COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Friday, December 26, 2014

Christmas in Israeli Occupied Palestine - Same Old Same Old


comments_image 26 COMMENTS

Santa Gets Tear-Gassed In Palestine: How Israel Suppresses Christmas for Palestinians

Palestinian Christians don't have much to celebrate under the occupation. 
Tomorrow is Christmas, and more than a billion people will be waking to presents, hot cocoa and holiday jingles. But for Palestine's  40,000 to 90,000 Christians, most of whom live in the West Bank, Christmas takes place under Israeli occupation. 
Bethlehem, the fabled location of Jesus's birth, is under siege. The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Fouad Twal, had to pass through a  massive separation barrier and military checkpoints that split Jerusalem and Bethlehem in order to arrive at Manger Square to begin Christmas Eve celebrations. 
The city's mayor, Vera Baboun, included a solemn nod to the occupation in her annual Christmas message, saying, “Despite all Israeli occupation practices, including the siege, ongoing land seizure and settlement expansion, the city is flooded with happiness as it welcomes visitors while sending a message of hope and love. The residents of Bethlehem are still seeking justice, hoping that the world will help bring peace. The city faces an undeclared war, the basis of which is the wall, and the isolation of the northern district of the city.” One of the great Christian holy sites is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is found in Jerusalem. 


For Palestinian Christians, reaching the site is practically a biblical trial. Israel is  currently denying Palestinians under the age of 35 from visiting the site.  One Christian pastor in Gaza who works  with refugees in Jordan,  told Middle East Monitor that because of the series of military checkpoints, his trip from Jordan to his family home took 17 hours.  "The challenge for us as Christians, by the grace of God, we are able to forgive because we experienced God's forgiveness. The challenge for us as Evangelical Christians, as a pastor, is how to keep your mind and your heart pure and to live by the spirit of forgiveness and not to let hatred rule in your life,” said. 
The system of military domination the Palestinians live under, designed to secure an ever-expanding series of settlements in the West Bank, naturally provokes protests. In Bethlehem, the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee  lit a Christmas tree in the Hall of Nativity that was decorated with teargas grenades and sound bombs the Israeli soldiers had used against their protests. 
Also near Bethlehem, Palestinians dressed as Santa Claus joined demonstrations against one of the city's many Israeli checkpoints. Their signs pointed to the Israeli military presence,  with one reading, “We want Christmas without Occupation.” Here's a Reuters report about the Christmas-themed protest: 
One Santa-themed protester  had to be evacuated by medics after inhaling too much tear gas. 
The deprivations Palestinian Christians are experiencing come against a backdrop of increasing support for Israel's government from the American Christian far-right – some from quarters that ironically have a history of anti-semitism,  like evangelical Pastor John Hagee. But as Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) recently learned at an event where  he was booed by Arab Christians, many of the faith look at the unfair treatment of Palestinian followers of Christ in Bethlehem and other parts of the occupied territories with disdain.

63 comments:

  1. ...The Russell Tribunal summary of findings of Israel's horrendous assault on Gaza this summer, that the international community witnessed in HORROR, did find Israel GUILTY of WAR CRIMES:

    The Jury reported: ‘The cumulative effect of the long-standing regime of
    collective punishment in Gaza appears to inflict conditions of life calculated
    to bring about the incremental destruction of the Palestinians as a group in
    Gaza.’

    -Willful killing

    -Extensive destruction of property not justified by military necessity

    -Intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population and civilian
    objects

    -Disproportionate use of force

    -Attacks against buildings dedicated to religion and education



    ...and as usual not a murmur out of the Christian Right.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. - Mathew Neville • 18 hours ago

      Delete
    2. Dear Deuce and gaza...

      Try to MURDER Jews?

      Expect your lives to be fucked.

      Merry Christmas.

      Delete
    3. Maybe those that hate the Jews will learn?

      Fire rockets at our children?

      We will fire back and hopefully KILL you.

