But... how would the corporations make money?

The truth about renewable energy: Inexpensive, reliable, and inexhaustible

Renewable energy actually reduces electricity prices for businesses and consumers. 

Infrastructure to connect renewable energy is a great investment. 

Integrating variable renewable resources is easier and cheaper than we thought.

Why has integrating so much wind so fast been relatively painless? 

Geographic diversity: The wind blows at different times in different places across MISO’s 12-state footprint, smoothing out the variation at any single location. 

Better forecasting tools make it easier to accurately predict wind-turbine output. 

Transmission expansions and upgrades are being approved and constructed, giving operators greater flexibility to manage all resources and consumers more choices and competition. 

Grid operators around the country and the globe are gaining experience and learning from each other as they successfully integrate ever larger amounts of renewable energy into their systems.

America has far more than enough renewable energy resources to meet its entire electric demand.

Pre-oiled? Or glow in the dark?

Tuna contaminated with Fukushima radiation found in California:

Bluefin tuna contaminated with radiation believed to be from Fukushima Daiichi turned up off the coast of California just five months after the Japanese nuclear plant suffered meltdown last March, US scientists said. Tiny amounts of caesium-137 and caesium-134 were detected in 15 bluefin caught near San Diego in August last year, according to a study published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal. The levels were 10 times higher than those found in tuna in the same area in previous years, but still well below those that the Japanese and US governments consider a risk to health. Japan recently introduced a new safety limit of 100 becquerels per kilogram in food. The timing of the discovery suggests that the fish, a prized but dangerously overfished delicacy in Japan, had carried the radioactive materials across the Pacific ocean faster than those conveyed by wind or water.

If you don't want that tuna, have some fish without eyes.

 Going vegan makes more and more sense....

Cyber wars

  Security researcher: I found secret reprogramming backdoors in Chinese microprocessors

  Flame: Massive cyber-attack discovered, researchers say

Just desserts

Kicking asshole off plane.

The taxman payeth.

Routers are everywhere.

China rates the US on human rights.

Versailles, creating the next war at the end of the first World War:

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is all of us.



Update: What did Walker know and when did he know it?

Friday cats... BIG cats, small cats

High on bags of catnip cats...



Do big cats love catnip too?  Check out the amusing video.  (go through 109's link, the youtube one has ads).

The war on women, past and future

Thank you, madam, for helping women make their own reproductive choices.

Dr. Jean Pakter, a former health official who made New York City a national model for providing safe, legal abortions and led an innovative effort to educate women about the benefits of birth control, prenatal nutrition and breast-feeding, died on Tuesday in Manhattan. She was 101.

And yet, there is a lack of understanding about reproductive control as a right and some people will never give up trying to stuff women back into a fairy tale make-believe pseudo 1950s life style, where men were men, women were in awe, and minorities knew their place. Times they are a changin' guys.  Finding out that women are humans like men and have feelings comes as a shock to some....

I'll say it now. If Romney becomes president, we will be at war with Iran within two years.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Posted in a high school classroom.

What is so hard to understand and accept?

Eclipsing intelligence...

The solar eclipse in pictures.

France bans Monsanto corn.

Street art.

The man who wishes the Google would ignore...

Congress is getting dumber, if you couldn't tell by now.  Especially in their dealings with them wimmen folk.

From lemons to lemonade: Reaction uses carbon dioxide to make carbon-based semiconductor:

(Phys.org) -- A materials scientist at Michigan Technological University has discovered a chemical reaction that not only eats up the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, it also creates something useful. And, by the way, it releases energy.

Ok, I'm ready! Let me go pick some lemons in my backyard... oh.  Rats.

The answer is yes.

Is GOP trying to sabotage economy to hurt Obama?

Thanks for noticing! Finally...

Gridlock in Congress? Blame the GOP

Think the media just realized that the inmates have gotten control of the steering wheel of the bus?

We really are trying to kill ourselves, aren't we?

