As noted here a couple of weeks ago, folks in North Plains have had just about enough of Portland City Council's "innovative" mandatory slop-composting scheme, though the 0verlords at Portland City Hall maintain that the program will go forward even if North Plains residents prevail in their effort to get the slop-site shut down at their doorstep. The 0verlords maintain that their other dump-sites will be able to pick up the slack, and so they'll continue to force their agenda upon a generally unwilling populace.
One of their dump-sites is over on the east side, in the Lents neighborhood. That's where the 0verlords dumped all of the duck poop that they scraped out of the pond at Laurelhurst Park, last year, and the residents in Lents seem to have had just about enough crap from Portland City Hall. They don't want the slop-bucket "composting" scheme in their 'hood, and they're airing their complaints to the state Land Use Board of Appeals.
Here's hoping they can slap Portland's smarmy little mayor upside the head with his own slop bucket!
Chicago - In 2008, Hiroyuki Joho, 18, was hurrying in the pouring rain with an umbrella over his head, trying to catch a Metra train, when he was struck by an Amtrak train traveling at more than 70 mph.
A large portion of his body flew about 100 feet onto the southbound platform, where it struck Gayane Zokhrabov, then 58. She was knocked to the ground, her leg and wrist broken and her shoulder injured.
Naturally, Zokhrabov's suing. Not Amtrak; she's suing the dead kid. And she's tenacious - although a Cook County court dismissed the case, she took it to appelate court. And won:
An appeals court rules that Hiroyuki Joho, who was killed at a Chicago Metra station, can be held responsible after a portion of his body struck a woman on the platform.
Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, Sasabe, Pima County, Arizona -
Trash — During 2009, an estimated 51-82 tons of litter were left on the Refuge by approximately 20,700 illegal immigrants. Based on Refuge monitoring efforts, each border crosser deposits an average of about 5 to 8 pounds of trash on the Refuge. Trash has significant impacts to wildlife, habitat and public safety, not to mention the loss of aesthetic values.
Wildfire — Several fires are started each year by illegal immigrants resulting in significant environmental damage and cost to the government. Two fires in the vicinity of the Refuge in 2009 burned over 23,000 acres and cost federal and state governments $1.2 million to suppress. Wildfires put both other illegal immigrants and the visiting public at risk as well as potentially impacting critical habitat and listed species.
Livestock Trespass — Illegal immigrants often damage or cut fences or leave gates open, allowing cattle to enter the Refuge. This directly impacts Refuge wildlife habitats and exposes neighboring ranches to disease transmission from untreated Mexican livestock.
These taxpayer-funded "scientists" don't want to talk about things like that, as it conflicts with their agenda. These folks aren't scientists, and taxpayers shouldn't be funding them; they seek to further their ideological agenda under the pretense of science, while feeding heartily from the taxpayer-filled trough.
In their latest bid to be as acutely annoying as possible, Iran is now threatening tosink its entire navy. They also brag that they have "stalked and filmed" an American aircraft carrier; conveniently omitting the fact that the ship is roughly the size of a skyscraper and is making no effort to conceal its presence.
For the background on this: somebody ordered a couple of game system controllers, paid up front, was promised delivery by (whatever date). Moral of the story: never do business with "Ocean Marketing".
Most folks are aware that solar installations are heavily subsidized by tax dollars, but less well-known is that even with subsidies ranging upwards of 30%, such installations still won't break even over the 20 to 25-year lifespan of the things. So government tries to "help" by mandating that utilities purchase excess solar power at roughly 2.5 times the kwh rate.
What this means, in most cases, is that utilities are obliged to purchase output from residential solar installations at 12.5 cents/kwh during the day, when the solar power is generated - but at night, when the residents actually use most of their power, the utilities "sell" power at 5 cents/kwh. This arrangement functions to give solar installation companies such as Solar City, as well as their residential clients, a free ride at the expense of others who lack the means or the rooftops to accommodate such installations themselves. It is, in short, a method of shifting the costs of solar from the relatively wealthy to the relatively poor.
Companies like Solar City get their money up front, in the form of government subsidies - which is why the company says that after 15 years, they "give" the solar units to the homeowner (pers. communication, Solar City). Remember: these are roof-mounted units with a life-span of 20 to 25 years. At some point, they have to be taken out. Roof repairs or replacement will likely be needed, and the solar units will be at the end of their lifespan. All of that cost falls to the resident.
Note: Solar City is but one of many installers, all operating from the same playbook.
So, let's cut to the chase: what's all this really mean? Your neighbors, after all, like one of mine, already have "free" solar mounted on their roofs. I looked into it; contacting California-based Solar City and other installers, and concluded that this is not a scam - but an unsustainable bubble much like the recent housing market bubble.
In recent days, this conclusion has been reinforced by economics experts like Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, as well as technologists. "Saving The Planet™" may well cost far more than you imagined.
As you may know, the paragons of virtue in the U.S. House of Representatives are working on the Stop Online Piracy Act, and that's a wonderful thing - if it applies to House members and their staffs.
Because over 800 IP addresses assigned to the U.S. House of Representatives, as it happens, have been caught using bitTorrent to download material. Doubtless, this has been occurring for research purposes only, which explains why they've been downloading Windows 7 Ultimate, porn flicks, and a range of other purely educational materials.
For folks who have difficulty detemining the meaning of the word, "is", terms like "piracy" must be really difficult to wrap their well-compensated heads around.
This year, the federal government has spent $682,570 to study shrimp walking on a treadmill. "Unbelievable," you may be excused for thinking - but you'd be wrong. In fact, the National Science Foundation wants even more money to continue the "studies".
The NSF has even produced a video on the project titled: “The Importance of Studying Shrimp On A Treadmill”.
