This Our Daily Blog

It’s a wonder, in the grand scheme of cosas, how any given day can become a giving day. We’re all thankful for that, I know. As well as poultry and mashed tubers and sweet tubers and casseroles and jellies and pumpkins that made it through the ghoulish gauntlet of our last holiday and veggie dip spreads and properly set tables and wine and beer and foot and ball and handshakes and secret cigarettes behind the shed and movie night and loose belts and gluttony and pilgrims and Injuns and an eerie lack of telemarketers and that shitty Charlie Brown thanksgiving episode some d-bags made in 2001.

Now, I think that I possibly could maybe qualify that understand that you know that I know what you’re thinking – A few glasses of boxed white wine puts us all on the same page. You’re thinking that here comes some rantish, pedantic, liberalese blog about how crappy the charade of thanksgiving day, or any pilgrimaniacal, pseudo-christian holiday really is. That if we all would just peer beneath our imperialistic, genocidal, ignorant turkey skin we’d see the hollow shell of it all. Well, it could be – and there would be some justice in that mind you – but its not.

As an [um]maculate child of Thanksgiving day I can honestly declare that this day of thanks and giving (and Lions football) is my favorite holly-day of them all. Even more than the solstice/christ day coming soon to a black friday near you. Okay, so maybe it is a little rantish. So thank me…You have to

This also has nothing to do with the fact that I was recently fresh squeezed out of my thirty-first year on this Planet Human and this is the first thanksgiving in that prime number that I’ve spent TD alone, although not without TDs; just none (sorry, one) for the Lions. Remember that without this alone time I never would’ve written this gem…so curse or bless yourself as you see fit. Thank you.

If you’ve stuck with me through the preceding self-indulgent paragraphs perhaps you’ll stick around for what this little blog is really about. And let’s face it, if we truly want to be bare-naked-stripped-down-thankful, it’s important to work through the vain self-indulgence that we layer ourselves up like condoms around Sarah Palin with on a daily basis in our materialistic and superficial culture of web-based personality. That being accomplished, I want to send my love and thanks along to you all the only way I can think to do it from a cul-de-sac in the big city – through this my (not so) daily blog and with words arranged in a way that I hope no one else has arranged them before. Although I’m poor so I’ll likely try to sue you first (right after my doctor).

So

da

pop:

To my lover, my friends, my family.

The trinity of true grace.

You, my lover, embody the reasons for thankfulness.

Your striped seventies socks, deliciously almost-curly hair, and endlessly perfumed neck

are a dream to me.

Your spectacles, my testacles, your wallet and watch

(at least I have something to offer)

are an excellent match.

When the little X’s and the little O’s come together, I think of you.

You, family, are my godsends

keeping me close across mountains rivers avalanches towers armaments

plains planes hummocks hammocks and acres and acorns.

It’s funny that oak trees seem to grow everywhere. That is our tree.

We still have four generations shuffling on this mortal coil

and I am quite thankful for that.

Our freckles obvious tan lines technicolored hair chicken legs and turkey thighs

all speak to our supreme awesomeness. I love

the way we can instantly rally around, whether it be a white dress or a casket.

There is love in that, uncompromised by mile markers and toll roads.

Be sure that it is love that creates both thanks and giving

two things families exude without fail and without question.

Thank you family.

Friends, you are family found.

You too conquer distances

proudly parading your faces in my book

across wires that aren’t wires but still transmit.

You have the unique ability to be old or new

and the same age as me either way.

Some are akin to newspapers, some to interwebs

some go back to wine coolers, others to Jameson

a few go back and forth.

At this moment, on this blue couch

in the vicinity of a tower fan on low

blowing air like radio waves into the wet night,

I am surrounded by friends.

You are a place to sleep live and whack time

You are an extra large umbrella

a roadside campsite

you are polyunsatured coolness, non-hydrogenated sweetness

all natural friendliness.

For you, friends, I am thankful

For you, family, I am thankful

For you, lover, I am thankful.

And now it’s Friday…so Fuck Off!!

sincerely,

dgh

The results are in and Team Germany is the winner of the 2009 Solar Decathlon on the Mall in Washington D.C. The contest, hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy, pitted 20 student teams from around the nation and world against each other in an effort to build the most effective and appealing solar powered home.

At the end of the week long competition, Team Germany edged out Teams Illinois and California to take home the crown.

Germany’s “SurPlus Home” is cube shaped and literally draped in photovoltaic (PV) solar panels. The roof is covered by an 11.1 kilowatt, monocrystalline PV array and the entire facade of the building is overlaid with 250 thin-film, cadmium-indium-gallium-selenide (CIGS) panels.

What carried Team Germany to the top of this year’s Decathlon was a perfect score in the Net Metering category, which probably had something to do with the solar powered envelope providing more than 200% of the energy needed to power all the home’s systems.

