UN World Environment Day June 5th | Ethical Footprint | Ethical vs. Unethical Construction

I hadn’t known, had I not gone on the internet, that the United Nations declared a World Environment Day of June 5th. Fabulous that there is a designated day to be aware of the environment.

On World Environment Day, and every day, we should all be thinking creatively about how to accommodate wildlife in our own lives. Trees, bushes, waterways, clean air and water, highway animal bridges and tunnels, bee highways with plants attracting pollinators, with a consciousness Promoting Smarter Wildlife Management.

World Environment Day June 5th

I’d like to point out what I learned, walking around in neighborhoods that I love, because of their fabulous properties of trees and beautiful adornment of living plants, that naturally attract and welcome living animals.

To me, nothing, nothing is more spectacular than the natural world. And the properties with old money on this hill adjacent to where i live demonstrate their wisdom, in adorning and conserving as much nature as possible. You hear birds, see rabbits and other life hopping about.

This property with the yellow circle around it, is a disgrace. They wiped out thickly forested lot, to build a sprawling mansion, with not one tree left behind. I’d spray paint my feelings, except that it won’t bring the trees or life back that the owners destroyed, in order to build their outrageous sprawl, a desolate prison, with no life to regard.

It is an example of unethical behavior.

An ethical consumer looks for products which are both friendly to the environment and for the people who produce them.

The ecological footprint measures human demand on nature, i.e., the quantity of nature it takes to support people or an economy.

“An ‘ethical consumer’ looks for products which, above all, are both friendly to the environment and also the people who produce them. An ethical consumer is therefore aware of the consequences of production, consumption and disposal.”

Let the pictures do the talking. I avoid going down this street because i feel annoyance at the nouveau riche lack of heart and insight and sadness, knowing  that all of these lovely trees were wiped out, affecting so many different creatures. An elderly man whom I chatted with one evening 5 months or so ago, told me when I mentioned this reckless building, that the property had several hundred year old trees on it, in fact, from the looks of googlemaps before it was updated, dozens of trees.

I discovered recently with delight this property within a frisbee throw, catecornered across the street. As one approaches from several angles, all you see is a mini forest.

thickly forested green plot, before picture

 

And what they did to the once forested property. This home could have been a third the size, and maintained a profoundly beautiful plot that their children could play in an that invites wonder and habitation by many species.

unethical_building_trees gone

 

 

This builder, knocked down, gutted, every single tree, every single one of them, to make this sprawling property with a tiny bit of lawn and a lot of asphalt to accommodate their cars. It is revolting. And the property across the street with the green ring, as you approach you only see, feel and hear the silence of a forest with birds. It is breathtakingly beautiful. So that the actual construction is engulfed, ringed by trees, except in the front. And the new building in the yellow, is what the builders created, destroying all life that was there, and making sure none of it will come back. They did not even plant bushes – very necessary for cover and a humane yard – and other plants with the intention to accommodate birds and animals – a Humane Backyard.

ethical_vs_unethical_building

All life that had been there or could walk or fly by, has no place to go, no life, no green, no water source, no tree for life, no butterfly or pollinator by-way, nothing. Just me, me, me and my big property that is hollow of life and nature’s delight.

Carol Keiter aka nomadbeatz welcomes donations for her writing, photography, illustrations, eBook & music composition

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George Monbiot’s Fantastic Writing>Politics & Economics vs. Environment | Game of Chicken

His blog Game of Chicken is

brilliantly articulated as usual, George Monbiot‘s works Need to Be Spread like Wildfire.

I think Monbiot should be translated into 17 languages…What I just thought of in response: if we could just do “One less”: eat one less chicken, one less burger, one less shower, one less international flight, one less purchase of an article of clothing, one less car, have one less child… His blogs are relevant to both the United States and England and are a mirror of the Western Occidental World as it has come to be.

environmental impact of poultry industry

Environmental Impact of the Poultry Industry

“To people of Mr Cram’s mindset, rainforests and ancient woodlands, coral reefs and wild rivers, local markets and lively communities, civic life and public space are nothing but unrealised opportunities for development. Where we see the presence of beauty, tranquillity and wonder, they see the absence of palm oil plantations and soybean deserts, container ports and mega dams, shopping malls and 12-lane highways. For them, there is no point of arrival, just an endless escalation of transit.

Nowhere is a place in its own right: everywhere is a resource waiting to be exploited. No one is a person in their own right; everyone is a worker, consumer or debtor whose potential for profit generation has yet to be realised. Satiety, well-being, peace: these are antithetical to globalised growth, which demands constant erasure and replacement. If you are happy, you are an impediment to trade. Your self-possession must be extinguished.”

Nicholas Kristof, writing for the New York Times, wrote this article, Arsenic in our Chicken

carol keiter blogger card

Carol Keiter Berlin on Bike – writer, blogger, musician, composer

Carol Keiter aka nomadbeatz welcomes donations for her writing, photography, illustrations, eBook & music composition

UN Report Millions Species Extinct | Anti-Idling Fines | 10 Things We Can Do | Strike for Climate September 20

I talk with people ‘strangers’ all the time – at the grocery store, post office, art events, walking by – about plastic, the climate crisis (el cambio climático), idling engines, etc. I learn things in the process.  There was a massive heat dome sweeping the United States this past weekend. A few days ago I was informed of this report about the level of emergency of the climate crisis we are in, written by people in the Australian Navy, divulging the truth that they have learned.

Shocking UN Report Warns Millions Species are at Risk of Extinction due to Human Activity Democracy Now

Frankly, what does it take to get people’s attention and leaders to have the strength to go against the status quo of thinking about their coffers, and actually taking unprecedented action by enforcing sweeping informational campaigns and establishing regulations to change peoples’ habits – and particularly industry practices? As in Burningman, when people are facing the extremes together (as opposed to the wealthier ones remaining insulated from the elements), when we are all participating together to make the changes that we need to, then brilliant minds will continue to have great ideas to help out in different communities. I think the only way we can do it, is when ALL PEOPLE PARTICIPATE.

Australian Military Report High Liklihood human Civilization Ending 2050 Independent

As long as the truth is not out to the public, we can keep shopping and acting as if we are clueless about how our actions affect this. Thing is, it appears that many people are. News feeds are lined with sleek automobile ads, seducing you to believe that you’ll suddenly have that exceptional strength and fire to finally do what you want. As if.  We can not let government inaction, choosing to ignore the truth as they bow and cater to the oil oligarchy, to steam roll ahead. There are the few politicians who are principled and brave enough to speak the truth; i.e. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, the Squad of newly elected women of color democrats – each one ferociously eloquent, each one could cause DUMPH (CHUMP/TRUMP) to just melt or start screaming like a toddler and covering his ears. Yet we really sort of have to help to steer this, and do something, rather than waiting for ‘the next election’; ad infinitum.

