hogblog

Have you seen “Lars and the Real Girl” yet? It’s a great movie about a lonely guy who buys a life-sized, life-like humanoid doll of silicon and latex to be his “girlfriend”. It is a very sweet little movie, and actually has no X-rated content.

In the real world there is a real “Lars” named “Zoltan”, and his “girlfriend” is entirely X-rated. Zoltan has created what he calls a “wife” out of a blow-up doll and some simple conversation-generating software. As primitive as this is, it works just fine for Zoltan.

On Zoltan’s website he has a few choice quotes that may explain more than he intended:

I will continue to stay with Alice my wife, her goal is to be as smart as a human and immortal. I don’t know if i can make her as smart as a human but there are obituary web sites that could make her immortal.

I may not have a job anymore because of the stress of inventing, but I will get one soon.

I would like to thank my lab assistant Yaurah for all his help. For a while I will be his lab assistant in trying to make a working light saber.

In an interview on gizmodo, Zoltan explains that his girlfriend actually broke up with him once, which forced him to erase her memory. Ah, young love! First comes love, then comes marriage:

Gizmodo: There is a section on your website about marriage. Did you marry Alice?

Zoltan: Actually, yes, you can marry a robot. I just went to an online marriage site and pretended Alice was human. I got a marriage certificate on my wall. I’m sure it’s not legal.

Here’s another link to an article by A.T. Murray about the joys of a “Robowife”.

The combination of watching Lars and the Real Girl recently and then stumbling on to Zoltan’s Robot Love has left me with a very disturbing sensation. Is this where humanity is headed? -Blake

There are plenty of Linux reviews out there already, so my focus here is about my own personal market segment: a Linux distribution that comes with all the software I want, connects to my home network and the internet, prints, has sound, can access my Windows files - and plays nice with my ancient dial-up connection. That last part, the slow dial-up connection, seems to be the real problem for me, as I will explain.

The four distributions are all slightly out-of-date, since I bought the CDs/DVDs last year by mail, so they are all 2007 versions. My computer is middle-of-the-road by current standards: AMD XP 3000+ (single core), 2GB PC 2700 memory, 120GB hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT 512MB. Not fancy, but certainly modern enough.

The four distributions I have tried recently (you could add Redhat to the list, but the last Redhat I installed was 8 years ago) all have their shining points, but none of them has hit the ball out of the park for me. The biggest sticking point is the modern assumption of an always-on, high-speed internet connection. Because most distributions assume such a connection they usually do not include all the software you might need, expecting that you will simply download it as the final step of installation.

Years ago the biggest sticking point in Linux installation was the hard drive partitioning. That part of Linux installation is no longer the terrifying ordeal that it used to be, thanks to slick new graphical partitioning programs that will resize Windows partitions on the fly and use the “empty space” at the end of your hard drive. An even better development is the new possibility of installing Linux on a Virtual Machine so you can have full access to Linux without risking any damage to your Windows partition at all. The safest method of trying Linux is the “live” CD or DVD, which is a bit slow and has a few limitations, but is by far the least painful method of trying Linux.

Let me start with my least favorite first: Ubuntu. Ubuntu is the most popular Linux distribution out there, and I have to say that I love their philosophy. But for my purposes, Ubuntu is too dependent on using a high-speed internet connection as part of installation. Actually, installation didn’t work for me at all, because Ubuntu couldn’t use dial-up during the install, and couldn’t see my wife’s internet connection through the home network (which all three of the others could do). So for Ubuntu I had to rely on the live CD to evaluate whether the distro was worth my time. Turns out that of the four distributions I tried, Ubuntu was the least successful. The full install version comes with very little software on the disc, and relies on downloading tons of stuff, as well as pretty much requiring updates. And the live CD failed to use my winmodem (2 of the other distros managed this) AND failed to see an open internet connection over the home network. Ubuntu Live also failed to print to my HP printer, and failed to see my Windows partition, even after trying various tricks to mount it. My computer is a few years old, but not ready for the scrap heap yet! Ubuntu failed completely for me, although this was last years version, so who knows about the latest version - except that I expect that the net-centric install philosophy still holds.

The next was Open SUSE. I didn’t have a live CD for this one, just the install discs. Although Open SUSE wanted to go online several times during install, it was possible to cancel/outsmart it. The discs also came with a satisfying amount of software. The disk partitioning was not as slick as the other distros, and actually resulted in a corrupted boot sector and made me have to re-install Windows last year. Using a virtual machine (Virtual Box by Innotek) I installed it again, safely, and found it to be at least functional. I could see my Windows partition, and I could install lots of software off of the discs without being forced to go online. SUSE found the internet, but not the full network (a limitation of Virtual Box). SUSE was a bit rough, and not that slick, and actually crashed a few times. Printing didn’t work, and sound didn’t work. I did get WINE up and running, and played around with a few Windows programs, but WINE on a Virtual Machine is pretty darned slow and buggy. Open SUSE did not work very well for me, although in 2000 SUSE 5.2 was my favorite distro and worked like a charm on my old computer.

