The Weather Man Did It!

I am sick to death hearing the long legged TV anchor babes and their brainless football jock friends belabor the mystery of the deflated footballs used by Tom Brady and the Patriots when they demolished the hapless Indianapolis Colts in last week's playoff game. The problem is not some perceived trickery by the New England Patriots and their staff; rather, it is a failure of these people to understand the basis rules of physics. It really as simple as this. The footballs undoubtedly were stored and checked for conformity at room temperature and then, prior to game time, removed to the freezing cold football field before the game (slaughter). Most educated people know that gas expands when heated and, more importantly in this case, contracts when cooled. In this respect, Goodyear estimated that tire pressure goes down one to two pounds per square inch for every 10 degrees Fahrenheit fall in temperature. A decrease in temperature of 40 or so degrees Fahrenheit could easily have resulted in a one or two psi drop in the pressure of the footballs in question, and it undoubtedly did!

No deception, fraud or dishonesty on the part of the Patriots or their staff, just the laws of physics that apparently are unknown to those in the media who write and talk about the meaningless game of football! Nope, when all is said and done, the damned weatherman did it!

The New American Welfare State

In my recent book "America In Decline" I spend the first half of the book detailing the reasons for America's recent fall from grace and the remaining half describing the relatively simple methods that can be taken to reverse our decline into national oblivion. A recent article by the eminent columnist George F. Will, who quotes extensively, the writings of Nicholas Eberstadt, puts a slightly different spin on our current problems, and provides some interesting statists to prove their points. Basically, Mr. Eberstadt believes, as I do, that "changing social norms" as a result of progressive liberal policies over the past 100 years or so, have lead us to a socialist welfare state that is self destructive and unsustainable. Social practices that were shunned, in the America I grew up in, are now the norm rather than the exception and we, as a country, are the worse for it. Here are some of the statistics that Eberstadt and Will use to make their argument. First, and most importantly, Eberstadt points out" That since the 1970s, even though Americans have become more healthy, work has become less physically stressful and the workplace has become safer" there has been six-fold increase in Social Security Disability claims ( including many that are fraudulent) that are gateways to a plethora of other payments, the composite of which are driving our country into bankruptcy ( my conclusion, not theirs). During this relatively brief period, benefits from social welfare programs increased from 24 percent in 1963 to 59 percent in 2013. Anyone, who does not have his or her head buried deeply in the sand, knows that such deficit spending in unsustainable. This is especially so, in a country in which the labor force is shrinking on a daily basis. Here are several additional examples of the overwhelming increase in the entitlement programs in recent years provided by the authors. Between 1983 and 2012, the population increased by 83 million while those receiving means-tested benefits increased by 67 million; thus, for every 100-person increase in population there was an 80-person increase in those on welfare. During the same period food stamp recipients increased from 19 million to 51 million, more than the combined populations of 24 states. The federal government now classifies more than half of these recipients as needy rather than poor. As Eberhardt points out, "This expanding dependency requires erasing America's historical distinction between the deserving and the undeserving poor." This, of course, is a major hall-mark of any socialist society and a sure ticket to economic disaster ( my comment not Eberstadts). As Eberstadt points out, "Under the shadow of the entitlement state, in two generations the American budget has been recast. In 1963 entitlement transfers went from $1.00 for every $15.00 in revenue too, in 2012, $1.00 in of every $6.00 in revenue!" Eberstadt goes on to point out that the rapid increase in the welfare state is largely responsible for the unparalleled disintegration of the American family. He states, in this respect, that from 1964 to 2012, the rate of illegitimacy increased from 7 to 41 percent and in the black population now exceeds 70 percent. As a result, for many working-aged women, the entitlement state is now the primary "breadwinner" for the family. Finally, as Eberstadt reminds us that, the lifelong New Deal liberal icon, Daniel Patrick Moynihan warned that "The issue of welfare is not what it costs those who provide it, but what it costs those who receive it." Truer words were never said! Finally Eberstadt concludes "As a growing portion of the population succumbs to the entitlement state's ever expanding menu of temptations, the costs, including a transformation of the nation's political culture, sensibilities and traditions is inevitable." As Will concludes "The weakening of America's distinctive conceptions of self-reliance, personal responsibility and self-advancement has inevitably resulted in a rending of the national fabric and, as a result, America today does not look exceptional at all!"

