2009-12-31

lessons from usa-brit independence revolution

11.10: pol/lessons from usa-brit independence revolution:
. I noticed how anti-communism is rooted in
the independence revolution .
. if your subjects could run away,
would they?
during the dawn of America,
britain should have pushed only for
what it really needed:
. the important thing in the european wars
over control of the new world
was that one superpower should not be able to
use america's vast wealth as a weapon against
another superpower .
. they could have achieved that
not by enslaving the colonists
but instead by insuring that no other euro'power
could enslave them either .
. the war on communism could be seen as having this stance:
[11.14:
. dictatorship is slavery,
and communism is the most alien dictatorship,
if we can root out the slavery of dictatorship,
forces of democracy will at least choose to
sacrifice themselves in a fight against
anything that is alien to our own democratic values . ]

communism and capitalism can complement each other

11.10: pol/communism and capitalism can complement each other:
. use plug-in architectures to both insure separation of power
-- a great american value --
and find the most efficient place for capitalists
within a communistic framework;
eg, finding and motivating employees
is always a cutting edge technology;
so make employment agencies a capitalistic module,
but make them open-book servants to
the separate branches of
directorship and quality assurance .
[11.14:
. the way this would differ critically from the current system
is that corporations have privacy rights like people do;
and under a communistic system,
there would be outsiders who both documented
who initiated the fresh productive ideas,
and also watched for
the rot that occurs in dark places . ]


what health plan were nearly half holding out for?

11.8: co.pol/{newspapers}/what plan were nearly half holding out for?:
. it's hopeful to see the House majority could agree on some bill;
but what were nearly half of the them holding out for?
maybe if the planners would start from first principles:
we are paying so much for religiously-mandated charity care;
how can we have gone this long without mandated health insurance ?!
. to make it affordable,
there should be right-to-die plans excluding your choice of conditions:
I do want full coverage for accident recovery;
I do not want treatments for cancer or obesity-related disorders .
. insurance providers would drool at deals like that!
. I was so grateful they compromised on deal-breaking abortion issues,
lets see some more vision like that:
sane first, and democratic only if they're sure they can pull it off .
. see Michael Moore's Sicko movie again .
. republicans make the dem's look like Death panels and Liberals;
ha! weren't they tossed after outraging seniors
by telling them that the cheap Canadian meds were unsafe?
. lets see less regulation of seniors,
and more leashes on pharmaceutical and insurance co's .

Healthcare X PRIZE

American health care system requires fundamental transformation
to meet the needs of the nation.
An Initial Prize Design for a proposed $10+ Million Healthcare X PRIZE
was announced on April 14, 2009 by the X PRIZE Foundation, WellPoint, Inc.
and the WellPoint Foundation.
This first-of-its kind competition will focus on
reinventing the health care system in a bold, measurable and scientific fashion
to catalyze dramatic improvements in health and health care value
in the United States.
The Grand Challenge for the Healthcare X PRIZE is to create
an optimal health paradigm that empowers and engages individuals and
communities in a way that dramatically improves health value.
The proposed prize is designed to improve health value by more than 50 percent
in a 10,000 person community during a three year trial.
In order to effectively compete for this prize,
teams will need to fundamentally change health financing, care delivery,
and create new incentives that will result in
achieving the required improvements in health value
for both individuals and communities.

finance regulation lessons from Islam

11.6: pol/finance regulation/lessons from islam:
. another muslim-unique rule is no money from lending .
. this could mean that all customers have to pre-pay,
or that all markets should be in stocks not bonds,
where you use your savings to buy co.ownership in a money-maker .
. a usaa fin.mgt and depression historian
pointed out how deflation works:
demand falls off massively in a fin system that borrows a lot;
it involves doing production in huge batches
or for very expensive items .
. mass production can be very cheap
but if the masses don't buy the product
then the business is scrambling to pay for the loan,
because money is rented, so time is money .
. this forces unfair sales prices just to pay off the loan .

parapsychology in the news

11.21: psy/parapsych/em waves for communication:
Sergei Mayburov at the Lebedev Institute of Physics in Moscow
suggests that optical communication
is a natural process in many cells of body,
closely related to photosynthesis.
Last year, researchers at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago
showed that human cells in culture
could synchronize their internal chemical processes
even though they were mechanically, chemically,
and electrically isolated from one another.
The cells, it seemed, were communicating through the exchange of photons.

news.psy/parapsychology/bigger Not Necessarily Better, When It Comes to Brains:
Tiny insects could be as intelligent as much bigger animals,
despite only having a brain the size of a pinhead,
say scientists at Queen Mary, University of London.
Research repeatedly shows how insects are capable of some intelligent behaviors
scientists previously thought was unique to larger animals.
This must mean that much "advanced" thinking
can actually be done with very limited neuron numbers.
Computer modelling shows that even consciousness
can be generated with very small neural circuits,
which could in theory easily fit into an insect brain.
In fact, the models suggest that counting could be achieved
with only a few hundred nerve cells
and only a few thousand could be enough to generate consciousness.
Engineers hope that this kind of research
will lead to smarter computing
with the ability to recognize human facial expressions and emotions.

