US Elections (& Politics) :)

[Parley]

$2.2 billion solar plant in California turned off after years of wasted money: ‘Never lived up to its promises’

Seen from the sky, the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility in California’s Mojave Desert resembles a futuristic dream.

Viewed from the bottom line, however, Ivanpah is anything but.

The solar power plant, which features three 459-foot towers and thousands of computer-controlled mirrors known as heliostats, cost some $2.2 billion to build.

Construction began in 2010 and was completed in 2014. Now, it’s set to close in 2026 after failing to efficiently generate solar energy.

In 2011, the US Department of Energy under former President Barack Obama issued $1.6 billion in three federal loan guarantees for the project and the Secretary of Energy, Ernest Moniz, hailed it as “an example of how America is becoming a world leader in solar energy.”

But ultimately, it’s been more emblematic of profligate government spending and unwise bets on poorly conceived, quickly outdated technologies.

“Ivanpah stands as a testament to the waste and inefficiency of government subsidized energy schemes,”Jason Isaac, CEO of the American Energy Institute, an American energy advocacy group, told Fox News via statement this past February. It “never lived up to its promises, producing less electricity than expected, while relying on natural gas to stay operational.”

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...

 

[johnfitz]

It's just a matter of time before the tape comes out:

Judiciary Democrats Demand DOJ, FBI Release Recordings of Tom Homan Receiving $50,000 Cash Bribe

 

[ctgoldwing]

And more of your tax dollars at work, Seems like no matter who is sitting in that oval office they can find ways to piss away a lot of $$$

By JOSHUA GOODMAN and RYAN J. FOLEY
Updated 9:26 PM EDT, September 23, 2025

MIAMI (AP) — Hundreds of federal employees who lost their jobs in Elon Musk’s cost-cutting blitz are being asked to return to work.

The General Services Administration has given the employees — who managed government workspaces — until the end of the week to accept or decline reinstatement, according to an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press. Those who accept must report for duty on Oct. 6 after what amounts to a seven-month paid vacation, during which time the GSA in some cases racked up high costs — passed along to taxpayers — to stay in dozens of properties whose leases it had slated for termination or were allowed to expire.

“Ultimately, the outcome was the agency was left broken and understaffed,” said Chad Becker, a former GSA real estate official. “They didn’t have the people they needed to carry out basic functions.”

Becker, who represents owners with government leases at Arco Real Estate Solutions, said GSA has been in a “triage mode” for months. He said the sudden reversal of the downsizing reflects how Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency had gone too far, too fast.

Rehiring of purged federal employees​

GSA was established in the 1940s to centralize the acquisition and management of thousands of federal workplaces. Its return to work request mirrors rehiring efforts at in several agencies targeted by DOGE. Last month, the IRS said it would allow some employees who took a resignation offer to remain on the job. The Labor Department has also brought back some employees who took buyouts, while the National Park Service earlier reinstated a number of purged employees.

Critical to the work of such agencies is the GSA, which manages many of the buildings. Starting in March, thousands of GSA employees left the agency as part of programs that encouraged them to resign or take early retirement. Hundreds of others — those subject to the recall notice — were dismissed as part of an aggressive push to reduce the size of the federal workforce. Though those employees did not show up for work, some continue to get paid.


GSA representatives didn’t respond to detailed questions about the return-to-work notice, which the agency issued Friday. They also declined to discuss the agency’s headcount, staffing decisions or the potential cost overruns generated by reversing its plans to terminate leases.

“GSA’s leadership team has reviewed workforce actions and is making adjustments in the best interest of the customer agencies we serve and the American taxpayers,” an agency spokesman said in an email.

 

[Sybertiger]

$2.2 billion solar plant in California turned off after years of wasted money: ‘Never lived up to its promises’

Seen from the sky, the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility in California’s Mojave Desert resembles a futuristic dream.

Viewed from the bottom line, however, Ivanpah is anything but.

The solar power plant, which features three 459-foot towers and thousands of computer-controlled mirrors known as heliostats, cost some $2.2 billion to build.

Construction began in 2010 and was completed in 2014. Now, it’s set to close in 2026 after failing to efficiently generate solar energy.

In 2011, the US Department of Energy under former President Barack Obama issued $1.6 billion in three federal loan guarantees for the project and the Secretary of Energy, Ernest Moniz, hailed it as “an example of how America is becoming a world leader in solar energy.”

But ultimately, it’s been more emblematic of profligate government spending and unwise bets on poorly conceived, quickly outdated technologies.

“Ivanpah stands as a testament to the waste and inefficiency of government subsidized energy schemes,”Jason Isaac, CEO of the American Energy Institute, an American energy advocacy group, told Fox News via statement this past February. It “never lived up to its promises, producing less electricity than expected, while relying on natural gas to stay operational.”

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...

Wouldn't it has been nice if the $1.6B went into American nuclear fusion projects back in 2014?

 

[johnfitz]

What's up with those Epstein files?

Arizona special House election could be a tipping point on releasing the Epstein files

"Tuesday's election will likely deliver the decisive signature to allow a vote on compelling the Department of Justice to release all records related to Jeffrey Epstein. The bipartisan discharge petition was put forth by Republican Rep. Thomas Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna."

Arizona votes to send its first Latina to Congress

 

[Oceanslider]

Lice maybe

 

[sdkid]

It's just a matter of time before the tape comes out:

Judiciary Democrats Demand DOJ, FBI Release Recordings of Tom Homan Receiving $50,000 Cash Bribe

He NEVER took any money.

