What's new

The Little Thread Which Grew - the Apollo '73 to Everything But

Status
Not open for further replies.

JackStraw

Silver Meritorious Patron
Re: politics

BTW: it isJefferson Airplane, NOT The Jefferson Airplane.

Restudy your materials, use your demo kit, clay demo "The."


damn! Where's the "yellow card" smilie?!?

I used, in my post, a lower-case "t", not a capital "T"!

:eyeroll:I know, grasping at straws. I'll go get my OED and M8 the word. :surrender:

Jack
 

Leon

Gold Meritorious Patron
Re: The old days - Aboard the Apollo - 1973

Yes, this is correct. It is a management problem.

As a human species we are in actuality failing to manage correctly or optimumly our dealings with our environment and each other as the peoples on the planet.

here is an example. The idiocy of burning oil as fuel. The stuff is now too valuable as a raw material for plastics and petrochemicals, to be burned!

I know of three struggling companies trying to get funding and to scale up their technical discoveries to produce fuels from other materials.

One (Carbon Sciences, Inc)actually can produce "synfuels" (jet fuel, diesel and gasoline) from CO2! Another (Syntroleum Inc) does the same from natural gas . . , and has already proven the success of its jet fuel with the US Air Force (the Air Force tested the fuel in their various jets for several hundreds of hours and all is OK. This at about 3 years ago.) . . .

Now you would think Delta Airlines, instead of buying the oil refinery it recently bought would have/should have spent far less money to invest in a plant to produce synfuel! But hell no!

You'd have thought the managers in government (or at least the US military) would have funded production of these fuels in the US for their own use? Hell no!

We should be using thorium, not uranium, for nuclear energy . . . it's safer and does not have the waste problems of uranium reactors . . . . but NOooooo! the dunces keep reverting to the old shit . . .

R



The Mosgas plant in South Afrca has been doing this for about the last 15 years or so.
 
Re: politics

A. You meant Jeb.

B. No.

I'd rather see David Cameron holding the office despite his legal ineligibility and the fact that he's nothing but a corporate stooge & total twit. Still he's better than the ignorant, bigoted, stupid, and corrupt politicos leading the contemporary republican party. :eyeroll:

The irony is the current crop make Nixon look absolutely marvelous as a u.s. leader in comparison despite his criminal abuse of power. RMN did accomplish some important policy initiatives. He was genuinely intelligent. He was not an ignorant man. He understood the need for compromise. Despite his cynical appeal to middle class mores, he did not wrap himself in jesus. He was not ideologically driven to a point of irrationality, nor was he unwilling to regulate corporate interests. And he was well apprised of realpolitik. In all, altogether different from latter day republicans. :melodramatic:


Mark A. Baker

When Nixon was running for Pres, when I was a mere child, I watched him on TV and didn't trust him. He was a so slimy.

However, he was the one person in American politics, who could bring the US (and west) into friendship with China. As an American anti communist, he brought the conservatives along with him. Had a democrat made the move, they would have criticized and blocked it.

He did pull the troops out of Viet Nam.
 
Kennedy and Nixon by Chris matthews

information from a book by Chris Matthews (not a quote):


It begins with Kennedy and Nixon both elected to the house of representatives in 1946. Kennedy was jovial and light. Nixon was quite a serious young man. Nixon went to the senate first. Kennedy made it to the Senate when Nixon became vice-president. The men had a cordial relationship.

In 1946 they went to Pennsyvannia to debate. Afterwards they ate dinner together in a local diner. On the train trip back to Washington they flipped a coin for the bottom bunk. Richard Nixon was a guest at John and Jackie's wedding. They were both guests at Senator Joe McCarthy's wedding.

They remained cordial until they went against each other in the 1960 presidential contest.


Imagine Barrack and Mitt taking a train ride together. No Secret Service people mentioned. A different time................
 

RogerB

Crusader
Re: The old days - Aboard the Apollo - 1973

The Mosgas plant in South Afrca has been doing this for about the last 15 years or so.

Yes, 'tis true.

