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‘THE BLOB’ WAS REAL

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‘THE BLOB’ WAS REAL

My New York hometown was named after a Belgium chemist, Ernest Solvay. His process for producing soda ash was used by some enterprising Americans to found — with Ernest Solvay's approval — the Solvay Process Company, the cornerstone of the village where I grew up in the 1940s.

Having the Solvay Process Company a short distance from our street was both good news and bad. The factory employed thousands of people, including my father, my grandmother and an uncle who lived next door. The company also provided many services for village residents and in the early years was Solvay's social, medical and educational center.

However, the factory also belched smoke and filled the air with a gritty soot that undoubtedly was hazardous to our health. Waste from the Solvay Process Company, along with sewage from the nearby city of Syracuse, destroyed once-lovely Onondaga Lake. Polluting the lake forever tarnished the reputation of the Solvay Process Company, which in the 1920s became a division of Allied Chemical.

Because it was considered so important to the economic life of the area, the Solvay Process Company had its way on several controversial environmental issues, which is why, despite strong opposition, the factory dumped its waste along the west shore of Onondaga Lake. The company built huge holding areas that were surrounded by tall, concrete dikes. These were the most visible waste depositories, though at least one of the smaller plants operated by Solvay Process openly flowed its waste directly into the lake.

In the early 1940s there were eight large waste beds across the street of the New York State Fairgrounds on State Fair Boulevard, with a ninth waste bed under construction. Those who had opposed the dumping at the turn of the century predicted it was just a matter of time before at least one of the dikes containing the waste would burst. Most of those concerned, obviously, were residents of a section of the Town of Geddes known as Lakeland.

Federal government investing in Tesla and Intel

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From a revenue perspective, the Intel stock investment was a good investment.

But that was as much dumb luck as anything, big AI money started chasing chip and memory manufacturers after getting cool feat about the AI developers themselves. The stock purchase confers no special voting rights that other stock holders have. But is a role of federal government to be stock pickers? Moreover, it seems like a potential conflict of interest for a regulator to be profiting directly over a regulated party, the federal government can do a lot of things to help or harm a corporation, but now they are making money off the deal.

I guess the flip side is that the government already was committed by Secure Enclave and CHIPS funding to invest in chip makers. If they are going to give businesses money, it makes sense for taxpayers to get some of the upside. Currently most economic development programs don’t directly benefit government agencies with corporate shares, though in many cases tax revenue does exceed the money invested – if you believe the corporation wouldn’t expand without the investment – which isn’t always true.

Should the federal government gotten Tesla shares for what it invested in that company early on?

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High Temperatures in July Past 15 Years
Date 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
Jul 1 89 77 91 81 85 87 97 85 83 75 95 87 79 90 94
Jul 2 85 87 90 77 76 85 97 84 93 66 87 77 84 87 96
Jul 3 87 87 88 78 82 81 94 90 83 65 83 87 85 84 93
Jul 4 90 91 73 70 87 82 96 91 89 72 84 89 85 80 86
Jul 5 83 90 80 83 89 84 92 92 91 78 74 93 87 84 84
Jul 6 92 87 85 85 90 82 86 92 88 87 81 92 93 90 77
Jul 7 85 91 85 86 89 83 80 81 85 84 85 87 89 88 74
Jul 8 88 85 87 81 83 80 86 85 89 68 85 87 92 86 86
Jul 9 84 87 83 76 68 83 92 86 94 80 80 86 95 86 90
Jul 10 86 84 80 83 79 84 92 89 88 78 81 74 94 86 83
Jul 11 89 83 81 87 79 84 83 86 90 72 91 90 86 86 82
Jul 12 91 83 87 87 86 85 85 81 90 68 91 86 85 87 83
Jul 13 91 80 79 87 90 78 88 88 88 74 87 90 91 86 88
Jul 14 89 90 87 85 87 70 88 86 84 84 85 86 91 87 94
Jul 15 83 91 81 75 91 81 93 85 86 83 86 88 94 90 88
Jul 16 88 92 80 77 83 85 96 92 80 83 88 85 93 93 β€”
Jul 17 98 94 78 82 85 87 80 85 81 78 92 87 88 92 β€”
Jul 18 86 94 80 87 86 86 82 80 87 68 81 87 83 78 β€”
Jul 19 84 96 78 91 79 86 83 94 93 80 92 85 83 85 β€”
Jul 20 74 87 80 87 81 88 88 95 87 84 97 86 86 88 β€”
Jul 21 84 85 84 87 88 86 84 91 82 76 96 82 85 78 β€”
Jul 22 86 87 87 81 94 79 87 74 85 76 93 83 87 77 β€”
Jul 23 85 83 91 82 91 80 85 79 82 76 97 87 83 85 β€”
Jul 24 87 76 79 83 88 72 89 82 82 79 97 86 83 90 β€”
Jul 25 82 73 81 83 89 67 84 85 85 80 88 83 83 90 β€”
Jul 26 84 77 82 85 88 78 85 87 87 83 80 87 85 86 β€”
Jul 27 80 83 83 88 90 72 86 88 93 84 83 87 86 78 β€”
Jul 28 76 74 75 93 91 79 83 90 81 76 92 92 87 91 β€”
Jul 29 80 81 74 95 87 76 81 92 86 70 89 86 84 92 β€”
Jul 30 82 80 77 88 79 81 81 91 81 74 82 79 91 91 β€”
Jul 31 82 81 78 85 71 87 86 81 83 70 86 80 89 76 β€”
Andy Arthur, 7/15/26
NWS Observations, Albany Airport.
Map: Big Buck State Forest And White Pond
Map: G Lake
Map: Gilman Lake

Japanese Stiltgrass – NYIS

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Japanese Stiltgrass – NYIS

apanese stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum), also known as Nepalese browntop and Asian stiltgrass, replaces native vegetation in a wide range of ecosystems including forested floodplains, forest edges, stream banks, fields, trails, and ditches. It thrives as a weed in lawns and gardens. Japanese stiltgrass grows well in many light conditions (from deeply shaded hemlock forests to sunny open fields), prefers damp conditions, and often can be found in disturbed areas. It expands into dense stands of grass that prevent desirable vegetation from growing.