82

AMERICA’S WAR MACHINE

Since about 65% of our budget is given up to war, there are a couple of questions I’d like to ask.  Assume our population is about 400 million. How many of us actually vote for a president to lead us ?

Eligible voters;  220 million

Registered voters;  146 million (Let’s assume most of these actually vote).

Therefor; about 70 million each for our two party system.?

Now, here’s my concern; How many voters work in the war industry? Boeing, Gen. Dynamics, Electronics, , Humvees, Tanks, Jet planes, Ship building etc.?

Now, since these employees may lose their jobs if we cut back on our Death Machines, do you think we will vote against any reduction in expenditures?

                                           

400 seat Auditorium for Institute for Human Awareness, Bruce Wisconsin

Plan and section

   

THE AMOEBA

You’ve seen my design for an extended Auditorium for The Institute for the Study Human Awareness (ISHA) (Blog #76),  I’d like you to see the interim & smaller auditorium for 400 people that will be built first In the middle of Wisconsin.  The program evolved into a wood dome of 72’ diameter with some support services extending out around it. After searching for an engineer who would calculate such a dome I located a small company in Portland Oregon who would engineer it, pre-fabricate and deliver to the site with a superintendent for about $25 per square foot. Aside from being a very attractive price, it is a very beautiful structure.  For those of you who are familiar with the new Catholic extravaganza in Oakland “The Cathedral of Christ the Light”. The huge Glu-lam structure was installed by Western Wood Structures , also our supplier. As an aside comment by an ex-Catholic, I can only hope the funds were donated by local philanthropists, and not extracted from the poor congregation..

THE GATHERING STORM

Just about the time I finished reading “Future Crime” the  Paris blood-bath occurred. The author described such things and how it will affect us in the future but maybe the future is here.  We can only hope that it is a two edged sword, and as happened in Paris, the bad guys used the internet (But cleverly used a gaming thing that is all about killing & mayhem,) so the good guys couldn’t separate the wheat from any chaff.  Terrorists use facebook to monitor progress of operatives in action situations, just as they did in Paris.

 Have you ever wondered how come all your internet thingies are free? (Facebook, Google, Yelp, etc.). It seems these companies bundle up all your information and sell it to advertising companies for a shit load of dough.  I can’t help showing the following parody from the Onion  in a fake news report.

Congress today reauthorized funding for Facebook, the massive online surveillance program run by the CIA. According to reports, Facebook has replaced almost every other CIA information –gathering program since it was launched in 2004.

 (A mock CIA official noted)  ”After years of secretly monitoring the public, we were astounded so many people would willingly publicize where they live, their religious and political views, an alphabetized list of all their friends, personal e-mail addresses, phone numbers, hundreds of photos of themselves, and even updates about what they were doing moment to moment, It is truly a dream come true for the CIA. Much of the  credit belongs to CIA agent Mark Zuckerberg, who runs the day-to-day Facebook operation for the agency”.

Wonderful !  However, Facebook keeps all my data even after I closed my account, and just try to get out of one of these. But it doesn’t matter, because my friends will tag me in pics, the GPS in my car will track my location and Target will  track my purchases. The Data Surveillance Industry (156 Billion / year !).  Acxion Corp. has 23,000 computer servers, 96% of American Households  are in it for behavioral targeting.  Facebook has acknowledged that 600,000 accounts are compromised every day. 

There are actually Websites for Hackers ! Ananomus, Lulzsec, etc. Can you believe it?

We already use Cyber Warfare; US & Israel sabotaged Iran’s centrifuges by a computer worm that got thru a USB thumb Drive, once there, it asked if machines were  run by Siemans Corp, if so, it infected the centrifuge and destroyed it. (And there were a lot of the machines. !).  Take that, you dirty rats !

SCREENWRITERS

I picked up an interesting book at the Graton Post Office (our lending library). It was  the screenplay written by James Dickey, (Deliverance)  just like it says on the movie credits.  Curious, I read it and wondered how accurate the actual movie was to this, so I ordered ‘Deliverance’ again to see it. I was very surprised how much the director changed  various parts of the story.  It seems the Director has complete control over the story line. The original probably centered more on the concept of “Kill or be killed,” and how to deal with the ensueing problems of getting rid of bodies and what story to tell the Police, and even your wife and friends.

