Wednesday, March 30, 2011

The Invisible Hand of the Free Market The free market dictates that the market should have no interference and this will lead to the best and the brightest rising to the top. This is normally the high-idealism ground of the GOP. Don't mess with business because the free market will lead to advances that the public market place cannot do. Well, here is an exception. The private market place advances internet so it must be illegal. I mean, why improve services by over 1000% percent when no one makes money. Yuck. rojo

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Energy Fun Years ago, we were promised clean renewable energy as a National Security Measure by Jimmy Carter. Well, Reagan came in and took down the solar panels and any commitment to renewable energy. We have become more and more dependent upon oil from the MidEast and we send more and more money to Saudi (remember they crashed planes into the Twin Towers), Yemen (they run much of our extradition), Syria (they bother Iran for us) and Iraq (we invaded them for oil). So here we go. We still have an addiction, cannot act as an agent of ethics becasue of our addiction and make decisions accordingly. What a drag! and here comes Germany, dropping reactors faster than their cores can get hot and now the Green party is basically making the energy policy in the new government. They are pledged to be 100% renewable. I bet they have the political will to pull it off. Here, we cannot even tax a company that makes BILLIONS every year because they might not like us. They have us by the oil. and we do nothing about it. rojo

Friday, March 18, 2011

Yesterday I was reading that the House is trying to gut the carbon emissions act so that Coal-fired (you know, clean coal) power plants can keep operating without putting in place soot reducers, carbon eliminators and other things because they cost too much to make coal competitive to produce energy. I also read an Ohio EPA report that tells fisherman to limit their consumption of fish from the Ohio River and all its tributaries to once per week because of the build up of heavy metals in their fat. This includes bluegill and crappie, which are the bottom of the food chain--so catfish, sauger, walleye, saugeye, large bass who eat the smaller fish gets boatloads of metals in their body are even more hazardous to eat.

Well, heavy metals comes down in the rain that is produced by the clouds and particulates in the clouds (can't make rain without particulates--water vapor woould have nothing to aggregate to to make droplets). The heavy metals come from coal fired power plants.

This is a hidden cost of burning coal. What we use as cheap power from coal actually has a higher cost in environmental damage. I have been reading a book "When Rivers Run Dry"... that speaks of the concept of virtual water. It is the cost in terms of water that litlle things like prime beef costs, making it an extremely expensive protein, as opposed to buffalo. Corn and fattening products and alfalfa hay cost a bundle of water to grow.

Well, coal costs a bundle to burn and WE PAY FOR IT. When asked to clean up their exhaust, coal states that makes them non-competitive in cost. It is okay if we bear the cost of their product. When will real costs be factored into power? It is much like our oil use costs more because we have to pay for a huge military to protect our supply lines (Go Navy!!!!). And we pay countries who provide help to terroists to keep our cheap oil addiction alive.

These are real costs few ever want to talk about. Carter in 1976 (I think, too lazy to look it up) stated foreign oil was our biggest national security leak. We still have done nothing about it.Think about hidden costs as we go about our day today. One people often don't think of is cheap food--hidden cost is migrant (often illegal) labor and the cost of irrigation. So far the transfer of water from Northern California to the Central Valley and SoCal has cost 5 salmon fishing seasons (low flow equals dead fingerlings), the loss of the largest lake west of the Mississippi and the cost of pumping water from San Francisco Bay over two mountain ranges to the south. 4800 feet of head 1M cu feet/sec=lots of electricity.

rojo

Thursday, March 17, 2011

It's Springtime and Raining

Actually, it has quit for 8 hours and I got a chance to get my carrots in. I put them in the middle of my flower garden in my front yard. I put them there three years ago and had a bumper crop. Placed them in two other places and got nothing, so maybe I can get a good crop again.

Kudos to Mary Kaptur from Ohio for asking yesterday when the oil companies and Wall Street will share the pain of balancing the budget. My guess it won't happen until Halliburton voluntarily reincorporates in CA to get higher taxes.

Midwest Republicans are probably grateful for the Japan disaster because it takes Michigan (we will declare financial emergencies and remove your government), Ohio (state employees are stupid) and Wisconsin (we will break every union). The largest political rally in years in our country (much larger then Glen Beck's) happened in Wisconsin over the weekend and there was very little coverage. Japan, Japan, Japan.

When will someone sue to bankruptcy that little shit O'Keefe? Acorn employees let him get a pass, NPR officials quit and all over extremely edited videos. Michael Moore he ain't.

and I see the Germany has decided today to start winding down their nuclear energy program. Renewable energy will be their basis to go forward. I wonder if anyone in America has the stones to do that. The Prez sez that is what we want, but...

rojo

Wednesday, March 09, 2011

Fun With Logic

I am amazed at the human powers of deduction. Banks make mortgages that are crap, sell them to pension funds and then--

so let's take away hard won union rights since they caused the financial mess over the greedy need for another $1.00/hour.

Am I missing something here? It is kind of like bombing Iraq when attacked by Saudis.

Oh wait....

rojo
Newt, The Blowhard

I lived in the swinging 60s and 70s. I lived in a commune. I never once fooled around on my wife because I love and respect her. Newt strayed because he lost focus because of loving service to his country. My ASS!!!!!!!!!!!! Newt fooled around because he loves his sexual appetites more than he loved his wives. I am overweight because I overeat. This isn't rocket science.

What I don't get is the media fascination over a mean-spirited, uncompassionate man with no moral integrity who wants to lead in a "Christian" manner and has such obvious faults. He should be skewered on the petard of his own words and left to die a lonely unpowerful man.

rojo

Wednesday, March 02, 2011

Texas Miracle Economy, My Ass

Another way to look at the Wisconsin situation. Their debt is as big as CA and they don't seem to understand.

rojo