Wednesday, August 7, 2013

The Real Facts On Energy Consumption In the U.S.A. ~ The Paradigm Shift As The Result of Global Warming and Current Technological, Engineering, and Scientific Innovation

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The Real Facts On Energy Consumption In the U.S.A. 

The Paradigm Shift As The Result of Global Warming and Current Technological, Engineering, and Scientific Innovation and Research
N.O.A.A.'s NEW ARK

Mr. Ronan,

I appreciate your sharing this fascinating information on your blog.

I have enjoyed your blog tremendously and try to stay abreast of local information here in Cumberland, Maryland where I reside and I enjoy your various topics and insight into the hospital and it functions as well as your other news worthy blog entries.

Here is the link to your blog entry for other readers to read.

Energy Consumption in the US

http://theronanreport.blogspot.com/2013/08/energy-consumption-in-us.html

I do not direct this reply entirely to you, per se, sir, but to an audience of folks that clearly do not see and accept the writing on the wall, and what can be done, and what is happening right now, so I have enclosed very pertinent facts and new news articles from only the finest sources, and share close personal observations of my own through a long line of personal family and friends that has indeed offered me great and deep insight to this issue, which I have researched in studied myself for well over 20 years.

This is indeed a sad truth as it seems to appear today represented on the graph ..., however... what we are truly seeing today, which is a vast and far cry different from the past, is a massive paradigm shift in the energy marketplace, and I think the interpretation and prognostication in the graph itself is laden with error as perceived and explained by most who examine it.

I guarantee you this shift is indeed happening and more swiftly then most folks realize.

Within, as below to support the above statement, pay very close attention to the dates of all of this information.

Duke Energy, Progress merger a year later



"Through April, Mazzocchi said, Duke has recorded $97 million of the $687 million in savings it guaranteed to Carolinas customers over five to six years. The savings, which are far ahead of the $70 million Duke expected to save in the first year, come from using less fuel and jointly operating its Carolinas power plant fleet.
The fuel savings have come from burning cheaper coal from the Illinois Basin and Northern Appalachians at Duke’s larger plants, and from greater use of low-priced natural gas. Duke says it has locked in, through contracts, $238 million of the $331 million in fuel savings it expects over five years.
Customers see the savings in adjustments to the fuel portion of their bills.
The “joint dispatch” of the power plant fleet – which allows operators to choose the most efficient generation at any given moment – is possible because of the Carolinas’ regulated markets and the adjoining territories of Duke and Progress."

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/06/30/4135154/turning-two-companies-into-one.html#storylink=cpy

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/06/30/4135154/turning-two-companies-into-one.html

The Obama administration, I feel and it has been well reported, has had a major forte unlike any other previous administration in shifting to more renewables as well as better technological efficient uses of current energies and energy systems and as you stated has offered $ 2 Billion in funding, which although a large dollar amount, is a mere drop in the bucket of the real investment that will ultimately be required to more properly and quickly develop better alternative energy sources that will change the curve on those projections on the graph of which you speak.

I am going to offer some rather lengthy, and I hope not too boring, personal information about myself and some family and distinguished friends as well. This is certainly not to gloat, but rather set the stage for my own deep perspective and passionate caring for this topic and the myriad reasons I am so fascinated with it on a very deep level that compels me to read all I can about this topic, and ultimately why I felt so compelled to reply to you Mr. Ronan, and with all due respect and courtesy I hope well conveyed.

I was published by The U.S. Department of Energy on October 1, 2010.

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/wip/news_detail.html?news_id=16404

The particular paragraphs of the utmost importance in my piece are enclosed here-in next, and I think they are the key to where we need to move as a nation first and as a society second, although an international shift would be the best long term outcome, as it is all too common, someone must step up and lead the way, and of course, The United States of America always tries to be the leader when we can, and there is no better time to lead then today.

An excerpt, and my main theme of emphasis, from my article linked above to follow:

"This to me is exactly the essence of what the " GREEN MOVEMENT" is all about. First, reducing our own personal carbon footprint by efficiently consuming less natural resources through the use of modern and more efficient technology. Using this more modern technology creates a new work force with a fresh clean perspective, thus creating more jobs in many ways from manufacturing the new products (often made of recyclables), teaching the new philosophy and techniques to students in the trade on their way to earning their licenses, and thus, creating new jobs as we push the envelope to gain the upper hand on treating Mother Earth more properly and respectfully. Once this cycle has started we can continue down a path of better design by engineers making even more efficient products that not long were even deemed possible or at the very least, not feasible. Each change in technology has the ability to further revolutionize this new "Green Industry" thus propelling the industry along. 

This is what I consider a new philosophy that has been evolving in the last few recent years very rapidly especially and mostly due to our recent and/or current recession and the fears faced by the rise in fuel prices (in particular petroleum products). These are valuable lessons we are learning and this is something we can demonstrate and share with the rest of the world as we pave the way into a new green future, but it takes fine programs like these.

As an early nation we were strictly in an "Agricultural Era", as all we had was raw land. Once we became efficient as a nation and were able to sustain life at home in the U.S.A. with the food we grew and other raw materials we farmed and with the wealth we started to amass as a nation while trading at home and especially abroad with other nations, we began to transition into an "Industrial Age". After labor prices rose here for many reasons, we often outsourced labor to other nations, as it was often less expensive to manufacture in those nations and then ship it abroad and/or back home for trade. We were the industrial giant of the world. After amassing even greater wealth and becoming one of, if not the most, wealthiest nations in the world and with our labor prices rising ever sharper, we made the transition into the "Service Age". We. as a nation are beyond that now as an era and are, I believe, at the beginning of the wild frontier of the "Green Era". We now have the ability to pave the way for the world and with the world as we are upon the threshold of this new golden age. The basic philosophy of this program simply illustrates how it helps so many from the less fortunate as myself, to the blue collar workers all the way up to the white collar professionals. This is a simple and beautiful system that should be emulated often during this transition that is currently effecting all industries and market places. We, in the great state of Maryland in particular, should be proud that we are on the cutting edge of the new "Green Era" as we are swiftly becoming the leaders setting the stage for others to follow. We in Maryland utilize wind, hydro, and solar energy and are doing so more and more often every year. We, as a nation, must maintain this path of growth and efficiency in order to move forward and build our new worldwide economy while setting an example for other countries.".

To argue would be senseless and as you are an educated man, I am certain you will agree education is something we all could use more of, and when it comes to education on energy and energy usage, our American ways of splurge and surge, pardon the poor attempt at alliteration, has been a very poor example indeed. 

It is well reported that we as a nation based on a population to energy usage ratio are by far the largest population of in-efficient energy consumers, and perhaps not the leader in that poor category but certainly right up there. 

My point is simply that we must strive for better decision making, like our local Sheetz that just recently opened on Bedford Road completely switching to highly efficient LED lighting that will save money in electrical costs from day one into the future, and also save money by not needing as much maintenance, as was reported in the Cumberland Times News recently.

These stores have grown and added new locations and thrived in an entirely tragic economic downturn, and I strongly believe it is because they make excellent decisions utilizing new modern technology.

DURHAM, NC -- 

"More than 130 locations of convenience restaurant chain Sheetz, Inc. now feature state-of-the-art LED lighting by Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE). The installation of energy-efficient Cree interior and exterior lighting at Sheetz® retail gasoline locations is delivering a 45-percent reduction in energy costs for interior lighting and 50–55-percent reduction in exterior lighting compared to the antiquated lighting it replaced." 

See more at: 


My point here is a better more efficient technology being utilized to curb energy usage as well as promote a new swiftly developing marketplace is, and I hate the old cliche, but a "WIN WIN" situation. .

I am curious if the hospital has utilized this lighting concept or has or will perhaps consider it when studying financial logistics, that would only bode well for any business' bottom line.

So educating the consumer on ways to be more efficient and utilize newer efficient technology, often garnering a tax deduction as well in these transitions, is one simple way we can all attempt to curb overall consumption.

I do not claim to be an expert, nor do I care to argue, but I do care deeply and greatly about this issue, energy consumption,conservation,and global warming, today for a plethora of reasons that are a part of my life.

I did not seek publication by The U.S. Department of Energy, and as an aspiring writer this being my first major publication was a huge surprise and has carved out a bit of a name and distinguished or rather defined myself further, and while in ill health for quite a while, I was honored to be published for my independent thinking that I have contemplated and studied since a very early age with great diligence, and this, and I only state this as you are employed by the hospital as their respected C.E.O., was quite a catalyst of many things for me to come, which offered strength in healing.

My brother works in the energy industry (Duke Power) in a highly esteemed and respected capacity, much as yourself sir, and is a leader in that marketplace and we often have intense rational discussion of differing views where we find common ground that we both can clearly see holds promising answers.

My Father is A West Pointer (Donald R. Swygert, 1952), as is my brother ( D.R.S. Jr.,1982), and in my Father's first career as a military man he was among many things a member of The Army Corps of Engineers, retired as a Colonel with two Masters degrees. One was in Mathematics and another in Engineering. His second career was as the Assistant Head of Construction for The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority known as M.E.T.R.O., where he was instrumental in the construction phases and completion of many miles of the best rail system in the entire world in my opinion, and one that is of course run on electricity, with beautiful trains that have no emissions, and will be a mass transit system that will continue to grow and prosper into the future and also help with energy conservation as well as offering far less CO2 pollution in the long term aftermath. 

