cropped picture of an Amaryllis
Greenwood's old friend, Ron living in Manhattan Beach and Greenwood living in Seven Mile Beach has been exchanging their views on various aspects of the world through email over more than 9 years. With the permission of Ron, a record of mails exchanged in 2004 was compiled in chronological order.
2004/1/11 0:02
How L. B. J. Killed J. F. K
Dear Ron,
From Japanese TV, I have learned that former staff of "superlawyer" Ed Clark
wrote an insider story about how L. B. J. killed J. F. K. The name of the book
is "Blood, Money & Power: How L. B. J. Killed J. F. K." by Barr McClellan. I
have checked Amazon.com. attached is a part of it. I understand Lady Bird
Johnson is an owner of Haliburton. Isn't it interesting?
Best regard,
Greenwood
Editorial Reviews
McClellan's overwrought conspiracy theory claims that Lyndon Johnson-motivated
by power lust, fear of being dropped from the Kennedy ticket, and the need to
cover up various scandals-masterminded Kennedy's assassination with the help of
his evil "superlawyer" Ed Clark. But his evidence is meager and murky, even by
the standards of Kennedy conspiracy scholarship. The main exhibit is a smudged
partial fingerprint from Oswald's sniper's nest that may or may not belong to a
Johnson associate, depending on which fingerprint expert you ask. Otherwise
McClellan relies on what he heard during his years at Clark's law firm-e.g., a
partner told him that Clark arranged the assassination-and the description of
scenes in which a "a fixed stare," vague, unspoken understandings, and "code
words" proved that Johnson and Clark were conspiring. Sample accusations
include: "I knew Clark was admitting to the payoff for the assassination even
though he never said he received a payoff for assassinating Kennedy...." The
book offers many detailed accounts of conspiratorial meetings that turn out to
be not fact but "faction" or "journalistic novelization"-that is, conjecture
designed to distract readers from the lack of evidence. McClellan styles the
assassination as the defeat of Camelot by Texas's sleazy nexus of dirty
politicians, slick lawyers and oil money; the unmasking of Johnson, the
personification of such back-room power politics, therefore promises a public
"emotional purging" leading to the renewal of democracy. His confusingly
structured, evasively argued, often nonsensical theories attest to the crime's
continuing potency as a symbol of America's mythic heart of darkness. Photos.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
An insiders knowledge is combined with hundreds of newly released documents to
shed new light on one of history's greatest unsolved mysteries.
The plot to assassinate President John F. Kennedy has been shrouded in secrecy
and deceit, leading most Americans to doubt the veracity of the Warren
Commission's findings. Now, after forty years, Barr McClellan exposes the
secret, high-level conspiracy in Texas that led to Kennedy's death and L.B.J.'s
succession as President. Utilizing court documents, insider interviews and even
the findings of the Warren Commission, Barr McClellan reveals the complex
maneuvers, payoffs and power plays that changed the history of the 20th century.
If absolute power corrupts, then blood, money and deception are its allies. This
powerful book represents the very best of investigative journalism, with
independent corroboration of all key points, and is compelling convincing and
historically significant.
Monday, January 12, 2004 8:00 AM
Re: How L. B. J. Killed J. F. K
Dear Greenwood,
I tend to disregard the conspiracy theories about JFK's assassination. I've not
seen one that really has any evidence. (It's hard to believe the Amazon
reviewers were reading the same book!)
The Oil-Politics-Construction company linkages, however, are well established.
These are especially murky in the Middle East - where corruption is the way of
life for most governments.
Kevin Phillips is a Republican, an Author and an Investigative Journalist. At
one time I regarded him as a right winger, but he's come out with many
interesting and well-researched stories in recent years. I believe I've
mentioned him to you on previous occasions.
In today's LA Times he has a great article about the connections between FOUR
generations of the Bush Family and Middle Eastern Oil. I fins this very
compelling - it certainly is consistent with my experience with the "Texas
Oilman".
Here it is: I hope you find it informative.
Ron
The Barreling Bushes
Four generations of the dynasty have chased profits through cozy ties with
Mideast leaders, spinning webs of conflicts of interest By Kevin Phillips Kevin
Phillips' new book, "American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune and the Politics of
Deceit in the House of Bush," has just been published by Viking Penguin.
January 11, 2004
WASHINGTON Dynasties in American politics are dangerous. We saw it with
the Kennedys, we may well see it with the Clintons and we're certainly seeing it
with the Bushes. Between now and the November election, it's crucial that
Americans come to understand how four generations of the current president's
family have embroiled the United States in the Middle East through CIA
connections, arms shipments, rogue banks, inherited war policies and personal
financial links.
As early as 1964, George H.W. Bush, running for the U.S. Senate from Texas, was
labeled by incumbent Democrat Ralph Yarborough as a hireling of the sheik of
Kuwait, for whom Bush's company drilled offshore oil wells. Over the four
decades since then, the ever-reaching Bushes have emerged as the first U.S.
political clan to thoroughly entangle themselves with Middle Eastern royal
families and oil money. The family even has links to the Bin Ladens — though not
to family black sheep Osama bin Laden — going back to the 1970s.
How these unusual relationships helped bring about 9/11 and then distorted the
U.S. response to Islamic terrorism requires thinking of the Bush family as a
dynasty. The two Bush presidencies are inextricably linked by that dynasty.
The first family member lured by the Middle East's petroleum wealth was George
W. Bush's great-grandfather, George H. Walker, a buccaneer who was president of
Wall Street-based W.A. Harriman & Co. In the 1920s, Walker and his firm
participated in rebuilding the Baku oil fields only a few hundred miles north of
current-day Iraq. As senior director of Dresser Industries (now part of
Halliburton), Walker's son-in-law Prescott Bush (George W. Bush's grandfather)
became involved with the Middle East in the years after World War II. But it was
George H.W. Bush, the current president's father, who forged the dynasty's
strongest ties to the region.
George H.W. Bush was the first CIA director to come from the oil industry. He
went on to became the first vice president — and then the first president — to
have either an oil or CIA background. This helps to explain his persistent bent
toward the Middle East, covert operations and rogue banks like the Abu
Dhabi-based Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI), which came to be
known by the nickname "Bank of Crooks and Criminals International." In each of
the government offices he held, he encouraged CIA involvement in Iran, Pakistan,
Afghanistan and other Middle Eastern countries, and he pursued policies that
helped make the Middle East into the world's primary destination for arms
shipments.
Taking the CIA helm in January 1976, Bush cemented strong relations with the
intelligence services of both Saudi Arabia and the shah of Iran. He worked
closely with Kamal Adham, the head of Saudi intelligence, brother-in-law of King
Faisal and an early BCCI insider. After leaving the CIA in January 1977, Bush
became chairman of the executive committee of First International Bancshares and
its British subsidiary, where, according to journalists Peter Truell and Larry
Gurwin in their 1992 book "False Profits," Bush "traveled on the bank's behalf
and sometimes marketed to international banks in London, including several
Middle Eastern institutions."
Once in the White House, first as vice president to Ronald Reagan and later as
president, George H.W. Bush was linked to at least two Middle East-centered
scandals. It's never been entirely clear what Bush's connection was to the
Iran-Contra affair, in which clandestine arms shipments to Iran, some
BCCI-financed, helped illegally fund the operations of the anti-Sandinista
Contra rebels in Nicaragua. But in 1992, special prosecutor Lawrence E. Walsh
asserted that Bush, despite his protestations, had indeed been "in the loop" on
multiple illegal acts.
Much clearer was Bush's pivotal role, both as vice president and president, in
"Iraqgate," the hidden aid provided by the U.S. and its military to Saddam
Hussein's Iraq in its high-stakes war with Iran during the 1980s. The U.S. is
known to have provided both biological cultures that could have been used for
weapons and nuclear know-how to the regime, as well as conventional weapons. As
ABC-TV broadcaster Ted Koppel put it in a June 1992 "Nightline" program after
the 1991 Persian Gulf War: "It is becoming increasingly clear that George [H.W.]
Bush, operating largely behind the scenes through the 1980s, initiated and
supported much of the financing, intelligence and military help that built
Saddam's Iraq into the aggressive power that the United States ultimately had to
destroy."
During these years, Bush's four sons — George W., Jeb, Neil and Marvin — were
following in the family footsteps, lining up business deals with Saudi, Kuwaiti
and Bahraini moneymen and cozying up to BCCI. The Middle East was becoming a
convenient family money spigot.
Eldest son George W. Bush made his first Middle East connection in the late
1970s with James Bath, a Texas businessmen who served as the North American
representative for two rich Saudis (and Osama bin Laden relatives) — billionaire
Salem bin Laden and banker and BCCI insider Khalid bin Mahfouz. Bath put $50,000
into Bush's 1979 Arbusto oil partnership, probably using Bin Laden-Bin Mahfouz
funds.
In the late 1980s, after several failed oil ventures, the future 43rd president
let the ailing oil business in which he was a major stockholder and chairman be
bought out by another foreign-influenced operation, Harken Energy. The Wall
Street Journal commented in 1991, "The mosaic of BCCI connections surrounding
Harken Energy may prove nothing more than how ubiquitous the rogue bank's ties
were. But the number of BCCI-connected people who had dealings with Harken — all
since George W. Bush came on board — likewise raises the question of whether
they mask an effort to cozy up to a presidential son."
Other hints of cronyism came in 1990 when inexperienced Harken got a major
contract to drill in the Persian Gulf for the government of Bahrain. Time
magazine reporters Jonathan Beaty and S.C. Gwynne, in their book "The Outlaw
Bank," concluded "that Mahfouz, or other BCCI players, must have had a hand in
steering the oil-drilling contract to the president's son." The web entangling
the Bush presidencies was already being spun.
Second son Jeb Bush, now the governor of Florida, spent most of his time in the
early and mid-1980s hobnobbing with ex-Cuban intelligence officers, Nicaraguan
Contras and others plugged into the lucrative orbit of Miami-area front groups
for the CIA. But he too had some Middle East connections. Two of his business
associates, Guillermo Hernandez-Cartaya and Camilo Padreda, both indicted for
financial dealings, were longtime associates of Middle Eastern arms dealer, BCCI
investor and Iran-Contra figure Adnan Khashoggi. Prosecutors dropped the case
against the two, and a federal judge ordered Padreda's name expunged from the
record. But a few years later Padreda, a former Miami-Dade County GOP treasurer,
was convicted of fraud over a federally insured housing development that Jeb
Bush had helped to facilitate. Jeb Bush also socialized with Adbur Sakhia, the
Miami BCCI branch chief and later its top U.S. official.
Neil Bush, most famous for the scandal surrounding the corrupt practices of
Colorado's Silverado Savings & Loan, where he served as a director during the
1980s, also picked plums from Persian Gulf orchards. In 1993, after his father
left the White House, Neil went to Kuwait with his parents, brother Marvin and
former Secretary of State James A. Baker III. When his father left, Neil stayed
to lobby for business contracts, and after returning home evolved a set of
lucrative relationships with Syrian-American businessman Jamal Daniel. One of
their ventures, Ignite!, an educational software company, also included
representatives of at least three ruling Persian Gulf families.
The Bush family's Middle Eastern commercial focus is further exemplified by
Marvin, the youngest brother of the current president. From 1993 to 2000 he was
a major shareholder, along with Mishal Youssef Saud al Sabah, a member of the
Kuwaiti royal family, in the Kuwait-American Corp., which had holdings in
several U.S. defense, aviation and industrial security companies.
George H.W. Bush's own Persian Gulf relationships kept expanding. While serving
in the Reagan White House during the 1980s, he was known in the Middle East as
"the Saudi vice president," and a New Yorker article last year described the
Saudi ambassador to the U.S. as "almost a member of the [Bush] family." Indeed,
many saw the 1991 Gulf War to expel Iraq from Kuwait as an outgrowth of Bush's
close ties to the oil industry and to Persian Gulf royal families, who felt
threatened by Saddam Hussein's expansionism.
After losing his bid for a second term as president, Bush joined up in 1993 with
the Washington-based Carlyle Group. Under the leadership of ex-officials like
Baker and former Defense Secretary Frank C. Carlucci, Carlyle developed a
specialty in buying defense companies and doubling or quadrupling their value.
The ex-president not only became an investor in Carlyle, but a member of the
company's Asia Advisory Board and a rainmaker who drummed up investors. Twelve
rich Saudi families, including the Bin Ladens, were among them. In 2002, the
Washington Post reported, "Saudis close to Prince Sultan, the Saudi defense
minister … were encouraged to put money into Carlyle as a favor to the elder
Bush." Bush retired from the company last October, and Baker, who lobbied U.S.
allies last month to forgive Iraq's debt, remains a Carlyle senior counselor.
