tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52138952024-03-14T06:14:55.039-04:00Ted Rice's BlogTed's Blog: My thoughts on all sorts of things.Ted Ricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13538540954430279808noreply@blogger.comBlogger234125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5213895.post-19405127460062525222024-01-08T12:51:00.000-05:002024-01-08T12:51:27.284-05:00George and Tryphena Wilber and Family of White Creek, NY and Momence, Illinois<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYC8bPhcjNQ&t=13s&pp=ygUMQHRlZHJpY2UxMDI2">George and Tryphena Wilber and Family of White Creek, NY and Momence, Illinois</a>Ted Ricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13538540954430279808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5213895.post-55480267751234237072023-11-07T09:04:00.000-05:002023-11-07T09:04:02.847-05:00Mandating More Staffing in Nursing HomesInterestingly, all people of all political persuasions think about today is getting control of government and mandating this, that, or the other thing. In my experience, mandates first of all breed intense resentment which leads mostly to outright disobedience, foot dragging, creative ways to claim to be meeting the mandate while not doing so, and organizing to wrest control of government from those who mandate and eliminate the mandates while at the same time inflicting your opponents with other mandates they dislike. It is an endless cycle of futility. Incentives work much better. While both the carrot and the stick are necessary in real life, the carrot should always be used first and the stick sparingly and only as a last resort.
The biggest part of the worker shortage in all fields is that the top managers and executives get far too much and their pay is NOT based on real performance, not on consistent LONG TERM results. The actual workers are greatly underpaid to keep costs down so the big shots can get more. Get pay up for the workers, but only for those workers who actually work, not those who just put in time. A good manager should be able to tell the two apart, especially over a period of time. But he/she won't learn that out on the golf course. If they can't discern who is a productive worker from the fast talkers and idea stealers, they shouldn't even be in management, much less getting obscene levels of pay.Ted Ricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13538540954430279808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5213895.post-71374389816188981932023-09-30T12:26:00.001-04:002023-09-30T12:26:22.487-04:00Walking into the Old Nelson Farm<iframe style="background-image:url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/yItGNoBnXRQ/hqdefault.jpg)" width="480" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/yItGNoBnXRQ?si=kN5aDaeqbhZGn2oH" frameborder="0"></iframe>Ted Ricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13538540954430279808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5213895.post-60776926132429104282023-08-04T14:26:00.004-04:002023-08-04T14:26:56.613-04:00New VideoAfter a year and a half barely touching a video camera I finally got out and shot a new historical video. Then processed and produced it and posted it on YouTube for viewing! <a href="https://youtu.be/4LoNJHbV1M8">https://youtu.be/4LoNJHbV1M8</a> . A lot came back to me so I didn't have to start learning all over from scratch, as I had feared. I actually had a lot of fun. Ted Ricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13538540954430279808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5213895.post-85727121206928264292023-07-05T16:14:00.000-04:002023-07-05T16:14:06.718-04:00The Ukraine War Russo/Euro-American War<p>The war in Ukraine, which Russia foolishly thought would be over in a few weeks, is now dragging on into its 497th day (I think). Northwards of 350,000 people (both sides) have died. Over 5 million people have fled Ukraine, about 1.5 million going to Russia, the rest mostly to Europe. Many will likely never return.</p>
<p>The Grand Invasion ended quickly in tragedy due to hubris, overconfidence, poor planning and abysmal logistics. But the several "grand counter-offensives" have also failed, as the war has degenerated into WW1 style trench warfare. Much of Eastern Ukraine lies in ruins. Gains of a few hundred yards are being reported by the "news media" as great victories, and losses of the same as "minor setbacks". The total destruction of Bakmuht, apparently of no strategic value, led to Ukrainian defeat, but the Ukrainians are talking of trying to retake it. Why? There is only a heap of rubble there. As in WW1, armor is used and destroyed trying to break the trenches. No biplanes fly overhead, but suicide drones carry out the same functions - minus the romance and dogfights.</p>
<p>Unlike WW1, dangerous civilian infrastructure dots the landscape - nuclear power plants, huge dams, etc. Threats to use these as weapons keep increasing. One dam has already been destroyed, with each side trying to blame the other for it. Out of the area, major Russian pipelines have been destroyed.</p>
<p>The USA and Western Europe have kept regular troops out of the conflict, (which isn't to say Special Forces and "Advisors" haven't been involved). But they have poured billions of dollars in old, and more recently, mid-level weaponry into the conflict. The "just-in-time" compromised supply chains of the West have been stressed to the limit to produce enough ammunition and supplies to keep the war going, but they have produced enough to slow the Russian advance and halt it in places.</p>
<p>As the war drags on, it becomes more and more evident that it is actually a war between Western Europe/United States and Russia. The Ukrainians are the cannon fodder being used to carry it out. The goal of the war for the West is obviously to gain control of Russia's natural resources, particularly oil and gas, but also minerals. They wanted that in Afghanistan but it proved too difficult. Control of the arctic is also at stake.</p>
<p>And the elephant in the room is the preservation of the dollar as the global medium of exchange - though that is more under threat by China than Russia.</p>
<p>Russia's short-term goal is to retake Eastern Ukraine, set up a defensible border, and secure their naval base in Crimea. The long-term goal of the war for Russia is to outlast the collapsing American Empire. America and Europe's repeated attempts to destroy their own economies "to stop global warming", along with the rapid moral and ethical decay of both, doubtless gives Russia hope they can do this. My opinion is that the long term goal is more easily achievable than the short term one.</p>
<p>The West is trying to stymie Russia's plans by sending more and more lethal weaponry to Ukraine. Cluster Bombs are the latest weapon being proposed. Can poison gas be far off? In response Russia has moved tactical nukes to the borders and threatened to use them. As in 1914, we are only one small slip-up away from World War. Both sides are flush with technology but low on manpower, so it will be a different sort of war. Whichever side can best survive the first exchange of high tech weaponry will likely win, because once that is expended there won't be any more, nor any money to build it. The factories will have been destroyed, and the West at least didn't learn anything from WW2 Germany and has concentrated its few huge factories near cities. Easy targets! Russia I can't speak for on that, but it has a vast land area. However, their Ukraine planning shows serious weaknesses in forward planning.</p>
<p>May you live in interesting times!</p>Ted Ricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13538540954430279808noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5213895.post-73685090976322965802023-03-06T10:31:00.000-05:002023-03-06T10:31:27.980-05:00The "15 Minute City"<p>The idea of cities where everything of importance is within a 15 minute walk or bike ride of where you live is not in itself a bad idea. It would involve a return to small local shops and services. Big malls would be out, they are failing now anyway. But huge sports stadiums would also be out - somehow I can't see that flying in our sports-obsessed society. Museums and entertainment venues would be badly hurt. People would have to travel to get to them. Public transportation would be necessary to get to things farther away like that - clean, safe, on time transportation - not at all what we have today or are likely to have when city governments refuse to enforce laws and maintain order.</p>
<p>Where the problem comes in is when government gets involved in "mandating" where we live. We all know the environmentalists and climate crazies are going to try to use government to force people in the country and small towns to move to and live in such cities whether they want to or not.</p>
<p>I have no problem at all with groups of people voluntarily trying out new methods of doing things. Most, like communes in the 1960's, will probably not work out, but some things may. The 80/20 rule almost always wins out - 20% of the people do 80% of the work, until they get sick of it and leave and the whole project falls apart.</p>
<p>However, special interest groups taking control of government and "passing laws", basically top down command and control, does NOT WORK. As an example, it didn't work for the Religious Right. Instead of starting at the grassroots and winning people to Christ and discipling them, they tried the "command and control" method, thus antagonizing people and losing even more influence. Plus starting movements to resist the Christian message. Before you athiests and agnostics enthusiastically agree with that statement, THINK! The Global Warming movement is no different. Instead of winning people to their cause and teaching them, they are trying the "command and control" method. They want to dictate rather than convince. It seems to be faster, and they are in a panic. The results are so far and are going to be exactly the same.</p>
<p>Will there be "15 minute cities"? Yes, they will be (and are being) tried, but most will probably not be very successful. Especially in the developed countries with aging populations and months of cold and snow, relying on walking and bicycles is simply not practical. There are a lot of ideas being floated at this time. Linear cities are also being proposed and Saudi Arabia is thinking of actually building one. I do not see how these could help but be a disaster for migrating wildlife (and people). They are effectively no different than border walls in their effects. They would open up agricultural land (I always said they would eventually be bulldozing suburbs to plant crops), but at present we are still destroying agricultural land by suburban development and by war - like in Ukraine.</p>
<p>Growing economic problems are also going to limit actually implementing these new ideas. We can't maintain what we have now. Finding people to work is a growing problem. Supply chains keep collapsing.</p>
<p>The best thing we can probably do is to start solving our own problems, both as individuals and small groups. Big Government is simply too corrupt and inept to solve anything.</p> Ted Ricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13538540954430279808noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5213895.post-32014134181516849392023-01-13T16:09:00.000-05:002023-01-13T16:09:38.289-05:00Do You Support Democracy?<p>The definition of Democracy is: "government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system."</p>
