Got a grudge, got a cause, a religious imperative?

 The gun show loop hole is big enough to throw a 50mm with cooling jacket through, what you waiting for the GOP is holding the 2nd amendment open for you.  No background check, no waiting,  tables of assault weapons, extended magazines, cop killer bullets, anything you need to start your civil war.  Got a prison record?  Not a citizen?  Just got out of the mental ward?  On the no fly list?  No problem, the GOP the NRA the 2nd amendment are there to enable you.

Fuckerberg's at it again

Plutogazillionaire facebook Mark Zuckerberg funded an action group that has been traced as the source behind some of the adds running nationwide that promote a variety of environmental disasters.  Tar sands pipeline, drilling in Alaska's national parks, and more.
It took over a year and millions of posts, emails and signatures to get Markie to drop coal and contract for green energy to run his server farms and headquarters.  Rich guys are bullheaded, and they don't give a damn.  He can't see the forest for the billions.

Fringe predictions of 2014 election.

The Senate will go republican.  There are lots of old Dems leaving, many from red states.  It's for this reason Reed won't change the filibuster rule.
The House will keep a majority, no matter how unpopular, most seats are safe due to gerrymandering.
Governor seats, 30 are held by GOP, the most unpopular governors are GOP, but as in Kansas, 36% approval of Brownback, and he won't have a primary and the dems say they don't have a runner in sight.
Jeb is raising IOU's already, his running mate will be the New Mexico hispanic lady gov.  Rubio and the New Jersey fat man are already road kill, Limbaugh is already chewing them up.

Airlines delayed and question of safety

Sarge at OneAngryZebra and I were in past lives air traffic controllers, certified FAA, he longer than me.

The congress agreed to cuts, even to the FAA, so we got what they bought.  By reducing the number of controllers we see delays.  What you should understand is that fewer controllers are on duty.  Controllers can only handle so many targets and radio conversations at a time, therefore the delays.  People, the delays are what insures safety.  The number of flights each controller deals with is still about what it was before, again, therefore the delays.   If we had dumped a lot of controllers and there were no delays, then that would mean we were at higher risk.  I, and Sarge I expect, are encouraged by the delays, it means the system is operating as it should, and it only operates for safety, that's it's single purpose, not speed, not comfort, safety.  Safety is achieved by separation, by distance, by time, interval, by altitude, these can't change.

Sure the GOP is whining they should look to save money from other sources, not allowed by the law Congress passed, but if it was what do you suggest, shutting off the radar, that would save money, don't repair any radio's, more saved, cancel all contracts for new equipment, don't use the runway lights, stop the Oklahoma City Air Traffic Control school from ongoing training?  Go on, choose one.

Global warming and Elvis's death

In the family are 4 PhD's, one works extensively with statistical analysis.  A few days ago he sat quietly as a history professor ranted at a lunch about the global warming hoax, it stopped warming he said, it's cooling.  Annoyed by what he suspected was pure bullshit he decided to find out.  Not being a climate scientist (nor was the buffoon), he could however look at the data and evaluate if it is is presented correctly.

He spent most of a weekend downloading and studying observed and recorded data from NASA, universities, and scientific journals.  He also looked at denier's presentations.  

First thing he noticed was, all of the data from the first sources stands up to statistical analysis.  So far as he could tell, the conclusions drawn from the data appear correct and meet all the tests for good and logical results.  

Second thing he noticed was deniers present almost no data, but plenty of charts and conclusions.  Virtually none of it would get a passing grade in a high level college statistics class, not only since there is so little info given to base it on.  Most all of the graphs either drop data, reset base values, manipulate others work, or just plain make shit up. 

He said he suspected deniers were doing this, so it was no surprise, but to actually go over some of the work and see how absurd it is was very disheartening.  

Now, the other interesting thing is, we also have a PhD climate scientist working for NASA in our extended family.  His comment to the statistician, there are lots of people who still don't believe smoking causes cancer or that Elvis died in 1977.

North Carolina wins big, go Tar Heels.

Just as in Kansas a month ago, ALEC, the Kochs, and a variety of coal and fossil fuel shills showed up to waste the states time with pre-made legislation to weaken the future of wind and solar in NC.

They failed, again, this is state #22, 22 states have had to spend time and money dealing with Republicans (in every state it's the GOP) bringing bills to vote to kill or make less attractive, or prohibit  increases in sustainable green home grown energy.    22 no's, many of them in red states.

It won't change a thing.  They will do the same in the next few weeks.  Money is no object.  And lying about what alternative fuels cost is their game.  We were told it would raise our rates $640 a year to add more wind, at a time when the most recently installed wind farms are selling watts below coal fired watts.  They don't care, state #23 will face the same lies.  If they can win one state they will be happy, one place that will be stuck in dirty old technology, and most likely at a higher price.

