DL Open Thread: Sunday, October 9, 2022

Arden Celebrates Free Ukraine With DakhaBrakha.  Man, some shows, all the elements come together.  Such was the case last night at the Arden Gild Hall as this world-class band put on an absolutely mesmerizing and inspiring performance.  The sound and lights were also world-class, and the images on the video screen added tremendous context and poignancy to the music.

Here’s a taste of the band’s uniqueness:

Chime in if you were there.

How A Solar-Powered ‘Planned Community’ Survived Hurricane Ian:

Babcock Ranch calls itself “America’s first solar-powered town.” Its nearby solar array — made up of 700,000 individual panels — generates more electricity than the 2,000-home neighborhood uses, in a state where most electricity is generated by burning natural gas, a planet-warming fossil fuel.

The streets in this meticulously planned neighborhood were designed to flood so houses don’t. Native landscaping along roads helps control storm water. Power and internet lines are buried to avoid wind damage. This is all in addition to being built to Florida’s robust building codes.

Some residents, like Grande, installed more solar panels on their roofs and added battery systems as an extra layer of protection from power outages. Many drive electric vehicles, taking full advantage of solar energy in the Sunshine State.

Climate resiliency was built into the fabric of the town with stronger storms in mind.

So when Hurricane Ian came barreling toward southwest Florida this week, it was a true test for the community. The storm obliterated the nearby Fort Myers and Naples areas with record-breaking surge and winds over 100 mph. It knocked out power to more than 2.6 million customers in the state, including 90% of Charlotte County.

But the lights stayed on in Babcock Ranch.

Syd Kitson, a former professional football player for the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys, is the mastermind behind Babcock Ranch. Kitson envisioned it to be an eco-conscious and innovative neighborhood that is safe and resilient from storms like Ian.

The ranch broke ground in 2015 with the construction of the solar array — which was built and is run by Florida Power and Light — and its first residents moved into the town in 2018. Since then, the array has doubled in size and thousands of people have made Babcock their home.

There’s a great lesson here–one that invariably will not be learned in Florida at large.

Banks Could Take A Bath If Musk/Twitter Deal Goes Through.  Hard to decide who to root against:

Several large US and international banks would lose $500m or more if they proceed with obligations to fund Elon Musk’s $44bn takeover of Twitter, according to a report on Saturday.

The banks, led by Morgan Stanley and six others, including Barclays and Bank of America, committed six months ago to raise $13bn in debt to finance Musk’s purchase – an agreement that does not hinge on whether they are able to sell the debt on to investors.

According to Bloomberg calculations published on Saturday, the banks’ losses would collectively amount “to $500m or more if the debt were to be sold now”.

You know what that means: They’ll recoup their losses through nickel-and-diming their consumer customer base.  The fine print.

Phils Beat Cardinals, Move On In Playoffs.  The thing about the expanded baseball playoffs is that the best team doesn’t always win.  In fact, in recent years, the best team has rarely won.  The Phillies are not the best team in the playoffs.  Meaning, they have, at least, a chance.

You’ll NEVER Guess Who’s Headlining The Sussex County Rethug Freedom Festival.  Man, this Party is pathetic and putrid:

The keynote speaker was Mr. (Oliver) North, whose past was not without controversy. He was a National Security Council staff member during the Iran–Contra affair in the late 1980s. The scandal involved the illegal sale of weapons to the Khomeini regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran to encourage the release of American hostages then held in Lebanon.

Through his publishing company, the very first book off the press was “America’s #1 Adversary,” co-authored by John M. Poindexter, Richard B. Levine, and Robert McFarlane. The title reference is to Xi Jimping, general secretary/president of China.

“I am here to confess I was wrong. We were wrong. This is not America’s No. 1 adversary,” said Mr. North. “America’s No. 1 adversary is Joe Biden. On his very first day on office, he destroyed our nation’s energy independence. Now, with the sabotage of the only undersea natural gas pipeline capable of supplying Western Europe, and OPEC cutting production by two million barrels a day, much of Europe is going to have a very cold winter.”

Blahblahblah.

What do you want to talk about?