Kim and Putin deserve each other. Maybe they’ll come into the 20th century together, while watching the western world prosper in the 21st century. Use freedom lovers have only one piece of business of paramount importance right now. VOTE!!! The only real path to ending the grifter-in-chief’s political career.
I think dictators like Trump because they know he is easily manipulated. It isn’t hard - to a one, they know they are smarter and tougher, so what not to like about an easily manipulated President looking for friends?
I was more than a little perturbed to see what may perhaps be JVL's Farewell Address restricted to the new elite "Founders" members. Special events for high rollers is one thing, restricting site content by pay grade among paying members is quite another. I'll be keeping score, and if this keeps happening, or worse, increases, there are other sites that treat their members with more respect, and they'll be getting the money I've been investing here.
FWIW, Al, I'm a long-time Bulwark subscriber and I don't feel dissed. (If I could afford it, I'd do it, but I can't now.) I never feel treated with anything other than respect. You don't speak for me.
I'd like more info on this. I have a hard time believing that JVL is leaving AND hiding his farewell behind a second tier pay wall. If that really is the case, I'm inclined to judge it more harshly than just 'keeping score'.
Edit: JVL Yesterday: "No Triad tomorrow and Friday. See you on Monday."
I'll take him at his word until I hear otherwise (though still looking for info)
UPDATE: Jim wrote back to say it’s the same article as “It’s Because of You.” He attached a copy. He says there won’t be paywall articles and nobody is leaving.
Okay, but isn't it still a pay-walled article? I'm not trying to be difficult, but it looks pay-walled and while he sent you a copy, he didn't bring enough for the whole class. So to speak.
One of the things the campus left misses in their haste to condemn Israel for its war against Hamas is that Israel is a critical ally in the global struggle that is the subject of today's important post from The Bulwark. The reaction to the campus left is sometimes to characterize them as "pro-Hamas," which they might be in effect if not in intent., but, more critically, in their dogged antagonism against Israel, they are making themselves pro-Hezbollah, pro-Iran, pro-Russia, pro-China and, now, pro-North Korea. The West and its allies (which include Israel and other, even more dubious, democracies like Hungary and Turkey) have many faults but do even the most ardent anti-Zionists really want to see Palestinian "victory" through a Russo-Chinese-Iranian domination of the middle East?
Nuclear power is far too expensive. It is obsolete, and dangerous. The new Vogtle plants in Georgia were supposed to cost $14 billion. They ended up costing over $30 billion and they were 7 years late. They produce the most expensive electricity in U.S. history. Industry sources say nuclear power should cost $141 to $221 per megawatt hour, when things go according to plan. Vogtle is probably closer to $300 or more. No one knows. Compare this to gas combined cycle, $39 to $101, or solar, which is the cheapest source of electricity, $24 to $96. (https://www.lazard.com/research-insights/2023-levelized-cost-of-energyplus/)
Because solar is cheapest by far, solar and battery storage will make up 81% of new U.S. electric-generating capacity in 2024. (https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=61424) They will only get cheaper. Obsolete technology such as nuclear can never catch up.
The U.S. Sec. of Energy recently called for the construction of 200 more nuclear plants. It would be difficult to construct them because the only remaining company was bankrupted by Vogtle. Assuming he meant 1 GW plants and these cost as much as Vogtle, this would cost $3 trillion. The entire installed U.S. generator fleet costs approximately $2.4 trillion. Given the low cost of solar, you could replace the entire U.S. fleet, two times, for $3 trillion.
Building more nuclear plants is economic lunacy.
Also, they are dangerous as shown by the accidents at Fukushima, Three Mile Island, Davis Besse, Brown's Ferry, Rancho Seco, Connecticut Yankee, and 50 other somewhat less serious accidents. These were mainly caused by power company incompetence and negligence. The Connecticut Attorney General’s Office described Connecticut Yankee: "What we have here is a nuclear management nightmare of Northeast Utilities' own making. The goal is no longer to decommission a nuclear power plant, but rather to decontaminate a nuclear waste dump." Incompetence cannot cause huge accidents with wind or solar power.