<p>To have a democracy, then, you have to trust the people. Trust them to listen to and read all points of view, all kinds of opinions, and eventually the majority of the people will settle on the truth and move forward with that. Never will every individual see the truth, of course, but the majority will. </p>
<p>Don't want to allow "misinformation"? Then you do not trust the people and are not a supporter of democracy, but an advocate of autocracy. Who chose and appointed you to decide for others what is misinformation and what is true? You have the right to decide for yourself, true, but not the right to decide for others.</p>
<p>Do you only want "experts" and "professionals" to be able to speak out on issues? Then you are a worshipper following a religion, where only the "ordained priests" have the right to decide the truth. You do not trust the people. You are not a supporter of democracy. You are a supporter of an authoritarian religion.</p>
<p>ALL necessary information should be freely available to everyone, and everyone should be able to debate it with others in public and private without being censored, marginalized, or "shadow banned". They should be able to question the facts and find answers. Freedom of thought and freedom of speech are both essential to a democracy.</p>
<p>I find a lot of words of support for democracy from those who are doing their best to destroy it and establish a elitist technocracy where only the "properly educated" can be allowed to speak, be heard, and be debated. That sort of system is NOT a democracy. Where it's government partners with corporations to decide what information people can or can't hear, read, and discuss they are promoting corporatism (better known as fascism)and are no supporters or friends of democracy.</p>
<p>The only limits to free speech should be 1. manners and common courtesy - in other words considering others and being kind to those with who you disagree. 2. Not advocating violence against any person or group because of what they believe or advocate for. These both call for individual character and self-control. Lack of these, not free speech itself, is responsible for much of what makes us so nasty today. Jesus' command to "do unto others as we would have them do unto us" are as relevant today as 2000 years ago.</p>
<p>Government should only be involved in the last case. And then only if violence was openly advocated, not because some other nutcase used what was said or written as an excuse to act violently. There should have to be a direct and proveable connection, with proveable intent on the part of the speaker or writer.</p>
Ted Ricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13538540954430279808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5213895.post-9647752082712558192022-12-30T13:41:00.003-05:002022-12-30T13:41:59.444-05:00
<h1 class="legacy">Three leadership qualities that Elon Musk’s replacement as Twitter’s CEO will need to have</h1>
<span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/stefan-stern-616728">Stefan Stern</a>, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/city-university-of-london-1047">City, University of London</a></em></span>
<p>In a strong <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/2003cc06-223f-42e7-9c12-44c35b1fb125">response to a recent Twitter poll</a> posted by Elon Musk, users of the platform have called for him to relinquish his position as CEO. Musk has responded that he’ll step down when he “<a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1605372724800393216">finds someone foolish enough</a>” to take over as CEO, saying he will run the software and server teams instead. But any replacement will need to be able to steer Twitter back to calmer waters, with Musk remaining majority owner.</p>
<p>It’s been <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/timeline-of-billionaire-elon-musk-s-bid-to-control-twitter/6809092.html">a tumultuous year for Twitter and Musk</a>. He began building up shares in the company in January 2022 and his US$44 billion (£36 billion) bid to buy the platform was accepted in April. He then tried to pull out of the deal in July, before finally taking ownership in October. Since then he has made – and sometimes walked back – numerous changes to the popular social media platform.</p>
<p>Indeed, Musk’s reaction to finally getting his hands on Twitter has been reminiscent of Christmas morning, when children rip open presents, display initial excitement and then quickly lose interest. Musk may have imagined that owning the website would be fun and make him feel powerful. </p>
<p>But the reality has been rather different. He has been criticised and abused, both online and <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/12/elon-musk-booed-by-crowd-at-dave-chapelle-comedy-gig.html">in real life</a> and now <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2022/dec/19/elon-musk-polls-twitter-users-over-stepping-down-as-ceo-business-live">57.5% of more than 17.5 million Twitter users</a> have voted for him to stand down as its CEO.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Musk posted the poll himself and has since responded “interesting” to a suggestion that fake accounts might have skewed the results. He also agreed that only paid subscribers should be <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/elon-musk-twitter-voting-blue-subscribers-b2248369.html">able to vote </a>on future Twitter policy changes. </p>
<p>There has been <a href="https://twitter.com/jeffjarvis/status/1604810691092877314">some speculation</a> that Musk has come under pressure from other Twitter shareholders and lenders to move on. Further, Musk has been <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/tesla-shares-down-over-5-hit-lowest-level-20-months-2022-11-09/">selling billions in Tesla stock</a> and its share price is down by over 60% this year. <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elon-musk-tesla-down-700-billion-in-value-angry-investors/">Shareholders in the car firm</a> would probably like their hitherto successful CEO back full time. </p>
<p>So, if Twitter wants to find a new CEO, what sort of person should the troubled social media platform be looking for? As a student of leadership, I can see three key requirements for anyone considering – or being considered for – this role right now:</p>
<h2>1. Confidence and independence</h2>
<p>A new Twitter CEO will want assurances that they will be free to take decisions about the direction of the business without being second-guessed by Musk as the majority owner. So the new CEO will need to be confident, perhaps even arrogant, and ready to stand their ground.</p>
<h2>2. The ability to face facts</h2>
<p>The new leader will have to “confront the brutal facts” of the situation – according to management expert Jim Collins, this is <a href="https://www.jimcollins.com/concepts/confront-the-brutal-facts.html">how to begin productive change</a>. Twitter is struggling financially. </p>
<p>Musk paid US$44 billion to buy it, perhaps twice what it was worth. He has borrowed huge sums and sold large tranches of Tesla stock <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/musk-exploring-tender-offer-acquire-outstanding-shares-twitter-2022-04-21/">to help fund the acquisition</a>. But he could now face interest payments to lenders of <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/11/elon-musk-twitter-banks-loans/672258/#:%7E:text=as%20much%20as%20%241%20billion%20a%20year">up to US$1 billion a year</a> unless Twitter’s financial health can be turned around. These are the brutal facts a new leader must confront.</p>
<h2>3. An imaginative approach to management</h2>
<p>The social media platform’s current position leads on to a third requirement for the new leader: imagination. Twitter is a resounding practical success. It is influential and powerful. It has certainly sped up the flow of information (admittedly, inaccurate information as well as the useful kind). </p>
<p>And it can be a force for good – for example providing data and advice during the COVID-19 pandemic or helping to highlight the failings of politicians or the media – even with the unpleasantness and abuse that seem to be an unavoidable part of tweeting.</p>
<p>But is it really a commercial proposition? It is not a platform like Facebook or Instagram that can deliver billions of users to potential advertisers. Indeed, many <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/11/25/1139180002/twitter-loses-50-top-advertisers-elon-musk#:%7E:text=via%20Getty%20Images-,Half%20of%20Twitter's%20top%20100%20advertisers%20appear%20to%20no%20longer,%24750%20million%20just%20in%202022.">prominent advertisers left the site</a> apparently in response to Musk’s chaotic decision making.</p>
<p>Perhaps the imaginative leap the new CEO has to make will be to turn Twitter into a viable not-for-profit organisation, one that has enormous utility and value, if not the ability to easily make money for its owners and for advertisers. In this case, a core task for the new CEO will be to recognise what sort of business Twitter is, and decide whether it is really a conventional for-profit business at all.</p>
<h2>Sticking with the plan</h2>
<p>And this leads us to a major task for any future Twitter CEO – and perhaps the heart of the problem with Twitter. Musk changes his mind frequently – <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/elon-musk-twitter-poll-results-stepping-down-b2248382.html#:%7E:text=Twitter%20then%20reversed%20the%20policy%20within%20hours.">sometimes within hours</a>, as we saw recently when he appeared to walk back a policy change regarding users’ ability to link to other social media accounts. He may rethink stepping down, or even appoint someone only to sack them.</p>
<p>This brings us to a very valuable leadership lesson that the maverick Musk has taught everyone in recent months: we should hesitate before labelling forceful people as great leaders in any setting until we have seen what their long-term impact has been.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196886/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p>
<p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/stefan-stern-616728">Stefan Stern</a>, Visiting Professor of Management Practice, Bayes Business School, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/city-university-of-london-1047">City, University of London</a></em></span></p>
<p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/three-leadership-qualities-that-elon-musks-replacement-as-twitters-ceo-will-need-to-have-196886">original article</a>.</p>
<p>I think Twitter will survive if they dump ALL the spooks and insist on their freedom to publish, all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary. All Social Media sites are having problems and losing revenue, and the censorship is a big part of the problem. Another big part is the now rapidly unraveling economy. People simply have less discretionary income, due in part to our entrance into yet another European War causing skyrocketing energy costs, and in part to our caving to the Climate Disaster screamers who have no practical understanding about how things work.
