256 Comments

"Hey, for the next bill, let’s do permitting and grid reform to get green energy online faster!"

Adding for anyone who is interested — FERC (the feds) just announced reforms to permitting in order to get renewables onto the grid faster: https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/clean-energy/ferc-takes-a-big-step-to-get-more-clean-energy-on-the-us-grid

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Insulin costs were capped at $35/month in May of 2020. The Maui fires are suspected of being started by downed power lines. Tax credits for fuel efficient vehicles were put in place in 2005 and have been available pretty much since. I thought this would be an article discussing the Maui fires and the slow response, and it’s just another flippant deflection and defensive spray of talking points and inaccurate statements.

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The admin better get on the stick here and fast

Don’t want this to become bushes Katrina or trumps Puerto Rico

Don’t we have a huge navy base in Hawaii? Why not activate them?

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WHERE ARE THE PAPER TOWELS, CREPPY JOE?

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One quick way to help is for the Navy to send a nuclear-powered ship from Pearl Harbor. Its reactor could provide electricity, potable water, and hot water showers for the entire area, for months on end if need be.

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So the connections just magially appear? Maui has electricity. The power stations were not affected by fires

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What Garrett said. And, with no infrastructure the locals have no running water or hot water.

After hurricane Iniki on Kauai in late 92, the survivors said one of the most difficult things to get used to was cold showers.

After the earthquake in Haiti, the USG spent big bucks helicoptering potable water from ship to shore. Firehoses can be joined together and laid from ship to shore instead.

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Power stations are not the same thing as power distribution. Hawaiian Electric clearly states on their outage map website that western Maui customers should prepare for extended outages that could last for several weeks.

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Yep. Just suggested similar

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Hey, tfg 'splained how hard it is to get relief to an island. They're surrounded by water. Big water. Ocean water.

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Yes-if only there were some military capability somewhere nearby….

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Ta, Dok. More nice times.

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I hear there are quite a few sailors and marines in Hawaii. Not on Maui I guess, too bad.

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There’s a Coast Guard station, armory, and an Army reserve center on Maui. The national guard was activated and put in place days ago.

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Joe Manchin needs to be shot out of a very large cannon towards the sun.

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Yes, that will certainly bring assistance and relief to the Hawaiian families affected. Good idea.

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The FIDE has declared that trans women have a biologically "unfair advantage" at chess. They also said trans men who transitioned after they started playing must give up any titles they won pre-transition, which is the first time I've heard of a professional sports organization doing something like that to trans men (there have been many attacks by politicians on trans boys playing school sports).

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Biologically unfair advantage. At chess.

JFC I can't even.

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Well sure, if the chess pieces are Emperor Qin Shi Huang's terra Cotta army.

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Wait, chess? WTF?

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Huh. I guess Caitlyn Jenner will have to give back all those Olympic gold medals.

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I'm surprised she hasn't returned them already.

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You guys, please don’t prove the Gipper right.

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Senator Manchin is a loathsome man.

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If that asshole thinks anyone not in West Virginia is going to vote for home, he is delusional.

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My good deed for the day. Apparently two gal friends not talking to each other, so intervened. Gal I'm at the address I'm at mentioned that other one got a Medicare envelope last week, but no response from other one. On it. She replied right off.

Got one too because me and Doryan same age, pushing 65. She HAS to fill out that form inside, otherwise she gets signed up for the full ride. Which would deduct from her Social Security benefit ... which, turns out, she doesn't know how to apply for. On it. Priority mail going out tomorrow. She agrees not to "let money lay on the table," as I put it.

Not judging. Most people are intimidated by even the simplest of bureaucracy. I'm an old campaigner.

Me, again, Jim Dandy to the rescue, which is now my theme song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJXM-ssg2Hg

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More than a few of my friends are getting fucked by their Advantage plans. I'd go with Real Medicare. Seriously.

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STAY WITH "REGULAR" MEDICARE!!!!!!

When you sign up for "Medicare Advantage," you lose control of your original Medicare account. "Advantage Plans" take your full Medicare $$$ and give you back a portion of it. [Don't know what portion, don't care, I hate them SO much.] They throw in the crap they advertise on teevee to get seniors interested in that part of it. It's a HUGE money-maker for these grifters. Originally it was referred to as Medicare Replacement, but that sounded a little scary and not sexy enough. So the word "Advantage" was swapped in 'cause it sounds like you're getting a real deal! I worked in medical billing at a fairly large hospital when this shit started, and we all got to watch it happen. "Old people in Floriduh"? YUP--unfortunately, the target audience is still eating it up.

