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Green Stimulus...Not So Much

Posted by BLOGASSAULT on Sunday, March 28, 2010 10:22:36 AM
   What Obama got wrong with his initial stimulus packadge and the program buried within to seal up your home was that he didn't force it. Over at Planet Gore, we get the tally of green home fixes that have happened so far, which is not many.
 
 After a year of crippling delays, President Barack Obama's $5 billion program to install weather-tight windows and doors has retrofitted a fraction of homes and created far fewer construction jobs than expected.

In Indiana, state-trained workers flubbed insulation jobs. In Alaska, Wyoming and the District of Columbia, the program has yet to produce a single job or retrofit one home. And in California, a state with nearly 37 million residents, the program at last count had created 84 jobs.

The program was a hallmark of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a way to shore up the economy while encouraging people to conserve energy at home. But government rules about how to run what was deemed to be a "shovel-ready" project, including how much to pay contractors and how to protect historic homes during renovations, have thwarted chances at early success, according to an Associated Press review of the program.
 
   You mean to tell me a government program is not working? How is that possible? Especially one that the chosen one came up with. And we are going to trust them with our healthcare? Oh yeah, thats right, they didn't give us a choice. Which is why his green jobs program didn't work; Obama and congress didn't force it down our throats.
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A New IPCC Blunder...Cowgate?

Posted by BLOGASSAULT on Sunday, March 28, 2010 9:40:48 AM
   Not sure what PETA is going to do now that meat eating isn't as bad as driving your car.
 
   On March 22, a scientist at the University of California at Davis pointed out a flaw in "Livestock's Long Shadow," a 2006 report by the United Nation Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) that attributes 18% of the world's carbon emissions to animal agriculture. It didn't take long for the bashing to begin again. "Eat Less Meat, Reduce Global Warming — or Not" ran a headline on the FoxNews website. "Meat Avoidance Cures Flat Feet and Other Lies," mocked another on a the Cattleman's Blog. London's Telegraph put it succinctly, "Now It's Cowgate."
   
   The good thing is they see the difference between car emissions and hunger.

Environmentalists and some climate scientists (to say nothing of vegetarians) have used the FAO's work to call for a reduction — or even eradication — of meat eating. That idea, Mitloehner said in the same talk, is misguided. "Smarter animal farming, not less farming, will equal less heat." He elaborated on the point in a separate interview. "Globally, producing less meat is only going to mean more hunger. Feedlots are very efficient at converting animals into food. That's something to keep in mind if our goal is to feed as many people as possible with as few resources as possible."

   You can always count on the scientists to disregard the IPCC errors as just that, errors. It doesn't change the fact that we are all going to die from global warming unless we do something right away.
 

 

   
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Is James Cameron Angry?

Posted by BLOGASSAULT on Saturday, March 27, 2010 12:11:28 PM
   According to this article, I am not sure angry is a strong enough word.
 
Cameron said at a news conference that he would like to shoot "those boneheads," referring to skeptics of anthropogenic global warming. "Anybody that is a global warming denier at this point in time has got their head so deeply up their a** I'm not sure they could hear me," Cameron added. As for Beck, "he's a f****** a**hole," the 2010 Oscar nominee so eloquently put it.

   He may need some therapy. But then again, when you have as much money as he's got, well, you can pretty much say what ever you want.

   



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California Is Out Of Control

Posted by BLOGASSAULT on Saturday, March 27, 2010 11:39:56 AM
   Just read this couple of paragraphs from the LA Times.
 
California officials Thursday abruptly halted a controversial effort to slash the carbon footprint of automobile air conditioning. “Cool car” rules would have required a clear reflective glaze on vehicle windows as a way to block excessive sunlight and heat. They were adopted in June by the state’s Air Resources Board and were in the process of being finalized.
Air conditioning lowers vehicle efficiency, increasing emissions from gasoline that contribute to global warming.  But law enforcement officials had expressed concerns that the coating, a spray of microscopic metal particles which block infrared rays, would interfere with the electronic monitoring of ankle bracelets on paroled felons. Wireless phone companies said the new standard could degrade cellphone signals including 911 calls. And toll road operators said the glaze could make it difficult to use the "EZ Pass" systems enabling traffic to move quickly through toll booths.
   
   A reflective spray that causes electronic ankle bracelts to go haywire? What is this stuff made of? And why are they regulating car a/c? Just how many government employees do they have working on this stuff? All questions that cannot be answered satisfactory by anyone who isn't part of the California governmental universe.
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Energy Star Program Failing?

