ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Abraham Lincoln,
the sixteenth President of the United States.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We would like to think all of our presidents of the United States were truly great men and to be sure, just handling the awesome responsibility of the presidency takes a special kind of individual.  One of the unique and great things about the system of government in America is the concept of citizen leadership.  This is the idea of an ordinary citizen rising up and becoming president for a while and then returning to private life.

But of the handful of men who have held that office, a few have stood out for their great achievements and leadership in a time that changed the country forever.  And one of these truly great presidents was Abraham Lincoln.  Probably more than any other president, Lincoln had to handle an internal civil war that was far more than shouting and name-calling.  This was a dispute that could have torn the country in half and starting a rupturing that could have resulted in dozens of small weak independent states instead of the powerful nation we know as America today.

It was Lincoln’s leadership, his commitment to values and his strong moral fiber that made it possible for America to find its way through that war and then to begin the healing process that would eventually lead the nation back to unity once again.  Lincoln’s term of service from 1860 until his death was one of considerable challenge.  If he only had the problem of dealing with the attempt by the south to succeed from the union and his ability to keep those states as part of the American national territory, he would be lauded as a great American indeed.

One of the little known leadership styles that Lincoln used to his advantage in the organization of his presidency was his appointment of talented national figures from opposing political parties to be part of his cabinet.  Lincoln felt that he needed to have close advisors from the opposing viewpoint to keep from having his presidency become insulated from the American people and one-sided.  By gathering members of the “loyal opposition” into his trusted inner circle, Lincoln was always aware of both sides of every issue which made him a stronger leader.

Lithograph of the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
From left to right: Henry Rathbone, Clara Harris,
 Mary Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln, and
John Wilkes Booth.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

But that is not even his greatest accomplishment or the one that we remember him for the most.  His bold and unchanging opposition to slavery is without any doubt his greatest contribution to the history of America and indeed to world history as well.  When he was willing to put everything on the line to stop this barbaric social sin, Lincoln made a stand, against the popular opinion of the time in many cases that he would be the figure to bring slavery to an end.

It was not a stand that came without cost. The civil war was one of the bloodiest and costliest in the nation’s history if for no other reason than all casualties; on both sides were casualties of America.  It would take many decades for the ravages of that horrible war to be repaired.  The schism between north and south continued for decades and is still a part of our national personality in this country.

But the end result was what Lincoln wanted to be his legacy.  By issuing the Emancipation Proclamation to make the end of slavery permanent, Lincoln followed that up with the passing of the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments which made permanent the freedoms that were hard-fought and won in the Civil War.  

The freedom that was won for so many black Americans in that war permanently enshrined the memory of Abraham Lincoln as one of our greatest presidents in the hearts and minds of all Americans.  Small wonder the monument honoring him on Washington’s national mall is one of the most revered spots in the nation and one that thousands flock to each year to give respect for this great president that made liberty and freedom a reality for all Americans, not just a few.  And his face on Mount Rushmore is well deserved so the very mountain itself shouts out, this is one of the greatest leaders in the history of this great country.

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How to Coax Fresh Vegetables From the GARDEN All Winter Long

Early morning hoar frost In the back garden on a misty, cold December morning. 

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Autumn typically signals the end of homegrown vegetables from the garden, but with a little ingenuity, you can harvest garden-fresh produce well into the winter months. My Central Pennsylvania garden continues to supply fresh vegetables during the fall and winter when most gardeners in my growing region are content to dream about next summer’s bounty. Read on to discover simple tricks that will fortify your garden against the onslaught of frigid weather.

Fall often delivers brief cold spells with a few frost filled mornings, sandwiched between weeks of milder, frost-free conditions. The problem is that a single touch of frost can wipe out every tender annual growing in the garden. Fortunately, a little protection will enable frost-sensitive vegetables and herbs to survive a cold snap, and reward the resourceful gardener with an opportunity to enjoy extended harvests.

Something as simple as the transparent, fleecy, floating row covers used to shield plants from harmful insects can also prevent frost damage. Row covers trap the warmth that radiates up from the earth much like the way that a cloud cover holds temperatures and prevents frost from forming. Row covers offer a few degrees of protection, keeping tender annuals safe from light frost. Use the thicker grade covers for maximum benefit.

Late summer is the ideal time to sow cold-tolerant vegetables that will flourish in the fall and endure cold weather without complaint. Examples of hardy vegetables for fall gardening include kale, spinach, collards, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels Sprouts, kohlrabi, turnips, cabbages, oriental greens, rutabagas, and some varieties of lettuce.

Once freezing conditions arrive, even cold-hardy crops will appreciate some protection if they remain in the garden. Cardboard boxes and fruit baskets can provide shelter to individual plants, while old sheets, blankets, and heavy plastic tarps will protect entire rows or beds of plants. Apply the coverings in the evening when freezes are forecast and remove them the following morning after the sun warms the air.

Another effective solution is to use a commercial variety of cloche or to set up a portable cold frame over the garden bed. Cloches include the heavy glass, bell-shaped jars, or variously styled and shaped rigid plastic devices.

One style of the cold frame consists of a tubular frame covered by a woven poly material with flaps for venting. You can also obtain sturdier cold frames made with aluminum framing and twin wall polycarbonate panels that lift up for venting. Regardless of the type of protection used to cover your plants you must remove it or provide venting during the day as temperatures rise.

Resourceful gardeners can combine a few discarded window sashes and bales of straw to create a simple makeshift cold frame. Just arrange the straw bales into a rectangular shape around a garden bed and lay the windows across the top to form an enclosed and insulated growing area. This setup will work great to keep a bed of leafy greens growing further into the winter.

