I am not out-right making claims against those who advocate for clean-air, recycling, conservation, changing behaviors and attitudes regarding the environment, etc. I am only tring to add to the discussion.

I think that “sustainable developement” sounds great, but we have to define what that is. Just as “freedom” sounds good, what is one going to do to get it? Are you going to raise taxes? Send in armed forces?

I am all for alternative energies, but are we going to tax and subsidize? Or are we going to educate and produce to provide for the common good.

One way I see the world situation is this: On one side we have “global warming” and on the other we have “the war on terror”. So we have two wars that are going to adversely affect all areas of life for everyone in the world and the whole situation is a giant power grab for the unelected officials (read: bureaucrats) in world government bodies and the corporations that are subsidized and empowered through these global agencies by taxpayers worldwide.
What kind of negative effects will this have? Hard to say, but my guess is that it won’t be good. This is why I like WERU, because it is localized, not global. We may talk about global issues, but we should be very careful about what measures we advocate for the world.

There are obvious reasons as to why one should be skeptical. Just look at the first Earth Day celebration. Can anyone say ” ice age”? Now the tables are reversed and the outcome is the same: people are in danger and something needs to be done now!!
Both the war on terror and the global warming crisis can and will be exploited for alterior motives and must be heavily scrutinized.
Measures taken to minimize risks and ensure life and prosperity should be done as locally as possible and power should not be delegated to a global body!

Education is the key!!

i know that we do the best with what we know and what we have. and we have disagreements about the best ways to achieve the goals we set for ourselves. and that’s just the point. to claim that “free markets” are responsible for what we are facing today is patently false. free markets are just an ideal that people strive for in general. a free society is made of voluntary associations and the like. but today in america we have managed trade domestically and internationally, for decades we have had the welfare state, and also the warfare state.

and what do we have because of it? just as one has trouble explaing how we are better off with programs as we have, one will have a tough time proving we’d be better off without them. I think free markets are best.

government sponsored enterprises (GSE) like fannie mae (FNMA: federal national mortgage association) finances 1 out of every 5 home loans in the US. Why is this important? this type of business has been going on since 1938. The VA (Veterans Admin) and FHA (Federal Housing Admin) enabled Fannie to expand its purchasing and lending abilitiy.

During Lyndon Johnson’s time in the late 60’s Ginnie Mae (GNMA: Gov’t Nat’l Mortgage Assoc) came into existence and also converted Fannie in to a semi private corporation.

The list goes on concerning this critical market in the economy here in America.
Essentially, the importance in all of this is the fact that we are talking about corporations “chartered by states” that have intervened in the “free market”. Guaranteed by government businesses have a different set of rules applied.

Maybe one might want to ask why fannie mae stopped filing its financial statements with the SEC in 2004.
And why did Greenspan step down just when things were about to hit the fan?
This economic problem we face has been coming for quite a while.

The same dynamic can be applied to any type of “welfare” program, not just for corporations. Can anyone describe what a fascist government is? Mussolini said it should be called “corporatism” not fascism.
or maybe we should speak of socialism? maybe you support these ideas? i don’t. sorry.
if one wants to engage in these ideas voluntarily that’s fine. but not at the barrel of a gun. that’s just wrong.

People are all fighting in Washington DC for a cut. Much of this money should never have gone to DC.
To add to the complex issues we face the Federal Reserve. A semi-private banking system that “monetizes debt”. If you don’t know what that means, look it up. Talk about profits. Their assets are in the trillions. Meanwhile, they claim to fight inflation. Not only that. Central banks are international. Our money is fiat. This means that our money is subject to political whims. Not the market.
And central banks are international.

this is why ron paul gets so much flack. not just from the establishment, but from the generations of people that have grown up in this america we see today. how can ron paul’s ideas work people ask? what would we do without social security, or the income tax, or the federal reserve? and in response one can ask, what good have they done? are they not so embedded in our system, one that is failing left and right, that it is very hard to get rid of?

