9 states were polled about the EPA

Everywhere, people want pollution regulated and reduced, everywhere.

head trip

 
Assignment: 1) A full size precise skin covered skull, correct in all dimensions, bone and muscle structures.  (so the instructor and I measure, compare, look at anatomy pictures, skulls, then back to it, push pound rub and scrape, it's more physical than I imagined it would be)  2) add features, hair, shoulders and upper chest.

Don't worry, she won't have a mustache, the mouth is just roughed in to create planes, it will be a bit softer in the end.  I still have one eye to build, more cheek and temple work before I start step 2.
Traditionally I work in stone, limestone or marble, I had no idea with clay there was so much slapping and pushing to get what you want, it's like Saturaday night at Rodney Dangerfield's house.

Rodney's classics:
"I'm trying to teach the dog to beg" Wife says, "Let him watch you in the bedroom Saturday."
"My sex life is a disaster, I turned to over eating for satisfaction, I had mirrors put on the kitchen ceiling."

Topeka after action report

Two postings down is the set up piece.  So, now the report.  I ask for 6 appointments, got 3, 1 stood me up, but I walked in on several more successfully, I think I talked with 9, had a set down long talk with 4.
These poor bastards have been fed a raft of misinformation and lies from the fossil fuel trolls, and ALEC, Americans for Prosperity, both Koch run groups.  The primary lie is that wind energy raised our (KS) electric bills 15 times the last few years.  It has not, the mandate for more wind and solar has an escape valve in it.  If it would raise the rates 1%, (1 stinking percent) it would be ended then and there.  It has not even come close to a 1% increase.  All those rate increases are the increasing cost of fossil fuel, and for cleaning up the smoke stacks.
One crusty old GOP senator told me wind raised the rates and I said "not true" he said "is true" we did that 3 times in rapid fire then suddenly he said "your right, but it's OSHA that raised rates (he means by forcing smokestack scrubbers) cause Obama hates coal".  So you see some of these fucks know the truth but will spread the lie.  I know when to take the victory I seek and sluff-off the rest.  My response was to reinforce what he just admitted, and discount the rest as something outside of our focus.  I said "That right, I see you do understand wind energy is the lowest cost wholesale energy our utilities can buy.  This bill before you has a single goal, to inhibit access to additional low cost energy?  Why would you do that?"  I don't think I changed his vote, but I know he knows that I know he understands the truth, I have to believe it makes him squirm a little in that dirty skin, things eat on people sometimes.

Of those I saw, I think I changed one GOP mind on this, last year we had a similar day with legislators and I was told by one GOP that I converted him on this, we won that vote, but Koch's never stop trying.

One thing all of these guys threw out at me with great satisfaction and a sort of that trumps everything swagger.  "Wind cannot be counted as baseload" they gloat.  In case you don't know, baseload is the reserve power spraying through the wires, it's the nuke or coal plant running full tilt all night just in case a bunch of us get up and turn a light on at 3.  The juice has to already be there in case we want it.  Utilities and grids have agreements within regions to help one another supply this over supply, the just in case power necessary to have a reliable infrastructure.  Because wind  and sun are not constant these regional electric pools did not count the resource as baseload, meaning they might not be able to junk a dirty power plant because of baseload requirements.  But...times change.  The 9 state Southwest Power Pool I am in now counts a portion of the renewables overall capacity as baseload.  Same with the Texas Power Pool.  It turns out as more wind and solar farms are scattered over large areas some always are producing.  Solar is very predictable, even cloudy days produce power at a reduced but known rate.  Germany, Spain and Australia already use what they call "virtual baseload".  Anyway you cut it, renewables are getting easy to integrate into complex grids and in the case of Southwest Power Pool they know that every night the wind they contract will produce a known minimum, so  a coal burner is backed down to a lower output, saving coal, money, air quality.  Don't let anyone grin through the baseload rebuttal, tell them that's no longer true, and it ain't a bunch of hippies tree huggers doing it, and Obama didn't make them do it, rather it's a consortium of dozens of transmission line and power plant operators making wise business decisions.

