The Lessons of the Chilean Mine Rescue

Posted on October 17, 2010October 17, 2010 by bfaure Leave a comment

Ramparts of Civilization kept a close eye on the unfolding drama of the mine cave-in at the San Jose Mine in Chile trapping 33 miners that ended in triumph with their rescue this past week. I held back commenting on the event of the day as it was obviously truly about the heroic fortitude […]... Read More

ST GOTTHARD PASS SWITZERLAND/ GOOGLE EARTH

A New Champion in the Art of Tunneling

Posted on October 16, 2010October 16, 2010 by bfaure Leave a comment

The world was captivated earlier this week by the incredible engineering achievement of drilling teams to bore through 2300 feet of the granite rock of the Andes in less than two months to successfully provide a rescue portal for 33 trapped Chilean miners. This same week another drilling milestone was achieved in the Swiss […]... Read More

Smart Presidents versus Dumb Presidents

Posted on October 11, 2010October 11, 2010 by bfaure 2 Comments

It is one of the more ingrained myths of the modern American political experience that the more liberal you are, the more likely you are going to be seen as intellectually gifted or even brilliant, the more conservative, more likely the dummy with persistence. Quick – name our “intellectually gifted” presidents of the last fifty […]... Read More

“Like A Tremendous Machine!”

Posted on October 9, 2010October 9, 2010 by bfaure 1 Comment

A new movie reminding all of us of the excitement surrounding one of the great “athletes” of any generation is moving into theaters. The movie is about the horse Secretariat, the magnificent triple crown winner of 1973. I expect to go see it and cry like a baby. Why? Because Secretariat is intimately tied […]... Read More

The Chilean Miners’ Drama Approaches the Essential Moment

Posted on October 5, 2010October 9, 2010 by bfaure Leave a comment

I reported on August 30, 2010, about the unfolding drama in Chile where 33 miners thought lost in a mine collapse over 700 meters underground at the San Jose Mine in Chile were discovered trapped but alive. The amazing story of their survival and perseverance is about to reach the moment of truth as […]... Read More

A Neighbor’s Fight To The Death

Posted on September 18, 2010September 19, 2010 by bfaure 1 Comment

Something awful is enveloping the proud Mexican nation south of our borders. A vicious and dangerous war between the Mexican government and drug cartel warlord armies have since 2006 taken the lives of over 28,000 Mexicans, and with no end in sight, threatens to extend its spasm of violence across the porous American border. […]... Read More

The Unalienable Right of Stupidity?

Posted on September 12, 2010September 25, 2010 by bfaure 4 Comments

The comedian Dennis Miller was asked about his view regarding the filmmaker Michael Moore’s right to make movies that bombastically drive opinions through questionable logic and facts. Miller stated bluntly that although he found Moore despicable, he believed that the unique premise of America regarding free speech needed to be defended to the hilt, […]... Read More

The Road To Serfdom

Posted on September 4, 2010 by bfaure Leave a comment

In an Internet bookstore with millions of available titles, Amazon.com lists its category best sellers and overall best sellers monthly, an interesting pulse on the interest areas of the reading public. The number 1 best seller for all books on Amazon in June of 2010 was The Road To Serfdom by F.A. Hayek. – WHO?? […]... Read More

A Chilean Drama Elevates Us All

Posted on August 30, 2010August 29, 2010 by bfaure Leave a comment

On August 5th, 2010, a temblor caused the collapse of deep exit tunnels in the San Jose copper and gold mine in some two hundred miles north of Santiago, Chile. This has been a year of intolerable national disasters for Chile, including both an 8.8 magnitude earthquake and a devastating tsunami. The news from […]... Read More

Are Big Ideas A Thing of the Past?

Posted on August 22, 2010August 21, 2010 by bfaure 1 Comment

Michael Barone has a thoughtful essay on our ability to conceive and create significant construction projects in today’s world. He bemoans a smaller bridge project in Washington DC that has been going on for 42 months with no end in sight. He compares it to the building of the Pentagon in the forties that […]... Read More

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