Growing vegetables From Seeds

Spring is just around the corner and it's time to start planning for this year's garden! Most of us wait impatiently for tomato, cucumber, squash and other seedling to make their appearance at the local garden store. This is a very tempting solution to the problem since the plants sold at Home Depot, Lowes and your local nursery are grown in green houses and, thus, are quite large when you buy them. Some of the larger tomato plants will even have small tomatoes on them, thus, giving you a head start on this year's growing season. While there is nothing wrong with this approach to gardening, it is quite expensive. Why not grow your seedling from inexpensive seeds and save some money? Guess what, it's also a fun thing to do! If you have a green house great! If not, there are inexpensive ways to grow your vegetables from seeds. The simplest way to start plants from seeds is to place plastic cells on a window sill in a warm room facing south. I use recycled plastic cell six packs that I've collected over the years from past purchases of nursery plants. Similarly, one can purchase a larger 50 cell plastic container filled with a seed starting material and use it over and over again. The process is simple and fool-proof. Fill the cells with sphagnum peat moss and pack it down with the rounded end of a screwdriver handle. Now make a hole in the center of each peat filled cell with the sharpened point of a #2 lead pencil. Place a single seed in each hole. To simplify this process, fold a piece of stiff paper, a 3 X 5 file card works well, length wise and make a 45 ° angle cut across one end so that the V-shaped trough that will hold the seeds has a pointed end. Now place the seeds in the channel and, using the pointed end of a pen or pencil, move a single seed into each hole in the peat moss filled cell pack. Sprinkle a little peat moss over the cell pack to cover the seeds and pack down the material again with the screw driver handle. Water the peat daily and expect the seeds to sprout in 5 to 10 days. If possible, place the cell packs on a seed-starting heat pad, sold at all nurseries, that will keep the peat filled containers at 72°F, the perfect temperature for starting seeds. Finally, if forced to start your plants in a dark area, like a garage, consider purchasing fluorescent lights designed for the purpose of growing vegetables indoors. A hydroponics store is a good place to inquire about grow lamps but most nurseries also carry them. That's all there is to it! With a little effort and at little or no expense you can get a head start on nature this spring, You are going to love growing your vegetables from seeds in a cell pack, I guarantee it! Your pocket book will thank you also!

