Tom Brokaw interviewed Al at length this morning. Al is still beating the drum for "alternate energy". Mostly he made those innocous comments about "moving forward" and "thinking outside the box", stuff that contains no real information but sounds good. He now wants the entire economy converted over to solar electric and electric cars. Al said all we need is better electrical transmission lines to move the juice from producer to user. What Al didn't say is that you can only transmit electricity 500 miles before the line losses get so bad that it isn't worth it. Nor did he explain how to heat your house on alternate energy. Nor did explain where the batteries for electric cars are coming from. Current battery technology (lead acid) is only good enough for golf carts. The only difference between a golf car and an electric car is better batteries.
But Al is opposed to oil drilling because only running out of oil will drive Americans to the enlightenment of true greenness. Freezing to death in the dark is very enlightening.
Brokaw asked Al about his lavish energy hog of house, and Al said "I buy electricity from "green" producers and that makes it alright." He also claimed his house uses "geothermal" power which is a stretch, there are no volcanic hotspots in Tennessee. He probably means he has a heat pump working off a heat exchanger buried in the lawn. That's nothing new, I had one in a cheap garden apartment in Mississippi back in the 1960's.
Al again claimed that science is on his side, even though the American Physical Society declared that man made global warming is not scientifically accepted just last week. That means a small majority of physicists think man made global warming is balony, but a sizable minority still believes in it. If the majority were larger, they would have used stronger language to condemn man made global warming. Opinions of physicists counts, global warming is a heat transfer problem, which is squarely in the domain of physics.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Those that can't do, complain
Our energetic Democratic US reps, Hodes and Shea Porter, are complaining that the Low Income Heating Emergence Assistance Program (LIHEAP) bill pushed thru by Senator Judd Greg isn't big enough, according to the Union Leader. Greg's bill is $5 billion, the dems are whining because it isn't $9 billion. Jeeze, do something right, and they complain that it isn't better. Hodes and Shea Porter ought to be passing bills rather than complaining about those that do pass bills.
Of the $5 billion, some $50 million will come to NH. Divide $50 million by $2400 (my estimated oil bill for this winter) and that is enough to help 20,000 families. That's a start. Drop the restrictions on oil drilling and watch the price of heating oil come down. Then it will help even more families. Where are Hodes and Shea Porter on dropping oil drilling restrictions?
Of the $5 billion, some $50 million will come to NH. Divide $50 million by $2400 (my estimated oil bill for this winter) and that is enough to help 20,000 families. That's a start. Drop the restrictions on oil drilling and watch the price of heating oil come down. Then it will help even more families. Where are Hodes and Shea Porter on dropping oil drilling restrictions?
Tomatoes acquitted.
The Federal Drug Adminstration (FDA) finally admitted that the salmonella outbreak wasn't caused by tomatoes. I'm sure this brings great joy to the nation's tomato farmers. They were minded their own business, growing America's favorite veggie, when a few federal paper pushers caused them $100 million in losses. That's enough to bankrupt a lot of farmers.
FDA hasn't said just why they pointed the finger at tomatoes, but I can guess. They asked victims what they ate before contracting salmonella, and surprise, every one mentioned tomatoes. They are America's favorite veggie after all. I'm sure every one also reported drinking water too.
We ought to demand actual detection of a pathogen in real food before the government is allowed to declare crops to be infected and ruin farmers. Real food means food actually offered for sale, not weeds or plant cuttings or farm wastes. Actual detection means a real laboratory , running a standard test from a standard handbook, files a written lab report, on company letterhead, signed and dated by the person conducting the test.
As it is, the tomato farmers ought to sue the FDA. Go for damages, punitive damages, gross negligence.
FDA hasn't said just why they pointed the finger at tomatoes, but I can guess. They asked victims what they ate before contracting salmonella, and surprise, every one mentioned tomatoes. They are America's favorite veggie after all. I'm sure every one also reported drinking water too.
We ought to demand actual detection of a pathogen in real food before the government is allowed to declare crops to be infected and ruin farmers. Real food means food actually offered for sale, not weeds or plant cuttings or farm wastes. Actual detection means a real laboratory , running a standard test from a standard handbook, files a written lab report, on company letterhead, signed and dated by the person conducting the test.
As it is, the tomato farmers ought to sue the FDA. Go for damages, punitive damages, gross negligence.
Friday, July 18, 2008
USAF takes flak over luxury aircraft cabins
This ain't new. USAF had VIP kits for the C-141's at Dover AFB back in 1968. I saw them. There were two. A VIP kit was the size of a large travel trailer/small house trailer and fit inside a C-141 jet transport. Inside the VIP kit were cushy chairs, soft carpets, good china and silver ware, a galley, a bar, every thing to make a long flight comfortable. Even back then the VIP kits were "controversial", and kept pretty quiet. I can remember a base commander getting uncomfortable when I told him the auditors had been poking around the VIP kits.
Far as this taxpayer and veteran is concerned, VIP kits are a waste of taxpayer's money. VIP's ought to travel commercial, in coach, just like us citizens.
Far as this taxpayer and veteran is concerned, VIP kits are a waste of taxpayer's money. VIP's ought to travel commercial, in coach, just like us citizens.
