History of air conditioning, invented by Willis Carrier – cool reading for a hot day

Willis Carrier submitted drawings of the first modern air conditioning system on July 17, 1902. Carrier was working to solve a problem that effected the quality of printing… He came up with the brilliant idea to circulate cold water rather than steam through heating coils in a machine he used to test heaters. Carrier’s design …

California has lost its Republicans – not one holds office in our most populous state

Fading into irrelevance The party of Nixon and Reagan holds not one statewide office in America’s most populous state California gave America two of its five most recent Republican presidents. But the state party has fallen on hard times since the days of Nixon and Reagan. After having fallen for decades, the number of registered …

Debate over oil subsidies – Senators voting to protect them received on average 4x more contributions

The debate goes much deeper than who received money, but these numbers are still important: In a 51-47 vote, 43 Senate Republicans and four Democrats filibustered to protect $24 billion in tax breaks for Big Oil. Although a majority voted for Sen. Robert Menendez’s (D-NJ) bill, it fell short of the 60 needed. The only …

China’s military continues to grow – spending tops $100 billion for the first time

China announced an 11.2% increase in its defense budget for 2012. For the first time, China’s defense spending will top $100 billion At a news conference Sunday, Li Zhaoxing, a spokesman for the congress, announced the $110-billion budget, while stating that the spending “constitutes no threat to other countries.’’ “You can see that we have …

China's military continues to grow – spending tops $100 billion for the first time

China announced an 11.2% increase in its defense budget for 2012. For the first time, China’s defense spending will top $100 billion At a news conference Sunday, Li Zhaoxing, a spokesman for the congress, announced the $110-billion budget, while stating that the spending “constitutes no threat to other countries.’’ “You can see that we have …

Have you heard of the California Delta? – A summary of the issues and politics

86% of Southern Californians are unaware of the Delta Nearly four out of five Californians do not know what the Delta is, despite the fact that the estuary of 1,000 square miles provides drinking water for cities from San Jose to San Diego. Asked in a new statewide poll to share what, if anything, they …

California moves forward with renewable energy projects in National Parks

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today praised the agreement reached by Southern California Edison and the National Park Service to connect more than 20 existing renewable energy projects at Park Service facilities in California to the electric grid. Southern California Edison is also close to finalizing agreements with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the …