LyrArc Article Gist
Strategic siting in renewable rich areas (Dallas center the largest is in renewable rich area) and fair cost allocation to not burden small businesses and households are major issues in Data Center building. Data centers for AI -rows and rows of servers 5000 in hyperscale data centers- used 4% of the US total electricity use in 2024. This is growing rapidly. By 2030 this is expected to grow by more than double, by 133%. About 60% of this to power the servers and 30% for cooling the servers. About a third of these servers are located in Virginia, Texas and California. How will this affect Cost of Living concerns, affect electricity prices? Carnegie Mellon working with North Carolina State University did the modeling on the energy and emissions implications of data center buildup in the US in their Open Outlook Initiative. A 8% annual increase in electricity prices is expected on average and as high as 25% in Virginia by 2030.  Total of about 40% increase over 5 years. Between 2014 and 2024 10 year period average cost for a home electricity use went up 25% from $114 a month to $142. This would now go up by 40% to about $200 by 2030 in just 5 years significantly impacting cost of living in the US. In which states will it strain electricity grids? In 2023 data centers consumed 26% of the total electricity supply in Virginia. In North Dakota 15%, Nebraska 12%, Iowa 11%, Oregon 11% according to Electric Power Research Institute. What are the energy types used? Natural gas is used for 40% of the data center electricity, wind and solar 25%, nuclear 20% and coal 15%.   ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Five biking and hiking Trails that take you to- Vermont across Lake Champlain on the 3 mile Colchester Causeway that runs across the lake.

Colorado between Aspen and Glenwood Springs for 18 miles that takes you around Dillon Reservoir.

Austin, Texas right near the city on the Butler Hike and Bike Trail to Northshore Overlook. The long narrow reservoir is a dammed up section of the Colorado River.

Sacramento, California, go across the Sacramento River on the Sundial Bridge, all the way to Redding. Views of Trinity Alps to the west.

Around Seattle, take the Olympic Discovery Trail that stretches along the coast, and coastal wetland, fir tree forests, for 135 miles from Port Angeles. Near a US coast Guard Base past Edith Hook for a view of the Olympic Mountains.

 

LyrArc Article Gist
The last days spent at a West Texas ranch by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in Feb. 2016.

LyrArc Article Gist
Fomer U.S. Census Bureau officials Gordon Green and John Coder released a study by the firm Sentier Research. The study looks at two groups of Census data from 2005-2007 and 2008-2010, which has information on interviews with 3.5 million households for each period. The study shows 38 states with household income declining. The losses in income are greatest in the midwestern states affected by the loss of manufacturing industries. Incomes fell by 5.7% in the midwestern region of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. Oil, shale and other energy producing states- Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas- saw incomes rise by 0.3% from 2007 to 2010. This report looks at pretax income levels in 2010 dollars for all 50 states and 297 metropolitan areas. Michael Greenstone, professor of environmental economics at MIT, says the regional shocks from the economic crisis can last for a couple of decades. The Midwestern states showed median annual household household income decrease by 4.7% to $49,710 and the Southern states showed a drop of 2.5% to $47,389. Nationally for the U.S. the drop in annual median household income from 2007 to 2010 was 3.5% to $51,287. Another finding of the study was that of the top ten metropolitan areas with the highest percentile of incomes, nine were in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, a region where the financial industry is based. Silicon Valley in California comes in at No. 10 in this list of metropolitan areas. In terms of growth of households reflecting migration patterns and new families the Mountain States of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, and Nevada did as well as the oil patch states of Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma, showing an increase in households from 2007 to 2010 of 5.8%....

