And with one stroke Israel makes 10,000 more BDS supporters. I think someone has put a curse on Israelis that they act crazy until it's too late to save their Jewish state.
Is there even enough oil left to enable a sustained economic recovery?
Just before the blowout in 08 cheap gasoline was $4.29 in my area. Bouncing around 5 bucks other places.
That was a huge hit on truckers, landscapers, construction and others who used a lot of liquid fuel. Fuel costs drive material costs, along with supply. Everything used to build a house went way up. Copper wire went from 45 to 145 for 250' of 12/2. Lumber went up what, 50%? Strangely production of hand drive nails moved to China and prices more than doubled for 1# of nails.
08 was a combination of bad stuff not just the bank fraud. Because of demand prices became unsustainable.
Even without the fraud oil prices would have eventually crashed the economy.
I think there's not enough oil to rebuild the economy so green is essential if this is going to ever happen.
Any resource if demand outstrips production by even a tiny bit, prices will skyrocket. It's a natural limit on growth.
Cheers
And Democrats' polls are rising? Where I am the dislike of all politicians is almost universal.
Then there's the dynamic that many Trump voters don't like him and never did. The term at the time was "Throw a wrench into the works" so those voters have gotten what they want.
Joe Sixpack won't be happy to loose Grandmaw's healthcare but Democrats shoot themselves in the foot everyday with this Russia BS/John Brennan gig so it's a wash for now.
Has no one wondered what the reaction of the Iranians would be? Saud ain't got the juice to take on Iran so the US would have to get in.
Always a mistake to underestimate what desperate people will do. Certainly a huge risk for Israel.
Europe won't be too happy to be flooded with refugees. Probably push them closer to Russia. Speaking of whom, they'll probably send every advanced weapon system they have and soldiers too.
At that point we can pretty much kiss our asses goodbye.
Do these idiots ever think "Well if I do this, what are these other people going to do?"
The reaction of the US public might not be what the politicians expect. They're already P.O. and ready to tar and feather the lot.
As I recall the last "modernizer" monarch came to a rather bad end. I think it was television pushed everyone over the line. Now this guy wants to get in bed with Israel? Bound to be interesting.
Trump just bought $340 billion of corporate sponsorship.
Saudi has a small army and even with all the new weapons it's doubtful that they can occupy Yemen.
If I was Israeli and really thought war with Iran was possible, I'd move because there's no way, even with nukes that Israel would survive. Iran might not have a nuclear bomb but they do have a nuclear threat. Probably in about 45 minutes they could cobble up some dirty bombs.
Saudi will be killing in Yemen while Raytheon will make a killing and Trump's stock will go up with the people who run the US.
Personally, I think many Saudi actions can be traced to blackmail over 9/11.
He speaks like a true oligarch. This is the best Democrats have to offer? He still's hawking 2 state which is clearly a dead end stalling tactic. I think he's showing his age.
Is this where we insert the reference to Clinton Welfare "Reform?"
It's just one of many reasons why most people who rejected Clinton aren't going to vote for Corey Booker. The DNC is a private club for aristocrats.
Is he anything but a Party Democrat? He studied under Madeleine Albright and Michael Oren which doesn't bode too well. He worked with the military and intelligence community on spy stuff. Is he just another war monger Israel placater?
He wants to investigate the Russians.
He seems like your average Democrat.
It my be a change for Georgia but to me it seems like the same old *.
Are we talking of the same Democratic Party that's been war mongering all over the Russians? Schumer/Pelosi Inc.?
That Party has almost no true progressives. In fact it dissed them big time. "They have no place else to go." Ha.
Here's reality: Democrats condoned and voted for wars of aggression. Leaders and friends are above the law to commit any crime. They've protected torturers.
The last 8 years have been sick and demented. Suicidal and murderous to say the least. Bush on steroids.
The Democratic theocracy is dead. Killed by indulgences. The Bill has been nailed to the cathedral door.
The Republican Party is in the same position, they'll soon find.
Any true liberal party would insist on trials for war criminals. Good folks don't condone horrible things.
Nobel Peace Prize warrior. Protector of torturers and bankers. It's like a sci-fi dystopia where facts are made up and words have no meaning. Where enormous resources are squandered on bloody flights of fancy in the midst of escalating poverty. Forget about the cake, now its "Let them eat bombs."
Of course this autocannibalism can't last.
A lot of people decided to end it one way or another which is how we got Trump. A gamble out of desperation and not likely to be the last one.
What will it take for the Party of the Democrats to wake up?
"Perception Management" doesn't trump a bad reality forever. Democrats will start making kissy noises to Progressives but it's baloney. They don't have the right people and are too dependent on tainted money to be a party for Progressives.
If the Dem Party is to survive they have to reform along Progressive lines. They have no place else to go.
For every job lost in the rust belt Democrats loose two votes.
BTW, your stuff is an easy read and always worthwhile. Cheers!
I've heard that 80% of Netanyahu's campaign money comes from US donors. I've also read that the DNC gets 30% of it's money from the same and similar interests. So it's a small group of people who enable the atrocity in it 's present form. I 'd like to know more about this. If oligarchs are financing crimes against humanity they should be called out.
Jimmy Carter said a few years ago that he could clear up the mess in 15 minutes. He's right. All it takes is will.
How long is a picayune nation that should be of small importance going to get away with bullying the rest of the world? To the point of telling them what to think.
I don't think there's a big future in that. Even monkeys see bullies as a danger and they're ostracized. Good Monkey Sense will see us through.
I keep wondering how long Israelis will tolerate the deteriorating situation before they throw Netanyahu overboard as a sacrifice.
With any luck Trump will be too busy protecting his own rear to do much about the UN. Good possibility the country is going to flip out under Trumpism. See how smart Trump really is. Let Netanyahu tie himself to a sinking ship.
It's a shame that a good and humanitarian idea like sanctuary for a persecuted people was perverted and corrupted to the point where it can only be sustained by violence and authority. A missed opportunity of Biblical proportions.
Schooled in morals by an upper class git. Right O. What with changing alliance in the neighborhood, might make some want to strengthen their bonds with the apartheid state.
The guy's a quintessential warrior and has the views one would expect except for the criticism of Israel and AIPAC. It's a strange world. These fertile fields, abandoned by Democrats being plowed by Trump.
Just as a fantasy, what if Trump brings jobs and ends the wars? It might be nuts but what if? Well Democrats would be toast as a party wouldn't they?
How silly, we're talking about Trump.
Important unions you mentioned backed Hillary. That's suicide. The SEIU membership voted to back Bernie. Their leaders ignored this and and threw union support to Hillary. It defies logic in so many ways. What are they thinking? They refused the will of their members for one.
Unions aren't bastions of free thinkers and establishment buckers. You'd be hard pressed to find even one socialist in the AFL-CIO. They'd probably get fired.
I thought SEIU was a progressive union until they went Hillary over Bernie.
When I was a boy unions were everywhere in the rust belt. There was a union section in the Sunday Cleveland Plain Dealer. Gas station attendants were unionized and made a livable wage. Now Cleveland, The Plain Dealer and unions are shadows of their former glory.
Tell you a secret. Some people who have no chance of being in a union or having a good job resent paying taxes, ect. to pay for benefits they can never have. I'm just sayin' 'cause they vote.
If the unions can help those people, the left behind, it changes the dynamic. The unions need to get rid of the expensive suits and get people who will fight for the little guys and girls. If they fight (That means take risks (shudder on 16th St.)) they'll prosper. The problem with unions is that they got too comfortable. Trumpka strutting around in silk like the Prince of Siam while Rome burns. Union leadership needs new blood.
If someone comes up with a cheap car with good range that will plug into a regular socket I think it would sell. Electrics should be considerably cheaper than gas because they're so simple and have thousands of fewer parts. The most complicated mechanical system on an electric car is the windshield wipers. Some genius will redo Henry Ford and bring electric to the masses with a simple, cheap car that works. Right now they cost too much. It's all proprietary. Nothing standardized.
Still, soon you be able to buy electric car motors and controllers off ebay. I betcha.
Range is still an issue. I think there may be some merit in universal battery packs that can be quick swapped at service stations. It might be a logistical nightmare but who knows? If a system of universal, quick swap packs were developed it would make long distance car travel and freight by electric trucks viable.
I learned that when I was in jr. high school. It's nice to know Texan university students are getting a jr. high education. The rest of us will have to suffer for these people we failed to educate.
Weren't they supposed to secede? When?
Of course everything becomes so corrupted that reality is ignored until it forces itself on the situation. Cue the Visigoths.
One question: Are the Hillary voters having buyers remorse yet. She's not even in office and already a storm of scandal. Unbelievably Trump is still a contender and no wonder, look who he's running against.
A whole bunch of people should be embarrassed.
I agree with that 100%. Of course the next century will be China's. They invested in their production and infrastructure instead of throwing it away making wars (at least so far.) Russian resources and Chinese production are the perfect match.