Ted Ricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13538540954430279808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5213895.post-5216651364639789452022-11-09T15:04:00.002-05:002022-11-09T15:04:48.512-05:00Election Results and What Follows <p>Although the results of some races won't be known for awhile, overall it appears to me (as a Libertarian) that the overall result was that nothing changed. America is as divided as ever. The Republicans won a few races and lost a few others. Same for the Democrats. </p>
<br />
<p><b>Republicans:</b></p>
<br />
<p>This continuing stalemate would favor the Republicans in 2024 if they play their cards right. It is well known that most voters vote their wallets. The Democrats are now so welded at the hip to the global warming panic position that it seems they don't care how many old people freeze this winter, how bad the economy gets without diesel or heating oil, whether the poor starve, or anything else much except cutting CO2. The Republicans need to offer creative solutions (making sure they won't be adopted before 2024), but otherwise step back and let the Democrats own the disaster and hang themselves. They also need to take a different position than the Dems on the incessant wars we keep getting involved in. The less visible the Republicans are, the better. If people notice them, it should be as voices of reason, displaying quiet competence. Diplomatic types. In the meantime they need to get a really good Presidential candidate for 2024. And somehow get Donald Trump out of the limelight before he splits the vote and gives the Democrats an easy win. Trump is their biggest potential liability going into 2024.</p>
<br />
<p>Democrats:</p>
<br />
<p>As the party in power, the Democrats seem to have managed to hang onto the Senate but lost the House, which makes it harder to accomplish anything. Rule by Executive Order ("Imperial Decree") is a lot more of a threat to Democracy than Donald Trump. Their President's rapidly deteriorating mental state is becoming more and more obvious. They need a better plan to deal with that until 2024. Their best hope is to try to forge some bipartisan alliances in support of things most Americans want, like improved healthcare, which will make the other Republicans look bad if they block them. They need to try to show some concern for the working stiffs even if it hinders reaching their CO2 goals. And they need to break with the extremists (not so affectionately) known as the "looney left". They will get most of their votes anyway - where else are they going to go? The Dems are too arrogant to pick up much support in the country, but can restore their support in the suburbs, especially if they begin to appeal to women. Get tougher on violent crime, support families, forget about appealing to youth while alienating older folks in the process - as there are less of them every year due to the "baby bust". Most don't vote anyway. And Democrats, like Republicans, need to look for a better, younger Presidential candidate in 2024.</p>
<br />
<p>Both parties need to agree on starting to build up reserves to get America through natural disasters and wars. We should have learned from the last few years not to be dependent on long, fragile supply chains. Power and Responsibility need to be devolved to State and Local Governments, private organizations, and individual Americans. We need to solve our problems at home, not get involved in other countries' affairs.</p>
<br />
<p>Ted Rice, November 2022</p>
Ted Ricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13538540954430279808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5213895.post-9015885548824561782022-10-27T21:41:00.037-04:002022-10-27T22:05:42.200-04:00Americans Need to Wake Up Before it is Too Late.<p>It certainly seems that this fellow is exactly on target as to what is going on in Washington these days. It may well be that the Democrats want to swing the election by staging a false flag operation, but I think there is something much bigger and a lot more evil going on. We live in strange times when the Democrats and Liberals are almost unanimous in promoting all-out nuclear war while the other party, usually totally pro-military, is growing increasingly uneasy about it. But be sure the USA won't be able to hide behind a 3000 mile moat this time - Russia may suffer more and "lose", but we will be hit and hit hard. If you think the supply chain disruptions of Covid were bad, just wait a few months. No one wins a nuclear war, most especially the environment that liberal warmongers pretend to be so concerned about.</p>
<p>I can't insert the video so you will have to copy and paste the link, or go to YouTube and search for it.</p>
<p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mQiCcW80Qw&t=613s</p>
<p>US Col. Richard Black: "It's Not Russia that is Planning an October Surprise with a Dirty Bomb"</p>
Ted Ricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13538540954430279808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5213895.post-1033357636043218292022-07-02T18:08:00.000-04:002022-07-02T18:08:30.080-04:00Roe vs Wade<p> I never thought I would live to see that horrible ruling reversed, but it was.</p><p>The sudden demand for "morning after" pills and other birth control meds exposed the lie that abortion was not used as a form of birth control.</p><p>The avalanche of hate being spewed out shows there is little hope left for America in any case. </p><p>But the pro life movement also needs to rein in the rhetoric. Sticking your nose in other people's private medical records, banning interstate travel, and other measures are both unconstitutional and evil themselves. </p><p>The Court unfortunately did not settle the matter by ruling a baby is a person entitled to the protection of the law, it just threw it to the States . The controversy will continue.</p>Ted Ricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13538540954430279808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5213895.post-72838607896907344862022-06-02T11:02:00.003-04:002022-06-02T11:02:20.452-04:00 What Makes You an Educated (Hu)Man?<p> </p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span> </span>There is a whole lot
of idle chatter today about “following the accepted experts”.
Scientists or whatever. The elites look down on everyone else as
“uneducated yahoos”. But <u>f</u><u>ew </u><u>people </u><u>actually
know how to do much of anything outside their specialty</u>, so they
call on people who are different kinds of specialist to do everything
else for them. This works as long as your specialty pays enough, but
it is an unnecessarily expensive lifestyle. Also a fragile one.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span> </span>What does it mean to
be an Educated Person?</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span> </span>Let’s take an
example. John Doe wants to become an expert at assembling jigsaw
puzzles. He applies to attend a college to learn how and is accepted.
After four years of attending this school, he passes his final test
by assembling a 100 piece jigsaw puzzle. He glues it to a board,
frames it, and hangs it on his office wall so everyone will know he
is a qualified jigsaw man! Now he has achieved that piece of paper,
his “education” is over. He never does another nor even works on
learning to do a 200 piece puzzle, much less attempting a five
thousand piece 3d puzzle. A minority of John Does go on for another 2
years to learn 200 piece puzzles and get another framed puzzle to
hang on their wall. Even fewer go on to the next stage.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span> </span>Is being educated
possessing a piece of paper on a wall saying you achieved certain
minimum standards?
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span> </span>Mary Marvel decides
to specialize. She buys a 5000 piece landscape puzzle, selects a
single piece, and spends her life learning every dot on that piece.
She can tell you the exact color and intensity of every such printed
dot. She polishes the piece daily to keep it shiny and in perfect
condition. Yet she has no idea of how it fits together with the other
pieces around it, or what the big picture looks like. She misses how
her piece interlocks and works with other pieces to make an image. If
she is exceptional she may work out how it meshes with a few
surrounding pieces, but she never sees the whole picture.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span> </span>Is being
hyper-specialized being an educated person?</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span> </span>Education is a
process</b>, not a goal that you reach, score, collect the reward,
and then rest on your laurels. Good teachers can help you learn and
become educated, poor ones can hinder you and hold you back, but <u>no
one but yourself can educate you</u>. You can achieve 3 PhD's and
still be ignorant. In 1900 human knowledge doubled every 100 years,
today it doubles every 13 months, and it is still accelerating, so
becoming and remaining educated is a constant battle. Education is
and has to be a life-long process. You always need to be reading,
studying, and learning new things – and even so you will be falling
behind. You need to start educating yourself at birth and not to
slack off until death.
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span> </span>27% of US adults
don’t read a single book in a year. Women and the college-educated
read the most. But there is no measure of quality in this – are the
books you are reading educating and challenging you or just
entertaining you and confirming your existing beliefs and biases? The
same question can be asked about newer methods of education –
videos, online lectures, etc. Today you have all kinds of ways to
educate yourself even if you can’t find a teacher or afford a
school. Take advantage of them.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span> </span>If you specialize,
you will become more and more ignorant of anything outside your
specialty. We are all part of an ecosystem. All parts of it work
together. Specialize too much and you will miss vital connections
with other parts of the system. Generalize too much and you will have
fragmentary information from here, there, and the other place that
you can’t fit together because so much is missing.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span> </span>The only way I can
see to overcome the specialization problem is to work together in
teams including both specialists and generalists, but this is usually
sabotaged by professional arrogance. The specialists cannot view
themselves as superior and look down on the generalists, or vice
versa. In fact, the West is very ignorant of teamwork at all. Our
idea of a team is one or two superstars with some lesser support
people. In reality, all should be equal in a real team. The team, not
any individual, should get the credit for success and the criticism
for failure.
