Just out of curiosity, what do all you mouthbreathers who criticize Obama for polluting think the fucking President has to DO with himself? Do you think he should just fart around the Oval Office separating banana skins from chicken bones and putting them in a mound of poo out back to fertilize the garden, and then post a fucking youtube video about unveiling a solar plant to "set an example"? Your country would be laughed off the planet and then we'd laugh at you while in a low lagrange orbit.
He's the fucking king shit elected leader of the whole country! What's his ONE job? It's to be seen in PLACES, doing THINGS. It's to inspire people through a perception of him as a dynamic, energetic figure who can get shit done and then take that shit to the shit bank. So sorry if that requires a jet. Out of everyone in your whole sorry ass country, he's maybe the one person who actually needs it. And you criticize him for jetting around to unveil a new solar plant? On the day he announces a revamp of your whole aging grid in order to save America's frigging electric bacon? When how many thousands of people are getting on a fucking jet in chicago to go visit a fuck buddy in miami for a weekend. Or off to New York to oversee the distribution of 100 000 SUVs that just rolled off the line.
Just take it somewhere else. Your indignation makes you look like a petty fool. This is a WORLD LEADER we're talking about. Give the man a jet. #obama
@macpatrik: I Googled "florida the sunshine state" and the first result's teaser text reads:
"Florida's nickname is the "Sunshine State", but severe weather is a common occurrence in the state. Central Florida is known as the lightning capital of the ..."
So, Florida is still not my first choice for a solar farm.
Now, maybe if they can harness the 1.21 jiggawatts generated by the lightning captital of the US, we'd be cookin'!!! (har)
@macpatrik: hey! what's with the name calling :( Sunshine or not, it's the damaging winds, rain and lightning of the hurricane season that I was getting at. SurferKoKo got what I was saying. #obama
Wow, plenty of people got upset by my suggestion that Obama didn't need to fly across the country for a silly photo-op.
Apparently no one understands the irony of promoting "green" technology in a non-green fashion.
I never said anywhere that Air Force One should not exist, or that there was no need for it.
Obama could have simply had a press conference from the White House, or hell, put a video on YouTube. Instead, he flew half way across the country, spending hundreds of thousands of our tax dollars, just so he could give a quick speech and pose for photos in front of a solar-field.
Never mind, that our country is in the middle of a financial crisis, and our government should be counting every penny possible. Never mind, that Obama is pushing though cap-and-trade legislation that will cost consumers over $750 billion per year.
If you can't see the hypocrisy here, well, I don't know how else to explain it.
Maybe you "haters" are right though? As someone who got my Undergraduate in Political Science / Economics, and is finishing a Masters in International Affairs, I clearly have no idea what I'm talking about. Oh well. #obama
@theorieofself: There are expert Political Science Professors that disagree completely with each other. Who is right? That you think you are some authority in the subject means you didn't learn anything.
I think People need to see that the president is behind something 100% Pictures speak louder then words, its not his fault that people are going around distorting his words. But you can't say anything about him standing in front of the thing. seems like the only thing people notice these days.
Also it generates press just by him getting out of the White House. #obama
@glenaypia: I'm sorry but I think at this point in time, with the economic situation considered, curbing gov't spending (which includes photo-op jet-setting) is greatly more important that "generating press".
My issue isn't about politics. It isn't about parties or specific politicians. It's about fiscal responsibility. Unfortunately, Obama don't seem to care that his photo-op jet-setting is costing American tax payers hundreds of thousands, if not millions, per trip - all the while unemployment is at record highs, homelessness is up across the board, foreclosures are increasing every month, etc.
I'm done participating in this giz-thread for today. Cheers. #obama
@theorieofself: Why not just build a giant mechanical face with smoke and mirrors while the president talks through the loudspeaker. Hey, maybe we can call him The Wizard. #obama
Like Jesus said, "It's about fucking time". Upgrading the grid is something that we should have been doing several years ago. This is about the entire system in general and not just about solar energy. Right now, it's a Frankenstein of Edison's original blueprint. It's just inefficient. As a testament, how many folks here remember the great blackout in the northeast back in 2003? Think of the money the businesses lost during those hours. Yeah, that's how bad it is and it could happen again.
