Worst Governor In America, Jennifer Granholm, Wants To Copy Spain’s Failed Green Energy Project

The worst Governor in America, Michigan’s very own Jennifer Granholm wants to copy Spain’s disastrous ‘green energy’ policy:

Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today announced that the state of Michigan has formed a partnership with the government of Navarra, Spain, a European center of the renewable-energy sector, to work collaboratively with leading industry experts, including the Michigan-based wind turbine manufacturer Energetx Composites, to develop green technology.

“This partnership will further our efforts to make Michigan the North American hub of clean energy innovation,” Granholm said. “We are taking bold and decisive steps to ensure we are the state that develops the technologies, manufactures the products and creates the green jobs that will help reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign oil.”

The memorandum of understanding with the government of Navarra was finalized today in Dallas, Texas. The agreement consists of joint activities – including policy sharing, technology transfer, value-chain mapping and trade missions – in the targeted sectors of wind technology, biomass, solar energy, smart-grid technology and bio-climactic research.

If Spain’s ‘green energy’ project was a failure in Spain and cost their economy 2.2 private sector jobs for every ‘green energy’ job created. What makes Granholm think we are going to get different results here?

As I posted previously:

It’s scary. Stabenow, Granholm and Obama are continuously touting ‘Green Jobs’ and the new inflationary government spending is going to be this miraculous job creating machine. In reality it dosn’t work. Not in Denmark. Not in Spain. Not in England. So, why are so many in the United States conviced it’s going to work here?  More evidince Via Planet Gore:

  • The study calculates that since 2000, Spain spent €571,138 to create each “green job,” including subsidies of more than €1 million per wind-industry job.
  • Each “green” megawatt installed destroys 5.39 jobs on average elsewhere in the economy: 8.99 by photovoltaics, 4.32 by wind energy, 5.84 by mini-hydro.

In case you are wondering. 571,138 EUR converts to $759, 899 per green job and 1 million EUR converts to $ 1.33 million USD per wind industry job.

Come to think of it, Spain has had it’s credit rating cut and boasts a 20% unemployment rate (highest  in Europe). So, remind me again why would we want to copy Spain?

Granholm is laying the foundation for the State of Michigan to have deficits, economic contraction and high unemployment rates for years to come.

Germany, The EU and The Russian Option

Germany’s bailout of Greece has exposed an underlying weakness within the European Union and has demonstrated that  fracturing within the European Union a real possibility:

Alternatively, Europe could continue to move forward as it is, with each nation trying to balance its own finances and the community coming together when calamity arises. Yet no state wants to bail out another that it doesn’t think is fiscally responsible. Witness the rising resistance in Germany – a pivotal player in the Greek bailout plan.

It doesn’t help that the debt crisis in Greece has triggered a reflowering of national self-interest in a number of European nations. In simplified terms, richer and supposedly more fiscally prudent northern states are reluctant to surrender sovereignty because of the perceived spendthrift ways of their southern neighbors. In response, more dispassionate observers point out that the frugal north is prospering largely because its exported goods are flooding south. (emphasis added)

Germany has the strongest economy in Europe and other nations on the continent will find it necessary to forge alliances in an effort to compete. However, Germany is not so strong it can go it alone and will need to seek out an alliance of its own. One possible alliance for Germany is Russia.

What would the Russian Option look like? Via STRATFOR:

A great deal of potential synergy exists between the German and Russian economies. Germany imports large amounts of energy and other resources from Russia. As mentioned, Russia needs sources of technology and capital to move it beyond its current position of mere resource exporter. Germany has a shrinking population and needs a source of labor — preferably a source that doesn’t actually want to move to Germany. Russia’s Soviet-era economy continues to de-industrialize, and while that has a plethora of negative impacts, there is one often-overlooked positive: Russia now has more labor than it can effectively metabolize in its economy given its capital structure. Germany doesn’t want more immigrants but needs access to labor. Russia wants factories in Russia to employ its surplus work force, and it wants technology. The logic of the German-Russian economic relationship is more obvious than the German-Greek or German-Spanish relationship. As for France, it can participate or not (and incidentally, the French are joining in on a number of ongoing German-Russian projects). (emphasis added)

One such ongoing German-Russian project is the  construction of equipment to pump natural gas through pipelines.

