Coming Gold Mania Will Dwarf That of '70s - Pierre Lassonde

There's a chart showing how gold prices have followed the raising of the debt limit.

And don't miss this one: $15 Trillion: What the U.S. Debt Look Like in $100 Bills


Gold is not in a bubble.  There are bubbles elsewhere, but not gold.

Well, that concludes this Saturday.  Thanks for coming by and have a great evening.

Why the Obama-Boehner talks fell apart

As thorough and complete an analysis that I've seen yet.

It is not Obama friendly, so that means that anybody in the Democrat caucus will disagree with that assessment.

You know you’re friggin’ crazy when even Dennis Kucinich knows you’re friggin’ crazy

I found this on a Google search. [ou know you are crazy when] It was supposed to be funny, but this looks a little to nutty to be funny. These people seem to really believe that the Republicans had something to do with the Giffords shooting. Now that is crazy.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

What makes something popular?

Not a trivial question, that. What brought that to mind was the reaction I get sometimes when I watch some videos. There are those that are popular and there are those that aren't. There's no getting around the fact that some stuff just doesn't work in terms of getting an audience.

Of course, that applies to this blog too as I am vitally interested in getting pageviews. What brings people to a post that I write? I wish I knew.

For instance, the top of the list for the last seven days running is the one about US Space Retreat, an interview by Glenn Reynolds of Jerry Pournelle. Yeah, they are popular, so that may explain some of it, but not all of it.

I looked at some videos in my YouTube subscriptions. One of them was of Petula Clark, a popular singer in the sixties. She had plenty of views, but nothing like Lady Gaga gets. Yes, I checked "Bad Romance" again, and it is up to 400,000,000 views. Unbelievable. It may be the reflection of the morals of society now as compared with the sixties. Or that it is old, as the sixties were fifty years ago. Petula Clark and Lady Gaga are about as far from each other as it gets. I'd say Lady Gaga is a cultural indicator that doesn't bode well for the future.

The song "Bad Romance" is frankly, depraved. It ends with a murder scene. Is that what people like these days?

As for the top post here in the last week, I just don't see that the Space Program is dead yet. It doesn't have to be. In fact, it may be headed in an upward trajectory soon. Why be down in the dumps when there are plenty of good things out there? I was thinking about my posts on this blog. Why not feel good about the progress that is being made instead of feeling depressed because the shuttle won't be flying anymore?

I guess I am always on the wrong side in terms of popularity. But I won't be compromising principle in favor of higher ratings. I'll continue to call em as I see em. If it means a lack of popularity, well, so be it.

Link's FAIL Fall

This had to hurt. He skins himself on the side, a really nasty looking welt. You have to wonder if that was staged, because how do you miss that big chunk of concrete there in his path? Well, if he is willing to take one for the team like that, you have to give him a hand.

A New Control Parameter

Andrea Rossi tells us through his blog that he has devised a new control parameter, [allowing better stability for self-sustain mode?] Source: Independent E-cat News

• How many Modules ( or KW ) per generator?  Answer: 300 kW
• What temperature and PSI would the generator be designed to receive? 200 Celsius, if possible.

My understanding of Stirling Engines, which isn't extensive, by the way, is that you need a temperature gradient of over 400 degress Farenheit.   Now, this number doesn't quite achieve that.  Does that rule out the use of Stirling Engines?

300 kW is much more than you would need for a car.  It is my opinion, for what it is worth, that if you could come up with something that could fit into a car and be powered by an E-cat, you would have a big hit.  Of course, this would indicate a Stirling Engine of about 25 kW powered by E-cats and supplemented by batteries.  The Stirling Engine would keep the batteries charged and the vehicle moving within the normal range of usage you would expect in a car.

Moon’s Interior Wet As Earth’s, Rocks Indicate (SPACE.com)

Just when we were starting to get over the shock that parts of the moon’s surface are wetter than the Sahara Desert, a new study reports that the lunar interior is sopping wet, too. (Freedom News)

• Now, new research has found that the moon’s insides are likely as wet as the Earth’s
• “The fact that these [samples] have terrestrial levels of water is really a stunner.”
• But co-author Thomas Weinreich, at the time a freshman at Brown University, spotted some while poring over the Apollo 17 samples.... “A kid a year out of high school found these for us,” Hauri told SPACE.com “That was pretty amazing in and of itself.” 
• The researchers reported their results today (May 26) in the journal Science.
• Where did the moon’s surface water come from? (in permanently shadowed craters)
• Researchers will likely need a sample-return mission to figure out where the surface water actually came from, Hauri said.

