THORIUM AND THE RARE EARTH ELEMENTS

An Irrelevent Post, Before We Return To Our Regularly Scheduled REE News and Trends.

2011-04-20T20:18:00.000-04:00

Life has its elements of trial and error. You cannot always be prepared for every single contingency -- especially those that are completely beyond the scope of your control. Have a plan. But be prepared to improvise. You can be flexible without being breakable. Learn from the sapling that survives the storm. -DC

Here's an apology. I've learned much from having to make it. Maybe you will learn just as much by reading it.

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Dear Readers (Entrepreneurs, TNNWC Members, Colleagues, Business Leaders, Innovators, Project Managers, Commanders of Growing Companies, Braintenancers, Global Futurists, Internationalists, Marketers, Trend-Watchers, Trend-Setters, and Friends):

Subject: Douglas Castle Apologies for An Annoying Technical Glitch.

Q: Conspiracy or Catastrophic Compound Error?

It's simple. I am not certain whether it was due to a deadly conspiracy involving a collaborative effort among Twitterfeed, Hellotxt and Ping, or whether it was the result of an extremely unlikely catastrophic compound error (Do I sound paranoid? Are you talkin' to me?), but my status updates have been prodigiously posting themselves to many of my blogs without my knowledge or consent.

Since this began two days ago, I have had a "Blue Ribbon Panel" of "experts" working on solving the problem, and after much debate (mostly over who would be responsible to pay for lunches, and how much of a gratuity we should give the delivery kid), they have assured me that the mechanism has been repaired.

I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused you, and I thank you for your patience and for reading me and my guest contributors.

Faithfully, and in the spirit of friendship,

Douglas Castle
http://aboutDouglasCastle.blogspot.com
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Originally published in THORIUM AND THE RARE EARTH ELEMENTS by author Douglas Castle. Mr. Castle is the Chairman and Director Of Business Strategy of TNNWC Group, LLC, with does not have any investments or interests in Thorium or Rare Earth Elements, either as commodities, or in the form of ownership in operating companies.

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2011-04-02T14:51:00.003-04:00

Originally published in THORIUM AND THE RARE EARTH ELEMENTS by author Douglas Castle. Mr. Castle is the Chairman and Director Of Business Strategy of TNNWC Group, LLC, with does not have any investments or interests in Thorium or Rare Earth Elements, either as commodities, or in the form of ownership in operating companies.

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Rare Earth Elements: The United States Government is Increasingly Supportive of Aggressive Domestic Mining of REEs.

2011-02-22T15:25:00.002-05:00

Rare Earth Elements: The United States Government is Increasingly Supportive of Aggressive Domestic Mining of REEs.

Dear Friends:

In the interests of shoring up national security, stimulating economic self-sufficiency and in a move to spur technological innovation and productivity, the U.S. government is becoming increasingly vociferous about the aggressive mining of domestic reserves of Rare Earth Elements ("REEs").

REEs are projected to become an increasingly significant component of the newest generation of technologies, and traditional supply sources of REEs from outside of the U.S., principally from China, are increasingly the subject of political posturing and deliberate trade restriction. The United States has vast untapped but geologically proven reserves of these REEs.

As supplies become threatened and as demand is projected to increase, the United States (through both the private and public sectors, acting in concert) is seeking to accelerate domestic mining and refining of these special metals.

The article below is merely an example of what is already "heating up."

For more information regarding the Rare Earth Elements, their unique properties and their uses, please refer directly to http://thoriumenergyinc.blogspot.com/, where the original posting of this article appeared.

While I do not offer financial or investment advice in any of my blogs, including, but not limited to The Global Futurist, Links 4 Life or Thorium And The Rare Earth Elements, the future appears to be looking increasingly positive regarding companies which own large tracts of land and the associated mining rights for REEs.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle [ http://www.douglascastleblogosphere.com/ ]

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In Wyoming, push to mine rare earths in US forest

By MEAD GRUVER, Associated Press Mead Gruver, Associated Press Sun Feb 20, 12:13 pm ET

SUNDANCE, Wyo. – A Canadian company hoping to compete with China's near-monopoly of rare earth elements — metals critical for everything from U.S. military weaponry to wind turbines — wants to open a strip mine inside a national forest in northeast Wyoming.

Processing raw ore into rare earths is an intensive operation that has been associated with radioactive water spills. But with China slashing exports of rare earths and Washington concerned the U.S. military could face a shortage of materials for lasers, smart bombs, guided missiles, night-vision goggles and jet engines, Don Ranta is optimistic about his Black Hills National Forest mine proposal.

"Everything we've seen so far looks very, very bullish for it to be a commercial project," said Ranta, CEO of Vancouver, British Columbia-based Rare Element Resources. If approved and if it goes into production, the mine would be located about 15 miles from Devils Tower National Monument, the nation's first national monument.

For its particular combination of rare earths, Wyoming's Bear Lodge Mountains rank close behind a mine at Mountain Pass in southeastern California as North America's best verified source of the minerals, said John Kaiser, editor of the Kaiser Bottom Fish website, which tracks global metals markets and mining companies.

"In the long run, I think it will end up being even bigger than Mountain Pass," Kaiser said.

Rare earths are 17 minerals used to make many products that didn't exist all that long ago. Neodymium is used to make magnets in the electric motors of hybrid cars. Europium goes into compact fluorescent bulbs.

Rare earths with critical military applications include samarium, used for super-strong samarium-cobalt magnets that help steer guided missiles. The General Accounting Office, Congress' auditing arm, reported in April that the Navy's Aegis Spy-1 radar, expected to be used for 35 years, uses samarium-cobalt magnets that will need replacement during the system's service life. Defense contractors use China-supplied neodymium magnets in motors used to build fuel-saving hybrid electric drives for U.S. Navy destroyers, the GAO reported.

Rare earths aren't scarce. But few places exist with enough concentrations to mine profitably, and they are difficult to isolate in a purified form.

Cheap labor and low environmental standards enabled China to dominate the rare earths market starting in the 1990s, and the country currently supplies 97 percent of the world rare earths market.

But even as demand soars for rare earths, China is cracking down on rare earths smuggling and cutting legal exports. Together, that will reduce the global rare earths market by 25 percent.

The result will likely be dramatically less rare earths on the global market, Kaiser said, until new sources can be mined.

"That's going to cause a serious problem for users outside China," he said.

Global rare earths prices have soared in recent months, in some cases up to six-fold. In January, President Barack Obama signed a defense spending authorization ordering Defense Secretary Robert Gates to ensure U.S. access to rare earths.

Mountain Pass is the only U.S. mine producing rare earths. Mining there ceased because of heavy Chinese competition in 2002 and only resumed in December amid the much-improved market outlook.

In 1998, Greenwood Village, Colo.-based Molycorp Minerals Inc., operator of the Mountain Pass mine, paid a $410,000 fine after being accused of spilling 350,000 gallons of wastewater from the facility. The water contained lead and radioactive elements including uranium and thorium.

A $500 million reconstruction of the mine, begun in January, will produce rare earths more cheaply by recycling and reusing processing acids, according to company spokesman Jim Sims. He said the technique would allow lower production costs than the Chinese, "with a dramatically smaller environmental footprint."

Other potentially important untapped rare earths reserves exist in Quebec, Canada's Northwest Territories and Alaska, Kaiser said.

Rare Element Resources doesn't immediately plan to refine ore into rare earth oxides at the Bear Lodge Mountains, which could add $150 million to the project's $87 million estimated cost, Ranta said.

He suggested Molycorp could for a time process the Wyoming ore, enabling his company to focus on the first significant commercial mining operation in Black Hills National Forest since the World War II era.

For a Wyoming mountain range, the Bear Lodge Mountains are obscure — barely over a mile high. Both Devils Tower and the rare earths deposits are relics of volcanic activity 40 million to 60 million years ago.

Rare Element Resources' strip mine would be up to 500 feet deep, though Ranta, a geologist, said that would be small compared to the vast strip mines 60 miles to the west that produce much of the nation's coal.

His company has secured 16 square miles of mining claims inside the forest and plans to continue drilling sampling holes after seeing promising concentrations of rare earths in samples taken last year, Ranta said.

Talk about rare earths mining has drawn little attention in Wyoming. But environmentalist Nancy Hilding, president of the Prairie Hills Audubon Society of western South Dakota, said mining companies often fail to protect groundwater as promised.

Any national forest development is subject to intensive review, said forest spokesman Frank Carroll. The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality also would need to approve a mine. It has taken no position on Rare Element's proposal.

The final feasibility study for the mine is not expected until the end of 2012.

"Let's start producing rare earths in the United States so that we start having a self-sufficient supply," Ranta said. #### [End AP Article]

Tags, Labels and Terms: Rare Earth Elements, domestic mining, economic recovery, rare earth metals, economic self-sufficiency, Lemhi Pass, emerging technology, emerging China, US government policy, commodities markets, geology, TNNWC Membership, Blogs by Douglas E. Castle, The Global Futurist Blog, Links 4 Life Blog, TNNWC Blog, rare earth oxides, changing global balance of power, US National Security, energy independence.

Originally published in THORIUM AND THE RARE EARTH ELEMENTS by author Douglas Castle. Mr. Castle is the Chairman and Director Of Business Strategy of TNNWC Group, LLC, with does not have any investments or interests in Thorium or Rare Earth Elements, either as commodities, or in the form of ownership in operating companies. Become a Member of TNNWC Group (at no cost or obligation) to receive these reports - Just click on http://www.tnnwc.com/ and join us.

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2011 Forecast Alert - Revised and Refined - THE GLOBAL FUTURIST

2011-02-10T08:00:00.000-05:00

Note to my Readers: The article which follows was first published in THE GLOBAL FUTURIST BLOG. I thought it a good idea to share it here because of the tremendous implications for globalism, peace and prosperity, as well as its references to Crowd Funding, fuel and resources and collaboration. Admittedly, the news does not appear positive, but, as stated in the article itself (paraphrasing), "Every catastrophe opens the door to new possibilities". -DC

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2011 Forecast Alert - Revised and Refined - THE GLOBAL FUTURIST

Dear Friends, Colleagues, TNNWC Members and Fellow Futurists:

Much is happening very quickly. Signs of trends are fairly easy to recognize, and extrapolating these trends (subject to constant fine-tuning and to the vagaries of events which are unpredictable by today's best available science, i.e., typhoons, etcetera, science.

When the rate of change accelerates, this makes the sport/game/science/art of prognostication more complex -- and requires much more frequent analyses to accommodate and increase in the number and volatility of variables. Preparing your personal, business and financial affairs for a hailstorm of successive rapid changes is quite a challenge. Here are some immediate hardships and opportunities directly ahead within the next 3 months to 12 months.

This is not economic, tax, business, financial, investment, legal or health advice. It is merely a statement of the point of view of Douglas Castle (http://aboutdouglascastle.blogspot.com/) .
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1. Tremendous increasing instability in the Middle East and Northern Africa, brought about through the revolution in open Social Media and citizen journalism. While the citizens and servants of various monarchies, dictatorships and despotic regimes are calling for increased administrative transparancy, democratic government reforms and greater freedoms, these media-emboldened masses are not merely fighting in a world of ideas; they are in a massive power struggle -- extremist religious groups, fickle government military forces, and the escalating threat of chaos (instead of coalition) amkes the outcome of these brushfire revolutions unclear. Several things are certain, though, with the perception of threats to the security of the Suez Canal and the Straits of Hormuz, on top of increasingly negative revelations about bansk and financial institutions worldwide and rapid changes in the weather worldwide -- from record-breaking snowfalls, to flooding and the resurgence of such diseases as cholera.

2. Skyrocketing oil prices worldwide, especially in the United States. Expect oil at $120 - $160 per barrel before year-end, with gasoline at $5.00 gallon at the pumps. This will increase unemployment in all western economies, and increase profits for the major international oil companies.

3. ETFs and other investments in Southeast Asia, Brazil and India will outperform most if not all alternatives worldwide.

4. Prices of agricultural commodities will increase precariously worldwide, and to a slightly lesser, but significant degree in the United States. The disparity between household income and regular living expenses will drive many U.S and other citizens and servants worldwide into poverty, with all of its horrific side-effects.

5. There will be heavy lobbying in the United States for an expanded military budget, despite current rhetoric about troop withdrawals and scaling down the defense budget. In a panic response to fear of international instability and the never-ending "War On Terror" (there's an oxymoron!). The military budget will be increased, and significantly. Companies involved in "country rebuilding" (trained mercenaries with state-of-the-art weaponry, ready to be deployed to whatever troubled part of the world management dictates) will prosper - Hail Halliburton, Blackwater and their ilk. They will profit intensely while The U.S. and other governments nefariously convert national funds toward "subcontracting" fights -- this is indeed a crafty way for the government to camouflague tremendously increased government spending. Much of this will be at the expense of education and the public welfare.

Your might find my most recent article in THE INTERNATIONALIST PAGE BLOG to be of considerable interest in relation to the above Alert.

Additionally, on the horizon:

In the United States, individual states will be testing their "right to declare bankruptcy" in the courts, in a tug-of-war with a very expensive and fiscally irresponsible government. This will not bode well for state workers or for the prices of municipal bonds;

Social networking sites and platforms will increase their data-gathering, data-mining and data-selling efforts, revenues and control of the media, in general. They will be glorified (Facebook) and demonized (Facebook);

Privacy will become a growing industry. Weapons sales (private sector, both legal and illegal) will increase worldwide. Online reputation management and protection will become a growing industry. Internet intelligence-gathering (web-scraping, aggregating) will be a growing industry. Alternative forms of agriculture using alternative forms of energy (non-fossil fuels) will become the subject of greater interest;

Crowdfundings and micro-fundings (private) will increase dramatically in popularity;

Radical climate change and extreme weather will continue to increase all agricultural commodity prices, and many of the insurance companies that provide various insurances against the risks associated with "bad growing seasons" and the like will be fighting to stay alive by disputing a plethora of claims from angry, injured insureds.

Please stock up on potable water -- it will be in decreasing supply. Some technological investment opportunities will emerge in the interest of curing a global drinking water shortage.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

THE GLOBAL FUTURIST - http://theglobalfuturist.blogspot.com/

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Originally published in THORIUM AND THE RARE EARTH ELEMENTS by author Douglas Castle. Mr. Castle is the Chairman and Director Of Business Strategy of TNNWC Group, LLC, with does not have any investments or interests in Thorium or Rare Earth Elements, either as commodities, or in the form of ownership in operating companies.

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Off-Topic Post International Leadership - The New Paradigm - 01.14.2011

2011-01-19T19:20:00.001-05:00

International Leadership - The New Paradigm at 14th January, 2011

Article from The Internationalist Page (http://TheInternationalistPage.blogspot.com) written by author Douglas Castle, Chairman of TNNWC Group, LLC.

