Republican leadership wants to win, not carry out decency and justice to the American people.

Republican leadership will not care about the level of bigotry in any legislature either. They are not signing the final document and they will leverage power for their croines. Paul "No Clue" Ryan will gavel the bigots in and enjoy the majority the silence created in January 2017.

Count the dollars to the RNC during this period and understand why this continues.

By Friederdorf

...Enter Donald Trump. (click here) His transgressions are many. Ryan himself declared Trump’s comments about a Mexican American judge “the textbook definition of racism.”

Now let’s return to Trump’s latest egregious affront against an ethnic minority: trying to discredit the parents of a fallen soldier by prejudging them as a chauvinist husband and a cowed wife who wasn’t allowed to speak; ignorantly spreading that stereotype; and offering no retraction even after knowing it to be false.

If that were the end of the story, it would be bad enough for Paul Ryan. He would be relearning this about himself: that electing a Republican is more important to him than opposing naked racism and prejudice. Few partisans want to think that about themselves.

Yet there’s more than the personal cost of knowing it about himself.

The father of a fallen soldier intends to keep reminding Paul Ryan about this, to keep insisting that it is a moral failure, until Ryan changes his mind. As Josh Barro put it, the Mexican American jurist, Gonzalo Curiel, “is a sitting judge presiding over a Trump case, so he couldn't camp out on TV and keep the story alive. Khizr Khan can.”

That will have consequences.

Before, Republicans could always maintain, with at least some veneer of plausibility, that they would of course repudiate a politician who crossed a certain line.

With Donald Trump as their standard-bearer, that line has been shown to encompass a candidate who, feeling attacked by the father of a fallen soldier, finds that his first instinct is to lash out at the man’s grieving wife, the fallen soldier’s mother, impugning both with ignorant, derogatory speculation rooted in prejudice....

Since there won't be any presidential or vice presidential debates in the USA...

...John Oliver will have to develop a virtual set of four debates. The Supreme Court virtual reality with pets worked for me.

We all love the late Justice Scalia and his sense of humor on the bench. He rarely sat silently during any argument presented to him. He enjoyed carrying the words rather than Justice What's his name....Oh, Justice Thomas.

One of the most important messages conservation groups have this November is the dangers of fracking need there own homes.

Every Pennsylvania citizen lives in danger of a fracking well that effects their water and air quality. Fracking is not a viable method of sustaining an economy. 

June 15, 2016

About 1.5 million Pennsylvanians (click here) live within a half mile of an oil or gas facility. (USGS/Wikimedia Commons)

Harrisburg, Pa. -- Methane pollution is a health hazard, studies have found, and now an online map can tell you how close that risk is to you.

About 1.5 million people live within a half mile of one or more of the more than 100,000 oil and gas facilities operating in Pennsylvania. Studies show that those people are at greatest risk of the negative health impact of methane exposure, including fetal damage and respiratory ailments.

Conrad Schneider, advocacy director for the Clean Air Task Force, said the new online map can help people assess the risk they face in their own homes.

"We hope that, armed with this information, they will demand protective safeguards requiring the industry to clean up its act and reduce these serious risks to public health," he said....

"Fracking is uneconomic...." This is GAS, not a mineral like coal. Gas per well is hideous to think about. Substantial amount of methane escapes from wells. The wells have grossly under performed. The leases to the owner of the land is a complete lie to their income. The danger to the land is not worth the potential royalties.

"...Over 90 percent of the wells are uneconomic...."

Fracking has always been a bad investment FOR THE OWNER OF THE LAND! Don't do it. The average well produces methane for seven years. The entire sales pitch to land owners is a lie.

"Diminishing returns with plummeting revenues." The economic benefit of these wells is the initial start of the well. AGAIN, this is gas and not a solid. When the initial gas is accessed it leaks. There is a profound danger to this science in well drilling to the land, water and air. Fracking is without doubt the 2008 Housing Crisis of the petroleum industry. 

Jobs are lost in the tourism industry (which is completely sustainable to the future) when a state fracks its land.

Continued oil and gas drilling beyond profitability and at a loss to pay the debt service. The drilling of the land produces NOTHING to the land owner because beyond the initial drilling there is less income per dollar of debt for the petroleum company. Land owners MUST examine their royalty contracts to be sure they do not share in a negative balance sheets when the well is accruing losses and not profits.

