Also, Germany Proves That Unionized Workforces Can’t Make Quality Cars
Fox & Friends, the dumbest show in the history of television, asserts that the United States can’t have solar power because it doesn’t get the consistent sunshine of…Germany.
You will not be surprised to know that this turns out to be as false as it sounds.
MAJeff:
February 8th, 2013 at 5:50 pm
But Miss America can’t be wrong!
Jameson Quinn:
February 8th, 2013 at 5:55 pm
Maybe they’re trying to jump back over the shark?
Gerald:
February 8th, 2013 at 5:57 pm
Yes, I often get Germany and Nigeria confused too. Also, USA and Uruguay.
Mudge:
February 8th, 2013 at 6:16 pm
I had to smile. Sunny climes are usually, in the right wing world, the home of indolent siesta takers (see Italy, Spain and Mexico). But now we have the industrious Germans living in a solar paradise. Ahh.. the stupid.
In honor of Germany..
Mudge:
February 8th, 2013 at 6:16 pm
wjts:
February 8th, 2013 at 6:19 pm
It works just fine if you pick a slightly different stereotype: they’re not industrious Germans – they’re rapacious Teutons. That dastardly Kaiser Bill has stolen America’s sunlight!
ploeg:
February 8th, 2013 at 6:20 pm
Wait a second. The whole argument was, “They’re a smaller country, and they’ve got lots of sun. Right? They’ve got a lot more sun than we do.”
That’s right. Smaller countries get more sun. Just think about it. Countries like Belize, Rwanda, Singapore, all those Pacific island countries, they’re small countries and get tons of sun. Whereas countries like Canada and Russia are big countries and get hardly any sun at all. We might be onto something here!
ploeg:
February 8th, 2013 at 6:26 pm
Logically, if we let Texas split into five states as the joint resolution and ordinance of annexation provided for, and then let all those states secede, all those mini-Texases will be leaders in solar power in no time.
Davis X. Machina:
February 8th, 2013 at 6:27 pm
I have the explanation. The map has Germany blue, getting less sunlight than us, nly because they use square meters, and we use square feet, which are roughly 9x smaller. The light is more spread out in Germany, is all.
They’d be as yellow and orange as Arizona and Nevada if you used the same units.
Randy Paul:
February 8th, 2013 at 6:30 pm
As someone who actually lived in Germany for three years, I’m amazed – although perhaps I shouldn’t be- how idiotic the Faux News people are. Granted, in summer it was terrific: the sun would be out until 11 p.m. and rise at 4 a.m. but much of the year was spent craving sunshine.
Wapiti:
February 8th, 2013 at 6:35 pm
@Randy Paul; as someone else who lived in Germany for three years, I’d agree. I’d also say that as a Seattlite, the German climate never made me homesick, because the climate and light levels were pretty much the same as the Pacific NW.
cpinva:
February 8th, 2013 at 6:35 pm
i didn’t need a map, to immediately know that was wrong. the amount of direct sunlight (the best kind, for solar) an area gets is strictly dependant on latitude: the higher the latitude, the less direct sunlight you’re going to get, period. off the top of my head, the only two european states i could think of, that would probably get the same amount as most of the continental US, would be spain and southern italy.
that said, even angled sunlight still gives you the ability to produce solar energy, although, with probably higher average winds, that might be the more cost efficient way to go, as a country.
i assume the people on that show are at least of average intelligence: able to dress themselves; find their way to and from work, without a guide-dog, use the bathroom, etc. it must pay awfully well, to act like a total fool, on camera, every day. i’m guessing, by this point, most of them have an alcohol or other drug problem, as they attempt to self-medicate away the agony, as they watch their lives completely wasted. i bet they’re just really fun dates to live with too.
Leeds man:
February 8th, 2013 at 6:38 pm
The shark left in embarrassment years ago.
Trollhattan:
February 8th, 2013 at 6:44 pm
Wait, didn’t the Soviets get bogged down in the Great German Desert in 1944-5? What about that, huh?
Morons.
UserGoogol:
February 8th, 2013 at 6:55 pm
It’s not that simple because of climatic factors influencing clouds and stuff (the Wonkblog map shows that the Southwest gets far more sunlight than the Southeast) but latitude is obviously a rather big part of the equation.
UserGoogol:
February 8th, 2013 at 7:03 pm
To be fair, I find it persistently non-intuitive how north Europe is. Boston has about the same latitude as Rome, but psychologically Boston feels like it should be further north. And the northern tip of Scotland is alongside Juneau, Alaska.
Which isn’t to say the comment on Fox and Friends makes much sense. Germany might not seem as far north as it is, but it’s obviously not exactly Arizona.
