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Boy, that power grind in TX they refused to connect to the national grid because they didn't like all those regulations and that is wholly owned by a private corporation is operating swimmingly this week!
Good thing those those nanny state experts didn't force them to adequately maintain that grid! And it's definitely great that they're unable to import power from, say, Florida right now!
Texas grid fails to weatherize, repeats mistake feds cited 10 years ago
Libertarian paradise!
“No one owes you [or] your family anything,” Tim Boyd, previously mayor of Colorado City, Texas wrote Tuesday in a Facebook post. “I’m sick and tired of people looking for a damn handout!”
Yeah, fuck you and your family! Bootstraps motherfucker, have you heard of them!?!?!?!
The Texas power grid failed mostly due to natural gas. Republicans are blaming wind turbines.
Pass that buck like a true Patriot!
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 17 2021, @06:38PM (36 children)
Damn straight, if anything ever goes wrong with a market solution it's a damniing indictment of the whole plan! Burn the fuckers!
Of course, if it entailed the government, then we need to find the slimy saboteurs who're ripping the bread from the mouths of starving orphans.
(Score: 3, Funny) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday February 17 2021, @06:52PM (34 children)
It was -15 here in CO the other day too and somehow, miraculously, our gas plants continued to operate. Someone should notify the Texans that it's possible to convert natural gas into warmth.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 17 2021, @07:12PM (28 children)
Yes, states should all have the hindsight to prepare for the coldest weather the country has ever seen over the coming years and decades. Global warming!
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday February 17 2021, @07:20PM (27 children)
They managed to fuck up the Super Bowl in TEXAS and STILL didn't learn their lesson. [houstonchronicle.com]
Yes, they can prepare for something that keeps happening over and over.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 17 2021, @07:31PM (25 children)
Mind you, it's not as if the Texas situation were even a particularly free market.
One operator, largely acting in a highly regulated environment? Yeah, not so great.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 17 2021, @07:43PM (22 children)
Maybe it is time that you realized certain sectors of the economy are not well suited to the "free market" ideology? Nah, can't change the foundation of your world view just because it is riddled with cracks!
Instead of admitting that regulation was a good thing that would have prevented these problems for critical infrastructure you double down and blame government interference? Come on now.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 17 2021, @08:14PM (21 children)
Projection on your part, perhaps?
I'm no free market fundamentalist, nor an AnCap or anything like it.
But I am saying that the circumstance at hand wasn't an indictment of a free market because nothing like that was in place.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday February 17 2021, @08:21PM (15 children)
Republican "leadership" is at fault for this crisis, indict them. Add their constant lies about how great and free their busted ass energy grid is to the list if you want!
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday February 17 2021, @08:48PM (4 children)
People keep voting for them anyway, indict them!
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday February 17 2021, @09:03PM (3 children)
Those voters are getting all the "free market", Republican "leadership", "deregulation" and "reliable power grid" that they voted for.
I hope they are enjoying their:
* free market
* Republican "leadership"
* deregulation
* "reliable" power grid
Yeah, go ahead. Keep pretending like global warming isn't happening and maybe it will go away. Expect hoter highs and colder lows, every coming year.
If you eat an entire cake without cutting it, you technically only had one piece.
(Score: 1, Funny) by fustakrakich on Wednesday February 17 2021, @09:40PM (2 children)
The forecast, chili today, hot tamale... Tomorrow's high, whenever I get up...
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday February 18 2021, @05:34AM (1 child)
Here in my Democrat run state, yep.
TX not so much, nor warm chili let alone hot tamales!
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday February 18 2021, @05:41AM
At least nothing in the fridge will spoil
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday February 18 2021, @12:59AM (8 children)
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday February 18 2021, @02:21AM (7 children)
98% of the voters think two parties is just fine. If you got a problem that, take it up with them. The market could not be freer.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday February 18 2021, @02:27AM (3 children)
This time. There will be more such opportunities.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday February 18 2021, @02:57AM (2 children)
This time, last time, many times... And there is nothing to indicate any change in the future, except for the followers to dig in their heels even further. What is unknown is which the GOP brand will side with if there is a split, the culture warriors, or the "moderates". It would be best for them to drop the facade (which is a big expense) and officially merge with the dems and fortify their conservative base and power in congress. If the liberals want anything, they'll have to do it outside the party structure, through initiatives, whatever.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday February 18 2021, @03:48AM (1 child)
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday February 18 2021, @04:17AM
Certainly explains your condition...
