Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Hillary=Bush

War is not the answer to life. In fact war deters the existence of peace and life on this planet. Hillary Clinton has made it painfully obvious that she is all in favor of showing Iran who is boss in this world. It makes me sad to see people here in Austin, Texas with signs in their windows or yards saying bring the troops home now next to the war mongering Hillary 08 signs. I, through research, have found that doing so is no different than including a McCain sign in your yard or window as well. There is no question about her intentions or the intentions of the previous Clinton administration. War with Iran seems inevitable unless a true non-interventionist and constitutional foreign policy can be re-enacted by the one and only RON PAUL. Oh but wait what would we do with all those defense contractors, munitions producers, and casket makers? And how could we continue to steal the income of hard working American citizens to fund all of our world policing activities?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=fUiFcaWxn8o&feature=related

Monday, May 5, 2008

Solar Industry Boom!!! Green Energy is Alive and Well!!!

Solar Energy Demand (click here to try our Solar Industry statistics section)
Worldwide photovoltaic installations increased by 1,744 MW in 2006, up from 1,460 MW installed during the previous year. In 1985, annual solar installation demand was only 21 Megawatts.
For comparison purposes, total worldwide wind energy installations in 2000 were around 4000 Megawatts, growing at about 35% pa.
Cumulative solar energy production accounts for less than 0.01% of total Global Primary Energy demand.
Solar Energy demand has grown at about 25% per annum over the past 15 years (hydrocarbon energy demand typically grows between 0-2% per annum).
The US market showed 33% growth in 2006. Japan's market reached 300 MW, a marginal increase from 2005.
The "Feed-in Law" in Germany permits most customer applications to receive 45.7 euro cents/kWh for solar generated electricity. The program now calls for a total of 1000 Megawatts to be installed. By the end of 2003, the Kreditanstaldt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW) Bank who administer the 100,000 Roof Program in Germany, had approved loans for over 250 Megawatts of PV systems.
For the Fiscal Year 2002, the Japanese solar roof top program received applications from 42,838 households.
Jobs in the solar and renewable energy industries may be found at greenjobs.com
Photovoltaic Manufactured Solar Cells
On the supply side, the amount of product manufactured by PV cell manufacturers worldwide reached 2,083 megawatts in 2006.
Japan has taken over from the United States as the largest net exporter of PV cells and modules.
Japan accounted for around 39% of total global cell production in 2006.
Among the top five manufacturers, Sharp remains the largest and has shown the fastest growth over the last five years.
Click here to find worldwide solar energy product manufacturers.
Solar Energy Prices
Solar Energy (photovoltaic) prices have declined on average 4% per annum over the past 15 years. Progressive increase in conversion efficiencies and manufacturing economies of scale are the underlying drivers.
The Solarbuzz global price survey on this site shows that prices have consistently declined for over the last two years. A detailed analysis of the worldwide PV Market is in our premier industry report, Marketbuzz 2007. The US Grid Connect Market is analyzed in detail in this report.
A residential solar energy system typically costs about $8-10 per Watt. Where government incentive programs exist, together with lower prices secured through volume purchases, installed costs as low as $3-4 watt - or some 10-12 cents per kilowatt hour can be achieved. Without incentive programs, solar energy costs (in an average sunny climate) range between 22-40 cents/kWh for very large PV systems.
Other Solar Energy Facts
Did you know that solar energy is dependent upon nuclear power? Solar Energy's nuclear power plant, though, is 93 million miles away.
An average crystalline silicon cell solar module has an efficiency of 15%, an average thin film cell solar module has an efficiency of 6%. Thin film manufacturing costs potentially are lower, though.
A Megawatt is 1,000,000 Watts; a Gigawatt is 1000 Megawatts.
The earth receives more energy from the sun in just one hour than the world uses in a whole year.
Two billion people in the world have no access to electricity. For most of them, solar photovoltaics would be their cheapest electricity source, but they cannot afford it.
Crystalline Silicon cell technology forms about 90% of solar cell demand. The balance comes from thin film technologies.
Approximately 45% of the cost of a silicon cell solar module is driven by the cost of the silicon wafer, a further 35% is driven by the materials required to assemble the solar module.
Global Energy and Electricity Industry
The United States, Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, and Canada were the world's five largest producers of energy in 1999, supplying 47.9 percent of the world's total energy. Worldwide oil consumption rose by slightly less than 1 million barrels per day in 2000 (vs 1999).
Source: US DOE
World energy consumption is projected to increase by 59% from 1999 to 2020. Much of the growth in worldwide energy use is expected in the developing world

Source: International Energy Outlook 2001, EIA

1999 World Production of Primary Energy (Quadrillion (10x15) Btu) Source: US DOE EIA

Petroleum
149.7
Hydroelectric
27.10
Natural Gas
87.31
Nuclear
25.25
Coal
84.90
Geothermal, solar, wind, wood, waste
2.83
Renewable energy use is expected to increaes 53% between 1999 and 2020. Much of the growth is attributable to large scale hydroelectricity projects in the developing world. Renewable Energy currently accounts for 9% of total energy consumption and is projected to decline to 8%.

Source: US DOE EIA
A conventional energy Power Plant can range in size from 500-3000 Megawatts.
Total USA Megawatt hour demand was 3,312,087,081 across 125,945,003 customers in 1999.
Source: US DOE, 1999
Total European Union Megawatt hour demand is around 2,300,000,000. (1999)
Electricity Price tariffs by country can be found on this site by clicking here.

