Nu stiu ce s-a intamplat in ultimul timp, dar am ajuns sa vad cateva filme, si voiam sa impart cu voi parerea mea legata de ele..

Incep cu serialele, si anume

Kyle XY

 True Blood

Supernatural

 :) Ce au in comun ? sunt … supranaturale, daca le pot numi asa . Kyle e o persoana clonata, in True Blood sunt multi vampiri, iar in Supernatural, ce nu e ? :) De la fantome si vampiri, pana la creaturi inexistente inainte de acest serial. Am incercat sa ma uit la LOST, dar nu mi-a atras atentia prea mult, pentru ca era gen actiune, ”alte alea” … nu era chiar genul meu Si am incercat sa vad si Smallville, pare interesant, dar nu ajunge pana la “podium”

Filme … Ultimele doua vazute, si printre cele mai frumoase, as putea spune -  2012 si New Moon .

2012 stiti cu totii ce film e, dar nu stiti de ce mi-a placut mult Efectele adaugate au fost geniale, si intr-adevar, filmul te face sa reflexionezi un pic asupra vietii si asupra faptului ca intr-o buna zi, ceva se poate intampla si probabil cu totii vom disparea. In ultimul timp se fac cat mai multe campanii pentru protejarea mediului inconjurator, dar dupa parerea mea un film ca asta e cel mai bun mod de a atrage atentia. Cele mai interesante momente, dupa parerea mea, ar fii cel in care actorul principal spune “i thought we would have more time” sau ceva de genul asta, si cel in care ei sunt in aer cu avionul undeva deasupra Europei, si isi dau seama ca au in fata Everestul, fenomen ce are loc din cauza inversarii polilor si a miscarii placilor terestre.

 Un alt film facut cam pe aceeasi tema, dar din alt punct de vedere e “Life after people”. In acest film e prezentata lumea, asa cum ar fii daca oamenii ar disparea subit.  

New Moon(Luna Noua) – Hmm.. sunt putin in discutii cu mine insami . De ce ? Pentru ca ma asteptam la altceva, si inca nu imi dau seama de ce, pentru ca ceea ce asteptam eu, e clar ca va fii in urmatorul film(al III-lea din serie). In rest, a fost exact cum ar fi trebuit sa fie, de altfel destul de fidel cartii, as spune eu. Cele mai “emotive” momente, dupa parerea mea, ar fii cele de dupa plecarea lui Edward, in care iti dai seama ca nu iti poti imagina durerea Bellei, pentru ca e prea mare ca sa poata fii suportata. Mi s-a parut ca primul film(Twilight) a avut mai multa actiune, si de aceea mi-as fi dorit ca si New Moon sa fi fost ceva mai complicat, cu ceva mai mult suspans. Dar in fine, las aici trailerul, in caz ca nu l-ati vazut

Alte filme interesante, desi nu imi aduc aminte acum de prea multe : Twilight, desigur , Serendipity, Step Up, The Pursuit of Happiness…Si  Room 1408, desi e de groaza..

In fine, cu siguranta sunt mult mai multe, dar nu imi mai aduc aminte acum de ele, poate voi reveni vreodata la ele

Sper sa va fie de folos, daca aveti nevoie de idei de filme, dar trebuie sa specific faptul ca nu sunt tocmai genul de filme pe care orice om le-ar vedea, asa ca nu ma injurati daca va fac sa le vedeti si nu va plac

For me, I completely believe that nature will always overrule man.

 It’s evident from all of the natural disasters that we see on the news 24/7. Even in our world of metal and brick, shows like Life After People explain what would happen to our precious homes if we desert them.

I’ve found amazing photographers that have taken pictures of urban ruins of houses, abandoned hospitals, and other stages of decay. They’re absolutely beautiful, portraying our world to us in a way we never see it.

Opacity focuses on evacuated hospitals, chapels, anything of the sort that once was bustling with people. Now feral houses, various photographers capture the essence of something that once was.

Reiss Cleal has a photography collection that shows dilapidated hospitals, giving one the thought of paranormal investigations. This guy also does amazing graphics.

Julia Solis also has an extensive collection that show abandoned theaters. How they became abandoned, I don’t know. Some of my favorite pictures are in there.

Have some fun looking through those intense shots. As for me, I’m planning on having some adventures that include exploring feral homes covered in nature.

22:00 hrs por HISTORY CHANNEL, Sky 253, Cable 408

La tierra sin humanos - La Amenaza Capital / history channel

En este episodio de LA TIERRA SIN HUMANOS podemos ver como las fuerzas de la naturaleza atacan y destruyen  los tesoros de la humanidad sin importar lo valiosos que estos sean. ¿Que le pasará a la Ciudad de Washington D.C. cuando ya no hayan humanos? ¿Qué le pasará a la ciudad de Los Angeles, California? Todo tendrá que ir cediendo y la naturaleza siempre ganará esta batalla. ¿Qué sobrevivirá? ¿Qué creaturas tomarán nuestro lugar como líderes en el mundo? He aquí la historia de como es posible que la humanidad desaparezca, es la historia de lo que sucederá cuando ya no estemos.

3 weeks after people the royal corgies try to survive

I watched a very strange documentary on the History Channel the other night.  It was called ‘Life after people’.  I was watching episode 2 ‘Outbreak’.  It begins with the Royal corgies.  It’s 3 weeks after people (have all died) and those corgies are going wild!  with no one to feed them they are having to forage for food.  It takes them weeks to actually break out of Buckingham Palace!  In Britain, rabies has been eradicated – not so in America.  Domestic cats and dogs start to breed with feral animals and rabies are rife.

