Thermodynamics

Recent comments by this user

"Ich bin ein Amerikaner"

JFK was great but he goofed with the article "ein".
"Ein" makes the remark more specific.

I was told his statement was a slightly comical gaffe.

In idiom, "Ich bin ein Berliner" means "I am a local Berlin pastry". "Ich bin Berliner" means "I am a Berliner".

We do need to understand Europe better posted 07/23/2008 at 22:50:28

Elaine Chao Must Withdraw 'Secret Rule'

Elaine Chao is married to U.S.Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), the current U.S. Senate Minority Leader.

I wish she would use his name like a normal conservative wife. The public could see how intertwined this administration is. posted 07/23/2008 at 22:36:24

When Harm Goes Unpunished: Why Congress Should Overturn the Supreme Court's Exxon Valdez Decision

"Keeping the case unsettled for nearly two decades"

This is a defense law strategy that comes up over and over again. Big Oil has done it before. If they can keep a case unsettled long enough many of the plaintiffs will be deceased. They have the legal teams to set up an extensive program of appeals.

We need legislation enforcing a reasonable time limit in situations like this. Most small towns or private citizens cannot afford to keep a law firm on retainer for 20 years.

The case involving the Navajo uranium miners dragged on for about 25 years. Most had already died of lung cancer from the uranium dust. For those who do not know about that case: Uranium mining was handled by a consortium of the major oil companies during the sixties. The miners did not use respirators and most got lung cancer from the radioactive dust. posted 07/23/2008 at 23:34:02

Ludicrous Lawns, Wasted Water, and Solid Solutions

Residential water barrels have to be protected by tight screens. Otherwise each one produces a cloud of mosquitoes, all summer long. posted 07/19/2008 at 10:36:18

The Hole Truth

Let's Play Pretend

The whole carbon dioxide injection idea is as silly as, oh, Bush economics. When you burn carbon it combines with oxygen and you get a lot more mass than you started with. One atom of carbon combines with 2 atoms of oxygen to make one molecule of carbon dioxide.

When you burn carbon it makes 3.66 pounds of carbon dioxide for each pound of carbon. CO2 is normally a gas. With cooling and under pressure it can be turned into a solid, dry ice, used as a refrigerant. As a solid it is slightly more dense than coal.

Even if you turn the CO2 into dry ice it will take up 3 times as much space as the coal it came from. You could not put it back in the same mine because you have added so much extra mass.

Does anyone really think it is feasible to drill down and excavate all that space? At least 3x as much as the coal mine? And this assumes the CO2 can be held in solid form. It is usually a gas. posted 07/17/2008 at 02:38:51

Eric Shanteau, Beijing Olympics Swimmer, Has Testicular Cancer

In the past testicular cancer was associated with something high-end cyclists used to up the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood, probably something to up the RBC count. But that was the past, pre-2000. Things may be different now. posted 07/12/2008 at 21:09:42

Hey Pentagon, How Are Nuclear Weapons Working Out for You?

We are already using nuclear weapons, or at least radioactive ones, kind of as as side effect of the programs to make bombs and electricity.

Depleted uranium is only half depleted. The name is a euphemism. Our guys have used about 2000 tons of it for projectiles in the current wars. When the bullets strike, they burn producing a fine yellow dust that remains radioactive for the next several billion years.

This is a direct violation of the Geneva Convention, which prohibits radioactive or poisonous bullets, and DU is both radioactive and chemically toxic.

DU is an alpha emitter. Alpha particles cannot penetrate a sheet of paper. The low information public thinks this means that DU is relatively safe. But once the dust is in someone's lungs or kidney it does not need to penetrate a sheet of paper to cause a host of ailments, including cancer. Shock and awe?

There is a little plutonium mixed in because DU has been through the reactor fuel cycle. The old name for the stuff was radioactive waste. I guess it is cheaper to spread it around Mesopotamia than to store it in a mine shaft perpetually. posted 07/08/2008 at 17:05:12

Housing Prices May Still Go Lower

Fixing the problem at the level of the homeowner helps maintain a stable economy because John Public gets to keep owning his house..

Otherwise, all those foreclosed homes go on the market at very low prices and then the whole market is depressed. There is no demand for new construction. Hardhats are unemployed. People like me who just want to sell and move are facing a market flooded with cheap houses. This is the kind of snowball situation that does cause a long recession.

Also, fixing the problem at the top costs more because the debt obligations are leveraged investments. posted 07/07/2008 at 23:08:55

f you follow the link "read whole story here" you will get a more complete picture.

Just as in the S&L crisis, our government is wasting money by fixing the problem at the top instead of the bottom.