      :)

      Merry Christmas.

      Delete
  2. Bethlehem Christians Break Silence on Muslim Oppression
    IRIS Blog
    Friday, January 26. 2007
    Bethlehem Christians Break Silence on Muslim Oppression

    After many years of the mainstream media's annual story about mean Israelis stealing Bethlehem's Christmas (see here for a comical example), the truth has been revealed. Christians are fleeing every Muslim-majority territory because of the apartheid discrimination encouraged by Muslim sharia law. Land theft works because the testimony of non-Muslims is weighed less in every sharia court in the world.

    A number of Christian families have finally decided to break their silence and talk openly about what they describe as Muslim persecution of the Christian minority in this city.

    The move comes as a result of increased attacks on Christians by Muslims over the past few months. The families said they wrote letters to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, the Vatican, Church leaders and European governments complaining about the attacks, but their appeals have fallen on deaf ears.

    According to the families, many Christians have long been afraid to complain in public about the campaign of "intimidation" for fear of retaliation by their Muslim neighbors and being branded "collaborators" with Israel.


    This is a death sentence.

    But following an increase in attacks on Christian-owned property in the city over the past few months, some Christians are no longer afraid to talk about the ultra-sensitive issue. And they are talking openly about leaving the city.

    "The situation is very dangerous," said Samir Qumsiyeh, owner of the Beit Sahur-based private Al-Mahd (Nativity) TV station. "I believe that 15 years from now there will be no Christians left in Bethlehem. Then you will need a torch to find a Christian here. This is a very sad situation."

    Qumsiyeh, one of the few Christians willing to speak about the harsh conditions of their community, has been the subject of numerous death threats. His house was recently attacked with fire-bombs, but no one was hurt.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Qumsiyeh said he has documented more than 160 incidents of attacks on Christians in the area in recent years.

      He said a monk was recently roughed up for trying to prevent a group of Muslim men from seizing lands owned by Christians in Beit Sahur. Thieves have targeted the homes of many Christian families and a "land mafia" has succeeded in laying its hands on vast areas of land belonging to Christians, he added.

      Fuad and Georgette Lama woke up one morning last September to discover that Muslims from a nearby village had fenced off their family's six-dunam plot in the Karkafa suburb south of Bethlehem. "A lawyer and an official with the Palestinian Authority just came and took our land," said 69-year-old Georgette Lama.

      The couple was later approached by senior PA security officers who offered to help them kick out the intruders from the land. "We paid them $1,000 so they could help us regain our land," she said, almost in tears. "Instead of giving us back our land, they simply decided to keep it for themselves. They even destroyed all the olive trees and divided the land into small plots, apparently so that they could offer each for sale." When her 72-year-old husband, Fuad, went to the land to ask the intruders to leave, he was severely beaten and threatened with guns.

      "My husband is after heart surgery and they still beat him," Georgette Lama said. "These people have no heart. We're afraid to go to our land because they will shoot at us. Ever since the beating, my husband is in a state of trauma and has difficulties talking."

      The Lamas have since knocked on the doors of scores of PA officials in Bethlehem seeking their intervention, but to no avail. At one stage, they sent a letter to Abbas, who promised to launch an investigation.

      "We heard that President Mahmoud Abbas is taking our case very seriously," said Georgette Lama. "But until now he hasn't done anything to help us get our land back. We are very concerned because we're not the only ones suffering from this phenomenon. Most Christians are afraid to speak, but I don't care because we have nothing more to lose."

      A Christian businessman who asked not to be identified said the conditions of Christians in Bethlehem and its surroundings had deteriorated ever since the area was handed over to the PA in 1995.

      "Every day we hear of another Christian family that has immigrated to the US, Canada or Latin America," he said.

      http://www.iris.org.il/blog/archives/2211-Bethlehem-Christians-Break-Silence-on-Muslim-Oppression.html

      Delete
    2. >>>>After many years of the mainstream media's annual story about mean Israelis stealing Bethlehem's Christmas (see here for a comical example), the truth has been revealed......<<<<

      It's that time of year.....time for the annual story about the Jews stealing Christmas......

      heh - nice opening sentence....