KITCHEN NOTES

You probably have forgotten where all your nifty spices come from?

Saffron -  Originally from Greece. Saffron is now more expensive than gold.  In China, the monk’s golden robes came from saffron dyes.

Vanilla – From Mezo-america (Mexico?) as it’s natural pollinator, a bee, is only there. Produced now in West Indies (Cuba?) has to be hand pollinated.  Cortez brought some back to Europe.

Cardamon – From India, Vikings found it 1,000 years ago and it is now a favorite in Scandinavian countries.

Salt – Humans just followed animals to “Salt Licks”. The Maasai get their salt from drinking blood of livestock.

Pepper  - From India. Brought to New World by Columbus.  From Vietnam now.

Cinnamon  -  From Sri Lanka. From the bark of a cassia tree.

Nutmeg -  From Indonesia’s Banda Islands. This is where all the real money was made during the 16^th century and the West India Companies. The Dutch gave Manhatten to the English in exchange for control of nutmeg in these islands.

The Infernal Cubic Translator

PROPOSITION
 My grandson, Asam, visited us and proposed this;" If I could build a machine out of Legos that would solve Rubic's Cube in a couple of minutes, how much would you wager? " Having suffered untold humiliations and pain trying to solve one of those damn Cubes decades ago, I said I would put up $11 ( as that is his current birthday.). He went upstairs, came down carrying this Rube Goldberg contraption all made from the current version of Legos (I was not up on this at all). He had bought it all with his savings & allowances. He gave me a cube, said to really mix it up, which I did. He placed it in a kind of basket area of his Gizmo and it began right away with some sensors (lights) to decide what to do.   It then told him it would take about 27 moves to do it and proceed to turn and twist it's way to a pre-determined solution.
I'M STILL GASPING ON THE LIVING ROOM FLOOR !

81

“BUCKET LIST”

Why do we have such terrible words like BLOG and BUCKET LIST?  Awful.  But since you asked, the last thing on my list to do before I extreme out of here is to make  Eggplant Parmesan that is edible. I’ve been struggling with this for many years, even when I was feeding my kids as a single parent . Every once in a while I would try to make  Eggplant Parmesan   as I wanted my teen age children to appreciate fine cuisine.  I tried many recipes, salting the hell out of them, letting the water drain out, then deep fry them, but it always came out kind of a soggy mess, until one day the kids just went on strike and ordered a Pizza in.  That was in about 1982. However, just the other day, my friend and neighbor Stephen showed me his new book on cooking and behold; there was a recipe for “Perfect Eggplant Parmesan”.  Reading the message written on his wall, I asked for a copy of it as this could be the turning point of my life.  Duly armed, I marched home and bought the proper ingredients (Eggplant) and as soon as I got off work next day I proceeded to chop, salt etc. just like it said. The caveat here is that one does not fry the pieces in hot oil, but accomplishes the same end by cooking them in the oven.  (Maybe this was just a theory?).   However, by the time they were in the oven I came to the end of the instructions as the next page, (87) was missing with the directions of what to do once you got the things out of the oven. Fortunately, Steve was home and delivered the missing missile so I could finish the sauce and put it all together in a final masterpiece.  After whipping up the sauce of tomatoes, garlic and pepper flakes I sat down and finally ate what was supposed to be perfect E.P..  It wasn’t half bad, except I had used too many hot pepper flakes in the sauce which kind of inflamed the whole benign plate.  Well, my kids missed out on the whole experience but I can honestly cross that final hurdle off my list and get on with dying.  But I keep asking myself, who the hell thought that you could eat an eggplant ; and a better question would be;  why?

THE LITTLE TYKES BIRTHDAY

I do realize  customs do change but one that I have seen recently is beyond the ken.  When I had parties for my children, it would be for about a dozen kids, and the parents would drop them off and have a great day without the brat.  But recently my wife and I seem to be required to attend our six year old grandaughter’s  birthday party.  But this really gets awkward, us old folks, as well as our children, standing around as if watching a group of chimpanzees in a cage having such a lot of fun, but of course it is all documented with camcorders, iphones and aim & shoot cameras.

