Science Scene - Styrofoam Ban?

Sandwiches, milkshakes and other food items frequently packaged in foam takeout containers will have to be packaged in other materials under a bill that cleared the state Senate on Thursday. SB 568 by Sen. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) would prohibit food vendors and restaurants from dispensing prepared foods to customers in polystyrene foam beginning Jan. 1, 2014.

Expanded polystyrene foam, commonly known as Styrofoam, is a lightweight plastic that, when littered, is often carried from streets through storm drains into the ocean. It accounts for 15% of storm drain litter, according to the California Department of Transportation. It is the second-most-common type of beach debris, according to a study by the Southern California Coastal Water Quality Research Project.

Fifty California jurisdictions have already banned foam takeout food packaging, including Huntington Beach, Santa Monica, Malibu and Ventura County.

SB 568 passed on a bipartisan 21-15 vote. The bill is headed to the Assembly, with a floor vote by the end of August.

What's In It For Me?

I happen to believe that the only way to really get serious about our deficit problem is to reform both the tax code and our entitlement programs.  Our overall tax rates are the lowest they have been in decades, and our payments to individuals (entitlements) continue to rise.  I think there should be more means testing for social security and medicare, as well as gradual increasing of the age when benefits kick in, and that our payments to address the poor should be increased.  This will not be fixed without some pain being felt for all.

Over the last month, we've heard endless debates on federal spending, federal spending as a share of GDP, the $14 trillion ever-increasing federal debt, the the federal debt as a share of GDP, spending cuts as a condition to raise the debt limit, possible revenue/tax increases, a possible balanced budget amendment later, etc.  

In 2010, the OMB reports (Table 6.1 Composition of Outlays, 1940-2016) that the federal government spent $3.45 trillion, and made about $2.3 trillion in "payments to individuals," which was about two-thirds (66.13%) of total federal spending last year, the highest ever in history (see top chart above).   And that category was more than three times larger than the share of 2010 federal spending on defense (20.1%) and more than 11 times larger than the share spent on net interest (5.7%).   


Where does all that money go? The bottom chart displays a percentage breakdown of the $2.3 trillion in payments to individuals for 2010, and shows that more than 76% of those payments were for Social Security and Medicare, about 14.4% was for spending on the poor (public assistance, food assistance, and housing assistance), 7% on unemployment insurance payments, and 2.4% on student assistance. 


Source

Sunday Silliness - Delusions :o)

Excellent Article: The taking of Osama Bin Laden

When James, the squadron commander, spoke, he started by citing all the forward operating bases in eastern Afghanistan that had been named for SEALs killed in combat. “Everything we have done for the last ten years prepared us for this,” he told Obama. The President was “in awe of these guys,” Ben Rhodes, the deputy national-security adviser, who travelled with Obama, said. “It was an extraordinary base visit,” he added. “They knew he had staked his Presidency on this. He knew they staked their lives on it.”

As James talked about the raid, he mentioned Cairo’s role. “There was a dog?” Obama interrupted. James nodded and said that Cairo was in an adjoining room, muzzled, at the request of the Secret Service.
“I want to meet that dog,” Obama said.


“If you want to meet the dog, Mr. President, I advise you to bring treats,” James joked. Obama went over to pet Cairo, but the dog’s muzzle was left on.

Afterward, Obama and his advisers went into a second room, down the hall, where others involved in the raid—including logisticians, crew chiefs, and SEAL alternates—had assembled. Obama presented the team with a Presidential Unit Citation and said, “Our intelligence professionals did some amazing work. I had fifty-fifty confidence that bin Laden was there, but I had one-hundred-per-cent confidence in you guys. You are, literally, the finest small-fighting force that has ever existed in the world.” The raiding team then presented the President with an American flag that had been on board the rescue Chinook. Measuring three feet by five, the flag had been stretched, ironed, and framed. The SEALs and the pilots had signed it on the back; an inscription on the front read, “From the Joint Task Force Operation Neptune’s Spear, 01 May 2011: ‘For God and country. Geronimo.’ ” Obama promised to put the gift “somewhere private and meaningful to me.” Before the President returned to Washington, he posed for photographs with each team member and spoke with many of them, but he left one thing unsaid. He never asked who fired the kill shot, and the SEALs never volunteered to tell him.