Now, add up the resources the US squandered on militarism. It staggers the imagination. The US threw away it's future in the quest of a Myrtle the Turtle style of world domination. Hated by half of the world and half of it's own population. Credibility? None. Future? Uncertain. Brought to the precipice by the incompetence of it's leaders.
One of the signs of a collapsing empire is the poor quality of leadership unable to effectively deal with contemporary problems.
Great post. Thanks.
I would also mention voters who instead of revolting are lining up to vote for one of the two worst candidates ever dredged up.
As a former Dem, I would say that the lesser evilism endemic among Democrats has come to it's natural conclusion exposed as full blown evil.
People who used to have a future before neolibs destroyed it for profit are prime Trump fodder. They're p. o. ed. Trump isn't their spokesman as much as their revenge. The more bad things the Neoliberals have to say about Trump, the more reason to vote for him. People vote not for Trump but for the dysfunctional dynamic he'll create. As someone said before, "to throw a wrench into the works."
To me it's amazing how the buffoon came out of nowhere, supported by nobody and was seized upon by a long ignored and degraded citizenry now reduced to penury. He took advantage of a power vacuum that should have been Democrat or Republican territory had they not been co-opted by corrupt interests, dark money, perverted science and wars of aggression.
The US seems to be able to absorb any amount of personal corruption. Trump could hold his head up in the company of Richard Daley or "Boss" Tweed.
Endemic corruption, endless wars of aggression, pissing away the future, selling out the country. These are things Hillary is good at. Republicans have wet dreams over the way Democrats have run the country into the ground.
I'm not clutching the Democrat viper to my chest by voting for more poisonous bites. It just ain't happening.
No matter who you think is most evil, Hillary is far more practiced in the black arts. A swathe of destruction follows her. A legion of undertakers is kept busy with her product. Kissinger couldn't be more proud.
Call me silly but what does the word of a war monger mean? About anything? Didn't she read Myrtle the Turtle?
Sometimes things get rough and chaos is your only friend, in the face of either the most corrupt or most evil, certainly the most hated candidates ever chaos will have some say.
...Anyone who wants to understand the world of the working class (now mostly out of work) should read the books by Joe Bageant.
Turkey has been fighting Kurds for decades. I'm sure the Turks aren't too thrilled about the newish Kurdish Federation that sits on their border.
Kurds are the perfect target for "influence" because the land the Kurds claim divide Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. A fairly strategic bit of ground. One could imagine a Kurdish State running from the south of Baghdad snaking around through Syria, Iran, Iraq (Turkey?) to the Med. The perfect road block. Wet dream in DC.
The question is if anyone has what it takes to take and hold the ground.
However if Assad were to go and a puppet state be formed the Kurds would be smacked down again or a third party would intervene to make Greater Kurdistan a barrier against the Russia, Syria, Iran axis and further neuter Iraq.
Turkey on the other hand isn't interested in giving Kurds anything except punishment. It's in Turkey's interests to cooperate with regional neighbors except the Kurds who have claims on Turkish territory.
Turmoil on the border is bad for business. Erdogan was taken for a ride down the La La Trail by the US. Biden will BS him and perhaps a massage to get him to go along with the plan.
Democracy? What democracy? Harvard says we're an oligarchy. How can we be a democracy when war criminal leaders are above the law? Who voted to send our jobs overseas? The US is the most propagandized, manipulated people the world has ever known. No democracy here.
So if powerful people can commit any crime, even the worst crimes and skate, what does that say about us and the future of a "free" society? A ruling class exempt from all constraints?
We're already there and indications are that the next President will push the evil precedents even further.
When the torture was revealed at Abu Ghraib the Military's first response wasn't to ban torture, it was to ban cameras. The torture wasn't a problem. Documenting it was.
Obama doesn't want to drag up the past (too many skeletons in the closet) and he's too busy with his "kill" list so obviously he won't rock the boat.
What was that that Himmler said to the SS? Something about being able to do the unthinkable and still remain decent people.
That's where we're at.
If Trump wasn't dumb he could have pulled it off. The chemistry that could win is America B aligned with progressives who are through with Democrats. I think this might be possible once people get past the distractions (abortion, guns) to work for stuff everybody wants like jobs, ending the wars.ect. Workers and progressives could get the job done if they'd work together. Hillary will make things worse and disaffection will increase. I agree with the author that the door is wide open for a smarter Trumpian figure. What we need is another Huey Long.
Everybody selling Sterling. Why? Like you said it will take years to maybe pry Britain loose. They'll wake up next month/year and things will be about the same except for the new PM.
Seems like the EU is under more threat than Britain.
We all know there'll always be an England. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GvkyKEYRnM&feature=player_embedded
I wouldn't want to go up against no Russian. I've known a few. I love to hang out with them but I'll never argue with them. It's just not worth it. They won't give up. Besides, most of the time they're right.
No, I don't want to mess with no Russians. First off I like them, secondly I know that pushed to the limit, they won't shirk. You couldn't have a better friend or a worse enemy.
Is there a Zionist blacklist to deny BDS supporters jobs? Solid proof of discrimination of hiring based on politics would be interesting to say the least.
A couple of rambling thoughts from an old lefty who could never vote for a war monger.
Does anyone want a repeat of the Clinton administration? Why do Democrats continuously dredge up the worst nominees?
Independents are the largest political group at 41% Both parties have ignored the reasons behind this and the consequences.
Don't expect "rational" thinking and splaining to have too much effect. It's easy to sit back in Bethesda and think the world is gravy but in the heartlands everything is dying,
It took Democrats to fulfill the Republican wet dream ambition of killing off the middle class. War is embraced for profit by both.
Democrats put themselves in this position by voting for the worst. They threw away the votes of people who not only now loath but fear them because policies fostered by Dems have ruined their lives.
All of this reminds me of the film "I Claudius" where Claudius (played by the great actor Sir Derek Jacobi) said "Let all the poisons come out." He did and that was the end of the Republic. Great story. Don't let it happen here.
Her ideas of equality isn't that wars for oil stop, her idea is that women should be able to commit war crimes, banker fraud, murder, theft, mayhem, vampirism on equal footing with male super criminals. It's not any humanist motive. The motive is simply that women should be able to steal and kill with the best of them.
That could be what happened. When I take my jon boat out I always have two GPS units. The one I like the best is the cheapest one which was about a buck and a half.
A buck fifty GPS has resolution of a few yards and it's "waterproof."
Complete lack of imagination in fabricating an excuse. Personally I'd feel better knowing they ran out of fuel than a failure in a trillion dollar system.
One could ask why the expensive system broke and needle them about it but the Navy would say it broke because it didn't cost enough and that wouldn't help anybody.
Anyway I know where to get GPS units cheap enough for every sailor to have one. If the Navy's interested.
I think the possibility of attacks on nuclear facilities and the consequences was a bridge too far.
I remember a study of the possibilities if one of the Iranian reactors was bombed. The fallout could take out way more than Iran.
Then there was the possibility that Iran, with it's back against the wall would cobble up a dirty nuke.
That's not counting all the other things that would go wrong.
It was too much. The gamblers cut their losses and pulled the plug.
Oh, I laughed at the sight of the swaggering dictator staggered by a professor of linguistics. Noam has done himself proud.
One doesn't ordinarily think of a professor as bad to the bone but that Noam is one of the most macho dudes around. No doubt about it.
You hit the nail on the head when you said that a guy could come out of high school and get a decent job.
By the 70's black folks were also participating so factories and work sites became integrating forces.
Liberals and Conservatives have cooperated to undercut working people at every turn. They belittle them and blame shift.
We don't make anything in this country anymore. Steel mills, shoe factories, textile mills, gone. The economy hollowed out by self serving, lawless politicians of both parties.
The political decisions that killed the middle class can be added to the growing list of crimes by our illustrious leaders.
All that money workers would have contributed to the economy added to the money spent in endless wars could have been used for a bright future.
Seems like we're paying a heavy price for a national suicide.
I think Al-Abadi will blow with the wind pending the results of Russia in Syria. Once Russia rolls up ISIS then we'll see if he jumps ship.
Is it in the interests if Iraq to be used as a bloody chessboard for US hegemony? They've seen the pitiful results of the US war. They see the results of the Russian Syrian campaign.
The US is loosing credibility on a daily basis as it's hubris and machinations become more transparent. Ineptitude and corruption rule US foreign policy. There's really no good future for Iraq in allowing the situation to continue. Can it have security with an Inept US, an insane Israel and a Saudi royal dictatorship calling the shots? I think not. Really, the US sacrificed it's own citizens in the quest for neoliberalism so what chance does Iraq have for a fair remedy from the nihilistic delusions of Washington?
I'll add that right now Putin is more popular than Obama in the US so it's reached a point where nobody trusts Washington except neocons and their neolib brothers in arms.
We'll see what happens when Russia reaches the border.
Brian St Paul has it right. Those black lines are transportation corridors. Russia will cut off supply and retreat in order to wipe out ISIS.
