A friend signed up for Obamacare

Friend of the wife got signed up.  She has a good income, not eligible for any discount subsidy so she just called up BlueCross and bam she is ready to go.  They will give her a certificate of insurance to use if she needs to, I don't know, maybe you send it in with your tax return.
BlueCross told her that anyone can sign up through an insurance provider rather than the government sites, but if you are eligible for subsidy you have to use the certificate to get it through some exercise, again I don't know how but it can be done.
People, especially if you are not going to get a subsidy (somewhere around a 50k or 60k income level) you can just do it on your own now.  For the friend, she had a pre-existing condition from surgery 10 years ago that has kept her from having insurance ever since.  This is a good deal, she is thrilled.

Bird killers, it sure as hell ain't windmills.

Canada did a study of bird kills.  Power generating wind turbines did not make the list, they kill only around 2 birds a year each on average.

1. Domestic and feral cats: 200 million
2. Power lines, collisions and electrocutions: 25 million
3. Collisions with houses or buildings: 25 million
4. Vehicle collisions: 14 million
5. Game bird hunting: 5 million
6. Agricultural pesticides 2.7 million
7. Agricultural mowing: 2.2 million young birds, equivalent to one million adult birds
8. Commercial forestry: 1.4 million nests, equivalent to 900,000 adult birds
9. Communications towers: 220,000

The myth promoted by Koch's and their fellow opponents of wind turbines is just that, myth.  There are a few turbines that have whacked a number of birds, but most never hit one.  I spend a few hours with the operating manager of a wind farm in western Kansas, he has 90 turbines.  He said he has never found a bird under one of his yet.  Last year 2 eagles were reported found near towers (somewhere?) in Kansas, 1 had a bullet hole through it, so.....

Nature Porn or Zen?

11 mostly red states amazing surprise

Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Virginia.

Registered voters in these states view on global warming and the EPA:
92% of democrats trust the EPA to regulate green house gases.
58% of republicans trust the EPA to regulate green house gasses.
65% of all voters say climate change is a serious problem.
74% of all voters say the EPA should make more laws on pollution. 
12% of these states reps. believe the public wants stronger laws on pollution.

These numbers are a shocker.  The public is far more progressive than I imagined, and the politicians couldn't be more isolated.  Clearly politicians are hearing from and fund raising among a narrow group.  We knew that.  But I don't think any of us knew it was this lop sided, shit, these guys are 50+ points off on what they think people want, if we can convince more to speak up, write, call, visit these guys local offices, maybe we can raise it to 15%.  Ha, it's a goal, one thing I learned, without a goal, not much happens.  
The poll also probed the environment as a campaign issue, running against the EPA and science will not pay off in most of these areas in 2014, so we need to make it an issue.

The publics determination as shown here, to act on global warming, ties nicely into explaining the rapid movement to divest.  See the 2nd blog below.

Vegan recipes I really like

Tom, Outta the Cornfield ask, so here are some I make often.

Red Beans and Rice. A southern dish, variations are as many as meat loaf, I just leave out the sausage.
Saute (chopped) medium onion, bell peppers, 2 or 3 stalks celery, 1 or 5 garlics, add equal amounts of red beans and cooked brown rice, a can of chopped tomato, thyme, oregano, paprika, bay leaf, pepper(s) of your choice (black, cayenne, chipotle, jalapeno) salt.  Simmer slow for 15 to 45 min. or how ever long you can wait.

Spaghetti sauce.  Take any sauce recipe, leave out the meat, add white beans and add lots more basil than they call for.  I have had this in Italy.  I then use whole grain pasta.  You may have to experiment, some of the whole grain pasta's are not so great, I like Barilla, as good as white flour pasta.

Indian Potatoes with Cauliflower
Stir every few minutes while you make this.
Saute 1 minute 1T oil, 1t cumin, 1t garlic, 1t ginger.
Add and saute 7 min. (chopped) 2 or 3 potato, 1/2t paprika, 1/2t garam masala, 1/2t tumeric.
Add 1/2 (chopped) medium cauliflower and 1t fresh cilantro, lower heat to a simmer 10 min., cover.
You may need to add a tiny amount of water in the last few minutes.

What is Garam masala?  If you cannot buy this, make do with as many of these as you can get your hands on.  Mix these in descending order, say a spoon of the first item and a little bit less of each as you go.  Cumin, Coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, cayenne, nutmeg.  Shake it up and you now have the secret to many Indian dishes.  There are a hundred recipes for this spice, so use what ever of these you have you will get part way at least.

Pilaf, Lentil, Millet, Barley or Rice.  Variations on rice pilaf, same thing, this can also be made with combinations of these grains but cooking time means you use different pans then combine near the end.
Basically it's a small amount of vegis cooked with the grain.
1 carrot diced small, 1 celery stalk diced.  Sometimes a few shavings of onion, or a few peas.  A little salt and pepper at the end.
Put the vegis in with the grain and simmer till grain is done.  Brown lentil takes 25 to 30 min., red takes 5 or 10 min., green in between.  Millet about 20 min. (2.5 times water to grain on millet). Barley takes over an hour so add vegi's at about 50 minutes.  At serving time I sometimes add a little vegi oil and/or nuts, even raisins work.
Bonus salad.  You can cool a bit of this then add any of these: few fresh diced onion, diced pepper, cucumber, tomato, oil and vinegar, even drained-washed beans, sha-zam a high protein salad.

