More Observations From History...

We've fallen behind, since the last post a lot has happened: a new job, sold our animals, found a new place to live in a different state, moved all of our belongings and started settling into a new community.  For now, here are additional observations I've wanted to post on things I found at my grandparent's house...

A steamer chest.  I remember learning about these in elementary school.  I suspect this is one they used to cross the Atlantic (these weren't made for sissies; no built in wheels nor retractable handles for pulling).

My grandfathers desk, appears to be untouched since the early 1960s.  Besides some of his cook books (in French) it has calendars from the 1950s with daily entries about what he did.  It's fascinating, I even found a note he wrote to my dad encouraging him and dissuading him from habits that he associated with "sissies." (The white corded earphones are mine, I put them down to take the pic.  The bowling trophies on top are my dad's from the late '50s and early '60s.)

Upon opening one of his calendar books, I found a ticket dated 2/20/1955.  It appears that he didn't use his turn signal and the "park" popo shook him down for $5 (~$45 in 2015 dollars).

I also found a lot of pictures. In some I can recognize people or objects still in the house, but many I cannot relate to anything.  Some appear to be ancestors that we can't ID with certainty like those above.

A 1958 Mercedes 220S sedan.  It's been in the garage for 40 years.  The tires aren't just flat they're falling apart but the body is in great shape.

The steering wheel looks like it belongs in a bus and the leather ain't too supple anymore.  The dash is mostly wood and it only has lap belts.

Interesting, it says "MADE IN WESTERN GERMANY" under the hood.  The former West and East Germany is a great case study.  The East was the ultimate in "big gubmit" run everything, whereas the West had considerably more freedom and much less intrusive gubmit.  There are many things West Germany produced and exported which improved the lives of people around the world (like this car).  When I was there in 1992, I was surprised at how it either matched and in some cases exceeded standards in the US.  I traveled to the former East Germany and the environment was considerably different, as if it was 40 years behind or simply dysfunctional (e.g. cars were made out of compressed cardboard).  How many things does big gubmit produce?  When considering the former East Germany, beside fear and tyranny, the answer is extremely little compared to a free economy (ever see any US imports from East Germany)?

Cigars that my grandfather used to smoke, they appear to be very inexpensive.  1940s maybe?

Well, not quite when you extrapolate for the effects of inflation and notice the blue tax stamps on every box.  It reminds me of a discussion I had with a distillery employee in the Midwest.  He mentioned how the AT F can do inspections to validate "compliance" and that the distillery has to pay "fees" based on what they produce (not based on revenue) or they will be shut down.  I asked if the AT F provided any help or advice to distillers in return for the money they take.  The answer was they do absolutely nothing.  His sentiment was that they were no different than the mob, they coerce producers to pay "protection" money or face violence or time in a steel cage.  The same thing happens with tobacco, the blue stamps were proof that protection money was paid.

Eventually I found a bottle with evidence that protection money had been paid for it.

Coffee grinder, this design was patented in 1905.

One of Great Grandpa's kitchen tools being put back into use.

A bug sprayer (top) and fire extinguisher.  I remember bug sprayers like this one used in cartoons when growing up.  I never could relate to them.  This was the first time I saw a real example.  The fire extinguisher is from the '30s and requires pumping in order to create pressure.  Below is an ad for it:

 

There are many bottles from what appear to be the 1940s? They are all glass and heavy.  Funny how an electric company also made furniture polish.

Grandma's 1950 Singer sewing machine.  I found a receipt for $150 but it mentions a "trade-in," I'm guessing grandma traded in an earlier model.

This find was priceless.  Ever have the JWs (Jehovah's Witnesses) come to your door?  With a little research it's not hard to dismiss their religion as being a cult (they deny that Jesus is God [Romans 9:5, Col 2:9, Titus 2:13, etc.] and they believe salvation is attained thru works and not faith [Ephesians 2:8-9, Gal 1:8-9] among other heresies).  Something a little harder to pin them down on are their false prophesies, like one that the world was to end in 1975 which they'll simply deny as "a lie."  But just imagine a conversation after finding a copy of Awake! from 1968 (published by the Watchtower, the JW equivalent of the "Death Star," it essentially gives JWs their marching orders).

