American Citizens Need to Give a Swift Kick to Louisiana State Government

Brad Pitt is working hard to get families back home, this is the site, click here.

This week there is a show on the television that shows how much the Louisiana State Government has neglected something long standing, and frankly an embarrassment to the entire country. Mike Holmes, a Canadian contractor and television personality, was asked by Brad Pitt to go and do something about this. While I know that Mike is one very excellent contractor, it begs the question, why?

There is FEMA monies sitting, waiting, in Louisiana to build or repair the homes in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward, yet the State of Louisiana has done NOTHING to get those monies to those who really need it. The point here? If the United States wants to have an image of a “do something” country that can solve some of the problems around the world, what better place to showcase this than New Orleans?

7000 families are STILL in trailers, waiting after so many years, for their homes again. Why the hell is the State sitting on these monies? Time is running out here. If the monies are not used within this year, FEMA will take it back.

It is long overdue that some of the people living in the US call, annoy, insist, be persistent, and generally give the State of Louisiana a swift kick in the butt to get moving! These people are your national neighbours, with kids who need to get to schools, reaquaint themselves with friends, and begin to have some semblance of normalcy. Maybe, just maybe, if enough people email, call, visit, and make this point to the people in the state powers, some small things just might get done.

Mike Holmes went from Canada to build a home, a renewal for one family, and he was appalled at the situation people STILL have to deal with. I agree! This is appalling.

What the people of New Orleans do NOT need is some scammers coming in. Those people have suffered more than I probably ever will.There is a woman in Bernard Parish who has managed to repair 200 houses, with volunteers, and if she can get this many people moved back into their homes, then what the hell is the problem with the State here?

I am proud of Brad Pitt for taking this on. He did not have to, had nothing, really to gain, and yet he did call in INTERNATIONAL help to get some housing built. Why the hell do other countries have to go there to get this done when there are people within the US that can do this well, do it with integrity, and those same people are sitting around waiting, just like the families of New Orleans?

A question here for those in the government of Louisiana. Do you need people to come from Australia, Germany, England, Canada, Brazil, Egypt, India, Japan or any other place to come to New Orleans and get this done? If so, then put out the damn call and we will be there.

The City of New Orleans and the utility companies are sitting around instead of getting the utilities restored. What in hell is it going to take to get this done? Again, do you need some people from foreign countries to come and get this done?

I strongly suggest everyone get in touch with your federal representatives, Congressmen and Congresswomen, Senators, and raise hell until this state gets moving. This is a national sore that is still festering. Put some pressure on the State of Louisiana, the Federal Government, and the City of New Orleans to get moving! Time to heal New Orleans. If you need to have countries bring in people to do the job, then damn well call out for them.

Again, it is long overdue time to heal, repair and make New Orleans livable again for those families who went through hell.

Stimulus, Jobs, Federal Governments, Change

The stimulus bills all over the world, not just in the Americas, all are done to put tax money, literally, to work. Now, the question is, does it work?

With the cities and states and provinces all dealing with dramatic falls in tax income, the bridges, roads, hospitals, and other public buildings are also falling way behind in repair. One bridge here had a wooden under structure, and when someone used a fire to keep warm (at least that is the assumption here) the bridge caught fire and put hundreds of thousands of commuters out of a means to get to work.

There are literally hundreds of other bridges all over the world that need to be either replaced or repaired, so governments are putting money into these projects to make jobs and to get the building done.

There are other things that have been left to basically fall down until someone got hurt. Minnesota had one situation where the bridge collapsed too.

This is where governments are all focusing their stimulus. But, there has to be an integrity, a sense of “doing the job well” and certainly the people need to understand that shoddy workmanship is no longer acceptable.

Counting on any government to get the entire society out of this mess is foolish, at best. So … what to do?

If  I make kitchen cabinets, for example, then I need to step up my craftsmanship to make the best cabinets I know how, to push myself to making cabinets that will last 20 or 30 years. A lot of places did build shoddy products, thinking that there would always be enough money in customer pockets to buy more shoddy but pretty cabinets. Today, that has come home to roost with those who built crappy stuff, because the customers just flat don’t have the money to keep buying crap.

