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Tuesday, July 24, 2012

2012, Global Turmoil Could Be In The Making?


      I have addressed this question before and to be honest I did not do it very well.  First I do not have a clue what the Mayans taught and could care less.  It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out something is going on.  Certainly there are some serious signs occurring, but in my opinion the wrong questions are being asked.  It is not that the glaciers and ice caps are melting.  That is obvious to anyone willing to look at recent history and pictures taken over the last 100 years or so.  It is like a trigger being pulled in slow motion and at some point it trips and the gun goes off.  It is sort of a cause and effect type thing.  If the ice is melting where is it going.  Well down the rivers and into the seas and oceans.  That is pretty simple and can be documented by the rising sea levels.  One thing about water is that its seeks its own level.  It does not stack up.  So based on that simple theory most of the water must be going to the Pacific ocean.  Why? Because it is the biggest body of water.
      All the snow that was in glaciers, on mountain tops and in the polar ice caps had mass.  If all that weight is no longer in those places, where did it go.  The weight has to have moved.  Simply put all that mass that was on one tectonic plate has picked up and moved to another location or another plate.  It certainly is not where it was.  Anybody can see it has disappeared.  So while some plates have become more buoyant (lighter) the weight has moved to make others heavier.
        It is my hope you can bear with me as I try to get my point across.  I am a lay person with no scientific training and trying to explain this all based on common sense.  The goal of my explanations is to explain it so that a person who has no science background can understand it.  Over the 4th of July weekend on a long car trip with my grandson who is twenty he told me my theory does not work because of physics.  Well part of it may not, but what is going on here is a series of inter-related things that may effect each other.  If you can give me the space to explain it all then I invite you to write me and tell how and why I am wrong.  It won't be the first time I have been wrong, however, I do not think I am.  Our conversation challenged me to come up with several explanations for each step so together, hopefully it all makes sense.
      Getting back on track the plates set on a fluid core and move around the planet crashing into each other and raising up mountains.  Most scientists will agree that the Atlantic Ocean is spreading and getting bigger and that at one point the European and North American coasts were attached.  What started that movement.  My theory on that is pretty simple.  At some point the earth was hit by a very massive object that almost blew the earth apart and caused it to crack all over. If I am right it hit in the area of the Pacific and pushed through forcing the fluid core to start moving the now separate pieces by hydrostatic pressure.  As the North American plate has moved west it has also shoved the Pacific plate west.  Filling and closing the void caused by the impact.  The western edge of the Pacific plate was shoved down sharply by the impact.  This allowed all the water to shift finding its own level and putting massive downward pressure on the plate.  The westward movement of the North American plate is putting additional pressure on the Pacific plate. The Pacific plate is by far the largest of all the plates on the planet.  The volume of water on it has tremendous weight and as the water levels rise so does the pressure on the plate.  Can you even fathom how much the increase in weight would be of adding three foot more water over the whole Pacific plate.  Most of the major earthquakes happen on or near the perimeter of the Pacific plate.
     All this movement triggered massive volcanic eruptions that pushed earth into an ice age.  As the ice age advanced seas levels dropped and the moisture that was sent into the atmosphere descended in the form of snow.  The snow accumulated into massive ice sheets which covered most of the planet.  Then with everything stabilized temporarily the earth starts to warm up some.  From information I acquired from the history channel that has happened about every one hundred and twenty five thousand years.  At least that has been the case for the last 600, 000 years or so.  See the chart below, which was on the history channel.  It is not really great, but it does show global warming is nothing new.  In fact it happens in cycles and if anything mankind better be figuring how we are going to deal with the ice age in between warmings which lasts far longer than the short warming periods which tend to be brief peaks.



