Tuesday, July 30, 2013

cancer treatment industry and climate

Question: Will the climate go the way of cancer?  Will treatment/adaptation be the focus and prevention ignored, even ridiculed?
For cancer, all the money is in treatment and adaptation.  There is no money in prevention, and therefore all the publicity and so called "common sense" comes from that end.
If you eat exclusively, or even predominately, a plant based diet and avoid sugar in all forms your chances of cancer drop to tiny.  I mean teny tiny.  Meat industry, fast food, snack industry, restaurant industry, sugar and corn syrup industry says it's not true, and the public eats it up.  Preventing cancer is not a money maker for the medical and drug industry or big meat.  There is no money in you being healthy, no money in you not suffering, no money in you accepting the truth.

Climate's the same.  Farmers are well aware heat and storms are reducing their animals weight gains, crop production, and income.  But rather than treat the cause with a Marshall Plan style jump to clean fuel and elimination of harmful chemicals and waste in industry and the home, we are sliding into a plan to adapt to global warming.  Breeders are working on hybrid, GM and cloneed animals and crops that can take higher heat, less water, or for some areas survive longer in flooded fields.  Air conditioned barns and field quipment will be altered too.  Along the coasts walls are going up in some areas to turn back high water.  All this, it's the cancer model, suffer treat suffer treat.  It's a reactionary economy.  This is like standing on tip toes with a taut taut noose around your neck, it works for a while.  Compared to cancer, prevention of global warming does have money behind it, the fastest growing sector of the economy is the "green" stuff, from solar and wind projects to insulation and stingy energy appliances and lights.

Eat less meat, much less,  at once you improve your health and help the planet since meat is an energy, drug and water consumer of the most severe order.

Monday, July 29, 2013

Russian Aristocrats from 1900 till the 1960's

Former People, The Final Days of the Russian Aristocracy, by Douglas Smith.  Just finished it.
The Communist Revolution was not the first and final revolution, this kind of thing had gone on for many years, maybe 40, riots and insurrections against the severe disparity of wealth and priveledge had infected Russia.  Some were rather big and cost the deaths of thousands to put them down.  What we think of as "the" revolution was a series of riots and strikes that drug on for months.  The Communists did not get to the front of the parade for a long time.  When finally the Tzar resigned a provisional government was set up and the battles were on.  For years Russia fought the Germans on one front, Finland on another, and a civil war with more heads than Medusa had snakes.  Bolsheviks and The Red Army - Communist sometimes together sometimes at odds, White Army, Blue Army, the US Army, the Japanese, Czechs, French, English and others, Cossacks, Black Army, the Cadets, the Monarchist, various ethnic and regional factions, unionist, the list is like snow in Siberia, it goes on and on, it was chaos as alliances formed and broke apart.   But the one thing most of these groups had in common, sometimes the only thing, they wanted to destroy the 2 million Aristocrats and Royals, about 1% of Russians, who owned 90% of the wealth.  Once it progressed a while the targets were broadened to include intellectuals, managers, shop owners, anyone who owned significant property or wealth and/or had people working for them.
It became a slaughter in some areas.  Many were forced to move from their estates and fine homes, scrambling to areas that seemed safe became a multiyear project to move and move again.  In the end most of the royals and aristocracy were killed, driven to exposure and starvation, spent decades in and out of gulags and prison towns.
One thing I was keen on was finding examples of gun control as it is the current popular cry that the Communist got control after in forcing gun control or taking all the weapons.  Scattered through the book were many examples that shed light on this myth.  The revolution was under way when the Communist started gaining influence, aside from mobs throwing stones and charging outnumbered guards at palaces and mansions, most the actual gun fire battles in the early weeks were between trained  soldiers as various officers took up one side or another and their troops fell in line.  As for the public, who had guns, the Aristocrats had them, as did a few country peasants.  Guns were not made for mass consumption as now, the poor naturally had very few.  In very few cases did the wealthy use the guns they had.  With 500 farmers in rags are on your lawn with pitchforks shouting for you to open the wine cellar and leave, firing a musket into the group is not a recipe for a long life.  Instead almost all talked, delayed, and tried to survive, for the short term it often worked.
As things got worse, lawlessness increased, mobs bolder, armies fighting one another and living off pillage, guns were taken, any and every group was taking guns from any and every group, the spoils to the strongest.  Lenin did not set the peasants on the wealthy but when he learned it was sweeping the nation he promoted it, again a case of politicians rushing to the front of a parade already under way.  One of the first things Lenin did when he was sure he was in control of the famed Summer Palace and the capital, he had 44,000 rifles handed out to peasants and street gangs.  The guns being taken from homes and enemies in skirmishes were being kept by who ever took them, they were plunder like jewels, a form of wealth.  Lenin increased the number of guns directly and indirectly, flooding them to local officials, police, and peasants.  Still it was a poor country and during WWII a charge always had a second wave, these guys had no weapons, they ran behind those who did, taking weapons from their own dead and continuing the charge.
Finally they purged everyone that had worked in government before the revolution, finally Lenin had to ask for a slow down, so many were driven into poverty, to other cities to hide, sent to prison, shot by mobs, starved, nothing worked.  Russia had been the 5th largest industrial power when he arrived, a couple years later they were 12% of their former self and much of this was inferior.  The electricity no longer worked, telephones were intermittent, no one understood the government machine or how to make it move.  They had to bring these people back to make it work.  But it was hell, clear into the 1950's these people were still being tormented, abused, jailed, cheated and living and dying like rats.
Few who could have in fact did leave Russia, they had such love for Mother Russia, the ones that left were hated by the ones that stayed.  In the end most never lived to old age.  The few that did saw the Communist leaders became the Aristocrats, living in their mansions, eating fine meals with rare beverages while the average Russian lived on potato and hog fat and in fear of being turned in by a neighbor for an impure thought. Stalin eventually killed his own, most the White Army, the largest and nearly successful, had been shot in the head, he now turned on the Bolsheviks having all the officers killed, even long retired, in some ciites thousands of old men were picked up and shot.  Then Stalin decided there were plots against him, the secret police cooked up fear and neighbor turned in neighbor and the Great Terror led to millions of deaths of normal Russians, many times more ordinary citizens than royals and aristocrats had been killed or starved when finally Stalin died.
Another interesting thing, not all the gulags and internal exile prisons were guard tower and fence prisons.  Many were remote god forsaken clap board towns in Siberia, so cold you feared pulling your pants down to shit.  If you want to eat you worked in the saw mill or the mine, otherwise starve, mandatory labor in a town of shacks, people had to work then get by with shelter on their own.  In some cases they could own guns to hunt, there is a picture in the book of two royals sent their out on a moose hunt.
"Former People", these were the royals and people who had formal titles.  They had almost no rights of any kind after the revolution, they were not even people, the slang in Russia for them was "former people".
It's a pretty good book, the hundreds of long Russian names are incredibly confusing though.

