#Fire Protection System Specialist

[trustelite]

Fire Safety Solutions by Elite – From Alarms to IG100 Gas Suppression

Elite is your trusted fire protection system supplier in Singapore, offering certified hose reel cabinets, responsive fire alarm systems, and eco-friendly IG100 Gas Suppression Systems. Safeguard lives and assets with our comprehensive fire safety solutions, designed for maximum reliability and peace of mind.

[markcarykelty]

Trusted Fire Emergency Detection Systems in Wetherill Park

Protect your property with trusted fire emergency detection systems from Fire Protection Specialist in Wetherill Park. We serve Riverstone, Windsor, Richmond and Mulgrave, ensuring your building is safe and secure. Trust our experts for comprehensive fire protection services tailored to your needs.

[firereadyaustralia]

Fire Risk Assessors in Brisbane - Fireready Australia

What is the role of a risk assessor?

A risk assessor plays a crucial role in identifying, evaluating, and managing potential risks in various contexts, such as in the fields of finance, health and safety, environmental science, engineering, and more. Their primary responsibility is to assess the likelihood and potential impact of different risks to help organizations or individuals make informed decisions and implement appropriate risk mitigation strategies. The role of a risk assessor involves several key components:

Identification of Risks: Risk assessors identify and categorize potential risks that could affect a project, process, system, or organization. This involves understanding the specific context, industry regulations, and potential sources of risk.

Risk Assessment: Once risks are identified, risk assessors evaluate the likelihood and potential consequences of each risk. This often involves analyzing historical data, conducting research, and utilizing specialized tools or methodologies to quantify and qualify the risks.

Data Analysis: Risk assessors gather and analyze relevant data to assess the probability and impact of risks. This might involve statistical analysis, historical data review, and modeling techniques to predict potential outcomes.

Risk Ranking and Prioritization: After assessing various risks, they prioritize them based on their potential severity and likelihood. This helps organizations allocate resources effectively to address the most critical risks first.

Risk Mitigation Planning: Risk assessors work with stakeholders to develop strategies and plans to mitigate or manage identified risks. This could involve implementing preventive measures, contingency plans, or risk transfer mechanisms (such as insurance).

Communication: Effective communication is crucial in the role of a risk assessor. They need to convey complex risk information to non-experts, decision-makers, and stakeholders in a clear and understandable manner, enabling them to make informed choices.

Continuous Monitoring: Risks are not static; they can evolve over time. Risk assessors often engage in ongoing monitoring and review of risks to ensure that the mitigation strategies remain relevant and effective.

Regulatory Compliance: In many industries, there are regulations and standards that organizations must adhere to. Risk assessors help organizations identify and address risks to ensure compliance with these regulations.

Documentation: Accurate documentation of the risk assessment process, findings, assumptions, methodologies, and mitigation strategies is essential for transparency, accountability, and future reference.

Feedback Loop: Risk assessors may also be involved in a feedback loop, where the effectiveness of risk mitigation strategies is evaluated and adjustments are made as necessary.

Overall, the role of a risk assessor requires a combination of analytical skills, domain knowledge, critical thinking, communication abilities, and a deep understanding of the specific industry or context in which they operate.

What is fire risk assessor liability?

Fire risk assessor liability refers to the legal responsibility and accountability that fire risk assessors may have in the event of errors, omissions, or negligence in their fire risk assessment activities. Fire risk assessors are individuals or professionals who evaluate fire hazards, assess fire safety measures, and provide recommendations to prevent and mitigate fire risks in various settings such as buildings, facilities, and public spaces.

If a fire risk assessor fails to perform their duties in a competent and responsible manner, and this failure results in harm, property damage, injury, or loss of life due to a fire-related incident, they could be held liable for their actions or lack thereof. Liability can arise from various sources, including contractual obligations, legal regulations, and common law principles. Here are a few aspects to consider regarding fire risk assessor liability:

Professional Negligence: If a fire risk assessor fails to exercise the level of care, skill, and diligence expected of a reasonably competent professional in their field, they might be deemed negligent. If this negligence leads to harm, property damage, or injury, affected parties could potentially bring a legal claim against the assessor for compensation.

Contractual Obligations: Fire risk assessors often have contracts or agreements with their clients or employers that outline the scope of their services, responsibilities, and expectations. If they breach these contractual obligations and their actions or advice lead to negative outcomes, they may face legal action for breach of contract.

Regulatory Compliance: Fire risk assessments are often conducted to ensure compliance with fire safety regulations and standards. If an assessor fails to identify significant fire risks or doesn't adequately recommend necessary safety measures, they might face legal consequences due to non-compliance.

Third-Party Claims: Individuals who are harmed or suffer losses due to a fire-related incident may pursue legal action against the fire risk assessor, alleging that their negligence or improper assessment contributed to the incident.

Liability Insurance: Many professional fire risk assessors carry liability insurance to protect themselves from potential legal claims. This type of insurance can provide financial coverage in case a claim is brought against them.

Contributory Negligence: If it is determined that the affected party also contributed to the incident through their own negligence or failure to follow safety recommendations, it could affect the extent of the fire risk assessor's liability.

It's important for fire risk assessors to conduct their assessments diligently, follow recognized industry standards and best practices, and communicate their findings and recommendations clearly and accurately. Additionally, staying up-to-date with relevant regulations and maintaining appropriate insurance coverage can help mitigate potential liability risks. If you're seeking advice on fire risk assessment liability, consulting with legal professionals or risk management experts who specialize in this field can provide more specific and current information based on the legal context in your jurisdiction.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Fire Development

Recognizing each stage allows you to describe with accuracy how a fire can quickly increase; later we will discuss fire characteristics, which will provide you with an opportunity to describe accurately the visual features of a fire scene.

THE 4 STAGES OF FIRE DEVELOPMENT

Incipient Stage

Also known as ignition.

