Breaking The Chains

FYI Florida Residents

2006-05-21T17:28:00.000-04:00

May 21-June 1, 2006 Governor Jeb Bush today signed legislation authorizing Florida's second annual 12-day sales tax holiday for hurricane preparedness. The Hurricane Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday is an important component of Governor Bush's comprehensive plan to instill a ‘culture of preparedness' in Florida. The tax holiday begins on Sunday, May 21 and ends on the first day of the 2006 Hurricane Season, June 1 The 12 day holiday will save Floridians an estimated $41million.

more info at http://www.floridadisaster.org/

Bright House's Brass Balls

2006-05-20T11:59:00.000-04:00

Last night while watching late night re-runs of MSNBC's Lock-up series I saw a commericial for Bright House cable. Now, I've seen this commercial before but lastnight is when it really sunk in. The commericial was targeted to business owners persuading them to advertise with Bright House cable. The gist of the ad is the Cable can provider advertisers with the tools to reach the market groups they want to reach, like "young adults", "house wives", "seniors". "Well duh!" you say...

What erked me (probably more because I was tired and already cranky from a long night at work) was this: Most cable proiders charge at least $50/month for basic cable service ( a service which most americans like my self feel obligated to have, for better or for worse) and they charge usually several houndreds of dollars if not thousands for a few second of ad time to their advertisers, and it seems like everytime you turn around you hear the cable companies threatening to raise their residential rates.

How much money do these people want from us? Especially when they make the bulk of their money funneling advertisement into our livingrooms?

(Lucky for me cable is included in my rent)

New Blog...

2006-05-14T21:46:00.000-04:00

So I've decided to start a new blog relative to my work experiences. The title: The Eye Inside; the address: http://eyeinsidejac.blogspot.com/ check it out.

Life at the JAC - Initial Observations

2006-05-11T18:59:00.000-04:00

I recently began a new job working at the Juvenile Assessment Center here in Tampa. I began as an intake worker where my primary job functions included operating the phones and electronicaly controlled doors, along with admitting new juveniles to the facility (having the sign the neccessary paperwork and collecting their property) and performing intervention assessments. Within two weeks I was promoted to the Diversion Unit, where I am classified as a Diversion Specialist. My purpose is to recomend first time juvenile offenders to the diversionary program which suits their needs the best. The idea is to give the kids a "second chance" before sending them to the judge and having a minor "mistake" from haunting them in later years. After all, kids are kids and they're going to get introuble- its part of their biology.

So far I like it here. My co-workers are friendly, although I don't believe this is the right profession for some of them. I think that is their first fault, they don't view this as anythign more than just a "job" and "paycheck" when infact it is more than that., The responsibility that comes with working with in the criminal justice field is enormous, multiply that by the responsibility of working with "at risk youth" and its almost unimaginable how anyone would work this job half heartedly. So far I have dealt with cookie-cutter type cases; "good" WASPY type kids who stole a cd for the thrill, or smoke a little pot here and there and finally got caught, the frivalous charges of "tresspassing" and "resisting arrest w/o violence" (giving an officer a fake name or refusing to give them one) charges that could probably be dealt with better with a hand-cuff ride in the back of the police car to their parents house, rather than making them sit for hours waiting to be processed at our facility. I've also dealt with the cases that unfortunately one would "expect" to deal with. The typical improvrished, poorly educated, inner-city minority type kids- kids who at no fault of their own are more likely to become involved in the criminal justice system. While doing my assessments I've already come to realise that my African-American clients are more like to have repeated a grade, have a parent that is or already has been incarcerated, and come from a home with a disproportionate number of dependants and care takers. I've also come to notice that my White clients are more likely to have experimented with drugs and alcohol, and are usually less repectful than minority children.

