Alternatively fueled transportation at the train station

Transportation facility design may be enhanced by "partnering" with local tech schools with alternative fuel education components and research projects, and with the government's Clean Cities initiative.

guns in the home

For the second time this week, and from completely separate sources, I read that, statistically, a gun is a greater risk to family and friends than it is protection as self-defense.

Ummm, so just how stupid is my brother (and his wife): Two years ago, I didn't know the above statistics, but I did know that a teenage boy who commits suicide is predominately more likely to shoot himself with a gun that he obtains from his own home. For that reason alone, I told Chad and Alisha, I would make sure no gun was in the house while there was a kid in the house. They, in usual "pendidiotic" style, argued that they needed a gun to shoot anyone they thought was trying to break in to their house. I mentioned to them the fact that they live in a development with thousands of houses that all pretty much look the same, so that the risk of a neighbor's late-night visitor knocking on the wrong door was pretty high, and why not just give the burglar what they want--was any material possession worth the risk of injury to your children or of facing murder charges? They insisted that they knew how to handle a gun. A year later, on Father's Day even, they fought and ratcheted each other up until Alisha got out the loaded pistol, Chad wrestled it from her, and the witnessing teenage son screamed for help. Yeah, so I guess they know how to handle a gun.

By the way, the loaded pistol was in a shoebox, well within reach of the climbing three year old.

And, a couple of months ago, a guy living close to here shot a young man who was knocking on the man's door to get help for his car that had broken down in front of the man's house. The kid is dead, and the neighbor's homicide trial is already well underway. The kid was shot in the back, his body falling on the walkway, half-way back to the street.

Breakfast tacos

Why are breakfast tacos limited to eggs, potato, sausage, bacon, cheese combinations? Why not any variety of herbs, cheeses, or, for god's sake, vegetables including cactus, avocado, peppers, scallions...How easy to do up "gourmet" or original-content breakfast tacos, or even to sell them from a truck, all day long. Like crepes--sweet versions, savory versions, daily creations....PB&J, pate/chutney/crisp dark greens...

They can be premade, frozen, packaged in bags of 6 each, and marketed in stores or hot trucks....

Architecture as a process

License-holders see it wrong, they see a building. Its not about the building, its about the phases, and the phases are about the communications between stakeholders.

Airport Concessions maximization

Some studies suggest that long lines at the cash regiser can prompt you to spend more money, which may be why retail stores don't keep all cash registers open as much as possible and why lines are loaded with impulse-buy merchandise.

Why don't airport concessions programs capitalize on this with respect to the security lines at checkpoints? If not to go so far as to provide merchandise to the waiting passengers then to at least to get their "commitment" to a purchase on the secure side. Teaser advertising with a basic map/list of what's available on the other side and whether its to the left or to the right of the checkpoint.

Formation Agent

Here's another business idea:
Formation agency specializing in small consulting or professional business' and/or airport concessionaires

company formation

Hundreds of formation agents exist today, in spite of regulatory crack-down. Such agents are very hush-hush about their formation services and may not even advertise them. For example, they may advertise their compliance services, and only with deep scrutiny will you find information about their offshore company-formation services. Some companies include Offshore Incorporations (OIL)(for BVI companies), OCRA Worldwide, ILS Fiduciaries (20 locations for companies), CT Corporation and CSC (Delaware companies), Panama law firms Morgan and Morgan and Mossack Fonesca, Orangefield, Intertrust, .

Offshore companies make it look like places like the British Virgin Islands are significant investors in bigger countries, like China. The formation company's own staff may act as the offshore company's directors, bank signatories, legal owners and may perform operational services such as payroll, administrative, and invoicing. Optional additions include offshore company email accounts, mail forwarding, secretarial.

People who have informed knowledge this market include
Chris Eaton
Jason Sharman

Bahamas, Samoa, Seychelles are just a few offshore locations.

"Midshore" locations include Singapore, Hong Kong

Extreme piloting in Iceland

Iceland's rugged terrain makes for some nail-biting take-offs and landings.
Just go to you tube or google Iceland extreme landing, approach, cross wind etc, for examples, and see for your self. dabbfilms, on you tube has some nice footage.

