Most Americans are clueless about their water. Too few of us know where our precious water comes from; what kind of shape the delivery system (pipes, wells, storage tanks, etc)is in; have a clue about possible contaminents or vulnerability of nearby surface and/or groundwater resources.
This lack of knowledge is criminal and puts the future of our nation at risk.
According to the EPA, 36 states will face a water CRISIS in the next 10 years under normal rainfall conditions. Under drought conditions, the number jumps to 46!
Even though most areas of the nation have recently experienced plentiful rain and snow fall, groundwater basins from New Jersey and Maryland through Las Vegas to Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley are declining because water is being pumped out of them faster than it can be or will be replenished.
Desalination (taking salt and minerals out of sea water or non-potable "brackish" water) is EXPENSIVE and the process is an energy hog. Plus, ocean desal produces 100% marine mortality - any living thing sucked up into the machinery dies. PLUS Plus, where do you put the waste stream? If you dump the salt and minerals back into the ocean, you eventually change the PH of the area. Ask the folks in Dubai and elsewhere how the number and concentration of their fish species have changed since large scale ocean desal plants were built on their coasts.
We at Wankissima believe that water is THE ISSUE of the 21st Century ... and will far surpass the importance of oil, diamonds and gold together. Of course, we can all survive quite well without oil, diamonds and gold - but a human being in reasonable shape can only last 2-3 weeks without water.
Sadly, the water picture in other parts of the globe is even more dire than here - perhaps as many as a billion people have no daily access to enough clean water for the most rudimentary drinking and sanitation needs.
For thousands of years, the peoples of the world have fought bitterly over wealth, land, religion and yes, water. In the 21st Century, the desperate and increasing need for water for the Earth's billions of people will further buckle already strained water resources and infrastructure. So, now what?
Wankissima will continue to outline this issue and provide what we feel are some practical and reasonable solutions. In the meantime, FIND OUT WHERE YOUR WATER COMES FROM!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Most Red states are Marxist
Republican Senators/Congresspeople and conservative dissemblers like Rush and Glenn and Sarah and Sean and other BFHPL (big fat Hypocritan Party liars) yell and scream and moan and groan daily about how the nasty, socialist Democrats are ruining the country with all their taxing and spending. A familiar drone of the superbly rehearsed and mutually echoing Red State representatives and their mouthpieces can be heard each afternoon on the radio, in Houses of Congress sound bites and on nightly news shows who pretend to be fair and balanced but who don’t always reveal the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Republicans insist that Progressives are redistributing America’s wealth. Republicans are promising an angry constituency to once again be the party of fiscal responsibility. Whether NeoCon or Tea Partier, they declare with right hand on Protestant bible (heavens! Not Catholic or Morman) that they absolutely positively HATE Big Government; LOATHE Big Spending; DETEST Government Handouts and Bailouts.
Hmmm. Check THIS out:
Below, see the states that make real money from your taxes and ours. They can’t support themselves so they suck the life’s blood out of the national treasury. The first list details what the top ten least productive states receive in federal aid, funding and grants in exchange for each dollar they pay in. (Ms.Palin, see #5.)
1)D.C. ($6.17) 2. North Dakota ($2.03) 3. New Mexico ($1.89) 4. Mississippi $1.84) 5. Alaska ($1.82) 6. West Virginia ($1.74) 7. Montana ($1.64)
8. Alabama ($1.61) 9. South Dakota ($1.59) 10. Arkansas ($1.53)
THIS is a list of the top ten states who pay a great deal more in federal taxes than they get back. Each amount is per dollar paid in.
1.New Jersey ($0.62) 2. Connecticut ($0.64) 3. New Hampshire ($0.68) 4. Nevada ($0.73) 5. Illinois ($0.77) 6. Minnesota ($0.77) 7. Colorado ($0.79)
8. Massachusetts ($0.79) 9. California ($0.81) 10. New York ($0.81)
No wonder so many Blue states are in financial trouble – look what they’re dragging along behind them? Why should the richest states prop up the poorest? Isn't that Marxism? "From each according to his ability; to each according to his need."
Of course, tho the Bible contends that we are all our brothers' keepers, many of the most self-professed believers on our national stage act like it's a sin to reach out and help those less fortunate. Unless those unfortunates are constituents.
