Category Archives: Current Events

Water Breaks in Tejas

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Local laws mandating that 10 minute water breaks be given to construction workers every 4 hours have been eliminated by Tejas Governor Greg Abbott and the legislature under HB2127 titled “Texas Regulatory Consistency Act.” The bill was put forward by Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock. The bill is seen as an effort to push back on progressive local laws by cities like liberal-leaning Austin and Dallas where ordinances have been put into place to protect construction workers against the oppressive heat of Texas. Abbott said the bill will “provide a new hope to Texas businesses struggling under burdensome local regulations.”

Hyperbole,  /haɪˈpɝː.bəl.i/, noun; a way of speaking or writing that makes someone or something sound bigger, better, more, etc. than they are

In Section 2 of the bill, it says the legislature finds that:  “(1) the state has historically been the exclusive regulator of many aspects of commerce and trade in this state; (2)  in recent years, several local jurisdictions have sought to establish their own regulations of commerce that are different than the state’s regulations; and (3)  the local regulations have led to a patchwork of regulations that apply inconsistently across this state.“

The State claims to be the exclusive regulator of commerce and trade in the state pursuant to Section 5, Article XI, Texas Constitution. HB2127 was written to more closely define what kinds of codes local governments are free to do.

Given the state’s interest in commerce and trade, Section 6 removes any ambiguity in that regard. Labor regulations come under the heading of commerce and trade, so the state is the only lawgiver here.

HB 2127, SECTION 6.

Subchapter A, Chapter 1, Business & Commerce Code, is amended by adding Section 1.109 to read as follows:

Sec. 1.109. PREEMPTION. Unless expressly authorized by another statute, a municipality or county may not adopt, enforce, or maintain an ordinance, order, or rule regulating conduct in a field of regulation that is occupied by a provision of this code. An ordinance, order, or rule that violates this section is void, unenforceable, and inconsistent with this code.

Backers of the bill say that under OSHA, employers already have a duty to provide a safe workplace work place. A spokesman for the Associated Builders and Contractors of Texas said that “local rules impose a rigid scheme that, unlike OSHA guidelines, does not allow the flexibility needed to tailor breaks to individual job site conditions.”

However, according to David Michaels who led OSHA from 2009 to 2017, “Under OSHA law, it is employers who are responsible to make sure workers are safe,” said Michaels, now a professor at the George Washington University School of Public Health. “And we have compelling evidence that they are doing a very poor job because many workers are injured on the job, especially in Texas.”

Michaels also said that OSHA can issue a citation for a heat-related injury or death, but only after it has taken place. He also points out that OSHA has no national standard for heat related injury.

However, OSHA does have the General Duty Clause for situations where there are no specific standards applicable.

29 U.S.C. § 654, 5(a)1: Each employer shall furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees.”

29 U.S.C. § 654, 5(a)2: Each employer shall comply with occupational safety and health standards promulgated under this act.

29 U.S.C. § 654, 5(b): Each employee shall comply with occupational safety and health standards and all rules, regulations, and orders issued pursuant to this Act which are applicable to his own actions and conduct.

The legislation to remove local laws regarding construction labor hazards was apparently motivated by the desire of the GOP to slap down islands of liberalism in Texas.

This graphic was produced by the Texas Tribune using data from Texas Department of State Health Services. Source: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/06/16/texas-heat-wave-water-break-construction-workers/

The chart above shows that known heat-related deaths in Tejas are up sharply in the last 2 years. Migrants and the homeless are hit particularly hard by hyperthermia.

I can understand the desire to smooth out the spotty nature of regulatory sovereignty across any state. It is really a matter of state vs local control and there shouldn’t be any confusing overlap of authority. Texas has chosen primacy over commerce and trade, of which labor is a part of. Somewhere in the process of this, someone noticed that regulations on water breaks mandated by municipal statute will be invalidated.