Dear Friends, Futurists, and Internationalists:

During the course of these past three years, the entire world has seen and experienced an economic tsunami, a crisis of trust and faith in the most venerable institutions, and a growing divide between those few powerful persons in positions of authority and those many persons who constitute the masses.

The masses have universally become disenfranchised and distrustful of those in positions of authority and power. The members of the suffering masses are feeling either helpless or restless -- but few are trustful or happy with the status quo.

There is a new tie that binds all of those citizens of The Internationalist Community, The Global Village and the Human species -- we are all sharing a crisis of confidence, and a lack of qualified, trustworthy leaders with vision and true integrity.

There is a high probability that some of those currently in power, those currently insulated and ensconsed within the protective palaces which they have built by the sweat, toil and suffering of the barely-subsisting majority will be displaced within these next one to three years.

New leaders will no longer be able to depend upon sovereignty, patriotism, empty rhetoric and hate-mongering to unite the masses behind them and to keep their power. The Internet, the entropic economy and the mysterious changes in the dynamics of the weather have made those safeguards of bygone times a virtual (pun intended) impossibility.

New leaders, in addition to technological mastery and expert advice, will be required to exhibit qualities which the older, dying "guardians by divine right" have never had to bring to the fore.

New Leadership will have to demonstrate a genuine alignment with the populations for whom they are responsible, as well as those same populations to whom they will now have to be accountable. New leaders will have to serve their followers instead of merely stealing votes and money from them based upon half-truths and blind faith.

There will still be a use for weaponry and shows of military strength -- but these will now have to be tempered with a heartfelt passion for their followers, as well as for the causes, organizations and nations which these leaders will lead. There will be a need for empathy, as well as a desire to dominate and control.

New leaders will be tasked with not only leading, but with caring for their constitutents, adherents and followers. The metaphorical muscle of the heart, long neglected but often abused, will have to be strong in these leaders. In sum:

"The Greatest Leaders Must Have As Deep A Love For Their Followers As They Do For Their Sacred Ideals And Objectives." -- Douglas Castle

My borrowed time here has led me to believe that Love can be a strength as well as a weakness. Do not underestimate its power and role in enlightened leadership. -- DC

Tags, Labels, Terms: leadership, leadership paradigm, internationalism, love as strength, power, the global future, qualities of leaders, accelerated breakthroughs, Douglas E. Castle, TNNWC, blogosphere, seizing and holding power, a change in the weather, enlightened stewardship, management, wisdom, a new zeitgeist, a new spirit, uniting nations, uniting peoples, GICBC, a world without walls, management transparency, sincerity, integrity, self-growth, business growth, economic growth, prosperity, peace, Braintenance, Lingovations, Technullity, Gistation, The Internationalist Page, The National Networker Weekly Newsletter, metamorphosis, the next generation, uniting elements, leading from the heart, trends, business forecasts, political forecasts, visionaries, codes of ethics, suicide notes embedded in blogs, borrowed time, repentance.

THE INTERNATIONALIST PAGE http://theinternationalistpage.blogspot.com/

Originally published in THORIUM ENERGY AND THE RARE EARTH ELEMENTS by author Douglas Castle. Mr. Castle is the Chairman and Director Of Business Strategy of TNNWC Group, LLC, with does not have any investments or interests in Thorium or Rare Earth Elements, either as commodities, or in the form of ownership in operating companies.

Successful Culture + Successful Conduct = Strong National Economy

2010-12-26T22:11:00.002-05:00

Successful Culture + Successful Conduct = Strong National Economy. What have the former "giant nations" lost? http://bit.ly/Growth101 #news

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Originally published in THORIUM ENERGY AND THE RARE EARTH ELEMENTS by author Douglas Castle. Mr. Castle is the Co-Chairman and CEO of TNNWC Group, LLC, with does not have any investments or interests in Thorium or Rare Earth Elements, either as commodities, or in the form of ownership in operating companies.
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China Is Making The Rare Earth Elements Rarer - This Is The Furtherance Of An Expanding (And Expansionist) Trend.

2010-10-21T18:30:00.000-04:00

China Is Making The Rare Earth Elements Rarer - This Is The Furtherance Of An Expanding (And Expansionist) Trend

Dear Friends:

As Delilah is said to have replied to Sam(p)son [the "p" is silent] when he asked why she had betrayed him with a nefarious nocturnal crewcut (knowing full well that his long locks were the source of his strength), "Darling, how could you have given me such great power and expected me not to use it?"

He probably knew by her response that 1) they would not be "an item" for very long, and 2) that when you give people power (in this case, telling her the secret source of his legendary strength), they will generally make use of it -- if not for some evil end, just for the sake of experimentation.

The Chinese have had their growing economic and political power reaffirmed publicly by the global community, just as the other members of the global community are confessing to one another (with China listening but trying not to smile) about all of their economic problems, areas of need, fears and shortages. China is, as one might expect, is feeling the exhilaration of acknowledged power and is flexing its muscles internationally. This is a typical and traditional show of power.

Recently, as it has become increasingly apparent that the Rare Earth Elements are growing in demand and shrinking in supply, China has exploited this information by curtailing its exports of REEs to Japan, and by quietly but steadily closing off the spigot of supply to Europe and to the United States.

The result will likely be an rapidly growing increase in the value and pricing of the Rare Earth Elements (learn more about them at http://ThoriumEnergyInc.blogspot.com) and a growing international hostility (actually a combination of envy of China's fiscal health and resentment of the dependency on the part of so many nations upon China's consumerism and resources).

Expect further chest-thumping on the part of China, and growing fear, insecurity and resentment of China by its G-20 counterparts. We are headed for the Global domination of the World by China during the course of the next several years. And of course, the more dominant the Chinese become the more they will be hated.

This makes me nostalgic for the early 1990s in the United States.

In the longer-term, China will likely push hard enough to inspire some productive reform in the economies of the other "once great" nations; but until that time, expect a great deal of business to be centered about China (out of temporary necessity), but for an almost palpable bitterness toward the country and its culture.

It's lonely at the top.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle for THE GLOBAL FUTURIST at http://TheGlobalFuturist.blogspot.com

p.s. A news story from The New York Times follows:

October 19, 2010

China Said to Widen Its Embargo of Minerals

By KEITH BRADSHER

HONG KONG — China, which has been blocking shipments of crucial minerals to Japan for the last month, has now quietly halted some shipments of those materials to the United States and Europe, three industry officials said this week.
The Chinese action, involving rare earth minerals that are crucial to manufacturing many advanced products, seems certain to further intensify already rising trade and currency tensions with the West. Until recently, China typically sought quick and quiet accommodations on trade issues. But the interruption in rare earth supplies is the latest sign from Beijing that Chinese leaders are willing to use their growing economic muscle.
“The embargo is expanding” beyond Japan, said one of the three rare earth industry officials, all of whom insisted on anonymity for fear of business retaliation by Chinese authorities.
They said Chinese customs officials imposed the broader restrictions on Monday morning, hours after a top Chinese official summoned international news media Sunday night to denounce United States trade actions.
China mines 95 percent of the world’s rare earth elements, which have broad commercial and military applications, and are vital to the manufacture of products as diverse as cellphones, large wind turbines and guided missiles. Any curtailment of Chinese supplies of rare earths is likely to be greeted with alarm in Western capitals, particularly because Western companies are believed to keep much smaller stockpiles of rare earths than Japanese companies.
China experts said on Tuesday that Beijing’s assertive stance on rare earths might also signal the ascendance of economic nationalists, noting that the Central Committee of the Communist Party convened over the weekend.
A few rare earth shipments to the West have been delayed by customs officials in recent weeks, said industry officials in China, Japan and the United States. But new restrictions on exports appear to have been imposed on Monday morning.
Industry executives said there had been no signal from Beijing of how long rare earth shipments intended for the West would be held by Chinese customs officials. A few shipments are still being allowed out of the country for reasons that remain unclear: a fourth rare earth industry official said on Wednesday that one of the 32 authorized rare earth exporters in China had been allowed to export one container of rare earths to the West on Tuesday and hoped to be allowed to ship another on Thursday.
China’s official stance remained unclear on Wednesday. In an apparent reference to a report on Tuesday in the official China Daily newspaper, the commerce ministry said the report, predicting a decline of up to 30 percent in rare earth export quotas next year, was “totally groundless and purely false,” and added that no decision had been made yet on future quotas.
Without mentioning whether customs officials were interfering with statements to the West this week, the statement also said that, “China will continue to export rare earth to the world, and at the same time, in order to conserve exhaustible resources and maintain sustainable development, China will also continue imposing relevant restrictions on the mining, manufacture and export of rare earths.”
Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported on Wednesday that an unidentified diplomatic source in Beijing had said that rare earth shipments to the United States and Europe were being held up by customs officials for tighter inspections, one of the explanations that customs officials have also given in blocking shipments to Japan for the past month. But John Clancy, the trade spokesman for the European Commission, said in a statement on Wednesday that, “at this time, we cannot confirm claims made by European industry officials in media reports of China blocking rare-earth shipments to the” European Union.
The signals of a tougher Chinese trade stance come after American trade officials announced on Friday that they would investigate whether China was violating World Trade Organization rules by subsidizing its clean energy exports and limiting clean energy imports. The inquiry includes whether China’s steady reductions in rare earth export quotas since 2005, along with steep export taxes on rare earths, are illegal attempts to force multinational companies to produce more of their high-technology goods in China.
Despite a widely confirmed suspension of rare earth shipments from China to Japan, now nearly a month old, Beijing has continued to deny that any embargo exists.
Industry executives and analysts have interpreted that official denial as a way to wield an undeclared trade weapon without creating a policy trail that could make it easier for other countries to bring a case against China at the World Trade Organization.
So far, China seems to be taking a similar approach in expanding the embargo to the West.
Wang Baodong, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said on Tuesday that the Chinese government was putting new restrictions on the mining, processing and export of rare earths to protect the environment. But he said that China was not violating any W.T.O. rules in doing so and that it was not imposing an embargo or trying to use rare earths as a bargaining chip.
“With stricter export mechanism gradually in place, outbound shipments to other countries might understandably begin to feel the effect,” Mr. Wang said in an e-mail. “But I don’t see any link between China’s reasonable rare earth export control policy and the irrational U.S. decision of protectionist nature to investigate China’s clean energy industries.”
Nefeterius Akeli McPherson, a spokeswoman for the Office of the United States Trade Representative in Washington, said that American trade officials were looking into the matter, after a report of the Chinese customs restrictions was published on Tuesday afternoon on the Web site of The New York Times.
“We’ve seen the news report and are seeking more information in keeping with our recent announcement of an investigation into whether China’s actions and policies are consistent with W.T.O. rules.”
Jeremie Waterman, the China director of the United States Chamber of Commerce, said that he was still checking government and industry sources to learn the extent of a suspension of Chinese rare earth shipments. “If it’s true, it’s disturbing news to say the least,” he said.
Mr. Waterman said that rare earths were so important to advanced manufacturing that restrictions on their trade might need to be put on the agenda of the Group of 20 meeting of heads of state, scheduled next month in Seoul, South Korea.
The Chinese government office that oversees rare earth policy, which operated with considerable independence for many years, was moved early last year into the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. That ministry, formed only two years ago to draft plans for global leadership in many industries, has emerged as a bastion of economic nationalism.
Despite their name, most rare earths are not particularly rare. But most of the industry has moved to mainland China over the last two decades because of lower costs and steeply rising demand there as clean energy industries have expanded rapidly.
Congress is considering legislation to provide loan guarantees for the re-establishment of rare earth mining and manufacturing in the United States. But new mines are likely to take three to five years to reach full production, according to industry executives, although existing uranium mines may be able to move faster by reprocessing previously mined material, which often contains rare earths.
China reduced in July its export quota for rare earths for the second half of the year by 72 percent. Exporters had only six weeks’ of quotas left when China imposed its unannounced embargo on shipments to Japan.

Hiroko Tabuchi contributed reporting from Tokyo. ####
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Douglas Castle

Linked In Profile: http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/douglascastle

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Originally republished in THORIUM ENERGY AND THE RARE EARTH ELEMENTS by author Douglas Castle. Mr. Castle is the Co-Chairman and CEO of TNNWC Group, LLC, with does not have any investments or interests in Thorium or Rare Earth Elements, either as commodities, or in the form of ownership in operating companies.The article orignally appeared in THE GLOBAL FUTURIST.

Rare Earth Elements Shortage Could Slow Technology Growth And Increase Prices.

2010-10-15T15:04:00.001-04:00

The article which follows was excerpted from COMPUTERWORLD.

You're reading about it on http://ThoriumEnergyInc.blogspot.com -- an independent informational resource about Thorium and the Rare Earth Metals (REEs).

---------------

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Rare metals shortage could blunt gadget growth

By Michael Kan

October 6, 2010 07:15 AM ET

IDG News Service - Imagine a cellphone the size of a shoe. Or a laptop weighing 10 kilograms.

That's what we would be carrying around today, if not for the rare earth metals, a group of materials with unique properties that have enabled the miniaturization of electronic components including capacitors, lasers and powerful magnets.
From computer hard drives to hybrid cars, many of today's high-tech devices rely on components made with rare earth metals to properly function. But demand for those metals is beginning to outstrip supply, forcing governments and manufacturers to find new sources of raw materials.

The rare earths are a group of 17 metals including neodymium, used in magnets, and erbium, used in lasers.

Countries such as the U.S. have long possessed their own sources for rare earth metals, but despite this they have turned for their supplies to China, where mining costs have been cheaper and environmental rules more lax. This has made China the world's largest producer of rare earth metals, mining more than 90 percent of global demand, analysts say.
China's tightening control over supplies became apparent last month when media outlets reported that it had stopped exports of rare earth metals to Japan following a diplomatic spat between the two countries.

"What China's action has done is create uncertainty," said Dudley Kingsnorth, a rare earth metals expert at the Industrial Minerals Company of Australia. "Undoubtedly people will diversify their sources of supply to reduce their reliance on China. But that can't happen overnight."

Japan, a major importer of rare earth metals, is actively exploring for new sources in Canada and Australia, as well as looking into recycling old electronic devices as a way to create new supplies of the materials.

The U.S. Congress is working on legislation, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last week, to revitalize U.S. sources of rare earths. But China's dominance over the rare earths market will likely continue for the next two to three years, as manufacturing firms are forced to depend on limited supplies and dip into their stockpiles, Kingsnorth said.

Demand for the rare earths has long been expected to accelerate. Some projections suggest that demand could nearly double by 2015, with hybrid car engines and wind turbines big drivers behind the need.

Looking narrowly at costs, a shortfall in rare earth metal supplies might mean just a minimal price hike, or no increase at all, for the electronic gadgets that use them, analysts say. This is because many of these products only contain tiny quantities of rare earth metals.

