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[polyh3dron]

Cuts of any kind cost jobs. Always have, always will. Who are the "job killers", again?

but i was told that all the spending from the government was killing jobs, that's what boehner told me

 

[reilo]

Disputing something that is common sense is a joke.

Do you even understand what "common sense" means? If ten people are refuting your every point, how can it be common sense? You're spouting bullshit and nothing but opinion yet touting it as fact. Either argue seriously or quit acting like a joke character.

 

[polyh3dron]

HR 1229, 1230 and 1231

The GOP won the house back based on JOBS JOBS JOBS and all you can show me is DRILL BABY DRILL legislation.

 

[Puddles]

speculawyer, you seem to be pretty well informed when it comes to energy problems.

What do you think of switchgrass ethanol? I'm reading studies saying that the grass would yield 13 megajoules of energy for every megajoule of petroleum used to fertilize and harvest it, but something about that seems off. Where is that extra energy coming from? Just from the sun?

 

[Evlar]

speculawyer, you seem to be pretty well informed when it comes to energy problems.

What do you think of switchgrass ethanol? I'm reading studies saying that the grass would yield 13 megajoules of energy for every megajoule of petroleum used to fertilize and harvest it, but something about that seems off. Where is that extra energy coming from? Just from the sun?

Yep. Biofuel power is solar power. (less whatever energy goes into cultivation, processing, and transportation)

 

[Chichikov]

Where is that extra energy coming from? Just from the sun?

Yes.
I can't answer any of your other questions though.

 

[besada]

Common sense is what people default to when they can't come up with an actual argument. It's just behind "because I said so" as an indicator that the person in question has no idea what they're talking about.

 

[StevieP]

but i was told that all the spending from the government was killing jobs, that's what boehner told me

Generally (of course) government spending produces jobs.

 

[Hitokage]

Common sense is often spectacularly wrong. That's why we have science.

 

[TacticalFox88]

Common sense is often spectacularly wrong. That's why we have science.

It's funny, most psychological studies refute common, common sense claims.

 

[speculawyer]

speculawyer, you seem to be pretty well informed when it comes to energy problems.

What do you think of switchgrass ethanol? I'm reading studies saying that the grass would yield 13 megajoules of energy for every megajoule of petroleum used to fertilize and harvest it, but something about that seems off. Where is that extra energy coming from? Just from the sun?

I'm not very knowledgeable about the biofuels. By what I understand, they are still working on different methods of creating efficient cellulosic ethanol production. I'd be surprised if someone really has a 13 to 1 EROEI process that can be done cheaply. I hope that is true since that would be better than oil sands but I have my doubts.

Robert Rapier is a guy you should read to learn about biofuels, he knows what he is talking about and writes some good stuff.

The GOP won the house back based on JOBS JOBS JOBS and all you can show me is DRILL BABY DRILL legislation.

Really now. Betting heavy on an industry where we import nearly 2/3s of the product we use, our production peaked in 1970, and we only have some 2% of the Earth's remaining (finite) resource is really really silly. Yes, there has been a little upswing due to the higher oil prices and new technology. But as a long term plan that is like having government subsidies for buggy whips . . . amazingly stupid.

It is beyond stupid . . . doing that merely sets us up for an even bigger disaster since it perpetuates our dependence on oil which will only become more scarce as time goes on. Why should we burn up the little remaining oil we have even faster?

But moving away from oil is big thinking . . . long term thinking. The GOP is looking backward while others are looking forward. Looking forward is hard . . . it is much easier to 'just do what we did in the past'.

 

[Zzoram]

speculawyer, you seem to be pretty well informed when it comes to energy problems.

What do you think of switchgrass ethanol? I'm reading studies saying that the grass would yield 13 megajoules of energy for every megajoule of petroleum used to fertilize and harvest it, but something about that seems off. Where is that extra energy coming from? Just from the sun?

Yes. Just shy of all energy on Earth comes from the sun. Plants and microbes photosynthesize, using solar radiation to store energy in organic molecules like sugars, which non-photosynthesizing life eats to get their energy. A photosynthesizer is at the base of just about every food chain.

Oil is mostly made from thick masses of vegetation that were somehow buried over time. Under heat and pressure, their stored energy in sugars got converted into coal and oil.

The only non-solar energy on Earth comes from radiation heat from the Earth's core coming out of themal vents at the bottom of the oceans. There is very little life supported by that energy relative to life supported by the sun.

 

[Hitokage]

The only non-solar energy on Earth comes from radiation heat from the Earth's core coming out of themal vents at the bottom of the oceans.

