Just as hope inspires people to great new heights, fear can kill the most promising revolution before it begins to take root. The seeds of Fear that have and are being planted by Republicans and some few Democrats must be fought with repeated and inspiring messages of hope.
There is not going to be a government take over of health care in America. But people are starting to believe this will happen. Need to put the fact out there about what percentage of Americans will continue to enjoy existing employer or private insurance plans and choices in the proposed reforms. Perhaps bullet points ads indicating how the elderly and terminally ill will be covered by proposed system.
There is no plan or proposal to cover illegal immigrants. Yet opponents are going in public and proclaiming this is what health care reform wants to do as if this like it was biblical truth. In any case, out of the 300 million plus population, illegal immigrants make 1% of the population. At risk are 50-70 million (about 20% of the population) 'legal' Americans who have no medical insurance cover at present, who risk death and disability. How do Republicans propose to insure the medically uninsured?
What is behind the blatant refusal to let every American enjoy the full benefits of a developed economy? Are they afraid the maid and the gardener will have the same choice and therefore access to health services as a top notch Senator or Congress member? Sick employees make poor economic producers.
It should not be acceptable in a modern America for a mother to have to choose between paying for groceries to feed her family and paying her health insurance premiums. Health insurance is not affordable even to those currently covered.
Americans should fear those bent on maintaining the status quo and denying tens of million of citizens health insurance. That will only benefit hospitals and insurance companies.
Rational Americans should hope that Congress and Senate will embrace the reforms and pass a bipartisan bill to overhaul the existing system so that all citizens will no longer worry about falling sick and not being able to meet the bills.
Here is a page showing the Anchorage Declaration from when the Indigenous Global Summit met in Anchorage, Alaska. It may not seem like much but it is a good start. I am printing the opening and it can be read in full at:
http://www.indigenoussummit.com/servlet/content/declaration.html
The Anchorage Declaration 24 April 2009
From 20-24 April, 2009, Indigenous representatives from the Arctic, North America, Asia, Pacific, Latin America, Africa, Caribbean and Russia met in Anchorage, Alaska for the Indigenous Peoples’ Global Summit on Climate Change. We thank the Ahtna and the Dena’ina Athabascan Peoples in whose lands we gathered.
We express our solidarity as Indigenous Peoples living in areas that are the most vulnerable to the impacts and root causes of climate change. We reaffirm the unbreakable and sacred connection between land, air, water, oceans, forests, sea ice, plants, animals and our human communities as the material and spiritual basis for our existence.
Between May 2000 and August 2006, Brazil lost nearly 150,000 square kilometres of forest?an area larger than Greece?and since 1970, over 600,000 square kilometres (232,000 square miles) of Amazon rainforest have been destroyed. Deforestation practices around the world are NOT going to stop no matter how bad the figures look. The truth is we need the timber for houses, furniture paper etc. The only thing that's going to slow the deforestation of the Amazon forest is the Y3000 Plan.
Continue reading Deforestation
Saving the environment against global warming needs action now and it involves you more then you think. You don't need to spend thousands of hours creating something new. We have done all the work for you. All you need to do is support us and the Y3000 Plan we have designed. Our philosophy is "if we get enough people to join our site or leave a comment, Governments will have to listen ". In the Y3000 Plan we have already established: What a trillion dollar stimulus package buys. How Waste Water treatment plant can be energy self-sufficient. How much you are costing the environment. How clean energy can make more money. How many types of taxes your paying and what you get for your dollars.
Continue Reading Part 3B Save the environment
Building a new man made Amazon forest may not be as far fetched or difficult as some would have us believe. With global warming and co2 emissions on the rise the world is screaming for ACTION and Australia has the answer. In a land bound by sea Australia boasts desert lands of 1,317,000 sq kilometres which occupy 18% of the continent which are comprised of ten separate deserts sharing median rain falls of 150mm per year.
Continue Reading Complete Article
The plant utilised an "anaerobic migrating bed reactor" which was subdivided into four reaction cells in a series. The contents of the first three cells were mixed intermittently by injecting bubbles of recirculated biogas, and the sludge was allowed to settle in the unmixed last cell.
To maintain a uniform distribution of sludge through the four cells, the flow direction was reversed automatically over a 24-hour cycle. The sludge settling characteristics are therefore critical in governing the sludge concentration and reactor volume required. (See figure 2).
Aquatec-Maxcon drew upon the technical expertise of an experienced wastewater treatment consultant, Ken Hartley, and the Advanced Wastewater Management Centre at The University of Queensland. Funding support was provided through the Queensland Sustainable Energy Innovation Fund.
