Brock at Cliff Cottage – Page 7 – Innovation & Equality

2024-05-112024-05-06

CB Radio: 20th century

Betty Ford’s QSL card. Because of mobility issues during Gerald Ford’s presidential campaign, Betty used CB radio to communicate with potential voters. Yes, that could actually work in 1976.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable across the United States.

Radio waves are often defined as electromagnetic radiation at frequencies below 300 GHz with wavelengths, greater than 1 mm. Yes, those two measurements are related to the speed of light in the equation c= λν = lambda multiplied by nu, where c = speed of light. λ = the wavelength in meters. ν = the frequency in Hertz. The fastest recorded speed of light is 299 792 458 m/s, almost 300 Mm/s = 3 x 10⁸ m/s, which is the figure used in most calculations. Wavelength and frequency are inversely proportional: the shorter the wavelength, the higher the frequency, and vice versa. All electromagnetic radiation, regardless of wavelength or frequency, travels at the speed of light. Frequency refers to the number of full wavelengths that pass by a given point in space every second.

Television also used radio waves, initially, but was called terrestrial = earth based (in Europe and Latin America) = over-the-air = broadcast (north America). This required both the TV station transmitter and receivers to be equipped with antennas.

Wire probably refer to POTS = Plain old/ ordinary telephone service/ system, but originally Post Office telephone system, a retronym for voice-grade telephone service employing analog signal transmission using copper wire, available in the U.S. from 1876 until 1988. Telegraphy initially also involves wire. Telex was originally associated with telegraphy, and is cryptically described as a switched network of teleprinters. The difference between wire and cable is probably related to bandwidth. Cable is exponentially greater, allowing it to carry multiple high-definition television channels, while telephone wires compressed the range of sound so that it was barely audible.

In 1945, the FCC developed a radio band for personal communication, that included radio-controlled model airplanes and family and business communications. By 1948, CB radios were developed for operation on the 460–470 MHz UHF band. There were two classes of CB radio. Class A had its transmitter power limited to 60 W. Initially tube based transceivers were used. At the time, it followed normal American radio usage with 50 kHz channel spacing, and frequency modulation (FM) with ±15 kHz transmitter deviation. Class B Citizens used a different set of 461 MHz channels and was limited to 5 watts output. Business users were restricted to Class B.

Some people want to name a single individual as the inventor of CB radio. They often point to Al Gross (1918 – 2000). Most CB radio characteristics had been developed separately for use in other types of radios. Thus, a CB radio incorporated a package of characteristics that initially met the frequency, modulation and power characteristics specified by the FCC. Gross patented a number of telecommunications related patents, but none of them should be described as inventing the CB radio. Sorry, Al!

In the 1960s, the UHF 450–470 MHz band was re-allocated to 25 kHz channels. This meant transmitter deviation was reduced to ±5 kHz. This doubled the number of channels available across the entire 450–470 MHz band. The previous Class B channels were re-allocated to other radio services.

Initially, CB users were required to be licensed. About 800 000 users were licensed from 1966 to 1973. It hit 12 250 000 by the end of 1977. Add an additional 10 % for unlicensed users.

The 1973 oil crisis caused by the OPEC oil embargo, followed by an American nationwide 55 mph speed limit, was designed to improve fuel consumption. CB radios were especially important to truckers, allowing them to find available fuel, and to avoid speed traps. Other people soon realized that CB radios provided economic benefits, before they were eclipsed by social benefits. CB slang soon reached new heights of popularity.

In popular culture, C. W. McCall = Billie Dale Fries (1928 – 2022), recorded Convoy, a 1975 hit song told about a group of rogue truckers. Before the release of this song, US CB sales volume was about 150 000 units a year. After its release, this increased to 7 million units a year. New companies including Cobra, Midland and Royce were formed, and rapidly increased production capacity. By 1976, General Motors was offering a factory installed CB-radio option that including an integrated tape deck. I hope anybody contemplating buying a new GMC product, will ask their dealers if that option is still available, and report their response in a comment.

In the 1970s, and later, there were many films that featured CB radios. Two of the most influential were: Smokey and the Bandit (1977) and Convoy (1978) also encouraged CB usage. These were both action films populated with anti-establishment characters. My preferred CB film is Citizen Band/ Handle with Care (1977) that looked more at the people in front of the radios. Film critic John Simon (1925 – 2019) described it as: a lovely, hilarious, semisatirical folk comedy, only needing a better ending.

In the 1970s, Class B transmission power was increased to 50 W. However, most of the 460–470 MHz band was reassigned for business and public-safety use.

From the start, Afro-American CBers engaged in informal radio experiments. CB radio was seen as a way for these radio operators to achieve distinct social and economic benefits, using methods that flouted FCC regulations. By 1959 they were ready to form the Rooster Channel Jumpers, a national network of Afro-American CB users across the US, with chapters in major cities. It had a formal governance structure, and blue and gold uniforms for members. They regularly used their equipment to engage in shooting skip. This allowed the signal to go much further than the permitted 150 mile FCC limit.

In 1978, about 10 000 Rooster Channel Jumpers met in Dallas for the club’s annual convention, to promote the use of CB channels specifically to help African-American communities benefit economically, and socially.

Hate groups, notably the Ku Klux Klan, also used CB radios to organize racial terror activities by keeping each other informed about the movement of law enforcement operatives, as well as the location of their targets, that included civil rights activists.

Afro-American CBers responded by setting up new community organizations. For example, the Deacons for Defense and Justice, in Jonesboro, Louisiana, used CBs to ensure a rapid response to any apparent or real community threat. This invisible, yet connected and mostly unsurveilled communications network created a community of voices that allowed them to respond to racist violence. They created an audible African-American geography where everything, including their slang, resulted in a shared technoculture.

Citizen’s band radio reached all levels of American society in the 1970s. It is fascinating because it was that era’s great equalizer. Gerald Ford (1913 – 2006) became vice president in 1973, when Spiro Agnew (1918 – 1996) pleaded no contest to tax evasion and resigned. Ford then became president when Richard Nixon (1913 – 1994) resigned due to the Watergate scandal in 1974, but was defeated in the election of 1976. Ford is the only American president and vice president to serve without being elected to either office.

First Lady Betty Ford = originally, Elizabeth Anne Bloomer (1918 – 2011) was an active CB user, with license KUY9532. Her QSL card, shown above, uses the handle = radio nick name, First Mama. 88 = hugs and kisses. Most operators just stick to 73 = best wishes.

Betty Ford was outspoken, and more widely admired than her husband. In 1976, there were no women in the Senate, although there had been starting in 1921. There were 19 women in the House of Representatives.

CB radio provided a communications tool to reach people who were otherwise overlooked.

Enlightening questions, embarrassing answers and a note on Marine VHF radio

Have you ever owned a CB radio, Brock? Yes, one came with a sailboat I bought in the 1990s. People who could not afford a Marine VHS radio often installed a CB radio. Since I had a Marine VHF certificate, I expected to have a Marine VHS radio installed on board. That never happened. What was the fate of the CB radio? I gave it away, to a friend, a local farmer, who died soon after. What brand and model was it? I can’t remember.

