Wonky but good explanation of why "simple answers" won't work-----Battery Basics for Climate Warriors

Battery Basics for Climate Warriors
"Got to thinking about...some of the fact ammo climate skeptics here might need if/when Kerry becomes Biden’s climate guru. 

So here is a bit more...fact ammo for the maybe coming renewed climate war.
One of the BIG problems with renewables is their intermittency. 

Another is their lack of grid inertia. (See my recent guest post on Grid Stability for details.) 

Innumerates like Kerry persistently claim both issues can be/will eventually be overcome by more grid interconnectivity or by better grid battery storage. 

Those hopes/beliefs are almost certainly wrong.

...This hopefully not too technical complementary post explains why their rechargeable grid battery hope is also wrong. It does so in a simplified yet easily researchable way. 

It provides all the key words for anyone seeking deeper grid battery storage understanding.
,,,Two final definitional climate warrior ‘ammo’ reminders

• First, batteries live in a DC world. 
• Grids live in an AC world. 

There is always the significant added cost and limited reliability of the necessary high voltage high power DC/AC interfaces...
Second, using batteries to solve renewable grid intermittency is something touted by Elon Musk, and ‘gifted’ by him to South Australia after their 2016 renewable induced disastrous grid blackout. 

But Elon used a simple marketing ‘con’, same as the California flow batteries exposed in essay California Dreaming.
...Elon ‘conned’ South Australia (IMHO to gain free ‘advertising’), and Australia’s MSM never caught on.

Tesla’s Hornsdale, SA facility (below, now expanded by 50%)...can hold up the SA grid for little more than an hour. 

The South Australia blackout duration depended on where you were; metropolitan Adelaide was restored first. Central Adelaide was dark for at least three hours. 

More symbolic hopium that doesn’t work in the real world."

"...if your 911 system can be taken down by an explosion 180 miles away, your 911 system sucks."

Instapundit--if your 911 system can be taken down by an explosion 180 miles away, your 911 system sucks.
HMM: “A recreational vehicle parked in the deserted streets of downtown Nashville exploded early Christmas morning, causing widespread communications outages that took down police emergency systems and grounded flights at the city’s airport. 

Authorities said they believe the blast was intentional. .
. . AT&T said the affected building is the central office of a telephone exchange, with network equipment in it.
The blast interrupted service, but the company declined to say how widespread outages were. . .

 . The AT&T outages site showed service issues in middle Tennessee and Kentucky, including Bowling Green about 65 miles (105 kilometers) north of Nashville. 

Several police agencies reported that their 911 systems were down because of the outage, including Murfreesboro and Knox County, home to Knoxville about 180 miles (290 kilometers) east of Nashville. The Federal Aviation Administration temporarily halted flights out of Nashville International Airport because of telecommunications issues associated with the explosion.”
This reminds me a bit of the mysterious shot-up substation in Silicon Valley a few years back, like it’s someone trying to demonstrate a capability to monkeywrench things. 

Stay tuned.
Also, if your 911 system can be taken down by an explosion 180 miles away, your 911 system sucks.--Posted by Glenn Reynolds

Lunch video-----Ep. 2 | Climate Alarmism

Noon-toon

 

Caruzo: In Socialist Venezuela, Coronavirus Christmas Is Just as Bad as All the Others

Caruzo: In Socialist Venezuela, Coronavirus Christmas Is Just as Bad as All the Others: 

Socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro decreed a flexibilization of the Chinese Coronavirus quarantine for the whole month of December 2020 to allow Venezuelan citizens to enjoy Christmas, but the ongoing collapse of this country has irreparably damaged people’s ability to partake in Venezuela’s Christmas traditions.

Venezuela braces itself to celebrate yet another modest but bleak Christmas. Its citizens, uncertain of what’ll happen in 2021 with the ongoing political crisis, find themselves battered by a brutal year where the Chinese coronavirus pandemic exacerbated everything already going wrong: the hyperinflation, the blackouts, and the shortages of gasoline, cooking gas, and water.

The way it "works".

 

What happens when we don't trust our governments any more.

Instapundit---What happens when we don't trust our governments any more.

TWITTER THREAD:

Read the whole thing.--Posted by Ed Driscoll"

Priorities...or pure election theft collusion?