"Something like a laptop computer probably only has got about 50 to 80 cents' worth of rare earth in it," Kingsnorth said. "Even if that tripled in price, it won't stop people from buying it." ####

Observation from Douglas Castle: Without these REEs, much of present and planned future technology would be impossible. The fact that REEs only constitute a small percentage of the price of technologies. If supplies should become inaccessible, or if the market were to become dominated by a handful of players/investors, The Rare Earth Elements would become more expensive per ounce than gold. Start thinking ahead.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

p.s. You should also be reading THE GLOBAL FUTURIST, at http://TheGlobalFuturist.blogspot.com

Originally published in THORIUM ENERGY AND THE RARE EARTH ELEMENTS by author Douglas Castle. Mr. Castle is the Co-Chairman and CEO of TNNWC Group, LLC, with does not have any investments or interests in Thorium or Rare Earth Elements, either as commodities, or in the form of ownership in operating companies.

Please visit my new blog. If you like what you see, there's much more. Visit/ Subscribe: http://MadMarketingTactics.blogspot.com Thanks. -DC

2010-10-13T00:00:00.002-04:00

Please visit my new blog. If you like what you see, there's much more. Visit/ Subscribe: http://MadMarketingTactics.blogspot.com Thanks. -DC

Originally published in THORIUM ENERGY AND THE RARE EARTH ELEMENTS by author Douglas Castle. Mr. Castle is the Co-Chairman and CEO of TNNWC Group, LLC, with does not have any investments or interests in Thorium or Rare Earth Elements, either as commodities, or in the form of ownership in operating companies.

What Percentage Of Your Time Do You Spend Thinking About Money? - TNNWC MINI-SURVEY #9

2010-10-12T17:18:00.002-04:00

Cousin Ruprecht always says: "I like surveys. They're fun." Sadly, he is still institutionalized, despite a notable improvement in his table manners and exceptionally high marks regarding his personal sanitation habits. (sigh). But I digress...

TNNWC MINI-SURVEY #9 OPENS!

$$$...?

TNNWC MINI-SURVEY #9: Thinking About Money...

The survey question is a very simple one but has implications which dramatically affect every single one of us, and the quality of our lives:
Q: WHAT PERCENTAGE OF YOUR WAKING TIME (ON THE AVERAGE) DO YOU SPEND THINKING ABOUT/ WORRYING ABOUT COVERING YOUR LIVING EXPENSES AND PAYING BILLS?

Give it some serious thought before you select one answer from the choices below. Include any of those times when you may be consumed with worries about college tuition, refinancing your home mortgage, outliving your retirement funds, and the like -- in other words, any time that you are distracted by thoughts of your financial obligations.

The polls for this survey will close at midnight, Eastern Time, on November 20th, 2010.

To access the survey, click on:

https://ciof.wufoo.com/forms/tnnwc-minisurvey-9-thinking-about-money/

The results will be posted EVERYWHERE!

p.s. To Join Us at TNNWC Group as a Member (at no charge), and to receive your free $200.00 bonus MINI-MEDIA BUZZ BLITZ, just visit

http://www.TNNWC.com. This offer may be terminated by TNNWC Group at any time.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

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Trend Bulletin (09.28.2010): Consolidation, Monopolization and REAL Inflation.

2010-09-30T15:00:00.001-04:00

TREND BULLETIN (09.28.2010): Consolidation, Monopolization and REAL Inflation
For THE GLOBAL FUTURIST and THE TNNWC DAILY NEWS FEED by Douglas Castle

[Above Illustration Courtesy of CRAIN'S NEW YORK BUSINESS]
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Dear Friends, Futurists and Entrepreneurs:

Wall Street and Washington (through the US Federal Reserve Board) tell us that their is no danger of inflation during the course of the "foreseeable future" and that key interest rates will be held stable in the absence of a threat and in order to aid in the economic recovery believed by many to be occurring within the United States.

The classical example of inflation ("Classic Inflation") is a decrease in the value of currency such that more of it is required to purchase the same goods as could be purchased with a lesser amount previously.

The picture that is frequently painted is that of some defeated man or woman pushing a bushel basket filled with paper currency (usually US dollar bills) to the supermarket in order to buy a loaf of bread.

A note of caution is in order -- a very misleading "seeming deflation" can be created in a situation where there is insufficient available income (amongst consumers) to purchase goods or services at any price. That is to say, by way of illustration, that if I am unemployed and you (an aggressive and optimistic real estate broker) are showing me a house that sold four years ago for $500,000 which is now on the market for a mere $50,000, I still won't buy it. The marketplace, driven by desperation from the "sell side" starts lowering prices in order to clear inventory, but, ironically, regardless of how low the prices fall, too few people have adequate money (due to unemployment, vanishing pensions, decimated retirement funds, and the like) to make these purchases at any price. And these prices are part of the market basket of goods and services that the government uses in order to determine inflation.

Theoretically (or actually), a nation can be experiencing "seeming deflation" even when the average family barely has adequate funds to pay for the barest of necessities.

In fact, because of business consolidations (where giant companies buy other giant companies, as in the case of Unilever negotiating to Purchase Alberto-Culver, or Southwest Airlines negotiating to acquire or merge with AirTran), marketplace competition is being eliminated due to fewer and fewer choices, and the consuming public is being increasingly faced with sharply rising grocery costs, airfares and the like -- as the quality of goods and services declines and as actual incomes and wealth decline. The reality is that when large companies combine, many jobs are lost.

Being a simple person myself, I look at the inflation situation simply: If I have lost my job, and I don't have any money, I cannot afford to subsist regardless of how much prices fall. I actually feel the full effect of inflation (i.e., I cannot put together enough cash to pay the mortgage, pay the note on the car and to feed my family) while the government is telling me good news about how we are in a period of either deflation or stabilizing prices...I cannot afford to send my children to college, and even if they were to get massive scholarships to most universities, they would not be able to get decent entry-level (or any-level) jobs upon graduation.

The tough reality on Main Street is that REAL inflation, the kind that severely and adversely impacts consumers, is actually climbing despite that CLASSICAL inflation (an economic notion that doesn't apply when unemployment and under-employment are quite high and continuing to increase). Using numbers, if my income decreases 100%, and the price of food remains 'stable' or increases 'modestly', I feel the same effect as if I were living in an economy where hyperinflation was in the newspaper headlines.

This situation does not improve if jobs are fewer and declining, but certain specialty positions are commanding higher salaries. If the interest rates charged by banks are at an all-time low but they are not making credit available to me, I cannot afford many of the necessary things which I purchased using credit before... things like my home, my car, my appliances.

When large stores which sell durable goods are advertising plans where you can purchase something today on a "layaway plan" where no payments are required for 12 or 18 months, and afterwards you (the lucky consumer!) can pay the balance off in non-interest-bearing installments, I do not see a great opportunity or a sign of economic recovery if I do not actually anticipate the ability to be able to make the first payments when they begin in a year and a half because I don't know if I'll be employed at that time. That is the reality.

I do not need to read The Financial Times or The Wall Street Journal once the prices of the things that they quote have become irrelevant to me.

No bargain is a bargain when I do not have a job, a positive prospect for a job, or any savings.

Broke is broke.

Forecast: Over the next 18 months, anticipate the following in the US, and in its industrialized European counterparts:

More mergers and consolidations;
Fewer permanent jobs, and a decrease in "real salaries" and "real income" (unless you work for Goldman...);
Rising prices on necessities;
A continuing reduction in the availability of consumer and small business credit;
Marginal businesses failing at an increasing rate;
A decline in the number of students graduating college, and a greater portion of students (at an older median age than that which had historically been associated with college attendance);
An increase in taking a year or two off (to work, travel, or live off of their parents or with friends) after high-school;
A significant increase in trade school advertising, and in people graduating with certificates instead of degrees;
Fewer divorces (due to the expense); and fewer office or workplace extramarital affairs (due to the expense and the decline in workplace attendance);
Declines in the quality of the customer service experience;
Very expensive airfares;
The beginnings of a precipitous rise in gasoline and fossil-fuel products -- an ominous sign of both REAL and CLASSICAL inflation on the way, and impacting the prices of everything;
A sharp increase in the cost of healthcare and healthcare insurance;
An increase in the percentage of suicides amongst two groups of segments of the population -- college-aged youth and Baby Boomers;
An increase in crime across all categories;
The disappearance of an increasing number of paper publications (mostly periodicals, journals and the like).

Who will fare best during the next 18 months, given this short-run futurescape?

Those who will fare best will likely be: frugal trust-fund offspring of dynastic families; directors and executive officers of the largest corporations, especially financial, pharmaceutical and oil conglomerates; healthcare professionals; certain licensed tradespersons (plumbers, for instance); cerebrotonic computer geeks; and, of course, intrepid entrepreneurs --my favorite group of people, and my greatest hope for the future.

Where there is entrepreneurship, there is great hope. Hope is so very important.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle, for

TNNWC Group, LLC (http://www.tnnwcgroup.com/) and The Global Futurist (http://theglobalfuturist.blogspot.com/)
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Labels, Tags, Key Words and Reference Terms For This Article: unemployment, financial and investment trends, inflation, consolidations, mergers, prices, declining real income, Real Inflation, Classical Inflation, entrepreneurship,The Global Futurist, The National Networker Weekly Newsletter, DouglasCastleBlogosphere, business plans, business planning.

Douglas Castle

Toll-Free Telephone: 888.317.6498

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The Way It Works. - Douglas Castle

2010-06-30T21:00:00.000-04:00

The Way It Works.

Dear Friends:

The way it works ("it" being the essence of all things important in life), is not what the way we were taught. In an increasingly distraught world where established systems are rapidly de-stabilizing...in a time where we are suffering the leaden depression associated with repeated disillusionment...in a world of turbulence, spinning ever-faster and more erratically, we might just have to look at things in a new way.

It is no longer sensible to adhere to the childhood warrior philosophy of "divide and conquer."

For most of us, it is now the time to "unite and dominate." When old ways of thinking fail us, it is time to modify our approach to dealing with life.

Faithfully,

Douglas

Douglas Castle

Career Profile: http://bit.ly/DouglasCastleResume

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Join my TNNWC Group, LLC collaborative business community (GICBC) at no cost by clicking on http://bit.ly/JoinTNNWC.

KEYWORD REFERENCE:
THORIUM, ENERGY, ATOMIC, NUCLEAR, RARE EARTH ELEMENTS, ALTERNATIVE FUELS, URANIUM, LEMHI PASS, ALTERNATIVE ENERGY, REACTOR, POWER, MINING, MINERALS, THORIUM, SHIELDING, SMALL REACTORS, KIRK SORENSEN, BLOGS ON THORIUM, NEWS ABOUT THORIUM, NUCLEAR TREATIES, INDIA POWER, THORIUM POWER, SSTAR REACTOR, NUCLEAR SUBMARINES, SALT WATER REACTORS, LIQUID FLORINE,LIQUID THORIUM, ATOMIC ELEMENTS, MINERALS, HADRON COLLIDER, COMMODITIES INVESTMENTS,THORIUM ENERGY, THORIUM POWER, ALTERNATIVE ENERGY, ATOMIC POWER, THORIUM-FUELED REACTORS, ATOMIC ENERGY, NON-WEAPONIZABLE FUEL, COAL, HYDROELECTRIC POWER, BURNING COAL, COAL AND CO2 POLLUTION , HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER, WIND-POWER, SOLAR POWER, PETROLEUM ALTERNATIVES, OIL PRICES, COMMODITIES, RARE EARTH ELEMENTS, LEMHI PASS, MINING AND MINERALS, RISING OIL PRICES, OPEC, ENERGY INDEPENDENCE, THORIUM POWER IN INDIA, CANADA, CHINA GERMANY, ENGLAND, SWEDEN, SOUTH KOREA, FLORIDE REACTOR, ETHANOL, SHALE, SAND OIL, NUCLEAR SAFETY, THORIUM BLOGS, BIG OIL, THORIUM ENERGY BLOG, URANIUM, REACTOR SHIELDING, PLUTONIUM WASTE, GREEN ENERGY, GLOBAL WARMING, RESOURCES, RESERVES, MINERAL AND MINING CLAIMS, ATOMIC ENERGY, FISSION, FUSION, LFTR, DOUGLAS CASTLE, JACK LIFTON, CLEAN COAL, GREENHOUSE EMISSIONS, ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS, RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL, POLLUTION, GEOTHERMAL POWER, THORIUM-BASED ENERGY, THORIUM TECHNOLOGIES, RARE EARTH ELEMENTS, ENERGY RESOURCES, THORIUM SUPPLIES, REID-HATCH BILL, GREEN POWER, GREEN FUELS, KIRK SORENSEN, LIQUID FLORIDE THERMONUCLEAR REACTOR, TH, THORIUM OXIDES, COMMODITIES FUTURES, NON-PRECIOUS METALS, THE GLOBAL FUTURIST, CLIMATIC CHANGE, BLOGS ABOUT THORIUM, GOOGLE ALERTS ABOUT THORIUM, YAHOO ALERTS ABOUT THORIUM, THORIUM NEWS, INTERNATIONAL ENERGY POLICY, G-8, INDIA'S THORIUM, GREENHOUSE GASES, BLOGOSPHERE, THE GLOBAL FUTURIST, THE INTERNATIONALIST PAGE, BRAINTENANCE, ABOUT DOUGLAS CASTLE, ENERGY INITIATIVES, THE NATIONAL NETWORKER, TNNW, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, PATRICK KENNEDY

"When the unconscionable becomes the norm, we stand at precipice of socio-economic extinction." - Douglas Castle

2010-02-03T15:24:00.000-05:00

Rare Earth Elements and Thorium advocates. Champions of atomic and nuclear power. The only good news that I offer you today is that fact that US President Barack Obama is coming out strongly in favor of nuclear energy. Windmills, solar panels and other "green" alternatives are excellent, each in its own way. The first difficulty is the time required to convert our entire infrastructure and technological interface to utilize wind and solar power. The second is the amount of work which must be done, and the amount of time that work will take to complete, in order to produce and harness sufficient stored supplies of these types of power (think of the example of a battery) to be free of the yoke of fossil fuels and Big Oil. - Douglas Castle

"When the unconscionable becomes the norm, we stand at the precipice of socio-economic extinction." - Douglas Castle

The article which follows was written by Douglas Castle, author and advocate of the Global Interworked Cooperative Business Community (GICBC), a new form of entity based upon a collaborative paradigm of shared contribution and shared rewards which may provide a vehicle to save the fast-fading notions of democracy, government by the consent of the governed, government by and for the People, advancement based upon merit, and a form of industrious capitalism where currency is a means of exchange and store of value, but not a mountain of scrip standing between the entrenched and protected "ruling class," (a small minority of persons controlling in large part the fate of everyone) and the dispossessed, disillusioned and desperate masses who no longer experience a quality of life that gives them cause to live. Please do consider becoming a member of The National Networker Companies, an organization which is Humankind's first GICBC in the making. Become a member for free by clicking on http://twitlik.com/IN . I am honored to be the Vice-Chairman and Director of Strategic Planning for this instrument of change.

