Greetings, All -- Is a Blogger supposed to be cool, in control, ready for anything, come what may? If so, we are so far out of our league that we should find other work, as they say. We received a little note from an agency of the Government that must be sorted out. The hot breath of income tax preparation time, if not on our neck, is fogging the windows. We are very pleased with the completed renovation work in our bedroom, but every time we check a block, two or three more seem to wriggle onto the desk. Well, to heck with it. Let's have some fun with a little reading that we have enjoyed recently.
It's probably a sure bet that a large portion of our loyal readers keep cats as members of the family. The March issue of The Atlantic has a thought-provoking or hate piece about your lurking house cat. Author Kathleen McAuliffe has taken an interesting stroll through research on a certain parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, found in the feces of infected cats. For nigh onto a century, physicians warn pregnant women "to avoid cat litter boxes" because T. gondii can infect them and the fetus they are carrying. The disease, toxoplasmosis, is serious.
That may not be news, but a lifetime of research by Czech scientist, Jaroslav Flegr, was certainly news to us! He has found that rodents infected with T. gondii are changed in a variety of ways. Many of these new traits tend to render the rodents easier for cats to capture. McAuliffe raises the ante when she delves into the possibility that "car crashes, suicides and mental disorder such as schizophrenia" may be caused by this microbe. This is a must read article, Folks. Make your own decision, but read "How Your Cat is Making You Crazy" first.
Holding to the thread of microorganisms, a very interesting and graphic article appeared in the February issue of Physics Today, published by the American Institute of Physics. The thrust of the article is that irradiation of food is not only safe, but FDA has can be shown that absent such sterilization, it can be exceedingly difficult to remove such microbes as E. coli. An electron micrograph of a lettuce leaf on a micrometer scale (an average human hair is in the range of 100 micrometers) resolves several E. coli snugly embedded in a crevice much too small to accomodate a human hair. With food-borne diseases increasingly frequent, the nation should ignore hysterical rejection of science-based safety measures.
If you have not yet read the articles presented here, we hope that you will take the time to look them over. We would enjoy the opportunity to read and respond to your comments on any or all of them.
Best wishes on Leap Day, Billy Hawkfinder
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
The Great Depression Recalled: Part 2
(Continued from Part 1)
We were young when President Roosevelt broadcast his “Fireside Chats” promising better days to come. As we rode our bikes around town, we saw people working on government projects that we liked. We enjoyed using those that were completed, but worried about the "skeleton" buildings of the infant University of Miami. They remained incomplete for lack of funding until after WW-II and the demands of the GI Bill of Rights emerged.
People seemed to agree with what FDR said and did. Once, however, we heard an adult blame a series of atrocious tennis shots squarely on his “damn New Deal tennis racket.” A few people called recovery programs “socialistic” or “un-American.” As kids, of course, we did not understand the important issues underlying such comments.
Dear Reader, please do not allow these narrow childhood recollections of that horrible time to mislead you. People who were hungry were in pain for themselves, surely, but they were in agony because of their inability to succor their children. They cringed as the hated flapping sound of shoes in need of half-soling echoed from empty storefronts. We were among the fortunate ones for whom basic needs were always fulfilled. For us, things seemed OK. This was far from the case for homeless and jobless families until, once again, they found work building the muscle and sinew of the Allied war boot that ground the dictators into the dirt.
Let us continue our work to avoid such a catastrophe, Billy Hawkfinder
Then as now, families found pleasure in CCC -built public projects such as Matheson Hammock Park Biscayne Bay . Stood up 37 days after Roosevelt ’s inauguration, the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) camped in tents and rough barracks in woodlands and rural areas all over the nation. A few veterans of the Spanish-American War and WW-I plus unemployed, fit young men, aged 18-26, enlisted for renewable six-month terms. The Corps topped out at 300,000. Needs of members, including health care, were provided. They were paid a small wage, a portion required to be sent home. “CCC boys,” as we knew them, had planted more than 3 billion trees and devoted one and a quarter million man-days to flood and other disaster relief by 1941. Their handiwork remains visible throughout the nation.
In the summer of 1935, our family motored up into the backwoods of Virginia CCC boys working with picks, shovels and some heavy equipment. Beside, below and high above us, the magnificent Skyline Drive was being hewn out of the Blue Ridge Mountains . Running more than 100 scenic miles, this national treasure is enjoyed today by millions of American families.
A few years later, we traveled the unique Overseas Highway, built after the vicious September 1935 hurricane destroyed the railroad that had run along its right-of-way and killed many people and CCC workers on the Upper Keys. The PWA (Public Works Administration) helped jurisdictions in Florida Key West
People seemed to agree with what FDR said and did. Once, however, we heard an adult blame a series of atrocious tennis shots squarely on his “damn New Deal tennis racket.” A few people called recovery programs “socialistic” or “un-American.” As kids, of course, we did not understand the important issues underlying such comments.
Dear Reader, please do not allow these narrow childhood recollections of that horrible time to mislead you. People who were hungry were in pain for themselves, surely, but they were in agony because of their inability to succor their children. They cringed as the hated flapping sound of shoes in need of half-soling echoed from empty storefronts. We were among the fortunate ones for whom basic needs were always fulfilled. For us, things seemed OK. This was far from the case for homeless and jobless families until, once again, they found work building the muscle and sinew of the Allied war boot that ground the dictators into the dirt.
Let us continue our work to avoid such a catastrophe, Billy Hawkfinder
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
The Great Depression Recalled: Part One
President-elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt rode his open convertible into Miami Bayfront Park
Children shared campaign excitement as Roosevelt sought to unseat President Hoover. “Happy days are here again” was played incessantly on the radio and by bands serenading crowds supporting FDR. Many youngsters had mixed emotions about the election because grownups were saying, “If Hoover is re-elected, grass will grow in the streets.” The picture was interesting, but could we still ride our bikes, we wondered?
Overheard conversations created concern, but kids could not really tell which families were being hurt by “Old Man Depression.” We noticed that some classmates could not pay small sums for things in school. No one seemed to go without, though. We came to know that our selfless teachers often shared their meager resources with our less fortunate classmates.
Families may conceal their difficulties, but New Deal publicists saw to it that their candle was never under a bushel. In our town, a red, white and blue WPA (Works Progress Administration) sign backstopped work crews constructing our badly needed Fire-Police Station. Some seventy years later, plans are afoot to convert that magnificent building, built of quarried Miami Miami
In numerous post offices and court houses, WPA artists were employed to adorn interior walls with art deco murals and tile mosaics, some of them key attractions today. Other WPA programs employed clerks, archivists and students to preserve genealogical records that still bring eureka moments to family researchers. WPA mathematicians, equipped with then state-of-the-art electromechanical desk calculators, labored to create very accurate 12-place tables of logarithms and other mathematical functions. During WW-II, such math tables helped assure the accuracy of U.S.
