Sep 21, 2022 04:11 PM
UK gas reserves are 96 per cent lower than in Germany right now
https://www.newstatesman.com/chart-of-th...pe-germany
RELEASE: As Europe heads towards winter and alarm rises over gas supplies, the UK has found itself with among the lowest volumes of gas in storage in Europe.
Data from industry group Gas Infrastructure Europe shows that the UK has only 9.8 terrawatt hours (TWh) of gas in storage, equivalent to just 1.2 per cent of our annual gas consumption. By contrast, Germany has 220.8TWh, Italy 170.3TWh, and France 126.9TWh.
The UK has the second highest overall gas consumption in Europe, using gas to heat 85 per cent of homes and provide around 40 per cent of electricity. Yet while other European countries have been working to fill storage facilities over the summer, the UK has not done so. Part of the problem is that the UK dismantled its largest gas storage facility in 2017, a decision taken by Liz Truss, who was then chief secretary to the Treasury.
In light of Russia restricting its gas exports to Europe, EU member states agreed in July to reduce gas demand by 15 per cent over the winter. Countries such as Croatia and Greece have introduced temperature limits on air conditioning and central heating, while Spain is forcing shops to turn off window lighting by 10pm.
The UK gets far less of its gas from Russia, but is still exposed to price rises in the wider market and has done little to try to reduce gas demand. This increases the likelihood of rationing measures and blackouts over the winter.
Five myths about China that can get us killed
https://americanmind.org/features/florid...out-china/
EXCERPT: For a generation Taiwan has pretended to arm itself and the mainland has pretended to be deterred. Taiwan’s young people don’t want to be ruled by Beijing party bosses, but they don’t want to do more than four months’ military service. Taiwan can’t find pilots for the F-16s it buys from us. Meanwhile two million Taiwanese work on the mainland, where Taiwan has invested $200 billion. We can kick that can down the road while we rebuild our strength. Or we can fight a war now that we probably will lose.
Right now we are laboring under five myths about China that could get a lot of us killed... (MORE - missing details)
COVERED:
Myth #1: America is making China rich, and can weaken it by reducing imports, investment, and so forth.
Myth #2: China depends on stolen American technology.
Myth #3: China faces demographic collapse.
Myth #4: China wants to take over Taiwan because it is led by an expansionist Marxist-Leninist party that hates and fears democracy.
Myth #5: We can deter China by shifting military forces to Asia and adding to conventional capabilities.
Anna Paulina Luna is ready for people to get to know the “new GOP.”
https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/233294...2-red-wave
INTRO: Luna, 33, is an Air Force veteran, political activist, and likely future Congress member representing Florida’s 13th District, a seat that got safer for Republicans in the latest round of redistricting. She’s also a granddaughter of Mexican immigrants and one of a record 43 Republican Latina candidates who ran for House seats this year, 17 of whom have won their primaries so far.
“I think that the new GOP that exists is not your stereotype of what it used to be,” she tells Vox. “We’ve had to really push back against this narrative that Republicans are just older white males, which to be clear, there’s nothing wrong with that. However, it’s false. I mean, we’re so diverse.”
The “new GOP” Luna references doesn’t sound all that different in its policy goals from the one of years past. But if she and other members of her cohort win, the party will certainly look different. Currently, just 16 percent of House Republicans are women, while 9 percent are people of color. Should Luna and other Latina GOP candidates win this year, it would mark major progress for Republican efforts to broaden the party’s slate of lawmakers — and appeal to voters — an existential issue in a country that’s poised to be majority-minority by 2050.
Other Latina candidates vying for competitive seats include former Sen. Ted Cruz staffer Cassy Garcia in Texas’s 28th, former Happy Valley Mayor Lori Chavez-DeRemer in Oregon’s Fifth, and Prince William County official Yesli Vega in Virginia’s Seventh.
There are two big factors driving the surge in Republican Latina candidates this year, says Olivia Perez-Cubas of Winning for Women, a group dedicated to electing Republican women.
“There has been a concerted effort on the right to focus on the Hispanic and Latino community, and to recruit more diverse candidates who are reflective of their district,” she tells Vox. “There’s also growing frustration in the Hispanic community that Democrats no longer reflect their values, and we’re seeing more candidates willing to run because of it.” (MORE - details)
Here’s What Happens When Democrats Abandon a City to Crime
https://spectator.org/allison-rice-baton...hite-girl/
EXCERPTS: “Kill are be killed.”
That’s what a spray-painted graffiti message reads on a metal wall a stone’s throw from the 1500 block of Government Street near downtown Baton Rouge. It’s a double testament — both to the scandalously dangerous character of that particular speck of earth along one of the city’s main thoroughfares and to the scandalously dangerous deficiency of the public schools in East Baton Rouge Parish.