LyrArc Article Gist
This exceptional account by Ginger Thompson and Sara Cohen shows the Obama administration's strategy of creating credibility for its immigration enforcement by setting a target of 400,000 deportations a year, and focussing on the border states such as California, Texas, Arizona. The deportations were kept away from the midwestern states and states in the interior of the country. Under the Bush administration raids were made on businesses hiring illegal immigrants and the policy implemented all over the country, not selectively targeting the border. Local police were given authority to check immigration status of suspected foreigners. Deportations reached a peak of 383,000 under Bush in 2008. In 2008 Congress supported the Bush administration by doubling the immigration agency budget to $5.5 billion and imposed a mandate requiring detaining a daily average of 34,000 immigrants. Under the Obama administration the pilot project for state and local police to check immigration status of people fingerprinted in an arrest was expanded. Under project Secure Communities police could hand over illegal immigrants to immigration authorites, and new implementation criteria in a June 2010 memo easily covered a third of the 11.5 million illegal immigrants, according to immigration officials cited by NYT. Removal process was expedited so that expedited removals doubled under the Obama administration. Under Bush about 75% of those deported were sent home with criminal charges if they had no criminal record. Under Obama this increased to 90%. The NYT analysis suggests the immigration enforcement and grasp of the immigrant story looking for a better life, was better for "good" immigrants under presidents from border states such as Reagan from California and the elder Bush from Texas, than under a midwesterner of minority background. It shakes up the image of Hispanic Americans as part of a political affiliation to a particular party. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Perry told viewers of the Republican presidential candidate debate in Florida on Sept. 22, 2011, he supports Social Security and would work to fix it for younger workers. On immigration Perry defended his policies in Texas. He opposes efforts to build a fence along the long stretch of the U.S.- Mexican border. Perry said his policy of giving children of illegal immigrants in-state college tution, was backed by the Texas state legislature with only 4 dissenting votes. He added, "I greatly support it."

LyrArc Article Gist
This report in WSJ shows that remote work is a lasting trend because companies can now hire talented individuals from anywhere in the country or the world, and pay less for the same talent. In the past talented individuals were attracted with high pay packages to cities such as San Francisco, Seattle, New York, Boston and Los Angeles. Companies can now choose to avoid paying these high pay packages and have a broader talent pool to choose from. This is because these cities became costlier and less attractive with cramped apartments relative to the choices for remote work. In the example cited here a machine learning expert shifted from a small cramped apartment in San Francisco to work for Twitter from a small town named Katy in Texas where she has a 5 bedroom large apartment and a nicer community of 20,000 people to live in west of Houston. One in 8 jobs posted on Linked In as of August 2021 are for remote work, many times the percentage of remote work job postings in 2020, showing this trend is here to stay. There is a large shift of millions of workers in tech related fields exiting the cities of San Francisco, New York, Seattle, and Boston for smaller cities in other parts of the country such as Utah, Texas and other states in the US. A similar trend is observed in Europe. America's professional classes are moving to hybrid or remote work in large numbers says this report in WSJ. At one point in 2020 about 35% of workers in the US or 50 million workers were doing remote work during the lockdowns. In August 2021 this figure is closer to about half of these workers even as workers return to work offices. It is believed that the BLS statistics understate the number of remote workers at 20 million and 14% of workers in August 2021. Large crowded and hugely expensive cities are no longer attractive for employers or for tech employees or professional workers. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Senators Murphy and Cornyn have helped pass legislation on gun control and mental health, public safety, with the support of all Democrats and 15 Senators from Republicans including majority leader McConnell. This comes after shooting in their home states and the two shootings at an elementary school and a supermarket in Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo, New York. The bill passed the Senate 65 to 34 and crossed the 60 vote filibuster threshold which was a barrier in the past. Only two senators from the 15 Republicans are up for election this year, Romney faces an election in 2024, four are retiring and 8 senators of the 15 are up for reelection in 2026. This made a compromise possible separating those who wanted strict gun control from those who want no gun control from the compromise group to achieve a consensus that all could vote for.

 

LyrArc Article Gist
TSMC founder claims American cost of chip manufacturing is an "exercize in futility," because American costs are 50% higher than in Taiwan. This is laissez faire economic theory at work, governments overseas subsidize industries. Laissez faire economic theory that became popular with the Reagan administration means the US cannot compete by supporting its own industry in advanced technologies.  Government of Taiwan covers costs at its Taiwan manufacturing plants through subsidies some of them hidden in cost calculations. As the Oregonian reports here Intel and other US and European manufacturing companies are already competing with TSMC, and the Biden administration now plans to support American chip manufacturing- to make America a leader in chip manufacturing that it was when and obscure student from Taiwan received his engineering degrees from MIT followed by training for two decades at Texas Instruments and Reagan's misguided economic theories allowed American technologies and manufacturing to be shipped overseas. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The Trump administration has pulled together $18 billion of the funding for the border wall, the fencing that will replace inadequate exiting barriers along 885 mile stretch on the U.S.- Mexico border. This includes the current budget proposal for $2 billion in funding request. The remainder was collected by shifting funds from the military. During the initial request to Congress it was given only $1.325 billion. President Trump made up the difference by declaring a state of emergency in February 2019, allowing funds for military construction projects to be shifted to the border wall funding- $6.7 billion in 2019 and $7.2 billion in 2020. A lot of the construction will happen in 2021, assuming Mr. Trump wins a second term. The Trump administration hopes to have built or under construction 450 miles in 2020. Much of it is concentrated on federally owned land, across vast regions of Texas, because of no legal obstacles from private landowners unwilling to give up land. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Senator John Thune of South Dakota who had the support of Senators Daines and Mullin, and of retiring Republican Minority Leader won in a 3 way race against John Cornyn of Texas and Rick Scott of Florida. Scott of Florida had support of the MAGA allies of DJT. His liability was the way he had run the party as head of the Congressional campaign of 2022 with poor results. DJT stayed aloof from the race only saying he expected the Senate leader to defer to his policy for Ukraine.

