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It’s getting very messy – politicalbetting.com

BREAKING: President Joe Biden's campaign chair acknowledges support "slippage" but says he's "absolutely" staying in the race and can beat Donald Trump. https://t.co/UL0OazQwWf
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And polls show two thirds of Democratic voters think it time for him to call time.
I suspect today's announcements are last gasp efforts from a Biden team reluctant to let go. Let's see what Biden decides over the weekend.
Place your bets.
The Tester idea seems very much a niche view.
But hedging your bets is sensible in such a febrile market.
I do feel that a couple of quid on Buttigieg and Obama are not the hail Mary's they might have been a month ago.
https://x.com/frances_coppola/status/1814302779231318239?s=61&t=LYVEHh2mqFy1oUJAdCfe-Q
Shapiro; Cooper: Beshear.
Mark Kelly a little longer.
The latter isn't actually a gain, just a sleight of hand that will cost us dearly in years to come.
The recent drops are covid/lockdown distorted too.
To be honest this is now damaging the chances of the party whether he stays or goes.
I think people like Pelosi, Schumer and Jeffries have tried to be discreet but if this goes on I actually think they will go over the top and openly tell him to go.
The wind farms have guaranteed prices for the power they produce from contracts signed with the government, but they still participate in the spot market.
During periods of overproduction, instantaneous prices go negative (ie the grid offers to pay producers to reduce production and/or customers to use power). If their guaranteed strike price is higher than the negative market price, it still pays the wind farm to carry on producing; a negative price which exceeds what they earn pays them to stun off production.
Similarly with solar (though not all solar connections are 'throttleable' in the same manner.)
With the rapid increase in renewables production, total hours with negative pricing will also grown over then next few years.
But the very strong market incentive is going to see the storage market grow in response.
The game changer is the drop in battery prices over the last year. They're now just about at the point it pays to deploy grid scale storage - it just needs the factories to build them.
If either of those existed then the problem goes away and everyone goes for renewables because it is an economic no brainer.
Lots of things that weren't economic are now economic.
In Newsom's case it's probably a recognition that he's not going to be anyone's pick for VP, and his best chance is to try for the presidency - either now, or in four years if the Democrats do lose in November.
Might be something similar going on with Whitmer.
Certainly they both want the top slot.
The ones who think IDF indiscriminate killing is okay, but Hamas not okay.
Hardly a shock this https://x.com/frances_coppola/status/1814307732968690027?s=61
if you have a nice big garden to install ground source (and the money to do that and rip up your floor to install underfloor heating) then happy days.
If you live in a terrace in a small yard and want to install a reverse airconditioning unit on the wall next to your neighbours bedroom window that absolutely eats electricity in cold weather, not so much.
As I've said previously I think she can win and win easily. I would love to read her thoughts on all this though, and her winning rather delays that.
Either steadily, or very quickly*.
*See, for example, the anode free sodium battery, which would be really cheap.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-024-01569-9
New "battery" techology is needed. Keep seeing breakthrough announcements but few make it to production as the announcements are normally about a lab concept to try and attract (high risk) investment money to turn that into something sellable.
Brains Trust
Do any of us know about Scottish Sentencing Guidelines for Causing Serious Injury by Careless Driving?
I've just read an account of an "Expert Driver" (stunts for C4) who drove straight across a mini roundabout and mowed a cyclist down breaking his shoulder blade (Hi Viz, LED beacon on the cycle), with a witness, and then did the traditional "the cyclist raced out and fell over in front of me" lie to Court, despite different behaviour at the scene. And a "moment of distraction" mitigation.
He was also warned that he could be in contempt of court, when he interrupted the judge.
He was given a £300 fine and a 12 month ban.
I'm interested that that does not even reach the bottom of the scale in England, which for that offence starts at a Community Order and a 12 month ban.
How does this work in Scotland? @Eabhal ?
Report here, Aberdeen Courier:
https://archive.ph/8MoPT
This sort of thing makes me wonder who is in what lodge.
There's no shortage of lithium.
And various solid state technologies are well beyond 'lab concept'.
There is also the fact that he is exceptionally close with his family, perhaps a bit uncomfortably so. I have not really engaged with the rumours about Jill Biden keeping him in the race because she hates Kamala Harris and wants to stay as First Lady, because to me when I first read it it smacked of the classic Lady MacBeth it’s-got-to-be-the-manipulative-woman lazy misogyny (even more so because it includes -gasp- salacious rumours about two women not getting on!). But it does seem there is an indication that he relies very strongly on his family circle, perhaps to a fault, and if they are telling him they’re backing him it might be making it harder for him to read the room.
As prices rise, more deposits become economic.
As an example, the US probably one of the world's largest known extractable deposit, and they haven't yet even started mining it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thacker_Pass_Lithium_Mine
Interestingly, ARPA-E, the US energy technology equivalent of DARPA is funding a few projects for innovative mining technology, in the hope of reviving US mining which has been undercut in recent years by low cost producers like China.
Just pointing out that we will need a significantly larger electric grid than we have now.
However if they replace Biden with one of those 3 governors that means shafting Harris and her black supporters who want her to be nominee instead. So basically Biden can play the 2 wings off against each other up to and through the convention. Say he keeps Harris as VP if his nomination confirmed at the convention while also retaining some of the rustbelt appeal he had in 2020 Harris lacks but rustbelt governors do have
tia
They are superb
https://www.scottishsentencingcouncil.org.uk/media/ytuhsy0m/statutory-offences-of-causing-death-by-driving-sentencing-guideline.pdf
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-46032207
* they could well be right. Kamala really is horrible in Finnish
https://uk.shokz.com/products/openswim-pro
(edit: got the incorrect product page...)
(Those looking for a modern fictional description of a "shapeshifter" can find one here: https://www.amazon.com/Shape-Shifter-Tony-Hillerman/dp/0060563478
I enjoyed reading the book, and would put it in the top half of Hillerman detective stories.)
They have informed us last week that they are now happy to triple the allocation for what we are doing as it’s worked its way through to their minds that they have lots of it, they have lots still to just sell even after tripling our allocation, and by diverting a bigger slice to us it reduces the amount on the market so effectively maintains or increases the value of the commodity.
Trebles all round.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/jul/19/midges-thriving-wet-scottish-summer-worse-to-come
'This week the Scottish Midge Forecast predicted high numbers of the biting insects, reaching peaks of four and five on a scale of one to five.
Tourist hotspots such as Ullapool, Fort William and Lochcarron have been some of the worst-affected areas, with an early surge in May due to Scotland’s wetter than average spring.
Jay Hutchison, an entomology project director at Dundee-based APS Biocontrol, which researches midges in Scotland and produces an insect repellant, said: “They came about two weeks early this year in May. They usually appear in May but there were much larger numbers than expected. Scotland had a particularly wet spring and they thrive in damp conditions.”'
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgxqzp2zdw4o
Two weeks and Labour's already bankrupted the country.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMLona9oelM
(My mother drives a Honda Jazz. Can’t say I disagree with the above post)
For example in the previous release it hit a high of 99.8% but this month has hit a new high of... 99.5%
Matt Gaetz is a Star Trek alien, but I'm not sure which one. Any ideas?
I reckon those eyebrows are late 1970s Vulcan.
Eat crow, Vincent
I dad to add the piccie through the other interface !