Day: April 19, 2011

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Marcin Jakubowski: Open-sourced blueprints for civilization

https://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/

Updated: Aug. 27, 2011 added an interview

on Apr 19, 2011

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Image by Sean Church via Flickr

Using wikis and digital fabrication tools, TED Fellow Marcin Jakubowski is open-sourcing the blueprints for 50 farm machines, allowing anyone to build their own tractor or harvester from scratch. And that’s only the first step in a project to write an instruction set for an entire self-sustaining village (starting cost: $10,000).

About Marcin Jakubowski

Marcin Jakubowski is open-sourcing a set of blueprints for 50 farming tools that can be built cheaply from scratch. Call it a “civilization starter kit.”

Full bio and more links

[…]

He is the founder of Open Source Ecology, which is creating the Global Village Construction Set — the blueprints for simple fabrication of everything needed to start a self-sustaining village. At Factor e Farm in rural Missouri, he’s been successfully putting those ideas to the test.

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Budget Cut Protesters Slightly “Off Target” by Philip A. Farruggio

by Philip A. Farruggio
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
April 19, 2011

Wisconsin budget protests 2011-02-26_1083

Image by ra_hurd via Flickr

The Tuesday April 19th Money Section of USA Today newspaper has the lead headline: Could U.S. default on its debt? It goes on to say how the S&P simply warned that a downgrade in our nation’s credit rating is possible if ‘the USA doesn’t get its house in order.’  Segway into the many grassroots demonstrations nationwide to protest the expected states’ budget cuts. As an activist myself, I welcome and salute those who turn out (many for the first time) to protest budget cuts for essential services. We read how the unions, especially the ones in the firing line of these cuts, are out there holding signs and making noise. Continue reading →

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BP’s Secret Deepwater Blowout by Greg Palast

by Greg Palast
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
www.gregpalast.com
Crossposted at Truthout/Buzzflash
April 19, 2011

Anchor-handling tugboats battle the blazing re...

Image via Wikipedia

Only 17 months before BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig suffered a deadly blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, another BP deepwater oil platform also blew out.

You’ve heard and seen much about the Gulf disaster that killed 11 BP workers. If you have not heard about the earlier blowout, it’s because BP has kept the full story under wraps. Nor did BP inform Congress or US safety regulators, and BP, along with its oil industry partners, have preferred to keep it that way.

The earlier blowout occurred in September 2008 on BP’s Central Azeri platform in the Caspian Sea.

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