Job's, Jobs, jobs

The Book of Job in the Bible famously demonstrates the bet between Satan and God as to whether a true devotee can be made to foreswear the Lord.

 

Of course, after brutal trials, Job, eventually, liberated from false attachments finally receives the full blessing from Life having turned away from Temptations.

 

Sad, that the eponymous word for Livelihood, is slang for Faustian Test.  So, every day in employment is a challenge from Hell, under that thinking?

 

Too bad.

 

 

We need to rethink entirely the nature of Livelihood.  What is your pre-occupation, your occupation and animus where you are of highest and best use to Society, with the least cost to your health, wealth and soul.

 

Many people facing this Pandemic Crisis in the economy, like me, are reassessing what arethe actual Jobs and Job descriptions of the future going to become?

 

That said, before we earnestly discuss the Green New Deal, or any other Major Effort, let’s re-enshrine the Bill of Rights with a little history tour of how we come to the arrangement of being totally dependent upon a $14/hr. worker for distribution of goods and services that may have become so urgent, important and valuable, because of the exaggerated and impacted resource availability problems.

 

 

In 1215, The Lord descended from Heaven, signed a piece of paper with the Dukes and Barons of England, and admitted He was a human King.  Every squire, knave, groom and peasant within a Mile of Runnymede was promptly murdered for having witnessed the event.

 

From there, democracy in the modern American sense was born.  Flash cut to 250 years later, or there about, and we have the fundamental flaw in our Agrarian-style macro-economic theory.  A Serf is born, and he will be raised, live, then die as an attached beast of the land.  Probably not leaving to the capital London if once, they remained within about a 20-mile radius from where they were born.

 

They were often classed into task groups, and seasonally or during crisis tasks would be completely reassigned... all with little to no say by the Serf.  They were beasts to be manipulated, resources to be controlled and conquered, and base value of the farmlands, as pheasants improve the value of the Royal Forests.

 

It is only in this 21^stCentury where people have been born in ignorant bliss of Freedom and Liberty, and now are surprised by the hard and cruel facts of geopolitical macroeconomics.

 

The contrasts in this era are probably as about as stark as they may have ever been, only because they have never been more observable, simultaneously and worldwide.

 

So, the replay of the signing of the Magna Carta would have been videoed, and upon further review a human who was dressed as King signed a piece of paper.

 

 

Myths are being destroyed every day, and life can be very grim.

 

So, in redesigning and repurposing your livelihood, consider that your good work for other, hopefully helps to build a better future, a nicer present and a more pleasant understanding of the hard choices that came from the past.

 

We will get past all of this, because we process the economy individually and collectively, daily.

 

But, next time you get some fast food, now that the fragilities, weaknesses and errors of our macroeconomy are on display, maybe consider leaning on the tip.  Tip a nurse or care worker; or bring them some flowers; or a soda.  We humans are all in this together!

 

Not random acts of kindness, rather design your livelihood for purposeful kindnesses that you like to make and are good at doing.

 

Then maybe your jobwill just be a fair bargain with other people, without need for tests from outside powers?

 

Vision: Steady, safe and sane livelihoods; Multiple training pathways, nimble enough for lateral transfer, and ideally all correlated; and each employee with long-term prospects and full benefits.

 

What will you become in this trial?

How Cataclysm is Reality Check

The Disaster in Japan, presently mounting towards becoming something we will only hope to determine in a couple of months could be at least worse than Three-Mile Island and probably not as bad as Chernobyl; that is the Nuclear (Environment [Energy {consumption/scarcity} Economy] Health) Situation.

The Disaster in Japan is an example of the force of the oceans, a vivid recreation of the Indonesian Tsunami, but with the million dollar yachts, middle class houses, and video cameras slushing about everywhere—all floating together equally: that the reality TV, media, yet very real Safety Preparedness issues brought front and center for the World to see.

The Disaster in Japan was also a Massive Series of Earthquakes. Three Disasters in one, and all of them begging questions. Fundamental questions that I am confident the Japanese Society, and the World with which they have built tremendous store of good will, interdependence, and fair trade can answer the questions being asked by this Natural Disaster.

To come back to simplicity, the tragedy shows beggar, rich man, and thief all equally were swept away. All died, and were spared only according to natural forces – not perceptions or falsehoods held by society. Chaos, and randomness. DONATE TODAY!

We can use this crisis soon to be molded into opportunity to better understand our Society, too.


The first question begged, Nuclear, asks us to truly have Utilities, states, and corporations acknowledge that we are currently (this includes everything from Climate Change to Household cleansers, and includes everything else we make) conducting a real-time open ended chemistry experiment with our environs and habitat for which we rely upon sustenance. I have complained very loudly in my book Metaeconomics on the subject of incorrect assessment of lifetime costs and benefit-cost analysis in resource valuation.

The second shows us that seven generations thinking (planning for 7 x 30 = 210 years in advance) is required to address the engineering challenges of Reality posed by the forces of nature, and made worsening of those disasters.

Home itself as physical object is impermanent. So, any disaster in, near, or by the home becomes a scientific and engineering issue. At the extreme end, we have to be conscious also of our massive garbage and waste streams, and thus reusability, recycle-ability, biodegrability, etc.

For example: Is it too much to ask to buy a washing machine that your grandkids could inherit (still operational)? Or imagine you could use parts from your washing machine to replace parts to fix by hand (using simple tools) your futuristic vacuum? That the broken part can be sold for scrap to the local hardware store for re-smelting?

On the other hand, living spaces are designed to ideally (looking at older cultures than ours in Modern USA) last a similar 210 years... or many, many more!

Japan has the opportunity to unleash the resources to create an actual place where they find their best and brightest technological possibilities. Entire new, green, and safe communities can arise by direct result of the response by the question being begged.

Maybe there is hope for Nuclear Safety, but clearly like Deep Sea Oil Drilling, like Trickle Down Economics, and a parade of other less than flexible ideas we have recently witnessed self-destruct (or at the very least flies in ointment canisters -- if not fact based proofs against them) in our times.

Finally, to be specific and real in my example, the idea of a California Coastal Commission has been the obvious joke in my experience (and many others) in real estate, architecture, engineering, planning, design, and other professional experience. Saying CCC in many circles is short hand for bureaucratic nightmare and red tape.

However, by looking at the scope of the challenge now before our friends in Japan, we can see clearly why certain agencies do exist for betterment of common good issues like health, safety, environment and planning. We may however need to streamline, and make efficient this series of systems and conflicting agencies.

