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osmw1 · 5 years ago

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Crowbar Nurse Chapter 6 — What Gives an Engineer Superhuman Strength?

—Why did my body feel so nimble?

Just exactly how did my body change…?

As I ran at the group of zombies, I questioned how impossibly agile I was, considering I had just finished working overtime.

It’s almost like I’m actually Sera Harvey.

I wasn’t able to leap over buildings or anything crazy like that, but it’s not like Sera was able to do so in the game either. Plus, the controls in DMC games are typical of most horror games in that the characters walk quite sluggishly. I suppose it’s more frightening this way. Being able to run like this is more than good enough for me. I prepared myself for the worst as I headed straight at the enemies. I knew this was already an uphill battle.

There’s only one way out… we’re going to do it and do it well! First, I’ve got to get the Tank to fire…!

The Tank fired a high-explosive shell as soon as I got within range. The shell traveled many times over the speed of sound and was heading directly at me. … however, the projectile impacted and detonated quite a distance away from where I was.

Perfect… it’s just like how it works in game!

With the Tank being a zombie, its slow lumbering movement did not help it track its target. The Tank is almost guaranteed to never accurately land its first shot. And muck like a real Tank, it would be unpleasant for anything standing immediately next to the gun, to say the least. The muzzle blast went straight into the surrounding zombies and they were all destroyed… the Minotaur took a huge hit as well. Everything is going just as I planned, save for one thing.

Augh! Don’t tell me I got caught too…!

A sharp pain shot through my body. I collapsed on the spot as the pain torn through me from the inside out. Before I had collapsed, the tank zombie fired another few shots… but I wouldn’t still be here if I had been hit by it. The situation was taking a turn for the worse.

“Gah… ugh…!”

Breathing was a lot harder than I remembered. … something must have happened to my lungs. My diaphragm and other muscles were functioning as they should, but I couldn’t breathe very well. The shockwave must have punctured my lungs.

I-I can’t move… crap. I can’t fight like this!

I thought the only tactic was to get the enemies to kill themselves, and honestly, that part worked alright… but I didn’t expect to receive this much damage either.

In the game, the blast radius is about 10 meters, but I’ve heard it’s much smaller compared to real life. Maybe I had misjudged my distance. I sure hope I didn’t receive a real Tank’s gun blast…

“Sera!”

Kiryū rushed over in fear. The Tank is still alive. It was dangerous for him to come over here… but I’m sure he knew that already. Just as I realized he had tossed me some recovery items, he turned to face the Tank with his crowbar.

Oh, that’s not a good idea. You can’t take down a Tank with a crowbar…

The pain seared through me again, leaving me unable to speak. I writhed in pain as the blood-soaked Kiryū came back with his blood-stained crowbar.

“Good thing it was pretty weak already… hey, use the healing items already! What, are you feeling too weak to use it yourself? Jeez… you okay? Do you recognize me?”

I faintly nodded at his question.

“Aw, jeez… I haven’t used any healing items in this game before, so I don’t quite know how to use ‘em… how about this bottle? Should I just sprinkle it over your body?”

I shook my head. That bottle… or rather, that vial in his hand has a rubber cap over the end of it. It’s so that you can’t open it by hand. You need a syringe to utilize it. For some reason, the protagonist spawns with a syringe—I did not. There’s a hospital section afterwards, so maybe I’ve gotta get one there.

“Hmm, how about these herbs then? What do I do with them? Can I just cram it in your mouth?” “…”

…

… hmm?

Umm, maybe?

I’ve never seen it being used in game before. In the game, you open the menu, select Items, select Medicinal Herbs, then select Yes when it asks Do you want to use this item?. Since it’s never shown how the protagonist uses the herb… I don’t have the slightest idea what to do with it. I’m not sure what Kiryū thought when he saw my expression, but he stuffed the whole plant in my mouth.

“Mm… ugh…”

A handsome youth ramming a handful of lawn clippings into a sweet, young girl’s mouth… this must’ve looked much worse than it actually was. Would this really heal my internal trauma?! Almost as if answering the question… a miracle occurred.

“Ugh…?!”

A refreshing tingling sensation rushed through my body as if I had been immersed in menthol. All the pain and breathing problems affecting me had disappeared instantaneously.

“… how does this world work…”

I spat the ball of herb out from my mouth.

“Those medicinal herbs worked as quickly as sublingual tablets…” “Let me know once you figure this world out…”

He heaved a sigh as I sat up from the ground. Kiryū, still sitting there, was dripping with blood… but none of it seemed to be his own—all of it was just splattered from the enemies.

“You took down the Minotaur and Tank without so much a scratch… that’s incredible, Kiryū.” “All I did was hit and run. You had weakened the Tank already and the Minotaur smoked itself with the gas turbine exhaust.”

He says it had gone so smoothly only because I charged in with all my courage.

“No, but still, you’re way too strong even with all things considered. … you’re probably the real one-man army here. Really, thank you so much for saving me… but I can’t help but feel like I’ve lost all my confidence.”

I forced a smile. Kiryū—a total beginner—had to save me. And I even boasted about how “I know this game like the back of my hand”.

“That was just a fluke. Don’t even get me started on how scary it was fighting enemies that could kill me in one hit…”

He urges us to hurry to a safe zone, to which I nodded with all my might. I was in absolute, 100% agreement. Since we’ve just taken down some special zombies, there shouldn’t be a mob for the next little while. Nevertheless, another Tank or Minotaur might show up if we were to take our sweet time. Drastic times call for drastic measures.

Drastic measures.

“… looks like we will have to grind for those levels after all.” “Hey, now. Did you forget you were at the brink of death, Sera? If we kill too many zombies and get too powerful, more of those special ones are going to spawn, right?” “I haven’t forgotten. That was… humiliating. If we were to avoid every single fight, there will be too many of them before we can react.” “I mean, I guess…” “Trust me.”

I’ve played this game so much, I can literally beat it with a plastic bottle as my only weapon. I’m a beast. Yet, I just showed Kiryū just how unreliable I was. It was absolutely shameful.

“We’ll make sure to be ready for next time. I’ll build us an unstoppable army from hell…”

I slowly stood up from the ground.

“… what’s that about an army?”

He seemed confused as he stood up with me.

“That’s right, an unstoppable army from hell. Even if I can’t level up in this game, there’s many other ways we can win. Don’t worry… I’ll turn these streets of downtown into a safe zone, like a garden that you can stroll through without a so much a care…” “I couldn’t care less about a garden. Let’s just calm down and plan our next moves.”

Kiryū, with a wry smile on his face, rolled his neck.

“That’s our destination, right?” “Ah, yes. We have almost reached the beginning of the stage. It’s my first time backtracking like this. It feels a little odd…”

As we twist and turn through the narrow alleyways, another new enemy creeped across our path.

—It was a Heart.

That wasn’t a metaphor for anything. The zombie was about four times the size of a yoga ball. Tentacles scrawl from the monster in the shape of a literal heart. I don’t remember what its actual name is. That’s how unimportant they are.

“Shit. We’ve used up all the herbs earlier…!” “We’ll be fine. That thing may look gross, but it is only ‘slightly stronger’ than the average zombie. We’ve got more than enough firepower to take it down…”

I walked in front of Kiryū. He looked anxious, but he seemed to calm down when we made eye contact.