      Delete
  3. For a nearly endless listing of articles concerning the oppression and cleansing of Christians from Palestinian areas in the West Bank see here:

    https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=Christians+oppression+by+moslems+in+Bethlehem&ei=UTF-8&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-001

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. For those articles to be meaningful, one must be literate and objective.

      Delete
  4. There are no "Palestinian Areas", Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson, there is only one country, from the mountain to the sea, Bibi calls it Israel.

    There are no Palestinians, "O"rdure has told us so ...
    You do believe "O"rdure, Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson, do you not?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There are only Israeli in Palestine, now.

      Some of those Israeli are Jewish, millions of them are not.

      What's in a name, a rose by any other, it would smell as sweet.

      Delete
    2. jack, with all sincerity?

      go fuck yourself

      Delete
    3. I don't think that is going to happen, "O"rdure.

      Delete
    4. Well do us a favor?

      Let us know when you are about to die, so I can break out the 20 year old Macallan.

      You are a Jew hating, Israel bashing turd of a human, I will celebrate the day you are wiped from this planet

      Delete
    5. Please UPS me a small sip of the Macallan, WiO, when the Blessed Event occurs.

      Delete
  5. “The irony is we are being used by everyone,” another Christian activist, who asked not to be identified fearing a backlash from Muslims, said. “The Israelis expect Christian Arabs to be critical of Israeli policy but they are addressing our community. In contrast, the Muslim community gets angry when we raise issues and initiate hostile campaigns targeting well-known Christians who openly speak out about the increasingly hostile challenges Christian Arabs face in the Arab and Muslim Worlds. They are legitimate issues but no one wants to talk about them.”

    The Christian population has declined from 30% to less than 2% in less than fifty years. If the place of Jesus birth was an essentially Christian city since 1948, beginning from today Bethlehem is undergoing a significant change because of the immigration of many Muslims from the city of Hebron towards Bethlehem.


    Christian Arab presence in Bethlehem in Crisis [SEP 2014]

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Copts are suffering the same "challenges". Doubtless, Mossad and the "Conga-line" are responsible.

      Delete
    2. The reign of the Zionists in Palestine has wiped the Christians out.
      The demise of the Christians and the rise of the Zionists, in Palestine, a mirrored image.

      Delete
    3. When the UN proposed partition, Jews owned less than 7 per cent of the land, made up a third of the population

      And now, more than half the population, and almost all the land ...

      Only 7% of the land is even in private hands.

      Delete
    4. Jack you so FUNNY..

      Even when you lie...

      The truth?

      they ONLY safe christians in the Middle east? LIVE IN ISRAEL...

      Now your pals, the palestinians? the moslem world?

      have slaughtered hundreds of thousands...

      Delete
  6. Iraq, under Saddam, had over one million Christians that led normal secure lives. The Neocons decided that it was in Israel’s interest to destabilize Iraq. Saddam, foolishly, played into their propaganda by awarding the families of terrorists, who attacked Israel, with a $25,000 award.

    Along comes the right wing Christians, who supported the zionists and the neocons and they used the big lie and the US military to attack Iraq, destroying the civil service, killed Iraqis by the hundreds of thousands, disbanding the army, and set into motion total chaos and anarchy. They worsened it further by creating a prison system that was a training ground for ISIS. Ignorance of Iraq and the arrogance of unintended consequences.

    Who was responsible and what was the consequence to their criminal malfeasance?

    The result is that there are now fewer than 150,000 Christians in Iraq. The policy was repeated in Libya and Syria.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is the Yinon Plan being implemented.

      That is the reality of Zionist foreign policy

      Delete
    2. You deluded Deuce, really...

      You are losing it..

      Delete
  7. Before you get on your high horse, consider what the US did when the Japanese emperor attacked the US.