BUSINESS AS USUAL, NEEDS TO COMPLETELY STOP.

 

The Climate Reality Project the Climate Crisis and Your Health

Here are 10 examples I thought of, that we can do [with money earned through idling fines] to better our environment and build a nature friendly infrastructure. At the post office, mentioning idling cars, one of the postal workers responded that the state of New Jersey imposes a $75 dollar fine for a car parked with an engine on (idling). New York city, $150 for idling buses. There could be bicycle cops in cities who are only hired to enforce this, to gather tens of thousands of dollars a week, just here in the small city of Providence, to contribute to:

 

1. bicycling lanes to invite more ease, comfort and safety bicycling
2. bus transportation system that is electric or solar powered
3. fines to homes that are using too extreme of a power usage to air condition their homes (unless the inhabitants are elderly, disabled or ill)
4. paying people to plant trees in their yards, streets and parks
5. create community gardens where people can grow their own food and enjoy community participation in the process
6. putting money towards transportation and building architecture that is renewable
7. creating more parks and pathways for animals such as: animal bridges and tunnels, bee highways
8. encouraging people to bicycle, rather than drive in a car
9. creating local transport that is not gasoline based, but bicycle powered, solar or electric trollies that are fun
10. stop buying water in plastic!!! please
…etcetera

Why Are You Striking for the Climate

“Millions of people across the world are going to be striking for climate on September 20, all with different experiences of the climate crisis. We’re all a part of this movement for a better world, and all our stories and reasons matter.
Are you joining in? If so, tell us why. We want you to take a selfie or record a quick video explaining why you’re going to take part and show your support for the incredible mobilizing already happening from our youth.
We also need you to do more than just take a selfie though, don’t forget to sign up at globalclimatestrike.net. We need you on the streets in September.”

I just wrote to a local educational institution and then to the Congressman in the state where I reside presently, about making legislation to enforce anti-idling laws.

Congressman David Cicilline of Rhode Island

subject: Establish Anti-Idling Laws for RI > Funds from Fines to Create Jobs Transportation Infrastructure

Back of the Envelope: Establish Anti-Idling Laws for RI > Funds from Fines to Create Jobs to Build Community Greenways & Renewable Energy Transportation & Building Infrastructure.

The state of NJ has anti-idling fines of $75./automobile. New York city fines idling buses, $150. Nova Scotia, Canada just passed laws against idling vehicles waiting in fast food take-out lines. There are plenty of state, county and city anti-idling laws. It is a no-brainer that in Europe, where many vehicles are diesel, turn off the ignition when they aren’t moving. Many countries have excellent train transportation. Train transport could be subsidized, to invite people to use public transportation because it is cheaper and more efficient than driving.

https://www.edf.org/attention-drivers-turn-your-idling-engines

When Federal government leaders in large countries such as the USA and Brazil are in climate change denial, and more in the pocket of the Oil Oligarchy, they tend to ignore the present extinction and climate crisis. That is when individual State, County and City leaders need to set precedents and show their accountability and ‘best practices’, as leaders for others to follow.

How about a ‘Have you Heard’ educational campaign, to inform the public about the consequences of idling (among other habits)? We are currently in an unprecedented climate crisis. It is not 10 years away, it is happening now, around the globe.

The habits of individuals, collectively, quickly add up.

My encounters as a bicyclist residing in Providence and having visited Block Island, RI, after living in multiple US cities, states as well as abroad, has lead me to being completely astounded at the apparent total lack of awareness of individuals. I see dozens of idling cars and trucks, daily. Most individuals simply are not aware of the impacts of their idling cars and trucks; of the toxic fumes released in the immediate vicinity of their vehicle nor awareness of how the heat and exhaust affect global warming. Because of this general lack of knowledge, nothing will raise their attention or raise your budget faster, than establishing legislation and fines, to set the precedent for others to follow.

I have contacted the RI Governor, Mayor of Providence, RI DEM, Brown University and am finally contacting the most appropriate recipient, the one who can establish state-wide laws to prohibit idling, and fine people.

Allison Archambault, Supervising Air Quality Specialist
Climate Change & Mobile Sources Programs – RI DEM –
Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, retorted to my letter, that “Motor vehicles may not idle unnecessarily for longer than five consecutive minutes during any 60-minute period.”, siting https://rules.sos.ri.gov/regulations/part/250-120-05-45 a law on paper.

However, there is absolutely no enforcement nor awareness of this law. Various police officers know nothing of anti-idling laws. A woman officer in Providence mid July, 2019, told me she knows of no anti-idling laws and ‘what people do in their cars is their own business’.

She is unequivocally incorrect in her response. It is not up to the individual, when collectively, each contribute to poor air quality that affects others directly in their vicinity and long term effects of CO2 emissions leading to the potential extinction of humans, along with the human induced 6th mass extinction of life on earth. it is everyone’s business when the quality of the air, water, the temperature and fumes emitted in the immediate vicinity of a vehicle and temperature of the global environment is warming due to ever increasing CO2 levels.

I implore you to take a stand and impose legislation and fines. You could accumulate tens of thousands of dollars a week, hundreds of thousands a month, if you’re interested in deterring peoples actions and at the same time utilizing the money towards creating jobs to build green infrastructure.

Please impose laws and fines. $75/car, $150/truck, $300/diesel engined vehicles. Double the fines if they are caught a second time. Create a task force for this issue, police on bicycles, to regulate and enforce it. $300/dirty institutional air conditioning systems. Enact a statewide campaign.

I can not emphasize the huge number of vehicles i come across daily, on every block. It is so excessive, that it is blowing my mind. I have resided in several states and abroad, and have never come across such an excess of idling vehicles and complete lack of awareness as well as blatant hostility in response. I’ve encountered parents sitting in their idling SUV’s while waiting to pick up their kids from school.

Students test ozone levels where cars idle at schools

Students test ozone levels where cars idle at schools

There is no age, ethnic, or socio economic divide, there is a tremendous lack of awareness.

I just sent a letter to Brown University to implore them to educate their Facilities’ staff about the implications of idling vehicles, to encourage them to enforce anti-idling rules and be leaders with ‘best practices’ for other organizations to follow.

