memfree @ memfree @beehaw.org

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314

Joined

2 yr. ago

Links to a static png image of the map and to the full Interactive map's site.

You can pat yourself on the back? The article is about how the new rules make it hard for such groups to justify the cost of installing solar when the benefits look thin and potentially changeable.

You still get SOME money for adding power to the grid, but you're basically getting paid a 'wholesale'-like price and paying out the retail mark-up. I'm not sure how California's grid works, but where I am, we have "line fees" for maintaining the infrastructure to cover that sort of thing.

They can't afford any of it. Two points.

Point A) Renters. They're renting. The new change will...

... make solar panels less economically enticing for apartment dwellers, farmers, schools and strip malls, solar companies say.

-- there were harsher proposals, but this is a mid-way kinda where renters will get something but not as much as others.

renters will be paid much less than they are today for electricity generated by their rooftop panels above and beyond what they and their neighbors use — electricity that is sent to the larger power grid, helping the rest of us keep the lights on.

Point B) They've made it pointless for schools and farms:

other utility customers affected by the decision — including schools and farms — will still have to pay full retail rates for all the electricity they consume. Even if they install solar panels that cover some of their consumption, they’ll have to pay their utility for power during times of day when their panels are generating.

Under the new rules, “schools will not be permitted to generate their own power any longer. Instead, they’ll be forced to buy their own solar back from utilities at full price,” said Sasha Horwitz, a legislative advocate at the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Good catch!

For those who don't know, when a legal doc says "shall" it means one MUST comply or get in trouble. If it says "should", it means you don't really have to care.

Yup!

Because they bought the rights to the book. Perhaps there will be another movie once Musk has passed.

I agree. I included the links in the quoted text so people could more easily make public comment. I don't think we want everyone saying they are in the severe category when they are not, but yeah, we don't want to stop supporting people who need help.

Oh, Canada. 🙃

Finding a tasty pumpkin is usually the hardest part. The few I've tried from this list (with pictures!) were better than the average pie pumpkin I've had, but note that the list includes lots that are better for roasting than for pies. Here's the ones I notice they like most for pies: Blue Hubbard, Butternut Squash (I've heard canned pumpkin are actually butternut because the flavor is better), Jarrahdale, Kabocha, Long Island Cheese, and Neck (these are the ones I usually get -- we call them Crooknecks in my family).

I'm coping with the shadow of doom by not breeding. To be fair, my initial reason was simply that I didn't want to mess up any kids the way I'd been messed up, so I chose sterilization. I've never regretted it and repeatedly found great comfort in my refusal to subject offspring to this world (and in sparing this poor overcrowded world to the burden of more people).

FYI: From context I think you meant "defund" rather than "defend".

Obviously Scalise is a lying liar. George tried to call him out on how funding IRS enforcement would increase revenues, but Scalise (again) dodged by acting as if catching tax cheats would be bad for the 'working' man.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, you just cited the CBO. I mean, that's their analysis. It’s going to reduce it because you’re taking away enforcement.

SCALISE: Right, but the CBO said -- but the CBO said it's going to actually hit people making under $400,000 a year with $4 billion in new taxes.

That violates President Biden's own pledge by the way that he made to low income families. He promised he wouldn't raise their taxes. CBO said it would be a $4 billion hit to those families.

(CROSSTALK)

... he thinks 400K is low income?

This is important! This is the sort of thing voters need to be calling about to their Congress folks. This is where we need media attention -- especially the mostly defunct local news that SHOULD be telling us which way our elected officials are positioning themselves for upcoming issues, and then checking to see if they voted as they said they would.

This is the sort of thing where Congress KNOWS it is unlikely that anyone will know how the votes go down, and they'll get 'campaign' money from mega-corps for screwing over the voting public. Don't let them get away with it!

Call your Representative NOW and tell them you are watching. Better: tell them you are part of a group (whatever group you might be in) and you are educating the whole group to vote on this issue. Tell them you are watching to see when they vote for and against public interest. Then DO SO.

The mine is kinda closed, but in receivership of PriceWaterhouseCoopers , is somewhat under government control, and on native lands belonging to Selkirk First Nation. They've had low salmon runs recently and this is really bad for the fish.

“The last thing you want to do is dig up mud, which is what this company did. The water license very specifically says ‘Don’t do this,’ and they went ahead and did it. So, it’s a huge concern to us.”

...

Todd Vogt, JDS’ chief operating officer and executive vice president, said the company had to dredge the river due to an “emergency situation.”

He explained water levels were dropping fast and two exposed boulders at the barge landing were obstructing the barge landing. At the time, the territory was at the height of wildfire season, and there were concerns for workers’ safety at the mine site in case of evacuation.