“Could you please lend me your crowbar?” “It’s all sticky from the blood. You okay with that?” “I’ll be fine after wiping it with my skirt. This will be an easy fight… I used to kill a whole bunch of these things before my anatomy tests… so watch closely, okay?”

I took a few big swings with the crowbar.

“—Let do it. We’ve got to!”

“Whew. That was a good workout! The heart is a complicated organ with lots of specific parts to remember. I couldn’t have passed my exams without the help of these guys!”

I listed out each artery by name as I bashed away with the crowbar before returning the crowbar to the blood-soaked Kiryū. I could imagine him thinking I’m some sort of psychopath giving a lecture on the human heart.

“Are all nurses like this…?”

I ignored his flabbergasted comment at me. Then, crossed the now navigable street and hurried to the Vital Watch.

“… let me just correct you that no, not all nurses are ‘like this’.”

“I don’t think you’ll find many female nurses who love blasting hellish monsters to giblets with a BFG.” “A BFG… don’t tell me you mean the Big Fucking Gun, the most powerful weapon from Doom…? I don’t think many people in Japan know what a BFG is… man, you’re hardcore.”

We finally reached the beginning of the game, even with us chatting. There were small two-story shops and the glass from their display windows lining the street. The alleys around here were a little wider, but many of them were blocked off by fallen utility poles and crumbled walls. Here was also where the army (though I don’t know which nation’s army, so it’s hard to make a joke here) faced off with the zombies.

“Oh, look, there are herbs over there. I’mma go grab ‘em.”

Kiryū walked from planter to planter to pluck the herbs from them.

There’s dirt falling out of his pockets…

The absolute beauty of a man contrasted his overflowing pockets like a bad joke. But those herbs saved my life earlier. I’m can’t exactly tell him to “cut it out because you look super lame” either.

Speaking of which, I’d like pockets of my own too. I’d like to have herbs readily accessible. Or at least a pocket big enough to fit my phone… too many dresses nowadays forgo pockets to focus on “showing off your perfect lines”. It’s honestly really inconvenient.

“… or maybe a drink would be nice too.”

Nothing beats a good drink after work.

“Hmm? A drink?”

Kiryū stood up as he looked at me. He must have heard my mumbling.

“Yes, I would love one. Ugh. You just need a frosty can of beer after working overtime. But instead, I was sent over here with no beer at all. Just my luck.” “That’s… unfortunate. I don’t think you’ll find any here. Once you we get back to our world, you can get your fill of booze.”

Scratching his cheek, he tepidly tried to console me, but I wasn’t about to give up so easily.

“No, I might get the chance. One of the healing items in this game is an alcoholic drink.” “Huh. If we find them, then yeah, that could happen.” “That’s exactly right. I wonder if there are any lying around… whoa, hey! Look!” “… that’s way too convenient…”

I ignored Kiryū as I filled my hands with alcohol and my heart with joy. I popped off the top and took a swig.

“Ahh, that hits the spot!” “You nurses sure love your drink… and are you sure about drinking something you picked up off the ground?”

He doubted me with a tilt of the neck, but I laughed in response.

“I’m sure. Absolutely sure. We picked up those herbs lying on the side of the street too, right? Same difference. And plus, I haven’t even finished working overtime and I was dragged into this adventure. I deserve this.” “… well, I guess so.” “Right?”

Down the gullet the liquor goes.

“There’s a real interesting part in this game too. You get a lot of health back from booze, but if you drink too much…” “What happens?” “… you puke it back out. Bleeeghhh!” “Oh, you’ve gotta be shitting me.”

■The back blast of gas turbine engines

Just a quick tidbit from the author. After weapons like rocket launchers and tanks guns fire, there will be a blast of extremely hot gas. Being within 30 meters of the back blast will guarantee injury if not death. The heat will roast you to a delicious crisp. So, if you ever see one in real life, try to keep distance. Now that’s a top tip that will ensure your chance of survival. (Not that you would normally have the chance to get up close to an operating tank in Japan anyway.)

contents: /ch001/ /ch002/ /ch003/ /ch004/ /ch005/ /ch006/ /next/

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shirlleycoyle · 4 years ago

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Catastrophic Hurricanes Are the ‘New Normal,’ and They Will Cost Trillions

“We got a little bit lucky,” said President Donald Trump about the storm which killed at least six people in Louisiana, ripped apart buildings, left more than half a million homes without power, and triggered a chemical fire from an industrial plant over Lake Charles.

Of course, Trump was glad he didn’t have to postpone his speech at the Republican National Convention.

But while Hurricane Laura did not, thankfully, produce the catastrophic storm surge some predicted—weakening into a tropical storm—it represents an unmistakably escalating trend of extreme weather events due to increasing global temperatures.

Hurricane Laura had followed hot on the heels of Hurricane Marco. The Atlantic hurricane season has already broken records with 13 named storms, which meteorologists consider well above-normal activity.

Recently published scientific studies suggest that the devastation wrought by Laura, and the potential catastrophe only narrowly avoided, are likely to become a ‘new normal’ if we continue to pump carbon emissions into the atmosphere.

Billion dollar disasters

Earlier in August, the US-based Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) published a major report on exactly this issue, titled Climate Change-Fueled Weather Disasters: Costs to State and Local Economies.

The report brought together data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters database with other studies, to build a stark picture of what we now know about extreme weather risks.

The report points out that since 1980, the number of extreme weather events per year in the United States has increased fourfold, with annual direct cost of these disasters increasing fivefold.

In fact, they have catalogued a total of 258 extreme weather disasters within that period, each of them wreaking levels of havoc that cost upward of a billion dollars. Cumulatively, the total direct cost of all of these disasters is already more than $1.75 trillion.

And if climate change continues on a business-usual-trajectory, these costs are predicted to get bigger and bigger.

Sleepwalking into a perfect storm

“Climate models project that even with a moderate increase in greenhouse gas emissions, by the end of this century, the frequency of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes in the Atlantic Basin could increase by 45-87 percent, putting the continental United States at risk,” warns the EDF report.

It further points out that these risks will increase if we do nothing to stop climate change: “In the absence of climate policy to rapidly reduce emissions, we can also expect greater frequency or intensity of five other categories of weather disaster”—namely, severe storms, floods, freezes, drought, and wildfires.

There’s not a single state in the US which has escaped extreme weather—every one of them has suffered at least one of what the report describes as a “billion-dollar weather disaster.”

But five states in particular have been hit repeatedly by every single type of disaster: “North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas have each endured several billion-dollar hurricanes, severe storms, floods, winter storms, freezes, droughts, and wildfires.”

The trillion dollar costs of business-as-usual

The report also lays out some important facts that allow us to arrive at some reasonable estimates of how these impacts and costs would intensify under continuing climate change.

Since 2005, the US federal government has paid out roughly $30 billion a year to respond to extreme weather disasters. But from 2016-2018, the US has experienced disaster costs on average exceeding $150 billion a year. And total damages to the US mainland from the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season (comprising hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Jose and Maria) amounted to some $265 billion.

