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jbrenner assigns HOMEwork - Planning Atlantis

Posted by $ jbrenner 10 years, 9 months ago to The Gulch: General
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An assignment I give my students in almost every course I teach is what I call a questions and issues sheet. Students are asked to come up with a list of at least 25 questions and issues on a process design, product design, or failure analysis of my choosing. Students start by brainstorming either by themselves or in groups for 0.5 to 1 hour, and then categorize their questions and issues into the following categories: technical/engineering, economic, legal, regulatory, quality, environmental, safety, health, logistical, project management, and social impact. It is better for the questions and issues to be in the form of a question such that the question can be answered with a yes/no or a number. In that way, the exercise serves as a checklist to keep the project on track. Points are given for the number of questions, category coverage, identification of all of the key issues, depth of insight, creativity, and for thoroughness of the list. A critical issue not considered is often the project killer. Your assignment is to participate in this exercise for the development of a physical Atlantis.


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  • Posted by eddieh 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I wasn't aware how small an area. How many shruggers will Atlantis accommodate?
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  • Posted by $ 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    A few weeks ago there was an entire town in southwestern South Dakota just southeast of the Badlands that was up for sale.
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  • Posted by $ 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    CircuitGuy made a similar comment about multiple land-based communities a few weeks ago. There is some merit to that.
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  • Posted by $ 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I had not heard of that kind of Iron Dome. You learn something every day. This week I have learned a lot.
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  • Posted by $ 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    The twenty-five items was what I expect of my students. I am willing to take any commentary I can get here in the Gulch. You made one of the more thorough lists so far.
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  • Posted by $ 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    From http://foreignpolicyblogs.com/2013/12/10...

    Economic sovereignty extends 250 miles.
    All countries enjoy sovereign rights in the airspace over their territory, including their territorial waters, which nowadays extend 12 nautical miles from the shore. Air Defense Identification Zones (ADIZs) come into play in airspace beyond that. Under the U.S. definition, an ADIZ is a zone in which civil aircraft must identify themselves and may be subject to air traffic control if they intend to travel from international airspace into sovereign airspace. (Most regulation concerning nonsovereign airspace relates specifically to civil aviation, leaving the rules for military aircraft somewhat up in the air, as it were.)

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  • Posted by Owlsrayne 10 years, 9 months ago
    Jbrenner assigns Homework-Planning Atlantis

    Great ideas from members of the Gulch, but first we need deep pockets to fund this project. That’s up to other members to work on. Here is what I can do; that is to purchase the following from the internet and by phone with the funds:
    1. A small sea going freighter w/cranes for under a mil.
    2. A Port Engineer to inspect the vessel, register it in Panama.
    3. Hire a retired/semiretired Captain, First mate, and Chief Engineer.
    4. Ablebody Seaman from one of the merchant marine halls.
    5. 5-20mm Oekilon Cannons (WWll reconditioned vintage) w/ammo
    6. 5-35mm Bofors w/ammo
    7. Ship supplies through a Ship Chandler(NY, Texas, Louisiana, or California)
    8. Foodstuff’s from Commodity Broker-Chandlers.
    9. Temporary housing assemblies: prefab containers.
    10. Portable desalination modules.
    11. Diesel Generator Set and Fuel.
    12. Two crates of Tokarev TT 33 7.62x25 semi-auto pistols and ammo.
    Then have all above delivered to the Island of Atlantis.
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  • Posted by $ 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I just saw "How to Start Your Own Country" while looking up an answer to another post. Nice call, thetuxcat. Nice to meet you.
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  • Posted by Temlakos 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I was in a hurry, or I would have given you twenty-five items, as you seemed to ask for.

    I assume, by the way, that the *economy* is a feudal one, but the *civil* organization is a Committee of Safety, consisting of the major landowner and a few of the wealthiest individuals, or their proxies, or company officers.

    I wrote the Atlas Shrugged articles on Conservapedia. I proposed that John Galt, Francisco d'Anconia, and Ragnar Danneskjöld served as Atlantis' first Committee of Safety. John attended as Midas' proxy; Francisco attended as the largest primary leaseholder; and Ragnar attended as the contract mercenary. The Committee of Safety would be open to anyone willing to fund, maintain, or command such troops, crews, and/or installations as would enhance the physical security of the Gulch, and, when necessary, keep law and order. I proposed that Hank Rearden would join this Committee after Francisco liberated him from the outside, and Dagny would become a de facto member the instant she took The Oath on a New York street corner, with Francisco there to "administer" it.
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  • Posted by $ 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Regarding 2), windmills and hydroelectric will have to compete with my waste-to-energy and chemicals facility. Regarding potable water, a stream or spring would be nice, but desalination is probably a much more reliable long term bet.
    The Gulch will have a navy, but to start, it will be Ragnar's pirate sloop. The international trade issue is one we will need to consider carefully, lest we be "discovered". Regarding landowning, road upkeep, etc., I like what Temlakos and radical are suggesting, but there may not be enough land to even have what we would call roads. That really depends on how big Atlantis is. The purchasing of shares is a key issue to define.
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  • Posted by $ 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Very good list, Temlakos. I will chop this list up and put the questions into the appropriate categories at some point in the near future.
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  • Posted by $ 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Are you referring to on Atlantis or to Atlantis? On Atlantis there may not be enough space for much more than golf cart transportation.
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  • Posted by $ 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I will be sufficiently quick that Wesley Mouch will not be able to make me stand still!
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  • Posted by $ 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    A definition of producer will focus somewhat more on philosophical consistency with Atlas Shrugged values than on past success in the world of looters and moochers. But yes, this will require significant debate.
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  • Posted by $ 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micronation... under Legitimacy:

    In international law, the Montevideo Convention on the Right and Duties of States sets down the criteria for statehood in article 1: The state as a person of international law should possess the following qualifications: (a) a permanent population; (b) a defined territory; (c) government; and (d) capacity to enter into relations with the other states.

    The first sentence of article 3 of the Montevideo Convention explicitly states that "The political existence of the state is independent of recognition by the other states."

    Under these guidelines, any entity which meets all of the criteria set forth in article 1 can be regarded as sovereign under international law, whether or not other states have recognized it.

    The Sovereign Military Order of Malta, as an independent subject of international law does not meet all the criteria for recognition as a State (however it does not claim itself a State either), but is and has been recognized as a sovereign nation for centuries.

    The doctrine of territorial integrity does not effectively prohibit unilateral secession from established states in international law, per the relevant section from the text of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Final Act, Helsinki Accords or Helsinki Declaration:[34]

    IV. Territorial integrity of States

    The participating States will respect the territorial integrity of each of the participating States.

    Accordingly, they will refrain from any action inconsistent with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations against the territorial integrity, political independence or the unity of any participating State, and in particular from any such action constituting a threat or use of force.

    The participating States will likewise refrain from making each other's territory the object of military occupation or other direct or indirect measures of force in contravention of international law, or the object of acquisition by means of such measures or the threat of them. No such occupation or acquisition will be recognized as legal.

    In effect, this states that other states (i.e., third parties), may not encourage secession in a state. This does not make any statement as regards persons within a state electing to secede of their own accord.
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  • Posted by johnpe1 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    we worked with astralloy vulcan, years ago -- I recommend
    their "astralloy-v". -- j

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  • Posted by $ 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Discussions I read elsewhere in the last couple of days suggest this topic needs to be thought out very carefully.
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