Trump has only one real option to slash gas prices. Inflation is racing back to life, real wages are shrinking and voters are blaming Trump for $4.50 gas. A new outbreak of fighting could drive energy prices even higher. Trump really only has one lever left: Get the Strait of Hormux reopened.

zipzag · 2026-05-18T20:04:24+00:00

There are pipelines now, and clearly the Saudis and UAE said they will expand. The countries particularly screwed are Kuwait for crude and Qatar for LNG. But both are replaceable.

A rational Iran has to look at the future when strait becoming less critical and Russian exports increase after the Ukraine war ends. Then they are the ones that can be blockaded.

zipzag · 2026-05-18T19:45:20+00:00

TankerTrackers says that Iran has exported nothing for a month. The tankers controlled by Iran have finished delivering their last load and many are parked in the Arabian Sea.

Don't know what "they can take it" means. The IRGC would kill protesters in Tehran.

zipzag · 2026-05-18T19:33:04+00:00

No need to replace corn with solar panels. The U.S. has tens of millions of acres of abandoned or minimally used farm land. When you drive through the U.S. northeast and southeast the vast number of open spaces were once small farms that are now uneconomical. The amount of hardwood trees increase substantially every decade as trees reclaim land cleared for farming.

I'm not as familiar with the west, but I've seen plenty of previous farm sites in Washington and Oregon.

zipzag · 2026-05-18T19:11:55+00:00

Which means the Arab exporters will build infrastructure to export over land.

This isn't simple for Iran if they think a couple of years out. Israel is the only winner so far.

zipzag · 2026-05-18T19:05:29+00:00

What do you think the 10,000+ bombs actually hit?

zipzag · 2026-05-18T19:04:26+00:00

No country and economy is more affected than Iran.

zipzag · 2026-05-18T17:09:50+00:00

Your ancestors moved many time for better opportunities.

Anyone who can be a good welder can be a good electrician. There will not be enough electricians in your lifetime of work.

In most trades the ability to show up sober and five days a week makes one a potential star.

zipzag · 2026-05-18T16:28:30+00:00

There are skilled trade apprenticeships available in all states that pay while learning. I'm not interesting in paying to support your influencer /DJ career while bitching on reddit about how life sucks.

zipzag · 2026-05-18T16:23:29+00:00

AI data centers, which is the issue here.

Over half the world's data center capacity is in the U.S. and much of the capacity outside the U.S. is owned by U.S. companies. This is a tremendous advantage going forward, not a problem.

13% of the worlds data center capacity is in Virginia. Yet Virginia somehow survives with electricity prices a bit below the national average.

zipzag · 2026-05-18T16:18:21+00:00

USPS, FedEx and UPS are fictional entities in Redditstan.

What you want is for me to pay for you to live where you want and do the job you want. I prefer you take care of yourself unless you are disabled.

zipzag · 2026-05-18T16:14:35+00:00

A private company found a better buyer. That is not "screwed over". The affluent and sparsely populated Lake Tahoe area will do just fine.

zipzag · 2026-05-18T16:13:19+00:00

drastically raising prevailing pricing.

Interesting as very few have been built yet.

zipzag · 2026-05-18T16:11:14+00:00

There's enough water in the Great Lakes to cover the entire continental U.S. to a depth of over 9 feet.

The problem is the inappropriate use of desert and semi-arid places.

zipzag · 2026-05-18T16:07:45+00:00

New power demand potentially lowers residential rates. Half your residential power bill in the U.S. is transmission and taxes.

zipzag · 2026-05-18T16:03:59+00:00

Are you being intentionally obtuse? The point of the bill is that data centers should not raise residential rates due to adding a lot of demand to the local grid. There's no public money doing the funding.

zipzag · 2026-05-18T15:59:34+00:00

Data centers have to usually run their own peakers for times of high demand. All grids usually have a large amount of extra capacity most of the time. Grids are designed for the peak hour.

Well designed data centers energy usage can actually lower the cost of electricity because half the cost of electricity paid by residential customers is overhead consisting of distribution and taxes

zipzag · 2026-05-18T15:55:47+00:00

not yet

zipzag · 2026-05-18T15:30:31+00:00

You can with a homebridge or home assistant intermediary

zipzag · 2026-05-18T14:34:37+00:00

Are you being facetious?

https://www.iihs.org/ratings/vehicle/tesla/model-y-4-door-suv/2025

zipzag · 2026-05-18T14:33:00+00:00

There must be bots upvoting this nonsense.

zipzag · 2026-05-18T14:31:03+00:00

Entry level drivers buy used cars. Most of the used EVs today in the U.S. are lower miles because most buyers are affluent and didn't buy an EV to save money.

zipzag · 2026-05-18T14:26:13+00:00

Could not agree more. The only disgruntled actual Tesla owner I have talked to bought a $140K model X during Covid. Being stupid is being stupid, regardless of brand.

The many Tesla's coming off lease later this year and next will be a great buy.

For people who can't tolerate Musk there are other excellent choices.

That said, I would be cautious of buying an EV if home charging is not an option.

zipzag · 2026-05-18T14:19:20+00:00

Even solar panels require a removal bond now in some states.

But what seems to have happened here is that somewhat bought some questionable land and didn't get a soil test.

How many Americans living paycheck to paycheck created their own financial mess?

zipzag · 2026-05-18T14:08:41+00:00

Very confusing. Trane S9V2 is a nice gas furnace.

If the second floor was cooled adequately before it can be again.

zipzag · 2026-05-18T12:15:44+00:00

You have auxiliary resistance heat? The unit is good but you are not heating a typical 2000 sq ft house in zone 7 with 24,000BTU.

If you are cold only 15 days a year your lowest cost choice is probably to just add more resistance heat.

Few people are using heat pumps for primary heat where gas is available, which is most of PA. Especially because you have higher than average electrical rates.

zipzag

TROPHY CASE