Lost Woods on accordion...on a unicycle...in the woods


Because I like music and trees and always wanted to own a unicycle.  An accordion maybe not, when I was a kid the boy next door played one, a big one, when I looked at him it was like this machine had a tiny boy slave strapped to it's back heaving it around and poking it frantically.  It was horrible to see, I felt sorry for him, but, strangely, I enjoyed the music the beast made him play.

Sunday, July 28, 2013

$45 and the Radical Rich


This year at Oshkosh the $45 air traffic control fee has the radical rich boiling over.  The sequester, which they support and love, has hit them the hardest they say, not the schools, and certainly not the poor.  A few small airports are now without controllers, airport still open, but the pilot has to look out for himself.  Unfair they say, they are being targeted and now a $45 dollar fee has been added for some flight plans.  Now if you have a 2, or 12 million dollar little jet, or even a 150k prop job, or a 900k twin prop job, the annual up keep and fuel if you fly much is hugh, for a Lear Jet it's in the hundreds of thousands a year, and we didn't talk yet about a pilots wages or hanger fees.  Well kiss my ass, these guys spend more than $45 on a steak and baked potato dinner.  Again the Radical Rich want a free ride for their hobby, oh excuse me, it's almost always a business expense for them.
I have a business associate that flies his Cessna jet to every Nebraska home game weather permitting, with a hired pilot, fuel, parking fee.  My guess is that's about $2,000 a game.  Living in Wichita, the Detroit of airplanes, the whining is constant that such high fees are going to wreck the industry, yes sir, do you believe that shit, you really think these millionaires will sell their planes and go back to standing in line at the airport with the public for $45?  All they want is for us to pay their expenses.

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Obama care comes in lower in two more states

A couple weeks back I told you the first few states to get the Obama care prices set have lower premiums than was expected, up to 50% in some areas.  The GOP is ignoring this as they plan another worthless time wasting vote to repeal it with breathless tales of it's high price.
Yesterday Maryland got their prices established, and guess fucking what.  Low, low lower than expected, lower than current plans.  Nevada too now has the numbers, depending on where in the state you live, the numbers may be higher or lower, but for most it's lower.
Ah shit, my tea bagger friend said, something is wrong with those numbers.

Friday, July 26, 2013

one more good thing about Obama care

The wife is helping a relative in another state figure out which of her companies healthcare plans is a best fit.  Wife is smart, and a certified advisor for people signing up for medicare.  This isn't medicare but private, yet from what she learned about comparing insurance plans helps here, a lot.
She told me that the process was easier than when we were doing this for ourselves a few years ago.  Easier because the insurance companies preparing for the Affordable Healthcare / Obama care, now present their information in an easy to compare format, before it was hard to compare because every company displayed it the way that suited them best.   It's still not easy to understand she said, but much better than before.  That's one more good thing ain't it?

more Junk Science from the fringe.

Lets say everyone has tires rated at 50,000 miles life.  About 7" tread width, 85" circumference, less than 1/4" tread wear and your done.  Thats a little less than 147 cubic inches rubbed off.  There is a street near me with a traffic count of over 30,000 a day for the 1 mile strip.  4 tires per car means when only 12,500 cars traverse it they leave 147 cubic inch of rubber.  Where'd it go?  That's about 2,000 cubic inch a week, where is it?  What's in it?

