This is more information about halocarbons. The current use is monitored. Right?

In our Ammonia Refrigeration Simplified (click here) paper we told you everything you wanted to know about ammonia refrigeration but were afraid to ask. But ammonia isn’t the only refrigerant used in food processing, meat, dairy, bakery, and cold storage facilities. Freon (a trademark of Dow and the most recognized halocarbon chemical) is preferred by many processors. So what are the pros and cons of Freon? Read on to learn the facts from Food Plant Engineering team of experts.

Halocarbons come in two flavors: one is methane-based and the other ethane-based. Because of ozone-depletion concerns, methanes are being eliminated from industrial use. (As part of the Montreal Protocol, the widely-used halomethane R-12 was phased out in 1995. Similarly, R-22 is scheduled to cease production in 2020.) Ethane-based halocarbon systems are very common today in certain types of processing facilities. If you’re considering such a system, discuss the following:...

There is still fires roaring in the USA. You would think this would be the focus of federal legislators, but, alas playing politics with the American people are more importan.

Click here for the interactive map to the right. (Thank you) Click on the small icons to found out if your house is burning or simply burned to the ground.

March 10, 2017
By John Asebes

During the record setting fires in Kansas (click here) this past week, crews from surrounding communities lent their resources to help battle the flames.

“I have taken pictures at a lot of grass fires but none that big.”

Through the eyes of a firefighter.

“You look at the pictures and realize how much damage was done,” says Garry Brownlee.

Garry Brownlee shot these images of a fire that left more than 500,000 acres torched in Clark and Comanche counties.

“Our crews worked on one major fire line almost all night long. The fire line was approximately 2 and a half 3 miles long. The wind was blowing terrible. It moved quick.”...

Once the name is found in the map above the incident can be looked up here. (click here) Yep, Texas and Oklahoma are still burning. It can be hard on people.

This is current use and information of halocarbons

That brings us to the production of halocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride.

6.4.4.1. Sources of Halocarbons

The CFCs and HCFCs are wholly anthropogenic and do not exist naturally. They have been widely used as propellants in aerosols, as blowing agents in foam manufacture, in air conditioning units and refrigerants (CDIAC, 1991, 1993). The Montreal Protocol (click here) has recently cut emissions of many species by over 90%. Methylhalides are primarily produced in the oceans, usually associated with algal growth (Moore & Tokarczyk, 1993), although a significant fraction may come from biomass burning. Annual emissions of halocarbons may be found in IPCC (1995).

Halocarbons are still produced. There is a plant in River Edge, New Jersey. The production plant is in South Carolina. I am sure there are regular inspections that insure the proper use of the chemicals and their containment to prevent escape into the troposphere.

Halocarbon Products Corporation, (click here) a leading worldwide producer of specialty fluorochemicals and inhalation anesthetics, today announced that David Bacon will be joining the company as its new chief executive officer, effective April 28, 2015.

The following (click here) are just a few of the numerous applications that benefit from fluorochemistry:

• Pharmaceuticals – Fluorinated compounds have shown efficacy as antibacterials, antifungals, antibiotics, anesthetics, protease inhibitors and anticancer agents, among many other applications.
• Agricultural Chemicals – Fluorinated compounds are used as fungicides, herbicides and insecticides and often show more potency than their non-fluorinated analogues. The increased potency allows lower application rates.
• Advanced Photoresists – In the quest for finer features in semiconductor lithography, photoresist polymers incorporating fluorine and/or fluorinated substituents exhibit the best combination of optical transparency at shorter wavelengths, etch resistance and solubility.
• Liquid Crystals – For use in display devices, the addition of fluorine has been found to change viscosity, miscibility, electrical properties, steric characteristics and other qualities that are important to these devices.
• Fluorinated Surfactants – Utilized as emulsifying and dispersing agents, while related compounds are used as repellant finishes or soil-release finishes for textiles, these compounds rely on the ability of fluorine to alter surface-energy properties.
• Dyes – The addition of fluorine or fluorinated substituents, such as the CF3 group, has been found to improve the fixation yield, lightfastness and chemical resistance of dyes.
• Fluoroplastics and Fluoroelastomers – Used as coatings, vessel liners, films, wiring insulation, gaskets, seals, lab equipment and hoses because of their chemical and thermal stability.
• Ion-Exchange Membranes – Fluoropolymer membranes are used for enhanced chemical and thermal stability in harsh environments.

