Thursday, May 25, 2006
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
"Bush must screw the Left every chance he gets."
What more is there to say? (except maybe "face down, squealing like a pig", but neither Bill nor I are classless enough to say that).
Well, I'd make damned sure to clean up the voter rolls too. Bill Clinton gave the game away back when he pushed for "motor voter" in the early days of his first term - he and his ilk want lots of potential illegal voters, to be bought off with your and my tax dollars.
Well, I'd make damned sure to clean up the voter rolls too. Bill Clinton gave the game away back when he pushed for "motor voter" in the early days of his first term - he and his ilk want lots of potential illegal voters, to be bought off with your and my tax dollars.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
"We share the same biology..."
Medpundit wonders, as I do, just what the Iranians would do with nuclear weapons.
On such occasions I might sometimes consult people with political outlooks different from my own. One such person is Gordon Sumner, aka Sting. He has been quiet lately, but I have an idea of what he might say - re the Cold War he hoped the Russians love their children too.
Well, never let it be said that the Iranians don't love their children. For instance, some Iranians were appalled that when their kids were sent into minefields to clear them, they were blowing up into scattered unidentifiable pieces.
So they changed the policy to wrap the kids up in blankets first, and then they roll across the minefields. They still go boom, but now the body parts stay together for an easier burial.
On such occasions I might sometimes consult people with political outlooks different from my own. One such person is Gordon Sumner, aka Sting. He has been quiet lately, but I have an idea of what he might say - re the Cold War he hoped the Russians love their children too.
Well, never let it be said that the Iranians don't love their children. For instance, some Iranians were appalled that when their kids were sent into minefields to clear them, they were blowing up into scattered unidentifiable pieces.
So they changed the policy to wrap the kids up in blankets first, and then they roll across the minefields. They still go boom, but now the body parts stay together for an easier burial.
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Are gas prices driving you to drink?
I guess that's ok as long as you're not driving, right? But maybe, like me, you like to keep your options open. Then this is for you. Make your own ethanol with a still, or stay at home and use it for, um, other purposes.
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Green houses
In some of the north side burbs of Chicago I saw some modest homes with some immodest prices. I was told that they were "teardowns", and the price was actually lower because of the presence of the modest house. And in the less-than-year's time I've been near the area, I've seen existing homes razed and new, huge homes erected on the spots. I guess that means that people really like living there.
I won't be doing anything like that soon, but if I did, I'd take a close look at this. Check it out and follow links from there.
Certainly some will argue that the resulting house isn't "green" enough. No doubt there is more room for improvement yet. But these improvements usually face stiff appearance, cost and convenience barriers, and we shouldn't let the best be the enemy of the good.
Most of us will probably be backfitting older homes, where there's much less flexibility in the design. But you can always put in more insulation, tighter windows, better hot water heaters or even tankless varieties, attic fans, better weatherstripping, awnings, better drapes, etc.
I won't be doing anything like that soon, but if I did, I'd take a close look at this. Check it out and follow links from there.
Certainly some will argue that the resulting house isn't "green" enough. No doubt there is more room for improvement yet. But these improvements usually face stiff appearance, cost and convenience barriers, and we shouldn't let the best be the enemy of the good.
Most of us will probably be backfitting older homes, where there's much less flexibility in the design. But you can always put in more insulation, tighter windows, better hot water heaters or even tankless varieties, attic fans, better weatherstripping, awnings, better drapes, etc.
Check out Hot Air
That's right - hotair.com. Even *I* can remember that one. Anyway, with Michelle Malkin and Bryan Preston involved, it's already terrific and they're just getting started.
If nothing else, take a look at this post. You could be podcasting interviews with people around the world rapidly and cheaply. Sheesh, I may even try it myself. (Don't expect any video of me though - I won't be responsible for any subsequent monitor damage.)
If nothing else, take a look at this post. You could be podcasting interviews with people around the world rapidly and cheaply. Sheesh, I may even try it myself. (Don't expect any video of me though - I won't be responsible for any subsequent monitor damage.)