Posted by BLOGASSAULT on Saturday, March 27, 2010 11:26:53 AM
   Well, it is run by the government is it not?
 
While much of the Energy Star program is sound, and has led to real quantifiable energy savings over time, over the last four years,  alarm bells have been sounding on the increasingly lax certification process. Just how lax?

A gasoline-powered alarm clock the size of a microwave was one of the more ridiculous items able to get an automated label in a year-long undercover sting operation by the General Accounting Office.

Alarms had been sounding for the last 4 years, leading up to a year long investigation that uncovered the flawed certification process.  So this month, the EPA and the DOE announced that it will begin a long overdue overhaul of certification processes to get the EnergyStar® program back on track.
 
   Now, why was that gas-powered alarm clock so bad? I might buy one had a known about it! Typed into the search engine and all i am getting is this story and others about the gas powered alarm clock. I can't seem to find the maker. Maybe they never put it into production? I will keep looking thought.
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Shame On Scientific American

Posted by BLOGASSAULT on Saturday, March 27, 2010 10:48:01 AM
   The once well respected Scientific American is getting a bad rap in this articles comment section. I agreed with most of them, and added my own comment, although I didn't lay all the blame on the magazine. Science has to be dumbed down because the average person these days is dumb about science. Most people who get there science from the Science Channel, have got a head full of alien space travel and global warming hype. It's no wonder, really. That is what sells...magazines as well.
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Lights Out In Orange County

Posted by BLOGASSAULT on Saturday, March 27, 2010 9:59:53 AM
   Maybe it's lights out for global warming. Tonight, in Orange County, California they are turning out the lights for Earth Hour.

It’s lights out across the planet Saturday night for “Earth Hour,” a symbolic call for action on global warming, and many Orange County businesses will flip the switch as well.

At least 12 appeared on a partial list compiled by World Wildlife Fund, the yearly event’s organizers, among them Ecotek in Huntington Beach and Westin South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa.

The idea is to switch lights off for one hour starting at 8:30 p.m. in each time zone on Saturday.
 
   The problem with this though is that farther down in the article the writer has a reader poll; and at the time of my vote (no, of course) the poll wasn't going their way.
 
Should Orange County residents and business owners switch off their lights Saturday to call attention to global warming?
Total Votes: 81 Started: March 26, 2010    Oops!
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Giving Up On The Goal

Posted by BLOGASSAULT on Saturday, March 27, 2010 9:50:17 AM
   Seems that the EU has lost its resolve when it comes to the climate.
 
The EU has already pledged to cut emissions to 20 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020, and to deepen the cut to 30 per cent if other rich nations make "comparable" efforts.

But a draft summit declaration on long-term economic planning seen by the German Press Agency dpa sets as the EU's goal for 2020 "reducing greenhouse-gas emissions by 20 per cent compared to 1990 levels," with no reference to the 30-per-cent goal.
   
   They should probably leave it in there; they may meet their goals simply because of the lack of any industrial production.
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Fixing The Environment Is Bad For The Environment

Posted by BLOGASSAULT on Sunday, March 21, 2010 10:16:47 AM

Sprinkling iron in the sea has long been touted as a fix for global warming, but researchers are now warning such geoengineering could feed the growth of toxic algae.

Tests conducted in the North Pacific by a Canadian-U.S. team show that enriching water with iron favours the growth of Pseudo-nitzschia, an algae that pumps out a potent neurotoxin. It can be lethal to seabirds and marine mammals, and is linked with amnesic shellfish poisoning in humans, which can be deadly
   These supposed scientists will end up causing real damage trying to fix something that may not even be a real problem..
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Hurry! Plant Some Milkweed!

Posted by BLOGASSAULT on Saturday, March 20, 2010 10:42:04 AM
   There was a time when people admired the butterfly. Now there are people who are trying to manage it.
 
Monarch butterflies, devastated by storms at their winter home in Mexico, have dwindled to their lowest population levels in decades as they begin to return to the United States and Canada.

The monarch loss is estimated at 50% to 60%, which means the breeding population is expected to be the smallest since the Mexican overwintering colonies were discovered in 1975, said Chip Taylor, a professor of entomology and director of Monarch Watch at the University of Kansas.

"I think it is very clear that the butterflies lost more than half of the population," Taylor said. "I'm hoping it wasn't as high as 70% or 80%. We've never seen it this bad before."

   As a result, Monarch Watch is starting a campaign to encourage gardeners, farmers and transportation officials to plant milkweed, a monarch favorite. The plant is a lifeline for the traveling butterflies.

