Can any one guess where I am?

Ok, this blog is on the move. The picture does not do the color justice. It is bright red. This kind of clay can only be be found in two places that I am aware of.

Where am I?

Epic Win!

(Goddess) Dr. Jane McGonigal at TED...

HEXAYURT

“My goal is pretty simple: by the time I die, everybody in the world has a place to sleep and a bowl of rice a day.”
- Vinay Gupta, creator of the Hexayurt

Vinay’s design is simplicity itself. Twelve sheets of insulated board, some tape and a utility knife is everything needed to construct a shelter. Hexayurt.com has videos and links concerning the Hexayurt. I believe that his target area of usage is pretty much arid lands. Coming from just south of the 45th parallel, our fall and winter seasons can get pretty wicked. I think that the Hexayurt design needs to be beefed up a bit for conditions found in say, China.

The Hexayurt project is open source, that is, no patents, no copyrights. The whole project is there to find solutions to housing the millions of people who do not have any shelter.

DESIGN



It is more than feasible that the general principle of the Hexayurt can be expanded so that materials and a trained crew can be airlifted into any disaster area and shelters be quickly built on site. One distinct advantage the Hard Shelled Hexayurt (HSH) has over a tent is resistance to Ultra Violet (UV) deterioration. Because of this UV resistance the life expectancy of the Yurt can be expressed in years rather than months. If the design is carefully thought out, once built the HSH can be disassembled and stored for future use.

As with the original design, the HSH is based on the panel concept. A typical wall panel can be seen in the illustration below.

The stiles will be rebated on both faces to accept sheet stock probably ¼” exterior for the outside. If the host country has a ready supply of gypsum board then the inside panel could be drywall. Drywall has the distinct advantage of being inexpensive, ridged, and fire resistant. However, gypsum is very heavy and would greatly add to shipping costs. If gypsum board is not available locally, then the stile/rail profile would need to be changed to accommodate the extra plywood used as substitute for the drywall. All rails, stiles, studs and bracing would be Versa-Lam® or BC rim board ®. One thing that is not shown on the detail is that each beveled face of the stiles will have bed rail hardware installed for assembly purposes.

Bed rail hardware is basically a tab-A-into-slot-B technology. It is the perfect method of assembling the wall and roof panels together. Utilizing BRH fittings will allow a tight secure join between panels.

The construction of the roof is similar to that of the wall panels, however in order to reduce the amount of waste, the panels will be cut from the offal from the wall panel stock. The flooring could be made out of custom built BCI joists. Possibly the flooring could be constructed of a plywood/hexacore sandwich.

Windows could be manufactured using vinyl glass slides placed in door lites. Doors could be manufactured using Versa-Lam

There are three obvious configurations to how the HSH system could be delivered.

· All of the sub-assemblies produced at the mill level and ready to assemble.
· All of the components milled and sheet stock pre cut and ready to assemble
· Rudimentary machining of the lineal and sheet stock being done at the mill level and then completely processed on site.

Advantages/disadvantages:

In the first example, because everything is pre-manufactured, assembly of the sill plate, rim joist, body and roof are quickly completed. The roof/wall assembly would be snapped together and placed on the sill plate completing the structure. As a result, the people who most need shelter would receive aid in the shortest time frame.
The down side is that labor is expensive and the cost per unit for the hosting country would be greatly increased.

In the second case, the labor cost of the mill would be greatly reduced and on-site labor/equipment expenditure would slightly rise. Assembly structures would need to be constructed. Power would have to be supplied either through local availability or portable generators of sufficient capacity to run the small electrical tools, and a compressed air system needed for final assembly.



In the final case, labor cost to the manufacturer would be at its lowest level, however, the training, assembly, and equipment requirements on the host county would increase significantly. In order to complete the beveling of the structures panels, heavy (electrical) draw equipment would be required thus requiring more energy. More skilled labor would have to be trained in an environment that demands immediate results, and can ill afford time lost.