News stories came out with the shocking news that people working outdoors will not be guaranteed water breaks. The absence of statutory regulation on water breaks does not mean that workers will be denied water. Any employer who wants to retain employees will not deny water to employees. What has been invalidated are mandatory 10-minute water breaks every 4 hours. A workday is usually broken down into a break midmorning and midafternoon with lunch at around noon. These are 3 opportunities to grab a drink of water. A mandatory break after 4 hours past arrival places the break around lunch and quitting time anyway for an 8-hour day, so it is hard to imagine what advantage it gives for an 8-hour day. For longer days it would be beneficial. Employers who would deny water to employees should be punished.

Construction site managers object to rules that would interfere with things like concrete deliveries and crane work. Both are time sensitive activities. Even in the rough and tumble construction field, most companies will do the right thing and allow access to water at all times.

Texas HB2127 itself is silent on the matter of water breaks for workers. It simply reasserts authority already provided in the state constitution, namely as the, ” … exclusive regulator of many aspects of commerce and trade … ” and supersedes local statutes that overlap with what the state sees as its sovereignty. It seems a little sly, but not fundamentally corrupt.

So, the question becomes, will the State of Texas legislate mandatory water breaks for workers in hot environs? Given the rabid pro-business leanings of the state, it seems doubtful.

Am I taking the side of the Republicans on this? Goddammit, I hate to say it, but I suppose I am.

“… radical-left Democrats, Marxist, communists and fascists …”

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I’m running out of words to describe the deplorable ex-president #45. Just when you think he can’t add to his steaming heap of manure called a legacy, he shovels on more. It seems like there is no limit to the falsehoods he is willing to declare in public and no limit to what his supporters are willing to accept.

In regard to his indictments, he was recorded as saying something to the effect of “They’re not after me, they’re after you … I’m just standing in their way!” He is turning his indictments into the image of him sacrificing himself on the cross for the millions of Americans. A blood sacrifice for his beloved followers. If you supposed that this vaudevillian stunt was transparently phony to everyone, you’d be wrong.

#45 has been referring to “… radical-left Democrats, Marxist, communists and fascists …” in his gimmie-all-yer-lovin’ rallies. How absurd. Leftists aren’t fascists- they are antifascists. And by the way, what is wrong with being against fascism? #45 is using his usual mirror tactic of taking accusations against him and aiming it back at his critics. He knows very well that he isn’t being held accountable for truthfulness by the people he counts on. He tells big lies and repeats them over and over. It works for him. The very boldness of his lies somehow validates them in the minds of his followers.

Marxism and socialism have been in the scrapyard of history for a decades. The Soviet experiment with using socialism to get to communism was an abject failure. Stalin’s USSR was a brutal, murderous dictatorship tarted up to appear as a people’s paradise for those outside the iron curtain.

China today is a single party communist dictatorship that practices centralized control and nationalistic state capitalism. Previously, however, under the command of Chairman Mao Zedong, it is estimated that 40 to 80 million people died as a result of starvation, persecution, prison labor and execution in order to achieve his personal dream of a communist paradise.

It is difficult to find a communist state where people have the liberties that we in the US take for granted. It seems that to compel people to hand over their belongings to the state, a good bit of muscle is needed. Stalin found this out when he tried to collectivize Ukraine in the early 1930s. He ended up causing mass starvation and sending people to the gulags. The notion that the US is under threat from communist influence is without credibility. The odd communist may pop up now and then but they are little more than a curiosity not worthy of concern.

It is hard to know what Republicans regard as radical about Democrat ideals. Could it be that anyone who disagrees with today’s GOP is a “leftist radical”? If there are actual living, breathing Marxists among liberals in the US, they are likely to be lonely. There is Richard D Wolff at UMass, Amherst. Wolff is against capitalism and makes some fair points, but the momentum of history won’t be going his way any time soon. People still remember the Soviet experiment with Marxism-Leninism which was a disaster.

So·cial·ism: noun; a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.

