WHY WE STILL DON’T HAVE FOOLPROOF VOTING MACHINES. I think we need paper ballots, photo ID, and purple fingers. Of course, as this post from Ed demonstrates, you’ve got to control the people involved, too.
Archive for 2012
November 8, 2012
HOW WILL ANYONE TELL? Eurocrats Go On Strike Over David Cameron’s Call To Cut EU Salaries.
FROM THE GRUMPY ECONOMIST, SOME PREDICTIONS: “Forecast in three parts: The sound and fury will be over big fights on taxes and spending. They will look like replays of the last four years and not end up accomplishing much. The big changes to our economy will be the metastatic expansion of regulation, let by ACA, Dodd-Frank, and EPA. There will be no change on our long run problems: entitlements, deficits or fundamental reform of our chaotic tax system. 4 more years, $4 trillion more debt. Why? I think this follows inevitably from the situation: normal (AFU). Nothing has changed. The President is a Democrat, now lame duck. The congress is Republican. The Senate is asleep. Congressional Republicans think the President is a socialist. The President thinks Congressional Republicans are neanderthals. The President cannot compromise on the centerpieces of his campaign. Result: we certainly are not going to see big legislation. Anything new will happen by executive order or by regulation.”
Plus: “We’re still sitting on a debt bomb. Remember 2004, when a few chicken-littles were saying ‘there is trouble brewing, there is a huge amount of debt (mortgages) that is in danger of defaulting, and the banks are stuffed with it?’ And how everyone made fun of them? That is our situation now, but it’s sovereign debt.”
MORE ON INVERTERS: Reader Richard Gardner writes:
Folks considering inverters should first check their automobile’s alternator capacity to figure out how much they can power long-term from an inverter without discharging the battery. Making rough calculations, your Mazda RX-8 probably came stock with a 100 Amp alternator (at 13.8V) = ~1400 Watts, so anything much more than that is overkill (not to include peak rating). You can get aftermarket high output alternators, usually in the 160-200A range; my older Toyota only has a 60A alternator. But some of that power is needed to run the car (20-40 Amps), so for a 100A alternator the best case is 1100W available for the inverter. These output ratings are at normal driving engine RPMs and at idle you are lucky to get 75% of the rating (and as low as 50%) so we’re now down to 800W (max, probably lower), which will provide you with ~7A @120V AC, enough to run the refrigerator (130-200W) and more. You’ll need at least a 750W inverter (“peak” 1500W – inverters typically have a peak rating 2x the normal rating) to handle the starting surge current for starting the refrigerator (~1200W) with the extra energy coming from the battery regardless of how much power your alternator produces.
To run a 3000W inverter continuously without discharging the battery you need a 300A alternator, what you would typically find on a fire engine.
Here’s an article on using inverters for emergency power, and here’s some guidance on how much power various devices use. And in response to my earlier post on inverters, reader Mark Wallace writes:
Kathleen Wallace is my sister. She sent me a picture of her inverter and running fridge. I was a little jealous as I was in darkness in NYC. Here’s the Amazon link for the inverter.
Funny, I was looking at that one online. Another note: Some inverters, especially the cheap ones, put out pretty “dirty” power, which isn’t good for electronics. Laptops are probably fine, but other computers and sensitive devices may have problems.
Meanwhile, reader Judith Sears writes:
I read the posts on using inverters with interest. However, I live in a high rise, 6 floors up from the garage, so running an inverter off my car isn’t possible. Any alternatives or MacGuyvers that people know of?
Well, you can’t have a generator — even if you’ve got a balcony you could put it on, it probably wouldn’t be safe with regard to carbon monoxide — and you can’t have an inverter because your car is floors away. So what can you do? Well, you can buy a big uninterruptible power supply — I have several of these with the add-on external battery. One of these will run a cable modem and wifi hotspot for a long time, and charge your laptop and cellphone. And I have a couple in the studio so that if the power cuts out while I’m doing a PJTV show there’ll be plenty to finish it — they even run the lights, which are fluorescent and so don’t hog too much power.
And there’s always this solar-powered phone recharger, with extra solar panels. I don’t know how fast this would charge when it’s cloudy, but it holds enough power to charge a phone a couple of times anyway. Then I’d have a couple of lanterns for light, and possibly a small propane stove, though it’s not safe to use most of those indoors.
Any other ideas out there for apartment-dwellers?