Don't forget about things like volcanoes, seismic events, and fissile materials.

 

[besada]

Common sense is often spectacularly wrong. That's why we have science.

You and your elitist science...

Don't forget about things like volcanoes, seismic events, and fissile materials.

Not to mention gravity, which is responsible for all our wave power, and most hydrological power.

 

[speculawyer]

The only non-solar energy on Earth comes from radiation heat from the Earth's core coming out of themal vents at the bottom of the oceans. There is very little life supported by that energy relative to life supported by the sun.

Even that energy can sort of be considered 'solar' in that much of the Earth's internal heat comes from decaying radioactive elements that were created in supernovas. (Same for nuclear power.)

But one non-solar energy would be tidal energy . . . that is energy from Moon's orbit.

 

[Zzoram]

Don't forget about things like volcanoes, seismic events, and fissile materials.

In terms of energy sources for life on Earth, those are negligable compared to the sun or thermal vents.

I'm wasn't talking about energy generation for electricity.

 

[Hitokage]

Even that energy can sort of be considered 'solar' in that much of the Earth's internal heat comes from decaying radioactive elements that were created in supernovas. (Same for nuclear power.)

But they don't involve our Sun's radiated energy, or the normal radiated energy of any star really.

In terms of energy sources for life on Earth, those are negligable compared to the sun or thermal vents.

On the contrary, volcanoes are pretty significant for putting chemical energy into the biosphere.

Also, this wasn't about life until you decided it was.

 

[besada]

Also, the pressure needed for making oil and diamond? Gravity. Without it, the strata would lay oh so gently atop one another.

 

[polyh3dron]

The GOP won the house back based on JOBS JOBS JOBS and all you can show me is DRILL BABY DRILL legislation.

Oh, TA forgot to mention HR 2, "Repealing The Job-Killing Health Care Law Act".

They're stopping jobs from being killed, it says so right in the bill's name!

This congress is such a joke.

 

[speculawyer]

Also, the pressure needed for making oil and diamond? Gravity. Without it, the strata would lay oh so gently atop one another.

Yeah, conditions for creating oil are pretty rare. You need the mass accumulation of bio-material. It need to get buried. It needs to be subjected to the right amount of pressure. It needs to be subjected to the right amount of heat. (Too much and it becomes natural gas but that is useful too.) And it needs to get trapped underground or else bacteria will eat it.

Thus, it is not surprising that we will burn through the relatively small amount of it in like 300 years.

 

[Veezy]

Come on, everybody. It's time we focus on the real problem in America.

MANATEES

Florida Tea Party hates manatees

The story is funny all around, but this is my favorite part.

Although tea partier Mattos said she brings her grandchildren to see the manatees, she doesn’t see a point in the Save the Manatee Club. “If some of these environmental movements had been around in the days of the dinosaurs, we’d be living in Jurassic Park now,” she said.

The Onion and reality, hard to tell the difference anymore.

 

[speculawyer]

The story is funny all around, but this is my favorite part.

Although tea partier Mattos said she brings her grandchildren to see the manatees, she doesn’t see a point in the Save the Manatee Club. “If some of these environmental movements had been around in the days of the dinosaurs, we’d be living in Jurassic Park now,” she said.

The Onion and reality, hard to tell the difference anymore.

Wow. I'm not sure whether to be more annoyed at the scientific inaccuracy or the fact that she doesn't think it would be cool to have real dinosaurs.

Another gem . . .

“We cannot elevate nature above people,” said Edna Mattos, 63, leader of the Citrus County Tea Party Patriots, in an interview. “That’s against the Bible and the Bill of Rights.”

Wat?

Edit: And yet the millionth example of how the Tea Part is not some Libertarian off-shoot that only deals with economic issues . . . mentioning the Bible? That is pure GOP.

 

[RustyNails]

Listening to tea partiers speak makes me wonder if I'm living in 1660's. Wouldn't be surprised at this point if they believed Nancy Pelosi is a witch.

 

[polyh3dron]

holy shit.

manatees.

jurassic park.

i don't even.

Wat?

And that's their LEADER.

 

[Veezy]

The problem is your kid might be near the water. And, we all know what manatees do.

They nuzzle. So, that manatee might float over and nuzzle your kid.

Ya know what nuzzling leads to? Gettin gay married. It's a fact.

You read it here first. The EPA's protection of the everglades is a direct support of manatees nuzzling which is a direct support of a federal mandate legalizing gay marriage.

It’s common sense. I’m surprised I didn’t see it sooner.

 

[besada]

The problem is your kid might be near the water. And, we all know what manatees do.

