#commercial solar to sell

[newenglandsolar]

How to sell commercial solar: Quick Guide?

If you have any desire to figure out how to sell sunlight-powered chargers quickly, you should comprehend what’s driving the unbelievable interest the business is encountering. These are the four fundamental variables

Rising energy costs Have you taken a gander at your energy bill of late? Tragically, you’re probably paying essentially more than you were quite a while back. Be that as it may, sadly, so are individuals you sell sun based to every day.

Quite possibly the best thing about sunlight-based chargers is that they permit property holders to bring down their energy costs since they never again depend on service organizations to give them power. Thus, most property holders save $1,500 a year in the wake of putting resources into sunlight-based chargers.

Falling sunlight-based charger costs

Everyone needs to get a good deal on their power bill — however not if the expense of doing so is restrictive. Quite a while back, this could have been the situation. Notwithstanding, nowadays, the cost of introducing sunlight-powered chargers has dove by over 75%, making it significantly more reasonable.

As a little something extra, sun powered has been demonstrated to increment home estimations. For instance, one investigation discovered that homes with sun power sell for 4.1% more, coming about in a $9,274 normal knock-in deal cost.

Regulation and motivating forces Set forth plainly, the American government is holding nothing back on the sun-based industry........sell commercial solar »

[hawkatana]

So, given everything that's happened in recent hours, I thought I might give people who don't know about Gundam some stuff to learn about. Hopefully I can give a balanced and not-racist take like some people.

What is Gundam?

Created by Yoshiyuki Tomino with help by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko and animated by the studio Sunrise (currently Bandai Namco Animation, though I refuse to call them that), the original Mobile Suit Gundam released in 1979 to initially-limited success, though would gain popularity through a combination of fujoshis shipping the characters, the sale of plastic model kits referred to as "Gunpla" and a recut of the series into three compilation movies throughout the early 80's. And as of 2024 is the 66th highest-grossing media franchise of all time, beating out Scooby Doo, Minecraft and the Simpsons.

Also, I'm pretty sure it's what sparked Japanese sci-fi's obsession with O'Neill Cylinders.

The original anime takes place in the year 0079 of the Universal Century, where the Principality of Zeon: a nation composed of orbital space colonies declares a war of independence against the Earth Federation. This "One Year War" has already claimed half the human population by series start and is waged through the use of "Mobile Suits": bipedal mecha powered by a fusion reactor capable of effectively fighting out in the reaches of space.

Main character Amuro Ray is the son of a Federation engineer who lives in an out-of-the-way space colony, though soon finds his home under attack by a Zeon infiltration. After finding the secret Mobile Suit project his father was working on: the RX-78-2 Gundam, he fights off the Zeon invaders, though finds himself and a bunch of other kids conscripted by the Federation to fight the forces of Zeon aboard the ship the White Base. Throughout his journey, Amuro and the Gundam fight many battles against Zeon, including against their mysterious masked ace pilot Char Aznable.

The series was responsible for the codification (but not creation, people get this wrong all the time) of the "Real Robot" subgenre of mecha, where the robots were relatively more realistic and used as weapons of war as opposed to the more fantastical "Super Robot" subgenre pioneered by Mazinger Z and Getter Robo.

A major theme of the show, and the franchise as a whole is "War is bad", as demonstrated through this meme:

Yes, this is the original version of this meme format.

Anyway, Tomino, a renowned pacifist who grew up in the shadow of Japan's involvement in WW2 tried to use his platform as an anime director to try and tell a story that would get people to realise war's futility and brutality.

So I hear you asking, "That's nice and all, but what about the space lesbians who beat Destiel on their home turf?" Well, let's get into that.

What is the Witch From Mercury?

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury, or "G-Witch" for short is one of the more recent entries in the Gundam Franchise and a (very) loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's The Tempest. Set in the year 122 Ad Stella, the solar system is under the de facto control of the Benerit Group: a megacorporation with borderline-medieval internal politics that maintains a system of capitalism that benefits Spacians at the expense of those who live on Earth.

Main heroine Suletta Mercury enrolls at Asticassia School of Technology owned by the Benrit Group at the behest of her mother: CEO Prospera Mercury of the Mercury-based Shin Sei Development Corporation, and wins a Mobile Suit duel against a bully in her own MS: the Gundam Aerial. This however means she has now won the hand in marriage of daughter of the Benerit Group CEO: Miorine Rembran, beginning a series of consequences that shape the very political landscape of the solar system.

G-Witch was a massive hit, both critically and commercially. The first episode: the Witch and the Bride attracting record numbers for the studio and the Gunpla kit for the Aerial is currently the best-selling Gunpla kit ever.

Contrary to popular belief, G-Witch is not the first piece of Gundam media to feature a female protagonist. That honour would go to the 2002 Japan-only manga École du Ciel, nor would it have the first queer main character, which goes to 1999's Turn-A Gundam (and if you were to ask any fan of the series, they'd so it goes back to the very beginning). But it became notable for its lesbian representation in anime (in spite of Sunrise's attempts to downplay it, to the anger of the director, writer, producer, artists, animators, cast, fans and even their own parent company Bandai Namco who forced them to back off).

One thing I need to clarify: You don't need to have watched the original series to enjoy G-Witch. They're not even in the same continuity.

So if you're interested in the series and you've only watched G-Witch, I'll give out three recommendations for you all to enjoy:

Mobile Suit Gundam 00

Gundam 00 takes place in the year 2307 (the only series to use our own calendar), where the world is divided between three global superpowers: The Union of Free & Solar Nations (The Americas, Australia, New Zealand and Japan), the Human Reform League (China, South, East, Southeast and Central Asia) and the Advanced European Union (all of Europe, including all of Russia west of the Urals) who each control a space elevator near the equator and wage proxy-wars in Africa and the Middle-East over Earth's dwindling resources. This eventually culminates in the emergence of Celestial Being: a terrorist group consisting of Setsuna F. Seiei, Lockon Stratos, Allelujah Haptism and Tierria Erde, all of whom use powerful "Gundam" Mobile Suits and try to forcefully impose global peace on the Earth.

00 is pretty slow-paced and is more about the world than the individual characters, but said characters are really well-written, especially the characters from the three power blocs who are the de facto protagonists as they try to stop what are in their eyes a bunch of crazed terrorists preaching a hypocritical and incoherent ideology of "peace through force".

And to address the elephant in the room, this series is VERY post-9/11. Constant talks about terrorism, proxy-conflicts in the global south (especially the Middle-East), religious extremism, dwindling resources and the wars fought over them. While the franchise has always been political and of-its-time, you can just tell 00 was made in the mid-2000's. Again, it's good. But just something to keep in mind.

Turn-A Gundam

Turn-A Gundam is one of the weirder elements of the franchise for a myriad of reasons. Not the least of which being its unique setting taking inspiration from the famous sci-fi novel War of the Worlds.

In the Year 2345 of the Correct Century, human civilisation is at a level of technology reminiscent of the late-19th/early 20th centuries, save for the Moonrace on... well, the moon. As part of their queen Diana Soreil's plan to reintegrate both Lunar and Terran societies, several scouts are sent to the planet to set up their return to the planet. One such scout: Loran Cehack integrates into Terran society as a driver for the wealthy Heim family, though at a coming of age ceremony for the family's second daughter, a member of the Moonrace attacks the technologically-inferior Terrans. However, a mysterious mustached statue breaks apart to reveal a "White Doll": the Turn-A Gundam, allowing Loran to fend off the invaders. rest of the series becomes more of a mystery to how the supposedly-peace loving Moonrace could allow of such brutality.

The setting of the Correct Century timeline alone is one of the draws of Turn-A, though its excellent characters and compelling mystery also help a lot.

I do however have two warnings for people interested in watching it. The first is that this series was never dubbed. While it did receive an official sub in 2015, there still isn't a dub for the series. So if that bothers you, there's your warning.

The other is that there's a pretty big twist in the latter part of the series that while I will not spoil it here, it's such a big deal that I can't not mention it. It doesn't make any sense, and it actively detracts from not just the series, but the whole franchise. You'll know it when you see it. It doesn't ruin my enjoyment, but a lot of people don't like Turn-A for that alone.

Mobile Fighter G Gundam

Favourite entry. Don't care. It's peak.

In the Year 60 of the Future Century, war has been abandoned by the nations of humanity in favour of the Gundam fight: a quad-annual fighting tournament between Gundams representative of the countries of the world where the winner rules space until the next Gundam fight, all while leaving the Earth ecologically devastated in the fighting. Neo-Japan's Gundam Fighter: Domon Kasshu arrives on Earth seeking information on his older brother Kyoji, who killed their mother and led to their father's arrest before stealing the experimental Devil Gundam to Earth, beating up every Gundam Fighter in his way. However, he eventually learns of far more dangerous revelations about the incident.