"are we to be sacrificed"

once more unto the breach, dear friends

 The good fight.  I relish it.  Fighting against global warming enablers.  It's worth winning, therefore it must be worth losing, a well fought fight.  Tuesday I go to Topeka, there surrounded by bare trees, into the halls of a far right dominated house, senate and pope.
Working with a coalition ranging from the Sierra Club to wind and solar businesses, to farmers, county administrators, a church group, students and vets, we will spend the day trying to see elected officials and sway them to our single goal, stand up the third time and again defeat the repeal of the states renewable energy goals, and preserve net metering for home solar and small business solar owners.

The Koch brothers have given money to damn near all these guys, as has Coal, ALEC, and Americans for Prosperity and some of the utilities.  3 of those 5 listed are actually the same, Koch, Koch and Koch.  They are buying an end to renewable energy competing with their fossil fuel.

Last year I met with 2, and I turned one to our side, and the bill was defeated.  This year I have ask for 6 meetings, 3 have agreed, I will still try to see all 6.  What these groups do is lie, that wind energy drives our energy cost up, and makes the grid hard to manage, on and on.  Actually the opposite is true of the new wind farms the last couple of years, the prices are the lowest form of power, and they strengthen the grid with more possibilities and more distributed sources.  As for net metering, this is easy to throw at these GOP guys, it is a libertarian issue, why would they serve a utility against the "rugged individual"s choice to turn the sun light falling on his property into his own power, and to share it with the neighbors if he has extra, devaluing it or restricting the use or sharing of it is a tax on our sunlight, a tax on solar power in the name of serving a government regulated monopoly, the utility.

Sometimes it looks bleak up there, but, I've been on that bridge before.

Triple Whammy

Interesting reading over the weekend.  The GOP is facing a triple whammy, without severe vote suppression they have 12 years at most to hold onto power nationally.   OK, sure, they could change from being pricks, yah, I know, ain't happening, at least not for a while.

1) Growth of democrats.  In almost every major metro area in the US the growth rate of "D" is multiples of growth in "R".  In some cities there is no "R" growth at all.  In rural areas, in small towns within rural areas the overall population is on the decline with "R" in firm control of a shrinking vote.
2) Age demographics.  The percent of "R" vote is almost completely tied to age.  The oldest voters are overwhelmingly "R".  Every 5 year increment younger the stronger the "D" vote becomes.  As more "R" voters assume room temperature, well, with it goes much of their power.
3) Ethnic demographics.  It's simple, the roofers and people making beds in hotels are going to get to vote one of these days.  Asians have not voted much, but this is changing to.

Maybe they can pull off a Mexico, where the party of the rich dominate the elections over the majority for a hundred years.  And they are trying to do this, with voter suppression, stalling emigration, making it harder for the poor and students, installing bigoted judges, and giving the corporations everything they ask for.  This is why they are more dangerous and more active now than ever before, they are fighting for their lives, and we must help them lose that fight. In some areas they can hang on a long time but nationally, without a move away from the religious racists and corporatism, and towards helping people and the nation, they face a triple whammy.

Wally world scam, billions for US products.

10 or 15 years ago Fall Apart wall mart pulled a scam on consumers, with the made in America promotion.  This finally came to light when TV magazine Date Line amazingly committed journalism and reported that during the multi-year promotion wallieworld actually reduced it's US made offerings.  Fast forward.

$50 billion in 10 years will be spent on US made products is the multi-million add blitz.  We see people making glass bottles in an antiquated process and so on.  Here's the deal.  That is less than 1% of what they normally buy a year.  In an interview about this a spokes lady said it would phase in slow, as they look for products to buy.  The attention span will let them drop out of this if they want, no one will notice.

