A Little Out of Practice...Thoughts On Energy

Hello blog fans. It has been a while. Some of you might be confused because my last post I put my heart and soul behind Hillary Clinton, or was it Elizabeth Warren. Either or, it don't matter, it was just an April Fools Joke. I think, I hope, most of you knew that. So, if you were scared I lost my mind, I didn't. And if you were excited I joined their struggle, I didn't.

Moving on. I am going to post this article (way at the bottom) kind of as a warm up. I can't go right into hard core posting or I might pull something. So, this is a nice easy jog around the track.

This subject, energy, is a tricky one with me. On one side, I tend to be with the use what we have, and lets not price or clean energy regulate ourselves into high cost fuel. I say that because our main competitors and threats in this world, China and Russia are not and will not. And PS, the middle east hates us. And others who are not necessary threats, like India and others, also are not and will not. So, if we ban coal, or make it almost impossible to use coal, we hurt ourselves. If we make energy so expensive, we hurt the poor and ourselves.

Now pollution is another story. One I don't want to dive into in this post, but maybe another time.

Then there is this other side of me, one who personally is a hyper conserver. I drive a one cylinder 400cc scooter that gets over 55 miles per gallon. My other vehicle is a Honda Fit that averages over 30 miles to the gallon. We are at the bottom 10% of energy users in our neighborhood. We cook in our toaster oven often. I even have flash light night with my daughter where we don't turn on the lights after the sun goes down. I also have designed a very energy efficient/independent home. My carbon foot print is for sure smaller than the average Americans.

So, it seems my actions do not match my thinking. Maybe I am a closet tree hugger, but more likely I am just an out of the closet cheapskate. Those of you who know me, know I do not share the optimism of the future. At least not an optimism pertaining to the energy future for America or the world. One where gas is cheap and abundant. It will not be. Other countries are hungry for it. Between oil and water, there will be grotesque amounts of blood shed and money spent to control both of those in the future. The less we need, the better we will live. Or maybe we will just live. Those are my thoughts, if you don't share them fine. I am fine with that. I am fine with people driving trucks and cars that get shitty gas mileage. I am fine with people keeping their AC cold as hell and having dozens of electronics on in their house. That is a choice, and those who want that can pay for that. Same goes with electricity and heat.

It's when you make energy more expensive than it needs to be you really hurt the poor and you really hurt industry. So what is the solution, what is the right answer? I don't know. I only know what I do, and I am not qualified or interested in making that decisions for others. As I am on most subjects. Now, if you want my money (taxes) to pay for other peoples choices, then yeah, you should listen to me. You should conserve. You should retrofit your house with a wood cook stove, and turn off the TV. But otherwise, I really don't care. But if all your eggs are in one basket, and that basket gets real expensive to fill, that is your problem.

So, here is something to read on the topic. I could find dozens of links, but I will only post a few.

As always, enjoy or don't.

And try flash light night.

And I did go a little longer than I wanted to, but I'm ok.

Here is a lefty type environmental site I frequent. It occasionally has good stuff. Grist

Here is a article on a paper. Morality-Cheap-Energy

Here is the paper. The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels

Oh, and I just read these. The Long Emergency (Amazon) (wiki) and Too Much Magic (Amazon)

The Evolution of Me

I have not been talking about this publicly, but I have been doing a lot of reading lately. This is part of the reason why my posts here have been so infrequent. Besides spending more of my time at dailykos.com and moveon.org, I have been drawn in by these four books: Dreams from My Father, The Audacity of Hope, It Takes a Village and Living History, which I just finished and it only took me two boxes of tissues. Wow, what a story (of an amazing, accomplished, smart woman)! Anyway.