"It's not just the backyard garden," Taylor said. "We're hoping to encourage changes in roadside management practices, how public lands are managed and how people are managing what they would call nonproductive land or marginal land that they might own."

   So...do they want to help the butterfly, or do they want to tell you how to manage public land? Either way, why so much concern for the butterfly? Monarch numbers have most likely been devastated in the past, long before we noticed their migratory patterns in 1975. Yet, humans feel the need to get involved when we see something bad happen to nature.As with the California delta smelt debate, the Colorado elk population, and other things around the country, once we start trying to control it, we create a bigger mess.
 
   It will go on regardless because that is what humans do.

 

 
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Climate Change Equals Temper Change

Posted by BLOGASSAULT on Saturday, March 20, 2010 9:49:04 AM
   A new study out has linked hotter temperatures due to global warming with rising tempures in humans.
 
Using US government data on average yearly temperatures and the number of violent crimes between 1950 and 2008, the researchers estimate that if the annual average temperature in the US increases by 4.4 degree Celsius, the yearly murder and assault rate will increase by 34 per 100,000 people - or 100,000 more per year in a population of 305 million.
 
   This is where your university dollars go for research. I shouldn't be surprised after all these years, but it would seem with so many important things that one could study we still find professors writing papers on these kind of things.
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Is They Brady Campaign Becoming Irrelevant?

Posted by BLOGASSAULT on Sunday, March 14, 2010 12:36:12 PM
   The explanation from Days of our trailers. The Brady Campaign won't stop with the bashing of Starbuck's, and he makes case for why.

That’s when the light bulb went off.
Love ‘em or hate ‘em, Starbucks is somewhat of an American icon. They are symbolic. Picking a fight with them guaranteed news coverage. Every major media outlet covered the story. There’s youtube videos in abundance.

Starbucks has already said REPEATEDLY that they will defer to local and state law concerning the lawful open carry of firearms yet the Brady Campaign still won’t let up.

I believe that this is a simple attempt to keep their name in the news when everyone and their dog is ignoring them.

The Brady Campaign doesn’t fear sounding silly, they’ve made a lifestyle out of that.

They fear becoming irrelevant.

Some fears are unjustified, this one is not.
 
I think he is right. The Heller verdict has put a serious road block in the way for anti-gunners; as it should be.
 
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Another Prius Throttle Story

Posted by BLOGASSAULT on Sunday, March 14, 2010 11:41:05 AM
   The amazing thing about this story is the fact that a Toyota Prius can actually do 109 MPH!
 
 
   There are a lot of questions though about whether or not theses problems are that serious. The run-away Prius driver in California may be a scam.
 
   Since reporting the questionable past of runaway Toyota Prius driver James Sikes there's been a deluge of tips coming in about his character, including the following from a former business partner who alleges Sikes stole from their company.
William Sweet says he went into business with Sikes, together opening up a paralegal services company called "AAA California Aid" in 1997. Sweet operated the main office and Sikes ran one in Los Banos, California. Sweet alleges numerous incidents of fraud and theft involving Sikes led him to dissolve their partnership, including an incident in which Sikes sent an employee to break into the main office to steal payment records.
 
   Is GM making it worse? Maybe. Toyota thinks that GM has a unfair advantage; which, of course, they do.
 
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Dump That Di Caprio Guy

Posted by BLOGASSAULT on Sunday, March 14, 2010 10:47:14 AM
   Not everyone is a fan of actor Leonardo Di Caprio, especially Israeli politicians. It seems that a good jewish girl has been dating
Di Caprio on and off for a few years now and one government official has had enough.

She told reporters the couple had no plans to marry - but her comments failed to stop an Israeli politician from warning her to stay away from the actor.

Baruch Marzel's letter, sent on behalf of the Lehava organization, read: "It is not by chance that you were born Jewish. Your grandmother and her grandmother did not dream that one of their descendants would one day remove the family's future generations from the Jewish people. Assimilation has forever been one of the enemies of the Jewish people.
 
 
   Being a green nutter and all, I would have assumed Di Caprio might have found himself a nice environmentalist girlfriend. Of course, most of those girls legs have never seen the sharp side of a razor.
 
   
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Tom Brady's WWF Commericial

Posted by BLOGASSAULT on Sunday, March 14, 2010 10:02:09 AM
      Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has decided to turn his lights off for an hour on Earth Day.
 
 
   Is that meat on his counter? Doesn't he know that the only proper way to support our planet is to become vegen? Geez...
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