And a final thought on the subject from the brilliant VDH:

As much as we suspect the pretensions of the European Union, Americans must appreciate its achievement in lessening European tensions after the fall of the Cold War, the end of a common enemy in the Soviet Union, and the gradual diminution of a U.S. presence. If this implosion begins to unravel the EU, I think we will be once again right in the middle, rather than at the end, of history. There is simply too much history, too much memory, too many players over here to think a post-EU continent is going to always look like the Netherlands rather than from time to time the former Yugoslavia. Just think of Cyprus, the Turkish-Greek rivalry in the Aegean, the rise of radical Islam within Europe, Russia energy extortion, the large number of nuclearly capable but now non-nuclear states, and a hundred other scenarios that would have been unthinkable a year ago (but then so was the current meltdown). (emphasis added)

The dynamics are interesting and possibly dangerous to our economy.

Movie Music: Trevor Rabin

Went to the movies today and saw Prince Of Persia (it was pretty good) and one of the previews before the movie was The Sorcerers Apprentice:

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Watching the trailer I was really liking the music and it turns out that Trevor Rabin, one of my favorite musicians, is responsible for the music.

Trevor Rabin joined the band Yes in the 80′s. Via Trevor Rabin.net:

Accepting an invitation from industry heavyweight John Kalodner, he moved to Los Angeles to play in an early version of what became Asia. Trevor bowed out of that situation to record demos for a planned solo album, but his plans changed when his demos came to the attention of former Yes bass player Chris Squire. Squire was looking for a guitarist for a new band he was putting together, and Trevor’s demos became the basis for the new group Cinema. As the album neared completion, Jon Anderson joined the band and a new incarnation of Yes was born. The Yes “comeback” album 90125 became by far the biggest-selling of the group’s career, launching the group’s only #1 single, Rabin’s “Owner Of A Lonely Heart” and only Grammy, “Cinema”.

In 1989 Trevor released his fourth solo album, “Can’ t Look Away”. After a decade of success, including four albums and four worldwide tours, Trevor parted ways with Yes. Immediately he was offered a film score, the outcome of which proved prolific. Since then he has composed the soundtracks for mega-budget Hollywood movies, enhancing the performances of stars like Will Smith, Nicholas Cage, Denzel Washington and Samuel L Jackson. Trevor has scored ten films for Jerry Bruckheimer and with over $2.4 billion in ticket sales has attested to the success of their partnership.

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And a great music by Trevor Rabin from Gone in 60 Seconds:

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Very cool.

2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee Roundup

I’ve seen the new 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokees(pre-production) running around town and they look really nice.

According to Jalopnik:

The exterior body of the new Grand Cherokee gets an all-new sculpted body that helps give the new Grand Cherokee an athletic profile despite the increase in size and weight. It looks good in photos. In person it looks, and most importantly, feels, fantastic.

The interior’s all-new too. And by all-new, we mean it looks like what we expect a luxury SUV to look like. That’s good, because it’ll need it to go up against competitors like the new Cadillac SRX and new Lexus RX. It may actually succeed, mostly because it’s not just about the looks, there’s also engineering changes that come from listening to current-generation owners — things like more than 4″ of extra rear-seat knee and leg room (38.6″) compared to the previous model allowing it to get reclining second-row seats.

My San Antonio.com:

The 2011 model continues with a unibody arrangement, but it’s completely new inside and out, using the chassis of the redesigned M-class, which moved to the unibody format with the introduction of the second generation for 2006.

Under the hood, the base engine is Chrysler’s all-new, 290-horsepower, 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6, which provides an 11 percent increase in fuel economy over the 2010 model’s 210-horsepower, 3.7-liter V-6. The engine has 260 foot-pounds of torque.

EPA ratings are 16 mpg city/23 highway for the two-wheel-drive V-6 models and 16/22 with four-wheel drive. That gives the two-wheel drive model a range of more than 500 miles on a tank of gasoline.

Also available is a 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 with 360 horsepower and 390 foot-pounds of torque, which will be the choice for those with big trailers to pull. Mileage ratings are 14/20 (2WD) and 13/19 (4WD).

There are more than 45 standard safety and security features on the new model, Chrysler says, including electronic stability control with traction control and roll mitigation, active head restraints, full-length side-curtain air bags for both rows of seats, front seat-mounted side air bags, hill-start assist and trailer-sway control.

Optional will be a blind-spot/rear cross-path detection system and adaptive cruise control with forward collision warning, a system usually reserved for luxury vehicles.

Inside Line really likes the vehicle interior:

The real measure of success for the interior is its apparent quality and this is the hard part. So far, we’re very encouraged by what we see. No more big, hard sheets of dark-gray plastic. In this upside-down world in which we live, it is from the Ram pickup truck that the interior feel comes. The pickup, with which we’ve been very impressed, was the first of the Chrysler brood to be blessed with a nicer interior getup. The combination of wood, soft-touch plastics, a stitched dash cap, contrasting piping on the leather seats and the steering wheel is a sight far better than the old truck. Or at least they are on the well-equipped versions that Jeep has made available thus far. The leather instrument panel and door trim come with the top-of-the-line Overland package, a model that starts at $39,495 in two-wheel-drive guise.

