Up, Up and Away! July 3, 2007March 8, 2017 HAPN – DON’T SELL YOUR WARRANTS These are the warrants to buy HAPN at $5 – if an acquisition it is finalizing ultimately does get completed. With the stock (HAPN) at $5.75 or so and the warrants (HAPNW) at 30 cents or so, this might seem to be like shooting fish in a barrel. As discussed last month, nothing is that simple. But for money you can truly afford to lose, I continue to think it’s an intriguing speculation. The deadline for completion of the acquisition has been extended to August 31 (and could be extended again by mutual agreement). The hard deadline for completing it is next April. So – as if for exit visas in Casablanca – we wait. And wait. And wait. SiCKO! Carl: ‘I saw it yesterday. It was like a punch in the gut. I’ve known most of the basic facts about the dysfunctional US healthcare system for quite a while, but to see these backed up by real life examples on film was devastating. I’m ashamed to be an American after viewing this film, because ultimately, it was more about values than medical care. If we can’t fix this, I have very little hope that we have the character to accomplish much else.’ Anna Haynes: ‘Saw it Friday night. Want Canada to invade us. They will be greeted as liberators.’ Denise Szczucki: ‘I am a doctor in NYC. I saw SiCKO this weekend. While the AMA may choose to burn my membership card for saying this, I now see how ‘socialized medicine’ (really public health care) could benefit the large majority of people, including most physicians. Which finger would I chose to reattach [given that under today’s system I might have to choose one or the other]? I would sacrifice my middle finger; ideally, flinging it at the people who made me choose. Thank you for highlighting this film.’ Jim Hannah: ‘This article in slate.com has the most thoughtful analysis of the film.’ SO, WITH ALTERNATIVE ENERGY WE MIGHT NOT BURN UP AFTER ALL Dan H.: ‘Stewart Dean expresses his concern that the discovery of abundant renewable energy could result in overheating the planet. I would like to reassure him by way of referral to the laws of thermodynamics. For a source of renewable energy to exist that would increase the retained heat of the planet, the first law of thermodynamics would have to be violated. Solar radiation converted to electricity can provide no more net heat than it would if it simply radiated to the ground. Nor can wind turning a turbine generate electricity which will eventually be converted to heat than would occur simply by the friction of the wind blowing across the earth’s surface. Fortunately to the best of scientific knowledge the laws of thermodynamics are inviolable, so we can rest assured that even if the whole earth was powered by hydroelectric dams, there would be no net gain in energy and consequently no net gain in heat. When water falls from the top of a water fall, some part of the kinetic energy released during the fall is converted to heat when the water hits the bottom. The net heat gain from the electrical conversion cannot be greater than if the water simply fell to the bottom without interruption. And at the top of it all, sits the sun, radiating the energy in all of these renewable systems. We could, of course, have localized planetary heating if we take our ‘stored solar energy’ out of the ground such as with oil, gas, coal, or nuclear energy and convert if to electricity and eventual heat. But the immediate heat from the sun can be harnessed to do useful work for us with subsequent conversion to heat, or it can simply fall on the earth and heat it directly.’ TOMORROW We had a DNC fundraiser a couple of weeks ago and I got choked up as the chimes were sounded to begin moving us from cocktails to dinner. (These were sound-system chimes, not tuxedos walking around; we are always looking to save money.) The chimes themselves had no emotional significance, but they were followed – loud, stirring, and conversation-stopping – by The Fifth Dimension’s rendition of The Declaration Of Independence. You are probably too young even to know The Fifth Dimension, and it may be hard to imagine singing ‘We hold these truths . . . to be self-evident . . .’ (not to mention all the grievances), but these words are such a touchstone of our lives – ‘that ALL men . . . are created EQUAL . . .’ . . . well, it is cut 4 on disk 2 of Up-Up and Away: The Definitive Collection, and it touches a nerve. And brings me back to the Sixties and to college and – well, I hadn’t had a lot of sleep, OK? Seating charts and all that. So I got a little choked up, OK? Why are you making such a big deal out of it? This country – as it has been and, we hope, will be again – is something to GET a little choked up over. Happy July 4th.