Stephen Views the News April 2, 2009
http://stephenviewsthenews.blogspot.com/
A positive take during worrisome times:
* Remembering what we have – The following is an excerpt from an email exchange with a reader: There is also a positive side to our discussion. At the present time you and I, our family and friends, enjoy a standard of living and peaceful (safe) existence far better than 99% of the people that have walked this planet. We do not know what the future holds but there is merit in remembering what we do have. In large part it is the result of those who came before us and it is a responsibility I believe we now have to those who will follow - to continue to make this a better place in terms of freedom, health and standard of living.
* A helping hand – “Drugstore operator Walgreen will offer free clinic visits to the unemployed and uninsured for the rest of the year, providing tests and routine treatment for minor ailments through its walk-in clinics - though patients will still pay for prescriptions… Spouses and children are also eligible for free services if they don't have insurance of their own.” The linked article provides details of this offer. Some cynics have commented that Walgreen is only doing it to build business for its Take Care clinics. I do not know if the claim is accurate but I do say that an initiative that helps people in need is worthy of praise. If Walgreen benefits in the long-term by building a sound business model it has the ring of intelligent capitalism. We have not seen much of it in recent years but there is promise.
* Helping the land – “President Barack Obama signed legislation on Monday expanding and protecting US public parks and wilderness areas from oil and gas development, billed as the largest US conservation measure in more than 15 years… The legislation - backed by members of both parties -- is "among the most important in decades to protect, preserve and pass down our nation's most treasured landscapes to future generations.” It is certainly a breath of fresh air seeing Congress and the White House acting responsibly with respect to our natural resources and environment. This is a role of government abdicated in recent years.
* Helping the country – USA Today reports: “The early federal stimulus money appears to be hitting its target, paying for new projects and creating jobs… Most early spending is flowing, as planned, into "shovel-ready" projects — a new bridge over a Louisiana bayou, the widening of a mountain road in Colorado — that wouldn't have occurred this year without stimulus money.” The $750 billion stimulus package is being used in part to create jobs and fix a crumbling infrastructure. Some of these funds will go into education, health care and tax cuts over the next two years. It is a win-win situation.
* Helping the world – “President Obama plans to open negotiations to draft a new arms control treaty that could slash the American and Russian strategic nuclear arsenals by about a third and possibly lead to even deeper reductions, according to administration officials… Just setting a new limit would send a signal to the international community in general that the United States is getting serious about its disarmament commitments again,” said Peter Crail, an analyst at the Arms Control Association, a Washington advocacy organization.” This is not to suggest that America does not need a strong defense. But, like intelligent capitalism, it is beyond time that America strongly consider intelligent defense. For too long we have funded defense systems that are impractical, outmoded and economically crippling and unsustainable.
* Another Republican icon vaporized ~ again – This may not be positive news for the general populace but it sure is a lot of fun. An anti-union conservative group benignly calling itself Americans for Prosperity has been funding Joe the Plumber traveling to various sites to speak out against the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). Joe has become one of the faces of the Republican Party. He has also become one of the asses of the Republican Party.
Appearing in Harrisburg, PA to campaign against EFCA, people in the audience began asking Joe questions about the proposed legislation and why he was against it. “Pressed on the specifics of the law, Mr. Plumber repeatedly refused to answer, and finally lost his cool, telling his questioner: “Drop it, brother, drop it. I never said I was an expert, man.” Following some enthusiastic heckling Joe flushed his scheduled appearance in Philadelphia.
* The best news of all ~ the Republicans are no longer in charge – On April 1st congressional Republicans released their alternative budget to what Obama and the Democrats have proposed. The title of this Republican budget should read “Same Crap, Different Day” or “Dumb and Dumber” or “April Fools Meets Ship of Fools.” Some of the lowlights include:
~ The GOP plan would rescind the recently-enacted economic stimulus package, which would cause America—and the world—to spiral into Depression.~ The GOP plan would hand over nearly $4 trillion in tax cuts to the rich.
~ The GOP plan would freeze non-defense, non-veteran spending for five years.
~ The GOP plan would privatize Medicare.
