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America is hurtling toward a power grid crisis » Yale Climate Connections
Electricity demand is skyrocketing, utility bills are spiking – but it could take years to build the new transmission lines that would address the problem.
![Balloonfest '86 was a fundraising event in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, held on September 27, 1986, in which the local chapter of United Way set a world record by releasing almost 1.5 million balloons.[2] The event was intended to be a harmless publicity stunt. However, the released balloons drifted back over the city and Lake Erie and landed in the surrounding area, causing problems for traffic and a nearby airport. In consequence, the organizers faced lawsuits seeking millions of dollars in damages,[1] and cost overruns put the event at a net loss.[3] The event also interfered with a United States Coast Guard search for two boaters who were later found drowned.[1]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cyyd366g3hrxp5rynixm2mm3/bafkreiawb5nps4ncnbolwpfmuighhtyjuqlgty74kxwrdvwy5w3nyggopa)
![President (also commonly called Asshole,[1] Scum,[1] or Capitalism[1])](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cyyd366g3hrxp5rynixm2mm3/bafkreih2wd4ki4cls6dfwzdeukisc2xmhonyju5yed3gtpksem7pqj7mm4)
!["Prawo Jazdy" was an alleged Polish criminal supposedly active in the Republic of Ireland. The name was listed on PULSE, a computer system used by the Garda Síochána, with at least 50 traffic violations, including speeding and parking violations, recorded across the country, but there were suspicious aspects such as each incident being associated with a different address. "Prawo Jazdy" was also listed as a name on the Fixed Charge Processing System (FCPS). An investigation was launched into this person whom the Gardaí considered to be Ireland's worst traffic violator.[1][2][3]
An internal Garda memorandum in June 2007 revealed that, upon consultation with an online Polish–English bilingual dictionary, prawo jazdy was not a personal name, but instead the Polish term for 'driving licence', misidentified by Garda officers as the traffic violator's name due to the phrase being printed at the top right-hand corner of Polish driving licences (with the licensee's name and personal details printed beneath in a smaller text size). The error became public knowledge in February 2009.[4][5][6][7]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:vuwi7zajg2r4k5cdfnanujpr/bafkreic7vs4zlu4try2c6zt2ycakfz27eig5djxkfn2v5anh2zntyre7eu)
![Who, Me? was a top secret, sulfurous, non-lethal chemical weapon developed by MIT-graduate Ernest Crocker for the U.S. Office of Strategic Services during World War II.[1][2] Who, Me? smelled strongly of fecal matter, and was issued in pocket atomizers intended to be unobtrusively sprayed on a German officer to humiliate him and, by extension, demoralize the occupying German forces.[3]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cyyd366g3hrxp5rynixm2mm3/bafkreig5a4qwpgntp5yvblqc35c35h7gu3eq25yb4shbv57dbuvnxxfuwq)
![Who, Me? had a high concentration of extremely volatile sulfur compounds that were very difficult to control: more often than not, the person who did the spraying also ended up smelling as bad as the one targeted.[4] After two weeks, it was concluded that Who, Me? was a failure.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cyyd366g3hrxp5rynixm2mm3/bafkreibih3uoda66lpsf4t3oksxyr4e5ppkiu7n6zxp7pzdlfqbp6grehm)