POLITICS

Capitalism in Objectivism

2011-02-04T01:46:00.000-08:00

Capitalism as defined by Dictionary.com gives the impression that individuals and corporations run the economy by producing, distributing, and exchanging wealth. This is a partly true, partly untrue definition. Capitalism is an economic system, and it is maintained by private individuals as opposed to the government. As corporations are run by private individuals, and the definition still does not cover the full scope of capitalism objectively.
In Objectivism, capitalism is the only social system that is able to protect individual rights. Ayn Rand's article "What is Capitalism" within the book, Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, spells out the system beautifully.
Within the system of laissez-faire capitalism, the government's place is the defender of individual rights. Its job is to protect rights by preventing the unlawful use of force against innocent individuals, and will only use its monopoly of force against those who initiated it.
All men within capitalism are free to trade, exchange, and conduct business with other men in a voluntary manner. Every person within a capitalist society is free to achieve his highest potential, or even to choose to not achieve anything, as no one is allowed to use physical force to move men. Every person would have the same opportunities to succeed, as all objective laws would apply to all men equally.
So why does capitalism have such a bad reputation in the 21st century? It is mostly because as a social system, capitalism is incompatible with the social systems that dominate the world today: varying degrees of socialistic and free economies, aka the "mixed economies."
As spelled out in Rand's article, capitalism cannot "survive in a culture dominated by mysticism and altruism...." Meaning those philosophies advocating the sacrifice of one person for the "good" of others, whether for a god or for society. "No social system (and no human institution or activity of any kind) can survive without a moral base. On the basis of the altruist morality, capitalism had to be-and was-damned from the start."
For those who believe it is okay to take resources, money, and the lives of others in order to preserve the society or appease some deity, capitalism is not for you. Without a recognition of individual rights, capitalism cannot survive in today's society. Once the government is allowed to put a control on the free market, it will enact more controls as time goes on.
If capitalism is to truly begin, one must control the government, and to control the government, one must change the philosophical attitudes of the many people in today's world. If you believe that one should be free to pursue wealth, without harming others; one should keep what is earned, without forceful taxing; and one believes controls only restrict freedom from this goal, then you have a good grasp of what capitalism is.

National Alzheimer's Project Act Passes

2011-02-04T01:45:00.002-08:00

Despite the fact that so many Americans suffer from Alzheimer's (as many as 5.3 million, according to a report from the Alzheimer's Association), anyone with a loved one who suffers from the disease knows that it often doesn't get the national attention that it deserves.
Thanks to a new law signed into existence on January 4, that's going to change.
The National Alzheimer's Project Act-or NAPA, as it's known-was created to ensure that the United States has an "aggressive and coordinated national strategy to confront the present and rapidly escalating Alzheimer's crisis," according to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
Under NAPA, the HHS is required to create an advisory council that will not only be responsible for coordinating all federal research and services relating to Alzheimer's, but will also work to "accelerate the development of treatments that would prevent, halt, or reverse the course of Alzheimer's" (NAPA §2.a.3). The advisory council will also strive to improve the sharing of information between organizations that are researching Alzheimer's, to improve early diagnosis, and to ensure that individuals of all races and ethnicities-especially those at a higher risk of developing Alzheimer's-are included in research and available services.
In addition to all this, the new Alzheimer's advisory council will produce an annual report to present to Congress cataloguing its successes and its failures, and setting forth a course of action based on what's been learned.
To read more about the National Alzheimer's Project Act, go to the Alzheimer's Association site, or read the bill for yourself.

Total Bankers

2011-02-04T01:45:00.000-08:00

Total Bankers
People who were trusted with our money but then used it for themselves, thinking that the ordinary honest folk in this country were mugs for being honest. When they themselves were actually given positions of trust which they abused.
Power Players
From politicians to public servants everyone has become a power player. We had expected our public servants to serve the nation but we have found that they were just criminals and thieves. From the political elite in the EU, our own parliamentarians and civil servants through to local government, the banks and utility companies. We now see an administration riddled with corruption, theft and deceit.
The bank chaos was just the unfortunate exposure of the reality of the situation. An embarrassing light which shone on to the falseness of Britains judicial system. Giving us all the chance to see just how corrupt and depraved these manipulators were. Where once there was honesty, trust and integrity now there are lies, corruption & deceit,
Media Spin
We were told political lies on a daily basis by politicians paid from the public purse Through a national television news media which was paid by the public purse. And it was all justified under the notion that it was harmless spin. But it was not harmless spin.
For apart from covering up their own dishonesty these crooks had also managed to exclude themselves from the legal system. And in their arrogance failed to regulate the honesty and integrity of the companies which serve and solicit the general public. In treating the population as cash cows to be abused by the business community the public servants failed to serve the public in a decent and honest way.
So when the bankers failed so spectacularly to balance their books as they dipped into the sea of corrupt speculation It was treated as a slight glitch in the economic woes of the world economy. But though the population were made to pay the price, the fraudsters still survived. The off shore accounts used by most businesses are still there. The tax havens and the pontificating tax cheats are still on top, affluent and untouched.
And when it comes down to it, it appears that the elite became too big. And that the new movers and shakers in this country all wanted their slice of the inaction. Therefore greed became the accepted belief.
Economic Reality 2008
After the bankers manipulated the government of the day into refinancing the banks It became apparent that the bankers didn't actually have a grip on their own accounting. And that they had deluded themselves into thinking that the money in their banks was their money and not their customers. And that the profits were not their customers profits but their profits.
But it was not only the economic system which the bankers destroyed.
This love of money which drove them to destroy the country;
The jobs of five million people,
The homes of a million people with failed mortgages.
And the savings of millions of pensioners.
This love of money which is decried in just about every religion ever created on earth.
This love of money which the bankers proposed as the ultimate basis for regulating life on this planet was actually false.
A Crime Against Society
And still the population is unprotected from these charlatan rogues. There is still no form of justice to protect the ordinary citizens from the fraudsters who have taken over our administration and our companies. The fraud still continues on a daily basis and is expanding. And our legal guardians still fail to serve and protect.

India In Its Glory At Its 62nd Republic Day

2011-02-04T01:44:00.000-08:00

My dear fellow Indians,
Tomorrow, we will be whole heartedly celebrating our 62nd Republic day. I extend my best wishes to my fellow Indians from all walks of life. It is my privilege to extend to all of you reading this mail today courteous greetings and good wishes on the occasion of the 62nd Republic day celebrations. On this day, it is our duty to pay high salutes to the great freedom fighters those have made it possible with their tears, sweat and blood, for us to enjoy the benefits of democracy and to breathe the fresh air of freedom. On this Republic day 2011 we should all acknowledge that for us to have a peaceful good night's sleep, our founding fathers sacrificed their comforts and drafted the Constitution of our country. Today we are enjoying the fruits of their struggle.
Today on the verge of our 62nd Republic day we should all recall the most important lesson of life that is righteousness. Today this lesson is of grave importance than it was sixty two years ago. With our country in critical need to have its citizens understand and acknowledge democracy, humanity and kindness, we should now, more than ever, accommodate correct levels of tolerance in ourselves. Just as our ancestors acquainted us with the moral of righteousness, we should pass this message to the future generations as well. With the thought of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' or the spirit to accept the world as one family, we accept all religions as true. This is the true essence of universal acceptance or diversity. On the event of Republic day 2011, all of us should make it a point to look back and notice if something went wrong and to make sure that those mistakes of any kind are not repeated by any of us, or our future generations.
To aim at striving for the true existence of democracy, we need to first understand the correct meaning of the word. Democracy in actual terms intents at safeguarding the rights of the citizens of our country as individuals, as groups as well as a complete nation. We know it very well that the process of development has no meaning and destination without the correct involvement of the people, to keep the spirit of democracy and freedom alive forever.
Tomorrow on the auspicious occasion of Republic day 2011, as our 'Tiranga' stands high as ever, let us all take a pledge, to try our levels best on our parts, to harmonize the true spirit of righteousness and thus bring glory to India. All of us can take small steps to make our country a great nation, a better place for all, which always stands for human values. Let's celebrate the noble cause of our 62nd Republic day by making our nation proud.
JAI HIND,
JAI BHARAT,
JAI HINDUSTAN.