The altitude in the picture is in kilometers 1 Kilometer = 3280.8399 Feet

A kilometer is half again more in height as a half mile.

Most ozone (about 90%) (click here) is found in the stratosphere, which begins about 10–16 kilometers (6–10 miles) above Earth’s surface and extends up to about 50 kilometers (31 miles) altitude. The stratospheric region with the highest ozone concentration is commonly known as the “ozone layer” (see Figure Q1-2). The ozone layer extends over the entire globe with some variation in altitude and thickness. The remaining ozone, about 10%, is found in the troposphere, which is the lowest region of the atmosphere, between Earth’s surface and the stratosphere.

The Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world challenged by none.

A mile is 5280 feet. The Burj Khalifa is a bit more than a half mile high.

If one examines the architecture of Burj, it is build similarly to pyramids. One level built on top of another level gradually diminishing in "area" all the way to the top. Fascinating. A half a mile. Wow.

Interestingly, the next few buildings in this exclusive club are Shanghi Tower, China at 2073 feet without a radio antenna, Makkah Royal Clock Tower, Saudi Arabia at 1972 feet, Pang An International Finance Center, China is 1965 feet, Lotte World Tower in South Korea at 1819 feet, One World Trade Center also known as The Freedom Tower USA at 1776 feet, CTF Finance Center, China at 1739 feet, Tapei 101, Tiawan at 1667 feet, Shanghi World Financial Center, China at 1614 feet and the International Commerce Center, Hong Kong, China at 1588 feet.

Of the nine tallest buildings in the world five are in China. China is 3.7 million square miles. The USA is 3.797 millions square miles. China has nearly 1.4 billion citizens. The USA has nearly 319 million citizens. So, China has 4.5 times more citizens than the USA on nearly the same square miles of land. It is understandable why the cities in China are vital.

The important part here is that the Burj Khalifa is one half mile high.

The Burj Khalifa, (click here) originally known as the Burj Dubai, towers above the city's already burgeoning skyline. It has 163 floors and a height of 2,717 feet tall, and is the tallest building in the world. Primarily constructed from steel and concrete, the building is the design by Owings, Skidmore and Merrill of Chicago, who were also responsible for the design of famous skyscrapers such as Willis Tower and One World Trade Center. The South Korean company Samsung C&T carried out the engineering and construction of the structure, which was completed in the year 2010. The building was a project by the United Arab Emirates’ government to shift the country’s economy from solely oil-based to a more tourism- and service-based nation. The building has 30,000 residences, 19 residential towers, a man-made lake which occupies 30 acres, parkland which occupies seven acres, nine hotels, and a shopping mall. This superstructure has given the United Arab Emirates international recognition, in addition to receiving praise from critics for its sleek design.

March 1, 2017
By Todd Wilkinson

Jackson Hole, WY – Whether it’s Yellowstone, Grand Teton, our national forests, wildlife refuges or even private ranches, never in the history of America has preserving land, by keeping its conservation values intact, resulted in huge economic hardship over mid to long-term horizons.

In fact, the most thriving, consistent, and sustainable economic sector in the great state of Wyoming is tourism, fueled by the powerful engine of protected public lands in the northwest quadrant of the state.

As Gov. Matt Mead and the legislature struggle to deal with budget shortfalls to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars—the vast majority related to the state’s misguided gamble on coal—you still hear elected officials spreading the unsubstantiated rumor that environmental protection is costing the state.

Recently, U.S. Sen. John Barrasso and Congresswoman Liz Cheney once again claimed the Endangered Species Act, public review requirements as part of the National Environmental Policy Act, and laws enforced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have hobbled the Wyoming economy.

While such anti-federal rhetoric certainly resonates with Wyoming voters, there is scant evidence to back it up.