Oddly enough, water can protect and insulate plants from the cold. Commercial orchards actually spray water and mist onto their trees to prevent frost damage.

In the home garden, you can employ plastic gallon jugs filled with water to provide protection. Place the containers around plants, under floating row covers or tarps, and inside of your cold frames.

The water will absorb and store heat during the day and release it at night to provide warmth for your plants. You’ll get the best results by painting the jugs black so that they’ll absorb more energy from the sun during the day. Incredibly, even if the water in the container freezes, it will continue to release a significant amount of heat energy into the surrounding area.

Certain vegetables will survive on their own in the garden through bitterly cold conditions. Leeks, kale, and collards frequently withstand harsh winters without any protection. Fall planted garlic and shallots will develop strong root systems in the fall, spend the winter underground, and then spring up at the earliest signs of the arrival of spring.

Many root crops including beets, carrots, turnips, rutabagas, and parsnips can be left in the garden protected with a thick layer of shredded leaves or straw. You can then continue harvesting as needed, provided that the ground doesn’t freeze and prevent digging. Complete your harvesting before spring arrives though since the quality will degrade once the roots resume growing and switch into seed production mode.

With proper planning and a little extra care, you can easily grow and harvest vegetables beyond the normal spring and summer seasons. Simply implement a few of the ideas presented in this article and you’ll soon enjoy your own homegrown, fresh produce much longer than usual, possibly even year-round.

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Discovering the Beauty of MEXICO Through a Travel Adventure

Across Towers, Mexico City
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Do you love to travel? Would you love to go to a place which you are unsure if it has something to offer? Will you take a risk just to experience new things? 

If your answer is yes, then your next stop should be Mexico. 

Think of 22 million people at only one place, wouldn’t it be amazing? Thus, for most people, appreciating the heart and soul of Mexico is just the same as the overwhelming scheme. 

Mexico is a federal district like the Washington D.C. of the United States. This is roughly 700 years old and is the main city on the continent of North America. It has been a successful cosmopolitan center for nine centuries since the time it was founded as the primeval capital of the Aztec Empire. It is the oldest constantly populated city in the Western part of Hemisphere. 

Today, it is a lively cultural and business center in the modern world of the 21st century. But it still maintains its radiant historic and architectural inheritance. 

It is a tourist spot. Mexico is not as intimidating as what others usually think. As a matter of fact, most of the sceneries, cultural and historical spots are small and independent. Just think of it as the Manhattan of Latin America with just similar outstanding attractions and promises. 

Tourists can take a tour to the Historic center, some of the great museums, and significant historic areas. The control of Spanish can be felt and seen on the buildings and architectures. The center of Metropolitan Cathedral is also a nice place to go for tourists. The whole area of Mexico is loaded with sceneries, history, and fine restaurants and shopping. 

There is also the canal system which takes visitors on a trip using a flat bottom boat. Fruits and veggies are also on its abundant growth which gives the place some of the finest products and a unique attraction for tourists. 

Mexico is a true fortune only if you get time to appreciate it, recognize it and feel it.  If you decided to have a trip in this place, you will most likely feel that you have tripped to an agreeably amazing and fascinating haven. 

Tourists who love sophistication, culture and traditions, art and history, would possibly put this place on their top destination list.

A good tourist should not base their choice of destination to the opinion of others. Every traveler has his own taste and appreciation of things. What is annoying and awful to some might be wonderful and enjoyable to you. 

Traveling needs a lot of consideration. And your consideration should also include the right of some place to show its natural goodness to you.

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How to Make Mountains and Hills For Your MODEL RAILROAD

Diorama at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Once you've got a train layout set up on a flat table, you might want to make it more interesting by adding some mountains and hills. There are a couple of ways to do this, and they are both easy.

Papier-Mâché Method

If your layout is temporary, or you don't want to spend much money, you can use the papier-mâché method. Basically, you just scrunch up some newspapers into the general shape of the hill or mountain, then cover them with sheets of newspaper dipped in papier-mâché paste.

The traditional method of making papier-mâché paste is to add one part water to one part flour. Some people prefer to boil the paste, saying that it makes the consistency smoother. Water to flour ratio is changed to five parts water to one part flour in this case. Other people use a three to one or a one to one ratio of water and polyvinyl acetate wood glue. Still, others say that starch makes a fine paste.

Adding a dash of cinnamon to the mixture gives the paste a pleasant smell; adding a dash of salt and sugar reduces the chances of the product developing mould.

You simply dip sheets of newspaper (fold them a couple of times to make them thicker) in the paste and drape them over the scrunched up newspapers. The sheets will be soft and pliable, so mould them into hills and valleys as you like. Let the papier-mâché dry overnight. You will find that it is hard and rigid, like a piñata.

Paint it with water-based paint in shades of green (for grass) and brown (for dirt) and grey (for rock). You can also use spray paint, but make sure it is matte, not glossy paint. While the paint is still wet, sprinkle some grass (available at the hobby shop) or green-coloured sawdust. When the paint is dry, add some lichen for bushes and trees (also available at any hobby shop).

Window Screening and Wooden Supports

If your train layout is permanent, a more durable method of making mountains and hills is to use screening and wooden supports. This also has the advantage that you can run tracks on the mountain itself, providing you make the appropriate supports. Basically, you cut wooden support blocks to the appropriate size, then drape window screening (called "fly screen" in Australia) over the blocks, stapling the screen to the blocks. You should fasten the blocks to the table with screws or nails first, so they don't move around.

If you want, you can build a second track bed around or through the mountain, elevated above the table. Simply use support blocks and plywood to make a rigid base for the track.

