The CFL Scam

No, I'm not talking about the Canadian Football League ...

Compact Flourescent Bulbs. These are the light bulbs that your government, pushed by eco-nazis, is forcing you to use instead of good old fashioned light bulbs.

If things keep progressing as they are, in a couple of years it will be illegal for you to own or use a normal light bulb. It will be illegal for manufacturers to make normal light bulbs. Indeed, many manufacturers have stopped making them, and what is on the shelves and in warehouses now is it. Once they are gone, you will be forced to buy CFLs.

The selling points the left is using to force these things on us are:

1) CFLs use considerably less electricity to operate than incandescent bulbs.

2) CFLs last much longer than incandescent bulbs.

Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? Who can argue that those two benefits would be good?

Well, here is the reality of CFLs:

1) CFLs do use less electricity when compared one to one with incandescent bulbs. How much less - well that is open to interpretation.

2) CFLs generate much less light per bulb than normal bulbs. For instance, if you use a 60 watt incandescent bulb, and switch to a CFL bulb, you will get 50% less light. Now, that is not a scientific number derived by testing and published by the government or CFL manufacturers, it is real world experience from my Mark One Eyeball in my living room.

3) CFLs last a fraction of the time an incandescent bulb does. Again, firsthand experience is a whole lot more telling that the lab numbers. I have external floodlights on my house. I had normal bulbs that lasted 10 years in one of these fixtures. I replaced one that burned out with a CFL. Then I replaced it again about 6 months later. Then I replaced it again about 5 months later. Where an old style bulb lasted 10 years, I'm on my third CFL bulb in about a year. (And I use factory brand name bulbs - not off brand) (BTW, related to 2) above - I was using 75 watt rated incandescent floods. I had to replace them with 120 watt CFLs to get the same amount of illumination.)

4) You can not throw away a CFL (legally). They are poisonous, and considered hazardous waste. If you drop and break one on your floor, you are supposed to call a hazmat team to clean it up. I am not kidding!

So, you have to pay more for the CFL bulbs initially. You may have to buy more of them, if you are forced to add light fixtures to get the same amount of illuminiation you are used to. You will have to buy them much more frequently due to failure. You are supposed to pay to have them recycled, and face a stiff fine if you are caught not disposing of them properly. If you drop one, you are supposed to pay for a hazardous materials handling firm to come out and clean it up.

Every stinking one of these points is geared towards making you pay more, either to the government, manufacturers, or cleaners.

The fact that these things contain mercury and are hazardous to the environment immediately cancels out any 'green' benefits.

So, why are they forcing this on us?

Like so many other things the government does, if you want to know the real reason, follow the money:

Manufacturers, like GE, make tons more money on CFLs. GE is in bed with Obama and the far left part of our government. GE spends millions in political donations to make sure the politicians they buy and pay for help their business. So ... politicians force us to give more of our money to GE (and the other companies that support those politicians).

Don't Mess With Texas - the CAF Wins!

The State of Texas runs an anti-littering campaign called "Don't Mess With Texas". Over the past 25 years, a number of TV commercials have been produced for the campaign, many featuring celebrities. I don't know how much airtime these commercials have gotten outside the state, but many of them are quite good.

In recognition of the 25th anniversary of the campaign, Texas ran an on-line contest to determine the most popular commercial in the series. A month long series of eliminations produced a winner today.

Entitled "CAF", the piece shows a pickup driving down a highway, with the driver dumping a sackful of trash out on the road. "Sentimental Journey", a restored WWII B-17 Flying Fortress comes over the rise behind the pickup, and engages on a 'bombing run' on the target. It is a great commercial. The B-17 was owned and operated by the Confederate Air Force at the time (1991).

www.dontmesswithtexas.org/celebrityfaceoff/

The Confederate Air Foirce, a group formed in the early '60s to preserve and operate aircraft from WWII, no longer exists. It was renamed Commemorative Air Force, in a disgusting display of political correctness run amok. To CAF purists, this win by 'CAF' is a victory.

Update - Courtesy of some folks who participated in the filming of this commercial, this is really worth the view (choose the 'View The Making' link):

http://dmwt.rwhome.net/

I Want This Man In The White House

Why the hell couldn't this man, Allen West (R-FL), have been the first black man elected President? How much better off would we be if he was POTUS rather than the amateur socialist community organizer we ended up with?