NEW MONEY, OLD VALUES

There is something ironic in the fact that very old governments are necessary in order to have the understanding about changing things like money for instance.  

HANNIBAL’S ‘LIFEBOAT’ DIET 1820

As everyone seems to have such a hard time losing weight I thought I’d help out here  with a diet

Is sure fire to get you from 200 pounds to 95 pounds in three months. 

First of all, let’s identify the known generalities of fuel  required for the Human Species body/mechanism for survival.

The minimum requirements for survival are the following;  You will generally die if these are not available.

30 days – solid foods  (Knawing on old shoes doesn’t help a whole lot. See Charley Chaplin in Gold Rush)

3 days -  Water (In a pinch, Arabs can drink camel urine.)

3 minutes -   Air (A very few Yogis have been able to extend this to ½ hour?

3 seconds – Impressions (Surprise! According to G.I. Gurdjief)

  I recently read the story of the Whaleboat Essex, that was stove in by a pissed off Whale in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in 1820, Melville was inspired to write his best seller after talking to one of the few survivors of the incident.  “Did you know Owin Coffin, sir?” “Know him! I et him.”

  But the big news was how 5 out of the crew of 14 survived in a couple of flimsy boats for about three months with virtually no supplies when leaving the sunken boat.  Their Odyssey was interrupted by a small Island but as there was virtually no water there, they had to push on.   Their 3,000 mile journey was longer than the incredible one by Capt. Bligh (Later on) but it was more luck (Karma?) than anything else as they spent most of their time lying on the bottom of the boat, too weak to even sit up.  Although not the first to be in this predicament, there seems to have been some protocal of how to behave in these predicaments.  The gruesome business involved when you know all won’t make it , they will draw lots to see who is for dinner.  This , however, was a major problem for these men from Nantucket, as they were all Quakers who are forbidden to kill or gamble.  Now, granted,  drawing lots to see who will get killed may be less of a gamble than murder. However, by this time, they were so God-damned hungry, it wasn’t much of a transgression and  they easily overlooked that miner problem.  But wait, once you’ve decided who will die, you have to draw lots again (less one, of course) to see who will kill the poor bastard. 

  Unfortunately, we don’t have much of a record left by actual cannibals, although plentiful in the Caribbean when  that dirty rotten scoundrel  (It’s his fault all the Amerindians died) Columbus arrived on the scene. But reports were that eating a well cooked human is really a savory dish. But eating your fellow man who has died from starvation is another matter.  First of all, there is virtually no fat on the muscle . That is why starvers get into the bones to suck the marrow as it is mostly fat and necessary  in order to digest the muscle.  

  The closest I’ve  come to eating a friend is when we had to murder our longtime friend, Tom,  a huge turkey with a magnificient fan-tail. Tom had gotten so big he had broken a leg and that gave us an excuse to eat him.  This was no ‘Lifeboat’ situation, but he was really tasty! 

  An interesting side note to this is during WW2, the Quakers set up an experiment about starving when they had the sense  to realize that all the Death Camps would be freed when the Allies prevailed over those dirty Germans . They set up an experiment with a few volunteers (Would you volunteer for this?) and starved them, then figured out how to re-introduce food to them.  That could have been me , as I grew up during the Great Depression , I still eat like it’s the last meal I’ll ever get. (Lamont! Chew your food, slow down!!)

   Two cannibals eating a clown;  “ Does he taste funny to you?”

THE SHAPE OF FOOTBALL

Have you ever wondered about the weird shape of a football?  It’s the perfect form to throw an accurate pass, it is entirely unpredictable when it bounces, etc.  Well, it seems the first one  in 1869 was an actual pig’s bladder, why anyone chose that is lost to history, but  it has evolved slightly and now the Scots get to eat all the bladders, maybe.  While we’re on sports, how come all the players, (Base, Basket & foot ball are letting their facial hair grow?  It won’t be long before a president could sport a mustache or even a full beard?