Americans don't eat lentil or millet very often.  They are both high in protein easy to digest and fast to prepare.  Almost all millet is grown in Colorado, most is organic, low priced, buy it at a store that sells bulk.  Millet is nutty or even popcorn like flavor.  It's also tiny and round, drop it and it goes everywhere like ball bearings.


OK, in a few days I'm going to give you some more, including some soups worth fighting over, yea, grab a wooden spoon and go in swinging.

Divestment starting to scare dirty energy boys

Divestment - divestiture, noun.  The action or process of selling off business interests or investments.  From medieval Latin divestit.

During apartheid divestiture of South African stocks was a very slow moving process.  Today the call to divest from fossil fuel is moving like lightening.  Endowment mangers, pension funds, some church managed funds, universities, social minded investment clubs, many are dumping oil, gas, coal at lightening speed.  In the last few months 30 universities in the UK divested, in the US a few city pension funds, Churches and also about 30 universities.  All within a few months.  The ball is rolling, as these groups switch investments to eco-friendly and civic neutral companies.

This move will not hurt BP or king coal now, but later it has to.  Other investors will buy those stocks and corporate bonds for the good profit they turn.  The damage comes with loss of prestige and influence, when few universities or municipality or church funds will touch you, then the new drilling permit or pipeline garners less support and banks will want less exposure with a disgraced industry.  Recently a number of fossil fuel execs have noted this is some of the worse news encountered for a long time, one said when a poll of Harvard student body turns up over 80% for divestiture, we are in trouble.  It turns out they can influence much of the government, but no longer so much of the investors, and public opinion is clamoring for a transition to clean energy, now.

Our vets are just lazy, hey, get a bleep'n job.

Friday SNAP goes into another free fall thanks to the GOP.  900,000 vets will be hit with a reduction or a cut off of food stamps.  In Texas 100,000 will see partial or total cut, Florida also 100k.

To hear the tea baggers, racist, the radical rich and the republican political machine they own tell it, people on food stamps are just free loaders.  Helping them is the reason we have so many unemployed.  It's not the economy when were talking about welfare, its the lazy ass fat ass dumb ass white trash and all those with dirty skin colors, they could have jobs, high paying jobs if they just made up their mind.

So I have to ask.   These GI's, the ones every politician must bend over backward to say "thanks for your service", fail that once on camera and you will not get elected, how did these heroes and defenders and gods come back and turn into trash the GOP hate?  We owe our freedom and our pandering to them one day, the next day it's fuck you couch boy, stop pouting about your trauma and stop looking to the nation for food and shelter.  Good luck, use your marching and rifle cleaning skills to get a job, but don't show up asking for help, or stand on a street corner, or show your battle scars, the machine doesn't need you now you no longer consume defense industry products.

We have a history of stiffing our warriors.  The revolutionary soldiers waited about 20 years for their promised reward, free land to settle in and west of the Appalachia.  Today it's the same, old soldiers are in the way unless they have a unique story or make a good photo opp.

In case your moved to action, SNAP is needed by most all on the program, these cuts need to be reversed for all.  Not just the vets.  We cannot let anyone carve out a special situation for the vets or any other group.  This is what the GOP wants to do, peacemeal replacement in the shutdown, the sequester and so on.  In this way they can divide the nation the way the red necks and radical rich want.

What's fracking done for you?

15 million Americans live within 1 mile of fracking operations.  There is a glut of natural gas on the market.  Yet, natural gas prices are up.  Over 50% of homes use NG heat, and on average they will pay 13% more this winter, in a surplus.  Hey this doesn't make sense!
Price is up in anticipation of shipping our NG to other nations, a world market price like oil, even if you discover more the price is set by world demand not our needs or demands.
Consumers are mostly unaware of this.  There is a group of companies filing suit to stop the approval of these export terminals which will raise operating costs in the US.  Dow Chemical is leading the fight.  When these ports are in operation our NG prices will sky rocket and fracking will expand further.  15 million will become 25, 50?
The Chamber of Commerce, which is business lingo for "middle class not needed", is fighting for these ports to be approved, giving 93% of their donations to the GOP, which dutifully runs the nation for the corporations.  Who would have thought that finding more gas means the nations industries will become less competitive and homeowners bills go up?  Kiss converting trucks to NG good bye.
Screw'm, stick'm with their surplus!  Find a way to use less NG this winter.

How many vegetarians are their?

