The reality of austerity

This will be coming our way if something isn’t done.

It’s not Obamacare….it’s Social Security they’re after

Center for Media and Democracy has this up on what the Koch Brothers and Pete Petersen and their toady Paul Ryan are really after–what they’ve been after all along—Social Security and other “entitlement” programs.  I still hate that term”entitlement”  as it alludes to a giveaway when folks pay into these programs all their lives.

Here’s the video by Mark Fiore:

 

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Also from CMD–

Profiting off the poor.  With Indiana being All Republican, All the Time in the Legislature, I rather doubt that they have slayed this dragon.  I suspect that privatization will be back…probably by backdoor deals.

Also, Indiana will be dropping ISTEP (Indiana Statewide Testing Educational Progress)next year BY FEDERAL REQUIREMENT.

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…and profiting off of our children-–and ultimately, our Democracy. (Just a refresher of the Charter school scams and hedge fund managers/Wall Street making a profit off of schools.)

From the report:

In recent years, there has been an explosion of full-time “virtual” charter schools paid for by the taxpayer. From 2008 to 2012, 157 bills passed in 39 states and territories (including the District of Columbia) that expand online schooling or modify existing regulations. Many of these bills are attributable to American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) politicians.

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I was thinking about this other day while teaching–online is such a ripoff in that you don’t get human interaction.  Granted, the Wall St. types probably loathe human interaction…but I really wonder if they’re human to begin with….the rest of us,however, actually want to be around other humans.

Anyway, a teacher can often pick up on cues to help a student “get” a subject that a stupid computer could never do.

A teacher can give encouragement when a student wants to give up.  This is especially important for students who are having difficulty–I thought of myself  and my daughter being dyslexic.  If I hadn’t tried to teach my daughter through Phonics and patiently sitting down with her every night to read, she most likely would not have reached her potential.  Again–computers cannot help when there is a learning disability.

Lastly, a teacher is going to lay the hammer down if a student comes in without homework done or starts goofing off during class instead of doing the work they’re supposed to be doing…online courses cannot do that, either.  And a teacher is also a sounding board for a student who may be dealing with issues at home…

As I’ve noted before, there is something lost when the classroom lacks discussion and interchange of ideas or more in-depth on the subject.

And, of course, a computer can’t teach art or music the way that it should be done.

The article makes note that the virtual schools enroll kids that never take courses, never answer emails, and so on, but still take tax dollars for them.  One had to reimburse the state $800k for “ghost” students.  This is a huge red flag in that while the neocons are so very worried about voter ID to “prove” who someone is so they don’t vote twice….well, I don’t see the same concern with these “ghost” students who may or may not even be real persons.  Who is checking on them?

And this just made my heart sing:

Affidavits from former K12 Inc. teachers that were incorporated into the complaint paint a devastating picture of an enrollment-driven, profit-driven corporate culture that leaves kids in the dust. (Note to Wall Street: If you want to exploit children, don’t hire a bunch of teachers who actually care about kids.)

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Sadly, I think Wall St. will actually take that advice and will screen teachers who don’t give a rip.  Or Wall Streeters will make a construct that they “can’t find any good teachers” so they will be “forced” to plead for the ability to hire non-teachers to….teach.

 

 

 

The importance of Education **edited

If anyone ever doubted the significance of an education, perhaps Malala’s story and her passion can cast all doubt aside that fighting for the United States public education system is worth it.  It’s for the poor. It’s for the middle class.  And, as Malala so aptly points out–an education is what keeps women from being imprisoned (either emotionally or physically).

**edited to put just the clip of Malala on here.  I messed up with putting the entire Daily Show clip.  Sorry for the graphic  — I missed that one.

The Economic War of Israel

Edward Teller has one of the best posts up I’ve seen on the situation in Israel. There are ways of waging war that don’t require planes dropping bombs…

Max Blumenthal explains in the 2nd video  how control of food is tantamount to control of people.   A poignant point he makes was the destruction of the herds of Buffalo to starve out the Native Americans.  They were forced to adopt the grain-based diet including fry bread, which we now know is very unhealthy, especially if one is gluten intolerant.  As Blumenthal highlights, the Native Americans now have issues with diabetes.  I would go a step further and say this also may be linked to alcoholism….as I believe there is a link with diet and alcoholism.