Barrasso and Cheney would have their constituents believe that the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan, implemented by EPA to control pollution and carbon emissions, was decimating Wyoming’s low sulfur coal industry. But the Clean Power Plan actually didn’t come on line until late last year.

Many months before, four of the major coal companies doing business in the state declared bankruptcy not because of any environmental regulation, but instead owed to a glut of cheap natural gas and oil that became the fuel of choice for power generators. In fact, competition from these other fossil fuels so undercut the commodity value of coal that companies could barely give it away, much less profitably operate coal export terminals to Asia.

Now using Obama as a convenient foil and President Trump vowing to unlock $66 trillion of oil shale, Barrasso and Cheney are hard-pressed to explain how that strategy, which includes gutting environmental regulations, will advance their cause of reviving Wyoming’s coal future....

Fremont County, Wyoming GDP (click here)

Wyoming’s tourism economy (click here) saw another year of tremendous growth in 2015. In a preliminary assessment released today by the Wyoming Office of Tourism (WOT), a record 10.5 million people visited the state in 2015, up from 10.1 million visitors in 2014 or 4.2 percent. Wyoming significantly outpaced the national average visitation growth rate of 2.4 percent. This follows several years of consistently strong rises in visitation. Over the last decade, Wyoming’s tourism marketing has helped contribute to a 48 percent increase of visitation in the state.  

Travel spending in the state grew to just under $3.4 billion in 2015, an increase of $9 million over the previous year.  This visitor spending directly affects Wyoming’s economy by generating $175 million in local and state tax revenues, up 7.4 percent in 2015 compared to $163 million in 2014. Since 2005, tax revenues generated by the tourism and hospitality industry have grown by more than 86 percent.

Additionally, travel-related jobs are showing growth with the creation of 690 new jobs in Wyoming last year. The state’s tourism industry supports just under 32,000 full and part-time jobs, an employment number that has risen 7.7 percent in the past 10 years, and represents 12 percent of the state’s total workforce.

“We knew that by adding Seattle to our target markets and deepening our presence in existing markets, our campaign was strategically focused to get more visitors to Wyoming,” the Wyoming Office of Tourism’s Executive Director, Diane Shober said.  “With the addition of the work being done by local lodging tax boards and many tourism related businesses, Wyoming was and continues to be well positioned for success,” Shober added....

It's Sunday Night

March 11, 2017
By John Meyers

Duluth, Minn. — Many trees (click here) common in forests across the eastern U.S., including Minnesota and Wisconsin, won’t be able to keep up with the current pace of climate change, according to a new study by the Woods Hole Research Center.

The study echoes the findings of other, recent scientific research that shows some northern tree species simply won’t adapt fast enough to climate change that scientists say already is occurring.

The most recent study, published in the journal Global Change Biology, looked at 40 different eastern U.S. forest species and found balsam fir, quaking aspen and red spruce among the most vulnerable species to warming temperatures.

The trees will begin to fail in warmer climates in many areas and won’t keep up with changes without human intervention, according to the study’s conclusions.

“Trees, after all, cannot walk,” said Woods Hole scientist Brendan Rogers, the study’s lead author, in a statement with the study’s release. “They must disperse seeds that, in turn, establish, grow and reproduce. The pace of climate change threatens to rapidly overtake this migration, and landscapes fragmented by humans present even more challenges.”...

April 29, 2011

By Devon (David Haines)

A Devon composer says he has landed his 'dream job' of becoming a songwriter-in-residence of a US science festival.

David Haines has taken up the role for the Cambridge Science Festival, held in Massachusetts — the first of its kind in the United States.

It runs from tomorrow until May 8 and is a collaboration between Harvard, MIT Museum and the City of Cambridge, among others. MIT Museum director John Durant invited Mr Haines to become involved with the first festival in 2007 and he has had his work performed at each annual festival since.

This year, Mr Durant invited David to become songwriter-in-residence and several of his science songs will be premiered at festival concerts.

Mr Haines, from Teignmouth, has been rubbing shoulders with scientists and professors. He said: "This is my dream job — to have the opportunity to chat with some of the world's leading scientists about their work and do my best to interpret their work in a medium which makes it accessible to all.

