Biased newspaper

I am a snowbird that arrived back in Naples Florida  on Nov 10th, 2019. I scan the newspaper every day and have yet to find EVEN ONE ARTICLE THAT COMPLIMENTS TRUMP. There have been few to none articles about the roaring economy, the low unemployment rate, good trade deals with Canada, Mexico and China. The soaring stock market has been ignored. Yet you have managed to have an anti-Trump “cartoon” on the opinion page EVERY DAY since November.  The few letters to the editor you print are usually anti-Trump tirades.  Those of us that support Trump and usually write positive letters about politics are just sitting back shaking our heads in disbelief. 

If you are losing circulation, don't blame it on electronic media. Look no further than your crummy newsroom and very radical left-wing political bias.   You just had an article about losing your new printing press just after having moved to new quarters.  If you continue to insult 50% of your subscribers, you will soon lose the new building as well and have to move back to smaller quarters.  There is no excuse for the city of Naples and Collier County not having a decent daily paper.  On a positive note the crossword puzzle has not as yet been politicized but I won’t hold my breath.

Early Contraception

I am in the process of reading a book titled “The Book of Amazing History”.  Most subjects are only a page or two long.  I found that you can skip over some of the things that already stored in one or two brain cells in a forgotten area of your brain.

The most interesting article so far is the one on “early contraception”.  Stick with me and you might find something of value.  (but I doubt it)

In ancient Greece, women not wishing to have children were instructed to jump backwards seven times to avoid pregnancy.  I cannot vouch for the results of such a practice but would think it a bit dangerous if you were having sex on the side of a cliff.

Ancient Roman women were advised to carry a pouch on their left foot that contained a cat’s liver.  An alternative was to spit in the mouth of a frog. This practice could result in a shortage of cats and defiantly would not work in the more arid areas of the empire.

Barrier methods have included pebbles, half a lemon, and dried elephant or crocodile dung.  No information was given on the exact method of (or location of) the use of this practice.

The following is a direct quote. “In 1550 B.C., a suggested concoction of ground dates, Acicia tree bark, and honey (applied locally) was probably fairly effective, since acacia ferments into lactic acid, which disrupts a normal a pH balance”.  I wonder how long this mixture would have to be kept in place before fermentation took effect.   

In eastern Canada one aboriginal group believed that women drinking tea containing beaver testicles prevented Pregnancy.  If the tribe was especially horny this could lead to a shortage of beavers and an increase in the population.  This would directly affect the fur trade.  All beavers beware

As early as the seventh century B.C. a certain fennel plant was found to be extremely effective to prevent pregnancy.  It was a morning after “pill”.  It only grew in a small area in lybia and is now extinct.  Attempts to re-create it have been unsuccessful.

Men have always used a form of condom dating back as far as 1000 B.C.  Animal intestines were a favorite material.  No information was given on the number of times this “condom” could be reused.  It is my belief that men in the middle east found that leaving the goat or sheep alive allowed for a more efficient use of the intestine.  This, in turn, allowed for an increase in goat population and a healthy increase in providing more milk for the general population.   This practice of leaving the goat alive, however, is still in use in some areas of the middle east.  The introduction of the rubber condom in 1844 also helped the goat population to increase.

The introduction of “the pill” in 1960 made things a lot easier for woman.  The “sheath” remains the favorite method used by men.

New carpet in the living room

New carpet for the living room

Connie decided that we needed new carpet for the living room.  After agonizing over the color and design she finally made her decision.  The salesman asked me what I thought about the carpet.  I told him, “I have no dog in this fight”.  I think he understood.

  We scheduled an appointment for a fellow to come and take the carpet measurements. I tried to tell the salesman the room was 12’ X 20”.  He paid no attention to me and scheduled an appointment for the measurement.  The fellow doing the   measurements arrived within 10 minutes of the appointed time of 12:30 and apologized for being late.  What??  My only concern that he did not have a tape measure or clip board.  Silly me.

  The guy had only an I-Pad.  I decided that I had better stick around just in case he needed any consultation or supervision.  The first thing he did was to take a picture of every stick of furniture in the living room.  Of course, I asked why he needed pictures.  I had visions of a gang of robbers breaking in and stealing our expensive Walmart furniture.  He told me that he needed that in order to tell the installer how many people he needed to move the furniture out of the way for the installer.  OH.

  Then he placed the I-pad against the 20’ wall and shot a laser at the other end of the wall.  Then he did the same with the 12’ wall.  Then he shot a beam along the hypotenuse of both corners.  I know from woodworking that if those dimensions are within 1/16” the item is perfectly square.  No, I did not bother to ask.  I had figured out by now that he knew what he was doing.  He even measured the size and location of the AC registers.

  Then he showed me a computer layout of the room.  It had the size and shape of every piece of furniture plus their exact location in the room.  The dimensions of everything in the room were within a few mm of the exact size.  It even had the estimated weight of each item.  By then I figured out that he had the situation under control.

  My last question was how long it would take for the carpet to be cut locally.  He said that they sent the computer file to a company in Michigan where the carpet was cut using the computer layout.  It was cut there and then shipped by truck back to Naples.  He had no control of the lag time.  He told me that the carpet would be rolled in the 12’ direction to minimize the space used in the truck.  The tack strips would be cut to length and rolled up inside the carpet roll.  The threshold strip between the kitchen and living room was cut to the exact length and the difference between the carpet-hardwood floor was determined to get the exact threshold pattern.