Affordable-Housing Advocates Feeling Overlooked

2011-02-04T01:43:00.002-08:00

Late last year, the Obama administration convened a conference aimed at addressing national housing policy. The 12-member panel discussed financing and affordability, among other things. Though many agree that the conference was necessary, many affordable-housing advocates feel the discussion panel lacked diversity.
Two separate panels were convened; Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner led one, the other was led by HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. Panelists included six corporate executives, five members of academic institutions, and just one member from a civil rights organization.
The main complaint affordable housing advocates had with the conference was the lack of community organizations. Not one community organization was represented on either panel. The lack of representation has some advocates worried that housing policy changes would focus on benefits to big business and wealthy investors, rather than the low- and middle-income people who need access to low-income housing, especially since some of the panelists have been heavily involved in mortgage-back securities investments.
Excluding community organizations means the entities through which a large portion of low-income housing dollars are funneled played only a small part in the discussion. Though most HUD money is allocated to city, county and state governments, a high percentage of affordable housing projects are funded through non-profit entities that receive grants from local municipalities.
The criticism is an unusual turn for affordable-housing advocates who have historically praised the Obama administration for favoring the advice of community organizations over corporations and academics with regards to affordable housing strategy. It's also an unusual turn for the Obama administration, which has often championed the need for affordable housing.
Andrew William, a spokesman for the U.S. Treasury Department said "a number of consumer advocates" lent their voices to the panel discussions, but he didn't specify who those advocates were.

Washington DC - A New Day or Politics As Usual

2011-02-04T01:43:00.000-08:00

When the smoke cleared and the votes were counted on November 2nd, 2010 the people had spoken. The midterm elections brought a record number of people out to vote in certain areas and very close election results caused recounts and delays in announcing a winner A vote for change, real change that's been long overdue is just now taking its hold in America. For too long the federal government has been expanding its shadow over its citizens in an attempt to govern over our lives and too long the majority in this country has been silent, but no longer.
In President Obama's State of the Union speech he talked of working with both parties to "Win the Future". His first two years the president and his party, the Democrats ruled like a dictatorship. They did whatever they deemed proper. Consequently the voice of the people fell on deaf ears and the Republican politicians were left powerless to be involved in any decision making. This no longer being true, our government leaders will now have to work together on both sides of the floor as representatives of the people and not for special interest groups.
As Americans we need keep our eyes open and listen to our leaders. We need to be informed about what is going on and what is being decided on in Washington. We must demand that these elected officials keep the promises they made that got them elected. We the people are no longer Democrats, Republicans or Independents, we are Americans who are concerned about the health and welfare of our country. We all love to hear a good speech, one that motivates us,one that makes us feel better about ourselves but words are only words. I once read, "A man who thinks and doesn't act is ineffective. A man who acts and doesn't think is dangerous". This describes our whole political system, great ideas with no followup and laws such as the new health laws being enacted without any thought of the possible consequences.
Our country is great because of its freedoms. Because of the freedoms we enjoy in this great land we are able to join together in times of need and use our innovative thinking and sense of purpose to rise to the challenges we face as a nation. Our country is strong because its backbone is made up of courageous men and women who come here from all over the world to become Americans and live the American dream.

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It Wasn't Just About Tea - How Leather May Have Contributed to the Declaring of Independence

2011-02-04T01:42:00.002-08:00

Did Leather Contribute to the Colonies Declaring Independence?
Could leather have been a great contributor to the American Colonists' dissatisfaction with Great Britain leading them to declare their independence? When England's King ruled that the Colonies were not allowed to compete with manufacturers from England on a whole list of items, Colonists were kept out of the leather goods market.
In the 1770s, the colonies were inhabited by European settlers who had arrived with dreams of a better life. Some dreamed of creating wealth by utilizing the natural resources available to produce goods to trade with foreign countries and within the new world. What had begun as cottage industries, small scale production, had potential to expand way beyond being self-sufficient. Colonists were leather tanning and shoe-making, furniture and tool-making, cloth-weaving and the sewing apparel.
• The largest industry was shipbuilding in the Eastern or New England Colonies (New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut). Natural harbors allowed merchants of New England to earn a good living. They traveled by sea to the Europe and the West Indian Islands to trade.
• Agriculture on family-sized farms in the Middle Colonies, (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware) produced surpluses of grains. The chief occupations of people of that region were farmers and flour makers. Philadelphia was the trade center. Lumber was cut, iron and paper were manufactured. Along the frontier there was lively fur trade with the Indians.
• In the Southern Colonies (Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia), there were no large centers of population. There were no businesses or incentive to build towns. In Virginia, when Williamsburg was the new capital, it was a village of just 200 houses.
The planters of the Southern Colonies owned immense plantations along river banks. Labor on the plantations was performed by slaves. South Carolina grew rice, the others grew mostly tobacco. They carried on trade extensively with the mother country, England. With each shipment sent from the Colonies, a long list was also sent of articles to be bought from England to be purchased with the proceeds of the rice or tobacco crop.
All articles of hardware, glass, crockery, clothing, (including leather goods) furniture, household utensils, wine, household goods, brass and cooper wares and iron utensils were all brought back from England.
"The country abounded in trees, yet tables, chairs, boxes, cart wheels, bowls, birch brooms, all came from the mother country. The wood used for building houses was actually cut, sent to England as logs to be dressed, and then taken back to Virginia for use." From School History of the United States by McMaster 1912
According to the laws of Mercantile Trade, this is how the colonists should carry on trade. Paper and hats were made in small quantities, leather was tanned, lumber was sawed, but people had to depend on homemade, self-sufficiency or imported finished goods, with high tariffs from England.
But while Britain was off fighting wars in Europe, industrialization had begun in the colonies. Contact with other people on the continent and abroad, had been made through trade. The colonists' economy was flourishing.
When the colonies attracted Great Britain's attention, enforcement of their policies of mercantilism stifled economic growth. The colonies existed first and foremost to benefit the mother country. Acquiring colonies was only to exploit their raw materials and develop another export market for the mother country's goods.
The wealth of a nation at that time was measured by the accumulation of precious metals including gold and silver. This was accomplished through trade, maximizing exports and minimizing imports. Traditionally, Europe's economies had operated under this system. One country could only gain at the expense of another.
More adversarial Acts of Trade and Navigation were instituted to regulate Colonial trade. England determined where ships could be built and how many English subjects must be crew members. No goods were allowed to be carried from any place in Europe to America unless they first landed in England.
A long list of colonial products could not be exported to any foreign port other than a port of England. The law required that if colonists produced items that would compete with English merchants, they could not even be sold to one of the American Colonies without first going to the mother country to have an export or import duty attached. These regulations of colonial affairs served only to stifle the entrepreneurial spirit of the colonists that were ready to industrialize and trade with the world and each other.
The British attitude that the colonies were only servants to the crown hurt industrialization efforts and fueled the fires of discontent. If a hat or leather bag was produced in Massachusetts, a colonist in New York would be expected to pay an additional tariff to England.
English Americans believed they deserved but were denied, equal representation at the table with their mother land. Taxes, tariffs and trade policies were being enacted to control hats and leather goods in colonies a vast ocean away. This alienation of the colonists led eventually to the Declaration of Independence and the subsequent Revolutionary War.