The areas circled on the map are choke points.
ISIS receives supply through Iraq as well as Turkey. That will soon stop.
It's OK when we do it but wrong when anyone else does it. Because we're better. You know how it goes: Dems whined at Bush but now Obama drones even more and it's good.
About barrel bombs: A barrel bomb is a more or less home made bomb. Not nearly as effective as say the US bomb the Saudis used on that wedding that killed or wounded over 300 people.
Given the results of US "diplomacy" one might think it's a waste of time.
Iran, Iraq, Syria and Russia are places we've seriously screwed. They've shown that they aren't taking it anymore.
If the US doesn't restrain itself any talks will be useless.
I don't think Russia will agree to anything unless the concerns of all it's allies are taken into account.
I think Russia will roll up the rebels and ISIS all the way to Baghdad. It will consolidate its bloc of allies. It's already cut off resupply from Turkey and US airdrops are viewed as aggression by the rest of the world.
The US is in a position of weakness brought on by it's hubris.
If Sanders came out for peace he could win the election. If Hillary wins the primary I think Trump will probably be our next president. I read a lot of comments on the web and people don't trust or like Hillary.
Seems to me that people on both sides are tired of war mongers and Sanders might even pull some Republicans if he makes the right noises about wars, spies, jobs and banksters.
Al-Qaeda is the perfect example of how divorced from reality they are in Washington. You know they thought Assad would be beaten by 2013.
Yea Assad is a butcher but compared with butchers closer to home he's second rate because he isn't worldwide.
Maybe I should be grateful that the government is focusing at least some of it's disastrous policies on foreigners this time instead of it's own citizens but obviously I'm not.
If Twitter is going after war mongers things must be serious. It's nuts: Israel aligned with the Saudi and the US supporting al-Qaeda. Unbelievable. We're going down the tubes here at home while the government is spending money on the same groups that did 9/11. It's like living in a parallel universe. One of those really messed up ones.
A friend of mine suggested that our leaders are aliens brought here to destroy humanity before the invasion from planet Xixx Xaxx. I'm starting to believe him.
I was starting to think Assad was done for but the Russians rode in like the U.S. Cavalry in the nick of time to save him. If god isn't on his side, the Russians are and that'll do for now.
If you're the average Syrian, one one hand you have Assad who among dictators really wasn't that bad if you compare him to the regional norm. He didn't persecute religious minorities but was ruthless with political dissenters.
Then on the other hand you have ISIS who will blow up your cultural icons and torture or find sick ways to kill those who get in the way. They will persecute for any reason and are totally unpredictable. Didn't they spit roast someone the other day? Looting Palmyra and blowing up what's left. They seem determined to invent new, horrific crimes.
If you're the average Syrian, Assad is looking better all the time.
The Saudis might have taken on ISIS, maybe even won but that situation seems to have changed. Putin's hackles are up and he will crush ISIS and Al Nusra to the great consternation of the US and the Saudi.
Maybe Putin can do something with it but the thing to keep in mind is that Syria, like California is being devastated by climate change. That's the Joker in the deck.
Bibi is a madman. He would take down the whole world to pursue his fantasies. His threat to bomb Iranian nuclear plants was way over the top. After Chernobyl and Fukushima many folks now know what the consequences of a war on Iran would have been.
I would hope that the specter of burning spent fuel rods had something to do with Obama's decision.
Only a lunatic would think about unleashing that kind of destruction. Bibi belongs in a straight jacket.
Bibi's dreams of empire fade into the backdrops of Palmyra and dead babies on the beach.
More images of victims, sooner might have done some good. There's been an endless stream to choose from.
Now the consequences of the Long War are intruding on the self perceived civility of the West. Baby bodies don't go well with morning coffee.
Politicians will demand "Who lost the Long War?"
That's the same thing they asked after Vietnam.
I suspect that gimbals and controls for small heliostats are getting much cheaper to buy. If you could use Mylar on recycled plastic for structural forms for the mirror? You could mold in different focal points.
The cost of mirror, controls and gimbal could get as low as two hundred bucks per 2 sq/m unit. Right now you can buy a cheaper 2 axis small camera gimbal for 15 bucks without control circuits (for R/C.) You should be able to buy a decent one to hold the heliostat mirror for $150 if they get mass produced. Track the sun is simple. Probably a $10 circuit.
If you used a lithium battery and small solar panel on each Heliostat you could make them run independently by themselves without wiring. Maybe radio control programming. Add another 100 bucks.
Small units might be bolted to concrete blocks or timbers simply resting on the ground. Setup of the gimbal or software would compensate for slight tilting. As long as it resists the wind.
Just thinking out loud.
WV can't even afford to treat 100 year old mines spewing Acid Mine Drainage. I notice that somehow the Potomac River mine drainage is effectively treated.
Every carpetbagger, huckster politician and charlatan has dumped on the place and they still do.
WV mine cleanup is financed by a puny tax on coal, It's something like 5 cents a ton. No coal, no cleanup. The tax is due to end in 9 years anyway.
Forward instead of backward? I don't see much "forward."
Someone should ask Bernie if he'll prosecute torturers. A dollar to a doughnut says he'll deflect the question.
We're fast running out of time to deal with this. Shell says the oil will be gone by 2075 but we don't have till 2075.
I saw the craters in Siberia now confirmed to be caused by methane popping off. There's also all the methane hydrate on the floor of cold oceans. Ocean bottoms are apparently warming faster than the surface. When that stuff goes off, we're toast.
Archaeology is one of the most benign sciences. It never killed anyone, that I know of, unless you believe the Tut stories. Archaeologist are romantic folks dreaming of the past. A statue of him on the site would be most fitting.
If you want to see the future just look at what's happening in China. They use more coal than the US and are poised to quadruple coal use in the next 40 years or so? They're poisoning everything with manufacturing byproducts which makes the future of China rather sketchy. India is on the same path.
This could have been somewhat ameliorated by tying environmental protections to imports which might have bought us a little more time.
Rabbit theory says people, like bacteria will expand to the limits of their resources then die off in their poisoned environment. Malthus becomes only another factor or a catalyst in a world with plastic, irradiated oceans, that's 10 degrees hotter.
Intelligent folk are now talking about human extinction in the next 100 years and have some facts to back that up. i"m still hopefully clinging to the 90% die off scenario, more out of hope than anything else.
With endemic societal corruption clinging to our backs like a junky's monkey I don't see any way out. Sardonic laughter breaks out at any suggestion that our corrupt politicians (or China's, India's, ect.) will do anything to stop the disaster looming on the horizon.
Threatens democracy? I'ts a military coup, there is no democracy. Freedom of speech there gets you executed. All Morsi had to do was offer to open the border with Palestine and that was it for him. Democracy in Egypt was a step too far for Israel and the US.
Obviously what's needed is a draw Jesus contest and then post offensive images on public transport. I can't even imagine the mayhem that would cause. You're not even supposed to mention the name of the god of the Jews so there's some mischief that could make them mad too. Get everyone riled up and have to walk to work.
If these folks want to post their pictures they have the right to post them on their own property.
Lithium batteries will get bigger and cheaper. Hippies used to mess around with solar and wind. The batteries were a headache. Electronics weren't as good either. 12 volt mechanical regulators. This is a big milestone due to Elon Musk.
About conversion:
Obviously we can't have a washing machine mechanically connected to a windmill although that would be the most efficient transfer of power. A DC system will still need voltage regulation going into and out of the battery. A home could be run off DC but certain appliances like most motors would need inverters built into them to get AC. DC motors are very noisy. Many electronics require multiple voltages and have regulators built in. DC won't work in a transformer. The point being that we'll never get away from conversion loss or AC.
Solid state devices are the most efficient way to convert electricity. Small inverters are cheap and one of the technological advances that makes small scale generation viable. If you want to go big Hitachi makes a 2,800MW inverter. http://www.hitachi.com/rev/1998/revoct98/r4_109.pdf
That was an excellent lecture. I hadn't been aware of the multiplier/synergy effects before.
A couple of things I'd point out are:
The need for standard batteries that can be swapped out at recharging stations. These will also be needed for larger vehicles like semi trucks. Elon Musk is probably thinking about this already.
There's a loss in converting DC to AC current. I think that's around 20% or more. The grid will have to remain AC because DC won't work in transformers and transmission loss is far greater with DC. A large power plant will need some heavy duty conversion capacity and it's unclear to me how this will be done.
If it rains for a couple of days and my car hooked to the grid has had its batteries drained, how happy will I be when I go to use it?
Oil, coal and natural gas will still be with us because they're useful for many other things. Natural gas for instance supplies ammonia fertilizer for crops. The list of products that come from hydrocarbons is almost endless. You can get 120 gallons of crude oil from a ton of coal. Coal may be due for a nap but I wouldn't count it out of the game yet.
Even with EVs and green power Malthus will still be with us. Copper, silver and lead will be mined out in 40 years or so. There isn't enough left to build out a totally green energy system worldwide.