Around the nation fallapart's grocery business is gaining fast on it's competitors.  This means they will be buying more lettuce and milk every year.  How much?  Well, about 50 billion over the next 10 years, as it slowly increases.

This was going to happen anyhow and they pretend patriotism over it.  It's not really a plan to help American manufacturing, most of it will go to Tyson and produce sellers not manufacturing.

Pussy Whipped

Cossacks and Russian Police beat the group Pussy Riot today in Sochi.  Brave men with whips sent by brave Putin to beat young women, women who sing.  The American Taliban must envy the power to punish.  Following the beating the girls had red marks from beatins, bloody hands from fending off whips and sticks, and at least one photographer had blood from cuts and punches.

Why the TrannyCanada pipeline won't lower our prices.

See, more drilling and more pipes will not lower fuel cost

I ripped this right out of an oil industry news site.  Will delete on demand.  Hedge funds became the most bullish on U.S. crude oil in more than five months as a new pipeline from Oklahoma to Gulf Coast refineries eased a supply bottleneck, driving prices above $100 a barrel.  

That is about the XL pipeline, the south part was just finished, it's just the north half that the current fight is over.  Exactly as predicted by environmental and consumer groups, price went up when we could move more oil.  And the crap they put in the north end will just pass through, be refined in Texas where we get the pet coke dust and the pollution and the fuel is for export.  It will not help the US one single drop, it is a scam to claim it will increase our security.  

Same with natural gas.  We are now the largest producer in the world of natural gas thanks to fracking, and the prices are at a 4 year high.  Supply and demand rules are dead, speculators and mega corps set the price, and sucker people into thinking more wells help.

If common sense is gas, Klansas is running on fumes

Flat earth boys at it again.  Klansas legislators are running a new divorce law through the gallery.  It seems that women are just throwing their marriages away out here, so, they are going to outlaw "no fault" divorce.  A couple can't just say we fell out of love, want out no big deal we figured out our own settlement - not fighting over the soap dish or the CD's.

Instead they want to return to them good old days, when you had to tell about the cheating and drinking and the squandered money, you have to make a case recorded in court records.  If women have an abusive husband they need to lay it out and the husband can deny it and your not at work your in court making no money and the judge may decide who gets the pick-up and on it goes.

Why?  Religion.  Feel stupid that you ask?  You should.  The bible thumpers decided that if it's hard to get a d-i-v-o-r-c-e, then all those bruised arms and broken dishes will be worth it, you'll finally understand you can turn to the bible for answers, and the emergency room for stitches and your in it for the long haul, till you have the money and time to get it to court.  And thats the way the theocracy will save marriage.  Haven't seen the bill, wouldn't be surprised if you don't have to have counseling first to be eligible, there was talk of that.
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Our other claim to fame besides the "hunt Mexicans from helicopters" legislators is the state sanctioned descrimmination allowing government or private employees to refuse to serve gays on religious grounds, still stuck in the upper house.  Passed in the lower chamber, it's been a shit storm on this one, they may let it die, but I've got faith, the Christian Taliban will pass it.   Stay tuned.

The owl and the squirrel

Just behind my house is a thick row of trees, including about 6 cottonwoods 100 ft. tall, the nearest about 40 ft.  For 10 years or more a pair of great horned owls have used these trees as a rendevous point in early evening, and a singing post at intervals during the night.  And that is something beautiful to hear, the whole neighborhood is in love with the soft "who who whoots".

This grove of trees is also home to a hell of a lot of squirrels.  Squirrels get brave around the owls, even running upside down on the bottom of branches, right under the owls.  Last night, just before a pink sunset I was standing at the window watching the male owl (the smaller one) about 60 ft up.  A little below him in the next cottonwood a squirrel had gotten out onto some twigs to bite the ends off for the sweet first taste of buds.  With a lean forward and a long wing stroke the owl crashed into the twigs and   yellow talons reached for the squirrel.  The owl either hit the squirrel or didn't get enough of a hook in.  A little bank up to the left and the owl was on another perch as if nothing happened.  The squirrel tumbled end over end from at least 50 ft. up in a long arc landing out of sight behind the 5 ft. thick trunk of another cottonwood.  After 30 seconds, about 4 ft. off the ground it walked slowly around the trunk.  I didn't have the binoculars handy so I couldn't see if he had been cut.  Another squirrel came over to play chase, but the lucky survivor climbed slowly up and around the trunk out of sight in the pink light.  

