Althouse: At the Sunrise Café...

May 28, 2022

At the Sunrise Café...

... you can talk about anything you want.

33 comments:

gilbar said...: So if the details don't change AGAIN, here is the new timeline, as compiled by NBC and the Wall Street Journal:
11:28 a.m.: The shooter crashed his grandmother's truck into a ditch next to Robb Elementary School. He had just shot her in the face at her house. He exits the vehicle and begins firing at people at a funeral home across the street.
11:30 a.m.: A 911 call was placed by someone reporting the shots. The shooter then climbed a chain-link fence onto school grounds and began firing outside the school.
Either 11:33 (NBC) or 11:40 (WSJ): The shooter entered the school unimpeded via a back door that was propped open and began shooting in classrooms 111 and 112, which were connected.
Just 2 minutes after the shooter entered the school: At least three police officers entered the same door the gunman did.
Just 10 minutes after the shooter entered the school: As many as 19 officers had arrived and were in the hallway outside the active shooting scene.
Between noon and 12:15 p.m.: Federal border patrol agents, armed with tactical gear, arrived on scene. They are told by the local police chief not to enter the classroom. They obey for approximately half an hour.
Either 12:40 p.m. (WSJ) or 12:50 p.m. (NBC): The border patrol agents defy orders from the local police chief and stormed the classroom after, confusingly, having to find a staff member with a key to the door. They exchanged fire with the gunman and killed him.

You are not reading that timeline incorrectly.
Numerous police were at the scene, within feet of the shooter, just 2 minutes after he entered the school and began firing. Dozens of police were at the scene just 8 minutes later. About 20 minutes after that, federal agents armed with tactical gear were on the scene. And it wasn't until another half hour later that they entered the classroom to engage the shooter.; 5/28/22, 8:10 PM
Joe Smith said...: Who leaked the SCOTUS draft?

Why don't we know by now?; 5/28/22, 8:18 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: #UnpopularOpinion: Our culture has moved such a negative direction in the last decade, I'm not sure first responders would run up in the World Trade Towers today. Cultural rot has consequences. When you make heroes of people who contribute nothing and demonize those who risk everything.

8:56 AM · May 26, 2022; 5/28/22, 8:24 PM
MadTownGuy said...: We moved to South Central PA about a year and a half ago. Saw this article about electric power rate increases in our area, and of course our provider, Penelec, is boosting its rates.

PUC Alerts Consumers of June 1 Price Changes for Electric Generation

A few months after moving here, we received correspondence with the heading "IMPORTANT NOTICE ACTION REQUESTED." It was marked "Second Attempt." It said "Energy deregulation in Pennsylvania allows you to select the energy supply used to power your home." It was, in fact, a solicitation to change to energy from wind and solar - "100% clean, pollution-free energy." Down in the fine print is where the actual rates charged, including the supply charges, were outlined. The price per kWh was the same but the supply charges doubled, based on how many kWh were used.

The wording on the notice was, in my view, deceitful, as it looked as if it were coming from our utility company. It was actually from a Washington, DC based company working to convert usage to solar and wind.

Flash forward to current day. The PUC's rationale for the rate increases is: "Currently, higher wholesale market prices for electricity, fueled in large part by shifts in supply and demand for natural gas, have increased purchasing costs for electric distribution companies (EDCs) and thus driven up many PTCs. By law, utilities cannot make a profit on electric generation, as generation costs are simply passed through to utility customers. The PTC averages 40% to 60% of the customer’s total utility bill. However, this percent varies by utility and by the level of individual customer usage."

Everyone's prices are going up because the fossil fuel source prices have gone up. I get that - but the price for all energy is being shared across the board. Current costs for us are less than they would have been if we opted for the 'Green' energy sources, but now it appears we'll pay more no matter what we do.

Footnote: the owner of CleanChoice Energy is Tom Matzzie, formerly of MoveOn.org. Guess he moved on to greener pastures.; 5/28/22, 8:26 PM
farmgirl said...: I can rarely choose my favorite w/my tired, end of day eyes.
They all seem beautiful to me. Such glory.; 5/28/22, 8:39 PM
MadTownGuy said...: But wait...there's more! Just came across this article that confirmed my suspicions about CleanChoice:

Enraged Customers Declare War on ‘Clean’ Electricity Brand

?...Sam Duerr of Pittsburgh reported an experience similar to Berends’ over almost the exact same period—except he said he didn’t even realize he was a CleanChoice customer until it was too late, thanks to the company’s advertising strategy.

He recalled being “bombarded” in 2020 with what appeared to be promotions from his electricity provider, the Duquesne Light Company, offering renewably sourced electricity for only a little more per kilowatt-hour than he was then paying. Like Berends, Duerr is an engineer and passionate about environmental issues, and decided saving the planet was worth the extra cash out of his pocket.

