Politics... World events

[Elerond]

36 minutes ago, BruceVC said:

No Elerond you are misunderstanding something about what Chavez did around nationalization, in the 1970's  Venezuela created its own state own oil company that had of degrees of control around oil distribution and production  and the idea was it was suppose to lead to a  form of a sovereign fund like Norway  

This is not the same thing as what happened in 2006/2007. Chavez forced international oil companies that were operating in Venezuela to give his government majority control of their assets...that is the nationalization I refer to, not what happened in the 1970's

We discussed this a couple of months ago where I posted a link that I asked you and Gorthfuscious to read, please read the link again below to understand what Chavez did.  

https://www.forbes.com/sites/rrapier/2017/05/07/how-venezuela-ruined-its-oil-industry/?sh=7b08053f7399

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-nationalizations-idUSTRE65N0UM20100624

The second link also mentions this, to quote

 "Chavez in 2007 nationalized multi-billion dollar projects in Venezuela’s vast Orinoco oil region, persuading companies such as BP Plc, to accept minority stakes in facilities they had built"

Last year he ordered the takeover of dozens of smaller oil service companies as PDVSA, reeling from a sharp plunge in oil prices, struggled to pay contractors.

When he was flush with oil cash during a boom in oil prices that ended in 2008, Chavez often compensated nationalized companies fairly, although the 2007 takeovers led to lawsuits from ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil. " 

 

 

 

We can see from Venezuela's oil exports that 2002 law changes and PDVSA's workers strike and 2003 firings started the destruction from which PDSVA never recovered. Trade deal with China brought short recovery, but after that it has been just down hill.

I don't doubt that Venezuela buying those development projects from foreign companies (excluding ConocoPhillips ) and forcing ConocoPhillips give their share didn't help, but in that point Venezuela's oil industry was already pretty much doomed, because of bad trade deals all around that worsened PDVSA's debt year after year.

[Skarpen]

Facebook blocked Institute of National Remembrance page after it posted information about the Germanisation of Polish children during WWII. Facebook still on the course of fighting history, facts and opinions that they dont like. 

https://www.thefirstnews.com/article/facebook-blocking-ipn-over-wwii-content-demands-strong-reaction-warns-culture-ministry-19713

Edited February 10, 2021 by Skarpen

[BruceVC]

16 minutes ago, Skarpen said:

Facebook blocked Institute of National Remembrance page after it posted information about the Germanisation of Polish children during WWII. Facebook still on the course of fighting history, facts and opinions that they dont like. 

https://www.thefirstnews.com/article/facebook-blocking-ipn-over-wwii-content-demands-strong-reaction-warns-culture-ministry-19713

This definitely doesn't make sense and appears to be unreasonable censorship from FB

I couldn't find the reason in the article why FB blocked this information, what was their reason because these types of historical truths need to be raised and discussed freely on any platform that believes in freedom of speech where appropriate 

[Skarpen]

14 minutes ago, BruceVC said:

these types of historical truths need to be raised and discussed freely on any platform that believes in freedom of speech where appropriate

Facebook doesn't believe in freedom of speech. 

Reason? As always vague not following "community guidlines". I'm sure they will unblock and claim "mistake" when sufficient pressure will be applied.

[BruceVC]

20 minutes ago, Skarpen said:

Facebook doesn't believe in freedom of speech. 

Reason? As always vague not following "community guidlines". I'm sure they will unblock and claim "mistake" when sufficient pressure will be applied.

I think this example is what happens when society expects SM platforms to become the judge and jury of what is acceptable content and what is considered offensive comments or hate speech

We should not be asking SM companies to police what people post. The exceptions to this is very rare examples like  the banning of Trump after the Capitol violence because Trump abused various SM platforms and even though I support this its still controversial 

[ComradeYellow]

The headless chicken and the bear, by The Saker - The Unz Review

LOL the EU was a "headless chicken" during the Trump years but now that Biden is back they're sucking up to Big Brother U.S.A. again "Oh, oh, we love you, we only hated Trump!1"

I'm really sorry to Eurocentric people but hating a country unless they elect a 'D' is hardly the behavior of respectable allies.

I mean I don't like Team Red either, I'm not fond of either party as you know but it's kinda hard to take them seriously when they engage in onesidedness.

[Skarpen]

8 hours ago, BruceVC said:

I think this example is what happens when society expects SM platforms to become the judge and jury of what is acceptable content and what is considered offensive comments or hate speech

I agree, but I must clarify your statement that it's not society, but a specific part of society that pushes for SM to be judge and jury of not acceptable content.

[BruceVC]

18 minutes ago, Skarpen said:

I agree, but I must clarify your statement that it's not society, but a specific part of society that pushes for SM to be judge and jury of not acceptable content.