So far I've had two clients whom I truely felt sorry for. One was a young white child, about 13 years old. He lives with his mother, who is dating their neighbor and she spends all her time next door leaving him home alone. He told me that he tried to kill himself twice, once by taking pills the other by cutting his wrists. He also showed me where he still cuts himself on a regular basis. He told me that he hears voices and thinks that he will attempt suicide again. I of course mad ethe neccessary treatment refferal, but beyonde that I dont know much more of what will happen to him. From my short time working with him I realised that he was extremely intelligent, as most "criminals" are, just was just lacking affection attention and nurturing from his mother. I hope he gets the treatment he needs and his pyshical wounds along with his emotional wounds are able to heal so that he can focus his abilities in the right direction. The second case was more recent. A young African American boy attempted to runaway from his fathers home to escape abuse, and did not cooperate fully with law enforcement and was thuis arrested. Durring my assessment the boy told me that his father beats him with an extension chord and punches him in the chest regularly when he "gets mad". I made the neccessary referal again in the case but this one will definately be much more complicated. My father had a ehavy hand of his own, and I still remeber times when he would beat my brother and I with a belt for misbehaving, I remember threatening when i was younger, that I would call DCF or the cops or whomever it a 10 year old threatens to call; I guess i never considered the abuse bad enough to want to run away from home.

Anyway I should probably get to work...Not that I have much to d. Its been a slow night and thats a good thing. Kids are staying out of trouble.

Slacker...

2006-05-03T16:33:00.000-04:00

So yeah I haven't updated in a while. I've been busy. Its exam season, and i Just started a new job. Im taking the lazy way out...One of my exams was an essay. We were asked to use Walter Mosley's What Next A Memoir Toward Peace to discuss the factors of conflict in society and propse solutions or measure that would prevent futher conflict or violence.

Since the events of September 11, 2001, and perhaps as early as the Iran Hostage Crisis in the 1970's and the first World Trade Center bombing and the bombing of the USS Cole in the 1990's, we as Americans have struggled not only with the grief of losing our loved ones and fellow country men but also with understanding the motivation behind such brutal acts of terror. Many try to attach their understanding as a cultural void; a clash between East and West- Christianity and Islam. While these cultural aspects merely complicate the situation they are not the root of conflict. As Walter Mosley wrote:
“I don't believe that the current conflict is a war between religions, that whole cultures who believe in a magnificent afterlife are plotting to take the US down with them in the glorious flames of holy war. I don't believe that our enemies are ignorant dupes fooled into slaughtering the innocent lambs of America....” (Mosley 26)
Religion and Culture are merely the tools through which foreign nations and interests defend their sovereignty, demand their equal place in the global economy, and ensure their rights as human beings. The American domination and oppression of foreign economics, government, and religious freedoms has lead to mass starvation and wide spread infection and poverty in most of the developing world. The contempt which leads to violent acts is born when a man's vote is canceled by a foreign government, when a woman watches her children die hungry and disease ridden and when children are forced to work 12 hour days for little more than a bowl of rice and some contaminated water. “Not only do we stand silently by while Kurds, Mayans, Sudanese, and South Africans die from warfare, slavery, disease, and neglect, but we also sit almost passively...” (Mosley 37). By ignoring the economic factors which contribute to these violent acts we allow more violence to take place.

If we wish to stop violence against our people we must not resent until we have taken all necessary steps to prevent violence against those who might attack us. First, we cannot be free while our neighbor wear chains. We cannot know happiness while others are forced to live in despair. We cannot know health if plague and famine thrive outside our door. And we cannot expect to know peace if war rides forward under our flag and with our consent.(Mosley 41) We have falsely made our War on Terror a war against regimes, dictators, and fundamentalist, when our war should be against the conditions they derive their power from. “A modern terrorist is a single minded being- a man or woman, sometimes even a child, who had made the decision to give up his life, or at least to give up the lives of others, to make a statement and to instill fear. We perceive these terrorists as being full of hatred, desperate and possibly crazed. They attack innocent citizens who, to them, represent the evils that beset another group of people somewhere. The decide to destroy one group of innocents to bring attention to those who have suffered but about whom no one seems to care...” (Mosley 59). In the Middle East we have toppled the Hussein regime, bringing freedom to the oppressed people of Iraq, however we have also injured or killed thousands of innocent Iraqi citizens, sacrificing their liberty for our gain and sowing the seeds of terrorism. In Hobbes's Leviathan it is argued that if a man is commanded to kill or wound himself; or not to resist those who assault him; or to abstain from food, or medication or any other thing that without he cannot live; he has the Liberty to disobey (Hobbes 164). We must not condemn those who rebel against or oppression yet we must seek to raise them to our level. As Americans we do not accept a foreign nations authority over us, we should not seek to control and compromise the sovereignty of any other nation. Because they were the first to attack we often spend too much time examining situation in the Middle East, and we often forget the violent atrocities which have been committed in our own hemisphere.