Dear Readers:

Two articles are re-printed for your information below. The first is labelled People's Exhibit A, and the second, People's Exhibit B.

The first article is the now-commonplace whining (with no actual question, answer, or opinion provided, at all -- very dry stuff, like cayenne pepper) about AIG awarding giant bonuses to a horde of unscrupulous, compunction-free gamblers who have all but stolen money from the ever-thinning wallets of the American People, and will, with great encouragement, continue to do so. The article is really just there to rile you up a bit. You'll be more receptive to Exhibit B when you are infuriated to the point of screaming until your vocal cords are bloody.

Exhibit A should get you you there. If it does not bother you, or if it makes you shrug your shoulders like Oscar Madison and say something along the lines of "So what else is new? The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. I'm going to get a coffee. Want some?" then don't read Exhibit B.

If what you might instead be looking at is. "How has it come to this? That here, in what used to be called 'The Land of Opportunity,' the poor, or even the middle class are no longer permitted a chance at becoming rich? That's not opportunity -- that some kind of trap. We need to pull this poisoned tree up by its roots, and plant something fresh and new in its place. The existing system is so convoluted and conflicted that trying to "fix it" is as futile as raising the dead by singing a song to a worm-riddled corpse. This has to be scrapped and replaced. This is like a 20-year old car that needs so much work every month that it would be cheaper to junk it and buy a new one...in fact, I could have bought three news ones by now with all the money I've thrown into that depreciating hunk of crap! Let's dump this vehicle and shop for something that works!"

If this reaction comes out in you, I heartily encourage you to read Exhibit B.

Message:

Author and Commentator Robert Reich is looking in the right place. Instead of complaining about "Big Government" he is concerned, and rightly so, about our shrinking Democracy. This is truly the core issue. I will be adding the Huffington Post to my Twitter resource and news update list, and I feel a blog post coming on...Google the term "GICBC."

Please stick around for the read...er....the ride.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle



People's Exhibit A

Reports: AIG to pay out $100 million in bonuses

Wed Feb 3, 7:05 am ET

NEW YORK – American International Group Inc. is set to pay out about $100 million in a fresh round of bonuses to employees of its financial products division, the unit whose risky bets helped sink the company leading to a $180 billion government bailout, according to reports published Tuesday.
AIG agreed to cut the retention bonuses by $20 million but will still hand out $100 million Wednesday, The New York Times reported, citing people with knowledge of the negotiations.
The Washington Post, also citing people familiar with the situation, said the retention payments are for employees at the division who agreed to accept 10 to 20 percent less than AIG had initially promised them two years ago. In return, they are getting their money more than a month ahead of schedule.
AIG is still due to pay out tens of millions of dollars more in March, mostly to former employees who did not agree to the concessions, the Post reported.
A message was left with an AIG spokesman seeking comment.
New York-based AIG faced intense public and Congressional criticism last March when it paid out hundreds of millions of dollars in retention bonuses to employees months after receiving the government bailout.
When the credit crisis hit in the fall of 2008, the U.S. government rescued AIG from the brink of collapse in exchange for an 80 percent stake in the insurer. AIG's near collapse was not due to its traditional insurance operations, but instead risky derivatives contracts written by the financial products division. ####

People's Exhibit B

The item which follows was written by Robert Reich, and I happened to stumble upon it while glancing over the Huffington Post.

Robert Reich

Former Secretary of Labor, Professor at Berkeley. Posted: February 2, 2010 06:24 PM

Our Incredible Shrinking Democracy

A version of this column appears in the current issue of The American Prospect.

I wish conservatives would stop complaining about big government and start worrying about the real problem -- small democracy. I wish we'd all worry more about our incredible shrinking democracy.
It seems as if more and more decisions that should be made democratically are being shunted off somewhere to a few people who make them in back rooms. Which programs should be cut, which entitlements pared back, and what taxes raised in order to reduce the long-term budget deficit? Hmmm. Let's convene a commission and have them decide.
Commissions are a default mechanism when politicians want to hand off difficult issues to "experts." But reducing the long-term budget deficit has almost nothing to do with expertise. It's about our nations' values and priorities. Nothing could be more central to the democratic process.
Democracy requires at least three things: (1) Important decisions are made in the open. (2) The public and its representatives have an opportunity to debate them, so the decisions can be revised in light of what the public discovers and wants. And (3) those who make the big decisions are accountable to voters.
But these principles are in retreat, and I say this not just because of the proposed deficit commission.
The notorious Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) began with a virtual blank check from Congress. Treasury officials then secretly decided which companies were to receive hundreds of billions of dollars. Why these particular entities were chosen and not others remains a mystery. For months, the Treasury didn't even disclose the identities of the major banks that giant insurer AIG repaid with its bailout money -- 100 cents on each dollar AIG owed them.
The Federal Reserve, meanwhile, has gone far beyond its traditional role of setting short-term interest rates. It has bought up massive amounts of debt -- mortgage debt, Treasury bills, and debt instruments emanating several public agencies, many of them supporting a wide range of private entities. No one outside the Fed knows the ultimate beneficiaries of all this government backing, the criteria used by the Fed for making these commitments, or even how much debt the Fed is buying.
Even if the economic emergency justified such secrecy -- and it's hard to see exactly why it would -- the emergency is over, and yet closed-door decision making continues. Will Treasury use what's left of TARP to help stimulate more jobs and, if so, how? Will the Fed stop buying mortgage-backed securities? No one knows.
The same pattern is evident on other issues. Congress can't decide whether or how to limit the pay of financial executives. So where does the issue end up? The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Fed both say they're going to look at whether pay levels are appropriate. The House and Senate can't agree on what to do about climate change. Who decides? The Environmental Protection Agency concludes it has authority to regulate carbon emissions under the Clean Air Act.
The debate over health-care reform looked like democratic deliberation until you realize the key negotiations that framed the deal occurred behind closed doors, between the White House and Big Pharma and Big Insurance. The Administration promised these industries some thirty million new paying customers. In return, they agreed not to oppose the plan. Big Pharma even placed a firm limit on how much it would cut its costs over the next ten years -- $80 billion, and not a penny more. How do I know this? Not because this crucial deal was made in public, but because it was leaked to the press.
Personally, I want the government to limit the pay of financial executives, regulate greenhouse gases, and reform health care. And no one wanted a financial meltdown. But I'm appalled by the process that's been used to reach these objectives.
A big piece of the problem is this: Washington is now so overrun by lobbyists representing moneyed interests that it's become almost impossible to make policy in the open. If the Treasury and Fed tried to decide publicly which industries and firms should get hundreds of billions, they'd be inundated. Wall Street lobbyists are blocking real financial reform. The energy industry has filled the House's cap-and-trade bill with special subsidies and exemptions. Big Pharma and Big Insurance would have killed off the health-care reform if they hadn't been bought off. When it comes to the long-term deficit, Congress is incapable of acting because so many special interests have their hands out.
But the answer isn't to give up on democracy. Back-room policy making can succumb to private interests just as easily as lobby-infested legislatures (much of the public suspects the Treasury of being too cozy with Wall Street as it is).
The real answer is to recommit ourselves to cleaning up democracy. Yes, I know: The Supreme Court's recent grotesque Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, which decided corporations are people entitled to First Amendment protection, complicates this. But the goal is still possible to achieve with more public money for congressional and presidential candidates who refuse private funding, more constraints on lobbyists, tighter rules for who must register as a lobbyist, fuller disclosure, and tougher rules on the revolving door between public service and private gain. Yale's Bruce Ackerman recently came up with another good idea: A $50 tax credit per person, which they can send to the candidate of their choosing.
Yet nobody seems to be talking about these sorts of reforms. They don't appear on Obama's agenda. True, they don't generate lots of public excitement or appreciation, and they're murderously difficult to enact. But without them our democracy doesn't stand a chance.####

Please stay with me. Follow me on Twitter, The National Networker, Linked In, the blog reviewers. Don't be afraid to get in touch with me directly. If you are as ambitious as you are angry, then we are not merely destined, but obligated, to meet. I can be emailed at DouglasCastle1@live.com. Thanks.

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Away Message From Douglas Castle

2010-01-17T14:34:00.002-05:00

Away Message From Douglas Castle

Dear Friends:

I will be out of town from 18th January, and returning on 26th January. During this interval, I will not be accessing or responding to any emails, telephone messages or posting any material to blogs or social media. I look forward to being in touch with you soon after my return.

All the best, Respectfully,

Douglas Castle

Primary e-mail address:douglas.castle@yahoo.com,

douglascastle@gmail.com,

douglascastle.cybersphere@gmx.com

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S

2010-01-05T22:53:00.002-05:00

Public Service Announcement:

The American Foundation For Suicide Prevention Programs. Help save a life. Learn more - http://twitlik.com/AFSP Every life is precious. Know how to help. Know how to access emergency treatment. Always take any discussions or thoughts of suicide seriously. Don't ever leave a suicidal person alone. An hour of conversation while waiting for emergency help to arrive can make all the difference.

If you are having thoughts of suicide, call for emergency treatment (there are some excellent resources at LINKS 4 LIFE), and then call a friend or family member. Keep calling until you connect. If you can't get anyone, get to a place where there are people and some activity. There's hope... and there's help. I promise.

Douglas Castle,
THE NATIONAL NETWORKER COMPANIES

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Join us! With your free membership, you'll receive THE NATIONAL NETWORKER Newsletter and The BLUE TUESDAY Report. Click on: http://twitlik.com/IN. You'll also want to get your free RSS feed or Daily email delivered to your inbox -- just click on http://twitlik.com/Daily and make your selection.

Public Service Announcement: HEALTHCARE-ASSOCIATED INFECTIONS

2009-11-16T20:45:00.002-05:00

Public Service Announcement: HEALTHCARE-ASSOCIATED INFECTIONS ["HAI"]

Dear Friends:

I recently received the email which follows from Ms. Barbara Dunn, of HAI Watch News, an affiliate of Kimberly-Clark Health Care. It deals with some of the real-life infection hazards, some of which can be debilitating or fatal, which are all-too-often caused during the course of a routine healthcare visit, medical procedure or treatment. Simply stated...you can check into the hospital for a minor procedure and wind up with a life-threatening infection. The better-informed you are about the nature of this danger, the more proactive that you can be in minimizing your own risks, and those of the ones whom you love.

Some years back, school teachers would quote Poor Richard's and chant, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

While I heartily agree with that sentiment, I would also suggest that you remember the old Internal Energy Plus/ TNNW equation: KNOWLEDGE + APPLICATION = POWER. Educate yourself and stay healthy!

I found the hyperlink in Barbara's letter to be of great interest. Please read on, and click on the link in the letter.

Faithfully, and wishing you the best of health,

Douglas Castle

http://aboutDouglasCastle.blogspot.com

http://www.TheNationalNetworker.com

p.s. Please join our Interworked Cooperative Business Community ("ICBC") at THE NATIONAL NETWORKER COMPANIES. Just click here for our your free weekly TNNW Newsletter and BLUE TUESDAY Report. http://twitlik.com/IN

####

Douglas:

One thing everyone can agree on, no matter where they come down on the current health care debates, is that no one should get sick as a result of visiting the doctor.

Hospitals are rightfully expected to get you better but that's not always the case. Sometimes people are picking up infections, from pneumonia to antibiotic-resistant staph (MRSA), while under treatment for other health problems, or even while just in the hospital having a baby. That's a situation that could, and should, be completely avoidable.

Kimberly-Clark Health Care is on the forefront of protecting patients from Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI) and has put together a site dedicated to that prevention called HAI Watch: Not on My Watch. The site has information for both healthcare professionals and healthcare consumers.

I would like to ask for your help getting the word out on The National Networker. Here's a microsite which explains everything. Please use any of the images, logos, videos, etc, on your site:

http://www.haiwatchnews.com/

Please let me know if you have any questions and if you are able to post, I'd really appreciated it if you'd send me the link.

Thank you,

Barbara
--
Barbara Dunn
barbara@haiwatchnews.com
http://www.haiwatch.com/

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KEYWORD REFERENCE:
THORIUM, ENERGY, ATOMIC, NUCLEAR, RARE EARTH ELEMENTS, ALTERNATIVE FUELS, URANIUM, LEMHI PASS, ALTERNATIVE ENERGY, REACTOR, POWER, MINING, MINERALS, THORIUM, SHIELDING, SMALL REACTORS, KIRK SORENSEN, BLOGS ON THORIUM, NEWS ABOUT THORIUM, NUCLEAR TREATIES, INDIA POWER, THORIUM POWER, SSTAR REACTOR, NUCLEAR SUBMARINES, SALT WATER REACTORS, LIQUID FLORINE,LIQUID THORIUM, ATOMIC ELEMENTS, MINERALS, HADRON COLLIDER, COMMODITIES INVESTMENTS,THORIUM ENERGY, THORIUM POWER, ALTERNATIVE ENERGY, ATOMIC POWER, THORIUM-FUELED REACTORS, ATOMIC ENERGY, NON-WEAPONIZABLE FUEL, COAL, HYDROELECTRIC POWER, BURNING COAL, COAL AND CO2 POLLUTION , HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER, WIND-POWER, SOLAR POWER, PETROLEUM ALTERNATIVES, OIL PRICES, COMMODITIES, RARE EARTH ELEMENTS, LEMHI PASS, MINING AND MINERALS, RISING OIL PRICES, OPEC, ENERGY INDEPENDENCE, THORIUM POWER IN INDIA, CANADA, CHINA GERMANY, ENGLAND, SWEDEN, SOUTH KOREA, FLORIDE REACTOR, ETHANOL, SHALE, SAND OIL, NUCLEAR SAFETY, THORIUM BLOGS, BIG OIL, THORIUM ENERGY BLOG, URANIUM, REACTOR SHIELDING, PLUTONIUM WASTE, GREEN ENERGY, GLOBAL WARMING, RESOURCES, RESERVES, MINERAL AND MINING CLAIMS, ATOMIC ENERGY, FISSION, FUSION, LFTR, DOUGLAS CASTLE, JACK LIFTON, CLEAN COAL, GREENHOUSE EMISSIONS, ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS, RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL, POLLUTION, GEOTHERMAL POWER, THORIUM-BASED ENERGY, THORIUM TECHNOLOGIES, RARE EARTH ELEMENTS, ENERGY RESOURCES, THORIUM SUPPLIES, REID-HATCH BILL, GREEN POWER, GREEN FUELS, KIRK SORENSEN, LIQUID FLORIDE THERMONUCLEAR REACTOR, TH, THORIUM OXIDES, COMMODITIES FUTURES, NON-PRECIOUS METALS, THE GLOBAL FUTURIST, CLIMATIC CHANGE, BLOGS ABOUT THORIUM, GOOGLE ALERTS ABOUT THORIUM, YAHOO ALERTS ABOUT THORIUM, THORIUM NEWS, INTERNATIONAL ENERGY POLICY, G-8, INDIA'S THORIUM, GREENHOUSE GASES, BLOGOSPHERE, THE GLOBAL FUTURIST, THE INTERNATIONALIST PAGE, BRAINTENANCE, ABOUT DOUGLAS CASTLE, ENERGY INITIATIVES, THE NATIONAL NETWORKER, TNNW, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, PATRICK KENNEDY

Douglas Castle Is Away - But He'll Be Back...He Promises.