Making And Using Worm Tea

By now everyone is familiar with the concept of foliar fertilizers like VF11. Foliar forms of liquid fertilizer containing nitrogen and other plant nutrients are sprayed on the plant and the soil around the plant periodically to promote plant growth. Unlike the chemicals inVF11, which have no antibacterial properties, the microorganisms present in worm tea also suppress the grow of many plant pathogens. Most importantly, worm tea provides the same beneficial effects of VF11 at a fraction of its cost. In fact, the only expense in the production on worm tea is the cost of the small amount of electricity used to operate the inexpensive aquarium air pump used to aerate the brew for a day or two and the expense of the molasses that is added to nourish the microorganisms that are produced in the tea. Controlled scientific experiments have shown that this miraculous organic foliar fertilizer increases plant growth and crop yields by as much as 50 percent. Of equal importance, worm tea contains an array of beneficial microorganisms which cover the plant when the tea is applied as a foliar spray. These microbes prevent, or hinder, the growth of plant pathogens like powdery mildew, aphids, parasitic nematodes and spider mites because potential infection sights on the plant are occupied by the beneficial microorganisms in the tea. As a result, the pathogens cannot attach themselves to the plant. The harmful pathogens also have a difficult time establishing themselves on a plant sprayed with worm tea because the beneficial microbes take up the binding sights and consume the nutrients the pathogens require to grow and reproduce. Making worm tea. Worm tea is easy to produce. Basically, you need three or four handfuls fresh worm castings, an once or two of a nutrient like sulfur free molasses, or corn syrup, and a way to aerate the brew. Some organic farmers also add the juice of a lemon and an once or two of fish emulsion to the mixture. The question that immediately comes to mind is, why the need for molasses? Why not use some form of granulated white sugar which would be far cheaper? My research on the subject suggests that this is a confused and unsettled issue. Those who make worm tea using molasses as the nutrient do so because it is an ideal food for both beneficial bacteria and fungi whereas sugar only promotes the growth of bacteria. Molasses also contains a number of beneficial minerals which are not found in white sugar. Since the worm castings used to make worm tea already have an abundance of minerals and trace elements, the fact that molasses contains minerals, and sugar does not, should be of little or no concern. The only issue is whether or not it is worth the added expensive of molasses, as compared to inexpensive granulated sugar, to encourage the growth of fungi. I do not believe it is, and use a cup of granulated white sugar to feed the beneficial microorganisms in the tea. Aeration is a must when making worm tea because the anaerobic bacteria that are produced in anaerobic tea may be harmful to plants. Aeration can be achieved with one of the inexpensive air aquarium pumps designed to oxygenate fish tanks. These devices, which cost less than $10 at a pet store, even have an air diffuser stone. You also will need a plastic bucket. I use a six gallon food grade bucket sold at a local home brew supply store; however, the cheap five gallon buckets sold at Home Depot for $4.95 and those sold for $2.98 at Lowe's will work just as well. Finally, if you do not have a source of un-chlorinated water, like rain or pond water, fill a bucket of chlorinated city water and let it sit for a couple of days to allow the chlorine in the water to evaporate. Alternately, add the chlorinated water from the tap to the brewing bucket and aerate it with the aquarium pump for a couple of hours to bubble out the chlorine before adding the worm castings and sugar or molasses to the bucket. Once most of the chlorine has been removed from the water, turn on the air pump and let the mixture ferment for 24 hours, 48 hours is better. Place the end of the aquarium pump tubing, with its diffusing stone, in a small cloth sack containing the fresh earthworm castings and close the opening in the sack with a string before submerging it in the bucket of chlorine free water. This is an important step in the process because if the earthworm castings are added directly to the water the fine sand and other porous material in the castings will be dispersed throughout the tea and clog-up the nozzle of the spray gun you will use to apply the tea to your garden plants. Worm tea will maintain its potency indefinitely if you continue to feed the organisms in the tea at weekly intervals with sugar or molasses and keep the brew aerated with the aquarium air pump. However, once removed from the brew bucket, worm tea should be sprayed on the plants without delay since the beneficial organisms in the tea will not survive for more than a few hours if deprived of a continuous supply of oxygen. In this respect, the bottled worm teas sold commercially are of questionable value. Several commercial brands of worm tea have found their way to the market. The manufactures of these concoctions add preservatives such as phosphoric, lactic and citric acids to their worm teas. The acids supposedly put the tea's microbes into a dormant state. When the bottled teas are opened and exposed to oxygen, the microbes are said to recover. I do not know if the manufactures claims with respect to the effectiveness of their bottled worm teas are true or not. However, since worm tea is so easy to make, I question the wisdom of purchasing an expensive bottled tea that may be of questionable value. Why not just make the tea yourself and avoid the uncertainty associated with the bottled products? There is no magic formula for applying worm tea to the plants in your garden. However, since the beneficial microorganisms in worm tea also are sensitive to heat and sunlight, the spray should not be applied in the middle of a hot summer day. To be on the safe side, spray your plants early in the morning or in the evening after the sun has set. I spray every living thing in my garden, with the exception of my dog Dukie, with the tea at weekly intervals. Try it! I think you will be amassed at the effectiveness of this cheap effective organic fertilizer. For the sake of completeness, I should add that there are anaerobic as well as aerobic worm teas. Some authors even claim that worm teas produced under anaerobic conditions are superior to those created in an oxygen rich environment. Certainly, the microorganisms produced in an oxygen rich environment will differ significantly from those that thrive in an anaerobic environment. I believe that the preponderance of evidence suggests that some of the anaerobic microorganisms found in such teas may be toxic to plants; thus, I would avoid them.

