Some people are working to make things better...
Recycling plastic bags to make automobile fuel !
Sealing gunshot wounds to stop bleeding FAST !
Turning air pollution into plastic !
Mutant algae generating hydrogen we can use !
3 Ways Elephants can help you think better !
Video from within the "3 Ways" link on our divided brain -- very neat !
And then there are the problems in our society...
Pesticides and honey bees
Children are dying because of the "stand your ground" laws
More and more school shootings and no new gun regulations
Maybe if the scientists working to get rich could make money in Congress fixing our other problems...
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Business and Regulation
I was reading Andrew Tobias' blog and saw this interesting piece.
"talking about the new hedge-fund regulations. Most everyone on Wall Street thought they were a bad idea. “But isn’t it better for the system as a whole?” I asked. The room went quiet, and my boss shot me a withering look. I remember his saying, “I don’t have the brain capacity to think about the system as a whole. All I’m concerned with is how this affects our company.”"
This, in a nutshell, explains why business can't be trusted to guide government policy toward business. They don't care about the whole, only their bottom line.
Here's a link to the original story: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/19/opinion/sunday/for-the-love-of-money.html?_r=0
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Political Agenda for America
We need to stay safe and focus on terrorists while trying to bring peace with diplomacy and further negotiations on nuclear arms reductions.
At home we need better gun control laws to prevent kids from killing each other or for people with mental problems from killing large numbers of people. If these were airplane crashes we'd pay more attention. Why protect the rights of terrorists to buy guns in America at gun shows with no background checks?
We need a stronger economy for EVERYONE in America and that means increasing the minimum wage and it means reforming the tax structure, so the rich finally have to pay the same rate as a middle-class working man or woman. It makes no sense that someone like Mitt Romney (not to pick on him) should be so wealthy they don't have to personally work and earn all their income from stock & bond investments and yet pay only a 15% tax rate. I don't understand all the special favors to the rich like getting to use deductions for mortgage interest on their 2nd, 3rd or other homes which aren't their primary residence. I also don't understand all the special preferences for established mature profitable industries like oil & gas drilling or tobacco farmers or any of the agricultural subsidies which go to corporations making large profits. Somehow the 99.9% of the people who make less than the 0.1% of our people need to have greater income, savings and economic mobility. Tax reform and an increased minimum wage is but one step in that direction.
It isn't of interest to a lot of Americans, but we do have a problem with illegal immigration. We have a lot of undocumented foreigners in America and they're working without gov't protections (work-place safety, proper pay, etc.) and they're involved in black market business. We need to protect our borders, and we are doing more on that today than ever. We need to document everyone who comes across as guest workers, students, short-term visitors or something. It's ridiculous to have so many undocumented people in our country who can be enslaved or otherwise abused or even killed without any protection by the government. It's ridiculous companies get away with paying them very low wages instead of having to pay a wage which changes the incentive more toward hiring legal American residents. Even if we don't offer foreigners paths to citizenship (and we have never entirely limited that to zero) we need to document these people and protect them or deport them as is appropriate. It's time to also protect the children who have grown up in America and know no other home country, but who are legally not Americans. Many don't even learn they're not documented legal residents until they apply for a drivers license or fill out a college application. It's a ridiculous situation.
Foreign peace, gun controls, an increased minimum wage, tax reform and immigration reform.
When will the Republicans, particularly those in the House of Representatives, go to work and do the job we need? I've read stories saying they only go to work a few days a week. Could any other Americans keep their job if they did that?
Time to get the job done !
Robert Reich has some suggestions to improve the economy!
When corporations worry the minimum wage needs increased our political leaders should listen.
State political leaders recognize a need to raise the minimum wage, so when will our national leaders get it.
Economists endorse a minimum wage increase !
Too many people are dying from handguns.
At home we need better gun control laws to prevent kids from killing each other or for people with mental problems from killing large numbers of people. If these were airplane crashes we'd pay more attention. Why protect the rights of terrorists to buy guns in America at gun shows with no background checks?
We need a stronger economy for EVERYONE in America and that means increasing the minimum wage and it means reforming the tax structure, so the rich finally have to pay the same rate as a middle-class working man or woman. It makes no sense that someone like Mitt Romney (not to pick on him) should be so wealthy they don't have to personally work and earn all their income from stock & bond investments and yet pay only a 15% tax rate. I don't understand all the special favors to the rich like getting to use deductions for mortgage interest on their 2nd, 3rd or other homes which aren't their primary residence. I also don't understand all the special preferences for established mature profitable industries like oil & gas drilling or tobacco farmers or any of the agricultural subsidies which go to corporations making large profits. Somehow the 99.9% of the people who make less than the 0.1% of our people need to have greater income, savings and economic mobility. Tax reform and an increased minimum wage is but one step in that direction.
It isn't of interest to a lot of Americans, but we do have a problem with illegal immigration. We have a lot of undocumented foreigners in America and they're working without gov't protections (work-place safety, proper pay, etc.) and they're involved in black market business. We need to protect our borders, and we are doing more on that today than ever. We need to document everyone who comes across as guest workers, students, short-term visitors or something. It's ridiculous to have so many undocumented people in our country who can be enslaved or otherwise abused or even killed without any protection by the government. It's ridiculous companies get away with paying them very low wages instead of having to pay a wage which changes the incentive more toward hiring legal American residents. Even if we don't offer foreigners paths to citizenship (and we have never entirely limited that to zero) we need to document these people and protect them or deport them as is appropriate. It's time to also protect the children who have grown up in America and know no other home country, but who are legally not Americans. Many don't even learn they're not documented legal residents until they apply for a drivers license or fill out a college application. It's a ridiculous situation.
Foreign peace, gun controls, an increased minimum wage, tax reform and immigration reform.
When will the Republicans, particularly those in the House of Representatives, go to work and do the job we need? I've read stories saying they only go to work a few days a week. Could any other Americans keep their job if they did that?
Time to get the job done !
Robert Reich has some suggestions to improve the economy!
When corporations worry the minimum wage needs increased our political leaders should listen.
State political leaders recognize a need to raise the minimum wage, so when will our national leaders get it.
Economists endorse a minimum wage increase !
Too many people are dying from handguns.
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