To understand why people used CB radios, it is instructive to look at something similar, Marine VHF radio. On any waterway, emergencies can happen to any vessel, and it is important for affected operators to be able to communicate their distress, to everyone.

Wikipedia tells us: Marine VHF radio is a worldwide system of two way radio transceivers on ships and watercraft used for bidirectional voice communication from ship-to-ship, ship-to-shore (for example with harbormasters), and in certain circumstances ship-to-aircraft. It uses FM channels in the very high frequency (VHF) radio band in the frequency range between 156 and 174 MHz, inclusive, designated by the International Telecommunication Union as the VHF maritime mobile band.

Channel 16 is the International distress frequency. Monitoring it is essential. It is used all over the world to report emergencies and call for help. It can also be used by appropriate agencies to issue important information and weather warnings.

Channel 9 is specifically used for the hailing of non-commercial vessels. It is optional but useful to monitor this channel. When two vessels want to communicate, they agree on another channel, then then move over there to communicate. Monitoring of channel 9 is optional.

I see a similar value with CB radio. One can find out about traffic difficulties and, if necessary, plan an alternative route. One can find the status of energy stations.

A comment on race/ ethnicity

Many terms have been used to describe people of African-American origins. These include: Negro = black in Spanish and Portuguese, Colored and Black. This last one seems to be increasing in popularity, and is found in phrases like, Black lives matter. In 1989, Jesse Jackson (1941 – ), a civil rights activist, promoted African American. I am a product of my age, and have tried to follow Jackson’s advice. The first known use of African American was found in a sermon published in Philadelphia in 1782 that was written by an unknown person, described as: an African American. American in this context can refer to USA, North America or every part of the Americas (North, Central, Caribbean, Latin or South). This is an easy way to distinguish people of varying ethnicities, such as European Americans, Asian Americans or Native Americans, but only where referencing ethnicity is not prejudicial.

Conclusion

26–27 MHz CB radio is the oldest personal radio service and is used in nearly every country worldwide, with many countries and regions copying the United States 40-channel frequency plan. In many countries, CB radio is less popular due to the availability of other personal radio services that offer shorter antennas and better protection from noise and interference.

2024-05-102024-05-11

Kiruna

67°50′56″N 20°18′10″E

Kiruna, a short, practical name that could also be pronounced by Swedish-speaking inhabitants, means rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta), a type of grouse, in Sámi and Finnish.

The area around Kiruna has been inhabited for at least 6 000 years. For centuries the presence of iron ore at Kiirunavaara and Luossavaara had been known by the local Sámi population. Despite finding large amounts of ore, no mining was started because of the remote location and harsh climate. Some ore was extracted in the 19th century.

In the 1880s plans were made to construct a railway from Narvik to Luleå. It was built by 1903. Mining started in the early years of the 20th century. It provides 80% of Europe’s iron ore.

In 2010-06 Kiruna municipal council decided that the town would be moved eastwards (to 67°51′1″N 20°18′2″E), in the direction of Tuolluvaara, because the Kirunavaara mine undermines the existing town centre. A denser city centre with a greater focus on sustainability, green and blue infrastructure, pedestrians and public transport rather than automobiles, is being constructed. We are using this last opportunity to stay in the old town.

In the old city, abandoned buildings have their windows covered up with original works of art. Some are by unidentified artists.

God Jul! = Merry Christmas! (Jul is pronounced exactly like Yule.)

Many works are by Kena Kriström (1953 – ), born in Östersund. She is especially noted for her ice sculptures in Jukkasjärvi, 20 km east of Kiruna.

Some works are by Carina Kero Esberg (1990 – ) originally from Kiruna, now living in Luleå.

Some parts of the old city have been taken over by wild animals!

Note: Today, we had to take a train replacement bus about 72 km = 1h 10m from Narvik to Björkliden. From there we took a real train about 104 km = 1h 30m to Kiruna. On the trip Alasdair used his Blue Square app. This used his Samsung phones GPS system to tell us the speed of the train. At one time it showed 99 km/h, at another 112 km/h. We also had to wait for iron ore trains to pass.

2024-05-092024-05-11

Narvik

Tjeldsund

Coordinated public transport is not a priority in Norway. This was our shelter from the drizzle, after the first bus from Harstad, in Troms county, dropped us here. It remained parked until after the arrival of our connecting bus to Narvik, in Nordland county, 70 minutes later. The first bus is part of the Troms county bus system. The second bus is part of the Nordland county bus system.

Cityscape

The distance from Narvik to other places in the world, including the north pole. The old coat of arms with an anchor is shown at the top. Cliff Cottage is not listed, but it is 810 km south of Narvik.

City Hall anchor, formerly on the coat of arms.

Syglede = the joy of sewing. All around the world, including Narvik, people like to sew!

Sculpture

Lille Petter = LIttle Petter/ Peter by Jozef Marek (1922 – 2020). Acquired in 1961.

Narvik Freedom Monument, *Liv opp av kaos* = *Life out of chaos* made by Gunnar Olaf Finn Eriksen (1909 – 1970). Unveiled in 1956.

The relief is a copy of the relief that was unveiled on 1960-05-28 at Place de Narvik in Paris. As a tribute to the French war veterans’ association, Paul Landowski (1875 – 1961) made the relief. French veterans from the battles at Narvik handed over a copy in plaster to Narvik 1960-07-17. Narvik municipality had the relief cast in bronze and placed it on the front wall of Narvik City Hall on 1962-08-20. The relief has the following text: In memory of the allied forces who in May 1940 succeeded in the first landing in Norway, in the Narvik area, where they won a victory which they were ordered to renounce.Town

Jenter i vinden = Girls in the Wind, by Tone Thiis Schjetne (1928 – 2015).

Background: 68°25′14″N 17°33′36″E

Narvik began as a bronze age settlement. In the 1870s the Swedish government began to understand the potential of the iron ore mines in Kiruna, Sweden. Port facilities were Kiruna’s one major challenge. Luleå, the closest port, was: covered with ice all winter, far from the mine, suitable for only medium-sized bulk freighters. Narvik was developed as an all-year ice free port for the Swedish iron ore mines at Kiruna and Gällivare. Gällivarre Aktiebolag, a Swedish company, built the 298 km iron ore railway line (Malmbanan) in Sweden to the Norwegian–Swedish border. The 43 km Norwegian Ofotbanen railway line connects Narvik to the border.

On 1940-04-08, Britain attempted to lay anti-shipping minefields around Narvik in Norwegian territorial waters. On 1940-04-09 Germany invaded Norway. The Battles of Narvik were fought from 1940-04-09 to 1940-06-08, as two naval battle in Ofotfjord and a land battle in the surrounding mountains. Although the Germans were defeated at sea, lost control of Narvik and were pushed back towards the Swedish border, they eventually prevailed because of the Allied evacuation from Norway in 1940-06.