ME: ...and the other significant issue with the Watchtower are the multiple false prophesies they've made.  The Bible tells us in Duet. 18:20-22 to dismiss anyone who makes a false prophesy.  JW (with a wry smile): Well, the world is full of lies, you can't believe everything that you read.  ME (with my version of their wry smile):  Oh yeah, I totally agree, that's why it's great to have original copies of Death Star prophesies ...oops, I mean Watchtower (as I produce the document above).

And here's another use of the word "negro" by the news media, this time in March of 1968, seven years after we're supposed to believe that Hawaii used "African" on certficates of birth?  Could the Pre sident's certificate be a forgery?  Nah, no way, not in land of the free and home of the brave!

When I was a kid I disliked Reader's Digest because the issues never had enough pictures for my satisfaction, especially when in the sitting room at the doctor's office.  Here's one from 1935, it has no pictures at all.  I would have had a really hard time waiting for the doctor in the 30s.

Part of the reason it's taken a while to produce this post is that I didn't know where to start with this American icon.  As I thought about what my grandparents might have been told about the "great emancipator" to make them want his picture in their home, it made me ponder how common and insidious propaganda is.  Especially for Lincoln, the propaganda campaign has been especially successful.  As a victim of the public school system in the '70s and '80s I can commiserate because I bought all of the lies.  "Lincoln was a wonderful hero for opposing slavery and the South didn't like that so they decided it was worth having a 'civil' war over, the South lost and the world is now a better place" sums up what I was taught.  For some great articles on this subject, see here and here.

The funny thing is that the premier candidate for being the worst President of all time (and responsible for war crimes) is venerated as being one of the best (even by many Christians which is even more baffling). 

One could argue that he is the only one that has ever conformed to the Constitution's definition of treason ("Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them"). 

He imprisoned thousands of northerners for exercising their 1st Amendment right by disagreeing with him and he put them in the same POW camps as the Confederates where people were purposely starved to death (unlike in the Confederacy where POWs staved to death because of food shortages imposed by the North). 

In 1858 he said "I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes nor of qualifying them to hold office nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races, which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality."  (Yes, you really did just read that - the words of Abraham Lincoln.  If you feel scandalized, you're a victim of propaganda.)

And yes, he is the first President to invite prominent blacks to the White House... only to ask them to encourage blacks to the leave the country and return to Africa.

He and his buddies knew that the South's contribution to the federal budget was 75% (yes, production in the south funded most of the fed back then via tariffs). Sure, it could be said that the war was about a number of things; preserving taxes generated through tariffs, empire building, or expanding the power of Republican Party, but not slavery.  Just ask the US Senate, on 7/26/1861 they declared that the purpose was "to preserve the Union." Ulysses S. Grant, the most acclaimed Union General, a slaveholder himself, said "If I thought this war was to abolish slavery, I would resign my commission and offer my sword to the other side."  No wonder the Emancipation Proclamation only freed slaves in the South and not in four northern slave states.

The South felt plundered by tariffs and resentment grew because most of the taxes were spent in the North, that's why southern states began to seceeeeeeed, meaning that they withdrew from the Union and asserted their independence, just like the original 13 colonies did.  And for that they were invaded.

The South didn't try to take over the federal gubmit as is implied in the words "civil war," their intentions and actions were the opposite - for example, SC was trying to purchase Ft. Sumter from the federal gubmit up until the time Lincoln invaded the South, and Lincoln's representatives acted as if they were considering the sale.  SC didn't realize at that time that Lincoln's real intention was to subjugate them by force. 

