January 31, 2018

Seth Meyers - Devin Nunes' Yearbook Photo, Elon Musk's Flamethrower - Monologue - 1/29/18

January 30, 2018

'Consistently cheaper' clean energy set to connect world's poor: power experts

ABU DHABI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - With the costs of creating electricity from solar power and wind continuing to fall, electricity from renewable energy will soon be “consistently cheaper” than electricity from fossil fuels, according to the head of the world’s renewable energy agency.

By 2020, most wind and solar power technology now being commercially used will be priced in the same range as fossil fuels, “with most at the lower end or even undercutting fossil fuels”, said Adnan Amin, the director general of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

That is particularly good news for communities in parts of Africa, Asia and other parts of the world that remain unconnected to power grids and without access to modern energy, experts said.

Cheaper prices for improved technology, combined with new financial arrangements to help put it in place, should lead to more unconnected communities getting access to clean power, according to energy access body Power for All.

“The falling cost of solar and an expected decline in (costs of renewable energy) storage are providing a major boost to delivering electricity and related services to communities without access to energy,” William Brent, a spokesman for the organization, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“But it’s not just a question of solar technology, which has achieved full commercial viability and is now cheaper than coal in many countries. Many companies are also pioneering delivery methods using innovative business and financial models, as well as through advances in super-efficient appliances,” he added.


Much more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-renewables-finance-poor/consistently-cheaper-clean-energy-set-to-connect-worlds-poor-power-experts-idUSKBN1FF22T

January 30, 2018

More than 50,000 American bridges are falling apart

More than 50,000 bridges across the U.S. are falling apart and endangering drivers, according to a new report.

NBC News found cases from Florida, Georgia, Michigan and other states where pieces of crumbling bridges broke off and fell to the roadway, sometimes hitting vehicles.

In Utah, driver Mike Peterson escaped serious injury when a chunk of a bridge smashed through his windshield as he drove underneath.

"Another six to eight inches, you might not be talking to me today," said Peterson.

Using government data, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association compiled a report showing that 54,259 American bridges are "structurally deficient."


More (includes video): https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/more-50-000-american-bridges-are-falling-apart-n842356



The underside of a bridge in Washington, D.C. NBC News

January 30, 2018

Monday night slaughter Bernstein slams Trump & gang of GOP enablers for trying to shut down probe

‘Monday night slaughter’: Bernstein slams Trump and his ‘gang’ of GOP enablers for trying to shut down Russia probe

Veteran reporter Carl Bernstein of Watergate fame on Monday called the abrupt departure of former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe the “Monday night slaughter,” arguing Trump and his “enablers” in Congress are putting the U.S. at risk of a Constitutional crisis.

“We are seeing a breakdown and I think we may look back and call this the Monday night slaughter of the administration of justice and our institutions of justice in the United States,” Bernstein said. “A real slaughter by an obstructionist, irresponsible, partisan gang in the House of Representatives. It has put the interests of their party and the president of the United States and his personal fortunes above the national interest, and I think we’re going to look back on what happened today and tonight as a turning point.”

“Clearly, since he has become president, Donald Trump has done everything in his power including working with these enablers on Capitol Hill to make sure that this investigation of him, his family, his aides, his campaign, his transition does not come to fruition,” the reporter added. “And this was part and parcel of it tonight.”

Bernstein suggested if Trump “continues down this road, and if his enablers in Congress continue down this road,” the institutions designed to protect America “may fail us.”

“Donald Trump may get away with this,” Bernstein explained. “By ‘this’ I mean shutting down the legitimate investigation of the president of the United States.”

No more at link: https://www.rawstory.com/2018/01/monday-night-slaughter-bernstein-slams-trump-gang-gop-enablers-trying-shut-russia-probe/

January 30, 2018

Stephen Colbert - Monologue and Opening - 1/29/18

The State Of Our Union Is... Misspelled



In what might be a preview of his speech, tickets to Donald Trump's first State of the Union address feature a massive mistake.



Fox News Struggles To Cover Trump's Attempted Firing Of Mueller



All-around player Sean Hannity went on the offensive and defensive about breaking news that Trump tried to fire Robert Mueller. (In the same show.)



Stephen Lie-Checks Trump's Climate Change Claim



President Trump crammed an impressive amount of nonsense about climate change into a single run-on falsehood.



Stephen Goes Mano A Mano With 'Our Cartoon President'



Cartoon Donald Trump gives Stephen a free sample of tomorrow's Cartoon State of the Union.




Stephen Interviews Piers Morgan's Interview Of Donald Trump



Stephen sits down in front of a green screen for an exclusive interview with the President of the United States.

January 30, 2018

The Daily Show: Hillary Clinton Issues a Non-Apology for Shielding a Harasser

Hillary Clinton tweets out a lukewarm response to a report that she shielded a 2008 campaign adviser accused of sexual harassment.