Geothermal

Ever wonder what giant taps into the earth's volcanic geothermal sources do to the earth's crust?
I wonder if Iceland, a country that gets a lot of its energy from geothermal sources, has experienced a measurable change of some sort in its annual average temperature, its elevation, or the mood of its inhabitants? Japan, who is considering going full bore, like Iceland, with its use of geothermal, also has a cultural issue to deal with in that its onsens, or hot springs, are so revered that you can't even go in one with a tatoo and without first cleaning yourself up.

Panama

Panama's canal is expanding its capacity to handle larger cargo ships (from ships with 5000 cars to 12, 000 or more).  [Critics say the resulting encouraged through traffic to New York harbors will also result in the loss of tens of thousand of jobs presently needed to receive the freight at CA ports and to then truck/rail them to the east coast. I say good riddance to the pollution, and there will be new jobs needed on the east coast now.]

The EPA as polluter #1

Don't you find it hypocritical that the basic thrust of the Environmental Protection Agency's work is to tell polluters how much they will be allowed to pollute?

They can try to say that their regulations and guidance restrict the contamination of the environment. But when you break down what they actually do to its fundamentals, the US EPA issues communications that actually tell polluters that they can pollute and that they can pollute to "nth" degree.

I am sure that someone out there has already come up with this: "Environmental Polluters Advisory" for the EPA

Tulum, Mexico

Here's where one should know that Mexico prohibits foreigners from owning land within 31 miles of the coast or within 62 miles of a national border. So, a bank trust, or fideicomiso, holds your title. Its transferable to heirs and renewable every 50 years. You can still sell, lease, transfer,...

Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic

thousands of expats here

But
overrun with development

So you want to be an Expat--hang a shingle

Not only can you finance your getaway home by renting it out when you are not there, you can provide services while there yourself.

I know of expats in several international locations that provide yoga (week-long retreats that coincide with the couples own stay at their house), plumbing, nurseries, weddings. The services can cater to fellow expats, tourists or locals.

Panama and Belize are International Living's top picks for entrepeneurial expats.

One business idea is to provide offshore company formation services. This may be viable in a location with heavy tourism attracting small business owners or those with assets to protect or tax liabilities that can be reduced. As a business, renewals act as annuities for the formation company, and the average life of an offshore company is 5 years. Little capital is required for starting a formation agency, although revenue must be shared with the offshore jurisdiction.

Hong Kong

The locals are so superstitious that they won't buy a property if a previous owner had a gruesome demise. They even will legally classify the property as haunted (or hongza). Ghosts get you a 40% discount!

Blue Marble

Panama
---El Cano, Cocle province, ancient burial sites and artifacts from the "golden chiefs" period.

Sweden
---Abisko, for northern lights viewing at its best, with lectures and updates

April

Early April
---


Mid April
---Buenos Aires Independent Film Festival, Argentina, with the Proa and rooftop restaurant


Late April

March

Early March
---La Noche de las Brujas  The Night of the Witches, in Mexico's homoe of the witchcraft industry, Catemaco
---Cherry blossom viewing festival, in Hanami, Japan
--


Mid March
---St. Patrick's Day 3 day festival in Dublin
---St. Patricks Day, Montserrat Island, Lesser Antilles, Carribean, the "Emerald Isle" with lush green forests, black sand beaches and bird watching.


Late March
--Giant Serpent Illusion in El Castillo pyramid on the Equinox, Chichen Itsa, Mexico
---Mangawhai Walking Weekend, New Zealand
---Cuenca International Athletic Festival, 9.3 miles run, Ecuador

Cuenca, Ecuador

A UNESCO World Heritage site. Residency granted to any retiree over 65 with a pension of over 800 a month.

Watching fireworks over the city at Fogo restaurant.

La Esquina market, with artisanal crafters

Remigio Crespo, the "eat street" cheap and local

Great Courses

Power over People: political ideas

Peaceful Mind: intro to meditation

Experiencing the Hubble

Healthy mind

New career as RepoPilot

The other day I read that the aviation business may becoming more like the hotel business in that one firm specializes in owning the phsyical assets and another firm specializes in operating the assets.