Congratulations to Team Germany and all the other schools. It says a lot about these students to even be accepted as participants in the Solar Decathlon. Here are the final rankings:

1. Team Germany
2. Illinois
3. Team California
4. Team Ontario/BC
5. Minnesota
6. Team Alberta
7. Cornell
8. Rice
9. Kentucky
10. Ohio State
11. Team Missouri
12. Iowa State
13. Virginia Tech
14. Team Spain
15. Team Boston
16. Penn State
17. Puerto Rico
18. Arizona
19. University of Louisiana
20. WI-Milwaukee

A few days ago Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California signed into law two solar energy bills that will set feed-in tariffs for solar and wind power systems in his state. It is as yet unclear how strong the tariffs will be.

According to CoolerPlanet, AB 920 will force California utilities to pay solar system owners for any excess energy their systems produce, or roll that energy over as a credit to the next annual billing cycle. The California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) still has to set the rate at which utilities must purchase the excess renewable energy.

So, in reality, much depends on what rate the PUC sets. Before now California renewable energy producers had to donate their excess power to the utility at the end of the annual billing cycles (extra kilowatt-hours were rolled over from month to month during the year. If the PUC sets the tariff at or near the retail rate for electricity, then it can hardly be called a tariff, although more homeowners will be able break even or make a small amount of cash.

The second bill, AB 32, requires the state’s public utilities to pay in excess of what they pay for wholesale power for energy from small solar and wind systems (1.5-3 megawatts). Again, the PUC still has to set the exact rate.

The laws will go into effect at the start of 2011.

Due to some technical difficulties I didn’t get to post anything on Columbus Day, or rather Indigenous Peoples Day. Somewhat reluctantly, I’ll avoid the myriad of political issues that such a holiday invokes. Instead I’ll simply relate a tale I recently read. It is one of thousands that exist out of Native American culture that I wish were taught more in public schools. It would certainly make history class more interesting!

The following account is derived from a book I picked up while visiting Mount St. Helens National Monument in Washington: Indian Legends of the Pacific Northwest by Ella E. Clark. This story deals with Mt. Rainier in Washington and a great flood. I find it fascinating because of its obvious parallels to the story of Noah and the ark…you decide.

Mount Rainier and the Great Flood

A long time ago when the earth was still very young the Great Spirit became angry with the people and animals living there. The Great Spirit lived on top of Takhoma (Mt. Rainier). The humans and animials were doing evil things to one another; stealing, fighting, killing one another.

So the Great Spirit decided to eradicate all but the good animals and a good man and his family. He told the good man to shoot an arrow into a certain cloud that was hanging low over Takhoma. So the man shot his arrow and it stuck into the cloud.

The Great Spirit then told him to shoot another arrow into the shaft of his last arrow. The good man did. The second arrow stuck into the shaft of the first. He was then instructed to shoot another, and another, and another until a long rope made of arrows formed.

When the rope reached down to the ground the Great Spirit instructed the good man to send his wife and family up the rope to safety within the cloud. The good animals followed after. And then the good man himself.

Now he was specifically instructed not to let the bad people climb up. As he reached the cloud the good man turned around to see a line of bad animals and snakes coming up the rope of arrows after him. So the good man broke the rope that dangled beneath him and watched all the bad people and animals fall back to earth.

When the Great Spirit saw that the good man, his family and the good animals were safe aboard the cloud, he made it rain for many days and nights. The good man watched the water continually rise up the side of the mountain, swallowing everything and everyone in its path.

When the rain reached the snow line on Takhoma, and having drowned all the bad creatures, the Great Spirit ordered the rain to stop. Slowly the water receded back down the mountain and the land dried up once more. The Great Spirit then told the good man to take his family and the good animals back down to live on earth again.

So they climbed down from the cloud onto the mountain and followed a chosen trail back to where they were told to build a new lodge. They saw no bad people or animals on their way, and there have been none around Takhoma to this very day.

Friday October 8th marked the beginning of the 2009 Solar Decathlon on the National Mall in Washington D.C. The Decathlon is put on by the U.S. Department of Energy and connects teams from 20 colleges and universities in a contest to design and build appealing, effective and energy-efficient solar powered homes.

The student teams compete in 10 contests covering a range of categories including architecture, market viability, lighting design, engineering, net metering, communications, comfort zone, hot water, appliances and home entertainment. Solar Decathlon homes must be 100 percent solar powered.

One weekend into the competition, the team from Rice University in Texas is in first place with a slight lead over the University of Illinois. Other teams in the top five are Cornell, Team California and Team Ontario (British Columbia). See the Solar Decathlon website for a complete list of teams and current standings.

The competition runs through Friday, October 16th. Homes are open to the public from October 9-13 and 15-18.