Corn seed is coated with Bayer’s pesticides by means of an adhesive developed by another industry giant: Monsanto. Despite studies which showed these pesticides are highly toxic to bees, their use was justified with the reasoning that the corn seed to which they were applied would be buried in the soil where it would presumably be harmless to other creatures. This was a grave mistake.
 The first clue that Colony Collapse Disorder was the result of poisoning, similar to the DDT bird kill-off decades ago, was when clothianidin was used on corn crops in Germany’s state of Baden-Wurttemberg. In July of 2007, the German crop was infested with root worms. The German government ordered that every possible method should be used to eradicate this pest, including the use of neonicotinoids. Shortly after the seeds were planted, in May of 2008, some 330-million bees abruptly died. The global phenomenon has continued to this day, resulting in millions of dead colonies… billions of dead bees.
 An investigation revealed that the seed coating did not stay in the soil but was introduced to the air (and the rest of the plant) by simple abrasion – the rubbing together of seeds – as they are stored, moved and planted. The German government quickly banned this pesticide, gave compensation to the farmers and issued a strong warning against using this chemical in agriculture. According to the German Federal Agriculture Institute, “It can unequivocally be concluded that poisoning of the bees is due to the rub-off of the pesticide ingredient clothianidin from corn seeds.”
 According to the German Research Center for Cultivated Plants, 29 out of 30 dead bees had been killed, in the 2008 study, by direct contact with clothianidin. Philipp Mimkes, spokesman for the German-based Coalition Against Bayer Dangers, said: “We have been pointing out the risks of neonicotinoids for almost 10 years now. This proves without a doubt that the chemicals can come into contact with bees and kill them. These pesticides shouldn’t be on the market.”

News today, yesterday, and whenever....

Bees win!  In Poland.... Beekeepers Win Ban on Monsanto's GMOs in Poland

Appreciating French political women.

50,000 dead in 6 years in Mexico drug wars.  If this was a childhood disease, or a bomb going off in a city there would cries of outrage.  But this?  Do we care?

New research could power rocket trip to Mars in weeks, not months

Starting burglary lessons early:

I thought they were joking about China....

But apparently not...

China Vows Investigation Into Pills Said to Contain Human Remains

 I've heard about the lipstick that has chemicals from executed prisoners, but pills?

 I'm adding this to the list I've been keeping on Chinese products:

Pills for human consumption containing human remains.

China poisons more pets:

November 18, 2011 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued an important bulletin warning consumers that chicken jerky products (also marketed as chicken tenders, strips or treats) may be associated with serious illness in dogs.
Over the past 12 months, the FDA has observed an increase in the number of complaints regarding canine illnesses associated with consumption of chicken jerky products imported from China.
These complaints have been reported to the government by both dog owners and veterinarians.

And here is the ever-expanding list:

But according to FSN, the biggest reason to avoid ultra-filtered honey is that pollen is the only sure-fire way to trace the source of honey to a geographic location. As a result ultra-filtered honey is often used to mask the shady origins of certain kinds of honey -- especially Chinese honey, which is subject to heavy import tariffs on account of its frequent contamination by heavy metals and illegal antibiotics. Chinese honeymakers ultra-filter their honey, and then ship it through byzantine paths, to sneak their sham product onto American grocery shelves without being hit with a tariff.

Vinegar from China kills 11 people.

"From steroid-spiked pork to glow-in-the-dark meat to recycled cooking oil collected from sewers, a series of illnesses and scandals linked to tainted food has put officials on guard. But tougher measures have had little effect amid an official culture of secrecy."

Watermelons spiked with growth chemicals explode in the fields... so the farmers feed the forchlorfenuron saturated melons to fish and pigs.

Waste water forced into pigs going to market.

Fresh milk tainted with melamine and toxic substances extracted from leather scraps... killed 6 children in China and sickened 300,000.

Rice is contaminated with heavy metals like cadmium.

Fake rice made from plastic, potatoes and resin.

Pulverized lime added to bleaching agents widely used in flour production. Pulverized lime damages the lungs and the entire respiratory system.

Cadmium in children's toys and little girl jewelry. Lead in toys: Thomas the Tank Engine, baby bibs, cub scout badges, wooden blocks. Formaldehyde in candy, in baby clothing. Coma-inducing date rape drug in toys.

Asbestos in toys.

"The rampant use of chemical additives in animal feed can be traced to 1999. According to Gao Yinxiang, the research and development of high-protein feed additives was a hot field among scientists about 10 years ago due to shortage of animal fodder in the country at the time.

From that time, it's hard to define the exact role that scientists played in the evolution of the melamine scandal. Yet scientists certainly contributed to it by developing unsafe protein alternatives. Many Chinese are now calling on scientists to examine their conscience before making profits at the expense of public safety."

Melamine in pet food kills house pets in the US. Melamine is found in wheat, corn and rice gluten.

China says no to inspections and destroys evidence.

Rat poison in breakfast porridge.

Pesticide-laden pea pods, drug-laced catfish, filthy plums and crawfish contaminated with salmonella. Dried apples preserved with a cancer-causing chemical. Scallops and sardines coated with putrefying bacteria. Mushrooms laced with illegal pesticides.

Toothpaste with diethylene glycol, a toxic chemical used in engine coolants.

