16 April 2014
12 April 2014
Our Parallel (yet still not identical) World of Prisons
At one end of the incarceration spectrum New Yorker Magazine prints a Jeffrey Toobin piece, aptly named "This is My Jail"; a grim glimpse at a the Baltimore City Detention Center, an inner city jail that ought to be notorious; no - infamous! The place ought to be infamous.
QUOTE:
Here's the URL spelled out - http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/04/14/140414fa_fact_toobin
At the other end of the prison spectrum
Bernie Kerik, once a top cop, once Commissioner of the New York City Department of Corrections. He was later indited, and sentenced, for accepting bribes, tax fraud and, frankly, lying about it. He opinions about prison now that he was incarcerated, have changed. Who would have known?
Ms. Dimon, graduated from Columbia's School of Journalism in 2013 and her work focuses on criminal justice issues. She also wrote The Invisible Life Sentence, a piece on how our harsh and unforgiving society essentially "sentences" almost anyone whose been incarcerated, to a marginalized life; unless, of course, if your are already wealthy (and can completely avoid being sentenced) or if you are a well connected former career politician. The following link will take you to the complete article.
QUOTE:
On January 5, 2013, Tavon White, an inmate at the Baltimore City Detention Center, had a cell-phone conversation that was intercepted on an F.B.I. wiretap.And yes, it's worth signing up for the free monthly trial subscription to read the whole article.
“This is my jail, you understand that,” White told an unidentified friend. “I’m dead serious. I make every final call in this jail. . . . Everything come to me. Before a motherfucker hit a nigga in the mouth, guess what they do—they gotta run it through me. I tell them whether it’s a go ahead and they can do it or whether they hold back. Before a motherfucker stab somebody, they gotta run it through me.”
White was a leader of a gang called the Black Guerrilla Family.
The gang had such control over inmates in the facility that, as White put it in another phone call,
“I got elevated to the seat where as though nobody in the jail could outrank me. . . . Like, I am the law. . . . So if I told any motherfucking body they had to do this, hit a police, do this, kill a motherfucker, anything, it got to be done. Period"
Here's the URL spelled out - http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/04/14/140414fa_fact_toobin
At the other end of the prison spectrum
Laura Dimon, a columnist at PolicyMic, wrote:
He's been called a hero and a leader, a liar and a crook. Praise or condemn him, it's hard to argue that he doesn't have a damned interesting story. He said that throughout his career, he thought he understood the criminal justice system.Another interviewer, Lisa DiPaulo, (who specializes in chatting up the famous) wrote in The Secrets of White Collar Prisons got him to talk about his impressions of spending time in a "Club Fed" prison for the rich and influential. The article, appearing in the slick lifestyle e-mag Dujour has another convicted criminal, Jack Abramoff, lamenting (on Kerik's behalf) “You don’t want to be the celebrity of the prison, by the way,” Abramoff also shares: “It’s never good to draw attention to yourself in a prison. Nothing good is gonna result from that.”
But it wasn't until the tough "lock 'em up" cop with the Tony Soprano-like swagger was suited up in prison uniform, mopping floors and living in a small room with three other men that he realized: He knew "nothing," he said, until he was on the other side of the bars.
Perhaps the most useful insights shared with Ms. DiPaulo by Bernie Kerik are after she asked "What was the most shocking thing about being on the other side of the bars?" He said this:
“The punishment should be the deprivation of freedom and liberty,” he says. “But once you arrive at prison—I was shocked by the psychological punishment.” This is unexpected. “You are constantly berated, degraded, demoralized,” he says. “You’re herded like cattle.”
The isolation from family also takes its toll. “You can’t show your child love and support and guidance in absentia. You damn sure can’t do it in a two-hour visit in a visiting room. You can’t discipline your child while you’re in the system, because the last thing you need is for that last conversation you have with your child to be a negative one,” he says.
“You cannot fathom the pain, the heartache, that the system causes parents and their kids. Nobody gets it. Nobody understands it.”