3 days after people the Chicago river begins to rise eventually flooding the whole city

Buildings are collapsing all over the world, waters are rising.  50 years after people corgies have  mated and developed into wild beasts.  Vines growing up to 100 ft high envelop buildings, cloaking everything in a green blanket.  It’s all a bit depressing really, Thankfully we won’t be there to see it, so we don’t actually know what would happen  if we were all wiped out do we?  One things for sure though, Nature will always win in the end……

 

100 years after people in London Big Ben finally sinks to the ground

 Watch it HERE

Watch it and find out more about the series HERE

 

History Channel 20:00 hrs, Sky 253, Cable 408

Torre Eiffel / La Tierra sin Humanos / History Channel

Es un hecho, los humanos no estaremos todo el tiempo en la tierra. En algún momento dejaremos de existir, pero el mundo seguirá su curso.  Lo que hayamos destruido se generará de nuevo y las grandes obras arquitectónicas se derrumbarán. En esta excelente serie de 10 capitulos en History Channel, se hace un análisis de todo lo que sucederá algún día cuando la tierra se encuentre sin seres humanos. Seguramente los animales retomarán el lugar que era de ellos y poco a poco las ciudades terminarán por desaparecer. Esta serie está apoyada en asombrosos efectos especiales que combinados con entrevistas a expertos en las ramas de ingeniería, botánica, biología, geología y arqueología, nos llevan a un inolvidable viaje imaginario hacia lo que sucedería en el momento en que los humanos dejen de existir.

Natură vs. Cultură:

Fără oameni, în 10.000 de ani Natura ar şterge orice urmă a civilizaţiei umane.

Este concluzia unei ipoteze – Life after people

(History Channel production)

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Time to Hear the Real Truth

As we work our way through this economically challenged period, you’ll notice the economy getting a little better. Even media outlets now understand they’ve begun to lose audiences over the constant negative hype – or should I say “objective reporting”? – so they have to get a bit more honest. Amid all the bad news, a recent CNN newscast uncharacteristically acknowledged that the crime rate is down 38 percent since 1980. As much as it may tick off the doubters, things are getting better, like they always do.

You know me not to be a Pollyanna; I’m pretty realistic about things. I’m not buying into the end-of-the-world theory. I had to laugh the other day when I came across a TV show called Life After People. You know we’ve fully bought into the doom concept when a show about the world moving on after humans have died gets a prime-time spot. What’s next? How to Be a Regretful Corpse? Let’s face it: Things are getting better and there is nothing we can do about it. 

Six Signs That Our Situation Is Getting Better

A Time Line for 2009

1. The swine flu headlines, coupled with major use of the word pandemic, turn out to be overblown. When it comes down to it, this sensationalized flu was just – well, the flu. And a weak flu at that, claiming fewer than 500 lives in the United States. Let’s put that into perspective: Each year in the United States, car accidents kill about 50,000, the flu kills about 36,000, and at least one guy dies from getting sick in his car. In reality, cars and the regular old flu are relatively deadly but we shrug them off as negligible hazards because we’d rather obsess about the swine flu! I guess swine flu sounds so much more menacing and devastating, like evil devil-pigs are scheming and plotting to infect your neighborhood. (When we’re no longer impressed by swine flu, we can worry about the newest health threat, the H1N1 virus. Just hide your disappointment when you learn it’s another name for swine flu.) 
2. We ignore clear signs that the real bad news is drying up. The other day I honestly thought I was watching the Michael Jackson Channel. The Glittered Gloved One had his fame and income-generating ability reconstituted in the only way that seems to work consistently: He died. He was a great talent, for sure, and his resurgence of fame is proof that there was not enough bad economic news to edge out the coverage of his passing. 
3. People work hard to take the encouraging edge off of any statistic that shows economic improvement. You’ll hear something like this: We did not lose as many jobs as we predicted last month but unemployment is still high. Translation: We made a negative prediction that we hoped would get attention, and it turned out we were wrong. But just because the rate of job loss is topping off does not mean people have enough jobs. So things are bad, even if they are not quite as bad as we’d hoped! 
4. USA Today begins to print lame recession stories. In “One Step Back: Retail Sales Slip; Jobless Claims Tick Up,” we learn that retail sales slid 0.1% in July after increasing 0.8% in June. While a cursory reader takes in the headline and thinks we’ve tanked again, readers with a greater attention span get the bigger picture: Hello, we’re still up 0.7%! And the really astute reader sees that these numbers are all just fractions of a percent. Other headlines help confuse the issue: “Economy Seems to Be Coming Back; Consumers Not So Sure,” followed by “Stocks Drop as Investors Worry About Consumers.” So who do we believe? The consumers reading the headlines? The investors reading the consumers? Or the analysts reading the actual numbers? If I were a betting man, I’d go with the actual numbers…but that’s just me.  
5. We start talking about Iraq again and pretending that North Korea is a threat. Let’s get real. We might not be the most popular country on the planet, and we have our drawbacks as a culture and people. But I have hung out with high-ranking U.S. military officers who told me that we could beat any country in a war over the weekend “if we had to – if only they would let us use all the cool war technology we have!” That’s pretty scary, but it makes a strong point. (It also makes me glad these guys are on our side.) No country is a traditional military threat. (Terrorism, sure – but an invasion? Not so much.) I guess with a 24-hour news station and only about an hour’s worth of actual news to report, we have to worry about something. 
6. My 80-year-old dad has gone back to complaining about physical ailments and what’s wrong with whoever just left the room.