     Looking at the chart the white line shows global warming. This information is known because ice cores have been taken from around the globe.  Scientist then measured the amounts of greenhouse gases present in the ice.  Notice at the far right the line goes way higher than previous warming spells.  That is the recent warming that has the scientists worried.  Also notice there are bumps of warming periods every few thousand years.  The blue line is sea levels and you can see they go down every time there is a cooling period. What I find interesting is that when it hits its peak cold periods they are followed by a radical warming.  Does the massive buildup of ice cause a shift in the earths relationship to the sun?
    The interesting point of that observation is that the earth progresses through a complete galactic progression about every 26,000 years. There is also warming trends at intervals over each period of  approximately 125,000 years.  A progression is the time it takes for the earths pole to complete a transit of the houses of the zodiac and return to its starting point.  Does the earth for some reason get drawn closer to the sun because of gravitational issues every so often. Every so many months the moon goes through a cycle and comes somewhat closer to the earth.  Could our travel around the galactic cycle cause the earth to do the same in proximity to the sun. Could the Galactic Alignment create enough increased gravitational pull on earth to bring us into an orbit slightly closer to the sun.  It does not take a lot to effect to change conditions here on earth.  Just look at the changes in seasons because the shifts as it goes through the seasons.  As the earth is released from that gravitational pull could it cause the cooling periods reflected in the chart above.  After all mankind has not even been here through a complete cycle yet.  At least not at an advanced enough stage to comprehend what is going on.  Could our predecessors have figured all this out simply from watching and observing the stars.  If they did then we have lost a lot on information that they gleaned from their observations.
     This brings us to another interesting point.  There are hot spots under the earths crust.  One is in the vicinity of Yellowstone National Park,  another is in the vicinity of Hawaii.  There are several others around the globe and what  they show is that the hot spots seem to stay stationary in the fluid core and as the crust moves across them it is melted from the intense heat.  Yellowstone is suspected to have exploded every 600,000+ years or so, which it is presently overdue for.  Is that just a coincidence or a cause and effect.  To me the continents moving have the effect of creating pressure which forces the core to pour out of the volcanoes around the world.  Much like squeezing a tooth paste tube.  Another example is when you have a plastic pop bottle say three quarters full and you squeeze in the sides with your hand.  The fluid level rises in the bottle.  Shifting pressures cause the fluid to shift.
      This is the point that set my grandson off with his explanation of physics and that the water would not create pressure.  If you pour liquid into a cup it will not force the sides out it will simply keep filling till it over flows.  While agreeing with him on that point I could not get him to understand that the shift of weight would cause pressure on the Pacific plate.  He kept saying the water would just overflow the shores and no pressure would be created.  Again I agreed, however, I tried to make him understand the movement of the mass would shift weight.  So here is the example I  came up with which we have not discussed yet.  So here goes and I hope I can get my point across.
       Take two saw horses and place a board across the top or them say maybe twelve feet long positioning a saw horses ten feet apart.  One near each end but with about a foot of overhang.  Now put layers of bricks side by side evenly all the way across the board till it starts to sag.  The board equals sea level the bricks equal ice and snow.  Now take the bricks from the ends (ice caps & glaciers) and move them to the center.  They represent the movement of the melted snow and ice. As the sag increases move more bricks from the ends to the middle and the sag increases.  If you had enough bricks on the board eventually it is going to collapse or break in the middle. The bricks representing the melted snow and ice still fill the same volume of space but their weight is focused downward by gravity.  As the sag gets bigger it will require putting more bricks in the middle to keep the middle at sea level.  Of course the more you put in the middle the more the sag increases.  If you left a foot over on each end beyond the sawhorse you will notice the ends are starting to move upward.  As the the weight of the melted snow and ice shifts the weight on the ends (plates where the snow and ice was) get lighter.  Sooner or later the board has more in the center that it can hold and it breaks.
      Now we introduce global warming. The question is what causes the warming.  As it happens on a fairly regular cycle, it is my opinion it is caused by minor orbital changes of the earth and our proximity to the sun. The man made problems are minor by comparison, but aggravate the situation. The ice and snow start to melt at a faster rate.  As the ice and snow melt it turns to water which seeks its own level.  So it will go to the lowest point.  The water which was ice and snow and moves toward the plates covered by water.  The Atlantic and Pacific start sinking because of the pressure building up.  We take the bricks representing ice and snow again and move them to the Pacific plate.  Now the poles (ends) are empty and can float and move. The weight has been shifting to what represents the western end of the Pacific plate. With the heavy load things start shifting and cracking occurs in the form of earthquakes.  The Pacific plate also squeezes the core creating hydrostatic pressure which moves the internal fluids into the the areas under the lighter now floating plates and the magnetic core is shifted in the process.
     It has been known that the magnetic poles are moving for several hundred years.  Scientists believe the magnetic poles have shifted or flipped in the distant past.  Hundreds of years ago the poles moved very little.  Since the turn of the century the pace has picked up.  Where it was just a kilometer or so a year, over the last fifty years the movement has increased tremendously(almost in direct proportion to the ice and snow melting) and now the magnetic poles are moving at almost fifty kilometers per year.  Anybody who has ever played with magnets knows that when two poles move so far they reach a tipping point and flip rapidly all of a sudden.  Are we nearing that point.
    While plates normally move inches at a time.  My theory is that as forces build up they are like a trigger and every so often it trips and the Pacific plate jumps forward several miles at a time all along the Mariana Trench.  Which triggers earthquakes all over the world as everything tries to resettle itself.  The Tsunami's unleashed would be gigantic.  They would be happening all over the world.
    While I do not know what the Mayans thought, I do know that the Bible describes a number of events that have happened or will happen and they all fit right in with what I have been saying.  I will put them all together in a Part Two for this blog.  So at least in my opinion there are signs that indicate some kind of major disaster could happen in the future.  Will it happen on December 21st?  I do not have a clue, but if it does it will be coincidence.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