Once the screening is in place, pinch it in places to make rugged edges, ditches, and valleys. Then mix up some common household plaster (available at any hardware store to fix holes in a plaster wall) and slobber it over the screen. There is no need to be careful, just make sure all the screen is covered. A thicker plaster mix works much better than a thin mix, as the latter allows the screen to show through.

When you get to the rugged vertical bits, use horizontal strokes of a knife to simulate rock cuts. Let the plaster dry overnight and then paint as described above.

Finally, finish it off with lichen bushes and trees as appropriate.

Don't Forget Access

When you are deciding how big to make your mountain, and where to place it, also think about derailments. Murphy's Law guarantees that, at some point, your train is going to derail in the tunnel through your mountain. Make sure the tunnel entrance is large enough so you can reach in and get your train out.

Or consider these alternatives: If you have made a papier-mâché mountain, and not glued it to the table, you can simply lift it off the table.

If you have made a permanent wood block and wire screen mountain, then consider cutting access holes in the table, below the mountain, so you can reach in and right the train or remove it. Don't make the holes too close to the track, because if the train does derail at that spot, you don't want it to fall through the hole onto the floor.

By Douglas Anderson  - Article Source: EzineArticles

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HORSES -The Paso Fino

Drawing of the Famous Puerto Rican Paso Fino Stallion Dulce Sueño, born in 1927 in Guayama (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When Christopher Columbus landed in the New World in 1492, he found a continent without horses.  After returning to Spain, upon his return to the Americas, he brought back mares and stallions from Andalusia and Cordelia.  These horses were a mixture of Andalusian, Barb, and the now-extinct Spanish Jennet.  The resulting offspring of this mixture was a horse with a very smooth and comfortable gait suitable for the varied terrains of the New World.  

Because of a trait contributed by the Jennet, of passing the most desirable characteristics along to its offspring, the horse quickly became favored by the Conquistadors.  This was the founding stock of the Paso Fino breed.  The breed established a place in the history of Western Civilization, being cited as instrumental in the conquest, exploration, and development of the Americas.

Over the 500 years since the introduction of the founding stock in the Western Hemisphere, the Paso Fino has been selectively bred and refined.  And although they can be found elsewhere Peru, in South America, claims the most famous and purest bloodlines of this breed.

The most outstanding characteristic which makes the Paso Fino unique is the pattern and even cadence of its instinctual 1-2-3-4 gait.  The hoofbeats are individually and distinctly heard as the horse moves.  The movement is smooth and lateral, rather than diagonal.  The rider feels very little, if any, up-and-down movement when the horse is in motion.  This most unusual gait is performed at three speeds:

Classic Fino - Used for show purposes only, this is the same forward speed as a slow walk.  The horse is collected and balanced.  Watching the leg motion is fascinating.

Paso Corto - this is similar in speed to a trot.  It's a moderate speed, yet allows one to cover a good distance in a leisurely fashion.  Because of the smoothness of the stride, both horse and riders can go for hours tirelessly.

Paso Largo - this is a faster speed with a longer stride.  The actual speed is different for each horse because it will reach its top speed in natural coordination with its tempo and stride.

Description and Conformation

The Paso Fino's colors run the gamut of the equine color range.  There is no one defining color assigned to this breed as being necessary for it being registered as a purebred horse and they can be with, or without, white markings.

This breed ranges in height from 13 to 15.2 hands (52 to 60.8 in,.  or 132 to 154 cm.), with the most typical being 13.3 to 14.2 hands (53.2 to 56.8 in., or 135 to 144.2 cm.), which is considered small to average height for a horse.  The weight ranges from 700 to 1100 pounds (49.7 to 78.1 stones).  The full size of the Paso Fino may not be reached until it is five years of age.

The Paso Fino is often described as being of noble appearance.  The immediate impression that one has is that of power, grace, and overall athletic balance in this horse.  Its mane and tail are luxurious and flowing.  The neck is sinuous, arched, and muscular.  The shoulders are well-defined, but not prominent.  The back is short and connects with slightly sloped hindquarters.  The legs appear short, but powerful.  The breed is naturally sure-footed with extremely durable hooves.  Unless the horse is habitually used on a rock or hard surfaces, it is rarely shod.

This beautiful breed of horse possesses a natural affection, is very intelligent, and is built for hard work.  It performs well in gaited events, for showing, trail riding, and for pleasure riding.

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Activities For Radio Hobbyists

Flickr

Amateur radio or ham is largely a hobby activity. The majority of the hobby time is spent on making contact and having conversations with people in distant regions and from different cultures. Two-way communications, identifying their location and station, zone, region and place is the usual custom. This is always followed by other casual communications. If the contact is made for a contest to make two-way communication with as many stations or ham radio operators as possible, this all the information that is shared.

DX-ing and DX-peditions:

An amateur radio operator’s main hobby is to make contact with as many stations as possible from as many parts of the world as possible. DX stands for Distant Stations. The DX-ing usually is followed with the QSO. (a Q code., see below) which means “a conversation”. 

DX-peditions are different in the sense that they are expeditions organized/planned solely for the purpose of making contacts with some special or rare stations and regions. Some people travel a long distance just to make contact with some unrepresented region or place.

Radio Frequency scanners available nowadays form the tool of great use in these attempts. The radio scanner scans for signals until a strong signal is found and so on.

QSL cards:

The Q code is a standardized collection of three-letter message encodings, all starting with the letter "Q", initially developed for commercial radiotelegraph communication, and later adopted by other radio services, especially amateur radio. In today’s audio signal transmission age, the Q codes are not essential. but still in use and are viewed as a sort of tradition.