 

Their hate is all consuming-----The New Yorker’s final cover of the year: “In with the New” (Harry Bliss).

The New Yorker’s final cover of the year: “In with the New” (Harry Bliss).

#1 This day 1966-----I'm a Believer - The Monkees

"...So long as men write what they think..."

 

Pure vote payback to their liberal university "supporters". Disgusting waste!

 

Michigan AG threatens sanctions against lawyers who attempted to overturn election - TheBlaze

Michigan AG threatens sanctions against lawyers who attempted to overturn election - TheBlaze: 

Michigan Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel will seek sanctions against attorney Sidney Powell and other lawyers she says made "intentional misrepresentations" in filing lawsuits to challenge the results of the Michigan presidential election.

A a freedom-hating, near-criminal organization.-----The Top 10 Worst UN Actions of 2020 - UN Watch

The Top 10 Worst UN Actions of 2020 - UN Watch

7. UN Elects China, Russia, Cuba, Pakistan to Top Human Rights Body

The rights-abusing regimes of China, Cuba, Russia and Pakistan were elected to the UN’s top human rights body, raising the percentage of non-democracies on the UN human rights council from 51% to a staggering 60%.

UN Watch published a report evaluating all of the candidate countries, and filed formal protests at the United Nations—published as official UN documents—against the election of China, Cuba, Pakistan, Russia, and Saudi Arabia.

UN Watch also organized an online press conference featuring top human rights dissidents who urged UN member states to oppose the candidacies of their oppressors.

UN Watch was quoted by the Associated Press, BBC News, Newsweek and other major media. Even as apologists for UN immorality sought to justify the election of abusers, UN Watch’s viral tweets dominated the global conversation.

AM Fruitcake

 

History for December 26

History for December 26 - On-This-Day.com

Mao Zedong (Tse-tung) 1893- Chinese dictator

• 1620 - The Pilgrim Fathers landed at New Plymouth, MA, to found Plymouth Colony, with John Carver as Governor.
• 1865 - The coffee percolator was patented by James H. Mason.
• 1941 - U.S. President Roosevelt signed a resolution that set the a fixed-date, the fourth Thursday of November, for the Federal Thanksgiving Day holiday.
• 1947 - Heavy snow blanketed the Northeast United States, burying New York City under 25.8 inches of snow in 16 hours. The severe weather was blamed for about 80 deaths.
• 1982 - The Man of the Year in "TIME" magazine was a computer. It was the first time a non-human received the honors.
• 1996 - Six-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family's home in Boulder, CO.

'Sinister' plan circulating in left-wing circles: Strip accreditation from religious schools that don't comply with progressive policies - TheBlaze

'Sinister' plan circulating in left-wing circles: Strip accreditation from religious schools that don't comply with progressive policies - TheBlaze: 

On Tuesday, in an op-ed published by the Daily Signal, Texas Republican Rep. Brian Babin raised awareness about a dangerous plan being hatched by progressives to shape future generations of Americans.

The way we were-----I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day (Civil War background)

CHRISTMAS SPECIAL - Bastogne 1944 - The Forgotten Flying Heroes (incredible story begins after short ad)

Race for Space: China's Quest for World Domination Reaches New Heights - UncoverDC

Race for Space: China's Quest for World Domination Reaches New Heights - UncoverDC
"China has been violating human rights, stealing intellectual property, and using technology developed by the United States and other nations for years. 

And while compared to the U.S., China’s space industry is still in its early stages, the Department of Homeland Security maintains that China is now striving to get ahead by stealing military space technology to advance its international dominance.

• Senator Joe Biden asserted in the 1990s and early 2000s that embracing China into the global trading system would compel Beijing to play by international rules. 
• In 2000, Biden voted to extend permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) to China, arguing that the move would benefit American workers. 
• He contended that an annual review of China’s trade status was an empty threat that no longer served a purpose. 
• Biden went so far as to declare that China’s leaders, after being forced to acknowledge the failure of communism, had consciously undertaken a fundamental transformation of the communist...

...Steve Ricchetti, a current advisor to Biden, helped organize the PNTR effort 20 years ago as deputy chief of staff to President Bill Clinton. 

The bill passed 83-15 and secured China’s entry into the World Trade Organization, and solidified the communist regime’s global economic ties...Read all!

Read all!!