Not only is this an alternative to what Obama is proposing it is the antithesis of what is needed in a damaged economy and unconscionable given the state of this nation. How absurd is this Republican proposal? “The marquee item, however, in the Republican plan is their inexplicably regressive tax cut for the super rich. Wealthy Americans in the top three tax brackets would see their tax burden cut to a flat 25 percent from previous rates of 35, 33 and 28. According to the Center for American Progress, CEOs from any of the top 800 corporations would receive a tax break of around $1.5 million a year. Meanwhile, if you earn $15,000 a year, your tax break will be around $0 a year.”
In the land of Uranus, where Republicans reside, the only focus is protecting those who least need protection or support. The American people are awakening to the dismal and incompetent Republican message as the GOP continues to transition from a once vital and proud political party to a re-run of Hee Haw.
* Darfur – I received a broadcast email message from Ruth Messinger of the American Jewish World Service. On Monday she had attended a meeting with President Obama at the White House on the subject of Darfur. Messinger reports that the administration understands the need to ensure the restoration of international aid groups into Darfur. “The President also clearly indicated that finding a political solution to end the conflict is a top priority.” The full press release is available at the above link. In every generation, in multiple locations, the worst of humanity forms a puss-filled boil over a group of people. The world community has never been able to prevent it but there is a long history of overcoming man’s inhumanity to man. Let us hope that Darfur can be brought back from hell.
* America – Few would argue that a core problem burdening our nation is the inextricable link between money and politics. The high cost of running a federal level election campaign has two very specific downsides: it forces candidates and incumbents to seek funding that too often comes from the deep pockets of special interests; it forces the incumbents to be in almost constant fundraising mode thereby reducing the time they devote to actually representing constituents. Regardless of who wins the election we are the losers. It is the inordinate influence of special interests that has contributed to a degrading environment, reduction in product inspection and safety, reduction in oversight that allowed financial institutions to go over the cliff and a host of other problems that we now must deal with. It is beyond time that our country addresses how federal elections are funded and there is good news on this front.
“Fair Elections Now” is a set of bills just introduced in both houses that would fundamentally transform Congressional fundraising. The bipartisan bill is being sponsored by Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Representatives John Larson (D-Conn.) and Walter Jones, Jr. (R-N.C.). It is based on key elements that have been successful at the state level in Arizona, Connecticut, Maine and North Carolina. The Public Campaign Action Fund provides details of this legislation and links to a number of non-partisan organizations that support this bill. If one sincerely wants to change the dynamics of what is a broken electoral system, action should be taken to contact one’s Senators and Representative and demand that this bill be supported. VoteSmart.org provides contact information for Senators and Representatives. Democracy is a participation sport!
* If liberty and equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in the government to the utmost.
Aristotle
I have been brainstorming ways to ride out this financial crisis. I have already made changes in my day to day living and spending habits. I am also taking steps to prepare for worse times ahead. I have a list of ideas and I would love to hear what doing and thinking about as well.
This is an idea or a dream in which people come together for a common purpose and work together to build a better society. It is very complicated and involves safety, shelter, water, and food. The basic human needs. New cities are going to be built that the will change history of the World.
The cities will almost be like cites of today but have no roads and no motor vehicle traffic. The cities will be built to accommodate large and small families approximately 2,296 people in a micro city if everyone has there own bed room. All houses would be built space and energy efficient and may be built as many stories tall as desired. The vehicles that will move the people around the city are called Hun Pods and they will use the same principles as the magnetically powered trains by the Sandia National Laboratories. They would also be on a circuit connected to the computerized grid layout of the city so they would not collide in to each other, be able to move in the fastest way possible from point A to point B, and be able to be controlled at any time. They would be built under ground to not take up viable plant life growing room and to not interfere with pedestrians or bicycle traffic.
Also along the underground tracks of the Hun Pods, electricity, water, waste water, and trash could transported to their respective places. Access points where the vehicles submerge from the sub train would be built where garages and driveways and parking spaces of today are. They will be surrounded by a small fence or building so pedestrians don’t wonder into these access points. Every where that roads would be built in a traditional city on the top of the ground crops of plants would be grown, animals raised, and trails for humans to walk and bicycle. Since no roads are in the city fire hydrants and hoses will be placed everywhere necessary in the city to protect the whole city from fire and be used to water the vegetation. Motorized vehicles will rather have to be sold or stored outside the city.
