Earth Day

I know You're probably getting inundated with Earth-this green-that. And If you've read this blog, you know how I feel about plastic. So, here's a little Earth Friendly tip that will save you money, and save the planet:

Get a safety razor. They're still pretty cheap, the only thing you throw out is Metal, and the blade refills are cheap in 100 packs. I just got this one, and I couldn't be happier. And If you REALLY want to get jiggy, you can always get a straight razor and strop and throw out nothing. Works for anyone who shaves.

The Zen of Dow

For a very long time, the Dow industrials hovered around 1000. Then because of Reganomics, or Voodoo Economics, the Dow tripled in one term, leaving us with the first major bubble. If popped, leaving Bush Sr with the mess to clean up. His term ended with an even higher mark than when he came in.

Then there was Clinton. Because of Y2K, the clinton years were blessed with a bubble that was known to have a fixed end date, plus a couple of financial wizards making for unbridled prosperity for precisely his term. Once the threat of the y2k bug was over, the computer market deflated (much the way a blister does when the burn is gone) and the market should have returned to about 4000. But it didn't, because Dubya wanted to keep things moving upwards. And they did everything to prevent what is happening right now.

Okay, without the artificial, and temporary need for 100s or 1000s of geeks, and without a housing market that was clearly cheating someone, the market needs to return to the pre-inflationary levels. Wall street will have to take it's belt in a bit, and the cold war will have to finally end. Does this mean socialism for all? No, but another "new deal" is already on the table (look it up). I'm predicting that the current price of stocks at 6600 will drop another 2500 points before this all ends, then at about 4000, we'll begin a reasonably stable rebound.

But under Obama, it will NOT be like it has since the 80s, buy low and sell high will be for the people who actually do the investigations not just any scammer that can get a trading ticket. Getting rich in the market won't be just a matter of getting as much money in as possible, it will be a very hard and difficult journey. That said, I think this will also end a lot of our globalization as people will start to invest in the things they can see: local businesses and brands, and not on vague speculations like the last 30 years.

Fatwa against Ethanol!!

Okay, a couple days ago, a company called "cleantech" created a storm with the announcement pasted below stating that Islamists should avoid the use of biofuels. Okay, I won't go into the fact that I can't find a single source about this and that the entire storm seems to be based on this article alone. But I do have a couple things to say.

First Ethanol is ethyl alcohol. Just like Methanol is methyl alcohol, and isopropanol is isopropyl alcohol. They're not "derived" from the other, any more than moisture is "derived" from water. How a major news figure in the biofuel industry could screw that up is beyond me.

But lets get to the second, and much more important part, the sources of ethanol. The Muslim cleric is opening up a can of worms here that could plummet muslim countries back into the stone age. Let's ignore the fact, for a moment, that hundreds of everyday chemicals are technically "alcohols" including a little something or other in pretty much every food we eat. Let's ignore, also that ethanol is a common cleaning ingredient, and therefore is found in trace amounts on almost every surface of every product sold.

What we cannot ignore is that one source of industrial ethanol comes from deep inside the ground. Crude oil. That's right crude oil is a mix of hundreds of chemicals. To be useful for anything but a lubricant, these chemicals must be separated. The easiest way is to use their different boiling points in a process called fractional distillation.

Distillation works a bit like boiling the water off a pan of rice, the rice stays and the water goes elsewhere. FD does the same thing but on a much more complicated scale. None of the chemicals are changed, they're just separated so that you can get to a more pure version of one or more, easily. But like the rice where you can't really get rid of all the water, you can't get an absolutely pure version of a chemical through distillation.

Since one of the chemicals in all crude oil is ethanol, and nothing can be completely removed through distillation, ALL petrol distillates have some tiny percentage of ethanol in them. Therefore, this declaration does the reverse of what it was clearly intended to do. It also removes Muslims from the Petrol industry and everything to do with crude or distilled oil.

So, ban ethanol if you must, but it won't save the OPEC nations, it will devastate them. This also assumes that anyone takes the proclamation seriously. Remember a Fatwa only applies to that particular cleric's followers. Various clerics have been tossing fatwas around like monopoly money for years now and I doubt anyone is paying attention. Here's a list of some famous ones.

Muslim cleric decries biofuels as sinful
February 20, 2009
Islamic scholar calls for further study as he notes that any use of alcohol is prohibited, even as fuel.
Adaptation of biofuels could be limited in Muslim communities after an Islamic scholar yesterday called for religious groups to study whether biofuels violate the ban on alcohol in the religion.

Sheik Mohamed al-Najimi of the Saudi Islamic Jurisprudence Academy told the the Saudi newspaper Shams that the prophet Mohammed prohibited all dealings with alcohol—which would include buying, selling, transporting, drinking, serving and manufacturing.

Ethanol is derived from ethyl alcohol, which al-Najimi said would fall into the prohibited category. In the process to make ethanol, sugar or starch from plants is converted into ethyl alcohol through yeast fermentation (see Tweaking corn genes to boost biofuel yields).

Biofuel "is basically made up of alcohol," he said.

Al-Najimi said his opinion on biofuels should not be considered a fatwa, or a legal pronouncement in Islam, but should prompt Islamic leaders to study the issue.