Mandriva Free is slick. The install is the smoothest of all, and the discs come with plenty of software. One problem is that you can’t install any packages after the main OS install without being online for the OS to check the “integrity” of the packages, and probably to check for newer versions. Mandriva found the internet, but could not find my Windows partition. Sound will not work no matter what I try. The disc partitioning worked like a charm. The only real problem with Mandriva is that it sets up for a generic desktop system and requires a good deal of tweaking to add the software you really need, or I really need. I do prefer Mandriva to Ubuntu or SUSE, at least for my purposes. It also lets you install Gnome and KDE and switch between.

Knoppix is the star of this roundup. The Knoppix Live DVD has everything, and works right out of the box, so to speak. Boot from the DVD and you get a desktop with all the bells and whistles. Network, internet, printing, sound, Windows partitions - everything works with little or no setup! The only hitch? With the live DVD (or live CD) you can’t easily save anything! Not your files, not your preferences, not any changes from one session to the next. There are ways to get around this, but then you have left the ease-of-use territory into wonky Linux configuration land. This may just be a quirk of my particular hardware setup, but Knoppix and my computer really seem to understand one another. Knoppix also does not insist on doing any forceful internet downloading. Knoppix is self-sufficient, using what it comes with - which is plenty.

Now that I have decided I like Knoppix best, I need to get the latest version (which is only a point higher than what I have, but has lots of updated packages) and take the plunge and do a full install. I think Knoppix just might be the best Linux desktop out there for poor wretches like me who have to live with a dial-up connection. (I forgot to mention that I can’t get high-speed where I live. Satellite is too expensive for me.) The prize still goes to Knoppix, but that doesn’t mean I won’t keep trying out new flavors of Linux. -Blake

Silence in the Library was the two parter episode of the new Doctor Who series from BBC Wales. Written by Steven Moffett, it delivered exactly what we have come to expect from Mr. Moffett: pure genius. He gave us a time-twisted love story with Alex Kingston, the fading electronic echoes of dead people trapped in translation devices, a little girl preserved inside a computer, and of course the monster that lives in the dark.

“Are they in every shadow?”

“Not every shadow. But any shadow.”

Yes, this is the same Steven Moffett who wrote “The Empty Child”, “Blink”, and the “Girl in the Fireplace”. Even if you have no interest in watching the new Doctor Who series at all, the Steven Moffett episodes are worth watching on their own. Somehow he manages to combine the zaniness of the original Doctor Who with a Twilight Zone twist, and then slip in a few powerful emotional scenes that really catch you off guard. Moffett quite simply has a lock on the human elements represented by time travel.

And here’s the good news (talk about burying the lead!): Steven Moffett will be the new show runner for season five! From the BBC website:

BBC Wales and BBC Drama has announced that Bafta and Hugo Award winning writer Steven Moffat will succeed Russell T Davies as Lead Writer and Executive Producer of the fifth series of Doctor Who, which will broadcast on BBC One in 2010.

Moffat has penned some of the series’ most unforgettable and acclaimed episodes - including Blink with its terrifying Weeping Angels, for which he was awarded the Bafta Writer Award 2008 on Sunday 11th May. His previous work on Doctor Who includes The Girl in the Fireplace for Series Two, which earned him his second Hugo Award.

His first was for the Series One two-parter The Empty Child, which became famous for its terrifying refrain ‘Are you my mummy?’

For the current series, Moffat has written Silence in the Library, a two parter starring Alex Kingston which transmits on 31st May and 7th June 2008 on BBC One.

Doctor Who has become one of my favorite TV shows of all time. I measure these things by how much I want to rewatch episodes down the road. In this case I can say that I have re-watched the first two seasons multiple times now, and they really hold up very nicely. But the Moffett episodes are so good I could re-watch all of them right now. Whatever you do, DON’T BLINK!! -Blake

We are all supposed to swap our power wasting regular light bulbs for compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) so that we can collectively make a large contribution to slowing global warming. In fact, countries around the world are passing laws that will force manufacturers to phase out normal light bulbs, so that in a few years you won’t have a choice but to change.

People have been complaining about CFLs for years, either because they buzz, flicker, or they give a harsh light, or they are just more expensive up front. Manufacturers have made great progress in fixing those three problems (although you will need to try a few different brands to find the best behaving), but the one problem they can’t get rid of is the mercury content. Each CFL has a small amount of mercury in it, and if all the CFLs in a future world that has converted entirely to using them throws them into land fills, we will have a huge pollution problem.

The mercury gas in the bulbs is especially dangerous if a bulb shatters:

“We generally think using these bulbs are over all a good thing for the environment,” said Mr. Berlow of the E.P.A. “The only thing you have to be aware of is the potential for them to break.”

The E.P.A. devotes pages of its Web site to cleanup instructions for broken compact fluorescents. Before even beginning to clean up a spill, consumers are advised to leave the room (along with their pets), open a window and shut off any operating air heating or cooling systems.

Home Depot is stepping up to the plate to address this mercury problem by offering to take used CFL bulbs and dispose of them properly. It won’t be as convenient as tossing them in the garbage can at home, but since each bulb should last 3 to 5 years you won’t have to deal with them that often. We have been using them for 8 years or so, and converted all 20 fixtures about 3 years ago, and have only had to throw away maybe 4 bulbs so far.