How Government Incompetence Can Effect You

     Recently I was watching the news on CNN and the announcer asked a guest if the drought would effect food prices.  Well I am not a rocket scientist, but I can answer that one.  Yes it will.  The quest hemmed and hawed and did everything he could to not answer the question.  He started talking about gas prices coming down and that it should be easier on Americans to travel.  That was not the question.  I do not remember his name or his title but I do know the area he was being questioned about is the area he is responsible for in the Obama administration.  Yet he could not give a straight answer.  That is the nature of the Obama administration, it accepts responsibility for nothing.  Of course maybe that is because they have done nothing in almost four years in office.
      They are on Romney because at Bain Capital he outsourced jobs.  Romney needs to get a pair and say Yes I did President Obama, but it certainly was not the four million jobs that have disappeared under your administration.  Which is just a drop in the bucket compared to what is coming if something is not done between now and January.  Let me go back and answer the question from the start of this piece.  Yes food prices are going up.  So are the prices of virtually everything else that is related to food prices.  Yes that includes ethanol and all other food based products like beef, pork, and chicken which will cost more to feed. Which will be passed on to the consumer.  Living in the country and being able to grow your own has certain advantages, but we can not grow everything.  Many imported goods like coffee, sugar, chocolate, and peanuts to name a few items are outside of our control.
     All the above are happening and are going to continue to happen regardless of what the government does.  The only thing that can turn the economy around is creating jobs and putting people to work.  The problem is the mandated budget cuts which Congress agreed to are going to eliminate over a half million jobs.  That is almost as many as the Obama administration has been able to create in a year.  So at best we are going to be set back a year.  At worst those people will be put on unemployment.  They will no longer be contributing to the system, which means the government will be spending more and earning less.  Then a few months down the road when those peoples unemployment will run out.  They will start losing their homes and the housing market will take another dive.  Listening to the news this morning they were projecting another 3.9 million home foreclosures in the next year and a half.  That did not include what will be caused by the failure to do anything about coming budget crisis.
      What is suppose to get the economy going again?  It requires some kind of action and I see none being offered by either side.  Maybe they have the 2012 Blues and figure if the world is going to end on the 21st of December it does not matter what they do.  Well I hate to tell them that those doomsdayers, of which I am one, may be wrong and you have to plan accordingly.  Maybe on January 1st 2013 the politicians will wake up and say,  "Hey we are still here, we have to do something to fix this."  Of course that will not happen, because it will still be the other guys fault and regardless of who becomes President the bickering will continue.  Also as I said I have heard neither one say, "This is what I am going to do and here is how I am going to create jobs."  It has not happened and it will not happen, because they have not a clue of how to do it.  Obama does not have the business background to do it.  Romney's past says he is better at getting rid of jobs than making them.  So America's problems will continue to roll along.
     The only way to change anything is to change the leadership.  We could at least put people into the system that have some vague idea of a solution that might fix the system.  Solutions that will offer ways to create jobs.  I have sent possible solutions to the Obama administration and they have evidently file thirt-teened my letters, right after putting me on their mailing list.  That only proves what kind of idiots they have working in the present administration.  Americans want solutions.  We do not care if Romney sent jobs overseas.  We want to know what the ones who are in charge right now are doing to fix the system.  It is much easier to rail against Romney and Bain than to come up with a workable plan.
     The stock market was at 7949 when Obama was sworn in.  It had fallen to that point from a high of 14,164 at its all time high.  The market once it was bailed out after hitting a low or 6,469 in March of 2009 started a slow but shaky recovery.  It has trended up and in May hit a high of 13,338 which has been the high during Obama's term.  The problem is that it dives with every minor bit of bad news.  The market indicates very little in reality.  It only shows that people are not smart enough to take Their money out of the market and put it into some other form of investment.  My prediction is that if Obama gets reelected and things continue as they are the market will be somewhere below 4000 by his inauguration.  It is not much better for a Romney scenario.
        If anyone has run their own business they know that if it is not growing it is dying.  It may take a while to die but sooner or later it will die.  I was in a church that died a few years ago.  It died by attrition.  Were we not motivated enough, I do not know.  When you have seven churches in a town of about 500 people they are pretty  well committed.  Our church did not die from a lack of funds.  The survivors who closed the doors had to give away over $80,000 dollars.  The church had rules about where the money went when the doors closed.  Hopefully to the benefit of the Lord's work.  The stock market is not under the same guidelines.  When it dies the money just vanishes like it never existed.  So where do all those billions go.  Do they just evaporate or were they spent and never really existed to start with.  Well they did exist when you earned them.  The investors told you they held them and that they had value.  If that was true when the market collapsed the money would still be there.  However the market is nothing more than a shell game, but it is played with your money.  When the market collapses you can rest assured the money will be under the shell being held by the bankers. So the bankers are not the incompetent ones.  They are thieves with the laws written to their benefit.  That is why there is a limit on how much the government has to insure your account for.  The government knows the money is gone.
      So what does all this mean to you.  If you are hoping to retire it is a very iffy situation.  If everything goes right it may happen, but the inflation rate will eat any hopes you have of getting by on what you get.  Especially if all you have is Social Security.  With all the Boomers retiring over the next few years the drain on the Social Security is going to increase at the same time the input into the system is decreasing.  As I said at the start, I am not a rocket scientist, but even I know that the math does not work in that situation. So if the government fails to fix the problem everyone will have to work till they die.  Except the bankers and the rich people who have the shell game stacked in their favor.  So the budget deficit is not just a government problem.  It is a very real problem for every working person in the country.  If it goes unfixed every one will be in bondage to the system, except the few that figure out that living debt free is the only way to beat the system.  Eventually they will keep raising your property taxes till you can no longer afford to even pay them
      So yes the fact that the government is doing nothing to fix the problems America is facing will eventually effect you one way or the other.  So you can get mad and get involved or sit back and say it is not my problem.  In  the later case you are wrong.  As we use to say in the Army, "You are either part of the solution, or part of the problem."  If you do not care what happens you are part of the problem.  Getting involved and doing something may seem hopeless at points, but at least you know you are trying to be part of the solution.  The first step you can take if you care is vote.  Even if you simply write in a candidates name that you actually think could help. My vote goes the the ex governor, Jesse Ventura from Minnesota who was a professional wrestler and ex Navy seal.  I will have his name memorized by the time I walk in the booth to vote this fall.  If he got enough write in votes it might make a statement we are tired of it all.  At least I am not supporting either one of the present candidates which have not a clue what to do.
      The definition of insanity is, "Doing the same thing, over and over, the same way and expecting to get a different result."  So if you think the present two parties are the solution you might want to question whether    you are sane or not.  If you determine you are sane, rock the boat this fall and write in a candidate or write none of the above.  Do not prove your insanity by voting for the hopeless idiots running for office.

