I get the comparison is there a point you’re making?

Probably but I've been off on a rambling tangent about the meaning of life and the difference of a pound of feather and such.

If I had a point.
I lost track of it now.

 

View attachment 276059

I saw this one today and I like it a lot.

 

No president in any country seems to resolve this issue in decades. I wonder when people can have a leader who can solve this issue.

I know!!!!!

Billy Bragg.... ( ducking, Please take it as a joke people )

 

There's a plastic shortage but not the commodity plastics like polyethylene, polypropylene, PET, nylon

it's the polycarbonate, Polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), POM (acetal), some acrylics and some fluoropolymers. Not the commodity types sold through distributors but the specialty versions (specific colors, optical quality, FR grades and so on). Some because the specialty additives (distributors don't handle specialty grades so they don't see the problem). The thousand special additives come from all over the world and you can't approve a material for production until all the additives are available to make an automotive quality for an inner red taillight Lens - for example.

Another problem is a severe shortage for glass additives for glass-filled polymers. Some use ground glass, some use short glass fibers, some use a particular soft glass or square profile or specialty coated glass fiber to increase adhesion to the polymer.

These additive are required by specific applications. Without the right glass, talc or mica or whatever filler is needed - you may as well start over on your material specification. As you start over, the exact mold sizes no longer matter because the oversizing factor used for one plastic won't be the same for another plastic (one oversizing factor (shrink ratio) may be specified in plane of injection and anotherfor transverse. If you change materials, you'll need to wait for a new mold.

getting a new mold cut takes forever and it likely won't be right because the engineer in the project when you start may be working for two or three other companies by the time it's compete and none of the instructions were followed.

 

No president in any country seems to resolve this issue in decades. I wonder when people can have a leader who can solve this issue.

Dictators can do it - not presidents. Solving things in the US requires too many people to agree and, if you get them all to agree, two-years later there will be an election and some new people may not agree.

 

Dictators can do it - not presidents. Solving things in the US requires too many people to agree and, if you get them all to agree, two-years later there will be an election and some new people may not agree.

but the cure is another problem, weren’t they the cure for a different problem?

 

but the cure is another problem, weren’t they the cure for a different problem?

Just sayin, an expectation that a president solves something is not going to be fulfilled any time soon.

 

Just sayin, an expectation that a president solves something is not going to be fulfilled any time soon.

I’m agreeing with you, just saying the cure (dictator) is worse than the issue in the first place.

 

https://markets.businessinsider.com...isis-coals-making-a-comeback-heres-why-2022-9

Coal is making a comeback in energy-hungry Europe, sending prices soaring

"Coal is definitely making a comeback, with skyrocketing natural gas prices and drought," Ole Hvalbye, an analyst at Swedish bank SEB, told Insider. "Now it is all about surviving the winter."

Why? Russia.

 

https://hbr.org/2021/03/the-latest-supply-chain-disruption-plastics

Constraints on the supplies of their raw materials — especially polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and monoethylene (MEG) — are leading to factory shutdowns, sharp price increases, and production delays across a range of industries.

https://www.riskmethods.net/resilient-enterprise/plastics-shortage

2. What's the current state of the plastics shortage?
At mid-year, supplies of raw materials, plastic resins such as PE & PP and compounded plastics remain very tight. Prices that hit historic highs in March seem to be consolidating at high levels. Makers of plastic products have watched their lead times grow and costs increase.

https://www.resilinc.com/blog/an-update-on-the-polymer-shortage/

After unprecedented disruptions in the second half of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021, the turmoil in supply chains for polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), mono-ethylene glycol (MEG), and other polymers has calmed somewhat. Still, supplies remain tight, and prices are at record highs—with further price hikes forecast.

There is not, and never was, any shortage of PP or PE.

 

Why? Russia.

Dig deeper. How about historically bad energy policy?

He with the name one must not mention was laughed at hysterically for his absolute spot-on prediction of where such policies were leading.

 

Those in places like Germany bought the rope that's hanging them now. Yes, it was totally predictable that Russia would weaponize that energy dependence. That didn't take much of a crystal ball to see.

 

You know a very significant number of people today believe things that thirty years ago would have got you laughed at and kicked out of the bar for being drunk.
Now its acceptable to believe in what ever you like as long as self identify with and surround yourself with like minded people.
It does not matter if its real.

I quite well know that. A certain ex-official is making millions of dollars off of it. But even that doesn't make it right.

To base your life on a novel, not a philosophy, but a made up story, expounding on the merits of greed? That would be like a certain person claiming to own a company when he just draws a salary, like the guy sweeping the floor. My claims are provable with just simple Google searches.

 

Those in places like Germany bought the rope that's hanging them now.

We are all going to be hanging from that same rope soon.

 

We are all going to be hanging from that same rope soon.

The US will be fine IMO but most of the EU, maybe.

There won't be a shortage of abandoned Russian weapons there. We can hope they left some spare fuel behind too.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/g...ned-in-ukrainian-counteroffensive-in-pictures

 

The US will be fine IMO but most of the the EU, maybe.

Oil, gas, and coal will flow to the highest paying customers. These will be Germany, GB, and the rest of Europe this winter.

This will reduce supply and increase price in USA. This is Econ 101.

Our economy is pretty much screwed until we accelerate exploitation of our home- grown resources.

And that ain't happening under the current green regime.

But, one can always buy an electric car they can't charge. So there is that.

 

Oil, gas, and coal will flow to the highest paying customers. These will be Germany, GB, and the rest of Europe this winter.

This will reduce supply and increase price in USA. This is Econ 101.

Our economy is pretty much screwed until we accelerate exploitation of our home- grown resources.

And that ain't happening under the current green regime.

But, one can always buy an electric car they can't charge. So there is that.

@joeyd999

Are you saying that "green" is the wrong way to go , and by extension, we should dig up all the carbon fuels we can and burn them ?

 

@joeyd999

Are you saying that "green" is the wrong way to go , and by extension, we should dig up all the carbon fuels we can and burn them ?

Unfortunately, if I told you "what I am saying" this thread would get locked immediately and I would likely be banned permanently.

There are times when politics and engineering intersect (hell, everything is politics), but our lords and masters have decided that such discussions are verboten.

 

@joeyd999

Are you saying that "green" is the wrong way to go , and by extension, we should dig up all the carbon fuels we can and burn them ?

The problem is not green, it's pretending to be green by using others carbon based fuels from places like Russia like Germany did. Wishful thinking in going green will land you in cold water.

 

Just an observation:
When a market chooses a solution (for example: coal) things work, though there may be unpopular side-effects (acid rain). When governments make major decisions, such as when Sri Lanka banned chemical fertilizers the desire for an ideal situation is way ahead of its time, if the right time every comes. How many "planned economies" have come to fruition, and how did those go compared to free markets?