This list compiled by taxprofblog - 2004
Republicans insist that Progressives are redistributing America’s wealth. Republicans are promising an angry constituency to once again be the party of fiscal responsibility. Whether NeoCon or Tea Partier, they declare with right hand on Protestant bible (heavens! Not Catholic or Morman) that they absolutely positively HATE Big Government; LOATHE Big Spending; DETEST Government Handouts and Bailouts.
Hmmm. Check THIS out:
Below, see the states that make real money from your taxes and ours. They can’t support themselves so they suck the life’s blood out of the national treasury. The first list details what the top ten least productive states receive in federal aid, funding and grants in exchange for each dollar they pay in. (Ms.Palin, see #5.)
1)D.C. ($6.17) 2. North Dakota ($2.03) 3. New Mexico ($1.89) 4. Mississippi $1.84) 5. Alaska ($1.82) 6. West Virginia ($1.74) 7. Montana ($1.64)
8. Alabama ($1.61) 9. South Dakota ($1.59) 10. Arkansas ($1.53)
THIS is a list of the top ten states who pay a great deal more in federal taxes than they get back. Each amount is per dollar paid in.
1.New Jersey ($0.62) 2. Connecticut ($0.64) 3. New Hampshire ($0.68) 4. Nevada ($0.73) 5. Illinois ($0.77) 6. Minnesota ($0.77) 7. Colorado ($0.79)
8. Massachusetts ($0.79) 9. California ($0.81) 10. New York ($0.81)
No wonder so many Blue states are in financial trouble – look what they’re dragging along behind them? Why should the richest states prop up the poorest? Isn't that Marxism? "From each according to his ability; to each according to his need."
Of course, tho the Bible contends that we are all our brothers' keepers, many of the most self-professed believers on our national stage act like it's a sin to reach out and help those less fortunate. Unless those unfortunates are constituents.
This list compiled by taxprofblog - 2004
Friday, February 12, 2010
GOP loves the rich and mighty
Your mortgage is twice what your house is now worth. Or maybe you already lost your house. The Republicans are saying that most of you made bad financial decisions and must suffer the consequences.
Hey! You lost it to a bunch of thug-like bankers who GOT BAILED OUT WHEN THEY MADE BAD FINANCIAL DECISIONS! And then got billions in bonuses for screwing up. Known as "retention" bonuses, those payment's purpose was and is to keep valuable people (too valuable to fire) working at big banks (too big to fail.) The logic is: if you don't pay those geniuses tons of money (for accomplishing what Usama Bin Laden couldn't - bringing America's financial system to its knees), they might end up working for a financial competitor. Horrors!
And here's an interesting wrinkle - even people who had already left their jobs received "retention" bonuses!
Lost your job? Join the club and get to the back of the line - which is now 8 million people long. Of course, CEO's in some industries are making record salaries and getting millions of dollars in stock options. They made their companies less vulnerable by sending millions of guys and gals in entry level jobs to the unemployment lines. SCROTUS (Supreme Court Republicans of the United States) recently ruled that those rich and powerful companies who always slash the workforce first and then investigate company efficiency, can now spend as much moolah as they want to get their favorite elected officials re-elected.
When the Republicans controlled both Houses of Congress and the White House in 2004 and 2006 - how much healthcare reform did they pass? Zero, zilch, nada, rien de tout, zippo. In the long and storied history of this great nation, when Republicans controlled the White House and/or both Houses of Congress, how much healthcare reform did they pass? Please see preceding sentence.
And finally, you know all those conservative GOP southerners who rail and rant and rage against Big Government, Big Spending, the Big Bailout, the Big Tarp? And then pose for photographs with their constituents holding the Big Government Check? Most of those guys all represent states that pay $1.00 in federal taxes and get back $1.50 in federal aid. Or even $1.75. Blue states like California and New Jersey? They pay in $1.00 and get back $.73 or even less in federal aid. Could this be the REAL reason why some progressive blue states are in greater financial trouble than the antigressive reddest of the red states? Hmmm ...
Hey! You lost it to a bunch of thug-like bankers who GOT BAILED OUT WHEN THEY MADE BAD FINANCIAL DECISIONS! And then got billions in bonuses for screwing up. Known as "retention" bonuses, those payment's purpose was and is to keep valuable people (too valuable to fire) working at big banks (too big to fail.) The logic is: if you don't pay those geniuses tons of money (for accomplishing what Usama Bin Laden couldn't - bringing America's financial system to its knees), they might end up working for a financial competitor. Horrors!