June was the second highest world (global) temp average ever.
China announced yesterday it will spend 275 billion the next 5 years on reversing air pollution near Bejing, so much for the whining we can't fix our pollution because China does nothing.
Yesterday it was reported the marker for the north pole shown on ice (below), is now floating in the water.
For those who said resume drilling in the Gulf if it's safe, see how thats working as of yesterday.


Thursday, July 25, 2013

double bubble scrubber trouble


Of the 274 coal plants that discharge coal ash and scrubber wastewater into waterways, nearly 70 percent (188) have no limits on the toxics most commonly found in these discharges (arsenic, boron, cadmium, lead, mercury, and selenium) that are dumped directly into rivers, lakes, streams and bays.
Of these 274 coal plants, more than one-third (102) have no requirements to monitor or report discharges of these toxic metals to government agencies or the public.
A total of 71 coal plants surveyed discharge toxic water pollution into rivers, lakes, streams and bays that have already been declared impaired due to poor water quality. Of these plants that are dumping toxic metals into impaired waterways, more than three out of four coal plants (59) have no permit that limits the amount of toxic metals it can dump.
Nearly half of the coal plants surveyed (187) are operating with an expired Clean Water Act permit. 53 of these power plants are operating with permits that expired five or more years ago.
An update to the above: A number of environmental sites are pissed, it appears the White House stepped in and weakened some of the fixes for these ongoing disasters.  Starting to wonder if Obama is going to help us or the coal industry.

So much for being protected by industry, what's the saying, they would never do anything to hurt their own customers.  And it sounds like mean old industry hating government isn't exactly putting the thumb screws on these guys as they further damage our health.  --------------------------
Elsewhere, while you were distracted by Faux snews: The recent farm bill passed was found to have a sentence hidden in it from Huelskamp a Kansas Tea Bagger who a few months ago caused such a stink with Boehner he was stripped of his committee seats.  It states that the coal burner planned (and stalled for a decade) in western Kansas is exempt from EPA rules.  How I pine for a presidential line item veto like the GOP gov of Kansas has. I call Huelskamp's office sometimes, he is the only congressman or senator I have ever called who's secretaries and staff immediately confront you rather than listen.  After a rant against wind energy, that it does not work, it's a hoax, and the Siemens wind turbine factory (a billion $ a year purchasing budget) is in his district, and he wish's it would leave  I called, it wasn't pretty, the women tore into me right away with his line of shit.  He is expected to easily win the next election.

Some of you will die of Asthma and Allergies, your kids too.

Global warming is giving us about a 7 to 1 ratio of new high temp records to new lows.  So we focus on the hot.  But it's the lack of lows, cold, that's making people miserable.  With fewer frosty nights the ragweed pollen release season has increased the last 12 years, progressing from the south to north, 1 additional pollen day from everything south of Dallas, to 21 additional days at 200 miles into Canada.  The northern tier of states are at about 18 extra days of misery.   About 1/3 of the population is sensitive to Ragweed pollen.

Ragweed pollen is just one of the outdoor triggers of Asthma.  The major outdoor triggers: CO2, humidity, dust, pollen, exhaust fumes, yard chemicals, airborne particles/pollutants from traffic factories and power generation.

Major indoor triggers: mold, carpet outgassing and dust, dust, spray cleaners and polishes, pest sprays, plastic outgassing, cockroaches, dust mite droppings, rodent droppings, pet hair and dander.

Out, in, neither is safe for Asthma sufferers.  Asthma hits a large percent of children now, and they usually keep the problem forever, it also now hits older adults who never had it, and it makes their lives a hell and is a gateway problem, allowing others in with it.   It is worse in the homes of some poor.  One outreach and research group found that asthma was sending black children to the ER and keeping them out of school often at a high cost to society.  They launched an experiment in one area, they gave familes hepafilters for their vacuums, got rid of the pests, and worked with some to improve housekeeping, removed as many plastic items as possible and carpets if possible.  The results, ER visits and sick days fell immediately and significantly.

Asthma is another of the modern diseases, prior to the industrial revolution it was rare.  Research finds that in Germany and Switzerland babies and children growing up on farms in rural settings, playing in the dirt and around barnyard animals and with pets, rarely get asthma later in life.  They are picking up beneficial critters and building resistance.   This is not the same as living with bugs in a small apartment or jumping on a dusty couch full of fire retardant, dust mites, treated wood, polyester, and a cocktail of other chemicals and dyes.   So let those toddlers grub around in the mud and step in cow poo if they get a chance, it's like anti asthma meds.

What can be done?  Fight for clean energy forms and against every form of pollution with your political voice and your buying habits.  Avoid as best you can carpets, buy hepafilters for your vacuum,  clean your AC/heater filter at home and in the car, keep the house uncluttered and well cleaned, wash bedding once a week, put the teddy bears and pillows in the dryer every few days for a few minutes to shake out dust and cook the no-see-ms, and work like hell to get rid of mold.

