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First and foremost, I encourage you to learn about this fellow as your potential future president, and skip my bio if that's what it takes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Anderson
My family and I lived off the grid in an earth-sheltered, solar powered underground house, for 15 years, starting in the early '80s, proving, at least to myself, the feasibility of solar power. Such a feat should be much easier with off-the-shelf materials available now.
I wrote a book on earth-sheltered solar greenhouses that has many good ideas, but should be condensed from 400 down to 50 pages, with new info from living off the grid. It's on my "to do" list.
I am 63 with a 21 year old heart--literally, as it was transplanted in 2005 (a virus, they think). This is why I strongly encourage you and everyone else to be an organ donor.
I may be the only tenured teacher you'll meet who got fired with a perfect teaching record. I spent seven years in court fighting that, only to find out that little guys always lose (http://www.opednews.com/articles/Letter-to-NEA-Leadership--by-Daniel-Geery-101027-833.html; recommended reading if you happen to be a parent, teacher, or concerned citizen).
I managed to get another teaching job, working in a multi-cultural elementary school for ten years (we had well over 20 native tongues when I left, proving to me that we don't need war to get along--no one even got killed there!).
I spent a few thousand hours working on upward-gliding airships, after reading The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed by John McPhee. But I did my modelling in the water, so it took only two years and 5,000 models to get a shape that worked. You can Google "aquaglider" to learn more about these. As far as I know, this invention represents the first alteration of Archimedes'principle, spelled out 2,500 years ago.
"Airside," the water toys evolved into more of a cigar shape, as this was easier to engineer. Also, solar panels now come as thin as half a manila folder, making it possible for airships to be solar powered. You can see one of the four I made in action by Googling "hyperblimp"(along with many related, advanced versions).
Along with others, I was recently honored to receive a Charles Lindbergh Foundation Award, to use these airships to study right whales off Argentina. Now we just have to make it happen!
More on that in a podcast, should you be so inclined:
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/upr/local-upr-936106.mp3 (followed by Rosalie Winard, bird photographer and friend of Terry Tempest Williams, and a bit on why you should be an organ donor).
I recently married a beautiful woman who is an excellent writer and editor, in addition to being a gourmet cook, gardener, kind, gentle, warm, funny, spiritual, and extremely loving. We met via "Plenty-of-Fish" and a number of seemingly cosmic connections.
I get blitzed reading the news damn near every day, and wonder why I do it, especially when it's the same old shit recycled, just more of it. In spite of Barbara Ehrenreich and reality, I'm a sucker for positive thinking; I recently finished reading Positivity, by Barbara Fredrickson, and recommend it, in the interest of your own sanity.
I like OpEd and think Rob Kall has done some wonderful things, but if someone could help out with the graphics and kinks in the system here, I'd really appreciate it.