My Great Grand Father was R.J.H. DeLoach, a vagabond along with his friends Edison, Ford, Firestone, and Burroughs. He had a doctorate in botany, was very well published often writing research papers for the government and independent visionary works as well as a professor  at the University of Georgia.


Left to right, seated is R.J.H. DeLoach, the taller of the two men behind him is Edison and the shorter is Firestone's son, on top is left, John Burroughs and right, Henry Ford, and standing on the right is Firestone.

and links to some interesting co-authored books...



He was always both the consummate naturalist and a fine cutting edge scientist, and even authored a biography on his friend Burroughs.


His writing skills were alone quite profound, and his thoughts genuine and researched and articulated with a certain clarity not too often found as much today.

He was passionate and dedicated to the promotion of success in our shared American Dream as are all of the men I have spoken about herein above.

I state these things for no other reason but to state that I come from those men, perhaps not as the finest example or best ambassador, but at least propelled deeply by the passions and commitments they each have had and achieved that I have been able to learn well from by studying and speaking about the legacies they have each left behind, or in the case of my Father and Brother, are still diligently working on. 

My eldest Sister is quite a brilliant woman as well and quite a naturalist too, and we also have deep discussions as I do with my Mother who is a classically educated and trained artist.

I am a mix of this melting pot, and perhaps lend my own lifestyle to the arts more so today, although the sciences are always something I can never stop studying and reading up on in my own time, as I read at least five to six hours on a usual day, and even more when my health issues keep me at home more often then perhaps I desire, which has been oft the case through out my life, but I make the best of time and have never read too much thus far.

I enjoyed your enthusiasm in this article you posted in your great and informative blog, and it feels like the same exuberance I get when I meet great men and women, like General Antwerp, Congressman Jim Moran, or the Head of the C.A.A. (Center for Army Analysis) Fort Belvoir, Virginia, Edgar Bishop Vandiver, Carl Mikeman a physicist and personal friend at both Northrop Grumann and N.A.S.A., or Dr. Efimba a thirty-eight year tenured professor at the prestigious Howard University, and so many others I have had the great fortune of knowing for a long while.

These men are friends of mine and some I see more often then others, and some I ask questions while I write or a couple I have only met on occasion, but occasions with great deep meaning that leave the same indelible impressions I see that you too get when observing and learning in the presence of fine great men.

So I really state these things above to further qualify myself more deeply then my mere degree in Applied Science with a Major in Police Science. 

The illustration I hope to convey is my thoughts do not evolve from a vacuum, so to speak, but of a place of deep shared thought and conversation which I research often and consistently look for answers, as most scientific minds tend to do.



This link is indeed interesting and certainly reputable and I think perhaps paints an even clearer picture of what is truly happening, as you have touched on to a degree, but with perhaps a forte of a grim future, and a grim future is one we cannot accept in this predicament.

The title and text alone of this article, I feel, paint a much more healthy and compelling future then what it appears the graph does to quite a degree.






Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Outlook 2012 Early Release.
Note: The renewables category excludes liquid biofuels. 
Download CSV Data

Both energy consumption and energy-related carbon dioxide emissions fell during the recent economic recession. Projections contained in the Early Release Reference case of the Annual Energy Outlook 2012 (AEO2012) show the United States' primary energy consumption only exceeding its pre-recession peak early in the next decade. However, due to the shift towards less carbon-intensive fuels, the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions associated with U.S. energy consumption are not projected to exceed their 2007 peak by the end of the projection in 2035.
The largest projected growth in primary energy consumption between 2010 and 2035 is in renewables (4.8 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu), excluding liquid biofuels), liquid biofuels (2.9 quadrillion Btu), and natural gas (2.5 quadrillion Btu). The 2035 shares of other energy sources, including nuclear, coal, oil, and other liquids, either decline or remain similar to their 2010 shares. This projected shift in fuel consumption leads to lower energy intensity.
Energy-related CO2 emissions are projected to grow by about 3% from 2010 from 2035, reaching 5.8 billion metric tons by the end of the projection period (see chart below). The electric and transportation sectors emit the largest amounts of CO2. In 2007, energy-related emissions were responsible for 6.0 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide. Growth in CO2 emissions in the transportation sector is moderated by projected higher energy prices, Federal corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards, and the use of biofuels. Electric sector CO2emissions growth is tempered by efficiency standards and changes in the generation mix as renewable fuels and natural gas fuel a growing share of power generation.
Projections in the AEO2012 Early Release Reference case assume current laws and regulations remain generally unchanged throughout the projection period, thus serving as a starting point for analysis of energy policies. More highlights from the Reference case, as well as projections for several energy factors through 2035, are available in the AEO2012.



graph of Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, 1990-2035, as described in the article text
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Outlook 2012 Early Release.
Download CSV Data






Just since this information was compiled and published, there have been more advancements in science, engineering, design, and technology that may greatly change this graph in very,very drastic fashion.

I hate to "not" paraphrase an article and include it in its entirety, but to read only a section of this great article describing a drastic advancement at a timely junction, well after the above graph was generated, would be in my opinion a massive dis-service, so I include it all herein below.

The picture of our energy and CO2 sequestration issues in this new marketplace are neither dire or as bleak as many may perceive, and as it is too often poorly displayed in the mass media, further convoluting the promise that the "common man" or "lay man" may not fully understand without the real scientific facts. 

For example:
June 26, 2013
MIT Creates ‘Plug-and-Play’ CO2 Scrubber for Existing Power Plants
"MIT researchers have invented a “plug-and-play” carbon dioxide scrubbing system that they say could be added relatively easily to any existing power plant, and uses less power than existing systems.
Most existing systems rely on complex plumbing to divert the steam used to drive the turbines that generate power in these plants. Such systems are not practical as retrofits to existing plants, MIT says. By contrast, the MIT system requires no steam connection and can operate at lower temperatures than other scrubbing technology.
The new electrochemical CO2 scrubber system is described in a paper published online in the journal Energy and Environmental Science, written by doctoral student Michael Stern, chemical engineering professor T. Alan Hatton and two others.
The system is a variation on a well-studied technology that uses chemical compounds called amines, which bind with CO2 in the plant’s emission stream and then release the gas when heated in a separate chamber. But the conventional process requires that almost half of the power plant’s low-pressure steam be diverted to provide the heat needed to force the amines to release the gas. That massive diversion would require such extensive changes to existing power plants that it is not considered economically feasible as a retrofit.
In the new system, an electrochemical process replaces the steam-based separation of amines and CO2. This system only requires electricity, so it can easily be added to an existing plant, researchers say.
The system uses a solution of amines, injected at the top of an absorption column in which the effluent gases are rising from below. The amines bind with CO2 in the emissions stream and are collected in liquid form at the bottom of the column. Then, they are processed electrochemically, using a metal electrode to force the release of the CO2; the original amine molecules are then regenerated and reused.
As with the conventional thermal-amine scrubber systems, this technology should be capable of removing 90 percent of CO2 from a plant’s emissions, the researchers say. But while the conventional COcapture process uses about 40 percent of a plant’s power output, the new system would consume only about 25 percent of the power.
President Barack Obama’s climate plan, announced yesterday, will restrict CO2 emissions from existing coal-fired power plant. Reuters reports the EPA will issue proposed carbon emissions limits for existing powers plants by June 2014 and finalize the regulations a year later."


As with any issue at hand, they are issues where scientists and engineers and other brilliant professionals must work even more closely together sharing their respective professions and garnered studies through research and intelligence gathering across the board and this is happening through the use of more efficient technological advancements in communications this very day, mostly due to the state of the art computing we are swiftly moving towards, as you well see in the medical industry I feel certain, with imaging in real time on the horizon, or perhaps much closer and the advent of quantum computers coming very much sooner then most folks think or are even aware of.

Our local law enforcement is a well oiled machine with this similar shared philosophy of cross departmental / entity sharing by many different law enforcement entities working together and sharing their intelligence gathered as well as planning together how to be proactive in the fight against crime, and C3I is an example that should be emulated nationwide on a massive scale, as it is absolutely cutting edge scientific philosophy at work in law enforcement that is more efficient and effective through proactive measures, all of which protect us all, the citizens.


These philosophies blooming today at breakneck speed in many marketplaces and professions are further propelling the speed at which change comes at us, as well all know, so much quicker every day!

This was the exact science I studied, and it is happening with doctors more and more as well, as in this fascinating article that surely displays this same spirit towards more efficient progress and far less ego.

Please read this link (TIME Magazine) in its entirety to emphasize my pint above with even greater thrust and clarity, and I think as you are employed in the medical profession you will enjoy this article even more so.

