It is not length of life, but depth of life.Ralph Waldo Emerson

Inner Life Directions

Expanding Reality

Ggids

  • 3-D Homes!

    With the help of robots, 3-D homes may be one answer to affordable housing.

    We have 3-D printers, guns and machinery, so why not 3-D houses! They’re here and it is hoped that they will help with  3 existing challenges, the affordable housing crisis, the shortage of skilled labor and the rising costs of materials. It’s a tall order but so far it looks up to the challenge.  They are built by robots squeezing cement mixtures the way industries like dental implants do, but on a larger scale. Two companies are pioneering it. That is moving beyond the pilot program stages. The first is in Texas, Austin based ICON. They print homes on site using their Vulcan system which lays down their secret formula cement layer by layer. The homes are energy efficient and withstand extreme weather and earthquakes.  Their competitor is Mighty Buildings in California. They produce cement panels in a factory and then assemble them on site.  In this case they are synthetic stone made from a polymer composite. The kits include steel frame, insulation and gypsum boards for interior walls. A robotic tool can  create a desired look like stucco or siding. The company is now marketing 3-D home kits for $349,000. It is partnering with a developer Palari Group to build 2 subdivisions in California, one in Rancho Mirage, a well to do area outside Palm Springs. The 15 units neighborhood will be the first net zero community. With solar panels and storage batteries, the owners will not have to spend anything on electricity. Construction is a contributor to climate change, so it is possible that 3-D homes would lower the carbon emissions of the industry. The only unknown right now, is how will these homes fare 30 or 40 years from now? Still 3-D homes sound like a promising answer to affordable housing.

  • Art Classes and Bachelor Degrees in Prison

    Programs in several California prisons are showing that inmates are more than their worst deed.

    Prisons are not nice places, they’re harsh and violent. And yet the inmates are humans like the rest of us and respond to opportunities. In California, 25 inmates recently graduated with a Bachelor’s degree as part of California State University Los Angeles. They each received their degree in communications, thus being able to better have a job and create a better life once they are released, what Dara Yin, one of the graduates called the freedom to create better lives.

    There’s another program in 12 California prisons, where known artists teach various aspects of art. There are 15 guest artists for the 15 weeks program offered by the PAC, the Prison Arts Collective, a university-based program offering  arts curriculum specifically for prisons, and a global talent agency, Huxley. Wilo Perron and Brian Roettinger, two of the artists, will teach logo design for example, taking the PAC logo and redoing it going through all the steps that are involved.   There will also be classes in photography, cartooning, screen writing, illustrations, collage making, and even creative mindfulness. The program is aimed to “show the transformative power of art and the redemptive potential of self-expression.” The  offenses of the  inmates in this program do not matter, some have minor offenses some are lifers. Perron and Roettinger say  “We don’t ask them why they’re there or what they’ve done because really the focus of our program is about shifting identities and not having people only be known by the worst thing they’ve ever done. It’s to experience being in a collaborative, inclusive community and experience themselves as artists and students and collaborators and peers.” We need to recognize inmates as people, and programs such as these remind us to.

  • Business Leaders Against the Death Penalty

    Some 150 business leaders declaring themselves against the death penalty is seen as a boost toward ending it.

    Some 150 business leaders around the world have signed a declaration  asking for the end of the death penalty in every country. It is part of  Business Leaders Against the Death Penalty campaign launched a few months ago by one of its founders Richard Branson. Other signatories are business leaders like Francois Henri Pinault, Ben Cohen, Jerry Greenfield and Ariana Huffington. Others still  include the leaders of Unilever and Bayer. The declaration reads,  “As an irreversible and extreme form of punishment, the death penalty is inhumane, and it is irreconcilable with  human dignity. Its worldwide abolition is a moral imperative that all of humanity should support.”  At least 170 United Nations Members have abolished the death penalty in practice if not legally. In the United States, 23 states have abolished it, some have a moratorium and some have not used it. Still we hear of botched executions as in Oklahoma last October. There are still several states where the death penalty is not only practiced it is used without regards to how humane its execution method is. Responsible Business Initiative for Justice is the nonprofit which helped organize this campaign, its chief executive Celia Ouellette hopes that  signing on  well-known  business leaders will give momentum to their campaign to end the death penalty in the United States. One of the activist organization’s goal is to pressure the Biden administration to end the death penalty at the federal level.

    I follow sister Helen Prejean on Twitter and almost daily I am reminded of the injustice, the inequality and the inhumanity of the death penalty. Anything that can work to end it is welcomed.

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