Go Tar Heels.  A week ago it was thought this could be the one coal wins.  I wonder what good things the legislature could have worked on instead of this exercise against progress.  And how about that, out of state people come into 22 state houses and manage to get their interest voted on within days of showing up!  Is that democracy?  The outcome maybe, but the process was corporatism, government for the oligarchs.

Why do we do that?

*Why was Aurora or Sandy Hook or Tucson not a terrorist act, but Boston was?  They had ideas and beliefs they were acting on, they had grudges and hate, they planned it, they were armed, some of their ideas were copied or learned from provocateurs or killers that proceeded them.
*Why is Congress after the FBI for not foreseeing the crime 2 years before it happened?  They did put him on a no fly list, but his odd name was mis-spelled, regretful but I bet you could write that name down and pass it to the next guy to copy, it would soon be wrong.
*Why does the GOP want so badly to see this citizen end up in Cuba under kangaroo military court?  Military court only convicted 6 muslims since 9-11, hundreds still have not been tried,  through our "actual" court system we have locked away dozens, in fact all of them that went to trial.     In the mean time the military courts have dismissed hundreds of rape cases, even overturning one of the rare convictions recently, and for post 9-11 war crimes, virtually no one is ever found guilty if his uniform was US.
*Why?  To me it appears racial and religious.  I am not so stupid to not notice that Muslims are behind many of the worlds terrorist events the last 2 decades.  Treating them differently though magnifies their importance, helps build their underdog martyr mythology.  Why do we do that?

Painting by numbers is fun, wearing an apron is to.

43 is doing better at staying in the lines his coach says.  He gets mixed up with the numbers sometimes, but after he goes in to stare at a mirror and a nap, we just touch it up for him.
Art critics have not been impressed with his work.  One commented the work is like his presidency.  Uninspired, simple,without value, and full of pride and self confidence that it's gooder than them other painters like Picasso, 43 picked up on the Picasso ref and added "at least the tits and legs are all aimed the same way".

Wallmart going sustainable? They may face prosecution in Kansas.

Kansas legislature passed a law that counties and cities cannot plan for sustainability or participate in any program federal, or UN, that plans or uses such terms.   That's Republicans idea of local and free community decisions.

Wallmart, some days I hate'm, today I like'm, just announced a plan for total and long term sustainability.  I don't know if they can do that legally in Kansas.  I suspect not.

The nations largest corporate employer has decided that sustainable development is not about being a hippie, rather, it is about efficiency, and cutting waste.  Currently they operate more solar systems than any company in the US, and they intend more, lots more.

100% renewable energy sources by 2020, at a savings of 1 billion dollars.  Most of the new energy source, they will build and own.  They also plan a 20% energy use reduction for every facility they operate.  This positions them beautifully if carbon credits are traded, to have a butt load of them, another profit harvest.  Which side will they be on in the debate about carbon trading?

When a success like Wallmart adopts 100% sustainability as a billion dollar money saver/maker, the copycat entrepreneurs aren't going to be far behind, this could be a tipping point in business.

South Carolina's Elizabeth Colbert Busch with a tiny lead over a tiny opponent.

Think of how humiliating it would be for Republicans to lose one of the reddest congressional seats in the country. It will have national implications for Boehner and his narrow minded majority. 

Well, Elizabeth Colbert Busch has a real chance to knock off Mark Sanford in South Carolina’s special election two weeks from today. That would be quite the upset for a district that Mitt Romney won by 18 points.  2 weeks ago she had a tiny margin, yesterday a poll results show the margin growing a little, she is just safe at the moment and that could change with millions headed in against her.  Buddy, can you spare $5, $20? At least go to the ECB's web site, click a like or a link, anything to show she has widespread support. 

http://colbertbuschforcongress.com/

Weren’t you happy when we invaded your country?

One Fly has a post that I looked at this morning, sounded really interesting, so I clicked the link to the story, I will piggyback on what One Fly did, offer it to everyone.  It's a few paragraphs written by a women from Iraq, who has survived the war by eventually running to Syria, and now ran from there to a third country.  She had not posted for a long long time, many feared she was dead, but thankfully she is alive.  Read it, if it does not move you, call the undertaker, you have already died.

http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

You can visit One Fly by clicking the little icon in the followers list, click the guy fishing.

Suicide watch, a couple years ago.