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @07:16AM (1 child)
Based on vote counting patterns I would say that in the most recent election around 90% of the voters think two parties is just fine. 2% voted for third parties, and 8% are fictional or dead.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @06:40PM
Hint: if you want people to vote for your alternative then it better, at the very least, be less shitty than what is already on offer. I will be eagerly awaiting your less shitty alternative this next election cycle.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 22 2021, @11:46PM
Is it fine with them? Or are many of them being pressured into voting for one of the evil twins by the first past the post voting system?
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday February 18 2021, @09:08AM
Saying it again. They are, not me
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Perry-says-Texans-wiling-to-suffer-blackouts-to-15956705.php [houstonchronicle.com]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 17 2021, @09:40PM (4 children)
Ok fair enough on my assumptions of your personal opinions, but part of my point was much broader.
There is no free market because without any government regulation the "free" markets consolidate into monopolies over time. Ever head of a war chest? Owners would save up money so they could slash their prices to undercut their competitors long enough to drive them out of business. Super awesome free market efficiency at work amirite?
So strangely enough the "free market" can only exist when the government enforces antitrust laws.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday February 18 2021, @12:05AM (2 children)
Ironic, isn't it? :) But point that out to the pants-shitting "libertarians" and they throw an absolute tantrum, because the idee fixe they've got ground into their brains is "fewer rules = more freedom, always, no exceptions."
This is why I don't think "libertarians" are arguing in good faith: taken to their real-world applications and conclusions, their ideas result in LESS freedom and MORE suffering. And they don't care, no matter how often it happens and they're shown. "Libertarian" is a fancy word for "selfish, willfully-ignorant sociopath who only cares about their own freedom to shit all over other people."
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @07:57PM (1 child)
Right, because libertarians are all hyperventilating anarchists.
I think if you beat that straw man harder, candy will come out.
Besides a few randians and anarcho-capitalists, libertarians take strong stances in favour of banning things like fraud, and supporting contract law, tort law and so on.
You could have found this out for yourself if you'd bothered to do a modicum of research.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 19 2021, @12:52AM
Their presidential candidate this past election cycle is also an anti-vaxxer. [reason.com] Just so you know.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @07:47AM
I'm genuinely curious about one thing. How can you make statements like this, while still being able to see what you can see with your own eyes? What I mean is that in the past, with relatively minimal regulations, there was a healthy and functioning market. Some companies, and individuals like the Carnegies, managed to create immense monopolistic empires but they were the exception rather than the rule. And today? We're rapidly converging on there being nothing but one mega-corporation that owns everything in places like America.
I agree your analysis is correct, in so much as that in the free market companies can engage in dubious behavior to drive competitors out of business. So what are you missing? I think two things.
#1) What happens next in the regulation-free system? The large company can't keep their prices artificially low indefinitely. They need to bring them back up, at which point other companies can come right back. In general the price of bad behavior is expensive and the gains liminal. There will always be bad actors, but the invisible hand does create a strong incentive for simply offering a better product instead of trying to be the scummiest.
#2) In our system these hoops and hurdles provide an effective barrier to entry for big business, which ironically not only enables and protects but overtly incentivizes bad behavior. You have never tried to start or run a business. How do I know? Because you still think all these regulations are a good idea. There are a million and one hoops and hurdles you need to jump through to run a business. And the vast majority of them have little to nothing to do with actual safety. And these rules are constantly changing. Regulatory compliance has become so complex that it imposes a tremendous burden on any company with low to moderate revenue. But big multinational corporations? They have entire legal teams on standby for a fraction of a percent of their entire revenue. They can comply, fight, or change regulations as they deem fit - not only through legal means but also by simply buying congressmen who come surprisingly cheaply relative to the revenues involved. And I haven't even hit on regulatory capture - over time you gradually end up having these very corporations often end up running the regulatory schemes.