Of course, liberals wouldn't consider him 'authentically' black.

This man should be VP in 2012, or GOP candidate for President in 2016 if union thugs and illegals are able to steal the 2012 election for Obama.

206 MPH ???

The Bud Shootout was held at Daytone this past Saturday evening. The opening event of the 2011 season, it was a non-points race.

The race was historic. Not for the action that took place, although there was plenty. Not for the number of lead changes, although that did set a record for the event. It was historice because of the SPEED!

The combination of aerodynamics, new pavement, and rules changes created a situation that had not been seen before. Two cars, riding together nose to tail, bumpers constantly rubbing, created a mass that was, at times, 25mph faster than a single car. Almost the entire field paired up and rode the 75 laps of the event as welded pairs. Anyone trying to go it alone, or in a group larger than 2 cars, sank to the back like they had a parachute AND an anchor attached.

New pavement at Daytona has given the racers a surface that is free of bumps, allowing them to ride like this for lap after lap without much fear of causing a crash.

The top speeds seen in this configuraiton were over 206MPH. Compare this with the single car Daytone 500 pole winning one lap speed of 186mph (registered by Dale Earnhardt Jr.).

Consistent 200 mph laps have not been seen in NASCAR since the late 1980s, when a horrific accident involving Bobbie Allison at Talladega getting airborne tore down the crowd protecting fence and sent debris into the crowd. After that incident, NASCAR instituted a lot of rules changes to slow the cars down, for safety reasons.

NASCAR will act this week to slow these cars down. Technical rules changes will be made to cut the top speeds back down to the 190mph area. Although seeing these speeds is a rush, and fun for the drivers, these cars get airborne far too easy when they get that fast.




Update - Well, no one got airborne during the race, except for 20 year old Trevor Bayne. A day after his 20th birthday, and in his second ever Cup Series start, he drove the #21 Wood Brothers FORD (YES ... FORD) to victory.

Lots of wrecks took out quite a few of the favorites, but this win was no fluke. He had run strong all week, the car was great, and he was up front most of the race.

Rules changes dropped the speeds to around 199-200mph - still far faster than racing at that track in over 20 years.

Challenger - BadAss American Muscle Car ... ?

I saw the Chrysler commercial that played during the Superbowl, "Imported from Detroit". I was very impressed with its message. Strong and simple - American car manufacturers, in particular, Chrysler, are back and going strong. Buy American ...

A cornerstone of Chrysler's resurgence is the Challenger, the modern reincarnation of the manufacturer's last entry in the Pony Car wars of the '60s. Along with the Mustang and Camaro, this is the rebirth of American Muscle. The Challenger is a great looking car, fast, relatively nimble, and by God it comes with a Hemi!

Have you seen the Chrysler commercial where George Washington leads a flock of Challengers out of the woods to attack the poor English Red Coats? US flag proudly waving - a powerful buy American message.

Makes you proud of American Muscle, almost makes me want to go out and buy one. (Almost ... I'm a Ford guy through and through.)


Last night I saw one of Nat Geo's Ultimate Factories episodes. It detailed the construction of the Challenger, from raw sheets of metal to rollout as a completed vehicle. Incredible technology, very impressive to see it come together. Unbelievable that it takes just 20 hours from start to end for a car to roll off the line.

The most surprising thing I saw on this was where the factories were. The huge, modern plant where the Hemi engines are built is in Mexico. The monsterous facility where the car itself is constructed, from start to finish, is in Brampton, Ontario, Canada.

What the hell? One of the saviors of the American auto industry, one of the key members of the resurgence of the American Muscle Car, isn't even made in America?

I'm sorry, but I'm really disappointed by this.

Michael Vick Gets The Key To Dallas? WTF?

I don't know how much attention this has gotten nationally, but here in the DFW area, it has been a firestorm ...

Dallas' Mayor Pro Tem (essentially Vice Mayor) is Dwaine Caraway. Mr. Caraway is a Democrat, and represents an almost 100% black district of Dallas. Mr. Caraway has been the center of a number of gaffes and questionable incidents recently. However, an incident that took place last Saturday in the runup to the Superbowl has really cranked up the furor over his behavior.

On Saturday, Caraway presented Eagles quarterback Michael Vick with a Key to the City of Dallas.

WTF?