I got a call Saturday morning, first thing I hear is "I'm pretty close to a bullet in the head".  It's a friend, he demands we meet for lunch, he says he is suicidal, and about to do it.
We meet at a place without much business, a big booth to ourselves.  He comes in all red eyed and red nosed.  I knew something was up a few days ago in a high powered very important meeting he took a call then dashed out, left me to face a room full of customers on a multi-million dollar contract presentation.

"Why you going to kill yourself buddy?"  I ask as we wait for a wood grilled burger.  And so for the next 2 hours he tells it like this.
The wife got sores on her nipples, like blisters, so she went to the doctor.  This women doctor took one look and said herpes.  She rushes home and calls her mother.  Now the friends little wife is good looking, and I have also met her mother.  No likeness what so ever.  The mother-in-law is an A-1 Battle Axe.  Momma and wife decide hubby has been fucking around and brought home the bug.  They call a locksmith, turn off the garage door opener, gather up a few of his things in paper bags, throw them in the drive and call hubby in my meeting and report the herpes infested bosoms.  He tears home, they won't answer the door, he beats it till the neighbors come out and watch.  He checks into a hotel and spends hours calling the wife, she never answers, only the battle axe who calls him names, cries, and hangs up every time.
(me) "So, have you been fucking around?  And have you been rubbing your dick on her, ah, chest?"
Well, not really, not fucking, but, he met a little pop sickle at the gas station in a red convertible and for the last 3 weeks they meet for oral sex in his car every day or two, one day is her turn, one day his.

Then something weird gets mentioned.  He tells me the impending destruction of their lives is especially tragic since they have been having trouble getting pregnant she is on all kinds of hormones and such, from another doctor.
(me) "Wait, hold on here.  This could be a reaction to the drugs.  Do you have any herpes sores?"
(he) "Nope."
(me) "So get tested, or ask her to go to the hormone doctor, I bet it's the drugs".
(he) He is OK with that but in the mean time he's got a swell plan to fix everything,  first beg the battle axe to let him in, or let him talk to her, then tell the story, admit everything.
(me) "No no no.  I'll bet it's not herpes, and you are going to clear your consciounce but it will only hurt her, you might feel like you did the right thing, but she gets hurt".
(he) "Nope, I'm going to lay it on the line"

Well, here's how that turned out.  After a couple days and 50 phone calls he finally gets battle axe to let him the garage, battle axe and wife come out all puffy and sobby.  He tells the popsicle story, with all the little nuances.  That should settle everything right?  Get out get out, that put him back in the hotel for another 4 or 5 days with 3 days of clean clothes until........wait for it.......wife goes to hormone doctor.  Hormone Dr. reports, yes sir ee, that was the girlie meds made those weepy blisters on your perky brests.  So now it's established he didn't get herpes from kissing the sports car driver between the elastic bands of her panties.
So.......now he comes to me with the idea to sue this doctor.
(me)  "Are you fucking nuts?  You want this in court with the wife giving evidence?  Who's side is she going to be on when all this has to be retold again?    You think your going to win some money and do what with it, install a dog door to sneak in next time you fuck up your life?  And the god damn battle axe, ya think she's going to poison you this Christmas, or wait till the next?"
He finally got home that night, on the couch for a week he told me, but home.

Yea, they are still married, but it's an odd one those two.  At a dinner party on their deck a couple years back she thought he was flirting with one of the women, gets pissed, goes in and comes back with a wispy little peekaboo thin as cigar smoke sun dress no bra and serves dinner and drinks and flirts like hell.  You see, this couple enables one another to excesses.

My life is so simple compared to some.  Geeze!

How much green energy is out there?

Germany: Some weekends over 50% of the energy is from wind and solar.
Portugal: The last 2 months 70% of nations power is from wind, solar and hydro.
California: April 7 a new high, 4,196 MW of wind power produced, theoretical capacity is 5,899.
Texas: Record wind power produced 9,481 MW, capacity 10,407.
Germany: April 15th, 1.3 million solar systems (in foggy cloudy Germany) produced 22.68 GW (gigawatts) at noon, the bell curve from 6 am to 8 pm totaled 167 GWh of electricity.  The equivalent of    up to 16 nuclear reactors running at noon.
Denmark: 25% of the nations electricity comes from wind.
India: 1 million homeowners have solar PV.

Just a few of the hundreds of examples, yet it is suppose to be nearly impossible to use solar panels in all but the southwest US, look at Germany and other central and northern European nations who are the world leaders in installed PV in a sunshine climate equal to Alaska.

follow up to: City to run out of water

Went to the meeting.  Basically it was a disaster.  You can not have a meaningful town hall meeting if  most the attendees mumble and grumble non-stop.  It was a grey haired crowd who want the water problem solved, but every suggestion or comment was seen as a plot to raise their water rates or taxes.  To be fare, there were a lot of good suggestions even from this crowd.  But by the water departments own numbers of what different actions could save, it falls short.  High rates for high volume users must be part of the solution, but thats just one liberal's opinion.

