Royalty in Abundance

When in Hungary, I watch CNN constantly since its the only English speaking channel on TV.  I leave it going in the background as I work.

Apparently, the Earth has frozen in place in anticipation of the Royal wedding.

At least that is what it feels like.  For every minute of world news, there are 59 minutes of Royal wedding details.

"Bob, are they still fighting in Libya and what color will the escort horses be at the wedding?"

"Grey, Frank.  The horses will be grey.  Back to you."

I know the types of flowers they will have, how much the wedding cake costs and the alternative transportation plans should it rain.  This is WAY more than I want to know.

This just in:  The Tea Party's main platform of "Obama is not a citizen," was just flushed down the toilet with the release of his birth certificate.  Obama came on television and said, "There...now quit acting like babies and let's get to work on real problems."  My guess is they will start to polish off Plan B: Obama is an alien from outer space.

The Republican "Path to Prosperity" is hitting a few bumps in the road. There are some high points to their plan.  They are tackling the budget.  I like this.  I just don't like how they are doing it - mostly because it won't work.  Right now, they are putting on a series of Town Hall meetings and they are finally finding out "What Americans Really Want," as they are so fond of saying.

These meetings are not going well for them.

(Wedding dress: $46,965)

They have a two-fold plan.  Here it is:

Step One: Eliminate Medicare and replace it with a voucher for healthcare.  This is fine if you never get sick.  Old people not only get sick, they get very sick.  This voucher is a modest amount and if you get cancer or need a heart bypass, you will use up this voucher in the first day.  After that, you are on  your own.  Even the GOP admits this pushes the cost of healthcare onto the elderly (not those currently elder, just those that are now 55 or younger).  This saves government money but you will be paying for healthcare out of your own pocket.

Step Two:  Eliminate tax loopholes (which the rich use) and then give the rich a tax cut to 25%, down from 35%. The idea is to replace the money the rich will lose when their loopholes go away. They actually say this is the plan.

(Odds makers think a hand kiss is much less likely than a liplock)

If you think giving money to the rich will stimulate the economy, then this is a great idea.  The best economic minds in the world look at this idea and marvel that educated people would even consider this.  It hasn't worked in the past; its not working today; and it will not work in the future (unless the entire future is Opposite Day).

Here is my plan for a Manufacturing Policy.  We tax all imports only to the amount that the advantage of cheap labor is eliminated.  So, if I buy a radio from China, they must raise the price to where it should be if their laborers were paid the same as those in the United States.  This will eliminate the Chinese advantage of slave labor and thus encourage them to raise the wages for their slaves.

(Flowers will be local and mostly have a green theme)

My energy policy is "Nuke It!"

I know we are all afraid of nuclear power however, it is way safer than all of the other forms of energy generation.  Here is a chart of deaths per TeraWatt-hour.  The nuclear figure includes Chernobyl.

(The open carriage is called the 1902)

Energy Source                      Death Rate (deaths per TWh)

Coal – world average               161 (26% of world energy, 50% of electricity)

Coal – China                       278

Coal – USA                         15

Oil                                36  (36% of world energy)

Natural Gas                         4  (21% of world energy)

Biofuel/Biomass                    12

Peat                               12

Solar (rooftop)                     0.44 (less than 0.1% of world energy)

Wind                                0.15 (less than 1% of world energy)

Hydro                               0.10 (europe death rate, 2.2% of world energy)

Hydro - world including Banqiao)    1.4 (about 2500 TWh/yr and 171,000 Banqiao dead)

Nuclear                             0.04 (5.9% of world energy)

You can see that Nuclear Power is way safer.

Here is another chart that evaluates the Energy Returned on Energy Invested (EROEI).  Basically, it takes energy to make energy.  The higher the EROEI, the more efficient.

Power Source	EROEI(actual)
Hydro	50, 43 and 205
Nuclear (centrifuge)	18.1, 18.4, 14.5, 13.6 and 14.8
Nuclear (diffusion)	6.0, 6.7, 5.8, 7.9, 5.3, 5.6 and 3.9
Coal	12.2, 7.4, 7.32, 3.4 and 14.2
Gas (piped)	16
Gas (piped a lot or liquefied)	3.4, 3.76 and 4
Solar	10.6
Solar PV	12-10, 7.5 and 3.7
Wind	12, 6, 34, 80 and 50

By the way, biofuel has and EROEI of between .8 and 1.4.  This means that by some estimates, it takes a barrel of biofuel to make .8 more barrels of it.  This is a big loser!  Politically, it rings popular but the more biofuel we make, the more energy we use and the less food there is in the world.

