SexyFighters.com

[rufus]

Then quickest way to end the corruption that has run rampant through the Federal government would be to create term limits that prevent any elected representative or Senator from holding office for more than a single term. 2 years for Reps., 6 years for Senators. A Senator could also serve one term as a Rep, and a Rep could serve one term as a Senator - but that's it - no more. In addition, the constitutionally required proportions of the population should be required to be represented in Congress.

Currently, we, the people, are illegally under-represented. Constitutionally, a Representative is supposed to represent no more than a certain number of citizens (around 30,000). I believe I worked this out onece for discussion in another forum abnd it turns out there are supposed to be around 15,000 Representatives in Congress, based on the constitutional formula, as of this year (2007).

This would also serve as an excellent way to reform campaign finance issues. At the most, 34 Senators could be running for a Rep office and 34 Reps could be running for a Senatorial seat every two years. There would never be an incumbant in any electoral race. Lobbyists would spend so much time trying to figure out who's who, they wouldn't have time to work their bribes. No one else would be running for anything and they would all have to be focused 100% on doing their job - vs. keeping their job.
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OG member since 1998

[AlleyBaggett]

Okay.....I want to bring this thread back into the top of the list of threads because this is a very important thread that really affects all of us throughout the world.

First I would like to ask that EVERYONE who has ever read or posted in this thread PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go to this link and check out this documentary:

http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com

You can view the entire thing for FREE right now on Google. Once you've seen it please pass the info/link on to EVERYONE you know. It is an important thing for every one to see....especially if you are American. Again please view and PLEASE share your thoughts.

All my love....goes out to you.

XOXO
ALLEY

p.s. I will give more of my thoughts once you've viewed it....
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xoxoxo
ALLEY!

AlleyBaggett.Net - The Official Site
http://www.alleybaggett.net

[chico]

Watch is wal-Mart good for America. I saw it 2 yrs. ago have'nt been to a Wal-mart since.

[AlleyBaggett]

I agree with you Chico. I don't either because of what I've learned about them too.

I don't agree that buying things from China is a good thing. I would have a different opinion if their goods were safe for our children and safe for us to purchase. The fact is that their goods are contaminated with lead.....even high levels of traces are found in their fabrics. There was a story a while back put out by some major news network about China having a kitten/cat ring, where they raised cats to kill them for their skin/fur...to produce those really cool kitten bobble head things that were big at one point. You would touch them and they felt so real....(because the fur was real).....and their heads would move gracefully. it was a really cute thing...but seeing the undercover footage was sad! Also, China is now in the lead for pollution. They used to ride their bikes EVERYWHERE and now....you see nothing but cars EVERYWHERE. It's okay, I understand....even they want to advance and why shouldn't they? The problem is that they are doing it in an alarming FAST pace without any guidelines or anything of that sort!! Their use for energy is strictly COAL....which we all know by now....is a major problem with the Earth's ozone layer. I saw a picture on CNN.COM where their people had masks and were walking through a cloud of thick dark solid smoke (pollution from coal pro) and this is what they are doing to their people...this is how they are planning to advance....this is what they are doing to our planet. I don't mind buying products and things that are made from other countries....but I know have banned China from my purchasing power.

I hear Brazil is doing wonders with alternative energy. Why can't we do that? I think we could if we really wanted to....instead our tax dollars are being spent on war....which is to feed the guys at the top with their greed, schemes and plots. Wouldn't it be amazing if we could spend our money on things that would improve our quality of life (health, energy, clean air, food, more jobs -(no out sourcing) and better education (in public schools & better student loans)?

Something else to think about....


xoxo
ALLEY
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ALLEY!

AlleyBaggett.Net - The Official Site
http://www.alleybaggett.net

[mt]

This to me is really what the US should be concerned about. I also think that, in a Bushit!!-CIA conspiracy big picture, I think this is part of the reason why Bush and his oil buddies wanted to invade Iraq.

What's this got to do with China? China's economy is growing over 8% and they need energy to sustain this growth. China does not have raw materials and oil reserves. Let me think....who could possibly have oil China might want to buy? Some salesman from the Middle East, maybe. Will the US ever leave Iraq after the war? No. There will be military bases there to protect the oil companies investments/profits.

So, that's it then. We win. ...Not.
China is buying/has bought relations with several countries for their natural resources. They tolerate the genocide in Darfur, Sudan because they need the oil. So what if thousands are murdered and [word censored]. Hell, they have a billion people they have to feed.
China establishes relations with Venezuela? True. Why? Because the US has high moral standards, and we believe in freedom, democracy, and because we don't like Hugo Chavez - "he's a dictator". Hmm. I thought we supported Saddam in the Iran-Iraq war. The shah of Iran was a nice guy, too. That's probably why people revolted.
China helps Iran with their nuclear program. "Why would they do that, grandpa?"
"i don't know. Maybe they want that black stuff seeping up from under the sand."

I think China is sitting on the 50-yard line along the border of Iran-Iraq, watching us burn our money away. They're just waiting for the winner so they can come in and buy all the oil reserves.