Ms. Dimon, graduated from Columbia's School of Journalism in 2013 and her work focuses on criminal justice issues. She also wrote The Invisible Life Sentence, a piece on how our harsh and unforgiving society essentially "sentences" almost anyone whose been incarcerated, to a marginalized life; unless, of course, if your are already wealthy (and can completely avoid being sentenced) or if you are a well connected former career politician. The following link will take you to the complete article.
Here's the URL spelled out - to Ms. Dimon's article: http://www.policymic.com/articles/86691/nypd-commissioner-turned-felon-has-a-message-for-america-now-he-s-been-to-prison?.
Ms. DePaulo's creds include writing for GQ, DUJour, and other lifestyle magazines. Her take is, perhaps, a caution to the high and mighty that if they do go to prison, they might be forced to live in a cell "where you are barely able to turn around in the cell without bumping into something..."
Point being, the conditions are nothing, nothing like those endured by the inmates at Baltimore City Detention Center.
Here's the URL spelled out - to Ms. DePaulo's article: http://dujour.com/article/inside-white-collar-prisons-bernie-kerik-jack-abramoff
21 February 2014
Architectural Wonders ~ Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House
It was designed and built between 1908 and 1910 by architect Frank Lloyd Wright and is renowned as the greatest example of the Prairie School style, the first architectural style that was uniquely American.
The house was designated a National Historic Landmark on November 27, 1963 and was on the very first National Register of Historic Places list of October 15, 1966.
The term was coined by architectural critics and historians (not by Wright) who noticed how the buildings and their various components owed their design influence to the landscape and plant life of the midwest prairie of the United States.
Typical of Wright's Prairie houses, he designed not only the house, but all of the interiors, the windows, lighting, rugs, furniture and textiles.
As Wright wrote in 1910, "it is quite impossible to consider the building one thing and its furnishings another. ... They are all mere structural details of its character and completeness."
For more information on the history of the Robie House
20 February 2014
poem - checking out the handiwork
The Bricklayer sat by his wall
checking on his own handiwork
finding a flaw
.jpg)
that no one but he
(or another bricklayer)
would ever notice
checking on his own handiwork
finding a flaw
.jpg)
(or another bricklayer)
would ever notice
That imperfection
Had little to do
with the skill of his craft
and more to do
with the pride of perfect labors
when one can walk away from
Content in its completeness.
This made him feel
The work unfinished
His mission not accomplished
Yet the homeowner who hired him
was in a rush
“Don’t touch a thing!
Looks good to me!”
ushering the tradesman away
with a check
and his own consternation
Little did it matter to him –
when
30 years later
Building still erect
every time he passed by
he could see
what he could not aright
And it made him sad.
Beat Generation
He was a football star at Lowell High School and upon graduation in 1939 was awarded a scholarship to Columbia University. However, after an injury sidelined him on the football team, Kerouac grew unhappy with Columbia and dropped out of school.
During this period in New York City, Kerouac became friends with the poet Allen Ginsberg and the novelist William S. Burroughs, as well as Herbert Huncke and others who would be associated with the “Beat Generation.”
Read more at the Wikipedia bio of Jack Kerouac
photograph of Jack Kerouac in Tangier in 1957, by William Burroughs. Photograph from Taking Shots: The Photography of William S Burroughs’ is at The Photographers’ Gallery until 30 March 2014. The associated book is published by Prestel.
Treasonous Bastids
The billionaire industrialists and their political operatives strive to ensure the anonymity of the wealthy conservatives who fund their sprawling political operation—which funneled more than $400 million into the 2012 elections—and to keep their plans private. Attendees of these summits are warned that the seminars, where the Kochs and their allies hatch strategies for electing Republicans and advancing conservative initiatives on the state and national levels, are strictly confidential.