This first stage begins when all 4 components have resulted in a fire starting.

Easiest to control and extinguish, and given the right circumstances, may possibly burn out on its own accord before it has a chance to reach the second stage.

Growth Stage

Shortest but most sudden of the 4 stages.

Combination of oxygen and any nearby combustible material will fuel the fire.

As it progresses, gases will rapidly increase in temperature, resulting in a build-up of pressure in the room.

Fully Developed Stage

When all the combustible materials have been consumed, the fire is at its peak and will be fully developed.

At this stage, the heat will be immense, and because the room will be engulfed in flames, there will be little hope of escape or survival.

Decay Stage

If the fire is left, then this final stage will be the longest, as the fire gradually finishes its consumption – think of a bonfire that is left to burn.

The heat still remains intense, and will do for some time, which is why firefighters remain so long at a fire scene even after the flames have been extinguished.

The fire may continue to smoulder and there is a risk of pyrolysis occurring, which may result in a secondary fire.

Source ⚜ More: Writing References

EDIT

Stage One: Ignition

When the 3 elements of the fire triangle (heat, fuel and oxygen) are involved in a balanced chemical chain reaction, a fire begins.

Can also be classed as the incipient stage if the reaction is unbalanced, leading to smouldering, low temperature fire with no visible flames. This type of fire still gives off toxic gases.

The fire easiest to control and extinguish, or as close to this stage as possible.

Stage Two: Growth

The fire begins to consume the available fuel in the area or compartment.

Heat rises rapidly, and in an indoor fire a smoke layer forms at the ceiling, descending as more fuel burns.

Where present, active fire protection systems such as sprinklers or smoke alarms will activate, and passive systems such as self closing fire doors will protect escape routes. An escape should be made in this stage, as the fire will reach lethal temperatures during the growth stage.

Once the fire reaches a hot enough temperature, a transitional event called Flashover occurs. Flashover is where the heat of the fire is enough that all fuel in the room reaches a combustible temperature more or less simultaneously, including the particles of fuel in the smoke layer.

Essentially, the room erupts into a fireball all at once and if you're still in the room when it does, you've caught fire too.

Demonstration of a "Flashover" [video]

Stage 3: Fully Developed

Now all fuel elements are combusting, the fire is at its peak and is considered fully developed.

At this stage, the heat is lethal without specialist equipment to survive it.

Stage 4: Decay

This final stage will be the longest, as the fire gradually finishes its consumption – think of a bonfire that is left to burn.

The heat still remains intense, and will do for some time, which is why firefighters remain so long at a fire scene even after the flames have been extinguished.

The fire may continue to smoulder and there is a risk of pyrolysis occurring, which may result in a secondary fire.

Sources & additional resources: 1 2

Thank you so much to @hypocriticalhypothetical for the added information and corrections!

[shattereality]

The image of stoic, battle-hardened Captain Aphareos gently cradling a baby born from a love as rare as theirs?

Captain Aphareos as a Father – Headcanons (impossible baby scenario with the specialist!) TW: baby shenanigans, canon divergent

The Silent Cradle Watcher

Aphareos is immense. The crib looks like a toy next to him. But he stands there, completely still, watching the infant breathe. For hours. Sometimes through the night.

The Specialist once woke to find him kneeling silently beside the crib in full armor, just keeping watch. Like the baby might be abducted by Chaos gremlins or something.

The Deadliest Rockabye

He doesn't sing lullabies. But he recites war hymns of the Blood Angels in a low, melodic murmur—so calm and deep, it actually soothes the baby.

He holds the baby in one hand, chainsword strapped to his back, gently rocking them while quoting scripture about the Emperor’s radiant might.

Diaper Duty Terminator

He’s terrifyingly efficient about it.

Had to be taught not to use field disinfectant on the baby’s bottom though. (“This is not med-grade ceramite, Aphareos!”)

His large hands are surprisingly gentle—he moves with the same precision he does when disassembling a plasma rifle.

Baby Armor Customizer™

Absolutely makes a tiny armor-shaped sleeper with a mini Inquisition aquila on the chest.

There's a little bib that says “For the Emperor.” Belenor swears he embroidered it himself.

The Danger Glare Parent

No one—and I mean no one—touches the baby unless Aphareos has vetted them personally.

He glares at Belenor even though Belenor delivers supplies and baby toys.

If the baby so much as sneezes, Aphareos side-eyes the nearest tech-priest like he’s blaming them for hex-virus exposure.

Softest Voice for the Specialist

When the baby’s asleep and they’re alone, he sometimes says, “Our progeny… they carry both your fire and my will. I have never known anything more sacred.”

Holds the baby in one hand while sketching them with charcoal in a leather journal.

Ultimate “My Child is Better” Dad

Shows zero emotion when killing Genestealers but immediately softens when baby coos at him.

If anyone dares to compare their child to another? Aphareos: ���Incorrect. My child is perfect.”

The Warpaint Ritual

On each monthly “milestone day,” of the baby, Aphareos paints a tiny dot of sacred ink on their forehead.

“In honor of growth. In defiance of entropy.”

Would Destroy a Planet for Them.

He has no limits when it comes to protecting the baby and the Specialist.

Heretical uprising near the system? “I will raze them before they speak a word near our kin.”

The baby cries while he’s polishing his armor and he instantly drops everything, kneeling down with open arms.

THANK YOU FOR READING! EIRIK IS NEXT!!!

[sooslick]

ATEEZ AS MAFIA

The Organization: "The Kraken Syndicate"

PART 1

Kim Hongjoong: "The Strategist" / Boss

Role: The undisputed Boss. Didn't inherit the position; he seized it through sheer intellect, ruthless strategy, and unexpected boldness. Young but commands absolute respect (and fear).

Style: Impeccably tailored, dark suits with subtle, unique flair (an unusual tie pin, a flash of colored lining). Always looks composed, but eyes miss nothing.