So many red comments ranting about taxes and money and the evil Democrat gov't.
Seriously, it's not like the Republicans are doing what they're supposed to be doing: cutting government involvement. In fact, Republicans did MORE to get the government all up our asses. That's why even though I'm a conservative, I eschew both parties and vote independently.
Nevertheless, even a conservative, generally anti-gov't person like me can understand that certain industries need government involvement to force efficiency and competition. This is one of them. #obama
Actually, as soon as an industry starts accepting taxpayer dollars, they cease to be in competition.
Imagine what the uproar would be like of Home Depot got subsidy funding while Ace Hardware did not? What word springs to mind? It is certainly NOT competitive. #obama
@CBMTTek: That's debatable. First, you gotta realize that taxes are not always evil and government does NOT always equal inefficiency.
Case in point: the Internet was created through the government. Highways, telephones, the postal service, and a lot of other inventions and its corresponding industries started off with government support? Why? Because it is unprofitable and too risky for any private company to start investing in such a project - but it doesn't mean we should have never started. The government comes in instead and starts these risky projects; if it the process proves itself to work and a company believes it can do it competitively, then by all means private companies should be allowed to take the reins and compete.
Your example of Home Depot doesn't start with new expensive budding technology, it's a store. This power grid stuff (and solar technology), on the other hand, requires a large amount of risky investment that no one really wants to do but the payoffs are great. I'm really hoping that the government's investment will pay off and that one day, a private company will take over the job, make it profitable, and fix the whole country's energy inefficiency problem. #obama
What part of the grid is expensive budding tech? Even the new stuff?
The reason it is considered expensive is because the return on investment is not realistic. No other reason.
Bridges are expensive, but plenty of privately funded bridges are out there, collecting tolls, and making money.
The Alaska pipeline was very expensive, but was also 100% privately funded. Why? Because the benefits and return on investment were well worth the initial outlay of dollars.
As to the internet, telephones, and postal service, not very good examples. The postal service was a mix of private and publicly run. The internet was created by ARPA because they had the reason to do it, private industry did not. And telephones were always private. #obama
I think it's a fab idea, too, Jesus. We've needed these kinds of improvements for a very long time. Our tired old grid has been one of the barriers used to slow efforts to adopt alternative energy sources. It's a cost, definitely, but I believe that the dollars fall under ARRA, so it's not a new appropriation. Altogether, a great investment.
What I'm waiting for is something along the lines of R. Buckminster Fuller's Global Grid. #obama
Man Obama is so "green"! Good thing he flew down to Sarasota, FL for a photo-op at our expensive. It's so easy for him to just jet-set around the country on his big private luxury-liner. Why not fly down and show his face at our expense, right?
Oh what's that? Air Force one, alone, consumes 3,378 gallons of jet fuel per hour, dumping 74 tons of CO2 per hour into the atmosphere, costing over $60k per hour!? Wait a minute...
@Pope John Peeps II: Sorry, but you missed "CAPS LOCK DAY" by about a week.
Clearly you missed the point I was trying to make: the irony in flying to this specific place (a "green" energy power plant). Of course the president needs to fly around the country! However, wouldn't it have made more sense to promote "green" technology in a "green" way - perhaps NOT flying out for a speech and photo-op, but instead presenting a web/YouTube speech or something?
Keep at it Pope John Peeps II, you'll get that G.E.D. soon enough! #obama
@theorieofself: Yeah you're right. In fact, I had this idea where we could just put a large screen on top of a huge building where everybody can see and Obama can deliver his message through that. That way, he doesn't have to go anywhere. #obama
@theorieofself: A "web/youtube speech or something" would have made his point to the type of people that would have watched a web/youtube made by the president on green tech. A photo op like this speaks the same language as the people he was trying to reach. #obama
i think im the only one left in this country that can do MATH. obama sure as hell cant. keep spending our hard earned money you socialist piece of crap.
