IS IT TRUE that all of the teams that have serious local fan bases that played yesterday advanced in the NCAA basketball tournament yesterday?…that the only team well liked locally that did not advance was the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers who saw their Cinderella tournament run end at the hands of the Kentucky Wildcats?…that WKU put up a spirited fight against UK and beat the spread as a #16 seed facing a #1 seed?…that the most impressive victory of the night was Murray State’s thrashing of Colorado State setting up a second round matchup with Marquette?…that there is a high probability that the Indiana University Hoosiers and the UK Wildcats will be in a rematch of December’s instant classic at Bloomington?…that there will be lots of Red and Blue clothing in Evansville next weekend if that game materializes?

IS IT TRUE that several people have asked us why Robert Stadium was not considered as a training facility for the UE Purple Aces during the planning stages for the new “on campus” practice gym?…that while the new $3.5 Million gym may be nice, this may have been a decent opportunity to use Roberts for something constructive that many people and businesses have deemed worthy of their financial support?…that Roberts is really a very short walk from the campus and back in the day when the Aces were bringing home championships and having winning seasons that walk was made by many students to every game at Roberts?…that there is no walking to the Ford Center by UE students and it is not advisable due to the neighborhoods that have to be passed through making the trek?…that this season’s Aces achieved pretty much the exact things that last season’s team did so the idea that bricks and mortar translate into talent and wins has been debunked?…that a 16 win season is a 16 win season no matter where the games are played?…that attendance for the marquee games sold out both Roberts and Ford?…that as far as the other games are concerned the new arena made little difference in the average attendance?

IS IT TRUE that there are several members of the City Council and others who are actually doing some VETTING on the companies that Earthcare Energy announced in July that they had a license agreement with?…that as it seems as though the Winnecke Administration, GAGE, and some members of the Evansville City Council were really ready to loan Earthcare Energy $5 Million without disclosing any details about the basis of the business decision to the people of Evansville that private VETTING efforts are the only way for any VETTING results to be made available before another cram it through right now vote that is scheduled for March 26th?…that this rush to ratify reminds the CCO very much of the mad rush orchestrated by the Weinzapfel Administration to cram through a Johnson Controls deal that was not well understood and to cram through an approval for the Kunkel Group and Randall Lloyd to assume the McCurdy deal?…that maybe these deals will work out okay but the rush to sign was and is simply bad public policy?

IS IT TRUE that we encourage these private VETTORS to keep it up and post the results in any way that you can?…that if the City of Evansville can spend $40,000 to be told how many hotel rooms may be needed for a project that is already 4 years late that waiting a couple of months to ratify an attraction package for a start-up company should not jeopardize anything?…that it has been reported that the movers and shakers in the management team of Earthcare Energy are still working at their day jobs so they won’t be financially impacted either?…that talk of paying Hoosiers $38 per hour for jobs that are not yet defined to make a product that supposedly does not have a commercialized working model in place is not only premature it is delusional?…that we wonder how long that wage will be sustained if someone else buys a license and decides to assemble the units in Mexico for $3 an hour labor?…that one of the questions that the private VETTORS need to get the answer to is just how many licenses may be granted and what is the barrier to entry?…that only when that question is answered can a projection based on reality be put together?

IS IT TRUE that it is also time for the City of Evansville to start looking into the details of the verifiable and contractual cash flow that has a real probability with the Johnson Controls deal that the Weinzapfel Administration jammed through in its last days?…that one private analyst believes that the savings of $3.5 Million in years 0 and 1 are being double counted?…that we wonder what the heck year zero is?…that we expect that may mean the first year during which the gear is being installed?…that we really do wonder how one can save money before the money saving gear is in place?

IS IT TRUE that a fairly exhaustive search of patents at the United States Patent Office website issued in the name of Langson Energy as the assignee yielded exactly ZERO results?…that the previously discussed 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 bears the name of Richard K. Langson who was the founder of Electratherm Inc. and is now listed as the CEO of Langson Energy?…that two weeks ago in the news tab of the commercial website for Earthcare Energy there was indeed a letter stating that a license agreement had been entered into between Earthcare Energy and Langson Energy?…that this news release is no longer on the Earthcare Energy website and that a Google search using the terms Earthcare+Langson indeed does find multiple citations for this press release titled “Earthcare Energy signed a licensing agreement with Langson Energy” and dated July 22, 2011?…that the end result of selecting these citations is the same on every path and that is a Server 404 Error stating that the source searched for has been REMOVED, has had its NAME CHANGED, or has been REMOVED?…that when the 404 Server Error comes back from a Search Engine Citation that it nearly always means that content has been removed?…that the CCO wonders WHY THIS CONTENT HAS DISAPPEARED SINCE THE NEWS OF THE DEAL BETWEEN EVANSVILLE AND EARTHCARE?

IS IT TRUE that in the technology called Letdown Energy by Langson Energy closely resembles if not exactly replicates a technology that is over 100 years old that has been called by the name Turboexpander?…that when coupling a Turboexpander with a traditional turbine one would have what Langson refers to as a Letdown Generator?…that neither of these technologies is new but when coupled to capture enthalpy can actually make the gas transmission process slightly more efficient?…that San Diego Gas and Electric installed such a device in 1983 at a “city gate” and was followed by installations in other locations?…that if you really want to dig deeper into this technology you should start on the following link?

http://jacobrheuban.com/2009/03/09/turboexpanders-harnessing-the-hidden-potential-of-our-natural-gas-distribution-system/

IS IT TRUE that this body of work and history of installed devices would be a good place for technically curious members of the Evansville City Council to start brushing up on just what they are being asked to make a $5 Million loan for?…that this coupling of two old technologies may really have some commercial viability and that maybe Earthcare Energy may become a player in this market?…that the nagging question becomes “what did Earthcare actually license” or “is there really anything licensable”?…that another question of immediate interest is that assuming that a license has some value how exclusive is this license and how defensible is it if some other enterprising engineering group buys a turboexpander and couples it to a turbine?…that there does not appear that there would be any barrier to entry to this market other than skill, money, and marketing?…that this is an area that the City Council needs to examine very carefully before making history by starting the country’s first episode of City Council Shark Tank?…that the City of London embarked upon some installations in 2009 with some lofty goals as stated on the following link?…that the results and the company that did any installs should also be of interest to the City of Evansville?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jan/06/gas-energy-pressure

IS IT TRUE that between this proposal and the last minute jam through Johnson Controls project that invests between $53 Million and $79 Million public dollars to read water meters better the City of Evansville may be looking like an easy mark?…that 45% of the benefits to the Johnson Controls deal are not even advertised as measurable?…that if the Evansville City Council is playing Shark Tank, outsiders may be wondering just who is the Shark and who is in the Shark Tank?

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?

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect2=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&RefSrch=yes&Query=PN%2F7637108

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?