a:1:{s:15:"field_blog_body";a:1:{i:0;a:2:{s:5:"value";s:2118:"By now, we've all heard about the $535 million (or <em>only </em>$528 million, depending on who you listen to) loan from the U.S. taxpayers via stimulus money to Solyndra, rumored maker of solar panels, and the subsequent bankruptcy of said company.&nbsp; Old news, but I read an <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-28/solyndra-s-733-million-plant-had-whistling-robots-spa-showers.html">article</a> that the enormous plant had all kinds of awesome amenities, including robots whistling Disney tunes, which were my favorite feature. Personally, I would have had them hum Musak&nbsp; of 80's hip hop artists like LL Cool J, but that would have been over the top.<br />
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Luckily, after that fiasco, the U.S. government, which approved the loans to Solyndra, has learned it's lesson. No more unicorns and rainbows ideas of energy production, just tried and true staples like coal and oil.<br />
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Ha! <a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SOLAR_ENERGY_LOANS?SITE=AP&amp;SECTION=HOME&amp;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&amp;CTIME=2011-09-28-19-59-35">Just kidding</a>, of course.:<br />
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<blockquote>
<div>WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Energy Department on Wednesday approved two loan guarantees worth more than $1 billion for solar energy projects in Nevada and Arizona.</div>
</blockquote>They could have at least reused the bankrupt plant in California. And we have plenty of empty factories in Michigan. It's not like we would be the ones using the solar panels, so the face that we receive far fewer sunny days that Arizona or Nevada shouldn't matter. In fact, I've read that Lansing has more cloudy days than the infamous Seattle. (As I write this, it's raining.) But wind we have - we were &quot;blown away&quot; by Governor Granholm, after all.<br />
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A billion for solar panels here and a billion for bridges to nowhere there and pretty soon you're talking about a thoroughly, hopelessly bankrupt country begging the Chinese for yet a little more cash, just to get us through this next decade. Then we'll get clean and sober and pay our debts. Promise. Pinky swear.<br />
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