Caroline and I are identical twins, and we have had some instances of being able to feel the other’s emotions even when we were apart. In high school we went to different boarding schools, and Caroline would call me up when she thought I was sad, and invariably she would be right. When I had abdominal surgery, my sister bled too even though it wasn’t time for her period. I think the moment either of us die, the other one will know. I have never felt physical pain when my sister feels it, however I do believe that if we worked on that we probably could. It sounds totally plausible to me that your uncle literally felt your dad’s pain.

There is quite a bit of fascinating research on twins, so I am sure you will be able to find more info on twins and their feelings. Caroline and I were not as close as a lot of identical twins, as we always went to different schools and Mom raised us as individuals, so our stories probably don’t reveal much of the potential of the twin bond.

Thank you for your letter,

Alexandra

Dear Christopher,

I am supporting Representative Dennis Kucinich for President in 2008. I supported him in the primary in 2004. He is not only the presidential candidate that best embodies my beliefs, he is the one politician of all the 537 over there in Washington DC that most similarly believes what I believe and lives it. For information about Dennis, go to http://kucinich.us/bio.php , but here are a few things about Congressman Kucinich that resonate with me:

• He is championing a Department of Peace.
• He has introduced in the House of Representatives a bill calling for the immediate return of
  troops from Iraq (HR 1234: http://kucinich.us/iraqplan or to view: http://kucinich.us/node/1769/play);

• He has introduced a bill calling for national healthcare (HR 676: http://kucinich.us/issues/universalhealth.php or to view: http://kucinich.us/node/1769/play)
• He wants a complete overhaul of world trade treaties like NAFTA, CAFTA and the WTO (http://kucinich.us/issues/jobs.php or to view: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7CqN6uNp4k ).
• Dennis understands that countries are now interdependent: Kucinich believes the United
  States can best lead the way through full support of the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty, the
  Kyoto Climate Change Treaty, the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Biological Weapons
  Convention; joining the International Criminal Court, signing the Landmine Treaty and the Small
  Arms Treaty.

• Kucinich is also a vegan who supports animal rights, with a 100% record for animal welfare
  issues.

• He is the ONLY presidential candidate that is brave enough to step up and say he is for
  marriage equality, not just civil unions.

• He is the ONLY candidate in the race who voted against going to war in Iraq. From Day
  One, he was against the war, and I put up on this site a very inspirational speech he gave back
  in 2002 when I didn’t even know who he was. In 2003 he received the Gandhi Peace Award.

• He was an early critic of nuclear power, and has remained a very strong advocate for the
  environment.

• He refuses to take campaign money from corporate political action committees (PACs).

The official website is www.kucinich.us . I have attended 2 fundraisers for Dennis in the last 6 weeks, and I plan on attending more. He is an excellent speaker and in person he is very down to earth. I encourage you to hear him speak when he comes to your area (http://kucinich.us/schedule).

No matter whom you support as a candidate, I hope you all vote in November, 2008.

Alexandra

Brits would definitely embrace a good EV! The key is getting the price down and for that your government might have to step in with financial incentives for buyers. Zero emission vehicles are already exempt from London’s congestion/pollution day toll, where it costs $8/ day to drive into parts of London ( Milan, Singapore, Stockholm and Toronto have similar programs to ease traffic).

I think English drivers would be well suited to NEVs (neighborhood electric vehicles, also called “city cars”) – electric cars that cannot drive on highways, but travel up to 45 mph and get a range of about 50 miles per charge. These cars are much less expensive than the Phoenix and the Tesla (which is being built by Lotus of England for Tesla Motors).

There are groups in England advocating for electric vehicles: Campaign for Battery Electric Vehicles: http://www.personal.leeds.ac.uk/~pscbrwm/cbev/ ( www.cbev.org); and http://www.evuk.co.uk/ . Electric cars that are priced well and can drive on highways are by Reva in India (evaindia.com) and a car made in China by Miles Automotive ( www.milesautomotive.com) that is supposed to sell for $28,500 and be out in 2008. The Reva is available now in the UK through GoingGreen (http://www.goingreen.co.uk/
)

Let us know when EVs hit the roads en force in England. I hope it is soon… and I am so glad to hear that there are companies interesting in selling electric cars!

Alexandra