Elite Family Insider Returns for Q&A

Terrorism
1. Terrorism should not be used to further the political agendas of fundamentalists, the United States, or any other group.
2. In 2001 the worst mass casualty occurred on American soil since the Civil War. Some people skew statistics to show how the tobacco companies "kill" enough people every two days to equal a 9/11 disaster. Those people choose to smoke, but the 9/11 victims didn’t choose to be at risk or were not made aware they were at risk. To skew these statistics and undermine the seriousness of terrorism is highly irresponsible. There’s also no evidence to suggest that 9/11 was a conspiracy by our government. Sometimes it’s difficult for people to accept that a few people can affect the lives of millions, so they made up a fantasy plot with thousands of actors.
3. Osama bin Laden’s goal of 9/11 was to create such an American backlash that we would leave the Arab governments leveled, and he would pick up the pieces. Fundamentalists in Asia and other parts of the world have used this same plan and tactics against their own governments many times. The worst thing we could and in fact have done would be to buy into Osama’s plan. The term "War on Terror" should be changed to "The Hunt for Terrorists"; because to declare war on something as abstract as terror is to set unrealistic expectations of the outcome of such a war.
4. The fundamentalists want to engage the Western world in a Holy War, and we’re also playing into that. The government should stop its officials from using the term "Islamic terrorists". It is at a point now that this is the normal way we refer to extremists. By using the term "Islamic terrorists", you imply to some that all terrorists are Islamic. Making the terms Islamic and terrorists interchangeable will only add to the problem. 9/11 happened for political reasons, not religious reasons. After the Waco tragedy, we didn’t go on the hunt for "Christian terrorists". Using that term would simply serve to alienate all Christians and cause some of them to turn to extremists views. The term Christian terrorist is as much an oxymoron as the term Islamic terrorist. Instead say "extremists" or just "terrorists".
5. The core leadership of Al Qaeda is in Afghanistan. On that most would agree. The invasion in Iraq has only increased the number of terrorists and anti-American sentiment across the world. To attack Iraq and lessen focus on Afghanistan makes as much sense as if America has attacked the Chinese because the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.
6. A feasible, competent plan to leave Iraq in a responsible manner can be found under "Iraq" within this platform.
7. The troops which would leave Iraq would first recuperate while the military replaced lost equipment, then they would be sent to Afghanistan to break up the terrorist’s core there. NATO has said time and time again that there’s simply not enough ground troops in Afghanistan.
8. The pressure we would put on extremists in Afghanistan would result in the destruction of their leadership. These people live on hero worship. To take away their hero, would strike a fatal blow to extremist’s morale.
9. Simply put we should stop letting these extremists dictate terms and shift focus from Iraq to Afghanistan.
10. What is the real threat from terrorists to America? Politicians have used scare tactics on the American people so much, and finally Americans are starting to stop listening. Never forget that a government which cannot be ruled by the will of the people must be ruled by fear. I can’t stress enough how true this is and how many times history has taught us this important lesson.
11. Some make the case that by leaving Iraq the terrorists would "follow us back to America." What these politicians don’t mention is that if terrorists want to make a maximum impact, then they would kill more American civilians. One of the most terrorists-ridden countries in the world, Israel, suffers civilian casualties from terrorists on almost a daily basis. This killing of civilians is something you don’t see in America lately; because we have effectively eliminated the ability for terrorists to carry out attacks against America. The idea that by leaving Iraq the terrorists would follow us over here, well what’s stopping those terrorists from coming over here now? America is a fortress with many bubbles of protection around her. The thought that terrorists will be easily able to evade first the intelligence of the CIA, FBI, and NSA then slip past the eyes of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines to make it to America, then sneak past the Coast Guard of Border Security, then set up a terrorist cell under the eagle-eyed watch of Homeland Security, state and local law enforcement, and average citizens is highly unlikely. I’m not undermining the threat of terrorism, but the constant use of fear has placed a horrible scare on the psyche of the United States.
12. The current way America finds and brings terrorists to justice has proven effective and should continue, with the exception of leaving Iraq to focus on Afghanistan and other terrorist networks.
13. The Department of State must work closer with the military in terms of intelligence on terrorists. The US must become more open in communicating its intentions and goals to foreign citizens. The US must also focus more on the two-fold approach of using non-military measures as much as military measures in curbing extremist’s thinking and terrorist’s actions.

Energy
*General*
1. Our civilization is more dependent on energy than ever, and it’s a trend that’s sure to continue. Let’s look at energy trends in the United States. When our country was founded almost all of our energy needs were meet by biomass fuels (aka: burning things like wood). We were then energy independent. Then Americans shifted from rural to urban living and with the spread of the railroad after the Civil War we used coal more. Coal is readily available in the United States so we remained energy independent. Now enter the modern era of 1950 to 2008 and the widespread use of the automobile and plastics, and America started to use petroleum. The big change here is that we must import petroleum into this country and now for the first time in history our country’s economic heartbeat is totally dependent on the whims of foreign nations, ones not so fond of us.

2. Right now here’s where our energy comes from. 40% from petroleum, 23% from coal, 23% from natural gas, and 14% from nuclear, hydro, and other sources. As far as solely electrical production, it’s 49.2% coal, 19.4% nuclear, 16.3% natural gas, 7% hydroelectric, 3.6% combustion turbine, 1.3% biomass, 1.1% petroleum coke boilers, 0.7% wind power, 0.3% geothermal, 0.3% diesel generators, 0.3% incinerators, 0.2% fuel oil, 0.2% oil fired boiler, and 0.1% solar energy.

