thank god for fundies? and other political-type rantings...
So...
I've taken to listening to the news in the car on the way to and from work.
One of the top stories they have been discussing is Obama's push for his disastrous healthcare 'reform' bill. I have to admit, the thought of that rubish egtting pushed in to law scares me, and I can't understand how anyone who understands how insurance works would think it's a good idea (and, being lawyers, the lot of them, that means that the bulk of congress should know how insurance works, and those who vote for it either didn't bother to see what the bill does, think it's a good idea against all logic or are voting for it despite thinking it's a bad idea... all grounds, IMO, for being removed from office at earliest convenience)
Anyway... sufficed to say, I don't approve of the bill, and my congress critters will likely keep or lose my vote based on this bill.
The point is, according to the news program I was listening to on my drive home, a number of congress members are now saying they will not support the bill unless Obama puts in a stipulation that its healthcare benefits do not cover abortions. Now, I realize that this just means that abortions won't be paid for my government money (any more than they already are, anyway), but I can't help but think that it's these congress persons' constituents, who may or may not be fundies, who have given them the message that there'd better be no support for abortions in the bill.
So, in other words, fundies are killing the healthcare 'reform' bill, and while I generally disagree with most of their positions, including the position that abortion is something evil to be stopped at all points and all costs, I am grateful their ideals might end up saving us from a bill that I definitely disagree with.
In other thoughts, listening to the news also exposes me to various commercials...
Now, the commercials can be split up into a few basic types... furniture sales, vacation stuff, solar panels, and poor money management.
I don't really object to the first two except insofar as one of the companies from the first one has teh WORST ever company and website name (they sell cabinets and are entirely online based, sot hey just jammed web and cabinetry together), and I'd never be able to afford the cruises advertised in the second.
The other two, however...
Solar power is pretty cool. It's also unreliable, inefficient, and not cost effective compared to conventional power generation(comparing home solar panels to normal plant generated electricity)
The solar panel commercials outright LIE about the panels paying for themselves or even producing enough energy that you would be putting energy back in to the grid.
1: solar panels (in CA) are subsidized by the state government in the form of tax breaks, the full cost of the panels will likely not be made back before they cease to function in ten years
2: There is a set amount of energy from the sun that reaches the earth per square foot. (note that the total energy that reaches the earth in one day is equal to the total energy used by the world in one year, but the total energy that hits your house in one day isn't as much as what you use in one day) The average energy that reaches the earth in the US is about 200 watts per square meter- enough to run a laptop or three or one desktop computer. Where I live the average is closer to 240 watts.
3: solar panels are not very efficient. Remember that figure I talked about in point 2? the best solar panels can only capture about half of that energy. I would estimate my roof to be about 50 square meters in surface area on teh south facing parts; if I were to cover my roof with average quality solar panels (lets say 33% efficiency), it would produce 50*240/3 watts on average- about 4000 watts. Most solar panel instalations are no larger than 4 meters square, which would produce about 320 watts on average when working at best efficiency.
4: Which leads in to the next point: maintainance. California is dusty! panels would need regular cleaning to work at peak efficiency. I doubt most people would bother cleaning the panels very often- and if you did, how much are you spending on cleaning supplies (either a cleaning solution or just water to hose them down, it adds up!)
The households in California these adds are aimed at typically already have an air conditioner, a refrigerator, a number of lights, at least one TV, at least one computer... that's more than a thousand watts, and while I certainly don't have my house's power bill on hand, I can assure you that the cost of installing solar panels (around $20,000, according to one FAQ I found here) will in NO way be made back in a ten year period if the panels were to reduce the power bill to nothing.
Solar energy: good.
solar energy produced at home: not so good
The last class of ads...
oy.
bankruptcy lawyers, credit card debt fixers, tax debt reducers... all lawyers or legal consultants, and slime of the earth.
In general, I don;'t think the majority of the people who are being advertised to need or deserve help. They did stupid things, bought what they couldn't afford, failed to pay taxes they owed, and now a bunch of slime ball lawyers will give make everything better for a fraction of what you owe... of course, whoever it is that you owed the money to is still going to be out that amount...
Except there's an ad that I recently noticed theya re advertising taking advantage of a government bail out of credit card companies.
I am pissed about this. This sounds like, to me, that they are going to convince the credit card company to absolve your debt in a way that they get paid back from uncle sam. This means that, if I am understanding this right, my tax dollars are being wasted to bail out the idiots who bought a bunch of stuff they couldn't afford, and it sound to me like more of a legal insurance fraud being encouraged by these slime ball legal consultants. At least the companies that were getting bailed out could be held accountable! these idiots are just going to go out and rack up more credit card debt, and who knows, maybe they are just going to end up getting bailed out again because they have no concept of fiscal responsibility, and they evaded the consequences of their poor judgment.
And then, just to make my day worse, whenever I turn off the commercials so I don't get pissed off, I always seem to turn the radio back on at the end of the traffic report and just in time for more commercials.
