2008 Loves and Hates
In 1992, the Queen described the year as an ‘annus horribilis‘. If you happen to work in the finance industry or for the Liberals, you might feel the same way about this year. Whilst 2008 will not go down in the history books as a vintage year, there were many inspiring stories to take heart from.
These are my loves and hates of this year.
Love; Barack Obama
During eight dismal years of ever increasing spending, more commitments to foreign soil and dreary rhetoric, the USA had lost its friends and its confidence. Yet the world needs a confident and respected USA. The passion Obama has aroused in ordinary, normally apolitical people has been both astounding and a joy to watch. Yes – expectations are ludicrously high and disappointment will set in, but Obama is exactly what the world and America needs. If nothing else, he will force the lazy band of Bush-haters to think about policies they actually stand for.
Hate; Moralising busybodies
The anti-fun Nazis were in the ascendancy in 2008. For forcing us (occasional) smokers to congregate outside in the driving rain, to producing adverts designed to terrorise our Alcopops-imbibing teens, to warning us of the horrors of Betfair (the new Marlboro?), to convincing the population that a single joint will turn you into a paranoid schizo, my vote for Hate of the Year goes to the new Victorian arch-conservative moralisers – and in particular, the truly appalling troika of Clive ‘I’m Only Happy When I’m Miserable’ Hamilton, WorldVision chief Tim ‘I’m shocked and appalled’ Costello, and Senator Nick ‘Family Values’ Xenophon.
BYD F3DM
I’m not that inspired by the name of this car but as the worlds first commercial plug-in hybrid the F3DM manufactured by BYD in China does manage to make history. With a range of 109 km running on battery power only (before the internal combustion engine is needed) it promises to be a smog buster. It seems to use an existing Lithium battery technology (Lithium iron phosphate battery) which bodes well for the plug-in genre because there is arguably much better battery technology coming through the commercialisation pipeline (eg Eestor and also the Nanowire battery). The BYD F3DM went on sale in China this month (December 2008) with a price tag equivalent to US$21k. Warren Buffet has bought $230 million worth of stock in the company.
This doesn’t have much to do with freedom but I thought it might appeal to those here interested in the global warming debate and proposed technological solutions. Personally I think that plug-in hybrid vehicles have a bright future as the price and quality of batteries continue to improve. I think this is true irrespective of whether governments offer financial and regulatory support and irrespective of whether AGW is real or otherwise. I expect plug-in hybrids to be entering the mainstream in less than ten years. The F3DM suggests that perhaps I’m being a pessimist.
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