Skytruth

The LA Times, today, has an article about Skytruth. Skytruth is a small nonprofit group that has been monitoring the oil spill. They were the first to point out that the spill was much bigger than the initial 1000 barrels estimate given by BP and the government. That sent BP and the government scrambling to come up with the 5000 barrel estimate.

As stated in the LA Times article, "Saturday, the group updated its analysis to estimate that the slick contained more than 11.1 million gallons of oil, which would make it the largest oil spill in American history. John Amos, the group's president, also revised the estimate of the rate of oil leaking to 25,000 barrels a day, saying it was a "rock bottom" figure."

25,000 barrels per day is 1,050,000 gallons per day. That's right, over 1 MILLION GALLONS PER DAY!

That's 25 times the initial estimate, and there is no end in sight.

With all the resources that a large international corporation, British Petroleum, and with all the resources of the federal government, why does it take a " tiny nonprofit group with one paid staffer in a one-room office in a small West Virginia town" to figure out how much oil is leaking?

What Happened To The Volcano?

Well, the oil spill, or should I say oil leak, in the Gulf has certainly knocked the Iceland volcano, Eyjafjallajokull, off the front pages. Before we leave it, however, I would like to use it to point out more extreme mis-information out there about volcanoes and global climate change.

I spent last weekend visiting relatives in the mid-West. We were out driving around and the topic of the Iceland volcano came up. One relative blurted out,

"You know, that volcano has spewed out more carbon dioxide than is produced by all the cars in the US in 10 years. So much for our impact on global warming. Ha! Ha! Ha!"

Now, I knew he was full of crap, but (1) did not have my facts with me, and (2) did not want to really get into a climate change discussion at that time. Where did he get that "information"? He listens to "shock-jock" radio, so it probably came from there. Such thoughts may have originated from Ian Plimer who has written that volcanoes produce more CO2 than the world's cars and industries combined.

Let's look at some numbers.

The volcano is emitting about 150,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per day. That's 0.15 million metric tons per day.

When flights were cancelled in Europe, there was actually a net DECREASE in the carbon dioxide emissions. Airline carbon dioxide is more than twice the volcano carbon dioxide.

The effects of Eyjafjallajokull are quite small compared to other volcanoes. Mt. Pinatubo (much bigger eruption) in the Philippines emitted 42 million tons of carbon dioxide in 1991. The Iceland volcano will have to erupt for 280 days to equal that amount. That may happen. 42 million is a large number by itself. How does it compare to those cars?

Cars in the US emit about 1,600 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in one year. Hey, 1,600 million is much larger than 42 million. Way bigger. In ten years US cars emit 16,000 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. Wow! 16,000 million is way way bigger than 42 million. What do you know?

And what about all the other human activity? Well, in 2006 we contributed 29,195 million metric tons of carbon dioxide to our atmosphere. That's a really big big number, makes Eyjafjallajokull seem somewhat insignificant.

Healthcare Cost

This just boggles my mind.

About a month ago, I went into the hospital for an eye operation. I was admitted as an outpatient. I was in and out in about 4 hours. I occupied a pre-op room with probably 20 other people and a post-op room with maybe 10 other people. I never saw the operating room, but the doctor said the operation would last about 20 minutes or less.

The hospital bill only, no doctors, was almost $13,600. WTF???

Now, Medicare knocked it down to about $3000, and I pay 20% of that.

Why in the hell does the hospital even bill $13,600 for a procedure that they know they are only going to get $3000?

To me is sounds like they are screwing the uninsured. Who else would have to pay $13,600?

UPDATE 1:
Let's not forget the anesthesiologist. He charged a little over $700. Insurance knocked it down to a little less than $200. Again, I pay 20%.

Where Is The "Off" Button?

Like most people, we have several phones spread around the house. There is one in just about every room. This way, when the phone rings, it is very easy to answer it, if we chose to. They are all cordless, are yours probably are too, except for the one in the kitchen. It is your typical, old style (although not as old style as the picture above) wall phone.

Last week, two of our granddaughters, four and ten years old, had dinner with us. Shortly before dinner, their Dad called to talk to them. I answered the phone in the kitchen -- the wall phone. He asked to talk to the girls, so I handed the phone to them. The four-year-old was the last one to talk to her Dad. When she was finished, she looked at the phone, then looked up at me and said,

"Where is the off button?"

I looked at her a little quizzical, and then realized what she was asking, and said,

"Just hang up the phone on the wall.

Well, you would have thought I asked her to solve a second order differential equation. She did not understand what I said at all.

