Sure, the waters that had been held back by tectonic plate, or the "vapor canopy" that supposedly surrounded the planet at the time, burst forth with catastrophic consequences, but Noah only had to worry about himself and ensuring the survival of lions, tigers, and bears. Fast forward a few thousand years, and we have much more to worry about: what the "manly-kind" has created, since Noah battled "The Deluge".
To be sure, the US is following right along, in the footsteps of the Japanese government - who initially attempted to play down the nuclear incident by not releasing accurate radiation data regarding Fukushima. So, it's nearly impossible to discern truth from rumor, but here is the latest:
Yesterday, the Missouri River breached a water-filled berm at the Nebraska nuclear power, Fort Calhoun, allowing at the very least, hundreds of gallons of water to reach containment buildings and transformers.
And, if that's not enough to keep you on the edge, the crack in the Gavins Point Dam will send you over. As of now, the Army Corps of Engineers is restricting foot trafficon all rocks, banks and roadways on land it owns below the Gavins Point Dam on the flooding Missouri River to ensure public safety. Well, that's nice...that is, for the people who believed Noah's animals peacefully lined up and marched on to the arc.
And to think, that for the last three decades, not only were trillions and trillions of dollars wasted on the creation of absolutely nothing (exotic derivatives), the best minds were employed uselessly to dream up what, in the end, they could not even understand, themselves. Just imagine if all of that money, time, and brain power was put to use engineering infrastructure that safeguard our well-being.
Update: FEMA states citizens must have bought flood insurance by May 2, in order to be covered.
"A federal official says people who bought flood insurance at the last minute after learning of plans to release record amounts of water through the Missouri River reservoir system will not have coverage for damage caused by the rising water. Barb Fitzpatrick of the Federal Emergency Management Agency says June 1 is the official start of the flood in the Dakotas because that's when the Garrison Dam began to release more water. Fitzpatrick says flood insurance underwritten by the federal government does not take effect until 30 days after it's purchased, so no policies bought after May 2 will cover damage from the high water that's expected to last for a month or two. That's the case even if the damage happens 30 days or more after the official start."
Update #2: : A levee failed three miles north of Brownville, NE. Evacuations ordered due to flash flooding.
Four of the nation's ten largest reserviors are along the Missouri River, and no one is sure if the six damns - Fort Peck, Fort Randall, Oahe, Garrison, Gavin's Point, Big Ben - built approximately 60-70 years ago, will hold up under the duress of the continuously swelling river.
“Missouri River water will remain dangerously high for the foreseeable future,” said Col. Anthony Hoffman of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Kansas City office.
The Army Corp of Engineers has released water from all six dams, in what they claim is an effort to relieve the pressure, and this is resulting in the flooding of the Missouri river to what can only be called: Biblical proportions.
"The rains were coupled with record water releases from six U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operated dams from Montana through South Dakota to relieve pressure on reservoirs swollen by snow melt and heavy rains...Peak releases are planned until at least mid-August and high flows are expected until December."
According to Bernard Shanks, an advisor to Resource Renewal Institute, these six dams - two of which, were build with a type of construction never used again, in part because Fort Peck failed when it was under construction, killing eight men who remain buried in that dam until today - are weakening, requiring, and have required massive amounts of maintenance and repair, as does most of our nation's failing infrastructure.
Gavins Point is expected to release 160,000 cubic feet of water per second starting today. The floodgates were opened on the largest of those dams, Garrison - built on a shale foundation, as was Oahe - for the first time in its history, about a week ago, and found problems with the spillway. If the spillways fail, the dams are made of earth, and there is no telling the problems that could occur. The reservior is approximately 175 miles long containing 20 million acre feet of water. With that much water, it could cause a domino effect resulting in the "most epic man-made disaster in the United States".
Fort Calhoun, is in emergency, and another reactor, Cooper, has been declared “notification of unusual event” as it is within an inch or two of being shut down. Cooper sits at 903 feet above sea level. 902 feet is the benchmark the river has to reach for its shut down. And, they're running out of sand.