When I woke up this morning something was different. I didn’t just see things in a new light, I felt things in a new light. Things are good. They really are. I mean, Obama is in his second term. Democrats control the Senate. You're in your Prius, driving to your job at a non-profit, drinking your fair trade latte from Starbucks, listening to NPR talk about last nights Daily Show. And how John Stewart totally OWNED FAUX NEWS!!! Awesome. The new iPhone will be coming out soon. Fingers crossed. Things are freaking awesome. But even though most things are awesome, we can find things that need some work. Things were pretty messed up when President Obama took His oath of office on that historic day in January of 2009. And we all know why. If and when, you, we, step back and take it all in, it really becomes clear that the things in our country that need work and attention (and there are only a few because things are pretty awesome) do so because of the actions or in-actions of a small group of selfish and ignorant and mean people who happen to have a majority in the House of Representatives at this time and quite a few of the Governorships. Well let me tell you something. That can change. That needs to change. Whatever may come in the elections of 2014 does not matter. What matters is the sweeping and historic change I will be a part of in 2016. It's Her turn. Today, I am putting all of my human efforts behind making Hillary Rodham Clinton the next President of the United States, but more importantly the first woman President of the United States.

If there is anyone alive, today, on earth, that can follow Hope and Change and take it to the next level, it is Her. It's Her turn. Now I know what some of you are saying, “she’s not black.” Yeah, but Obama was not a woman, and we didn’t hold that against him! Come on now, you, we, need to open our eyes, and change the filter through which we see the world. Don’t just look at people as Kenyan or American or see them as having a penis or a vagina or both, or neither, or even classifying them as any sex. That’s not only wrong, but it’s mean. I mean do scientists put themselves in that kind of box when they're researching? No. No they don’t. So, let’s look at people as what they really are, humans. He is human and She is human. We need a female human in the Whitehouse. That’s all you need to know. Republicans, Conservatives, Tea Party types and most Christians, NOT HUMAN. Hello? Wake up.

So, yeah, I’m on board, I’m in Her camp, and I’m not afraid to say it out loud, and I expect if you’re not now, you will be soon. Because if it didn’t hurt enough to be called a racist when you were wrongly against Obama, it will sure as hell sting real real bad when you’re called a sexist if you dare be against Hillary. I mean do you remember when you were a kid and how bad it hurt to be called smart when you answered the teachers question correctly in front of the class. Remember that pain. All your classmates looking at you, in disgust. Just because when you were asked, you answered correctly. Don’t make that mistake, again. Breath, breath. Keep it positive, keep it positive, keep it pos-o-tive. Ok. Back to positive.

I feel like such a weight of pessimism has been lifted off of my soul and a new lightness of optimism now runs through my veins. I look forward to all of you joining me, side by side, hand in hand, at the rally and at the phone bank, making sure this country remains headed in the Right, I mean correct direction. For Americas sake, it’s Her turn. Thanks for listening. And may your creator, if you have one, bless you and these United States.

P.S. Oh, and I just read some stuff from this guy named Neil deGrasse Tyson, any of you heard of him? I had not, but WOW. Wow, wow, wow, wow and wow! I mean, I have not paid too much attention to what former Vice President Al Gore has had to say since he has been out of office, but this Global Warming Climate Change IS A BIG FREAKING DEAL! Hello! WTF is up with all “these people” all of a sudden having such a problem with settled science? Didn’t any of them watch Bill Nye the Science Guy when they were kids? If a Bill Nye says it, it’s truth. It’s science. If another scientist says something different, it’s not science or “skepticism,” its denial. They’re not Bill Nye. They’re not “The Science Guy.” Where would we be today if Copernicus would have been a skeptic? We’d be screwed, that’s where we’d be. Ahhhh, it just gets me so mad, I just want to teabag some of these people. Sorry, that was out of line. What’s next with these people, they’re going to be all running around saying that our whole monetary system is a fraud based on perpetual debt and is ultimately unsustainable? Please people, grow up!

Hillary Clinton 2016-2020-2024

Bill of Rights (Specifically Amendment Two)

I am going to keep this one short. Below is a great read from Reason. They really rarely disappoint. It is about a few cases that are upcoming specifically about our Second Amendment. If you care about the Bill of Rights, which should be everyone reading this, you should care about these cases.