If I am a cook, then make damn good food, not just chemical soup, literally. Take the time to use food that is nutritious, tasty, and definitely far better quality.

I have worked in several industries, and the most valuable lesson I ever got was “go for the quality, do the absolute best you can” and you will learn to do it better and quicker. Too long have companies made things with built-in obsolescence and basically crappy products.

We don’t have the money or time to waste on these products any more. Would you rather buy furniture that you KNOW you can use for quite a while, that is made to be comfortable, and has covering that is easy to take care of, or junk that you buy every 3 to 5 years?

I have seen housing built that, within 3 years, needs to be repaired because the housing leaks badly. To me, that smells of a racket. I will not buy a house that is poorly constructed. Watching “Holmes on Homes” put that idea in my head when I saw the crappy workmanship and just flat out scamming that some “contractors” pulled. To hell with them!

Again, quality counts!

I worked in a furniture manufacturing facility where the boss insisted on speed over quality. Guess what? He is out of business, because the people working there were not interested in doing their jobs well, producing quality, and the furniture was rejected by the buyers!

If you are spending any money for goods that you need,  look for quality first. Yes, it probably means you spend a bit more for it, but when you look at how often you have to replace crappy stuff, then you actually do save money over time! Wal-Mart is NOT the place to buy durable goods, like furniture, appliances, clothing and especially goods you know MUST work when you need them.

The same principle goes when you are working, produce quality products. Even if your product is a haircut, waiting on tables, digging ditches, do it with quality and integrity.

Companies that ask us to make crap need a lesson too. To hell with companies that make poor quality products, so tell them with your wallet. Put the businesses that treat their employees like crap out of business, because there is a serious lack of integrity within the management there.

There have to be a lot of people out there that want to be their own bosses, want to do something they are good at, and want to make a real difference in their community. I am talking about those who are very good at dealing with people, dealing with machines or other goods like food.

Now may very well be the time for people who needed the time, to learn business procedures and to start making quality count. Go to the library, study on cash flow, tax law, business management and take that risk on you! Please, create businesses that are based on quality, integrity and best of all, create something worth buying!

If there is someone out there wanting to build housing, find out what it takes to make a home that is totally energy efficient! Learn about the innovations in hot water, solar heating and energy, windmills that produce power that can be used in residential housing, and about making houses that are high insulation value.  Build the houses with good quality and don’t buy crappy building products! People will put money into things they know are worth buying.

The most effective choices we can ever make is to do what we honestly enjoy doing, that just never does seem like work at all. Writers who get lost for hours writing, are working, but it is so much fun they never even notice the work in it! Woodworkers who spend hours in the shop, sanding, inspecting, sanding more and putting hours into polishing and finishing make furniture that draws awe from all of us, if we are lucky enough to see it. People who make simple clothing that fits, wears and washes like a dream are those who make the clothing because they enjoy the creation, the design, the feel of the fabric and love to see the clothing finished well.

No matter what you do in life, do it with quality. Push beyond mediocre and go for the best you can. We will spend our money, if you do that.

Producing goods with built-in obsolescence or that needs immediate repair is wasting more than just money, it shows us all contempt for the work we have to do to buy it, and ultimately shows just how little you value your own work.

President Obama may be one of the few international leaders that is showing the world that quality, integrity, and going that extra bit is worth doing. There are others out there, watch how they do what they do, then use those lessons to do your own best work.

I think it is high time those who were elected, all over the world, value our work, value our integrity, and above all, act with integrity, honesty, and value the position we elected them to. No more shoddy behaviour, no more “putting in the time for pension benefits” and certainly no more self-serving actions. Respect the neighbours and your international neighbours and the current mess will be one hell of a lot easier to live through. Do the opposite, create war and conflict and we all face a far more miserable future.

We need innovative thinking now, we need to have people who listen, who are willing to mentor those who have become lost, and we need people who make good decisions with honesty, integrity and above all, awareness that this planet is small, and choices ripple out to either raise the quality of life or swamp people and create disasters. Empathy is one of the most valuable assets we all have.

Going Down? How Long Do You Think This Will Last?