Since then, Narvik has called itself the city of peace.

This is an example of a snubblestein = trip stone, found all over Norway, but in this case on a street in Narvik. Each commemorates an individual killed in the Holocaust. This one reads: Here worked Jacob Caplan, year of birth 1903, deported 1942 Auschwitz, killed 19.3.1943.

2024-05-082024-05-16

Harstad

Foreground:

Cityscapes

The hotel we are staying at, is the tall building on the left.

Architecture

Machinery

Sculptures

To rom = Two spaces, made by Harald Oredam (1941 – ) in 2003. On the Norwegian Arctic University campus.

Skarven = The Cormorant,, a sculpture made in 1976 by Hans Gjertsen (1917-2006).

Background: Harstad at 68° 48′ 0″ N, 16° 32′ 45″ E is in Troms county, on the coast, in the north of Norway. The surrounding area has traditionally been among the most productive agricultural regions in the county. Isostatic rebound, after the last glaciation, has caused the old seabed, now dry land, to rise up to 60 to 80 metres above sea level. This creates fertile soil, well-suited to farming.

2024-05-042024-05-04

Basic: A tidbit

Thomas E. Kurtz (left) and John G. Kemeny, developers of BASIC

On 1964-05-01 mathematicians John G. Kemeny (1926 – 1992) and Thomas E. Kurtz (1928 – ) successfully ran a program written in BASIC = Beginner’s All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code, on Dartmouth college’s General Electric GE-225 mainframe computer.

Deception is a key word to describe General Electric’s (GE) computers. GE was founded 1892-04-15 in Schenectady, New York. In the 1960s, Chairman Ralph J. Cordiner (1900 – 1973) had forbidden GE from entering the general purpose computer business. General Manager of GE’s Computer Department in Phoenix, Arizona, Homer R. “Barney” Oldfield (1916 – 2000) claimed that the GE-200 series would produce industrial control computers. When Cordiner discovered he had been duped, he immediately fired Oldfield. Despite this, production of the computer series continued as a profitable venture for several years.

For the technically interested, only. The GE-225 used a 20-bit word, of which 13 bits could be used for an address. Along with a central processing unit (CPU) the system could also contain a floating-point unit (FPU) = Auxiliary Arithmetic Unit (AAU). Alternatively, there was a fixed-point decimal option with three six-bit decimal digits per word. It had eleven I/O channel controllers. The machines were built using about 10 000 discrete transistors and 20 000 diodes. They used magnetic-core memory, and a standard 8 kiloword system held 186 000 magnetic cores. A base level mainframe weighed about 910 kg. GE sold a variety of add-ons including storage disks and printers.

I imagine that both GE and the computer department at Dartmouth were attempting to use each other. GE probably wanted a functioning operating system, but didn’t have the human resources to make it. Dartmouth College wanted a computer, but didn’t have the money to buy it. The result was a compromise that benefited both. In 1963, Kemeny applied for a National Science Foundation grant to bring a GE-225 computer to Dartmouth and build a general-purpose time-sharing system, essentially an operating system. This time-share approach was to allow others (Read: faculty and students) to access the mainframe computer and run programs using BASIC. It just took a year to implement.

While Dartmouth College copyrighted BASIC, it was made freely available to everyone. The name originated from Kurtz’s wish for a simple but meaningful acronym. Kurtz, in an open letter, reiterates that BASIC was invented to give students a simple programming language that was easy to learn. It was meant for amateurs, not computing professionals.

Language standards were created: The European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA), was founded in 1961 to promote computing standards in Europe. They released their version of BASIC standards in 1986. This was followed in 1987 by the American National Standards Institute ( ANSI) releasing its version of the standards. In 1991, ECMA was renamed ECMA International.

In 1975, Paul Allen and Bill Gates adapted BASIC for personal computers like the Altair 8800. I am uncertain of Gates’ motivations. At this early stage, he undoubtedly appreciated BASIC, as he fell into the amateur category, rather than being a professional (system) programmer. My perspective is that he capitalized on the work of others: Kemeny and Kurtz with BASIC; Tim Paterson (1967 – ) with a Quick and Dirty Operating System (QDOS) at Seattle Computer Products, that became MS-DOS for Microsoft.

In 1976, Steve Wozniak developed a BASIC interpreter for the Apple I which subsequently became Integer BASIC for the Apple II in 1977. More BASIC followed with the personal computer (PC), in 1982.

In 1991, Microsoft developed Visual Basic. Over the years new variants emerged such as Microsoft Small Basic, in 2008. It teaches beginners programming concepts. Basic and similarly languages are important because they emphasize simplicity, readability, and ease of use.

Kemeny and Kurtz’ work on BASIC was recognized by the American professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (IEEE) as part of their milestone program which marks historic places for human innovation from around the world. Places honored include Thomas Edison’s lab in Menlo Park, New Jersey, where he invented the light bulb and phonograph, and the hilltop outside Bologna, Italy where Guglielmo Marconi sent the first transatlantic radio transmission. On 2021-02-22 a plaque was placed outside of the computer lab at Collis Center, 2 N Main St, Hanover, NH 03755, U.S.A. The citation reads: Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code (BASIC) was created in this building. During the mid-1970s and 1980s, BASIC was the principal programming language used on early microcomputers. Its simplicity and wide acceptance made it useful in fields beyond science and mathematics, and enabled more people to harness the power of computation.

Notes

Kemeny was president of Dartmouth College from 1970 to 1981 and pioneered the use of computers in tertiary education. He chaired the presidential commission that investigated the Three Mile Island nuclear meltdown of the Unit 2 reactor (TMI-2) of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station on the Susquehanna River, near Harrisburg, PA. The reactor accident occurred 1979-03-28, and released radioactive gases and radioactive iodine into the environment, resulting in the worst accident in the American commercial nuclear power plant history.

I have written about Dartmouth College before. The Synclavier synthesizer was developed there.

2024-04-242024-04-21

Dick Tracy wristware

Cartoonist Chester Gould’s created the Dick Tracy comic strip. It was first published in 1931. Gould received permission to use Gross’ concept of a miniaturized two-way radio. It first appeared 1946. This was followed by a two-way television, celebrated here, in 1964.

Alan Hall begins his 1999-05-03 article, Hello, This is Dick Tracy, in Scientific American, with: Cartoon detective Dick Tracy has been calling on his wristwatch radio to get out of sticky situations since 1946. Back then, when a two-way communication was about as portable as a filing cabinet, it was pretty amazing stuff–and it had the comic strip’s young fans mumbling into toy watches for years.

Technology improves, or at least changes, and this weblog post is published on the 60th anniversary of Dick Tracy’s 2-Way Wrist TV, that first appeared in the comic strip on 1964-04-24.

Cartoonist Chester Gould’s (1900 – 1985) created the Dick Tracy comic strip. It was first published 1931-10-04. Gould received permission to use Al Gross’ (1918 – 2000) concept of a miniaturized two-way radio. It first appeared 1946-01-13.

