What kinds of refrigerants can be used in my home air conditioner?  It depends on the age of your unit.  If you have a home air conditioner that was manufactured before January 1, 2010, it probably uses a refrigerant called hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC)-22 (also known as R-22).  Because HCFC-22 depletes the Earth’s protective ozone layer, EPA regulations are gradually reducing the production and use of this refrigerant.  In fact, manufacturers can no longer make new air conditioners that use HCFC-22.  However, HCFC-22 can still be used to service existing air conditioners.  How can I find out what kind of refrigerant my home air conditioner contains?  The refrigerant used in your home air conditioner is typically listed on the unit’s nameplate.   For central air conditioners, the nameplate is usually on the outdoor condenser.  If there is no nameplate, check your owner's manual or contact the person or company that sold or services your air conditioner.  If you know the manufacturer and model number, you could also call the manufacturer or check its website.  As of January 1, 2010, EPA has prohibited the manufacture and installation of new HCFC-22 appliances. So, you can no longer purchase a central air-conditioning unit that uses HCFC-22.  However, you can continue to service your existing HCFC-22 system.  You can also purchase a “self-contained” system (typically, a window unit) if is second-hand and/or was produced prior to 2010.  Keep in mind that supplies of HCFC-22 are expected to become more limited in the years ahead as this refrigerant is phased out of production.  Are refrigerants available for home air conditioners that do not harm the ozone layer?  Yes, a number of ozone-friendly refrigerants are available and widely used today.  The most common alternative is R-410A, which is known by trade names such as GENETRON AZ-20^®, SUVA 410A^®, Forane^® 410A, and Puron^®.  While R-410A is not ozone-depleting, it does contribute to climate change and should be handled appropriately.  EPA maintains a full list of acceptable substitutes for household and light commercial air-conditioning.

Will I have to stop using HCFC-22 in my home air conditioner?  No.  You will not have to stop using HCFC-22, and you will not have to replace existing equipment just to switch to a new refrigerant.  The switch to ozone-friendly refrigerants is occurring gradually to allow consumers time to replace air conditioners on a normal schedule.  But, supplies of HCFC-22 will be more limited and more expensive in the years ahead as the refrigerant is phased out of production.  Starting in 2020, new HCFC-22 can no longer be produced, so consumers will need to rely on reclaimed and previously-produced quantities to service any home air-conditioning systems still operating after that date.  https://www.epa.gov/ods-phaseout/homeowners-and-consumers-frequently-asked-questions



July 23, 2019  The release of the new version of The Lion King is reigniting a debate over whether the classic Disney story was copied from a Japanese manga series created decades earlier.  In a trending Twitter moment, side-by-side comparisons of The Lion King and Kimba the White Lion, a Japanese manga from the 1960s created by Osamu Tezuka, played out with startling similarities.  Tezuka, who also created the iconic series Astro Boy, passed away in 1989 and was regarded one of Japan’s most beloved and well-known artists.  Kimba the White Lion was based off of Tezuka’s earlier 1950 manga, Jungle Emperor.  It was first played for U.S. audiences in 1966, and continued to be shown through to the 80’s according to the Hollywood Reporter.  The basic stories of both The Lion King and Kimba the White Lion share similar tenets.  Both are set as ‘coming-of-age’ parables centered around young lion cubs, both of whom lose their father.  While Kimba the White Lion focuses on man’s encroachment on nature, and therefore includes human characters, The Lion King is an all-animal cast and is set around an internal power struggle within the ruling pride of lions.  However, fans of Kimba the White Lion were quick to point out the similarities in characters, concept art and scenes between the two films, going as far to allege that Disney lifted their designs directly from Tezuka’s work, which predates The Lion King by decades.  A lot of the anger directed at Disney online has to do with their insistence that The Lion King was their studio’s first “fully original” story, from inception to its 1994 release.  It’s not the first time that The Lion King has been criticized for “stealing.”  Madhavi Sunder, a law professor at Georgetown Law and an intellectual property specialist, wrote about The Lion King controversy in her 2012 book ‘From Goods to a Good Life:  Intellectual Property and Global Justice.’  Sunder touches on the lawsuit brought forward by the family of Solomon Linda, the South African musician who composed the hit ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight,’ and “received virtually nothing” until a journalist from Rolling Stone uncovered the truth in 2000 and exposed “the sordid history of exploitation of Lindas’s copyright.”  She goes on to describe the so-called ‘Kimba versus Simba’ debate, calling the similarities “abundant,” with one of her major points being a comparison of the characters.  “Nearly every animal character in Kimba the White Lion has an analogue in the Lion King,” Sunder writes.  “In both versions a baboon serves as an old sage, the henchmen for the evil lion are hyenas, and the hero lion’s adviser is a parrot.”  Christy Somos  https://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/did-disney-steal-the-lion-king-from-something-written-decades-earlier-1.4520555