We need to stop borrowing money to pay for this damn war! Guess where we're borrowing money from to pay for this war...say it with me, Europe, Japan, and CHIIIINA!.

We've gone from a country with money in our checking account to a country using credit cards to pay for our lifestyle. This is gospel according to Warren:

http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2006ltr.pdf

Yes, China will be our downfall if we don't watch what's going on behind us and continue to focus our myopic sights on Iraq.

Oops, it's 5pm, miller time.
End of rant.
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In a perfect world, you get all Alley, all the time.

[AlleyBaggett]

MT, I agree with you 100% about China being our downfall! It's true...America is debt by the trillions. We keep borrowing money and borrowing money. We can all forget about social security funds for us in the future.....because the government will have to use that to help pay back that debt although that will still not be enough to pay it all back fully. That debt that is owed today is one that will be carried over to our children's children. That's 3 generations of debt!!! As we speak today and tomorrow the debt continues to grow and grow. All while....the CEO's of the war are driving around LUXERY cars and spending money like kings on vacations, feasts, lavished gifts and etc. for their employees. Hmmmm....I wonder how they are paying for it all?

ALLEY
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xoxoxo
ALLEY!

AlleyBaggett.Net - The Official Site
http://www.alleybaggett.net

[rufus]

I've been involved in discussions onthe energy independence topic on other boards and just want to share a couple things I've learned.

There was a major oil crisis in the late 1970's (for thoise of you who didn't live through that time) during the Carter presidency where people waited in line for hours and hours to get 5 gallons of gas. One of the ioutcomes of that was the implementation of what are called CAFE stabdards. They required auto manufacturers to improve overall mileage of their vehicles by a certain percentage every year. Almos immediately, Detroit was able to (guess what) improve fuel efficiency DRAMATICALLY. It didn't take years and years of research and experimentation with engine designs at all. Just a couple years. Of course, the impact of the fuel shortages on the economy eventuall resulted in Carter being ousted in favor of good ol' Ronnie Raygun. One of the very first acts he undertook was to roll back the CAFE standards (to reduce the amount of fuel efficiency improvements required) and then shortly after ELIMINATE them.

One of the posters on another board had calculated that if those CAFE standards had been left in place, that as of the late 80's - early 1990s the US would have become COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT of foreign oil needs to operate our economy, and would in fact have an excess of domestic oil production today - I.E., we could be a member of OPEC. Instead....... - well, you know. JAnd of course it was good ol' Ronnie who was in politcal bed with both the Iraqi's and the Iranians, and funding Bin Laden's buds all through the 80's - supplying all of them with weapons. Just imagine, there were some people that wanted to put good ol' Ronnie's visage on Mount Rushmore!!! Idiotas.

Of course, it is completely within the shrub's and congress power to reinstitute those strict CAFE standards - but - they don't! Hmmmmm. Guess that would require them to admit that it's actually been THEM (or US as you may want to consider) who have been he bad guys in the world all along - which would also elminate the ability they (the Amerikan politicos) have scrupulosuly developed to refocus the mindless' American masses attention on "them foreign devils!" as the bad guys.

Just recently an American company has proposed building the 5th largest oil refuinery in the world about 40 miles ftrom where I currently reside in EXTREMELY rural South Dakota. There is, of course, no oil within about 1,000 miles of here. So crude would have to be piped in and refined products piped back out. Alley, I know you have experience witht he refineries in the Houston area, and last Fall I visited the Port Arthur and Lake Charles areas to get a reminder of what impact those kind of things have on an area. Of course a lot of the locals (inlcuding the state government) are highly enthusiastic about having the "wonderful" economioc development opportunity arrive here - but - I really don't think they have any clue to what these places are like. I mean, people I know have pointed to refineries in the Minneapolis area and to Ethanol production plants around here as "examples" of what they think it will be. I have had to klet them know that the planned refinery is at least 40X as large as anything they have ever seen, and that in compasrison to the ethanol plants (which generally are built on a half-square mile area - it would be producing as much gasoline every day as one of those oproduces in a full year. In 30 yeaqrs - when there isn't a--enough oil left in the world to keep the place running - it will be abandonerd - along with the billions and billions of tons of waste and byproducts on the land. Think it would ever get cleaned up? The land is in the Missouri Valley - and that river directly feeds into the aquifers of cities all the way to St Louis and from there via the Mississippi all the way to the gulf.

When some speculation was developping about an "unknown" compabny that was buying up thousands and thousands of acres for this project was floating around, I was kind of hoping that some energy company was looking at developing the first hydrogen fuel production facility - you know - actually looking toward the future, vs. just trying to gut the earth and the populace for every last nickel they could. Needless to say I was VERY disappointed to learn of the real plan.

If you want to leatrn more about this project google Hyperion, The Gorilla Project, or Save Union County (http://www.saveunioncounty.com/)
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OG member since 1998

[mt]

Alley, I just wish China would realize that there is another way to achieve their economic growth. I mean, they are just at the beginning of their "industrial revolution". This is the perfect opportunity to modernize by using the most environmentally frienndly products and methods. The U.S. and Europe have already gone thru the process of trial and error. China can just start using what already works and skip the trial phase.

