Time to take the Constitution Back from Wingnuts & Teabaggers!

On this Fourth of July it does us well to recall what the Constitution is and isn’t. It isn’t a sterile document frozen in time or a “bible”. It IS a living and breathing document that inheres, lives and thrives in the hearts and minds of the people. In other words, it is written to inform and serve the people – the citizens of this country – not for the citizens to serve it, or idolize is as the Teepees do.

Thus, we hear much talk from conservatives about the “original intent” of the Founders in writing the Constitution but very little evidence that these purists actually know what any single part means. The Whacko Right, based mainly in the Federalist society and other bastions, insists the Constitution was designed to limit government – the reach thereof- and also any innovative government programs which they deem have no basis in the original parchment.

But dare to ask them about the “unenumerated rights of citizens" declared under the Ninth Amendment of the Bill of Rights (referred to as those rights 'not denied or disparaged' by the enumerated rights) and their faces all turn as blank as their minds. No wonder! The whole concept of rights that can exist without being actually mentioned is something beyond their ken, or conception! Evidently, then, they never read the Constitution as carefully as they believed! In fact, as Prof. Garry Wills has pointed out, the unenumerated rights are all those rights not already specifically declared or described in the existing document. The Founders thereby realized and understood there could exist rights in the future they hadn’t conceived of at the time of the Constitutional Convention, and so allowed those (then) undefined rights to become realized later. In other words, the rights allotted citizens are not limited to the rights actually and specifically delineated, i.e. in the Bill of Rights.

Many Federalists actually believe the unenumerated Rights refer to “State’s Rights” but this is false. The States have NO rights, only flesh and blood citizens can possess Rights, as the selfsame authors (e.g. James Madison, Alexander Hamilton etc.) noted in The Federalist Papers - which one would have thought the Federalist Society would be acquainted with. Indeed, in Amendment X, the reference is specifically made to powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution - nor prohibited by it to the States- are reserved to the States respectively...). Thus, the States have prerogatives and powers, but citizens have rights. This is a critical distinction that most tea baggers lack clue one about.

Another Teepee myth is the Constitution was created to protect states from federal power, but this is bollocks. The fact is, in the Federalist Papers James Madison himself compared the federal government system to the Solar system. Just as the planets (analogous to states) could not exist as part of that system without the centralized force of gravitational pull of the Sun, so also the federal system could not exist without the centralized pull of the federal government – leading the diversity of states to be one cohesive entity as government. Thus we do find the Constitution includes limits but mostly limits on STATE governments.

If the Constitution was intended to limit the federal government power it certainly doesn’t say so. In Article I, Section 8 – the longest segment of the document, we see an extended declaration of congressional power. (The States are mainly afforded their power in the articles of confederation). In addition, it ends by clearly delegating to Congress the ability “to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or any Department thereof”..

(Aside: Of course, some readers may be wondering where I stand in respect to all the preceding, given the federal laws against “controlled substances” which collide with the States' own laws allowing medical marijuana, based on my earlier blog. But this is a different issue: the one of making BAD legislation! Yes, it shows Congress – albeit having the power to make laws – will not always pass judicious or correct ones. Some inane (or insane, or immoral) laws will be passed over time, and that is why from time to time citizens must inveigh against them and seek their being overturned or challenged. Slave holding laws – like the ‘Fugitive Slave Act’ – were also enacted at one time, but sane and moral citizens saw that they were ultimately expurgated as unfitting a nation that truly prized liberty. The same I maintain, holds for these overbearing and loathsome laws against a medicinal plant ok'd by state legislation.)

Another canard promoted by Tea Party idiots (based upon assorted signs at their rallies), is that proclaiming "No taxation!" In fact, the REAL issue at the Boston Tea Party was: No taxation without representation!. Nowhere in the Constitution does it say 'No taxes', period! Again, Sec. 8 of Article I clearly states:

"The Congress shall have the power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises to pay Debts and provide for the common defense and General Welfare of the United States"

This can also be seen as linking the payment of debt obligations (such as the $14.3 trillion we have now and which are embodied in raising the debt ceiling) to preserving the general welfare - which is, in fact, the main item of federal budgets that the Repukes and conservatives, tea baggers want to gut..cut..in the form of what they disparagingly refer to as "entitlements": Medicare for Seniors, as well as Social Security, including for the disabled and elderly. In other words, the clear undertone here is that TAXES be used when needed to pay debts!

IN tandem with this, and related, is the provision under Amendment XIV, Section 4, which stipulates:

"The validity of the Public Debt of the United States, authorized by law, includes debts incurred for payment of pensions ....and shall not be questioned."