Excerpt:

"Cancer research — indeed, most medical research — is typically about the narrowly focused investigator beavering away, one small grant at a time. But advances in genetic profiling of malignancies and the mutations that cause them are telling scientists and physicians they must stop working in these kinds of silos, treating lung or breast or colon or prostate cancer as distinct diseases. “You no longer do science and medicine differently,” says Dr. Lynda Chin, director of the Institute for Applied Cancer Science at MD Anderson Cancer Center. “It brings science and medicine together.” Common genetic mutations, like one called p53 that controls cell death, are showing up across a whole swath of cancers. A mutation called BRCA1 is common in women’s cancers such as breast and ovarian, yet the research and clinical work in those two diseases has largely been separate."
http://healthland.time.com/2013/04/01/the-conspiracy-to-end-cancer/

In your article's closing and I will quote:

"Billions and billions of dollars have been invested in finding new sources of renewable energy through direct allocations, tax incentives, grants, awards, loan guarantees and subsidies.  For 2012, the Department of Energy received $2 billion to identify new sources of renewable energy, focusing on geothermal, solar, hydroelectric and biofuels.  So, the waste of tax dollars continues on failed strategies to bolster the sources and use of renewable energy.  Like it or not, hydrocarbon energy is still a major part of our future and will continue to power our economy for years to come. "


With all due respect sir, how on earth, Mr. Ronan, you could so quickly discount the $ 2 billion dollars the U.S. Department of Energy received as a waste is well beyond me and the exact type of political rhetoric that deliberately eschews the truth sir.

Like the space program, these types of funds spent on valid and valued research, generate huge spin off technology and other breakthroughs that rarely go without benefit across several marketplaces, and whose intrinsic value are certainly incalculable with dividends that pay off again and again more often then not.

I agree with the last sentence as you have it stated, as the marketplace has been built around hydrocarbon energy and will not change as quick as it is needed, but it is a multi-pronged beast we are trying to tackle, and the dismantling of some of the beast during this transition to cleaner fuel, better renewables, more conscientious consumption, along with CO2 sequestration is not something to gauge from January 1, 2012 and $2 Billion when it is now only August 7, 2013.

Economic sequestration and the policies of austerity have proven quickly to have failed massively, and fortunately we have great minds at the helm, such as Paul Krugman, who is dispelling the sequestration through the current austerity measures.

These funds withheld, like the N.I.H. losing  $ 1.7 Billion are hampering to the medical community would you not yourself say?

NIH Losing $1.7 Billion, 700 Research Grants Due To Sequestration


With the largest of real life issues being undeniable global warming (regardless of if it is man made, cyclical, or a combination of the two), modern health care and its inherent reform, and the advancement of both of these fronts as well as better more progressive modern education, it is paramount that we invest very heavily towards these causes in a more streamlined efficient and coordinated effort that has a set and standard protocol for all involved agencies, authorities, professionals, ad infinitum, so that we may advance in the worst downturn, I personally think far worse then the Great Depression based on financial numbers and population alone today compared to then, in financial history of The United States and get on the ball of re-building our infrastructure.

Would it be fair for me to asses the new W.M.H.S hospital a failure already after a massive investment in a new hospital building and the transition and consolidation from two previous separate locations just a short time ago here in Cumberland, Maryland, having only opened the beautiful new facility since November 2009?


Absolutely not, and that you would state the $ 2 Billion above a waste is again quite absurd and forcefully skewed in my mind, and I am certain most readers when the proper light is cast upon the greater picture.

We are embarking on the very cusp of the Green Era today and this is being done in a coordinated fashion with goals that are being defined and worked on as I type.

The protocol is getting defined more and more each day.

Many countries, thousands of scientists and a plethora of other professionals are at work each day in ways we did not have at our disposal just a very, very short time ago.

The finest men and women at N.A.S.A. want to send a manned mission to Mars? That is a clear and evident and articulated fact today, and what we have done with the rover is nothing short of astonishing!

PUBLISHED JUST 14 HOURS AGO:

Curiosity Rover 'Blazing Trail' for Humans on Mars, NASA Chief Says


"The long-term goal of NASA's human spaceflight program is to put boots on the Red Planet. Indeed, President Barack Obama has directed the agency to get astronauts to a near-Earth asteroid by 2025, then on to the vicinity of Marsby the mid-2030s."


My friend Carl Mikeman, was instrumental in the flight plan for the rover mission, and I know men and women like this that believe in a very bright future, and do not skew science or fact and stay positive on their collective mission with only a clear fought victory in site.


PUBLISHED JUST 14 HOURS AGO:

Curiosity Rover 'Blazing Trail' for Humans on Mars, NASA Chief Says



The gravity of the argument today says undeniably global warming is real and happening at a faster pace then expected.

However, so are the advancements too !

Please read this link below.

May 27, 2013:

Livermore scientists develop CO2 sequestration technique that produces 'supergreen' hydrogen fuel, offsets ocean acidification



Read this next!

Shall we not react? 

The dire consequences are happening already and will continue to scale up, and that again is scientific fact!

PRINTED MERELY 5 DAYS AGO:



Climate change on pace to occur 10 times faster than any change recorded in past 65 million years, Stanford scientists say


Not only is the planet undergoing one of the largest climate changes in the past 65 million years, Stanford climate scientists Noah Diffenbaugh and Chris Field report that it's on pace to occur at a rate 10 times faster than any change in that period. Without intervention, this extreme pace could lead to a 5-6 degree Celsius spike in annual temperatures by the end of the century.

HERE IS ANOTHER EYE OPENING FACT FILLED ARTICLE:


Engineering for Climate Change Adaptation at the US Army Corps of Engineers: Policy, Plans, and Projects


The finest minds already know what must be done and it will be forward thinkers, scientists, mathematicians and engineers that lead the way, as far too many other rest on their collective laurels and do not board N.O.A.A.'s New Ark!

This is to biblical history akin to Noah's Ark precisely! 

There is still time to get on board...or continue to scoff and throw stones at your own glass houses!

Engineers see this as perhaps the greatest test in modern or perhaps all of recorded time, as new standards will have to be the norm, and new designs a must to withstand and protect against escalating weather events, and their short and long term after math that we have all already seen first hand and regularly.

Please read this link below as well, as it says so much in few words with such superior diligence.

March, 2013
Change in the Weather

As changes in climate become more severe, engineers are making an effort to prepare for the future.
BY MATTHEW McLAUGHLIN

http://www.nspe.org/PEmagazine/13/pe_0313_Change.html

I have been reading and studying this (global warming) and discussing this undeniable reality for well over 20+ years now, and quite honestly I was very skeptical in the early days.

I am now a huge proponent of this cause and its challenges we all face.

I will touch on the main topics to stay on point as best possible and I hope persuade you to be at least open minded enough if not so already to see if you can envision what I know and understand well through science.

There is so much more I would enjoy sharing, entailing other research, peer reviewed papers, pictures, etc., however I think these main links are quite clear and if well read and studied will unlock the door to many exploratory questions any reader should have after reading this material and realizing these inevitable  realizations and ground breaking research. 

Evolution is using one's mind to survive and adapt to one's environment, otherwise, what or more precisely, who is left to evolve.

Adaptation takes on a huge calling when one must adapt to that environment and not cause further harm, and even more especially when that environment is changing so swiftly.

For example, as nuclear energy gets pushed aside, little is written in the mass media about the incredible development and design of mobile nuclear stations that can easily provide enough energy to supply a small city, at a relatively small cost, and these units may be moved and do not require massive amounts of water for cooling,nor do they produce mush nuclear waste.

"Lockhead Martin’s Skunk Works is famous for developing advanced technologies. Now Skunk Works Program Manager Charles Chase has outlined their plan for creating a 100 MW Fusion prototype by 2017.
For the last 50 years nuclear fusion has been viewed as the future of power production. With an energy density that’s six orders of magnitude greater than oil, running on low-cost deuterium, it makes sense that nations around the world have been pouring money into nuclear fusion R&D."

Read here all about Skunk Works.


This is not myth or fantasy!

This is state of the art scientific advancement and engineering by Lockheed Martin !!!

So in closing, siting these articles herein, and all from extremely reliable sources, what do you think that graph would look like if we cut austerity and financial sequestration, spent our monies employing the masses and rebuilding a secure middle class while building the new proper and Green Era Infrastructure (G.E.I), and gained world wide energy independence?

The original statement about being stuck in a petroleum based economy for the long term is pure hogwash and will only be the truth in the short term future if we choose poorly with a lack of vision and failing leadership.

I have sited great articles that are brand new and cutting edge and as these new things are transpiring with great promise, we have now at our hands thew new way to build our new marketplaces and economy into the greats that we have ever know here at home, while setting the pace and working collectively with others towards a very bright and promising future, and is that not what you desire to leave your family, those future generations that you have the ability to leave our legacy now of overcoming the greatest challenge history has ever known?