Gordon Brown Fears His Phone Was Hacked

2011-02-04T01:42:00.000-08:00

Gordon Brown has contacted the Police to complain that his mobile phone might have been illegally listened to while he was in Government. It is not clear as to whether he thinks his message box was listened to or his actual voice transmission.
If it were his voice transmission than it would not be mere journalists but would have to be the Special branch or their equivalent. as mobile phone calls these days are encrypted or scrambled and cannot simply be over heard.
If he thinks it was his message box then of course he must take some, if not all, of the blame. Any one with a message box needs to set a pin number so it is secure. If they do not then they are leaving the front door of their house wide open and should not be surprised if somebody walks straight in.
I can see why Gordon Brown might be very concerned after his childish outburst on Sky TV when he called his own supporter a bigot. Or may be he was simply concerned that his thinking in how he thought he saved the world would be revealed as an absolute farce for that is what it was. Or was it that he was concerned that his latest stealth tax was going to be made public.
It is even believed that Blair has complained about messages that he left on other peoples phones when he was Prime Minister during the years 2005 to 2007 when Gordon Brown was Chancellor of the Exchequer. The phone hacking scandal has to date centred on the "News of the World" paper which has always claimed that this was the work of one rogue reporter.
The News of the World former Royal editor Clive Goodman was jailed in prison with a private detective in January 2007 having both been found guilty of intercepting phone messages. During the last 3 years the Crown Prosecution Service and the Police have maintained the position that there was not enough evidence to bring a case against anybody else.

The Benefits of Anonymous Messaging - Should I Share This Secret?

2011-02-04T01:41:00.001-08:00

We all run into things on a daily basis that tend to shock and awe people - some to more degree than others. A few people delight in gossiping and sharing every little detail but most people are slow speak a word about the secrets they discover and the information they wind up with.
Often, the question on whether or not to share a secret has to do with several factors:

Will it hurt the person or people involved?
How will it affect this person
How will they react to me
Can I catch flak or get in trouble for sharing this secret?

These are common questions when you ask whether or not to share a secret, whether it has to do with something very personal, unethical, and immoral or even criminal. Many people put themselves first, wondering how revealing the information will come back on them.
Let's face it; some secrets should simply remain a secret. They could be damaging for a lot of people and the only benefit that could come from revealing those secrets would be watching the misery of another or financial gain from holding a secret over someone's head - that's not a really a benefit.
On the other hand, there are some secrets that people should always share - especially when they pertain to something very criminal. In some situations we have to do what we can to make sure that the secret we have does indeed see the light of day for the benefit of the greater good.
Sometimes we need to think beyond the individual and beyond ourselves but that can be hard. It seems like the fear of reprisal is in direct proportion to the severity and importance (and potential explosive response) of information. That fear of reprisal holds a lot of people back but being able to share a secret by sending an anonymous note can mean all the difference in the world.
With a professional anonymous messaging service you can actually send information to anyone and share a secret with any recipient whether it's to an email address or physical address. This is a popular option for many people because it offers a chance to get those heavy secrets off your chest and embrace your right of free speech.
Free speech without fear of blowback.
Many professional services allow you to stay anonymous online while relaying important information. No longer is it a matter of whether or not you trust an agent in an office, a specialist in the courthouse or an office in law enforcement. You don't have to worry about whether or not the tip lines are truly anonymous (they may not be). An anonymous messaging service gives you the attractive choice of "yes!" when you ask "should I share this secret?"
It's time to live without the anxiety that's being caused by what you know - that's a burden that no one should have to carry. Sending an anonymous message is easy, it's fast, and it guarantees the security of your identity when you use a professional messaging service online.

Burma and the Iron Grip of Its Generals and Military Rule

2011-02-04T01:40:00.001-08:00

Burma occupies a strategic position in South East Asia. But the country is ruled by the Military fro close to half a century. It all started when General Ne Win seized power in a military coup in 1962. He remained in power till 1988, when he was ousted in a series of popular demonstrations against the military regime. But his exit did not bring about the end of military rule and the Army and its generals continued to rule the roost.
People wonder how the Army continues in power, kills its own people without compunction and insures one party rule with no democracy and resultant no visible progress. The reason is the support of its immediate neighbors China and to a lesser extant India.
China is a communist state whose agenda is two fold. Firstly, it would like to encircle India who it considers its arch rival in Asia and secondly it wants an out let into the Indian Ocean through a naval base in Burma. Keeping these aspects in mind China has befriended this nation and established very cordial relations with the Military regime in Burma. It has supplied arms and weapons t the Military, which have been used by the Army in killing their own people. But China has no compunction in supporting the Burmese regime and eggs it on its path. Frankly China is not bothered about the suffering of the Burma people, as it is intent on its own path of creating a niche for itself as a world power.
India is a democracy and in the normal course of events, it would have supported the movement for democracy in Burma. But India is bedeviled by an Insurgency in Naga land and Manipur which shares a contagious border with Burma. In fact tribes from both these regions share an ethnicity with their counterparts along the border in Burma. The result is that India needs the support of Burma in this fight against insurgency. Hence perforce India has to cultivate the military regime. But its support is muted and not as vociferous as that of China.
The result is that United Nations led by the USA are ineffectual in Burma and the Generals continue in power. It will be a mighty difficult proposition to dislodge this regime short of a civil war. Remember peaceful agitations will have no effect and will only lead to a couple of hundred more protesters being shot dead.

Tony Blair Criticised Over War Decisions From A Sofa Government

2011-02-04T01:38:00.000-08:00

Two former chiefs of the British civil service have said before the Chilcot war inquiry that Tony Blair took Britain to war in Iraq with out the approval of his labour cabinet.
Lord Turnbull and Lord Wilson of Dinton totally refuted the claims made by ex PM Tony Blair that ministers in his cabinet "knew the score" and had known that Blair had agreed to invade Iraq with America after the 9/11 atrocity on the United States.
When both men appeared before the Chilcot war inquiry they presented a vison of new labour being a government run from the sofa!
They absolutely refuted the statements made by Tony Blair to the Inquiry previously that his ministers were kept up to speed on the steps leading to war.
This goes a long way to explain why the late Robin Cook resigned and Gordon Brown's claim that he was kept in the dark. How a Chancellor of the Exchequer can not know about a forthcoming war is totally beyond me as obviously a budget would be needed but perhaps Blair treated Brown like a mushroom and kept him in the dark and fed him on manure!
Lord Turnbull said that the labour cabinet were not asked for their approval until the eve of the invasion.
So late in the day they had no true choice other than to simply accede or the PM would fall like the king in a game of chess and the cabinet members would lose their positions and lifestyle.
This does make the labour cabinet appear to be like putty in Blairs grip.
Lord Wilson had retired from office in 2002 and was Turnbull's predecessor he stated that during his period as Britain's leading civil servant that the cabinet was not aware that a decision had been taken to combine with the US and invade Iraq.
Was it simply that Blair was to all intents and purposes a dictator and the members of his cabinet were sheep and to nervous to topple the leader as perhaps they too would fall from power?
The evidence from both Lord Wilson and Lord Turnbull is total contrast with that of Blair who claimed on Friday 21st January 2011 that he initially discussed the intention of removing Saddam Hussein with Bush the US President in November 2001 and that the intention of invasion was established and well known from thereon in. Obviously well known to Blair and Bush but not to the British electorate.
One has to ask the question where was Gordon Brown the Chancellor of the Exchequer the pension expert at this time? Some claim he was hiding in his bunker trying to overthrow Tony Blair and that might be why he was kept out of the loop.
Tony Blair was accused by Lord Turnbull of breaking the ministerial code by failing to ensure that the attorney general was asked for his advice as to the legality of the war in plenty time.
A former senior diplomat Sir Roderic Lyne a member of the inquiry pointed out that ministers were being asked to take joint responsibility with out receiving a single paper on the topic of a war in the last 18 months.
Lord Turnbull agreed that key documents had been kept from the cabinet. He went on to say that it was surprising that many ex ministers had remained to loyal to Tony Blair.
Both Lord Wilson and Lord Turnbull were critical of New Labour for trying to do away with cabinet government and introducing a system by which Blair could push his policy along in "ad hoc" meetings with selected groups of sympathisers.
They refuted claims that the system was similar to that during Baroness Thatcher's period as PM.
The two men had both worked under Thatcher, and as you would expect, she did not cut cormers as Blair had, she always ran a proper cabinet government.
There can be absolutely no doubt that Tony Blair failed the Country and after 13 years of Labour I have no faith at all in Ed Miliband.

