$3,000,000,000,000.00 Dollars Down the Toilet
by goatboy on Aug.05, 2011, under The Economy
The nation has 2.5 million fewer jobs today than the day Obama took office.
GM to Increase Volt Production to Meet Nonexistent Demand
by geo on Aug.04, 2011, under Business and Industry, Energy, Science and Technology
Jonathan Last, writing in the Weekly Standard:
The July sales numbers are out and the Chevy Volt continues to electrify (get it?) the country. GM sold … 125 Volts last month!
Way back in March I made fun of the Volt for selling 281 units in February. Turns out, February was a good month. But wait, there’s more! GM says they’re going to increase production to 5,000 Volts per month in order to keep up with demand. You see, they claim that the reason the Volt isn’t selling is that they can’t keep enough cars on the lot. A GM spokeswoman recently claimed that they are “virtually sold out.” Which is virtually true. Mark Modica called around his local Chevy dealers and found plenty of Volts waiting for an environmentally conscious driver to bring them home.
All told, GM has sold close to 2,700 Volts.
(Funny aside: There’s a Volt in my neighborhood and a Volt that parks in my garage at work. So I see almost 0.1 percent of all the Volts in America on a daily basis.) But hey, the EV future is just around the corner.
So let’s have a look at some of the numbers behind GM’s ability to bring this thing to market:
$41,000 price tag
$240 million Energy Dept. Grants
$50 billion GM bailout
$150 million stimulus grant to Korean battery maker
$14 billion retooling loan
$1.5 billion consumer incentives (to get the price tag down!)
My guess is the vast majority of Volts will eventually be bought by the Obama administration for the federal government.
Spenditol
by geo on Aug.03, 2011, under The Economy, Video
In Many Ways They Are Still Third World Economies
by geo on Mar.12, 2011, under China, The Economy, World Events
The sheer size of the Chinese and Indian economies obscures the reality of the economic conditions of hundreds of millions of citizens:
Despite all the recent hoopla about China becoming the world’s second-biggest economy and India hoping to follow suit, the reality is that the per-capita GDP — even measured by purchasing power parity — in both is pathetic.
America’s is about $47,000, China’s $7,500 and India’s $3,290.
Worse, both still harbor medieval levels of poverty, with 300 million people in each living on less than $1.25 a day. India’s IT boom gets big press, but it — along with all the tertiary industries it has spawned — employs 2.3 million people, or 0.2 percent of the population.
More eye-opening social and economic facts are HERE.
Thanks, Gardener
Meanwhile, Back at Turtle Bay…
by Gardener on Mar.01, 2011, under World Events, World Politics
From an article about Libya:
“Libya also looks likely to become the first country to be expelled from the UN Human Rights Council.”
Which of course begs the question as to why
they were on such a council in the first place.
See the current membership of the Human Rights Council HERE.
Cuba?!
Angola?!
Zambia?!!
What a joke!
Day of Delusion
by bbc on Feb.28, 2011, under Dipsticks, Stupid Human Tricks
Charlie “I AM a Drug” Sheen:
Bernie “I’m Not a Sociopath” Madoff:
Read the article and see the video HERE.
Moammar “I Will Die a Martyr but Have Stashed Away Millions Just in Case” Qaddafi:
Read the article and see the vdeo HERE.
New Verizon iPhone Has Same Old Antenna Flaw
by geo on Feb.28, 2011, under Science and Technology, Society and Culture
Consumer Reports has left the new Verizon iPhone off its list of recommended smartphones after testing revealed that the newly-produced version of the phone has the same defective antenna design as the older version produced for AT&T.
Tests showed that the “new” version of the iPhone4 produced for Verizon performed at levels similar to the original AT&T iPhone 4, including the loss of signal due to the defective antenna design.
Other phones tested by the magazine’s staff did not have any such problems:
Consumer Reports tested the Verizon iPhone 4 along with several other Verizon phones, including the Samsung Fascinate, several Motorola Droid models and the LG Ally.
None had the signal-loss problems that the iPhone 4 demonstrated.
Presumably Apple will be handing out free rubber cases again as a “fix” for the defective design, which was used in the phone to preserve its looks even after engineers predicted the antenna design would cause reception problems before the AT&T version was ever released.
Those engineering assessments came to light after Apple first denied there was a problem, then claimed it was a software issue which was causing the phone’s “bars” to display improperly and released a software patch to “fix” the problem. Apple CEO Steve Jobs then appeared in a video trying to demonstrate that other phones had similar problems. Finally Apple offered free cases to iPhone users.
The case insulates the defective antenna from the hand holding the phone, preventing the signal loss.
Read more here:
Consumer Reports: Verizon iPhone has death-grip flaw – Feb. 25, 2011.
Previous related post is HERE.
No, Virginia, it is Not a Democracy
by geo on Feb.27, 2011, under U.S. History, U.S. Politics
The Founding Fathers understood the distinction between a federal republic and a democracy. How did the distinction become lost over the years?