G Gundam is to put it bluntly: bat-shit insane. And I love it. It basically took a look at the then-stagnating franchise in the wake of the wet fart that was Victory Gundam and said "I know what can save this franchise, Bruce Lee movies!" And it somehow worked.

Word of advice: watch it dubbed. Mark Gatha absolutely kills it as Domon every time, and puts just the right amount of ham into every line.

So yeah, that's some stuff on Gundam. This was a long post to write out. I'm gonna take a break now.

[alias-milamber]

Parables of the Lost Voyage: Awake, Again

Three, Two, One, Dead.

My morph shut down, and my ego downloaded to VR before I had a chance to lose the feeling in my fingers. I've always hated the feeling of having the body shut down around me, so I've mastered the timing of hitting the metaphorical eject switch just in time to avoid it.

An hour in transit passed in VR like a week of holiday, and I woke up on Plato station, on a free trade orbital somewhere close to Saturn. A brief feeling like your essence being sucked through an hourglass, a synesthesic splash of the taste of yellow and the sound cinnamon makes, and I was back incarnate again.

Waking up on Plato was - as going from any orbital to another is - something like waking up in a parallel universe. I entered the same facility I entered a hundred million miles away - identical to the millimetre - but from a dozen centimetres further up, as my new morph was a little taller than the previous one. Not exactly a dizzying change in perspective, but my bones moved differently, my senses caught new things, and slightly differently calibrated eyeware popped reds and blacks strangely. The doors from the facility led out to a mix of the familiar and the strange, brands that stretched over the system next to local options I'd never see again, mixed with francises selling the same food under new names, and old names licensed for new purposes. I picked a coffee shop and attempted to double-caff my way to understanding.

The second sunrise of waking juice was just hitting my brand new bloodstream when I noticed the large screen mounted above the concourse of the commercial way I'd woken up on. It switched from a local new broadcast to the episode currently in progress, and a series of virtual actors and sets appeared midway though what appeared to be an argument that had been in progress for a year or more. It took me longer than I care to admit to realise that not only was this an episode of Twilight's Eden, but one I'd been watching in VR the subjective day before. It was ruinously expensive to send video across the Feed, and so almost all media but the biggest of blockbuster movies were sent as scripts to be interpreted by the local media UAI. Every sector therefore had their own local constellation of stars and background actors, their own version of locations and sets. The words remained the same, the stories could be followed, and it was even interesting to see different interpretations of the same character by MediaAI across the solar system.

I stopped watching. Twilight Eden was comforting, but it was going to take a while to get used to the new cast. I wondered if I could get a copy of the Ultima Station cast and sets, and play the scripts in that locally, but my data budget didn't stretch that far, and I didn't know if they'd keep backups.

My coffee finished, I merged back into the walking crowd towards the dead-drop where my contact's information was supposed to be. Alas, promises to keep, and lightyears before sleep.

--

(The Parables of the Lost Voyage are a short series of fiction pieces exploring the world around an Eclipse Phase campaign I’m planning)

[muuniestar]

Finally I present it to you! My oc...

Solar soprano🎶💫

The sweetest voice of the neighborhood, solar soprano brings melodies to welcome home!

She's an oc that I have been thinking about for a long while.. she's Half bunny from her mother, and from her father we don't know much about him.

Being exhausted from the chaotic life of the city, she arrives to the (maybe more chaotic) neighborhood! Hoping to become friends with everyone, (that includes you! Of course.)

She was from another show "do re mi! let's sing together" that was aired between commercials in the same channel mostly teaching about music and singing silly little songs, but when welcome home became the massive show that it was, the show lost popularity Causing that the starship corp. (Do re mi original productor) Scrap the show selling the Rights to the channel and soon given to the playfellow workshop that decided to reutilize the project.

Taking one of the most popular characters and bringing it into the neighborhood.

Keeping most of her original design and changing minor things To make it fit in the show. Also the voice actor was changed

Idk if any of that makes sense T_T both grammatical and lore, since English it's not my first lenguage it's hard to explain myself haha! But I hope you liked it, all of the things shown here may change In the future.

I would like to make a Spanish version of this post 0.0 but idk

[mysterymanjoseph]

Just Being Neighborly: mysterymanjoseph and libraryofdesire

The little farm had been easy to buy, no one seemed interested and the price was more than low, the real estate agent seemed eager to be rid of the property. After some clearing, a small, but over built house was constructed, just the right sort of place to wait out any sort of 'the world has gone insane' sort of situation. He pretty much has everything set up, hand tools and supplies in the basement. Solar panels stored in the 'barn', along with the blades for the two wind turbines to supply electricity in case of a 'grid down' sort of thing. The past week or so, it was cutting and splitting firewood. He has to admit, the high output commercial splitter is quite the wonder, he has cleared out all the deadfall worth burning in the wood stove in the home, it is now stacked neatly under the lean to portion of his 'barn'. Still, he is not satisfied. Looking across the road, to the farm that sits there, he can see that there are downed trees at the back of the property. He thinks, "Maybe go halves with them, I cut, keep half, the other half, they can have if they have a stove, or sell if they don't?" So, today, cleaned up and dressed nice, but country 'casual'. He drives the restored old Ford pickup that will stay at the place across the road, up the driveway, and parks. Getting out, he waits by the truck patiently, not wishing to just 'barge in' on the property owners,...would not be a good way to finally introduce himself to his neighbors.

@libraryofdesire

[anthonybialy]

Lunatic Moon Puts on an Eclipsing Show

The eclipse almost got eclipsed.  Lousy jerk clouds were so jealous of the attention whore Moon blocking the Sun that they tried to ruin the view.  But Jersey Shore-style drama was ultimately not imported from a place outside the totality.  The Moon was free to moon us.

Aspiring lookers worried a once-in-a-lifetime event would be even one fewer than that.  Missing the lack of sunshine would’ve been a twist during the soft reboot of an emblematically bleak tale.   Circumstances seemed eerily similar to 

that deflating Ray Bradbury short story everyone has a traumatic memory of reading about the cruel class locking the girl in the closet so she misses the rare Venusian sunshine.  But the happy ending we’re told never happens appeared out of nowhere.

I traveled all the way outside to be in the route.  My greatest worry was whether I thawed enough Pizza Logs for every guest.  We always try to be hospitable in Buffalo.  I noticed how many out-of-state license plates partially concealed bumpers in the days leading up to the solar system show.  Adventurous travelers took a chance on meteorological fate with a trip to the Queen City of Good Neighbors.  The prospect of never getting a gift from the cosmos beat definitely not seeing it in some crescent-cursed state.

The skies weren’t blotted by a blizzard, so we dodged the worst-case scenario.  I’d like to point out howling snow is an April rarity.  Still, Buffalo residents braced to be disappointed by something other than teams or taxes.  As for the shamefully high latter, politicians are so certain they know how to spend better than people who earn money that they take a cut just to prevent frivolous purchases.  Take eclipse supplies.  Many sites offered “free” glasses that taxpayers would’ve just bought with their own money if left to their unfettered devices.  Visitors wondered why there was ample elbow room around commercial zones.

Existing area establishments celebrated the spacey occurrence by not selling anything.  Everything closed while the skies opened.  My indispensible neighborhood liquor store shuttered while the Moon was drunk, which means those who wanted to get eclipsed had to plan ahead.  And even Tim Hortons took a rare break from brewing so workers could look wide-eyed through filters.  How did eclipse viewers stay jittery?  I hope meth dealers were shrewd enough to stay open.

Precautions against never seeing again seemed to work.  Concerns about going blinfndsxvnjds wrrrervfwe ,a,,h/nxxc.  My helper monkey has kindly stepped in to type dictations until my eyes stop feeling like I doused them with lava.  Anthony is an idiot.

I’m trying to remember the astronomical facts I crammed over the past week, but I fret they’ll vanish from my memory like safety warnings for watchers.  In my defense, it was tough to retain endless tips for ensuring spectators weren’t seeing the last thing they ever would.

Some alerts sounded like newsrooms sponsored contests to determine who could make the daftest admonition seem plausible.  Most notably, owners of fancy wireless pocket phones were advised to not point the cameras where they were looking or the implements could go blind, too.  You could make up any claim you’d like about where to aim eyes and get nervous participants to heed it.  I’m pretty sure you couldn’t glance at a waxed car unless you wanted your eyeballs to melt. You won’t see them.

