Point this wherever you like. Shine it at jetliners. It's PROGRESS!!!!!
Posted on 08/05/2006 2:32:45 PM PDT by sully777
Reminds me of a neighbor and landlord who installed electric resistance heating in his uninsulated rental house.After all he wasn't planning on paying the monthly utility bill and electric resistance heat was the least expensive to install.Renter after renter left suddenly upon getting $400 monthly electric bill come cold weather.
There is always an easy way and the right way;seldom are they the same.
Government mandates are generally stupid ideas.
I wholeheartedly agree. We do not need the government to intervene for every cause that comes out of the woodwork. When we live in an age where "eminent domain" has gone from a rarely used last resort for the public good, to a "tool" for engineering "economic progress", the last thing society needs is government regulations dictating the use of light. Enough, already! How much social engineering must we put up with?
I own property and believe in property rights. But I'm civic minded, I allow a high-powered security light in my neighborhood sponsored by my city without complaint. It happens to flood my backyard with light. But I simply close the shades. I know my elderly neighbors feel secure and my other neighbors can easily use the light to spot intruders if necessary. The light also bedevils any peeping toms that wish to visit a window or two.
As a business owner, I am commercial minded. The growth of urban sprawl delights me. Neons make me smile. Street lights make it easier to see roads, stray animals, etc.. The low-powered lights are useless without more of them used,, which IMO, defeats the purpose.
I concede that lights should be more economic, which they have become. I concede that solar power would be advantageous as a back-up to all outdoor lighting. But, I am most concerned about infringing on commercial viability with pseudo-science that states as fact light is pollution.
BTW, your twice mentioning the size of your telescope made me chuckle in a sophomoric way. I could not resist the Freudian reference.
I am civic minded as well. If I'm doing something that bothers my neighbors, I'd like to know about it so that I can quit annoying them. If everyone had respectful neighbors regulations wouldn't be needed.
I don't know what solar power has to do with this. I just want my yard dark so I can enjoy my hobby.
If you welcome the light on your property, fine. You have yet to justify other folks right to become a nuisance and prohibit my enjoyment of my property, and I suspect you never will, as it's not a reasonable thing to defend.
I suspect we've worn out this argument anyway. I hope nobody interferes with your enjoyment of your property, and if you move next to me with floodlights, I know what a BB gun is for.
I also have a penlight type laser aimed at particularly pesky security light to foil the light sensor and turn it off when I need to.
Have a good day. As for sophomoric responses, I'll try not to think of you in your house, with the shades drawn, speculating on the size of other folk's tools.
Take care.
As for sophomoric responses, I'll try not to think of you in your house, with the shades drawn, speculating on the size of other folk's tools.
Sure, leave the lights on all night in the high crime areas, but there are countless places where timers or some other creative solution would be preferable to the neighbors 5000 watt neon yard light fooding your yard and bedroom all night.
If you are walking around at night, and are afraid of tripping over something - do what millions of folks have done for years - get a flashlight.
You'll hate this point then: The city light in my neighborhood NEVER turns off.
Point this wherever you like. Shine it at jetliners. It's PROGRESS!!!!!
My question is this: Why do you presume to light up my back yard and bedroom windows at night for me? Is it any more expensive to choose light fixtures that control the beam a bit more and keep it on your own property?
I wonder are those who somehow see shining a light in the neighbors' windows also approving of loud stereos blasting until 3 a.m. ?
After all,if you can draw the blinds then you can put in earplugs,too.
Let each person have the freedom to light ,or ont light, his own property.
Okay, fine, howsabout a revision: "The last thing society needs is government regulations dictating the use of non-laser light."
I suspect that the difference between "ambient sound" and "loud stereo blasting" is far greater than "ambient light" and "you're messing up my stargazing light."
Yay! That means I can put xenon flash lamps on the back of my car!
And that's different from those weird bright-blue headlights the "wannabe fast-n-furious" kids put in their plasticky Hondas and Mitsubishis with the 300-pound airfoils on the back?
And point these at low flying aircraft!
If it's flying that low, it might not be such a bad idea. Maybe the guy's instrumentation is busted. Losta pilots find mountains in the middle of the "sky", ya know.
And use one of these to project hard-core porn onto the sides of nearby churches and schools
Pff, that's so old school. Folks already did that for a Robert Mapelthorpe outdoor extravaganza. I forgot it was at, it definately was outdoor, though. I think it was on the outside of some "artsy" place.
I doubt that the "dark skies" folks have xenon lamps or outdoor theatres in mind, though. Well, maybe they do have outdoor theatres in mind, but I do believe this discussion centered more around affecting existing businessess and homes. If you've got your xenon flashlamp rear bumper already rigged up, you might get grandfathered in. Your porno-show-on-a-church would certianly get pro bono from the ACLU, but I think the FAA wouldn't go for the "grandfather rights" on the arc light, though.
Here, let me give you a fine example: Proper flag etiquette calls for illuminating outdoor flags at night, and this almost certainly calls for upward illumination. If some guy has his flagpole out there and he's doing Old Glory justice, I don't see how the petulant whining of some astronomer trumps the proper display of our flag. Same for some guy who's got a laundromat on the corner and it's been there for 15 years. None of this "Dark Skies" talk works unless you apply it to existing strucutres; grandfathering existing structures won't provide any real reduction in light pollution. I would hope that local assemblymen (or whatever you call your local leaders) would exercise enough common sense to see that forcing burdeonsome regulations on local businessess for the sake of a priviledged few is a complete waste of time and money.
> the petulant whining of some astronomer
What, you mean like the petulant whining of someone who wants to light up the sky? Someone who whines that locals laws *save* him money? Someone who whines that laws might make him clean up his act and improve the quality of life for his neighbors?
> burdeonsome regulations on local businessess for the sake of a priviledged few
A) What is "burdensome" about using your lights more efficiently? That's like a gun owner at a range claiming that it is a "burdensome" regulation that he must only fire his weapon when pointed in the general direction of the target, not just spray randomly into the sky.
B) That "priviledged few" is everybody who wants to see the night sky, not just astronomers.
C) Very few people want to light up their flag displays at night. That makes them a "priviledged few." Plus, these are the folk who are just plain lazy. Can't be bothered to go to the trouble of taking their flags down when they should come down; instead, they can only gin up the strength to flip a light switch.
I can't think why no one doesn't sell or use a ball light on top of the flagpole for illumination.The wiring could simply run inside or alongside the flagpole and if the upper portion of the light fixture is internally reflective and externally opaque the flag ,yet not the sky, could be lit.
Since few low flying aircraft will patronize the laundry on the corner,it might better use the lights to illuminate just its own grounds and parking.
No...but I think I might know Ted....is he from PA?
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