 Focusing on the Real Truth

We have to get back to the real truth: Life has it bumps. We overreact and make the bumps worse sometimes, but then we eventually return to the business of living and moving forward.  

Wynn Solutions has found that the most successful people in this slump did not hunker down and ride it out. They fought their way through and even grew in a way that will make them super-successful when the economy is fully restored. Cutting back on sales and marketing or canceling meetings is not the road to success. Neither is reducing the quality of your ingredients to cut costs. (I just ate at a restaurant that served me something that might best be described as a chicken knuckle.) 

My company has been blessed, like many of you have been, with a lot of business in 2008 and 2009, and we all know we did not get there hunkered down. (Even the phrase “hunkered down” paints a picture of someone slumped over in a shallow hole. It’s self-defeating!) We got there by finding our unique edge and applying or customizing it to the shifting needs of our market. As I’ve often said, you can pray, but then you have to get up and act like it worked! You rarely move ahead if you sit on your behind.   

This point is a recurring theme in my new book, The REAL Truth about Success: What the Top 1% Do Differently, Why They Won’t Tell You, and How You Can Do It Anyway (published by McGraw-Hill and available worldwide in bookstores on October 9^th and on Amazon.com now). Through a decade’s worth of interviews, I’ve learned that some of the nation’s most successful people get where they are by acting on some distinctive edge or personal advantage. They aren’t necessarily the best or brightest or even the most talented – but they know what’s special or unique about them and put it into play, positioning them well in a competitive market. 

And much like the headlines above, our interviewees were a bit evasive about the real truth … mainly because the truth might not sound intriguing or impressive enough! 

We found that people at the top often give misleading answers when you ask them questions about how they got there. In fact, they tend to give reasons for success that sound identical to answers we got from people who are not very good at what they do. We heard far too much consensus, so we changed our method of questioning. “No offense,” we’d say (which is exactly what you say right before you offend someone), “but a thousand people do what you just said and they are not successful like you! They are not No. 1, so clearly what you told us is not your key to success.” The revised approach generated some different answers – some shocking, some ridiculously simple, and some downright weird. 

Ultimately, we discovered that what the top 1% did not have in common was a good attitude, superior intellect, and talent. What they had were advantages that gave them an edge. Everyone has advantages; it’s just that most people don’t know what their advantages are, don’t know how to use them, or have beliefs that make them think they shouldn’t use them. That makes these lies about success much easier to tell than the truth. But the real truth – in my book and in the points above about the economy – is far more encouraging than the “spun truth” that we’re fed every day.
More on economic speaker Garrison Wynn.

Wanna eat some snow? Awesome game trailers. What would happen to the world without humans?

Το “Life after People” είναι ένα ντοκυμαντερ του David de Vries, που κυκλοφόρησε τον Ιανουάριο του 2008 στο Hstory Channel και πολλοί επιστήμονες και διάφοροι ειδικοί εκτιμουν την κατάσταση στη Γη, τόσο απο ζωικής όσο και απο φυτικής άποψης, αν ξαφνικά η ανθρωπότητα εξαφανιζόταν και επίσης τις επιτπώσεις αυτής της εξαφάνισης στον ανθρώπινο  πολιτισμό που μένει πίσω.

Οι εκτιμήσεις αυτές είναι βασισμένες σε ιστορικά και αποδεδειγμένα αποτελέσματα σε περιοχές που για διάφορους λόγους έχουν απότομα στο παρελθόν ήδη εγκαταλειφθεί απο τον άνθρωπο…

Ενδεικτικά κάποιες απο αυτές τις εκτιμησεις :

• 1 Μέρα : Όλοι οι σταθμοί παραγωγης ενεργειας θα κλείσουν αυτόματα λόγω ελλειψης καυσίμου

• 1 Χρόνο : Φυτά θα έχουν ήδη καλύψει μεγάλος μέρος των δρόμων και των κτιρίων

• 50χρόνια : Όλες οι ατσάλινες κατασκευές θα αρχίσουν να δείχνουν τα πρωτα σημαντικά προβλήματα απο την ανθρώπινη εγκατάλειψη, όπως σκουριά και διάβρωση

• 100 Χρόνια : Είναι η περίοδος που ξεκινάει η πρώτη περίοδος των μεγάλων καταρευσεων πολλών ανθρώπινων κατεσκευασμάτων

• 1.000 Χρόνια : Όλες μοντερνες πόλεις και όλα τα “φυλαγμένα δείγματα” του ανθρώπινου πολιτισμού θα έχουν εξαφανιστεί και θα αντικασταθούν απο δάση, λίμνες και ποτάμια όπως περίπου ήταν πριν την εγκατάσταση του ανθρώπου σε αυτά. Οι πυραμίδες της Αιγύπτου και το Hover Dam στην Αμερική, όντας φτιαγμένα απο πέτρα και τσιμέντο είναι ίσως τα μόνα που θα τη γλιτώσουν με ελάχιστες ζημιές.