They are cautioned to keep a close eye on their meeting notes and materials. But last week, following the Kochs' first donor gathering of 2014, one attendee left behind a sensitive document at the Renaissance Esmeralda resort outside of Palm Springs, California, where the Kochs and their comrades had spent three days focused on winning the 2014 midterm elections and more. The document lists VIP donors—including John Schnatter, the founder of the Papa John's pizza chain—who were scheduled for one-on-one meetings with representatives of the political, corporate, and philanthropic wings of Kochworld.
Read more at Mother Jones http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/02/koch-brothers-palm-springs-donor-list
DONORS:
Carl Berg: Ranking No. 308 on the Forbes 400, Berg is a Silicon Valley real estate titan with an estimated fortune of $1.1 billion.
Ronnie Cameron: He runs agribusiness giant Mountaire Corporation. During a meeting of the Kochs' donor network in 2011, Charles Koch recognized Cameron (and other donors) for donating at least $1 million to their cause.
Charles Chandler: Based in the Kochs' hometown of Wichita, Kansas, Chandler is the CEO of Intrust Bank.
John Childs: He runs the Boston-based private equity firm J.W. Childs & Associates.
Jamie Coulter: Haling from Wichita, Coulter is the former CEO of the Lone Star Steakhouse and Saloon restaurant chain.
Bob and Steve Fettig: The Fettigs run the metal fabrication company Tankcraft, based in Darien, Wisconsin. Steve is the company's CFO; Bob is CEO.
Richard and Leslie Gilliam: Richard founded Virginia-based coal mining company Cumberland Resources Corporation, which he sold to Massey Energy for nearly a billion dollars in 2010.
Ken Griffin: A major conservative donor, the Chicago-based businessman founded the hedge fund Citadel and is worth an estimated $4.4 billion.
John Griffin: He's the founder of Blue Ridge Capital, a New York hedge fund.
Dick Haworth: He's the chairman emeritus of Holland, Michigan-based office furniture company Haworth.
Richard "Ric" Kayne: He's the founder and chairman of Los Angeles-based investment firm Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors.
Dan Kirby: He's president of Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based Kirby Financial.
Fred Klipsch: He's the chairman of Klipsch Group, a speaker and headphone manufacturer.
Frank Kozel: He's the principal of Pittsburgh-based Keystone Energy Oil & Gas Inc.
Francis "Franc" Lee: He's the president and CEO of Flowood, Mississippi-based lender First Tower, LLC.
Robert "Bob" Luddy: He's president of CativeAire Systems Inc. in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Hugh Maclellan: He's the executive chairman of Chattanooga, Tennessee's Maclellan Foundation, which make grants to Christian causes.
Cecil O'Brate: He's the CEO of Garden City, Kansas-based Palmer Manufacturing & Tank.
Verl Purdy: He's the chairman and CEO of Charlotte, North Carolina-based AGDATA Inc.
Tom Rastin: He's a director and vice chairman of the Mount Vernon, Ohio-based Ariel Foundation, started by his wife, Karen Buchwald Wright, the CEO of Ariel Corporation. Rastin is the company's vice president of engineering, sales, and marketing.
George Records: A member of the Hoover Institution's board of overseers, Records is the retired chairman of Oklahoma City's Midland Group.
Robert Rowling: Ranking No. 93 on the Forbes 400 with an estimated fortune of $4.9 billion, Rowling is the cofounder of TRT Holdings, which owns Gold's Gym and Omni Hotels.
John Schnatter: He's the founder and CEO of Papa John's International.
Tina and Craig Snider: They are the children of Ed Snider, a founding contributor of the Ayn Rand Institute and chairman of Comcast Spectacor, a sports and entertainment company that owns the Philadelphia Flyers.
Dian Stai: Based in Texas, Stai cofounded Owen Healthcare Inc. with her late husband. She's a top conservative donor who gave $125,000 to the pro-Mitt Romney super-PAC Restore Our Future during the 2012 election cycle.
Jim Stephenson: He's the president and CEO of Georgia-based Yancey Bros. Co., "which provides Caterpillar, AGCO, and Blue Bird Bus Co. products and services throughout the state of Georgia." Stephenson is also an Americans for Prosperity board member.