End Part 1
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Valentine's Days Gone By
Greetings, All -- At breakfast this morning, my spouse and I reminisced about how exciting Valentine's Day was when we were in primary school. We were hundreds of miles apart, but were immersed in the Southern social mileau. It may have been the same in Ohio and Wisconsin because our little snow-bird schoolmates never seemed surprised about anything we did. In turn, they treated us to such wonders as displays of red and yellow Fall leaves that we had never before seen.
Days before the magical Fourteenth of February, all of the youngsters in our neighborhood were deep in thought, pondering to whom (think plural) they would pass Valentines. This was not for discussion with parents, of course, but was an exceedingly private contemplation of deserving chums, boys and girls.
The local ten-cent stores, Kresses, Woolworths and others, plus the drug stores all sold packages of paper lace, colored construction paper, heart stickers and most desirable of all, actual Valentine Cards, many with moving parts. Cupid's bow and arrow could be rotated to point upward or horizontally. These cards with their envelopes cost up to five-cents apiece, a king's ransom. They were reserved for very, very special people.
After decisions were made, cards carefully fabricated and addressing done, there came the night before Valentine's Day. After dark, hordes of youngsters ran all over the neighborhoods, avoiding identification to the maximum possible extent. They dropped cards into mailboxes, rang doorbells and ran like the dickens to keep their secret. My spouse pointed out that many children tripped over obstacles on the lawns that were invisible in the darkness. Many skinned knees testified to such activity.
The excitement continued in home room the next morning. Every class had made a Valentine Box with appropriately colorful designs and a slot in the top. Before the bell rang, the box was stuffed with exciting paper. It was soon opened and the messages of secret affection distributed with great hubbub and excitement. Can you imagine how much fun that was! We barely finished dealing with Cupid before it became time for Washington's Birthday and hatcheted trees to appear on the scene. What a great life!
We trust that each of you had a Valentine's Day filled with child-like love and happiness. It would not be a bad a idea for all of us to try that every day of the year. As you likely have deduced, we are hopeless romantics, but are solidly planted in the reality of here and now. Past times are fun to remember,but so will these days be some tomorrow.
Best wishes, Billy Hawkfinder
Days before the magical Fourteenth of February, all of the youngsters in our neighborhood were deep in thought, pondering to whom (think plural) they would pass Valentines. This was not for discussion with parents, of course, but was an exceedingly private contemplation of deserving chums, boys and girls.
The local ten-cent stores, Kresses, Woolworths and others, plus the drug stores all sold packages of paper lace, colored construction paper, heart stickers and most desirable of all, actual Valentine Cards, many with moving parts. Cupid's bow and arrow could be rotated to point upward or horizontally. These cards with their envelopes cost up to five-cents apiece, a king's ransom. They were reserved for very, very special people.
After decisions were made, cards carefully fabricated and addressing done, there came the night before Valentine's Day. After dark, hordes of youngsters ran all over the neighborhoods, avoiding identification to the maximum possible extent. They dropped cards into mailboxes, rang doorbells and ran like the dickens to keep their secret. My spouse pointed out that many children tripped over obstacles on the lawns that were invisible in the darkness. Many skinned knees testified to such activity.
The excitement continued in home room the next morning. Every class had made a Valentine Box with appropriately colorful designs and a slot in the top. Before the bell rang, the box was stuffed with exciting paper. It was soon opened and the messages of secret affection distributed with great hubbub and excitement. Can you imagine how much fun that was! We barely finished dealing with Cupid before it became time for Washington's Birthday and hatcheted trees to appear on the scene. What a great life!
We trust that each of you had a Valentine's Day filled with child-like love and happiness. It would not be a bad a idea for all of us to try that every day of the year. As you likely have deduced, we are hopeless romantics, but are solidly planted in the reality of here and now. Past times are fun to remember,but so will these days be some tomorrow.
Best wishes, Billy Hawkfinder
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Military Occupation of Japan
Greetings, All -- A piece in Military History magazine about the days when General Douglas MacArthur was the American Proconsul in postwar Japan, brought back a flood of memories. We were members of the Occupation Team stationed at Atsugi Air Base. The opening photograph in the article showed the General's personal aircraft of the time. In common with the series, it was named "Bataan," after the peninsula that become the last redoubt of General "Skinny" Wainwright who took command after the President had ordered General MacArthur to evacuate to Australia.
It was those events that gave rise to his famous pledge, "I shall return!" Return he did with a huge naval flotilla and armies of fighting GIs and Marines. Japanese General Yamashita, in command of the notorious "Death March" in which many thousands of U.S. and Filipino troops were murdered, was also known as "The Tiger of Malaya" for his earlier conquest of the peninsula and the island fortress, Singapore. At the ceremony aboard U.S.S. Missouri at anchor in Tokyo Bay, despite the ravages of malnutrition while a prisoner of war, General Wainright held himself erect and accepted Japan's unconditional surrender. The disgraced Yamashita was hanged later following his conviction of war crimes by an Allied court. The Japanese surrender delegation is shown in an official photograph.
We served as the S-3 Sergeant in the 872nd Engineer Aviation Battalion ("Strip Work is our Speciality.) We were in the Eighth U.S. Army assigned to the 5th Army Air Force. Our job was to build, renovate and maintain air fields in the Tokyo-Yokohama area. Japanese aircraft were far lighter than most, if not all, U.S. types. The first step in avoiding permanent damage to runway and hardstand surfaces was to cover them with PSP, Pierced Steel Planking. It was ingeniously designed to be assembled like a tile floor, but was connected one to the other by steel clips. The clips were placed by hand and hammered into position. A collateral "advantage" of installing PSP was heavily damaged fingers.
Elsewhere on this page, we have placed a photograph of Billy himself, dressed in fatigues, Army work clothes of the day. The snapshot was taken by Army 1st Lt. John A. Dacy, a real sailor man with whom we attended high school. John has passed away. He left school a little early and signed on as an Ordinary Seaman on a gasoline tanker running from the Gulf of Mexico to Dharan in the Persian Gulf, the reverse of much of today's shipping.
John survived his dangerous voyage through submarine-infested waters and was commissioned in the Army's quite large smaller-craft logistics Navy. His assignment at the time of the snapshot was in Yokohama Harbor as skipper of Miss Em, an Army Air Force crash boat converted to service of the Commanding General, Eighth Army. The craft was named after the General's spouse. John had a nifty boat and we had an equally nifty Jeep. We devised many highly productive outings based on those makings.
Perhaps there will be more at another time. Best wishes, Billy
It was those events that gave rise to his famous pledge, "I shall return!" Return he did with a huge naval flotilla and armies of fighting GIs and Marines. Japanese General Yamashita, in command of the notorious "Death March" in which many thousands of U.S. and Filipino troops were murdered, was also known as "The Tiger of Malaya" for his earlier conquest of the peninsula and the island fortress, Singapore. At the ceremony aboard U.S.S. Missouri at anchor in Tokyo Bay, despite the ravages of malnutrition while a prisoner of war, General Wainright held himself erect and accepted Japan's unconditional surrender. The disgraced Yamashita was hanged later following his conviction of war crimes by an Allied court. The Japanese surrender delegation is shown in an official photograph.