Books to read, and a previous post that should be referred to when devising any solutions. Click here

Jobs going out the window, literally. Companies going under, literally. Houses and foreclosures happening so often now the news services no longer cover this issue. Wow! Like watching a huge ship sink, except this is in very slow motion.

My question here is how long do you think this is going to last?  I thought it may last a couple of years, but when I look at this like an injury to a body, with the bleeding so profuse, and the cuts all over, the outlook for this patient is tentative at best.

So, what do you think? What treatments are out there to stop the bleeding, the damage still happening? The more minds working on this, the better, is my thinking here.

President Obama used words like “Catastrophe, disaster” and, by looking at the damage even now, I have to agree with this.

Solutions! We will work through this, there is no other choice. But how? Come on, give it a go!

My somewhat brief understanding of CDS and loans that sank the banks. Click here.

Buying Only American Can Sink America

Loyalty is great, especially to your family and friends. When it comes to a country, loyalty can be good, but sometimes it has a double edge to it.

The drive to use the tax funds to restart, restore, whatever you want to call it, need not be tied to buying only American goods. Why? Well, as a lot of the US citizenry now are finding out, there are things you need to get from other countries. Oil and power are just two.

Blocking the import of goods such as steel, aluminum, and so on can backfire on the jobs the US and President Obama are desperately trying to create, restore and build. Erecting trade barriers also breaches some of the very trade agreements that the US wants to keep!

Like most other things in life, we live by cooperation, and this does mean we have to deal with countries outside our own.

Let’s see if I can simplify this for myself here. I need power to run a factory, but I don’t have enough local supply to do it. I set up a contract, an agreement with someone to buy it. In exchange, they want to buy what I produce. Sounds like a fair deal to start with.

Later, they cannot buy my goods, and because their own financial problems are causing headaches, they want to put that power to use in their own area. So, I can choose to refuse to buy their power, and up go the barriers. My own jobs go, along with the prosperity I was developing for myself.

While I can understand their reasoning, they NEED what I produce as much as I NEED the power.

This can get to be truly childish and petty, but in the real world, it can create huge disasters.

The US NEEDS oil, power, goods etc. from other countries as much as other countries NEED the goods from the US. It is symbiotic, if you like.

There ARE international agreements in place that need to be honoured, need to be kept, and integrity is one of the ingredients in international trade. I know there are some in the US that want to shut the doors, hunker down, and, while I can see the fear, the loyalty and the desire to make sure there ARE jobs coming, I can also see why the trades and the goods NEED to move.

What most people in the US don’t realize is that the supplies of some goods are NOT found within the US, they just are not there. Foods come from outside the country, along with a huge number of other things. Stop that and the US faces some pretty nasty results. Power is not totally generated within the borders of the US either, it is purchased from neighbouring countries, mostly because the private utility companies have NOT invested in creating more power, especially cleaner and more efficient power. The brown-outs in Los Angeles are symptomatic of this problem.

Some rant on about “Buying Amercan” without realizing just how much of the goods and other things come from outside the country.

Right now, the choice is within the bill facing the government, and I hope that someone will really take a hard look at what they are asking for  with the clause to “Buy American” and create international trade barriers.

President-Elect Obama Has A Job I Sure Would Not Want

Where, indeed, to begin, literally?

People often think of the President as a powerful post, and sometimes they are right. Barack Obama is taking on a daunting task here, and for once, I seriously would not want to be the president. It seems that there is a huge lineup at the door, all beggars, seeking monetary aid, bailouts, and all screaming over the other.

Barack Obama got it right in his campaign, putting the emphasis on the people. Without people, the government is an empty place. Government NEEDS people, people don’t NEED government.

Paulson finally woke up! All the toxic debts and CDS banks “invented” to circumvent laws are now going to stay with the banks, investment houses, and those who abused the financial system are just going to have to deal with the mess of their own making! Finally some common sense. Unfortunately, those banks “played” consumers, taking what should have been a simple contract called a mortgage and turning that into a splintered, then shattered, mess. Like I said previously, it would be worth a few hundred dollars to find out if banks et al breached those mortgage contracts. Re-selling and manipulating the housing markets by allowing “invisible” parties to endanger the entire world economy, personal mortgages, and then asking for the Fed to bail them out is ludicrous!