Jim Von Ehr: He's the CEO and founder of Richardson, Texas-based Zyvex Labs.
Debra Waller: Since 2001, she's been the chairman and CEO of Jockey International Inc.
Lew Ward: He's the founder of Oklahoma-based Ward Petroleum Corporation.
Dick Weiss: He's the Core Equity senior portfolio manager at Wells Capital Management.
Karen Wright: She's the founder and CEO of the Ariel Foundation, a private philanthropy group based in Mount Vernon, Ohio. She's also CEO of the Ariel Corporation, a natural gas compression company.
*Mother Jones was unable to confirm the identities of some donors on the list, including Steve Clark, Paul Foster, George Gibbs, George Jenkins, Jerry Hayden, Kent McCarthy, Andrew Miller, Ted Saunders, Tom Smith, Jaime Snider, and Dean Williams.
International Events - Kiev on Fire
World History: Norweigan Teachers Stood Up Against NAZIs
World history lesson against hatred
On Feb. 20, 1942 the vast majority of teachers in German-occupied Norway refused to comply with the forced Nazification of the school system.
The government had ordered display of the portrait of German-installed Minister President Vidkun Quisling (formerly head of the Norwegian fascist party) in all classrooms, revision of the curriculum and textbooks to reflect Nazi ideology, and teaching of German to replace English as their second language.
The teachers organized and 12,000 of 14,000 nationwide wrote the same letter on this day to the education department refusing membership in the newly formed Nazi teachers’ association.
Two days later clergy throughout the country read a manifesto against Nazi control of the schools. (Description from PeaceButtons.info) Read more: Non-violent protests in World War Two
Also read about Reidar Dittmann who was imprisoned for his role as a student who resisted the Nazis.
Photo: 500 teachers from all over Norway were sent to Kirkenes in 1942 after refusing to teach the Nazi curriculum, read more at The Zinn Education Project. Contributing Source info: The Zinn Education Project - "Teaching a people's history"; the Peace Pledge Union - the oldest secular pacifist organisation in Britain.; Minnesota Public Broadcasting.
News clips
[FROM REUTERS] Workers at VW's factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, last Friday voted against representation by the United Auto Workers union (UAW), rejecting efforts by VW representatives to set up a German-style works council at the plant.
German workers enjoy considerable influence over company decisions under the legally enshrined "co-determination" principle which is anathema to many politicians in the U.S. who see organized labor as a threat to profits and job growth. Chattanooga is VW's only factory in the U.S. and one of the company's few in the world without a works council. "I can imagine fairly well that another VW factory in the United States, provided that one more should still be set up there, does not necessarily have to be assigned to the south again," said Bernd Osterloh, head of VW's works council. "If co-determination isn't guaranteed in the first place, we as workers will hardly be able to vote in favor" of potentially building another plant in the U.S. south, Osterloh, who is also on VW's supervisory board, said.
Osterloh's comments were published on Wednesday in German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung. A spokesman at the Wolfsburg-based works council confirmed the remarks.
"The conservative politicians stirred up massive, anti-union sentiments," Osterloh said. "It's possible that the conclusion will be drawn that this interference amounted to unfair labor praxis."
Republican U.S. Senator Bob Corker, a staunch opponent of unionization, said last Wednesday after the first day of voting that VW would award the factory another model if the UAW was rejected.
A dramatic uptick in earthquakes has been shaking central Oklahoma this year, continuing a recent trend of unusually high earthquake activity in the state and leading scientists to speculate about a possible link to oil and gas production there.
The map on the right side of this page is of earthquakes recorded by the US Geological Survey (USGS) in the past thirty days (each quake is marked by a dot on the map), Oklahoma is a clear hot spot.
Nicholas van der Elst, a post-doctorate research fellow at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, says the “most reasonable hypothesis” to explain Oklahoma’s spike in earthquakes is they’ve been triggered by injection wells used for oil and gas production. “The burden of proof is on well operators to prove that the earthquakes are not caused by their wells.”