Henry Kissinger’s words flashed in my mind as Blumenthal spoke of the Israelis destroying chickens, and other livestock so that the Palestinians could not provide for themselves.   More quotes of Henry Kissinger.

I skipped over the first video to see his take on the market.   When I viewed it, I was stunned, to say the least.  American rightwing talking points about President Obama not being a U.S. citizen, of being a Muslim, and calling him a n***er, etc.  Wow.  Just wow.   And the gal who said she was “politically aware” but didn’t know who Benjamin Netanyahu was? For real?

The Yes Men

It is a continual source of amusement and awe at the stuff I come across looking up other stuff.

For instance, the Yes Men — an activist group against the Bhopal disaster,

We never hear that part of the information Wikileaks leaked is about the stuff done by corporations.

Note at the bottom where Dr. Ingrid Eckerman, a member of the International Medical Commission on Bhopal, has been denied a visa to India since 2008. Incredible that someone trying to help the people damaged by this disaster is denied access.

This may be why (from the link to the IMC wiki page):

The IMCB publicly condemned Union Carbide and reiterated the company’s full liability not only for responsibility in causing the deadly gas leak, but also for the confounding role of its behaviour with respect to pre-accident preventive and exposure mitigating efforts, and the timely and effective application of the appropriate medical measures at the time of the accident. This included the lack of transparency about the composition of the gases released, resulting in the absence of rational methods of care and planning resulting in loss of sight and in some cases life, and creation of suspicion and conflict among professionals and the population. There was also a lack of emergency preparation which would have made the public and professionals aware of the potential toxins inside the plant and how to respond to an accident.

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Fracking came to mind with the mention of lack of transparency about the composition of the toxins released.  Remember the nurse who was sickened because they refused to tell her what chemicals she was dealing with? This from American Nurses association for information on toxins and their effects.   Take note of the UNIONS strength in numbers at calling attention to this and demanding transparency.

More reasons why they don’t want people to know what’s in it—

It is now well known that persistent and chronic gas-related health effects are present in the Bhopal population.[3][4][5] However, the full spectrum of effects is yet to be defined, especially in those exposed as children or in utero, and as manifested in survivor reproductive health.[6][7] There has been a lack of systematic collection of relevant information in these reproductive effects, and also with respect to cancer development or other chronic illnesses as sequelae of the gas exposure.

Recent investigations have shown that local well water has become contaminated by the improper storage of a large amount of hazardous waste in the facility, or on its grounds.[8] This toxic waste is especially hazardous to those still suffering the effects of direct exposure to the gas.

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See, if you don’t know what’s in it, you can’t connect the symptoms to the chemical that caused it.  Kind of like genetically modified organisms, eh?  If people don’t know what’s in their food, they can’t connect ill health to it.

Education under fire

It is really hard to read all the news on Education.  It is depressing to no end.

Some of the bad news:

Disability scandal involving a charter school, with a scheme diverting $$$ towards their own pockets.  What is really sad is these mentally challenged children are viewed by these people with $$ in their eyes–just like the medical profession.  These children will receive the minimal of instruction to optimize the profit margin.

The moral and spiritual bankruptcy of corporate reformers.

The magical Michelle Rhee.

Arne Duncan blasts “armchair pundits”….just like John Kerry…a politician that thinks the public’s opinion doesn’t matter.  Duncan degrades the public as no-nothings not worth his time.  He ignores that educators are among the public who are speaking out against corporate profiteering of public schools.

Here’s a post disputing Bill Gates’ *cough* facts.  (hat tip Diane Ravitch)

Does anybody else see the irony of Gates, a college dropout, deliberately being deceptive on the numbers of college graduates in the U.S.?  Not only is he a hypocrite, but a lying one at that….

And again, it bears repeating over and over that a college degree is no guarantee of a job.  And there are those who do not want a degree but still need to be paid a living wage.