I tried to be as prepared as I was enthusiastic.  It was as a good day for donning NASA socks as any this lifetime.  To complement my festive wardrobe in practical terms, I made eclipse viewer from a cereal box just like Mrs. Benfanti taught me in third grade before a previous Moon-based incident.  Interstellar experts recommend eating the Cheerios first.

A fun throwback of seeking entertainment by looking outside reminded us what it was like not to be glued to glowing pocket screens.  The heavens should always be this entertaining.  Keep staring outside for as long as it’s compelling.  Your DVR retained its content unless lunar rays disrupted recording that episode of The Office.  Creed doesn’t get fired on Halloween, so don’t worry.  Television is probably crisper than the sky appeared but not as magical.

I spent most of Monday afternoon seeing the eclipse, sort of.  The worst possible hours for overcast conditions seemed to embody the way things go on this rather uncooperative planet.  I coped by planning to check out the spectacle next century presuming the weather obeys.

An eclipse where you can’t see the Sun for different reasons than advertised seemed like a lesson.  The worst part of cloudy weather during the eclipse was my lack of surprise.  The hometown of Rick James, Vincent Gallo, and me often seems like the place where fate disappoints.

Not being allowed to look presented little problem.  A cruelly overcast day meant seeing some sort of blur through the real-life 3D glasses.  Everyone was failing the eye test.  Light at the end of the tunnel doesn’t provide much hope when it’s so splotchy.

But a transformation as amazing as queuing celestial objects redeemed what felt like a pending letdown.  My journalism degree didn’t allow me to determine whether the totality overwhelmed puny clouds in its path or if they parted out of karmic mercy.  Either way, the darkness led to lucidity.

The cosmic ballet compensated for tardiness.  Blazing plasma surrounded the perfect black circle.  For four glorious minutes or so, the fiery halo was the only clue that the Sun was still around.  The only way the sudden penumbra coda could have been more satisfying was if it seemed like the advertised event wouldn’t be visible, so thank existence’s scriptwriters.  You worried it was going to be cloudy for the whole eclipse, but the skies cleared at just the right time.  Buffalo teaches about the universe.

Monday featured quite a night in the afternoon.  We shared an incredible moment of all looking at the same alignment alongside.  The eclipse offered a chance for people of all kinds to get together for gazing and realize we hate each other.  Now, we share both animosity and liking that disappearing sunlight trick that one satellite pulled.

[manishaasinfratecho]

Unlocking Savings and Sustainability: How Solar Panels Can Benefit Your Business in Delhi ? 🌞

In today's competitive business landscape, Delhi companies are constantly seeking ways to reduce operating costs and gain a competitive edge. One powerful solution is harnessing the clean and abundant power of the sun through solar panel installation.

Sustainable Savings:

Soaring electricity bills can significantly impact your bottom line. Solar panels offer a long-term solution by generating clean electricity on-site. This reduces your reliance on the grid, leading to substantial savings on your monthly electricity bills. Delhi, with its ample sunshine hours, is a prime location for maximizing the benefits of solar power.

Environmental Responsibility:

Consumers are increasingly making purchasing decisions based on a company's environmental practices. By installing solar panels for home or business, you demonstrate a commitment to sustainability and contribute to a cleaner Delhi. This not only reduces your company's carbon footprint but also enhances your brand image, attracting environmentally conscious customers and investors.

Government Incentives:

The Indian government actively promotes solar energy adoption by offering attractive incentives. This includes subsidies on solar panel installation in Delhi, accelerated depreciation benefits, and net metering programs. Net metering allows you to sell excess electricity generated by your solar panels back to the grid, further increasing your financial gains.

Increased Property Value:

Investing in solar panels adds value to your commercial property. Studies show buildings with solar systems tend to sell faster and at a higher price point compared to those without. This is because potential buyers recognize the long-term cost savings and environmental benefits associated with solar power.

Low Maintenance and Long Lifespan:

Modern solar panels are incredibly durable and require minimal maintenance. Routine cleaning and occasional inspections are all that's typically needed. Moreover, with a lifespan of 25 years or more, solar panels offer a reliable and long-term source of clean energy for your business.

Finding the Right Solar Partner:

Choosing the best solar panel company for your business needs is crucial. MITS Construction, a leader in Delhi's construction industry, offers comprehensive solar solutions. Our team of experienced professionals can guide you through the entire process, from initial consultation and system design to high-quality installation and after-sales support.

MITS Construction utilizes only top-tier solar panels from leading manufacturers, ensuring optimal performance and efficiency. We provide customized solutions tailored to your specific energy requirements and roof space, maximizing your return on investment.

Benefits Beyond Cost Savings:

The benefits of solar panels extend beyond immediate cost savings. Solar power reduces your reliance on fossil fuels, lessening your company's environmental impact. This fosters a positive work environment and attracts employees who value sustainability. Additionally, solar panels showcase your commitment to innovation and responsible business practices, strengthening your brand image and customer loyalty.

Taking the First Step:

If you're a business owner in Delhi looking to unlock the many advantages of solar power, MITS Construction is here to help. Contact us today for a free consultation to discuss your specific needs and explore the potential of solar energy for your business. Let's work together to build a brighter future, powered by the sun!

[ajcgames]

What I want to make

I'm a big fan of management and simulation-style games, especially those with automation elements. I'm hoping to create a game that fits into the same genre.

I should preface this all by saying that my goal isn't to create something I intend to sell on a storefront like Steam or itch.io - that would be a plesant 'bonus' outcome to this. I want to make sure this isn't my focus. Having commercial aspirations ends up being a twisty path that leads both to development pressure and a burden to fit within a specific kind of box that would appeal to consumers.

These aren't bad parameters, not really. But while they might add structure and purpose to development they aren't always the right fit for all projects and all people, myself especially.

A little bit of background

I've spent many years trying to make personal projects with commercial goals in mind. I find that, while inspirational and ambitious to begin with, the fact that you're banking on selling it and rewarding your time creates a bit of a false promise. The process of game development should be fun, and the moment it becomes burdensome is usually an indicator that some sort of external pressure has been acquired, and balancing your motivation with your pressures is something I've not been great with.

With that said, I'm approaching this project with an open mind and a simple goal: make something that I will find fun to play, and meets my own criteria alone.

What this game is

I play a bunch of management and automation games. Factorio, Satisfactory, Dyson Sphere Program, Factory Town, Astro Colony, Shapez, Production Line and many others. There is a running theme amongst these, and they all offer slightly different takes on the genre - which I love!

I'm hoping to create something very much in this vein, but more aligned with games like Big Pharma and Astro Colony, but probably nowhere near as ambitious as either (though being able to add greater depth to my initial idea would be nice).

The idea I've been toying with for a long time surrounds the mining of asteroids in the solar system. You've been give a small base of operations on a large asteroid, and your job is to take in samples from the asteroid and perform various operations on them in order to produce research and other products from it.

This could be as simple as taking in a raw mineral sample from the asteroid, running it through a machine to analyse it, and receiving a small bit of 'science' for it. As a kind of currency. This can then be used to purchase upgrades or improvements to your factory.

Other activities may involve taking those minerals and breaking them down, combining them with other minerals, and creating sample tubes to package up and send back to Earth for further research (via some kind of automated return cargo shuttle mechanism).

The ultimate goal here is to build a nice big automated factory that fulfils a large range of objectives. The player could choose to play this as a campaign mission - which may require building a factory to fulfil a certain range of objectives (gain a certain amount of science points, return a certain number of samples of something to Earth, and so on), or simply to just build-big and reach some kind of free-play achievement (much like Factorio's 'launch the rocket' soft completion requirement, which leaves the player free to carry on playing and accruing more resources).

With all that said, I'll end this post here and use the next post to explain how I'm planning to build all this, what I already know and can bring to the table, and what challenges I think I'm going to face.

[litcityblues]

For All Mankind Seasons 3 & 4: Some Men Would Rather Steal An Asteroid Than Go To Therapy

It's been a minute since I saw this show, but to recap: at the end of Season 2, Cold War tensions between the Soviets and Americans boil over. There's a firefight on the moon. Tracy and Gordo manage to keep Jamestown's reactor from melting down but die in the process. Danielle docks with Soyuz and astronauts and cosmonauts finally greeting each other does a lot to defuse tensions. In the final shot of the season, we see a human walking on Mars.

When Season 3 starts, it's 1992. Ed (Joel Kinnaman) and Karen (Shantel VanSanten) are divorced and Karen is in the Space Hotel business after a disaster at Danny Stevens' (Casey W. Johnson) wedding nearly takes out the hotel and takes out her new husband Sam (Jeff Hephner), Karen decides to sell to Dev Ayesa (Edi Gathegi), found of Helios Aerospace who wants to use it for his own commercial mission to Mars.