The SEC allows corruption without independent third party assessments of the gas reserves. Every state has an environmental/conservation/resources agency. Where is the honest assessment by the state's own infrastructure?

"Morning Papers" 

The Rooster

"Okeydoke"

Pennsylvania was named for William Penn. (click here) William Penn identified refugees in the colony that was the 13 united states. He dedicated land to protect religious refugees. He identified liberty out of the suffering of others.

Almost 70% of Pennsylvania's agricultural (click here) income is generated by livestock and livestock products. Milk is the state's most important livestock product and Pennsylvania is a leading state in the production of milk.

Beef cattle rank second among the state's products in this sector.

Chcken eggs, broilers (young chickens), and hogs are also valuable livestock products generating revenues in the state. Pennsylvania is a leading egg-producing state.

Some turkeys are raised in the state and there is some activity in aquaculture and in raising sheep and lambs....

Local economies are extremely valuable to cities. Cities don't have enough land to do it's own farming. The beautiful part of local economies is that the shipping into the city is minimal. Definitely do this thing!

Locally grown,  harvested, raised, roasted, baked, and brewed products have pride of place in our stores, not only for their quality and integrity of materials, but also because the true value of being a community market is in making contributions to the lives of our neighbors and the local economy. We carry local products on many of our shelves and work with over 100 local producers in the Greater Philadelphia area....

Good Night, Moon

The waning crescent

27.7 days old

3.7 % lit

July 31, 2016
By Belle Smith

The world was recently introduced to Mimikkyu, an adorable little character who wears a Pikachu costume in "Pokémon Sun and Moon". But will fans get to learn more about the Pokémon in the Nintendo games big reveal on August 1?...
Mimikkyu was first seen in the Coro Coro magazine, where the Pokémon was featured alongside a new "Pokémon Sun and Moon" character Kiteruguma. Fans immediately fell in love with the Pikachu pretender that hides under a veil. Will people finally know more about Mimikkyu in the major reveal on Monday?...
...What To Expect In The "Pokémon Sun and Moon" Reveal On Monday

Fans can look forward to new gameplay features which include fourway battles (via The BitBag). There could also be a new Pokémon that will be introduced in the "Pokémon Sun and Moon" big reveal.

University of Wisconsin, Madison, it is time to tell Governor Walker to fund the satellite program.

Antarctica (click here)
31 July 2016
2300 UTC

This is a crucial summer for Antarctica and to allow an important satellite to simply meander without sending a transmission correctly is outrageous. The satellite will meander enough that it will become lost. Perhaps the University of Wisconsin can pay for a new satellite if it loses this one. Put that on your budget Governor!

This empty area started as a small pie slice about two weeks ago and not look at it. Is no one looking at it?

There is no such thing as anti-science. If that is the case, end all weather predictions.

The emissions have to come down. There is no time like the present.

July 27, 2016

By Joshua Emerson Smith 

As the future of California’s marquee (click here) climate-change law in limbo, a new poll finds a majority of residents support expanding efforts to fight greenhouse gases — as well as paying for the associated energy costs.

Under Assembly Bill 32, the state is moving steadily toward limiting greenhouse-gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.

Gov. Jerry Brown has further called for cutting emissions by 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, but some business groups have pushed back, arguing that future reduction targets need to be codified with new legislation.

Democratic lawmakers have started pursuing a measure that would cement the governor’s ramped-up goals against global warming.

According to survey released this week by the Public Policy Institute of California, or PPIC, about 68 percent of adults in the state support the idea of further cutting emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases....

July 30, 2016
By Andrea Darlas

A US Postal Service (click here) spokesman on the scene says that the air conditioner was not working and the workers became overheated.
Workers said they're concerned the problems will not be fixed, and they often have to endure extreme temperatures in summer and in winter.
At least a dozen workers were treated for heat stress, heat stroke, and dehydration at area hospitals. Postal Union spokesman Mack Julion says they are looking into the working conditions at this location....                 

Below is the chemical structure of kerosene used for jet fuel.

Figures 1 through 4 are varieties of the initial molecule. 