That's also why other states seceded, they thought it was madness for Lincoln to invade, their exit had nothing to do with "fighting to keep" slavery (Article I, Section 9 of the Confederate Constitution prohibited the importation of slaves - not something people would do if they wanted to perpetuate it).

The martial law he imposed was later declared by the Supreme Court to be unconstitutional (one can understand why after a plain reading of the Constitution), the court declared that martial law "...destroys every guarantee of the Constitution" Ex parte Milligan (71 US 2 [1866]).  

There was enough opposition to the war in the North that congress passed draft laws in 1863 and Lincoln's military killed protesters, most notably in NY (...wait, this gets confusing, why would he unconstitutionally impose servitude into the military upon free men, I thought emancipation was his passion?).  See what I mean, where do you start with this joker?

More importantly, why is there such militant and pervasive propaganda surrounding someone who completely disregarded the Constitution he swore to uphold and defend while unleashing violence, horror and death upon hundreds of thousands?  Easy...  he's the guy who did the most to destroy the Republic, freedom and independence and gave birth to the centralized control that exists today.  Before the invasion of the South, people understood states to be separate countries - that is the obverse of today's understanding.  The gubmit was literally nothing compared to what it is today.  If the gubmit (via the public schools) accurately provided the facts and sentiments surrounding the war it would obviate the very favorable perception of its origin and purpose.

And The Real Flex Fuel Vehicles Are...

(I've digressed in recent posts but not completely, this post talks about one way to really save money which is of paramount importance when running a farm or homestead).

Very unfortunately, it's too easy to be fooled (I regrettably speak from experience).  A notion that many accept without question is that there are things that are good for society that need promotional help, as in help from the "gubmit" in the form of subsidies.  But, at the same time we're not stupid.  If something makes our lives better and really does make sense economically, people on their on volition will choose those things for themselves.  Well, at least some always will but others will need help to see thru the fog created by propaganda.  Now brace yourself for the next paragraph, it won't make sense.

Passed by a "flex fuel" vehicle while burning "veggie."

Flex fuel vehicles are great, you can burn gasoline or ethanol.  Ethanol is cheaper at the pump because it's subsidized with our money and provides 10 to 20% less fuel economy.  So essentially burning ethanol over gas does not save you any money and the costs required to force this option on us make it much less economical than gasoline but it's really good for society.

Obviously this doesn't make any sense, so how can it be an accepted notion that ethanol is good?  Thank propaganda, yes, the old friend of fascists and communists (I know, sounds hard to believe).  Something that is inefficient and misallocates resources is posited as something good because some people's pockets are being lined with dough, and lots of it.

The good news is that real flex fuel vehicles exist, they're actually older diesels.  These things run on many types of vegetable oil (corn, soy and others) peanut oil, hydraulic fluid, transmission fluid and clean motor oil.

There are two ways to feed these older "flex fuel" vehicles.  One is with a mixture of diesel and the alternative fuel and another is with a separate tank for the "flex fuel."

Take this 1997 Mercedes E300 "flex fuel."  With a tank already filled with 80% veggie and 20% diesel, if I also carry five 5 gallon totes of used frying oil (and a 2.5 gallon can of diesel) in the trunk, I can go 1170 miles and arrive at my destination with half a tank to spare (I stop at rest stops, pour in a tote and then chase it with a half gallon of diesel).  The 2.5 gallons of diesel cost me $6.50.  $6.50 to go 1170 miles!  Conventional "flex fuel" vehicles can't achieve anything close to this unless the entire trip was coasting down the side of a mountain.

This is the trunk of the 1985 300D Mercedes.  It has a separate tank so it can burn pure veggie.  The tank heats the veggie so that its viscosity drops and it has the consistency of diesel (without heat, blending diesel with veggie does the same thing, but you have to increase your ratio depending on the temperature: during winter I wouldn't go higher than 50% veggie and 50% diesel into your main tank, and during the peak of summer I've done as much as 80% veggie and 20% diesel.  Aug. '16 edit: I now run 50/50 in summer and decided not to blend in the winter but that may change, I'm experimenting with adding gasoline to veggie).  So why haven't you heard of these flex fuels before?