Raising composting Earthworms 101

Red Wiggler composting earthworms are the same all over the world. These small red worms are also commonly called manure worms because they invariably are found in aged manure piles. While night crawlers borrow into the ground, and can easily escape, Red Wiggler composting earthworms are surface dwellers and are less apt to leave their bedding unless it becomes uninhabitable (to wet or to dry). I cover this subject at some length in my best seller The Earthworm Farmer's Bible; however, the important thing for beginners to understand is that composting earthworms are easy to raise and can be placed in almost any container including plastic buckets, plastic totes, stack-able bins, old bathtubs and wooden boxes; in fact their bedding can even be placed directly on the ground or over a slab of concrete or asphalt! The worms I sell commercially are raised in 100 foot long windrows placed directly on the ground. The windrows are covered with a tarp to conserve water and to keep the birds and turkeys out, that's it! You can easily establish a similar, but smaller, windrow in a shady area of your backyard at little or no expense. That's the beauty of raising composting earthworms in your backyard, you can turn your kitchen and paper waste into valuable earthworm casting with little effort and at minimal expense! Composting earthworms will eat almost anything that was once alive, kitchen waste, lawn clippings and tree leaves. You name it and the worms will eat it. Exceptions to this general rule include scented woods and their leaves (redwood, cedar and eucalyptus) and extremely fatty foods like butter and animal fat. In this respect, small amounts of fat are not important and do not have to be separated from your kitchen scraps. You can do this! Have questions? Email me at docmerrill@aol.com. Remember, 50 percent of our garbage, over 500 billion metric tons a year, can be eaten by composting earthworms. Do your part, start composting with earthworms today!

The Last Days OF Saint Nicholas

"I'm definitely getting to old for this," Nicholas said to his best friend and lead reindeer Rudolf. "How long have we been playing Santa Claus do you think?" "I don't know that I can rightly recall," replied Rudolf, "but it must be close to 300 years, give or take a decade or two." Nicholas' sainted father, the first Santa Claus, had learned to communicate with reindeer years before Nicholas was born. His father had taught Nicholas the reindeer language shortly before he was killed by an errant meteorite that hit his sleigh while he and his reindeer were making their rounds on that fateful Christmas eve night in the year 1842. Nicholas had inherited his father's job and, with the help of his faithful reindeer, had been navigating through the cold Christmas Eve nights ever since. With the exception of a few times when the weather was so bad that mail could not be delivered to the north pole, Nicholas and his reindeer had never failed to deliver the books, toys and dolls that the good little boys and girls of the world had asked for. Nicholas also made sure that never ran out of lumps of coal for the children who had not been so good. But Nicholas was getting old and Rudolph was also beginning to feel the ravishes of age."You know Rudolph," Nicholas said, " My eye sight isn't what it used to be and I'm having a fair amount of difficulty navigating by the stars anymore." "I'm a little afraid that we might not be able to find our way home this year." "I'm not feeling so great myself," replied Rudolph, "My poor old nose isn't near a bright as it used to be and the arthritis in my right rear hoof won't let me fly nearly as fast as I could when you first recruited me to lead your sleigh." "In truth, I just don't know how much longer I can go on." "I know Vixen and Prancer aren't in all that great shape either." " Vixen was saying just the other day, when the elves were packing the toys in the back of the sleigh, that his arthritis was so bad that he could barely walk." "Our Prancer can't exercise anymore and has gained so much weight during the off season that it will be difficult for him to get in his harness, let alone fly any great distance." "Obviously, it's time to call it quits," Nicholas said, "in fact, it's long past time that we retired." "Rudolph looked sadly into his old friends eyes, placed both a front hoofs on his shoulder and began to cry as he shook his stately antlered head in agreement." It was only a month before Christmas and that left Nicholas very little time. He had to make certain that those presents were delivered on Christmas Eve night, just as they had been for almost three centuries. Nicholas called his friend billionaire Bill Gates and asked for help. "Bill," he said, "we're in big trouble up here at the North Pole." "My reindeer and I are too old and infirm to make the Christmas run this year." "An awful lot of children are going to be very disappointed if we don't deliver their Christmas presents on time. "I've made a tentative deal with UPS." "They have agreed to deliver the presents on Christmas Eve night as has always been the case." "Our friend Scott Davis of UPS has even agreed to dress their drivers up in Santa Clause suits if we are willing to pay a little extra for the deliveries." "Unfortunately, Mrs. Nicholas and I do not have the resources to finance an operation of this size, could you help?" "Of course, I can," Mr. Gates Replied without hesitation. "Look Nicholas, I'm a little tied up right at the moment." "Just have Scott send me the bill, If he wants to he can call me." So it came to be. The Christmas presents were delivered on time and no one was the wiser. Knowing the end was near, Nicholas sold his toy factory at the North Pole, as well as his other possessions including the sleigh, and moved with Mrs. Claus to a secret island in the Caribbean. He and his beloved reindeer spent their last days swimming in the warm ocean water and building sand castles with their new monkey friends on the beautiful black sand beaches of the island's idyllic shore.