One reason that it's so expensive is because the permitting process takes years and years and costs build up. Another reason is there is nowhere to send the nuclear waste because while the nuclear waste isn't weapons grade, the NIMBYism certainly is. I have no problem with building up our solar capacity, but one of the major inefficiencies for nuclear is the roadblocks thrown in it's way at every step. As to it's safety, we have an entire fleet of submarines and aircraft carriers running on it, so apparently it can be done. I refuse to believe that there aren't ways to do that commercially.
I do not see how the long permitting process could add to the cost. They don't start to build until the permits are granted. I do not know about nuclear waste, but the cost of decommissioning is paid for with a small surtax per megawatt hour.
Perhaps, as you say, safe designs are possible, such as the pebble bed reactor. But the cost will be high, and once a technology falls behind in cost competition, it seldom recovers. Even if the nukes fall in price, solar will fall faster. It is the dominant source. It will be manufactured in far greater quantities, creating economies scale. Things like concentrated solar power (with mirrors) have also fallen behind and are unlikely to catch up.
The other thing about nukes is that although the fuel is cheap, it is not free. Whereas solar and wind have no fuel.
Anyway, the people advocating it both here and at the DoE consider the cost. No power company will install a nuke when it costs so much.
"I do not see how the long permitting process could add to the cost."
Jed, there are these things that are called lawyers, and they don't work for free. Every step of the process and anything associated with it involves lawyers. They get their fees.
Also, the long process causes uncertainty in the process. Let's say that we have an existing coal plant that will reach end of life in 2028. We can build a new nuclear plant by then and have it online to replace the existing plant. Now we introduce a five-year delay (not uncommon). Our choices are to refurbish an existing plant (costs money), build a new plant (costs money), or purchase power on the open market (costs money). And maybe it takes seven years instead, or four. How do you plan for that kind of thing efficiently?
The NIMBYism also affects the waste byproducts. We pay a fee on our bills every month to cover storage and eventual disposal of the waste. Because of delays on approvals (which also cost money), it sits in water holding tanks (primarily) and we can't get rid of it. My utility (ComEd) is almost 55% nuclear so this is by no means a trivial problem. The storage expense goes up every month so eventually it reaches my pocketbook.
Even without the building of new plants, the ability to cut some of the red tape around the existing plants is laudable and I'm glad it is happening. Just not fast enough.
No doubt, lawyers cost a lot of money. But surely that was only a tiny fraction of the $30 billion cost of Plant Vogtle. Also, I have heard that lawyers cost a lot when you build a solar, wind or natural gas plant, yet these plants are far cheaper than Vogtle.
Vogtle was 7 years late. That was 7 years added on after construction began. I am sure the lawyers and permitting process did not add to the time it took. I was following developments the whole time, because I live in Georgia. The problems were technical, with pumps, cooling systems, systems that did not pass inspection, plus the construction company went bankrupt. Lawyers cannot be blamed for technical problems.
I agree that NIMBY causes problems with nuclear waste. I myself would not want that waste anywhere near my house. Solar and wind have no fuel and no waste products, so that is another huge advantage, on top of costing 3 to 10 times less per kilowatt hour. I would prefer cheap electricity to expensive electricity.
Regarding safety, when the Fukushima plant was being planned, Tokyo Electric Power people assured the local people in Fukushima that it was perfectly safe. One of them famously responded, "then why not build it in Tokyo?" If they had built it anywhere near Tokyo, the whole city would have been abandoned for the next 50 years or so. 90,000 people were evacuated from Fukushima and I think it is likely they will not be returning for the next several generations.
The Tokyo Electric Power company and the Japanese government keep saying the area is cleaned, nothing to see here. It happens that I translate Japanese physics and chemistry papers, and I know several Japanese nuclear scientists and fission engineers. One of them was given soil samples from various places in Fukushima Prefecture. They were so radioactive he was afraid to work with them. Biologists have been trapping and shooting wild boars in the area. One of them take 50 km from the plant had 6,000 times more radioactive debris in its meat than it is safe to eat. So I do not believe the power company or the government, and neither do any of the scientists I work with.
I doubt the Japanese public will ever allow the construction of another nuke. I don't want another in Georgia because I do not like to pay 10 times more than necessary for electricity over the life of the plant.
It is an obsolete technology. It is dead. Solar and wind left it in the dust. You might as well try to sell vacuum tube computers.
