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Saturday, July 22, 2017

Apocalypse: The Domestic Enemies

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
I. Three Horsemen

You may have heard of the Four Horsemen of The Apocalypse, but the four I am speaking of today are corporations and/or groups of corporations.

Three of the entities (Big Tobacco, Big Pharma, and Big Chem) are discussed in documents of a library at the University of California at San Francisco (Industry Documents Library).

Those three, IMO, are domestic enemies.

II. Fumes Documents

The fourth horseman, another domestic enemy IMO, is Big Oil (a.k.a. Oil-Qaeda).

The following links are documents in the Smoke & Fumes document library (the number following the name of the document is the document number in the library).

You can click on the link to discover more about a particular document:
Forecasting for the Offshore Oil Boom (1)

Outline of Weather and Wave Forecasting Techniques (2)

The Measurement of Paleotemperatures (3)

The Petroleum Industry Sponsors Air Pollution Research (4)

Reactions Involving Ozone, Nitrogen Dioxide, and Organic Compounds at Low Concentrations in Air (5)

Humble Oil Company Radiocarbon Dates II (6)

Radiocarbon Evidence on the Dilution of Atmospheric and Oceanic Carbon by Carbon from Fossil Fuels (7)

Carbon Dioxide Exchange Between Atmosphere and Ocean and the Question of an Increase of Atmospheric CO2 During the Past Decades (8)

A Review of the Air Pollution Research Program of the Smoke and Fumes Committee of the American Petroleum Institute (9)

The Climatic Factor in the Radiocarbon Content of Woods (10)

Late Quaternary Sea Level: A Discussion (11)

The Petroleum Industries' Air Pollution Control Program (12)

Hurricane Formation in the Gulf of Mexico (13)

Metabolic Fractionation of Carbon Isotopes in Marine Plankton - I. Temperature and Respiration Experiments (14)

Hurricane Betsy in the Florida-Bahama Area - Geologic Effects and Comparison with Hurricane Donna (15)

Sources, abundance, and fate of atmospheric pollutants. (16)

An Ocean Data Gathering Program for the Gulf of Mexico (17)

The Astronomical Theory of Climatic Change: Barbados Data (18)

Atmospheric Scavenging Mechanisms and the Fate of Air Pollutants (19)

Environmental Conservation - The Oil and Gas Industries / Volume Two (20)

Eustatic Low Stand of Sea Level Between 125,000 and 105,000 B.P.: Evidence from the Subsurface of Barbados, West Indies (21)

Carbon Dioxide and Climate: A Scientific Assessment (22)

Pollution and Policy: A Case Essay on California and Federal Experience with Motor Vehicle Air Pollution 1940-1975 (23)

Harold S. Johnston, Ph.D.: Atmospheric Chemistry Research at Berkeley (24)

Interview with Zus (Maria) Haagen-Smit (25)

Excerpt from Student Minority Report on the Stanford Research Institute (26)

Proportional Counting of Carbon Dioxide for Radiocarbon Dating (27)

Damage to Vegetation from Polluted Atmospheres (28)

Los Angeles Fights Smog (29)

Carbon Dioxide May Contribute To Hurricanes (30)

Economic Consideration of Certain Weather and Oceanographic Problems Arising in the Petroleum Industry (31)

Carbon Dioxide Affects Global Ecology (32)

Changes in the Carbon Dioxide Content of the Atmosphere and Sea Due to Fossil Fuel Combustion (33)

Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide (34)

Climate and Man (35)

The Smog Problem in Los Angeles County (36)

Global Aspects of Photochemical Air Pollution (37)

Sources of Air Pollution: Transportation (Petroleum) (38)

The Use of Asphalt Coatings to Increase Rainfall (39)

Accomplishments in Air Pollution Control by the Petroleum Industry (40)

Air Conservation Report Reflects National Concern (41)

Humble/Enjay/Esso Classified Advertisement (42)

History of the Offshore Oil and Gas Industry in Southern Louisiana (43)

Some Legal Consequences of Weather Modification: An Uncertain Forecast (44)