Wouldn't it make more sense to go back to the Moon as opposed to going to an asteroid?  Especially since there is water there and possibly plenty of other useful stuff.

I wish I could find a demo of someone baking some water out of lunar samples.  It was eye opening.




Update:

The collision mentioned above is also known as The Big Whack.

No Big Deal? Debt Ceiling Talks Break Down (Again)

Posted by Karl, Patterico's Pontifications

•  I mocked the media’s coverage of this topic to date, let me point out some who are getting the story straight.
• Jonathan Karl at ABC News notes Pres. Obama was “visibly angry” at today’s presser
• Boehner held his own press conference ...White House moved the goal posts.
• ...President Obama on Thursday demanded another $400 billion in revenue... It is clear, however, that Boehner and Cantor were ready to accept up to $800 billion in revenue measures as part of a grand bargain. But when that number jumped, in part because of pressure from Democrats, the talks broke down 
• CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller confirms this (twice).
• It is getting increasingly difficult for anyone to miss that the GOP was ready to deal, while Obama is ready to campaign.
• Obama’s “malaise moment????

Some new information here, I didn't know about the increased revenue that Boehner and Cantor agreed to.  If true, this represents a significant concession.  Evidently, it didn't please the Democrats enough.

Politically, it looks like a misstep for Obama, but that doesn't appear to be the way the Democrats think about it.  We'll see.

If the Speaker agreed to 800 billion in new revenues, and got his 2.4 trillion in cuts, that should have satisfied the requirements that I've seen elsewhere ( made by Obama).  It was a three for one deal, 3 dollars in cuts for 1 dollar in revenues.  If he turns that down, he really did move the goalposts.  Everybody should have been happy, but look who is not.  (leaders in the Democrat party)

Update:

From  David Jackson, USA TODAY

• Boehner said the president insisted on higher taxes that would cripple job creation.
• "A deal was never reached, and was never really close," Boehner said.
• Obama and aides disputed that sentence, saying they were very close to what the president called a " big deal" 
• White House aides said the package could have added up to as much as $3 trillion or so in budget cuts and up to $1.2 trillion in new tax revenues
• ...including a gradual increase in the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67, and adjustments to the Consumer Price Index formula used to calculate Social Security benefits
• Boehner said the White House "moved the goalposts" by demanding $400 billion in additional tax revenues
• White House officials said they were always willing to negotiate that additional $400 billion.

The number needed then is 1 trillion in new revenues.  So where do the new revenues come from?  There's supposed to be enforcement mechanisms to this deal too.  It kinda looks like the fight isn't going to be over even if a deal is made.

Additional Update:

S&P is demanding 4 trillion in deficit reduction, if reports are correct.  The number suggest that this is part of the negotiations now.  In order to reach that number, the cuts will have to be deeper than the ones mentioned, or revenues will have to increase, or some combination.

So where is this heading?

by William A. Jacobson of Legal Insurrection blog.

• John Boehner has given up, for now
• Nancy Pelosi is moving towards a deal in which there would be significant cuts without tax increases, but no cuts to entitlements
• Pelosi may be onto something
• dueling press conferences

It looks like political posturing.  We can't get a deal because it is a fundamental difference in governance, which cannot be negotiated.  Previous negotiations in the past seemed to work, but it was only because the Republicans agreed to accept cuts in exchange for higher taxes.  But the cuts never materialized.  Something has to give, but the Republicans have decided, at least for now, that it won't be themselves as the ones who give in.

They'll possibly get cuts, but it won't amount to much and these cuts can be taken back later, if the Democrats can win back the House.  Hence, Pelosi's involvement.  She wants to be savior and get the glow from that.

You may have a deal if you get modest cuts in discretionary spending, entitlement spending, and a short term patch with both sides having to come back for another round later.  Otherwise, somebody will have to climb down real fast, or a deal won't get done.

Postwar Pillars Of Capitalism Are Crumbling

By Robert J. Samuelson

•  Everywhere, advanced nations face similar problems

• The old order ...rested on three pillars: the welfare state, faith in economic growth, global trade and finance 
•  even countries without immediate crises are embracing austerity measures
• faster economic growth could rescue governments from this trap. Unfortunately, this seems a mirage
• Economists exaggerated their understanding and control.
• We have left our collective comfort zone.
• Governments everywhere are striving to protect the old order because they fear and do not understand the new. 

I can't say that I agree with this.  This looks a lot like the no growth or slow growth ideas that were making the rounds in the seventies.  Growth could return, but it is being hamstrung by the anti growth crowd, which is related politically to the Keynesians.