In addition to the evacuations, every bridge from Saint Joseph, MO to Omaha Nebraska is closed, including countless numbers of roads and sections of interstate highway closings, making it very difficult, if not impossible to travel, which begs the question, how much did the government know, and when?
Which begs even further questioning: What the hell is going on? Is it just pure coincidence that scheduled military exercises (9/11 war games, Gifford shooting, etc.) often go live, or coincide with real life disaster? Is it just pure coincidence that thousands of FEMA camps are being set up throughout the country specifically for the American people? Are we going to see earthquakes, nuclear disasters, more biblical proportion flooding...maybe, as a pretext for mass evacuation of people into those FEMA camps?
If you still think this type of questioning is nuts, consider reality for a moment: the escalation of "Black Swan" events (events low probability and high consequence); the only difference being that many of these unpredictable events were predicted. Consider the government's obvious prior knowledge of the flooding along the Missouri River. Then, consider what they continue to focus on at the expense of everything else. Consider how they've chosen to allocate our tax dollars, our resources, and our troops, especially, in the face of long-term unemployment, skyrocketing foreclosures and the continuous invasion into other countries...then, consider the unbelievable tax-cuts to the wealthiest people in the world, many of whom, contributed to the collapse of our economy. Consider the Supreme Court rulings that favor corporations over we, the people, and the list goes on and on...
A few months ago - as far as I can tell, since I'm not sure the video I posted is the original - a US Air Force veteran (inactive reserve), uploaded a video (below) explaining that when you enlist, you are automatically obligated to eight years of a commitment. That means that beyond your four years of active duty, you can be called back at any time in the state of an emergency. He went on to say that inactive reserve units were being organized, in every branch, all over the country. What's surprising is not that inactive reserves are being called up; rather, that they are being called up, all across the country.
"Just look at us. Everything is backwards; everything is upside down. Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy knowledge, governments destroy freedom, the major media destroy information and religions destroy spirituality" - Michael Ellne
Well, unbeknownst to me, Libya has enough water to hydrate farms and people throughout the entire desert north of Africa and most of the Middle East for the next 500 years and beyond. Not only that, they've developed a way to distribute that water in the largest water project ever undertaken, by constructing a huge network of pipelines to transport the "fossil water" - found underneath the desert - to the coastal cities, where most Libyans live.
It all began back in the 1960s, during oil exploration deep in the southern Libyan desert, when vast reservoirs of high quality water was discovered in the form of four aquifers. Under the guidance of Qadhafi, a series of scientific studies were conducted to see how to bring this water to the people, and in October of 1983, the Great Man-made River Authority was created and "invested with the responsibility of taking water from the aquifers in the south, and conveying it by the most economical and practical means for use, predominantly for irrigation, in the Libyan coastal belt".
"The Great Man-Made River, as the largest water transport project ever undertaken, has been described as the "eighth wonder of the world". It carries more than five million cubic metres of water per day across the desert to coastal areas, vastly increasing the amount of arable land. The total cost of the huge project is expected to exceed $25 billion (US).
[...] The goal of the Libyan Arab people, embodied in the Great Man-Made River project, is to make Libya a source of agricultural abundance, capable of producing adequate food and water to supply its own needs and to share with neighboring countries.In short, the River is literally Libya's 'meal ticket' to self-sufficiency.
And, guess what? They didn't borrow one cent from International banks.
The river is a new lesson and an example in the struggle to achieve self-sufficiency, food security and true independence. No nation that depends on a foreign country to feed its people can be free. The Great River is a triumph against thirst and hunger. It is a defeat against ignorance and backwardness. It reflects the determination of Libyans to resist colonial pressure, to acquire technology, to develop, to improve their lives, and to control their own destiny in accordance with their own free will." -- Ali Baghdadi
So, now, the "humanitarian" thing to do is invade, destroy and wipe out, not only the people, but the "eighth wonder of the world"? Oh, wait, that's right, the term, humanitarian, in doublespeak, is defined as mean, inhumane, malevolent, uncharitable, unkind, unsympathetic. That makes a lot more sense.
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The body of Gul Mudin, the son of a farmer, killed on 1/15/10. A member of the "kill team" is posing behind him. Der SPIEGEL published 4 photos from the hundreds, possibly even thousands of images and videos it has seen.