For hundreds of years the indigenous people of the world have been violently exploited and oppressed. No where else has this been quite as prevalent as in Latin America, where the original colonizing nations raped the land and its people of their precious metals and latter enslaved them in latifundos, as result of comparative advantage theories. After the Spanish, French, and Portuguese Crowns successfully sucked the silver and gold from the veins of South America they discovered the rich soil and favorable climate for growing crops such as sugar, coffee, and other raw materials. With this discovery large plantations were created and the slave trade began, enslaving not only Africans but the remaining indigenous population. The creation of the plantations, or latifundios as they are called in Latin America began a rigid class system and the systematic oppression of peasants and indigenous workers. Over the years as democracy grew in the western hemisphere many educated Latin American thinkers began to realize the injustices their neighbors were dealt, all tied to the lack of industrial growth in Latin America and the fluctuations in world coffee and sugar markets. These men and women began revolutionary movements in Mexico, Guatemala, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, and Cuba, planting the seeds of democracy and reform in the region. Massive land reforms were enacted stripping land from the Church, private land owners and also American and other international corporations. These reforms sought to end the starvation and stagnation of the indigenous and peasant populations of Latin America and put control of the land, government, and economics of the continent into the hands of the people who lived there. In most nations these reforms were welcomed with open arms by their people, however American and other international interests had little to gain and everything to lose from these reforms. In 1954, the United States, influenced by United Fruit, successfully overthrew the reformist government of Jacobo Arbenz, and allowed the dictator Castillo Armas to take power. The new government fiercely sought to oppress all dissent, over 200,00 Guatemalans were murder and tortured by this regime, with the consent of the United Stated government. Guatemala was not the only country to suffer from U.S. political interventions. After gaining its independence from Spain, in 1901, Cuba was subjected to the Platt Amendment which gave the U.S. Authority over the new Cuban government. The U.S. would intervene again in Cuban politics and sovereignty when trying to over throw the government of Fidel Castro, forcing him to align with the Soviet Union. On September 11, 1973 Chile saw the violent overthrow of the Allende government and the installment of the Pinochet dictatorship; another coup paid for by the American dollar. The congress was closed, and labor unions and political parties were banned. Anyone suspected of being an Allende loyalist or a “socialist” was arrested, tortured, and killed. An estimated 20,000-30,000 Chileans lost their lives as a result. In the 1980's and 1990's almost all Latin American nations fell victim to the neo-liberal economic policies of the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund. These policies forced the nations economies into further depression, and many have yet to recover. Most recently the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has lifted nearly all trade, labor, and environmental barriers between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. While NAFTA created thousands of new jobs in Mexico, the jobs are often criticized for paying near starvation wages and requiring workers to work in unsafe conditions fro excessive periods of time. Maquiladores, as the US owned factories are called, have also contributed to the further environmental detestation of Northern Mexico.

With such interference and intervention from our government it is impossible for us to ignore the fact that we bare some responsibility for the crisis in Latin America. Recent trends in the Politics of Latin America have indicated a desire of the people to be free of U.S. and international control and influence. Presidents such as Hugo Chavez in Venezuela have been outspoken against U.S. policy goals which he believes would be harmful to the region and his nation. Chavez has formed alliance with other newly elected reformist presidents like Evo Merelos of Bolivia, and Michelle Barchette of Chile. Recently Merelos began a program in which the natural gas production of Bolivia will be nationalized, lowering prices and creating new jobs for Bolivian workers. In Venezuela Chavez has set tighter controls on international oil companies producing oil in his nation. Chavez also made an important agreement with Fidel Castro of Cuba, in which Cuba receives oil at a fair price in exchange for supplying Venezuela with highly trained medical professionals. As part of this agreement Cuba will also be training Venezuelans to become Doctors and Nurses. These are steps being taken by Latin American countries to repair the damages done to them by foreign interests. While some of these policies may negatively affect some U.S. owned corporations we cannot threaten these nations with military or economic sanctions. Further intervention of the United States would only lead to further agitation and conflict between our nations. The actions taken by these soreign governments are in reaction to policies which they have fallen victim to throughout the past five centuries As a nation we must protest every unwarranted act of war- every embargo, every refusal to help enhance the quality of life in disease-ridden, famine-plagued nations. We should not punish the nation which excises its sovereignty but punish the governments and corporations which threaten sovereignty of others (Mosley 118). “If we do not respect our sister nations, we will get they're ire in return,” (Mosley 123). We have not yet seen any violent attacks or demonstrations against us from our southern neighbors but without drastic changes in U.S. and international policy such violence may be imminent. We cannot expect governments and men to sit in idle as their families neighbors are starving, dying of curable illnesses, and being murdered.