3. Now that we know where our energy comes from here’s what it goes toward. By Dept. of Energy numbers America’s energy goes toward 33% industrial, 28% transportation, 21% residential, and 17% commercial. To break it down even more, for major industrial energy expenditure it’s 22% for chemical production, 16% petroleum refining, and 14% for metal smelting and refining. For energy spent on transportation it’s 61% gasoline fuel, 21% diesel fuel, and 12% on aviation. For residential it’s 32% to space heating, 13% water heating, 12% for lighting, 11% air conditioning, 8% refrigeration, 5% electronic, and 5% for washers/dryers. For commercial it’s 25% lighting, 13% heating, 11% cooling, 6% refrigeration, 6% water heating, 6% ventilation, and 6% on electronics.

4. I’ve given you all this data because it’s important to use for future reference. It’s also important so you’re aware of your own consumption. The United States is coming upon an energy crisis like the one in the 1970s. This will continue to happen as long as we’re dependent upon foreign energy.

*Reduce Consumption and Change Habits*
5. As you can read under "Environment", I’ve adopted the Green Party’s stance on eco reform, but I tweaked the numbers slightly to make them more realistic. Under this plan energy consumption would fall enough for America to maintain energy prices while investing in better technologies. A higher mandate on MGP for autos would wean America off foreign oil and shift the supply to our own oil supplies, thus creating more American jobs. Americans have a hard time reducing consumption if it takes inconvenience so energy-efficient appliances should also be mandated to be used in all new construction. Also with Americans moving from the Northern US to the Southern and Western states, space heating consumption will fall. The reduced amount of toxins in the plan would cut back on that 22% energy use in the industrial sector which goes to chemical production. That would be temporarily offset though by increased petroleum refining due to drilling for American oil and increased refinery capacity in the US. The use of our own oil is only a band-aid to keep gas from going above a ridiculous $5 or $6 per gallon and allow America to better dictate terms to other nations. Right now America has enough oil in its supplies to last only 30 days if we were cut off by all other nations. Scary, isn’t it?

6. While we would shift to using our own oil we would invest in a more diversified mix of technologies to power America. The key to having cheap energy, eco-friendly energy, and to create new jobs and scientific growth is to invest in energy which makes the most geological and economic sense locally. For example, solar power may be a great way to go in sunny Arizona, but it wouldn’t make much use in cloudy Seattle.

7. Yes, going as local as possible is the best way to fix our energy crisis. The government must step up efforts to modernize this country’s energy infrastructure and to help communities decide what forms of energy would be best for them. Now we’ll examine the different sources of energy.

*Petroleum*
8. At what point will the price of gas being to greatly affect America’s driving and consumption habits? Most economists believe at $4/gallon, which we’ll probably see in the next two years. The price of oil per barrel has gone from $10/barrel in 1999 to $100/barrel in 2008. Around 1980 the world began using more oil than it was finding, and this has continued every year since. The main reason for high oil prices is because developing nations such as China are using more oil, and that’s not going to end anytime soon.

9. When will the world run out of oil? There’s about 1.1 trillion barrels of oil in supplies. A barrel has 42 gallons. The world uses about 29 billion barrels of oil every year. So that’s enough oil for another 38 years, or around the year 2046. More oil is sure to be found so we probably won’t run out until at least 2060. That’s still within many American’s lifetime. Right now with our technology when oil is found we can only get at most 40% of that oil out. So we need to invest in better oil extraction technology. If we could get 80% out, then we wouldn’t run out until after 2100. Under "Environment" I call for a drastic increase in MPG of automobiles. If we followed that guideline, then America would only use half of the oil it does now. 97% of the fuel used is from petroleum.

10. Who controls oil supplies? Saudi Arabia has 24% of the world’s oil, Iraq has 11%, Iran has 10%, Kuwait has 9%, United Arab Emirates (UAE) has 9%, Qatar has 1%, Venezuela has 7%, Africa has 9%, Europe has 8%, Asia has 4%, and the United States only has 2%. Who uses all this oil? The United States uses 25% of all petroleum produced. So we’re very much dependent on foreign oil. Even is only Iran stopped shipping, gas prices would go up to $6 per gallon. Under "Gas Prices" I’ve shown how America needs to drill for more oil actually in our own country and improve refining capacity. It would take at the very least 10-15 years to see a different in gas prices though. It would create many jobs though. This would only be a very temporary solution to the energy issue. It would simply serve to provide America with a cushion while we searched for better forms of energy.

11. Under "Military" I’ve called for a reduction is US military use. This would help oil usage. A single aircraft carrier uses 100,000 gallons of oil every day. That’s equal to what a medium-sized city uses. The impact on the environment hasn’t even been touched on, but we all know it’s great. That’s why increased oil production and use must be as temporary as possible.

*Oil Shale*
12. Oil shale can be harvested from shale which hasn’t has enough time, heat, and pressure to produce petroleum. The good thing about oil shale is that the United States has 60% of the global supply. In fact we have enough to make 2.5 trillion barrels of oil! That would mean the United States could meet its oil demands all on its own until the year 2200. Also we could make trillions of dollars exporting it. So in a way America has the greatest supply of oil.

