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Turkish-Backed SNA Leader Killed, Militants Wounded In Syria’s Azaz
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 4: Opinion
3 21:42 NoMoreBS [26] 
10 17:14 ed in texas [12] 
11 17:15 Besoeker [17] 
8 20:11 Skidmark [18] 
14 20:00 Skidmark [22] 
11 22:59 Thruter Gloluger6393 [20] 
1 01:26 Skidmark [18] 
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Page 3: Non-WoT
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9 12:55 DooDahMan [20]
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Page 6: Politix
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1 09:05 NN2N1 [20]
3 13:41 Frank G [16]
11 20:35 Skidmark [21]
-Lurid Crime Tales-
John Boston: More illegal Biden documents found
Satire. At least I think so.
[The Signal] Recent discoveries at several hundred Santa Clarita Valley homes, businesses and enterprises of more illegal Joe Biden documents have shocked the nation and may lead to the president’s impeachment.

On an hourly basis, hundreds of fresh boxes of either top-secret or criminal wrongdoing evidence have surfaced from when Mr. Biden was the nation’s alleged vice president. Scooping the nation’s asleep-at-the-wheel media, The Mighty Signal became the first news outlet to learn the contents of Biden’s Boxes o’ Bloopers. Here now — just a small sampling of the damning evidence unearthed locally...

• THE "BIG GUY" FILE — 816 highly sensitive boxes were unearthed in the The Way Station cellar. They linked the CIA and Hunter Biden, with a plot to make the drug-crazed president’s son and failed beatnik, Hunter, secretary general of the United Nations. The cloven-hooved fornicator and coke-sniffing goof would extort billions from the member nations, based on their gross national product, then launder 10% of the ill-gotten gains back to "The Big Guy," whom The Signal just learned is former first lady — Michelle Obama.

• HAIR CLUB FOR JOE — More than 32,098 gallon-sized Baggies were discovered inside the SCV Corvette Club Community Garage. Each bag contained locks of teenage girls’ hair for Biden’s $14.8 billion National Teen Babe Hair Scent Bank, to help "fight crime, split ends, and to, well, just smell when the moon is full and the mood arises..." Also discovered, Biden’s rough draft of his autobiography, "Divorced Laker Girls I’d Like to Grope."

• BIDEN DELAWARE HOME VISITORS’ LOG — The laziest, most dishonest and dysfunctional president in American history, Biden has taken "Work From Home" to near-unemployed levels. Boxes found at local state Sen. Scott Wilk’s home (from where Scott works, too) showed the following visitors to the Delaware abode: George Soros (416 X); Satan (daily); Hunter’s drug dealer (daily); the Sinaloa Cartel (posing as a mariachi band); the Chinese Communist Party (posing as a Panda Express delivery team); and the four William S. Hart Union High School District trustees who voted to eliminate the Indian as the Hart High mascot, to name a few...

More at the link
Posted by: M. Murcek || 01/21/2023 14:47 || Comments || Link || [26 views] Top|| File under:


#2  heh
Posted by: lord garth || 01/21/2023 20:35 Comments || Top||

#3  Yet other batch, dating back over 14 years, giving proof that Joe Biden, an elitist politician for whom rules don't apply in real life, treats our nations secrets as cavalierly as he treats his family's corruption. Since he thinks the Senate will not support impeachment, he will try and just bluster through, spewing lies and imperial hubris.
If the Republicans had real courage, at the up-coming State of the Union, they would turn their backs on him when he he entered the chamber and sit mute the entire time he lied to the American people.
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 01/21/2023 21:42 Comments || Top||


Picnic Ant Lady Claims Carrying Cash Is the Reason For Chicago Crime Epidemic
[Townhall] Chicago’s crime rate has skyrocketed under Democrat Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s wing, making the city one of the most dangerous places in the U.S.

However, rather than rethinking her soft-on-crime policies, Lightfoot blames the crisis on everything else.

Earlier this week, Lightfoot suggested street vendors stop using cash to stem Chicago’s crime problem.

During a mayoral debate with eight other opponents, Lightfoot offered so-called "solutions" to the issue.

"I heard a lot of rhetoric here, a lot of soundbites, but not a lot of concrete solutions on how we get the job done and make our residents and our workers safe. We’re doing it every single day," Lightfoot said, however, the city’s crime rate has yet to slow down.

"We have been in Little Village working with those street vendors, understanding what the nature of the crime is, making sure that we’re doing things in concert with them to help them, to make sure that their money is secure. Not use money, if at all possible, using other forms of transactions to carry themselves," the mayor continued to say.

