When last month’s energy bill passed, there was a provision that called for traditional light bulbs to be phased out over the next 4 to 12 years so that new, compact fluorescent light bulbs can take over the market. As reported in USA Today:

Under the measure, all light bulbs must use 25% to 30% less energy than today’s products by 2012 to 2014. The phase-in will start with 100-watt bulbs in January 2012 and end with 40-watt bulbs in January 2014. By 2020, bulbs must be 70% more efficient.

Compact fluorescent bulbs already meet the 70% efficiency standard. A compact fluorescent costs about $2, vs. about 50 cents for an incandescent.

While an incandescent lasts about seven months, a fluorescent burns six times longer. It also saves about $5 a year in electricity costs, paying for itself in as little as four months, says Steve Nadel, head of the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE).

This looks like a win-win situation for everyone involved. We have a compact fluorescent bulb over our stove in the apartment and it’s been there for a few years. My Mother recently switched over to mostly compact bulbs and they’re working fine at the house and saving a few bucks each month in electricity. It looks like government may have figured something out the right way for once!

Last month, The Esperanza was put on hold in Asbury Park. Some of you may remember this new luxury condominium building on the Asbury Park boardwalk as the place where rock n’ roll legend John Oates recently decided to purchase a vacation home. The development is put together by Metro Homes, who have been given 30 days to produce paperwork for the city before action is taken.

At this point, the folks in Asbury Park may be getting ready to see another steel skeleton on their beachfront. Most of this is probably due to the current housing crunch, but I have to believe that a great deal of the problems here are rooted in Monmouth County’s unwillingness to accept the fact that the housing crunch is here and that home prices must be lowered, period. There are homes in Monmouth County that were never worth more than $250,000 that eventually priced out at around $650,000. Mortgages were taken on these properties that are well above the $250,000 that these things are worth on today’s market and now the owners are stuck with a high-priced mortgage and a house that isn’t worth peanuts.

Having zero knowledge of the Esperanza development budget, I would wager that they needed to sell a certain number of condominiums before the construction really went into high gear and that they didn’t hit that number because of the downturn in the market. Hey, it happens.

And now we have another metal monster on the beachfront!

Thank God for the American federal government! What other organization can bring so many people so many laughs in one fell swoop? You may remember that a few days ago, the government was thinking about sending each taxpayer an $800 check (married couples would obviously receive $1,600). Well, in a move that only our ridiculous government could make, they’ve decided that instead of each taxpayer getting $800, they’ll probably get $300 instead. The reasoning is that the $800 per person economic stimulus package would have only given checks to the 180 million or so Americans who pay income tax. The $300 per person economic stimulus package allows for all Americans to receive a check, including those who don’t make enough to pay income taxes.

In other words…

For those taxpayers who earn higher incomes in the middle class of America, not only are you going to continue to bear the brunt of this country’s weakening economy, but you’re also not going to get the same proportional handout that those in the lower class will receive. For a person who is making so little that he or she doesn’t pay income taxes, $300 is a big deal and really can help in getting a person out of financial rut.

But for the rest of the people who do pay taxes and who are living in the middle class, a $300 check from the government to “stimulate” the economy is bullshit. All $300 does for anyone in middle class America is remind you how screwed you are in the bigger picture. Those who don’t need the $300 will disagree with that statement, but those who needed the $800 will not only agree - they’ll get pissed since $800 isn’t even enough for most people to make one month’s mortgage payment.

We’re all screwed.

A few weeks ago I finished reading The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell. I like The Last Kingdom so much that I bought the second book in the series, The Pale Horseman. What a great decision - this book was excellent.

Cornwell writes the book in the same style as he wrote The Last Kingdom, so it felt like I was just reading the next chapter in a novel (which is the point when writing a series, I guess). It follows the adventures of Uhtred as he fights for the Saxon side during the Danish invasions in the 800’s. In this novel, Uhtred continues to struggle with living in a country that is being converted to Christianity as well as serving a king that is anything but happy with Uhtred. If you get this novel, pay special attention to the relationship that develops between Uhtred and Steapa. I have a feeling the mutual respect that eventually forms will play a part in future novels (it certainly saves Uhtred’s life at one point during The Last Kingdom).

During the early part of the novel King Alfred is forced into the swamps of his land. In this swamp-land not only can the Danish invaders not attack him, but he finds himself in need of Uhtred’s fierce fighting skills and brash leadership style. However, one of the best scenes/events that takes place in the swamp is between Uhtred’s Briton-born love interest, Iseult, and King Alfred’s sick, dying son. Iseult performs a pagan ritual and essentially gives the boy a rebirth, but at the cost of some other boy dying somewhere else (the identity of that boy is revealed later in the book). The boy’s rebirth heals his health problems and puts Uhtred in favor with the King and the Queen for a time.

