes Little Sense

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issued the annual state of the state address yesterday, and there were several nuggets of gold for Southern Queens. He suggested that Genting International, which operates a racino at Aqueduct Raceway, should operate a new 3.1 million square foot convention center facility.

He further suggested dismantling and redeveloping the West Side where the Javits Center is currently located.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced an ambitious plan to raze the Javits Center to make room for a multibillion-dollar “21st century neighborhood” on Manhattan’s West Side, as part of a far-reaching State of the State address delivered Wednesday in Albany.

Cuomo proposed replacing the 1986 I.M. Pei-designed complex with a massive new 3.8 million square foot convention center at the Aqueduct Race Track in Queens — built using $4 billion in private funds.

“Let’s build the largest convention center in the nation. Period,” said the governor, who panned the current 842,000 square-foot hall, which is sandwiched between the Hudson River and other properties, as “not competitive” because of its size.

“We’re not getting the shows here,” he said.

The Javits Center recently underwent an expansion — the addition of a modern, column-free hall called Javits Center North that was completed in 2010. It is also in the midst of a major renovation involving the replacement of the roof, skylights and entranceways, which are set to be completed in 2013.

The complex — which is operated and maintained by the state-controlled New York Convention Center Operating Corporation and built on state-owned land — is also near the terminus of the 7 train extension, which is nearing completion as well.

The Javits Center is currently undergoing a nearly $500 million renovation to upgrade and expand the space, which will top out at 860,000 square feet. That's not enough to woo business from other large convention center spaces, but I question the move to redevelop the Javits Center and move conventioneering to Queens.

For starters, the MTA is busy expanding the 7 Line to provide direct access to the subway at the Javits, and it's a 10 minute walk to Herald Square or 20 minutes to Times Square. If you're attending a convention in Queens, you might have easier access to JFK airport, but that's about it. There isn't the kind of mass transit connectivity, nor is there the kind of attractions and businesses that can cater to such development, even if thousands of hotel rooms and other spaces are developed in Queens. People attending conventions want to be in the heart of the city, and a facility in Aqueduct doesn't quite cut it.

It would be a mixed blessing for Queens, and traffic would be even more of a nightmare in that part of Queens to boot (in part due to the lack of transit options).

What would appear to be a better path would be to engage in a serious redevelopment and expansion of the Javits Center into the Hudson Yards area or even atop the West Side Highway. Such a move would make sense from a capital investment perspective. It would also allow for the construction of a bus depot to handle overflow from the Port Authority Bus Terminal for NJ Transit so as to reduce delays and congestion through the Lincoln Tunnel. That's far more critical than trying to build a brand new facility in Queens where the infrastructure isn't even present to deal with the kind of traffic that such a facility would bring.

Three Philly Fans Sought In Brutal Beating After NHL Winter Classic Loss

Once again, Philadelphia fans show just how awful they are. Philly fans have been known to boo Santa Claus, Hall of Famers from other sports teams, and Philadelphia police have to maintain a jail at sports venues because the fans are known to get violent far too often for comfort or safety of everyone else.

This time, Philadelphia Flyer fans assaulted a pair of New York Ranger fans outside the famous Geno's Steaks after the NHL Winter Classic. It turns out that the victims were a Woodbridge New Jersey off-duty police officer (and former Marine) and his son.



And Philly cops caught a break when one of the attackers boasted about it on his Facebook page:

A group of Philadelphia Flyers fans brutally beat a New Jersey cop and his son - dressed in Rangers garb - outside a famous Philly cheesesteak shop Monday.

Three Broad Street bullies clad in Flyers jerseys sucker-punched the Woodbridge, N.J., officer before pummeling him and his son after they fell on the ground outside Geno’s Steaks.

NBCNewYork.com identified the cop on Wednesday night as Neal Auricchio, a former Marine.

"He got banged up pretty badly," his father Neal Auricchio, Sr., told NBCNewYork.com. "Stitches in the one eye, and the other eye is pretty puffed up. He went for a CAT scan today, and we're waiting for the results on that."