"It would be a “mistake” for Biden to attack Trump on his criminal conviction, O’Donnell argued. “First of all, because of the Hunter trial" This is from the dispatch this morning. They have become more and more troubling and the purpose of this was to make the conviction of a presidential candidate on 34 felonies somehow equivalent to the conviction of a president's son on 3 felonies. A son who has never held office nor run for office and has never held a job in government. Titling the newsletter "How Trump and Biden’s Legal Troubles Could Play Into Their Debate". Is very troubling as I think they are wavering from the position of never trumpers. Having said that I believe Mr. Kristol has finally been cemented to team Biden.
Why the snarky comment about Dems and jobs? If anything, Rs would be more likely to kill the idea simply to avoid a perceived “win” under Biden’s leadership. Article after article takes unnecessary potshots at Dems.
I reserve the right to tweak Dems, but my point here was exactly the opposite: I thought Reuters' characterization of each party's "wins" in the bill was silly!
That jumped out at me too. My first thought was, of course, make a snide comment targeting Democrats. It is comments like these that is fast losing my interest in The Bulwark!
Putin/NorKo is interesting in that no one goes to NorKo without China's permission. What are they getting? Or is Putin going around them and poking China in the eye?
Thank you so much for highlighting the desperation behind this North Korea visit; there has not been enough of this. Yes, increased collaboration exacerbates their menace, but we need to avoid lionizing these effin' guys -especially when they really are rather pathetic. A little more swagger on our part could serve us well.
Good point. We'd do well to remember the 80's. That Iron Curtain was still across Europe. Polish soldiers had their guns pointed west. Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union. China was communist as it is now, and NK was the same as it was, is, and will be. Iran wasn't friendly either, it turns out.
Our enemies are diminished and we count their former thralls as our allies now. Only China is stronger than it was, but all it will take is resolution and commitment from the west to keep them from getting aggressive.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: we're poised to have another American Century if we don't piss it away with a childish "America First" (which = America Alone)
"You know, I was asked the other day about the Comstock Act:
"Sir, President Trump, sir, what do you feel about the Comstock Act?'
I told the guy the Act is tremendously unfair to me. It blocked me from owning the Buffalo Bills, made owning the New Jersey Generals tremendously expensive. On day one in office, I will end this act. Very unfair."
Trump later added the Comstock Act might have one good side effect: "I hope it makes the San Diego Sharks go bust. Not a good image. You know, sharks. Not good for the NHL. Scary."
About the movie: With stakes this high and during an election, it is irresponsible to deviate from the facts. Every deviation creates a problem for Biden because it feeds the grievance narrative of Trump and his base.
Kremlin mouthpieces have described Trump as their "wrecking ball" against America. He sows doubt about the legitimacy of U.S institutions, telling his followers that the whole system is corrupt if it doesn't bow to him.
He also undermines alliances in the democratic world, under the guise of "Putting America First." Evidently his first foray into political debate was the anti-NATO ad he bought soon after the Kremlin had hosted him in Moscow.
Biden's campaign to save democracy is not failing, it's that his opponent in this political race is not simply Trump but the world-leader in misinformation, disinformation, brainwashing, and propaganda - Vladimir Putin.
HI Terry: The pitch for the book is nothing more than a push for people to be more educated about the Trump-Russian connection and what that means to our democracy. It was written - not to get rich or be famous - but to be my way of attempting to save our country. Because I lived and worked in Russia off an on for 20 years, I feel that I can contribute evidence and proof which has NOT surfaced in other substacks or in other books. Thanks for your input, Elizabeth
Kim and Putin deserve each other. Maybe they’ll come into the 20th century together, while watching the western world prosper in the 21st century. Use freedom lovers have only one piece of business of paramount importance right now. VOTE!!! The only real path to ending the grifter-in-chief’s political career.
I think dictators like Trump because they know he is easily manipulated. It isn’t hard - to a one, they know they are smarter and tougher, so what not to like about an easily manipulated President looking for friends?
Pretty much. And Black women are the base of the party, followed by suburban women.
Did anyone check to see if Putin was wearing his standard elevator shoes in Korea. After all it would be embarrassing to be shorter than Kim.