The book ends with a massive battle between the muster of Wessex and the surrounding lands fighting against two Danish leaders and their armies - Guthrum and Svein. Cornwell does an excellent job writing this part of the novel and his skill really comes across to the reader. Believe me - it’s well done. In this battle, Leofric - Uhtred’s older warrior friend - falls, but King Alfred’s forces are victorious.

The Last Kingdom is an excellent work of historical fiction. I highly recommend it to any one who is interested in pre-medieval history and historical fiction in general. For casual readers, Cornwell’s writing style will draw you in and impress you with each new chapter. This is a great read from a great writer.

The President and the Congress are discussing ways to give America an economic boost. Anyone who is paying the attention to the news and the markets knows that part of this country’s current problems are rooted in the housing bust and part of the problem is due to the fact that banks are becoming more conservative with their lending policies. There’s nothing much you can do about the banks - they’ll do what they want with their money and that’s that. Sucks. And for those of us who have worked in the housing market and studied the housing market, we saw the big downfall coming years ago, but no one listened.

All of that aside, I am glad that the Republican President and the Democratic Congress are working together in a spirit of bipartisanship to give America the boost that it needs. One of the ideas going around is to give all taxpayers an $800 rebate check as early as in the next few weeks. I have to say, this is scary for a variety of reasons.

First, I don’t know what your finances are like, but while I certainly wouldn’t scoff at $800 it really isn’t enough to make a dent in my financial portfolio. And I should preface the previous sentence by saying that I spend between 45 and 60 minutes each day going over my finances and that I’ve made tremendous strides financially in the last 18 months. Still, getting an $800 check would be nice, but it would only remind me how much of a hole that I’m in (thanks student loans!).

Second, I can only think about those bozos down in New Orleans who got free government and charity money to the tune of some $2,500 per person…and then spent that money on alcohol, new shoes, lingerie, and electronics. Folks, while these creature comforts may give you a feel good feeling right now, they’re not going to do a damn thing to help your financial well-being in the long run. I just imagine some 280 million taxpayers getting an $800 check and the only companies that see their profits go up are Nike, Apple, and Sony.

Finally, the cost of living isn’t stabilizing - it’s going up! The cost of a gallon of gas is getting higher each month, the cost of milk (yes…milk) is going up, and the cost of general groceries is going up. If it is used wisely, getting an $800 check today will help put food on the table tomorrow. But will it provide food for our tables this summer? Next fall? Next year? Unlikely.

Unfortunately this is one of those situations where there are no easy answers. Part of me wants to say that we, as a country, made this bed for ourselves and now we have to lie in it. Mortgage borrowers largely knew that their subprime loans were loaded with risky features and they knew that they were buying houses that were too big for their budgets. Yes, there was some chicanery in some housing markets, but of the millions of subprime loans only a fraction fall into that category. So in this respect, part of me believes that we have reaped what we’ve sewn.

Believing that, however, isn’t going to kick the economy in the ass. What should we do to stimulate the economy? Those $800 checks are a good start, but reducing the cost of living for all Americans will be a great second step.

While the intent of this book is to help everyday people making small, “green” changes in their everyday lives, the book is written from the stance of a person who does not have an everyday life. The Green Book by Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas Kostigan has some great advice for those of you looking to go green. Please understand that the message of the book is a good one even though I was turned off by the tone of the book!

For example, each chapter ends with a little quote from a celebrity about how they have gone green in one respect or another. Well, hearing about how Will Ferrell drives his electric car to the dump to do recycling doesn’t help me. And speaking of cars, they suggest flipping to a hybrid or using flex fuel if possible. Well, that’s not possible for so many younger Americans because we just can’t afford to buy a new car!

I do like the advice that they give with respect to the “paper or plastic” question. They say to choose paper since it’s easier to recycle paper bags and you can reuse them a few times before you recycle them. A few weeks ago I purchased two canvas bags (there’s a huge “PathMark” on the side of them) and I like them even better than paper or plastic. You can fit more groceries in these bags and you can fit heavier items, too. Plus you get a whopping 2 cents off of your final bill for each bag you reuse! Ha! Making millions, baby!