The presentation was made while Vick was speaking to kids about his experiences at the Club Cirque in downtown Dallas.

Shock and dismay immediately set in. Dallas' mayor, Tom Leppert, said it was unfortunate and shouldn't have happened. All other members of the city council, save one, condemned it. The lone supporter of Caraway's actions was Carolyn Davis, another representative of a completely black district in South Dallas.

Now, an explanation is in order. The Key was an unofficial one. There are official Keys to the City, which are expensive and given out mainly to foreign dignitaries under strict protocol guidelines. The unofficial Keys are much cheaper ones, given to each City Council member to distribute as they please. There are no written rules about their distribution, and no official record is kept of their distribution. Indeed, Kiss bass player Gene Simmons were presented with one earlier in that same week, in recognition of his work with soldiers and their needs. So, no rules or laws were broken by Mr. Caraway's actions.

However, to award the Key to the City of Dallas to the quarterback of the PHILADELPHIA EAGLES, by itself, is a crime against all logic and the people of Dallas. To award it to Vick, with his heinous criminal background, for no specific reason is just plain wrong.

Caraway's public comments since the incident have indicated he was trying to recognize Vick publicly for how he has turned his life around, and how his redemption should be held up as an example to kids. That very well may be, and I really don't doubt his sincerity in saying that. However, his reasoning is seriously flawed, and he had no idea what a firestorm he was going to set off.

Some folks in this area have portrayed this as pandering to get the black vote. Vick is considered a hero by many young blacks - people who are taught that athletes and bling are to be worshipped, and a dog is just a dumb animal. I don't think that is the case here - Caraway's district is 100% black. He is black. He doesn't need to pander for votes, he's going to get almost all of them all anyway. South Dallas has always, and will always, block vote for incumbent black Democrat candidates.

I have no problem with Vick while he was on stage on this one issue. He didn't know it was coming, appeared to be humble when he was given it. The behavior of him and his bodyguards as he left the event certainly don't give the impression of someone who is deeply sorry for what he did.

As an aside - Tom Leppert has announced he will resign as Dallas' mayor shortly, in order to run for US Senate seat to be vacated by Kay Bailey Hutchison. When he does, Dwaine Caraway, with all of his baggage and controversy, becomes Dallas' mayor.

Oh, shit ...

Your Post Office Is Shrinking

The US Postal Service has started shrinking, again. Budget shortfalls are forcing some post offices to cut back on their hours. My favorite local station, a small one that never has a waiting line, is now open only from 10:00am to 4:00pm, M-F.

I've heard that the USPS is considering closing up to a third of all post offices, if the budget woes don't get cleared up. Dropping Saturday delivery completely, and closing all stations on Saturday are also options I've heard floating around.

You know, it doesn't sound like much of an inconvenience to have shorter hours and no Saturday, but it really is. Most folks can only get to a post office to do business before or after work, during the lunch hour, or on Saturday. If you remove all those options except the lunch hour, those stations are going to get extremely crowded during that hour, lines are going to be horrendous, and folks will be even more fed up with the USPS.

I believe the budget shortfall for the coming year is around 8 billion. Congress and our imperious leader waste more money than that each time they sneeze. They throw hundredes of billions into bailing out Freddie Mac and Fannie May. Why can't they give a little bit to the post office and save our mail service?

Update - In recent Congressional hearings stated that without relief from mandated payments into the post office pension fund (5.5 billion) and the the ability to close operations on Saturday, the Post Office could no longer function as a self sustaing arm of the government. Pretty bleak assessment. In reponse, one of the Congressional Reps stated that if the PO closes on Saturday, it would kill their business.

The Rep was right. Given the limited hours the PO is open durig the week, Closing on Saturdays would pretty much kill all of their retail, walkup business. Most normal folks have to go on Saturdays, if they must go to a Post Office. Most facilities are a crowded nightmare on Saturdays, but that is the only time more working folks can get there. Closing on Saturday will force many people to find other ways to doing their postal business - delivery services or on-line. It will be a major revenue hit to the PO if they cancel Saturday services.

AOL Goes To Hell

AOL's purchase of the Huffington Post signals a new era in news bias. As bad as it has been, it is going to get worse.

AOL has pretty much been irrelevant in the internet world for a decade. Once the masters of digital communications, they became a has-been when people figured out that America On Line wasn't actually the internet.