If the 1991 war with Iraq and its aftermath cemented the Bush ties with oil
elites and royalty in the Middle East, it angered Islamic true believers and
radicals. By the late 1990s, many of the Islamic insurgents who had been
mobilized by the CIA and others to chase the Soviets out of Afghanistan were
becoming increasingly anti-American. They found a kinship with Osama bin Laden,
the renegade of his billionaire Saudi family, who was outraged at the U.S.
presence in Saudi Arabia.
When the U.S. launched a second war against Iraq in 2003 but failed to find
weapons of mass destruction that Hussein was purported to have, international
polls, especially those by the Washington-based Pew Center, charted a massive
growth in anti-Bush and anti-American sentiment in Muslim parts of the world —
an obvious boon to terrorist recruitment. Even before the war, some cynics had
argued that Iraq was targeted to divert attention from the administration's
failure to catch Osama bin Laden and stop Al Qaeda terrorism.
Bolder critics hinted that George W. Bush had sought to shift attention away
from how his family's ties to the Bin Ladens and to rogue elements in the Middle
East had crippled U.S. investigations in the months leading up to 9/11. Sen.
Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) complained that even when Congress released the
mid-2003 intelligence reports on the origins of the 9/11 attack, the Bush
administration heavily redacted a 28-page section dealing with the Saudis and
other foreign governments, leading him to conclude, "There seems to be a
systematic strategy of coddling and cover-up when it comes to the Saudis."
There is no evidence to suggest that the events of Sept. 11 could have been
prevented or discovered ahead of time had someone other than a Bush been
president. But there is certainly enough to suggest that the Bush dynasty's many
decades of entanglement and money-hunting in the Middle East have created a
major conflict of interest that deserves to be part of the 2004 political
debate. No previous presidency has had anything remotely similar. Not one. a
2004/1/19 13:00
Re: How L. B. J. Killed J. F. K
Dear Ron,
Yes you are right. Most of conspiracy theories are interesting but mostly they
are just hope of writers. But still it cached my eyes.
Recently, I finished reading "In Retrospect" by Robert S. McNamara. According to this book, LBJ had made many mistakes like expanding Vietnam War, but did many good things, like establishing civil rights. LBJ often talked about an experience of toilet in petrol station while he, Lady Bird and Zephyr, a black maid traveled together in a limousine from their Texas ranch to Washington. Zephyr couldn't use the toilet, therefore they have to stop at country side.
Kevin Phillips's report about Bush family was more than I
imagined. Probably, the role of media is very important to make politics more
transparent. I think Kevin Phillips did a good job. Thank you for teaching me.
Best Regards,
Greenwood
2004/1/27 10:19
COMMERCIAL SPACE FLIGHT
Dear Greenwood,
I met an old friend the other day who'd been associated years ago with Bert
Rutan of Scaled Composites - the people who built the Voyager round-the-world
airplane. (Also brother of Dick Rutan, the pilot). Rutan and Scaled Composites
have made many wild and innovative planes over many years. My friend built the
specially modified Nissan 6-cylinder engines which were used by Rutan in an
unsuccessful attempt to build a modern propeller-driven racing airplane. The
engines (modified Maxima engines) eventually reached an output of over 1000 HP
each! The plane crashed while being tested and the financial benefactor lost
interest in the project.
My friend told me that Scaled Composites is knee-deep into a project for a space
craft. They are shooting for the X-prize which offers $10,000,000 to the first
company to make a successful, non-military, 3-passenger space craft which can
reach 100 km altitude and return. It's certainly their sort of thing. They have
Paul Allen (of MS) as a sponsor, so money should be no problem. (The web site
for the X-Prize is:
http://www.xprize.org/press/index.html ).
Scaled Composites have just successfully launched and flown their SpaceShipOne.
It was carried aloft by their turbojet "White Knight" and broke the sound
barrier as planned on Dec 17th. It reached 68,000 feet altitude. There's a
write-up about it on their web site:
http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/index.htm
There are many photos there and the announcement is under "news". As you'll see
the design is typical Rutan - looks like nothing else. Almost all of the other
projects are rockets, whereas the Rutan design is a rocket-propelled plane. I
think this gives them a big advantage, since they are in much more familiar
territory. They are also the first team to have actually flown their vehicle.
This year they plan to make a series of flights at increasing duration and
altitude, culminating in the 100 km run.
Many countries are competing, but I did not see a Japanese
project, which surprised me. One Canadian entry is modeled on the old German V-2
rocket!!
Some entries are very amateurish, but most seem to be well financed and
organized.
With best regards,
Ron
2004/1/31 6:24
BIBLE BELT AT WORK
Dear Greenwood,
We have discussed the power of religious fundamentalists in this country. Tod ay
there was another example of how things are going. I've attached a story from
the LA Times today about the State Superintendent of Education planning to
eliminate the word "Evolution" from the State curriculum.
I'm also examining the many ways this country is evolving into a "Banana
Republic". I hope to share those thoughts with you when I have found out more.
With best regards,
Ron
THE NATION
The Word 'Evolution' Has Become a Firestorm in Georgia A move to delete it from
a proposed high school curriculum is decried by scientists and teachers.
By Ellen Barry
Times Staff Writer
January 30, 2004
ATLANTA ·Georgia's state school superintendent on Thursday defended deleting the
word "evolution" from a biology curriculum proposed for high school teachers,
calling it "a buzzword that causes a lot of negative reactions."
The plan, which also omits topics such as Charles Darwin's life, fossil evidence
and the emergence of single-celled microorganisms, has angered educators. Under
the proposed curriculum, Georgia educators would no longer be required to devote
much time and effort to teaching evolution.
Superintendent Kathy Cox said the word "evolution" could keep some people from
considering the new curriculum. She added that the changes were meant to take
pressure off teachers "on the front lines."
If the curriculum is adopted, most teachers will skim over the subject, which
remains unwelcome in many parts of the state, educators warned Thursday.
"This is a real infringement on the freedom of teaching, and it has serious
implications," said David Bechler, head of the biology department at Valdosta
State University.
The state's science curriculum specialist, Stephen Pruitt, said the word
"evolution" would not be banned in the classroom. He recalled debates about
evolution when he taught science, and said he hoped the new plan would allow
students to draw their own conclusions about the evidence for evolution. "I
personally believe we are dissecting the theory of evolution to look at the
pieces of it," Pruitt said.
By Thursday, almost 1,000 people, including parents, teachers and scientists,
had signed an online petition demanding restoration of the omitted sections. Cox
said that the department was seeking public comment on the proposed curriculum
and that final revisions could be made before the State Board of Education votes
on it in May.
A handful of states avoid using the word "evolution" in teaching plans,
replacing it with euphemisms such as "biological adaptation" or "change over
time." Georgia, however, would be the first state to remove the word "evolution"
from teaching plans after including it for years, according to the National
Center for Science Education, a California organization that tracks
anti-evolutionary teaching.
The revised curriculum was a major initiative for Cox, a Republican elected to
the post in 2002. For six months, panels of educators met to fine-tune the new
curriculum and agreed to adopt most of the topics recommended by the American
Assn. for the Advancement of Science.
But the final version eliminated much detail about the origin of life, including
Gregor Mendel's identification of genes, the appearance of primitive life forms
4 billion years ago, and the long-term dynamics of evolution. In its place is a
statement listing five "historical scientific models of change" that includes
the sole mention of Darwin. The word "evolution," used nine times in the
original document, disappears entirely, and is replaced by the phrase "change
over time."
Bechler, who participated in developing the curriculum, said he was astonished
to discover that the passages had been eliminated. He said cutting the
curriculum could seriously hurt the understanding of science.
There are, however, large sections of Georgia where evolution has never been
fully accepted.
Susan McKinney, who teaches biology to high school students in Crisp County,
said she had never believed Earth could have come into existence without a
divine hand. Neither do her students, and neither do her colleagues, said
McKinney, who has taught for 26 years.
McKinney said she believed in natural selection, but when her course touched on
the fossil record and single-celled organisms believed to be among the first
life forms on earth ·information she considers a "tentative hypothesis"
she skims over it, recommending that students study the material independently
if they wish.
"I can tell you, being in rural south Georgia, that it's kind of loose where you
go and how far you go" in the teaching of evolution, said McKinney. "We don't go
all the way down to how we came out of the primordial ooze."
Georgia has lagged behind other states in the teaching of evolution. In a 2000
report, retired physicist Lawrence Lerner classified Georgia among the 13 states
that had received an F, failing "so thoroughly to teach evolution as to render
their standards totally useless."
Much of the trend can be attributed to social pressure, said Gerald Skoog,
former president of the National Science Teachers Assn. Statewide standards can
insulate teachers, he said. "Teachers would tell me, 'It offers a shield of
protection when I can point to the standards and indicate that evolution needs
to be covered,'" Skoog said.
In Atlanta, an area that draws hi-tech workers and out-of-state academics, one
scientist admitted his primary reaction was acute embarrassment.
"I hope we don't have to change the word 'chemistry' to 'the movement of
molecules across space' next," said John Avise, a genetics professor at the
University of Georgia. "I'll have to rewrite a lot of my texts."
If you want other stories on this topic, search the Archives at
latimes.com/archives.
2004/2/16 0:04
Re: BIBLE BELT AT WORK
Dear Ron,
I have been busy in rewriting my home page about introduction of large forest
machinery into Japanese hard wood forest. I learned a lot through Internet about
forest machinery and their performances. I started this study voluntarily after
attending a meeting about forestry held by one of NPO. Now Japanese paper mills
are buying chips from USA and amount reaches 85% of total consumption. But our
forest is full of matured hard wood. I felt it is a waste of solar energy not
using those resources. After finishing writing (only in Japanese), I now came
back to normal life. I wish to push our forest owners to adopt such weapons -
not mass destruction.
Thank you for your information about COMMERCIAL SPACE FLIGHT. When I was a boy,
I wished to become a designer of rocket. But soon I gave up the idea because; it
is not a stable business. I reviewed two web sites and felt a lot of amateurism.
Any way, large organization like NASA spends a lot of money and fails. Probably,
small group can achieve some thing. Mr. Bush launched an ambitious plan to send
a man to Mars. I think this is only for November election. After that no body
knows.
I had known that the word 'Evolution' was not liked in southern part of US. But
I thought it was a story in the past. But it is not. My reaction is that if they
don't like such word and prohibit using it, their children may be left far
behind from the rest of the world without assistance. And southern state may
become poor belt. If it is their hope, let's them do that.
I have received a mail from my daughter's boy friend that he wishes permission
from me of marring her. My response is that if it is their decision, what I can
say is be happy. They have been sharing some time over years, but in most of the
time, they were working separately in Japan and in England. They are determined
to continue same life style though.
Tonight, I have seen a very impressive TV program from NHK broadcasting system.
It was about Dr. Carlo Urbani. I found an announcement of WHO made just after
his death. I attached below.
Best Regards,
Greenwood
Dr. Carlo Urbani of the World Health Organization dies of SARS
29 March 2003
Dr. Carlo Urbani, an expert on communicable diseases, died today of SARS. Dr.
Urbani, worked in public health programs in Cambodia, Laos and Viet Nam. He was
based in Hanoi, Viet Nam. Dr. Urbani was 46.
Dr. Urbani was the first WHO officer to identify the outbreak of this new
disease, in an American businessman who had been admitted to a hospital in
Hanoi. Because of his early detection of the disease, global surveillance was
heightened and many new cases have been identified and isolated before they
infected hospital staff. In Hanoi, the SARS outbreak appears to be
coming under control.
Carlo was a wonderful human being and we are all devastated,·said Pascale
Brudon, the World Health Representative in Viet Nam. ?e was very much a doctor,
his first goal was to help people. Carlo was the one who very quickly saw that
this was something very strange. When people became very concerned in the
hospital, he was there everyday, collecting samples, talking to the staff and
strengthening infection control procedures.·
Dr. Urbani was married and the father of three children.
Dr. Urbani received his medical degree from the University of Ancona, Italy, and
did post-graduate work in malaria and medical parasitology. He was an expert in
the parasitic diseases of schoolchildren. He was also a president
of Mecins Sans Fronti'es-Italy.
"Carlo Urbani' death saddens us all deeply at WHO," said Dr. Gro Harlem
Brundtland, WHO' Director-General. "His life reminds us again of our true work
in public health. Today, we should all pause for a moment and remember the life
of this outstanding physician."
Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 5:25 AM
Subject: Re: BIBLE BELT AT WORK
Dear Greenwood,
What good news about your daughter. Prospects look good since they certainly
have had the time to get to know each other very well. In the modern world
careers can often introduce new considerations which were not a factor in the
male-dominated world we grew up in. Over the last 30 years or so, women's
careers have become important as well as their husband's. One of my wife's
nieces is a very highly paid anesthesiologist; although her husband is a
qualified lawyer, he has never practiced. Before he met her he was only employed
in casual ways. Now they are quite happy with him staying at home with their
children - one from a previous marriage and twins due to be born this year. I
hope your daughter and her husband can work out their complicated life.
Georgia has cancelled its revision to the state education code. There was just
too much outcry and ridicule from every side. However, that was just the most
blatant example of how education is being degraded in the US. The State of
Oregon has had to make deep cuts in their education budget, closing many schools
and shortening the school year. So bad was the budget squeeze that the
legislature actually passed a tax increase to prevent further cuts. The "low
tax" fanatics in the state immediately put a proposition on the ballot to cancel
the tax increase. Last month the proposition passed easily, so Oregon's schools
will be savagely cut next year.
On the national scale things are no better. Many high-tech companies claim that
they are unable to find qualified Americans for scientific and engineering jobs.
They are pushing for more Visas to be issued to technical people from other
countries. This is not new, of course, but the numbers are rising rapidly. The
problem is not hard to find - it comes down to our dwindling education system.
In 1999, for example the number of bachelor-level engineering degrees was 61,000
in the US, 103,000 in Japan, 134,000 in Europe and 195,000 in China. (I'm sure
India also had many, but have no data). An even more revealing statistic is
that, of US masters degrees in engineering, 43% were awarded to foreign-born
students. For doctorates the % was 54! As we discussed years ago, the great
majority of Fluor's technical experts are foreign born.
I cannot think of a more short-sighted way to run a big country.
Environmentalists, here will be glad to hear of a proposal to reduce felling of
US trees. The Bush administration has just pushed through a policy which will
greatly increase the cutting of the remaining old-growth timber here. From you
letter I got the impression that no logging is being done in Japan. Is that a
correct deduction? Also, I'm not quite clear on the relationship between logging
mature hardwoods and importing chips - which I assume are being used to make
paper products. Mature hardwoods are of immense value for making houses, fine
wooden furniture, etc.
To me the key is to harvest the forests in a sustainable way and without
destroying the environment.
I've just been visiting your updated website. As usual It is full of interesting
things. I'm especially intrigued by your tabulation of power generation costs.
When I've digested it I'll get back to you.
With best regards,
Ron
2004/2/18 13:14
Forestly
Dear Ron,
Thank you for your warm acknowledgment. They are having a lot of fun trying to
navigate all the paperwork they have to provide for the marriage to take place!
After the World War II, Japanese government asked forest owners to cut natural
hard wood forest and plant softwood like cedar (a cryptomeria). Because cedar
grows faster than hard wood and may help reconstruction of houses. But soon,
builders found imported logs and chips are more cost competitive. As a
consequence, forest owners lost interest in this business and now most of the
Japanese forest is accumulating wood resources. It looks like a rain forest now.
Japan is now importing 85% of chips now mainly from North America. But Japanese
forest owner continued using hand held engine saw for felling and they could not
use powerful grappel skidder for taking log out of the forest. Some times
helicopter is used. There are two reasons of not using big machinery. Firstly,
steep terrain, secondly, fragmented ownership of the land. On the other side of
Pacific Ocean, Forest machinery like feller buncher, harvester, grappel skidder
are commonly used. Ironically, base machines are earthmoving machines like
excavators exported from Japan.
I have made a cash flow analysis of forestry using machinery in Japanese forest
and found very competitive. My study assumes sustainable level of felling
assuming natural growth rate of 3.2 green ton / ha/ year. This figure is a very
conservative figure of hard wood. I actually confirmed this figure personally by
reviewing aerial photos taken periodically over 50 years of the forest just
behind my house. Normally 10 green ton /ha/ year is reported in US and in
Australia. But those are the figures of fast growing wood. To overcome obstacles
of fragmented owner ship, I am proposing a king of trust organization sponsored
by local government. For overcoming harsh terrain, our machinery industry in
Japan is eager to help at any time. Now my page is listed at 8th page from the
top of 1840 pages in Yahoo Japan. If I can find time, I will translate it into
English. The page you mentioned "Cost of Various Solar Power" was prepared after
my study on "Hard wood power generation".
Best Regards,
Greenwood
2004/2/23 10:15
SOLAR POWER
Dear Greenwood,
I've managed to dig into your data and have a few questions and comments.
1) I cannot understand your fifth entry "Time Averaged Emission....)(%). For
example, the solar draft power at 12 hours per day and 80% weather factor would
appear to be 0.5 x 0.8 = 0.4, or 40%. You list 20%.
2) Comparing annual power generation with nominal output to calculate operating
hours per year I get only 1967 hours for wind power, or about 25% of the time.
This seems low if one assumes these plants would be built where the wind is
strong and steady. The solar draft power also seems low at only 1600 hours.
3) I'm not familiar with costs for the first three power systems, but do have
some data on wind power. 2002 world installation was about 7 GW at a cost of
about 6.8 Billion Euros (or about 1000 euros / kW). In the same time frame, the
US American Wind Energy Association gave an installed cost of about $1000 / kW -
close to the Euro figure since the two currencies were about equal then.
A few years ago the US DOE estimated the total cost of wind power between 3 and
5 cents / kWh, expecting costs to continue to decline until leveling off at 1.5
to 3 cents by 2015. Your 13.1 yen figure per kWh is about equivalent to $0.12.
Perhaps that represents economic costs in Japan, but may be a bit high.
4) Your figures for conventional power seem to be on target. Some of my
correspondent retired engineers are big fans of nuclear power and would endorse
your ranking, I am sure. You mention post treatment cost, but I wonder what that
includes. As you know nuclear waste disposal is very controversial, especially
in the US. We still have been unable to agree on any "permanent" solution and
are still storing wastes in "temporary" pools at the power stations. I think
political, not economic factors will decide the fate of nuclear power.
Your analysis is something which we very seldom see. Most numbers in the public
domain are little better than propaganda for their authors. That makes the need
even larger for your type of analysis. I'd appreciate your thoughts on my
comments. With your permission, I'd like to bounce some of your data off my
friends with a common interest in energy matters; I'd pass along their comments
and ideas too.
With best regards,
Ron
Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2004 9:36 PM
Subject: Re: SOLAR POWER
Dear Ron,
I was pleased to receive your questions about my study on various solar energy
system. I planned to answer after finishing revisions on my old pages about wood
gassification systems. Because, recently, I found a design manual published by
FAO of United Nations and the concept of "Hearth Load" could help to solve my
technical difficulties.
So please wait a while. The reason I am writing now this mail is
that I received a mail from my old friend who is now helping Chyoda's big
Methanol project in Saudi Arabia. When he tried to open my page, he received
following massages.
Access to the requested URL is not allowed!
Please, fill out the form below if you believe the requested
page should not be blocked:
Form for URL unblocking request
Please, send other sites you feel should be blocked using the
following form:
Blocking Request Form
I was a bit surprised and started checking my English pages and found following
my mail to you. A red colored part might irritated inspector of Saudi
Government. How do you think. It might be appropriate to delete this sentence.
Greenwood
2004/2/27 8:39
Re: SOLAR POWER
Dear Greenwood,
I also greatly enjoy reading the columnists in the NYT. I don't always agree,
but find many valuable things to think about. Re-reading Friedman's column,
which is so reasonable, only confirms my suspicion that George Bush planned to
invade Iraq from the beginning and all the posturing about MWD and going to the
UN was just window dressing. I've just started reading a book about Iraq
"Secrets and Lies" by Dilip Hiro, a London-based journalist, writer and
commentator. Although a bit one-sided, it provides a balancing view for the
slanted news we so often see on television here. It's probably much more
representative of International Opinion.
President Bush's position has weakened more that would be expected during the
Democratic Party nomination campaigns. On the domestic front the news from the
economy is mixed; unemployment is still high and jobs are still not being
generated as fast as new workers join the workforce. Wall Street itself is under
pressure. Big gains in the Technical Sector have been reversed lately, getting
back almost to the level at the beginning of the year. Many conservative people
are finally noticing the ballooning federal deficit. Alan Greenspan recently
said that it will be necessary to reduce the level of social security payments
in order to make up for Bush's tax cuts. This is an explosive topic and will not
help Bush at all.
Iraq is also starting to become a liability for Bush. The attacks are still at a
constant high level. The capture of Saddam helped him for a short time, but that
has faded. Rumors have it that the Pakistanis will turn over Osama bin Laden
this summer to help the Bush re-election campaign. There is no way to know
anything about what they are planning.
Prospects for Iraq seem to be getting worse. Among possible outcomes, Civil War
or a Fundamentalist Muslim Government look like the most likely. Chances for a
genuine democracy are slim. There have been reports of more discussion among
Arabs about democracy, but they have done this many times before without
anything changing.
I read good news about Japan in last weeks' Economist (Feb 14-20). Not only has
corporate debt dropped steeply, but they have high praise for Toshihiko Fukui,
new governor of the BOJ. Without naming Paul Krugman, they say that Fukui has
"printed a lot of money" and has, in effect, set an inflation target. "Mr. Fukui
is at last changing deflationary expectations". They look for continuing
improvement in your economy.
I couldn't find the red colored parts in your home page, but agree that the S.
Arabians could be objecting to some of the jokes. On the other hand, they may
well have found some of the political comments objectionable too. You might try
removing the sentence and then asking them via their website if that solves the
problem. The final section of their message is most alarming of all. Any site
that anyone objects to could be threatened - just imagine if some of the US
religious fundamentalists were able to "turn in" websites they didn't like!
A number of repressive governments are now trying to control the web. China
seems to be getting very aggressive in that regard. I hope that is because the
web is really threatening them with their populations. On the other hand, if
they succeed, then repression will get worse and may spread to others.
With best regards,
Ron
2004/2/27 2:40
Re: SOLAR POWER
Dear Ron,
I added the definition for each items. Please see revised page. I think it is
self explanatory. For annual power generation capacity of windturbine, I used
lower value of German manufactures sample figures. Those figures change greatly
depending on the location. Probably, I can use better figures. Post treatment
cost include all demolishing and "permanent" solution cost of used nuclear power
plant. You can pass this table to your friend.
By the way, I found many words "sex" in jokes received from you.
I think Saudi is using standard automatic blocking software based on key word
such as "sex" etc.
Best Regards,
Greenwood
2004/3/25 13:12
FEYNMAN'S LOST LECTURE
Dear Greenwood,
I've just enjoyed a short book which I came across by accident. It features the
guest lecture given by the famous physicist, Richard Feynman, to a freshman
physics class at Caltech in 1964. He set out to demonstrate Newton's famous
analysis of Kepler's laws of planetary motion - using only high school geometry.
I came across the book while looking for another book by the same authors -
David and Judith Goodstein. I didn't find the book I was looking for, but
noticed the Feynman book.
The history is interesting. Feynman gave the introductory physics courses at
Caltech in 1961 - 2. These have been preserved and published. The lost lecture
was given a couple of years later - as a guest of the professor who had taken
over the freshman classes. He was a riveting, dramatic lecturer which you can
tell because the tape recording of his lecture is packaged with the book.
However, the drawings on the blackboard were not preserved and it proved
extremely difficult to reproduce the lecture from the sound recording.
The Goodsteins finally accomplished it on a cruise ship vacation. David is vice
provost and professor at Caltech, his wife is registrar and archivist there.
It's been 50 years since I worked out complicated geometry. However I always
enjoyed it - so I couldn't resist the opportunity. Once started, I couldn't put
the book down. An absolutely virtuoso piece of work. Feynman's character comes
through very clearly. At one point he admitted he couldn't follow Newton's
demonstration because it involved many properties of conic sections, which were
commonplace in Newton's time, but since replaced by calculus. "So", Feynman said
"I cooked up another one". He was born in New York and always kept a very strong
NY accent - this comes through very strongly in the recording. It's easy to see
why he became so famous (he also demonstrated the reason why the Space Shuttle
failed in 1986 - by putting a bit of gasket into a glass of ice water - and
showed that it had lost it's elasticity - hence the loss of the shuttle).
If you are interested in brilliant geometrical proofs I recommend the book
without reservation. A wonderful tribute to a great man.
Ron
2004/3/25 21:49
Re: FEYNMAN'S LOST LECTURE
Dear Ron,
You have reminded me a happy time when I had read several books about Richard
Feynman. I would find your recommended book in Internet and would make order.
Still his text books are sold in Japan but hesitate to buy them.