Standard Oil Recruitment at Notre Dame (45)

Weather Modification by Carbon Dust Absorption of Solar Energy (46)

Shell: Climate in a Cage (47)

Method for Recovering a Purified Component From a Gas (48)

Process For The Removal of Acidic Gases From a Gas Mixture (49)

Process For The Removal of Acid Gases From Hydrocarbon Gases Containing The Same (50)

Carbon Monoxide: Natural Sources Dwarf Man's Output (51)

Weather Modification and Smog (52)

Marine Macrophytes as a Global Carbon Sink (53)

Book Reviews: A Worldwide View - Global Effects of Environmental Pollution (54)

Modifying Weather on a Large Scale (55)

Climate Stabilization: For Better or for Worse? (56)

Arctic Offshore Platform (57)

Mobile, Arctic Drilling and Production Platform (58)

Arctic Offshore Platform (59)

Recovery of Shale Oil (60)

Production of Pure Carbon Dioxide (61)

Petroleum Recovery With Inert Gas (62)

Oil Spills in the Arctic Ocean: Extent of Spreading and Possibility of Large-Scale Thermal Effects (63)

Compilation of Workshop Materials: Workshop for an Assessment of the Present and Potential Role of Weather Modification in Agr (64)

Pelleted Carbon Black Containing Surfactant (65)

Icebreaking Cargo Vessel (66)

Tanker Vessel (67)

Cloud Formation and Subsequent Moisture Precipitation (68)

Weather Control by Asphalt (Popular Mechanics) (69)

Astronomical Theory of the Pleistocene Ice Ages: A Brief Historical Review (70)

Astronomical Theory of Climatic Change: Status and Problem (71)

Milankovitch Theory and Climate (72)

Milankovitch Hypothesis Supported by Precise Dating of Coral Reefs and Deep-Sea Sediments (73)

Ice Ages: Solving the Mystery (74)

Ice Ages and Astronomical Causes: Data, Spectral Analysis and Mechanisms (75)

Arctic Marine Oil Spill Research (76)

Chemistry of the Natural Atmosphere (77)

Radionuclide Dating of the Recent Sediments of Blelham Tarn (78)

Wet Removal of Sulfur Compounds from the Atmosphere (79)

Algal Culture: From Laboratory to Pilot Plant (80)

Contribution of Anthropogenic and Natural Sources to Atmospheric Sulfur in Parts of the United States (81)

Direct Production of Electrical Energy From Liquid Fuels (82)

Fuel Cell and Fuel Cell Electrodes (83)

Fuel Cell Catalysts (84)

Fuel Cell With Pr-Au Anode and Molybdate-Containing Electrolyte (85)

Low-Polluting Engine and Drive System (86)

Soil: A Natural Sink for Carbon Monoxide (87)

Variation of Radiocarbon Concentration in Modern Wood (88)

Carbon Dioxide Variations in the Atmosphere (89)

Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Fossil Fuels: a procedure for estimation and results for 1950-1982 (90)

Literature and Research Survey to Determine Necessity and Feasibility of Air Pollution Research Project on Combustion of Comme (91)

Platitudes or Performance? (92)

Technical Information Resources in the Air Pollution Field (93)

Indexing and Abstracting Services in the Air Pollution Field (94)

Desulfurization of Caribbean Fuel (95)

Concentrations of Carbon Monoxide and Organic Gases in Arctic Atmospheres (96)

Auto Pollution: Research Group Charged with Conflict of Interest (97)

Toxicity of some Atmospheric Pollutants (98)

The Distribution of Carbon-14 in Nature (99)

The Environmental and Ecological Forum 1970-1971 (100)

Stratospheric Water Vapour Increase due to Human Activities (101)

Relative Reactivity of Various Hydrocarbons in Polluted Atmospheres (102)

Photochemical Reaction Products in Air Pollution (103)

National Conference on Air Pollution Press Release (104)

Progress in the Prevention and Control of Air Pollution (105)

Weather and Climate Modification: Problems and Prospects (106)

Air Conservation (107)

