Today many of us will sit down to a turkey dinner with all the trimmings in celebration of Thanksgiving Day. Football games and parades will be on our televisions. Yes, I admit it, that is what I am doing now, watching the Vikings/Lions game. But, before all of the commercialization, bounty, and ease, there was struggle, hardship, and hope for a freedom that was lacking in most people's lives. On this day perhaps we ought to remember how we came to be. Because we seem to be watching the slow dismantling of so many things put in place to afford us that bounty, ease, and freedom we hold so dear.
What follows is a short video of the first Pilgrims who, in their wisdom, put together an agreement to see them through the hardships they were to endure in their new world. It was really a lesson in working together for the greater good, which we could certainly use today. It is an old video, but I felt it got the point across very well.
With my post on the wind industry we have been talking about alternative energy sources, so when someone
happened to mention water in the comments section that brought to
mind how we have harnessed the power of water through the use of
dams. Of course, that led me to China and the Yangtze River, which
is now home to the largest dam on the planet. While I had heard about its size and the dislocation of people as the result of flooding I hadn't really looked at the project too closely. It gave me an excuse to do a little research on the
building of dams.
This first video is about 46 minutes
long, but it is a comprehensive look at the problems that various
building projects have overcome as the size of the dams has
increased.
It is not just the challenges in building that are an issue . There is also the human and
environmental impacts to be considered. The intent behind the Three Gorges dam was to help control flooding in the region, as well as encourage economic development. But some do not believe that the impact of The Three Gorges dam will be all good.
In the end, when all is said and done,
it is the effect this dam has had, and will have, on those who live
within its sphere that will determine how it is judged by history.
I wrote a post recently on electric
vehicles which generated a certain amount of debate as to what the
future holds with regard to electricity generation. Coincidentally, today there was an article in my newspaper about the fastest growing
occupation in the United States. Yes, you guessed it, it happens to
be in an alternative energy industry. It led me to do a little
research about that industry. So I thought I would share with you a
few videos on what I found.
First up is a nice video on how a wind
turbine functions. Yes, it does kind of give away what that fastest
growing occupation is. Lol! But I will get back to that later.
This next video answers a question that I have wondered about as I have driven past wind farms here
in Minnesota. Why do the windmills have three blades?
While Europe is ahead of the United
States in harnessing the power of the wind, we have made baby steps
to try to catch up.
Since the first days of Henry Ford's
Model T Americans have had a love affair with their cars. After our
home they are the biggest ticket item in our budget. We have sung
songs in their honor and they have starred in our movies. They are
an expression of who we are. Recently my readers, you know who you
are, expressed an interest in discussing the future of electric
vehicles (EV's). So I have done some research and have found a few
things that may be of interest and pertinent to some of the issues
raised, such as battery operation.
This first video is a nice overview of
how an electric car, specifically the Tesla Model S, works.
Obviously the battery in the Tesla does
not lend itself to convenient swapping, so in this case the recharge
is critical. In this video the various options are discussed.
As you no doubt noticed the time needed
to recharge the battery is rather, well, long. At least compared to
simply filling up your tank with gas. There is also the fact that
the charge doesn't last for a lengthy road trip, meaning you will
need to stop and recharge, adding more time to the trip. You will
also note that there is the issue of making sure the battery doesn't
get too hot.
In this video that lengthy charge time
is addressed.
Hmm...yes, there do seem to be some
issues with trying to lower the charge time. That brings us back to
swapping out the battery at a charging/swapping station. Apparently
that is not impossible as it was tried in Israel, according to this
article.
I noticed that within that article
there is a link to another about charging highways. That is,
creating the infrastructure within the highway itself to recharge the
battery as you drive. But, like other options, there are drawbacks.
Not least of which is how a pacemaker would react to the magnetic
charge.
One thing that the author of the
article mentioned in the last paragraph was about watching what India
and China do. I found that interesting because it does seem that in
the case of EV's the leaders will not be in the United States.
Whatever happens in the future may
depend upon whether or not EV's can find a place in the hearts of
those who have always just loved to drive, as far or as fast as they
can.
Or maybe as creatively as they can. This movie had some serious driving in
it!
For the past few weeks we have been seeing missiles flying from North Korea in some kind of desperate attempt at intimidation. The Trump administration has responded with an escalation of provocative rhetoric. So what are we to make of this? Are we on the verge of war because of the impulsive acts of two leaders who are intemperate in nature? How do North Koreans see the situation? How do they see us?
This is a video of interviews with three men who grew up in North Korea and are now living outside their home country. While it does not go into their personal journeys, it does give us a little insight into the people of North Korea, and their perceptions of America. Considering recent events with that country I thought it might be of interest.