Try, for a moment, to forget everything the corporately owned mainstream propaganda machine spits out, and take a look at the big picture of America, right now.
Our nation's infrastructure is crumbling. Trillions of dollars has disappeared from our treasury. The poverty rate continues to escalate. Americans are losing their homes at an alarming rate due to systemic fraud, so massive, that it's virtually incomprehensible. The middle-class is gradually disappearing. Domestic unemployment remains near 10% (or triple that, if you add in all of the unemployed adults capable of work, yet not fully employed). Over 50 million Americans lack sufficient health care. Billionaire banksters and corporate elites continue to reap reward for plundering our nation's economy, growing wealthier by the minute. Meanwhile, our government, bypassing Congress, in violation of our Constitution, under the guise of saving others, continues to invade one resource-rich country after another, killing and horrifically injuring millions of innocent civilians...and sometimes, for the pure joy of it.
Consider for one moment, how we, the people would react if any other country dared to do to us what we continue to do to them. Imagine the terror of living everyday, surrounded by death squads, house raids, checkpoints, detentions, curfews, unmanned predator drones constantly flying overhead, ready to fire at anything that these soulless machines deem suspicious, and the constant flow of blood in our streets. Imagine the terror of knowing that thousands of fully armed foreign soldiers and mercenaries - trained killers - roam our soil, free to do whatever they want, with impunity. Now, who are the terrorists, again?
So, it should not come as any surprise that some of our troops are participating in monstrously evil acts for fun. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of horrific photos of our soldiers killing unarmed civilians, otherwise known as "free kills" in soldier speak, were finally released on Der Spiegel, yesterday. But, the Daily Censored reported on this back in September of 2010. One has to wonder why it took so long to come to our attention.
As one person commented, this is not a single occurrence...these atrocious acts are ongoing, as fatigued soldiers, wrapped up in layer upon layer of protective covering, no longer differentiate between civilians and combatants - who, in their indoctrinated eyes, are considered less than human, in this "kill or be killed" environment.
"It's not just a couple of soldiers, my nephew is in the army and is on his 4th time over there, he's seen too many of US soldiers making free kills just for the fun of it. There's no such just 2 individual soldiers doing this. It's happening more often than you might think. That's the reality and it's not funny anymore."
No, this type of "group evil"...this blood lust flows out, like the demons inside Pandora's box, from maintaining a constant atmosphere drenched in the pathology of war. Moreover, these illegal wars are not fought for the "greater good", they are created to line the pockets, and to increase the power of the predators and parasites who reside at the top of the global food chain. When profit, power and status trump human life, exhibited in the excess of materialism that pervades American culture, barbaric acts, like the ones that these soldiers (who just happened to be caught) committed, will continue to escalate, as it is an integral part of warfare that is perpetuated only to feed the greedy beast of empire.
The bottom line is that our hands are smeared in the blood of tens of thousands of human casualties. After all, not only are we aware of all of the wars in our name, we also know that the military very often serves as a dumping ground for the most incorrigible of our nation's children. It is we, the people, in effect, who choose, employ, and pay America's soldiers to do our dirty work...our killing for us.
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation…want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightening, they want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters…. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will." -- Frederick Douglass, 1857
Even in a crisis situation, where one would think that change is the obvious solution, the biggest obstacle is pervasive fear...a fear that those in power know how to fully exploit.
Since the Reagan years, the international financial elite manipulated the markets to create obscene rewards for themselves, at the expense of poor and middle class people across the world.
They use/used devious derivatives, cunning CDOS, and other trickery and siphoned off ever-larger portions of the surplus value created by the producers of real goods and services.
However, when their own greed blew up in their faces, annihilating, in slow motion, the corrupt system built to serve them, what did we do? Bail them out. Help them rebuild their corrupt system. In other words, nothing's changed.
Our consumer-based, materialistic-driven model of society is deteriorating, yet we offer nothing in its place. Why? Because we've allowed those who, if anything continue to benefit from our suffering, to scare us away from eliminating the old systems that no longer work.
