Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Sentence Structure

 
 To All My ESL Friends
I see you way far away,
dreaming under a pink sky.
English learners many word order patterns for sentences.
Here is one basic pattern:
 
'What the sentence is about' or 'subject' is first
then 'what action' is happening (verb)
then the action is happening 'to what or when or who'?
 
Create simple sentences like:
I am here.
You are there.
China is 'in the southern latitudes.'
USA is 'in the northern latitudes.'
I drive to Mexico.
Asteroid 2012DA14 comes close Friday.
I write 'novels and essays'.
You write a blog.
You are a blogger. 
You enjoy blogging.
It is high noon.
I hear a rooster.
He crows all day.
Eastern Europeans sell crystals here.
Iranian rugs are beautiful.
German schnitzel is good.
Gobekli Tepe is the oldest. 
Homo Erectus bones were found in China.
Homo Erectus bones were lost at sea during World War II.
You could find them.
 
Much can be expressed using this elemental sentence pattern.  The punctuation marks are not necessary, and are only there to illustrate that these parts may consist of more than one word.   This pattern limits the thoughts that can be developed, so one must learn other patterns.......
Sorry about the deviation from the usual topics but I wanted to talk ESL for a few minutes.  Sentence diagramming in English is a good source for sentence patterns.
 
                                               Eclipse of the Sun 2012
 

Friday, January 25, 2013

Gun Control


So we are an armed nation with a tradition of freedom to go how we want, where we want, carrying what we want.  The recent social engineering talk indicates a willingness to tinker with the basic social structure by further controlling what can be purchased by individuals.  Limiting the size of sodas that can be purchased is futile unless the numbers purchased per day are also controlled, which also requires identification and recordkeeping and punishments for violating the law and so on.  When does it end?  When will people consider that the society already has a basis and that basis is important to preserve?  Changing society is no small thing and any change has far reaching consequences.  I prefer education to blatant control.   

I was a child when the civil rights demands began to be heard in the 1950s.  I can remember the black and white TV and the images of the small black girl walking up the school steps while being taunted by white men.  My father said it was wrong for those men to be there and that they were probably hypocrites who went to church every Sunday.  It took 60 years for true civil rights to manifest, exemplified by the election of President Obama.  Our society is much more homogeneous than it used to be. 

Those who advocate for the cessation of 2nd Amendment rights do not realize that an insurrection would result if confiscation were attempted.  A congresswoman has introduced a bill banning over a hundred types of firearms, all while saying this control over your choices is good for you.  If they control that, what else will they try to control?  Some liberals want the people to have no firearms, which would reduce them to subjects rather than citizens, to paraphrase a friend. 

Power mad city councilmen want the power to control gun ownership within the city limits.  As a first step they want to control gun sales within the city.   Being disarmed in the city of Tucson is like being naked on a city bus.  This attempted power grab by city councilmen should be thwarted.  Petty city officials should not attempt to breach constitutional rights.  What's next?  A computer check of every beer you drink with dinner?  A limit on salsa servings because it might cause heartburn?  A limit on the amount of candy you can buy?  These council people should get back to doing their jobs, which is to keep the city maintained and solvent, neither of which they are doing. 

 If their liberal goal is social engineering, perhaps a longer perspective is needed before attempting to destroy self reliance in our society, of which the possession of personal firearms is the most important manifestation.   Since the liberals feel free to design a future based on restrictions imposed on the populace now, perhaps an alternative vision is imperative.  How about a future where people are held accountable for their actions and possessions?  Swift accountability and punishment.  Remember McVeigh?  He didn't hang around long.  The delay in punishment creates a perception of no punishment but restraint, which seems a relief to these punks and failures who now are cared for at public expense.   

Rather than try to change the interpretation of the 2nd Amendment, it would be better to deal with the practical problems of gun ownership by the citizenry.  That could be done now without opposition.  Try and think of how to address the physical problem of guns being used by juveniles and lunatics to kill people.   The gun owner should be held libel for crimes committed by household members using the firearm.   In plain terms, adults who own firearms are responsible for securing them.  Punish adults who let juveniles and lunatics access firearms.  A minor should not own a gun.  Autistics, retarded people, suicidal people, people who have been convicted of assault and so on should not be allowed to legally own a gun.  It's already a crime to buy a gun for a criminal.  Let the behavior of the individual dictate gun accessability.  Don't punish the many for the sins of a few. 

Friday, January 11, 2013

Gun Control and the Establishment Press


The eastern establishment press is touting gun control because the demented are using firearms to kill, yet laws on the books were designed to prevent the incompetent from obtaining guns.  Parents allow access to firearms, trusting their children to be responsible.  Why are the parents not charged with child endangerment, by leaving guns available for juveniles to use?  Why are murderers let out of jail?  Should the actions of a few criminals dictate a national response of negating the second amendment?  The answer to curbing violence is not disarming the populace and making more victims possible.   