And here's an interesting wrinkle - even people who had already left their jobs received "retention" bonuses!
Lost your job? Join the club and get to the back of the line - which is now 8 million people long. Of course, CEO's in some industries are making record salaries and getting millions of dollars in stock options. They made their companies less vulnerable by sending millions of guys and gals in entry level jobs to the unemployment lines. SCROTUS (Supreme Court Republicans of the United States) recently ruled that those rich and powerful companies who always slash the workforce first and then investigate company efficiency, can now spend as much moolah as they want to get their favorite elected officials re-elected.
When the Republicans controlled both Houses of Congress and the White House in 2004 and 2006 - how much healthcare reform did they pass? Zero, zilch, nada, rien de tout, zippo. In the long and storied history of this great nation, when Republicans controlled the White House and/or both Houses of Congress, how much healthcare reform did they pass? Please see preceding sentence.
And finally, you know all those conservative GOP southerners who rail and rant and rage against Big Government, Big Spending, the Big Bailout, the Big Tarp? And then pose for photographs with their constituents holding the Big Government Check? Most of those guys all represent states that pay $1.00 in federal taxes and get back $1.50 in federal aid. Or even $1.75. Blue states like California and New Jersey? They pay in $1.00 and get back $.73 or even less in federal aid. Could this be the REAL reason why some progressive blue states are in greater financial trouble than the antigressive reddest of the red states? Hmmm ...
Friday, February 5, 2010
Glenn Beck Castrato #2 indeedy doody
Glenn Beck has a sweet deal. Every time he gins ups the fear factor in America, he rakes in the gelt with both hands. Hey! It’s working! His estimated take is $38 million a year, making him well and truly an Official Fat Cat and yanking him farther and farther away from the realities of his everyman/woman base. (We use the word “realities” loosely here. Mr. Beck ain’t too grounded in FACT nor obviously does he wish to be.)
If you’ve ever listened to the nation’s greatest Chicken Little impersonator (THE SKY IS FALLING!!!), you’d realize he’s more full of twaddle than any Area 51 enthusiast and would humble Oliver Stone in a head-to-head conspiracy theory smack down.
His wildly outlandish assertions are unsupported by such trivialities as documentation, main stream experts, smoking guns or rational thinking. In one famous example, he revealed to his faithful listeners that the decorations on the very building from whence he broadcasts are actually powerful symbols of everything evil in the world. Such a brave man to go to work each day with no bodyguards or Catholic priests versed in exorcism! (Or does Beck, raised a rigorous Latter Day Saint, believe that Catholics and their Pope are Lucifer’s minions?)
Yes indeedy doody (with doody being the operative word) Glenn Beck appears to be a master of: the treachery treatise, intrigue ideology, cabal conjecture, perfidy premise and general major misconception. We think he is sowing the seeds of mistrust, casting aspersions, bearing false witness and profiteering mightily from it all. What do YOU think, lovely readers? Should we dub him the Hero of Hoohah? The King of Cuckoo? The Maven of Misery? The Foremost Fruitcake Aficionado?
We think we have a better idea. After careful consideration … we are proud to name Mr. Glenn Beck as Wankissima’s Castrato Numero Dos! His willful fear mongering and misinformation machine qualify him Eunuch-ly!
If you’ve ever listened to the nation’s greatest Chicken Little impersonator (THE SKY IS FALLING!!!), you’d realize he’s more full of twaddle than any Area 51 enthusiast and would humble Oliver Stone in a head-to-head conspiracy theory smack down.
His wildly outlandish assertions are unsupported by such trivialities as documentation, main stream experts, smoking guns or rational thinking. In one famous example, he revealed to his faithful listeners that the decorations on the very building from whence he broadcasts are actually powerful symbols of everything evil in the world. Such a brave man to go to work each day with no bodyguards or Catholic priests versed in exorcism! (Or does Beck, raised a rigorous Latter Day Saint, believe that Catholics and their Pope are Lucifer’s minions?)
Yes indeedy doody (with doody being the operative word) Glenn Beck appears to be a master of: the treachery treatise, intrigue ideology, cabal conjecture, perfidy premise and general major misconception. We think he is sowing the seeds of mistrust, casting aspersions, bearing false witness and profiteering mightily from it all. What do YOU think, lovely readers? Should we dub him the Hero of Hoohah? The King of Cuckoo? The Maven of Misery? The Foremost Fruitcake Aficionado?