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Watt todo
There are spectacular ways to get fat or go broke, but most of us do it slowly. Imperceptibly almost - a gizmo here, a candy bar there, an upgrade here, a sliver of that there... Keep at it and you can become poor. Next thing you know you have a country with the world's fattest poor people.
The same thing is happening with energy. We didn't achieve this energy obesity overnight, and we won't get rid of it that way either.
Yet here we go swinging for the fences. Yeah, let's call Congress!
Alright, we have a problem - let's fix it *Right Now!*.
Fat chance. Some things just take so much time and that's it. (That's less true of your finances, but I wouldn't plan on, say, striking oil anytime soon.) If you want to score against energy consumption or obesity, you'd don't swing for the fences - you have to hit for average.
Fine - so how do we reduce our fat electric bills? The leftist way of course is to moan about how someone, somewhere might be making an extra dime and propose that the govt take that dime. Millions for protest, but not one cent for technology! And they're persistent - they'll drive their SUVs to Washington as often as it takes to force the rest of us to conserve energy.
But for the saner part of the population - those of us who *do* things rather than expecting someone else to do it for them - we can resort to both technology and conservation.
Technology? Sure. It's getting to be summertime (I'm in Chicago), and you probably have a houseful of old incandescent light bulbs. These heat the air, which you will then cool again with your air conditioner. Double your money - replace those incandescents with compact flourescents. They look funny, they're expensive, and they get much dimmer if you use them outside in the cold. But they last much longer, they give you more light per unit of electricity, and produce less heat in doing so. And some offer light that is qualitatively different - it's more like sunlight than ordinary incandescent lights. So get to work! 50 watts here, 100 watts there - it adds up.
Of course a gas or charcoal grill isn't the only thing you can cook outside with. For instance if you must eat something steamy like pasta in the summertime, cook it outdoors. With a heavy gauge extension cord and a cheapo hotplate you can avoid heating and humidifying your house at the peak of cooling season.
I won't recommend that you cut back on showers or other hygiene, but you can turn on the bathroom fan while you're showering to blow the steam out of the house/apartment/motel room/whatever. Then shut it back off so you don't blow your cool air back outside.
Your doctor may already be fussing at you to drink more water, especially if you're older. Do it - it'll keep you cooler and make sure you have something to sweat if necessary (and you're always losing some moisture, even in the summer).
I'm willing to bet that we have a lot of kids nowadays who don't know what a clothesline is. You might well be somewhere where they are verboten or impractical, but if not, how about using some free solar and wind power instead of that noisy, hot dryer?
And how about wearing lighter and/or fewer clothes? Or maybe shutting off the TV when you're not around (it uses more power than you think - if you need a companion, the radio is cheaper and cooler). Or if you *must* have a heater in the bathroom, put it on a timer with a manual override (<$10 at Walmart) so it can be toasty warm when you get up without wasting power.
Or how about getting up earlier to use more of that free sunlight? Put shades in your car windows so it doesn't get so hot. Eat more cool stuff like salads and sandwiches....
The list goes on. Any given one might be trivial, but then multiply it by a few million other Americans and we'll have something.
For instance, do you think that we can all reduce our consumption by, say, 300 watt hours per day? You'd get that by switching one 100 watt incandescent bulb that you run for 4 hours per day to its illumination-equivalent 25 watt compact fluorescent. 300M Americans later and you have 90 GWh, which is on the order of 30 nuclear power units' production. Hmm - I wonder if the last batch of antinuke protesters shut off all the lights at home before having their little exhibitions?
Really now, take a look at compact fluorescents. They're getting cheaper, and few things ever saved so much power for so little effort.
The same thing is happening with energy. We didn't achieve this energy obesity overnight, and we won't get rid of it that way either.
Yet here we go swinging for the fences. Yeah, let's call Congress!
Alright, we have a problem - let's fix it *Right Now!*.
Fat chance. Some things just take so much time and that's it. (That's less true of your finances, but I wouldn't plan on, say, striking oil anytime soon.) If you want to score against energy consumption or obesity, you'd don't swing for the fences - you have to hit for average.