Unless we get a grip on population green energy will only slightly extend the life of civilization.
Anyway, Mr. Serba's lecture has given me a bit of extra hope for the immediate future however a lot more needs to be done for the long term. Number one on the list should be population control and good luck with that.
Kind of complicated. High wind could surely tear it to shreds, especially if scaled up. Complicated ground equipment. Would need monitored to avoid damage by wind and lowered during storms. Inflatable bag is expensive. Helium is also expensive. I wonder how much the ground equipment costs? 600 meters of copper cable?
Essentially you're trading an expensive, high maintenance, fragile system for a mast. If it gets hit by lightning, you loose everything. A Ferrari when all you need is a couple Tata Nanos. I think you could build a really nice village generator for the price of their ropes alone.
Helium atoms are so small that they eventually permeate the envelope so a supply would be kept at hand and pressure in the bag would have to be monitored.
Weight of the cables/ropes would become a problem. More height, more output but heavier cables/ropes and bigger bag. There's a limit on how big the bag can be, about the size of a blimp.
This system isn't simple or cheap. Is it suitable for a permanent installation? If it comes down where does it land?
It might be good for military applications but not for villages. Villages need cheap and simple (don't we all.)
I don't think it's too late for ISIS if they can consolidate where they're strong and keep from overextending themselves they'll have what they can hold. If they're weak someone more ruthless will take the ground.
ISIS seems more like a franchise. Anyone can open a branch. Except in a few places they're spread pretty thin.
If we did break them up some other group would take their place.
We killed the top dogs and the pecking order won't be established until we stop killing their leaders. Saddam managed to keep some kind of order but now he's gone. Assad kept Syria one of the safest places for Westerners to visit for years. Now that's over.
Now that these strong leaders are dead or compromised, lesser figures/groups will fight it out until new top dogs come to the fore. It's as simple as that. A genuine leader won't want to risk their position by messing with the West or so logic would dictate.
Our looser leaders are just pandering to greed because they can sit back, far removed from the carnage.
It's just human nature. Fighting against that is stupid.
Lead acid batteries will soon be obsolete. Lead is being rapidly mined out with perhaps a 40 year supply still in the ground. Lithium is abundant.
I'd like to see cheaper lithium battery cars. If they remain expensive they'll have a minimum impact. They'll be competing with cars like the Tata Nano which one might drive for life (fuel included) for less than the price of a Tesla.
Affordability is the key to making it work.
I think there are conservatives just as bothered by endless war (and other stuff) as liberals who didn't vote for Dems the last time. I'm thinking voter disaffection isn't a left or right thing or soon won't be. I hope so anyway.
Let Bibi speak so it's all in the open that Republicans want war. Maybe it'll get the price of oil up. If oil spikes, someone takes him seriously.
You know how it works though sometimes: When they do it it's bad. When your team does it it's good. That being said, I don't think the spectre of war with Iran will help Republicans much. Voters have bills to pay and kids to feed. They hear "War with Iran" and drop their lunch.
Bibi made such a great impression last time. Wonderful entertainment with that bomb picture and all. Bring in the clowns. We could use a laugh.
The last thing the Royal Family wants is reprisal raids. They have maintained their position only by using blunt force against domestic opposition. Any external threat against KSA could upset the apple cart.
Dianne Feinstein a hero? Protecting her own self is more like it. Even if by neglecting her job she really didn't know about torture and murder, it's like the difference between first degree and manslaughter.
She supported wars of aggression.
You hardly ever hear Democrats standing up for the Constitution anymore. It's easy to understand why.
They're equal opportunity torturers but then again so was Stalin.
Oh Cliven, what will we do with you? How many Black people do you know that you can speak of them that way?
You need to get out more often. Variety is the spice of life.
People were rooting for you and you just let them down.
Considering the history of land takings by government entities and the use of imminent domain by corporations for everything from urban renewal, power lines, parks, game refuges, pipelines, solar "parks," sports stadiums, any old reason. Heavy handed and corrupt.
Forced relocation and cleansing. Check the Shenandoah or Monongahela. Many families lost their homes. Tens of thousands lost with urban renewal. That was a boon for real estate and gentry. Poor people got sweet tail.
If we were talking about good g'ment that would be one thing but we're not.
It's just the mindset of the US. We been running folks off land for so long we got to liking it.
Hate crime, murder. That's enough to hang the bum.
I gotta problem with the "terrorist" tag. It's been used on activists like watershed groups, political groups and even Quakers I think. Mandela was a terrorist if you believe the government.
"Terrorist" has been so misused that's it's lost it's meaning.
Fear is a great motivator.
Spy on Europe to use the information against it. Now they can't buy Iranian oil. Now they can't buy Russian gas. What's next? This is doing real harm to real people in Europe.
Then there's the plethora of crimes like drones and aggressive wars, ect. Paid for with money fresh off the press, printed with abandon, without restraint.
The US is acting like a wounded animal, lashing out at friends and enemies alike. Lashing out on the freedoms of it's very own citizens using phoney justifications. No one is safe.
These are examples folks point to. They don't want to be victims. They know that a deranged nation might strike out at anyone. It could get worse.
It's a growing fear of the US that ultimately could be the deciding factor.
My attitude has changed considerably since the days when I had a "Save Russian Jews" bumper sticker on my car.
I realize now that I was wrong to promote that.
"Not quite as bad as the Nazis" isn't a tag that inspires trust.
Calling Israel a "Jewish" state is slanderous to Jews who worked for civil rights in the US. Didn't at least one Jew wind up murdered and buried in a dam in Mississippi for trying to register Blacks to vote?
These good people who selflessly gave for the betterment of others, shudder as their fellows descend into barbarity.
Ukraine is highly dependent on Russian gas. They've been disputing over payments and such for years. Most of Ukraine's gas payments have been offset by allowing Russian gas transit through pipes that cross Ukraine into Europe.
Russia has been slowly building pipes that don't go through Ukraine. If it happens that Ukraine soon has to pay retail for gas...
Obama said he was going to hold his hand before and I'm starting to believe him.
Jimmy Carter, having watched the march of history, recently said a president could resolve the problem in 15 minutes (or something like that.)
I think he's right. One Executive order and Israel flies right or sanctions.
Shortcut the track Israel is on and prevent a lot of suffering to everyone concerned.
If they admit the story is a lie, what does that make them? More than just liars.
No doubt they want to turn a crime of the century into a Cinderella story.
All the turkeys are goebbeling.
“Think of the press as a great keyboard
on which the government can play.”
― Joseph Goebbels
One misconception is that we have time to fix it. We don't.
In this increasingly barren world, when the petro based fertilizer is gone...we're toast.
History will repeat while we all know things are going wrong. Ecological collapse is already here. If every frog and turtle dies from imported ranavirus, who cares? That's happening now.
The collapse of civilization is a spectator sport.
We'll never regain the wealth thrown away in wars. Wealth we desperately need, wasted. Pissd away.
Fighting over the silverware on the Titanic.
Bacteria will colonize a Petri dish, breed to fill the space, then die on it's own waste.
I wish it weren't true but people are as dumb as bacteria.
Can any popularly elected President serve in Egypt? Even if they could get along wouldn't a popular Egyptian g'ment want to end the embargo of the Palestinians? Can the military be brought to heel?
Just a couple of things:
First, if I want the real skinny on what's happening in the ME, I come here.
Assad ain't going to bargain away his position. I don't think his Stalinist tendencies have been accounted for. I think he's willing to die or stay in power. Assad and Kerry are natural enemies but maybe Kerry can tummy rub him in a back room?
The rebellion wasn't supported by the majority of the people so it's either destined to fail or end with another dictator in charge. If Kerry wins, it's another dictator. A friendly dictator could obtain the tools required to keep the rabble in line.
Interventionists bear responsibility also. "Out by Xmas" was bull. Anyone with half a brain knew Assad was no paper tiger. Probably tougher than his old man who was a really mean guy.
Is Jewish a religion or a race? Is there a gene specific to Jews and where did it originate? Do Ethiopian Jews have the gene? Palestinians? Are claims of a Jewish gene independently verifiable?
This concern about racial purity is quite interesting. Even more interesting is how it plays out. Perhaps other markers can determine who is "more" Jewish.
Slim to no chance that Israel would allow an academic conference in Palestine. A topic ripe for academic study: The destruction of whole cultures.
The hypocrisy on display is amazing.
And with one stroke Israel makes 10,000 more BDS supporters. I think someone has put a curse on Israelis that they act crazy until it's too late to save their Jewish state.
Is there even enough oil left to enable a sustained economic recovery?
Just before the blowout in 08 cheap gasoline was $4.29 in my area. Bouncing around 5 bucks other places.
That was a huge hit on truckers, landscapers, construction and others who used a lot of liquid fuel. Fuel costs drive material costs, along with supply. Everything used to build a house went way up. Copper wire went from 45 to 145 for 250' of 12/2. Lumber went up what, 50%? Strangely production of hand drive nails moved to China and prices more than doubled for 1# of nails.
