Saturday, August 04, 2012
The worst insults the best
Commissar Stamberg, in some kind of editorial, has insulted the memory of Norman Borlaug.
One of the worst humans dares to insult THE BEST human.
Listen up, Commissar Stamberg:
(1) Borlaug's "Green Revolution" had nothing to do with electric grids. It was all about improving seeds and farming methods.
(2) The problem with cascading grid failures is not TOO MUCH technology. It's STUPID technology. The push to connect everything together in one grid was not driven by technology. It was driven by greed. Enron. Ken Lay. Goldman Sachs. The grid is all in one piece so Enron or Goldman or the Indian equivalent can securitize electric flow; so all electricity can be traded as fungible abstractions on a single market.
(3) Good technology always requires minimal connection. We had it right in the 1950's. Each city or rural area had a separate system, large enough to make a profit but not large enough for New York traders to commoditize. If Spokane's system failed, it had exactly zero effect on Seattle's system, because there were NO FUCKING WIRES connecting the two systems. ¶ 7:28 AM
One of the worst humans dares to insult THE BEST human.
Listen up, Commissar Stamberg:
(1) Borlaug's "Green Revolution" had nothing to do with electric grids. It was all about improving seeds and farming methods.
(2) The problem with cascading grid failures is not TOO MUCH technology. It's STUPID technology. The push to connect everything together in one grid was not driven by technology. It was driven by greed. Enron. Ken Lay. Goldman Sachs. The grid is all in one piece so Enron or Goldman or the Indian equivalent can securitize electric flow; so all electricity can be traded as fungible abstractions on a single market.
(3) Good technology always requires minimal connection. We had it right in the 1950's. Each city or rural area had a separate system, large enough to make a profit but not large enough for New York traders to commoditize. If Spokane's system failed, it had exactly zero effect on Seattle's system, because there were NO FUCKING WIRES connecting the two systems. ¶ 7:28 AM
