Lee.org

This is a followup to my first posting of Fully Legal AR-15 in California. It’s gotten so many comments that it’s hard to sort through them.

Please make followup comments here. And don’t forget to read the original post!

Thank you.

I saw a converter box at Radio Shack yesterday for $60. With the $40 coupon, switching to digital will be easy.

https://www.dtv2009.gov/

See some reviews of converter boxes

I want my always-on camera, my black box flight recorder.

The technology is available to inexpensively produce a small device that records audio and video all day on it’s own battery power. This would be a boon to holding people accountable for what they say and do.

The device would have just 1 button on it. The user would push this button and speak to make a voice-note of a notable event that just happened. Once a day, the user plugs it in to charge and upload the last 24 hours of audio & video recording.

Imagine having this device the next time…

• you are in a car accident
• someone gives you directions to an address
• you are assaulted
• you are in a he-said/she-said discussion
• …

It’s really a very simple device. Now if someone would just manufacture it. And that someone could be you!

My nice 19″ Neovo monitor broke a few months back. It sat in the dust for 3 months before I got it fixed. Why oh why did I wait so long?! Using only 1 monitor is like geeking with one hand tied behind your back.

Charlotte and I were there :-)

Many wonderful creations were discussed.

View the slideshow

I caught this radio show a few weeks ago and now I’m listening via podcast a lot. Work with Marty Nemko is a really good program.

I very much enjoyed this show:

7/6 Mary Ruwart, Libertarian presidential candidate, who argues that Libertarianism is best for American employees. To hear or download the show, click HERE

Here is a local archive. You’re very welcome to listen!

Marty asks intelligent, supportive and critical questions of his guest.

Listen to more episodes of Work with Marty Nemko here. Or via NPR podcast here.

State ban on serving trans fat first in U.S.

California became the first state to outlaw trans fat in restaurants and food facilities Friday when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill banning the artery-clogging oils and shortenings.

The bill, by Assemblyman Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia (Los Angeles County), had started heated debate in the Legislature. But many Bay Area restaurant owners say they don’t use trans fats, and others say complying with the new state law will not be burdensome.

I was going to make a T-Shirt that reads “Outlaw Trans-fats and Only Outlaws will have Trans-fats”. But reading into the issue further (IE, the second paragraph of the article) it’s more of an issue of closing the barn door after the horse has left. Or to be more gentle about it, codifying a trend in law.

This reminds me very much of what Mary Ruwart, Libertarian presidential candidate said about child labor laws. On 7-6-08 she spoke on Marty Nemko’s radio show about libertarian issues. She had said that child labor laws in the US followed on the coat-tails of trends at the end of the industrial revolution. The laws didn’t stop people from hiring child-workers. The trend of children not working in factories had already taken place.

Given the choice, people would rather not send their children to work in factories. After enough wealth had been generated, it stopped happening.

She talks about child labor law starts at 44 minutes, 10 seconds.

Here is the whole radio show (30 mb, 60 minutes), Work with Marty Nemko, July 6th, 2008.

Similarly, it’s (apparently) not difficult or more expensive to make non-trans-fat oils. Individuals, restaurants and manufacturers have already made the switch.

I said it before and I’ll say it again

Harumph!

Governor William J. Le Petomane: HOLY UNDERWEAR! People murdered? Innocent women and children blown to bits? We must do something to protect our phoney-baloney jobs people. Harumph! Harumph!
All of the governor’s lackeys but one chant along with him: Harumph! Harumph!
Governor: I didn’t get a harumph out of that guy.
Another lackey: Give the governer a harumph!
Lackey: Harumph!
Governor: You watch your ass.

If you have lots of books to get rid of, Amazon.com can be a good way to sell them. Here are some tips. I’m making this list because I just went through another round of selling stuff and want to remember it for next time.

• Find the book on Amazon via the ISBN number. It’s easy to find on the back right next to the bar code.
• Say something nice in the listing like “ships from San Francisco”. If the book is under 13 oz, you can ship it USPS first class inexpensively and legitimately mention “fast shipping”.
• Always make sure yours is the lowest price listing.
• Offering “expedited” or “international” shipping is a bother and usually not worth the money.
• Stamps.com is a bargain if you have a lot of items to ship in a month. They charge $15/month but you get to print the return address, address and postage all in one go, saving time. And you just have to copy and paste the address. Most importantly, the envelopes are then not “stamped” but “metered” and you can drop them in any USPS drop box no matter how heavy they are. USPS.com has/had a similar option on their website but it’s a pain to navigate (it’s the government, who’d have guessed!)
• Use UPS labels, 2 labels per 8.5×11″ sheet. They are free (for shipping UPS items only of course) from ups.com. I usually use the second label on the page to seal the envelope.
• Use 9×12″ manila envelopes. They are inexpensive and most books fit in them. Note that a padded mailer might cost $2.00 each while these cost $0.20 each. They also qualify as “envelopes” and not “packages” so they ship cheaper
• Use USPS “Bound Printed Matter” or “Media Mail” rate.
• Use a postal scale.
• Amazon should have a “I shipped this item” checkbox next to your sold items but they don’t. I use the change in color of a visited-link to note when I ship.

