this post was submitted on 25 Jan 2025
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Ye Power Trippin' Bastards

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This is a community in the spirit of "Am I The Asshole" where people can post their own bans from lemmy or reddit or whatever and get some feedback from others whether the ban was justified or not.

Sometimes one just wants to be able to challenge the arguments some mod made and this could be the place for that.


Posting Guidelines

All posts should follow this basic structure:

  1. Which mods/admins were being Power Tripping Bastards?
  2. What sanction did they impose (e.g. community ban, instance ban, removed comment)?
  3. Provide a screenshot of the relevant modlog entry (don’t de-obfuscate mod names).
  4. Provide a screenshot and explanation of the cause of the sanction (e.g. the post/comment that was removed, or got you banned).
  5. Explain why you think its unfair and how you would like the situation to be remedied.

Rules


Expect to receive feedback about your posts, they might even be negative.

Make sure you follow this instance's code of conduct. In other words we won't allow bellyaching about being sanctioned for hate speech or bigotry.

YTPB matrix channel: For real-time discussions about bastards or to appeal mod actions in YPTB itself.


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[–] Cypher 34 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

https://slrpnk.net/post/17629839

"weasel" isn't an opinion there either, weasel words has a very specific meaning when it comes to reporting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weasel_word

"up to" are exactly what is meant by weasel words, introducing enough ambiguity to make the claim entirely untrustworthy.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (4 children)

Yeah. The best possible interpretation is that in 85% of the days measured (98/116), power was covered for 42% of the day (10/24), for an end result of 35% of power needs being covered over the time measured ((98/116)×(10/24)).

But that is interpreting "up to" as meaning it was consistently hitting 10 hours each of those 98 days, which is definitively not what "up to" means. So we'll use 35% as our upper bound, being the most charitable interpretation.

So if we assume that the 18 days not covered had 0 hours of coverage (only sane way they can't be counted when using the term "up to"), and make a complete assumption backed by nothing that each day counted as covered had 1 hour minimum of power needs met, then we can establish the lower bound.

Worst case interpretation then becomes one day at 10 hours plus 97 days at one hour. (((1/116)×(10/24))+((97/116)×(1/24)))

So lower bound of 4% coverage using the least charitable sane interpretation.

So that statistic as written comes out somewhere between 4% and 35% of total energy needs met entirely by renewables over that 116 day period.

Quite a different feel to that than 100% of the energy needs were met some of the time.


Honestly, even 10% of the total needs met would be impressive, and for the sake of continued human existence we need to keep investing in renewables regardless.

But misleading people shouldn't be acceptable just because it's for a cause we favor.

[–] Cypher 7 points 1 week ago

I really appreciate you providing numbers on this, I was hesitant to set upper and lower bounds and get called out for making assumptions (which it isn’t!).

As anyone can see from your comment the ambiguity in the articles claims are extremely unhelpful.

All this only makes being banned for ‘arguing against facts’ even sadder.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

From the linked study's abstract:

This paper uses data from the world's 5th-largest economy to show no blackouts occurred when wind-water-solar electricity supply exceeded 100 % of demand on California's main grid for a record 98 of 116 days from late winter to early summer, 2024, for an average (maximum) of 4.84 (10.1) hours/day. Compared with the same period in 2023, solar, wind, and battery outputs in 2024 increased 31 % 8 %, and 105 %, respectively, dropping fossil gas use by an estimated 40 %. Batteries, which shifted excess solar to night, supplied up to ∼12 % of nighttime demand.

(Admittedly, it was 3 clicks away. Here's a direct link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0960148124023309 )

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Getting off topic. Please stay on topic of whether the mod action was deserved rather than discussing the article itself

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

you're right, but how can they discuss the article in the actual post under threat of bans for clarifying what is misleading in it 🤷 it has become a bit paradox

[–] [email protected] -3 points 1 week ago

35% of power needs being covered over the time measured ((98/116)×(10/24)).

can be higher. Daytime hours have higher demand, and stat can mean that demand was covered for x hours, instead of production equal to 10/24th of demand.

So if we assume that the 18 days not covered had 0 hours of coverage

unlikely. But a reason the spring period is being highlighted is that there is no heating or cooling demand. There is more room for improvement for sure.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Dude what the FUCK, definitely PTB

I actually posted this same article, then after, it got crossposted to [email protected]:

https://ponder.cat/post/1405686

I fully support your counterpoint. That's the whole point of having a comments section. A comments section where you're only allowed to agree with things OP and the mods and admins and the article author think are the right way to look at it, is super weird and mostly useless. I posted the article because I do think it's a significant milestone and a lot more power generation than I would have expected, but you have a perfectly valid point about the weasel-y-ness of how it's being presented.

For anyone who takes seriously the assertion that OP is a troll, I would ask you to take a look at these comments:

https://lemmy.world/comment/14659486

https://slrpnk.net/comment/13059408

They take part in controversial topics, but I don't really see any bad faith of any kind. If they are a troll, they are playing the marathon long game with it.