Lived here 17 years.  Only the second time I ever saw a squirrel fall.  The other time I was under the trees picking up branches and I heard something falling and I thought damn this might be the end.  But a few feet from me a squirrel hit the dirt followed by a shower of leaves and twigs.  It lay motionless for a few seconds, then spun and ran off.  Tougher critters are hard to find.

Christians are the reason fewer of us are Christians

A recent poll found of the non-Christians among us or those who may consider themselves Christian but rarely attend church have a very negative view of Christians.  78% say that Christians are too sheltered, 85% view them as hypocritical, 91% think religious people hate gays, and 75% say Christians are too political.  

The 2010 book, American Grace, concluded that partisan politics was directly to blame for the rise of religiously unaffiliated Americans.  The writers, Cambell and Merritt argue  "The growth of the nones is a direct reaction to the intermingling of religion and politics in the United States." And.  "As American Evangelicals have become more partisan, American Christianity has suffered as more shy away from the faith."

Check out this months Atlantic for more on this, and how the Catholic right and other religious right groups are moving to box in the new "liberal Pope".  I have a business associate who is an extreme Catholic, I tell him how much I like the Pope, he says he does too, but then proceeds to say that I and  even most Catholics don't understand him, he is not changing anything, he is not going to change anything, he can't change anything because it is God's law and the Pope has no authority to change the Church's direction.  It is easy to see, he does not like the new Pope at all, not harsh enough, he even says the Pope needs more PR people to clarify the message.   What he cannot see is that this Pope could return the Church to how Jesus spent his life, fighting wealth, power and injustice.  

Klansas state sanctioned discrimination law update

The flatearth society continues it's nationwide moment in the spotlight.  Last week the state lower house passed a religious freedom law that will allow government workers, or employees of companies to refuse to serve gay couples, or anyone they suspect is a gay couple.  Smile at your buddy waiting for a chick-fil-e and you may be shown the door. (BTW, please boycott chick-file and hobby lobby) It's up to the server to decide if you are or aren't, you have no say.

The blow back is big.  Businesses don't like it because they don't know which employee may one day refuse to serve and damage the business.  They are getting blow back from all over the nation.  But, so far only two Episcopal bishops have sent letter saying it's wrong, it's anti-christian, the rest of the Klansas thumpers are silent.  The upper house (state senate) pulled the bill and say they will fine tune it, some say it will never go forward, I bet it will.  The AG says he is budgeting $120k for the first years legal contest if it passes.

In a letter to the editor (Wichita Eagle) there was an excellent plea to the legislature to expand the bill, allow servers and employees to refuse to serve bigoted zealots as well, and let them refuse other religions, after all if you are truly religious aren't all other religions and sects going to hell?  Aren't they athiest?  You shouldn't have to serve people on their way to hell.

A protest over the weekend put labels all around the capital building, marking off the best sidewalks and water fountains as "Straights Only".  On the main approach one sidewalk was marked gay and the other straight, hundreds were on the gay sidewalk, straight was empty.

A Confederacy of Dunces.

Today's London's business newspaper front page.
In case you only follow the US news sources you might have missed that the PM of France visited the US and discussed issues not related to his girlfriend or the seating arrangement at the White House dinner.
You might also have missed that while we chilled, Russia barely had a winter at all, Ireland and Great Brittan had 45 days of floods and hurricane force storms blow off the ocean doing billions in damage and lost business.  Australia has set another summer of record highs.
But thanks be unto god, the flatearth society continues to do good work, yesterday the Kansas legislature passed a resolution to be sent to the United States Congress warning that Climate Science is not science, but gobbledygook, and it's stupid, really really stupid.  I think that is how they put it.