Friday, July 13, 2012

America's Greatest Treasure Our Youth

 
         America's Last Great Hope, Our Creativity and our Youth




  What is America's greatest treasure. I have come to believe it is America's youth and their natural inquisitiveness.  Their desire to know how things work and to make them work better.  Years ago that creativity was stimulated by the way kids played and how they dealt with the problems that came up.  They were encouraged by parents that cared and encouraged them to use that creativity to make things.  Today however that source of American pride is in danger of fading into the past.  Today America is raising a new generation of vidiots.  That is a word of my own creation. To me it is the source of the problem.  While it could be a chance for a great leap forward that is not what I am seeing.  If you watch TV at all you have seen the clips of people falling in pools, walking into doors and basically becoming video game zombies.
      Just recently on a trip I experienced how far it goes.  The new generations relate to each other in gamer tech talk and complete strangers can set down and be lost for hours playing games.  It is like they are not even present in the room.  They are in their little game world.  The question is does it further their learning processes.  Will it help them fit in, in the world of work.  Will it give them skills they can use.  I am sure for some it may do that.  Yet lots of the ones I see are lacking in basic social skills.
      Parents need to do things that foster and encourage creativity.  Projects that challenge them to think and produce things that they can use.  They need to learn to use motor skills beyond getting calluses on their thumbs.  Since I have retired I have had the opportunity to see programs that really make a difference.  Every year the shell oil company sponsors an event called the Shell ECO-Marathon.  The goal is for the contestants to create and drive a vehicle that runs the farthest distance on the least amount of fuel. The teams are from some of the biggest and best colleges and universities in the nation.  Some of them have engineering departments.  However high schools can enter also.  A few years back I had the privilege of meeting the team from Mater Dei HIgh School in Evansville, IN.  It was a very interesting interview and I totally enjoyed it.  I came to know about the school when I read about their victory in a local paper.  This group of high school kids came home with the gold.  In 2008 they cleaned house. They built a car capable of going 2843 miles on one gallon of gas.  They have won honors every year they since then.  They did not win the overall in 2010 but their record still stands.  In 2012 they had a sweep in Gasoline, Battery and Alternative Gasoline in the Prototype Class and 1st in the Urban Concept Car Class Gasoline division.
      When I went to visited them a couple years ago they had three adults in the program.  A teacher, a mechanic and an engineer.  Most all of the work and planning was done by the students.  The adults supervised to make sure things were done safely.  The interesting thing is that this is an after school extra curricular activity.  They do not get any special grades or points in school for participating.  Their focus is on reducing drag and resistance.  Every where an ounce can be shaved without creating a safety issue it is gone.  I was amazed watching them work.  While I could probably tell some very neat things I saw.  I consider them trade secrets and will not share the details. I am putting a clip from the internet so you can look up more info if you are interested.  There are plenty of stories about the event on the internet.  Here is a link  http://www.greatenergychallengeblog.com/2012/04/03/exciting-races-and-year-of-firsts-wrap-up-shell-eco-marathon-americas-2012
      So what got me all fired up three years later.  My grandson and I are always saying we are going to my shop and bond.  For whatever reason it never happened till this week. Thursday we spent the day at my shop.  I started doing crafts and then I asked him.  What do you want to do? He said build a car.  So that became the focus.  We started digging, cutting, drilling and bolting things together and about 2 1/2  hours later we made our first road test.  We found some minor problems, but we worked out the details and when he comes back, Lord willing, we will finish it.  What I discovered is that if you can do something kids are interested in and help them along they will get involved and do it.
     America needs programs like the one at Mater Dei.  In 1987 the Shell Eco-Marathon had 23 teams in the event.  In 2012 there were 96 teams with a total of 113 vehicles entered in the events.  It shows signs of growing more and more.  They now have a European Division and an Asian Division.  Hopefully America will get on the wagon and see the value of this program.  It may help us raise up new talent to create new concepts and technologies that can put America back on the top.  It will take the involved leadership and efforts of adults who care.  Ones who will get involved and not with just the check book.  Ones who will take the time to encourage and motivate the kids to do their best.
     I did notice one thing interesting while reading the results and if you look at them you may notice it also.  Many of the winning teams are from Indiana and even Illinois schools.  What is significant about that?  Well Indiana was the heart of the automotive industry when it started.   There used to be all kinds of plants all over Indiana, Ohio and Illinois.  Many of the companies came and went.  Yet every year the greatest spectacle in racing happens on Memorial Day Weekend in Indiana.  The Indianapolis 500 is run.  A few years back I happened to pick up a copy of the Indianapolis Star and read the special feature on the race.  Sadly I realized that not one of the the 33 cars comprising the field were made in America.  Most were English Fords.  You may say so what, but when a nation no longer wins at something it created.   Something that made it standout in the world it is a sad day.
     There is an example of that irony going on in Europe today.  Spain certainly no longer rules the seas and it borders on bankruptcy.  Yet it is the place where all the wealth of the New World entered Europe.  They were not able to hold on to enough to keep them going.  They may have been on the cutting edge of the technology of the days when they held power, but they have faded from glory.  Is America headed down the same road.  Maybe if America does not take time to train up our children in the way they should walk.  If we continue on the road we are to moral bankruptcy, yes we will end up like Spain.  Sad to say but true.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Fixing America's Problem

      First there is nothing wrong with America that we have not been through before.  Nothing that we can not fix with a little effort.  The real problem is a lack of direction and understanding of how to fix the problems and even what they are, by America's Leadership. My 3rd party platform tells how to fix the problem. I can prove the above statement pretty simply.  If Americans did not work or produce quality products BMW, Mercedes, Toyota and other foreign car companies would not be building plants here.  They actually have an advantage over the American plants though.  They are building them with the latest state of the art robotics and manufacturing techniques.  They also only hire enough people to do the jobs they need done.  They do not have to deal with pension plans that drain and tie up their capital.  At least not yet.

       Jobs going overseas is not the problem, but it does not help.  The fact American companies can take advantage of cheap labor and then make excessive profits is one issue that needs to be addressed.  Labor should not be exploited whether it is here or abroad.  Our government turning a blind eye to the exploitation of labor(people) that it would not tolerate in the United States is morally wrong.
 
     The national debt is not the real problem either, but it does not help.  During World War II debt reached 122% of the GDP.  Yet it did not create a problem.  It was not a problem because the attitude was that we were saving America and the world from a horrible fate.  This contrasted with the attitude that led to the Great Depression.  At the start of the Great Depression the national debt represented only 15% of GDP.  By the end of 1941 and before we entered World War II it had only risen to 38% of GDP.  With the advent of World War II the debt had risen to 122% of the GDP by the end of the war.  If you look at those figures percentage of GDP has little real effect on the nation.  It is the attitude and the lack of productive work that creates the hardship.

