these are 3 small bottles of BW retouching inks. a total of 45ml of ink, had they been full which they were not.
it sold for about 70$ plus shipping. this makes the net cost per Liter 1555$. the original price tag from about 10 years ago was 5.56.
thats nothing compared to this:
This is an MFA diploma. a Master's degree in "Absolutely Nothing". its net cost is about 100,000$. the tube, carrying the diploma with the actual diploma inside weighs 132 Grams. this makes the net cost per gram about 756$. however the diploma it self, a 1/4 sheet of very nice aquarell paper, which is generally measured at 300 grams per Square meter, brings the actual net cost per weight to 2000$ per gram.
The inks, are st least in theory usable to some extent. perhaps you can fill a fountain pen with them. this diploma, on the other hand, is not very useful at all. water color paper makes bad plane building materials, and i cant say it will be pleasant to wipe your ass with.it is not big enough to be a place mat, but too big to make a shopping list on.
on another note, the nice tube it came in is quite useful indeed, when you want to smack your self over the head.
My first Post RISD Photograph. It appears that the world has not ended with the school year, and photos can still be taken, Roi Kupper - for your consideration.
In 1974 the Speed limits in the whole of United states was reduced to a top speed of 55mph. this laster until 1987 and is still the same in many places across the country. the speed limit was imposed as a response to the extreme fuel shortage the lead to the 1973 world wide oil crisis. the thought was the reducing the cruising speed of cars on the highway will also reduce gas consumption, as most american cars at the time had gear boxes with only 3 gears, and appalling fuel efficiency in general. when the fuel crisis was over and american car makers went back to making stupid and decadent cars designed for the 80's oil glut, it was calculated that less then 1% of energy per year was saved with the new speed restrictions, not so far from the 2% savings that congress projected in the first place.
But how did all this come to be?
in october 1973 Syria and Egypt engaged in a combined assault against Israel to retake territories that were conquered and occupied since June 1967. the Egyptians in the Sinai desert, crossed the Suez canal and over ran israeli outpost, and the Syrians advanced south from the Golan heights towards the sea of Galilee.
The surprise attack caught the israeli's unprepared with most soldiers at home on leave for the jewish day of atonement. Both advancing armies crossed the borders and were moving fast through the thin lines of israeli forces. in the first few days the chaos on the front lines, and the in the rear as the israeli army scrambled to mobilize gave the impression that israel was loosing the war.
in a desperate act to assist the Israeli army, Richard nixon ordered the implementation of an airlift with military aid to israel to counter the Soviet military aid to the Egyptian and Syrian armies.
The war broke out on the 6th of October. the airlift, called "Operation Nickelgrass" was only started on october 12 with the first plane landing in israel on October 14th, by which time israel had reorganized its lines and was pushing the invading armies back on both fronts. Operation nickel grass met with extreme objections from both within and from out of the US. most allied european and NATO nations, refused to allow american aid planes to israel land in their territory, or even fly in their airspace. the Arab league and OPEC nations threatened with an oil embargo on the western world. The head Joint Chiefs threatened to resign in light of the fact that american forces in vietman were suffering heavy casualties caused by under equipping them despite ongoing requests, while this airlift to israel was underway.
As a result of Operation nickelgrass Israel became the largest single recipient of american military and financial aid between 1973 and 2006, topping the aid the US gave to all other countries, combined. the OPEC nations acted on their threat and within a few months the US starting experiencing the greatest oil shortage since the beginning of the comemrcial use of petroleum for energy. the US lost many more soldiers in Vietnam before admitting it had lost its campaign against communist ideology (with the domino effect never actually occurring) and soon after pulled out it troops.
The 1973 oil crisis nearly bankrupt the american oil based suburban car culture and had many long lasting effects. Racial segregation, the third strike law, privatization of prisons and corporate rule are a few of them. Another one is the stupid speed limit, still enforced today, all because of Israel.
