[-] admiralteal@kbin.social 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Unfortunately they just interpret that at politicization of justice, not a reflection of the reality that none of them crossed the line of felonious.

When you believe in a conspiracy, more evidence can only prove you right.

[-] admiralteal@kbin.social 12 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

I, for one, would support a law that requires any new unit over a certain size must be reversible and maybe even a tier where they must have variable speed compressors. But I can already hear the Republicans lying that the feds are coming to steal your window units.

[-] admiralteal@kbin.social 5 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Don't be too depressed about it. The Texas grid actually isn't doing too badly in its emissions trends, in spite of their best efforts. It's so easy to interconnect resources to it that renewables don't need to stare down awful queues and huge fees to get onboard and selling power.

That's sort of the other side of the story from what this policy announcement is about -- for the rest of the grid, a combination of FERC, state regulators, utilities, and such have created a system where it is very hard to get new generation online because of infrastructure problems.

This is a gross simplification, but the way it kind of works is that in Texas, infrastructure is up to ERCOT and the utility. Generation is a lot more decoupled from its eventual transmission. It doesn't face the same terrible barriers to come online because of the deregulated market.

Since solar is a fractional cost per unit energy than gas and coal, it out-competes them any time the sun is shining -- it can sell way cheaper and so gas/coal will either have to sell hugely below cost to compete or else they'll have to curtail. Wind is still a bit more expensive on average, but when the wind is going it tends to be able to do the same since it has no marginal cost. And the same situation also means that anyone who can make economically grid storage (which is already getting possible thanks to rapidly declining battery prices) can also out-compete the literal and figurative fossil generators.

Both Texas and the US East and West grids need MASSIVE transmission upgrades to deal with an increasingly-electrified future, though.

Don't misunderstand, Texas is a total mess. A profound lack of planning and both reliability and resiliency. But there's lessons to be learned from it -- decoupling production from transmission and some degree deregulation of that production can take advantage of very powerful market forces that already favor renewables. A post-transition future isn't just better for consumers because of eliminated emissions, it should also be cheaper power.

[-] admiralteal@kbin.social 10 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

If you work any ground meat extensively, you develop extensive myoglobin networks. This is a process almost identical to kneading bread to develop gluten. Also turns the meat bright pink.

This results in very chewy, tougher texture -- like in Swedish meatballs (or really good Chinese dumplings/bao!). It's also essential to sausage-making. It also makes them feel less juicy (because the ground beef holds onto the moisture more tightly). Not necessarily worse or better, but certainly different, and in my experience most burger-lovers find it undesirable.

Maybe you prefer it. All the power to you if you do. Cooking like you were raised on often has a special place. But there's a reason nearly all the burgers in more elevated cuisine are not formed this way -- they want them to be tender and juicy.

That said, I'd call this product a meatball, meatloaf, or sausage sandwich, not a burger.

edit: also, given the way you like to make burgers, I'd encourage you to try plant-based meat for it. I think you'll find it tastes much the same -- the exact properties of ground beef that get damaged by this extensive mixing are the exact ones that are hardest to replicate for all the plant-based meat brands, and since you clearly don't care for them you could probably really reduce your environmental impact by not buying the cow product.

[-] admiralteal@kbin.social 17 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Also the DoL is perpetually under-resourced and short staffed. They aren't one of the "good" law enforcement agencies that get bipartisan support -- only the ones who beat up protestors get that kind of universal appeal, somehow. Even though funding to places like the IRS and DoL have insanely good return on investment.

[-] admiralteal@kbin.social 10 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

The whole "retail theft" wave is a moral panic anyway. It's not backed up by numbers. NYC and LA saw some elevation because of a small number of actual criminal organization that largely got rounded up and prosecuted. Most other "organized retail crime" stories are utter nonsense.

Most of the rise in theft that people cited was based on a completely bullshit statistic which came from the NRF citing one of its own members testimonies in which that member cited an incorrect number. It was actual dogfooding being passed as statistical analysis and even they have backed down on it.

[-] admiralteal@kbin.social 18 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

I enjoy how "Climate change is making the problem worse" can basically be tacked onto any regional issue headline in a 100% honest and serious way.

[-] admiralteal@kbin.social 124 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

"Smart Features" in the Messages app have always been explicitly processed only on-device. This is a big change if it is different than that.

I'm betting they'll make this opt-out, which is fucking shady as hell. And worse, I bet opting out your own messages doesn't stop someone else that is opted in from unknowingly/unintentionally transmitting all your messages that they received. Ugh.

[-] admiralteal@kbin.social 117 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

An $11,000 wage increase is ~$5/hr for a full time employee.

Starting pay at Startbucks is around $15/hr. They're famously stingy with full-time though, so in reality it is quite a bit more than a 25% increase.

Honestly, I was expecting to find some glaring error in the logic on this but I don't really see it.

[-] admiralteal@kbin.social 110 points 6 months ago

All the other corruption and such aside, imagine how terrible this is for the urban development of your town.

The municipal government has no incentive to invest in forward-thinking policy that will lead to healthier and more economically sustainable communities. If they invest in any kind of maintenance or developments that increase road safety - and thus decrease fines - it hurts the government's ability to operate. Indeed, they have direct Financial incentive to make the roads less safe. Not to even mention that they have no incentive at all to do things that improved the city in ways that won't affect their traffic fines.

They've committed to giving up on good governance of their small town. They found a way to function by just parasitizing others. They've given up.

[-] admiralteal@kbin.social 114 points 6 months ago

They were told the other acceptable courtesy titles were Mrs., Ms., or Miss. Using "teacher" was also out of the question.

After being denied Teacher, Professor, or Dr. as the title (the last because they did not have a PhD even though evidently others in the school go by Dr. without a PhD without discipline). And note that "Mr." was apparently not an option?

The school's hands weren't tied. They appear enthusiastic.

[-] admiralteal@kbin.social 130 points 7 months ago

This joke is backwards.

YouTube is the one trying to kill an infinitely adaptable adversary they stand no chance of defeating.

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admiralteal

joined 11 months ago