In linking the latter two together, it is clear to me that if the Republican Congress refuses to act to raise the debt ceiling (and thereby honor the validity of paying the Public Debt) then President Obama can and MUST exercise an Executive Order to override a putatively derelict Congress and invoke Article 4 of Amendment XIV to raise the debt ceiling. The alternative, of not doing so, would also violate Article XIV and be lawless while also violating Sec. 4 of Article I. For example, payment of "pensions" (interpreted as Social Security monies) would likely not be made in case of a default. Therefore, debts for such payments cannot be avoided by law and the president must seize the initiative if a derelict congress abdicated its responsibility!

Yes, the game-playing reptile congress (trying to use the debt ceiling as leverage to hold the whole nation hostage) may squawk and perhaps even initiate a Constitutional crisis, but they have no ballast, no precedent to base it on. Obama can simply argue (or more likely his Solicitor General) that the Republican House has demonstrated fiscal irresponsibility and recklessness in jeapordizing the full faith and credit of the U.S. by gamesmanship, which is what it is. He can refer to the fact that Congress has already enacted 75 measures to raise the debt, including 17 under Ronald Reagan.

In terms of Obama's Affordable Care Act, wingnuts and Tea baggers have argued that the decision to buy health insurance must be a private one, and hence one can opt out or not. The government can't dictate such a purchase, even if it would bring down premiums for all. Thus, a young and healthy worker may simply decide the costs are not for her so she decides not to buy.

But what if she then gets into a major auto or motorcycle accident and requires serious surgery? Without health insurance this means landing in an ER where the costs are much greater. Most of these costs are passed on to the regular insurance holders for whom it can be regarded as a kind of extra tax on them in higher premiums. Multiplied millions of times this would represent a significant additional (and unintended) tax upon all the regular insurance buyers! In other words, it would be totally unacceptable.

Thus, in the case above, the private decision to opt out has major impacts on the overall plan and purchases - so can't be tolerated. In other words, doing nothing - buying nothing, can be a private decision with huge deleterious public consequences!

Now, is the Affordable Care Act somewhat cynical? Yes, I agree, and according to one University of Pennsylvania Law Review article:

Making healthy young adults pay billions of dollars in premiums into the national health care market is the ony way to fund universal health care coverage without raising substantial new taxes

While my preference, if I were in charge, would be to raise new taxes, then let people opt out if they chose (after paying their taxes!)

But again, being cynical or a law embodying it, is not proscribed by the Constitution.

The most crucial aspect to grasp about our Constitution on this July 4th, is that it was written as a flexible set of rules which could be amended (as it has been) and not a dead hand authority restricting options, choices or novel inputs to adjust to the changing times. As I said, it is not a bible, nor should the Founders' words be treated as some kind of inerrant text (look at the provisions for black-slave citizens, to regard them as only 3/5 of white!).

Our aim then needs to be to rescue the concept of a living Constitution from being a whipping boy of the Wingnuts and tea bagger extremists. A Constitution by itself, after all, guarantees nothing. (Bolshevik Russia and Nazi Germany had constitutions). In effect, if there is no genuine spirit of liberty in the hearts and minds of citizens, then their nation's Constitution can be no more than just a "piece of paper" - as George W. Bush once memorably put it, when he enlisted a derelict judiciary to justify his (1978) FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) excesses.

One thing everyone must understand is that Constitutions by themselves - including ours- don't protect our spirit of liberty, it is our spirit of liberty and the grasp of what it requires, which protects the Constitution. This is something that the Constitution idolaters, who claim to study this document so fervently and obsessively, have yet to learn.

The Value of Parasitic Worms

Parastic worms, such as tapeworm, hook worm and others, generally carry a consistent 'Ewwwww' factor and hence the danger in bringing them up either in polite conversation or as a blog topic. My own last encounter occurred in Barbados, in the summer of 1985, when I awoke one night to a maddening itching on my right thigh. I zoomed in on the area and was appalled to see the flesh actually wriggling as if something was crawling around underneath the skin. When I told my wife about it the next morning she said matter of factly: "You've got worms! Make an appointment to see our dermatologist!"

A week later, barely able to survive the fierce itching, I met with Dr. Maureen Skeete who conducted a brief examination before pronouncing her verdict: Beach worms! She then asked me if I had reclined on the beach to get Sun, but in an area not washed by the sea. I told her I had, and she shook her head.

"That's where the little nasties hang out! Because the sea water can't wash them away, and they come off from dog droppings, donkey droppings or horse droppings...so lay their eggs in the beach."