January 30, 2018

Seth Meyers - Did Trump Try to Obstruct the Obstruction of Justice Investigation? A Closer Look

Seth takes a closer look at how Trump's administration was rocked by reports that he tried to fire Robert Mueller.

January 29, 2018

U.S. says planned Russian pipeline would threaten European energy security

WARSAW (Reuters) - The United States sees the planned Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany as a threat to Europe’s energy security, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Saturday.

Poland, Ukraine and Baltic states fear the pipeline would increase Europe’s dependence on Russian gas and provide the Kremlin with billions of dollars of additional revenue to finance a further military build-up on European Union’s borders.

“Like Poland, the United States opposes the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. We see it as undermining Europe’s overall energy security and stability,” Tillerson said at a joint news conference with the Polish foreign minister in Warsaw.

“Our opposition is driven by our mutual strategic interests,” he said.

The United States has already sanctioned Russian companies over Moscow’s involvement in the Ukraine crisis, and foreign companies investing in or helping Russian energy exploration.


More: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-nordstream-usa/u-s-says-planned-russian-pipeline-would-threaten-european-energy-security-idUSKBN1FG0CY

January 29, 2018

Manmade quakes force Dutch to face future without gas

ZEERIJP, NETHERLANDS — When Nienke Bastiaans fell in love with and bought a 17th-century thatched house in a rural Dutch village, there was one person who warned about possible earthquakes due to gas extraction.

"Nobody listened to him," she said.

Now, 20 years later, thousands of homes in the northeastern Groningen province are facing reinforcement or even demolition because of hundreds of small tremors caused by decades of gas extraction. The scope of the problem is forcing the Dutch government to confront the prospect of a future without locally produced gas and lucrative gas tax revenue years earlier than previously expected.

Bastiaans and her husband Tom Robinson just had the entire front wall of their home reinforced — paid for by the gas extraction company — and two chimneys replaced because of fears that another tremor could send them crashing through the roof.

The work was completed shortly before a shallow 3.4-magnitude earthquake on Jan. 8 directly under their village jolted the region and rekindled calls for the government to end gas extraction. The quake — the most powerful to hit the region in five years — triggered nearly 3,000 reports of property damage, including a long vertical crack in Zeerijp's historic church tower.

Thousands marched in Groningen on Jan. 19 to protest the gas extraction-caused earthquakes.


Much more: http://www.wral.com/manmade-quakes-force-dutch-to-face-future-without-gas/17295529/


More photos at link:

A crack in the wall of a farm in Hunzinge, northern Netherlands, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. More than 3,000 homes in Groningen province are facing reinforcement or even in some cases demolition because of a series of small tremors caused by decades of gas extraction and the Dutch government is being forced to confront the possibility of a future without locally produced gas years earlier than expected. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

January 28, 2018

Tanker disaster in East China Sea could be worlds worst oil spill in 35 years

Oil will continue to spread for months, potentially threatening Japan and South Korea.

An oil tanker carrying nearly a million barrels of ultra-light crude oil burned for days in the East China Sea before sinking on Jan. 14, killing all 32 crew members.

Now, the disaster threatens to become the worst oil spill in 35 years, according to a report Friday by Reuters — potentially devastating reefs and fishing grounds and polluting seafood from the region.

The Iranian tanker Sanchi crashed into the South Korean freight boat CF Crystal, which was carrying U.S. grain, on Jan. 6, according to The Washington Post. It burned for days afterward, releasing thick plumes of dark black smoke and frustrating international rescue efforts that included the U.S. Navy.

The ship was carrying 34 million gallons of ultra-light condensate — a form of oil that is extremely toxic, highly flammable, and difficult to detect, according to The Post.

“It’s not like crude, which does break down under natural microbial action,” Simon Boxall, of the the University of Southampton’s National Oceanography Centre, told the BBC. “[T]his stuff actually kills the microbes that break the oil down.”


Much more: https://thinkprogress.org/sanchi-oil-disaster-681fe92acfc6/



RESCUERS SPRAY FOAM TO EXTINGUISH FLAMES ON THE STRICKEN OIL TANKER SANCHI OFF THE COAST OF EAST CHINA'S SHANGHAI, JAN. 12, 2018. CREDIT: XINHUA VIA GETTY IMAGES


Rescuers recount harrowing tale on oil tanker Sanchi



A day before the Iranian oil tanker Sanchi exploded and sank, four Chinese rescuers risked their lives to board the deck amid roaring flames from over a million barrels of condensate on Jan. 13. They recovered two bodies and the ship's black box. CGTN spoke with the rescuers on their mission on Thursday, as they landed safely on the shore in Shanghai. The four rescuers spent a total of 26 minutes on board. It was the first and the last boarding by rescuers. Within 24 hours, the tanker exploded and sank, leaving behind a catastrophic oil spill, heartbreak for the families of the victims, and a story of one of the most courageous acts in the sea of flames.