They nuzzle. So, that manatee might float over and nuzzle your kid.

Ya know what nuzzling leads to? Gettin gay married. It's a fact.

You read it here first. The EPA's protection of the everglades is a direct support of manatees nuzzling which is a direct support of a federal mandate legalizing gay marriage.

It’s common sense. I’m surprised I didn’t see it sooner.

So good, and multi layered. Thanks.

 

[Jason's Ultimatum]

Don't forget O Reilly's logic: maybe the kid will end wanting to marry the manatee.

 

[TacticalFox88]

Jurassic Park? Is she aware that Dinosaurs and Humans are 65 million years apart?

 

[Aaron Strife]

Jurassic Park? Is she aware that Dinosaurs and Humans are 65 million years apart?

That's impossible. What else would Jesus have rode on to Jerusalem?

 

[reilo]

Jurassic Park? Is she aware that Dinosaurs and Humans are 65 million years apart?

Something tells me she's of the Noah's Ark variety.

 

[Samk]

Jurassic Park? Is she aware that Dinosaurs and Humans are 65 million years apart?

The earth is 4000 years old, duh.

 

[Jason's Ultimatum]

So what's going on with Mexico's economy? 4.3% unemployment, 3-4% growth, cheaper credit to buy homes and go to college, standard of living increasing, even surprassing Russia? Those motherfuckers are actually returning back to Mexico since the U.S. economy is so bad.

 

[NullPointer]

Those motherfuckers are actually returning back to Mexico since the U.S. economy is so bad.

Shhh. That's been the strategery all along.

 

[Puddles]

So what's going on with Mexico's economy? 4.3% unemployment, 3-4% growth, cheaper credit to buy homes and go to college, standard of living increasing, even surprassing Russia? Those motherfuckers are actually returning back to Mexico since the U.S. economy is so bad.

Maybe I should go teach English down there. My Spanish is passable and could only improve!

 

[Puddles]

Yeah, conditions for creating oil are pretty rare. You need the mass accumulation of bio-material. It need to get buried. It needs to be subjected to the right amount of pressure. It needs to be subjected to the right amount of heat. (Too much and it becomes natural gas but that is useful too.) And it needs to get trapped underground or else bacteria will eat it.

Thus, it is not surprising that we will burn through the relatively small amount of it in like 300 years.

So if we just cut down the Amazon and dumped some rocks on top of it, we'd punt peak oil down the road a few decades, amirite?

 

[TacticalFox88]

So what's going on with Mexico's economy? 4.3% unemployment, 3-4% growth, cheaper credit to buy homes and go to college, standard of living increasing, even surprassing Russia? Those motherfuckers are actually returning back to Mexico since the U.S. economy is so bad.

That's both incredible yet depressing at the same time. Corruption is rampant yet the country is growing? Mindfuck.

 

[Cyan]

Come on, everybody. It's time we focus on the real problem in America.

MANATEES

Florida Tea Party hates manatees

The story is funny all around, but this is my favorite part.


The Onion and reality, hard to tell the difference anymore.

ohthehugemanatee.gif

 

[Chichikov]

Come on, everybody. It's time we focus on the real problem in America.

MANATEES

Florida Tea Party hates manatees

The story is funny all around, but this is my favorite part.


The Onion and reality, hard to tell the difference anymore.

The Tea Party seek to cut spending, but they doesn't know where to look.
They should look to nature, gentle aquatic mammals have all the answers!

 

[ToxicAdam]

The GOP won the house back based on JOBS JOBS JOBS and all you can show me is n.

You told me to show you one bill that came through the house that would add jobs. I did.

Maybe after having so many bills and budgets die in the Senate they have lost their will to try anything else.

 

[Dr. Pangloss]

I think I now agree with those that Romney will lower himself to win the presidency. Look at his new co-chair to his Justice Advisory Committee, Robert Bork (yes, that Robert Bork). This screams pander and "I'm conservative too."

