The Red Brick Times

  Thursday, November 29, 2007

Dearest Olde Friends:

How wonderful to find you!

I really don't know where to begin, I just know that even though it's been many years I still hold you all (well not all...ha.ha.) dear to my heart and often wonder how you are and if that special "fire" and love of life still lives on in you as well?

My life is usually way too busy mostly because I apparently like it that way. I love helping people have better lives through natural health and alternative healing methods. I have a wonderfully understanding husband and a really cool son who turns 22 today.

I have recently been in touch with Tim Wallace and Mark (and Dorothy too). As the years pass I realize how truly blessed we are to have had the times at the schoolhouse and I thank you all for that.

Hope to hear from you soon,

Linda

Posted 11:12 AM by Linda (Schott) Isner (4) comments

       Comments:
  • How cool to hear from you Linda! Welcome aboard!
    # posted by Blogger whatley : November 29, 2007 2:39 PM
     
  • Please tell me a little about your life. As I recall your not a person to aimlessly chat so I'll understand if you keep it short.
    # posted by Blogger Linda (Schott) Isner : November 30, 2007 10:50 AM
     
  • My life? This sums up the present moments rather nicely.
    # posted by Blogger whatley : December 01, 2007 12:48 PM
     
  • Well, aside from picking up trash along Diagonal Road (no, not as a prisoner work detail), and raking about 3 cubic miles of leaves at home, that is about how my day went too. Except no TV. Free videos from the library have to suffice.
    # posted by Blogger Andy : December 02, 2007 12:21 AM
     
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  Monday, November 26, 2007

Conflicts over carbon emissions (and other "greenhouse gases") have led to the specter of higher energy costs. No matter how you slice it, generating electricity, moving our carcasses, and staying warm in winter all release carbon into the atmosphere.

Remember when the holy grail of combustion was only to release water vapor and carbon dioxide? Now carbon dioxide is a bad thing. That leaves hydrogen as a combustion fuel, and hydrogen generation, with current machinery, still costs more to make than it gives back. And water vapor is still a greenhouse gas.

There is still non-combustion generation (nuclear), but the ghosts of past mismanagement, plus helplessness in the face of tons of hot waste scare the neutrons out of us all. One cost factor to consider is that in the USA, every nuclear reactor ever built was a "clean sheet" redesign. There are no two US reactors that are interchangeable as far as parts, controls or management requirements are concerned. The French nuclear industry settled on a design and built lots of them, avoiding the multi-billion-dollar cost of reinventing the wheel while commonizing the systems. Yes, that is putting all of the eggs in one basket (what if something is "wrong" with the design or the parts?), but they claim to be watching the basket very closely.

So, where are we? Currently oil, methane ("natural" gas), coal and nuclear are the major commercially viable systems online around the world. Wind, water and solar are demonstration and PR window dressing as yet, and biomass is still in Oz. Fuel cells are rare and expensive, for use by space vehicles and in military applications.

The big picture - we are sucking electricity. The internet itself is all electrical ephemera. It is woven so deep into our brains that even when you KNOW there is a power outage, you reflexively flip the light switch when entering a room. Whenever someone thinks of something to say, the hand grabs for the cell phone, whether driving, eating, walking or shoveling snow. We are all contributing. You can calculate your household carbon emissions. 41,500 pounds is about average in the United States for a household of two people over a year.

Energy generation uses "stuff". Stuff includes train cars for coal, people for construction and maintenance, land for poles and wires, poles and wires themselves, and constant attention to the business of sending, shunting, switching and trading the electrons that move in the system. And we all pay for stuff in one way or another. There are fewer trees, bigger holes at the mines, delayed trains delivering food or clothing, and less money to save against future need.

Carbon is one of the costs. Future tech aside, it is here and in our faces. We may be carboning ourselves to the climate of Venus. Wait a few millenia and all will be revealed.

But what to do now, incrementally? Add surcharges for carbon. Ouch. A recent proposal by John Dingell (House of Representatives, Democrat, chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee) includes a $50 per ton carbon tax. The New York Times was skeptical. Grist, in a posting titled "Killing me loudly", wonders why the Green establishment is lambasting the proposal. A coal-fired power plant emits hundreds of tons of carbon per day. Forget the $4 per gallon for gasoline we will be paying within the next 18 months (project the curves). Envision electric bills double their current rate.

It may take another decade and untold spending to tool up for power-miserly appliances, computers and vehicles to partially offset the consumer cost. How many of our current modern appliances emit heat when they are on? All waste. A car engine gets so hot you cannot get near it. More waste. A toaster uses electricity to make stiff bread in the approved 1880's fashion. It is only the radiated infrared portion of the energy that affects the bread. The convected heat and the visible glow are irrelevant to the process. How about all of those new car lots and shopping malls illuminated like the second coming of Christ?

Coal-fired plants are still the mainstay of our lives, but existing plants are mostly old, and will need to be redone or replaced within our lifetimes. Any coal-fired installation faces stiff opposition. Newer technologies have reduced oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions, particulates, mercury and sulfur. Huge catalytic converters, bag filters and electrostatic precipitators, as well as fundamental control of the combustion process have reduced emissions. But the vast scale of power generation, while making it cheap enough for most to use, still emits tons.

Here's a good article from The Frontiersman, a publication from Wasilla, Alaska (about 40 miles NE of Anchorage) titled "Any way you burn it, coal power a political hot potato".

