Friday, October 24, 2008

On My Soap Box

I just finished watching The 11th Hour, a documentary by Leonardo DiCaprio about the energy crisis. It was similar to Al Gore's movie in that it provided a lot of statistics but it was definitely more interesting. Not just a power point presentation. A few things really stuck with me.

1. Is Global Warming true? One person in the movie clearly stated that if you look at all the facts (I won't go into the facts here, you can watch the movie or do your own research), there is a change in many areas of nature that are not flowing in natural patterns. By "not believing" in global warming you are treating it like people treat religion. You choose to believe or not believe in a particular religion. But the facts of our climate change are indisputable. Facts are facts whether they are believed or not.

2. Our population growth. I did not realize how fast the world population is really growing. In 1800 it was less than 1 billion, 1900 about 1.6 billion, 1950 about 2.5 billion, 2000 about 6 billion and 2005 it was 6.45 billion. At some point our population will outgrow our resources. And I don't just mean oil but food. We have already seen glimpses of food shortages in other parts of the world that have had little affect here.

3. Corporate economic globalization. Big corporations are only more important to the government because they collectively have more money than individuals. Corporations run government not the people. It's a greed thing. Enough said.

4. Property vs. person. Everything is either property or it is a person. You think that the air you breath and the rain falling from the sky is free. But in Colorado and in some other parts of the world it is not. The Colorado Constitution prohibits individuals from collecting rainwater because you are taking it away from someone who has water rights further down the line. I found this out when looking for rain barrel collectors at online stores and saw there were warnings to those who live in Colorado. Who do you want controlling our precious resources. People or corporations?

5. (This was not in the movie but is from my own research) The majority of our world's food supply is controlled by big private corporations that are heavily supported by our government. They produce genetically uniform crops that have been genetically altered to: produce terminator seeds (they cannot reproduce), have resistance to chemicals like weed killer so that petroleum based pesticides and herbicides can be sprayed on them, have DNA that have been patented so that if your crop is contaminated by pollen from their plants at a nearby farm, you can be sued for paten infringement (link). The other problem with less diversity is your are taking a risk of major crop failure. Remember the advice to diversify in economics? If one year a particular bug becomes resistant to the pesticides it could wipe out the entire crop where that bug lives. One American company controls about 90 percent of genetically engineered soy, cotton and canola seed markets and has a large piece of the corn seed market. They also provide seeds or have cooperation with seed providers in nearly every type of seed out there.

11the Hour Trailer




Link to a movie about that seed corporation. I didn't put it on the blog because it automatically loads (annoying!).

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Sunday, October 12, 2008

Beverly Hills Chihuahua

Beverly Hills Chihuahua turned out to be a really cute movie! Logan and I went while Charles went to a football game. I thought it would be an okay talking dog movie for kids but it really was a lot better than that. There were many stars in the movie and of course the dogs were really cute.

Synopsis from Rotten Tomatoes website: (it's late and I'm tired!)
In the Disney comedy, BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA, a pampered Beverly Hills Chihuahua named Chloe (voice of DREW BARRYMORE) finds herself accidentally lost in the mean streets of Mexico without a day spa or Rodeo Drive boutique anywhere in sight. Now alone for the first time in her spoiled life, she must rely on some unexpected new friends -- including a street-hardened German Shepherd named Delgado (voice of ANDY GARCIA) and an amorous pup named Papi (voice of GEORGE LOPEZ) -- to lend her a paw and help her to find her inner strength on their incredible journey back home.

Walt Disney Pictures presents BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA, directed by Raja Gosnell (“Scooby Doo”), screenplay by Analisa LaBianco from a story by Jeff Bushell and starring an all-star cast including Piper Perabo, Manolo Cardona and Jamie Lee Curtis with the voices of Andy Garcia, Plácido Domingo, George Lopez, Edward James Olmos, Paul Rodriguez, Cheech Marin and Drew Barrymore.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Now How Did We Get Here Again?