Allow an examination of the second option.


Construction

The required equipment for assembly of the HSH would be:

· A building with three work stations
· Available power (Local or Gen-set)
· Air compressor
· Staple guns
· Glue applicators
· Small routers to set in the assembly hardware and pre hang doors

The first work station would be fixtured to hold wall elements so that they could be glued and stapled. The second station would be fixtured for the roof panels. The third would be for pre-hanging the door assembly, the attachment of assembly hardware and for cutting out the RO for the doors, windows and stove pipe.




Implementation

Hurricane Katrina taught some very hard lessons. In its wake, the storm left thousands of people homeless. Travel trailers were available to the storm victims; however they were undeliverable due to a total collapse of infrastructure. From now on out, emergency aid will have to transcend infrastructure. Methodology will have to be developed that will allow aid workers to access those that need and implement those changes. Using the concept of Force Multipliers, a work force could be quickly trained in the disaster area. In a worst case scenario such was experienced after Katrina or more recently the earthquake in China, access to survivors is limited. The training team could be brought in via helicopter. The HSH materials could be brought in on pallets dropped from a military cargo plane. Five individuals would be selected from the survivor population and would be trained over a three day period on the construction techniques for the HSH. On the fourth day, that crew would begin to build autonomously. Another shop would be set up and the three day training cycle would be repeated. If 25 shops could become operational, by the end of three months, over one hundred thousand people would have a durable shelter.

WANA BUY RENEGADE EVOLUTION A DRINK?

Who wouldn’t? I mean, who wouldn’t want to meet the GER in person?

Ren has found herself in a bit of a financial jam. One of her new kittens suddenly died and she has been not only been burdened with the loss, she has been gobsmacked with a very large vet bill.

Back to my original question. If you had a chance to meet the GER what would want to do?

STOP THAT, be nice now.

You would probably offer to buy her a drink, or five. OK so this is how everyone can help. Estimate what your bar tab would likely be and then send amount to her via paypal. Her account can be accessed here at her old blog.

Thanks in advance.

Oh and BTW the buy a drink thing is not original, I found out about the concept from two of my latest crushes, Jill Bennett and Cathy Debuono. If you get a chance check out their web series called “We have to stop now” it’s great.

Outis

Donna Hughes personal attack on Elizabeth Wood

A little bit more than twenty four hours ago, Renegade Evolution posted an excellent piece on Emotional Terrorism. It turned out that her post was to be prophetic.

Donna Hughes is an academic out of Rhode Island. She campaigns tirelessly for the criminalization of prostitution in her state. Recently she has co-authored a letter in which she mounts an ad hominem attack of Elizabeth Wood from Sex in the public Square. As an academic, Hughes should know better than to make personal attacks on people who disagree with her point of view. The word unprofessional comes to mind. If the attack on Ms. Wood was a one off thing, the event could be written off as someone having a bad day. However, this type of behavior seems to be a modus operandi for Hughes.

Some of Hughes better known exploits include priceless items such as:

“Then a man reeking of cigarette smoke and other odors came forward”

“Then a tattooed woman, calling herself a “sexologist and sex educator,” spoke against the bill. She is also a reporter for a prostitutes’ magazine called $pread. (I couldn’t make this stuff up!)”

Neither can I … Here’s the link.

I cannot imagine how a person who calls herself a professional can stoop to personal insults rather than sticking to her talking points.

So now Hughes goes after Elizabeth.

Accusing Elizabeth of “crossing the line” into sex offence?
Devoting an entire paragraph to Elizabeth trying skinny dipping?

OMG DONNA!!! YOU ARE RIGHT! IF PEOPLE WERE MEANT TO BE NAKED THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN BORN THAT WAY!!! (frakin’ prude!)

Sadly, I can only come to one conclusion regarding Donna Hughes.

She is just one more batshit crazy Radfem that should not be taken seriously.