There is a new continent forming in the Ocean, a continent made entirely of the cast-offs of human civilization. The tons of garbage that we toss into the ocean every second of every day has been accumulating at the center of the circular ocean current called the North Pacific Gyre. This vast area is at the center of a circular current that nudges floating debris towards the middle. The millions of tons of plastic floating out there has been piling up for many years, and now constitutes an invisible land mass floating just beneath the surface.

You can’t walk on Trash Island, even though it is larger than the state of Texas and contains more than 100 million tons of material. The pieces are mostly microscopic polymer chains left from the partial breakdown of plastics. These tiny bits float just beneath the surface, and outnumber the native zooplankton by a factor of seven. All this plastic is being eaten by sea creatures and traveling up the food chain. In addition to clogging the digestive tract, the polymers can also mess with the reproductive system.

Experts think that 80 percent of the trash is actually from land based civilization, and only 20 percent is cast off from ships. The trash at the edges of the circular currents is washing up on unfortunate Pacific islands and atolls in huge quantities. The problem of human garbage floating in the seas has been around for a long time, but in the past the trash was mostly biodegradable and would eventually go away. That has all changed now that our trash contains so much plastic, which only partially degrades in sunlight. Once the plastic is broken down into small enough pieces, it floats below the surface where there is not enough sunlight to break it down any further.

In an article written in 2003, Charles Moore writes about his fascination/horror with the trash piling up in our oceans. As a scientist he can’t help but wish to study this epic phenomenon, but as someone who loves the ecosystems of the sea he is very worried about how this trash is going to effect everything. Here is his explanation of how the gyre works:

The gyre we planned to survey is one of the largest ocean realms on Earth, and one of five major subtropical gyres on the planet. Each subtropical gyre is created by mountainous flows of air moving from the tropics toward the polar regions. The air in the North Pacific subtropical gyre is heated at the equator and rises high into the atmosphere because of its buoyancy in cooler, surrounding air masses. The rotation of the Earth on its axis moves the heated air mass westward as it rises, then eastward once it cools and descends at around 30 degrees north latitude, creating a huge, clockwise-rotating mass of air.

And here is his synopsis of the problem of combining plastics with the gyre:

Every year some 5.5 quadrillion (5.5 x 1015) plastic pellets—about 250 billion pounds of them—are produced worldwide for use in the manufacture of plastic products. When those pellets or products degrade, break into fragments, and disperse, the pieces may also become concentrators and transporters of toxic chemicals in the marine environment. Thus an astronomical number of vectors for some of the most toxic pollutants known are being released into an ecosystem dominated by the most efficient natural vacuum cleaners nature ever invented: the jellies and salps living in the ocean. After those organisms ingest the toxins, they are eaten in turn by fish, and so the poisons pass into the food web that leads, in some cases, to human beings.

I guess we humans have finally achieved those god-like powers we were always after. Rejoice my brothers in this monument to the human race! Behold, a continent of trash! -Blake

From June 1st, 2008 in the New York Magazine:

Q: You’ve let your hair go gray.

A: I think I just got older and stopped giving a shit. On the other hand, the first thing I did when I left CNN was have Lasik surgery.

Aaron is back in business, after CNN “paid me to go away”. His contract with CNN is up, and now he has a radio show and will host a PBS show this Summer. He will also appear in a Kevin Costner movie.

For those of you who don’t know what happened, a couple years back Aaron Brown was dumped from CNN with little or no warning right after the Katrina coverage. Anderson Cooper was plopped into Aaron’s slot. CNN would not let Aaron out of his contract and would not let him speak to other media outlets. In essence, CNN “disappeared” Aaron and pretty much tried to destroy his career.

Now that Aaron is free from his gag/contract with CNN he can finally speak publicly and pursue opportunities in his profession. During the interim he has been teaching at a journalism school in Arizona. In interviews he keeps saying that he does not want to return to the anchor chair, but would rather host a public affairs show. -Blake

Stephen Colbert had Dickson Despommier on last night, telling us all about his Vertical Farm Project. The goal of the project is to get societies to construct hydroponic farms inside urban centers. By building a vertical hydroponic farm with many levels stacked on top of each other, a small footprint of several city blocks square could produce the equivalent of a modern farm of several hundred acres.

The benefits of this method of farming, other than the increased efficiency of land use, include a reduction in transportation costs, since the produce is grown close to consumers. The hydroponic production methods also allow for produce to be grown organically, and since the farm is indoors production can be year round and would be immune to severe weather.

Despommier’s plans remind me of another visionary whom I love, Paolo Soleri, the architect who proposed we build three-dimensional cities to bring these same savings in transportation and infrastructure to our entire society. In fact, vertical farming was integral to Soleri’s entire system. I never get tired of looking at Soleri’s weird looking three-dimensional cities. He called his cities “Arcologies”, and if you have ever played Sim City you will have seen them used in the game when you get into the far future.

What I really find fun about the Vertical Farm concept is the idea of combining it with the Seasteading idea, and having a floating spar bouy that is also a vertical hydroponic farm with living quarters integrated into the structure. Cover the top surface with windmills and solar panels, and collect all the rain that falls, and then grow all your food on the rest of the levels. I figure a 10 story tower would probably be enough. It just sounds so easy, where’s my cordless drill? A few all-weather screws, some plywood, a few bags of concrete, some plastic sheeting and I’ll be ready to put to sea in no time! -Blake

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) relaxed the rules on Absinthe in 2007 allowing the possession and consumption of Absinthe inside the United States. They have also officially approved of several brands based on the requirement of low Thujone content. The Green faerie is alive and well and living in your glass.