Australia 5%
New Zealand 1 to 2 %
France 2%
Germany 9%
Italy 10%
Netherlands 4.5% with the fastest increase of 25% a year
Sweden 1 to 3%
Switzerland 5%
United Kingdom 3% to 11%
Brazil 8% to 14%
Canada 4%
United States 5% to 7%
Taiwan 13%
Israel 5% with 11% of young boys and 20% of girls now vegi's
India 31%, in some regions it exceeds 55%

Note 1: the variation in some nations due multiple studies with different results.

These polls are not all strictly measuring the same thing, the definitions are personal as to if dairy or an egg is a dis qualifier, nor do we know if people identify themselves as vegetarian yet still like me have a chicken breast or piece of salmon rarely.  What I did not include because it is convoluted information is these studies found in most every country there is a growing number who are inching towards vegetarianism, increasing the number of days they go without meat and reducing the serving size when they do eat meat.
The reasons people go vegetarian or vegan, 1) to improve their overall health, 2) environmental concerns,  3) “ natural approaches to wellness”, 4) food-safety concerns, 5) animal welfare, 6) weight loss, 7) weight maintenance.
A plant based diet with a wide variety of fruit, vegis, nuts, grains, olive or vegitable oils, spices, wine, combined with dialy exercise or 20 minutes walking and the elimination of all sugars except small amounts of molasses and honey) can in most people completely reverse; diabetes, correct cholesterol faster than statins, cut the risk of cancers of every kind, halt the progress of MS, reverse and correct heart disease, cut blood pressure, improve joint pain and slow arthritis, slow progression of dementia, altzhiemers, cut the incidence of bladder infections.  Why?  Meats carry into our bodies many pathogen and chemicals natural and man made that contribute to all those things listed above.  While plants carry natural antibiotics (blueberries and broccoli are the superhero's of this) nutrients and compounds of thousands of types that repair cells, even repair DNA, that stimulate the bodies ability to fight diseases, cancers, and to slow auto-immune actions like arthritis, where literally the body is attacking some part of it's self.  
I had triglycerides of 850, did not fill the prescription for statins, went plant based diet, numbers fell to 450 in 60 days and to 150 in less than a year.  We have been "almost" vegan for about 5 years.  In that time I bet we haven't eaten over 5 pounds of red meat and the last year we stopped almost all other meats eggs and dairy.  The myth is how can you get enough vitamins calcium and protein from plants.  The answer is you get enough of everything if you eat a variety, you may get less protein than before  but you will get enough, vegans do not die from lack of protein but of old age, while their friends die of strokes, cancer, heart attacks.  
I was going to make a list of all the things we ate yesterday, but the list is hugh, and the cost of a vegi diet, if you drop meat, sugar and diary it's about the same.  

failing as a consumer

Wife's car needs a battery and I need two new dark gray or black dress pants.   The battery is 6 yr old and testing weak, my pants are 10 and have been through so many machine shops and factories they are steeped in oils and smokes and hot metal chips and chemicals, then trips to the cleaners, so their worn thin.   OH.........I really don't like shopping.

Texas and Kansas bring back Jim Crow

Texas passed a law used the first time yesterday that will prevent 20 to 25% of women from voting, they will be marked as voter fraud cases.  All their names must jive on state paperwork, drivers licenses, voter rolls, etc.  At least 20% of women have on some of these papers a maiden name, hyphenated or a divorce remarriage name issue.  This is a nightmare to correct, dig up or buy a new birth certificate, marriage licenses, divorce papers etc.  This is clearly a law, as was Jim Crow, to prevent an unwanted element from voting.  Girls, your not wanted, especially, and this law just came about, especially with the Wendy Davis appeal to young women.

Kansas has constructed two voting populations for it's Jim Crow effort.  One can register for Federal offices and vote according to Federal Law, along with all those cheaters and vote fraud guys and perverts.  The other class of voters, for state and local, must supply a ream of documents to weed out the Meskins coming here to vote the UN into power.  In this class of voters we now have 20,000  suspended, but not necessarily notified that they are marked as fraud guys trying to overthrow the religious state of Klansas.  To get unsuspended they must bring in their great grandmothers pedigree, otherwise they will be pepper sprayed on the church steps*.

Fuck Texas, and Fuck Kansas

*Klansas took voting out of schools, fire stations, court houses, public buildings a few years ago and put it all in churches, the churchs get a few dollars pay for this, just one more example of Pope Brownbacks theocracy and tax money transfer to the zealots.  Research shows a few will not vote in certain churches, and school bond yes votes are 1-2% lower held in churches than in public property.

It's family values, it's that simple.

17,000 elephants killed last year

Elephants will go extinct in the wild in my lifetime, pretty sure of it.  China is the main reason, we are making China so rich the demand for ivory is growing more with the killing of every elephant.  The scarcity is driving prices up every day.  In the last few weeks it is over $500 a pound.  Rhino horns are now far higher than gold.  Almost all goes to China and Viet Nam.  The two main markets for both horn and tusk.
A few days ago in Zimbabwe 300 elephants were killed with cyanide at a water hole.  Many hundreds of other species died, antelope, deer, zebra, then those who feed on the dying; lion, hyena, jackal, and buzzards.  From almost 5 million of the great beasts in 1930 to below 100,000 today.  With a birthrate of no more than one every 2.5 years,  the current death rate exceeds the breeding age females possibility of maintaining the population.  And with fewer tusk available the price drives more intense poaching.
Adding to pressure on elephants: drought, wars, population growth, timber clearing, oil drilling, increased farming.