So, we should mirror our friends as they rebuild their infrastructure, help them in doing so, and use the massive economic requirements to upgrade and refurbish our crumbling infrastructure system.

• In these next years, the friendship between our nations and the connection and spirit of kinship can only become that much stronger by the real challenges and questions Mother Nature has now asked of all human societies around the world.

From the peanut gallery to the rafters... a crib sheet with commentary on the SOTU

Here in Bold are my take-aways, and in italics the words from the speech that best summarized the speech logic points.

Howard Fineman called it 'the most pro-business speech a Democrat has given.'

1. Implied acknowledgement of Keynesian Major Project Theory."The first step in winning the future is encouraging American innovation."

2. Direct acknowledgement of the broken educational mechanisms. "...we also have to win the race to educate our kids."

3. Acknowledgment that one of the most efficacious stimulus actions of money from government would be best spent on Infrastructure. "Our infrastructure used to be the best - but our lead has slipped."

4. Acknowledgement of over-burdened small business part 1: regulatory. "All these investments - in innovation, education, and infrastructure - will make America a better place to do business and create jobs. But to help our companies compete, we also have to knock down barriers that stand in the way of their success."

5. Acknowledgment of over-burdened small and medium businesses part 2: tax code. "So tonight, I'm asking Democrats and Republicans to simplify the system. Get rid of the loopholes. Level the playing field. And use the savings to lower the corporate tax rate for the first time in 25 years - without adding to our deficit."

6. Fiscal Prudence. "Now, the final step - a critical step - in winning the future is to make sure we aren't buried under a mountain of debt."

7. Government streamlining and modernization. "We should give them a government that's more competent and efficient." (Streamlining is a proven savings.)

(The rest focused on foreign policy, summarization and concluding remarks.)

***

Overall, if even some of this gets implemented in a reasonable (dare we suggest bi-partisan) manner, then we stand to be improved economically.

New Tax Code

I really dont want to wade into the debate regarding the trial balloon, yet, but will say:

Close, but no cigar.

At least they didn't try to "please all the people all the time," and had political wisdom to understand that the recommendations wouldn't survive the congressional bile movements.

And I like they are starting down the road towards simplification, but some Tax deductions may be necessary.

That leads me to my only point;

They seem to forget that taxes, and the Relief therefrom, are the way to incentivize the citizenry and business alike.

Subsidies, tax breaks, and even certain "credit" type programs between the government and the citizens they propose to collect and protect (not be too cynical) from, can be made clear to create our future economy and growth from this recessionary hangover.

Ideas?

Remember 1994

We in CA are on the verge of a historical change where the ethically and economically unsound National stance on Hemp may soon begin its final chapter. I would like to offer a compare/contrast for those who are seeking to #Pass19:

I volunteered for Initiative 622 in Washington State in 1994 mostly giving the campaign free access to K.A.O.S. shows I was involved in, and in composing OpEds for broadcast and publication (almost entirely in the CPJ [Cooper Point Journal]).

I tried to look up last night what the final vote count was, but I just recall we got hammered. So, what, do I recall, happened (or more accurately what went wrong);

(1) Message. 622 focused on I. Industrial, II. Medicinal, and III. Recreational usage all being simultaneously legal. This was before CA landmark 1996 Prop 216 passed. It was too much too soon for such an "omni" approach, but now we have seen that for over 14 years Medicinal Cannabis has been legal-- society continues unharmed, if not improved.

(2) Organization. WA 622 had no real backers in the legitimate world. Mostly individuals making a good effort (and arguably laying the ground work as the frontlinesmen and women for CA 216) in organized chaos, where the adjective "organized" is, from what I witnessed, generous. On the contrary, Prop 19 seems to be enjoying major support from Labor, Law Enforcement, Religious, and other "real world" groups.

(3) Backing. 622 was social science at the state capitol. 19 was one of three major ideas from the leading groups with over 16 years of experience, 14 years of success, and better than a dozen years of profits from the result of that success! Although there are small contributers, having Lee's Oaksterdam as a backstop (as opposed to the NORML or Herrer initiatives that didn't gather enough signatures, but could have also conceivably had the same effect phenomenally) is very important!

(4) Continuity. 622 was like the Zen koan, "when a tree falls in the forest does it make a sound?" There was no real community of beneficiaries. There were drug dealers and users, and that was all the opposition had to point out. And they won. Now, in CA with Prop 19, there is a network of patients, lawyers, activists, industrialists, not to mention local and state government(s) who have seen the benefits of this nascent industry ready to burgeon, blossom, and recover from it's manufactured retardation by almost seventy years of criminalization.

(5) Timing. Both the major parties are showing up this election year as moral debtors: Republicans are asking us to take them back, even though almost none of what they propose is any different from how we got into this economic situation; and the Democrats are typically diffusive and lackluster in handling major issues-- gradual change we can eventually expect technical results from (as opposed to "change we can believe in"). Our state is leading the nation, but unfortunately this time it's in disastrous budgetary management.

Again, nationally, by continuing unsound Bushian fiscal policy, Democrats are arguing for a ~$3T unfunded tax break, while the Republicans are arguing for a ~$4T unfunded tax break by extending the previously unfunded tax breaks instituted during the Republican control of House, Senate and Executive. Both fiddling as Rome burns, and both, as usual, talking not listening to each other to fashion COMPROMISE.

Our state can go from worst to first, regardless of what Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dumb do in DC, by reversing the effects of the originally state led ban on hemp. It was state led in 1931, so let it be state led again in 2010! There is no constitutional argument for or against the ban. As it stands today, the US Government continues to outlaw a multi-trillion dollar industry that would lead to major solutions for our current major problems!


WHAT HASN'T CHANGED

FARMS. Hemp will allow under-utilized and marginal farmlands to be productive without major water demands, giving the small farmer a fighting chance.

FAMILIES. By eliminating criminality, arbitrary and capricious arrests of predominantly minorities will become that much less prevalent; Our heroic enforcement workers can focus on legitimate threats that undermine our collective safety; Our state can restore funding for social netting that has all but vanished; and people will be put back to work!

JOBS. I talked to one Union official off the record, and their number is ~40,000 Union jobs within a year. I had speculated with the entire Hemp Industry coming back to life the number to be ~100,000, and either way this tracks with the rule of thumb that for every 1 Union job another ~1.5 are eventually created. No one has a crystal ball on this one, but in effect California should enjoy a major first mover advantage when Prop 19 passes!