We think we have a better idea. After careful consideration … we are proud to name Mr. Glenn Beck as Wankissima’s Castrato Numero Dos! His willful fear mongering and misinformation machine qualify him Eunuch-ly!
Monday, February 1, 2010
HR 615 makes Americans = to House and Senate
A vote for HR 615 would help put the average American voter on equal health insurance footing with Congressmen/women and Senators!! Hey what a Fabulous idea - especially considering THEY actually work for YOU AND ME!!!
Wankissima is ecstatic to report that on Tuesday, the Senate Health Committee approved, by a vote of 12-11, Senator Tom Coburn's amendment requiring that Members of Congress and their staff be covered by any new government-run health plan.
Congressman John Fleming is offering a similar amendment that would require Congressman/women and Senators to buy into the same health care insurance they mandate for all of us. (Currently, under proposed health care reform, Congress would be exempted from this law and could actually receive any health insurance they wished!)
We encourage all of our enthusiasts to go to Rep. Fleming's web site and SIGN THE PETITION in support of his amendment. Simply navigate to http://fleming.house.gov and follow the prompts.
Coburn and Fleming are both medical doctors which means they actually may know something about this important subject. So make your voice heard and tell your friends! After all, it's YOUR LIFE we're talking about here ... and your future.
Wankissima is ecstatic to report that on Tuesday, the Senate Health Committee approved, by a vote of 12-11, Senator Tom Coburn's amendment requiring that Members of Congress and their staff be covered by any new government-run health plan.
Congressman John Fleming is offering a similar amendment that would require Congressman/women and Senators to buy into the same health care insurance they mandate for all of us. (Currently, under proposed health care reform, Congress would be exempted from this law and could actually receive any health insurance they wished!)
We encourage all of our enthusiasts to go to Rep. Fleming's web site and SIGN THE PETITION in support of his amendment. Simply navigate to http://fleming.house.gov and follow the prompts.
Coburn and Fleming are both medical doctors which means they actually may know something about this important subject. So make your voice heard and tell your friends! After all, it's YOUR LIFE we're talking about here ... and your future.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Prez speech deserves YOUR time
Our Commander in Chief will be addressing us tonight on the State of the Union. You might be thinking "Snore time!" Or "So What?" Or "I've got better things to do than to listen to some smoke blown by some politician."
Think again.
People who don't vote get the government they deserve. And people who are not involved in the political process GET THE GOVERNMENT THEY DESERVE. SO STOP MOANING AND GROANING AND DO SOMETHING!
Rmember how many of us were swept up in the excitement of the last election? And then many of us disappeared from the political arena ... poof! So, the idiots that pretend to represent us went back to their very very bad and dishonest and disgusting and selfish and self-serving and fear based and war profiteering and totally partisan behavior. We may be crying boohoo now but WE let it happen.
These days, you can easily affect what Washington insiders do; what your state capital insiders do; what your City and County insiders do - tweet your opinions every day or every week. Go to their Face Book page and give them hell if that's what's on your mind. Keep your own little bursts of pressure ON and it WILL have an effect over time. Water torture takes a while but it does wear away stone eventually - how do you think the Grand Canyon was formed?
"Who am I by myself to make a difference in this big crazy world?" you might be asking yourself. Well, there's over 300,000,000 of us regular folks out here and we can kick some serious posterior.
You want more and better jobs for your age group? Let 'em know! Is healthcare on top of your list? Text or tweet today. And tomorrow. And next week and again the week after. Tired of fighting wars we can't win? Access your access. Bombard the jerks who are into their own scrofulous agendas at the expense of the wishes of the VOTERS. That's US!!!!!
This message is especially for the Futurists out there - you DO affect and change and create the universe you experience.
And if it takes too much time, if it's too much trouble, if you can't take the 30 seconds a day or a week to make your self HEARD - then you are getting the government you deserve. If you don't like it, at least bitch to the folks who can actually DO something!!!
Start tonight. Listen to Obama's speech. You don't have to agree. Just listen. Then think. Then COMMUNICATE!
Think again.
People who don't vote get the government they deserve. And people who are not involved in the political process GET THE GOVERNMENT THEY DESERVE. SO STOP MOANING AND GROANING AND DO SOMETHING!
Rmember how many of us were swept up in the excitement of the last election? And then many of us disappeared from the political arena ... poof! So, the idiots that pretend to represent us went back to their very very bad and dishonest and disgusting and selfish and self-serving and fear based and war profiteering and totally partisan behavior. We may be crying boohoo now but WE let it happen.
