Daily Shaarli
September 30, 2021
New NEC requirement and stirring of state/local initiatives seek to address dangers DC power in rooftop PV systems pose to firefighters.
How Bulgaria tried—and failed—to save communism by computerizing the 1980s generation. //
http://web.archive.org/web/20210929131440/https://logicmag.io/kids/socialist-cyborgs/
In this Sept. 15, 2021, webcast, several questions were left unanswered. Read the details here
BY GARY GLUCK AND JAMES ALVERS SEPTEMBER 29, 2021
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During his testimony before the House today, CENTCOM head Gen. Frank McKenzie confirmed something that we reported last month – that during a meeting that McKenzie had with the Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar, he was offered the full control of Kabul while evacuation operations were completed.
It was an astonishing report revealed last month – that they had the opportunity to provide a safe withdrawal with the whole city being a buffer around the airport, offered by the Taliban – but turned it down instead opting for the unsafe, completely endangered and at-risk situation they ended up with, at the mercy of the Taliban. It’s likely why U.S. service members and Afghans were killed in the suicide attack. //
Another thing to note was that McKenzie’s meeting with the Taliban came on August 15, the same day the city of Kabul fell. NBC has reported that the day before, McKenzie had warned Baradar that the Taliban shouldn’t come within 20 to 30 kilometers of the city or they would be hit by airstrikes. But then the Taliban took over the city and there were no airstrikes. “The next day, Taliban fighters rolled into Kabul, and no U.S. warplanes bombed the insurgents, the three senior defense officials said,” NBC News said.
Great job there, Biden Administration. They’ll surely take you seriously when you don’t even follow through on a threat like that. But that was essentially the problem with the whole withdrawal – the Biden Administration let the Taliban dictate to them throughout and it cost Americans and Afghan allies their lives.
Kodak Kodachrome holds a special place in the history of photography. We look back 11 years after the film's demise //
It is eleven years to the day since Kodak announced that it was to stop producing the last of its iconic Kodachrome transparency films. It was on 22 June 2009 that the Eastman Kodak Company broke the news from its headquarters in Rochester, New York, that the much-loved slide film would stop production after a run of 74 years.
But a decade on, Kodachrome still holds a legendary status in the history of photography. To mark the 11th anniversary of Kodachrome's demise here are 11 things about the yellow-boxed film that you may or may not know… //
Kodachrome was launched in 1935 - initially just as a 16mm movie film format. The first stills version of the film was released the following year. Kodachrome movie film ceased manufacture in 2006. //
The secret to Kodachrome's success is that it used a different process to other color film. The film did not contain the color dyes, unlike its rivals. Instead Kodachrome had three different monochrome layers - to which the three primary colors were added with dye coupleer during a complex chemical development.
The exact chemical process had several iterations, but the K-14 process was used from 1974 through the film's ulitmate demise. The K-14 process had 17 distinct stages. //
“The film market peaked in 2003 with 960 million rolls of film, today it represents roughly 2% of that,” said Manny Almeida, president of Fujifilm’s imaging division in North America in a Time interview in 2017.
Even so, last year Fujifilm announced they were bringing back black and white film just 12 months after killing it off - so the comeback is still alive.
Could Kodachrome also rise from the ashes? The complex chemistry needed for its development undoubtedly mean that this is one film that we won't see being re-introduced. But we may still dream of a miracle revival…
The findings, the study's authors said, were largely consistent across the categories of age, sex, obesity and cardiovascular risk.
An increase of 17 minutes of moderate-vigorous physical activity per day or 2,312 steps per day or reductions of 249 minutes of sedentary time per day between two testing cycles corresponded with a 5% higher peak oxygen uptake, and individuals with high above-average steps or moderate-vigorous physical activity demonstrated above-average peak oxygen uptake values regardless of their sedentary time per day.
Moderate-vigorous physical activity is defined as a rate of 100 to 129 steps per minute; greater than 130 steps per minute is considered vigorous. A cadence of 60 to 99 steps per minute is considered low-level exertion.
210.8 Ground-Fault Circuit-Interrupter Protection for Personnel. ...(F) Outdoor Outlets. All outdoor outlets for dwellings, other than those covered in 210.8(A)(3), Exception to (3), that are supplied by single-phase branch circuits rated 150V to ground or less, 50A or less, shall have ground-fault circuit-interrupter protection for personnel. This requirement shall become effective January 1, 2023, for heating/ventilating/air-conditioning (HVAC) equipment.
