Author: Simon

Watts Up With That? has information on how to contact the EPA over the new “CO2 is a pollutant” rules. In a stunning act of political kowtowing, the EPA caved to special interest groups and politics and declared CO2 a “dangerous pollutant”, even though it is part of the natural cycle of life. Now the…

All photovoltaic industries in the world depend on government subsidies. China is going down that road as well. Shi Dinghuan has stated that what China’s solar power manufacturing industry needs is a more active set of government policies to support and subsidize the adoption of solar power domestically, along the lines of the industrial policies…

Sgt Mom gave a rousing speech at the Tea Party at the Alamo recalling the history of Texas. It is not too long. Follow the link and read the whole thing. Note that Sgt. Mom was one of the organizers of the Alamo Tea Party and she and the other organizers managed to get rock…

The election in 2010 will be most amusing. And 2012 is going to be the height of hilarity. About 1/2 the electorate is apathetic about politics. If 20% of them decide to participate in the next election due to taxes and inflation….. My first mate didn’t want to vote for the Black Man for two…

We are in the midst of seriously improving energy efficiency in the hopes that it will reduce energy consumption. However, there is an economic theory (about coal consumption no less) known since 1865 that says that increasing efficiency will increase overall energy consumption even if the amount used for a given task is reduced. In…

Polywell Fusion looks to be getting a $2 million boost from the DoD Recovery Act Plan. Here is what the DoD has to say about their plan. Today, March 20, 2009, the Department of Defense (DoD) released its EXPENDITURE PLAN for the projects to be funded with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.…

Which reminds me a lot of America in the 50s when it was comic books, duck tail haircuts, and rock ‘n roll. It seems there is always some tool of the devil that needs exploiting. And the tools of the devil go in an out of fashion. In 1914 the once legal over the counter…

Glenn Beck talks with the former Deputy Foreign Minister of Mexico. And as long as we are on the topic of Mexico. The rumor that 90% of the guns involved in Mexico’s crimes come from America is a flat out lie. And suppose the “loophole” that allows so many American guns into Mexico was closed.…

The immediate pirate crisis is over with the killing of three pirates, the capture of a wounded fourth and the recovery of Captain Phillips unharmed physically. The American captain taken hostage by Somali pirates aboard a lifeboat was freed today after making a second daring escape bid that allowed waiting US forces to open fire…

Yep. New research shows that salt may be an anti-depressant. Does demolishing a salty bag of potato chips seem to put you in a better mood? If so, you’re not alone, according to psychologists at the University of Iowa who say salt may be nature’s anti-depressant. Researchers based the conclusion on studies on rats. They…

Red Alerts reports on a school teacher who was using drugs and alcohol to sexually exploit youth. Red asks this question: Victimless Crime Files: Why Do Adults Want Kids to Get High? Red Alerts then says: The truth is that only two kinds of adults involved with drugs, ones with addiction problems/psychological issues and the…

And just in case you are wondering about the title. It is a play on Philip K. Dick’s book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? which led to the movie with Harrison Ford called Blade Runner. Cross Posted at Power and Control H/T EDN Magazine

Laugh all you want but this is no joke. The article linked is about batteries for cars. Anyway, this battery issue — and many like it — hasn’t stopped GM from announcing yet another Car Of The Future. Only this time they’ve partnered themselves up with Segway. You have got to be fucking kidding me.…

It appears that there is a “new” weed to improve male sexual performance. And I’m not talking about marijuana. Nope. I’m talking about the appropriately named “Horny Goat Weed”. The soft green heart-shaped leaf of the horny goat weed could hold the key to a new drug for treating erectile dysfunction. Researchers say the Viagra…

A friend of mine, RN, said he found a comment I wrote about climate change rather funny. So I thought I’d let the rest of you in on the joke. I was responding to this bit of a comment. Meanwhile our atmosphere is loading up with carbon dioxide from that oh-so-easy combustion and we don’t…

Rick Nebel, the lead guy in Polywell Fusion Research has a few things to say about his current state of knowledge with reference to the Polywell Fusion Reactor. He also discusses some rather technical questions about his research and findings. You can read those by following the link. To a certain extent we are in…

I have just come across a book, Race Differences in Intelligence: An Evolutionary Analysis, which has given me something new to worry about. Global warming – if it lasts long enough – will cause the average IQ of the human race to decline. Here is a bit from a review of the book. The book’s…

I have been meaning to write something about a Consumer Report I have been reading on licit and illicit drugs. They discuss a few famous opiate addicts, including the father of modern surgery Wm. Halsted, among others. One bit of the article struck me as particularly interesting. Incredible as it may seem, even a few…

The spike in violence due to heavily armed gangs in Mexico can be rectified, but not through the failed model of near-complete prohibition. Bob Owens made the above remark at A Call to Arms in Mexico. He was referring to gun prohibition. Now if only that understanding could be applied to drugs we might get…

China has surpassed the USA in automobile production. In 2008, China surpassed the United States to become the world’s second largest auto-making nation, and in 2009 is set to displace Japan as the planet’s largest car producer, according to iSuppli Corp. Last year, China manufactured 9.3 million cars, while the United States built 8.7 million.…