Republicans keep crapping on minorities

How's the GOP outreach to minorities going?  Inner city blacks wanted gun control, that failed.  Rubio has run into attacks from Fox and other Repubs on his emigration efforts. The gay rights issue is not settled and red states are now getting in the act with laws restricting gay rights.  Women fair pay act, nope, protection of women act, nope, cutting off health care, yep, restricting abortion, yep.  Then there's the recent remarks by repubs from around the country, nigger-rigging, and hunt Mexicans with helicopters just to name 2.  Voter suppression, that falls on minorities the hardest.  Gerrymandering will keep almost every House seat safe, meaning minorities have little chance to be heard.   But, for president and some senate seats, the GOP is at increasing risk.
The democrats are targeting Texas in a long game effort.  The goal, Texas a toss up state by 2018.  But they have to get latinos to vote, currently they don't make much of an effort.  If Texan latinos voted at the same rate as in California, they would have cut Romeny's margin by 1/3 and picked off a couple of house seats.  If they can get eligible latino and blacks to vote near their maximum, 2018 can be competitive in the presidential and a number of congressional and state level seats.

Visit the South Carolina race, election May 7th.  A strong GOP district but polls so far show the democrat with a small lead.
http://colbertbuschforcongress.com/welcome/

Romney's 47% grows to 90%

Romney's GOP openly said there were 47% of Americans he didn't give a damn about.  Inflation has hit, now the number the extremist Republican party doesn't give a rats-ass about jumped to 90%.

90% of the public wants gun control on a number of fronts, broader than the defeated bill would have covered.  And it did not happen, defeated in the Senate, the House would never have scheduled it, we all know that.  The GOP and some Democrats too, represent extremist and corporations.  The GOP and some Democrats have no intention of working for the 90%.

The overwhelming majority also want action on climate, pollution, dirty food, product safety, pay day loans, corporate and rich hiding money off shore and dodging taxes, even if it means higher prices on energy and food, America wants this.  Yet elected officials will not allow it.

We do not have a democracy right now.  A kind of perverse capitalism has control.  It can't happen hear said Frank Zappa, well Frank was wrong.  So long as the youth are diverted to avoidance of learning, and peoples evenings revolve around entertainment, gluttony and recreational shopping, this will continue.  We don't need a revolution, we just need people to start walking into the local congressman's office, the state house, the local board meeting and speaking up, and when you lose, and you will lose, don't get mad, don't pout, don't threaten, organize, come back, organize do it again, organize.

Right now the only way to help send a message to the GOP is get involved with the South Carolina Congressional race, former lying cheating hiding Sanford running against Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch.  It's time to put a few dollars on the line.  It's time to hunt ECB on the internet and visit her page, "like" her on facebook, click on news stories on her, write good things about her on blogs that mention the race.  This is (so far) the only race of any import before the 2014 scramble.

City to run out of water in Aug. 2014

Tonight I speak at a city water board meeting, I think I get 3 minutes.  At current rates of use during the mulit year drought, the huge lake that supplies 70% of our water will fail us in 18 months.  We won't be completely out, the balance comes from wells sunk into an underground lake.
6 months ago the water department planned to raise rates and restrict lawn watering.  You would have thought Obama was suggesting it.  The shit hit the fan, led by pool owners, there's thousands of pools and no matter if we run out, they will fill the pool one last time, and they don't intend to pay a higher rate to do it.  We are a forward thinking city, we got thousands of pools, maybe a dozen solar roofs, and the plan settled on to fix the water crises coming at us, so they dropped the plan and said pray.  I shit you not, they ask for prayer for rain.  It's worked for west Texas right?
There are a number of things that can be done, my suggestions will be: *building codes for the 1 gal flush toilets, (I have those for 15 years, you can't tell the diff), *enlist garden clubs and county agricultural agents and news media to promote and instruct for low water use grasses, trees and shrubs (time to stop growing blue grass and fescue lawns in central Kansas), *the water department should include on water bill the neighbors water volume use numbers (where electric companies do this use goes down as most people are competitive and want to be near the lower use than the higher, people don't want to pay more than the next guy.
All these will help a little, but none can have an immediate impact.  Only price and hard restrictions will create an immediate change in habits.  So here are the ones that will have impact.
*Ban watering lawns to either 2 or 3 days a week the rest of this year, if the water level continues to fall, next year it should go to 1 day or perhaps total.  (Buffalo grass does not need watering, and it grows fine here, it also rarely needs mowing, it's not popular because it is not bright green, but a pale green thin blade.)    *Raise rates progressively by volume, and steeply.  *Ban filling of private swimming pools if the water level continues to fall by late summer.