I've taken to listening to the news in the car on the way to and from work.
One of the top stories they have been discussing is Obama's push for his disastrous healthcare 'reform' bill. I have to admit, the thought of that rubish egtting pushed in to law scares me, and I can't understand how anyone who understands how insurance works would think it's a good idea (and, being lawyers, the lot of them, that means that the bulk of congress should know how insurance works, and those who vote for it either didn't bother to see what the bill does, think it's a good idea against all logic or are voting for it despite thinking it's a bad idea... all grounds, IMO, for being removed from office at earliest convenience)
Anyway... sufficed to say, I don't approve of the bill, and my congress critters will likely keep or lose my vote based on this bill.
The point is, according to the news program I was listening to on my drive home, a number of congress members are now saying they will not support the bill unless Obama puts in a stipulation that its healthcare benefits do not cover abortions. Now, I realize that this just means that abortions won't be paid for my government money (any more than they already are, anyway), but I can't help but think that it's these congress persons' constituents, who may or may not be fundies, who have given them the message that there'd better be no support for abortions in the bill.
So, in other words, fundies are killing the healthcare 'reform' bill, and while I generally disagree with most of their positions, including the position that abortion is something evil to be stopped at all points and all costs, I am grateful their ideals might end up saving us from a bill that I definitely disagree with.
In other thoughts, listening to the news also exposes me to various commercials...
Now, the commercials can be split up into a few basic types... furniture sales, vacation stuff, solar panels, and poor money management.
I don't really object to the first two except insofar as one of the companies from the first one has teh WORST ever company and website name (they sell cabinets and are entirely online based, sot hey just jammed web and cabinetry together), and I'd never be able to afford the cruises advertised in the second.
The other two, however...
Solar power is pretty cool. It's also unreliable, inefficient, and not cost effective compared to conventional power generation(comparing home solar panels to normal plant generated electricity)
The solar panel commercials outright LIE about the panels paying for themselves or even producing enough energy that you would be putting energy back in to the grid.
1: solar panels (in CA) are subsidized by the state government in the form of tax breaks, the full cost of the panels will likely not be made back before they cease to function in ten years
2: There is a set amount of energy from the sun that reaches the earth per square foot. (note that the total energy that reaches the earth in one day is equal to the total energy used by the world in one year, but the total energy that hits your house in one day isn't as much as what you use in one day) The average energy that reaches the earth in the US is about 200 watts per square meter- enough to run a laptop or three or one desktop computer. Where I live the average is closer to 240 watts.
3: solar panels are not very efficient. Remember that figure I talked about in point 2? the best solar panels can only capture about half of that energy. I would estimate my roof to be about 50 square meters in surface area on teh south facing parts; if I were to cover my roof with average quality solar panels (lets say 33% efficiency), it would produce 50*240/3 watts on average- about 4000 watts. Most solar panel instalations are no larger than 4 meters square, which would produce about 320 watts on average when working at best efficiency.
4: Which leads in to the next point: maintainance. California is dusty! panels would need regular cleaning to work at peak efficiency. I doubt most people would bother cleaning the panels very often- and if you did, how much are you spending on cleaning supplies (either a cleaning solution or just water to hose them down, it adds up!)
The households in California these adds are aimed at typically already have an air conditioner, a refrigerator, a number of lights, at least one TV, at least one computer... that's more than a thousand watts, and while I certainly don't have my house's power bill on hand, I can assure you that the cost of installing solar panels (around $20,000, according to one FAQ I found here) will in NO way be made back in a ten year period if the panels were to reduce the power bill to nothing.
Solar energy: good.
solar energy produced at home: not so good
The last class of ads...
oy.
bankruptcy lawyers, credit card debt fixers, tax debt reducers... all lawyers or legal consultants, and slime of the earth.
In general, I don;'t think the majority of the people who are being advertised to need or deserve help. They did stupid things, bought what they couldn't afford, failed to pay taxes they owed, and now a bunch of slime ball lawyers will give make everything better for a fraction of what you owe... of course, whoever it is that you owed the money to is still going to be out that amount...
Except there's an ad that I recently noticed theya re advertising taking advantage of a government bail out of credit card companies.
I am pissed about this. This sounds like, to me, that they are going to convince the credit card company to absolve your debt in a way that they get paid back from uncle sam. This means that, if I am understanding this right, my tax dollars are being wasted to bail out the idiots who bought a bunch of stuff they couldn't afford, and it sound to me like more of a legal insurance fraud being encouraged by these slime ball legal consultants. At least the companies that were getting bailed out could be held accountable! these idiots are just going to go out and rack up more credit card debt, and who knows, maybe they are just going to end up getting bailed out again because they have no concept of fiscal responsibility, and they evaded the consequences of their poor judgment.
And then, just to make my day worse, whenever I turn off the commercials so I don't get pissed off, I always seem to turn the radio back on at the end of the traffic report and just in time for more commercials.