@GinevraZeiram: um, did you read the numbers they would get in return? This isn't stimulus, its an investment with an expected return of greater than what they put in.
Plus why are Americans so knee-jerk against socialism? You have socialist schools, police and fire departments, etc... #obama
Public Schools - Socialism - Too bad our public school system kinda sucks. Clearly were not doing something correctly like say... Finland.
Police - Socialism - Normally the articles we read in Gizmodo show police brutality followed by everyone showing how much they hate law enforcement .. etc etc.
Firefighter - Socialism - I love them!
Public Library - Socialism - Great in 1989, not so much more in 2009. Hi everyone, welcome to Google Books (one day mother fucker... one day)
Road System - Socialism - Where I live in California, the roads suck... hardcore. In the nicer city of Roseville/Rocklin, the roads are so clean and impeccable. WTF?!
Military - Socialism - Isn't the natural and most basic purpose of government to provide protection to the people. This is what people expect right?! Clearly a military run by a corporation would probably lead to battles among other corporations within our own country.
So yeah, Socialism - the idea might work for some things, but it sure as hell won't work for everything. And from all the wonderful examples we have from history and modern society, it can either be very helpful, or be extremely hurtful. #obama
@Eulatos: Socialism is when the commerce of the country is controlled and owned, not just regulated, by the government. None of the things you mentioned are commercial, so it's not socialist. Those are all social programs operated with tax-payer dollars as promoting the general welfare and providing for the common defense, as stated in the preamble to the Constitution.
a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole #obama
@SEDAGIVE?!: Lol. Well its true. There is a difference between market socialism and pure socialism. And if your marx, you think both are inferior to Communism in its perfect form. Obviously neither have truly worked out. #obama
This is fantastic news. Like most other technologies, the more money you throw at research, the more efficient and cost-effective those technologies become.
But, Mr. President, you standing directly in front of those solar panels means a lightbulb just turned off somewhere...
Politics aside, do these sorts of changes make the grid(s) (I understand there are 3 - east, west and Texas) more vulnerable to things like hacking and EMP? And if so, are they being properly addressed? #obama
Ugh, you Obama-fellating liberals are sickening. First of all, Photovoltaic power grids are not a viable source of energy because of (wiki-derived jargon here) and (anecdotal evidence to substantiate wiki-derived jargon). Have you people forgotten about nuclear energy? Modern designs for nuke plants are pretty safe empty space where substantiation for prior claim should be#obama
@Kaiser-Machead: In my defence, Kaiser, I did manage to resist the cigar smoker's urge to ask Jesus if he was kneeling under the panels enjoying a Presidente... #obama
@Kaiser-Machead: Can I tell you what it's like to be a Daddy? Daddy, is the bread winner. You don't be bringing home that bread, you might as well not be comin' 'round no more. #obama
No clue... But no, I just think that with the increasing population, urban sprawl, and concerns over global warming... The idea of clear cutting forests and placing hectares of heat absorbing black photovoltaic panels may be counterproductive to El Presidente’s Energy Sec. Steven Chu’s assertion that we need to paint the roofs and roads white to offset radiant heat absorption... #obama
@En0s1-bring OMG!_Ponies! back: Dude energy conservation, not selling out to big oil, not letting corporations regulate/tier the internet, that is ALL communist. That is not where I want MY taxes going. And I do not want government touching my medicare. Tyranny!! Dammit where are my teabags?! #obama
10/28/09
He's the fucking king shit elected leader of the whole country! What's his ONE job? It's to be seen in PLACES, doing THINGS. It's to inspire people through a perception of him as a dynamic, energetic figure who can get shit done and then take that shit to the shit bank. So sorry if that requires a jet. Out of everyone in your whole sorry ass country, he's maybe the one person who actually needs it. And you criticize him for jetting around to unveil a new solar plant? On the day he announces a revamp of your whole aging grid in order to save America's frigging electric bacon? When how many thousands of people are getting on a fucking jet in chicago to go visit a fuck buddy in miami for a weekend. Or off to New York to oversee the distribution of 100 000 SUVs that just rolled off the line.
