Crazyhorse Team:

Pontiac SMART Center / Update

There will be a meeting to discuss the opportuntiies & possibilities regarding the SMART Center project. It is currently scheduled for Monday, February 2, 2004 at 1:00PM at the observatory. The major purpose of the meeting is to meet with some leadership individuals from the Boy's & Girl's Club of Southeast Michigan. They may be interested (anchor tenant) in joining our efforts on behalf of the SMART Center. United Way of Oakland County has put forth the offer and made the arrangements for the meeting. We will also have Leon Julkowski (Building Owner & Deputy Mayor of the City of Pontiac) joining us. Several other key individuals will also be attending.

The "Breakfast Club" will be meeting on Sunday, February 1, 2004 at 8:00AM at the observatory to develop an agenda and make proper preparations for the meeting.

Web-sites for more information about Community Center activities around the country
The Harlem Children's Center
blogger

The Ray & Joan Kroc Community Center
http://www.kroccenter.org/
blogger

Michgian Cool Cities / Survey
http://www.michigancoolcities.com
blogger

Book: "The Rising of the Creative Class" by Richard Florida

Stay tuned......more to come.

Best,

Jim  ¶ 6:12 PM

  The case for maintaining the status-quo!

Does the statement, "We've always done it that way!" ring any bells...?

The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is
4 feet, 8 1/2 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number.

Why was that gauge used? Because that's the way they built them in England, and English
Expatriates built the US Railroads.

Why did the English build them like that?

Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways,
And that's the gauge they used.

Why did "they" use that gauge then?

Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and
Tool that were used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing.

Okay! Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing?

Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break
on some of the old, long distance roads in England, because that's the spacing of the wheel ruts.

So who built those old rutted roads?

Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (and England) for their legions.
The roads have been used ever since.

And the ruts in the roads?

Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else
had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made
for Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing.

The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. And bureaucracies live forever.

So the next time you are handed a specification and wonder what horse's ass came up with it, you
may be exactly right, because the Imperial Roman war chariots were made just wide
enough to accommodate the back ends of two war horses.

Now the twist to the story...

When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there
are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank.
These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at
their factory in Utah. The engineers who designed the SRBs would have
preferred to make them a bit wider, but the SRBs had to be shipped by
train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory
happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains. The SRBs had to fit
through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track,
and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses'
behinds.

So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of what is ,arguably, the
world's most advanced transportation system was determined over two
thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass………….

….. and you thought being a HORSE'S ASS wasn't important!  ¶ 10:06 AM

  These are the next training dates for the.......

ADULT LITERACY/OAKLAND LITERACY COUNCIL

I have contacted them and they are sending information. We would like to do this at the Obs and/or any other accessible venue.

Without going through the training, participation is not possible.

FEB 7-9 SOUTHFIELD PUBLIC LIBRARY
2600 EVERGREEN

MARCH 13-16 ROCHESTER PUBLIC LIBRARY
ROCHSTER HILLS PUBLIC LIBRARY
500 OLD TOWNE

CALL 248 232 4664
  ¶ 8:48 AM

  To all,

I am in and will share info from Oakland Literacy Council with interested parties.

I will check the BLOG twice daily and contribute as is possible.

Paul  ¶ 12:02 PM

  Crazy Horse / Native American Indian Leader 1849? to 1877
Kernel / A grain or seed enclosed in a hard husk. The most material and central part; CORE

Welcome friends:

And so it began on Thurday, January 22, 2004.

Secret of Great Groups / Document
http://www.pfdf.org/leaderbooks/121/winter97/bennis.html
blogger

Best,

Jim  ¶ 11:05 AM