Far better writers than I have picked up on this. Please follow the links below for more thoughts.

Anthony Kennerson

Snowdropexplodes

Matthew Lawrence
Outis

Frackin' Toasters!

This looks like it will be a series of blog posts. Via Gizmodo

Exactly how far away can Skynet be?

They killed Daphne last night. I'm bummed.

More serious stuph tomorrow

Outis

The Return of Kyle Payne

First, a bit about my absence, (if anyone cares). Since September of last year I have been trying to deal with two major life situations that have been consuming most of my time and energy. During my absence the world of blogging has lost some wonderful people, specifically Kim from Bastante Already and Debi Crow of the Corvid Diaries. Kim has chosen to follow other pursuits and I wish her well. Debs is not technically gone, but I get the impression that she would rather not be involved with the affairs of the dark side. Both will be missed. Needless to say, at this point in time of my life, something pretty big had to happen to make me resurface. Yesterday, Renegade Evolution had this post. Yep, Kyle Payne is out of jail and is back to his blogging bullshit.

For those just hearing about this young man, allow me to give a brief recap. Early in 2008 Eleanor’s Trousers reported on a news article about a young man ( who at the time was an RA) who had taken liberties with a passed out co-ed. This young man took photographs… Said photographs were discovered and criminal prosecution ensued. I just found a wrap up that I had previously missed over at Hoyden about Town. Take a second and read the whole thing. It is interesting to note that even Kyle Payne’s attorney called him a hypocrite.

Why is this guy important? He is a predator in the purest sense of the word. And yes, a hypocrite of the highest order. Had Payne returned to blogging about his therapy, his school, his cat or anything else I wouldn’t have a problem with it. It is his return to blogging about feminism as if nothing bad had transpired. This makes me sick. I know that he has linked to some major bloggers who are not happy to be associated with him. Look for something from Hugo Schwyzer tomorrow.

More from Ren.

Also Natalia Antonova

As I have said, Kyle Payne has every right to free speech on the web. However, if he continues to try and pass himself off as an ally of feminism, others, including myself, will call him on it.

Outis

For ZUZU

Be careful, please think about what you are doing.

Red Spine

Everybody, go read...NOW!!!

He has returned

With less than 48 hours to go...

He's back!

If interested, back story can be found here

If I haven't mentioned this already, he's going to need all the help he can get.

Outis

Renegade Evolution

Ren has a great post up today GO-READ-RIGHT-NOW!!!

As of late, all we seem to hear about are the bad people and the horrible things that they do. Often I wonder where have all of the heroes have gone. I mean personal heroes. The people that inspire you to think about subjects that you never gave much thought to. The people who can recognize wrongs, and in their own way, try to make them right. So often their hard work goes without notice. Do you have any personal heroes? Have you let them know that you appreciate all of their efforts? Don't you think that it's about time you did?

On that note I would like to acknowledge one of my personal heroes. She may only stand oh, about four foot fourteen, and weigh in a bit over six and a half stone, but this lady packs a wallop. I really don’t think that she realizes the great group of people she has brought together and the positive changes that are occurring because of her efforts. So…

This one is for her. (Yeah, I know the song keeps saying “he”, but you get the idea)

Awards

Nowadays, awards are thrown about with the value of confetti. Yesterday I passed along a well deserved award to a wonderful human being, Steph Waller. I met Steph when she was playing a role in the Alternative Reality Game (ARG) "The Ocular Effect". OE was the first ARG that I ever played... It was an incredible experience to interact with highly creative, inquisitive minds. In short, the experience was a lot of fun.

When playing an ARG, one never leaves any potential lead unchecked. That is how I discovered Steph Waller's Blog, Incurable insomniac. Her "Slice of Life" commentary is not to be missed.

Steph responded in kind with a reciprocal award... I am reluctant to accept. After all I am no-one. I deserve no such accolades

However, I do believe that there are some bloggers that do deserve some acknowledgments. So yes Steph, I will pass this award along to some other “real” bloggers, and thank you for the encouragement to do so.