Agreement Between R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and Exxon Chemical Company (500)

Memorandum: Polypropylene Fibers Produced by Enjay Chemical Company (501)

Exxon Filter Meeting Notes (503)

Proposed Agreements between RJR Tobacco Company and Exxon Chemical Company (504)

Patent: Cigarette Filter from Polypropylene Fibers (505)

Evaluations of Exxon Polypropylene Filters (506)

Memorandum to Messrs. Donahue, Oechler, Pepples, Simeonidis and Wall (507)

Smoke Analysis and Physical Properties of SFE-N-68-Q Cigarettes, Pall Mall Filter As Controls - Special Sample With Pall Mall (508)

Initial Evaluation of Esso Polypropylene Filter Material (509)

What is Different About Exxon's Patented PP Filter (510)

Meeting with Enjay Chemical Representatives (511)

Pollution: A Comprehensive Survey of Business and the Environmental Crisis (530)

Letter to John W. Hill (531)

Confidential Report: Tobacco Industry Research Committee Meeting (532)

Staff Memo: European Activities (534)

Staff Memo (535)

Letter to Kerryn King (536)

Memo to Eugene J.T. Flanagan (537)

Interview with John W. Hill (538)

Letter to Dennis M. Dyer (539)

Memorandum to Mr. Timothy V. Hartnett: Excerpts from Constitutions, Charters or By-Laws (540)

Confidential Report on Meeting January 18, 1954 (541)

Letter to Kerryn King (542)

Letter to Fred Panzer (560)

Memorandum to Messrs. Donahue, Oechler, Pepples, Simeonidis, and Wall (561)

Letter to Catherine J. Yoe (562)

Letter to Bernie Robinson re: Washington Business Roundtable, enclosed (563)

Support for AdTI (567)

ATCO Letter to Union Oil SPV documenting similar partnerships with other oil cos (580)

Union Oil letter to ATCO-Annex-Delivering ATCO Message (581)

Exxon Direct Retail Marketing Strategy 1991 (582)

Exxon-RJR Internal Marketing Document (584)

RJR-Humble Oil Yankee Baseball Sponsorship (585)

Exxon-RJR Feb Managers Meeting (586)

Colony Tie-In With the Petroleum Industry: The American Tobacco Company (587)

Chevron Stations & Philip Morris USA Meeting (588)

ExxonMobil Merchandising Manual Exxon. Mobil/R.J Reynolds Retail Partnership (589)

Union Oil Contract Memo (591)

Union Oil Company and The American Tobacco Company Dodgers Agreement (592)

Car Life Report to Consumers: Car Exhausts and Cancer (620)

Lung Cancer, Smoking, and Atmospheric Pollution (621)

Laundered Research: The Finished Product i.e. What You See (622)

Memorandum: Membership of ACS National Commission on Smoking and Public Policy (623)

Tobacco Institute Newsletter (624)

The Silent Killer that Stalks Our Streets (625)

Know Your Board of Directors (627)

The Quantitative Analysis of Cigarette Smoke, Part I (640)

Smoke Analysis and Physical Properties of SFE-N-68-Q Cigarettes (641)

Facts About High Resolution Mass Spectrometry (642)

Recommendation to End Mayo Oxidation Studies Sponsorship (643)

A Report on Mass Spectrometry at the Shell and Humble Oil Companies (644)

Corporate Research Agreements (645)

High Temperature Mass Spectrometry (646)

Annual Report (647)

Tobacco Institute Newsletter (648)

The Biologic Effect from Long-Term Exposure of Primates to Carbon Monoxide (649)

Nitrogen Oxide Content of Smokes From Different Types of Tobacco (660)

Research Agreement between Armour Research Foundation of Illinois Institute of Technology and P. Lorrilard Company, Inc. (661)

Armour Research Foundation Final Report On 'Physical Properties of Cigarette Smoke' (662)

Quarterly Section Research Report, Physical Chemistry Section (663)

Stanford Research Institute Project (664)

Stanford Research Institute Organization Chart (665)

Annual Research and Development Project Review Minutes (667)