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span> </span>If you are not or
cannot be part of a team, specialize in something but work outward
from your specialty to learn things that might immediately mesh with
it, then continue studying outward following lines of connection with
those areas. You will never be successful at not wasting some time,
nor at not missing something important, but you will do a lot better
than Mary Marvel.</p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"> </p><p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">Just a reminder, polite comments are always appreciated! <br /></p>
<p><style type="text/css">p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }</style></p>Ted Ricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13538540954430279808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5213895.post-14760566012822566052022-05-17T12:49:00.003-04:002022-05-17T12:49:57.485-04:00A Few Random Thoughts:<p> The Fall Elections: </p><p>Single issue voters in any political party are a minority. The Majority are always known to vote their wallets. So though inflation is slowed, it is still there and has become a very real issue for "Main Street". Supply chain shortages are still there, though what is short varies month by month. Plenty of toilet paper and sanitizer now, but no baby formula or diesel fuel. Inflation will either still be an issue in November, or the economic collapse it will cause will be the issue. In either case the party that has been in power will be the one that gets blamed. Abortion is not going to bail them out, neither will aiding Ukraine militarily. It also seems Covid will still be a problem, and so they can't even claim victory in that area. Unless there is a sea change, control of Congress is going to return to the Republicans. That gives them two years to actually solve some major economic problems. If they do not, they will lose a lot of their advantage by 2024. In which case nothing will be accomplished by government and it will continue to lose credibility and support.<br /></p><p>Wealth Inequality:</p><p>This is an issue both parties refuse to seriously address, mostly because those in control of both are wealthy and intend to remain that way. But if it is not addressed, the USA is going to become increasingly unstable and dangerous. Like with the 1930's, it will probably take a catastrophe and new leadership to turn things around. Or the nation may simply split up.<br /></p><p>Population Collapse:</p><p>This is already affecting Russia, whose population is starting to decline rapidly, but little to nothing has been done about it. Trashing their economy with the Ukraine War is going to make it even harder for parents to afford children. China, which looks much farther into the future, is already fearing it. They have gone from the one child maximum to a two child - with no results. Judging by the way they have dealt with Covid, they are likely eventually to go to a two child MINIMUM, with severe restrictions on abortion and birth control until that level is reached. The US Government is hoping massive immigration will solve its problem, but that will create other and more severe problems. Most ordinary Americans seem to have stopped thinking in 1970 and see no problem with a massive reduction in population. (The "groceries grow on store shelves" approach). Japan is slowly fading away, becoming a nation of geriatrics. They are not likely to allow much permanent immigration, so will continue to fade away until they become too few and weak to keep people out. Africa, on the other hand, is rapidly heading towards major overpopulation and likely to become a major source of immigrants (welcome or unwelcome) for Europe, Canada and the US.</p><p>Climate Change:</p><p>The Covid threw a monkey wrench into the plans to convert the world to solar and wind energy. The supply chain failures resulting have made everyone from governments to the homeless much more hesitant about making themselves reliant on long and fragile supply chains, and on other countries. </p><p>People are rejecting the "one world" approach. Countries are dividing themselves into Alliances like NATO, ASEAN, The Urasian Alliance, etc. Neutral Countries are becoming fewer. This process happened before WW1, and in fact caused that war to immediately become a World War. </p><p>Supply chain failures and energy shortfalls are causing the "Green Agenda" pushed by "the sky is falling" panic climate claims onto the back burner. The world needs energy NOW and wind and solar are not adequate to the task. Electric cars are coming along, but are too grid dependent to be reliable in the face of anarchy and war.</p><p>Food:</p><p>Supply chain problems, wars, weather disasters, diseases, soil erosion, and climate extremes are likely to make food scarcer, more expensive, and of lower quality in the coming years. This is going to be a nasty shock to those in developed countries who have moved so far away from nature and reality in the last few decades. Gardening will take off, but in itself will not solve the problem. World population will soon peak out, but will be growing for a number of years before that. "Factory farming" will unfortunately be necessary to get us through that time. Government policies like paying farmers not to plant (USA), allowing the building of houses on prime farmland (USA), redistributing farmland into small lots and to non-farmers (South Africa), and enforcing organic farming laws (Sri Lanka) will make matters far worse and bring on the food riots and political instability already occurring in Sri Lanka.<br /></p>Ted Ricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13538540954430279808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5213895.post-67248087115033840772022-03-31T09:21:00.002-04:002022-03-31T09:21:33.415-04:00The "Free-File" Scam, Corporatism at Work.<p> <span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql b0tq1wua a8c37x1j fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d9wwppkn hrzyx87i jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id hzawbc8m" dir="auto">It
isn't just Turbotax. I input all my information into two other services
and got the same garbage. They have so many odd and unnecessary
restrictions other than low income that just about everyone is
disqualified from free filing. The whole thing is a scam, aided and
abetted by the IRS which wants everyone to file electronically but won't
set up their own system to do so, and in my case by New York State
which REQUIRES you to file electronically but provides no free way to do
so. I ended up paying $9.95 to a service I never heard of, far lower
than the majors. Hopefully they won't sell my confidential information.
This garbage needs to be stopped before next tax season. Corporatism needs to be stopped and a wall of separation erected between corporations and State.<br /></span></p><p><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql b0tq1wua a8c37x1j fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d9wwppkn hrzyx87i jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id hzawbc8m" dir="auto"><a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/ftc-sues-to-stop-deceptive-turbotax-free-ad-campaign">https://www.propublica.org/article/ftc-sues-to-stop-deceptive-turbotax-free-ad-campaign</a><br /></span></p>Ted Ricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13538540954430279808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5213895.post-19372944554495164332022-03-11T17:11:00.000-05:002022-03-11T17:11:41.462-05:00What actually does God say about the Last Days and what does He not say? (Part 1)<p>
</p><h2 class="western" style="text-align: left;"><b>Deuteronomy 4:2</b>
</h2><p><i>Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it,
but keep the commands of the L</i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>ORD</i></span><i>
your God that I give you</i>.
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>Proverbs 30:6</b></h2>
<p><i>Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a
liar.</i>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">There is much
speculation right now about us being in the Last Days, which is
likely true, but the speculation includes many things that are
written in popular books but are not specifically in the Bible. We
should NOT go beyond what God actually says unless we clearly label
it as our own speculation and not make it appear as if it was
“settled theology”.</p>
<p style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 150%;">So if someone claims that everyone will
be implanted with a microchip which will be necessary to buy or sell,
is this in the Bible? No, it is not. <b>Revelation 13:17</b> says:
<span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif; font-size: medium;">“</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Thus
no one was allowed to buy or sell things unless he bore </span></i></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">the
mark of the beast </span></span></i></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">-
that is, his name or his number.</span></i></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">”
</span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
Mark of the Beast is described as either a Name or a Number, NOT </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">as
</span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">a
microchip. It will be quite visible. It will also not either be
forced on anyone or given to them without their knowledge. </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Revelation
14:9</b></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
makes it clear that those who worship the Beast and only those who
worship the Beast will be given the mark. </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Some
will refuse </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">to
worship him</span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
and most of those will be killed as a result.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 150%;">There is really no need for a microchip.
A visible mark will be quite apparent, and not subject to the
technological collapse taking place during the Great Tribulation.
<b>Rev. 8:8:</b> “<span lang="en-US"><i>And the second angel
sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast
into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; And the
third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life,
died;</i></span><span lang="en-US">” </span><span lang="en-US">Such
a strike would cut most communications cables on the globe and end
the Internet. </span><span lang="en-US">And there are many more
disasters mentioned after this one. </span><span lang="en-US">Microchips
are also easily destroyed or reprogrammed. By the Battle of
Armageddon men will be fighting with horses </span><span lang="en-US"><b>Rev.
14:20 .</b></span><span lang="en-US"> Technology will have failed
and modern civilization become a memory. </span><span lang="en-US">But
as a visible symbol, the Mark of the Beast will still work. </span>
</p>
<p style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Is
there any mention of the “one-world economic system” in the
Bible? The “cashless society”? No. </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">In
the case of the Euro, single currencies even in a limited area </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">like
Europe</span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
have been found to be counter-productive, as nations are vastly
different and a one-size-fits-all approach does not work well. The
cashless society depends upon a functioning internet and one secured
so that nations or banks cannot seize the cash of other individuals
or nations as a weapon of oppression or war. (As both Canada and the
USA have done in the last year.) There is simply no mention of such a
system in the Bible. And it is not necessary. Simpler is better.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">So
what the Bible actually </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">clearly
</span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">states
is that people will be given a choice. Either they bow down and
worship the Beast, or they refuse. If they bow down, they will be
visibly marked so that they can participate in the economy – work
and make money, buy and sell, eat, get medical care, etc. Most of
those who refuse will be killed. A small number will escape and live
in caves and holes, trying to </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">survive
on</span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
what they can catch and kill, </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">probably
most of them succumbing to exposure and disease if not captured and
killed.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Only
in Israel will there be protection, and that only until the Two
Prophets and the 144,000 evangelists finish their work.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Anything
beyond this is speculation. It might turn out to be true, but it
equally well might not. </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-variant: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Only
those who reject Christ and live until that time will find out.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><style type="text/css">h1 { margin-bottom: 0.08in; background: transparent; page-break-after: avoid }h1.western { font-family: "Liberation Serif", serif; font-size: 24pt; font-weight: bold }h1.cjk { font-family: "Noto Serif CJK SC"; font-size: 24pt; font-weight: bold }h1.ctl { font-family: "Lohit Devanagari"; font-size: 24pt; font-weight: bold }p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 115%; background: transparent }a:link { color: #000080; so-language: zxx; text-decoration: underline }</style></p>Ted Ricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13538540954430279808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5213895.post-76007392480225124652022-03-08T11:49:00.000-05:002022-03-08T11:49:40.948-05:00Putting some of my more controversial thoughts on Substack.<a href="https://tedrice.substack.com/p/americas-bipolar-way-of-thinking?s=w">America's Bipolar Way of Thinking</a>Ted Ricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13538540954430279808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5213895.post-8472248356646417532022-02-13T15:39:00.026-05:002022-02-13T15:43:50.955-05:00North American Chokepoints<p>The Ambassador Bridge blockage, regardless of which side you are on, is showing a critical weakness which leaves us exposed to natural disasters, terrorism, and war. How can one bridge bring our auto industry to a halt?</p>