In the past few weeks, I was busy in making Reverse engineering of an Australian Solar Tower Technology by Solar Mission Technologies. I almost finished it and now preparing a report for my HP. Japanese portion will be completed tonight. Brief English translation may follow soon. I also tested several ideas to improve their performance and found performance could be improved a bit but does not reach the level of oil fired generation plant.
Today, I explained preliminary figures to a meeting held in a
civil engineering firm and recommended them to follow up this technology.
Best Regards,
Greenwood
Wednesday, March 31, 2004 12:31 AM
Subject: Solar Tower
Dear Ron,
I have translated my analysis of Solar Tower as attached.
Based on engineering data available for me, I found that Australian project is a
bit optimistic. But probably the know what I don't know. I still don't
like to make it public, because Australians are not happy to see it. And I have
some idea to improve it.
Best regards,
Greenwood
2004/4/3 11:47
Re: Solar Tower
Dear Greenwood,
Thank you for sending me the link to your solar tower analysis. As you point
out, the heat sink temperature assumption is crucial. In the Prototype data, it
was not clear to me which were the actual results and which were from your
reverse engineering. If real data is available there would be a good basis for
assumptions. Have they published anything of substance?
I note that you have increased your estimate of yen/kWh to 20 from 13. As I
commented last time, even 13 yen / kWh looks pretty high. (World wide
installations of wind turbines in 2002 had about 7 GW for about 7 billion Euros
- about 1000 Euros per kW, compared with your estimate of 330,000 yen or 2500
Euros per kW).
As you say "I have some idea to improve it." It needs quite a bit of improvement
to match existing wind power technology.
There have been some interesting developments going on with yen / dollar
relationships. Rumors have it that the BOJ has been ending it's very large $
purchases. Yesterday the yen set a 4-year high against the $, rising from about
112 to less than 104 / $. The Euro too has been on the rise lately.
We've also seen a few reports on the economic recovery in Japan. It looks like
the BOJ is finally listening to Paul Krugman and getting results.
I have a feeling that the financial world will be quite turbulent this year and
it could have a major impact on our Presidential election. Already large
majorities here see the administration as favoring corporations over ordinary
people. Month-by-month economic data here do seem to be slowly improving, but
the long term prospects are very much in doubt.
With best regards,
Ron
2004/4/3 17:30
Re: Solar Tower
Dear Ron,
Thank you for your comments on my study. In the very beginning, I estimated 13
yen/kWh. But after reviewing night time stoppage, I concluded 20 yen/kWh would
be more realistic figures for Solar Tower technology. I still think this is
cheaper than Solar cell but higher than the cost of conventional wind farm of
around 10 yen/kWh. Based on my new idea, I found that I can reduce the cost down
to 63% of 20 yen/kWh but still a bit higher than current cost structure. In any
case, after investigating possibility of patent application, we wish to publish
our idea in an appropriate technical paper. I am waiting civil engineer's input
in my study.
Yes as you point out, I understand our new leader in BOJ is
following Paul Krugman's recommendation. I was against manipulating yen exchange
rate by buying $ because it finally crash and cause turbulent situations. If our
government stopped buying $ it would be a good sign.
Best regards,
Greenwood
2004/4/7 9:06
Asia's Stockpiles of Dollars Pose U.S. Economic Risks This story was sent to you
by: Ron Cooper
Dear Greenwood,
It seems that others share our concerns about buying dollars.
Ron
--------------------
Asia's Stockpiles of Dollars Pose U.S. Economic Risks
--------------------
By Tyler Marshall
Times Staff Writer
April 6 2004
HONG KONG — A massive buildup of U.S. dollars held by Japan, China and
other Asian countries is fueling increasing unease among analysts and
policymakers, who fear it poses risks to the fragile American economic recovery
and global financial stability.
The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/la-fi-dollar6apr06,1,3666195.story
Visit Latimes.com at
http://www.latimes.com
2004/4/10 12:15
IRAQ ABDUCTIONS
Dear Greenwood,
It seems the disastrous US invasion of Iraq continues to harm innocent people.
The abduction and threatened burning alive of the Japanese civilians is part of
the steady escalation of violence there which the US military seems unable to
stop. I apologize for our part of this terrible act and for our completely inept
handling of the whole Iraq occupation.
More and more George Bush's administration is coming under heavy criticism here.
A very large part of that is coming from former members of that administration.
Public opinion is slowly but steadily turning against Bush.
The problem is what to do about the situation. Withdrawal would probably result
in a civil war. Many, myself included, have criticized the govt. for trying to
occupy the country with too few troops. Even the Pentagon is now "evaluating"
how more could be provided. Dismantling the Iraqi army and
police was another blunder our military made.
I'm afraid our hubris has brought us to over-reach and the results could be very
serious. All the previous world empires have failed in that way; the US empire
looks like doing the same. The only difference is that we seem to be doing it
much more quickly.
I hope that the crisis does not cause too much destabilization in Japan - just
when the economy begins to look better.
With best regards,
Ron
2004/4/13 15:35
Re: IRAQ ABDUCTIONS
Dear Ron,
I appreciate your kind word on the status of Japanese civilians in Iraq. In
spite of media's reaction on the incidents, most of Japanese think that this is
a good chance to know the reality of the world politics. Those 3 young men and
women had grown up in a complete peace under US strong power. Now, they and most
of innocent Japanese are learning that fading US power mean a chaos. From now
on, all of us are responsible for keeping our peace and security.
Now, I am thinking the importance of leadership. It is a sad
reality to find that Mr. George Bush is not a capable man for the important Job.
All of his failures were recorded as a history of latter half of the ancient
Roman History.
Best regard,
Greenwood
2004/4/24 7:50
DIGITAL CAMERA
Dear Greenwood,
After many delays, and bending my self-imposed price limit, I've bought my
digital camera. It's a Pentax Optio - their line of very small cameras.
The model is the S40, which I believe is new. The size is really compact - only
89x58.5x25.5mm, and 177g including batteries and memory card. It is easy to slip
into a pocket without making a bulge.
The photo specs also meet or exceed my original list. The lens is f/2.6 to
f/4.8, 5.8 to 17.4 mm focal length, equivalent to 35 - 100 mm focal length in 35
mm cameras. They don't list shutter speed, but I've seen a range from 4 seconds
to 1/1000 sec. in the display.
It has 4 M.Pixels, a 3:1 optical zoom and uses two, AA batteries (they provide
4, 1800mAh Ni-Metal Hydride rechargeable batteries and a charger). The camera
came with an internal 11MB memory and a 64 MB SD Memory card. At a moderate
quality level this card is good for about 50 shots, but I will be getting more
and larger cards. There are 5 choices of number of M.pixels - 4, 3.1, 1.9, 0.8
and 0.3. Files can be compressed to any of three levels, giving a range of 3:1
of files size for a given number of pixels.
Like most digital cameras it has a multitude of options for picture taking from
"point and shoot" to specialized like back-lit and snow scenes. It'll also allow
multiple exposures, panoramas and movies. There is even a "tape recorder" mode
which can record an hour of sound. As you can guess, I'm still in the early
stages of exploring all these things.
One of the things that lead me to buy this camera was a review in a photography
magazine which credited an earlier version with their best-ever test for color
accuracy. It comes with a very good software package which I've loaded on my PC.
It gives you a very easy way of downloading pictures, setting up classification
systems and making prints. So good has been the camera's color and tone
reproduction I find I've not had to use any adjustment - they look good even
when printed straight from the camera. I'm enclosing a cropped picture of an
Amaryllis flower which is at its glorious peak right now.
cropped picture of an Amaryllis
All-in-all it looks like being a very good go-anywhere camera,
which fits my needs. I hope to be taking pictures that would be of interest and
will send them from time to time.
Best regards,
Ron
2004/4/24 14:09
Re: DIGITAL CAMERA
Dear Ron,
It sounds great. I think your selection criteria, based on color accuracy is a
wise decision.
I am not satisfied with my Sony DSC-F505V camera, as it has poor
color quality. I found my old Victor GC-S1 had a far superior color quality.
Only problem for Victor was a short battery life. I am sure you soon wish to buy
larger memory card.
Unfortunately, I could not receive your photo because it has jpg
suffix. Due to recent problem of receiving many fouled mails, now, all incoming
mails are double checked by a provider and by Norton Antivirus installed on my
PC. I appreciate you pasting jpg images on Word or Excel.
You can also enjoy editing video with BGM and distribute your
products by CD-R.
Best Regards,
Greenwood
Sunday, April 25, 2004 9:28 AM
Re: DIGITAL CAMERA
Dear Ron,
Although the linkage to the attached jpg image was cut by Norton Antivirus, I found still I can open your attached photo. It is not necessary to resend it pasted on Word. I agree the Pentax Optio has good color accuracy.
Attached photo was taken by conventional camera and reported in Japan's largest New Paper, Yomiuri yesterday. A man with yellow T-shirts is me. I took it from their site. I found color of conventional film is more than actual color.
A man with yellow T-shirts
Best regards,
Greenwood
Sent: Sunday, May 02, 2004 11:45 PM
Subject: Re: FEYNMAN'S LOST LECTURE
Dear Ron,
How is your digital camera working? Now, I have some time to spare for
Feynmans's book and CD, I would like to confirm the definite book. Following is
the one I found in Amazon. Feynman's Lost Lecture: The Motion of Planets Around
the Sun by David Goodstein, Judith Goodstein
I finished compiling our recent mails. Please confirm if I can keep this page?
By the way, I was surprised to hear that my daughter showed up live as one of
commentators in TV with a Chairman of the BOJ yesterday. Topics was what is his
next move? I have seen him talking casually, but soon switched off and returned
brushing up a paper for asking financial support to our ministry of industry for
wood gasification project. According to my daughter, it seems that Mr. Fukui
spoke a lot and tolled nothing on his next move.
Regards,
Greenwood
2004/5/6 9:52
Re: FEYNMAN'S LOST LECTURE
Dear Greenwood,
Yes, that is the book. I'm sure you'll have fun.
By all means go ahead with this page in your compilation.
Experimentation with the digital camera is proceeding very happily. Bit-by-bit
I'm learning the important things I need to know. This last weekend was our
annual home brew beer festival in a town about an hour and a half drive south of
here. As usual there were many fine beers available from many clubs. Also as
usual, our club, the Strand Brewers, had some of the best (at least we thought
so).
I pondered whether to take the new camera but decided there was just too much
risk. Physical risk to the camera and picture risk if I messed up and
missed good shots. So, once again, I used my old, old point and shoot camera. I
now have the pictures back and will send a few samples later.
Bankers seem to be same the world over. Alan Greenspan has generated a whole
industry here devoted to analyzing what he says to turn it into English! I
expect there is a similar industry in Japan devoted to translating Mr. Fukui. It
sounds as though your daughter is making good progress in her career.
We have finally chosen our (or rather Connie's) new car. She agonized a long
time between the Toyota Avalon, which she really liked and the Toyota
Prius on environmental grounds. In the end she went with the Avalon. Looking at
details in the specifications I believe that Avalon and the Camry are
mechanically almost identical. For example both have exactly the same wheelbase,
engines, etc. While the Avalon looks much bigger it actually is 3 cm lower
although 4 cm wider. The biggest difference I see is in legroom in the back
seat, almost 6 cm better. Fuel consumption is actually 4% better than a
comparable Camry, although the Cd is the same. Perhaps the gearing is higher in
the Avalon (the brochures give no data on
gear ratios).
Now we wait while the model we specified is manufactured. It'll be ready about 4
months from now - buying it through the Toyota employees special discount plan
since my son Bill works for them. When I have news I'll let you know how that
all works out.
With my best regards,
Ron
2004/5/8 8:23
PICTURES FROM HOMEBREW BEER FESTIVAL
Dear Greenwood.
As promised, here are a few pictures from our festival in Temecula.
Next shows our bar, with 19 taps! Members of the Strand Brewers are on duty with
me added at left and two other members wearing the bright red tee shirts we got
for this year's event. My shirt is not quite readable, but features the
"Beeriodic Table". Seemingly traditional elements are replaced with beer
equivalents. For example Al is Altbier, He is Helles and my favorite (new)
element ESB (Extra Special Bitter).
Next is my family. From the left Peter, Sally (Bill's wife), Bill and Rita (Peter's wife).
I hope they get through OK, they total about 500 K.
2004/5/8 11:58
Re: PICTURES FROM HOMEBREW BEER FESTIVAL
Dear Ron,
Yes I received your photo's. The festival in Temecula seemed quite a major
event. The efforts of organizer might be substantial. Do you lease 19 taps
equipment from vendor or does your club keep the equipment?
The idea of "Beeriodic Table" is very smart!. Probably, you can invent another
Xxxiodic Table.
Anyway, I selected 2 photos, squeezed the size and compiled in our mail page.