Source: Google

Will citizens of the US ever acquiesce to turning over private property to a socialist government? Clearly, there is not a chance. The accusation that US liberals harbor socialistic desires is a Republican fever dream. The same with communism. The current population of US citizens would never embrace communism. Too many past instances of communist or socialist dictatorships in the world, and besides, Americans love their private property and would defend it with the umpteen hundred million guns under their pillows.

It is a Republican fantasy that only they are the true patriots in the US. This gives them license to posture as the only “real” Americans worthy of the title. This froze out as axiomatic for them many years ago, especially since the years of Mr. “trickle-down economics” Reagan.

Having social services is not the same as having socialism. A capitalist economy that provides a social safety net through taxation is not socialism. The capitalists still own their means of production, distribution and exchange.

Ordinary citizens in the US pay taxes to support the Army, Air Force, Space Force, Marines, Navy and Coast Guard. We also pay taxes and fees for upkeep on state and national infrastructure like roads, bridges, air traffic control and many other things. All of this goes to support our capitalist means of production, distribution and exchange.

Citizens pay exorbitant tuition to educate themselves to a level where they can contribute to operating our capitalistic enterprises. Payment for the common good isn’t borne exclusively by business. Both citizens and our capitalist enterprises benefit from this arrangement.

The business side should recall that citizens contribute to their corporate existence by funding their government contracts and by purchasing products that they off-shored to China to the detriment of US workers and security.

Chinese Espionage From Cuba

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This caught me by surprise. I have long suspected that Putin would establish a base in Cuba. Instead, the Chinese are working on it. According to the Financial Times, the Biden administration has disclosed that China has been conducting electronic espionage from Cuba since 2019. (This was reported by the Wall Street Journal 6/8/23, but the article is behind a paywall).

China’s spy balloon overflight of the US recently, if actually planned, was quite bold. They retort that US spy planes frequently fly along their borders. Setting up a spy base in Cuba has invaded what we have normally thought of as our back yard. What if China decides to conduct military training in the Gulf of Mexico? US territorial waters extend 12 nautical miles from shore. How should we react? The US supports Taiwan and has conducted military exercises in the waters between China and Taiwan. What would we have to stand on when we object?

Territorial waters. Credit: https://iilss.net/what-is-the-meaning-of-coast-in-law-of-the-sea-losc-and-customary-international-law/
Territorial and economic zone boundaries in the Gulf of Mexico. Credit: NOAA, https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/maps/gulf-data-atlas/atlas.htm?plate=Marine%20Jurisdictions

China has been cooperating with Cuba in terms of increasing trade including telecom and biotech. They are reportedly spending big money in the Port of Mariel.

China continues to aggressively spread its influence across the world while it continues to plead for “mutual trust and regional peace, stability and development.”

Plainly, China is aiming for economic and military hegemony around the world. Putin’s Ukrainian invasion blunder will take many years for Russia to recover from. What a post-Putin Russia looks like isn’t clear. Given the widespread intimidation and apathy of the population, the hope for a non-authoritarian Russia seems remote.

Meanwhile, as America dithers in its toxic pool of domestic politics and fratricide, China is moving to make the 21st century as China’s century. China must believe that we Americans are a bunch of f*ckin’ idiots. Maybe they’re right. Political conflict in the US has become too intoxicating and financially lucrative for rational governance.

Global oil demand growth to flatten in 2028

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The International Energy Agency (IEA) is predicting that growth in annual demand for crude oil will shrink from 2.8 million barrels per day to 0.4 million barrels per day by 2028. This is interpreted to be the result of the global shift to cleaner energy alternatives as well as high prices and security of supply issues. By 2028 IEA says that peak oil demand may be in sight.

IEA also predicts that the use of oil for transport fuels will go into decline by 2026. Many more insights into the global oil market are to be found in the link.

Note that this report is about oil, not natural gas.

Expelling Women from Pastoral Duty

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Latest news from the Baptists. At the 2023 Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) in New Orleans a move is underway to expel almost 2000 women from pastoral functions in its churches. A general vote will take place this week.