• 10.000 Χρόνια : Τα μόνα δείγματα ότι κάποτε ο άνθρωπος υπήρξε στη γη θα είναι τα κόκκαλα του, καοτσούκ, πλαστικό και πολυστερύνιο

Δείτε ένα home made trailer για το Life after People

Προσωπική άποψη :  Παρουσιάζεται άκρως παραστατικά η κατασταση στη γη μετά τον άνθρωπο. Πολύ όμορφη εικόνα και περιγραφη στα όρια του αποδεκτου απο την κοινη ανθρωπινη λογική… Αρνητικη εντύπωση εντούτις προκαλεί στο γραφών η απλή καταγραφή των πραγμάτων και η μη παρουσίαση καμιάς προσωπικής άποψης εκ των δημιουργών. Σαν να ήθελε περισσότερο να τρομοκρατήσει και να μας κάνει τυφλούς υπηρέτες της μοιρας… Γιατί το θέμα δεν έίναι αν είμαστε σε θέση να μπορούμε να προβλέψουμε πως θα είναι η Γη σε 100.000 χωρίς εμάς, αλλά αν θα κάνουμε επιτέλους την ΕΠΙΛΟΓΗ να ζήσουμε μαζί με τη φύση και όχι κοντρα σε αυτή…

Amazing eye opening video!

LIFE AFTER PEOPLE: It begins in the moments after people disappear. As each day, month, and year passes, the fate of a particular environment, city or theme is disclosed. Special effects, combined with interviews from top experts in the fields of engineering, botany, biology, geology, and archeology provide an unforgettable visual journey through the ultimately hypothetical.

As modern metropolises like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington DC are ravaged by nature; the series exposes the surprising insights about how they function today. Basing this futuristic world on the surprising history of real locations, already abandoned by man, like a century-old shack in the arctic and an abandoned island that was once the most densely populated place on earth are featured in the series.

In every episode, viewers will witness the epic destruction of iconic structures and buildings, from the Sears Tower, Astrodome, and Chrysler Building to the Sistine Chapel – - allowing viewers to learn how they were built and why they were so significant. Big Ben will stop ticking within days; the International Space Station will plummet to earth within a few short years, while historic objects, like the Declaration of Independence and the mummified remains of King Tutankhamen will remain for decades.

The series will also explore the creatures that might take our place. With humans gone, animals will inherit the places where we once lived. Elephants that escape from the LA zoo will thrive in a region once dominated by their ancestors, the wooly mammoth. Alligators will move into sub-tropical cities like Houston  feeding off household pets. Tens of thousands of hogs, domesticated for food, will flourish. In a world without people, new stories of predators, survival and evolution will emerge.

Humans won’t be around forever, and now we can see in detail, for the very first time, the world that will be left behind in Life After People:

Auf dem History Channel gibt’s eine Serie mit dem Titel “Life After People”. Kürzlich wurde dort der “Immortality Drive” erwähnt, der aktuell im All herumfliegt. Was ist der “Immortality Drive”? So eine Art hypermoderne Zeitkapsel, erstellt vom Autorenfilmer Richard Garriot, die Nachrichten an unsere Nachkommen resp. Außerirdische enthält, eine Liste der bedeutendsten menschlichen Errungenschaften und die digitalen genetischen Daten einiger “Auserwählter” unserer Spezies.

Und wer sind nun diese “wenigen Auserwählten”, die uns repräsentieren und ggf. die Grundlage für die Wiederherstellung der menschlichen Rasse darstellen sollen, falls wir uns in die ewigen Jagdgründe bomben oder uns die Erde aus Rache für Jahrzehntelange Verschmutzung verschlingt? Diese zehn:

Stephen Colbert (US-Comedian; weiß)
Physiker Stephen Hawking (weiß) und seine Tochter Lucy (aufgrund einer Charity-Aktion dabei, weiß)
Matt Morgan (Profi-Wrestler, weiß)
Jo Garcia (Playboy Model; Latina, eine Frau!)
Eric Johnson (Musiker, weiß)
Patrice Pike (Musiker, weiß)
Tracy Hickman (Fantasy-Autor, Mann, weiß)
Scott Johnson (Turner, Goldmedaillengewinner bei Olympia ‘84, weiß)
Brian Crecente (Journalist, weiß)

Hier gibt’s ein paar Photos der Herrschaften.

Ok, also 30 % Frauenanteil, eine davon Latina, eine Behinderte. Keine Schwarzen, keine Asiaten, keine Indianer, nichts. Die Zukunft der Menschheit ist also (mal wieder) weiß und männlich. Vornehmlich.

Und was bitte soll an diesen Herrschaften (abgesehen jetzt mal von Hawkins) großartig sein? “Das Beste, was die Menschheit zu bieten hat”? Von wegen, Garriot wollte gleich auch noch die DNA von ein paar Gamern mitschicken, um sein neuestes Game zu bewerben.  Tatsächlich ging’s bei dem Projekt um Kohle (wer am meisten zahlt, darf mit ins All) und – klar – um PR. Ein publicity stunt zum Ankurbeln des Verkaufs von Tabula Rasa. Hat nicht funktioniert, übrigens. Bombed.

Aber hey, sollte nicht gerade dann, wenn’s um PR geht, dafür gesorgt werden, daß sich alle potentiellen Zielgruppen des Games auf der Liste der Auserwählten wiederfinden? zumindest in den USA machen laut einer Studie von 2005 schwarze und Latino-Gamer rund 50 % der gesamten Konsolenspielergemeinde aus!

Zudem war Garriots Spiel ein MMORPG – und das dürfte die tatsächliche Zielgruppe noch ein wenig weiter verschieben: 5 Millionen der 7 Millionen WoW-Spieler kommen aus China.