2009-09-12T05:23:00.002-04:00

Douglas Castle Is Away - But He'll Be Back...He Promises.

I'll be out of town until 9/17 and will not be able to post, check email or telephone messages until then. Faithfully, Douglas

KEYWORD REFERENCE:
THORIUM, ENERGY, ATOMIC, NUCLEAR, RARE EARTH ELEMENTS, ALTERNATIVE FUELS, URANIUM, LEMHI PASS, ALTERNATIVE ENERGY, REACTOR, POWER, MINING, MINERALS, THORIUM, SHIELDING, SMALL REACTORS, KIRK SORENSEN, BLOGS ON THORIUM, NEWS ABOUT THORIUM, NUCLEAR TREATIES, INDIA POWER, THORIUM POWER, SSTAR REACTOR, NUCLEAR SUBMARINES, SALT WATER REACTORS, LIQUID FLORINE,LIQUID THORIUM, ATOMIC ELEMENTS, MINERALS, HADRON COLLIDER, COMMODITIES INVESTMENTS,THORIUM ENERGY, THORIUM POWER, ALTERNATIVE ENERGY, ATOMIC POWER, THORIUM-FUELED REACTORS, ATOMIC ENERGY, NON-WEAPONIZABLE FUEL, COAL, HYDROELECTRIC POWER, BURNING COAL, COAL AND CO2 POLLUTION , HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER, WIND-POWER, SOLAR POWER, PETROLEUM ALTERNATIVES, OIL PRICES, COMMODITIES, RARE EARTH ELEMENTS, LEMHI PASS, MINING AND MINERALS, RISING OIL PRICES, OPEC, ENERGY INDEPENDENCE, THORIUM POWER IN INDIA, CANADA, CHINA GERMANY, ENGLAND, SWEDEN, SOUTH KOREA, FLORIDE REACTOR, ETHANOL, SHALE, SAND OIL, NUCLEAR SAFETY, THORIUM BLOGS, BIG OIL, THORIUM ENERGY BLOG, URANIUM, REACTOR SHIELDING, PLUTONIUM WASTE, GREEN ENERGY, GLOBAL WARMING, RESOURCES, RESERVES, MINERAL AND MINING CLAIMS, ATOMIC ENERGY, FISSION, FUSION, LFTR, DOUGLAS CASTLE, JACK LIFTON, CLEAN COAL, GREENHOUSE EMISSIONS, ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS, RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL, POLLUTION, GEOTHERMAL POWER, THORIUM-BASED ENERGY, THORIUM TECHNOLOGIES, RARE EARTH ELEMENTS, ENERGY RESOURCES, THORIUM SUPPLIES, REID-HATCH BILL, GREEN POWER, GREEN FUELS, KIRK SORENSEN, LIQUID FLORIDE THERMONUCLEAR REACTOR, TH, THORIUM OXIDES, COMMODITIES FUTURES, NON-PRECIOUS METALS, THE GLOBAL FUTURIST, CLIMATIC CHANGE, BLOGS ABOUT THORIUM, GOOGLE ALERTS ABOUT THORIUM, YAHOO ALERTS ABOUT THORIUM, THORIUM NEWS, INTERNATIONAL ENERGY POLICY, G-8, INDIA'S THORIUM, GREENHOUSE GASES, BLOGOSPHERE, THE GLOBAL FUTURIST, THE INTERNATIONALIST PAGE, BRAINTENANCE, ABOUT DOUGLAS CASTLE, ENERGY INITIATIVES, THE NATIONAL NETWORKER, TNNW, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, PATRICK KENNEDY

2009-07-17T13:59:00.002-04:00

Make your vote count in the battle against global warming

Here are the top-10 shortlisted solutions to tackle climate change.

The ideas will be published in the Manchester Report and circulated to policymakers around the world.

To Vote, Click on this Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/poll/2009/jul/08/manchester-report-poll

KEYWORD REFERENCE:
THORIUM, ENERGY, ATOMIC, NUCLEAR, RARE EARTH ELEMENTS, ALTERNATIVE FUELS, URANIUM, LEMHI PASS, ALTERNATIVE ENERGY, REACTOR, POWER, MINING, MINERALS, THORIUM, SHIELDING, SMALL REACTORS, KIRK SORENSEN, BLOGS ON THORIUM, NEWS ABOUT THORIUM, NUCLEAR TREATIES, INDIA POWER, THORIUM POWER, SSTAR REACTOR, NUCLEAR SUBMARINES, SALT WATER REACTORS, LIQUID FLORINE,LIQUID THORIUM, ATOMIC ELEMENTS, MINERALS, HADRON COLLIDER, COMMODITIES INVESTMENTS,THORIUM ENERGY, THORIUM POWER, ALTERNATIVE ENERGY, ATOMIC POWER, THORIUM-FUELED REACTORS, ATOMIC ENERGY, NON-WEAPONIZABLE FUEL, COAL, HYDROELECTRIC POWER, BURNING COAL, COAL AND CO2 POLLUTION , HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER, WIND-POWER, SOLAR POWER, PETROLEUM ALTERNATIVES, OIL PRICES, COMMODITIES, RARE EARTH ELEMENTS, LEMHI PASS, MINING AND MINERALS, RISING OIL PRICES, OPEC, ENERGY INDEPENDENCE, THORIUM POWER IN INDIA, CANADA, CHINA GERMANY, ENGLAND, SWEDEN, SOUTH KOREA, FLORIDE REACTOR, ETHANOL, SHALE, SAND OIL, NUCLEAR SAFETY, THORIUM BLOGS, BIG OIL, THORIUM ENERGY BLOG, URANIUM, REACTOR SHIELDING, PLUTONIUM WASTE, GREEN ENERGY, GLOBAL WARMING, RESOURCES, RESERVES, MINERAL AND MINING CLAIMS, ATOMIC ENERGY, FISSION, FUSION, LFTR, DOUGLAS CASTLE, JACK LIFTON, CLEAN COAL, GREENHOUSE EMISSIONS, ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS, RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL, POLLUTION, GEOTHERMAL POWER, THORIUM-BASED ENERGY, THORIUM TECHNOLOGIES, RARE EARTH ELEMENTS, ENERGY RESOURCES, THORIUM SUPPLIES, REID-HATCH BILL, GREEN POWER, GREEN FUELS, KIRK SORENSEN, LIQUID FLORIDE THERMONUCLEAR REACTOR, TH, THORIUM OXIDES, COMMODITIES FUTURES, NON-PRECIOUS METALS, THE GLOBAL FUTURIST, CLIMATIC CHANGE, BLOGS ABOUT THORIUM, GOOGLE ALERTS ABOUT THORIUM, YAHOO ALERTS ABOUT THORIUM, THORIUM NEWS, INTERNATIONAL ENERGY POLICY, G-8, INDIA'S THORIUM, GREENHOUSE GASES, BLOGOSPHERE, THE GLOBAL FUTURIST, THE INTERNATIONALIST PAGE, BRAINTENANCE, ABOUT DOUGLAS CASTLE, ENERGY INITIATIVES, THE NATIONAL NETWORKER, TNNW, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, PATRICK KENNEDY

America's New Energy Dependency: China's Metals

2009-07-08T01:27:00.005-04:00

Reprinted from: US News & World Report

A clean-energy economy needs rare-earth metals to succeed. China has a near monopoly

By Kent Garber

Posted July 1, 2009

In 2007, a standoff unfolded between China and several American companies, including W.R. Grace, a major supplier of oil refining products. China was threatening to withhold supplies that keep refiners in business.

A worried State Department intervened. By then, W.R. Grace had only a three-month supply of the special metals it needs for its refining products. Because the metals come almost exclusively from China, if the government had not acted, sources say, oil refineries could have been forced to shut down, possibly triggering shortages across the country.

The metals W.R. Grace needed belong to a group known as "rare earths." They are the backbone of the Information Age and, potentially, the clean energy future. They are in iPods, Blackberry’s, and plasma TVs. They are powerful and compact; they are exceedingly efficient. In many cases, there are no substitutes. On the periodic table, they have their own section, 17 metals in all, reflecting their unique atomic structure.

Fifty years ago, the world's economy was built on steel, aluminum, and iron. Today, rare-earth metals are reshaping it. But they are not easy to acquire, not anymore. In the 1970s and 1980s, the United States was the world's leading producer. Today, China provides nearly 97 percent of the world's supply. It has a near monopoly, and it is cutting exports.

Dominance. The strategic implications of this growing imbalance are vast, particularly for defense and energy. Wind turbines and electric cars have become clean energy symbols, but they are merely final products, the visible results of a supply chain that spans international borders and, for the most part, is largely overlooked by policymakers. At the bottom of this chain, at its most basic level, are rare-earth metals mined from the Earth's crust and made into magnets or other parts, then put into motors or batteries.

China's dominance in this arena, and its displacement of American leadership, are not accidental. In 1992, Deng Xiaoping, then the country's most powerful politician, outlined a plan. "The Middle East has oil; we have rare earths," he said. "We must develop these rare earths." Today this phrase is emblazoned, like a campaign slogan, across the roof of at least one Chinese factory.
Deng's call to arms has been carried out nearly flawlessly. China dominates the world market and in recent months has taken control of mines in Brazil and Australia, thereby eliminating potential competitors. It is poised to do with rare earths what the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has done with oil: make the world dependent. In 2002, China exported about 60,000 tons of rare-earth metals. In 2008, it exported about 45,000 tons. In 2009, based upon preliminary estimates, that will drop into the 30,000s.

The slide will most likely continue, with potentially serious implications for President Obama's energy goals. In 2008, an Australian analyst named Dudley Kingsnorth released a report in which he calculated that China's rare-earth supplies could become off limits to the world as early as 2012. The severity of Kingsnorth's projection has been questioned by some, and the global recession has probably pushed the date back a few years. But the general trend holds. Resource production is limited, and China's internal demand is soaring, fueled by consumers and new energy ambitions. Within five years, China wants to be the world's leading manufacturer of wind turbines and electric batteries.

Global demand for rare-earth metals, meanwhile, is expected to grow at least 10 percent annually. If no new mines open, the scenarios are daunting. At best, if China continues exporting, global prices seem sure to rise. At worst, the West could be shut off altogether, left scrambling to find new sources of these metals for turbines, batteries, and other parts. "The very basic question is 'Are we going to trade dependence on Mideast oil for Chinese rare earths?' ”says Jeff Green, a lobbyist who specializes in metals. ”I think the answer is 'Probably.' "

Falling behind. This is not just a story about metals, though. It is also a story about decline and innovation, about what has happened to American manufacturing, and about the gap that exists between where the country's political leaders want to go—to a "clean-energy economy," with thriving factories and state-of-the-art research facilities—and where some industries stand today.

That the United States was once the leader in this field is a fascinating byproduct of the country's nuclear past. In the aftermath of World War II, with the Cold War setting in, U.S. officials were terrified that the country would run out of uranium. So they began encouraging prospectors to look for uranium deposits.

Radioactive materials were rarely found alone. They came with other metals, like rare earths. This was the case at Mountain Pass, Calif., in the Mojave Desert, where the world's largest rare-earth mine opened in the early 1950s. Thus began a nearly half-century reign for the United States. By the late 1960s, Mountain Pass was the world's leading supplier of europium, a rare-earth metal that creates the red color in color TVs. The mine's owner, Molycorp, poured millions into research.

By the mid-1980s, China wised up. The terrain of Inner Mongolia, where there was already extensive iron mining, became ground zero for a new venture. Backed by a deliberate national push, rare-earth production boomed.

China's rise eventually triggered the end of a proud chapter of American innovation. But this fate was not immediately apparent. A poignant example involves General Motors. In the early 1980s, GM scientists invented a new way to make magnets. Rather than use pure magnets, they developed a magnetic powder, which they could mix with rubber and inject where needed. This powder, like many high-performance magnets, required neodymium, a very strong rare earth. With the powder, less metal was needed, so car parts could be lighter—in the auto industry, a good thing. GM's magnet division got its own name, Magnequench, and a 175,000-square-foot facility was built in Indiana in 1986.

But the timing proved terrible. As the 1980s wore on, China's strip mining accelerated. Production soared, and global prices dropped. American magnet companies began to close down or, seeking cheaper resources, moved to China. In 1995, two Chinese companies, with the help of American investors, purchased Magnequench. The move, a report to Congress later found, was part of a "detailed strategy" by China to control rare earths. To win U.S. approval, the buyers had promised to keep the magnet facility in Indiana. They moved it to China in 2002.
By then the mine at Mountain Pass had fallen idle, hurt by excess supplies and, some say, Chinese competition and fallout from a mid-1990s incident involving a contaminated water spill. This leaves the United States with no active rare-earth mine (although Molycorp continues to process ore it had already dug up at Mountain Pass). Meanwhile, the number of workers in the U.S. high-performance magnet industry has fallen 80 percent over the past decade. Not a single American company today makes neodymium magnets for wind turbines, smart bombs, or anything else.

All this is very likely just the first act of a bigger drama. For the past year or so, Western analysts had been buzzing about the potential opening of a rare earth mine in western Australia by Lynas Corp., an Australian company. Many saw it as potential counter to Chinese dominance, a friendly foothold in an uncertain market. It is a large mine, with the potential to supply a decent fraction of the world's rare earth needs. But in May, hopes faded. Offering $366 million, a company owned by the Chinese government bought a majority stake in the mine. "I think they've worked their plan to perfection," says Ed Richardson of Thomas & Skinner, one of the remaining U.S. high-performance magnet companies. "If we look at how dependent the world has become on rare-earth elements, it's kind of scary. It all happened right under our nose."

An idle mine, niche companies fleeing to China—all this may sound like another case of globalization ills. But it's also a telling example of what's necessary for innovation and economic growth.

In Washington, there is bipartisan support for renewable electricity and next-generation cars, which will require significant innovation. The disagreement is over how to spur it. Republicans favor private investment. Democrats favor public funding and regulations, such as requiring utilities to generate more of their electricity from renewable sources.

Both sides may be missing a key element. Economists generally agree that innovation is a major driver of economic growth. Innovation, however, does not occur in isolation. It is not the product of one company's efforts or of a single lab's work. It is the result of a whole cluster of things, including raw material suppliers, research labs, and manufacturing firms, working together. Remove one of these links, and the innovation chain weakens or breaks.