Obama has to deal with issues that are so complicated it takes at least 20 different people just to make the map, nevermind navigate it! Balancing the interests is tricky, at best. The two wars need to be mapped, understood, and navigated so that Iraq and Afghanistan both come out at least with some semblance of stability, otherwise the world may well end up going back in to restore them again. Not my idea of fun, trying to figure this out!

The banks and investment houses created a mess so large it has foundered the world economies! You can bet that anger is definitely NOT limited to the US, as most of the world is so very angry at those “fat cat” jackasses who tried to pull these scams off. Personally I would love to put on my steel-toed boots and give at least 20 of them a very well aimed kick in the ass! Then see all those “perks” they took taken back, liquidated, and the proceeds put into welfare programs, to enable families tossed about like “collateral damage” the lifeline of some food, clothing and, wow, even shelter! I have no problem with putting every bloody “fat cat” behind bars, say in Guantanamo Bay, for a while. Maybe then they would truly appreciate being alive and find a far more human set of priorities. This should start with the woman in Merrill Lynch who designed the base for CDS etc.

Obama has to figure out how to get a far “greener” path started, which means weaning the US off of wasteful behaviour. There are kits and instructions on the net for making wind turbines, solar panels, and lighting that is LED. Time for the common person to get busy saving things, remaking what used to be discarded into products again. Recycling soda cans, glass bottles, plastics, and using cloth bags, all would be a good start. This is where Obama may be able to lead by example. Install solar panels on the White House, use low wattage bulbs, and get a composting program going for the gardens.

Obama can lead his country well, if some of the petty, stupid games quit. I am amazed at how unbelievably childish some of the “adults” in Congress and the Senate are. Wow! “Gimme!” “I Want!” “No, you can’t play with my toys!” ” You cannot change things, because ‘that is the way things have always been'” Phooey! Grow UP! This is a new world here, things have changed, and get your head out of the bloody sand! In short, Obama can do a lot, but it DOES take us to help him out, not put childish, self-serving blocks in the way, “just because”.

The auto industry may have BEEN a major industrial engine, but the technology they use is from the last century, not pertinent now. Obama can tell car makers to get with the change. Take a look at the Tesla automobile! It is totally electric, can go like greased lightening, and has a range for driving that is as good as most people will ever need. Get rid of the hydro-carbon, gas guzzling technology and devise other choices.

President-Elect Obama, if you want to see a banking system that is the best in the world, I strongly suggest you check out the Canadian system. None of the banks there are even close to being in trouble, lending is going on, and they got hit in a very minor way with any of the CDS or other “funny-money” ways the US banks did. Look at the regulations! Those banks are NOT government owned, but they are regulated in ways that have allowed them to continue to work effectively! Amazing!

Health care, it needs to be changed. No question. People are dying, kids are getting sick and dying because the costs are far too high, the paperwork is eating up a huge chunk of the cost of doing business. What the hell? Paperwork accounts for a huge part of the costs? If anyone gets into an accident, it can mean death from untreated injury, or bankruptcy if the injury is treated. Talk about living between a rock and a hard place. I agree with Obama, get the costs down.  But it can be done by those who are not sick working to demand answers, demand better service, and certainly demand the FDA get off it’s butt and realize that most of the generic drugs coming from developed countries ARE made to high standards. Help the president by joining in, not making his job harder. It means demanding generic equivalents be prescribed by the doctors, hospitals, so all of the people get a better deal. Remember the “name brand” companies make huge, fantastic profits, and they have a vested interest in YOU buying them.

Jobs, and more jobs, the necessity for people to have meaningful work, we all need them. President-Elect Obama has the correct focus, here, but there is no way in hell he can do THIS ONE ALONE! This is where the recycling and reusing all those discarded materials could make work. It takes imagination, thinking, and yes, even work to find new uses for all those discarded things once used. For example, take plastic soda bottles and turn them into automated watering devices. It is as simple as filling the bottles with water, then turning the bottle upside down and pushing them into the soil around plants.  Start making solar panels, then put them on every house in town! Wind turbines work with even small breezes if they are made with a governor on them. There are some that can be made at home, and if at least 10% of the houses have them, the power grid is boosted! There are literally millions of ways to turn garbage going to landfills into useful things again, from braided rag rugs to vehicles. Help your president and your environment all in one! If nothing else, set up a recycling depot for local things.