Now the gun control advocates preach from the safety of guarded premises that others should disarm just because they have, and just look at them all safe and warm and protected proselytizing against those of us who live on the economy having adequate firearms to protect ourselves.  I think Wayne La Pierre is correct when he brought out the point that celebrities are guarded, the banks are guarded, but nobody is guarding our children.  The shooting in California occurred because the armed guard didn't show up and the school didn't get a substitute.  So I should give up gun rights because of this? 

The national news is united in presenting very little coverage of those who would protest more anti gun legislation.  Famous for overkill on stories where they can push a political agenda, the press are surely going to feature a massacre a day on TV, where they can highlight a new massacre every day because I'm sure that in our long world history a massacre or battle has occurred for every day of the year.  The fools are deluded if they think that disarming the populace would produce world peace:  in the history of the world disarming the populace has led to pogroms, genocide, economic oppression and the Holocaust.

I cannot help but think about that guy who hammered his grandmother to death in New York, was convicted, let out by the liberal establishment, and then killed his sister and two firefighters with an illegally obtained gun.  So why did they let this murderer out?  Nobody in the press is dealing with this issue.  Cuomo gets up on the bully pulpit to preach gun control and even mentions confiscation of guns as a realistic goal, but still the NY legal edifice let the guy who hammered his grandmother to death out of jail.  Where is Cuomo's responsibility now?

I see light sentences for violent crime and vicious criminals let out of jail to prey on society, yet the screaming gun control advocates target taking away gun rights from citizens as a cure for this problem.  I see murdering punks like Loughner saved from the death penalty by the liberals while a good example of justice in the form of execution for murderers might be a deterrent for copycats.  We are a nation gone mad where innocent law abiding citizens are punished for the sins of a few madmen.  Yes, punished.  When my gun rights are taken away, I am punished for what others did.  I have had access to guns my entire life, yet never pulled one. 

The mother of the autistic shooter of children must have known that her son was not normal and as such should not have had access to firearms nor should he have been introduced to shooting, sort of not teaching a retarded child to swear by avoiding those words.  The woman cannot speak for herself so further speculation is futile. 

Another issue is the arming of the citizen militia and the need for a citizen militia.  If all these purposed bans on firearms come true, the citizens will be effectively reduced in the power to arm themselves on a par with police and military, not to combat them, but to complement them.  Volunteer search and rescue, volunteer posses and neighborhood watch groups are respected in our communities.   It is the right and the responsibility of citizens to be members of an effective civilian militia, if they so choose.


Eric Holder has a credibility problem in that he sponsored a 'program' where smugglers were allowed to buy large numbers of assault rifles, permitted to smuggle the rifles into Mexico and then these rifles were used in vicious murders in Mexico.  Money was even laundered for these criminals by our own justice department in order to facilitate this deal called Fast and Furious.  Border Patrol Agent Terry died, killed in the line of duty by a criminal using one of these guns.  Yet now the sanctimonious Holder is now smugly going to recommend that civilian rights to those same kinds of weapons should be denied to citizens of the United States after he condoned the export of these same kinds of weapons to Mexico.  This was done in Arizona, and these guns are still surfacing, the last at the murder of several people in Mexico City.  

Another interesting analyses of the spate of killings has related the consumption of various psychoactive drugs on the part of a huge percentage of killers.  They also hint that big pharma is preventing this discussion of psychiatric drugs they sell, but I think that a comprehensive discussion of the mental health issues involved in these killings will reveal the drug issue.  So possibly prescribed drugs are facilitating violence?  It's easy to blame guns when the actual cause of the behavior that resulted in violence is the individual.  Disarming citizens so they cannot defend themselves against insanity or drug induced rage will not stop the violence.       

 This data should elicit some graphs and perhaps a pattern will emerge.  If the data is accurate, there are patterns.  If guns are being blamed for murders, perhaps more blame lies with the individual who is in an insane state of mind due to prescription drugs. 

Here is the facebook post concerning the possible drugs killers were on if you want to look at the data presented:

”This is the last post John Noveske made on his Facebook page before he was killed:

Eric Harris age 17 (first on Zoloft then Luvox) and Dylan Klebold aged 18 (Columbine school shooting in Littleton, Colorado), killed 12 students and 1 teacher, and wounded 23 others, before killing themselves. Klebold's medical records have never been made available to the public.

Jeff Weise, age 16, had been prescribed 60 mg/day of Prozac (three times the average starting dose for adults!) when he shot his grandfather, his grandfather's girlfriend and many fellow students at Red Lake, Minnesota. He then shot himself. 10 dead, 12 wounded.

