Archive for April, 2010

A Wake-up Call For Educators Of At-risk Youth

Thursday, April 29th, 2010

Universal Greetings with Respect,

It would be a travesty of justice to approach the subject of At-Risk Youth without addressing how people of color are affected since the largest number of At-Risk Youth are of color. Three primary areas of concern are:

1.Our higher rate of incarceration, from juvenile to state penitentiaries, compared to our white counterparts.

2.Our limited access to affordable and quality health care.

3.The lack of appropriate pay for qualified teachers to work in economically deprived areas with our at-risk youth–the “shadow kids.”

I am aware that it is impossible for a single person to speak to all of the opinions, experiences and ideologies of a race of people however, is my desire to express as much as I am able based upon my exposure.

As a Black man living in America it is obvious that I (We) are attending way too many funerals of our youth. Yet there is a greater number of youth who are physically alive according to medical sources, but to those of us who know them, we know that they are dying–spiritually, intellectually and emotionally due to the infestation of negativity and mis-education. We have some of the most physically overweight and unhealthy people in some of the most economically deprived communities (“When you control a man’s thinking you don’t have to control his actions.”–Carter Woodson) and those numbers are growing exponentially.

As a member of the group known as African Americans, we are a very resilient people with unlimited potential who possess a rich culture. We exist on the shoulders of giants such as Shaka Zulu, Marcus Garvey, Harriet Tubman, Fannie Lou Hamer, Martin Luther King Jr., El Hajj Malik Shabazz and multitudes more whose names we don’t know and whose history we have not studied, excluding minimal discussions which are condoned during the so-called Black History month.

However, in spite of all things considered, many fighters for our at-risk youth become co-opted and silenced by the need to keep insurance, pay mortgages, car notes, win friends and influence people. It is not popular to be race-specific in our empowerment and teaching methods, although the disproportion in our detention centers, alternative schools and among at-risk youth is, race-specific. In attempts to be politically correct, all inclusive and non-offensive, we have watered downed, generalized and broad-brushed our approach to where the core of the message, if still present at all, is having little effect.
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Fuel Cell Power: The Energy of the Future

Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

Many scientific and engineering thought leaders consider fuel cell power stacks as the primary technology in the evolution of electronic or alternative fuel automobiles within the next decade.

According to Makino, a global provider of advanced machining technology, technologically advanced vertical machining centers are proven to be the ideal method for machining and manufacturing molds for the production of fuel cell power stack separator plate membranes. These membranes are the key to producing affordable fuel cell power stacks.

Certain rigid and thermally stable vertical machining centers can produce a depth accuracy within 2 microns, and a superior surface finish quality of 0.4 microns in 40 Rockwell C steel molds, both of which are essential in making such plastic and rubber membranes.

These membranes have to be of high quality and specification to establish the proper electrochemical conversion process to convert hydrogen and oxygen from the air into water. The process flow then produces electricity and heat, especially when configured in a fuel cell stack via a reformer, which controls and regulates the hydrogen for safety.
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Narcissistic Personality Disorder – Clinical Features

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

Clinical Features of the Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Opinions vary as to whether the narcissistic traits evident in in infancy, childhood, and early adolescence are pathological. Anecdotal evidence suggests that childhood abuse and trauma inflicted by parents, authority figures, or even peers provoke “secondary narcissism” and, when unresolved, may lead to the full-fledged Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) later in life.

This makes eminent sense as narcissism is a defense mechanism whose role is to deflect hurt and trauma from the victim’s “True Self” into a “False Self” which is omnipotent, invulnerable, and omniscient. This False Self is then used by the narcissist to garner narcissistic supply from his human environment. Narcissistic supply is any form of attention, both positive and negative and it is instrumental in the regulation of the narcissist’s labile sense of self-worth.

Perhaps the most immediately evident trait of patients with Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is their vulnerability to criticism and disagreement. Subject to negative input, real or imagined, even to a mild rebuke, a constructive suggestion, or an offer to help, they feel injured, humiliated and empty and they react with disdain (devaluation), rage, and defiance.

From my book “Malignant Self Love – Narcissism Revisited”:

“To avoid such intolerable pain, some patients with Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) socially withdraw and feign false modesty and humility to mask their underlying grandiosity. Dysthymic and depressive disorders are common reactions to isolation and feelings of shame and inadequacy.”
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Courtroom FEA: But my expert has hand calculations

Monday, April 26th, 2010

Hand calculations are good.

It is very important that design engineers do hand calculations. It is very important that engineering expert witnesses do hand calculations.

For everything but the simplest of part geometries, hand calculations of stress are generally rough estimates. Often they are only in the ballpark of the true maximum stress levels. Sometimes they are only in the ballpark of the average stress levels, and miss the highest stresses entirely.

In the span of 50 years, finite element analysis has gone from esoteric research topic to widely available, widely applied mature technology. In the 1980′s, FEA required extremely expensive mainframe computers, very expensive FEA codes and highly trained analysts, and was still implemented at many large corporations. In the 1990′s, Unix workstations provided distributed FEA processing and FEA packages went mainstream, lowering entry costs. A seat of hardware and software still cost many tens of thousands of dollars, and highly trained analysts were still required, and still FEA spread to thousands of companies. In the 2000′s, lower priced FEA packages run well on medium to high-end personal computers, and FEA usage continues to grow. Highly trained analysts are still needed to consistently obtain accurate results, a fact unfortunately ignored by too many in the industry.
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