Dang, thought they had it.  The first goal by Japan should never have happened.  As a person who has played D in soccer, the most ELEMENTARY thing is "never clear the ball towards the goal" but that's the exact stupid thing our defender did.  She might as well get credit for an assist.

Oh well, it was a nice run by our lady team.  Better luck next time.

No matter what, I can look forward to several years of Alex Morgan playing.   

http://www.thesportsbrewery.com/xyz/other-sports/soccer-other-sports/i-have-found-a-reason-to-watch-the-u-s-womens-world-cup-i-give-you-alex-morgan

"...the Horns are probably being more aggressive and less subtle than anyone at the remaining 9 Big Twelve schools imagined."

LOL!  No, really?  The texas longhorns?  Surely you jest!

I attended a party this past New Year's Eve on the other side of town.  It was in MADISON, which will mean something to local drivers.   

I got stopped on one of the local 4-lanes as I was turning left in a lane that ONLY turned left (a T-intersection with TWO left turn lanes).   I had seen the officer approaching me in the opposite lane and also saw him pull up behind me at the light.

He pulled me over after I turned left.  I need to add the detail that it was POURING DOWN RAIN.  He asked for my registration and I could not find it and he stood there and got soaked.  Then he went back to his car.

He then wrote me THREE TICKETS.  One for not having my registration, one for "failure to dim high beams" and one for "failure to use turn signal" as I executed the left turn (in a lane that ONLY turned left!!!).

Let me add that I had been at a Church party, and had not HAD A DROP of alcohol, and was proud to tell him so.

It was immediately obvious that he was simply pissed that he had to stand out in the rain early in the AM of New Year's Day (about 12:15 AM to be exact...it was a CHURCH PARTY, lol, everyone went home right after New Year's.) and was taking it out on me.

I disputed all three tickets.  First, on the registration, it's standard that you simply show up on the court date, show them your replacement registration (which is free at the courthouse) and they dismiss the charge.  Let me say though, that he had radioed in my license plate and KNEW my registration was okay!  This law is a relic of a bygone era and should be modified, IMO.  But whatever, either way it was no big deal.

On the failure to dim it was written on a four-lane road in POURING RAIN and I felt the high beams were necessary to even see the road!   This one was fun.  I actually bothered to read the law, and there was a LEGAL DEFINITION of what high beams constitute in the state of Alabama. Specifically, your lights have to illuminate something no less than TWO HUNDRED FIFTY FEET down the road in NORMAL ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS and IN TOTAL DARKNESS.  The place where the ticket was written had VERY BRIGHT STREET LIGHTS and it was POURING DOWN RAIN!   Furthermore, I had been involved in an accident in November (FTR, not one that was my fault  ). Someone pulled out in front of me when they should not have and I hit them (forutnately at a low speed), but my point is that there had been work on my car in early December at a body shop, and MY BRIGHT LIGHTS WERE NOT EVEN ADJUSTED properly.  LOL!  There are actually bubble levels on the headlights themselves that showed they were pointed way too far at the gound.  I even took my car out and tested it, and the high beams only went about 150 feet.  It was a SLAM DUNK.  That one was dismissed.

As for the turn signal, I thought I DID use one.  But even if I had not, I was prepared to argue that I didn't need one under the circumstances (no where to go but to the left!).  The officer stated that he had video evidence, so I asked to see it, and if it had showed that I did NOT use my turn signal then I *probably* wasn't going to fiight it (I doubt the judge would buy the "didn't really need it" argument, no matter how true it was).   Plus, the prosecutor had the other two tix to use as leverage.  He offered defensive driving for the turn signal and outright dismissal of the other two.  I took it.

I might not have bothered with the defensive driving, but I am looking for a new car and don't want my rates spiking up.

Okay this is very long...sorry for that, but it was complicated.  But here is what I think.  THe cop was an ahole abusing his authority, and I have HONESTLY thought about suing him AND the City of Madison for violating my Constitutional rights.  There is in fact an Amendment that says we are not to be subject to "unreasonable search and siezure".  I think the officer was VERY unreasonable.  I could decide to be unreasonable and SUE THEIR ASSES OFF.  So far I have not, but I am keeping my options open.   

UT has no players on the preseason coaches' All-SEC 1st team, 2nd team or 3rd team. Malik Jackson is on 1st team defense and Prentice Waggner is 3rd team defense, making Tennessee the least-represented team in the conference.

Good. I'm glad the rest of the league is overlooking this team.

I assume the first part means "on offense".  I am pretty surprised at that.  I think we have an OL or two that should at least be third team.

Being underrated is a VERY good thing.  Let em!