only true monopolies can exist with government enforcement. a free market enables the people to have more influence in their lives. once a government program has been initiated does it ever go away? spending is the major issue today, not one person except for ron paul is going to deal with that issue.

im sorry, but we can’t have our cake and eat it too. not when we don’t even have the ingredients to make the cake.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGaZsAeMKFo

I can’t believe the American people. How disappointing. I know that the corporate media has done a lot to keep some of the best candidates out of the lime light because ‘they’ think certain candidates are ‘fringe’ or ‘can’t win’. But the people are seeing this injustice now more than ever.

And people want change. Or experience. But what change, and what kind of experience? What about knowledge and insight?

One has to wonder why a man that has been right about the “war” and the economy isn’t listened to?

Some people strategize on how to win the general election. The democrats have said they arre happy with McCain or Romney, or even Huckabee for that matter. They are confident the Democrats will seat the next President. I happen to agree. But considering the problems we face as a nation I do not think that either Obama or Clinton are the best choices. Maybe at a time in history when we could afford to be liberal, maybe. But right now we have recession, maybe depression. We also have war, and “terror”. Not one candidate left has addressed these issues with as much honesty or insight as Ron Paul. Yet we as a nation are not willing to look past our prejudices and bias to admit that we have made mistakes and its time to correct them. The people are the ones who suffer and we should make sure that they are the ones who have the most authority in their lives about the decisions that need to be made. Only Ron Paul is talking about making the issues more localized and thereby empowering the people. How is that impractical? Can government make me compassionate? I don’t buy that.

There is so much to talk about and address. But what he says is so true. Are they not? Explain to me please how we can address the issues he raises yet continue to ignore them?

Obama is not going to bring the troops home. He is going to redeploy them. So will Clinton.

Both are going to spend lots of money. All the candidates will. Only Ron Paul will reduce ’spending’. With a debt of 60 trillion plus, I would think this would be a priority. The people continue to ignore this at their own peril. Of course they could use the help of a leader to explain the problem we face. Ron Paul is not telling anyone what to do. He is only trying to educate them. Lets hope they elect a teacher this time around, not a dictator or micromanager.

Disclaimer: I’m not an essayist. I hope peole get the point and maybe even respond.

This legislation will…

–Repeal the “Military Commissions Act of 2007” and thereby restore the ancient right of habeas corpus and end legally sanctioned torture by U.S. government agents

–Restore the ”Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act” (FISA) and thereby outlaw warrantless spying on American citizens by the President of the United States

–Give Congress standing in court to challenge the President’s use of “signing statements” as a means to avoid executing the nation’s laws

–Make it illegal for government agents to kidnap people and send them abroad to be tortured by foreign governments

–Provide legal protection to journalists who expose wrong-doing by the Federal government

–Prohibit the use of secret evidence to label groups or individuals as terrorists for the purpose of criminal or civil sanctions

- Zachary -

I’m interested in simplifying reinforcement further. Use of overlapping rings to build upon fundamental principles of predominantly fine gauge wires as primary reinforcement. Perhaps even rather than coated steel wire I’ll bet the newly distributed high strength plastic might replace metal use all together. However, at present it is only sold chopped up into fibers. (PVA plastic is poly vinyl alcohol). As far as differential expansion of normal materials is concerned, the rings reduce the differential length over-which steel and cement would need to differ. Whereas rebar needs to be much longer. With a decent shop set up, my bet is that ring reinforcement would be competitive.

One cement manufacturer is promising an ultimate pre mixed cement which claims to need no-other reinforcement wires or bars at all. It is said to have ductile properties similar but less than mild steel. Ductal: http://www.ductal-lafarge.com/ . However, it seems unavailable and would require complicating curing methods. In any case, one of the ingredients might be PVA.

Great show, just wanted to contribute a few thoughts and can’t always tune in live. I enjoyed your talk of ferrocement on line. ~Bo