I’ve blogged about the IPCC report and the need for particularly the developed wealthier nations and the US in particular, as the leader in emissions from the transportation sector and a major player in habitat destruction and industrial pollutions, to be accountable to the world community and be leaders in creating jobs, rebuilding renewable energy infrastructure.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported that we have ten years to avoid outright disaster and extinction of the human race, while human activity has already triggered the six mass extinction of all other creatures, mostly due to the human energy demands tied to the Petroleum industries, along with excessive building, global warming from CO2 emissions with the transportation sector responsible for most.

https://digesthis.wordpress.com/2019/05/18/ipcc-climate-change-report-highest-recorded-co2-levels-arctic-temperatures-bill-mckibben-discussing-significance-of-rising-co2-greta-thunberg-ted-talk-enforcing-legislation/

I routinely encounter people sitting in their idling vehicles talking on their phone, saying that ‘they’re just about to leave’. I encounter people who are working in houses, in construction, in moving businesses, who leave their trucks idling while they are working outside of the vehicle, yards removed from their vehicle. I can not ignore this issue, because it is scorching my nostrils and heating my skin, literally every day, every block. I do not have the time to approach people – as i do frequently to gently communicate this – nor do I wish to risk my life with some hostile reactions, because people become defensive when approached. The public needs to be informed and educated through campaigns, the media and most effectively, by laws that spell it financially, since that appears to be the main driver, not just running the world but ruining the world.

Please contact me if you want to hear what I encounter on the streets, in dirty detail.

Sincerely,

I’m doing this on my own time. This blog is not for profit, no advertising.

Carol Keiter aka nomadbeatz welcomes donations for her writing, photography, illustrations, eBook & music composition

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Carol Keiter on Block Island
lens through convex lens

 

Sacred Economics by Charles Eisenstein | You’re at Your Best – Doing What You Love

Charles Eisenstein, I discovered through a Facebook group initially, “The More Beautiful World”, that our Hearts Know is Possible.

He created a short film to introduce the concepts of his book, through the direction and production of Ian MacKenzie

Sacred Economics with Charles Eisenstein 2019 remix

Sacred Economics with Charles Eisenstein 2019 remix

“Sacred Economics traces the history of money from ancient gift economies to modern capitalism, revealing how the money system has contributed to alienation, competition, and scarcity, destroyed community, and necessitated endless growth. As we imagine new ways of interacting with one another and with all life on the planet, we may find great opportunity to transition to a more connected, ecological, and sustainable way of being.

Sacred Economics with Charles Eisenstein is a book he wrote.
Here’s where you can learn more about Sacred Economics and purchase the book.

Sacred Economics book with Charles Eisenstein

 

 

 

Why is there a biodiversity crisis? Why are we drilling for more oil?…Many questions that you ask about the world come down after several layers of why, to the answer of money.

You can read the pdf file online, http://sacred-economics.com/read-online/ translated into 12 languages

This new narrative of sacred economics, shifts the individual to following what they inherently love doing and do best, so that rather than feeling incapable of pursuing what they love to do because of the lack of economic support, they are free to do just that. This is why I’ve incorporated the message of Joseph Campbell, a

The writer Joseph Campbell coined the term Follow Your Bliss.

The Power of Myth is the full transcript of 24 hours of interviews by Bill Moyers of Joseph Campbell

Great advice from Joseph Campbell – Follow Your Bliss

“Campbell saw as the greatest human transgression “the sin of inadvertence, of not being alert, not quite awake.”

 

You’re at Your Best – Doing What You Love

 >Make Your Play Your Work, and York Work Your Play<

His introductory short film ‘Sacred Economics with Charles Eisenstein 2019 remix‘, directed by Ian MacKenzie reveals a lot of information about quite a different narrative of perceiving and feeling about the natural world.

Sacred Economics with Charles Eisenstein 2019 remix directed by Ian MacKenzie

Charles Eisenstein’s book Sacred Economics. Is what he’s come to offer to the world as his gift, realizing that by following the truth and what is in our hearts, this concept will really take on a life of its own and spread physically, as more people become aware of it. Like reaching a critical mass, we can adopt it as a new universal way of looking at our world and our place in it. He talks of the money economy that we have been in, as both the source and the symptom, of an old narrative that has had to do with continually wanting and needing to take things that were once free and plentiful in nature and shared between people as gifts, and turned these into goods and services that we then sell back to one another.

Charles talks of the planet as a living being whose organs and tissues are all the natural systems and biomass; of the different natural waterways, forests, coral reefs, watersheds, elephants, bears, wolfs, butterflies and insects are all part of the planet and its health. The health of humanity and all creatures depends on the health and balance of all of these systems of life.

Here’s an interview of Charles Eisenstein by Russell Brand. Video · Climate Change – What’s The Whole Truth? | Russell Brand & Charles Eisenstein

Climate Change What is the Whole Truth Charles Eisenstein interview by Russell Brand

Charles Eisenstein who’s written a book on the subject, says that in the traditional sense, people are reducing all problems of the Earth from an environmental perspective to climate change.

Within it Charles talks of the living earth narrative.

In it Charles mentions that we are not recognizing the earth as a living being, with its tissues and organs equivalents to forests, grasslands, coral reefs, elephants, birds…He mentions that only talking about the environment and carbon output, is reduces the problems to one thing, CO2 levels, and completely ignores all the other different factors that are part of this massive ecocide (mass extinction) by reducing things only to numbers.

Sacred Economics with Charles Eisenstein 2019 remix

Sacred Economics traces the history of money from ancient gift economies to modern capitalism

 

 

Thanks for reading.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carol Keiter aka nomadbeatz welcomes donations for her writing, photography, illustrations, eBook & music composition

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Joel Sartore photo ark picture and the blogger, Carol Keiter

Accelerating Extinction Rates | Intergovernmental Science-Policy on Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services | Soiling the Earth | Soil not Oil

A few days ago I had one after another article pop up in my Facebook feed talking about the same UN report that had just been released. I decided to compile these and simply let the pictures and headlines speak for themselves.

Media Release: Nature’s Dangerous Decline ‘Unprecedented’; Species Extinction Rates ‘Accelerating’

1,000,000 species threatened with extinction

The recently released IPCC report (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) of November 2018, was widely distributed in news channels internationally. It was talking about the serious consequences for humanity for global warming of 1.5º C.

This is to me, more devastating.

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Report (IPBES) states that

“Nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history — and the rate of species extinctions is accelerating, with grave impacts on people around the world now likely.

The health of ecosystems on which we and all other species depend is deteriorating more rapidly than ever. We are eroding the very foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life worldwide.”

