Sunday, July 10, 2016

The future is a destination, not an optional amusement park.

The future has been lost in the USA. First World countries have been using high speed rail for at least a decade. Auto manufacturers are ready for the future in ventures that take ownership away form consumers and places all the profits of manufacturing AND rental/sharing cars in their treasuries as well.

There is nothing wrong with that if it provides the consumer to refuse auto ownership by increasing disposable income for a better quality of life or the much ignored American Dream of home ownership. 

The USA has missed the boat and employed poor judgement in passing NAFTA as well as abandoning "moral imagination" and opting for stagnation.

There hasn't been 'a future' in the USA for at least four decades. Somehow Americans thought computers were the only future they needed to understand and purchase. 

One of the reasons the future got lost is because of the grossly unfair treatment of innovation. The best example is Tesla cars. Auto dealers came up with all kinds of objections in New Jersey when Tesla wanted to market the car without a showroom. Really? 

The USA has been STUCK in old world capitalism. The USA and it's antiquated lawmakers in Washington, DC abandoned the future and instead of embracing the problems facing the USA and solving them, they let old ways and old priorities take precedent.

An entire generation of Americans had no jobs after the 2008 global economic collapse and there were very valid reasons for that. The Old Guard in Washington, DC believes population growth will take care of any needs for future employment. Not at $7.00 an hour, it won't.

The USA needs it's future back. It is up to young Americans to create their own reality. They want a future with promise. They want clean air, clean water and a safe climate for their future. It is high time the USA look at the future as a destination rather than a threat.

Auto manufacturers are ahead of the curve.

OTA keys (click here) develops and distributes e.g. purely virtual vehicle keys that can be transmitted and used wirelessly via cell phones.

June 14, 2016
By Michael Finn

An average car (click here) is unused 95 percent of the time and slowly becomes a depreciating asset. However, huge amount of money could be gained for the right business that can utilize these average cars. The brands Toyota, General Motors and Volkswagen are all in an investment race. The ride-and-share business is an incentive for car companies without the fear of non-dominant individual car ownership in the world of business.

Car business is greatly changing its judgement of investment value as told by Laura Lembke, Morgan Stanley analyst. Lembke stated that over 80 million international car sales can bring in $1.5 million, Japan Today reported. One billion of these vehicles are a total of existing stocks, while the average cost of a mile in a trip is $1 - an estimated $10 trillion is the potential market value. This helps explain the evaluations on apps car sharing services like Uber, which is valued at $62.5 billion. A huge amount compared with the world's third top-selling auto manufacturer General Motors....


March 24, 2011
By Horatiu Boeriu


The BMW Group and Sixt AG (click here) are planning a unique and innovative   car sharing venture. With effect from April 2011 onwards – initially in Munich and later in Berlin – the two companies intend to join forces in offering a modern mobility concept under the brand-name DriveNow; this new product will combine vehicles and service of the highest quality with simple, flexible usage.
DriveNow is the first car sharing concept to place an emphasis on efficient premium vehicles and comprehensive service. Vehicles may be hired and dropped off wherever the customer needs them, thus clearly differentiating DriveNow from products offered by other competitors....

This is the same old nonsense. Just let me know if we are serious about ending greenhouse gas emissions.

July 10, 2016
By Steve Hanley

Auto makers (click here) are lobbying the federal government to rethink its mandate to raise average fuel economy to 54.5 mpg by 2025. The new rules are set to go into effect in 2018. The companies have several concerns about the tighter standards, but it all comes down to selling cars. They worry that consumers will not like the changes meeting the new rules will require and that will hurt sales. The car industry is hugely important to the US economy. A decline in sales could have a ripple effect that would take some of the steam out of an economy that is just showing signs of life after the debacle of 2008....

The federal government needs to follow China's example to create a subsidy for EVs.

OR

Actually encourage mass transit. Car sales will still exist as Americans like adventure and autonomy, but, in all honesty, do they have to drive to work? I don't think so.

What is safer, commuting in cars or mass transit?

The last decade of Highway - Rail incidents - collisions, fatalities and injuries (click here) 













Ten years of auto statistics: (click here)

Three right columns, Population, fatalities per 100,000 and percentage change.




