Open Thread

Very sorry to hear that Benson. I always enjoy your informed and well reasoned insights. And I have learnt a lot about NYC from you.
You’re a great guy and hope to see you again both on here and in real life.

Yes, wind also is unreliable and needs subsidies. The TX power grid nearly crashed one day last year because the wind was not blowing enough! Various US states have set unrealistic targets for the % of generation that they want to come from renewables.
But as investments you have to look at 1) whether governments are changing subsidy levels and 2) cost of conventional energy sources (higher cost oil / nat gas is positive for alternative fuels because it closes the cost gap somewhat).

Nuclear is the most efficient marginal cost, coal is most efficient full cycle (including the cost of building the plant). But very few players are building coal plants now because future carbon emissions regulation is so uncertain.

Hey What;

I’m taking a long vacation from Brownstoner, both posting and lurking (of course,there’s no way to prove the latter point, but take my word on it).

Before I do,I have something to say to you: you are right about Mr. B. I find it interesting that the three men in this on-line community who were born in Brooklyn (you, me and East NY’er) see this guy for what he is.

I want to tell you something: I was born in a cold-water flat right on the edge of the Red Hook waterfront. My parents were both destitute, as they were both products of broken immigrant homes. After that shack burned down, we were placed in the Red hook Projects. My father never gave in to the temptations of the Red Hook waterfront: the loan sharking, the racketeering,etc. He made an honest living to pull us up, and I never forget it. I know what it means to have to pull yourself up by your bootstraps. When I was 10, I was helping my father on some contracting work he was doing on the side,and he suddenly told me: “You are a smart boy, but I have no money for school. You have to earn your way”, which is exactly what I did: scholarships to high school,college and then grad school (and I am proud to say, not just any grad school, but Standford Engineering.

I tell you this because I have utmost respect for ANYONE who tries to accomplish something in this life,and furthermore, I realize that even the greatest baseball players (to use an example) only bat an average of 0.330, meaning that 2 out of 3 times they don’t make it to first base.

As you can well sense, here we have a guy who is either a trust-fund brat or made his money easily in some bubble. As such, as only such a person can do, he can easily mock and dismiss the works of others. Architects? Pieces of shit. Developers? Greedy. People who live in Fedder homes? “Ignorant” (to use his exact words). Pastors who have to struggle with a 60-person congregation and must make a hard decision what to do about a decripit old building? Why, he can breezily state from his keyboard that he is a philistine, and his acolytes pile on by calling the guy “venal” and “greedy”. A guy on Ocean Ave who tried to legally sell his home to a developer? Why Mr. B. laughs at his loss in value when the home is landmarked, and invites everyone else to do so (remember that one What)?
A developer who goes belly-up? Mr. B also invites derision.

It irks me to no end to see a brat like this guy put down the efforts of others without a moment’s thought. Disgusting. I’ll tell you this. If a guy like Mr. B. tried some of these stunts in the old days of Brooklyn, he would have received some “attitude adjustments” in a bar.

So,in conclusion, What, I’ll once again say that you were right,and you’ve got his number. As you said, we’ve had our differences, but I give you mucho credit on that one.

Good-bye to all. I need a vacation from the negativity of this site. It speaks VOLUMES about the state of this site that the OT gets the most hits. Most of you can ignore the negativity that permeates the editorial side of this site, but I can’t, at least right now. I need a summer vacation, and maybe I’ll be back then. I’ll miss the OT and bantering about with you. The OT and the get-togethers are great: people of different backgrounds forming a community.

cobblehiller, no worries! it was probably my fault. once i decide i’m done, i tear outta da joint. 🙂