The Green Movement Encourages Internal Strife

I read an article on Lew Rockwell's site outlining the dangers of fluorescent lightbulbs. Pretty scary stuff. Then I decided to do a bit of research.
If the government doesn't overturn this socialist act, we're going to be forced to pick any of the following:
1. Fluorescent. We have one in the hall. I can say that the lighting is sort of blue, and worst of all, it attracts little bugs. Of course, if it's for the environment, it's alright to have your house as one huge bug zapper. Ever hear of redemptive suffering? Yeah, suffer for the state and you'll end up getting more green heaven points. (maybe tax breaks since the government wants you to believe its a god)
2. LEDs. I have a few LED flashlights. They aren't nearly as good as traditional flashlights. We have an LED spotlight on the garage. It just makes everything glow pretty creepilly. Being a nerd though, I love LEDs. I found some lightbulbs that cost about $35 and end up costing about $10 in energy over it's lifetime. Apparently, it's equivalent to a 45 watt bulb. It's not the same and it's incredibly expensive, but it's the next best thing.
3. ...Incandescent lightbulbs? Well, according to that Wikipedia article, the government is banning bulbs between 40 and 150 watts. So I'm going to assume that 30 Watts are going to be sort of popular. People may end up with 2 to compensate, but it's not the same, so they may just use 3. Of course, 200 watt bulbs are a-okay too! I'm going to bet that's so the government and "special interests" can keep them. Eat your soup while we eat cake, right?

The Democrats claim to care about the little guy. When they attack business, it sure seems like they are, right? Well, who employs the little guy? Business, government, and themselves.
First they came for big business...
Let's see what the act includes:

Increased CAFE standards. Automakers are required to boost fleetwide gas mileage to 35 mpg (14.8 km/l) by 2020. This applies to all passenger automobiles, including "light trucks".

Automakers must spend money to increase fuel standards. Businesses (both big and small) must spend money to offset these costs.

Improved vehicle technology and transportation electrification. Incentives for the development of plug-in hybrids.

More money being spent by the failing automotive industry. Indeed, it may boost it a bit at first, but the cost of manufacturing all these cars and parts will take a massive toll. More jobs go overseas. Incentives may "warrant" congress to raise taxes.
And plug in? Well, so long for a lower electric bill!

New conservation requirements for federal vehicle fleets.

Gasp! The government making itself do something?!

Increased production of biofuels. The total amount of biofuels added to gasoline is required to increase to 36 billion gallons by 2022, from 4.7 billion gallons in 2007. The Energy Act further specifies that 21 billion gallons of the 2022 total must be derived from non-cornstarch products (e.g. sugar or cellulose).

So long free markets, hello sugar shortages and more farm welfare. More tax hikes. All in the name of self-sufficiency (nationalism)

Requires roughly 25 percent greater efficiency for light bulbs, phased in from 2012 through 2014. This effectively bans the sale of most current incandescent light bulbs.

Goodbye free markets...I hardly knew you.

Requires roughly 200 percent greater efficiency for light bulbs, or similar energy savings, by 2020.

I don't even want to think how its going to raise to 200% in 6-8 years. Will this mean lightbulbs will cost even more? Sure, incandescents technically cost more, but it's over years, not all at once. Even less money in our pockets because of green socialism.

New initiatives for promoting conservation in buildings and industry.

Oh hey, initiatives! More taxation to encourage environmentalism! Nevermind my socialism statement, hello economic fascism!

Requires all lighting in Federal buildings to use Energy Star products.

Wow, second time the government put itself into something. All right! And they'll do this with stolen money!

New standards and grants for promoting efficiency in government and public institutions. New and renovated federal buildings must reduce fossil fuel use by 55% (from 2003 levels) by 2010, and 80% by 2020. All new federal buildings must be "carbon-neutral" by 2030.

And how do they do this? With taxpayer money! Yay!

Accelerated research and development of solar energy, geothermal energy, and marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy technologies.

More subsidies, more taxes.