Keynesianism is showing itself to be a failure. He is really talking about the pillars of big government welfare statism, aka Keynesianism.   If he would have put it that way, I would applaud it, but instead he leaves a gap without a possible solution.   Which is: pare back the welfare state, resume economic growth, and do "something" about trade. We'll have to leave until later what that "something" may be, but clearly, "something" needs to be done.

We must conquer our debt disease

By Veronique de Rugy

• Standard & Poor’s warnings that even if the U.S. raises the debt ceiling, there could be a downgrade in early August if lawmakers don’t agree to a credible debt-reduction deal.
• The House symbolically passed the Cut, Cap and Balance bill, but this plan exempts big-ticket items that are the source of our future fiscal imbalance:
• There are a number of institutional reforms that can be passed in the near term to lock in the spending cuts and avoid the wrath of the credit agencies.
• The Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (a.k.a. the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) came out of a similar spending crisis and was meant to bind spending. By 1990, it was clear that Congress had put into place so many loopholes and exemptions that the framework had fallen apart.
• S&P has issued two warnings: one that triggers a downgrade if we default on debt payments and another that triggers a downgrade if the U.S. fails to commit to serious debt reductions when the debt ceiling is raised or shortly after.

This is the first time that I saw the dual warning reported upon.  The real issue is the spending.  Also was, always will be.

Well, that does it for today.  Thanks for coming by and have a great evening.

JP Aerospace: Dale Schornack on the Samsung Flights

Looks to have been a success. Congrats JPA!




The Mission makes the news

Million dollar drop as wine tumbles

IT was certainly an expensive drop - more than $1 million worth of shiraz wine has gone down the drain after it was dropped by a malfunctioning forklift.

Reminiscent of the scene from Animal House, where Bluto freaks out after someone stumbles and falls with the liquor smashing against the ground.

Bomb blast in Oslo, Norway

Breaking news

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Daily Ticker: 5 Consequences If America Doesn’t Raise the Debt Ceiling

By Peter Gorenstein | Daily Ticke

Could you run a car with something like this?

This Stirling Engine is rated at 55 kW (electrical) which is designed for use as a CHP.  The combined heat and power part isn't needed for cars, but the amount of power generated is more than enough.  Here is what I wrote recently when I wrote about fuel cell/ battery combos.

I figured that a 19 kW power source would power a Nissan Leaf down the highway with the air conditioner running.  You could have a lot of range if you can just keep the battery charged.   Now, if you can mate an E-cat with a smaller version of this Stirling Engine pictured above, you just might be able to roll down the road for as long as the fuel holds out while never depleting the battery.  Since the fuel needed for an E-cat is rather small for its output in energy, your driving range could be quite long indeed.

How to make biodiesel

From HowStuffWorks  But don't try this at home.

The Deal That Dare Not Speak Its Name

By W. James Antle, III

• The Obama-Boehner pact would include "$3 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years to avert an unprecedented U.S. default," a "senior Democratic congressional aide" told Reuters.
• One would think both the president and the speaker would be hailing this as a major victory.
  
  Yet it remains the deal that dare not speak its name.
• There's an old, possibly apocryphal story about a Republican congressional aide who told a group of visiting Russian legislators that the U.S. has a two-party system divided between the Stupid Party and the Evil Party. "Periodically, the two parties get together and do something stupid and evil," the aide is supposed to have said. "That is called bipartisanship."

I think no real deal can be made.  It will be a PR show in order to convince the public that they are doing something when they are not.  The reason?  Confusion.    So much for the notion of divided government.

This isn't the nineties, nor the thirties.  A lot of the so called intelligentsia is fighting old wars.  That should work about as well as trench warfare worked against Hitler's blitzkrieg.

Rossi's Self Sustaining One Megawatt Reactor

by Hank Mills Pure Energy Systems News

I think that a self sustaining reactor should be the final "nail in the coffin" for the skeptics.  Where does the energy come from if all other sources have been eliminated?