Duerr said it wasn’t until the summer of 2021, when his electricity rate was three times his previous cost, that he called the local company and learned he was in a contract with CleanChoice Energy.

“I had no idea this company I was going through was CleanChoice Energy, I just thought it was my current provider Duquesne Light providing renewable energy from the grid,” said Duerr, who believes the solicitations he received were deceptive. They “look[ed] like they were from the power company that was supplying my energy,” he said."; 5/28/22, 8:58 PM
David Begley said...: Go see Top Gun: Maverick. Almost as good as my Frankenstein, Part II.; 5/28/22, 9:22 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: NY Post Headline: "Uvalde police chief who delayed officer response will join City Council"

The chief is getting promoted?; 5/28/22, 9:29 PM
Mason G said...: "The chief is getting promoted?"

When you work for the government, there are consequences for screwing up.; 5/28/22, 9:37 PM
Clyde said...: The other day, there was a post about the Cher song "Believe" and the autotune process that was used to produce it. Today, I was streaming music at work, and I clicked on "Customers also listened to..." and saw an album by Wilson Phillips, 'Dedicated,' which was an album of cover songs originally done by The Mamas and The Papas and The Beach Boys. Sounds good, right? Unfortunately, the songs were heavily and blatantly autotuned. Listening to it was the aural equivalent of watching late-career Barry Bonds hit home runs into San Francisco Bay. Afterward, I listened to a Billy Joel album ('Turnstiles') as an antidote.; 5/28/22, 9:47 PM
gadfly said...: Matt Taibbi needs to get his facts straight on his substack TK News blog.

So we read that when asked in the Sussmann trial, ex-campaign manager Robby Mook talked about the decision to share with a reporter a bogus story about Donald Trump and Russia’s Alfa Bank. Mook answered by giving up his one-time boss. “I discussed it with Hillary,” he said, describing his pitch to the candidate: “Hey, you know, we have this, and we want to share it with a reporter… She agreed to that.”

But since this trial is about a conspiracy hatched in the mind of Special Prosecutor John Durham, charging only Michael Sussmann, Hillary will never be discussed again. Sussmann, on the other hand, will have to wait until next week to be found innocent of buying $12 worth of thumb drives used in a Clinton-sponsored conspiracy.

Matt did no research on the investigation of the extensive communications between the Trump organization and the Alfa Bank server, else he would know that Trump and Alfa were linked. It was likely a matter that no government agency wanted to fight the battle because of the technical aspects of the proof.; 5/28/22, 10:36 PM
gadfly said...: MadTownGuy said...
We moved to South Central PA about a year and a half ago. Saw this article about electric power rate increases in our area, and of course, our provider, Penelec, is boosting its rates.

What you recent escapees from MadTown don't realize is that the Land of the Quakers caused their higher cost of natural gas by failing to permit or extract gas and oil from the Marcellus Shale deposits beneath them. Fracking is illegal in Pennsylvania. Thousands of Ohio and West Virginia residents have become mega-millionaires and in general, the economies of these states improved as underground mineral rights were leased to energy companies. Just think what would happen to natural gas and oil prices if we could replace the Russian fuel used in Europe!; 5/28/22, 11:11 PM
chuck said...: decided saving the planet was worth the extra cash out of his pocket.

CleanChoice Energy wasn't the first scam he fell for.; 5/28/22, 11:19 PM
Bender said...: There a "Love American Style" marathon on now. Seventies on full display.

Remember Karen Valentine? She's in the vignette playing now.; 5/28/22, 11:21 PM
Bender said...: Three suspicious things needing explanation:

The shooter has all this $$$$ to buy expensive weapons and materiel.

The school's back door was propped open.

Police were prohibited from stopping the shooter sooner.

A conspiracy nut would ask if he had help.; 5/28/22, 11:29 PM
Rt41Rebel said...: "The chief is getting promoted?"

Peter Principle.; 5/29/22, 12:22 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: YUP! As Bender noted, Here's just that nut.
https://waynedupree.com/2022/05/something-fishy-uvalde-shooting/; 5/29/22, 5:43 AM
Humperdink said...: gadfly asserted with confidence: "Fracking is illegal in Pennsylvania."

Sadly you are mistaken. Fracking is legal PA. How do I know? I am a small crude and natural gas producer in PA. You might be confusing PA with New York.; 5/29/22, 6:11 AM
Rusty said...: gadfly @ 10:26
Sussman is being tried for lying to the FBI. It is immaterial what he lied about. (He lied about working for the Hillary campaign) I don't know what that word salad you just dropped was all about.
gadfly @ 11:11
You get the lefty response. Drink bottled water then.; 5/29/22, 6:47 AM
Lurker21 said...: Murder on the Nile wasn't that bad, but a remake still seems unnecessary. I have been trying to watch the new Ghostbusters Afterlife. It's not very good. Would I have disliked the original as much if I watched it at this age? I don't think so. There was a wacky originality to the first (and second) ghostbusters movie. This one seems like it's been put through the Spielberg treatment: feisty kids, single mom, handsome eligible stranger. Also, the original benefited from the urban setting, rather than being set in the middle of nowhere. Plus, it was the original after all.

