#GREENFAIL: 100 Tories revolt over wind farms. “Critics say wind farms are inefficient because the wind cannot be guaranteed to blow at times of greatest energy demand. They are also said to be unsightly, blighting the landscape. Wind farms are also accused of forcing up energy bills while swallowing disproportionate amounts of taxpayer-funded subsidies.”
Archive for 2012
February 4, 2012
A CLEAN-BURNING COOKSTOVE THAT’S specially designed for use in the developing world: “These stoves reduce smoke and harmful gases by up to 80 percent, reduce fuel use by up to 60 percent and reduce cooking time by up to 50 percent compared to traditional cooking fires and stoves.”
UPDATE: Reader Perry Beeson points out that you can get it on Amazon. Might be good for disaster-prep.
ANOTHER UPDATE: here’s the spec sheet. (PDF).
JASON PYE: Obama Goes Christianist on Tax Policy.
LEGAL EDUCATION UPDATE: Law Schools Shrink Part-Time Programs After U.S. News Closed Rankings Loophole.
ANONYMOUS SPIES ON, RECORDS FBI-Scotland Yard conference call.
The online vigilante group has released a 17-minute clip of a Jan. 17 conference call between investigators discussing evidence gathered against members of the group as well as upcoming plans for arrests. The group also released an e-mail sent out by an FBI agent to law enforcement agents around the world with a phone number and password for accessing the conference call.
The FBI has confirmed to the Associated Press that the recording is authentic.
AnonymousIRC, a Twitter account purporting to be connected to the group, sent out a tweet on Friday with a link to an audio recording of the call, followed later by a message that read, “The FBI might be curious how we’re able to continuously read their internal comms for some time now.”
My guess is, a mole.
UPDATE: When is a hack not a hack?
CHANGE: Bill Maher Turns on Occupiers, Denounces Them as D-bags That Should ‘Get a Job.’ Wait, I thought they embodied hope-and-change?
YET ANOTHER COLLEGIATE RACIAL THREAT HOAX.
Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth had told TODAY’S TMJ4 the threats made towards African-American students at UW-Parkside were a hoax.
The sheriff stressed that there was absolutely no danger to the students at UW-Parkside due to this threat. Through the investigation detectives were able to determine that there never was a threat of harm to students at UW-Parkside.
An investigation led authorities to question a female student about the threats. The student allegedly told authorities she had made the hit list because she was not satisfied with the initial response from a resident assistant when that resident assistant was shown the rubber bands that were said to look like a noose. The suspect wanted greater attention to that issue.
Authorities have not arrested anyone in this case. UW-Parkside police said they are trying to protect the perpetrator Friday evening. The name of the woman involved is being withheld in order to provide the opportunity to remove her from campus.
Why are they trying to “protect the perpetrator?”
THIS WEEK IN THE FUTURE.
AT AMAZON, the new laptop releases for 2012.
PROSECUTORIAL DISCRETION: Milwaukee man with a concealed-carry permit shoots a robber in a store… but the store had a sign prohibiting weapons. The prosecutor made the right call. In Tennessee the signs have to be quite specific to have legal effect, but I don’t know about Wisconsin. The FAQ makes it seem that any language is okay so long as the sign is prominent.
Plus, from the comments: “Interesting that the shop with a ‘No Guns’ sign is the one getting robbed.”
21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: How Deleting My Facebook Profile Saved My Love Life.
IN THE MAIL: From Eric Maisel, Rethinking Depression: How to Shed Mental Health Labels and Create Personal Meaning.
WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: New York Times Romney-Bashing Continues. “First he was a robot programmed to accomplish the dark and devious theocratic schemes of the Mormon Church. Now they say Mitt Romney isn’t Mormon enough. . . . A modicum of self-awareness or fairness in the editing process would have caught and redressed the obvious bias of this piece, but apparently that’s not how the Times approaches political stories these days: any stick will do to beat the man who increasingly looks like the next Republican nominee.”
Any weapon to hand.
FRIDAY NIGHT DOCUMENT DUMP: White House gives up more Solyndra docs. “Amid threats by a top House Republican to pursue contempt charges, the White House on Friday sent lawmakers more internal documents related to the $535 million loan guarantee to failed solar firm Solyndra. The White House, in providing the 313 pages of documents, again denied that approval of the loan guarantee in 2009 was influenced by politics, an allegation that Republicans have repeated for months.”
MARK STEYN: So Obama wants to be his “brother’s keeper”? I have an idea for him! “For a start, when he says, ‘I am my brother’s keeper,’ his brother is back in Kenya living on $12 a year. That’s what he was living on at the time of the 2008 election. So all the president has to do in terms of shared responsibility is put a $10 bill in an envelope and mail it to Nairobi or Mombasa or wherever and he will double his brother’s salary.”
REAL ESTATE UPDATE: New super-Earth detected, ‘best candidate’ for supporting life.