Gregory Lewis Web-Log

 Labor Day 2025 We are in the final days of August, and Americans will celebrate Labor Day 2025 on Monday. Labor Day represents the "unofficial" end of Summer. Schools and colleges have started their Fall terms. Farms, construction sites, and tourist destinations look to finish out their seasons before the first frost and snow falls. Here in Virginia, state elections and local politics will dominate the headlines for the next few months. Most Americans have little knowledge or understanding of the original meaning of the Labor Day Holiday. In the 20th Century, as the U.S. Economy transitioned from an agrarian-based economy to a manufacturing-based economy, there was a great deal of tension and conflict between laborers and management. As farm science and technology improved over the 20th century fewer farmers were needed to produce agricultural products. In some instances, farmers left their farms to work in factories that produced tractors and other farming equipment that ac...

Corn Ethanol is the King of the Alternative Bio-Fuels Maize Corn was first domesticated 9,000 years ago in what is today southern Mexico by Indigenous Native Americans. Cinteotl and Chicomecoatl were the primary Aztec Maize Corn deities. Maize Corn was planted as part of the Native American Three Sisters polyculture that included squash, maize corn, and the climbing or common bean. Called "Indian Corn" by Europeans, it was a major crop of the Columbian Exchange of the 1500's that introduced various crops and livestock between the different continents and cultures, and has since surpasses wheat and rice in worldwide production. In 2020, total world production of Maize Corn was 1.16 billion tonnes, with the United States and China, together, producing half of the world's Maize Corn. Maize Corn is a staple and primary food source in the diets of billions of people, with a wide-range of culinary recipe uses. Maize Corn can be distilled into Bourbon Whiskey, White Lightnin...

 Science, Technology, and Society Studies A popular, and growing, field of study is in the area of Science, Technology, and Society, or STS for short. STS examines the impact and effect of science and technology on individuals, groups, and in some instances, Nations and the Globe. Many of these various technologies are utilized on a global scale, and impacts many of the current 8.2 billion Earthly inhabitants. I am a Microsoft Certified Windows Programmer. Microsoft, a more than $3.5 trillion company, is considered by most to be the most valuable company on Earth. Microsoft has more than 1.6 billion active Windows Devices, worldwide. Today’s $2,000 Windows PC has 40X(times) the computing capability of an $8 million supercomputer of the late 1970’s. Microsoft is celebrating its 50th year of successful business this year, empowering individuals, schools, and businesses alike. Most of my PC work meets, or exceeds, U.S. Government / Military standards. Personal Computers are now essent...

 Sic Semper Tyrannis The Seal of Virginia Tech, my alma mater, prominently features an obverse of Virtue defeating Tyranny. The standing allegorical female figure of Virtue is shown having vanquished Tyranny, symbolized by a fallen king at her feet. She has an exposed breast in the manner of classical depictions of Amazons. The scene is adopted from the Flag and Seal of the State of Virginia that has its origins in the American Revolution of 1776. The motto shown on the seal, Sic Semper Tyrannis, means "Thus always to tyrants." It is only slightly ironic that Virginia is named after Queen Elizabeth I of England, who was known as the Virgin Queen because she never married. During ancient classical times of Greece and Rome Tyrants were political leaders who seized power by illegal means, but usually enjoyed widespread support among the masses. The poor and middle-classes of ancient Greece and Rome preferred Tyrants to the ruling monarchs or aristocracy. Nevertheless, by late an...

 Easter Weekend 2025 Tomorrow is Easter Sunday 2025. Easter has come late this year and many colleges and universities will be holding graduation ceremonies in less than a month. Virginia Tech, my alma mater, will graduate 5,000 new fellow Hokies Nation alumni members next month, many of whom will be exploring their graduate school options. As the stock market slips further into bear-market territory, and Washington D.C. gets closer to shutting down because of budget problems, more and more people will be exploring his/her online college options. Firstly, a college graduate with a four-year bachelors degree earns, on average, twice that of someone who has only a high-school diploma. Secondly, many professions require some college, or even specific college diplomas, to meet the academic requirements of practicing in that respective profession. For example; teachers, financial advisors, stock traders, lawyers, military officers, healthcare providers, and even some auto-mechanic certi...

 Not the Economics Nobel Prize It has widely been accepted for nearly 100 years tariffs, and other economic protections policies, greatly contributed to, and possibly caused, the Great Depression of the 1930’s. In free-market capitalist economies the consumer is the final determinant on what is a good or bad product or service, and is the main driver of economic growth, employment, and inflation. In free-market capitalist economies the Consumer is King. It has been proven, time and time again, the consumer prefers the lowest price cost of comparable products and services, more so than any other determining factor. Tariffs, and other protectionist policies cause supply-chain problems, price uncertainties, and ultimately pain for the consumer. Any professional economist who has deviated from that generally accepted economic principle of the past 100 years has eliminated themselves from being considered for the Economics Nobel Prize. No professional economist will ever win the Nobel P...