“The Report also tells us that it is not too late to make a difference, but only if we start now at every level from local to global,” he said. “Through ‘transformative change’, nature can still be conserved, restored and used sustainably – this is also key to meeting most other global goals.”

 

Human Society Urgent Threat UN Report The Guardian

The article, Human society under urgent threat from loss of Earth’s natural life

states “The biomass of wild mammals has fallen by 82%, natural ecosystems have lost about half their area and a million species are at risk of extinction. Two in five amphibian species are at risk of extinction, as are one-third of reef-forming corals, and close to one-third of other marine species.” The populations of insects have been crashing as wll.

It is time to do something, isn’t?

What can we do together?

Keynote – Dr. Vandana Shiva, Soil Not Oil International Conference 2017

I DO NOT WANT TO LOSE THE LIFE ON EARTH.

Joel Sartore, photographer, has created this Gallery: The Photo Ark, documenting all species of bird, amphibian and animal.

Carol Keiter aka nomadbeatz welcomes donations for her writing, photography, illustrations, eBook & music composition

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Carol Keiter the blogger

IPCC Climate Change Report | Highest Recorded CO2 Levels & Arctic Temperatures | Bill Mckibben Discussing Significance of Rising CO2 | Greta Thunberg TED Talk | Enforcing Legislation

In November of 2018, an (IPCC) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report by internationally collaborating scientists, spoke of the nefarious consequences of global warming of 1.5º C.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Articles sprouted this last week regarding a report released by researchers at Hawaii’s Mauna Loa Observatory, who recorded record-setting temperatures this last Saturday, May 11th.
atmospheric research facility

Carbon Dioxide Levels In The Atmosphere Hit Highest Mark In Human History, written by Nina Golgowski

“Carbon dioxide levels in the Earth’s atmosphere have soared to a new high, one never before been seen in human history, researchers announced as temperatures near the Arctic circle rose into the 80s.”

These alarmingly warm temperatures came as a daily CO2 reading by atmospheric researchers on Saturday recorded a 415.26 parts per million (ppm) baseline.”

Rebecca Lindsey wrote in August 2018 Climate Change: Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide regarding the 2017 rate of carbon dioxide atmospheric levels as 405.0 ppm parts per million. She wrote this US government report from the (NOAA) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Science and Information for a Climate-Smart Nation.

Carbon Dioxide Rising Levels Climate NOAA

Here is the Annual 2018 Global Climate Report by the NOAA. https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/201813

A person passionately familiar with what this reading means, he started 350.org in 2008, stressing to educate the public about the need to cap CO2 atmospheric levels at 350. Well his target limit was exceeded in 2017 at 405.26 ppm, and the last week carbon concentrations surpassed 415 parts per million. Bill McKibben discusses the significance of the rising CO2 levels in this audio interview.

Bill McKibben discusses the significance of the rising CO2 levels

My post was originally going to be another tally of my encounters with people sitting in or standing by their stationary vehicles with the engine left running. I will let this linger at the end, just to point out that despite the dramatic need to absolutely change the world’s reliance on fossil fuels and large industrial practices in general that disrupt ecological balances, it is absolutely up to all of us to find alternative ways of viewing what we take for granted and assume is a typical and natural behavior.

As Greta Thunberg mentioned in one of her first speeches, that to the Swedish public before the Parliament to explain her reasoning behind striking school as a 15 year old. She stated that most people are more fearful of having to adjust their behavior that relies on fossil fuels out of habit and convenience, than they are fearful of climate change itself. The problem is that it just isn’t quite grasped, it feels like a remote problem, like a remote-control war that you see short sound bites of that is happening across the globe. Well, the other major factor in peoples’ lack of concern, is the complete absence of reporting about it by the media or governments undertaking it as a major issue. Therefore the public is not only not informed, but often due to huge amounts of money poured into disinformation by petroleum industry lobbying groups, they are way misinformed.

Here is the now 16 year old audacious and articulate Swedish girl Greta Thunberg giving a TED talk about the dire need to act now to avert the most dramatic repercussions of climate change.

Greta Thunberg TED talk on climate change

Yesterday, I came upon a couple nicely dressed, obvious professionals, involved in a conversation on the sidewalk, standing several meters from the large SUV parked there with the engine running. I cycled back around to direct my voice to them saying in the most gentle way possible, do you realize that we’re in a climate crisis, and CO2 is going from your vehicle into the atmosphere? Several minutes later I bicycled by a backhoe that was stationary, but the engine on, as two men worked by it, no person in the cab. As I cycled by their work van, I saw and felt that the engine was on, no one nearby. I circled back to the men to say -as gently as I could – why do you have your engines on? The guy at first looked at me, then when he realized I was making a ‘critical observation’, he ignored me. Finally he said coarsely, “Does anyone tell you how to ride your bike?”

I looked up the Department of Environmental Management of Rhode Island, the State where I’m living. Located it, went there, walking in with a back pack on a Friday afternoon, I already looked suspicious. My question, “WHY IS THIS NOT A LAW? You can generate income by fining people. When I first arrived to this town and realized as a bicyclist that consistently, in every socio economic neighborhood, people have a tendency to sit in their cars with the engine idling. In fact, plenty are not even in their cars, but near them, as they leave the engines running.

Fortunately the woman officer with whom I spoke understood the concerns, stated that there had been at one point anti-idling laws and that in fact in the more old money town of Newport, there is anti-idling legislation.

From the time that I was beginning to drive, before their was a threat of accelerating temperatures due to human activities; heat and transportation demands, I naturally knew that there was no reason to leave an engine running. It wastes fuel, it spews out exhaust.

Obviously what impacts the environment on a much larger scale, are the industries that mine for coal and oil and transport it, and use this energy on a large scale for industrial operations and large, institutional constructions.

Nevertheless, as populations continue to increase and more and more people come to demand having their own automobile or truck, the collective use affects the CO2 levels. There are plenty of reports that reveal that idling engines are contributing to the higher levels of Carbon Dioxide, a green house gas that is warming the earth as it concentrates heat.

Since there appears to be, even in this college town with an ivy league school, an uncanny disassociation among the population and workers for the University of the consequences of their actions. Since I’ve already written numerous letters to the Mayor, Governor and State Legislature, it seemed the next move, to bring this to their attention. The officer with whom I spoke really warmed up to me after her initial skeptical looking expression, I said that if you employ me, I could make the government a thousand dollars an hour. She laughed. She told me that rather than telling people about the climate consequences, tell them that there are fines for idling.

Let’s educate ourselves as much as possible and talk with one another about the best things we can do to change our behaviors, while the new politicians on the block like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez do their best to confront the established powers and force the government to stop their silence, and begin orchestrating the Green New Deal.