To prevent violent acts against us and protect our people we must work as a government and as a nation to repair the situations we have created and prevent any further destabilization. We must work as a global community to follow those principles which I laid forth earlier; to ensure no man lives in bondage, no child lives in despair, no one suffers from illness or disease, and that all humans live free from violence and warfare. To achieve these goals we should require all international corporations to provide their workers with a wage that will afford them adequate nutrition, health care, and housing; we should encourage governments to provide for there people security not only from the physical violence of neighboring nations but also from economic violence; we must allow every human the same freedoms, liberty and justices in every nation.

What is Revolution?

2006-04-18T19:48:00.000-04:00

We discussed an article by Michael Albert, from ZNet Magazine called "What is Revolution?", (http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2006-04/08albert.cfm) in one of my classes today (Society: Conflict and Change). While the majority of the class agreed with the agruements made it was shocking to see the degree of complacentcy that many of my fellow classmates had. In my next few blogs I hope to analyse the article along with my classmates reaction, and my prediction of potential revolutionary and social change movements in America.

So stay tuned....

Allies fall out....

2006-04-15T21:48:00.000-04:00

Scotsman.com News - International - Blair refuses to back Iran strike

It makes you wonder exactly how "fantasyland" the idea of a US lead strike against Iran is if Blair is alrady making it clear that Britian will not participate. Something tells me that he's know something our administration won't admit to us.

Another line in the sand...(no pun intended)

2006-04-15T18:46:00.000-04:00

BREITBART.COM - Iran issues stark military warning to United States

Stuff like this only encourages our cowboy leadership....

Maybe I spoke too soon?

2006-04-14T17:06:00.000-04:00

Congressional action urged on gas prices

Props to Senator Durbin, hopefully the Oil-Lobby won't destroy this one....

Perhaps a federal cap on gas prices would be more effective. We subsidize farmers to keep the prices of diary and produce stable, why not do the same with the oil companines?

$36 billion in profits + $3/gallon gas = $400 million retirement package

2006-04-14T14:30:00.000-04:00

ABC News: Exxon Chairman Gets $400 Million Retirement Package Amid Soaring Gas Prices

Los Angeles Business from bizjournals: Central Coast area see $3 gas

Honestly...When are we going to say enough is enough? I could understand the price hikes if gas companies were barely breaking even, but they're not. Exxon posted earnings of $36 billion last year. The highest yearly earnings in US history for ANY company.

In one of my classes this week we discussed revolution and change in society and what it would take for the American people to stand up against the giants who are looting our freedom and bank accounts. On of my classmates hypothesized that we would not see an real movements until "the middle class becomes the poor" Will $3 gas be the catalysts bringing the middle class to boil? Probably not. They'll just accumulate more debt, in the world of VISA, MASTERCARD, DISCOVER, and AMEX its easier just to swipe it an forget it than to write your Congressmen, or boycott a particular company, or gas in general (ride a bike, the bus, car pool- all legitimate options that most of us including myself would be too inconvenienced to use). Trough is we may not even realize we've been cooked until its too late. A professor of mine uses the example of the boiled frog: "If you drop a frog into boiling water it will immediately leap away, but if you put it into cool and pleasant water and slowly raise the temperature until the water is boiling the frog will not realize until it's too late."

Are we nothing more than ignorant frogs? Can't we see the carrots, and potatoes, and celery being added to our soup? Prices are going up but wages are staying about the same; corporations are slashing retirement benefits for workers yet rewarding CEO's (the airline industry is most guilty of this). Maybe its too hard for use to imagine, or we feel to alienated to do anything about it, maybe high gas prices don't fuel as much passion as Abortion, Immigration and Gay Rights debates.

Who knows...