In our system have you ever noticed it's often the biggest [cnn.com], scummiest [reuters.com], corporations (and banks [bitcoin.com])calling for more regulation? It's because it's weaponized.
Regulations, in a perfect world, are obviously a good thing. But we live in a world where everything gets corrupted. So the question is, does a corrupted free market offer better outcomes? Or does a corrupted free market with corrupted regulation offer better outcomes? And in my opinion, I think clearly evidenced by reality, is that the former offers the better outcomes.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @12:39AM
Are the ENRON "smartest guys in the room" out of Federal prison, yet? Maybe they could "fix" the situation!
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday February 18 2021, @08:37AM
Yeeees, because competition will always drive towards the extra costs required for safety and building resilience into the system for once in 10 year events.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @05:29AM
The official report from FERC. [ferc.gov] Read their recommendations from 2011. A large number of those were completely ignored. Another batch appear to have been only partially implemented. Another chunk could have been done within the two weeks leading up to the cold snap but weren't.
If there is one benefit from all of this, FERC's report from this incident will be easier to write thanks to Texas's actions allowing them to freely use copy-paste.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday February 17 2021, @08:59PM (3 children)
Is that conversion process patented?
If you eat an entire cake without cutting it, you technically only had one piece.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday February 17 2021, @09:10PM (2 children)
Nah, the science curriculum in Texas is so bad that we just rely on security through obscurity.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday February 17 2021, @10:10PM (1 child)
It's good to know since Texas sets the textbook standards for the rest of the country.
If you eat an entire cake without cutting it, you technically only had one piece.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @02:31AM
Don't blame your state or school district's purchasing decisions on Texas. They could get better books if they weren't cheap. They could have better teachers if they weren't cheap. That's your communities fault.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @03:41AM
Kill yourself.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday February 17 2021, @07:22PM
When a massive, predicted, failure occurs that impacts millions and causes people to die then...yeah....I'm thinking that's not a great plan.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 17 2021, @06:51PM (1 child)
Go and scream these, why don't you?
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday February 17 2021, @07:58PM
Solar panels don't freeze! Climate change fucks your weather!
That felt good, thanks for the suggestion.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 17 2021, @07:39PM (7 children)
Eggs be hatching
The "libertarian geniuses" are just so upset that their ideologies are crumbling in such spectacular fashion.
45 turned fascist, just like liberals warned, though the magas are still in full denial mode.
"Free market" has failed everywhere because it turns out its proponents are just greedy fuckers who want to squeeze every last cent from their captured markets. Of course their excuse is that government regulation allowed the market capture, but all of capitalism's history before regulation shows that is the opposite of reality. Capitalists create monopolies, because that is just good business.
Sure would be nice if they were capable of modifying their world views, but I guess that goes against the very concept of conservatism? womp womp
(Score: 3, Insightful) by aristarchus on Wednesday February 17 2021, @08:01PM (1 child)
Maybe some tariffs would help? And remember, Don't Mess with Texas, they do a fine job of messing up all by their selves, on their own power grid.
(Score: 3, Touché) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday February 17 2021, @08:43PM
The problem I have is all the Texan socialism haters are perfectly willing to suck at the government teat damn near five times per year and my competently-governed state gets to pay for it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 17 2021, @08:40PM (1 child)
magas are not in denial, they are just ok with racism.
free market has not failed everywhere.
but it fails if you allow politicians and judges to be bought by the rich.
change your idiotic lobby rules...
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday February 18 2021, @04:20AM
Stop reelecting lizards...
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 17 2021, @11:24PM (2 children)
You're saying that fascism is, under your new definition, the best government the US has ever seen?
OK, fine. In that case, we must all endorse fascism. Fascism is good. Yeah, fascism!