Posted 9:40 AM by Andy (0) comments

       Comments:

  Monday, November 19, 2007

Finally, something all the Democratic candidates can agree on.
Joe is right.

Posted 5:42 PM by A. O. (0) comments

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  Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Happy B'Day to moi.

Posted 1:18 PM by whatley (1) comments

       Comments:

  Thursday, November 08, 2007

Found on BoingBoing:
"In the 'Weblog Awards Best Science Blog Contest' a psuedoscience web site denying the effect humans have on global warming is currently in the lead over real science blogs. Apparently conservative political sites have been directing their readers to vote for it, whether they read it or not."

Posted 11:22 AM by whatley (3) comments

       Comments:
  • New NeoCon Mantra:

    "One ring to rule them all,
    One ring to find them.
    One ring to bring them all
    and in the darkness bind them."
    # posted by Blogger whatley : November 08, 2007 11:28 AM
     
  • And a new religion arises. It was about time to replace the tattered "Flat Earth" sect with something more marketable. The new world conflicts seem to be shaping up along science vs non-science-sense lines. The bickering and sniping is all moot after all. Wait a millennium or two and the results will be plain. We should live so long.
    # posted by Blogger Andy : November 08, 2007 12:19 PM
     
  • Or, as Groucho Marx said (of Harpo, in Animal Crackers): "The gate swung open and a fig Newton entered."
    # posted by Blogger Andy : November 08, 2007 2:20 PM
     
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  Monday, November 05, 2007

BAGHDAD (AFP) Diplomats at the American embassy in Baghdad on Monday pleaded to their state department colleagues back home to come to work in Iraq -- a posting seen as one of the most dangerous in the world.
"There are all kinds of opportunities here," said Patricia Butenis, the deputy chief of the US mission. "There are people who think we live under a constant barrage of mortar attacks, but it isn't that way all the time." ..."Frankly speaking, service here is not as rough as I thought it was. The AC is functioning!"

Posted 5:56 PM by whatley (2) comments

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  Thursday, November 01, 2007

Excerpt from October 30th press briefing by White House Press Secretary Dana Perino:

"Q Dana, why did the Bush administration give immunity to the Blackwater guards, and is the administration going to hold these guys accountable for what transpired?

MS. PERINO: This is what I can tell you: Secretary Rice has made it very clear that she takes the situation very seriously. It is under review. She said that anyone who has engaged in criminal behavior will be prosecuted. I don't have additional detail that I can provide for you, and I'll have to refer you to the State Department and Justice Department for more.

Q Has the President been briefed on this, or what does he think? What is he saying?

MS. PERINO: I do not know if the President has been briefed on it specifically. I can ask.

Q Were they given immunity or weren't they?

MS. PERINO: Helen, as I said, it's a matter that's under review.

Q (Inaudible) tough questions. Why can't you answer them?

MS. PERINO: Because it is a matter that's under review, and I'm going to refer you to the State or the Justice Department for more.

Q What do you mean "under review"? Why don't you say yes or no?

MS. PERINO: The State Department is the one that is looking into this and they are the ones answering questions on it.

Q So the administration hasn't decided whether or not the reports of that are true? You're still looking into whether or not they actually were?

MS. PERINO: I am going to refer you to the State Department on that, who is looking into it.

Q As a general question, how could you both be offered immunity and promised prosecution?

MS. PERINO: Again, this is being -- this is under review. It's not something that I can talk about from here. Obviously, anyone who is engaged in criminal activity would be of a great concern and it's very serious and it should be prosecuted. Let me let the State Department and the Justice Department answer further questions on it.

Q Also, what is being reviewed? Just so we're clear.

MS. PERINO: The entire situation is being reviewed, from the incident to the aftermath of it. And I just don't have anything more for you that I can say from the podium today."

Confused? It'll just get murkier from here on thanks to lobbyists at work. Godless swine. And that's on their good days.

Posted 4:29 PM by whatley (1) comments

       Comments:
  • I wouldn't mind being a lobbyist, if honesty and direct communications were required.
    # posted by Blogger Andy : November 04, 2007 12:12 AM
     
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Am I the last person in the industrialized world not to have a cellphone? Feels like that sometimes. My last job provided me with one and I found that, except for work related issues, I very rarely used it. Still, every once in a while it did come in pretty handy. But no, I refuse to purchase one and thereby enter into a vicious monthly contracted billing cycle. As if that weren't enough here are another 10 reasons why not to buy into their scam.

Posted 9:56 AM by whatley (2) comments

       Comments:
  • I have one because there are no more phone booths in America. Three people have the number and its never turned on. I have it so I can call a tow truck or my wife. People always ask "Why do have it if it never on?" the, of course,being "So I can call when I need to." Imagine blank stare.

    The part of the service contract I must have missed is that you're supposed to need to talk to someone who's not where you are all the time
    # posted by Blogger A. O. : November 02, 2007 10:00 AM
     
  • My dad has a cell phone. When he calls my cell phone I jump out of the tub and puddle across two rooms just in time for voicemail to intercept. I call him back immediately, but he has already turned his cell back off again. Same rationale as Tony.

    On the other hand, my brother has a cell phone, a Blackberry, a pager and a secretary to keep him in all the loops simultaneously. But that's what his job requires.

    Me? I've got all you people on this here party line. What more is needed?
    # posted by Blogger Andy : November 04, 2007 12:09 AM
     
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