One Step Beyond

A place for some personal philosophy and wild engineering

Fundamentals

If Infinity then God

Theoretical World Energy Budget

The maximum sustainable energy budget of the world is equivalent to the amount of energy delivered by sunlight and radioactive decay in a given time period. Any energy usage in excess of this is unsustainable.

Heavy Duty Recycling I

Fossil fuels are the remains of prehistoric biomass. They represent millions of years of stored energy and biological raw materials. Our consumption of fossil fuels taps that depletes that store of energy, however it also reinjects those raw materials into circulation, where in theory they could be once again converted into biomass and then fuel again.

Fundamentals II

The longer one takes before starting to clean up a unpleasant mess, the more unpleasant it will be to clean up.

Free Speech

The Constitution says "Congress shall make NO laws abridging" not "Congress shall make "very few narrowly tailored against stuff we find really ooky" laws abridging"

Seeds of Death....

Ignorance invariably breeds Intolerance which invariably leads to Murder...

On term limits....

If the voting public of America isn't competent to throw the bums out, why should they be allowed to put them in in the first place?

The Wonders of Geometry

"It's 32 feet this way, It's 32 feet that way, No matter which way you measure it it's 32 feet"

-Random farmer expressing what found astounding about a crop CIRCLE

Heavy Duty Recycling II

Basic concept: Since farming and clearcutting removes tons of nutrients from the ecosystem, let's start recycling at a more basic level. Rip up landfills - sort out the biodegradables - detox them and render it down to a slurry that you can use as fertilizer.

When building complex systems...

Take a rock somewhere in the middle of the ocean. Build a nuke on site to power a de-sal and water purification plant. Add a launch complex for a reusable SSTO capable of water landing and facilities for a recovery ship. Use the endless supply of rocket fuel (H2O) for above SSTO and beat the government into orbit.

Fundamentals III

The mind is almost a zero-sum game: You cannot put less in and expect more out.

Against the Culture of Deliberate Ignorance

One of the greatest errors that you can make is to presume that an idea is invalid solely because it challenges your beliefs

Cover-Ups

While the history of government says much about the tendency of governments to try to cover things up, it does not say much for their ability to do so.

Unsolved Mysteries

Before you tell me that someone has vanished - Prove to me that they existed in the first place....

With Smog, and Soot and CO2

Let's take a more active stance on global warming and urban pollutants - build skyscraper size air filtration towers, powered by vertical wind turbines in the heart of our cities.

For Beneath the Surface... Lies the Future

Yes, I'm a SeaQuest and 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea fan but we don't have to go that far. I'd love to see an Ohio or Typhoon class boomer converted for research work. Onboard mini-subs are a bit problematical in terms of service but I'm sure that the folks at Woods Hole could give plenty of advice on what else to load those empty missile bays with...

The Circle of Life

Creation isn't Science and Evolution isn't Religion

Politics by other Means

War will never be bloodless, because unless one can capture or destroy your opponents populace or infrastructure there is no possible point to it.

The Chariot has thrown a Wheel...

If alien astronauts came to earth in the past why didn't they use better building materials than irregular rocks?

The Star Spangled Banner...

The American Flag is a symbol of America and all the freedoms it represents- To restrict those freedoms is to destroy the value of the flag as a symbol of freedom- Which is a worse desecration of the flag than any other...