Oh and in case you were wondering about that cake retirement package I alluded to...
"Exxon is giving Lee Raymond one of the most generous retirement packages in history, nearly $400 million, including pension, stock options and other perks, such as a $1 million consulting deal, two years of home security, personal security, a car and driver, and use of a corporate jet for professional purposes." - ABC news

Here we go again...

2006-04-14T13:38:00.000-04:00

BREITBART.COM - Iran Leader: Israel Will Be Annihilated

"The president of Iran again lashed out at Israel on Friday and said it was "heading toward annihilation," just days after Tehran raised fears about its nuclear activities by saying it successfully enriched uranium for the first time....

On Friday, he repeated his previous line on the Holocaust, saying: "If such a disaster is true, why should the people of this region pay the price? Why does the Palestinian nation have to be suppressed and have its land occupied?"

The land of Palestine, he said, referring to the British mandated territory that includes all of Israel, Gaza and the West Bank, "will be freed soon." ..."

It many not be a popular position but President Ahmadinejad is the only person who addresses the issue at the heart of the Isreal v Palestine conflict: Isreali occupation of Palestine.

When you take land from people who have lived on that land for thousands of years and give it to their sworn enemies, what do we expect the reaction to be?

As far as the world being afriad of Iran nuking Isreal, this just occured to me: why would they nuke the land that they want their Islamic brothers and sisters to have? True maybe they're thinking "if we can't have it no one can", but thousands of Palestinians and other Muslims would die int he offensive or from complications relating to the radiation.

inch by inch we get closer

2006-04-11T15:49:00.000-04:00

BREITBART.COM - Iran Hits Milestone in Nuclear Technology

"At this historic moment, with the blessings of God almighty and the efforts made by our scientists, I declare here that the laboratory- scale nuclear fuel cycle has been completed and young scientists produced enriched uranium needed to the degree for nuclear power plants Sunday," Ahmadinejad said.
"I formally declare that Iran has joined the club of nuclear countries," he told an audience that included top military commanders and clerics in the northwestern holy city of Mashhad. The crowd broke into cheers of "Allahu akbar!" or "God is great!" Some stood and thrust their fists in the air.

Saudi Arabia may join nuclear club

2006-04-09T22:48:00.000-04:00

United Press International - NewsTrack - Saudi Arabia may join nuclear club

and the plot thickens....

WWIII - This is how it starts folks...

2006-04-09T17:20:00.000-04:00

Telegraph News Bush 'is planning nuclear strikes on Iran's secret sites'

Bush 'is planning nuclear strikes on Iran's secret sites'
By Philip Sherwell in Washington(Filed: 09/04/2006)

"The Bush administration is planning to use nuclear weapons against Iran, to prevent it acquiring its own atomic warheads, claims an investigative writer with high-level Pentagon and intelligence contacts...

Hersh claims that one of the plans, presented to the White House by the Pentagon, entails the use of a bunker-buster tactical nuclear weapon, such as the B61-11, against underground nuclear sites. One alleged target is Iran's main centrifuge plant, at Natanz, 200 miles south of Teheran....

Despite America's public commitment to diplomacy, there is a growing belief in Washington that the only solution to the crisis is regime change. A senior Pentagon consultant said that Mr Bush believes that he must do "what no Democrat or Republican, if elected in the future, would have the courage to do," and "that saving Iran is going to be his legacy"...."

read full story

So, lets say we attack Iran...this will be the result:

Iran and it's allies (nations like Syria and Lebennon) will launch ritalitory attacks against US bases and interests in the region including installations in Iraq. Isreal would be bombed and possibly invade, causing the US and NATO to step up its efforts to not only over throw the regime in Iran, but also defend Isreal and Iraq. Our alliance with the Suadi's will be tested, who will feel pressure to aide its Arab neighbors. Undoubtedly terrorist attacks would take place in the US and allied nations. China and Russia will be in a delicate situation do they alaign themselvs with the US or do they take the opportunity to potentially become world supers and overthrow us? What would happen to the UN? Obviously a pre-emptive nuclear strike would be against any and all treaties and non-aggression pacts.

I don't have all the intelligence of that our military may have but just knowing the history and current events of the region its not to dfficult to predict. Hopefully our leaders will see the same scenarios and avoid getting us into another disaster.

It really did happen....