Substantiation: GFCI protection was expanded in the 2020 NEC without HVAC component and equipment safety standards being harmonized with GFCI amperage limits. Currently, the UL standard that HVAC equipment is listed to (UL 1995) has no requirements for leakage current if the unit is hard wired, as most residential air conditioners/heat pumps are. In the future, HVAC equipment will be listed to UL 60335-2-40, which sets a limit of 10 milliamps of leakage current. However, this new standard is not mandatory until 1/1/2024. UL 943 is the standard to which GFCI breakers are listed and are required to trip at 5 milliamps of current. Even if HVAC equipment is listed to the UL 60335-2-40 standard, there is no guarantee it will be compatible with UL listed GFCI breakers This lack of coordination is what is leading to the nuisance tripping that customers are dealing with.
Until both equipment and component standards are updated, designers, installers, AHJs, and consumers are forced to choose between an NEC 2020 compliant installation or an operational installation. In jurisdictions that have adopted 2020 NEC with 210.8(F) intact, there have been numerous instances of field tripping of the GFCI breaker on ductless mini splits, units containing power conversion equipment, and on many single-stage units.
How does the United States generate electricity currently?
Over the course of 2020, the U.S. generated 4,009 TWh of electricity, with the majority coming from fossil fuels. Natural gas (40.3%) was the biggest source of electricity for the country, accounting for more than nuclear (19.7%) and coal (17.3%) combined.
Including nuclear energy, non-fossil fuels made up 41.9% of U.S. electricity generation in 2020. The biggest sources of renewable electricity in the U.S. were wind (8.4%) and hydro (7.3%).
But on a state-by-state breakdown, we can see just how different the electricity mix is across the country (rounded to the nearest percentage). //
But for the U.S. to reach its ambitious carbon-free goal by 2035, the biggest impact will need to come from the biggest electricity producers.
That title currently goes to Texas, which generated 12% of total U.S. electricity in 2020. Despite being the most populous state, California generated less than half Texas’ output, and less than both Florida and Pennsylvania.
In 2020, the U.S. produced 4,009 terawatt-hours of power (also written as 4,009 billion kWh, since one billion kWh is one TWh).
■ About 60 percent of that total came from fossil fuels like natural gas (40.3 percent), coal (19.3 percent), and petroleum (0.4 percent), all of which have CO2 emissions as an undesirable side effect.
■ Nuclear energy accounted for just under 20 percent. It is debated whether nuclear power falls under the category of “sustainable,” but at least it doesn’t emit any greenhouse gases.
■ So-called renewables make up the remaining 20 percent, the main ones being wind (8.4 percent), hydro (7.3 percent) and solar (2.3 percent). Smaller renewable energy sources are biomass (1.4 percent) and geothermal (0.4 percent).
Be aware if you've got bats in your home. That's the message from the Illinois Department of Health as it announced that an 80-year-old man died of rabies after waking up to find a bat on his neck. It is the first human case of rabies in the state since 1954.
The man refused rabies treatment at the time of the incident in mid-August, health officials said in a press release. A month later, he started experiencing rabies symptoms such as neck pain, headache, difficulty controlling his arms, finger numbness and difficulty speaking. //
"Rabies infections in people are rare in the United States; however, once symptoms begin, rabies is almost always fatal, making it vital that an exposed person receive appropriate treatment to prevent the onset of rabies as soon as possible," Pfister said.
We covered how Gen. McKenzie’s testimony nailed Joe Biden for a lie. McKenzie testified under oath that he had previously recommended to Biden that we keep 2,500 troops in Afghanistan prior to his decision not to do so. McKenzie also said he predicted that withdrawing them would cause the Afghan Army to collapse and the Taliban to take over. Biden said he hadn’t been told either thing by any of his advisors.
Gen. Milley revealed the astounding news that after Kabul fell on August 15, Biden didn’t even talk with Milley and Austin about the question of possibly extending the August 31 deadline until August 25. So what did he do for 10 days besides being on vacation?
Milley also blew up Biden’s claim that he had to stick to the Trump deal. He said that Biden wasn’t obligated to carry through on any deal with the Taliban and do a hasty withdrawal because the Trump deal was a conditioned deal and the Taliban didn’t hold to the conditions. Trump wasn’t doing just a naked withdrawal like Biden, he was holding the Taliban to certain requirements. But Biden went through with it anyway despite the fact that the Taliban didn’t hold to the deal. That’s all on Biden, so he can’t blame Trump for that choice. Finally, Milley blew up the Biden claim that somehow we had achieved the purpose of not being threatened from Afghanistan again. Milley made it very clear that we were likely to be hearing from ISIS and/or al Qaeda within 12-36 months because of the way the situation was left in Afghanistan. //
But maybe no Democrat lit up the Biden team for their failures more than Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). //
He seems to have been personally touched and outraged by how Americans and our Afghan allies were stranded by Biden. He was involved in trying to help get stranded citizens out of Afghanistan and faced all kinds of roadblocks from the Biden team in the effort. He also focused on what should be for everyone the most important thing at this point — helping extract the people still stranded.