Demand for the 2011 Grand Cherokee is strong according to the DetNews

Help A Tea Party Candidate: Independence Hall Tea Party PAC 72 Hour Donate-a-Thon for Mayor Anna Little

Fellow Resistance member and all around good guy (even though he is a big time Bluegrass music fan)  Russ from That’s Right posted this at The Resistance:

May 28, 2010

Dear Friends,

Newspapers have dubbed her the “Tea Party Darling” — a well deserved title that describes the most viable outsider running for Congress in the upcoming New Jersey Republican Primary.

Every major Conservative and Tea Party organization in the area has endorsed her, including the Independence Hall Tea Party PAC.

She has the talent, skills, personality, and (most importantly) principles needed to become our next champion in Congress.

She can at once disarm, charm, and persuade the most strident adversary.

Her name is Anna Little. She is the Mayor of Highlands, New Jersey.

In a little over ten days (June 8), the New Jersey Primary will be history.

You have a unique opportunity to alter that history by supporting Anna Little for Congress in New Jersey’s 6th Congressional District.

Over the next 72 hours, we are hosting an Anna Little Donate-A-Thon.

We encourage you to click on Anna Little and explore her website.

If her message agrees with you, we hope you’ll hit the Donate Button and contribute whatever amount you can afford. (You don’t have to live in the 6th District or even in New Jersey.)

By assisting Anna Little now, you could be literally saving our nation trillions of tax dollars in the future.

Please help fiscally conservative candidates who believe in limited government. It is the only way to get our country back on the right track.

Obama Decides To Unilaterally Stop Drilling For Oil

How exactly is this going to help?  Venezuela, Cuba, Mexico, Russia and any other nation that drills off shore for oil has not stopped. What does Obama expect to accomplish by stopping drilling and exploring for oil?

Via the WaPo:

President Obama ordered a halt Thursday to drilling operations at all 33 exploratory deep-water rigs in the Gulf of Mexico for as long as six months, one of several steps he announced at a news conference where he sought to defend his administration’s handling of the spill.

Most of the measures, including a six-month moratorium on new wells, concern future operations. But in perhaps the most dramatic shift, Obama ordered nearly three dozen existing rigs or others preparing to drill to stop operation pending the findings of a presidential commission. Production rigs in deep water may continue to operate, and exploratory drilling in shallow water will continue, White House officials said.

At the news conference, Obama attempted to portray his administration as vigilant in overseeing the response operation since BP’s Deepwater Horizon well exploded and sank April 20. He said he has had more meetings on the spill — which he called “a tragedy” — than on any other topic since the Afghanistan strategy review last fall.

“The American people should know that from the moment this disaster began, the federal government has been in charge of the response effort,” Obama told journalists gathered in the White House East Room for his first formal news conference in 10 months.

Obama appeared defensive throughout much of the hour-long appearance, particularly in trying to define his administration’s role in stopping the leak and cleaning up an environmental threat that has surpassed the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill. Opinion polls show that only a minority of Americans approve of the way Obama has handled the disaster, and he noted several times Thursday that he understood the anger and frustration of Gulf Coast residents watching oil lap ashore.

Team Obama has been all over the oil spill since ‘day one’.

By the way, those nifty electric cars that Greens and Democrats are so in love with, contain large amounts of lightweight plastics that are manufactured from… Oil.

Obama Hits A New Low In Rasmussen Poll & Jeff Beck And SRV Perform Going Down

Rasmussen has Obama at -22%, the lowest reading yet for Obama.

And this great analysis via FCBZ:

So what brought on this jaw-dropping, record-breaking fall in national adoration? What wiped the bloom off the Obama rose?

Was it Obama’s dissing of Arizona and its illegal immigration law — plus, his slow response to provide federal help with the National Guard at the state’s dangerous border?

Or, was it his lack of leadership and molasses-slow response to the BP oil spill that is devastating Louisiana’s wetlands and marshes, while he went golfing?

Or, was it his outrageously expensive stimulus package that did diddly-squat for the nation?

Or, was it the ramming through of the foul ObamaCare that a majority of Americans don’t want?

Or, was it his calling the Cambridge police “stupid” or his war with FOX News or his bowing to third-world leaders or his rude treatment of PM Netanyahu or his soft stance on terrorism or his dividing of the nation on racial issues or his snubbing of America’s allies or the worst economic recession and unemployment our country’s seen in three decades?

Or, was it his obvious, progressive-socialist desire to dismantle the US Constitution and give more power to himself and Democrats, while ignoring previous falling polls and tea party protests and the sage advice of others?