Und diese 30%-Frauenanteil-Geschichte? Sollte eigentlich deutlich drüber liegen, oder?

Was mich aber wirklich stört, ist, daß dieser ganze, mißlungene PR-Dreck öffentliche Gelder verschlingt. Der “Immortality Drive” wurde via ISS ins All geschickt. Und da zahlt ja auch brav die ESA mit. Und die NASA. Und so. Ich bin wirklich für die Erkundung und Erforschung des Alls und finde die Idee, uns auch “da oben” ein bißchen bekannter zu machen, ganz ok, aber wenn meine Zukunft in den zehn Menschen da oben liegt, resp. irgendein Alien und / oder unsere Nachkommenschaft glauben gemacht wird, daß wir alle so sind wie die, dann paßt da was ganz gewaltig nicht.

The video of Lacy Dogs on the History Channel’s Life After People is now online! Sadie, Brutus, Lucifer and Trapper did a great job, but the biggest hit was Jimmy Brooks, president of the National Lacy Dog Association. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out. You can also view it on YouTube if you want to add it to your list of favorites.

6/23

Tuesday

Mental is on tonight at 9PST on Fox. On tonight’s episode Jack treats a celebrity who had a breakdown on national television. 

Life After People on the History Channel at 10 PST. Tonight’s episode is called “Water of Death” where it will show how destructive waters overtake the world we leave behind. Rain floods New Orleans again, and when power goes out in the city’s aquarium, it spells doom for thousands of animals. Corrosion from rain brings down Seattle’s Space Needle, while humidity in the Middle East wrecks Dubai’s space-age structures. 

HawthoRNe at 9 PST on TNT. Tonight’s episode is called “Healing Time” where Christina becomes attached to a brain aneurysm patient when his dementia leads him to believe she is his wife. This becomes an issue when the patient starts relying on Christina’s opinion over Dr. Wakefield’s. 

I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!  is on again at 8PST on NBC. Yesterday we saw Holly leave for the second time, Sanjaya was so sad. America has voted to save their faves and two of the remaining celebrities will be eliminated from the competition for good tonight.

By Noel Bagwell
June 23, 2009

The Problem As I See It

Have you ever wondered what Earth would look like 40 years in the future, if all the people were instantly wiped out or taken from the planet? What would this planet be like, in a life after people? That is the question that the “Life After People” series on the History Channel tries to answer, and the answer raises some interesting follow-up questions.

Watch this clip from an episode that discusses what would happen in Detroit in a future 40 years after people. The caption below the video reads, “With 60 of its 137 square miles already abandoned, Detroit is a prime example of what can happen to a city when it is devoid of man. See what happens to a city after 40 years in this life after people video.”

FORTY YEARS AFTER PEOPLE: Certain parts of Detroit are already devoid of man. Once proud factories, like the Packard Plant, have been decimated by time and nature.

For just a moment, let’s leave the city of Detroit behind, and consider the broader picture. Part of the economic crisis we have, right now, in this country is increased unemployment. One of the major problems we will face in the next century is our nation’s crumbling infrastructure. I believe that these two problems can be solved by a massive public-private cooperative effort to train and employ hundreds of thousands of Americans to reclaim and rehabilitate large tracts of land as well as to rehabilitate and improve our national infrastructure.

“The Crumbling of America”

America’s infrastructure is collapsing. Tens of thousands of bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. A third of the nation’s highways are in poor or mediocre shape. Massively leaking water and sewage systems are creating health hazards and contaminating rivers and streams. Weakened and under-maintained levees and dams tower over communities and schools. And the power grid is increasingly maxed out, disrupting millions of lives and putting entire cities in the dark. The Crumbling of America explores these problems using expert interviews, on location shooting and computer generated animation to illustrate the kinds of infrastructure disasters that could be just around the bend.

Don’t forget to watch or DVR the History Channel’s special on “The Crumbling of America” Sunday, June 28 at 5:00 PM (EST); DVD available for purchase from History.com.

The CCC and Our Infrastructure: Historical Context for Our Current Predicament

A lot of the infrastructure that we have in our nation, today, is the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps. “The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a public work relief program for unemployed men, focused on natural resource conservation from 1933 to 1942. As part of the New Deal legislation proposed by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), the CCC was designed to aid relief of high unemployment stemming from the Great Depression while carrying out a broad natural resource conservation program on national, state and municipal lands. Legislation to create the program was introduced by FDR to the 73rd United States Congress on March 21, 1933, and the Emergency Conservation Work Act, as it was known, was signed into law on March 31, 1933. The CCC became one of the most popular New Deal programs among the general public and operated in every U.S. state and the territories of Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. While FDR is given credit for the idea of this program, in truth the suggestion came from Republican Senator James Couzens of Michigan, who was given the idea in a letter from a constituent, Archibald Sun of Detroit, Michigan.

CCC workers constructing road, 1933.

General Douglas MacArthur had General George C. Marshall organize the Corps.

Members lived in camps, wore uniforms, and lived under quasi-military discipline. At the time of entry, 70% of enrollees were malnourished and poorly clothed. Very few had more than a year of high school education; few had work experience beyond occasional odd jobs. The peace was maintained by the threat of “dishonorable discharge.” There were no reported revolts or strikes. “This is a training station we’re going to leave morally and physically fit to lick ‘Old Man Depression,’” boasted the newsletter of a North Carolina camp.

