Mr. Johnson: If you haven't already, you should view the work of Dr. Eugene Tsui: http://www.tdrinc.com/architecture.html . One of the criteria he had in designing a "California-proof" house for his parents was that it have no right angles, as this is the place where stresses would build up during an earthquake. If fact, the parabolic cross-section of that house is actually intentionally inspired by a microscopic creature called a tardigrade, reputedly the most indestructible lifeform on earth.

By the way, I'm glad to see you're getting new exposure here on Neatorama. I've been a fan ever since an issue of Games Magazine in the mid80s showed an excerpt of "What The World Needs Now."

@Alex: "There is no guarantee that your investment gain value. In fact, whenever you invest, the investment company makes you sign that you know your investment is not FDIC insured and may lose value."

That's what I suspected. So the rationale for using our taxpayer money for a bailout of these acknowledged risks is.... what, exactly? Anyone?

The lastest codewords I've heard used now are along the lines of "an infusion of confidence" in the market. Well, shoot, I'll bequeath you all confidence. I'll give the markets a friendly chuck on the chin and tell them to buck up, little camper. Tell them grey skies gonna clear up. Sing Hallelujah c'mon get happy. But do not expect the American public to pay dime one for so much as a motivational poster to put on the wall when there was a bill proposed with explicitly no oversight on $700 billion to ameliorate private debt on admitted risk that most of us prudently refused to buy into the the first place.

I do have a question regarding the 401(k)s and Mutual Fund investments that are likely to be scheduled to take a hit: When the decision is made to invest in them, is there something in the prospectus that guarantees their increase in value, and if so, what is the mechanism for that?

The indestructable tardigrade is also the inspiration for the residence for Florence and William Tsui [http://www.tdrinc.com/tsuihs.html], whose designer, Eugene Tsui [of Tsui Design and Research, http://www.tdrinc.com/] sought to essentially make a California-proof house. This architect takes his cues from nature in order to develop efficient forms and functions for structures, and discovered the tardigrade specifically because of its invulnerability. The parabaloid cross-section of the house mimics this creature for its crush-resistant properties. Read the source of the link above for its specific mention.