Pajamas Media

120 Comments

1. quality:

CFL light bulbs have been around for well over a decade. Only recently have they come in enough varieties and flavors to capture about 10% of the available sockets.

As a child I grew up with the same light bulb in the overhead socket for 15 years or more.
Most of the bulbs in our home died because I hit them with a basketball or something.
And remember how they just hung there,
the filament was so strong you could put a rope in it for a swing.

Well you know the old story- Now those same bulbs last about 3 months.

20 years ago GE reduced the filament for Wal Mart sales,
Now you have to have a magnifying glass to see if it is broken.
I used to rattle the bulbs to hear the broken wires-
they are so small today they float in the vacuum.

These CFL light bulbs are FANTASTIC according to GE and others,
they will last for 5 years.

BULL***deleted***,
they never last more than one year.
And the ones that catch moisture from the shower in my bathroom,
don’t last that long.

If we allow the old bulbs to be banned- soon these new fantastic CFLs will be lighting your homes and garages for 3 months at a much higher cost!

Not to mention the trillions of them being dumped into the environmentally un-friendly landfills alongside your plastic drink bottles.

Tree huggers will love that!

Thank You,
It felt good to bitch about something really important.

Nov 23, 2008 - 3:12 am 2. eon:

Also consider that many older homes have globe-type light fixtures that the CFL bulbs will not fit into. Because they are taller than the incandescent bulbs the fixtures were designed for, which means that the globes cannot be put back on over the CFL. I know, because I live in such a house (built in the early 1900s) myself.

I expect to see a lot of older homes,whose owners cannot afford to replace their fixtures, with naked CFLs in the future. Sort of the Obamanation’s equivalent of the “Landlord’s Halo” ring fluorescents in badly-built public housing back in the Seventies.

As for Blomberg’s desire to get rid of salt, is he also going to pay for all the food which spoils in the stores and in peoples’ cupboards? Salt is in most foods as a preservative. Without it, food wil have a shorter shelf life. Any cook knows this- why doesn’t Bloomberg?

Oh, I forgot- “progressives” are so smart, that they get to follow the gnostic procedure in which what they believe equals reality, in spite of physics, chemistry, biology, etc.. How stupid of me.

cheers

eon

Nov 23, 2008 - 4:36 am 3. RE:

Nanny staters have already done much to damage respect for the law. Bit by imperceptible bit they are contributing to social breakdown, establishing and exacerbating an antagonism between the people and the state that should never exist – were the nanny staters ever to read and respect the US Constitution and Ameirca’s founding principles.

Do-gooders are an extremely destructive breed. Enable them at your children’s peril, for they will be the ones living in a stifling dystopian nightmare – one where Dana Carvey’s ‘Church lady’ character would look positively liberating.

Nov 23, 2008 - 4:44 am 4. Sara:

The reason Half Ton Mom and Dad were highlighted in a TV special is because they aren’t the norm. The norm is “kinda tubby”. The problem with our nanny state is that it wants to legislate for the half tons, instead of worrying about the kinda tubbies, who still have the longest life spans in the world.

It makes me sick worrying about what new scheme they will come up with today to supposedly fix my life. It makes me sick I tell ya, and THAT’s what will kill me.

http://www.saraforamerica.com

Nov 23, 2008 - 4:46 am 5. cedarhill:

The best way to use the new bulbs is to replace the old ones with the new ones that use the same electricity. For example, replace four sixty watt incandescent bulbs with new ones that use 60 watts. The new ones will be about double the output lumins of the old bulbs. I did this with an overhead fixture having four bulbs and now its like having the sun shining in the room. Doesn’t save energy, produces huge amounts of light and I can brag about “going green”.

Shine on!

Nov 23, 2008 - 5:06 am 6. R a Z o R:

May I suggest a 410 bore shotgun from 2 to 4

hundred dollars . One can add a flash light and

a red dot laser for under $75.00 for night and

for aiming .

Just the sound of the pump action helps me

sleep better .

The 410 will shot : bird shot , buck shot , or

a slug with far less recoil than a 12 gauge .

The bird shot will not go through walls and is

better for an indoor shot .

We went to look in a gun shop yesterday and

she bought a SKS rifle for $210. used that

shoots the larger nato rounds .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqoF-Xu4gIw

Cops are too heavy to carry .

Nov 23, 2008 - 6:15 am 7. ~Paules:

Bloomberg is typical of his breed. If no problem exists, it’s up to government agencies to find or manufacture one. Of course, actually solving the problem is never part of the program; it’s simply an excuse to grow government. Be it real or imagined the problem itself becomes perpetual. Eventually, you reach a point of logical absurdity. We hear that the biggest health problem with the poor is obesity even as the government is telling us that one person in eight suffers “food insecurity.”

How will the Obama administration handle energy policy balanced with the need to fight climate change? Poorly by my reckoning because all the underlying assumptions are faulty. Assuming the problems are actually real, only the private sector is capable of offering a solution. The government will only produce more make-work agencies that employ ever larger numbers of the talentless and unproductive.

History instructs us that civilizations lurch from one crisis to the next. Civil order and prosperity are but brief interludes between periods of chaos. The U.S. stands on the cusp of an economic crisis for which the government can offer no solutions because government itself is the problem. The crisis might resolve itself quickly if only government would step back and let laissez-faire capitalism do its job. Sadly, this is not to be. The ship of state is in the hands of fools.

Ms. Pelosi says she’s busy saving the world, and Mr. Obama has pledged to lower the sea levels. And the world thought Caligula mad for proclaiming himself a god? I won’t even take the obvious cheap shot at our president-elect. The average citizen is content to watch government muddle along, but we are set this time to witness a government failure of epic proportions. Those dependent on government are going down with the ship. The rest of us are making plans.

Nov 23, 2008 - 6:24 am 8. njcommuter:

The fluorescent tubes have another problem for people whose sleep habits are changed by artificial light: they tend to stretch the daylight time and make it harder to go to sleep. The yellowish incandescent spectrum does not do this.

By the way, the point of the thinner filaments in light bulbs is to squeeze a little more light per watt out of them by making them run hotter. The ‘long life’ bulbs run a hair cooler and last much longer. You should be able to choose, especially for bulbs that are hard to reach. Your safety is worth a slight loss of efficiency.

Meanwhile, I’m stocking up on incandescent bulbs, on the theory that after about five years of the compact fluorescent insanity we’ll get better colors, probably out of LEDs.

Nov 23, 2008 - 7:16 am 9. quality:

Ms. Pelosi says she’s busy saving the world, and Mr. Obama has pledged to lower the sea levels. And the world thought Caligula mad for proclaiming himself a god?

HA-
Our world is full of Royal asses.

King Canute tried to stop the ocean waves to teach his more sycophantic followers the limits to royal power. But that was in ancient Britain. ‘Czar’ Putin has no such constraints in 21st-century Russia. He is engineering a stop the downpours by seeding the clouds over St Petersburg.

The Chinese tried it during the Olympics,
the environmentalists should have loved it.

All the Chinese lakes and rivers turned GREEN.

Nov 23, 2008 - 7:16 am 10. toritto:

Heehee! You folks are funny!

I’m old enough to remember the vitriol directed at “nanny staters” when seat belts were introduced in cars.

“Its my god given right as a free ‘merican to drive without my seatbelt on! Yiihaaa!

…or labels on cigarettes….

“Its my god given right to smoke anywhere I want to…..etc.”

…or motorcycle helmets…..except here in Florida where we repealed that nanny law and watched motorcycle deaths double in the last two years…….

“Its my god given right to let my hair whip in the breeze while I ride bike and impress women!!!” Yiiihaaaa! They look so good in their caskets…..

…..some fools wont use the sense that god gave everyone.

Nov 23, 2008 - 7:22 am 11. DaveinPhoenix:

Newt Gingrich:

Let’s End Adolescence
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich says young people need to shift more quickly from childhood to adulthood

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_45/b4107085289974.htm?chan=rss_topEmailedStories_ssi_5

“…The solution is dramatic and unavoidable: We have to end adolescence as a social experiment. We tried it. It failed. It’s time to move on. Returning to an earlier, more successful model of children rapidly assuming the roles and responsibilities of adults would yield enormous benefit to society. It’s time to change this—to shift to serious work, learning, and responsibility at age 13 instead of age 30. In other words, replace adolescence with young adulthood. But hastening that transition requires integrating learning into life and work.”

A nation filled (not all) with 30 year old irresponsible children requires a nanny state to take care of them. And we wonder how we ended up with a socialist president (and congress) ?

Nov 23, 2008 - 7:35 am 12. Old and Bold:

Toritto, you can’t legislate “brains” or morals…it just doesn’t work.

Nov 23, 2008 - 8:14 am 13. Chuck Pelto:

TO: All
RE: The CFL’s

Several months ago the local paper published an article that described a bizarre situation that could happen in any household where CFL’s are used. It has to do with the use of mercury in the high-tech light bulb.

Here’s the trust of the article….

