I love eating these little guys!!!

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I saw these on a friend of mines facebook thread in a discussion about religion and thought I would they were very interesting!! One is about all the different religions and the other the names of all the different gods.

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I have been thinking a lot about the current housing market and how home ownership is dwindling lately and trying to come up with a way to support home ownership in the current market. What I thought of is how families used to live together in mini societies situated around their farms. I am not advocating we all go buy mini farms and take our families to live, but what if we used the model for housing communities.

For example if we first built a sustainable condominium complex that was based on an energy efficient and energy independent model. Then we had a supply and demand type of payment system that works on a system like most supply and demand systems. The majority of the people work of course because they are applying for a house, but if money becomes tight then the community basically has projects people within the community can do to lower there payment. You might say what if everyone starts staying home to work on projects then going to work? Well like I said supply and demand kicks into effect and the demand for paying residents outweighs the jobs available or the benefits of working the jobs within the community. Since the benefit of working on community projects would then be less beneficial to the people working on those projects would then dwindle because they would be trying to find better uses of their time such as a second job or first job for some.

I am not saying I have it all figured out but its an idea I have been wanting to get down on paper (or blog) for some time. Community projects would include things like washing cloths, gardening, maintaining the grounds, maintaining the energy systems, cooking, or any other thing that could be useful to the community. Also if certain people have individual knowledge such as working on cars, banking, or maybe they are a dentist. The point is if people feel connected to the community around them and allow their talents to be used for the bettering of the small community around them then its possible a community could thrive in this type of setup.

If anyone has anything they could add or critique please feel free to do so.

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I just finished with my room for the most part. After painting I got to bring up my couch and hang my photos on the wall!

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Localized Energy for Everyone

The green energy revolution is a common phase most of us can’t go a week without hearing at least half a dozen times, but yet it€™s as if most everyday people do not give it a second thought. Most of use believe its the government or big businesses job to fix the energy crisis economically, and with a green thumb. Not thinking about what we can do ourselves to hop on the bandwagon besides recycling or possibly shopping locally. I am not saying that doing those things aren’t good, because they are, I am just saying that we as the consumers of the energy market should do more than wait around for a fix that will cost us in the long run. I suggest we as the consumers become the producers of our own energy and with whatever energy is left over line our own pockets with some of our own green. There are a few main ways we can go about cashing in on the green revolution such as passing legislation for tariffs that gives home energy producers a fair price for what they produce, installing energy producing technologies on our own property, and for those of use that don€™t own property start community based investments that put us in control of the power.

Passing legislation for feed-in tariffs here in the United States would in itself drive a portion of its citizens to producing their own power and possibly a little extra for the grid. A tariff would give the everyday citizen a fair market price for the excess power they produce, which in turn drives people to consume less power for the extra dollar they can get in their pocket by selling the energy that is left over. According to Peter Maloney in Environmentalists Against Solar Power “The average residential retail rate in the United States is about 11 cents a kilowatt hour, according to the Department of Energy”.(363) While to some that may sound like a lot when you start producing a lot of power it is actually around 5 times less then that of Germany according to that same article. One person producing power in there backyard isn€™t going to affect much, but if we can push legislation to level the playing field so it is actually paying to be green and produce our own power then we as a country can become more sustainable and eco-friendly.

Producing our own power isn’t anything new and yet we act like its the newest fad to hit the market. People have been using windmills and dams for I don’t know how long and to say its something new is like saying the wheel is. What I don’t understand though is how we as a people gave up producing our own power to relying on big companies to produce it for us. Yes, I know that it is less work to just pay someone else monthly for something we all take for granted, but nowadays producing power at home can be less of a hassle then writing out the check to the local utility company. According to Marla Dickerson in State Solar Plans Are As Big As All Outdoors in her reference to the amount of land required to offset power for California alone she states “Solar plants require staggering amounts of land, which could threaten fragile ecosystems and mar the stark beauty of America’s deserts.€(359) Why do we need to use vacant land and risk the environment when there is usually enough roof space on each house to support its energy needs? This question looms in some environmentalists mind and should linger in ours as well even though the answer seems somewhat simple. We shouldn€™t cave in to the big energy companies for power, but instead create our own.

