WiFi vs Trees?

A preliminary study gaining fame on the internet seems to suggest a relationship between wifi signals and tree illnesses in an urban area in the Netherlands, the Wall Street Journal reports.  The fellow conducting the "preliminary experiment", Dr. van Lammeren says, "we cannot draw conclusions."

Think that'll stop anyone?

I would like to advance another hypothesis for tree death in the Netherlands.  It's the Muslims.  Look at all the Muslim countries around the world.  What do you see?  Treeless mountains and desert.  I'm telling you, plants are allergic to Muslims!

We'll see how much traction that one gets!

Lincoln the Prophet

"At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide."  -- President ABRAHAM LINCOLN, address before the Young Men’s Lyceum, Springfield, Illinois, January 27, 1838.

As a nation today, I visualize us as standing with one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel.

The Buck Stops . . . Where?

Looks like Barack Obama is clearing out the Oval Office, and moving that pesky sign of Harry Truman's to the courts.  In what may be the "Stupidest Lawsuit Ever", executive control of federal agencies is apparently being ceded to the courts.  I guess the buck stops . . . over there, somewhere.  BTW, loosen up your wallet.  We'll be footing the bill for this insanity, and only the lawyers will win.

Turkeys - The Patron Bird of November

What is November without at least one turkey in it?  Is this post my November turkey?

What's Palin Done, Anyhow?

A View From Alaska, by an Alaskan, Dewey Whetsell

http://restlessbrainsyndrome.blogspot.com/

See:  Friday, September 18, 2009

SARAH PALIN'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Mud In Your Eye

In the past when I thought about adobe houses, the image most commonly in my mind was from a John Wayne movie.  On a cowboyly mission, Wayne and his companions of the moment would bed down for the night behind some tumbledown adobe brick walls, generally without a roof, or a roof of bare poles. 

Stars for a blanket.  Romantic.  But hardly the kind of dwelling in which one would want to live full time.

If you actually devote a minimum of intellectual attention to the issue of adobe, you will instantly realize that the movies treat adobe with about as much truth as they do space flight.  Yes, there is such a thing.  No, it's nothing like in the movies.

If you're not asking, by this time, what weird fascination adobe has for me, you're not awake yet.  Go smell the coffee!


My fascination is with building materials and techniques that allow us to build more efficient dwellings.  Dwellings that incorporate local materials and conditions into the design, allowing us to live softly with our environment rather than hard-shouldered against it.

This probably sounds strange to you, coming from a rabid political conservative.  If so, perhaps you should reconsider your assumptions.

Back to adobe - I'm not convinced that it's suitable for New England, but maybe there is an analogous technique that is.  For instance, we don't have much adobe-like mud, but we do have an abundance of rocks and sod.  However, in the southwest, adobe has many advantages.  It's local.  Houses made from it have naturally high insulation and thermal mass characteristics.  Cool in the summer, warm in the winter.  Quiet.  Natural camouflage - they don't stick out like a sore thumb from miles away.  And you can build in almost any shape you desire, although some shapes have proven advantages.

Interested at all?  Learn more:  www.adobealliance.org

Pledge to America

The GOP has produced a new "Contract With America" type pledge.

I'm concerned that; 1) It will go the way of the old pledge (i.e. nowhere) and, 2) There's too much talk about new programs that will be so much better than the Democratic programs, when all we really want is FEWER programs and LESS government.

We won't know whether it's simple electioneering or if they mean it until after the election.  Even then, assuming the GOP retakes House and Senate both, they still have to face the possibility of Presidential vetoes of their reforms.

Anyone care to wager whether we make it to the 2012 elections without a South American-style revolution?  I don't.

Feeding Frenzy

Typical of the news media: The feeding frenzy over the proposed Koran burning in Georgia ended when the pastor in question decided NOT to burn the book. Happily, a gas main in San Bruno, California blew up, so they're back in business!

Journalists can join lawyers swimming in safety in shark-filled waters - professional courtesy, you know . . .

The Winds of Change?

Well, the lean mean one post a year days are officially gone - the bloglines site that I used as my main blog is closing!!!!! Be ware, I will be doing a lot more posting here!