(No elected heads of state are invited.  Apparently same goes for superheroes.)

I was surprised at the efficiency of coal.  However, it causes a lot of pollution and is the most dangerous.

Nuclear power is by far the safest and currently competitive as far as efficiency goes.  I read the comments that went along with this last bit of data.  These guys are real brainiacs.  All of them agree that the nuclear figures for efficiency are accurate, new improvements in this industry will quickly make it the most efficient when the next generation of plants are built.  I know you are thinking about waste and such.  I'll say this, they took everything into account.  They even talk about the additional energy needed to make stronger turbine blades in a nuclear plant vs. a coal plant.

(2 billion people will watch the wedding.  That's about 1 out of every 3 people.  I plan on napping.)

My energy policy is to make electricity using the safest, most efficient means.  I will also promote green tech.  I once thought that Going Green meant loss of operational efficiency and thus puts the U.S. at a disadvantage.  The GOP still believes this.  Now, I think Going Green means creating an entire new generation of jobs.  It's like the computer industry.  Let's embrace it.

I hope Obama is reading this today.  Just to be sure, some of you may want to forward this to him.

Paul Ryan is on the move.  I must get going as well.  Only I stand between him and a world of Kings and
Serfs.

By the way, this world-saving blog is now read in 52 countries.  That's a lot of saving...

Up, up and away...

Jim

Today's video is of people outside a townhall meeting where Paul Ryan is inside being booed as he tries to sell tax cuts while eliminating Medicare.

Breaking News

They said it couldn't be done.  They said it was a big waste of time.  But now it has been achieved.

Yes, I'm talking about the Large Hadron Collider.  It set a new world record in Beam Intensity.

I can see it now, one physicist holding out his hand to another saying, "See.  Told ya.  Now pay up the $5 you owe me."

Actually, I think this is great science.  I just think its too complicated for you mortals, and us semi-mortals to understand.  I think the goal of science should be to discover the mythical graviton.  Once we have that little bugger, all we have to do is turn it upside down (or maybe inside out) and we all get to fly.

I have a high school reunion coming up.  This will be my 35th.  Not reunion, but years since I graduated.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  We all threw our hats in the air and then everyone carried me around on their shoulders.  No, wait.  That was a dream.  I'm actually too old to remember what really took place so I am rounding up to the nearest heroic incident.

I am going to make a fortune making and selling a Hungarian biscuit called a Pagacsa (Pa-gotcha).  These highly fattening  treats are extremely addictive.  On the scale of all things addictive, they fall between heroin and crack cocaine.  Although, they are slightly less dangerous to your health; and yet, they are street legal.  That's the beauty of it.  My plan is to give a few out for free and then charge a premium for those that come by wanting to mainline my biscuits.

I went to a Hungarian garden party today.  I met a bunch of interesting people.  One man makes Man-camps.  These are ready made villages they set up at remote mining sites.  He is also training to be a Shaman.  Another fellow, just retired from his job at the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  He's been there his entire adult life and saw the changes that span from a Soviet Occupation to a free democracy.  Another guy was a doctor preparing to make a major presentation in Moscow.  The entire range of people and personalities was a real treat.  About half spoke English.

Here is a picture of what it looks like in the countryside here.  I'm not sure what the plant is but in places its yellow for miles.  In a few months, the sunflower fields will start to bloom.  Stunning...

No news to complain about other than McCain wants to go to war against Libya.  I think that if we are not going to learn from our past, why not just quit teaching history altogether.  Maybe we can teach magic classes instead - the kind where you can do the same thing over and over but every time you get a different result.  Unlike real life.

I want to make sure to wish everyone a Happy Easter - so Happy Easter!

Does anyone know where the Easter Bunny and Egg come from?  I think I do.  Here in Hungary, they have this tradition where, on Easter, a boy or man will recite a poem to someone he is fond of.  He then asks if he can spray her.  If she likes him, she will say yes and allow herself to be sprayed by water or maybe perfume.

Once she is sprayed, she hands the fellow an egg.  This sounds like a Springtime fertility rite.  So that is where the egg comes in.  As for the rabbit...I'm thinking they threw that in because rabbits are fertile and make for excellent marketing.

I wrote a poem for my wife.  Here, they actually read the poems on Monday.

Open any newspaper and you will know were I am - world saving.

Up, up and away...

jim