Dale M. Coulson Resume (668)

Unknown (669)

The Smog Problem in Los Angeles County (670)

Proposal for Research: Development of Portable Analytical Instrumentation (671)

Stanford Research Institute Memo (672)

Unknown (673)

Philip Morris Incorporated Inter-Office Correspondence (674)

Auto Pollution: Research Group Charged with Conflict of Interest (675)

The Role of Atmospheric Carbon Monoxide in Vehicle Accidents (678)

Soil: A Natural Sink for Carbon Monoxide (679)

Recommendation to End Mayo Oxidation Studies Sponsorship (681)

Unknown (682)

Contract with Stanford Research Institute (684)

Re-Evaluation of a Stanford Research Institute Zeolite for CO Removal from Cigarette Smoke (685)

Memorandum: Psychographics (686)

Development of Portable Analytical Instrumentation (688)

Presenting The Virginia Institute for Scientific Research (691)

VISR News: VISR President Honored with University's Thomas Jefferson Award (692)

Statement by Theodor D. Sterling. Ph.D. (730)

Unknown (731)

Unknown (732)

Occupational Exposure to Organic Lead Compounds (733)

Report and Recommendations of the Advisory Panel to the Feasibility Study (734)

The Feasibility of a Definitive Evaluation of the Data Concerning Smoking and General Morbidity and Disability: Status Report (735)

Statement of Dr. Theodor Sterling Before the House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce (736)

Confidential Report Scientific Advisory Board Meeting (737)

Unknown (738)

Report on Meeting of Scientific Advisory Board, TIRC (751)

Introduction: The Tobacco Institute Past & Present (758)

CRC APRAC (759)

Lawrence G. Rawl Profile for Board Member Search (770)

Letter to R. G. Baker re: Sir Richard Dobson (771)

Experimental Production of Carcinoma in Rhesus Monkeys (800)

Mathematical Analysis of Lead Burdens (801)

Note from George Weissman to Paul Morgan (804)

Bronchial Changes Studied in Smokers (805)

Letter from Theodor D. Sterling to Robert C. Hockett: Recommendations Endorsed by the Panel (806)

The Air Around Us (807)

Note from David R. Hardy (810)

Barclay Low Tar Cigarettes (811)

Letter from D.M. Hughes to M.A. Khan (812)

Is Smog the Real Culprit of Lung Cancer? (813)

Letter from H.R. Bentley to C.G. Hunter (814)

Shell International Research: Cigarette Filter of Alkene Polymer (815)

Notes on Trip to NYU - Bellevue Medical Center Institute of Industrial Medicine (817)

Properties of High-Boiling Petroleum Products (818)

Copy of Cablegram re: British Empire Cancer Campaign Reports (819)

Patent Specification: A Process for the Production of Foamed Polypropylene, and Articles Produced Therefrom (820)

Sloan-Kettering Institute Meeting, Nov 5 1953 (823)

Process for Manufacturing Foamed Polypropylene (824)

Keyword Method (825)

Russian US Air Pollution Inspection (826)

List of Organizations of Interest to Tobacco Industry (830)

Report and Recommendations of the Advisory Panel to the Feasibility Study (832)

The Feasibility of a Definitive Evaluation Concerning Smoking and General Morbidity (834)

Note from Theodor Sterling to Bob Hockett: Interim Report (836)

Letter from D.M. Hughes to M.A. Khan Regarding "The Fundamental Aspects of Gas Chromatography" (843)

Chronology of Events with Respect to Mr. Hamner and The American Tobacco Company Research Department (846)

New York University Industrial School of Medicine Meeting Summary (848)

Letter to D.G.I. Felton Regarding Visit to Shell (849)

Memo from J.K. Wells to I.W. Hughes: TI "New Directions" Discussion Meeting (850)

Memo from H.R. Kornegay and S.D. Chilcote to Executive Committee: New Directions Implementation (851)

Letter from T. Sterling to David Hardy: Guidelines for the Design of Legislation for Establishing Review Mechanism (852)

A Talk by the Honorable Horace R. Kornegay (853)

