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Britain’s grid came seconds from collapse. France sent 2 GW to keep the lights on

  Watts Up With That @wattsupwiththat 

𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿, 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗴 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿

Britain's power grid hit its lowest frequency of the year at 49.656Hz, prompting a desperate call to France for emergency electricity.

 Spare capacity had dwindled to just 80MW in the south as demand soared during the heatwave.

 Engineers phoned their French counterparts, who sent nearly 2GW of power within minutes.

 Experts warn the system is dangerously exposed, with some alleging a cover-up.

 https://x.com/wattsupwiththat/status/2083900782953279639

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The dirty secret behind the EV revolution

 I came across a post from someone who spent 30 years in the auto industry, and it got me thinking. The public conversation about EVs almost always starts at the dealership. It almost never starts at the mine.

One claim that caught my attention was this.

Some life cycle estimates suggest an EV doesn’t offset the extra carbon produced during battery manufacturing until roughly 80,000 miles of driving, although that number varies depending on the vehicle, battery chemistry, and how the electricity is generated.

That matters because building the battery is incredibly energy intensive.

Lithium has to be mined.

Nickel has to be mined.

Copper has to be mined.

Cobalt has to be mined.

Then those materials are refined, transported around the world, and turned into battery cells using enormous amounts of electricity.

In many countries, that electricity still comes from coal and natural gas.

Then there is the human cost.

Around 70% of the world’s cobalt production comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Investigations over the past decade have documented artisanal mines where children work by hand under dangerous conditions. Estimates vary, but reports have described tens of thousands of children involved in cobalt mining.

Nearly every major battery manufacturer and automaker has been forced to answer questions about its supply chain.

Most companies now promise audits and responsible sourcing.

The problem is tracing every shipment through thousands of small mines is incredibly difficult.

 Then comes another problem almost nobody talks about.

What happens after the battery dies?

An EV battery is not something you throw into the trash.

It contains valuable materials.

It also contains hazardous materials.

Recycling technology is improving.

New recycling plants are being built.

But today’s recycling capacity is still far below the number of batteries expected to reach the end of their lives over the next decade.

Some batteries will get a second life in energy storage.

Others will be recycled.

Some will inevitably end up sitting in storage while governments and companies figure out who pays for collection, transport and processing.

None of this means EVs are a fraud.

It does mean the story is incomplete.

The advertisement shows the car quietly driving down the road.

It doesn’t show the open pit mine.

It doesn’t show the refinery.

It doesn’t show the diesel equipment.

It doesn’t show the coal fired power plant making battery materials.

It doesn’t show the children digging cobalt by hand.

It doesn’t show the billions that will eventually have to be spent recycling millions of batteries.

The world isn’t replacing one perfect system with another.

It’s replacing one set of environmental costs with a different one.

The more EVs we build, the harder it becomes to pretend those costs don’t exist.

 https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/the-dirty-secret-behind-the-ev-revolution/

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 Spokane Is On Fire! Hundreds Of Homes Have Burned Down As Massive Wildfires Rage All Over The Western U.S.

   

According to the latest update, approximately 7,500 acres have burned, more than 600 structures have been destroyed, and all three fires are 0% contained…

Several fires exploded in size across Spokane County on Saturday afternoon.

A combination of three fires has burned about 7,500 acres, and all three are still 0% contained. California Interagency Incident Management Team 7 is assuming command of the Spokane Area Fires, which consist of the Autumn Lane Fire, Old Trails Fire and Fairview Fire.

Fire authorities confirmed to KREM 2 that over 600 structures have been destroyed by the fires.

There was a mad scramble to evacuate on Saturday evening, and as a result there were huge traffic jams throughout the city.

In some cases, those stuck in the traffic jams could literally see giant flames approaching in their rear view mirrors.

Can you imagine being in that position?

There were many that left with only the clothes on their backs.

That is how fast this happened.

And when some of them finally return home, they will discover that they have lost everything.

Of the 600 structures that have burned down, authorities cannot yet tell us how many of them were homes…

Cossel said they couldn’t say how many of the structures burned were homes at this time. He added that it could take up to a week for crews to arrive and assess the exact number of how many homes lost.

The California Interagency Incident Management Team 7 said the Spokane Area Fires is the No.1 priority in the nation.