Because I don't control vast amounts of used veggie oil and I don't have the dough to line the pockets of politicians.  If I did, the politicians would then pass "laws" to transfer wealth from you to me and my friends who use veggie.  Other reasons are because the merits of using veggie speak for themselves, nor is the market for used veggie "regulated" so it operates freely.  People voluntarily cooperate depending on what is in their best interest.  Restaurants have to dispose of the waste oil and in exchange for solving their problem I can save money.  The pocket lining is always done for industries that are not cost effective or do not offer obvious benefits so their owners must create a market with the help of "gubmit."  They're called "political entrepreneurs" and shouldn't be confused with real entrepreneurs who develop products and services that become popular simply because they improve people's lives.

Ethanol may seem cheap, but that price reduction at the pump costs us billions see here (usnews.com article on the ethanol lobby "Good News For Corn, Bad News for You").  "Hmmm, so instead of paying $2.32 per gallon and getting 20 mpg, I can pay $1.99 and get 16 mpg thanks to subsidies" (aka a euphemism for gubmit coerced wealth transfer from you to crony capitalists).

I started burning "veggie" in the 1985 300D with a separate tank a year ago at 211,000.  So 26,000 miles later I've consumed 929 gallons (fuel economy has averaged 28 mpg).  In the cold months I had to switch to the diesel tank until the engine reached operating temperature so I figure I've actually burned 837 gallons of veggie.  With an average price of 2.50 per gallon for diesel, I've saved $2,092 in one year.  But, veggie is not for everyone, it must be filtered, you need a place to stage it and you have to make arrangements with restaurants for pick up.

And it can be messy.

But very satisfying.  This is a video of the 1997 E300 going from 0 to 60. Hard to believe it's a non turbo.  Not only can you save a significant amount of money, you don't have to sacrifice performance.

Life is but a vapor ...and reminders from history

Recently I spent time with my father helping him organize things in the house he grew up in.  It turned out to be one of those experiences I'm going to remember for the rest of my life.  What stunned me was a palpable realization that life is a vapor.  All the things that are important to us now may likely mean nothing to others in the future (I know of one person whose father died and all his "stuff" ended up in a dumpster).  I never met my grandfather and my grandmother died in 2000.  Finding their personal effects was an eerie connection to the French side of my family that I had never known.  It's the closest thing to going back in time since so much from their lives is still in the house.  It's also been a small reminder of how important an accurate understanding of history is.  Most notably history informs us of what to beware of or avoid as we move into the future.  It also shows us where we've been victims of propaganda (my grandmother's 1938 hospital bill below is just one great example).

These are my French grandparents, Eugene was born in 1904 and Marguerite was born in 1905.

They were married in 1927 (this pic isn't that interesting especially if you can't read French, it's ok to move on to the next pic).

Here are their French passports, they came to the US in 1929.  I was told they came here because the French economy was so bad there was no work to be found.  Grandma obviously knew how to dress for the '20s.

Relatives already in the US had to attest that my grandparents would be self-sufficient and that they would "not become a charge to any State."  (I wonder what if any wealth redistribution existed back then, funny how the US economy grew enormously without it and thus benefited all by increasing everyone's standard of living, even the poor).

And they came at the right time.  On July 3rd 1926, sorely needed regulation of "the manufacture, renovation and sale of mattresses" in DC was approved.  Without this they would have had to sleep on bales of hay thanks to "laissez-faire."  (When I was in elementary school I was taught that "laissez-faire" caused the depression - a massive topic for a different post.)

And they got to work.  My grandfather was a chef and my grandmother was a housekeeper.  I found their letters of recommendation from the '30s and '40s from places like the Argentine Embassy and the Navy Bureau of Aeronautics. 