This is the modern "New Deal", and the scared attitude of sitting on cash and ignoring job loss and ignoring fast fading infrastructure has got to change in a flash.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Deal

NEW INNOVATION THE DAY I WROTE THIS ARTICLE, AND MORE NEW INNOVATIONS THAT ARE GAME CHANGING COMING ALL THE TIME


Wind Turbines Store Energy For Less Breezy Days


Posted: 
"Individually, each of the developments represented in the Brilliant turbines are a big deal. Collectively, says Andrew Burger of CleanTechnica, they have the potential to be game changing. In an enthusiastic, three-part series on the Brilliant turbines (see alsopart two, and part three), Burger explains why all this really matters to the rest of us – namely that the cost of wind energy has come down by 60 percent in recent years, making it competitive with new coal and natural gas plants. And that’s before you even start calculating all the hidden, but very real economic costs caused by our reliance on fossil fuels."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/07/wind-turbines-store-energ_n_3715788.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009

This is no longer a political party issue, but THE ISSUE to contend with !!!

The shift is happening and it will be obvious in very close time that this graph will in all reality not look like the one in the report as shown, because it was based on things the way they were, not the way things are changing and especially not on all the brand new great innovation rapidly flooding this marketplace.


MORE NEW PROOF OF THE PARADIGM SHIFT



Got Science? A 'Green Tea Party' May Be Brewing

Posted: 08/08/2013 5:21 pm
"Regulators on the all-Republican commission voted 3-2 in favor of a plan that requires Atlanta-based Georgia Power Co. to increase its solar power capacity by 525 megawatts by the end of 2016. The decision comes on the heels of the announcement that Georgia Power, a subsidiary of Southern Co., is planning to retire more than 2,000 megawatts worth of coal-fired generating capacity."

...and additionally is this staggering quote from a recent report...

"The fact is, solar has been one of the nation's fastest growing industries for the past several years, now supporting more than 100,000 jobs at 5,600 companies operating in every state in the nation. With the rate of utility solar installations more than doubling since 2012, the United States is now on track to add another 4,400 megawatts of photovoltaic power in 2013.

All of which has been noted with considerable alarm by some electric utilities. A recent report distributed by the Edison Electric Institute, the industry's main trade group, for instance, calls the growth of small-scale solar systems the "largest near-term threat" to the industry and warns of a disruption to the industry similar to the one wrought by cell phones on the landline telephone industry."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/seth-shulman/got-science-a-green-tea-p_b_3726459.html

The massive majority of men and women across this country are crying, depressed, suicidal, dis-appointed, and want to live this new American Dream we can and will forge ahead with now.

The greatest thing for health care and the environment is getting back to work and being able to live with comfort an security and food on the table.

Embrace the change and dream huge!

Imagine today alternative energy such as SkunkWorks throughout the country.

Imagine these factories partially automated but purposefully staffed with labor to perform most of the work that is not as critical and precise as a robot can do.

Imagine even more wind energy that is further evolved and more environmentally friendly to birds, imagine embracing the new solar advancements that we have gained alongside the ever growing advancement is battery and energy storage technology.

Imagine and Dream and lets get back to work and work hard as the clock is so close to being against us.

Is it far fetched to think that the government bailed out auto makers could perhaps offer free electric cars for all that want to trade in a gasoline powered car? ...and that we could recycle the gasoline cars into more new electric cars?

That is an investment and quickly builds a new marketplace stronger as well as offers the ability to start new vocational schools that could easily be modeled on the very successful modern German apprenticeship systems.

Imagine the cheapest inland transportation, trains,converting to a system such as the electric rails my Father helped to build in the Washington D.C. are  while employed at M.E.T.RO.

Imagine the new jobs available, and the new hard earned money that was again being spent back into the New American Dream, the secondary jobs that this would require in so many older and regular non shifting marketplaces, because where there will be a demand, we will have to supply it.

This is the complete opposite to austerity, and this is the only promise left to both a short term and a 
long term solution of which we will all be the benefactors.

There will be even less greed and more wealth because those that hoard would not feel the sick compulsion to do so, and those that invest in the new cities, the new infrastructures, will profit and have piece of mind knowing they were a part of the new beginning.  

Far and away perhaps, imagine perhaps a bioJETfuel so that we can stop burning petroleum fuel in air crafts, perhaps the overall largest polluters to our air and seas.

Airbus, Air Canada partner with BioFuelNet Canada on biojet fuel

By Chris Hanson | May 21, 2013

Imagine the entire shipping industry that follows suit and helps to keep our oceans cleaner and perhaps never have a need again to destroy the water ways such as the horrific and still deeply impactful BP Gulf Oil Spill.

That original graph the respectful Mr.Ronan shared in his blog is indeed insightful as portrayed, and it is our collective ignorance and denial that we cannot do any better that will and is paving a way to our species destruction.

We are in the middle of a Global Extinction Level Event right now!

I will close with this.

I had the recent honor of attending the 60th Anniversary of The Korean War Armistice along with my beloved Father and other family members.

I watch the pageantry and I heard great stories and I watched veterans get the deserved respect that was so long overdue and appreciate is such an understatement,but for the lack of a more powerful word, the appreciation of the beautiful South Korean people. 

After 2.5 million deaths in that war, and with most of South Korea left in ruins in the after math, well it was quite simply time to rebuild.

With our assistance as well as other allies, South Korea 60 years later now has the 8th strongest economy in the world, and that economy is still growing tremendously!

That is a pure factual statement, and we should all now hold that lesson close to our hearts and embark swiftly and deeply into this new era before that time has come to pass.

We would help all nations that exercise peacefully whatever their political organization, perhaps, and construct a new international protocol that would help implement swift progress.

South Korea has certainly set a high bar of accomplishment over 60 years of very tough hard dedicated and passionate work, and now we must strive to perform a similar feat. or the consequences are more then dire, the consequences would be certain death.

This all makes very clear sense for Mother Earth, our species, our local and national economy and our international economy and can and must be implemented with peace as its ultimate goal and foundation as well.

There shall be no more reason to fight for oils or the other spoils of such hideous despicable victory, as has been written in the past.

I have tried my best tonight to navigate through an article however well intended I just absolutely do not at all agree with as Mr. Ronan set forth is his poor argument, further site a plethora of sites with real and historical and verifiable progress, and share my thoughts further as what I describe as the evolving Green Era philosophy, that just screams to me to scream to the world... 

What are we waiting for?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BELOW I HAVE ADDED ARTICLES AND OTHER PROOF
OF THE CUSP OF A

 "MASS EXTINCTION EVENT

I WHOLEHEARTEDLY BELIEVE WE ARE LIVING IN TODAY !!!

ADDITIONS TO ORIGINAL PUBLICATION:

This is a very informative article that addresses many issues and theories on every level as well.

It is long and informative and very worthwhile !

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/04/its-not-just-alternative-energy-versus-fossil-fuels-or-nuclear-energy-has-to-become-decentralized.html

As Dolphin Deaths Rise, U.S. Declares 'Unusual Mortality Event'


"NEW YORK, Aug 8, 2013 (Reuters) - Federal scientists investigating an unusually high number of dead bottlenose dolphins washing up on the East Coast said on Thursday the carcasses are showing up at a rate that is seven times higher than usual."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/08/dolphin-deaths_n_3728470.html?igoogle=1

Starved Polar Bear In Norway May Be A Victim Of Climate Change 


"A polar bear carcass found on the Arctic island of Svalbard, the northernmost part of Norway, has shocked experts who say climate change may be to blame for the animal's death.
The starved polar bear in Norway was said to be in good health in April when the Norwegian Polar Institute examined and tagged it. However, the animal was reduced to skin and bones by the time a group of explorers happened upon its body in July."

"According to Norway's The Local, Stirling believes the bear starved to death as a result of a lack of sea ice, which the animals use as a platform for hunting seals. That may also explain why the 16-year-old male bear was found about 155 miles north of where it was seen in April."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/08/starved-polar-bear-found-dead-norway-climate-change_n_3720236.html

Record Dolphin, Sea Turtle Deaths Since Gulf Spill

// 

"The report, “Restoring a Degraded Gulf of Mexico: Wildlife and Wetlands Three Years into the Gulf Oil Disaster,” found that dolphins were among the hardest hit animals. As of just earlier this year, infant dolphins were dying six times faster than they did before the spill. Scientists aren’t even yet sure of the extent of the massive spill, given that it was impossible to fully clean up the chemical-laden, carcinogenic oil."

http://news.discovery.com/animals/whales-dolphins/record-dolphin-sea-turtle-deaths-since-gulf-spill-130402.htm

Life in the Sea Found Its Fate in a Paroxysm of Extinction




http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/01/science/new-studies-of-permian-extinction-shed-light-on-the-great-dying.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0



















closing tags:

Ronan, Swygert, Cumberland, Maryland, The Green Era, U.S. DEPTARTMENT OF ENERGY, biofuel, biojetfuel, US Energy Consumption, the real facts about global warming, global warming and engineering, fuel conservation, N.A.S.A., M.I.T., Skunk Works, Northrop Grumann, Lookheed Martin, John Stephen Swygert, MobiusTripz, rokkinroll     





Saturday, August 3, 2013

Sick Planet ~ Lyric ~ MobiusTripz

It's a sick planet,
with sick fukkin' people,
and sick tired animals,
and fallin' down steeples.

Its a sick planet,
CO2 and an economy too,
no one can sequester either,
less oxygen not green but blue.

chorus:

It's a sick planet,
god damn it,
what a sick planet,
all going to shit !!!