Carol Keiter aka nomadbeatz welcomes donations for her writing, photography, illustrations, eBook & music composition

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Carol sitting under the trees

“I Am” documentary | What is Wrong with the World? What can we do about it?

After facing his own death, film producer Tom Shadyac suddenly had an instant sense of clarity and purpose. He went around the world with a film crew of four, to talk with significant minds, authors, journalists, academics, leaders, historians, religious leaders who had been extremely influential and inspirational in his own life, to ask two questions: What is Wrong with the World? What can we do about it?

He created this documentary film in three parts. This is it. Tom Shadyac director of I Am. Part one.

Asking whether there is a fundamental, endemic problem, that causes all the other problems?

I Am, Albert Einstein quote

I Am Part Two introduces HeartMath, the concept that the heart is smart and in many indigenous cultures, the heart is the center of consciousness, not the brain. It also ventures into quantum entanglement.

Desmond Tutu God says I dont have anybody else except you

I Am Howard Zinn No evidence that war comes out of some innate human need

“I Am” Part Three introduces the fact that mass mind – many individual actions together – really does affect the fabric of reality. The evolutionary biologist, Elisabet Sahtouris, states
this is a participatory universe. Interconnectivity. Everything that we do in it, changes it. We have an interior role in co-creating with all the other species.

Everything on our planet is alive.
 

I Am Part Three Howard Zinn talks about how change happens in increments by individual actions together. Desmond Tutu states that change happens, when each person feels concern.

I Am quote Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Power of One person.

I Am video on Vimeo Dr David Suzuki

I Am We should be grateful and celebrate our relatives

Dr. David Suzuki, scientist, author “The Sacred Balance”, mentions Wade Davis’s term the ethnosphere: the sum total of all of the ways that humans beings have imagines the world into existence. Suzuki talks about the separation of humanity from the natural world, and the fact that the economy is the most important thing in our lives.

Among the people interviewed:

Lynne McTaggart – Author, “the Field” talks of the stories that fashion our worldview, in a competition, scarcity, in which a person needs to be significant, at someone else’s expense

Dean Radin – Senior Scientist, Institute of Noetic Sciences,

Howard Zinn – Historian, Author “A People’s History of the United States”

John Francis – Environmentalist, Author “Planetwalker”

Noam Chomsky- Professor Emeritus of Linguistics, MIT

Desmond Tutu – Archbishop, Cape Town, South Africa

Thom Hartmann – Author “Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight”
There’s a fundamental difference between machines and life, and we are running our society as if we are a machine and as if the world is a machine
Thom mentions Jack Davis Professor of Native American studies at UCA Davis, talks of the Native American term “Wetico” = cannibal – one who eats the life of another. It is considered an illness.

Daniel Quinn – Author, “Ishmael”

Ray Anderson – CEO Interface

Chris Jordan – Photographer

Coleman Barks – Poet, Author “The Essential Rumi”

Marc Ian Barasch – Author, “Field Notes on the Compassionate Life”

Dacher Keltner – Professor of Psychology, UC Berkeley

Rollin McCraty – Senior Researcher, Heartmath Institute

Elisabet Sahtouris – Evolutionary Biologist

Marilyn Schlitz – President, CEO Institute of Noetic Sciences

 

eco_revolution

Carol holding the plastic globe

XR Extinction Rebellion ‘Die-In’ staged by Climate Activists simultaneously Around the World

The Extinction Rebellion worldwide coordinated Die=In’s are just the beginning. This is to get everyone’s attention.

What could be more essential than living in a beautiful environment in harmony with one another, working together to ensure that we help one another to get our values clear – that we live on a beautiful planet, with which we are inextricably connected. It is up to each one of us to learn about what we can do, to be aware of the damages that human industries and lifestyles have done to impact the natural world. Each one of us has the capability and responsibility to learn about and share what each of us can do to act in ways that will ensure a more equitable world for all living creatures.

You can read about the actions and join the extinction rebellion. It is up to each one of us to value what is essential in quality of life: health, clean air, water and soil that is not poisoned by chemicals, pesticides and pharmaceuticals and the protection of habitats for all life on this planet.

Extinction Rebellion Worldwide Die-In

Extinction Rebellion climate change activists stage mass ‘die-in’ protests across the globe to put spotlight on risk to human life

XR Extinction Rebellion Mass Die-In at the Natural History Museum Museum photo Terry Matthews

XR Extinction Rebellion Pakistan

Extinction Rebellion Die-In Chili Photo by Belen Morales Ferrer

Protesters lie down in the streets in France, Australia, New Zealand, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Italy, The Netherlands and the UK.

and Germany, Chili, Pakistan, the Czech Republic, the USA….

“The actions were part of worldwide celebration at 12.05pm called by Extinction Rebellion Berlin following the protests that began in London in November 2018, which have since spawned a mass movement.”

Banksy Extinction Rebellion artwork appears at protest site at London

‘Banksy’ Extinction Rebellion artwork appears at protest site at London’s Marble Arch

California signs up for China’s Belt and Road Forum to help in fight against climate change

“Although the US federal government has snubbed the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, representatives from America’s most populous state are attending to drum up support for international efforts to tackle climate change.”

Is↟Frequency of Autism linked to↟EM Frequencies of Cellular Phone Technology?

I wrote this blog a month ago, and just discovered May 28 this article published 2 weeks ago. It does not make the connection of the increasing power of cellular phone technology to autism; nevertheless, the 230 scientists are appealing to the World Health Organization (WHO) to call out the cell phone industry, calling 5G hazardous“Scientists Appeal that 5G Wireless is as Hazardous as Asbestos”

Scientists Appeal 5G Wireless is Hazardous Permaculture Co UK

In early April I was reading about John Robbins (Baskin & Robbins ice cream) and his unique history of fortune and misfortune, when I learned that his son Ocean has twins each diagnosed with autism. A flash of insight prompted me to google ‘autism connection with wifi or cellular frequencies’. This 2015 article appeared, The Emerging Link between Wireless and Autism. I have had only peripheral knowledge of the autism spectrum disorder. Wikipedia states that “Autism is a developmental disorder characterized by difficulties with social interaction and communication and by restricted and repetitive behavior.” It states that autism is associated with a combination of genetic and environmental factors, with no mention among the long list of potential causes of any association with the effects of EMF’s from wireless electromagnetic radiation. I posted the link, mentioning that one would have to view the statistics worldwide to assess whether there’s a correspondence between cases of autism and populations living in the proximity of cellular communications infrastructure and who have a higher use of electronic devices. Autism: Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatments “Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects a person’s ability to communicate, interact and behave appropriately with others in social situations. It is characterized by impairments in social skills, communication and restricted and repetitive behavior.”