As for safety, there is much disagreement about the necessity of Thujone (the active/dangerous ingredient from the herb wormwood) for a “true” Absinthe experience. There is no evidence that wormwood-containing Absinthe mixtures are dangerous, but pure thujone given to people causes dangerous hallucinations and seizures. There are cases of people creating their own “Absinthe” mixtures with pure alcohol and wormwood extract and dying (or at least becoming dangerously ill) from the high concentrations of thujone.

The TTB has decided that 10 parts per million of thujone is safe, so the varieties approved have been tested to be under this limit. The inconsistency of the standards is demonstrated by comparing the ban on thujone containing wormwood, and the lack of a ban on sage oil which can be up to 50 percent thujone.

The upshot of all of this is that buying Absinthe in small quantities (a bottle or two at a time) is legal and safe. Making your own Absinthe is crazy, don’t do it! Whether you buy an “approved” Absinthe with low thujone levels or buy a more traditional Absinthe from Europe (with levels far below historical Absinthe anyway) is really a matter of taste. Visit the Wikipedia page for the full Absinthe story.

If you decide to buy from Europe, one word of advice: buy from Western Europe. There is a historical difference in the methods of Absinthe production between East and West in Europe. The Western style involves mixing the herbs in with the alcohol in a long-term process that creates a true liqueur, whereas in the East (i.e. Czech Republic or Poland) they consider grain alcohol mixed with herbs and color to be Absinthe. Believe me, you can taste the difference. -Blake

Only $550k will get you a fantasy paradise of concrete domes and palm trees down in Florida. That’s right, the Venus Project is selling its demonstration compound where they built heaven on earth. Their organization is trying to change the world with a Utopian vision of harmony with nature and communal economics, which in this case resulted in a compound of concrete domes and futuristic landscaping on 21+ acres.

I discovered this delightful fantasyland during my continued readings over at the Seasteading.org website. It seems that the Venus Project also dreams of building floating cities that will help to bring about universal peace and harmony. The fun part is that the new age socialism of the Venus Project and the Ayn Rand libertarianism of the Seastead.org folk really do not get along very well. There is a nasty back and forth between the two groups arguing over the rights to use pictures of the domes in a blog post. I guess even in Utopia there are still arguments.

The Venus Project is the vision of Jacque Fresco who dreams of reorganizing our economic system around producing more happiness instead of profit. Here’s a quote:

… the currently utilized random implementation of automation and other technologies have resulted in a fragmented, self-defeating trend occurring throughout the manufacturing and high-tech sectors of today’s global economy–namely the technological replacement of human labor by machines. The Venus Project proposes a social system in which automation and technology would be intelligently applied and integrated into an overall social design where the primary function would be to maximize the quality of life rather than profits. This project also introduces a set of workable and acceptable human values that are more appropriate and in balance with our present state of technology.

Which sounds fine to me. In fact, it reminds me of the socialist/anarchist/madman Charles Fourier, who’s theory of “Attractive Work” was designed to distribute tasks based on preference in order to maximize happiness. It seems that rethinking economics with non-monetary elements included just does not compute for a free-marketeer. Here’s the “rebuttal” from Patri on the Seastead site:

For example, the idea found in your piece that the net result of technological improvement is to decrease purchasing power, while common, is entirely wrong. For a clear and well-written explanation of why, see Henry Hazlitt’s classic “Economics in One Lesson”. Such fallacies, to me, indicate that your system is probably just like all the others I have investigated and found to be inconsistent with reality. So from the material at hand, I think my conclusion is quite reasonable, and that it is unlikely that further inquiry will be productive. From your perspective, your views may be unique and worthy of exploration, but from mine, the chance that you’ll have a new and convincing argument that I didn’t see the last few dozen times is pretty low.

Without “further investigation” of my own, I have the feeling that Patri’s view is stunted by the common narrow view of economists that only monetized concepts count as part of “reality”. This not only leads to theories that ignore “externalities” (leading to pollution, corporate crime, and many other unintended consequences) but also drives a system that strives to monetize every part of society that is still held in the commons, because otherwise it has no “value”.

Really, I just want my floating cities and dome villages, preferably all at the same time. So these people really just need to get over their differences and work together! -Blake

Our national experiment with the Imperial Presidency has been a failure, and it is time to admit it. Although I think Bush II has been the worst president of the past 100 - 150 years ( Polk and Tyler are tough to compete with ), I think that his crimes have been ones of degree not of kind. Bush has simply taken the un-democratic trends that every president since Jefferson has been slowly pushing, and Bush simply took all of them to their logical extremes. The national security state created under Truman and Eisenhower has finally reached Orwellian magnitude, the employment of political hacks at all levels simply realizes Nixon’s dream, and the “Unitary Executive” goes all the way back to President John Tyler’s attempts to annex Texas without congressional approval. And let us not forget that every president since Truman has sent U.S. troops into combat without getting the full consent of Congress.