These costs are set to increase dramatically if global average temperatures continue to rise. The EDF report notes that every 1° Celsius (C) of warming will generate roughly $257 billion of costs to the US every year from extreme weather impacts. This is consistent with the fact that current global average temperatures have, indeed, already increased by around 1°C since 1880.

That means that on a business-usual-trajectory, when we hit another 1°C higher to reach around 2°C of warming, annual US disaster relief expenditures will more than double to around $514 billion.

Right now, we are well on our way toward this scenario. Another study published earlier in August in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences concluded that current carbon emission levels are consistent with the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) worst-case scenario for a 4.3°C world by 2100.

While actual emissions are expected to slow-down below the worst-case due to a big drop in coal use which the IPCC model doesn’t account for, this still means it’s plausible to anticipate that we are on track to hit 1.5°C between potentially as early as around 2030, and to breach the 2°C mark by around 2050.

If annual costs rise from the EDF’s average of $257 billion to $514 billion a year from 2020 to 2050, this will amount on average to an annual increase of $8.56 billion every single year.

Which means that on a business-as-usual global heating trajectory, extreme weather impacts will cost the US a total of $12 trillion by 2050.

In other words, within 30 years, the US will pay out over 60 percent of its current level of GDP in extreme weather costs due to climate change. This means that if we do nothing about climate change, extreme weather alone is going to increasingly push the US economy into a state of permanent recession through to the end of the century.

The real culprits: Big Oil

But this level of damage is also going to directly hit the bottom line of the biggest carbon-emitting American companies.

One study released in June lead authored by physicist Dr Quintin Rayer, who heads up research at the UK-based financial consultancy firm, P1 Investment Management, argues that if these costs were applied to the world’s biggest carbon-emitting companies, it would considerably damage their share pricing, profitability and market values.

Rayer identifies the top seven carbon-emitting publicly listed companies as follows: ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Chevron, Peabody Energy, Total, and BHP Billiton.

Together, these companies are responsible for 9.5 percent of all carbon emissions from so-called ‘Scope 1’ and ‘Scope 3’ emissions—respectively, direct emissions from owned or controlled sources, and all other indirect emissions that occur in a company’s value chain. (These different ‘scopes’ are categories from the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, an accounting and reporting standard developed by the World Resources Institute.)

This makes them directly responsible for the increased risks of extreme weather, and suggests that a significant percentage of the costs of extreme weather impacts should be allocated to these firms.

If that was applied, Rayer calculates, these fossil fuel firms would “increasingly see around 1-2 percent losses on their market capitalizations (or share prices) from North Atlantic hurricane seasons.”

This, in turn, has important implications for financial markets: “It is uncertain to what extent climate risks are priced into fossil companies’ share prices, and cautious investors might be concerned.”

Bye-bye, GDP

But right now, it’s not fossil fuel companies that are paying the price. It’s taxpayers.

This time last year, the National Bureau of Economic Research estimated that the fall-out to the American economy from extreme weather would reach as high as 10.5 percent of US GDP by 2100.

More recent studies find this could be even higher. A peer-reviewed paper in Climatic Change released in November 2019 found that if we continue on our current course, “extreme risks” will have increased by 3-5.4 times by 2060. By 2100, the study concludes, climate-induced extreme weather events could shave off as much as 16 percent from the GDP of the American economy.

As time goes on, our assessments of the risks and costs of climate change keep getting worse. The best scientific data proves that escalating climate change will gradually and inescapably destroy our economic prosperity, unless we take urgent action.

In other words, if we fail to reign in the biggest fossil fuel producers, slash carbon emissions and transition to a renewable energy system, the probability that we will get “lucky” with coming hurricane seasons will rapidly diminish.

Catastrophic Hurricanes Are the ‘New Normal,’ and They Will Cost Trillions syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

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realtalk-princeton · 7 years ago

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Don't know whether to major in ORFE, COS, or ECON. I really love the financial sector in NYC and always wanted to work as an analyst in nyc for a group like goldman or jane street. Do you guys have any suggestions? I'm looking to major in something that will prepare me with the skills needed for finance jobs.

Response from Sulpicia:

Literally dozens of graduates from each of those majors go to jobs like the one you want every year, and so I wouldn’t consider one necessarily “better” than the others. I think that the most important thing is taking coursework across all three departments (plus other relevant departments) that will give you the skills you need, rather than just picking a major. Have you looked at the Finance certificate yet? That might interest you.

Since you can basically go into finance with any major and there’s a lot of crossover between the ones you picked (e.g. it’s totally doable to be an Econ major and get a COS certificate), I would consider which discipline/department you would feel the most comfortable spending two years with. Do you want to be AB or BSE? AB will likely provide more flexibility, but if you have a lot of AP credit BSE might let you take more classes in your area of interest and fewer in random distribution areas. Do you have friends in any department? Ask them what their classes and independent work are like. What sort of academic work do you imagine yourself doing? Ultimately, you major doesn’t matter THAT much because of the flexibility of Princeton coursework, so pick the place where you feel like you will be happiest and most engaged.

Response from Sushi:

Sulpicia ninja’d me but I hadwritten all of this already so I will add it here.

Iwill defer to Pichu, Edamame, Maybach, Harvey, or other contributors if theyhave different opinions on this question since they have more experience in thefield. They are free to delete my answer if they think it’s wrong/insufficient,but I wanted to provide some input from a not-completely-finance perspectivesince you asked about COS as well. I am speaking from the position ofinterviewing at companies such as Goldman/similar companies, as well asinterviewing at trading companies such as Jane Street/similar companies. I alsodid a Princeternship and another program at Jane Street, and lastly, I haveworked at a similar company in the past.

First,I think that you have to define which jobs you are interested in within the“financial sector.” There are hundreds of different kinds of niche jobs infinance. Investment banking is very different than private equity, working fora venture fund, etc. Since you asked about Goldman and Jane Streetspecifically, I will speak to my knowledge of those.

Ananalyst at places like Goldman is very different from being an analyst atplaces like Jane Street. This is evident even from the interviews. I have foundthat Goldman/similar interview is very focused on financial knowledge(terminology from ECO 362 but information from beyond ECO 362). If you applyfor a quant position at Goldman/similar, you will also have to demonstratebasic coding skills (my friends passed the bar with just COS 126). But you doNOT need COS at all for a job at Goldman/similar. You may have to do some extraself-studying because the knowledge gained by the finance certificate is notenough, but it’s mostly just qualitative econ knowledge that you have to know.

Onthe other hand, a Jane Street recruiter told me that they don’t look atpeople’s resumes unless they’ve already taken probability theory (ORF 309 here)for trading positions or functional programming (COS 326 here, they also lookfor algorithms COS 226) for software engineering positions (or have done theequivalent and have sufficient evidence to prove that, such as high level mathcompetitions for trading and a coursera/etc. course and sufficient sideprojects for software engineering). Also, at one of the companies similar toJane Street, a recruiter told me that they don’t even care whether you have anyfinancial background, they just want you to have the problem-solving ability,modeling/statistical analysis ability, and coding ability to take on a positionthere, and they will teach you all the finance when you join.

