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.