TAXES. Cities that allow Industrial Hemp and Recreation Sales will gain, Counties that create taxes and regulations will gain, and the State non-partisan Legislative Analyst's Office has estimated an annual tax boon of ~$1.4BB for our bankrupted state. This is a sorely needed dose of the cure.

REGULATION. By creating rules and regulations, we will enable all citizens greater liberty, by creating avenues of access. Further, for those of us who feel that Business needs clear and simple rules, we can only hope that our input is asked for at the appropriate juncture. Regardless, by bringing into light the dark economy, which is presently CAs #1 crop, we can expect greater civility-- a nice way of saying the International Drug Cartels will have to line up behind citizens to get licenses, permits, and then pay proper taxes, like the rest of us!

Let's be clear: (a) No one is saying people under 21 should have access. As it is, they already have as good or better access to the recreational use (with no clear comprehension of the commercial uses) of cannabis than to alcohol. (b) No one is saying it is okay to be under the influence of cannabis and work, drive, or operate heavy machinery. Again, think of how we tax and regulate alcohol. (c) Although there is some confusion by medicinal users on this issue, no one will be able to bring the provisions of 215 under the taxation or restrictions imposed onto non-medicinal users by the passing of 19.

I await proper logical rebuttal, but have not heard one for over 16 years!

Republished: The Ten Healing Reasons for Hemp Legalization

Endorsement: VOTE YES ON PROP 19 - #Prop19

(Originaly Broadcast on K.A.O.S. 89.3 FM in 1994)

Hemp, Cannabis Sativa, termed Maihuana or Marijuana by 1930's "yellow journalists," is possibly the most versatile plant product, which can be grown by humans.

The following shall allude to hard facts and evidence, without exceeding the bounds of these, and without harking directly upon said truths in a statistical manner.

Cannabis species have been coincidentally developed to serve humanity throughout the ages, have fortified historical societies in all matters of evolutionary progression, and shall lightly be referred to hereafter, as such.

The purposes of this article is to appropriately direct attention to the pertinent sequential argumentation in favor of the disbandment of laws which outlaw the Cannabis species.

I pray that I have served well.


First Reason: Air.

Next to Papyrus, Hemp is one of the oldest paper products utilized by humankind, tree forests have been overdrawn from, and have been relegated to the higher role of species resource banks.

The depletion of mature trees has caused a twenty to one-hundred year deficit in the oxygen cycle in terms of total potential (oxygen/carbon ratio). The poisoning of seas and oceans is strangulating the algae, plankton, and other sea weeds, which compose up to 70% of our oxygen supply. These are common facts.

The ability of Hemp species to easily grow in marginal and fertile soils alike, can, in principle, compensate partially for current oxygen cycle deficits by converting otherwise non (low) oxygen interactive bioregions into fixing nitrogen into soils, while creating oxygens.

The cycling, and break-down, of polluted air and soils, on lands otherwise fallowed out as "contaminated," is expediated when Hemp is set to meadow on these. Hemps have rapid cycles, bearing seed annually and semi-annually, and therefore process at proportionate rates of consumption. Of course the products raised on soil are characteristic to the soil, and, thus, are not recommended for use, until soil has mended.


Second Reason: Soil.

A hypothetical meadow growing on marginal, contaminated, or poor soil will not only extract and break-down toxins form both air and soil, but will fix nitrogens at similar rates as a legume while building humus.

Humus is essentially the most biologically active element, which composes soil as we know it.

Hemp when cultivated into soils, or left to rot, not only improves the soil by adding humus, but the roots of many Hemp varieties have the capability of rooting three to ten feet, or more, into the earth. This action loosens many strata of soil layers, fixing nitrogen therein, setting down pathways for water percolation to occur, and thus extracting otherwise locked-up minerals and elements towards the surface. When left to rot, vital microbial activities can occur as deep as the roots set.

With all these factors put into consideration, it is evident that Hemps are a vital agricultural option in the process of soil activation, restoration, and purification. Especially, when one considers the density that Hemp as a monoculture has the capability tto provide in conjunct with many varieties having two, three, and four season fruition capacity. This is one dynamic crop to enhance soil tilth!


Reason Three: Water.

When water percolation rates are increased, soils improved, and vegitation masses, hence transpiration, are increased, or improved, the water cycle is facilitated in manifold ways.

In the scenario where a soils rate of percolation, water table depth, and purity are increased, as in my "contaminated meadow" scenario, water that falls on the land is purified by the percolatory actions, depth improved retention, which in turn produces a complex effect on the water cycles as a whole. Suffice it to say, that waters lodge in the purer soil for longer amounts of time improves water quality.

In areas where land was destroyed by settlement, disasters, or other natural occurrences in which desertification has progressed, when high density crops are procured, the effect of mass transpiration, the breathing of many plants, stimulates winds, attracts humidity, and thus when humidity condenses creates rain. There is no direct evidence to say Hemp will increase rainfall.

However, many Hemp varieties have been reported to successfully cycle with less than ten inches of rainfall and no regular irrigation annually. Hemps are a vital tool in the prevention of desertification worldwide!


Fourth Reason: Fire.

At present, the species homo sapiens is faced with the realization that a lack of carbon dioxide recycling, where carbons are held in check by plant species, is increasing the overall temperatures of our common Earth's functioning.

There is the further problem posed by our contaminantions depleting our tertiary ooxygen cycle, called the Ozone layer, which provides deflection of ultra-violet, among other, spectrums of solar radiation. As I write this article (1994), I believe we have only twelve percent of hard ozone remaining, with the capacity to restore seventy-percent of this ancient shield.

Hemp can reverse these effects by acting as a scaffold forest. The primary cause of this effect is removal of trees, poisoning of waters, and pollution of air supplies. Hemp fields, where nothing else might grow, will increase our oxygen supply, and thus create tertiary oxygens for the increase of our common ozone layer. Hemp will fix nitrogens and hold carbons at a more rapid pace than a forest, but if this is occurring on lands on which no forest is predominant, for whatever reasons, this will be a real improvement. All of this occurs, while poisons are broken down, and forests re-grown -- a scaffold towards common healing.


Fifth Reason: Insects.

Without insects the Earth is dead. This is common agricultural knowledge.

Insects are among the most misunderstood creatures on this planet, yet their evolutionary capacities are extraordinary.

We are slow to realize that the more poisons we throw at a species the more resistant that species becomes. This lack of acknowledgment of the Darwinistic reality of evolutionary progression, has led to penicillin resistant virus strains, virtually immune insects and rodents resistant to our poison traps.

The Native Americans would plant half their crops for the tribe, with a similar or equal proportion of crop for the spirits of nature.