Each team spends much of the preceding year raising funds, designing and building their homes. Come Decathlon-time, the homes are moved to the Solar Village for the contest. The DOE’s goals for putting on the contest include educating the students involved, raising awareness about solar energy, improving the Solar Energy Technologies Program, and to demonstrate to the public the potential for zero energy homes.

That according to the Conservative Bible Project, a group aiming to remove “liberal bias” from the Bible. This alleged bias includes several words, such as “comrade,” that are overused and obviously inserted by left-wing ideologues. The conservative version, which will be completed using a Wikipedia-like forum, will have several goals.

Among these are the removal of “gender-inclusive” language, the revival of the logic of Hell and the Devil, as well as expressing the free-market values inherent in many of the Bible’s parables. And somehow this will bring objectivity back to the Bible; returning it to its true, conservative place.

In other words, God is a laissez-faire capitalist. So it was in the beginning, so it is, and so it shall be for eternity. A-men…I mean…Oh boy.

CBP explains that the New International Version (NIV) was written on a seventh grade reading level and therefore is too dumbed-down, insulting to the intelligence of our Bible-thumping youth.

That’s somewhat ironic to me. Dumbing down television and public education–you know, things kids actually do everyday–is part of the free market system and must be allowed to work itself out. But maintaining the Bible’s antiquated language is somehow essential to the well-being of a nation and absolutely critical in the fight against rampant liberalism. Am I wrong to infer this my CBP comrades?

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. I can remember, as a young fundamental Baptist (Go John!), when the NIV Bible was released. It was explained to me that I was not to read such a version; that only the accepted King James Version was permitted in my home or in my pew. Of course, I also wondered at the time: Why are we reading the King James Version and not…quite logically I thought…the God Version?

I must admit I did think the NIV was kind of stupid, but only for its lack of poeticism, not for any liberal bias. Being in (roughly) seventh grade at the time, I suppose I was at once too dumb to recognize the liberal bias in the NIV version and too smart to read it.

Could the real problem for groups like the CBP be that the Bible is too easy to understand now? That is to say, the more hard-line conservative and archaic the wording is, the more people–especially impressionable youths and 50-year-olds reading at a seventh grade level–will need religious leaders to explain its meaning to them. As conservative leaders we can’t have people understanding and interpreting the Bible on their own. Sure US literacy rates are dropping and our education scores are falling in comparison to other developed countries (Latvia gets better math scores than us). But we MUST renew the conservative esoterica of bygone ages. It is our only chance against the rise of secular totalitarianism. Only theocratic totalitarianism will suffice!

The real truth, I wager, is that these CBP folks are just some wild Bible-beaters with secret lives, wives and hives. On the other hand, one look at some of the nutsos in Congress and the racist, delusional and/or megalomaniacal pundits on cable news networks gives me some valid reason to fear these Bible un-revisionists.

Via The Huffington Post

On September 17th India announced new feed-in tariff laws for all renewable energy systems. Much of Europe is already enjoying solar tariffs–Germany is now famous for it shining example. China already has feed-in tariffs for wind energy, and has announced plans to institute similar laws for solar power. So where in the world is Lady Liberty?

Together India and China contain about one-third of the world’s population, all of whom will soon have access to solar feed-in tariffs. Note that both countries are part of the developing world. Where is the so-called developed world? The majority of Europe’s roughly 300 million people have feed-in tariff incentives available to them. But the United States, that country with five percent of the global population while consuming 25 percent of its energy, still lacks even a climate change plan.

Now China and India are far from perfect examples of renewable energy–even China’s solar manufacturing plants are choking out nearby villages–but the adoption of feed-in tariffs is a monumental step in the right direction.

It would seem that in our political soul, with its corporate structure, we are indefinitely locked into the oil industry, an industry we continue to subsidize for no real reason. And an oil industry that uses war as its key to Middle East oil with the military industrial complex playing the role of key master.

We in the US have taken some valuable steps of late, most importantly the choice to subsidize solar manufacturing plants in the states. Although many of our solar panels are still made in China, often by US companies operating over there.

Speaking of overseas, our President is about to walk into Copenhagen with his hands in empty pockets. While his speech might be moving, his actions will be silent. The US still has no climate action plan, no renewable energy standard, and none of the proven drivers of success in renewable energy–like feed-in tariffs.

We have abundant renewable resources in North America (I’m talking about you too Canada): Sun and wind are viable in most areas, and geothermal energy is available anywhere with today’s technology. Yet here we stand in the Garden of Eden with our eyes peering over the fence.

I’ve often said that it’s not a matter of if the US will see widespread renewable power consumption, but a matter of when. Well now I really want to know. So I ask you my Energy Department, EPA, Senators, Representatives, President, corporate leaders…When, exactly, will we join the rest of the industrial world in embracing a renewable future?

We could easily be the great country of world leaders our politicians so often claim for us in loud and airy speeches. But we’d better get busy catching up first. So how ’bout a feed-in tariff or two. We should all visit Gainesville for a day or two.

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