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May 18, 2022 06:49 AM UTC

Wednesday Open Thread

  • 33 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

“If a little knowledge is dangerous, where is the man who has so much as to be out of danger?”

–Thomas Huxley

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33 thoughts on “Wednesday Open Thread”

  1. Remembering the Doolittle raid on Tokyo. April 18, 1942.

    The last Doolittle raider, Richard Cole, died April 9, 2019 at the age of 103.

    1. And don’t forget the far more consequential Guadalcanal campaign in late 1942 where the Marines and my beloved Army began the long road back.

      Aug.7, 1942 — Feb 9, 1943.

      Standing before St. Peter:

      Another Marine reporting, Sir.
      I’ve served my time in hell!

  3. Mike Sokolove in the NYT: "On John Fetterman".

    I almost didn't read this article due to the title. In fact it isn't about Fetterman and the Democratic Party, rather why Fetterman did so well over a "central-casting" politician. Fetterman has kind of an over-sized persona that comes across as authentic. I understand that he has more or less left-side-of-the-dems policies, but I think his appeal is about his personal style. You just "feel" like he is authentic. Maybe he actually is. Maybe the defeated Conor Lamb is a sincere and authentic person, but it doesn't come across if you are a suit-jacket-and-tie, moderate trying not to offend anyone.

    Mr. Fetterman, 52, offers something different, a new model for Pennsylvania. It is built on quirky personal and political appeal rather than the caution of a traditional Democrat in the Keystone State. With over 80 percent of the votes counted, Mr. Fetterman was more than doubling the total of Mr. Lamb, whose campaign, despite winning many more endorsements from party leaders, never gained momentum.

  4. David Roberts on "Distributed (electrical) Energy Management".

    David Roberts is one of the sharpest writers when it comes to the transition to renewable energy. I was upset when he left Vox.com, but now he has moved to substack.

    Recent years have seen an explosive rise in distributed energy resources (DERs) — energy devices that are located “behind the meter,” on the customer side, like solar panels, batteries, electric vehicles (EVs), and smart appliances.

    Consider an EV. The customer has a relationship to it, a way to see its capacity and behavior; it wants to operate the EV in a way that best serves their own transportation needs. The aggregator — an entity that gathers DERs and treats them as a single entity, to sell their services — has a different relationship with the EV; it wants to operate the EV to meet contractual requirements. The distribution utility has a different relationship; it wants to operate the EV to maintain grid stability. And the market manager (ISO) has yet a different relationship; it wants to operate the EV in the way that best serves the market.

    All these entities want different things from the EV, but they’ve all built bespoke systems to track it — systems that do not communicate with one another. Consequently, most DERs are wildly underutilized.

    …

    That is what Energy Web, an international nonprofit, aims to provide: “an operating system for DERs” that will assign each DER a record on the blockchain (yes, the blockchain), allowing all interested entities to have a common source of information and tracking.

    1. Thanks, cook. Good to know that Lauren Boebert, after raising four kids, has kept restrictions on baby formula in place for other moms and other babies.

      My understanding of the bill the House passed (without Bobo”s vote) is that it would allow parents on WIC or other government assistance to buy organic and niche formula using the WIC card. 
       

      Prices on formula are insane; a 32 oz can can run over $50. It’s worth breaking up the formula monopoly, but I don’t think either of the bills does that. https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2022/05/19/the-corporate-monopolies-behind-americas-baby-formula-crisis

        1. What is particularly insulting is that many of the Republicans who are blaming Biden for the baby formula crisis are the same ones who are undermining any of his efforts to fix it. Kind of like the same damn thing when idiots like Bobo run back to their district and tout all the nice projects that are going to happen due to a spending bill they literally voted against. Their hypocrisy knows no bounds. Truly horrible people.

        2. You couldn’t create a more steretypical villain than a monopolistic corporation that a) makes baby formula, which many babies literally can’t live without b) does it badly ( see whistleblower’s revelation of contamination in the factory c) marks it up to a premium price  (average price is $1.15 per ounce, or about $35 for a 32 ounce can, enough to make about 60 bottles. 

          , and then d) restricts supply in order to maximize profit, at the costs of the babies the right wing claims to care about so very much.

          I don’t think that there is a logistical reason that formula has to be that expensive. If there is, it’s a product that the government should subsidize, as it does with the WIC program.

          The problem is that the prices are still high; even if WIC buys formula for needy families, the monopolistic companies are still making a fortune. David Dayen of The Prospect writes: 

          As of 2018, four companies—Abbott (which makes Similac), Reckitt Benckiser (Enfamil), Nestlé (Gerber), and Perrigo (which makes store-brand formula)—control about 89 percent of the U.S. market. 