   Americans did without and sacrificed all during the war for the national good.  After the war that built up demand kept the economy going.  By 1949 the national debt was again less than the GDP.  It continued to drop as a percentage of  the debt until about 1971.  Two events happened about that time that changed things dramatically.  America went off the Gold Standard and government employees were allowed to unionize. The main change was in attitude.  America decided it was okay to have debt.  From that point it escalated. The real snowball escalation started in 1998. That is covered in one of my other posts. The point is that the attitude changed.  Also leadership started changing.  The lack of decisiveness or willingness to make tough decisions was and is a big part of the problem.

     During the Great Depression leadership at first denied there even was a problem.  Even when they did realize there was problem the response was that is was not the governments problem.  However as the depression progressed and national revenues fell off drastically they realized it was a government problem.  Their actions were to little and to late.  As I said debt was only 15% initially and only reached 38% before entering the war.  The timid response was cast aside when it suddenly became a matter of saving the nation, Well we have reached a point where we again are facing a choice of saving the nation or entering another Great Depression.  However this one will be much worse than the first one.  The first one the government was solvent.  Technically our nation is at present bankrupt.  So what saved the nation back then and what is the only thing that can save it today.  We need to create jobs.  What drove the economy and kept it running during the 50's, 60's, 70's and into the 80's.  A big part was the expenditure to build the national Interstate Highway System and the national space race.  However all that development has ended and basically the air is going out of the balloon.
 
   Technological advancements in computers and robotics have displaced large numbers of laborers.  The real problem today is a mismatch of labor and skills needed by industry.  Many companies have jobs that are going begging because they have no skilled labor to fill them.  Labor needs to be retrained and refocused.  College educations are fine, but that may not be where the jobs are at. Training more lawyers and doctors when there is a glut of them is a waste of resources.  America needs a national training program to create labor to fill the many new jobs being created in the renewable energy industries and technologies.
  
  America needs to become more focused on solving our energy problems because there is only a finite amount of fossil energy.  Sooner or later it will run out.  The trick is to be ready and have an alternative before it does.  The following link will take you to one such alternative.  I think you will find it to be an interesting one.  In France a man designed and developed a car that runs on compressed air.  It will run seventy miles per hour and up to 120 miles on one tank of air.  You say but the compressor runs on electricity.  Yes it does, but what if that electricity is developed by wind generators and solar panels. Suddenly we have a zero pollution car.  With the proper tank storage systems the car can be recharged in just a couple of minutes.  So alternatives to gasoline already exist. It is a matter of convincing the world it is the better way to go.  In the video it explains that the technology is already being developed in India and Mexico to reduce pollution. So here it is ..  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4w6aJMNXSk  Hope you enjoy it.  It is only about seven minutes long.

    The only way to really change the system is with a complete change in leadership.  It has to be to a style of leadership that realizes what the problems are and is willing to take the steps to change and fix the problem. My view is we need a Constitutionally based third party.  If you read my blog prior to this one you will understand why.  The definition of insanity is.  "Insanity, doing the same thing, over and over, the same way and expecting to get a different result."  Both parties we presently have are obligated to their bases and really oblivious to the true problems.  The Democrats are trying to by the poor with handouts and the Republicans have been bought by big business and the wealthy thinking they will get a piece of the pie.  The only way to fix it is to change it and put people in power who will slash programs and pass laws so that the government does not bail out mismanaged businesses and banks that should be closed because they are unsound.
 
   The present tax on gasoline is 18 cents per gallon.  We need to raise it to 50 cents per gallon and the increase needs to be used to build infrastructure in the states where it is spent.  The Fed should have no part in it other than making sure the money is actually spent on fixing infrastructure.  As labor is hired to do the jobs and material is bought to fix the infrastructure it will create a web of jobs that need to be filled.  Steel companies will need to make steel.  Machines to do the work will be needed and have to be built.  The suppliers will need to buy and hire people.  Jobs create jobs.  Food stamps and unemployment simply develop a deadbeat attitude of "the government owes me."  Nobody is owed nothing.  Every citizen needs to pull their own weight and help pull America back up on its feet.