I know Camry but Avalon is not familiar. Toyota sells their car in different
name in Japan. I cheeked Toyota's Japanese home page and found Camry and then
Avalon in US Toyota. As you pointed out, Avalon looks wide and gives an image of
prestigious car. Probably, it is a good buy.
Mitsubish Motor is a looser in Automobil industry. I wonder what
they are doing.
I have made a order to Amazone. Adding CD to the book is a good idea.
Best Regards,
Greenwood
2004/5/21 5:38
IRAQ
Dear Greenwood,
The news from Iraq has been so bad that I've not had the heart to write. Badly
as I felt about Bush's war earlier, the news from Abu Ghraib has stunned me
along with most other Americans. Every day brings new revelations - mostly worse
and worse.
I believe that our nation is disgraced and we are playing right into the hands
of Al Qaeda. Recruiting by Osama must be at an all-time high. I saw a lapel pin
the other day calling Bush a war criminal. Perhaps that is true - we shall see
what else comes out. It seems that we have alienated just about every country in
the world (except Israel, of course). An American friend, who is living in
Germany, writes that he certainly will vote in the US election next fall..."but
I intend to do my part to remove that lunatic from the White House. I don't know
which is worse - driving the country towards bankruptcy or creating a worldwide
hatred of Americans and our government. It's equally mystifying and depressing,
but due to our greed and gluttony, enormous arrogance, and apparent disregard
for what the rest of the world thinks (UN, Iraq, Kyoto...) it seems that America
is fast becoming the most despised country on the planet, and to make matters
worse, we don't really seem to care." To his list one now has to add the Geneva
Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war.
Already, with US Generals arguing in front of Senate hearings about who was in
charge at the prison, it is clear that our operation in Iraq (after the initial
success) has been completely incompetent. Nobody seems to be in charge. Finally,
Donald Rumsfeld accepted responsibility, but will not step down like any honest,
honorable man would do. Criticism is not confined to Democrats. Many Republicans
here are also becoming critical of Bush and his military. John McCain is
probably well known to you, but there are several other prominent Republican
Senators who are equally critical.
As the bad news continues to come out, opinion here is changing. Bush's approval
is now well below 50%, which is very significant at this time in an election
year.
As I think you know, I've spent many years working in Amnesty International on
behalf of human rights, worldwide. Up until the disastrous occupation of Iraq,
this country and it's allies have always had a certain moral standing allowing
them to criticize abusers of human rights - for example, Saddam Hussein. One of
the worst effects of Bush's war is that this standing is a thing of the past. In
future, dictators like him will be able to scoff at any criticism - pointing out
the US hypocrisy about "spreading Democracy" while killing and abusing thousands
of innocent people. I fear that respect for human rights has been damaged
severely by our "lunatic" in Washington. I just hope enough Americans share my
opinion in November's election.
With deepest regrets,
Ron
2004/5/23 1:26
Re: IRAQ
Dear Ron,
I have just finished reading a French book "Deux heures de lucidite" by Noam
Chomsky and two French Journalists. As you may know Noam Chomsky is a famous
American linguist and Professor of MIT. I was very impressed by his clear vision
on every day political and social issues, I wished to know his reaction on Iraq
invasion as the discussion among three gentleman was taken place before 9/11.
I opened Znet where I can find his opinion and found the latest BBC Interview by
Noam Chomsky and Jeremy Paxman held on May 21, 2004
It start like:
"If George Bush were to be judged by the standards of the Nuremberg Tribunals,
he'd be hanged. So too, mind you, would every single American President since
the end of the second world war, including Jimmy Carter.
The suggestion comes from the American linguist Noam Chomsky. His latest attack
on the way his country behaves in the world is called Hegemony or Survival,
America's Quest for Global Dominance.
Jeremy Paxman met him at the British Museum, where they talked in the Assyrian
Galleries. He asked him whether he was suggesting there was nothing new in the
so-called Bush Doctrine. " --------
Chomsky's view is exactly same as the message on lapel pin you have mentioned.
After reading "Deux heures de lucidite" I can say that most of innocent American
citizens were brain washed by propaganda who actually controls American state
and supported Mr. Bush who is just a puppet of those
who actually have power.
Media is under control of power, they cannot help America. Only those who think
on their own can rescue America and world. I think the lapel pin you mentioned
is a good sign. Probably we can have a hope.
You can find more article of Chomsky in
http://www.zmag.org/weluser.htm
Now "Feynmann's Lost Lecture" is in my hand. I heard his vice and found clear
enough to understand. After finishing a bit of work on Artificial wind power, I
wish to sit and listen his words.
Thank you for "QUALIFICATION TEST" . I found the joke was very smart and
redistributed it to my friends. By the way, Anderson Consulting had disapeared
from the market, wasn't it?
(Engish Jokes Serial No.127)
Best Regards,
Greenwood
2004/5/27 9:52
Fw: BREWERS! Brew on Japanese TV this Sunday! State Fair Deadline! and more!
Dear Greenwood,
I thought you'd enjoy seeing this notice from another of our local homebrew
clubs. With credit to Dashiell Hammett, they call themselves the "Maltose
Falcons". They are the oldest club in LA by a wide margin having been in
existence for about 30 years. (The Home Beer/Wine/Cheesemaking Shop is
associated with the club).
Perhaps you can keep an eye open to catch the broadcast on NHK. As you can see
from the notices, our local brew scene is very active.
I continue to brew and was lucky enough to win a first prize for a Strong Scotch
Ale at the Maltose Falcons' last competition earlier this month.
With best regards,
Ron
2004/5/30 21:36
Re: BREWERS! Brew on Japanese TV this Sunday! State Fair Deadline! and more!
Dear Ron,
I understand that NHK is scheduled to take video recording of Home Brewing on May 30th. I will keep an eye on TV programs for coming days.
It seems that you are a qualified brewer. Still in Japan, Home
Brewing is not common. Probably, this is why NHK had an interest on your culture
of home brewing. I always enjoy NHK programs because they provide a quality
programs like BBC.
Best Regards,
Greenwood
2004/6/3 12:23
VACATION IN 2004
Dear Greenwood,
We have suddenly chosen a vacation plan for 2004. A friend of Connie came up
with a discounted cruise trip in Europe in July / August. After some prodding by
the friend and me, Connie has agreed to it. (As the years go by she has found
travel to be more and more annoying). The cruise will minimize luggage handling
(one big objection).
The cruise will be in the Baltic. We fly to London for a few days before and
after the cruise. It's starting point is Dover and the first stop is in northern
Germany with a trip to Berlin. Then we go to Tallinn in Estonia, St.Petersburg,
Helsinki, Stockholm and Copenhagen and back to Dover, London and home). We've
been to Stockholm and Copenhagen before, during our honeymoon nearly 40 years
ago, but the others will be first visits). We leave about the 20th of July and
return about 7 August. The exact schedule will depend on which airline discount
fares are available. Let us hope the weather cooperates.
I'm taking both the new, digital camera and my trusty 35mm SLR. (Don't quite
trust the digital 100% yet - I'm still learning it and the 35mm gives me many
more options for serious picture-taking).
We're also knee deep in travel books - for the cruise destinations and for
London. It's hard to believe, but I've not spent any serious time in London in
almost 15 years - when I was there on assignment for Fluor.
I wonder what plans you have for this year. I'm afraid the sudden appearance of
this trip has prevented us from seeing if we could get together - second year in
a row. We hope our destination will be a safe one, but I do not expect many
Europeans to feel well disposed to our administration. Perhaps we should all
wear Kerry badges.
With best regards,
Ron
Friday, June 04, 2004 8:24 PM
Subject: Re: VACATION IN 2004
Dear Ron,
It sounds great. Estonia and St.Petersburg is my dream land. I have never been
to Berlin too. I understand cruise trip could minimize luggage handling and kind
for your wife. Probably, I have to select such trip after 75 years old if only I
survived. Before that, I would rather hire a bare boat and travel along canal in
Europe as I have done in The Themes in 1973. Last year, we considered to stay in
France. But due to two big change in our family affair, we decided to stay home
this year. Firstly, I have to financially support my son in his starting his own
family this year, Secondly, we may travel to England if my daughter marry with a
English boy. We do not know when, because my daughter is still struggling with
paper work.
Probably I can meet you some time next year in US, because my
bike friends are thinking to revisit US and continue unfinished touring along
Route 66. I expect from you many beautiful digital photos of Baltic cruise.
Best regards,
Greenwood
2004/6/10 7:10
Re: VACATION IN 2004 & CALIF. CEO'S SALARIES
Dear Greenwood,
This seems to be your family's time to go through big changes. We still have no
word on grandchildren, but there have been some discussions which are
encouraging. We shall see!
It would be great to see you and your club again next year. I hope the trip
works out. As before, I'd recommend Spring or Fall to avoid extreme weather.
Arrangements are almost complete for our trip, with airlines, cruise ship and
hotels all booked. Going in July/Aug definitely makes it difficult, since we are
at the peak season.
The LA Times has just published it's two article analysis of salaries for CEO's
of CA's biggest 100 companies. The insanity of the size of their payments
continues and increases. Last year was a "bad" one for them - the median raise
was "only" 5%, down from 11% last year. Steve Jobs of Apple remains on top - at
$75 million.
The Times also did a little editorializing and quotes some other opinion. One
startling fact, of which I was not aware, is that shareholder votes are only
advisory. If 99 of 100 shareholders vote against management, the other 1 wins! I
especially enjoyed some of the "explanations" given for big raises.
Close to home, Fluor's CEO, Alan Boeckmann (who I once knew as an EE) got 45% to
$7 million, even though "Fluor profit and revenue fell last year, but its shares
rose about 10%. Lew Smith, vice president of human resources, said Boeckmann was
a relatively new CEO and the board was "adjusting his pay upward as he gets more
experience."" I wonder how Fluor's new grad. engineers feel about their own
rewards for experience growth (that's if we've hired any) - all I've been
hearing of are layoffs.
It's clear the old "Glass Ceiling" for women has gone. CEO Margaret Whitman of
EBay not only got a 163% raise to $42 Mill., but her "package equaled nearly 10%
of the Internet auctioneer's profit".
Champion in the percent section was one Wilfred L. Corrigan of LSI Logic. While
only getting $5 Mill. it represented a raise of 560%. The reasoning is worth
quoting "The company posted a $309-million loss in 2003, compared with a
$292-million loss the year before. Revenue was down about 7%. Despite the poor
profit and revenue numbers, LSI spokesman Kevin Brett said Corrigan deserved a
raise after voluntarily cutting his pay in 2001 and freezing compensation in
2002. And LSI shares rose 35% in 2003". I wish Brett had had a say in my raises
after I screwed up.
If you'd like to look at the gory details they're in a double article at:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-execpay6jun06,1,1879883.story and at:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-perks6jun06,1,5779852.story
Happy reading,
Ron
Tuesday, June 22, 2004 11:35 AM
Space Ship 1
Dear Ron,
Have you started to Baltic cruise? I wish both of you a happy cruise.
My PC has gone. Probably, FAT was destroyed. I am now using wife's machine.
Some of our mails not compiled in the web site have been lost too. I appreciate you to send them back to me when I am ready after acquiring my new PC. Before making such decision, I have to complete preparing a material for a presentation to be made next week in Asia University. The subject is "Green Power". I would like to talk about "Hardwood Power Generation" and "artificial wind power".
Yesterday, largest historical typhoon in June has hit Japan and paralyzed public transportation systems. Probably due to global warming, we are finding bigger atmospheric turbulence every year.
In those days, I was busy in cleaning my house and garden for hospitalizing parent of my son's wife. In my case, instead of refurbishing, I only cleaned widows, walls and doors used over 25 years.
Japanese media are reporting successful flight of Space Ship1
sponsored by Paul Allen. Good news.
Best regards,
Greenwood
Tuesday, June 22, 2004 6:09 PM
Re: Space Ship 1
Dear Ron,
Sorry for using wrong word. I should use "hosting" instead of "hospitalizing".
It was the first occasion of their visiting our house.
My speech will be made before Chinese students and staffs of branch offices of Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It may be a good chance for young generation to know about future energy problem. Rising China may be a center for such concerns.
We are going to visit Hokkaido in the middle of July. We fly to
Hokkaido and use rented car.
Best Regards,
Greenwood
Wednesday, June 23, 2004 6:20 AM
Re: Space Ship 1
Dear Greenwood,
Thank you for noticing the flight of Space Ship #1. I met the Rutan brothers years ago when a friend of mine was working with them on a modern piston-engined racing aircraft (he was developing the two engines - based on his successful Nissan V-6 car racing engine). That effort was not successful. They had many teething problems - mostly with the engines - the plane eventually crashed and the sponsor lost interest. Rutan's airframe design was very innovative and ingenious. Like the White Knight 'plane which boosted the Space Ship to a high altitude, his racer also had twin booms and looked like a miniature version of the WW II Lightning airplane.
