IS IT TRUE: March 14, 2012
IS IT TRUE that the proposal that is under serious consideration by the Evansville City Council to loan $5 Million to EarthCare Energy is a topic of high interest with the readers of the CCO?…that questions are coming in that deserve answers and that we want to incorporate these questions and formulate some of our own into today’s IIT in hopes that someone at the Civic Center will either start a formal TECHNOLOGY VETTING PROCESS or release a TECHNOLOGY VETTING REPORT to the public?…that United States Patent #7,637,108 that is in the name of Richard K. Langson and assigned to Electratherm Incorporated of Carson City, Nevada seems to be the sole piece of intellectual property that EarthCare Energy is going to rely on to produce the device that the $5 Million loan is intended to support?…that contrary to popular belief that having a patent does not guarantee or endorse a technology?…that getting a patent means two things and two things only?…that whatever this patent actually is has been deemed by a patent examiner to be novel and unique?…that a patent was issued for a cheese filtered cigarette for novelty and uniqueness along with literally thousands of other brainstorms with no commercial potential?…that you may read this patent to your heart’s desire at the following link?
IS IT TRUE that Mr. Richard K. Langson of Langson Energy that EarthCare Energy has a license from was in the news quite allot with this very invention back in the 2007 – 2009 timeframe?…that on November 12, 2008 that Mr. Langson was a guest on Fox Business News as the CEO of Electratherm touting this patent as a revolutionary idea to harvest energy based on a twin screw energy conversion device?…that he claimed in this show that his device will produce electricity for ½ of a cent per kWh?…that was nearly 4 years ago and has not been heard of much since then?…that what we really wonder is whether or not Mr. Langson has any endorsements for his technology from any serious academic researchers or if there have been any published articles in refereed journals that required the scrutiny of an editorial board made up of competent technologists?…that in the 2008 interview that Mr. Langson claimed to be “in production†at Electratherm and about to lease additional space in Carson City, Nevada?…that you may view the Fox News interview on the following link?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XY8H71mrt8
IS IT TRUE that Electratherm does indeed have a commercial website (www.electratherm.com) and a location in Carson City, Nevada and claims to have been visited by President Obama?…that the name of Richard Langson does not appear on the link to the management team?…that Langson Energy also has a commercial website (www.langsonenergy.com) and that it has an Alexa traffic ranking of higher than 20 Million (smaller is better) that would imply single digit pageviews per week?…that this website is all about Mr. Langson and that the words used are quite impressive?…that Mr. Langson also claims in a company press release to have been invited to meet with President Obama in a town hall meeting in Carson City?…that there is no reference to a license being granted to EarthCare Energy on the Langson website?…that two weeks ago there was a press release on the EarthCare Energy website announcing a license agreement with Langson but that it is not there anymore?…that there is a link to a youtube video of Mr. Langson under the “technology†tab http://earthcareenergy.com/?page_id=20?
IS IT TRUE that this all may be well and good in the long run but what is needed right now is a VETTING of the TECHNOLOGY, an ENDORSEMENT of that technology by a recognized board of experts, AND a working prototype on a commercial scale with data to back up the claims made by Mr. Geldmacher at Monday night’s council meeting?…that without TECHNICAL VETTING and a clear understanding of this TECHNICAL VETTING that is made public that this little venture sounds more like a scene from “The Music Man†than a real considered investment?…that we hope that the EarthCare/Langson/ElectraTherm connection is not just a modern day Harold Hill coming to town to shake down a bunch of desperate country bumpkins but assert that TECHNICAL PROOF needs to be demonstrated and documented prior to committing $5 Million of the people’s money to this project?…that we also wonder exactly which members of the Evansville City Council have the background to truly understand TECHNICAL VETTING of such a proposal or what group they have hired to VET this device?…that we are not even close to needing to VET the cash flow, the number of jobs, or the square footage required?…that without a working device that all of those will come up to ZERO?
IS IT TRUE that we mostly wonder why during the last 4 years when literally Billions of both private and stimulus dollars have been thrown at a plethora of technologies that this technology has not attracted any private investment of substance?…that we wonder aloud if this really is such a great thing why did this find its way to Evansville in search of only $5 Million and a promise to pay back $37 Million?…that this is a phenomenal offer that no one else seems interested in?…that we wonder WHY?…that local common sense has always been that if something is TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE THAT IT SELDOM TURNS OUT TO BE TRUE?…that is why the City Council needs to wear their Tom Terrific thinking hats for a good long time before embarking on a game of SHARK TANK?