We could save the homeowners without saving the banks. Many homeowners were prudent but still suffer. I paid cash but now need to relocate and will lose maybe 40% if I sell. Military families must move when transferred. If they cannot sell they are more or less forced into foreclosure. The rental market is beyond saturated.

"We did much the same thing in the early 1980s, when the problems in the savings and loan industry first surfaced. A decade later, it all went onto the taxpayer books at 10 times the cost." posted 07/07/2008 at 21:50:43

Clean Energy Cost Comparisons Looking Better and Better

In Northern New Mexico I bought a house that already had an installed solar water heater. It worked great. We covered the south porch with clear plastic panels and the sun heated the living room. We spent about $60/month for some electric heat. My conclusion was that solar is great but you have to make compromises. The bedrooms stayed cool. We slept under comforters.

We bought a another house in the same subdivision but with no solar gain. The new house cost us $250 every month in winter for propane to fire the boiler for the subfloor thermal system. The old house saved us over $1000 every winter. posted 06/28/2008 at 21:23:02

Supreme Court Hands Exxon $2 Billion... and Progressives an Opening

Oil companies use the appeals process as a way to institutionalize their worming away from paying up. By "institutionalize" I mean that they set up a system that endures longer than individual members of their staffs.

They did this in the cases of the 100+ Navajo miners that got lung cancer from working in small uranium mines in the 60s. The uranium mines were administered by a consortium of the oil companies of the US, working together. Most of the miners got lung cancer from breathing uranium dust with no respirators. Uranium is an alpha emitter.

The miners were suing for medical expenses. By the time (late 90s) their cases made it through the appeals process, which took 15 years, most were already dead. Incidentally, some of the oil men referred to the Navajos as "drunk Indians."

The same strategy was used in the Exxon Valdez case. If you can stretch things out long enough, half of the plaintiffs will die off. posted 06/25/2008 at 22:49:11

Questions Energy Secretary Bodman Need Ask At This Weekend's Summit In Saudi Arabia

Obama calls for legislation to close Enron Loophole
that permits excessive speculation in oil futures
at Yahoo:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20080622/pl_politico/11252
at Politico:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0608/11252.html
text of Obama announcement:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0608/11253.html posted 06/23/2008 at 10:52:15

Global Warming, Barack Obama, and Everyone Else

We do not want the permafrost to melt.

The tundra is black mud full of organic matter and methane. A little melts and refreezes every summer. If the tundra all melts it will free massive quantities of methane.

Methane is a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

A massive release of methane could put us past the kind of tipping point that wipes out most people in a few years. posted 06/14/2008 at 23:55:39

Obama Pledges Imposing "Oil Windfall Profits Tax" -- Right Message, Wrong Language

A government that cannot regulate banks cannot be trusted to regulate nuclaer utilities. Our president cannot even say nu-cle-ar. posted 06/12/2008 at 13:15:48

Faux News: "Most Republicans Crazy Like a Man Stuck in a Toilet"

Try swimming at a beach on the Gulf of Mexico during August. The water is so warm that it feels like a bath. It is an experience that makes the concept of global warming real.

I know swimming in warm water it does not prove anything. Incidentally, warm Gulf water is the engine that drives hurricanes. posted 06/10/2008 at 21:38:15

The Venus Syndrome (Part Two)

"release air pollution particulates and sulfate aerosols into the atmosphere"

Of course I would prefer a green fix and I dislike smog since there is so much in my neighborhood but

Is there a chance that we can manage a temporary fix by spreading something like calcium sulfate (gypsum) dust in the stratosphere, or building giant sunshades in orbit, etc? posted 06/10/2008 at 21:27:48

Republicans Block Extra Taxes On Oil Companies

The bill also attempted to control speculation.

Enron "gamed the market" for electricity, which means that they used speculative trading to raise the price and make extra profit. This is similar to "cornering the market". California spent billions subsidizing electric utilities to keep them from going bankrupt because they had to pay the inflated Enron prices.

This oil price spike is probably not caused by supply-demand issues.

It seems that someone is gaming the market for crude oil. posted 06/10/2008 at 14:23:56

Intervention for America's Oil Addicts

They do not have to all be hybrids. A Corolla gets 28/37 mpg while a Prius gets 48/45mpg. The Corolla costs about $5000 less. Those with less money could opt for a Corolla. A frequently unmentioned downside of hybrids is that the battery packs have to be replaced after a certain number of cycles.

We should have an upper weight limit for autos, something like 1000 kg, about 2250 pounds. posted 06/09/2008 at 22:02:03

Ding Dong the Hummer's Dead!

Do not forget that there is a special tax deduction for buying a Hummer. When this tax break appeared about 6 years ago I had the thought that the Hummer was kind of a marker.