Today's paper here has a long, front page article about the flight and about Rutan and his company, Scaled Composites. Bert Rutan is quoted as being very confidant that his plane will win the X-prize. Last time I checked the other competitors were very far behind.
Loss of FAT strikes terror into every PC owner! As you know I had to buy a new PC last year, with great loss of data. I also purchased Norton's "Ghost" as part of their System works. That is claimed to be able to reconstitute the whole hard drive if it is lost. I hope I never have to find out if it works. I do back the disk up every few months, though. These days there seem to be many companies which claim to be able to reconstitute hard drives. Were none of them able to help you?
The hardest stuff to back up is the email, because the user does not have control over it. Shortly after my last letter I foolishly tried to update my Earthlink files to get some of their advanced sub-programs. What a disaster! Much of my e-mail was gone, including yours and many other things were messed up. I could not get the system to work.
Fortunately, the new version did not overwrite the previous version. I found I could simply start using the old version again and all is well. My email is restored, including yours, so I'll be able to resend anything you need, including your letters back to the beginning of 2003 when I got the new PC. The only real harm was to waste the best part of two days of my life trying to recover.
Our Baltic cruise begins late in July. Before then we will have my wife's cousin and her husband (very good friends of ours) visit us starting on the 6 July. Later we'll drive with them to visit the cousin's sister in Northern Calif (almost 1000 km each way). We return on the 12th July. Through my son we'll rent a Toyota SUV (called the Highlander here) so we have plenty of room for luggage and for 4 people.
Our trip to Europe starts in London. We fly there on the 20th of July for a few days. The cruise starts in Dover on July 24th and returns on the 5th of August. We leave London for LA on Aug 6.
It seems these days that only the die-hard Bush supporters do not believe in the serious problem of global warming. Weather seems to be becoming more extreme world-wide. We had a very warm spell at the end of April. On some days Los Angeles high temperature records were broken by 3 - 5 degrees C. Your papers seem very interesting. Will reprints be available in English? I'd think they would have a world-wide audience these days.
I sympathize with the effort needed to prepare a house for a sick person. I did not realize you had your daughter-in-law's parent coming for hospitalization. That sounds like a big effort on your part and hope things go well.
With best regards,
Ron
Wednesday, July 07, 2004 9:28 AM
Re: Space Ship 1
Dear Greenwood,
So, we are both going to be traveling in July. We'll be leaving Friday July 9 to drive with our relatives to visit other relatives in Northern CA for a few days, returning on the 12th. A little over a week later we're flying to London to start our cruise. Leave on 20 July, returning on 6 August.
We went to see the new film "Fahrenheit 9/11" soon after it opened. It is a devastating attack on President Bush and his cronies. I give it my highest recommendation and understand why the jury in Cannes gave it the first prize. It should be somewhat reassuring to sensible people around the world who think that all Americans are like Bush. With any luck it will help defeat him this fall.
I hope your trip to China was a success and that your next trip to Hokkaido goes well. I guess we'll both be visiting northern areas at the right time of year for temperature.
With best regards,
Ron
2004/8/9 15:59
VACATION
Dear Ron,
I assume you have come back from Baltic Cruise. How was the
trip? During your long trip, we had made a short trip in Hokkaido.
Now I have new PC. Old PC is serving as Live Camera, and capturing Seven Mile
Beach in every 10 minutes. Even in night, it broad cast black scene. Probably
old PC may last long. Because it's HD and display are sleeping most of the time.
My daughter understand the globe is round when she opened my live page in
Amsterdam.
Luckily, I could recover your mails and could compile in our page of 2004. Could
you check if you have time.
A new film "Fahrenheit 9/11" is not yet coming here. Probably it does not
attract average peoples attention here.
We are having a very hot days in the last month. How is the weather in
California?
Best Regards,
Greenwood
2004/8/24 10:04
VACATION
Dear Greenwood,
Please forgive the long delay in writing after returning from vacation. As
usual, we took on more than we expected; I took almost 600 pictures - digital
and film. As you may recall we had just finished a family trip to Northern CA
the week before our European trip - many more pictures added to
the 600.
Finally I've been able to dig out from all the things neglected while voyaging
about.
Our trip was very fulfilling, we both got quite tired (in fact Connie was
exhausted). She is just not up to the strain of traveling any more. Even with
the ship as a mobile hotel things were difficult. She will be consulting her
doctor this week since it seems this is not normal.
We even came home to find our garden damaged by good growth. A plantation of
tomato plants had grown so big they toppled over the frames supposed to support
them and were lying on the ground. Getting them upright and undamaged turned out
to be quite a task. Then another day I woke to find one of our tree limbs lying
on the newly-righted tomatoes and our roof. This required professional help from
a tree trimmer. Finally, our new Toyota is now here and I've been arranging
financing and other paperwork.
At last I feel able to get to my email! I will be sending pics, but need to do
careful selection.
Our trip had so many elements, it's hard to begin; chronologically is probably
best.
London was familiar ground with enough new stuff to be interesting. I spent one
day just wandering around familiar streets and researching pubs and beer! Once
again I was frustrated by the Houses of Commons - I've still never been there.
When we went to try again we found it closed! We visited a few new tourist traps
- including the London Eye - reputedly the highest sightseeing Ferris Wheel in
the world. The view was spectacular, but the gloomy weather was disappointing.
We spent three days in London before and one after our cruise. On the last day I
was lucky to be able to visit the Great British Beer Festival - an incredible
display of "Real Ale". Enough to warm the heart of any home brewer. On one of
the many bars I counted over 50 "Beer Engines" - the hand pumps used for serving
non-pressurized, Real Ale. Pity I only had a few hours.
Our cruise had wonderful destinations, but the food on the ship and the guides
used for shore excursions were disappointing. In most places we just made our
own way onshore instead of using the ship's optional tours. Exceptions were a
train trip to Berlin and our visit to St.Petersburg. Berlin and Germany were
very surprising. I did not expect such friendly and informal people, most of who
spoke very good English. Where else would you find a taxi driver with Brahms on
the car radio? (In contrast I found the English much "stiffer" and more formal).
I visited Checkpoint Charlie and the adjacent museum devoted to the Berlin Wall.
The most moving place for me was the (fully restored) Reichstag. As the site of
the fire which enabled Hitler to grab the office of Chancellor it was, perhaps,
one of the fundamental historical turning points of the 20th century and of my
life. Just outside, on the front lawn, there is an amazing memorial, something
like the Vietnam memorial in Washington. This consists of dozens of stone slabs
with names of victims of the Nazi death camps. For me nothing characterizes the
modern German attitude better than this memorial.
The next day we sailed through the Kiel canal to the Baltic. It took most of the
day and, although the day was drizzling rain, there were crowds of spectators
along the whole length. A crewman told me that this happens every time they go
through the canal (about every two weeks)! It seems that our ship was the
highest ever to use the canal. During a renovation and expansion they put hinges
on the mast and the funnels allowing them to be lowered so as to fit beneath the
bridges over the canal. I'll be sure to send photos when I've selected them.
The digital camera was very successful. I now know when it is better and when
worse than the film camera. For close-up, informal work it shines. The very
short focal length (6 - 17 mm) makes it very resistant to camera shake and gives
enormous depth of field. The max. aperture is f2.6, which gives it good
low-light capability. Picture quality is often better than the film camera under
these conditions. The big camera is best for long distance and landscape/scenery
work (up to 200 mm focal length) and it's flash has greater range. I note that
the technology of digital cameras continues to develop rapidly, especially with
the number of pixels and the light-to-dark ratio per pixel. Not too soon I think
film will be obsolete. I note Agfa will stop selling ordinary film. Kodak has
drastically cut back it's film sector and is no longer promoting their Advantix
format.
Obviously, it will take me much longer to cover all our trip. I'm afraid it will
be another time.
I was sorry to hear of the deaths in one of the Japanese nuclear plants. Most
people will blame the nuclear technology, even though higher pressure steam is
commonplace in conventional steam plants. The sloppy maintenance in nuclear
facilities, though, does raise many concerns. No doubt you remember the
corrosion in the Davis-Besse plant here recently.
All my very best regards,
Ron
2004/9/5 16:06
Re: THIS LAND.........
Dear Ron,
I found your missing mail titled "This Land......" in Norton
Anti Spam Folder.
I opened it and enjoyed very much. I wonder why Norton specified it as Spam
Page. Any way, I distributed it to my friends.
Thank you.
Greenwood
Friday, September 10, 2004 9:49 PM
Fahrenheit911
Dear Ron,
Today is third year after 9/11. A few day ago, at last I have seen
Fahrenheit911. It was a well made film using only unused films taken by media.
Regardless of this film, it seems that Mr. Bush is supported by most of people
in US. Probably pushed by an tragedy in Russia. Mr. Bush and Putin are both
powering fuel on to the fire made by Osama Bin Raden. European way of managing
the situation seem more appropriate for coping with those radical people.
By the way, "Fahrenheit911"is lacking the information about
Neoconservatives who strongly pushed Mr. Bush towards a war against Iraq.
Michael Moore placed Saudi connection as a central dogma of this movie. Why he
didn't mention about another contribution by Neoconservatives. Is this his
intentional will or just his negligence?
Best Regards,
Greenwood
2004/9/14 6:48
Re: Fahrenheit911
Dear Greenwood,
You raise a good point about the neocons. I don't know why Moore placed the
emphasis where he did - on the oil business (and the rich in general). Perhaps
he thought getting more complicated would dilute his message. I expected the
political points he made in the film; what surprised me was the emotional
content. Many of the people in our theater were crying by the end.
It's not quite true to say that Bush has most Americans on his side. After a
National Convention it is normal for a candidate to go ahead in the polls. GWB's
"bounce" is not unusual and will probably go back to the "too close to call"
category soon. Within limits of polling I'd guess his support right at the 50%
level. Events between now and November will determine the outcome. In this
regard there is a widespread belief that the capture of Osama bin Laden has been
arranged for this month or next, so as to influence the voters in favor of W.
Nobody apart from the most dedicated Republicans has any difficulty believing
this could be true. We shall see!
It's also clear that Putin is also benefiting from Bush's policy and actions. He
is able to cover up the brutality and mistakes in Chechnya by "wrapping himself
in the flag" - in this case the flag of "Anti-Terrorism".
Many people who oppose Bush feel he is the best recruiter Osama has. Certainly
there seems to be no lack of recruits in Iraq. One theory is that the pressure
will be kept on in Iraq because it helps W get reelected. This is the same way
the generals in the USSR and the USA used to help each other get bigger budgets
by rattling their sabers at each other.
Many Democrats are feeling strongly disappointed with the campaign Kerry is
running, but he does have a history of coming from behind to win - as he did
in the Democratic primary elections.
On a completely different front, we got two big items of good news last night
when our sons and their wives were here for dinner. Peter (the younger) told us
he had just bought a house 3 km from us. As soon as we had digested that, his
sister-in-law, Sally (Bill's wife), told us she was 8 weeks pregnant, with the
baby expected in April! Connie was almost overcome since these are two of the
best things we've been hoping for. Neither of us has quite digested the news
yet.
I hope your family affairs go as well as we have been enjoying lately.
Ron
Monday, September 20, 2004 7:33 AM
Congraturations
Dear Ron,
Congratulations for two good news for both of you! It is nice to have a family
of your children living close to you. It is said that having grand children
gives more pleasure than having children. I wonder whether we can enjoy such a
pleasure.
My son and his wife are going to have a honeymoon trip to New Zealand. We can also meet my daughter's boy fried in the coming wedding ceremony. They are planning to visit Japan Alps and after that they whish to meet my mother during his short stay in Japan.
I have seen Michael Moore's film, "Bowing for Colonbine" over TV program. I felt it is better than his latest film.
NHK had made an interesting program. It claims that a political situation in 1920s is the starting point of current terrorism by Moslem people. A famous movie, “Lawrence of Arabia” is describing some scene of the situations. I remembered clearly the movie made in 1962 by David Lean. The book "KRAKATOA The Day the World Exploded August 27, 1883" by Simon Winchester is also hinting that Moslem's influence in Indonesia suddenly starter after the eruption of this volcano.
Interesting isn't it?
Best regards,
Greenwood
2004/9/23 8:40
Re: Congraturations
Dear Greenwood,
It seems the pregnancy celebration was premature. A few days later my daughter
in law visited her doctor again who found no heartbeat in the fetus. As a result
the pregnancy had to be aborted. The good news is that such a development is not
rare and does not mean any sort of risk for future babies. At least we know the
two of them are trying and expect a new start soon.