UPDATE: Reader Dave Lemieux writes:
Alcohol stoves are the best alternative for indoor emergency use — no CO problems and the fuel is widely available. You can go cheap for about $30 (typical for a backpacking stove) or better for a couple hundred like you’d find on a boat..
Good point. Here’s one.
And reader Steve Barkmeier recommends this for apartment power backup, adding that it’ll also keep you warm. You’ll be hungrier, though. . . .
MORE: Reader Stephen Skubinna writes:
I live in rural America and have a 3kw Onan. One thing to bear in mind if your potable water comes from a well is that submersible electric pumps have a hefty startup load. Factor in 20 amps at 220v if you’re calculating the requirements for a generator or inverter. Once they’re running they don’t draw much.
Incidentally I worked in IT during the Y2K panic. When people would ask how bad it was going to be I’d say it wouldn’t be an issue, and they’d smile knowingly, figuring that I was simply trying to head off panic at the impending end of civilization. However if they’d ask how to prepare I’d tell them to have extra blankets, candles and maybe an oil lamp, lots of flashlights and extra batteries, potable water and stored food for about a week, and perhaps a hand cranked radio. They’d make notes and ask “So that’s for Y2K, huh?” and I’d respond “No, that’s for ALL THE TIME! You should always be ready for at least a week’s interruption of service.”
People, at least urban dwellers, won’t even countenance roughing it for a few days. So far as their universe runs, if the power or water or phones and internet go out a man in a truck shows up and fixes it within a day. They have no idea of how fragile their urban environment is.
Indeed.
STILL MORE: Kathleen Wallace, mentioned in the earlier inverter post, writes:
Wow, Glenn!! I, my brother AND my husband (who spent half a day online choosing the unit) are over the moon seeing ourselves on the Insta!
My brother sent you the link to the Power Bright 2300; we also purchased these cables:
And these fuses:
All were purchased through the Amazon Instalink, of course.
We had plenty of heavy-duty (critical) extension cords on hand.
We called Power Bright directly, they were fantastic and helped us choose. We originally wanted one that would power a space heater, thus the 2300.
But then, on the third day, we were getting cold. As the family electrician, I went down to the basement to figure things out. I removed the furnace 110 line from the closest junction box, cannibalized a heavy-duty three-prong plug from an air conditioner, and spliced it IN THE DARK with husband holding the flashlight. Plugged it into the inverter. The spark of the furnace pilot was the sweetest sound. The peak draw was surprising low. Cables never even got warm.
Yeah, most furnace fans don’t pull a lot of power. Cool! Er, I mean, warm.
MORE STILL: More advice for apartment-dwellers from reader Paul Clithero:
When we lost power for nearly a week due to an ice storm, I robbed a battery from one of our cars and would charge it using jumper cables from our other car. I realize that this is a bit of a trick for those with one car, or who might need all of their vehicles running, but it is always an alternative to sitting in the dark.
If one lives in a multi-story apartment building, it might be nice to have a dolly capable of hauling the battery up the stairs, unless you can carry the thing by hand. There are straps and battery grabs available at auto parts stores intended for the purpose of carrying car batteries around.
Another alternative would be to hit the Interstate Battery store, Wal-Mart automotive center, etc. and purchase a deep cycle RV battery if it looks like a Sandy/Katrina situation is in the works.
Good advice. And you can get those from Amazon, too. You could even keep it and charge it in your apartment when there’s power.
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SPEAKING OF PUBLIC WORRIES ABOUT CORRUPTION IN WASHINGTON: The Washington Examiner’s Mark Flatten has found at least $2.1 million in spending on employee conferences by the Inspector-General at the Agriculture Department. Here’s the twist: The Ag IG neglected to tell Congress about the conferences when asked and the events weren’t included in an online spending database the sprawling department is required to maintain. The IG’s job is to expose waste, fraud and corruption in USDA spending. So this is what the watchers do when they think nobody in Washington is watching?
‘VOTE WAS ASTRONOMICAL FOR OBAMA IN SOME PHILADELPHIA WARDS.’ You don’t say: “In 13 Philadelphia wards, Obama received 99 percent of the vote or more.”
The “or more,” is a nice touch. Fortunately, the Philadelphia Inquirer assures us that there is absolutely no – and I mean no, n.o. – reason to worry about voter fraud. I know I feel relieved.