Ed and Danielle (Krys Marshall) are in the running to be commander of NASA's Mars Mission with Molly Cobb (Sonya Wagner) (now blind, because of her solar storm adventure in Season 2) clashing with Margo (Wrenn Schmidt) over who to choose. Molly picks Ed, but Margo fires her and picks Danielle instead. Ed switches teams, leaving NASA to join Helios as the commander for their Mars mission, which sets up a three-way race to Mars.

(Margo is under increasing pressure-- as her 'gentle back channel' to the Soviets in the form of her friend Sergei is rapidly becoming the KGB insisting that she sell secrets to them.)

With everyone on the way to Mars, Danny's new wife and baby are hanging out with his brother Jimmy (David Chandler) who- like Danny- is struggling with the legacy of his parents, Tracy and Gordo. Unlike Danny, who seems to have doubled down to follow in their footsteps, Jimmy wants nothing to do with NASA and is increasingly friendly with anti-NASA radicals.

On the way to Mars, NASA deploys solar sails to race ahead of the Helios crew, but an accident on the Soviet ship, which sees Ed attempt to go to their rescue, as Helios is closer, gets overruled by Dev and ultimately, it's NASA who has to go rescue the cosmonauts. They do so and while Helios arrives at Mars first, Ed's landing attempt is aborted due to bad weather and ultimately, it's NASA and Russia who land first, with Danielle and the Soviet commander wrestling their way onto Mars... together.

The Soviets and Americans are sharing Happy Valley, while Helios has its own base. Danny is spiralling hard and after he gets injured, develops a Vicodin addiction. Kelly (Cynthy Wu) has a romantic liaison with one of the cosmonauts. One of the astronauts, Will Tyler (Robert Bailey Jr), reveals that he's gay- which gives former Astronaut and Current President Ellen Wilson (Jodi Balfour) an opening to take down 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell.'

(Ellen's plotline is probably the more underrated of Season 3: still married to Larry (Nate Corddry), they're both still gay, they have one kid and she runs for President as a Republican, defeating Bill Clinton in 1992 to win election. The twist is that it's Larry who gets caught in a lie about an extramarital affair to Congress, which you think is going to be the start of Ellen's 'Lewinsky Scandal' that takes her down but instead, after going to see Pam, Ellen makes the one move that I think no one expects her to make: she comes out of the closet.

IRL, I honestly think that scenario would play out exactly the way Ellen intended. It would have changed the story in a massive, massive way- especially in the mid-90s media landscape, IMO)

Danny's spiral leads to a drilling accident that results in an accident that leads to more deaths and Ed and Danny being trapped in Hab 1, buried and running out of air.

The noose is tightening around Margo, as the Soviets continue to pressure her and Aleida realizes that it was she who gave NASA's engine design to the Soviets and Jimmy's radical friends help him steal the statue of his parents. Things in Season 3 come to a head with Kelly- who is pregnant and suffering from pre-eclampsia, having to be evacuated back to Earth. The North Korean rocket that damaged the space hotel way at the start of the season? Turns out it was a Mars mission and the Americans/Russians find the sole survivor and the *actual* first man on Mars: a North Korean. Back on Earth, Jimmy's friends blow up the Johnson Space Center killing Karen and Molly Cobb in the process and Margo is presumed to be amongst the dead, but is in fact, alive, well, and living in the Soviet Union.

Season 4 opens with the Mars base having grown considerably. Ed is commanding a mission to bring an asteroid into Mars orbit so they can mine it and unemployed oil rig worker Miles (Toby Kebbell) (because they've discovered something called helium-3 that's become the main fuel source, devastating the oil and gas industries) was headed to the moon, but chooses instead to go to Mars for more pay and a long stint. After the accident with Ed's mission, NASA sends out Danielle to replace him for the remainder of America's term commanding the base while Ed, as it turns out is experiencing hand tremors.

Margo is finding that the Soviet Union isn't all it cracked up to be. She's out of the space game, but after a coup removes Gorbachev and brings in new management she finds herself working for the Soviet space program again (after a fairly brutal interrogation.)

On Mars, Miles finds that Helios doesn't pay that well but gets into the black market game to supplement his income and does so quite successfully.

Aleida is suffering from panic attacks after the bombing, Kelly is getting screwed by NASA so they take her robotic explorer program (whose goal is to search for life) on the road, looking for private funding and eventually, they get some from Dev.

Political tensions are rising on Mars with the Soviet crew forming factions over their power struggle, the North Koreans are keeping to themselves, and the Americans are kind of caught in the middle if we just fast forward through to the end of this, eventually, Ed, Dev, and company hijack a shiny new asteroid and park it in Mars orbit where it will be mined. (Margo is also revealed to be alive, comes back to America for awkward moments at NASA, and has the brief, tiniest possibility of running away to Brazil with Sergei dangled in front of her before someone- presumably the KGB shoots him dead.)

All right, so let's unpack this a bit.

From what I'm reading on the interwebs, this show is still waiting for an official renewal for Season 5. I don't know what kind of metrics Apple uses to make those decisions for its streaming platform, but at this point, if the creators/writers, etc, want 7 seasons, I think Apple should just do it at this point- but, that being said, having gotten through all of Season 4, I could also see why they wouldn't do that as well. I think Season 4 feels like the show was either laying the groundwork for a heavy 'reboot' season in Season 5 (because how old can Ed get, really?) or was designed in such a way that it could serve as a series finale without too much trouble either.

And I go back and forth about that. I think the show is at a weird transition point in its story because we're moving out of the alternate history aspect of all of this and more into the science fiction aspect of all of this and I think that might be a trickier balancing act to pull off than we realize. There were aspects of Season 4 that I liked. The introduction of Miles was a brilliant choice because it created kind of this Upstairs/Downstairs aspect to the show where you get to see the people who are doing the grunt work to keep Happy Valley going as a pose to our HEROES who are upstairs doing astronaut things. The black market/secret bar aspect all worked for me- you'd expect to find that in a situation like that as well as the labor tension that eventually leads to a strike amongst the workers. No problem with any of that.

The problem I did have was Ed and Danielle. I think the show should have just gone there. They kind of do, but it's more implicit than explicit and they've danced around this before in prior seasons-- but I think Ed could have seen some interesting character growth had Danielle explicitly called him on his sexist/racist bullshit-- especially given Kelly is a woman of color. There was an opportunity here for self-analysis and reflection for a character who badly needs it and you could have more of an arc between Danielle and Ed trying to repair their relationship throughout the season. They kind of do that, but I think had they doubled down on it a bit, it would have given both characters a better arc throughout the 4th season.

(Also, Ed, man... go home and deal with your fucking feelings, already! "Men would rather stay on Mars and figure out how to hijack an asteroid than go to therapy." Though, to be fair to Ed, when Kelly finally pins him down on why he is the way he is, his explanation seems genuine enough. I just don't understand why it didn't come earlier in the season and why a guy who has had two children of his own is so gosh darned awkward around his Grandson- though admittedly, that too gets better by the end of Season 4.)

We also have to go to talk about Danny Stevens: why the fuck didn't they just send his ass home? I can understand exiling him at the end of Season 3 when they were still trying to get fuel made to get everyone back home, I get that. But now workers are being shipped into the base, surely there's a shuttle he can go home on? Instead, he just sort of sits in the North Korean capsule until he cracks and is found dead and that's just sort of the end of it. (Personally, I think a better ending for Danny would have been them finding the capsule straight up empty. With no tracks or nothing.)

Margo not getting a happy ending seems inevitable, though I would have liked it far better had she gone to Brazil, even without Sergei-- but I do appreciate the fact that she takes accountability for her plan, if not her actions by season's end which I think is a good first step for her character who has been avoiding accountability for her choices for quite some time.

Eli Hobson as the new NASA administrator had me checking IMDB constantly because I was so convinced it was Bruce Boxleitner I got very excited at first, but it was Daniel Stern who was equally as awesome.

Overall: I do love this show. Season 3 was top notch and Season 4 felt like it lost a step or two but was still good. (I'm hoping Season 4 is setting up stuff for Season 5 we have yet to discover!) For All Mankind is a great show that everyone should be watching. Apple is really impressing me with the quality of the shows they've got on there and this one is a 'must watch' that should be getting way more hype than it seems to be out in the world. My Grade: Season 3 **** out of ****, Season 4 *** out of ****

[dertaglichedan]

How Green Energy Helps Fund Taliban Islamic Terrorists

We have been reporting on how green energy is being used to fund the Communist Chinese.

There is one primary reason and its named is — lithium.

Lithium is a key mineral used to creating green energy and powers all electric vehicles.