13. The US started its current oil shale program in 2005. So why don’t we use it more? Well, the technology to get the petroleum out of the shale isn’t completely developed, we have to mine the shale, and it requires temperatures of nearly 1,000 degrees to yield to oil. Use of oil shale could drive oil back down to $30/barrel. In other words about $1.25 per gallon of gas at the pump! Remember though it’s still bad for the environment, actually worse for the American environment as we’d have to mine more.

*Coal*
14. The great thing about coal is that the United States has 25% of the world’s supply of it. However coal will run out before 2100. Coal is also very harmful to the environment. A coal power plant emits more radiation than a nuclear power plant. Some states are completely dependent on coal. Kentucky uses coal for 97% of its electricity.

15. Coal can be so much cleaner than it is right now if we develop better coal gasification techniques. Coal gasification removes most of the pollutants out of coal. In gasification coal is converted to syngas, which is mostly hydrogen and carbon monoxide. The waste from the process can also be reused. Coal gasification is expensive right now and can’t be done economically on a large scale. So the government and businesses must increase research into this. Among the over 400 coal power plants in America they produce 42% of all toxins which the US puts off. Half of Americans live within 30 miles of a coal power plant so you can see the need to make it cleaner.

16. Clean coal should also be a temporary fix for our energy addiction. The shift off coal won’t affect the US economy too much; because developing nations like China and India have a huge demand for coal which will only increase with time. So instead of spending our own money on coal we could sell it by exporting with huge profits. Selling the clean coal technology would also bring profit while helping the environment.

*Natural Gas*
17. The great thing about natural gas is that, like coal, the US has plenty of it. It too keeps our dependence on foreign energy small. It doesn’t pollute as much as petroleum or coal. However the demand for natural has is higher than the supply of it, and that’s caused the price to triple over the past decade. Also you have to compress and liquefy it if it’s to be used far away from its source. America has about 3% of the world’s natural gas supply. Only the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran, and Russia have more. Russia has almost a third of the world’s supply.

18. US companies still need to build more pipelines for natural gas use and more homes should use it as the biggest energy user for our homes is space heating. Because transport of natural gas hurts the environment and makes it more expensive to use, natural has should mostly be used by people to a natural gas source or people in cold areas such as Alaska and the North Central part of the US. Many Americans are moving from the Northern US to the South and West. This should be encouraged as it brings the demand down for natural gas.

*Nuclear Power*
19. A single nuclear power plant, for its size, can create more energy than any other source. The costs for nuclear power are low. The bad side is that building the actual plant costs billions of dollars and takes 15-20 years to do. Nuclear power doesn’t hurt the environment anywhere near what the petroleum and coal does. Coal burning kills about 40,000 Americans every year while nuclear power kills enough to count on your fingers.

20. Because of its ability to generate so much energy, nuclear power is ideal to meet energy demands of large cities, but they shouldn’t be located very close to those cities as they make excellent targets for terrorists. Current nuclear power reactors can only use 1% of the uranium in the world. U238 cannot be used by nuclear plants, and U238 makes up 99% of our uranium supplies. The uranium used now will only last for another 50 years.

21. Researchers are working on something called fast neutron nuclear power which would be able to use that other 99% of uranium. More spending and manpower should go into this as it could last America past the year 2150. The cost of fast neutron nuclear power would be the same as regular nuclear power, but the supply will last longer.

22. The waste from nuclear power is small in comparison to coal and other sources. The waste does last for over 1,000 years though. Nuclear producers must dispose of all their harmful waste while petroleum and coal producers do not. This creates an uneven playing field. If petro and coal consumers and producers have to safely dispose of their waste byproducts, then it would raise the price of petro & coal, thus causing less consumption of it, which would help the environment more than any single action we could take.

*Biofuels (ethanol and such)*
23. There’s been much talk lately about biofuels. Biofuels are much better for the environment than regular gas, and they can be produced in the US. However they have several downsides. Biofuels like ethanol would cost just as much as normal gas, they drive up the price of food, and they also lead to deforestation from the cutting of trees to make room for crops. You also get a lower MPG than gas, so we’d need more of the fuel than normal gas.

24. So the first generation of biofuels can only provide us with less than 20% of our needs, and more research is needed to improve their efficiency. More study is needed on how biofuels will affect agriculture. Biodiesel turns bad in cold temperatures so more research into that is needed as well.

25. Biofuels which use waste, such as in landfills, help to make use of the massive amount of garbage we store. One landfill power plant could power 2,000 homes.

26. We should focus more on second generation biofuels than first generation. This would include Bio-DME, Biomethanol (which can be mixed 15% with gas), HTU diesel, Fischer-Tropsch diesel, biohydrogen, and mixed alcohols. Most of these use renewable resources from the environment and can be mixed with gas for an easy transition from using pure gasoline. Most of these biofuels are too expensive to use on a large scale and research must increase into lower their cost.

*Hydro Power*
27. Hydro power can create huge amounts of energy in just a small space. It doesn’t pollute, and it keeps us off foreign power. It can’t be used everywhere though; because it changes a river valley which are usually the most populated areas. The building of it causes damage to the local ecosystem too. Washington, Oregon, California, New York, and Tennessee are states where hydro power is most used and be can be expanded.

