Tuesday, January 30, 2007

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Monday, January 29, 2007

Homage to My Mentor, Woody Stoddard

One of the most respected pioneers from the world of windpower, Dr. Forrest “Woody” Stoddard, passed away this weekend. Woody's decades of work in the design and testing of modern wind turbines not only has long-lasting effects on the evolution of modern windmills, but his influence on the legion of today's top engineers is unparalled.

I'll tell a story or two about my bro below, trying to cut through the sadness. But first, here's what the industry association had to say about him last week:

U.S. WIND ENERGY INDUSTRY HONORS FORREST (WOODY) STODDARD WITH LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Visionary Engineer, Teacher Pioneered Wind Turbine Design,
Continues to Mentor Many in Industry

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) today awarded its annual Wind Energy Lifetime Achievement Award to Forrest (Woody) Stoddard, a visionary wind energy leader, teacher, and pioneer. This award is presented in recognition of years of outstanding industry leadership and support.

“The U.S. wind energy industry is proud to present this award to a passionate, inspiring expert to whom we owe so much: Woody Stoddard,” said AWEA Executive Randall Swisher. “In addition to his many engineering achievements, Woody nurtured talent and instilled enthusiasm for wind energy technology in students and colleagues alike.”

Dr. Stoddard was the lead developer of the 25kW Windfurnace at the University of Massachusetts in the mid 1970s. It was the largest operating wind turbine at the time. During the project Stoddard became the mentor of many engineers who graduated from the UMass renewable energy program and who eventually filled the growing ranks of the industry. The WindFurnace itself laid the engineering groundwork for the commercial wind turbines later deployed by US Windpower (which later became Kenetech Windpower) in California.

“Stoddard helped lay a foundation of design tools at a time when the nascent wind energy industry barely had any at all, and his PhD thesis from the mid-70s remains the state of the art of wind turbine dynamic analysis,” said AWEA Board Member and fellow engineer Brian McNiff. “Since that time, he has been a strong, principled voice promoting wind energy development and research, and a major contributor to wind energy’s success.”
.....
“What Woody did for us, we American engineers of all disciplines who made our careers in wind, is believe in us, making us feel we were part of something good, something useful, and a hopeful future,” said Walter Sass, founder of Second Wind, Inc., with whom Stoddard worked on a project testing turbines. “He made us feel we were -- and are -- part of wind power.”

Dr. Stoddard will be presented with the award at a ceremony in Cambridge, Mass. on January 26.

xxxxx

Alas, Woody wanted to go, and passed away before the award was given. I first met Woody while visiting the Toward Tomorrow Fair in Amherst, MA, near where the windpower mafia was born under the tutelage of Prof. Bill Heronemus and his engineering program at Umass. Woody said he needed some hands to help pour the nacelle for the Wind Furnace turbine, so I came, having already met Heronemus the year before. That turbine, under Woody's lead, was the first to incorporate some of the principles still defining modern turbines.

The Captain (Heronemus), Woody and some top students went on to form US Windpower Associates... the nucleus for what became america's first large turbine manufacturer US Windpower. (Newly elected Congressman Jerry McNerney worked many years on the engineering side of this firm, giving him the energy background we so need in Congress.)

In a classical scene recounted in the book about our pioneering exploits, Reaping the Wind (Peter Asmus, Island Press, 2001), Woody tried to convince the Board that the first test turbine wasn't ready to fly. He was overruled, the Board came to watch to startup, and the turbine pitched a blade across the highway.

Woody was unceremoniously fired (not right away), probably the most bitter pill in his career. I went to San Francisco to help midwife the birth of the modern industry. In 1980 or 1981, Woody and I snuck out into an Altamont Pass field where the crates holding the first six USW 56-50 turbines were waiting erection. Woody kept circling the crates, so I thought, hell, and opened one.