I expect to be booed.  Thank you and fuck you very much.

I invested in pig poo and it slowed global warming

About 18 months ago I loaned Julio $25.   Julio, a young Mexican with a few hogs had an idea.  If he could buy the material he could build a digester to turn porcine doo doo into gas for his own use, and he could sell the digested oderless leftovers to gardeners as a rich fertilizer.  His idea would give him 3 valuable products.  Meat, gas, natural fertilizer.

The loan was handled by Kiva.  A micro loan organization.  The crowd funding totaled about $1,500 to Julio.  He has never missed a monthly payment.   I think he has about a year left on the loan, these loans are very low interest and Kiva screens them carefully, default is around 1%.

Julio reports all is well.  Locals buy the fertilizer and the geraniums are beautiful.  The pigs are doing fine.  And the digester is burbing methane into his low pressure gas heating and lighting reducing his utility bills.  What Julio does not report is this digester is keeping methane out of the atmosphere, just a few polluting pigs worth, but still, for my $25 I consider it a great investment in the environment.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."  Margaret Mead

http://www.kiva.org/home

6,610 One Hundred Watt Bulbs, follow up, from 3 posts ago.

A few days ago Ron aka Sarge from OneAngryZebra asked how much I saved with the CF bulbs and the new low energy rated dishwasher and fridge.  I was ranting about my bill, and by way of an example of how many 100 watt bulbs blistering away for an hour, I found it was 6,610.

OK here's the answer, sort of, without supporting calculations, just accept it OK.  Well it isn't easy.  I took the 11 most used light fixtures, the ones I have a decent guess of how much they are on each day, and these 11 are CF equal to 60 watt, average 14 watt.
The energy savings, these 11 CF over conventional is $66.44 yr. or $5.50 mo.
New fridge saved $45.50 yr. or $4.58 mo.
New dishwasher saved $32.00 yr. or 2.67 mo.
Total $143.94 yr. or $12.00 mo.
Now $144 is not much I guess, but she mounts up real pretty, 7 years to a thousand dollars, what was that Ben Franklin said?

The real savings is greater than these numbers show.  I have CF bulbs in most the house inside and out, and one LED.  I really couldn't come up with a decent estimate for those with less routine use.  As for the dishwasher it also uses a fraction of the water the old one did.  The fridge and dishwasher pooped out, so when I bought I went for the most energy savings model I could get.

If you use the purchase price of the bulb and the life, it gets really good.  The LED I bought will last for 15 years or better, and save $158 in energy at current rates.  CF's prices have fallen to under $2 a bulb in 8 packs.

Scroll down, the first "6,610" post is near.

Pulitzer Prize won by snoopy reporters working for free, sticking their noses where oil doesn't want them.

from InsideClimate:

The trio took top honors in the category for their work on “The Dilbit Disaster: Inside the Biggest Oil Spill You’ve Never Heard Of,” a project that began with a seven-month investigation into the million-gallon spill of Canadian tar sands oil into the Kalamazoo River in 2010. It broadened into an examination of national pipeline safety issues, and how unprepared the nation is for the impending flood of imports of a more corrosive and more dangerous form of oil.

Pulitzer is a prize for writing in a number of fields.  The one for journalism this year was awarded to InsideClimate, a non profit on-line news group focused on the environment.   google insideclimate.

Lumpy has died, another bummer.

Leave it to Beaver's pal, Lumpy, passed away yesterday.  Real name Frank Bank, 71, born and lived in the LA area.  He was a great character.  Never mean, but always willing to stand behind a hasty and flimsy excuse or to palm off the blame on others.  I cherish Lumpy for his portrayal of the incompetently dishonest, of which I have met more than a few in business, and with much less admiration.

Everyone wants to be a drummer, or stone carver.

26" tall, in progress.

Didn't you ever just want to hit it, as fast and hard as you could?  Grab some sticks or a hammer and whale away, just beat it.  Get rhythm.

imagine 6,610 100 watt bulbs for one hour

That was my electric bill this month.  Equal to an hour of 6,610 tungsten filament incandescent bulbs, you know the old technology, the ones that turn about 80% of the energy into heat and 20 into light.

I used 661 kWh, or kilowatt hours.  One kilowatt is a thousand watts, a kilowatt hour is a thousand watts for one hour, which is easy to grasp if you envision ten 100 watt incandescent bulbs on for an hour, thats one kWh.  So my 661 equals 6,610 100 watt bulbs blazing away.