Well I didn't think it would be that difficult of a question for an Aubie to answer, so I did some quick googling and it does appear that Auburn came under investigation (the latest round, anyway) during Chizik's regime.

Now, you go out and try to find a UT fan that thinks we don't deserve being "eyed" by the NCAA after all of Kiffin's shenanigans.  Reasonable fans I know felt dirty at the time and still do.  While he was here, when and if Kiffin would complain about how the NCAA taking a look into his backyard is not fair.. I personally would find that hilarious.  Why?  He brought it on himself.  Now I'm not comparing UT's violations to AUB's alleged violations and I'm not comparing Kiffin to Chizik, I'm just giving you my opinion on the "White and Orange" picture you painted.  Chizik is responsible for the Aub ship at the end of the day.  And if the investigation began under his watch, I find it quite ironic that he is crying to the NCAA about how their investigation is inconveniencing him.  Cry me a river.

Dooley is an entirely different matter.  Dooley is having to play the hand he was dealt.  He knew what he was walking into, but he bears no responsibility for the things UT's fb program is feeling heat for.

Ive said it before, I'll say it again.  I think Kiffin to Chizik is a good, though imperfect analogy in terms of what a fan IMO should think or feel.  When Kiffin was here I supported him out of necessity.  But as each slimy accusation was made, I was reduced to HOPING that there was nothing to it.  The fan part of me said "either there is nothing here or it's relatively minor".  Meanwhile the objective part of my brain was really worried.

I am looking on from the outside, but if I was an Aubie, given all the crap that was around Cameron, his attitude, and the fact that he was the key to the success of my team, I would be VERY worried.  I might put a brave face on in public, but deep down inside I would feel that there was a high probablity that the other shoe would drop any day.  I would NOT feel good about it.

Thus I am a bit puzzled that Aubies would want to defend Chizik publically.  I never even attempted to defend kiffin's bs, I just wanted it to blow away.  In fairness, I did occassionally post that most of what came out about Kiffin was secondary or otherwise seemingly minor violations and I still think that.  But even then, there is that creeping feeling of dread that maybe the worst has yet to come out.  With Kiffin, who knows????

There is similarly a lot of smoke around Auburn.

But what I really want to know is, given the UNNATURAL SUCCESS of satan in ttown recruiting, why isnt there more attention  there?  The argument is that satan is simply a gifted recruiter.  BS.  I have heard very solid stories from local aubies about how the players are being bought and paid for by satan's minions.  There is plenty of smoke.  Maybe the NCAA just doesnt want to get sued again?  Or perhaps they are worried that some crazed bammers will come after them with guns.  Who knows.

Wow.  ESPN suxes .... well you know... something to do with a "bad poker player".   

I have never watched it, but I caught part of a show the other night where the coach was trying to pump up the backup QB.  I thought it was a tad melodramatic, to say the least.  You would think the kid's mother was dying of cancer and the only way he could save her was to play well.   Or that the coaches very life depended on motivating the kid.   

But to be fair, that was just one small part.  I am sure its a good show otherwise.

Wow.  FINALLY.

I finished this...

Oh wait, I didn't play it.   

If he holds on to the ball against UCLA in 2008, Phil Fulmer probably stays coach.  But is that good or bad? 

Nope. I stopped following him and defriended him on facebook several months ago. The ego and arrogance became too much. There's a guy whose popularity has gone to his head big time. He's up there on andy staples' level these days.

Being on Andy Staples level....wow, no wonder he has an ego?

But who is Andy Staples? 

Alabama fans need help looking stupid?

That's news to me. 

2050 was a rough date...2041 is close enough.     My main point is that there will not be mass tailoff in nuclear any time soon.

New licenses should be granted IMO.  I believe that Bellefonte will come online.  I personally know someone moving from Georgia to work there and word has it that TVA is planning to close Widow's Creek.  You might know more about that than I though.

Getting back to the wind turbines, you can get the basic equipment for $1-2 per watt, which is not bad at all.

http://www.solardyne.com/windgenerators.html

That of course does not cover installation, land to put them on, and perhaps insurance.  With subsidies it's possible to perhaps turn a profit over time, I don't know. I have not really looked into it that much.  My area has low average wind speed and wind turbines are much harder to maintain IMO than solar panels.

I did seriously consider installing a solar panel on my property last year, but my plans got overtaken by other events. I may still consider it at some point.

prayers on the way

Well I know that your figures on nukes are accurate.  For instance, I own some Entergy stock, and Bernie Sanders who I praised at the start of this email is trying to get the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant shut down.  Vermont previously granted the license to extend for 20 years and now they are trying to revoke it.  Ironic, huh!  I like his stance on oil, but he may cost me money if he suceeds in shutting off the Yankee plant.  OTOH, he is truly representing the people of Vermont.  The plant is very unpopular in polls.  Having said that I hope he fails and it stays open, lol.