Find "A Confederacy of Dunces".  Great and funny book, only one that author ever wrote.

23 f ing degrees by 2050

NOAA, who keeps hitting their predictions about climate change, in fact they have to keep adjusting them, and not to the good.  Based on the latest jump in CO2, recall that it should be about 350 to prevent warming, last year it hit 400 in one reading, now it has hit in the 420's in another.  Those were new highs ont averages, but the CO2 release rate now looks as if an average of mid to high 400's will occur by 2050.  Along with that will be arctic early fall temperatures (that is the heat lag cycle's typical high point) will likely be 23°f higher than the most recent norms, which are themselves higher than historical norms.

The arctic will be free of ice all but a thin coat in the late winter.  Likewise, at 23° warmer, most of the Greenland ice sheet should have melted, bringing the ocean level up almost 20 feet, of course Antartica will also have contributed to that total.

Don't feel left out, some other parts of the globe will jump in temps as well, in various amounts.  Lets just say we jump 15° across the nation.  So, summer highs in the southwest commonly of 130, upper northeast of 115.  It would be a good thing to start working to persuade people to turn this around.

Peabody Energy beats St Louis citizens

"business entities (which, after all, are a species of associations of citizens coming together in the exercise of economic freedom) are entitled to constitutional protection as citizens and may not arbitrarily be denied basic legal rights. See Citizens United v. Federal Election Comm., 558 U.S. 310 (2010)."

Thus stated a judge today in StLouis, siding in favor of Peabody Energy and against the 22,000 registered voter signatures (enough to qualify it) to place a ballot initiative in the next election which if passed would curtail the municipality of providing incentives to fossil fuel companies doing more than $1 million in the city.  (see this just says don't give these guys a tax break more than anyone else or special conditions, yet to Peabody the special treatment is expected and will not be given up) Their will be no ballot initiative if corporations don't want them.  The "personhood" of corporations is now expanded by this ruling from unlimited election contributions from the few to dominate the many, to this, which can and will morph into all manner of events.  Now every law, regulation, citizen action, every political action, it's all going to be contested by business, and more often than not found in favor of the, ah what did he call it, "a species of associations of citizens".  

poor Donald, he can't help it, he was born without an empathy gene.

Scotland shook Donald Trumphs comb over today.  A high court turned down his law suit to stop a wind farm being placed a few miles offshore of his proposed golf course.  Didn't want to have to look at those little pin wheels way out there low on the horizon, making energy for ordinary Scots.  He says he will file another suit, sure he will, but after years of this, doesn't look all that good for the billionaire.

Besides the court, the people around the proposed golf course on the shore are moving from in favor of the golf course, to being against it.  More and more details come out, and they don't like it.  If it goes ahead, hundreds of acres of beautiful pasture land rolling down to the sea and punctuated with little farms will be turned into a high end golf and entertainment center with a high end housing development surrounding it.  The natives were fooled at first, but billionaires demanding and getting what they want eventually breeds contempt.

So much data, so little understanding

Big Data, Meta Data?  Just consider the thousands of weather monitors working daily around the world, the thousands  more locations monitored by satellite.  Pile this onto archaeological records of CO2, temperature, rainfall, ocean saline and acidity, pollen.  From ice 800,000 years old, from hair and teeth a hundred thousand years old, from amber, from shells, from the mud under glaciers, the data pours in.  All this indicates a trend that says we are warming, acidifying the ocean, polluting and killing.  Yet, every week if you prowl the environmental sites some prediction or trend is changed.  But in virtually every example the rate of harm we are doing is set steeper, sooner, more dire.  Deniers grab each modification to the data as proof of uncertainty and lies, when it is in fact a refinement, proving over and over the evidence and models are on the right track.