As a part of DX-ing and DX-peditions, the QSL card or the proof of contact card is shared. QSL is one such Q-code that means “I acknowledge receipt”. The common practice was that the ones who made contact at a particular frequency exchange a QSL card in the mail to confirm their contact and conversations. These QSL cards can be used as a proof of their making contact and amateur operators who make contact with a certain number of other amateur radio operators in a specified time is awarded. Moreover, they are distinguished and honored since they are deemed to be efficient amateur radio operators.

Remote region contacting:

Some countries have less amateur radio operators, and making contact with these are considered special. So, when a radio amateur from these regions makes contact, other ham operators flock to make communication with this / these hams. Making contact with these less represented places has its awards and special considerations in the award programs.

Hamfests:

Social events for ham families and friends. It’s something akin to the family-oriented social fests where there are sales, exchanges, meetings and fun. Similarly, the fest is filled with selling and exchanging hams, meeting real-life ham friends and fun events for a day or sometimes over a few days.

Discussion groups and Nets:

Ham operators form a discussion group based on common interests other than ham or it can also be a ham related discussion group and they can form nets or networks.

If a radio hobbyist gets involved with all of these different activities, he or she is sure to never be bored. Look into some of them, and see if you would like to get involved.

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Dietary LOSS SUPPLEMENT Weight Controversy

This bodybuilding supplement contains whey protein and creatine monohydrate, as well as vitamins and other supplements. 

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In the world of bodybuilding, the dietary loss supplement weight controversy is huge. If you are serious about bodybuilding, this is an issue that you cannot avoid - especially if you have body fat. So, what is the deal with the dietary loss supplement weight controversy?

In recent years, many weight loss dietary supplements have been pulled off of store shelves by the FDA. It seems that they have horrendous side effects, such as heart attacks, strokes, and liver damage. But weight loss is still important in the bodybuilding world, so what should you do?

You should use the most miraculous bodybuilding supplement known to man - creatine. Creatine has an incredible number of benefits, it is safe, and it is highly recommended by doctors, scientists, and bodybuilding experts - and even weight loss experts these days.

It is amazing that there are still so many different dietary loss supplement weight products out there being used by bodybuilders - most of which do not work, and others of which are absolutely dangerous - when we have creatine which is highly approved of, incredibly effective, easily affordable, and simply proven to work.

Creatine occurs naturally in the body, and it consists of three amino acids, which include Methionine, Arginine, and Glycine. Once in the liver, these three amino acids are combined, and they produce creatine.

What scientists have found is that when you have plenty of creatine in your system, your muscles use more adenosine triphosphate during exercise. This is important because this is what gives the muscles energy to perform the exercises that you are doing. The more creatine you have in your system, the more ATP you have, and the more exercises you can do.

Creatine is so effective in the process of building muscles that it has been deemed the legal steroid - even though it isn't actually a steroid. Creatine is perfectly safe, and it does not change your estrogen or testosterone levels in any way.

In terms of weight loss, creatine is effective in that it has been proven to burn off excess fat while building lean muscle mass. This happens very easily. The idea is to absolutely drench your muscles with creatine, by taking a creatine supplement. This, in turn, will attract water to those muscles. When this happens, the muscles must expand, which makes them bigger.

Bigger muscles require more energy than smaller muscles. When they cannot find that excess energy anywhere else, the muscles will start using stored body fat for energy. Note that exercise is still required; however this is incredibly beneficial for bodybuilders, and in recent years has settled the great dietary loss supplement weight controversy.

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Shakespearian Plays

William Shakespeare - Photo: Pixabay

The works of William Shakespeare bears no comparison in the history of arts. He was a versatile English poet, play writer and actor. He has written nearly 38 plays, 154 sonnets and countless poems between the years 1582–1612, which are remembered even to this day. They had a great impact on English literature and western theater. All his works have been translated into all known languages and they have been performed around over the world over a million times.

Although most of his works were written for English audience the appeal was universal. His writing style was greatly influenced by Christopher Marlowe. In 1594, Shakespeare became part-owner of Lord Chamberlain’s Men, a drama company. By then he had even started acting, along with writing plays. Under his presence, the company became so famous which made King James I buy the company and then it was named as King’s men. 

His plays revolved around tragedy, comedy, romance and history. He started his career reworking on other writers work which was common at that time. Since then he helped the playwrights to finish their work fast. Like Hamlet was the new adaptation of a lost play named Ur-Hamlet and King Lear was the new version of King Leir. His plays on history were inspired by the Greek, Roman and English history. Plays like Plutarch’s Parallel Lives and Raphael Holinshed’s The Chronicle of England inspired plays like Macbeth and King Lear. Tempest was his original work.

Shakespeare’s early works of the 1590s were based on romantic comedies and historic nostalgia which were the storyline of works like A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Henry IV, Part I. After the plague, he began including rhymed couplets and dramatic dialogues in his work. His middle period works revolved around betrayal, murder, egoism, power, ambition, lust, tragedy and comedy. Plays like Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Troilus and Cressida were based on them. His later works were mostly romantic and fantasies such as The Winter’s Tale and The Tempest. His works were also published in the press as a series of quartos. Two actors named John Heminges and Henry Condell started First Folio to honor and publish Shakespeare’s work exclusively in 1623. Categories such as comedies, tragedies and histories were made in First Folio. Modern critics have added categories like problem-play and tragic-comedies. 

The exact order of plays is unknown and has always been the subject of an argument as at his time, plays weren’t authoritatively printed. Many of his plays had many different blueprints due to the textual corruption like printer’s error and compositor’s misreading, so the recognition of his original work is a problem. Many words and spellings were invented by Shakespeare. 