"What strikes me about the scientists I've met so far is the overwhelming passion they have for their subject," said Mr Haines.

"North Cambridge Family Opera Company" (click here)

Presents "Powers of Ten"

Words and Music by David Haines

Trained at Bristol University, London's Guildhall School, and Banff School
of Fine Arts, David Haines has written fifteen music theater works,
including The Puzzle Jigs, which was performed by NCFO in 2003 and
2008. He has worked with many thousands of schoolchildren and has a
special interest in using song to enhance the science curriculum. The
NCFO Science Festival Chorus performed David's science oratorios
Lifetime: Songs of Life and Evolution in 2007 andPowers of Ten in 2008.
More recently, Powers of Ten was the official opening event of the first
USA Science and Engineering Festival in Washington DC. David is the
Cambridge Science Festival's Songwriter-in-Residence 2011-2014, and
has just been appointed to the same role with Green Schools Alliance.
He lives and teaches in Teignmouth, Devon in southwestern England.

Many Voices: The Science of Communication features twelve songs by David Haines

I want the CEO of Uber charged for obstructing justice every time an Uber vehicle used "Greyball."

March 3, 2017

San Francisco — Uber has for years (click here) engaged in a worldwide program to deceive authorities in markets where its low-cost ride-hailing service was being resisted by law enforcement, or in some instances, had been outright banned.

The program, which involves a tool called Greyball, uses data collected from Uber’s app and other techniques to identify and circumvent officials. Uber used these to evade authorities in cities such as Paris, Boston and Las Vegas, and in countries including Australia, China, South Korea and Italy.

Greyball was part of a broader program called VTOS, short for “violation of terms of service,” which Uber created to root out people it thought were using or targeting its service improperly. The VTOS program, including the Greyball tool, began as early as 2014 and remains in use today, predominantly outside the United States. Greyball was approved by Uber’s legal team.

Greyball and the broader VTOS program were described to The New York Times by four current and former Uber employees, who also provided documents. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because the tools and their use are confidential and because of fear of retaliation from the company....

For every time "Grayball" was used in traffic. There is no reason to allow Uber to get away with obstruction of justice. I am waiting to hear how Uber is a hero and does things regular taxis can't do necessarily, like call 911 when an accident happens in it's path a distance ahead or alert the police to a perceived drunken drive to save lives. Those kinds of stories aren't available because the company, "Uber," is narcissistic and stupid.

December 14, 2016
By Andrew J. Hawkins

...As I wrote last September (click here) when Uber launched its first self-driving service in Pittsburgh, the experience was equal parts thrilling and mundane: thrilling because of the implications for the future of transportation, and mundane because it was like driving with your overly cautious grandmother. But unlike Pittsburgh, Uber wouldn’t let me get behind the wheel, so all of my impressions of the car’s self-driving capabilities are from the backseat.

Occasionally, the safety driver would take control, like when he wanted to do something that could be perceived as reckless by a computer but totally normal to a human, like cut across three lanes of traffic. And the car occasionally kicked itself out of autonomy mode, forcing the driver to take the wheel. While Uber says the goal is full autonomy, the company admits the technology is not there yet....

See, Uber's CEO is blindly stupid and a parasite to every human being. Uber's CEO is a classic moron at the top of a company.

When Uber finally becomes completely driverless, who is going to call the car for a ride? 

Uber's CEO lives in a world where human beings don't exist. He is part of the "Skynet" CEO's who actually believe customers only come in the way of other robots. That should be interesting to watch how Wall Street uses it's citizenship to destroy the very essence of an economy and self-destructing wealth.

Michael Moore should be hosting the Academy Awards.

Next year I want Michael Moore to host the Academy Awards. He doesn't host "Late Night," he makes films. Why does that seem like a choice that makes sense?

I am sure he would get contact lens for such an honor.

2003

Documentarian Michael Moore (click here) made his career on political cage rattling, but he brought his beliefs to the Oscar stage in 2003, when his film "Bowling for Columbine" won in the feature documentary category. Wagging his finger,  Moore chastised then-President George W. Bush for the Iraq War, which had started just days prior, calling him a “fictitious president” and saying “Shame on you!”...