There are answers to all this CHEMICAL mess. Think EV (electric vehicle). Seriously. Do it for the kids and their tomorrows.

Fiat 500e   ($32,300)

Ford Focus Electric   ($29,170)

Kia Soul EV   ($33,700)

VW e-Golf    ($33,450)

Chevy Spark EV   ($25,995)

Renault Zoe  (£13,443 or $17,407 in today's exchange rate - See lower prices and higher sales)

Nissan LEAF ($29,010)

Tesla Model S ($75,000)

July 9, 2016
by Messenger Post

Canandaigua, N.Y.
Sometimes the bumps (click here) along your commute are not from the road but rather from the decisions made at the pump.
The Lane Ranger is reminded of this following AAA’s release this week of a study showing that quality gasoline keeps engines 19 times cleaner.
The independent laboratory testing compared gasolines that meet Top Tier standards — including such brands as Chevron, Exxon, Sunoco and Valero — with gasoline brands that do not participate in the automaker-backed program.
Among the brands tested, AAA reported that non-Top Tier gasolines caused 19 times more engine deposits than the Top Tier brands — often marketed to consumers as having enhanced, engine-cleaning detergent additives — after just 4,000 miles of simulated driving. Such carbon deposits are known to reduce fuel economy, increase emissions and negatively impact vehicle performance, particularly on newer vehicles, the national auto club warned.
“AAA was surprised to learn the extent to which detergent additives impact gasoline quality,” John Nielsen, AAA’s managing director of Automotive Engineering and Repair, said in a media release announcing the findings. “As advertised, tested TOP TIER gasolines kept engines remarkably cleaner than other fuels we tested.”...

From the American Cancer Society:

Problems with MTBE (click here)

Despite its potential benefits on air quality, MTBE has some properties that can cause problems. MTBE is much more soluble in water than most other components of gasoline. If it gets in the ground, it can travel faster and farther through groundwater than other gasoline components. This makes it more likely to contaminate public water systems and private drinking water wells if gasoline is spilled on the ground or leaks out of underground storage tanks. Even fairly small amounts of MTBE in water can give it an unpleasant taste and odor, making the water undrinkable. MTBE also does not break down (biodegrade) easily. As a result, it is harder to clean up once contamination occurs.
In the late 1990s, many community drinking water supplies in areas that used a lot of MTBE were found to have detectable levels of MTBE. Since then, MTBE use in gasoline has been phased out because of concerns about groundwater contamination. Although it is not clear what effects MTBE in drinking water might have on health, many states have passed laws limiting or banning the use of MTBEA 
A study is appropriate, however, with the wide spread of contamiination in the USA there is no absolute study that would reveal it's effects. The only contained study that is possible is with animals. Those results should be extrapolated to apply to people because of the consequences.
...AThough MTBE has been used as a fuel additive since 1979, there have been no long-term studies of the ability of MTBE to cause cancer in workers or other people exposed to high concentrations. People who might have been exposed to MTBE at work often have also been exposed to a number of other chemicals, which makes studying this issue difficult....

MTBE is an "anti-knocking" additive in gasoline.

MTBE (methyl tertiary-butyl ether) (click here) is a flammable, colorless liquid that dissolves easily in water. It is part of a group of chemicals known as fuel oxygenates. Oxygenates do not occur naturally in gasoline; they are added to increase gasoline’s oxygen content. MTBE and other oxygenates make gasoline burn better, which lowers harmful carbon monoxide and other emissions from vehicles, reducing air pollution.
MTBE was first used in gasoline at low levels in the United States in 1979 to replace lead as an octane enhancer. Starting in 1992, MTBE was used at higher concentrations in some gas to fulfill the oxygenate requirements set by Congress in the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments (CAA). The CAA required the use of oxygenated gasoline in areas with unhealthy levels of air pollution.
Starting in 1995, the CAA required use of reformulated gasoline (RFG) year-round in cities with the worst ground-level ozone (smog). RFG is gasoline that is specially blended to have fewer polluting compounds than conventional gasoline. As part of the CAA, RFG had to have an oxygen content of at least 2% by weight.
The CAA did not specifically require MTBE to be used as the oxygenate in gasoline. Gas refiners could choose to use other oxygenates, such as ethanol. But MTBE was the main oxygenate in RFG in some areas outside the Midwest, mainly for economic reasons and for its blending characteristics. Unlike ethanol, MTBE could be shipped through existing pipelines, and its volatility is lower, making it easier to meet the emission standards....