Expanded federal research on carbon sequestration technologies.

More subsidies, more tax.

Green jobs - creation of a training program for "Energy efficiency and renewable energy workers".

How are they going to do this? Taxes! Government creating jobs is another sword in the heart of capitalism. Seriously, I'm going to miss it.

Energy transportation and infrastructure. New initiatives for highway, sea and railroad infrastructure. Creation of the Office of Climate Change and Environment in the Department of Transportation.

More taxes and...what's this? Another department?! Well, there we go! They have a foothold to further regulate.

Small business energy programs, offering small businesses loans toward energy efficiency improvements.

Loans, eh? They'll eventually have to pay back even more, so it hurts the business in the long run. More taxes. Is it me or are they starting to attack the "little guy" directly instead of indirectly?

Smart grid - modernization of the electricity grid to improve reliability and efficiency.

Well, the grid is pretty screwed up. More taxes though? I'm thinking yes. More efficient and reliable? I'm thinking less output and capacity instead of fixing blackouts. Well, it's for the environment, damn it!

Pool safety - new federal standards for drain covers and pool barriers.

This is a headscratcher. Regulating pools? Obviously, the cost of owning or going to a private pool will rise, public pools will need more taxes.

To the 108 that voted against it-God Bless you. To those that voted for it-I'm sorry, you're misguided. To the president-never talk about free markets again you traitor.
Who will they tax? Well, the rich of course. They have the money to pay for it, right?
Then they came for the rich...
One day, you may be considered rich because you make as much as a rich person does after taxes.
Then they came for me...
Just a step closer to the government's dream-an ultimate fascist or socialist state where business is in bed with the government or the leviathan consumes all business like the parasite it is.

Guns in Boston

http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/016966.html
Good job, America! You go from the Boston Tea Party to the Boston Gun Search Party!
God Bless America!
In school shootings, I always blame the tool and not the nut!

Barry Bonds!

I just have to say, I'm on his side. I don't like him but I hate the federal government. They shouldn't arrest him for up to 30 years for taking steroids. In fact, I can see the good in steroids (mainly building muscles for the elderly to be stronger), so if there's people out there willing to take it, they're pretty much (unknowingly) guinea pigs. Hey, it would stink if Barry grew two heads and a lobster claw, but now there's a good reason to keep it from the public (although I wouldn't mind a lobster claw).
How much do you want to bet that they're going to go on a witch hunt and end up giving him 30 years just to punish him for cheating. It wouldn't surprise me since the government wants to control everything.
And baseball fans...just stop. Every big time fan I know is mad at him, but too bad! It could be argued that anyone's record isn't real since the seasons were shorter back then. When the point of baseball becomes smashing the ball over the fence, cheating is bound to happen.
So, keep on fightin' Barry! You smashed the ball to smash a record...now smash the federal government!


Edit-Who cares about records? Anyone who doesn't like Barry won't recognize his, so don't take it away from him.