The BBC’s Catherine Early who in a November 24th, 2020 article titled The new ‘gold rush’ for green lithium wrote,

Lithium is crucial for the transition to renewables, but mining it has been environmentally costly. Now a more sustainable source of lithium has been found deep beneath our feet. [ … ] The commercial use for lithium in the 21st Century could not be clearer. It is found not only inside smart phones and laptops, but is now vital to the clean energy transition, for the batteries that power electric vehicles and store energy so renewable power can be released steadily and reliably. Demand has soared in recent years as carmakers move toward electric vehicles, as many countries including the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands, France, Norway and Canada announce a phase-out of combustion-engine cars. In fact, five times more lithium than is mined currently is going to be necessary to meet global climate targets by 2050, according to the World Bank. Read more.

Visual Capitalist’s Jeff Desjardins did a series of infographics on lithium and predicted that by 2025 the battery market alone will be almost 2x bigger than the entire lithium market today.

The largest producers of lithium products in 2015 were Chile 37.0%, Australia 33.0%, Argentina 11.0%, China 10.0%, Zimbabwe 3.1%, other 3.3% and the USA 2.6%.

According to the World Economic Forum in January 2023 the largest producers of lithium are: #1 Australia 52%, #2 Chile 25%, #3 China 13%, #4 Argentina 6%, #5 Brazil 1%, #6 Zimbabwe 1%, #7 Portugal 1%, #8 The United States 1% and lastly the rest of the world with 0.1%

Lithium Funding Islamic Terrorists

In a July 21, 2023 FrontPage article titled “‘Green Energy’ Will Be Powered by Taliban Lithium” Daniel Greenfield reports,

One of the sales pitches for electric cars and assorted green energy projects was that we’d at least be able to unplug from Middle Eastern oil. But instead, we’ve become dependent on the Saudis anyway (the Saudis own 5% of Tesla) and, more crucially on China which sells us the junk solar panels and the rare earth metals (obtained through incredibly dirty mining processes that have devastated lakes and poisoned entire villages) to power the ‘clean’ revolution of ‘green energy’. Now, topping all that, since the United States failed to develop the lithium mines in Afghanistan and since Biden refuses to mine any at home, the Taliban and Communist China will profit from every garbage electric car that the lefties force down our throats in the name of their hoax environmental crisis. Save the planet, fund Islamic terrorism.

CONTINUED

[newenglandsolar]

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[ecopowerpack]

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[back-and-totheleft]

Oliver Stone Wants To Atone For Hollywood’s Sins Against Nuclear Energy

When Oliver Stone’s 1986 Vietnam War movie “Platoon” showed the gore and mental toll of combat, veterans accused the director of portraying soldiers in an ugly light. When 1991’s “The Doors” depicted Jim Morrison’s battle with addiction, the rock star’s bandmate said Stone had “assassinated” the singer’s reputation. When Stone interviewed Cuban leader Fidel Castro and Russian President Vladimir Putin for documentaries meant to provoke Americans with starkly different perspectives on U.S. foreign policy, critics panned the Oscar winner as a stooge for strongmen and an “unrepentant contrarian,” aging gracelessly into a “loony conspiracy”-peddling septuagenarian.

Nuclear energy, the subject of his latest film, is no less of a lightning rod. Perhaps that’s why “Nuclear Now” feels like watching a Gonzo “60 Minutes” special. Stone admits that he, like many people, once registered atomic power as indistinguishable from images of menacing mushrooms clouds and hazmat horrors. To Stone, a clear-eyed review of the facts alone in an age of climate chaos seemed provoking enough on its own.

Over the next hour and 45 minutes, Stone goes on a journey familiar to many who have wondered whether atomic energy and radioactive waste pose a more urgent threat than global warming. “Nuclear Now” answers the question with a clear no, offers a compelling explanation for how atomic energy went into decline and makes a well-researched case for why the world needs a reactor-building renaissance.

Stone takes us through the history of fission from the European scientists who discovered radiation to the United States’ attempt to sell the world on nuclear energy less than a decade after dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

In his telling, cribbing an eyebrow-raising discovery from the nuclear engineer and consultant (and interviewee in the film) Rod Adams, powerful monied interests had it out for nuclear energy from the start. Just months after President Dwight Eisenhower delivered his famous “atoms for peace” speech, vowing to unite humanity with abundant nuclear energy, the Rockefeller Foundation asked the National Academy of Sciences to study the health effects of radiation.

The government research body, whose president served on the oil tycoon family foundation’s board, put out a dire and later discredited report on the risks of radiation a few years later. The New York Times, whose publisher also served on the Rockefeller Foundation’s board, reported the findings on its front page under the headline: “Scientists Term Radiation A Peril To Future Of Man.” Environmentalists, in Stone’s view, became eager pawns as left-wing activists merged the fight against atomic weapons with that against nuclear power.

The narration is aided by abundant visual charts that help viewers understand why few experts believe solar panels and wind turbines can replace fossil fuels alone, illustrating how much less land nuclear uses and how much more often reactors generate power.

In the movie’s second half, Stone digs into the intricacies of different nuclear technologies, walking the audience through the differences between today’s giant water-cooled reactors and the sodium-cooled “microreactors” startups are attempting to commercialize. He also highlights efforts by the Asian, African and Latin American countries whose energy sources will determine the planet’s future temperature to build their first nuclear reactors, even as Germany and the U.S. decommission perfectly good atomic power stations.

The movie doesn’t shy away from the fact that Russia is the primary vendor for nuclear technology, constructing most of the world’s new reactors outside of China. But Stone grapples only in passing with the reality that Putin’s invasion of Ukraine last year supercharged the growing interest in nuclear energy and continues to animate efforts in the U.S. and Europe to reverse atomic decline. It’s a glaring omission from an auteur whose cozy relationship with the Russian leader has made many question Stone’s judgment and credibility.

Even so, “Nuclear Now” is a comprehensive and credible corrective to decades of atomic mythmaking — less timely than badly overdue. But then again, I’m a reporter who writes about nuclear energy, so don’t take it from me.

The New York Times’ one complaint was that the film’s wonky dive into new reactor technologies “veers somewhat into the weeds.” While The Wrap’s review found the 105-minute movie “dull,” the writer couldn’t help but applaud the “undeniably informative” film as “commendable.” Variety flat-out called it a “vital and grounded movie that demands to be seen.”

Last week, a few hours before seeing “Nuclear Now” at a premiere screening in Manhattan’s East Village, I spoke to Stone and his collaborator Joshua Goldstein, whose book with Swedish nuclear scientist Staffan Qvist, “A Bright Future,” inspired the movie.

We discussed a range of issues, from how radiation works to why Hollywood is responsible for a widespread misunderstanding of the risks associated with nuclear power.

Stone called out actor Jane Fonda for opposing nuclear energy after her 1979 film “The China Syndrome,” depicting a disaster cover-up at a nuclear power plant, came out coincidentally just days before the Three Mile Island accident. He said Ralph Nader’s effort to close nuclear stations was such a historic mistake it may end up overshadowing the consumer-advocate-turned-presidential-candidate’s other accomplishments in future history books. We spoke over Zoom for about 35 minutes.

Why make a film on nuclear energy?

Oliver Stone: I’ve done 20 feature films and 10 documentaries. To me, this is the most important subject I could address. There’s nothing that looms over us as much as climate change. I’ve been very aware of it since the Al Gore film. In 2019, I ran across Josh Goldstein’s book, “A Bright Future.” It’s a nice title. But I think “Nuclear Now” is more urgent. The book is very well laid out, thoughtful, reasoned, makes sense and elemental in the sense that it doesn’t get stuck on the stuff that was confusing to me, which is all the negatives about nuclear. I’ve learned a lot since then.

It seems to me as an outsider that we lost our mind with fear in the 1970s. If you look at my films, you know there were a lot of lies. And over time it turned into this massive lie about nuclear energy that is really evident if you think it through.

Josh gives a very reasonable explanation of radiation. That it’s there. It’s part of our lives. We live with low-level radiation. Yet somehow, with the Rockefeller Foundation’s influence, we were derailed from a very hopeful start in the 1960s and ’70s. Dwight Eisenhower had the right idea. John Kennedy had the right idea. We should have kept going with nuclear. We’d have had a nuclearized society by the 2000s. In my opinion, we wouldn’t even be talking about this climate change bullshit because the world would have followed. Instead, we completely diverted.

So, in your view, why did nuclear go into decline in the U.S.?

Stone: The worst accident was Chernobyl. We discuss that in the film. We go to Russia. We talk to scientists who were involved and we show what Chernobyl was really about, what happened to the 15 front-line rescue workers who died of radiation poisoning that they were not equipped to deal with. It was badly done through the whole thing, from the top down. The containment structure [for the reactor, which all modern nuclear plants have] was not there. Radiation leaked. And the World Health Organization and the United Nations estimated that 4,000 people died from the impact over time. But that’s nothing compared to what you keep hearing about being this huge disaster.