Indoor triggers are in part from modern furnishings, products and lifestyle conditions.  Outdoor triggers are almost all from human activity.  Indoors changes can be made quickly for most on their own, outdoors we have to fight for that as a group.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Rags to riches mythology takes a reality hit.

The American myth, dream on if you think it's still a dream, the myth is we Americans better than any place on earth can rise from the lowest social economic position to the top with ease, you just have to want to and sha-zam your hobnobbing with the Kochs and Rothchilds at the ballet.
I have worked with industrialist from Europe for 30+ years.  Wealthy men who own factories in Europe and North America.   A few years ago I was shocked to set in a discussion that drifted to the rags to riches mythology and learn that every one of the Europeans agreed that it was easier to make that jump in Europe than America starting in the mid 1980's.

By the map it appears the places one is most likely to make the jump is in areas of extremely low populations with high concentrations of natural resources, in other words for at least some the jump  is luck that the family had a few acres where fracking hit gas or oil, not really the mythology formula after all.    If we look at that map and think population numbers in the blue areas, those making the jump from bottom to top, are but a few, take the blue zones in Kansas, some of those counties are hugh, with fewer than 5,000 population.

Mythology is important to a society, it's good to imagine any of us can just get up one morning and get financing and launch the next big thing, or our kids can get a ride at Yale  and compete fairly against the children of the wealthy, the chains, Mormons, Masons, the franchises and the connections of old money.  It can be done, but as public education is cut again and again, as the poor grow in numbers and the middle class shrinks, the ladder to the top has been vandalized, some the rungs are missing.

Living near train tracks is a health risk

Train  accidents drive thousands from their homes every year.  Hazardous material derailed in rural communities is often met by volunteer responders, no match for what they face.  Coal trains disperse black lung disease along their whole route.  Chart = oil spill by rail car.

bend it here


Monday, July 22, 2013

your next water heater might just kick the Koch brothers ass

Idea; a water heater with a timer that would bank hot water at a low price, store up super heated water at night when energy use is low and so are rates, at least with some utilities.  And should the appliance call for heating during a high demand period it could be stuttered on and off a minute or two at a time by remote switching in a rolling brownout of only the water heaters in the area, lowering the danger of overloading the grid, or the need to fire up another fossil burner.  It would have a wide internal water temp range, running less often.  To avoid burns fresh cold water is metered into the hot as it leaves the tank to deliver a constant safe temp.

Scrap that idea,  I'm too late.  Emerson, then others will have these on the market in a year or two.  They say if they go into use in large numbers it could take whole fossil fuel burners off the grid, the energy savings will be hugh, converting one of our worst energy sponges into a smart appliance, a kind of energy bank.

To hell with the Kochs and the rest of the fossil industry.

Saturday, July 20, 2013

put a bell on that damn cat

Cats are killing more birds than any other animal in America.  3.7 billion birds every year according to a new study by the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute.    On top of that the American Humane Association found that 70% of the cats spend some time outside running free.  3,700,000,000 is a lot of song birds, qats are excellent hunters with extremely high rate of kills per try.

Additionally they kill 20 billion small mammals, babies most often.

Keep your damn kats inside, or put a loud jingle jingle bell on'm.  And don't bitch about the few birds killed by wind turbines, which by the way kill far fewer than either car strikes, house windows, tall buildings, fences, crop or yard chemicals.  It's amazing we have any birds.
 

Friday, July 19, 2013

I got nothing to say to you

I got nothing to say.  I thought about it, and I'm sure, it's nothing.  I once did though, earlier today, then it passed.
I wonder why that is, why don't I have anything to report, add, or say.  Dogs are like that, and really smart ones, like your best Australian sheep dogs, they look smart, but they don't either, have anything to say that is.
I don't even have anything to ask, not a thing.  Couldn't care less.  Right now I don't wonder what if or who or when or how long or will it.
Bone idle, no I don't think thats it.  Booze, barbituates, no, didn't take any prescriptions thats not it.  Apathy, no, I care about things and want to participate, just not talk about it right now.
Is this nirvana?  Enlightenment?
Maybe tomorrow I'll want to ask something or tell you some interesting thing about my wild days as a hippie, or some semi-secret stuff I saw long time ago in defense plants.  But not now.

GOP keeps beating up hispanics, a win win.

Ryan is trying to say they don't want to become citizens, so their is no need for a path, others say fix the border first then implement a long long long path to citizenship, others like the state rep in my state said hunt them from helicopters like ferrel pigs.

Hispanics are more American than most of the rest of us, they are willing to start at crappy jobs for low wages, (isn't that what Repubs want?).  A credit manager told me their percentage of repaying loans are high, a little above the general population.  They send money home to their family, how many of us send money to the poor cousin or even mom and dad?  Yet, racism is driving most of the stalling, like never being satisfied with the border fix so the next step can never occur.