You'd think the dunces in the US would be able to learn from successes elsewhere . . . . but NOoooo . . . . we had an idiot president decide we should invest in converting corn to alcohol fuel!! :duh: Meanwhile we have more nat gas than we can throw a stick at.

In the mid-east the nat gas has to be flared off because it is in the way of getting to the oil! :duh:

In fact, S. Africa developed and led the world in such syn-fuel production due to its being shut out of the oil market during the Apartheid "sanctions" . . . now that is is a good example of management decision to implement old workable answers (they perfected the Fischer-Trope (German tech circa WW2) process.

Indeed, today there is a S. African company listed on the NY Stock Exchange (and London as well, from memory) that is the world leader in syn-fuel production. It is even a major exporter of the stuff. Name is Sasol . . .

And our idiot US president goes off on corn ??!! . . . this in the face of the fact that the US claims the worlds largest known coal resources (that Sasol uses as feed for its syn-fuel) :duh::duh:

The US really is an example of mis-management by idiot think: not management by lucid analysis of known, proven data.

R
 
Re: Ken Ogger, The Pilot speaks from the dead

Great. You go to: http://lists.worldtrans.org/mailman/listinfo/superscio

The first excerpt from the Pilot's fortnightly postings has already been made. Here is a preview:

************
Pilot'sPosts Z1

What Is Wrong With Confidentiality?

(From Post 2 - April 1997)

Pilot'sPosts Z2

[[ I have decided also to send the weekly excerpts from The Pilot's fortnightly postings here every week. But if you would like them sent weekly to your inbox You will still need to go to: http://lists.worldtrans.org/mailman/listinfo/superscio and sign in there. Then you will get them in your inbox in the middle of every week without you having to raise a finger further. So here is the next one, a day late., Ant]]

[[This is an example of where the Pilot saw something posted in the News Group alt.clearing.technology, in this case something I wrote there, and answered it - remember he was at that point successfully in the church but hidden, Ant]]

DISAGREEMENT CHECKS
(from post 14 Nov 1997)

On 23 Oct, Antony Phillips <[email protected]> post on
subject "security checks, disagreement checks"

> The thread on End of endless security checks reminds me of
> something I experienced as staff at Saint Hill. About 65/66.
>
> It was called a disagreement check.
> I have never seen a bulletin on it.
>
> The way it worked for me was that if I felt a bit "keyed in", sort of
> heavy/overwhelmed, I went to the staff training officer, or some title
> like that, and he would put me in session. The question asked was
> something like "Do you have any disagreements?" And as far as I can
> remember, one just itsaed.
>
> Worked well so far as I was concerend and I availed myself of it a few
> times. There was rarely any marked waiting time to get a disagreement
> check.
>
> The philosophy behind it seemed to be, help the staff member, and you
> will help the org.
>
> The philosphy behind the use of sec checks ("I am not auditing you"
> variety) seems to be that the staff member was potentially evil, and had
> to be sharply curbed.
>
> The curious thing was that I never saw a bulletin on it. I'm curious to
> know whether it ever reached what we called "outer orgs".
>
> All best wishes,
>
> Ant
> --
> Ant Antony A Phillips
> [email protected]  [[address 2012: <[email protected]>]]
> tlf: (+45) 45 88 88 69
> Box 78  [2012 invalid address now]]
> DK - 2800 Lyngby
> Editor, International Viewpoints (= IVy) see Home Page:
> http://home.sn.no/home/trone/IVy.html [[address 2012:  http://www.ivymag.org/ ]]

[Now the Pilot Pilot replies:]
The reference is HCOB 19 Jan 66 "Danger Conditions, Technical
Data for Review Auditors" in old tech volume 6 or new tech volume 8.

(begin fair use quote)

To cure a disagreement one can:

1. Locate disagreements on certain subjects by listing a question
such as "On ..... what do you disagree with? and locating the item
with assessment and blowing it by inspection (itsa).

2. Locate former similar subject the person disagreed with.

3. Locate things on the subject the person has not understood and
get them clarified.

4. Locate earlier similar subjects the person has not understood
and get them clarified.

IMPORTANT - if a person's attitude does not change after doing
one of the above, do another or find another item using the same
process (listed above) as before.