It is thus that I propose the extreme regulation of poisons, in conjunction with mass planting of Hemps on marginal, contaminated, and/or poor soil as offerings for the insects that they become fat-- less resistant.


Sixth reason: Birds.

Within the aforementioned proposal is the inherent understanding that species avian would also gain substantially from these scaffold forests.

Hemp seeds are second only to the soybean in protein content, and are high in what is called healthy cholesterol. This means that as food stuff, the seeds of cannabis species are very popular among avians, or birds.

The procurement of such masses of Hemp, where human activities are limited or restricted, would create huge encampments for all manner of songbird.

The primary deficit to this is in the case of soils being restored from toxins, in which case measures would be required to prevent the addition of these toxins into bird cycles. Hemp fibers make strong, durable, biodegradable netting, and thus might serve this end, too.

The increase in bird populations would stimulate other aspects of the food chain, and simultaneously keep the increased "fat insect" population in check.


Seventh Reason: Starvation.

There were several organizations founded throughout the nineteen-sixties, seventies, and even eighties, which sought to alleviate world wide "hunger," or what I am calling starvation, by some targeted date-- commonly in the Twenty-First Century.

I believe this goal is still possible if the following steps were implemented;

The saturation of marginal lands leaning towards desertification with Hemp Seeds, that able populations might harvest leaves for greens and half of seed harvest as food, with the other half sent back to earth with the stocks for subsequent harvest. Regional collectives might best accomplish these goals.

Hemp plant matter is a healthful animal feed for green eaters, and the seeds are excellent for both plant and seed eaters alike. This is true of humans as well, and thus higher efficiency occurs when human directly eat the Hemp vegetable.

Starvation would be prevented particularly when distribution of supply is facilitated, and so far as I see it, is the real geo-political cause of "hunger."


Eighth Reason: Economics.

It is estimated, were Hemp legalized, over ten thousand industries would be created! Further, it is assumed that the Hemp plant has over fifty-thousand production possibilities.

Hemp can be used as paper, plastic, fuel, rope, fiber, resin, pulp fiber for building products, cloth, food, medicine, and so much more!

Taxes generated by the regulation, licensing, and envigoration of commerce created by Hemp legalization would create a virtual rekindling of the industrial revolution.

The small-farm economy would be revitalized, every paper mill shut down in the past twenty years could re-open, entire houses could be built with Hemp products alone, ships could be fabricated entirely out of Hemp, and clothing made from Hemp would last much longer.

Medical research would be free to find relief, and potentially lead to the curing of diseases, such as, but not limited to, glaucoma, cancer, and HIV/AIDS.

The de facto number on cash crop of the Pacific West could revitalize, stimulate, and expand our legitimate economy, if "legalization" were enacted.


Ninth Reason: Faith.

According to the bible, "And the Earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind; and God saw that it was good." (Gen 1:12)

Also, "Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith." (Pro 15:17)

With these two quotations much speculation can occur, but it appears evident that no human was meant to outlaw the growth of any plant under our common husbandry.

The first Christians, in the Hebraic traditions, were known to have utilized cannabis for spiritual meditations.

In fact, cannabis has been used for this similar, or same, spiritual purpose wherever it was able to grow, for millennia.

Why, now, do we assume ourselves superior, in the exclusion of one of the most vital and powerful crops available to humankind?

I believe the answer is as simple as the biblical notion of greed.

If we as a society are to "not bear false witness" upon an agent of the Earth, then we must avail our guilt in the case of Hemps. The power of big oil, and corrupt government caused the outlaw of cannabis in America.


Tenth Reason: Earthly Salvation.

The Earth, as we know it, would be resuscitated to a state, which resembled, "how we found it," that our progeny might be less encumbered by the legacy of our industrial forbearers, were the actions, parallel, or equal, to the ones I have alluded to in this article, taken.

The Ozone cycle might be revitalized by the addition of what I have termed Hemp Fields; the "greenhouse effect" might be staved off were what I call Scaffold Forests implemented; soil and air would be detoxified; and all Life cycles would be benefited by these strategies.

Were marginal lands planted up world-wide, distribution of the protein-rich Hemp seed facilitated, and water cycles improved through land reclamations, then mass starvation could potentially be alleviated.

The experimentation of anti-desertification on lands where desertification is pending, is also one of the possibilities with Hemp.

The restoration of our economy, now considered relatively unified world-wide, and the creation of innumerable jobs is potential in the legitimization of the Hemp species and products.

The illegalization of Hemp is an effort not worthy of continuing, due to the outstanding circumstances that humanity now faces.

(Origially written for ISBN-- Independent Student Broadcast Network)

The New Plague

Ahh... 1346. It was not really the best of times, but probably could be in many ways the worst of times. Europe was attempting to shudder off the dark Ages, but that would come in another 200 years or so!


In the meantime, the process of mass animal domestication and production techniques had brought a bevy of diseases into the fore to attack the immune systems in the rural areas, and if that didn't travel past city walls, inside most cities the streets in these population centers served as open sewers!


Once sick, people would pray for you, doctors would make potions to calm your humours, and in extreme desperation you could get a barber to let some blood if the mercury tincture the doctors prescribed didn't work... What backwards times!


Unfortunately, in the intervening 663 years or so, we humans haven't seemed to learn our lessons very well!


(A) the process of mass animal domestication and production techniques had brought a bevy of diseases into the fore to attack the immune systems NOW: H1N1, H5N1, et. al.


(B) most population centers served as open sewers! If we consider that we know that toxic chemicals are analogous to "waste" back in the 14th Century; Then why have we out-moded labelling of toxic chemicals used daily, allow these and industrial chemical to be released in our water, air, and lands, and literally have a garbage island floating in our oceans killing food resources we rely upon?


(C) people would pray for you, NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT... I guess-- other than not too much has changed.


(D) doctors would make potions to calm your humours, NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT... I guess-- other than not too much has changed.


(E) in extreme desperation you could get a barber to let some blood
NOW: Except it is the Doctors who actually cut you up.


(F) if the mercury tincture the doctors prescribed didn't work NOW: Instead of various quicksilver and herbal tinctures we have chemical therapy, and other methods to poison the patient back into health.