One thing you are missing though, is that they are NOT all online yet.  I have a friend who is really into nukes.  He used to work with me at NASA, but has moved on.  The short story is that NASA started a nuclear propulsion program back in 2003 or 2004, he got all fired up about it and started to get his MS from UTK remotely in Nuclear Engineering (UTK is a world leader in NE, of course, with Oak Ridge nearby).  He got really pissed when NASA  cancelled the nuclear program.  It was almost funny.  Towards the end he was almost literally muttering to himself like the "stapler guy" in Office Space, but I am getting off track.  He is actually a very bright guy. He has become known as one of the leading experts on thorium reactors.  His name is Kirk Sorenson.  YOu can google it and see for yourself.

Anyway, Kirk told me a year or so ago, right before he left NASA, that an overabundance of licenses was granted in the 70s and then the whole indusrty slowed down in the 80s.  So that for the last 25-30 years plants have continued to slowly come online based on really old licenses.  Not all of them are online yet.  A good example is Bellefonte, where I actually visited in 1986 wqhen I was a TVA contractor. I personally know someone moving from a nuclear plant in Georgia to Bellefonte. 

So when I say they can go to 2050 in some cases, I am talking about the ones that came online later. I can give exapmples easily.  All you have to do is look at nuclear capacity.  It cont9inued to grow after 1990.  That was because older LICENSED plants were slowly coming online.


What has not been done in quite some time is for any NEW LICNESES to be granted, and the old ones are finally running out.  I think the NRC was close to finally granting a new one last year, but I have not kept up with it.


Dont have time to respnd to the wind stuff.  Will try to get to that later, but my $1/KW was based soley on the windmill cost by itself.  No land, taxes, insurance or anything like that, just hardware.  More detail later.

Get used to the high prices of all forms of energy.  Huge sums of money are being dumped in windmill schemes

I understand what you are saying, but no one is being forced to do this, right?  Let the market take care of it.  We would be foolish to not even try.  For the record, I don't think there is anyway that wind could ever supply all our needs, but it could make a nice supplement.  Last time I checked, hydro was running around 8% and wind was getting close to 2%.  I think it might be reasonable for it to equal hydro or even more.

Utilities are conning people into paying extra on their electric bills

True, but if people want to donate to "green energy" let them.  I don't!

(the end dates for all nukes are written in stone and cannot be extended and the majority in this country are already into the 20 yr extension granted by the NRC).

I have not looked into this recently, but I have read in the past that many current plants could make it all the way to 2050.  There was some movement towards granting new licenses that was killed by the recent Japanese mess, but I expect that to fade in a couple of years and momentum to resume.  Of course, the problem with nukes is that they produce mass amounts of waste.

'Smart Grid' tech is rapidly being rolled out under the guise of more efficient energy transfer (current transfer rates are between 97 and 98% efficient right now so how much can be gained?).

I'm not sure I buy this completely.  I can see other advantages of the smart grid.  For instance, if you had a smart grid in your house it could zero out all the parasitic draws from things being left plugged in, turn off uneeded lights, etc.  

 

The secret about 'Smart Grid' tech is that it will allow the utilities to turn off your power at the source without your consent.  This allows the utility to shave peaks whenever they need to...

Really?  This sounds pretty strange.  Have you heard of this actually happening, or is this something someone with a tinfoil hat told you?

AEP has announced the closure of 5 coal plants (they are the largest coal burning utility in the country).  TVA and the rest will follow suit.

I have already heard that TVA is closing Widow's Creek coal plant.  They also want to finally open Bellefonte, a nuclear reactor near Scottsboro AL.  I don't know if the two are related or not.

 

I would suggest you get used to the steady drumbeat of 5 - 10% annual price increases because they are coming.

 

Given how many utilities are in my portfolio, I would make money on that.    And I have to say that since I am in the TVA area, I pay one of the lowest rates in the country already.  This will not bother me.  I am also unsure if it's even true, but not a concern for me.  

 Why??? In the name of greenhouse gasses of course.  Global warming...Environmental reasons...

I have a healthy dose of skepticism about global warming, but what I know for sure is that CO2 in the atmosphere is the highest it has been in at least 250,000 years and that it is directly correlated to industrial activity and transport.  Is it wise to just let it keep building up?

Renewable energy in the form of General Electric wind turbines made in Germany(and you wonder if there is some corruption between Obama and Immelt...CEO of G.E. and chief energy advisor to the pres.)