Or… heck, the list’s too long.

And, in honor of his One-ness falling pol numbers, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jeff Beck performing Going Down:

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Video: All Hands On Deck from Day One

Obama and his henchmen have promised “All hands on deck” since “day one”

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And Obama’s grand idea:

But to those tasked with keeping the president apprised of the disaster, Obama’s clenched jaw is becoming an increasingly familiar sight. During one of those sessions in the Oval Office the first week after the spill, a president who rarely vents his frustration cut his aides short, according to one who was there.

Plug the damn hole,” Obama told them.

And James Carville thinks team Obama has been lackadaisical:

But Carville said the Obama administration’s response to the BP oil spill has been “lackadaisical,” and that rather than place the blame on the previous administration, it should’ve done more to deal with BP and “inept bureaucrats,” which would’ve in turn helped boost Obama’s approval ratings.

“The president of the United States could’ve come down here, he could’ve been involved with the families of these 11 people” who died on the offshore rig, Carville said. “He could’ve demanded a plan in anticipation of this.”

News Round Up: China Flexes Muscles At Economic Summit, Running Away From Obama & Repealing Heath Care

Nothing like getting lectured by the Communist Chinese government about economic issues. Via The AP:

Beijing used the meeting to press its interests in a range of issues from technology to Taiwan. Its stance reflected China’s rising status as the world’s third-largest economy and the communist government’s growing confidence following its quick rebound from the global downturn.

Chinese officials called for an end to U.S. export controls meant to keep “dual use” technologies with possible weapons applications, such as lasers and supercomputers, out of the hands of China’s military. Washington is reviewing its controls and says it might make changes.

“We hope the actions will be big, not small — not removing several items from the control list but improving the regime overall, and also a change in the practice of singling out China and treating China unfairly,” China’s Commerce Minister Chen Deming said at a news conference.

Highlighting China’s status as a rising global investor, Chen also complained that U.S. strictures on investment by foreign entities with government ties are vague and are obstacles to Chinese companies.

“We hope the United States can have a more transparent and predictable environment,” Chen said. (emphasis added)

These types of lectures and pressure are what you get when your nation is run by a group of academics, theorists and apologists.

With Obama’s poll number sinking and the electorate extremely unhappy with his idea of “hope” and “change” Freshmen House Democrats are running away from his One-ness:

The House Democratic freshmen who rose to power riding candidate Barack Obama ’s coattails in 2008 are now eager to strut their independence heading into the midterms.

Some rookies opposed Obama’s cap-and-trade climate change bill; others rejected his health care plan. But even those members who backed all of the president’s signature initiatives are ready to show that they can win their first re-election bids without leaning on Obama’s star power. (emphasis added)

Star power? Did he write “Obama’s star power.” The story continues:

Dahlkemper said that while she would be “very happy to welcome” Obama to her district, she didn’t know how much of a help or a hindrance he would be.

“I just think we don’t quite know yet where his popularity is,” she said. “The best thing I can do is get out and shake hands and look people in the eye. They want to see me and they want to know what I’m doing. … I’m much less concerned about who’s going to come in and campaign for me.”

Rep. Betsy Markey of Colorado, who voted against the House health care bill but ultimately voted for the final plan, said she didn’t think it would make much difference either way if the president stumped in her district.

It’s always an honor when the president makes an offer to visit. But this is a Colorado race,” she said. (emphasis added)

One reason the electorate is unhappy with Obama and his Democrat cohorts is the ramming of one Health Care law through Congress. Today, 63% of voters nationwide want the “Health Care” law repealed.

Just 49% of Democrats Strongly Approve of Obama’s performance. That’s down from a high of 65%. It remains to be seen whether this is a temporary aberration or the beginning of a lasting change.

Sixty-three percent (63%) of voters nationwide favor repeal of the health care law. That’s the highest level of support for repeal yet measured.

162 Days until November 2nd, 2010 (election day)

Sunday Afternoon Links: The Moto GP Edition

Be sure to check out these excellent posts:

DISCLOSE Act: Bloggers Beware

Scott Brown Sells Out on Financial Reform “Socialism”

Teabagging Nancy Pelosi

Good News! Housing meltdown co-architect Andrew Cuomo wants to be New York Governor

Sarah Palin to ‘Beltway Bob’ Gibbs: Dispute this!

Rand Paul’s Kentucky Stranglehold

Lt. Col. Allen West displays what straight talk sounds like.

Cheezy 80′s Music: The Waitresses- I Know What Boys Like

State of the unions

Public employees descend on Trenton to demand blood from a stone

Obama starts massive US Air-Sea-Marine build-up opposite Iran

PBS Newshour: GOP and New Media