“A revolutionary and powerful speech from musician and Pink Floyd band member Roger Waters on challenging authority and societal change.
This is not a drill.
“We are all brothers and sisters under the skin and above it . . . it’s super important that we stop lobbing bombs over the top of the wall and start trying to dismantle it, so that we can say ‘hi’ to whoever is on the other side, whether the divide is religious or nationalistic or politic or economic.”
– Roger Waters”
“Who would have thought that sandbags could be inspirational? They were originally used for flood control and military bunkers but they have now been adapted for home construction. The bags are made of natural materials like hemp or burlap or more durable synthetic materials like polypropylene which is water, rot and insect resistant. These bags are filled with 70% sand and 30% clay and are laid in courses to build the walls, similar to bricklaying. The most common structures look like big beehives or igloos as the curved walls provide good lateral stability. The system has no tensile strength, so the structures must be built into compression forms like domes and arches. However, they could take on other forms like straight walls if they are topped with conventional roofs.
The earliest version of earthbag homes can be traced to Gernot Minke, a German professor. However, it gained momentum thanks to Nader Khalili, an Iranian architect. He established the California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture in Hesperia. Khalili developed and patented the superadobe building system, which uses mile-long fabric tubes that can be pumped full of soil and laid in coils to create a structure. He envisioned these structures providing temporary housing in case of natural emergencies or for low-cost housing. His most popular design is the Eco Dome, 400 sq ft structure that was featured on HGTV.
Advantages:
Both earth and the polypropylene or burlap bags are cheap. Also, you don’t need a large, experienced crew on site which cuts down on construction and contracting costs. Other than the bags and the barbed wire that holds the bags together, earthbag building is a natural building that doesn’t use any other resources like wood or metal. As for structural integrity, these houses seem to withstand seismic, wind and snow loads. They apparently also survive fires, floods and hurricanes. Also, if the house is properly plastered, it will keep out mold, insects, and rodents. Thermal mass is another.
Disadvantages:
Earthbag domes are the most structurally sound but it’s difficult to use space efficiently when the walls are curved. All your furniture and finishes have to be custom made. Size is another concern. The maximum recommended diameter of earthbag homes is 20 feet or 6 meters, however, you can connect these homes together or build underground to increase the building’s footprint. If you are taking out a loan, there’s a strong chance you won’t be approved for this kind of building with no precedent in the area, because you the lender can’t estimate your home’s value. Tied to this is the unpredictable resale value of the home. On the structural side, you must be careful not to use biodegradable material like leaves when you are filling the bags with earth, because this will disintegrate and leave gaps in your walls causing them to become unstable. If the sand to clay ratio on your site isn’t ideal, which it probably won’t, you will have to truck in mounds of dirt to your site. In Texas for example, where I live, the soil has a very high percentage of clay. Earthbag homes are also very labor intensive. Finally, the scalability of this model and how much of an impact this construction is really going to make. It is a potential solution for disaster shelters but it is difficult to mass produce these homes.”
“Researchers have developed a new kind of material with adjustable and reversible properties. This new smart fabric is 3D printed with interlinked particles, like chain mail. Applying pressure jams the particles together and the fabric becomes stiff and solid until the pressure is released. This unusual property could be useful for reusable casts and other medical applications.
“As the neverending recount in Maricopa County continues and a final report remains on hold, on Wednesday one of the women who helped get the audit sanctioned, published a report based on an unofficial canvass of voters in Maricopa County. To conduct the canvass, thousands of volunteers visited people’s homes to see if voting records matched up to the reality of the situation on the ground.
“CNN anchor Jake Tapper ripped President Joe Biden over what he called a “scolding tone” that the president took in a speech rolling out new measures to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
“Krystal and Saagar respond to the calls by Jimmy Kimmel and other prominent media liberals to deny healthcare to the unvaccinated and let them die if they get sick”
“After years of chasing the American Dream I’ve finally given up on it. And I’ve never been happier…”
This guy has figured out something very important.
To those who’ve seen it for what it is…the so called “American Dream” is a vapid ploy, to keep you incinerating your life away in a money grubbing rat race…You’re perpetually chasing after being happy, by constantly working to own more stuff [constantly aiming for better], and to be more popular or “important”.
For so many of us, “the American Dream” is a load of crap…largely because we never even cared about all that BS, in the first place…let alone, never wanted to be a slave to its pursuit.
One of the best things you can ever do for yourself, is stop comparing yourself to everyone else…Just live honestly, and continue on with life.
Our Love Frontier 