Americans need to understand what demoralize means.

1. :  to cause to turn aside or away from what is good or true or morally right :  to corrupt the morals of
2. 2a :  to weaken the morale of :  discourage, dispirit; were demoralized by the loss...foreclosures were further demoralizing an already desperate real-estate market — F. D. Rooseveltc :  to throw into disorder
3. b :  to upset or destroy the normal functioning of

Donald Trump is definitely attempting to demoralize the people of the USA.

Demoralizing allows other influence to set in if hopeless sets in because of it.

There were demoralizing influences during Bush as well. I remember Nicholas Kristof's editorial that basically stated, "You have to go along to get along." Hogwash. Americans have many friends that are from a country that is NOT demoralized and it is they that can add to a stronger resolve for those that are targets of the Trump administration.

I want to point to a realization I came to while watching the Academy Award winning documentary, "White Helmets" (click here). It is a case of demoralizing the opposition.

I could never understand the bombings of hospitals in Syria. It is a human rights offense and the idea Syria's people were not safe in hospitals bewildered me.

I now realize why the attacks occurred on Syrian hospitals. It was to demoralize the heroes called, "White Helmets." 

Think about it. Here a group of many ethnicity and possibly both Sunni and Shi'ite have come together to save the lives of people caught in the rubble after bombing runs. When the people, primarily civilians, were rescued they were most likely to be taken to a hospital to treat wounds. 

Demoralize. 

When the hospitals became targets it was to demoralize the "White Helmets." They never became that despondent to give up all hope. A week old baby saved from death told them their mission was correct and required.

That is demoralization which attempts to remove hope and purpose. It is intended to remove morality as citizens know it and replace it with injustice and victimization. Demoralization will turn the strongest opponent into the weakest victim. We cannot allow that to happen.

I am grateful for at least one US Attorney with backbone.

The USA is losing its' democracy in favor of a dictator and plutocracy. Former US Attorney Bharara is absolutely correct in his chosen course. Somehow, Mr. Trump believes everyone would be ashamed to be "Fired." Not so.

Some Americans can consider such hideous and arrogant actions a badge of honor. There is no basis for Mr. Bharara's termination. The firings (they sincerely aren't resignations) are inappropriately political.

Unlike Trump's employees, US Attorneys are not easily found. They are attorneys willing to face dangerous odds at times. It takes a special attorney to dedicate themselves to the best outcomes for the USA WITHIN THE LAW.

Mr. Bharara is an important man. He will have no problems finding a welcoming law firm. That is the case for all of the US Attorneys inappropriately removed from their office. They will be successful no matter the path they choose. What is worrisome is the sovereignty of the USA. It's constitution is slowly being dissolved and no one seems to care.

March 11, 2017

By Maggie Haberman

Preet Bharara,(click here) the Manhattan federal prosecutor who was asked by President Trump to remain in his post shortly after the election, was fired on Saturday after he refused an order to submit his resignation.

Mr. Bharara’s dismissal capped an extraordinary showdown in which a political appointee who was named by Mr. Trump’s predecessor, President Barack Obama, declined an order to submit a resignation.

“I did not resign. Moments ago I was fired. Being the US Attorney in SDNY will forever be the greatest honor of my professional life,” Mr. Bharara wrote on his personal Twitter feed, which he set up in the last two weeks.

Mr. Bharara was among 46 holdover Obama appointees who were called by the acting deputy attorney general on Friday and told to immediately submit resignations and plan to clear out of their offices. But Mr. Bharara, who was called to Trump Tower for a meeting with the incoming president in late November 2016, declined to do so.

Mr. Bharara said he was asked by Mr. Trump to remain in his current post at the meeting. Mr. Bharara met with Mr. Trump at Trump Tower, and then addressed reporters afterward. 

Before the firing, one of New York’s top elected Republicans voiced support for Mr. Bharara on Saturday....

This is called governance, not greed.

This is the Trudeau family, happy, healthy and young. Canada has wisely entrusted it's governance to the NEXT GENERATION rather than remaining with the generation that doesn't realize retirement doesn't mean death.