The objectives of the idea is to create a city that is self sufficient and self contained by food distribution, public transportation, electricity, water distribution, waste management, and security. Main electricity will be attained by placing solar panels and windmills everywhere possible in the city which is used to power the city and sell excess to outside the city. Waste, Sewer, Water Purification, and Recycling and disposal centers will need to be built as soon as possible. There will be a 30 ft. fence surrounding the city to protect from attack and trafficking of illegal contraband. At certain sections of fence there would be a port where goods from outside the city would be dropped off by semi trucks or trains. They would be downloaded inspected and distributed thru the underground tracks. The fence will have monitored and controlled gates for admittance to the city. There will be an office building with large dirt parking lot in front of it. Potential residents would drive or be dropped off and apply for housing and employment inside the city or provide documentation of outside employment. Accommodations will be made for retired and disabled people. Residence entry points would be designed where each person would have to use there own badge to enter. No more than one person could enter with one badge. Visitors must get visitor badges at the office. All residents must have background checks before becoming a resident and if offences committed must take classes that correspond with the crime to “learn from their mistakes” and then be allowed in the city if current employment and current higher education enrolment had. Residence entry points will make it so that everyone in the city to have to use identification cards that will have a picture and other relevant information on it, a GPS device for tracking, and a microchip that grants access to the city, activates the Hun Pods, and will be the key to your house. It will also correspond to your finger print so that only you can use your badge. It makes cities have less crime being able to control everything that goes in and out of the city. Everyone has safety, shelter, clothing, food, and water.
The fence surrounding the city will be on both sides of and lie parallel to the circular tracks of the above ground magnetic train that will be connected to the underground Hun Pod Tracks. This would make safe expansion possible and easy. Just build a track, connect to the initial system, load the train, make the fence, remove dirt for the laying of the Hun Pod circuit layout, lay the under ground tracks, encase the tracks, cover with dirt, ,make the access ports, build the houses, build the business district, and any other things required for the city. For expansion for today’s existing cities, vehicles, residents, weapons and other possessions needed have to be removed during remodel. Fences and outer above ground train would be lain, roads would be dug up, tracks laid, encased under the ground, access points made everywhere necessary, and plants planted, solar panels and windmills placed where the roads used to be. I suggest that the business district should be composed of a Wal-Mart, Subway, and McDonalds at least. Clothing, furniture, home improvement store, and any other company that wants to provide goods for the city also could be built. Universities and lower grade schools should also be built, and High school diploma mandatory for everyone and assistance for learning mandatory. Education is the key to the world and ignorance is the destruction. The Police department in the city weapons would be locked up and officers would only carry a stun gun, pepper spray, and handcuffs. The people in the safe cities could leave them freely but would have trouble getting back in the city if they lost their ID badge and would have to go to the office. A lost fee would be charged to make a duplicate if unable to locate and fingerprints required for verification. The vehicles left outside the city will be monitored all times and recommended to the owners to be sold. Also there will be 360 degrees surveillance of the whole city with gun torrents attached to each individual camera. I believe that this is not only a dream, but imagination, hope, idea, and one day reality.
Will we all be transported by Hun Pods, live in a nice house, have food and water, have employment, have higher education available, live peacefully, have freedom, and protection? Everyone deserves heaven on earth. Thanks for your time and consideration in reading my dream. I hope we can work together in the future to build a better World.
Food and Water Watch is encouraging concerned citizens to contact President-elect and his transition team to develop solid policies and programs for food, water and fish.
This is the link to send a message: http://action.foodandwaterwatch.org/t/5915/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=392
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.
