More Of My Tax Dollar Down The Drain

submarinesailor · October 24, 2011, 06:12:50 AM

This one got my blood pressure up first thing this morning. >:(

>:(

>:( >:( >:(

SunPower: Twice the Green Jobs Scandal for the Obama Administration of Solyndra
http://news.thomasnet.com/green_clean/?p=6726/rss

Bruce

Al_Smith · October 24, 2011, 07:42:09 AM

It seems "green " is the buzz word of the day .I think the whole world is anal about it .Whatever happened to common sense ?

Take incandesent light bulbs .Sure they aren't efficient ,but in the case of a light source they are also a good heater .Two for one sale so to speak and cheap .

But no they want to phase them out with the so called "new "CFL's which are not new at all .They are just a different design of the age old self ballasted bulbs which have been around for 40 plus years although they last longer now .Save energy ,maybe .But then most people will toss them in the land fill polluting the ground .How green is that ?

WH_Conley · October 24, 2011, 07:56:00 AM

Try using one of those bulbs in a cool location.

Al_Smith · October 24, 2011, 01:10:04 PM

Oh they'l light but you need to get the official super dooper auxillary coldweather starting kit to warm the CFL ,an incandescent bulb .Soon to be on the endangered species list .

jueston · October 25, 2011, 09:50:31 PM

CFL's have other limitations that no one ever seems to talk about (my mom is a PhD chemist and fills me head with this stuff) they require a large amount of power to start up, the energy savings quoted by the industry and on the packaging is based on leaving it on 24/7. If you put a CFL in a bathroom or a closet your savings will be nonexistent, and the same is true of the "life span" in a bathroom it would last the same amount of time as a traditional bulb.
Leds are the magical answer for anyone who wants to spend $70 for a light bulb....
But green(as it exists today) is just a fad, everyone is on the bandwagon and in a decade everyone will be over it. Sustainability is important, but I'm not about to go buy a hemp sweatshirt.... Everyone in the world was obsessed with eugenics before WW2, now they teach the kids the germans were the only ones trying to create a super race... what will our grand kids be told in school?

Al_Smith · October 26, 2011, 04:35:40 AM

Quote from: jueston on October 25, 2011, 09:50:31 PM
Sustainability is important, but I'm not about to go buy a hemp sweatshirt....

Hemp cloth,burlap ,feed sack material .

Well it would last alright but don't get caught growing the stuff . :D

SwampDonkey · October 26, 2011, 05:31:47 AM

Why not just use rayon, you cut enough of it already and you don't tie up agricultural land. ;D

Now it seems the plastics industry has won another game, our paper money is now going to be plastic money by the end of the year. Sure it's more durable, but it's darn well not renewable.

jueston · October 26, 2011, 06:31:47 PM

Quote from: SwampDonkey on October 26, 2011, 05:31:47 AM
Sure it's more durable, but it's darn well not renewable.

and it makes it through the wash without a problem....

Al_Smith · October 26, 2011, 06:59:40 PM

Oh no Canadian loonies are made of plastic .What's this world comming to ,good grief .

US green backs are made of rag paper which is really more of a cloth than a paper .Washable which is where the idea of "money laundering " came from perhaps . :D

nas · October 26, 2011, 10:06:10 PM

Al the loonies are coins

SD I think the new bills are made that way more for security reasons than anything else. I'm all for a longer lasting bill. I always keep them in my pocket, and they don't seem to last very long before they burn a hole through, or my wife gets her hands in there :D

Nick

SwampDonkey · October 27, 2011, 05:38:49 AM

Quote from: jueston on October 26, 2011, 06:31:47 PM
and it makes it through the wash without a problem....

I tried it with a cell phone once, it didn't make it. :D

I don't carry much cash. You see, there is a reason. A good reason I think. No one will ask you to pay the restaurant tab and no one will otherwise ask you to crack open your wallet for it. :D :D

Al_Smith · October 27, 2011, 09:40:13 AM

Loonies coins ? Well I admit it's been a number of years since I saw a Canadian bill :D.Seems to me back in the 70's one denomination had a picture of the oil refinerys in Sarnia where I worked at during that time and another with a bunch of ducks or something on a pond .If memory serves me correctly also one with the Queen of England at a much younger age . .Some place I think I have a 5 dollar but where exactly I haven't a clue .

nas · October 27, 2011, 11:24:18 AM

Yes since '86 I believe the 1 dollar has been a coin, and called a loonie because of the loon on it. We also have a $2 coin called a toonie because it has a polar bear on it ??? :D. The Queen is still on the $20 bill but she looks a lot older now. I don't know if it is the wrinkles in the paper though. ;)

Nick

Al_Smith · October 27, 2011, 01:54:00 PM

Every so often the US gov gets the bright idea to come out with a 1 dollar coin .It usually doesn't work out well nor most likely did they figure it would .The Susie B's got confused for quarters and all the rest just never became popular except for collectors .Still worth a buck though which doesn't buy as much as it used to .Geeze they aren't even made of silver anymore .