Cory Baadsgaard, age 16, Wahluke (Washington state) High School, was on Paxil (which caused him to have hallucinations) when he took a rifle to his high school and held 23 classmates hostage. He has no memory of the event.

Chris Fetters, age 13, killed his favorite aunt while taking Prozac.

Christopher Pittman, age 12, murdered both his grandparents while taking Zoloft.

Mathew Miller, age 13, hung himself in his bedroom closet after taking Zoloft for 6 days.

Kip Kinkel, age 15, (on Prozac and Ritalin) shot his parents while they slept then went to school and opened fire killing 2 classmates and injuring 22 shortly after beginning Prozac treatment.

Luke Woodham, age 16 (Prozac) killed his mother and then killed two students, wounding six others.

A boy in Pocatello, ID (Zoloft) in 1998 had a Zoloft-induced seizure that caused an armed stand off at his school.

Michael Carneal (Ritalin), age 14, opened fire on students at a high school prayer meeting in West Paducah, Kentucky. Three teenagers were killed, five others were wounded..

A young man in Huntsville, Alabama (Ritalin) went psychotic chopping up his parents with an ax and also killing one sibling and almost murdering another.

Andrew Golden, age 11, (Ritalin) and Mitchell Johnson, aged 14, (Ritalin) shot 15 people, killing four students, one teacher, and wounding 10 others.

TJ Solomon, age 15, (Ritalin) high school student in Conyers, Georgia opened fire on and wounded six of his class mates.

Rod Mathews, age 14, (Ritalin) beat a classmate to death with a bat.

James Wilson, age 19, (various psychiatric drugs) from Breenwood, South Carolina, took a .22 caliber revolver into an elementary school killing two young girls, and wounding seven other children and two teachers.

Elizabeth Bush, age 13, (Paxil) was responsible for a school shooting in Pennsylvania

Jason Hoffman (Effexor and Celexa) – school shooting in El Cajon, California

Jarred Viktor, age 15, (Paxil), after five days on Paxil he stabbed his grandmother 61 times.

Chris Shanahan, age 15 (Paxil) in Rigby, ID who out of the blue killed a woman.

Jeff Franklin (Prozac and Ritalin), Huntsville, AL, killed his parents as they came home from work using a sledge hammer, hatchet, butcher knife and mechanic's file, then attacked his younger brothers and sister.

Neal Furrow (Prozac) in LA Jewish school shooting reported to have been court-ordered to be on Prozac along with several other medications.

Kevin Rider, age 14, was withdrawing from Prozac when he died from a gunshot wound to his head. Initially it was ruled a suicide, but two years later, the investigation into his death was opened as a possible homicide. The prime suspect, also age 14, had been taking Zoloft and other SSRI antidepressants.

Alex Kim, age 13, hung himself shortly after his Lexapro prescription had been doubled.

Diane Routhier was prescribed Welbutrin for gallstone problems. Six days later, after suffering many adverse effects of the drug, she shot herself.

Billy Willkomm, an accomplished wrestler and a University of Florida student, was prescribed Prozac at the age of 17. His family found him dead of suicide – hanging from a tall ladder at the family's Gulf Shore Boulevard home in July 2002.

Kara Jaye Anne Fuller-Otter, age 12, was on Paxil when she hung herself from a hook in her closet. Kara's parents said ".... the damn doctor wouldn't take her off it and I asked him to when we went in on the second visit. I told him I thought she was having some sort of reaction to Paxil...")

Gareth Christian, Vancouver, age 18, was on Paxil when he committed suicide in 2002,
(Gareth's father could not accept his son's death and killed himself.)

Julie Woodward, age 17, was on Zoloft when she hung herself in her family's detached garage.

Matthew Miller was 13 when he saw a psychiatrist because he was having difficulty at school. The psychiatrist gave him samples of Zoloft. Seven days later his mother found him dead, hanging by a belt from a laundry hook in his closet.

Kurt Danysh, age 18, and on Prozac, killed his father with a shotgun. He is now behind prison bars, and writes letters, trying to warn the world that SSRI drugs can kill.

Woody ____, age 37, committed suicide while in his 5th week of taking Zoloft. Shortly before his death his physician suggested doubling the dose of the drug. He had seen his physician only for insomnia. He had never been depressed, nor did he have any history of any mental illness symptoms.

A boy from Houston, age 10, shot and killed his father after his Prozac dosage was increased.

Hammad Memon, age 15, shot and killed a fellow middle school student. He had been diagnosed with ADHD and depression and was taking Zoloft and "other drugs for the conditions."

Matti Saari, a 22-year-old culinary student, shot and killed 9 students and a teacher, and wounded another student, before killing himself. Saari was taking an SSRI and a benzodiazapine.