But the GOP, and it's OK with me, is hurting one of their own.  Rubio has fallen in the polls like a rock among fellow GOP, his attempt to bring hispanics to the party by being kind, by helping them, is not welcome.  Either a bill is passed that is helpful, one is passed that is full of road blocks, or none is passed, it is a win for democrats, no matter what, the Hispanic vote will look to democrats as having helped, and they will also know who didn't.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

(Revelation 11:18) "those who destroy the earth"

"We as a society risk being counted among "those who destroy the earth"".  This from the letter signed by 200 Evangelicals, who teach at universities and hold Masters or PhD in either: Climate Science, Chemistry, or Biology.  The letter addresses global warming and is to the United States Congress.  It's one page, you can read it and see who signed at http://www.eenews.net/assets/2013/07/15/document_cw_02.pdf

GOP distraught at lower Obama care rates

As more states are reaching a point where the rates are being set by the insurance market bidders, the latest is New York and they are seeing far lower prices than expected, 50% lower.  The other states that now have the prices established are California, Oregon, Montana and Louisiana.  All have seen prices more attractive than anticipated.
What if we wake up one morning and find the GOP deliberately lied to us about what all this will cost? 

Economist who study health care say the insurance companies are being more competitive with pricing than was expected, crushingly so for GOP's story line.  The reason, millions of new customers and a trillion dollars in premiums up for grabs and the low bid gets the lions share.  This is the market place working, a market the GOP didn't want.  

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Ice cream with Negros

Thinking of the sad outcome of the trial in florida I wondered what my mother would have thought, I would not be surprised if she might have cried.  When I was a kid the civil rights movement was in full swing and she sided immediately with the negro, (blacks or African American was not often used at that time).
We belonged to a hobby club of adults and kids, doesn't matter what hobby, it met once a month, there were 30 or so regulars and 100 or more total.  All white, until one day a large black women joined, a Mrs. White.  Everything seemed fine, people were polite, so far as I was aware as a kid.  Once a year we had a display/show of this hobby and the best won ribbons and prizes, open to the public there was a steady stream of visitors through for 2 days.  Well, the jolly negro lady won first prize, a pile of ribbons and trophies, by a mile, her stuff was fantastic.
During the summer, Sunday afternoons, members took turns hosting visits to show off their hobby project, and ice cream was served on the front porch or in the back yard.  To my mothers distress she learned that Mrs. White had been told she was not welcome at some of the homes.  Mom was really bent out of shape.  Our turn came, and my mother called Mrs. White and begged her to come, and come early and stay.  Sunday rolled around, and Mrs. White sat on our porch eating ice cream, the neighbors all came out and faked trimming hedges or watering flowers, the club members arrived with their mouths open seeing who was on the porch.  My mother and Mrs. White became good friends which lasted until she (White) died a couple years later.
A few Sunday's later Mrs. White hosted the club.  Mother, dad, and me sat on her porch eating ice cream in an all black neighborhood, I played in her house part of the time, first time in a black person's house, it was the same as ours, same stuff, but her kitchen smelled better than ours, she must have been a fantastic cook.  Well we were there about 3 hours, we were the only club members to visit.  My mother was pissed, and embarrassed for her own race.
Two things happened after that.  Mrs. White quit the club, and my mother at the next meeting stood up and told the club what a bunch of scared mean people they were, then she (we) quit.  The second thing that happened, my mother went to some civil rights rallies, I didn't go I don't know how many, and, a few Sundays later that summer she along with Mrs. White and some other Negro ladies enjoyed more ice cream on our porch, and sometimes on theirs, finally the neighbors got used to it and left their poor hedges alone.
Dad just went along, I don't think he had his heart in it, but so far as I know he didn't try to stop it.  I think he knew mother was sensitive to racists destroying peoples dreams.   Long after he died, and before my mother passed she and an elderly cousin told me mother had been married before.  During the depression she married an American Indian.  Mom said he was the best looking man that ever lived.  The family hated him and caused the two of them every kind of trouble, refusing to help him find work even on their own farms, and this was the depression, it was tough.  After a few months they decided to divorce.  My Grandfather would not even give this man money for a train or bus ticket home near Tulsa, about 60 miles.  The next to the last time she saw him he was walking out of Kansas in the dust.  In the late 1950's she is watching a national game show on our first television when out walks her Indian ex.  Introduced as a WWII hero with medals, he owned a big house on a lake north east of Tulsa, and he won a few rounds before leaving the show.  My mother was a forgiving person.  She loved her sisters and brother's-in-law until they all died before her, even though their racist actions destroyed her first marriage.  But she never stopped trying to improve things.

Monday, July 15, 2013

Energy policy on shaky ground

The science is catching up on this issue.  Fracking is increasing the number of earthquakes.  Fracturing rock formations then bloating the zone with high pressure liquids  changes the support structure in the area surrounding the well.  This is now shown to increase the number of quakes in two ways.  New pressures cause quakes at or near the well site for one.

