General Custer in the American Civil War

I will be presenting an hour and a half talk on Custer in the Civil War to the Saginaw Civil War Round Table on Oct. 6.  That will be the first public discussion of this very interesting man who so polorized the opinions of those around him. 

His men did not care for him generally.  They thought he drove the men and horses too hard.  They also said he didn't accept the opinions of other officers.  He did accomplish many great feats in the Civil War though so much is to be said in his favor.

Missing Neutrinos Solved

Link to Article

Now scientists at Italy's National Institute for Nuclear Physics have for the first time observed -- with 98 percent certainty -- what they change into during a process called neutrino oscillation: another type of particle known as tau.

Under the prevailing Standard Model, neutrinos cannot have mass. But the new experiments prove that they do.

One implication is the existence of other, as yet unobserved types of neutrinos that could help clarify the nature of Dark Matter, which is believed to make up about 25 percent of the universe.

    

This is another example of the strange things which happen as things become infinitely small or large.

Hitchens and Evil

Hitchens on the Axis of Evil

The smell of death.  The necessity of Evil.  1984 are all here but here with a description that says "tell me no more spirit".  It is too much and yet it all took place.  Hitchen's examples bring the listener too close.

Farm History , This article reminded me so much of many things I experienced as a child growing up on a farm in Michigan. There was thirty years between the writer’s time and mine but so much seems the same.

Jack Bailey' s Delco Light

Jack Bailey' s Delco Light

I found this interesting article on the Delco Power Plant. I didn't know they existed but am not surprised. These must have been quite common twenty years before I was born.

Jack fixed up the light plant and made a display on a trailer. The display consisted of the 'Delco' light plant operating a 'Delco' radio, a 'Delco Light' utility motor pulling a 'Myers' pump actually pumping water, a 'Safety Car' fan from a railway passenger car, a 'Sunbeam' electric iron, and three light bulbs with three types of ceiling fixtures of the period. The latter was wired with the 'knob and tube' system of the heyday of the light plant. He also has some of the old glass jar batteries and a battery shipping box on display. The only thing new on his display were modern auto batteries used in lieu of the sixteen glass jar batteries of the original system.

Charles Kettering invented and developed the 'Delco Light Set' for farm and rural use. Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company, or 'Delco,' brings to mind well-known names that are, or once were, tied to Delco and its founders, Charles Kettering and Col. Edward Deeds. These names are General Motors, Frigidaire and the De-Havilland DH-4 bomber of World War One. Kettering is credited with putting the first electric starter on the auto, thus making the auto a vehicle anyone could start and drive.

The tag on the Davis unit reads 'The Delco Light 2044xx Delco Light Co., Dayton, Ohio.' It is a model 850. The generator and engine are on the same shaft. The engine is air cooled, starts on gasoline and runs on kerosene and shuts off automatically when batteries are fully charged. It must be restarted manually, either by hand crank or by switching current from the batteries back through the generator where it will serve as a starter motor. The unit is fitted with a Weston ammeter. The output is listed at 22 amps at 38 volts. The fuel tank has a two gallon capacity and the unit will run 3? to 4? hours on just one gallon of fuel. The horse power is listed at 1? and operates at 1150 to 1250 rpm. This unit has a 2? inch bore with a five inch stroke. The working system is 32 volts and originally used 16 glass jar batteries at two volts each.

NOVA | Last Extinction | Watch the Program | PBS

NOVA | Last Extinction | Watch the Program | PBS

It looks more and more like the loss of mega-fauna in North America was caused by the impact of a comet about 13000 years ago.

NOVA | Last Extinction | Watch the Program | PBS

NOVA | Last Extinction | Watch the Program | PBS

This is a change in our outlook for North America