We served as the S-3 Sergeant in the 872nd Engineer Aviation Battalion ("Strip Work is our Speciality.) We were in the Eighth U.S. Army assigned to the 5th Army Air Force. Our job was to build, renovate and maintain air fields in the Tokyo-Yokohama area. Japanese aircraft were far lighter than most, if not all, U.S. types. The first step in avoiding permanent damage to runway and hardstand surfaces was to cover them with PSP, Pierced Steel Planking. It was ingeniously designed to be assembled like a tile floor, but was connected one to the other by steel clips. The clips were placed by hand and hammered into position. A collateral "advantage" of installing PSP was heavily damaged fingers.
Elsewhere on this page, we have placed a photograph of Billy himself, dressed in fatigues, Army work clothes of the day. The snapshot was taken by Army 1st Lt. John A. Dacy, a real sailor man with whom we attended high school. John has passed away. He left school a little early and signed on as an Ordinary Seaman on a gasoline tanker running from the Gulf of Mexico to Dharan in the Persian Gulf, the reverse of much of today's shipping.
John survived his dangerous voyage through submarine-infested waters and was commissioned in the Army's quite large smaller-craft logistics Navy. His assignment at the time of the snapshot was in Yokohama Harbor as skipper of Miss Em, an Army Air Force crash boat converted to service of the Commanding General, Eighth Army. The craft was named after the General's spouse. John had a nifty boat and we had an equally nifty Jeep. We devised many highly productive outings based on those makings.
Perhaps there will be more at another time. Best wishes, Billy
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
The Time of the Robots?
Greetings, All -- As news of lethal military strikes by unoccupied air vehicles fills the airways, there can be little doubt that man and machine are working together effectively even over great distances. Increasingly capable machines present simpler interfaces to human controllers by taking on board more perceptive sensors integrated with powerful software. The signs are clear: Humankind is making techno-leaps into the Time of the Robots.
Analogous to the UAV human/machine teams, a robotic office receptionist service called AnyLobby is available from AnyBots company. An intelligent, robotic machine, QB, is capable of performing a variety of office tasks with support as needed from a human being located anywhere within Internet-shot of the lobby. Author Evan Ackerman provides additional details in his piece, "Anybots now offering AnyLobby Robotic Staffing Service," appearing in the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) Spectrum magazine. Note that this robot is offering jobs, not taking them.
That is not the case for NASA's Robonaut 2 and Spheres robots now seeking business opportunities as described by Ackerman in Spectrum's Robots Aboard the International Space Station. The article contains a video that lays out the ambitions of the robots and their Astronaut trainer. This is a serious effort to put robots into dangerous environments, sparing their human counterparts the risks.
Evan Ackerman next takes us into the laboratories of The University of Pennsylvania through an amazing video demonstration. In the article, "Swarming Quadrotors Get Nano-ized", the flying robots gang up, perform unbelieveable maneuvers and "sound . . . like a swarm of giant angry bees." He points out that each quadrotor can be tossed into the air and immediately orient itself. We wonder what it would be like if one seriously offended a crew of these little guys!
For his offering in the world of robotic magic, Ackerman collected a rich stew of a half dozen quite imaginative videos. Some have serious messages for human beings and, perhaps, for the growing population of robots. Also appearing in Spectrum, this great collection is entitled "Video Friday: Dancing Robots, Sumo Robots, War Robots, and More." We found that these extraordinary videos raised our consciousness. We trust that you will find them similarly opening new vistas for you.
We hope that this excellent presentation by Mr. Ackerman has not tried your patience. In our work, we are ever focused on estimating the most probable directions that technology will take as our future unfolds. Surely, robots will become increasingly capable with time. We have long wondered whether there will come a time when robots themselves will become able to develop ever more capable robots. Whether that is an original thought or seeded by one of our magnificent science fiction authors, I do not recall. Whatever its origin, I have no doubt that Humanity, unless we are very careful and provident, will one future day find itself Mano-a-mano in a fight for survival with its own creations.
Best wishes, Billy Hawkfinder
Analogous to the UAV human/machine teams, a robotic office receptionist service called AnyLobby is available from AnyBots company. An intelligent, robotic machine, QB, is capable of performing a variety of office tasks with support as needed from a human being located anywhere within Internet-shot of the lobby. Author Evan Ackerman provides additional details in his piece, "Anybots now offering AnyLobby Robotic Staffing Service," appearing in the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) Spectrum magazine. Note that this robot is offering jobs, not taking them.
That is not the case for NASA's Robonaut 2 and Spheres robots now seeking business opportunities as described by Ackerman in Spectrum's Robots Aboard the International Space Station. The article contains a video that lays out the ambitions of the robots and their Astronaut trainer. This is a serious effort to put robots into dangerous environments, sparing their human counterparts the risks.
Evan Ackerman next takes us into the laboratories of The University of Pennsylvania through an amazing video demonstration. In the article, "Swarming Quadrotors Get Nano-ized", the flying robots gang up, perform unbelieveable maneuvers and "sound . . . like a swarm of giant angry bees." He points out that each quadrotor can be tossed into the air and immediately orient itself. We wonder what it would be like if one seriously offended a crew of these little guys!
For his offering in the world of robotic magic, Ackerman collected a rich stew of a half dozen quite imaginative videos. Some have serious messages for human beings and, perhaps, for the growing population of robots. Also appearing in Spectrum, this great collection is entitled "Video Friday: Dancing Robots, Sumo Robots, War Robots, and More." We found that these extraordinary videos raised our consciousness. We trust that you will find them similarly opening new vistas for you.
We hope that this excellent presentation by Mr. Ackerman has not tried your patience. In our work, we are ever focused on estimating the most probable directions that technology will take as our future unfolds. Surely, robots will become increasingly capable with time. We have long wondered whether there will come a time when robots themselves will become able to develop ever more capable robots. Whether that is an original thought or seeded by one of our magnificent science fiction authors, I do not recall. Whatever its origin, I have no doubt that Humanity, unless we are very careful and provident, will one future day find itself Mano-a-mano in a fight for survival with its own creations.
Best wishes, Billy Hawkfinder
Sunday, February 5, 2012
A Bit of Job Creation
Greetings, All -- The TV Talking Heads are burning air in efforts to outdo one another with points and counter-points on who can best accelerate job creation. There is not a person in our great nation who does not hope that available jobs grow in number day-by-day, week-by-week. Billy Hawkfinder is included in that count.
We have all heard reports of job openings with no qualified takers in sight. That may be true to an extent, but it is tough for us to believe some of the stories. We know and know of many solidly qualified citizens who have maintained their skills while looking for matching positions for months with no luck.
A piece in The New York Times, Apple, America and a Squeezed Middle Class, published on January 21st this year, however, proves that such problems do exist. It underscored a gross shortage of qualified workers and manufacturing facilities to take on Apple's forecasted huge projects in the U.S. Authors Charles Duhigg and Keith Bradsher related the essence of a dinner conversation between the President and Apple Boss Steven Jobs that took place in February 2011.