Lets be clear, I am stating that (I) we are spewing poisons into our environment that (II) directly or indirectly lead to the creation of Cancer and other diseases, and (III) our medicine is confounded searching for remedy and cures (obviously the last 600+ years has seen dramatic improvement in medicine [which is a very good thing that we are doing our best to mitigate the situation] however for the point made here we are still attempting to cure symptoms as opposed to causes of illness). Yet if we confront the source of our problems (equivalent to underground sewage, sewage treatment, regular washing and bathing, and certain sanitary practices helped solve the Black Death), maybe we would have fewer, less virulent, and less aggressive strains of the modern version of disease we have been carrying through our human history?


Barring my Meta-behaviouralists social modification approach, we need to raise funds to assist our researchers, doctors, and practicianers to discover cures for these diseases.


So, as you can see in the upper left-hand corner of my Blog, there is a place for you to donate to the LLS. I am a member of Team In Training. Please act now to donate what you can: I am running the half marathon, so a $25 donation today works out to less than $2 per mile! THANK YOU.


My friend survived non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma when I was a pre-teen; My brother died at age 36 from an aggressive metastasisized prostate Cancer that used as one of its tactics treatment developed by LLS; and now I learn that my childhood hero Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has a rare form of blood borne Cancer.


To complete the puzzle of my adamance and disgust with the very existence of this disease called Cancer (which is really a wide array of diseases that have similar attack strategies against the healthy human body), I learned the day of my last blog that my sister has stage three breast cancer-- she is only 38!


In a prior post, I suggest we declare war on Cancer, and now I am no longer waiting for the politicians, or anyone else for that matter to do so... to quote the Bard, "Out Damn Spot!"

The 10% (of GDP) Solution

[UPDATED (09/25/09)]

We approach one year since the Government of George W. Bush came to the rescue of Profiteers on Wall Street to create systemic reward for failure in our market driven economy.


Yesterday, Rachael Maddow interviewed Paul Krugman, and

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

In minute five he begins describing the remedies for the current situation and I will be discussing the statements he concludes by about minute six, and among the other interesting points he made he mentioned that in order to get out of the Great Depression we had WWII which required government fiscal input of ~40% of GDP.


He went on to state that the current stimulus is only about 2.5% of GDP.


Now I am not going to spend time checking to see how accurate those numbers are this morning, and I dont agree with everything Krugman says. That disclaimer out of the way, I will say hes probably pretty accurate on those facts, and it is clear (as he also went on to say) that the political fortitude for such a stimulus plan is weak at best (mirroring the point in the one minute clip I could find above).


SO lets take those facts as a rule of thumb. Lets say the economy is twice as efficient now as it was sixty or seventy years ago; Let grant that this Severe Recession isnt exactly the same as the Great Depression (lets say for simplicity its half as bad adding the broader networking of International markets, exchanges, and trade); and we would need about ten percent of GDP in stimulus to really soar past our current problems!


Now lets assume the government has screwed the pooch with Paulson-Cheney's rescue, and that Obama's versions are still too early to call. All that, according to Krugman yesterday is about 4% of GDP (including cash for clunkers, et. al.).


[Lets apply about 1.5% of GDP for Infrastructure improvements, as my memory from first post to this update was off by 1.5%, so that means] we have about another 6% of GDP yet to spend: So thats about $858BB we can still spend.



1. Thats about the estimated cost for the full Health Reform Bill without any efficiency savings



2. My top ten wish list (inclusive of increased infrastructure and health care inclusive of efficiency savings)


or


3. A Citizens Stimulus



Here's the idea: Instead of giving more money to the moneyed interests, give to the citizens! Let's say there are about 200,000,000 individual and family tax payers; There is about $850BB to give for completion of stimulus which is about 1/4th as strong as how we escaped the Great Depression; then we have about $4250 Credit Amount per individual.



A. Order of the Allthing. In Icelandic and Nordic cultures there was the All Thing which basically reconciled all debts every year-- including debt forgiveness. So here would be the thing which I prescribe;


i. First, subtract Federal back taxes and penalties forgiven up to the Credit Amount
ii. Then from that remainder, subtract State back taxes and penalties forgiven up to the Total Credit Amount (This money goes to the States!)
iii. Next from that remainder, subtract local (real estate) tax liens and penalties forgiven up to the Total Credit Amount (This goes to the local governments!!)
iv. Finally, assuming anything is left over, any outstanding judgements, child support, or other unpaid levies would be forgiven up to that Total Credit Amount



B. The way TARP should have been applied.


i. Citizen give government the right to examine credit records (they ostensibly have this data just from Fannie-Freddie)
ii. Government confirms real outstanding balances from an official capacity via subpoena powers (thereby any institution being usurious or illegal would be committing fraud at a Federal level)
iii. Citizen has time to dispute final balances
iv. Creditor has right to re-validate claim(s)
v. Citizen may elect to have any remainder from Allthing process (above) to be applied to some or all participating Creditors to discharge debts in a class manner



C. Citizen may simply bypass this class bailout/credit restoration process and collect remainder form Allthing process.


SO think about this practically! Lets say 33% have something left over and want to participate in this settling of debts. Lets imagine who the money is owed to? In its current configuration (post-bailouts and mergers) something like 90% of all consumer debts are carried by 5 major institutions.


IF we imagine that Citibank (for instance) then recovers something to the tune of 10% of its consumer debt, doesnt that serve the same purpose of stimulus? It also relieves the consumer, and technically allows Citibank to make new loans!


FInally, if all those bailout moneys had been so applied the amount being discussed would be closer to $10K per person, and if we added the idea that mortgages could be included as direct or indirect beneficiaries to the class settlements or the use of funds by individuals who elected to bypass the settlement process some of the foreclosure and real estate market issues would have been rounded out.


You may say I am a dreamer, but I hope someday you will join me...!

WIN-WIN Paradigms: Taking two bad situations to create one good one....

In my latest book, I attempt to describe how we can create "win-win" games to improve our collective economic and social issues.

Here is a suggestions in that spirit:

According to the BLS fishery jobs will decrease 26% from 2006 ~ 2016; According to FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS Pacific Fish cath is down; and the CA Dept. of Fish and Game have all but ended Salmon Fishing until the Salmon crisis is over.

Between fuel costs, mooring fees, and insurance many anglers are going (if not already) out of business.

Mean while there is the seemingly discombobulated issue of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch which is a massive swirl of garbage and pollution moving across deep seas causing untold damage to the environment.

Let's put two and two together here, shall we. I am not saying that I can say at the scientifically infallible level that there is a cause and effect relationship here, but I have an economic argument which bypasses any "study to death" mentality:

A coalition of Governments, Fisheries, and Labor organizations employ our idle fleets of fishing vessels to go out to the Garbage Island(s), fish the polluting plastics and garbage out from our oceans, bring them back to a taxi stand of trash barges, and we barge that waste back onto terra firma to be sorted, recycled if possible, and disposed of so that we stop the detriment to our oceans.