[–] Cypher 13 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Its is always nice to see a well reasoned response! I agree it's a good thing that renewables are playing an increasingly important role in energy grids, but misrepresentation of that role helps no one.

A comments section where you’re only allowed to agree with things OP and the mods and admins and the article author think are the right way to look at it, is super weird and mostly useless.

It really doesn't help when the poster and the mod are one and the same. Too many people take dissenting opinions as a personal attack.

You are correct I do not shy away from sharing my opinions regardless of how controversial they may be in some communities, and I think that's mostly healthy for online discourse.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 week ago (2 children)

It really doesn’t help when the poster and the mod are one and the same. Too many people take dissenting opinions as a personal attack.

Jesus Christ. That shouldn't be allowed, honestly. If someone doesn't have the maturity to handle someone telling them they are wrong in the comments section, I think they should literally be required to go and fetch a separate person to get a distinct opinion on it and do the moderation for them and not be allowed to touch the buttons.

Non-whites have never been police, never talked to police, never voted for the Evil Party and shouldn’t be included at all in advice to not be evil, misguided or duped.

Note: 16% of black voters and 43% of latino voters in the U.S. voted for Trump.

If you need a /s at the end of that comment to get the sarcasm you are really really bad at reading context cues.

I think I am, yeah. Edited the original reply now to turn it into a sidenote :D

Hahah fair enough

(Comments from OP are in bold.)

If there's one thing I have very rarely seen trolls do, it's clarify a misunderstanding and then laugh it off once everyone is on the same page again. Honestly, I also thought your sarcasm was a little hard to detect, just because there are some crazy opinions on the internet. But in retrospect it's clearly sarcasm, and you're clearly approaching the conversation productively and making a salient point through the sarcasm. Actually, your exact point was one reason I made a whole separate post of my own about interacting with the police, instead of just reposting that fairly-good-with-some-caveats advice. The comment about white people left a bad taste in my mouth as well.

[–] Cypher 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Woops I somehow replied to the wrong comment earlier!

Unfortunately while communities are small and content is slow mods are somewhat forced to be the primary posters in their communities, but clearly some people just aren't mature enough, and here we are in YPTB!

Funnily enough I had a disagreement recently with a mod of YPTB in that same comment section but their response was somewhat measured, though I still disagree with them, so didn't earn a post here.

I also thought your sarcasm was a little hard to detect

Hmm maybe I was a bit harsh in my initial response, but prior to the other posters edit his reply was also fairly strong.

The comment about white people left a bad taste in my mouth as well.

Glad I'm not the only one.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 week ago

PTB.

What you're saying is accurate and relevant; you are clearly not trolling, contrariwise to the claim in the modlog. Your tone isn't even impolite, it's simply dry. And it's geared towards the article, not towards other users.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I remember seeing that post, this is an absurd and harmful reaction by the mods to misinformation being called out. Shame on them.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 week ago

I feel like this community is just a fact backed list of where to not subscribe to.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I mean, that's on you for using bad words like weasel! /s

[–] Cypher 9 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I guess weasel is a dirty word when keeping company with snakes ;)

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago
[–] lemonmelon 7 points 1 week ago

PTB - one of the most blatant examples I've seen in a while.

[–] Evotech 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Lmao, I made a comment much in the same line of thought just now, hopefully not banned.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago

PTB. At most this should have been a removal (like if they assumed you were trolling without looking into all the details) which may have simply been a CLM situation.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I think that the population of Lemmy is 90% teenagers. Short on brains long on emotions. Shamelessly so. Supported by a community of the same.

You gotta be careful here. They don't care if they are wrong or irrational or even mean. Talking to them will waste your time and energy and needlessly upset you.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The article is very upfront about those details - that quote is right below the headline.

At no point does it claim or imply that renewables are ready to provide 100% of the state's energy. It clearly explains that this is a new record, never saying more than that.

Your tone is needlessly aggressive and you're accusing the article of misrepresenting something it never tried to represent in the first place.

If you're honestly not trolling, your post looks unfortunately similar to trolling.

[–] Cypher 14 points 1 week ago

I’m accusing the article of using weasel words to misrepresent the data, which after having a chance to read the study I can confirm beyond a doubt.

This paper uses data from the world's 5th-largest economy to show no blackouts occurred when wind-water-solar electricity supply exceeded 100 % of demand on California's main grid for a record 98 of 116 days from late winter to early summer, 2024, for an average (maximum) of 4.84 (10.1) hours/day.

So an average of 4.84 hours/day of 100% power requirements were met by renewables. That is not the story the author is telling.

Going with the maximum and representing that as occurring for 98/116 days as the author did is straight up misleading for anyone not paying attention to those weasel words.

It would have taken the author zero effort to include the average. It’s right there in the source paper.