Five Unknown Facts About Washington’s Crossing The Delaware On Christmas Day

Five Unknown Facts About Washington’s Crossing The Delaware On Christmas Day

5 Fast Facts You Might Not Have Known About George Washington Crossing the Delaware:

...4. Washington Considered Canceling the Attack

The weather that night grew ever worse as time moved on, with one soldier recording that “it blew a perfect hurricane” as snow and sleet lashed Washington’s army.

George Washington’s men were suffering from poor morale before the crossing of the Delaware. They were tired, hungry, and hardly clothed for the elements.

By the time Washington and his troops got to the other side of the river, they were a full three hours behind schedule. It was another 10 mile march to Trenton.

The Mount Vernon site writes:

With every delay Washington’s fears that his army would be caught in the open magnified. What to do? Contemplating his choices Washington was seen brooding on a crate near a fire. Washington later wrote, when remembering this fateful moment, “…As I was certain there was no making a retreat without being discovered and harassed on repassing the River, I determined to push on at all Events.”...Read all!

Murica!

 

Deborah Birx announces she will retire, cites backlash against her family following hypocritical Thanksgiving trip - TheBlaze

Deborah Birx announces she will retire, cites backlash against her family following hypocritical Thanksgiving trip - TheBlaze: 

Birx — who came under fire this week after it was revealed she flouted her own health guidance by traveling to Delaware over Thanksgiving weekend with three generations of her family from two separate households — said that the subsequent treatment of her family was a contributing factor in her decision.

DID YOU KNOW: Here Is The Totally Amazing Story Of How Christmas Became Christmas

DID YOU KNOW: Here Is The Totally Amazing Story Of How Christmas Became Christmas
"Everybody has heard the Christmas classic poem by Clement Clarke Moore, “Twas the Night Before Christmas,” but do you know why the theology professor wrote it, to whom it was addressed and when it became known throughout the world?
Today is Christmas Eve and, despite the strangeness that 2020 has brought to virtually every aspect of our daily lives, thanks to the Coronavirus Pandemic, hundreds of millions of people around the Earth will celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ tonight.
In the following video from Prager U, William Federer explores the roots of the major features of the world’s most widely celebrated holiday. 

Enjoy. 

And Merry Christmas to you and yours!"

"Real men"...Christmases Past and Future - WSJ

Christmases Past and Future - WSJ

"Another event cancellation driven by state governors acting like “petty tyrants” reminds us of the people who allowed us to live free of major tyrants.

On the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River, the Washington Crossing Historic Park says that due in part to crowd-size restrictions, the beloved annual tradition of re-enacting Washington’s courageous Christmas crossing into New Jersey won’t happen in front of the usual cheering crowds this year. The park notes:

However, to keep the tradition alive, we will debut a special pre-recorded crossing video on Christmas Day at 10 AM. You can tune in this video on the park’s Facebook page or on YouTube.

Looking on the bright side, Jennifer Martin, executive director of Friends of Washington Crossing Park, tells NJ.com: “We see this as a positive, that the daring crossing and the history is something we can share with people from all over the world.”

Sounds good given the unreasonable limits on liberty imposed by governors on both sides of the river. 

But what would Washington think? 

NJ.com’s Kevin Shea reports:

Gen. George Washington would have made his daring 1776 crossing of the Delaware River during a pandemic.

In fact, he likely did.

Smallpox was rampant during the colonial era and deadly disease was just another obstacle to overcome when Washington planned the Christmas night crossing from Pennsylvania to New Jersey on his way to defeat the Hessians in the first Battle of Trenton the next morning...Read all!

Lunch video-----The Amazing History of Christmas

Noon-toon

 

Donald Trump Excoriates Congress for COVID Relief Bill - Louder With Crowder

Donald Trump Excoriates Congress for COVID Relief Bill - Louder With Crowder: 

In March, government told you to shutdown for 15 days to flatten the curve. In December, here we all are, pining for a life of basic normalcy. Congress's answer to your sacrifice was to throw you a $600 check and call it "relief." Never have I see so much unity between Democrats and Republicans than when we came together to ask a collective "WTF?" In agreement, President Donald Trump. Not only did The Donald scoff at the 600 smackers, he went so far as to highlight what other piles of garbage the bill contains. You'll get angry watching this, but that's the point.

Our new normal, microaggression

 

Line 17!