Bush or Batman is the hottest new game in town. You have to guess whether the quote you are about to hear was said by George W. Bush or Batman as played by Adam West. Sounds easy enough, doesn’t it?

“Right here I have a series of 30 quotes that were either by set by George Bush as president of the United States or Batman in the 1960s TV show.

I’m going to ask you as many as I can in one minute. your job is to attribute them properly

Bush or Batman.

And if you can get half of them right, you win…”

Bush or Batman?

local version:

Solar proponents claim that electric rates in California have been going up significantly faster than inflation, making solar a good deal. Here’s the data to prove it.

http://www.energy.ca.gov/electricity/weighted_avg_retail_prices.html

Utility-Wide Weighted Average Retail Electricity Prices 1980-2005

(nominal $) (cents/kWh)

Year 	PG&E 	SCE 	SDG&E 	LADWP 	SMUD 	BGP 	ESPs 	Other Municipal Utilities
Historical
1980 	4.76 	6.09 	8.43 	5.61 	2.53 	6.72
1981 	6.05 	6.45 	9.36 	6.16 	2.82 	6.48
1982 	6.24 	7.37 	11.26 	6.11 	3.03 	7.60
1983 	6.42 	7.42 	11.66 	5.85 	3.75 	7.48
1984 	7.86 	7.64 	11.80 	6.08 	3.92 	7.79
1985 	8.73 	7.94 	12.84 	6.54 	4.56 	7.81
1986 	8.72 	8.20 	11.66 	6.74 	5.45 	7.65
1987 	7.56 	8.19 	10.42 	7.09 	6.64 	8.22
1988 	7.85 	8.51 	9.82 	7.57 	7.35 	9.05
1989 	8.79 	9.17 	9.51 	8.06 	7.41 	9.50
1990 	9.24 	9.45 	9.22 	8.39 	8.27 	9.82
1991 	9.87 	10.07 	9.36 	8.23 	8.30 	9.91
1992 	10.42 	10.36 	9.47 	8.62 	8.21 	10.34
1993 	10.59 	10.06 	9.89 	9.13 	7.69 	10.96
1994 	10.71 	10.28 	9.69 	9.53 	7.96 	11.49
1995 	9.89 	10.46 	9.67 	9.14 	8.18 	11.43
1996 	10.20 	10.22 	10.36 	9.12 	8.14 	11.36
1997 	10.30 	10.22 	10.70 	9.36 	7.92 	10.51
1998 	9.74 	10.10 	10.16 	9.76 	7.63 	10.95
1999 	9.81 	10.05 	10.16 	9.75 	7.60 	10.96
2000 	9.82 	10.12 	13.72 	9.79 	7.61 	10.97
2001 	11.74 	12.87 	13.66 	9.79 	9.26 	13.57
2002 	12.72 	12.82 	14.45 	9.80 	9.27 	12.72
2003 	13.18 	13.16 	14.26 	9.80 	9.81 	12.43
2004 	12.72 	12.18 	14.55 	9.66 	8.60 	11.88 	6.19 	9.34
2005 	13.07 	12.93 	14.72 	9.31 	10.10 	11.97 	6.44 	9.51

Note: Energy Commission staff estimated these prices using data from EIA, utility websites and submittals during the IEPR cycles.

Utility-Wide Prices – These include prices for residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural customer classes.

BGP – This category includes electricity rates for customers of the cities of Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena.

Other Municipal Utilities – This category includes rates for Redding Electric Utility, Silicon Valley Power, City of Anaheim, Riverside, Roseville, Modesto Irrigation District, Turlock Irrigation District, and Imperial Irrigation District.

ESPs – These rates only reflect the generation portion of the total rate. Other charges such as T&D must be added. ESPs – Energy Service Providers include Arizona Power Service (APS), Constellation New Energy (CNE), Pilot Power Group, Strategic Energy LLC, and Sempra Energy Solutions.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/table5_6_a.html

Table 5.6.A. Average Retail Price of Electricity to Ultimate Customers by End-Use Sector, by State, November 2007 and 2006 (Cents per kilowatthour)

                Residential	Commercial	Industrial1	Transportation	All Sectors
California  	Nov-07 	Nov-06 	Nov-07	Nov-06  Nov-07 	Nov-06  Nov-07  Nov-06 	Nov-07 	Nov-06
California  	14.26  	14.47  	11.94  	12.23  	9.75  	9.66  	7.8  	7.27  	12.23  	12.38

http://www.neo.ne.gov/statshtml/115.htm

 Average Revenue per Kilowatthour by State
(Lowest to Highest Rate as of November 2007)
Rank 	State 	Average Electricity Rate for
All Sectors
(Cents per Kilowatthour)

39  	Maryland 	11.58
40 	District of Columbia 	11.99
41 	Vermont 	12.11
42 	California 	12.23
43 	New Jersey 	12.84
44 	Alaska 	13.12
45 	Rhode Island 	13.55
46 	Maine 	13.66
47 	New Hampshire 	13.68
48 	Massachusetts 	14.71
49 	New York 	14.90
50 	Connecticut 	15.77
51 	Hawaii 	23.67

More info http://www.energy.ca.gov/electricity/index.html#rates