One of the podcasts I listen to often is This American Life. This weeks story, called "365: Another Frightening Show About the Economy" is about credit default swaps. Never heard of them? Me neither. But it is one reason why we can't just turn this thing around without some serious government regulation of borrowing money and insurance on borrowing money. There are actually companies out there paying for insurance on other company's loans. The insurance is cheap with a modest return if your company makes good payments. The insurance price goes up with a great returns if your company is riskier. Does this sound a bit like gambling? That's why AIG had to be bailed out. They lost the bets and did not have the capital to pay out. There are regulations on house insurance for the average consumer but none on "credit default swaps" that are turning out to be the downfall of the economy. Crazy! You could say that episode it is Part 2 because they did another show, "355: The Giant Pool of Money", a while back that explained how the mortgage mess got started. The recent one can still be downloaded for free until Sunday. The other you have to listen from the website or pay 0.95 to download it. Both are worth a listen (about an hour each).

As I am writing this the DOW closed today at
9,447.11. Wow! I have yet to contribute to our IRAs this year and it looks like now is the time to buy. It may go down further but since I have a long time to retirement this might give me a bit of a head start (and make up for what I am losing right now!)

The following is an email that has been bouncing around. Wouldn't that be a surprise if it really happened. Unfortunately it would cause way more problems than it would solve, because too many Americans are foolish and greedy when it comes to money. Isn't that the REAL reason we are in this mess?

The Birk Economic Recovery Plan:

I’m against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG. Instead, I’m in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a “We Deserve It” dividend. To make the math simple, let’s assume there are 200,000,000 bonafide U.S. Citizens 18+. Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up..

So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billion that equals $425,000.00.

My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a “We Deserve It” dividend. Of course, it would NOT be tax free. So let’s assume a tax rate of 30%. Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes. That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam. But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket.

A husband and wife has $595,000.00. What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family?

Pay off your mortgage - housing crisis solved.
Repay college loans - what a great boost to new grads
Put away money for college - it’ll be there
Save in a bank - create money to loan to entrepreneurs.
Buy a new car - create jobs
Invest in the market - capital drives growth
Pay for you r parent’s medical insurance - health care improves
Enable Deadbeat Moms and Dads to come clean - or else

Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces.

If we’re going to re-distribute wealth let’s really do it…instead of trickling out a puny $1000.00 ( ‘vote buy’ ) economic incentive that is being proposed by one of our candidates for President.

If we’re going to do an $85 billion bailout, let’s bail out every adult U S Citizen 18+!

As for AIG - liquidate it. Sell off its parts. Let American General go back to being American General.
Sell off the real estate. Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up. Here’s my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn’t. Sure it’s a crazy idea that can ‘never work.’

But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party! How do you spell Economic Boom? I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion “We Deserve It”dividend more than I do the geniuses at AIG or in Washington DC .
And remember, The Birk plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam. Ahhh…I feel so much better getting that off my chest.

Kindest personal regards,

T. J. Birkenmeier, A Creative Guy & Citizen of the Republic

PS: Feel free to pass this along to your pals as it’s either good for a laugh or a tear or a very sobering thought on how to best use $85 Billion!!

Too bad this guy didn't have a calculator!
That is only $425 per person! I'll take the $1000!


Friday, October 3, 2008

Fall Garden

Tomorrow I hope to add to the fall garden. Hopefully carrots, garlic and mixed winter greens. We already have peppers on the jalapeño plant and the Cherokee Purple Tomato is already 8 inches tall. Both made it through Ike without any extra help from me. I also have some sage for fresh herbs to use in my holiday recipes. This winter I will go to the annual Urban Harvest fruit tree sale in January and will hopefully get some trees to provide more bounty to our fridge! I would love to get a satsuma tree, a lemon tree and an apple or pear tree.

I want to share a video. These people have a blog that I love and websites with lots of great gardening info.



It's hard to believe that they have property that is one fifth the size of ours and grow that much food. I am adding to ours slowly. But I am also trying to add things that do not require to be replanted every year. We shall see. Baby steps!