"'Why can't that work come home?', the President asked." The answer referred to the huge surge capacity available in China in terms of engineers, production workers and facilities. Also, the concentration of supplier factories there was stated to be unmatched anywhere in the U.S. We are speaking here of great numbers of available trained people.
Companies sometimes must turn down important opportunitites for lack of capacity. In our experience, a major military supplier was asked by a key general officer to take on an immediate task of designing and building an intercontinental missile. The executive to whom he spoke was forced to turn down a multi-billion dollar busines opportunity because he could not guarantee to assign 125 appropriately qualified engineers to the program by the following Monday morning. Sounds strange, but it is true.
Today, there are high expectations for job creation in the biofuels and renewable chemicals field. In Jim Lane's Biofuels Digest, a recent article projects that as many as 2.4 to 8.15 million man-years of labor could be required to replace "10 percent of gasoline consumption with ethanol [ethyl alcohol] made from agricultural waste." These jobs in construction, operations, waste collection and transportation, it is projected, could be created between today and 2030, a rudimentary average of 300,000 employees during the period.
We all know that domestic oil and gas production and transportation also offers significant employment as fracking and offshore operations grow from their present levels. Indeed, in the laboratories and factories of our nation, floods of new products requiring trained and motivated people are in development and production. We join you in the hope that employment grows at an increasing rate and, of great importance, that our education and training capacities will quickly rise to the challenge.
Best wishes, Billy Hawkfinder
We have all heard reports of job openings with no qualified takers in sight. That may be true to an extent, but it is tough for us to believe some of the stories. We know and know of many solidly qualified citizens who have maintained their skills while looking for matching positions for months with no luck.
A piece in The New York Times, Apple, America and a Squeezed Middle Class, published on January 21st this year, however, proves that such problems do exist. It underscored a gross shortage of qualified workers and manufacturing facilities to take on Apple's forecasted huge projects in the U.S. Authors Charles Duhigg and Keith Bradsher related the essence of a dinner conversation between the President and Apple Boss Steven Jobs that took place in February 2011.
"'Why can't that work come home?', the President asked." The answer referred to the huge surge capacity available in China in terms of engineers, production workers and facilities. Also, the concentration of supplier factories there was stated to be unmatched anywhere in the U.S. We are speaking here of great numbers of available trained people.
Companies sometimes must turn down important opportunitites for lack of capacity. In our experience, a major military supplier was asked by a key general officer to take on an immediate task of designing and building an intercontinental missile. The executive to whom he spoke was forced to turn down a multi-billion dollar busines opportunity because he could not guarantee to assign 125 appropriately qualified engineers to the program by the following Monday morning. Sounds strange, but it is true.
Today, there are high expectations for job creation in the biofuels and renewable chemicals field. In Jim Lane's Biofuels Digest, a recent article projects that as many as 2.4 to 8.15 million man-years of labor could be required to replace "10 percent of gasoline consumption with ethanol [ethyl alcohol] made from agricultural waste." These jobs in construction, operations, waste collection and transportation, it is projected, could be created between today and 2030, a rudimentary average of 300,000 employees during the period.
We all know that domestic oil and gas production and transportation also offers significant employment as fracking and offshore operations grow from their present levels. Indeed, in the laboratories and factories of our nation, floods of new products requiring trained and motivated people are in development and production. We join you in the hope that employment grows at an increasing rate and, of great importance, that our education and training capacities will quickly rise to the challenge.
Best wishes, Billy Hawkfinder
Monday, January 30, 2012
Hawk Bait 4
Greetings, All -- We are having a grand time at our house as we carefully step out of the paths of several very skilled and clever people who are renovating our bedroom. While this goes on, we are camped out in somewhat smaller quarters down the hallway. It is all expected to come together by close of business three days from now. So far, knock on wood, schedules have been met and we are very pleased with the work.
To a serious matter, we turn again to the work of Michael Yon whom we mentioned in a recent post. We stated, erroneously, that Michael is a former SEAL, but he was an Army Special Operations Soldier and became a distinguished embedded war correspondent. Some time ago, Michael was on a night misson with an element of the 4/4 Cav (4th Battalion/4th Cavalry Regiment). A Solidier, Specialist Chazray Clark, although grievously wounded by an IED, was conscious when airlifted to hospital, but he soon died. Michael and others question the length of time taken to dispatch the MEDEVAC helicopter that evacuated Specialist Clark.
Michael's report on this event has created a firestorm of communications from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Congress and, most recently, helicopter pilots questioning Army procedures. The U.S. Air Force and Marine Corps as well as the UK arm their helicopters and omit the Red Cross since it is only a target to the Taliban. A new post by Michael, "That Others May Live," is found at: http://www.michaelyon-online.com/13-military-pilots-rebuke-the-joint-chiefs-of-staff.htm. We urge that you read it and take action.
Have you ever wondered where U.S. Greenbacks come from? We do not mean the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, but who pulls the trigger to start the printing presses. The recent edition of The American Scholar Magazine has the answer. End the suspense. See"Bring Back the Greenback." http://theamericanscholar.org/issues/winter-2012/.
A recent publication, The Economic Value of Opportunity Youth, captured our interest. First, what is an "Opportunity Youth"? Largely male minorities, this is a cohort of 6.7 million youth, aged 16-24, who may be drop outs, family care-givers, incarcerants or others. The authors have computed that "compared to other youth," each Opportunity Youth imposes "an immediate taxpayer burden of $13,900 per year included in an immediate social burden of $37,400 per year."
The authors, Levin, Belfield and Rosen, from Columbia University and City University of New York, computed the total cost of this cohort to be an eye-opening lifetime tax burden of $1.56 trillion and social burden of $4.75 trillion. This study was supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for the Corporation for National and Community Service and the White House Council for Community Solutions. Download the study from http://1.usa.gov/xwHHaO. This appears to offer a serious opportunity, but one quite difficult to exploit.
We have a great menu of problems, do we not? This might be daunting to some, but to an old war horse with scars from the academic research and corporate worlds, problems equal challenges, challenges equal opportunity, and opportunity means money. Let's get with the program and stop the "all is lost" whining!
Best wishes, Billy Hawkfinder
.
To a serious matter, we turn again to the work of Michael Yon whom we mentioned in a recent post. We stated, erroneously, that Michael is a former SEAL, but he was an Army Special Operations Soldier and became a distinguished embedded war correspondent. Some time ago, Michael was on a night misson with an element of the 4/4 Cav (4th Battalion/4th Cavalry Regiment). A Solidier, Specialist Chazray Clark, although grievously wounded by an IED, was conscious when airlifted to hospital, but he soon died. Michael and others question the length of time taken to dispatch the MEDEVAC helicopter that evacuated Specialist Clark.
Michael's report on this event has created a firestorm of communications from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Congress and, most recently, helicopter pilots questioning Army procedures. The U.S. Air Force and Marine Corps as well as the UK arm their helicopters and omit the Red Cross since it is only a target to the Taliban. A new post by Michael, "That Others May Live," is found at: http://www.michaelyon-online.com/13-military-pilots-rebuke-the-joint-chiefs-of-staff.htm. We urge that you read it and take action.