In an effort to revitalize itself, it buys one of the most biased 'news' outlets on the internet - Arianna Huffington's hate filled electronic rag. Huffington herself becomes the single person controlling content on AOL. While she makes a ton of money in the deal, she actually wins even bigger by getting a much larger portal through which she can spit out her vile, far left wing diatribe.

The Huffington Post is a direct competitor to MoveOn.org and Dailykos.com - that should tell you all you need to know about what its views are.

Huffington herself pockets about $18 million in the deal itself, and will pull down an annual salary of $4 million. Will there be any outcry from the left about her excessive profits, her excessive salary? No ... I doubt it. Will she turn around and donate most of it to charity? Not a chance.

AOL employees reportedly gave her a standing ovation when she visited them in NY. However, the rest of the nation isn't so impressed - AOL shares have nose-dived since the announcement.

Let's sit back and wait to hear the cries from the left in Congress about how this violates the 'fairness' of the internet. (You'll be waiting a long time ...)

Most of the reports from the mainstream media about this, if they say anything about it at all, dismiss it as no big deal. Will there be any cries for institution of the Fairness Doctrine to stop this? Turn it around - if Sean Hannity became the content controller for Google (for instance), do you think their reaction would be the same?

There is no such thing as un-biased news. There never has been - really. It's just that in this age of instant communication, everyone who can type can claim to be a new outlet, or electroinc journalist. With that kind of information flow, you can see where the 'trusted' voices are or are not giving you the true story.

Walter Cronkite was one of the most trusted names in news. He was also one of the most liberal leaning mainstream newscasters of his day. If he was around today, he wouldn't be trusted as an un-biased source anymore than Chris Matthews.

In the old days, views that weren't popular with the mainstream pundits didn't get any airtime. Now, with new media and the format introduced by Rush Limbaugh back in theh mid-80s gives us access to all views - and we see the liberal bias.

Update - The AOL stock selloff that was triggered by the Huffington announcement has erased appx. $315 million off the company's worth. Shareholders are taking a huge hit in order to foward this liberal agenda!

Update 3/9/2011 - AOL announced that they will layoff 200 employees in the US, and 700 in India, as a result of its 'merger' with Huffingtonpost. Now, does that sound like good, compasionate left wing company leadership that is concerned about its employees above all else? Why isn't Huffington herself spending some of her immense profits from the merger to keep these folks employed? Isn't that what a good socialist would do? F***ing hypocrites ...

Ice Bowl 2011

The past few days have seen a real mess creep across most of the country. Here in the DFW area, ice, frigid temps, and now snow have made a real mess of Superbowl week. The game itself won't be affected, but all the workup, all the parties, all the celebration has been muzzled. It has been very funny seeing the ESPN clowns do their live show each night from Sundance Square in Ft. Worth, with frozen snot hanging off their faces! Hundreds of cancelled flights along with airport closures have made it difficult for the people coming in to see the game to actually get here.

There has been a lot of national coverage about the rolling blackouts that have hit Texas due to the cold. Well, here's the scoop. Several power plants were knocked offline when the cold hit, due to water pipes freezing and breaking. This caused a shortage of generating power, just at a time where we saw record demands for energy. Rolling blackouts were instituted to make sure the power grid didn't collapse in an uncontrolled fashion.

A bunch of Yankees have crapped all over Texas on TV about this. Here is the plain truth about the root cause of this - no new power plants have been built in Texas for almost 30 years. In spite of the tremendous industrial and population growth in this state, the Federal Government has made it so difficult, if not impossible, for power plants to get licenses that no one even tries to build new ones. Our power grid is not sufficient to handle out of the ordinary circumstances, like this freeze. Don't blame Texas ... don't believe this crap on TV. It is the fault of the eco-nazis who have and continue to block any rational energy production means.

The rolling blackouts have caused some valid controversy. Cowboys' stadium, the team hotels, and the Dallas Convention center (the NFL Experience is there) were exempted from the blackouts, and never lost power. Business', hospitals, schools, homes, traffic lights all got hit with multiple unannounced power cuts, but Jerry World and the NFL got a pass.

There is a lot of fear in this area about the NFL not coming back to DFW for another Superbowl due to this freakish weather. That isn't without merit - Atlanta got hit with a showstorm when they hosted the game, and the NFL hasn't been back. If the NFL is that petty, that shortsighted, then they can just stay the hell away. The fear of weather hasn't stopped them from having Superbowls up north a few times, and didn't stop them from scheduling one in New Jersey (in an open stadium).