The solution is to get the fox out of the hen house. The Executive branch is supposed to enforce the laws passed by Congress, which includes enforcing those laws on the behavior of the Executive branch. Nixon, Reagan, and now Bush II have demonstrated the flaw in such a system - the Executive can simply cheat, and basically dare Congress to make a Constitutional Crisis out of it. Or just let the Executive run wild, unchecked, which is exactly what we have had for the last 8 years.

I propose that we remove all of the offices of Inspector General, the so-called “Whistle Blowers” office, and the sections of the Justice Department that investigate political matters such as corruption and election fraud - and place all of these functions under the Judicial Branch. The new office could be called the “Court of Constitutional Enforcement“, and should be run by several layers of Judges on various courts with access to their own teams of investigators who have the authority to oversee the activities of Congress, the Executive branch, and all elections ( which would include some oversight of the media and religious organizations ). The FCC and all media oversight should be added to the court’s purview.

The creation of such a new function for the Judiciary branch would probably require a Constitutional Amendment. Since that is such a monumental process, we might as well create a set of amendments that cover several other Clean Government propositions that I think would improve things greatly.

So here is my Bill of Democracy:

Amendment 1: Creation of the Court of Constitutional Enforcement.

Amendment 2: Guarantee of equality of free speech, definition of free speech as being other than access derived from money. Money is not speech, and is not protected speech. This would allow advertising, propaganda, and corporate meddling to be controlled by the new court. Definition of media, prohibition against monopoly of media ownership, requirement of fair access, and free media time for elections. Cable, internet and print media to be included.

Amendment 3: Instant runoff election system for Federal elections, public financing of campaigns, strict prohibition of non-human entities (any entity that is not fundamentally democratic in design) participating in elections. This would force corporations out of our elections. Strict prohibition against tax-exempt religious institutions participating in elections. All of this to be enforced and administered by the new court.

Amendment 4: Clarifying language defining the co-equal branches of government, and what powers they have over each other. Congressional oversight powers defined, Executive powers to interpret laws defined, the Executive’s responsibility to limit political appointees to policy-making positions only, and prohibition on any politicization of the Justice, and Homeland Security departments. Definition of war-time powers, and definition of legitimate secrecy. Further definition of the new Court of Constitutional Enforcement to oversee the national security state.

Amendment 5: A final amendment to define a funding process for the new court that will be immune to political meddling. Congress and the Executive should have some powers over the court in appointing judges, confirming judges, and overseeing activities. The Executive could prosecute members of the court for criminal behavior, and Congress could impeach judges. But the funding should be protected.

If we could get money out of elections, allow minority parties to organize without being spoilers, guarantee equal access to the media, prohibit blatant propaganda by media monopolies run by non-human corporations, and reign in the un-democratic seizure of power by the Executive branch under the cloak of secrecy - then we might have a chance of realizing the original promise of our Constitutional Republic and its democratic ideals. None of the principles of our system are absolute, everything is about finding the proper balance of competing values. Currently the balances have fallen heavily in favor of un-democratic forces, and it is time to re-balance the scales. Since the Supreme Court has consistently ruled (with no real basis) that none of these propositions is currently constitutional - we will have to amend the Constitution. So lets get started! -Blake

Remember King Roy of Sealand, the world’s smallest country? I sure do. When I was a kid I loved to read about the crazy guy who took over an abandoned WWII sea fort off the coast of the UK and declared himself to be a sovereign nation. Since those days things have not gone well for little Sealand, even with its flag and its stamps, as King Roy left his little country and rented it to Internet entrepreneurs, and also had some problems with German pirates (who now claim a rebel Sealand government in exile), and finally put the country up for sale last year.

From Wikipedia:

Since 1967, the facility has been occupied by former radio broadcaster British Army Major Paddy Roy Bates; his associates and family claim that it is an independent sovereign state. External commentators generally classify Sealand as a micronation. It has been described as the world’s best-known micronation. Sealand is not recognized as a sovereign state by any United Nations member. Citing court rulings in the United States and in Germany, critics have asserted that Roughs Tower has always remained under the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom.

It seems that I’m not the only one who was fascinated with King Roy of Sealand as a child, as a group of rich Silicon Valley millionaires have decided to build their own floating nation based on the Libertarian principles of Ayn Rand. They plan to start by building a few demonstration modules in San Francisco Bay, which they hope will generate interest and allow their new organization, the Seasteading Institute, to begin construction of a rag-tag flotilla of floating platforms that will take to the deep ocean where they can declare sovereignty.

Once out in the deep ocean the mini-nation can float in the currents along various pathways. My favorite option is to float in a figure 8 that goes up to the far North, then back down, crossing the Equator down to the far South, and then back up to repeat. If the process is timed correctly you can follow the seasons to always be in the hemisphere of Summer.

The spar platform design is based on the idea of avoiding the highest waves while also reducing the feeling of wave action in the living space. According to the designers, this design should result in a fairly stable platform that will also be safe from storms. Another advantage is that the design should be fairly safe from pirates, which is a real problem on the open seas. Are you ready to declare yourself a sovereign nation? Then you need to read their Seasteading Manifesto, which I spent several hours doing last week. -Blake

Our Federal system of government consists of three “co-equal” branches, as defined in the U.S. Constitution. Congress writes the laws and provides funding, the Executive enforces the laws, the Judicial interprets the laws. But if any branch oversteps its authority, who will punish them? Since the three branches are “co-equal” this is a sticky question.