* * *

Although the CCC was probably the most popular New Deal program, it never became a permanent agency. A Gallup poll of April 18, 1936, asked “Are you in favor of the CCC camps?”; 82% of respondents said yes, including 92% of Democrats and 67% of Republicans.

The last extension passed by Congress was in 1939. The CCC program continued to be reduced in operations as the Depression waned and employment opportunities improved. Also fewer eligible young men were available after the draft commenced in 1940. Beginning in May 1940, as war raged in Europe, the program began a shift toward national defense and forest protection. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 all federal programs were now focused on the war effort. Most CCC work, except for wildland firefighting, was shifted onto U.S. military bases to help with construction. The CCC disbanded one year earlier than planned, as the 77th United States Congress ceased funding, causing it to formally conclude operations at the end of the fiscal year on June 30, 1942. The end of the CCC program and closing of the camps involved arrangements to leave the incomplete work projects in the best possible shape, the separation of about 1,800 appointed employees, the transfer of CCC property to the War and Navy Departments and other agencies, and the preparation of final accountability records. Liquidation of the CCC was ordered by Congress by Labor-Federal Security Appropriation Act (56 Stat. 569) on July 2, 1942; and virtually completed on June 30, 1943. Liquidation appropriations for the CCC continued through April 20, 1948.

Some former CCC sites in good condition were reactivated from 1941 to 1947 as Civilian Public Service camps where conscientious objectors performed “work of national importance” as an alternative to military service. Other camps were used to hold Japanese internees or German prisoners of war. After the CCC disbanded, the federal agencies responsible for public lands administration went on to organize their own seasonal fire crews, roughly modeled after the CCC, which filled the firefighting role formerly filled by the CCC and provided the same sort of outdoor work experience to young people.” (Wikipedia.org: CCC)

The Rising, Setting and Second Coming of the Dreams of Archibald Sun

It is interesting to me that Archibald Sun, the visionary constituent of Republican Senator James Couzens of Michigan, was from Detroit. Detroit has undergone some very extreme infrastructure changes over the course of its history. There was a fire that ravaged nearly all of Detroit in 1805; there have been race riots over the years, the earliest of which was in 1863, in which 35 buildings were burned to the ground and a number of other buildings were damaged by fire; in 1899, Henry Ford built his factory in Highland Park, changing Detroit forever.

The rise and decline of the American auto industry has shaped Detroit, over the years, more than any other single event in its history. Surely Archibald Sun saw many of these changes and how they related to issues of labor, infrastructure and conservation. His letter to Senator Couzens, consequently had an effect on America similar to the effect that the automotive (and war time) industry had on Detroit, in that it inspired the eventual creation of the CCC, which provided America with so many public works projects, many of which are now crumbling or in disrepair.

1933: Fire tower construction, Fremont National Forest, Oregon

Archibald Sun, were he living today, would no doubt be writing to his Senator to encourage our national legislatures, executive government and military forces to work together to rebuild America’s infrastructure, reclaim and rehabilitate its land, and provide new public works that will benefit Americans far into the future. Mr. Sun is no longer with us, but we can learn from him. It is incumbent upon us to learn from history what works, and continue, when appropriate, to reimplement techniques that have served us well in the past and adapt them to the challenges of the future.

That is why we need a revival of the CCC and new state and federal public works and land rehabilitation programs to provide hundreds of thousands of jobs for unemployed Americans and legal immigrants. These jobs will immediately benefit our economy and the work done by those employed will benefit Americans for generations to come.

The Road Ahead, With Apologies to Bill Gates

As an avid promoter of progress, I hope Mr. Gates will not mind if I borrow the title of his excellent book for this subsection of my article. I have been talking about the need for a revival of the CCC, the role it has played in our history to provide employment and public works for the benefit of all Americans and those who visit our great nation. Now, I would like to briefly discuss the work that I feel is most crucial to the mission of a newly revived CCC.

Before I do that, however, I want to tell you, briefly, about how I believe the CCC should be revived. I do not think that the New CCC (NCCC) should be an entirely government-run, taxpayer-funded agency or organization. The government just doesn’t have the clout to make it work or do it right. Instead, I would suggest a cooperative effort between the public and private sectors to fund, staff and run the NCCC.

Companies that choose to take government contracts and execute them with government oversight, but not direct management, would receive tax incentives and management rights for the new public works they construct. NCCC labor would be provided to those companies more cheaply than could be managed by the private sector, but not at the expense at the workers’ necessary quality of life. Likewise, companies that choose to take government contracts and execute them with government oversite, but not direct management, would receive tax incentives and grants for maintenance on existing public works they repair or improve. NCCC labor would be provided for these projects, as well, according to the above terms.

While this may not be a perfect system, prima facie, it does give one an idea of the potential synergy between the public and private sector that would be required and appropriate to accomplish the ambitious projects that will be demanded by our 21^st century economy and by the ecology and infrastructure that support it.

Land Rehabilitation

Land rehabilitation is the process of returning the land in a given area to some degree of its former state, after some process (industry, natural disasters etc.) has resulted in its damage. Many projects and developments will result in the land becoming degraded, for example mining, farming and forestry.

While it is rarely possible to restore the land to its original condition, the rehabilitation process usually attempts to bring some degree of restoration. Modern methods have in many cases not only restored degraded land but actually improved it, depending on what criteria are used to measure ‘improvement’.