Have you ever wondered where U.S. Greenbacks come from? We do not mean the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, but who pulls the trigger to start the printing presses. The recent edition of The American Scholar Magazine has the answer. End the suspense. See"Bring Back the Greenback." http://theamericanscholar.org/issues/winter-2012/.
A recent publication, The Economic Value of Opportunity Youth, captured our interest. First, what is an "Opportunity Youth"? Largely male minorities, this is a cohort of 6.7 million youth, aged 16-24, who may be drop outs, family care-givers, incarcerants or others. The authors have computed that "compared to other youth," each Opportunity Youth imposes "an immediate taxpayer burden of $13,900 per year included in an immediate social burden of $37,400 per year."
The authors, Levin, Belfield and Rosen, from Columbia University and City University of New York, computed the total cost of this cohort to be an eye-opening lifetime tax burden of $1.56 trillion and social burden of $4.75 trillion. This study was supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for the Corporation for National and Community Service and the White House Council for Community Solutions. Download the study from http://1.usa.gov/xwHHaO. This appears to offer a serious opportunity, but one quite difficult to exploit.
We have a great menu of problems, do we not? This might be daunting to some, but to an old war horse with scars from the academic research and corporate worlds, problems equal challenges, challenges equal opportunity, and opportunity means money. Let's get with the program and stop the "all is lost" whining!
Best wishes, Billy Hawkfinder
.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Hawk Bait 3
Greetings, All -- We have had a bit of what the professionals hereabouts call Wintry Mix. The footing is treacherous, a problem readily solved by staying indoors. This is the first such annointment since our bizarre Halloween snowfall, so we had it coming.
We greatly admire Michael Yon, former SEAL, recently an embed with troops in the war zones. He is a renowned war photographer and author with several magnificent books to his credit. A good entry point to his work is http://www.michaelyon-online.com/michael-s-dispatches/. His most recent piece, "Time to Leave Afghanistan," has drawn numerous comments including one from us. Michael depends on financial contributions by his readers.
Things are a mess in South Asia, as Michael knows only too well, and it is painful to have our brave Soldiers in it. Clearly, everyone in the neighborhood is focused on it. The pinpoint of their concern is the questionable security of Pakistan's horde of nuclear weapons. Should they fall into intemperate hands, the results could be horrible. Friendly and unfriendly nations alike understand that. It seems to us that now is the time to get those folks, all of them, to sit down in their enlightened self interest and work out solutions: Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Central Asian Republics, India, Russia and China. Difficult? Yes. Impossible? Absolutely not. We believe that our latter-day Count Metternich, Secretary Clinton can pull it off.
Several interesting articles on food safety have appeared in a recent issue of Explore, the University of Florida research magazine. http://www.research.ufl.edu/explore/ "Seafood Sleuths" is an eye-opening, if not mouth-watering, expose' of the practice of substituting less desirable species for the ones we are paying to eat. A read might help avoid paying the $25 per pound tariff for grouper and getting $2 per pound Asian catfish.
On topic, "Foodborne Focus" tells about the "riskiest combinations of foods and disease-causing microorganisms." We became conscious of this problem during the recent scare involving cantaloupe and Listeria. Author Joseph Kays goes beyond that well-known threat to others that may surprise. A word of advice is that you should not read this article just before a dinner date. It could dampen the overall joy of the event.
This week, we had a glorious experience as Marin Alsop, pianist Olga Kern and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra combined their talents in an elegant rendering of Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto. Of course, you have heard it, whether you recognize the title or not. It was bookended by Ravel's Bolero and Richard Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra, the magnificent theme of the motion picture 2001: A Space Odessey. It was an incomparable musical experience.
Best wishes, Billy Hawkfinder
We greatly admire Michael Yon, former SEAL, recently an embed with troops in the war zones. He is a renowned war photographer and author with several magnificent books to his credit. A good entry point to his work is http://www.michaelyon-online.com/michael-s-dispatches/. His most recent piece, "Time to Leave Afghanistan," has drawn numerous comments including one from us. Michael depends on financial contributions by his readers.
Things are a mess in South Asia, as Michael knows only too well, and it is painful to have our brave Soldiers in it. Clearly, everyone in the neighborhood is focused on it. The pinpoint of their concern is the questionable security of Pakistan's horde of nuclear weapons. Should they fall into intemperate hands, the results could be horrible. Friendly and unfriendly nations alike understand that. It seems to us that now is the time to get those folks, all of them, to sit down in their enlightened self interest and work out solutions: Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Central Asian Republics, India, Russia and China. Difficult? Yes. Impossible? Absolutely not. We believe that our latter-day Count Metternich, Secretary Clinton can pull it off.
Several interesting articles on food safety have appeared in a recent issue of Explore, the University of Florida research magazine. http://www.research.ufl.edu/explore/ "Seafood Sleuths" is an eye-opening, if not mouth-watering, expose' of the practice of substituting less desirable species for the ones we are paying to eat. A read might help avoid paying the $25 per pound tariff for grouper and getting $2 per pound Asian catfish.
On topic, "Foodborne Focus" tells about the "riskiest combinations of foods and disease-causing microorganisms." We became conscious of this problem during the recent scare involving cantaloupe and Listeria. Author Joseph Kays goes beyond that well-known threat to others that may surprise. A word of advice is that you should not read this article just before a dinner date. It could dampen the overall joy of the event.
This week, we had a glorious experience as Marin Alsop, pianist Olga Kern and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra combined their talents in an elegant rendering of Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto. Of course, you have heard it, whether you recognize the title or not. It was bookended by Ravel's Bolero and Richard Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra, the magnificent theme of the motion picture 2001: A Space Odessey. It was an incomparable musical experience.
Best wishes, Billy Hawkfinder
Monday, January 16, 2012
What's Your Dream for America?
Greetings, All -- Martin Luther King Day inevitably brings to our minds the indefinable magnificence of Dr. King's "I have a dream. . ." oration at the Lincoln Memorial on August 28th, 1963. A typescript is available on The King Center site. (http://www.thekingcenter.org/archive/document/i-have-dream-1)
The thought that came to my mind was to juxtapose the King thesis with the Declaration of Independence. It was enjoyable to go to National Archives web site and call up the image of the "Dunlap Broadside," the first printed copy of the newly-signed Declaration. It was distributed throughout the United States of America aborning. (http://research.archives.gov/description/301682)
The thundering assertion "that all men are created equal" leaves nothing to the imagination, does it? Nor, we believe, can it in any way be improved by or embellished by the mind and hand of mankind.
Freedom passes through the doorways of Ministries and into the minds of Rulers most grudgingly, even less than grudgingly. Final surrender may come in the presence of deep fear that those whom they seem to govern will withdraw their consent. It may come only in revolt against human principalities and powers. (http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/book.php?book=Ephesians&chapter=11&verse=12)
Dr. King's thesis, by now well known to all, follows directly from the words adopted at their birth by the Thirteen United States. It goes beyond the sacred precincts of political freedom and knocks on the door of Economic Equality. This MLK Day 2012, it is our dream that the little children of Dr. King's vision who, more and more, play together and learn together, will together share the best of America's nutrition, health services, education and quality of family life. Such benefits may partly be given, partly facilitated, partly earned. We must not rest as a nation until, by tried and true means, all American youth, all of them, realize their full potential. That is our dream this Day of Remembrance and Action.