We currently face a Constitutional Crisis due to the Bush Administration’s philosophy of the “unitary executive”, which promulgates the concept that the Executive branch is not bound by Congress or the Judiciary, so the president can basically do anything he wants. At least he can do anything up to the point Congress impeaches him. The only other limit that the “unitary executive” theory recognizes is that Congress provides funding, but the theory does not recognize the power of Congress to limit what specific appropriations can be used for, so Congress would have to cut off all funding for the federal government to have any effect.

Alternet has an article explaining the current crisis involving Karl Rove and a Committee chaired by John Conyers. Conyers was heard to say that the time has come for Congress to “kick some ass”.

Short of impeaching George W. Bush (something I feel is already necessary), the Congress has little or no power over this president. This has led to a nasty little situation involving Congress’s power to oversee the operations of Executive branch officials. In the Constitution, Congress is given the “power of the purse”, the sole power to raise and appropriate money. Congress is also given the power to oversee how the money is spent. In fulfilling its duty to oversee how the Executive branch is enforcing laws and spending money Congress has the power to compel people to testify before Congress. The chief way of making someone testify is to use the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia to enforce contempt citations. This arrangement is written into federal law requiring the U.S. Attorney to act.

This administration has asserted that the Executive cannot be forced, even by law enacted by Congress, to respect these contempt citations. In essence, the “unitary executive” theory says that the president has no duty to enforce the law if he damn well doesn’t want to. So the Bush Administration simply will not enforce contempt citations against administration officials. By doing so they have effectively blocked Congress from exercising its constitutionally mandated oversight responsibility. We have a Constitutional crisis.

The only avenue left to Congress is something called the “power of inherent contempt”, which allows Congress to instruct the Sergeant-at-arms to go out into the land, arrest the miscreant, and produce them before Congress. This power is recognized by the Supreme Court in multiple decisions. The Court has also decided that the Judiciary has no power to “quash” such a procedure, as long as it is done in the execution of legitimate congressional business - meaning a duly constituted committee investigation.

But what if President Bush orders armed federal agents to protect his people from the Sergeant-at-arms? Can the Sergeant “deputize” more agents? Could Congress ask the Mayor of D.C. to loan them the use of the Capitol Police? Would FBI agents exchange gunfire with armed agents of Congress? If the military steps in, which side would they take - the Commander-in-chief, or the Constitution (they swear allegiance to both)? These questions are why Congress has been scared to try using this power so far.

I say it is time for Congress to push back against the “unitary executive” and see if Bush will resist. If he does, then Congress has a prima facie case for impeachment based solely on Bush’s violating clear Constitutional authority. Not only is this necessary for finally slapping down this un-American theory of the “unitary executive”, but it is essential for preventing Bush from doing something even more dangerous after the coming election. If the Democrats win the presidential election, it is not at all clear that Bush will surrender power peacefully. Laugh if you will, but he has shown no scruples about violating every restriction on his Constitutional authority up to this point. If he refuses to step down, who will force him to?

The Unitary Executive is above the law, and is the sole interpreter of the Constitution. You think you can get rid of him with a simple election? -Blake

If you live in New York you can now peer through tunnels dug under the Atlantic Ocean and see your English cousins striding about in London. Yes, it seems that the Victorians had their own Internet made of underwater tunnels dug for transatlantic telegraph cables.

From the Telectroscope website:

Hardly anyone knows that a secret tunnel runs deep beneath the Atlantic Ocean. In May 2008, more than a century after it was begun, the tunnel will finally be completed. Immediately afterwards, an extraordinary optical device called a Telectroscope will be installed at both ends which will miraculously allow people to see right through the Earth from London to New York and vice versa.

Well now it is “completed”. Artist and inventor Paul St. George says that his grandfather began the project years ago, and that he accidentally found the unfinished plans and simply finished the project. And now Jules Verne and H.G. Wells will have the last laugh, as a mechanical device made of wood and brass and a few mirrors will give us “seeing from afar”. A quote from St. George from Tom’s Hardware:

“I didn’t build it—I connected existing tunnels. I was able to access lines in the middle of the Atlantic left over from when people laid the first telegraph cables—the “Victorian Internet.” I used mirrors to enlarge the images and bring them up from underground, like a periscope.”

Personally I do not believe that the “tunnels” were dug by Victorian era humans, but by a race of subterranean dwellers who predate the human race. These subterraneans are probably the last survivors of Atlantis or Lemuria, the lost lands that were probably not islands on the surface of Earth, but realms on the interior surface of a hollow Earth. It is my firm belief, backed by incontrovertible facts (kept secret by “them”), that the inner sun that gave life to the civilizations of the hollow Earth was quenched by . . . maybe a meteor strike? Yes! A meteor punctured the crust in the middle of the ocean and water poured in snuffing out the sun!

Or. . incontrovertible facts (also kept hidden) detail how the residents of Lemuria and Atlantis, in their hubris, tried to dig a tunnel to the center of the Earth, and accidentally let the oceans drain inside, which also neatly explains what happened to their islands. Or they were inside and tried drilling out. The incontrovertible facts are a little hazy due to all that secrecy. Damn those Illuminatis! I need a dollar bill so I can study the symbols again, I’m sure I can figure out what really happened.