The employment, the economic benefits, not to mention the possible (although I would argue probable) improvement in fish catch will all go towards our economic recovery.

Memo from the Peanut Gallery to President Elect Obama's Economic Team

There are a multitude of complex issues to grapple with which separate and as a whole are unprecedented.

Great minds and scholars have been hard pressed for solid answers amidst the crisis.

So the few relevant words from a man who has barely cobbled a career from giving advice on real estate, mortgages, and finance is probably pretty low on any priority list, let alone item on the agenda.

Yet here in my own fantasy world known as my blog, I first have to point out this item from June 26th, which clearly defines some of the precipitous issues as it relates to market speculation and its forthcoming consequences as warned in other articles.

Next I would like to point out this article/commentary from 2007 which illustrates clearly the point of view of a humble and honest broker well before the Fannie-Freddy debacle.

And as this is my first commentary on economics and policy since the events of September 15th (a day which will live in infamy), please let me first make plain my assessment of the outgoing W administration, and secondarily the up shot of the Republican's as leadership:

1. The Soviet Union was founded upon less of a Nationalization of private wealth than as what has occurred in the "bailout" package.

2. Unlike the Soviets overtaking means for Production, this is similar to the mulligan that Enron took (Bankruptcy protection) after siphoning off billions of dollars from consumers and state purchasers (notably California).

3. If I was to make the argument that the solution(s) posited by the W administration's Paulson to Republican/Conservative people any time in my life starting in 1970 through to the "Bail out package," I would be considered a 'Commie,' 'Pinko,' or at best 'Looney Liberal.' Luckily I dont believe this is the best solution, although a necessary minimum of confidence was restored to the capital markets.

4. Although anti-free marketers are quick to assert this is proof that its a failure of free market concepts, unfortunately its not quite that simple. True free market principles would then suggest that we allow Wall Street to shatter into a million pieces, and allow the Phoenix of the Invisible Hand to rise from those ashes. The risk of Anarchy, Revolution, and War should not be a hinderance to those stoutest in defense of these principlea.

Rather what has happened is that the curtain has been unveiled upon the Wizard of Oz. Or more accurately Wizards: Power Elite; Ultra Rich; Super Rich; and their operatives... and as Gomer Pyle would say, "Sooprize sooprize," the W administration fits neatly into that last category (if not others).



The doctrine known as "free market," and, often as not, ascribed to as "trickle down," has been a fallacy waiting to happen since I took Economics in 1986 from my perspective. The fallacy is that the pitch (or soccer field to define the metaphor more readily) is absolutely not level (a lack of transparency of markets, trades, and companies-- let alone parity amongst status of trading parties), everyone knows this, but the referees (power elite) assure us that indeed the market is trading at a free clip, and they are doing their best to weed out the inept and destructive government (singular as in government is bad) in order to get back to those players to whom that unfair pitch advantage works against.

It is, like many convincing fallacies, a perfect ecosystem of utter nonsense.

What was revealed when the Wizard came out from behind the curtain?

The rules of the road were designed to insulate power elites from those market forces that every small business owner (not suckling directly from the teat of one or more of the power elite) faces yearly, monthly, daily, hourly, and even at a moment by moment level, wherein one bad decision can have the whole house of cards tumble down on them, their employees, and their families.

Perfect capitalism for 96% of the business owners in America, and pure communism for the ~4% that retain ~92% of the wealth and direction of capital.

The main difference here? That fallacy of "perfect" and "free" markets has been unmasked. For me it doenst make me less of a Keynesian or Miltonian (of which I am only some part in either case), rather confirms the sound logic of truth found within the mathematical models.

For all practical reasons, it wasnt the theories that were flawed, rather the implementation of those theories. You dont go golfing with Tiger Woods, and on holes 3, 7, and 12 receive a "0" on your score (an impossibility), then go on to say you bested Tiger Woods at Augusta for the Championship!

For lack of a simpler explanation that is what Corporate America has been doing for decades!

My Miltonian Tax suggestion of reducing tax paperwork to the size of a postcard, is premised on the fact that massive corporations with armies of lawyers can end up getting paid by the government, whereas the business owner will typically pay between 12 and 44% of GROSS EARNINGS in a profitable year to the Government!

LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD, PLEASE!!!

So, what are my suggestions?

A. Simple, Fair, and Flat Tax for individuals, businesses, and everyone and everything in between. I think if you make annually inflation adjusted exemption provisions for the first $22K individually, $38K jointly, $6K per child, and $40K for business plus $6K per employee, then a 13% flat across the board on first moneys and profits tax should suffice to amply maintain the Federal treasury. Double tax only counts in certain specific cases, but honestly the concept of a "double tax" is in itself a product of the Labyrinthine tax laws themselves. Simple, plain, and honest: You earn money, invest it and make more... you are taxed on the money you earn. So called "death" tax is a myth, and any exemption should be put onto a matrix which allows for inflation and number of legatees, but otherwise massive fortunes do need to have the same 13% (a lowering of current complex statues) flat tax after expemptions upon transfer of estate.

B. All regulation needs to be put into Plain English. There needs to be a rule book for all people that everyone who speaks a 7th grade level of English can understand, but moreover, each field of employ and oversight needs a smaller and comprehensive annual rule book for the relevant profession(s). If you are a Stock Broker, for instance, the SEC needs to publish a Plain English Guide to all relevant laws (including definitions of crime and punishment) which is the basis for testing and licensure. How do we expect companies to follow laws their people couldnt understand without a law degree? This will facilitate whistleblowing, self governance, and enforcement. (On that note free markets if given clear straight, and bright lines do have the ability to self govern.)

C. International Harmonization. Its well time to beat our swords into plowshares. NATO can also be an economic body which assists in (a la Bretton-Woods) harmonizing economic functions. Why limit it to NATO? Trade Areas can work, and do work. However, just as we need to (for lack of a better word) admit that NATO is also an economic force, we also need to create Fair Standards in order to proceed honestly with our Trading Partners-- applying that standard basket of goods (environment, civil rights, and labor standards) as a preset disposition for negotiations. If any free trading regions partners can all agree to certain basic workers rights, then there is no price advantage to using slave or child labor in order to queer the productivity quotients and balances. This esoteric set of ideas (which I have simply called Fair Standards) is the nutshell of why we have lost so many jobs over seas-- not just "tax advantages" as certain groups would have you believe.