AlsoI think another consideration in choosing a company that you will ultimatelyend up in is the work-life balance. The lifestyles at these companies are alsovery different: I’ll give two different examples here since both Goldman andJane Street are near the middle of the spectrum of no work-life balance towork-life balance. I’ve heard that at BAML interns work 120+ hours a week,whereas at some more tech-focused trading companies like Citadel, there’s morework-life balance and it’s the very typical 40 hours a week workweek.

Sothe first step is realizing that you probably will need a different skillset tosucceed in acquiring a job at either of these companies. The people I know whointerned at Jane Street are COS or Math majors. The majority of people I knowwho interned at Goldman are COS, ORF, and ECO, though I do know plenty ofhumanities majors there too. Goldman also has a variety of positions. Theirtypical summer analyst position compared to more engineering type quantpositions (though if you want to do quant I would suggest not doing it at an IBplace, since you would probably have a better experience).

Second,however, you can get a job in finance regardless of what you major in, as longas you pass the resume screen and interviews, and you have the requisite skillsneeded for the position. As I said before, I know plenty of non-econ humanitiesmajors who get jobs at Goldman. If you want to work at Jane Street, any of themore mathematically-oriented majors would work, as long as you take therequired ORF/ECO/MAT classes to be considered. I believe Maybach has written atlength about this, and you can view it through the search bar, but it does noteven matter if you are math track or frat track econ to get these jobs. As longas you can pass the interview (there are plenty of resources online about this,also check Glassdoor for specific questions for specific companies), you willbe fine. Just choose a major where you can make sure that your GPA is above 3.5(3.6 preferred, higher for more selective companies like Jane Street) so thatyou pass the resume screen cutoff.

Also,I would like to add that if you are 100% sure you are going into industry, youdo not need to consider independent work strongly in your major choice. This isbecause you will spend more time prepping for interviews/interviewing in thefall/recruiting for interviews in the spring than doing your independent work(and most of the people I know who wanted to go into industry were 1) bse sothey didn’t have to write a thesis or 2) just wrote bs independent work so theycould graduate).

Hereare some courses that serve as baseline knowledge for the interviews for thesecompanies:

Goldman/similarANALYST: ECO 362 plus lots of self-study, no cos necessary

Goldman/similarQUANT: ECO 362 plus self-study, COS 126/226

JaneStreet/similar QUANT: COS 126/226, ORF 245/309/524/526, no econ necessary

JaneStreet/similar SOFTWARE: COS 126/226/326, no econ necessary

Response from Pichu:

^yeah sushi’s right for the most part and also why would i delete your answer you wrote so much lol. to OP: i would add ORF 335 to the list of courses for more quantitative roles. it’s the same as ECO 362 except you learn the derivations behind everything and actually understand what everything means.

goldman and jane street are pretty different types of companies, in regards to the types of roles available and culture. it seems like you just threw those 2 names out there because you heard people make a lot of money there. so from that it seems like youre not very intellectually driven, in which case the less quantitative and technical roles are probably more for you. so like investment banking or sales & trading at a bank, but basically everyone wants to do that so you should be prepared for some pretty intense competition (and long hours).

In the off-chance that you actually are intellectually curious and are actually interested in things like applied math (which is the same as ORFE) or math, then yeah like sushi said just get good at probability and apply to prop trading places like jane street or optiver. some will expect you to know some finance, some won’t care. if you put anything finance-related on your resume like a class you took, then be prepared to be asked about it. but yeah the culture there is a lot different than at banks, most people at prop trading firms are math/cs people, kinda nerdy, casual dress code that kinda thing.

but truth be told, no job will be super quantitative, even ones with the word “quant” in the name. if you’re actually interested in real quant work, a masters/phd is the way to go. this comes from multiple sources who are pretty experienced in the “financial sector in NYC” as you like to call it

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sophiehunteroctopussyblog · 7 years ago

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By Alice Evans 13 OCTOBER 2017 • 9:30PM "How’s your Harvey-meter?” asked a female producer, her eyes flicking up and down the regulation 8x10 headshot with my acting credits stapled onto the back. “I’ve no idea.” I lied, trying to sound unconcerned although my palms had begun to sweat and familiar feelings of dread had invaded my stomach. “Because Harvey would like to sign off personally on the lead roles for this,” she continued. So obviously, if you’re on good terms… well, you know.” She smiles. “Yep”, I say, with the insider’s ‘I know what you mean’ laugh. Which is insane, because what she and I both know is that the subject at the core of this delicate dance we’re doing is whether or not Harvey Weinstein has ever come onto me. It’s 2003. I’ve been a working actress for six years, and have a decent slew of credits. Lead roles. I’m not a household name, but neither am I a complete interloper, although that’s exactly what I feel like, sitting on this plastic chair in a Soho office crammed full of headshots just like mine covering the walls, the desk, the floor. I feel like none of the roles I’ve worked so hard to get make any difference in this case, because there’s no chance whatsoever I will get this job. And I am right. Because I’ve already failed The Harvey Test. Rewind a year. Cannes film festival 2002. I’ve been flown in by the production company of a French language film I’d been in the year before that was looking for foreign investors. Once the meetings have been completed, we all go our separate ways and make a plan to reunite that evening at a beach party at the Carlton Hotel, where we were staying. I am standing at the bar on my own when out of nowhere a hand extends with a cocktail in it and a voice says: “Here.” I look up. I have no trouble recognising him and half wonder whether Harvey must have made a mistake but no: he’s handing it to me. “Thank you” I manage. And then, taking a large slug: “I’m Alice.” “I know exactly who you are,” he says, and I feel a surge of silly pride. “Oh. I know who you are too”. “Good start,” he goes on, and I laugh nervously into my drink. Harvey stares at me. Then begins to look over my shoulder. And I panic a little. This is my moment to impress Harvey Weinstein. If I’m boring he’ll walk away and I may never get a second chance. Oddly, despite having heard endless stories about massages and hand-jobs in hotel rooms, it doesn’t even cross my mind - not for a second - that he might try the same on me. Why would he? I’m not that type of girl. (In retrospect this may seem disingenuous, but does anyone really feel like they’re ‘that sort of girl’?). I’m nervous though. I blurt out the first thing that comes to mind: “My boyfriend screen-tested for you in New York yesterday.” “I know” says Weinstein without blinking. “He did an incredible job. He’s a talented guy”. Wow. I’m flattered by proxy. I can’t wait to tell Ioan (Gruffudd, my now husband) the good news. I’m so excited I take off on some boring tangent about auditions and films and suddenly, out of nowhere, he’s asking me to go into the hotel bathroom with him. I laugh, make a joke. Keep rambling. But he continues. “Just go. I’m right behind you. I want to touch your tits. Kiss you a little.” He moves right up close to me and looks me up and down. I can feel his breath. And it’s not your average tipsy come-on. It’s sinister. The sort of thing that makes you want to run away fast. Now this wouldn’t be hard. We’re in a very public place. He knows I could make a scene. But as I extricate myself (by moving backwards and murmuring various excuses) Harvey utters a phrase that has stayed with me forever. “Let’s hope it all works out for your boyfriend,” he says. The next morning Ioan calls me. He has a film being promoted at Cannes, too and we have lunch planned. He sounds so buoyed by the good news about the audition that I stop short of telling him about the bathroom proposal. I feel quite conflicted. Clearly, I should never have to walk into a public bathroom and let a stranger touch my breasts, but something about the whole encounter makes me feel like I’ve let him down. Like I could have handled it better. Harvey didn’t actually do anything wrong. He propositioned me, overtly, repeatedly, then he turned nasty when I said no, but that’s not illegal. And yet I can’t help feeling I’m the one who has behaved badly here – and that somehow I will be made to pay. My worst fears are confirmed when I spot Harvey at a party that night and make my way over to say hello. I’m not sure what to expect, but I’m hoping to hear some friendly banter so I can stop worrying. I tap Harvey’s shoulder. He spins around and for a second I see his face cloud, then turn steely. “Do I know you?” he asks calmly. Then he walks away and I’m left standing there, stunned. The next day Ioan still hasn’t heard anything about the audition. In Hollywood, no news is rarely good news. We sit despondently eating lunch with a former member of his management team and they go over and over the audition scenario, and the phone refuses to ring. My panic rises. Finally Ioan gets up and goes to the bathroom. Watching him go, the guy leans in and asks: “So what really happened with Harvey?” And I tell him - by this point desperate for some sympathy. “I was worried you might say that,” he nods. “They called this morning. It’s not going Ioan’s way. I’m not going to tell him just yet - he’s got interviews to do this afternoon and I don’t want to upset him.” I was never again considered for a Weinstein film, and neither was Ioan. I’ll never know if my refusal to be sexually available for Mr Weinstein at the moment he fancied his little fix had me blacklisted, or whether I’m inflating my own importance in a much bigger picture. But I do know this: this total lack of concern for me as a woman – and more importantly a human being – shocked me to the core and affected me for years. But it’s not just me we’re talking about today. And actually, it isn’t just Harvey Weinstein. As long as there are sociopaths in positions of control in Hollywood (and sadly these people, both male and female, exist in every industry) who are known to use their positions of power to torture desperate, hopeful people but never publicly denounced, then Harvey’s fall from grace will mean nothing. There will always be those who would rather play it safe than try to change the status quo, and more than one person tried to stop me from writing this piece, concerned about “what it might do” to both my and Ioan’s career. But I’m heartened by the many who have spoken out in recent days not just against Harvey, but a culture of sexual bullying within the industry that’s neither a “game” nor part of some quaint movie tradition but unacceptable on a very basic human level. And I really hope that the “You can count on me - I won’t tell” days are over. None of us should be counted on to cover up the immoralities of those above us – and all of us should now tell.