Autism Rates Around The World  updated 2018, the article goes into detail with respect to reports of Autism in 10 different countries.

Autism Rates Around The World worldatlas

It was a hunch. For all I knew, Autism was a peculiarly American phenomenon. The United States has a propensity to diagnose and pathologize ‘dis ease’. A half century ago, medical practices were made up of doctors with private practices. This almost seems to be a ghost of the past, as the healthcare industry has stepped in. The Healthcare and pharmaceutical industries appear to be intimately tied. That is, Big Pharma applies its business marketing to the public directly, by infiltrating print and air waves with advertising. And at the same time, it extends its tentacles into the medical industry by luring doctors in hospitals and group practices with gifts and enticements (dinners, conferences in exotic places) to sell their products. That’s sort of how the opiate addiction was unleashed and silently allowed to continue unconstrained. In the USA, large industries sort of overstep well, everyone else. They squeeze out smaller businesses or gobble them up. And they lobby and line the government’s coffers, who subsequently remain in abject silence. There are no rangers or anti-trust laws to keep them from becoming more and more powerful. Whose to stop them? In the case of Big Pharma, they treat symptoms with pharmaceuticals, rather than giving attention to the holistic, wider context, as one would think would be the medical intention and approach. The Healthcare industry and Pharma are each incentivized to make a profit, rather than to approach health and wellness proactively; with attention to nutrition, exercise and the wider context. They are not focused on wellness, but on selling their product. And rather than educating the public towards maintaining wellness, they advertise their products and cram into small print & speeded up talking, all of the potential ‘side-effects’ and negative repercussions of their chemical products. Their emphasis is on sales. I digress, yet the paradigm is the same.

Verizon Irving TX

The telecommunication industry leaders may be facilitating the same lack of disclosure, in order to maintain their bottom lines. Not interested in pointing out potentially negative repercussions of their wireless cellular systems, they are more motivated to implement their plans, to ensure that the public is completely ensnared in their system by convincing them that faster and more powerful communication is without exception, what the public wants and needs. I display the various edifices and fortresses of the cellular telecommunication industry leaders, to demonstrate their opulent wealth.

This ‘Spyscraper’ AT&T Long Lines Building, Freaks Out Tom Hanks (11 Reasons Why It Should)

I almost felt a physical impact when I read that autism is huge in South Korea and Asia. I remember learning  a decade or two ago (to my surprise) that various Asian countries were much more sophisticated in their cell phone technology infrastructures than the United States.

Tech-savvy South Korea has nearly as many cell phones as people. A 2009 article! “There were 45.6 million mobile phone subscribers in South Korea in December in a country with a population of 48.6 million, Sung Suk-ham of the Korea Communications Commission said.”

China Mobile International Beijing

SOUTH KOREAN AUTISM RATES HEAD NORTH, written 2011, “South Korea Autism-spectrum disorders affect 1 in 38 youngsters.” New Study Reveals Autism Prevalence in South Korea Estimated to be 2.6% or 1 in 38 Children

 

Autism, or (ASD) autism spectrum disorders, refers to a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication.” The epidemiology of autism is the study of the incidence and distribution of autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

Autism and EMF? Plausibility of a pathophysiological link – Part I. “Abstract
Although autism spectrum conditions (ASCs) are defined behaviorally, they also involve multileveled disturbances of underlying biology that find striking parallels in the physiological impacts of electromagnetic frequency and radiofrequency exposures (EMF/RFR). With dramatic increases in reported ASCs that are coincident in time with the deployment of wireless technologies, we need aggressive investigation of potential ASC – EMF/RFR links. ”

This ’18 article reveals prevalence of autism worldwide. S. Korea was absent from this study.

Prevalence of Autism rates among selected countries worldwide 2018 Statista

The Japanese mobile phone industry is one of the most advanced in the world. A study in Japan controlled for the factor of vaccinations, and yet Autism rises despite MMR ban in Japan Is it a coincidence?

“In Asia, the number of children registered as autistic is significantly higher in urban areas than rural. We don’t know if that is due to a lack of awareness of the option to seek services, or if, for environmental reasons, there truly are less autistic children in rural areas.” Could this infer that where there are less cell phone towers and cellular phone use, there are less cases of autism?

National research studies indicate that Japan and other developed Asian countries have the highest rates of autism.

Autism diagnosis per 10,000 children – focus for health

Woman blogged, Shockingly Higher Rates of Autism and Developmental Delays in Asia.

cellphone usage wordwide

As you can see above, Hong Kong is almost ‘off the charts’ in terms of its Autism epidemic.

Cell Phone Network Hong Kong

John Herman explains You live your life at 2.4 GHz in Wired that, “Most household items operate at 2.4 GHz. Your house or apartment, or the coffee shop you’re sitting in now, is saturated with radio waves. Inconceivable numbers of them, in fact, vibrating forth from radio stations, TV stations, cellular towers, and the universe itself, into the space you inhabit. Inside your home are a dozen tiny little radio stations: your router, internet, bluetooth, garagedoor opener, cordless phone – household items – all run on 2.4 GHz.”

map cell phone towers geoawesome

There are different frequencies for different purposes. For example, an AM/FM radio has a different frequency than satellite radio. In the same way, the frequencies of a cellular phone are different from Wi-Fi, and from Bluetooth. All cellular phone networks worldwide, use part of the radio frequency spectrum designated as UHF (Ultra-High Frequency) for the transmission and reception of signals. They are not radio signals in terms of being able to, or accidentally picking up on, a music station. This neatly shows distinctions, What is the difference between Wi-Fi and Cellular connections?

Do I Need to Worry About Radiation From WiFi and Bluetooth Devices? “The radiation from Bluetooth and WiFi devices falls into the same basic range on the electromagnetic spectrum—between FM radios and microwave ovens—as the RF waves from cell phones. But because the distances traveled by WiFi and Bluetooth signals tend to be much shorter (between your router and your laptop, for instance, or your smartphone and your wireless speaker) the RF can be transmitted at a much lower power than from a cell phone.

Since I use a computer laptop to write, create and communicate, often in spaces connected via WiFi, not by a cable, I wanted to familiarize myself with the distinction between WiFi and cellular networks. Understanding the Difference between WiFi, 3G and 4G “WiFi is the nickname for a wireless internet connection. WiFi technology provides wireless Internet access via the use of radio waves which transmit a signal to a wireless enabled device, equipped with a wireless network card that communicates with the wireless router. The radio waves operate on a frequency of 2.4 GHz and operate on a standard which is set forth by the IEEE which is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.”