I told her that sounded like hook worm, but she said: 'No, beach worm is a different species. They are also able, once eggs were laid, to emerge under the skin and the little ones can crawl around freely until maturing'. Okay, cool! I replied. Anyway, she gave me some cherry-colored medicine that looked like cough medicine and told me to take it for three days, and the worms and any eggs would be flushed out.

Needless to say, when I venture to the island's beaches now, I don't lie on "dead sand" but only the fresh stuff regularly washed by the sea water!

Now, though somewhat disgusting, new research discloses parasitic worms may have some value after all, especially in allaying human conditions like asthma and severe allergies. Indeed, immunologist Helmut Haas, of the Borstel Research Center in Germany, is finding that these worms may even be the best immediate answer for MS and Crohn's disease. Meanwhile, in clinical trials, scientists are testing this theory by actually treating patients with either live microscopic eggs or larvae of parastic worms.

Indeed, many of these research workers point to a most interesting coincidence in the U.S., in terms of hook worm infestations. Almost at the same time shoe-wearing put hook worms out of business, asthma, allergies and a host of other auto-immune diseases flared up. (Coincidence, because these are the very conditions that insertion of parasitic eggs and larvae are most able to mitigate.) In other words, eliminating the parasites might well have destroyed an equilibrium that helped keep humans (especially youngsters) healthy in other areas.

Corroborating this hypothesis, in 2003, researchers at the University of Nottingham in England found that toddlers living in an Ethiopian city were twice as likely to wheeze as peers living in less sanitary rural areas. In the same vein, Ethiopian kids with roundworm infections were found to wheeze half as often as those devoid of parastic worms.

Meanwhile, in Argentina, researchers Jorge Correale and Mauricio Farez undertook another study related to mitigating MS by the use of flatworms. Current theory holds that multiple sclerosis arises from damage to the fatty sheath insulating nerve cells. What Correale and Farze found is that when subjects were infected with flat worms, the MS symptoms improved. Their study is significant because of the average age of the subjects (34 yrs.), the length of time for the investigation (4.6 years) and the MRI scans at the end to discriminate the control group (no flatworms implanted) from the active group. Those scans found 14 enlarged brain lesions in the latter group, while there were 164 in the former (non-worm infested) group.

The danger in all this? Some eager -beaver people, prone to such conditions (and also doing a lot of googling!) saw some of these early promising results and began to order unregulated parasite eggs on the internet, then ingest them. This is not a good or smart idea, especially if one doesn't know exactly what the parasite is! For example, one definitely doesn't want to obtain a schistosome, ingest it and then get schistosomiasis!

So, if anyone is thinking of parasitic worm remedies for a malady, I strongly endorse consultation with a family physician first!

Answers/ Solution to Part 23 (Electromagnetic Induction)

1.a)A bar magnet is inserted into a coil of wire (see Fig. 1) and a galvanometer needle deflects showing an electric current was produced in the wire. The current is electrical energy. What is the source of this energy?

b) A bar magnet which has a field of 1,000 mx is used for the above exp. If it is inserted into a coil of 30 turns in a hundredth of a second, what is the emf produced? Would it be detectable on a galvanometer that reads from - 5 to 5 mA(milli-amps)? Explain.

c) Using the sketch from the diagram, indicate where magnetic N and S poles would appear in the coil.. Explain the reason for this.


Solution:


1(a). The source of the energy is the mechanical (kinetic) energy associated with the motion of the bar magnet through the coil. This is then transferred (with the aid of the magnet’s B-field) to the electrical energy in the galvanometer which causes the deflection of its needle.

(b) We have for the induced emf: E= {Nφ/ t} x (10^-8)

Where φ = 1,000 mx and N = 30, t = 0.01 s

E = [(30) (1,000 mx)/ 0.01s] (10^-8) = 0.03V

Thus, the deflection for a milli-ammeter ought to be enough provided the resistance of the conducting wires isn’t overly large. By Ohm's Law: V = RI

Assming R = 10 ohms, then: I = V/R = 0.03V/ 10 ohms = 0.003 A = 3 mA (or maximum deflections from -3mA to +3mA)

c) By Lenz’s law a N-pole must form on the end of the coil facing the magnet so that the motion of the magnet is thereby opposed. (Otherwise a much larger ‘single’ magnet would form which increases the motion, and violates the conservation of energy).


2) Explain, on the basis of the experimental results, how it is that an electric generator may be rotated easily on an open circuit but becomes extremely hard to turn when it is connected to a load.

