Have you seen former vice president Al Gore’s documentary, An Inconvenient Truth? If not, you should. It should be required viewing for all. The fact is, global warming is a serious problem. Most people who ignore think it won’t affect them. It will. Just as much as crime, terrorism, or natural disasters such as hurricane Katrina.
Anyway, after seeing the movie, I was moved to do something about my own carbon footprint. Your carbon footprint is how much carbon dioxide is released into the air every year just by what you do to live and survive. Driving your car. Using electricity and water. How the simple day to day things you do affect the environment.
So I went to ClimateCrisis.net, the website for An Inconvenient Truth, clicked on the link that says “Take Action”, then followed the steps, clicking on “Calculate Your Personal Impact”, then fill out the form about the kind of car I drive and what type and how much energy I use in the home. It turns out I produce 6.65 tons of carbon dioxide a year, and that’s low. A family of 4 with both parents driving to work every day would produce triple that amount.
So then I clicked on the link for “NativeEnergy” and I made a donation to fund wind powered electricity. It was $12 a ton and I bought 7 tons worth, or $84. So for $84, I offset my carbon footprint for the entire year! Pretty reasonable.
Again, I strongly encourage you to take the time to view An Inconvenient Truth. It’s important that everyone understand how they are being affected by global warming and what they can do to help. If we don’t all do our part, we may be facing another “ice age” type extinction and a complete do-over of the planet and its inhabitants.
If you would like to offset your carbon footprint:
http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/carboncalculator/
To find out little things you can do every day to improve the environment:
http://www.nativeenergy.com/more_you_can_do.html
Please check out my novel, In Fashion's Web on Amazon.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
What’s Wrong With the Welfare System Today
I believe in the “Workfare” system. I believe that nobody should get something for nothing unless you are disabled. If you are physically able to work, you should, and the government should not have to support you because you have children and can’t afford to take care of them. My mother worked two jobs her entire life and raised four children. I started working full time when I was 14.
That said, while there are certainly many lazy people on welfare, there are also many women who are on welfare because when they did try to go out and work, their paycheck didn’t even cover the cost of daycare, let alone rent, food, etc.
The problem with welfare is this: if the government offered subsidized daycare (in addition to food stamps and medical insurance), many women could afford to work and live on their own. In addition to insurance and food stamps benefits, if the government offered subsidized daycare, I bet 80% of the women on welfare today could handle the rest and support themselves and their family.
Please check out my novel, In Fashion's Web on Amazon.
That said, while there are certainly many lazy people on welfare, there are also many women who are on welfare because when they did try to go out and work, their paycheck didn’t even cover the cost of daycare, let alone rent, food, etc.
The problem with welfare is this: if the government offered subsidized daycare (in addition to food stamps and medical insurance), many women could afford to work and live on their own. In addition to insurance and food stamps benefits, if the government offered subsidized daycare, I bet 80% of the women on welfare today could handle the rest and support themselves and their family.
Please check out my novel, In Fashion's Web on Amazon.
Socialized Medicine in Lieu of Tax Returns
Why do we need the IRS? What is the point of taking all the time and effort to file tax returns at the end of the year? I propose that we do away with tax returns, do away with the IRS, except for a team who would investigate criminal cases, and take that multi-billion budget and put it all into socialized medicine.
This country was founded on the premise of equality. Over the years, we have fought for equals rights to worship, to education, to work, to get paid, to vote. But never yet have we fought for equal rights to medical care. That is the most unequal system that exists in the U.S. today, in my opinion.
People who come from other countries sometimes say that socialized medicine doesn’t work. The lines are too long and the care isn’t the best. Well, then, make it work. We certainly can learn a lot from other countries. Figure out what they do right and copy it. Figure out what they do wrong and don’t. It’s not rocket science. In fact, if we’ve already figured out rocket science, we can figure out how to make socialized medicine work and bring equality healthcare to all.
Please check out my novel, In Fashion's Web on Amazon.
This country was founded on the premise of equality. Over the years, we have fought for equals rights to worship, to education, to work, to get paid, to vote. But never yet have we fought for equal rights to medical care. That is the most unequal system that exists in the U.S. today, in my opinion.
People who come from other countries sometimes say that socialized medicine doesn’t work. The lines are too long and the care isn’t the best. Well, then, make it work. We certainly can learn a lot from other countries. Figure out what they do right and copy it. Figure out what they do wrong and don’t. It’s not rocket science. In fact, if we’ve already figured out rocket science, we can figure out how to make socialized medicine work and bring equality healthcare to all.
Please check out my novel, In Fashion's Web on Amazon.
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