Representative Government

The ancient Greeks invented democracy.  In those days all the citizens of the city state would meet and vote on public issues.  This was clumsy, did not scale well, (what works for a city-state, won't work for the entire Roman empire), and led to some really disastrous decisions (the Athenian Syracuse expedition for example). 
   The solution was representative democracy, pioneered by the British parliament and championed by the United States.   Individuals are selected as representatives of their district and they meet to pass laws.  This works, as long as the representatives remember that they are supposed to represent.  In today's US Congress we have a horrific example of representatives failing to vote as their district wants and getting totally wrapped up in petty feuds and back stabbing.  At the rate the Congresscritters are going, I doubt that they will be able pass anything for the next 10 years.  They will draw their pay however.
   Look at today.  Polls show that 70% of Americans want us to do something for the "DACA" people, immigrants brought to the US illegally as small children and who grew up in America.  The third try to pass a DACA bill failed a few hours ago.  In short, all the Congresscritters are failing to pass a law that 70% of the population want passed.  That ain't representative democracy.
   We voters do have a remedy coming up in November.  We could vote all the current Congresscritters out.  

Chevy Equinox

I had to leave the Buick at the dealer for some heavy duty and super expensive repair work.  The dealer loaned me a brand new (2018 1880 miles) Chevy Equinox.  It's quite a car.  Actually I would call it a minivan but I dare say Chevy calls it an SUV, or a crossover (car industry jargon for small SUV).  Minivan is too closely associated with soccer moms to be a good name for a product these days.  SUV  sounds much cooler.  And the Equinox has four regular car doors rather than the one big side sliding door that was the mark of Dodge and Plymouth minivans.  It only seats two in front and two more in back.  The Dodge and Plymouth minivans would seat two in front and five in back.  
   It's got plenty of power.  It charged right up three mile hill without pausing for breath.  It's lost the ignition key.  You have a clever radio gizmo in your pocket, and if the car detects the gizmo, then the "Start" button works.  Press it to crank and run.  Press it again to turn the engine off.  It doesn't have AM_FM radio, it has satellite radio.  Which is cool, but last time I checked you have to pay the satellite company cash money to keep the satellite radio working.  This satellite radio only picked up half a dozen channels.  It lost the parking brake.  Either I could not find it, or it is all automatic.  It's got rear view mirrors AND a snappy color rear view TV camera that comes on when you put the tranny in reverse.
   The owner's manual was not in the glove compartment, so I could not figure out how a lot of stuff works.  Chevy must figure owners are illiterate.  All the dash board controls have cute little pictograms instead of real English language labels.  Lot of the pictograms meant nothing to me.  
   Any how all this fanciness makes my 2003 Buick feel like a Model A.  Only $36K.  Back when I was driving minivans, (80's and 90's)  I got them new for $12K.  If you got kids, then each kid can have his/her own seat, a blessing on long trips  I didn't measure to be sure, but it looks like it would take 4 by 8 sheet goods, or modest sized furniture in the wayback.
  Further update.  The Equinox does have a parking brake, it's a tiny shiny ring on the transmission shifter housing. It's a power operated parking brake.  It also has radio controls hidden underneath the steering wheel.  You can change channels and work the volume without taking your hands off the wheel.   The windshield wiper control acts oddly, but it does work after you figure it out. 

A newsie writes about engineering history

Saturday's Wall St Journal had book review of Richard Rhodes "Energy a Human History".  The reviewer was Charles R. Morris.  Reading Morris's review made it clear to me that Mr. Morris is one of those "cannot change a light bulb" newsies.  For instance, Morris is describing early steam engine operation.  Morris says " Steam was pumped into the piston".  Not so.  The piston is a round metal part that moves back and forth. No where for steam to go into.  The piston moves inside the cylinder, into which steam can go.  Any motor head, like me, knows the difference between pistons and cylinders. Apparently Mr. Morris does not.  Plus, you don't pump steam into anything.  Just open the intake valve and steam under boiler pressure will flow in freely.  No pump required.
   Then Mr Morris writes "Franklin's famous wet-kite experiment demonstrated that ordinary static electricity and the same stuff as lightening by capturing its charges in Leyden jars, primitive batteries."  Not so.  The Leyden jar was an early version of a capacitor, not a battery.  Improved versions of the Leyden jar were called condensers up until the 1950's when the name capacitor was introduced.  All your electronics, TV, stereo, smart phone, desktop, whatever, contain lots and lots of capacitors. 
   And then we read "DC systems drew their power from low-voltage battery storage."  "DC was dependent on battery charging, it had limited range, only a half mile or so."   Not so.  Both DC and AC systems obtained their power from steam driven DC generators or AC alternators.  Edison's first commercial power station at Pearl St in New York city  had a generator.  So did all the later power stations, both AC and DC.  It isn't right to say that DC has limited range.  The right thing to say is that there was/is  no way to change the voltage of DC.  For transmission over distance, you want to set the voltage as high as you dare, thousands of volts, to reduce line losses.  Once the electricity gets to where is was going, you want to reduce the voltage.  Nobody wants thousands of volts in their lamp sockets and wall outlets.  A hundred volts or so is plenty running around your house.  With AC, transformers can change the voltage up for transmission and and then down again for use.  Transformers only work on AC.  Which accounts for the universal use of AC by today's electric companies. 
  "the disgraceful story of leaded gas-its toxicity especially on the brains of children."  Not the problem with leaded gas.  When we got serious about cleaning up the smog problem we put catalytic converters on all our cars.  Leaded gas poisoned the catalyst rendering the converters inoperative.  So the industry switched over to unleaded gas some time in the late 60's to early 70's.  They put smaller fill pipes on cars requiring unleaded so the standard leaded gas nozzles would not fit, and put smaller nozzles on the unleaded gas pumps. 
   I was surprised that the usually dependable Wall St Journal would publish a piece with so many glaring errors.