Fine - so how do we reduce our fat electric bills? The leftist way of course is to moan about how someone, somewhere might be making an extra dime and propose that the govt take that dime. Millions for protest, but not one cent for technology! And they're persistent - they'll drive their SUVs to Washington as often as it takes to force the rest of us to conserve energy.
But for the saner part of the population - those of us who *do* things rather than expecting someone else to do it for them - we can resort to both technology and conservation.
Technology? Sure. It's getting to be summertime (I'm in Chicago), and you probably have a houseful of old incandescent light bulbs. These heat the air, which you will then cool again with your air conditioner. Double your money - replace those incandescents with compact flourescents. They look funny, they're expensive, and they get much dimmer if you use them outside in the cold. But they last much longer, they give you more light per unit of electricity, and produce less heat in doing so. And some offer light that is qualitatively different - it's more like sunlight than ordinary incandescent lights. So get to work! 50 watts here, 100 watts there - it adds up.
Of course a gas or charcoal grill isn't the only thing you can cook outside with. For instance if you must eat something steamy like pasta in the summertime, cook it outdoors. With a heavy gauge extension cord and a cheapo hotplate you can avoid heating and humidifying your house at the peak of cooling season.
I won't recommend that you cut back on showers or other hygiene, but you can turn on the bathroom fan while you're showering to blow the steam out of the house/apartment/motel room/whatever. Then shut it back off so you don't blow your cool air back outside.
Your doctor may already be fussing at you to drink more water, especially if you're older. Do it - it'll keep you cooler and make sure you have something to sweat if necessary (and you're always losing some moisture, even in the summer).
I'm willing to bet that we have a lot of kids nowadays who don't know what a clothesline is. You might well be somewhere where they are verboten or impractical, but if not, how about using some free solar and wind power instead of that noisy, hot dryer?
And how about wearing lighter and/or fewer clothes? Or maybe shutting off the TV when you're not around (it uses more power than you think - if you need a companion, the radio is cheaper and cooler). Or if you *must* have a heater in the bathroom, put it on a timer with a manual override (<$10 at Walmart) so it can be toasty warm when you get up without wasting power.
Or how about getting up earlier to use more of that free sunlight? Put shades in your car windows so it doesn't get so hot. Eat more cool stuff like salads and sandwiches....
The list goes on. Any given one might be trivial, but then multiply it by a few million other Americans and we'll have something.
For instance, do you think that we can all reduce our consumption by, say, 300 watt hours per day? You'd get that by switching one 100 watt incandescent bulb that you run for 4 hours per day to its illumination-equivalent 25 watt compact fluorescent. 300M Americans later and you have 90 GWh, which is on the order of 30 nuclear power units' production. Hmm - I wonder if the last batch of antinuke protesters shut off all the lights at home before having their little exhibitions?
Really now, take a look at compact fluorescents. They're getting cheaper, and few things ever saved so much power for so little effort.
Fuelish behavior
No, this blog isn't really "Instapundit Digest". I'm just grabbing something he pointed to for the gazillionth time, that's all. This time it's Lynne Kiesling's post on last year's energy bill and how it's biting us today with higher gas prices.
I'm sure my buddies downstate who grow corn or work for ADM or Staley love the extra, otherwise artificial demand for ethanol, just like they love the sugar price supports that drive so much demand for corn sweetener. I suppose that next year's project is to force everyone to eat some sweet corn with every meal.
Yes, it's really happening - I'm blaming the Republicans! But then I can't be sure that the Dems wouldn't have done something even worse. Intelligence and responsibility are a lot to ask of a party that has nominated Al Gore? and John F. Kerry? for President.
I'm sure my buddies downstate who grow corn or work for ADM or Staley love the extra, otherwise artificial demand for ethanol, just like they love the sugar price supports that drive so much demand for corn sweetener. I suppose that next year's project is to force everyone to eat some sweet corn with every meal.
Yes, it's really happening - I'm blaming the Republicans! But then I can't be sure that the Dems wouldn't have done something even worse. Intelligence and responsibility are a lot to ask of a party that has nominated Al Gore? and John F. Kerry? for President.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Sucker!
