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March 26, 2009
Jolly Green Nannies
California, the land of Loony Left, keeps coming up with new ways of enforcing AGW stoopid
In a move that will likely get California's consumers in a huff, impending legislation may soon restrict the paint color options for Golden State residents looking for their next new vehicle. The specific colors that are currently on the chopping block are all dark hues, with the worst offender seemingly the most innocuous color you could think of: Black. What could California possibly have against these colors, you ask? Apparently, the California Air Resources Board figures that the climate control systems of dark colored cars need to work harder than their lighter siblings – especially after sitting in the sun for a few hours. Anyone living in a hot, sunny climate will tell you that this assumption is accurate, of course. In fact, legislation already exists for buildings that has proven successful at reducing the energy consumption of skyscrapers.Britain, where the UK National Health Service saves money by letting women die of cervical and breast cancer, does spend money on thermal-imaging equipped helicopters to buzz neighborhoods looking for, :::gasp:::, ENERGY WASTERS!!!So, what's the crux of the problem... can't paint suppliers just come up with new, less heat-absorbent dark paints? According to Ward's, suppliers have reportedly been testing their pigments and processes to see if it's possible to meet CARB's proposed mandate of 20% solar reflectivity by 2016 with a phase-in period starting in 2012, and things aren't looking good.
A spy plane equipped with a thermal imaging camera has been flying over homes in part of Norfolk in the latest drive to reduce energy loss.How does one mock news articles that are more appropriate to The Onion?Council bosses hired the aircraft to allow them to find out which homes and businesses are wasting the most energy. [...]
Broadland District Council hired the plane at a cost of £30,000 from Leicestershire-based company Bluesky for five days at the end of January and the start of February.
During this time it flew up and down the district capturing the images of homes and business, with those losing the most heat showing up as bright red and those which are not giving off energy shown in blue.
The authority is one of the first in the country to use the method, but other council's are believed to be looking into whether to follow suit.
Posted by Darleen at 06:35 PM | Comments (0)
March 25, 2009
Even the AP is forced to notice ...
... Obama uses a teleprompter even at a news conference
WASHINGTON (AP) - What kind of politician brings a teleprompter to a news conference?Yeah, 52, how's that Hope thing working out for you?
A careful one.President Barack Obama took no chances in his second prime-time news conference, reading a prepared statement in which he took both sides of the AIG bonus brouhaha and asked an anxious nation for its patience.
"There are no quick fixes," he said, "and there are no silver bullets."
It's an interesting dichotomy: Obama came before the nation to sell one of the most expensive and politically risky agendas ever offered by a U.S. president, but his language was heavy with caution. A hard-willed plan given a soft sell.
Posted by Darleen at 06:39 AM | Comments (3)
March 23, 2009
A boy and his dog: snowbilly edition
Boy: Here, boy!
Dog:
Lawyer: Young man, would you use that phrase if a Black Man were nearby?
Boy: Sir? I'm calling my dog.
Dog:
Lawyer: Why are you avoiding my question?
Boy:
Dog:
Lawyer: Again, are you using that phrase because you want to offend? Are you trying to prove yourself at the expense of a Black Man's feelings? Mind you, I am only trying to tease out your intent but I will be answered.
Boy: Sir, what black man? Is he mad at me? Why is he mad at me? I just want my dog! I didn't do anything to a black man! Really!
Lawyer: Stop bastardizing my hypotheticals and answer them! Do you know who I am? My honor will be served!
Boy: MOM!!!
Dog:
Mom: Excuse me, who are you to tell my son what he means when he is just calling his dog?
Lawyer: Madam, I am a busy man of important and taxing issues that must be dealt with on a daily basis. I have no time to be answering your impertinence when you have all day to sit on your ass and watch Oprah.
Boy:
Mom:
Lawyer: and may I suggest, Madam, that you get a real job.
Boy:
Mom:
Dog: could be worse, he could be from Irvine.
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Posted by Darleen at 09:40 PM | Comments (9)
Open questions
do Americans really value parents who decide to have one or the other stay home with the kids? Is there any value for the kids to have a SAHParent?
What would you conclude about people who say they value SAHPs then use that "class status" to dismiss the SAHP's legitimacy as a serious person of ideas?
Posted by Darleen at 06:51 AM | Comments (12)
March 22, 2009
A man and his dog
Governor Mark Sanford interprets Obama's intent in the real world.
Here's the background: Before the stimulus bill passed, I asked for states not to be bailed out. After it was signed into law, I said that a state bailout would create more problems than it solved, and that we shouldn't spend money we don't have. That debate was lost, so I looked for a reasonable middle ground. I asked the president for his support in using the $700 million to pay down state debt.Yes, Gov. Sanford, you're starting to get the message. No matter how reasonable your argument, no matter how rational your reasons for not dropping to your knees in genuflection for the money Obama wants to strangle you with, any hesistation or question or dissent (oh, remember when dissent was patriotic?) will offend your betters; your betters don't give a rat's ass about your intentions. They'll impute evil motives to you -- The Rethuglican who wants to starve the children and elderly. Perception is reality.If we're going to spend money we don't have at the federal level, it becomes all the more important that our state balance sheet is in good order -- particularly if this is a protracted downturn. But many people do not realize that the stimulus money runs out in 24 months -- at which point South Carolina will be forced to find a new source of funding to sustain the new level of spending, or to make sharp cuts. Sure, I could kick the can down the road; in two years, I'll be safely out of office. But it would be irresponsible. [...]
Last week I reached out to the president, asking for a federal waiver from restrictions on stimulus money. I got a most unusual response. Before I even received an acknowledgment of the request from the White House, I got word that the Democratic National Committee was launching campaign-style TV attack-ads against me for making it.
Is this the new brand of politics we were promised? Instead of engaging with me and other governors on the merits of our dissent, I am to be attacked in television ads?
Come on, Gov. Sanford, get with the program! This is Hope&Change(tm) and Fundamental Transformation of Amerika into a place where governors know their place. Frum and Noonan and Brooks and others know that to Get Along you have to Go Along (especially if you want to be invited on to Rachel Maddow's show or get quoted in the New York Times)
Don't you know, Gov Sanford, True-blue Republicans are the future, look how well McCain did ...
Posted by Darleen at 08:29 PM | Comments (4)
Priceless
Posted by Darleen at 07:21 PM | Comments (1755)