They’re baaack. ARM loans

You thought I was dead, didn't you? Bwa ha ha

Mortgage rates were way, way up last week and because of the rise in rates for 30 year loans the appetite for ARM loans is apparently back, big time.

Wonderful. ARM loans destroyed many a homeowner before, so let’s try it again. Perhaps the [...]

Tidal power development continues

Clean Current turbine being deployed

Several major tidal power projects are continuing. Sure, there are lots of technical hurdles, but if (and hopefully when) tidal power becomes a mature, dependable technology, we will have enormous amounts of renewable power at our disposal.

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Doctor who performed abortions shot to death in Kansas

A suspect has been arrested.

The SUV tax loophole

Large SUVs get classified for tax purposes as light trucks and thus can be depreciated much faster than most vehicles.

The result? Three-ton behemoths are usually mostly deductible in the first year, while more fuel-efficient cars are limited to only a small portion of the cost. It generally takes about six years to fully [...]

Wind turbines near Palm Springs

That’s not haze but smog in the background being sucked into the Mohave desert through San Gorgonio Pass near Palm Springs, CA. The hot desert air then forces the smog into the sky where it dissipates. In the background is 10,834 ft. San Jacinto. The hot desert temperatures sucking in air from Los Angeles [...]

Fortynine Palms Oasis. Joshua Tree National Park

Fortynine Palms Oasis. Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Trees are just weird, aren't they? They are a member of the tulip family. Go figure!

It was a surprisingly rugged 1.5 mile hike to the oasis in probably 95 degree weather (in another month, forget about hiking, it’ll be 110…) The desert can be [...]

Fuel cell street cleaner

The world’s first hydrogen-powered street cleaner is undergoing an eighteen month trial in Basel.

The makers estimate that even though the hydrogen will be manufactured from natural gas, it will still emit 40-percent less CO2 that a comparable diesel engine counterpart.

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Meth-addled aliens robbing banks in Tulsa

I’m not sure what I can add to a headline like that, so you’ll just have to read the story.

Moving beyond Leftist sects

Left Luggage

Our essential reading for the weekend is a new article by The Commune’s Dave Spencer which aims to draw some lessons from his decades of experience with far-left groups. It’s a little heavy on obscure and now obsolete sects, but at its core is a searing analysis of the problems of vanguardist parties [...]

Mexico cartels go bargain gun shopping in Houston

According to ATF gun-tracing data, 90 percent of the traceable weapons used in Mexican drug violence originated in the United States with Texas, Arizona and California the largest suppliers.

Houston is further from the border, so weapons are cheaper there.