Woody asked me to just look, and tell him what I saw using my “feelings.” (I'd barely been through a year of university before taking another direction, and here the top designer in the industry is asking me for my opinion. Through the decades he often trusted my intuition, as i trusted his experience.) “Spindly,” i said, “like a spider. Ain't enough steel.” He laughed and told me i got it right, then explained why.

Several hundred of these turbines were installed in the first few months. But the project was shut down before barely commencing, because it was too dangerous for the crews to be out in the field with the turbines self-destructing in the Altamont winds.

The financial people in the company had overruled the engineers, a problem we would find time and again throughout the industry. Woody continually railed about the effect on the industry of decisions such as these. But a deep and lasting friendship, already growing, was cemented that day in the field.

Woody and I drove through Denmark together researching the state of the art of the industry, early 80's. We visited many of the companies and installations. Perhaps i'll write my recollections of that amazing trip sometime. Just the high points now. Touring Riso National Laboratory with him was an honor.

The conversations with him and industry leaders, including Helge Petersen, Per Lundsager, and a host of top young engineers (we were all young then, except Helge, who's still with us), set ideas in motion that had an effect on the industry's growth. and Erik Grove-Nielsen's hospitality was tops. They were still in contact up to the end, and according to Woody's last email to me, the continuing respect for Erik was an important part of his wind world-view.

Over the next decades, Woody was not only my closest colleague, he earned my deepest friendship in the industry. He was constantly hovering over my left shoulder, helping me understand the complex dynamics of modern wind turbines. He and The Captain were my mentors, helping to guide my career. (The Captain once called me “a loose cannon on deck.”)

He slept on my couch, and i his. We climbed towers together, and i always learned something new. Hell, Woody was special, and not just because he went to high school with Soft Path Energy expert Amory Lovins. His latest poster paper for an AWEA conference a few years ago showed he's still thinking outside the box. He and Heronemus made the case that arrays of smaller turbines may be more efficient than the modern super rotors.

Sure, i just lost a friend i'll never stop missing. But the industry has lost its most expert cantakerous voice. We will miss his perspective, and his deep and inate understanding. I know i'll still be hearing his voice in my head, helping me keep my eyes on the prize.

We still have a long hard road to travel to bring windpower to its proper place in amurka's energy mix.

Love and Respect, Woody. Onward.

Friday, January 05, 2007

BRILLIANT ALLAWI BLUEPRINT FOR PEACE IN IRAQ

(NOTE: The author of the Blueprint for Peace is not the CIA trained former Prime Minister Iyad (Ayad) Allawi.)

Published today in the Independent (UK), former Iraqi Defense Minister Ali Allawi's coherent plan begins by finally stating the obvious:

“The Iraqi state that was formed in the aftermath of the First World War has come to an end. Its successor state is struggling to be born in an environment of crises and chaos. The collapse of the entire order in the Middle East now threatens as the Iraq imbroglio unleashes forces in the area that have been gathering in virulence over the past decades.

It took the American-led invasion and occupation of Iraq, and the mismanagement of the country by both the Coalition Provisional Administration and subsequent Iraqi governments, to bring matters to this dire situation.

What was supposed to be a straightforward process of overthrowing a dictatorship and replacing it with a liberal-leaning and secular democracy under the benign tutelage of the United States, has instead turned into an existential battle for identity, power and legitimacy that is affecting not only Iraq, but the entire tottering state system in the Middle East.”

Allawi intelligently recognizes that the chaos in Iraq is actually the chaos in the entire Middle East, whose weak foundations have been shattered by the illegal invasion orchestrated by the Madman President. Bush's vision of securing amurkan energy while bringing on the Rapture is clinically insane, as is the large portion of amurka who nearly choked on this pretzeline logic.

But Allawi has opened the gates of rational policy analysis, and while this Plan is only an opening to the debate, it is the first intelligent discussion i have seen. While the key players will surely debate the specifics, i have seen no finer foundation on which to debate the solution to the chaos that is what amurka brought to the land of the sand and the home of the oil.