It looks like GI Joe's Mobile Command Post. Driving one is like wearing gang colors for Bush's political machine. You are one of the power gang. This all reminds me of 4-year old boys playing in the sand box, which is where our policy has been for about a decade. posted 06/07/2008 at 13:29:09

Oil Crisis: Your Primer on the Great "Peak Oil" v "Speculators" Debate

As for speculation, remember that Enron was able to run up the price of electricity and produce an apparent scarcity just by gaming the market. Enron's market manipulation cost CA billions because the state had to step in and subsidize utilities to keep the power flowing.

Both sides can be right. Oil is limited. We should be conserving. A car getting 20 mpg is ridiculous. posted 06/06/2008 at 20:42:49

Oil's Largest One-Day Gain On Record: Thank You, Mr. Bernanke

Remember that Enron was able to run up the price of electricity and produce an apparent scarcity just by gaming the market. There was enough electricity but Enron used electronic trades to fool the market. This cost CA billions because the state had to step in and subsidize utilities.

One thing that helped make that possible was a loophole created by Sen. Phil Gramm that permitted certain types of trades to be unregulated.

So it can be done. posted 06/06/2008 at 20:53:58

Bear's Cayne Takes $900 Million Loss, Seeks Answers in Religion

Military families stationed here in Florida bought houses a few years back and now they have been transferred to the West Coast, or Maryland or overseas, etc. There is no market. The houses are standing empty. They are still shelling out $1000 monthly mortgage payments and paying rent in their new locations. A $100,000 loss is devastating for ordinary families like these.

Bernacke could have bailed out Bear for one-tenth as much. He is spending $30-100 billion at the top of a leveraged financial pyramid. It is cheaper to fix the problem at the bottom. Most of the public do not understand what "leveraged" means. It is like buying commodities on margin. posted 03/29/2008 at 10:34:38

U.S. Digital Deficiency Jeopardizes 'Super Power' Status

Cell phone service is much cheaper in Europe. it is a viable alternative to land lines. They also have more choices about internet plans and pay less for that. posted 03/29/2008 at 10:45:31

You're Listening to NPR: National Pentagon Radio

Back when I lived in Santa Fe everyone called it "National Puppet Radio" and preferred a more independent local station. The local station had better music, too.

Here is a good test: Do you get "Democracy Now!"? If you get the NPR mush but not the progressive viewpoint then your station is just a venue for government baloney, along with a little classical music. posted 03/28/2008 at 11:01:31

Who Gets Us Out of the Mess?

Cheaper to fix at homeowner level:

By the time the mortgages become liabilities of large financial entities like Bear they are leveraged. If we fix the problem by funding a top group like Bear it costs 10x or 100x more than if we fix the problem at the homeowner level.

The original mortgages are bundled and then guaranteed, creating derivatives that let a top institution multiply its profits or its losses.

If I am right this means Bernacke could have accomplished his objective more cheaply by helping the homeowners. His way costs much more and the families still end up living in their cars.

Someone needs to calculate the actual dollar value of the root mortgages Bernacke will cover with his $30 billion. posted 03/26/2008 at 01:14:54

Bear Stearns Bailout Paves Way For $1+ Trillion U.S. Homeowner Rescue Plan

I smell another rat. Bernacke could have bailed out Bear for one-tenth as much. He is spending $30 billion at the top of a leveraged financial pyramid.

Bear was stuck with leveraged derivatives. Those derivatives probably only represented about $1 billion or less in actual mortgages. Am I right? posted 03/26/2008 at 12:32:58

$100.000 X 2 million mortgages = $200 billion posted 03/24/2008 at 16:44:42

JPMorgan In Secret Talks To Quintuple Bid For Bear Stearns

Leveraged Derivatives - cheaper to just pay off mortgages

The way I understand it, the complex financial instruments that have blown up on Bear are leveraged, like stock bought on margin. Because the derivatives market is unregulated the margin ratio is much higher than with stocks, maybe ultimately 100-to-1.

This means that $100,000 in actual mortgage debt becomes $10 million worth of (now failing) complex derivatives.

Maybe if we used the $30 billion to create a moratorium on the actual mortgages we could provide a more effective fix. Then the derivative market could settle down without collapsing.

Also, fixing the problem at the level of the little guy would reduce downward pressure on the housing market. As long as the market is flooded wit cheap or foreclosed houses, no one can sell their house and all kinds of builders and construction people are out of work - a downward spiral posted 03/24/2008 at 10:56:09

A Few Unanswered Questions About Bill Richardson's Obama Endorsement

NM is not all-or-nothing. Hillary got 14 national delegates, Obama got 12. As far as I am concerned Richardson can reasonably endorse either candidate. posted 03/21/2008 at 17:14:52