The first three questions for Lightfoot centered around crime, in which she claimed the city’s homicide and shooting rates have gone down. However, one of her opponents, Community activist Ja'Mal Green, accused her of lying about the numbers.

"I'm trying to figure out — how do we continue to allow the mayor to lie about the numbers?" Green asked. "We are not down when it comes to before her administration started. The year before last, it was a 25-year high. So of course, we're going to have some sort of a decrease. We've had 700-plus homicides for three years in a row under the mayor, and she has not been connected to the neighborhoods or to what's going on on the ground."
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/21/2023 01:07 || Comments || Link || [18 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Everything and everybody else is the blame for our failure.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/21/2023 7:04 Comments || Top||

#2  It fits the lefty narrative pattern: The actions / non-actions of the law abiding are the cause of crime.

Punishing the law abiding for peaceably exercising their rights is the solution to crime.

*spit*
Posted by: M. Murcek || 01/21/2023 7:06 Comments || Top||

#3  Maybe she'll be getting a kickback from the credit/debit card companies.

It's the 'Chicago Way®'.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 01/21/2023 7:32 Comments || Top||

#4  With help from Washington, Lightfoot and other Chicago dems are working feverishly to solve the cash in your pocket problem.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/21/2023 7:40 Comments || Top||

#5  Mayors in D.C. Conference Target Gun Makers over City Crime
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/21/2023 9:53 Comments || Top||

#6  So I am being held at gun point. I am explaining that Lori Lightfoot advised me not to carry cash as a countermeasure against being robbed. How will this story end?
Posted by: Super Hose || 01/21/2023 10:05 Comments || Top||

#7  "You got a watch? Gimme them gold teef fillings"
Posted by: Frank G || 01/21/2023 10:07 Comments || Top||

#8  Smelled the green?

Alleged Chicago CTA train robber shot by concealed carry holder
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/21/2023 20:11 Comments || Top||


-Great Cultural Revolution
Ron DeSantis bans advanced placement African American Studies course from Florida high schools because it 'lacks educational value'
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] They were whining about this on NPR yesterday.
  • The Florida Department of Education claimed in a January 12 letter that an AP African American Studies course 'significantly lacks education value'

  • It also called the course 'unlawful' and historically inaccurate, but did not elaborate on why the Department thought so

  • Despite rejecting the African American history course, Florida currently offers AP courses in European, Japanese, German, Italian, and Spanish history

  • Part of the course focused on looking at discrimination through an intersectional lens, which was written by CRT advocate and legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw

  • Florida is one of several states that have banned public schools from teaching Critical Race Theory (CRT)
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/21/2023 02:39 || Comments || Link || [17 views] Top|| File under:

#1  'Lacks education value'

...or any other type of definable 'value'.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/21/2023 8:19 Comments || Top||

#2 

Anyone complaining should be asked a simple question.

What if Anglo-European-American Studies (excluding Asian, Hispanic and African) were also instituted?

Would you be OK with that ?
Posted by: NN2N1 || 01/21/2023 8:45 Comments || Top||

#3  ^ I thought reading, writing and 'rithmatic were Anglo-Euro-Merican Studies already.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 01/21/2023 8:48 Comments || Top||

#4  All that, and more.

Pan-African Leadership Institute
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/21/2023 9:26 Comments || Top||

#5  Well, that will set the cat among the canaries.

DeSantis has become the next Trump already for the LSM. Has Rev. Al booked his flight yet?
Posted by: AlanC || 01/21/2023 9:28 Comments || Top||

#6  She's black, she's queer, she's angry.

WH Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre Attacks Ron DeSantis over Florida Rejecting Woke AP Course: ‘Incomprehensible’
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/21/2023 9:29 Comments || Top||


#8  Is there a better way to avoid paying high prices for useless woke indoctrination at universities throughout America? An AP level accomplishment sends all the right messages to college admissions.
Posted by: Super Hose || 01/21/2023 10:00 Comments || Top||

#9  Better yet would be to ban high school. High school itself lacks educational value. It's more like a prison for kids and welfare for the teachers. Replace it with vocational schools and early admission to college. Let those kids go free.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 01/21/2023 12:36 Comments || Top||

#10  RE#6 I don't think she comprehends anything.
Posted by: Chris || 01/21/2023 12:59 Comments || Top||

#11  Ref #6: Let me just take a moment to tell you people that you REALLY DO SUCK !
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/21/2023 17:15 Comments || Top||


The False Promise of Electric Cars
[National Review] ’The more the state ’plans,’" wrote Hayek, "the more difficult planning becomes for the individual." This may resonate with the driver of an electric vehicle (EV) who has pulled up at a charging station in the middle of nowhere, only to find it broken.