Goals for Tobacco Institute Public Affairs (854)

TI "New Directions" Discussion Agenda. (855)

New Directions: A Presentation of the Tobacco Institute Staff (856)

Tobacco Institute Proposal: New Directions. Tobacco Institute Proposal: New Directions. 1981 September 29. Brown & William (857)

Research Intelligence Chart (858)

New Directions Implementation Third Draft (859)

Notes of a Tentative Nature Taken on the Ecusta - L and M - Duke Conference - January 30, 1954 (860)

DRAFT OF MEMORANDUM ON PROPOSED WORK ON RELATION OF SMOKING TO CANCER (861)

Memorandum (862)

New York University, Report On Visit Of Dr. Norton Nelson And Dr. Alvin Kosak To Richmond Concerning Their Cigarette-Cancer Pr (863)

Report On Visit Of Dr. Norton Nelson And Dr. Alvin Kosak, New York University, To Richmond On March 27, 1956 (864)

KOSAK 1959 (19590000). THE COMPOSITION OF TOBACCO SMOKE (865)

SUPPLEMENTARY GRANT REQUEST BY DR. ALVIN I. KOSAK, (NO. 141, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY). (867)

TIRC Committees (999)

III. In Closing ...

Currently, the U.S.eh? is hijacked via a coup of The Four Horsemen of the American Apocalypse (A Tale of Coup Cities, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13).

Watch the brief video below to learn something about them ... so we can defeat them.



Friday, July 21, 2017

When Accountability Is A Plague - 4

"Mack The Finger said to Louie the king"
A bit more than seven years ago, Dredd Blog began this series that is focused on a fundamental characteristic of democracies, which is also a characteristic missing in non-democracies.

So, as despots know, remove accountability and you have removed democracy ... and replaced it with demockracy.

The shocking news today is about whether or not the president can pardon himself, his family, and his staff, but not only that, an associated discussion to that news is "when will the president fire the Special Investigator Mueller" (Washington Post: Can Trump pardon anyone? Himself? Can he fire Mueller? Your questions, answered).

The essence of this discussion was portrayed, in the first post of this series, as:
Most any academician will have a rap for this subject of accountability, which will go something like:
Accountability is the missing conceptual link in the current debate over how best to advance democracy. Democracy affirms the need to justify decisions made by citizens and their representatives: it is a system that connects the values of the individual with the decisions of the collective. The preferences of citizens revealed by fair elections (representation) or organized and definitive discussion (deliberation) are the starting points of democratic legitimacy.
...
A clearly defined accountability system is crucial to any system of representative democracy because citizens, through their vote, legitimize or give authority to leaders to act.
(The Accountability Ladder, PDF, emphasis added). As it turns out, accountability is an important, required, and essential ingredient for U.S. Democracy.
(When Accountability Is A Plague). There is a parallel concept that goes along with the notion of accountability, in the sense of the other side of that coin, which is called immunity:
This is offered to replace the more difficult way, which is "follow the money", because that way has become very difficult, what with all the secret offshore banking systems that are now operational:
The mantra for such investigations used to be "follow the money", but (since that requires looking into offshore banking systems) for we amateurs there is an easier mantra: "follow the immunity."

Ask "who has committed these crimes against the American people and their Constitution?"

Then list their names, and then finally ask: "have they been held accountable?"

If not, follow their dealings and their associates through the shadows, because since they are immune from prosecution for their crimes they have committed with impunity, they are in with those who have pulled off the coup (A Tale of Coup Cities - 4).
(ACLU vs. Clapper, Alexander, Hagel, Holder, and Mueller - 3). Take for example, Dick Cheney, who still brags about torture in public, but fears no prosecution.
(Follow The Immunity). The mantra "follow the money" leads to a place on Highway 61 that is not the end of the road.

Assume that following the money leads to  a criminal indictment of friends, family, and officials of the president, and that he pardons them.

They are then immune from accountability.