• There’s enough mercury in a CFL light bulb to poison 6000 gallons of water.

• If you have a CFL light bulb in a table lamp and your cat or whatever knocks it over and it breaks, you have a instant HAZMAT incident in your very own home.

• You must immediately evacuate the premises after opening all doors and windows to allow ventelateion.

• You must remain out of the impacted area of the incident for at least 15 minutes.

• If it broke on an expensive carpet, you have to cut out a large portion of that carpet and dispose of it IAW federally approved HAZMAT procedures.

• If you decide to use your vacuum cleaner to pick up the shares of glass, you must dispose of said expensive device as it is not contaminated with mercury.

• If you do not comply with these regulates you are in violation of federal laws about proper handling of HAZMAT. That’s a felony, people.

This is outrageous! And an invasion of our households. It amounts to over-criminalization on a massive scale. And one has to wonder ‘why’.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
P.S. As someone else somewhere else commented….

…the best way to dispose of an old CFL light bulb is to put it on the door step of an ill-favored neighbor, ring their doorbell and RUN.

After all, federal law dictates that if YOU so much as even TOUCH a HAZMAT site the problem becomes YOUR problem. And an old CFL IS a ‘HAZMAT’ item…..

Nov 23, 2008 - 9:26 am 14. Tex Taylor:

…..some fools wont use the sense that god gave everyone. ~ toritto

Last week, you were preaching to the rest of us there wasn’t a god on a different thread. Another prime example of liberals are certifiably insane.

Nov 23, 2008 - 9:29 am 15. FLMom:

Clever header, Pam.

The CFL bulbs can also make the interior decor really ugly, depending on color scheme. It turns beige a hideous yellow. Buy these bulbs and you may need to redecorate your entire home.

Nov 23, 2008 - 9:32 am 16. Chuck Pelto:

TO: Tex Taylor, et al.
RE: TARGET!

Last week, you were preaching to the rest of us there wasn’t a god on a different thread. Another prime example of liberals are certifiably insane. — Tex Taylor

Direct hit, there.

Toritto is nothing more, nor anything less, than a total ‘liberal’ liar. Also known as a hypocrite. He/she/it will say ANYTHING. And it is seldom anything that resembles the truth. Why? Because to their ilk, there is no such thing as ‘truth’. It’s all .lies and jest’.

Regards,

Chuck(le)

Nov 23, 2008 - 9:53 am 17. Sobekneferu:

There’s another problem with the CFL bulbs for people with lupus. We’re supposed to avoid flourescent lighting, as it can actually trigger lupus flares or make existing flares worse. So, if I have to use these things in my house, it will worsen my disease. Way to go, nannystate.

Nov 23, 2008 - 10:22 am 18. K. Johns:

There will be a black market in regular light bulbs, also one for cigarettes, cigars, pipes and pipe tobacco. Not to mention the one for guns and ammo. Obama wants to tax guns and ammo at 500%, but, he also wants to tax tobacco and tobacco products at 700%. Prohibition gave us the Mafia and organized crime. What is Obama going to give us? Welcome to the Obamanation you voted for people, I hope you enjoy it!

Nov 23, 2008 - 10:33 am 19. John:

Guess what the voters like the “nanny state.” That’s the problem with the far right these days, they will use these totally hyperbolic overstatements. Hence Obama is a socialist, communist, marxist, someone who aids paedophiles, a terrorist sympathizer, a muslim, a follower of Osama bin Laden. I’m not exaggerating all these descriptions were used by reputable people on the campaign trail. And guess what, he was elected anyway and has approvals in the high sixties. Some people never learn. Believe it or not the entire country from investment bankers on Wall St. to auto workers in Detroit are sitting on the edge of their seats waiting for Obama and his administration to take over and fill the incredible power vacuum that exists in Washington while a president, who is or was the hero of all these serial exaggerators, sits idly by and makes no attempt to rescue the ship of state he has driven onto the rocks. This incompetence is clearly a school of leadership these folks prefer. It’s really an incredible, to all reasonable people, window on the mental outlook of the right. It’s not an outlook that has any political traction which is why the democrats must love these nihilists.

Nov 23, 2008 - 10:53 am 20. momof3:

I stocked up on regular lightbulbs for next to nothing when homedepot was clearancing them out to make room for CFLs. I’ve yet to have to use one. It’s been well over a year. I expect to outlast the CLF craze quite handily.

Nov 23, 2008 - 10:58 am 21. xchemist:

Call them what they are: mercury vapor light bulbs. The name “compact fluorescent” was coined to avoid the subject of where the hell all that mercury will wind up.

Nov 23, 2008 - 11:09 am 22. Dark Helmet:

Chuck,

The plan from the start has been to make evil people out if us all that deserve what ever from of punishment the powers that be (soon to be un council made up of izslime mo hams ) see fit to dispense.

I for one will use a candle or a lantern before I will be told what kind of f*ing light bulb to use. If I can do it with a pork product, I will do so proudly.

Not for Chuck,

As for you smokers, if you kept your damn smoke to yourselves and didn’t bother anyone, no one would care. But public means just that public. In other words, your right to do what you want stops at the exact moment it bothers someone else. But this is the insanity of what happens when you don’t have any basic manners. Keep your problem to your self.

It gives azzhats like bloomberg an opportunity to try enforce his liberal bs agendas. It is all about complete absolute control. marxism always has been. pure f*ing evil.

Nov 23, 2008 - 11:15 am 23. cedarford:

The country has far bigger problems now than the Nanny State solutions that floated around when we were fat dumb happy and our lunch wasn’t being eaten by China and the Wall Street Corporatists.
Nobody voted on CFL lightbulbs.
It would be nice if Obama said in no uncertain terms that he has no plans to distract the people or allow Congress to distract the people from the dire problems by dredging up 1970s style anti-gun measures on lawful citizens.

Salt in food? Another trivial distraction.

Nov 23, 2008 - 11:23 am 24. Stephen:

Another problem with Mini-Fluorescent lamps is that they will not ’strike’ below about ~5 degrees Centigrade , meaning that they are useless in Greenhouses, Outhouses, Garages, etc. What do you do if you want light in one of these places once Incandescents are banned ? Also, they are useless with Dimmers.

PS Greetings , Chuck Pelto , from a fellow LGF Poster

Nov 23, 2008 - 11:37 am 25. Chuck Pelto:

TO: Dark Helmet, et al.
RE: Indeed

The plan from the start has been to make evil people out if us all that deserve what ever from of punishment the powers that be (soon to be un council made up of izslime mo hams ) see fit to dispense. — Dark Helmet

That’s what ‘over-criminalization’ is about: excuses to ‘marginalize’ politically incorrect people by indirect means, i.e., making laws that only sheeple will follow in order to separate the non-sheep and put them in secure facilities.

Seriously…

….do you think it should be a crime to tell someone what sort of window-dressing they should put in their home without having a license? You can be charged with a crime for doing such in Las Vegas these days.

And the law will be ‘winked at’ if you have the proper friends in high places should you violate it. But if you’re politically incorrect, guess what….three guesses…first two don’t count….

That’s what’s happening here. Like the Amendment 41 in the Colorado Constitution. Passed in 2006. And a ‘commission’ appointed by the governor gets to decide who they’ll persecute for violations of said amendment.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[Crime does not pay...as well as politics.]

Nov 23, 2008 - 12:00 pm 26. Donna V.:

John wrote: Guess what the voters like the “nanny state.”

Well, I guess voters like you do – voters who want their bottoms wiped and diapers changed by Big Daddy Obama.

Nov 23, 2008 - 12:01 pm 27. cedarford:

K. Johns:
There will be a black market in regular light bulbs, also one for cigarettes, cigars, pipes and pipe tobacco. Not to mention the one for guns and ammo. Obama wants to tax guns and ammo at 500%, but, he also wants to tax tobacco and tobacco products at 700%.

Conservatives are not helped by bullshit artists that make up fake stories about the President-elect – be it HE WANTS TO TAX ALL YOUR GUNS&AMMO AT 500%!!!!!, or “You know, he had a ultra, double-special secret, Kenyan birth…that the CIA helped cover up….on behalf of the Rothschilds….”

Or moronic fear-mongers claiming “Federal Law requires you to declare your home a HAZMAT scene if a “Gore-bulb” ever breaks! Or you will be arrested for a FELONY!!!”

Or whoppers like “Sarah Palin, Our Sarah…commands the Northern anti-missile defenses of the Nation..(A Pelto Special).

All it does is reinforce the idea that conservatives are infested with as many whack-jobs as the Left has.

Nov 23, 2008 - 12:03 pm 28. Chuck Pelto:

TO: Stephen
RE: [OT] LGF? Heh….

PS Greetings , Chuck Pelto , from a fellow LGF Poster — Stephen

You’re speaking for yourself, compadre.

Charles Johnson ‘killed’ me there because I was speaking to effectively about God and that Old Book and making an effective case for ID.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[Whoso rewardeth evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house.]