<p>I looked on Google Earth to see why they couldn't simply reroute traffic over another bridge. The only other reasonably close bridge is the "Blue Water Bridge", off to the north. It would be out of the way, but I expect truckers would only take a few hours to a day more to go that way. Why haven't they? There are also two rail bridges - so why not ship enough to keep the auto plants running by rail? With modern container shipping, it really doesn't matter how or on what they are routed. As a last resort, I expect there are still ports and ships on the Great Lakes?</p>
<p>This whole situation was largely artificially created by companies so eager for maximum profits that they closed the door on any backup systems and had no plans in place for emergencies. Even though obvious alternatives exist.</p>
<p>It was also aided by governments that could have built more bridges, but didn't want to spend the money or wanted to keep border crossings to a minimum for security reasons, though our government seems to have no such problem on our southern border - which is the one that most needs to be secured.</p>
<p>All bridges are potential chokepoints of varying effectiveness. How are we securing the most vital ones? Maintaining them? Are plans and financing in place to replace them on a schedule?</p>
<p>The situation is similar on the west coast of the USA, where the existing container ports are barely able to handle normal traffic and totally collapsed when overloaded by a see-sawing supply chain. That situation is harder to resolve, as it takes a long time to build a new port. Or we could build the new canal north of Panama, which plan has been on hold for many years.</p>
<p>Then there are all the chokepoints we haven't yet discovered. Every one of them is a potential disaster for the United States. All our power and communications run through the major cities, which are becoming third world disaster areas which might explode at any moment. They could shut down the nation's electricity, internet, and phone system. LA has shown that the rail systems are not to be depended upon where they pass through cities. Are there any alternatives that AVOID cities?</p>
<p>Of course, one obvious solution would be to manufacture and produce more at home. And locally at home as well. But you don't want to make yourself completely dependent on that, either. Domestic disturbances, bad weather, disease outbreaks, etc. could make that a punishingly bad choice if you don't have access to worldwide supplies. And of course you still need to get the raw materials to produce industrial products.</p>
<p>Understanding logistics is critically important. When your systems are running with no inventories, on a skeleton crew, and with little backup and poor if any planning, you have a REAL PROBLEM. The problem becomes even worse when a pandemic is loose. If we get involved in a European and/or Asian war, how do we plan to supply the troops there? If we divert ships, planes and trucks to that purpose, we will make the domestic situation even worse. We have almost no Merchant Marine anymore, so the ships will have to be confiscated from the foreign-flagged container fleet. That would cause an international incident in itself. We don't have enough truck drivers to handle domestic needs now - where are they going to come from? Everything diverted to the military will make the depressing domestic situation even worse and will fuel more division and domestic disturbance.</p>
<p>We need some real leaders, (not more dictatorial bosses), who will start researching weaknesses and chokepoints, planning for things in advance and start getting us prepared for them. It will cost money, but not nearly as much as letting things drift along until the next disaster hits.</p>
Ted Ricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13538540954430279808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5213895.post-42167589738859254812022-02-02T09:07:00.001-05:002022-02-02T09:07:16.410-05:00Walking Up To Adams<iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/j9jcl8JX91o" frameborder="0"></iframe>Ted Ricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13538540954430279808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5213895.post-19936445943815236192021-12-10T18:22:00.003-05:002021-12-10T18:37:21.555-05:00Alarm Fatigue
<b>Is it a good thing to continually live at “Battle Stations?</b>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgEm8ARp4vk2Dmc2EHzQ__K_cLva6iksJq4ypWi1WU1h-dJ9QB3rUYJJM5iC_W92mbM7dpolH4XY_hmoEFTbSzUn4n9E6lblXBANN5cRWZL_oGmjIWNUD8NC9UxrgqLCyGxuuByBbBd_KkIPRKonY_4bXsOot1DSMjxUwABbKag54mymlvjZA=s1200" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="801" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgEm8ARp4vk2Dmc2EHzQ__K_cLva6iksJq4ypWi1WU1h-dJ9QB3rUYJJM5iC_W92mbM7dpolH4XY_hmoEFTbSzUn4n9E6lblXBANN5cRWZL_oGmjIWNUD8NC9UxrgqLCyGxuuByBbBd_KkIPRKonY_4bXsOot1DSMjxUwABbKag54mymlvjZA=s320"/></a></div>
<p>It has long been known in the military that you cannot maintain a high state of alert indefinitely. A warship cannot stay at Battle Stations for weeks. The longer you maintain a state of never-ending alert, the more you lose your edge. People begin to zone out, doze off, and make mistakes. Little seems to be written on the subject, but it is well known. Today medical personnel undergo the same process as alarm after alarm goes off, and they run from case to case. This is called “alarm fatigue” or “alert fatigue”. But this article is not directly about the above.</p>
<p>Let’s look at something different – the immune system. When a virus invades a body, the cells attacked send a signal to the immune system, which responds with antibodies, T-cells, and other weaponry to eliminate the threat. Inflammation is one such weapon. Once the threat is successfully dealt with, the system stops producing new weaponry. The antibodies gradually fade away. Inflammation also goes away. However, the immune system does remember the threat and can quickly respond to a new threat from the same source without going through the learning curve all over again.</p>
<p>A vaccine-produced response is a different story. A vaccine fools the immune system into reacting as if there was an attack happening, when in fact there is not. So the immune system learns in much the same way as if the body was really being attacked, but without the risk. Under ordinary circumstances, this is fine. The antibodies go away but the immune system remembers the threat and how to deal with it.</p>
<p>But now suppose the threat is a virus that multiplies so quickly that even if the immune system remembers it, it cannot respond fast enough to avoid being overwhelmed by the virus. The temptation is to keep giving booster doses of vaccine to keep a high level of antibodies circulating in the body ready to repel any invasion. There are risks to this approach. Antibodies sometimes attack the wrong places and can damage internal organs. In other words, like sentries on alert, they make mistakes. The longer there is no real threat, the more mistakes they may make and the more damage may add up. Prolonged inflammation also causes damage. If the virus also mutates frequently and appears as a new threat, there is of course a temptation to change the vaccine in accordance and give yet another injection.</p>
<p>What I am saying is that the present course we are on of giving Covid boosters every few months may prove to be a very dangerous one. I do not know that it WILL, but no one seems to be thinking about the possibility of it and I have seen no studies on the issue. Before people start sickening and dying as a result of our own attempt to defeat the Covid virus, perhaps we should get moving on studying the issue. And of course the studies should NOT be done by anyone associated with the vaccine companies or having any other conflict of interest.</p>
<p>Another thing to think about is how many different enemies can the immune system fight at once? One? Two? Ten? People are being given all kinds of vaccines today, often at short time intervals (especially the young). Is this hyping up of the immune system the cause of the auto-immune “diseases” prevalent today? The antibodies mistakenly attack our own organs?</p>
<p>It seems to me that in the natural order, the immune system usually fights one disease at a time. Once it has defeated the disease, the antibodies are allowed to subside to minimum levels or disappear unless the same disease strikes a second time. We do not maintain high levels of antibodies against multiple diseases at once and for long periods of time. It is likely that this is because this strategy is dangerous to us.</p>
<p>As I mentioned above, I am not an immunologist nor do I know if the above analogy is valid. Do not quote me as saying it is! I am not anti-vaccine and have had two doses of Moderna and a booster myself. However, I do think it is something that should be given serious study before the vaccine makers are allowed to sell the politicians on the “endless booster” routine, which of course guarantees them large profits.</p>
<p>In my opinion, it is past time to step back and think about what we are doing. One definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over in the same way and expecting to get different results”. There are way too many “scientific studies” that have not been peer reviewed or replicated yet are being seized upon as justification for lockdowns, mandates, vaccine passports, and other divisive things, which are of extremely questionable value but are being seized upon by the power-hungry and greedy in government. Too many “scientists” who totally disagree with each other. Too many politicians worrying about losing the 2022 elections if the covid isn’t under control by then. We need to just back off and work on completing some studies and doing new ones to get definitive results. We also need leadership, not “bossyship”. Why should anyone at all listen to politicians who don’t do what they mandate others do? To “leaders” who tell lie after lie?</p>
<p>The death rate of the virus is not that great that we have to rush as we have been, especially with deployment of some of the new medicines. If the healthcare system getting overrun is that important we wouldn’t be firing healthcare workers who were heroes yesterday for not being vaccinated. And if the healthcare system was adequate it wouldn’t be in the situation it is in. That is a problem that needs immediate work. This is not the last time a pandemic will occur.</p>
<p>For the internet censors, these are just my “opinions” on the issues, so shouldn’t be “fact checked” !</p>Ted Ricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13538540954430279808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5213895.post-2654565046977006072021-11-29T09:18:00.083-05:002021-11-29T09:42:57.279-05:00The Covid Vaccines and Heart Inflammation - it isn't the vaccine itself.<h2>Why the Booster After Booster Idea is a Bad Idea.</h2>
<p>There is a lot being written about how the vaccines cause long term inflammation and heart damage. Politicians and the CDC are blowing this off as "false information" and "conspiracy theories", but it is almost certain that it is happening. It is admitted already that younger men are prone to this problem, and I think eventually it will prove to be true for other groups as well.</p>
<p>In most cases it is not because the vaccine is causing it, but due to the antibodies produced in response to the vaccine. The endless "boosters" being given to "keep immunity up" are going to make it far worse. In normal circumstances, your immune system detects the presence of hostile viruses, prepares antibodies, fights off the viruses, then gradually lets the antibody level drop off. It remembers how to produce them if necessary, but does NOT maintain a high level indefinitely in your body, and there is a good reason for this.</p>
<p>Antibodies themselves can cause damage to your organs, sometimes severe damage. For example, the Lyme Vaccine was discontinued because people who took it got the same symptoms as those who got Lyme Disease. When this happens, it is obvious that it was the immune system and its antibodies that were causing the symptoms, not so much the disease itself. In some people, the immune system "runs wild", producing antibodies that attack the body itself. Diabetes is a form of autoimmune disease. Maintaining long term levels of antibodies when you are not infected with the disease can be very harmful. But here the speed of the Covid virus becomes a problem.</p>
<p>For instance, the polio virus has a long incubation period, giving plenty of time for the immune system to remember and produce the necessary quantities of antibodies. Your body does not have to maintain high levels of polio antibodies all the time. The vaccine produced the memory needed to produce them when necessary.</p>
<p>Therefore, it is advantageous that the body only produce quantities of antibodies until the infection is brought under control. Long Covid is comparatively rare, but is known to cause lasting damage after awhile. Long term high antibody levels produced by booster shots every few months are very likely to do the same, and this should be thoroughly researched before mandating them, or even recommending them.</p>
<p>The real problem with the covid is the speed. It can easily outrun the immune system and bury your immune response before it gets fully underway. The response so far has been to try to maintain a high level of antibodies all the time, but this is going to prove counter-productive by causing other problems. Perhaps we should learn to produce antibodies and inject enough into a person just starting to show symptoms to get them over the hurdle until they can produce enough themselves to get the infection under control. You would still need the two initial doses of the vaccine, but not the boosters.</p>
<br />
<ol>
<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5805548/">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5805548/</a>
<a href="https://instruction2.mtsac.edu/crexach/microbiology%201/pdf%20micro%20lectures/immunology%20and%20vaccinology.pdf">https://instruction2.mtsac.edu/crexach/microbiology%201/pdf%20micro%20lectures/immunology%20and%20vaccinology.pdf</a>
</ol>
Ted Ricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13538540954430279808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5213895.post-79324215269607225642021-11-15T14:31:00.004-05:002021-11-15T14:31:46.738-05:00A very short video illustrating politicians' LYING over and over and over - in their own words.<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uh-ZGDx0P4">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uh-ZGDx0P4</a>Ted Ricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13538540954430279808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5213895.post-5881708611892638672021-09-07T09:25:00.000-04:002021-09-07T09:25:21.046-04:00The Light at the End of the Tunnel.As the Covid Crisis goes on and on and on, we are encouraged to look for the light at the end of the tunnel. But the light always proves to be yet another express train bearing down on us at full throttle. Now we have the Mu and C.I.6 variants headed our way, while both cases and deaths from Delta are still on the rise (though maybe about to peak out).