Farewell Richard Macksey, legendary polymath and “the jewel in the Hopkins crown” (1931-2019) by Cynthia Haven  Dick Macksey died July 22, 2019, three days shy of his 88th birthday.  I have written about him in several blogposts, notably:  “Western Civilization Cannot Do Without Him” here, “An Autographed Copy of Canterbury Tales?  I Believe Him” here, and “He Lived on Three Hours of Sleep and Pipe Smoke” here.  He is at the heart of my Evolution of Desire chapter about the renowned 1966 Baltimore conference that brought Jacques Derrida, Jacques Lacan, and French thought to America--it’s included in its entirety in Quarterly Conversation here.  His legacy will live on in his unimaginably comprehensive personal library of 70,000 volumes.  Among the many treasures:  a signed copy of Proust‘s Swann’s Way, first editions of Faulkner, Hemingway, Wharton.  Dick Macksey’s library was featured in Robaroundbooks’s “Bookshelf of the Week” here.  In the combox, one former student, Bill Benzon, chimed in with a memory of his own:  “I was a student of Macksey’s back in the 1960s and was in that library shortly after it was constructed (out of a garage).  It wasn’t so cluttered then, but the shelves were full.  Macksey was a film buff and would have people over to his place regularly to discuss films.  He lived a couple blocks away from campus so it was easy to see a film on campus and then go over to Macksey’s for the discussion.”  
http://bookhaven.stanford.edu/2019/07/farewell-richard-macksey-legendary-polymath-and-the-jewel-in-the-hopkins-crown-1931-2019/



5 DELICIOUS NOVELS CENTERED AROUND FOOD TO DEVOUR IMMEDIATELY  OLIVIA PÁEZ  https://bookriot.com/2019/07/27/novels-centered-around-food/



THE BEST BOOKS YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF, JULY 2019 DANIKA ELLIS 

https://bookriot.com/2019/07/26/the-best-books-youve-never-heard-of-july-2019/



Benjamin Joseph Manaly Novak (born July 31, 1979) is an American actor, writer, comedian, producer and director.  Novak was one of the writers and executive producers of The Office (2005–2013), in which he also played Ryan Howard.  Novak was born in Newton, Massachusetts.  His parents are Linda (née Manaly) and author William Novak.  His father co-edited The Big Book of Jewish Humor, and has ghostwritten memoirs for Nancy Reagan, Lee Iacocca, Magic Johnson, and others; his parents also established a Jewish matchmaking service.  Novak has two younger brothers, Jesse, a composer, and Lev.  He attended Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Boston for elementary school and middle school.  He attended Newton South High School with future The Office costar John Krasinski, and they graduated in 1997.  Novak graduated from Harvard University in 2001, where he was a member of the Harvard Lampoon and the Hasty Pudding Club.  He majored in English and Spanish literature, and wrote his honors thesis on the films of Shakespeare's Hamlet.  Aside from the Lampoon, he occasionally staged and performed in a variety show called The B.J. Show with fellow Harvard student B. J. Averell.   

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._J._Novak



http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2131  July 31, 2019