You're just not going to get me to reject Trump by labeling him a fascist. He wasn't one, but if you want to redefine the word, OK. Now fascism means good government, low corruption, reining in malicious government agencies, exposing evil, building the economy, supporting the American worker, opposing the inherently divisive race-based leftist thinking, providing security, and encouraging peace.
BTW, we'll be needing a new word to describe what used to be called fascism.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @02:11AM (1 child)
You truly believe that don't you? For your sake I hope the kool-aid wasn't poisoned. Knowing dEaR LeAdEr probably just expired and using some sweetener from China that will make you shit your pants.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @06:03AM
In general everything he said is accurate.
The most interesting thing here is that if you were forced to make a color-blind judgement based solely on actions, legal changes, and so forth of Trump --- with no access to media or other various "opinion" propagandizing, you'd probably also agree. There's this not especially surprising phenomena now a days that if you take random people of the street who oppose Trump, describe his policies and attribute them to e.g. Obama then they'll claim they love them. Once they're told they're from Trump you can visibly see the cognitive dissonance kicking in where they're trying to explain how they really meant they hate them.
(Score: 3, Touché) by cmdrklarg on Wednesday February 17 2021, @08:57PM (1 child)
Hmm, calling people "lazy and entitled" when they are in danger of freezing to death due to basic utilities being out? One might think that may not go over very well.
Sounds like the people were stepping up to help each other, unlike the entitled asshole mayor.
Answer now is don't give in; aim for a new tomorrow.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @02:52AM
Nobody will freeze to death unless they are outside, completely exposed, and lightly clothed.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by aristarchus on Wednesday February 17 2021, @09:19PM (16 children)
Amanda Marcotte, Salon, via RawStory [rawstory.com], lays out what the Republicans have become.
Nothing triggers liberals like mass death from wholly preventable causes, like, Nazis.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday February 17 2021, @09:56PM (15 children)
And, predictably, when your entire ideology is defined by being anti-everything-Obama and the Obama admin suggest something reasonable like winterizing gas plants.... Whelp, here we are with seventeen dead and counting.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 17 2021, @10:05PM (1 child)
I hope the families get some serious lawsuits going, but knowing Texas they'll throw them out with some bullshit excuse.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday February 17 2021, @10:41PM
They got exactly what they voted for, unfortunately.
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday February 18 2021, @12:15AM (5 children)
But hey, on the upside...fewer Texans :D
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @01:55AM (3 children)
Along those lines, a friend linked a tweet about a prepper in Texas who was all set for the end of the world, had his piles of canned food and everything....
...wait for it...
and only had an electric can opener!
Poor idiot, all he can open is beer until the power comes back on.
I offered to send him my spare SwingAway, but of course he doesn't trust the US Mail to deliver anything, so that was a non-starter.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday February 18 2021, @03:55AM (2 children)
That story is so damned silly, no one should really respond to it. But - anyone with a pocket knife of any kind can open a can of baked beans. It's hard to believe that any prepper doesn't have an official K-rats can opener, but let's just say it's true. Survival knife, folding knive, tactical knive, utility knife, a moderately sturdy steak knife - damned near any knife will open a can. If you can't figure it out, you deserve to go hungry. No, I don't mind that you cut your fingers a couple times while figuring it out.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @05:09AM
Worst comes to worst, even a bludgeon will open cans. It's obviously fake.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @07:05AM
Runaway trolled hard, again. This is becoming not even entertaining. Runaway, go stick your head in the Well-head, and make sure your family don't die of CO2 poisoning. Don't be so stupid, Runaway.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @05:07AM
Let's see, your tribe tends to believe the government can save them from everything, make them all rich, and solve every problem in the world.
The other tribe tends to believe government is, at best, a necessary evil, completely inept, and they want nothing more than to be left alone.
Guess which tribe is dying when the systems in place go down for a few days.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @05:27AM (5 children)
Given how most of the "facts" you source end up being about as real as the tooth fairy, I'm curious to see what the real numbers end up as. Not to say these people didn't die of course, but rather the cause. Mr. 'Fire extinguisher to the head' fake news person you.