Vets for national security through clean energy and conservation.

www.operationfree.net

If you are a vet, this is a group your should sign up with.  All they ask is name, email and zipcode.

Operation Free claims to have had significant success in some state houses fighting to keep the nation safe by getting off fossil fuels and onto clean energy, wind, solar, geothermal and so on.  Employ vets to install and operate these energy sources.  Employ them to insulate homes and retrofit lighting to reduce demand.  Get these new technologies into the military to cut the costly  supply chain of fuel onto the battle field.

Sign up, they will contact you if they have an action in your state, do it.

Pope indicates the cross should not be used as a cudgel or spear.

Speaking at daily Mass last Thursday, Pope Francis warned Christians against turning their faith into a rigid ideology.

“The faith passes, so to speak, through a distiller and becomes ideology,” he said. “And ideology does not beckon [people]. In ideologies there is not Jesus: in his tenderness, his love, his meekness. And ideologies are rigid, always. Of every sign: rigid.

“And when a Christian becomes a disciple of the ideology, he has lost the faith: he is no longer a disciple of Jesus, he is a disciple of this attitude of thought… For this reason Jesus said to them: ‘You have taken away the key of knowledge.’ The knowledge of Jesus is transformed into an ideological and also moralistic knowledge, because these close the door with many requirements.”

“The faith becomes ideology and ideology frightens, ideology chases away the people, distances, distances the people and distances of the Church of the people,” Francis added. “But it is a serious illness, this of ideological Christians. It is an illness, but it is not new, eh?”

He said Christian ideology was the result of a lack of true prayer.

Pushing the willing into their abyss.

"the message amounts to a blunt assertion of fact — in this case, the documented fact that climate scientists overwhelmingly agree. But in light of the research depicted above — as well as some research [PDF] suggesting that political conservatives double down and become stronger in their beliefs when incorrect views are subject to a factual correction".  Borrowed from Grist, for info only, will remove upon request.  
The chart shows how conservatives react (labeled Hierarch Individuals) when shown facts or corrected with scientific data on global warming compared to rest of public.  It's incredible, they clutch their position even harder. 
On evolution, the chart is nearly identical.

This is very interesting to me.  The more we inform conservatives of what we learn, document, prove, and project on global warming the further we push them willingly into their ignorance and stubborness.  And by their efforts they bear an ever increasing share of the guilt for holding back a solution.  I don't know whether to feel sorry for them or to push them harder, it's a no win situation.  

A poll released Sunday of Klansans has 64% believe burning fossil fuel completely harmless.  Thats a little below the margin Repubs win with here.  

Research says a few of these conservatives can be switched by economic arguments.  If for example we show them insurance companies are raising rates and dropping customers in areas where global warming impact is projected to be most severe, some come around to it.  When I work the wind energy booth at local events I don't talk about global warming, only the economics of clean energy, that the new wind farms being built are the lowest priced source of power in the US, they get cheaper every year, with this I sweep up a lot of conservatives to the cause without discussing  polar bears.  Research also says the facts need to be continousley put in front of the public, they do have an effect, slow though it may be.

20 hours and chisels

12" tall.  I wanted to do something a bit architectural.  I hate doing little sculptures, I like big, bigger is better.  This one was done working alongside a group of beginners, we all used small stones.  This limestone is to crumbly it doesn't support much detail.  It's not one of my better pieces, although I like the dog.

after 24 Billion wasted, the party for growth and fiscal responsibility got -

Lots of you predicted Obama would cave, he did not.  I say again, he did not.

Back to 55 (D's + I's) in the Senate

Cory Booker won the New Jersey Senate race last night with 55% of the 1.2 million votes out of 5.2 registered to vote.  Low turn out, but he made it.  After the death of (D) Lautenburg this summer (R) gov. Kriss I never saw a cake that I didn't eat Kristie stuck a (R) place holder in the Senate.  Booker beat a rabid tea bagger who promised to filibuster everything that had the smell of sanity or compassion if elected.  Booker's win is far more important a symbol than just one more D in the senate, this was another rejection of republicanism from a state with a republican gov.

I think the make up now is 53 D's, 2 I's that caucus with the D's. 45 R's maybe -- 35 to 40 are R's and 5 or 10 TB's.

best picture ever

Why does the church sin?

If Jesus said suffer the children to come unto me why does the church send them all to hell if they die unbaptised?  Many parents work quickly to get their newborns baptised in those first hours or days.  But why are some churches so cruel as to promote this?  Is the church the real sinner here?  Or the newborn?  Jesus said they were all to come, yet even St. Augustine speaks of unbaptised children going to hell.  Without cruelty of overwhelming fear and guilt the church cannot exist, if it was only about love and forgiveness, they would have nothing.