Nov 23, 2008 - 12:03 pm 29. EW:

On CBS this morning, there was a report that stated that American’s favorite foods are the high-fat ones. If the illuminati really wants to limit unhealthy items, I don’t think anyone is going to become healthier because they are told they have to do so. As an extreme example, addicts only find help when they have decided they want to do so. It’s the same with people and changing their habits.

Nov 23, 2008 - 12:05 pm 30. » Pajamas Media » Clinging to My Guns, Salt, and Light Bulbs White House On Best Political Blogs: News And Info On White House:

[...] Clinging to My Guns, Salt, and Light Bulbs Posted in November 23rd, 2008 by in Uncategorized Pajamas Media » Clinging to My Guns, Salt, and Light Bulbs So, if I have to use these things in my house, it will worsen my disease. Way to go, nannystate. [...]

Nov 23, 2008 - 12:15 pm 31. Panskeptic:

Pam Meister doesn’t have the answers to these questions, but for some reason is sure that the government is just as befuddled as she is.

Well, maybe everybody out there isn’t as clueless. Is she so certain that her limitations apply to everybody else? Isn’t that just raging egotism, instead of a coherent political position?

Hey Pam, maybe somebody somewhere knows something you don’t.

Nov 23, 2008 - 1:35 pm 32. Cienfuegos:

Incandescent light bulbs are 100 percent energy efficient during the cold weather, when you are heating your home — more than six months out of the year in some regions of the US (this is because in addition to light, they emit heat — this heat raises the temperature of your room(s) and therefore the thermostat doesn’t kick on as often.) If you mention this fact to your average well-intentioned, thoughtful citizen — many such individuals grace my city, Seattle), they usually just blink at you, uncomprehendingly.

The main reason people don’t buy mercury vapor bulbs is because they are aesthetically an abomination for anyone who considers lighting to be an important part of decor and the feel of a room an home. The idea of using these bulbs and living with them is laughable.

Oabama will be forced to govern from the center-right if he wants to be reelected and considered successful (and he does). Think of it as Bush’s third term, or Clinton circa 1995. But by all means, buy lots of guns and ammo. It’s fun and healthy.

Nov 23, 2008 - 2:12 pm 33. Ben-Peter:

Good call. First guns, now light bulbs. Pam Meister is right.
Yes, look at the car industry. Wake Up America.

Nov 23, 2008 - 2:18 pm 34. david foster:

Prediction: For well-connected individuals who don’t like CFL, there will be a “certificate of special artistic need” available allowing them to buy incandescent bulbs. If you’re a Congressman, or a major campaign contributor to one, you may be able to get one of these if you ask very nicely.

I wonder how long until electric ovens are banned and microwaves only are allowed?…the nameplate on my over says 8KW, which is 80 times as much as the typical bulb. Think they’ll be able to resist this one.

Of course, there will also be “certificates of special culinary need” for the well-connected.

Nov 23, 2008 - 2:53 pm 35. Instapundit » Blog Archive » PAM MEISTER: Clinging to My Guns, Salt, and Light Bulbs….:

[...] PAM MEISTER: Clinging to My Guns, Salt, and Light Bulbs. [...]

Nov 23, 2008 - 3:25 pm 36. Chuck Pelto:

TO: cedarford
RE: Heh

Or moronic fear-mongers claiming “Federal Law requires you to declare your home a HAZMAT scene if a “Gore-bulb” ever breaks! Or you will be arrested for a FELONY!!!” — cedarford

Tell US….

….how much experience have YOU had with dealing with a HAZMAT incident?

I had a bit while I was working with emergency management issues with the military, FEMA and the Red Cross.

Has the laws regarding HAZMAT changed in the last 10 years? If so. Please disabuse me of how seriously the feds look upon a HAZMAT incident.

Regards,

Chuck(le)

Nov 23, 2008 - 4:05 pm 37. Chuck Pelto:

P.S. Maybe they have changed their approach to HAZMAT vis-a-vis CFLs. However, I’ve yet to see any such change indicated.

Nov 23, 2008 - 4:07 pm 38. Gozer the Carpathian:

Another annoying part of the “Low Energy” light bulbs BS is that they ignore an entirely seperate kind of low energy bulb. The LED light bulb. We’ve been switching to them in car lights for years and we all know how bright and adjustable they can be.

http://www.ccrane.com/lights/led-light-bulbs/index.aspx

Again they’re more expensive than the classic, but they’re not filled with Mercury so why aren’t they being pushed like the CFLs Hmm?

Nov 23, 2008 - 4:11 pm 39. Nora:

Compact Flourescent Lightbulbs are fine for some people, but as someone who can be admittedly klutzy, having them in some places is a disaster, especially for the tall. I rented a place with a low basement ceiling, and have managed to destroy two incandescents with arm gestures. Also, for spaces with fixtures for which you do not necessarily need a globe – your basement, your outdoor utility light, the garage, CFLs are painful. Finally, they give off hideous light and I like my old table lamps and antique light fixtures. And for what – to save energy? Let me pay the extra for the bulb, and extra for the energy usage. Isn’t that how the market is supposed to work? Hey Congress – tell you what. Slap a surcharge on the bulbs, and use the money to build a nuclear power plant – that will reduce my carbon footprint!

Nov 23, 2008 - 4:13 pm 40. Butter:

By what RIGHT is this happening to us?

Nov 23, 2008 - 4:15 pm 41. mk:

A coworker of mine bought the new-fangled lightbulbs to help the environment and freaked out when she read the warnings about how to properly dispose them and how to take care of them if they broke. She has two children and was really concerned first about the environment, then about her children if they broke a lightbulb by accident. Needless to say, she removed them all and bought normal lightbulbs. Apparently concerns about mercury poisoning her children overrode whatever energy might be saved….

Nov 23, 2008 - 4:17 pm 42. Darrell:

Birdshot is for birds. If you don’t want to use slugs or OO buck, go with #4 buck, it’s the minimum size useful against two legged predators.

Nov 23, 2008 - 4:21 pm 43. Jason:

“Congress and smaller state and city governments all have their fat, grubby fingers in the pie as well.”

The pie of banning things? This is a new and unusual use of the figurative “pie”.

Nov 23, 2008 - 4:40 pm 44. Peg C.:

I won’t use CFLs. I have a cat that breaks everything that isn’t nailed down and she broke one of those. No I did not call HAZMAT. I am boycotting these things. The light they emit gives me vile headaches. I am allergic to fluorescent light and always have been but I’m even more allergic to Algore.

Just like the low flush toilets that have to be flushed 3 times to accomplish what 1 flush did (this is not exaggeration), also thanks to Algore, and the toilet paper that requires 4 yards instead of 2, every one of these ludicrous regulations is my favorite law in action: the law of unintended consequences. D@mn I hate these people more by the day. My activities are now aggressively ANTI-green.

Nov 23, 2008 - 4:40 pm 45. Don L:

Let’s see now. I put less salt on my steak with these stingy shakers and I miss it, so I have another steak and now I have my desired amount of salt – but I ate two steaks to get it (much like I doubled my smoking when I shifted to filters) so now, I haven’t cut salt but doubled my food intake and am suffering from Bloomberg obesity.

Nov 23, 2008 - 4:44 pm 46. jms:

No one has even considered the worst part —

LAVA LAMPS!!!

Lava lamps require a small 60 watt incandescent bulb to supply the HEAT necessary to make the lava work. Yet these bulbs are to be banned, thus
making the lava lamp an obsolete memory of the past as the light bulbs burn out.

In 20 years people will be paying $100 up for lava lamp bulbs on ebay.

Nov 23, 2008 - 4:46 pm 47. Who Will Control Your Life - You or Them? | The Sundries Shack:

[...] Pam Meister looks at the growing Nanny State and asks a couple questions: Certainly there is a problem here in America when it comes to diet and exercise. Thanks to modern technology, we not only have an overabundance of inexpensive food, but we’ve become a largely sedentary society. The obvious good comes with a price to pay. But does the answer really lie in relieving individuals of their personal responsibility in the choices they make? Should government bureaucrats who “know better” than you do have that much power over your life? [...]

Nov 23, 2008 - 4:54 pm 48. Korla Pundit:

>“Its my god given right to smoke anywhere I want to…..etc.”

–Barack Obama

Nov 23, 2008 - 5:17 pm 49. cardeblu:

jms, it’s not just lava lamps. Think of Easy Bake ovens. They, too, require the heat of an incandescent bulb to work. So many disappointed little kids…

Nov 23, 2008 - 5:18 pm 50. Cap'n Rusty:

“But I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.”

“In fact,” said Mustapha Mond, “you’re claiming the right to be unhappy.”

“All right then,” said the Savage defiantly, “I’m claiming the right to be unhappy.”

“Not to mention the right to grow old and ugly and impotent; the right to have syphilis and cancer; the right to have too little to eat; the right to be lousy; the right to live in constant apprehension of what may happen to-morrow; the right to catch typhoid; the right to be tortured by unspeakable pains of every kind.” There was a long silence.