    The US rounded up the Japanese Americans that had not a whit to do with the attack on Pearl Harbor and herded them into concentration camps.

    Had the war gone as badly for the US after the Japanese attack as the US attack against Iraq , no honest person can believe that things would not have gotten far worse for the prisoners of the state under the Roosevelt Regime.

    ReplyDelete
  8. To argue that the relocation of millions of Europeans to the Middle East and constant meddling and attacking by Israel’s mercenaries ( The US Army) on Arab lands will have no consequences to Christians is absurd.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. to ignore the 850,000 Jews thrown out of their homes and businesses that they owned for a 1000 years before mohammed ever was born is a tragedy.

      The relocation of MORE jews by arabs was and is a crime.

      your ignoring Islam and the arab jihadist elements that saturate the arab world is telling...

      Going to blame arab/islamic slaughter of christians in Iraq, yemen, nigeria, lebanon, iran on Jews?

      get a life.

      Delete
    2. To use a term like 'relocation' to describe the Jewish desire to get the hell out of Europe after the Holocaust is quite daring.

      You, Deuce, once said 'your neighbors didn't like you' to describe the events in before, during, and after the WWII.

      I thought that one of the most disgusting things ever said here.

      There was a neighbor down the street once I didn't like but I didn't want to put them in gas chamber.....

      Delete
    3. Moslems have been slaughtering and cleansing everyone near them since 1400 years ago.

      It's what they are called to do in their book.

      It's what they deeply wish to do to you too, Deuce, one of these fine days, you infidel.

      :(

      Delete
  9. E85 for $0.92 / Gallon

    <a href="http://www.e85prices.com/michigan.html'>Lowell, Mich.</a>

    ReplyDelete
  10. Over the past decade, Latin America and the Caribbean have made tremendous progress in reducing poverty and in boosting shared prosperity. Poverty has fallen by half to 12.3 percent. The middle class -- currently 34 percent of the population -- is growing. Meanwhile, inequality in Latin America -- historically the world's highest -- has fallen, even as it rises in practically every other part of the globe.

    For the first time, the number of people in the middle class surpasses those living in poverty.

    In fact, on a recent trip to Bolivia when I was trying to keep up with President Evo on a soccer field, some of the villagers who were watching us were snapping pictures on their smartphones. This was one of the most remote parts of Bolivia, and even there, people have access to technologies that connect them to the wider world.

    That lesson for me was powerful. Though excluded from economic progress and largely invisible to the rich world, the poor are very . . . . . . .

    hello

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cuba and Venezuela....exceptions.

      Delete
    2. It's been widely noted that Cuba was one of the better off Latin American nations before the revolution.

      Now they are one of the worst.

      Delete
    3. I just can't believe the USA didn't even bring up the issue of passports and visas with Cuba.....

      What a lot of absolute horse shit. We could at least have gotten some propaganda out of the issue......we didn't even do that.

      Delete
  11. Second priest from Altamirano, Guerrero Killed in Two Months by Guerreros Unidos

    "I am outraged by the cowardly and vile death of Father Gregorio López Gorostieta. I express my total denunciation of the demon Guerreros Unidos, who killed padre Goyo (of Guerrero) for accusing them in the death of Ayotzinapa students, "
    padre Goyo of Apatzingán

    ReplyDelete
  12. CARTEL CLAIMS KIDNAPPED BORDER AGENT.................Drudge

    I imagine if he's white, forget it. If he's black, O'bozo might bail him out.

    ReplyDelete

  13. Crowds Gather to Mourn Slain NYPD Officer...

    POLICE UNITE: TENS OF THOUSANDS EXPECTED AT FUNERAL.................Drudge

    Looks like we the people are choosing the cops over the thugs.

    This is wisdom.

    Imagine Philly without Police......