Apparently, the right wing of the SBC wants to crack down on what it sees as a liberal shift in its membership. Ultraconservatives believe that women pastors are just the beginning of future acceptance of homosexuality and sexual immorality. The ultraconservative fraction of American evangelism has been melding with Republican politics for decades since President Reagan and Jerry Falwell.

Pastor Mike Law from Arlington Baptist Church in Arlington, Virginia, wrote a letter suggesting an amendment to the SBC constitution stating that a church could only be regarded as Southern Baptist if it “does not affirm, appoint or employ a woman as a pastor of any kind.” The 111 page letter co-signed by 2000 male pastors and professors. Law cites 1 Tim. 3:1–7; Titus 1:5–9 in the Bible as backing up his assertion of the role of women in the church.

The language of these verses do not explicitly declare women as ineligible as an “overseer”, but they state that the overseer must be a “husband of only one wife“. The rest of the language goes on to list a number of personal qualities that an overseer must have.

I’m obviously not a Biblical scholar nor a believer in magic. Furthermore, this is a private matter among Baptists. Actually, it amuses me to watch them agonizing over how to polish the big brass knob on the doorway to their hoped for afterlife.

What I do care about is that this is a major setback for women in the 13 million member SBC organization. It imposes an inherent subordination on females based on the assertions of males who have appointed themselves in charge based on their literalist interpretations.

The text that they cite was written in a time when women were mere chattel who were deemed lesser than men. People get so wrapped up trying to do biblical things in biblical ways that they forget the core humane purpose of the church.

Worse than the unreasonable restraints on SBC women is how it will validate the woefully misguided instincts of the ultraorthodox Baptists as they spread into the greater population through politics. They want a theocratic state where people like themselves will rule under “biblical law”. They’re going to be disappointed.

Ivory Coast Cocoa and Cashews

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A report from Reuters reveals that due to heavy rains in the Ivory Coast, cocoa production is under threat of flooding, insect damage and disease from heavy rain this rainy season. Ivory Coast is the world’s largest producer of cocoa.

Credit: Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocoa_production_in_Ivory_Coast

The Ivory Coast cashew industry is on the verge of collapse following the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in farm overproduction and slumping demand. Industrial buyers of cashews have stalled in their purchasing of cashews from farmers due to low demand globally. Farmers are stuck with unsold produce from the last 2 seasons due to the lack of industrial demand.

Credit: Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cashew

Ivory Coast is the leading producer of cashew nuts in the world with 792,678 metric tons of output in 2019. This is closely followed by India with 743,000 metric tons of output the same year. These two countries have a solid lead over the next largest producers in Burundi, Viet Nam and Philippines with 2019 productions of 283,328, 283,328, and 242,329 metric tons respectively.

A plea to filmmakers

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The quote below gives the most interesting explanation I’ve seen of gun culture in the US.

“Guns are at the center of a worldview in which the ability to launch an armed rebellion must always be held in reserve. And so in the wake of mass shootings, when the public is most likely to clamor for gun regulations, Republicans regularly shore up gun access instead.”

No matter your position on firearms, there is no point in scolding the opposite side since few if any people are ever convinced to join your side. It is a waste of time and energy. The grownups of America need to find a way to de-normalize violence in general. Guns happen allow a person to commit violence from a safe distance, plainly a reason for their popularity. Obviously, self-defense is a delicate spot, but if committing violence is not nearly viewed as normal by the broader population, the need to for lethal self-defense just might diminish a bit.

American gun culture as I see it is comprised of a spectrum of individuals ranging from violent criminals to paranoid militiamen to peaceful hunters and sport shooting enthusiasts. Criticism of gun culture should not bunch them together under one umbrella. Carefully chosen vocabulary should be used so as not to antagonize the more peaceful side of the spectrum.

When the European frontier was settled by stone age people 40 or 50 thousand years ago, there were no firearms. There were weapons that could only be energized by their personal strength. Fighting was more intimate in the sense that clubbing and jabbing had to be done up close to your adversary. Stoning could be done from a few steps back. Killing wounds led to exsanguination and a rapid death while others led to sepsis and a longer, agonizing death.