“I claim them all,” said the Savage at last.

– Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

Nov 23, 2008 - 5:42 pm 51. Robert Hurley:

Great now you are tilting at florescent light bulbs. What next! No need for satire. We can just read pajamasmedia for our entertainment

Nov 23, 2008 - 5:44 pm 52. Wacky Hermit:

I’m glad someone noted that CFL’s don’t light up your garage in the cold of winter (we found that out the hard way), and I was not aware of the lupus connection so thanks for posting about that. I was going to note that some autistic people are extremely bothered by fluorescent lighting and have sensitive enough vision to see the flicker, or sensitive enough hearing to hear their noise. With autism incidence on the rise (and not just due to increased diagnosis), you’d think that the government would recognize this well-known need for incandescent lighting.

Nov 23, 2008 - 5:55 pm 53. Hale Adams:

Robert,

The problem is not that CFLs are available, and that some people actually LIKE them.

The problem is that our self-appointed saviors saw fit to ban the CFL’s chief competition, the incandescent light bulb.

You’d think that if the CFL was superior in all the ways that mattered, the old-fashioned light bulb would simply fade away. But no, our use of the CFL has to be *coerced*, because we’re too stupid to save ourselves.

Uh-huh.

Where’s the tar and feathers?

Nov 23, 2008 - 5:59 pm 54. Eric:

The eco-Marxists don’t give a rat’s arse about the poor, the single mom, the elderly on fixed incomes and they never have. Neither does their messiah Barack Obama. Recall his statement earlier this year that he didn’t have any problem with $4/gal gasoline but only with the speed of the rise in prices. He also said his plans to address the eco-religion of global warming would “necessarily cause electricity prices to skyrocket”. Who is hurt most by this? Anyone with limited income directly through their electric and gas bills but they are also the highest at risk of losing their jobs when companies cut back due to higher energy costs.
No, the Liberals/Progressives/Socialists don’t care about people, they only care about their Earth Mother.

Nov 23, 2008 - 6:08 pm 55. myth buster:

LEDs are not only safer than CFLs, but they are more energy efficient as well. Staring at a 1 Watt LED bulb at 30 feet will hurt your eyes, that’s how bright they are.

Nov 23, 2008 - 6:09 pm 56. Dave R,:

I have used a lot of CFL’s and traditional bulbs. First, the CFL’s seldom outlast Edison’s device, and frequently fails sooner if it is subject to vibration or moisture. Second, when they do fail, it is often a catastrophic “flame out” of the cheap electronic ballast in the base, a fire hazard. lastly, the engineering issue: Power factor. Look it up. The bulbs actually use much more energy than your meter registers because they have a poor power factor. Multiply, sometime, the volts times the amps consumed listed on the bulb. That is the definition of a watt. You will find, it is a much higher number than the advertised wattage of the bulb. The difference is power factor. The generating plant still has to make it even if your meter can’t read it. Green? not really so much. Politically expedient is closer to the truth.

Nov 23, 2008 - 6:23 pm 57. Dave R,:

Me again. I’m gonna tell you all. I’m almost as conservative as they come. Pretty soon I will be moving to Beijing to get away from the damned socialists here. No kidding. My wife of 12 years is a Beijing native, I like it there, I know come commies. They are much more conservative than our far left dems here. The real commies will tell you socialism and gov’t micromanagement does not really work, is insupportable financially, and leads to societal stagnation. The people of Beijing today have more personal liberties than you and I will have here after four more years. Capitalism is alive and well, healthy and prospering in, of all places, Beijing. They’re not looking back and you can still buy real bulbs there and all the salt and oil you want. Guns, no, but you dont need them because the criminals cant get them either.

Nov 23, 2008 - 6:36 pm 58. G Alston:

CFL’s often require different lighting fixtures, and not merely due to the base or size compatibility. They run hotter in the electronics base than can be safely carried off. If your old fixture isn’t vented very well, your CFL won’t last anywhere near as long as a standard light bulb. Ceiling fixtures in particular are problematic, especially the expensive designer ones. (Apparently the sought after designers know a great deal about decor and warm piss about practical stuff like convection. Who *are* these morons? Wouldn’t designing a light fixture by definition factor in the idea that the lighting it’s designed for gets hot?)

Something you rarely see published —

CFL’s are also not cost effective. Factor the total energy budget, from natural resource extraction and refining to finished product and disposal, the CFL requires more total energy than the standard light bulb. The consumer, if lucky, saves a few pennies on his/her electrical bill, but there’s a lot more energy used upstream and downstream. If you never look at upstream or downstream energy costs, the CFL appears to be greener. It’s not.

On the plus side –

CFL’s are not HAZMAT problems. Consumers can clean up broken ones themselves using some common sense and a bit of caution. Plenty of newer web sites with that info. Do try to keep up.

Nov 23, 2008 - 7:17 pm 59. Peter:

a HUGE problem for CFLs is powerfactor “AKA kVA vs kW”

a normal bulb is a pureley restive device (whell there is a slight inductive componet too… the filiment is a helix thus a small inductor*only a phD would care* xL=1/2piFL )
but a CFL with a ballest is not ..this can put a huge out of phase load on utilitys and its a nasty thing….

in fact I have a case where the super out of phase CFL arced a light switch to the point of starting a fire in a friends house… whome is a retired EE from TRW!! .
we O-scoped out the bulb and found that it draws a peak of 36 amps for one cycle ..( it has to charge a CAP inside ..)
this might not mean much to most but if we ALL used CFLs we could crash “the grid”

look up “PFC” “power factor correction” on the web..
most CFLs are not PFC..

and I agree about the mercury poisoning its bean known for years that streaght tubes had mercury in them ….but you dont see any “reported” cases the that HAZMAT had to evac a house because a light broke.
on the flip side maby CFLs might only be a short term fix until LEDs kick in hight gear .. and LEDs are a restive device with a PF of 1.!. but they do cost a ton right now …and in theroy LEDs have a infinet life span .. maby thats why they dont sell .. because you only have to by them once.. *hmmmmm*

Nov 23, 2008 - 7:27 pm 60. Seerak:

Hale has it right. Every single time something gets shoved down our throats like this, the Leftists always act as if our issue is with the particular measure itself, while pretending that the throat shoving part is utterly non-controversial.

With such colossal ignorance of the nature of individual rights, why do we still call them “liberals”?

And I say this as someone who otherwise has no problems with CFL’s and makes use of them where it makes sense.

BTW, The whole “hazmat” thing is overblown, though not completely wrong, per Snopes. There is no flicker with modern CFL’s with electronic ballasts (nobody can see 15kHz flicker, trust me… if your CFL is visibly flickering, it’s about to die).

Nov 23, 2008 - 7:37 pm 61. Andrew Garland:

CFL’s have at least one significant problem. They have a limited number of on/off cycles until the electronics fail. I put together a review of much info at

The CFL Advertising Account
http://easyopinions.blogspot.com/2008/04/cfl-advertising-account.html

Nov 23, 2008 - 7:40 pm 62. Donna V.:

Actually, Hurley is the entertaining one.

My guess is that he never met a government-imposed regulation that he didn’t love. His instinctual reaction is “Yes, my masters, whatever you say! I’ll try to bend over a little further!”

Nov 23, 2008 - 7:44 pm 63. FonZie:

Whether or not CFLs are the best thing that could have happened to the world or just an ill to society does not justify the government making them the Americans’ ONLY option. The same thing can be said about so many laws that look good on paper by banning something completely instead of controlling something. I believe in gun control, not on a gun ban. No extreme is ever good and both sides (Dems and Reps) need to come to agree on the good of the people as opposed to the good of their own pockets. As far as we know, making CFLs our only option may be part of a scheme to make someone’s investment secure.

Nov 23, 2008 - 9:10 pm 64. Douglas Stewart:

Two points:

First to “torrito (10)”: “God given rights” are actually exactly the point. We do have God given rights and strong limitations on the government’s ability to infringe upon those rights (read your constitution sometime). We are simply fed up with the creeping infringement upon our rights to live as we choose as long as we don’t infringe on the same rights of others. I regularly ski double black diamond chutes, and I even go down them with my young son who is a better skier than I am. Are you suggesting that because some fools skiing beyond their skill level sometimes gets hurt on these runs, they should all be closed by federal law and we should only be permitted to ski on nearly flat groomed slopes? Are parents who go skiing with their children neglegent and guilty of child abuse? Perhaps we should all have mandatory training, testing and licensing to allow us to ski. Go ahead and apply this logic to any other risky activity that you might engage in (perhaps eating sushi, climbing ladders to change aforementioned lightbulbs, bicycle riding, woodworking, rock climbing, swimming, sailing, mowing the grass,…) I am sure that I could find a few activities that you enjoy that are at least as dangerous as table salt. Would you be singing the same tune if it were your chosen activities that were curtailed by some do gooder in government somewhere, or that you had to pay a licensed professional to do work you could easily do yourself because of safety concerns?