Why White Racism, one Hundred and Fifty-one Years After Emancipation?

One of the great mysteries of our time is why a significant number of white Americans, loathe blacks in the year 2014, a century and a half after we fought the great civil war to free them from slavery. Americans lost 620,000 men and boys in this conflict, almost as many died fighting to end slavery as were lost in all of our other wars combined (about 650,000). At this point in time, one could argue that the civil war was a gigantic waste of time, money and, most importantly, American lives. Interestingly, and a key to understanding racial strife in America today, 405,399 Americans lost their lives in the second world war in our fight against the Germans, Italians and Japanese, yet there is no significant hatred of, or bias against, these ethic groups in the United States today. In fact, at present, members of these minority groups are treated as equals, valuable members of society and, most importantly, with respect. Why this discrepancy, do you think? Is it simply the color of the black man's skin that makes us resent him or are there other factors involved. I would argue that the color of one's skin, whether black yellow, brown, red, or even green, is immaterial. No, as my mother used to say, "A person's color is only skin deep, and not of importance." Rather, as we will see shortly, it is the genetic makeup of blacks and, more importantly, their culture that is the primary cause of their plight in America and, I might add, the rest of the civilized world. First, let me reiterate the obvious. Every single city in America governed, in the past or present, by black politicians is an unmitigated disaster, every one, there are no exceptions! Cities like Flint Michigan, Detroit Michigan and Oakland California, once shinning lights of American greatness, are now hell-holes unfit for human existence. Oh, there are still pockets of civil society in places like Oakland and Detroit, but for the most part, incompetent corrupt liberal black leaders have destroyed these once great cities brick by brick and street by street, leaving nothing but ruin, poverty and hopelessness in their wake. Similarly, every single nation on planet earth governed by blacks is a crime ridden impoverished country unfit for human life, as we know it. And, guess what, slavery still exists in many parts of the modern world over 150 years after we abolished it in America and the vast majority of the slave owners today are black, many of whom cannot read or write and could not identify America on a world map if their lives depended on it! Are you beginning to understand that there is a common thread to this narrative? Blacks, wherever they are, with a few notable exceptions that make the rule (Walter E. Williams, Tomas Sowell, Dr. Ben Carson etc.) are incapable of civilized behavior (think Ferguson). Why is this? In truth, I do not know. But, having lived on this planet for the past 79 years, I do know that blacks are different, very different from their white counterparts. To understand these differences, and to grasp the fundamentals of white racism, one must consider the importance of black IQ and black social structure, or the lack of same. With respect to IQ, the behaviorists, based on their studies in pigeons and other birds and reptiles, would have us believe that all humans are born with roughly the same intelligence. This myth has been perpetuated by liberals for the past 60 years and has contributed significantly to the demise of the social structure in the country of our birth. To the contrary, the lifelong work of Herrington and Murray, summarized in their marvelous book, The Bell Curve, shows that 40 to 60 percent of a person's intellect is inherited from their parents. All of the head start programs in the world will not change this basic fact! More importantly, a review of 156 pertinent studies of intellect reveals that the disparity in IQ between blacks and whites is 1.08 standard deviations or 16 IQ points; this disparity in intelligence between blacks and whites is huge! I discuss the importance of IQ at some length in my book America In Decline. But, for now, just realize that in the technological age in which we now live, education is everything and if you do not have the mental capacity to be educated you are likely to fail in your pursuit of the American dream. In this respect, it is commonly said in the black community that "Education is a white man's thing." I believe this is another way of saying that " We, as blacks, cannot compete intellectually in the white man's world." This problem