Kim. For constantly growing and letting all know that it is ok to redefine ourselves.

Lia. For your tireless work helping marginalized people know that they are not alone.

Caroline. Because you are anything but Uncool.

Drakyn For helping me to learn about a subject I was woefully ignorant about.

I have another couple of awards to get ready, but those are going to have to wait. Right now I have to set up another blog (team) for Superstruct.

Outis

Hey, Steph

For you. I really do love your blog. A lot of us do!

Steph's blog is Incurable Insomniac, one of my daily must reads.

Debi Crow

Debi Crow is a delightful blogger who is interested in many of the same social issues as I. She has been tracking the plight of the Roma people with a series of links and viewpoints.

I would like all to read this one in particular. The conditions that many of the Roma people live in, is appalling. So, what happens when you combine a sleeping 13 year old child, a lit candle, and bedding together? A dead 13 year old.

The Roma's plight is not singular. There are many people/ethnic/racial groups out there living in retched conditions. Several solutions need to be found all at once.

Social acceptance, which will require a total destruction of stereotypes
Use of low tech solutions to problems
Some plan to integrate the population into society.

An example of a low tech solution can be found in the picture posted above. By using a recycled can, a bit of pipe, a small metal cap, the guts of a mousetrap, and an old wine bottle you have an oil lamp that, if disturbed, will self extinguish.

Cost to me:

3 mins. Summoning up a muse

2 mins. Formulating a plan

30 mins. Drawing it up

Savings to an impoverished group of people?

Lives????

Please visit Deb's site, you will be glad you did.

Superstruct... not as bad as I thought

Gather round children! The year is 2019 and this is what we are facing:

A global pandemic of ReDS (Respiratory Distress Syndrome). With PtP Avian flu still a threat, ReDS slipped under the radar and was fully entrenched before anyone noticed. ReDS is at this time incurable and debilitating.

The Global food system is collapsing. Too much emphasis on bio fuels, and global climate shifts have contributed to mass starvation.

Nations are now fighting for power (as in energy). To make matters worse, many of the alternative energy systems are incompatible with each other.

Hackers have decimated the net. Security has all but broken down. Voting machines, Geo warning systems, financial institutions have all been affected.

Due to the abovementioned global food collapse, new refugee groups are forming and moving into areas where the indigenous populations are already stressed. This population shift is causing all of the expected things to happen, (none of them pleasant).

Nope, 2019 is not as bad as I expected.

It is a lot, lot worse!

To quote a line from a movie “We’re gonna need a bigger boat!”

Superstruct

Please join in. We need all the help we can get.

Outis

For Kim

For those of you that have not met Kim at Bastante Already... What the hell are you waiting for?

Here is her site

And Kim, per your last post,

For you









I think I get it.

Outis

We interrupt this blog to...

To say that I am royally pissed off doesn’t begin to cover it. I have been working on a rather large post examining Amanda Brooks’ short stay at Bella’s Hacienda. The working conditions are appalling. That post will have to wait.

On Friday September 12th, an absolutely charming Brooke Taylor was interviewed on the Morning Show (Faux). Brooke is one of the top stars at the MBR. The interview was in two parts. During the second part a “Psychologist” came in and in the greatest of rad fem tradition, declared Brook “Damaged Goods”. God, this upsets me. How many times have we seen this attack used on Ren? Or Debs, or Caroline? Grrr.

Speaking of Ren, She has been doing yeomen’s work trying to weed through all of the crap at Heart’s blog and has been valiantly trying to keep a dialogue going. Great reading!

Any way, here are the links to the interview with Brooke Taylor.

First Part

Second Part

Letter to Kyle Payne

Kyle Payne’s post has generated some thought, and a lot of well deserved vitriol. His post is an obviously scripted reply from his defense team. I believe that Kyle is:

* A predator that deserves some serious jail time
* Trying to save his ass

There are so many great posts out there on this subject: Renegade Evolution is amassing a list of bloggers who are commenting on this subject.