Of course we know that many of the structures that burned down were homes, because we have seen footage of entire neighborhoods burning on the news…

 

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/spokane-is-on-fire-hundreds-of-homes-have-burned-down-as-massive-wildfires-rage-all-over-the-western-u-s/

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GameStop Shares Plunge As $1.4 Billion Debt-For-Equity Swap Threatens Dilution

"These activities could increase or decrease the market price of the Common Stock or the Notes, the effect of which may be material."

 https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/gamestop-shares-plunge-14-billion-debt-equity-swap-threatens-dilution

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'You're Like A Parrot': RFK Jr. Destroys Dana Bash Over Fauci's COVID Lies

"Now we know that Anthony Fauci, who was the ‘expert,’ was lying about everything, about masks, about social distancing, about natural immunity, about the transmission from the vaccine, about the source of COVID. He was lying..."

 https://www.zerohedge.com/political/youre-parrot-rfk-jr-destroys-dana-bash-over-faucis-covid-lies

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 India To Climate Cartel: Count Us Out

The notion that India should shackle its economy by adhering to restrictive climate policies, while its people still grapple with energy deficits, is illogical and morally indefensible.

 https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/india-climate-cartel-count-us-out

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Parents Who Starved Their 75-Day-Old Baby to Death Will Get No Jail Time After Guilty Plea – Guess Who the Judge Is

 I have no words…

 Democrat NY Judge James F. Bargnesi just SPARED a couple jail time after they pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter for starving their 2-month-old baby to death

 NO JAIL. For causing the death of a baby.

 These activist judges are a danger to our country

 

 https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/parents-starved-75-day-old-baby-death-will/

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 Portland’s Baby-Faced Head Coach Joins Fellow WNBA Coaches Refusing to Condemn Men in Women’s Sports: “I’m Supportive of Everyone”

 https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/watch-portland-fire-head-coach-joins-fellow-wnba/

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USDA Agribusiness Integration With Israel Subsidizes Settler Expansionism

 Three years into the deliberate starvation of Gaza, the US and Israel have expanded and entrenched their longstanding agricultural cooperation through the US-Israeli Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund (BARD-ISUS). Despite global allegations of genocide against Palestine, weaponizing hunger and even of food aid itself, BARD-ISUS just approved $13.2M US for research and development of Israeli agritech on Palestinian lands.

 https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/usda-subsidizes-israeli-settlers

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 10 more US refueling planes to join 30 already stationed in Israel

 The US military is expected to deploy about 10 additional aerial refuelling aircraft to Israel in the coming days, Israeli media has reported.

 https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/10-more-us-refuelling-planes-join-30-already-stationed-israel

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UK charges over 1,500 people over signs opposing Israel's genocide of Palestinians in Gaza

 British authorities listed the cases of 1,579 people at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 30 July, holding cardboard signs opposing Israel's genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, according to the campaign group Defend Our Juries.

The group said the hearing had been pushed back to October, but that hundreds of defendants were never told, leaving them unsure whether they were required to appear, pointing to the confusion as evidence of a crisis the courts cannot absorb.

One court notice seen by Middle East Eye (MEE) told the recipient they must attend on 30 July, then instructed them in the same letter not to come to court.

Defendants who arrived were handed a further letter addressed to whomever it may concern, adjourning all cases to 26 October.

The chaos came on the same day the Supreme Court ruled that Palestine Action can challenge its proscription.

 https://thecradle.co/articles-id/39112

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 Iran denies holding talks with US as Donald Trump touts imminent deal

 Iran on Monday rejected President Donald Trump's assertion that negotiations with Washington were underway, insisting it was holding only bilateral talks with Oman over a temporary shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz as regional diplomacy gathered pace.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran had no plans to send or receive delegations from the United States, contradicting Trump's claim that negotiations would begin on Monday following his decision to halt a planned military strike on Iran.

"So long as the United States continues to violate its commitments, the situation in the Strait of Hormuz will not change," Baghaei told his weekly press conference.

 https://www.newarab.com/news/iran-denies-holding-talks-us-trump-touts-imminent-deal

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“THE POLICE WANT IT, THEREFORE WE SAY NO.”

  

 Former Madison Mayor Paul Soglin’s perspective on why Madison police don’t have body cameras (Soglin was mayor until 2019):

 

 

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/the-police-want-it-therefore-we-say-no/

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