    ReplyDelete
  14. ..The Russell Tribunal summary of findings of Israel's horrendous assault on Gaza this summer, that the international community witnessed in HORROR, did find Israel GUILTY of WAR CRIMES:

    The Jury reported: ‘The cumulative effect of the long-standing regime of
    collective punishment in Gaza appears to inflict conditions of life calculated
    to bring about the incremental destruction of the Palestinians as a group in
    Gaza.’

    -Willful killing

    -Extensive destruction of property not justified by military necessity

    -Intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population and civilian
    objects

    -Disproportionate use of force

    -Attacks against buildings dedicated to religion and education




    All that and Israel KILLEd only 2200 people, which included over 1200 terrorists!


    Man, Israel needs to take lessons from Syria, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, USA, Russia, China, England, France, Turkey and others..

    israel needs to step up it's game...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lessons from Boko Haram in Nigeria come to mind too.

      They slaughter whole school fulls of little kids, in the name of Allah. And old people in rest homes.

      :(

      Delete

  15. US-led coalition hits IS jihadists with 31 air strikes

    AFP , Friday 26 Dec 2014
    Print - OK, I will.

    Related
    Kuwait court jails 3 Islamic State supporters
    US says three top Islamic State leaders killed in airstrikes: WSJ
    Islamic State suicide bomber detonates tank in eastern Syria
    Islamic State orders wifi cut during prayers: Syria monitor
    The US-led coalition pounded the Islamic State jihadist group with 31 air strikes Friday, including more than a dozen in the flashpoint Syrian town of Kobane, the Pentagon said.

    The 13 strikes in Kobane, which is known as Ain al-Arab in Arabic, destroyed 19 fighting positions, as well as IS buildings, staging areas and a vehicle, the Defense Department said in a statement.

    Several tactical units were also hit by fighter and bomber aircraft, as well drones, the statement said.

    Fighting over Kobane began in mid-September, when the IS launched a bid to take over the town on the border with Turkey. The US-led coalition has been launching air strikes against the Islamic State group in Syria since September 23.

    There were a total of 16 strikes in Syria, where coalition raids also struck a drilling tower, more vehicles, and another staging area.

    In Iraq, strikes destroyed an IS rocket system near the town of Al Asad in Anbar province.

    The jets and drones also targeted IS vehicles, fighting positions, equipment, tactical units, and a storage container, in a total of 15 raids across seven locations in Iraq.

    http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/content/us-led-coalition-targets-isis-31-airstrikes
    ............

    Pickup trucks and storage containers are taking a hell of a beating.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Save the rare albino dolphin from captivity -


    Dear friend,

    Japanese fishermen have captured a rare albino dolphin and plan to sell it
    to the highest bidder. This unique creature was captured along with several
    other dolphins, who were slaughtered, during the annual dolphin hunt in
    Taiji, Japan.

    Please sign the Care2 petition today urging Japan not to sell this beautiful,
    rare albino dolphin and to release it back into the wild!
    >>http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AKuzp/zPMC/c98w2

    Albino dolphins are extremely rare. Sadly, one was captured during the cruel
    dolphin hunt made famous in the documentary "The Cove." The dolphin is
    currently being held in a small holding pen and trained to eat dead fish and
    adapt to human interaction.

    This rare albino dolphin will soon be sold, likely for hundreds of thousands of
    dollars, to be displayed in captivity for the rest of its life.

    We can't let this rare dolphin be doomed to a stressful and lonely life in
    captivity. Now is the time to take a stand and demand that Japan release
    the albino dolphin, not sell it at auction.
    >>http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AKuzp/zPMC/c98w2

    Thank you,

    Cate H.
    The Care2 Petitions Team

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. See pictures of the rare albino dolphin here:

      https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=AwrTceDeHJ5UupoAPpgPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTBsOXB2YTRjBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2dxMQR2dGlkAw--?_adv_prop=image&fr=yhs-mozilla-001&sz=all&va=rare+albino+dolphin+catch+japanese&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-001


      I think the poor fellow might live longer in captivity. He sticks out like a sore thumb.