the surprising benefits and costs of urinals

11.26: gear/urinal/unisex

11.26:
. find a urinal that can double as a backup potty,
like the Passport Potty, but it's ok to spend more
on something less annoyingly small .
[12.31: Passport Potty:
$70 non-spillable toilet" passport potty toilet 1.0
(10L #6003, 2.6gal water closet, 2.6 gal sewage)
509 921 5350
wholesaler" maurice sporting goods; 4674 aircenter circle; reno, nv 89502-5949
importer" cedar key manufacturing; northbrook, illinois 60065
manufac" sanitation equipment ltd; ontario, canada, L4K 2S7
The problem with urine is that it is
the main source of some of the chemical nutrients
that have to be removed in sewage treatment plants
if they are not to wreck ecosystems downstream.
Despite making up only 1 per cent of the volume of waste water,
urine contributes about 80 per cent of the nitrogen
and 45 per cent of all the phosphate.
Peeing into the pan immediately dilutes these chemicals
with vast quantities of water,
making the removal process unnecessarily inefficient.
A lucky few, however, live or work in
one of the buildings in continental Europe
where you can find a future must-have eco-accessory:
the urine separation toilet.
These devices divert urine away from the main sewage stream,
allowing the nutrients to be recycled rather than treated as waste.
They could solve all the environmental problems associated with urine
and even turn sewage plants into
net producers of green, clean energy.
Tue Mar 04 16:41:28 GMT 2008
Is any one in the USA working on the urine separation toilet
what to do with the urine? Personal Systems?
There is a lot being done in other parts of the world,
little in the US, I work in Ecuador.
also my blog inodoroseco.blogspot.com (Spanish).



The liquid waste vessel will contain approximately 2.2 gallons of urine.
The translucent material of the container allows easy visualization of the liquid level.
review (with good pictures):
. the way it's shaped and how narrow it is,
you'd think urinating would present a back-spray problem .

This urine-diverting composting toilet – which is 100 percent PVC fee –
uses no water and keeps solids separate from liquids,
reducing odor and making it possible to reuse waste and urine
for composting and fertilizing.
The Separett Villa can be deployed where no plumbing exists,
allowing for a greater reach of the technology
www.ecovita.net Separett of Sweden Urine-Diverting Composting Toilets
Ecovita is the exclusive North American supplier
of Separett urine-diverting composting toilets. www.separett.eu/
--Separett urine-diverting composting toilets
and waterless urinals provide attractive, inexpensive,
easy-to-maintain, odor-free ecological sanitation
for waterwise comfort!
A urine diverter only to make your own system or to improve an existing pit latrine
The Separett Privy kit transforms your outdoor toilet
into a modern urine-separating toilet
As urine and solids are separated,
you are spared latrine odor and the waste is very easy to take care of.
Feces collect in the latrine or a garbage bag while urine drains via a hose
to a soakaway or tank.
The kit is easily installed under the bench of the outdoor toilet.
To ensure comfort all-year-round,
the kit includes a seat that feels warm as soon as you sit down.
Comes with plans for making a urine-diverting composting toilet
and a graywater system.

Just under the seat is something called a Separett,
a device that sends urine through one hole and feces down another.
Each lands in lidded, 5-gallon containers,
which are vented to the outside
and accessed through a small door on the side of the house.
When the receptacles fill up, they're emptied.
Nitrogen-rich urine is diluted with water
and fed to plants;
feces is left to mellow for a year,
at which point it has decomposed enough
to ameliorate health concerns
and can be used for amending soil.
. I found a Separett online and bought it for $127.
I planned to put my backup toilet in my bedroom.
The chief environmental health specialist
for the L.A. County Department of Public Health
couldn't tell me if composting toilets were even legal,
so I also wanted to make sure my system could be easily disassembled.
Following advice from the Separett manual
and a book that is something of a composting toilet bible,
"The Humanure Handbook,"
I affixed the Separett into the supporting sides of the bench,
just beneath its hinged lid. I set up the collection buckets.
. used hamsters' pine bedding for the "bulking agent" .


$1,399 BioLet 30 NE, Non-electric composting toilet (homedepot.com)
A waterless composting toilet used primarily where it is not practical or economical to install a conventional toilet. It is an on-site, self-contained, biological toilet that uses aerobic decomposition and evaporation to reduce human waste to a nutrient rich, hygienically safe humus. The BioLets reduce the volume of waste entering the toilet by approximately 90%, leaving only 10% of the original volume for disposal. This can be recycled back to nature in a safe way w/out polluting the environment.

* Most Advanced Composting Toilet In The World!
* Requires no water, septic, or chemicals and produces no odors!
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