          Something I didn’t know: Again, according to Dayen’s article, the Trump administration actively discouraged breastfeeding in developing countries. Nestle was infamous for undermining breastfeeding in Africa, leading to the deaths of hundreds of babies, and consequently, a worldwide boycott of Nestle products.

          It may take another boycott to break up these profiteering formula companies.  I doubt that we can trust Congress to do it on its own without massive public pressure. 

          1. There is no monopoly here, when four companies share 89 pct of the market.  The problem is stupidity, not greed, since the company that shut down because of bad quality control lost millions and the profits from the shortages went to its competitors.

            This is oligopoly, not monopoly, and should quickly correct itself.  I’ve never seen a widespread shortage of formula before in my lifetime.

            2. It may not technically be “a monopoly” ,but mostof the reporting calls these 4 baby formula companies “monopolistic”, and suggests that they may be fixing prices at a high level, and that they could be investgated and possibly prosecuted or regulated under the Sherman Antitrust act.

              When 43% of babies’ families can’t buy a basic survival necessity for them, yet prices remain artificially high for a product that is basically dehydrated milk or soy, added vitamins, and sugar, then laws against “unreasonable” profteering should come into play. 
               

              If pure lassez-faire capitalism can’t feed the babies, it’s time to look beyond it. 

              1. Use your head.  The shortage was not a cabalistic agreement like OPEC, it was a government closure of one stinky firm.  That firm is losing millions.  The answer is, a, airlift in surpluses from other countries — as biden is doing, and, b, clean up the contamination and get the fourth company back producing, pronto.

                If poor families can't afford it, WIC  can help them.

                You seem to view every minor ripple in the economy as a reason to destroy  our economy and replace it with socialism.

                It ain't.

                 

                 

                1. So the resident racist, ageist, sexist Timmy Troll takes time out of his busy schedule of smearing veterans to again show his utter ignorance of the dismal science.

                  go away troll.

                  no one listens to you.

                2. Use your heart. Feeding the nation’s infants is a public good that should be part of the Commons– like clean air and water, or public education. 
                   

                  Availability of formula should not depend on how profitable it can be.

                  The causes of the shortage should be investigated, and another means of ensuring that all babies can eat should be created. It is of course only one aspect of a larger paradigm; poorer moms often don’t breastfeed because workplaces don’t allow time and space for it. I breastfed my own kids as long as possible, but sacrificed earning ability to do that. 
                   

                  You and Timtam also share common habits of flipping instantly  into personal insults at the slightest whiff of disagreement; you have much more in common than your ideological differences. 

                  1. About half the baby formula in this country is already provided by the govrenment via WIC.  That would seem more than adequate.

                    The broader problem of inadequate parental leave or child support is one on which we agree.

                    As to Timmy-troll, he's a troll.  And a racist, ageist, sexist troll at that.

                    1. State contracts via WIC keep formula prices unnaturally high. The net effects are vendor concentration and price-fixing, even if that isn't stated intent. The shutdown of the Abbott plant merely highlighted how vulnerable the system is. 

                      We need a better system.

                    2. So, you want the government to provide free formula, which it does through WIC.

                      Then, you complain about WIC!

                      As the article notes, a17.5 pct tariff and impenetrable bureaucratic barriers to imports are the real problem.

                      Yet sales in April were 13 percent higher than before the Abbott shutdown!  Obviously, the fear of shortages caused hoarding, which caused shortages.

                      Reopen Abbott (already authorized.

                      Authorize free imports from Canada and Eu countries with high standards.

                      Allow WIc benefits to be used for any formula.

                      Then you’ll be tripping over the stacks of formula in supermarket aisles.

                      But, no, we don’t need a federal bureau of baby formula.

          2. I still haven’t bought anything made by nasty Nestle or any of its myriad subsidiaries in over forty years, and I won’t. Governments crack down on their deceptive marketing practices, they promise to be good, the government lets up on them, and they’re right back to their old tricks again.  

            And WIC severely limits the types of formula it’s willing to supply. Woe unto little ones with intolerances or allergies to most commercial formulas. Getting a prescription from a pediatrician for a waiver can be a huge hassle.

            1. The only thing is the people who used to be mad at nestle for selling baby formula are now mad at it for not selling baby formula.

              we need an 800 number to call so we can tell what we're mad at them for on any given day.

              1. You are stupid, Timmy Troll, and a racist, ageist, sexist, moron at that.< There is no confusion on that point. And you know absolutely nothing about the Nestle issues.

                1. “Ageism is racism.”

                   Timmy Troll is racist, ageist, sexist, impotent scumbag.

                  Ageism:
                  a prejudice whereby people are categorized and judged solely on the basis of their chronological age
                  How is ageism similar to racism?
                  -stereotyping of ageism is a social disease
                  -people are judged not on their character or actions but simply based on their age, like people are based just on the color of their skin

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