We live with the consequences of radiation. The Earth is filled with radiation. That’s what people don’t understand. They’re frightened because of the concept that it’s contamination and that any amount can hurt you. That’s not true if you look at the DNA studies that were done on the body’s ability to replicate itself. We have to go by science, not faith.

Three Mile Island was a complete joke. It was a big disruption of work. Nobody died. Yet it was made into this massive hysteria by the film “The China Syndrome.”

You referred to the Rockefeller Foundation’s money. What powerful forces do you see behind the anti-nuclear movement?

Stone: You’re going to take me into conspiracy. But you could also say it’s a business competition.

The oil companies were obviously never excited about nuclear. At the origin point of going that way, when Eisenhower declared his atoms for peace program, the Rockefeller Foundation tipped the scales on a report — it was their scientists — and they said on the front page of the New York Times that any amount, any amount, of radiation is dangerous to the body. Which is bullshit! And we know it now. It has to be called out. That kind of thinking permeated and gave birth to this idea that radiation is a complete horror.

Also, look at the horror films of the 1950s. My business, the film business, did no favors to nuclear at all. You saw monsters everywhere. People get these crazy ideas. This is what fear does to a society. It ruins progress. As a result, now we’re in a hole. Still, people won’t face the truth. We need nuclear in a massive way in order to solve this climate change problem. Will we go there? It’s still very doubtful because people are resistant to the idea. Older people are. The younger generation I find is very open to it. Our movie is part of that thrust.

What are the limits you see to renewables on one side and carbon capture technology on the other?

Stone: They’re overrated. Tell him.

Joshua Goldstein: We like all attempts to decarbonize, be it with sun, wind, hydropower, carbon capture and sequestration, batteries. All that’s good. The trouble is that when you run your whole grid on that, it gets very expensive and very difficult to do. The grid has to handle the heaviest demand date of the year, when everybody wants air conditioning to turn on at once. You don’t want the grid to go down. So if it happens to not be a sunny day or a windy day, you have a huge hole to fill.

Right now, that’s being done with natural gas, which is a fossil fuel and puts carbon into the atmosphere. Natural gas is methane, which leaks out along the way and is a very potent natural gas, much worse than carbon dioxide, although much shorter lived. But for the next few decades, it’s adding a lot to the problem. So this idea of wind and solar backed up with natural gas is not really getting us to a solution.

Hydroelectricity is great from a climate change point of view because you can let the water out of the dam when you need electricity and actually produce it when you need it. The trouble is that, if you’re an environmentalist, hydroelectricity is damming up valleys and ecosystems.

A large array of solar panels photographed one hour north of Los Angeles in Kern County on Nov. 15, 2022, near Mojave, California. Due to demand, there are now dozens of solar power photovoltaic farms in the Mojave Desert, supplying power to California's electricity grid. Well, plus it’s sensitive to droughts.

Goldstein: Yes, it’s sensitive to drought. But before you even get to drought, you have the Mekong River watershed just being devastated by all the hydro being built upstream in Southeast Asia. If there is a way to get the electricity when you need it cleanly and without carbon emissions, that’s better. And that’s nuclear energy.

All the countries that have managed to decarbonize and get rid of fossil fuels have done it either with nuclear alone, like France, or nuclear with hydroelectricity, like Sweden. Or a few lucky countries like New Zealand, Norway and Brazil have a lot of hydro. But if you’re Germany, you can’t do a lot of hydro. So then you have to try to do it with a combination of batteries, which are still way too expensive, and natural gas. Except in Germany’s case, it’s coal that’s backing up the renewables.

Then you have things like biomass in Finland and the United Kingdom.

Goldstein: Biomass is very bad for the atmosphere. It’s as bad as coal. And they’re cutting down mature forests to burn the trees, then calling it “green” because it’s so-called renewable because someday the trees will grow back. Nuclear, because it’s so concentrated, that’s what makes it environmentally friendly. You can do it with such a small plant. The mining and transportation is so much smaller and the waste is so much easier to handle than, say, coal waste that goes out in the atmosphere, kills people with particulate matter, and leaves behind coal tailings.

Oliver, you’ve obviously been to Russia many times. You’ve interviewed President Putin. And you’ve been asked plenty of times about your views on the war in Ukraine. I’d like to come at this another way.

Russia has steadily been expanding its fleet of nuclear reactors. It’s been exporting its technologies across Asia and Africa ― I’ve heard stories from analysts about how Moscow’s state-owned nuclear company Rosatom wines and dines energy officials from developing countries, in stark contrast to the U.S. To boot, Russia has a monopoly on certain types of nuclear fuel like HALEU and offers services that the U.S. doesn’t, like recycling. What has the Kremlin understood about nuclear energy that we haven’t, and what does it mean for the U.S. going forward?

Stone: I look at it as positive. What Russia does to help the world, providing these reactors and fuels, is good. That’s a good thing! We have to expand the whole network. I wish there was more of it. The Chinese are also very advanced. Of course, they have their own problems at home with coal. They have to get rid of coal. But they are designing very promising new reactors.

I’m sure most Americans at this stage see the enmity between these two countries. I don’t. There’s no place in this climate race for survival for war. There’s no place for this competition, hatred and ideology.

Goldstein: You mentioned Russian fuel. That started with a good thing. The United States took a lot of Soviet nuclear weapons and downgraded them into what could be used for reactor fuel. Every light switch you turned on in the United States for 15 years was powered 10% by Soviet nuclear weapons dismantled after the Cold War. That was great. When that ran out, we got out of the habit of producing nuclear fuel.

We started buying from Russia because it was cheaper. We don’t need to get HALEU — which is high-assay low-enriched uranium, and is more potent than what we get for our plants — from Russia. There’s plenty of uranium in Kazakhstan, Canada and Australia. You name it. The Russians, because they were doing this cheaply, we got into the habit of buying from them, sort of like how the Germans got into the habit of buying natural gas from Russia. What could go wrong? Now we’re in a fix to try to source this fuel, but that will be worked out in a couple of years.

How do you see the war in Ukraine affecting the politics of nuclear energy now? Part of the initial pitch for atomic power was that it provided a degree of energy sovereignty that oil and gas supply chains don’t, as the rush to get off Russian gas has reminded us.

Goldstein: It opened up a lot of support for nuclear in Europe. Maybe not in Germany, per se. But elsewhere, especially in Eastern Europe. This is the same thing that happened in France in the 1970s when the oil supply was cut off [during the OPEC oil embargo]. They were dependent on it and realized some foreign country could bring their economy to its knees. France developed nuclear energy to control its own destiny.

Stone: Unfortunately, Germany is so stupid that their economy is now really in jeopardy. The EU is not going to be what it once was. Germany is taking this whole anti-nuclear position that really threatens its economy.

Are you similarly concerned about Taiwan’s nuclear phaseout?

Stone: No, not particularly. America is concerned and makes big noise about Taiwan. A lot of my friends come back from Taiwan and say that the Taiwanese people don’t feel the same way as our newspapers.

The chances of a Chinese invasion are certainly debatable, but energy blockades are not, and Taiwan is shutting down its last nuclear reactors by 2025.

Goldstein: They may yet come to their senses. South Korea had a very good nuclear program. They just finished building these reactors in the United Arab Emirates on time and on budget. But there was a film called “Pandora” five or six years ago that scared everyone. It helped get an anti-nuclear government elected. Now there’s a pro-nuclear government. The same thing happened in Sweden, where there was an anti-nuclear government replaced by a nuclear-friendly administration.

If you go anti-nuclear and it’s a threat to a country’s stability, economy, jobs and having the lights turn on when you flip the switch, then people will vote in a new government. I’m not saying anything about the politics of Taiwan and which government should be in. But as lots of people reconsider phasing out nuclear, maybe Taiwan will as well.

One place that seems to exemplify the promise of nuclear energy is Finland, where I was around this time last year. I not only saw the world’s first permanent repository for nuclear waste, I saw Western Europe’s first new reactor in 15 years ― 25, if you don’t count Czechia as part of that region.

After visiting the site, I spent a few hours walking around the nearby town of Rauma, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Every single person I talked to on the street supported nuclear power and had total faith in the engineers at the plant to keep everyone safe. Now, this is a highly educated, ethnically and religiously homogeneous country with comparatively low levels of inequality. It’s hard to imagine that kind of civic trust in the U.S., where plummeting faith in institutions has correlated with the rise of conspiracy theories.