...

But Rifkind said proper steps still should have been taken.

He said JDS should have informed the territory’s Department of Energy, Mines and Resources’ mining inspector, as well as Fisheries and Oceans Canada about the situation.

“This wouldn’t have prevented them from doing the work, but there would have been a paper trail of why the work was required,” he said.

He said a report would then have to be filed with the Yukon Water Board explaining why JDS “varied” from the conditions of the mine’s water licence. [sic]

Anyway, it sounds like mistakes were made and it is hard to tell if the responsible people are learning from the mistake or if they're just blowing it off without plans to improve. I'm hoping for the former, but it is the sort of thing that needs to get publicized so voters can demand accountability.

P.S. I make hummus from 1/2 pound dry garbanzo beans cooked for a long, long time. Add 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda near the end to ensure soft, mushy beans. Maybe 15-20 minutes of extra cooking after that, then drain off excess water and let cool. The beans shouldn't be dry, of course, but not soupy, either. There are vegan recipes that use that leftover liquid, so consider saving it.

In a food processor, add several cloves of garlic, about 3 tablespoons tahini, and a bit of salt (maybe 1/2 teaspoon or less). Add somewhat cooled beans, 1/2 teaspoon sumac, and about 1-2 small lemon of zest and juice OR 1/2 -1 large lemon. You can save some juice to the side for correcting flavor later. Optionally add pine nuts or other flavor agents, like roasted red peppers or parsley. I diverge from the standard hummus by adding a glug of olive oil directly into the mix as well as using it as a topping, so add a couple tablespoons in if you so desire. Buzz repeatedly, scraping down the sides as needed until you have a creamy mix. Correct seasoning as desired, then put in a bowl, create a swirling depression in the middle and sprinkle with sumac, then drizzle with olive oil. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate. A good olive oil may make it stiffen up in the refrigerator, so if you are going to eat it cold and added oil to the blend, you may want to make it with extra liquid.

My baba ghanous is almost the same recipe, but with roasted eggplant instead of beans, and extra tahini when the eggplants are over-mature, which means darker, more bitter seeds (and which the extra tahinin cuts).

First, I want to make sure we're talking about sumac and not poison sumac. I originally got it as garnish for my hummus and Baba ghanoush. It works well in lots of Mediterranean recipes. For me, it seems to lose potency when cooked too long, so I generally add it towards the end.

I am fine with medical schools taking in unclaimed bodies for the purpose of training future doctors, but it is disturbing that the number of such bodies has spiked so much. That can't be good. This seems especially problematic given there are businesses out there who offer people free cremation through donation, but then sell the bodies off -- often for parts -- pocket the money, and let business decide what to do with them, such as bomb testing.

That is: family probably could have gotten a free cremation (with gruesome capitalism behind it), but instead, an increasing number of bodies are getting sent to schools. This says worrying things about the nation's social and fiscal security.

H-h-how? HOW? do they 'anonymize' DNA?!?! Remember how in 2007 'anonymized' netflix data was linked back to actual members? That was just checking what people watched on Netflix compared to what they rated on IMDB.

With DNA, you should be able to figure out who someone is by the fact you an exact DNA record! I mean, it'll share similarities with your parents, and children, and to a lesser degree, more removed relatives. How hard can it be to figure out that this woman is related to that guy with an arrest record. Or more specifically: this is the exact person because we see other records from any doctor or whatever with the same DNA.

After decades of sci-fi/fantasy entertainment to prime us, the primal part of the human brain that reacts to in-group and out-group members suddenly changes in every human and we start reflexively and unintentionally classifying all earth life as friends and space/environmental threats as enemies.

Humanity immediately gets serious about climate change, CO2 reduction, and the like, but we also get way too zealous about deploying space lasers.

Chile and Colombia asked the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to interpret what obligations nations have to respond to human rights issues, such as migration, that are caused or exacerbated by the climate emergency. And in March, the United Nations General Assembly approved a resolution calling on the UN-affiliated International Court of Justice to clarify a similar issue.

Of these, ITLOS is expected to be the first to respond publicly, likely by next spring.

...

If and when ITLOS issues its opinion laying out the legal requirements of states to respond to climate change, the decision will not be legally binding. Nor will it relate to every country in the world. UNCLOS is an opt-in international agreement, and some countries—notably the United States—have not signed on. Regardless, experts say the tribunal’s decision is likely to affect the opinions of other courts, such as the International Court of Justice.

So no matter what they say, nothing will be done until/unless their are also subsequent successful lawsuits that cite the findings to win against polluters, and then also win in appeals and eventually get some compensation -- which will also be unlikely to change any damaging pratices, but might get a few people out of harm's way.