08 was a combination of bad stuff not just the bank fraud. Because of demand prices became unsustainable.
Even without the fraud oil prices would have eventually crashed the economy.
I think there's not enough oil to rebuild the economy so green is essential if this is going to ever happen.
Any resource if demand outstrips production by even a tiny bit, prices will skyrocket. It's a natural limit on growth.
Cheers
And Democrats' polls are rising? Where I am the dislike of all politicians is almost universal.
Then there's the dynamic that many Trump voters don't like him and never did. The term at the time was "Throw a wrench into the works" so those voters have gotten what they want.
Joe Sixpack won't be happy to loose Grandmaw's healthcare but Democrats shoot themselves in the foot everyday with this Russia BS/John Brennan gig so it's a wash for now.
Has no one wondered what the reaction of the Iranians would be? Saud ain't got the juice to take on Iran so the US would have to get in.
Always a mistake to underestimate what desperate people will do. Certainly a huge risk for Israel.
Europe won't be too happy to be flooded with refugees. Probably push them closer to Russia. Speaking of whom, they'll probably send every advanced weapon system they have and soldiers too.
At that point we can pretty much kiss our asses goodbye.
Do these idiots ever think "Well if I do this, what are these other people going to do?"
The reaction of the US public might not be what the politicians expect. They're already P.O. and ready to tar and feather the lot.
As I recall the last "modernizer" monarch came to a rather bad end. I think it was television pushed everyone over the line. Now this guy wants to get in bed with Israel? Bound to be interesting.
Trump just bought $340 billion of corporate sponsorship.
Saudi has a small army and even with all the new weapons it's doubtful that they can occupy Yemen.
If I was Israeli and really thought war with Iran was possible, I'd move because there's no way, even with nukes that Israel would survive. Iran might not have a nuclear bomb but they do have a nuclear threat. Probably in about 45 minutes they could cobble up some dirty bombs.
Saudi will be killing in Yemen while Raytheon will make a killing and Trump's stock will go up with the people who run the US.
Personally, I think many Saudi actions can be traced to blackmail over 9/11.
He speaks like a true oligarch. This is the best Democrats have to offer? He still's hawking 2 state which is clearly a dead end stalling tactic. I think he's showing his age.
Is this where we insert the reference to Clinton Welfare "Reform?"
It's just one of many reasons why most people who rejected Clinton aren't going to vote for Corey Booker. The DNC is a private club for aristocrats.
I know people who voted for him who now want to see him hang from a lamp post. They knew what they were getting so this is no surprise to me or them.
meanwhile the chance of finding a jury that would convict him keep getting slimmer and slimmer.
Is he anything but a Party Democrat? He studied under Madeleine Albright and Michael Oren which doesn't bode too well. He worked with the military and intelligence community on spy stuff. Is he just another war monger Israel placater?
He wants to investigate the Russians.
He seems like your average Democrat.
It my be a change for Georgia but to me it seems like the same old *.
Are we talking of the same Democratic Party that's been war mongering all over the Russians? Schumer/Pelosi Inc.?
That Party has almost no true progressives. In fact it dissed them big time. "They have no place else to go." Ha.
Here's reality: Democrats condoned and voted for wars of aggression. Leaders and friends are above the law to commit any crime. They've protected torturers.
The last 8 years have been sick and demented. Suicidal and murderous to say the least. Bush on steroids.
The Democratic theocracy is dead. Killed by indulgences. The Bill has been nailed to the cathedral door.
The Republican Party is in the same position, they'll soon find.
Any true liberal party would insist on trials for war criminals. Good folks don't condone horrible things.
Nobel Peace Prize warrior. Protector of torturers and bankers. It's like a sci-fi dystopia where facts are made up and words have no meaning. Where enormous resources are squandered on bloody flights of fancy in the midst of escalating poverty. Forget about the cake, now its "Let them eat bombs."
Of course this autocannibalism can't last.
A lot of people decided to end it one way or another which is how we got Trump. A gamble out of desperation and not likely to be the last one.
What will it take for the Party of the Democrats to wake up?
"Perception Management" doesn't trump a bad reality forever. Democrats will start making kissy noises to Progressives but it's baloney. They don't have the right people and are too dependent on tainted money to be a party for Progressives.
If the Dem Party is to survive they have to reform along Progressive lines. They have no place else to go.
For every job lost in the rust belt Democrats loose two votes.
BTW, your stuff is an easy read and always worthwhile. Cheers!
I've heard that 80% of Netanyahu's campaign money comes from US donors. I've also read that the DNC gets 30% of it's money from the same and similar interests. So it's a small group of people who enable the atrocity in it 's present form. I 'd like to know more about this. If oligarchs are financing crimes against humanity they should be called out.
Jimmy Carter said a few years ago that he could clear up the mess in 15 minutes. He's right. All it takes is will.
How long is a picayune nation that should be of small importance going to get away with bullying the rest of the world? To the point of telling them what to think.
I don't think there's a big future in that. Even monkeys see bullies as a danger and they're ostracized. Good Monkey Sense will see us through.
I keep wondering how long Israelis will tolerate the deteriorating situation before they throw Netanyahu overboard as a sacrifice.
With any luck Trump will be too busy protecting his own rear to do much about the UN. Good possibility the country is going to flip out under Trumpism. See how smart Trump really is. Let Netanyahu tie himself to a sinking ship.
It's a shame that a good and humanitarian idea like sanctuary for a persecuted people was perverted and corrupted to the point where it can only be sustained by violence and authority. A missed opportunity of Biblical proportions.
Schooled in morals by an upper class git. Right O. What with changing alliance in the neighborhood, might make some want to strengthen their bonds with the apartheid state.
The guy's a quintessential warrior and has the views one would expect except for the criticism of Israel and AIPAC. It's a strange world. These fertile fields, abandoned by Democrats being plowed by Trump.
Just as a fantasy, what if Trump brings jobs and ends the wars? It might be nuts but what if? Well Democrats would be toast as a party wouldn't they?
How silly, we're talking about Trump.
The Council on Foreign Relations just dropped a log.
Important unions you mentioned backed Hillary. That's suicide. The SEIU membership voted to back Bernie. Their leaders ignored this and and threw union support to Hillary. It defies logic in so many ways. What are they thinking? They refused the will of their members for one.
Unions aren't bastions of free thinkers and establishment buckers. You'd be hard pressed to find even one socialist in the AFL-CIO. They'd probably get fired.
I thought SEIU was a progressive union until they went Hillary over Bernie.
When I was a boy unions were everywhere in the rust belt. There was a union section in the Sunday Cleveland Plain Dealer. Gas station attendants were unionized and made a livable wage. Now Cleveland, The Plain Dealer and unions are shadows of their former glory.
Tell you a secret. Some people who have no chance of being in a union or having a good job resent paying taxes, ect. to pay for benefits they can never have. I'm just sayin' 'cause they vote.
If the unions can help those people, the left behind, it changes the dynamic. The unions need to get rid of the expensive suits and get people who will fight for the little guys and girls. If they fight (That means take risks (shudder on 16th St.)) they'll prosper. The problem with unions is that they got too comfortable. Trumpka strutting around in silk like the Prince of Siam while Rome burns. Union leadership needs new blood.
If someone comes up with a cheap car with good range that will plug into a regular socket I think it would sell. Electrics should be considerably cheaper than gas because they're so simple and have thousands of fewer parts. The most complicated mechanical system on an electric car is the windshield wipers. Some genius will redo Henry Ford and bring electric to the masses with a simple, cheap car that works. Right now they cost too much. It's all proprietary. Nothing standardized.
Still, soon you be able to buy electric car motors and controllers off ebay. I betcha.
Range is still an issue. I think there may be some merit in universal battery packs that can be quick swapped at service stations. It might be a logistical nightmare but who knows? If a system of universal, quick swap packs were developed it would make long distance car travel and freight by electric trucks viable.
wait until they find out about the monkeys.
I learned that when I was in jr. high school. It's nice to know Texan university students are getting a jr. high education. The rest of us will have to suffer for these people we failed to educate.
Weren't they supposed to secede? When?
Of course everything becomes so corrupted that reality is ignored until it forces itself on the situation. Cue the Visigoths.
One question: Are the Hillary voters having buyers remorse yet. She's not even in office and already a storm of scandal. Unbelievably Trump is still a contender and no wonder, look who he's running against.
A whole bunch of people should be embarrassed.
I agree with that 100%. Of course the next century will be China's. They invested in their production and infrastructure instead of throwing it away making wars (at least so far.) Russian resources and Chinese production are the perfect match.
Now, add up the resources the US squandered on militarism. It staggers the imagination. The US threw away it's future in the quest of a Myrtle the Turtle style of world domination. Hated by half of the world and half of it's own population. Credibility? None. Future? Uncertain. Brought to the precipice by the incompetence of it's leaders.
One of the signs of a collapsing empire is the poor quality of leadership unable to effectively deal with contemporary problems.