The invention and spread of gunpowder starting in 9th century China led to the development of guns, cannons and, eventually, exploding projectiles. It was lost on no one that firearms enabled the projection of lethal force from a safer distance. The first really big war, World War I, in Europe was when advances like the Maxim recoil-operated machine gun and high explosives like picric acid were first put to large scale use. When the Maxim machine gun came out, many predicted that the mere appearance of the weapon would frighten the enemy into submission. Of course, it didn’t work and over the years the result was more and more efficient and mutual slaughter of opposing forces.

Male humans in particular have always been drawn to weapons and the martial arts. There are exceptions obviously, but men seem to take a shine to guns early in their lives. When asked why they like guns, they usually mention something about protection from intruders or perhaps just being a good guy with a gun in general. Often heard is the argument-terminating reminder of the 2nd Amendment and the vow that their guns could be confiscated only from their cold, dead hands.

Some Americans do live their lives in dangerous places. With some training, having a handgun in the nightstand may indeed be necessary for protection. Speaking for myself, I have never lived anywhere that was so burdened with crime that I felt it was necessary to pack a handgun. So, I can’t criticize those who are threatened by crime.

What I can criticize, though, is the broader culture that idolizes the Hollywood image of a good guy (or gal) who resolves conflict with a firearm. We have the screenwriters to thank for this. They dream up the story arc in the screenplay to include some fancy gun play. Death is always immediate and without the off-putting cries of pain and writhing that comes with a serious wound.

Gunplay in European TV programming is much less common. I’ve watched TV police drama series from the UK, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Sweden, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy and Germany. The only significant shooting I’ve seen is in a show from Germany called Luna & Sophie. Surprise, surprise. It turns out that a compelling police drama screenplay can be written without a lot of shooting and gratuitous violence. Or even with none at all. Perhaps it is because guns are not very abundant in the general population in Europe.

An effect of repeated and detailed depictions of gun violence on TV is that it suggests that shooting people is, well, normal. It normalizes the notion that the shooter can be the judge, jury and executioner. Killing someone with a gun also bypasses all of that due process stuff that wastes so much time. We all know that this is a dramatic depiction and that shooting people in real life will have very serious consequences. In my idea of civilization, people would be safe without a firearm. But, this is a fantasy I never expect to see unless I move to Iceland.

Maybe you could say that gunplay on US television mostly depicts good guys with guns defeating bad guys with guns. I’ll agree, that is a positive spin. The problem lies with population distribution within a large group. It often happens that a classroom or a large population will distribute itself unevenly when certain measurable attributes like personality or other performance metrics are considered. It is referred to as the bell curve. In the ideal mathematical sense, there is the standard distribution. Below is an example of a bell-shaped curve of % of members of a population versus age.

What is interesting to note is that as the population increases in size and barring any other influences, you would expect the population of each of the individual age groups to grow in number, though not necessarily in percentage. The point is that as the population grows, so does the subgroup of younger criminals.

Credit: National Institutes of Justice. https://nij.ojp.gov/media/image/2776

So, as the general population increases we can expect the population of criminals to grow as well.

Reality

Clearly, America is in a pickle. Mass shootings have been increasing in number, unlike with most other comparable nations. But with every mass shooting the cries for gun control go unanswered no matter the number of bloody dead children strewn about the floors of American schools. What can be done?

  • Removing guns from citizens or blocking their ownership will not happen. This is completely unworkable and serious people know it. It will only lead to civil war.
  • More laws and tougher sentences for gun-related crimes. This has been done and hasn’t solved the problem.
  • Training teachers to shoot attackers. If you know many teachers, you know this is unworkable.
  • The congress will accomplish absolutely nothing but handwringing.
  • A president can do nothing without the support of the congress. Nothing will happen here.
  • The gun lobby and the National Rifle Association will continue to spew their cold dead hands rhetoric, shouting down voices in favor of even the faintest of gun control remedies, regardless of the bloody mayhem happening.
  • Citizens dedicated to maintaining the status quo with 2nd Amendment hysterics will continue to shout, wave their flags and demand freedom.
  • Republicans will continue to whip up hysteria by lying that gun rights are on the cusp of disappearing.
  • Militiamen will continue to gather in the woods hoping for civil war.