Blumenthal’s assessment today of the Biden administration was searing. There was “no one in charge” he said.
The Post Millennial
@TPostMillennial
Sen. Blumenthal on Americans stranded in Afghanistan: "We don't have an estimate on the number, because nobody is in charge right now."
11:39 AM · Sep 28, 2021
webcast - Schneider
One of the most confusing areas of the trade continues to be bonding and grounding. Mike Holt's Illustrated Guide to NEC Requirements for Bonding and Grounding belongs in the hands of every Electrician, Inspector, and Engineer who needs to understand the seemingly conflicting information of how to properly apply these particular NEC rules. The extensive graphics show current flow in both normal and fault conditions, which completely illustrate just what is happening, so you can better understand why the Code rules are what they are and how they are applied.
This new edition continues to expand on the great graphics that have set the standard for the industry. The text beautifully clears up misconceptions about bonding versus grounding and breaks down each of the Code articles that deal with this topic. Mike's ability to explain these rules and their practical application in real-world settings will help you to fully understand the "why" behind these rules, helping to ensure you know how to apply the NEC every day. More than any other topic in the Electrical industry, bonding and grounding is at the core of most power quality, and safety issues, making this book a must-have for everyone at every level of the industry.
Product Code: 20NCT2
ISBN: 978-1-950431-03-8
Pages: 368
Illustrations: 685
Practice Questions: 611
Price: $49.00
But the imperatives of climate change and development will inevitably require greater supplies of electricity. It is increasingly clear that nuclear power plants must play a consequential role.
Nuclear power is, in many ways, the most promising source of zero-carbon electricity. Unlike solar, wind and water power, electricity from nuclear plants is predictable; generators run when the sun is not shining, the wind is not blowing and water levels are low. Nevertheless, the industry has a dicey reputation, and there are fewer commercial reactors in operation today in the United States than a generation ago. This year could see three commercial reactors decommissioned in the United States — with plans to shut down about 20 more in coming years.
The problem is a misunderstanding of risks. Humans are constantly exposed to radiation — from the sun, from the cosmos, from the very ground we walk on. Even the most fearsome and publicized nuclear reactor accidents have added relatively little to background levels.
After an earthquake and tsunami wiped out the nuclear plant at Fukushima, Japan, in 2011, scientists concluded that the trauma of a mass evacuation had caused greater health effects than the radiation release. Within months of the 1986 Chernobyl meltdown, in the former Soviet Union, approximately 30 operators and firefighters on-site died of acute radiation syndrome, but investigators nearly two decades later found “no scientific evidence of increases in overall cancer incidence or mortality or in non-malignant disorders that could be related to radiation exposure.” The alarming near-meltdown at Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island plant in 1979 ultimately exposed neighbors to approximately one-sixth the radiation dose they would receive from having a single X-ray.
Of greater concern are the health risks to uranium miners of extended exposure to natural radiation. Their safety should be protected as the industry advances. But the general fear that has stymied nuclear power over the past generation is unreasonable. //
The model to have in mind is not the hulking plants at Chernobyl or Three Mile Island but the small, imminently reliable reactors that have powered the United States’ submarines and aircraft carriers across more than 134 million miles in 50-plus accident-free years of cruising. Nothing more clearly showcases the potential for safe, reliable nuclear power than these 83 floating demonstration projects, in which healthy sailors live in proximity to tireless fission power plants.
Carbon emissions and other greenhouse gases are the environmental challenge of our age. Nuclear power is one tool for ridding ourselves of them — while keeping the lights on.
The right to request a religious exemption stems from Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which protects workers from discrimination on the basis of religion, among other things. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says employers must provide reasonable accommodations for workers who have sincerely held religious beliefs — unless doing so poses an undue hardship. //
First, employers may probe whether an employee's religious belief is in fact sincere. They may ask questions about that employee's vaccination history or church attendance. If the employer determines the belief is not sincere, it may deny the exemption request.
But even if an employee's religious belief is determined to be sincere, it's the employer who decides what the reasonable accommodation will be. It does not have to be the accommodation requested by the employee. //
In religious exemption cases, undue hardship is defined as "more than a de minimis," or minimal, cost or burden on the operation of the employer's business. Hernández points out that an accommodation that involves shift changes could constitute more than a minimal burden to an employer, allowing the employer to deny such an accommodation.