She just looked at me. I could imagine her saying "What the F are you talking about?" Of course, a four-year-old does not talk like that, but I realized at that moment that she did not understand what it meant to hang up a phone. The only phones she is familiar with are cordless phones. They have a off button. You don't hang them up. We might say we are hanging them up, but in reality we are turning them off. I took the phone from her and hung it back on the wall. I don't think she really understands what I did. As far as she knows, I just put the phone back in its place. I don't think she realizes that I also turned it off in the process of hanging it up.

As you get old and look back over your life, there are many things that we took as natural and common, that children now have no idea what we are talking about. I guess it has always been that way, but I am just starting to realize it.

I'm not sure if that means I am getting old, or getting smarter.

Sometimes Pictures Are Better Than Words

Republicans Help 2%

This is a chart of the household income distribution in the US. Ninety-eight percent of households earn less than $250,000 per year. In 2005 that was 112,363,000 households out of a total of 114,384,000. The median income was $46,326 and the average income was $63,344.

Why does this matter? Because republicans would like you to think you are in the top 2%. They keep talking about your tax increase. In particular, they keep talking about how important the Bush Tax Cuts are and that we should not let them expire.

The fact of the matter is than the only part of the Bush Tax Cut that will not expire is for individuals making more than $200,000 a year and couples making $250,000. If you fall within the 98% of US households, you will not see a tax increase. The republicans are trying to protect only 2% of the population.

If you are part of the remaining 98%, the Democrats have already given you a tax cut. Here are some of your Democratic benefits:

Up to $8,000 for first-time homebuyers. The credit will be available through the end of April.

Up to $2,500 for college expenses.

Up to $1,500 for making energy-efficiency improvements to homes.

For new vehicles purchased between Feb. 17-Dec. 31, 2009, the state and local taxes can be deducted.

An expanded child tax credit providing $1,000 for each child under 17.

The earned income tax credit now provides up to $5,657 to low-income families with at least three children.

Many workers have already received, through adjusted withholding in their paychecks, the "Making Work Pay" credit of as much as $800 for couples and $400 for individuals. For those who haven't yet received the full amount due, they will get the additional money when they file.

So, if the republicans are trying to help you, congratulations. You earn over $250,000 per year. Otherwise, they are scamming you.

Voters Don't Like Boners

Here is a table that I picked up over at Think Progress.

Before you jump on me for a bias poll, this is a Fox poll, so if it is bias, we know what direction it is bias in. A couple of things jump out at me. One, Obama and the IRS poll almost 40% higher than the Tea Party.

Also, Pelosi polls significantly higher, 140%, than Boehner. In fact, "The Boner" comes in with an approval rating of 12%.

So much for the "leader" of the Party of No.

Do you think it is the "tan"?

There Is NO Mandate!!!

This is huge.

One of the big complaint about the new healthcare reform bill is the mandate to buy health insurance. In fact, the republicans are running around decrying the massive increase in the IRS due to the additional enforcement required by this bill. There is only one problem. There is no enforcement provision in the bill.

Let me repeat that.

THERE IS NO ENFORCEMENT PROVISION IN THE BILL.

That means, in reality, there is NO MANDATE.

Here is what the bill actually says:

"In the case of any failure by a tax payer to timely pay any penalty imposed by this section such tax payer shall not be subject to any criminal prosecution or penalty with respect to such failure."

In other words, the penalty for failing to pay the tax if you fail to have health insurance is NOTHING.

Yes, the bill imposes a tax on you if you don't have health insurance, BUT if you don't pay the tax there is no consequence. Therefore, nothing will happen if you do not get health insurance and you do not pay the tax for not having it.

NOTHING! It is the law!

Here is Lawrence O'Donnell explaining it.

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The Difference Between republicans And Democrats

Who would you rather have running the economy?

Communication

What you hear and what is said is not always the same thing. I was reminded of this, this afternoon when I received a frantic phone call from my grandson.

He said, "Grandpa, can you help me change a tire?"

I said, "Sure, but you have to do all the work because I cannot lift anything or bend over due to my eye surgery."

He said, "Fine, I will be right over."

We live on a hillside, so when he arrived I told him to move his car down to the front of the house where it is level. He looked at me strangely, and said why to which I replied that we needed to have the car level in order to change the tire otherwise it might fall off the jack.

He continue to look at me strangely, at which point I noticed that he was holding a tie in his hand.

"To tie a tie?", he replied.

At which point I realized that he was talking about a tie and I was talking about a tire. Yes, he rushed over so I could help him tie his tie, not change his tire.

Attempting to recover some dignity, I looked at Mrs. Critter and said, "See, you are not the only one I don't understand".