Jim Lynch:
February 8th, 2013 at 7:05 pm
You can’t fool all the people, all the time, and FOX has hit that wall of walls. What happens to it next will be interesting.
After all, Rupert is no spring chicken. That alone spells change.
JustRuss:
February 8th, 2013 at 7:10 pm
And whom amongst us can forget the famous Battle of the Bulge, when American airpower was grounded due to
blizzardssandstorms?Exhibit #2,957 making stuff up is SOP at Fox “News”.
DrDick:
February 8th, 2013 at 7:15 pm
The latter mistake is a bit more understandable, given that they are both banana republics ruled by reactionary oligarchs.
owlbear1:
February 8th, 2013 at 7:21 pm
I blame Mercator.
MAJeff:
February 8th, 2013 at 7:24 pm
But there are mini-Murdochs who have learned at the feet of their sociopathic paterfamilias. Witness James Murdoch and the phone hacking scandal. The spawn have internalized the pursuit of profit through right-wing pandering, a minor scandal notwithstanding.
Bill Murray:
February 8th, 2013 at 7:38 pm
I thought the planes were grounded because the light was too bright to see anything else
Leeds man:
February 8th, 2013 at 7:39 pm
That’s just projection bias.
joe from Lowell:
February 8th, 2013 at 8:01 pm
Well put.
Warren Terra:
February 8th, 2013 at 8:08 pm
This is especially true because of the Mercator Projection, which proves that equatorial countries are smaller than polar countries. Indeed, they’re smaller than polar countries with the same land area!
Warren Terra:
February 8th, 2013 at 8:10 pm
They also probably use Joules instead of Kilowatt Hours. The comparison is impossible!
Warren Terra:
February 8th, 2013 at 8:12 pm
I don’t know why we’re hearing so much about solar power in Germany. It’s obvious that the true mother lode of solar power is going to be England, because The Sun Never Sets On The British Empire.
Also, Versailles.
Stan Gable:
February 8th, 2013 at 8:23 pm
You know who else loved sunlight
Green Caboose:
February 8th, 2013 at 8:37 pm
I had the same thought (I was there for 4 years a few decades ago). In addition, Germany isn’t exactly overflowing with unused barren dry land just begging for a few hundred square miles of solar cells – probably 0% of Germany fits that description. Whereas maybe 40% of the US does.
Green Caboose:
February 8th, 2013 at 8:38 pm
ROTFLMAO
FLRealist:
February 8th, 2013 at 8:40 pm
Superman.
hylen:
February 8th, 2013 at 8:45 pm
Best laugh I’ve had today.
The Dark Avenger:
February 8th, 2013 at 8:46 pm
There’s a reason Europe is warmer than America at similar latitutdes:
efgoldman:
February 8th, 2013 at 8:46 pm
Assumes facts not in evidence.
(the other) Davis:
February 8th, 2013 at 8:47 pm
So basically, you were too depressed to give a damn about home?
(Also a former Seattlite here.)
efgoldman:
February 8th, 2013 at 8:48 pm
Win.
Now go watch a hockey game.
efgoldman:
February 8th, 2013 at 8:51 pm
I think the Murdochs might be like crime families: Each generation has less skill, smarts, and adaptability than the previous one.
You don’t think old Rupert would leave a recognizable trail in a criminal enterprise, do you?
Lige:
February 8th, 2013 at 9:31 pm
Green roofs were developed in Germany and when they were first trying to build them in Portland, OR they ended up having to find different plants to use as Portland had so much more sun the German plants would end up dying.
Randy Paul:
February 8th, 2013 at 9:31 pm
I was back there in May and didn’t see solar implemented on land, but saw a lot of it on roofs in every city I viaited or passed through by train. Windmills of the large commercial type also prevalent, especially on farms. In Trier, I saw a small windmill about 12 feet high with an egg beater design. Something like that could easily fit in someone’s back yard.
Randy Paul:
February 8th, 2013 at 9:34 pm
Which is precisely why I always thought the idea that Scandinavians emigrated to Minnesota because the climate was similar was so ridiculous.
catclub:
February 8th, 2013 at 9:52 pm
Not true. Uruguay has a fairly leftist president.
Also, inequality in Uruguay is far lower than in Brazil
(faint praise, but still).
Randy Paul:
February 8th, 2013 at 9:58 pm
Not to mention Bobby Hebb.
JKTHs:
February 8th, 2013 at 10:01 pm
That sounds like more like the 10th percentile of intelligence rather than the average.
