Saturday, December 8, 2007
Golden Compass (the movie)
Went to see it this afternoon. If you have read the book, you will like the movie. If you haven't read the book it will be heavy sledding. There is lots of action but it will be more than a little incoherent. Sets and costumes are beautifully done, the acting is very good. The young girl protagonist, Lyra, is well played indeed. The ending is a cliffhanger, leaving the audience waiting to see the next movie of the trilogy.
House passes "energy" bill
It hasn't made it thru the Senate yet, and the president is talking veto, but the house passed one. It "closes tax loopholes" on the oil companies (raises taxes), pushes up the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) to 35 mpg, and requires electric power companies to generate 15% from "renewable" (solar, wind, tide, hydro) sources.
The CAFE change erases the distinction between cars and "light trucks". Right now light trucks only have to do 25 mpg, whereas cars have to do better. The CAFE law is responsible for the demise of the station wagon and the rise of the SUV. Station wagons were cars but SUV's were "light trucks". For that matter as unlikely as it sounds, the Chrysler PT Cruiser was a "light truck". Now everything under 8600 pounds Gross Vehicle Weight is subject to CAFE, anything heavier is a real truck and not subject to CAFE. Expect to see some really heavy SUV's come out to take advantage of being a real truck. The CAFE change seems to be rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Since Katrina and $3 gas, car buyers are buying the best fuel economy they can find. The market for SUV's and pickup trucks has collapsed, putting the Detroit big three into deep doo-doo. Toyota is selling all the Prius's they can make, even though the Prius is $5000 more expensive than Corolla. Do we really need to further roil the car market with legislation?
The 15% renewable electricity mandate is a cushy deal for the makers of renewable equipment, but it will boost my electric bill, a lot. Wind and solar are not firm power, A calm day, or nightfall, and no juice. The power company has to build real power plants (the works all the time kind) to keep the lights on under worst case. Worst case is a hot summer afternoon (last NY blackout) or a cold winter evening (first great blackout) . Then, as the load meters edge up and up, and unexpected failures take big plants off line, the system controllers cannot count on the wind blowing, or the sun shining. In short, that 15% "renewable" generation does nothing to prevent another great blackout. It's just money poured down the drain, my money as a matter of fact. I'm already paying 20 cents per kilowatt hour, up from 5 a few years ago, and I see no reason to pay yet more to purchase relatively useless "renewable" energy.
You want to do something for the electric power industry? Make 'em put in 15% nuclear power. It's firm power, it's clean, we have the technology. France is 80% nuclear, why not the US?
The final insult to tax and rate payers. This "energy" bill is 1000 pages long. At one lawyer per page, that's lifetime work for 1000 lawyers, at full fees or course. Plus some juicy pork too. Like a $1 billion rail connection to JFK airport. JFK is already on the subway, what more do you need?
The CAFE change erases the distinction between cars and "light trucks". Right now light trucks only have to do 25 mpg, whereas cars have to do better. The CAFE law is responsible for the demise of the station wagon and the rise of the SUV. Station wagons were cars but SUV's were "light trucks". For that matter as unlikely as it sounds, the Chrysler PT Cruiser was a "light truck". Now everything under 8600 pounds Gross Vehicle Weight is subject to CAFE, anything heavier is a real truck and not subject to CAFE. Expect to see some really heavy SUV's come out to take advantage of being a real truck. The CAFE change seems to be rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Since Katrina and $3 gas, car buyers are buying the best fuel economy they can find. The market for SUV's and pickup trucks has collapsed, putting the Detroit big three into deep doo-doo. Toyota is selling all the Prius's they can make, even though the Prius is $5000 more expensive than Corolla. Do we really need to further roil the car market with legislation?
The 15% renewable electricity mandate is a cushy deal for the makers of renewable equipment, but it will boost my electric bill, a lot. Wind and solar are not firm power, A calm day, or nightfall, and no juice. The power company has to build real power plants (the works all the time kind) to keep the lights on under worst case. Worst case is a hot summer afternoon (last NY blackout) or a cold winter evening (first great blackout) . Then, as the load meters edge up and up, and unexpected failures take big plants off line, the system controllers cannot count on the wind blowing, or the sun shining. In short, that 15% "renewable" generation does nothing to prevent another great blackout. It's just money poured down the drain, my money as a matter of fact. I'm already paying 20 cents per kilowatt hour, up from 5 a few years ago, and I see no reason to pay yet more to purchase relatively useless "renewable" energy.
You want to do something for the electric power industry? Make 'em put in 15% nuclear power. It's firm power, it's clean, we have the technology. France is 80% nuclear, why not the US?
The final insult to tax and rate payers. This "energy" bill is 1000 pages long. At one lawyer per page, that's lifetime work for 1000 lawyers, at full fees or course. Plus some juicy pork too. Like a $1 billion rail connection to JFK airport. JFK is already on the subway, what more do you need?