The more exciting discovery is that quakes at the well area are caused by the larger quakes at any point on the globe.  When the really big ones occur they are detected on most every seismograph in the world, that's how within a minute or two they triangulate the hardest hit area.  Within seconds shock waves travel on the earths mantel, causing in some cases whole tectonic plates to move a few millimeters or mountains to rise or fall an inch.  Now it is documented that these really big quakes thousands of miles away are setting off quakes in the fracking fields, sometimes instantly, sometimes in the hours or days following.  Scientist say it's like a sponge under there, the tremors shake the stones and flush the liquids around.  These pressures cause formations to shift, sometimes with a jolt, a secondary earthquake.  I live 200 miles from a hotspot of fracking, my area never had quakes you could feel, until last year we had the first, since then 4 I could feel, a quick rolling motion, smooth but sudden.
This is the new cost of oil and gas.  You don't pay it at the pump, but to the insurance company, or to the contractor repairing your foundation.  The drilling industry won't be helping out on this, their too busy cashing checks.

a tea party divided against it's self

Georgia just saw a civil war, Tea Party Patriots against American for Prosperity (the Koch-funded tea baggers).  At stake, solar panels and a slap at Koch's coal and oil investments.  Koch's group ran out false numbers easily shot down that solar would raise rates 40%, put every appliance you own at risk, and crash the good people of Georgia's future, only oil and coal can save the future.  TTP said they wanted to let the market work with clear choices.  This bill mandates an increase of energy sold in the state to be solar, and allows customers to opt to buy solar or wind as some states do now.

The law passed, TPP won, AFP lost, clean energy sources will soon light the homes in Georgia.  An excellent example for us all, even groups we oppose may have some goals we share and we need to work with them on these good deeds.  In reading more I find there is some splintering, which is scaring hell out of the GOP, they don't know which group to please.  The Canadian tar sands pipeline is another flash between these groups, Koch's bunch approve of eminent domain land grabs for the pipe, TTP does not, in this case Koch's are winning.

Friday, July 12, 2013

Anti-Angiogenesis: Cutting Off Tumor Supply Lines

 In some cases, vegi's are equal to medicines.  And dropping meat and dairy pays for the higher cost of some fruits, and less than the copay of prescriptions.  OK, I'm not stupid, I know and I probably will one day have to take a raft of drugs, but a lot suffering can be avoided with a vegi-fruity-nutty diet.

Past the Age of Miracles: Facing a Post-Antibiotic Age

Unless you are eating organic meat and dairy, or at least labeled no antibiotics given, you are getting a cocktail of residue, from fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides from livestock feed, as well as a "hard selection" of germs and evil critters immune to medicine.  And one more thing, your getting residue of those medicines as well, along with growth hormones.  As I wrote years ago, we had cattle with the father-in-law, one day the vet advised him not to butcher one but sell it due to the drugs and growth hormones, dad called me and said hell we can't be part of this.  Over the next 18 months we ended our cattle business, and over the next few years he, and we became "almost" vegans, in the last year I ate pork one time, just a little beef maybe 5 or 6 times, I would bet it wouldn't be a pound.
Yesterday I had 1/3 chicken breast, most days it's no meat, 2 times a week I have fish.  Dairy is only yogurt 3 or 4 times a week.
Yesterday I had:
1/2 grapefruit, 2 banana, a few blueberries, raisins, 1 peach, 1 nectarine, 1/2 cup of sliced strawberries on strawberry yogurt with wheatgerm, 2 prunes, 2 really big slice of water melon, 2 small pieces of dried sugared ginger, 1/2 cup unsweetened cranberry juice.
A bowl of Kashi cereal with Silk soy milk.
About 12 almonds, 12 pistachios, 1/4 cup sunflower seeds, 2 peanut butter whole grain toast 1 with added honey 1 with berry jelly, 2 big squares of cornbread with honey, a few little organic cookies.
2 bowls of chicken chili (thats the 1/3 breast), with 3 kinds of beans, onion, yellow pepper, red pepper, jalapeño.
2 lettuce salad with red onion, radish, cucumber.
Indian potato salad (potato with green pesto of parsley basil and tahini, garlic).
Sauted vegi dish, succini, 2 kinds of yellow squash, garlic, onion, celery with garma masala (Indian spices).
And, a small piece of dark chocolate and a few really salty vinegar potato chips and a few blue corn chips, 2 olives, 1 natural pickle (you have to hunt for these pickles, they are not made with vinegar, but with salt, water and natures own enzymes gramma made saurkraut, like Korean Kimchi, it has live cultures in it like yogurt, the process takes weeks unlike factory pickles made in a couple days with heat and vinegar.
2 cups coffee when I got up, 2 cups of green tea in the afternoon, a bottle of ale with dinner.

Clean up bonus: when your not cooking meat and cheese, pans practically wash themselves.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

silence of the lemmings, or, children of a lesser Gop

Reform the filibuster!  Whimpy Harry is inching once again at glacier speed toward changing the Senate filibuster rules.

I welcome it, we should be able to hear what those opposing a nominee or bill before the Senate have to say about it.  Lets return to the days of speech, ideas, out in the open, give it all you got and talk as long as you wish.  I welcome that, maybe they might eventually in hours of speaking, stumble onto an overwhelming truism that might benefit and enlighten all.  Any speaker, from any party, yes even a republican might change my mind on any and every issue if only we can hear why and what they are thinking.  That would be better than this bell without a clapper, a dearth of ideas and purpose.  The current rules of the Senate allows for buffoons and cowards to stall things without any intellect or reason on display without passionate pleas, get up and talk to us, but if you can only ramble flag colored lies, slander,  inaccuracies and paranoia then do what you will so we may judge your worth to the  process so many died for.



