My Desultory Blog

You know the frustration is building when those from President Obama’s own party are “losing their cool” over the administration’s tight lipped approach to what is being presented from the left. Republican’s have long complained that the President’s lack of leadership and a plan is making it difficult to debate the debt ceiling and budget issues … but most Democrats up until now have played along. No more …

Feinstein complains about lack of communication from WH

By NBC’s Libby Leist

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) unloaded on the White House this morning for keeping Senate Democrats in the dark about the Obama-Boehner budget talks.

Feinstein told reporters that she lost her cool in a Senate Democrat meeting Thursday with OMB Director Jack Lew. She accused him of not giving straight answers.

“I don’t lose my cool; I lost it yesterday,” she said.

She said she’s never seen frustration higher among rank and file Democrats — that senators only know about the Obama-Boehner talks from what they’re reading in the papers.

“I like to know what I’m doing, and I can’t get any information and it’s very frustrating, It’s very hard. It’s easy to pass something and then a year or so later ‘oh my god’ I didn’t realize I did that.”

“We need to know what the cuts are, how they happen,” she said.

Feinstein threw her support behind the Reid–McConnell legislation with a mandate for the “Gang of Six” bipartisan budget work included.

On how President Obama has handled his relationship with the Senate, she said testily: “I know what he’s trying to do, but he has to keep his team advised. Whether you like it or not, people have to feel they’re part of it.”

“I represent a huge state where huge numbers of people are dependent on this.”

Feinstein insisted that Democrats will not vote for legislation that doesn’t include revenues and a specific amount upfront.

“You have to know that revenues are going to be a part of it, in other words ‘X’ amount will be revenues, or there is no agreement.”

She predicted that Obama and Boehner would have to unveil a plan this weekend given the short number of days until the Aug. 2 deadline.

I’m not sure I’m ready to wait a full 17 months to see Chevrolet’s diesel Cruze, but glad to hear that at least one US domestic is planning to add a diesel option to the North American offerings. This is no small step considering what has to happen behind the scenes at dealerships, parts suppliers, equipping service centers and technician training.

I’m not sure it will be a money maker, but the sanitation aspect for third world locations would be promising IF such a product is both serviceable and durable.

A scientist from California Institute of Technology developed solar-powered portable toilets for a self-power wastewater treatment solution to some of the sanitation issues of some developing countries.

Environmental scientist and engineer Michael Hoffmann believes that his “Self-Contained, PV-Powered Domestic Toilet and Wastewater Treatment System” concept, will be beneficial for developing countries, especially in Africa.

Mr. Hoffman received a $400,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to build the project. The grant will be used to complete the initial design, development, and testing of the sustainable system.

The solar-powered sanitation system is similar to the typical portable sanitation unit often found at construction sites and recreation areas. The system has a photovoltaic or solar panel, which converts the sun’s rays into enough energy to power an electrochemical reactor that is designed by to break down water and human waste material into hydrogen gas.

The hydrogen gas can be stored in hydrogen fuel cells to provide a backup energy source for nighttime operation or for use under low-sunlight conditions. He also plans on equipping the units with self-cleaning toilets that would also be powered by the energy from the sun and fuel cells.

A workable unit may cost around $2,000. However, the cost may get lower in mass production. After constructing a prototype using the Gates Foundation grant, Mr. Hoffmann would like to continue to enter commercial production of the technology to further refine the system and reduce its cost.

The project is one of the eight projects of the “Reinvent the Toilet Challenge” presented at the AfricanSan 3 sanitation and hygiene conference in Rwanda on July 19. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced the grants as part of more than $40 million in new investments launching its Water, Sanitation, & Hygiene strategy.

In August 2012, all of the “Reinvent the Toilet Challenge” grantees will present their samples of different inventions and technology. The winning projects will receive additional funding for product development, industrial production, and commercialization.

According to Mr. Hoffman, “life expectancy correlates to the accessibility of clean water and proper sanitation practices. All of our efforts in biomedicine may go for naught if we don’t take care of sanitation.”

“To address the needs of the 2.6 billion people who don’t have access to safe sanitation, we not only must reinvent the toilet, we also must find safe, affordable, and sustainable ways to capture, treat, and recycle human waste,” says Sylvia Mathews Burwell, president of the Global Development Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

According to the World Health Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund, about 2.6 billion people lack access to safe sanitation and almost half of this number practice unsanitary defecation. In addition, W.H.O. estimates that 1.5 million children die each year from diarrheal disease, which is often caused by poor sanitation. (Kristin Dian Mariano)

For those looking for a bright spot on the horizon for the economy, American Airlines must be seeing a light at the end of the tunnel if they are placing the largest airplane order in history.

American Airlines parent AMR Corp. said Wednesday it reached agreements with Boeing Co. and Airbus to buy 460 single-aisle aircraft, including versions of both manufacturers’ re-engined versions that will be more fuel efficient.

AMR, which has had an exclusive purchase agreement with Boeing for years, said it will purchase 260 Airbus A320s from Boeing’s European rival.

AMR said the deals bring $13 billion in committed financing provided by the plane builders through lease transactions.

A surprise jolt of bipartisan support emerged Tuesday for a $3.7 trillion deficit-reduction plan that had been in development for months, though it was thought to be dead just several weeks ago.

Roughly half of the Senate’s 100 members sat through an hour-long briefing on the plan, which was designed by a group of lawmakers known as the “Gang of Six” and would cut spending, overhaul entitlement programs such as Medicare, rework the tax code, and make significant changes to Social Security.

The plan is sweeping in its scope but was thought for months to be both overly ambitious and slightly ambiguous, which nearly led the effort to collapse in recent weeks. But the plan was revived, in part by its lead authors—Sens. Mark Warner (D., Va.) and Saxby Chambliss (R., Ga.)—and the flood of bipartisan support coming out of the meeting surprised them both, the lawmakers said.