The north country need some real radio stations
Up here, north of Franconia notch, is a radio wasteland. The FM stations have innoucous and short playlists of goldie oldies. The tunes repeat after a few hours. Not bad tunes, but after hearing it six times we are ready for something else. Nobody plays anything that isn't at least 25 years old. We can't get Rush at all. No NH rabblerousers akin to Boston's Howie Carr. For that matter we can't get Howie either. No local news, no Concord news, hardly any local ads.
There is plenty of spectrum on AM and FM for new stations up here if anyone wanted to try it. Think about hearing local weather (not the Boston weather) , a summary of legislation going thru the mill in Concord, North country news. Skiing stories. Maybe some up to date tunes, especially from real bands as opposed to the boy bands/girl bands. There are a lot of drivers on the road up here, surely enough listeners to attract some paying advertisers.
There is plenty of spectrum on AM and FM for new stations up here if anyone wanted to try it. Think about hearing local weather (not the Boston weather) , a summary of legislation going thru the mill in Concord, North country news. Skiing stories. Maybe some up to date tunes, especially from real bands as opposed to the boy bands/girl bands. There are a lot of drivers on the road up here, surely enough listeners to attract some paying advertisers.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Wesley Clark bad mouths John McCain
General Wesley Clark (US Army Ret.) was trashing John McCain's wartime service as "just another fighter pilot". And stating that his service in high command was far more relevant to the task of President than McCain's.
I served too. I was on the flight line, a junior avionics officer, supervising my men every morning. I saw the pilots man their planes, strap in and take off every morning. Same pilots, day after day.
Flying combat into North Viet Nam was incredibly dangerous. My wing lost a plane a day, for the first 90 days I was on base. As each pilot strapped in and lowered the canopy he knew that someone wasn't going the make it back that day. And it might well be him. The pilots of those lost aircraft either died in their aircraft from the impact of SAM's and ground fire, or died during ejection, or were taken captive by the North Vietnamese. Captivity was brutal, and long lasting. A very few, very lucky, fliers were plucked from the jungle by rescue helicopters before the North Vietnamese got to them.
Knowing the odds of death or captivity were high, the air crew kept on flying. So, call McCain what you like, but remember that he was brave. Brave to fly the missions in the first place, and brave under enemy captivity.
I served too. I was on the flight line, a junior avionics officer, supervising my men every morning. I saw the pilots man their planes, strap in and take off every morning. Same pilots, day after day.
Flying combat into North Viet Nam was incredibly dangerous. My wing lost a plane a day, for the first 90 days I was on base. As each pilot strapped in and lowered the canopy he knew that someone wasn't going the make it back that day. And it might well be him. The pilots of those lost aircraft either died in their aircraft from the impact of SAM's and ground fire, or died during ejection, or were taken captive by the North Vietnamese. Captivity was brutal, and long lasting. A very few, very lucky, fliers were plucked from the jungle by rescue helicopters before the North Vietnamese got to them.
Knowing the odds of death or captivity were high, the air crew kept on flying. So, call McCain what you like, but remember that he was brave. Brave to fly the missions in the first place, and brave under enemy captivity.
We can drill our way out of oil shortages
Announcement of American projects to explore for oil in the continental shelf, Alaska, Colorado oil shale, just about anywhere, will drop the price of crude, and do so in a matter of days. Even if the project won't come on line years. The outrageous crude oil prices are caused by fear, fear that oil will be unobtainable without a contract. Users have to get crude oil, or go out of business. So they pay six kinds of prices for it. Everyone can see demand going up and up, and production struggling to stay level, let alone grow.
Once the world sees the Americans committing to a large scale oil project, it will come to believe that more oil is out there, and oil will be available. America has a rep for pulling technological rabbits out of hats that is unmatched. America is the land that invented telegraph, telephone, oil wells, electric light bulbs, aircraft, nuclear energy, moon landings, polio vaccines, integrated circuits, microprocessors and more. An Exxon-Mobil announcement of an oil project that will come on line in 2009 and produce a couple of million barrels a day would have instant credibility. In part because the Americans are experts in this kind of thing and in part because American companies must be honest, 'cause the SEC will crucify them for flim flamming investors if they are dishonest.
Just one good oil strike will go far to convince the world's nervous oil consumers that more oil will be available in the future.
And, despite T. Boone Pickens TV ads, we can drill out way out of the shortage. US consumption is 20 million barrels per day. The undrilled resources are estimated in the billions of barrels. Twenty billion barrels is three years of supply. Two hundred billion barrels is thirty years of supply.
Once the world sees the Americans committing to a large scale oil project, it will come to believe that more oil is out there, and oil will be available. America has a rep for pulling technological rabbits out of hats that is unmatched. America is the land that invented telegraph, telephone, oil wells, electric light bulbs, aircraft, nuclear energy, moon landings, polio vaccines, integrated circuits, microprocessors and more. An Exxon-Mobil announcement of an oil project that will come on line in 2009 and produce a couple of million barrels a day would have instant credibility. In part because the Americans are experts in this kind of thing and in part because American companies must be honest, 'cause the SEC will crucify them for flim flamming investors if they are dishonest.
Just one good oil strike will go far to convince the world's nervous oil consumers that more oil will be available in the future.
And, despite T. Boone Pickens TV ads, we can drill out way out of the shortage. US consumption is 20 million barrels per day. The undrilled resources are estimated in the billions of barrels. Twenty billion barrels is three years of supply. Two hundred billion barrels is thirty years of supply.
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