Mr Prime Minister You Have Let Down India - POLITICS, new politics

2011-02-04T01:37:00.001-08:00

The Consolidated Appropriations Act was passed by Congress at the end of 2009, and became law in early 2010. One of the Act's provisions was the allocation of $150 million for a new HUD program called the Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grants. The program's purpose is to encourage sustainability and better integration of transportation, housing and employment in regional planning.
The program is unique in that it consolidates the efforts of three major U.S. Departments: Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Transportation (DOT) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Local, regional and state development authorities were encouraged to submit applications for the first round of funding, and were due late last summer. Nearly $100 million worth of grants were awarded late last year to municipalities across the country.
Shelley Poticha, director of HUD's new Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities said her office was flooded with applications for this first round of funding. Grants were awarded for sustainable development in two categories: the first awards funding for the creation of sustainable plans, the second funds plans that already exist.
The Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant program is one of the many ways HUD is working to achieve its new Strategic Plan, which was released early last year. Strategic Plan goals include: strengthening the nation's housing market, meeting current needs for affordable rental homes, developing housing that improves residents' quality of life, and building communities that are both sustainable and discrimination free. HUD's Strategic Plan covers Fiscal Years 2010 through 2015, during which time it hopes to meet or exceed all of its goals.

Alternative Ideas for American Economic Development

2011-02-04T01:36:00.001-08:00

The global financial crisis has clearly illustrated that there is a serious vacuum of ideas on what to do next as a civilization. Majority of the public senses (on various levels) that key leaderships of many Western states do not offer much more beyond printing more money, socially brutal austerity, etc. Playing for time and looting are not solid ideas and everybody knows it. This inevitably opens up society to ideas from below which will eventually result in part of the elite siding with these ideas to co-opt them and ride them to power.
In United States, we saw the libertarian critique meme and the reactionary "going back to FDR policies" meme rapidly become dominant online over the last 2 years. Collapsist and neofeudalism memes are also about to become dominant. Collapsism in particular forces future oriented thought. The non-Internet world is quickly following behind since it took researchers a year or so to educate themselves about the fraud that caused the crisis, to put their books out, and then another few months for people to read the books. Various socially visible pundits can now defer to books as authoritative sources in speaking up. The market for new type of demagogy (talk radio being the old type) is nowhere near to being saturated.
This awakening resembles a sort of a popular front in the making since people from diverse ideological backgrounds are creating a consensus of what they are against (federal reserve corruption, military eating most resources, financial oligarchy and its personal lawyer/butler [US congress]). A marriage of convenience of this sort is usually created when all other options are exhausted and it will split into petty infighting once the current regime is changed.
All the accelerating muck racking and massive corruption exposures going on currently will begin to create a dissident critical mass in the near future. This is due to the gently exponential curve that is word of mouth communication and most importantly due to some elites sensing that popular sentiment now allows certain things to be safely discussed on a national level. Like in a jury herd dynamic, a minority of consistent and tireless individuals can swing the entire group whether at elite level, the level of a bar or church, or national level. The vacuum of workable ideas in leadership allows such informational waves to spread and take hold rapidly. It may have taken Christianity 300 years to become a dominant meme but with present communication technology, informational "viruses" can do the trick in just years.
In interesting times like these, small but very narrative consistent groups have disproportionate amount of influence. Notice how quickly Ron Paul's faction went from being an ignored laughing stock to being a respected dissident movement (the mere fact that some oligarchs partially co-opted it with funding demonstrates level of genuine popular support). The great budding coalition of groups who usually don't want anything to do with one another (but who realize they got a common enemy) is gaining strength by the week. The awakening process does not even need to take hold of most people. A society historically needs maybe 1/4 to 1/3 of people to substantially switch their world view in order for real transition to start happening. 1/3 of the population can always be counted on to defend status quo to the last while 1/3 can be counted on to be an apathetic mushy middle that joins whoever seems to be winning or is more popular.
How will ideas be judged, what determines which will win out?
Market of ideas is limited by two things.
1) Practicality of an idea. This means the degree to which an idea is compatible with unfolding social and physical dynamics of human civilization (can't have genuine feudalism, monarchies, or theocracies in 21st century with hundreds of millions of educated people). In a way, the strongest idea is one which is predictive of where we're pretty much headed anyway. This criteria can be said to be desirability of the good (functionality determining desirability).
2) How quickly it can be internalized by the public at large. If one needs to read too many books to understand and accept an idea, then it really is not that great. An idea having been popular previously at some point in history greatly helps with this. This criteria can be said to be the knowledgeableness of the buyer to determine which good is desirable.
So what's on the market presently?
I am going to focus on United States since in many ways the problems of United States show to the world the problems that they themselves will face very soon. The ideas that the American people adapt to resurrect themselves will eventually (if not immediately) be influential on a planetary scale after a couple of decades. The following are listed in no particular order of importance.
a) Reactionary "going back to FDR style" Keynesian monetarism, sound money, and rapid infrastructural development
b) Reactionary "going back to the John Quincy Adams style" American credit system, sound money, and rapid infrastructural development
c) Reactionary "going back to industrial robber baron style" brief and unstable period of something resembling what the libertarian faction wants. Some haphazard and rapid ego driven infrastructural development.
d) American version of Leninist New Economic Policy and very rapid infrastructural development
e) Emulation of Chinese style oligarchic dictatorship and rapid infrastructural development
f) Post-monetarist energy accounting Technocracy and very rapid infrastructural development
SPOILER ALERT:
It'll end up being f) eventually but not before one or more of the others are torturously tried, muddled through, combined, and recombined. In effect, a)-e) are a connecting bridge of experimentation that will make f) possible in due time. Some areas of the country and the world may experience de facto libertarian c) environment due to only the local oligarchs having developmental resources (see Abramovich in his post as governor of Chukotka). Such frightful old school oligarchy should not really spread too quickly before rapid backlash into other choices. There is also the matter of deflation stifling its development. Therefore the libertarian faction is primarily useful as a vibrant "rural power" part of the popular front. They will quickly fade as America's socioeconomic failure discredits capitalism (fairly or unfairly) in the eyes of humanity at large.
Emulation of Chinese police state e) and industrial worker exploitation may be preferred by one wing of American oligarchy (while the other wing seems to want perpetual banana republic style oligarchic military dictatorship with sprinkles of c)). This is due to China already combining various structural characteristics of a)-d) in one package. American version of Putinism is the other "softer" alternative to this. Neither are sustainable long term since they do not address the problem of exponential progress of technology consistently increasing planetary unemployment. There will also be the issue of China entering it's "America in the 1930s" period of industrial depression and crisis of overproduction (which in turn stands to discredit that country briefly in the eyes of the world).
We can begin to see how process of elimination reduces the extent to which the current ideas on the market will be utilized. For the older generation, some elements of a) can be used to provide them peace of mind, continuity towards the end of life, and as marketing to politically sell rapid increase in state intervention. Then, for the younger generations, the mythical elements of b) combined with the edginess of d) may follow to demonstrate that rapid infrastructural progress really is occurring and to provide the future American regime with legitimacy (it'll definitely be needing it). Transition period of the next 30 years will definitely be turbulent and interesting for all involved. We must consistently remain vigilant throughout the process to make sure the rich do not derail the experimentation into something truly frightening (which would make us wish for the old USA back).

Mayors Appeal for Continuation of Funding Program

2011-02-04T01:35:00.003-08:00

Several mayors from the U.S. Conference of Mayors' Community Development and Housing Committee headed to Washington, D.C. late last year to meet with HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. Their discussion centered around the Community Development Block Grant program.
Since 1974, Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) have provided close to $132 billion in funding for affordable housing and related projects. Mayors from cities in Massachusetts, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Utah, Indiana and Connecticut traveled to D.C. to share information on how CDBGs have helped improve their cities, and asked HUD to continue with the program.
Newton, Massachusetts mayor Setti Warren estimates that 1,500 homes and over 720 affordable housing units have been developed in his city using CDBG. In addition, he says 115 public facilities, 30 playgrounds and parks and 80 roadways have all been improved as a result of CDBG funding. Other mayors in the D.C. contingent have similar stories.
An estimated 1209 government entities receive money each year through Community Development Block grants. Both major cities and rural areas are awarded grants, as is everything in between. In addition, grants are awarded to the United States territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands. Because CDBG awards aren't restricted to affordable housing, infrastructure, or other types of projects, they allow communities to take more holistic approaches to redevelopment, addressing housing, transportation, commercial and recreational spaces simultaneously.
In their meeting, the Mayors encouraged HUD to continue providing funding through Community Development Block Grants, citing the program's flexibility as one of its most valuable characteristics. There has been no announcement yet, from HUD or the U.S. Conference of Mayors, regarding the outcome of the meeting.