AT AMAZON, pre-Black Friday deals in Toys & Games.
NOW THEY TELL US: Why US Economy May Be Headed for Another Recession. Funny, just a few days ago CNBC was full of good news!
L.A. WEEKLY: A Deadly Game: The Swatting of Patterico. “Over the last few months in L.A., SWATters have victimized Miley Cyrus, Ashton Kutcher and Justin Bieber — all of whose mansions were stormed by police. Less publicized is the fact that over the last year and a half, four prominent, conservative bloggers have been SWATted across America. All four found themselves surrounded by local cops with guns. . . . So far, nobody has been shot by cops. But not one of the four politically charged cases — all featuring a similar-sounding, nasally voice — has been solved.”
I HAVE A POPULAR MECHANICS PIECE: Lessons Learned From Hurricane Sandy.
WELL, THEY SHOULD BE: Poll: Vast Majority of Voters Concerned About Federal Government Corruption.
HOPEY-CHANGEY: 4 More Drones! Robot Attacks Are on Deck for Obama’s Next Term. “Welcome to Obama’s second-term agenda for dealing with the world. As the Ramones sang: second verse, same as the first.”
THE UNPRECEDENTED ELECTION:
The winning party talks up a realignment that will permanently keep them in power. The losing party is despondent at that notion — they sense it’s true. How can we beat anyone, the losing party things, if we cannot beat this unqualified, dishonest, smug, man who has set the country on a suicide mission which will destroy it?
Why can’t the country see through the Imperial Presidency of this corrupt corporate cronyist? What’s wrong with America? What’s wrong with us?
The losing party thinks they’ll never win an election again.
And then…
THAT SEEMS CIRCULAR OR SOMETHING: A heartbeat-powered pacemaker.
THEY MAY WORRY, BUT THEY DON’T VOTE LIKE IT: Voters Worry More About Inflation Than You Think. As for this — “the fact that so many people named rising prices was somewhat surprising because consumer prices actually haven’t been rising all that much” — I think that the prices for things people buy regularly like food and gasoline have risen a lot.
WHAT WITH HURRICANE SANDY, ETC., several readers have asked for links to my disaster preparedness posts. Okay. Here’s a post on low-budget disaster preparation. Here’s one on bug-out bags. Also, stuff to keep in your car or SUV. Also, recommended preparedness books.
And, by the way, I just got the latest Consumer Reports and they really like the Generac GP5500 generator, which they say “performed almost as well as the top-rated portable generator for hundreds less.” But read the reviews on Amazon before you buy.
UPDATE: Reader Charles Cheek writes:
Bought one last year after losing about $500 worth of food due to a storm and the resulting power outage. Bought it online at www.generatorsonline.com for $200 less than what Home Depot was advertising at the time. Delivery was free, and the truck driver put it right where I wanted it. I had to install the wheels and put the oil (which was supplied) in it. It cranked over on the second crank and has served us incredibly well through several storms and outages since, the latest just last week ( 6 days with Hurricane Sandy), usually starting on the first crank, always by the second. It is powerful enough to provide my whole house with power. I haven’t yet installed a transfer switch, although I am considering it. It runs 14 hours on 5 gallons of gas (or less), is relatively quiet, and maintenance is easy. I highly recommend the Generac GP5500.
Not bad.
LOOK HOW MANY GROUPS MOVED TOWARD THE GOP: “Surprising! It doesn’t add up to a victory, but there are clues in there about how the GOP ought to change.”
I HOPE THE RUSSIANS LOVE THEIR CHILDREN, TOO: Washington Post: In Conservative Marriages, There Are No Embraces.
THE REPUBLICAN WHO RE-ELECTED OBAMA: Ben Bernanke. With perhaps an assist from Chief Justice Roberts.
SHUFFLING THE DECK CHAIRS:
Also among those also reported to be spending more time with their families after January: Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Lisa Jackson, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
In contrast though, “Harry Reid wants to be majority leader until 2022.”
WHY PEOPLE LOVE JAMES BOND: “Bond is just human enough to be believable—and yet sufficiently aloof and suave to appear mostly untroubled by the world’s real worries. He thus provides just the right amount of escapism. The best fantasies are those that appear not entirely unattainable.”
UPDATE: Several readers suggest that the above description sounds a lot like Barack Obama. Well, he’s a fantasy figure for many.
USING DESIGN SKILLS to build kids’ character.