I think they just do that nonsense periodically so the people at the mints have a job .

Paul_H · October 27, 2011, 08:56:55 PM

I heard the Queen despises the Toonie because it shows her face on the front and her bear behind.

SwampDonkey · October 30, 2011, 03:51:43 AM

Even merchants have capitalized on the Loonie, by labeling their discount bins, "The Loonie Bin" :D

I think the whole notion that the government is saving money printing coins versus bank notes or paper vs plastic is debatable. It's the government, if it's "saved here", it's blown on something else. :D Every time they introduce "cost saving measures", we hear the truth about the costs by the time the next election roles around. ;D I wonder what kind of royalties are paid to those artists that get hired to change the face of money. :D

I wonder if our American friends have heard about the savings we made buying old obsolete British subs for $750M that are all in dry dock for refit at a cost of $1B and have been for years and will be for years more. So the $1B will likely be $4B before it's over as none were fit to sail or sale. I think one of them burnt up after it left port in Britain. What a mess of nonsense. :D

Al_Smith · October 30, 2011, 05:30:29 AM

Not on a deal like that but I'll tell you some of a past time the US gov did .

One example is giving Argentina a couple of old diesel boats WW2 vintage .Then after they beat the crap out of them pay to have them taken to Electric Boat in Groton Conn for a refit .

The Argentine crew loved it ,they housed them ,fed them plus payed them a subsidy because things in the states far exceeded the cost in Argentina .

I'll say this about the Canadian navy since you mentioned it .At one time they had just about the best ASW warfare of any navy in the world .In addition a Canadian Corvette I do believe would outrun any of our destroyers unless it was a WW2 4 stacker .

We used to play "war games " with them ,they were damned good .

SwampDonkey · October 30, 2011, 05:45:30 AM

Well at least Harper has the brains to build the next bunch of war boats in Canada. ;D But that being said, the Ferry boats have all been made in Europe the last few decades because of their subsidies. We just put one of them into service to Grand Manan Island. It even had troubles from day one that had to be ironed out. I don't know if it was brand new or some old junk.

Woodcarver · October 30, 2011, 08:57:25 AM

The goverment is busy printing presidential silver dollars that no one wants and stacking them up in warehouses right now: http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/coins-costing-taxpayers-14076274

One more rat hole to pour taxpayer dollars down.

Al_Smith · October 31, 2011, 07:39:09 AM

Just one of many rat holes I might add .Every presidentual election and change of policy always include a chairmen of the rat hole commitee it seems .Their imagination knows no boundries .

CTYank · March 13, 2012, 07:57:19 PM

Quote from: jueston on October 25, 2011, 09:50:31 PM
CFL's have other limitations that no one ever seems to talk about (my mom is a PhD chemist and fills me head with this stuff) they require a large amount of power to start up, the energy savings quoted by the industry and on the packaging is based on leaving it on 24/7. If you put a CFL in a bathroom or a closet your savings will be nonexistent, and the same is true of the "life span" in a bathroom it would last the same amount of time as a traditional bulb.
Leds are the magical answer for anyone who wants to spend $70 for a light bulb....
But green(as it exists today) is just a fad, everyone is on the bandwagon and in a decade everyone will be over it. Sustainability is important, but I'm not about to go buy a hemp sweatshirt.... Everyone in the world was obsessed with eugenics before WW2, now they teach the kids the germans were the only ones trying to create a super race... what will our grand kids be told in school?

Not being a "PhD Chemist" but a plain old EE and Comp.Sci. type, your mom is wrong about the energy draw on startup of CFL; if she watched Myth Busters, she'd have seen some measurements. (M'self, I've a problem with paranoia.) Disposal is not a problem around here.

LED lamps are already way below your numbers for price. I've a few floods and desk lamps, and they are way more effficient than incandescents.

Maybe you never saw the figures on how much coal it takes to generate the steam to make a typical incandescent glow for its useful lifetime? I'll pass.

Hindsight is always 20/20.