Right before they get into their advanced advice for each topic, they give three “Simple Steps” to living a greener, more sustainable lifestyle. These are often simple enough to follow. For example, in the Health and Beauty section they suggest buying a reusable water bottle and filling it with filtered water from home for your trips to the gym. This is great advice and can, in the long run, save you some money. Plus, you cut down on the use and production of plastic water bottles. I went out and bought a Nalgene 32 ounce refillable bottle the other day (though, admittedly, not because I read this book - a story in the New York Times got me to thinking about buying one).

They also suggest some other great ideas that I’ve been engaged in since before I read the book Some examples are getting electronic statements from your bank or brokerage account instead of paper ones; making online payments instead of using paper checks; using compact fluorescent light bulbs instead of traditional ones (this seems to be catching on around the nation); and using natural light instead of electronic light when possible. On that last point, I use natural light in the office and in my apartment as much as possible not just for green reasons, but because it’s less stressful on my eyes and the color of the light is better and more “real” than light bulb light.

Read that last sentence again and see if it makes sense. That’s a bit confusing, huh?

For those of you who have the resources and the desire to live a more sustainable, green lifestyle, I would suggest reading The Green Book. For those of you who have more pressing issues (soaring consumer debt, a mortgage gone bad, family issues, etc) you may want to put off buying this book until you’re in a better position.

While I was at the Opportunity Finance Network’s conference last month, I picked up a free sample of the Tanka Bite. As their website states, “The 70-calorie Tanka Bar delivers a slow, powerful protein punch by mixing two primary ingredients: low-fat, high-energy American buffalo meat and tasty cranberries.” This little piece of beef jerky was delicious!

I’m looking into the possibility of buying a 96-case of these little bites and keeping them as a part of my daily lunch at the office. These things are so good that I’m willing to spend the $100 or so it will cost to purchase them (it’s about $1 per bite, which is a reasonable price).

There is an added positive to this product. It is made by a Native American tribe out in the Midwest. This is what you would call a socially responsible purchase since the profits are used to benefit the tribe (the Lakota tribe). It’s a great bar, check it - you’ll love it!

And when you’re done chomping on the Tanka Bar, check out New Jersey Carpet Cleaning for the best carpet cleaning in the Garden State!

New Jersey, in its infinite stupidity, passed legislation yesterday endorsing the National Popular Vote movement. In short, this legislation has the potential to undermine the Electoral College and give the state’s Presidential electors to the candidate who wins the national popular vote. Think of it as the no-thought-needed “fix” to the Electoral College.

Of course by passing this legislation, the NJ lawmakers must assume that all of New Jersey believes that the Electoral College needs to be “fixed” in the first place (all of New Jersey - because every single New Jersey voter is affected). Further, this legislation assumes that not only should the Electoral College be fixed, but that this is the right way to do it (which it obviously is not). But in today’s world of quick fixes and easy answers, I’m not sure anyone would care why this is not the right way to handle the Electoral College. So for those of you who don’t want to think, go ahead and skip over to another website at this point - I’m going to attempt to explain why this legislation sucks.

First, it’s a fringe piece of legislation that could only actually take effect if states with a combined 270 electoral votes pass it. In other words, we’ve now suited up New Jersey in her best game garb and set her on the sidelines, waiting to be let into the game. Until enough states pass this legislation, it essentially means nothing and has no bearing on the current system. Why is this dangerous? Because by passing this bill, New Jersey’s politicians (who have proven their ineptitude almost on an hourly basis) now believe they are “done” with this issue. Nothing could be further from reality.

Second, the Electoral College was set up as a Constitutional compromise between those states who wanted direct election of the President and those who wanted a more Parliament-like system where the Congress chooses the candidate. People today think of the American system of government too much like the rest of the world’s governments. We’re not like the rest of the world! Direct elections in another country do not mean that Americans should have direct elections! Our Founding Fathers specifically moved AWAY from that form of elections. And don’t go crying about changing with the times. Bullshit on that relativist philosophy. Change is the precursor to revolution and in the only country in the world with mandated suffrage for each and every color, creed, and gender of human being, the only revolution that we truly need is an educational one (perhaps starting with history).

Third, the Electoral College gives the states power. Don’t believe me? Go back in time about 20 days ago before Iowa held their caucuses and New Hampshire held their primary and tell me that Iowa and New Hampshire voters didn’t have each and every one of their concerns addressed by the Presidential candidates. Take a trip down to South Carolina or Florida or over to Michigan and tell me that issues that directly effect those states aren’t being thought about, dissected, and presented with solutions by the candidates. The Electoral College ensures that ALL states have a say in who becomes President. To be an American is to accept that we are a nation that is comprised of 50 individual states who are joined together under a federal system of government. Period. This is not a nation that has federally controlled districts with federally installed Governors.