International relationships need attention too. Wow, this list is getting long, but with help via the internet, it can be achieved! Talk to people around the world, listen and discuss issues with them. President-Elect Obama got that one right! He did go to the internet to talk and listen. Give the US the help in returning to a better international status by being a little more concerned about others, listening to other ideas. Why? Because maybe someone elsewhere in the world has the answer you need to solve your own problems, or you have the answer they are looking for!

Yep, the President-Elect has his work cut out, but with help from all of those in the world, maybe, just maybe, we all can lighten his load just a little bit.

Toxic Debt, Banking, Greed and Stocks

Well it seems the banks who currently have toxic debts on their books want to keep them. Why?  Apparently the upper echelon want to make sure they keep their fat pay cheques, their bonus structure, and their ability to use “golden parachutes”. If the Secretary puts up a reverse auction (bidding starts high, then goes down) that would allow the government to be involved with the banks and cut the income, collapse the “golden parachutes” and put a limit on the bonuses or pay cheques.

What happens when the banks keep the toxic debts? The depositors have their money in an unhealthy bank, the stability of the bank is undermined. All in the name of greed, apparently.

Last night the candidates were asked what they would do first when they got into office. Personally, my agenda would be to find those very upper echelon people, investigate them using these refusals, and if possible persue charges. The other thing I would do is go into the books of Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac for some of the information on shady trading that is documented there and follow that up. Names of companies, traders, etc should be there, so find them, follow the paper trail and do what is necessary to take those same greedy, self-centered, narcissistic people out of the system, if only by taking away any licenses etc they may have.

Second on my agenda is those damn lobbyists. Kick them off the fat-cat train, get them out of the halls of the House of Representatives, the Senate, and off capital hill.  If necessary, create a law that makes lobbying highly limited. Yes, there are some lobbyist for education, schools, social issues, and they need to have a voice somewhere, but there are some lobbyists that want to promote greed, capitalism and money interests and those must be dealt with severely.

The entire world has now been sucked into this whirlwind. I can bet that a lot of people around the world are looking at the very shady business practices and cursing out loud. This is one mess that must be cleaned up, starting with those who pushed for the change in regulation in congress, in the banks, in the investment houses, and put those people out of power. That will include Paulson, because as an executive in Goldman Sachs he pushed for the opening of the door to creating some of these same toxic financial papers now choking the entire world banking system.

I can bet a lot of the people who played this pyramid scheme, ponzi game, whatever you want to call it, are now becoming aware of just how much damage they could cause. I can also bet that the impulse to find those people is growing. Let the law, the FBI, do that job.

I have read so much financial information in the last two weeks I almost feel like a banker myself. Good grief! Maybe this will, pardon the pun, pay off later. What I have found out is that putting trust in the stock market, the investment companies, is often betrayed. That betrayal is fast turning to anger, outrage, and frustration.

Obama needs to alleviate some of the frustration as quickly as possible. Find the players who played with lives, played with jobs, played with the stock markets by selling empty, toxic papers bundles, and abusing the trust of not only the American people, but the banks and people over the entire world. This will not be easy, mostly because the banks will demand privacy. Phooey! When you wreck an economy, cause people to loose homes, put self-centered greed and interest ahead of anything else, you have become a public figure, in my opinion.

Economists have no clear idea where this is going, mostly because this is unique. Yes, banks caused some recessions, Savings and Loan fiasco caused some serious losses, but this has become unique because it involves the world now. It started in the US, it started with the CEO’s and upper echelon, but it is going to finish off a huge number of jobs, good companies, and maybe a far longer list of decent neighbourhoods too.

Hang in there, this is going to be going where no man or woman has ever gone before, without the spaceship. We all live on one small planet, so maybe this is the time to truly become neighbours.