Burnt out kids

How many kids suffer from burnout at school? Well, I know I was one. And boy oh boy is it a vicious cycle.
It started in 7th grade when I passed History and had to go to summer school anyway. Apparently I didn't pass by enough. Go figure! Well, I failed summer school...not because I failed the tests, but because I had to memorize the preamble to the constitution and some lines from the declaration of independence. I'm a monarchist now...how prophetic, eh?
Well, I had a month of summer instead of two. See, every year I would think "Yep, this is the year where I'm not going to miss homework!". Well, a few months later I was already burnt out from having to go to school from 8:30 until 3 and having only 15 minutes to eat and 15 minutes to play. Oh, and being forced to play basketball twice a week, a game that I absolutely stunk at. Yep, no rest for the weary. So, thanks to all that, I actually failed. Another month gone from my vacation.
"Yay, highschool! Everything is going to be different!" I thought. No...it was worse. We were told to spend at least two hours on homework. Glorious. I did pretty well until I started forgetting books because of all the homework. Then I just sorta gave up. Yep, more summer school. I had summer school for my 4 years in highschool. It was usually from 9-9:50 and 11-11:50 or something like that. It's really not fun having an hour "break". The heat really gets to you...like the time I made over 300 paper airplanes or a skittles mosaic. I'm sure if I had a cup I would have measured how much sweat dripped off of my nose.
Anyway, all this homework really screwed me up. I got bad to mediocre grades because of homework. Sometimes I got good ones. Those classes usually counted homework as 5% of the grade. Some classes actually took a point off of the quarter grade.
So, two or more hours of homework with a 45 minute "break". No wonder I was always so chipper in the morning and didn't get addicted to that drug called coffee.
Yes, it's a vicious cycle for them too. They do all their homework well. They get to bed late because people do have lives (of course, teachers are either suffering from burnout themselves and don't care about other folks or they have no lives and forgot that other people do). They wake up tired and reach for that coffee. Get to school when the coffee is wearing off and are half tired the whole day. They can't pay attention. When they get home they have to review the lesson because they couldn't pay attention. Then they get older, have a massively receding hairline, and choose to have only one kid, if any, because they're too burnt out to deal with any silliness.
So, how do we solve this? Well, let teachers stop teaching while going to school for a master's degree (Catholic High school of course). Or better yet, don't waste any time! I can't count how much time things like classwork takes up. Homework is just basically classwork that they didn't get around to, so there's nothing wrong with classwork, but the time wasted in between waiting for everyone to be finished is laughable at best. So is the time used telling people to shut up, review time, waiting for the stragglers. Time used to make people come up to the board to either show off or embarrass a kid who made a dumb mistake.
Apparently, homework is to help students understand the lesson. Why make it mandatory then? Not everyone is going to understand it, but not everyone doesn't! Of course, they'll argue "If it is optional, then no one will do it!"
Of course, but that's their own problem. Schools are nanny state indoctrination camps. Everyone is equal, everyone has to do the same work, if there's a problem we'll take care of you, and we'll run your life. It even happens at neocon schools.
Us conservatives say that it isn't the school's job to probe into our problems. If we can't take care of something, we ought to ask or parents or someone we actually trust. Yeah, schools give you false trust.
I wouldn't worry too much about what schools teach as much as they teach indirectly. A good parent would raise their child to not totally trust the school. "The schools says contraceptives are cool and I think so too!" says the 11th grader. Who do we blame? The school, and not the parents for properly bringing them up.
The bigger threat is the school replacing the parent and acting like a friend. Schools ought to be viewed as a double edged sword. On one side they're useful, on the other they can wound you.
Schools sure love the cycle of burnt out kids, but they sure love the zombies even more.
Edit-What inspired this rant? http://www.lewrockwell.com/chartier/chartier90.html
It's far better than what I wrote.

Oh dear, even more of a reason to fear Doctors

http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/post/apologia/vpost?id=2227180

Shame that doctors are doing that now. I don't know if it happens in New York, but it never happened to me since my mom was always in the doctor's office with me. Of course, the idiots I went to always managed to mess everything up or insult me (no, I never realized I wasn't healthy, thanks for pointing that out!), but never grilled me about my personal life. Well, there was the one lady I almost got into an argument with over whether I walk or not. Yep, folks from Manhattan walk everywhere, but you kind of have to do it too if no one in your house has a driver's license or a working car. Yet I digress.
When I was little, if someone asked me if anyone ever made me feel uncomfortable, I would have never thought about it in a sexual abuse sort of way, but in a comfort type of way. It's a bit silly to use that kind of terminology with a 13-year-old though. They know what sexual abuse is.
Is there some law that says it's illegal to own a gun? There's no reason to file a police report. If I'm blessed enough to have kids one day, and they're asked if I have a weapon, I hope they tell them I have a Star Destroyer in the garage. Of course, if I had my way, that wouldn't be a lie!
Let's just hope by the time that happens, I don't have that Chainsword I'm trying to build anymore....