Tuesday, April 17, 2012
TAXES ARE PAID
It is April 16th, and I mailed tax returns to the federal and Minnesota state government today. One check and one refund request. I did it myself - not a big deal if you aren't a tax dodger, and if you learned to do arithmetic as a child.
The larger question is what are "they" doing with the revenue from our Individual Income Tax submissions? First the Feds: the Pentagon gets the largest share of our "dues." Tax apologists like this writer have called taxes the "dues we pay for a civilized society."
Recent news reports have documented what a terrible job the Army has done with its weapons procurement. "Two - two - and half" was the summary. An Army weapons project typically overruns to Twice the proposed budget, takes Twice as long as promised, and delivers Half of the expected performance. Some projects are cancelled only after its Research and Development has been completed.
Despite some attempts, we are told that there has not been a complete and successful audit of the total Pentagon budget in many years.
Our military readiness continues to be pretty good for fighting the last war and the one before that. We have a lot of tanks and armored personnel carriers, long-range jet bombers (older than the pilots), and twelve aircraft carriers with on-board squadrons of fighters and attack aircraft.
Our hundreds of nuclear warheads can be targeted and delivered to potential enemies by a triad - of nuclear submarines, land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), and piloted jet aircraft from land and sea.
We are spending more than the rest of the world on weaponry, so that we can dominate the rest of the world. It is also true that our industrial complex advertises and sells guided missiles, anti-missile radars, combat aircraft, and warships to much of the rest of the world, providing jobs and profits here at home, and also contributing toward conflicts aboard - for our volunteer troops to join. All this in the name of "National Security."
I believe it is time to reexamine the trillion dollar spending at the Pentagon. Time at last to audit the books. Time to scale back the military armaments that the United States maintains world wide. It is my opinion that doing so will help us all sleep better at night.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
NEW MINING IN MINNESOTA
In the year 2012 our government agencies will face decisions about a new open pit mine and its remodeled taconite plant on a brown field in Northeastern Minnesota. The public discussion surrounding this project has been heating up because the mining location is literally "on the edge of the wilderness."
When a political friend sent out a blanket email with a rallying cry of opposition I recognized that the time had come to invite a thinking response to rhetoric about a threatened disaster.
Here follows the gist of my reply which I sent to the entire distribution list:
Fellow Minnesotans, before you join any "movement," please inform yourselves about the issues of protecting the environment while extracting essential metals from new ore deposits in Northern Minnesota. The environmental impact statement (EIS) to be issued in the next few months will be for the Polymet Mine near Hoyt Lakes. Permit applications to the U.S. EPA and MN DNR are for mining copper, nickel, and platinum group metals (PGM) in an open pit next to the former LTV taconite mine and mill (originally Erie Taconite).
Natural iron ore and taconite are made up of iron oxides and silicates. In close proximity on the east range are ore-grade deposits of copper and nickel sulphide minerals. It is important that sulphide-containing waste rock and tailings from these non-ferrous mines be covered and contained, away from exposure to the atmosphere. If not, sulphuric acid forms in the surface runoff. Acid mine drainage can and must be prevented by mining operators. Government inspectors and regulators must insure that waste water is contained and treated on site. This is a major issue in the permitting process now underway.
Let's avoid slogans and sound bites when we consider policies for Minnesotans that concern environmental safety, jobs, and economic security.
- Gordon O. Prickett, P.E.
When a political friend sent out a blanket email with a rallying cry of opposition I recognized that the time had come to invite a thinking response to rhetoric about a threatened disaster.
Here follows the gist of my reply which I sent to the entire distribution list:
Fellow Minnesotans, before you join any "movement," please inform yourselves about the issues of protecting the environment while extracting essential metals from new ore deposits in Northern Minnesota. The environmental impact statement (EIS) to be issued in the next few months will be for the Polymet Mine near Hoyt Lakes. Permit applications to the U.S. EPA and MN DNR are for mining copper, nickel, and platinum group metals (PGM) in an open pit next to the former LTV taconite mine and mill (originally Erie Taconite).
Natural iron ore and taconite are made up of iron oxides and silicates. In close proximity on the east range are ore-grade deposits of copper and nickel sulphide minerals. It is important that sulphide-containing waste rock and tailings from these non-ferrous mines be covered and contained, away from exposure to the atmosphere. If not, sulphuric acid forms in the surface runoff. Acid mine drainage can and must be prevented by mining operators. Government inspectors and regulators must insure that waste water is contained and treated on site. This is a major issue in the permitting process now underway.
Let's avoid slogans and sound bites when we consider policies for Minnesotans that concern environmental safety, jobs, and economic security.
- Gordon O. Prickett, P.E.