Gates’ money torpedoing public education through devious means.  $173 MILLION.   What a creep.

Heckuva job, reformers!

Indianapolis schools ground zero.  Yep.

This is just too, too ridiculous.  We have no toilet paper, but gee whiz, we have a shiny new sports arena!!

Canadians still being held

The Egyptian authorities are still holding two Canadians in jail.  They have sent word that they were beaten after asking for directions from police.    They had filmed the carnage of 102 people killed and Tarek offered medical assistance to the injured…and that seems to be why they are being held….but they have yet to go before a court.  Meanwhile, they are forced to sleep on concrete floors with cockroaches.

23 chemtrails and counting…

I went outside today — a beautiful sunny day — to take the doggie out.  I look up, and the sky is just plastered with chemtrails.  They have been spraying more and more of them every few days.    I thought about farmers having to work outside all day with that poisonous mixture of barium and other stuff…and wondered if any were raising protests against them.

I found this –– a protest in San Francisco.   Another video here –not too far into it, the guy mentions he had rainwater tested and found high levels of barium and aluminum in it.  I know there are some who are um, “out there” but not all of them.

Others mention how the chemtrails affect rain amounts–causing droughts.  When we were in a drought last year, they were being sprayed in Fort Wayne nearly every.single.day.

More here.

From the report:

“They call it weather modification, which they try to make it sound like a good thing,” Neilson said.

Sion said he has found proof through the U.S. Patent Office that this technology exists.  

“To create artificial clouds of aluminum for solar radiation management,” Sion said. “That’s what it’s purported to be.”

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The Patent given to Hughes Aircraft:

United States Patent

5,003,186

Chang ,   et al.

March 26, 1991


Stratospheric Welsbach seeding for reduction of global warming AbstractA method is described for reducing atmospheric or global warming resulting from the presence of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere, i.e., from the greenhouse effect. Such gases are relatively transparent to sunshine, but absorb strongly the long-wavelength infrared radiation released by the earth. The method incudes the step of seeding the layer of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere with particles of materials characterized by wavelength-dependent emissivity. Such materials include Welsbach materials and the oxides of metals which have high emissivity (and thus low reflectivities) in the visible and 8-12 micron infrared wavelength regions.


Inventors: Chang; David B. (Tustin, CA), Shih; I-Fu (Los Alamitos, CA)
Assignee: Hughes Aircraft Company (Los Angeles, CA)
Family ID: 24042064
Appl. No.: 07/513,145
Filed: April 23, 1990

Current U.S. Class: 250/505.1 ; 244/158.1; 250/503.1; 250/504R
Current International Class: A01G 15/00 (20060101); G21K 001/00 ()
Current CPC Class: A01G 15/00 (20130101)
Field of Search: 250/505.1,54R,503.1,493.1 244/136,158R

References Cited [Referenced By]


U.S. Patent Documents

3222675 December 1965 Schwartz
4755673 July 1988 Pollack et al.

Primary Examiner: Berman; Jack I. Attorney, Agent or Firm: Sales; Michael W. Denson-Low; Wanda