In the case of American energy technologies, the rare-earth component has been absent for a while. According to a paper published by Brian Fifarek of Carnegie Mellon University last year, its absence has left a mark. As domestic resources have vanished, he found, the number of successful patent applications filed by American companies for technologies using rare earths has declined precipitously since the early 1990s.

There is also anecdotal evidence to suggest that research and development activity, the lifeblood of innovation, has followed resources overseas. In 1999, Magnequench opened a research facility in North Carolina. In 2004, the company, citing access to resources, moved it to Singapore. Another rare-earth facility, in Ames, Iowa, closed in 2002.

Understandably, it has taken some countries and companies a while to make connections between innovation and resources. Mainly, someone in power has to look pretty far down the supply chain, through several layers of middlemen, to spot a problem. In some cases, they haven't or say they don't see problems. "I don't think about it that much," says Siemens CEO Peter Loscher.

But events have started to open some stakeholders' eyes.
In 2005, the Chinese national offshore oil company, CNOOC, made a hostile bid to take over American oil giant Unocal. Congress rejected it, fearing that the Chinese might gain a foothold in the oil-rich Gulf of Mexico. Ultimately, Chevron acquired the company. But many observers now believe China was also after something else: the Mountain Pass rare-earth mine, which Unocal had acquired in the 1990s. "I was getting phone calls from the highest levels of management at Unocal, asking what it would take to sell Mountain Pass," says Molycorp CEO Mark Smith. "I don't think it's too hard to put the two together."

Next was the incident in 2007 in which W.R. Grace and others felt squeezed by China's threat to withhold rare earth shipments. Then, in 2008, prices for all commodities, including rare earths, began to skyrocket. Neodymium jumped from $8 per kilogram to $50 per kg. Suddenly, people became concerned about the supplies of rare earths. The same year, a report by the National Research Council found that shortages of rare earths would have a bigger impact on manufacturers than problems with the supply of any other commonly used metal.

U.S. revival. Can the United States make a comeback? "When you have given up the capacity to innovate and manufacture and build, it is difficult just to buy it back," says Mary Poulton, a geological engineering professor at the University of Arizona and a coauthor of the NRC report. "You've given up a lot of the leads to other countries."

There is first the challenge of reopening a mine; that in itself is difficult enough, requiring money and an appetite for risk. In the business world, mining investments are considered among the riskiest of deals. The full challenge, rebuilding a supply chain, is much greater. Metals have to be purified, refined, and assembled into components. These steps require money, technology, and expertise. In the United States, according to government estimates, there are only three facilities that refine rare earths. Most of the engineers who understand the processes are either retired or dead.

But the start of a revival may be underway. Molycorp is trying to restart mining by 2012. Another company, Thorium Energy, Inc. which owns an enormous swath of land in Idaho's rare-earth-rich Lemhi Pass, is seeking investors. Both Smith and Thorium Energy CEO Ed Cowle have been trekking to Washington to talk to congressmen, senators, and agency officials.

Part of their problem, they say, is getting people to realize there is actually a problem. "This portion of the supply chain is buried deep," says Smith. "You really have to understand this whole supply chain concept. I sit down with car companies and wind turbine companies, and the first response you will get is 'Oh, I don't worry about that. I buy my motors or generators from this company or that company and I didn't know there were rare earths in them.'" As Jack Lifton, a longtime metal analyst, says, "The Chinese are depending, as they always do, on the myopia of the American investment community that only sees to the end of its nose."

Some say the concerns are overblown, that China will do everything it can do to ensure steady exports. And for certain technologies, researchers say there are potential alternatives to rare earths. The leading technology in electric batteries, nickel metal hydride, requires them, but a possible alternative, lithium ion, does not. "Lithium batteries have higher energy and power," says Gary Yang, a scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. "That is their advantage over rare earths." But lithium ion batteries require years more research.

Nevertheless, a global quest for new mines is dawning. "They are all out looking for money," says Richardson. 'The Canadians, the Australians, Molycorp here in the U.S., Thorium Energy—all these mines are looking for big bucks, but it's high risk." Environmental issues can crop up, as they have in the past for Molycorp. Investors can pull out, as they have in Australia. A new mine will cost hundreds of millions.

On Capitol Hill, interest is tepid but picking up. "Folks are finally starting to say, 'How are we going to advance the ball?' ”says Green.” The Chinese are expected to consume all their production by 2012, 2013, or 2014. I think these needs to cause alarm in the U.S. government." In 2007, supporters managed to secure an earmark for a Defense Metals Technology Center in Ohio, which advises the military on strategic metals.

Last month, Rep. Mike Coffman, a Colorado Republican, slipped an amendment into the House's defense budget bill that would require the watchdog Government Accountability Office to review rare-earth concerns. And Sen. Evan Bayh, an Indiana Democrat, has just proposed requiring the defense department to evaluate the extent to which the country's weapons are dependent upon rare earth metal supplies "that could be interrupted."But that's about it. So far, the focus of most politicians and the American public is still at the top of the supply chain—on the gleaming turbines and electric vehicle prototypes—rather than on the dusty metals at the bottom.

KEYWORD REFERENCE: THORIUM, ENERGY, ED COWLE, ATOMIC, NUCLEAR, RARE EARTH ELEMENTS, ALTERNATIVE FUELS, URANIUM, LEMHI PASS, ALTERNATIVE ENERGY, REACTOR, POWER, MINING, MINERALS, THORIUM, SHIELDING, SMALL REACTORS, KIRK SORENSEN, BLOGS ON THORIUM, NEWS ABOUT THORIUM, NUCLEAR TREATIES, INDIA POWER, THORIUM POWER, SSTAR REACTOR, NUCLEAR SUBMARINES, SALT WATER REACTORS, LIQUID FLORINE,LIQUID THORIUM, ATOMIC ELEMENTS, MINERALS, HADRON COLLIDER, COMMODITIES INVESTMENTS,THORIUM ENERGY, THORIUM POWER, ALTERNATIVE ENERGY, ATOMIC POWER, THORIUM-FUELED REACTORS, ATOMIC ENERGY, NON-WEAPONIZABLE FUEL, COAL, HYDROELECTRIC POWER, BURNING COAL, COAL AND CO2 POLLUTION , HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER, WIND-POWER, SOLAR POWER, PETROLEUM ALTERNATIVES, OIL PRICES, COMMODITIES, RARE EARTH ELEMENTS, LEMHI PASS, MINING AND MINERALS, RISING OIL PRICES, OPEC, ENERGY INDEPENDENCE, THORIUM POWER IN INDIA, CANADA, CHINA GERMANY, ENGLAND, SWEDEN, SOUTH KOREA, FLORIDE REACTOR, ETHANOL, SHALE, SAND OIL, NUCLEAR SAFETY, THORIUM BLOGS, BIG OIL, THORIUM ENERGY BLOG, URANIUM, REACTOR SHIELDING, PLUTONIUM WASTE, GREEN ENERGY, GLOBAL WARMING, RESOURCES, RESERVES, MINERAL AND MINING CLAIMS, ATOMIC ENERGY, FISSION, FUSION, LFTR, DOUGLAS CASTLE, JACK LIFTON, CLEAN COAL, GREENHOUSE EMISSIONS, ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS, RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL, POLLUTION, GEOTHERMAL POWER, THORIUM-BASED ENERGY, THORIUM TECHNOLOGIES, RARE EARTH ELEMENTS, ENERGY RESOURCES, THORIUM SUPPLIES, REID-HATCH BILL, GREEN POWER, GREEN FUELS, KIRK SORENSEN, LIQUID FLORIDE THERMONUCLEAR REACTOR, TH, THORIUM OXIDES, COMMODITIES FUTURES, NON-PRECIOUS METALS, THE GLOBAL FUTURIST, CLIMATIC CHANGE, BLOGS ABOUT THORIUM, GOOGLE ALERTS ABOUT THORIUM, YAHOO ALERTS ABOUT THORIUM, THORIUM NEWS, INTERNATIONAL ENERGY POLICY, G-8, INDIA'S THORIUM, CLIMATIC CHANGE, BLOGOSPHERE...

Green Energy & Thorium Solutions

2009-04-21T04:08:00.010-04:00

The Green Economy/Thorium Energy
Presenting: working solutions for big Problems

Problems:

How to create 5+ million new jobs during the Obama Administration

How to generate these jobs by stimulating the “Green” economy

How to diminish fossil fuel usage

How to save 30-50% of the electrical energy now being lost on the “grid”

How to make US buildings energy efficient without raising monthly budgets or down payments

How to increase every buildings value, utilizing capital now wasted in energy inefficiencies

How every building owner can use all available “green retrofit” tax credits and subsidies

How to preserve our environment and air quality

How to do all of the above and preserve our capitalistic model without raising taxes

Premise:

It would be possible to save 50% of a buildings electrical and/or heating bill by completely retrofitting it with the latest (proven) energy saving technologies such as;

Solar panels (buildings)

Large arrays of solar power dishes (concentrators) per each community

Solar outdoor lighting

Single dwelling wind generators

Large arrays of wind generators per each community

New tech insulation and weather striping

New technology in thermal windows

Energy saving appliances (including; washers/dryers, air conditioning/heaters, refrigerators/freezers, ovens/stoves, lamps/light bulbs etc., etc..

Building owners would be willing to allow this retrofitting to take place if the construction did not involve an increase, of any amount, to their existing monthly budget or require a down payment.

The US government would guarantee a local (15 year) bond issue sufficient to retrofit every building in its community (utilizing financial models that are now commonly employed to build roads, schools and other city or community improvements etc.).

Solutions – Phase I (Immediate action Plan)

Each building’s electrical bills for the previous 10 years are evaluated; the highest annual bill and the lowest annual bill are eliminated. The annual bills for the remaining 8 years are averaged and a “Base Annual Energy Cost (BAEC)” is established.This BAEC is divided by 50% (the amount of the expected energy savings, as described above) and multiplied by the number of years of the bond issue (hypothetically 15 years).

This “saved” money (50% of their existing electric utility bill) would be calculated by the local government entity and used to; hire and/or contract local, unemployed, US citizens to install the energy efficient equipment and measures. US suppliers (with a concentration on local community suppliers) of equipment would submit bids on the equipment portion of the jobs to the local government entity empowered to complete the retrofitting.

This amount of money should be sufficient to cover materials, labor, management, administration including a 1% fee to a consulting firm (oversees all community projects as described above) and to pay the interest on the bond (Excel Spread sheet available).

All amounts and percentages are hypothetical and can be adjusted.

Example; A 3,000 Sq. Ft. building with a Base Annual Electricity Cost of $4,800 divided by 50% (savings) = $2,400 X (15 years – suggested bond period) = $36,000.

Assume; the total bond and administrative expenses as $3,600 with a material cost of $23,400 and labor at $9,000.If this were the average building (including commercial buildings) in a community of 5,000 buildings then; the total bond needed would be $180,000,000, total expenses would be $18,000,000, total material cost would be $117,000,000 and the total labor costs would be $45,000,000.

A community of 5,000 buildings would require 458 crews of 3 or 1,374 workers, working full time for 1 year, all working within the green economy. These workers would now be trained installers and could travel to neighboring communities to train their crews.

As a practical matter this work would probably be completed over a period of 5 or more years by fewer crews thus expanding the employment period.

Suppose that over time we could retrofit 20 million buildings; this would create more than 5,500,000 new jobs; increase the value of each building by about 30,000; save about $180,000,000 annually in fossil fuel and give each family of 4 an annual stimulus of about $2,000. All of this can be accomplished without; raising anyone’s taxes or anyone’s monthly budget and all within the “green” economy.

All numbers are assumptions; participation would be volunteered and dependent upon a pre-inspection for acceptance to the program. Buildings that would be incapable of achieving a 50% savings (even with a higher dollar input) would be tuned down or have their BAEC adjusted. Buildings that are being or have been retrofitted by the owners (and could not achieve an additional 50% savings) would not be placed in the Phase I program or have the BAEC adjusted down. A mortgage lien for the amount expended would be placed on each building for the bond period with monthly payments equal to ½ of their current monthly electric utility bill.

The lien would need to be assumed or settled if the building were sold. Building buyers would be very likely to want to assume a partially paid debt that would guarantee that ½ of their electrical bill was stabilized at a constant (low) price and that the additional equity would pay them back many times over the years. Buildings that had repaid their original bond obligation and that were into Phase II (the Thorium Nuclear bond issue), allowing very inexpensive clean electrical energy, would likely sell at a premium.

Because none of the energy saved comes over the national electrical grid, and due to the fact that as much as 50% of the energy carried over the grid is lost in transmission, an amount of energy is also saved (as much as 30-50%) which would be difficult to measure but is extremely important.

The energy created by solar and/or wind for the building will be substantial and could be critical in the event that the national grid or the local grid should go down for any reason.Solutions –

Phase II (Thorium Follow-up Action Plan)

Within 7 years (or upon the final technology approval and acceptance) of the implementation of Phase I, a new guarantee for local community bonds should be issued to employ a “community sized” Liquid-Fluoride Thorium Nuclear Reactor. The costs per capita will be very close to the retrofitting scenario suggested in Phase I and the financial model will remain much the same.

The resultant energy from the installation will be capable of supplying the balance of the electrical energy requirements for the entire community at a measured price far below that of fossil fuel levels with no carbon footprint.

After the completion of Phase II, the local community will have no need to depend on the national grid and the local elected government will operate as the power requirement/management facility (as a community coop). After the Phase II bond debt is paid, the buildings will be billed service charges and for thorium fuel replacement (estimated to be once every 10 years). There will be no need to buy any other electrical energy.

The Safety and Stability Advantages of a Liquid-Fluoride Reactor in the Environment

By; Kirk Sorensen (summarized)

“The generation and use of energy is central to the maintenance of organization. Life itself is a state of organization maintained by the continual use of sources of energy. Human civilization has reached the state it has by the widespread use of energy, and for the large fraction of the world that aspires to a higher standard of living; more energy will be required to achieve it. We should never waste energy, and should always seek to use energy efficiently as possible and practical, but energy itself will always be needed.

This section is about the use of thorium as an energy source of sufficient magnitude for thousands of years of future energy needs. Thorium, if used efficiently, can be converted to energy far more easily and safely than any other energy source of comparable magnitude, including nuclear fusion and uranium fission.”

Thorium nuclear does not lend itself to the proliferation of nuclear weapons and should be acceptable as a world-wide nuclear fuel – India, Norway, Russia, The United Arab Emirates and many other countries are now developing and/or considering thorium nuclear facilities.
“Briefly, the basic principles are:

1. Nuclear reactions (changes in the binding energy of nuclei) release about a million times more energy than chemical reactions (changes in the binding energy of electrons), therefore, it is logical to pursue nuclear reactions as dense sources of energy.

