Are you experiencing a bout of constipation? Maybe your laxative of choice isn’t hitting the long ball. Maybe you’re not a fan of laxatives, and you’ve vowed to forego the cheeseburger and fries for lots of water and fiber for a day or so.

Not to worry. PRS guarantees that spending thirty seconds with the U.S. Debt Clock will produce a virtual drug-free and fiber-free tshit tsunami.

You’re welcome.

via Doug Ross

In this post I noted the need to recycle or otherwise properly dispose of squiggly light bulbs, because they contain mercury, unlike good old mercury-free incandescent light bulbs, which can be tossed in the trash. It seems that the widespread use of these lousy bulbs may have created a “ticking green time bomb.”

As is pointed out in the linked article, most people don’t recycle or properly dispose of burned out squiggly bulbs. Indeed, in California, where proper disposal of the bulbs is required by law, it is estimated that less than 10% of the bulbs are properly disposed.

Former chairman of the American Chemical Society Division of Chemical Health and Safety has noted:

If you have a municipal urban landfill and have a population of 450,000 households disposing of one or two CFLs [squiggly light bulbs] a year – you do the arithmetic. Put one-half milligram of mercury per bulb, it amounts to a significant loading, and mercury does migrate into groundwater.

Mercury migrating into the groundwater. Not good, Peeps. Not good at all.

Consumers who actually want to use squiggly light bulbs are often faced with the daunting task of finding a disposal or recycling center, with the result being that, more often than not, the bulbs are tossed into the trash.

The plan to legally mandate the use of these lousy bulbs on a national basis (which predates The One) will most certainly lead to yet more federal regulations to mandate proper disposal of the damned things.

This yet another example of the federal government caving in to enviro-kooks without thinking shit through.

Link via Doug Ross

Swiped from SondraK commenter, Lloyd.

Yesterday we received our “free” squiggly light bulb. It was left on the door to the House by the Parkway in a box hanging from the door handle by way of a clever cardboard hanging thing, which contained the following message:

WE MISSED YOU! But don’t miss out on the savings! Install this bulb and save up to $30 in electricity costs over the lifetime of the bulb. Don’t get left in the dark – simple actions matter!

The delivery of my “free” light bulb was part of “Project Porchlight,” which is sponsored (i.e. paid for) by New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program and the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.

Let me say this about that.

Dear “Free” Light Bulb People:

I don’t want the damned thing. I hate these squiggly light bulbs and the ridiculous propaganda that comes with them. I don’t intend to use my “free” squiggly light bulb or any other squiggly light bulbs until there are no incandescent light bulbs available in the stores or on the black market (which will certainly spring up).

I’d throw the damned thing away, but noooooooo, because the damned thing has mercury in it, thankyouverymuch. I suppose I could burn up some gasoline driving my “free” light bulb to a recycling center. Better yet, how about you burn up some gasoline and drop by to pick the damned thing up. Please let me know when you’ll be in the neighborhood, and I’ll leave the damned thing hanging on my front door where you left it.

Sincerely,
Jimbo
The House by the Parkway

I received a Newsletter from my Congressman, who regularly runs unopposed in this Gerrymandered congressional district. I thought I would share a few of the gems in the Newsletter.

In bragging about voting for the “Porkulus Bill,” he states:

“The law [the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act a/k/a “Porkulus”] is expected to create or save 3.5 million American jobs, including 100,000 here in New Jersey. This plan makes an important investment in our economy by providing much needed resources for roads, bridges, mass transit, flood control, clean water projects, and other infrastructure projects.”

Ha! I guess this went to the printer before the good Congressman realized that the administration finally had to back off the “create or save” baloney. The 3.5 million job figure is damned near as comical as the “100,000” jobs in New Jersey. I know several out-of-work people who would love to find just one of those 100,000 jobs. Roads, bridges, flood control projects? Where? Not anywhere around here that I’ve noticed. The Waste of Space should learn not to just copy and paste The One’s bullshit talking points.

“There is an emphasis on ‘green jobs’— that is, jobs that help promote cleaner air, a healthier environment, and the development of solar power and other alternative forms of energy while decreasing our dependence of foreign oil.”

Hell, maybe all those windmill and solar panel factories are being built in some other part of the state. I know some folks who would happily work in a windmill factory. I wish he would have given a phone number.

“To help ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent wisely and effectively, the Recovery Act also contains unprecedented accountability, transparency measure and strong oversight measures.”

