Alexis de Tocqueville on the Foundations of American Democracy

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Alexis de Tocqueville on the Foundations of American Democracy

February 17, 2025
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Alexis de Tocqueville was born in Paris and came from a prominent lineage, with his father serving as a royalist prefect under the Bourbon restoration.

In 1831, at the age of twenty-five, Alexis de Tocqueville made his fateful journey to America, where he observed the thrilling reality of a functioning democracy. From that moment onward, the French aristocrat would dedicate his life as a writer and politician to ending despotism in his country and bringing it into a new age.



Quotes from Alexis de Tocqueville’s “Democracy in America”:

  1. “The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.”
  2. “Americans are so enamored of equality that they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom.”
  3. “In democratic ages, human beings rarely sacrifice themselves for one another voluntarily; they almost always do so because they are impelled to by some power outside themselves.”
  4. “Despotism often presents itself as the repairer of all ills suffered, the support of just rights, defender of the oppressed and founder of order.”
  5. “The best laws cannot make a constitution work in spite of morals; morals can turn the worst laws to advantage.”
  6. “I do not know if the people of the United States would vote for superior men if they ran for office, but there can be no doubt that such men do not run.”
  7. “The most dangerous moment for a bad government is when it begins to reform.”
  8. “The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other.”
  9. “The will of man is not shattered, but softened, bent, and guided; men are seldom forced by it to act, but they are constantly restrained from acting. Such power does not destroy, but it prevents existence; it does not tyrannize, but it compresses, extinguishes, and stupefies a people, till each nation is reduced to nothing better than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd.”
  10. “Americans combine the notions of Christian morality and of liberty so intimately in their minds that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other.”
  11. “In the United States, the most enlightened are the most religious; and the most religious are the most enlightened.”
  12. Americans of all ages, all conditions, and all dispositions constantly form associations… Wherever at the head of some new undertaking you see the government in France, or a man of rank in England, in the United States you will be sure to find an association.”

 

Professional Engineering Licensure

February 17, 2025
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Scientists investigate that which already is; Engineers create that which has never been. - Albert Einstein

Intuitive Machines

Electrical Engineering License: Example Questions

Short Circuit Calculations

Electric Machines Motors & Generators

Digital Electronics

Power Systems

Stability Analysis

Communication

Illumination

Cost Analysis and Project Economics

Python

Mechanical Engineering License: Example Questions

Civil Engineering License: Example Questions

Certifying the Certifiers

Best Coffee Spots Near Campus

February 16, 2025
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“The coffee-house is an original British institution, but as there are daily effusions of wit and humor

in several of these little periodical papers, I think we may be justly said

to have our Coffee-houses among us.”

(From “The Spectator,” No. 9, March 10, 1711)

Michigan Central

Ellie Younger:Β Best Coffee Spots Near Campus

Artisanal coffee departs from mass-market approaches and replaces it with emphasis on craftsmanship, quality, and attention to detail throughout the entire processβ€”from cultivation to brewing.Β  Key aspects:

Β» Artisanal coffee producers often prioritize high-quality beans. They might focus on specific varieties, regions, or even single-origin beans, showcasing unique flavors and characteristics.

Β» The roasting process is considered an art in itself. Artisanal coffee roasters carefully roast the beans to bring out the best flavors. They may experiment with different roasting profiles to achieve specific taste profiles.

Β» Unlike mass-produced coffee, artisanal coffee is often roasted in smaller batches. This allows for better quality control and the ability to pay closer attention to the nuances of each batch.

Β» Artisanal coffee is appreciated for its distinct flavor profile. Roasters and baristas might highlight tasting notes, aromas, and other characteristics that make each cup unique.

Β» Artisanal coffee shops or enthusiasts often explore various brewing methods, such as pour-over, AeroPress, or siphon brewing. These methods can be more time-consuming but are believed to extract the best flavors from the beans.

From the way the beans are ground to the water temperature during brewing, artisanal coffee enthusiasts pay attention to every detail to ensure a superior cup of coffee.

— Publisher Marketing

The Decline of Men in Colleges

The Great Good Place:Β Ray Oldenburg

 

“I have often pleased myself with considering the two different scenes of life which are carried on at the same time in those different places of rendezvous, and putting those of the playhouse and the coffee-house together.”

(From “The Spectator,” No. 10, March 12, 1711)

America’s Cultural Revolution: How the Radical Left Conquered Everything

“For decades, left-wing radicals patiently built a revolution in the shadows. Then suddenly, after the death of George Floyd, their ideas exploded into American life.

Corporations denounced the United States as a β€œsystem of white supremacy.” Universities pushed racially segregated programs that forced students to address their racial and sexual β€œprivilege.” And schools injected critical race theory in the classroom, dividing children into β€œoppressor” and β€œoppressed.”