     Why a fuel tax?  It is an existing tax and it is collected locally and should be spent locally.  It does not need the creation of a new program.  As jobs are created tax revenue will increase and then the other problems can be addressed.  By then maybe a new party with a new attitude can actually take measures to fix the problems and make a mandatory balanced budget.  If something is not done and soon America is going to fall into a depression that it will take many years to get out of.  The Great Depression went on eleven years and was only ended by World War II.  Without starting a war, which we seem to be getting very good at, it could last up to twenty years and maybe become a permanent problem.  That is not gloom and doom.  That is the reality of the situation America faces. Creating a tax is taking and action to fix the problem in America. If we do not create the tax and start a program to fix America and our problems the cost will be far more than a few cents a gallon.  It will be 50% unemployment and soup lines.  You may be safe now, but will you be when the economy totally collapses which is inevitable if something is not done. The present two parties are certainly doing nothing new.  Remember I defined insanity.  The Republicans have tried to repeal Obamacare 33 times.  How about moving on to something they can fix and when they get the majority then they can repeal it.  Wasting time doing nothing is what has got America into the situation it is in.  It is time for a real change, not the Obama kind, but the kind that does something to help fix America.
   
 Sooner or later countries are going to stop investing in America and getting no return on their investment. They will decide to keep their money at home and when they do. The party is over.  When the world economy collapses and it will if ours does.  Then we will no longer be a safe haven for their money.  So we only have two choices.  Fix the problem by changing our ways, or get ready for a very hard and rough ride to the bottom of a financial abyss.  It will not matter if gas is just a $1 a gallon no one will be able to afford it. In the Great Depression the stock market lost 89% of its value. If we had the same decline today the bottom would be around 1560.  My blog of February 28, 2012  "Energy is Driving America Toward a Cliff, and into an Abyss."  Paragraph two explains a big part of how and why America's economy is in the condition it is in today.  You can disagree, but facts are facts.
 
   You are invited to use the search bar and read my party platform.  CARP is the Constitutional American Reform Party.  It is what America needs.  Please help me get it started so we can fix America.  We do not need to take over the Presidency, we need enough seats in the House and Senate to vote down or block any bill that is not good for America.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

The American Dream, Congress Gets an F

     Most people will agree there are problems in America.  The real controversy begins with how do you fix the problems.  The present system is certainly not moving us toward an answer.  In fact the American Dream is in danger of morphing into a Nightmare.  If the present path is not changed America is in danger of falling into a financial abyss from which there may be no return. It is time for a change.  Not Obama's change you can believe in,  It is time for change we can see and measure. There are solutions but not with the present leadership in America.  Here is the simple reason why.  It is as simple as the definition of Insanity, which is, "Doing the same thing, the same way, over and over and expecting to get a different result."  Americans keep electing leadership from two opposing parties. With two opposing points of view that never change, and then expect some new outcome that is going to fix the system. It "Ain't Gonna Happen."
      The only way a change will happen is by either introducing a new party with a completely different point of view, or a different way of looking at the problems and that comes up with a completely different solution. The only other way is to start a revolution tear it all down and start over. That one might be the quickest way to get rid of America's debt problem.  Just wipe the slate clean and start over.  Of course that may start a World War which will make a solution a moot point.  As there will be no one left to care, if there is, or is not, a national debt problem.
     I tend to favor the new party solution.  In fact I have a platform for the new party on my blog which you can see by using the search bar.  It is called the Constitutional American Reform Party.  The acronym is CARP which means to complain.  Which is something most Americans are good at.  As the name implies it would be a Constitutionally based party.  Which would be a novel way of running the government.  The Constitution gave the newly formed government five duties or responsibilities. 1. Establish Justice, 2. Insure domestic tranquility, 3.provide for the common defense 4. Promote the general welfare, and 5. to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.  As I see it the present government has scored as follows so far.