Great post. Thanks.
I would also mention voters who instead of revolting are lining up to vote for one of the two worst candidates ever dredged up.
As a former Dem, I would say that the lesser evilism endemic among Democrats has come to it's natural conclusion exposed as full blown evil.
People who used to have a future before neolibs destroyed it for profit are prime Trump fodder. They're p. o. ed. Trump isn't their spokesman as much as their revenge. The more bad things the Neoliberals have to say about Trump, the more reason to vote for him. People vote not for Trump but for the dysfunctional dynamic he'll create. As someone said before, "to throw a wrench into the works."
To me it's amazing how the buffoon came out of nowhere, supported by nobody and was seized upon by a long ignored and degraded citizenry now reduced to penury. He took advantage of a power vacuum that should have been Democrat or Republican territory had they not been co-opted by corrupt interests, dark money, perverted science and wars of aggression.
The US seems to be able to absorb any amount of personal corruption. Trump could hold his head up in the company of Richard Daley or "Boss" Tweed.
Endemic corruption, endless wars of aggression, pissing away the future, selling out the country. These are things Hillary is good at. Republicans have wet dreams over the way Democrats have run the country into the ground.
I'm not clutching the Democrat viper to my chest by voting for more poisonous bites. It just ain't happening.
No matter who you think is most evil, Hillary is far more practiced in the black arts. A swathe of destruction follows her. A legion of undertakers is kept busy with her product. Kissinger couldn't be more proud.
Call me silly but what does the word of a war monger mean? About anything? Didn't she read Myrtle the Turtle?
Sometimes things get rough and chaos is your only friend, in the face of either the most corrupt or most evil, certainly the most hated candidates ever chaos will have some say.
...Anyone who wants to understand the world of the working class (now mostly out of work) should read the books by Joe Bageant.
Turkey has been fighting Kurds for decades. I'm sure the Turks aren't too thrilled about the newish Kurdish Federation that sits on their border.
Kurds are the perfect target for "influence" because the land the Kurds claim divide Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. A fairly strategic bit of ground. One could imagine a Kurdish State running from the south of Baghdad snaking around through Syria, Iran, Iraq (Turkey?) to the Med. The perfect road block. Wet dream in DC.
The question is if anyone has what it takes to take and hold the ground.
However if Assad were to go and a puppet state be formed the Kurds would be smacked down again or a third party would intervene to make Greater Kurdistan a barrier against the Russia, Syria, Iran axis and further neuter Iraq.
Turkey on the other hand isn't interested in giving Kurds anything except punishment. It's in Turkey's interests to cooperate with regional neighbors except the Kurds who have claims on Turkish territory.
Turmoil on the border is bad for business. Erdogan was taken for a ride down the La La Trail by the US. Biden will BS him and perhaps a massage to get him to go along with the plan.
Democracy? What democracy? Harvard says we're an oligarchy. How can we be a democracy when war criminal leaders are above the law? Who voted to send our jobs overseas? The US is the most propagandized, manipulated people the world has ever known. No democracy here.
So if powerful people can commit any crime, even the worst crimes and skate, what does that say about us and the future of a "free" society? A ruling class exempt from all constraints?
We're already there and indications are that the next President will push the evil precedents even further.
When the torture was revealed at Abu Ghraib the Military's first response wasn't to ban torture, it was to ban cameras. The torture wasn't a problem. Documenting it was.
Obama doesn't want to drag up the past (too many skeletons in the closet) and he's too busy with his "kill" list so obviously he won't rock the boat.
What was that that Himmler said to the SS? Something about being able to do the unthinkable and still remain decent people.
That's where we're at.
If Trump wasn't dumb he could have pulled it off. The chemistry that could win is America B aligned with progressives who are through with Democrats. I think this might be possible once people get past the distractions (abortion, guns) to work for stuff everybody wants like jobs, ending the wars.ect. Workers and progressives could get the job done if they'd work together. Hillary will make things worse and disaffection will increase. I agree with the author that the door is wide open for a smarter Trumpian figure. What we need is another Huey Long.
Everybody selling Sterling. Why? Like you said it will take years to maybe pry Britain loose. They'll wake up next month/year and things will be about the same except for the new PM.
Seems like the EU is under more threat than Britain.
We all know there'll always be an England.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GvkyKEYRnM&feature=player_embedded
I wouldn't want to go up against no Russian. I've known a few. I love to hang out with them but I'll never argue with them. It's just not worth it. They won't give up. Besides, most of the time they're right.
No, I don't want to mess with no Russians. First off I like them, secondly I know that pushed to the limit, they won't shirk. You couldn't have a better friend or a worse enemy.
Is there a Zionist blacklist to deny BDS supporters jobs? Solid proof of discrimination of hiring based on politics would be interesting to say the least.
A couple of rambling thoughts from an old lefty who could never vote for a war monger.
Does anyone want a repeat of the Clinton administration? Why do Democrats continuously dredge up the worst nominees?
Independents are the largest political group at 41% Both parties have ignored the reasons behind this and the consequences.
Don't expect "rational" thinking and splaining to have too much effect. It's easy to sit back in Bethesda and think the world is gravy but in the heartlands everything is dying,
It took Democrats to fulfill the Republican wet dream ambition of killing off the middle class. War is embraced for profit by both.
Democrats put themselves in this position by voting for the worst. They threw away the votes of people who not only now loath but fear them because policies fostered by Dems have ruined their lives.
All of this reminds me of the film "I Claudius" where Claudius (played by the great actor Sir Derek Jacobi) said "Let all the poisons come out." He did and that was the end of the Republic. Great story. Don't let it happen here.
Trump is gonna make her look like the most corrupt , evil person that ever lived. It's not going to be too hard of a sell for a lot of folks.
Her ideas of equality isn't that wars for oil stop, her idea is that women should be able to commit war crimes, banker fraud, murder, theft, mayhem, vampirism on equal footing with male super criminals. It's not any humanist motive. The motive is simply that women should be able to steal and kill with the best of them.
Glad to see water mentioned. Satellite images of the area tell the story.
The Federal Triangle in DC will be 40 feet under at high tide. That should make the sharks happy.
That could be what happened. When I take my jon boat out I always have two GPS units. The one I like the best is the cheapest one which was about a buck and a half.
A buck fifty GPS has resolution of a few yards and it's "waterproof."
Complete lack of imagination in fabricating an excuse. Personally I'd feel better knowing they ran out of fuel than a failure in a trillion dollar system.
One could ask why the expensive system broke and needle them about it but the Navy would say it broke because it didn't cost enough and that wouldn't help anybody.
Anyway I know where to get GPS units cheap enough for every sailor to have one. If the Navy's interested.
I think the possibility of attacks on nuclear facilities and the consequences was a bridge too far.
I remember a study of the possibilities if one of the Iranian reactors was bombed. The fallout could take out way more than Iran.
Then there was the possibility that Iran, with it's back against the wall would cobble up a dirty nuke.
That's not counting all the other things that would go wrong.
It was too much. The gamblers cut their losses and pulled the plug.
Oh, I laughed at the sight of the swaggering dictator staggered by a professor of linguistics. Noam has done himself proud.
One doesn't ordinarily think of a professor as bad to the bone but that Noam is one of the most macho dudes around. No doubt about it.
You hit the nail on the head when you said that a guy could come out of high school and get a decent job.
By the 70's black folks were also participating so factories and work sites became integrating forces.
Liberals and Conservatives have cooperated to undercut working people at every turn. They belittle them and blame shift.
We don't make anything in this country anymore. Steel mills, shoe factories, textile mills, gone. The economy hollowed out by self serving, lawless politicians of both parties.
The political decisions that killed the middle class can be added to the growing list of crimes by our illustrious leaders.
All that money workers would have contributed to the economy added to the money spent in endless wars could have been used for a bright future.
Seems like we're paying a heavy price for a national suicide.
I think Al-Abadi will blow with the wind pending the results of Russia in Syria. Once Russia rolls up ISIS then we'll see if he jumps ship.
Is it in the interests if Iraq to be used as a bloody chessboard for US hegemony? They've seen the pitiful results of the US war. They see the results of the Russian Syrian campaign.
The US is loosing credibility on a daily basis as it's hubris and machinations become more transparent. Ineptitude and corruption rule US foreign policy. There's really no good future for Iraq in allowing the situation to continue. Can it have security with an Inept US, an insane Israel and a Saudi royal dictatorship calling the shots? I think not. Really, the US sacrificed it's own citizens in the quest for neoliberalism so what chance does Iraq have for a fair remedy from the nihilistic delusions of Washington?
I'll add that right now Putin is more popular than Obama in the US so it's reached a point where nobody trusts Washington except neocons and their neolib brothers in arms.
We'll see what happens when Russia reaches the border.
Brian St Paul has it right. Those black lines are transportation corridors. Russia will cut off supply and retreat in order to wipe out ISIS.
The areas circled on the map are choke points.