will only get worse for blacks as the numbers of immigrants from Asia and other countries in the far east, who, on average, have IQs three points higher than white Americans, increases. When considering the possibility of genetic differences between the races, I have always been confounded by the reluctance of most whites, and blacks for that matter, to admit the obvious. No one can dispute the fact that blacks are better athletes than their white counterparts. In this respect, there will never be a white Michael Jordan, not in a thousand years there won't! Most whites understand and accept this genetic based fact; however, many, if not most, refuse to consider the possibility that whites and Asians are superior intellectually to blacks. In this respect, there never will be a black Einstein, not in a million years there won't! Those who understand the significance of the tails of the bell curve for intelligence will readily grasp this important point, those who are uniformed, unfortunately, will not. Why belabor this point? Because white racism is, in part, based on the recognition, often subconsciously, that blacks are intellectually inferior to whites and all other races. Unfortunately, nothing can change this fact, but, if we have the "backbone" to accept the obvious intellectual disparity that exists between the races, we, at the least, can stop spending billions each and every year in our futile attempts to change the unchangeable. In his respect, do you really think the average black is better off today than he was 50 or 60 years ago? I think not! It is not only intellect, or a disparity in intelligence, that separates black and white cultures and fuels white racism. Most whites view people who wear saggy pants, which reveal their underwear, while wearing their baseball caps on backwards as somehow inferior and low-class. I know I do! Similarly, most whites were shocked at the ranting and raging of Michael Brown's step father, a two time convicted drug felon, as he attempted to induce a riot after the grand jury refused to indict officer Wilson for killing his step son in Ferguson. Although politically incorrect to object to such behavior, most whites do not condone it and, more importantly, resent it! Along the same lines, many, if not most, whites think there is something dreadfully wrong with a sub-culture in which over 70 percent of all births are illegitimate. Similarly, despite the liberals attempts to explain away black crime with a "They made me do it" mentality, many whites find it unacceptable that over 70 percent of young black men are either in prison or on parole. Not to surprisingly, many Caucasians are appalled at the stupidity of the average black Politian. You may recall the black moron, Congressman Hank Johnson, who warned that the island of Guam might "tip over" if too many military personal were allowed congregate on its edges. Be assured, that the dim-witted statements uttered on a daily basis by the Maxine Waters and Sheila Jackson Lees of this world, to name two of the most notorious ignoramuses in black leadership, do not go unnoticed by white America. Although political correctness forces most of us to suppress our true feelings on such matters, the resentment of blacks and their leadership is still there, have no doubt about it!. Finally, the fact that 32 percent of blacks are on welfare even though they make up only 12 percent of the population is annoying to middle class whites who often work two jobs just to make ends meet. These truths are especially infuriating to whites considering the fact we have spent hundreds of billions of dollars on the programs of Johnson's Great Society and billions more on the numerous affirmative action measures that followed, all of which were designed to achieve racial equality in our nation. No, the utter failure of all efforts to bring blacks into mainstream America has not gone unnoticed by white America. To the contrary, I believe most whites, begrudgingly, have come to the conclusion that, despite our best efforts, blacks will always be blacks and there is nothing much we can do to change the situation. Fortunately, most of us can still live in suburbs that are relatively free of blacks and their antisocial ways, and, in twenty-first century America, that's about all we can hope for. But, don't, for a minute, think that our racism is based on something as frivolous as skin color because in reality our resentment of blacks and their culture is nothing more, or less, than a rejection of their immorality, promiscuity, lawlessness and, yes, their inherent lack of intellect.