It's a sick planet,
pollution killin' everything,
oil and coal making exhaust,
burn it all up all in flames.

It's a sick planet,
missing not the water air or land,
garbage we throw out in abundance,
now make a useless final stand.

chorus:

It's a sick planet,
god damn it,
what a sick planet,
all going to shit !!!

It's a sick planet,
measures taken way too late,
I scream this for all to hear,
fukkin' please deafening resonate.

It's a sick planet,
she will erase us all away,
this sick exploding planet,
more fired up every day.

chorus:

It's a sick planet,
god damn it,
what a sick planet,
all going to shit !!!







My Zimbio
Top Stories

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Cervical Ribs ~ Thoracic Outlet Syndrome ~ Cardiac Arrythmia

Originally I posted this to my facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/rokkinroll/posts/10151760035365659

I will continue to add to this article over time and see what else I can discover as well as record my own history and doctor visits and/or testing I may receive so that others may have a better understanding of this condition.

Here is some interesting anatomy !!!

My ribs were hurting today (07-31-2013) from an old injury and I was finding it hard once again to breathe deeply, and the pain was on my right side.

I went to my local hospital and after some x-rays an x-ray tech specified that I had cervical ribs...plural...known more specifically as bi-lateral cervical ribs.

The doctor did not specify this in my overall diagnosis nor did she even seem to care at all about it, as this day the 51 room ER was at full capacity, however I thought she may care a little more then that, but as it was not related to my issues (maybe) she just came in and spoke with me for her final diagnosis and left.

I was seen at the Western Maryland Health Systems Cumberland, Maryland Campus on Willowbrook Drive, here at home in Cumberland,Maryland.

The attending doctor was XXXXX XXXXXXXX, D.O.

On a side note, when a doctor asks if you have any medical condition, and you are in mid sentence answering what may be a lengthy answer, why would you get completely cut off mid sentence and they nor care to hear the rest?

If you do not want a full answer, do not ask me the question!

This happens all the time and I have serious issues that if they really cared about they would listen to to get the complete picture as well as a better diagnosis.

I live in this body and can describe it and know its history the finest!

This has happened to me on most occasions, as opposed to rarely, but it is not the case all of the time.

A doctor who cared to learn more real hands on life experience of a patient would listen intently and perhaps suggest better specialists, rather then just shuffling you through the system after tests to tell you what you already know.

I respect the additional 4 years of education, and the additional 400-500 hours of education she received for her D.O. license, however I have a 45 year education and read a lifetime of information and lived a lifetime of information which is always second to none.

I am persistent, and my persistence has gotten me answers, and nothing more.

I was not diagnosed with my other severe spinal issues until age 43, and these are things I have had all my life for the most part, as I have suffered badly since the age of 18.

If you are a doctor reading this, please take a breath with your patience and learn how to listen intently and show that you do indeed care instead of running away like a salesman at Lowe's only to bring back or suggest the completely wrong thing, or at least not offer a more full answer and diagnosis and follow up suggestion.

I have a brain, I have been published by the United States Department of Energy and elsewhere, I have an education, and I will be treated with full respect and command and deserve this as does every other patient, and I have no problem articulating this.

This is not about attitude, but this is most certainly about receiving the critical analysis one deserves, we all deserve, as patients.

I was pleased with my overall service today at the hospital, but not pleased that she did not care to examine the x-rays closer, or x-ray my scapula which I told her hurt very badly too, and where she walked away again after explaining I had surgery on the shoulder of the same side that was hurting, which was information I was trying to explain the first time she answered about my medical history.

She failed to order the scapula x-rays, which could have and should have been ordered for a full diagnosis to my original complaint as a patient today!

After finally listening a bit more, she jokingly said perhaps they could wrap me in bubble wrap, which was rather funny and I had even said it in the ER waiting room to the attending nurse and we too had a laugh, because laughter is the finest medicine, however, this may have been perceived a juvenile, insensitive and a huge glaring mistake by a professional doctor leaving a patient in pain.

I have had two surgeries on this same side of my body I hurt today, and broken ribs from October of 2011 as well, so being brushed aside was not very compassionate.

I also am suppose to have my neck fused one day and have lost two inches in height as well, but, again, she did not care to hear my personal history which she directly inquired about!

I was also upset that upon leaving I indeed did not get a prescription for the bubble wrap !!!

Back to the fascination of cervical ribs...

Apparently, after receiving some x-ray results, I have been healing well and indeed the old wounds of breaking my ribs have this unexpected dis-comfort.

So, the neat thing I was told today is that I have bilateral cervical ribs too !!!

These are extra ribs attached to the 7th (or last) cervical vertebrae of the neck and are additional ribs to the "normal" anatomy.

These are only found in .2 % of the population.

They do not seem to be at issue here with this particular issue, but as they are extremely rare I have been reading about them, and the conditions the can cause.

Mostly, and not too common in most folks with this anatomical anomaly, you may develop compressed nerves and a compressed artery, which can cause "pins and needles" like tingling in one or both arms and restricted blood flow as well.

The anomaly may consist of one cervical rib, or having two, or bi-lateral cervical ribs, meaning on both sides.

As I have had severe spinal issues and most especially in the cervical region where they want to fuse my neck, I have looked for literature on this topic.

Does anyone else know more, or know if this would complicate fusion surgery that appears to be in my hopefully very distant future???

Yes I am a certified mutant freak ladies and gentlemen, and that is to go along with other genetic mutations like spinal stenosis.

My thinking is perhaps these once served a purpose, or are serving a purpose now and that is why these mutations exist, however there is little literature that goes deeper with the cervical ribs existence and/ or purpose, other then a diagnosis and the particular compression issues.

This is often not seen in the MRI procedures today, as most specialists do not look for it at all and do not see it, but not because it is not there and able to been seen when looked for.

The cervical rib, when present, is attached to the 7th and last cervical vertebrae of the spine, and may be a floating rib or an attached rib. 

I am curious to find out what more is known of this condition and if you have any personal information or links, please by all means share them.

Also if you suffer from spinal issues at all, especially ion the neck or cervical area as it is properly known by, and most especially with numbness in one or both arms, make certain that you request a thorough x-ray and see if you too may have this genetic mutation!

All freaks on board!!!

I am listing a few names here so that you may read and/or respond to this thread.

Please add any names you may know of medical specialist or sufferers of spinal issues, as this is at least fun and not common knowledge to share, and may help many get a better diagnosis of other issues that may arise from this condition.

I will link a few articles below under comments so you may read about this for yourself in much greater detail.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cervical_rib

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bones_of_the_human_skeleton

http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/Cervical-Ribs-and-Thoracic-Outlet-Syndrome.htm

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

60th Anniversary of the Korean War Armistice ~ Washington D.C. ~ Visions of the Past and Present ~ Cumberland, Maryland

60th Anniversary of the Korean War Armistice ~ 
Washington D.C.

The events that unfolded at this 60th Anniversary of The Korean war Armistice will forever be etched upon my mind, and for many reasons that i hope to portray herein.

This is a very long video (link below), however, it is well worth watching!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBjzS4SS0l0

I attended this incredible event with my very own Father, Retired Colonel Donald R. Swygert, a Korean and Viet~Nam veteran. I think I have never seen him as deeply honored and so touched as I did on this particular day, as it was an overdue homecoming of sorts that all of these great veterans that protect and provide freedom so deserve.

I especially thank President Obama for his heart felt speech and promises that I expect, that we as a nation expect, him to uphold while honoring all of these distinguished men and women on this particular day I will never forget. (time in video as linked below 20 min. :19 secs)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fi-v4rYsRxk

I hope you will find the time to view and listen to this video in its entirety and therefore furthermore understand what these fine men and women mean to this country and to the great country of South Korea.

My family got to meet the poetess, Dr. Young-Key Kim-Renaud, after the ceremony. She recited her own heart felt poem that was about her youthful recollection of tragedy as her country was torn apart, and how she and her country persevered. 

Since that fine day, July 27, 2013, and through an incident of Faith, my Father has been able to share with her, through email, some fascinating experiences while developing a new friendship. This came about because we just happened to be standing together when we were all awaiting the bus ride back over to the Pentagon where we had parked from where the service of the day had taken place.

We were able to converse long enough that day to stay in contact, which my father has thus far,and I intend on as soon as I am done writing this blog entry and chronicle of this even from a unique perspective.

Perhaps the most interesting  facets are those of lives crossing paths together on many occasions over decades of difficult but rewarding work, and it is work such as this that rebuilds nations.

The examples are these, as follows:

The poem below speaks of the Han River bridge falling. Last weekend while visiting my Father and Mother at their home in Alexandria, he kindly shared with me some of the correspondence that he had with this wonderful woman. 

Perhaps, and most striking to myself, the fact that he helped to erect a new bridge, very long ago, over that same river with The Army Corps of Engineers and as it was a bridge that Mrs. Kim - Renaud, along with her family, utilized shortly after its completion to cross and visit family members grave sites that they had previously been  unable to visit, was the absolute most humbling statement I had learned, thus far. I will state I hope I have my facts correct and if not I will make certain to correct them and note that within, as it may possibly have been a bridge  over a different river nit to faraway from which her family was from, and as I collect this work and share what I have written with all included herein, I will both add and amend with note any inaccuracies, as I only wish to convey facts that are quite revealing and humbling in nature.