The over arching molecule on the top has 19 carbons. On the left of the molecule is (CH3)2. That mean there are two carbons from each of the CH3 (methyl) groups. Then there is a carbon structure in the middle followed by carbon rings all the way to the right

One might think that is not so bad considering the other numbers of carbons in the other compounds and that would be a correct assessment. But, where this is frustrating is the jets burn huge amounts of fuel. So, the numbers of carbon atoms entering the troposphere is enormous just from one jet.

The other fossil fuels are burnt more efficiently in cars. So, while kerosene used in jets seems to have less carbons per molecule there are many, many more molecules being burned and the cost to the carbon budget of Earth is escalated far quicker.

Don't let anyone state this is all old data and there is nothing to the danger of jet emissions. 

Here it is.(click here) A daily accounting by the US Department of Energy regarding stockpiles.

From jet fuel to solid rocket fuel.

December 23, 2010
By Brit Ligget

Researchers at the (click here) Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden have discovered a new molecule that could help to make jet fuel up to 30 percent more efficient. The molecule is made up of just nitrogen and oxygen and could be used as a replacement for some of the large amounts of toxic chemicals — like concentrated hydrochloric acid — which make up a large part of today’s solid rocket fuels. This exciting discovery is fresh out of the Royal Institute of Technology‘s laboratories but could have long term impacts on the rocket fuel world.


Kindly note in the lower left corner of the illustration below. "per tonne of kerosene."

You keep saying contrails are caused by freezing water in airplane exhaust... (click here)

Since when did airplanes start using water for fuel? So even without additional geoengineering salts being sprayed behind a plane, what comes out the exhaust is definitely full of chemicals, not water.

Not too long ago they even put lead in jet fuel to make it burn at a higher temperature. So how do you really believe it is just harmless water, and not a chemical cocktail coating our sky? I would love to get my hands on a water powered car or airplane if you know how to make that happen!

This is an eye opener. I've always thought of the WWF as a more conservative organization.

29 July 2016

...Environmental impact (click here)

The World Wildlife Fund South Africa (WWF-SA) said the aviation industry was one of the fastest growing sectors but it was also responsible for much of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.

Biofuels could play a key role in the move of the aviation industry from using hydrocarbon fuels.

"These are fuels manufactured from oils, sugars and biomass from plants, rather than from fossil fuels," the organisation said of biofuels. "Because plants remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere biofuels typically can reduce the emissions from flights by between 25% and 75%."

It noted a study from the Stockholm Environmental Institute which estimated that "biofuels could feasibly reduce aviation's emissions by as much as 9% between 2020 and 2035, while still being produced in a responsible manner".

While the biofuel industry is tiny at present, concerns have been raised about the land used to harvest these plants, water consumption and other agricultural impacts. WWF-SA and the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) are studying the sustainability of biofuel crops.

"This means factoring in the population growth and agricultural demand within the region [since the displacement of food crops has been a key concern of first-generation biofuels], the protection of endangered species and critical ecosystems, and the securing of essential water resources as the climate changes."...

The airline industry is getting a free ride. No one demands reduced emissions.

20 December 2006

...Growth in aviation emissions (click here)

While emissions from domestic flights are covered by the Kyoto Protocol targets, international aviation is not. Moreover, jet fuel for international flights has historically been exempted from taxation. Bilateral air agreements between EU Member States and third countries are being changed to allow this possibility, but this will take time to implement.

Emissions from aviation currently account for about 3% of total EU greenhouse gas emissions, but, they are increasing fast by 87% since 1990 as air travel becomes cheaper without its environmental costs being addressed. For example, someone flying from London to New York and back generates roughly the same level of emissions as the average person in the EU does by heating their home for a whole year.

The rapid growth in aviation emissions contrasts with the success of many other sectors of the economy in reducing emissions.

Without action, the growth in emissions from flights from EU airports will by 2012 CANCEL OUT more than a quarter of the 8% emission reduction the EU-15 must achieve to reach it's Kyoto Protocol target. By 2020, aviation emissions are likely to more than double from present levels....

July 15, 2015
By Bobby McGill

Climate change (click here) is causing wind patterns to change over the Pacific Ocean, leading to longer commercial airline flight times and causing airplanes to burn more fuel and emit more greenhouse gases.

Those are the conclusions of a Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution study published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change, showing that the shifting jet stream over the Pacific Ocean is increasing flight times between Hawaii and the U.S. mainland, leading to more of the pollution that fuels climate change.