Second: One thing I really see overlooked by the technology concerns dimmable can lights. I have many can lights that are built to hold 60 watt spots. I run these bulbs dimmed at different times of the day, and only at 100 percent to read or play table games with. Neither CFLs or LEDs dim as far as I can tell. The voltage drops to a certain point and they just cut out. Moreover, CFL’s are simply too glaring to have in an uncovered fixture such as a can. All of us with can lights will have problems with using anything other than incandescent spot lights, especially if we don’t want to live with the same level of lighting all of the time (too dim to read or too bright to watch TV).

Nov 23, 2008 - 9:51 pm 65. craig:

Chuck Pelto:
Please read this http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/cfl.asp
Its good to check into your sources and not perpetuating urban legends. While the recommended procedures for cleaning and disposing of a CFL are oddly specific they do not including cutting out pieces of your carpet or calling in a HAZMAT team. There will not be CFL police arresting people or issuing citations for inproper clean up of household CFL breakages.

Nov 23, 2008 - 10:41 pm 66. craig:

I think the banning of incandescent bulbs is an unecessary invasion of personal choice, there are many application for CFL’s and just as many contraindications for there use.
LED’s will hopefully be a true resolution for all. Better light quality, less energy consumption, GREATLY increased lifespan and less anxiety about mercury content.

Nov 23, 2008 - 10:50 pm 67. Cindy Sue Causey:

In the name of saving the Earth, Congress passed legislation last year banning the sale of incandescent light bulbs by the end of 2014.

I want to know who’s making the big bucks off of laws like these, especially if the path backwards to making them lays as you share, to more anti-Mother Earth antics..

The same goes for figuratively, and likely for some time to come literally, blocking persons at lower income levels from basic, free television through killing it completely by demanding the country endure the Digital Television (DTV) transition..

Who is making the money off of all the transition boxes being sold..?

And, uh-uh, don’t even bother trying to tell me they’re being given away..

BUNK..

SOMEONE SOMEWHERE is being given BIG BUCKS off of that one while some sizable number of those at low income levels will be effectively locked out of the basic day-to-day knowledge, e.g. politics and disasters, it takes to keep moving forward in this Life..

Dig back far enough into the deep, dark hole of movements like these, and some one person’s bank account runneth over, fer shur..

Cyber hugs from North Georgia..

Nov 23, 2008 - 11:22 pm 68. Pet:

Pasta and breads *are* primarily complex carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates are sugars.

Nov 24, 2008 - 1:53 am 69. Jaredkk:

Originally posted by Dark Helmet:

As for you smokers, if you kept your damn smoke to yourselves and didn’t bother anyone, no one would care. But public means just that public. In other words, your right to do what you want stops at the exact moment it bothers someone else. But this is the insanity of what happens when you don’t have any basic manners. Keep your problem to your self.

But a restaurant or bar isn’t public, it’s a privat business. If a restaurant or bar owner wants to alienate non-smokers by allowing smoking, that should be his right. Non-smokers are free to patronize a non-smoking establishment instead. As for workers in smoking establishments, they are free to get a job somewhere else, no one is forcing them to work there. I think it’s totally communist to tell a private business owner how to run his own business.

Nov 24, 2008 - 3:13 am 70. Roger Godby:

Dave R., but what will you eat that isn’t fortified with melamin?

I’ve been away from the US for almost 20 years. It sounds like I should stay away, because it’s not what it once was.

Nov 24, 2008 - 4:11 am 71. Jimbo:

Oh noes. The government wants to reduce salt in processed food. How dare they.

No, we shouldn’t let the government attempt to look out for its citizens. The corporations clearly know better.

Nov 24, 2008 - 5:14 am 72. Dark Helmet:

JarredKK,

I couldn’t agree with you more except that it is not a private business, it is a business open to the public.

But, you have to have one or the other.

Either it is a private smoking place or no. Cigar bar for example.

If you are open to the public, then you have minimum standards to adhere to. I would be thrilled to see adequate ventilation systems that rendered the whole thing moot as I could give a rodents rear about what someone else does to themselves as long as it has no adverse affect on me.

In Florida, where they banned it everywhere, they screamed and cried boo hoo boo hoo!!!!!….. no one would come out anymore. The opposite happened. You get MORE people in a smoke free room.

If the people that smoked kept it to themselves and had manners 101 not to pollute the air for everyone else, it wouldn’t be an issue. If you don’t get that concept then it will never not be an issue for you.

One could argue that if nudity offends then don’t work in a booby bar. But other than causing eyestrain, there are no second hand health problems for workers. I suppose if a boss at Nips R Us wanted to hire smokers only, then that would be their choice. I think LED lighting would be a bad way to go as usually the more smoke and the darker the room, the prettier the girls are. Beer goggles help. Overly salted pretzles to increase beer sales…. I think we see the pattern here.

But as long as it is open to the public rather than a private club, even a public toilet hang out has to have clean air.

I will be the first to admit bias in this issue, being a close to doing violence on you for lighting up and ruining my meal exsmoker, however, I am not operating with a personal addiction driving my viewpoint either. Second hand smoke is harmful, therefor it is assalt ( pun intended ).

Just one for respecting others at least in regards to not forcing them to breath a personal choice in favor of lung cancer. I am out there, ready to snap. Go ahead, make my day…. sparky.

Or just have the freaking decency to not bother others with your problem. That’s about enough of a glimpse into the clutterd mind of the Dark Helmet.

Don’t be surprised if you get pulled over for smoking with your kids in the car with the windows rolled up. They are not your property.

Nov 24, 2008 - 5:53 am 73. Spindok:

“Hey Pam, maybe somebody somewhere knows something you don’t”

Obviously not the government.

There is no data to support health benefit from salt restriction and it may, in fact be dangerous.

From a review article published in the medical journal Hypertension published by the American Heart Association 2000;36:890

“Abstract—The positive relation of sodium intake and blood pressure, first recognized a century ago, has been well established in ecological, epidemiological, and experimental human studies. Equally well established is the association of increasing blood pressure and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Indeed, the pharmacological capacity to reduce blood pressure has produced one of the great public health accomplishments of the 20th century. These two facts—the positive relation of blood pressure to strokes and heat attacks and the positive association of sodium intake to blood pressure—underlie the hypothesis that a reduction in sodium intake, by virtue of its hypotensive effect, might prevent strokes and heart attacks. Moreover, even if the effect on blood pressure were in the range of a 1- to 2-mm Hg decline in blood pressure for every 75- to 100-mmol difference in sodium intake, the impact of such a change, applied to the whole population, would be enormous. The problem with this appealing possibility is that a reduction in salt consumption of this magnitude has other—and sometimes adverse—health consequences. The question, therefore, is whether the beneficial hypotensive effects of sodium restriction will outweigh its hazards. Unfortunately, few data link sodium intake to health outcomes, and that which is available is inconsistent. Without knowledge of the sum of the multiple effects of a reduced sodium diet, no single universal prescription for sodium intake can be scientifically justified”

Nov 24, 2008 - 5:59 am 74. Chuck Pelto:

TO: craig
RE: Sources Are Important

Its good to check into your sources and not perpetuating urban legends. — craig

My source was two-fold:

[1] An article in my local paper, which you’ll have to pay for access now, as it is over 30-days old. [Note: I'm sorry about that, but it's a 'small' city and a 'small' paper too.]

[2] Local City-County Public Health Department officials I work with as a member of the Environmental Policy Advisory Committee.

RE: Snopes Article Link

Interesting report that. However, I suspect that if I show it to my associates from the Public Health Department on EPAC, they’ll take exception to the low level of danger in that third bullet…

The amount of mercury contained in one CFL bulb poses a grave danger to a home’s inhabitants: False. — Snopes Item on Broken CFLs

If it’ll poison 6000 gallons of water, it seems pretty dangerous to me.

RE: Criminal Charges

There will not be CFL police arresting people or issuing citations for inproper clean up of household CFL breakages. — craig

Wait til The One gets his Civilian National Security Force in place.

By the way, did you miss my description of the [im]proper use of over-criminalization laws? And selective enforcement?

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[Bad law is more likely to be supplemented than repealed. -- Oaks's Laws]

P.S. By the way, when we at EPAC were discussing this revelation, no member from the City-County Public Health Department indicated that the laws relating to HAZMAT had been changed to allow for CFLs. But I’ll ask them again when I see them early next month. Our regular meetings are the first Thursday of each month.

Nov 24, 2008 - 6:30 am 75. Chuck Pelto:

TO: Dark Helmet
RE: Heh

I couldn’t agree with you more except that it is not a private business, it is a business open to the public. — Dark Helmet to JarredKK

It’s not like someone is holding a gun to their head and forcing them in the doors of the place.

On the other hand, it would have been easy enough to require that the air in the place be limited to a certain level of smoke, putting the onus of getting the proper ventilation installed to meet a reasonable standard.

But NOOOOOOOOOOooooooo. The nannies absolutely forbade smoking.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[He who hates vice, hates mankind.]