The continuous expansion of HOPE THROUGH GENERATION O rest on the continuous support of active participants. Obama 'Generation O' members include –
GENERATION OBAMANATION SEARCH QUERIES Altavista | Google | Lycos | MSN | Yahoo
With solid state led lighting. No Mercury nor Phosphors, the latter a toxin nobody mentions used in all fluorescent lighting. I have scars from phosphor aided injuries still, from decades ago. These scars never go away. As efficient or more, watt for watt, as compact fluorescent bulbs. I want to make them in the US. Start with Task Lighting [local- think Luxo Lamps, desk lamps, etc] and work to make the White House a model for the nation.
I prefer distributed, low power light engines, as opposed to concentrated higher power ones that most are trying to use. You could say that I want my lighting like my Goverment.......
Anyone out there involved similarly? Lets talk.
Later- Why Global Resource Corp. ought to be on Obama's radar screen........
http://www.globalresourcecorp.com/
John McCain has responded to the issue of water scarcity posed by Science Debate 2008. His complete response is found below.
A side-by-side comparison of his comments and Barack Obama's on this and other scientific issues can be found at: http://www.sciencedebate2008.com/www/index.php?id=42
An online vote comparing the responses of the two presidential candidates, grading Obama's as substantially superior is located here: http://sciencedebate2008.com/vote/?cat=14
Pithy comments comparing the responses of the two presidential candidates can be found at: http://sciencedebate2008.com/vote/?p=39#comments
The GEM electric car is a neighborhood car. I have been looking into saving gas during the week when all I do is go back and forth to work. It is 4 miles one way. The electric car can easily make my needed trips and the cost on e-bay is only about $3500 for a used one. They can only travel on streets with 35 mph signs as they travel at about 25 to 30 mph. They are street legal with safety belts, windshield wiper and turn indicators. This would fit into Obama's energy plan of conservation.
If you have not read his full policies, go to Issues tab and select the issue you are interested in then drill down to the full plan. They are very well written and will answer your questions on what he wants for America.
We need to take control of the dialog in this race. ASAP.
It's so easy. Challenge McCain.
Pick a handful of points and CHALLENGE McCain directly on those points.
Such as:
"I challenge John McCain to support my tax cut for the Middle Class."
"I challenge John McCain to support investment in Renewable Energy and Conservation."
"I challenge John McCain to tell us how he would fix the housing market."
"I challenge John McCain to support the Iraqi government's request for a timeline to get us out of Iraq."
Then HAMMER IT HOME.
Change the dialog.
Make HIM respond.
Otherwise, we are letting Karl Rove dictate Barack Obama's campaign.
Dictate the dialog. Rule it. Own it.
Do it NOW or they will STEAL THE ELECTION AGAIN.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/11/AR2008081102299.html?hpid=topnews
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/08/11/bush.endangered.species.ap/index.html
I woke up this morning, and was outraged after reading about the Bush administration's back door effort to cripple the Endangered Species Act. Unfortunately, I wasn't surprised. For the past 7.5 years, Bush/Cheney have worked tirelessly to leave their mark on the country through executive orders and purportedly innocuous regulation changes, which have changed some fundamental aspects of our government.
What will Obama do to reverse this? Will he take a position on this latest attempt to circumvent Congress? I know he talks about change, but will has he committed to reverse the veil of secrecy the Bush/Cheney have built into the White House regulations?
This isn't a sexy topic, and probably wont' resonate on the campaign trail. Nevertheless, I would like to know if anyone can point me to a source the outlines Obama's position this issue.
The next time you read or hear someone say "Obama has a vague energy plan!" here's a way to effectively correct them. Senator Obama is now on the record - supporting a comprehensive program to wean America off its addiction to foreign energy. The plan (the bullet pointed version is below and convenient for copy/paste/printing.)
Commit one idea to memory as a quick response... should you be confronted by someone parroting a version of McBrokenRecord's, "Obama's energy program is about using a tire pressure guage!" Simply say: "Maintaining your car and its tires is common sense... and should be part of YOUR energy program. Obama's ideas are SOOOOO much more!" Then hand (or email) them this:
A photo story of conservation set to the music by Bruce Springteen. "This Land Is Your Land" is one of the United States' most famous folk songs. Its lyrics were written by Woody Guthrie in 1940 on an existing melody, in response to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America," which Guthrie considered unrealistic and complacent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqah3uKHI8E
Hope you enjoy
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