The graffiti, which has been on that metal wall for close to 15 years without anyone bothering to paint over it, turned somewhat prophetic in the early-morning hours of Sept. 16. Because a stone’s throw away was the scene of one of the most stomach-turning, senseless murders in the history of a city hosting far, far too many of them.
Baton Rouge is a shooting gallery with one of the most hardened criminal classes of any in America — and a political class which has made its peace with that fact and only sluggishly bothers to fight off the contagion. Pandering to criminals gets more votes than stopping them in much of the city. You already know what results that brings...
[...] The truth is, there are two Baton Rouges, not just one.
There is the Baton Rouge that exists at the 1500 block of Government Street and essentially everywhere north of there. That Baton Rouge is monolithically black, horrendously poor — while the median family income of white residents of Baton Rouge was $98,000 in 2019, for blacks it was a pathetic $31,000 that same year — government-dependent, and absolutely awash in crime and drugs.
It’s one of Michelle Obama’s famous food deserts; the storefronts that used to house supermarkets, shops, retail centers, and other businesses are still there, but they’re largely empty and abandoned, every shred of copper wiring or anything else of value removed to the black market.
That Baton Rouge elects politicians who carp constantly at the need for “investment” in a community that has systematically destroyed any possible incentive business might have in throwing money into its maw. The stores closed because what customers there were weren’t enough to sustain them against the shrinkage rate, and because the violent crime in the parking lot made it unpalatable to operate. And without any change in the culture that killed commerce in those neighborhoods, that economic reality cannot and will not change.
It’s a dead Baton Rouge. “Kill are be killed” is the quintessentially idiotic phrase to describe it. It’s Jackson, Mississippi with a nice-tasting water supply…for now.
And there is the Baton Rouge that exists for most of the parts south of the 1500 block of Government Street. That Baton Rouge is bustling with commerce — shops, car dealerships, restaurants, industry, new construction. It isn’t monolithically white, but a large majority of it is. A large swath of it is unincorporated, and residents there are attempting to create the city of St. George in a situation not wholly dissimilar to what the proposed city of Buckhead is doing in Atlanta.
And catching the same reaction from the powers that be. Because Dead Baton Rouge has more votes than Live Baton Rouge.
In July 2016, in what turned out to be the final gasp of actual law enforcement in the city... (MORE - missing details)
https://www.newstatesman.com/chart-of-th...pe-germany
RELEASE: As Europe heads towards winter and alarm rises over gas supplies, the UK has found itself with among the lowest volumes of gas in storage in Europe.
Data from industry group Gas Infrastructure Europe shows that the UK has only 9.8 terrawatt hours (TWh) of gas in storage, equivalent to just 1.2 per cent of our annual gas consumption. By contrast, Germany has 220.8TWh, Italy 170.3TWh, and France 126.9TWh.
The UK has the second highest overall gas consumption in Europe, using gas to heat 85 per cent of homes and provide around 40 per cent of electricity. Yet while other European countries have been working to fill storage facilities over the summer, the UK has not done so. Part of the problem is that the UK dismantled its largest gas storage facility in 2017, a decision taken by Liz Truss, who was then chief secretary to the Treasury.
In light of Russia restricting its gas exports to Europe, EU member states agreed in July to reduce gas demand by 15 per cent over the winter. Countries such as Croatia and Greece have introduced temperature limits on air conditioning and central heating, while Spain is forcing shops to turn off window lighting by 10pm.
The UK gets far less of its gas from Russia, but is still exposed to price rises in the wider market and has done little to try to reduce gas demand. This increases the likelihood of rationing measures and blackouts over the winter.
Five myths about China that can get us killed
https://americanmind.org/features/florid...out-china/
EXCERPT: For a generation Taiwan has pretended to arm itself and the mainland has pretended to be deterred. Taiwan’s young people don’t want to be ruled by Beijing party bosses, but they don’t want to do more than four months’ military service. Taiwan can’t find pilots for the F-16s it buys from us. Meanwhile two million Taiwanese work on the mainland, where Taiwan has invested $200 billion. We can kick that can down the road while we rebuild our strength. Or we can fight a war now that we probably will lose.
Right now we are laboring under five myths about China that could get a lot of us killed... (MORE - missing details)
COVERED:
Myth #1: America is making China rich, and can weaken it by reducing imports, investment, and so forth.
Myth #2: China depends on stolen American technology.
Myth #3: China faces demographic collapse.
Myth #4: China wants to take over Taiwan because it is led by an expansionist Marxist-Leninist party that hates and fears democracy.
Myth #5: We can deter China by shifting military forces to Asia and adding to conventional capabilities.