It's time to confront the fear-mongers and swap out useless, worthless, derivatives for buildings, bridges, highways, health care facilities, public transportation, etc. It's time to take on unemployment and repair our nation’s infrastructure.
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Seventy-years ago, the United States started to create the world's most superior infrastructure that served to tie America together, creating a superpower. By 1961, when much of our infrastructure was practically brand new, and in working order, still realizing the importance of a solid underpinning, we allocated 12% of the federal budget for that cutting edge infrastructure.
Today, after decades of neglect, and as communities start to confront horrifying infrastructure breakdowns, we have chosen to allocate only 2% of our federal budget. The backlog of problems is now too big for any state budget to handle; resulting in each city sitting on a minefield of potential time bombs, because when infrastructure doesn't do its job, the results can wipe out entire communities, which begs the question: Why do people have to die before it becomes a national agenda?
On August 14, 2003, one line shorted that resulted in the blackout that put New York City, a large portion of six states, and Ontario, Canada in the dark, providing one of too many examples of the truth about infrastructure in America. When the electricity stops, everything stops, and we're back to the 1800s. The longer that blackout lasts, the farther back in history we go. As it stands now, the industry needs to spend $5 Trillion by 2030 to repair and expand the power grid.
Speed is everything in the global economy, yet, compared to the rest of the world, America is stuck in the slow lane, because rather than investing in our future - roads, bridges, highways, transit systems, rail systems, airports, dams, sewage system, power grid, levees, pipes - and rebuilding our assets, we chose to spend the money frivolously, investing in nothing. Meanwhile, our aging infrastructure, so intrinsic to our society, is rotting, crumbling, eroding, and obsolete. Double, triple, quadruple the demand on these deteriorating fundamental facilities and systems and you have a formula for disaster.
Take the Delaware Aqueduct (85 miles long), five feet in diameter, between 300-1,500 feet in the ground, and 70 years old, it is the longest continuous tunnel in the world. The water tunnel's chiefly responsible for quenching New York City's thirst, which requires two billion gallons of water a day. Constructed between 1937 and 1945, when high-grade materials were scarce; it's no surprise that today it is leaking massively. There are communities sitting on top of that pipe. Literally they're flooding from underneath and the result is that they're sinking into the ground. However, the Aqueduct hasn't been shut down for inspection since 1957, because engineers fear it could collapse without the pressure of water surging through the system. Planning is underway for an eventual shutdown, but it's going to cost billions of dollars, and that's only if we're lucky enough to get to it before it totally collapses. At that point, the cost will be incomprehensible.
Then there are America's roads and highways. They are headed for a crashing collapse because federal, state and local governments haven't spent the hundreds of billions of dollars needed for maintenance and repair. Built to last 50-years, two-thirds of our busiest roads are now 50-years or older and 33% of our major highways are in poor or mediocre condition.
We can't afford to ignore the most crucial issue - our nation's crumbling infrastructure - absolutely necessary to remain economically competitive any more. Already, it has deteriorated so badly that it is threatening our nation’s economic viability, possibly to the point of plunging the status of America to that of a third world country. Rather than remain a third world country waiting to happen, we must make sure we do not pass up this critical opportunity, to not only prevent total disaster, but also create new jobs on a vast scale at the same time.
Let's face it, most of us, who were sheltered by a certain amount of wealth, were "free market" advocates. Brainwashed, perhaps, however, fully supportive of the idea that interference in the "free market" system is akin to treason, we never asked ourselves, where's the freedom in "free market"?
Or, in what universe are the markets free when a few large corporations completely control the supply and the price of commodities? At least, I didn't. Anyway, if that's the case, why did we the "wealthy enough to be comfortable" worship at the altar of laissez faire?
The simple answer is, as George Orwell put it, "money-sheltered ignorance". That between the illusion of our own sense of security, too much wealth, and 'willful' or 'distracted easily' ignorance of what was really going on; we the "wealthy enough to be comfortable" fell asleep at the wheel. The market was never free.
However, now, that we're in a financial crisis that effects all of us, even those at the top of the pyramid, it's clear that the "free market" did not, does not and will not guarantee economic efficiency or social justice all by itself. Government must interfere in order to avoid inequity and social stratification in the extreme. As President Obama indicated, the size of government matters little...what matters is if government works.
