Monthly Archives: November 2006

Heat your house *and* generate electricity

Posted on November 19, 2006 by Biffster| Leave a comment

Now this is what I am talking about. There’s a new type of home furnace which not only provids heat, but also generates electricity!

There’s a new fad starting, which might eventually prove to be more a revolution than a fad: an efficient furnace that also generates electricity.The “micro-combined-heat-and-power” units, or CHPs, turns natural gas into hot water and generates up to $800 a year in electricity, the Christian Science Monitor reported Tuesday.

They seem kinda pricey at $20,000. But estimates  are that these will pay for each other within 3-7 years. I wonder if they qualify for tax rebates, too, for people who live in an area that provides alternative energy tax breaks? All I know is that, when our furnace finally kicks the bucket (and I’m hoping that’s at least a decade away), I’m signing up for one of these puppies!

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Posted in Environment

The Democratic Party does have ideas!

Posted on November 16, 2006 by Biffster| Leave a comment

I am pretty sick and tired of hearing people say, “Democrats don’t have any ideas! They don’t have any plans for how to make things better. All they can do is bash Republicans.” This is patently false; the Democratic Party has a Six-Point plan for 2006:

The Democratic Party is committed to keeping our nation safe and expanding opportunity for every American. That commitment is reflected in an agenda that emphasizes the security of our nation, strong economic growth, affordable health care for all Americans, retirement security, honest government, and civil rights.

Unfortunately, I haven’t seen much media coverage about the Six Point Plan. Media, both mainstream and left-leaning, have been ignoring this for some reason. And it is important! These are good points, this is a good platform from which the Democrats should work. Everyone needs to read this plan, to understand what is in store for us now that the House and Senate are under Democratic control.

Things are going to get better!

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Posted in Congress, Democrats, Media

My Colorado voting guide (Redux)

Posted on November 2, 2006 by Biffster| Leave a comment

I am going to repeat this post for everyone coming to my blog after this series of posts:

Every election year, I spend a lot of time researching the local
ballot issues. But I almost never share that research with anyone
except for my wife. I figured that I need to start sharing my hard work
with others, so I present you with my first ever Colorado Voting Guide.

This isn’t going to be an unbiased guide, however. If you want one of those, there are plenty available on the web.
Instead, I am going to point out how I am voting, and why. I will be
spreading this guide out into seperate posts for each issue, to make it
easy for you to skip to the issue that you are most interested in.

Good luck, everyone! Be sure to vote! Vote early, or vote on Tuesday. But no matter what, VOTE!

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Posted in Local politics