Month: March 2012

Back to work soon. For today, one more tune — new from Springsteen. This is what
happens when I ride in my car and listen to WCMU on a saturday.

Notable lyrics:

One
One
One, two, three, four

Great morning light splits through the shade
Another day older and closer to the grave
I’m closer to the grave and come the dawn
I woke up this morning shackled and drawn

Shackled and drawn, shackled and drawn
Pick up the rock, son, and carry it on
Trudging through the dark in a world gone wrong
I woke up this morning shackled and drawn

Whoa!
Alright, yeah!

I always love the feel of sweat on my shirt
Stand back, son, and let a man work
Let a man work, is that so wrong
I woke up this morning shackled and drawn

Shackled and drawn, shackled and drawn
Pick up the rock, son, and carry it on
What’s a poor boy to do in a world gone wrong
Woke up this morning shackled and drawn

Freedom, son, is a dirty shirt
The sun on my face and my shovel in the dirt
The shovel in the dirt keeps the devil gone
I woke up this morning shackled and drawn

Shackled and drawn, shackled and drawn
Pick up the rock, son, and carry it on
What’s a poor boy to do but keep singing this song
I woke up this morning shackled and drawn

Whoa whoa whoa!

Whoa whoa whoa!

Whoa whoa whoa!

Gambling man rolls the dice, working man pays the bills
It’s still fat and easy up on bankers hill
Up on bankers hill the party’s going strong
Down here below we’re shackled and drawn

Shackled and drawn, shackled and drawn
Pick up the rock, son, and carry it on
Trudging through the dark in a world gone wrong
Woke up this morning shackled and drawn

Shackled and drawn, shackled and drawn
Pick up the rock, son, and carry it on
What’s a poor boy to do but keep singing this song
I woke up this morning shackled and drawn
Whoa!

Whoa whoa-whoa!
Whoa whoa-whoa!

Whoa whoa-whoa!
Whoa whoa-whoa!
Whoa whoa-whoa!

(I want everybody to stand up)
(I want everybody to stand up and be counted tonight)
(You know we got to pray together)
(But I want everybody to stand up)
(I want everybody to stand up and be counted tonight)

In case you’re not keeping track, the Weather Channel is….

Weather.com:

The last thing we wanted to see after the devastating year of tornadoes in 2011 was an active start in 2012. Unfortunately, that is just what we’ve seen.

According to our Severe Weather Expert Dr. Greg Forbes, the tornado count for the month of March is now at 117, which is well above the 10-year March average of 87 tornadoes. With January and February also seeing above-average tornado activity, this means that the first three months of the year will all have final tornado counts above their respective 10-year averages.

Keep in mind we are only at the beginning of the tornado season. As you can see in the graphic above, typically the peak months for tornadoes are April, May and June. While we do not know exactly how active the rest of the tornado season will be, you should make sure you are prepared equally each and every year with our WeatherReady Tornado Safety and Preparedness tips.

One time, not so long ago, America was known as the country that took risks and lead the world in technology.

With a powerful Tea Party Taliban longing 19th century technology and medieval culture, those days may be in the past.

In the absence of American leadership, our competitors are ramping up their efforts to be first in line for the revolution that will make the internet boom look like a minor speed bump.

BloombergBusinessWeek:

Not since the allies leveled Germany in World War II has Europe’s biggest economy undertaken a reconstruction of its energy market on this scale.

Chancellor Angela Merkel is planning to build offshore wind farms that will cover an area six times the size of New York City and erect power lines that could stretch from London to Baghdad. The program will cost 200 billion euros ($263 billion), about 8 percent of the country’s gross domestic product in 2011, according to the DIW economic institute in Berlin.

Germany aims to replace 17 nuclear reactors that supplied about a fifth of its electricity with renewables such as solar and wind. Merkel to succeed must experiment with untested systems and policies and overcome technical hurdles threatening the project, said Stephan Reimelt, chief executive officer of General Electric Co. (GE)’s energy unit in the country.
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“The German energy transformation is as challenging as the first moon landing,” said Peter Terium, who in July takes over as chief executive officer of RWE, Germany’s second-largest utility. “It’s a huge challenge we’ll be able to master only if everyone works together.”