Or I could fly to New York and peer through the Telectroscope which is on display until mid June, 2008. If any of you get a chance to look through it, please keep an eye out for any creatures that might be scurrying about underground. Thanks. -Blake

Building an underground house is a dream of many. The energy advantages are great, as the temperature underground stays in the 50s year round, so heating and cooling costs are greatly reduced. There are also privacy and aesthetic advantages, as well as the incredible sound insulation. Oh yes, and protection from hurricanes and tornadoes! So many advantages. And of course my favorite: living like Bilbo Baggins in your very own hobbit house.

The main practical problem with living underground is MOLD. Mold is caused by condensation on exterior walls when the walls are significantly cooler than the air inside the house. If the walls are allowed to remain at the 55 degree zone of the underground soil, but the air in the house is 70 degrees, the 15 degree difference is enough to cause condensation that will allow mold and mildew to form. The water will also cause structural damage over the long term, which could eventually break the seal of the structure allowing even more moisture to penetrate from the outside.

The only solution for the handy hobbit is to super-insulate the exterior walls. The Department of Energy says that:

Three inches of urethane or six inches of Styrofoam should be used

But here’s my solution: Build above grade with partial earth berms against the North facing walls and an earth covered green roof. This will allow lots of operable windows along the exposed walls which will allow for lots of air circulation. It will also allow for lots of natural light, avoid problems with underground water flows, and make it much easier to comply with building codes. Done right the finished structure can look like it was carved into an existing hillock. Remember, we can’t let the mold into our hobbit houses, after all, it might ruin our seed cakes! -Blake

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Call your members of congress and tell them that stopping Bush/Cheney from attacking Iran is job #1, and impeachment is the method of choice. If the Democrats in congress do not find the courage to bring these criminals to justice they will surely commit more crimes. They are currently planning a scheme to bring oil to $200+ a barrel, gas to $12/gallon, by setting the entire middle east on fire.

The writing is on the wall, an attack on Iran WILL happen before the end of Bush’s term. Right now there are two carrier groups off of the Iranian coast. If there was ever a perfect setup for bombing it is now. Bush removed the general in charge because he refused to attack Iran. Bush’s team told the Israelis that he is going to attack Iran!

Why attack Iran? The Bush Administration has been primarily about one thing from the start: looting America. Driving up the price of oil by destabilizing the middle east is a great way to line the pockets of all the oil buddies Bush/Cheney + Rice are working for. Even more to the point, borrowing money to fund these wars of choice drives down the dollar, while the Fed keeps interest rates artificially low to mask the effects, which will lead to a catastrophic collapse of the U.S. economy. The goal is to wipe out the American middle class, the only power base that can challenge the economic elite (the only pejorative use of the word “elite” that makes any sense). Cheney invests his money accordingly.

Beyond stealing us blind, gaining long-term control of middle east oil, and destroying the middle class, another benefit of an attack on Iran would be that the Bush Administration could suspend elections, claiming war-time powers. These people are criminals and murderers, you really think they are going to give up power willingly? It’s not just that they would have to give up power, it is also that they would then be vulnerable to being investigated after leaving office. They know what they have done, and they know that they have committed crimes of every sort, including treason. If a President Obama were to fully investigate the Bush/Cheney years it could result in several convictions of treason. Quite literally, Bush and Cheney are fighting for their lives.

Congress is considering legislation that would state specifically that Bush cannot attack Iran without prior approval from Congress. That approach worked on Nixon. Nixon was a paranoid criminal type, but he was Mother Teresa compared to this lot. Passing a law means nothing to Bush and Cheney, and they have said so over and over. Bush’s signing statements are his way of saying: “As president I am above the law.” So passing a law will have no effect whatsoever. Iran will be attacked, and then it will be too late to stop them from destroying our democracy.

Impeachment is the only solution. Bush and Cheney must be impeached right now. There are so many impeachable offenses that it may seem overwhelming, but for simplicity and speed we need only focus on the big one: LYING TO START AN ILLEGAL WAR. 4000+ Americans dead, 40,000+ Americans wounded, 100,000 to 1,000,000 Iraqis dead, millions turned into refugees. I think we have plenty right there. Domestic spying, illegal political manipulation of the Justice Department, intentionally non-enforcement of all regulations not favored by businesses (environmental, labor, discrimination). Stealing elections. . . .

Speaking of elections, I wonder how an attack on Iran will affect the coming presidential election? The time has come to realize that we are dealing with a criminal gang, not just a group of politicians that we have a friendly disagreement with over policy, and we need to start treating them as a criminal gang. We should also expect them to act as a criminal gang. They are not going to leave unless we make them. -Blake

So President Bush compares Barack Obama to NAZI appeasers while visiting Israel? Maybe Dubya should avoid the whole NAZI thing, if only because it might remind people about his own family’s connections to Hitler’s Germany and the fascist movement here in the United States.

Dubya’s grandpappy (to speak in the fake Texas vernacular that Dubya likes to use) Prescott Bush was involved in three very unsavory episodes, all of which have implications for the Bush family today. The first little Bush scandal was a claim by Prescott that he had won medals in WWI that he had not, in fact, been given. I only mention that one because I find it interesting that draft-dodging AWOL G.W. would smear the real war hero John Kerry with false accusations that his medals were not deserved. How about just lying about getting medals? Ahem!