In fact, there have been more than 500 earthquakes in Oklahoma this year and 150 last week.
For all my friends who shelled $130K [USD] (you know who you are) unfortunately the last laugh is on you. It seems the engine can catch fire.
The 911 GT3 can go from zero to 60 miles per hour in just 3.3 seconds, with a top speed of 195 miles per hour.
The problem affects 785 GT3 cars from the 2014 model year, including 408 in the U.S.
The car maker is contacting the owners of the 911 GT3s directly and offering to pick up the vehicles so that it can inspect the engines at a dealership. [FROM CNN Money]
IMAGE SOURCES: (1) Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga,Tennessee: Reuters/Christopher Aluka Berry (2) USA Earthquake map: US Geological Survey (3) Yellow Porsche - Ingo Wagner AP Image Bank
Ansel Adams Birthday today
Ansel Adams, Photographer, ConservationistHere's a link to a Wikipedia biographical sketch of Ansel Adams, and a link to an official The Ansel Adams Gallery"“At one with the power of the American landscape, and renowned for the patient skill and timeless beauty of his work, photographer Ansel Adams has been a visionary in his efforts to preserve this country’s wild and scenic areas, both on film and on Earth. Drawn to the beauty of nature’s monuments, he is regarded by environmentalists as a monument himself, and by photographers as a national institution. It is through his foresight and fortitude that so much of America has been saved for future Americans.”"
President James E. Carter Presenting Ansel Adams with the Presidential Medal of Freedom
You might also check out the PBS Image gallery of Ansel Adams Photos
IMAGE SOURCE: Photo of Ansel Adams on his wonderful wood-paneled station wagon found at D K Hummel's blog From A Certain Point of View
02 December 2013
People who don't watch the Kardashians
from Wikipedia
Amish Farmers ~
IMAGE CREDIT: Amish America. TEXT CREDIT: from Wikipedia ~ Amish Life in a Modern World.
"The Older Order Amish are known for their avoidance of certain modern technologies. Amish do not view technology as evil, and individuals may petition for acceptance of a particular technology in the local community.
"In Pennsylvania, bishops meet in the spring and fall to discuss common concerns, including the appropriate response to new technology, and then pass this information on to ministers and deacons in a subsequent meeting. Because of this flat governing structure, variations of practice develop in each community.
"Because of the early prohibition of electricity, individual decisions about the use of new inventions such as the television would not be necessary. Electricity is used in some situations when it can be produced without access to outside power lines. Batteries, with their limited applications, are sometimes acceptable.
" Electric generators may be used for welding, recharging batteries, and powering milk stirrers in many communities. Outdoor electrical appliances such as riding and hand-pushed lawn mowers and string trimmers are used in some communities. Some Amish families have non-electric versions of appliances, such as kerosene-powered refrigerators.
"The Old Order Amish tend to restrict telephone use, as it is viewed by some as interfering with separation from the world. By bringing the outside world into the home, it is an intrusion into the privacy and sanctity of the family, and interferes with social community by eliminating face-to-face communication.
"Amish of Lancaster County use the telephone primarily for outgoing calls, with the added restriction that the telephone not be inside the house, but rather in a phone "booth" or small out-building placed far enough from the house as to make its use inconvenient. These private phones may be shared by more than one family. This allows the Amish to control their communication, and not have telephone calls invade their homes, but also to conduct business, as needed.
"In the past, the use of public pay phones in town for such calls was more common; today, with dwindling availability of pay phones because of increased cell phone use by the non-Amish population, Amish communities are seeing an increase in the private phone shanties. Many Amish, particularly those who run businesses, use voicemail service. The Amish will also use trusted "English" neighbors as contact points for passing on family emergency messages. Some New Order Amish will use cellphones and pagers, but most Old Order Amish will not.
IMAGE CREDIT: Amish America. TEXT CREDIT: from Wikipedia ~ Amish Life in a Modern World.
