RE: [Dixonary] Round 2354: SIPHUNCLE [Definition List]

[Judy Madnick]

5. Any of several species of free-floating freshwater mussels of the
family _Dreissenidae_.

13. A small whistling groundhog or marmot [Fr. Can. _siffleur_ to
whistle _ + dim. _unculus_].

Judy Madnick
Jacksonville, FL

[Daniel Widdis]

I believe it's one of the siphon-ish defs, but not those that so obviously
state the root word.

12 and 14 please.

On 11/10/12 6:41 AM, Chuck wrote:

>12. An external pore (usu. pl.) of a marine hydrozoan, such as the
>Portuguese man-of-war, through which respiration and excretion occur by
>diffusion.
>
>14. A multiple-tube manifold used in collection of cow's milk extracted
>by automated milking machines.

[EnDash@aol.com]

Numbers 5 and 7 are my guesses for this one.




5. Any of several species of free-floating freshwater mussels of the
family _Dreissenidae_.
..
7. A mythological gemstone said to emit light even in total darkness.

-- Dick Weltz

[EnDash@aol.com]

LIPA provides a perfect example of what happens when you let the wrong
people and/or government interfere with normal market force. Long Island was
served by an investor-owned company named LILCO (Long Island Lighting
Company).

To prepare for increasing demand as Long Island business grew apace, and to
provide adequate future energy at reasonable cost, they built a nuclear
generation plant at Shoreham -- for which they had to take on massive debt,
to be paid off later when the plant would go online and be able to sell the
electricity it generated.

Just before the plant was slated to go into operation, adamant anti-nuclear
power activists raised holy hell and persuaded the authorities not to
allow it to become operational. So, no Shoreham, no more LILCO. Instead, Long
Islanders got an "authority," the Long Island Power Authority, consisting of
a board of political appointees (many of whose seats the governor and
other pols don't bother to fill.

Result: in every storm/hurricane/flood situation LIPA utterly fails its
customers and lags far behind the other regional utilities such as Con Ed,
PSEG, etc. in prompt and efficient action to restore outages. One reason, is
that LIPA is still paying off the massive debt that construction of Shoreham
entailed, but with no income from the banned plant; so it hasn't enough
extra money to invest sufficiently in improving and maintaining its
infrastructure. The other reason for LIPA's incompetence is that it is a government
entity with none of the accountability to its customers that an
investor-owned utility would have.

Governor Cuomo can rant and rave all he wants, but LIPA is structurally and
financially incapable of becoming much better than it is and has been.

I feel sorry for the folks out in Nassau and Queens counties who are
suffering greatly because of this idiotic approach to the generation and
delivery of electric power.




In a message dated 11/11/2012 1:58:51 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
clcarson (AT) live (DOT) com writes:

That's great, Chris! I gather there are thousands still lightless and
heatless, mainly on Long Island, where some sort of armed uprising against
LIPA may be in the works.

[Jim Hart]

Dick,
My curiosity is sparked (as it were) because I also live in Shoreham, but
one that will never host a nuclear power plant. Since the general store
closed our only commercial operations are the post office and the
campground where you'd better bring a solar panel if you want power in your
tent.

So can you explain to this curious outsider who the 'wrong people' were
that interfered with 'normal market force'. Was it the ant-nuclear people
or the LIPA management or someone else? As you tell it, it sounds like
LILCO borrowed big for a project without fully assessing the risk and so
went under. So why is LIPA now saddled with its predecessor's debt, and how
else can it service that debt without cuts in expenditure elsewhere? And
why is a public entity like LIPA less accountable to its customers than an
investor-owned utility whose first responsiblity is presumably to its
stockholders?

Jim




Jim