I also was impressed by Bowling for Columbine; its hard to choose which film I
thought better. Yes, the United States seems to be making many of the same
errors Britain and France made in the middle east. If anything we are blundering
even more, being less experienced in Imperial Governing.
The big Bush bounce following the convention has faded. Recent polls put his
support at about 48% with Kerry running about 3 points behind (3% is about the
margin of error). Finally Kerry has started to be more critical of Bush's many
mistakes in Iraq. This encourages his supporters, but it remains to be seen if
it goes down well with the small number of swing voters who are undecided.
I think natural disasters always make people turn to religion. Islam is very
aggressive in recruiting new members, so I find it understandable that
Krakatoa was followed by Muslim gains in Indonesia.
The troubling times here are having the same effect - we are becoming even more
a very religious country (the US has a very high level of church attendance -
far higher than almost all other industrial countries). Unfortunately, most of
the recruits are to very fundamentalist, "bible thumping", anti-intellectual
churches. George Bush is by no means alone in being "born again" (the phrase
they use for joining such a church). As you know he claims to get instructions
from God - just like Osama bin Laden. Old line, conservative churches are
actually losing members to such fundamentalists.
From my English history I can verify the terrible things religious fanatics can
do to each other (after all they are only doing those things to "God's enemies"
for whom one needs have no mercy). I fear greatly for the world if this spread
of violent organized religion continues.
With best regards,
Ron
Thursday, September 30, 2004 3:17 AM
FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS!
Dear Ron,
I am sorry to hear that your joy of having grand children was postponed. But in
any case, you can hope for.
After reading "The Great Unraveling......Losing Our Ways in the New Century" by Paul Krugman, I naturally selected to shoot a Pulitzer prize winning photo than saving the life of George W. Bush. Black and white film might be more appropriate.
The Krugman's book was a collection of the most of his columns in New York Times in the last few years. I missed most of his writings. Therefore, it was a good chance to remember thoroughly.
We counted 21 typhoons this year and half of them landed Japan. We experienced strongest wind in the history. Computer simulation by weather bureau predicted stronger wind and less number of occurrences under global warming. I would rather put a caption on his Pulitzer Prize winning photo saying that "He is a first causalities of his own policy"
By the way, Oil price is rising. Most people still think that
political instability is the cause. But is there any possibly that we consumed
half of the potential oil reserves?
Best regards,
Greenwood
2004/10/1 7:44
FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS!
Dear Greenwood,
I agree with oil theorists like C. J. Campbell who believe that world oil
production is just about at its peak. With the rapid increase in demand in
the world (especially in India, China and, perhaps, Russia) we can expect rising
prices, more and more frequent crises and eventual a complete change in the
world's energy use. It seems like the bad example of the USA will spread
throughout the world.
Political instability will probably make things worse, but this is not new. One
of W's worst side effects is the increase in instability in the Middle East.
Scarce oil might encourage conservation and reduce global warming, but there is
another opposite possibility. Coal is still plentiful and cheap in at least the
US and China (about 1/2 the cost of oil here on an energy basis). When oil gets
expensive I look for the coal industry in both countries to push for a much
larger share of the energy market. This will require brushing aside
environmental rules - something W has been glad to do during the last 4 years.
China has been making some talk about pollution, but if oil and gas get too
expensive I suspect the virtues of coal to be brought up in their internal
debates. Oddly enough the nuclear power proponents here are waking up again.
They are talking like born-again environmentalists since it emits no CO2!
Polls here continue to slide in Bush's direction. Today's poll in the LA Times
puts him 5 - 6% ahead of Kerry, who's campaign does not seem to be able to do
anything well. Tonight there is the first debate between Bush and Kerry. I'm
afraid that Bush's phony "popularist" persona will once again appeal to most
voters here. At any time I expect him to capture Osama bin Laden - that would
probably make his re-election a sure thing. If the debate goes badly for Kerry
it might not matter.
Political analysts here are thinking and talking less about who will win the
election. Instead, the possibilities of a Bush landslide are being discussed. I
leave you with a quote.
people don't want to go to war.... But, after all, it's the leaders of the
country who determine the policy and it's always a simple matter to drag the
people along whether it's a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a parliament
or a communist dictatorship.... Voice or no voice, the people can always be
brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell
them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for
lack of patriotism and exposing the country to greater danger. It works the same
way in any country.
How applicable to the way W is running the campaign. The author was Hermann
Goering in an interview during his trial at Nuremberg.
Ron
Sunday, October 03, 2004 10:27 PM
FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS!
Dear Ron,
Probably, your views on coal and nuclear power might come out to reality, I am
afraid.
Hermann Goering's words are very persuasive. The world rolls on itself like this.
By the way, success of space ship one is reported here. It is said that Richard Branson, an owner of Virgin Atlantic Airways wills start business of the space flight.
After installing Windows XP Service Pack 2, suddenly, your pdf file, "EMPIRE OF BILIOUS AND DUBBIA, ET AL" attached to you mail of August 28 became readable. It is well made and I am now carefully reading it.
Best Regards,
Greenwood
Monday, October 04, 2004 11:17 PM
Re: FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS!
Dear Ron,
Chiracsterix in David Horsey's "EMPIRE OF BILIOUS AND DUBBIA, ET AL” seemed
named after famous Vercingetorix of Garia. Germans reminded me of your
impression on Germans whom you have seen in your trip to Baltic. FAHRENHEIT
IX/XI is also very Roman. But above all, an entire thinking reflects that of
Prof. Krugman.
Good news is that Senator Kerriolanus is coming back to the stage again as you
predicted.
External hard drive and USB #2 is a wise selection. I found it most easy to use
and economical. I do not use any software to backup. I simply copy important
file son to the external Drive when necessary. My experience is described in the
following page.
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~pu4i-aok/pc/backup/backupe.htm
I found Windows XP Service Pack2 is useful. It is quite big size software of 80Mb. After installing it, you can find Windows Security Center in the System Tool of Accessories. It protects your PC with Firewall and check whether any Virus software is in the latest conditions. This means Norton is still required but Norton's firewall is not necessary.
Best Regards,
Greenwood
2004/10/5 4:33
FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS!
Dear Greenwood,
I'm glad you're enjoying the jokes. I try to select only the ones I like best.
Today Bert Rutan and his crew successfully repeated the flight to fulfill the
requirements so they have won the $10 million X-prize. It'll be interesting to
see how the Branson project goes.
Rutan does not like to be involved with production of aircraft; he only is
interested in new developments. So, once the first commercial machine is built,
I expect he'll pass on production to an other company. Of course, that'll be
years from now.
My friends and I have been discussing protection of computers from failure,
viruses and other plagues. One phrase I like is; "There are two sorts of hard
drives. Those that have failed and those that will". I already use "Ghost" to
back up my hard drive, but it is laborious - several hours duration and swapping
out a dozen CD's.
After discussions I've decided to buy an external hard drive which comes with
provision to back up either automatically or by simply pushing a button. At the
same time I'll upgrade to USB #2 to increase transfer speed.
I'm still researching what extra protection I need from malicious software.
Norton, which I have, is good on viruses, but slow. For other attacks I may
add more programs. What has been your experience - do you have any
recommendations?
With best regards,
Ron
2004/10/14 6:53
FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS!
Dear Greenwood,
Yes, I'm sure the cartoonist re-read Caesar's "Gallic Wars" to find all his
names.
Our Presidential election is just about balanced. The latest analysis showed
essentially a dead heat. Kerry picked up some support after the first debate
where Bush seemed angry and irritable. Tonight is the final debate; everybody is
wondering about the outcome.
My appreciation of the digital camera continues to rise. I have now become
somewhat more instinctive in its use and am learning better how to manipulate
pictures on the computer. We have a local store of a chain which will print
digital pictures for $0.19 per 150 x 100mm print. You read your memory card into
a terminal, choosing among options such as print size, surface finish, etc. An
hour later they have very good quality pictures. I'm beginning to wonder when
I'll ever use my inventory of 35 mm film. Whenever I have need for photos I now
choose the digital first.
It's been a while since we have talked about Hybrid cars. I finally tracked down
the Toyota site with some real information on the continuously variable
transmission used in the Prius. As I'd been told by an owner, it is a planetary
gearbox. The arrangement is interesting and not what you'd logically do for a
first design. So, it looks as though there has been a lot of development work.
The engine is connected to the planetary carrier, the generator to the sun wheel
and the motor/drive shaft to the ring gear. (They say nothing about varying the
motor speed/drive shaft speed independently, so I'd guess they are locked
together). I'm trying to resuscitate my rusty mechanical engineering to look at
the permutations available. It's trickier than I thought, but I believe Toyota
is correct to claim "Its planetary gear can transfer power between engine,
motor, generator and wheels in almost any combination". My recollection is that,
with the ability to change the sun wheel speed, you can have almost any
relationship between the planetary carrier and the ring gear. Where I'm getting
hung up at the moment is figuring out how the torque/HP relationship can be made
consistent with car driving.
I think the whole thing is something of an engineering tour-de-force. It's only
applicable to a hybrid as far as I know, which is a pity. Perhaps some
engineer somewhere is busy trying to make that statement wrong!
I can quite understand why Ford chose to buy this from Toyota rather than trying
to come up with something on its own. No doubt Toyota has the whole
thing wrapped up in patents.
The site is
http://www.toyota.com/planetkaizen/
I heartily recommend a visit. Go to the "Explore" section and
type "Hybrid" into the search bar at the top to see what sorts of info they
have.
If you go to the "Media Center" in the "Encounter" section of the site, they
have a link to the "Toyota Technical Site" in Japan. I've not looked into that
yet, but am told it's VERY detailed, and also mostly in Japanese. The English
options are a little sparse.
With best regards,
Ron
2004/10/16 14:34
Re: FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS!
Dear Ron,
It seemed that Mr. Koizumi is in favor of Mr. Bush. Most of the people here is booing.
I think digital camera is useful, because you can manipulate photo afterward by computer. When I am not satisfied with the ability of automatic white balance of Sony camera, I can improve the color balance by pushing a button of "Photo Shop". Photo Shop is well-designed software. Recently, I replaced some photos by touching up existing low quality photos in my HP.
Thank you for mentioning Toyota HP. Now I can understand the
mechanism of this complex system. I understand the planetary gear's
function is something like differential gear. Engine power is split into
two parts, i.e. to generator and to motor/power shaft while keeping
engine, generator and motor/power shaft rotating at any rotational speed
independently. You can use any differential gear type mechanism, but this
planetary gear might be most compact and low cost. To me, both generator
and motor looks like to have similar mechanical design, i.e. rotor
equipped with Neodymmagnet and stator coil. Thus generator stator coil
generate AC. Generated AC is
converted into DC by solid state AC/DC converter. Generated DC is then
accumulated in battery. Accumulated DC is then converted to AC by solid
state DC/AC inverter. AC generates rotating magnetic field and drives
Neodymmagnet rotor. Hence no brush is required for generator and motor.
Probably control system change cycles of AC by electronically.
Nissan announced to use capacitor instead of conventional
chemical battery for their coming Hybrid Truck. I am contemplating that the
principle of capacitor is standing on a classical physical basis.
I am traveling in the coming week in Japan meeting friends.
Best Regards,
Greenwood
Sunday, October 17, 2004 6:31 AM
Hybrid Car
Dear Ron,
After thinking more about Prius, I realized that Planetary Gear
is a key technology for the development of the hybrid car as you pointed out.
Simple differential gear can not give same function. I updated my previous HP as
follows.
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~pu4i-aok/cooldata2/hybridcar/hybridcare.htm
Thank you for your help for better understanding.
Regards,
Greenwood
2004/10/23 7:31
Re: Hybrid Car
Dear Greenwood.
I visited the site you gave below. I find it very clear.
In recent days I've been wondering how realistic the mileage figures are. The
EPA test figures are generally better than you get in usual driving. I suspect
the EPA tests have resulted in the development of very sophisticated driving
techniques which are used by all car companies to get the best possible results.
These techniques are very different from any usual driving method - especially
in city driving.
The designs of cars are also affected in unsuspecting and often strange ways.
For example, to get good highway mileage, some versions of car models have very
high gear ratios which are too high for comfortable driving in traffic. (Of
course, there are also many design changes which help mileage and also improve
other matters, such as more efficient engines and transmissions).
So, drivers don't expect to get the EPA results. Now it seems to me that this
gap is getting larger. For example, my 1987 Toyota Camry was rated by the EPA
for highway driving at 34 MPG (Miles per Gallon) and 27 MPG in the city. My
driving (mostly on the highway) was about 25 to 30 MPG, with some tanks as high
as 35 to 40 MPG when only on the highway.
