http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=570&u=/nm/20050214/sc_nm/energy_waves_dc&printer=1
An engineer at Cape Canaveral wrote an article about 20 years ago which appeared in the local Today newspaper about using the difference between the tempreature of surface water and bottom water in the gulf stream to generate electricty using temperature inversion. 20 years later and this simple idea has yet to even be tested. This inversion method is a well known source of potential power and it’s just sitting there. Just how much political influence do you think the oil companies have?
In California, being lead by “deep thinkers” from the Pacific Northwest, responsible officials are actively exploring the imposition of a “mileage tax” on every driver within the state. The reason? To make up for the reduced gasoline tax revenue because of so many fuel efficient and hybrid/electric vehicles. While the state looks to be overloaded by SUv’s and Hummers, apparently there are enough working class people or just plain people who care that we’ve hit the bastards in the wallet.
I suspect the only way meaningful change will come is through use of technology which individuals can control to a great degree. You sure can’t count on the government or corporations. That said, any progress is good progress…
Mileage tax for Cali led by PacNorwest thinkers?
I don’t think that those PacNorwest Thinkers are thinking as that would cause Exodus of Californians to WAshington/Oregon.
Like Greg said, Oil Companies control.
I have heard of a wave driven energy machine planned for use up here, off Cape Flattery though… kinda like this one? http://www.oceanpd.com/
pics used without permission from ocean power delivery limited
Cool pic huh??
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Mileage tax for Cali led by PacNorwest thinkers?
I don’t think that those PacNorwest Thinkers are thinking as that would cause Exodus of Californians to WAshington/Oregon
Hee hee hee…there is ample evidence that if Swaylockian’s ruled the world that while it might not be a better place, it would certainly be more fun and at least the smart people would have had a chance, however briefly.
A Washington State focus group or Stink Tank is among those promoting the idea - while I’m on the box there is another Washington State group promoting the notion of state laws making it mandatory to have health insurance (like outlawing being poor). The veneral Oregon State University is running the actual pilot project right now. CBS Evening News ran a piece on it 2/14/05. L.A. Times did one weeks ago. The funniest part of the mileage tax idea is that whatever computerized machiney that is installed on every car in the state to read out the mileage will also provide the GPS/lojack tracking function for law enforcement and presumably advertising agencies. The technology exists to charge higher fees for those who drive during peak traffic hours, and this is an active action item in this philosophy. I’m not making any of this up.
As for Oregon and Washington, they are the New Hawaii. Got crystal meth and surfin’, too! See you all this summer.
Howzit Nels, One of the good laws in hawaii is the mandatory health insurance law. An employer must provide health insurance to employees that work a minimum of 20 hours a week for 4 weeks and all they can deduct from the employees wages is 1 1/2 % of their gross paycheck for the month. But if the employee works less than 20 hours a week for even 1 week they can have the insurance taken away until they get back to 20 hours a week for 4 weeks in in a row.Aloha,Kokua
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One of the good laws in hawaii is the mandatory health insurance law. An employer must provide health insurance to employees that work a minimum of 20 hours a week for 4 weeks and all they can deduct from the employees wages is 1 1/2 % of their gross paycheck for the month. But if the employee works less than 20 hours a week for even 1 week they can have the insurance taken away until they get back to 20 hours a week for 4 weeks in in a row.Aloha,Kokua
Hey Kokua! That’s a reasonable law for a manageable population. The one they are floating in California has no employer requirements whatsoever! There are no requirements for insurance companies to take everyone who applies. One of the big arguments against it is that employers could just stop offering health insurance at all. The supposed safety net is a state administered catastrophic care plan with maybe $5000 annual deductable that you would be required to buy into if you didn’t have health insurance any other way. The rebuttal to that by the proponents is that employers who want good employees would provide them with better coverage - proving once again that we lost the war on drugs. If one believes that all political people are knee-jerk liberals or conservatives, this is a slam dunk, as the conservatives seem clueless about healthcare insurance and this particular debacle is a product of the liberals.
Hawaii is the Oregon of the South Pacific. It has crystal meth and surfin’, too! Maybe see you all next winter!
All to philosophical for my tastes at this time, but I am concerned… I thought Hawaii was the Orygun of the low north pacific??? mahalo, taylor
those big red worms outside the spot would glass off the inshore better than kelp zowie those plastic worms are cool and they are made from gasoline by products ,dont thet beat all? damnit emmet where the heck do ya vote arround here…ambrose…advisor to emmett hatfield millville oregon mayor and bussinessman
Howzit Nels, Hawaii also has an insurance plan for self-employed people, it's called med Quest. You pay a monthy premium based on your income plus you pay a small co payment for doctors visits but it doesn't cover prescriptions. But it helps and when I was using it I only paid $64.00 a month. I htink the only other state with mandatory health insurance is either Deleware or Mass. But with all the money the state is making off their new recycling law they can afford the insurance. Aloha,Kokua
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I htink the only other state with mandatory health insurance is either Deleware or Mass
Delaware and Mass are both the Hawaii and the Oregon of lower New England - Hawaii in summer and Oregon in winter. Maybe even the John Day of Oregon in winter. California also has an insurance plan for the self employed…B.O.H.I.C.A.! bEND oVER hERE iT cOMES aGAIN!
Back when I was single and self-employed the best I could do was catastrophic care, no prescription card, pay office visits in full, $2000 annual deductable…for $107.00 per month…and that was through 1991.
But what does this have to do with surfboard design or new energy technologies? You gotta take care of the basics before you can take care of the basics, if you get my drift. And sometimes when the light is all wrong and I’m getting tired I think you could take any 12 people off this board and run the country with more style, sense, and feeling than the ones who run it for real. Any country, any time, for that matter. And if things got rough I bet they could take care of that kind of business too.
Just kidding about seeing you all in Hawaii next winter. But not about the PNW this summer…
Hey Nels - You wanna come to the PNW this summer??? Oh so many jokes could be taken from here… Seriously though, we are the france of the united states, please get it straight, and if you come with funny license plates… Ha, no, not really that funny. Look up seaside point on “Wanna surf.com” and read some of the stuff… Every place has it’s “points” and prices to pay. But, if you still wanna come this way (where you coming from? and why here then? ) Don’t get me wrong, as I once read in a surf mag years and years ago - it’s always at least 3’ here in the summer. Which may be true, if you don’t mind wind blown… But there are places, and to a fellow swaylockian… I would be glad to share the wealth. All seriousness implied - feel free to contact me if you like - Taylor
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Seriously though, we are the france of the united states, please get it straight
And France is the United States of Europe…this is getting more obtuse than a connective chart of high school sexual activity! Although strangely more interesting…
As to the lovely PNW, Oregon in particular, I suppose my license plates would not arouse much happiness - certainly not from the 51% of Oregonians who used to have the same state name on theirs but have given them up for flat fee auto registration. My plates do amuse both sides of my family, the bulk of whom still reside within striking distance of the Cascade range. My problem when in Oregon is visiting a monsterous number of family and friends, leaving me very little time for surfing or fishing- many years no time at all. They have taken to pointing out to me that if I lived there I would have time for everything, rare in any state these days. Including beer time.
Funny you should mention the Infamous Point - just this afternoon while going through boxes I found an ancient brown newspaper clip from the Oregonian which featured an interview with one Bill Barnfield and friends at that “secret spot”. At the time he and a partner were running Evergreen Surfboards, I think it said. Half a decade later and the man was one of the top shapers on the North Shore of Oahu (surfboard design and shaping content now satisfied).
Thanks for the offer, Taylor. I’m playing it by ear every time I head north, so we’ll see. And I never bring other surfers…