Monday, December 26, 2011
DREAM AGAIN, AMERICA
For the immigrant family it was to live a better life. Freedom. A chance to work and get ahead. Unbound by limits, limitations, and customs from the old country. Leaving behind parents, friends, and heritage, they traveled and became - and are becoming - Americans.
Somewhere along the way this American Dream has morphed. It’s been changed by the merchants of property and finance into home ownership, college for the children, and more wealth than your parents had. But hard times have come again, and this modified dream is not sustainable. To the immigrant’s basic needs in his new land - food, clothing, and shelter - we have added “all you can eat,” designer clothes, and 4500 square feet of a new home on several landscaped acres.
It is time for a new American Dream. A dream that is “Good Enough!” For the Earth’s sake, let us try not having it all. Not meeting every kid’s demand or every spouse’s wish.
We sometimes hear that a factor may be “necessary,” but not “sufficient” for a particular outcome. But for our mutual survival on this planet consider this: “Sufficient, (in other words, good enough) is going to be necessary.” A healthy diet - about two thousand calories - simple clothes, and comfortable affordable housing with basic utilities and available transportation. The earth continues to yield its bounty, but now it must support 7 billion human beings. The number of other species on earth is declining and many of its resources are becoming scarcer.
Let us have a new dream for America that is worthy of us in this Twenty-first Century.
Somewhere along the way this American Dream has morphed. It’s been changed by the merchants of property and finance into home ownership, college for the children, and more wealth than your parents had. But hard times have come again, and this modified dream is not sustainable. To the immigrant’s basic needs in his new land - food, clothing, and shelter - we have added “all you can eat,” designer clothes, and 4500 square feet of a new home on several landscaped acres.
It is time for a new American Dream. A dream that is “Good Enough!” For the Earth’s sake, let us try not having it all. Not meeting every kid’s demand or every spouse’s wish.
We sometimes hear that a factor may be “necessary,” but not “sufficient” for a particular outcome. But for our mutual survival on this planet consider this: “Sufficient, (in other words, good enough) is going to be necessary.” A healthy diet - about two thousand calories - simple clothes, and comfortable affordable housing with basic utilities and available transportation. The earth continues to yield its bounty, but now it must support 7 billion human beings. The number of other species on earth is declining and many of its resources are becoming scarcer.
Let us have a new dream for America that is worthy of us in this Twenty-first Century.
LOOKING BACK AT 2011
As I followed the current news from different sources and varying perspectives this year I tried to frame my own take on events and trends on this blog covering major happenings. In 2011 I have posted 15 entries under the title "The Opinions of a Navy Vet." Looking back at these postings, it was pretty bleak. Let's hope we all can do better in 2012.
January 28 We Used to do Big Things
February 5 Recovery? Hardly
February 18 Are We a Selfish Society?
February 25 Our War Budget must be Trimmed
March 26 They Really Are Making This Up
May 1 Distracted? Yes
May 9 Can We Learn Anything New?
May 28 Words Matter, A Lot
June 25 The Whining States of America
July 9 The Last Big Thing
July 31 Kicking the Country Down the Road
September 10 Looking for Work In America
September 20 Palestine and Israel
October 22 More Gridlock in 2012
November 19 The Decline and Fall
These brief commentaries are found on this blog. That's
http://deregulate-gord.blogspot.com.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
January 28 We Used to do Big Things
February 5 Recovery? Hardly
February 18 Are We a Selfish Society?
February 25 Our War Budget must be Trimmed
March 26 They Really Are Making This Up
May 1 Distracted? Yes
May 9 Can We Learn Anything New?
May 28 Words Matter, A Lot
June 25 The Whining States of America
July 9 The Last Big Thing
July 31 Kicking the Country Down the Road
September 10 Looking for Work In America
September 20 Palestine and Israel
October 22 More Gridlock in 2012
November 19 The Decline and Fall
These brief commentaries are found on this blog. That's
http://deregulate-gord.blogspot.com.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Saturday, November 19, 2011
THE DECLINE AND FALL
How does a people slide from great to greedy?
The Romans had their bread and circuses.
Today there is pizza everywhere
and NFL football.
That long-ago empire ruled
the known world before its collapse.
We believe in exceptional America,
land of freedom, home of bravery.
But now become a battlefield
of bankers and borrowers.
The poem above was written in February 2011. In the last ten months there has not been much change in America. Now there is less than a year to the 2012 elections. The Congressional Super Committee that was created at the brink of a government shutdown was unable to agree on spending and taxes. Even a temporary payroll tax cut and an extension of unemployment benefits were too difficult for this warring branch of government. It feels like our country is in free fall.
The Romans had their bread and circuses.
