UPDATED / GE: Finding Ways To Talk To The (Berlin) Wall and (New!) Whose Trashing the Berlin Wall?

WHOSE TRASHING THE BERLIN WALL?

Trash talking, usually reserved for rivalrous confrontation, has taken another incarnation--that of the disrespected historian. According to Deutch Welle (DW), Germany's most successful international media outlet, only a few parts of the Berlin Wall will stand in for the structure's entire turbulent tenure. The rest of the pieces were unceremoniously delivered to a dump! (story here) 

How anyone can even consider throwing away a key part of Berlin --nay--WORLD history is beyond us. Especially with all the other real trash, there is to get rid of. The entire informed planet cheered and celebrated with Berlin when the wall fell. It's part of our history, too! Consider this: If you had to throw out your great, great Aunt's credenza potentially worth millions of dollars, and a 1999 New Years' Eve tiara, which would go first? (Well....for the majority of us, anyway.) Most would keep that credenza. Yes? Maybe cash that sucker in and pay off your student loan or some other major debt and only, ONLY, if you were completely unable to afford to keep it, or perhaps restore it. 

Listen up, Berlin! We're big on relics here in the USA. We just elected our oldest president to date and saved a 200+ year democracy. And if you guys can't even keep 96 miles of heavily graffitied concrete from 1961, well we just don't know what we're going to have to do with you. So, I've sat up part of the night to think this over, and here are some cool ideas to consider:

1. Pocket weights for skinny people in high winds (not recommended)
2. Weights for birthday balloons filled with helium (better)
3. Garden art
4. Paver blocks or street aggregate
5. Place card holders (just the rubble-- slice 'em a bit)
6. Monument Stone (A Berliner Stonehenge, anyone?) 
7. Park benches
8. Kitchen island slabs (currently an American staple)
9. Memorial tiles (a la Grauman's Chinese Theater)
10. Build a magnificent rock climbing wall.

That should get you started. 

And don't hesitate to call if you need me.

GE - Like Talking to a Wall from Diego Contreras on Vimeo.

GE's reuse of the last remaining part of the Berlin wall is genius! Whatta way to recycle!

Historic Wall Flashbacks!

Water and Water Don't Mix All Over the World

The Jailing River, China

Just like oil and water, not all water and water, mixes at several points around the world. It seems things like chemical mix, debris, vegetation, and silt make the determination as to whether two bodies of water will blend. But blend or not, they do come together, which is called a "convergence." And this interesting environmental opposition  happens in rivers, in gulfs and even oceans the world over. Take look at some of these almost freakish phenomena, that create stripes of water colors, maybe at a waterway near you! Here, we show global land configurations that looks amazingly like the point in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Note where and how the waters meet. Not quite what you'd expect at the the three rivers, although, Seen Green won't deny the awesomeness of the converging feature.

Rivers at Devprayag, India

Rhone and Arve Rivers, Switzerland

And The Three Rivers.....back to normal...ahhhhhhh. To find our more about "convergence" 

visit Earth Porn. Click here. or The Alaksa Dispach.  Click here.

The Point, Pittsburgh, PA

Poor Attempt at Solidarity--Flint Mayor is Drinking the [Filtered] Poison Water

In what is probably the worst public relations stunt ever, Mayor Rick Snyder has agreed to drink Flint Michigan's contaminated water. But HIS water has to be filtered first. Amazingly enough, he must believe this gimmick will shut the mouths of over a half million irate people, in the second largest city in his state. In this grainy YouTube video, you see the Mayor in the home of Flint residents Cheryl Hill and Todd Canty, guzzle down the water, and gag slightly (guilt?) just after he puts the glass down. On April 18, 2016, he vowed to drink Flint water for 30 days. Let's see how he's feeling on May 18th. Seen Green doubts this is going to wash with the Flint citizens, or the rest of the country for that matter, but Mayor Snyder deserves a D+ for trying to water down the negative press.

What do Inuit Elders know that NASA Doesn't?

Unlike the story of Chicken Little, a fictional character in a children's book who insisted the sky was falling,  Elijah Nowdlak and other First People of the Americas, are dead serious in their belief that the "sky has shifted."  Their tribes have a track record of predicting weather, and other natural occurrences. They have NASA and other scientists concerned because they say it is this shift that is the cause for global warming and not air pollution which has been the most popular claim.