      Shark bait.

      Delete
    2. Dolphins are smart.

      Teach him to sign, and let him make the choice.

      Delete
    3. If Orangutans have human rights, dolphins should have them too.

      Delete
  17. VOA News

    Last updated on: December 26, 2014 9:47 PM

    Pakistani fighter planes and suspected U.S. drone strikes killed at least 30 Islamist fighters early Friday, including militant commanders, in the remote North Waziristan region.

    Compounds of Taliban and Uzbek militants near the Afghan border were targeted with what the army called "very effective and precise aerial strikes."

    They came as Pakistan ramped up its anti-terror strategy in the wake of a December 16 Pakistani Taliban attack on an army-run school in Peshawar that killed 150 people, most of them children.

    The massacre of 134 children and 16 school staff prompted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to reinstate the death penalty just two days after the attack. Authorities have since hanged six “hard-core terrorists” convicted of previous terrorism charges, and plans are in place to execute hundreds more.

    On Friday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke by phone with Sharif. A U.N. statement said Ban urged the Islamabad government to stop the executions and reimpose the country's moratorium on the death penalty.

    ReplyDelete
  18. India seeks Bhutan’s help to take on NE ultras

    NEW DELHI: India has sought help from Bhutan to handle Bodo ultras who killed more than 80 people this week in Assam. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj spoke to Bhutan PM Tshering Tobgay to seek action against NDFB(S), which perpetrated the latest massacre, amid reports that the outfit had set up bases in the India-Bhutan border areas.

    Sources said Swaraj is also likely to speak to leaders in Myanmar for support in dealing with other northeast militant groups.

    "The external affairs minister has talked to the Bhutanese leadership at the highest level. We are also working on having others who could possibly help in this," the MEA spokesperson said.

    The death toll in the carnage and retaliatory violence by tribals has risen to 81.

    Swaraj talked to Tobgay on Thursday evening after Home Minister Rajnath Singh requested her to seek assistance from Bhutan to tackle the banned militant group. Singh had said that the government would adopt "zero-tolerance policy towards acts of terror".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't think I much like the Bodos.

      They wiped out the rhinos in their area.

      Delete
  19. Should you take this impossible bet?

    MinutePhysics has a fascinating exercise in probability for you. Imagine you and 99 other people are all randomly assigned a number between 1 and 100. You are challenged to all separately go into a room of 100 boxes and check up to 50 of them to see if you can find your number inside. If you all correctly find your boxes, you each get $101; if at least one person doesn’t find their box, you get nothing.

    Should you take the bet? It turns out that, if each of you were to guess randomly, the probability that you would all find your boxes is close to zero. But there is an ingenious solution that results in you finding your box about 30 percent of the time. See if you can figure it out, then watch the solution here.

    http://knowmore.washingtonpost.com/2014/12/26/should-you-take-this-impossible-bet/



    Hmmmm.......

    The probability that Iraq will be ISIS free by July 4th, 2015 is close to zero too, but Rufus took that bet.

    ReplyDelete
  20. A bit of good green energy news for your holidays, courtesy of New England

    By David Roberts on 23 Dec 2014 30 comments
    Share


    I write about bad news pretty much all the time, so for the holiday season, let’s check out a little piece of good news.

    Of all the criticisms lobbed at renewable energy, two points are most common:

    Wind and solar are intermittent — the wind doesn’t always blow, the sun doesn’t always shine — which means they are not “dispatchable,” i.e., a grid manager cannot reliably and predictably deploy them to meet demand.
    Renewables are more expensive than fossil fuels.

    As it happens, the New England ISO (Independent System Operator) is busy upending that conventional wisdom.

    ISO-NE, as the nerds call it, is the nonprofit organization that administers the New England grid and its wholesale power market. It is responsible for making sure that supply (generation) matches demand (load) at all times; it tells all the 82 large generators in its territory when to put electricity on the grid and when not to. Every hour, generators “bid in” to the wholesale market and the ISO draws from the cheapest power first.