He had a habit of writing his plays number of time using those different words and spellings. After his death, speculations have risen about the authenticity of Shakespeare’s work. There has been a very little record about the events that happened in his life and nor does his will gives an account on any of his plays, poems, sonnets and ownership of the Globe theater. It has been rumored that they might be works of Francis Bacon or Christopher Marlowe.  

The works that have been lost are Love’s Labour’ Won, Cardenio and Quixote. Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, King Lear, As You Like It, Hamlet, The Taming of the Shrew, Othello, Julius Caesar, The Tempest, The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, Macbeth and Richard III are some the critically acclaimed works of William Shakespeare.  

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Going to the Source to Learn HOME BREWING

Photo: Wikimedia

The time between when it first dawns on you that you could start learning to brew your own beer at home and when you actually take a stab at it is often a long one.  For one thing, it takes a pretty significant learning curve to even begin to visualize that it possible to make beer at home.  Oh, you may have heard about home breweries but to think of doing it in your own home setting is a leap of understanding that takes some time to get through.

The internet is often a source of information that we go to start learning more about a new area of life like home brewing.  Perhaps that is how you found this article and that’s good.  That means you are off on the right foot and using free information from people who have already learned a few things about brewing at home to get your orientation to what it would take for you to learn to brew your own beer at home.

As often happens with any new area of interest, if your fascination with how to brew beer at home starts to get some momentum, it’s a good way to go to log on to the major homebrewing websites and begin to get oriented to the methods, the equipment and the process of brewing beer at home.  Do be aware that some of these sites get very technical and it's easy to get intimidated.

But if you can just get an understanding about the equipment and the ingredients and some basic ideas of how the process would go if you were the one doing the brewing, that is a good start.  Because online articles and websites mix expert knowledge with newcomers orientation, if you do stumble into a section of those sites that you don’t understand, just surf on to pages that are intended to help you where you are and understand that when you get to that level that that technical sophistication, you can always come back to these pages.  Just build a good bookmark library because it will serve you well.

But to pick up speed on learning the real details of what brewing is all about, you don’t have to depend just on reading or books.  Because brewing beer in your own home is more than just book knowledge, it is handling of equipment and ingredients, the more direct exposure you can get to the brewing process, the better.  But it is also very likely that you developed your interest in home brewing while enjoying a good brew at your local brewpub.  Most towns have brewpubs where homemade beers are sold in just about every flavor, colorant texture.  Many times these brewpubs grew up out of a home brewing hobby that just got bigger and bigger until it became an enterprise and a money-making business

That is why most brewpub owners are more than happy to give tours and lessons in home brewing.  This is probably some of the most value exposure you can get to how the process of home brewing works.  By walking through a brewery where the beer you make is made, you can step through the process to get a feel for how you will proceed.  You can see the boiling pots, how the strainers are used and the filters and fertilizers and everything that is needed to take beer from raw materials to the finished state of a fine brewed beer.  In fact, with a little charm and by working for free, you may be able to apprentice in the brewpub making beer.  This time will be tremendously valuable to you to help you learn the ropes of making your own beer.

You combine this hands-on knowledge with what you are learning online and from other training sources along with what you can learn by networking with other experienced home brewers and you have a powerful source of knowledge that will pay you well when you start making your home beer yourself.  And that knowledge will result in some great tasting beers from your kitchen so you will be glad you took the time to learn all you can before taking the plunge.

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Waving Errors Off in FAMILY HISTORY Search

Census taker visits a family living in a caravan, Netherlands 1925

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Census is one of the many resources you can utilize in having your family history search. For those who are not thoroughly familiar with a census, basically, it is a list containing all the population members of a certain area or locality. Apart from the actual account of the number of inhabitants census also indicates vital records which include names, citizenship status, and age.

It should be made clear that census offers one of the crystal clear looks of family background. But it is not a perfect mechanism as errors may sweep in the midst of counting and documenting. Here are some tips on how to ward off certain errors in family history search involving census.

In order to combat errors, you must first know why such things take place. When it comes to the census there are two aspects revolving around errors. One of which has something to do with the takers of the census themselves who are labeled as enumerators. The other one can be attributed to transcribers’ errors. Name spellings can be done through the use of phonetics, initials, and abbreviations. In this manner, errors occurred due to the fact that they get misheard. Present transcribers are trained to be well-versed in terms of past handwriting styles but mistakes do still occur.

There are a lot of means of getting passed through the roadblocks that errors build in front of your search. You can start by doing your searches in variations. How can this be done? Well, use abbreviations, phonetic spellings, foreign translations, or even nicknames that were fondly used during the past. You can also have initials to trigger off your searches. This is how enumerators commonly record. Play with the names by interchanging the first and last names. Different enumerators have different ways of writing the complete name.

Other ways of waving off errors during your search include narrowing your search by specific parameters such as the location and the birth or death date of the person. You can also try your luck by doing the search involving other family members. You just have to be savvy in your search and learn all sorts of mechanisms involved in the recording of a census in the past.

There are also times when transcribers get mixed up on how certain letters were written by their past counterparts. You should be wary of such letters which include s and l; t, f, j, and i; p, k, and r; o and q; and u and w. Another search technique that is commonly utilized is by using a wildcard search. This involves the characters asterisk and question mark. The asterisk can be used to represent up to six characters while the question mark is for only one. One method that can be time-consuming but offers accuracy and reliability is by looking at the page of locality and town accounts page by page.