You right, its not all society. People who expect this are mostly well meaning but they put unnecessary pressure on SM companies and you inevitably get the results like what happened to that Polish historically true link and information 

[ComradeYellow]

Anti-East propaganda now out in force (Let's call it "Zone B" and "Zone A" is the U.S./Angloshpere + the EU "The Collective West").

I should have known this short era of cooperation and diplomacy wouldn't last, and since 70% of Americans view China as a downright straight up ENEMY (last I checked) for various reasons, all propaganda induced, mostly false, and quite effective to the braindead masses (Commie scum! Undemocratic dictators!  Oppressors!  Yellow eyed bastards!) it doesn't look like the world will be mended anytime soon.

Enjoy the ****show until domestic concerns get ugly again.

[Azdeus]

Swedish environmentalists; "We can't have nuclear power, think of the dangers! Chernobyl, Harrisburg, Windscale! We'll only have green renewables instead!"

Realists; "But we live in the northern hemisphere, often when it gets cold, there is no wind, and there is no sun at night when temperatures drop..."

*Holds a vote about nuclear powered future with 3 "no" answers*;

Mentals; "Ok, here's a we'll keep our nuclear power until their designed end of life and green energy is better"

December 31, 40 years later.

Mentals; "Yay! Look at us! We've closed down 4 of our 10 reactors! Go us! We'll not have a Swedish Fukushima!!!"

Realists; "But we still can't move hydro-power from the north to the south, we're exporting power from the northern parts to Finland because we've got an overabundance of power up where noone lives."

Mentals; "It's fine, we'll build better infrastructure!"

Que coldspell of Feb 2021;

Realists; "Bit nippy, innit? What's that? We don't have enough power in the south? Oh, my, wouldn't it be nice to have had some nuclear power? Oh, industries are going at reduced capacity and even shutting down because of a lack of power? Who could've thunk. Wait, we "thunk" of it when we refused to build datacentres and other industries in the south because of a future lack of electricity? We're importing power from coal power in Poland and Latvia and firing up old oil powerplants to boost capacity? Much green, very environmentally friendly"

Mentals; "Shut up, just don't make coffee in the mornings or vacuum and stuff in the afternoon. And don't shower in the morning or evenings. And turn down the heat when you leave home."

 

Swedish TV recently went out with news that people should not use appliances with a heavy load in the mornings, like water boilers, water heaters and several tips to reduce the load on the powergrid. Brilliant strategy to not use power when everyone else is home. How unfortunate that people have to work though. Well, not the ones that get sent home from some heavy industries that litterally can't afford to keep the lightbulbs on.

 

[Darkpriest]

It's predictable, in areas where you have snowfalls and cold weather, green energy is a myth, at least in current tech. For heating houses, you could go geotherm, but you still need electricity and a lot of it, ubless you want to go back to candles and pen and paper work or other manual work. 

I recall even Germany had to fire up some still not closed coal based plants to 100% just to get by, but if this weather will persist they will jave shortages as well. 

Tried running Tesla recently in -20C?

[Azdeus]

1 hour ago, Darkpriest said:

It's predictable, in areas where you have snowfalls and cold weather, green energy is a myth, at least in current tech. For heating houses, you could go geotherm, but you still need electricity and a lot of it, ubless you want to go back to candles and pen and paper work or other manual work. 

I recall even Germany had to fire up some still not closed coal based plants to 100% just to get by, but if this weather will persist they will jave shortages as well. 

Tried running Tesla recently in -20C?

I'm lucky in that I hava a wood burning stove, that saves me alot of electricity in these times. I'm still not looking forward to the 1500€ bill (for this quarter) that will show up next month.

Sure, geotherm works, many houses has district heating, but about as many don't. And then we have alot of industries that need electricity aswell.

SSAB has been looking to stop using CO2 heavy processes in forming steel and converting that to electricity processes instead, and they're counting on increasing their power consumption by over 30%. That'll end well.

One of the teachers at my traffic school has a Tesla, he's got no problem as long as he can plug the car into a socket so it'll keep it's batteries warm. It didn't end up working to well when he got stuck in some traffic after driving a while though. He brags his car can go from ambient to +20C in 5 minutes, my Volvo 240 goes from ambient to uncomfortably hot in the same time.

Edited February 11, 2021 by Azdeus

[Gfted1]

I feel like Im reading it wrong again, your electricity bill is really 1500 euro? Do you mean 150? 

[Azdeus]

21 minutes ago, Gfted1 said:

I feel like Im reading it wrong again, your electricity bill is really 1500 euro? Do you mean 150? 

No, you're reading it right, but it's quarterly, so I should've written 500.

[Gfted1]

Wowweewowwow. Even though Im a miser (the furnace is set to 68 in the winter and the AC to 76 in the summer) none of my utilities would come anywhere near that, maybe on average $175.00/month for each. I got a ~$300 natural gas bill one winter month a few years ago and that almost made me clutch my chest.  My water bill is combined with my sewer bill and its ridiculously low, around $40/month. Ive got no complaints about utility prices.