Best wishes, Billy Hawkfinder
The thought that came to my mind was to juxtapose the King thesis with the Declaration of Independence. It was enjoyable to go to National Archives web site and call up the image of the "Dunlap Broadside," the first printed copy of the newly-signed Declaration. It was distributed throughout the United States of America aborning. (http://research.archives.gov/description/301682)
The thundering assertion "that all men are created equal" leaves nothing to the imagination, does it? Nor, we believe, can it in any way be improved by or embellished by the mind and hand of mankind.
Freedom passes through the doorways of Ministries and into the minds of Rulers most grudgingly, even less than grudgingly. Final surrender may come in the presence of deep fear that those whom they seem to govern will withdraw their consent. It may come only in revolt against human principalities and powers. (http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/book.php?book=Ephesians&chapter=11&verse=12)
Dr. King's thesis, by now well known to all, follows directly from the words adopted at their birth by the Thirteen United States. It goes beyond the sacred precincts of political freedom and knocks on the door of Economic Equality. This MLK Day 2012, it is our dream that the little children of Dr. King's vision who, more and more, play together and learn together, will together share the best of America's nutrition, health services, education and quality of family life. Such benefits may partly be given, partly facilitated, partly earned. We must not rest as a nation until, by tried and true means, all American youth, all of them, realize their full potential. That is our dream this Day of Remembrance and Action.
Best wishes, Billy Hawkfinder
Friday, January 13, 2012
Hawk Bait 2
Greetings, All -- Here it is Friday the Thirteenth again, but we are in luck because our chain has been unlocked and we are back in business.
It all started with, "Honey, I think we should redo the bedroom and the closets." That has translated into several days of brutal work emptying drawers into boxes, assembling clothes racks and unloading closets onto them and more moves than a bee in a garden. The contractor is coming in on Monday. We will have several weeks of upset, but are sure that, in the end, it will all be worth it, or so I have been informed.
This morning, the world financial news is not great. We understand that the debt of several European nations has been "downgraded" by the ratings agencies. By the way, these are the same raters who led everyone to believe that all was well just before the 2007-2008 financial debacle. In addition, today the euro is falling like a stone against the dollar as is just about everything else. What does this mean? Is someone crying "Wolf" or is there more to it than that? Beats us, but we are optimistic on American recovery, no matter what.
Everyone likes to talk about the weather, we included. This twelve-month past has been something out of a statistics textbook around here. Recently, the river has had ice, then no ice while the air temperature has ranged between Winter and Spring. Looking back, we had a bigtime blizzard a year ago and we are having a balmy January -- so far. We have had the torrential rains of Irene and an absolute drought for several weeks before it hit our neck of the woods. To top it off, we had an earthquake. Fracking? No one knows.
The cost of energy is a troublesome issue. It appears to us that the U.S. is on the verge of a major transition from the products of imported petroleum -- gasoline and fuel oil -- to domestically produced natural gas. For decades, many electric power plants have been equipped to burn coal or natural gas, choosing the cheaper. Now, the cadence is picking up out there in the real world. Truck manufacturers are now expanding their development work to the use of natural gas fuel in hybrid trucks. More to the point, natural gas producers are working toward making their less expensive fuel available throughout the nation. This appears to us to be nothing short of a revolution in the making that will help our nation enormously.
There is a lot going on in business, technology, diplomacy and economics these days. A time of turmoil such as this creates entirely new industries and new ways of thinking. The airline industry came of age during the Great Depression and its aftermath. In times past, the eras of steam and the industrial revolution, railroads, the steel industry and many others emerged from dark times. So, keep the faith. America deserves it and so do you.
Best wishes, Billy Hawkfinder
It all started with, "Honey, I think we should redo the bedroom and the closets." That has translated into several days of brutal work emptying drawers into boxes, assembling clothes racks and unloading closets onto them and more moves than a bee in a garden. The contractor is coming in on Monday. We will have several weeks of upset, but are sure that, in the end, it will all be worth it, or so I have been informed.
This morning, the world financial news is not great. We understand that the debt of several European nations has been "downgraded" by the ratings agencies. By the way, these are the same raters who led everyone to believe that all was well just before the 2007-2008 financial debacle. In addition, today the euro is falling like a stone against the dollar as is just about everything else. What does this mean? Is someone crying "Wolf" or is there more to it than that? Beats us, but we are optimistic on American recovery, no matter what.
Everyone likes to talk about the weather, we included. This twelve-month past has been something out of a statistics textbook around here. Recently, the river has had ice, then no ice while the air temperature has ranged between Winter and Spring. Looking back, we had a bigtime blizzard a year ago and we are having a balmy January -- so far. We have had the torrential rains of Irene and an absolute drought for several weeks before it hit our neck of the woods. To top it off, we had an earthquake. Fracking? No one knows.
The cost of energy is a troublesome issue. It appears to us that the U.S. is on the verge of a major transition from the products of imported petroleum -- gasoline and fuel oil -- to domestically produced natural gas. For decades, many electric power plants have been equipped to burn coal or natural gas, choosing the cheaper. Now, the cadence is picking up out there in the real world. Truck manufacturers are now expanding their development work to the use of natural gas fuel in hybrid trucks. More to the point, natural gas producers are working toward making their less expensive fuel available throughout the nation. This appears to us to be nothing short of a revolution in the making that will help our nation enormously.
There is a lot going on in business, technology, diplomacy and economics these days. A time of turmoil such as this creates entirely new industries and new ways of thinking. The airline industry came of age during the Great Depression and its aftermath. In times past, the eras of steam and the industrial revolution, railroads, the steel industry and many others emerged from dark times. So, keep the faith. America deserves it and so do you.
Best wishes, Billy Hawkfinder
Saturday, January 7, 2012
South Florida 1931: Wash Day
Greetings, All -- As the nursery rhyme goes: "This is the way we wash our clothes. . .so early Monday morning," so went our lives as the Great Depression gained momentum. Fortunately, our dad's work was secure. The household routine continued. The Mockingbirds kept on singing in our yard.
Hattie, our no-nonsense African-American housekeeper went to the backyard to start doing the laundry while Mother collected the dirty clothes and bed linens. My little brother and I helped Hattie by carrying 18-inch quarter-splits of fat yellow pine from the wood pile to the fire pits. A fire to heat water was necessary because our "solar system" did not have adequate capacity for laundry.
Two dug pits side by side were each partly ringed by fire-blackened coral rocks. We put crinkled-up newspaper into the pits and covered it with kindling wood. Then came the sought-after ritual of striking the match and lighting the fire. When it was burning briskly, we laid pine logs on it, then placed two fire-blackened galvanized steel laundry tubs on the pits. An opening in the front of each ring allowed the fire to be fed after tubs were in place.