Whatever the error may be you just have to know how to ward it off and manipulate it to your advantage. Enumerators and transcribers are only human. No matter how good they are in their work mistakes can really take place. In order to make the lives of other researchers that may follow you, make sure that you submit a correction of the mistranscribed name to the proper agencies concerned.

Accuracy is very important in a family history search. It takes wit and diligence in order to wave off errors that can deal your search to a temporary halt.

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Vietnam

Photo: Pixabay

In the annals of American history, there may be no other country name that evokes such emotion as the country of Vietnam.  The history of this conflict is more than just a military struggle.  The impact that the Vietnam conflict had on American culture and foreign policy for many decades to come make it a truly watershed war in the life of a relatively young country.

Vietnam was not, on the surface as clearly a moral battleground as World War II or the Civil War had been.  That in itself made it more difficult for Americans to understand and become patriotic about as they had been in prior wars.  Yes, as in past conflicts, we found ourselves defending our allies, the South Vietnamese against the attacks of a communist neighbor to the north.  And in that way, it became a struggle to assist an ally, a military objective that America had long embraced.

But the war was not just with the North Vietnamese.  To a very large extent, the war was against the Chinese and the Russians who were using the theater in Vietnam to wear down the American fighting force.  It was a war that had been going on for many decades before the Americans got involved as a regional battle.  

Many foreign powers had gotten involved and left defeated so when America entered this conflict, it was a very different kind of war than we had been used to.  The armies mixed with the population.  There were no uniforms and formations and battle theaters as battle could occur anywhere at any time.  Combine that with a hostile jungle setting and the complete absence of any battle protocol and you had a formula for failure if not a very difficult road to success.

Vietnam also is a watchword for the tremendous resistance movement that rose up on American soil to try to stop the conflict.  This resistance movement became deeply entangled with a huge change to the social fabric in the rise of the youth movement, the hippies and the fast-moving surge of the civil rights and the woman’s rights movements.  This made the era of the late 1950s through the early 1970s tremendously difficult to navigate as a nation.

Vietnam did follow somewhat of a predictable path of invasions, major battles, setbacks and regrouping of our forces.  But the military faced a huge challenge in facing the many new war scenarios this difficult combat setting presented.  As the casualty count grew, without a clear cut definition of victory and with very few clear victories to demonstrate to the American people our superiority, the ability of civilian leadership to sustain the support for the war effort became jeopardized.

Vietnam very much represents a transition in how America viewed the conflict.  We came out of the huge successes we had seen our military bring in battle.  The defeat of Hitler and the axis powers in World War II gave America a sense of confidence, of divine calling, to prevail militarily and the concept that we are the good guys and we will always win.  But we did not win in Vietnam and that was and is a hard lesson to learn.

America demonstrated its devout dedication to the concept of supporting an ally in a warring situation when it committed troops to the Vietnam conflict.  But there were many lessons to be learned about preparation and going into a conflict with a strategy that had a high probability of success.  In wars to come in later years such as Grenada, the Balkans and the Liberation of Kuwait, we demonstrated that America had learned those lessons going in with a massive force and achieving victory before we got bogged down in a long civil conflict.

So we can applaud the bravery of our troops and the willingness of our leadership to learn from a tough war like Vietnam.  The lessons to be learned from Vietnam are still being worked out.  But in the end, we will be a better nation and a stronger nation because we put ourselves on the line for a friend, even if the outcome was not the desired outcome.

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Airbrush Art-Your Airbrush Parts

Photo: Wikimedia

All beginner airbrush artists should understand the parts of their airbrushes and what these parts do. After all, how can you create great airbrush art if you do not truly understand your airbrush equipment? Take the time to gain knowledge of all the parts of your airbrush will help you to learn how to properly work your airbrush and also how to take care of it. 

If your airbrush is an internal mix then it will have a needle. The purpose of the needle is to control the paint flow. Any damage to your needle can cause very bad paint spray patterns. It is important to keep your needle from getting bend and either straightening the needle or replacing the needle.

The air cap and head assembly are on the front of your airbrush and they cover the tip of the needle. The purpose of these parts is to control the atomization of the paint spray. Should these parts become dented or damaged in any way you should replace them immediately. Damage to the air cap and head assembly will affect the performance of your airbrush. Thus like the needle, you will be unable to create desirable airbrush art. Both the needle, air cap and head assembly can be purchased at almost any craft or hobby shop that sells airbrushes and airbrush parts.

The airbrush trigger is what allows you to actually operate the airbrush. In a single action airbrush, the trigger controls the air flow. In a dual action airbrush, the trigger controls both the air flow and the paint flow. Beginners should really take the time to practice how the trigger works so that they can perfect their ability to airbrush. Your airbrush will have a back lever as well that acts to shut off the air flow and paint flow when the trigger is released. If this should become damaged then you could have serious problems with your airbrush. Don't worry though it is not hard to replace these parts should there be any damage.

Your airbrush will have a handle on which you can hold onto the airbrush with. Airbrush models come with either a solid handle or a handle with an opening. The purpose of this opening is so that you can adjust the needle without removing the handle in a single action airbrush. Most experienced airbrush artists will actually take their handle off so that they can deal with clogging issues without delay. So the choice is yours as to whether or not you want the handle on or off of your airbrush while you are creating airbrush art. 

Pay special attention to the threads on your airbrush. The threads are located on the head assembly and where the air hose connects to your airbrush. If these threads should ever become cross-threaded then you could end up with an air leak. An air leak will affect the function of your airbrush so make sure to take care not to cause any cross-threading in these areas.