The fact that the one megawatt plant will use no input power (the vast majority of the time) is very important. This will be absolute -- beyond any doubt -- proof that the technology works as claimed. Simply put, the pathological skeptics and naysayers will not be able to refute that cold fusion is taking place.  [emphasis added]

As for why it could work, the Bose Einstein Condensate Theory may check out.  Several weeks ago, I recall seeing this observation about the phenomenon known as "cold fusion"

"cold fusion is a surface effect phenomenon", http://youtu.be/gGJiLrG3fLY, at 46 minutes into video

Now, let's look at the Bose Einstein Condensate Theory, put forth by Yeong Kim, Purdue Nuclear and Many Body Theory Group (PNMBTG) Preprint PNMBTG-6-2011 (June 2011)

(1) additives used (not disclosed in the patent application) form Ni alloy and/or Ni metal/alloy oxide in the surface regions of nickel nano-scale particles, so that Ni atoms/nuclei become mobile with a sufficiently large diffusion coefficient and (2) local magnetic field is very weak in the surface regions, providing a suitable environment in which two neighboring protons can couple their spins anti-parallel to form spin-zero singlet state (S=0). Relatively low Curie temperature (nickel has the Curie temperature of 631 oK (~358 oC)) is expected to help to maintain the weak magnetic field in the surface regions  [emphasis added]

 There may be some objections to the Bose Einstein Condensates forming at these temperatures, but the others who say it can happen.  The theory has to be experimentally tested.

Returning to Mill's article:

Secondly, the nickel powder is processed in such a way that tubercles or protrusions form on it. After this processing, the nickel may resemble filamentary nickel.  

This further supports the notion that it is a surface phenomenon.  Filaments mean more surface area, I gather.

The high surface activity of T255 nickel powder's fine filamentary structure facilitates diffusion during sintering, ensuring high porosity with good strength, superior conductivity and long battery life.[http://www.incosp.com/products/type_255/] 

In a Bose Einstein Condensate, the coulomb barrier is suppressed, which allows the "cold fusion" reaction to take place.

U.S. Debt Is Path to Disaster: Opinion

By  Peter Morici, Senior Contributor to TheStreet 

 After the article, I get the impression that ...

We've got a problem.  It's the government.  Neither political party seems willing nor able to address problems honestly and competently.  You can't trust what the politicians say.  The media won't tell you either.  All the while, the public knows something's wrong, but how to fix something that no one wants to fix?  How do you fix something when nobody wants to admit something's wrong?

Banks Pay Back TARP Funds by. . .Borrowing From Treasury

By Daniel Gross | Contrary Indicator

• Enough so that, combined with dividends and sales of warrants, Treasury has declared that taxpayers have earned a profit on the CPP. 
•  In finance and banking you always have to read the fine print.
• All of which is to say that these banks repaid cash owed to a program run by the Treasury Department by. . . borrowing from another program run by the Treasury Department.
• As important, the initiative offers banks that have yet to earn their way out of TARP a quick and easy exit. SBLF and TARP may each have four letters, but only the latter is regarded as a four-letter word. [emphasis added]
• Still, when combing through the reports of TARP exits, it's important to realize that many banks are simply swapping a government crutch for a cheaper government walking stick.

It's a public relations stunt which reassures the public that they are actually accomplishing something that they are not.  Smoke and mirrors.

20 Democrats Support a Balanced Budget Amendment

Why not support it now?




Thanks for coming by and have a great evening.

Dean Kamen developing eco hybrid that will run on anything that burns

By Ben Purvis     20:19 June 28, 2009


Anything that burns?  Like nickel in an E-cat?

Stirling Engine from Off-the-Shelf Parts

This is not likely to ever be a serious machine, but it does illustrate all of the working pieces of a system. You would need to make one much bigger than this if you wanted one to do serious work.



Update:

Here's another Stirling engine, but it is bigger

Objet - bringing 3D printers to your desktop

Rapid Prototyping:

I wonder if this would be useful in prototyping a Stirling Engine that could accept an input gas and use it to generate electricity.




Update:

You can also do metal prototyping (different company)

Krugman Still Doesn't Get It

Economist and New York Times Columnist Paul Krugman continues to get it wrong on clean energy innovation

You can pretty much figure if Krugman is for it, you should be against it.  The only thing Krugman seems to be good at is politics.

100 Watt STIRLING ENGINE ALPHA STIRLING idea High Torque DIY OFF THE SHELF STEAM ENGINE MOTOR

GREENPOWERSCIENCE's Channel, YouTube

This looks a bit crude, but it is only an example of what may be achieved with this type of technology.

It may be possible to hook up something like this to an E-cat.  He uses a Fresnel lens to concentrate the solar energy which runs this demonstration.

Stirling Engines require a heat source.  It can be any heat source.  It doesn't have to be a combustion heat source.  It can be solar, as in this example, or something else, like a LENR powered device.



Update:

Here's the inside of the Stirling Engine

Inside a Stirling Engine Andy Ross Stirling Engine Kit Design

Why is Gang of Six plan "practical" but Cut, Cap and Balance will never pass?

And is it too much to ask our esteemed lions of the Fourth Estate toiling in the White House Press Corps to at least ask the president why he opposes a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget and a supermajority in both chambers of Congress to raise taxes?

