NPR

Congress today is moving to cut off funding to NPR. What a senseless act. NPR is one of the more balanced news stations that I care to listen too. It would appear that this is more like a Republican attack on what they perceive is a Democratic news outlet. I tend to think along the same lines. It would make sense for Republicans to try and cut off their opposition msnbc s base from it's main source of news and force them to rely on clearly bias news outlets like fox news or.  While I don't like fox news or msnbc at all and I barely consider them news stations I don't necessarily agree that NPR is 100 % fair and balanced. I think a far better solution would be to grant CSPAN a national radio designation I listen to them on XM right now but I wish it would work on regular radio. I think it's far  better to get the information straight from the horses mouth rather then second hand.

Separation of Corporation and State.

Having lived in this country all my life and heard how great the separation of church and state is (albeit a lie) I have yet to determine why we haven't amended in the separation of corporation and state. It seems in times like these that we need that the most. This form of democracy has become so dependent on the lobbyists and the corporate monetary input that little will of the people gets done without a seal of approval from a fortune 500 company.  

Take for example the health car law, the President basically had to sit down the Health care companies and get their blessing before he could even move. Its an obnoxious insult to the American People that our own president has to bow down before corporate greed. We deserve better.

I've seen information that Russ Feingold is forming a group that will focus on eliminating big business from politics. I hope that he can bring some common sense to the American People. I hope we can all wake up and see how we've been manipulated before it's too late.

The Mad City

Right now in my hometown there is some crazy stuff going on. Our elected Republican Governor is attempting to break the labor unions here in the state. There's lots of opinions and half truths flying around so it's hard to get a grasp of what's actually going on.

From what I've been able to find and look up the bottom line is Governor Walker want's to break up the unions. He's claiming it's about a budget shortfall, but the Unions have agreed to make concessions. The one thing they won't give up is their right to collectively bargain. Collective bargaining rights are essentially the unions way of negotiating as a block. Without those they would have little power to help employees.

So an example: A friend of mine's wife is a state employee in Wisconsin. She works for a county as a social worker. Most of her day is spent helping mentally ill people find the resources they need to either get better or maintain their lives. It's a hard thankless job. When she got the job it was mandatory for her to sign up for the union. In doing so she agreed to let the union negotiate pay raises for her, negotiate her benefits, and her pension.  If the bill were to pass she would be forced to take a 20% pay-cut and no longer have any right to ask for better benefits, pension or working conditions.

I see a lot of people saying how unfair the unions are and that at their jobs they are not allowed to demand better benefits, and that the way they solve the problem is to leave the job. That's a nobel idea but lets be realistic most people can't find other jobs right now. The whole point of the union is to be able to negotiate as a block and persuade large corporations to hear the voice of the few.

We live in an era where big business is getting bigger everyday, it's everywhere in our lives and has gotten to the point where it is our government now. The lobbyists of big business make the calls and the legislature bends to their every whim. Our recourse is to unionize and be sure that our voice is heard. Vote. Join a Union. Be the public that makes a change. Stop big business from running our lifes

Facebook...

I know that Facebook is big business, but since a huge percentage of people use it to communicate so do we. Find us at Facebook . The page is pretty ruff right now but hopefully we can find more people who care about our ideas.

The sky above...

The power of solar energy on our lifestyle could be an amazing thing. Imagine that your house could generate all the power it needs. Free from the grid, free from the wires, free from the monthly power bill. In fact if you could generate enough power you could sell it back to the power company and they would send you a check! Here's a great place to start http://www.solarpower.org/

An Excellent Example

I was perusing one of my many frequented inter-web sites and found the link to this website.  http://gardenpool.org  It's amazing how they took some useless hole in the ground and made a complete self sustaining environment. Definitely the direction we should be heading in. Imagine if each family in your suburb had a set up like this. If you worked together with them a small community could provide a whole variety of food. Say goodbye grocery bill.

Second

Ok now that we have that figured out.  Here's the scoop I'm doing this to try and help the people that are in dire need of assistance. The plan is to post ideas, links, and other useful information for people that are living paycheck to paycheck.  This isn't about politics or whose fault it is. It's about looking at where we are and what we can do to fix it.  Most information will lean toward an independent agrarian lifestyle. If you're an urbanite, a suburber, or from out in the sticks these posts will give you information on how to be self sufficient and not reliant on big business or big government to survive.

Feel free to comment on what is written, but please keep it civil.

... Yes I know I have grammar mistakes.