We quickly added water to the tubs. Each tub had a capacity of about 15 gallons. We never completely filled them, of course, because laundry would be added. Hattie measured the right amount of soap flakes out of a cardboard box into one of them. We did not know how to do that.
Hattie and Mother selected the right things to wash, white first, of course. The laundry within the soapy washing tub was agitated manually using a stout wooden hoe handle. Laundry was lifted up out of the bubbling hot water and dropped back the right number of times. We never knew how many to do.
After the "wash cycle," the same tool was used to lift and transfer too-hot-to-handle laundry into the adjacent clean water rinse tub. The same agitation was applied to ensure that the clean clothes were well rinsed. When we behaved, we were allowed to manipulate the hoe handle and to feed the fire.
The next step was to lift rinsed items with the hoe handle and, while they were still very hot, drape them over a galvanized wire clothes line. One end of each of three wires was attached to the grapefruit tree and the other to a vertical post fitted with a crossbar and well set into the ground. The laundry was spread on the wires and secured by wooden clothes pins fitted with wire springs.
The Florida sun made quick work of drying. We helped take the dry laundry it into the house to be ironed the next day. The tubs were emptied into the backyard and stacked in the garage until next week. In later years we sent the flat work to the laundry. Of course, there came a time after World War II when magical appliances such as clothes washers, mangles and dryers eased the tasks of the housekeepers of America and the world. But, when we were little, hat was Monday.
Best wishes, Billy Hawkfinder
Hattie, our no-nonsense African-American housekeeper went to the backyard to start doing the laundry while Mother collected the dirty clothes and bed linens. My little brother and I helped Hattie by carrying 18-inch quarter-splits of fat yellow pine from the wood pile to the fire pits. A fire to heat water was necessary because our "solar system" did not have adequate capacity for laundry.
Two dug pits side by side were each partly ringed by fire-blackened coral rocks. We put crinkled-up newspaper into the pits and covered it with kindling wood. Then came the sought-after ritual of striking the match and lighting the fire. When it was burning briskly, we laid pine logs on it, then placed two fire-blackened galvanized steel laundry tubs on the pits. An opening in the front of each ring allowed the fire to be fed after tubs were in place.
We quickly added water to the tubs. Each tub had a capacity of about 15 gallons. We never completely filled them, of course, because laundry would be added. Hattie measured the right amount of soap flakes out of a cardboard box into one of them. We did not know how to do that.
Hattie and Mother selected the right things to wash, white first, of course. The laundry within the soapy washing tub was agitated manually using a stout wooden hoe handle. Laundry was lifted up out of the bubbling hot water and dropped back the right number of times. We never knew how many to do.
After the "wash cycle," the same tool was used to lift and transfer too-hot-to-handle laundry into the adjacent clean water rinse tub. The same agitation was applied to ensure that the clean clothes were well rinsed. When we behaved, we were allowed to manipulate the hoe handle and to feed the fire.
The next step was to lift rinsed items with the hoe handle and, while they were still very hot, drape them over a galvanized wire clothes line. One end of each of three wires was attached to the grapefruit tree and the other to a vertical post fitted with a crossbar and well set into the ground. The laundry was spread on the wires and secured by wooden clothes pins fitted with wire springs.
The Florida sun made quick work of drying. We helped take the dry laundry it into the house to be ironed the next day. The tubs were emptied into the backyard and stacked in the garage until next week. In later years we sent the flat work to the laundry. Of course, there came a time after World War II when magical appliances such as clothes washers, mangles and dryers eased the tasks of the housekeepers of America and the world. But, when we were little, hat was Monday.
Best wishes, Billy Hawkfinder
Thursday, January 5, 2012
The New Energetics: Is Shale Gas of Age?
Greetings, All -- It is very pleasant to watch the robust growth of our corps of followers. It is very satisfactory assuming that it enters into its geometric growth phase before long. Whether or not that ever happens, we are confident that our followers are excellent in all respects and are closely matched by our visitors.
The amount of scientific, engineering, construction, production and financial activity in the field of interest that we call "The New Energetics" is growing at a staggering rate. Over the holidays, we read an article appearing in Physics Today. David Kramer's piece on shale gas extraction highlights issues facing the industry. [http://www.physicstoday.org/resource/1/phtoad/v64/i7/p23_s1?bypassSSO=1] The immense potential of shale gas raises the ante in terms of cash, national security and employment growth arising from its major risk factors. The penetration of shale gas potential in the world of economics, finance and politics is highlighted in Dr. Benny Prosser's "Shale Gas Revolution Turns the Tables on Oil Powers." [http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/43701]
David Kramer states that the U.S. Department of Energy estimates shale and other deposits contain gas to satisfy domestic demand for 110 years! By now, everyone has seen the video portraying kitchen tap water flaming when ignited, presumably a result of a shale fracking operation in the area. Kramer quotes a gas industry official denying responsibility. Major problems arising from the disposal of huge volumes of contaminated fluids are vexing industry and residents alike. Because the petroleum industry largely departed Pennsylvania decades ago, there are few "disposal wells" into which such waste materials can be injected. Several companies are now constructing major pipelines to bring fresh water to the shale fields and remove waste water to suitable disposal facilities.
Injecting waste water deep into the earth sounds like a good idea absent earthquakes. Earthquakes? Yes, indeed. We recall seeing an article some thirty or forty years ago in which heavy rainy seasons in Central America were correlated with seismic activity. Perhaps we are confirming something here. Arkansas has experienced quakes that are attributed by some to water injection. This is now being studied. Some authorities have suggested that the recent Virginia quake that twisted our house into a pretzel, but without damage, arose from injection into West Virginia fields. The latest event was in Ohio. [http://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/energy/fossil-fuels/ohio-natural-gas-activity-halted-after-40-earthquake/?utm_source=techalert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=010512] We await with interest the results of geological and seismological studies of the events.
Some folks mourning the death of innovation in America seem to be a tad premature. America is now giving the world a new lease on Freedom -- Freedom from threats to cut energy lifelines or to beggar the buyer community. The Persians are waving their missiles and naval vessels about the Straits of Hormuz and the Russians are picking the pockets of the Poles, Germans and others with confiscatory natural gas pricing policy. U.S. natural gas is priced at one third the European price! Furthermore, we do not threaten customers with frostbite, a hammer now held over the Ukraine.
Best wishes, Billy Hawkfinder
The amount of scientific, engineering, construction, production and financial activity in the field of interest that we call "The New Energetics" is growing at a staggering rate. Over the holidays, we read an article appearing in Physics Today. David Kramer's piece on shale gas extraction highlights issues facing the industry. [http://www.physicstoday.org/resource/1/phtoad/v64/i7/p23_s1?bypassSSO=1] The immense potential of shale gas raises the ante in terms of cash, national security and employment growth arising from its major risk factors. The penetration of shale gas potential in the world of economics, finance and politics is highlighted in Dr. Benny Prosser's "Shale Gas Revolution Turns the Tables on Oil Powers." [http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/43701]
David Kramer states that the U.S. Department of Energy estimates shale and other deposits contain gas to satisfy domestic demand for 110 years! By now, everyone has seen the video portraying kitchen tap water flaming when ignited, presumably a result of a shale fracking operation in the area. Kramer quotes a gas industry official denying responsibility. Major problems arising from the disposal of huge volumes of contaminated fluids are vexing industry and residents alike. Because the petroleum industry largely departed Pennsylvania decades ago, there are few "disposal wells" into which such waste materials can be injected. Several companies are now constructing major pipelines to bring fresh water to the shale fields and remove waste water to suitable disposal facilities.