Germany is among the first nations to grapple with a global need to upgrade power stations. By 2035, at least $10 trillion of investment is needed to add 5,900 gigawatts of generation worldwide, more than five times the capacity of all U.S. utilities, the International Energy Agency estimates. Half of that will come from renewable. A gigawatt is about enough to supply 800,000 homes in the U.S. and a bit less than the capacity of a nuclear reactor.’

“If Germany succeeds, it could be a role model for economies all over the world,” said Claudia Kemfert, DIW’s senior energy expert. “If it fails, it will be a disaster for Germany’s politicians, society and economy.”

Earth Techling:

For the first time, U.S. Army soldiers are receiving specialized training on how to use generators with solar-power capability before heading to Afghanistan. The Army says these generators save lives by reducing the amount of fuel that needs to be trucked to troops over dangerous roadways.

The military has been deploying green gear in Afghanistan for a while—we’ve reported on Marines at one forward operating base using flexible solar panels they can carry to power radios, solar tarps to power tents at night and even solar panel arrays that can power more than 20 lighting systems and 15 computers.
—

“The generators may be connected to solar panels that store energy produced by the sun and allow the batteries in the generator to rest when it reaches capacity, which reduces equipment run time, man-hours and maintenance costs,” said Brandon W. Bloodworth of Barbaricum, a consultancy that works with the military on energy and  readiness issues.  “We’re looking at energy to increase capability.”

Getting energy from the sun translates to savings but more importantly it can trim the amount of fuel that has to be trucked in. The Army said a typical combat outpost might have 40 to 70 personnel, requiring 6,000 gallons of fuel per month, and the 10-day missions to keep those outposts fueled can be especially deadly.

“This initiative is not just about saving fuel,” Newell said. “It’s about saving lives.”

Saving soldier’s lives.

Naturally, the Tea Party Congress is agin’ it.

National Defense Magazine:

Military and civilian defense officials responsible for green initiatives increasingly are flummoxed and frustrated by the demonization of renewable energy. When did efforts to save lives and money become cheap partisan fodder?

“I think it’s sad” that the military’s campaign to burn less fuel and to secure alternative sources of energy is being politicized, one three-star general said in a private conversation.

Several industry insiders who work with the Pentagon’s most visible champion for green energy, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, said they were aghast at the amount of badgering he received last month during a House Armed Services Committee hearing.
—
One Pentagon contractor who produces renewable energy systems said he was appalled by the prosecutorial nature of congressional inquiries on green programs. “When you know people who have gotten killed transporting or guarding fossil fuel, it sort of points you in the right direction,” he lamented.

The US military has a proud tradition of pioneering both technological change – jet engines, radar, microchips, personal computers, the internet,  – as well as social change – like racial integration and sexual equality.

For today’s angry, regressive, medievalists of the right – that’s a tradition that has to come to a halt – even if it costs the lives of soldiers.

Greentechmedia:

California’s big southern utilities, San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison, haven’t had as much trouble with anti-smart meter activists as has their northern neighbor Pacific Gas & Electric.

They’ve also got a different flavor of customer to deal with than PG&E’s Marin County types. In fact, for Southern California Edison, its smart meter opponents include several local Tea Party groups.

Now we’ll see what happens when smart meter opponents learn they’ll have to pay to stay smart-meter-free. The California Public Utility Commission ruled Thursday that SDG&E (PDF) and SCE (PDF) must offer customers an opt-out to smart meters — but that they can charge up to $75 per person, plus $10 a month, for the privilege.

That’s essentially the same deal CPUC offered PG&E last month, in a ruling meant to stave off a growing customer backlash against the Northern California utility’s multi-million smart meter deployment. PG&E has agreed to leave old analog meters at the homes of such opt-out customers, but says it needs to charge extra for the costs of sending meter readers to those homes and other costs, adding up to an estimated $113.4 million over the next two years.

The ruling hasn’t pleased PG&E’s opponents, however. The most vocal critics charge that the radios inside the smart meters create a health risk for entire neighborhoods, despite data that shows the typical smart meter emits far less radiation than do cell phones and other devices permitted by law. Similar complaints have emerged in other states across the country.

While PG&E’s opponents are of a decidedly left-wing bent, it appears that Southern California has brought out their right-wing counterparts. CPUC’s proposed decision on SCE’s opt-out notes that initial opposition to smart included several local Tea Party groups: the Santa Barbara Tea Party, the Palm Springs Patriots Coalition, the Desert Valley Tea Party and Menifee Tea Party/Hemet Tea Party/Temecula Tea Party, to be exact.