Resourcefulness ~ Vietnam
The following was found on a Google+ discussion group, so I can't take credit for it.
New type of canoe? Nothing in Vietnam was ever wasted. The Vietnamese people don't waste a thing - this ought to be a BIG lesson to us!!!
Whatever happened to all those USAF fuel tanks that were jettisoned all over North and South Vietnam after the fuel was expended during their missions? 
Apparently they’re being put to good used as boats in the navigable rivers of SE Asia.
F-4 Phantom fully loaded with fuel tanks and arms …
[Click on the image to the right to see the stats better] Note: Original amounts were in 1965 United States dollars. The figures in these tables have been adjusted for inflation. 
The fuel tanks before being, well, refurbished.
Thought this was interesting.
[As an aside, anybody who had been to the Mekong River delta region will likely never forget those red clay soils. ... and just in case you want to know more about Vietnamese soil types ~ go here > the UN's Food and Agriculture Oorganization's Country Pasture/Forage Resource Profiles (sorry, the nascent geologist in me just cropped up)]
You can find more about the F4 series of fighter jets at Wikipedia: McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II.
A single one of these babies (the F-4C) would cost 27,888,870 USD to build today.
29 November 2013
People who don't watch the Kardashians
First in a series - people who have lives that make the frivolous frippery on TV a total waste of time.
Life on an oil rig
Excerpts from the website Marine Insight
"Life changes dramatically for the one who decides to step foot to work in this industry. Earlier life on an offshore oil rig was arduous and difficult but there has been a significant change and improvement in the living conditions. One needs to get outfitted to start work on the rig and hence safety glasses, hard hats, coveralls and steel-toed boots are issued on arrival. Regular safety trainings are given before and during employment. The work designated to a rig worker usually falls on an 8-12 hour shift with breaks for food in the morning, noon and night. One might have to do night shifts since this industry operates 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. But a two week work on the rig will earn the worker a holiday of almost three weeks."
Is Wal-Mart owned by the whores of Babylon?
And if there were ever picket lines in front one I was headed for, I would not cross the line to shop there either. Alternet reports on massive Black-Friday strikes planned by workers defying Wal-Mart.
Can we expect the management minions working for the Walton family to order arrests? It would not surprise me. Such malign abuses of power are typical when big corporations are met with protest.
Walton family PR flaks thought the mob scenes, fistfights and general chaos were indicators of a successful Black Friday Sell-a-thon.
IMAGE CREDIT: # 1 ~ OUR Walmart; # 2 ~
22 November 2013
18 September 2013
it's hard work to make a scene
Then there's choosing the site so as to get the proper natural lighting; and time, to ensure that no unwanted intruders might accidentally stumble across the shoot and distract everyone. And then paying for everything, plus getting the idea marketed and properly, well, exposed to the target audience.
But who is the target audience. And are we so certain that any of these actor/models required getting paid or did they pay to participate in this little imbroglio? Personally, I know people who would.
After all, this tantalizing bit of soft-core porn remarkably resembles a bust of two guys caught in the act of, well, having their pants down for one thing. In the bushes [or so it would suggest] and busted by a couple of well-packed officers of the law. [Is the plainclothesman wearing C-in2 briefs as well? We'll never know.]
There are, in fact, two "scenes" transpiring here in one tidy little picture. There's the photo shoot, presumably paid for by C-in2 and there's the sex scene with so many complicated layers of not so crypto homo-eroticism. Sex outside in the bushes; getting caught by authority figures in the act [good looking ones I might add ]; bondage and humiliation as well as the anticipated prison holding cell rape scene. No wonder the bad boy about to be cuffed is beginning to sprout a woody.
Or am I reading too much into this? Maybe, as Freud said, "A cigar is just a cigar" and these guys are just trying to sell us underwear. perhaps the real message is, if you expect to be busted, wear clean shorts and cut down on the embarrassment.
You tell me.