Al-Najimi said he thinks a ban on biofuels should extend beyond predominately Muslim countries to include Saudi and Muslim youth studying abroad who ride in vehicles using biofuel. Many Western and Eastern governments have established mandates for biofuel to be blended in petroleum based fuel in increasing percentages (see India, EU affirm new biofuels and Ethanol blend increases while oil reaches new low).

Fire Breathing Survey

A couple months ago, a boston area man entered the hospital with burns from learning fire breathing. Unfortunate for him, but the accident may lead to some good. An attending surgeon has taken an interest in fire breathers and has been working with NAFAA to produce some clear information regarding fire breathing and the various fire arts. We ask that you support this effort in any way you can, so that we can benefit from the results of actual, scientific research in our area. The first step is a survey for fire breathers. If you have breathed fire in any capacity, you are encouraged to fill it out. If you have not, please forward to any fire breathers you may know. Here's the survey.

All data will go directly to research, it is voluntary, and completely anonymous.

Steampunk bike project: the beginning.

Okay, so upon checking with Kings, All of the bikes they sell, turn-key, are cruisers with coaster brakes. So the project has been accelerated a little. I don't have to save up the money for disk brakes, but I am going to make sure the coasters are in tip-top shape. I asked my bike guy while I was there and he suggested that I strip and paint first then worry about getting the brakes solid. So, Currently the cruiser is in pieces on the floor.

While researching accessories, I came across the very first motorcycle, the "Reitwagen" ("riding car") - built by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach. You can see it in the picture there. It's a lovely thing and Oh So steampunk. But I'm sure it's a little out of my price range. ;) There was a steam version made in the early 1800s, but much less is known about it. Anyway, since the Reitwagen was built and retired in 1885, there's not only a precedent for my vehicle, but I'm free to go any direction I like as the next one didn't come around until Harley Davidson in 1903.

Fortunately there are no "period police" in steampunk, so screw 'em anyway. Still I like the name Reitwagen (right wagon), and that's what I'm going with for now. It's about the romance, not about historical accuracy. Plus the steam machine (another good name) didn't have a catchy name like Reitwagen.

Okay, so i got in the can of brass paint. I'm very happy with the initial results. So I'm getting primer and a clearcoat. Get this, the clearcoat is reflective: it turns the whole bike into a reflector (like street signs). Which means I can do away with all the standard reflectors to gain visibility. heheeeee

I've put in a bid on eBay for a genuine, 1890s miner's lantern, the kind frequently used on bikes. You know that's so because in addition to the front reflector, there's also two gems on either side for port and starboard running lights. Totally geting geeked about this. Next I have to find a rear light.


I found the kind of kickstand I want. This one flips up to the rear of the machine and forms a tripod with the front wheel. It works better on heavier bikes because the frame is kept upright and not leaning over on a spike. The bike that currently hosts the engine could so use something like this.

Oh, and as for the fenders, I think I want to try making my own. The ones available for purchase are gonna need a little tweaking anyway to get rid of the chrome. Plus, in the same week, I saw a show on PBS on making curved wood pieces, and found a website where someone else had made his own. So, I figure "screw it, I'll give it a whack." Not like I haven't worked with wood before.

My bike shop, Orange 20 bikes, tells me that I have options on white tires. So we're a go on that end. But that can also wait. I'm sure they can help me with other projects like wood pedals, brass chain, leather grips, and a big "Ah OOOH ga" horn.

Genetic tampering

I watch a lot of PBS. Something I caught was a show on the genetic occurrences of weight gain. This interested me in that I'm a big fella.
Okay, so here we go.

• There's a substance that clamps onto certain parts of our genetic makeup that can be passed along with the gene itself. This substance can prevent a gene from activating and is transmissible.


• There has been documented evidence that crop failures, droughts, and seasonal excess can affect people's statistical health for up to two generations. That is to say a drought this year might cause heat disease to rise in all the progeny of children who are 12-14 when the drought occurs.


• We know that certain phenotypic variations are not genetic as previously imagined (homosexuality, weight, color, etc). But it is possible that these chemicals are causing traits to pass generations by cutting off or over stimulating genes.

So here's the golden goose in all this. Since about the 1960s (yes, I'm blaming Twiggy), women have been hitting fad diets to meet progressively smaller ideal body types.

Let me take a moment to be clear, I do not agree with these "ideals". All these women in LA running around looking like little boys from the back with oversized breasts make me question the sexuality of anyone who finds them attractive. Given my druthers, the ideal body type would be a lot closer to the Khardasians than the Hiltons.

But I digress. I'm beginning to wonder if the current trend towards obesity in the US isn't being CAUSED by the diet industry.

Follow this logic.

1. Women in the 60s and 70s start dieting. Most of those diets were some variant or another on starvation.


2. Starvation triggers a response that alters the genetic traits to hold onto any weight that can be gained


3. It also causes the hunger system to amp up.


4. Women have children during this time (thin women are usually attracting a mate)


5. the genetic markers to hold on to weight and for increased hunger are passed on to their progeny


6. What's worse, since this generation tends towards the rubenesque, all their members favor dieting.


7. This increases the probability that the same genetic traits get passed on to the next generation.


8. Unless this new generation embraces acceptance of body type, and stops dieting, the third generation will experience a genetic structure of profane obesity.

I hope i'm wrong about this, but... wow, it's too ... solid.

From the ACLU

This is some good stuff from the ACLU, and finally in video form.