Once I heard a story that went something like this. People would receive notices that they had won free tickets to a professional football game. When they went to pick them up they were arrested. Why?
Because the cops had picked the recipients, who were all wanted by the law for one thing or another. The notices were sent to their last known addresses, or those of relatives. Ha!
And now on May 1 we're gonna have a whole bunch of illegal aliens self-identify. Imagine the next day. "Good morning everyone. All of you who were absent yesterday, please get on this bus..."
But I'll settle for broadcasting a message like the following - if you fools would put the same amount of effort into replacing that mafia you call a govt in Mexico, maybe you wouldn't have to come up here.
Yeah, yeah, not all illegals are Mexicans, but similar logic applies to the rest.
Question - how much would the price of lettuce increase without illegals to pick it?
Because the cops had picked the recipients, who were all wanted by the law for one thing or another. The notices were sent to their last known addresses, or those of relatives. Ha!
And now on May 1 we're gonna have a whole bunch of illegal aliens self-identify. Imagine the next day. "Good morning everyone. All of you who were absent yesterday, please get on this bus..."
But I'll settle for broadcasting a message like the following - if you fools would put the same amount of effort into replacing that mafia you call a govt in Mexico, maybe you wouldn't have to come up here.
Yeah, yeah, not all illegals are Mexicans, but similar logic applies to the rest.
Question - how much would the price of lettuce increase without illegals to pick it?
Monday, April 24, 2006
You might be a lefty...
...if you think that it's OK for CIA employees to declassify information at will, but it's not OK if the President does it.
Extra points if you say that it's partisan if the President does it, but not if it's done by someone who has donated thousands to the opposition party on a bureaucrat's salary.
Let's see Mary McCarthy on TV. Do you suppose she'll get the same fashion "critique" that Linda Tripp did?
Extra points if you say that it's partisan if the President does it, but not if it's done by someone who has donated thousands to the opposition party on a bureaucrat's salary.
Let's see Mary McCarthy on TV. Do you suppose she'll get the same fashion "critique" that Linda Tripp did?
Monday, March 27, 2006
This is why I read blogs
Pointing out a post after Glenn Reynolds has isn't likely to add much buzz. But I second this link to Dean Esmay's post about the Abdul Rahman situation in Afghanistan.
For better or worse, it must be irritating for Muslims to hear a bunch of infidels read their books back to them, as if they had no history of their own scholarship. There's no hope of reaching the people they need to reach with anything but a bullet, and the rest can be spared the lectures.
For better or worse, it must be irritating for Muslims to hear a bunch of infidels read their books back to them, as if they had no history of their own scholarship. There's no hope of reaching the people they need to reach with anything but a bullet, and the rest can be spared the lectures.
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
The envy of the world...
Wanna see it? This link describes conditions at the UK's National Health Service. If you're starting a diet today, take a good look at the picture that accompanies it a few scrolls down.
I can imagine what's we'd be hearing if another British govt institution had left suspected al-Qaeda members in such a state.
I can imagine what's we'd be hearing if another British govt institution had left suspected al-Qaeda members in such a state.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Pop quiz
Has anyone ever attempted to perform psychological evaluations by having subjects select their favorite songs? (And what would this tell us about the investigator?)
Thursday, March 02, 2006
See you there
There are things I just can't help, including being an engineer. That means things like riding something at Disney World and looking around for the fire protection sprinkler heads to see how they managed to meet codes without ruining the effect.
Or on a cruise, I'd be the guy who'd want to look around in the engine room and other auxiliaries.
So I guess that means that if I make it to Paris, I'll probably have to take the tour of the sewers.
Or on a cruise, I'd be the guy who'd want to look around in the engine room and other auxiliaries.
So I guess that means that if I make it to Paris, I'll probably have to take the tour of the sewers.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
The ultimate cellphone add-on
The Gun Phone.
Yes, our intrepid guardians at Homeland Security are aware. Cell phone mods are nothing new.