[Advert found in an old edition of the metrosexual oriented magazine GQ; I could only find a still of this advert but if you find this intriguing do yourself the favor and watch more recently released C-in2 video called Filthy and on Parole on YouTube.]
edible wild foods
They can be eaten raw, steamed, roasted or fried, but these delicious little tubers are not artichokes and don't hail from Jerusalem.
Growing wild in my yard, they are a hardy perennial and, once a bed is established they can grow up to seven feet [two metres] tall. Stalks with yellow daisy-like flowers top this delicious tuber vegetable plant.
The plant originated in the Americas, and it's reported they were named artichokes because they have a taste similar to a globe artichoke, which belongs to the thistle family. Jerusalem artichokes belong to the sunflower family - which accounts for the first part of the name, a corruption of the Italian girasole (turning to the sun). They are healthful and easy to store come wintertime.
Keep the tubers in a plastic bag or airtight container in the fridge as they will dehydrate when exposed to warm, dry conditions. Remove brown, stringy roots and scrub or peel before using. These tiny veggies discolour when cut, so they need to be placed in a bowl of cold water with a squeeze of lemon juice, or boil them with a teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice added to the cooking water.
Make a quick artichoke soup by sauteeing chopped onion and garlic, then adding peeled jerusalem artichokes and vegetable stock. When vegetables are tender, puree and serve with a splash of cream and chopped chives.
You can fancy it up by topping Jerusalem Artichoke soup with curried shrimp or prawns.
• Spray a 6-cup ovenproof dish with light olive oil. Peel Peel 1 pound [450g] jerusalem artichokes and slice very thinly. Peel 1 pound [450g] potatoes and slice very thinly. Finely slice half a peeled brown onion. Combine 1 cup [200g] light sour cream, 1/4 cup [100ml] skim milk, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, salt and cracked black pepper in a bowl.
• Spread 2 tbsp of sour cream mixture over the base of the ovenproof dish and layer about a fifth of the artichokes and potatoes over the sour cream and top with about 2 tbsp of the sour cream mixture. Continue to layer vegetables, salt and pepper and sour cream mixture, adding onion slices in between, to form five layers.
• Finish with a layer of sour cream mixture. Sprinkle with 150g grated gruyere cheese and bake at 390F [200C] for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until vegetables are tender and top is golden. Cover with foil if cheese begins to brown too quickly.
Flowering plants from Garrett Hoyt's Five Sprouts Farm weblog
Wood Gas as an internal combustion vehicle fuel
Why settle for bio-desiel when burning wood will do? I'm not sure I would ride a Hog that had a small wood furnace for a sissy bar, but who am I to argue? The picture was taken as part of a story in a Florida newspaper in 1981. Anybody know more about this guy's efforts and what came of them?
Wikipedia has a helpful starting description of this technology. A wood gas generator is a gasification unit which converts timber or charcoal into wood gas, a syngas consisting of atmospheric nitrogen, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, traces of methane, and other gases, which - after cooling and filtering - can then be used to power an internal combustion engine or for other purposes. Historically wood gas generators were often mounted on vehicles.
Brown University's Projects in Engineering Design website has an interesting page with good visuals and descriptions about a "gasified go-kart" which states that
"This project will serve as an example of the alternative fuels that can be used to run internal combustion engines. Our goal is to make a gasifier that is small, safe, and convenient at low cost. This gasifier will be mated with a standard go-kart engine and mounted on a go-kart frame. The output gases from the gasifier will serve as the engine's only fuel input.".
The US Federal Emergency Management Agency published a booklet, in 1989, on this technology, in terminology understandable by someone with basic mechanical engineering skills. Unfortunately, although there are other articles about emergency generators, I've not been able to find the publication on the FEMA website.
Therefore, the following links have posted pdf format copies of the 1989 FEMA booklet:
• Available at DROPBOX
• Posted on the Australian based Library page of Soil and Health.org - this one takes awhile to download (free, but they ask for a donation to help support the site's work)
• Found at Pole Shift Survival Information Gasifiers links page.