It is a very small world on some levels, and just this fact alone reassures me of this. The even more stunning facets are other such striking similarities, which I will cover briefly below, and after the powerful heartfelt poem I must share at this juncture, as it is only fitting.

I am enclosing here a copy of her poem which she graciously read at the ceremony on this spectacular day of humble recognition.





I Remember

by Young-Key Kim-Renaud

It was a languid summer day in Seoul


When the crepe myrtles were in bloom,

Everyone was busy preparing for Father’s birthday,

Children frolicked in festive mood,

And Hobaegi, our dog, was jumping in contagious excitement.



The only thing that concerned me was those elusive “100 points”

And taking care of my baby brother for brownie points,

Which meant special prizes from Mother, children’s books and comic

books she handwrote.

But no one came to Father’s birthday.



The War broke out the day before Father’s birthday, 

Shattering our world, our peace.

No children showed him respect with deep bows,

No words of wisdom or blessings

Flowed from his own father'sor any guest’smouth.



Mother said it always rained on Father’s birthday,

And it was a good thing, for the Dragon loves water.

But it was not a good rain.

The muddy river dike swallowed my rubber shoes,

And wanted to take my feet, too,

As I tried to plod beside this or that sibling riding up on an adult’s 

back.

The Han River Bridge fell before our eyes.



Father, a solid athlete and expert swimmer,

Refused to cross the river, because he couldn’t leave us behind.

The three months’ hell started from that moment.

Mother’s ruptured appendicitis turned into grave peritonitis,

And we children lost our innocence.



I, although only nine, was the eldest of all and

Represented our household at townhall meetings,

Where I observed people’s court and even executions.

We learned what it meant to be hungry.



But worse than hunger were three kinds of sounds:

Ringing of the doorbell in the wee hours of the night

Meant they came looking for Father,

For a banker was “bad by nature” and deserved to be shot on the 

spot.

The baby couldn’t talk, but the four little kids

Knew that one mention of “Father”

Would have made all of us half-orphans.



The airplanes flying low meant someone could die,

As one of them killed our elder uncle and two dear cousins.

The missiles' whine made us tremble under the coverlet,

Sounding like a deranged policeman’s whistle leading everyone to 

hell.

And then all that suddenly stopped, just as suddenly as it started.



We were on the street greeting you, alien soldiers on foot.

You were all dirty and hairy—of all colors, yellow, red, brown, and 

black.



I saw all the adults were genuinely happy to see you,

Shook your hands and handed over the Korean and American flags.



Some embraced you as long-lost brothers,

And children began prancing with joy again.



I remember thinking, “Are these creatures who pulled us out of 

darkness holy ghosts

or the monkey-king Sūn Wùkōng (孫悟空)’s doubles?”



The magic gave us the miracle of the Han River.



Look where we are and where they are--

It is not a Forgotten War, but the magic lives on and on.

-- June 24, 2011



She also read this magnificent at another event preceding this day, and my Father and Mother were in attendance there as well at the Sheraton in Tyson's Corner.

Then finally after paths crossing several times over many decades, we all had the pleasure of actually meeting and becoming steadfast friends.

If my memory serves me correctly, Mrs. Kim-Renaud was also aware of and remembered a speech my Father gave in 1965, that was also an essential outline, or guide if you will, formulating a plan for the re-emergence of South Korea into a self supporting industrialized nation, not at all dis-similar to the challenges we all face today as our modern marketplaces have shifted and paradigms have changed and we again set off into uncharted territories.

The most massive challenge of all perhaps was that this country had been severely decimated by a terrible war, but a war that guaranteed their freedom from the oppressive North.

My Father's brief, however very articulate blueprint, is precisely what was needed and followed, and as I am certain it would be improper to credit my Father 100% with all of South Korea's success in a relatively short time of a mere six decades, it illustrates what vision and efficient planning can bring to fruition, which today is the eighth healthiest economy because of hard work and exceptional planning and leadership, which is all far too lacking here today at home as we ourselves here in The United States seek a re-invention of sorts.

I will now enclose my Fathers poignant words, and If I have used that word a bit too often, it is certainly on purpose, because no other word is as perfect in such situations.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


INDUSTRIALIZATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Page 1

It is a distinct privilege for me to be able to speak to you members of
the Inchon Rotary Club. I am sorry that I will not be able to speak to you in
Korean for much is often lost in translation. Fortunately, my good friend Major Choi
will translate for me, so I feel certain that my ideas will be effectively conveyed
to you.

Inasmuch as I need so much assistance to speak to you, I am reminded of a
story told about a candidate seeking public office in a certain state in the United States. He
needed help too. His problem was that he was new in politics and had no public
speaking experience. It was decided that what he needed was practice in
speaking before a live audience.

After much searching for an audience, the
candidate’s supporters finally arranged for him to speak before the inmates of a
men’s prison. Eventually the candidate stood before the prisoners and began his
practice speech. “Ladies and Gentlemen.”
He paused and thought a moment. He
realized that there were no ladies there. He began again, “Gentlemen;” and once more
he paused as he realized that there could be no gentlemen among these prison
inmates. Desperately, he continued, “Anyway, I am glad to see so many of you here.”
I, like that candidate, am glad to see so many of you here. I trust, of course,
that you are not a captive audience.
Seriously now, I am familiar with the goals that the Rotary Clubs in the
United States have set for themselves, and I am certain that you here in Korea have
equally worthy objectives.
Mr. Joo, your club vice chairman, originally
contacted me through Mr. Choi. Mr. Choi asked that I speak about the role of
engineers in the industrialization of Korea and the benefits that Korea can expect to
derive through further industrialization.

Page 2

Most of you can probably identify me as an engineer by my uniform, so you can
understand my eagerness to accept the invitation.
How can industrialization benefit Korea?

1.
It can provide Korea with manufactured goods for use in international trade.
A country which has goods or materials that other countries need will have a more
favorable balance of trade; that is, the ratio of the value of exports to the value
of imports is favorable. With a favorable balance of trade, the WON will be worth
more on the international scene and hence worth more here in Korea when it is spent in
purchasing items of foreign manufacture.

2.
Many items presently made by hand in Korea can be produced in an
industrialized Korea and can be sold to the Korean consumers at prices lower
than the prices paid for similar handmade items.
Here, again, the value of the
Won will have been increased and the family wage-earner can more adequately
provide for the family.

3.
The industrialization process will generate jobs for more people. These
people will have more money to spend. This money, in turn will be spent on goods
that they and other people have manufactured or on services that other people
provide. As a result many people benefit from the prosperity of one person.
These, then, are ways; in which industrialization can help Korea.
Assuming now, that we are all agreed that Korea would benefit from industriali-
zation, let us discuss the things that are required for successful industrial-
ization. Raw materials are required, a skilled labor pool is necessary, factories
are needed, a market on which the manufactured products can be sold must be
available, and an efficient transportation system to move the raw materials from their
source to the factories and to move the finished products from the factories to the
markets is necessary.

Page 3

Let us now consider these items one by one so that we may see exactly what
Korea’s status is with respect to each and to determine what hope there is for
improvement and for ultimate success.
We must admit that the unfortunate and artificial division of Korea that came
about upon the signing of the armistice at Panmunjom in 1953 has an exceedingly
detrimental effect upon the whole of Korea. South Korea (the Republic of Korea) is
left with few of the raw materials which are so necessary for development of the
basic industries. Specifically, there are shortages of coal, iron ore, timber, and
petroleum. There are also shortages of many of the other minerals needed in
industry. Additionally, there are few remaining river systems possessing
potential for producing large quantities of water power. These are great obstacles
indeed, but they need not be regarded as insurmountable.
The United States
imports iron ore and. petroleum from Venezuela.
It imports petroleum from the
Middle East.
Its tin comes from Bolivia and Southeast Asia, and much of its
copper comes from Chile. Japan imports petroleum from Southeast Asia, coal from
the US and has plans for getting iron ore from Australia. Great Britain imports
wool and hides from Australia, petroleum from the Middle East, and coal from
the United States. West Germany imports iron from Sweden. The object of my citing
these examples is to point out that other nations have this same problem that Korea has.
They have been able to overcome the problem because they all produce goods that other
countries need. With some help from its friends, Korea can initialy develop light
industries which will provide it with goods to trade for the raw materials needed in
heavy industry.
Let us next examine the labor situation. Today, there is a lack of skilled
labor in Korea. This is not to say that Korea has no skilled labor. Certainly it has
skilled labor in its railroad, motor transport, electric power, construction,