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sueboohscorner · 7 years ago

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Season 4 premiere of #Gotham is here! Review, Rate, Spoilers. Episode one "Pax Penguina"

Greetings and salutations my fellow Gothamites. Yes, it is that wonderful time of year once again; the time for a new season, new characters, and new hero in the making that the city of Gotham truly deserves. A Dark Knight. (See how I added the tagline there?)

A strange system of unionized crime, an exciting new club in town, a Riddler-sicle, some alleyway butt-kicking, and an answer to the question that has been buzzing around for three years: “What the heck happened to Jonathan Crane?”

Season four of Gotham, episode one. Here we go.

And right off the bat, (pun not intended at first, but now that I think about it, pun totally intended), we see a masked figure save a family from some thugs with some good old-fashioned fisticuffs. Who was that masked figure you might ask? Why, it’s Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) dabbling in some vigilantism (and doing a pretty good job so far, I might add). After the skirmish, Bruce discovers that the thugs possessed a license with a very familiar umbrella-shaped stamp on it.

Elsewhere, without Bruce’s knowledge, Ra’s al Ghul (Alexander Siddig) observes Bruce’s escalades like a mentor watches a student or how a father watches his own son.

We then see a wedding in progress. Everyone’s having fun, they’re happy, the band pulls a proper Rick Rolling, and a good time is being had by all. But since this is Gotham City, the celebration is cut off, of course, by some hicks in masks and armed to the teeth. You know the drill, they demand cash, phones, jewelry, valuables and nobody gets hurt. You know how you do.

A whistle rings through the hall; almost like a signal. Everyone turns their heads to see…. Victor Zsasz (Anthony Carrigan)! Man, I’ve missed him!

He, in his own way, politely informed the gunmen that in order to commit a crime in Gotham, you gotta have a license; and the only way to get a license is to ask the Penguin and give him a good cut of the earnings. As long as you have those licenses, you can commit a crime without being arrested or persecuted by the police. The leader of the hicks, Merton (Michael Buscemi), says hell to the no on that offer. In return, Zsasz shoots his finger clean off, causing the hicks to run along. The bride and groom thank Victor for saving their wedding from the thugs….only to be bombarded by other thugs that do have a license.

What did you expect? It’s Gotham.

Meanwhile, in a creepy, dimly lit, congressional looking room, the new Mayor and commissioner of Gotham are having a meeting with the former mayor and now full-time Kingpin Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor). And, basically, since Penguin has organized and unionized crime, the crime rate has been cut by 57%. A historic low for the city of Gotham. Mayor Burke (Larry Pine) is all-in-all “thankful” for Penguin’s um…”contributions” to help keep the city safe, but he is still hesitant about the new licensed criminals’ system. With a somewhat calm exterior and a smile, Penguin insists on how exactly the hordes of criminals that once prowled the streets of Gotham…

First, he hunted them down, then he-

Okay, okay fine. Use your imagination. The point is: Oswald Cobblepot mad Gotham City safer. However, Gotham will ALWAYS have crime. And all that he’s asking from Mayor Burke is to have crime be put in the hands of professionals. A simple deal with simple terms….well, yeah, I mean, Penguin does get a sweet profit from it; but being the expert negotiator he is, Mayor Burke and the commissioner get a little percentage of the profits themselves.

Unionized crime, no press, no police interference, and a piece of the pie for everyone. God bless America.

We finally see Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie) make an appearance as he takes a visit to a bar for his coffee. Unfortunately, Jim stumbled upon a random thug robbing the bartender at gunpoint. Jim gets ready to do his GCPD thing when the thug tells him that he has a license…….needless to say, Jim Gordon does not give a single rat’s ass and arrests the fool. Ah, good old Jim. Good to be back.

At Wayne Manor, Alfred (Sean Pertwee) confronts Bruce about his late night activities. While Bruce informs Alfred that he intends to stop Penguin’s new crime syndicate. Such a busy boy Master B is.

Remember those hicks at the wedding? We see Merton and his partner Grady (Michael Maize) take a stroll down to Arkham Asylum to visit a certain patient. A certain patient that we have not seen in three years or so: Jonathan Crane (Charlie Tahan).

(It’s been so long!)

In his years of confinement, the effects of the fear toxin, created by his whack-a-doo father, are still well within Jonathan’s system; causing him to live with his mind being in a constant state of fear which had left Jonathan traumatized and with a self-made, imagined “Boogeyman” scarecrow-like being that haunts him. Merton and Grady bribe the Warden of Arkham (Damian Young) to let them take Jonathan Crane with them. They drag him out of his cell and close up to see a drawing that Jonathan had been scribbling on the floor almost obsessively.

They take Jonathan back to his home and uncover more of his father’s experimental drugs for the fear toxin. With the use of an actual scarecrow, Merton and Grady force Jonathan to make more of the toxin, which they have weaponized and use it to rob a bank on live television to show that Penguin a lesson.