This was a bit of a surprise to me, last year the same period was a little over 400 kWh.  We are scratching our heads why it jumped.  Maybe the neighbor ran a line to my outside plugs?  Well 661 isn't bad, the national average for home and apartment is 888 kWh.  I have CF bulbs in most places, and one LED which I like and will be getting more,  also we had to replace dishwasher, fridge, and some little things and we grabbed the lowest energy use model in every case.  But 66 hundred, maybe I left the vibrator running.

Corporations lending their brand to the Global Warming fight

There are a number of corporate groups formed to educate the public that global warming is going to harm humans and our current form of doing business.  This group of 35 just put out a statement telling the public the evidence continues to grow, we need to change our use of chemicals and fossil fuels, conserve and recycle to slow the process.

The best line from their statement:
We cannot risk our kids’ futures on the false hope that the vast majority of scientists are wrong.

 Currently 66% of the worlds largest corporations have adopted a sustainability plan of some degree.  Sadly for some of them it's "greenwash", for the group above they are truly taking steps.  See the little red and orange circle right side middle, New Belgian, thats a beer maker in Colorado, they buy only wind power, waste the smallest amount of water per liter of any beer maker, give employees who live near the plant bikes to ride to work.  90% of my bear is from this source.  Vote with your pocketbook.

7 year old 2nd amendmented to death

Salina Kansas, Sunday.   Dad took his two little boys out with the 9mm semi-automatic hand gun.  A few minutes into it one brother shot the other dead.

This is a crushing event.  They had every right to do this, as in the last 3 months 3,000 others also absorbed the rights of others in this way.

In case of nuclear accident run 10 miles. Ask Russia or Japan how far to run?

 The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission should look at evacuation plans for areas beyond a 10-mile radius around America’s nuclear power plants.  This suggestion coming from an independent Congressional advisory board. 

10 miles.  Looking at Japan after the nuclear plant melt down, it is clear the 10 mile radius evacuation plan for the health and welfare of the public is no better than the cold war solution for kids to crawl under desks.  

My prediction is this plan will go nowhere.  The nuclear industry hoping for a new era cannot allow discussions of safety.  Communities with plants, or hoping to land a new plant, likewise cannot allow this type of discussion nor the cost of setting up a procedure for a disaster, better just cross your fingers, after all, it can't happen here.

All the bitching about wind and solar being subsidized is a small potato joke if you want to talk about nukes.  It is the highest cost of energy, the plants never pay for themselves, and the government will have to pick up the price to dismantle it in 30 - 40 years, the owners will never have enough money to do it, and will file bankruptcy to to weasel out of it.  

Flaxseeds & Breast Cancer Survival: Clinical Evidence | NutritionFacts.org

Flaxseeds & Breast Cancer Survival: Clinical Evidence | NutritionFacts.org
This has also worked for other cancers, prostate too has shown a reduction of cancer within only a month, a few cases the cancer disappeared.  This isn't healthfood store miracle myth shit, these are from real studies in top hospitals, peer reviewed.

Computer blown away, shooter OK, may get safety award

Yesterday, in Kansas, where recently passed laws allow guns everywhere, even in schools, because the more guns around kids the safer they are, a security officer was stroking his 2nd amendment fetish when it went off in his hands.  The anti bad guy device passed through a wall and a computer in another room injuring someone.  The story so poorly reported it's unclear if the injured, whoever they may be, was struck by the 2nd amendment or shards of the computer.

I got two things to say, bees, meat.

The population of honey bees in the US has fallen about in half the last 3 years.  Science has at last identified the killer, pesticides, called neonicotinoids.  A tobacco product used to coat seeds, making them poison while in storage.  But once planted it turns out neonicotinoids travel into the plant and end up concentrated in the flower, killing the bees by disorientation and fatigue, they cannot find their way back home.  

Without bees, food crop production will fall an estimated 50%, in some even higher.  
The last two weeks have seen 5 or more studies about red meat (beef, pork, lamb) impacting heart disease and a whole list of cancers.  All found the same thing, eat more than just a little meat, and cause your own cancer.  One large one followed 25,000 for 10 years.  Red meat eaters, (volume dependant) die of heart disease and cancers 30% more often than those who avoid red meats.  One of the studies finally identified the cancer causing element in meat, carnitine.  Carnitine causes a whole list of cancers, proven.  This was a biggie, up till now it was not known what it was that starts and feeds cancer.