Wireless LAN (WLAN) LAN (Local Access Network) by definition, implies a shorter distance traveled by WiFi and Bluetooth signals, typically not reaching further than 100 feet. This introductory video Mobile Internet Basics: What is the Difference Between Wi-Fi and Cellular? explains that cellular networks have continued to evolve in strength to accommodate the demand for a faster flow of information.

Cell Phone mega Tower HAARP Michael Winter

Cell phone technology has gone from 1G, to 2G, 3G and now 4G (G for generation). What is the difference between 2G, 3G and 4G mobiles as well as networks? “In a nutshell > SPEED.” Each are more powerful than the predecessor. Thing is, the cell phone broadcast towers have a much wider range than WiFi and are sending out much more powerful transmissions from their source.

Michael Winter states in Cell Phones – Cell Towers – Haarp. An EMF Triple Threat “The measurement of a cell phone’s power is defined by Hertz. A hertz is a unit defining the frequency of an electromagnetic wave.”

“Human beings operate at 10 hertz. 100 hertz equal 1 kilohertz. 100 kilohertz equal 1 megahertz. The average EMF emitted by cell phones is 1900 megahertz, with a market shift toward (currently in use) 2500 megahertz phones.”

“Cell towers operate in Watts. A watt is a standard definition of a unit of power. a normal, round incandescent light bulb uses 40 to 100 watts, fluorescent bulbs produce the same amount of light using only five to 30 watts. A WiFi signal from any standard router is 20 milliwatts. A standard cell phone transmits 300 milliwatts. Consider also that radio station WLS in Chicago pumps out a formerly impressive 50,000 watts, and can be picked up over a 1000 miles away with a middling quality radio receiver. The average cell tower in the USA pumps out between 100,000 to 500,000 watts. The writer of this article questions why the towers are so enormously powerful.”

Essentially, we are being saturated 24/7 with many, many thousands times stronger radiation fields than our body is equipped to deal with. Our failure to deal with this onslaught is manifesting in the form of stress and sleep disorders, birth defects, cancer and Alzheimer’s. We are being silently culled, and footing the bill to make it happen! By paying your cell bill, you simply ensure the continuity of a product that is killing, and will kill, millions and millions of people.”

Global Indoor Health Network: Cell towers are harmful to humans, animals and plants. “California Supreme Court Affirms Local Authority to Regulate Wireless Infrastructure. This breaking development recognizes the shift of power toward local governments, and away from the 5G corporate oligarchy operating through the FCC.”

Cell towers are harmful to humans, animals and plants -global indoor health network

Published 2007 Wi-Fi linked to Childhood Autism cites a study published in the Australasian Journal of Clinical Environmental Medicine warning that wireless communication technology may be responsible for accelerating the rise in autism among children. “Autism is a disabling neuro-developmental disorder.” It is associated with heavy-metal toxicity. “An expert on the dangers of electromagnetic radiation (EMR):

 

Dr George Carlo headed the world’s largest research program on mobile phone health hazards in the 1990’s which revealed the autism-wireless technology connection following a series of tests on autistic children monitored during 2005 and 2006.

Electromagnetic Safety and Cell Tower Health Effects, states that “The Federal regulations ignore the hundreds of studies that find harmful bio-effects from long-term exposure to non-thermal levels of cell phone radiation.”

The article goes into detail listing what service is provided with that bandwidth.
700 MHz to 5 GHz FCC ID Applications By Frequency.

700 MHz to 5 GHz – US Frequency Allocations chart Radio Wave Spectrum – Frequency bands of operation for the Internet of Things

In 2012, guest scientific blogger, Emily Willingham wrote, Is Autism an “Epidemic” or Are We Just Noticing More People Who Have It?, that perhaps it’s more a question of how it is diagnosed. There are factors influencing a country’s reporting, such as lack of disclosure due to it being stigmatized, or less sophisticated means of doing statistical analysis. She cites, “In 1951, Kanner wrote, the “great question” became whether or not to continue to roll autism into schizophrenia diagnoses, where it had been previously tucked away, or to consider it as a separate entity.” In 2018, Racheal Rettner sort of downplayed the role of Autism What’s Behind the Recent Rise in Autism in the US? “saying that the more it’s recognized, the more it is diagnosed.” And in 2017 Tom Chivers highlighted the fact that A Paper Claiming Wi-Fi Is Linked To Autism Has Been Accused Of Pseudoscience “Published in the respected journal Child Development, by Cindy Sage and Ernesto Burgio, titled “Electromagnetic Fields, Pulsed Radiofrequency Radiation, and Epigenetics: How Wireless Technologies May Affect Childhood Development.” was completely attacked and dismissed.

Certainly some articles published reflect a bias towards downplaying the extent of Autism, whereas others are quickly silenced. It depends on who’s paying the writers. Follow the money, as the saying goes. Nevertheless, the last few decades of spikes in Autism around the world are not random cases of schizophrenia.

Seems the increased frequency of Autism correlates worldwide with exposure to increased EM frequencies from Cellular Phone Technology – which keeps getting stronger, or so the Telecom Giants promise us.

It was a hunch, that prompted an intuition fueled search.

Verizon, AT&T Reveal Additional 5G Launch (2018) Markets “This is part of densifying the network and positioning it to excel at 5G.”

From a business insider’s perspective, this article Cell Phone Networks and Frequencies Explained: 5 Things To Know mentions that the four major networks in the U.S. are Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile. 4G is often up to 10x faster than 3G — with speeds commonly between 20Mbps and 50Mbps (which is really fast). The United States is broadly covered by both 3G and 4G LTE technology. The next generation cellular network-5G-promises speeds between 10 and 100 times faster than 4G LTE.

Why? Do we need to encase our minds and focus our attention in a virtual world, as we continue to maim and disfigure this one?

The Answer: don’t let the cell phone provider companies whose towering glass edifices in every major city, like Oz, shiny and powerful, dictate an infrastructure mania to have ever faster and more powerful waves for your convenience and your purse – as you continue to pay them for each new model and upgrade. Perhaps what is lethal beneath their shiny, buildings and the shiny devices, is that their ultimate goal is to maintain their profits and control.