While investigating the crime scene, Jim notices that the method the hick thugs used was very similar to Gerald Crane’s fear toxin and informs his partner in crime Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue). From this, they deduce that Merton must have forced Jonathan to reveal the fear toxin formula.

Jim and Harvey pay a visit to the Warden at Arkham Asylum, which wasn’t exactly very fruitful. So, they go to Grady’s apartment. Unfortunately for them, he and Merton were waiting for them. The head hick Merton explains that they want to send a message to Penguin about him and his licenses.

Elsewhere, we see Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova) walking alone at night in an alley. Since this is Gotham, a bunch of muggers take notice and surround her.

But guess what? Selina was hoping they would do that and then she pulled out that whip and when ALL KINDS of proto-Catwoman on them! One guy tries to get up and attack Selina from behind when Tabitha Galavan (Jessica Lucas) and knocks him right upside the head. This was a teaching moment for Tabitha to give to Selina. Never turn your back on a guy unless you know for sure that he’s down. And a lesson learned means pizza for Selina and Tabby.

After bringing a box of pepperoni-covered goodness back to their apartment, Tabitha and Selina see that Victor Zsasz has been waiting for them. Though he did not come with violent intentions, Victor did come with a request: that Tabitha and Selina should come over to Penguin, get a license, and let a lot of vicious and scaring bygones be vicious and scaring bygones. Selina full-heartedly agrees with the promise of more power, money, and a better place to live. Having her pride, Tabitha refuses.

At the not-yet-opened Iceberg Lounge, Oswald Cobblepot gives a statement to inaugurate his new club. A club to see and be seen. The conference of reporters inquire about the new licenses and crime in the city. Oswald gives a rousing statement about how Caesar Augustus once had a period of calm with rarely any violent acts of crime or aggression. He called it “Pax Romana”. Cobblepot goes on to state that without the GCPD getting in the way, this could possibly be known as his “Pax Penguina.”

Oswald then reveals his most “interesting” centerpiece: Edward Nygma, the Riddler himself (Corey Michael Smith) completely frozen solid.

(Eh, I’ve already made like a ton of ice puns….)

Making use of the advice that Bruce gave him, Jim Gordon marches into the club and informs Penguin that the gang of hicks (look, I know they probably have a better name than that, but once you watch the episode, you’d call them the same thing) are coming after Penguin with fear toxin. Jim’s threat and antagonizing goads Oswald into wanting to catch the gang of hicks for himself.

Opening night of the Iceberg Lounge is going splendidly. The sights, lights, sounds, music, the mingling, the top-drawer of Gotham’s society attending, and the apropos ice-themed décor makes it look like a gathering of Gatsbys. Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth are even in attending too. However, Bruce has more of a hidden agenda to be there than just to make an appearance as a Wayne. He means to uncover any information he can get about Penguin’s new licenses for legal crime. Bruce and Oswald have a conversation underlined with so much more that what is being said. Very Batman, I might add.

Without realizing it completely, Oswald reveals that he is working with a man that has a list of people with licenses. Bruce intends to make his move until he sees Selina Kyle from across the room.

Ignoring Bruce and focusing on her true intention, Selina talks to Victor Zsasz about agreeing to get a license. Victor implies that the deal was meant for her and her babysitter, Tabitha. Coincidentally, Tabitha shows up behind Selina and agrees to get a license from Penguin.

Meanwhile, the gang of hicks decide to attack Penguin at his inauguration. With Jonathan have made more of the fear toxin, they take the scarecrow, throw it in a closet and Jonathan along with it, locking the door.

In his fear-induced hallucination, Jonathan sees the scarecrow come to life once again and comes toward him. Trying with all of his might, with his primal screams of terror, and plead after plead to let him out of the closet, Jonathan is completely alone, completely trapped with his personal boogeyman.

Jonathan falls to the ground, cowering, whimpering, and shaking. His hallucination calls out to him, “Jonathan….Jonathan….Jonathan…

JONATHAN!”

Back at the Lounge, or more likely, outside the Lounge, Bruce meets up with Selina who is walking along the rooftop.

The conversation that commences between them, how can I put it? It’s probably one of the most Batman talking to Catwoman and Selina Kyle talking back to Bruce Wayne thing I have ever seen.

Bruce apologizes for snapping at Selina the way he did back at the hospital. Selina plays coy and insists that she can’t hear him unless he comes to the edge of the roof with her. Bruce walks along the ledge with no problem, which impresses Selina. The reunion of star-crossed vigilantes is interrupted by Alfred who informs Bruce that there is a situation building inside.

The gang of hicks, you know, as AMAZINGLY SUBTLE AS THEY ARE, managed to get caught by Penguin and Zsasz and are brought out in the party as an example of criminals without licenses. How if the GCPD and people like the hicks continue, no one is safe. Bruce steps up to Penguin and asks what he plans to do with those criminals. With a quick tilt of the head and a smile, Oswald insures that he has nothing to be concerned with regarding that particular subject.

This angers the already scorned Ivy Pepper (Maggie Geha) and she sneaks off to find the main power switch and shut the party down.

The sudden blackout causes people to panic and, using that panic to their advantage, the gang of hicks sprays Oswald Cobblepot with the fear toxin, causing him to hallucinate a monstrous version of Edward Nygma coming back to life.

Honestly, when I first saw the image of hallucination Edward, it kinda reminded me of those reptile-like people you see in those Believe It Or Not books.

With Jim, Bullock, Alfred, and Zsasz trying to find and fight the hicks, Grady manages to get away. A quivering and distraught Oswald is left grasping onto Jim Gordon, suffering the devastating effects of the fear toxin.

The next night, in full mask and overcoat, Bruce manages to get the list of other criminals with licenses. (Also, in a very Batman-like way). On a rooftop, Bruce accidentally comes upon a robbery in progress. As he leans in closer on the window overlooking the scene, the structure breaks and Bruce falls into the building. In a hurry, the burglars leave. Sirens can be seen and heard from the outside, leaving Bruce being caught without his mask.

Back at the Crane House, Grady to get more of the fear toxin from Jonathan. He goes to the closet and calls out for him, “Jonathan! Hey, Crane!”

Only a distorted voice answers back.

“Jonathan Crane isn’t here anymore.”

Grady adjusts his eyes to the horror, the creature inside the closet where Jonathan Crane once was. A hemp-like material stretched, wrapped, and sewed around him like skin. Spikes of straw seeping out of his body. Two dark circles with a glowing white hue stare straight at Grady.

“IT’S JUST THE SCARECROW!”

PHEW! There was a lot stuff going on in this premiere!

First off: it was a very well shot episode and a very, VERY well written episode. Even though, with some episodes, when Gotham puts so much in an episode, it does feel rushed and too busy. This episode did not. Yes, there was lot going on, but the pacing of both the dialogue and action was very well done.

THINGS I LIKED:

I think I can speak for the majority for the Gotham audience when I say,

“Yes! Victor Zsasz! Yes!”