So, does that mean that when the operator leasing a plane defaults on the leasing agreement that the owner then needs a "repo-pilot" and copilot to sneak in while the plane is on the ground and fly off with it? 

Ai Weiwei

This Chinese artist has a lot of passion and covers a wide range of media. It is worth you discovering him and his work for yourself.

Pick ur price scheme can lead to higher prices paid

Apparently, a fixed price eradicates the potential buyer's worry about her self-image and looking like a cheapskate, thereby increasing demand (as compared with demand of the item with a "name your price" price).

And, even though through "name your price" pricing you can name a lower price than the fixed price, a lower price risks much embarassment in being labelled, by peers, as cheap and lacking generosity, apparently, and thereby reduces demand.

This from a team of researchers led by Ayelet Gneezy at the University of California.

Timor-Leste, Ermera District

Ok, so apparently some coffee plantations are going belly-up and, as is not surprising in colonialized places, new land laws are changing the opportunity for private land ownership.

Grrls, looking for that androgynous yet well-dressed look? How about some custom made boots or shoes? or, when its really pointless to try to hide the grrl beneath, some beach wear?
Look here:
My favorites:
Esquivelshoes.com (wonderful and custom made)
Shopstyle.com   (where you can find most of the names listed below)

Ubatuba brazil

Emilio pucci   (for caftans)
Matthew zink (for bikinis)
Brunello cucinelli  (for dress wear)
usahermes.com  (for cashmere)
allegri
bottega veneta
thecorner.com
piombo
joseph abboud
isaia
church-footwear.com  (for linens and bucks)
Kenneth cole
Colehaan  (for shoes)
Moorer.it   (for jackets and coats)
National geographic   (for travel jacket)
John lobb  (for shoes)
Ralph lauren black label   (for jeans, cotton jackets)
Bloomingdales
Prada  (for jeans jackets)
barneys.com
store.zegna.com
tods.com   (for shoes)
canali.it
mrporter.com  (for pants)
marios.com

I see more and more that religious persons are showing less and less ability to respect and show compassion for humanity--their own and that of those around them.
They don't show respect for the expression of differences--whether expressed as thought, action, or organizing life philosophy.
They can't seem to accomodate the internal conflict that they themselves experience in their own lifes without judging it and trying to "excise" it in unhealthy ways.
They justify restricting the pursuit of happiness for those that don't show compliance or bow down to their chosen lifestyle.
They subvert a public official's duty to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public--not the converted, into a self-serving and unsustainable battle over "morality."

organic stuffed animals

In an effort to honor my promise to myself to eliminate petroleum based stuff from my home, I do two things:
1. I go for the item that either has no packaging or no plastic packaging whenever possible. If I can't do this, I usually find that I can do without the item altogether. Conveniently, I get the same feeling of satisfaction from going through this analysis and putting the item back on the shelf that I get from actually purchasing the item. Pupils dilate and  everything.

2. I go for the item that is not made out of some version of petroleum. I went for months without a broom because I just couldn't find one without any petroleum in it. Try to find a litterbox that is not plastic...and not pay an arm and a leg for it.  Mop bucket took months to find, too. I finally had a brain storm and went into a Tractor Supply Company and got a feed bucket. Same exact f-n thing--a bucket, so why can't places like a Lowes or HEB carry the item?

So, in case there are others like me out there, let's share our sources and thereby reduce our time looking for things that meet our criteria.

Stuffed animals:
SimplyFido   Ironcially, these are marketed as dog toys. Go Figure. But they are purrfect (couldn't resist) sizes for toddlers, even, and are made with organic stuffing, shell, dyes, and packaging. And, they are cute. I showed a bunch of them to my dentist's staff, and walked out without half of what I walked in with. You won't find these at PetSmart--they are pretty committed to plastic everything, it seems. I got my stash at a PetValue store.  www.simplyfido.com

Antiquities Loot and Humanity

Here is my solution to the current antagonism in the art/antiquities world:

Unless a country can show an outright theft of an item after it has been un-earthed and was clearly in someone's posession, stop demanding its "return." You can't have it both ways. You can't demand its return because of the loss of your nation's history that is intrinsically represented by this or that artifact that is no longer within your nation's current boundaries AND simultaneously ignore it's intellectual property value to humanity and treat it like it was an improperly mined mineral resource. Let me simplify that: you can't simultaneously argue that its intrinsic value in revealing humanity's history, or even just in revealing your geographic location's humanity's history has no value to humanity, and, thereby, belongs back in, say, Turkey, Egypt, or even Italy.