For local business, especially the smaller business owners, who were expecting the promised money boom from the game, this week has been a bust. I really feel sorry for them.

According to Algore (really, he said this), the cause of all of this is Global Warming. (Thank God this moron didn't win the 2000 election!).

Personally, I think it is God's revenge. Having the Packers and Steelers playing the Superbowl in Cowboys' stadium is against the natural order of things. It is a crime against humanity.

Obama Ignores The Law

US Federal Judge Robert Vinson, of the northern district of Florida, struck down Obamacare as un-Constitutional. In particular, he stated that the mandate for individuals to purchase health insurance was a gross overreach by the Federal Government, one prohibited by the Constitution. As the individual mandate is a key piece of the whole of Obamacare, Judge Vinson stated that the entire bill was void.

This is the second federal judge to rule in this fashion. Two other federal judges ruled in favor of Obamacare. The judges who ruled in favor are Democrats, the ones who ruled against are Republicans. This will end up in the Supreme Court, which shouldn't surprise anyone.

When it does end up in the Supreme Court, it is not a given how that body will rule. Conventional widsom predicts a 4 to 4 split along liberal/conservative lines, with Justice Kennedy, a perennial fence sitter, being the decider. Justice Kegan, who argued on behalf of Obamacare during her time in Obama's White House, should recuse herself from the issue, since she was an active participant on one side of the issue. She will not do so ... Obama will not let her, her vote is critical to him having a chance to succeed.

In the short term, Judge Vinson's ruling should stop all work and enforcement of Obamacare - since it now does not exist as law, there is no authority for the Federal Government, or anyone else, to proceed with it. Obama's frontmen have already stated that they consider the ruling to be judicial activism (funny how they love activist judges when the are FOR liberal causes), and will not abide by the decision.

This means that Obama, Congress, and anyone else acting on Obamacare is breaking the law, until such time as a higher court reverses Judge Vinson's ruling.

26 States are pursuing lawsuits against Obamacare. Any of those states can petition Judge Vinson to find Obama in contempt of court for violating his ruling. It remains to be seen if that will happen. I doubt it.

The Heritage Foundation has an excellent writeup of what this ruling really means, and its ramifications:

blog.heritage.org/2011/02/01/morning-bell-another-victory-on-the-road-to-repeal-3

Update - US Federal Judge Martin Feldman, of New Orleans, ruled that the Obama Administraction acted in contempt when it disregarded his ruling regarding restrictions on offshore oil drilling in the aftermath of the BP oil spill. Citing the behaviour of the Interior Department, Judge Feldman said this:

"Each step the government took following the court's imposition of a preliminary injunction showcases its defiance. Such dismissive conduct, viewed in tandem with the re-imposition of a second blanket and substantively identical moratorium, and in light of the national importance of the case, provide this court with clear and convincing evidence of the government's contempt."

Issued on Feb. 2, this is a contempt citation for Obama, Ken Salazar, and their Interior Department. The language in Judge Feldman's ruling is extraordinary in its bluntness and direct criticism. It is clear that the Judge is very unhappy that the federal government decided to ignore the ruling of a federal court.

If this contempt ruling had been made against an ordinary citizen, that person would be in court before the judge, or already in jail.

This is typical behavoir for the far left. Anything they want to do is OK, whether legal or not, as long as it is for their cause.

This is identical to what is happening with Judge Vinson ruling Obamacare un-Constitutional. Obama's minions are publicly declaring they will not abide by the Judge's decision, because they believe it is not correct.

You know what really ought to happen here? US Federal Marshalls, who are charged with enforcing US Federal Court rulings, should march into the White House, slap a pair of cuffs on Obama, and frog-march him out the door straight to these courts to explain himself and his actions. If he thinks he can get away with ignoring rulings he doesn't like, what in the world is to keep him from ignoring the Supreme Court when they declare Obamacare un-Constitutional? With his (and his cronies') attitudes towards the Constitution and laws they don't agree with, there is no telling what will happen then. If the President defies the Supreme Court, what happens?

A sitting US President is openly ignoring rulings from US Federal Judges, thereby breaking multiple laws. Isn't this grounds for impeachment?