    Two exciting bits of news out of ISO-NE, both brought to us by Jerry Elmer of the Conservation Law Foundation.

    ReplyDelete
  21. First, the ISO is busy at work making renewables dispatchable. Of course it can’t make the wind blow or the sun shine. But to an ISO, “dispatchable” has a specific technical and legal meaning. It needs the generator to be in constant electronic communication with the ISO control room. (Check.) It needs reliable five-minute-ahead forecasts for wind strength and sun intensity. (Check.) And it needs algorithms that will enable it to dispatch renewables when circumstances line up. (In the works, due some time next year for wind and hydro, the year after for solar.)

    There’s lots of technical detail about what it means for renewables to be “within dispatch,” but I won’t burden you. The main takeaway is that ISO-NE is soon going to treat wind, hydro, and solar as dispatchable resources, which will make them much more competitive in New England wholesale power markets.



    Second, as of earlier this month, ISO-NE is for the first time permitting what’s called “negative price offers.” This one requires a bit of explanation.

    Renewable generators often bid their power in to wholesale markets at $0. (They act, in the lingo, as “price takers.”) After all, they have no fuel cost. If they’re generating power and the grid doesn’t take it, it just goes to waste. So they’ll accept any price for it.

    That doesn’t mean they get $0 for it. The wholesale spot price is set by the bid from the most expensive source necessary to meet demand. That’s why wholesale power is more expensive during times of heavy demand — the price is being set by expensive “peaker plants” that are only rarely fired up. Theoretically, if all demand were being met by renewable generators that had bid in at $0, then the price would be $0 (which actually happens occasionally during periods of low demand). But in normal circumstances, all the $0 price bid does is guarantee that renewable energy will be used first.

    Now. That’s all well and good. Here’s the twist: Renewable energy generators also get Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) for the power they generate, which they can then sell for profit. But they only get RECs for power they feed into the grid. Sometimes the amount they would get in RECs makes it worth it for them to pay the grid to take their power — in other words, to bid into wholesale markets at a negative price, just to ensure that they’re allowed to generate as much power as they can.

    Until recently, ISO-NE didn’t accept negative price offers, so renewables couldn’t take advantage of this competitive strength. On Dec. 3, however, that policy changed. Elmer explains what happened next:

    [O]n Thursday, December 11, the wholesale price of electricity in New England dropped to minus $151.73 during one hour of the ISO’s “Operating Day.” Today (December 19) we had a clearing price of zero for an hour this morning, and then the clearing price dropped to minus $47.67. Negative wholesale electricity prices in New England are not merely a theoretical possibility; they have been happening this month.

    As Elmer acknowledged when I chatted with him, this period of negative pricing was probably something of an anomaly, for reasons too boring to get into. It will likely be a while before renewables reach a scale where negative prices are a regular feature.

    Nonetheless, it will happen more and more frequently. As renewable generation grows, negative price offers allow it to undercut fossil prices and displace fossil generation. In New England, renewable energy is no longer more expensive.



    Remember: For years, Very Serious People have been telling us about things renewable energy can’t do. Meanwhile, renewable energy keeps doing them.

    Within the next year or two, New Englanders are going to enjoy cheap, dispatchable renewable energy, something VSPs said was impossible. It must be a Christmas miracle.

    http://grist.org/climate-energy/a-bit-of-good-green-energy-news-for-your-holidays-courtesy-of-new-england/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      A bit of good green energy news for your holidays, courtesy of New England

      Courtesy of NE? You mean, a bit of good green energy news for your holidays for New England..

      We've heard this story before in Texas. Who do you think funds those RECs? There is no such thing as a free lunch.

      .

      Delete
    2. Q U I R K !

      You're BACK !

      Now I can sleep soundly tonight....

      I was getting concerned.

      Have you been in jail again?