Can we have a nuclear renaissance in a country with as little public trust as we have here?

Goldstein: We’re trying to build two new reactors in Georgia and they’re just coming online. They’ll be the first reactors ever built under the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The NRC has been around almost 50 years, and it’s clearly been very efficient at stopping us from building new reactors.

Stone: It’s not about safety. The FDA is supposed to be about safety. It’s about restriction.

Goldstein: When the FDA regulates a new medicine, they’re weighing the benefits and risk and deciding what’s the benefit to society. But the NRC is only concerned about the risks. Safety is their mandate. And when they stop us from building nuclear plants and we build coal and gas plants instead, that’s not their problem. It’s like I had a doctor once tell me, ‘My job is to make sure you die of someone else’s disease.’

In a place like Finland, there is more trust in the government. Those places, like Finland and Sweden, have been better for nuclear energy. But also, the places that understand nuclear better like it more. If you do the polling, people who live close to a nuclear plant versus people who live far from it, or people who understand it well [versus] those who say they couldn’t tell you much about it. Those who understand support it more. Finland, they’ve been living on nuclear energy for quite a while. They’re building a repository for spent fuel quite successfully. People understand it and they’re not afraid of it, which is one of the big themes of the film.

But what can be done to build more public trust? Let me put this in real terms.

Just last night, I was at the decommissioning board hearing for the Indian Point nuclear plant in Cortlandt, New York. I listened to people express a lot of fear over the release of tritium-laced cooling water from the plant into the Hudson River. They perhaps didn’t fully understand that such releases have been happening for decades, and that it’s occurring at levels far below the natural amounts of this radioactive isotope already found naturally in the environment. But they’re learning about a radioactive waste product being pumped into their river as something new. And they see a company with a profit motive to release the tritiated water because it’s the cheaper option than storing it for the decades it’d take to decay.

These people hear that the levels of tritium released are far below the drinking water limits set by the Environmental Protection Agency. But then they see that, well, just a few years ago, the EPA revised its drinking water limits for PFAS, the so-called forever chemicals used in Teflon, from more than 400% higher than what the agency now says is safe.

Goldstein: Antinuclear people are very afraid, and they look for things to justify their fears. This tritium thing has come up in Japan at Fukushima, in Indian Point, and in Massachusetts where I live at the decommissioned Pilgrim plant. You hear about how they’re going to put quote-unquote “radioactive water�� into the Hudson River, Cape Cod Bay or the Pacific Ocean. And there’s no sense of scale about it.

The amount of radioactivity in tritium is very tiny, short-lived, and not biologically accumulating. It’s about the most harmless thing you can think of. And the quantities of it are just tiny. There’s tritium in exit signs. I’m looking at one right out the window here. I think the total amount of tritium they want to release from Indian Point is the same as one exit sign if you dumped the exit sign in the Hudson River.

It gets absurd at this point. We live with background radiation that’s much higher than that. This whole idea that any level of radiation is going to have a bad health effect, it’s all based on a study from 70, 80 years ago when some scientists said DNA can’t repair itself. Well, we just had a Nobel Prize for DNA repair. We know we can repair it. And of course we can, because we live on a planet filled with radiation. The idea that we’re so vulnerable to that tiny amount of tritium, of all things, that its little weak electrons are going to mess us up for life, is kind of crazy. But as long as people are afraid, that’s what you’re going to get.

The power of a film like this is to get people at a more emotional level than a book can do or a newspaper can do and try to get at that fear at a more visceral level where people say, oh, now I understand and I’m less afraid.

Was there a moment like that for you, Oliver, where the magnitude of what this technology could do really sank in?

Stone: There was this moment with Rod Adams [a nuclear engineer interviewed in the film] was holding up his pinky. And he said in this tiny pinky’s worth of uranium would be equivalent to one ton of coal. It would cost less than a buck, and the coal would cost $100.

You think about Marie Curie and Albert Einstein. They’re not dumb. They saw this potential. Obviously, World War II fucked up the timing of it, right? It came along, and people got it into making bombs. But people still conflate making bombs with nuclear energy, and it’s a huge problem. We have to get back to the origins of making this movie, which is to answer the basics: What is it? What is nuclear energy?

It takes time. But we have to clear up the details of the past. We have this chance. Historically, it will be noted that [retreating from nuclear] was a disastrous decision. Ralph Nader is not going to come out well in history. I believe in his car seatbelt thing, and Jane Fonda was great on Vietnam. But sometimes, you’re wrong. The guy who founded Greenpeace said himself that we did a lot of good things with Greenpeace, but we got one thing wrong: nuclear energy.

Broadly speaking, one of the bright spots for nuclear power is that both parties in the U.S. support it. But then you have Democrats who haven’t really taken responsibility for kiboshing the permanent storage site at Yucca Mountain or changing the law to make it so the government can explore an option beyond that site in Nevada. And Republicans are trying to repeal a bunch of clean energy subsidies that nuclear reactors could benefit from. How big are the hurdles in our current politics to doing new nuclear, and which party remains the bigger obstacle?

Goldstein: There is bipartisan support. You have [Sens.] Cory Booker and Sheldon Whitehouse on the left wing of the Democratic Party as big supporters of nuclear energy, and on the right wing of the Republican Party, [former Sen.] Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma for instance, there are very strong supporters of nuclear. They’ve gotten bills going through Congress. The NRC has been slow to respond to those. The Biden administration is pro-nuclear but could be stronger. The Trump administration was pro-nuclear. So it’s not a partisan divide. But the left wing of the Democratic Party needs to rally around Cory Booker a little more and a little less around the Elizabeth Warren types who are still anti-nuclear. In an age of divisiveness and gridlock, if you have something like nuclear, that’s a place to push for some progress.

Stone: When push comes to shove, necessity is the mother of invention. Where are we going to go? It’s going to get worse. It hasn’t gotten better. There’s more carbon. It gets worse and worse and worse. Someday, we’ll have to say, ‘Oh, let’s build some nuclear.’ And it’ll be late. But better late than never. You have these environmentalists waking up. They’re dreaming. They have this idealism in their head about renewables, that the only answer is more and more solar panels and more and more wind turbines. It’s just bizarre. It’s a strange death wish. There’s always a death wish in the world. It’s always been there, but it’s been growing.

Hopefully, if we get lucky, this film will help change the current and it’ll solve itself because people don’t want to kill themselves.

Two more quick questions. First, nuclear fusion — viable commercial breakthrough in our lifetimes or a distraction from deploying more fission?

Goldstein: I’m all for it. It could be the power source of the second half of the century. There are companies that think they can do it faster, and more power to them. I’m all for trying, but I don’t want to bet my grandchild’s future on breakthroughs. The beauty of fission is it’s a proven source. We know from France and Sweden it can be done quickly. The world can follow that example. In the 1970s when all the anti-nuclear stuff got started, it was a new energy source, so who knew if it was going to be safe? After 70 years, we know it works. I’m all for fusion unless people say we don’t need fission because of fusion.

Stone: I totally agree. I can’t see it breaking through. If it does, great.

I apologize for this final one, Oliver. My editor said I had to ask you this. RFK Jr. running for president. What do you think?

Stone: I’m for it! All for it. I think he’s a hero. He’s really in the spirit of the Kennedys and spirit of reform. Out with the old, in with the new.

Would he be a champion of nuclear?

Stone: He will be when I talk to him.

Goldstein: We, uh, don’t necessarily agree on presidential politics, but that’s not what we’re here to talk about today.

Stone [laughing]: Josh is the old Democratic Party.

-Alexander C. Kaufman, The Huffington Post, May 7 2023 [x]

[dickgirldebord]

What’s the Love Making Babies For (2003). We see here Trecartin at his most visually chaotic, extended cut-out digital collages take over the screen in an attempt to capture the divine.

Yet, here, Trecartin is so cognizant of the artworld of commodifications, he understands that visualizations of the divine would inevitably be commercialized and sold—perhaps amongst the angels, in this iteration of the universe.

Gods, here, are those of action: they “god” as a verb, and are “god” as an adjective. The videos extended intro leads to a conversation between Girl God and Boy God—the former with a deep voice, the latter high, to confuse the ensuing conversation which lays out the traditional roles of gender. Girl God says “you are the boy who gods and you know […] and he *knows*” and then “I will always write poems and you will always be hilarious.”

We are then asked to consider, and subsequently break with, the concepts associated with these words, as “Father God” tucks, then packs a penis; pads a sports bra, then binds with duct tape before putting on a suit and drawing on a mustache and reading poetry (the “Girl” godding act), we simultaneously feminize the patriarchal and valorize the feminine, displacing the “Father” three times.