Actually, this device doesn't really function as a cellphone.
Yes, our intrepid guardians at Homeland Security are aware. Cell phone mods are nothing new.
Actually, this device doesn't really function as a cellphone.
Monday, February 27, 2006
Hot stuff
The Midwest is not known for spicy food. I seek it out to an extent, but I found out years ago that there's hot and there's HOT.
And then there's this. Someone has isolated and packaged pure capsaicin, the active ingredient in peppers. The result is *8000* times hotter than Tabasco sauce.
(Yes, they measure this, originally in Scoville units. It's based on how many units of sugar water it took to dilute away the "hotness". It turns out that 1 part per million of capsaicin is about 15 Scoville units)
Why develop this? Well, he has sold the stuff, but only to people who have signed disclaimers. Manufacturing it must be right up there with nerve gas in terms of personnel protection.
My favorite part of the story was why the developer started fooling with hot stuff in the first place. He discovered that the easiest way to get drunks out of his bar at closing time was to give them free chicken wings dipped in a very hot sauce. (Could it be that Buffalo wings were actually invented in NJ?)
And then there's this. Someone has isolated and packaged pure capsaicin, the active ingredient in peppers. The result is *8000* times hotter than Tabasco sauce.
(Yes, they measure this, originally in Scoville units. It's based on how many units of sugar water it took to dilute away the "hotness". It turns out that 1 part per million of capsaicin is about 15 Scoville units)
Why develop this? Well, he has sold the stuff, but only to people who have signed disclaimers. Manufacturing it must be right up there with nerve gas in terms of personnel protection.
My favorite part of the story was why the developer started fooling with hot stuff in the first place. He discovered that the easiest way to get drunks out of his bar at closing time was to give them free chicken wings dipped in a very hot sauce. (Could it be that Buffalo wings were actually invented in NJ?)
Sunday, February 26, 2006
It's settled
If we proved anything with this edition of "Dancing with the Stars", it shows that the show's public voters aren't particularly worried about good ballroom dancing when they vote for winners.
And IMO it shows why in most pro-am competition, male amateurs compete with male amateurs only and likewise for the women. Since the roles are different, the two groups are to some extent incommensurable.
I haven't seen any reports on the show's demographics, but they must not be particularly woman-friendly. Even when the first comp went to Kelly Monaco, they decided to run a rematch which John O'Hurley won. And O'Hurley was just George Hamilton less a few years - about 90% presence and 10% dance.
So now we've seen Stacy Keibler tossed from the show, leaving only two men (Drew Lachey and Jerry Rice. Yes, *that* Jerry Rice). Which must be perversely comforting to some who were tossed earlier, because this is the nastiest screwing of the whole exhibition - this makes it clear that the contest was not about skill.
The fact is that JR doesn't belong in the same room with Drew (or Stacy, or Lisa Rinna) when the dancing starts. Hell, *I'm* better than Jerry is (and given that I've probably spent a lot more time working on it, I should be).
Well, they're about to open the envelopes...
What do you know? - Drew won. Maybe there is some justice.
And IMO it shows why in most pro-am competition, male amateurs compete with male amateurs only and likewise for the women. Since the roles are different, the two groups are to some extent incommensurable.
I haven't seen any reports on the show's demographics, but they must not be particularly woman-friendly. Even when the first comp went to Kelly Monaco, they decided to run a rematch which John O'Hurley won. And O'Hurley was just George Hamilton less a few years - about 90% presence and 10% dance.
So now we've seen Stacy Keibler tossed from the show, leaving only two men (Drew Lachey and Jerry Rice. Yes, *that* Jerry Rice). Which must be perversely comforting to some who were tossed earlier, because this is the nastiest screwing of the whole exhibition - this makes it clear that the contest was not about skill.
The fact is that JR doesn't belong in the same room with Drew (or Stacy, or Lisa Rinna) when the dancing starts. Hell, *I'm* better than Jerry is (and given that I've probably spent a lot more time working on it, I should be).
Well, they're about to open the envelopes...
What do you know? - Drew won. Maybe there is some justice.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)