80

Le Etoile  - Kamakazi Rotary

ROUNDABOUT                               

Only our leaders of Sebastopol would take seriously a suggestion from a female (Planner=Expert) that we should build roundabouts in several places on highway 116 because they are so much more “pedestrian friendly”. Having just recently returned from France where I drove around a zillion roundabouts for six weeks I am appalled that someone could conceive that this auto nodal concept is friendly to pedestrians. Several times, having unfortunately been on the pedestrian side of these nodes, I can unequivocally tell you that only a retired kamakaze pilot would willingly attempt to get across one of these things on foot. They are made for cars, not human targets! Of course, the mother of all roundabouts is the one around the Arc de Triumph in Paris. It is so bloody frightening one would do better to be in a demolition derby at the fair grounds. Anyway, the scaled down versions has it’s own set of problems. One of the good parts of them is that you can keep going around them on the inner lane until you figure out the direction signs before you peel off on the road or street of choice. If there happens to be a person in the cross walk, well, God help them, as you are too busy trying to avoid the cars & trucks coming at you from the right to even consider that you should stop and get rear-ended by the traffic behind you just for a mere pedestrian. Come to think about it, I can’t remember very many pedestrians trying to get around these things, and I know why.

I’ll tell you what’s “pedestrian friendly”; The traffic light.

However, there is one place in Sonoma County that could utilize a roundabout,(Or Rotary as they’re called in Europe). The intersection of hwy 1 and 116 near Jenner at the mouth of the Russian River. At the point of three roads, with stop signs, but very dangerous. Plus there are no Pedestrians there to mess it up.

 

School w/ sod roof (1950?)

Chapel

RONCHAMP                                    

I finally located my photos of Corbu’s Chapel in Ronchamp but more importantly, the small school that is associated with it. This building, about is  70 years old now, has a sod roof (Probably been leaking for 70 years) all concrete, including built-in  tables outside for the kids. But the color graphics are just great. I always said Corbu was a better painter than Architect.

XMAS BOOKS

It’s time to order your presents for friends and enemies. You just might look on Craig’s List for my first effort ‘Hillside Homes”, out of print but has a cult following, forcing the price up to $200 sometimes. Or you can go to LuLu and order my latest for a couple of dollars for a digital version. Or you can get a couple of swell small books about renovating Atelier One and “ The Small book of Big Trucks” showing all the nifty big rigs on the European highways and Stradas., for $10.

SELFIES

Or as we say “Selficinous”. What is that all about?  Taking a picture of yourself? Don’t you have any friends? Even the new Apple iphones are better equipped for this bizarre behavior.

BIO=SPHERE                              

This was an interesting experiment.              

I n 1991 eight people spent two years in a sealed glass house space near Tucson, Arizona. It was funded by a rich hippy costing many millions of dollars and almost worked, except the psyches of the inmates failed before the allotted time was up. (two years was enough!). It was pretty amazing as nothing was transferred from either in or out. But the biggest problem they had was the Oxygen level nearly halved after a certain time, but they actually found out thw why wnd where of the deficiency, something to do with the compost getting tinot the cement. I don’t know it they were able to recover enough of the CO2 but they kind of all went crazy and had to end the experiment after two years. The Media was no help during that time but a lot was learned from the time spent. If you’re nuts enough to closet yourself with eight people for a couple of years, you could be a candidate to spend years going to Mars or some other dreadful place in the Universe. I always thought this one was bad enough.

PUTIN ON THE RITZ

Most of you have seen the you tube of the Russian “Flash Mob” of “Putin’ on the Ritz” and were all charmed and warmed by it even if it was done in freezing ass weather in Moscow.

I like to watch it once in a while and wondered how did they get so good at “Flash Mobbing” that they had huge platform lifts, 80 citizens who could get onto a choreograph  instantly plus a half dozen really good tumblers as well as a couple dozen soldiers  who pulled off an impromptu dance routine. Well, I finally went to Google and discovered that “wheell, it may have been a Political induced´ thing to advertise how great Mr Putin was , just 5 days before the Russians voted him in.  Get the idea? “Putin on the Ritz”?  Although the number was sung in English, Mr Putin’s name is the same pronounciation in Russian. Coincidence?  They do know who the choreographer is but he won’t tell who paid him to do it. 

