Another "E" for the DOE

I hammer the Department of Energy a lot and its makes some you squeamish. However they are really deserving of the bashing. Today’s latest? A story in the New York Times about the fact that the DOE doesn’t pay attention to its thermostats! Yes instead of putting in controls to dial thermostats back when people aren’t in their buildings they just let em run! A recent audit shows they could save 11.5 million in annual energy costs by just doing what they tell all of us to do! It’s another classic example of their pathetic waste and why they are allowed to run that division so poorly, when energy is so crucial is a mystery. So add this to the DOE giving money away like candy, blindly allowing the NFRC and other special interests to dominate them, and failing to control their own efficiencies. The NYT piece in its depressing glory is HERE.

Elsewhere…

-- If it wasn’t already clear enough, the Chinese influence in our lives is pretty severe. This week on the Solar side one of the biggest solar players, Suntech, said the following in the New York Times:
In response to this, and to reduce shipping costs, Suntech plans to announce in the next month or two that it will build a solar panel assembly plant in the United States, said Steven Chan, its president for global sales and marketing. “It’ll be to facilitate sales — ‘buy American’ and things like that,” Mr. Chan said, adding that the factory would have 75 to 150 workers and be located in Phoenix, or somewhere in Texas.
So no need to hide this it’s pretty obvious… you know so they can meet that pesky “Buy American” and things like that…. Yep keep supporting these guys as it’s just a matter of time before they come take your business. By the way in the same article, Suntech said they’d sell solar panels below cost to gain market share too… that’s a healthy maneuver… but they can do that because their government will subsidize them… while our government subsidizes some of the most worthless things ever. And they noted that they have gotten involved with the solar trade groups in order to protect themselves…. Unreal.

-- Speaking of subsidies… the all famous Stimulus money is being used for interesting things… it was reported this week:
Among the most titillating grants awarded by the National Institutes of Health are studies that would:
* Examine "barriers to correct condom use" at Indiana University, at a cost of $221,000.
* Study "hookups" among adolescents at Syracuse University. Study's cost: $219,000.
* Evaluate "drug use as a sex enhancer" in an analysis of "high-risk community sex networks" at the University of Illinois, Chicago. That study will cost $123,000.
* Study how methamphetamine, thought to produce an "insatiable need" for sex among users, "enhances the motivation for female rat sexual behavior." Some $28,000 has been awarded for the University of Maryland at Baltimore study

Yep and while that million or so would not make a dent in the deficit it surely could be put to better use. But I have to ask, how do you get to lead one of those studies and what do you do? Have people out on the street asking if they know how to put their condom on right? I mean seriously?

-- The power of Twitter… GM used the reaction and posts on Twitter to help decide the fate of a new Buick concept vehicle. The “Twitterers” or “Tweeters” said they did not like it and thus GM/Buick killed it. So when people say that social media is just for telling people inane things, evidently some people are taking it very seriously.

-- Speaking of Twitter, the gang at USGlass have been using it to tease the world on their next issue. Evidently it’s a blockbuster… and most likely it gets that status because this month’s offering will NOT feature an article by yours truly….

-- Hey when can we do “Cash” for single pane windows?

-- The latest ABI is out and it actually has better news to it. I'll get into that more next week as a part of the analysis was very interesting.

Off to the Links!

-- Ok maybe this is worse than the above Stimulus sex spending…. A study on if Zombies existed how we would handle an attack…. Yep…. Man people have waaaay too much time on their hands.

-- I am not a fan of the writer Rick Reilly, but this piece on kids who have a rare disease going to Yankee stadium is excellent.

-- Uh oh, beware the killer cow?

Video of the week:

Classic TV news blooper… reporter tries to show her skateboarding “ability” and well you can pretty much guess what happens…