That's good enough for a thorough discussion it seems to me.  Let's look at the Constitution for a moment, shall we?  What exactly does the Constitution do?  The answer is that it is a charter for limited government.  It would seem that a balanced budget amendment would be in keeping with that and should be a part of the document.  If there is anything that should be in that document, it should be something that "check and balance" those who would seek too much power.  That is what is at stake here.  By running huge deficits, the Democrats are amassing too much political power and need to be checked.  Therefore, this is as good a reason as any to put in such an amendment to the Constitution.  If not now, when?  If not "us", who?

Rossi Seeks Help

On his blog, Andrea Rossi asks for help regarding turbines for electricity generation from his eCat-powered heat systems.

I checked out the blog.  Rossi says he doesn't know much about turbines.

If his device produces enough heat, he may consider a Stirling device.  It works off any heat source.  I don't know if it is the best option, though.

By the way, good morning.  It is already going into the fourth week of July.  Time flies, doesn't it?

Jurasic 1 - Discovery of Fire

This is a bit silly, but what the heck. It looks like fire was discovered long before there was any civilization anywhere. The point being that if the caveman can use fire, we can use inventions that we don't necessarily understand yet.

Thanks for coming by and have a great evening.

Oops!

Contessa Brewer's Attempt To Discredit Tea Party Freshman Boomerangs Bigtime!

GOP Rep. Walsh Yells At Chris Matthews: ‘Obama Doesn’t Send A Thrill Up My Leg’

This is a lively discussion, if you want to call it that. What is Matthews's point? Is he saying that there is not going to be any cuts and all of this is just window dressing? If he is, that would be funny coming from him. I don't get his point.

Morning Summary, 7/20

Good morning. After scanning the news quickly this morning, I don't seem to have anything I want to discuss. The debt negotiations are coming to a head, it is coming down to the Senate plan, or the House Plan, or maybe no plan at all.  Which outcome will prevail?

Today is an anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon, which is now 42 years ago.  It took from 1903 to 1969 in time in order to get from Kitty Hawk to Tranquility Base.  Now 42 years from Tranquility Base to get to where we are now.  Does that say something to anyone?

We seem to be getting nowhere in more ways than one.

Essential facts about the E-cat

This may be a bit presumptuous of me, as well as premature.  So, I fiddled around with the title of this post.  Rather than to tell everybody else who reads this, I will just say it for myself.  Therefore, the question is not what you should know about it, but what I think I should know about it.  If it matches what you think, then perhaps you can benefit from it too. Also, I am learning new things all the time.  Not everyone will agree on this list.  It is my list, perhaps you, as the reader, may want your own list.

Here's the list, in no particular order.  It reflects what I think are important points about it.

• The reaction is claimed to be self sustaining.
• The reaction is claimed to produce heat, but not electricity.
• It has been examined by qualified people.  
• Not everyone is impressed with the credentials of those who have seen it.
• Not everyone who has seen it is convinced.
• Qualified people who have seen it have not denounced it as a fraud.
• Therefore, it is still controversial.
• The science about it is not established, but there are theories.
• At least one who has posited a theory is well qualified.  The theory has insufficient laboratory experimental data which can verify the theory.
• The market potential of the device, assuming that it works, does not appear to be that great, in my opinion.
• Even though the market potential, assuming that it produces as it is claimed, is not great, it still would be a great achievement.
• Nothing that I know of would be a roadblock to it having a greater success potential than it would seem to be the case at the moment.  This would assume the potential of great improvements to the device.

This post may not be music to the ears of E-cat supporters.  This is not to say that I think that it isn't any good.  I do think something is missing.  I also think the missing parts can be filled in.  I have no idea of when that may occur, but I would hope that it happens sooner, rather than later.

I hope this is not a disappointment to some, but that is how it seems to me, in my honest opinion.

A video documentary looking at cold fusion and the Rossi/Focardi experiments, via Peswiki.com

Actually, I found this on Al Fin Energy.

Evidently, those who were asked don't think Rossi acutally thought it up.  Instead, he seems to have found this by trial and error.  He may be patterning himself after Thomas Edison who once said that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.  It is much too early to make comparisons to Edison though, but if it holds up, the comparisons may be valid at some point in the future.

The dangers of being wrong on Keynes

There was a poll on Instapundit today which asks what outcome do you think is more likely.  There were 5 or 6 choices.  One of them was phony cuts and that was the one I selected.  Others were phony cuts and higher taxes, for example.  Another was just increased taxes and so forth.