Claims


What is claimed is: 1. A method of reducing atmospheric warming due to the greenhouse effect resulting from a layer of gases in the atmosphere which absorb strongly near infrared wavelength radiation, comprising the step of dispersing tiny particles of a material within the gases’ layer, the particle material characterized by wavelength-dependent emissivity or reflectivity, in that said material has high emissivities with respect to radiation in the visible and far infrared wavelength spectra, and low emissivity in the near infrared wavelength spectrum, whereby said tiny particles provide a means for converting infrared heat energy into far infrared radiation which is radiated into space. 2. The method of claim wherein said material comprises one or more of the oxides of metals. 3. The method of claim 1 wherein said material comprises aluminum oxide. 4. The method of claim 1 wherein said material comprises thorium oxide. 5. The method of claim 1 wherein said particles are dispersed by seeding the stratosphere with a quantity of said particles at altitudes in the range of seven to thirteen kilometers above the earth’s surface. 6. The method of claim 1 wherein the size of said particles is in the range of ten to one hundred microns. 7. The method of claim wherein said material comprises a refractory material. 8. The method of claim 1 wherein said material is a Welsbach material. 9. The method of claim 1 wherein the number of said dispersed particles per unit area in the particle layer is greater than or equal to 1/.sigma..sub.abs 1, where 1 is the thickness of the particle layer and .sigma..sub.abs is the absorption coefficient of the particles at the far infrared wavelengths. 10. A method for reducing atmospheric warming due to the greenhouse effect resulting from a greenhouse gases layer, comprising the following step: seeding the greenhouse gases’ layer with a quantity of tiny particles of a material characterized by wavelength-dependent emissivity or reflectivity, in that said materials have high emissivities in the visible and far infrared wavelength spectra and low emissivity in the near infrared wavelength spectrum, whereby said particles are suspended within said gases’ layer and provide a means for converting radiative energy at near infrared wavelengths into radiation at the far infrared wavelengths, permitting some of the converted radiation to escape into space. 11. The method of claim 10 wherein said material comprises one or more of the oxides of metals. 12. The method of claim 10 wherein said material comprises aluminum oxide. 13. The method of claim 10 wherein said material is thorium oxide. 14. The method of claim 10 wherein said seeding is performed at altitudes in the range of seven to thirteen kilometers above the earth’s surface. 15. The method of claim 10 wherein said material comprises a refractory material. 16. The method of claim 10 wherein said particle size is in range of ten to one hundred microns. 17. The method of claim 10 wherein said material is a Welsbach material. 18. The method of claim 10 wherein the number of said dispersed particles per unit area in the particle layer is greater than or equal to 1/.sigma..sub.abs 1, where 1 is the thickness of the particle layer and .sigma..sub.abs is the absorption coefficient of the particles at the far infrared wavelengths.