Injecting waste water deep into the earth sounds like a good idea absent earthquakes. Earthquakes? Yes, indeed. We recall seeing an article some thirty or forty years ago in which heavy rainy seasons in Central America were correlated with seismic activity. Perhaps we are confirming something here. Arkansas has experienced quakes that are attributed by some to water injection. This is now being studied. Some authorities have suggested that the recent Virginia quake that twisted our house into a pretzel, but without damage, arose from injection into West Virginia fields. The latest event was in Ohio. [http://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/energy/fossil-fuels/ohio-natural-gas-activity-halted-after-40-earthquake/?utm_source=techalert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=010512] We await with interest the results of geological and seismological studies of the events.
Some folks mourning the death of innovation in America seem to be a tad premature. America is now giving the world a new lease on Freedom -- Freedom from threats to cut energy lifelines or to beggar the buyer community. The Persians are waving their missiles and naval vessels about the Straits of Hormuz and the Russians are picking the pockets of the Poles, Germans and others with confiscatory natural gas pricing policy. U.S. natural gas is priced at one third the European price! Furthermore, we do not threaten customers with frostbite, a hammer now held over the Ukraine.
Best wishes, Billy Hawkfinder
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Seven Keys to the Good Life
On New Year’s Day, Hawkfinder goofed off. As projected, we enjoyed a lucky mess of black-eye peas and partook of egg nogg. Despite our complaints, we watched five football scraps brought to us by advertisers in their wisdom. It was a bit of a surprise and delight that the Florida Gators survived their encounter with the Ohio State Buckeyes. In company with many others, however, we are in shock to see former Gator football coach, Urban Meyer, segue from the Orange Columbus
My wife and I have spent nearly 65 years together, 50 years next September in the same house. We have come to some conclusions as to what’s important and what’s not, but before spreading these thoughts at length, some caveats. No family, neither mine, nor yours, nor anyone’s in the real world succeeds at all times in perfecting these keys. They do not include overarching philosophical and cultural backdrops such as religion, dietary laws, political persuasion, functional challenges and a host of other differences welcomed by America
The Seven Keys to the Good Life
· Loving, understanding and inclusive family interrelationships.
· A job or jobs that provide satisfaction and adequate income.
· An evening meal at the family table with meaningful conversation.
· Family appreciation of learning, music, the arts and other cultures.
· Friends and relatives who can and do enrich the immediate family circle.
· Home, appliances and furnishings set in an acceptable environment.
· Engaging in sound physical, mental and emotional health practices.
Every family is free to choose, but often the bounds of ability, money and just plain luck tie us down. You and we know that, so we do the very best we can to live the good life and, more to the point, to teach our children to live that which is positive and to avoid the temptations posed by those ways of life that are negative or even downright evil.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Happy New Year? Let Us Hope!
Greetings, All -- Here we all are, in 2012. Last year was a trip, wasn't it? Can we imagine that this year will be better? Worse? Predictions are probably best left to ancient sages such as Nostradamus, but we can look at a few facts and make a few suppositions even though a year from now, there will be egg on Hawkfinder's face.
The foremost question in most minds is probably the trends in the U.S. Economy which, of course, shares strong dependence on the state of the rest of the world. One of the most watched indicators of our stock markets is the Standard and Poor's 500 stock index (S&P 500) that reduces the performance of most of the values to a single number. Well, Folks, that number did not vary one iota between the opening and closing of 2011. Encouraging? It did not go down, so that is better than the alternative. Perhaps it is a somewhat hopeful sign, but I certainly do not know how to read it.
We are all acutely aware of the sluggish reluctance of unemployment to fall, yet there has been some improvement during past months. Other measures of U.S. economic activity have shown modest gains. The future may depend markedly on which politically-supported idea prevails: reduced spending through budget cuts or increased spending on infrastructure and other items aimed at reducing unemployment at the cost of temporarily increasing deficits. In the worst case, nothing at all will be done until after the November elections. Meanwhile, the solution of the enigma of Europe's future posture in all of this is yet to be revealed.
My personal concern runs beyond the Economy to issues of geopolitical friction and actual combat. There is a rising tide of quite bellicose comment regarding the perceived threat of a nuclear armed Iran. This troubles me because, contrary to most opinion, I believe Iran to be the key to quiet in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Should Iran, Pakistan and the United States work through the turmoil of today's headlines and come to some means of tolerating one another, that would be a giant step toward peaceful resolutions in the Middle East and South Asia. Considering present attitudes, that hope may be smashed on the anvil of reality.
Many other sore spots vex the globe, relations with China, North Korea (DPRK) and even with close allies on matters such as protection of the environment come to mind. These will be considered by Hawkfinder as the world turns. I join with you in hoping for the best. I am confident that our very capable civil and military capacities will be ready to deal with any contingency that we face. May they be few and tractable.
Best wishes, Billy Hawkfinder
The foremost question in most minds is probably the trends in the U.S. Economy which, of course, shares strong dependence on the state of the rest of the world. One of the most watched indicators of our stock markets is the Standard and Poor's 500 stock index (S&P 500) that reduces the performance of most of the values to a single number. Well, Folks, that number did not vary one iota between the opening and closing of 2011. Encouraging? It did not go down, so that is better than the alternative. Perhaps it is a somewhat hopeful sign, but I certainly do not know how to read it.
We are all acutely aware of the sluggish reluctance of unemployment to fall, yet there has been some improvement during past months. Other measures of U.S. economic activity have shown modest gains. The future may depend markedly on which politically-supported idea prevails: reduced spending through budget cuts or increased spending on infrastructure and other items aimed at reducing unemployment at the cost of temporarily increasing deficits. In the worst case, nothing at all will be done until after the November elections. Meanwhile, the solution of the enigma of Europe's future posture in all of this is yet to be revealed.
My personal concern runs beyond the Economy to issues of geopolitical friction and actual combat. There is a rising tide of quite bellicose comment regarding the perceived threat of a nuclear armed Iran. This troubles me because, contrary to most opinion, I believe Iran to be the key to quiet in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Should Iran, Pakistan and the United States work through the turmoil of today's headlines and come to some means of tolerating one another, that would be a giant step toward peaceful resolutions in the Middle East and South Asia. Considering present attitudes, that hope may be smashed on the anvil of reality.
Many other sore spots vex the globe, relations with China, North Korea (DPRK) and even with close allies on matters such as protection of the environment come to mind. These will be considered by Hawkfinder as the world turns. I join with you in hoping for the best. I am confident that our very capable civil and military capacities will be ready to deal with any contingency that we face. May they be few and tractable.
Best wishes, Billy Hawkfinder
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