In the beginning, we were asked to mask and social distance to flatten the curve, then locked down (for 15 days), not to stop the covid but to keep the deliberately understaffed (for bigger profits) healthcare system from collapsing. The lockdown went on and on until many if not most small businesses were on the verge of collapse, and the real mainstreet economy itself was headed for bankruptcy. Of course, this enabled huge corporations to buy up even more of America and the rich to get even richer.
After the restrictions were lifted, the Covid began to surge again by the end of summer and now we are being "encouraged" to mask up again and stay home if possible. Needless to say, these restrictions are not being greeted with open arms! Distrust of the Government and Government/big pharma healthcare is sinking to an all time low. While the WHO and "the science" says we should be doing everything possible to vaccinate the rest of the globe, big pharma, through their spokesman Bill Gates, is resisting relaxing the patent laws and allowing other countries to produce the vaccines. At the same time, the West, led by Israel, is proposing booster shots for those already vaccinated - a losing game as the variants will soon outrun the vaccine producers - but it does guarantee maximum and endless profits for the vaccine producers!
Now we are at a turning point. The Covid is obviously going to be with us for the foreseeable future. We can either learn to live with it, or we can succumb to panic and allow our leaders to turn our countries into police states. The latter seems to be the course Australia is taking. It is also the course being promoted for the USA by those in charge. Create a two tier society where you have to be vaccinated to participate, then try every trick in the book to force those resisting vaccination to be vaccinated. Make everyone carry papers proving they have been - hypocritical considering they won't require proof of citizenship for people to vote! And this obviously won't work because people will have to get booster after booster (as Israel is already proving) even though there is almost no science behind that approach. This is going to create even more bitterness, hatred, and division. Eventually it will provoke an uprising, either at the polls or a violent one.
The alternative would be to double down on testing out the new drugs that have been discovered to moderate covid symptoms and cut deaths. Get them made easily available to all. Stop lying, as just happened with the Ivermectin. That may well not do anything, but there were no deaths in hospitals from it and they got caught out. Encourage vaccination but do not require it. See that the vaccines are available to everyone, not just those in the wealthy countries. Recognize having had the covid as equivalent to having been vaccinated.
Use some logic and reason. The virus is usually an airborn aerosol. Staying 6 feet apart is not going to do too much good. Getting it out of the air would do far more. Air circulation in buildings such as schools, offices, theaters, churches and public transportation needs to be analyzed by engineers and rerouted as necessary. UVC air purifiers need to be installed. Masks will not stop the virus, but do reduce the load. And the load is key. If you inhale too much virus, it can overwhelm your immune system and you will get the covid, even if you had it before or were vaccinated. But logically, if you inhale less than that amount, it will spur your immune system to eliminate it, thus keeping your immunity up so you don't require endless booster shots. The problem is you have no idea how much you are breathing in. Reducing the amount of aerosolized virus in the air in buildings, trains, and planes would almost certainly solve a lot of problems with covid. Masking can help, even outdoors where huge crowds are present, but is not going to be tolerated by most people as a long term solution.
The present top down command and control solution is neither going to work nor will it be tolerated for long. Making it last as long as it has involved continually stirring up panic to get people to go along with it. That has its own price on mental health and economic loss. It especially will not work when the people invoking it are the "do as I say and not as I do" hypocrit types, which seems to be almost universally the case. Ted Ricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13538540954430279808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5213895.post-46756947400114925142021-08-10T14:59:00.003-04:002021-08-10T14:59:56.526-04:00Our Yesteryears, Miscellaneous Pages of Text, Sketches, and PhotographsThis puts together all the text, photos, and sketches from the book that weren't included or read in previous videos.
<iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/Y0MMDbgta0s" frameborder="0"></iframe>Ted Ricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13538540954430279808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5213895.post-90705223386655862292021-08-09T17:46:00.000-04:002021-08-09T17:46:19.213-04:00Our Yesteryears, Chapters 11 and 12My latest video, narrating chapters 11 and 12 of "Our Yesteryears".
<iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/zYMSnVKk-tg" frameborder="0"></iframe>Ted Ricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13538540954430279808noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5213895.post-7087364646743429212021-07-22T17:46:00.069-04:002021-07-25T16:54:25.511-04:00My Great-Grandfather Ivor Monger; Westinghouse; Tesla; and Copperfield, Vermont.<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><b>Ivor John Monger:</b></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><br/>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%">Ivor was my
great-grandfather. The 1881 Welsh census shows him in Swansea, Wales
working as a clerk for the Copper Works at age 17. He was the son of
William Monger, Master of Copper Rolling Mills; and Jane Bevan
Monger.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><br/>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%">Sometime between
1881 and 1890 he moved to New Jersey, USA. My Grandmother told me he
moved to America to work for Standard Oil. In 1888, Standard Oil
opened it’s first branch in England. He well may have hired on
there. A few years after moving to America, he married a local New
Jersey girl, Lucinda Alzada Clayton, oldest daughter of David C.
Clayton and Mary Ann Bennett. She was five years older than he was.
They lived in Bayonne, New Jersey, and had three children. The
eldest, Alice Marion (evidently named after Ivor’s younger sister),
was born in 1893. She eventually became my grandmother. Walter was
born in 1895 and Robert in 1896.
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><br/>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%">Standard Oil was a
holding company and owned a number of copper interests. It is certain
Ivor worked with copper, not oil. There were several smelters in New
Jersey in those days – some smelted ore from as far away as
Sudbury, Ontario. Ore from some of the copper mines in Vermont had
been sent there for final processing earlier on.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><br/>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%">The 1900 census
shows the Mongers still resident in New Jersey, but within a year or
two they had left and moved to Copperfield, Vermont where George
Westinghouse had bought the abandoned Ely Mine in 1899 and was
putting it back into production, reportedly with Nikola Tesla in
charge of a project to find cheaper ways to smelt the ore. Ivor seems
to have worked in the smelter there. Exactly when the Copperfield
smelter got into operation is in question, either 1901 or 1902.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><br/>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%">By 1905 they were in
Utah, where they moved around a bit and lived in both Bingham and
Murray. Copperfield was auctioned in 1907, so had probably closed in
1903 or 1904 and forced them into moving west.
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><br/>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%">I would put them in
Copperfield from 1901 through 1904. I believe my grandmother said
they were in Vermont around three years. It may have been more like 2
to 2 ½. She used to take us over there and she showed me where they
used to live, where she went to school, where the mines, smelter, and
the long smokestack were (I used to climb up inside that). She never
said much of anything about what they were doing there in her youth,
but I don’t think the copper industry greatly interested her as a
young girl. Although Copperfield itself was an unattractive desert
with nothing green growing due to the fumes, she did gain a great
love of Vermont in the years she lived there, and was always eager to
go back. She once told me they came most of the way from New Jersey
by train, and the rest of the way by stagecoach. (She lived to watch
men land on the moon!)</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><br/>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%">Ivor was hired by
Utah Copper as a foreman in the Garfield smelter in 1911 and they
settled in Garfield. It was there Alice met and married my
Grandfather, who was an Episcopal priest working as a missionary to
the miners and copper workers. Ivor stayed there for the rest of his
working life, until a drunken engineer started a locomotive up in the
wrong direction and took off his leg. He was then forced to retire on
a small pension. He eventually had a stroke and had to be moved to a
nursing home. He died in 1940 at age 77. Lucinda lived until age 79,
when she died in July 1938 in Salt Lake City.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><br/>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><br/>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><br/>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%"><b>The Background:</b></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><br/>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%">The long war between
Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse over whether America should be
wired with Direct Current or Alternating Current was won by
Westinghouse, using Nikola Tesla’s alternating current patents,
phased power, and motors. While Direct Current couldn’t be
transmitted more than a few miles, nor could the voltage be easily
changed after it was generated, AC could use transformers to step the
voltage up and then back down, allowing the development of the power
grids we know and use today. Lighter phased electric motors without
brushes, could produce more power. With the building of the Niagara
Falls generating plant, Westinghouse and Tesla began the process of
electrifying America. This process involved vast amounts of copper.