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation

Huawei technologies Mexico

China Mobile Ltd. CNET

Japanese Yokohama F.M. Broadcasting Co. Ltd. building

Perhaps as tobacco companies concealed the dangers of smoking cigarettes, and that among other companies, General Motor’s intention was to dismantle the infrastructure of street cars & train transportation in the USA to make room for the tire and automotive industries, and that for 40 years the petroleum giants have known indisputably the hazards of burning fossil fuels, kept that information from the public, the association of autism with cell phone technology is not spoken about. I wonder if the CEO’s of the various cellular companies dominating the international market, have cell towers right next to their multimillion dollar homes? I doubt it. Someone already did the groundwork. He looked at maps of cellphone towers in metropolitan areas, fitting them over counties by income, and found that the towers tend to be in lower income neighborhoods. The writer of Cell Phones – Cell Towers – Haarp. An EMF Triple Threat, Michael Winter, shows a map of a wealthy neighborhood and the corresponding map of the absence of cell towers in that precise region. I did my own brief research. I found the wealthiest county in the USA, Loudoun County, Virginia near Washington D.C. and used this tool to locate the cell phone towers in the region, https://www.cellmapper.net, and my map comparison also showed an absence of towers in Loudoun county.

These towering, windowless, bomb-proof cellular communications buildings are in under-the-radar partnership with the NSA.

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/030216/worlds-top-10-telecommunications-companies.asp written by Melissa Parietti, “The world’s top 10 telecommunications companies each have a market value of more than $50 billion. Servicing the world’s ever-growing telephone and wireless connection needs, the telecommunications industry is forecast to continue to expand operations on a global level. More individuals in emerging markets are signing up for telephone and Internet contracts, while new telecommunications technologies in developed nations are expanding providers’ pre-existing customer bases.

China Mobile Ltd.
2) Verizon Communications Inc.
3) AT&T Inc.
4) Vodafone Group plc
5) Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corporation
6) Softbank Group Corp. Japan
7) Deutsche Telekom AG
8) Telefonica S.A.
9) America Movil
10) China Telecom

This website allows the public to locate cell phone towers worldwide. Cell Tower Location Maps for each State

http://www.antennasearch.com/default.asp

https://www.cellmapper.net

Carol Keiter aka nomadbeatz welcomes donations for her writing, photography, illustrations, eBook & music composition

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blogger, portrait drawer, painter, photographer, musician, composer

Notch Up the Government’s Role with “ObamaWorks” | A Version of Roosevelt’s WPA | Green New Deal

I originally proposed this in 2012. I decided to repost it presently in lieu of the proposal of the ‘Green New Deal‘.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Rep D-NY discusses the Green New Deal with Bernie Sanders Climate Change – Environmental Policy

My religion and spirituality is the natural world and my relationship to it. I love and adore all of the different species of flora and fauna, the water, air, wind, the soil of the earth. It is full of splendor and awesome. I value human invented relishes much less.

We all need to re-evaluate and repair our connection to the natural world and to value and cherish that of which we are inextricably a part. We need to radically transform our relationship which has been diminished and twisted in the last decades, due to having a perspective and approach that looked at other forms of life as a commodity to use. We need to revive our love and respect for the natural world and become guardians of it, not just for our children, but for the beings that exist before us right here and right now.

Prior to Obama’s win of the 2012 presidential nomination, on the 5th of October I submitted this query to a dozen American magazine publications, and waited for a response. I received only one, a rejection from The Nation. I continued to wait to see if anyone would wish to publish my ideas, which would preclude putting the information onto my blog, for free viewing. Presuming that none will respond, here it is:

Though Obama supporters surely commemorate his intention to employ the federal government to serve the American public, he could even crank it up a bit, by reenacting Franklin D. Roosevelt’s WPA – Works Progress Administration – under the guise of ObamaWorks. “Renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration; the WPA was the largest and most ambitious American New Deal agency, employing millions of people (mostly unskilled men) to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads. In a much smaller project, Federal Project Number One, the WPA employed musicians, artists, writers, actors and directors in large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects.” Wow, is THAT ever fantastic to hear about! The recognition that the arts and literature are all about inspiring and creating the theatre for human evolution! What is that saying? ‘History repeats itself for those who are doomed to forget.’ A mere google away: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” (George Santayana)

In 1933, as the 32nd president of the United States, FDR orchestrated the “New Deal” in his first 100 days of office. His purpose was to transform a shattered economy, following the 1929 stock market crash. This consisted of a series of economic programs to establish “Relief”, “Recovery” and “Reform”, of which the WPA was a substantial mechanism; operating its own projects in cooperation with state and local governments. In the inception of his second term, Obama could emphatically authorize a series of programs needed to make improvements across America; delineating the jobs required to implement them, and build our economy and morale in the process, as had been achieved through Roosevelt’s WPA. The circumstances surrounding each of their administrations are parallel; both enmeshed in war and coming into power following a Wall Street engendered economic collapse. Whereas Obama’s 44th presidency coincided with a recession, FDR’s corresponded with the Great Depression. Since Obama has already demonstrated his audacity in confronting Wall Street with the Dodd-Frank Act, why not engage in another executive order or two, as were prerequisite for FDR to carry out his Works. Now is the critical time to launch an indispensable ObamaWorks plan; to facilitate the investment in a much needed overhaul throughout the country, prioritized according to national as well as regional and community needs.
 
Though it may seem implausible, given that we’re ensconced in an imbalanced Democracy in which Plutocratic powers often determine what the executive branch may or may not do, this is precisely the recipe to revitalize America! The WPA was one bold aspect of the New Deal, which Roosevelt legislated to put millions of unskilled Americans back to work, including the construction of buildings and roads. “Happy Days could be Here Again”, if instead of side-stepping issues, tip-toeing around egregious lobby groups and getting stalled in bipartisan gridlocks, Obama would simply administer a number of definitive projects, ObamaWorks, and set them into motion. These programs would respond to our need for energy independence, and result in the subsequent investment in renewable energy enterprises and environmentally sound ‘green’ building. America has been lagging in developing clean and efficient transportation infrastructures, as well as in education and efficient communication networks. We need to make decisions that will reflect viable options for the generations to come, without obliterating our environment and the delicate balance of the global ecosystem and economic interdependency. In our quest to achieve international standards in education, we have inadvertently started to impinge on creative teaching methods and the hands-on approach in our classrooms. Yet because Americans are innovative and industrious, as we pull our resources together and share our ‘best practices’, we can resolve road-blocks and work through ever evolving solutions to our problems. As ObamaCare can continually be adjusted according to new insights, so can we all work together, community by community, fused by the U.S. Government’s vision and financial backing; prioritizing our most needed investments and emboldening our spirits.

Carol Keiter aka nomadbeatz welcomes donations for her writing, photography, illustrations, eBook & music composition

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