Solar powered subdivision in Arizona - off the grid!

What is thought to be the nation’s first subdivision powered by solar energy and propane, a community of 487 houses that won’t be connected to the electrical power grid, east of Kingman <Arizona>
GreenWood Ranch Estates will offer modular homes on 5-acre lots. Each will be equipped to generate electricity by harnessing the 320 days of sunlight the area receives annually.
“I would tend to believe this is unique in terms of that number of homes,” said Byron Stafford, solar engineer with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo., a part of the U.S. Department of Energy. “There are other subdivisions (in California) where solar is an option, but the homes are not grid-independent.”

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Rules for Evil Overlords

My noble half-brother whose throne I usurped will be killed, not kept anonymously imprisoned in a forgotten cell of my dungeon.

Shooting is NOT too good for my enemies.

The artifact which is the source of my power will not be kept on the Mountain of Despair beyond the River of Fire guarded by the Dragons of Eternity. It will be in my safe-deposit box.

I will not gloat over my enemies’ predicament before killing them.

When I’ve captured my adversary and he says, “Look, before you kill me, will you at least tell me what this is all about?”  I’ll shoot him, and  then say “No”.

I will not order my trusted lieutenant to kill the infant who is destined to overthrow me — I’ll do it myself.

I will be secure in my superiority. Therefore, I will feel no need to prove it by leaving clues in the form of riddles or leaving my weaker enemies alive to show they pose no threat.

I will not waste time making my enemy’s death look like an accident: I’m  not accountable to anyone and my other enemies wouldn’t believe it.

I will make it clear that I DO know the meaning of the word “mercy”; I simply choose not show them any.

I will never employ any device with a digital countdown. If I find that such a device is absolutely unavoidable, I will set it to activate when the counter reaches 117 and the hero is just putting his plan into operation.

I will never utter the sentence “But before I kill you, there’s just one thing I want to know.”

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On the ground in Baghdad

Borzou Daragahi is a print and radio journalist living in Tehran. He covers Iraq, among other countries. Check his website for some seriously excellent journalism, as well as this piece from last Wednesday posted on SF IndyMedia.

Later, we land an interview with the intense, brooding young Mullah. He turns his eyes away from women and never smiles. He’s deadly serious and a little frightening. He wears the black turban of the “seyed,” or the descendant of the prophet. In his dinghy office in a narrow alleyway in Najaf, he speaks out against America, the west and the U.S.-installed governing council. He says the governing council has no legitimacy, that the Iraqi people gave no input whatsoever to its creation. I start nodding in agreement. It’s strange, even though I disagree with his very existence, even though he scares the hell out of me, even though he would probably have me murdered or deported if he ever took control of Iraq, I think he’s got a point. The Iraqi governing council has no legitimacy, international or domestically. It is a complete and utter puppet of America, with no power whatsoever except, quite pathetically, to make or unmake holidays.

On the other hand, I’ve met many of the Governing Council members. They’re decent people, smart people, motivated and committed to their country. Many - like Muwafak al-Rubayee or Abdel-Aziz Hakim - aren’t even pro-American, or weren’t until they got picked to be on the council. How can I agree with Sadr and agree with them at the same time? I feel like my mind is twisting and turning, and I have no idea what to make of Iraq any more. The longer I’m here it seems the more convuluted my judgment becomes, the more complicated the prisms through which I view Iraq and the Middle East.

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We love you, Sally!

When Sally Baron, a 71-year-old Wisconsin woman, “died two weeks ago after heart surgery, her family listed an unusual request in her death notice, 

“Memorials in her honor can be made to any organization working for the removal of President Bush”

Two days after its initial report, the paper ran a follow-up article reporting that “dozens of people from around the United States have written to the Capital Times saying they will make donations,” and that others had made T-shirts with a photo of the deceased.”

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