Temple of the Sun

Let our new temples be thermal solar collectors, generating clean electricity for a post-carbon world. Ramen.

Yes We Can, With Atoms!

By harnessing the power of the atom we can achieve a glorious worker's paradise that not only would achieve complete equality on Earth, but allow us to export this equality to the stars. Atoms!

Or not quite. Like with any Godlike power - and the power of the atom could certainly be considered Godlike (consider, the matter within you now has the equivalent power of thousands of the biggest nuclear bombs) - there's a downside. And that would be the extinction of humanity and a good bit of all life on Earth.

From one of the earliest H bomb tests.

Loose slots and mushroom clouds on the horizon - visit Nevada! Nukes are good for business.

Where would the fall out shelter industry be without them?

And they can help with marketing choices.

But seriously, folks, nuclear bombs are bad, m'kay? Take it from Mr. Oppenheimer:

It's a heavy legacy - to be considered the "Father of the Bomb" or perhaps "Destroyer of Worlds". But he was but one man among many, and the morality of the Bomb at the time is complex. Such is the price of opening Pandora's Box. Wonders and terrors hitherto never even conceived! Consider it - before the concepts of the atom were understood (late 1800's), all of this was unimaginable, literally. And now, today, we could destroy our world in the next 30 minutes. Also literally.

Or, if we were more mature/wise, we could power all of humanity's technology using safe nuclear power.

But we're not very mature now, are we?

No Tilters

Take your lance elsewhere, tilter. This windmill is not going anywhere, and in fact, is environmentally friendly. Why do you hate the environment, Don?

Oh, right. Delusion. Similar to the Republican's response to global warming. Did you hear July was the hottest month on Earth in recorded history? Liberal lies, I'm sure.

Red Shirt Is

Green where there was only brown before, forever. It's magical. For comparison:

The harsh light of construction. Does it ever look good? Better always to see the final product than the steps along the way. If consumer you be, rather than producer. Me?

I love the nitty gritty in the production and am often bored with the results. To my detriment!

UNLIMITED POWER (not phallic)

Wardenclyffe Tower, or the Tesla Tower, the first cell phone tower, but much more! Tesla intended it to also transmit wireless power, and think about the implications of that. Unfortunately, unlimited and free power was not in JP Morgan's interests, and soon all the money was gone, the Tower was vandalized, and Tesla's Lab was burnt, as were the majority of his work/notes. Co-incidence! Tesla was the man, a pure genius, but alas, most of his brilliant ideas are lost to us. So beware, future inventors! Inventing an engine that runs on water will make you many enemies. And a few awesome friends. As such:

Another genius, but no Tesla. There are few in our history who can compare.

For shame, Arizona

This is a solar water heater. There are two basic versions: This one, in which the water circulates through the glass tubes, absorbing the heat of the sun; or, not pictured, a photovoltaic version, which generates electricity from solar panels to heat the water (or, 3, a combination of each).

When I was in Greece, I was astounded, and happy, to see these devices on just about every rooftop, including commercial buildings (my hotel had one).

Conversely, I was surprised - negatively - to not see a single one of these anywhere in Arizona. Anecdotal, I know, but I traveled widely and was always on the lookout for them, and saw not a one. I saw very, very few solar panels as well, and mostly these were at UofA or ASU -- I only saw 3-5 houses with solar panels.

Which is just madness. Hot water consumes a big portion of everyone's electric bill - up to 30-40%. Arizona has on average 300 days of sun a year. Thus, roughly, if every house and business used a solar water heater, total electric load for the region would drop by 30% or so. A huge impact.

So, what the heck, Arizona?

Fuck You Cake

Ooo! I want a piece from the mushroom cloud!

2008 v. 2004

No, not Dick Cheney, but the way he's been acting lately, he better watch out the next time he shares a blind.

This fine gent is T. Boone Pickens, Billionaire oil man and a fine example of the differences between the 2004 and the 2008 election.

In 2004, Mr. Pickens used a small, very small portion of his enormous wealth to fund various 527 groups, including the infamous "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" -- aside: Almost anytime you see a group using the word "truth" in their name, odds are they are lying.

In 2008, however, Mr. Pickens picked the wrong horse early (Mr. 911 Rudy Guliani). When that dog didn't hunt, Mr. Pickens apparently had something of an epiphany. To quote the Wiki:

Pickens "said he has stopped giving to political campaigns and renounced his previous Republican affiliation in his drive to focus the nation's attention on the need for immediate, drastic action on energy" such as solar and wind. The Washington Post says that "perhaps the strangest role" Pickens "has fashioned for himself is his current one: the billionaire speculator as energy wise man, an oil-and-gas magnate as champion of wind power, and a lifetime Republican who has become a fellow traveler among environmentally minded Democrats -- even though he helped finance the 'Swift boat' ads that savaged" Sen. John F. Kerry's presidential campaign. In an editorial, the New York Times reports Pickens "has decided that drilling for more oil is not the answer to the nation's energy problems. President Bush should listen to his fellow Texan and longtime political ally."

I can think of fewer more potent symbols for the change in America since the folly of 2004. As Mr. Pickens says in his commercials supporting his efforts at getting the USA off foreign oil,


"This is one crisis we can't drill our way out of."


Hear that, McCain?