What Does Your Campaign Website Say About You?

2011-02-04T01:35:00.001-08:00

You only have one chance to make a good first impression. For political campaign websites, visitors are probably looking for information, so they may be more likely to stick around longer. But even if a visitor decides to learn more about you as a candidate, what you say and how you present yourself online influences voter support.
So, what does your campaign website say about you?
Does it say 'Vote for Me'? Do you actually 'make the ask'? Are the words 'vote for' and a date prominently displayed on the site? Too often this critical information is nowhere to be found. Oh, and make sure your ballot name is presented consistently!
Does it make you look like a leader? Does your site inspire active support? Again, is there a volunteer page asking for help? Are there recommendations on the site for supporters to follow? Start small and ask for visitors to sign up for updates. Even small things like asking visitors to share with a friend can help get others involved.
Does it make you appear vague? Is there enough real information about the candidate and the issues? If someone reads about your positions, will they get the sense that you know the issues and have serious ideas for dealing with them?
Does it say your campaign is underfunded? A bad-looking website will reflect poorly on your campaign. Make sure your website content is easy to read and laid out neatly. Even a well-designed website will fail to impress if the page content is jumbled mess. Quality affects perception.
Does it show that you are articulate? Again, this goes back to content. Poor grammar and misspellings reflect poorly on your competency and attention to detail. If you want people to take you seriously, you need to proofread all of your content.
Does it say you're open? Are there ways for people to reach the candidate? Do you invite feedback and questions?
Does it say that you are socially networked or just a poser? A Facebook page is nice but it won't help if it's just a static brochure or used to push out information. A Twitter feed only helps if you're really using Twitter rather than just have a Twitter account with infrequent or nonexistent updates. A lack of social media engagement only shows that you don't get how to use these tool to connect with people. Better to skip social networking than to set up accounts and let them collect dust!
There's a lot more that can be inferred from just the content of a website. Color and design psychology is an entirely different subject.

Corruption Undermines Ukraine

2011-02-04T01:34:00.003-08:00

It wasn't until I was personally affected by the concept of corruption that I began to seriously think about it. This happened to me just recently when my young Ukrainian friend Ana, approached me for a loan. I willingly obliged only to discover that this loan was to help her pay a bribe to further her studies at the Ivan Franko University in Lviv. I was in total shock and disbelief.
The media bombards us daily with shocking headlines about scandal and exploitation. The media buzz words are; information leaks, calls for transparency, document doctoring etc... This sensationalism trivializes the world epidemic of corruption. However, when it comes knocking at your front door, then you really stop and pay attention.
I insisted that Ana explain the whole situation to me. It turns out that paying bribes for grades or diplomas is a very common occurrence in Lviv and throughout Ukraine! Students pay a one dollar minimum for every hour of class missed, five hundred dollars to get into a certain faculty and from 15 to 20 thousand dollars depending on the diploma one is seeking. This is an incredible burden on the parents of these students. Most importantly, how can one trust the infrastructure of a society where doctors and lawyers are buying their diplomas?
Surprisingly, Ana does not seem to be as concerned as I am. She takes all of this in stride. She explains that this shadiness has been an integral part of their society for a very long time, definitely since the Soviet Era. People now take corruption for granted. She seems to justify the system by explaining that professors and tutors are so poorly paid that they could not survive without these bonuses. I now understand that paying bribes in Lviv has a domino effect on the entire social system, it's a catch 22.
My poor, dear, innocent Ana is a victim of circumstances. She is at the mercy of an unscrupulous system. Her possibilities for change in this "culture of corruption" seem very limited.
Initially, I see her attitude as just another example of the general passivity and apathy that I have come accustomed to with my friends and acquaintances in Lviv. I often get angry with them about their lack of protest in the face of such injustice. However, I always come around to understanding that they have feared the authorities and the system all of their lives and that this fear mentality can take generations to overcome.
The university scenario is small in comparison to the billion dollar money laundering schemes by the oligarchs in this country. Changes need to come from the top most level of society-the government. This form of exploitation harms the country's reputation thus discouraging investors and ultimately undermining the overall economy. Transparency International has ranked Ukraine as 70th of 85 of the most corrupt countries in the world. Due to fears of a bribe oriented taxation system, 70% of businesses operate on the black market in Ukraine-serious allegations indeed.
This personal exposure to misuse of justice makes me sad and frustrated. But I am just a visitor here and I am able to return to the stability of my country. Ana lives here and she and her colleagues must be instrumental in challenging these injustices. Her indifference and passivity only serve to perpetuate the problem. She and her contemporaries are the wave of the future and they are responsible for the refusal of such an unethical environment. I wish them all the best and a very bright future.

Mr Prime Minister You Have Let Down India - POLITICS, new politics

2011-02-04T01:34:00.001-08:00

The other day, I was at the local university listening to a seminar, and I was having a conversation with one of the professors who was an economist, but also worked with the engineering department. He thought it was quite interesting how well Chairman Hu of China hit it off with President Obama in the media. He was also delighted to see that President Obama had put forth yet another promise to spend money on research and development.
For the local university here that is their bread-and-butter, and they do have the grad students, laboratories, and expertise to do pure research, applied science, and to write and produce academic reports and papers. For him this was a very good day. I find it interesting that the professor would be surprised that Chairman Hu of China and President Obama of the United States would get along so well.
Indeed, I told him in many regards they shared many of the same philosophies of what government's purpose was in the lives of the citizens, and what format a government should take on. I didn't come out and say it directly, and the professor didn't understand what I was getting at, but in many regards folks could say that they are both communists.
Now then, I understand it is not politically correct, and the Democrats hate the idea of Tea Party types like me calling the President of the United States a socialist, much less the communist. However, I am not so concerned with what someone wishes to be called, or what someone tells me in a speech, indeed I am concerned with their actions in real life. Many of the initiatives put forth by the Obama Administration are communist leaning, and some are definitely over the top directly right out of these socialist playbook.
Now of course you can deny this if you would like to, but facts are facts, and people should be judged by their actions, rather than their rhetoric read from a Teleprompter. Further, there is plenty of critique available if one wishes to put forth the argument that Chinese Chairman who operates much differently than his words to the world would have you believe. After all, China is not letting their currency float, many of their corporations are still stealing our intellectual property, and the human rights issues are not exactly as we would be led to believe.
China also promises that it is the new leader in alternative energy, however, for the most part they are building a new coal-fired power plant every two weeks and have been for several years. It's not that I am here to condemn anyone, rather I would just like to point out the incredible similarities between China's Chairman Hu, and our own President Obama. What you do with this information is your business - I only ask that you please consider it. Think on it.