ISIS receives supply through Iraq as well as Turkey. That will soon stop.
It's OK when we do it but wrong when anyone else does it. Because we're better. You know how it goes: Dems whined at Bush but now Obama drones even more and it's good.
About barrel bombs: A barrel bomb is a more or less home made bomb. Not nearly as effective as say the US bomb the Saudis used on that wedding that killed or wounded over 300 people.
Given the results of US "diplomacy" one might think it's a waste of time.
Iran, Iraq, Syria and Russia are places we've seriously screwed. They've shown that they aren't taking it anymore.
If the US doesn't restrain itself any talks will be useless.
I don't think Russia will agree to anything unless the concerns of all it's allies are taken into account.
I think Russia will roll up the rebels and ISIS all the way to Baghdad. It will consolidate its bloc of allies. It's already cut off resupply from Turkey and US airdrops are viewed as aggression by the rest of the world.
The US is in a position of weakness brought on by it's hubris.
If Sanders came out for peace he could win the election. If Hillary wins the primary I think Trump will probably be our next president. I read a lot of comments on the web and people don't trust or like Hillary.
Seems to me that people on both sides are tired of war mongers and Sanders might even pull some Republicans if he makes the right noises about wars, spies, jobs and banksters.
Al-Qaeda is the perfect example of how divorced from reality they are in Washington. You know they thought Assad would be beaten by 2013.
Yea Assad is a butcher but compared with butchers closer to home he's second rate because he isn't worldwide.
Maybe I should be grateful that the government is focusing at least some of it's disastrous policies on foreigners this time instead of it's own citizens but obviously I'm not.
If Twitter is going after war mongers things must be serious. It's nuts: Israel aligned with the Saudi and the US supporting al-Qaeda. Unbelievable. We're going down the tubes here at home while the government is spending money on the same groups that did 9/11. It's like living in a parallel universe. One of those really messed up ones.
A friend of mine suggested that our leaders are aliens brought here to destroy humanity before the invasion from planet Xixx Xaxx. I'm starting to believe him.
I was starting to think Assad was done for but the Russians rode in like the U.S. Cavalry in the nick of time to save him. If god isn't on his side, the Russians are and that'll do for now.
If you're the average Syrian, one one hand you have Assad who among dictators really wasn't that bad if you compare him to the regional norm. He didn't persecute religious minorities but was ruthless with political dissenters.
Then on the other hand you have ISIS who will blow up your cultural icons and torture or find sick ways to kill those who get in the way. They will persecute for any reason and are totally unpredictable. Didn't they spit roast someone the other day? Looting Palmyra and blowing up what's left. They seem determined to invent new, horrific crimes.
If you're the average Syrian, Assad is looking better all the time.
The Saudis might have taken on ISIS, maybe even won but that situation seems to have changed. Putin's hackles are up and he will crush ISIS and Al Nusra to the great consternation of the US and the Saudi.
Maybe Putin can do something with it but the thing to keep in mind is that Syria, like California is being devastated by climate change. That's the Joker in the deck.
A mouse acting like an elephant isn't an elephant.
Bibi is a madman. He would take down the whole world to pursue his fantasies. His threat to bomb Iranian nuclear plants was way over the top. After Chernobyl and Fukushima many folks now know what the consequences of a war on Iran would have been.
I would hope that the specter of burning spent fuel rods had something to do with Obama's decision.
Only a lunatic would think about unleashing that kind of destruction. Bibi belongs in a straight jacket.
Bibi's dreams of empire fade into the backdrops of Palmyra and dead babies on the beach.
More images of victims, sooner might have done some good. There's been an endless stream to choose from.
Now the consequences of the Long War are intruding on the self perceived civility of the West. Baby bodies don't go well with morning coffee.
Politicians will demand "Who lost the Long War?"
That's the same thing they asked after Vietnam.
I suspect that gimbals and controls for small heliostats are getting much cheaper to buy. If you could use Mylar on recycled plastic for structural forms for the mirror? You could mold in different focal points.
The cost of mirror, controls and gimbal could get as low as two hundred bucks per 2 sq/m unit. Right now you can buy a cheaper 2 axis small camera gimbal for 15 bucks without control circuits (for R/C.) You should be able to buy a decent one to hold the heliostat mirror for $150 if they get mass produced. Track the sun is simple. Probably a $10 circuit.
If you used a lithium battery and small solar panel on each Heliostat you could make them run independently by themselves without wiring. Maybe radio control programming. Add another 100 bucks.
Small units might be bolted to concrete blocks or timbers simply resting on the ground. Setup of the gimbal or software would compensate for slight tilting. As long as it resists the wind.
Just thinking out loud.
WV can't even afford to treat 100 year old mines spewing Acid Mine Drainage. I notice that somehow the Potomac River mine drainage is effectively treated.
Every carpetbagger, huckster politician and charlatan has dumped on the place and they still do.
WV mine cleanup is financed by a puny tax on coal, It's something like 5 cents a ton. No coal, no cleanup. The tax is due to end in 9 years anyway.
Forward instead of backward? I don't see much "forward."
Someone should ask Bernie if he'll prosecute torturers. A dollar to a doughnut says he'll deflect the question.
We're fast running out of time to deal with this. Shell says the oil will be gone by 2075 but we don't have till 2075.
I saw the craters in Siberia now confirmed to be caused by methane popping off. There's also all the methane hydrate on the floor of cold oceans. Ocean bottoms are apparently warming faster than the surface. When that stuff goes off, we're toast.
Archaeology is one of the most benign sciences. It never killed anyone, that I know of, unless you believe the Tut stories. Archaeologist are romantic folks dreaming of the past. A statue of him on the site would be most fitting.
If you want to see the future just look at what's happening in China. They use more coal than the US and are poised to quadruple coal use in the next 40 years or so? They're poisoning everything with manufacturing byproducts which makes the future of China rather sketchy. India is on the same path.
This could have been somewhat ameliorated by tying environmental protections to imports which might have bought us a little more time.
Rabbit theory says people, like bacteria will expand to the limits of their resources then die off in their poisoned environment. Malthus becomes only another factor or a catalyst in a world with plastic, irradiated oceans, that's 10 degrees hotter.
Intelligent folk are now talking about human extinction in the next 100 years and have some facts to back that up. i"m still hopefully clinging to the 90% die off scenario, more out of hope than anything else.
With endemic societal corruption clinging to our backs like a junky's monkey I don't see any way out. Sardonic laughter breaks out at any suggestion that our corrupt politicians (or China's, India's, ect.) will do anything to stop the disaster looming on the horizon.
Threatens democracy? I'ts a military coup, there is no democracy. Freedom of speech there gets you executed. All Morsi had to do was offer to open the border with Palestine and that was it for him. Democracy in Egypt was a step too far for Israel and the US.
penetrating analysis by CNN.
Obviously what's needed is a draw Jesus contest and then post offensive images on public transport. I can't even imagine the mayhem that would cause. You're not even supposed to mention the name of the god of the Jews so there's some mischief that could make them mad too. Get everyone riled up and have to walk to work.
If these folks want to post their pictures they have the right to post them on their own property.
2nd link should be this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-voltage_direct_current
Lithium batteries will get bigger and cheaper. Hippies used to mess around with solar and wind. The batteries were a headache. Electronics weren't as good either. 12 volt mechanical regulators. This is a big milestone due to Elon Musk.
About conversion:
Obviously we can't have a washing machine mechanically connected to a windmill although that would be the most efficient transfer of power. A DC system will still need voltage regulation going into and out of the battery. A home could be run off DC but certain appliances like most motors would need inverters built into them to get AC. DC motors are very noisy. Many electronics require multiple voltages and have regulators built in. DC won't work in a transformer. The point being that we'll never get away from conversion loss or AC.
Solid state devices are the most efficient way to convert electricity. Small inverters are cheap and one of the technological advances that makes small scale generation viable. If you want to go big Hitachi makes a 2,800MW inverter. http://www.hitachi.com/rev/1998/revoct98/r4_109.pdf
Then there's this http://www.hitachi.com/rev/1998/revoct98/r4_109.pdf
Cheers
That was an excellent lecture. I hadn't been aware of the multiplier/synergy effects before.
A couple of things I'd point out are:
The need for standard batteries that can be swapped out at recharging stations. These will also be needed for larger vehicles like semi trucks. Elon Musk is probably thinking about this already.
There's a loss in converting DC to AC current. I think that's around 20% or more. The grid will have to remain AC because DC won't work in transformers and transmission loss is far greater with DC. A large power plant will need some heavy duty conversion capacity and it's unclear to me how this will be done.
If it rains for a couple of days and my car hooked to the grid has had its batteries drained, how happy will I be when I go to use it?
Oil, coal and natural gas will still be with us because they're useful for many other things. Natural gas for instance supplies ammonia fertilizer for crops. The list of products that come from hydrocarbons is almost endless. You can get 120 gallons of crude oil from a ton of coal. Coal may be due for a nap but I wouldn't count it out of the game yet.