We don't even have to split the baby here. We just have to split the bundle of property rights associated with this item into an intellectual property right "stick" and a possessory stick. Here's what that may look like:

1. Nation-you provide clear and convincing evidence that the antiquity was un-earthed in an area that is today situated within your nation's boundaries and that it was surreptitiously unearthed (or dug up outside the established protocols in place at the time that it was unearthed);

2. The last entity to have made any profit from a transaction involving the antiquity will share a percentage of that profit.

3. In perpetuity, any current and future possessor will share with you a percentage of any profits that it makes from the antiquity, and that percentage may reflect your willingness to participate in the maintenance of the antiquity (a cost that may be calculated by neutral third parties).

4. The antiquity's provenance will state that the item is "on permanent loan from [your nation] and was unearthed on [date] in [location of item's "reintroduction" to humanity] by [name of excavator and his/her "boss"." The description should also clearly state how the current possessor came into possession of the object.

This is clearly a contractual arrangement, which I think all parties would prefer (as opposed to litigation). Contractual negotiations provide all parties with much greater control over the process and the subject matter. It also provides for other terms, such as reacquisition by the country of origin.

Again, I would like to re-emphasize that the more value that you claim that an antiquity intrinsically possess', the more you are admitting its value to ALL of humanity.

Let me demonstrate this in an even more esoteric way: Egypt claims the Nefertiti bust should be returned to Egypt because it represents a massively poignant part of their--Egypt's, cultural history. Well, what is this thing that we call Egypt? How do we define ancient Egypt? Did Egypt exist in a vaccuum? Is it possible to define Egypt, and its history without using any comparative terminology? By simply using the word "Egypt", aren't we necessarily relying on what the word does AND DOES NOT conjure up, represent, describe? When we say "Egypt", aren't we also saying "not Greece, not Turkey, not Africa"?

The fact is that Egypt did not/does not exist except in a context, a real and a conceptual and a cultural context. What the bust of Nefertiti may say affirmatively about Egypt it also says dispositively about all things NOT Egypt, thereby revealing much more than just what Egypt's "position" on humanity was at the time the bust was created. Nefertiti's value is elementally based on the knowledge that this type of culture and artistry and expression DID NOT EXIST ELSEWHERE, whether in time or in location. In other words, its value is based on its context--its context within all of humanity, not just Egypt's.

And, I haven't even broached the issue of legal title: who commissioned the piece, who was the original owner, how was that title transferred through to today's claimants....It strikes me as compounding the problem today if antiquities are treated simply as a national resource, like fossil fuel, forests, or minerals. The first logical problem is that this conceptual approach leads us right back to the situation described above: if it is a resource, then what is its "resource" value derived from? Well, if its from its representative historical value, then the position really brings up the idea that more than just one group of people derive value from the item. All of humanity derives value from the item, and it owes its value to the history of all of humanity.

Is this conflict just another pitting of tribal mentality against humanitarian mentality? And, if so, how is that working out for these countries, for their women, for their progeny, for their environment? Better yet, how is it working out for antiquities that are currently located within their national boundaries?




Post script: The position that Nefertiti and her husband played in humanity's development of monotheism is profound and interesting. And, early monotheistic cult members were responsble for much destruction of early artifacts by, for example, ripping the noses off of any other belief system's statues of gods/goddesses. Thus, the violence, self-righteousness, and narcissism of early monotheists seemed to be foundational characteristics of the monotheistic cult.

Mexican and Immigration

It seems again that our political system is throwing another red herring at us and trying to dupe our vote out of us. As with a woman's right to her private relationship with her doctor and with a person's right to choose the details of his/her personal, most private intimate relationship, immigration appears to be another such example of our government splashing irrelevant arguments at us in order to appeal to some hormonal response that guides our vote, rather than a reasoned response that is intrinsically based on the principals of our american government.