Just take it somewhere else. Your indignation makes you look like a petty fool. This is a WORLD LEADER we're talking about. Give the man a jet. #obama
10/28/09
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10/28/09
"Florida's nickname is the "Sunshine State", but severe weather is a common occurrence in the state. Central Florida is known as the lightning capital of the ..."
So, Florida is still not my first choice for a solar farm.
Now, maybe if they can harness the 1.21 jiggawatts generated by the lightning captital of the US, we'd be cookin'!!! (har)
10/28/09
And in the future, if you want to make yourself sound credible, don't quote wikipedia. #obama
10/28/09
10/28/09
Apparently no one understands the irony of promoting "green" technology in a non-green fashion.
I never said anywhere that Air Force One should not exist, or that there was no need for it.
Obama could have simply had a press conference from the White House, or hell, put a video on YouTube. Instead, he flew half way across the country, spending hundreds of thousands of our tax dollars, just so he could give a quick speech and pose for photos in front of a solar-field.
Never mind, that our country is in the middle of a financial crisis, and our government should be counting every penny possible. Never mind, that Obama is pushing though cap-and-trade legislation that will cost consumers over $750 billion per year.
If you can't see the hypocrisy here, well, I don't know how else to explain it.
Maybe you "haters" are right though? As someone who got my Undergraduate in Political Science / Economics, and is finishing a Masters in International Affairs, I clearly have no idea what I'm talking about. Oh well. #obama
10/28/09
I think People need to see that the president is behind something 100% Pictures speak louder then words, its not his fault that people are going around distorting his words. But you can't say anything about him standing in front of the thing. seems like the only thing people notice these days.
Also it generates press just by him getting out of the White House. #obama
10/28/09
My issue isn't about politics. It isn't about parties or specific politicians. It's about fiscal responsibility. Unfortunately, Obama don't seem to care that his photo-op jet-setting is costing American tax payers hundreds of thousands, if not millions, per trip - all the while unemployment is at record highs, homelessness is up across the board, foreclosures are increasing every month, etc.
I'm done participating in this giz-thread for today. Cheers. #obama
10/28/09
10/28/09
A YOUTUBE VIDEO? HE'S THE FUCKING PRESIDENT OF THE GODDAMN UNITED STATES. WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU? #obama
10/28/09
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10/28/09
Seriously, it's not like the Republicans are doing what they're supposed to be doing: cutting government involvement. In fact, Republicans did MORE to get the government all up our asses. That's why even though I'm a conservative, I eschew both parties and vote independently.
Nevertheless, even a conservative, generally anti-gov't person like me can understand that certain industries need government involvement to force efficiency and competition. This is one of them. #obama
10/28/09
Actually, as soon as an industry starts accepting taxpayer dollars, they cease to be in competition.
Imagine what the uproar would be like of Home Depot got subsidy funding while Ace Hardware did not? What word springs to mind? It is certainly NOT competitive. #obama
10/28/09
Case in point: the Internet was created through the government. Highways, telephones, the postal service, and a lot of other inventions and its corresponding industries started off with government support? Why? Because it is unprofitable and too risky for any private company to start investing in such a project - but it doesn't mean we should have never started. The government comes in instead and starts these risky projects; if it the process proves itself to work and a company believes it can do it competitively, then by all means private companies should be allowed to take the reins and compete.
Your example of Home Depot doesn't start with new expensive budding technology, it's a store. This power grid stuff (and solar technology), on the other hand, requires a large amount of risky investment that no one really wants to do but the payoffs are great. I'm really hoping that the government's investment will pay off and that one day, a private company will take over the job, make it profitable, and fix the whole country's energy inefficiency problem. #obama
10/29/09
What part of the grid is expensive budding tech? Even the new stuff?
