"War, huh, good God, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing!" - Trump Thread #157

[Spandauer]

It ain't nothing but a heart-breaker
(War) Friend only to The Undertaker
(Edwin Starr 1970, written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong)

Unless, of course, your name ends in Trump, when it ain't nothing but an opportunity to grift, deflect and destroy.

Previous thread:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5496818-beware-the-ides-of-march-trump-thread-156

"Gimme a Nixon"

would it not be more worthwhile for them to lower barriers to Solar and Heat Pump installation?

It's already a scamsters paradise.

I have a deep antipathy to all these "schemes" which are engineered to ensure that Joe Public never get the benefits that have to go to private companies.

https://www.wired.com/story/pete-hegseth-is-pushing-defense-employees-to-volunteer-for-dhs/

Gosh, I thought it was just me noticing this. It's so shiny and it looks like it's almost dripping.
He's either got a serious fever or huge make up issues

I notice they are now clearly labelling it as satire, because it's hard to tell these days.

I thought they were offering a government grant towards heat pumps. And one towards solar panels.

As long as it goes to an "approved" company.

The US is now concentrating on managing perception not outcome.

This is practically unheard of, one agency 'borrowing' staff from another. Never once in my 35 years as a fed have I heard of this.

Job openings that other agencies have posted as 'current employees eligible to apply', yes certainly. And openings for 'detail' (probably what you think of as 'secondment') within one's own agency, again yes. But openings to be detailed out of one's own agency into another agency? Nope. And never ever has the Head of my former agency ever put pressure on employees to 'volunteer' for detail or to put in for a job with another agency. Heck, they probably weren't even aware of posted openings and transfers as far down as 'field level'.

I guess DHS is running out of applicants for job openings, either in the civilian workforce or its own workforce. Notice I didn't say 'qualified' as it appears that DHS doesn't worry about that too much. At least not in the LEO ranks.

I'm guessing it will be just after Easter when they start recruiting immigrants.

Cr*yptic clue: "Sonder" is the German word for "special". Just leaving that there.

I live in an area where we have no gas lines, so eagerly investigated the entire solar panel and heat pump grants 'scam'. Here's what I found out.

• Solar panels need storage batteries but these you have to buy yourself as they are not covered by any grants
• More solar panels are usually needed for the average house than covered by grants
• For solar panels to be truly effective, the house also needs both roof and underfloor insulation
• The heat pumps sold in the UK are inefficient and under capacity. That is why many new builds in Scotland have both heat pumps and conventional gas boilers. There are incentives for builders to install heat pumps so they install the smallest and cheapest. We need Norwegian style heat pumps, but they are expensive.
• Heat pumps need different plumbing/radiators but once again, you have to pay for this yourself.

I could have had a £7k grant for solar panels, but then would have had to pay out a further £17k to get an efficient system. Seeing that this was two years ago, it's probably more now.
Given my age, I would get never recover the initial outlay, so I would be effectively subsidising the next buyer of my house. And the worse thing is that after applying for a grant, I keep getting unwanted calls from installers/insulating companies etc

Re electric cars, I'll only buy one with a 500ml minimum range/battery swap programme as I have to make regular 400 ml journeys

https://uk.ecoflow.com/pages/balcony-solar-generators

Thank you, but those would have been as useful as a chocolate teapot in the recent 21+ days with no sunshine we had recently.

I am going against the grain here perhaps, but I think it's a good idea on principle, but not in this particular application though.

Cross agency experience and all that. But I would have FEMA as the target, not ICE. So when disaster strikes, there is as large a pool of people as possible ready to go.

I think most of the grants are stopping this month? As the above poster said when I saw the battery cost and realised I still had to buy that I was ruled out. I have an old property (Victorian) and am unsure if it is insulated enough to be able to work without keeping the boiler. I know builders who get very cheap photovoltaics from china that they put on their own houses, but the energy sector installing seem to have far more expensive versions that take up more roof space. It feels as though we are being offered what was forward thinking in the late 90s when the market is now far more advanced but for whatever reason the big energy companies aren't moving with the bettter tech.

Welcome to the world of renewables.

Unless you fancy running your own nuclear reactor, or paying for your gas to drive a turbine, your are rather shot out of luck when it comes to choices.

I take it you saw the option with a battery ?

Less profit margin.

The battery capacity would not be enough to heat the house in winter. My house is in an exposed position on a windy hill. Years ago I mentioned renting the field next door and putting up a wind turbine...my ndn was not amused.

28 mins ago on CNN. It's not a shocker :

"Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said today the US is preparing a government-backed insurance plan to help ships move through the Strait of Hormuz, as the Trump administration vows to escort oil tankers through the critical global energy route.
“I do think you’re going to see a place where we give insurance to the vessels in the Strait of Hormuz,” Duffy told Fox News. “And once we get a little more clarity on the security risk, we’re going to have not just the US, but our partner countries.”
“When those escorts, and we have the insurance, you’re going to start seeing oil flow,” Duffy said on “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo.”"

When did Trump truth this out ? A week ago ?

I suspect his cabinet have had their staffers googling " How does ship insurance work ? "

Yes, I don't know how it works either, but I ain't in government.

Is there not a danger of making perfection the enemy of progress ?

I'd happily take a 10% reduction in my fuel usage now against the off chance of 100% sometime in the future.

There were reports that they were calling Lloyds a few days ago and demanding Lloyds insure ships for them.

I believe the response was - to use one word here instead of the two there - "terse".

Yeah. They have not quite got the hang of this socialism v capitalism thing.

Will the insurance cover ship/cargo/crew injuries/death?

Yeah, I'd have a lot of faith in insurance promoted by a jerk who doesn't think bills need to be paid or debts repaid.

Any maritime company contemplating this better have their legal depts comb any policy with a fine tooth comb for words like "does not cover damage caused by bombs, missiles, mines, bullets, or anything else we don't want to pay out for".

Weird how you can fly a drone through the air, but not pilot a ship through the seas .....

Apparently it's the cargo that is worth most. And the potential clean up costs if the oil gets out.

And I think if a ship sinks and blocks it all, the other shippers will make claims too ? I am thinking about when that ship blocked the Suez. The claims against that must have been massive.

I reckon it be cheaper just to pay the Iranian government to let them through ?