My son has a friend, a professor of "big data".  We have so much of it, a new science is developing just to organize it, and see into it, locate trends that are not apparent due to the massive amount of it.  As you might know, the NSA and NASA are pretty good at it already.  Some retailers are trying to get good at it (not so happy about that). Most every field of science has so much data scattered in labs,  libraries, computers and publications around the world, getting a handle on this is what big data is going to do, and fast.  The overwhelming certainty of some issues are going to be tough to put off with "doubt" or "faith" in the next few years.  Can't turn back progress, so I hope for the best.  As the data out there becomes more organized and more firm in it's trends it's going to fall hard on the Luddites of climate denial and some religious/political issues.

state employees can refuse to serve gay couples

Kansas legislature has been spending it's time wisely.  Passing bills like one that affirm the states support for Christian services and prayers on military bases.  Wow, good thing that's fixed, I didn't even know we had to do that.  WTF?  In case you don't know, that's been an internet rumor for 5 years, even a niece sent me a right wing scare-mail that the prez made it illegal to pray on base.  Her father was in the Army, I wrote back and said run to the church on base, run to the chaplain, ask if he will pray with you?   How can you believe this crap when you have it at your fingertips?   Last email I ever got from her, I am now the crazy uncle, the one who throws facts at your stupidity.

But I digress.  The very very important thing they are working on now has a lovely name something about religious freedom to judo faggots or something like that.  It will allow employees of state/local governments to refuse to serve gay couples, cause they might ruin your marriage while your selling them a car tag.  It goes like this, the clerk that does marriage licenses can claim her religious freedom is infringed if she has to sell queers a ticket to matrimony.  But, it covers everything else, and legislators say it's being written in a way businesses can use it as well.   So if two men show up for a marriage licenses it's going to be a pretty sure guess.  But two women at the gay hating Chick-file or Hobby Lobby and the clerk says nope I don't serve gay couples, how can the clerk be sure, the book by the cover rule applies.  What about two men go into the registrar of deeds or city planning office to research future plans and property lines for an investment, clerk decides (right or wrong) this is a gay couple and refuses to serve them.

This may end up causing the state lots of trouble, create a population that can be denied by anyone within the system, state sanctioned discrimination, I see law suits, red ink.  Thanks GOP.

Tough few days for the GOP

It's been a tough few days for old white guys in the USA.  First that damn Coke commercial, with all those accents and foreign sound making brown people and Frenchmen ruining our holy music.  Then, a few of them, not many cause Fox didn't report it much, a few learned "America the Beautiful" was writ by a lesbian, crap, another blow.   But at least she writ it in the language of the Bible, English.  Now they find out Coke is going to use it during the Olympics, so every few days, the attack on true amerkins holy music will continue.  So boycott Coke some say, but Pepsi has come out against discrimination of gays.  Damn!  All the sugar drinks are run by anti-amerikan marriage haters.  Gonna have to drink water.

Then up in WARshington the white (R) guys been trying to show the future majority that they want their votes, so they set out to do some bills on immigration, well that rug got yanked.  Another scheme that was fix deadbeat nation, by letting long term unemployment benefits die all those deadbeats would just go back to work, just get a job, sha-zam, well that don't work either, fewer than normal were added to the rolls of the employed in Jan.  Probably they aren't hungry enough yet.  Or.....maybe you can't get a job just because you want one, if there are no jobs, wanting one don't get one.

Maybe the worst is the national debt, and Obama Care.  The debt is falling fast, much of it due to the small increases in tax on the rich and the slowly but ever increasing economic growth rate, and most corporations profits are up.  Sign-ups for Obama Care continue to grow and the main cause of bankruptcy, catastrophic health events, is going to be whittled down to a very small number.

To all my republican neighbors, and all my neighbors are republicans, even the one with a gay son is (R) as they come, suck it up, you'll feel better this fall, through voter suppression you may take back the Senate and I know you will make gains in state houses everywhere, the Kochs will pay for that.

