Texas’ Big Freeze: The 2021 Power Crisis and the Lessons Learned One Year Later 34

[bimr]

Link

 

[TugboatEng]

 

[SnTMan]

As was 1984

The problem with sloppy work is that the supply FAR EXCEEDS the demand

 

[Alistair_Heaton]

The latest crazy is a battery arms race.

They are loading up houses with collosal amounts of li ion batteries. Usually low voltage with to me industrialy high currents.

But the solar panels can be rapidly shut down while they can't actually put the battery fire out which is bolted to a wood frame wall.

But it's all UL approved so as safe as it can get world wide apparently. Think I will stick with my lipo4fe battery in a concrete cellar that sits on a 16 amp breaker without a fuse in sight. Which apparently is mandatory world wide. Inverter having a DC overcurrent disconnect and the battery having a DC breaker on its output is not enough for a 3 meter length of 6mm2 1500v cable. You need a slow blow fuse and manual switch with an additional 10 points of failure to make it safe.

 

[LuK13]

Quote (LuK13)
Governments are run by people

That is certainly debatable. There’s been a takeover of government, and depending on your perspective it was either hostile or friendly.

Americans are ruled by a minority party doing everything it can to lock in that rule.

Note to senators: The Handmaids Tale was intended as a warning, not a blueprint.

I mean, who took over the government? Still people. The small group of people that make decisions in the US? Still people. A government is a human construct, made up of and run by people, doesn't matter how many people.

Until aliens take over, I don't see how my statement was incorrect. And I for one welcome our new alien overlords, couldn't be much worse.

 

[dik]

It's not a democracy, it's an oligarchy...

So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik

 

[LuK13]

I never said "The People", just people. Oligarchs are still people.

 

[Fischstabchen]

In the U.S., companies are people so that is what the founders maybe meant when they said "We the people....."

 

[Guest102023]

Oligarchs are still people.

Oligarchs are a special class of superpeople, exempt from the laws regular folks are subject to.

Offshore accounts, corporations as legal ‘persons’ (what a concept!), Jeffery Epstein… Give me a few more minutes and I could provide a much longer list.

"If you don't have time to do the job right the first time, when are you going to find time to repair it?"

 

[LuK13]

The concept that companies are people is one of the biggest steaming turds I have had the pleasure bearing witness to. Companies are legal constructs designed to shield the actual people from liability, and should not be a vehicle for the owners to anonymously spend their money willy nilly. If you haven't guessed by now I also have some strong opinions on the joke that is money = speech.

The only thing special about oligarchs tends to be the circumstances of their birth and their willingness to abuse their power. They bleed the same as you and me.

 

[CWB1]

Companies are far from being classified as people stateside. Pass-thru entities are largely a paper mask in terms of both liability protection and spending, there's no real separation between the owner and company so benefits are very minor. Separate entities catch flak bc of the separation but don't really receive half the benefits folks think they do. When it comes to taxes and cars guys seem to enjoy over-inflating claims of what they did or griping about what others do so generally not worth listening to once you identify the bragging/trashing. As for an oligarchy, our northern neighbors should look at their own before being concerned by ours.

One thing worth noting about residential renewable regulation stateside is that we have a bad history of low-quality installs by shady entrepreneurs. 30 years ago it wasn't uncommon for solar installs to buckle roofs and cause fires. Not to defend excessive regulation bc we certainly have quite a bit, but I focus on "can't do's" rather than "minor PITA to do's."

 

[Guest102023]

Still people. The small group of people that make decisions in the US? Still people. A government is a human construct

That’s a facile view and IMO a cop out.

(1) Read the history
(2) Follow the money

And for folks who choose to believe in the ‘deep state’, well I have news. The takeover took place in plain view, but it didn’t fool everyone. (Recall that AH was democratically elected.)

Likewise with the current epidemic of corruption, which is both structural (electoral college, lobbying, wildly unequal senate representation) and operational (lobbying, dark money/superpacs, gerrymandering, US Supreme Court stacked with misogynists and radical extremists, concentration of news media, filibuster, agency capture, militarized and barely regulatd police forces, should I go on?)



"If you don't have time to do the job right the first time, when are you going to find time to repair it?"

 

[Guest102023]

CWB1,
Nice move playing the hypocrisy card, as china and USSR love to do.
Canada of course has its issues, and I am a harsh critic. But the problems are more cultural (big regional differences) and to do with the Westminster government structure. Oligarchs not so much. First past the post needs abolishing ASAP or the country cannot move forward.

"If you don't have time to do the job right the first time, when are you going to find time to repair it?"

 

[Guest102023]

Fischstabchen,
Good comment.
The primary objective of the framers was protecting and propagating the interests of wealthy white landowners (themselves).
They succeeded; George Washington became the wealthiest man in the 13 states.

The American revolution was really just a rebellion; the propaganda was necessary to persuade the others to pick up weapons and fight. Actual direct democracy was not going to be permitted!

"If you don't have time to do the job right the first time, when are you going to find time to repair it?"

 

[CWB1]

Yet the US citizenry enjoys more freedom, a higher net worth and quality of life, and a lower cost of living than most of the world. Canada is downright repressive by comparison thanks to politics that are comparable to Chicago or Detroit's comedically crooked regimes.

FWIW, Washington was one of the wealthiest men outside of Europe long before our revolution thanks to a wealthy family and land speculation. D.C. was named not only to honor him, but also bc he was the original developer/owner/speculator.

As we're getting away from Texas and power, I'd suggest we bring it back on-topic and save this nonsense for the pub.

 

[Guest102023]

CWB1,

We have our issues but you are truly parading your ignorance here. At least try to identify the actual problems without resorting to slogans and false cliches. For example, I wake up every day with a high level of confidence that I or my children will not be victims of a mass shooting. Isn’t that a kind of freedom?

I routinely forgive Yanks their ignorance; what can I expect if their sources of information are the education system and US media?

Never has there been a nation so free of the burden of self-reflection, both individually and nationally. I am not the first nor even the millionth person to notice that.


"If you don't have time to do the job right the first time, when are you going to find time to repair it?"

 

[Guest102023]

p.s., you omitted to mention ‘slaveholder’ among GW’s many accomplishments.

"If you don't have time to do the job right the first time, when are you going to find time to repair it?"

 

[SnTMan]

It is true. The US is such an evil country that the entire rest of the world wants in.

The problem with sloppy work is that the supply FAR EXCEEDS the demand

 

[TugboatEng]

What is the deal with the hostile Canadians in here lately?

 

[dik]

Hostile Canadians... they're like the Sasquatch...

So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik

 

[Guest102023]

CWB1,
Getting back to Texas is not getting away from nonsense, it is doubling down on it.
But point taken, hearing their history seems to be irritating some of the members and we don’t want that.

"If you don't have time to do the job right the first time, when are you going to find time to repair it?"