Nov 24, 2008 - 6:41 am 76. Maggie:

Thanks for bringing up light bulbs. This legislation is ridiculous. I hope this stays a topic of conversation until the law is changed.

Nov 24, 2008 - 7:02 am 77. Old School Conservative:

Good for you, Pam. I have about twenty guns in my collection, all the way from ancient family heirlooms that I would be afraid to fire to some modern shotguns and rifles plus one handgun. I have rarely kept more than a few shotgun shells in the house. I’m going to buy a couple of boxes of ammo for every working piece, not because I expect to use it, but because it pisses off the nanny staters! Which, of course, is a nobel ambition. I’m going to drive to lunch today with no seatbelt, eat a piece of well salted corn fed bloody rare beef, knock back a double vodka martini (or 3), take the afternoon off, and give a ringing ***k you to every busy body, power hungry, control freak, pain-in-the-ass nanny-state-loving wuss I see this week! If it would not be so tough to quit again, I’d buy some good cigars and blow big fat smoke rings in their smug self-righteous faces as well.

Nov 24, 2008 - 7:17 am 78. Ann:

Since the CFL’s became a marketing project by the government, we have been buying incandescents every time we shop…building up a stock.

Nov 24, 2008 - 8:26 am 79. Paul S.:

What I want to do is jump in ahead of the game. Line up the class action attorneys. Put together the scientific and product background evidence, etc. This huge! Everyone in the country gets rich! Actually, the best money-maker is opening up an offshore online site to sell incandescent bulbs made overseas.

Nov 24, 2008 - 8:41 am 80. Dark Helmet:

Chuck

I was upfront about my bias, it does not make for a fair debate…… how ever, the problem lies in owners trying not to piss anyone off and in turn making everybody mad. There is a lesson in that.

I am all for being able to do what ever it is that you want to do with your own body as long as it doesn’t interfere with me and my space or anyone dependent on you, such as kids.

Taxing the crap out of tobacco is a perfect example of the nanny states trying to pretend that robbing you is for your own good. It is important to stand against the agenda even when it seems to be going your way at the moment. Thanks for kindly pointing that out.

Nov 24, 2008 - 8:57 am 81. Mercury:

They’ll also be taking away your grills, power-mowers and firelplaces.

Nov 24, 2008 - 9:31 am 82. atlargeinohio:

Nanniness goes on and on. My family and I were at a Holiday parade this past weekend. A guy comes walking by dressed as Ronald McDonald- waving to the crowd and smiling. Two young guys were standing near us shouting at Ron for his contribution to obesity,heart disease, and other social ills. The guy “Ron” shoots back that perhaps some exercise and moderation is a good idea!Yes! I think the era of personal responsibility is waning!Also it must be a drag to bear that cross of liberal self-righteousness around everywhere you go.These guys rarely smiled and looked borderline pi$$ed at everything and everybody in the parade. Lighten up people and let me make my own choices! To tie in to the original thread- my choice is .357 SIG and for
Uncle Sam to stick to the constitution and stay out of my self defense choices (there’s that word again) as much as possible- as well as the other parts of my life. Thanks for the original post Pam.

Nov 24, 2008 - 10:36 am 83. Clinging to My Guns, Salt, and Light Bulbs - XDTalk Forums - Your HS2000/SA-XD Information Source!:

[...] to My Guns, Salt, and Light Bulbs Pajamas Media

Nov 24, 2008 - 10:43 am 84. wayne:

The one and only reason I have ever bought those stupid CFL bulbs is that the antique wiring in my house (built in 1927 – wire wrapped in mushy asbestos) scares the hell out of me and I don’t make enough to re-wire the whole structure house. I don’t see enough savings from using these to justify the cost.

The reduced load from CFL lighting makes up some for the increased loading from the tv’s, pc’s, wireless phones, battery chargers, etc. However, as I learned recently, reducing the wire-loading doesn’t mean that you have reduced your chances of an electrical fire.

CFL’s can fail by catching fire (which was something I never saw from an incandescent bulb – the lamp wiring, yes: the bulb itself, no). I had a CFL go up in smoke in a ceiling fan last week (when I also discovered I needed a new battery in the smoke alarm!).

I just pray that Phillips or GE will release a LED-based bulb soon (I ain’t buying the damn Chinese ones – who do you think made the CFL!!). Mercury-filled lamps are the stuff of future asbestos and lead paint lawsuits – not to mention house fires.

Nov 24, 2008 - 10:57 am 85. Billy:

Torritto,

I understand what you are saying but it should be up to the individuals in a state to accept or rejact federal mandates, everyones pursuit of happiness is different and if you are not affecting the life of another human being with your choice of the wind blowing in your hair so be it. Because of the war powers act the Federal Government holds each state in subservance to the federal law without any requard as to what the people of the state may or may not agree with. As always its the person not the law that makes the decision the law is only written words and being a nonconformist is always frowned upon I guess that is why they did not want Albert E in school he just did not think like the other kids. Also it was the law that took Jesus down and will not let you say his fathers name in public places.

Nov 24, 2008 - 10:59 am 86. momof3:

I adore the smoking ban. I hate smoke. Guess I’m biased that way. And good point on the digital TV-WHy is the government involved in TV at all? I just don’t get it.

Nov 24, 2008 - 11:02 am 87. Teri Pittman:

The weight problem is caused by corn syrup, specifically high fructose corn syrup. If anyone bothered, they would find that the rise in extremely obese individuals coincides with the invention of the stuff. It’s in everything, including lunch meat. Just try and buy something without it. Most of the individuals I’ve seen that are extremely overweight tend to eat highly processed foods. That is far more the problem than fast food joints.

Nov 24, 2008 - 11:42 am 88. rocketeer:

R a Z o R – beautiful!!!

Nov 24, 2008 - 11:50 am 89. Richard:

that the writer of this article would be putting something as serious as gun control in the same article as controlling fat or salt content in the article shows how ignorant or blind she is. Guns can, and do hurt other people, so the govt does have a right and a duty to regulate them. Regulating fat or salt content in food, which only hurts the person doing it is another matter. It is not “nanny soceity” to prevent one person from purposefully or accidentally hurting another person. And this argument that criminals will get guns anyway has never made any sense. Does that mean we give up on any law that is difficult to regulate, and allow the outlawed item to become legal, it is tough to catch drug dealers or abusers, does that mean we just give up on those crimes and make them “available” to anyone? Think about these issues before you go making foolish comparisons.

Nov 24, 2008 - 12:17 pm 90. atlargeinohio:

Richard-

I know this is stated ad nauseum – but read the second amendment and tell me what leeway there is in the statement “shall not infringe”. Shall not is shall not. The SCOTUS agrees with that, to some degree ;> If we can’t abridge free speech or any other rights enumerated in that document, how do you pull one amendment out and dice it up without the whole house eventually falling?

Nov 24, 2008 - 1:32 pm 91. Chuck Pelto:

TO: Dark Helmet
RE: UUuuuhhhh…

I am all for being able to do what ever it is that you want to do with your own body as long as it doesn’t interfere with me and my space or anyone dependent on you, such as kids. — Dark Helmet

…what part of cleaning the air in a public drinking/eating establishment did you fail to recognize?

Regards,

Chuck(le)

Nov 24, 2008 - 1:43 pm 92. Chuck Pelto:

P.S. You wanna whine about having to breath smoke….

…I have to live with the shit, i.e., fecal material, that the town upstream of us here ‘accidentally’ dumps in the stream that runs a quarter mile from my house. And there’s damned little we can DO about it.

You want a REAL issue to deal with? Something to protect your kids?

Deal with a town that dumps shit into a stream your kids play in…..

Then get back to me about second-hand smoke and children…..

Nov 24, 2008 - 1:45 pm 93. Tommy:

Chuck, you could always move.

If not, then do something about that town. Write your Congressman. Write your Senator. Write your county or state government. Put together a petition. Address the neighboring City Council yourself. Get the EPA involved. Don’t just sit there and let them pollute your back yard! You have rights!

Nov 24, 2008 - 2:09 pm 94. Dark Helmet:

Chuck,

Sometimes things get lost in translation.

In the intern, maybe a few sludge trucks could have a wardrobe malfunction at the mayors office up stream. Sometimes sharing the experiance can bring clarity to what would be otherwise less than receptive parties. Not unlike a can of raid for smokers…… I know that sounds a bit harsh but catching them at that right moment when they spark up makes it soemthing everyone can enjoy. Sort of like when everyone goes ooh or aawwww at the Forth of July only with more screaming. But then, Momma always said play nice didn’t she.

Good luck with your shit.

Nov 24, 2008 - 2:16 pm 95. Spindok:

So where do we go with this?

The admixture of science and government is as dangerous as that of religion with the same.

We have Mayor Bloomberg calling for a totally idiodic population-wide salt restriction. We should be up in arms about this nonsense. We would be if Chavez said something equally stupid. I think he said something about hot-sauce once which was widely reported.