And then my dad showed up.  Room for one week: $15.75.  Baby care for one week: $5.25.  Delivery room: $12.  Laboratory: $3.

But one week wasn't enough.  Four additional days for mom and baby: $12.  Drugs: $0.80 (who needs a co-pay when it's only .80 cents!?).  Baby bed: $1.00.  Total for an 11 day hospital stay: $49.80.  (Sounds like an old Master Card commercial "and the ability of the free market to reduce costs? Priceless!")

Two years later after probably being tired of washing diapers by hand, I'm pretty sure that this 1940 Spindrier was purchased.

I think this is the receipt. The Spindrier is the only appliance in the house from the early 1940s, if so, they paid $110.  Interesting..., two years earlier an 11 day hospital stay cost $49.80.  Health care costs were clearly starting to get out of control!  Actually, when considering what an 11 day stay costs today compared to a modern washer and dryer it clearly illustrates how gubmit intervention always makes things unaffordable.  What most don't realize is that attempts to "regulate health care" (a euphemism for "limiting competition") began in the 1930s under FDR.  Since then, gubmit has done such a wonderful job that additional laws are required to make it "affordable."  I accidentally realized how thoroughly broken the system was when I discovered that paying a doctor cash for visits (without going thru the insurance red-tape) was less than my co-pays with insurance.  I soon jettisoned conventional health insurance and became a member of Samaritan Ministries.  For those who want to perpetuate freedom and understand that the current system is antithetical to everything our country is purported to stand for, Samaritan is the answer.

Here is my grandfather's return from 1943.  I've looked for pre-war ones but have found nothing yet.  I've read that the income tax was essentially rejected when first imposed in the teens, FDR later tried foisting it on the very wealthy in the 1930s with limited success.  War was finally used as the impetus to force widespread "participation" thru mandatory withholding in 1943. Note the words "victory tax return," in other words, if for no other reason, at least pay for the sake of victory.  And being from an occupied country, I suspect they were more than happy to.  But note how war erodes freedom - withholding had previously been rejected.  War is always used by central gubmits as an excuse to infringe on freedom and impose greater control.  The loss of freedom after 9/11 (the differences in banking, running a business or travel before and after are great examples) is not new.  Freedom as was intended by our country's founding documents has been a victim of every war - most notably the so-called "Civil War" (more on this in a future post).

They became US citizens on January 4th, 1944.

My dad's report card from 7th grade, dated 1951-52. I also saw his report cards from elementary school.  Many very useful subjects were taught but sex education (as I was subjected to) is nowhere to be found. How could society dispense with such an important subject? I guess I'm very fortunate to be here.

The Jean patches on the left remind me of "Tough Skins" made by Sears that my mom used to make me wear.  The knee patches were so tough that the material around them would wear out before the patch would show any fatigue.  It was like wearing pants with ballistic plates over your knees. Amazing, only .29 for something as tough as the ceramic plates that protected the space shuttle during re-entry.  The Registered Mail on the right is dated Nov. 18 1944 and only cost .23 cents. As of 2015, the costs for Registered Mail start at $12.20.  Another good reminder of the effects of money printing (aka "inflation").

Here is the paper my dad used to deliver when he was a kid.  This one is dated August of 1967. 

Interestingly in 1967 "negro" was part of the vernacular when referring to race but supposedly six years earlier in 1961 Ha waii was using "African" on certficates of birth?

I even found some more recent still in the plastic bag newspapers from 1998.  For a moment I imagined the incredible opportunity to freak people out.  I tried one on my brother in law.  When I went to visit him, I handed him a paper that I claimed to find on his driveway.  He eventually figured out where it came from.  But imagine - getting up a 6am and exchanging the papers of completely unsuspecting strangers with ones that are new, unopened and almost 20 years old.  I also found phone books still in the plastic from the same year.  Place a complementary phone book on their porch after swapping the paper.  I'd pay money to see the expression on someone's face.  They'd probably be halfway ready for work, wearing a bathrobe, slippers and looking forward to reading the news as they eat breakfast.  For the rest of their lives they would wonder what happened.