Page 4

communications, and other industries.
What I do mean is that there is a
shortage of people with skills needed to rapidly expand those industries and to
man the machines in new industries that must be brought into Korea. Here again the
problem is not insurmountable.
European and American companies have had
much success in operating subsidiaries throughout the world in which the machine
operators and supervisory personnel are local nationals. I work with Korean nationals
in my office everyday. These men and women are quick to grasp new ideas and to
learn to execute complicated tasks with efficiency. I can state with authority that
the Korean people can be trained for the jobs that industry requires. It should
not be difficult to get this assistance from the government and industrial
interests of friendly nations.
In addition, Korea can build schools for
technical training. It is worth noting that the people in the United States who suffer
from unemployment are the people who have no technical training.
As for the factories that will be needed, many can be built through various aid
programs. You have fertilizer and cement factories that were built in just this
manner.
There is no reason this program should stop with these.
Additionally,
business interests are generally willing to construct factories and invest capital
where there is legitimate hope for a reasonable profit. Your government can
arrange fair agreements in which the companies can be assured of a profit and. the
Korean people can be insured against exploitation. Initially, you will need
engineering help from your friends, but you will gradually develop your own
reservoir of engineering skill and know-how.
An example of engineering skill
already developed here in Korea is your ability to design and construct prefabricated
buildings made of prestressed concrete.
I have in mind the beautiful Freedom
House that you have erected at Panmunjom. I have personally seen this monument to
freedom and I can tell you that the Republic of Korea can well be proud of it.
Initially, you will want to concentrate your efforts on small factories producing

Page 5

consumer goods. Capital for these factories will be easier to get. Hong Kong and
Japan are excellent examples of the success of such programs.
Japan, of course,is a
great industrial country today.
As for having a market for products that you will manufacture here in Korea, you
will find that you will have a market both here and overseas.
The general
industrialization will provide jobs for people and income with which they can
buy what they and others make in Korean factories. Because you will have the
advantage of low wage rates in your factories, and because your factories will be new
and efficient, you will be able to compete favorably in international trade.
The remaining item that we need to discuss is the need for transportation.
This is the area in which engineers will be primarily engaged in the initial
stages of Korea’s further industrialization. In. the United States, the Army
Corps of Engineers is given much credit for the settling and ultimate industriali-
zation of our country. There were vast areas of wilderness which were completely
unknown and untapped. There were no highways and no railroads. Floods raged
down our rivers during flood season. Our government recognized the vast potential
of the American West and gave the Army the mission of protecting the settlers
and opening avenues for progress
History leaves no doubt as to the success of those
pioneers, the Army in general, and the Corps of Engineers in particular.
Korea today is starting on a much higher plane than the one on which the United
States began. Your country is well mapped. I know this from my service here in 1953
and 1954. This truth has become even more apparent to me during this present tour.
You have an excellent railroad system. It needs to be extended along the east
coast and additional connecting lines and spur lines need to be built.
Nevertheless, the railroads that you have are well built, well maintained, and
well operated. This is a tremendous asset.

Page 6

Looking at the highway system, Korea is moving rapidly ahead in the paving of
arterial highways. You will soon have a paved highway extending north and south
from Munsan to Pusan. I understand that the highway will be paved in the east-
west direction from Inchon through Chunchon and on to Kwandae-ri before the end of
the year.
These improvements will be of great benefit to Korea.
Your
transportation costs will be greatly reduced because of the increased efficientcies
that will be possible in operating vehicles. The improved efficiency results from
the ability to make more round trips in a given period of time due to the increased
speeds that will be possible and because of the reduction in vehicle maintenance costs
that good roads will bring about. The ROKACorps of Engineers is playing much the
same role in your country that our Corps of Engineers played in our country. Your
pavements are of quality equal to the highways in the United. States. Our roads are
generally wider and straighter in most sections of the country but the riding
surfaces are almost identical.
You must press rapidly ahead in your highway
construction programs so that factories can be located throughout the country and so
that the products that you manufacture can be distributed easily to all sections of
the country.
We, in the United States, are working toward a solution to a
similar problem. In the mountainous eastern portion of the United States, there is a
general area known as Appalachia. This is a poverty-stricken area. It has little
industry. One of the reasons is that the transportation system, both highway and
railroad, is very poor.
Our national government is undertaking an aggressive
highway construction program in this area so that industry can move into the area
and bring greater prosperity. You can reasonably expect your highway programs
to improve Korea’s economic situation.
Having now disposed of the railroad and highway segments of the Korean trans-
portation system, we need finally to examine Korea's ability to move goods by water.
This capability is the one which will determine Korea’s ability to import raw

Page 7

materials and to ship its industrial goods to foreign markets. In this regard,
Korea is well off.
There are good ports strategically located on the eastern,
western, and southern coasts. Those ports are served by railroads and highways.
Ironically, the most significant problem concerning ports exists here in the city
where we are gathered today. Inchon, unfortunately, experiences a tremendous
tidal fluctuation which prevents ships from anchoring close to shore on low tide.
This difficulty is overcome to some extent by the tidal basin that has been built here.
This basin will have to be expanded for Seoul and Inchon to benefit fully from Korea’s
industrial growth. This expansion will involve a major engineering and construction effort,
but it undoubtedly will eventually be economically feasible.
I hope that I have not painted a picture that is too bright or too dismal. It
has been my intent to demonstrate that Korea can successfully further industrialize
but that it will take time and effort by all concerned.
A logical question is, “What can we do to assist in the industrialization
process?”
This is a good question.
Individuals such as you in the
audience who are influential in the community and in clubs, such as this
Inchon Rotary Club, can be of great assistance.
First, give energetic
support to your young people who are getting scientific, engineering, business,
and other professional education. Secondly, remember that this industrialization
will not take place overnight. It will have to be accomplished step by step. Your
community might, therefore, not be the first to benefit from your government's
industrialization program.
The important thing to remember is that every Korean
benefits from the prosperity of a single individual or community. Therefore, you must
give full support to any logical program even though you may not be the
immediate primary beneficiary. I wish you good luck and complete success.

Page 8

Thank you for having allowed me to address such a distinguished group
as yourselves. I hope that I, in some small way, may have helped rekindle
your interest and hope for Korea’s successful industrialization.

Thank you.

~ Address given by Major Donald R. Swygert, 2d Engr Gp (Const), on 27 Oct 1965  ~

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I had never read this or even had any awareness about this address my Father had authored or given until I received it in an email from him on August 21, 2013.

I do not intend to self promote in this paragraph, but I will use a small excerpt from my own writing published by The United States department of Energy from Oct 1, 2010, and it is quite uncanny to me how there are so many similarities and the same fortes, however my stressing is post industrialization, as we have truly all internationally embarked upon an entirely new era.

My excerpt, and the entire article maybe read at the link enclosed below:

" This to me is exactly the essence of what the " GREEN MOVEMENT" is all about. First, reducing our own personal carbon footprint by efficiently consuming less natural resources through the use of modern and more efficient technology. Using this more modern technology creates a new work force with a fresh clean perspective, thus creating more jobs in many ways from manufacturing the new products (often made of recycleables), teaching the new philosophy and techniques to students in the trade on their way to earning their licenses, and thusly creating new jobs as we push the envelope to gain the upper hand on treating Mother Earth more properly and respectfully. Once this cycle has started we can continue down a path of better design by engineers making even more efficient products that not long were even deemed possible or at the very least, not feasible. Each change in technology has the ability to further revolutionize this new "Green Industry" thus propelling the industry along. 

This is what I consider a new philosophy that has been evolving in the last few recent years very rapidly especially and mostly due to our recent and/or current recession and the fears faced by the rise in fuel prices (in particular petroleum products). These are valuable lessons we are learning and this is something we can demonstrate and share with the rest of the world as we pave the way into a new green future, but it takes fine programs like these.

As an early nation we were strictly in an "Agricultural Era", as all we had was raw land. Once we became efficient as a nation and were able to sustain life at home in the U.S.A. with the food we grew and other raw materials we farmed and with the wealth we started to amass as a nation while trading at home and especially abroad with other nations, we began to transition into an "Industrial Age". After labor prices rose here for many reasons, we often outsourced labor to other nations, as it was often less expensive to manufacture in those nations and then ship it abroad and/or back home for trade. We were the industrial giant of the world. After amassing even greater wealth and becoming one of, if not the most, wealthiest nations in the world and with our labor prices rising ever sharper, we made the transition into the "Service Age". We. as a nation are beyond that now as an era and are, I believe, at the beginning of the wild frontier of the "Green Era". We now have the ability to pave the way for the world and with the world as we are upon the threshold of this new golden age. The basic philosophy of this program simply illustrates how it helps so many from the less fortunate as myself, to the blue collar workers all the way up to the white collar professionals. This is a simple and beautiful system that should be emulated often during this transition that is currently effecting all industries and market places. We, in the great state of Maryland in particular, should be proud that we are on the cutting edge of the new "Green Era" as we are swiftly becoming the leaders setting the stage for others to follow. We in Maryland utilize wind, hydro, and solar energy and are doing so more and more often every year. We, as a nation, must maintain this path of growth and efficiency in order to move forward and build our new worldwide economy while setting an example for other countries."

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/wip/news_detail.html?news_id=16404

My thoughts flow along the exact same lines that can and will follow a path to a new success, and if we are diligent as South Korea was, we will see these same types of benefits, and the paradigm shift has begun.

The lessons here in are many, but the few I will name are a commitment to selfless  dedication for the greater good of all citizens, a forte on building infrastructure so needed to complete these goals, and a massive emphasis on education for these fields today where we are far too lacking in skilled man power for these new high technology jobs.