28. Micro hydro plants should be used more. There are plenty of areas in the US which use pollution-generating power sources which should switch to hydro power.

*Biomass Energy*
29. Biomass is the burning of things such as wood for power. Biomass will be closely related to biofuels in the future. Some research is being done for alternative biomass fuels such as switchgrass which grows quickly. Biomass pollutes and using it uses up resources, but nowhere near what petroleum and coal does.

30. Burning your garbage produces more toxins than a modern incinerator. Actually just one family burning their waste produces more toxins than a modern-day incinerator! Because of that the burning of personal waste should be banned in places which has access to landfills, unless it’s for a poverty-stricken family which has no other way to heat their home or transport their waste.

*Wind Power*
31. Wind power is nonpolluting and sustainable. It can be used only on a wide scale among individual homes and not for large cities. Wind turbine manufactures recommend having at least one acre of land for private use. It’s not windy enough everywhere either and you have to have a good wind measurement over a year’s time to know if you can use one. Average winds of 10 MPH are needed for a wind turbine to work. The government should be more helpful with assisting people in wind measurements.

32. In ideal windy areas, wind power could produce 15% of all energy demands. Denmark uses wind power for 20% of its energy use! High elevations and areas near a large body of water are perfect for wind power, areas such as Florida, California, the Great Lakes area, and Texas.

33. Offshore wind turbines are excellent because of the constant wind flow and people don’t have 100-ft windmills on their land. The water must be relatively shallow though which makes Florida, Texas, and the Great Lakes even more ideal.

34. The cost of a wind turbine and installation for the average home is about $15,000. Homes with one have an electric bill of only about $15 per month. So it takes about 8 to 12 years to actually pay for itself. It also comes with an 80-ft tall tower, which not everyone wants on their property. Residential construction companies should build more wind turbines into homes and let the total price of the house absorb the wind turbine costs. Over its lifetime just one wind turbine for a single home saves 200 tons of greenhouse gases.

35. The government should give tax breaks to help with the cost of private wind power, and then more people would be willing to buy them. They only make as much noise as a washing machine, but you’ll rarely hear that from within your home. Federal, state, and local zoning laws should permit wind turbines to be installed anywhere.

*Solar Power*
36. Solar power hasn’t gotten nearly enough attention since the 1970s. In fact when Reagan became President he immediately removed the solar panels on the White House installed by Carter. Solar power is completely clean, sustainable, and can store power so it’s better than wind power in that aspect. Solar power needs large collectors though. In fact in order for the US to meet its energy demands completely with solar power, a collector 100 miles by 100 miles, or 10,000 square miles, would have to be built. That’s about the size of Massachusetts, Vermont, or Hawaii!

37. Solar relies on noncloudy days too so areas such as Arizona, New Mexico, Florida, and Texas would be perfect. A solar panel can pay for itself in only 3 years. All zoning laws should be changed to allow for solar panel use anywhere and paperwork should be easier for it.

38. Between government and businesses, only $200 million per year gets invested in solar. That will have to go up before solar power is taken seriously.

39. Technology in solar is promising. Recently a spray-on material was invented which is sprayed onto many materials, instead of building a panel, and it can be up to 5 times as efficient as normal solar collectors.

*Incinerators*
40. Incinerators burn waste to produce power. The government has put strict pollution controls on them so they’re cleaner than coal plants. They still harm the environment though and should be phased out in favor of recycling, reducing, and reusing.

*Geothermal*
41. Geothermal energy uses Earth’s heat for power. Current geothermal technology allows for use of it in very few places. The government and industry should shift resources away from current geothermal for more advanced techniques such as. . .

*Hot Dry Rock Energy (bore holes)*
42. Hot dry rock energy can be done by drilling a few miles into the Earth’s crust and water is poured into these bore holes, which creates steam to turn turbines, and produces electricity. The good thing is that this form of power could last for hundreds of years, and it doesn’t pollute. The bad news is that the technology in unproven and attempting it can cause an earthquake. In fact in Switzerland it did.

*Wave Power*
43. Wave power uses the waves from an ocean to create energy. It’s non-polluting but installation can disrupt ocean life. It’s limited to where it many be used. Hawaii could use it for most of its power demands though. About 10,000 sites in America could use it.

*Hydrogen Power*
44. When hydrogen is used in fuel cells its only byproducts are heat and water. It’ll be another few decades before hydrogen technology is developed enough for widescale use, but it’s probably one of the more promising clean energies.

*Fusion Power*
45. Current nuclear power uses fission which creates energy from splitting atoms. Fusion power creates energy by combining atoms. A fusion power plant could produce 2 to 4 times as much energy as a current nuclear power plant could. It would produce no radiation like nuclear power. It has few harmful byproducts. It’s also very safe; because an explosion would just be that – an explosion with no radiation disaster. It’s still about 30 to 60 years away from being in widespread use as a practical fusion reactor has yet to be invented. Government and business investment must increase and working with other nations is important to offset the great costs of this.

46. In 2006 several nations starting funding a program named ITER [link to www.iter.org] The cost of it is nearly $15 billion. So you can see that’s why cooperation with other nations is essential.