Supreme Court takes up 3 conservative wish's

1) Affirmative Action is coming back this season for another whacking.  Scalia has let it be known that he and his puppet Thomas do not like it, no sir not one bit.
2) Campaign financing is back again too.  The guys that elevated business to human status will now find (I guarantee it) that any restrictions or monitoring on spending by the nations plutocrats is an unfair burden on the radical rich who suffer already so much.
3) and just today, back again from what 2 years ago I guess, the EPA's right to set limits on pollution.

Roberts also is considering cases the Oklahoma law that forces democrats to crawl and squeak like rats if a republican or a rich person is within 500 feet.  As well they may the Kentucky case allowing as much cow and chicken shit as can be packaged with a shrink wrapped hunk of factory meat.  And last, they want to sign off on a new Alabama law, anyone shot by a concealed carry permit holder while firing randomly during a perceived threat or rumors of a robbery somewhere out in the city will be charged with murder if the do-gooders bullet passes through them and into someone else.

Fuck you very much.

Important election tomorrow in New Jersey

Cory Booker is running for Senate against a tea bagger who is every bit the equal to Sarah Palin crazy. This is a special election for a vacated seat.  The tea bagger started out way down in the polls, but the last week he has leaped forward to around 9 points down, with almost 11% saying they have not made up their minds.  Hard to believe with the baggerepublicans about to crash the economy that NJ is moving towards this turd.
It is expected now that Cory will just squeak to victory by a few points (I hope).  If he does he could be in the Senate voting to open the government by Thursday or Friday.  But.......  I fully expect if it is less than a 5% victory the teapublicans will hold up the certification process as long as possible, maybe with a recount.  If the crazy fuck wins, he will be standing beside Cruzz in the Senate Thursday doing what he said he will do, filibustering.
Cory was so far ahead recently he cut back on his appearances, big mistake at the same time the GOP started running adds that he was making money speaking out of state.  Somehow in a state known for corruption, speaking fees for a black man over state lines disqualifies(???).

Natural gas may cost you 10% more this year

Our gas utility said today gas prices will be higher for us this year, 10%, maybe 12.  After the last 5 years of drilling at the highest pace since rig counting begun, drilling is falling off, some of the fracking drillers have cash flow problems.  Turns out maybe their costs are higher and their retrievable reserve lower than these Texans and Okies said.  Market experts say a good number of wells drilled will poop out in 1 to 5 years, not 20 as first claimed.  Some are already tapering off.  So, after years of this drilling madness, we currently have less gas in underground storage than last year, production is down, demand is up as winter nears. 

Higher prices will hurt some consumers but should stimulate conservation, innovation, and make solar and wind more attractive, truck and bus conversion somewhat less attractive.  Liquified Natural Gas exports may slow (this and increase in use at power plants is driving up demand more than 3%).  With LNG exports expanding natural gas prices will soon be like oil and gold, set on world markets, all the local drilling we can do will have little impact when each of us compete with other nations for our share.  

Republicans invite China to run the Pacific

Middle of last week I sold the remaining corn, and all of the soybeans cut a few days ago.  The markets are too jumpy right now with the default only 2 days out.  Swings are quick, and they may take things down hard, I hope not.  I'll take the current price and end the risk.  Since I sold, both prices are down.  I read this morning banks around the world are selling short term US government papers they own.
Also heard on BBC that China officials/diplomats are swarming over Pacific nation government officials at the moment telling them the US is an unreliable partner, they should be looking to China as a world leader now.  It's a big push they see an unguarded door swinging open thanks to the Republicans.  They say the US is turning inward on its self and the people of the Pacific need to understand this.
China is right, but first the people of the US need to understand this.

Sarge off the radar

I got a text message from Ron aka Sarge aka one angry zebra, his blog at http://onedrunkenoldsergeant.blogspot.com may go unattended for a while.  It seems his computer stalled then spun in, a search of the wreckage will determine if there are any survivors.

NASA hacker defense victim of GOP shutdown

The group of cyber defenders at NASA are on laid off right now.  Yet much of NASA is working monitoring space station and so on.  Saw an interview with one of these guys, he said they block intruders every day, and right now he is confident hackers are stealing data and planting bugs at NASA.  Thanks Bonehead, Kruzz, Fux.

Listened to the BBC talk show this morning, round table of economist from different nations.  They said the US is turning in on it's self, the enemy is within, concentration of wealth, lower wages, education ignored.  The US has for 60 years or more given the world stability through the dollar, it is the foundation and currency used in most international business, and now the Congress threatens to crash it and the world markets and many governments and corporations in an attempt to win by disaster what they can't win in elections or public opinion.  They also observed that the US since day one has constantly renewed it's self with immigration filling in gaps in the labor market and spawning one new wave of business and technology after another.  But now one party wants to shut it off, new blood, new ideas, new work ethics, new hunger for a better nation, they want to stop it and have to some extent by both rule of law and hostility in public attitude.  It was an interesting piece.

meet the only guy that still uses a broom

Leaves and wind conspired to randomly decorate my driveway and sidewalk.  I'm OK with that most the time, but I sweep them off from time to time.  "Sweep", as in a push broom, a 2009 model,  cordless, no battery either, it's the silent model, works perfectly by either pushing or pulling.  In a few minutes I can do it all.

