In addition to Toyota’s accelerator pedal vehicle recall, there may be additional problems in the Prius’ brake system.

From the OC Register:

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said today that it is opening a formal investigation into problems with brakes on the 2010 Prius hybrid.

The probe, the agency said, is “to look into allegations of momentary loss of braking capability while traveling over an uneven road surface, pothole or bump.

The news comes a day after the car’s brakes were put into question in several media reports and the Japanese government ordered the automaker to look into the issue. Of course, this latest news comes amid two recalls for millions of cars worldwide over unintended acceleration.

The guy in the cartoon (old hippie-lookin’ dude) reminds me of another Prius driver I posted about here for having an unusual paint job . . .

Here’s the results of the last five trading days. Obama attacks Banking and Business in the State of the Union campaign speech and in the days before.

Mr. President, Tear Down This Rhetoric . . .

Reaction from the Blogosphere:

The State of the Union Is No ‘Reset’ Button - Karl Rove

If the criticism of you is that you’re all talk and no action, I’m not sure that a long speech is really going to help, no matter how emphatically you deliver it. - Jim Geraghty

The public thinks Obama doesn’t get it; Obama thinks the public doesn’t get it. - Rich Lowry

Here he goes again with his bank penalization idea!!!!!!!! Every time he opens his yap, my mutual funds take a nosedive! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SHUT UP!!! - Nicki @ The Liberty Zone

2 Words to Describe Obama Speech . . . YOU LIE! - Anthony @ The Liberty Sphere

There was no “pivot to the center,” no serious accounting for the Massachusetts miracle or his misfortunes. Instead, there was an innumerate, inaccurate and distinctly unpresidential whine — blaming George W. Bush for nearly all of his problems (leaving out, among other things, that the Democrats have been controlling Congress and crafting budgets since 2006). - Jonah Goldberg

Just across the border in Arizona, you can save 17 percent - or more on gasoline. I bet the folks living in Blythe, CA, drive to Ehrenberg, AZ, to top off the old tank.

This week, I received an email advising me that the DirecTV rates were going to increase next month. I guess that times being what they are, that I’m OK with the new rate. However, when I clicked on the link to see the new rates, they sent me to this helpful and informative document (tongue-in-cheek, of course):

C’mon, DirecTV . . . how about posting a readable rate chart showing old vs. new rates and something to indicate which package applies to me?

I wonder if Dish® Network does the same crap.

Click image to enlarge.

A unique graphic approach to visualizing a trillion bucks can be seen here.

More amusing visualizations:

A stack of 100 dollar bills totaling a trillion dollars would stand 740 miles high.

A stack of one dollar bills totaling a trillion dollars would stand 74,000 miles high, or 30% of the distance to the Moon.

If you string a trillion $1 bills end-to-end, you would get a belt of bills about 90 million miles long. That would reach past Mars’s orbit in one direction and in the other direction, would almost reach the Sun.

Hat tip to National Review Online’s Jonah Goldberg.

UPDATE: Thanks to Robb Allen for the link.

Last month, we finally had our landline telephone service discontinued. I called AT&T to inform them that their services were no longer needed since we each now have a personal wireless device that does everything (and much more) than their service can provide.

I was reluctant, at first, to discontinue the service, since it has been our telephone number since before 1979 - we kept the same number from the previous owner when we moved here.

But, after doing all the trade-offs, it just had to be done.

Then, after all the smoke settled, I got this fantastic refund from the accounts payable folks at AT&T. Woo Woo. Where will I spend all this money? Maybe a lead 7½ shot ball in a 12 gauge shell? Yeah! That’s a great idea!

Going through the electronic photo album, I ran across this image of “Bear,” our Lab-Shep family companion. She just finished her “Frosty-Paws” doggie ice cream treat and rolled onto her back in her characteristic gesture of contentment. After a tough week on Wall Street, this is something we should all do - have some fun and be contented. Click the image for big.

Some of the green initiatives that keep coming across the media just don’t make any sense, like the example below:

Maybe the Director of Green should read some of our Global Warming and Climate Resources for some facts about the environment.