The above is a very small sample of the excellent New Yorker Magazine article.  Click the link for the full nine pages, but be prepared to spend some time.  It is an excellent read.

Leadership

"Leadership is a matter of having people look at you and gain confidence, seeing how you react. If you're in control, they're in control."

- Tom Landry

Science Scene - Space Camp :o)

A team of student engineers at North Carolina State University is planning for a camping trip way off the beaten path. Meshing textile and aerospace engineering know-how, the team has created an inflatable, tent-like habitat tough enough to protect astronauts bedding down on the Martian surface. They’ve even built in a lightweight Sabatier reactor that can produce water, fuel, and oxygen from Mars’ carbon dioxide-rich environment.

The challenge was to build a lightweight, collapsable structure that--unlike NASA’s current range of spacefaring materials--isn’t heavy, rigid, and voluminous. The 1,900-square-foot living space the team designed is a blend of materials that includes Demron, a commercially available textile used in various radiation- and heat-proof hazmat implements (nuclear workers cleaning up Japan’s current radioactive mess are wearing the stuff).

A polyurethane substrate gives the material rigidity when inflated, and a gold-metalicized film that reflects UV rays provides additional protection. The habitat’s dome shape is also optimized to repel the incoming meteorites that regularly pelt the Martian surface.

Perhaps more importantly, this Mars habitat will integrate a better, more spaceworthy Sabatier reactor than the ones currently used in space (the Sabatier process involves using a nickel catalyst to cause a reaction between carbon dioxide and hydrogen at high temperatures that produces water and methane).

There is currently a Sabatier reactor aboard the International Space Station, but it includes long, weighty tubes filled with nickel pellets--hardly ideal for packing on a deep space journey where every pound must be accounted for. The NCSU team’s answer: a nickel nanoparticle coated fiber material that can still create the reaction without the bulk and weight of those tubes.

Though it will be decades before such a tent might be pitched upon Martian terrain, the student team is wasting no time getting their technologies in front of the people who can help get it there. They will present their inflatable habitat to the NASA-sponsored RASCAL (that’s Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts Academic Linkage) competition next week.

Source

Unckle K Rocks!

Go HERE to watch some fun!

Excellent Summary: Five Things for Liberals to Like in the Debt Ceiling Deal

Five Things for Liberals to Like in the Debt Ceiling Deal

Heat Safety

With this heat wave going on, make sure your aerosol cans are safely stored out of the heat.

Stay Cool :o)

Right after home heating, home cooling uses the most energy for most residential electricity customers. That means there are lots of opportunities to save energy and money by taking some simple steps, and still keep comfortable this summer. 

• Plant a deciduous shade tree near your home to control the amount of sun that reaches your house. Choose a tree that is the appropriate size, shape and density.
• Repair and weather-strip air leaks in the home – about 10 to 25 percent of energy used to cool homes escapes via air leaks. Areas to check include dropped ceilings, recessed lighting, attic entrances, sill plates, water and furnace flues, all ducts, door frames, chimney flashing, window frames, electrical outlets and switches, and plumbing/utility access.
• Increase your attic insulation if joists are showing. Most U.S. homes should have between R-30 and R-60 insulation in the attic. R-30 is 11 inches of fiberglass or rock wool, or 8 inches of cellulose.
• Install a programmable thermostat; set it higher when you are away.
• When you are home, set your thermostat to 78 degrees.
• Install ceiling fans to circulate cool air throughout the house.
• Maintain consistent temperatures in the house.
• Shade your windows with light-colored shades to reflect heat.
• Close draperies and shades on south-facing windows to block sunlight and heat during the day.
• Install awnings on windows that get excessive sun in the late afternoon.
• Move furnishings away from floor or return air vents.
• Hang laundry to dry instead of using the dryer’s full cycle. Use the dryer’s fluff cycle to soften any stiffness.
• Use a microwave oven instead of a conventional oven.
• Avoid using heat-producing appliances such as ovens or dryers during the hottest parts of the day.