I'm out there looking at the sky, the trees, wandering around pushing a broom, enjoying the morning.  VROOOOM!  Down the street a leaf blower screams at a driveway, then across the street a hose trails a guy around as he sprays his drive.  If that blower isn't 100 decebels I'd be amazed.  After a few minutes I'm done.  Blower guy and squirty guy are still at it.  I looked at the bushes and waited, it took blower guy as long as it did me.  It took squirty guy longer and a few hundred gallons maybe.  My electric bill is 100 a month most the time, this month 78, most my neighbors, blower guy for sure, push up against 300 I'm told, and by the way we had a water shortage here this summer.  How do they use so much power, leave the fridge door open all the time?

Am I the only guy left who sweeps his sidewalks and driveway?

"punch'm in the throat, punch'm in the throat" Frank Burns

Not a bad idea maybe.  The GOP is polling at the lowest approval levels ever, ever, fucking ever.  Now is the time to call your congressman and senator, and maybe even your governor and leave a message/tell them like I did this morning.  This whole thing is the Republicans fault, stop it now.  I also told them how I was to be in a national park the last few days, Yellowstone's Old Faithful Inn, how it ruined my vacation, how I called all the hotels along the way and told them cancel my stay because the Republicans shut down the government, I told them I would not be buying gas and food and trinkets along the way, all that lost to businessmen caused by the party that claims to be the friend of the businessman.
At this point lady told me that he was doing it to kill Obama care, a good reason he thought.  Not me I said, the more I learn about it the more I understand how much help it will be to people, including my wife who is non insurable, it's Obamacare or nothing.
Do it.  While the poll numbers are scary low, underline what the polls are saying, call them and punch'm in the throat.

Korea stops US beef imports

reality, knee deep in shit and chemicals

mythical view of our meat

Pharmaceuticals, growth hormones, chemicals, prohibited by Korea have been found again in US beef at the port. Again the imports are shut off.
The US beef industry says these things are not harmful, it's legal here and by God it's in every morsel of wonderful meat we eat.  If it wasn't safe then we would be overweight, cancer infested, organ failure ridden specimens of humans.  Oh wait, we are!
These chemicals are also banned in Japan and Europe, all places with longer life spans than the US.
In the last 3 months I had only 1 tiny serving of contaminated beef, I suspect this little swiss steak was 4 or 5 ounces. Full disclosure: 3 meals with salmon, 1 with a chicken breast, total of 5 non vegetarian meals in 3 months, I don't crave it, or miss it.

I thought the GOP had run out of ways to be cruel.

 Nope, they have more.  Kansas and Indiana just came up with 2 more.
Indiana AG announced he will sue the Federal government to stop providing health insurance in his state.  He feels it is illegal for the Feds to help Hoosiers to find health care and supplement it for the poor.  People dying needlessly in Indiana is the only way to preserve their red-state head up your ass tea bag status.

 Kansas Gov. Pope Brownback is refusing millions from a grant they applied for to offer assistance signing up people for SNAP (food stamps).  The reason, "it's wrong to identify and assist the poor in applying for welfare, Kansan's should not be teaching them this process"(may not be verbatim)

If you can remember, a few years back the GOP made a push that communist bureaucrats should not be doing this, churches should be given the money to do it, after all they are holy and righteous and love the great unwashed masses, let them hand out charity and minister to the prisons and the underachievers.    Here we are today and guess what, they don't want the churches and community groups helping the poor either.  So, a number of Catholic churches, others too, were day away from getting this money now get nothing, the poor they had promised to help, well, steal if you get hungry, thats the only way your going to get by, the job market here is pretty thin and the construction season is passing fast.

Transfer of wealth.  Thats what they see.  They don't see misfortune or affliction, or failure of the education system they have also starved, they see transfer of wealth, and they would rather those people starve and freeze in the weeds  than see them have baby formula or a flu shot partially paid for by by a Republican.

That little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.

Rumors in Wichita are the Kochs have sent a memo to the thousands of employees busting their hump for the radical rich duo.  Insurance will continue for another year, after that, maybe not, to be determined.  
So, the insurance plan they are fighting with their Tea Bagger division, the whole Obamacare thing, a year from now they will be using it to increase their own bottom line, dropping all but a hand full of VP types.  This does not surprise me.  It has surprised some of my friends that work for Koch, maybe their light will come on, mine was already at full shine.

My neighbors $115 billion in income, really.