Ans. On an open circuit there is no opposition created because there is no current to oppose it by forming a B-field to oppose the (rotating) motion. Connected to a load, Lenz’s law applies and thus conservation of energy means a B-field is created that opposes the rotation. Another way to say this, is that once a load is connected electrons are forced to flow in the opposite direction and so a “back emf” is induced that opposes the motion of the generator in accord with Faraday’s Law: “The EMF generated is proportional to the rate of change of the magnetic flux”.
In an open circuit no change of flux exists. When the circuit is closed (analogous to closing the open key k in the experiment) a flux emerges and a back emf.



3) An alternative way to assess the magnitude of induced emf is by way of the formal equation: E = B Lv, where B is the magnetic flux density, L is the length of the displaced object and v the relative motion (velocity of moving agent).

Use the above to estimate the induced emf created when a copper bar 30 cm in length is initially perpendicular to a field B of flux density 0.8 weber/m^2 and moves at right angles to the field at a speed of 50 cm/sec.

Soln.

E = B Lv = (0.8 wb/m^2)(0.5m/s) (0.3m) = 0.12V



4) A copper disc of 10 cm radius is allowed to rotate at 20 rotations per second about its axis and with its plane perpendicular to a uniform B-field of flux density 0.6 weber/m^2. Find the potential difference between the disc's circumference and its center. (Hint: The magnetic flux threading a uniform disc is φ = BA where A is the area of the disc.)

Soln.:

t = 0.05s (for one axial rev., e.g. 1/20 s)

B = 0.6 wb/m^2

φ = BA = (0.6 wb/m^2)( π(0.1m)^2) = 0.018 mx

Then: p.d. = φ/ t (rate of change of flux) = 0.018 mx/ 0.05s = 0.38V

Now...for some local Pet Peeves!

Okay, enough of the feds. Let's look at some local pet peeves that have me just as hopping mad as federal interference in legitimate state laws. Some of these have been building for some time, others not so much. What I will do is start with the worst, and go on in diminishing order of priority.

1) The Target Shooters near Pike National Forest.

Look, I have enjoyed target shooting (mainly with .22 rifle using hollow points, and shotguns) as much as the next person. But do some target shooters REALLY need to pepper areas of the much-used Pike National Forest? A recent report from Forest Rangers disclosed as many as one hundred large trees felled merely from people shooting them up, including using large caliber weapons: AR-15s, Uzis, Kalashnikovs and other fare (as well as large caliber pistols, e.g. .44 Magnums). IS this really necessary?

People (with kids) hike in the forest. It has many trails, also clear brooks for keeping cool. I usually venture out there in August with the wife, to hike and enjoy a pot luck lunch with friends. Must we now wear body armor in order to go over there and enjoy a simple outdoor lunch? Must we call on the feds (ATF) to do a real job for once, as oppposed to an ersatz one (raiding medical dispensaries that stock MJ for cancer pts.?)

Inquiring minds want to know! Would you like it if a place you enjoyed was a primary place for target shooting? Hey, I know some of you guys are either ex-military or current (what with all the soldiers around the area, most moved in from Ft. Hood, TX) but can't you guys find an outlet at a regular, target shooting range ...you know ...where people aren't hiking, or lunching or whatever?

2) Feeding Mama bear and cubs (see photo):

Seems some lamo tourists (or local dimwit losers) got the brilliante idea that buying Double Whoppers at a Burger King in Eagle, then hand-feeding them to Mama Bear and her cubbies was a capital idea! Actually, it was barbaric and insane. Not only have these bozos now put citizens at risk (because the bears have lost their fear of people) but the bears as well- by becoming addicted to human fast food chock full of salts and fats. As a Wildlife Agency officer (Ron Velarde) pointed out:

"This is an extraordinary example of stupid and irresponsible behavior by people. Because of their reckless action, the sow and cubs now know that people mean food. This dramatically increases the likelihood that these bears will get into trouble and have to be put down."

Wildlife Officers are also requesting public assistance to identify the bear-feeders. Anyone caught feeding major predators in Colorado, including: black bears, wolves, and mountain lions, is subject to felony wild animal feeding - and hefty fines and-or imprisonment of up to 90 days. As Perry Wills, a local wildlife official put it:

"Locals and visitors alike need to understand that we will not tolerate anyone putting putting our citizens and wildlife at risk."

Here's what I don't get. According to the press reports, witnesses -several of them- reported the suspects entering BK then emerging with bags of giant whoppers. Then, they withdrew the giant burgers and approached the bear family to hand-feed them. Why in hell didn't any of these upstanding citizens step in and say: 'Hey! You can't do that! You'll risk people's lives by making the bears into pests and prone to attack, and also risk the bears being shot by wildlife officals as threats! Use your damned heads!"

But no one did.