I wrote earlier today that I thought Keynesianism was the problem, not the solution.  It so happens that there's an article written by Ezra Klein in the Washington Post that warns about being wrong on this point.  But it doesn't warn on the other side of that.  The other side is this: what happens when budget deficits get out of control and spending increases without restraint year after year, which finally results in national bankruptcy?

We may not have any reasonable way out of this because there are those like Klein and Krugman who favor Keynesianism.  These folks happen to have like minded people at the controls right now in the Senate and the Oval Office.  We are not likely to see sharp cuts, nor higher taxes.   Instead, we are likely to see some kind of deal which pretends to solve the problem, but really doesn't.  Hence, some version of the status quo.

If there is no deal at all, we will have some sort of partial government shutdown.  It will be interesting to see if the Republicans can keep their caucus together long enough to get through the roughest part of a chaotic environment that is likely.  I am thinking that the odds are against that.  It may even result in a panic and the Republicans may fold, like they did in 1995.

So, what to do?  I would suggest status quo.  A clean bill.  Don't do anything, because politically it isn't possible to do anything.  Whatever they do, don't raise taxes.   That's the worse thing that they can do.  The only way they can do that is if they get all the other things they say they want.  The taxes would be the price for all that.  I am sure that if they made that offer to the Democrats, they would turn it down.  At least make that offer, then go back to a clean bill if it won't pass.

Bose Einstein Condensate and LENR

I won't discuss this much. Just that it struck me like a bolt of lightening. (okay, maybe that's an exaggeration) It did get my attention, put it that way. I put the key phrases in italics and bold for emphasis.

7. Summary and Conclusions
A generalization of the BEC mechanism for one specie LENR processes in condensed matters has been made to the case of a mixture of two different species of positively charged Bose nuclei in harmonic traps. Depending on the ratio of the parameters involved, it is shown that the two components may coexist in same regions of space, in spite of the Coulomb repulsion between two species. We have obtained an approximate selection rule involving nuclear masses and charges of two species.

When it exists in the same regions of space, fusion can take place.  Normally, this is not possible.  Okay, is this big time or am I dreaming?

This paper was created in 2004, so it isn't something dreamed up yesterday in order to explain the E-cat.

A ‘Debt Limit’ Compromise

by Richard A. Epstein (Peter and Kirsten Bedford Senior Fellow and member of the Property Rights, Freedom, and Prosperity Task Force)

Quotes and my responses to them:

• The whole matter has careened so far out of control that the abundant blame for this unfortunate impasse has to be shared on both sides of the aisle.  Response:  The problem is Keynesianism.  As I understand it, Keynesianism is the doctrine of not paying debts.  This is what got us into this mess in the first place.
• Thus, although there is constant pressure on both sides of the aisle to cut defense spending, it seems that the current four percent of gross domestic product spent on defense is too low for a nation that faces dire threats around the world.  Response:  This country doesn't need to spend as much as it does on defense.  We are defending the world, which, in most cases, are just as well off as we are, and can afford their own defense.
• These programs have, by common consent, grown beyond sustainable levels.  Response:  This is a typical Republican talking point, but I am not typical.  All you have to do is open your eyes.  Social Security was running surpluses all these years.  Only recently has it begun to run deficits.  Other entitlements can be looked at, but not Social Security.  It isn't the problem.
• The appalling waste of both the Bush and especially the Obama stimulus programs was based on the fatal Keynesian presumption that it makes sense for the government to make expenditures that everyone would deem wasteful, even farcical, if undertaken by private parties.  Response: Now you're talking.
• On this view, Republican strategy to rail against all new taxes is a misguided negotiation position. Response:  Maybe so, but to give in on taxes on feeds the monster. 
• Toward that end they should accept some tax increases, but fight hard to tie those increases to a flattening of the tax rates and to the largest possible increase in spending cuts  Response:  I don't trust spending cuts because they can be taken back.  The only time I could support a tax increase is if there is a balanced budget amendment. 

Cold Fusion during the Cold War

by Hank Mills
Pure Energy Systems New

During the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union, Filimonenko Ivan Stepanovich developed and patented a cold fusion technology. Although it never reached commercialization, it is a reminder that cold fusion has a history that predates by more than 2x the 23 years since Pons and Fleishman

I think that conventional wisdom will say that this stuff is crackpot. But the author of this blog isn't afraid of being labeled as crackpot.

I use that term in connection with this article because the very notion of "cold fusion" has gotten that label. Not to mention a few other things such as reactionless thrust, which is mentioned as well. That will get the conventional wisdom people in a snit, for sure.

