Frozen (but Thawing) Wrangle

My electricity came on about 15-20 minutes ago, after 22 hours. It's 43 degrees inside my house (and up to 44 already). #houstonfreeze #texaspoweroutage #HouNews

— Forever in debt to your priceless advice. (@PDiddie) February 16, 2021

This obviously is a monumental screw-up by the state of Texas, ERCOT, and the companies responsible for power generation in Texas. Why was demand not better anticipated? How are generating plants rated for cold weather production? The list of questions goes on and on. There is plenty of blame to go around, as it seems likely that people will lose their lives due to cold, or medical needs for electricity.

Be wary of those quick to scapegoat wind turbines or any single government official or political sides for this failure. This is a failure of the whole government and a lack of sensible regulation of electricity generators. We need to learn from this mistake so that it is not repeated. After our teeth stop chattering, of course.

Texas power outages: How the largest energy-producing state in the US failed in freezing temperatures https://t.co/MJJydN01E9

— KVUE News (@KVUE) February 16, 2021

Lots more, including the usual, to come today (as long as the juice stays on).

Sunday "Case Dismissed" Funnies

Nick Anderson, who founded Counterpoint, was interviewed by Houstonia Magazine about his cartooning career post-newspapers: "(A)rtists from all political leanings are providing takes on today’s biggest headlines as contributors. Of the 18 satirists, ten -- like Anderson -- saw their jobs cut. It’s too soon to know if Counterpoint will hit it big (at the moment it has more than 170,000 subscribers), but if it does this could be a way to ensure that his art form doesn’t just die out."

Please support their work if you possibly can.