As Allawi so clearly states, the nearly one hundred year “system, carved out of the wreckage of the Ottoman Empire” was held together by “foreign occupation, outside meddling, brutal dictatorships, and minority rule.” It is indeed this underlying horror unleashed by the PNAC fantasy.

Allawi then details the situation on the ground with a precision perhaps found only within the erudite halls of scholarly Mid-East policy analysts, but which nevertheless rings clearly with the power of insight. The upshot of his analysis, however, is chilling. The region will explode in a crossfire of religious, tribal, economic and political violence crossing all the borders of the Mid-East, including Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran.

He predicts that with a Shia ascendency in Iraq will come an equal and opposite repression in the lands where Shia remain minorities, similar to the “pattern that accompanied the Saudi-led campaign to contain the Iranian revolution of the 1980s.”

There is far more detail in the original, which deserve to understood and debated. But far more important is the precision with which Allawi Blueprints the steps and framework necessary to provide a path out of the miasma. I await the verdict of wise men like Robert Fisk on the Plan, but the detail in Allawi's vision is a true opportunity to end the madness.

Allawi's solution begins:

“It requires genuine vision and statesmanship to pull the Middle East from its death spiral. The elements of a possible solution are there if the will exists to postulate an alternative to the politics of fear, bigotry and hatred.

The first step must be the recognition that the solution to the Iraq crisis must be generated first internally, and then, importantly, at the regional level. The two are linked and the successful resolution of one would lead to the other.

No foreign power, no matter how benevolent, should be allowed to dictate the terms of a possible historic and stable settlement in the Middle East. No other region of the world would tolerate such a wanton interference in its affairs.”

Bush's mad vision is over. Announced only after the Democrats have formally retaken Congress, Allawi uses diplomatic-speak to drive a stake into the heart of the Bush Doctrine. He acknowledges legitimate amurkan interests in the region, “but the future of the area should not be held hostage to their designs and exclusive interests.”

His major points must be examined in detail, and fleshed out out over months and years of regional negotiation, which process alone will change the region. Summarizing, all the forces unleashed by the invasion must be taken into account, while the forces must accept limits as well. Shia and Kurd will have their day, but only if they accept limits. Sunni must be assured that they will not be marginalized; behind all of this is a serious program of revenue-sharing.

And finally, as continuing chaos will inexorably spill over Iraq's border, there must be a regional administration of the entire process. Turkey, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and the other at-risk states will have to join in a regional administration of the process, without which they will remain threatened.

Initially the soution would become a decentralized Iraqi state supported in power and resources, focused upon the equitable sharing of oil revenue, enforced in a form of federalism. Then comes the zinger:

“The second essential outcome would be a treaty that would establish a confederation or constellation of states of the Middle East, initially including Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. The main aim of the confederation would be to establish a number of conventions and supra-regional bodies that would have the effect of acting as guarantors of civil, minority and community rights.”

From this beginning, there is always the possibility for the evolution of something approaching the European Union for the Middle East. This is perhaps the most visionary part of Allawi's plan. In fact, he details how this could evolve, and why it is indeed necessary.

He admits to one of the two elephants in the room. Allawi does not believe the US can be ignored in this process just because it has so catastrophically failed to date, admitting amurka “is still the most powerful actor.” But he does politely stick the knife in Bush's insanity, stating, “ Whatever project (the US) had for Iraq has vanished, a victim of inappropriate or incoherent policies, and the violent upending of Iraq's power structures.”

Allawi does not, however, address the other elephant in the room, the Palestine-Israel madness. When the regional proposals address this issue, then there could well be real progress in the Middle East. But check out the Allawi proposals in detail, and see if you don't agree it's the most heartening news to come out of the miasma since Murtha opened the door for the intrusion of reality.

