Good Clean Fun November 2, 2006March 5, 2017 THE GOOD SENATOR Marty P: ‘My worst grudge against McCain is his stand against torture and then his agreement to pass legislation that not only allows torture, but also dumps the fundamental right of habeas corpus.’ THE GOOD CONGRESSMAN Allen: ‘Thanks for the Barney Frank video. I am a heterosexual who can state unequivocally that I love him too.’ CLEAN ELECTIONS Lourdes Kelly: ‘There has been practically no publicity on California Proposition 89 on Clean Money and Fair Elections (which is non-partisan). It would be a great service if you would apprise your California readers of the opportunity to go the way Arizona and Maine have gone to eliminate lobbying and big money in political campaigns. For a summary, analysis and arguments, please suggest that your readers read pros and cons the Official California Election Guide, pp. 82-89.’ ☞ Vote YES on Prop 89! CLEAN ENERGY Jeff: ‘Check out ‘Budgets Falling in Race to Fight Global Warming.’ Apparently, Thomas Edison was ahead of his time.’ In a conversation with Henry Ford and the tire tycoon Harvey Firestone in 1931, shortly before Edison died, he said: ‘I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that.’ HOT AIR Dan Nachbar: ‘At 9:40 AM on Friday, October 27, the much anticipated maiden flight of the Personal Blimp prototype took place over Amherst, MA. Your humble correspondent was at the controls. This moment was nearly five years in the making. It was a great pleasure, and relief, to be aloft at last. After making a few short hops, I handed the ship over to my co-builder Mike Kuehlmuss. Mike also made a series of short hops and then executed the first 360 turn. In all, we flew untethered for 20 minutes before the increasing wind made further testing that morning too risky. Some pictures and a short video from the first flight are available here. The airship handled wonderfully, if I do say so myself. The tail-mounted engine/propeller arrangement worked just as expected. So, for the first time, there is a small blimp that can both control its lift (because it uses hot air rather than Helium as a lifting gas) and be easily steered (previous hot air blimps have had very poor steering). Flight testing will continue here in Massachusetts until the snow gets too deep. Between flights, we’re spending our time growing from ‘two guys in a garage building a blimp’ to a bona fide market-oriented start-up venture. So the hard work is really just beginning.’ ☞ Can a tie-in with Blimpie be far behind? Not sure where your polling place is? Other questions? Call 888-DEM-VOTE Observe problems at the polls?