MTBE began it's use as a gasoline additive (it's only purpose for existing at all) in 1979 because it was easier on existing pipelines. NOT.

30 August 2001

Chicago, August 30 -- MTBE, a common gasoline additive, (click here) has been found in gasoline sold throughout the Midwest even though it is not routinely used there, researchers reported today at the 222nd national meeting of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest (and oldest) scientific society.
The researchers analyzed regular unleaded gasoline samples from more than 200 sites in Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. They found MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether) in more than 70 percent of the gasoline samples, even though the additive has seen limited use because ethanol is the main oxygenate for reducing air pollution in these states, says Reynaldo D. Barreto, Ph.D., an associate professor at Purdue University North Central in Westville, Ind., and the study's lead investigator.
"MTBE is not supposed to be there," he says. The unexpectedly widespread presence of the chemical in gasoline samples suggests there is a "ticking time bomb" that could adversely affect drinking water, Barreto cautions....
...The most likely source of the MTBE is tankers, storage tanks and pipelines that once carried reformulated gasoline and subsequently carried nonreformulated gasoline, says Barreto. He believes that a complete ban on the controversial additive is needed to prevent its spread.
MTBE came under intense scrutiny after numerous studies showed it can leak from underground storage tanks and other sources to contaminate the drinking water supply. Although its toxicity to humans is unclear, MTBE can make water undrinkable due to its foul smell and bad taste.
No one knows the exact extent of the contamination, but a growing number of studies have detected the chemical in drinking water samples throughout the country. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently announced plans to reduce or eliminate use of MTBE. It could be replaced with ethanol, another oxygenate, or specially formulated gasoline with fewer smog-causing emissions....

China is going EV! See, the USA is the largest and most antiquated polluter of greenhouse gases on Earth.

July 8, 2016

The problem of widespread air pollution (click here) in major Chinese cities is well-known both inside and outside of China. Lesser known are the government efforts to address the issue—one of which is the rapid adoption of electric vehicles (EV).
For years, the promise of EVs to contribute to a cleaner future for global transit has struggled to gain traction in developed countries. For example, in the U.S., we are far from the Obama administration’s goal of getting 1 million plug-in electric vehicles on the road by 2015, and last year, sales of electric vehicles, in fact, declined in the U.S. By contrast, EV sales in China quadrupled last year, leading the country to eclipse the U.S. as the global leader in such sales. The Chinese government hopes its EV sales will reach 3 million a year by 2025....
Who is the biggest polluter of Earth with no moral imagination? That is correct, the USA.
February 18, 2014
In a surprise announcement, (click here) Chinese EV subsidies have been extended as the government grapples with an epic pollution problem and slow green car sales. Despite its many cities literally choking to death on their own smog though, the government has yet to implement any meaningful changes to its transportation policy.
The Chinese EV subsidy program first began in either 2008 or 2009, and though some heralded it as the beginning of an electric car revolution, confusion and limitations have made for poor electric car sales. These subsidies were generous, with incentives as high as $9,800 for an electric car, $5,800 for a plug-in hybrid, and over $80,000 for the purchase of an electric bus....

With lead removed from car emissions, along came MTBE.

Methyl tert-butyl ether

(CH3)3COCH3

tert or tertiary or of the third order

CH3 is methyl. One carbon and three hydrogen.

(CH3)3 - methyl molecules connected to a common carbon

butyl is when there are four carbons. In this case it is C4H9. 

Butyl is derived from butane. Butane has a formula of C4H10.

The molecule C4H10 was broken down to form MTBE. The four carbons remained hence "butyl."'

Ether is any of a class of organic compounds that has an oxygen atom attach to two carbon atoms.

The diagram of MTBE has one oxygen atom. It is the red one. It is between two carbons. 

C0CH3 is the other half of MTBE, hence the word ether in the name.

A total of five carbons in this molecule.

Petroleum stocks are not going to return to historic highs ever again.


It will never be 25 cents again...or will it? I suppose it will become obsolete and no one will want it..