A whole case will fall apart this way.

(end fair use quote)

He then talks a bit about compulsive bypass, danger conditions,
and so forth.

This was replaced by a BTB of 22 Mar 72 called "Disagreement
Remedy" and that one has gone through a series of revisions and
eventually evolved (Ha!) into an HCOB of that date as reissued
in 1985 (see the new tech volumes).

The revised disagreement remedy went after outpoints, false
data, and so forth and wouldn't let go of the person until
he was back in agreement and unlikely to make trouble for the
group.

The original one, however, was really something (step 1 above,
listing to find the precise disagreement and blowing it by
inspection using Itsa). It did get to the outer orgs. I ran
some of these while I was auditing in review.

What would happen is that the PC would get really happy and
blow the charge on the disagreement. But he wouldn't get
stupid. If it was something that he was disagreeing with for
good reason, he would get all evangelistic about fixing up
the org and correcting what was wrong.

This tended to result in the person getting declared suppressive
within a few months. I think that that was the real EP of
these disagreement checks, certainty that one could fix the
org and getting declared as a result.

When the Class 8s hit in late 68, they stopped running
disagreement checks this way. There was much too much that
everybody disagreed with. Instead, they always CSed
method 2 above and looked for some earlier subject that the
person had confused with Scientology so that there was something
else to blame the charge on.

And finally they came up with the 1972 bulletin to really
close the door on this area.

Hope this helps,

The Pilot
____________________________
relayed by Ant Phillips <[email protected]>
 
Re: politics

When Nixon was running for Pres, when I was a mere child, I watched him on TV and didn't trust him. He was a so slimy. ...

Sliminess has not historically been seen as a bar to effective political leadership.

Nixon wasn't trustworthy, as he ultimately made absolutely clear. Nor have I ever trusted any of the earlier generations of the Kennedy clan.


Mark A. Baker
 
Re: The old days - Aboard the Apollo - 1973

... we had an idiot president decide we should invest in converting corn to alcohol fuel!! :duh: ...

Actually the decision was initially pushed by the prior administration, one led by a former texas oil executive. He's responsible for granting the initial authorizations required. The decision you refer was more or less made inevitable given the strength of the Ag & Energy lobbies in this country. :eyeroll:

Politics is a messy business made all the worse by the ignorance & shortsighted avarice of the people being governed. Moreover, you can thank the power of 'free markets' for exacerbating these tendencies generally. There is little that humans won't stoop too out of avarice. That is a principle reason why markets can not be trusted as a substitute for policy. :eyeroll:

BTW, far from being an 'idiot' the president to whom you alluded was one of the smartest and most capable we've ever had in this country. He has also been providing considerable leadership in warning about the dangers of excessive corn-based ethanol production. :biggrin:

For my part I prefer to see a leader who is possessed with genuine intelligence and understanding holding office as opposed to one who merely adheres to a fixed ideology or dogma of 'conventional wisdom' :)eyeroll:) and who is seen to be popular with the masses. But then I've never been a democrat.


Mark A. Baker
 

RogerB

Crusader
Re: The old days - Aboard the Apollo - 1973

Actually the decision was initially pushed by the prior administration, one led by a former texas oil executive. He's responsible for granting the initial authorizations required. The decision you refer was more or less made inevitable given the strength of the Ag & Energy lobbies in this country. :eyeroll:

Politics is a messy business made all the worse by the ignorance & shortsighted avarice of the people being governed. Moreover, you can thank the power of 'free markets' for exacerbating these tendencies generally. There is little that humans won't stoop too out of avarice. That is a principle reason why markets can not be trusted as a substitute for policy. :eyeroll:

BTW, far from being an 'idiot' the president to whom you alluded was one of the smartest and most capable we've ever had in this country. He has also been providing considerable leadership in warning about the dangers of excessive corn-based ethanol production. :biggrin:

For my part I prefer to see a leader who is possessed with genuine intelligence and understanding holding office as opposed to one who merely adheres to a fixed ideology or dogma of 'conventional wisdom' :)eyeroll:) and who is seen to be popular with the masses. But then I've never been a democrat.


