Missile Defense Shield

From Yahoo! News: “PRAGUE – Scuttling a missile defense shield in the Czech Republic and Poland helps smooth relations between the U.S. and Russia. But at what price? Some of America's staunchest allies are the East Europeans — and on Thursday, they expressed dismay at what many see as a slight after decades of their support for the U.S. Among them were some famous names, including Lech Walesa, the former Solidarity leader and Polish ex-president. "I can see what kind of policy the Obama administration is pursuing toward this part of Europe," he said ruefully, adding: "The way we are being approached needs to change." Evidently, today’s leaders don’t know anything about Winston Churchill and World War Two history. Not to worry. I am absolutely certain that wherever the U.S. can’t handle security matters in Eastern Europe, the EU will step in, as soon as they re-arm. This topless woman is from the Czech Republic and she does not look worried to me.

Wind Turbines Are Beautiful

From another popular news site: “Paris – Wind is the fastest growing renewable energy in Europe – making up a third of new energy here, with 20 turbines added every working day in 2008, according to EU statistics. What the European wind energy industry now wants is to expand – offshore. Ocean winds are a stronger and more predictable form of energy than the ones on land, and the industry is pushing a $57 billion investment to allow broad-winged turbines to spin at sea. Offshore turbines are also seen as a solution to complaints from Europeans who do not want the gargantuan turbines in their backyards. Complaints that the turbines ruin ocean views have slowed US efforts to get a project started off the coast of Massachusetts. The US has virtually no offshore wind energy, though the Obama administration has started to work on the issue.” My own opinion is that turbines actually decorate the ocean. I think they look cool coming out of the water. Just be careful that you don’t smack your boat against one of the pylons.

Savings Galore

This topless woman looks very skeptical to me, and rightly so. From a news story on the internet: “A year ago, Utah Governor Jon Hunstman announced the Working 4 Utah initiative, essentially putting 17,000 of the state’s 24,000 executive branch employees on a 10 hour a day, four day a week schedule. The goal for the cash-strapped state was energy savings. Now that a full year has passed, a clearer picture of the benefits is coming into focus. Learning from the lessons of Utah, here are five reasons the “TGIT” (Thank Goodness It’s Thursday) four-day, 40-hour workweek just might make sense.” This is nonsense, of course. My question is this: what do all those employees do on Friday? Sit home all day? Please. Someone calculated that the State of Utah saved almost 2 million dollars under this program. The State’s budget is about 10 billion. The amount saved was not one percent - not even one tenth of one percent. The savings was a ridiculous two one-hundredths of one percent of the budget. I say they should try something else.

British Petroleum

From a recent news story: “NEW YORK – Nearly seven miles below the Gulf of Mexico, oil company BP has tapped into a vast pool of crude after digging the deepest oil well in the world. The Tiber Prospect is expected to rank among the largest petroleum discoveries in the United States, potentially producing half as much crude in a day as Alaska's famous North Slope oil field. The company's chief of exploration on Wednesday estimated that the Tiber deposit holds between 4 billion and 6 billion barrels of oil equivalent, which includes natural gas. That would be enough to satisfy U.S. demand for crude for nearly one year. But BP does not yet know how much it can extract.” I find this rather scary. Drilling that deeply into the Earth’s crust – does that not harm the environment somehow? I do not know, but I have a funny feeling about this. I don't think this topless woman likes it either.