D. Mortgage Relief. I will be writing a more defined explanation of this soon, but here it is in the nutshell version. There are many of the steps necessary to implement a comprehensive relief in place under the current "bailout" plans passed, but my addition would be EVERYONE NEEDS TO FEEL SOME OF THE PAIN. Borrowers should still be on the hook for the full amount of the mortgage when enjoying payment reduction, Lenders should be on the hook to not get their money back in time, and all the middlemen, servicing agencies, and investors need to accept such bi-lateral intervention (as negotiated in mathematical formulation by the FFT [Fannie-Freddy-Treasury] guidelines and agents) regardless of how much money they stand to lose-- BECAUSE THEY ARE JUST MIDDLEMEN! Investors, sorry, but tough turkeys, you put money on those bets, were told the money was at risk, otherwise the SEC and FBI can arrest the brokers for non-disclosure... that said I think most licensees put investment disclosures on their business cards (a financial industry joke). The Government should tread very lightly in using its power to "renegotiate" existing agreements, and that said it is the Lenders right to refuse a renegotiation and foreclose... otherwise we strip Rule of Law (and contracts).

E. Stimulus. See my article on what we can do with the money we save by ending the War. more... more....

Just my two cents.... you can pay me later.

Learning From Floods

I was heartened to see an article which clearly spelled out the point of view long held by many environmentalists and Native Americans regarding the management of lands along the Mississippi; click

Settlers well documented their efforts to drain the swamps of Iowa, and other places along the great river. click

Is it time to take a clear approach to land management, yet?

When it is the consensus view that land management is a National issue, I and how many others I am unsure are here and ready for that correction of vision and consensus, as it relates to our connection and stewardship of this planet.

When we are truly ready to step up to the plate in a comprehensive manner, we would have to address the issue of using, storing, transporting, and disposing of toxins in sensitive wetland, watershed, and high water table areas.

Floods in Louisiana, and now recent flooding has provided a real, serious, and accurate depiction of the problem. This is another opportunity for our people and its government to learn from its mistakes. click

The industrial agricultural techniques, which rely on chemicals that are in concentration, or combination harmful to water need to be eliminated from sensitive water table zones, and reduced in general for the sake of our hydrosphere click

The industrial farm techniques, which concentrate animal wastes, also considered a major source of global warming “greenhouse” gases, rather than effectively manage the waste stream must also be reconsidered. More so, such masses of effluent should be better contained in general, and not stored on or near water sources and water table (or Phreatic) zones.

Although it may take the better part of what is left in this century to totally create a non-toxic consumer culture, the toxic sludge created in flood zones is arguably an excellent negative example of how the things we store in our garage to make our lives, houses, and vehicle go need to be utilizing non-toxic and biodegradable substances (see IV.D. but the rest is fascinating click )

Even recent studies on flame-retardants in our furniture demonstrate the highly toxic nature and transferability of such toxins, and this is the same stuff that seeps into waters that flood houses. click

Building materials contain hazardous substances that when combined with water are harmful to the environment.

And modern automobiles, aside from their fuel-inefficiencies, and other inefficiencies, are also a hodgepodge of chemical substances in terms of construction and required fluids. click

So, when you dunk this toxic tea bag of a typical American farm, suburb, or city into 4, 8, 12, or more feet of water for a period of hours, days, and even weeks at the end of the day you get a toxic sludge which can only be absorbed by the environment in three direction— water, air, or land.

We drink the water, we breathe the air, and we eat food from the ground. Talk from farmers struck by these floods is phenomenal in its ignorance, as in ignoring science, when they mention replanting these same fields with food crops. Those crops will absorb some parts of the pollution, and that goes into the food system. Therefore, faulty levees are a food security issue, but its not the levees fault entirely.

These toxins are dangerous to our health, and therefore the rebuilding along major waterways, water sources, and water table zones becomes a matter of not just public health and safety but National Security.

In every crisis there is an opportunity. We need to carefully consider rebuilding along areas that have been flooded, and take this as a major opportunity for long-term planning, coordinated efforts to create a less (if not entirely non-) toxic building standards, and clearly permit what can and can’t be done on these flood plains.

Farming, Families, and Cities can co-exist in harmony with the Great River. She has taken care of us, and now it is our turn to seriously consider how we are treating her.

How does The Rattlesnake Party expect to pay for so many Major Projects at the same time?

First, by ending our failed Imperialist experiment in Iraq. Here’s the math:

Manhattan Project Cost in 2008 dollars = $30BB over 5 years or $6BB per year

Apollo Program Cost in 2008 dollars = $150BB over 13 years or $12BB per year

Average Cost of Major Program is estimated at roughly $9BB per year


Cost of the Iraq War in 2008 dollars = $125BB per year or

The capacity for 10 Major Programs, Infrastructure Improvements, Health Care, and an additional $10 ~ 15BB into the General Fund—or reduction in net tax revenues!

Next, by streamlining tax codes (see Fair and Simple Tax) to close all loopholes, taxes would be effectively lowered for most businesses and citizens, yet some of the largest corporations would be required to pay their fair share and/or repatriate their dollars. In conjunction with reduction of waste and corruption in Federal Government, this would most probably result in a net gain in revenues. Let us assume, however, no change, in tax revenues collected, and no boost to the economy at large by freeing up millions of man-hours currently burdened by tax calculations every year.

Part of the streamlining efforts would also be to better organize and coordinate CURRENT AGENCIES to improve government functions. Parallel to that complex process, the Federal Government could work with CURRENT BENEFICIARIES of government grants, funds, and assistance to coordinate their efforts.

An example of this would be Food (number 6 on our top ten list). The relevant agencies would be reorganizing their budgets according to the list of National Priorities, which the Major Projects represent. So technically Food Security needs to be a relatively High Priority for Homeland Security; Nutrition and Content moreso the FDA; Production means and methods even moreso the Dept. of Agriculture; and so on.

We don’t want to continue the current deficit spending, so even with the War Savings, Budget Reprioritization and Optimization, and the Intra-Departmental task efficiencies lets assume that for each Major Project and it’s priorities only 85% of the budget is actually already there.

We would suggest under current ostensible Department configurations the budget is actually already there albeit currently balkanized and politicized with no harmonious or unifying vision throughout the agencies and their spending habits extant.

Any short falls could be made up by venturing with private companies currently spending private moneys in Research and Development, but more importantly removing some of the redundancies by efficient coordination and sharing of data within a secure study group setting.