Jesus Was Libertarian Not Liberal

2011-02-04T01:33:00.000-08:00

Jesus was libertarian not a liberal. Libertarian is the doctrine of freedom and free enterprise and to do no harm or fraud to others. To follow the golden rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. A person that believes in freedom of thought, expression and action. They want to keep government small and even contract most of it to the lowest bidder.
Libertarians believe in having an army and police force for protection not to beat up the rest of the world.
That is what Jesus stood for. Freedom of religion meant not to be required to join a religious sect. Liberty allows people to worship as they wish and not be fed to the lions in Rome's coliseum. Jesus was libertarian and he gave his life for ideas of freedom and free choice. We should looking up to his courage in the face of pressure from both Rome and the Jewish Church.
The Bible has instances where Jesus stood up as a symbol of free will and finally a martyr for that free will.
Matthew (20-12) The worker hired late in the day that got the same pay as the rest. He helped get the project done on time - pay him well.
Matthew (21,12) Jesus is asked if they should pay taxes to Caesar. He say's Caesar's face is on the coins. So, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, give to God what is God's.
John (8,7) The adulteress. Jesus said who will be the first to throw a stone. No one did.
Matthew (21,12) and Mark (11,15) Jesus tips over the money changers tables. "My house is a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers."
Both the Democrats and Republicans have a history of increased taxes and more rules and regulations. Become an active voice at all levels for smaller government and a reduction in taxes. The current plan to grow the power and control of government through huge government controlled healthcare is exactly the opposite of what Jesus would have wanted.
Liberal progressive ideas with more big government control and regulation mean taking your freedom through higher taxes. You should stand up for freedom, liberty, free enterprise and the principles of our Constitution. We have got to stop the leftist statists in the name of our founding fathers.
The las administration had blinders on. All thee could think about was to protect America from another 9-11 attack. A war on terrorism, which is a misnomer - it's a war on terrorists. One cannot have a war on an idea.
Now, the democrats keep claiming the Republicans drove the economy into a ditch. Well then it seems the Democratic Party are out to strip the whole car - I mean economy in some new grand theft auto meets end freedom forever game. All we had to do was pull the economy out of the ditch. Not part it out.
Only once before has a government got this intrusive and destructive. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal was the start of the socialism we have today. The New Deal had over 500 new rules and regulations place on business people.
Today unemployment leads to more unemployment in a vicious cycle like a snowball rolling down a hill. The world is in a deflation economy and . The depression started 2000 with the dot com stock top and bust and may not end until 2016-2018. At that time asset prices may be down 90 percent and unemployment may be 30 percent by then.
All the Quantitative Easing money (QE1 of 1.2 billion dollars) and (Qe2 of 600 million dollars) thrown at our economic problem will evaporate. Lower taxes letting business grow and hire would help but not stop the deflation. You cannot stop a pendulum from completing it's swing. The elite have most of their money in America. They don't want to ruin the value of their dollar holdings. Inflation is not comming back soon!
Read, The Creature From Jekyll Island 1994, by G. Edward Griffen. According to Griffens book, the Anglo financial power elite secretly hatched the Federal Reserve Bank plan in 1913. The plan was to bring the once strong and powerful America down by ruining both it's money and it's morals. He says both political parties are in on this new-world-order/one-world-government conspiracy. Chapter 2 of Griffen's book is "Bailouts - Name of the Game". 1994! Predicting climate change as a smokescreen to take your freedom and liberty. Along with all the wars which have been the biggest smokescreens.
I am card carrying Libertarian. I am for small government and freedom but have a small army for defense. Again, do no harm or fraud.
Jesus was a libertarian. He was not for making Rome bigger and more controlling like leftists seem to want government. Maybe you should join the cause of free enterprise and gold backed money. Big government is a sucking all the vitality out of the economy.
Do you want someone telling you and your children and your children's children what to do, where to work and what to think. Wouldn't that be a better crusade. Stop the power elite. Work at making government smaller and less intrusive.
Before Roosevelt took office government was only 9% of the economy. Now, it's one third. Actually 50 percent or so of the work force is not involved in making products and profits when you count all the jobs like teachers and aministrators. It's a big cancer that politicians thought they could pay for with inflation and fiat money. Until now! Cash is king in a deflation and depression
More government intervention will only make the pendulum swing further to deflation and delay a recovery. Do the world a favor and go Libertarian or Independent. Let's make sure money is privately controlled and backed by gold. Keep government and central banks away from fiat money creation. They are the modernday modern day money changers. No wonder Jesus was libertarian.

Martial Law In Egypt - Internet and Cell Phones Shut Off During Massive Protest and Political Unrest

2011-02-04T01:32:00.001-08:00

Egyptians Have Hit The Streets In Massive Protest! Amid massive protest over Food, Unemployment, and a 30yr regime, the Egyptian government has banned the internet and cell phones, among other things. The protest isn't just the economic situation but a 30 yr rule that has had only one leader in power. 3 decades is along time for 1 leader to be in power and Egyptians are fed up of the restricted rule. The rioters are wishing for President Hosni Mubarak to step down and for poverty conditions to change.
After four consecutive days of protest, Friday's demonstrations were the worst so far and bloodiest. Mubarak reacted by imposing a curfew in the major cities, where massive clashes and stand offs are taking place. Riot control police have been responding to areas with shields, rubber bullets, batons, water cannons, tear gas and, in some cases, live ammunition. In one case I saw a video where a police armored vehicle ran over a protester and speed into a large crowd causing them to flee or be run over.
List of causes to the 2011 Riot
*food inflation
*unemployment
*lack of housing
*extended duration of a 3 decade regime rule
*desire to raise the minimum wage
*corruption
*lack of freedom of speech
*poor overall living conditions
*police brutality
*state of emergency laws
Under a "state of emergency", the government has the right to imprison individuals for any period of time. The Egyptian government has the power to legally detain a person for virtually no reason and hold them in prison without trials for any period.
President Hosni Mubarak has ruled Egypt since 1981. Mubarak's support for peaceful negotiations in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and crackdown on Islamic militants made him an ally of the West but has received widespread criticism from the media over other issues such as those listed in this article.
A large percentage of Egypt's population lives on the equivalent of $2 (in USD's) a day.
Riots Not New In Egypt These have been the largest demonstrations seen in Egypt since the 1977 Egyptian Bread Riots. 800 people were killed in 77', and the protests ended with the deployment of the army. Similar riots occurred in 2008 when protesters where understandably angry over food restrictions, the price of wheat, and the rationing of bread.
Riot Causes Inflationary Oil Spike The effect of the protest goes beyond Egypt as Oil prices have reacted strongly to the event. Egypt is a member is a member of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries. Crude rose more than 4% in Fridays trading, which is considered a large amount particularly since prior to the spike up Crude had been in a short-term downtrend. Just as it appeared commodity prices where in a strong retreat the spike sent the price per barrel to nearly $90.00.
This may seem like good news for Egypt since it deals with Oil as a global commodity but actually the high inflationary prices will hurt Egyptians that need food prices to come down. Oil is not food but everything that involves food also involves oil because most modern farmers depend on fuel to run machinery, ship their product, and the cost will even be higher to package products when fuel prices surge.
The situation is that there is less demand for crude oil since high prices are not good especially in a slow economy. People simply can not afford the price at the pump and are much more willing to cut back if they can. Long trips are out of the question for many and more people than ever are seeking alternative modes of transportation. In effect the high prices are crippling demand and some OPEC members like Saudi Arabia seem to understand this.
Is Crude's Spike A Speculative Move? Egypt is not a major oil producer and pumps less than 700,000 barrels a day. It is possible that this spike in crude oil is a temporary one. Prior to the spike crude oil had been in a short-term down trend. Crude oil is a highly volatile commodity and prices can change rapidly. While it may be strongly down on one day it can be strongly up the next. The +4% move on, January 28th, is just one example of this.
Oil Fundamentals actually seem weak in my opinion with the latest stockpiles of oil increasing and decreased demand amid high overall global unemployment. EIA report revealed that crude inventories rose by 4.84 million barrels for the week ending January 21, 2011. Never-the-less the prospect for $100 USD oil is still in the picture if the US dollar remains weak and world events like Egypt scare the market.