Thune won 29 votes to 24 for Cornyn. His way of running the senate will be more open than Mitch McConnell's, getting more feedback from Senators, and more open to amendments. Priorities are securing the border and reauthorizing the tax cuts.

Thune seems a good choice so that the president gets to hear views of all members in the Senate and is well informed to make decisions.

LyrArc Article Gist
On March 16, 2015, the price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil drops to $44 a barrel, and Brent crude to $53 a barrel.

LyrArc Article Gist
Increasing supplies of natural gas in the U.S. will play out over 3 decades and reshape industry and manufacturing in the U.S. A new study by the University of Texas and funded by the Sloan Foundation of the Barnett shale rock formation shows that large quantities of natural gas are available that can be drilled at a cost of $4 per million BTU. This is only slightly higher than the current price of $3.43. This makes the increasing supply of lowcost natural gas a multi decade development, according to the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas.

LyrArc Article Gist
Even today mask use can vary widely in the U.S. as seen in this map from the NYT. After repeated surge across the U.S. from the northeast to the south and west mask use has increased in the U.S. Texas has made it mandatory and president Trump wore a mask at Walter Reed Army hospital. Ypu.gov and other surveys show mask use as high as 80%, not universal as health agencies want to see, higher than Canada, Finland or Denmark.

Other factors such as gatherings at beaches, restaurant and bars, and earlier sport stadiums gatherings are additional factors for a surge. Young people's cooperation has lagged behind accounting for about 50% of cases in some southern states recently being among young people.

LyrArc Article Gist
The divisions in the Republican Party as Trump wins in Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, and Cruz wins in Texas, Oklahoma, and Alaska, in the March 1, 2016 Republican primaries.

LyrArc Article Gist
George Will lists the shortcomings of Romney and Gingrich, as U.S. Republican presidential candidates in 2012. Gingrich is the worse candidate, says Will. Gingrich was paid $1.6 million by Freddie Mac, for services as "a historian." His response was to say "If you put people in jail," look at "the politicians who profited from" Washington's environment. He criticized government housing agency Freddie Mac for its role in the housing crisis, and at the same time profited as a lobbyist for Freddie. This shows his personal record and lack of conviction about the need for integrity in government officials. Conservatism, says Will, is about understanding that man does not fully understand the complexities of the world around him. It stands in opposition to man saying that he has grasped these complexities and assuming a hubrisitic attitude. Gingrich with his fervor for the latest idea, is the opposite of what conservatism stands for, says Will. Will sees Rick Perry and Jon Huntsman as better candidates than Romney or Gingrich. Presidential debates don't test what is needed to perform presidential duties and have become ridiculously important. Rick Perry's Texas record as two term governor, and his skepticism and distaste for Washington and Wall Street, give him assets that could prove to be vital for the job of president. Huntsman's positions on issues are closer to the conservative approach to government than Romney's. Will says it is important that Republicans don't give an Obama running as a Harry Truman did in 1948, against Congress, the one thing needed to win - someone who voters have a distaste for....

LyrArc Article Gist
43.6 million Americans are on food stamps More than 14% of the US population used food stamps in November 2010, according to the US Department of Agriculture. This is up 14% from a year earlier. The year over year rise in the use of food stamps shows 5,411,000 more people on food stamps. In the midwest industrial states Michigan has 19.4% of the population on food stamps, Wisconsin 13.6%, Ohio 15.4%, Illinois 13.5% In the larger states California has 9.5%, Florida 15.9%, New York 15.1%, Texas 15.6%. The year over year rise in the number of people on food stamps is largest in Texas 697,000, and in Florida with 563,000.