*Nanotechnology Power*
47. Nanotechnology is machinery built at microscopic sizes. The implications of it in energy, military, factories, medicine, and every aspect of human life are beyond imagination. The technology is still at least 50 years away as far as it being able to generate power. Our government spent about $1.5 billion in 2007 on nanotechnology, and every other developed nation is doubling or even tripling research into it. When nanotechnology comes onto the market, it will be nothing short of a miracle and will change the world in such a way that we wouldn’t recognize the technology if we were to see it.

*Other Energies*
48. Many other exotic, miracle energy sources are being researched. The greatest money and time investment on the government’s part comes with education. Doubling education spending and modernizing teaching methods will, after 10 to 30 years, cure our energy crisis. We’ll start producing more engineers and theorists.

*Conclusion*
49. So to sum it all up:
-reduce American energy use with higher auto MPG, more efficient appliances, recycling, and mass transit
-use petroleum only as a current to 20 year fix, drill for more domestic oil, and increase how much oil can be extracted, make it a goal to not be using anymore foreign oil in 20 years
-increase shale oil technology and mining, and be completely off oil in the next 70 years
-use coal only as a current to 30 year fix, use "clean" coal methods, with a goal to stop using coal completely in the next 40 years
-use natural gas for home heating for a current to 25 year fix
-use nuclear for large cities and invest more in fast neutron technology, 30% of our energy should come from nuclear power in the next 60 years
-use biofuels like ethanol more, but realize it has drawbacks and is only a temporary solution
-keep hydro power to replace polluting methods
-use more wind power for private use, make it a goal to for wind power to supply US with 5% of its energy in the next 60 years
-help create more private solar power use – make it a goal for solar power to provide US with 15% of its energy in the next 40 years
-stop individuals from burning waste
-develop & experiment with hot dry rock energy and make it a goal to use it for 10% of our energy demands in the next 70 years
-use wave power for seaside areas and make it a goal for it to provide 2% of America’s power in the next 40 years
-develop fusion and nanotechnology and make it a goal to for this to be the most used power sources by the year 2100
- implement everything under "Education" which will spark innovation in energy technology
-these are all very reasonable long-term goals, and while the percentages for production don’t equal 100%; nuclear, fusion, and nano power would make up the difference

I know you're thinking "Oh dear God, so much text!" But the solution to something like education doesn't fit on a bumper sticker. Sorry.

My policy is: "NO MORE HUMAN SACRIFICE CALLED WAR!".

I don't know one person that thought a war in the middle east was a good idea.

Does anyone want this??
People are so fucking brainwashed by TV and whatever gadget is hot they don't even question why the fuck their brother or neighbor or whatever is going off to Afghanistan or Iraq to kill people.


Oh yeah, because of 9-11............

Food
1. The American food industry produces enough food to satisfy every American’s caloric intake twice over. With this abundance of food, the industry wouldn’t suffer, but Americans would greatly benefit, if business standards increased the transparency of food marketing. Take the organic food trend for example. I’m located in Tennessee, and most organic food available to me comes from California. Marketing for organic food portrays it to be good for the environment and good for your body. However if it must be shipped from California to Tennessee, then the carbon emissions from shipping alone negate the environmental benefits. Then there’s the fact that the days it took to ship here drained many of the nutrients out of the food which would have benefited me. The better alternative? Buy local food. It not only would help the entire environment, but help my local economy. This is just one example of how business practices in the food marketing sector could improve.

2. It must be written into law that on every shift in any establishment serving food, whether mobile or fixed, at least one person, preferably the manager if one exists, be ServSafe certified.

3. ServSafe testing should be broken up into several sections. A person working at a Taco Bell for example needs to know very little about seafood, yet in order to be ServSafe certified, a great deal of the test goes forth into seafood. Or a person working the concession stand at a movie theater needs to know mostly about hot dogs, popcorn, drinks, and candy, yet ServSafe training donates little time to this. Each ServSafe section should follow along the type of food found in the relevant establishment. This way the food preparer knows more about the particular food he or she is working with.

4. Foods which are generally accepted as unhealthy should
be taken out of schools. (sodas, candy, and so on) Trans fat should also be eliminated from schools. All marketing for unhealthy foods, particularly on the 12-minute news program many American students must watch at school everyday, should be eliminated.

5. Universal healthcare should include nutrition plans customized to a person’s unique needs and wants, with free recipes made available to them.

6. No special tax should incurred on unhealthy food unless the voters absolutely demand it. American businesses must be able to generate a profit, and it’s up to consumers to decide their own habits; however the information given to them should be as accurate as possible.

7. A few major urban areas are experimenting with saving the leftover food from restaurants. Food safety should always be top concern; however tons of perfectly good food are thrown away every hour in restaurants. It would only take two or three trucks to meet the hunger needs of thousands of homeless Americans everyday. This should be put into place starting with New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Washington D.C., Houston, and several small cities in order to be tinkered with and perfected before being put into operation on a larger level.

8. Nowhere near enough long-term research has been done in genetically-altered food. This causes consumers to be leery enough not to purchase it. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must push this forward.

9. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is incredibly underfunded, understaffed, and unorganized. The responsibilties which fall under the FDA’s jurisdiction have piled up year after year while funding has remained flat. The retention rate of employees in the FDA is only half that of other government agencies. The FDA requested $2.1 billion for 2008. That fund should be placed at $20 billion for the first year in order to work out the huge demands placed upon the FDA. Look at nearly anything in the pharmacy aisle and you’ll see, "This statement has not been evaluated by the FDA." Innovation in the food and drug industry can’t move forward until we’re sure of certain claims, and a MASSIVE backlog of ideas is in need of evaluation by the FDA. The entire culture of the FDA must change. Corporate influence over the FDA must come to an end. Our society must catch up with our technolongy.

and sorry all of this doesn't sound nice and polished. I did it all within 3 weeks time in a frenzy after a ritual for wisdom.

Foreign Policy
1. Any international agreement entered into by the United States must not contradict any part of the United States Constitution.

2. Increase microcredit funding to poverty-stricken areas.

3. Cancel all Third World debt, and encourage other developed nations to do so.

4. Work to curb absolute veto powers of permanent United Nations Security Council members.

5. Negotiate free exchange of knowledge and technology between the United States and other countries.

6. End all embargos on Cuba, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Liberia, Burma, Zimbabwe, Palestine, and any other countries with embargos imposed on them. Embargos hurt the people, and rarely the government in oppressed countries.

7. Share all government-funded agriculture findings with every country.

8. Immediately withdraw from the WTO (World Trade Organization). The WTO has too much influence in domestic affairs, and it contributes to predatory corporations taking advantage of poor nations. All trade affairs with nations should be individually worked out.

that's the problem.....$$$$$$$ it's always about money. never how can we better humanity. more like how can we kill people??

Gas Prices
1. Standardize gas. Right now there are 17 different types of gasoline. Standardizing them under one way would save about 5 cents per gallon and save distributors from headache.

2. Drill for American oil. That would certainly include drilling in Alaska. The environmental impact won’t be as bad as some make it out to be. Over the long run it would lower gas prices and create up to half a million jobs for Americans.

3. Mandate higher miles per gallon. Forcing car companies to produce more efficient automobiles won’t help in the short term, but it would help in the long run.

4. Increase tax on gas, and invest that money into mass transit. While it will raise gas prices, in the long run the investment into a mass transit system, such as the one that crisscrosses Europe, will lower the impact gas has on Americans. As it’s often been said what happens in Europe is what will be happening in America soon, and w/ America’s exploding population, it’s time to play catch up with other country’s mass transit systems.

5. There’s really little the American government can do to immediately decrease gas prices UNLESS Americans want to force oil companies to operate on a balanced budget, with little to no profits. The government could collect that revenue in taxes each year and use that money to lower gas prices.

6. Uncap the existing wells in the National Petroleum Reserve to produce another one million barrels of oil per day.

Gotta have money to better humanity. Hence my "Taxes" section.

Gay Rights
1. Legalize same-sex civil unions, with all the rights and privileges enjoyed by marriage between a man and a woman.
2. Ban same-sex marriage.
3. End all military discrimination of gays.
4. Upgrade all less-than-honorable discharges to honorable which resulted purely because of sexual orientation.
5. End work, housing, and all other public restrictions and discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Gun Control
1. The Second Amendment reads, "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."
2. The wording of this Amendment has been scrutinized under a microscope by scholars, lawyers, and judges more than any other, except maybe the Fourth Amendment. The spirit of the Amendment is a reminder that the balance of power between a government and its people must be maintained. History has shown time and time again, especially in modern times that the citizens of a free nation must be able to create change within their own government through peaceful means, and as a last resort, through aggressive means.
3. For the US to create excessive control over ownership of guns, would give the government absolute power over Americans. We would be at the complete will of our own government when in fact the government is meant to be at the absolute will of its people.
4. Remember that the Founding Fathers were skeptical and leery of government. Some didn’t expect the Constitution or the United States to last as long as it has. Thomas Jefferson believed that revolution within government was a natural and healthy thing for the well-being of any free nation to remain free. Note that I’m not advocating any sort of rebellion against the government. In fact the United States government has never acted in a way which would warrant violent action against it.
5. Reasonable measures to keep weapons out of unsafe situations should of course exist in any civilized society. Safety locks, permits for ownership, waiting periods, and background checks should remain enacted at state levels. Guns should also remain banned on civilian government property such as colleges and schools, and for civilian possession in areas where it raises public safety issues, such as on commercial airplanes. People convicted of violent crimes, illegal aliens, and those found to be mentally unstable should not be allowed to carry or own guns. Handgun possession bans are unconstitutional. All of these guidelines are reasonable.
6. At the state and local levels of government, gun control should follow along community standards. Any weapons banned for private possession should also be considered for being banned for use by law enforcement and military use within the United States. This serves the important purpose of maintaining the balance of power between the American government and American citizens.
7. Many people raise the question of if the Constitution’s authors intended the right to bear arms for individuals or just the militia. That argument coupled with the scrutiny of the 2nd Amendment is a classic example of not seeing the forest for the trees. The obsession and debate for all things 2nd Amendment could be continued forever, but the fact remains that Americans have been blessed by our Founding Fathers, whether intentional or not, with the ability to maintain the balance of power between our government and its people, an ability which must be protected. Now this isn’t to say that the original intention of the Founding Fathers isn’t important, but times have changed since the birth of the Constitution, particularly the government’s unprecedented control over a citizen’s life.

Healthcare
1. Fully support the plan called Physicians for a National Health Program. It is a universal health care program.