People are so sure they are right about things. But what if you are wrong?

By the way, good morning.

Newsletter - Edition 272 - 17 July 2011 By Christopher Laird

This is an outline of his latest newsletter. It is a subscription based service which can be accessed from the Products page.


Intro
US Debt ceiling dangers and the EU bank crisis
Possible outcomes from a US Default on markets
Will the USD survive its first test in the bond markets?
USD pairs
1929 and now and USD
Bank 101
Would you believe the EU might disintegrate like the Mid-East???
War in the ME pending in the fall

Precious Metals Ready for Big-Time Run as Global Breakdown Begins

By Jordan Roy-Byrne

Today’s credit stress is primarily with governments. The stress and liquidation from the private sector dominated dominated the landscape in 2007 and 2008. Governments have absorbed many of those losses and now it is the credit quality and creditworthiness of governments that is come into question

Perhaps it is my mistake to think that government can repair itself. From the looks of it, this may not be the thing that happens. This government could, in my opinion, repair itself. But it doesn't have the will to do that. Nor does the public seem interested enough to scare the politicians into doing the right thing and actually fix this mess.

The cuts necessary to bring the budget back into historical norms are not out of the question. What is needed is new priorities. Unfortunately, these new priorities are not particularly helpful to certain politicians, so the interest just isn't there.

Number one priority should be to restore fiscal integrity. All other considerations should yield. Without a sound financial structure, none of this is going to matter. Eventually, if the current trajectory holds, all of what the politicians are trying to protect will break down anyway and chaos will ensue.

Number two priority should be to restore growth. This will enable debts to be serviced and we can grow out of the problem. But certain politicians are not particularly fond of growth. The choice is simple, replace the politicians who wish to hinder growth.

It won't be easy and it may well be impossible if the realities of the situation are not faced. The one reality that must be faced is that something has to give. The thing that animates the left is Keynesianism. This has shown itself to be a failure. They must give that up and/or be sent packing. Otherwise, we face a dark future.

Bose Einstein Condensates and the E-cat

Somebody else responded to my question to Andrea Rossi besides Rossi himself.  It was the observation that these condensates form at very low temperatures.  However, a little digging shows that it can be predicted that these condensates can form at very high temperatures too.  I cite the source here:

It has been predicted that a quasi-equilibrium system of bosons could undergo Bose-Einstein condensation even at relatively high temperatures, if the flow rate of energy pumped into the system exceeds a critical value. 

I found the link to this from the Wikipedia entry on Bose Einstein condensates, footnote number 10.  There is more to this, but I have shortened it because of a lack of time.  It should be easy enough to follow, though.

Update:

As I wrote before, the topic here is way above my pay scale, so I think I'll let it drop at this point.  It is interesting reading to a certain extent, but without the formal education to fully understand it, I feel a bit confused sometimes when I read this stuff.

I've been spending the last few hours reading over such topics as "spin" and "anti parallel" and so forth.  As best as I can determine, the theory offered to explain the e-cat's low energy nuclear reaction seems plausible. I'd rather not go much further than that.  That belongs in a discussion elsewhere.

Update:

Here's some information on Yeong E. Kim.  I'd say it looks pretty impressive.

Rossi eCat Accused

A commenter, Julian Brown, posted the following curious message in an eCatNews discussion thread:

Does this spell trouble of some kind?  It is difficult to sort it all out and decide for oneself.  Difficult because I want to believe in it, but knowing that this shouldn't be required.  For me, science shouldn't have that quality of believing in things.  Nothing is sacred in science, it has seemed to me.  I am going to keep a neutral attitude on this one.

The Undefeated Movie Trailer

Well, it has been a long day. Time to get ready for tomorrow. I'll leave you with this trailer of the movie of Sarah Palin. Those of you who don't like her, well, I guess you won't be watching, eh?

Thanks for stopping by and have a great evening.



The Undefeated Teaser Trailer from Dain Valverde on Vimeo.

The 'BBC Left' is using hacking to get revenge

Left-wing politicians and broadcasters do not want to debate ideas but they do want to remove their opponents.

The Left does not want a debate or an open market in ideas. It wants to extirpate its opponents – to remove them from the field. It actually seems to believe that it is justified in snuffing out any possibility of our arguments reaching the impressionable masses – and bizarrely, it defends this stance in the name of fairness.

This reminds me of the quote attributed to Obama, in which he said that he would be in favor of higher capital gains taxes even if it didn't result in higher tax collections.  His reason was on the grounds of fairness.