If we don't protect our rights, they will go away, and they have. If we don't exercise our rights, they will go away, and they have. Citizens with out guns are not citizens, they are servants, and in many millions of cases, end up dead. Killed, not by NRA members or rednecks and not even by gangs or criminals, but their own governments. The Second Amendment is a check against that power. That is all.

http://reason.com/archives/2014/03/18/five-gun-rights-cases-to-watch

Fat Cat Bankers Stealing Your Retirement Money

I have not been blogging for a while. Sorry. I have like 5 saved drafts. Most of the time I see a cool article I want to talk or rant about. Make a draft with a note or two and then never get back to it. This one caught my eye, and I am actually going to follow through.

7 Numbers that Show How Most Americans Were Robbed of a Comfortable Retirement: Millions of baby boomers are the victims of 35 years of deregulated greed

First off, deregulated? Noting in America has or is deregulated. Nothing. Everything, and I mean everything is regulated in America. Everything. But lets move on.

I am not saying any of this is false or a lie or not true or fictional or made up. It might be, I just don't know enough to know it's percentage of accuracy or inaccuracy. I suspect each of these "7" things has some bit of truth to them. I just think that the situation as it is, is not just the fault of the fat cat evil banker slash rich person. Bankers are one of the party's we need to blame, but not the sole bad guy in this.

So who is to blame?

I think the actions and in-actions of Congress and the Executive and the Fed Res (over the last few decades and last few years) have all had a hand in the dwindling of the vast majorities of America's savings and retirements.What to see where your money went? Take a look at where your purchasing power went (here). Back to Fed Gov blame. Dodd-Frank? Come on. For those of us in aviation that bill or regulation (or what AlterNet calls deregulation) is what is known as FOD (Foreign Object Debris, or the shit that makes airplanes fall out of the sky for you civvie types). That bill was written by Wall Street for Wall Street and the more you learn about it the more you learn it's sole purpose in life is to protect Wall Street and throw a little tiny scrap bone to the common man. It doesn't regulate Wall Street it regulates Main Street.

So who else is to blame? I think that each person has to take some of the blame. You know, personal responsibility. Now that is something that has been regulated almost out of existence by state and federal governments. Spending habits, consumerism, saving habits or lack there of. Too many people put so many of how ever many or few eggs they have in one basket. They are all in the stock market. That is a recipe for disaster. Not only that, but they are so ignorant of how things work. I am not saying I am an expert, but I know enough to know I don't know much and I know more than the average dude or dudet. They are in to pension funds, and have no idea where or who manages those funds. 401K, what's that? Roth IRA, what's that? They could be driving their Prius to a weekend protest against the XL pipeline, and 30% of their retirement fund could be in big oil. At least buy an Apple product, many large funds and pension programs hold AAPL. But then you're back to eggs and baskets.

Anyway, this article had some good points. And obviously it is one very left-progressive point of view. Hmmm. Why doesn't the federal government get into the retirement business? Oh wait, they are, its called social security, it's sad, outdated, unsustainable and they are still looking for where Al Gore buried that "lock box." He put all his eggs in APPL and made out like a bandit. (this author is jealous) Then bought a shitty left wing media company, pretty much idled it for a few years and sold it to the terrorists for a fat, fat, FAT profit. THOSE DAMN 1%ERS!!! Back to Al Jazera, at least they like to tell the truth occasionally, mixed in with their agenda, unlike our state sponsored media. I digress. As I sometimes do. Well, maybe they, the Fed Gov, should double down on a retirement program for the people. Isn't that always the left-liberal-progressive solution? If something is failing and on a big ass scale, pour more money into it, on a big ass scale. (healthcare) But this time, they can use "the peoples" money. (healthcare) Wait, what? They have that? Oh yeah, it's that silly MyRA* (another fact sheet here) thing Obama pitched the other day. How about this "crazy" idea, you might need a tin foil hat to understand this. It's just a slick scheme to get the"working class American people" to buy more of Americas debt. By the time they get any money back with interest, the other type of interest will have made the principle plus interest worth less then the principle they started with. Oh, and the main stream money people love the idea. It keeps their scheme going as well. I hate it when our projected reality makes the Matrix look like a good deal.