California Leads in Green Building Policies

2011-02-04T01:31:00.001-08:00

The State of California established itself as a leader in energy policy with groundbreaking climate legislation, the first Low Carbon Fuel Standard and aggressive Renewable Portfolio Standards. The State continues on the path of supporting and incentivizing improvements in energy efficiency with two measures taking effect in 2011. First, California's Green Building Standards Code (CalGreen), which took effect on January 1, 2011, requires all new buildings to meet more stringent environmental and energy efficiency standards. Second, Assembly Bill 1103 (AB1103) mandates the disclosure of commercial building energy consumption data to buyers, lenders and lessees.
CalGreen
CalGreen is part of the California Energy Code and represents a significant first step towards making green building part of the mainstream construction business. The code seeks to reduce the environmental impact of both residential and commercial buildings and applies to all new construction.
For residential buildings, the new code regulates five areas: planning and design; energy efficiency; water efficiency and conservation; material conservation and resource efficiency; and environmental quality. The California Energy Commission (CEC) establishes the mandatory requirements for energy efficiency. However, the California Building Standards Commission emphasizes that the CEC believes that truly green buildings ought to achieve 15% energy savings in comparison with the state-mandated energy efficiency standards.
For commercial buildings, CalGreen identifies four regulatory subjects: planning and design; energy efficiency; water efficiency and conservation; and material conservation and resource efficiency. CalGreen requires that new buildings reduce water consumption by 20%, divert 50% of construction waste from landfills, and use materials that emit minimal pollutants, among a myriad of other provisions.
Some parties have raised concerns about the possibility that CalGreen will discourage the use of more exacting standards like Leaders in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). However, as Phil Williams, vice president of Webcor Builders and chairman the Green Building Task Force puts it, "CalGreen sets the floor and LEED sets the ceiling... you have to start somewhere."
AB1103
The California State legislature passed AB 1103 in 2007, mandating energy benchmarking and disclosure for non-residential buildings. The CEC is responsible for implementing the provisions of AB1103 and current draft regulations require compliance beginning in 2011. Under the provisions of AB1103 commercial building owners will have to disclose a building's energy data and the energy rating of the previous year to prospective buyers of the property, lessees and lenders financing the building.
Legislators designed AB1103 to place a value on energy consumption in commercial real estate transactions and to motivate building owners and property managers to improve energy efficiency performance. CEC mechanical engineer Martha Brook stated that AB1103 seeks to create "commercial valuation of energy usage" in the same way that square-footage is valued.
CalGreen and AB1103 have the potential to interact and create powerful synergies. The combination of higher basic standards and growing awareness and availability of data surrounding the energy efficiency performance ought to bring energy usage to the top of building owners' priority lists.

What is the First Amendment

2011-02-04T01:29:00.000-08:00

What is the First Amendment

When it comes to the US constitution, what is the first amendment is usually what people would quiz one about, upon discussion of the bill of rights. We look into the various amendments and how history reveals the making of the US constitution's amendments...

The amendments when framed by the forefathers of America, had a lot of scrutiny surrounding their interpretations. The important part of history that marks the advent and end of the final amendments, was the bill of rights, that proposed, to group together the first ten amendments out of the official 27. So when one wants to know what is the first amendment to the constitution, it is immediately associated with how it is one of the best known amendments passed in the constitution. What it entails will be later revealed. We take a further look into history, and how the bill of rights came into being.

The first and foremost question is, what is the bill of rights and who wrote the first amendment? To answer that, we first define what the bill of rights is - it dictates certain restrictions when it comes to pulling the reins on the state by the federal government, which is a way of protecting one's property, rights of liberty, and those that speak of a free press, freedom of speech, free association, free assembly and the right to bear and keep arms.

James Madison was the one who introduced the bill of rights to the 'First United States Congress', in the year 1789. They say that the idea of the first amendment was around for quite a while, before he brought them forward, in an attempt to show reverence to his mentor, Thomas Jefferson and to put forward to his opponents of the constitution, something for them to mule over out of humor from Madison. In fact he viewed the bill of rights as an unnecessary merging of amendments, thinking that the federal government couldn't rise to so much power to need these one day. So if anything, Madison's role here was introducing it to the constitution to have it made official.

An explanation of the bill rights in short, would be that it voices out how the government and people, including the press, work together to form a co existent bond within society with freedoms and rights individually intact. So what is the first amendment of the bill of rights that kick starts the amendments of the constitution? To answer that we look into the first amendment which is, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Brief Rundown of the Amendments

The 27 amendments to the US constitution, are divided into two parts, the first 10 being titled under the bill of rights, while the other 17 stand alone as separate amendments. We now briefly look into what each of these word out. Also look into, what are the first 10 amendments to the US constitution, for further reading about what is first amendment and more.

Bill of Rights

Amendment 1 - Freedoms, Petitions, Assembly
Amendment 2 - Right to bear arms
Amendment 3 - Quartering of soldiers
Amendment 4 - Search and arrest
Amendment 5 - Rights in criminal cases
Amendment 6 - Right to a fair trial
Amendment 7 - Rights in civil cases
Amendment 8 - Bail, fines, punishment
Amendment 9 - Rights retained by the People
Amendment 10 - States' rights

Other Amendments

Amendment 11 - Lawsuits against states
Amendment 12 - Presidential elections
Amendment 13 - Abolition of slavery
Amendment 14 - Civil rights
Amendment 15 - Black suffrage
Amendment 16 - Income taxes
Amendment 17 - Senatorial elections
Amendment 18 - Prohibition of liquor
Amendment 19 - Women's suffrage
Amendment 20 - Terms of office
Amendment 21 - Repeal of Prohibition
Amendment 22 - Term Limits for the Presidency
Amendment 23 - Washington, D.C., suffrage
Amendment 24 - Abolition of poll taxes
Amendment 25 - Presidential succession
Amendment 26 - 18-year-old suffrage
Amendment 27 - Congressional pay raises

Five Freedoms of the First Amendment

Now that you are aware of how many amendments to the constitution were framed and passed, we now move on to the five freedoms that branch outward from the first amendment of the state.

Religion
The people are given their very own individual choices on which religions to follow, and practice, without the government enforcing a unified religion that people have to forcefully succumb to. Government interference in this area is strictly out of the question.

Assembly
People have the right to protest against a situation that stems rebuke amongst them. They can carry slogans/signs, form groups and protest on the streets, with the intention of proving a point. No violence should be a part of this act, where people can also be a part of a group or association out of their own will without outside interference.

Speech
The government cannot quiet down a person's voice to speak out and have an opinion or raise their voice in opposition and retaliation. If someone's got something to say, they have a right to shout it out loud, or share it with others publicly. Look into the importance and purpose of the bill of rights, to understand why these were passed by the constitution.

Petition
If the people feel like there are policies that don't seem to be in their favor or go against their better judgment, they can voice out these concerns to the government. They are given the rights to collectively put together a body that can go against the legislation by taking it to the legislative body for consideration, by gathering signatures of those that are like minded about the problem.

Press
The press has the right to print what they want in terms of information and news, along with being opinionated about events and situations in the world. The government cannot interfere with their right to do so, where the press can also start their own magazines, newsletters and newspapers, publishing material and news on a worldwide/local basis.

The US constitution has a proud backing of political American history when it comes to its structure and representation. The information that can proceed from the one question of what is the first amendment, can bring forth a lot of rich backing of the United States' forefathers when passing the amendments. It truly is something to marvel at, when learning about the constitution and its various building blocks.

Why Voting is Important- POLITICS

2011-02-01T06:33:00.001-08:00

Why Voting is Important

This article aims at explaining to you why voting is important in a democracy. So, read on to know more on this important topic.

Democracy is believed to be the best form of government in the world. There are many factors due to which we consider democracy effective for the progress of a nation. Apart from equal opportunities, irrespective of caste or religion and the useful rights, the fundamental right of voting is an advantage for people living in a democratic country. The reasons why voting is important are many and we must understand them clearly for our own advantage. The information on importance of voting given below will help you grasp things fast.

Importance of Voting

The answer to the question why you should vote is because we get to participate in the functioning of the government. Voting can help us choose able leaders who have qualities in them that can be beneficial for the growth of the country as a whole. It is also a mean of keeping anti social elements away from power and thus, protect the interests of the common people. The power of voting, which constitutes of individual opinion can be very useful in getting things related to public welfare done perfectly.

Another reason why voting is important is that it creates a sense of responsibility in the leaders and makes them realize that they have been chosen over some other candidate by the people for performing in a professional and dedicated manner. This itself will compel them to use the administrate power in a positive way for the benefit of the masses. Voting is perhaps the only way of people participation in the government working ways.