Mark A. Baker

Two answers to that . . . wrong answers are always idiocy, even if only gradiently so. The other is that so is deceitful insider deals that favor the "boyz" . . . which is what that caper by Bush did.

As an "oil man" he had to be incompetent or willfully stupid to ignore the syn fuel opportunity that even non-oil types are aware of.

Some say he went to war to secure oil for the country; others say it was in order to protect the use of the US$ as the currency of settlement for the oil trade . . . who knows? We know what he sold the world.

Bush may be "intelligent" . . . so were Hitler, Napoleon and Genghis Khan . . . none did their nations good.

R
 

lkwdblds

Crusader
Re: The old days - Aboard the Apollo - 1973

Actually the decision was initially pushed by the prior administration, one led by a former texas oil executive. He's responsible for granting the initial authorizations required. The decision you refer was more or less made inevitable given the strength of the Ag & Energy lobbies in this country. :eyeroll:

Politics is a messy business made all the worse by the ignorance & shortsighted avarice of the people being governed. Moreover, you can thank the power of 'free markets' for exacerbating these tendencies generally. There is little that humans won't stoop too out of avarice. That is a principle reason why markets can not be trusted as a substitute for policy. :eyeroll:

BTW, far from being an 'idiot' the president to whom you alluded was one of the smartest and most capable we've ever had in this country. He has also been providing considerable leadership in warning about the dangers of excessive corn-based ethanol production. :biggrin:

For my part I prefer to see a leader who is possessed with genuine intelligence and understanding holding office as opposed to one who merely adheres to a fixed ideology or dogma of 'conventional wisdom' :)eyeroll:) and who is seen to be popular with the masses. But then I've never been a democrat.


Mark A. Baker

If you've never been a Democrat and you despise present day Republicans, I'm just curious how you classify yourself. Are you an Independent? Do any of the existing parties align with your beliefs? Which party, if any comes the closest to what you believe in?
Lakey
 
judicial (US) sense

University of Virginia
J. Harvie Wilkinson, the federal appeals judge from Charlottesville, Va., long has carried a contrarian streak.

The Reagan appointee disputed President George W. Bush’s advice to take up cross-training, possibly costing him elevation to the Supreme Court.
And last month, receiving the Federalist Society’s Lifetime Service Award at Georgetown University, Judge Wilkinson hinted that the high court he nearly joined should think twice before striking down the symbol of everything contemporary conservatives revile—the health care overhaul President Barack Obama signed into law over near-unanimous Republican opposition.

“It may of course seem tempting to press the advantage when one seemingly has a judicial majority at hand. But this wheel shall turn,” Judge Wilkinson said. “Lasting credibility on an issue such as judicial restraint requires us to practice it, as the old saying goes, when the shoe pinches as well as when it comforts.”
In a new book, “Cosmic Constitutional Theory,” Judge Wilkinson takes on jurists ranging from conservative Justice Antonin Scalia to liberal Justice Goodwin Liu of the California Supreme Court for legal theorizing that ends up increasing the judiciary’s power over democratic processes.

In his Federalist Society remarks, he focused on the constitutionalization of political dispute. Both left and right, he said, now were defined by competing strains of libertarianism.

“Liberals have a vision whose central element often appears to be autonomy in lifestyle choices,” he said, alluding to abortion rights and same-sex marriage.
“Conservatives have a view in which liberty seems to pertain primarily to economic and market freedoms,” in areas such as environmental and commercial regulation.

With both sides seeing their positions “as constitutional imperatives rather than political aims,” he said, “the new game is to press one’s views into our fundamental charter such that our opponents are left with no quarter and are defeated not in the temporary sense of a political ebb and flow, but in the more absolute tones of constitutional condemnation.”

“In the early 1970s,” when Judge Wilkinson served as law clerk to Justice Lewis Powell, some members of the Supreme Court “sought to embody Great Society principles in the equal protection clause of our Constitution. But whatever the Great Society’s political merits or demerits, America did not need a Great Society Constitution,” Judge Wilkinson said.

“It is also one thing to welcome the Tea Party as a political movement, quite another to embrace a Tea Party Constitution. Political disputation and constitutional debate are simply different things, and it does our democracy no favors to confuse one with the other.”