Steven Kazmierczak, age 27, shot and killed five people and wounded 21 others before killing himself in a Northern Illinois University auditorium. According to his girlfriend, he had recently been taking Prozac, Xanax and Ambien. Toxicology results showed that he still had trace amounts of Xanax in his system.

Finnish gunman Pekka-Eric Auvinen, age 18, had been taking antidepressants before he killed eight people and wounded a dozen more at Jokela High School – then he committed suicide.
Asa Coon from Cleveland, age 14, shot and wounded four before taking his own life. Court records show Coon was on Trazodone.

Jon Romano, age 16, on medication for depression, fired a shotgun at a teacher in his
New York high school.

Missing from list... 3 of 4 known to have taken these same meds....

What drugs was Jared Lee Loughner on, age 21...... killed 6 people and injuring 14 others in Tuscon, Az

What drugs was James Eagan Holmes on, age 24..... killed 12 people and injuring 59 others in Aurora Colorado

What drugs was Jacob Tyler Roberts on, age 22, killed 2 injured 1, Clackamas Or

What drugs was Adam Peter Lanza on, age 20, Killed 26 and wounded 2 in Newtown Ct
Roberts is the only one that I haven't heard about being on drugs of some kind.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/038616_John_Noveske_mysterious_death_car_crash.html#ixzz2HazHVW9s

www.naturalnews.com
 
 
 

 
 

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Liar Liar Pants on Fire!



The future of the Pima GOP hangs in the balance between hosting the intolerant tricksters or hosting honest people who want to work for the good of the nation.  Anonymous slanderous e mails and anonymous 'ideology' green sheets at the big meeting are equally as undesirable inside an organization. 

These crass cowardly tactics bring hatred and anger to an organization that should have unity in order to accomplish goals like the protection of the 2nd amendment currently under fire. 

Happy New Year and I hope it is one for the GOP!


                                                    Available on Amazon

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

GUN FREE UTOPIA?




I see people on TV speaking of the need to restrict guns because of the danger guns present if not secured and handled with responsibility.  I know the poor woman was murdered by her own son using her own gun, but why didn't she secure those firearms away from the reach of an 'autistic' son?  Therein is the responsibility of gun ownership. 

I see people who earnestly believe that guns are the reason there is so much violence in the world today and that the citizenry of the USA would be better off without them.  These people are fools looking for utopia.  Of course it would be nice if we all got along and no violence ever occurred but a normal human knows that violence is with us and has been with us in our long history.  The removal of guns from society does not quell violence but it does increase the chances for oppression. 

I am disgusted by some in the press who are blatantly exploiting a tragedy to achieve political ends.  Utopia is not achievable no matter what these people say.  The immediate solution to the problem of school safety is to arm school personnel and station an armed guard at every school.  This should be done immediately in order to prevent a copycat.  Hire returning veterans for these jobs.  Canvass school personnel for hidden carry cardholders for an immediate preventative measure.  Act fast and act now while the anti gun people threaten law abiding citizens with an ammunition squeeze and increased regulation.  I view our responsible gun owners as a valuable public resource, not a threat.   
 

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Politicians Take Note

 
                                            Arizona Rangers and Tucson Police

 Economic Dilemma Brought on by Changing Conditions 

Prior economic analyses of economic systems may have posited a less dense population and cheap real estate and unlimited raw materials.  Manifest Destiny is the epitome of this idea which is now expressed in the 'forever growth' economic system posited today.  Real Estate is a finite quantity but growth proponents would increase the birthrate.  A smaller and smaller piece of real estate per person is the mathematical progression of that system.  Does this growth policy guarantee that real estate will forever increase in price?

Officials have mentioned that perhaps metals and other finite substances are reaching a time when no more is available and societies must compete for control of the reserves.  Metals are the new currency and a new source of metals would bring riches, much like historical Spain looting the Americas.  Exploration of the solar system is now possible and private enterprise is cooperating with the government to develop technology.  

I propose that present conditions are unique in the history of the world and that prior economic musings did not include the circumstances of the present.  I tend to look at things from a free market point of view because that is my cultural history.  We need a new understanding of the economy.     Dogma of the past will no longer suffice

Economic issues sometimes come with assumptions so built in they seem like reality.  Four of these assumptions will be discussed here:

      One huge assumption concerns rising prices for housing, which is touted to be good because people can then tap the quick equity in the home and blow the money and maybe lose the home later because they cannot pay the two payments, particularly if an ARM kicks in.   Bubble think with a narrow segment of the business community benefitting while others pay inflated prices.  Why would stable housing prices and mortgages be such a disaster?
 