The US has planted itself into a sort of cul-de-sac of violence and extremism in regard to the possession of needlessly powerful weapons and there seems to be no way out. There is no viable political action on the horizon. Instead, let’s forget the damned guns and look elsewhere.

A simple suggestion

In the US we are bathed in violence as entertainment. There were 45,222 firearm-related deaths in the United States in 2020 according to the Centers for Disease Control. That is an average of 124 Americans dying per day from firearm-related injury. These aren’t misfires from gun cleaning.

While multiple factors lead to violent actions, a growing body of literature shows a strong association between the perpetration of violence and exposure to violence in media, digital media, and entertainment.

Credit: American Academy of Family Physicians, https://www.aafp.org/about/policies/all/violence-media-entertainment.html

I’m not sure that viewers are actually asking for all of the entertainment violence that we see- it’s just that if it’s there we’ll eagerly watch it. It resembles click-bait. It is easy to write screenplays with of violence in it. Violence is genuinely exciting to most viewers. Violent content in programming helps to sell projects to those who finance and buy it. It definitely draws eyeballs which sells tickets, subscriptions and advertising. This is a reliable money machine.

What applies to movies also applies to video gaming. Many games are chock-full of violent content where the gamer does the simulated killing personally. I’ve played it myself. It triggers something that compels you to keep killing. But, does that condition you to committing actual violence? Maybe it is an effective release.

Producers and writers of violent content know full well what it takes to kick up the excitement factor. It is formulaic. While they operate under some sort of content guidelines, they are motivated to push it to the edge. The question is, do shoot ’em ups have to be every 4th scene? Are writers unloading their responsibility for compelling content to the stunt coordinators of gun fights and other violence?

What is needed is for screenwriters, producers and directors to back off on the violence a bit. All of the violence on TV comes from the imagination of the writers and producers. Surely it is within their power to throttle back a bit on the shooting, blood and guts. Desecration of human beings as entertainment should have tighter limits.

The goal is a safer and less violent civilization. The people who portray violence in vivid detail and orgasmic revenge produce a commercial product idealizes violence. They should be expected to self-govern better.

A Plea to Filmmakers

Your advertisers know that a certain fraction of viewers are persuaded to buy their products because of advertising within your TV programming. If they are persuaded to buy widgets they probably don’t need, don’t you think that your portrayals of violence might also be effective in negatively influencing impressionable young people? Will half the violence really reduce your profits by half? Does reducing violent content really infringe on your creative freedom? How limited are your creative abilities that you must accurately portray the destruction of human life?

Pat Robertson is Dead

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Warning: A large dose of sarcasm is being dispensed.

American media mogul, founder of Regent University and Southern Baptist Preacher-man Pat Robertson has fallen over dead. He was constantly yammering on television and leveraging his Christian nationalist views on conservative US politics to the point where disasters like 9/11 were blamed on spiritual revenge. Yes, big guy upstairs, you know, the one who set the galaxies spinning and knows our every impure thought, is upset with many of us because of our woke political views. The GOP loves the hellfire and brimstone stuff. It naturally attracts a certain caste of voters (MAGA people) who eagerly line up to see God-fearin’ preachers and Republican officials openin’ up a can of whoop-ass on the libs. These are the voters who Republican candidates lust after. Robertson’s apocalyptic theology depended on this.

Are such people retrievable from their trip down the rabbit hole of petty magical mystical thinking? It doesn’t appear so.