[Bartimaeus]

...So, uh, when do you get out on the streets to demand they re-open the nuclear power plants? 500 euros for your monthly power bill is insane - unless there's something you're not telling us, like you're running a bitcoin farm or something.

[Azdeus]

I pay nothing for water, except it goes on the powerbill because I pump directly from the lake, nothing for sewer or any such things. The house is about the same age as the USA though, so there is that. Still, I get decent insulation with a bit of tape and some extra glass. I've never paid any attention to the powerbill during the summer, but I reckon it's a bit less than a fift of what'll show up.

That said, since the last coldspell was here and I recieved such a bill, we've had a new roof done, so it's likely to have improved a bit.

[Boeroer]

I have geothermal heating (and cooling in summer) and a central ventilation system with heat recovery (no need to open the windows to let fresh air in).

The electricity costs for heating currently are ~90 € a month. It won't go up and down based on weather but the supplier will just average it over the year. I could do a lot cheaper but I receive 100% renewable energy from Greenpeace which is rather expensive.

For the electricity consumption of my household (different meter and different tariff) I pay around 130 € per month.

That is for a household of 5 (2 grown ups and 3 kids) in a 220m² house with a 800m² garden in Berlin. Our room temperature is set to 21°C during the day and 18°C during the night.
I have an hydraulic underfloor heating (and cooling) system since its low flow temerature is perfect for geothemal heating (which usually produces around 30°C of water temp. without too much electricity from the thermal heat pump). I also have only LEDs for lighting and the (wooden) house is build with German low energy standards (KfW 24).

I have to add that I also have a 10 KWp PV system on the roof which theoretically produces enough electricity for the household on average (heating excluded) - but I have no house battery yet. I'll get 8.04 cents per KWh that I feed into the grid but I don't have any billing yet since the system is only 9 months old.

I expect my monthly rate to drop significantly since Greenpeace didn't factor in the PV system yet (the fees are based off of our consumption from before it was installed).
Next step is to get a battery so that I can use our "self made" electricity more efficiently. 

Ah, water is ~75 € a month. 200GBMbit/s internet connection is 35 € iirc.

 

Edited February 12, 2021 by Boeroer

[Azdeus]

The house I live in is "k-marked", meaning you're not allowed to make any changes that alters the look of the house, so no PV systems or anything of that sort is allowed. They threw a hissy fit when they saw the installed heatexchangers and forced us to hide them and paint them red.

I pay about the same for my 100Mb fiber that I have. Though I live in the countryside so that is expected.

[majestic]

14 minutes ago, Boeroer said:

200GB/s internet connection is 35 € iirc.

Uh, wishful thinking or typo, or are you really connected directly to the BCIX?

[Zoraptor]

Would still be too slow to use Stadia without lag.

 

Edited February 12, 2021 by Zoraptor

[Boeroer]

8 hours ago, majestic said:

Uh, wishful thinking or typo, or are you really connected directly to the BCIX?

Haha, I meant 200Mbit/s. And it's actually 250 (but that never happens of course).

[Pidesco]

7 hours ago, Azdeus said:

The house I live in is "k-marked", meaning you're not allowed to make any changes that alters the look of the house, so no PV systems or anything of that sort is allowed. They threw a hissy fit when they saw the installed heatexchangers and forced us to hide them and paint them red.

I pay about the same for my 100Mb fiber that I have. Though I live in the countryside so that is expected.

Ok, all this talk of utilities cost can't be right. Are you sure you are not talking about SEK instead of euros?

I'm paying 349 SEK monthly, so more or less 35 euros for my 250Mb fiber internet, although that's with a discount. Without the discount the same service would cost 50 euros.

As for my electricity bill, which includes heating, the last monthly bill was for 2500 SEK(250 euros)which is a lot by my standards, but keep in mind that I keep the at temp around 23 degrees during the day, and the central heating is powered by a decades old electric heater. Also, this has been the coldest weather(-16C today) I've had since I live in this house.

[Sarex]

How much is a kWh? Over here for if you use below 350kWh the cost is 0.04 Euros, if you use between 351-1600 kWh the price is 0.07 Euros and if you use over 1600 kWh it's 0.13 Euros. As for the internet 1Gbit fiber is around 75 Euro.

Edited February 12, 2021 by Sarex

[Pidesco]

2 hours ago, Sarex said:

How much is a kWh? Over here for if you use below 350kWh the cost is 0.04 Euros, if you use between 351-1600 kWh the price is 0.07 Euros and if you use over 1600 kWh it's 0.13 Euros. As for the internet 1Gbit fiber is around 75 Euro.

My contract is 5 euro cents. Here it varies depending on your contract. There are also some heavy taxes on top of that, especially if you own the building for which you have your contract.