ONE FINAL IMPRESSION:

That Allawi has beaten Bush to the punch, publishing his Blueprint for Peace before Bush announces his surgescalation, is not to be lost upon the faint-hearted amurkan pundits pundicrying about the change in Congress, Bush's new program, his WSJ editorial, and the rest of the Rovian timetable. Whatever is really behind the Plan, Allawi simply changed the rules of Rove's media game before Rove knew what hit him. Imagine this plan circulating throughout the world, and then Bush announces a new version of more death and "willful ignorance?"

At the very least, Allawi has introduced to the debate a concrete plan to get the occupiers out of Iraq, or as we say, to bring the troops home.

(Ed. note: this is an unedited post, posted in haste because of the importance of Allawi's proposals in changing the terms of the debate. It will likely be rewritten to allow for more detailed analysis.

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Let's Sneak This In While the Media's Watching the Dems Getting Sworn In

NY Daily News reports:

WASHINGTON - President Bush has quietly claimed sweeping new powers to open Americans' mail without a judge's warrant, the Daily News has learned.
The President asserted his new authority when he signed a postal reform bill into law on Dec. 20. Bush then issued a "signing statement" that declared his right to open people's mail under emergency conditions.
That claim is contrary to existing law and contradicted the bill he had just signed, say experts who have reviewed it.

xxxxx

What comes next, sniffing my underwear?

So now does anyone have any questions about why i decided to use title profanity in the previous post, breaking blogger tradition, in my reasoned analysis of Bush's editorial yesterday?

Further, it was written in the spur of the moment upon first reading Bush's arrogant propaganda. Normally i try not to give Bush the dignity of a response, but my reaction was explosive. It was also a reaction to watching Keith Olberman trying not to explode in his unbelievable "sacrifice" piece.

Later i discovered global blogger Jerome a Paris had done the same, without the profanity. Even later i learned that most political blogs frown or worse on profanity, wanting to look professional. Somewhere, Henry Miller is turning over in his grave. Go below and read.

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

WELL SIR, YOU'RE ACTUALLY FULL OF SHIT, YOU LYIN' BASTARD

I wanted to see my thoughtful and reasoned response to the ShiekSucker's Wall Street Journal eiditorial (not a typo) published in the paper, or at least on the net version. But after short and careful deliberation, eye decidered that the Journal's polite request:
“If I am outside the U.S., by submitting this response, I consent to the transfer of my name, e-mail address, city and country to the U.S. for the purpose of processing or posting my response.”
to be beyond the call of duty in a time of total surveillance. Thus, Sir, i'm forced to respond here in greater downtown Blogistan, the last remaining remnant of the America i was taught in grade school, where the beacon of freedom and liberty based upon the rule of law shone around the globe.

So Sir, you can't have my email address any more than you already do. But i did notice the eiditorial was published at 12:01 AM, which means you're obviously working harder than usual. Or else you can't sleep anymore, as the reality of the horror you perpetrated in our names is privately sinking into the morass of darkness you call your brain. Either way, i'm impressed. Too bad they don't have brush around the West Wing.

After six years of pResidential drivel (nearly ¾ of your term , to use your brilliant time passage calculation), you should realize that such transparent CaCa as your staff had published in the WaPo doesn't really pass the “smell test” anymore. In the interests of bipartisan clarity, i'd like to respond directly to some of your staff's most brilliantly crafted propaganda, thinking that sunlight is generally good for illuminating what eye like to call “thinking within the septic tank.”

“I believe when america is willing to use her influence abroad, the american people are safer and the world is more secure.” If you once choked on a pretzel, how did you survive having to swallow the piece of your silvery tongue you bit off when your staff handed you that one? Did you see, Sir, that Keith Olberman, a highly trained professional broadcast journalist, can barely contain his anger at the shit you spew.? Sir! Attention please!