 * I am semi in favor of this idea I just think it is a Dollar Spot quality band aid for a compound fracture and it's a distraction from other real and big and real big problems.


Anyway, this has been a semi-quasi-unintellectual rant, but I am sure some of you started this article with that preconception. I hope some of you, or even one of you, got something out of it. At least it didn't cost you anything, except time.

Peace.

























Oh, you scrolled down this far? Observant. Or lucky.

Here is some last minute (unsolicited) advice: Land, food production and preservation, personal protection, lessen your reliance on the grid and fossil fuels, a modest and efficient house, little to no debt, live with in your means, silver, maybe some gold, cash, savings and some, and I mean some, money in the market. It's all a balancing act of eggs and baskets. But what do I know? Or what don't you know?

http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/

I totally agree with Elizabeth Warren

No, you did not read the title of this post incorrectly, I totally agree with Elizabeth Warren. Not on everything. I don't even agree with myself on everything, from day to day. I still don't like her much, don't agree with her on most things, and think she is an over all danger to the future of our country, but on this one thing, at this time, I agree with her.

So, what is this magical thing she said or did that I agree with? Allowing the United States Postal Serivice to be a bank/credit union.

Exhibit One
Exhibit Two
Exhibit Three

Yep. That's it. Here's why. She, they, make a good point that the poorest of us, what ever number of income you wnat to go with, I don't care. They, spend a good amount of their money, getting their money. They, use check cashing services and pay day loans just to operate in life. I don't know if they actually have other options, but lets just say they don't. They, spend like 10% of a paycheck just to cash a paycheck. That is a little high. They, spend double and some times triple digits on interest for a few hundred dollar loan, due in a few weeks. That, is semi criminal high. Now, imagine if they, could go to the post office and chash their checks. Maybe for free, maybe for 1%. Now imagine if they, could get that $250 loan for 5% or 10%. They, have a fairly good rate of paying back the pay day loan people. You can only burn the bridge once, why not. If you don't pay, then the next time you want your check cashed, you would, and the next time you wanted a loan at a reasonable rate, you would. Why no let the USPS get that 1% fee and that 5% interest. Why not let the USPS shine a little by helping out those in our nation that could use some help to conduct business of life? I see no down side to this, but I am sure there are some.

Now, for all you who are like the USPS is going broke, loosing money all that. I agree. I agree 110%. But, the idots we contiue to elect over and over are going to keep the USPS alive. They will pour, dump, trickle, shovel money to keep it alive. They will not let it die. It is going to stay around. So, while it is here, why not let it try to make some money some other proven ways? Then instead of trying to regulate the check cashing and pay day loan people out of bussines, give the people a viable alternative. Then the shady guys might have to change their rates and or bussiness practices. Could happen.

Again, the USPS is going to be around, regardless if they are raking in the profits or bleeding our tax dollars. They missed the boat on email. A your.name@usps.com could have been on par with yahoo.com and gmail.com, but they missed that boat. This is something that could turn the Titanic that is the USPS around. I might just be heading toward another iceberg, but at least we could get a few more people off before then.

Peace, and buy forever stamps, because regardless, the price of a stamp is only ever going to go up.

Lazy Link Post

I am being lazy. There is much to talk/rant about, but I don't feel it is worth the effort today.

This whole Cristy thing is an MSM frenzy about nothing. It's a opportunity for Hilary's numbers to raise and the MSM is all over that. I mean the chance to back back to back "historic" Democratic Presidents. First the first black, now maybe the first woman. They got to help her no matter the cost. Ignore Benghazi, but this bridge closer thing, yeah it's pretty much disqualifies Cristy for 2016. Who ever the R horse is in the race, I will mildly support them only because they are the lesser of two evils. But make no mistake, both choices will be evil. I will vote Libertairan or not vote. I allready know the D does not, can not and will not represent me or my beliefs or my interests, never mind the what is best for the country or the constitution, and for an R to get my vote, I don't even know what they would have to say or do for me to believe them never mind vote for them. In a rigged system, the only solution is to opt out.