Difference between left and right

One day a florist goes to a barber for a haircut. After the cut he asked about his bill and the barber replies: 'I'm sorry, I cannot accept money from you; I'm doing community service this week.' The florist is pleased and leaves the shop. Next morning when the barber
goes to open his shop, there is a thank you card and a dozen roses waiting for him at his door.

Later, a cop comes in for a haircut, and when he goes to pay his bill the barber again replies: 'I'm sorry, I cannot accept money from you; I'm doing community service this week.' The cop is happy and leaves the shop.
Next morning when the barber goes to open up there is a thank you card and a dozen donuts waiting for him at his door.

Later a Republican comes in for a haircut, and when he goes to pay his bill the barber again replies: 'I'm sorry, I cannot accept money from you; I'm doing community service this week.' The Republican is very happy
and leaves the shop. Next morning when the barber goes to open, there is a thank you card and a gift certificate for lunch at a nearby restaurant.

Then a Democrat comes in for a haircut, and when he goes to pay his bill the barber again replies: 'I'm sorry, I cannot accept money from you; I'm doing community service this week.' The Democrat is very happy
and leaves the shop. The next morning when the barber goes to open up,there are a dozen Democrats lined up waiting for a free haircut.

And that, my friends, illustrates the fundamental difference between the left and right.
The democrat of the year...rudy giuliani

Could America operate without the income tax?

The idea seems radical, yet in truth America did just fine without a federal income tax for the first 126 years of her history. Prior to 1913, the government operated with revenues raised through tariffs, excise taxes, and property taxes, without ever touching a worker's paycheck. Even today, individual income taxes account for only approximately one-third of federal revenue. Eliminating one-third of the proposed 2007 budget would still leave federal spending at roughly $1.8 trillion-- a sum greater than the budget just 6 years ago in 2000! Does anyone seriously believe we could not find ways to cut spending back to 2000 levels? Perhaps the idea of an America without an income tax is not so radical after all. It’s something to think about this week as we approach April 15th

Social Security...will it be there for you?

Our nation’s promise to its seniors, once considered a sacred trust, has become little more than a tool for politicians to scare retirees while robbing them of their promised benefits. Today, the Social Security system is broke and broken.

Those in the system are seeing their benefits dwindle due to higher taxes, increasing inflation, and irresponsible public spending.

The proposed solutions, ranging from lower benefits to higher taxes to increasing the age of eligibility, are NOT solutions; they are betrayals.

Imposing any tax on Social Security benefits is unfair and illogical. In Congress, I have introduced the Senior Citizens Tax Elimination Act (H.R. 191), which repeals ALL taxes on Social Security benefits, to eliminate political theft of our seniors’ income and raise their standard of living.

Solvency is the key to keeping our promise to our seniors, and I have introduced the Social Security Preservation Act (H.R. 219) to ensure that money paid into the system is only used for Social Security.

It is fundamentally unfair to give benefits to anyone who has not paid into the system. The Social Security for Americans Only Act (H.R. 190) ends the drain on Social Security caused by illegal aliens seeking the fruits of your labor.

We must also address the desire of younger workers to save and invest on their own. We should cut payroll taxes and give workers the opportunity to seek better returns in the private market.

Excessive government spending has created the insolvency crisis in Social Security. We must significantly reduce spending so that our nation can keep its promise to our seniors.

-Ron Pual

War and Foreign Policy

he war in Iraq was sold to us with false information. The area is more dangerous now than when we entered it. We destroyed a regime hated by our direct enemies, the jihadists, and created thousands of new recruits for them. This war has cost more than 3,000 American lives, thousands of seriously wounded, and hundreds of billions of dollars. We must have new leadership in the White House to ensure this never happens again.

Both Jefferson and Washington warned us about entangling ourselves in the affairs of other nations. Today, we have troops in 130 countries. We are spread so thin that we have too few troops defending America. And now, there are new calls for a draft of our young men and women.

We can continue to fund and fight no-win police actions around the globe, or we can refocus on securing America and bring the troops home. No war should ever be fought without a declaration of war voted upon by the Congress, as required by the Constitution.
-Ron Paul
Under no circumstances should the U.S. again go to war as the result of a resolution that comes from an unelected, foreign body, such as the United Nations.

Too often we give foreign aid and intervene on behalf of governments that are despised. Then, we become despised. Too often we have supported those who turn on us, like the Kosovars who aid Islamic terrorists, or the Afghan jihadists themselves, and their friend Osama bin Laden. We armed and trained them, and now we’re paying the price.

At the same time, we must not isolate ourselves. The generosity of the American people has been felt around the globe. Many have thanked God for it, in many languages. Let us have a strong America, conducting open trade, travel, communication, and diplomacy with other nations.

Property Rights and Eminent Domain

We must stop special interests from violating property rights and literally driving families from their homes, farms and ranches.

Today, we face a new threat of widespread eminent domain actions as a result of powerful interests who want to build a NAFTA superhighway through the United States from Mexico to Canada.

We also face another danger in regulatory takings: Through excess regulation, governments deprive property owners of significant value and use of their properties — all without paying “just compensation.”

Property rights are the foundation of all rights in a free society. Without the right to own a printing press, for example, freedom of the press becomes meaningless. The next president must get federal agencies out of these schemes to deny property owners their constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property.
-Ron Paul