The reason it is considered expensive is because the return on investment is not realistic. No other reason.
Bridges are expensive, but plenty of privately funded bridges are out there, collecting tolls, and making money.
The Alaska pipeline was very expensive, but was also 100% privately funded. Why? Because the benefits and return on investment were well worth the initial outlay of dollars.
As to the internet, telephones, and postal service, not very good examples. The postal service was a mix of private and publicly run. The internet was created by ARPA because they had the reason to do it, private industry did not. And telephones were always private. #obama
10/28/09
What I'm waiting for is something along the lines of R. Buckminster Fuller's Global Grid. #obama
10/28/09
Oh what's that? Air Force one, alone, consumes 3,378 gallons of jet fuel per hour, dumping 74 tons of CO2 per hour into the atmosphere, costing over $60k per hour!? Wait a minute...
Pfff...What a phony. #obama
10/28/09
10/28/09
10/28/09
Clearly you missed the point I was trying to make: the irony in flying to this specific place (a "green" energy power plant). Of course the president needs to fly around the country! However, wouldn't it have made more sense to promote "green" technology in a "green" way - perhaps NOT flying out for a speech and photo-op, but instead presenting a web/YouTube speech or something?
Keep at it Pope John Peeps II, you'll get that G.E.D. soon enough! #obama
10/28/09
10/28/09
10/28/09
I owned you. I owned you right in the face. #obama
10/28/09
I just checked usatoday, msnbc, cnn, chicagotribune, suntimes, nytimes, and only ONE of them had this on their front page (msnbc, buried deep down).
Keep it up Giz. And Jesus, I completely agree with ya. #obama
10/28/09
10/28/09
Plus why are Americans so knee-jerk against socialism? You have socialist schools, police and fire departments, etc... #obama
10/28/09
Public Schools - Socialism
Police - Socialism
Firefighter - Socialism
Public Library - Socialism
Road System - Socialism
Military - Socialism
10/28/09
Public Schools - Socialism - Too bad our public school system kinda sucks. Clearly were not doing something correctly like say... Finland.
Police - Socialism - Normally the articles we read in Gizmodo show police brutality followed by everyone showing how much they hate law enforcement .. etc etc.
Firefighter - Socialism - I love them!
Public Library - Socialism - Great in 1989, not so much more in 2009. Hi everyone, welcome to Google Books (one day mother fucker... one day)
Road System - Socialism - Where I live in California, the roads suck... hardcore. In the nicer city of Roseville/Rocklin, the roads are so clean and impeccable. WTF?!
Military - Socialism - Isn't the natural and most basic purpose of government to provide protection to the people. This is what people expect right?! Clearly a military run by a corporation would probably lead to battles among other corporations within our own country.
So yeah, Socialism - the idea might work for some things, but it sure as hell won't work for everything. And from all the wonderful examples we have from history and modern society, it can either be very helpful, or be extremely hurtful. #obama
10/28/09
10/28/09
Not socialism. #obama
10/28/09
a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole #obama
10/28/09
10/28/09
10/28/09
But, Mr. President, you standing directly in front of those solar panels means a lightbulb just turned off somewhere...
I keed. #obama
10/28/09
10/28/09
empty space where substantiation for prior claim should be #obama
10/28/09
10/28/09
Y'all mad at me, right? Well, there's one thing you better know, and that is..I love, all of y'all. #obama
10/28/09
10/28/09
10/28/09
::blink::
No clue... But no, I just think that with the increasing population, urban sprawl, and concerns over global warming... The idea of clear cutting forests and placing hectares of heat absorbing black photovoltaic panels may be counterproductive to El Presidente’s Energy Sec. Steven Chu’s assertion that we need to paint the roofs and roads white to offset radiant heat absorption... #obama
10/28/09
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