Green Tea, it's not all that bitter, cures ALEC

The tea party and green groups in several states have learned they can make green tea, and it satisfies both groups.
In Arizona the utility and ALEC just lost one fight to tax solar panels out of the market, however with connections in the legislature they are back after a month with another try.  The push was for a $150 a month tax on home owners with solar panels, it settled at $5.  But immediately industry reintroduced another fight.  Part of the publics push back comes from a quickly formed group "TUSK", Tell Utilities Solar won't be Killed.  Excellent at raising tea party members to the fight with statements like this from Tom Morrissey, “Conservatives who support school choice and healthcare choice should join me in supporting energy choice. As conservatives, we are morally obligated to fight new tax proposals. Monopoly utilities request to end net metering amounts to a tax on solar savings. It also seeks to line the pockets of a regulated monopoly through government intervention. I am proud to join Barry Goldwater Jr. in leading the charge towards more energy competition and private investment."

In the Dakota's Green Tea has also had success against attempts to cripple net metering.  This net metering fight normally takes the following course; limiting how much energy the utility will pay for, setting the price at wholesale or more often far far below, often not paying for it or crediting it for 1 year after it's produced, in some cases a complex set of monthly averages and limits means the homeowner could get nothing at all for feeding the grid.  The goal of the monopoly is to strangle competition and increase not reduce cost to the user.  The goal of Green Tea groups is to label these attacks as; a tax on sunshine, attack on personal choice, government siding against the citizen.

In Georgia a Green Tea coalition succeeded in turning back a law that would outlaw solar panels being owned by someone other than the property owner.  In other words private citizens would have to pay for the solar system in full up front, outlawing leasing, renting, or financing of solar systems.  Mandating it a cash only product, maybe the only one in the state.
The head of the Tea Party considered the law an attack on freedom of choice and a way to perpetuate subsidies and profits to coal and gas.  The baggers and the tree huggers don't agree on anything else, but they worked on this together, an unholy alliance some in both groups protested with disgust, but they did it anyhow and it satisfied both.

Elsewhere around the country green tea convinced one utility board to allow customers to indicate if they want to buy green or conventional energy.   This means if more customers ask for green energy the utility must buy green energy or green energy credits to offset pollution of gas and coal.

Homeowners turn roof into money maker

Variations due to: local electric rates, net metering rules/rates, state or local incentives, competitiveness of distributors/installers.  The last item is interesting if we compare the US home solar market to Germany where wages are much higher for installers, but install crews complete jobs much faster and charge less, also markups by distributors are less in Germany.  It seems dealers charge us more and pay workers less.  Hmmm, sound familiar?  Well still, the payoff is worth it anywhere in the nation, but KANSAS where I live is the worst, finishing dead fuckin last, ain't the only list we hold down last on.  Home solar is worth it from an investment standpoint, and from the "it's the right thing to do" standpoint.  Now, my house is completely shaded by a row of 100' cottonwoods 40' away, maybe I put it on the next house.

constitutional scholars in red states agree

birth defects and gas wells

 "....children born to mothers living in areas that had more than 125 natural gas wells per mile had a 30 percent greater prevalence of congenital heart defects. The kids were also twice as likely to have had a neural tube defect than children born to mothers who lived with no wells within 10 miles of their homes."
Examining thousands of Colorado babies, the results are above.  (125 wells per mile, wow)  
"OH OH OH but that proves nothing, more studies are needed"  is response form fossil fuel and their PR firms schooled in Tobacco Industry's decades of one more test tactics.
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The GOP says people can make more on welfare so why would they work, well then raise minimum wage higher, human nature will drive those freeloaders off the couch.  And really there are a lot of peope working that make so little they qualify for welfare, this would lift a few of them off that as well.  And another thing, the GOP is working overtime to cut birthcontrol at the same time they want women off welfare, make up your mind then to support a pro-natalist policies for mothers with leave for birth and they still have the job to come back to.