You might of read this far and thought how can people living in apartments and condos, or people that don€™t have enough money for the expensive home power units of the day be expected to help out with the green energy demand. The answer is through community invested power plants, where the community invests money to build green energy producing power plants that pay them back over time. The idea has been proven in Samso, a Danish island, that curbed their energy dependence over a 10 year period ,according to Elizabeth Kolbert in The Island in the Wind. (357) Speaking on the turbines that Samso has as a collective Elizabeth says At least 450 island residents own shares in the onshore turbines, and a roughly equal number own shares to those off shores. Shareholders, who also include many nonresidents, receive an annual dividend check based on the prevailing price of electricity and how much their turbine has generated.”(352) That type of community involvement is the type we could incorporate all over the United States and with the economy down as much as it has been energy is most likely the best sector to invest in. When we have an active role in investing in our own communities then being green can not only be rewarding but also fun.

Even though I would love to see legislation for tariffs to be put in place, energy being created by the everyday citizen, and community invested power plants to take a major hold here in America the important thing is we work towards green energy as a nation of individuals instead of as a nation of big business. According to Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen in Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum €œAs of 2007 according to the U.S. Department of Energy€™s EIA, only about 7 percent of the nation€™s energy consumption was being generated from renewable sources€(280-281) Which to me means we need to learn to supplement our own power needs and if we each do our part then becoming green will be a quick and easy task instead of a major undertaking. Green energy is here to stay and we as individuals should take pride in paving the road it leads to our future without the middle man(energy companies) in the way to over charge us and ruin what little ecosystems we have left. We have plenty of green initiatives on the table and all we need to do is figure which one is best for us individually and push ourselves in that direction.

Sources

Writing and Reading across the Curriculum. Boston: Longman, 2011. Print.

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I know I did a post not long ago about my issues with the general public voting and I believe after thinking it over for a few weeks in the back of my head that I might have a better way to allow everyone to vote. What if instead of voting on a candidate we just voted on issues. For example if the candidates got a ballet with all the top issues at hand and marked for or against those issues then the public could do the same. Whoever the public matched up with on the greatest percentage would win the election. This to me would be better then the system we have now, because it forces people to think about what they are voting on instead of just who. Since no one can vote party or any other biased way then they have to vote based on there opinions of the issues.

Even though everyone opinion isn’t educated it would make most people stop and think about the issues and do a little research before they go to the voting booth or at least one would hope so. I also think that all the money spent in elections and raised in them could be put to an end by this method since it would make for a better government if corporations took there hand out of the cookie jar. Again this is solely my opinion and I would even say I have a lot to learn as far as how everything runs in politics.

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For those of you that might not of known I had a son or didn’t know what he looked like well heres a few older photos of him . I don’t get to see him very often since he lives with his mom, but I think of him alot and hope one day after I graduate  and get a good job maybe I can be the father I would like to be. Anyways its a touchy subject for me, but I thought I could at least share some photos.

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This is just a small update so you guys know what I am working on and also to keep me on track working on them.

• Protobytelabs.com- The site as you can tell hasn’t changed too much except for some grammatical errors and the headings on the right of the blog page are no longer pencils. Hopefully soon I can make the blog look more like the rest of the site so the transition will look a little better. Also I am hoping to start doing some more interesting posts, change the heading to a better logo, and also going to change the banner/about me page. Also if someone has any ideas like always get with me and let me know.
• College- Lately I have been procrastinating a little too much and I am working on getting a handle on it. I know I have a 4.0 in History and Speech, but I am not sure what my grades are in English, Chemistry, and Chemistry Lab. I believe they are pretty good but at the moment I am unsure.
• Life- Right now life pretty much seems like a drag to be honest, but things might be looking up as I am supposed to go look at an apartment on Tuesday across from campus. I really hope they allow me to rent out the room from them as it will be nice to have somewhere to relax. I will most likely have to get a job if I get the room, but that won’t bother me too much. Oh and I got a new tattoo Friday night.
• Feminists for Progress website is a work in progress. The main thing with this one is having a little bit of help and getting access to campus computers.

