Elliot's Tumblelog

The Great Debaters: 1935 Debate vs. USC

Wiley debated USC in 1935, but on what topic?

Debating the Merits of the Underdog Movie Formula

This might be the best link about the debate at the University of Southern California: Tolson, Farmer intertwined by Wiley debate team

Talked with Ron at Citibank

For the Citi mtvU Card Redemption Form, I can submit anything that shows my name, my school’s name, and my grades (e.g. USC’s STARS report).

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they attack you...

Remember Gandhi, first they ignore you; then they laugh at you; then they attack you; then you win. Go Dr. Paul. Remind everyone what it truly is to be American.

http://www.dailytrojan.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticleComments&ustory_id=86045b1a-8e58-4923-85bc-bf67a827ace8

High Gas Prices

High prices would encourage conservation better than any environmental regulations. Entrepreneurs would race to develop viable alternate fuels if gas prices rose too much.

What can Congress do to provide Americans with some relief at the pump?  First it can suspend federal gas taxes, which would save consumers nearly 20 cents per gallon.  In the long term, Congress must pass legislation like HR 4004, which I introduced earlier this month.  HR 4004 takes a comprehensive approach by allowing offshore drilling, eliminating regulations that restrict refining, and suspending harmful tax rules that discourage domestic oil production.  If we hope to have a stable, affordable supply of gas, we must allow the free market to operate. 

http://www.ronpaul2008.com/articles/853/a-free-market-in-gasoline/

Cause of high yield - Nuclear Bombs

It was expected that lithium-6 isotope would absorb a neutron from the fissioning plutonium, emit an alpha particle and tritium in the process, of which the latter would then fuse with deuterium (which was already present in the LiD) and increase the yield in a predicted manner.

The designers missed the fact that when the lithium-7 isotope (which was considered basically inert) is bombarded with high-energy neutrons, it absorbs a neutron then decomposes to form an alpha particle, another neutron, and a tritium nucleus. This means that much more tritium was produced than expected, and the extra tritium in fusion with deuterium (as well as the extra neutron from lithium-7 decomposition) produced many more neutrons than expected and induced more fission of the uranium tamper, increasing yield.

This resultant extra fuel (both lithium-6 and lithium-7) contributed greatly to the fusion reactions and neutron production, and in this manner greatly increased the device’s yield. The test used lithium with a high percentage of lithium-7 only because lithium-6 was (at the time) scarce and expensive; the later Castle Union test used almost pure lithium-6. Had more lithium-6 been available, the usability of the common lithium-7 might not have been discovered.