In general freezing to death for a remotely healthy person is pretty damned hard, and being in any sort of cover (even ice itself - a la igloos - the idea is to block the wind, not provide warmth) with a blanket is generally enough to keep you perfectly safe. Not comfortable mind you, but not dead.
(Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @06:26AM (2 children)
I haven't seen a complete run-down, but of the cases I've seen mentioned, more of the realistically power-outage-related ones seem to be due to morons' attempts to generate heat (burning their house down or idling a car in the garage until they CO themselves) than exposure. And then there's the good old car crash fatalities; I guess we're supposed to pretend that if only the electric were running, Texicans would have the winter driving skills of midwestern snow-hogs.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday February 18 2021, @03:54PM (1 child)
There are 24 dead people and none of them were in car crashes.
I'm sure their families will take much comfort in the fact they died trying to not freeze to death instead of freezing to death.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @09:38PM
It's interesting that as crises returns to society, so too does natural selection. It's macabre to say the least, but the sort of people starting uncontrolled fires in their own home, or not understanding that filling your house with CO is dangerous - well, they are not exactly fit.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @06:52AM
Winter deaths like this are not just freezing to death, which usually kills old people and those in vehicles, but also things like carbon monoxide poisoning, house fires, exertion, infarction, ischemia, aneurysm, frostbite, etc.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @07:11AM
We are talking Texans, here. Had to survive by drinking water out of a Buffalo hoofprint, but never had to deal with weather like this. I think they may actually all die. Water in the Hoof Print is frozen. No electricity. Gov Abbot is AWOL! No one understands CO!!! And they will die from it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @06:16AM
Yep, Texans are dying in car crashes, and it's all because they wouldn't listen when Obama told them to learn how to drive in snow. Definitely not because it's something they rarely experience and have little chance to get good at.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 17 2021, @11:27PM (2 children)
Texas has high-voltage DC links to other grids. What is missing is AC connections, so the clock is independent.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @12:54AM
...except they cant, because they explicitly are not allowed to unless they follow the FEDERAL regulations.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @08:06AM
It turns out that nearby grids are also overstressed due to the weather. They are transferring some power, but also saying "no" because they don't want to collapse. Oklahoma is at risk of going down, and that could cascade outward... and holy shit we lose half the USA.
There are also 3 DC links to Mexico, good for about 200 megawatts. It's not a lot, and Mexico is probably cold too.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Wednesday February 17 2021, @11:50PM (7 children)
And he said it over and over again, in the face of FatPhil and other linking him conclusive evidence otherwise and expert analysis, so it MUST be true. Totally renewables' fault. Just because all the underlying planning and infrastructure is shit and it wouldn't matter *what* was providing the power doesn't change the fact that this is green energy's fault and we should all go back to coal.
Fucking communist hippies and their--*checks notes*--resilient, interconnected power grids that make sure things like this don't happen anywhere else! It's all a Democrat conspiracy I tell you! Aimed at making Texas look bad!
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @12:57AM
Give him a few days until him and his ilk can assemble the evidence of antifa's involvement in this.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @01:17AM (2 children)
They also mocked California for the rolling blackouts meant to prevent high winds from knocking over power lines and starting fires. Which of course had little to do with CA governance and much more to do with PG&E skimping on their maintenance costs. Oh ya, and climate change is a hoax which is why all that dry timber wasn't actually super moist but Gavin Newsom went out with his west coast elite hair dryer to make sure the fires would get bad.
Or something. So over their fucking shit while accusing liberals of being meany pants.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @05:03AM (1 child)
Yeah man, you tell 'em! Everybody knows wildfires didn't even exist until at least the 20th century. Dumb ass deniers.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @06:55AM
And cold temperatures didn't exist until the 21st. Checkmate atheists!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @01:58AM
As I heard it, the coal was frozen solid, couldn't be broken free by any of those real Texas cowboys, so the coal plants went down. Just one of several types of failures that took out much of their generation (of several types).