If any administration gets too cozy with pardons, which extinguish accountability, the next stop on Highway 61 is the land of impunity:
"Impunity arises from a failure by States to meet their obligations to investigate violations; to take appropriate measures in respect of the perpetrators, particularly in the area of justice, by ensuring that those suspected of criminal responsibility are prosecuted, tried and duly punished; to provide victims with effective remedies and to ensure that they receive reparation for the injuries suffered; to ensure the inalienable right to know the truth about violations; and to take other necessary steps to prevent a recurrence of violations."
(Wikipedia). Think of the dictator of North Korea as a matured form of impunity, and think of the current president of the Philippines as a sprouting example.

It all starts with a decline in accountability, and accelerates when impeachment is off the table (Duterte impeachment attempt fails) due to gerrymandering (Gerrymandering - Geological Deceit?, 2, 3, 4).

The next post in this series is here, the previous post in this series is here.



Sunday, July 16, 2017

The World According To Measurements - 7

Fig. 1 Climate Central
Since the Thermodynamic Equation Of Seawater - 2010 (TEOS-10) became available some have wondered about it.

The freely available toolkit comes in several programming languages and can be easily downloaded (TEOS-10 Software).

As to relevant changes brought about by TEOS-10, nothing has changed with regard to taking measurements, a point that the scientists involved emphasize:
"Importantly, while Absolute Salinity (g/kg) is the salinity variable that is needed in order to calculate density and other seawater properties, the
Fig. 2 Sea level change measurements
salinity which should be archived in national data bases continues to be the measured salinity variable, Practical Salinity (PSS-78). To avoid confusion while the use of Practical Salinity in scientific publications is phased out, published values of salinity should be specifically identified as being either Practical Salinity with the symbol SP or Absolute Salinity with the symbol SA."
(TEOS). In other words, keep on measuring in situ, but analyze those measurements with the new techniques that will result in more accurate and coherent discussions.

The heat being stored in the oceans takes exacting measurements and processes in order to track and study it:
"Roemmich estimates that at depths from 500 to 2000 meters, oceans are warming by .002 degrees Celsius every year, and in the top 500 meters, they’re gaining .005 degrees C. annually. While that may not seem like a
Fig. 3 Sea level impacts compared
big temperature jump, it amounts to a staggering load of heat when multiplied throughout the depths of this immense system that covers 70 percent of the planet.

Temperature gains are larger at the sea surface, which heats faster than the ocean as a whole. The top 75 meters have warmed an average of .01 degrees C per year since 1971."
(Yale, cf Fig. 1). The ".002" and ".005" values are tiny because the ocean is so voluminous that it can take a truly vast amount of heat, but it can also distribute that heat widely enough that detecting it in the deeps is a science in itself.
Fig. 4 Practical and Absolute Salinity

That said, I prepared some graphs to show how I distinguish between the "practical salinity" (measured in the ocean "in situ") and "absolute salinity" so as to keep the two concepts clean.

As the TEOS site suggested ("the salinity which should be archived in national data bases continues to be the measured salinity variable") I store the in situ data that I download from the World Ocean Database (WOD) in an SQL database in the original values (except the ~1% that are out of bounds, as noted here).

Fig. 5 Conservative and In Situ Temperatures
I like to be transparent so I prepared some graphs using a software module that processes both SA ("Absolute Salinity") and SP ("Practical Salinity" or in situ or measured salinity) separately.

The graph at Fig. 4 compares Absolute Salinity with Practical Salinity, and the graph at  Fig. 5 compares the TEOS-10 concept "Conservative Temperature" with the in situ or in place measurements stored in the WOD database.
Fig. 6 Volume Change Comparison

I even did a graph that compares thermosteric volume change using Absolute Salinity and Conservative Temperature (TEOS concepts) with thermosteric volume change using measured temperature and salinity (Fig. 6).

These graphs use different colors for each type, and use a granularity that makes it easier to see the differences than panel graphs do (Fig. 3).

That said, it is still obvious that the relevant "thermal" condition is not expansion (it is contraction) no matter which type of graph is used for comparison.

The next post in this series is here, the previous post in this series is here.

Lyrics to All Along The Watchtower available here ...