In Dick Tracy’s world, the 2-Way Wrist Radio was an invention of industrialist Diet Smith’s son, Brilliant. Like many of Smith’s inventions, it was only available to the MCU = major crime unit, of the police. It allowed audio communication, and was powered by a strong atomic battery. An aerial wire ran up the inside of the wearer’s sleeve. It was considered superior to bulky walkie-talkies or other radio devices, and was used very effectively by Dick Tracy and others involved with law enforcement.

The 2-Way Wrist TV was an upgrade developed by Diet Smith Industries. It allowed users to transmit images of themselves, rather than only their voices. It also featured a 180-degree range of vision and an atomic light. The Wrist TV coincided with Dick Tracy’s first adventures with the Lunarians of Moon Valley.

In 1984, the criminal known as Big Brother developed a technology that could intercept transmissions made via the 2-Way Wrist TV which enabled him to monitor the activities of Dick Tracy and the MCU. He sold his technology to members of the criminal underworld, but was eventually caught and arrested.

After Gould died, the 2-Way Wrist TV was upgraded to a 2-Way Wrist Computer by his successors writer Max Allen Collins (1948 -) and illustrator Dick Lochner (1928 -2017) on 1986-06-13. Once again, in the fictional world, this upgrade was developed by Diet Smith. It added a long-range wireless datalink that allowed the wearer to have easy access to various databases for fingerprints, license plates, firearms and more. It also incorporated a lie detector and a probe for on-scene chemical evidence analysis.

At some, for me unknown, point, 2-Way was removed from the description of wearable devices. The Wrist Computer constantly monitored the wearer’s heartbeat to guard against unauthorized usage of the device (since the heartbeat is as distinctive as a fingerprint). This feature also worked with a homing device to enable police dispatch to be immediately alerted that the wearer required assistance if the detected heartbeat showed irregularities or stopped.

The Wrist Computer was later upgraded with the ability to read micro data discs, referred to as a Wrist-Disc.

The next improvement was the Wrist Geenee, introduced 1997-03-26 by Mike Kilian (1939-2005), who had taken over as writer in 1993, and Dick Lochner. In the story world, this upgrade was developed, once again, by Diet Smith. Shortly after Dick Tracy was presented with a prototype, it was stolen off his desk by Rocksie. Rocksie used the Geenee’s holographic projector to free Nutsy and his gang from jail. They then used the Geenee to commit more crimes.

The Geenee included RADAR and SONAR capabilities, holographic projection, an ability to trace phone numbers, heat/ motion sensors, GPS link, laser and X-ray capabilities, computer password detector/decoder that could accurately sense a safe’s lock combination.

Tracy tracked Nutsy, Rocksie, and the rest of their gang to a store that they were attempting to rob. Rocksie threw the Wrist Geenee at Tracy, who caught the delicate prototype. Rocksie escaped, but Nutsy and his gang were arrested.

A later version of the Wrist Geenee had a taser. Tracy continued to use the Wrist Geenee for several years until it was upgraded to the Wrist Wizard, yet another invention of Diet Smith. Detective Frisk kept her Wrist Geenee after she was abducted by Clair Howell. She used it to contact Dick Tracy. He was initially puzzled to receive a message coming from outdated technology.

The Wrist Wizard was introduced by writer Mike Curtis (1953 -) and illustrator Joe Staton (1948 -) on 2011-07-06, during Dick Tracy’s encounter with B-B Eyes, previously presumed-deceased. In addition to features in previous devices, including two-way video communication, GPS, a National Crime Information Center (NCIC) link, it also came with a light-projected keyboard, and responded to eye blinks when its user was injured/ incapacitated.

Diet Smith issued a Wrist Wizard to his goddaughter, Honeymoon Tracy, who was also Dick’s granddaughter and the daughter of his adopted son, Junior. She used it during her encounter with B-B Eyes. Shortly after that, Blackjack was able to steal Dick Tracy’s Wrist Wizard, to add to his collection of Tracy memorabilia.

Some time later, the MCU’s Wrist Wizards were re-fitted into casings that made them resemble the original 2-Way Wrist Radio. Earlier models had faulty batteries that could explode. This was a factor in Tracy’s defeat of Mr. Bones, who was using Blackjack’s outdated Wrist Wizard.

In 2011, Tracy and the MCU temporarily reverted to using 2-Way Wrist Radios so they could communicate without having their calls intercepted by the high-tech devices being used by Willie the Fifth and Flyface.

In 2016-12, Tracy’s Wrist Wizard suffered an explosive malfunction which prompted Diet Smith to issue a safety recall. The Wrist Wizard was replaced by a Wrist Communicator that superficially resembled a 2-way Wrist Radio, but with many of the equivalent functions of the newer design.

Much of the above content was taken from the Dick Tracy section of the Fandom website.

The Real Dick Tracy Wrist ~~Radio~~ Watch

In 2015, Nick Mathis made a Dick Tracy watch prototype in his workshop, an apartment closet, using Fusion 360 and a desktop CNC machine. Shapeways was used to 3D print it. In 2016, Nick and Charlie Mathis purchased a license from the Dick Tracy rights holders, TMS News & Features, LLC.

Fusion 360 is digital prototyping software, incorporating commercial computer-aided design, manufacturing, engineering and printed circuit board software. It comes in Windows, macOS and web browser standard versions , as well as simplified versions for Android and iOS. It was developed by Autodesk, best known for their AutoCAD software.

Shapeways is a New York based, but global, 3D printing service, publicly traded company, with Dutch origins. Users design and upload 3D printable files. Shapeways prints the objects. It can also provide marketing services, where needed. Objects can be printed in about 55 different materials and finishes, including plastics and precious as well as non-ferrous base metals.

In 2018, the Mathis brothers created a working Dick Tracy watch with an integrated Bluetooth module, microphone and speaker. It can be considered a Wrist Radio, because it allows users to make and receive calls from a paired smartphone. Yes, that means that it will not work independently of a smartphone.

In addition to an oil-tanned leather strap, the device has a vintage styled stainless steel body, sapphire crystal face, and a mesh grill to cover speakerphone components. It also has a button to activate a voice assistant.

On 2018-07-13 the Mathis brothers, through their company Ivory & Horn, had received pledges of USD 106 490 of a goal of USD 30 000 on Indiegogo from 321 backers. On 2020-11-20, Nick Matis reported that all watches had been shipped! he concluded with …

Thank you.

It was a wild ride for you and, while I am relieved to wind it down for us both, I am also grateful for the opportunity to deliver our analog watches to such a passionate and generous group of people. I hope it brings you as much joy as it does me for many years. Thank you.

This campaign and the first analog 2016 model would not have been possible without my brother Charlie and our investor. I cannot understate my gratitude for the risk they took, the patience they showed, and the perseverance they maintained in trying to make the world’s first “real working” Dick Tracy watch come to life for us all. In the end, we did make a watch and I am very proud to have shared it with people all over the world. Thank you.