BUILDING OR REMODELING?  HOW MUCH ARE YOU WILLING TO COMPROMISE WITH YOUR SPOUSE?     Lots of divorces are a result of trying to remodel your house. Let’s take a look at my remodel job!

One has to set up some kind of value system to measure what your personal agony was.

0 = You lost, sucker

10 = You won that round!

 

ITEM                     JOY                         AMONT

KITCHEN                           VALUE                         VALUE

Refrigerator    wants 2 door    3       wants 3 door           7

Sink                 SS Blanco two tub   10           Agree       10

Disposal             Insinkerator       10           Agree            10          

Microwave         White Kenmore       10      Agree           10

Counter tops       Granite                0           Formica w/ wood  10

Cabinets      Maple, no open shelves  0       Alder W/ open shelf   0

Cabinet Glass       Agree                10           Chinese Rice         10          

 Kit. Faucet       ncertain           3     DWC  single lever pull out    7

Wine cubbys          Grumble           3          for two cases      7

Kit. Ceiling lights      Curvey Foo Foo    7       Straight Track   3

Under counter lights   Small Xenon      10     Small Xenon    10          

Pantry      Door hinged on Left     10     Door hinged on Right   0

Trash Can     With Cover                 0           Open Top                0

BATHROOMS

Tub                      Greek  (Deep)       10        Same   10
 Tub Tile              Large     10                     Same      10          

Tub faucet  Dbl handle/Advertisement 10  Single Lever clean  0

Tub shower head       Wall Bracket     10           Same       10

Toilets          Toto w/ soft Closer       10   Toto w/Soft Closer  10

Fan                 Panasonic Quiet          10           Agree                10

Bidet          Needs                         7              Don’t need         3

Mirror/Medicine Cab.      Round      7           Grumble            3             

Towel hangers     Unknown            10           My Big Idea       10

Lavatory        Standard Oval            7            Needs  a Special   3

Faucet, “Waterfall”  Expen. Advertized  10 Single Lever Clean   0

Counter top         Wood               10           Agree           10

Shower head     Raindrops fallin’ on Head. 10   From Side Wall    0

Shower Glass      Textured      10                     Agree                 10

Shower Tile        Large              10           Agree                    10

Really Soft Water      Not contested!     10           No! No!    0

FURNITURE

Lounge Chairs     Modern Recline       10       Agree           10

Couch             Modern Black Leather   10       Agree           10

Rug L.R.          Tibetan Modern           10          Agree         10

Shelves/AV Scandi-Design-Cherry     10           Agree         10

Coffee tables (2)      Glass Tops           10    Wood tops     0             

Dining Table        Pull out Expando      10         Agree           10

Dining Chairs        Wood, Padded seat  10          Agree         10

Dining Lights        Curvey Foo Foo      7          Straight Track 3

BR Dressers/Mirror    Oregon Cherry   10           Agree           10

Closet Sliding Doors  Mirrors           10        Mirrors too Heavy 0

OTHER

Floors, wood     Rustic Maple            10           Agree         10

Light Switches     Bottom Toggle      10           Paddle w/ Slider  0

Switch Plates        Stainless               10           Agree                 10

Wall/clg Paint        Grey Scale          10           Agree                  10

TOTALS                                        374                                      296

The above is a good example of what it takes to complete a project still married.
It isn't about winning or losing............

GEPETTO

While in Firenzi, we began to notice the images of Pinnocchio everywhere.  We asked around but nobody seemed to know why this was. It wasn’t until we returned to USA that I learned the author, Carlo Collodi lived in a small village near Firenzi and penned the story in 1883, hence the proliferation of something more to sell the tourists. From marionettes to toothpicks, you can find something to take home, surely.  It wasn’t until Disney enhanced the image that we Americans became so enamored with.