White House orders ‘independent’ probe of Solyndra loan

It's an 'independent' probe, know what I mean?

Obama is doing as little as possible on Solyndra, stonewalling all the way while hoping someone might actually believe the independent probe will be independent. Given that the probe is headed by a corporate / DC insider who used to head Merrill Lynch and Fannie, I [...]

Trouble in the algae lab for Craig Venter and Exxon

Despite big investment, they’ve been unable to find naturally occurring algae that can be tweaked and used to product commercial-scale biofuel.

“I believe that a fully synthetic cell approach will be the best way to get to a truly disruptive change,” Venter said.

But getting there will cost huge amounts of money.

Republican-to-English dictionary

A few excerpts. Read them all!

America (United States of): A country located in the N. Western Hemisphere that is #1 Communism: The belief that the government should ever do anything. Extremist (Liberal): Espousing or adhering to political beliefs that are held by only a majority of Americans. Liberal: A person who should be rounded [...]

Cedar City UT Livestock and Heritage Parade

The parade also had antique tractors, cars, camp wagons both old and new, as well as huge modern farm equipment that I’ve no clue what the function is.

This parade is not just for show. Sheep are herded down from the mountains this time of year and have right-of-way on designated roads. Camp wagons [...]

Well now they’re just getting silly

Europe considers issuing bonds denominated in Chinese currency.

BusinessInsider details the multitude of reasons why this is a short-sighted, unworkable, self-defeating, and generally idiotic idea. Chief among them is why would China want to buy bonds from countries already hopelessly in debt.

A far better idea, and what will happen regardless of what desperate [...]

Quote of the Day

“You’re supposed to imagine the evil masterminds as Bolsheviks, not bankers.” – Eugene Robinson in WaPo.

Jimmie Rodgers. Travelin’ Blues 1931

According to music historians “At a time when hillbilly music was emerging and consisted of old time music with a fiddler or guitar player, and singers who all sounded alike, Rodgers brought a distinctive, colorful personality and a rousing vocal style. He turned the public’s attention away from rustic fiddles to popularize the free [...]

Scottish offshore wind farms take 5GW step forward

New lease agreements could lead to a whopping 5GW increase in wind power off Scotland, which is a serious amount of power indeed, probably enough for 2-3 million Scottish homes.

Meanwhile our own country, champion of renewable energy that it is, has precisely zero offshore wind farms. Now that Cape Wind has been harpooned, [...]

Congratulations NIMBYs, you’ve probably killed Cape Wind

Take a bow, Kennedy clan and the rest of you phony squeaky green environmentalists around Cape Cod who support clean energy as long as you don’t have to look at an icky wind turbine way distant in the ocean. Oh the horror.

Yes, Cape Wind is probably dead. It would have been the first offshore [...]

Our crumbling infrastructure. Arizona vs. Utah and Nevada

Heading into the Virgin River Gorge

I-15 goes south through Utah, crossing into Arizona for 29 miles through the spectacular, steep, sometimes dangerous Virgin River Gorge, before entering Nevada. Mesquite is the first Nevada city with Vegas just 80 miles away.

But the bridges in the Virgin River Gorge are deficient or near-deficient and [...]