e-commentary

. . .

X          “The event should have been touted as a tour of Halloween Haunted Houses.  Nothing is changing.  No one is learning.  The garage door on the McMansion is only one inch thick.  What did you find?”

Y          “On the subsidized house, the garage door is two inches thick with brush insulation around the outside perimeter.”

X          “The Horror House is heated with an eighty percent efficient forced air system that draws combustion air from the garage and outside.  Even a new generation system that draws air from outside induces a stack effect flow of air that cools the house in the winter and warms it in the summer.  Cozy.”

Y          “The subsidized chateau is equipped with a ninety-five percent efficient forced air system that draws piped combustion air from outside the structure.  Huge energy savings.  The PVC to the outside is run aesthetically.”

X          “The McHorror House has windows splattered all over the place, but they are double paned.”

Y          “The code requires them.  Most of the windows in the bargain bungalow are on the south side with some on the west and a few on the east.  Some of the windows are covered with simple double-cell blinds.”

X          “The kitchen in the McMonster is equipped with shiny stainless steel but marginally efficient appliances.”

Y          “Simple Energy Star appliances.”

X          “The McNightmare is illuminated with regular incandescent light bulbs and T12 fluorescent bulbs in the garage with a smattering of cfls (compact fluorescent lights).”

Y          “Compact fluorescents throughout with T8 bulbs in the garage and two LEDs for the outside lights on the walkway.”

X          “There are so many little things.  The Monster Mansion has regular gate valves that may seize in a decade or two.  They require multiple turns to open and close, yet after a few years are really only good for one turn.”

Y          “They could do a good turn by getting quarter turn valves from the same supplier who outfitted the subsidized place.”

X          “One thing after another.  And I watched everyone else wandering around the McMongo house bedazzled by all the flashy baubles.”

Y          “The market sets the standards for the mansion; the government sets the standards for the subsidized structure.”

X          “We need more citizens less bedazzled by baubles.”

. . .

[Neither rain nor sleet nor snow could rein in or slow the “Enough is Enough!” March in Washington D.C. sponsored by Coffee Party USA on Saturday nor dampen the spirit.  A few hundred hearty souls hailing from Rhode Island to Oregon showed up at the gathering on the west side of the Capital to listen to a wide range of speakers.  They are frustrated but not feckless.  No one was arrested.]

[See the “e-ssay” titled “On Overpopulation (June 14, 2010).”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Insulate it tight; ventilate it right

Seven billion little miracles are a big problem.  That’s ghoulish.