2. The plan would cover every American.

3. This program would be financed by retaining all the money already funneled to Medicare and Medicaid. The difference between current public funding and what we would need for universal coverage would be financed by a payroll tax on employers of about 7% and an income tax on individuals of about 2%. The payroll tax would replace all other employer expenses for coverage. The income tax would take the place of all current insurance premiums, co-pays, deductibles, and all other out of pocket expenses.

4. Over 31% of every health care dollar goes to paperwork, overhead, CEO salaries, profits, and other non-clinical costs. Under this plan the non-clinical cost would be greatly reduced. Medicare, a government program, rather than private program, operates with just 3% of non-clinical costs.

5. Because of the efficiency of this heath coverage, there will be job cut backs on a massive scale in the insurance sector. Because of this there will be a transitional fund set up to help those people find and train for a new job. Other details of this plan can be found at www.pnhp.org

Immigration
1. Mandate the use of ID cards for every legal American who wishes to work or seeks government assistance. Such cards would contain biometric information, as to make it difficult to forge. Hiring people with no ID card would constitute a felony. This would be the only ’wall’ we would need to keep undocumented people out of the country. There would be people who would still hire workers with no ID card, but if we actually enforced the law enough times that would come to an early end.

2. Hire more judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement for the sole purpose of prosecuting people who hire people with no work ID card.

3. Increase funding and manpower for the Border Patrol. As of 2007 the budget for it was 7.8 billion dollars. That number should be pushed up to 15 billion.

4. In order for illegal immigrants to become legal residents, they must pay all due back taxes, starting with Social Security.

5. Illegals already here would be on a path to citizenship, based on conditions to be a decided by a think tank of philosophers, scholars, and government officials.

6. Reinforce English as the official language of the United States. Other countries such as Switzerland do have a multilingual society, but what works in Europe doesn’t always work in America. If Americans refused to adopt the Metric System, then it’s unlikely they’d adpot another language.

7. Oppose the construction of any physical barrier between the United States and its neighbors. The United States does not need another Berlin Wall or Great Wall of America. The worst way to fix a 21st century problem is with a 13th century solution. Rather a vitual fence should be built along the American border.

Much of this was done through the stimulus bill.

Infrastructure
1. We inherit a world not of our making. We came from a generation named the Builders (1900-1930s). Our American ancestors managed to develop an entire country in 200 years. They did what it takes other nations thousands of years do to. To put it mildly, most worked themselves to death. This all occurred over 60 years ago and what they built isn’t going to last forever. Already much of it is falling apart and it’s our duty to maintain it. People who laid down plans for our infrastructure 100 years ago could not have come close to imagining what kind of world was over the horizon and what demands would be made. 2 trillion dollars spent over a 10 to 20 year period is needed to accomplish what’s laid out here. This platform has drawn upon a study done by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

2. The FAA projects a 52% increase in demand for air travel between now and 2015. $9-$15 billion is needed to enable airports to meet that demand.

3. 27% of the 590,750 bridges in America are structurally deficient, like the one that collapsed in Minnesota. It will take $9.4 billion a year over 20 years to upgrade our bridges.

4. Every year there are dam failures such as the Silver Lake Dam in Michigan which failed in 2003 and caused $100 million in property damage and economic loss. There are now over 10,000 dams in America which have high-hazard potential like this one. $10.1 billion is needed over 10 years to address all critical non-federal dams.

5. The EPA estimates that $161 billion must be invested over 20 years to upgrade our drinking water system. Every day 6 billion gallons of water is lost because of old, leaky pipes. That’s enough water to serve California’s needs.

6. The electric power grid must invest $50 billion over 5 years to ensure reliability of our energy delivery. The government should also look at burying power lines in wind and winter weather prone areas. The cost of burying power lines is about $1 million per mile so we can’t afford to bury EVERY power line in America as that would cost over $2 trillion alone.

7. 350,000 chemically contaminated waste sites may need to be cleaned up over the next 30 years at a cost of $250 billion.

8. Congress needs to clear up the backlog of repairs and upgrades needed for our inland waterway locks.

9. Since this platform calls for using more rail over trucks for freight, more investment in railway maintenance is needed, around $200 billion over the next 20 years.

10. Nearly $140 billion each year is lost by motorists because of vehicle repairs, operating costs, wasted time in traffic, wasted fuel, and money lost because of wrecks caused by poor road maintenance. All the money that has or is going into highway widening should be put into repairing roads. As you can read under "Environment", this platform calls for a moratorium on highway widening.

11. The EPA estimates that $390 billion spent by 2020 is needed to fix the problem of the 850 billion gallons of raw sewage being dumped into our waters every year.

Abortion
1. Abortion, as it may be viewed by many as religiously wrong, is still a political right. The government must uphold a woman’s right to choose, yet the government should not promote abortions.

2. Surgical abortion should not be covered under universal healthcare. In 2001 the average charge for a surgical abortion at 10-weeks’ gestation was $468. That cost must not be placed on taxpayers by any level of government. 74% of women pay for their own abortions. The only exception would be in cases of rape, incest, or life endangerment to the mother.

3. Dispel the myth that the "morning-after pill" is the same as the "abortion pill".

4. 24% of US pregnancies end in abortion. Contraceptive education and availability should be a priority in curbing the number of abortions.

5. As universal healthcare should not cover abortions, the government should not fund agencies which seek to sway a woman’s opinion away from abortions.