2. Changing the binding energy of the nucleus with uncharged particles (neutrons inducing fission) is much easier than changing the nuclear state with charged particles (fusion), because fission does not contend with electrostatic repulsion as fusion does.

3. Naturally occurring fissile material (uranium-235) will not sustain us for millennia due to its scarcity. We must fission fertile isotopes (uranium-238, thorium-232) which are abundant in order to sustain energy production for millennia,” (Thorium Energy, Inc. has properties in the Lemhi Pass (USA) that could supply the world’s energy needs for centuries.) “Fertile isotopes such as U-238 and Th-232 basically require 2 neutrons to fission (one to convert, one to fission), and require fission reactions that generate more than 2 neutrons per absorption in a fissile nucleus.

4. For maximum safety, nuclear reactions should proceed in a thermal (slowed-down) neutron spectrum because only thermal reactors can be designed to be in their most critical configuration, where any alteration to the reactor configuration (whether through accident or intention) leads to less nuclear reactions, not more. Thermal reactors also afford more options for achieving negative temperature coefficients of reactivity (which are the basic measurement of the safety of a nuclear reactor). Reactors that require neutrons that have not been slowed significantly from their initial energy (fast-spectrum reactors) can always be altered in some fashion, either through accident or intention, into a more critical configuration that could be dangerously uncontrollable because of the increased reactivity of the fuel. Basically, any fast-spectrum reactor that is barely critical will be extremely supercritical if its neutrons are moderated in some way.

5. "Burning" uranium-238 produces a fissile isotope (plutonium-239) that "burns" inefficiently in a thermal (slowed-down) neutron spectrum and does not produce enough neutrons to sustain the consumption of uranium-238. "Burning" thorium-232 produces a fissile isotope (uranium-233) that burns efficiently in a thermal neutron spectrum and produces enough neutrons to sustain the consumption of thorium. Therefore, thorium is a preferable fuel, if used in a neutronically efficient reactor.

6. Achieving high neutronic efficiency in solid-fueled nuclear reactors is difficult because the fuel sustains radiation damage, the fuel retains gaseous xenon (which is a strong neutron poison), and solid fuel is difficult to reprocess because it must be converted to a liquid stream before it is reprocessed.

7. Fluid-fuel reactors can continuously strip xenon and adjust the concentration of fuel and fission products while operating. More importantly, they have an inherently strong negative temperature coefficient of reactivity which leads to inherent safety and vastly simplified control. Furthermore, decay heat from fission products can be passively removed (in case of an accident) by draining the core fluid into a passively cooled configuration.

8. Liquid-fluoride reactors have all the advantages of a fluid-fueled reactor plus they are chemically stable across a large temperature range, are impervious to radiation damage due to the ionic nature of their chemical bond. They can dissolve sufficient amounts of nuclear fuel (thorium, uranium) in the form of tetrafluorides in a neutronically inert carrier salt (lithium7 fluoride-beryllium fluoride). This leads to the capability for high-temperature, low-pressure operation, no fuel damage, and no danger of fuel precipitation and concentration.

9. The liquid-fluoride reactor is very neutronically efficient due to its lack of core internals and neutron absorbers; it does not need "burnable poisons" to control reactivity because reactivity can continuously be added. The reactor can achieve the conversion ratio (1.0) to "burn" thorium, and has superior operational, safety, and development characteristics.

10. Liquid-fluoride reactors can retain actinides while discharging only fission products, which will decay to background levels of radiation in ~300 years and do not require long duration (>10,000 year) geologic burial.

11. A liquid-fluoride reactor operating only on thorium and using a "start charge" of pure U-233 will produce almost no transuranic isotopes. This is because neutron capture in U-233 (which occurs about 10% of the time) will produce U-234, which will further absorb another neutron to produce U-235, which is fissile. U-235 will fission about 85% of the time in a thermal-neutron spectrum, and when it doesn't it will produce U-236. U-236 will further absorb another neutron to produce Np-237, which will be removed by the fluorination system. But the production rate of Np-237 will be exceedingly low because of all the fission "off-ramps" in its production.

12. We must build thousands of thorium reactors to displace coal, oil, natural gas, and uranium as energy sources. This would be impractical if liquid-fluoride reactors were as difficult to build as pressurized water reactors. But they will be much simpler and smaller for several reasons;

They will operate at a higher power density (leading to a smaller core),

They will not need refueling shutdowns (eliminating the complicated refueling equipment),

They will operate at ambient pressure and have no pressurized water in the core (shrinking the containment vessel dramatically),

They will not require the complicated emergency core cooling systems and their backups that solid-core reactors require (because of their passive approach to decay heat removal),

Their power conversion system will be much smaller and power-dense (since in a closed-cycle gas turbine you can vary both initial cycle pressure and overall pressure ratio).

In short, these plants will be much smaller, much simpler, much, much safer, and more secure. A fundamental mistake was made when thorium was overlooked as the prime nuclear fuel in favor of uranium. In such a position, there is some good company; Dr. Alvin Weinberg, former director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and inventor of the pressurized-water reactor (he holds the patent) said in 1970:

As all readers of Nuclear Applications & Technology know, the prevailing view holds that the LMFBR is the proper path to ubiquitous, permanent energy. It is no secret that I, as well as many of my colleagues at Oak Ridge National Laboratories, have always felt differently. When the idea of the breeder was first suggested in 1943, the rapid and efficient recycle of the partially spent core was regarded as the main problem. Nothing that has happened in the ensuing quarter-century has fundamentally changed this.

The successful breeder will be the one that can deal with the spent core most rationally—either by achieving extremely long burnup, or by greatly simplifying the entire recycle step. We at Oak Ridge have always been intrigued by this latter possibility. It explains our long commitment to liquid-fueled reactors-first, the aqueous homogeneous and now, the molten salt.

Only in the liquid-fluoride reactor can we find the safety, economy, and efficiency needed to unlock the potential of thorium energy for tens of thousands of years.”

Summary

We can;

Create 5+ million new jobs.

Generate these jobs inside the “Green” economy.

Diminish fossil fuel usage by 25% (with Thorium Nuclear 40+ %).

Save 30-50% of the electrical energy (with Thorium Nuclear 100%) now lost on the “grid”.

Make US buildings energy efficient without raising monthly budgets or down payments.

Increase every buildings value, utilizing capital now wasted in energy inefficiencies.

Give every building owner all available “green retrofit” tax credits and subsidies.

Preserve our environment and air quality.

Stimulate the overall economy of every community.

Do all of the above and preserve our capitalistic model without raising taxes.

But, we need your help to find a champion with some political clout.

If you have any suggestions, comments, referrals, edits or willingness to assist in bringing these solutions to your senator or to the public, email me at; www.kennedy200@sbcglobal.net

I will respond!

Implementation Concept by;
Patrick Kennedy, Public Relations
Thorium Energy, Inc.

KEYWORD REFERENCE: THORIUM, ENERGY, ATOMIC, NUCLEAR, RARE EARTH ELEMENTS, ALTERNATIVE FUELS, URANIUM, LEMHI PASS, ALTERNATIVE ENERGY, REACTOR, POWER, MINING, MINERALS, THORIUM, SHIELDING, SMALL REACTORS, KIRK SORENSEN, BLOGS ON THORIUM, NEWS ABOUT THORIUM, NUCLEAR TREATIES, INDIA POWER, THORIUM POWER, SSTAR REACTOR, NUCLEAR SUBMARINES, SALT WATER REACTORS, LIQUID FLORINE,LIQUID THORIUM, ATOMIC ELEMENTS, MINERALS, HADRON COLLIDER, COMMODITIES INVESTMENTS,THORIUM ENERGY, THORIUM POWER, ALTERNATIVE ENERGY, ATOMIC POWER, THORIUM-FUELED REACTORS, ATOMIC ENERGY, NON-WEAPONIZABLE FUEL, COAL, HYDROELECTRIC POWER, BURNING COAL, COAL AND CO2 POLLUTION , HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER, WIND-POWER, SOLAR POWER, PETROLEUM ALTERNATIVES, OIL PRICES, COMMODITIES, RARE EARTH ELEMENTS, LEMHI PASS, MINING AND MINERALS, RISING OIL PRICES, OPEC, ENERGY INDEPENDENCE, THORIUM POWER IN INDIA, CANADA, CHINA GERMANY, ENGLAND, SWEDEN, SOUTH KOREA, FLORIDE REACTOR, ETHANOL, SHALE, SAND OIL, NUCLEAR SAFETY, THORIUM BLOGS, BIG OIL, THORIUM ENERGY BLOG, URANIUM, REACTOR SHIELDING, PLUTONIUM WASTE, GREEN ENERGY, GLOBAL WARMING, RESOURCES, RESERVES, MINERAL AND MINING CLAIMS, ATOMIC ENERGY, FISSION, FUSION, LFTR, DOUGLAS CASTLE, JACK LIFTON, CLEAN COAL, GREENHOUSE EMISSIONS, ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS, RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL, POLLUTION, GEOTHERMAL POWER, THORIUM-BASED ENERGY, THORIUM TECHNOLOGIES, RARE EARTH ELEMENTS, ENERGY RESOURCES, THORIUM SUPPLIES, REID-HATCH BILL, GREEN POWER, GREEN FUELS, KIRK SORENSEN, LIQUID FLORIDE THERMONUCLEAR REACTOR, TH, THORIUM OXIDES, COMMODITIES FUTURES, NON-PRECIOUS METALS, THE GLOBAL FUTURIST, CLIMATIC CHANGE, BLOGS ABOUT THORIUM, GOOGLE ALERTS ABOUT THORIUM, YAHOO ALERTS ABOUT THORIUM, THORIUM NEWS, INTERNATIONAL ENERGY POLICY, G-8, INDIA'S THORIUM, CLIMATIC CHANGE, BLOGOSPHERE...

CHANGES ARE COMING.

2008-10-19T20:27:00.010-04:00

Dear Readers:

I am a believer in the vast realizable potential of safe, cost-effective thorium - powered nuclear reactors. My belief remains steadfast, as I hope that yours will. Thorium is the future. For a moment though, with your permission, I will deal with the present.

Because of numerous challenges in coordinating my writing and speaking availability, I will be contributing articles for this weblog only on a sporatic basis and not as a regular author. I have enjoyed writing for the management of THORIUM ENERGY, INC., and I will miss it, but scheduling (especially in the current economic environment) has become increasingly demanding.

But alas! I haven't deserted you.

Please get my RSS feeds from each of these other interesting and entertaining sites, and continue to receive my insights into geopolitical economics, futurism, entrepreneurship, self-growth, relationships and communications as well as those that relate to thorium fuel and alternative energy:

THE GLOBAL FUTURIST

THE INTERNATIONALIST PAGE

HUMANITAS MAXIMUS

THE NATIONAL NETWORKER

INTERNAL ENERGY PLUS

I am certain that you will enjoy these articles and offerings.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be heard, and to be appreciated.

See you soon.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

*Follow me on Twitter at

http://twitter.com/douglascastle -

http://twitter.com/TNNW_BUZZWORKS -

http://twitter.com/Braintenance

KEYWORD REFERENCE: THORIUM, ENERGY, ATOMIC, NUCLEAR, RARE EARTH ELEMENTS, ALTERNATIVE FUELS, URANIUM, LEMHI PASS, ALTERNATIVE ENERGY, REACTOR, POWER, MINING, MINERALS, THORIUM, SHIELDING, SMALL REACTORS, KIRK SORENSEN, BLOGS ON THORIUM, NEWS ABOUT THORIUM, NUCLEAR TREATIES, INDIA POWER, THORIUM POWER, SSTAR REACTOR, NUCLEAR SUBMARINES, SALT WATER REACTORS, LIQUID FLORINE,LIQUID THORIUM, ATOMIC ELEMENTS, MINERALS, HADRON COLLIDER, COMMODITIES INVESTMENTS,THORIUM ENERGY, THORIUM POWER, ALTERNATIVE ENERGY, ATOMIC POWER, THORIUM-FUELED REACTORS, ATOMIC ENERGY, NON-WEAPONIZABLE FUEL, COAL, HYDROELECTRIC POWER, BURNING COAL, COAL AND CO2 POLLUTION , HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER, WIND-POWER, SOLAR POWER, PETROLEUM ALTERNATIVES, OIL PRICES, COMMODITIES, RARE EARTH ELEMENTS, LEMHI PASS, MINING AND MINERALS, RISING OIL PRICES, OPEC, ENERGY INDEPENDENCE, THORIUM POWER IN INDIA, CANADA, CHINA GERMANY, ENGLAND, SWEDEN, SOUTH KOREA, FLORIDE REACTOR, ETHANOL, SHALE, SAND OIL, NUCLEAR SAFETY, THORIUM BLOGS, BIG OIL, THORIUM ENERGY BLOG, URANIUM, REACTOR SHIELDING, PLUTONIUM WASTE, GREEN ENERGY, GLOBAL WARMING, RESOURCES, RESERVES, MINERAL AND MINING CLAIMS, ATOMIC ENERGY, FISSION, FUSION, LFTR, DOUGLAS CASTLE, JACK LIFTON, CLEAN COAL, GREENHOUSE EMISSIONS, ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS, RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL, POLLUTION, GEOTHERMAL POWER, THORIUM-BASED ENERGY, THORIUM TECHNOLOGIES, RARE EARTH ELEMENTS, ENERGY RESOURCES, THORIUM SUPPLIES, REID-HATCH BILL, GREEN POWER, GREEN FUELS, KIRK SORENSEN, LIQUID FLORIDE THERMONUCLEAR REACTOR, TH, THORIUM OXIDES, COMMODITIES FUTURES, NON-PRECIOUS METALS, THE GLOBAL FUTURIST, CLIMATIC CHANGE, BLOGS ABOUT THORIUM, GOOGLE ALERTS ABOUT THORIUM, YAHOO ALERTS ABOUT THORIUM, THORIUM NEWS, INTERNATIONAL ENERGY POLICY, G-8, INDIA'S THORIUM, CLIMATIC CHANGE, BLOGOSPHERE...

THE THORIUM INDEPENDENCE AND SECURITY ACT OF 2008

2008-10-03T19:00:00.004-04:00

Dear Readers:

Senators Reid and Hatch have proposed bold new legislation which would pave the way for thorium energy to be a reality in the United States, and for this country to legitimately begin its withdrawal from enslavement to Big Oil. Thorium Energy, Inc.'s Jack Lifton spoke out in support of the bipartisan bill today. The complete article follows:

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/thorium-energy-inc-supports-bipartisan/story.aspx?guid=%7B9AAF3896-258C-4C0F-A158-E47232275084%7D&dist=hppr

This is one of the most productive and progressive items of legislation to be proposed in quite a long time, and THORIUM ENERGY, INC. not only endorses the proposed bill, but applauds the visionary legislators who have put aside petty political differences in the interest of doing something wonderful for the United States.

Think Thorium...I told you so!

--THORIUM ENERGY, INC.

