Edison would've loved new light bulb law - CNN.com

Edison would've loved new light bulb law - CNN.com

Happy New Year!!!

"But come January 1, when a light-bulb law setting new efficiency standards is set to take effect, it's out with those old incandescents and in with the new. My great grandfather's 100-watt incandescent will be replaced with new energy-efficient versions, including CFLs, LEDs, and -- yes -- new and improved incandescent bulbs. When better lighting is fully implemented throughout our country, we'll be saving $13 billion a year in electricity costs and we'll eliminate the need for 30 large power plants, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy group.

And my great-grandfather wouldn't have it any other way.

For the record, Thomas Edison was a patriot, he was a futurist, and he was green. Edison's concern after the turn of the last century was with pollution and nonrenewable resources, not with freezing technological change at the level of 1879.

He wanted the Swiss to harness water power in 1911; he wanted Ford and Firestone to recognize that oil was nonrenewable but the sun was infinite and free; he wanted to use goldenrod—a roadside weed—to serve as a cheap and independent source to replace imported foreign rubber. He...."

Bahrain, Freedom, Toxic Coffee Video - The New York Times

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/12/28/world/middleeast/100000001248905/toxic-coffee-in-bahrain.html

Customers at a coffee shop in Bahrain, where citizens desiring democracy gather, regularly get tear gassed, and hope to replace the family-run dictatorship in that country.

This is a very inspiring video at the end of 2011 -- showing the courage of active protestors and the malevolence of repression and greed.

Physics dictates that majority numbers outweigh the needs of an elite few -- eventually these people will have freedom. We should pray for them, help support the idea of democracy (not capitalism), AND help make ours a more perfect union. Which is also suffering currently under the greed of an elite few, for example willing to let national parks close because they won't help close corporate tax loopholes or give up George Bush-era tax breaks favoring the wealthy.

See the comment above again on physics. It is my opinion that those in the few guilty of repressing and selling the rest of us short -- there and here -- should be jailed for a long time.

Verizon Introduces Bad Idea $2 Convenience Fee

Verizon introduces $2 convenience fee | PopWatch | EW.com

The above really is a bad idea, bound to not help Verizon even if they pull the idea soon....

"Over the past 10 years, we’ve watched as all bill payments gradually moved online. It was a win-win for everyone: Consumers no longer had to chase down a stamp to send a bill via the mail, companies avoided the extra cost of processing mailed-in payments, and the environment got to keep some of its trees. But now, Verizon is making life a tad more difficult for its costumers by enforcing, strangely enough, a “convenience fee.” (continues)..."

2011's Top 10 Stories That Mattered Most - latimes.com

2011's 10 stories that mattered most - latimes.com

Local and global, details at link...

10. The downtown L.A. stadium deal
9. The death of Kim Jong Il
8. California Redistricting
7. Prison realignment
6. The slaying of Osama bin Laden
5. The new Obama
4. Occupy Wall Street
3. The revolving GOP front-runner
2. The European debt crisis
1. The Arab Spring

In Solar Power, India Begins Living Up to Its Own Ambitions - NYTimes.com

In Solar Power, India Begins Living Up to Its Own Ambitions - NYTimes.com

Ahem, thank you, India.

Cat and Owl - Proof We Can All Get Along

Purina Animal All Stars

This is pretty cute -- and great evidence of the potential of past 'enemies' to not only coexist but also fraternize quite amiably.

Fun Stuff - French Bulldog Facial and Vocal Histrionics

Purina Animal All Stars

Need to get your play on sometimes too!!

Here's to this handsome(!) fella and his playful owner.

I hope to feel more like that when confronted with 2012's challenges then I did with those of 2011!!!

Obama greets military families for Christmas in Hawaii

Obama greets military families for Christmas in Hawaii

He's a good guy. I wish him and rest of us the best of luck in 2012.

I think he fell on the right side of most issues last year, and his approach to the Middle East obviously paid dividends in the Arab Spring. Google 'Obama Cairo Speech' to see the vastly improved tone and approach he shared in leading a vision for peaceful cohabitation in that speech, just one of many fairly profound personal and policy choices he made to help get us progress.

Merry Belated Christmases to the Obamas. In an alternate reality, we could have had 4 more years of George Junior Bush.

How do Mount Athos Monks stay so healthy? - HealthPop - CBS News

How do Mount Athos Monks stay so healthy? - HealthPop - CBS News

Some personal longevity - umm, sustainability - tips from Greek Monks.