Dysprosium Supply

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One shining example of a scarce resource in need of conservation is the Rare Earth Elements (REE) series generally, and Neodymium, Nd, and Dysprosium, Dy, in particular. Nd is described as hard and not very malleable or ductile and Dy is very malleable. Both have a silvery metallic luster and similar chemistries forming +3 cation as the most stable cation. The REEs are often divided in a funny way. There are the Lanthanides which can be further subdivided into two subgroups – the light REEs from Lanthanum to Europium and the heavy REEs from Gadolinium to Lutetium. Of the lanthanides, heavy REE deposits are more scarce, but of the heavy group Dy is the most abundant.

Promethium is highly radioactive Lanthanide with a half-life of 17.7 years for the longest lived isotope, 145Pm. Interestingly, the mode of decay for this isotope is electron capture, sometimes called K-capture. Promethium has only a transitory existence due to its short half-life. The entire group of REEs share the ability to form +3 cations. This increases the difficulty of isolating pure elements from an ore since most ores contain multiple REEs. Worse, the +3 Lanthanides also have similar ionic radii allowing for them to substitute with each other in minerals. Similar ionic radii makes it a bit harder to isolate them.

The other subgroup comprises Scandium and Yttrium- sometimes called the Scandium group. In the periodic table all of the REEs are transition metals in Group 3.

For clarity, the periodic table below shows a yellow vertical column of two elements, Scandium and Yttrium. They are members of the REE group. The yellow row of elements below are the Lanthanide elements. All together they make up the REEs. The Lanthanide elements differ from the other two REEs in that they have f-orbitals with valence electrons.

Chemistry is about what valence electrons do. These are the electrons that interact with the world around the atom or molecule. All electrons in an atom or molecule spend their time in special regions of space called orbitals. Electrons in the outer valence level can be taken away or shared. If there is an empty space in the valence level, electrons can be dropped in. Valence electrons form chemical bonds. These electrons are chemically reactive because they are furthest from the nucleus and feel the least nuclear attraction. But their reactivity mostly disappears if the valence orbitals are full. Inert gases are inert because their valence orbitals are full. It is possible for empty low-lying orbitals to accept electron pairs from other neutral species like H2O, phosphorus compounds, carbon monoxide and the like. Metals can have both negatively charged and neutral species docked in place around a metal cation.

Removing a valence electron from an atom is called oxidation and dropping an electron into the valence level is called reduction.

Rare Earth Elements: Credit- http://www.ncpathinktank.org/rare-earths
This is NOT what an atom looks like. Electrons do not arrange themselves like this. Credit: https://www.chemguide.co.uk/atoms/properties/orbitsorbitals.html

Electrons spend their time in specially shaped regions of space around atoms and molecules called orbitals. We do not need to know where an electron is exactly at any given moment. The orbital shapes define where electrons spend 95 % of their time. Orbitals do not have sharp edges. They taper off into space. The image below is a more realistic representation of where electrons can be found. Orbitals represent regions where there is the largest probability of finding electrons of a certain energy. If you consider a spherical space surrounding an atom, you could say that the probability of finding an electron within is p=1. But due to the peculiar shape of the spaces where electrons spend their time, an electron is more likely to be in the space defined by spherical harmonics. Therefore, any given space within the sphere could be assigned a probability per cubic picometer of containing an electron, depending on its location. Probability per unit of volume can be referred to as probability density. It is the probability density represented by orbitals that is wavelike in quantum mechanics.

It turns out that we can describe the space electrons occupy if we apply the mathematics of a spherical harmonic series. The image below shows 4 levels of the series. The shapes define the space that electrons occupy around an atom. Each row represents a group of individual orbitals. Top to bottom, they are labeled s, p, d and f. The orbitals are filled with electrons theoretically in order from top to bottom rows as you move up the periodic table by atomic number, with each orbital holding as many as 2 electrons. Remember, orbitals are not physical objects. Each of them define a region of space in which one or two electrons spend their time. Also, there is some nuance in the energy levels of the orbitals. No matter though for this post.

Visual representation of a spherical harmonic series starting at the top and progressing down. Credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spherical_harmonics

Below is a chart showing atomic orbitals oriented in an xyz coordinate system. Interactions of orbitals between atoms or molecules very much depend on how they are oriented as they contact.