These days, you can easily affect what Washington insiders do; what your state capital insiders do; what your City and County insiders do - tweet your opinions every day or every week. Go to their Face Book page and give them hell if that's what's on your mind. Keep your own little bursts of pressure ON and it WILL have an effect over time. Water torture takes a while but it does wear away stone eventually - how do you think the Grand Canyon was formed?
"Who am I by myself to make a difference in this big crazy world?" you might be asking yourself. Well, there's over 300,000,000 of us regular folks out here and we can kick some serious posterior.
You want more and better jobs for your age group? Let 'em know! Is healthcare on top of your list? Text or tweet today. And tomorrow. And next week and again the week after. Tired of fighting wars we can't win? Access your access. Bombard the jerks who are into their own scrofulous agendas at the expense of the wishes of the VOTERS. That's US!!!!!
This message is especially for the Futurists out there - you DO affect and change and create the universe you experience.
And if it takes too much time, if it's too much trouble, if you can't take the 30 seconds a day or a week to make your self HEARD - then you are getting the government you deserve. If you don't like it, at least bitch to the folks who can actually DO something!!!
Start tonight. Listen to Obama's speech. You don't have to agree. Just listen. Then think. Then COMMUNICATE!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Supreme Court bought and paid for
The U.S. Supreme Court has finally gone the way of most other political office holders and appointees in this country by selling out American votes in favor of Big Business. In the past, an individual could spend as much as they wished to get someone elected. They could NOT give as much as they wished to any one candidate; that was limited to $2,400 per.
Corporations were limited on how much they could spend on getting someone elected and were also limited in direct contributions.
But our Unholy Nine have slapped all previous precedent to hell in a hand basket. They have ruled - contrary to all findings in this arena since the early-mid 20th century - that Corporate America is now the KING of US Politics. Not you and not us.
The conservative-heavy, conservative activist Group of 5 robber-barons reinterpreted the law, stood the law on its head, kicked the law in general to the curb by saying that Big Business can spend as much as it wants to help elect someone. This ruling means that Big Business will be much more important in all future elections THAN THE INDIVIDUAL VOTER and that the rich and mighty will totally trump regular old citizens like us!!!!
It gives Big Business a totally unequal footing over the Little Guy not to mention increased access; greater leverage to our elected officials.
Oddly enough, Conservatives have been boo-hooing non-stop about Sotomayor's supposed "activism" as a jurist since her nomination to the highest court. They were so afraid she'd "create new law." But the five old men who made this latest decision went where no previous Supreme Court did or dared to - because it isn't the law now nor has it ever been the law.
So, conservatives, where is your outrage? Tea Partiers, is THIS what you expect from your Court? Sen. McCain, why are you not expressing dismay and shock. Your campaign finance action with Sen. Russ Feingold was the right thing to do. Now you're expressing your "disappointment?" Where are your balls? Where are your GUTS? Have you all become Castrati?
Corporations were limited on how much they could spend on getting someone elected and were also limited in direct contributions.
But our Unholy Nine have slapped all previous precedent to hell in a hand basket. They have ruled - contrary to all findings in this arena since the early-mid 20th century - that Corporate America is now the KING of US Politics. Not you and not us.
The conservative-heavy, conservative activist Group of 5 robber-barons reinterpreted the law, stood the law on its head, kicked the law in general to the curb by saying that Big Business can spend as much as it wants to help elect someone. This ruling means that Big Business will be much more important in all future elections THAN THE INDIVIDUAL VOTER and that the rich and mighty will totally trump regular old citizens like us!!!!
It gives Big Business a totally unequal footing over the Little Guy not to mention increased access; greater leverage to our elected officials.
Oddly enough, Conservatives have been boo-hooing non-stop about Sotomayor's supposed "activism" as a jurist since her nomination to the highest court. They were so afraid she'd "create new law." But the five old men who made this latest decision went where no previous Supreme Court did or dared to - because it isn't the law now nor has it ever been the law.
So, conservatives, where is your outrage? Tea Partiers, is THIS what you expect from your Court? Sen. McCain, why are you not expressing dismay and shock. Your campaign finance action with Sen. Russ Feingold was the right thing to do. Now you're expressing your "disappointment?" Where are your balls? Where are your GUTS? Have you all become Castrati?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)