When I bought my 1997 Subaru it was rated with EPA Mileage of 21 (city) and 27
(highway). In mostly highway driving I averaged about 20 to 25 MPG -
similar to the comparable results with the Camry.
In contrast, when talking to owners of the Prius, I've not found anybody who
gets anywhere close to the 60 MPG (city) / 51 MPG (highway) claimed for the car.
Most get mixed driving mileage in the 40 to 45 MPG range - very good fuel
economy, but a long way short of the EPA figures. The ratio to the highway
figure (51 MPG) is in line with other cars, but the 61 MPG in the city seems way
high.
It's too early to tell about my new Toyota Avalon. I've put very few miles on
yet and will be careful to keep track on our first highway trip data.
It seems the Prius mileage (especially in the city) is flattered by the EPA
tests. Toyota's numbers are consistent with the EPA, but one would expect that.
I'll keep trying to find real driving data to see if Hybrids are better in EPA
tests than in normal driving.
With best regards,
Ron
2004/10/31 10:48
Re: Hybrid Car
Dear Ron,
No doubt, EPA testing condition might be milder than you encounter in the cities. It only tells you the difference between different designs.
In those days, I am feeling driving Jeep is guilty. In any case,
I don't use it for daily life. For short distance, I walk. For long
distance, I use
electric train.
In October 23, I experienced strongest earthquake in my life
time in a hut standing on the summit of Mt. Naeba which is located 60km
from the center of the earthquake. Falling rocks blocked our cars parked
in the middle point of the mountain.
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~pu4i-aok/traveldata4/naeba/naebae.htm
Due to quick action of the village people, we could return home safely. About 30 people died and two villages were blocked off by landslide. Rapid trains run off the tracks. Tunnel was twisted. No one can tell when thy can start operation again.
Now your election days are coming soon. Probably most important time in those days. Osama bin Laden seems in good condition. A Japanese is in hostage for the time being. I was very shaken when I learned that about 100,000 innocent civilian died in the Iraq war.
Best regards,
Greenwood
2004/11/10 13:51
IMMIGRATION
Dear Ron,
It is very undastandable for people's interest in Canadian Immigration. Although
Mr. Koizumi is in favor of Mr. Bush, about 80% Japanese supported Kelly.
But business people here support Mr. Bush because he will weaken US
economy and give them a chance to come back.
It is very interesting how he ends the war.
Best Regards,
Greenwood
2004/11/13 12:27
MANY TOPICS
Dear Greenwood,
It seems there are many loose ends, so I'll try to clear some of them up.
COMPUTER - After your disastrous experience in June when your FAT file went,
I've been studying which way to backup my hard drive. I decided to get an
external hard drive. I bought an Iomega 160 GB drive and now have all the
files on my hard drive copied there. It has an automatic backup sequence
which can back up at any interval, including "as you work". The backup is
sophisticated, only changing new or changed files, so later backups take
much less time than the first which took several hours (I only have USB-1). I
plan on backing up every week.
This is just in time, I think, since my hard drive is still making bearing
noise.
BUSH ELECTION - Among Democrats there is still a great deal of gloom. My
judgment is that the Republican policies of tax cuts, pandering to the
"Moral" voter (i.e.
Anti-Abortion, Anti-homosexual, etc) and a patriotic war in Iraq appeal very
strongly to about half the electorate. The Democrats just don't have any
issues with the same "Sex" appeal.
Of course, each of these policies has its downside in the future, but most
people believe the lies Bush tells, such as "Reagan proved deficits don't
matter". Overseas markets are not fooled, however; I note the Yen is down
to about 105 to the $ and the Euro is approaching $1.30. More and more of
my investments are in overseas markets, but not yet 50%.
Top priorities for Bush are making his tax cuts permanent and "Privatizing"
Social Security. Each of these would add $Trillions to the next ten years'
deficits, just as our Baby Boom generation is about to retire and
fundamentally change the budget balance for endless deficits.
"Irresponsible" comes nowhere near describing the lunatic nature of this
philosophy. So, take heart, the rest of the world should be easily able to
exploit this self-destruction in the US economy.
MT. NAEBA - What a trip you had! It seems that your exposure was almost the same
as we experienced in Manhattan Beach with the Northridge E.Q. That one was
about 6.5 Richter, as I recall, and we are about 70 km from the center. In
our house we have a long chandelier in our stair well. A few seconds after
the quake I noticed the chandelier swinging up to 45 degrees from the
vertical - in other words about 1g force. The only damage to the house was
a small crack which I sealed up with silicone putty.
The views made from the Geographical Survey were very helpful in visualizing the
mountain. The photos were exceptionally interesting as a result. It looks
like winter has already arrived up there.
OTHER HOUSE TOPICS - We are in the middle of a number of maintenance chores.
Much of our 50 - year roof needed repair. I hired a contractor last month.
A few days after he started we had the rainiest period on record for so
early in our season. LA got about 33% of it's annual average rain in 2
weeks - while my roof was being fixed. Luckily I kept pressure on the
contractor to not leave any gaps. We had just one episode of leaking,
which did little damage.
Now the roof is fixed, I'm going to hire another contractor to paint the new
wood in the roof and also repaint all the other trim to match. I have my
fingers crossed about the weather. After that we have to trim trees when
they go dormant in January - so we'll be busy for quite a while.
There is quite a bit about cars, but this letter is long enough. I'll send that
in another.
With my best regards,
Ron
2004/11/13 12:28
CAR ITEMS
Dear Greenwood,
Here's the second part of my letter - the Auto section.
We took possession of the Toyota Avalon at the end of August. So far we've not
had any long trips, so mileage and experience is very limited. Connie is
delighted with the car. It is MUCH quieter than any of our previous cars,
even my 1997 Subaru. The ride is very soft and there is an enormous amount
of space in the car. Everything works and gives signs that it is to the
usual high Toyota standards. We expect many, many good years out of it.
CHALLENGE BIBENDUM - This year's challenge was moved to Asia for the first time;
it had alternated between Europe and the US. The site was in Shanghai and
had a much greater Asian participation than before. Symbolism was very
strong since it was held at Shanghai's new Formula One race track - built
from scratch in 18 months, costing almost $400 million. A university campus with
a college of auto studies was located nearby along with a US-style Auto
Mall with 8 dealerships. Only two occupied so far - by VW and Buick.
Overall there was a 50% increase in vehicles and participants to 140 and 1500
respectively. There were very few completely new cars from major manufacturers.
Gossip had it that they didn't want the Chinese to see their latest stuff
for fear of piracy.
Much of the show was intimately connected to China itself for a number of
reasons. First the Chinese market is already third in the world and is
expected to increase at 6 - 7% for the next 20 years or so - could easily
become #1 in a few years. It is already the biggest world market for
trucks. (Their accident rates are also astronomical - 600 deaths per day -
a rate more than 5x the US with a fleet only 1/3 the US.)
Pollution is also horrendous in China. Their gasoline is almost from the
stone-age (high Sulfur, probably full of Benzene and other noxious HC).
It'll need massive refinery investment to fix the gas so catalysts can be
used to start cleaning up the air. On the other hand, the Three Gorges Dam
project is expected to eventually produce 18 Giga watts, which is far
greater than China can use at the moment.
Putting these facts together, they are concentrating on battery-powered
vehicles. At present they are making lots of electric motorized bikes and
scooters. They also claim to have made faster charging, more efficient
Lithium ion cells. They had two four-wheel electric cars which had better
range than most of the other 7 cars from the rest of the world. Given that
China is now graduating far more engineers per year than any other
country, they could certainly develop this option quickly if they want to.
On the world front the Europeans seem more interested than previously in Hybrid
and H2 cars (up till now diesel was their main focus). VW and Audi both
had fuel cell cars and VW had a diesel hybrid. Biodiesel was also much in
evidence because the bio part is not counted as a fossil fuel or as a
contributor to global warming in the Bibendum scoring system. Many of the
diesels had quite good performance.
In the actual competition, the Prius ended up in first place as it did last
year. Other front runners included an Audi A8 diesel, a Mercedes Fuel Cell
A-class and two electric cars from Volvo and Courreges (the latter using
an AC Propulsion technology motor - the company which did a lot of the
work on the old GM electric cars).
Michelin had an interesting H2 fuel cell electric-hybrid. This is part of a
project they have for the "Michelin Active Wheel". Each front wheel has an
electric motor and all four have an integrated active suspension and
disc/regenerative braking systems with ABS and traction control. They hope
to market these to car makers which would allow Michelin to expand from
tires to the whole 4 corners of a car. Their electric car looked quite
impressive - 4 seater with 250 mile range at 50 mph, 0-60 mph in 12 seconds and
cornering up to 1 g. Interestingly it uses not only bottled H2, but O2 as
well. They see home electrolyzers producing both gases by solar
electricity. To boost short term power they use "super" capacitors instead
of batteries.
Ford had a H2 powered IC Focus. This could be put into production much faster
than fuel cell cars. As usual, there is a chicken and egg situation.
They'll not market it until there is a H2 infrastructure, and who is to
invest in the infrastructure??? (Our Calif. Governor, Arnold, has talked
about it, but hasn't said where he'll get the money while CA is still
facing a multi-$Billion budget shortfall next year). How did his visit to Japan
go?
Michelin will not hold a challenge next year, skipping to 2006. They have been
stretched putting on this year's show and there were not many new concepts
this year. Perhaps once in 2 years is adequate.
A long letter, I'm afraid. I hope you find it of interest.
With best regards,
Ron
2004/11/30 22:06
MANY TOPICS
Dear Ron,
In those days, I was busy in many aspects. As you have done on your house, I
asked local contractor to replace damaged eaves trough by typhoon and to
replace all of them into more fashionable one and to repaint all trims of
roofs and windows.
I am still using portable 20Gb HD for backup. The other day, I accidentally fell down to the floor of a tram car and dropped my bag containing the portable HD. Luckily HD was not damaged but I have to rethink more safe backup system. Another point is automatic backup system as you are using now. I am still using manual backup and afraid to miss some thing important.
I have obtained an authorization to use digital data supplied by Geographical Survey and publish secondary 3D map products on to my HP. Their condition is to make clear in Japanese that those maps are based on their data. Accordingly, I am adding more maps for past record of climbing.
I was not satisfied with the color quality of Sony digital camera, but found that Adobe Photoshop Elements could enhance color expression. Thus I am busy in replacing some bad quality photos after touching up by Photoshop.
About Bush election, I think democracy is inefficient, but historically, it proved some kind of stability.
Recently, I found a retired board member of Mitsubishi Motor is living very close to me. He is claiming that the scandals about Mitsubishi Motor is understandable because his advice about client's claims were not accepted by the top and subsequently he was chased out of the company. He is at the age of 71 and still own a sailing boat called Sheherazade. I helped him to move his boat to new marina across Sagami Bay. The story is on my HP.
In another local meeting of Probus, I met a retired board member of Toyota. I talked him about your interest in Prius and your son in US Toyota. He was very pleased and told me that in some place in US, people cannot drive a car alone by law. But with Prius, you can drive alone. Is this true? When I told him my analysis, that Toyota's success over Mitsubishi was achieved by aiming individual persons, while Mitsubishi's traditional target were government and large organizations, he agreed.
I have read your analysis about CHALLENGE BIBENDUM with great
interest. I think "super" capacitors technology is emerging. Capacitors need
lots of surface area but charcoal like material can provide such surface
area. A set of small solar cell and "super" capacitors are sold here as
spot light for gardens and signal light for road hedge. Nissan is thinking
to use it for
their Hybrid Truck.
I enjoyed "NOTICE OF REVOCATION OF INDEPENDENCE TO CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" very much and circulated it to my friend. It is finally settled in my HP.
Yours truly,
Greenwood
2004/12/19 11:23
ENGINEERS AT WORK
Dear Ron,
It was beautifully edited. What a chance. I circulated it to many friends of
mine. Most of them enjoyed very much and some returned another interesting
video.
Greenwood
Pilots often mention that "Aircraft of Aeroflot are rubbish but
pilots fly them by their skills. KAL also have rubbish planes, but their pilot
have guts" It seems that
a pilot on KAL just landing Hong Kong old airport has guts.
Thursday, December 23, 2004 4:25 AM
Merry Christmas
Dear Ron,
This is well made.
http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=0212320003
Greenwood
2004/12/24 5:13
Re: Merry Christmas
Thank you, Greenwood. It was wonderful. Connie and I send our
very best greetings for the season.
Its been another year where I've greatly enjoyed our conversations. I hope
the new year continues to be kind to all of us.
Ron
December 31, 2004