Voting has led to the fast progress and development of many nations. The countries where the right to vote does not exist have found it hard to set themselves on the path of progress. Such countries may have to face wide spread discontent among the people as there is a total lack of transparency and public faith in the policies and activities of the government. Lack of the fundamental right to vote is a big loss for any individual. Why voting is important in developing counties? This might be a question on the minds of many people. It is known fact that developing countries have to face many problems in different walks of life. Unless people participate in the development process, the set targets and objectives cannot be attained. Voting can help people in developing countries prevent malpractices and corruption to a great extent that are the main reasons for hampering the overall growth rate.

By now, you must have understood thoroughly why voting is important. The right to vote is present in many countries. However, the statistics of voting in many countries is quite poor with people at many places losing their faith over the entire election process. Now, will making voting compulsory help? Many people believe that this will certainly help in increasing the number of people who vote. However, voting should not be a burden for people and it is essential that they understand its importance and use their right with their own will. Fair and just voting practices are a must for the success of a democratic set up. It becomes the responsibility of the governments to make available the details and eligibility criteria for voting to the common people. Refer to why is it important to vote to know more.

After reading this article on why voting is important and reasons why people should vote, I am sure you will take the voting process seriously and be a part of it. Good luck!

Constructive Eviction-POLITICS

2011-02-01T06:32:00.000-08:00

Constructive Eviction

Constructive eviction law helps relieve a tenant from paying rent to the landlord, only if the rental property is in an uninhabitable condition. Let us have a look at the constructive eviction elements that will help you understand this law better...

When one takes a residential property on lease or rent, it is expected the place will be in a livable condition. The tenant is legally obliged to pay rent to the landlord as agreed upon. But, what if the living conditions are absolutely uninhabitable? There are many issues that should be answered or taken care of by the landlord like providing electricity, water, leaking roof, repairing a wall that may collapse, etc. However, when these things are not taken care of by the landlord, then the tenant has only one option, the constructive eviction law to seek help from. Let us learn what is constructive eviction law. Read more on rental properties.

What is Constructive Eviction Law?
When a person takes a property on rent, it is quite natural that the tenant will expect no interference from the landlord. They can reside in the apartment without any disturbances or harassment from the landlord or anyone else. The landlord is not supposed to enter the residence without the permission of the tenant. It is also means that the landlord will respect all the implied warranty of habitability. This means, the landlord needs to maintain and repair all the necessary problems in the residence within a specific period of time. This includes maintaining the plumbing, provision of unbroken doors and windows, electricity, gas, hot and cold water, sewage disposal and all the other necessities that make a place hospitable. You can read more on landlord responsibilities.

However, when the landlord breaches the warranty of habitability, then the tenant has an option of constructive eviction. The property becomes so inhabitable, that the tenant is force to move out before the end of the lease period. This means the landlord used illegal tactics to evict the tenant from the property. This is called as constructive eviction. The landlord may use unethical means or harass the tenant in any way, such that the tenant has no choice but to evict the place. When something like this happens, the tenant may move out of the residence and refuse to pay the remaining rent according to the lease contract under the constructive eviction law.

Constructive Eviction Law Elements
In order to prove that the landlord has failed to do something that comes under his legal duty or has caused harassment to the tenant, one needs to prove the constructive eviction elements. These constructive eviction elements will help show that the residential property turned uninhabitable. These elements are as follows:

The uninhabitable conditions and interferences occurred were due to the landlord's action and not by some third party elements.
The tenant had vacated premises within a reasonable time before filling a claim of constructive eviction.
Not providing 24 hour notice before the landlord forcefully entered the tenant's apartment.
Documentation is the most important constructive eviction elements.

These elements can be explained using the following example. Suppose a tenant enters into a 6 year contract with the landlord for a one bedroom apartment. For the first 8 months all's well with the building and the landlord. Suddenly, the lights in the passage stop working. After a few days, the sewers get clogged. The tenant sends repeated written as well as telephonic requests to the landlord to get these things fixed. Nothing is done and the lift stops working. The tenant lives right on the 10th floor and has to walk up and down the stairs. All the other tenants continue to complain but to no avail. The water supply is cut off and the central air conditioner stops functioning. This leaves the tenants high and dry. They have no choice but to move out. They come to know that the landlord wants to give up the entire building on lease to a software company on a higher rent. Thus, the tenants move out after enduring for more than 6 months and sue the landlord with constructive eviction. You can read more on eviction notice.

Before the tenants leave they take photographs, and even video footage to prove it to the judge or mediator about the uninhabitable conditions they were forced to live in. They can prove that even after sending repeated requests, the landlord did nothing within 30 days of receiving complaints. These tenants are supposed to send him a constructive eviction letter that informs him of their departure and demands for the return of the security deposit. The constructive eviction letter is a written notice that provides the landlord with sufficient time to cover up the defects faced by the tenants. This was all about what is constructive eviction. You should seek legal advice if you are facing similar harassment by a landlord. You may receive some compensation under the constructive eviction law as mentioned in the above paragraphs.

Hire a Kansas City DUI Lawyer Capable of Protecting Your Freedom

2011-02-01T06:30:00.001-08:00

Hire a Kansas City DUI Lawyer Capable of Protecting Your Freedom

When you have been accused of driving under the influence of alcohol or illegal substances, it can be much more devastating to your life than you may think.

A Kansas City DUI lawyer will tell you that this is a criminal offense that is not ignored or magically erased by paying a small fine. In fact, you may find that you are facing stiff penalties, jail time and loss of your driving privileges, not to mention how your reputation may suffer.

Serious problems require the attention of a DUI lawyer in Kansas City who is serious about protecting the rights of his client. Driving under the influence has become a topic that is constantly in the media, and people are demanding that severe punishment be inflicted by those who drive while under the influence of substances, especially alcohol. Punishment is only getting more severe; if you find yourself in this predicament, you need the expertise of a capable Kansas City DUI lawyer who knows the laws, and how to fight aggressively on your behalf.

If it is your first offense, you may have many questions. You know not what you are facing, or what your future holds. Why did the officer stop you in the first place? If you were given a field sobriety test, were all of the tests (including the breath test) administered properly? Police officers will often arrest someone even with the barest trace of alcohol on their breath; they are often quick to jump the gun. You do have rights, and police officers do not always follow proper protocol. A dedicated Kansas City DUI lawyer will aggressively challenge any and all evidence brought against you, and demand the strictest burden of proof.

In the off chance that charges cannot be dropped, a Kansas City DUI lawyer is often effective at getting charges reduced, so that you may not pay steep fines or spend time in jail. First and foremost, an experienced attorney will advise you not to talk to law enforcement other than to give your name and address. You do not have to answer questions, and in fact you should not without the presence of your lawyer. Anything you say, even out of innocence, will be used against you.

Whether you need a reputable attorney to represent you or simply need answers to your questions, don't try to go it alone. In doing so, you will likely make things worse for yourself. In order to protect your future and freedom, it is essential that you contact a Kansas City DUI lawyer who has helped thousands of people in your situation reach a successful verdict.

Nationwide Avandia Lawyer Immediately Accepting Legal Cases-POLITICS

2011-02-01T06:28:00.001-08:00

Avandia: An Overview

Manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, Avandia is a prescribed medication designed to deal with diabetes type 2 which has been first granted USFDA agreement in 1999. Since then, well over 6 million persons around the globe were given Avandia. According to a 2007 examination by the New England Journal of Medicine, persons consuming Avandia have got a 43% more extensive rate of heart attacks compared to those consuming other medications.

Avandia Side Effects

If you have utilized Avandia and also have undergone these dangerous side effects - stroke, congestive heart failure, or heart attack you may have the legal right to reparation.

Are There Avandia Suits Now Getting Submitted?

Recently, a great deal of Avandia users have submitted cases in opposition to GSK because of potentially devastating problematic side effects. The pharmaceutical giant may possibly encounter nearly $6 billion in liability for uncomfortable side effects litigation in the future.

Injured by Avandia? Our Lawyers Are Standing By

Our peers have regarded our firm as the Country's Leading Plaintiff Firms. We are at this time taking on Avandia side effects law suits in every single state in the U.S.

If you or a dearly loved one has ever been hurt by Avandia, make sure you communicate with our law firm immediately. We can aid by supporting you in submitting a lawsuit for reparation you may well be entitled to.