Today there is pizza everywhere
and NFL football.
That long-ago empire ruled
the known world before its collapse.
We believe in exceptional America,
land of freedom, home of bravery.
But now become a battlefield
of bankers and borrowers.
The poem above was written in February 2011. In the last ten months there has not been much change in America. Now there is less than a year to the 2012 elections. The Congressional Super Committee that was created at the brink of a government shutdown was unable to agree on spending and taxes. Even a temporary payroll tax cut and an extension of unemployment benefits were too difficult for this warring branch of government. It feels like our country is in free fall.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
MORE GRIDLOCK IN 2012
The media pundits are puzzled. The Occupiers of Wall Street are a disorganized bunch. Hanging out in Manhattan week after week in ever larger numbers. Their slogans have spread all the way to Brainerd, Minnesota, and lately to the Nebraska prairie. It is outrage and desperation. Suppose you had been promised a job or a mortgage with low down payment. Then find out that it was a scam. No job, no housing.
Adults in America have never faced today's economic hardships. Here is the richest country in history, and it can't keep school teachers on the job!
A country that refuses to tackle its problems of corroded pipelines and unsafe bridges. This "arsenal of democracy," has spent the last decade borrowing to wage three wars and build enormous supplies of weaponry and armies of troops to invade whoever it wants.
Big industry profits from these hostilities. Small towns, urban slums, and rural America have sent their sons and daughters to fight and die in undeclared wars. Now that they have tallied the cost of this wartime spending, Congress is crying out to cut spending, cut taxes again, close the deficit, and reduce social spending for seniors and the disabled.
If you are not outraged yet, you are not informed. You have been distracted. It will not be enough to vote again for "change" in the general election twelve months from now. Billions will be spent to show you how to vote.
Those in power have already come up with voter distractions - requirements by the states for picture ID to end non-existent voter fraud, and ballot issues about homosexuals getting married. The two polarized political parties are at war with each other.
Do not expect a change to this gridlock in 2012. I believe it will take nothing less than a new birth of democracy, action and demonstrations, to fix what is wrong with the USA.
Adults in America have never faced today's economic hardships. Here is the richest country in history, and it can't keep school teachers on the job!
A country that refuses to tackle its problems of corroded pipelines and unsafe bridges. This "arsenal of democracy," has spent the last decade borrowing to wage three wars and build enormous supplies of weaponry and armies of troops to invade whoever it wants.
Big industry profits from these hostilities. Small towns, urban slums, and rural America have sent their sons and daughters to fight and die in undeclared wars. Now that they have tallied the cost of this wartime spending, Congress is crying out to cut spending, cut taxes again, close the deficit, and reduce social spending for seniors and the disabled.
If you are not outraged yet, you are not informed. You have been distracted. It will not be enough to vote again for "change" in the general election twelve months from now. Billions will be spent to show you how to vote.
Those in power have already come up with voter distractions - requirements by the states for picture ID to end non-existent voter fraud, and ballot issues about homosexuals getting married. The two polarized political parties are at war with each other.
Do not expect a change to this gridlock in 2012. I believe it will take nothing less than a new birth of democracy, action and demonstrations, to fix what is wrong with the USA.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
PALESTINE AND ISRAEL
One of the great ironies of history is that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is now doing her diplomatic utmost to keep the Palestinian leaders from bringing their appeal for an independent state before the United Nations General Assembly this Fall. It was Secretary of State George Marshall in May 1948 who did his utmost to dissuade President Harry Truman from recognizing the new independent State of Israel. The United Nations Resolution No. 181, "The Partition Resolution," in November 1947 had called for two indepentent states - Israel and Palestine.
Sixty three years later there still is no statehood for Palestinian Arabs or Jews, or Palestinian Christians, for that matter. Sporadic, and at times intense, warfare has continued between Israelis and Palestinians ever since 1948.
The United States has poured billions of dollars of assistance from government and private sources into the State of Israel. Much of it for military aid, as well as for economic development. After such protracted conflict across this region, I am ready to support the Palestinians' UN appeal for their long-denied statehood. Following World War II the United Nations Organization was created for just this purpose, the promotion of justice and peace.
Sixty three years later there still is no statehood for Palestinian Arabs or Jews, or Palestinian Christians, for that matter. Sporadic, and at times intense, warfare has continued between Israelis and Palestinians ever since 1948.
The United States has poured billions of dollars of assistance from government and private sources into the State of Israel. Much of it for military aid, as well as for economic development. After such protracted conflict across this region, I am ready to support the Palestinians' UN appeal for their long-denied statehood. Following World War II the United Nations Organization was created for just this purpose, the promotion of justice and peace.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