Onward and upward to the next project, folks.

Over and out,

Nick Mathis

Other Wristware

I am no longer tempted to own any wristware, including a Dick Tracy Radio, TV, Computer, Disc, Geenee, Wizard or Communicator. Both Trish and I have owned Wyse watches, but our enthusiasm for them died almost immediately. They occupied less volume than a smartphone, but did not offer anywhere near the same functionality. Our compromise is to use a small smartphone, currently an Asus Zenfone 9, and to wear clothing with pockets that will hold them, when they are not in use.

We have younger family members and friends who do use wristware. The main advantage is that these can be used when exercising to measure distances and elevation differences, especially when walking/ running/ skiing on trails.

2024-04-142024-04-04

Rachel Carson (1907 – 1964)

Official photo of Rachel Carson ca. 1940, taken by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

This weblog post has been published on the 60th anniversary of the death of Rachel Carson on 1964-04-14. She died of cancer, at the age of 56. This was the second death of a prominent, yet relatively young person in a matter of months. The first was the assassination of American president John Kennedy (1917 – 1963). The comment, relatively young, is written by someone at the age of 75. For someone 15 years old, fifty years probably seemed an eternity into the future.

As I started writing this post, I was reading the 1998 collection, Lost Woods, the Discovered Writings of Rachel Carson, edited and with an introduction by Linda Lear (1940 – ). This was the fifth book I read, written by Rachel Carson.

The first book I read of hers was the third that Carson wrote, The Edge of the Sea (1955). It revealed the shoreline, that part of the sea accessible to a young person, probably not yet a teenager. The focus was on three edges: rocky, sandy and coral. The focus was on the east coast of North America. The rocky shores were typical of the Cape Ann region of Massachusetts, the sandy shores were of the intermediate coast off the Carolinas, while the corals were part of the Florida Keys.

The second book of hers that I read was her second book, The Sea Around Us (1951). It is often described as poetic. That term was foreign to me. I regarded it as providing me with deeper insights into life into oceans depths. It too was divided into three sections: Mother Sea, The Restless Sea, and Man and the Sea About Him.

These two books prompted an interest in marine biology, and in microscopy. I still have my compound microscope from 1962. I used it to study and make photomicrographs of plankton I had harvested using a home-made plankton net, that was essential equipment on my home-made 2.4 m = 8′ long Sabot dinghy.

The third book of hers that I read was her fourth book, Silent Spring (1962). It had nothing to do with the sea, but with birds, and how the overuse of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and other synthetic pesticides, was responsible for a decline in bird populations — the silencing of birds. At one point I voiced my concerns to my uncle Harry, an etymologist, who chastised me for my concerns, saying that DDT had saved the lives of millions of people.

The fourth book I read by Carson, was her first book, Under the Sea Wind (1941). It describes the behavior of three Atlantic coast organisms that live both on and in the sea on the Atlantic coast. Under the Sea Wind consists of three parts, each following a different organism that interacts with the sea, and viewing it from a personified organism’s perspective. The first section, Edge of the Sea, follows a female sanderling (Calidris alba, Pallas, 1764), a small wading bird Carson names Silverbar. The second section, The Gull’s Way, follows an Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus, Linnaeus, 1758) named Scomber. The third section, River and Sea follows an American eel (Anguilla rostrata, Lesueur, 1817), Anguilla.

These were not the only books I read about the sea. To understand what was happening on the Pacific coast I used Edward Rickett’s (1897 – 1948) Between Pacific Tides (1939), as a guide. To gain a better understanding of what was happening in the depths of the ocean I also read William Beebe (1877 – 1962) as he descended in his bathosphere in Half Mile Down (1934).

As is the case with most of the books I read as a child, the books cited here were borrowed, often repeatedly, from New Westminster public library, located a convenient three blocks away from my childhood home. These books were not in the Children’s department, so I had to have special permission to borrow them.

I now have paper editions of Carson’s four earliest books, along with digital editions of these and some others written by her, or about her. I also have a paper edition of Between Pacific Tides.

Many people believe that there is a direct connection between Carson and Earth Day, first celebrated in 1970. For the most part Earth Day is harmless, and doesn’t require anyone to make changes to their consumer way of life. I am even more skeptical about Carson inspiring the Responsible Care program was established in 1988 by the Chemical Manufacturers Association (now American Chemistry Council) to help the chemical industry improve its safe management of chemicals from manufacture to disposal. I see it as an attempt to focus public attention away from the damage done by chemical manufacturers.

When these chemicals first came on the market, they appeared almost miraculous. Swiss chemist Paul Hermann Müller (1899 – 1965) had shown in 1939, that DDT eradicated insect populations in the control of vector diseases such as malaria and yellow fever. For this he received the 1948 Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine. It was noted that DDT sprayed from airplanes eliminated the malaria- and dengue fever–carrying mosquitoes that sickened and killed American soldiers in the Pacific war theater. These wartime successes led to postwar applications, with chemical companies selling DDT to farmers to reduce crop loss to insects. Tropical nations used it to prevent mosquitoes from spreading malaria.

In the 1950s the chemical industry created new pesticides and herbicides, such as chlordane and heptachlor for killing insects and 2,4-D to control sagebrush growth on western U.S. roadsides.

Carson’s most important skill was connecting existing data from many areas and synthesizing them to create a coherent narrative. In Silent Spring, this was about the effects persistent chemicals had on the landscape and its inhabitants, only some of which were human.

Carson did not condemn all chemicals, only the reckless and irresponsible poisoning of the world that man shares with all other creatures. She followed DDT from the time it was sprayed on alfalfa, through alfalfa-fed hens, into the eggs, and finally into the egg-eating humans. Then she explained, in terms readers could understand, that chemicals like dieldrin, were used to kill pests, but ended up being stored in the body. Plants, animals and people formed an interconnected web, affected by these chemical compounds.

There was a vindictive reaction from Chemical manufacturers. Velsicol Chemical Corporation, which produced chlordane and heptachlor, threatened Carson’s publisher with a lawsuit. Monsanto Company published an essay, The Desolate Year to show that without pesticides and herbicides farmers would be unable to produce enough food for a growing population and that preventable diseases would continue to kill people. Others chastised Carson for failing to mention chemical successes.

Robert A. Roland (1931 – 2013), president of the Chemical Manufacturers Association from 1978 to 1993, later admitted that the chemical industry had made a mistake in not properly engaging with Carson and addressing the environmental issues she wrote about.

President Kennedy ordered the Science Advisory Committee to review pesticide and herbicide experiments. It published its findings a year later and acknowledged some links such as that between DDT and liver damage. Later, the report was regarded as being less than forthright.

Silent Spring changed how people saw the world around them. It initiated the modern environmental movement, and influenced government regulation of pesticides and other chemicals, especially environmental effects.