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><br/>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%">Tesla moved on from
AC and began working with DC, and with his Tesla Coil, into very high
frequencies approaching the millions of hertz (cycles per second). He
attracted other financial backers than just George Westinghouse, and
moved on to researching and developing other things. However, he
always respected George and they seem to have stayed in contact. In
the events I am about to describe, Tesla may have returned to work
for George around 1900 on a specific project.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><br/>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%"><b>Amalgamated
Copper, (Standard Oil) attempting to corner the market:</b></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><br/>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%">In April of 1899
Rockefeller’s Standard Oil decided to monopolize the world’s
copper as it had previously done with oil and to that end formed the
Amalgamated Copper Company. This had been tried 10 years previously
by Pierre Secretan in France, ending in disaster and a bailout by the
Bank of France, but John D. Rockefeller evidently thought he was
going to succeed where Pierre Secretan had failed. Amalgamated held
controlling interest in Anaconda, the world’s largest copper
producer, and with the cooperation of others began to withhold
production and to curb exports to Europe. Prices initially went
through the roof, but soon independent producers began to flood into
the market, forcing Amalgamated to either buy them up or compete with
them. Amalgamated then cut prices, eventually to below cost, but the
independents then refused to sell, forcing Amalgamated to sell even
still to be mined copper at its own profit-killing prices. When
Amalgamated then raised their prices, the independents resumed
selling and crashed the price again. By 1902 prices had stabilized
and things returned to normal.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><br/>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%"><b>Copperfield:</b></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><br/>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%">The events I am
writing about took place during the 1898-1905 time period and had
their beginning in late 1899, when George Westinghouse, being heavily
hit by rising copper prices due to John D. Rockefeller, evidently
decided to buy another copper mine and supply his company’s copper
needs himself. To this end, he purchased the Ely Mine together with
its smelter and small town known at the time as Copperfield, Vermont.
(In 1889, probably in response to Pierre Secretan, he had started
buying up copper mines in the vicinity of Duquesne/Washington Camp in
Arizona, but had done nothing much with them, probably due to
Secretan’s failure to keep copper prices up.)
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><br/>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%">This attempt seems
to have been rather a disaster from the beginning. He first had to
de-water (pump out) the mine, which had been abandoned for 2 to 16
years (accounts vary), and make it safe to reopen. This cost him much
more than he had planned on and took longer<a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote1anc" href="#sdfootnote1sym"><sup>1</sup></a>.
While that was going on, he had surveyors laying out two different
roads to get the copper out. While these are described as roads, it
logically would have been smarter to lay out at least one rail line,
as the nearest railway to the mine at the time was at Ely Station, 6
miles away. After writing and publishing this article, I found out
that is exactly what had been planned<a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote2anc" href="#sdfootnote2sym"><sup>2</sup></a>!
In any case, nothing was done on either of them, reportedly as the
assessors, looking on the mine’s reopening as a golden goose, were
all too eager to raise taxes.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><br/>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%">Knowing that the ore
he had was inferior to that held by Amalgamated and more expensive to
process, George Westinghouse also reportedly put Nikola Tesla in
charge of a project there to find ways to smelt and refine copper
more cheaply<a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote3anc" href="#sdfootnote3sym"><sup>3</sup></a>.
Smelting began in 1901 or 1902<a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote4anc" href="#sdfootnote4sym"><sup>4</sup></a>.
Tesla was occupied with building Wardencliffe at the time, and
virtually nothing is known of what he carried out at Copperfield, or
if he even was there, but he briefly mentioned years later that he
had been successful with finding a way to refine metals more cheaply
but unable to use what he found out<a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote5anc" href="#sdfootnote5sym"><sup>5</sup></a>.
It would seem this was about the only time period he could have
worked with actual smelting facilities.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><br/>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%">Interestingly, most
of Tesla’s projects involved electricity. Burlington was the first
city in Vermont to start producing electricity, in 1881. Copperfield
was probably the earliest small village in Vermont to get electrical
power, in April of 1888. <a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote6anc" href="#sdfootnote6sym"><sup>6</sup></a>
It was most likely generated by water power, as there was a dam
there. So Nikola Tesla would have, surprisingly, had electricity to
work with at Copperfield. (Vermont was not totally electrified until
the 1960’s). If He was involved he probably was working on
electrolysis, already known and used at the time, but maybe trying to
improve it.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><br/>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%">I have wondered if
Tesla secretly used Copperfield in mid-July of 1903 for a trial of
transmitting power from Wardencliffe. He had earlier claimed to be
transmitting with a facility in Scotland, but no record of any such
facility has ever been found, and he also had no money for another
facility, being barely able to finish the diminished 190 ft.
Wardencliffe tower (his original plans called for at least one and
possibly two 600 foot towers). Copperfield would have made a cheap
target, as it had a high mountain on which to set an antenna without
any major tower, with a 1000 foot deep mine shaft directly underneath
for a ground, and was located about 150 miles from Wardencliffe (as
the crow flies), ten times the distance of his Colorado experiment.
It had electricity, though all he really needed was a receiving
antenna. If he was also already involved there, so no questions would
be raised. Another benefit was that no word would likely get back to
J.P. Morgan and his other investors from rural Vermont unless he
succeeded and told them himself, and no one would know if it failed.
But there are no records of any such experiment, so I cannot say that
it ever happened. If it did, it almost certainly failed, for
Wardencliffe was never again charged up after July 14-15 1903. As
Tesla later claimed the tower would have worked with a more powerful
generator, a higher tower, etc. it is only reasonable to assume that
he had tried and failed to transmit power to somewhere in July of
1903. So either way, nothing came of it!</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><br/>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%">On the other hand,
George Westinghouse was himself more than adequate at researching and
obviously had purchased state of the art smelting equipment for
Copperfield, only to be stymied by the low quality of the ore, which
had been misrepresented to him.
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><br/>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%">George Westinghouse
seems to have been giving up on Copperfield by late 1903<a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote7anc" href="#sdfootnote7sym"><sup>7</sup></a>.
Copper prices had probably dropped to the point where it would not
have been profitable to continue the operation, but also the ore at
the Ely Mine turned out to be nowhere near the quality that he had
believed and it was a losing prospect to continue<a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote8anc" href="#sdfootnote8sym"><sup>8</sup></a>.
I am not sure exactly when it was totally and finally closed,
probably 1903 or 1904, but the crash of 1907 forced Westinghouse out
of control of all his companies and effectively sidelined him<a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote9anc" href="#sdfootnote9sym"><sup>9</sup></a>.
He died in 1914. Copperfield was auctioned off in 1907 (or 1911 in
one account) with the provision all the buildings be removed from the
site<a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote10anc" href="#sdfootnote10sym"><sup>10</sup></a>.
Most were dismantled and the lumber used elsewhere, a few like Ely
Ely-Goddard’s “Elysium” were rebuilt in other locations. The
abandoned mine was left to refill with water. During WW1 it was
reported as being reopened by another company and still running as
late as 1920. However, it is most likely they were processing ore
from the dumps, and did not pump out the mine again<a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote11anc" href="#sdfootnote11sym"><sup>11</sup></a>.
This was also done during WW2, with the ore being processed at South
Strafford<a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote12anc" href="#sdfootnote12sym"><sup>12</sup></a>.
Today the area is privately owned and an EPA Superfund Site.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><br/>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%">In 1906, shortly
after the closing of Copperfield, George Westinghouse bought the
Pride of the West Mine and smelter in Arizona and began experimenting
further with ore from the Bonanza Mine. After recovering from the
crash of 1907, the company continued to develop this operation and it
ran until early 1919, was then leased for a year, and was sold in
1926<a class="sdfootnoteanc" name="sdfootnote13anc" href="#sdfootnote13sym"><sup>13</sup></a>.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><br/>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%">It is doubtful if
Ivor or his family ever saw or spoke with either Westinghouse or
Tesla, but not impossible. They were certainly not on intimate terms
with either. Ivor was simply a smelter worker. But they did play a
small part in the great changes the electrification of America and
the world brought about, and I think I have shown to some extent how
those changes affected them while they were in progress.
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><br/>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%">Ted Rice, White
Creek, NY July 2021</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 100%"><br/>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 150%">An interesting video
of the Copperfield mine site:
<a href="https://www.pbs.org/video/windows-wild-digging-vermont-history/">https://www.pbs.org/video/windows-wild-digging-vermont-history/</a>
</p>
<br />
<div id="sdfootnote1"><p class="sdfootnote"><a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote1sym" href="#sdfootnote1anc">1 </a>MILESTONE
HERITAGE CONSULTING Technical Memorandum Ely Copper Mine Site
Remediation Vershire, Vermont Section 106 NHPA Compliance Support:
University of Vermont Archival Research July 4, 2015</p>
<p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in">
Milestone Report No. 0007
<a href="https://semspub.epa.gov/work/01/577672.pdf">https://semspub.epa.gov/work/01/577672.pdf</a></p>
<p class="sdfootnote" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in"><br/>
</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote2"><p class="sdfootnote"><a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote2sym" href="#sdfootnote2anc">2 </a>New
York Times, January 1, 1901 Ely Mine Sale Completed. “It is
proposed in the Spring to build a railroad from the Ely Mine to
White River Junction--”
<a href="https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1901/01/01/118459042.html?pageNumber=1">https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1901/01/01/118459042.html?pageNumber=1</a></p>
<p class="sdfootnote"><br/>
</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote3"><p class="sdfootnote"><a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote3sym" href="#sdfootnote3anc">3 </a>I
found one reference online to George asking Tesla to lead a project
in Copperfield to find cheaper ways of smelting, but didn’t write
it down and can’t find it now. The project definitely existed, and
was later continued in Arizona, but whether Nikola Tesla actually
got involved is uncertain. He did refer to <font size="2" style="font-size: 10pt">having
found</font> cheaper ways of smelting and refining copper and other
metals in a 1934 Scientific American article (see footnote #5), but
said he couldn’t use them without giving a reason why. Unless he
was involved in Arizona after 1906, (<font size="2" style="font-size: 10pt">I
have found</font> no mention of that), the only opportunity he would
have had to experiment with copper smelting was at this <font size="2" style="font-size: 10pt">period
in Copperfield</font>.</p>
<p class="sdfootnote"><br/>
</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote4"><p class="sdfootnote"><a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote4sym" href="#sdfootnote4anc">4 </a>Day,
David T. Mineral Resources of the United States. Calendar Year 1900.