       Debt is not always ok.  Moneylenders are soliciting borrowing from government entities and the foolish politicians and petty bureaucrats are so enamored of their own power, they borrow on behalf of the taxpayers.  Huge sums of taxpayer money is diverted to moneylenders just so these people can spend huge sums immediately instead of waiting for the funding stream to accumulate.  I estimate a loss of one third on tax streams that are 'bonded'.  How is that good business?  Incremental accomplishment on projects based on actual revenue would favor small contractors over the huge construction companies who now lobby for quick projects based on governmental debt.  Debt has become a policy. 
 
       Union demands are not sustainable in some cases.  Short term thinking controlled long term contracts, which resulted in agreements guaranteed to bankrupt the business, particularly if there is an economic downturn.  Union power to make unsustainable agreements helps nobody in the end because the source of the money to pay the benefits dries up, jobs are lost and retirees are stricken.  Contracts need language that allows for adjustments that protect the business in downturns while being fair to workers.   
 
      Politicians can incur huge public debt without a vote.  Debt is now magically called a 'Certificate of Participation' and bureaucrats and politicians can easily access huge sums that will have debt service decades after they are long gone.  Perhaps politicians should only be able to only incur debt for the term of their election and no more.  Large projects can have continuum planning for new administrations, possibly delegated by a public vote.      

Economic adaptations are required to survive in the present due to these new conditions.  In the past a microcosm of what is happening can be deduced through the study of the rise and fall of cultures.  Population pressure has been impetus for many a conqueror and immigration on a grand scale. 

As the conjunction of 2012 heralds the ending of one baktun, a mathematical observation replicable in visible space a change is predicted.  The previous baktun 394.26 years encompassed the glory of the Americas and the ascendency of man to the beginning of the space age.  The next baktun must continue the exploration of our visible universe and the Earth population must be stabilized at a size compatible with usable resources while preserving quality of life and employment.  If War burgeons, a descent into barbarism will be deserved and will occur.  We must plan for the future, not just let it happen to us. 

As the new Baktun approaches in December 2012 there are choices to be made.  September 2012 has brought to the world an outbreak of anger and the possibility of war on so many fronts the world would be devastated if they all occurred. 

Rioting Muslims blame the USA for the ugly production by a Coptic Christian Egyptian immigrant criminal who abuses our trust in freedom of speech.  He yelled 'FIRE' in a crowded theater and people have been trampled to death.  I think he should be deported to his native Egypt.  We don't need criminals like that here.  Netanyahu and Ahminjad are trading threats again.  Riots bloom in Lisbon over austerity measures 'needed' to address debt payments.  Marches against austerity in Paris.  China and Japan disputing islands.  Hassles all over the world amid rising food prices again.

It is time to choose our future course.

The cause of many of these disputes are historical of long time standing.  The insistence of Muslims that everyone abide by their code of conduct does not have the fresh breath of freedom.  Are they so insecure in their beliefs that they cannot weather criticism or even ridicule?  Are they afraid that an alternative world view will have credence?  If their beliefs are so strong then no alternative opinion would be noticed as a credible threat.  Instead, every possible infraction of their own code of conduct by outsiders, is responded to as if it were a mortal wound.  Muslims should have so much strength of belief that they are steadfast, no matter what is said.  They cannot control the world.  Nothing will allow Muslims to control the world and force all populations to say what they decree.  I would hope the peoples of the world are free of such barbarism.  That is the meaning of freedom of speech is that you will hear what you do not like but you must respect the right for it to be said above all else, lest you lose your freedom of speech also.

Controlling responses to ridicule and cultural differences is necessary in a civilized society that respects freedom of speech.  So if somebody makes a video you disagree with, make your own answering video.  Ridicule the religion of the maker, if you must.  That is how conflict is resolved.   I don't want the world to flame out over such intolerance and avarice fueled disagreements.

The shallowness of 'leaders' never fails to amaze.  QE will now be extended in an attempt to return the economy to bubble betting on real estate, which is falling flat due to actual lending standards in place, the paucity of jobs and a wariness on the part of investors.  Tech is the new moneymaker but our leaders cannot cut back on union construction worker demands.  Construction can no longer rule the economy.  The retreading of construction workers should be encouraged through the use of cut rate tuition.  The excess of workers in the construction industry must be recognized.    

Encouraging the trading of equities before any new businesses  upon which equities are based are created is even more bubble talk.  I think Dr. Bernanke is making a mistake in that he does not know that the economic succession must begin with the creation of a usable object, the trade or sale of the object, the investing profits back into the business to improve it, and the paying of an affordable wage for workers.  That is the process by which real equities in businesses that produce jobs are created.  No other way will suffice.  Anything else is bubble talk.  Think Apple!