To be sure, Judge Wilkinson embraced a set of conservative legal precedents he said actually were constitutional commands, throwing out campaign finance regulations on First Amendment free-speech grounds or voiding “race-based set asides” for violating the 14th Amendment’s equal protection requirement.
“But the explicit restraints on government do not empower judges to devise long lists of implicit restraints that suit their views,” he continued. It was fine for the tea party movement to oppose the federal health care law on policy grounds, he suggested, but mistaken to say the founders sought to disable the national government from attempting to solve national problems.

“Do we risk with contemporary activism the loss of the robust sense of nationalism embodied by the Framers in our founding document, a nationalism that is manifested in enumerated powers that were thought necessary to supplant the Articles of Confederation and to give a common identity to what were previously disparate economic units?” Judge Wilkinson said.

The framers envisioned not only individual rights, but democratic ones that could impose duties upon the individual, he said. “We are neglecting the code of personal responsibility that has long been the source of our national strength,” he says, echoing language in the Affordable Care Act requiring citizens to carry health insurance.

“Citizens are not simply autonomous individuals, but depend on institutions such as family, church, community, and yes, to some extent, even government to provide them not with success, but with the opportunity to make something constructive and meaningful of their lives.”
 

Terril park

Sponsor
Re: judicial (US) sense

Some years ago when in Paris I visited the Church of St Eustache. It has the largest pipe organ in France, Larger than Notre Dame. I wanted to get a recording of it but could only find one record which had music I wasn't interested in. However....U-Tube to the rescue! This piece is something I havn't heard for a very long time, the prelude and fugue on B-A-C-H by
Franz Liszt.

Town planning in Paris is not what it is in London. Sometime in the past it was allowed for a shop or apartment building to use one wall of the church
as one of its walls.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5WqXTN9Bds
 
retirement on the cheap

If an affordable cost of living is your priority in choosing where to retire, take a look at Cuenca, Ecuador. This city is one of the world's best places to retire overseas on a budget.

Cuenca is a beautiful colonial city in an interesting and diverse country. The health care is high quality, honest, and inexpensive. The climate is spring-like and pleasant 12 months of the year. And Cuenca's large and growing expat community is one of Latin America's most diverse and well-blended.

There are other colonial cities in Ecuador, but Cuenca is the cultural heart of the country. In this center of art and literature, you can attend the orchestra, a play, a tango show, or an art opening, and these activities are usually free.

Cuenca is also a popular destination for international tourists and language students, offering many super-affordable options to study Spanish. The tourists and students bring vitality to the city and help support Cuenca's developed infrastructure for amenities and services.

However, perhaps the biggest draw to Cuenca is its cost of living, which is extremely low, especially considering the quality of life that you find here. The falling dollar has caused prices to go up sharply for overseas retirees whose retirement incomes are denominated in U.S. dollars, but who are living in places where goods are priced in the local currency. But this exchange-rate concern does not exist in Cuenca, because Ecuador uses the U.S. dollar.

The $1 fixed-price lunch is still alive and well in Cuenca (although $2.50 is more common), and the city is awash with fresh tropical fruits and vegetables for pennies on the dollar. Fresh fish and shrimp arrive daily from the coast, and much of the local poultry is free-range. A bus trip through the city is a quarter, taxis start at about $1.50, and gas is only $1.48 per gallon.

You could rent a furnished apartment for as little as $400 per month, an unfurnished apartment from $300 per month, or buy a small condo outright for less than $40,000. Thanks to the comfortable year-round climate in Cuenca, you won't have to worry about heat or air conditioning, which is another important reason why retirement in this city is as affordable as it is.

Cuenca is very walkable and boasts an excellent public transit system, as does all of Ecuador. You could live easily without a car, which shaves even more costs from your monthly budget.

All that said, Cuenca is not the most affordable place to live in Ecuador. In small towns like Cotacachi or Vilcabamba, you could retire on an even more modest budget of as little as $650 or $700 a month. But the cost of living isn't the only factor you should consider when choosing a retirement spot. You want to balance the cost of your retirement against the quality of retirement life you'll be able to enjoy. Part of the reason the overall cost of living in places like Cotacachi is so low is because there's simply not much to do, meaning there's not much to spend money on. You could live quite frugally in Cotacachi, but also very simply.