In January last year, Carlos Tavares, the CEO of Stellantis, the world’s fifth-largest carmaker (it was formed by the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot), described electrification as "a technology chosen by politicians" and said it was "imposed" on the auto sector. By contrast, the triumph of the internal-combustion engine (ICE) over a century ago was organic. Human ingenuity and the power of markets led to a product that swept almost everything else off the road. EVs (which first had a moment around 1900) were not banned, and neither was the horse. In due course, ICE horseless carriages for the Astors were followed by the Model T and its kin. The automotive age had truly arrived.

The surge in demand for EVs (albeit from a low base) in Europe and the U.S. could be seen as evidence that, with the assistance of some taxpayer cash and nudges from government, EV technology could flourish without state interventions to either close down or hobble its wicked rival. But some policy-makers, faced with what they claim (and some may even believe) is a climate "crisis," have clearly not been persuaded that EVs, for all their loudly touted wonders, should be relied on to overtake conventional autos. That has left coercion, and with it the opportunity to redesign much of everyday life in ways more in keeping with the standards of those who know best. The switch to EVs will lead, in the end, to a shrunken role for the car, a machine long resented by a certain type of authoritarian for the untidiness it creates, for the space it takes up, and for the autonomy it offers.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/21/2023 00:00 || Comments || Link || [20 views] Top|| File under:

#1  How to charge a Tesla or an EV with a generator?

See Power Grid
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/21/2023 1:32 Comments || Top||

#2  A 2kW generator for charging an EV is like 'p*ssing in the wind', Skid. Might get you to the nearest crossroad...or not.

Most EVs average between 3 to 4 miles per kWh of charge (kWh = 1 hour at 1kW) and require a 30-amp to 40-amp 240-volt hookup.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 01/21/2023 7:41 Comments || Top||

#3  Much of the false comparison has to do with the sheer size of the country. When some rube says "Japan and South Korea have faster broadband than the US (not true, in any case) they are making a false comparison. The land mass of the US is such that expecting any infrastructure that serves a country the size of Japan or South Korea to apply to Texas, let alone all of CONUS is a bad joke. Now, people who never drive more than 15-20 miles a day have no concept of someone who drives hundreds of miles a day routinely. Much like Pauline Kael, they say "I don't know anybody who does that! Who even needs to do that?"

And you can't argue meaningfully with someone who is seeing the big picture through a drinking straw.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 01/21/2023 8:14 Comments || Top||

#4  It’s clear that EVs are just a way of ending middle class car ownership.
Posted by: Hupolunter de Medici7308 || 01/21/2023 12:35 Comments || Top||

#5  Honestly, I really like my electric car. It's a Chevy Bolt, and I have yet to receive my recall battery. Zippy and fun to drive. No maintenance and I charge it in the garage.

But I'm retired and live in Vegas. I never drive over one hundred miles in a day. If I was going to take a road trip, I would get a Cadillac or SUV from the Enterprise down the block.

Posted by: Penguin_of_the_Desert || 01/21/2023 12:42 Comments || Top||

#6  I encountered a dude down the highway from me that has a F150 Lighting electric version. He has a Northstar 8K watt generator bolted into the bed, next to the toolbox.
I asked him, "So why did you buy a truck?" Flipped me off.
Posted by: ed in texas || 01/21/2023 17:23 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
The 'king of tides' is coming: US west coast braces for intense flooding this weekend - and waters could increase to more than 10 FEET in some areas
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news]
  • A 'king of tides' is expected to hit the US west coast on Saturday

  • This is predicted to increase water levels by more than seven feet in California

  • Oregon could see tides increase by more than 10 feet on Saturday before noon

While these events are typical in the winter, this one follows recent rain storms that battered the west and is happening when a new moon hangs in the sky - and it will be the closest to Earth than it has in more than 1,000.

Meteorologist Kelley Bayern shared a stark warning on Twitter Friday: 'King tides arrive on the Oregon coast today and this weekend. Expect significantly higher tide levels [and] sneaker waves. Please use extra caution on the sand.'

Sneaker waves often happen in Northern California and Oregon. They are significantly larger than the previous waves and can happen without warning signs.