The Captain is a German film based on the true story of a private, a deserter perhaps, who finds a captain's uniform in the last days of the war and puts it on to stay warm. He finds himself playing a captain and acting like one, doing things that he wouldn't otherwise have done. Is he just trying to survive or does the uniform bring out what was in him all along. Interesting questions that aren't resolved in the film.; 5/29/22, 7:23 AM
Lurker21 said...: As kids we watched Love, American Style, but didn't really understand it. It didn't fit into any of the genres we were used to (cop shows, spy shows, westerns, sitcoms). It was different from the rest of what was on television, but probably drew a lot from old bedroom farces. And it had a very catchy theme song.

+

Would fossil fuels have as bad a reputation as they do if people in the business weren't always calling themselves "crude"?; 5/29/22, 7:31 AM
Drago said...: gadfly: "Matt Taibbi needs to get his facts straight on his substack TK News blog."

LOL

Yes, gadfly wrote that. Today. Without irony.; 5/29/22, 9:46 AM
Michael K said...: Matt did no research on the investigation of the extensive communications between the Trump organization and the Alfa Bank server, else he would know that Trump and Alfa were linked.

I just finished Kellyanne Conway's book (Pretty good) and gadfly is as crazy as George Conway.; 5/29/22, 9:47 AM
Walter said...: A professor wrote an interesting take on the rampant (over 70% of a large lecture class) cheating that occurred during Covid and his somewhat compassionate response. It’s really quite an enjoyable read.

http://crumplab.com/articles/blog/post_994_5_26_22_cheating/index.html; 5/29/22, 10:19 AM
Maynard said...: Thanks gadfly for the DNC spin on the Sussman trial.; 5/29/22, 10:27 AM
walter said...: I found it a bit humorous when Dollar Tree upped all their shelf labeling to $1.25 a few months ago.
So..went to my nearby Dollar General to get a few cans of shredded chicken. Price just went from $1.95/can to $4.10/can.
Not funny.; 5/29/22, 1:01 PM
Nelson Cowan said...: Hi Ann, in college a half century ago, you said you wanted to have a magazine that would be all about yourself. Very prescient regarding blogs. Do you recall? -- Nelson Cowan; 6/1/22, 10:28 PM
Nelson Cowan said...: Hi Ann, a half century ago in college, you said you wanted to publish a magazine that was all about yourself. Do you recall? Prescient regarding blogs.; 6/1/22, 10:30 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "Hi Ann, in college a half century ago, you said you wanted to have a magazine that would be all about yourself. Very prescient regarding blogs. Do you recall? -- Nelson Cowan"

Hi, Nelson, great to hear from you. I think you're misremembering the idea. What I wanted was a magazine that was about the topics I was interested in — the particular arts and cultural things and political stories and so forth that I wanted to read about and none of the sports or whatever that I would skip. So that's what this blog is: things that interest me. This blog isn't too much about me. For example, the sunrise series. That's hardly about me, unless you understand that concept very broadly and think that when I show you a sunrise I witnessed, it's "about me."

But I have thought about that old idea of mine in connection with the internet. We can easily limit our reading to what we're interested in. Some people like this blog because they enjoy the kinds of things that I pick out and they want to talk about them too. It helps at least some people branch out. They're not into me as a person so much as interested in seeing what I'm interested in talking about today.; 6/2/22, 7:24 AM
Nelson Cowan said...: Hi Ann, Yes, I agree with your interpretation and I was oversimplifying the memory for a somewhat humorous effect...though I suspect that the scope of your interests has expanded in the past half century!; 6/2/22, 8:13 AM
Nelson Cowan said...: Then again as well, your old comment helps me understand how it can be that so many people post their latest Wordle pattern and a photo of the attractive meal they are about to consume.; 6/2/22, 9:39 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Thanks, Nelson.; 6/4/22, 8:07 AM
Nelson Cowan said...: In 2009 I visited Richard (the only time) in Austin, with his two boys in junior high school if I recall. When he was telling them about my research, one of them said to me, "I know, I read your chapter." I had written a chapter on working memory for a book called "The Psychology of the Simpsons," and that boy's comment was probably the highlight of my career. Do you have any news on Richard, and on Jill? You can write me at cowann@missouri.edu instead of the blog if you prefer.; 6/4/22, 8:43 AM