The big scandals (or should have been scandals) were Prescott’s involvement with a bank that did business with NAZI Germany, and actually had its assets seized by the U.S. Government, AND Prescott’s involvement in the so-called “Business Coup” plot to replace FDR with a fascist dictatorship.

Both of these scandals have complicated trails of evidence and are far from being proven, but they both have way more interesting and suspicious details than most of the “controversies” that cable news gives 24-hour treatment to today.

Old Prescott’s NAZI connection is this: he was a director of Union Banking Corporation whose assets were seized for doing business in Germany in time of war. The officers of the bank were not charged with any crimes, but it remains an open question as to what kind of businessman continues to do business with NAZIs as late as October 20, 1942. Allegations that Bush was involved in slave labor aren’t true, as UBC didn’t use slaves until after the asset seizure.

P. Bush’s links to the fascist coup attempt are somewhat tenuous, but not surprising. Prescott Bush was a director of the Hamburg-American Line, and it has been alleged that he had a part in the conspiracy to replace FDR with a fascist dictator. General Smedley Butler was approached by powerful business interests and asked to lead a march on the White House with 500,000 veterans. The coup plotters would then install Butler to the cabinet level position of “Secretary of General Affairs”, a new position to be created that would handle the day-to-day business of the presidency.

The goal was to stop the New Deal, but when General Smedley went public FDR cut a deal with the plotters. The plotters would back the New Deal and FDR would make the scandal go away. So the traitors (possibly including the grandfather of our current president) avoided being hung for treason and the nation got the New Deal reforms that the monied class hated.

Isn’t there something in the Bible about not throwing stones and glass houses and motes in eyes etc. Oh well, it’s no use trying to get Bush to actually read the Bible when just using it as a prop is so much more politically useful.

I don’t remember this because I was too young at the time but I was told this story by my dad who witnessed it. Once a long time ago in a galaxy far far away I lived in Bezerkeley California were my dad ran the Pacific Film Archive at U.C Berkeley. Because of his role at the archives he was down with all bay area film makers of the era. Once in the early 70s he was having a party and among others, George Lucas was there. Lucas at the time was in very early planning for Star Wars and decided to bounce his idea off me, a very grumpy and tired child. Maybe he thought I would share his vision because I am a boy and my name is George as well. He sat me down on his lap and asked, ” George, what do you think about a movie with space ships and lasers and robots?!” I, with all the wisdom of a grumpy and tired child replied, “I think thats a stupid idea!”

Well, my dad could clearly see it was way past my bed time and put me to bed. I could only imagine what the world would be like if Lucas had listened to me and shelved his stupid idea for a movie about dumb things like robots and lasers and space ships.

When I was a little kid my dad used to bring me to this Japanese restaurant in north beach San Francisco called Cho Cho’s. Whenever I went there the owner Jimmy Sakata (Jimmy Cho Cho to me) would make me fancy kids drinks and show me what he had in the paper bags behind his bar. Guns! Big guns, which was way cool to me. He would let me hold them although I bet they were always loaded. Back then Cho Cho’s was a hang out for writers and different heads of the time. Everyone from Nobel prize winning author Yasunari Kawabata to Clint Eastwood. One of the regulars was Richard Brautigan, also a gun aficionato.

One day in 1984 Brautigan was hanging out and asked Jimmy if he could borrow a gun for the night. Jimmy said sure and lent him a Smith & Wesson 44. The next day Brautigan returned without the gun and said he needed it for one more night, but in lieu of the gun he would lend Jimmy a brick. This was not that strange considering the eccentric nature of his clientele so Jimmy took the brick and put it on the bookshelf behind the bar.

That night Richard Brautigan killed himself with Jimmy’s gun. The gun, not being registered, never made its way back to Jimmy. The brick, on the other hand, stayed on the bookshelf behind the bar. One day years later I took my girlfriend to visit Jimmy and the brick at Cho Cho’s. They said Jimmy had retired and sold the restaurant. When I asked if there was a brick behind the bar (hoping they would give it to me!) they smiled and said Jimmy took the brick with him. I dont know if Jimmy is still alive but I bet that Brautigan’s brick is out there somewhere.

Much like the famous (and famously ignored) memo warning Bush about Bin Laden, we now have the documentation that spells out exactly what a President McCain plans to do to our country. He plans on bankrupting us to the tune of FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS plus change. Once bankrupted, and with eternal war overseas (just like in Orwell’s 1984) there will simply be no money left for any domestic spending. Everything the federal government does to protect and defend individuals from monied interests will be swept aside, along with the entire social safety net that gives workers the cushion they need to be able to participate in a true democracy. McCain’s plan is nothing short of the destruction of the United States of America, leaving only a cratered and pockmarked landscape of terrorized and poverty stricken serfs.

Unlike any terrorist you’ve ever been told to be afraid of, the real threat to our “way of life” is now coming from the 5th Column right here in our midst. I speak of the small army of demolitionists who have been working like termites to destroy our institutions from within. The goal is nothing short of total destruction of democracy, the U.S. Constit