Firearms, it seems that Pam has many restrictions where she lives. Good to go to the course. I have, and well worth it. Where I live you can purchase and take home a firearm and ammunition on your lunch hour and I have done that. It seems to me that the best idea is to find something you are comfortable using and practiced with on the range.

The environmental part of this thread is the most difficult for me. You cant just settle this on ideology. From Lib to Socialist nobody allows my neighbor to dump toxin to run into my yard. Lightbulbs are small potatoes.

Spindok

Nov 24, 2008 - 4:09 pm 96. Robert:

I agree with the one who said the kids are not your property. I have a smoking room simply because even though i do smoke, i don’t want everything i own to smell like cigs, cigars. Why i have an overcoat as well in there.

Public eating places should at least have closed smoking rooms for breaks, they are after all, private establishmnets open to the public, and said public if some of them don’t smoke has every right to not be subjected to it, but at the same time they have no right to keep people who do smoke from smoking when their out. Whether they call it an addiction or not.

The rabid assault on the rights of others to support the rights of themselves really has gone to far in that regard, because of the micro control of the nanny state mentality supported by leftists.

As for guns, the democrats are trying to disarm everyone, because they know what we’ll do when they show their true colors.

Salt, barely use it, theres enough in the food as it is, i like to use pepper instead, as well as garlic powder/herb. if they do use less salt in processed food, then they are indeed driving up costs, which is all the liberal democrats seem able to do in their stated concern’s, and goodness for all, why they had a major part in driving the economy under.

Keep their supposed goodness, and way of life they want to force on everyone else to themselves and own homes is what i say. And they can also keep their deranged plans/education programming they come up for with kids, to themselves most definately, they have no rights as far as that goes, and if it gets much worse, then i will nut out, and hurt some of them.

A very concerned American.

Nov 24, 2008 - 4:15 pm 97. Someone75:

To: ALL
Re: Silliness

You people are so funny! You’re so threatened by something as stupid as light bulbs? With the kind of non-thinking I’ve read here, we’d still be tossing our waste out of the window because, doggonit, that’s our right!

We have the RIGHT to eat trans fats and get sick. We have the RIGHT to inflict our disgusting cigarette habit on others in public places. We have the RIGHT to be thick-headed morons!

Yes, you do have the right. It’s just that someone is trying to help you stop being so foolish.

Regards,

Someone(75)
[Luddite, n. One who opposes change. Typically, technological change, but in common parlance, any sort of change will do.]

Nov 24, 2008 - 6:41 pm 98. Dave R:

To Wayne and others who think using CFL’s with bad old wiring will reduce loading and the risk of a wiring fire: Think again. The electronic ballast in the CFL, as one earlier poster pointed out right after my original post, causes a huge out of phase load due to the poor power factor. While that means little to most people, the ultimate manifestation of this effect is greatly increased current peaks (amperage) in the neutral wire which will in fact lead to greater over-heating of any loose or corroded connections in the wiring and therefore, greater risk of fire due to a loose neutral connection. I, too, have seen a wall switch “flame out”. I had 9 CFL’s in by basement all on one circuit, one switch. I noticed the switch would POP loudly when I turned the lights on or off. Then one day, it went up. That is when I started thinking about this deeper. I have a lot of electronics background, but initially put no thought into the whole issue. I saw the box in the store, something like “100 watts of light for only 23 watts of juice” or something to that effect, and filled my basement up with the things because I knew I was burning a kilowatt every time I switched the basement lights on and I wanted to save. It was a bad idea. Electronic Ballasts, in general, i have a vendetta against. At work in our shop we have dozens of them we put in a few years back to replace all the old magnetic ballasts. They have about a 2 year half life. All the time, electronic ballasts are blowing out of our ceiling. They cost 40 bucks a pop, and every 4 years we are putting something like 50 or 60 of them in a landfill. Green? Not. The back room still has the magnetic ballasts from the 60’s and they’re still kicking. Not one failure in ten years in the building now, and they’re OLD. More BS, you already can’t buy in commercial quantity or install the older style 40 watt tubes, they don’t meet code anymore. instead we have the 32 watt skinny tubes that take electronic ballasts. When they blow out, they FREQUENTLY melt the glass at the end of the tube, releasing the contents of the tube and creating a dangerous job replacing the bulb because it breaks at the melted point when you try to get it out of the sockets, and then you have a shower of glass shards…This $hit is a real issue to me. If your gonna put in electronic ballasts, you better upgrade all your wiring to a 10 gauge neutral wire. That, BTW, is code most everywhere for circuits that will be mainly powering switching power supplies (similar to electronic ballast) for computer equipment, because of the increased out of phase load. This is common knowledge in the electrical world. Can’t wait to see how many apartment fires are caused by a dozen CFL’s running on a 14ga circuit installed in 1925 with bare twisted splices in the walls and attic that have have a century to corrode and get a lot of resistance going. Another example of lower income people being crapped on unintentionally, as lower income people tend to live in dwellings with old substandard wiring. Good luck. Better buy a big fire ABC extinguisher and smoke detectors with that cartload of CFL’s big brother will make you buy in 5 years. Rope ladders for the second story bedroom windows, too. I’m serious.

Nov 24, 2008 - 7:29 pm 99. Jaz:

Reading the bulb comments on here explains why the rest of the world looks on with incredulity at the outrageous energy consumption of the US.
We have low-wattage bulbs – they last far longer than ordinary bulbs and consume a fraction of the energy. The only problem with them is that as they get older they do take more time to get to full brightness.
The conventional filament bulb is an exceptionally inefficient device – generating a lot more heat than it does light

Nov 25, 2008 - 4:32 am 100. Donna:

Our nanny Congress (having nothing better to do) has already trashed our toilets with “watersaving” that requires three flushings!

I’ve told my Congressmen to leave my light bulbs alone.

Nov 25, 2008 - 5:55 am 101. Chuck Pelto:

TO: All
RE: Someone75 & CFLs

You people are so funny! You’re so threatened by something as stupid as light bulbs? — Someone75

I wonder what he/she/it would think if someone broke a few dozen of them in his/hers/its living room.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
P.S. I wonder if he/she/it has one of those high-end vacuum cleaners to clean the mess up with….

Nov 25, 2008 - 9:02 am 102. Someone75:

To: Chuck Pelto
Re: Missing the point

Great argument. Did you also know that things like GUNS can also be dangerous? Actually, just about everything can be dangerous, if you’re not careful. By your reasoning, we would not drive cars because there’s always the potential that we might crash and die. Got any more of those great arguments? Your ‘unassailable logic’ boggles my brain.

Regards,

Someone(75)
P.S. It might be time to stop getting ALL your facts and ideas from Wikipedia.

Nov 25, 2008 - 10:15 am 103. Chuck Pelto:

TO: Someone75
RE: CFLs vs. Guns

Great argument. Did you also know that things like GUNS can also be dangerous? — Someone75

Where on EARTH have you been all this time we’ve communicated here? Or was your brain so addled by smoking crayons that you failed catch on to the fact that I’m a retired airborne-ranger?

Sheesh….what is the younger generation coming to?

By the way. All the ‘guns’ I’m familiar with don’t generate a HAZMAT incident if you drop a bunch of them on the floor. However, I will comment that I did hear of an incident where a Glock discharged when IT was dropped on the floor. But I don’t own one of those. So I guess I’m relatively safe.

RE: Wikipedia

It might be time to stop getting ALL your facts and ideas from Wikipedia. — Someone75

You definitely have poor reading skills or you ‘missed’ my comment at item #74 (above).

Better go back and re-read that one.

I’ll wait….

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid.]

Nov 25, 2008 - 10:48 am 104. Dave R to Jaz:

Jaz, read more. The bulbs (CFL) are not truly as efficient as they are claimed to be. Apart from the electrical engineering problems, they do use a lot more energy and petrochemicals to manufacture as well as being a recycling nightmare. It is not so simple as getting dimmer with age. LED technology offers real promise and real solutions to all the major problems of CFL’s, and will probably quickly cause the CFL’s to become obsolete anyway, thankfully. And to be truthful, residential lightbulbs regardless of type, are such a small portion of our total electrical consumption as a household or as a nation as to be insignificant. My house, for instance, has an electric heat pump system which regularly consumes 3 or 4 thousand kilowatt hours a month. That is equivalent to one heck of a lot of soft whites burning 24/7. Commercial users like the 24/7 bigbox stores, carlots, and gas stations waste a lot of juice. I’ve seen a lot of gas station canopies with enough HID lights burning under them to easily support a pot grow operation. Probably some darned lawyer telling them they need to keep it as bright as the sun all night long in order to avoid getting sued if somebody trips and falls on their butt late at night. I have given up, truly, on any hope of ever seeing common sense out of 99% of my fellow citizens on any issue. Most people are far too stupid or apathetic to be worth the air they breathe, and yet we allow them to vote based on what “big media” has chosen to allow them to “know” and how it was spun. Truly it is a lost cause. Give up now on trying to change anything and live life like there is no tomorrow because you mght as well enjoy it while it lasts. Screw it all.