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday February 18 2021, @02:38AM
Connect Texas to the grid and they'll knock out half the country [wikipedia.org] because some damn armadillo got into a substation.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @07:14AM
Uzzard! Poor Uzzard! Not to mention free market, loves me some richies, khallow! If only we had deregulated the energy market in Texas, and started a company Called ENRON, to "leverage" and "facilitate" and "rip of the pension funds"! Would have been great times. Except for the freezing to death.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Arik on Wednesday February 17 2021, @11:53PM
"Libertarian paradise"- no. Some might have been fooled into thinking it was the lesser evil, but this was never a libertarian idea. You don't create a free market by privatizing a monopoly. All that accomplishes is to free the monopoly of constitutional safeguards.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @05:01AM (2 children)
- Trump President: This horrible travesty must be blamed on Trump! Why isn't he doing anything to save Texans who are literally freezing to death!
- Biden President, Texas GOP: This horrible travesty must be blamed on the Texas GOP! Why aren't they doing anything to save Texans who are literally freezing to death!
- Biden President, Texas DNC: Let us all come together and try to overcome this unforeseeable and unpreventable force of nature. #Unity
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @10:39PM (1 child)
So you don't believe in holding people accountable for their actions?
45 denied aid to Americans, Biden immediately sent aid to Texas.
Texas GOP deregulated and privatized their energy grid resulting in the failures leading to this crisis, but we shouldn't blame them?
DeathMonkey vs. Reality? More like DeathMonkey and Reality rolling over the ignorance of GQP idiots.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 19 2021, @03:34PM
Lol if you think it has anything to do with accountability. People like DeathMonkey, presumably yourself, couldn't care less about accountability. It's all just tribal shit flinging, not all that different than a bunch of... well, monkeys. They just want to attack "the other team" and defend "their team". Accountability would entail asking many questions people aren't asking, because they don't care. They just want to score political points. This, in a nutshell, is why the west is failing. In many ways it also directly mirrors why many empires of times past also failed.
(Score: 0, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @02:43PM (3 children)
All these comments about Republicans and Democrats and free markets and socialism and... is that the only lens through which you lot can analyze anything?
Why not try good ol' fashioned corruption?
An example. Georgetown, Texas made it their goal to get 100% of their electrical needs via renewable energy, which they succeeded at. (well, it involves energy credits and accounting shuffling, but close enough) For those unaware, Georgetown is in Williamson County, a county so fucking Republican that other Republicans wonder how Williamson got the law-and-order stick up their ass that far. (to illustrate, where Austin's unofficial motto is "Keep Austin Weird", Georgetown's is "Keep Georgetown Normal")
A deep Republican area going gaga over wind farms and solar panels? However could this be‽ Well gee, maybe those "grants" from the Bloomberg "charities" had a little something to do with it? Yeah, that Bloomberg. To be blunt, they were bribed. Legally, maybe, but bribed.
Corruption, the true American tradition. I worked with and in various Texas state and local government agencies for 20 fucking years, and while the corruption level varied, it was never zero. I didn't participate, but quietly made it known I wasn't looking to find any of the shit either. Kept me alive (that is not a metaphor).
Don't think that just because I gave a Republican example means the Dems were pure of heart. They were in there grubbing with all the rest. I'm not saying anybody got bribed to deliberately plunge Texas into icy doom, I'm just saying that companies made decisions to be cheap in certain areas, and government bodies made decisions to not worry about those cheap decisions, and quiet favors get traded and a faint nod here and there... it's all so genteel, and just "the way things are done".
It ain't just Texas either. It's everywhere. Everywhere. The only difference between America and the most openly corrupt third-world shithole is that Americans lie about it. We lie to ourselves most of all.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday February 18 2021, @04:00PM (2 children)
Georgetown is a college city and the county it's in voted for Biden in the last election.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 18 2021, @05:09PM (1 child)
***whooosh***
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday February 18 2021, @05:40PM
I'm sorry, I guess all those lies were supposed to be a joke?
(Score: 1) by nostyle on Thursday February 18 2021, @05:13PM
In South Texas... it's turtles all the way down.