Cuenca, on the other hand, is a fully developed city, where you could enjoy a rich and full life. To be able to enjoy all that the city has to offer, plan on a budget of $1,500 a month per couple if you're renting and $1,100 per month if you own your home. You could certainly live here for less, but these estimates will allow you to make the most of your new life in Cuenca.

Kathleen Peddicord is the founder of the Live and Invest Overseas publishing group. With more than 25 years experience covering this beat, Kathleen reports daily on current opportunities for living, retiring, and investing overseas in her free e-letter. Her book, How To Retire Overseas--Everything You Need To Know To Live Well Abroad For Less, was recently released by Penguin Books.
 

Ted

Gold Meritorious Patron
Re: retirement on the cheap

If an affordable cost of living is your priority in choosing where to retire, take a look at Cuenca, Ecuador. This city is one of the world's best places to retire overseas on a budget.

Cuenca is a beautiful colonial city in an interesting and diverse country. The health care is high quality, honest, and inexpensive. The climate is spring-like and pleasant 12 months of the year. And Cuenca's large and growing expat community is one of Latin America's most diverse and well-blended.

There are other colonial cities in Ecuador, but Cuenca is the cultural heart of the country. In this center of art and literature, you can attend the orchestra, a play, a tango show, or an art opening, and these activities are usually free.

Cuenca is also a popular destination for international tourists and language students, offering many super-affordable options to study Spanish. The tourists and students bring vitality to the city and help support Cuenca's developed infrastructure for amenities and services.

However, perhaps the biggest draw to Cuenca is its cost of living, which is extremely low, especially considering the quality of life that you find here. The falling dollar has caused prices to go up sharply for overseas retirees whose retirement incomes are denominated in U.S. dollars, but who are living in places where goods are priced in the local currency. But this exchange-rate concern does not exist in Cuenca, because Ecuador uses the U.S. dollar.

The $1 fixed-price lunch is still alive and well in Cuenca (although $2.50 is more common), and the city is awash with fresh tropical fruits and vegetables for pennies on the dollar. Fresh fish and shrimp arrive daily from the coast, and much of the local poultry is free-range. A bus trip through the city is a quarter, taxis start at about $1.50, and gas is only $1.48 per gallon.

You could rent a furnished apartment for as little as $400 per month, an unfurnished apartment from $300 per month, or buy a small condo outright for less than $40,000. Thanks to the comfortable year-round climate in Cuenca, you won't have to worry about heat or air conditioning, which is another important reason why retirement in this city is as affordable as it is.

Cuenca is very walkable and boasts an excellent public transit system, as does all of Ecuador. You could live easily without a car, which shaves even more costs from your monthly budget.

All that said, Cuenca is not the most affordable place to live in Ecuador. In small towns like Cotacachi or Vilcabamba, you could retire on an even more modest budget of as little as $650 or $700 a month. But the cost of living isn't the only factor you should consider when choosing a retirement spot. You want to balance the cost of your retirement against the quality of retirement life you'll be able to enjoy. Part of the reason the overall cost of living in places like Cotacachi is so low is because there's simply not much to do, meaning there's not much to spend money on. You could live quite frugally in Cotacachi, but also very simply.

Cuenca, on the other hand, is a fully developed city, where you could enjoy a rich and full life. To be able to enjoy all that the city has to offer, plan on a budget of $1,500 a month per couple if you're renting and $1,100 per month if you own your home. You could certainly live here for less, but these estimates will allow you to make the most of your new life in Cuenca.

Kathleen Peddicord is the founder of the Live and Invest Overseas publishing group. With more than 25 years experience covering this beat, Kathleen reports daily on current opportunities for living, retiring, and investing overseas in her free e-letter. Her book, How To Retire Overseas--Everything You Need To Know To Live Well Abroad For Less, was recently released by Penguin Books.


Yes, but do they have high-speed internet connections? :confused2:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top