Anna Paulina Luna is ready for people to get to know the “new GOP.”
https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/233294...2-red-wave
INTRO: Luna, 33, is an Air Force veteran, political activist, and likely future Congress member representing Florida’s 13th District, a seat that got safer for Republicans in the latest round of redistricting. She’s also a granddaughter of Mexican immigrants and one of a record 43 Republican Latina candidates who ran for House seats this year, 17 of whom have won their primaries so far.
“I think that the new GOP that exists is not your stereotype of what it used to be,” she tells Vox. “We’ve had to really push back against this narrative that Republicans are just older white males, which to be clear, there’s nothing wrong with that. However, it’s false. I mean, we’re so diverse.”
The “new GOP” Luna references doesn’t sound all that different in its policy goals from the one of years past. But if she and other members of her cohort win, the party will certainly look different. Currently, just 16 percent of House Republicans are women, while 9 percent are people of color. Should Luna and other Latina GOP candidates win this year, it would mark major progress for Republican efforts to broaden the party’s slate of lawmakers — and appeal to voters — an existential issue in a country that’s poised to be majority-minority by 2050.
Other Latina candidates vying for competitive seats include former Sen. Ted Cruz staffer Cassy Garcia in Texas’s 28th, former Happy Valley Mayor Lori Chavez-DeRemer in Oregon’s Fifth, and Prince William County official Yesli Vega in Virginia’s Seventh.
There are two big factors driving the surge in Republican Latina candidates this year, says Olivia Perez-Cubas of Winning for Women, a group dedicated to electing Republican women.
“There has been a concerted effort on the right to focus on the Hispanic and Latino community, and to recruit more diverse candidates who are reflective of their district,” she tells Vox. “There’s also growing frustration in the Hispanic community that Democrats no longer reflect their values, and we’re seeing more candidates willing to run because of it.” (MORE - details)
Here’s What Happens When Democrats Abandon a City to Crime
https://spectator.org/allison-rice-baton...hite-girl/
EXCERPTS: “Kill are be killed.”
That’s what a spray-painted graffiti message reads on a metal wall a stone’s throw from the 1500 block of Government Street near downtown Baton Rouge. It’s a double testament — both to the scandalously dangerous character of that particular speck of earth along one of the city’s main thoroughfares and to the scandalously dangerous deficiency of the public schools in East Baton Rouge Parish.
The graffiti, which has been on that metal wall for close to 15 years without anyone bothering to paint over it, turned somewhat prophetic in the early-morning hours of Sept. 16. Because a stone’s throw away was the scene of one of the most stomach-turning, senseless murders in the history of a city hosting far, far too many of them.
Baton Rouge is a shooting gallery with one of the most hardened criminal classes of any in America — and a political class which has made its peace with that fact and only sluggishly bothers to fight off the contagion. Pandering to criminals gets more votes than stopping them in much of the city. You already know what results that brings...
[...] The truth is, there are two Baton Rouges, not just one.
There is the Baton Rouge that exists at the 1500 block of Government Street and essentially everywhere north of there. That Baton Rouge is monolithically black, horrendously poor — while the median family income of white residents of Baton Rouge was $98,000 in 2019, for blacks it was a pathetic $31,000 that same year — government-dependent, and absolutely awash in crime and drugs.
It’s one of Michelle Obama’s famous food deserts; the storefronts that used to house supermarkets, shops, retail centers, and other businesses are still there, but they’re largely empty and abandoned, every shred of copper wiring or anything else of value removed to the black market.
That Baton Rouge elects politicians who carp constantly at the need for “investment” in a community that has systematically destroyed any possible incentive business might have in throwing money into its maw. The stores closed because what customers there were weren’t enough to sustain them against the shrinkage rate, and because the violent crime in the parking lot made it unpalatable to operate. And without any change in the culture that killed commerce in those neighborhoods, that economic reality cannot and will not change.
It’s a dead Baton Rouge. “Kill are be killed” is the quintessentially idiotic phrase to describe it. It’s Jackson, Mississippi with a nice-tasting water supply…for now.
And there is the Baton Rouge that exists for most of the parts south of the 1500 block of Government Street. That Baton Rouge is bustling with commerce — shops, car dealerships, restaurants, industry, new construction. It isn’t monolithically white, but a large majority of it is. A large swath of it is unincorporated, and residents there are attempting to create the city of St. George in a situation not wholly dissimilar to what the proposed city of Buckhead is doing in Atlanta.
And catching the same reaction from the powers that be. Because Dead Baton Rouge has more votes than Live Baton Rouge.
In July 2016, in what turned out to be the final gasp of actual law enforcement in the city... (MORE - missing details)