The Pew Hispanic Center recently published a study that shows that net immigration (between US and Mexico) has dropped to net zero or below. Now, whether that is due to the recent changes in US immigration policies is irrelevant: it can be argued that their success led to the net zero flow, just as it can be argued that the changes are really a waste of money and resources because there just aren't the numbers anymore. So, any current politician or political candidate spouting an affirmative position in relation to immigration policy changes is just blowing smoke up our asses.
And, wasting our resources and money...

I heard that California spent millions on a program to facilitate the employment of US citizens in harvesting and farming work to only have about 10 persons apply and about three even try the work. Uhhmm, money well spent? I think not. So there it is, the truth: the truth is that we just don't want to do the work that immigrants are willing to perform and we are so miserable about it when we do show up for the job that we lose the job or quit. 

The California experiment is supported by my middle class neighbors' experiences, as I suspect is also most of our experiences. My neighbor's nephew was the laziest fuck of a lawn maintenance guy--my neighbor even had to buy his equipment for him and pay the HOA fines because of his poor work. His Hispanic replacement, on the other hand, was on time, provided his own equipment, and met the HOA's standards. The non-immigrant US citizen guy hired by another neighbor to do drywall work called her a "cunt" when she told him to follow her directions while on her property (she told him at the beginning of his day use the ladders and scaffolding and not to reach. Within an hour, she caught him standing on the 120 year old fireplace mantle and reaching above the fireplace). The Hispanic crew left her a perfectly mudded house in just two days and didn't use one single expletive. Non-mexican US citizens simply don't want to do the work, and, quite frankly, we don't want you to do it either. This is ample demonstration that our recent attitudes towards immigration have led to exceptionally stupid policy decisions and expenditures that really only end up making us look like total asses.

If a politician had any real concerns about this immigration flow and its impact on our culture and country, there are at least two OTHER issues that he/she should be discussing.

The first issue is that a significant percentage (20%) of the flow from US to Mexico that helped get us to net zero are actually US citizens--children born in the US. Children--persons that are a US citizen in exactly the same way that makes me, and likely each politician, a US citizen. Can there be found any other emigration of US citizens in such a large number that we, as a country, as a nation, have approved of? I challenge any politician to find that example.

Further compounding the ethical challenges with this particular issue is that our own government is hiding from us--its constituency and funders, the actual numbers of US citizens that it forcibly and constructively deports to Mexico each year. The US Dept. of Homeland Security may provide some numbers on its acitivies, but it fails to provide numbers on how many US citizen-children that it has forced to relocate from the US to Mexico. Why hide that from us? And why do we tolerate this kind of lack of transparency in our own government?

The second issue that politicians keen on immigration issues should be discussing is how to effect and achieve the maximum beneficial characteristics of a society that is diverse and includes immigrants. How many times have we heard a politician define the "problem" of Mexico-to-US immigration as being one of immigrants failing our society some how. This seems very much like picking on the people who can't defend them selves--and who don't vote. And, more importantly, it seems to be an overly narrow view, since many immigrants provide necessary services that go unprovided without them. Their performance of domestic, farming, construction, and gardening services are just a few examples of their obvious and helpful contribution. Has anyone seen "The Help"....see any similarities?

Instead of talking about putting money into things that make us an antagonistic, pugnacious, and uncaring society, why not talk about putting resources into making sure all elements of our society are educated, have a way to provide for themselves, and have a way to contribute to their chosen society. When you shore up your society's provision of education, you achieve direct and indirect benefits for everyone. When you shore up a truly robust free market economy where everyone--especially the wealthy and the incorporated, pay their way instead of sucking our backbones out of us, everyone benefits.

Dream

So last night I dreamt that my small shirt-pocket notebook had pages in it with video and audio. These pages were a little shorter at the bottom and were nearly completely filled with a picture that was somewhat lighter or was greyer/foggier than a simple printed picture would be, and, if you put it next to your ear, like you would an earbud, you could hear the audio created at the time of the picture. I remember only thinking how did these pages get bound with the other pages in the little metal spiral--not, "how did I get this stuff on these pages?"