In cases like Detroit where 60 square miles of previously inhabited land now lie abandoned, land rehabilitation programs are necessary on a variety of levels. Some would, no doubt, contend that it is our ethical responsibility to the environment, as good stewards of the gifts Nature and Nature’s God have given us, to return land to, at least, some degree of its former state, after we have ravaged it for our own purposes, and left it abandoned after we no longer needed it.

The abandoned houses, neighborhoods, plants and industrial buildings around Detroit and across the country are “litter” of a waning pocket of industrial society. Just as it is not right, for example, for individual persons to leave litter on the ground in public spaces, so, too, is it unethical for us, as a society, to leave abandoned buildings and infrastructure to decay for decades on the landscape of America.

Not only are they an eyesore and a detriment to the environment, they are wasteful, in that the materials used to construct these buildings – bricks, wood, metal fasteners and steel rebar – are recyclable materials that could be used in new construction or other industrial purposes, decreasing the need to harvest such new materials from the earth, depleting our natural resources.

Furthermore, abandoned buildings give criminals and vagrants places to hide or conduct clandestine black market business. They give gangs a place to conduct their illicit affairs; and they are a danger to the homeless who use them for shelter. Not only that, but they are an impediment to new construction. Part of the cost of new construction is clearing land, which is more complicated, when that requires the demolition and removal of existing structures.

Infrastructure Revitalization

It goes without saying that much of our infrastructure is in dire need of repair or replacement. A NCCC could tackle challenges like: repairing and repaving roads; repairing and building bridges; creating earthworks to protect against wildfires and mudslides; building, repairing or removing dams; laying electrical and fiber-optic lines underground, removing the need for telephone poles; modernizing water and sewage treatment and distribution systems; and much, much more.

Conservation & Environmental Protection

Much conservation and environmental protection work could be coordinated with the efficient repair and construction of modern public works and rehabilitation of land that has fallen into disuse or disrepair.

Additionally, creation and protection of habitats for animals, along with public parks for people could contribute to environmental awareness, while upgrading and improving the facilities of public – including state and national parks – will increase the benefit to the public of using such parks.

The state and national parks and state and national forests that we have, now, often do not receive the traffic or use that they could, if the facilities available to the public – like public bathhouses, restroom facilities, campsite facilities and trailways for mountain-bikers, hikers and climbers - in those parks and forests were better maintained.

Innovations in Infrastructure Technology

As American citizens in the 21^st century, we should lead the world in public works innovation not just when it comes to new works, but also when it comes to repairing and performing maintenance on existing structures. There is no excuse, in these modern times, to use outdated, inefficient or sub-par building materials or methods for public works.

In the long run, using such materials and methods costs the public more in terms of long-term maintenance and repair, wasting valuable resources and man hours to maintain things, instead of using those same resources and efforts to create new things for public use and consumption.

Public works should use the most efficient, sturdy, stable and longest-lasting materials and the most efficient, reliable building methods to construct and repair all public works, to minimize maintenance costs and the need for maintenance in the future. This will ensure that our children and grandchildren will be able to enjoy the fruits of our labors without negative consequences far into the future.

Social Integration Through Labor Programs

Lastly, and perhaps most controversially, a NCCC could – through proper training and efficient policy-making – bring a solution to the problem of illegal immigration in the United States. A multi-stage process including registration, social integration (including required learning with regard to the English language, United States history and other aspects of American life crucial to proper assimilation to the cultural, social and legal structure of the United States) and government service (labor in public works programs) would provide a path to citizenship paved by the works completed in good faith by those who have chosen to enter our country illegally, but who have no desire to further break the laws of our nation.

Assimilation into United States culture and social structure are key, as is the required familiarization with our legal system and a proven understanding of the English language. Education programs, paid for, mostly, by the wages earned through government service in a NCCC, and partially subsidized by taxpayers who also benefit from the public works generated by that government service, could train a workforce that has, hitherto, had to skulk about in the shadows, but which deserves to earn their daily bread in the full light of day with dignity and honor.

We all can benefit from a massive initiative to revitalize American infrastructure, reclaim derelict land and naturalize hardworking, honest immigrants who choose to act in good faith by registering themselves with the government, educating themselves, and paying their debt to society – by breaking our immigration laws and jumping to the head of the line, ahead of those who chosose to legally immigrate – through government service.

Daniel and I are big fans of the show Life After People.  The show’s premise is everyone on Earth vanishes suddenly.  Every week, the narrator rather gleefully intones how the mightiest works of Man succumb from weather, animals and plants.  We’ve seen the end of Chicago and London, Atlanta and Seattle.  We’ve seen bridges snap and skyscrapers collapse into ruin.  Famous landmarks around the world are ravaged and corrupted.

It was only a matter of time before Daniel decided the fate of Belvidere.  We were out in the backyard, not mowing the long grass.  Daniel walked over to the swing set and gave it the once-over.  The swing set is made of treated wood.  Meka and I stained it when we put it together six or seven years ago, but it’s fading in places already.  Daniel showed me cracks in the wood.  There was a chip missing where the baby slide used to be attached.  Water will get in and that means “freeze cycles”.  This is a favorite mode of destruction from the show.  He stood on the platform and inspected the swings.  The metal chains would rust away.

“They’re covered in plastic though,” I said.  Daniel shook his head.  The plastic would crack and peel over time.  Daniel figured it would be gone in a hundred years; a hundred and fifty at the most.  The parrots would get out of their cages after we vanished.  Their babies would sit on the swing set.  The seeds they drop (and brother, they drop a lot of seeds) would grow up all around and cover the swing set in a grassy forest.  I thought I might mention Akane and Pepper are both female, but decided against it.