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Shrub's backdoor sneak attack, designed to hasten the privatization of Medicare. The only one of them I've seen worth a damn is Kaiser, and you have to have been in their system already or they won't take you. Also, you have to live somewhere they have facilities.

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In California, we can have both Med-Cal and Medicare. The former has zero out of pocket. But what happens is Medicare pays for most, and Medi-Cal picks up the rest.

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Yeah, I'm aware of that. Didn't know that's what she is going for. Medi-Cal is a lifesaver if you qualify for it, and as a supplemental to Medicare, it's even awesomer.

What I said about Advantage plans doesn't apply here, but I still stand by it!

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thank you for helping them. Navigating our son's disability application was a nightmare

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Aug 17, 2023Edited
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Uh, yeah, you do. They even have a URL for it:

https://www.ssa.gov/apply

And no, you don't need anyone to witness the Medicare form. You just sign it in and mail the thing.

Sheesh.

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Hey I found Dok's article about homeowner benefits (and MORE!) in the IRA that was so freakin helpful

https://www.wonkette.com/p/we-ve-got-more-nifty-energy-and-climate-news-if-you-can-stand-it-and-we-bet-you-can

It's got links to the programs & calculators & so forth you need. I'm so glad I went back to it, because after I read it I got a guy to come out and quote everything & ***all*** the work would be about break even except adding a new breaker ($5K is what I was quoted), which GUESS WHAT is also covered under the Inflation Reduction Act so hallelujah, let's get this done!

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Huzzah!!!

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The weirdest thing happened to me today: I ordered a Camelbak tumbler from Amazon and they delivered a box of four tumblers and then they didn't want the extra three back. WTF??????? They don't know how to deal with this....

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[shrugs] Hey, free tumblers.

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You don't understand I was raised Roman Catholic. The nuns made sure that we would do the right thing--especially since they were holding a ruler or a pointer that they could use as a punishment device.

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I was raised Jewish.

I have +10 Resistance bonus to all guilt.

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Aug 17, 2023
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Did they attend parochial school or even, as I did, boarding school?

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Aug 16, 2023
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It does. Many retailers are refunding people's purchases but refusing to accept the returned merchandise.

It has to do with skyrocketing shipping costs, a very real lack of workers to handle the merchandise, and the bizarre and currently distorted economics of buying a thing for cheap in one place, moving it to another place and selling it for more money. Things are deeply weird in the US economy; probably globally too. It's not showing up in the stock market or corporate profits, which are all the media ever discusses; but it's showing up in the day-to-day getting things done of business.

I'm seeing the cost of trucking a semi-load of equipment from Las Vegas to Minneapolis and back costs over 6x more now than it did in 2019. Nearly $20k now, as opposed to a little over $3k. This is not because of high demand for trucking. According to shippers, it's the opposite. There's so much less stuff being shipped right now, all the overhead costs of running the business have to be carried by one truckload instead of six. That's why Yellow just collapsed.

When things that don't make sense keep happening, and the explanations don't make sense either; keep your eyes open and your head on a swivel. Once things do make sense, they'll make sense in a quick hurry and not in a good way.

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That tracks with my neighbors moving expenses to WA. About 1500 miles, about 1200 cubic feet of stuff, $11K. I'd rent a U-Haul, myself.

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yep, your last paragraph, that is what terrifies me and keeps me awake at night. There is a reason 'shock & awe' tactics have worked so well in the past. We here in the US are seeing it play out in real time during OUR lifetimes. May we all survive the worst of us in the coming days.

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OT: On a cheerier note...

𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮’𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/16/economy/jobs-inflation-reduction-act-clean-energy/index.html

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"Ask Your Congressional Representative If They Voted Against This Project"

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Easy. Are they Republican? Then they voted against this project.

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Yup. Because fuck America and Americans.

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And do better than Chuck Todd. Don't let them use weasel words or excuses. Get a fuckin' answer. And then ask why they're running around touting the benefits when they failed to vote for it.

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