The Real Dangers of an Iranian or North Korean Satellite Launch

Many people including the Obaministration are trying to downplay the importance of North Korea putting a satellite in orbit. Iran already launched one without causing concern for the new homeland defense team.

Newt Gingrich and William Forschten just wrote an article about this subject: A Single Nuke Could Destroy America. It explains how a nuclear EMP attack could wreak a lot more havoc than a nuclear bomb delivered an American soil. That EMP attack can be simply ignited from the orbit, without the need of an ICBM.

For more on the science behind this, check the Wikipedia article and references. In brief, a nuclear detonation at an 120mi orbit could effectively paralyze the entire USA. It's not sure if North Korea or Iran can reach that altitude now, but even a lower height could affect most of the continental US.

Obama to Ban Plastic, Makup, Asphalt and more

You probably heard that Obama wants to get us off the oil in 10 years. In his well-known, utter ignorance, he probably thinks oil only fuels our cars. He could find it interesting to learn that oil is also used for:
- everything plastic
- rubber and vinyls (used in clothing or carpetting)
- fertilizers, pesticides
- asphalt
- paints, glues, polishes
- some pharmaceutical products, including aspirin and antihistamines
- air flight (while we had alternative-power cars, like hybrids or electrics, so far no plane has flown on alternative energy)
- cosmetics

The last item suggest a solution: Ban makeup! This will surely get Nancy Pelosi to change her mind on drilling.

Why aren't people buying CFL bulbs?

There was an article in USA Today, The shape of lights to come? Not everyone's buying it, which discusses the reasons why despite all mandates and publicity people are still refusing to buy CFL bulbs. Here are a few reasons:

• They don't start out at full brightness. The bulbs can take up to a minute to reach full glow.
• They're temperature-sensitive. If it gets much below 30 degrees, they won't start up very quickly. CFL bulbs also burn out quicker if they're in a hot environment such as inside a light fixture. If you put it in an enclosed fixture, maybe it will last 3,000, not 10,000
• One size does not fit all. The more light a CFL puts out, the bigger it must be. The CFL equivalent of a 60-watt bulb is tiny. The 120-watt equivalent is bigger and won't fit in many lamps and fixtures
• Many CFL bulbs don't work well with dimmer switches and three-way light fixtures. When used with a dimmer switch, CFL bulbs typically will dim to about 20% of their full intensity and then cut out. When used in a three-way light fixture, many CFL bulbs will pop, hiss and buzz.

The article doesn't refer to the environmental hazards of having a mercury-laden hot bulb break in your house. Or to the hassle of disposing of CFL bulbs.
I see this as a basic matter of choice. Currently, it's estimated that 10% of households have CFL bulbs. Congress is now mandating everybody to use these bulbs. It's not enough that they want to tell you what school to go to, what food to eat and what car to drive, now they tell you how to light up your house.

Who killed the electric car?

According to a former GM engineer who designed it, it was reality. And not, as liberal conspiracy theorists claim in a recent movie, the big bad oil companies. You can read the full editorial from USA Today, but here is Gary Witzenburg summing it up:

Widespread acceptance of battery-powered EVs will not happen until someone develops battery technology competitive with a tank of gas (or diesel) in every way. It must be absolutely safe, long-term durable, capable of operating reliably in extreme weather and temperatures, mass-producible at low cost, able to carry comparable energy in a package of comparable size and weight, and able to be quickly recharged. None comes remotely close.

Ditto.

So what are the stem-cells good for?

It's about 4 years since George Bush became the first ever President to authorize federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research, and we're still waiting for proof that they are worth researching. What seemed to be one of the stem-cells activists' best chance just got busted, as a stem-cell pioneer admitted to faking data and withdrew his paper.

For everyone whining about stem-cell research being illegal, please note that only federal funding (that is tax-payer contributions) is somehow restricted, but there is absolutely no restriction on state funding and, more important, private funding. And adult stem-cell research funding is not prohibited by any kind of law. Looking back at history, few medical and science advances (something below 1%) was made with Government money, the rest being the result of private research. Note that the medical industry spends about 2 billion dollars every year on sexual enhancement products like Viagra, and almost 1 billion on treatments for baldness. Why? Because they see results in that area, and interest from their customers. I wonder, if embryonic stem-cells are such a gift from God which will cure all diseases, why aren't medical companies investing more than a few millions every year on this type of research?

And by the way, all the current practical applications of stem cells are using adult stem cells, from adult individuals, without the need to kill anyone. All the buzz made about the embryonic stem cells is just another piece of liberal nuts propaganda.

Here are some references:

• Spinning Stem Cells
• Biased Reporting on Stem Cell Research
• Breakthrough Study Find Adult Stem Cells
• Most Americans Oppose Federal Funding of Stem Cell Research