Highly toxic puffer fish sold as monk fish.

Fake blood protein.

Wild mice used for meat.

Defective tires.

Use of illegal drift nets.

Fake kosher food.

Insecticide-tainted dumplings.

More than 40 percent of drinking water in rural China is unfit for drinking.

Poisoned chocolate.

Toxic drywall which caused houses to be uninhabitable.

Fake Cisco routers

Misuse and overuse of antibiotics. "Studies in China show a "frightening" increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as staphylococcus aureus bacteria, also know as MRSA."

The list will inevitably be added to. When are we going to learn this is what happens to corporations when there is no regulation?

What learning curve?

JPMorgan Trading Loss Suggests Little Has Changed Since The Financial Crisis

JPMorgan Chase CEO: I Have No Idea Whether We Broke The Law
(Best quote so far, my bold)

NEW YORK -- JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon says he does not know whether the bank broke any laws in the surprise $2 billion loss by one of its trading groups. In an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press," Dimon says regulators should look at the matter.

What? NOW you want regulators to do their job? AFTER you've lost 2 BILLION, BILLION with a B dollars?? Because you don't know if losing 2 BILLION dollars on "from risky bets on opaque derivatives at a London trading desk" was the thing to do or not? Do you know where that 2 BILLION dollars went to, sir? ... Do you know how much good 2 BILLION dollars could do for our schools and communities and infrastructure and elderly and students and everybody? Just don't ask the US taxpayer to bail you out again. And don't try to make up the loss by overcharging on student loans or sneaking unnecessary fees into checking accounts or screwing over desperate mortgage holders. Make up the loss out of your fucking bonuses.

Remind you of anyone?

Romney as a high school bully.... is like George Bush and his ... issues.








And what it means that Romney "can't remember".

Melinda Gates wants family planning back on the global agenda

Yes, please and thank you.



*edited because I decided to rename Ms. Gates and someone took offense...

Can we stop ourselves from poisoning the earth?

We use our oceans both as a pantry and as a toilet. We drill without knowing how to plug the holes. We genetically modify without testing.  Will we die before we learn we are poisoning ourselves and future generations? ... don't answer that.

 Following Garbage's Long Journey Around The Earth

 Study: Plastic in 'Great Pacific Garbage Patch' increases 100-fold

The lesson of the Gulf of Mexico is forgotten...

Rules relaxed for reporting offshore oil and gas accidents: 

The North Sea safety regulator has lightened up the rules for reporting accidents offshore even as one operator in the field, Total, struggles to halt a gas leak that has been going on for over a month. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has introduced a new regulation that says injuries need only be reported if workers are out of action for over seven days. The former level was three days.

Exclusive: Shale causes rise in waste gas pollution

(Reuters) - The shale energy boom is fuelling a rise in the burning of waste gas after years of decline, a World Bank source told Reuters ahead of the release of new data, giving environmentalists more ammunition against the industry.

Monsanto's attempts to stifle reporters:

An excellent author and artist

Maurice Sendak.  Thank you, sir, for all your wonderful imaginings.  And  for your refusal to change in the face of all the attempts to censor or change your stories and paintings.  No child was ever harmed by your fancies and many were given the invitation to dance with your monsters and explore with Little Bear.

Cassandra would wonder why nothing has changed...

Fascism rises from the depths of Greece's despair

A neo-Nazi party that wants work camps for immigrants is on course to win its first seats in parliament on Sunday

Calling out liars

Before their lies can be repeated enough to become the truth.

I hate acknowledging that I am an agnostic

Because religious extremism is on the rise in the United States and the polarization of opinions means I am shunted off into the loony bin with the crackpots.  Luckily, I am unafraid of science, math, evolution, reason, logic, intelligence.  Questions cannot destroy what is true.  Understanding is strength.

Neil deGrasse Tyson explains what happens when religious extremism takes over the scientific community.  Is the United States going the same way?

The French discovered how to do this

Wind turbine creates water from thin air

The company aims to start rolling out the giant products for sale later in 2012, initially focusing on remote communities in arid countries where water resources are scarce. 

"This technology could enable rural areas to become self-sufficient in terms of water supply," says Thibault Janin, director of marketing at Eole Water. 

"As the design and capabilities develop, the next step will be to create turbines that can provide water for small cities or areas with denser populations," he adds. 

Eole Water is currently displaying a working prototype of the 24 meter tall WMS1000 in the desert near Abu Dhabi that has been able to produce 62 liters of water an hour, says Janin.

We may owe the French a great deal for preventing world wide water wars in the future because of this....

The war on women

As explained by Senator Boxer.