1. D,  2. D,   3. C+,  4. D-,  5. D+  Let me explain how I arrived at each grade and you can make up your own mind as to if you think they are fair.
      1. Establish Justice... By Webster's definition of upholding what is fair and just,  we have fallen a bit short as a nation.  There have been some improvements over the years, but the courts have misused their power to try and legislate morality.  They have turned a blind eye, and even aided an abetted in taking away civil liberties that they had no right to mess with.  Some of the founding fathers grew hemp as a cash crop.  Yet the courts helped take that right away.  In the process they have incarcerated millions of American citizens for no good reason.  Taxing the products would have been much more effective.  The war on drugs is an absolute and total failure. It is draining billions upon billions of dollars to fight a war it can not win. Actually at the present time the department of justice is being questioned about its facilitating the war on drugs.  The one it says it is trying to win.  I will not even touch on civil rights, or the taking of our personal freedoms and invasions of privacy by the government.  I think the D is more than generous.  If I included pre Civil War decisions that led up to and caused the civil war, which the end result was Federal rights trumping States rights it would be an F.
    2. Insure domestic tranquility.  Some of the justice issues overlap here. However the fact that over two million of Americans citizens are incarcerated says a lot.  The prison system is a total failure and is more of a boot camp for learning criminal activities than a place of correction.  The failure to provide a system that actually punishes criminal acts.  The failure to educate the public in a way that may allow its citizens the hope of making a living wage.  Allowing a system of wages that borders on slavery while turning a blind eye on the injustices performed by businesses and the wealthy.  Allowing American companies to participate in almost slave labor operations overseas to benefit themselves and make an increased profit at home. While failing to provide standard of living that will let the average American lead an average life.  Supporting a wage system that basically makes the lower classes slaves of the wealthy.
3.  provide for the common defense... This is a hard one to call.  America has an awesome volunteer military and it has done an outstanding job.  It has come up short a couple times.  In the war of 1812 when the White  House and the Capitol were burnt.   Most of its shortcomings have come from Congressional budget cutting and downsizing after wars to the point we were not ready for the next one.  Now the government has taken to calling up the National Guard to fight wars half ways around the world.  Wars that have no justification against enemies that are not really in any danger of attacking America.  Groups that hate America for using Islamic followers to fight a war against a common enemy, but at a cost of Islamic blood.  That hate America for overthrowing an duly elected democratic government to protect Britain's oil interest in the Middle East.
A really good book that tells the how and why of our involvement in the Middle East. is Power, Faith, and Fantasy. in the Middle East 1776 to present, by Michael Boren, published Jan 2007. The book makes clear that we would not even have a Constitution if it were not for events in the Middle East.  A really eye-opening good read.
4.  Promote the general welfare....Understanding this one requires reading the Constitution at least Article 1. Section 8 which describes the powers given to Congress.  This section tells what the duties are.  Like raising taxes and charging duties, paying the bills, raising the military, providing for the welfare.(Taking care of the governments needs, like buildings, roads and etc.  It is the part where money was appropriated to purchase land, build the capitol and the white house and to rebuild them after the War of 1812.  To build military bases and provide equipment and maintain the infrastructure) In this area the Congress has failed miserably. giving a D- is being generous.  Considering they have kept up the buildings in Washington, DC and provided for the building of the Interstate system, but beyond that they have failed.  Upkeep is part of the job, not build it and forget it.  I will have more to say on this later, but I want to finish explaining the grades first.
5. secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.  Well we may have an abbreviated amount of liberty, but the government is quickly and thoroughly trashing the idea of freedom.  They are making the people of America slaves to a system of over taxation and poorly managed budgets that have made America into a debtor nation.  Which I will leave alone, before I go on a rant.
                                           