And, NO, I do not believe Texas oil barons love their grandchildren and great grandchildren more than their wealth. I would think that is plainly obvious.

It is called "generational morality," to recognize the needs of the future and the path on which it lies and to respond in planning for inevitable outcomes that benefit the future.


March 11, 2017
By Jeremy Berke

"No country (click here) would find 173 billion barrels of oil in the ground and just leave them there," Trudeau said during his address to oil and gas industry executives at Houston's CERAWeek conference, discussing Alberta's vast oil sands reserve.

Trudeau's comments were met with a standing ovation from the over 1,200 attendees — an out-of-the-ordinary reaction to a keynote speaker, conference-goers told the CBC. The prime minister was also given an award for his efforts to balance environmental protection with energy production.

"The resource will be developed. Our job is to ensure this is done responsibly, safely and sustainably," Trudeau added. "Nothing is more essential to the US economy than access to a secure, reliable source of energy. Canada is that source."...

The Ides of March is coming, will the Speaker of the USA House under the USA Constitution impeach their dictator?

Auckland is the northern region of the North Island.

New Zealand is east of Australia.

March 11, 2017

• Record heavy rain strikes - month-fall levels in 24 hours (click here)
• Hundreds of people are without power in Auckland due to weather-related outage
• Heavy rain has caused a number of houses to flood across Auckland, mainly in the eastern suburbs.
• Flooding and slips cause traffic havoc
• What's in store next? Stay with us through the day

Hundreds of residents are without power and homes and streets are flooded as torrential rain continues to lash the north of the country this morning.

A person is trapped in a car filling with water on Alfriston Ardmore Rd. The flooding is currently up to the steering wheel and the fire service is on the way to rescue the occupant.

Fire crews in Northland, Auckland, Waikato and the Bay of Plenty were kept busy overnight, with the fire service receiving 153 weather-related calls between 6pm and 6am.

They've been dealing with flooded houses, basements and garages.

More than 100 of the pleas for help came from the Auckland region.

Problems first started cropping up in east Auckland, with flooding in Howick and Beachlands and then moving to Otara, Otahuhu, Manurewa and Papatoe....

Bush was a power play, Trump is a coup..

Why is it that Republicans don't believe in freedom and a two party system? The Republicans are too scared to impeach a dictator.

March 4, 2007
By David Johnston, Eric Lipton and William Yardley 

Washington, March 3 — After Daniel G. Bogden (click here) got the call in December telling him that he was being dismissed as the United States attorney in Nevada, he pressed for an explanation.

Mr. Bogden, who was named the top federal prosecutor in Nevada in 2001 after 11 years of working his way up at the Justice Department, asked an official at the agency’s headquarters if the firing was related to his performance or to that of his office. “That didn’t enter into the equation,” he said he was told.

After several more calls, Mr. Bogden reached a senior official who offered an answer. “There is a window of opportunity to put candidates into an office like mine,” Mr. Bogden said, recalling the conversation. “They were attempting to open a slot and bring someone else in.”

The ouster of Mr. Bogden and seven other United States attorneys has set off a furor in Washington that took the Bush administration by surprise....

No doubt God put Trump in the presidency to be the dictator he was born to be.

March 10, 2017
By Charles Savage and Maggie Haberman  

Washington — The Trump administration (click here) moved on Friday to sweep away most of the remaining vestiges of Obama administration prosecutors at the Justice Department, ordering 46 holdover United States attorneys to tender their resignations immediately — including Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan.

The firings were a surprise — especially for Mr. Bharara, who has a reputation for prosecuting public corruption cases and for investigating insider trading. In November, Mr. Bharara met with then President-elect Donald J. Trump at Trump Tower in Manhattan and told reporters afterward that both Mr. Trump and Jeff Sessions, who is now the attorney general, had asked him about staying on, which the prosecutor said he expected to do.

But on Friday, Mr. Bharara was among federal prosecutors who received a call from Dana Boente, the acting deputy attorney general, instructing him to resign, according to a person familiar with the matter. As of Friday evening, though some of the prosecutors had publicly announced their resignations, Mr. Bharara had not. A spokesman for Mr. Bharara declined to comment....