• Opposition To Civil Rights: One year before President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned whites-only lunch counters and other forms of discrimination, Bork criticized the Act as a moral abomination. “The principle of such legislation is that if I find your behavior ugly by my standards, moral or aesthetic, and if you prove stubborn about adopting my view of the situation, I am justified in having the state coerce you into more righteous paths. That is itself a principle of unsurpassed ugliness.”
• No Right To Contraception: In Griswold v. Connecticut, the Supreme Court held that married couples have a constitutional right to use contraception — a decision that was later extended to all couples. Bork called this decision “utterly specious” and a “time bomb.”
• Banning Porn, Art and Science: Bork also called for shrinking the size of the First Amendment until it is small enough to be drowned in a bathtub. “Constitutional protection should be accorded only to speech that is explicitly political. There is no basis for judicial intervention to protect any other form of expression, be it scientific, literary or that variety of expression we call obscene or pornographic.”
• Believes Government Can Criminalize Sex: In its landmark Lawrence v. Texas decision, the Supreme Court reached the obvious conclusion that it is none of the government’s damn business who anyone is having sex with — overruling a previous decision in Bowers v. Hardwick. Bork, however, wrote that “Bowers v. Hardwick, which upheld the community’s right to prohibit homosexual conduct, may be a sign that the Court is recovering its balance . . . . I am dubious about making homosexual conduct criminal, but I favor even less imposing rules upon the American people that have no basis other than the judge’s morality.”
• No Constitutional Protection for Women: Bork also claimed that the Constitution does not shield women from gender discrimination. In Bork’s words, “I do think the equal protection clause probably should be kept to things like race and ethnicity.”

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/08/03/286134/romney-bork-unsurpassed-ugliness/

Great selection for the twenty-first century.

 

[TacticalFox88]

I think I now agree with those that Romney will lower himself to win the presidency. Look at his new co-chair to his Justice Advisory Committee, Robert Bork (yes, that Robert Bork). This screams pander and "I'm conservative too."


Great selection for the twenty-first century.

I don't think ass-backwards doesn't even do it justice.

 

[S1lent]

Bork also called for shrinking the size of the First Amendment until it is small enough to be drowned in a bathtub. “Constitutional protection should be accorded only to speech that is explicitly political. There is no basis for judicial intervention to protect any other form of expression, be it scientific, literary or that variety of expression we call obscene or pornographic.”

Such malarkey.

 

[NathanMcMahon]

I think I now agree with those that Romney will lower himself to win the presidency. Look at his new co-chair to his Justice Advisory Committee, Robert Bork (yes, that Robert Bork). This screams pander and "I'm conservative too."


Great selection for the twenty-first century.

What's infuriating is that these types of people have no concept of what horrible despots they are.

 

[Escape Goat]

After having almost nuked the economy over not having enough money to pay our bills, the US Congress is wasting more money on the FAA debacle. Absolutely astounding.

Fuck this government. I can't take this stuff anymore. No more news for me. If something important happens put a BREAKING in the thread title

 

[HylianTom]

After having almost nuked the economy over not having enough money to pay our bills, the US Congress is wasting more money on the FAA debacle. Absolutely astounding.

Fuck this government. I can't take this stuff anymore. No more news for me. If something important happens put a BREAKING in the thread title

Don't stress over it any more; my blood pressure has gone down considerably since I quit taking it seriously.
90% of it doesn't matter in the long run anyway, especially as long as we continue in this fashion. While we're wrangling over union rights, reproductive rights, FAA funding, etc.. time and geology and math will continue to do their thing.

We'll keep doing what we're doing, with either party in charge, until we physically can no longer do it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQqDS9wGsxQ

 

[Puddles]

What kind of readership do you think a political opinion site would need before a mainstream site like huffpo would entertain the idea of paying you to write for them?

 

[Escape Goat]

Don't stress over it any more; my blood pressure has gone down considerably since I quit taking it seriously.
90% of it doesn't matter in the long run anyway, especially as long as we continue in this fashion. While we're wrangling over union rights, reproductive rights, FAA funding, etc.. time and geology and math will continue to do their thing.

We'll keep doing what we're doing, with either party in charge, until we physically can no longer do it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQqDS9wGsxQ

Thats what I keep telling myself. That its going to take people dieing in the streets (Or expensive hospital beds) before we make any truly meaningful changes.

 

[Tamanon]

What kind of readership do you think a political opinion site would need before a mainstream site like huffpo would entertain the idea of paying you to write for them?

Huffpo won't pay you to write for them unless you're trying to escape from a newspaper.

 

[Puddles]

Huffpo won't pay you to write for them unless you're trying to escape from a newspaper.

So newspaper first, huh?

How does one get started as a political opinion writer for a paper?

 

[NathanMcMahon]

Thats what I keep telling myself. That its going to take people dieing in the streets (Or expensive hospital beds) before we make any truly meaningful changes.

Man, I just went over to ThinkProgress after a self-imposed exile for the past few months. My head is spinning from the amount of bullshit the whacked out American Taliban known as the modern day conservative movement is spewing. There is no way we will ever recover from these messes we've made. We are just plain fucked. So, just sit down and enjoy the funky ass ride.