Meanwhile, some advice to these bear-feeding miscreants: Next time you want to endear yorself to a critter and feed 'em by hand, please take a jet to Miami International, get a motel on U.S. 27 near the Everglades, and go in there with some double whoppers to feed one of the 30,000 Burmese pythons (up to 14' long each) now estimated to be on the loose. I am sure any one will appreciate it...or mayhap one of the large gators wandering around! (If either doesn't ingest you first!)


3) Driving Cattle along Tejon St. (See photo).

Okay, okay, I know Colorado above all other states is the heart of the Old West. (After all, 'Durango Kid' was one of my favorite comics in the fifties). I also know the Big Brand Ranch Rodeo is tonight. But must the cowpokes use the main drag of Colorado Springs (Tejon Street) for their cattle drive - leaving roughly 1,000 pounds of cattle poop for the overworked city workers to clean up? (Not to mention forcing holiday traffic to take major detours- clogging up other arteries).

How 'bout no more of these mini -cattle drives with longhorns, especially along city streets? Or, if you must do it- how about at night- when it'll at least keep the hoodlum element at bay? (As opposed to having fifty bar fights in the dives along Tejon and its side streets.)

I've got some more peeves, but this is enough for now..

Time for the ACLU to take on Feds over State MJ Laws!

Reading the front page of today's Denver Post was downright depressing, and made me much angrier than usual. I felt like hurling my coffee cup across the room, as this nation's policies become ever more contradictory, self-defeating and myopic. The headline and lead story noted that nearly 85 medical marijuana dispensaries - churning out over $2 million a year to state coffers (for licenses, state taxes, property taxes etc.) now stand to go under because of "more rigorous planned federal enforcement" of federal 'controlled substances' laws. A memo from Deputy AG James Cole evidently has ALL Colorado medical dispensaries now in tumult, asserting the feds will come in and raid, prosecute, close dispensaries if they see fit - state laws or no state laws!

This is an abomination. Especially after Obama gave his word merely 2 years ago the Justice Dept. would back off from putting federal heat on the states. So, is he not in control of his Justice Dept.? Or has Obama, a former MJ user, now become a 180 degree changeling such that he seeks to use that Dept. to make a point that no citizens in any state are to use, for any reason, period?

At a time when state budgets are hemorraghing red ink, and deficits are exploding - with teachers being laid off by the tens of thousands, libraries shuttered and hundreds of thousands of citizens now facing reduced Medicaid and other service cutbacks, it is nothing short of madness to be launching memos that threaten one of the few viable revenue streams that have mitigated the budget bleeding! This is nonsense, utterly and totally, while also displaying a total lack of any consciousness of priorities. One wit once opined: "The law is an ass" and all the laws to do with MJ oversight are a true case in point.

This too, after a major international NGO has affirmed the waste (in human resources and money) of drug laws around the world and implored 'law and order' driven governments to lay the fuck off for once, and spend time and resources hunting-fighting real threats: like serial killers, mass murderers, terrorists and other victim-oriented criminals. But it seems, at least in the U.S., the powers that be have blown this NGO off and decreed the stupid drug crusade must continue come hell or high water. And that elicits the question: WHY?

And more explicitly, the question: Cui bono? (Who benefits?)

It actually doesn't require any genius to figure this out, only one who has paid attention to the whole spectrum of news, including drug-pharma news, over the past year or so. What we learn is that the money grubbing leeches of Big PhRma - who already have a stranglehold on our alleged "government of the people" (compliments of their 3,500 lobbyists buying off lawmakers)- are nearing completion of a synthetic cannabinoid which would putatively be used by patients now using bakes and smokes from MJ dispensaries. (Note: for those who are unaware, 99% of cancer MJ patients use medical MJ to be able to eat after chemotherapy, else they'd wither away, having lost their appetites - from 'chemo-stomach'- a constant nausea).

What this obviously means is even more enormous profits from the sales of such a synthetic PhRMA product, just as other drugs (like tamoxifen) have planted huge profits in their coffers - thereby giving the fuckers even more money to run their tawdry, never-ending, irritating commercials on the tube, while using the rest to buy off congress to make fell laws against the people's interests.

It also means that so long as real (natural) MJ dispensaries exist, their serious competition will suck most of the potential profits from PhRMA. Hence they must be either: a) totally stopped, or b) controlled by constant threat of "enforcement" to the extent they can't operate. Hence fail, hence usher in much bigger profits for the corporate drug makers.