Sex charted as a function of heat inflicted death

First chart, by decade from 1881 to 2010 the global temperature, second chart by hemisphere, both increasing.  As you see the northern hemisphere is warming the most, as ye sow, so shall ye reap, amen and pass the crow to the deniers and the bill for it to all of us.
14.47°C = 58.046°F



debit cards replace pay checks, another pay cut


I was looking forward to my new job when I started working at a McDonald’s location in Pennsylvania in April, but I was disappointed to find out that in order to be paid, I would have to activate a JP Morgan Chase debit card with heavy fees attached.
This from a young mother who can not afford to have her "paycheck" given instead as a vehicle for leeches to bleed her.   Go to  change.org and sign the petition against McDonalds.  These things charge for her to get the money, otherwise if you buy things with it till it's run dry you have the chance to lose it, and then there is always the last few dollars or cents, you cannot use that if you don't have cash for the balance of the purchase, which you had to fucking pay to get at an ATM.    This is another way corporate amerika drives part of the population into greater poverty.  This has to be fought, or companies everywhere will do it, except of course for corporate high end types, they won't be getting a debit card for their million $ bonus.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Congress climate voting record, the highs and lows.

How many record high temperatures to record low temperatures visited your congressional district in 2012?

How many votes against climate change did your representative cast?

Not on this list?  You can go to an interactive map, click on your district and learn.  If they didn't vote to protect the climate write a letter and include the ratio's you found, tell them you accept what 98% of the worlds scientist are telling us and you expect them to as well.

http://democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/index.php?q=page/climate-disconnect-interactive-map

hot costly day for city streets.

5:45pm I drive down a 4 lane street, 101°.  6:15 I come back, same street, my one lane the only one open, 3 others closed.  Heat had raised the street enough a car would high center, and pieces as big a gallon jug scattered for 15 feet in both directions.  Glad I was not near it when those things flew.  (the picture is not of my event, we had more chunks scattered further)


Intermittent and Unreliable

 The common criticism on solar and wind energy is it's intermittent and unreliable.  The truth is nuclear fits this definition better.

With an array of solar panels, or wind turbines, failures of one do not shut down the source, do not cause the grid to instantly shop for another source or black out a region.  Heat waves do not impact wind or solar as it does nuclear (and coal and gas as well) plants cooling requirement.  In 2003 the heat wave across Europe shut down several of France's reactors, water temperatures were to high to cool them.  Nuclear plants have the most unscheduled outages of any energy source.  This week Diablo Canyon in Calif. went down during the heat wave when demand was highest.

But but but, intermittent, unreliable, the wind turbines stop if it calms, solar only helps during daylight and bright days.  Well, these are not unknown and not unforeseen.  Grid managers use weather forecasts to plan for the cloudy or foggy days when solar arrays may produce at a lower output, and give them credit, they even know about night time.  Calm periods are also seen in forecasts by wind operators who plan accordingly.  Recently the grid went to 15 minute sales contracts, before it was 1 hour lots.  This as well as more renewable assets dispersed over wide area to average weather variations  allows for increased flexibility of the grid, and improves the happiness and wholesomeness of the American traditional family.  (Was that over the top?)   It turns out intermittent and unreliable is at least if not more applicable to the nuke and fire stoked energy sources.
+++++++
Slipping through the cracks in the news, and being pressured by industry money to have it that way, Fracking well explosions.  Several this year, yesterday in West Virgennnny sent 4 seriously hurt to hospital, the day of the Boston bombing another in West Virgennnny killed some workers.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

What if it's a big hoax and we create a better world for nothing?




Here you see our capacity to make energy today, July 9th, solar (white is highest), wind (white is higher velocity), and the tools to convert them to energy are now available and becoming competitive.


Above, the most recent example of the cost of our current energy methods. Forest experts say following these fires in the southwest timber may never recover with new higher temps and less rain.
Above, the results of the much attacked hockey stick study, reissued by another group of scientist with additional data, confirms world temps are climbing exactly as Mann's first study indicated, and below you see how the Republicans will receive it.


Sunday, July 7, 2013

if a new washing machine is in your future

The washing machine is 17 years old, it started leaking just a little, it is throwing tiny bit of oil underneath, the noise level has jumped up the last few weeks, and once in a while we find it has water in it when it shouldn't, and the wife swears we get oil on our clothes from it once in a while.  So.........new washing machine bought today, hope I can get another 17 years on this one, it's pretty cheap when you think of it like that.
The cool thing, most the new washers use (depending on size and model):
*Electricity - $13 to $24 a year, the old one used $84,
*Water - 6 to 15 gallons a load, the old one used 40 gallons
*My city will credit $100 on the water bill if we buy a low water use washer or dishwasher, this was one time the timing of two events worked in my favor.
Wife figured this new one will save us 2,000+ gallons a year, and $60+ energy.  The new machine spins the clothes at high RPM for longer period so their is a hidden bonus here, the dryer will not take as long to finish, more electric savings.