I was more than a little perturbed to see what may perhaps be JVL's Farewell Address restricted to the new elite "Founders" members. Special events for high rollers is one thing, restricting site content by pay grade among paying members is quite another. I'll be keeping score, and if this keeps happening, or worse, increases, there are other sites that treat their members with more respect, and they'll be getting the money I've been investing here.
FWIW, Al, I'm a long-time Bulwark subscriber and I don't feel dissed. (If I could afford it, I'd do it, but I can't now.) I never feel treated with anything other than respect. You don't speak for me.
I'm happy for you. And as always, I don't claim to speak for anyone but myself.
That wasn't clear, as you said "members", with an S.
I'd like more info on this. I have a hard time believing that JVL is leaving AND hiding his farewell behind a second tier pay wall. If that really is the case, I'm inclined to judge it more harshly than just 'keeping score'.
Edit: JVL Yesterday: "No Triad tomorrow and Friday. See you on Monday."
I'll take him at his word until I hear otherwise (though still looking for info)
They’re at a live show. What did I miss? Who thinks he’s leaving?
I've seen that rumor pop up twice now. Not sure why.
UPDATE: Jim wrote back to say it’s the same article as “It’s Because of You.” He attached a copy. He says there won’t be paywall articles and nobody is leaving.
Okay, but isn't it still a pay-walled article? I'm not trying to be difficult, but it looks pay-walled and while he sent you a copy, he didn't bring enough for the whole class. So to speak.
Also, I’m happy forward the whole thread with the attachment to you and you can put it up.
I think the paywalling was an error. I’m happy to put what Jim sent me up here if you tell me how. It’s a .pdf.
I found the paywalled article. That was kind of a blow.
I wrote to Jim S to ask. He’s always so good about responding.
Yeah, he's not leaving. And given that he considers us "fam", I doubt that he would do so this way.
Same here.
As good as all the contributors to the Bulwark are, Cathy Young stands out.
One of the things the campus left misses in their haste to condemn Israel for its war against Hamas is that Israel is a critical ally in the global struggle that is the subject of today's important post from The Bulwark. The reaction to the campus left is sometimes to characterize them as "pro-Hamas," which they might be in effect if not in intent., but, more critically, in their dogged antagonism against Israel, they are making themselves pro-Hezbollah, pro-Iran, pro-Russia, pro-China and, now, pro-North Korea. The West and its allies (which include Israel and other, even more dubious, democracies like Hungary and Turkey) have many faults but do even the most ardent anti-Zionists really want to see Palestinian "victory" through a Russo-Chinese-Iranian domination of the middle East?
Excellent point about the campus Left and their very narrow view. They want easily identified heroes and villains. I hope they grow up.
Nuclear power is far too expensive. It is obsolete, and dangerous. The new Vogtle plants in Georgia were supposed to cost $14 billion. They ended up costing over $30 billion and they were 7 years late. They produce the most expensive electricity in U.S. history. Industry sources say nuclear power should cost $141 to $221 per megawatt hour, when things go according to plan. Vogtle is probably closer to $300 or more. No one knows. Compare this to gas combined cycle, $39 to $101, or solar, which is the cheapest source of electricity, $24 to $96. (https://www.lazard.com/research-insights/2023-levelized-cost-of-energyplus/)
Because solar is cheapest by far, solar and battery storage will make up 81% of new U.S. electric-generating capacity in 2024. (https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=61424) They will only get cheaper. Obsolete technology such as nuclear can never catch up.
The U.S. Sec. of Energy recently called for the construction of 200 more nuclear plants. It would be difficult to construct them because the only remaining company was bankrupted by Vogtle. Assuming he meant 1 GW plants and these cost as much as Vogtle, this would cost $3 trillion. The entire installed U.S. generator fleet costs approximately $2.4 trillion. Given the low cost of solar, you could replace the entire U.S. fleet, two times, for $3 trillion.
Building more nuclear plants is economic lunacy.
Also, they are dangerous as shown by the accidents at Fukushima, Three Mile Island, Davis Besse, Brown's Ferry, Rancho Seco, Connecticut Yankee, and 50 other somewhat less serious accidents. These were mainly caused by power company incompetence and negligence. The Connecticut Attorney General’s Office described Connecticut Yankee: "What we have here is a nuclear management nightmare of Northeast Utilities' own making. The goal is no longer to decommission a nuclear power plant, but rather to decontaminate a nuclear waste dump." Incompetence cannot cause huge accidents with wind or solar power.