From Federalist #14
Nov. 30, 1787
Madison
The error which limits republican government to a narrow
district has been unfolded and refuted in preceding papers. I
remark here only that it seems to owe its rise and prevalence
chiefly to the confounding of a republic with a democracy, applying
to the former reasonings drawn from the nature of the latter. The
true distinction between these forms was also adverted to on a
former occasion. It is, that in a democracy, the people meet and
exercise the government in person; in a republic, they assemble and
administer it by their representatives and agents. A democracy,
consequently, will be confined to a small spot.
A republic may be
extended over a large region.
Happy Working Naked Day
by geo on Feb.02, 2011, under Labor and Employment, Society and Culture, The Economy, Weird Stuff
Yeah, yeah, there’s the traditional Groundhog’s Day, but gee whiz, Working Naked Day just sounds like so much more fun!
This is the second annual Working Naked Day, intended as a celebration of the work-from-home lifestyle.
One can only imagine the greeting cards if this one catches on.
It seems kind of unfair though.
With millions of unemployed Americans who would love to have a job stuck at home, shouldn’t there also be a “Sitting at Home in Your Underwear Watching Brain-Numbingly Stupid Television Programs Waiting for the Unemployment Check” Day?
Michelle Obama: Fat People a Threat to National Security
by geo on Jan.29, 2011, under Dipsticks, Society and Culture, U.S. Politics
In an appearance on “Good Morning America” Michelle Obama claimed that her “Let’s Move” physical fitness campaign, which has the government strong-arming schools and restaurants about what people should have available to be able to choose to eat, is not about telling the American people
what to do.
Rather, she says, improving diet and exercise habits is a “national security issue.”
So in the interest of “national security” the government is leaning on restaurants to make sure you eat apple slices instead of french fries by limiting your menu choices.
I’ll sleep better tonight knowing Michelle Obama has this critical national security issue on her agenda.
Fill ‘Er Up With … Hydrogen Microbeads
by geo on Jan.29, 2011, under Energy, Europe, Science and Technology
Scientists in Britain have apparently developed a technology for encapsulating hydrogen-based fuel
in tiny beads that flow like a liquid, making its use as a fuel source for existing motor vehicles possible:
British scientists are refining the recipe for a hydrogen-based fuel that will run in existing cars and engines at the fraction of the cost of convention al petrol.
With hydrogen at its heart rather than carbon, it will not produce any harmful emissions when burnt, making it better for the environment, as well as easier on the wallet.
The first road tests are due next year and, if all goes well, the cut-price ‘petrol’ could be on sale in three to five years.
Two thoughts:
First, the government, whether US or UK, unerringly sniffing out something new to tax, will add charges, surcharges, fees and taxes at every step of production and distribution, then pile on a sales tax at the pump, until this stuff would be every bit as expensive as gasoline. And then probably add on another surtax for the “green” nature of the fuel.
Second, isn’t this just another “green” illusion? As I understand it, the isolation of hydogen in quatities sufficient for meaningful use as a fuel requires electricity. Lots and lots of electricity. So manufacturing large quantities of hydrogen fuel for use in internal combustion engines will require vast quantities of electricity, which will have to be generated somehow. Which means burning fossil fuels, building dams on rivers, using nuclear energy, or turning two-thirds of the North American continent into a wind farm.
Read more HERE
Ahh, It is Friday in the Muslim World
by Gardener on Jan.27, 2011, under Middle East
So it must be time for some riots and bloodshed!
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/28/world/middleeast/28alexandria.html?_r=1
What The Huck?
by bbc on Jan.17, 2011, under Dipsticks, Education, Stupid Human Tricks
File this under “really stupid ideas” – censoring Mark Twain’s classic Huckleberry Finn. All references to the term “nigger” are to be removed from the text and replaced with “slave.” And just for good measure, the term “injun” will be replaced with “Indian” and “half-breed” will be replaced with “half-blood.” Why blood is more politically correct than breed is unclear… Rather than educators using this as an excellent lead in to discussions involving prejudice and history in general, it has been deemed more expedient to just delete these references. Moby Slang for Male Anatomical Part — anyon
e?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jan/05/huckleberry-finn-edition-censors-n-word
Obamacare Repeal Vote Set For January 12
by goatboy on Jan.04, 2011, under Health Care, U.S. Politics
The House Republican leadership has set a vote to repeal Obamacare for January 12th as the new Republican-controlled 112th Congress gets underway.
Whether the effort is serious effort at repeal or a move to force legislators to take a position on repeal is an open question.
Congressman Fred Upton, Michigan Republican, said on Fox News Sunday that he expects a full repeal to make it through the House and the Senate with the enough votes to overturn a veto.
That sounds like pie-in-the-sky to me. A veto-proof majority would require every Republican, plus 20 Democrats or Independents in the Senate and 48 in the House. Just not very likely.
But the odious Obamacare legislation was the catalyst to the voter anger which exploded in 2010, and keeping that pot boiling in whatever ways possible is an absolute must for 2011.
Much more, including the obligatory “Tea Party” references, here:
House GOP sets date for Obamacare repeal vote | The Daily Caller.
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