In thisΒ New York TimesΒ bestseller, Christopher F. Rufo exposes the inner history of the left-wing intellectuals and militants who slowly and methodically captured America’s institutions, with the goal of subverting them from within. With profiles of Herbert Marcuse, Angela Davis, Paulo Freire, and Derrick Bell, Rufo shows how activists have profoundly influenced American culture with an insidious mix of Marxism and racialist ideology. They’ve replaced β€œequality” with β€œequity,” subverted individual rights in favor of group identity, and convinced millions of Americans that racism is endemic in all of society. Their ultimate goal? To replace the constitution with a race-based redistribution regime, administered by β€œdiversity and inclusion” commissars within the bureaucracy.

America’s Cultural RevolutionΒ is the definitive account of the radical Left’s long march through the institutions. Through deep historical research, Rufo shows how the ideas first formulated in the pamphlets of the Weather Underground, Black Panther Party, and Black Liberation Army have been sanitized and adopted as the official ideology of America’s prestige institutions, from the Ivy League universities to the boardrooms of Wal-Mart, Disney, and Bank of America. But his book is not just an exposΓ©. It is a meticulously-researched and passionate refutation of the arguments of CRTβ€”and a roadmap for the counter-revolution to come.”

Manhattan Institute


“To be at home is to have a place in the world which is yours, where you are not a stranger and where you find the outlines of your identity. In the modern world, however, where the sense of home has been eroded by technology and bureaucracy, architecture can create a substitute for this sense, by defining spaces which answer to the dreams and memories of the people who live in them.”
— Roger Scruton

Excellence in Facilities Management

Newman Centre

February 16, 2025
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“The love of our private friends

is the only preparatory exercise

for the love of all men.”

— John Henry Newman

ColΓ‘iste Nuaman | Ballykelly County Tuaisceart Γ‰ireann

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Newman Centre in Ireland is a Catholic chaplaincy and student center located at University College Dublin. The center is named after Blessed John Henry Newman, a prominent 19th-century Catholic theologian and cardinal who was recently canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church.Β  Its spaces are open to Catholic students and staff at the university, as well as for the wider community. These include daily Mass, confession, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Bible study groups, social events, and retreats. The center also hosts talks and lectures on topics related to Catholicism and the Catholic intellectual tradition, and supports student-led initiatives and outreach programs.

The Newman Center is part of a global network of Newman Centers and Catholic campus ministries that aim to provide spiritual and intellectual support for Catholic students in higher education. The centers are typically named after John Henry Newman, who wrote extensively on the role of education in developing the whole person and fostering a deeper understanding of faith and reason.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sacred Spaces

 

Morning with Cows

February 16, 2025
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Statement of Net Position | ($1.3B)*

Milk

Agriculture

General Specifications for Dairy Plants Approved for USDA Inspection and Grading Service

Food Science & Technology / University of California Davis

 


*The UCD Financial Statements — the simple balance sheet showing assets and liabilities — is not easy to find in it crazily overproduced Finance and Business web page.Β  Β Perhaps the apparent $1.3B operating loss has since been remediated.Β  The loss may be absorbed into the larger University of California University System which consists of 23 colleges and universities.

Cultural Resource Properties

February 16, 2025
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University of Chicago

 

 

Books cannot be killed by fire.Β  People die, but books never die

No man and no force can put thought in a concentration camp forever

— Franklin Roosevelt

 

Many education communities build and maintain cultural resource properties whose safety and sustainability objectives are informed by local adaptations of consensus products developed by the International Code CouncilΒ (ICC) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).Β  Β We need to understand the ICC and NFPA product suites as a pair.Β  Β For most real assets in the education industryΒ  they move “roughly” in tandem even though they are produced by different organizations for a different set of customers.Β  Sometimes the out-of-step condition between NFPA and ICC permits subject matter experts on technical committees to make the best possible decisions regarding the safety and sustainability agenda of the interest group they represent; but not always.

Occupancy classification is always a first consideration and both the NFPA and the ICC have a claim to some part of this occupancy concept*.Β  Β In the ICC suite we find code requirements for many “cultural places of worship” tracking in the following sections of the International Building Code (IBC):

Section 303 Assembly Group A-3

Section 305 Educational Group E

Section 308 Institutional Group I

Note that Sections 305 and 308 recognize the accessory and multi-functional nature of occupancy types in the education industry – i.e child care and adult care function can marge and be an accessory to a place of worship.Β  The general rule in the IBC is that accessory religious educational rooms and religious auditoriums with occupant loads of less than 100 per room or space are not considered separate occupancies.Β  Β  Other standards developers are guided by this rule.

"The only thing you absolutely have to know is the location of the library" - Albert Einstein

Close coupled to the IBC for this occupancy class is NFPA 909 Code for the Protection of Cultural Resource Properties – Museums, Libraries, and Places of Worship.Β  From the document prospectus:

β€’ This code describes principles and practices of protection for cultural resource properties (including, but not limited to, museums, libraries, and places of worship), their contents, and collections, against conditions or physical situations with the potential to cause damage or loss.