King tides, however, are predictable before they bring a flow of water from the marina to surrounding towns.

Matt Zaffino, chief meteorologist at KGW TV in Portland, Oregon, shared in a tweet: 'Extreme high and low tides this weekend courtesy of the new moon. Luckily, the sea state off the Oregon and Washington coasts will not be extreme.’

King tide is not a scientific name, but a catchy term from Australia to describe the year's highest high tides.

The National Weather Service issued a Flood Advisory for the Peninsula coast on Thursday due to the expected high tides. The advisory is in effect through Monday afternoon.

King tides already ravaged Seattle in December, which saw dozens of families forced to evacuate their homes in a South Park neighborhood. Homeowners reported seeing up to four feet of water flowing through their backyards after the event disappeared.

Along with the high tides, the king tides also bring low tides that uncover beaches and other locations that are usually submerged.

California is feeling the brunt of Mother Nature with devastating storms in recent weeks that brought 200 to 600 percent more rain than usual. The series of atmospheric rivers that hit the state has done an estimated $1 billion in damage, dumping an estimated 24 trillion gallons of water on the state since December and leaving 19 people dead.
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/21/2023 02:49 || Comments || Link || [12 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Bridge on a nearby coastal river was washed out during last storm. Not sure if NG or ACoE but a vintage Bailey Bridge was installed to reconnect the roadway. Not sure if Elliot Gould was available to oversee installation.
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 01/21/2023 10:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Charming language mutilation by that Limey rag. If you ased "when's the king of tides?" at the marinas here, everyone would fall off the dock laughing.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 01/21/2023 10:46 Comments || Top||

#3  Excellent surfing conditions then
Posted by: Griter Slash1619 || 01/21/2023 11:01 Comments || Top||

#4  King of Tides sounds so much better than Sea Man.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 01/21/2023 11:29 Comments || Top||

#5  Have the Isles of Langerhans been warned?
Posted by: DooDahMan || 01/21/2023 11:32 Comments || Top||

#6  King Tides happen several times a year it seems
Posted by: Frank G || 01/21/2023 11:37 Comments || Top||

#7  Is he related to Heatmizer and Coldmizer?
Posted by: Super Hose || 01/21/2023 11:37 Comments || Top||

#8  Prince of Tides old man.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 01/21/2023 11:40 Comments || Top||

#9  Pretty sure this is from the Al Gore Weather Channel.
Posted by: oregondave || 01/21/2023 13:50 Comments || Top||

#10  Hey Rex, Army engineers are still trained to put together bailey bridges in 'A' school at Ft Leonard Wood.
Posted by: ed in texas || 01/21/2023 17:14 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Isaev: Zombie Defense
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

Most of the commentary by Russian military historian Alexey Isaev; Annotation by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin:

[ColonelCassad] Military historian Alexei Isaev on how, in the conditions of devastation and civil war, the Bolsheviks solved the issues of organizing the military industry.

Social cataclysms do not have the best effect on all spheres of public life, the defense industry is no exception. After the revolution of 1917, it would seem that the defense industry is not much needed.

From a formal point of view, in the fall of 1917, the stocks of weapons in the Russian army (both directly in the troops and in warehouses) were: approx. 18 thousand artillery pieces, up to 35 thousand machine guns, St. 5 million rifles, up to 33 million shells, approx. 2.1 billion rounds. Although in some works of the Soviet period these reserves were called "meager", everything is known in comparison. In the Red Army in April 1943, there were 53 thousand machine guns, 4.4 million rifles + ~ 250 thousand automatic ones. Comparable.

It would seem that for the Civil War enough for the eyes. Moreover, it is often argued that the old army fought in 1918-1922. The real picture is somewhat more complicated.

Firstly, who said that the legacy of the ancien regime went to the opponents in the Civil Code entirely? In the winter of 1917/18, as a result of a chain of events (the demobilization of the old army, the deep advance of the Austro-German troops, the formation of new states on the outskirts of the former empire, problems with the evacuation and storage of military property, etc.), a significant part of the weapons was lost.

As a result, by July 1918, when the flames of civil war flared up in the east and south of the country, the central Soviet leadership had at its disposal: 4,600d artillery. guns (including 1,600 faulty ones), 12,000 (600) machine guns, 1.5 million (143,000) rifles, approx. seven million shells, approx. 800 million rounds. What was the elephant, what was the elephant!

In the second half of 1918, the supply of the Red Army was released: approx. 2,000 artillery guns, ca. 2.5 million shells, 927,000 rifles, 8,100 machine guns, 563.3 million rounds of ammunition.