Description


BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a method for the reduction of global warming resulting from the greenhouse effect, and in particular to a method which involves the seeding of the earth’s stratosphere with Welsbach-like materials. Global warming has been a great concern of many environmental scientists. Scientists believe that the greenhouse effect is responsible for global warming. Greatly increased amounts of heat-trapping gases have been generated since the Industrial Revolution. These gases, such as CO.sub.2, CFC, and methane, accumulate in the atmosphere and allow sunlight to stream in freely but block heat from escaping (greenhouse effect). These gases are relatively transparent to sunshine but absorb strongly the long-wavelength infrared radiation released by the earth. Most current approaches to reduce global warming are to restrict the release of various greenhouse gases, such as CO.sub.2, CFC, and methane. These imply the need to establish new regulations and the need to monitor various gases and to enforce the regulations. One proposed solution to the problem of global warming involves the seeding of the atmosphere with metallic particles. One technique proposed to seed the metallic particles was to add the tiny particles to the fuel of jet airliners, so that the particles would be emitted from the jet engine exhaust while the airliner was at its cruising altitude. While this method would increase the reflection of visible light incident from space, the metallic particles would trap the long wavelength blackbody radiation released from the earth. This could result in net increase in global warming. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method for reduction of global warming due to the greenhouse effect which permits heat to escape through the atmosphere. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A method is disclosed for reducing atmospheric warming due to the greenhouse effect resulting from a greenhouse gases layer. The method comprises the step of seeding the greenhouse gas layer with a quantity of tiny particles of materials characterized by wavelength-dependent emissivity or reflectivity, in that said materials have high emissivities in the visible and far infrared wavelength regions and low emissivity in the near infrared wavelength region. Such materials can include the class of materials known as Welsbach materials. The oxides of metal, e.g., aluminum oxide, are also suitable for the purpose. The greenhouse gases layer typically extends between about seven and thirteen kilometers above the earth’s surface. The seeding of the stratosphere occurs within this layer. The particles suspended in the stratosphere as a result of the seeding provide a mechanism for converting the blackbody radiation emitted by the earth at near infrared wavelengths into radiation in the visible and far infrared wavelength so that this heat energy may be reradiated out into space, thereby reducing the global warming due to the greenhouse effect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of an exemplary embodiment thereof, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 illustrates a model for the heat trapping phenomenon, i.e., the greenhouse effect. FIG. 2 is a graph illustrating the intensity of sunlight incident on earth and of the earth’s blackbody radiation as a function of wavelength. FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating an ideal emissivity versus wavelength function for the desired particle material. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 shows a model for the heat-trapping (greenhouse effect) phenomenon. It is assumed that the greenhouse gases are concentrated at altitudes between y=0 (at some altitude Y.sub.1, above the earth’s surface) and y=1. Regardless of the sunshine reflected back into space, i.sub.1 and i.sub.2 denote the shortwavelength sunlight energies that are absorbed by the earth’s surface and the greenhouse gases, respectively. Available data shows that i.sub.1 =0.45 i.sub.sol and i.sub.2 =0.25 i.sub.sol, where i.sub.sol is the total flux from the sun. The short wavelength sunlight heats up the greenhouse gases and the earth surface, and this energy is eventually reradiated out in the long wavelength infrared region. FIG. 2 is a graph illustrating the intensity of sunlight and the earth’s blackbody radiation as a function of wavelength. As illustrated, some 30% of the sunlight energy is in the near infrared region. The earth’s blackbody radiation, on the other hand, is at the far infrared wavelength. Referring again to FIG. 1, I.sub.s, I.sub.+, I.sub.-, I.sub.g and I.sub.e represent the fluxes in the infrared wavelength region, where I.sub.s and I.sub.g are the fluxes reradiated by the greenhouse gases toward the sky and ground, respectively; I.sub.e is the flux reradiated by the earth; and I.sub.+ and I.sub.- are fluxes within the gases radiating toward the space and ground, respectively. I.sub.+ and I.sub.- are functions of y, e.g., I.sub.+ (0) is the I.sub.+ flux at y=0. Considering the principles of energy conservation and continuity at boundaries, the following relationships are obtained: where R.sub.o, R.sub.l and R are the reflectivities at the y=0 and y=1 boundaries and at the earth’s surface. I.sub.BB (T.sub.e) is the blackbody radiation flux at the earth’s temperature T.sub.e. Within the greenhouse gases’ layer, the energy equations are where I.sub.BB (T.sub.g) is the blackbody radiation flux at the greenhouse gases’ temperature T.sub.g, and .alpha. is the absorption coefficient of the gases. The solutions of equations 8 and 9 are given by equations 10 and 11: To illustrate the effects of R.sub.o and R.sub.l on the green-house effect, the extreme case is considered wherein a high concentration of greenhouse gases has strong absorption in the infrared region; that is, for y=1, e.sup.-.alpha.l approaches 0. Then, using Equations 3 and 4, the relationships of Equations 12 and 13 are obtained. From Equations 5 and 7, or From Equations 2 and 1, or Combining Equations 14 and 15, the relationship of Equation 16 is obtained. Finally, Equation 6 gives the blackbody radiation from the earth’s surface in terms of i.sub.1 and i.sub.2 and the three reflectivities: or To achieve a lower temperature of the earth, (considering i.sub.1, i.sub.2 and R as constants), it is desirable to make R and R.sub.l as small as possible. Known refractory materials have a thermal emissivity function which is strongly wavelength dependent. For example, the materials may have high emissivity (and absorption) at the far infrared wavelengths, high emissivity in the visible wavelength range, and very low emissivity at intermediate wavelengths. If a material having those emissivity characteristics and a black body are exposed to IR energy of equal intensity, the selective thermal radiator will emit visible radiation with higher efficiency (if radiation cooling predominates), i.e., the selective thermal radiator will appear brighter than the black body. This effect is known as the Welsbach effect and is extensively used in commercial gas lantern mantles. Welsbach materials have the characteristic of wavelength-dependent emissivity (or reflectivity). For example, thorium oxide (ThO.sub.2) has high emissivities in the visible and far IR regions but it has low emissivity in the near IR region. So, in accordance with the invention, the layer of greenhouse gases is seeded with Welsbach or Welsbach-like materials which have high emissivities (and thus low reflectivities) in the visible and 8-12 micrometer infrared regions, which has the effect of reducing R.sub.o and R.sub.l while introducing no effect in the visible range. A desired material for the stratospheric seeding has a reflection coefficient close to unity for near IR radiation, and a reflection coefficient close to zero (or emissity close to unity) for far IR radiation. FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating an ideal emissivity versus wavelength function for the desired material. Another class of materials having the desired property includes the oxides of metals. For example, aluminum oxide (Al.sub.2 O.sub.3) is one metal oxide suitable for the purpose and which is relatively inexpensive. It is presently believed that particle sizes in the ten to one hundred micron range would be suitable for the seeding purposes. Larger particles would tend to settle to the earth more quickly. The particles in the required size range can be obtained with conventional methods of grinding and meshing. It is believed that the number of particles n.sub.d per unit area in the particle layer should be defined by Equation 18: where 1 is the thickness of the particle layer and .sigma..sub.abs is the absorption coefficient of the particles at the long IR wavelengths. One crude estimate of the density of particles is given by Equation (19): where c is the speed of light, m is the average particle mass, e is the electron charge, and w is the absorption line width in sec.sup.-1. The greenhouse gases are typically in the earth’s stratosphere at an altitude of seven to thirteen kilometers. This suggests that the particle seeding should be done at an altitude on the order of 10 kilometers. The particles may be seeded by dispersal from seeding aircraft; one exemplary technique may be via the jet fuel as suggested by prior work regarding the metallic particles. Once the tiny particles have been dispersed into the atmosphere, the particles may remain in suspension for up to one year. It is understood that the above-described embodiment is merely illustrative of the possible specific embodiments which may represent principles of the present invention. Other arrangements may readily be devised in accordance with these principles by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. * * * * *