2006-04-06T23:05:00.000-04:00

To my dissmay the LA Times seems to be the only new organization running the story about President Bush's desire to produce new nuclear weapons. I found this on the House Armed Services Committee webpage

3:30pm - 2237 Rayburn (Judiciary Committee) - Open
The Strategic Forces Subcommittee will meet to receive testimony on future plans for the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons complex infrastructure. No audio available. Chairman Everett statement: (pdf)
Witnesses:
Dr. David Overskei, Chairman, Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB), Nuclear Weapons Complex Infrastructure Task Force (pdf)
Mr. Peter Stockton, Project on Government Oversight (pdf)
Mr. Tom D’Agostino, Deputy Administrator, Defense Programs, National Nuclear Security Administration (pdf)
Mr. Charles Anderson, Principle Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Environmental Management, U.S. Department of Energy (pdf)

I urge all of you to take action in preventing this proposal from making its way into law. Write your Representative: http://www.house.gov/writerep/ and Senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

I don't want to know what life in a world where a nation needs to produce 125 Nuclear weapons per year to defend itself.

Beginning of the End?

2006-04-06T03:58:00.000-04:00

U.S. Rolls Out Nuclear Plan - Los Angeles Times

The administration's proposal would modernize the nation's complex of laboratories and factories as well as produce new bombs.

The administration, however, wants the capability to turn out 125 new nuclear bombs per year by 2022,

The blueprint calls for a modern complex to design a new nuclear bomb and have it ready in less than four years, allowing the nation to respond to changing military requirements. Similar proposals in the past, such as for a nuclear bomb to attack underground bunkers, provoked concern that they undermined U.S. policy to stop nuclear proliferation.

This can only be the singla of things to come. I hate to say something like this but I have a feeling that by 2010 we will be in the middle of WW3 and I don't think that this time we will be the good guys.

more to come on that idea...I promise

Devil's Advocate

2006-04-06T03:45:00.000-04:00

Did anyone else see this? Study: Bush tax cuts making rich richer

Well DUH!

But I dunno maybe Bush see's his tax cuts in an ideallist way...If rich people an corporations can save a few bucks here and there on their taxes maybe they'll spend the money else where and create more jobs and expand benefits and wages. Or perhaps on a few more lobbyists, or a new factory or call center in Bangladesh, or a golfing trip for a few congress men...the possibilities are endless! Either way he's saving his buddies (and himself) a heck of a lot of money!

Shantytown, USA

2006-04-01T16:44:00.000-05:00

We often assume that Illegal Immigrants live 6 to a room in beat up apartments, on the other side of the tracks. As NPR's Weekend Editions Reports, this is not always the case. Listen to this: NPR: A Shantytown in the Shadow of Luxury .

Imagine leaving your home, your family, your friends, in search of a better life. Imagine treking through jungle (not only Mexicans corss the border so so Salvadorians, Guetamalans and othr Central Americans) and desert, risking your life, for a better life. A life where you will work from sun up to sun down for $5 or $6 and hour, you will live in a make-shift hut, without water or electricity. Imagine if this life was actually better than what you left behind.

World Water Day (March22)

2006-04-01T03:01:00.000-05:00

Last night while accompanying my roomate for ritualistic indulgance I noticed a sign I had never seen before. The sign was advertising World Water Day, an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro. So a few days late, heres my contribution to the celebration.

World Water Facts (http://www.water.org/crisis/waterfacts.htm)
-Presently, 1.1 billion people lack access to improved water supply and 2.4 billion to improved sanitation (1). Unless action is stepped up, the number of people who lack access to improved water supply could increase to 2.3 billion by 2025 (13).

-Of all water on earth, 97.5% is salt water, and of the remaining 2.5% fresh water, some 70% is frozen in the polar icecaps. The other 30% is mostly present as soil moisture or lies in underground aquifers. In the end, less than 1% of the world's fresh water (or about 0.007% of all water on earth) is readily accessible for direct human uses. It is found in lakes, rivers, reservoirs and in underground sources shallow enough to be tapped at affordable cost (2).

-If all the earth's water fit in a gallon jug, available fresh water would equal just over a tablespoon.

-A person can live about a month without food, but only about a week without water (3).

-A person needs 4 to 5 gallons of water per day to survive (4, 5).

-The average American individual uses 100 to 176 gallons of water at home each day (6, 7).

