Cole's Notes - The Sunday Journalist

If we covered every rooftop in the county with solar collectors, we could probably power our indoor lighting plus some basic household appliances – during the daytime…There is no technology for storing commercial quantities of electricity. Until something is developed – which seems unlikely – wind and solar can serve only as intermittent, unpredictable resources …A nuclear reactor, on the other hand, refuels when a fleet of six tractor-trailers arrives at the plant with a load of fuel rods once every eighteen months . The fuel rods are only mildly radioactive and can be handled with gloves. They will sit in the reactor for five years. After those five years, about six ounces of matter will be completely transformed into energy. Read it all here: Energy Tribune- Understanding E = mc2

Quote of the Day The students are ignorant, the parents are cowed, and Boards of Regents are cowardly. The ivory tower is alive and well in America and the intellectual product it presents is completely one-sided. What a tragedy for our nation and especially for its youth. American Thinker: Swimming Upstream: The Life of a Conservative Professor in Academia

If a conservative doesn’t like guns, he doesn't buy one. If a liberal doesn’t like guns, he wants all guns outlawed. If a conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn't eat meat. If a liberal is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone. If a conservative sees a foreign threat, he thinks about how to defeat his enemy. A liberal wonders how to surrender gracefully and still look good. If a conservative is homosexual, he quietly leads his life. If a liberal is homosexual, he demands legislated respect. If a black man or Hispanic are conservative, they see themselves as independently successful. Their liberal counterparts see themselves as victims in need of government protection. If a conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation. A liberal wonders who is going to take care of him. If a conservative doesn’t like a talk show host, he switches channels. Liberals demand that those they do...

Great news - Kudos to Alderman Rick McIvor in getting this through.  At least for the time being -  Race City gets green light to stay from Calgary City Council

…as the pendulum has swung to a U.S. foreign policy based on little more than the personal attractions of the president, it's little wonder that the world is casting about for an alternative. Read it all here: Bret Stephens: The Neocons Make a Comeback - WSJ.com

Within short order the Middle class will have new options for extending healthy, productive life.  The effects on our retirement system will be extreme, staring out threatening to bankrupt us and as more and more people remain productive, leading to an economic revival.  (As always, in getting from point A to point B we must hope that our politicians do not solve the problem by freezing us into Point A for fear of the journey.) ShrinkWrapped: Actuarial Escape Velocity: The Methuselarity Approaches

Press of work has kept me from updating here lately. I have been away from the computer working at Gasoline Alley at Heritage Park.  Hopefully, in the next little while, I will get a chance to add some new posts – and get some more car guy stuff posted.  What I have been doing is working on a guidebook for the museum and the interpreters there, and hanging around the car guys of Calgary – the old brotherhood of the busted knuckle. Lots of fun – but not much free time.