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Building A Radio Controlled Car Without Breaking Your Wallet

Photo: Pixabay

Across the nation, there are thousands of people who are extremely passionate about building and racing remote-controlled cars. If you ask one of them how much money they could spend on building a remote controlled car, you will be surprised at the answer. It is possible to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on top-notch equipment to create an insanely fast and good looking car. If you want to get into the hobby of building radio controlled projects, then you will definitely have to spend some money along the way. You will be faced with very expensive components. However, you don’t need to buy expensive parts for your first car. Read on to find out some of the ways that you can save money.

You should never buy cheap supplies just because they are cheap. If this is your first radio controlled car, you want to get an accurate feel for the hobby without spending too much. This is why you want to buy top quality parts that will make for a great car. At the same time, you may find that the hobby is not for you at all. You may burn out on it after just a few hours of putting together your model. If this is the case, that is another even better incentive to avoid buying expensive parts for your first car. Usually, hobbyists will start to invest more money and more time in their 2nd or 3rd car, after they know that they have the expertise to do it right.

The best way to build your first radio controlled car is to buy a kit that includes just the radio components and the motors. The radio control kits only cost 20 or 30 dollars at your local craft store. Buy it before you start to put the car together so that you can know what dimensions you need to allow for. You can build the car itself from cheap wood and glue (And time. Lots of time.) Go to your local hobby store or lumber store and look for some sort of light wood that you can use to make the car. You will use some sort of epoxy or superglue to hold it all together.

If you would like to take an even less do-it-yourself approach, you could buy a remote control car kit that includes the model for the car. Unless you are a master craftsman, this finished product will probably look better than anything that you could have made from scratch. These kits are very cheap as well. You won’t get much control over how the car looks, which is a huge advantage of building it on your own from scratch. If you want to make it look a certain way, all you have to do is cut the wood a little bigger or a little smaller. Ultimately it is up to you – both will give you good experience in building remote control cars, so it just depends on how much time you want to spend.

If you tried to race against some of the more advanced cars with your kit assembled car, you would be left in the dust almost instantaneously. Your car definitely won’t have much power and it probably won’t have much in the looks department. However, neither of these is important compared to the valuable thing that the new car has given you: experience. By sticking with the easy car when you first start getting into the hobby, you will be ahead of the game when you go to build a nice custom car. In addition to this, it will have allowed you to decide whether it is a hobby that you would like to stick with. So even if you are the type that likes to jump headfirst into things, just hold yourself back and stick with the inexpensive car kits.

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Exploring the Country on a Snowmobile

Photo: Pixabay

There is plenty of territories out there that you can explore on a snowmobile. In the winter time the open areas become covered in snow, but with this type of equipment, you can get where you want to go in no time. Many people enjoy riding on a snowmobile just to have a good time. Others use them as a way of life due to the location where they live and the severity of the weather. 

It is a favorite past time though to engage in snowmobile races because they can go quite fast along the snow. The bottom of the machine is equipped with special skis that allow it to glide over the top of the snow instead of getting bogged down in it. They also use a very small amount of fuel so you can go quite a distance on them. 

Most snowmobiles are very easy to handle and you can ride with either one or two people on them. Even young children are able to operate snowmobiles with parental supervision. In addition to racing snowmobiles, they are often used for exploring and for climbing mountains. It is not uncommon for people to load up their cross-country skis and then drive to the top of the mountains on their snowmobiles. This is often done in pairs so that they can ride one snowmobile to the top, ski down, and have another to take them back to the top again.

The newer models of snowmobiles are able to operate at a rate of 100 miles per hour or more. This means they can be involved in very exciting races that take place along a straight away or over a particular course that is being used for the event. You do have to be very careful with a snowmobile though as you don’t want to be involved in an accident. Having the right equipment will help you avoid injuries if you can’t avoid the accident altogether. 

Some snowmobile races are in place among those that live in the area and want to entertain themselves. Others are sponsored by big-name companies that manufacture snowmobiles. They offer cross country races as well as those that take place on oval tracks and the competitors have to complete a set number of laps. You can win trophies, cash, and prizes if you win the various snowmobile events that are offered. 

The big names in snowmobiles are Polaris and Arctic Cat. Both of them continue to come up with advanced models of snowmobiles in order to get the consumers to buy from them. In very cold areas including Alaska and Canada, there are tourist locations where you can rent snowmobiles for the day to explore. This is a great option if you are thinking about purchasing one but you haven’t made up your mind yet. 

It is important to wear the proper clothing and safety equipment while operating or riding on a snowmobile. Too many people suffer from either frostbite or hypothermia because they aren’t dressed for the cold weather when they ride a snowmobile. You need to dress in layers to maintain your body heat. The outer layer should be a waterproof snowsuit. Make sure you have on a hat and gloves to prevent heat from leaving your body from your head and from your fingers getting frostbite.

Make sure you wear waterproof boots that will offer you good traction for when you get off the snowmobile to walk around or to add more fuel to the tank. You should always wear a helmet when you ride a snowmobile because you never know when something will be in the way. Sometimes there are things under the snow that you can’t see so an accident is unavoidable. Serious injuries and death can occur if you hit your head, and it can be a long time before help can arrive if you are exploring the wilderness on a snowmobile. 

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The American Revolution

Photo: Wikimedia

The American Revolution was a civil war between Loyalists to the British crown (aka Tories, about one-fifth of the population), supported by British expeditionary forces, and Patriots (or Whigs) in the 13 colonies that constituted British North America.

About 20-25% of the populace in the colonies - c. 600,000 - were blacks. About one-third of the white denizens were non-British. Local patriotism ran high. All adult, white, property-owning, men (about two thirds of the male numbers) were eligible to vote in elections to the lower house of the legislative assembly of the colony they resided in. Each colony also had its governor.