KEYWORD REFERENCE: THORIUM, ENERGY, ATOMIC, NUCLEAR, RARE EARTH ELEMENTS, ALTERNATIVE FUELS, URANIUM, LEMHI PASS, ALTERNATIVE ENERGY, REACTOR, POWER, MINING, MINERALS, THORIUM, SHIELDING, SMALL REACTORS, KIRK SORENSEN, BLOGS ON THORIUM, NEWS ABOUT THORIUM, NUCLEAR TREATIES, INDIA POWER, THORIUM POWER, SSTAR REACTOR, NUCLEAR SUBMARINES, SALT WATER REACTORS, LIQUID FLORINE,LIQUID THORIUM, ATOMIC ELEMENTS, MINERALS, HADRON COLLIDER, COMMODITIES INVESTMENTS,THORIUM ENERGY, THORIUM POWER, ALTERNATIVE ENERGY, ATOMIC POWER, THORIUM-FUELED REACTORS, ATOMIC ENERGY, NON-WEAPONIZABLE FUEL, COAL, HYDROELECTRIC POWER, BURNING COAL, COAL AND CO2 POLLUTION , HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER, WIND-POWER, SOLAR POWER, PETROLEUM ALTERNATIVES, OIL PRICES, COMMODITIES, RARE EARTH ELEMENTS, LEMHI PASS, MINING AND MINERALS, RISING OIL PRICES, OPEC, ENERGY INDEPENDENCE, THORIUM POWER IN INDIA, CANADA, CHINA GERMANY, ENGLAND, SWEDEN, SOUTH KOREA, FLORIDE REACTOR, ETHANOL, SHALE, SAND OIL, NUCLEAR SAFETY, THORIUM BLOGS, BIG OIL, THORIUM ENERGY BLOG, URANIUM, REACTOR SHIELDING, PLUTONIUM WASTE, GREEN ENERGY, GLOBAL WARMING, RESOURCES, RESERVES, MINERAL AND MINING CLAIMS, ATOMIC ENERGY, FISSION, FUSION, LFTR, DOUGLAS CASTLE, JACK LIFTON, CLEAN COAL, GREENHOUSE EMISSIONS, ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS, RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL, POLLUTION, GEOTHERMAL POWER, THORIUM-BASED ENERGY, THORIUM TECHNOLOGIES, RARE EARTH ELEMENTS, ENERGY RESOURCES, THORIUM SUPPLIES, REID-HATCH BILL, GREEN POWER, GREEN FUELS, KIRK SORENSEN, LIQUID FLORIDE THERMONUCLEAR REACTOR, TH, THORIUM OXIDES, COMMODITIES FUTURES, NON-PRECIOUS METALS, THE GLOBAL FUTURIST, CLIMATIC CHANGE, BLOGS ABOUT THORIUM, GOOGLE ALERTS ABOUT THORIUM, YAHOO ALERTS ABOUT THORIUM, THORIUM NEWS, INTERNATIONAL ENERGY POLICY, G-8, INDIA'S THORIUM, CLIMATIC CHANGE, BLOGOSPHERE...

BEING TANGIBLE

2008-09-29T20:02:00.004-04:00

Dear Readers:

Today, U.S. legislators failed to pass a $700 million "bailout" package for the failing banking and investment industries , and the expected occurred:

1. In excess of $1.3 trillion in market value (stocks, bonds and other publicly-traded securities) was lost following the news. In essence, we had a "Black Friday" on Monday. The NASDAQ, the Dow Jones, NYSE, and virtually every other trading forum or investment indexing service cratered under the pressure.

2. Announcements about precipitous increases in home foreclosures, massive joblessness, and a domino effect of cascading business failures screamed through the media.

3. Both political parties blamed each other (because blaming is much easier than actual problem-solving) for the failure to reach an agreement on a rescue package needed to save the entire U.S. economy. If Wall Street fails, Main Street fails -- there is no clear division between the two, as they are symbionts. Besides, you smart folks understand that any bailout is merely temporary symptomatic relief. The underlying system is riddled with gangrenous infection.

4. Widespread pessimism is enhancing this negative wave -- a typical "self-fulfilling prophesy" at work, deepening and expanding the negative spiral. These fears are causing individuals to either A) become paralyzed and completely decision averse, or B) become fanatical liquidators while no purchasers have the willingness or the discretionary capital to buy. Prices plummet to the extent that sellers cannot sell, so they withdraw, and buyers don't want to buy, so they keep their wealth in the form of cash. Ironically, the cost of every service or product of necessity is rising, as consumer wealth is declining, and family incomes are decreasing .

5. Individuals are trying to convert assets to cash (further devaluing the U.S. Dollar, and drying up all of the capital markets), or to gold or foreign currencies. All of the foreign securities markets are experiencing adverse reactions and substantial value losses -- this crisis is worldwide, with the U.S. at its epicenter. We are indeed a world leader!

6. Banks have all but stopped making loans, putting our leverage-powered, low-savings-oriented economy into a state of severe contraction...almost paralysis.

7. Americans are not planners. They react by first reflex, follow fads, and do not prepare for delays and failures. Americans are, by their nature, optimistic, and they tend to believe that all negative events are aberrations. Like the old boxer, they keep coming back regardless of how shattering that last punch was.

Where is the interesting news? Gold is climbing in value, and heralding a rise in the value of tanigibles fueled by a flight to quality. It is almost primal. When institutional markets or economies get shaky, individuals would like to put their wealth in a form where it is tangible. They want to visit it, see it, weight and assay it, touch it, comformt themselves with it.

Generally speaking, it is difficult for the ordinary Main Street investor to get cozy with an option, a derivative, short selling, or fiat money. Humans want TANGIBLE things...teddy bears in bed when it's lights out. We inherently equate value with tangible when pieces of paper (which comprise our 401 K or Roth IRA, or perhaps our Lehman Bros. pension) become worthless overnight.

I haven't mentioned THORIUM, or THORIUM ENERGY, INC. I don't have to. While reading this, you were already making the leap from gold to thorium. There are, of course, some differences...gold has a quoted aftermarket with an accepted pricing mechanism, while thorium is not trading (YET) on any of the major recognized exchanges, despite the growing body of evidence in private deals that its value is increasing steadily.

The other difference is that you can make beautiful necklaces with gold (it is shiny and malleable), and the only thing you can do with plain-looking thorium is power the continuation of civilization.

Thorium is tangible, and it has absolute utility. It represents a true store of value.

Think thorium.

--THORIUM ENERGY, INC.

THE FLIGHT TO VALUE - DIGGING THORIUM

2008-09-24T14:36:00.015-04:00

Dear Readers:

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NOTE: Neither THORIUM ENERGY, INC., nor the writer offer any investment, financial, tax or legal advice in this article, or on this weblog. No solicitation for the sale or purchase of securities or investment interests is made hereby.

The capital markets are moved by two principal forces; 1) greed, and 2) fear. Economists tend to substitute words like "risk" and "reward"...but then again, economists are usually salaried, highly academic in their orientation, disclaim any prediction about the future and love to discuss why the markets do what they do after the fact. Most economists like to write a great deal more than they like to invest, also. yet these folks get involved in regulating and de-regulating markets within which they have little "street level" experience. A bit frightening, isn't it? Not unlike the prospect of Dr. Phil selling a hairstyling book. And yes, I was educated as an economist, myself (ulp!). But,

Back on point:

These two forces, greed and fear, are consistently the principal underlying factors for every financial decision except for philanthropic giving, which has its own set of special motivations. Put in the form of a question, every investor silently mouths these words: "What can I gain at a certain acceptable level of risk?"

When fear of catastrophic loss overshadows the prospect of any opportunistic gain, markets react, sometimes violently. Ultimately, a market is made up of individuals and institutions who make buying and selling decisions. The capital markets in the United States and throughout the various countries of the world which have securities and currency exchanges are in a state of enormous volatility and flux as of ther date of this writing. Investors are scared. Retirement portfolios have been wiped out. Pensions will go unfunded and unpaid. Jobs are being lost. All of the bedrock institutions that held the economy together, either by rumor or by function, are either collapsing, merging (i.e., packing more fertilizer in one bag), or negotiating bailout agreements with government agencies which, themselves have been frighteningly mismanaged or abused.

Investment monies have begun moving more consistently into several markets, and appear to be staying invested in those markets on a longer-term basis:

1..... *The precious metals, certificates of ownership of precious metals, and financial instruments backed by precious metals or precious metals markets;

2..... *Euros, and Euro-denominated securities;

3..... *Non-precious metals, and mining and mineral rights. This latter category is expanding because A) the liquid market trading value of these elements or minerals is becoming increasingly well-established through various informal exchanges which are trading in them all over the world, and B) each of these elements or minerals actually has industrial utility. This is to say that these materials can be mined and sold, and their value will generally, speaking be the greater of the informal market trading value, or the price which is determined directly by supply and demand.

Quite obviously, this all bodes well for the future of thorium, as well as for the Rare Earth Elements.

Additionally, more countries, including India, Canada, China, UAE, Dubai, Bahrain, and even the United States are no longer speaking of thorium as a "possible fuel" -- they are all investing increasing efforts, energies and money in perfecting reactor design to optimize the use of thorium as the principal fuel in producing clean atomic power. It is only getting better for thorium's position on the periodic table of the elements. We are beyond theory and into the realm of practical application.

While you are here, there is an article and two blogs which you might well find to be of interest. They are not directly on the subject of thorium, and some of them are a bit dated, but they have one thing in common -- fascinating implications. Just click on each, and enjoy your reading experience:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/11/business/11lehman.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2225627/god-machine-green

http://martinmeenagh.blogspot.com/2008/09/large-hadron-collider-future-fuel.html

*Should you have an interest in purchasing either an ownership stake in THORIUM ENERGY, INC., or in a portion of its resources or reserves, please advise us of your interest by email at douglascastle@thoriumenergy.com , or by going to the CONTACT US section of this weblog.

Think thorium.

Faithfully,

--THORIUM ENERGY, INC.

KEYWORD REFERENCE: THORIUM, ENERGY, ATOMIC, NUCLEAR, RARE EARTH ELEMENTS, ALTERNATIVE FUELS, URANIUM, LEMHI PASS, ALTERNATIVE ENERGY, REACTOR, POWER, MINING, MINERALS, THORIUM, SHIELDING, SMALL REACTORS, KIRK SORENSEN, BLOGS ON THORIUM, NEWS ABOUT THORIUM, NUCLEAR TREATIES, INDIA POWER, THORIUM POWER, SSTAR REACTOR, NUCLEAR SUBMARINES, SALT WATER REACTORS, LIQUID FLORINE,LIQUID THORIUM, ATOMIC ELEMENTS, MINERALS, HADRON COLLIDER, COMMODITIES INVESTMENTS,THORIUM ENERGY, THORIUM POWER, ALTERNATIVE ENERGY, ATOMIC POWER, THORIUM-FUELED REACTORS, ATOMIC ENERGY, NON-WEAPONIZABLE FUEL, COAL, HYDROELECTRIC POWER, BURNING COAL, COAL AND CO2 POLLUTION , HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER, WIND-POWER, SOLAR POWER, PETROLEUM ALTERNATIVES, OIL PRICES, COMMODITIES, RARE EARTH ELEMENTS, LEMHI PASS, MINING AND MINERALS, RISING OIL PRICES, OPEC, ENERGY INDEPENDENCE, THORIUM POWER IN INDIA, CANADA, CHINA GERMANY, ENGLAND, SWEDEN, SOUTH KOREA, FLORIDE REACTOR, ETHANOL, SHALE, SAND OIL, NUCLEAR SAFETY, THORIUM BLOGS, BIG OIL, THORIUM ENERGY BLOG, URANIUM, REACTOR SHIELDING, PLUTONIUM WASTE, GREEN ENERGY, GLOBAL WARMING, RESOURCES, RESERVES, MINERAL AND MINING CLAIMS, ATOMIC ENERGY, FISSION, FUSION, LFTR, DOUGLAS CASTLE, JACK LIFTON, CLEAN COAL, GREENHOUSE EMISSIONS, ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS, RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL, POLLUTION, GEOTHERMAL POWER, THORIUM-BASED ENERGY, THORIUM TECHNOLOGIES, RARE EARTH ELEMENTS, ENERGY RESOURCES, THORIUM SUPPLIES, REID-HATCH BILL, GREEN POWER, GREEN FUELS, KIRK SORENSEN, LIQUID FLORIDE THERMONUCLEAR REACTOR, TH, THORIUM OXIDES, COMMODITIES FUTURES, NON-PRECIOUS METALS, THE GLOBAL FUTURIST, CLIMATIC CHANGE, BLOGS ABOUT THORIUM, GOOGLE ALERTS ABOUT THORIUM, YAHOO ALERTS ABOUT THORIUM, THORIUM NEWS, INTERNATIONAL ENERGY POLICY, G-8, INDIA'S THORIUM, CLIMATIC CHANGE, BLOGOSPHERE...

A FLIGHT TO THE GROUND

2008-09-10T10:28:00.007-04:00

Dear Readers:

Have you been reading the news? If not, I would like to take a moment to provide you with a narrowly focused summary:

The US Government has seized control of FANNIE MAE and FREDDIE MAC, the nation's two biggest providers and guarantors of home mortages, in order to keep these failing giants "afloat," lest they precipitate the collapse of the home mortage market, and of the aftermarket for mortgage portfolios and securitized loan packages (which markets have been reduced to a bargain basement of deeply discounted, downgraded paper). Of course, the initial reaction of the capital markets to Government coming in to rescue the housing market, was to rally a bit -- but we all understand what generally happens to quality and accountability when the Government "saves" something; it usually exacerbates and delays the inevitable, and at even greater expense to the economy-at-large;

Lehman Brothers, the nation's fourth largest investment banking firm, has forecast tremendous losses after investment portfolio writedowns, and is discussing a plan to sell off divisions of its operations in order to raise money to meet its obligations -- to remain solvent.This does not bode well for Lehman Brothers, nor does it bode well for either the US debt or equities markets;

The ultimate effect of these telling events is a decrease in the liquidity in the capital markets, a decrease in the value of economic aggregates (the capital value of all stocks and all debt instruments), a decrease in the ranking of the US Dollar versus other hard currencies, and a diminution in the capital formation process in general.

The good news is that a flight of wealth into metals, both precious and non-precious, has already begun, and is further bolstered by the failures in the capital markets and the instabilities in the fossil fuels markets.

While some regard thorium (in its slightly grey oxidized state) to be a tradeable non-precious metal, we, at THORIUM ENERGY, INC. consider it to be most highly precious. We can say this in light of; the ailing capital markets, the worldwide energy crisis caused by dependence upon fossil fuels, and on the high probability that atomic energy fueled through Thorium will continue to be the preferred direction in which all of the smart money seems to be headed.

--THORIUM ENERGY, INC.