  When he left Connie asked him how many floors he had measured today.  He said that he had completed seven and had one more to go and then he would hit his pool.  We live in a pretty advanced world.

Guns VS guns

There has been much said lately about the ban of the very popular ammunition for the AR 15 rifle.  Let’s review some basic statistics.  The slug for the .223 round has a mass (weight) of four grams.  That is less that a five cent coin.  The muzzle velocity is 3240 feet per second.  The muzzle Energy is 1280 ft.lbs.  The round is designed for penetration, not massive damage. 

Compare that to the 12 gauge shotgun.  A “deer slug” in a 12 g size (roughly ¾”) has a weight of 37.8 grams.  That is over 9 times that of the AR 15 round.  The muzzle velocity is much less, 1875 feet per second but the muzzle energy is 2989 ft.lbs. That is over twice that of the AR 15 round.  The round is designed for maximum damage, much like that of the inhumane minie’ ball used during the civil war. The exit wound on a deer carcass as a result of a 12 g. round is larger than that a human hand can cover.  It would be the same if used on a human being.

The AR 15 rifle costs about $1500 retail.  A used 12 g. shotgun can be purchased for as little as $50.  Which weapon is a deranged individual likely to get his/her hands upon?  Which weapon presents the greater danger to society?  You must judge that for yourself.  The above statistics can be confirmed by a visit to Wikipedia or by a visit to www.midwayusa.com

Tesla power train

The following may be a bit technical but I do get serious from time to time.
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I was watching a “factory made” segment yesterday about the Tesla electric car.  They said the car developed 450 hp.     W H A T??      I looked it up on Wikipedia.  It said the car developed 248 HP. That is still way too much for an AC motor.  They said that the motor weighed only 70 pounds and was a 4 pole A.C. induction motor.

The stator looked to be about the same size as a G.E.  80 frame hermetic motor.  The 80 frame stator core punchings weigh 10 pounds per inch of stack.  A 9 inch stack core would weigh 90 pounds and develop only 50 HP at 1800 rpm. (G.E.Spec) ,  that is 5.55 hp per inch of stack.  A 70 pound stator would be 7 inches long and develop 38.88 hp at 1800 rpm. Then I looked at the Tesla motor speed.  The dang thing turns at 14,000, (yes fourteen thousand) RPM.

The plot thickens.  14000 rpm vs. 1800 rpm (STD 4 pole design synchronous speed) is a factor of 7.77.     7.77 * 38.88hp = 302 hp.  Factor in about 88 % efficiency and 8% slip for the rotor “chasing” the field and you have 244 HP. This is close to the 248 hp claimed by the company.  That entire HP is gained through speed, not brute strength.

The automobile has a single speed, fixed gear transmission.  If the transmission is “fixed”, then the motor speed is variable.  The problem is that an A.C. induction motor speed is not variable.  The only way to vary the speed would be to vary the frequency of the input voltage.  Now let’s calculate the actual CPS of the Tesla motor.    60/1800 = X/14,000.  X = 466 CPS.   There was a three-cylinder Harnishfager diesel generator used on the Nike Hercules missile system. The generator operated at 400 CPS, which was considered the same as D.C.  -----  No inverter required???

Someone is going to wonder why we have 200 HP motors the size of a 55 gallon drum when we can get it from a motor the size of a 10 quart bucket.

Cure for the "German Goiter"

Several years ago I wrote a satirical article on the "German Goiter".  I cannot remember if I posted the following and have no record of it in my files. Please excuse me if it is a repeat.

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I have received much positive correspondence on my last epistle about the German goiter from my adoring fans.  I shall, therefore, update you on the progress being made by yours truly.

The first good news is that I did get a grant from the “Green Energy lobby”.  The reasons are as follows:  The diet used to cure the malady is mostly green.  Things like grass, tree leaves, pond scum and yes, even the “Musgos” (must go in the garbage) from over ripe refrigerator items.  Most are not green unless mildew has set in but you are guaranteed that you will not over eat such items. Not only is the diet green but also cheap.

Another sure-fire way to lose weight is the “cabbage soup diet.”  It consists of cabbage boiled in water.  Nothing else.  No seasoning, no thickening agent.  Nothing.  The good part is that you are allowed to eat as much as you wish.  The bad part is that you can’t stand the stuff.

After you are on the diet for three days, you are allowed to eat several pieces of carrot and celery.  Connie and I both tried the diet at the same time.  We almost came to blows over the carrots and celery.  After a week you were allowed to eat one small baked potato.  You have no idea how heavenly a plain baked potato can taste until you have been on the cabbage soup diet for a week.  On a serious note you become slightly aware of what it is to be really hungry.  It makes you wonder how many people in the world would fight to have that cabbage soup that you cannot stand. After the baked potato both Connie and I decided that the cabbage soup diet was not for us.

On a non-related subject; my daughter gave me the devil for using the term “German” when referring to the condition.  She teaches diversity classes and let me know that you NEVER use ethnic descriptions in written matter that might be read by those that could be insulted.  Also out are fat, thin, tall, short, curly haired, reference to an accent and xxxx.  The list goes on and on.  It just about leaves me with “Hey You” when addressing someone