Previous studies have shown that commercial airplanes will be affected by climate change primarily in terms of turbulence. But the U.S. government has recently made moves to look at how climate change is being exacerbated by commercial airplanes, which for account about 3 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and about 0.5 percent globally....

A new biofuel produced from "Solaris tobacco."

According to Boeing, the Solaris tobacco is heavy on seeds and light on leaves.

July 27, 2016

By Alex Davies

...As cultivation of tobacco (click here) started decreasing in North America in the late twentieth century, it started ramping up in Africa and Asia. To support world consumption of cigarettes, cigars, and other unhealthy products, the plant is produced in mass quantities that are challenging to redirect to other ends. But another product that humans do use is in mass quantities is fuel, especially when it comes to flying. A Boeing 747 burns more than 10 tons of fuel per hour while cruising, or nearly 4 liters (one gallon) each second.

That’s a lot of petroleum to pull out of the Earth, but, with Boeing’s help, South African Airways is working to produce its own biofuel with the tobacco plant as the top candidate.

It makes sense if you recall that one of the hundreds of categories of carcinogens in tobacco is tar — hydrocarbon compounds, like those in coal and petroleum, which release energy when burned.

Specifically, it’s Solaris tobacco, which is cultivated in the Limpopo Province and genetically engineered to produce almost no nicotine, but loads of oil, particularly in the plant seeds. In fact, the first biofuel-powered commercial planes in Africa transported 300 passengers from Johannesburg to Cape Town on July 15. The Boeing jets were, in part, fueled with Solaris tobacco plants, and the airline aims to use biofuel in routine flights by next year....                

I was surprised when I read airliners use kerosine based fuels.

Today's kerosine jet fuels (click here) have been developed from the illuminating kerosine used in the early gas turbine engines. These engines needed a fuel with good combustion characteristics and a high energy content. The kerosine type fuels used in civil aviation nowadays are mainly JET A-1 and Jet A. The latter has a higher freezing point (maximum minus 40 degrees C instead of maximum minus 47 degrees C) and is available only in North America

Kerosene and heating oil have problems at about -50C flowing but the other factor is that often these fuels have water in them. The water freezes and falls to the bottom.

The different grade of jet fuel are discussed in the above article by "Shell." I could not find a date on it. It is good for general information.

The cost of oil is not increasing.

July 29, 2016
By Myra P. Saefong and Sara Sjolin

Oil futures climbed Friday, (click here) finding some support from weakness in the U.S. dollar, but West Texas Intermediate crude still logged a loss of about 14% for the month, the largest monthly percentage decline in a year, on lingering concerns about crude oversupply and a deluge of refined products.
Crude for September delivery CLU6, +0.58%  tacked on 46 cents, or 1.1%, to $41.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Based on the most-active contracts, prices ended down 5.9% for the week, and saw a monthly loss of 13.9%, the largest monthly loss since July 2015. Prices have posted declines in three out of the seven months this year so far.
The U.S. oil benchmark is now down nearly 19% from its recent high of $51.23 in June. A bear market is defined by a downturn of 20% or more from the recent highs.
September Brent crude LCOU6, -0.49%  gave up 24 cents, or 0.6%, to $42.46 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London. The contract expired at the settlement and October Brent LCOV6, -0.05% which added 30 cents, or 0.7%, to settle at $43.53, became the front month. Based on the most-active contracts, Brent lost more than 12% for the month....

 This is a study conducted in 2002. (click here) It explains it's methodology on this e-page. The fuel efficiency of commercial jets is GALLONS PER MILE.

It's Sunday Night.

"Flying" by Anathema (click here for official website)

Started a search to no avail
A light that shines behind the veil trying to find it
And all around us everywhere
Is all that we could ever share if only we could see it
Feel there's truth that's beyond me
Life ever changing weaving destiny

And it feels like I'm flying above you
Dream that I'm dying to find the truth
Seems like your trying to bring me down
Back down to earth back down to earth

Layers of dust and yesterdays
Shadows fading in the haze of what I couldn't say
And though I said my hands were tied
Times have changed and now I find I'm free for the first time
Feel so close to everything now
Strange how life makes sense in time now

And it feels like I'm flying above you
Dream that I'm dying to find the truth
Seems like your trying to bring me down
Back down to earth back down to earth
Back down to earth back down to earth

Back down to earth back down to earth
Back down to earth back down to earth

Back down...