Now stocks have really become "meager". By the end of October 1918, there were serviceable property in the warehouses: 1,332 artillery tools, ca. five million shells, 252,000 rifles, 3,231 machine guns, 310.4 million cartridges.

At the beginning of January 1919, 53,000 rifles and 171 million cartridges remained in the warehouses of the Main Artillery Directorate (without the Tula factories). In addition, there were about 150,000 rifles of various foreign systems (mainly Japanese) and 265 million cartridges for them in the warehouses.

As early as March 1, 1918, V.I. Ulyanov-Lenin, in his article “On Business Grounds,” acted as a cap and wrote: “The best army, the most devoted to the cause of the revolution, people will be immediately exterminated by the enemy if they are not sufficiently armed, supplied with food, and trained.” Those. understanding was present at the very top and it was then that key decisions were made.

Secondly, a logical action like “Let's squeeze state-owned weapons back from those who left the front with rifles and machine guns” brought a very limited result. Requisitions from the population and organizations (according to the decree of the Council of People's Commissars of December 10, 1918) by March 9, 1919 brought R.-K.K.A. 145,000 serviceable and St. 3 thousand faulty rifles of various systems, 280 serviceable machine guns of various systems, 100 artillery pieces, about 7 million rounds of ammunition and other property. You don't roam.

Faced with the "meager" in key positions stocks left over from the anciennes regime, from May-June 1918, the Bolsheviks, simultaneously with the formation of the Red Army on a conscription basis, begin to make efforts to restore military production, which had fallen into decay due to the termination of participation in world war, and because of the general economic crisis.

All this was aggravated by the evacuation, in particular, of Petrograd. Chairman of the Extraordinary Commission for the Supply of the Red Army L.B. Krasin frankly admitted already in December 1918 ( http://militera.lib.ru/research/melia_aa/03.html):

"An even greater blow to industry [than its demobilization] was inflicted by the evacuation of Petrograd, which was decided suddenly ... and which actually amounted to almost complete destruction of Petrograd industry ...". Despite the fact that Petrograd was one of the key centers of military production of the Russian Empire.

As of August 1918, only one of the three weapons factories was operating, three of the nine artillery factories, one of the five cartridge factories, none of the three capsule factories, and two of the five gunpowder factories. The rest were either evacuated, or demobilized, or were in the hands of the enemy.

To increase the output of military products at the Tula factories, a third shift is being introduced. In addition, a bonus system of payment for overfulfillment of the plan and an increased rate of food supply are being introduced. Enthusiasm and the struggle for the happiness of mankind is good, but they knew how to stimulate the ruble today and now. All this begins to bring results quite quickly - by the end of the year. The output of cartridges increased from 5.2 million in August to 16.9 million in December 1918. The output of rifles increased from 11.2 thousand to 22.2 thousand, respectively.

The problem of shortage of qualified workers at enterprises is solved in various ways, including reservations. To attract, the instruction of the commission of the Defense Council of December 5, 1918 is used: "to notify the population as widely as possible that those working at cartridge and weapons factories are exempt from conscription into the army."

The following year, the central authorities repeatedly beat the hands of local trade union and military organizations in carrying out mobilizations at military factories, "because weapons and cartridges are most important" (from Lenin's telegram of August 26, 1919).

In addition, there was a practice of redistribution, the maneuver of the workforce from closing enterprises to those operating on a city, district, even country scale.

Of course, it could not do without the "whip". All defense enterprises were transferred to the category of militarized: the entire composition of workers and employees was declared mobilized, and unauthorized abandonment of work was equated with desertion. This, however, did not save workers from leaving in search of food, with which there were regular interruptions (in the Second World War, staff turnover was also a problem, if anything).

In total, in 1919, the defense industry of the Republic produced 460 thousand rifles, 6,300 machine guns, 357 million cartridges, 366 field guns. For 1920: 427,000 rifles, 4,500 machine guns, 411 million rounds of ammunition, 279 field guns.

Due to difficulties in organizing the production of new weapons, it was necessary to repair the old ones on a significant scale. In 1919, St. 500,000 rifles, St. 2,000 machine guns, approx. 800 guns. In 1920: ca. 400,000 rifles, 3,100 machine guns, 965 guns. Thus, the refurbishment was comparable to the annual output.