Smartphone required for parking meters in Cambridge MA

So I find a legal street parking space in Harvard Square.  I park, get out, and face up to the parking meter.  The meter has a plaque on it directing me to download a "Pay Cambridge Parking Meters" app.  I guess the city fathers of Cambridge figure that all their citizens, or at least all Harvard students have smartphones.  I'm behind the times, I just have a dumbphone.  I finally wind up in a public parking garage that charges $16 an hour. 

Farewell Charles Krauthammer

The cancer got him yesterday.  He will be missed.  His commentary on current events was inspired, intelligent, and at times very witty.  The Fox people have been eulogizing him since last night.  NPR hasn't even mentioned his death.  They don't call it National Progressive Radio for nothing. 

United States Space Force (USSF)

President Trump is now pushing this.  As an old Air Force veteran I am luke warm to the idea.  I assume he is talking about creating a Department of the Space Force, with a separate Congressionally approved budget, and moving all the Air Force people and facilities working on space projects over to the new service, creating a new uniform, titles of rank, and regulations for the Space Force, in short setting it up like they did the Air Force back in 1947.  
   One objection to the idea.  The existing armed services actually engage in real combat, the kind where people get killed.  I don't see the Space Force mission as involving combat.  Launching missiles from an underground command center is pretty risk free.  Much of the morale that makes the current armed services so effective comes from membership in an elite fighting force.   In my Air Force units the enlisted men never fired a shot in anger or flew into enemy airspace, but they took great pride in keeping their fighter planes in the air, and combat ready.  Plus, the enlisted men bore the title of "Airman", until they made sergeant.  How would the Space Force enlisted men feel about bearing the title of "Spaceman"?
   The United States presently relies upon a whole lot of satellites, recon sats, comm sats, GPS sats, and others.  These satellites are not that far up, and in wartime the enemy could shoot them down, or jam their transmissions.  It would be nice to defend them somehow.  But I don't really see how this might be done.  All the enemy needs to do is lob something, with a little maneuvering fuel and an IR sensor, up as high as the target.  The target satellite is moving at 18,000 mph, and when it runs anything at that speed it is blown into dust.  Bright flash, easily seen from the ground.  Short of equipping all the satellites with a battery of anti-missiles, or nuking the enemy launch sites, I don't see any way to stop it. 
   If the independent Space Force could be freed of the existing Department of Defense (DoD) procurement regulations, it could achieve faster, cheaper, and better procurement, especially of expensive, custom built flight hardware.  Current procurement regulations slow everything down, jack up cost, and deliver inferior flaky hardware.  Getting out from under them would be a big improvement.  But, since the new Department of the Space Force would be under DoD, I don't see this as very likely. 

I'm running for Senate!

The phone rang the other day.  It was Bruce Perlo of the NH Republican Party asking if I would stand for election to the NH senate.  I was flattered, and honored, and so I said “yes”.  Filing for the September primary closed last Friday and since no one had filed, the party is entitled to submit a name.  My name came up. 

   It’s the NH first senate district.  The district is Coos and Grafton counties.  It starts at the Canadian border and reaches down a bit south of Franconia Notch. The current incumbent is Jeff Woodburn, a democrat.  It’s the biggest NH senate district, at least in land area.  It’s thinly populated, but that doesn’t make driving around the district any easier. 

   I got down to the Secretary of State’s office in Concord yesterday and filed the necessary paperwork.  It was $10 to file, I had the cash on me, and I got a receipt.  Chuck Morse, Senate President wanted to meet me.  We had a nice talk.  I should have worn coat and tie, but Jeanie Forester had assured me that it wasn’t necessary. 

   What can you do to help me run?  First, just tell everyone you know that I am running, and I am a good guy.  I’m not a household name up here, especially in Coos County.  Next time you have a party or a cookout, invite me.  I don’t eat much, and I am a fairly entertaining speaker.  I’ll say “Please vote for me” and give reasons, and tell a few war stories.