The chance for freedom is here, and it's up to we, the people privileged enough to remain ignorant of the reality of "free market" economics, to transcend any leftover greedy impulses to determine what will really work to stimulate our economy for all of us, rather than just the few.
So, what's the best way to get the most bang for our buck?
Consider this. People who literally live paycheck to paycheck have no choice but to spend every dollar received. Whether it's spent on groceries, gas for their car, or electricity to heat their home, etc., the working poor and lower income America cannot afford to stash their money away. Therefore, this group of people should be targeted to stimulate the economy.
For every $1 spent on food stamps; $1.73 is generated in economic activity.
For every $1 spent on unemployment; $1.64 is generated in economic activity.
For every $1 spent on infrastructure; $1.40 is generated in economic activity.
For every $1 spent on tax cuts; $103 is generated in economic activity.
For every $1 spent on business incentive tax breaks, for example, "accelerated depreciation" or tax breaks for buying new equipment; $ .33 cents is generated in economic activity.
Not to mention, the greatest way to induce spending is to direct a large part of the stimulus toward the states and other localities because without federal aid, states must cut spending, therefore deepening the recession even further.
Unfortunately, President Obama's reality is that, in order to pass a stimulus package, he must conciliate to those stuck in the old framework. However, the more that we, the people stand up, the less conciliatory the President has to be.
No, the Founding Fathers have not come back to life - although if they did, they wouldn't last long after witnessing what's left of the Constitution - however, their writings and example send a clear message on the topic of "open access".
Some proprietary companies claim and will continue to claim that open source or open access is communist or anti-American. The Founding Fathers would have claimed the opposite, as they had definite opinions on the free flow of information and remained very skeptical about copyright laws. They would cringe at the idea of extending copyright as we do today, as it creates monopolies and offers no public benefit. Consider the greatest inventor of all time, Benjamin Franklin, who never patented a thing he invented.
Almost 240 years ago, a good friend of Ben Franklin, Joseph Priestly, illustrates this point further. Primarily famous for figuring out that plants create "good air" therefore replacing the air animals consume, Priestly proved to be revolutionary in more fields than one - in particular, science, religion, and politics - and far more influential than he was given credit.
According to Steven Johnson, author of "The Invention of Air: A Story of Science, Faith, Revolution, and the Birth of America" Priestly is "the missing philosophical link between our founding fathers." Priestly greatly influenced the Founding Fathers including Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, who Priestley wrote to after his discovery of "good air" and with whom he had a collaborative and intellectual relationship.
"That the vegetable creation should restore the air which is spoiled by the animal part of it, looks like a rational system." -- Ben Franklin responding to Priestly
Years later, after Priestly accepted a job as a minister, he moved into a temporary residence adjacent to a brewery, to await the house he was supposed to move. While there, he noticed a haze coming off the brewing beer and upon further investigation, discovered carbonation, hence his discovery of soda water. He immediately published the recipe for his new invention without thought to profit, as Steve Johnson writes, "The idea of proprietary secrets, of withholding information for personal gain, was unimaginable in that group." Of course, years later, in 1783, Johann Schweppe patented the process, which continues to provide "personal gain" through today.
Ben Franklin said the following regarding the subject of open access after he invented the Franklin stove:
I wrote and published a pamphlet, entitled "An Account of the new-invented Pennsylvania Fireplaces; wherein their Construction and Manner of Operation is particularly explained; their Advantages above every other Method of warming Rooms demonstrated; and all Objections that have been raised against the Use of them answered and obviated," etc. This pamphlet had a good effect. Gov'r. Thomas was so pleas'd with the construction of this stove, as described in it, that he offered to give me a patent for the sole vending of them for a term of years; but I declin'd it from a principle which has ever weighed with me on such occasions, viz., That, as we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generously. -- Ben Franklin
The idea behind the Founding Father's thinking was that the free flow of ideas and information foster the growth of original thought, and as Ben Franklin said, attract the attention of genius who can improve upon and solve problems half understood.