Weapon: A sleek, custom-made pistol (efficient), but his true weapons are his mind and his words. Carries a weighted coin he flips when making critical decisions.

Personality: Charismatic, intensely focused, fiercely protective of his crew. Calculatedly ruthless when crossed. Has a strict moral code *within* his criminal world (e.g., no harming innocents unnecessarily). His loyalty to his inner circle (The 8) is ironclad, but betrayal is met with unforgiving finality. Known for elaborate, theatrical takedowns of rivals.

Park Seonghwa: "The Shadow" / Consigliere & Underboss

Role: Hongjoong's right hand, Consigliere, and de facto Underboss. Handles logistics, finances, internal discipline, and intelligence. The calm to Hongjoong's fire. The one who ensures the Boss's vision becomes reality seamlessly.

Style: Elegant, dark, monochrome suits. Moves with silent grace. Often seen with gloves, meticulously cleaning his glasses or a weapon.

Weapon: Prefers precision – a silenced pistol or a razor-sharp stiletto dagger. Master of poisons and undetectable methods.

Personality: Appears serene, almost ethereal, but possesses a terrifying, cold fury beneath the surface. Deeply devoted to Hongjoong and the Syndicate's stability. Handles interrogation and "clean-up" with chilling efficiency and detachment. The ultimate protector and enforcer of order within the ranks. His loyalty to Hongjoong borders on fanatical.

Jung Yunho: "The Wall" / Head Enforcer

Role: Primary Enforcer and head of security. Leads the muscle. Protects the Boss and key members physically. Handles overt intimidation, protection details, and large-scale confrontations.

Style: Practical, high-quality tactical gear or well-fitted suits that allow movement. Often has a visible earpiece.

Weapon: Prefers brute force – heavy pistol, shotgun, or his fists. Surprisingly agile for his size.

Personality: Warm, loyal, and fiercely protective within the inner circle. Has a bright smile that disappears instantly when on duty. Known for his intimidating presence and unwavering calm under fire. Deeply trusted by Hongjoong and Seonghwa to handle the physical threats. Has a strong sense of honor and protects the weaker members fiercely.

Kang Yeosang: "The Ghost" / Intelligence & Infiltration Specialist

Role: Master of intelligence gathering, surveillance, hacking, and infiltration. Gets in and out without a trace. Creates identities, forges documents, hacks systems.

Style: Unobtrusive, blends into any background. Can look like a delivery boy, a tech worker, or high-society depending on the need. Master of disguise.

Weapon: Silenced micro-pistol, garrote wire, sedatives, hacking tools. Avoids direct confrontation.

Personality: Quiet, observant, incredibly intelligent, and analytical. Speaks little but sees everything. Loyal but operates best alone. Has a dry, subtle wit known only to the inner circle. His loyalty is to the Syndicate's success and his found family within it. Often knows secrets before anyone else.

[dailycharacteroption]

Powered Armor Jockey (Starfinder Archetype)

(art by Shardanic on DeviantArt)

Ah, power armor. Smaller than a proper mech but heavier and tougher than anything in the heavy armor category.

The technical definition of power armor is any suit of armor that comes with additional servos, pistons, and other mechanical parts meant to transfer ordinary human motion into something with a lot more torque, effectively making the wearer superhumanly strong, though depending on the setting, maybe not any faster since moving too fast without protections could see the armor ripping the wearer apart inside of it, which would of course defeat the purpose of it being armor. Additionally, typically power armor is coated in a layer of heavy plating dense enough to take heavy fire which an ordinary human could not normally move in, but can due to the help of the power armor itself.

If you’ve been reading your item descriptions, you might note that a lot of heavy armor in Starfinder is in fact technically power armor, what with assistive servos built in, but proper power armor in the system has it’s own strength score, and is big enough to have hard points for attaching weapons even if they don’t have the integrated keyword.

Now, I told you all that to tell you this: I love power armor, and I love specialist pilots for power armor even more, and that’s what we’re covering today in the form of the Powered Armor Jockey!

Not just a heavy ordinance pilot, these jockeys are also equal part modder enthusiast and field repair mechanics as well, no matter what their skillset is otherwise. This is part of the beauty of the archetype too, as anyone can take it as long as they’re proficient, and while combat-focused classes are the most obvious choice, we’ll see exactly why there’s something here for everyone.

These specialists are constantly modifying and tuning their armor, allowing them to add either an additional weapon mount or space for an upgrade. Later on, they refine this to be able to have both.

They also become intimately familiar with how their armor moves, allowing them to move closer to their normal speed, both in powered and heavy armor.

With knowledge of leverage and the upper limits of their armor, these jockeys can squeeze a bit more power and hit harder with the limbs of their power armor.

Finally, for all their love of the armor, these warriors understand that their lives are still more important than the suit, and they can choose to let their armor take the brunt of attacks they can’t stop outright, damaging it but keeping them alive.

A pretty solid archetype all around, and perfect for any character seeking to specialize in such heavy armor. Now, soldier is the obvious choice, and armor storm is definitely going to be one of your fighting style choices. The fact that so many abilities synergize and specifically stack between the two guarantees it, but beyond that, you might specialize in heavy armament with bombard, bullet storm, or shock and awe, or mix in melee focus with hit and run or wrathful warrior. Other combat classes like solarian and vanguard likely will lean either super defensive to become nearly unkillable, or let the armor do the protecting and go full offense. Meanwhile, nanocyte or evolutionist might be shockingly versatile in such armor.

With non-combat classes, mechanic and technomancer are obvious choices with their technical know-how. You might think experiemental armor is the only choice for mechanic here, but consider the exocortex as an onboard targeting system, experimental weapon as a unique integrated weapon, or even a drone support buddy covering your back. Meanwhile, mages of all stripes can make use of the powered armors durability or strength in a pinch while hammering foes and buffing allies, and sneaky classes like operative and envoy can put in some work making for surprisingly agile and fast power armor sets not unlike Samus Aran.