Just FYI, the cheapest generating units are the nukes followed by the large coal units.  Large combine-cycle gas CT's are next followed by small coal units.  Then come the simple cycle gas units followed by the large oil burners.

 

In operating costs yes, but it costs a lot to bring a nuke online to begin with due to all the regulations.  And then there is that pesky nuclear waste.  The French pay a lot extra to clean it up, but we have yet to commit to that approach.  Coal is very cheap.  So cheap that I think the market could figure out a way to dispose of the CO2 or at least a lot of it and keep coal a viable option.  We have very deep coal reserves.

Wind turbines are absent from the list since nobody has figure out how to price them yet.  

I priced them myself last year.  They are advertised as about $0.5-1 per KW to install.  Whether they are viable of course depends on the wind capacity of the area of the country you live in.  Most Eastern states are worthless, although TVA did install a whole bunch of wind turbines in the Cumberland Plateau last year.

The funny thing about this is, an extremely right-wing friend of mine was blaming the prices back in 2008 on oil speculators and I kind of just kept looking at him funny.  It wasn't until 2009 that I found out about the oil being stored in tankers off-shore, in spite of the fact that I OWNED a tanker stock in 2008.

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/gas-prices-outrageously-high-sen-bernie-sanders-demands-183803867.html

The price of gas at the pump is outrageously high. Many people had thought this had something to do with supply and demand, that's not the case," Sen. Sanders tells me in the accompanying video. "It has everything to do with Wall Street speculation."

[But when you were asked do you want to go overseas, you said no.]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/stories/bushtext072899.htm

But when you were asked do you want to go overseas, you said no.
I didn't know that. But I actually tried to go on a Palace Alert program.

That was later.
It was. After I became a pilot.

Palace Alert program was being phased out.
Not really, a couple of my buddies got to go. ...

... But they'd already graduated.
That's true. I couldn't go until actually I'd gotten my –

I was curious about the sequence. You got out of combat school on June 23, 1970. Palace Alert programs were all closed down overseas as of June 30. So could you have gone even if you signed up for it?

I guess not if that's the case, but I remember going to see [the supervisor] to try to get signed up for it. You just ask the commander to put you in. He said you can't go because you're too low on the totem pole. I'm not trying to make this thing any grander than it is. ...


Hm.  So he voluteered, supposedly, for a program a week before it was shut down, and he himself says "I'm not trying to make this thing any grander than it is..."  I am going to choose to be unimpressed.

Here is what appears to be a balanced account of W volunteering for Vietnam:

http://althouse.blogspot.com/2004/09/bush-volunteered-for-vietnam-story.html

There are less balanced reports, from both sides.  It appears W made some effort to get promoted to active duty status, but did not qualify anyway.  That's hardly impressive...or as the blog says:

You might say that's because he has little to brag about, and surely volunteering to go to Vietnam when you don't meet the eligibility requirements is not an especially strong basis for bragging

The person at that blog appears to be, if anything, conservative.  I could post several more strongly-worded accounts from right and left, but this one seemed to be the closest to balance.

But whatever...my point is, all he did was serve in the Guard, never got sent to combat, and he wears a uniform as President, which DWIGHT D EISENHOWER never did, in spite of the being the fizzleing CinC of the entire Western front in WWII.  There is a contrast here that I am trying to paint....whether W volunteered for Vietnam or not is a nit.  He should have some awareness that wearing a uniform while serving as President is buffoonish.   Period, dot, as you say.  But that is PARTICULARLY TRUE given the lightweight nature of his military service.  Period, dot.

You do realize that he had just flown in on a Navy jet don't you?

So he can't wear a business suit on a jet?  Give me a break.  And even if he didn't want to for some reason, he could easily have changed.  I am pretty sure aircraft carriers have rooms for that.     The fact is, he is the only President in the last century to wear a uniform in office.  Most Presidents have more respect for the civilian control of the military for that.  Again, it just shows what a clod he was....he was seemingly completely unaware that this was even an issue.

W joined the ANG when he had no real worry about being drafted and oh by the way VOLUNTEERED to go to 'nam!  I find your slander og W a bit over the top!

Are you serious?  It's common knowledge that powerful and connected people, like W's grandaddy Senator, often put their offspring in the Guard to avoid Vietnam.  Dan Quayle was no different...his parents were very wealthy and also well-connected.  Honestly, this is just common sense that pretty much every blogger out there accepts as a given.  If you have a link proving otherwise, please provide it.  Also, W was no different than any other in that when his college enrollment ran out he was vulnerable to being drafted, and he was on the verge of that when he joined the Guard.  Finally, I have never heard that he "volunteered for Vientam".  Honestly I am scratching my head even wondering where that one came from.  There was an amazing amount of debate over W's role in the Guard, both before and when he was Prez, and never once did I hear this mentioned, which I find odd.  If you have a link, please provide one.  I will be happy to be educated.

