The Administration’s hoof-in-mouth over the Republican Landslide in Massachusetts continues to haunt them:
Via The Patriot Post:
Whacko Politics
Wind Farm Wake Turbulence Inefficiency
Planet Gore posted an item today about wind turbine wake (‘propwash’) causing turbines downwind to have reduced output because of the turbulent air generated by upwind turbines.
Image: Wind Turbines In Banning Pass. One of the largest wind turbine farms in the world is here near Palm Springs, CA. Photo courtesy Damsel. Click to enlarge.
I have always been skeptical about the reliability, efficiency and cost-per-generated-kilowatt of wind turbines. We recently were on a road trip and saw two different convoys of trucks carrying the estimated fifty foot long blades either to a new installation or to maintenance. I couldn’t believe the way the immense turbine blades dwarfed the big-rig tractors hauling them.
From Popular Science.
Downstream wind turbines may lose 20 percent or even 30 percent of their power compared to their fellows in front, according to a study on wake effects at Horns Rev that MacKay highlights on his blog. The paper also emphasizes that different wind directions make it practically impossible to gauge an overall “steady state” for large wind farms, unless researchers can sample wind speeds and directions at multiple points throughout the array.
This shows that wind energy may represent a highly visible form of alternative energy, but certainly not one without its quirks and controversies. Still, better technology can squeeze more juice out of each gust, and cooperative energy-sharing efforts can help offset the fickle nature of wind power.
Santa vs. the Government
Calvin and Hobbes: Calvin’s impeccable logic reveals the mindset of the Congress and Administration in Washington. One of the comments under this comic strip notes “the elves take kickbacks and give them to the big guy.” Another says “Is he talkin’ about Santa or Obama?”
Calvin’s right. Where does that leave our kids and grandkids?
Note that Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes cartoonist, created this strip twelve years ago during the Clinton Administration.
TSA Goons Nab Cub Scout
Leave it to Federal Agencies, like the Transportation Security Administration, to embody the epitome of political correctness gone wrong . . .
From the NRA-ILA:
Sleep Easy, America — Feds’ Terrorist Watchlist Nabs Cub Scout
As we’ve reported before, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), encouraged by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, wants to prohibit anyone on the FBI’s terrorist watchlist from possessing a firearm. Yet, the list and its criteria are secret, and Lautenberg’s bill would criminalize the exercise of a constitutionally protected right while denying a person the opportunity to clear himself of accusations in a fair and open hearing before a court of law. Even today, thousands of people who aren’t terrorists cannot prevent the list from misidentifying them, causing them delays and embarrassment when trying to board commercial aircraft.
It’s one thing when an adult gets the run-around at an airport, because he or she has a name identical or similar to someone the FBI is watching. As the American Civil Liberties Union has pointed out, the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) “automatic selectee” list — its list of people who are not permitted to board an aircraft without being given the once-over by the agency’s machines and uniformed, latex-gloved personnel — is based on people’s names, not on physical factors like age.
But when the system is so unorganized that it cannot distinguish a kid from a terrorist, what’s going on here? Yesterday, the New York Times reported that for the last six or seven years, one of Lautenberg’s constituents — eight-year-old New Jersey Cub Scout Michael “Mikey” Hicks — hasn’t been able to get on a plane without being patted down like your average neighborhood hubcap thief with his palms on the hood of a police cruiser and a nightstick between his legs. Repeatedly mistaken for someone on the FBI’s terrorist watchlist since he was two years old, Mikey’s encounters with the federal government have consisted of, as his mother puts it, “Up your arms, down your arms, up your crotch, someone is patting your 8-year-old down like he’s a criminal.” [more]
Now, don’t you feel safer?
California’s Gasoline Ripoff
Just across the border in Arizona, you can save 17 percent – or more on gasoline. I bet the folks living in Blythe, CA, drive to Ehrenberg, AZ, to top off the old tank.
Brainless Health Care Reformist Gergen Gets Sniped
Via The Corner:
In Monday night’s senatorial debate in Massachusetts, David Gergen, the moderator, looked straight at Scott Brown, the Republican nominee, and asked him this question:
GERGEN: You said you’re for health-care reform, just not this bill. We know from the Clinton experience that if this bill fails, it could well be another 15 years before we see health-care reform efforts in Washington. Are you willing under those circumstances to say, I’m going to be the person, I’m going to sit in Teddy Kennedy’s seat and I’m going to be the person who’s going to block it for another 15 years?
Brown, in what I call his ‘Nashua moment,’ responded with what’s become the remark that’s defining this race:
BROWN: Well, with all due respect, it’s not the Kennedy’s seat, and it’s not the Democrats’ seat, it’s the people’s seat. And they have the chance to send somebody down there who is an independent voter, and an independent thinker, and going to look out for the best interests of the people of Massachusetts. And the way that this bill is configured, I’d like to send it back to the drawing board because I believe people should have insurance — [just not] this particular bill because it’s not good for the entire country.
I heard Brown in an interview last week with Sean Hannity. I am impressed with this guy. He seems to be self confident and is clearly his own man, refusing to be stereotyped as having this or that kind of political leanings. California could use a couple folks like this to run against the two batty democrats currently occupying the California people’s Senate seats.
More Opacity
Via Webster: opaque – (oh-payk’) – adj.
1 : exhibiting opacity : blocking the passage of radiant energy and especially light
2 a : hard to understand or explain b : obtuse, thickheaded
I cannot disagree with that second definition when it comes to the obtuse, thickheaded blockheads in Congress.
Via The Patriot Post:
If By ‘Transparent’ You Mean ‘Secret’…
After much bribery and arm-twisting, the Senate managed just before Christmas to pass its version of ObamaCare by a 60-39 vote (amazingly, without a single GOP “aye”). Now, the bill heads for conference deliberation televised by C-SPAN, just as the cable channel offered and Barack Obama promised numerous times.
Or not.
Democrats let slip this week that there would be no typical conference committee on the competing House and Senate versions of the health bill, as “leaders” opted instead for private negotiations with “key” congressmen and senators, none of whom is Republican. Once an agreement is reached, each legislative chamber will vote again and send the unified bill to the president.
Without a conference committee, a rule requiring public access to the conference report for at least 48 hours before a vote would conveniently not apply. That means even more liberty-stealing treachery can be slipped into the bill with little notice. Funny how the “public option” doesn’t mean that the public gets to know what’s in the bill.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) nevertheless had the gall to declare, “There has never been a more open process for any legislation in anyone who’s served here’s experience.” In response, Wall Street Journal columnist James Taranto mocked, “Has a more false or awkwardly worded statement ever come out of anyone who has served as speaker of the House’s mouth?” [more]
