Charles Brown's Blog

New (Web-based)Bank of the United States

Frederick from Evanston, IL — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:08:40 EDT

This post has been buried and not fully discussed so I am reposting it as the other fixes have not been very effective. The advantage of this plan is that it is not dependent on the behavior of the entrenched bankers to work but does give them an example and some friendly competition to get back to work. By using the records of the IRS we can devise a formula to set a limit on any American's bank card - that of the taxes he paid averaged over the past 5 years! Similarly we can project his ability to pay off a home loan. I do not believe this system should try to replace the private banks but rather provide a redundant failsafe so that the world's economy may go on under difficult circumstances. Please read the extended post for rest of the story...

Web-based Bank of the United States

Frederick from Evanston, IL — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 10:27:24 EDT

What if we took our 700 billion and created a new Bank of the United states, backed by the federal government that offered a baseline of financial services at reasonable, but less than exceptional prices. It could be most cheaply based online. If the economy was good few would use it, but it would serve as a backstop in times such as those we face now. As far as the junk "assets, " this bank would be able, if the price was to its advantage, to purchase those, disassemble them and resell or restructure them with the original buyer. If financial institutions fail, the government could seize any remaining assets and deposit them in this bank. The current 700 billion dollar plan runs the grave risk of creating huge ghettos of foreclosed neighborhoods that may never be able to return to their previous vitality.

Forbes almost got it!

Frederick from Evanston, IL — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 20:56:12 EDT

Special Report
The Forbes 400

The Forbes article and commentary on NPR Forbes spokesman notices the rich are not getting richer but remaining stagnant in their income. They went on to note that this is not good for the "rest of us" or the 'little' man because when the rich man is getting richer that correlates with gains in amount of work and productivity for the American worker. What they failed to realize is that it isn't the rich spending their money that gives the masses a job but the expenditures of the masses that drive the economy and lead to the profits that make the rich richer. So, the rich getting richer is a sign but not the cause of a healthy economy. In order to fix this economy it is the little man that we need to think about for our society is only as productive and healthy as its weakest citizens. Healthcare and a move to a greener, healthier culture that gives Americans an alternative to the tyranny of todays big oil economy.

http://www.forbes.com/2008/09/16/forbes-400-billionaires-lists-400list08_cx_mn_0917richamericans_land.html

Solving our enery crisis - Giving America a New Backbone

Frederick from Evanston, IL — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:33:02 EDT

In order to secure our energy independence it is critical that America have a High Efficiency Electronic Backbone, this could be used to allow communities and individuals to sell electricity across our country preventing the need of communities to create greenhouse gases with inefficient power generation. The current Internet Backbone Map would be a good starting point. International connections at least to Canada would probably be needed. Wind power from the shores of Lake Eire could be sold to New York City. The Sun's power could to captured in Arizona and the wave action of the Pacific could be harnessed and used to power Los Angeles. Further, as we have already gone down the nuclear road, and are left with spent fuel rods it makes sense for us (U.S.) to develop the breeder reactor under a joint government - private utility company project in association with Canada and with the aide of French advisers. (the French already have developed and are using breeder reactor technology. The idea of this venture would be to develop one example smaller size breeder reactor in the southeast (which would still be the largest reactor in the country) and then build 2 larger reactors in the Midwest and western parts of the country, all on our new backbone, this would give the whole country access to dependable electricity which will be needed as we continue to see fuel prices rise. This power can be used to create hydrogen or to power electric and hybrid plug in vehicles. Finally nuclear batteries are already being developed which could be buried to power outlying communities at reasonable prices and quite safely, though the Department of Energy still need to develop rules for thier use as this is new technology. These two uses for spent fuel rods will help reduce, but not completely eliminate America's need for a Nuclear Storage Facillity. Photos courtesy of http://www.cameco.com/uranium_101/fact.php, OSHA and Natl. Geo. Soc. (Better version: http://charlesbrownblog.blogspot.com/)

Letter to "The Verdict" at MSNBC

Frederick from Evanston, IL — Fri, 16 May 2008 10:03:14 EDT

Regarding your "Obama should offer the VP job to Hillary" segment and panel: A couple of your guests seemed to have it right, but failed to articulate. Obama needs to think outside the box and not pick merely to win as has been done in the past, not pick to unify the party, as has been done in the past, but pick a VP that will help to unify the country. Chuck Hagel would be an excellent example of this, but I'm sure there are others.

I'm sure your smug little mealy mouthed republican apologist would try to twist my words also but as I white male, I have no difficulty understanding what Michelle Obama was saying, when she said she was truly proud of America for the first time in her adult life. As children we are taught to expect a lot, perhaps to an unrealistic degree for and from America. Even if America is the best of all the countries in the world, I would still expect that America should hold itself to an even higher, idealistic standard. One of my first memories was of JFK getting shot. I was horrified what might happen to America then. Later I was horrified again and again when Martin Luther King was gunned down and Robert Kennedy shot. I was proud of America when we landed on the moon in 1969 and was in England then and let them know it. But I was only 9 then... I was not proud of Nixon, the Vietnam war, our involvement in the Bay of Pigs, Iran-contra, Guatemala, and our other not so secret enterprises. It infur iates me that Americas taxpayers dollars are spent secretly and stolen by those who have taken oaths to serve. I was not proud of America was I saw a movie about the Tuskegee Syphillis Project. I was proud of the US Hockey Team and all of Americas Olympians, win or lose, if done honorably. Perhaps Mrs. Obama is not a sports fan ... I am not proud of our mishandling our our foreign policy, the Iraq war, destruction of our economy and am deeply saddened by our impudent attempts to capture or kill Osama bin Laden.