If you find yourself needing a new washer, study the water and energy use, 2 or 3 hundred more for a greener model can pay you back in water bills and energy in a year or two.  Saving water is good.  Using less energy is good.  And you save money.

Saturday, July 6, 2013

leopard seal and penguin

this is the end for one, continuation for another
From Stern, a German magazine I read.

Sorry Hobby Lobby and 700 club, but.......

"They knew that to put God in the constitution was to put man out.  They knew that the recognition of a Deity would be seized upon by fanatics and zealots as a pretext for destroying the liberty of thought."
Robert G. Ingersoll, 1833-1899, Illinois Attorney General.
 

Friday, July 5, 2013

United Church of Christ divesting

UCC is now the largest church to decide to divest from fossil fuel companies.  Over the next 18 months they will be moving the stocks held in dirty industry to clean industry products.  Like the divestment of South African stocks years ago, this is a process based on morals and conscience.  As more Universities and Churches, municipalities and social clubs divest it paints these industries as undesirable and unhelpful to people of principal.  This is a very important movement.  Thanks UCC.

In case your wondering, divestment is very unlikely to lower the price of the stock, as it is sold, dirt bags buy it because at least for now they are profitable.   But over time owning that stock will become like being in a crime family, or maybe like belonging to a club that deliberately hurts people and everything around them.

are you 4-MEI, or against me?

Pepsi still has a cancer causing chemical in it, 4-MEI.  Coke took it out.  In California the state wrote a law to force it out of soft drinks in the state.  Coke took it out of all their US products, not Pepsi, only where they had to.    Whats wrong with our congress that they don't force cancer causing products off the market, or bee killing chemicals as the EU did last month????

I don't drink any soft drinks, they contain chemicals that prevent the uptake of calcium, every wonder why there are so many kids with broken bones, hell I think every nephew in the family lives on sugar drinks, broke an arm or ankle, and is fat.  When my son was growing up, he almost never had a soft drink, only one we know of before he was 5 and that one supplied by an obese addicted to cokes uncle, it's not hard to make kids eat right.  Furthermore, high fructose corn syrup speeds the growth of cancer cells, and makes you obese, diabetic, etc. etc. etc.

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Blow me down south

9 States have no wind generation ability at all, are not helping to build the safety of local distributed sourcing and clean energy needed for the future.  The weak links in the chain are: Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, Louisiana, Virginia, Kentucky. The same states that made decisions in the past that brought failure on the region is nothing if not consistent.
The states profiting most from wind ordered in Mwh  produced: Texas, California, Iowa, Illinois, Oregon, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Kansas, Washington.
The newest large wind turbines being delivered now meet or beat the cost of coal, oil, and in many cases even natural gas.

GASLAND Part II Official Trailer, Premieres July 8th 2013 on HBO

I don't do HBO, so I won't get to see it, maybe it will be repeated on PBS or Science later, or DVD, I could borrow it on DVD.

GASLAND Part II Official Trailer, Premieres July 8th 2013 on HBO

I don't do HBO, so I won't get to see it, maybe it will be repeated on PBS or Science later, or DVD, I could borrow it on DVD.

A Boom With No Boundaries: How Drilling Threatens Theodore Roosevelt Nat...

Listen to the great great grandson of Theodore Roosevelt.  40 to 60 thousand fracking wells to surround the park in the next few years.  And  the park is being considered by the government for destruction, drilling in the park, as 12 others already are open for mining and drilling.

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

US Army and Navy criticize our quest for oil and gas


A military report says America's fixation with domestic drilling and securing supplies of fossil fuel is misguided and destructive.



The paper points out we could make greater, quicker and permanent gains by instead working on energy efficiency and renewables to replace coal, oil and gas.   It goes on to accuse policymakers and legislators of refusing to accept "robust" scientific evidence global warming is already harming our economy and will destabilize countries and commerce around the world.  It also states our political leaders are avoiding the short term up front costs of green energy sources, even though it will resolve many of our problems and in the long run provide lower cost energy and security.
It's amazing,  the military trying to wake the deaf.

Monday, July 1, 2013

1949 - 2013, forest fires and death

Noman Maclean, best known for his "A River Runs Through It" also wrote a lesser known great book, "Fire on the Mountain: The True Story of the South Canyon Fire".  Up until yesterday, the 1949 South Canyon Fire was the most deadly fire on record for forest fire fighters.  It is an excellent accounting, by Maclean who spent his time as a forest worker in Montana, and became one of America's best writers.  Get either of these books, they are page turners, one a novel, the other a detective story and safety manual for people in the wilderness and fire fighters.  I loved both these books, Maclean had a lot of trouble getting published, as one letter of rejection stated, "this book has trees in it, no one wants to read about trees".
Increasing heat and drought and disease of forest plants guarantees more terrible deaths await us in the forest.  Hopefully lessons will be learned that can keep firemen safe.