A Little More on Efficiency...

What is wrong with this picture?  It's a nice pasture with clover and a source of water but...

...the nearby source of water is not passive (with a little work it could be - but until then it requires effort, note the hose) and it's only accessible at one place in this ~15 acre paddock (and that makes rotational grazing harder to do).  In addition, the trough is low, cattle stand in it to cool down and it appears that some of them won't drink from it after it's too dirty.  Another significant issue is little to no shade.  The perimeter of this paddock is outside of the wood line so there is no way for the animals to escape from the sun by walking into the woods (in June it's already burning hot at 9am).  Perimeter fencing should be inside the wood line to allow animals access to shade (and other forages).

Another efficiency killer is the effort required to keep growth off of electrified high-tensile paddock perimeter (look closely and you'll see three wires, the bottom one is buried in grass).  An electric fence energizer positively charges the wire and negatively charges the ground the fence is on.  Animals are shocked when they close the connection between the fence and ground by allow the electicity to pass thru them from simply touching the wire.  When tall grass and weeds touch the wire it dissipates some of the charge and with enough growth the shock is not strong enough to convince the animals to stay in.  Weed whacking is time intensive, so in this pic the problem is solved by upping the voltage so that is reads 10,000 volts + (we've been getting 3 to 6kv under the conditions above and hope to upgrade the energizer).  10kv or more will slowly kill the grass and weeds that touch the wire.

And if your wire isn't "hot" enough, as soon as the livestock want to get to new pasture they'll move themselves and sometimes tangle your $90 reel of poly wire (we use poly woven with metal wire to sub-divide paddocks and high tensile for the perimeter).  Only a grandma that makes quilts will have the patience to untangle this mess.

And one more very important consideration.  Make sure you place your fencing outside of flood plains.  This pic shows what happens to high tensile when it's overcome by flash flooding.  It can also catch enough debris so that it eventually breaks.  This portion was perpendicular to the flow and was stretched, parallel portions faired better.  Definitely don't use woven wire...

...this is the "velociraptor rated" paddock shown in the last pic of the previous post that had lambs inside.  Note that the chicken coop floated and stopped when it hit this paddock.  If you must use a floodplain to pasture animals use high tensile in the preceding pic.  Woven wire captures small debris and allows resistance to build against the water flow, eventually causing the fence to topple.  At least with the high tensile posts usually won't get ripped out of the ground and in general it faired better.  So far all of the woven wire I've seen within a flood plane has completely failed (even with 4" steel "H" braced corner posts that were 3' into the ground).

What is wrong with this picture?  The first and obvious issue is that Sammy doesn't wear lipstick (look closely at the cup's brim).  Second, don't accept drinks from little kids (Calvin: "Whaaat?  You mean Sammy is just handing us random drinks he takes from strangers?")

Another important but overlooked aspect of farming is fashion, or more specifically color coordination. In this pic I'm wearing a T shirt appropriate for cutting a 55 gallon poly barrel for use as a water trough to...
 

...help solve the problem with the cows standing in the troughs (I haven't seen them stand in the narrow one that's on its side either).  Also note the 2" diameter hose.  The next best thing to a passive watering system (like something that gravity feeds water and is float activated) is a large diameter hose...

...but this is preferred.  Ponds at an elevation that is higher than the rest of the farm (this one is about 100' higher).  With plastic tubing, troughs with floats or nipples this pond can passively provide water for a number of animals.

A good reminder that life is harsh.  Imagine living before the industrial revolution and relying on your property for a large portion of your food.  We were looking forward to a lot of peaches this year until a storm came a few days ago.  Notice that it is still partially attached to the trunk.  I asked the boys to prop it up with a folding ladder to see if we can get some of the peaches to ripen.

Keena: "Hopefully this will work."