                                                          How Do We Fix It?
   If you read all the above and agree with most of it, then you realize the present system has failed us.  A strong third party may be able to turn it around, but it has to be a party that will make hard and tough decisions. Unlike the Dum-ol'-Crats who own the poor. Or the Republi-can'ts who are owned by the Rich.  Decisions based on the Constitution.  That will start in the area of justice by returning the Supreme Court to seven members as it originally was.  Make laws that eliminate lifetime appointments and force retirement if one can not perform his duties which is not the case today.  The extra justices should be removed by attrition which means hopefully there would be no new appointments till the laws can be changed.  That would be the shot across the bow of the Supreme Court to get back to enforcing the law and quit trying to create law from the bench.
      Another thing the third party could do is to push legislation to start fixing infrastructure. If you look back the building of the interstate system was what helped build the boom in America after World War II.  It needs to be maintained as do government buildings.  This creates tax paying jobs, and stimulates production of materials to do the maintenance and upkeep.  It is contractors who do the work not the Federal Government.  The Postal system needs to be updated and revamped and take it out of the package, junk mail and passport businesses and let it simply deliver personal mail.  Let private companies do the package and flier deliveries.
    Legislation to ban government bailouts of businesses should also be put in place. Government handout and give away systems should be reined in.  The welfare system needs to be totally revamped so those that know how to bleed the system can no longer do so.  It would make a lot more sense to spend the money fixing infrastructure and creating jobs to do it.  Instead of paying people to sit on their butts and do nothing.  It is not a good system and needs to be changed.  Supporting the needy should be turned back over to the churches and community civic groups.  Maybe it would turn America back toward being a God fearing nation it used to be.  Which would not be all bad.
     I will not touch the medical system problems in this post.  That would and has been done in some of my other blogs. There are ways to fix it and still make sure every citizen gets the care they need.  Obamacare is not the answer for sure.  I have a friend who sells health insurance and he told me several companies that sell medical coverage are no longer going to offer it at all, because they think the cost will be to high.  That just means the remaining companies can charge what they want.