I envisioned my own ideas along with others, with the input of a lot of research, experience, studying, interviews, and contemplation, and it was the only concise and clear picture I could envision that suits the measures needed today against current juxtapositions to the health and prosperity of our economy and eco-system that offers a promise for a future that  has been as fruitful of our past, both nationally and internationally.

A recent article in the Cumberland Times News appears tome to be an excellent idea that would further compliment our centralized location to Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Maryland, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as I have previously written about many times, and if the projected numbers are accurate this should be an idea embraced an quickly promoted so that no time is wasted on what appears to be a brilliant idea that would add a lot of jobs in many sectors and for the bolster this entire area, and pave a way to more future projects that would be complimentary to this new hub.

Below are a few quotes out of context that will paint a clear picture of what is in the planning stages thus far.

CSX railroad property near Carpendale could become freight hub


— CARPENDALE, W.Va. — Mona Ridder, executive director of the Mineral County Development Authority, is working to promote the idea of an intermodal facility on 300 acres of CSX property that lies along the North Branch of Potomac River adjacent to Carpendale. The proposal is in the very beginning stages and Ridder hopes to have a meeting with all the key players to brainstorm and move the project forward.

Highway upgrades in West Virginia to accommodate the facility would be minimal and would be done at two small intersections in Ridgeley with state Route 28, according to Ridder.

An intermodal facility uses two or more forms of transportation to move goods or commodities in or out of an area, according to Doug York, West Virginia Public Port Authority executive director, who has expressed an interest in the project. An example would be the Heartland Intermodal Gateway at Prichard, where cargo is transfered from rail to trucking.

York has received Ridder’s proposal and noted the next step would be a feasibility study, which would look at things like where the closest port of call is located. Ridder indicated that the MCDA would be willing to pay for the study but it would have to go to the board for approval. The nearest inland port to the region is located in Front Royal, Va., according to Ridder.

The North/South Highway study that was completed in 2000 and updated in 2010 indicated that construction and upgrade of the highway, which has been an initiative of the TGCC, would likely produce 20,000 construction jobs and 10,00 permanent jobs, according to Ridder.

http://times-news.com/local/x316296277/CSX-railroad-property-near-Carpendale-could-become-freight-hub

So here is yet another fine example of a project that would be very fruitful and a project that we need in this area tremendously.

10,000 permanent jobs for this are is nothing to sneeze at, because that is equal to over 50% of this small cities population.

This can greatly establish us as a main regional hub for transport as well as bolster our foothold in Green Era industry as we would have the transportation aspects in place for the goods we could produce here at home.

I have also suggested and engineering college here at home in Cumberland along with a complimentary Science and Technology High School, and some local politicians have suggested at least a large college coming into this are as well.

What I have seen on a local level is a very poor collection of unconnected ideas not well promoted by a core of individuals not willing to work with a collective team of citizens on a better plan to present to these outside institutions, and we may miss the train on this possibility if the proper proposal does not materialize.

I have a 38 year tenured doctor from Howard University that said he would assist me as well as a friend at Northrop Grumann, among other well qualified that offered to help for free, but as it is all too typical for this area, no return calls or emails were sent to me in reply concerning my propositions. Also these professionals had offered to help for free and have the connections and expertise to make a proposal that would thrust this area into the forefront of modern engineering to compliment the other institutions in our general area.

Today in this world we all reside in, we are at a cross roads now and we do not have to see the perils upon us get any worse if we stick to this path and philosophy of the Green Era and encourage and promote and have great trust in the promise of hard work as we become better educated while building these similar infrastructures, as mentioned above, where needed and designed to more modern standards for our country as well as promoting them abroad while we set the example, similar to what my Father shared with his own vision which has certainly, with no doubt what so ever, brought great prosperity to our friends and allies in South Korea.

I simply feel that, if I do not share modern vision that is being embraced today during the toughest of times, which I think are times far worse then the great depression just by shear numbers and statistics alone, I am doing a dis-service by not sharing the truthful and honest history that is a story of dedicated, thought out, well prepared, efficient planning, and work, that has brought a great amount of prosperity to a once very recently ravaged nation, our friends in the beloved and beautiful South Korea.

Switching gears back to the Anniversary of July 27, 2013 and the experience of the ceremony, speeches and new found friend, I will finish by sharing those enlightening experiences I shared with my family.

My family had the pleasure of meeting Young-Key Kim-Renaud and I will enclose some pictures here that are truly wonderful keepsakes of such a fine day, and as a writer and poet myself, I felt so very honored to meet her and hope to speak with her more as time goes by and learn from her through the experiences she can share that will enhance our lives and help to further promote peace.

Retired Colonel Donald R. Swygert (U.S.M.A. Class of 1952) and Dr. Young-Key Kim-Renaud (below)


                     Retired Colonel Donald R. Swygert and Dr. Young-Key Kim-Renaud (below)




        Lisa Swygert, Dr. Young-Key Kim-Renaud, and Donald R. Swygert Jr. (U.S.M.A. Class of 1982) 



                                       Dr. Young-Key Kim-Renaud and John "Stephen"Swygert



The last two lines of the final stanza,

"Look where we are and where they are--
  It is not a Forgotten War, but the magic lives on and on."

in Dr. Young-Key Kim-Renaud's poem for me personally are the most poignant, because they sum up the entirety of a conflict that teaches us that there were overwhelming success stories amidst and above and beyond certain tragedies. 

The victory is a certain thing, and there was no tie or loss to the North Koreans in this war's aftermath, as South Korea has a rich heritage preserved and a wholesome thriving economy, thanks to those that opposed such aggression.

This was a long overdue recognition and celebration for these fine men and women and for 60 years of PEACE!!!

GOD BLESS THESE BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN !

Nearly 8,000 Americans never returned home at all, and are fully un-accounted for.

Nearly 2.5 million men and women died in this conflict, an absolutely devastating number!

As World War II veterans are now a rare source of personal testimony sharing history, so to are we losing these men and women who deserve the utmost respect and to never be forgotten.

When you personally see an 84 year old man, a veteran of this war, a retired West Point Colonel, my beautiful Father, get teary eyes and celebrate being by the members of his family sharing this time as we did, it strikes deeper then any chord I have ever known.

My Father is, and always has been, a steadfast rock of a man, and rarely ever shows any threads of weakness, and he held true this day as well, as he shared joy, triumph for another nation that appreciates this country, and I am certain a great appreciation for returning home and having a family and a life so fulfilled.

It may be nearly impossible to feel or receive these same sentiments by simply watching, but trust me, these men were truly honored, and appreciated it in the most humbling way.

To see the strongest and smartest and finest man I have ever known emotional at all was striking to say the least, and perhaps that is why I have thought and thought and prayed about these fine men and women since that day, even as I went about my other business.

When men and women, our beloved and sacred veterans, are finally appreciated properly for doing what is right and will always be right, PROTECTING FREEDOM, you can see at least a little of the pains and anguish slip further away.

I have never fought or served, and I do not know these pains nor will I pretend to, but I have observed very closely many great men and women, and read and shared many stories from other veterans, and they want nothing but to be embraced.

I have a friends whose father survived Auschwitz, and he shared greatly with me. I miss him dearly.

I had a high school teacher at Ft. Hunt, Mr (Misure/Senor) Leonard Ahearn, who was in the first wave of Normandy as they struck the beach, and he shared intimate details with me because I pried for this information, as I begged him and he asked why, and got fuming mad, I shared that my Father was a veteran, and I knew it hurt too much to share these details with his youngest son, but I needed to know these things so that I could share this knowledge and help to make a statement with my life to at least some degree that we must not repeat these things again, at any cost, when so possible.

Wow, I saw what he explained, as his command of the English language was so perfect while it painted a very poignant picture for my mind's eye.

I miss him as well, as he too has passed like my friend Mr. Arthur Menke. Art Menke

Art, I hope you do not mind that I shared about your Father, he was such a beautiful soul.

President Obama gave a great speech and honored these brave men and women as so deserved along with many other great speakers, be they poets, politicians, public servants, service men and women, etc., and as my Republican Father and Brother stated (both West Pointers), he and we as well have a lot to deliver!

There is no division through party affiliation towards freedom and honor ever.

We all as Americans must set aside political fracases and focus on a brighter and better tomorrow for this and all coming generations.

I do not say that at all to incense anyone, but rather motivate each of us to learn to respect life even more, because all these men never wanted me or anyone else to ever experience war! They have each individually shared that with me by sharing those words after sharing horrific experiences in  great and graphic detail.

Peace is tough to preserve, but preventing war is priceless!

Peace has become to cliche, and veterans of all lands too forgotten far too often.

As a generation folds into the sands of time, what lessons will we each learn that they so dearly want us to, such that many gave their very own lives to deliver that message loud and clear?

God Bless our country and our veterans.

May we learn deep and lasting lessons so that these precious lives were not lost in vane.

OTHER GREAT LINKS:

http://www.koreanwar60.com/gallery/heroes-remembered-july-27-commemoration


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBjzS4SS0l0