The most interesting topic is artillery shells, ammunition has always been expensive both in terms of raw materials and resources. Release of completely new shots in 1919–1920. amounted to about 200,000 kopecks. Basically, the arsenals were equipped from existing ready-made elements. Due to them and the available stocks, R.-K.K.A received 5.5 million shells during this period.

It can be said that if in artillery the Reds could mainly rely on the stocks of the Russian army, then in small arms and machine guns from the beginning of 1919 they had to rely only on current production.

This feature was noticed back in the 1920s by A.M. Volpe ( http://militera.lib.ru/science/volpe_am01/index.html ):

“... the civil war, unlike the world war, was not an “artillery” war. The Civil War was a machine-gun war. Her tactics were largely determined by this moment. The production of rifles and rifle cartridges was the "shverpunkt" of the military industry. The consumption of shells in the civil war was relatively small. So to speak, this was the "happiness" of the civil war. Who knows what tests our industry would have to endure if the need for shells was the same as during the world war.
Schwerpunkt: a German word which means center of gravity, the main thing.
We will answer comrade. Wolpe from the future: the industry would not have survived. I would run into tight spots. In the same alcohol, necessary for the production of pyroxylin gunpowder.

Who came up with all this? You will not believe. Vladimir Ilyich, who pointed out as early as the beginning of 1918 (when everything was just flaring up): "Stop the production of heavy shells and guns, make light field artillery, machine guns, rifles."

Just in case, I note: light field artillery is also armored trains.

Historians see the personalities of the era in context and wider than in a school textbook or even general works. Whether we like it or not, the decision in early 1918 to focus on light weapons was visionary. There and then. Invisible, yes. The one who makes such decisions on time wins. After listening to specialists or with your own mind, this is no longer so important.

(c) Alexey Isaev
Posted by: badanov || 01/21/2023 00:00 || Comments || Link || [12 views] Top|| File under:


Science & Technology
What is the national power grid and how resilient is it?
[FoxNews] Severe weather, targeted attacks threaten US power grid, but system is 'extremely reliable,' according to expert. /sarc
...so long as one is ok with occasional or regular power outages of minutes to weeks duration.
...But grid planners "really want to avoid any type of event that could result in a long duration outage," which could threaten peoples' health and safety, he added.

Transmission towers have become increasingly hardened against winds, he said. Some power lines are designed so that if a tree limb falls across them, the lines drop away from the pole rather than dragging down the entire pole which would take much longer to fix.

"Part of resiliency is making sure that we don't get those long duration outages by putting in systems that allow us to be able to recover quickly," he said.

The national power grid is actually made up of three loosely-connected regions. That's good news when it comes to resiliency because it means if there's a serious problem in the Western interconnection, the Eastern U.S. should be fine, Brooks said.

"An issue that starts to happen and hopefully would never actually cascade into a complete blackout, that wouldn't go beyond those individual grids," he said.

A diverse array of power sources is also key to grid resiliency, Brooks said. Solar power might perform well during the day, but the benefits vanish when the sun does, so other resources such as nuclear, gas or coal might pick up the slack.

"The key is making sure you understand how all of those perform in the context of those needs of the system," he said. "Resiliency, affordability, reliability, sustainability."

Shortly after taking office, President Biden committed to making the American economy "net-zero" by 2050. The administration paused new oil and natural gas leases on public lands, among other actions aimed at promoting "green" energy sources. A recent report from an energy watchdog found some utility companies have retired existing fossil fuel power generation before sufficient alternatives were in place, which could result in supply shortfalls.

The ambitious decarbonization goals change the way energy experts plan for the future.

"Our models basically show that in order to make that happen, the most economic pathways are for the electric grid to be used to help decarbonize the other energy sectors," Brooks said.

The electric sector currently fills about 20% of U.S. energy needs, but models show that figure rising as high as 60% by 2050 in order to meet the Biden administration's goals, Brooks said. That means electrifying transportation, industry, commercial operations and homes.

"The grid is going to only be increasingly important as we go forward," Brooks said. "We'll have to all continue to work together, to innovate, to invest to make sure that we have those resources that are available for the grid to provide for us as we need."
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/21/2023 00:00 || Comments || Link || [22 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It takes a week+ to reestablish power after a hurricane in places use to the weather event. That involves bringing in outside crews and teams from out of state. What happens when its widespread enough those teams are busy at home? It takes much longer. Public Utilities are not authorized by state commissioned to maintain 'fire departments' in large numbers because the cost gets passed to the consumers, who of course bitch about it.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/21/2023 7:07 Comments || Top||

#2  The last National Power Grid ITSEC assessment I was read on, indicated....