The Cub Scout birdhouse would come crashing down when the fibers of the Nylon rope holding it in the air snapped one by one.  The plastic rings would fill with water and fall off in bad weather.  The tornadoes roaring through would be the final straw.  Their winds would knock down what was left.  After a thousand years, Daniel concluded, you would still be able to tell the swing set had once stood in our backyard, “but only if you were an expert.”

6/16

Tuesday

A new episode of  Mental is on tonight at 9PST on Fox. This episode will be about a boy who is consumed by a game played in his head. I like this show, it has a House feel to it.

Life After People on the History Channel at 10 PST. I like this show, it’s very interesting seeing earth after all people are gone.  Tonight’s episode is called “The Road to Nowhere,” which will be about the fate of our cars, roads, and planes, and how some animals adapt.

I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!  is on again at 8PST on NBC. Tonight the elimination starts and we see which celebrities are safe.

The series finale of Cupid on ABC is on at 10 PST. I liked this show, it’s a shame it was cancelled so fast.

Here’s a link to the episode 

http://www.ninjavideo.net/video/27979

 If you want to totally waste your time and have nothing better off to do, then I recommend watching this show.  The only reason I can think of why the History Channel put this show on the air is to fill some open air space.

  The point of the show is to project in to the future starting from the day humans no longer inhabit Earth.  All of a sudden one day humanity no longer exists and the show starts with that day.  They don’t tell you how humanity was wiped off the face of the Earth.  They just start with that scenario, and you must keep in mind that all other living things still exist.

  Then starting with that day they begin projecting in to the future what will happen incrementing by years into the future.  One episode started with 10 days, then 6 months, then 3 years, then 10 years, then 20, etc all they way up to one million years.

  The amazing thing is they have more than one episode; in fact they have several episodes. The episodes (yes that is plural) cover what will happen to the major cities, buildings, streets, water systems, electricity, transportation, electronics, bridges, dams, etc and just about anything else you can think of that is not living.

  What they do is show you how the non-living things will disintegrate as time passes, all via simulations.  During each episode they break up the simulation with engineers of various specialties describe how and why for example a building will eventually fall down.  Exciting huh?  <NOT> 

  Or they show how a dam will eventually break down and collapse and when the water rushes down, destroy everything in its path, except of course, humans because they no longer exist.  Are you on the edge of your chair yet? 

 Another episode spends a good half hour showing the lights going out across the country, or bridges falling down because the humans are gone and can not attend to the maintenance of these objects.  Shaking with excitement are you?

 My question on this subject “Who cares?”  The only answer can be, “Nobody, because nobody will be left to care.”

  Now I am going to saving you hours of watching this nonsense and give you the answer to what is going to happen when one day all the humans are gone and all other living things still exist.  Here it is, “Evolution will begin all over again.”  Then a few billion or so years later the History channel will be running this show again.

  Normally I would supply you with a link to the History Channel site where you can get more information on this series, but if you’re that interested, then you have nothing better to do, so you can go “google” it yourself.  I am moving on to “The Game Show Network (GSN).

Set your DVR and clear your schedule — Lacys are coming to a TV near you on June 16 at 9 p.m. CT!

In March, a film crew from the History Channel spent the day filming Lacys for the series Life After People. They feature several dog breeds in the series, highlighting just how dependent most canines are on people. But the story of the Lacy is different. A tough breed with the drive and skills to fend for themselves, Lacy Dogs would they have no problem surviving in a world without people.

We got the dogs to pull off some great tricks for the camera, and the original footage will be accompanied by an interview with Jimmy Brooks, the president of the National Lacy Dog Association who has been breeding Lacys for over 50 years.

Don’t miss the Lacy episode of Life After People on June 16 at 9 p.m. CT. More information about this fascinating series from the History Channel after the jump.

LIFE AFTER PEOPLE
All New 10-Part Series from the History Channel

The series begins in the moments after people disappear. As each day, month, and year passes, the fate of a particular environment, city or theme is disclosed. Special effects, combined with interviews from top experts in the fields of engineering, botany, biology, geology, and archeology provide an unforgettable visual journey through the ultimate hypothetical.

As modern metropolises like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington DC are ravaged by nature; the series exposes the surprising insights about how they function today. Basing this futuristic world on the surprising history of real locations, already abandoned by man, like a century-old shack in the arctic and an abandoned island that was once the most densely populated place on earth are featured in the series.

In every episode, viewers will witness the epic destruction of iconic structures and buildings, from the Sears Tower, Astrodome, and Chrysler Building to the Sistine Chapel — allowing viewers to learn how they were built and why they were so significant. Big Ben will stop ticking within days; the International Space Station will plummet to earth within a few short years, while historic objects, like the Declaration of Independence and the mummified remains of King Tutankhamen will remain for decades.

The series will also explore the creatures that might take our place. With humans gone, animals will inherit the places where we once lived. Elephants that escape from the LA zoo will thrive in a region once dominated by their ancestors, the wooly mammoth. Alligators will move into sub-tropical cities like Houston, feeding off household pets. Tens of thousands of hogs, domesticated for food, will flourish. In a world without people, new stories of predators, survival and evolution will emerge.

Humans won’t be around forever, and now we can see in detail, for the very first time, the world that will be left behind in Life After People: The Series.