β€’Β This code covers ongoing operations and rehabilitation and acknowledges the need to preserve culturally significant and character-defining building features and sensitive, often irreplaceable, collections and to provide continuity of operations.

β€’Β Principles and practices for life safety in cultural resource properties are outside the scope of this code. Where this code includes provisions for maintaining means of egress and controlling occupant load, it is to facilitate the evacuation of items of cultural significance, allow access for damage limitation teams in an emergency, and prevent damage to collections through overcrowding or as an unintended consequence of an emergency evacuation.

β€’Β Library and museum collections that are privately owned and not open to the public shall not be required to meet the requirements of this code.

"The only thing you absolutely have to know is the location of the library" - Albert Einstein

Since we are hard upon release of the 2021 Edition of NFPA 909 let us take a backward look at the current (2017) version of NFPA 909 Code for the Protection of Cultural Resource Properties – Museums, Libraries, and Places of Worship.Β  Chapter 14 covers “Museums, Libraries and their Collections”.Β  Β Chapter 15 covers “Places of Worship”

Free Access Edition NFPA 909

The 2025 Edition is now open for public input.Β  Let us pick through proposals for the 2021 Edition to inform our approach to its improvement by referencing the technical committee transcripts linked below:

Public Input Report: January 12, 2023

N.B. We find committee response (accepted in principle) to Standards Michigan proposal to articulate conditions in which places of worship and libraries are used as community disaster relief support facilities.Β  We consider this a modest “code win”.

Circling back to the ICC suite we find elevated interest in hardening community owned facilities to tornadoes, hurricane and floods and other storm related risk in the structural engineering chapters of the International Building Code.

NFPA 909: Code for the Protection of Cultural Resource Properties – Museums, Libraries, and Places of Worship | 2021 Edition

Leadership and facility managers for enterprises of this type are encouraged to contribute obtain their own (free) NFPA public participation account in order to directly participate in the 2025 revision of NFPA 909 by logging in here: https://www.nfpa.org/login.

Public consultation on the First Draft of the 2025 Edition closes January 4, 2024.

This document is also a standing item on our periodic Prometheus, Lively and Fine Arts teleconference.Β  See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.

Issue: [15-258]

Category: Fire Safety, Public Safety

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Josh Elvove, Joe DeRosier

*See NFPA 101 Life Safety Code

Labeling of Hazardous Art Materials Act

Property Loss Prevention


LEARN MORE:

Guidelines for the Security of Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Other Special Collections, Association of College & Research Libraries, American Library Association, 50 East Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611-2795.

β€œA Legal Primer on Managing Museum Collections,” Malaro, Marie, second edition 1998

β€œRisk and Insurance Management Manual for Libraries,” Mary Breighner and William Payton, edited by Jeanne Drewes, ALA 2005 ISBN 0-8389-8325-1.

Wisconsin Historic Building Code, Madison, WI:Wisconsin Administrative Code.

 

International Property Maintenance Code

February 16, 2025
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In most jurisdictions the standard of care for operation and maintenance of education facilities is discovered and promulgated by a “fabric” of consensus products developed by a kind of “shadow government” created by a network of non-profit publishers; among them the International Code Council.Β  The ICC has one of the most dynamic catalogs in the construction industry and today we drill into the the International Property Maintenance Code which completed another revision cycle in 2021.Β  Β Operation and maintenance of education facilities is the (much larger) part of #TotalCostofOwnership of the real assets of a school district, college or university.Β  Public access to most recent revision to the IPMC is linked below:

Β 2021 International Property Maintenance Code

The transcript of public comment on the 2021 revision provides insight into the back-and-forth among the technical committee experts:

2021 IPMC Group A Public Comment Agenda

Note the concern for swimming pools, radon, light, ventilation and occupancy limits.

The ICC Group A tranche of titles will undergo another cyclic revision starting in 2023.Β  Since so much of the ICC catalog underlies occupancy safety for education, healthcare and nearly all other aspects of the built environment we track the action on a near-daily basis.Β  You may join any of our daily colloquia, shown on our CALENDAR, or interact directly with the ICC with the link below:

Β cdpACCESS

2024/2025/2026 ICC CODE DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE

The ICC catalog is regarded as the most authoritative for education facility management.Β  We maintain the IPMC on the standing agenda of our Hammurabi and Interiors colloquia.Β  See our CALENDAR for the next colloquium; open to everyone.

 

Meeting Point

Issue: [Various]

Category: Architectural, Facility Asset Management, Space Planning

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Jack Janveja, Richard Robben, Jerry Schulte

More


 

Beer Pong Robot

February 15, 2025
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— 1895 Banjo Paterson

 

Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabongUnder the shade of a Coolibah treeAnd he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled“You’ll come a Waltzing Matilda with me”
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing MatildaYou’ll come a Waltzing Matilda with meAnd he sang as he stowed that jumbuck in his tucker bag“You’ll come a Waltzing Matilda with me”
….

 

MTRX5700: Experimental Robotics

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