Sewage treatment is a significant user of energy. Operation of pumps, blowers and other equipment at a typical sewage treatment plant requires an annual electrical energy consumption of about 50 kWh per person. Thus,substantial amounts of energy are required to treat sewage from major population areas, and sewage treatment often comprises the largest use of electricity by local governments.
At the present time around the world, your waste is costing a fortune and costing the environment even more. The Y3000 Plan can be implemented around the world. However the Y3000 Plan has been designed with Australia in mind because I'm more familiar with the Australian Landscape.
Australia Has invested approx 48 billion dollars to service around 21 million residents. Using the same figures America has invested $694,456,320,000 into servicing 300 million people. Waste Water Management systems around the world are the greatest waste of tax payers money ever.
The estimated combined annual profit estimated for the United States of America and Australia in 2009 is $0.00 until now Waste Water management has been the only resource owned by the government that doesn't make a profit.
By now you should be starting to get a bigger picture of how your tax money is spent and how much of your tax dollars are actually working for you and your country. It's the sole principle of the Y3000 Plan to encourage governments to start using our money properlyYour money should be used to partly self-sustain a countries economics. To continue to use tax dollars as the main form of raising money MUST end. When a company only has one, two or three forms of income that customers can't afford the company WILL GO BROKE. The same applies to governments.History has shown us proof of rich countries fall to a mere rubble and dust in comparison of today's standards. Ethiopia is a prime example. If we wish to keep our great Countries at the top of the food chain, change is inevitable.
In the midst of one of the worlds worst ever global economic crisis's our hard earned tax dollars are being thrown around like it's a game of monopoly. Words like hundred million, billion and even trillions of dollars seem to be the only words our trusted politicians know in these timesIt's estimated the United States of America Australian governments will inject 3.3 trillion dollars into our economies over the next 10years by the guise of stimulus packages. But where does that money come from? And why do we need so much money injected in our economy? Continue Reading Complete Article
Energy is a major issue in Florida for the next decade. Details:
http://www.flcv.com/flenergy.html
Environmental Education Page on State of Florida Environment
Environmental Problems and Solutions
Energy, Toxics, Water Problems, Congestion, Coastal Problems, etc.
www.flcv.com/
Well I have to say a few words on the fiasco we call our economy. Sorry Mr. President, I don't fully agree with the assessment that poor lending is what put us into the current predicament. I think it was a final straw, but it was a thin straw at best.
So, what did get us where we are now? Out of control, unregulated oil prices. That is what the majority of the heap is upon this pile. As gas prices escalated at an astonishing rate, and oil companies reaped record profits, the economy began a spiral that has left the entire country reeling. With the higher prices came higher expenses in the transportation of goods. This leads to higher costs, and in effect higher prices. The higher costs a business has to incur, the more they need to charge for their product or service to stay in the black. If goods are higher and one needs to cut back, where do these cut backs come from? Jobs, either the hours, or the position.
The second layer of this is the drop in spendable income when fuel costs more than triple. The less spendable income a family has plays a direct role in the amount of sales a small business makes. Less sales, equals less profits, equals layoffs. With the family's budget stretched by exorbitant fuel costs it may lead to the inability to make mortgage payments, especially when the mortgage payments increase in time because of the assumption of higher income is expected. THIS is where the lending practices start to contribute to the fiscal downfall.
I am not an economist, nor a banker, but I am a big picture kind of person and can see all these pieces falling into their prospective slots. Anyway, adjusted mortgages are not a product of the past 8 years. They started in the 1980's (note, this also was when many regulations dissolved either by law, or by inaction) For many, this banking practice allowed them to afford a home they may not have otherwise afforded, but with this also came extreme home ownership inflation.
The home I grew up in cost my family 35K in 1966. In 1989 it sold for 316K. And after doing a websearch I find a house across the street that is currently listed for 777K. WOW. Now that is some serious inflation. Is this the banker's fault? I don't think so. They merely facilitated the transaction. However, where the banking industry is culpable, in my opinion, is that as home sales began to struggle (became quite noticeable to this layperson several years ago), they did not modify their practices, and with the increase in fuel costs being a major red flag they needed to make immediate modifications, and they didn't. Now they want to be bailed out.
