For only three countries to be self-sufficient, I suspect there is some funny definition like, "Well Americans eat 100pounds of pork each year, and they have to import pork to hit that number, ergo America is not food self sufficient." When instead you could switch calories to any number of alternatives.

Seems a weird thing to highlight - the battery output at a single moment in time. If you could coordinate it properly, I would guess that there is enough capacity that you could meet 100% of power needs, if only for a moment.

Would make more sense if you reported what fraction of the entire night energy demand was offset by batteries. Which eye-balling it, still appears to be a healthy amount.

> Seems a weird thing to highlight - the battery output at a single moment in time.

The early evening time frame is actually pretty important. Demand doesn't fall until later in the evening, but solar supply drops out.

Before large battery capacity, this demand had to be satisfied with (expensive) peaker plants and imports. Looking at the graph from that one day, there's still a big jump in supply from natural gas until overall demand falls, but imports come on gradually.

Of course, this graph is only from one day; but if this is normal and especially as more batteries go online, it may significantly reduce the use of gas peaker plants and should reduce the cost of early evening electricity. Although, if you still need those plants for grid stability in rare events, using them less regularly will likely increase cost to use them when needed.

The peaks are the dirtiest and most costly parts of the generation.

That's why solar in air conditioned areas was such a boon. And now batteries are combining with solar to take down the next dirty/expensive peak (and you can already see them start to address the morning peak).

That is my read, some saner heads have communicated there is no way to win. So, just walk away and declare Mission Accomplished.

I honestly do see Trump just declaring he lost. "These Iranians put up a good fight and we weren't prepared." or something to that effect. He's been known to acknowledge defeat, like his complete 180 when Mamdani won.

I would be shocked if he ever does that. Much more likely is just say something completely different and pretend that has always been the case

> "These Iranians put up a good fight and we weren't prepared." or something to that effect.

Not an American but. There is no fucking way Trump will acknowledge that.

It does make WH40k seem more plausible. Tech priests praying to the capricious machine spirit to just please do the thing.

What are the chances we see a resurgence of WFH?

It was worse than that, the reporting from an earlier story[0]

  ...Unable to pay her bills from jail, she lost her home, her car and even her dog.

There is not a jury in the country that will side against the woman. I am not even sure who will make the best pop culture mashup - John Wick or a country song writer?

(Also, what happened to journalism - no Oxford comma?)

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47356968

As an aside AP Style is not use an Oxford comma, and that's been the rule for 50+ years https://www.prnewsonline.com/explainer-how-to-use-oxford-com...

This is upsetting.

Yes, finding out how badly wrong you were is never fun. Of course the lack of ubiquitous Oxford comma use is itself and separately displeasing.

AP Style is simply wrong on this, then.

Well, omitting the Oxford comma is the traditionally correct thing to do. I use the Oxford comma, it makes sense, but it is new. A hundred years ago it would have been considered an error by nearly every editor.

Indeed let out on Christmas Eve with no money 1000 miles from your homeland.

Where your home was lost to foreclosure because one JUDGE did not look at the paperwork.

There should be a way to personally sue somebody when they don't do their job. Protecting the innocent. The JUDGE failed badly here.

Flimsy evidence would mean no warrant. Do your basic investigation please... Rubberstamping JUDGE caused this.

Why are they not named? Like they are a spectator. Infact they are the cause.

TBF isn't it rather unreasonable that our system permits your home to be foreclosed while you're detained prior to a hearing?

Also rather unreasonable to arrest someone who is clearly neither violent nor a flight risk. You could literally hold the trial via video conference at that point and there would be no downside.

At the risk of sounding like more of an anarchist (irony, autocorrect went with absurdist which isn’t entirely wrong either) than I might usually feel, that all depends on who you believe the system is for and works for? If you believe it’s “capitalism” as been so often proven, then it could be said that it’s entirely “reasonable”.

> depends on who you believe the system is for and works for

We are still enough of a democracy to blame ourselves for this. We could choose that the system is of the people, by the people, for the people. I think too many of us simply don't agree with that, except in the narrow situation where we are talking about ourself.

We could just overcome the tens of billions shoved into our faces aimed at undermining it and brainwashing us, and choose that the system is of the people?

The deck is so unbelievably stacked against it.

Another thing: many people hav e been permitted to vote in let's say 40 elections (at different levels), out of which maybe 1 had a candidate that indeed supported a "system that is of the people", and 39 didn't. Gets tough then doesn't it.

You have more faith in the country than I do.

Normally, I would be a bit more grim, but people love their animals. I pray even the staunchest authoritarian would see the injustice of losing a dog.

You're not aware of Noem killing her dog by shooting it in the face, lining up three horses and shooting them, while being proud of it all?

iirc the dog was a dangerous animal and had attacked people and animals uprovoked quite a few times. didnt hear about it so not sure about the horses, but typically people dont just execute horses when they aren't injured or at risk of living out a traumatic existence. who knows, media spins and all that jazz, but I wouldn't hesitate to end a liability of a dangerous dog or a horse in suffering that had no chance of recovery, however reluctant id feel in the moment

anyone in the chain of responsibility should be punished so severely that they will be still crying about it in 2030

Yet the US government just asked for $200 billion to materialize out of thin air to support a needless conflict. Even if it cost a trillion dollars, that is decades of long term energy independence.

You can look at maps of solar insolation[0] - these give you typical levels of solar input. There is of course weather variations, but the long-term trends should be consistent.

One thing that can catch me is how much more north Europe is than basically all of the USA. The general solar insolation is worse, yet they are still doing a healthy business of solar. The panels are so cheap that even if you are in a crummy environment, you can just add more.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_irradiance

Yes, Europe is very North. Also comparing with China: Beijing is the same latitude as Madrid.

I was going to say, there must be some research on how much/little this impacts the urban heat island effect.

Is there anything special about cat litter? Or just cheap and abundant?

The common clumping litters are usually some form of clay, dried to remove moisture. It's about as nonflammable as things come and lighter than undried clay.