Affirmative Action
1. Affirmative action must be a carefully-used tool to maintain diversity. It should not be used as a permanent solution for the problem of discrimination.

2. Some regions exist in the United States where affirmative action must remain in place in order to maintain equality. Other regions could achieve diversity without affirmative action laws.

3. To address this imbalance, a government committee as unbiased as possible created at the state level should be set up to investigate affirmative action needs, effectiveness, and to perform follow-ups on a district-by-district and company-by-company basis.

4. Affirmative action should not only be applied to race. It should be applied in a way which results in a proportional representation of gender, race, economic background, and any other clearly apparent factor which results in a disadvantage to any group of people.

5. Follow-ups where affirmative action has been taken out of play are essential. Studies show a tendency for such places to shift once again to a disproportionate workplace, student body, etc.

6. Affirmative action should remain temporary because long-term use of it leads to envy. It can actually place an accent on one’s minority when what we strive to achieve a society with no barriers. Affirmative action is a society’s way of being intentionally right after centuries of being intentionally wrong, and hopefully in a short amount of time that habit of being right will hold firm.

Agriculture

1. When this country was formed agriculture was how nearly everyone made a living, and every American’s life depended upon agriculture. Over time America’s top-notch business efficiency became married with agriculture, and the result was the most effective farming country the world has ever seen. At the time of America’s inception, over 80% of Americans lived on a farm, in the 1930s it was 25%, and now in 2008 it’s only 2%. Because of this we don’t hear much about agriculture in politics. That marriage of business and agriculture produced miraculous abundance, but with it came all the bad trappings of business which our government must address.

2. Our government provides tens of billions of dollars every year for farmers to grow certain crops. After adjusting for inflation, you’ll find that most crop prices have been in decline for many years. This isn’t due entirely to government subsidies. Some people say that the government should completely phase out subsidies to agriculture. That would be a horrible move for two reasons. One: it would leave many small farmers bankrupt and large corporations would buy them out faster than the present rate. Two: it would cause the prices of meat, wheat, rice, corn, and most other foods to fluctuate worse than oil prices ever have; because those prices would be at the mercy of huge unknowns such as chaotic weather.

3. So agriculture subsidies aren’t a bad thing, but the way in which they are distributed is. The Dept. of Agriculture stated in 2003 that 30% of subsidies went to the largest 6% of growers. Subsidies help the farm OWNERS, but not always the actual farm workers themselves, the people who work the land – and I’ve done it – it can be back-breaking work yet so satisfying. The large corporate agriculture businesses aren’t bad because they bring us food at low prices in a very efficient manner, but at times they can be seen as crowding out the small-time farmer.

4. Price supports by the government for agriculture should always remain strong and in place, but the subsidies the government gives out to some large self-sufficient agricultural corporations could be trimmed back. Better supply management by businesses and better supply recommendations on the government’s part should be enacted.

5. Withdrawing from NAFTA must be a priority; because Mexican farmers can’t compete with cheap American government-funded corn and other products. This only makes Mexican local economies poorer and adds to America’s illegal immigration problem. Also withdrawing from the World Trade Organization (WTO) would end its meddling in domestic agriculture and help farmers in developing nations to better determine their futures.

6. Americans consume 200 pounds of meat per year. This must wind down. The entertainment industry should make vegetarianism trendier. You may have heard the report that the gas produced from animals causes more global warming than humans do, yet it’s still the actions of humans by over breeding animals for food which is causing increased climate change. This paradigm shift would save billions across the board. The rain forest is being cleared for animal domestication, and that should end too.

7. Agriculture training in schools should be increased, as you can read under "Education" naturalistic intelligence is an importunate factor. Children need to go outside and into nature more often to explore. This causes inspiration and creativity. The pioneer spirit in America is lost and MUST be rediscovered.

You've got some good stuff there Chris. Maybe you'll be able to bring about the "CHANGE" everyone was so desperate for the last time around.



P.S. I used to work at McDonalds and Subway too. Good times!!

be mindful,
connections are two way

Enough for now. Digest all that. More later.

No way in Hell you've read and synthesized all that info.

Since birth. =P
But if you mean when was I possessed, 2003.

Earthquakes 7.0 or higher occur 15 times per year on average. 4.1% chance of it happening today. Let's try for one! =D

To The Watches Who Play: Try for 7.0 or + earthquake today

damnit. . .
To The Watchers Who Play: Try for 7.0 or + earthquake today

It will do if you will air it as you do with all the crap on the media and will keep on saying that for a month or two instead of throwing 1 glimpse for 3 minutes as a weather forecast every now and then. And it all still is a theory. The only reason it is not done yet is that you are afraid that too many people will "wake up" and start thinking.

P.S. About laws you've posted. Laws are made when a man don't know how to solve a problem. More laws you make - more problems there will be. It's all about concept you approach life. Satanic approach will have 1 set of laws, human approach will have another. It's not about the laws. It's about concept you follow in your life. If you really would want to make a change - you would change the way the people think, not a box that they live in into a different box.

lol does it matter? It probably won't happen anyway since I'm just WANTING it and not trying to make it.

So ermm where you want an earthquake? =P Don't say you wouldn't want one somewhere, cause we all know you would.

How about pigs flying? =P
Tell me somewhere.