One reason that it's so expensive is because the permitting process takes years and years and costs build up. Another reason is there is nowhere to send the nuclear waste because while the nuclear waste isn't weapons grade, the NIMBYism certainly is. I have no problem with building up our solar capacity, but one of the major inefficiencies for nuclear is the roadblocks thrown in it's way at every step. As to it's safety, we have an entire fleet of submarines and aircraft carriers running on it, so apparently it can be done. I refuse to believe that there aren't ways to do that commercially.
I do not see how the long permitting process could add to the cost. They don't start to build until the permits are granted. I do not know about nuclear waste, but the cost of decommissioning is paid for with a small surtax per megawatt hour.
Perhaps, as you say, safe designs are possible, such as the pebble bed reactor. But the cost will be high, and once a technology falls behind in cost competition, it seldom recovers. Even if the nukes fall in price, solar will fall faster. It is the dominant source. It will be manufactured in far greater quantities, creating economies scale. Things like concentrated solar power (with mirrors) have also fallen behind and are unlikely to catch up.
The other thing about nukes is that although the fuel is cheap, it is not free. Whereas solar and wind have no fuel.
Anyway, the people advocating it both here and at the DoE consider the cost. No power company will install a nuke when it costs so much.
"I do not see how the long permitting process could add to the cost."
Jed, there are these things that are called lawyers, and they don't work for free. Every step of the process and anything associated with it involves lawyers. They get their fees.
Also, the long process causes uncertainty in the process. Let's say that we have an existing coal plant that will reach end of life in 2028. We can build a new nuclear plant by then and have it online to replace the existing plant. Now we introduce a five-year delay (not uncommon). Our choices are to refurbish an existing plant (costs money), build a new plant (costs money), or purchase power on the open market (costs money). And maybe it takes seven years instead, or four. How do you plan for that kind of thing efficiently?
The NIMBYism also affects the waste byproducts. We pay a fee on our bills every month to cover storage and eventual disposal of the waste. Because of delays on approvals (which also cost money), it sits in water holding tanks (primarily) and we can't get rid of it. My utility (ComEd) is almost 55% nuclear so this is by no means a trivial problem. The storage expense goes up every month so eventually it reaches my pocketbook.
Even without the building of new plants, the ability to cut some of the red tape around the existing plants is laudable and I'm glad it is happening. Just not fast enough.
No doubt, lawyers cost a lot of money. But surely that was only a tiny fraction of the $30 billion cost of Plant Vogtle. Also, I have heard that lawyers cost a lot when you build a solar, wind or natural gas plant, yet these plants are far cheaper than Vogtle.
Vogtle was 7 years late. That was 7 years added on after construction began. I am sure the lawyers and permitting process did not add to the time it took. I was following developments the whole time, because I live in Georgia. The problems were technical, with pumps, cooling systems, systems that did not pass inspection, plus the construction company went bankrupt. Lawyers cannot be blamed for technical problems.
I agree that NIMBY causes problems with nuclear waste. I myself would not want that waste anywhere near my house. Solar and wind have no fuel and no waste products, so that is another huge advantage, on top of costing 3 to 10 times less per kilowatt hour. I would prefer cheap electricity to expensive electricity.
Regarding safety, when the Fukushima plant was being planned, Tokyo Electric Power people assured the local people in Fukushima that it was perfectly safe. One of them famously responded, "then why not build it in Tokyo?" If they had built it anywhere near Tokyo, the whole city would have been abandoned for the next 50 years or so. 90,000 people were evacuated from Fukushima and I think it is likely they will not be returning for the next several generations.
The Tokyo Electric Power company and the Japanese government keep saying the area is cleaned, nothing to see here. It happens that I translate Japanese physics and chemistry papers, and I know several Japanese nuclear scientists and fission engineers. One of them was given soil samples from various places in Fukushima Prefecture. They were so radioactive he was afraid to work with them. Biologists have been trapping and shooting wild boars in the area. One of them take 50 km from the plant had 6,000 times more radioactive debris in its meat than it is safe to eat. So I do not believe the power company or the government, and neither do any of the scientists I work with.