In today's economy, the production of a very real I Phone is producing jobs.  The trading of derivatives produces no tangible object and produces no jobs but creates huge income for a few while tying up money.  Gambling with cards is essentially non-productive but money is exchanged.   In today's economy innovation of a new object will create jobs, not gambling.  I think the mortgage backed securities should be banned, along with all the derivatives.  At least give them status in Vegas, where that kind of betting is encouraged. 

As for the government, why not fund innovation?  I remember the fifties, when the Russians orbited above us and suddenly the schools went all scientific and government backed research and development because of the cold war and the threat of attack from outer space.  We were the first to the moon and the space program created many jobs over decades.  I like the current meld of government and private enterprise development of off planet resources.  I believe that tangible assets are to be had in the form of mineral resources off planet.  We are like migrating humans wading across the straits and looking towards Alaska and all to the South.   They did not turn back and nor should we.  This is an opportunity for investment in the future that would pay off for our descendents and the younger ones among us.  We must consider the future if there is to be one.      

Planning for the future must include basic changes in the use of resources in order to provide for population growth as the Earth nears human population saturation.  The slowing of population growth is needed, due to the number of adults lacking employment and the scarcity of land and water.  In addition to population growth changes, other considerations for surviving the future must be addressed. 

Needed Adaptations 

Climate change equals crop change.  Mexico has been in the forefront of agricultural adjustment based on climate change and other nations should do the same.  At least study what would be possible, like pineapples in Arizona.  We need data on crop possibilities if global warming continues to pick up speed.

Supply and demand patterns are changing.   Witness the growth of Apple.  Even in a slow economy, people will spend to buy the new item they can use.  Controlling the resources needed to make the new object is a factor in price control, which is a hassle about rare earth minerals needed for electronics.  Known rare earth minerals are located mostly in China and Greenland.  If new sources of these minerals could be located, possibly the prices of electronics would go down.   Educational trends should indicate courses of study in electronics every step of the way from fabrication to maintenance, so we maintain our preeminence in that market creating the electronics we use so much.  Money and jobs and creativity.  Invent a nice little vehicle that gets phenomenal mileage of a power source and construct them for a reasonable price.  I wonder how many Volts would have been sold if they were sold at $10,000-12,000 instead of plus $40,000?   The cost per unit has to come down to bargain rates before it is going to be a best seller.  What is jacking up the cost of the Volt?  Work to solve that and it would be a winner.  

 Recycling will increase.  All metals should be recycled in this country in order to provide jobs and to keep the precious resources within reach.  We also need to recycle paper products here, manufacture new items here and sell them here in order to provide jobs.  How about an export tax on recyclables in an effort to use the materials here?  Every shipload that leaves a port takes jobs with it.  Semi loads of copper ingots leaves Morenci every year, leaving no copper even for locals and their possible cottage industries, but plenty mess left behind and a played out resource and no jobs.

Population growth continues.  Higher unemployment rates plus the rise in population as workers come of age requires the creation of several hundred thousand jobs a month just to break even.  As of 2012 the economy is producing job gains at a slow rate but about 8% of the workers are still unemployed.  The issue of population growth is addressed in a pro growth population policy in the tax code.  Each child costs the system but the parents can bring in as many as they desire.  Taxpayers are subsidizing population increase, which is detrimental to the economy with a high unemployment rate.  I believe that the USA should have for each adult a tax deduction for one child and a tax penalty for each child claimed thereafter, in a effort to create population stability.  Public schools should have the same policy.  Persons could still have as many children as they want but they would have to pay into the system for the children instead of expecting the collective to subsidize their large families. 

Immigration policy must be reviewed.   Nations with no effective family planning must not be allowed to use the USA or any other country as a population overflow.  Nor should our immigration policy encourage population dumping in this country.  Illegal immigration is tied in with population growth and the lack of jobs for the new workers so they come to the USA to work.  If the USA attracts the brains from other countries, so be it.  

Economic corrections are needed.  The system must be malleable enough to adapt to new conditions without floundering.  Currently, there are too many construction workers.  Residential and commercial real estate stands empty and prices have dropped.  The current housing boom is over yet the unions and developers lobby for more construction spending.  More new houses, more new roads......  Perhaps a focus on maintenance of all these properties and roads would be a steady job.  Redevelopment of moribund properties should be encouraged.  Tax breaks for foreclosures should be discouraged, which would force the lenders to accept reasonable deals on properties.  Jacking up the price of properties does not help the economy.  It's a constant inflationary draw.  Housing is a huge expenditure for many and the lauding of constant inflation in housing prices is contrary to the common good.   