In 1972 the U.S.Senate banned DDT, encouraged by the emergence of new environmental organizations like the Environmental Defense Fund. Chlordane was banned completely in 1988. Restrictions were placed on the use of heptachlor.

Silent Spring changed how governments, industry and agriculture respond to chemical ills.

Thank you, Rachel Carson, for helping to enlighten me to the dangers of chemicals in the environment. Without your efforts, I am uncertain how long it would have taken for this awareness to emerge.

2024-04-062024-04-08

Our World in Data

The Geoscheme overview showing the 22 of the 26 different areas. Missing are: Antarctica, Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean.

One of my sources of information is Our World in Data (OWID). Their mission is to publish the research and data to make progress against the world’s largest problems. They write:

Poverty, disease, hunger, climate change, war, existential risks, and inequality: The world faces many great and terrifying problems. It is these large problems that our work at Our World in Data focuses on.

Thanks to the work of thousands of researchers around the world who dedicate their lives to it, we often have a good understanding of how it is possible to make progress against the large problems we are facing. The world has the resources to do much better and reduce the suffering in the world.

We believe that a key reason why we fail to achieve the progress we are capable of is that we do not make enough use of this existing research and data: the important knowledge is often stored in inaccessible databases, locked away behind paywalls and buried under jargon in academic papers.

There is general agreement that after World War II, there was a decline in wars until the 1970s and 1980s, when it increased, especially in Asia. War declined again in the 1990s and early 2000s, but rose again, starting about 2012. The 2011 Arab uprisings led to conflicts in Libya, Syria and Yemen. NATO’s incursion into Libya caused instability that resulted in an ongoing crisis in the Sahel region. In 2014, there was the Russian invasion of Crimea. In 2020 there was the Azerbaijani-Armenian war over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave; another war in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region; military conflict in Myanmar starting in 2021; Russia’s 2022 assault on Ukraine. In 2023 war started again in Sudan and Gaza.

OWID is also concerned about democracy. Here they write: Democracy is in decline, whether we look at big changes in the number of democracies and the people living in them; at small changes in the extent of democratic rights; or at medium-sized changes in the number of, and people living in, countries that are autocratizing… The extent of this decline is substantial, but it is also uncertain and limited. We can see it clearly across democracy metrics: the world has fallen from all-time democratic highs to a level similar to earlier decades. But the extent of this decline depends on which democracy measure we use. And it is limited in the sense that the world remains much more democratic than it was even half a century ago… Finally, the recent democratic decline is precedented, and past declines were reversed. The world underwent phases of autocratization in the 1930s and again in the 1960s and 1970s. Back then, people fought to turn the tide, and pushed democratic rights to unprecedented heights. We can do the same again… Using the [Regimes of the World] RoW data, the chart shows that the world has become less democratic in recent years. The number of democracies in the world reached an all-time high in 2016, with 96 electoral democracies. In 2022, their number has fallen to 90 countries.

People should probably devote some time attempting to understanding the world’s political and economic situation, on a regional basis. Even before the pandemic changed everything, many people felt they were simply pawns in an economic game. After the pandemic, they were even more convinced of their pawn status.

Geoscheme is my personal approach to organizing and understanding geographical regions. I have used it for so many years, that its origins are lost in the depths of time. There are many maps with regions. At some point, I appropriated one for my own purposes, creating an alphabetic coding in the process.

The regions, along with my codes, are:

Africa: [A] Southern Africa; [B] Eastern Africa; [C] Middle Africa; [D] Western Africa; [E] Northern Africa. Europe: [F] Southern Europe; [G] Western Europe; [H] Northern Europe; [I] Eastern Europe + North Asia. Asia: [J] Western Asia; [K] Central Asia; [L] Southern Asia; [M] Eastern Asia; [N] South-Eastern Asia. Oceania: [O] Australia and New Zealand; [P] Melanesia; [Q] Micronesia; [R] Polynesia. Americas: [S] Northern America; [T] Caribbean; [U] Central America; [V] South America. Other: [W] Antarctica; [X] Atlantic Ocean; [Y] Pacific Ocean; [Z] Indian Ocean.

There are 26 different regions, with some more important than others. Because of their large populations and economic impact, southern Asia and eastern Asia are especially important. One approach to exploring regions is to review them using an assigned week number. I use ISO week numbers, with each week beginning on a monday. USA and Canada have a different approach, with each week starting on a sunday. Thus, this weblog post was published towards the end of week 14. This means that my geographical focal area this week is region N, the 14th letter in the alphabet, which involves south east Asia and Oceania.

I spend more time diverging from than focusing on the Geoschema region. For example, this week I spent time reading about crime writer Garry Disher (1949 – ) and the Mornington Peninsula, south east of Melbourne. The recent collapse of the Baltimore Bridge, encouraged me to learn more about it. According to Geoscheme, I should have waited until week 19, which starts on 2024-05-06. The key is to allow some degree of flexibility.

Other information sources

As I age I feel less need to see the world in person. The internett provides most of my information. In addition to OWID, there is Wikipedia, TED-talks, The Guardian newspaper and Slashdot. We also subscribe to one paper Newspaper, Inderøyningen, that arrives weekly on fridays.

For a maximum of one hour in the evenings, I allow myself to sit in the comfort of an Ikea Poeng chair in a television nook, and see an edited perspective on some aspect of the world, viewing documentaries with texting = closed captions, and sound. Television avoids the excesses of heat, cold, drought and insects, and the trauma of volcanoes and earthquakes. This week we have watched a three part series about the 2015-04-15 earthquake in Nepal.

We have numerous epub books that are managed by Calibre and are stored in a database on our server. When someone wants to read an e-book, the book can be transferred over to a Kobo e-reader (of which we have three) or read on a computer using appropriate software. Most of Trish’s reading is done with an e-reader, while she is knitting.

I use my e-reader much less, and prefer to read paper books. Yes, we also have a library filled with paper books. I am currently reading Blood Red, Snow White (2007), a historical young adult novel by Marcus Sedgwick (1968 – 2022), set in Russia during the revolution, a fictional account of author Arthur Ransome (1884 – 1967), but containing explainers about events from 1905 to 1919.

Next week’s weblog post will be posted on sunday, not saturday. It is about Rachel Carson, and will commemorate her life on the 60th anniversary of her death, 1964-04-14.

2024-03-302024-04-04

Methane: A tidbit

In an age of global warming/ heating/ boiling it is important to have a basic understanding of a few chemicals. Methane is one of them.

A chemical compound is a substance made of many identical molecules containing atoms from more than one chemical element, held together by chemical bonds. There are several different types of chemical bonds, but those will not be discussed here, but the next time a chemical is presented.

Atmospheric oxygen = O₂ is not a compound because there are atoms of only one element present, two atoms of oxygen joined together. Water = H₂0 is a chemical compound. It consists of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. A compound can be transformed into a different substance by a chemical reaction, typically involving interactions with other substances, and where bonds between atoms may be broken and/or new bonds formed.