Anthony Carrigan brings so much weight to a character in the Batman comics that isn’t very well known. I absolutely love Carrigan’s approach to Zsasz. His brand of crazy and psychotic reality is very evident in his speech, his movement; Do not misunderstand, the character of Zsasz in both Gotham and in the comics is as insane and threatening, but in Gotham, this Zsasz doesn’t need to go full crazy with his tally marks and constant need for liberation. Carrigan plays at Victor Zsasz’s madness like he had a mesh lid on it. He doesn’t just bombard the audience with crazy all the time, but now and again, the sadistic killer seeps through and you can tell that Anthony Carrigan is loving every minute of it and so are we.

I would like to see more scars on Zsasz, or have them continue some focus on the tally marks on his body like they did in the first season. I think it would be cool if we could intermittently see more and more tallies accumulate.

I love what they did with Jonathan Crane and I love what Charlie Tahan did with him too. Well done. And I’m not just saying this cause Scarecrow is one of my top ten favorite Batman villains. His transformation into the Scarecrow, I really liked too. His fear, his hallucination, his own boogeyman completely consumed what was left of Jonathan Crane. When he said “Jonathan Crane isn’t here anymore”, he actually means it. I have got to give major props to the writers for doing so much and doing it so well with Jonathan in just ONE episode. I can’t wait to see what Scarecrow has up his newly parchment sleeve.

It is so nice and refreshing to see Oswald Cobblepot go back to being a crime boss and back to being the Penguin. Creating a system of unionized crime that is legal in a way that actually makes sense, getting the Mayor of Gotham and the commissioner of the police department to agree to this system, take a part in it, and look the other way, stealing the Sirens’ Club and making it his infamous Iceberg Lounge, parading his defeat of the Riddler and making it seem like he’s helping a friend with a rare brain disease (freaking hilarious by the way. He just had that story teed up and ready to go), cutting down the crime rate by 57%, and doing all this while keeping a smile on his face and having an answer and response for anything that comes his way.

I also enjoyed his little moment of vulnerability as he had a private talk with himself and the green popsicle. “Which one of us is really frozen?” Quite the ponder.

Of course, seeing Bruce getting more comfortable in being a vigilante, but not quite Batman yet, is always a treat. I spazzed out like such a nerd during his talk with Jim Gordon and how he left the conversation before it was over. Just the whole conversation was such a Gordon/Batman moment.

I did like the conversation between Bruce and Selina. It was very coy and it had such undertone to it.

Basically any moment with Harvey Bullock is awesome.

THINGS I DID NOT LIKE:

If I had a dollar for every time Selina had the attitude of “You don’t know anything about me”, I could afford to go see IT in theaters as much as I damn well please.

Those hicks…….seriously?

As a member of the awesome group called Gotham Addicts, (look them up on Facebook and Twitter, they’re awesome) I asked some good friends of mine in that group to give their take on the episode. And boy, oh, boy, do they have thoughts. They have thoughts, opinions, likes, dislikes, and theories. Check out what these awesome peeps had to say about the episode and on things even I didn’t notice:

“Predictions for Penguin...I feel he will be the one to thaw out Ed. The fear gas will drive him to it to possibly make the scary Ed go away. He might free him. He's the only one who knows how; through Victor Freis. I also feel the fear gas will be used on Bruce, which will be leading to his "BAT" moment and making him Batman.

The show moved at a nice pace. Didn't even realize the time flew by. It left you wanting so much more. I love the fact they jumped right into the story. It didn't need a painful build up. It was good seeing Harvey be Harvey. He got to be heroic before, now he's back to himself and leaving all the rebel cop stuff to Gordon. It was great seeing Gordon, being the cop and not saving the world. I always enjoy the interactions between Gordon and Harvey.

As for the Penguin: It was good to see him return to his old gangster self at the end of season 3...But now he's a huge crime boss and in charge. This is the Penguin he was meant to be. The scene in the mayor's office was the perfect example of his cold calculating mind and his sheer powerful presence. They couldn't disagree. He made it impossible for them to do so...by his speech. God Bless America...and then the mayor smiled. Awesome scene.

The private moment with his trophy. Or Edward. That was deeper than most think. The “who is really frozen” comment and that look. You can see the warmth that still flickers in his cold heart. The sad sob story about why Ed was in ice and the way he played the heartstrings of his crowd. Damn he's so masterful at manipulating people. A gift. It’s simply a gift.

All the scenes between Penguin and Gordon were classic. Penguin is the hero Gotham NEEDS...Gordon is the Hero they WANT...The news reporters ate up every fact that Penguin threw at them and Gordon still held his ground. The tension between them is just amazing stuff. The ending where after the Penguin calls out the GCPD for being useless and HE was the only one that can save Gotham, then him being hit with the fear gas. Who does Penguin run to? Gordon to save him... just made the whole scene go off the chart when you think of how those in the crowd and readers of the news are feeling.

Even though I didn’t care for the cowboy criminals, I did love the reintroduction of Crane and then Scarecrow...that Warden, what a piece of work...still felt it was rushed compared to the other storylines. The battle of Gordon with the other cops and Harvey about doing the job they were hired to do. Felt like old times. Good times. It's refreshing to see the show get out of the freaks/virus theme and back to go old crime ridden city.”

- S. Howard

“As a fan of Gotham and Batman overall, I'm excited to see these characters finally developing into the Batman characters that we know and love. Bruce is on a mission to save Gotham while also giving this businesslike demeanor when talking to people such as Gordon or Penguin. Selina is bringing cat woman to life with the famous whip play and her cat like reflexes. As for surprised in the episode I was a bit shocked when Ivy betrayed Penguin in a small way and turned out the lights in the nightclub, giving the “Outlores” the advantage to attack Penguin. Although, now that I think about it, her actions were understandable. Penguin has been cold and calculating for the past six months and has probably been very snappy with her. The poor girl is only going to take so much of his abuse. As for Penguin himself, he has taken Gotham city by the throat and refuses to let go. The city is his giant playground with him issuing legal licenses for crime and all. I actually had an "awe" moment when he was standing in the Iceberg Lounge talking to Edward Nygma, who is still encased in ice. To me, that scene showed that he still misses Edward and the talks they used to share. I still have hopes that the two will make amends and be friends again.....or maybe more. Although, Penguin's going to have to get past that frightening image of Ed from the fear toxin. This season started off with a bang, and things are only going to get crazier from here. I'm buckling my seat belt and hanging on for dear life because this is going to be one hell of a ride!

It was just little things I noticed when I watched that scene again. First off, the smoke in the background was turning into question marks and the little question marks protruding from Edward's head. This obviously represents the Ed's obsession with riddles and puzzles. As the nightmare sequence progresses, you see that Edward's face becomes distorted and the background turns hazy.....almost like Oswald is gazing at him from underwater, leading back to the point when Edward shot Oswald and tossed him in the river. This could very well be Oswald's greatest fear because it was a point where closest to actually dying......had it not been for Ivy saving him later, and since his "resurrection," Edward's attempted to kill him multiple times and every time, Oswald has escaped.....sometimes within an inch of his life. I believe that nightmare sequence is showing us that Oswald's greatest fear is that Edward will eventually thaw out of the ice and will this time succeed in killing him.”

- Megan R.

Overall, I’d give this episode a 9.8 out of 10

Well, that was one heck of an episode. I don’t think I have much more to say except:

See you next time.

And as always, Stay weird Gotham.