Protests in Gainsville here.   One protestor notes the intensity of the sun has gotten worse with the chemtrails.  I agree — it was especially bad in Fort Wayne with the chemtrail spraying.  It normally doesn’t hit the 90s in June, but in all the years I was there, it hit 90 early in June and it was exhaustive heat.  Given my already toxic system, it was probably worse for me than those whom aren’t as stricken.  However, there were an awful lot of people there with respiratory illnesses.  People my age or within ten years were having issues just breathing.  As has been pointed out with vaccination, I have never seen so many sick people.   As I’ve said before, mercury poisoned folk are the canaries in the coal mine, and we are much more sensitive to this stuff–and that includes Electro-magnetic fields (EMF’s).  When I heard that the Navy yard shooter, Aaron Alexis, thought microwaves were being used against him, I wondered if he were toxic and experiencing the personal hell that they cause? Just recently, while in a classroom with a “smart board” (yet another electronic gadget for classrooms that really does not help the kids to learn but gee whiz look at what it can do!), I had the overhead LCD projector on, plus the computer, which is wired into the smartboard, and the “wand” that the teacher uses to project onto the screen.  I had to shut both the wand and the LCD off because I became severely nauseated and my adrenals were starting to weaken–I was afraid they would crash.  Within a half hour after turning them off, my nausea went away.

Protests in London.  They are asserting that it is a program for population control.  You know, before I read the paper on vaccines with hormones in them to cause sterilization, I would have said “no way” to this assertion.  Now?  Well, let’s just say the jury is still out on that.  I’m not saying they are, but keeping an open mind.

An interesting video here that states they were found to contain aluminum, barium, and another substance that was not there previously. Note that they were started in the late 90s, which would be under….wait for it….Bill Clinton’s Administration.

I remembered that Bill Gates was connected to chemtrails, but my memory was fuzzy.  This page explains his once again playing the Knight on a White Horse to save us all but in reality causing more harm and destruction.

Finally, a link off of the last link — a U.S. veteran training in environmental toxins, speaks out on her observations.   I’m not a fan of Infowars, but this report does hold valuable information.  I was with them until the end where she stated they would be carrying guns.  Yeah, not a fan of that….

Teachers Stand up for their right to be heard

…much as they are being silenced in the national discussion, the teachers and parents of Montclair, New Jersey, were going to be heard..

Look— everyone knows you don’t mess with New Jersey.  tough birds…we need some of you here in Indiana…..