Natural gas is not a compound, but a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily (typically 97%) of methane. The chemical formula for methane, CH₄, indicates that it is a compound, with one carbon atom bonding with four hydrogen atoms to create a methane compound. Natural gas/ methane used to be considered a clean-burning bridge fuel, an intermediate step between coal and renewables, to reduce emissions. Such a pleasant fantasy.

Atmospheric methane concentration has increased by about 160% since 1750, with the overwhelming percentage caused by human activity. It accounts for 20% of the total radiative forcing from all of the long-lived and globally mixed greenhouse gases, according to the 2021 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report.

Radiative forcing = climate forcing = a climate science concept to quantify the change in energy balance in the Earth’s atmosphere caused by various factors, such as concentrations of greenhouse gases, aerosols, and changes in solar radiation. Technically, it is the change in the net = downward minus upward = radiative flux (expressed in W/m²) due to a change in an external driver of climate change. Both carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄) are examples of external drivers. Most of the atmosphere is made up of nitrogen (N₂) in addition to about 21% oxygen (O₂).

The International Energy Agency 2024 methane tracker chart (below) shows the countries with the worst methane emissions from their oil and gas industries. At the far end of the chart is Norway which releases 0.01% well to end use emissions.

Worst in class is the United States, which is also the world’s largest producer of gas and oil by volume. USA produces 943.2 Gm³ of natural gas, compared to second-place Russia’s 701.7 Gm³. Canada’s sixth-place produces 172.3 Gm³, and Norway’s 11th place produces 11.43 Gm³. The natural gas figures are from The CIA World Factbook, 2021. From the same source, one can read that USA produces considerably more oil than than second-place Russia, and third-place Saudi Arabia. Part of the reason for United States’ position is its unconventional oil and gas extraction with shale oil and fracking. Both lead to high methane emissions.

For over fifty years, I have been one of those lummoxes who refuses to use non-metric units. For example, most days I refuse to use figures like 13.5 million tons, or even the quasi-metric equivalent expressed in tonnes. 1 ton = ca. 907 kg. Instead, I convert the original quantity to something metric. In this case 12.25 Tg.

The use of metric prefixes dates back to the definition of kilogram after the French Revolution. Currently there are 24 prefixes in use, ranging from quecto- (q) = 10^-30 to quetta- (Q) = 10³⁰. Quecto, ronto (10^-27), ronna (10²⁷) and quetta were added in 2022. Wikipedia has an enjoyable (at least for some of us) article about metric prefixes.

Methane is a gas, so it is necessary to understand how gasses are measured. It begins with pressure. The standard atmosphere (atm) is an American unit of pressure defined as 101325 Pa = 101.325 kPa. While the Pascal is an SI unit, most metric users will call the standard atmosphere 1 bar, more accurately 1.01325 bar. Both of these units refer to a standard pressure, approximately equal to Earth’s average atmospheric pressure at sea level.

Methane is a colourless and transparent gas. It has a boiling point of −161.5 °C = -258.7 °F (read: deadly cold) at a pressure = 1 atm. As a gas, it is flammable over a range of concentrations (5.4%–17%) in air at 1 atm.

Methane is also odorless. The smell of natural gas some people experience at various locations is caused by the addition of an odorant for safety purposes. Usually the odorant is tert-butylthiol = tert-butyl mercaptan (TBM) = (CH₃)₃CSH often abbreviated t-BuSH. Given a choice, most people prefer to smell an odorant, alerting them to a gas leakage, than to die in an unannounced gas explosion.

Methane does more damage in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. Thus the twenty year global warming potential (GWP-20) = 81.2. That second number is used to convert the pollutant into a CO₂ equivalent. In the case of methane, GWP-100 = 27.9, is significantly less because methane has a much shorter atmospheric lifetime than carbon dioxide. Thus, 12.25 Tg of methane has the effect of 994.7 Tg GWP-20 of CO2. Despite it not being totally correct, I am going to refer to this as its 1 Pg GWP-20 C02 equivalent. The GWP-100 value is 340 Tg. The world’s total carbon dioxide emissions are about 40 billion tons a year = ca 3.6 Pg/ year.

The most common chemical reactions of methane are combustion, steam reformation of synthetic gas and halogenation.

Combustion, is an exothermic redox chemical reaction between a fuel = reductant and an oxidant = most often atmospheric oxygen, that produces oxidized, often gaseous products. Redox = reduction–oxidation = chemical reaction where oxidation results in the loss of electrons while reduction results in a gain of electrons. Exothermic means the reaction releases energy from the system to its surroundings, usually in the form of heat.

CH₄ + 2O₂ → CO₂ + 2H₂O

Steam reforming to synthetic gas (syngas) is an endothermic process = a chemical/ physical process that requires/ absorbs heat from its surroundings. Endothermic is the opposite of exothermic. In this case, there is a need for energy ( 206 kJ/mol of methane) for the reaction to take place:

CH₄ + H₂O → CO + 3 H₂

Halogenation is a chemical reaction that entails the introduction of one or more halogens into a compound. Halogens form a group (#17) a column of elements with similar characteristics, in the periodic table. They consist of five (or six) chemically related elements from top = lightest, to bottom = heaviest, atomic mass. Their symbols, atomic number = position and approximate atomic mass/ weight are: fluorine (F #9, 18.998), chlorine (Cl #17, 35.45), bromine (Br #35, 79.904), iodine (I #53, 126.9), and the radioactive elements astatine (At #85, 210) and tennessine (Ts #117, 294). Not all chemists accept tennessine as a halogen. The word halogen = salt former = salt maker. When halogens react with metals, they produce salts. Think: NaCl (sodium chloride) or common table salt. Sodium (Na) is a metal, chlorine (Cl) is a halogen.

CH₄ + Cl₂ → CH₃Cl + HCl

Note: This is not the first chemical I have written about. Earlier, I wrote a weblog post about silicone.

2024-03-232024-03-23

Social Credit

Clifford Hugh Douglas (1879 – 1952) = Major Douglas, is credited as the founder of the social credit movement. He worked as an electrical engineer throughout the British empire. During World War I, he reorganized work at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, a research institution located at Farnborough Airfield in Hampshire, England. There he noticed that the costs of goods produced exceeded that paid in wages, salaries and dividends. This contradicted the prevailing economic theory of David Ricardo (1772 – 1823), that stated that all costs were distributed simultaneously as purchasing power.

The core of his economic argument was that the economic system was organized to maximize profits for those with economic power by creating unnecessary scarcity. One short, but interesting source that comments about this has been written by Janet Martin-Nielsen (1982 – ).

Douglas claimed there were three possible economic policy alternatives:

1. To impose a system of thought and action.

2. To provide employment.

3. To provide goods and services.

Douglas felt most governments aimed at the first two policies. He aimed to satisfy the third. Because of this disparity between the flow of money and stated industry objectives, the delivery of goods and services, he began to apply engineering methods to the economic system.