I have a few ideas how bail outs could happen. Reinstate or create regulations that ensure ethical business conduct. For the more urgent bailing out of banks and homeowners I had this idea. Both parties need to be accountable for their personal roles in the current state of things. What can the government do to assist? I would offer this solution, that would be completely voluntary from the banks and/or homeowners. The federal government would put the funding in HUD. HUD would offer to buy the paper on homes that have occupants that are in the foreclosure process (homes valued at 700K or lower). The purchase amount would be 80% of the current market value of that home. The homeowner, would then have 2 choices. They could either repay the loan (recalculated for the amount the government paid with a 4-5% interest rate) or, they could become rent to own tenants if they can't afford the mortgage payment recreated by the new loan. The rent to own tenancy would be rent in the amount of 35% of their income with 25% of the amount they actually pay, going towards the loan amount should they decide to repurchase their home at a later date. This will assist banks from having to sell properties that they most likely won't recoup their losses on anyway. They should accept the profit losses as a price for making bad business decisions.
This kind of bailout will not burden the economy in the long run, because the money will either be paid back as the loan is paid (with interest), or there would be rental income until the house could be sold in the future and the loan would be repaid at that time.
I haven't yet figured out a means that would make the profiteers of the oil industry accountable, just yet, but I'm working on it...my little brain is a ticking. Tic Toc.
Our most urgent problems can be solved with one bold move! While bold actions are politically difficult to implement, I belive that this solution could be sold to the US people...if presented properly. The rationale can be clearly outlined and the correctness should be obvious.
This one action can address and solve the following critical problems facing the US:
We can pay for the badly needed upgrading of American infrastructure and limit the selling of our souls to anyone who will lend us money. INFRASTRUCTURE IS A KEY ELEMENT OF LONG TERM VITALITY OF INDUSTRY AND BUSINESS
We can stop the "giant sucking sound" described by Boone Pickens.
We can assure our own country's future greatness rather than financing the greatness of the people who supply us with oil. Some not too friendly and somewhat worrisome...Russia, Arab/muslim states, primarily.
We can stop the massive influx of capitol to countries that are malicious or, at best, indifferant to our continued superiority on the world financial markets.
We can bolster the value of the US dollar by assuring the world that we are boldly taking control of our own future.
We can assure that people will continue to be energy conscious and conserve energy.
We will lower our carbon footprint, and help clean the enviroment.
We will assure a market for new energy technologies and the jobs they will bring.
We can promise automakers that thier new energy efficient cars will have an eager market.
We can assure automakers that they will have a STABLE market for planning profitable vehicles.
We can create and bankroll, the millions of new jobs that our economy needs.
IT WAS ONLY A FEW MONTHS BACK WHEN GAS WAS STILL UNDER $2.50/GAL AND EVERYONE WAS RACING TO GET THE BIGGEST AND MOST POWERFUL CARS AVAILABLE. HOME CONSERVATION MEASURES HAD MADE SLOW PROGRESS SINCE THE 70'S. NEW LAWS WERE CONTEMPLATED TO REFOCUS THE PUBLIC ON THE CONSERVATION THAT WE KNEW WAS NECESSARY. SOME PEOPLE EVEN DEMONSTRATED AGAINST GAS GUZZLERS BY BURNING BIG SUV'S ON DEALER'S LOTS....ALL THIS DOING VERY LITTLE....UNTIL...GAS REACHED $4.00/GAL
Suddenly everyone was buying fuel efficient vehiles. Dealer's couldn't give away big gas guzzler's. Hybrid's were the new focus. The sudden fluctuation of fuel prices was a disaster for the Automakers. All previous efforts to bring energy conservation to the American people were dwarfed by the simple market reality of high energy cost. All the legislation and well intentioned movements of groups was shown to be a high effort waste compared to the simple market pressure of high gas prices. And... at $4.00/gal, our oil addiction was enriching all the oil producers...many who would just as soon see us dig our own graves,,,and oil companies making so much money that new windfall taxes were considered.
Now at $1.50/gallon, all that is forgotten. Soon we sill be guzzling down the gas again and we will soon return to enriching others......OR we can chose to make our "addiction" work for us.
American's hate taxes..but unless we decide to actually pay for some of the government bailout with a twenty year plan...it will become obvious that we are only printing money like mad while having no plan to really pay down our debt within the foreseeable future..and the belief that we CAN pay down our debt will disolve. And if the people loaning us these TRILLON'S of dollars don't believe in the realitiy of a return of US power, we will see inflation like we have only seen happen to third world countries.
THE SIMPLE SOLUTION: TAX OUR GAS. $1.00 FEDERAL TAX $.50 STATE TAX EXEMPT FREIGHT TRUCKING. perhaps stepped up over six months..and adjusted up or down based upon the price of a barrel of oil monthly.