 

[sdkid]

hmmmm.... here or in funny/satire....

 

[johnfitz]

He NEVER took any money.

How do you KNOW? Do you want to see the tape?

 

[sdkid]

How do you KNOW? Do you want to see the tape?

Great questions. NONE of us REALLY KNOW what happens with any given person at any given time unless we are directly involved. We all come to a point where we have to trust a source of information about the facts of an event. Could that source be wrong--- hell yes. That said-- if a video of an event contradicts what has been reported-- would I want to see that? HELL YES. Truth is Truth.

 

[johnfitz]

That said-- if a video of an event contradicts what has been reported-- would I want to see that? HELL YES. Truth is Truth.

And now (and probably getting worse in the future), with AI I'm not sure I could even trust video.

 

[Oceanslider]

 

[Parley]

Update" Two have now died at the hands of the shooter and one in serious condition. They are all illegals. I think the shooter was trying to kill ICE agents as he fired randomly into the van. The shooter may have a link to Antifa. At this time, it appears that his mother and sister are also lefties.

 

[TonyR]

Hmmmm....gee, I wonder....
</end sarcasm>

 

[Oceanslider]

Of course they would...

 

[Arjun]

Of course they would...

View attachment 228670

Kool Aid helps as well

 

[Oceanslider]

Kool Aid helps as well

View attachment 228672

Where's Arjun!

 

[johnfitz]

This guy gets it. Very, very well said.

Nah... David Portnoy is a tool, like Trump, he just loves attention... IMHO here's what's really going on... First...

Colbert gets cancelled after he uses his show to criticize CBS's parent company, Paramount Global, for a $16 million legal settlement it reached with Trump... a deal that looks like bribery. Trump gloats:




And sets his sights on the next targets:




Then Trump/FCC see an opportunity and make their threat:




After Kimmel is benched, Trump gloats again and plans on moving on to the remaining targets:




But people start canceling Disney+ subscriptions, so ABC reverses its decision. Trump, in a real art of the deal move, loses his cool and shows his cards:




Trump’s new ABC threat proves Jimmy Kimmel right — and his MAGA allies wrong

The president can’t stand being criticized night after night.

Trump’s post also highlighted how last December’s Disney settlement has emboldened him to make further demands of media companies. “Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars,” the president wrote. “This one sounds even more lucrative.”

The president’s tone is revealing. “They gave me” $16 million sounds so casual, when in fact ABC’s payout was anything but.

Numerous critics, including some inside ABC, now look back at that settlement with regret, believing it kicked off a wave of media capitulation to the president.

In any case, Trump’s latest threat is a clear indication that he intends to punish ABC for allowing Kimmel to return to the air.

It also once again contradicts the popular MAGA media claim that Trump and Brendan Carr had nothing to do with Kimmel’s benching. As Justin Amash, the former GOP congressman, said on X, the president’s words “torpedoed every White House surrogate who claimed the administration wasn’t attempting to coerce Disney/ABC.”

Much to Trump’s chagrin, Kimmel got the last laugh — for now.


So, David Portnoy's analysis is wrong... it was not capitalism that took Kimmel off the air, it was capitalism that put him back on the air!

 

[sdkid]

Nah... David Portnoy is a tool, like Trump, he just loves attention... IMHO here's what's really going on... First...

Colbert gets cancelled after he uses his show to criticize CBS's parent company, Paramount Global, for a $16 million legal settlement it reached with Trump... a deal that looks like bribery. Trump gloats:

View attachment 228671


And sets his sights on the next targets:

View attachment 228665


Then Trump/FCC see an opportunity and make their threat:

View attachment 228668


After Kimmel is benched, Trump gloats again and plans on moving on to the remaining targets:

View attachment 228667


But people start canceling Disney+ subscriptions, so ABC reverses its decision. Trump, in a real art of the deal move, loses his cool and shows his cards:

View attachment 228669


Trump’s new ABC threat proves Jimmy Kimmel right — and his MAGA allies wrong

The president can’t stand being criticized night after night.

Trump’s post also highlighted how last December’s Disney settlement has emboldened him to make further demands of media companies. “Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars,” the president wrote. “This one sounds even more lucrative.”

The president’s tone is revealing. “They gave me” $16 million sounds so casual, when in fact ABC’s payout was anything but.

Numerous critics, including some inside ABC, now look back at that settlement with regret, believing it kicked off a wave of media capitulation to the president.

In any case, Trump’s latest threat is a clear indication that he intends to punish ABC for allowing Kimmel to return to the air.

It also once again contradicts the popular MAGA media claim that Trump and Brendan Carr had nothing to do with Kimmel’s benching. As Justin Amash, the former GOP congressman, said on X, the president’s words “torpedoed every White House surrogate who claimed the administration wasn’t attempting to coerce Disney/ABC.”

Much to Trump’s chagrin, Kimmel got the last laugh — for now.


So, David Portnoy's analysis is wrong... it was not capitalism that took Kimmel off the air, it was capitalism that put him back on the air!

it goes WAY beyond "being criticized". If you can't see that then you have a problem. they LIE, then call it "comedy", and they do it in a way that is far closer to propaganda than anything resembling entertainment. And the BIG problem with being so completely and totally one-sided is that they are using PUBLIC airwaves to do it. There is more than a little hypocrisy in those who claim to be champions of equity... I guess that's qualified with the silent part "... well-- unless we don't like it."

 

[Oceanslider]

Of course they would...

And probably with Bleach!