Dear Kyle:

I have read your statement. And I am angry. This anger is not temporary, this is not “I am pissed at you because you cut me off in traffic”, no this goes a lot deeper. This anger comes from a place that I have had buried, hidden from the world for a long time. The rage I feel about you, is a rage against all people who have been brought up to use excuses to justify your actions. Yeah, you read that right, EXCUESES.

You blame the Patriarchy, you blame the rape culture existent today, and you blame the alleged sexual abuse you suffered as a child. You blame the moment. Hey, you know what? You forgot “The Devil made me do it”. Your whole statement turned my stomach.

Despite all of the feminist spew that came out of your blog, you still treated your helpless victim as an object. Your actions have, not only clearly shown your true beliefs about women, but have shown some serious character flaws as well. I see that you are “insisting” on therapy based on the feminist viewpoint. I cannot believe that anyone is going to buy that one. Kyle, your place in the universe is tenuous at best. Don’t push it with crap like this.

As one blogger suggested, go do your jail time and then become a cloistered monk for a minimum of six or seven decades. At the end of that time you might be old enough to understand what you did, and somehow make amends.

Kyle, if you hoped that your little announcement was going to get you some sympathy, think again. Here is a little link love for you.

Regards,

Outis

Kyle Payne update

I just received an e-mail from Kyle Payne. He informs me that he will be posting a public statement tomorrow at Noon CST. He provided a link to his blog, however it is dated Aug. 3. Perhaps he got a little ahead of himself.

I will hold comments until I have read his statement. The link he sent me is here


Update: I received an update from Lynda Waddington just moments ago... Kyle has asked for a postponement of his sentencing. Here is the link to her news article. In his e-mail Kyle wanted me/us to respond to his announcement. I think I know what he is after now.

Update #2 Kyle sent a bad link. This is the correct one.

Probably illigal as hell but...

Kim has a great post over here. She talks about, the “grups” (Please refer to Star Trek lexicon), showing up to solve lifes problems . What if they don’t? Eventually, all of us lose our mentors to old age. We feel abandoned, and eventually experience a sense of isolation; we feelthat we cannot share our most intimate/profound thoughts with anybody. We just cannot findthe words to articulate how we feel. Kim has captured this feeling beautifully.

So what do we do? Float around in the doldrums of emotions, and rationalizations forever? Some of us will probably suffer this fate, but not Kim.

Toward the end of her post, Kim talked about her familiar, errr, Cat, Zuzu coming to her and making a connection. Clearly, they, ( Kim and Zuzu,), have a handle on it. And no, I am not forgetting Carter… That goes without saying!

Want proof? Look at Carters eyes in all of Kim’s pictures… they have totally bonded.

So let me put a finer point on this…

The following has been paraphrased from the dust jacket of NDW’s CWG book1. (I didn’t ask permission first)… one of those easier to ask forgiveness, rather than permission moments!

So here goes:

I have heard the crying of your heart,
I have seen the searching of your soul.
I know how deeply you have desired the truth.
In pain you have called for it, and in joy.
Unendingly have you beseeched me.
Show myself. Explain myself. Reveal myself.

I am doing so here, in terms so plain, you cannot misunderstand.
In language so simple, you cannot be confused.
In vocabulary so common, you cannot get lost in the verbiage

So go ahead now, ask me anything, anything.
I will continue to bring you the answer.
The whole universe will I use to do this, so be on the lookout.
Ask a question. Watch,

Listen.

The word to the next song you hear.
The information in the next article you read.
The chance utterance of the next person you meet.

Or the whisper f a river…the next ocean, the next breeze
That caresses your ear- - all of these devices are mine.

All of these avenues are open to me.
I will speak to you if you will listen.
I will come to you if you invite me
I will show you that I have always been there.

Always

Namaste, Kim

Outis