July 10, 2016

By Walt and Alex Breitinger

As Americans (click here) enjoyed the Independence Day holiday last weekend, they likely noticed lower gasoline prices as they fueled up their cars and boats.
U.S. refineries have been running near full speed for months, making more gasoline than drivers are using. This led to all-time high gasoline stockpiles, nearly 10 percent higher than last year. Even if refineries slow down, some analysts expect that prices could stay lower for the foreseeable future as crude oil stockpiles are at record high levels as well.
Gasoline futures, which represent wholesale prices at the New York harbor, without taxes or other costs included, stood Friday at a four-month low of $1.36 per gallon, down 30 cents since mid-May.
Some drivers may not reap this full discount, as gasoline is not easily transported. This factor can create local aberrations in pricing, keeping costs higher in areas with tighter supplies.
There have been all  kinds of additives added to gasoline over the years. Capitalism always demands more profit for less money..
Dur­ing WWI, it was discovered that you can add a chemical called tetraethyl lead to gasoline and significantly improve its octane rating. Cheaper grades of gasoline could be made usable by adding this chemical. This led to the widespread use of "ethyl" or "leaded" gasoline. Unfortunately, the side effects of adding lead to gasoline are:
  • Lead clogs a catalytic converter and renders it inoperable within minutes.
  • The Earth became covered in a thin layer of lead, and lead is toxic to many living things (including humans).
(CH3CH2)4Pb - Pb is lead. It is the central atom of this compound. Each arm extending from the lead atom has two carbons. Off those carbons are hydrogen atoms.

Tetra is another word for "four." Quad is yet another word.

CH3 with a CH2 is considered an 'ethyl' molecule. 

Hence the name tetraethyl lead.

Four molecules of ethyl attached to a central lead atom.

See the molecule carried extra carbons and hydrogens into the fuel tank. The additive would enter the internal combustion engine and the 'ethyl' was burned no different than any other hydrocarbon, but, the lead atom would be emitted out the tailpipe and into the air we breath and water we drink.

What gets me with all these manipulations by Wall Street for greater profits is that they never bother to let consumers know how deadly their profit margin really is. Does anyone believe the petroleum industry didn't know before they sold gasoline with this additive that it was dangerous to human health as well as nature? I mean does anyone actually think the petroleum industry when, "Oops" when the US government stated the industry could not use this additive anymore?

I think the petroleum industry knew exactly what they were doing and didn't care. I am quite confident there is laboratory data somewhere that states same. But, this was WWI  and the evil had to be defeated at any cost even if every American succumbed to lead poisoning. Amazing.

I thought this was a great cartoon. It will blow the lid off Roger Ailes interpretation of the climate crisis.

July 10, 2016
By Staff Report

On the scale of carbon dioxide emissions, human sources far outweigh volcanoes. NOAA Climate.gov cartoon by Emily Greenhalgh.

Human activities emit 60 or more (click here) times the amount of carbon dioxide released by volcanoes each year. Large, violent eruptions may match the rate of human emissions for the few hours that they last, but they are too rare and fleeting to rival humanity’s annual emissions. In fact, several individual U.S. states emit more carbon dioxide in a year than all the volcanoes on the planet combined do.

Human activities

Human activities—mostly burning of coal and other fossil fuels, but also cement production, deforestation and other landscape changes—emitted roughly 40 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2015. Since the start of the Industrial Revolution, more than 2,000 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide have been added to the atmosphere by human activities according to the Global Carbon Project....

See, Roger Ailes likes to have lies as part of their media message when the topic doesn't agree with his politics. Roger sells power, not media time. 

So, everytime there is a volcanic eruption it is all over FOX News. The volcanoes are the evil doers of Earth's carbon dioxide imbalance. Roger Ailes has no proof of that, he relies on people's naivete' and understanding of the fact people don't explode with lava, mountains do.

So, this was an opportunity to set the record straight. I don't even think Vice President Al Gore had that in his movie. 

Human activities emit 60 or more times the amount of carbon dioxide released by volcanoes each year.

60 or more

60 or more

Got it?  Good!
It's Sunday Night

The reason I can see a civil war developing is that when assessing the assets to carry out such violence, it exists.