Washington, Gov’t. Printing Office. P. 161
<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=kcctOFbFeHAC&pg=PA161&lpg=PA161&dq=westinghouse+project+at+copperfield+1900&source=bl&ots=2fgSw0ttlg&sig=ACfU3U2g5yjSkVgWCTXsffYtKsVLZGJ5SQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwivjbTr-vTxAhUDSN8KHQd8BSwQ6AEwDnoECCwQAw#v=onepage&q=westin">https://books.google.com/books?id=kcctOFbFeHAC&pg=PA161&lpg=PA161&dq=westinghouse+project+at+copperfield+1900&source=bl&ots=2fgSw0ttlg&sig=ACfU3U2g5yjSkVgWCTXsffYtKsVLZGJ5SQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwivjbTr-vTxAhUDSN8KHQd8BSwQ6AEwDnoECCwQAw#v=onepage&q=westin</a></p>
<p class="sdfootnote"> However, David Day is contradicted by
Joseph Struthers in “The Mineral Industry” who writes that the
smelter: “was not finished and in operation during the year (1901)
owing to the difficulty in getting deliveries of material.”</p>
<p class="sdfootnote"><br/>
</p>
<p class="sdfootnote"> Struthers, Joseph Ed. The Mineral
Industry, It’s Statistics, Technology, and Trade In the United
States and Other Countries to the end of 1901. Vol. 10. New York and
London. The Engineering and Mining Journal, Inc. 1902.
</p>
<p class="sdfootnote"> P. 186 “Vermont. — The
Copperfield mines, at Copperfield, Vt. , owned by Mr. George
Westinghouse during 1901, pumped out the mine, straightened and
widened the shaft so as to permit an output of at least 300 tons of
ore per day, and began the erection of a smelter, which was not
finished and in operation during the year owing to the difficulty in
getting deliveries of material. The copper furnaces are two of about
150 -ton capacity each , and were erected by the Colorado Iron
Works, of Denver, Colo.”</p>
<p class="sdfootnote"> P. 211 “Copper Smelting
Jackets.—The use of drop furnace bottoms supported by screw jacks
resting on and attached to a car, traveling on a track beneath the
furnace, came into general use during 1901. Among the furnaces
erected with this type of bottom, were the 42x160-in. jackets
erected by the Allis -Chalmers Co., for the Rio Tinto Copper Co. ,
Ltd. , of Huelva, Spain , and three furnaces built by the Colorado
Iron Works, two for Mr. George Westinghouse for erection at
Copperfield, Vt. , and one for an Arizona company.”</p>
<p class="sdfootnote"><br/>
</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote5"><p class="sdfootnote"><a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote5sym" href="#sdfootnote5anc">5 </a>Due
to unfavorable circumstances, Dr. Tesla states, some of his
important results have not yet been announced, among them being a
new refining process for producing steel, copper, aluminum, and
other metals at low cost.
<a href="https://teslaresearch.jimdofree.com/articles-interviews/possibilities-of-electro-static-generators-by-nikola-tesla-scientific-american-march-1934/">https://teslaresearch.jimdofree.com/articles-interviews/possibilities-of-electro-static-generators-by-nikola-tesla-scientific-american-march-1934/</a></p>
<p class="sdfootnote"><br/>
</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote6"><p class="sdfootnote"><a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote6sym" href="#sdfootnote6anc">6 </a><a href="http://larrycoffin.blogspot.com/2009/03/let-there-be-light-september-1897.html">http://larrycoffin.blogspot.com/2009/03/let-there-be-light-september-1897.html</a></p>
<p class="sdfootnote"><br/>
</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote7"><p class="sdfootnote"><a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote7sym" href="#sdfootnote7anc">7 </a>The
Copper Handbook, A Manual of the Copper Industry of the World.
Horace J. Stevens. Houghton, Michigan, USA. 1908. Vol. 8, p. 574
<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=0-lYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1467&lpg=PA1467&dq=Westinghouse+and+Copperfield+VT&source=bl&ots=fl8X4UfIIR&sig=ACfU3U072k5zTzDPW-dLEi1ArwC3QO0AEA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjV9rey_-nvAhXaEVkFHfRmBjcQ6AEwF3oECBAQAw#v=onepage&q&f=false">https://books.google.com/books?id=0-lYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1467&lpg=PA1467&dq=Westinghouse+and+Copperfield+VT&source=bl&ots=fl8X4UfIIR&sig=ACfU3U072k5zTzDPW-dLEi1ArwC3QO0AEA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjV9rey_-nvAhXaEVkFHfRmBjcQ6AEwF3oECBAQAw#v=onepage&q&f=false</a></p>
<p class="sdfootnote"><br/>
</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote8"><p class="sdfootnote"><a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote8sym" href="#sdfootnote8anc">8 </a>Weed,
Walter Harvey. Copper Deposits in the Appalachian States. USGS
Bulletin 455. Washington. U.S. Government Printing Office. p.25.
</p>
<p class="sdfootnote"> “The property was equipped with smelting
works early in its his-</p>
<p class="sdfootnote"> tory, and was for many years regarded as a
model in this respect.</p>
<p class="sdfootnote"> In 1885 there were 24 brick furnaces of a
type originating here and</p>
<p class="sdfootnote"> called the Vershire type. Rapid advances in
metallurgical treat-</p>
<p class="sdfootnote"> ment soon made the plant antiquated, and it
was remodeled by Cazin</p>
<p class="sdfootnote"> in 1888-89 and a 100-ton concentrator built
at an expense of $53,000.</p>
<p class="sdfootnote"> The plant erected at that time is estimated
to have cost $700,000.</p>
<p class="sdfootnote"> After the purchase of the property by the
present owners various</p>
<p class="sdfootnote"> changes were made and a year's work done. The
result was not satis-</p>
<p class="sdfootnote"> factory, for although equipped with modern
water-jacket blast fur-</p>
<p class="sdfootnote"> naces, reverberatories, and a Bessemer plant,
the treatment of raw</p>
<p class="sdfootnote"> sulphides resulted in low-grade mattes (14
per cent) and the re-</p>
<p class="sdfootnote"> treatment of material so increased the cost
as to render the work</p>
<p class="sdfootnote"> unprofitable. The ore was found to be lower
grade than had been</p>
<p class="sdfootnote"> expected and very siliceous.”</p>
<p class="sdfootnote"> <a href="https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/b455">https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/b455</a></p>
<p class="sdfootnote"><br/>
</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote9"><p class="sdfootnote"><a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote9sym" href="#sdfootnote9anc">9 </a>Copper
Curb and Mining Outlet. Vol. 9, No. 1. 72 Trinity Place, New York,
September 27, 1911. pp. 14, 15.</p>
<p class="sdfootnote">
<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=u-UoAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA12-PA10&dq=copper+curb+and+mining+outlet&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwivpuXT6P7xAhWJZ80KHR9SDGQQ6AEwAHoECAMQAg#v=snippet&q=George%20Westinghouse%20&f=false">https://books.google.com/books?id=u-UoAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA12-PA10&dq=copper+curb+and+mining+outlet&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwivpuXT6P7xAhWJZ80KHR9SDGQQ6AEwAHoECAMQAg#v=snippet&q=George%20Westinghouse%20&f=false</a></p>
<p class="sdfootnote"><br/>
</p>
<p class="sdfootnote"><br/>
</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote10"><p class="sdfootnote"><a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote10sym" href="#sdfootnote10anc">10 </a><a href="https://www.vnews.com/Miners-strike-of-1883-in-Vershire-known-as-the-Ely-War-10787310">https://www.vnews.com/Miners-strike-of-1883-in-Vershire-known-as-the-Ely-War-10787310</a></p>
<p class="sdfootnote"><br/>
</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote11"><p class="sdfootnote"><a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote11sym" href="#sdfootnote11anc">11 </a>Final
Public Health Assessment for the Ely Copper Mine site, Vershire,
Vermont. EPA Facility ID: VTD988366571. September 30, 2008. P. 2.
<a href="https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HAC/pha/ElyCopperMineSite/ElyCopperMineSite%20Final%20PHA%20093008.pdf">https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HAC/pha/ElyCopperMineSite/ElyCopperMineSite%20Final%20PHA%20093008.pdf</a></p>
<p class="sdfootnote"><br/>
</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote12"><p class="sdfootnote"><a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote12sym" href="#sdfootnote12anc">12 </a>Ibid.
P. 2.
</p>
<p class="sdfootnote"><br/>
</p>
</div>
<div id="sdfootnote13"><p class="sdfootnote"><a class="sdfootnotesym" name="sdfootnote13sym" href="#sdfootnote13anc">13 </a>Thorman,
Charles H. and Lane, Diane E. USGS Research on Minerals – 1994 –
Part B – Guidebook for Field Trips. US Geological Survey Circular
1103-B. Washington: US Government Printing Office. 1994.
<a href="https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/cir1103B">https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/cir1103B</a>
pp. 43 – 45.</p>
</div>
</body>
</html>Ted Ricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13538540954430279808noreply@blogger.com0