Did you not see the global polls which put you ahead of Bin Laden and the nuke of Pyongyang (say it outloud, just rolls off the tongue if you don't bite it) as the most dangerous man on the planet? Since when are unprovoked preemptive shock and wars considered “influence?” Or is it influence to render people to black hole airports that do not exist in countries whose respect for the laws of democracy more mirror caveman times? (All respect to my friends at Pixar and ILM, i didn't mean to put rendering into that light... but these are tough times.) Didn't you often say "We don't torture." Then what was it that scared the shit out of the civilized peoples of the world, the sound of the gloves coming off?

Sorry, Keith, i can't keep calling him Sir. How about, Sack of Shit Sir, or if we can't directly call him a liar, can we call him Fabricationman, Sir? (in honor of the Spiderman and the superheroes of Marvel comics who called Bush's bluff today).

Influence? The unilateral sacking of the United Nations? The backing of the might of Poland and Costa Rica in the coalition of the killing? Or by influence did you mean, Sir Sack, that you alone are the Al Qaida recruitement poster boy, arguably the one greatest success your term as despot can highlight. Or don't you read your intelligence agency's reports if they come in after bed time?

“I believe wealth does not come from government.” Ahhh, 'scuse me, Sir Sack, but when was the last time you had lunch with a Halliburton stockholder, or any owner in the of the many companies ripping off the Treasury to build Iraqi power stations or schools or sewage facilities, not to mention replenishing the ammunition with which you brought purple-fingered democracy to the people being choked purple.

Have you forgotten that it was a local government which paid for your baseball stadium? Or were you referring to the billions in uncollected or cheated oil and gas royalties you've parceled out?

“I believe government that is closest to the people is the most accountable.” Wow, now i understand why you wanted to see my emails and monitor my phones. I get it, Sir Sack. But you really, as the guy who gutted more than two hundred years of checked and balanced democracy, you really don't get the chance to use the word accountability if you don't want people to revert to stoning you.

“When our nation was attacked, Republicans and Democrats (who you yourself and all your staff coerced with the most egregious and professional of lies and deceit) came together and passed the Patriot Act (which single-handedly caused Tom Paine to puke in his grave, and he's dead), and reform our intelligence agencies” to report the truth as we had wished them to see and report it. Wow, Sir Sack, black is white, war is peace.

“Yet we must always remember that when a people are hurting, they need a caring person, not a government bureaucracy.” I very much respect you when you put your talents in your mouth, Sir Sack, for Eye too, deep down, believe Brownie, who did a great job, was a caring person, at least for racehorses, and FEMA sure showed us not to trust a federal shitshack, strike that, bureaucracy, if people are hurting. And yes, Sir Sack, they still are.

When you start talking about Iraq, that “we will help provide the breathing space for this young government to meet its respnsibilities,” Sir Sack, i wonder why you don't seem to care about the “breathing space” of our young soldiers who have their lungs outxploded. Dying for an Iraq you created out of simple shock and awe. It's not the Iraqi's responsibility, Sir Sack, it's yours.

In fact you make me so sick eye can't go on. Your every sentence is a lie, carefully crafted to hide the black void which is your soul. You say “Our Founders believed in the wisdom of the american people to choose their leaders,” so why did you send Jim Baker to take Florida hostage to your pet court? (And why didn't you listen to him when he told you you were full of shit?)

Perhaps, i'll get to comment on your “discussion” of the economy, where the hubris of your lies crosses into the ridiculousness of 1970's Saturday Night Live parody. If you hadn't already destroyed america's financial base, it would be ridiculous. Watchin' what the Chinese and Japanese have been up to moving slowly to the Euro since last February? Notice that last month Dubai decided to move 8% of its US assets to Euros?

So you should probably consider this, Sir Sack. The return of Congress to the people is only the first step, and if i were you, i'd not be thinking about bipartisanship right now, i'd be thinking about safe house countries like Paraguay and war crimes protection programs where the extradition treaty doesn't cover “political charges.”

Bonin' up on your Spanish, Sir Sack? Ready to be questioned by Jack Murtha, John Conyers, or Henry Waxman? Do you or the staff you rode in one truly believe you could pull these lies over the eyes of an awakening and fired up American people?