In other words, it is BIG PhRMA that the Justice Dept. and U.S. is protecting! It can't be any other reason, moral or legal (the latter expending far more expensive resources and capital than any other targets- in terms of benefit to society). Christ in a cap, a recent survey of the effects of the worst, most pernicious drugs found ALCOHOL at the top! It was responsible for more driving deaths, more crimes - including assault & battery, manslaughter (vehicular homicide) rape and date rape - than all other "controlled substances" on the feds lists. 2nd were legal drugs (available with prescription) like Oxycontin, Vicodin etc. ..which are now driving what we behold as an epidemic of pharmacy robberies - the latest in NY, where 4 people were shot dead. Shouldn't the feds be re-directing their resources there?

What's more, the cost of this idiotic 40 -year old drug war is ramping up our debt like the idiotic occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Where is reason and logic? Why is it sane or even moral to piss away more than $40 billion a year (that could be used for enhanced Medicaid accessibility) to lock small time drug users up, or to prosecute them? How does this make sense? Oh right! It leaves in place the secure jobs of 100,000 sheriffs, police, DEA agents, Justice operatives, prison guards, lawyers and others for the prosecution-drug-industrial complex!

Let me make this abundantly clear: I am not an MJ user nor have I ever done so. Hell, I don't even smoke! However, I am intelligent enough to behold the inexcusable squandering of scarce national capital (what with all our debt)and precious resources in a battle that can't be won, just as I see the same squandering by remaining in Afghanistan. Both the drug war and Afghanistan are losing wickets, and it's time to realize that. We lack the luxury of time, money and human capital to continue blindly tilting at these costly 'windmills'. We can't expect a 'died in the wool', hardass, inhuman Repuke president to act on this, so we must depend on Mr.Obama to do it now - as the hope and change person he claimed to be. Or has his being in D.C. changed him, rather than the other way around? Have those entrenched forces in the Beltway told him 'No can do'? Well, time for Mr. Obama to tell them to buzz off and either hop to or hop off the train!

Stopping this drug war foolishness would be the fastest, most expeditious way to put the Mexican drug cartels and their criminal masterminds out of business, while saving money on prosecutions and also enabling states to at least halt some of their own red ink.

Come on, Mr. Obama, make a freaking stand! Stop going back on your own words! (The election is next year, remember?)

Failing that, as a Guardian of Liberty member of the ACLU, I adjure them to commence legal suits in all MJ states (as a class action filing) if and when the next fed raid occurs. It is time (with the celebration of the 'Declaration of Independence' approaching) to bring this nation back to having a government of the PEOPLE, not of corporations, or protectors of corporations. Or bogus laws the enactment of which corporations purchased via lobbying perks to congress critters! The enforcement of which, merely adds to this country's already notorious prison population, the largest in the world. This is not freedom or "liberty", it's a farce!

It is time this bullshit stop once and for all!

Some Fine Points for Alexandra Pelosi to Teach Her New Americans!

Alexandra Pelosi, daughter of House Minority leader Nancy, is currently making the media rounds to pump her new HBO documentary (Citizen USA) about the excitement and fervor of newly minted U.S. citizens. She notes they come from all over the world, and aren't necessarily all Mexicans (more or less imprinted in the American mind when one hears the word 'immigrant') - or looking for some economical relief. Many, indeed, arrive to contribute to their new home and offer tremendous skills, and diverse backgrounds.

Of course, nearly all the new citizens in Pelosi's effort are gung ho, they adore the U.S. beyond measure, and see themselves as major beacons of its celebrated "freedoms" and eager to advance its reputation. One therefore wonders how much they REALLY know about their newly adopted country. To that end, I'd therefore like to append here some of the not so well known facts, background history that may have eluded these newcomers. Not necessarily items that should be on a test for citizenship, but things that it's good to know about - so you have a more rounded perspective on your new nation.

Some Fundamentals Every New Citizen Ought to Know:

1. Technically the country is not a democracy, but a republic. That means there is not direct voting at most levels, say for the President of the country.

2. More technically, the country can be described as a "corporate Republic" especially in view of the Supreme Court's 2009 decision (Federal Elections Commission v. Citizens United) which confers unlimited powers of free "speech" on corporate entities. Ordinary citizens would only have equal power if they had equal money, resources - but alas, they do not.

3. The pathology implicit in (2) is based on the 1886 Santa Clara decision of the Supreme Court, to award corporations the same rights of citizens, and extend to them special definitions as "persons" under the 14th Amendment. (You should know what the 14th amendment is if you're a new citizen).

4. The "Federal Reserve" is NOT part of the federal government. It is a private adjunct that was created under the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. Essentially, it removed the Constitutionally -appointed money creation powers from the Treasury and "delegated" them to a private Banking Corporation called the 'Federal Reserve'. The FR manufactures the dollars you use (and other denominations) circulates them to banks via a brokerage -fee set up, after which banks charge interest to recover their expenses.