LyrArc Article Gist
Ignorance about the risks and benefits of good healthcare was once seen as a problem in less developed countries such as in South Asian region. The coronavirus is changing this so quickly that it leaves one incredulous. This report in WSJ shows how people in the U.S. are questioning the risks of coronavirus, skeptical about prevention measures, and questioning the value of a vaccine. From El Paso, Texas to Boise, Idaho in smaller towns and cities across the U.S. there are higher daily cases because of this attitude. The U.S. had daily cases of new infections of 195,000 on december 2 during the second wave. Compare this with 31,000 in India on December 1 for 4 times the population and one can see that nothing can be treated as given or a state of affairs that will exist in the future- the capacity for change is upto oneself. Even this reversal for the U.S. can be changed starting with a clean slate and a clean heart after lessons are learned.

LyrArc Article Gist
An unregulated social media may be the real issue. The states of Texas and Florida may be posing the wrong issue and are better off arguing for proper regulation of the social media companies. The social media and internet companies by fighting necessary regulation are saying they will be the regulators putting themselves in an position they cannot be in. The Supreme court then is addressing the wrong issues. It is Congress that has failed to properly regulate social media content even when it has and continues to pose a threat to the civility and willingness to listen to other people's opinions and respecting differences that is essential for democratic forms of government. John Kennedy confronting Cold War adversaries was still of the view that in the international scene one had to live together and cooperate wherever possible. Ultimately it is the public that has to reach this level of civility and educating the public on civics is an essential priority of the country. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The Message to Congress by president James Polk on May 11, 1846 set forth the situation of the Texas Republic setup by settlers under Gen. Sam Houston in 1836 under military threat from Mexican forces. Polk set the task for its defense by the United States against Mexican military forces that were legacies of the Spanish colonial Empire in North America. James Polk said- "In communicating to Congress a succinct statement of the injuries which we had suffered from Mexico, and which have been accumulating during a period of more than twenty years, every expression that could tend to inflame the people of Mexico or defeat or delay a pacific result was carefully avoided. An envoy of the United States repaired to Mexico with full powers to adjust every existing difference. But though present on the Mexican soil by agreement between the two Governments, invested with full powers, and bearing evidence of the most friendly dispositions, his mission has been unavailing." "Upon the pretext that Texas, a nation as independent as herself, thought proper to unite its destinies with our own she (Mexico) has affected to believe that we have severed her rightful territory, and in official proclamations and manifestoes has repeatedly threatened to make war upon us for the purpose of reconquering Texas. In the meantime we have tried every effort at reconciliation. The cup of forbearance had been exhausted even before the recent information from the frontier of the Del Norte. But now, after reiterated menaces, Mexico has passed the boundary of the United States, has invaded our territory and shed American blood upon the American soil. She has proclaimed that hostilities have commenced, and that the two nations are now at war."   ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The State Department concluded in its studies in August 2011 that the TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline can be operated without causing environmental damage, if operated under strict regulations. A round of public hearings organized by the State Department along the pipeline route from rural Montana to Nebraska and Texas has brought out both supporters and people fearing a spill. U.S. Senators in Nebraska have called for a rerouting out of concerns about the Ogallala Aquifier that lies under the Great Plains. Rural states like Montana see the jobs issue as crucial. Others including Debra Medina, a former candidate for Texas Governor, expressed fears at a rally in Austin that the property rights of landowners would not be respected.

LyrArc Article Gist
It is a moment in the Senate that Majority leader Schumer says will be remembered years from now. A total of 65 Senators vote to support an aid bill for Ukraine, Israel, and humanitarian aid, all Democrats and 18 Republicans as a group led by Senator Mitch McConnell, the Minority Leader. The Republican Senators include Senator WIcker the senior member on the Armed Services Committee, military veterans, and centrists. Voicing strong support were Senator Tillis of North Carolina and Moran of Kansas on the Senate floor. Tillis said "there is a common conviction that if we fail on this vote, if we don't support Ukraine, this is not bluster, not hyperbole- bad things will happen." Tillis also said that after the earlier vote to break a filibuster by Republican colleagues -"I slept like a baby last night." The list includes senior Republican leaders Cronyn of Texas, both senators from Iowa including Grassley, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Mullin of Oklahoma, Rounds of South Dakota, Thune of South Dakota, Todd Young of Indiana. In terms of age and experience this may be the most senior and most experienced Republican leaders from over half of the traditionally Republican states. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Senator Thune's election as the majority leader acts as continuity for the work of Mitch McConnell, the longest serving Majority Leader, who was Leader for 18 years. Cornyn of Texas raised $400 million for Republicans. Rick Scott is likely to throw his support to Thune of South Dakota, and DJT  asks for concessions from Thune and Mitchell on getting his nominees approved.