This led Douglas to distinguished between values, costs and prices. He claimed that economists were obsessed about values. He considered values to be subjective, incapable of being measured objectively. He rejected money as a standard/ measure, of value, but regarded it as a medium of communication whereby consumers could direct the distribution of production.

Wealth is derived from the Old English wela = well-being. Douglas believed that all production should increase personal well-being. Production that does not directly increase personal well-being is waste = economic sabotage. Consumers pay for the costs of production, including waste. This results in wasted work. Douglas believed that this waste was directly linked to confusion about the purpose of an economic system, especially the mistaken belief that it exists to provide employment.

Douglas noted that the long-term consequence of a full-employment policy is a trade war, that typically leads to a real war. That is, full employment leads to excessive capital production (as expressed in the 21st century by extreme/ billionaire wealth). Where this does not use up all of the capital there is an opportunity for military build-up, Military buildup results in violence or an unnecessary accumulation of weapons.

The social credit admonition: He who calls for Full-Employment calls for War! was expressed by John Hargrave (1894 – 1982) leader of the Social Credit Party of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Hargrave was also a Quaker and a pacifist, but enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps, serving in World War I. This experience convinced him that modern civilization had failed, expressed in The Great War Brings It Home (1919), and a call for a character-building and physical training foundation, The Kindred of the Kibbo Kift, in 1920, as a movement for all ages and genders, and a progressive alternative to the Boy Scouts. He was often regarded as a potential replacement as Chief Scout Robert Baden-Powell (1857 – 1941), at least until Baden-Powell expelled Hargrave from the scout movement.

Hargrave wrote The Fighting Programme of the Social Credit Party in 1939, although I rely on a second edition, published in 1941. It listed twelve points: 1. Finance = Establish a Sane Economic System; 2. Government = Make the Will of the People Effective; 3. Work = Abolish Unemployment and Wage Slavery; 4. Defence = Create Effective Defence Forces; 5. Food Supply = Regenerate the Soil; 6. Health = Regenerate the People; 7. Industry = Increase Mechanisation; 8. Building = Demolish the Slums: Build New Towns and Cities; 9. Transport = Reorganise the Transport System; 10. Education = Provide Equal Opportunity for All; 11. Culture = Make Leisure Available to All; 12. Foreign Policy = Abolish War. Through the rest of the book these points are explained in greater detail.

An aside: Hargrave was also a founder of one of the coloured shirt movements that followed the first world war, the Social Credit centrist green shirts. Juan Francisco Fuentes counts 10 green, 8 blue, 4 each black, grey and red, 2 brown, 1 white and 1 orange = 34 groups, of which 25 are right wing, 2 are centre and 7 are left wing. These included: The brownshirts or Sturmabteilung, the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s; Hirden, a Quisling/ Nasjonalsamling equivalent in Norway; the blackshirts or squadristi of the Italian Voluntary Militia for National Security, originally the paramilitary wing of the National Fascist Party but, after 1923, an all-volunteer militia in Italy under the fascists.

Much of the world entered a depression in 1929. In Canada, the Alberta Social Credit party was founded in 1934, in the middle of this depression. In the 1935 provincial election it won a majority government, remaining in power until 1971. It was initially led by Bible Bill, William Aberhart (1878 – 1943). Aberhart added a layer of evangelical Christianity to the economic mix. For this, and other reasons, Douglas was not impressed with this party’s interpretation of the principles outlined, and especially disliked the inclusion of economic content from Johann Silvio Gesell (1862 – 1930) a German-Argentine economist, and founder of Freiwirtschaft, an economic model for market socialism. Alberta Social Credit issued Prosperity Certificates = funny money, based on Silvio Gesell’s ideas.

In 1935, Hargrave started to work for the Alberta Social Credit party. It lasted one year. He returned to Britain in 1936.

After Aberhart’s death in 1943, Earnest Manning (1908 – 1996) took over party leadership. Manning was regarded as Aberhart’s religious protege and closest political associate. However, the party became increasingly socially and fiscally conservative, mainly due to Manning’s pragmatism. Manning was premier of Alberta from 1943 to 1968. As Wikipedia explains: Under Manning, Alberta became a virtual one-party province. He led Social Credit to an incredible seven consecutive election victories between 1944 and 1967, usually with more than 50% of the popular vote, and only once had to face more than 10 opposition MLAs.

The province of British Columbia, immediately to the west of Alberta, also formed Social Credit organizations in the early 1930s. This did not result in political influence, until the early 1950s, when the party formed governments between 1952 and 1991, except for the years 1972 to 1975, when the British Columbia New Democratic Party governed. Unlike Alberta, the emergence and continued popularity of Social Credit had nothing to do with depression relief. Rather it stemmed from a revolt against corruption involving a Liberal – Conservative coalition.

Leader of the party from 1952 to 1972 was W.A.C./ Cece/ Wacky Bennett (1900 – 1979), followed by his son Bill Bennett (1932 – 2015), who was premier from 1975 to 1986. The downfall of the party had its roots in the election of Bill Vander Zalm (1934 – ) as party leader.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Social Credit in British Columbia is its attempt to ride two horses simultaneously. It is both a free enterprise party, but also responsible for purchasing BC Electric and Blackball Ferries to form the backbone of BC Hydro and BC Ferries, respectively. Both are crown = government owned, corporations.

My interest in Social Credit stems from living in British Columbia from 1948 to 1980, where a Social Credit government was in power, for most of those years. I think one of the reasons for its popularity, was its investment in highways. These are especially important in mountainous areas of the world.

I particularly remember Phil Gaglardi (1913 – 1995), a Pentacostal minister from Kamloops, and minister of highways for most of my formative years. The provincial highways construction signs always ended with Sorry for the inconvenience and his name and title. His nickname, Flying Phil, came from his tendency to speed while driving and accrue speeding tickets. He was also noted for encouraging the provincial government to buy a Lear Jet, for use by ministers.

Social Credit no longer exists in Canada as a political party, and its economic philosophy is no longer regarded as important.

Currently, my interests in economic philosophy relate to alternative forms of economics that are better for the planet and living human beings, especially. When Trish and I first moved to Norway in 1980, it felt like a poorer society. That feeling did not last long, as oil infused the country with wealth. Some of the differences we noted were shorter working hours and longer holidays as well as (more) affordable houses. I am not happy with all of the changes made in the intervening forty plus years. In more recent years, the EV transition has been notable.

To understand how societies can transform themselves economically, I recommend the following books, in chronological order: Ha-Joon Chang, 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism (2010); Richard Wilkinson & Kate Pickett, The Spirit Level (2011); Mariana Muzzucato, The Entrepreneurial State (2013); Thomas Piketty, Capitial in the 21st Century (2016); Kate Raworth, Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist (2017); Mariana Muzzucato, The Mission Economy (2021); Thomas Piketty, Brief History of Equality (2022); Ingrid Robeyns, Limitarianism (2024).

Publication of this weblog post has been postponed from 2023-03-18 at 12:00 to 2024-03-23 at 12:00.