Fast forward to the last Presidential campaign. Obama used open source software and McCain used proprietary software. With proprietary, society gets the soda water, and with open source or open access, society gets soda water and the recipe for the soda water. President-elect Obama's tech agenda seems to support the latter. His choice of Julius Genachowski to chair the FCC is at the very least, an improvement. So, even though the first stab at a Broadband Bill is disappointing, it appears that net neutrality, open source and a more level playing field just might have a chance.
"We can’t allow a system of gatekeepers to get built into the network. The Internet shouldn’t be harnessed for the profit of a few, rather than the good of the many; value should come from the quality of information, not the control of access to it." -- Damian Kulash Jr. lead singer of OK Go
Two weeks ago, 1,000 Iraqi soldiers and police refused to fight during the battle against Shiite militias in Basra. My first reaction was anger. I asked myself, "What's with these people? It has been five years already...they have to get it together so we can get out of there!"
Then it occurred to me how easy it was for me to say that, enveloped in American sumptuousness, by comparison, and fortunate enough to be born a citizen of the most secure nation on earth. And, should something out of the ordinary occur such as 9/11, I will, at the very least be counted among the missing or dead, unlike Iraq where the civilian death toll could range anywhere from one-hundred thousand to one million people, people who were only trying to follow the pursuits of "civil' life.
There is no shortage of estimates, but they vary enormously. The Iraqi ministry of health initially tried to keep a count based on morgue records but then stopped releasing figures under pressure from the US-supported government in the Green Zone. The director of the Baghdad morgue, already under stress because of the mounting horror of his work, was threatened with death on the grounds that by publishing statistics he was causing embarrassment. The families of the bereaved wanted him to tell the truth, but like other professionals he came to the view that he had to flee Iraq.
Nope, I'm not living in the midst of what can only be called a humanitarian catastrophe. I don't have to risk my life, waiting in line, for three to four days every time I need to fill up my gas tank or petroleum to heat my home.
Baghdad, Iraq: An Iraqi woman gestures as she reacts to her plight after waiting in a queue to buy petrol for three days, with others to fill up her containers with petrol for heating. The woman is nearing the front of the queue after three days waiting in line, now with only a few people ahead of her to buy rationed fuel.
I don't have to worry about whether I have clean running water, electricity, proper sanitation...whether the hospitals, schools and/or any of the other institutions I take for granted, will be there, will not be when I need them most. I don't have to worry every time the phone rings - that is, if it works at all - that it's to deliver tragic news or is a desperate call for help when I myself am paralyzed to do anything about it. The bottom line is my basic needs are more than met and in an emergency, I'm confident, despite Katrina, that our national and local government will not obstruct me from or deny me access to the basic services designed to make me, at the very least, able to focus on what is required of me to act as a responsible citizen.
Iraq remains in a state of protracted humanitarian crisis as a result of ongoing conflict, including violence or the threat of violence against the civilian population, widespread abuses of human rights, and lack of capacity of the national authority to assist affected civilians. There are massive constraints on humanitarian access, impeding the humanitarian community in its provision of adequate and timely assistance.
Five years later, the Iraqis are not better off, in fact, things are much worse as Crooks and Liars point out:
* 43% of population lives in absolute poverty * Prior to war 19% of children suffered malnutrition; today 28% * Last year 75% elementary-aged kids went to school; now 30% * Prior to war 50% lacked access to clean water; now 70% * Only 50 of 142 primary health care centers are open to public.
Despite my comfort level, and the safety and security this country offers me, I, like any other person experience stress. There is a certain level of stress - our body’s response to a challenge, that makes us more productive, valuable and/or responsible, however; excessive stress can potentially paralyze, making us essentially useless. Needless to say, the Iraqi population is suffering to the point that the word stress does not adequately convey their situation.
So, how can I expect Iraqis to "stand up," as Bush says, in order to let "America" stand down when I, like the majority of Americans have never experienced conditions that strip a person of not only their basic needs, but leaves a person without any alternatives other than to wait for that bullet, bomb or disease to wipe him or her out.