Have a nice day.  In Europe they banned the bee killer chemical for 2 years for further study, here the chemical will continue until a study expected in 5 years go to review expected to take a year, all the money is on the chemical side, almost none on the bees, till the store shelves run thin.  Meat industry sounds like tobacco and oil today, the science is unsettled.  Well, I am settled, settled into eating chicken and fish once a week, and for the last 2 years red meat maybe 10, maybe 15 times total.  

Met Life and global warming

I have a little life policy with Met Life.  Snail mail just brought me a news letter/mini magazine about helpful stuff.
To my surprise, one of the main items in it is a list of Helpful Hints to Save Gas now that Global Warming is rising utility and fuel costs.
It had all the usual stuff, accelerate slowly, coast to the stop sign, air up the tires, plan your trip to save miles, use public transport or walk when possible, keep engine tuned, buy low rolling resistant tires, don't speed.  But it had one that I had never thought of before.  Park in the shade on warm days - gas evaporates from the tank at a much higher rate as the heat increases, and the AC has to work harder to cool off the car when you jump in, both cost you extra fuel.
Met Life, yes, they said Global Warming is costing you money.

Riveter Rosie can climb a wind mill and wire in a solar panel.

• Women are underrepresented in the green economy, holding just 29.5 percent of green jobs compared to 48 percent of the total U.S. workforce
• Women’s estimated median earnings are higher in the green economy than in the overall economy ($38,486 compared to $35,574)
• The gender wage gap is lower in the green economy than in the overall economy (18 percent compared to 22 percent, for 2008-2010)
• The distribution of jobs in the green economy is more concentrated in industries that typically employ more men than women, including manufacturing, construction, transportation, warehousing and utilities
• Women’s share of green jobs is expected to stay low since the occupations that are projected to see the most growth are traditionally held by men (heating and air conditioning technicians, carpenters and electricians)
• http://veteransgreenjobs.org/

Margaret Thatcher, friend of the rich.

Thatcher replaced property tax with a poll tax.  You were taxed on how many people lived in the same apartment/house/castle.  A family of 4 crammed into a run down row house in Colchester, and another 4 living in luxury off Hyde Park, taxed the same when she passed that law.  Riots followed, 1/4 million in London, other cities too.  She wouldn't back down, the landed gentry were ever so thrilled.
Surly the American Republicans will pick that trick up.

To her credit, she did say in 1990 at a speech on climate in Switzerland “The danger of global warning is as yet unseen, but real enough for us to make changes and sacrifices, so that we do not live at the expense of future generations,” 

Killing American GI's

As many as 18 some days.  Suicide, 18.  Military men and women, both active and discharged.
Nearly all from the wars begun in Bush 41 and 43's regime.  This is the cost of war, who would have guessed?  Their have been very few days in the last 10 years when 18 died on a single day in battle.  We have found the enemy, and he is us.  No enemy the last 20 years has been so good at killing American GI's.

Screw the rich with clean low cost energy, right out of their back yard.

A few days ago Sarge at OneAngryZebra asked why not wind energy from turbines in US waters,  off Cape Cod for example?  The answer has already filled books ("Cape Wind" an excellent read) and spanned 13 wasted years.  Meanwhile, Europe has hundreds and hundreds in the water, and Asia is getting in the act too.

Cape Cod should have the first turbines under construction this fall.  The wind in Nantucket Sound is among the best in the US.  It blows almost full time, at a steady brisk clip in 35 feet of water.    This means the payback on investment will be sure and swift even though off-shore construction is 5 to 10 times on land.  Since proposal 13 years ago the units now to be used will produce 3 or 4 times as much energy as first planned.

The fight to build has been bankrolled by one man for 13 years, late March the Bank of Tokoyo Mitsubishi announced they will take over finance to the tune of $2.6 billion.  The promoter is a man who became filthy rich building coal fired power plants.  One day he flipped, time to right the wrongs, and wind could make money too.  He lives in Cape Cod.  Well, so do a couple hundred of the richest and best connected families in the world.  Millions have been spent on both sides with everyone from Ted Kennedy to Romney, a Koch, Melons, and lots of people who make money off damn near everything you do live there in estates worth hundreds of millions, and many of them hired firms and people to fight and speak for them and to bog up the courts with objections.