#Gotham (TV series)#Gotham Recap #Gotham

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foursproutwealth-blog · 7 years ago

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Another Massive Blackout Struck Puerto Rico Last Night

New Post has been published on http://foursprout.com/wealth/another-massive-blackout-struck-puerto-rico-last-night/

Another Massive Blackout Struck Puerto Rico Last Night

Authored by Daisy Luther via The Organic Prepper blog,

Last night, an explosion at a San Juan power plant regressed Puerto Rico’s efforts to restore power to the island five months after Hurricane Maria struck a massive blow.

Much of Northern Puerto Rico has suffered another blackout, including the capital city.

The island’s Electric Power Authority said several municipalities were without power, including parts of the capital, San Juan, but they were optimistic it could be restored within a day as they worked to repair a substation that controls voltage…

…It was not immediately known what caused Sunday’s fire, which was quickly extinguished. Officials said the explosion knocked two other substations offline and caused a total loss of 400 megawatts worth of generation. (source)

Before this explosion, more than a million people were still without power from the Category 4 hurricane that struck the island on Sept. 20, 2017. They’ve been thrown back in time by a hundred years, with no power, no running water, and damaged homes.

This is a prime example of how disasters aren’t just one-time occurrences. They’re very often followed by subsequent disasters.

Think about it. Fires are often followed by floods which are followed by mudslides and sinkholes. (See California for reference.) The tsunami in Japan was followed by a nuclear plant disaster. Hurricane Harvey in Texas had storm surges and floods that caused a chemical plant to explode a few days later. Now, this already-stressed infrastructure has crumbled again under it’s increasing demand.

Power has been restored to a few critical locations.

This is one situation in which living in a more populated area can benefit you. After last night’s explosion, workers were quick to restore power to specific locations.

By late Sunday, electricity workers had been able to restore power to key locations, including the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in Carolina, as well as the Medical Center. (source)

As well, after Hurricane Maria, the first areas to resume some form of normalcy were the ones with higher population. San Juan saw it’s power restored immediately but people in more remote areas are still waiting. And not just a few people.

Vox estimated that 1.36 million Americans are still without electricity. You’ll see other numbers that say 400,000, but that is counting households, not individuals.

The US Army Corps of Engineers… estimated that Puerto Rico would need 50,000 utility poles and 6,500 miles of cable to restore its power system…

…When an electrical circuit is open or broken, the power doesn’t flow, whether that’s a flashlight or a phone.

It’s a simple concept, but when it happens in the electricity grid — what engineers say is the largest, most complex machine ever built — it quickly becomes a byzantine problem.

With thousands of miles of transmission lines, gigawatts of generation, computers that route power, frequency regulators, and transformers that all serve the constantly fluctuating needs of millions of people, lots of things can go wrong. Generators can shut down. Transformers can explode. Power demand and supply can fall out of balance.

By far the most common cause of blackouts is damage to power lines, which are the most vulnerable part of the electrical grid to storms.

“In a disruption like this, it’s transmission and distribution,” Marsters said. “Damage does occur to generation assets, but those are point specific and you can get those back online in a reasonable time.”

…Puerto Ricans are now desperately trying to connect the main power arteries to individual homes, and some have resorted to their own makeshift repairs, mounting their own utility poles and stringing up low-voltage transmission lines. (source)

But even before Hurricane Maria made landfall, things with the infrastructure were dire.

The power grid in Puerto Rico was in rough shape BEFORE Maria

Even before the hurricane devastated the island, the infrastructure was in terrible shape, a fact underlined by last night’s explosion.

The blast illustrated the challenges of restoring a power grid that was already crumbling before it was devastated by the Category 4 hurricane.

In many cases, power workers are repairing equipment that should have long been replaced but remained online due to the power authority’s yearslong financial crisis. PREPA is worth roughly $4 billion, carries $9 billion in debt and has long been criticized for political patronage and inefficiency. It also struggled with frequent blackouts, including an island-wide outage in September 2016. (source)

Before Maria made landfall, I wrote an article that predicted a long haul to get power restored.

It’s entirely possible that Hurricane Maria will put the island in the dark for quite some time to come, completely changing their way of life. 70,000 people are still without power from their bout with Irma, and much more damage to the utility system is expected. Gov. Rossello said:

“We will not have sustainable electric infrastructure in the near future. We will be bringing in crews from outside of Puerto Rico to attend to these measures.”(source)

Philipe Schoene Roura, the editor of a San Juan, Puerto Rico-based newspaper, Caribbean Business, wrote:

Prepa Executive Director Ricardo Ramos Rodríguez recently said the powerlines carrying electricity in the public corporation’s system are in such a deteriorated state that a strong storm could leave the island without power for weeks.

“To give you a number, if during Hurricane Georges 100 lines went down in 1998, today the same [kind of ] hurricane would bring down 1,000,” the official candidly told Caribbean Business when asked about the possibility of Prepa’s system effectively withstanding the onslaught of a similar storm.

“The lifespan of most of Prepa’s equipment has expired. There is a risk that in light of this dismal infrastructure situation, a large atmospheric event hitting Puerto Rico could wreak havoc because we are talking about a very vulnerable and fragile system at the moment,” Ramos added…

…Francisco Guerrero (a fictitious name to protect his identity), a Prepa field worker for 23 years, said it would take months for Prepa to bring up Puerto Rico’s power system should a hurricane like Harvey strike the island.

The lack of linemen and other technical personnel, as well as a lack of equipment—including replacement utility poles for powerlines and replacement parts—are the issues of greatest concern among public corporation employees, who say they risk their lives working with equipment in poor condition that provides them with little safety.

Guerrero said that today only 580 linemen remain out of the 1,300 who were part of the workforce in previous years—and that’s not counting the upcoming retirement of another 90 linemen. Likewise, he said there are only 300 electrical line testers to serve the entire island.

The source also said that much of Prepa’s equipment dates back to the 1950s—and the more “modern” equipment that is still functional dates from the 1990s; in other words, it’s from the past century.

“If a hurricane like this one [Harvey] hits us, the system is not going to come online, I’d say, in over six months. Right now, the warehouses don’t even have materials. I’m talking about utility poles and other stuff,” Guerrero explained.

“How can you say that you have equipment that dates back to the 1950s and you are not buying parts to repair them? When it’s time for maintenance work, you don’t have the part and you leave things as they are, but there is an entry in the log saying maintenance was done. And yes, it was done, but the most important thing was not done, which was to replace that part,” he added.

Although he did not assign the debacle to former Prepa Chief Restructuring Officer Lisa Donahue’s order to stop buying supplies as the main cause for the lack of materials, he is certain the order was “the straw that broke the camel’s back.” (source)

Many people thought it was a ridiculous premise and that power would be up and running within a couple of weeks. But it turns out, that was cognitive dissonance. This situation is all the proof you need to see that things can change overnight.

Go watch this video to see what everyday life is like in Puerto Rico for nearly half a million people.

Do you think things will ever be the same in Puerto Rico?

Have the residents of the island been permanently thrown back into Third World status? Will the power ever be fully restored? And considering they’re Americans too, isn’t it rather embarrassing that we aren’t doing more to aid in the recovery?

#Wealth

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foursprout-blog · 7 years ago