Koch Industries now brings in $115 billion a year in sales.  Owned by two of the four brothers (the others were pushed out of their equal share with a few million each in a forced buy out, imagine if they would fuck their brothers out of it penny's on the dollar what how they will treat anyone else).  A half dozen others own a couple percent each of the company.  The two are said to be worth 16 billion each, that would be a deliberate underestimation. •

Yesterday they purchased Odessa Power, their first utility company, they won't have the controls and title to it for a few weeks.  The 1000 MW Texas power plant is a gas burner, so expect more push for fracking.  Sale price not revealed.  The Kochs spend lots of money and employ lots of people to fight solar and wind energy and net metering and permitting home solar panels.  I volunteer to work with groups of farmers and  environmental groups that are promoting clean energy.  There aren't many if any volunteers opposing us, they seem to be all paid professionals spreading incorrect info about the cost of clean energy and a trumped up pseudo nationalism that coal, oil and gas are God given American resources and somehow wind and solar are not.  This purchase will give Kochs a new seat at the table, as a utility owner they will have even greater (if that's possible) access to energy policy, rate boards, regulation committees to hammer private ownership of energy production, net metering and stall new PV/wind farms.  You can be sure the Odessa area will not welcome a solar panel on a home roof after this.

How much is enough, 115 billion doesn't seem to be.
• One of the brothers pushed out is now in coal, I can't recall if he either mines it or is in the business of transporting it, but it is big, he is not a minor player.  The fourth I think runs a company in Europe that renovates castles, so far as I know he is not into dirty energy, not sure of his politics.

the GOP shut down downer

In the extended family, we have a NASA Physicist.  He can get into his office if he wants, but the super computer he ties into is turned off.  One (or maybe many I really don't know) of the worlds most powerful instruments ever devised is setting, off, idle, worthless.  Many scientist and industry use it for study of space travel, aerodynamics, weather forecasting, climate change studies and more.  A few days of this and no shit, it is possible more nations will pull ahead of us in some technologies, things move fast now at the leading edge of science.  But, the GOP cares little for being ahead of others with new inventions and discoveries outside of handgun bullet ballistics.

Here's why the GOP and fundamentalist zealots don't like science.  Everything that is true and important is in the bible.  Teach what is given, what is known.  Free thought, progress and new science is outside the bible.  It's that simple.  NASA being shut down is fine for as long as possible, anything to delay another report of warmer temps, or another god damn solar system, or a frigg'n planet with an atmosphere.

skinny power

Thin Grid their calling it.  India, Africa, and the rural 3rd world is beginning to show us they may not be competing for resources like we earlier imagined.  Rural grids are popping up in isolated parts of India, a few small wind mills or a few PV solar panels wired into a village.  Inside the mud walls of these small homes the power is used primarily for a couple of 1 to 9 watt LED lights and a charger for cell phone and radio batteries.  A very few have a small fan.  If lucky the village may have one or two mini-fridge in a clinic or a store, it may have a community owned TV.  Thats about it.
Recent region wide power outages in India did not effect these thin grids, some were unaware the rest of the nation was in the dark.  Being independant has benefits.
Why the term thin grid?  Wire gauge.  Such a small electrical load means they can buy and use small gauge wiring in the lines and homes, fuses, transformers, etc.  The grid is lower cost, safer, and took fewer resources to manufacture and transport to site.
*In addition to the "thin grid", India has far more solar powered homes than the US, I believe it is near a million, they are small panels powering lights and a few small appliances.

One less coal fired power plant

Friday Kansas Supreme Court reached unanimous decision, reject permit to build a new coal fired power plant in southwest Kansas.
Sierra Club, and others, brought a suit claiming the permit was based on false and on omitted  pollution data.  The court agreed and said the permit process must begin anew.
Under Sebilus, the rare Democrat governor, once every 30 years, the permit was denied about 5 years ago.  Pope Brownback came in and fired the state EPA scientist and staff and replaced them with a couple of his donors and some rubber stamps.  In no time the permits were stamped "go".  Sierra Club tied it up in court, won, and now won at KSC.  This morning the state and the power company say they may take it to the US Supremes where they feel certain Clarence will ask no question and vote what Scalia tells him to.  Problem is, coal fired plants are not good investments any more.  It would take a year or more if it gets to court, then 3 to 6 years to build, the longer this drags the lower price wind and solar get and the better we get at lowering demand and building energy storage.
The plant rejected would have supplied mostly to Colorado.  Today Colorado announced a number of new wind farms and solar farms in southeast Colorado, this may abate their interest in buying Kansas power.  I hope so.

Go to Sierra Club, or NRDC, or Union of Concerned Scientist, and click on take action, these three are among the best at getting things done.  Join one if you can, but at least take action.  Or if your more in your face type, include Green Peace in the list.

Red state gets what it wanted, but their victory has a down side.

FAA not processing aircraft owner transfers.  In the first 2 days (of the shutdown) a dozen new private/executive jet deliveries scheduled (at 3 to 15 million a copy) did not happen in Wichita.  If the shut down goes 2 weeks it will block 1.2 billion of deliveries.
Military trainers at Beech are waiting further certification on mods, won't happen.
Boeing needs further certification of manufacturing processes on 747's and 787's, won't happen.
Used aircraft owner transfers, won't happen, the plane sets, money probably won't change hands.
Some major maintenance at service centers has to be seen by FAA, won't happen.