Benjamin:
February 8th, 2013 at 10:05 pm
See also: http://jessicavalenti.tumblr.com/post/42612393836/shhhh-no-one-tell-fox-news-that-the-wedding-kiss
DrDick:
February 8th, 2013 at 10:19 pm
My bad, I was confusing them with Paraguay.
expatchad:
February 9th, 2013 at 12:01 am
All thersmog from OK and AR…
expatchad:
February 9th, 2013 at 12:04 am
And wet. Wet.
Ibid
expatchad:
February 9th, 2013 at 12:08 am
ack!
Pseudonym:
February 9th, 2013 at 12:29 am
So you’re saying James is more of a Fredo than a Michael?
James E. Powell:
February 9th, 2013 at 12:47 am
Another example of stupid &/or evil people talking to other Stupid &/or evil people. It almost goes without saying that their assertions are not true in the connected with reality sense of the word true. But in the confirming the narrative to which they desperately cling sense of the word, it’s totally true.
efgoldman:
February 9th, 2013 at 12:59 am
That is too good to be true. But I really want it to be.
Dave:
February 9th, 2013 at 2:58 am
The climate in Norway is only ‘moderate’ compared to other places that are that far north. They didn’t invent skiing for nothing.
Jon C:
February 9th, 2013 at 3:07 am
So when Meghyn Kelly led a camera crew down to the back room polling coverage team on Election Night to cut short Karl Rove’s nonsense — that wasn’t
a desperate cry fora regular feature?Because they could keep someone pretty busy doing just that all day. And I’d probably be riveted.
cpinva:
February 9th, 2013 at 4:08 am
i was being overly kind.
“Assumes facts not in evidence.”
cpinva:
February 9th, 2013 at 4:14 am
ok, ok, but i stand on my assertion
“That sounds like more like the 10th percentile of intelligence rather than the average.”
that they’re all secret (or not so) alcoholics, or other drugs of choice, to dull the pain of knowing, in spite of their money, they’ll be forever laughed at. or something.
Thlayli:
February 9th, 2013 at 4:24 am
Similarly, North Americans don’t intuitively grasp how far South America is offset to the east. The westernmost major city in South America, Guayaquil, is roughly the same longitude as Pittsburgh and Toronto.
herr doktor bimler:
February 9th, 2013 at 5:53 am
The Sun Never Sets On The British Empire.
No-one trusted the English in the dark.
Mike F.:
February 9th, 2013 at 9:52 am
“A lot of people are talking on Wall Street and the business industry . . . ‘
WTF is “the business industry”?
Oh Wait “Right?”, that’s the thing she gets paid to report on, “Right?”
Jameson Quinn:
February 9th, 2013 at 10:09 am
Roughly 10x smaller. Easier and more accurate.
Davis:
February 9th, 2013 at 10:34 am
I’m jealous. How does one get a job as a Fox Business News analyst? Aside from being attractive, that is.
Sev:
February 9th, 2013 at 11:06 am
Indeed. And Stalin nodded knowingly at Yalta, the sunshine putting an odd glint in his eye as FDR hinted of a newly discovered source of unusual power, the secret eventually finding its way via the Stasi to the desk of Erich Honnecker. The rest, as they say, is history.
Sev:
February 9th, 2013 at 11:13 am
Heh. I was just explaining to my wife that the tennis tournament in Vina del Mar was in the same time zone as us in NY. And what direction are you going if you fly from Mexico City to Caracas?
muddy:
February 9th, 2013 at 11:28 am
My mother used to say that the Germans were a very efficient people. That’s probably why they can get more out of the sun, efficiency standards.
The Dark Avenger:
February 9th, 2013 at 11:48 am
African or English swallow?
NonyNony:
February 9th, 2013 at 5:48 pm
That also holds for “legit” families with money and power. Look at how the Bush family has progressed. Or the Hiltons. Or pretty much any family whose fortune was founded by a smart hustler.
LeeEsq:
February 9th, 2013 at 7:34 pm
I know that Fox News is supposed to be a conservative propaganda outfit but can they please try not to sound dumb. Its embarrassing.
hickes01:
February 9th, 2013 at 8:15 pm
They came for the awesome Mountain Skiing!
hickes01:
February 9th, 2013 at 8:16 pm
+1
hickes01:
February 9th, 2013 at 8:18 pm
“I’m smart! I can handle things!”. I think I’ve got a clip of a future Murdoch board meeting..,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYabrQrXt4A
Rhino:
February 10th, 2013 at 8:37 am
Boycotting all NHL hockey this year.
swearyanthony:
February 10th, 2013 at 5:32 pm
Correct. Read up on One.Tel
Lachlan Murdoch and James Packer each dropped several hundred million of their family money into that turkey. (The book “other peoples money”) is a fantastic writeup of the whole saga. Jodee Rich, who led the whole thing, is now doing some Klout-like social media thing.