Moral hazard  comes out in stated policy vs. real purpose and then in the corrupt 'mortgage products'.  The stated policy was to get more qualified buyers into home ownership but the real policy became a push for as many mortgages as possible that would then be sold in bundles as derivatives.  The slip between the cup and the lip was that the people rewarded with mortgages so often could not pay the debt.  The lenders didn't own the mortgages when they went under, so they just kept cranking out more.  The plan was that the repossessors would now own a property worth more than the mortgage amount due to the incessant escalation in prices.  After the housing crash, all these financial shenanigans showed up like octopus ink in the tidepool.  Another problem with the whole derivatives scam was that the major investment concerns had policies that touted returns over other considerations on performance evaluations.  Instead of forwarding financial transactions that give a fair return and do no damage to the system, anything to make a buck became the moral hazard.   

The background of housing bubble was just greed and lax lending practices, that led to a surplus of housing and a large number of foreclosures.  Empty units sit all over town and the number of homeless has grown.  The results of housing bubble continue today but the true pain is the debt load that keeps rents high even when real estate prices are low.  The stabilization of housing costs  through the free market could be achieved by using adequate lending standards but the huge debt load carried by all the 'underwater' homeowners  is forcing people to pay more than the housing is worth when the original appraisals were questionable and often controlled by the lender.  The buyers were stuck with the bubble bill.  I think it's atrocious that buyers who escaped the excessive debt burden through default are prohibited from obtaining a mortgage for years afterwards.  That's an economic slowdown.   

More economic adjustments could be made.  A number of rules, regulations, and unions prevent wage adjustments during recessions or during times when a business must be restructured to survive.  These policies have been developed to protect the worker but some of this 'protection' has become a racket, with the worker receiving pay and benefits that exceed the ability of the business to provide on a long term basis.  Unions often focus on short term gains but ignore the long term ramifications of assured ever increasing pay and benefits on a business navigating the open market.  Unions are even tapping into workers' pay through the workplace in order to maintain their power.  Union intransigence and demands have hastened the closure of businesses.  An open shop Federal regulation and the ending of the practice of unions drawing on workers pay at the workplace would help control union power.  Workers should retain the ability to unionize if there is a need.  

Reviews of zoning and permitting show a need for more flexibility.  Currently in Arizona people 'own' their homes but are not permitted to use the properties to make a living.  The system requires only residential and then commercial properties are pricey and larded with expensive regulations so that only the wealthy have enough money to start a business.  Also, the locals have to drive or take the bus to these expensive commercial properties to shop.  Automobiles and isolated commercial districts for all necessities is a burden on our society and is bound to get more expensive as the cost of fuel rises.  Zoning changes are needed to allow for clean cottage businesses in residential areas.  Why not allow lawyers, dentists, candy sellers, hot dog vendors, seamstresses and other clean businesses operate out of homes with a minimal fee paid to the city?  We need more flexibility in our planning and zoning that does not shut out small business entrepreneurship.   How about a tax break for these home based businesses?  No tax on these.  If the developers and honchos downtown get a tax break, how about spreading it around to home based businesses?

New economic conditions never before seen in our recorded history are confronting our leadership.  Some of these are listed and bear further discussion.   

·         Population size is now greater than anytime in recorded history.  Overcrowding, unemployment, scarce land and water resources and wars resulting from these issues are now capital problems. 

·         Technology is more advanced than in our recorded history.  Instant communications all over the world are creating a world beat, a world society through the internet and telephones and all the new electronics.  A direct result of federally funded research and development is the change in our lifestyle due to computer and electronics technology.

·         Transportation is available to almost anywhere there are human settlements.  People with the means can travel quickly and efficiently, which spreads both ideas and disease in the global community. 

·         Climate change is happening and our politicians must recognize the implications and turn to long term planning.  Shoreline flooding has begun to be a problem in some areas of lower elevation.  Less rainfall is creating drought conditions affecting agricultural yields negatively.  A lack of water may inhibit growth in some areas.  Politicians must deal with these and other issues in order to insure survival of our culture.  

·         Space exploration is the new frontier.  A current public/private partnership is yielding results as a payload was successfully delivered to the space station.  Minerals and special free fall constructs of drugs and other compounds are possibilities for riches.  Titanium and other valuable metals are on the moon and asteroids there for the taking.  All we need is the technology to survive out there and many nations are developing that technology.  Lest the USA be left behind, government funded research and development is vital to our military and national security.   

·         Financial manipulation is a different sort of problem.  I call it the myth that debt is ok as a policy while cities, counties,  states and nations are edging closer to default as the debts mount and bailout costs far exceed their income.  I would hate to inhibit free enterprise, but the ceaseless recruitment of clients for the lenders from among gullible politicians should be controlled in some way.  I don't like a system that allows a politician to indebt an entire community without a vote.  What happened to voting for debt in the public sector for a project?  Borrowing by another name is still debt.   Part of that is that tax exempt status is given to municipal investors, who reap tax free profit from the huge debt load.  Maybe that loophole should be closed.  Financial manipulation also extends to the 'Wall Street' types as they create imaginary financial  products  to sell to each other that benefit no one else.  These 'securities', derivatives, insurance schemes and hedgers are parasites that produce no real benefit to society as a whole, only to a select few, kind of like the Madoff phenomena except that they were allowed to dip into tax money to rescue them from their gambling losses.  I call that a power grab.