Nov 25, 2008 - 5:15 pm 105. Someone75:

Chuck Pelto:

I didn’t realize that you are a retired airborne ranger. That explains a lot – all that time up where the air is thin – it really kills brain cells.

The truth is, I don’t often feel the need to read all of your rambling posts. Life is too short to waste on your thoughts. I just like to punch in every now and then and point out just how stupid your “ideas” and “arguments” really are.

And you don’t seem to have answers for me, other than insults. I’m sure your military buddies directed plenty at you, but we’re not in the military. We’re in the real world now and ideas matter.

But, nice job using the Internet, gramps.

Regards,

Someone(75)

Nov 25, 2008 - 9:13 pm 106. Nanny staters are on the march, seeking even more control over our lives. « Count Us Out:

[...] to continue reading: http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/clinging-to-my-guns-salt-and-light-bulbs/2/ [...]

Nov 26, 2008 - 3:55 am 107. Sonia:

Totally agree! If everyone were a radical individualist, all of our problems would be over. So would the life of the planet, but hey it was fun getting mine and doing it my way.

Nov 26, 2008 - 5:39 am 108. Mike:

The real reason for this “Green” nonsense is to habituate the people to slow, seemingly insignificent “change”. Once the nannies get us used to following their orders, we will see the real agenda exposed. TOTAL CONTROL OVER ALL ASPECTS OF LIFE is what they desire, eating, sleeping, copulating, even THINKING. Cheryl Crow even tells us how many sheets of Goddamn toilet paper we are allowed to use, and Al Gore 1 gallon toilets sure won’t flush a man sized, non-soy log, my friends. This will end in blood in the streets as all totalitarian states do. Arm yourselves and protect the constitution, and tell the nannies you will eat salt, meat, smoke if you so desire, think freely and they can kiss your ass, just as they can kiss mine.

Nov 26, 2008 - 5:55 am 109. Mike:

Hey Someone 75, try getting a job and actually PAYING taxes for a change instead of collecting your welfare checks you blood sucking leach. Do you think it’s your RIGHT to have me support you, pay for your food, housing, heat, even the car you drive and fuel you burn in it. Then have the gall to preach to working people about such drivel?. Grow up child.

Nov 26, 2008 - 6:01 am 110. Cybergeezer:

Obama will have all subjects perform obligatory civic duty as HAZMAT team workers. This will reduce the unemployment numbers.
Can we mandate all lighting in Congress to be CFL? Pelosi would surely look like a cadaver.

Nov 26, 2008 - 6:46 am 111. Chuck Pelto:

TO: Someone75
RE: Try…

I didn’t realize that you are a retired airborne ranger. That explains a lot – all that time up where the air is thin – it really kills brain cells. — Someone75

….not to appear so stupid.

We fly in at 1000 feet on exercise jumps. 500 feet in combat ops.

That last demonstration of ignorance and pride makes it appear that you’ve lost more brain cells than I have.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[Stupid, adj, Ignorant and proud of it.]

Nov 26, 2008 - 10:22 am 112. Someone75:

Chuck:

I just don’t know what to say – you’ve obviously got some major insecurities. I meet few people who are so arrogant in their utter ignorance who don’t have some incident in their past that led to their present state. I’m guessing that’s why you went into the military. I know a lot of losers who barely made it through high school, but went straight to the military so they could feel like “men” in “power.” Sadly, now all you can do is attempt to insult people on a stupid message board catering to the conservative fringe.

Well, how about we talk issues instead of trading petty jabs? All that bravery in combat and you’re afraid of light bulbs?

My comparison to guns are entirely apt. You may need HAZMAT to clean up a light bulb, but if you’re shot, you tend to be dead or seriously injured. I know my arguments must seem complex to you, but try to keep up. Remember: Dictionary.com is always there if you need it.

Regards,

Someone(75)
[Oh, what's the use. You wouldn't understand anyway]

Nov 26, 2008 - 11:51 am 113. Jim Baker:

Someone 75,

What is with all this name calling? I have read way too much of your circular nonsense. Stay on point and defend your positions. From one post to the next, you don’t make any sense.
I have tried these new light bulbs, and after finding out that the light they provide is about half of what I need in most of my sockets, I have removed them from my home. I don’t give a tinker’s damn what the unelected regulators in government decide, I will continue to decide for myself what is best for me. If you think that is a sign of my insecurity or resistence to change, so be it. For my part, I believe that individuals working in their own self interest, occasionally hit upon ideas that actually advance our civilization. So, I want and value my liberty to make my own decisions. You should too, in my opinion.
Please don’t re-post anything I have written. You do not have my permission. Try filling space with your own opinions.

Nov 26, 2008 - 12:36 pm 114. Karin:

I can’t STAND Bloomberg! He is the most arrogant hubris-filled blowhard Grand-nanny rivaling all the other blowhard politicians. Imagine overturning the people’s will and saying, “well, I feel like another term, no matter what you say! And put down that french fry!” Why don’t New Yorkers throw him under the bus? And don’t get me started on his voice.

And, like the author, I too will be hoarding incandescents. I live in an old historic house. We have chandeliers. I’m supposed to put those retarded coily things in chandeliers? No. I’ll do what I want.

Nov 26, 2008 - 1:15 pm 115. Chuck Pelto:

TO: Jim Baker
RE: Someone75

Stay on point and defend your positions. — Someone75

He can’t.

Why?

Because to take a position and defend it would require he/she/it to use logic and reason. That is anathema to the so-called ‘progressive’. Because what they claim is the truth today, they may have to call a lie come tomorrow. And then their credibility is REALLY blown to hell.

Therefore, all they do is ask questions and call people names. That way they don’t have to defend themselves on any issue.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[Liberals aren't. Progressives won't.]

Nov 26, 2008 - 3:25 pm 116. Chuck Pelto:

TO: Jim Baker
RE: On-Topic Old Houses

I live in an old historic house. We have chandeliers. I’m supposed to put those retarded coily things in chandeliers? — Jim Baker

Ack!!!!

Moi aussi! [Note: Please pardon my French.]

And I hadn’t thought of THAT one. There goes the atmosphere in the formal dining room of this 1901, 4-level, 3-wyth brick house.

Now I’ll have to start planning ahead for THAT contingency.

Thanks….

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[Want a good hobby that'll last you the rest of your natural life? Buy an old house. -- CBPelto]

P.S. Dedication of the newly designated historic district takes place on our front lawn next Tuesday….

Nov 26, 2008 - 3:30 pm 117. Chuck Pelto:

TO: All
RE: Someone75, Insecurity and Flattery

I find it interesting that this person(?) says, someone else is ‘insecure’ and them adopts that person’s format for communication.

Sort of like saying, “I think you’re full of s—, but I like the way you do things.”

What can one say, except that, if the allegation of insecurity were correct, why is this character following me?

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[Imitation is the highest form of flattery.]

Nov 26, 2008 - 3:45 pm 118. Chuck Pelto:

TO: All
RE: Someone75

Odd business, this.

Someone is rather ’silent’ in a 24-hour period…..

Regardez,

Chuck(le)
P.S. Please pardon my ‘french’…..

Nov 27, 2008 - 11:41 am 119. Dave R.:

jesus christ has this ever degenerated into a totally useless flaming session. Yes, I too would like to see CFL’s and low flow toilets and faucets installed into all of the capital building and congressional offices. Those fat bastards that make our laws, eat some rare steak and shit in a 1.6 gallon john, take 15 miles of micro-thin paper to wipe their ass all the while poking holes though it and getting crap on their fingers, then have it take four flushes to get it all to go down if it will at all and have to wash off the crap with a low flow faucet that keeps turning off automatically and they have to dry those hands with the damned luke-warm air dryer that blows the water on your suit pants so it looks like you peed youself and still takes ten minutes to get your hands dry. that is the shit they rest of us men have to deal with. BTW, Nancy Pelosi thinks you and I should not be allowed to carry a piece, but she should be allowed because she is a government official. Al Gore still rolls around in big SUV’s and private jets on his little global warming mission. I even think Al Gore may be right about global warming I dare say, but shit dude, show a little conservation yourself if your gonna beat the drum so loud. And while I’m on yet another rant which seems to be the mode of communication on here, I’m so F&$*ing sick of having the whole country’s policy determined by California’s needs and courts. Here in Indiana we have more F&&&ing water than we know what to do with so why cant we flush our toilets? The water, people, will not be lost forever. Every plumber knows the biggest enemy of a drain pipe is low flow. I really, REALLY wish we could just give california back to mexico. It would fix most of both countries problems. Our political problems would be down 75% and mexico would inherit enough economic might that it could prosper a little bit and all the mexicans (I like all of them I know, bTW, they’re mostly good hard working people as far as I can see…) would not need to swim over here for jobs. a;lsdjfakl;sj;fljsd

Nov 27, 2008 - 8:35 pm 120. Paul:

Watch the emergence of LED replacements for incandescents. The CFL is a relic of the Green’s wet dreams.

Dec 9, 2008 - 9:35 am

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