There are enormous amounts of munitions in the country. There are also many bad boys in the country. It isn't just Black men I am referring to either. There are bikers and white supremacist groups that would think nothing of become parts of the fuel to the fire. 

The OPPORTUNITY is all to real and the unrest within the country is growing.

The organizations that Dallas wants to call hate mongers and promoters of violence are actually keeping a lid on it. I didn't want to state that either, but, the idea of abusing citizen's right to free speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of expression necessitates such statements.

The sad truth is if fear mongering is all they were doing and there was no basis for it, there might be reason to examine the motives and plans. BUT. The facts are all too real. The Black minority in the USA are losing people that are good people. People that were following the rules as best they could.

There is much wrong in the USA and as long as people can organize and demonstrate to bring attention to their plight the USA will continue to be a strong and brave country, but, when freedom of expression is no longer a 'safe haven' for anger; the entire landscape changes and it will be people against the National Guard, that is if the National Guard shows up to be the opposition at all.

Hate campaign against freedom of speech.

It was a lone gunman with combat training. There was no recruitment, there was absolutely no methods employed to bring about such attack on police. This is Police State tactics and unconstitutional. There is nothing criminal about the protests which completely contained the very lives of Black men murdered by police.

Police recognized the legitimate right of the protesters and within that is the mission of organizations throughout the country. These actions against organizations that seek recognition of the unjust deaths of Black American men throughout the country are not promoting violence. This is outrageous and unnecessarily punitive against other Black Americans. It is racist.

July 10, 2016
By Lisa Marie Pane

Dallas — Police shootings of black men (click here) in Louisiana and Minnesota were followed by calls from black militant groups and others to seek vengeance against officers. Almost immediately, several officers were attacked, including the five slain by a sniper in Dallas.

Now authorities are investigating whether the Dallas gunman was directed by those groups or merely emboldened by them.

"I think it's safe to say we'll leave no stone unturned," Dallas Deputy Police Chief Scott Walton said.

Police have been tight-lipped about exactly what they're investigating and what they've uncovered so far. Although Micah Johnson was connected to several militant groups on social media, it's unclear if he was merely a follower or a more active participant....

Just because Micah Johnson MAY OR MAY NOT have been a member of organizations promoting safety for Black Americans is not an implication of guilt of the entire organization.

If Micah Johnson belonged to the Boy Scouts his actions would not implicate the Boy Scout Organization. If Micah Johnson belonged to the local church it does not implicate the church and it's organization in a CONSPIRACY to kill cops.

Not every expression of speech in the USA has to be cleared by Roger ailes.

If a civil war erupts in the USA it won't be from within an organization, it will be far more covert.

Gunmen have been attending rallies regarding the unjust lives of Black men since Ferguson and the unjust death of Michael Brown, Jr..

Finding violence movements requires intelligence not harassment. I suppose the FBI or NSA had Micah on their radar, huh? That is not surprising. It is difficult for anyone to find anyone or thing on the radar when everywhere is an armed camp in Texas.

RB? There was an RB Zurlon Tipton. That is the analogy I can come up with. Nothing in his residence defines "RB?"

Attention, attention!

The Traverse City Film Festival is only sixteen days away. 

TCFF (click here) The schedule of panels, discussions and films are on this website.

TCFF never disappoints in addressing 'the individual' and change of which so much are sparks to the local economy that is the passion of Americans. 

This is a sample of the films that present CHOICE as an American right.

The promise of longevity.

July 8, 2016
Worester, Massachusetts

Worcester, Mass. (AP) — The oldest American person (click here) has died at her Massachusetts home at age 113. Goldie Michelson was a month short of her 114th birthday.
Los Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group senior consultant Robert Young says Michelson died Friday. He says she’d been “very frail and confined to bed” and hadn’t been seen in public for a long time.
Michelson was born in Elizabethgrad, Russia, in 1902 and moved to the United States when she was a child. She lived in Worcester, 50 miles west of Boston.
The Callahan Fay & Caswell Funeral Home says Michelson graduated from Brown University. It says she had a lifelong interest in theater and even installed stage lights in her basement so children could perform there.
Young says the new oldest American is New Jersey resident Adele Dunlap, who’s also 113....