There’s plenty of ways you can roleplay a character like this. Whether they’re currently serving in a military, a mercenary company, or some other role, they can be anything from brash hotheads to more technical combatants. What remains true is their appreciation for their armor, which can range from technical fascination to an anthropomorphized bond with the armor. On that note, it’s important to remember that it’s completely possible to upgrade the stats of a suit of power armor instead of trading up to the next best one if your character would rather keep their current suit.

Powered armor pilots are known for being eccentric, with some even having small pets they take on missions. However, few are stranger than Aldo, Callsign: Grindhouse, who has a cable serpent named Escavor inhabiting his armor. The two formed a strong bond with each other after the latter spontaneously gained life inside the former’s armor during a mana storm. The internal damage nearly compromised the armor, but the two saved each other and have been inseparable ever since.

Balnar’s Folly is a section of the Kollas System’s asteroid belt that is also the territory of a notorious ysoki pirate, Captain Bloodtail, who fights with her custom rigged armor she calls Scrapclaws as well as a heavily armed support drone called Noisemaker. Needless to say, she likes getting up close and personal with the defenders of any ship she intends to take.

The party is tasked with infiltrating an enemy stronghold, one that should in theory be relatively unguarded save for an on-site skeleton crew of soldiers. However, the intel was bad, and one of the enemy’s elite power armor units is there, a particularly eccentric but nevertheless deadly group.

[meret118]

Elon Musk Is an Evil Piece of Garbage—and an A-Level Fraud Too

He is stupid. He is incompetent. He is cruel. He is sinister. And people will die because of what he’s done.

He vowed to slash $2 trillion in “wasteful” federal spending (the federal government spends just under $7 trillion a year). He recently acknowledged it’ll be more like $150 billion.

However, his “cuts” will also cost American taxpayers $135 billion, according to one estimate, because it turns out that some of these bloodsucking deep staters save taxpayers money.

But even $150 billion is a grotesque lie. Jessica Reidl of the Manhattan Institute—yes, the staunchly conservative and generally pro-Trump think tank—recently told The New York Times’ David French: “So right now I would say DOGE has saved $2 billion, which, to put it in context, is one-thirty-fifth of 1 percent of the federal budget, otherwise known as budget dust.”

. . .

The cuts are leaving thousands of good people unemployed. And they will literally kill people. Coal miners will die prematurely. Children all over the world will die from malaria and other diseases because of the demise of USAID, which Musk called a “criminal organization.” In fact, this is already happening

. . .

Musk and his Muskrats are doing nothing less than compiling a vast database on every one of us: “assembling a sprawling surveillance system,” she writes, “the likes of which we have never seen in the United States.”

https://newrepublic.com/article/194769/elon-musk-evil-garbage-fraud

Trump Is Destroying the Data that Keeps the Country Running

While air traffic controller shortages have understandably been at the center of the story about Trump 2.0–era airline chaos, FAA cuts are gutting more behind-the-scenes positions too.

Back in March, TheAtlantic’s Isaac Stanley-Becker reported that as many as 12 percent of the FAA’s aeronautical-information specialists—those tasked with updating charts, maps, and flight procedures—had been fired or were exiting the agency as part of the government-wide buyout program spearheaded by DOGE. These kinds of cuts to critical information-gathering services are happening across agencies, eroding the government’s ability to collect and interpret data on everything from maternal mortality to flight paths, hurricanes, and electricity. The results could prove far more devastating than a few hundred canceled and delayed flights.

. . .

Experts have raised alarm bells in recent weeks about White House attempts to make it easier to fire federal officials. If economists at the Bureau of Labor Statistics could be fired at will, without the usual lengthy appeals process, they could be pressured by political appointees into manipulating BLS data on politically sensitive subjects like inflation, unemployment, productivity, and growth.

newrepublic.com/article/194930/trump-destroying-data-keeps-country-running

DOGE Was Bad. Schedule F Will Be Worse.

An executive order will convert 50,000 government employees into de facto political appointees who serve only at the president’s pleasure.

theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/04/trump-civil-service-schedule-f/682609/

A DOGE Recruiter Is Staffing a Project to Deploy AI Agents Across the US Government

https://www.wired.com/story/doge-recruiter-ai-agents-palantir-clown-emoji/

Elon Musk's time machine DOGE is taking America back to the 1800s, one agency closure at a time

DOGE has been very good at reducing the number of people who work for the government — as many as 216,000 federal employees and contractors are already out, with more dismissals in the works. Musk has gutted or eliminated agencies that prevent disease, protect us from pandemics, provide aid to our allies, ensure the safety of our food and medicines, and safeguard Americans against toxic chemicals. Every one of those efforts is a proven multiplier of our tax money — every dollar we spend on them redounds to the US economy.

Which means that even if Musk succeeds at slashing government spending, he'll actually be adding to the federal deficit: DOGE cuts to the Internal Revenue Service alone are estimated to cost America some $500 billion in lost tax revenue every year.

. . .

Here are four possible explanations for what DOGE is actually up to. Maybe none of them are right. Or perhaps they're all accurate, to varying degrees. But one thing is certain: Each of them provides a more plausible insight into what DOGE is doing than the official explanation of saving taxpayers money.

https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-doge-cuts-federal-worker-firings-government-plan-2025-4

[mariacallous]

The causes of the power outage that left millions in Spain and Portugal without electricity on Monday have yet to be fully determined, though service has now been restored across 99 percent of the Iberian peninsula. Red Eléctrica, the public company in charge of operating Spain’s transmission infrastructure, has preliminarily ruled out a cyberattack, human error, or unusual weather or atmospheric conditions as a cause of the outage. The company points out that the incident could have originated from two “disconnections of generation,” possibly linked to the inherent volatility of renewable sources.