*It would spoil the view they said.  Well they will be miles out to sea, barely visible on a clear day, like looking at a domino on the far side of a big table.  Many days there is enough haze or fog  to hide them all together.  If it spoils the view it would only be for the rich.  There are virtually no locations in the area for the public to get to the waters edge.  The few swimming beaches are private and all have a gate keepers filter of around $75,000 to join.
*It would ruin a national marine sanctuary and harm fish populations.  This is false, it has no such designation.  Fish populations have increased in Europe around wind farms since large ships and drag net fishing is impossible among the turbines.  In fact it would create a marine sanctuary, though not designated.
*It will kill birds.  Not as many as buildings, farm/yard chemicals, cats.  Ever have a bird fly into your window?  Cats kill around a billion a year, billion.  Turbines kill on average 2 a year.
*Ruin sailing.  Well of the hundreds of square miles of Sound to sail in surely they can steer around the few sq. miles of turbines.
*It's in state waters.  No, it's in federal waters.  Even after Gov. Romney sent out boats hunting for low tide rocks, which they found, then extended the state line a couple miles, which the wind developer corrected by shifting a half dozen turbine locations.
*Move it and we will drop our opposition.  The wealthy who fought this for 13 years in court, the halls of Washington and the state house more than once suggested it go to some blue collar towns with public beaches and they would stay quiet.  For the developer, it was about wind quality, and he picked the best place on the east coast, anything else would be a step down.

Some of the highest energy prices in the nation are in surrounding area?  As much as 19 cents kWh, 10 cents above average.  The utilities rely on coal, and even some burn oil.  Relief in pollution and  downward pressure on prices will benefit the area.  But, not coal, oil, or the ego's of billionaires.
There are other wind farms in the planning now, after 13 years of court and legislative battles, Cape Wind has cleared the way, they should go up with little trouble.

From Vancouver to Halifax an information curtain has descended

In the last 2 years Canada has moved from one of the greenest nations to one of the main opponents of every thing to do with a sustainable environment for humans.
It seems the riches of the tar sands oil and drilling in the arctic is the only thing they live for.  With the change to a conservative government the country said fuck it all, lets wallow in wealth until the shit hits the fan.

One of the first things they did was fire all scientist and close the offices of about 120 experts on ocean temperature & level, arctic ice, tundra permafrost, fish and polar bear studies, air pollution, climate change.  Gone, one fell swoop, gone.  Live stupid, live for money, build a wall between what you do and the results.  The information Curtain.

Next the pipelines, through the northeast US, another down to Houston.  Already there are many, the public doesn't know of until last week another Canadian pipe broke and flooded Arkansas with stinking low grade oil, we have one running within 5 miles of my farm in Kansas to a refinery in McPherson.  This oil is the filthiest of the dirtiest.  Not all oils are equal, this is very toxic and very expensive in cash and pollutants to refine.  Canada has a hoard of lobbyist buying your Congress and President to approve more pipelines and more tanker trains, more, yes, there are more after this, and the pipe is coming from India, not made in the US.  Oh, technically it's not oil, it's bitamen, so it's not an oil spill, and some of the fines and obligations don't apply because it is not oil,  another fact hidden behind the information curtain.

Now, this week, they became the only nation to back out of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.  Strange indeed since the most productive area, from the great lakes to the rockies across the southern part of Canada is in severe drought.  This area largely survives on glacier melt filling the rivers which feed irrigation.  Go to Banff and see the sign posts where the glaciers were each year.  The loss in area is hugh, the loss in thickness is even greater.  Peru, Brazil, all of Southeast Asia, parts of Europe and New Zealand all rely on glacier fed agriculture.  About 1 in 4 on earth eat because of glaciers.

I truly believe, soon in Banff, the sign posts and photos of glaciers will disappear.  Oh Canada, tear down that curtain.

North Carolina, dirty future - clean future?

This map is very close to a number of other maps, but this time the southeast block isn't representing the area where life expectancy is on the decline, or education is among the worst, voter suppression is an industry, diets are the least healthful, or where the Reichwing and hate groups abound.
Nope, this map is about states visions of future air quality and jobs.  This shows the states who have worked with utilities (some volunteered some were mandated) to produce or buy a little more renewable energy, wind, solar, hydro, in the years ahead.  In the last year ALEC, Kochs, Norquist, and others funded by fossil fuel have marched into 21 states with a rubber stamp ready law to overturn these agreements, called RPS, Renewable Portfolio Standard.  Their claim is wind energy raises rates up to $640 a year, about $640 off.
Kansas was the last battle, and like 20 others, we defeated it, if only temporarily.  Now it's North Carolina.  Yesterday it passed out of committee to the floor.  In Kansas the Farm Bureau, churches, citizens, Sierra Club, and a group of manufacturers and construction companies beat it back, helped by data from the states own records showing wind energy is competitive and some new turbines produce at lower prices than conventional.  If you are a Tar Heel, or know one, you, they, better get going or be the first state fossil fuel wins in.  The Tar Heels have thousands of jobs in wind and solar, it would be the shits to see that hampered.  Considering the block of states they are near, I'd say it's a good shot dirty power might have their first win.