"The sun, the moon and the stars have all changed position," they say. Even the wind, making it harder for them to make their weather predictions. The article Seen Green read did not explain what all this means long term. But one reader, Wesley Williams, who Seen Green attempted to contact on Facebook, explained that this shifting of the earth is called the "Chandler Wobble or Axial Procession." He states that is a natural phenomenon that has been noted since the days of Sir Issac Newton and as is probably the result of ocean bottom fluctuations. "Because of the tilt of the earth, and its rotational spin, there will be constant changes in this wobble." Wesley maintains.

Now, Seen green did some fact checking, and it seems not everyone agrees nor understands HOW the change in earth's axis affects the weather. For the geeks among you, feel free to follow the conversation on Earth Science Beta. Or this NOAA Paleoclimatology report on orbital dynamics. Skeptical Science even took a stab at this question.

Hmmm, Seen Green would like to propose you guys all get together for a summit...and soon!

  

How the Ultra Wealthy "Conserve" Land

There is building a tiny home to conserve land, that's one thing, and then there is THIS. Off the coast of Dubai, there are a chain of islands forming what some sarcastically call "make-shift" communities, but actually, the islands off Dubai form a buoyant city now peppered with floating villas.

Invested in the water paradise, you'll find men like Richard Branson, whose island is a microcosm of Great Britain. In fact, Branson's enclave is in "The Heart of Europe," part of a larger community with each island claiming some sector of the world. This is a place where the super wealthy come to play and the "Floating Seahorse"--a partially submerged home--is quickly taking the billionaire class by storm!

The 2.8 million dollar Seahorse is the result of 5,000 hours of research and 13,000 hours of design work by the Kleindienst Group.

F. Scott Fitzgerald said it best: The rich are different from you and me.
A penny for your million dollar thoughts? :-)

How to Dig Up a Tree With Little Lasting Damage

Dutchmen Industries are the leading manufacturers of tree spades, although most people probably had no idea there was such an industry. They also manufacture other equipment for nursery needs, but watching this particular machine in action, is quite captivating. Seen Green, which shares thoughts with many gardeners has always thought the best way to move a planting was to take enough dirt, so that the plant doesn't realize it has been moved. This IS that, in practice; not with a small group of flowers, but rather a fully grown tree. And it's a beautiful thing!

India and USA Cross Spoons Over Edible Market, And India Goes On the "Maker" Defence

Edible Spoons by Jack

Out of India comes one solution to all our eatery needs. They have created spoons that you can use, and then eat! They are made out of kneaded flour, with absolutely no chemicals. Bakey's was established in 2010 by a couple in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh--the Narayanas--to provide an altrenative to to disposable plastic cutlery and bamboo chopsticks. After much research (and tasting), developed the Bakey's spoon, with look and feel of a real utensil. The couple was inspired by the "Make in India"  policies, which challenges its citizens to dream, and invent new products and technology in the hopes of prying poverty's stranglehold on the country. To further their manufacturing efforts on every front, India has also launched  their Defence Expo, 2016. The Prime Minister of the Expo is Manohar Parrikar, who proclaims, "This will show to the world what India can do." The event takes place March 28-31. Because India isn't stopping at spoons.

"India wants to make everything you buy," 
said Gordon Chang of Forbes Magazine

Crossing spoons with India over the edible cutlery market, is the USA who, also boasting an expanding population, which must also cut down on disposable waste. According to US News and World Report, the United States is expected to add one new person every 8 seconds. That makes for the future use of an untold number of disposable plastic spoons going into already bulging landfills. Coming to America's rescue is Edible Spoons by Jack, (Jack Milan) who one year ago won the first "Catered Arts Through Innovative Excellence" given by the International Caterers Association. The trend his company started has since become a mainstay in many catering and restaurant industries. And this sturdy utensil can be just as usable in a typical home dinning senario.  These edible "Asian-style" spoons come in 15 flavors including chocolate, corn lime, gingerbread and parmesan basil. Getting them is easy. Call, 866-382-7837