But what is fair and what isn't?  Somebody has to decide, and who will that be?  Why, the left, of course.  It is the whole point.  In terms of economics, somebody has to decide what is fair and what isn't.  Who decides in those cases?  Why, the left does, of course.  Everything seems to revolve around the left.  They get to decide everything, while at the same time claiming that they are the only true arbiters of what is fair.

Charles Krauthammer Accuses Press of 'Accepting Every Leak Out of the White House'

After claiming on PBS's "Inside Washington" that we now have a "completely compliant, pliant, supine press accepting every leak out of the White House," he silenced the entire panel by asking them to name one specific cut to entitlements the President has proposed (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Marco Rubio on CBS

1. Do you take seriously the dire warnings about the debt ?
2. No one focusing on real problem: the debt
3. Will you support McConnell deal?  Ans: No.
4. Critic of Obama: example Sean Hannity; do you mean that literally?  Ans: increased spending, higher unemployment; none of his solution have worked; strategy of take or leave it scenario
5. Did Bush admin have anything to do with it?  Ans: Where's President's plan?
6. Concessions from Republicans? Ans: Have stepped up and talked about it.  Example Ryan's plan.
7. What's your plan?  Look at retirement age.  Open to other suggestions.  1) budgetary reforms 2) growth enhancers
8. Willing to let debt limit stand?  Says that we are already defaulting.  Need a credible plan to deal with debt.
9. Increase revenues?  How to get revenues is through growth.

Statistical correlation for the composite Boson

Baigeng Wang, Jian Wang
(Submitted on 16 May 2002)

I found this from a Google search on the words "singlet composite Bosons".  It is not a new theory, since this was published nearly 10 years ago.

Just trying to grasp the theory put forth to explain the E-cat with a scientific theory that I've been looking at recently.

Carnival of Space 206

Brian Wang of NBF blog seems to be contradicting Bob Zubrin just a bit.

Zubrin:

To achieve his much-repeated claim that VASIMR could enable a 39-day one-way transit to Mars, Chang Diaz posits a nuclear reactor system with a power of 200,000 kilowatts and a power-to-mass ratio of 1,000 watts per kilogram. 

BW:

There is a very near term solar power system which can achieve 1 kg/kw energy density at megawatt levels.

It is interesting that Zubrin minimizes the hazards of cosmic rays.  Perhaps he has not considered the fact that the LEO ISS missions have the Earth's magnetic field to shield from cosmic rays.  Once outside that protective barrier, there would be no protection.

I am not always in agreement with Zubrin.

Update:

There is a possibility of the James Webb Telescope's being canceled due to budget cuts.  Here is an argument against that.  You have to admire the guy's enthusiasm.

Just asked a question of Mr. Rossi

The question is awaiting moderation.  I am anxious to see what the answer is.

Greg M.
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
July 17th, 2011 at 9:13 AM

Dear Mr. Rossi:

I have read the Bose Einstein Condensate Theory here. If I may quote:

“(2) local magnetic field is very weak in the surface regions, providing a suitable environment in which two neighboring protons can couple their spins anti-parallel to form spin-zero singlet state”

and

“…This may provide a suitable environment in which more of both Ni atoms/nuclei and protons become mobile, thus creating a favorable environment for the case of two species of Bosons (Ni nuclei and composite Bosons of paired two protons).”

and

“The generalized BECNF theory can now be applied to these two-species of Bosons and provides a mechanism for the suppression/cancellation of the Coulomb barrier”

Do you have any comments?

Many thanks,
Greg M.

Update:

Here's the answer:

Dear Greg M.:
Please make your point: I am sure Prof. Yeong E.Kim will answer you. His work is very good, this is my comment.
Warm regards,
A.R.
[emphasis added]

I guess the comment suffices.   What's my point?   Hell, I don't know.   I figured he may have some idea and would like to comment upon it.

It looks to me like the theory is explaining how the fusion can take place.   He wants to conduct some experiments in order to confirm the theory, if my reading is correct.

Watch the World’s Largest Shark Tank on Live Webcam

Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta

This view will be available for a limited time.  ( Through this month, I think)


Stream videos at Ustream

‘Obama Remix’ Of Jimmy Carter’s Malaise Speech

Today on The Laura Ingraham Show, host Laura Ingraham presented a remix, of sorts, juxtaposing portions of former President Jimmy Carter’s 1979 “Malaise Speech”

Good morning. I think that this President really is looking a lot like Jimmy Carter. The circumstances in which he won the last election are not too much different than Carter's, the outcome of his policies are not much different, and neither are his policies and speech much different. There are those well to his left who are calling him a Republican! They did that to Carter too.