Further efficiencies could be found in cross-mission coordination and “pollination” for Major Projects. For instance, Project #2 Pollution Abatement would rely on coordination with and information from Projects #’s 9, 5, and 1 (Vehicles, Energy Independence, and Global Warming). By allowing non-classified, and restricted information to securely pass between the Projects, redundancies are reduced offering greater purchase power for the Government and Joint Venture Partners. This suggests a controlled system, or a massive Government-seeded Intellectual Incubator System.

One could argue this could slip into a communist or socialist state model, except there is no compulsory component for any companies or citizens to participate, as such. However, it would be up to the Project Coordinators in conjunction with OBM to carefully budget to incentivize Private Partnerships.

For example, in Curing Cancer (number 3), lets assume Big Pharma Company #1 continues current practices of hording research data and drug planning, and Big Pharma Company #2, a direct competitor, elects to join the Major Project Group searching for Cancer cures and interacts in a transparent manner to coordinate all its results with that of other companies participating in the larger goal(s).

Both companies will be subject to the same market forces. We believe that FDA testing must be reorganized towards a scientific, rather than political, polarity; We believe that the government, medical organizations, and individual citizens should be allowed to purchase drugs made in a regulated, verifiable, and safe manner from anywhere that has the lowest price (fair and free market values); and we can see a precipitous momentum towards some version of state sponsored (so-called Single Payer) health care (sooner or later… and although quasi-socialist at best, it would create competitive equity between the current advantage over 75% of the Industrialized world holds over America in terms of their corporate subsidy, a virtual reverse tariff, from some version of Single Payer extant in those same states). Therefore, both companies will have to really spend a lot of money over time to develop the next phase of Cancer treatment, while continuing to earn fewer and fewer dollars on current drugs they created, as market forces intervene to reduce profits.

Company #2, participating in this continued example with the Major Project in some well defined and standard Joint Venture Process, may simultaneously accelerate its results by obtaining confidential data sets from others in its study and data groups, expect some additional assistance financially, cost reductions through efficiencies of scale, and discover joint cause products (an improvement on current processes or products) with other JV companies participating within the Major Project Group.

That distinct advantage costs them no less of their R&D budget than Company #1, but it stretches their dollar and purchase power out in such a way that even at a minimum the benefits to their company is a reasonable trade off when looking at the BCA. Moreover, it would probably allow them tax credit opportunities in certain cases, and open up the possibility to additional joint venture partnerships and product cross-pollination.

The downside to this private-public model for Major Projects is that any and every company, which is expending capital into any Venture, must relinquish the scarcity mentality.

Like the “Manhattan Project” and “Apollo Project” before, it is possible to imagine a reasonable level of internal confidentiality and National Security via compartmentalization, management, and coordination. That said, by making open in a controlled and restricted environment their data sets, some propriety is lost in exchange for more chances at additional propriety, product innovation, and most importantly SERVICE TO THE HIGHER GOOD.

What are the Top Ten "Apollo-style" or Major projects The Rattlesnake Party would suggest the USA needs to make a Priority?

The two Major Project not listed here which we take as granted are Infrastructure and Health Care (Insurance).

Here is the top ten list:

10. Micro-robotics (Nanotechnology)
9. Vehicles (and Perpetual Motion)
8. Space Exploration (unmanned missions to survey the Solar System)
7. Education
6. Food (Production, Security, Processing, Nutrition, etc.)
5. Energy Independence
4. Genetics (including Gene Therapies, Customer, Vaccines, Stem Cells, et.al.)
3. Cure for Cancer
2. Pollution (air/water/earth) Abatement and Environmental Protections
1. Global Warming Abatement


Here are the Summaries;

10. Micro-robotics

This new arena of discovery has many implications for uses in Health Care, (Counter-) Intelligence, Space Exploration, Robotics, etc.


9. Vehicles

A coordinated effort to commercialize non-polluting conveyances for all forms (air, sea, land, and space) of transportation.


8. Space Exploration (unmanned missions to survey the Solar System)

A twenty-five year effort to map our solar system, and to a lesser extent the Universe, as accurately and in as great a detail as we have available in Google Maps about the Earth today.


7. Education

Coordinated efforts to define, create, develop, and deliver a true 21st Century educational system to our next generations that they may compete in the global economy, further these and future Major Projects.


6. Food (Production, Security, Processing, Nutrition, etc.)

Coordination of improving the nutritional value, content, safety, distribution and delivery of foodstuffs throughout the world in order to effectively eliminate hunger.


5. Energy Independence

Creation of National Independence by development of Domestic Energy resources in an environmentally responsible and economic manner.


4. Genetics (including Gene Therapies, Custom Vaccines, Stem Cells, etc.)

DNA-RNA shall be studied from all creatures to discover cures, therapies, and vaccines for their viruses and disease.


3. Cure for Cancer

Conducting a full-scale war on the causes, treatment, and cure of All Cancers.


2. Pollution (air/water/earth) Abatement and Environmental Protections

Air and water shall contain almost no measurable pollutants by 2038, to cure the so-called “Dead Zones” in the oceans, to have cleaned up every Superfund Site by no later than 2048, and created no new sites.


1. Global Warming Abatement

To create a massive full-scale effort to tackle the prospect of Global Warming; To create a National Preparedness Network of citizens trained (a la National Guard) to react to Natural Disasters as first responders; To develop an advanced warning National Weather Alert System; and to perfect the Sciences of Climatology, Atmospheric Sciences, and Oceanography.

Why Does The Rattlesnake Party suggest ten or more “Apollo-style” projects to be undertaken by the US Government?

First, we believe Government needs to be less involved in the personal information and lives of its citizens in order to fulfill the vision of Liberty that our Founders clearly spelled out.

With that premise, one way to keep Government focused on the higher good of its citizenry, to develop a concerted and collective national effort, is to give it a real task list filled with real problems that will benefit all human society.

Further, one “Apollo-style,” or Major, Project, let us call it a Major Project, alone would have the phenomenal effect of creating new private and indirect “government” jobs to be bid on by private parties. We would not advocate growing the size of the government, but reassigning and reorganizing with the constraints of what is now the largest bureaucratic edifice in US History—thanks to the neo-cons.

As true patriots, only American companies would be eligible to bid, and if the ONLY expertise comes from overseas, then those groups and/or individuals would need to create a Domestic Entity, and ostensibly train our citizens to effectuate the work required.

Domestic companies pay taxes, citizens with jobs pay taxes, and both spend money in our Domestic Economy. Just one Major Project would have a strong positive effect on the expansion of our economy, let alone a dozen!