For all aircraft builders, if it goes on a few more days buying of material and parts will slow,  suppliers will be told to stop deliveries.

Kansas has 5 major aircraft companies and many suppliers all steeped in GOPism, these guys are getting their wish, shut it down.  I don't think they will like their victory.  Amazingly in a poll here 41% blame GOP, 46% dems, that 41% is really high, scary high maybe for the party who usually faces a soft 30% opposition on any and everything, rightfully they should be looking at near 70% blaming the dems.

A beautiful death in a Lexus, with cheeseburger.

My next door neighbor has a Lexus, a Starbucks addiction, and a Jack Russell terrier.  Correction, the terrier is no longer with us.  Cause of death:
Everyday the Lexus rolled out at mid morning with the terrier bouncing off leather and headed to McDonalds drive thru to buy the dog a cheeseburger which it ate off the plush carpet of a gleaming white Lexus, next stop the Starbucks window for the driver.  I ask the lady about the dogs eating habits, "oh", she said, "oh that dog won't eat anything but cheeseburgers, I don't buy dog food, won't touch it".   Well, her dog got morbidly obese, couldn't bounce on leather, or out of the Lexus on it's own, or off the porch to crap in the grass.

Now if you want to talk about a beautiful death for meat eaters, I'm talking the gold plated American Dream here, that little dog died eating a cheeseburger on the floor of a Lexus.  Who among you wouldn't want to emulate the terrier?  Just keep eating that junk food, you can always break into a Lexus and die.

Senator Moran, WTF?

The wife went to the health care . gov sight the first day, already had an account started.  Got in but during the next level she got stalled out and after 40 min. she logged off.  Actually this was pretty encouraging for her.  She wanted to get further and find the price for her insurance, but, she was glad so many were on the sight shopping for insurance.  That must bum out the GOP, that so many are shopping.

It's not to unusual if you go to a super popular site to find it running slow or crashing.  She will try again in a few days.

Moran sent an email saying he voted against obamacare because it is throwing thousands of families off their insurance.  WTF?  You gotta marvel at the gall he lies with.

Republicans cause dollar to fall

Your imports just went up, and since damn near everything you buy is imported, this government shutdown is costing you.
Yen fell today from 98.70 to 98.16 per dollar.  Well that's not much you say.  If you are buying, or selling, a couple dozen 737's, or fighters, a half dozen ship loads of steel, a years worth of washing machines or machinery or frozen fish, which ever way the stuff is moving, we just got hammered, we get less when its leaving and we pay more when we're bringing it in.  That little fraction drop costs the US hundreds of millions of dollars.  
We lost also against the EU and a number of other currencies.  Traders said plainly, the dollars fall is due to the shut down, other currencies are worth more when imbeciles take over your congress.  Hard to predict markets, but I suspect the GOP will continue to increase our competitors net worth.

GOP demands

According to some reports, this is all they want, do this and the crisis we created will go away. (list from Think Progress, read article there)  Either  you agree to let us cripple government by granting our demands or we cripple government by starving it, either way the poor and middle class will suffer and the rich, they won't.  Here is the list of demands by the hostage takers, they never list it like this, rather two or three items at a time.

1. A balanced budget amendment [Link]

2. Approving Keystone XL [Link]

3. Eliminating funding for Planned Parenthood [Link]

4. Medicare privatization [Link]

5. Tax reform, as outlined by Paul Ryan [Link]

6. The REINS Act, which would require Congress to approve significant federal regulations [Link]

7. Means-testing Social Security [Link]

8. Defunding Obamacare [Link]

9. Allowing employers to eliminate insurance coverage for birth control [Link]

10. An expansion of off-shore drilling [Link]

11. Preserving all the Bush tax cuts [Link]

12. “Trillions” in budget cuts [Link]

13. Slashing funding for food stamps [Link]

14. Protecting mountaintop strip mining [Link]

15. Stripping the EPA of authority to regulate greenhouse gases [Link]

16. Loosening regulation on coal ash [Link]

17. Delaying Obamacare implementation by one year [Link]

18. Repealing a tax on medical devices [Link]

19. Eliminating Social Service Block Grants [Link]

20. Expanding drilling on federal lands [Link]

21. Restricting the child tax credit [Link]

Just take item #6, Federal organizations make regulations every day.  These dildo's will not, cannot read what is on their plate already, they sure as hell could never read and understand all regulations concerning every form of industry business banking technology science, shit that is a joke.  Instead industry would become the voters even more than now.  Airlines would set on the FAA, watch for a regulation on brake replacement requirements and tell congressman Butt Sniffer to vote no.  It would be worse than just saying lets have no regulations or laws at all on anything, anarchy would be cheaper, at least industry wouldn't have to hire people to watch the FAA and we would save by having no FAA.