Specialists emphasize that this type of total blackout—an exceptional and infrequent event—is also a security mechanism of the electricity system itself. For a grid to operate stably, energy production must be kept in balance with consumption; imbalances can cause blackouts as well as potentially damage infrastructure.

Maintaining grid balance is the responsibility of the system operator, who monitors parameters such as electrical frequency, voltage, and load from substations in real time. When there are significant discrepancies between generation and demand, automatic disconnections are activated in specific areas of the grid to avoid imbalances. In the most serious situations, the impacts of these triggered disconnections can extend to the entire network.

“This generalized blackout occurred because, in just five seconds, more than half of the electricity-generation capacity was lost,” Álvaro de la Puente Gil, professor of electrical engineering at the School of Mining Engineering of the University of León, said in comments to the Science Media Centre (SMC) in Spain. The grid, unable to balance such a sharp drop between generation and demand, protected itself by automatically disconnecting both internally and from the rest of the European grid.

In comments to the SMC, Miguel de Simón Martín, professor of electrical engineering at the University of León, explains that balance on a grid is typically guaranteed by three things. First is a complex network of interconnected lines, known as meshes, that distribute electrical flows across the grid to prevent overloads. Second, there are interconnections with neighboring countries’ grids, which allow energy to be imported or exported as needed to balance generation and demand.

Finally, there is something called “mechanical inertia.” Synchronous generators—the large spinning machines that generate electricity in power stations—also store a lot of energy in their very large rotating parts. Imagine, say, a coal-fired power station. Even if it stops burning coal to generate more power, the huge, heavy turbines it uses to create electricity will continue spinning for some time because of the energy stored up in them. Known as mechanical inertia, this phenomenon can act as a buffer against abrupt fluctuations in the grid. When there are imbalances between energy generation and demand, synchronous generators can speed up or slow down their rotational speed to balance things out, essentially acting as a shock absorber to the grid by absorbing or releasing energy as needed.

“A large, well-meshed grid, with strong interconnections and abundant synchronous generators, will be more stable and less prone to failures,” says De Simón Martín “The Spanish peninsular power grid has historically been robust and reliable thanks to its high degree of meshing at high and very high voltage, as well as its large synchronous generation capacity. However, its weak point has always been its limited international interconnection, conditioned by the geographical barrier of the Pyrenees.”

According to his data, the electricity exchange capacity between Spain and the rest of Europe—in other words, how much energy the country can draw from or send into the continent—barely represents 3 percent of the country’s installed capacity. This is well below the European Union’s 15 percent target for member states to achieve by 2030.

Users board buses outside Atocha station in Madrid after its closure due to a massive blackout that affected Spain on April 28, 2025. Photograph: THOMAS COEX/Getty Images

The increasing integration of renewable energy into the Spanish system may have exacerbated the disconnection issues and subsequent need to balance the grid. According to Spain’s National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan, the country has set a target for 81 percent of its electricity to come from clean sources by 2030. At the end of last year, renewables already accounted for 66 percent of installed capacity in Spain and generated 58.95 percent of the country’s electricity. The main sources were wind, solar, and hydro.

De Simón Martín points out that, unlike thermal or hydroelectric power plants, wind and solar systems lack mechanical inertia, as they are connected to the grid not via synchronous generators but by electronic inverters. The robustness of the overall energy system therefore falls as the proportion of these inertia-lacking energy sources grows—essentially, fewer synchronous generators means less grid-wide ability to handle sudden changes in balance. “With low interconnection capacity and a high share of inverter-based renewable generation, our grid today is more vulnerable and has less margin to react to disturbances,” De Simón Martíne concludes.

How to Prevent Another Massive Blackout

Although the probability of a similar event occurring again in the short or medium term is low, experts agree that it is urgent to implement measures to strengthen the resilience of the system.

Manuel Alcázar Ortega, deputy director of the Department of Electrical Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Valencia, told the SMC that an immediate solution would be to “limit the production of photovoltaic energy at times of low demand, in favor rolling generation that provides inertia to the system and can respond better to frequency variations.” He also considers it necessary to incorporate frequency and voltage stabilizers in the grid to counteract the loss of inertia caused by the high presence of renewables.

De la Puente Gil adds that a priority should be “to increase electricity interconnections with France and other European countries, so that the peninsula is no longer so isolated.” He also thinks there needs to be more flexibility in the existing system on the peninsula, with “more storage mechanisms that can compensate for the variability of renewable energies. All of this requires investment, planning and a clear strategy for a secure energy transition.”

In press conference held on Tuesday, Pedro Sánchez, the Spanish prime minister, denied that high use of solar and wind or poor links with the European power grid were the main causes of the outage, but also said that no hypotheses as to what happened could be ruled out. Both the Spanish government and the European Commission have said that they are launching investigations into what caused the grid to fail.

[sophieinwonderland]

I do think internet discourse really does tend to overshadow what's important.

For some, the most important issue in syscourse is that some endogenic systems use a word that happens to share an etymology with a word from an open religion, despite most people from that religion outside of syscourse circles not considering the use of this word offensive.

This is a strictly online issue that will never affect people offline in the slightest.

Meanwhile, we live in a pluralphobic society where all of us are forced to mask all the time. Being out as a system IRL often means risking the loss of your friends and family.

It also means risking your job and livelihood.

And while it's technically illegal to fire someone for mental illness, there are no legal protections for non-disordered systems.

On top of that, we have a healthcare system that erases plurals.

If you're a CDD system, you have to jump through tons of hoops to find specialists trained in treating DID and OSDD because most psychiatrists aren't educated in treating these disorders.

If you're a non-CDD system with other disorders you need treatment for, nobody is trained to help you. Nobody is trained to treat multiple people in one body, unless they're a CDD system. This means non-CDD systems will often have to hide their systemhood from their therapists. And those that do reveal it will face being misdiagnosed with disorders they don't have, whether a CDD or Schizophrenia or something else entirely.