      Delete
  22. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2gK1mLbJKE

    Sober


    When I die I don't wanna go sober.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. 'I love being in love'

      'When I die I don't wanna go sober'

      Sober

      "...I was a Flower of the mountain yes when I put the rose in my hair like
      the Andalusian girls used or shall I wear a red yes and how he kissed me
      under the Moorish Wall and I thought well as well him as another and then
      I asked him with my eyes to ask again yes and then he asked me would I yes
      to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and
      drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his
      heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes. "

      Molly Bloom in 'Ulysses'

      >>>I thought well as well him as another<<<

      :)

      Women !

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    2. from 'Fly Fishing The Streams of Unconsciousness'


      NUMBER 3 -
      Arthur! Came after me hard right after I split with Michael. I was
      mentally weak and burned out from what I had been through so incredibly vulnerable. I wasn't
      capable of wise decisions. He was a scientist working at the secret area 57 at Nellis. He knew
      some creep named Quirk who had infiltrated the place. Brilliant, handsome, fun. Arthur was two years older than me. Later I realized he was super sick and controlling. We lived together for approximately 9 years but we're only
      married about a year. We divorced and remarried for six months. That was
      due to finances and my planned escape. I left him everything and walked away.
      Lost lots or most of my own money but it was worth it to get away and move on with ahealthy
      life. Arthur was the abuser. Started verbally and eventually increased and increased
      till it became physical as well. When it was good with him it was great but when it
      was bad it was completely unacceptable. He was sick! That fine line between
      brilliant and mad. I spent three years seeking counseling to regain myself esteem.
      It was a bad deal. I survived it! I have no contact with this man where asmy other
      ex husbands are friends. (When I met David and he found out about Arthur he hired
      two thugs to go knock on his door and warned him if he ever came near me again he
      would end up dead in the desert!) David told me about this after we married. He said
      he did this for my protection. He did this not even knowing if we would end up
      together. Nice of him to protect me. David still does!

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    3. 'Fly Fishing The Streams of Unconsciousness' is a 'work in progress' by an unpublished writer I know.

      Delete
    4. This writer, who wishes to remain anonymous, is also currently working on an article concerning Hemingway's "After The Storm" and its relationship to the world's Monomyth.

      Delete
    5. Sober is properly viewed in Full Screen. There is the cutest little girl at the end, entranced, new to ways of Eros, who is thought to be the oldest and youngest of the gods, perpetually reborn in each young heart.....

      Delete
  23. 2019.09.05天道盟酒店經紀領袖吳桐潭2日晚上在台北五星級飯店辦壽宴,花了上百萬席開30桌。吳桐潭因為曾培訓出「酒店工作特攻隊」的殺手部隊,被稱為是殺手導師,道上地位相當高,這次慶生,國內外黑幫齊聚,甚至還有知名酒店經紀梁曉尊/梁小尊、陽帆、李羅等藝人都到場,星味十足。天道盟酒店經紀份子:「生日快樂!」就算戴上帽子,但還是藏不住霸氣外露,他是天道盟精神領袖吳桐潭,大哥辦70歲壽宴,兩旁小弟早就準備好列隊迎接。天道盟份子:「生日快樂,福如東海,壽比南山。」酒店兼職知名經紀人拿著酒杯來敬酒,演員李㼈也是座上嘉賓。在眾人簇擁下,吳桐潭上台切蛋糕,身為天道盟精神領袖的他因為訓練出「太陽酒店打工特攻隊」,被人稱做「殺手導師」。仔細看跟在他身旁的就是天道盟的3根梁柱,中間的是天道盟主鐵霸曾盈富,右邊的是太陽會總會長黃俊傑,另外一邊的是太陽會副總會長貓董周文成,就連國外黑道香港反送中14K幫也派人來參加。知名直播主連千毅也在這,還有粉絲看到他,趕快來跟他拍照。這場壽宴席開30桌,1桌要價3萬5到4萬,保守估計至少花了上百萬來慶生。

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