Even with EVs and green power Malthus will still be with us. Copper, silver and lead will be mined out in 40 years or so. There isn't enough left to build out a totally green energy system worldwide.
Unless we get a grip on population green energy will only slightly extend the life of civilization.
Anyway, Mr. Serba's lecture has given me a bit of extra hope for the immediate future however a lot more needs to be done for the long term. Number one on the list should be population control and good luck with that.
Kind of complicated. High wind could surely tear it to shreds, especially if scaled up. Complicated ground equipment. Would need monitored to avoid damage by wind and lowered during storms. Inflatable bag is expensive. Helium is also expensive. I wonder how much the ground equipment costs? 600 meters of copper cable?
Essentially you're trading an expensive, high maintenance, fragile system for a mast. If it gets hit by lightning, you loose everything. A Ferrari when all you need is a couple Tata Nanos. I think you could build a really nice village generator for the price of their ropes alone.
Helium atoms are so small that they eventually permeate the envelope so a supply would be kept at hand and pressure in the bag would have to be monitored.
Weight of the cables/ropes would become a problem. More height, more output but heavier cables/ropes and bigger bag. There's a limit on how big the bag can be, about the size of a blimp.
This system isn't simple or cheap. Is it suitable for a permanent installation? If it comes down where does it land?
It might be good for military applications but not for villages. Villages need cheap and simple (don't we all.)
I don't think it's too late for ISIS if they can consolidate where they're strong and keep from overextending themselves they'll have what they can hold. If they're weak someone more ruthless will take the ground.
ISIS seems more like a franchise. Anyone can open a branch. Except in a few places they're spread pretty thin.
If we did break them up some other group would take their place.
We killed the top dogs and the pecking order won't be established until we stop killing their leaders. Saddam managed to keep some kind of order but now he's gone. Assad kept Syria one of the safest places for Westerners to visit for years. Now that's over.
Now that these strong leaders are dead or compromised, lesser figures/groups will fight it out until new top dogs come to the fore. It's as simple as that. A genuine leader won't want to risk their position by messing with the West or so logic would dictate.
Our looser leaders are just pandering to greed because they can sit back, far removed from the carnage.
It's just human nature. Fighting against that is stupid.
Lead acid batteries will soon be obsolete. Lead is being rapidly mined out with perhaps a 40 year supply still in the ground. Lithium is abundant.
I'd like to see cheaper lithium battery cars. If they remain expensive they'll have a minimum impact. They'll be competing with cars like the Tata Nano which one might drive for life (fuel included) for less than the price of a Tesla.
Affordability is the key to making it work.
I think there are conservatives just as bothered by endless war (and other stuff) as liberals who didn't vote for Dems the last time. I'm thinking voter disaffection isn't a left or right thing or soon won't be. I hope so anyway.
Let Bibi speak so it's all in the open that Republicans want war. Maybe it'll get the price of oil up. If oil spikes, someone takes him seriously.
You know how it works though sometimes: When they do it it's bad. When your team does it it's good. That being said, I don't think the spectre of war with Iran will help Republicans much. Voters have bills to pay and kids to feed. They hear "War with Iran" and drop their lunch.
Bibi made such a great impression last time. Wonderful entertainment with that bomb picture and all. Bring in the clowns. We could use a laugh.
The last thing the Royal Family wants is reprisal raids. They have maintained their position only by using blunt force against domestic opposition. Any external threat against KSA could upset the apple cart.
Dianne Feinstein a hero? Protecting her own self is more like it. Even if by neglecting her job she really didn't know about torture and murder, it's like the difference between first degree and manslaughter.
She supported wars of aggression.
You hardly ever hear Democrats standing up for the Constitution anymore. It's easy to understand why.
They're equal opportunity torturers but then again so was Stalin.
Oh Cliven, what will we do with you? How many Black people do you know that you can speak of them that way?
You need to get out more often. Variety is the spice of life.
People were rooting for you and you just let them down.
Considering the history of land takings by government entities and the use of imminent domain by corporations for everything from urban renewal, power lines, parks, game refuges, pipelines, solar "parks," sports stadiums, any old reason. Heavy handed and corrupt.
Forced relocation and cleansing. Check the Shenandoah or Monongahela. Many families lost their homes. Tens of thousands lost with urban renewal. That was a boon for real estate and gentry. Poor people got sweet tail.
If we were talking about good g'ment that would be one thing but we're not.
It's just the mindset of the US. We been running folks off land for so long we got to liking it.
We've been fighting wars on"terrorism" for too long. It's a tag used to whip up hate.
And then there's this:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/fbi-placed-left-wing-activists-on-terrorism-watch-list-without-cause
Everyone knows what murder is. Terrorism could mean anything depending on who's saying it.
Hate crime, murder. That's enough to hang the bum.
I gotta problem with the "terrorist" tag. It's been used on activists like watershed groups, political groups and even Quakers I think. Mandela was a terrorist if you believe the government.
"Terrorist" has been so misused that's it's lost it's meaning.
Fear is a great motivator.
Spy on Europe to use the information against it. Now they can't buy Iranian oil. Now they can't buy Russian gas. What's next? This is doing real harm to real people in Europe.
Then there's the plethora of crimes like drones and aggressive wars, ect. Paid for with money fresh off the press, printed with abandon, without restraint.
The US is acting like a wounded animal, lashing out at friends and enemies alike. Lashing out on the freedoms of it's very own citizens using phoney justifications. No one is safe.
These are examples folks point to. They don't want to be victims. They know that a deranged nation might strike out at anyone. It could get worse.
It's a growing fear of the US that ultimately could be the deciding factor.
When you have an Iron Boot on the neck of a child, it doesn't look good.
My attitude has changed considerably since the days when I had a "Save Russian Jews" bumper sticker on my car.
I realize now that I was wrong to promote that.
"Not quite as bad as the Nazis" isn't a tag that inspires trust.
Calling Israel a "Jewish" state is slanderous to Jews who worked for civil rights in the US. Didn't at least one Jew wind up murdered and buried in a dam in Mississippi for trying to register Blacks to vote?
These good people who selflessly gave for the betterment of others, shudder as their fellows descend into barbarity.
Ukraine is highly dependent on Russian gas. They've been disputing over payments and such for years. Most of Ukraine's gas payments have been offset by allowing Russian gas transit through pipes that cross Ukraine into Europe.
Russia has been slowly building pipes that don't go through Ukraine. If it happens that Ukraine soon has to pay retail for gas...
It would be funny if it weren't so true.
All he needs is a Harlequin suit.
Obama said he was going to hold his hand before and I'm starting to believe him.
Jimmy Carter, having watched the march of history, recently said a president could resolve the problem in 15 minutes (or something like that.)
I think he's right. One Executive order and Israel flies right or sanctions.
Shortcut the track Israel is on and prevent a lot of suffering to everyone concerned.
If they admit the story is a lie, what does that make them? More than just liars.
No doubt they want to turn a crime of the century into a Cinderella story.
All the turkeys are goebbeling.
“Think of the press as a great keyboard
on which the government can play.”
― Joseph Goebbels
One misconception is that we have time to fix it. We don't.
In this increasingly barren world, when the petro based fertilizer is gone...we're toast.
History will repeat while we all know things are going wrong. Ecological collapse is already here. If every frog and turtle dies from imported ranavirus, who cares? That's happening now.
The collapse of civilization is a spectator sport.
We'll never regain the wealth thrown away in wars. Wealth we desperately need, wasted. Pissd away.
Fighting over the silverware on the Titanic.
Bacteria will colonize a Petri dish, breed to fill the space, then die on it's own waste.
I wish it weren't true but people are as dumb as bacteria.
Can any popularly elected President serve in Egypt? Even if they could get along wouldn't a popular Egyptian g'ment want to end the embargo of the Palestinians? Can the military be brought to heel?
Just a couple of things:
First, if I want the real skinny on what's happening in the ME, I come here.
Assad ain't going to bargain away his position. I don't think his Stalinist tendencies have been accounted for. I think he's willing to die or stay in power. Assad and Kerry are natural enemies but maybe Kerry can tummy rub him in a back room?
The rebellion wasn't supported by the majority of the people so it's either destined to fail or end with another dictator in charge. If Kerry wins, it's another dictator. A friendly dictator could obtain the tools required to keep the rabble in line.
Interventionists bear responsibility also. "Out by Xmas" was bull. Anyone with half a brain knew Assad was no paper tiger. Probably tougher than his old man who was a really mean guy.
Is Jewish a religion or a race? Is there a gene specific to Jews and where did it originate? Do Ethiopian Jews have the gene? Palestinians? Are claims of a Jewish gene independently verifiable?
This concern about racial purity is quite interesting. Even more interesting is how it plays out. Perhaps other markers can determine who is "more" Jewish.
Slim to no chance that Israel would allow an academic conference in Palestine. A topic ripe for academic study: The destruction of whole cultures.
The hypocrisy on display is amazing.