I doubt the Japanese public will ever allow the construction of another nuke. I don't want another in Georgia because I do not like to pay 10 times more than necessary for electricity over the life of the plant.
It is an obsolete technology. It is dead. Solar and wind left it in the dust. You might as well try to sell vacuum tube computers.
"It would be a “mistake” for Biden to attack Trump on his criminal conviction, O’Donnell argued. “First of all, because of the Hunter trial" This is from the dispatch this morning. They have become more and more troubling and the purpose of this was to make the conviction of a presidential candidate on 34 felonies somehow equivalent to the conviction of a president's son on 3 felonies. A son who has never held office nor run for office and has never held a job in government. Titling the newsletter "How Trump and Biden’s Legal Troubles Could Play Into Their Debate". Is very troubling as I think they are wavering from the position of never trumpers. Having said that I believe Mr. Kristol has finally been cemented to team Biden.
Why the snarky comment about Dems and jobs? If anything, Rs would be more likely to kill the idea simply to avoid a perceived “win” under Biden’s leadership. Article after article takes unnecessary potshots at Dems.
I reserve the right to tweak Dems, but my point here was exactly the opposite: I thought Reuters' characterization of each party's "wins" in the bill was silly!
That jumped out at me too. My first thought was, of course, make a snide comment targeting Democrats. It is comments like these that is fast losing my interest in The Bulwark!
They will criticize people on the left when an opportunity arises, they are not a Pro Biden site, but an anti Trump one.
I don't mind we aren't perfect either
Didi you see Andrew's comment above you explaining what his intent was?
Putin/NorKo is interesting in that no one goes to NorKo without China's permission. What are they getting? Or is Putin going around them and poking China in the eye?
WWIII is one interesting beast!
Thank you so much for highlighting the desperation behind this North Korea visit; there has not been enough of this. Yes, increased collaboration exacerbates their menace, but we need to avoid lionizing these effin' guys -especially when they really are rather pathetic. A little more swagger on our part could serve us well.
Good point. We'd do well to remember the 80's. That Iron Curtain was still across Europe. Polish soldiers had their guns pointed west. Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union. China was communist as it is now, and NK was the same as it was, is, and will be. Iran wasn't friendly either, it turns out.
Our enemies are diminished and we count their former thralls as our allies now. Only China is stronger than it was, but all it will take is resolution and commitment from the west to keep them from getting aggressive.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: we're poised to have another American Century if we don't piss it away with a childish "America First" (which = America Alone)
"You know, I was asked the other day about the Comstock Act:
"Sir, President Trump, sir, what do you feel about the Comstock Act?'
I told the guy the Act is tremendously unfair to me. It blocked me from owning the Buffalo Bills, made owning the New Jersey Generals tremendously expensive. On day one in office, I will end this act. Very unfair."
Trump later added the Comstock Act might have one good side effect: "I hope it makes the San Diego Sharks go bust. Not a good image. You know, sharks. Not good for the NHL. Scary."
About the movie: With stakes this high and during an election, it is irresponsible to deviate from the facts. Every deviation creates a problem for Biden because it feeds the grievance narrative of Trump and his base.
Kremlin mouthpieces have described Trump as their "wrecking ball" against America. He sows doubt about the legitimacy of U.S institutions, telling his followers that the whole system is corrupt if it doesn't bow to him.
He also undermines alliances in the democratic world, under the guise of "Putting America First." Evidently his first foray into political debate was the anti-NATO ad he bought soon after the Kremlin had hosted him in Moscow.
Biden's campaign to save democracy is not failing, it's that his opponent in this political race is not simply Trump but the world-leader in misinformation, disinformation, brainwashing, and propaganda - Vladimir Putin.
Elizabeth
Good, a nice succinct insightful comment without a long pitch for a book.
HI Terry: The pitch for the book is nothing more than a push for people to be more educated about the Trump-Russian connection and what that means to our democracy. It was written - not to get rich or be famous - but to be my way of attempting to save our country. Because I lived and worked in Russia off an on for 20 years, I feel that I can contribute evidence and proof which has NOT surfaced in other substacks or in other books. Thanks for your input, Elizabeth
I scroll right by those.