Atomic Orbitals. Credit: https://chem.libretexts.org/Courses/Oregon_Institute_of_Technology/OIT%3A_CHE_202_-_General_Chemistry_II/Unit_2%3A_Electrons_in_Atoms/2.2%3A_Atomic_Orbitals_and_Quantum_Numbers

The common elements we are most familiar with have s, p and d valence orbitals around the nucleus. As we increase the atomic number of the elements we drop down the rows of orbitals on the periodic table, the valence electrons get further away from the nucleus where they are better shielded by the innermost electrons. The consequence is that the energy needed by the first valence electron to escape becomes smaller.

Neodymium magnetism comes from the 4 unpaired f-electrons with their individual spins aligned in the same direction giving the atom a large magnetic dipole moment. The unit crystal of Nd2Fe14B magnetizes along a preferred crystal axis that is difficult to change. So, the large magnetic dipole moment from the 4 unpaired electrons in each Nd atom in the unit crystal are locked in space.

We live in a time of permanent magnets with extraordinarily high magnetic field strengths. They’re called rare earth magnets and two REEs stand out in particular in this application- Neodymium (Nd) and Dysprosium (Dy). Nd is the primary REE in this type of magnet, but It turns out that up to 6 % of Nd can be replaced with Dy to increase coercivity and increase resistance to demagnetization. This is important for heavy duty magnet applications like windmills and electric cars. It is estimated that replacement of Nd with Dy in REE magnets amounts to ~100 grams of Dy per car. Based on Toyota’s planned output 3.5 million battery operated electric vehicles per year by 2030, the current reserves Dy would soon be exhausted.

Rare earth magnets are generally comprised of 3 elements; Neodymium, Nd; Iron, Fe; and Boron, B, proportioned according to the formula Nd2Fe14B. Dy is an optional component of these magnets.

So, obviously Dy is a highly desirable metal for efficient use of permanent RE magnets. Even among the REEs, Dy is a minor element. There are no known minerals having Dy as the major REE. The crustal abundance of Dy is 0.3 ppm and the recycle rate is <10%. The major reserve holders are China, Russia, and the USA. Incidentally, for some years now China has been disinclined to supply REE ore in favor of value added REE finished goods. This is in contrast to their buying copper ore from Chile or Peru in order to capture lower copper costs by doing their own refining. They know what they are doing.

Plainly, much is yet to be done in regard to putting a recycle loop in place for REEs in products. This is especially true for dysprosium. So, do we wait for the free market to respond when the situation is dire and the bulk of the REEs are already consigned to landfills around the world?

Note: For the sake of keeping the post light and airy, I’ve made some generalizations above. Of course there are exceptions and nuances. There always are.

“Make America Florida” WTF??

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All around universal genius and gazillionaire Elon Musk will be engaging Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in a conversation that will include DeSantis’ announcement of his bid for the US presidency. The DeSantis krewe is obviously trying to distance themselves from #45, but not so much that they can’t poach his voters. They’re embracing capitalist folk hero and boy wonder Elon Musk’s endorsement in hopes of snagging MAGA voters who have grown weary of #45.

The DeSantis campaign has dreamed up the slogan “Make America Florida.” I’m incredulous at hearing this. Outside of Florida, “Florida Man” is a common reference to someone who is maniacal, irrational, delusional or insane. This is because, extrapolating from the news, Florida has an overabundance of them. More likely, there is more reporting of police notes than other places. Is it slander? Of course! It’s American humor unlikely to amuse outside of the US.

Credit: I don’t know, somewhere in the interwebs.

What remains to be seen is whether or not “Make America Florida” will catch on outside of the state. Especially in northern states outside of the old Confederacy. Some think that there is still a north/south divide in the US by some measures. I’ll leave that for others to expound on.

Applying DeSantis’ penchant for belligerent and punitive state politics, his presidency would surely be a setback for US democracy and a step forward for autocracy along the path the GOP is heading for. The GOP model of the US is not a place I’d care to live.