I believe that is all I have to update you guys on. Or maybe its just all I need to write down so I don’t feel as bogged down. ;)

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So I am sitting here in the Humanities building at South waiting on a lecture on the top 5 myths about god by the South Alabama Muslim Student Association. Considering I don’t believe in god or gods I thought it might be an interesting lecture to see what all could be a myth about something or someone that in my opinion is a myth to begin with. (Lol they brought up how the atheist’s talk to them when they have a table out front.)

• Myth #1 There is no creator and there is no god. It isn’t possible to come out of nothing is their argument for their being a god.

• Argument against Myth #1 This is like arguing with a rock. They believe in a god that they say has always been and wasn’t ever created but it is harder for them to believe in evolution that can be proven. If its impossible to come from nothing then where did god come from? I asked them the question “Isn’t it just as easy to believe we came from nothing as that god came from nothing” Their answer ” god didn’t come from nothing he has always been”.

• Myth#2 There has to be a creator but there is no purpose for us being created. They are referring to the Koran  for  their facts just so you guys knows. They say if you believe a god made us without a purpose he would be stupid and god  isn’t stupid.

• Argument against myth #2 Of course first one has to believe their is a god to believe that god made us without a purpose, but to me making us just so he can have people worship him/her is kind of stupid too. Why would someone all powerful and that can make the whole universe make us a speck on a little planet just so we can worship him one day.

• Myth#3 God became a man. Stems from the myth that Jesus was god in the flesh. They believe in basically everything about Jesus but that he was god. Jesus is mentioned more in the Koran than Muhammad and they believe that Mary was the greatest woman that ever lived. They ask “Did Jesus pray?, then who did he pray to, and finally why did he pray. Why would be pray to himself? They overstated how god can’t be Jesus and how he cannot of been born from a woman.

• Argument against Myth#3 They had some pretty convincing reasons of why Jesus couldn’t of been god or even the son of god. Didn’t have any argument there, but did find their argument interesting.

• Myth#4 God begot a son. They say he couldn’t have a son if there wasn’t anyone besides god in existence besides what he created.

• Argument against myth#4 No argument here ether. They basically went on to say god was the one and only and that he had no other god or goddess with him. Also stated that god wasn’t anything like us and so he is neither male nor female.

• Myth#5 God rested on the 7th day of creation. If god has to rest then he isn’t perfect. God has no defects or deficiencies.

• Argument against myth #5 I actually thought it strange that they even thought to bring this up but it was interesting anyways and made a lot of sense from a logical standpoint.

That was the basic overview of the lecture and only one or two people screamed stuff out, which was kind of funny. I was intrigued with their arguments and the free pizza was very good. Also they made a good case of how the bible was a good book but could be discredited by the new testament. Something along the line of how the books of the new testament were written in a different country, and different language then that of Jesus or his disciples and that the oldest record we have of it is like a century after the time period. The lecture in my opinion was good and enjoyable.

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So the other day when I was at the thrift store I saw a bunch of yarn and thought what a waste it would be to get thrown out. The thrift store I go to is Goodwill on Airport Blvd. and its like the last stop before everything gets thrown out from the other goodwill stores. Everything is super cheap for the most part and since you pay for stuff like yarn by the pound I decided to get it. I think I paid a dollar for like 8 packs of yarn (sorry don’t know what you call a pack of yarn) and was wondering when I got to the car what to do with it. So of course I went to the craft store to get some ideas and found a book that showed you how to make toboggan hats. The book cost like 20 dollars and so I sat there and read a little about how to do it, but I couldn’t figure it out by the jargon they use. After a little while I found a set of knitting looms for pretty cheap and after looking over the instructions I decided to get them. So the picture above is my first toboggan hat. Yes, I know its a little small but I made it for a friend of mines daughter and I think its super cute.

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