Friday, November 25th, 2011
Stephan: The Fox disinformation machine, in the service of Theocratic Rightwing interests is largely responsible for this appalling poll outcome. That gurgling you hear is the drain.
Public support for increased federal funding on research into alternative energy technology, including solar technology, has decreased substantially since the early months of the Obama administration, with nearly all the decline coming from Republicans and Republican-leaning independents.
Overall, 68% of the public favors increasing federal funding for research on wind, solar and hydrogen energy technology; 26% are opposed. From 2006 through early 2009, roughly 80% supported increased federal funding for alternative energy research.
Since April 2009, there has been a 30 point decline in the percentage of Republicans and Republican leaners who support more federal funding for research into alternative energy technologies. Currently, 53% favor this policy, down from 82% in April 2009. There has been little change in opinions among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents. Currently, 83% of Democrats favor increased funding for research into alternative energy technologies.
The survey was conducted Nov. 3-6 by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.
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Friday, November 25th, 2011
Stephan: Thanksgiving day I did an interview on Ian Masters' syndicated radio program, Background Briefing, which I and many others believe is the best political social analysis talk radio in the country. If you are not familiar with it, I encourage you to take a look and listen to it. This interview concerns the Thriving and Resilience community movement I have been writing about.
You can get station IDs and streaming from the site: ianmasters.com
-- Stephan
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Friday, November 25th, 2011
Stephan: You read about the effects of climate change on New York a couple of days ago. Here is what is happening in Florida.
The full report is available at http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL5E7MI32K20111118.
MIAMI, Fla. – ‘Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation’ is out, and none too soon: 2011 has been one of the most costly years on record for extreme weather events worldwide, and the U.S. has had more ‘billion dollar events’ than ever before. Released by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the new report reveals that changes in weather patterns and resulting ocean warming will have a direct effect on Florida.
Dr. Harold Wanless, professor and chair of the Dept. of Geological Sciences, University of Miami, co-authored the report. He warns that by the end of this century, regions of South Florida will be uninhabitable.
‘There is consensus that Miami-Dade County will be abandoned, basically, by the end of the century. Mumbai will be abandoned – 15 million people, Atlantic City – you name it. With a four- or five-foot rise in sea level, most of the deltas of the world will be abandoned.’
The rise in sea level is a result of warming due to carbon dioxide gas released into the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels, Wanless explains. As sea water warms, polar ice melts.
The report reflects the recognition that the changing planetary […]
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Thursday, November 24th, 2011
ROGER J. DOW, - The Wall Street Journal
Stephan: This is another example of the trend of self-inflicted injuries. Our paranoia has made coming into the U.S. from abroad a police state experience. And I am told that getting a visa is a humiliating experience. So, not surprisingly, people stay away. Here's the proof.
Roger Dow is the president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association.
Over the past decade, the U.S. economy has missed an unprecedented global travel boom because of visa delays and other bureaucratic policies that discourage visitors to our shores. Our research shows that between 2000 and 2010 America’s share as a destination of the long-haul travel market slipped to 12% from 17%. That adds up to a lost decade for American travel with 467,000 lost jobs, $606 billion in lost spending by visitors, and $37 billion in lost tax revenue.
During a time of high unemployment and rising deficits, the U.S. cannot afford to continue down this path. International travelers represent the most lucrative segment of the fiercely competitive global travel market. For every international traveler who visits the U.S., our hotels, restaurants, retailers and other businesses rack up an average of $4,000 in sales. By recapturing our previous 17% share of the market, America could realize $859 billion in economic stimulus and create 1.3 million new jobs by 2020 at no cost to American taxpayers.
The question is not whether more international travelers are willing to bring their money to the U.S., but whether our government will let them. Important safeguards have been instituted after 9/11, such as in-person interviews with consular […]
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Thursday, November 24th, 2011
Stephan: This the latest on the Rossi technology, it is developing exactly as one would expect a successful project to develop. The company is already targeting a residence-sized unit at '$500 per kilowatt,' which would drop as it scaled up. Once installed, conceptually, it would run as needed. There's always some kind of maintenance. But it could turn out to require very little, like your refrigerator. They will spread through the world like house sized iPods.
Andrea Rossi may have his doubters, detractors and skeptics, but the client for whom he demonstrated his 1MW e-Cat energy system apparently isn’t one of them. Not only did the mysterious client take delivery of Rossi’s first 1MW heat energy production system, but ordered a dozen more for use in cold, remote locations. That’s an order worth $24 million.
While Rossi isn’t at liberty to reveal who the client is — and here speculation has run rampant — he is not barred from talking about the results of the demonstration, witnessed by a select group of media in Bologna, Italy on October 28, 2011.
As far as the client is concerned, he/she/they are satisfied that the technology works, producing low-grade steam via a heretofore little understood physical process often identified as ‘cold fusion’ that somehow generates anomalous amounts of heat by combining nickel powder, hydrogen gas and a proprietary catalytic material that when heated to a critical point, goes into a self-sustaining reaction that isn’t chemical in nature. Exactly what goes on at the atomic level is still a matter of debate, but Signor Rossi is confident that he knows what’s happening and as soon as his patent is granted, he tells […]
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