Wow that little paragraph turned into an apathetic voting rant. Interesting.

Continuing on the Liberal criticism, simply they are currently in charge and effing things up, never mind the sheer amount of material to work with is endless, this was a good read.

The era of Gesture Liberalism is at hand.

As always, enjoy, or don't.

New Years Potpourri Post

This was going to be a short post. Like most of my posts, it started out with a quick little idea. This one started off while I was listening to the morning “news” on the “radio.” They were saying how the new Fed chick (her name is Janet L. Yellen), the first woman to hold the position, historic hype, is going to be a breath of fresh air at the Fed. That alone was enough to discredit those who deserve no credit to begin with. I mean come one, the most reported trait she has is how much she is going to be like the Ben Bernanke. That's what inspired my joke. Here it is. She is so much like the former Fed Chairman she will most likely grow a very groomed very grey beard by the end of her first year. One that would be worthy of accompanying that lovely gray mane of hers. That was it, that was my joke. It was way more funny in my head. Kind of like the Federal Reserve, it is one giant bad joke. The other point that has been brought up over and over and it will be touched on at the end of this blog, is the historic-ness of the first time any person on thing happens. All I can think of now when I hear that said is the line from the fine animated feature length move “The Incredibles.” “When everyone's super, no one will be.” We are to that point. If we try to make everything historic, nothing is historic. And that is the case with the new Fed Res Chair. Not super, not special, not historic.

Moving on, past my bad jokes. This post also serves as a proof of life post. I am still alive, and like I have said, I think many times before, it is not due to lack of material to blog about that this blog goes unserviced. Let’s take a peek at a few topics.

ObamaCare. A mess by design. A mess due to incompetence. A mess because no one wants to tell the King or anyone one close to him, that the magic thread is really not magic at all, it fact it’s a straight up lie. A few things I want to know is how the DSH and the Whitehouse can change this law as they go along. That part has not been explained to me, and most likely never will. I am guessing it was little bits of “at the discretion of the Director” or “at the discretion of the President” written into the law by the dutiful Dems to cover their asses. I wonder if any of them even know those caveats were in there, seeing they didn’t read it before they passed it. This is all a stepping stone to a single paying (that single payer being the United States Government via me and you, the tax payer). The more this fails, the better single payer looks. Again, failure by design.

Taking money from middle age military retirees. A.K.A., ME! The one percent reduction in cola for military retirees before they are 65. That is me. That is me in a very short number of years. That is money directly out of my wallet. I wish they would take a little piece of all these alleged valuable benefits I am told I have instead of  taking away actual dollars. It is only going to get worse. They know they can chip away at Vets and we will “Solider” on. I have had a 20 plus year agreement/contract with the government of the United States via the United States Navy. I held up my end, I expected them to do the same. Unfortunately, I expect nothing less from the shitty representation in the Legislative and Executive branches that we currently have, to take away from me, while fighting to give more and more to those who have no such contract and have given no service or sacrifice for their entitlements and or benefits. It is both sad and infuriating and will only get worse. Stand by for Bonus Army Redux.

Hillary “Benghazi” Clinton. The last thought I had on my drive into work was this: Hillary 2016. I know, if that is the thoughts that I have, there could be something wrong with me. Anyways. It is time for a woman President. Even my six year old daughter who knows very little about our government and our Presidency has asked many time why their has been no women Presidents. We might even be over due for a woman president. But it is not time, and more importantly, it will never be time for Hillary “Benghazi” Clinton to be that woman. I mean if it is a woman or if it is another man, if they are from the Republican or Democratic Party, like she said, “What difference, at this point, does it make?” They, he or she, will just keep us trucking down the road to destruction with less freedom and more tyranny along the way. They will inherit a massive and growing pile of shit. I guess the best we can now hope for is the taking responsibility and not a constant drum beat of blame the predecessor. Shake the eight ball until you get a negative response, and that's most likely the truth.

So, Happy New Year. Peace.