IT-Security for the US Interconnected power grids faced serious attack, using only moderate skills and efforts.

Due to lack of physical & IT security of 1,000's rural and urban access control points.
Posted by: NN2N1 || 01/21/2023 9:01 Comments || Top||

#3  Anything but adding more generation.
Posted by: Bobby || 01/21/2023 9:05 Comments || Top||

#4  Gotta put EMP in the equation. Natural and/or man made.
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 01/21/2023 9:46 Comments || Top||

#5  Electricity is after all, racist.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/21/2023 10:25 Comments || Top||

#6  Until it's hacked.
Posted by: DooDahMan || 01/21/2023 11:29 Comments || Top||

#7  Its what you use every time you plug in your air conditioner.

Kamela Harris ----------->The More You Know
Posted by: swksvolFF || 01/21/2023 11:51 Comments || Top||

#8  They won’t cut me off the grid as long as I can cogen with my carpet and fluffy socks.
Posted by: Super Hose || 01/21/2023 11:54 Comments || Top||

#9  Kamala is an absolute genius and polymath. She's had incredible talks on outer space as well.
Posted by: DooDahMan || 01/21/2023 12:57 Comments || Top||

#10  Did you know Russia is a very large country, and it is located next to Ukraine?

Kamela Harris knows.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 01/21/2023 17:04 Comments || Top||

#11  How resilient is the grid?
Not very, or you wouldn't ever hear about it.
Posted by: ed in texas || 01/21/2023 17:17 Comments || Top||

#12  Electrons don't lie.

Thay can be easily manipulated, however.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 01/21/2023 17:59 Comments || Top||

#13  Thay 'They'
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 01/21/2023 17:59 Comments || Top||

#14 
Posted by: Skidmark || 01/21/2023 20:00 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
In 2023, expect more violence in Thailand’s insurgency-hit Deep South
[BenarNews] The separatist insurgency in the mainly Malay Moslem provinces of Thailand’s southern border region just entered its 20th year.

Violence in the Deep South inched upwards in 2022, a sign that frustration may be growing on the rebel side with the government’s lip service to the grinding of the peace processor.
...or it could be that the jihadis are returning to previous behaviours now that the Covid lockdown has petered out.
Overall, violence rose last year but remained quite low by historical standards, according to an open-source data set kept by this author. The numbers are conservative in that not every attack or incident of violence was reported in the media.

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 01/21/2023 00:00 || Comments || Link || [18 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency



Syria-Lebanon-Iran
What happened to the Switzerland of the Middle East?
[An Nahar] Since an unprecedented financial crisis hit Lebanon Hezbollahstan
...a formerly French, now an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. ...
in late 2019, the currency has lost more than 95 percent of its value and much of the population has been plunged into poverty.

Factional deadlock has left the country largely leaderless in the face of the political and economic turmoil, with a vacant presidency, a central bank chief under European investigation and a government with only caretaker powers.

On Thursday, on the black market, the Lebanese pound fell below the psychologically important threshold of 50,000 to the greenback, dealers said.

The main official exchange rate still pegs the pound at 1,507 to the dollar.

Parliament convened Thursday for an 11th bid to elect a new president, but failed again.

A new study published by the U.N. World Food Program this week found that 1.29 million Lebanese citizens and 700,000 refugees from the conflict in neighboring Syria were food insecure in the last four months of 2022.

It is a huge fall for a country that once boasted the monicker "Switzerland
...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell...
of the Middle East" for its role as a regional financial center.

The worsening political paralysis has Lebanon not only without a president but also with only a caretaker government, stalling a host of economic reforms aimed at stopping wasteful spending and combating rampant corruption.

A senior financial adviser, Michel Kozah, said the Lebanese pound’s worsening deterioration is due to the absence of appropriate measures to stabilize the currency early on in the crisis, including formal capital controls, and a plan approved by the International Monetary Fund.

Instead, he said, there have been short-term policies and circulars from the government and central bank that he describes as a "shot of morphine."

"We gave promises to the IMF but did nothing," Kozah explained. "If you were anywhere else in the world, you wouldn’t get to where you are today because the authorities would have taken measures from day one."

Lebanese authorities in April 2022 reached a tentative agreement with the IMF for a recovery plan conditional on a host of economic reforms and anti-corruption measures. However,
by candlelight every wench is handsome...
the international organization has been critical of Lebanon's sluggish efforts to meet these demands.

