Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Corinthian bronze

“ Man is the most composite of all creatures.... Well, as in the old burning of the Temple at Corinth, by the melting and intermixture of silver and gold and other metals a new compound more precious than any, called Corinthian brass, was formed; so in this continent,--asylum of all nations,--the energy of Irish, Germans, Swedes, Poles, and Cossacks, and all the European tribes,--of the Africans, and of the Polynesians,--will construct a new race, a new religion, a new state, a new literature, which will be as vigorous as the new Europe which came out of the smelting-pot of the Dark Ages, or that which earlier emerged from the Pelasgic and Etruscan barbarism.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson, describing American Culture as a melting pot in a journal entry, 1845


So of course this brings to mind the historical reference to those "better angels," that the metal of women/men and the idea of a silver and gold in society."Plato made clear that merit and not heredity defined the gold man and that gold could be found in all parts of society." See:Plato and Justice

Abraham Lincoln-First Inaugural Address-Monday, March 4, 1861

I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.



Where are those whose insight can be formative to a "better ideal?" Shall it not begin inside this "melting pot" from an idea, to then recognize that such an application can set minds to see cultures whose demise has been moved to another arena for change? It is nopt to allow the distortions and appeal of the ole ways to rule the minds of those who are ready for change to be unshackle from the chains that bind one from seeing the applicability of the sun in our lives.


A crucible is a cup-shaped piece of laboratory equipment used to contain chemical compounds when heating them to very high temperatures. The receptacle is usually made of porcelain or an inert metal.
Use in Ash Content Determination


Ash is the completely unburnable inorganic salts in a sample. A crucible can be similarly used to determine the percentage of ash contained in an otherwise burnable sample of material such as coal, wood, or oil. A crucible and its lid are pre-weighed at constant mass as described above. The sample is added to the completely dry crucible and lid and together they are weighed to determine the mass of the sample by difference. The crucible, lid, and sample are then fired to constant mass to completely burn up the sample, leaving behind only the completely unburnable ash. After cooling in dryness, the crucible, lid, and remaining ash are weighed to find the mass of the ash from the sample by difference. The fraction of ash (by mass) in the sample is determined by the dividing the mass of the ash by the mass of the sample before burning, which is done by subtracting the weight of the crucible and lid from the figure of the container, lid, and sample.


Walking through the ruins, would set my mind to what existed, and what no longer exists. Did we not calculate "the change over time." Did we not understand the citadels that were built then while very physical , has now become unknown symbols of the past and stand as reckoning of a civilization that has long dissipated and has become part of the collective unconscious of our societies.

It is more then that the "character of the woman/man then become the idea of what falls away, and to see beyond the limitations that an ole society may have imbued in those times, that we saw too then, that our mothers, grandmothers, were indeed one of those better angels under the adversities of the times.

2 comments:

  1. YES WE DID!

    In my area of VA, Democrats celebrated in the Hampton Holiday Inn. Cautiously optimistic as the electoral votes started rolling in, we really got a lift and reinforced hope when Pennsylvania went to Obama. Not a big surprise, but it meant that McCain had a tough fight. Then around 23:00 Virginia was called for Obama and the crowd went wild, and almost as if on cue for followup: Obama projected as US President 2008! What joy, relief, and (for the mostly black crowd) pride. I exchanged many a high-five and even some fist bumps and hip style handshakes. Obama’s proud but conciliatory speech was very stirring, it said just what needed saying. Congratulations, baby! John McCain gets credit for a gracious concession speech and for supplying a colorful character into the public eye (now safe to chuckle over.)

    For those of us who worked to canvass and register voters, it was especially poignant and rewarding to have won Virginia. I didn’t do as much as I could have. Still, it helped and that made me feel a part of history not just for the USA and the world, but my state as well. The young “kids” who had been organizing for Obama around here were happy but dazed, as if they couldn’t believe it. We had record voter turnout, in the high sixties both USA and VA.

    And now, it is still “Yes we can” to solve America’s problems and pitch in for the world as well. We all have to pitch in.

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  2. Hi Neil,

    You'd be surprised by how much the world is watching and is effected on a deeper emotional level.

    My household has been occupied the last year in the education of this system of electing a president. We do not disavow our own countries roots, but see by example, that what can lead a nation and make it seem relative too, based in principle.

    Learning of the passage of its presidents from John Adams to Jefferson, and then with the inaugural speech by Obama that had a deep impact wit me along with my wife seeing the rise of a leader who is more then qualified. There is a renewed hope on many levels and with many countries.

    We should learn the truth of the economic situation in my eyes, that it was not caused by the mortgage crisis as has been portrayed, but by the inflated profits 500% of oil that lead inflation. Let us not be consoled by this resource that we would not see it held to a market capitalization plan now that the sign of the times came and it saw itself as a regulator too?:)

    Well done.

    Best,

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