Christmas is bad for blogging
Christmas brings house guests and children back on leave, and entertaining and all kinds a fun stuff, which leaves little time for blogging. Especially as just a short post can take half an hour to compose, correct and publish. How Glenn Reynolds cranks out his daily dozen postings is a mystery to me. Anyhow posting may be a little lighter until things go back to their quiet and predictable ways after New Years.
Merry Christmas and Bah Humbug too.
Merry Christmas and Bah Humbug too.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
DOJ is siding with RIAA in a downloading case
Arrgh. RIAA took some single mother to court for downloading and obtained a $220,000 judgment against her. Story here. Why is my government siding with the record labels? Does not the RIAA have enough lawyers already? Why is the US Dept of Justice getting into the act? Do the Republicans have a political death wish? Surely it ain't worth the wrath of a lot of voters to curry favor with the labels?
Plastic costs more than wood
I am finishing up a home project, a wall display case/shelf for HO model trains. To make it look nice, I purchased poplar wood, nicer than plain old run-of-the-lumberyard knotty pine. Clear pine can be had, but the price is outrageous, poplar is a better deal. The poplar cost $66 for a 3 foot by 5 foot seven shelf case.
Had a good time making it. Hand cut dovetail joints, edges of the shelves shaped to an ogive pattern, hand rubbed linseed oil finish. To keep the dust out, I routed slots to accept clear plastic sliding doors.
Just picked up the plastic. Two pieces, 3 foot by 3 foot. Had the plastic shop cut them to size, 'cause I cannot fit a full sized 4 foot by 8 foot piece of plastic into the Deville. Plastic came to $67 dollars, as much as the poplar.
It looks good, and I'm still ahead. You can buy things like this but it's $300-$400 for one this size.
Had a good time making it. Hand cut dovetail joints, edges of the shelves shaped to an ogive pattern, hand rubbed linseed oil finish. To keep the dust out, I routed slots to accept clear plastic sliding doors.
Just picked up the plastic. Two pieces, 3 foot by 3 foot. Had the plastic shop cut them to size, 'cause I cannot fit a full sized 4 foot by 8 foot piece of plastic into the Deville. Plastic came to $67 dollars, as much as the poplar.
It looks good, and I'm still ahead. You can buy things like this but it's $300-$400 for one this size.
Gitmo rides again
The Supreme court is going to hear yet another Gitmo rights case today. Should the detainees/prisoners of war/oppressed freedom fighters have the right to clog the federal court system with appeals for out?
Used to be, armed enemies captured on the battlefield were prisoners of war, and they were stuck in POW camps until the war was over. No lawyers, no courts, no habeas corpus, no special commissions. POW's get certain rights, like mail from home, the right to refuse to divulge intelligence information (Name, rank, and serial number only), and others. We have all seen the war movies, Alec Guiness in Bridge on the River Quai, Steve Mcqueen in The Great Escape, and plenty more.
Whereas, criminal suspects in the US get Miranda rights, habeas corpus, public defenders, bail, and a chance to beat the rap by claiming illegal search and seizure.
The Gitmo detainees aren't real soldiers, so they don't even rate POW status. That's why we call 'em "detainees" rather than the more usual "prisoners". They are clearly dangerous, some small fry have been released and then later recaptured bearing arms against us in Afghanistan. Talk about two time losers.
So, why promote Gitmo detainees two jumps up, from no rights detainee, to POW, to criminal defendant? I kinda like leaving them as no rights detainees. Detainees can be interrogated at length for intelligence, which POW's cannot.
Used to be, armed enemies captured on the battlefield were prisoners of war, and they were stuck in POW camps until the war was over. No lawyers, no courts, no habeas corpus, no special commissions. POW's get certain rights, like mail from home, the right to refuse to divulge intelligence information (Name, rank, and serial number only), and others. We have all seen the war movies, Alec Guiness in Bridge on the River Quai, Steve Mcqueen in The Great Escape, and plenty more.
Whereas, criminal suspects in the US get Miranda rights, habeas corpus, public defenders, bail, and a chance to beat the rap by claiming illegal search and seizure.
The Gitmo detainees aren't real soldiers, so they don't even rate POW status. That's why we call 'em "detainees" rather than the more usual "prisoners". They are clearly dangerous, some small fry have been released and then later recaptured bearing arms against us in Afghanistan. Talk about two time losers.
So, why promote Gitmo detainees two jumps up, from no rights detainee, to POW, to criminal defendant? I kinda like leaving them as no rights detainees. Detainees can be interrogated at length for intelligence, which POW's cannot.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Iran is NOT building a bomb, says CIA
Good news, in fact perhaps a little bit too good to be true. Mossad says the Iranians will have a bomb year after next. CIA says no they won't. Who do I believe? Surely the intelligence service that failed to predict the fall of the Soviet Union, failed to predict 9/11, called the Iraqi bomb a slamdunk sure thing, and has worked hard to destabilize the Bush Administration has earned my trust....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)