Misinformation and a lack of awareness of plurality means young plurals will continue to grow up thinking voice hearing makes them "crazy."

Despite studies showing that most voices in schizophrenia don't come until adulthood, many people growing up with voices in their head will dismiss them and even antagonize them under the belief that they're "just hallucinations" or "not real." Previously friendly relationships with headmates can devolve because "imaginary friends" are supposed to be outgrown, and "hallucinations" are associated with psychosis and need to be ignored. Even after syscovery, scars from this damage may never be able to fully heal.

For CDD systems, this may progressively worsen dissociative barriers for years before the systems discover themselves. For non-CDD systems, this can lead to hosts shutting their headmates away or forcing them into dormancy.

Headmates can't even go by our actual names in public without facing discrimination. (Not to mention our genders, due to the fact that transphobia also extends to GNC-headmates.)

If your opinion on all of this pluralphobia that permeates through every level of society is that it's just meaningless internet drama that will never affect people in real life, you're not just anti-endo, you're anti-system.

You're a useful tool for a singlet-normative society to minimize and dismiss continued discrimination and oppression against systems.

You are not an ally to endogenic systems.

You are not an ally to traumagenic systems.

You are not an ally to mixed origin systems.

You're not an ally to any systems.

[markcarykelty]

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[beardedmrbean]

While other factions still control significant parts of Syria – including the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA), HTS’s ally in the latest offensive, and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – HTS has achieved a stunningly rapid military victory. In just ten days, the Islamist group toppled the Assad regime and seized control of most of Syria’s major cities.

This sudden consolidation of power has sparked widespread alarm, particularly among Syria’s minority communities. The country’s mosaic of ethnic and religious groups – including Shia Alawites, Christians, and Kurds – now finds itself under the rule of a group with a deeply controversial history. HTS, which remains on the terror lists of the United States and the European Union, has also provided shelter to international jihadists from Afghanistan, Chechnya, and France. For many minorities, the notion of such a group ruling from Damascus evokes fear and uncertainty about what lies ahead.

Since its creation in 2017, HTS has attempted to rebrand itself as a more moderate force, demonstrating a degree of tolerance towards certain minorities, particularly Christians, in the areas it controls, compared with the al Qaeda-linked group it emerged from. Since assuming power in Damascus and much of Syria this month, the group has generally shown restraint in its treatment of Christian and Shiite Alawite monuments and communities.

In official announcements and meetings with local minority leaders, HTS has repeatedly pledged to safeguard the safety of Christians and Alawites. Jolani told CNN on December 5: “These sects have coexisted in this region for hundreds of years, and no one has the right to eliminate them.”

But reports and videos on Syrian social media show that reprisal killings have begun, casting doubt on HTS’s promises of protection. Members of the Alawite community appear to be the primary target. Despite representing only 10 percent of Syria’s population, Alawites dominated the country’s power structures for more than four decades under the Assad regime. Their close ties to Iran’s Shia regime – an unwavering backer of Bashar al-Assad – have further entrenched their vulnerability under HTS rule. 

Video shows execution of suspected regime 'Shabiha'

On December 10 a video emerged on Telegram documenting the execution of four men by HTS fighters. The video opens with two bodies visible, one man on his back, another man face down with his hands apparently bound. A voice is heard saying: “There they are, Shabiha pigs,” a reference to the Shabiha, pro-regime militias known for beating and killing political opponents of the Assad clan. Two men are visible on their knees. As one of the fighters asks their name, others are heard calling them “Nusayriyah”, an anti-Alawite slur, and “Allahu akbar.” Two of the fighters, one wearing the black Seal of Muhammad flag popular among Islamist groups, then open fire and kill the two men with bursts from their Kalashnikovs, as a third says: “Two pigs killed in the village of Rabia.” (There are at least two villages in Syria called Rabia, one in Latakia governorate, the other in Hama governorate. There were conflicting reports about which village was the site of the killing.)

FRANCE 24’s specialist on Islamist groups, Wassim Nasr, said the video was the first documented case of a summary execution by HTS fighters since the offensive began on November 27.

Other videos appearing to show reprisal attacks against suspected regime collaborators have also emerged. Two videos filmed in Idlib and posted on December 10 show a body being dragged behind a car as a crowd applauds.  The caption includes an apparent plea to the HTS leadership: “We demand the establishment of a state with a justice system. Shabiha thugs should be punished by the rule of law, not by actions like this. There is no difference between you and the Assad regime.”

Videos like this are adding to the fears of Syrian citizens about their future under HTS. The FRANCE 24 Observers team spoke to Syrians from the Alawite, Sunni and Christian communities.

[marlowethelibrarian]

What is the magic system for Project Cannibalism

The magic system is a little bit funky in that there is a system of magical alchemy that is so mundane it isn't considered "magic" by the inhabitants of the world.

Alchemists are just guys who Do That, That being shit like carving runes of light and bottling lightning. Alchemist as a title fulfills a few different roles.

Hearthside alchemists specialize in potions that are meant to be ingested in some way-- these are your medicine and poison specialists, the guys you go to when you need an abortion or a potion to make yourself stronger or fall slower. Benchside alchemy is more engineering, using the magic inherent in every living thing to craft special effects, like self propelling gears, lighting things on fire, etc etc.

Different cultures have different forms of alchemy as alchemy is fairly dependent on what natural resources are around. So Suya's benchside alchemy usually is channeled through alchemical paint in runes carved in copper. It's a style that's good for creating more complex, flexible, networks of power with the downside of it being more difficult to maintain, with paint flaking off or losing power.

On the other hand the Otyun use dyes and embroidery to channel their alchemy which is much more time consuming but more stealthy and very stable.

All of this is considered pretty mundane.