The “Boy” coming before the “Father,” the “Father” becoming the avatar for the “Girl’s” act, and making the “Girl” act the most significant act. The placement of Father remains in flux, a floating mystery in an extended sequence that is among Trecartin’s most straightforward.

The following sequence takes place in a postcard entitled “Let’s Talk about it,” where a radfem stands in front of a group of gay people and states that she thinks “God is a misogynistical faggot…” and that “a faggot is wasteful, like abortion.” This assertion baffles and angers the crowd, who believe that “all people are created gay until otherwise notified by Jesus.” Both perspectives divine queerness, allowing that faggotry to be in conversation with “God” (which God?). This ends up asserted when, after the antagonist leaves, one of the gays states they’re pregnant “by nature and by productivity” ... in the aftermath of the previous conversation, there’s something about “productivity” which suggests that the pregnancy was “extra-natural.” Again, perhaps divine productivity: a baby could be a commercial pursuit.

The final section involves a domme and her submissive at play who cast out a solar-blasted angel from their abode. Repetition, a key Trecartin motif, plays the largest part in this one, with the domme being called the devil by the pregnant gay, and with the domme repeating the conversation with her sub calling the pregnant gay the devil. A scene of playfulness where the sub speaks “I haven’t been able to leave the house but I’ve grown up so much and need adventure” is met with an adoring “we don’t actually want you around.”

After the angel presents a commercial to the two (from an egg! Nature and productivity!) selling a generic product, the angel mimics the “I haven’t been able to leave…” text, which the sub is able to respond to with a cruel and serious “we don’t actually want you around.”

The domme and sub then act out a scene of degradation, which ends in a loving embrace and a swirl of color. The sublime queer act releases a transcendental strobe under the eyes of the angel.

[retirebetternownv]

The Top Current Trends in Las Vegas Real Estate

Las Vegas, Nevada is known for its world-renowned entertainment, casinos, and hospitality industries. However, in recent years, the city has also become an attractive real estate market due to its growing economy and diverse population. In this post, we’ll explore the top current trends in Las Vegas real estate that anyone looking to invest or buy a property in the area should know.

Increased demand for single-family homes

The pandemic has prompted buyers to seek larger and more comfortable living spaces, and Las Vegas is no exception. Single-family homes have seen a spike in demand, as people look for privacy, home offices, and outdoor amenities. According to the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors (GLVAR), single-family home sales rose by 8.7% in 2020, with an average sales price of $354,000. As a result, these properties are now selling much faster, and buyers may find themselves in bidding wars.

Booming luxury market

The luxury real estate market in Las Vegas has seen significant growth in recent years, with high-end buyers seeking luxury villas, penthouses, and homes in exclusive areas. According to the GLVAR, luxury home sales increased by 46.8% in 2020, with the average sales price reaching $1,350,000. Luxury buyers are looking for modern amenities, exclusive locations, and personalized services, combining the comfort of home with upscale experiences.

Growth in commercial real estate

Las Vegas has always had a strong commercial real estate market due to its tourism and hospitality industries, but new industries like tech and healthcare have been driving demand as well. According to CBRE, office vacancy rates in Vegas have dropped for the fourth consecutive quarter in 2021, with tech and financial firms accounting for the majority of leasing activity. Additionally, the city is investing heavily in the healthcare industry, with new hospitals and medical facilities opening across the city.

Increasing interest in short-term rentals

Las Vegas is a popular destination for tourism, and as a result, short-term rentals like Airbnb have gained popularity. Homeowners can earn significant income by renting out their properties for a few days or weeks, especially during peak travel seasons. However, investors should be aware of the city’s strict regulations on short-term rentals, including fees and permits required for operating a rental property.

The growing interest in sustainable real estate

Las Vegas is becoming a leader in sustainable development and green real estate, with developers and homeowners embracing energy-efficient technologies and environmentally-friendly design. For example, the city’s new Circa Resort & Casino is one of the few LEED Gold-certified hotels in the world, with sustainable features like solar panels, rainwater collection, and energy-efficient lighting. Additionally, more homeowners are opting for green building materials, solar panels, and energy-saving appliances when building or renovating their homes.

Virtual real estate tours

The pandemic has changed the way the real estate industry operates, with virtual tours and remote viewings becoming a necessity. Las Vegas real estate agents and developers have embraced technology, offering virtual tours, drone footage, and 3D renderings of properties. Many buyers are now able to view properties from the comfort of their own homes, making the buying process more efficient and convenient.

The rise of remote work

The pandemic has also accelerated the trend of remote work, with many companies allowing employees to work from home permanently. As a result, more people are looking to move away from expensive cities like New York and San Francisco, and Las Vegas is an attractive option. The city offers a lower cost of living, a warmer climate, and an abundance of outdoor activities, making it an ideal place for remote workers to call home.

In the end, the Las Vegas real estate market has been evolving quickly in recent years, with new trends emerging that offer opportunities for buyers, sellers, and investors. Whether you’re looking for a single-family home or a luxury condo, the city’s real estate market is diverse and growing. Additionally, Las Vegas’s unique mix of industries, sustainability initiatives, and remote work opportunities make it an attractive location for anyone looking to invest in property or relocate to a thriving city.

[advancedsolartechnology]

Why You Should Consider a Commercial Solar Panel

If you are looking to build a new home or add a structure to your existing home, then it might be worthwhile to consider a commercial solar panel. They are a great way to get clean, renewable energy into your home, and can also save you money. In addition, many states offer a Clean Energy Credit, which can make your project even more affordable.

Costs

The costs of commercial solar panels have dropped dramatically over the past decade. As a result, many businesses of all sizes are taking advantage of the financial opportunities presented by this type of technology. In some cases, businesses may qualify for tax relief.

The federal government offers a 30% investment tax credit for installing a solar panel system. This rebate can lower the initial cost by up to $20,000 for some businesses. However, this credit will be stepped down after the year 2019.

Another federal program, the Clean Energy Credit, is another way to reduce the costs of installing a solar panel. The credit is equal to 30 percent of the total cost of the solar panel.

In addition to the federal incentives, local utility providers also offer rebate programs for renewable energy technology. The savings generated by a solar system can vary by state, but in general, a commercial system will pay for itself within six years.

Efficiency

When choosing solar panels for a commercial or residential property, it's important to find the most efficient model for your needs. This will help you maximize your energy use and reduce your costs. There are many factors that affect panel efficiency, including the type of cell and the number of cells.

Higher efficiency panels are designed to generate more electricity per square foot. They are also perfect for roofs with limited space. If you need to install a large amount of panels, you may be able to get more for your money with a less-efficient model.

Efficiency is a measure of how much sunlight is converted into electric power. It's measured under standard test conditions, which are based on the cell temperature and the level of irradiance. Solar irradiance is affected by the time of year, latitude and atmospheric conditions. Clouds and snow can cut down on the amount of sunlight that hits a solar panel.

Carports

Solar carports are a great way to protect your vehicles from the sun and rain. These canopies are easy to install, maintain and repair. They can also serve as mini power plants for your home or business.

Solar carports can save your company money on electricity and help reduce your carbon footprint. Aside from helping the environment, they are also a great marketing tool. As more people become eco-conscious, they will want to patronize businesses that are invested in the future of the planet.

Whether you own a restaurant, church, or auto dealership, your commercial property is a prime candidate for a solar carport. You may even be eligible for state or federal rebates. Depending on your location, you can sell any excess solar energy back to your utility provider.

Storage capacity for electricity

Adding storage capacity to your commercial solar panels helps to reduce the amount of electricity that you draw from the power grid. By having less power pulled, you can avoid the cost of peak price rates. Depending on your storage capacity, you can even shift energy from off-peak to on-peak times, which can help make your monthly electricity costs more predictable.

Battery-based systems can also provide backup power during outages. This can be especially important for schools and hospitals. They often have large campuses with lots of rooftop PV potential.

The United States has seen a surge in interest in pairing solar with battery storage over the past few years. While the technology has come a long way, it still has a way to go before it is fully utilized.

Clean energy credit

If you are installing a Solar system for commercial use, you might qualify for a clean energy credit. You can get up to 30 percent of the cost of the equipment. This tax break can be applied to any type of solar system. In addition to the federal credit, you may also qualify for a local or state rebate or subsidized loan.

In the past decade, the solar industry has created hundreds of thousands of new jobs and invested billions of dollars in the United States economy. As prices have fallen, more and more companies and nonprofits have invested in renewable energy projects.

A recent reconciliation bill, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, includes a new 30% solar tax credit, $370 billion in climate spending, and other funding measures. This will help reduce the cost of home energy, save American families up to $1,000 per year, and decrease carbon emissions by 40% by 2030.