·         The 1% and the 99% has the will to become a huge problem for the politicians if social unrest increases as a result of unemployment and the social problem of huge gaps in income, something like the French Revolution could happen.  The 'austerity' required to pay debt service to the 1% may be the undoing of the 'investors' who expect to remain in control during the debt period.  A default might be more pleasant than a revolution. 

·         Immigration is traditionally caused by war, drought, and overpopulation.  Using another country's area to absorb excess population is to be discouraged.  If religion, ignorance or tradition encourages ultimate breeding production even when economic conditions dictate otherwise, then that problem should be handled inhouse, not exported to their neighbors. 

·         No more cheap land has economic consequences beyond just challenging the myth that the economy must forever grow in a finite space.  Well, not if you base your economy on real estate.  The growth of population increases population density and the theory is that each new person diminishes land area per person.   This kind of 'growth' could be counterproductive as the habitat shrinks and the crime rate rises

·         Arctic exploration and settlement might be the next boom.  The Arctic and Greenland have other resources than oil, which has been the focus.  Climate change brings opportunities as well as problems so how about arctic farming, fisheries, tourism, university studies, and pizza on demand?  The USA owns a large slice of the arctic, the next frontier.  Let's get out there with the Russians, Canadians, Danes and who else?  Open the first saloon. 

·         Different crops could be more lucrative or less so, depending on the prior planning.  Perhaps the dry land wheat fields would shift north but we fear the desert latitudes will expand.  The desert southwest needs more greenhouses and intensive agriculture.  Local production of food lowers costs and adds to local sustainability, which is a desirable goal.  There is a thriving greenhouse industry in Arizona, a start for more investment in a needed industry.

·         Greenhouse gases could be a dangerous new reality and if human activity is speeding up the rate of global warming, then changing our energy production systems must occur.  Economic changes are inherent in any change of this scale.  Study global warming data for conclusions.  Alternate energy systems are investment possibilities. 

These are just a few of the changes confronting our leadership, both in the government and in the private sector.   If 2012 is indeed the beginning of a new era, then we must assess the opportunities and hazards of the future in order to survive and thrive.   The role of government is crucial and it is the responsibility of candidates for office to be cognizant of issues related to the perpetuation of our nation.  The  corruption surrounding political campaigns is distressing because special interests often have short term financial goals rather than acting for the common good.  If politicians are beholden to special interests rather than to the higher goals of assisting in the survival of the society, then we are in peril.

                                 

 

 

Saturday, November 03, 2012

CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY


Politicians must deal with climate change and sea level rise.

TV pundits discuss why the presidential race has been quiet about the ramifications of climate change  on the future policy of this nation.   

I suggest the silence is due to a lack of thought on the subject, or perhaps a desire to avoid the issue until after the election in a few days.  Hurricane Sandy turned over all the stones on the subject and we must address the future.  Is climate change real is no longer the question.  the question now is How fast is this warming phenomena proceeding and how much time do we have to vacate the lowlands with minimal loss of life?  The displacement of humans from around the seacoasts is a huge task, will affect the price of local real estate and will see an end to local neighborhoods as the price of real estate escalates.  Politicians are avoiding this issue but no longer will be able to after this latest storm and sea level rise. 

Perhaps any settled insurance claims in the floodplain areas should give a bonus for vacating the land, upon which hurricane and flood insurance will not be available thereafter.  The nation cannot subsidize continued claims.  Individuals and businesses would be discouraged from purchase and use of the land.  The usable land area is shrinking along the shores.    

So how fast is the world warming?  Current models have predicted the pattern of more extreme weather events but have not predicted the actual rate of change, which could be accelerating.  Former models had assumed a slower rate of climate change.   In 1950, most assumed the climate was stable within a range.  In the Southwestern USA the warming and drying trend extends back over ten thousand years.  Within Grandpa Al's memory, the hills ran with water and ivy grew near pools and it was cooler up by Bisbee Arizona USA.   Pima County where the ancient city of Tucson is located is drier than what I remember it being back in 1950.  A case of arrested development unless waterless businesses can operate in the desert communities is what we face around here due to the drought.   Invest in golf courses, anyone?

Public policy must cope with the change and if humans are accelerating the process, then invest in research and development to invent the technology to make changes to save our civilization.  
                                     CARVED WOOD JAGUAR HEAD WITH MILAGROS
                                                          MEXICO NUEVO LAREDO