The real magic, according to the characters of Project Cannibalism, are the high priests of the Suyan faith.

The priests are born with an innate talent for (REDACTED FOR SPOILERS) which the church searches out and adopts into the royal Daseri clan.

These priests are trained in their gift to be able to do things like spontaneously generate fire, levitate things, fly, create light, etc. With these abilities, they help protect the people of Suya from natural disasters such as rock falls or floods, desalinate soil, etc.

If I had to say, their powers are generally pretty physical in nature. There isn't mind reading or luck manipulation or even communication with the gods (who may or may not even exist for real). It's stuff that could be considered basic physics, if it wasn't for the fact that it's happening in someone's head, without physical materials.

It's very mysterious, honestly, and the training involved is pretty secretive until the point comes when an initiate high priest has to demonstrate they are worthy of the title and shows off what they can do.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Matt Shuham at HuffPost:

Donald Trump has no greater enemy than the United States’ federal bureaucracy — what he calls the “deep state.” And he has a plan to bend it to his will if he’s elected in November. The plan, to create something called “Schedule F,” would make tens of thousands of civil servants easier to fire, fundamentally changing the nature of the federal government — and, some worry, paving the way for authoritarianism.

Schedule F is a new category, or schedule, of federal workers who are exempt from codified job protections, like being hired and fired based on merit and having the ability to appeal disciplinary action. The majority of federal civil service employees, from climate scientists to bank examiners to IT specialists, are covered by these protections; some positions, like postal workers and intelligence officers, are currently exempt. That system ensures that experience and skill, rather than political favoritism or personal connections, guide hiring and firing decisions within the federal government. But conservatives have long complained that the president should exercise more control over the federal bureaucracy, and Trump in particular has said it needs to be “brought to heel.” Trump created Schedule F in an October 2020 executive order. Under that order, federal workers involved in “confidential, policy-determining, policy-making and policy-advocating positions” — a vague description that would include at least tens of thousands of people — would be stripped of their civil service protections and reclassified as “at-will” appointees, meaning they could be hired or fired for any reason, or none at all.

Because the order came so late in Trump’s presidency, only a handful of agencies created lists of specific jobs that would be eligible for conversion to Schedule F. And President Joe Biden reversed the order before any jobs could actually be converted. But Trump has explicitly said he’ll pursue Schedule F again if he’s elected. In a campaign video last year, Trump referred to Schedule F as an effort to “remove rogue bureaucrats.” “I will wield that power very aggressively,” he said.

Federal employees, political scientists, union leaders and watchdog groups told HuffPost that Schedule F could lead to a “chilling” effect. At-will employment, they said, would make it harder for government workers to raise concerns that go against their bosses’ political loyalties. That could lead to a degradation of public services like disaster relief, financial regulation and the administration of government benefits. “You can see where it can grind work to a halt, because even people who are trying to do the right thing [would] be afraid that if they do something wrong, they’ll be out of a job,” said Joe Spielberger, a policy counsel at the Project on Government Oversight who has raised alarms over how the implementation of Schedule F would harm key welfare programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Schedule F would be the “fundamental element of an authoritarian agenda,” he said, allowing Trump to take control of the vast federal bureaucracy and reverse generations of reforms.

Donald Moynihan, a professor of public policy at Georgetown University, signed on to an open letter in April arguing Schedule F would open the door to “politicization and patronage throughout the federal workforce.” He told HuffPost, “This feels like the biggest problem that the fewest people understand about a potential second Trump administration.”

[...]

The ‘Lightbulb Moment’

The push for Schedule F started with what one Trump staffer called a “lightbulb moment.” In 2019, James Sherk, a top White House adviser on civil service and labor policy, was frustrated by reports of federal workers pushing back against the Trump policy agenda. He started reading through existing U.S. law on federal labor rights, and realized that the language about exceptions from civil service protections could actually be interpreted quite broadly. Such a change in interpretation would be a break from decades of precedent. Presidents only bring around 4,000 political appointees with them at the start of a new term, and many additionally require Senate confirmation. These appointees are generally classified as “excepted” — they aren’t required to complete standardized competitive civil service exams, but they also aren’t afforded standard civil service protections. (The “excepted” portion of the federal workforce includes more than a million federal workers under various schedules, though the vast majority of them come from the United States Postal Service, the military, and Department of Veterans affairs.)

But Sherk argued that the “excepted” service should grow much larger, to include “the most important” federal workers — “the people who are telling all the rest of the bureaucracy what to do,” he said in a 2022 interview. In his view, the change would make the federal government more accountable to the White House, and therefore, the American people. “Nothing in [federal law] says that you can only take away the civil service protections of political appointees,” Sherk said. Sherk estimated that Schedule F would have applied to 1% to 3% of the federal workforce, or about 50,000 workers, had Biden not unwound it. But the number actually affected if Trump pursues Schedule F again could be much larger. A Government Accountability Office review of the few agencies that did start making Schedule F conversion lists found that agencies thought anywhere from 2% to 68% of their employees were eligible to be “rescheduled.”

[...]

Project 2025, the 900-page right-wing agenda-in-waiting for Trump cooked up by the Heritage Foundation and dozens of other arch-conservative organizations, refers to plans to reintroduce Schedule F in several sections. And one member of the project’s three-person leadership team is Paul Dans, the former chief of staff at the OPM during the Trump administration. The Project 2025 team has signaled that potential staffers in a second Trump White House would need to be on board: A questionnaire for potential new hires in a Trump administration asks applicants if they agree that “the President should be able to advance his/her agenda through the bureaucracy without hinderance from unelected federal officials.”

HuffPost has a story on how Project 2025 and Schedule F could chill dissent against a potential 2nd Trump.

This is why Americans should vote Joe Biden to stop Project 2025 from taking effect!

Read the full article at HuffPost.

