For those of you that don't know, one of the more popular Christian ideas is that those who are humble in life will be rewarded in Heaven, or that those who are ahead (in anything) will someday find themselves behind. Mark 10:31 - "But many who are first will be last, and the last, first." To someone like me, without friends, money, a lover, or a future, this is a comforting idea. It's something I was thinking about this morning, while driving through the night...

*bash!* lost in thought, Fara's car smashes into an oncoming vehicle, a Mercedes-Benz, driven by a rich, popular, and attractive young lady. Both are killed instantly. As their bodies go cold, in pieces, at the roadside, their souls float up to Heaven, where they meet St Peter, at the gateway to Heaven. St Peter says, "Fara! You've had a shit life, according to this book." He keeps reading. "Damn, wow... Listen, since you both got a pretty horrible death," he turns to the young lady, then back to Fara, "I'm gonna grant you a wish each before you enter Heaven. Fara, as written in Mark 10:31, those who are first shall be last, and those who are last shall be first. You were last in life, so you can go first with your wish."
Fara thinks for just a moment, and says "well, I had a horrible and lonely existence on Earth because I was poor, unpopular, and ugly. I would like to be transformed; to be wealthy, charismatic, and beautiful." It was done. A newly confident and very happy Fara walked into Heaven. St Peter turned to the young lady, and asked her what her wish would be. "Hmm, I had a great life, I'm already rich, popular, and attractive..." a smile poured across her face and she gave a little chuckle as she looked up to St Peter. "Make Fara poor, unpopular, and ugly again!"


Not sure what the moral of this little joke is, perhaps that I have the worst fortune ever.
The sad thing is, this is exactly what would happen.


*


The Toyota Prius. As we all know, it's one of the least environmentally friendly cars ever. Not only does it have to be manufactured, unlike the "old bangers" that the government are trying to get rid of, but its process of manufacture is even more damaging to the environment than a normal car. Then, when you get it, it gets worse fuel economy than a V8 powered BMW M3. Because you think it's kind to the environment, you don't feel guilty about using it more often, which creates more pollution. Lastly, once you're bored of it, it's difficult and expensive to dispose of without more environmental damage. You probably know all about these things already. So do most environmentalists, yet they still buy the car. Why? Because being green isn't about being green, it's about a smug sense of superiority. But that's another matter, I want to focus on the car. There's a new one out. It's apparently better, faster, and has a lot more kit on it. But that's only half the story. Honda have recently launced their hybrid, the Insight, which was a lot cheaper than the Prius. It felt cheaper too. But Toyota have come back with this new Prius, which is of a very similar price to the Insight, but has far more to offer, not least the smug-value of owning "a Prius" rather than just "a Hybrid"
This means that people will buy the Prius instead of the Insight. Honda launched the Insight partly as a quick-buck cash-in on the trend for greener motoring. Nothing radical, just an engine, invented more than 120 years ago, and an electric motor, invented more than 120 years before that. But it was ecologically friendly because of it's smarter sibling, the Honda Clarity. That uses a completely new type of powerplant, using hydrogen to generate electricity. Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, and the only exhuast from the car is water. It is brilliant. It is also very expensive, so Honda needed the money from their hybrid-powered to fund the hydrogen-powered. But now everyone will be buying the new Toyota, Honda will lose out, and will as likely as not cut the funding for their hydrogen research and development. Clean, green cars will be set back years. This is yet another way that the Toyota Prius could be damaging to the environment.



Sorry that one was short, and didn't contain much about the car. I haven't reviewed it yet, and I doubt I'll get to. Apparently, it's got this super-eco-friendly mode, which means it can run entirely on electricity (made by burning fossil fuels) and go over a mile! That'll get me literally the whole way to the wine shop. But not back again. Useless.