Category: Business

Senate approves bill to make daylight saving time permanent

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The U.S. Senate on Tuesday passed legislation that would make daylight saving time permanent starting in 2023, ending the twice-annual changing of clocks in a move promoted by supporters advocating brighter afternoons and more economic activity.

The Senate approved the measure, called the Sunshine Protection Act, unanimously by voice vote. The House of Representatives, which has held a committee hearing on the matter, must still pass the bill before it can go to President Joe Biden to sign.

The White House has not said whether Biden supports it. A spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declined to say if she supports the measure but said she was reviewing it closely.

The operative word for some of our elected officials is still “Candyass”.

Prices keep falling…US installs record solar capacity

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This week, the US Department of Energy’s Berkeley Lab released its annual analysis of solar energy in the US. It found that nearly half the generating capacity was installed in the US during 2021 and is poised to dominate future installs. That’s in part because costs have dropped by more than 75 percent since 2010; it’s now often cheaper to build and operate a solar plant than it is to simply buy fuel for an existing natural gas plant…

Five states now receive more than 15 percent of their electricity from solar power, including Massachusetts and Vermont, with California receiving 25 percent of its electricity from the Sun.

Solar’s expansion has largely been driven by falling costs. The DOE estimates that the price of building a solar plant has been dropping by an average of about 10 percent a year, leading to a fall of over 75 percent since 2010. That has left prices averaging about $1.35 for each watt of capacity in 2021. Large-scale plants benefit the most, with projects over 50 megawatts costing about 20 percent less than those under 20 MW.

Say “Amen”…

Send the bill to Donald!

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U.S. District Court Judge Raymond Dearie, a New York City-based jurist named by a federal judge in Florida to act as a so-called special master in the review of more than 11,000 documents the FBI confiscated, proposed on Thursday that former Magistrate Judge James Orenstein help with the process…

Orenstein spent 16 years as a federal magistrate in the same Brooklyn courthouse where Dearie sits…

Dearie proposed that the former magistrate, who has a top secret clearance, be paid $500 an hour for work on the Trump documents case. The federal judge who named Dearie as special master, Florida-based Aileen Cannon, has previously ruled that Trump must assume all expenses related to the review.

HAR!

Hardee’s mocks Trump’s pillow guy

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Fast food restaurant company Hardee’s just masterfully mocked MyPillow CEO and noted conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell after he complained that agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation seized his phone while he was in the drive-thru of a Hardee’s restaurant…the company saw an opportunity to stake a new claim to fame after the FBI seized Lindell’s phone, taking a jab at Lindell in the process.

The use of the word “pillowy” to describe Hardee’s biscuits was a clear reference to Lindell, who has been the subject of considerable derision since the MyPillow CEO, who previously advised former President Donald Trump’s campaign, took a more active role in supporting and financing Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 general election result by spreading disproven conspiracy theories about widespread electoral fraud in that election…

Lindell’s phone was seized in connection with a 2021 breach of voting machines in Mesa County, Colorado, committed by former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who is facing felony charges for alleged tampering after sensitive voter machine data she leaked was presented at Lindell’s “Cyber Symposium,” which he billed as an arena in which he would unveil definitive proof that the 2020 election was stolen but that ultimately failed to produce any evidence of fraud.

Surprise, surprise! It takes someone dim enough to be a Trump fanboy to involve their working life, their private life, justifying the lies and foolishness that ooze from Republican politics, nowadays.

NASCAR on fire!

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Kevin Harvick’s fire-related DNF at Darlington during Sunday night’s Cookout Southern 500 marked the fifth time in recent months that a cockpit fire has impacted a NASCAR Cup Series race.

There have been no injuries, but drivers are increasingly angry and frustrated at the apparent lack of attention by NASCAR and its safety teams.

In the latest incidents, the Ford Mustangs of Harvick and backmarker J.J. Yeley caught fire during the 500-miler. Harvick’s fire was more serious because as a Playoff contender, everything he does is magnified. NBC-TV concentrated on his No. 4 Mustang as it made several fiery laps while green-flag pit stops cycled around. As the fire began to spread, he stopped on the apron and bailed out as safety crews arrived.

“What a disaster without a cause,” he told reporters later. “We didn’t touch the wall. We haven’t touched a car and here we are in the pits with a burning car…

The drivers are concerned for their safety. NASCAR doesn’t seem to be concerned about anything more than how their TV time gets featured on the news,