THIS WILL ASSURE THAT AMERICANS WILL CONTINUE TO CONSERVE, AND WANT FUEL CONSERVING TECHNOLOGIES, AND THAT OIL PRODUCERS WILL LIKELY GET NO MORE THAN $50/ BARREL FOR THIER OIL.
IN THE US...WE CAN SAVE OUR ADDING DRILLING EFFORTS FOR THE DAYS THAT $100 / BARREL OIL ARE NO LONGER ABLE TO BE RESISTED.
Barack may have a special problem with selling this to the people, as one of their primary fears of the new administration is that they we bring new taxes...but it must be done. And as this action shows that Americans are taking bold moves to confront thier problems,,,we may find that the economy springs back almost as quickly as it dissolved...and we can quickly return to the days of Clinton Era surpluses.
GOD BLESS AMERICA! STRENGHT TO AMERICA AND THE COURAGE OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE! NO WHERE IN THE WORLD DO THE PEOPLE DECIDE THEIR OWN FATE LIKE WE DO IN AMERICA! LETS SHOW THE WORLD OUR COURAGE AND STRENGHT TO CONFRONT OUR PROBLEMS! MAKE OUR OIL ADDICTION WORK FOR US! FOR US!
Just wanted to share a letter I sent early last week to my state's Senators, Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein, and to all the Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee:
With regard to the Automobile Industry emergency loans, I would like to express two main concerns:
Now that fuel prices have dropped to a fraction of what they were during the summer, and if history is any indication of the automakers’ (and the American publics’) shortsighted habits, the auto makers are going to resist moving toward fuel efficient and alternative energy driven vehicles. They will reapply lobby pressure to resist imposition of efficiency and technology regulations. Their ties with big oil will be renewed and we will face far greater crises in the future than the “depression” the auto makers are fear mongering about in the news today if they aren’t bailed out.
Congressional leaders rightly insisted that the automakers must develop a credible restructuring plan that results in a viable industry with quality jobs and economic opportunity for the 21st century while protecting taxpayer investments.
I believe the kind of detail they need to provide in their business plan includes:
These loan stipulations should be baked into the loan documentation in the form of loan covenants that can be tracked on a regular (quarterly, annual) basis. Confidentiality of all such information should be ensured, and should be shared only with certain members of Congress and relevant auditors who will oversee administration of any funding disbursed.
Requiring specifics from the auto makers should not be viewed as overkill. Per a recent NPR article, the three companies went through nearly $18 billion in cash reserves during the last quarter, and GM and Chrysler have warned of their imminent collapse. The only reason Ford has a bit more cushion is because they had arranged billions of dollars in financing before the financial crisis took hold, not because of their successful business model.
One more point on a claim the auto makers and others have made recently regarding the auto makers’ bailout that it is unfair to withhold financial help to them when over $700 billion has been pledged or disbursed to the financial institutions of this country. It’s comparing apples to oranges. The financial system is the backbone of all economic sectors. Without the ability for all businesses to borrow money and to do banking, all sectors of the economy would fail. The auto industry is but one sector of our economy. Granted, it is huge in terms of the U.S. manufacturing base, but its collapse would have nowhere near the devastating impact that a collapse of the financial system would have.
At the time the initial funding was infused into the financial sector, banks and lending institutions were failing in a domino effect at an alarming rate, unprecedented since the great depression. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to put together an air-tight loan covenant strategy as outlined above for the auto industry. However, I do believe that we did what we had to do to stop the hemorrhaging that would have opened up much greater problems than we face now.
I want to thank you again for all your efforts and thoughtful consideration in this most challenging and pivotal of crises.
Seven things you may not know.
1. Fill up your refrigerator with water bottles. Use empty milk containers and smaller jars. Your refrigerator uses a lot of energy and every time you open the door you let cold air out and warm air in. Filling the unused interior space with containers of water does three things; it reduces the available space for warm air to enter, decreases the amount of cold air that leaves, and reduces the run time to re-attain proper temperature. (And try and use good refrigerator etiquette, know what you want before you open the door.)
2. Make Styrofoam plugs for your north facing windows. One inch thick sheet Styrofoam is available at most lumber/hardware stores and is not expensive. Cut the Styrofoam to exactly fit your widow (use a bread knife with a “sawing” motion) and stick it in place (may have to use tape or make some simple “keepers” to keep it in place). Check weekly for water build up. You are basically turning your window into a well insulated wall.