The Bush administration tries to compare our attempt at "democratizing" Iraq to the American Revolution, however; we, the people decided to take that giant step, whereas the Iraqis had no choice...they were ironically bullied into setting up a "democracy".
Imagine if France took it upon themselves to democratize the American colonies and waged war on the colonists, attacking them until they agreed to "fight" for their "independence". The United States of America would have never seen the light of day. There is no way in hell the spirited people who fought so hard to free themselves from British rule, would knuckle under, to of all people, the French.
It's very possible that removing ourselves from the picture is exactly the motivation the Iraqis need to "stand up" for themselves. After all, who wants to take orders from the country that invaded their country, destroyed their infrastructure, and transformed the majority of their lives into a living hell? It is time to manifest the American ingenuity we love to brag so much about to not only confirm our destiny as a nation, but to assist the Iraqis build up Iraq's future Iraqian style instead of tearing it down Haliburton style.
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The Top 25 Countries:
The Capital Access Index ranks countries around the world by the type of financial infrastructures that support entrepreneurial activity by providing access to capital.
The index looks at macroeconomic environments, financial and banking institutions, the development of the equity and bond markets, and alternative capital sources.
Because access to capital creates an atmosphere where making innovative ideas come to fruition more likely, and in addition, the likelihood of technological advancement, job creation, and an increased quality of life, the index is a good tool for measuring how countries can improve their financial infrastructure.
The United States, which dropped from fourth to fifth last year, slipped off the top 10 rankings completely in the 2007 index, to 11th place. This was due to a weaker macroeconomic environment, including higher and more volatile interest rates and higher inflation, compared to the other top 10 countries.
Our current health care system is weakening and tearing apart the strands that hold together the fabric of our society more and more every day. Since 2000, employment-based health insurance premiums have increased 87%, rising four times faster than wages. Our out of pocket expenses, co-pays, deductibles etc, have increased 115% and the average employee contribution to company-provided health insurance has increased more than 143%.
The hospitals, insurance companies, and the government health care system are all driven by "economies of scale" thinking which base its decisions, not on what is best for the patient, rather decisions are based on what will result in enormous profits for the industries involved.
There is no safety net. Medicaid only covers a small fraction of people without health insurance. The eligibility rules vary widely state to state, and most states require people to be completely destitute parents to qualify. In some states working adults without children can get Medicaid coverage for themselves but only if they make less than, let's say 30-40% of the federal poverty level, or in other words, $3-4,000/year. Medicaid eligibility discourages people from working because most programs only allow people to earn a salary below the poverty level in order to qualify. Where is the incentive to work more hours or find better employment?
The bottom line is that it's next to impossible to secure health benefits for the average American today unless their employer offers it, and even then it's becoming prohibitively expensive. If we allow the health of American citizens to deteriorate in the most affluent country on earth, not only does it place a great burden on our labor force, infrastructure, and market system, it calls into question how civilized "We the People" really are. Ignoring the needs of the sick so that big industry can profit is heartless, insensitive, greedy and self-serving and much more characteristic of a barbaric society than the enlightened, continually evolving nation we claim to be.
We cannot continue to allow billions of our tax dollars to fund what is ultimately destructive to the public interest, and at the same time, refuse citizens who work hard, pay taxes, and play by the rules, decent health care. If we permit American citizens to fall into economic hardship because of health care costs, we are no different than the many"civilizations" that have gone before us, failing because of their inability to transcend the selfish, power hungry part of human nature.
"A chain is only as strong as its weakest link”, is a common metaphor often applied to groups of people from small organizations to -- in an era of global economies and growing interdependence -- the world at large. However, although this statement is true as far as a chain and a broken link, fortunately, this analogy is only partially true when applied to society or government, because one broken link will not render society or government useless. The reality is the strength of the other links will normally compensate for the broken one and society will continue to function. "Fabric is only as strong as its weakest threads" might be more accurate when referring to how groups of people function. A broken health care system, if not mended soon, will inevitably unravel the societal fabric weaving us all together.
We are at a crucial crossroads in American history and our decisions regarding the value we place on the quality of human life could either result in a "New Enlightenment" age or signal the beginning of the end of what was a very noble experiment in democracy.