Editor, thanks for a first class report and advise to City Fathers.
At a time when the council is denying the filling of city job vacancies, and ponders how it will finance a new fire truck, how can we possibly afford to gamble $5,000,000 on more “magic beans?” Especially while Weinzapfel’s “stinking batch” lays rotting in the ground. …
Just to clarify, bubba, it was the County Council which refused to fund the positions. Further, I do not entirely disagree with you. I do believe that fundamentally, incentives are a necessary evil in attracting business. However, I am not necessarily sure borrowing said money is the wisest decision either. JMHO.
TWIS, I must confess, I am relatively ignorant of the structure, details and nuances of local government. I appreciate your polite correction.
I will try to do better. …
A council of fools and our money shall soon go their separate ways. It would be nice if this was not business as usual in Evansville. It is absolute proof that Weinzapfel is still running the budget. If this does not get vetted the entire City Council should be impeached along with the Mayor and the fools at Gage.
It appears that the business is already up and running and that we would only be funding its expansion:
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=28705872
How many “start-ups†do you need for the same patented product? Or rather, how many companies can own the same patent?
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April 21, 2011
President Barack Obama arrived in Reno Thursday to speak at the ElectraTherm, Inc., renewable energy company to hold a ‘Shared Responsibility and Shared Prosperity’ town hall. He addressed some tough issues and fielded hard questions.
The President talked about gas prices, Medicare and how Nevada as a state needs to make some tough choices.
“I just hope that the choices are not short-sided,” says Obama. He said Nevada has to prioritize.
One thing he says that Americans need to change is our reliance on private insurance. Obama says the practice of ‘if the insurance you buy isn’t good enough to cover you, too bad,’ is wrong and it doesn’t have to be that way.
“If health inflation keeps going up, you are out of luck. We will work with providers to make sure the healthcare system as a whole is more efficient.”
Another hot topic up for discussion was the ongoing argument on tax cuts. Obama says we need to spread the wealth and strengthen the middle class.
“We need to end some of the tax cuts we issue for the wealthiest Americans. Not because I want to punish success. I am rooting for everybody to get rich.”
He also asked Americans to step up and make your concerns and opinions be heard and to hold lawmakers accountable, including him.
“I don’t want you to be bystanders in this debate. I want you to hold me accountable, I want you to hold Washington accountable. This is how we can secure our future and how we can make this country how it should be.”
The location of Thursday’s town hall, ElectraTherm, Inc. is a small renewable energy company headquartered in Reno. ElectraTherm’s product, the Green Machine, generates fuel-free, emission free power from low to mid temperature waste heat using the Organic Rankine Cycle and patented technology. So it was not surprising that President Obama touched up on green energy and electric car production as a means to reduce gas prices and invest in America’s future.
“One of the key ways we are going to get gas prices to go down is to rely less on oil,” says Obama. He says his administration wants a million electric cars on the road over the next several years and make them affordable for everybody. But we are not there yet.
Last Wednesday, President Obama laid out his plan to put our nation on a more responsible fiscal trajectory while continuing to make the smart investments needed to create jobs and grow our economy.
“We must work together, begin to live within our means, and make shared sacrifices in order to rein in the deficit and meet the tough challenges of the future.”……….(more)
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Anyone else think ‘Shared Responsibility and Shared Prosperity’sounds a bit like “From each, according to his ability; to each, according to his needs.”
Or is it just me?
Yes, The Messiah (accentuate the “Mess” part) is a socialist totalitarian dictator in the making.
EarthCare Energy, LLC is just a licensee, not the owner, of the technology they are pushing with their “letdown generator”.
There are other licensees of this technology out there, so what does that competition do to EarthCare’s business plan?
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For any matter/issue that comes before the City Council, they as a group have absolute power over the matter. They can require anybody to testify in front of them to answer any question they have on the subject plus they can demand any document to be given to them for their review if it pertains to the subject before them. With a 2/3 vote they can even override the Mayor.
Go to work City Council. Do your job.
Bellboy
It seems to me that many of the items that come before council are moved through at an astoundingly fast pace. The bigger the financial impact, the faster it is moved through.
Some of these projects, like the Johnson Controls, water dept., WiFi project have not been studied nearly enough. Can they show us where one or more of these systems has been successfully installed at the originally proposed price, and has realized verifiable savings to the customer?
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like the old saying goes ,if something sounds to good to be true /well then its probably not true
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