Comment Re:911 (Score 1) 413
however in todays world you do need internet to search and apply for most jobs.
even walmart directs applicants to go online to apply.
Comment Re:Have You Looked for a Job Recently? (Score 2) 413
except the conservatives are trying to kill libraries too, because "taxes" and "socialism" and again, that same resistance to government doing ANYTHING for the public. the same resistance that hass them opposing the existence public schools.
Comment Re:How about import duties? (Score 3, Informative) 413
Please. the government isn't even close to living outside its means. Extreme deficits only came about because politicians started to insist on cutting taxes. This country had no trouble paying for everything the government did, even while providing almost precisely the same services and social programs we currently do. and the economy and the average citizen not only was doing fine, but was more prosperous than he is today, even with the higher tax burden.
Comment Re:suckers (Score 1) 141
also lets not forget, the area of the planet is 196.9 million sq miles.
meaning 8 of my mega installations comprise only 0.074% of the planet's surface.
Comment Re:suckers (Score 2) 141
There is no scenario in which the problems of solar outweigh the problems of nuclear enough to sway the pendulum into nuclear's favor.
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Huge amount of landscape....not really.
A solar array ~135 miles on a side (that's 18,225 sq mi) is sufficient to provide all the energy needs of the entire planet. That's in between the size of maryland and West V. Now...the planet rotates, so you'd need a few of them. Let's say 8 of them, space so one (or a combination) is always receiving and generating enough, plus a margin of safety. That's still only 145,800 sq mi. Which is basically the size of Montana; but again dispersed around the planet.
And given the rather large bodies of water, and large nearly inhabitable areas (deserts, polar packs, etc), placing in areas not normally frequented or inhabited isn't particularly difficult. of course it's all predicated on the existence of smart grid tech, but we should be, and are, developing that anyway.
And of course that's assuming only the use of the giant power stations, and ignoring all the potential rooftop installations*, as well wind generation with nearly permanent wind, such as Oklahoma.
It's not an insurmountable problem.
It's quite easily doable, even with today's technology.
And the side effects still pale in comparison to all the problems associated with nuclear waste.
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*Bonus math: 350 million people in the US. Assume half live in house of 4, rest in some sort of communal building containing at least 20 people (apartment, condo, etc). That's 43,750,000 homes, and 8,750,000 apartments/condos. Average house sq ft is ~1600. Average apartment building is 4x that, at 6,400.
Total roof area estimate is then (somewhat more than, but we'll ignore peak angles for now to make it more conservative) 126,000,000,000 sq ft, which is 4519.63 sq miles.
Which means that if every residential structure in the US alone had rooftop solar, we'd already be 25% of the way to the solar installation area needed to power the world. Add in Europe, and we're going to be nearly 50% of the way there. Add in our commercial buildings too, and we're likely at 100%, if not more.
Again: doable in our lifetimes with current technology, with a combination of dedicated generating plants and distributed rooftop installations.
Comment Re:other people's money (Score 1, Insightful) 413
ah yes.
once again, the "if you're poor, it must be a moral failure on your part" argument.
which is total BS ignorant of reality.
FCC Proposes To Extend So-Called "Obamaphone" Program To Broadband 413
jfruh writes: The FCC's Lifeline program subsidizes phone service for very poor Americans; it gained notoriety under the label "Obamaphone," even though the program started under Reagan and was extended to cell phones under Clinton. Now the FCC is proposing that the program, which is funded by a fee on telecom providers, be extended to broadband, on the logic that high-speed internet is as necessary today as telephone service was a generation ago.
Comment Re:Brought to you by.... (Score 1) 141
defensive much? you must be really threatened by women, since the only person who brought the fact of her gender, was you.
Comment Re:suckers (Score 1) 141
Nuclear is not the only solution, nor is it particularly attractive when solar can achieve the same goals, without the side effects.
Comment Re:Ozone layer is recovering (Score 1) 141
it got modded down because its wrong. but props for posting your stupidity under your own profile. that puts you are least a step about the nutjob AC.
Thanks To the Montreal Protocol, We Avoided Severe Ozone Depletion 141
hypnosec writes: Scientists say the ozone layer is in good shape thanks to the Montreal Protocol, which has helped us avoid severe ozone depletion. Research suggests that the Antarctic ozone hole would have been 40% bigger by now if not for the international treaty. "Our research confirms the importance of the Montreal Protocol and shows that we have already had real benefits. We knew that it would save us from large ozone loss 'in the future', but in fact we are already past the point when things would have become noticeably worse," lead author Professor Martyn Chipperfield, from the School of Earth & Environment at the University of Leeds, said in a press release.
California Is Giving Away Free Solar Panels To Its Poorest Residents 272
MikeChino writes: Oakland-based non-profit GRID Alternatives is giving away 1,600 free solar panels to California's poorest residents by the year 2016. The initiative was introduced by Senator Kevin de León and launched with funds gathered under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GCRF), the state's cap-and-trade program. SFGate reports: "Kianté London used the program to put panels on his three-bedroom North Richmond home, which he shares with two sons and a daughter. 'It helps me and my family a great deal to have low-cost energy, because these energy prices are really expensive,' said London, 46, whose solar array was installed this week. 'And I wanted to do my part. It’s clean, green energy.' London had wanted a solar array for years, but couldn’t afford it on his income as a merchant seaman — roughly $70,000 per year. Even leasing programs offered by such companies as SolarCity and Sunrun were too expensive, he said. The new program, in contrast, paid the entire up-front cost of his array."
Comment Re:wha (Score 1) 445
Ya...no direct evidence...except for:
-Fossils
-DNA, aka the universal genetic code
-Common traits and stages of life across species
-antibiotic/herbicide/pesticide resistance in bacteria plants
-ability to change the characteristics of living things through breeding
-long term evolutionary experiments, such as Lenski's E Coli experiment
http://www.scientificamerican....
http://humanorigins.si.edu/evi...
http://www.motherjones.com/pol...
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pm...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E...
http://myxo.css.msu.edu/ecoli/
Comment Re: Again? (Score 1) 206
That's because many companies in the US exist as paper instruments to enforce government-granted monopoly
No.
And you managed to toss the Import Export bank in there too, without understanding what it is. (hint: it not only does NOT stifle competition, but strengthens the country's exports and ability to export, and turns a profit for the government (which reduces the deficit))
Comment Re:I think they mean.... (Score 1) 206
because we learned history.