Well, that’s downright hilarious. Besides, this is farookin’ NEW JERSEY. The slugs in Trenton and their political pals are drooling at the prospect of boatloads of “free money.”

A part of the Newsletter contains a short constituent survey. All of the questions are of the variety, “How much do you love the President and the Congress?” However, one question leaped out at me:

“Would you pay higher taxes to receive free health care?”

I damned near busted a gut on that one. Free health care? Free? This is coming from a grown man, who managed to get himself elected to congress. Free? The part about “higher taxes” is also a scream. In major portions of his Gerrymandered district, probably 90% of the people pay no taxes, and they are already getting what, to them, is “free healthcare.”

Oh, and the Waste of Space sent this to me using the franking privilege. Well, waddya know … FREE MAIL!!!

A short while ago, congress passed a huge “stimulus” bill, which turned out to be little more than a massive pork distribution to political allies and which has done absolutely nothing to slow the economic plunge the country is experiencing. Then the House passed the 1,300-page (including the 300-page Amendment that was revealed on the day of the vote) “Cap and Tax” bill, which was not read by a single legislator.

Are you OK with that?

Now, the same idiots are poised to pass a bill that will kill our existing healthcare system by turning it over to the geniuses in Washington (who brought you the aforementioned legislative turds) to determine who gets what care, who gets what medicine, who gets to see a doctor, who gets treatment and, essentially, who gets to live and who gets to die. And, oh yeah, it will cost a King’s ransom, but don’t worry; the “rich” will foot the bill.

The healthcare bill will surely top 1,000 pages, and the bastards want to pass it NOW. Does anybody other than those who have been squirreled away in Washington conference rooms drafting it know what the hell is in the bill? I don’t, and I’m confident that Mr. and Mrs. American sure as hell don’t know either.

No doubt, before the ink is dry on the healthcare bill, congress, with the help of pro-illegal immigrant groups, will get busy on an immigration amnesty bill, which the rats in congress will also not read, but they’ll break their collective asses to ram down the public’s throat. It means more democrat voters and more union members.

Oh, and the thousands of pages of those bills are just the tip of the iceberg. These legislative gems are “enabling statutes,” which means that they will each unleash legions of bureaucrats (who are elected by no one) to get busy writing tens of thousands of pages of federal regulations to implement the commands of the statutes. Every one of those tens of thousands of regulations will have the force of law.

It’s clear that this is an all-out frontal assault on America as we have come to know it, and I don’t know about you, but I’m fresh out of tolerance for this crap.

I fear that by the time that Americans realize what hit them it will be too late.

Apparently, some peeps at United Airlines got the hot squirts after seeing that Dave Carroll’s video “United Breaks Guitars” was watched by about a gazillion people. United, which repeatedly blew Carroll off after the guitar-breaking incident, apparently has had a change of heart and contacted him about paying compensation for his broken Taylor Guitar. I don’t know, but the lawyer in me suspects that United may well have wanted a quid for the quo, namely that Carroll pull the video.

Carroll graciously said, “No thanks,” and suggested that United give the money to charity. He also promised a new video.

The righteous part of me and the guitar owner part of me thinks, “Good for him. The airline deserves having its nose rubbed in the dirt on this one.” The cynical part thinks that Dave will benefit quite well by keeping the story alive.

At very least, maybe airlines will be a bit more careful with travelin’ guitars in the future, and that’s a good thing.

Thanks to my buddy Mike for the heads up.

I watched a bit of the speechifying by the Senators during the initial stage of the confirmation hearings of Judge Sotomayor. I couldn’t take more than a few minutes of it.

The Supreme Court is not and was never intended to be a representative body. The confirmation of a Supreme Court justice was never intended to bear the hallmarks of an election where various interest groups loudly and angrily campaign for their candidate – the one who will “deliver the goods.”

The confirmation process has become a partisan blood sport, due in no small part to the intense television coverage devoted to the hearings and politicians’ insatiable appetite for public bloviation.

Color me an idealist, but wouldn’t it be nice if the every President chose Supreme Court justices solely on the basis of the nominee’s being: (a) learned in the law and (b) scrupulously fair; and wouldn’t it be nice if the purpose of the confirmation process would be for the Senators to satisfy themselves, in a non-partisan, collegial fashion, that the nominee satisfies those two criteria? Yeah, I know. When pigs fly.

The process has become little more than unpleasant and unbecoming noise.

Via C&S

Therefore, I shall be goofing off poolside with the Usual Suspects, rather than noodling around on this computer.

Later, Peeps.