Yet, Barack Obama's Campaign has made me proud of America again and given me new hope for America. If we are a strong enough as a people to unite over our racial prejudices and elect Barack to the highest office in the land, we can certainly solve global warming and learn to power our economy in new ways. Perhaps we can even realize that health involves the whole of a population

Neurologist Finds that More Than 60% of His Autistic Patients Have Mitochondrial Disorders

Frederick from Evanston, IL — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 07:20:27 EDT

Neurologist Finds that More Than 60% of His Autistic Patients Have Mitochondrial Disorders

"Shoffner wanted to see if he could identify the underlying genetic mechanisms that might explain this link.

He evaluated genetic samples and clinical information gathered on 37 children diagnosed with autism who had been evaluated at his clinic for mitochondrial disease.

They found more than 60 percent of these children had mitochondrial defects."

Now this is not a random sample and is much higher than the Portuguese study (20%), so until these numbers start to settle to a smaller ball park than 'between 20 and 60 percent' in studies with better sampling, we should not hold too closely to this number. But if they do end up settling near Shoffner's experience, it will be safe to say that CDC's claims of 'rare' are really, really wrong and probably criminal.
New autism finding hope
Date: 13/04/2008

CHICAGO, April 13 (Reuters) - U.S. researchers have found a genetic link between autism and a muscle-weakening disorder known as mitochondrial disease, they said on Sunday, in a finding that may open new avenues of research into the causes of autism.

"Recent studies have suggested that as many 20 percent of patients with autism have markers for mitochondrial disease," said Dr. John Shoffner, a neurologist and geneticist at Medical Neurogenetics in Atlanta, who presented his findings at the American Academy of Neurology meeting in Chicago.

"There has really not been much work done so far to push that issue," Shoffner said in a telephone interview.

Mitochondrial diseases are a set of genetic disorders in which energy-producing structures in cells are impaired. The disease is often triggered by an illness, such as a high fever, which can result in severe muscle weakening.

Shoffner wanted to see if he could identify the underlying genetic mechanisms that might explain this link.

He evaluated genetic samples and clinical information gathered on 37 children diagnosed with autism who had been evaluated at his clinic for mitochondrial disease.

They found more than 60 percent of these children had mitochondrial defects.

Shoffner said the finding needs to be confirmed in other studies, but it does help to validate the hypothesis of a link between the two conditions in a subset of patients.

"This is a fundamental first step," Shoffner said in a telephone interview. "This gives us a great foothold for moving forward with this population -- asking better, more precise questions."

GEORGIA CASE

No one knows what causes autism, but researchers think it is likely that several genes contribute.

Some autism advocates have seized on the case of a Georgia girl with a rare mitochondrial disease and autism-like symptoms who won federal compensation in a case arguing a vaccine led to her condition.

Government health officials say there is no scientific evidence to suggest that vaccines cause autism, which is part of a spectrum of disorders that can have relatively mild symptoms or can severely disable a child by interfering with speech and behavior.

Shoffner said most children with autism spectrum disorders do not have recognizable abnormalities in mitochondria, but a group of these children have significant defects.

"We are opening avenues of additional research into autism spectrum disorders and new ideas about what might be causing these disorders to develop," he said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about one in every 150 U.S. children has autism or a related disorder such as Asperger's syndrome, which is marked by mild social awkwardness.

Several studies have suggested that genes involved with communication pathways in the brain may contribute to autism, and Shoffner thinks it is possible that cells with impaired ability to convert food into energy may play a role.

"It certainly sits at a very important place in cellular metabolism that can significantly alter neuronal (nerve cell) development," he said.most children with autism spectrum disorders do not have recognizable abnormalities in mitochondria, but a group of these children have significant defects.

"We are opening avenues of additional research into autism spectrum disorders and new ideas about what might be causing these disorders to develop," he said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about one in every 150 U.S. children has autism or a related disorder such as Asperger's syndrome, which is marked by mild social awkwardness.

Several studies have suggested that genes involved with communication pathways in the brain may contribute to autism, and Shoffner thinks it is possible that cells with impaired ability to convert food into energy may play a role.

"It certainly sits at a very important place in cellular metabolism that can significantly alter neuronal (nerve cell) development," he said.

3 AM phone call; a different angle.

Frederick from Evanston, IL — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 21:36:29 EST

It's three AM. Your children are sleeping. You're sleeping. Yet, somewhere in the world the Phone is ringing. Who will answer it?

In Japanese:

Yasuo Fukuda, why, good day Mr. President, yes I got your email and we're looking over your proposal right now.

long pause

I think this is just the kind of partnership both of our peoples can agree on. I'll be sending out a press release shortly.

In English:

When your government is peaceful but proactive you can sleep easy at night and wake up in a better world tomorrow.

(Do not translate the message - that's will get people talking)

Charles Brown Blog

Frederick from Evanston, IL — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 07:35:37 EST

http://charlesbrownblog.blogspot.com/

I was born at University of Chicago Hospital and have lived in Hyde Park, Beverly, Pullman/Roseland neighborhoods in Chicago and Blue Island just South of Chicago. I also Went to School and Worked in Indiana and New Mexico, where I stayed for 14 years working at Las Alamos Medical Center, The University of New Mexico's Children's Pyschieatric Center, And in Bussiness as a manager/ computer guru. Finally I moved back to Chicago and became a Chicago Public School teacher in Computer Science, where I set up 2 computer Labs and several servers. Now I am a stay at home dad and am learning about autism. My areas of Interest for this group are: Healthcare, Eduction and Autism. Energy, The Environment and Global Warming. The Economy, Finite Resources and the US military.

My fields of expertise: Education, Healthcare and increasingly Autism