-The average African family uses about 5 gallons of water each day (7).

-More than 200 million hours are spent each day by women and female children to collect water from distant, often polluted sources (8).

-Approximately 60 to 70% of the rural population in the developing world have neither access to a safe and convenient source of water nor a satisfactory means of waste disposal (9).

-Water systems fail at a rate of 50% or higher (10,11,14,15,16,17).

-According to the UN, 20% of the world's population in 30 countries face water shortages. This number is expected to rise to 30% of the world's population in 50 countries in 2025 (12).

-Some of the world's largest cities, including Beijing, Buenos Aires, Dhaka, Lima, and Mexico City, depend heavily on groundwater for their water supply. It is unlikely that dependence on aquifers, which take many years to recharge, will be sustainable (12).

-Poor people in the developing world pay on average 12 times more per liter of water than fellow citizens connected to municipal systems; these poverty-stricken people use less water, much of which is dirty and contaminated (13).

-Every $1 invested in children, including money to improve access to clean water and sanitation, saved $7 in the cost of long-term public services (18).

I think the facts speak for themselves.... for more info check out www.water.org

Germany Starts Chipping Away at Mountain of Electronic Junk | Germany | Deutsche Welle | 30.03.2006

2006-03-31T03:59:00.000-05:00

Germany Starts Chipping Away at Mountain of Electronic Junk Germany Deutsche Welle 30.03.2006

As of Friday, Germans could no longer just throw their old phones, computers or coffee makers in the trashcan out back. A new recycling system for
electronics has been kicked off and manufacturers are getting the bill.

Think about it...everyday there are better, faster, smaller, more fashionable cellphones, tv, computers, camera, printers, blenders, toasters, and anything else manufacturers can thrown at us....they encourage us to buy new and toss out the old, overflowwing our landfills and polluting our environment all in the sake of higher proffits. (thats not to mention the fact that some products are designed to break or malfunction after a set period of time) I think the Germans are on to somethings, its about time to make them share the wealth.

post pending

2006-03-29T23:27:00.000-05:00

im jumping ont he immigration band wagon....just trying to verify some facts and data....I've never come across so many holes before...its like someone doesn't want me to find the statistics

Absense

2006-03-24T19:12:00.000-05:00

I've been absent for a while, but not because I haven't had anything to say. In fact I have several drafts that I am tweeking into postable condition. Bare with me, and stay tuned. Comments are always appreciated on older posts.

2006-03-06T15:33:00.000-05:00

"Capital is dead labor, which, vampire-like, lives only by sucking living labor, and lives the more, the more labor it sucks. "

~Karl Marx

The Compassionate Conservative Rides Again....

2006-03-04T03:22:00.000-05:00

Taken from the Presidential address in New Dehli, India (March 3, 2006) I have inserted my commentary in red italicized text.

"...In my country, some focus only on one aspect of our trade relationship with India: outsourcing. It's true that some Americans have lost jobs when their companies moved operations overseas. It's also important to remember that when someone loses a job, it's an incredibly difficult period for the worker and their families. Some people believe the answer to this problem is to wall off our economy from the world through protectionist policies. I strongly disagree. My government is helping Americans who have lost their jobs get new skills for new careers. And we're helping to create millions of new jobs in both our countries by embracing the opportunities of a global economy. Millions of new jobs created in the U.S. via outsourcing? I must have missed that somewhere. Anyone care to fill me in?

We see those opportunities here in India. Americans who come to this country will see Indian consumers buying McCurry Meals from McDonald's, home appliances from Whirlpool. They will see Indian businesses buying American products like the 68 planes that Air India recently order from Boeing. Let's keep India dependent on "American" goods and services while paying them the starvation wages which attracted the same U.S. corporations to their desperate workfoce. India's population is over 1 Billion people with per capita GDP of ~$3,400, I wonder how many of the 1 Billion Indians can afford McCurry Meals and Whirlpool appliances. They will also see American businesses like General Electric and Microsoft and Intel who are in India to learn about the needs of local customers and do vital research that makes their products more competitive in world markets. The United States will not give into the protectionists and lose these opportunities. For the sake of workers in both our countries, America will trade with confidence. Translation: Thanks for the support in the 2004 election however, you re-elected me and I think I know what's best for America. Sorry that your job of the last 20-years is moving over seas, but as you know economies grow through competition, maybe you should try working for more "competitive" wages (Applause.)