Some colonies (e.g., Rhode Island and Connecticut) were, in effect, incorporated under royal charter as semi-commercial ventures. Others belonged to the descendants of their founders (proprietary colonies such as Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware). Georgia, North and South Carolina, Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire were royal provinces, under direct British rule.

Some of the colonists - for instance, the New Englanders - were among the wealthiest and best educated people in the world, better off than the British themselves. But, per capita, they paid only 3% of the taxes levied on a typical Briton. The colonies supplied the West Indies with most of their foodstuffs and consumed British finished products - but they were not economically crucial to the British Empire.

In the years leading to the War of Independence (1765-1776), the British actually repealed all the taxes on products imported into the colonies - with the single exception of tea (and even this tax was drastically reduced). The colonists' slogan "no taxation without representation" was, therefore, more about local representation than about foreign taxation. And even this bit ringed hollow. The Encyclopedia Britannica: "The assemblies had the right to tax; to appropriate money for public works and public officials, and to regulate internal trade, religion, and social behavior". The role of the British government was confined to foreign affairs and trade.

But both parties to the conflict breached this modus vivendi. During the Seven Years (French and Indian) War (1754-1763), the colonies refused to relinquish control over their militias to the British command and smuggled French goods into British North America (France being Britain's enemy). The British, on the other hand, began interfering in the colonies' internal affairs, notably (but not only) by imposing taxes and customs duties in order to ameliorate Britain's growing national debt and by rendering tax officials financially independent of the local colonial assemblies.

Add to this a severe recession in the colonies brought on by unbridled spending financed with unsustainable personal indebtedness and, not surprisingly, acts of resistance to British taxation - such as the Boston Tea Party - were organized mainly by smugglers, artisans, and shopkeepers. Secret groupings, such as the Sons of Liberty resorted to violence and intimidation to achieve their (mostly economic but disguised as "patriotic") goals. Even women got involved in a "buy American" campaign of boycotting British goods.

Many British merchants, bankers, politicians, intellectuals, and journalists supported the colonies against the crown - each group for its own reasons. The merchants and bankers, for instance, were terrified of a mooted unilateral debt moratorium to be declared by the colonies if and when militarily attacked. Others found it distasteful to kill and maim white British subjects (as the insurgents were). Yet others resisted imperialism, the monarchy, taxes, or all three. Even within the British Army, there was strong dissent and the campaign against the rebellious colonies was carried out half-heartedly and lackadaisically. On the other hand, British die-hards, such as Samuel Johnson, demanded blood ("I am willing to love all Mankind, except an American").

The denizens of the colonies tried, till the last moment, to avert a constitutional (and, consequently, military) crisis. They suggested a model of two semi-autonomous nations (the United Kingdom and the colonies), united by the figurehead of the King. But it was too little and way too late. Violent clashes between the citizenry and British units started as early as October 1765 with the First Nonimportation Movement, directed against the Stamp Act. They continued with the Boston Massacre (five dead) in 1770; the attack on the British customs ship, the Gaspée, in Rhode Island, in 1772; and the Boston Tea Party in 1773.

In April 1775, General Gage, governor and military commander of Massachusetts, suffered a humiliating defeat in a skirmish in Concord and Lexington. The Patriots were alerted to his movements by Paul Revere who rode all night to inform them that the "regulars (not the British, as the legend has it) are coming." He was one of many such scouts.

The Loyalists fielded 50-55,000 armed men and the Patriots countered by organizing "militias" - irregular units of ill-trained and undisciplined volunteers. The Continental Army was established only in June 1775, under the command of George Washington, a veteran of the French and Indian War. At their peak, the rebels mastered less than 100,000 men in arms - only 25-30,000 of which were on active duty at any given time.

The Continental Army was, in the words of General Philip Schuyler of New York “weak in numbers, dispirited, naked, destitute of provisions, without camp equipage, with little ammunition, and not a single piece of cannon.” Late pay caused frequent mutinies and desertions. In 1783, Washington had to personally intervene to prevent a military coup. Only repeated promises of cash bonuses and land grants kept this mob of youngsters, foreigners, and indentured servants intermittently cohesive.

Still, they outnumbered the British and the "Hessians" - the 30,000 German mercenaries who participated in the 8 years of fighting. In all of North America, the British had 60,000 soldiers as late as 1779. They had to face a growing presence of hostile French, Spanish, and Dutch armies, supplies, and navies. The Native-Americans (Indians) supported mostly the British, especially west of the Appalachians. This provoked numerous massacres by the Patriots.

The War spread to other parts of the world: the Gulf Coast, the Caribbean, India, the Netherlands, the Mediterranean. The US Navy even invaded the British port of Whitehaven in 1778.

The conflict affected the civilian population as well with both sides committing war crimes and atrocities aplenty. With many men gone, women took over traditionally male roles and vocations, such as farming. Hyperinflation - brought on by $500 million in newly minted and printed money - led to mob scenes as storekeepers were attacked and warehouses looted.

The blacks largely sided with the British - but many joined the Patriots and, thus, won their freedom after the war. Virginia planters alone manumitted 10,000 slaves. By 1800, slavery was abolished in all the states north of Delaware.

All told, less than 7000 Patriots died in battle (and 8500 wounded). About 1200 Germans perished, too. No one knows how many British troops, Indians, and other combatants paid with their lives in this protracted conflict. About 100,000 Loyalists emigrated to Canada and thousands o others (mainly of African ancestry) went to Sierra Leone and the Bahamas. They were all fully compensated for the property they left behind in what came to be known as the United States of America (USA).

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