Iron Chemist

Bring in the best chemists out there. Unveil their secret ingredient. See what they can do with it.

Star ingredients can be something like Coal, or Oil.

Porn Overload

What would happen if we saturated all media with nothing but porn... We all know the internet is for porn. What if that's the only thing that was available there? Same with TV...

I figure we'd end up with a lot of guys staying home jerking it, while the rest of us got out of the house, or at least unplugged ourselves. Eventually the ones jerking it would leave the house, or at least the worthwhile ones. After all, porn gets boring, believe it or not.

Also, maybe with prolonged exposure, the US would lighten up a bit about nudity. Especially if we can all go home and turn on the tube and see sex 24/7. A bare titty here and there would fail to be news worthy.

Any thoughts on the matter?

Idea inspired by reading about the Great Firewall of China.

Make $, not War

I was reading an article in Newsweek about Afghanistan being Obama's Vietnam. There was no mention in the article of how much the war was costing America, but under one of the photos, there was a nice little caption: "70 percent of Afghans survive on about a dollar a day." So, I went online to find a few figures....

(1) the population of Afghanistan was 32,738,376 in 2008 (according to Wikipedia)

(2) the amount spent on war in Afghanistan in 2008 was 140 billion according to this chart I found.


If we do the math on this....

140,000,000,000 dollars / 32,738,376 people = 4,276.32 dollars per person EACH YEAR.

If we break that down on a per diem, we get....

4,276.32 dollars / 365 days = $11.71 for each person each day.

Our spending is going up higher every year, and as we kill off more of the population, we're spending more per capita.

What if we quit playing war and just handed that $11 to each Afghan citizen? What would happen then?

I figure we'd eliminate the terror threat, because who would bite the hand that feeds them? The quality of life would improve because there'd be less war, among other factors. We'd still be spending just as much, but it'd be humanitarian aid and not WAR.

Any other theories on the fallout of this scheme?

Book Modification

This is a cute little book, but needs some of the harsher facts about corn and the European exploitation of the Native Americans. Let's have a rewrite.

+

Also, this book could use some modifications. Farms these days aren't nearly as idyllic as this book makes it seem. The family farm is history. I'm thinking of changing it to "my first CAFO book" instead.

+

Intentional Community - Part 2

Money is always the sticking point in something like this. Who can afford to purchase the land/building for such an undertaking?

But, what if an abandoned, slightly run-down, but still viable warehouse or large house was found... Might need to start with a pool of candidates and work from there... And approach the owner of the property as listed with county property records. Approach with a proposed agreement.

"If you will allow us use of your property rent-free for a period of X years, we will agree to (1)pay all property taxes during that time, (2)provide improvements to the building and surrounding lot. You will benefit from this in that you will not have the financial burden of the taxes, and at the end of the time span, your property will have increased in worth and will be more salable due to the improvements we will provide."

I don't know what the legal requirements for any such agreement might be. Anyone have any ideas on that? Think it'd work in principle/theory? Anyone want in on it?

Safe Sex Shirts

screen printed with "Wanna practice?" and with a little clear plastic pocket where you insert a condom package.

Truly Local Restaurant

Restaurant where all items are produced ON SITE. Would require a reasonably sized piece of land for intensive gardening. Chickens, a cow if possible for milk production, cheese. It'd necessarily be a mostly vegetarian menu, and entirely seasonal.

Inspired by those rural sorts of restaurants where you look out on pastures around you and watch the natural scenery, and by the urban restaurants who source everything locally, like our own t'afia here in Houston.

Ghetto Performance Art

Set up an entire household in an inhabitable formation on the median of a semi-busy street. Inhabit it.

Inspired by seeing so very many pieces of furniture living in the ghetto outside on porches, side yards, front yards, medians, gutters, streets, etc.

Media Extravaganza

In coming years, when a day is promoted by our new overlord as a day to get out and volunteer, let's make sure there's nothing entertaining on television. None of these celebrations full of stars, etc. Make some really great volunteers the stars, do some 'reality' programming from a volunteering location, and show re-runs of Leave it to Beaver and Andy Griffith. Make volunteering sound like the best thing EVAR to get out and do. And leave no options for sitting on the couch watching television.

Religion Mall

Convert one of those run-down non-suburban shopping centers. There are enough world religions to put one into each store-front as a place of worship and/or information.
--------------
inspired by "In fact, seventy percent of us visit malls each week, more than attend houses of worship." from

Edible Vegetable Wearables

1. Lettuce bikini. I think iceberg would work for the top half. But I think something more like romaine would be better for the bottom part. Also, how would this be held together??

2. Celery corset. Carrots may also work in this one. I envision it as partly made of textiles, with the ribs of celery (or carrots) being insertable and visible all the way around. So the outside layer of textile would probably be something like clear vinyl. Bonus points if you can figure out where the tasty container of dip should reside.

#1 inspired by a simple line in The Penultimate Peril (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 12). #2 came from somewhere months ago while talking to a coworker, but can't recall the original seed of the idea.

Commonplace

I love the idea of a commonplace book. I don't know how I made it into adulthood without coming across this term. I even made it through an English major, and this is one of those "literary" resources! Granted, I also made it through the same English major without having to read Moby-Dick or The Great Gatsby, so maybe that's not saying much.

I also love the idea that blogs are a modern-day extension of the commonplace book.  Of all the places to get an idea from, this one came from a kid's book: 

Culture Disposal

We've got to dispose of this disposable mentality.

We rely so much on plastic for our trust. A new item isn't guaranteed new unless it's fully encased in plastic. Our condiments aren't safe for consumption unless there's a layer of plastic between them and the world.

We've also got to get away from encasing our food in so much plastic. Why must our single servings of water even been encased in plastic?

A friend once brought restaurant leftovers to my house and consumed them, then proceeded to tell me not to bother to save the plastic container for re-use, because it was made to be thrown away.

As a kid, I used to be embarrassed at my great-grandmother's tendency to store all her leftovers in well-used cool-whip tubs. But as an adult now, I regularly keep my leftovers in margarine and cheese tubs.

There is "too far", however. I'm still embarrassed at my mother's inability to throw anything away, and her constant rescue of items from others' trash. I still can't bring myself to rescue a usable item once it's been taken to the curb by myself or others.

Instant Hooverville

I wanna round up a bunch of homeless folks, put them all together on an empty plot of land in the middle of town, provide some basic building materials (recycled/reused most likely), and let them stay there indefinitely.

Bonus points for actually owning the land.

Intentional Community

I -still- want to get my paws on a huge warehouse here in town and make an "intentional community" by moving all our awesome friends into one place.

Hoopy Frood Bags

I think messenger style bags made out of towels would be awesome. Bonus points for "Don't Panic" embroidery.