India has responsibilities, as well. India needs to continue to lift its caps on foreign investment, to make its rules and regulations more transparent, and to continue to lower its tariffs and open its markets to American agricultural products, industrial goods and services. Often countries enact high tariffs or complicated trade policies in order to grow their own industries and protect their own agricultural markets. By placing caps on foreign investments India protects its land from the greed of International capitalist whims. This is not to say that India distributes its wealth and land freely. These policies in India are enacted to protect the members of the leading caste. We also hope India will continue to work to ensure that its own people are treated fairly by enforcing laws that protect children and workers from trafficking and exploitation and abuse. By enforcing its laws and educating its people and continuing to open up its economy, India can assure that prosperity and opportunity of a growing economy reaches all segments of India's population..." Read more:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/03/20060303-5.html

I could go on for hours I'm sure about the speech and his ideals but I don't have the energy to deal with this man. I cannot however go without making note of his closing....

"May God bless India."

Need I say more?

For more information on India check the CIA World Factbook:
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/in.html

In the Pursuit of Extra Credit

2006-03-02T20:55:00.000-05:00

Like most college students I jump at every opportunity to boost my grade, especially when they require little more than me to spend about an hour and a half listening to some dude talk about his books. Sometimes these extra-credit lectures can actually be more interesting than my regular programing and hell, we can all use the enrichment.

Tonight, by the recommendation of a Professor (with some bous encentives) I attened a lecture by Jared Diamond. It was part of USF's on-going University Lecture Series, and with the title "Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed", it sounded interesting enough. Anyway, all I can say is WOW. I need to get a hold of his books now. It was a privillage to be in this mans pressence.

The lecture was based off his book by the same name and heres what I got:

5-point checklist of problems that face societies (developed by Dr. Diamond in his research)
1. Human impacts on the environment - depeltion of rescources, air and water polution etc.
2. Climate change - natural flucuation of temperatures and weather paterns
3. Enemies - external conflicts
4. Trade partners - other societies with which they can trade goods for their survival
5. Ability to recognise problems

He argues that all of these can and will lead to the sucess or failure of a society

He also offers a "Road Map of Failed Decision Making", essentially why these problems aren't solved:
1. Inexperienced with the problem - ex. Global warming: in the 70's no one knew what global warming was, it was inconcievable that our emmissions would have adverse effects on the environment
2. Recognition of the problem- ex. Global warming: If temperatures rose more rapidly, for example by 1 degree each year, global warming would have been recognised sooner. However, temperatures have fluctuated warmer and cooler an not until recently have we noticed that over all things are getting hotter.
3. No attempt to solve the problem (simply put I think?)

Dr. Diamond offers that the reason why problems are sometimes over-looked or unreognised is becuase the Elites of a society are insulated from the problems and sometimes benefit from them. He offers an example of gated-communities in Los Angels, where the rich live in their own world, away from the poor, away from crime, they drink bottled water and send their kids to private school. They rarely come in contact with the outside world and therefore do not recognise that anything is truely wrong.

Environmental problems CANNOT be over looked he argues. Failure to recognise environmental problems, and react to them almost always leads to collapse.

Dr. Dimond also notes that the inabilty of a society to reasses and adapt their core-values often leads to collapse. The two most problematic Core-Values for the U.S. are:
1. Consumerism - our wasteful obession with things
2. Isolationalism - thinking that the problems are "out-there" and not ours to worry about. (In the 80's Regan officals listed Somalia, Afgahnistan and Iraq as countries that the U.S. would have little to know ties with, with the exception of oil in Iraq. Within the last 15 years we have engaged militarily within each of these countries.)

Linking the past and the present can be difficult, explains Dr. Diamond, because there are more people in the world with more destructive technologies and globalization has made it hard for societies to exisit seperatly from each other. Even though these hurtles exist Dr. Diamond suggest that we can learn from past societes and those among us currently to find solutions to problems that we may soon be facing.

And in case you all were wondering, Dr. Diamond believes that within the next 50 years ALL of societies problems will have to be dealt with and the postivie or negative results will be ours to deal with.

Great lecture. Great man. Great ideas. If you ahve the opportunity to listen to him speak or read one of his books, DO IT!