Ben Franklin was a kook! But a good one.

Wow - I get to work today an all hell is breaking out that I'm suppose to fix yet, it's not any of my systems and not even in a real language I fully understand AND I don't it's a problem on my end of things.  THANK YOU VERY LITTLE.


Now I have time since my email questions are going unanswered and I can't really do anything until someone actually tells me what the problem is in a language I understand (typically English).

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The Governor Lewis Mansion website is live and raring to go. 

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FIFA - not a huge soccer fan but I think FIFA was the worst case of trying to be secret about corruption in the world. I did not pay a lot of attention to the sport but everybody new FIFA was corrupt.

Bribes of over $100,000,000 to have the World Cup in Quatar instead of the US. Then seeing they would have to play their games at midnight because of the extreme heat and messing up the worlds schedules because all the leagues in the world are playing at that time and then seeing that workers building the stadium were dropping dead from heat AND not allowing workers time off to grieve.

Screwed.

Then there is the NBA where Cleveland has a chance to win the title and THEN they will fire their head coach.  Yea - win a Championship and fire the coach. Seems logical.


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I'm reading a book called Storm Kings - Americas First Tornado Chasers and it starts with Ben Franklin.  What a strange dude that guy was.  His first real invention was the lighting rod but not before there was a death.

He was what was called an electrician which was a stage show that would wow people into electric tricks which he had no clue how they worked.  But that was why he became fascinated in it.

One thing leads to another and he has this experiment he wants to try but there are no tall buildings in Philly.

His idea was to take a 40 foot metal poll.  Go to the top of a church during a thunderstorm point it at the clouds and collect electricity.  OH, there MIGHT be a small amount of danger so wear rubber gloves.

He sent this idea to England. England thought it was a great idea and sent the idea to all sorts of places.  WELL, in St. Peatersburg a guy erected a 40 foot poll to his the top of his house, then attached a brass chain that ran into his house and attached that chain to a metal poll suspended in the air, below the rod was a compass suspended on a spike and below that was a large bowl of water with metal filings in it.

What could possibly go wrong.      

It was a dry summer but finally there was a storm approaching.  He was teaching a class with his friend Sokolow. They ran to his house and as he was leaning over the bowl of water in amazement looking at the metal shavings tremble Sokolow writes" A little sphere of dazzeling light congealed in midair, a globe of blue and whitish fire, about four inches in diameter".

It hovered for a moment and BAM  right into the dudes forehead. BAM!!The room implodes.

Back the Ben Franklin - He hears of this and for his stage show makes a small wooden doll house. He attaches a wire to the chimney that has a small rod and a wire going to the ground and stands on the other side of the stage and directs a large static discharge toward the little house. Nothing happens.

He then takes off the rod on the chimney and does the same thing with a large static discharge.  BOOM! the house explodes.  Of course the house is full of gunpowder so when the static hits it . . . . He called it The Thunder House.

He concluded the show by telling people to attached a rod that is grounded on their house.  And thus Ben's very first  patent. One of many.

BTW - his kite thing?  Very unremarkable. In fact no body ever knew about of for years it was so unremarkable.  His son, NOT a child but more like 30 years old helped him.          

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SO - Lots of talk about the 30+ new STOP signs which for the most part are getting "good" reviews except for the people that live on W Fountain Ave (4 Stop signs in 4 blocks) or W Prairie (3 Stop signs in 3 blocks).  Although W Fountain actually turns into Sturges so it's not "technically" W Fountain.

I was reprimanded for emailing the problem to a couple aldermen with the problem and a solution because one thought I was creating a walking quorum*. Actually I did not create a walking quorum but he did when he replied to me saying I should not email informational emails on problems or solutions. His reply actually tripped the secret "walking quorum trigger", not me.  Yet - I am the Black Sheep of City Council, it is my role to play.  SOMEONE has too!  I was told I cause more harm then good. I feel I just make everybody else look better!

*Walking quorum according to the FOIC = A walking quorum is a series of meetings, telephone conferences, or some other means of communication such that groups of less than a quorum are effectively meeting and can arrive at a consensus or understanding regarding governmental business that, collectively, would constitute a quorum.) 

This basically says you cannot email another aldermen for ANY reason at any time if the person on the other end responds in any way.  You can only talk on the phone so you can then deny everything because there is no record of it.  Just sayin'

Gotta love anal governmental rules.

This means that Person A cannot email Person B who then emails Person C which would create a quorum of 3.  Or Person A cannot email Person B and Person A cannot email Person C on the same subject because once again that would be 3 person conversation even if B and C don't email each other.

Do you think this rule is ever broken on a National level? Congressmen and Senators talking to each other and coming to a consensus?  NAAAAAA!  
  
BUT - that is water under the bridge and yet another BLACK STAR in my permanent record.        

So much for transparency.  Perhaps we should let citizens rule government and government rule citizens.   

ANYWAY - moving on.   I'm over it.