And fourth, in our current system, a candidate needs to win all of those middle states with lower electoral vote counts in order to be competitive in the final count. But - did you know that you only need to win the 12 states with the biggest electoral vote counts to win the Presidency? That means that 38 other states can think one thing, but if the 12 biggest states think something else, they win. That’s an abomination of what the Founding Fathers wanted for this country. And whether the relativists of today like it or not, what the Founding Fathers wanted hundreds of years ago IS relevant to today’s politics because this is America, the great political experiment in liberty.

Under the national popular vote system, all that matters is that a candidate win major population centers, not states. Endorsing the national popular vote system is endorsing the idea that states’ rights don’t matter - the exact opposite of what our Founding Fathers fought for so many years ago. How could ANY of the concerns of middle America or rural areas ever be addressed if all a candidate needed to win the election was to win the New York City area, Los Angeles area, Dallas area, Chicago area, and Atlanta area votes? What about Fort Worth, Texas? What about Bismark, North Dakota? What about the entire states of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming?

Endorsing the national popular vote says that we don’t care about what our fellow Americans needs are in other, smaller states and other, smaller population centers. It’s an abomination. If the national popular vote succeeds and enough states endorse it, then it really might be time to change the name of this country because we will no longer be the America that was founded on all of those idyllic principles so many years ago. We’ll be a different country with different goals - hell, we might as well erase the lines between our states because they won’t matter any more.

It’s disgusting.

A better option would be to follow what Nebraska and Maine do with their electors. Since each state has a number of electors equal to their number of Senators and Congressmen, the candidate who wins the popular vote in the state gets the 2 “senator” votes and the rest of the electoral votes and divided into Congressional districts. If you win all of the Congressional districts in a state, you win all of the electoral votes. If you win 3 of 7 districts, you get 3 electoral votes.

This is the only fair, reasonable, LOGICAL alternative to the current system.

Yes, you read that right. The “victims” of Hurricane Katrina are suing the US Government for $3,014,170,389,176,410. In the written word, we’d call that three quadrillion, fourteen trillion, one hundred and seventy billion, three hundred and eighty nine million, one hundred and seventy six thousand, four hundred and ten dollars. This is absolutely disgusting.

I was among the first to say that the US Government really bungled the clean-up efforts with Hurricane Katrina. It was obvious and we all watched it happen on every cable news network.

However…

We watched BEFORE the storm as thousands of residents said they were not leaving their homes in New Orleans no matter what. We watched BEFORE the storm as local politicians allowed dozens and dozens of school buses to sit empty on school property as opposed to transporting out those residents who did want to leave. We watched AFTER the storm as roving street gangs fired gunshots in the air to ward off other street gangs. We watched AFTER the storm as residents who were given relief debit cards to buy food and clean drinking water spent that money on alcohol, Victoria’s Secret, and $100+ sneakers.

If this case isn’t immediately dropped as soon as it hits a judge’s desk, then I think the rest of America has the right to file a one hundred quadrillion dollar case against New Orleans. That’s right…one hundred quadrillion dollars!

This whole thing is so stupid it actually makes me sick.

Once again, there are problems in Ocean Township. While the brainwashed masses (which seem to be dwindling) continue to rant and rave about the local off-campus college constituency and how they are ruining their “family neighborhoods,” it looks like those families aren’t so wholesome themselves…

From today’s Asbury Park Press (this has been edited to withhold names):

It might have seemed like something from “That ’70s Show,” but it was no laughing matter to the six people who got arrested, five for underage drinking and a sixth for joining in a scheme to bake marijuana into brownies, police said.

When police were called late Wednesday night to a wall-shaking party on Oakhurst Road, they heard loud music and found Bryan J. K——, 19, hosting a party where underage drinking and marijuana were evident, Detective Lt. Steven R. P—– said.

You know what this shows? That Ocean Township is a regular, normal American town. So for all of those Monmouth University students out there who are either forced to go to these “coalition” meetings or are stuck in a situation where you are berated by police officers when they walk into your home or berated by the local judge in the courtroom, remember this story (and the countless others on this blog).

Some people in Ocean Township will try to make you feel like you are a blemish on their idyllic little community. Bullshit. Their community hides much more than just what you read here - they’re just like everyone else so don’t fall for their holier than thou crap.

But hey…someone better do something about those damn college kids, right?

What a joke.