Cops may have caught a break Wednesday when one Philly knucklehead, Edward Neary, took to the Facebook page of the Broad Street Hockey blog and confessed.

“It was me and my friends, do something about it,” he bragged in the comments section of a graphic video of the fight, before adding a homophobic slur. “How dumb do I look knocking someone out pretty sure they look dumb eatin concrete,” he wrote.

Neary later backed off of his boast and blamed three pals for the attack.

How dumb does Neary look? Not nearly as dumb as he will when he's behind bars on multiple charges of assault along with the other goon squad that assaulted the Auricchios.

Rounding Up the Iowa Caucus Results

Greets and saluts from the NYC metro area. I see that Santorum lost to Romney by all of eight votes. Not bad for a guy who was seen as too extreme for PA when he was booted by his constituents from the US Senate. Now, he's probably not extreme enough for the Iowa voters but will have his moment in the sun as the anyone but Romney candidate de jour. Meanwhile, Romney probably wasn't extreme enough for Iowa voters, who found themselves splitting their votes for everyone else, rather than giving a thumbs up for Romney who actually spent more money in 2012 than 2008 to lose votes over the 2008 numbers.

Still, all is not completely lost. Perry may have been battered into his senses and will likely drop out in the next few days. Bachmann, whose senses are extraterrestrial, wont have the good sense to drop out, even though her chances remain on the other side of nil (but will at least make for some entertainment value). Gingrich has vowed to stick around - and to stick it to Romney who he despises. That too will be for entertainment value, but Gingrich went from being a contender to also-ran in record time, if you don't count Herman Cain or Rick Perry.

And then there's the crazy uncle, Ron Paul, who will claim he got the youth vote and his 3d place showing will somehow be proof that he's got momentum. Alas, we've seen that from Paul before, and Iowa will be his high water mark (not counting VA, where only Romney and Paul are on the ballot).

The race is Romney's to lose, and he's done just enough to not lose so far. But he hasn't done enough to win either. There's little enthusiasm, and his negatives are starting to show in a big way. The extremists in the GOP are continuing to tout other candidates who are pushing the right wing extremist agenda envelope, and that works against Romney, who has struggled to stay consistent (I know, wild understatement there - he's flip flopping in the breeze) in the hopes of trying to peel off independents and moderates in the general election. But trying to appeal to moderates wont work when the GOP primaries is all about catering to the extremists in the party, and that works no where better than in places like Iowa.

Bias Attack Bottle Bomber Caught On Video; Additional Long Island Incidents Identified

In the span of a couple of hours, four Muslim and Asian businesses, mosques, or temples across Queens were firebombed by a man who used Starbucks drink bottles. A fifth location on Long Island may also have been attacked by the same individual:

A fifth building — a Long Island home — has been hit by a Molotov cocktail, and cops are investigating if the attack is linked to four similar incidents in Queens, authorities said Monday.

The harrowing Queens arsons, including one at a mosque, took place within a mile of each other in Jamaica between 8 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. Sunday.

At 9:40 p.m. Sunday, a Molotov cocktail was thrown at a Glafil St. home in Elmont. Nassau County police said there were no injuries or damage to the home.

Bejai Rai, 77, was having dinner with his wife and two sons when they heard glass smash and saw fire sparks.

“My son thought the chandelier had fallen,” Rai said. “We saw that a bottle, like a coffee glass bottle, hit our front window then landed in the concrete.” It was similar to the ones cops described as Starbucks bottles found at the mosque scene and at a bodega that was attacked.

“It sparked, but didn’t catch a fire,” he said. “We were lucky.”

They saw a two-door silver Honda Accord lingering.

Video at one of the locations caught the man throwing the bottle bomb at the location:


One of the locations was a convenience store, and a disgruntled customer may have decided to take revenge on that location and the others:

A worker at the deli said the man showed up at the store about three nights ago, tried to shoplift and threatened employees when they caught him in the act and ejected him. Police said the suspect had tried to steal milk and a Starbucks Frappuccino and appeared to be of Guyanese descent.