5. NOT ALL rights to which you are entitled are actually written in the Constitution. You need to consult the Ninth Amendment here. Let Prof. Gary Wills, an expert on this matter, say it: "The Ninth Amendment talks of 'rights enumerated' and says 'the people' retain unenumerated ones." Many of us believe 'health care' and 'privacy' fall under these unenumerated rights.

6. By the same token, there is NO such critter as "State's rights". Prof. Wills again ('A Necessary Evil-A History Of American Distrust Of Government, Simon & Schuster, 1999, p. 109):

The rights in the Ninth are not the rights of the state, which can- strictly speaking - have no rights.

Governments have prerogatives, people have rights - so Hamilton speaks of 'abridgments of prerogative' in the state to protect rights of citizens. What the Ninth says is that the rights enumerated as protected by The Constitution do not exhaust all rights inherent in a people. The states can retain powers, though not rights

7. Many of these rights are currently being flouted by provisions of the so-called "Patriot Act" which actually has very little to do with patriotism. The name was mainly dreamed up to cow legislators into voting for it in 2002, not long after 9/11..

8. The "Freedom" postulated and bragged about in the U.S. is not as great as you think it is. Currently the country locks up more men and women per capita than any other nation on the planet, including China and Russia. Nearly 1.1% of the whole population is currenlty under some form of judicial-penal control, whether in prison, on probation, parole or awaiting trial. Nearly a third of those are locked up for drug offenses (e.g. minor possession), showing the whole 'drug war' is a monumental farce. All it's done is fill our prisons at an enormous cost in human and monetary capital.

9. Even at the personal level, freedom is relative only. Basically you can exercise all the freedom you want so long as that freedom doesn't surpass what your neighbors display. So, yeah, you have the freedom to hang up your own American flag, in your own way. Just not upside down, or you'll hear the consequences!

10. The U.S. Senate uses a device called a "filibuster" but they don't have to actually filibuster to employ it! They can merely express the "intent to filibuster" and thereby tie up any legislation that doesn't have at least a super-majority of 60 votes.

11. In this way, via the "intent to filibuster", a tiny minority can hold the majority hostage and paralyze the government.

12. You will hear (on the tube) a lot of bloviators and know nothings talking about Social Security going "bankrupt". Ignore them! Social Security has NO creditors, so it can't go bankrupt. It does have bond holders, but those are the very people who paid into it and are its beneficiaries.

13. In this country, success of health care is determined (so far) by private insurance companies and the primary measure of success is how FEW people they treat not how many! (Thier 'medical loss ratio' is an index of how much money flows out for actual treatments, and hence must be subtracted from profits). If you're going to live here, make sure you have plenty of money to take care of your medical needs - because 1 of 3 bankruptcies are triggered by medical crises.

14. Not all parts of this nation are equally welcoming or tolerant of the same immigrants. Do yourselves a favor, therefore, and study carefully the region to which you wish to move before packing up!

15. If there's only one pilgrimage you make in this country, go to Washington, D.C. and visit the JFK memorial ('the Eternal Flame'). You seldom hear much of Kennedy any more, mostly because a know-nothing named Ronnie Reagan usurped his memory. But had it not been for Kenendy, you wouldn't have a country to come into and become a citizen. He was the one who almost single handedly averted a full nuclear war during the Cuban Missile crisis in October, 1962.

On that note, always bear in mind the benefits we have procured via the events that didn't happen, as well as those that did!

Introducing Basic Physics (Electromagnetic Induction) Pt. 23

We now move to investigating basic electro-magnetic induction. The discovery of the basis for it, by Michael Faraday, made sense after the earlier (1820) discovery of Oersted's (See Fig. 1) showing that magnetic fields can be produced from electric currents. As shown in this simple sketch, a confirmation can easily be done using a simple circuit setup, with wire piercing a piece of flat cardboard, on which is overlaid white paper to permit magnetic lines of force to be plotted. The easiest way to do this is by simply moving a sensitive magnetic compass around the wire and noting the directions of the needle.

The inverse effect, magnetism from electricity, was discovered by Faraday 11 years later in 1831. His finding was that the relative motion between a conductor and a magnetic field generated a small electric current detected in a sensitive meter (e.e. galvanometer). He found in his simple experiments that it made no diference whether a magnet was moved relative to a coil, or a coil moved relative to a magnetic. In either case electric current was produced. Today, the principle forms the basis of large power generators which use motion of large devices in powerful magnetic fields to form the basis of a dynamo and produce electricity.