The "one" HIRED the inompetent boob who was responsible for building the wall during the Clinton administration that DIRECTLY led to the failures of 9/11 - you see, Kamie had built the wall that prevented the information from the CIA to be passed to the FBI - wo what the fizzle do you expect W's administration to do?
So I guess votoing "present" is better??

Sorry, don't know who "Kamie" is.  Can you be more specific?  Also, there is clear evidence that terrorism was not a priority of W for the first nine months he was in office.  I will provide some proof of that below, if I get time.

W was a LEADER, the "one" had to be literally yanked from a golfcourse to to attend an op, that he then took ALL the fizzleing credit for - see the "I" speach Sunday night.

I already addressed this.  It's obvious to me that the golf was part of keeping the op quiet, and it makes perfect sense to me.  I think you are blinded by hatred on that one, which is too bad.  As for him taking credit, I will answer that in your other post.

Let me add tangentially, that I find the appearance that W put out, which you seem to like, to do nothing but piss me off.  W was said to be big on always wearing a suit, always being on time, always being very formal.

Hey, I have nothing against that per se, it's just his style.  But no amount of surface appearance things can hide the fact that he was IMO an incompetant boob.  Here are some problems I had with W (who I voted for in 2000, BTW):

1.  The entire "Mission Accomplished" ceremony was almost like a bad joke.
2.  During that ceremony, he wore a military flight suit.  I suppose he had a right to do so, having (somewhat) been a member of the National Guard.  Do you know what President absolutely REFUSED to wear his uniform while in office?  Dwight D Eisenhower.  The leader of the armies of the free world during WWII in Europe, the architect of D-Day, the Supreme Commander in Chief of the Western front of the European conflict and HE REFUSED TO WEAR HIS UNIFORM as President! Versus...a guy that joined the National Guard to avoid Vietnam, had a pretty lackluster record doing it, and then fought some half-ass war against a vastly overmatched 3rd world country that had been boycotted for 10 years and was barely functional...and W wears a uniform to celebrate "Mission Accomplished" (which was NOT accomplished, BTW).  You know what leaders like to wear uniforms?  Third world dictators, especially Latin American ones.  So what are we, the leaders of the Free World or a fizzleing banana republic?  What a fizzleing TOOL W is.
3.  W never fired a single person over 9-11.  The NSC head survived, the CIA head survived, the FBI head survived, the DIA head survived, no one at the Pentagon was sacked.  Where was the accountability?


So, yeah, if you actually think a guy that  barely served in the military at all, then WORE HIS fizzleING FLIGHT SUIT on the deck of a carrier to celebrate a mission that was NOT accomplished is somehow better than a guy with no tie, then more power to you.


4.  Do you know why we have to put up with Obama?  Because W was an incompetant BOOOOOB!   His ratings bottomed out at TWENTY TWO fizzleING PERCENT!!!! THat's lower than any sitting PResident since Nixon.  SPeaks volumes.

Whi is NOT sitting in his chair at the head of the table?

A couple of additional points:
I do not think this is the situation room, far too small.  Must be a smaller conference room - why is this operation NOT being actually monitored in the real situation room?
It looks like the "one" didn't change from the clothing he was wearing when he was pulled from the golf course - which begs the question, if he had authorized the op, why was he playing golf when it was initiated?

LOL.  Let me be clear...I did not vote for Obama, and I don't support many of his policies.  But this is petty stuff Pirate.

Let me put it this way...so what if W is standing at the head of the conference room while Obama sits?  Who caught Bin Laden?  Which President put the emphasis on Afghanistan and Pakistan where it belonged, and which one got us involved in the side show that is Iraq?

And if Obama is wearing the clothes he wore on the golf course, think of it this way...what a great cover.  If you are a Mideast extremist and you are monitoring the Prez, then the last thing you suspect is that an op is about to hit Bin Laden when the President is out playing golf...it's just part of the game.


I think it's a great idea to be casual like that....word is that when the Iranian hostage crisis occured, Carter stayed in the White House and acted like he was under siege, which tipped off the Iranians that they had him by the balls.  On the contrary, what did HW Bush do just prior to the first Gulf War in 1991?  Yes, that's right...he played golf right before the bombing started!  Heck, that's probably what gave Obama the idea.....

We give up.  What?