You could also by a USED copy reprint of the same document on Amazon.com for only $100.
22 July 2013
New Deal Art History - Harlan, Iowa
A quote from the site:
"The investment America made in New Deal seventy-five years ago is still working for the American people—and our economy—today. The legacy of the New Deal has much to teach about farsighted leadership and what can be achieved when our country rallies to serve needs of ordinary people in troubled times. What is more, it provides a shining example of what positive government can achieve when it invests in public works that serve the collective good. Yes, government can work for all the people by creating useful infrastructure, job for the unemployed, and things of beauty like public murals and elegant buildings."...well worth pondering considering the times we are going through. Again, the picture was found at the Living New Deal Project,a site worth visiting.
IMAGE CREDIT: The Farmer Feeding Industry - photo by Jimmy Emerson
20 July 2013
news and commentary found on the 'net
The Huffington Post reports PARIS -- Fire has partially destroyed a landmark mansion on Paris' Ile Saint Louis that once belonged to the Rothschild dynasty.
The Hotel Lambert, a 17th century mansion overlooking the Seine river, suffered "serious damage" in a fire that broke out early Wednesday morning, according to deputy Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo. Televised images showed billowing grey smoke pouring out of the building's roof while helmeted firemen clambered across balconies trying to extinguish the blaze. Fire department spokesman Philippe Durieu said the fire was put out by 7:30 a.m. He said the building's roof was almost completely destroyed.
Accoridning to Art NewspaperThe fire has destroyed a series of frescoes made around 1652 by the artist Eustache Le Sueur. The blaze caused the rooftop to collapse on to the Cabinet des Bains (bathroom) area immediately below. Its vaulted ceilings were decorated with Le Sueur’s designs depicting Greek gods and nymphs.
“It’s a complete disaster,” Alexandre Cojannot, an architectural historian, told Le Journal des Arts. Following extensive restoration, begun in 2010, “the Cabinet des Bains was in a perfect state, an excellent example of ‘Parisian Atticisme’ [a 17th-century movement drawing on classical Antiquity]”, Cojannot adds. The French culture minister, Aurélie Filippetti, said that the Cabinet des Bains has been “completely destroyed”.
The building, part of a Unesco World Heritage site on the River Seine, has been unoccupied since it was bought in 2007 by a brother of the emir of Qatar and has been undergoing a controversial renovation.
The philosopher Voltaire courted his mistress, the marquise du Châtelet, at the hôtel Lambert in the mid-18th century.
It fell into disrepair and was being used as a warehouse, when, in 1843, Prince Adam Czartoryski, an exile after the failed Polish rising of 1830, bought the building after Delacroix brought his attention to it. The family collection, including Leonardo da Vinci’s Lady with an Ermine, around 1489, was housed at the celebrated residence; frequent visitors, meanwhile, included Chopin and Balzac. In 1975, the mansion was sold to the Rothschild banking dynasty.
In 2007, the Qatari prince Abdullah bin Abdullah al Thani bought the hôtel Lambert for around €60m. The sheikh’s plans to modernise the residence prompted protests from conservation groups; according to reports, the Qatari royal family has pledged to help restore the building following the fire.
IMAGE CREDITS: Hotel Lambert - Euro News
17 July 2013
Mourning reflections
I'm still wishing I could be with my friend, yet knowing, or beginning to recognize that isn't possible.
On the plus side, his absence has sparked within my mind a profound sense of those things that are important as contrasted with those that are not ... as a result, the TV set is off most of the time and at work I have even less patience for foolishness from others - be they patients, staff or unfeeling administrators. HMM. Have to work on remaining diplomatic if that be the case.
Thinking beyond 10% of your brain
Bill once mused
"If it's true that most people only make use of 10% of their brain, what is like ~ how does the person who uses 12% of their brain see things?"
The art work of Louis Wain
http://youtu.be/sUzSZyB0z4s
http://youtu.be/sUzSZyB0z4s
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