[pilebunkers]

Sorry for asking so many questions, but what do you think of the Rubicon III Research Institute, Professor Nagai, Walter's father (and mother), and Carla? Also, this might seem farfetched, but do you think Michigan might have had any involvement with the Institute or Overseer? Or do you think they just met him by coincidence when they went to Jupiter or something?

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No need to apologise! I'm thrilled to have prompts to talk on.

Initially I was going to cover everything here, but then I fell down a three-hour rabbit hole of research for Michigan, so I'm afraid this post will only go into detail about Michigan in OVERSEER. But I'll touch on the other parts in brief, since each of those deserves at least one post of their own!

Firstly, Armored Core as a series is pretty good at specifying when someone is Designed/Irregular/Augmented/etc. so when only Iguazu's augs are mentioned in the Redguns, we can assume it's because he's the only Augmented Human in the Redguns.

That said, I like Michigan being a gen one. Because yes.

Augmentation was originally a trade secret of RRI because they had the Coral and the specialists. They would perform the surgery for corporations and corps would of course try to reverse engineer and create their own augments, with heavily limited success. Even RRI had heavily limited success. In that way I believe Michigan was an ambassador for Furlong (can you imagine Michigan being an ambassador for anything?) to RRI: he had a high AMS compatibility and a higher chance of surviving the surgery. Knowing Michigan and his not-so-secret protective fondness for his troops, he probably insisted he be the first person in Furlong to attempt augmentation. "And if it kills me, none of you maggots would have survived in the first place!"

I think at least for the first four generations RRI managed to maintain a monopoly on augmentation and controlled the registration and designation of Augmented Humans. They achieve this via the restriction of Cerebral Coral Control Devices: the C of the C#-###. Controller Generation 4, Number 621. When the Fires cut the main body of RRI off, there's a sudden need to rapidly "innovate on "solve" augmentation in the rest of the systems. This is also why we only see the numerically ascending C#-### designations for generation four and back. Gen five and six are the first without Coral, the first without RRI as a governing body, and the two gens (after gen one) noted to be especially gristly. The corps as a whole had to start over from scratch with Rubicon cut off.

We never actually get commentary on the conditions of RRI but as a rule, I think the development of augmentation was highly dehumanising and highly fatal. But, for as much as RRI, Walter's father, Nagai, and Carla should be considered monsters for the development of augmentation, the existence of OVERSEER and the Ibis series speaks to the fact that they had a strong sense of responsibility regarding it as well. They understood of Coral Release. They understood the dangers of unchecked Coral technology and, presumably, the dangers of Augmentation. (Or, they think they do, obviously this is worth dissecting. There's another strong argument for RRI fearing advancement and evolution it can't control, but not the advancement/evolution it can.) I see the protectiveness and secrecy they exhibited towards Augmentation and CCCDs as a natural extension of this. Now that CCDs (Cerebral Control Devices, sans Coral) are being developed by the whole wide world and receive designations based on the corp that produces them, it's no surprise the lack of regulation led to a sharp spike in stolen, "washed", spoofed, and otherwise counterfeit CCDs and CCD keys. (See: Iguazu's augmentation is secondhand.)

Mostly-neutral ALLMIND handles the registration of Augmented Humans now, since it handles the registration of mercenaries, and most Augmented Humans are mercenaries. But ALLMIND has a secondary agenda of Coral Release that at least OVERSEER disapproves of.

That said, I think Walter's father (Walter Sr. from hereon in because that's shorter, lmao) might have wanted to see Coral Release happen. Maybe he made Contact or something? I always kinda got the sense that Walter Sr. lost his mind a little bit. And I think any of the pre-Fires RRI researcher diaspora aware of Coral Release could have shacked up with ALLMIND or the corporations. Moreover, in a narrative sense, Walter is put in direct opposition to his father: If Walter wants Coral Release stopped, his father likely wanted it to happen.

I wish I had more thoughts on his mother. Considering Walter Sr "left his family behind" I think she wasn't involved in Coral research but was probably still an academic. I think Walter's whole family was descended from the first colonists on the Xylem, and were career academics all the way back to before they boarded that colony ship for its thirty year sublight journey. (See: the original settlers of Rubicon.) I like to think she was a biologist, maybe an evolutionary biologist with a specialisation in mutualistic relationships, working towards domesticating useful species on Rubicon. This fits in nicely with the theme of mutualism involved with Contact.

She also loved dogs.

Anyway! Michigan and OVERSEER.

I first came into this post thinking "Nah, Michigan doesn't have any of the usual hints associated with RRI and OVERSEER" in the floral naming that's typically used to justify theories around King and Chartreuse. But then I did some research, and you know what?

There is, in fact, a Rieger Begonia (Begonia × hiemalis) misspelled in several plant forums and websites as Liger Begonia. Knowing there are a couple translation oddities (OPEN FACE vs OPEN FAITH) in AC6, I went back to the Japanese name for his AC: ライガーテイル (raigaa teiru). Unfortunately, ライガー is the spelling for liger in Japanese whereas the name for the flower is リーガース (riigaasu). But that doesn't mean it can't be a stealth pun. Plus, his emblem's got a fleur-de-lis tail???

Between that, Walter's implicit history with Michigan (the availability of the Balam catalogue at game start, how Michigan seems comfortable renting out Walter's Hounds, even the cut tutorial mission apparently coming from Balam (though you shouldn't rely on cut content for canon)), and Walter being sent to RRI contacts on Jupiter where Michigan was coincidentally stationed, I've convinced myself OVERSEER Michigan is actually, like, pretty plausible?

Cool.

Perhaps coincidentally, during the Jupiter War, he would meet a young Furlong lieutenant in Intelligence that he'd come to rely on. That same lieutenant would resign his commission and becomes an independent mercenary handler after the war, dropping his Furlong callsign and adopting the use of his regular ass name: Walter.

[ranarana1234]

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