In the experimental set-up we used at Harrison College, the following apparatus was used:

- U-shaped iron core (to be magnetized)

- Gilley coil -apparatus

- rheostat

- resistance decade box

- switch

- connecting wire

- d.c. emf source

- strong Alnico bar magnet (e.g. 10 gauss or more)

The circuit diagram for the experiment is shown in Fig. 3 with the apparatus indicated. What we have basically is a potential divider circuit to determine the direction of the galvanometer deflection for a known current direction.

Procedure:

1- Connect one Gilley coil in series with a key (k), rheostat and d.c. source in such a way that the current direction (+ to -) in the coil is clockwise as viewed from the side opposite the binding posts. Check the polarity of the electro-magnetic with the magnetic compass. (Does it conform to the right hand rule? I.e. when you extend your forefinger, thumb and second finger in mutually perpendicular directions to each other then your forefinger follows the magnetic field direction, your thuMb, the motion, and seCond finger the current)

2- Connect the other Gilley coil to the galvanometer terminals through the resistance decade box so the sensitivity of the meter can be varied.

3- Set the two coils back to back, and set the rheostat for minimum effect using the sliding wire on the divider. (The decade box is set to maximum). Close the switch at the key k and note the galvanometer deflection. Decrease the decade box setting as needed to get a good (e.g. half -scale) galvanometer deflection each time the key is open or closed.

4- Observe to see whether the induced current in the secondary coil is the same or in an opposite direction to that of the primary coil (connected to the d.c. source). Explain in terms of Lenz's law:

Lenz's law (a different form of the conservation of energy):

Any electromagnetically induced current will always be in a direction such that the magnetic field set up by the induced currents will oppose the motion that produced them.

Note the galvanometer reading as the switch is closed and then when opened. Explain both then repeat with the coils separated by about 1 inch (2.5 cm).

5- Set the coils up again as in (1) and close the switch. When the galvanometer needle comes rest move the slider quickly to maximum resistance (~ 100 ohms). Explain what happens. Now move the slider back to minimum resistance and note the result.

6- Now insert the soft iron core through both coils and close the switch again, noting the deflection. Explain.

7- Pull the coils 2 in. apart but with the iron core still inside. Close the swtich and note the deflection. Does the distance between the coils (when core is present) significantly affect the readings. Explain. Check the polarity of the secondary coil with the small compasss during the buildup of induced emf. Does it follow Lenz's law.

Quantitative aspects:

The magnitude of the emf is directly proportional to the time rate of change of magnetic flux. If the flux is constant, NO emf will be produced. The magnitude of the induced emf is given by:

E = {Nφ/ t} x (10^-8)

where:

E = avg. value of induced emf magnitude
N = no. of turns in the coil of wire.

φ = change of magnetic flux (in maxwells)

t = time for the change in flux to take place.

Example problem:

A conducting loop of 50 turns is used in an induced emf experiment. It is moved through a field of 60,000 mx in a time of one thousandth of a second. What is the average emf induced?

Solution:

φ = 60,000 mx

t = 0.001 s

N = 50

then:

E = Nφ/ t x (10^-8)

= [(50) (60,000)]/ 0.001 s x (10^-8) = 30 V

Other Problems:

1)a)A bar magnet is inserted into a coil of wire (see Fig. 4) and a galvanometer needle deflects showing an electric current was produced in the wire. The current is electrical energy. What os the source of this energy?

b) A bar magnet which has a field of 1,000 mx is used for the above exp. If it is inserted into a coil of 30 turns in a hundredth of a second, what is the emf produced? Would it be detectable on a galvanometer that reads from - 5 to 5 milli-amps? Explain.

c) Using the sketch from the diagram, indicate where magnetic N and S poles would appear in the coil.. Explain the reason for this.

2) Explain, on the basis of the experimental results, how it is that an electric generator may be rotated easily on an open circuit but becomes extremely hard to turn when it is connected to a load.

3) An alternative way to assess the magnitude of induced emf is by way of the formal equation: E = B Lv, where B is the magnetic flux density, L is the length of the displaced object and v the relative motion (velocity of moving agent).

Use the above to estimate the induced emf created when a copper bar 30 cm in length is initially perpendicular to a field B of flux density 0.8 weber/m^2 and moves at right angles to the field at a speed of 50 cm/sec.

4) A copper disc of 10 cm radius is allowed to rotate at 20 rotations per second about its axis and with its plane perpendicular to a uniform B-field of flux density 0.6 weber/m^2. Find the potential difference between the disc's circumference and its center. (Hint: The magnetic flux threading a uniform disc is φ = BA where A is the area of the disc.)