Sarah Palin

Why does the Democratic party attack th governor of AK and why are they so successful in using her as a fund raising point of darkness?

First she is a woman and a Republican. Teh Democrats think they are the party of and for women and resent any poaching in their preserve. This is a mirror image of the Democrat response to the existance of a black Republican, or even a Republican who is a person of color. How dare the Republican Party try to be as broad as the Democratic Party?

Second she is a woman and a mother. She has a career. She is successful. How dare she! The tisking directed at her daughter's pregnancy was criticism of mothering skills. Assuming this is fair game, when has this ever been done against the Democrats? Was Rose Kennedy criticised for the philandering of one son or the questionable lack of taking responsibility by another?

Third and least evident but most important is the First Gentleman of AK. No one has talked much about the fact that he is a blue-collar worker -- and a union member. A successful career woman with a blue-collar husband -- outrageous. That is not a model the Party of Women want to catch on. Next thing you know there will be Republican candidates who are blue collar workers -- or horror of horrors -- union members. Not only will union members be voting for Republican candidates which is bad enough, the candidate will be one of them.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am a life-long Republican and white collar worker with advanced degrees. My children are a Sgt in the Infantry, and a techer of disadvantaged children with two children of her own. Their spouses are a white collar government worker with two children of her own, and a former blue collar worker in construction now doing whatever can be done to run a construction site without having a degree.

shocked, simply shocked

all God's children

why does fruit start to rot while still hard?

In this case large, dark plums.

And why does fruit no start to rot from the inside out?

particularly pears

Election Loophole Allows Non Citizens to Vote

And in Chicago this is news how? The dead have traditionally voted. I suspect both Mayor Daleys still vote. The current one and his father.

I would be interested in seeeing a definition of excessive recycling

WORLD WIDE WORDS ISSUE 611 Saturday 1 November 2008

2. Turns of Phrase: Carborexia
------------------------------
To exhibit "carborexia" is to have an extreme "dark green" attitude to environmental issues. This can show itself in several ways, such as excessive recycling, but in particular it refers to an obsessive desire to reduce one's personal carbon footprint. The term first appeared in an article in the NYTimes on Oct17. The adjective is "carborexic".

richard the (apparently) dark green pup
Kennesaw GA

and I thought that smell was from the beans at lunch

All substances are either growing or decaying at any one point in time. Human beings are no exception. If we are not growing, then we are decaying. - Thomas D. Willhite _Quotes_

[typical oversimplification - complex organisms have parts that are doing both - we are all in some sense "dying"]

Dear Al Gore:

[context]

Who is your science advisor? Whoever they are, if anyone is, I hope you are not paying them. They are not worth it. But with your wealth that may not be an issue.

By the numbers.

1) Wind - a good thing. I was on the coast of OR last week and the wind was constant. Wind is good for OR. Except the noise pollution. Low frequency. Penetrating. Carries a long way. One reason wind farms are in out of the way places. Like offshore. And in deserts.

Then there is the visual pollution. I personally find them beautiful. Not everyone does. People sue their neighbors when they install a wind turbine.

2) Sun - a good thing. Active (photovoltaic) or passive (various) solar is a good thing -- if you have sun. Many places have lots of clouds lots of the time. Pittsburgh in the winter.

btw do you know how much pollution is made making photovoltaic devices?

3) Water - a good thing. Not evenly distributed either in space or time. Heaven knows GA is way too dry right now. And the ecologists would like to tear down dams to return rivers to their natural state. Al -- you're from TN. Can you spell snail darter? Little rascal shut down the Tellico dam.

So what we need is a reliable base line plant that just keeps on producing when the wind don't blow and the sun don't shine and its way too dry.

4) Nuclear - a good thing. If you remember to build plants with engineering and not emotion. How do you get the most expensive, least safe plant? Build them like the US has -- unique plans for each plant. For once the French are very smart. Get a set plans. Build every plant according to the same plans. Each one is cheaper than the last one. Ask Henry Ford about it.

5) Coal - a good thing if you have enough water to cleanup the air pollution they produce. And if you make sure you plant trees to offset the CO₂. Lots of trees. Not grass - trees.

6) Trees - yes trees - we can now make ethanol from cellulose! Nuff said. And see numbers 5 and 7 for bonus.

7) Conservation - a kilowatt saved is a kilowatt earned. See Ben Franklin. Plant trees to shade houses. Shutters to cool houses. Insulation. Sweaters in winter and shorts in summer. Fans in summer. Better house design. Brick on inside not outside. Don't cool/heat rooms not used. Cars that don't suck gas. Mine gets 25-30 m/g-- double previous van.

8) Oil - a bad thing. Not enough. Save it for energy needs that can't use the above. If you think $4/gallon is too high wait a year. But be sitting down. This is the beginning of the end.

9) Gas - a bad thing for boiler fuel. We need it for chemical feedstock. Think plastics.

Fine whine list.