Meanwhile,
...back at the wreckage, Captain Poindexter wished he had thought to pack sun block...
Lebanon’s cash-strapped banks continue to impose strict limits on withdrawals of foreign currency, imposed in October 2019, tying up the savings of millions of people. As the economy continues to tank without any reforms, some depositors have resorted to storming bank branches and taking their trapped savings by force.
Posted by: Fred || 01/21/2023 00:00 || Comments || Link || [20 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  Were it not for the thorny problem of what to do with Beirut, Lebanon should long ago have divided into Christian north (with capital at Tripoli) and Muslim south.
Posted by: Slavising Unineting5672 || 01/21/2023 7:36 Comments || Top||

#2  The problem being, it's in the middle east.
Posted by: ed in texas || 01/21/2023 9:58 Comments || Top||

#3  I never got a Switzerland vibe from Lebanon. It has always seemed more like a post apocalyptic inner city mall with an Arab slum aesthetic.
Posted by: Super Hose || 01/21/2023 10:12 Comments || Top||

#4  /\ In other words, the typical ME country ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/21/2023 10:17 Comments || Top||

#5  Yes. In my imagination Lebanon smells like a dumpster behind McDonalds baking in the sun on a hot summer day - just like the rest of the ME.
Posted by: Super Hose || 01/21/2023 10:23 Comments || Top||

#6  Was reportedly pretty nice until the PLO (thanks, Yasser!) infected it
Posted by: Frank G || 01/21/2023 10:37 Comments || Top||

#7  And Beirut was "Paris of the Middle East".

But Chicago and San Fran used to be nice cities, too, from what I've heard.
Posted by: DooDahMan || 01/21/2023 11:28 Comments || Top||

#8  My uncle (married to my Dad's sister) was from Lebanon. He always said how beautiful and what a great place it was, but he moved here in the 1930's when still a teenager.

He had often spoken to family back home over the years and they told him how bad it had become. He told me how sad that made him and it was all due to the 'A-raabs' (as he called them).
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 01/21/2023 18:06 Comments || Top||

#9  It fell like Humpty Dumpty. You would almost be better off kicking everybody out and starting over.
Posted by: Super Hose || 01/21/2023 22:34 Comments || Top||

#10  Another case of tragic dirt.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 01/21/2023 22:52 Comments || Top||

#11  The Muslims outbred the Christians and Christians emigrated. When there were enough Muslims, the fireworks began.
Posted by: Thruter Gloluger6393 || 01/21/2023 22:59 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
37[untagged]
4Islamic State
3Hezbollah
3Sublime Porte
2Taliban/IEA
2Govt of Iran Proxies
2Commies
1al-Shabaab (AQ)
1Ottoman Proxies
1Palestinian Authority
1[untagged]
1Thai Insurgency
1Boko Haram (ISIS)
1Govt of Saudi Arabia
1Baloch Liberation Army

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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
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Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2023-01-21
  Turkish-Backed SNA Leader Killed, Militants Wounded In Syria’s Azaz
Fri 2023-01-20
  Antifa Shoots a Cop in Atlanta; Call for a ''Night of Rage''
Thu 2023-01-19
  Boko Haram Terrorists Launch Attack On Borno Community, Kill Farmer, Abduct Eight Others
Wed 2023-01-18
  Al-Shabaab attacks military base after loss of key stronghold, driven off leaving 21 deaders behind
Tue 2023-01-17
  Terrorists Storm Church In Katsina, Northwest Nigeria, Kidnap 25 Worshippers
Mon 2023-01-16
  Man arrested after uranium found at UK’s Heathrow Airport
Sun 2023-01-15
  33 ISIS Militants Arrested In Five Iraqi Governorates
Sat 2023-01-14
  Senior ISIS leader killed in Somalia’s Puntland state
Fri 2023-01-13
  Coordinated attacks kill 14 Malian soldiers
Thu 2023-01-12
  Al-Qaeda Emir Killed During Ma'rib Clashes with Sana'a Forces
Wed 2023-01-11
  Thai troops kill six Bad Guys near Myanmar border
Tue 2023-01-10
  McCarthy confirms Swalwell, Schiff & Omar will be off committees
Mon 2023-01-09
  Indian Army foils Rajouri-type attack; 2 terrorists killed in Poonch
Sun 2023-01-08
  Cop martyred in Bannu; four ‘militants’ dead in CTD operation
Sat 2023-01-07
  Ron DeSantis activates National Guard amid migrant surge in Florida Keys


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