Hey Rufus, I recall hearing about this CAFE standards. That's partly why I don't feel sorry for the US auto industries' woes. They've been seating on their butts doing the "I'm not going to change unless they force me" game. In todays global market, you need to adapt to the changing technology or you get left behind. Gas prices going up for several years now and they respond by introducing 16mph v8 cars. Buy a Hummer so you can pull yourself out of the mud that dotting our asphalt roads. Because we really want to go 0-60 in 5 seconds? Why? Freeway traffic goes 1mph between 3-7pm in most cities. Dear Ford, wake up! Coffee's ready.
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In a perfect world, you get all Alley, all the time.

[hotcum]

I'm not sure that it's possible to educate a nation of 1.3billion people of "another way to achieve their economic growth". China is still a developing country. 20% of the world's population lives there. Its per capita GDP is only $1,200, wich is one-fifth of the world average, and much less than what we know here in the U.S. ($40,000 per capita!!!).

I believe that China's unprecedented economic growth could be the basis for improving environmental awareness both in China and the rest of the developing world.

China's economic development will be greatly stifled by environmental problems such as energy shortages, water & air pollution, etc. The Chinese government will have to make major investment in improving the environment to sustain China's economic growth. As a matter of fact, China is the only "developing" country that has removed lead from fuel, and is adopting stringent fuel efficiency policies like those in Europe or the U.S. I think that China sees that there are opportunities for them economically to develop pollution control technologies that can help China and serve as a foot-print for the rest of the developing world (that needs to clean up its act as well).

I don't disagree of the Hummer and SUV thing. I think they're stupid and excessive, and scream, "Hey look at me! I've got too much money and I don't know what to do with it! I'm going to bitch about the problems, but I'm too stupid to actually do anything about it myself." Then they moan about the price of fuel, the war, etc. But what are you going to do? You could start by either not driving a car, or buying a diesel vehicle that gets 40-something MPG. That's probably the most efficient method of automobile transportation right now. Hydrogen and all that stuff is kind of a hoax. It takes alot more hydrogen and energy to use the hydrogen than can be efficient. Plus, you've got to compress it to get it into a tank small enough to put on a vehicle. Take the train, ride a bike, do something.

Thank you,
Hot Cum

p.s.- Alley, I love the documentaries too. I just love to joke around when the level of seriousness gets too high. If you want to see a great documentary that will really make you think about oil, etc., watch "Crude Awakening". It's pretty scary. At some point in the very near future, there won't be enough oil for the world to function the way we're accustomed.
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Alley is the best. Loyal member (off & on) for the better part of a decade.

[rufus]

[j3a]

another problem w/ ethanol that people fail to realize is the other greenhouse gas emissions that occur during the cultivation and production of ethanol. farming, for example, relies heavily on diesel-powered equipment that emits greenhouse gases. then, all that must be transported (more trucks on the road). the erection of ethanol plants (all the pollution from construction - i.e. diesel earth movers, bulldozers, forklifts, etc...) distilling ethanol is also a process that often uses electricity generated from coal, another source of greenhouse emissions... that's just to name a few!

"Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley recently examined six major studies of ethanol production and concluded that using ethanol made from corn instead of gasoline would lead to a moderate 13 percent reduction in greenhouse emissions. However, the researchers note that more dramatic reductions are possible if technology advances make it economical to make ethanol from cellulosic materials such as switchgrass, a crop currently grown by some U.S. farmers to control erosion on idle fields. Using cellulosic ethanol, they project, could result in 88 percent less greenhouse gas emissions."

ethanol can be more expensive than gasoline, depending on where you live.
studies show that in the midwest (where much of the country’s ethanol is produced) E85 sells for nearly 30 cents less per gallon than conventional gasoline. however, on the west coast, filling up with ethanol would cost 35 cents more p/g - in the mid-atlantic states, E85 had an even higher premium: 44 cents p/g
also - ethanol, regardless of the price you pay for it, contains less energy than gasoline. that means that your car won’t go as far on a gallon of E85, and your fuel economy will decrease by 20-30%. the bad thing here is that using ethanol may not be less expensive in the end.

[hotcum]

I need to take a nap.
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Alley is the best. Loyal member (off & on) for the better part of a decade.

[mt]

ok. I just read this. Is this for real? I think this just proves why this tunnel-vision obsession we have about the war is really causing us to lose focus on other things. Imagine if the planes were going on a training bombing run with this stuff. Jesus H. Christ!.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/22/AR2007092201447_pf.html
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In a perfect world, you get all Alley, all the time.

[j3a]

are you kidding me????

...that is just scary...

[hotcum]

It's more than scary. It's downright sobering.
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Alley is the best. Loyal member (off & on) for the better part of a decade.

[mt]

[AlleyBaggett]

Just wanted to share a documentary with you.

I don't think they give you the entire documentary....but I know they at least give you a good size portion of it for free on LINKTV.org

http://www.linktv.org/programs/special_stealing

xoxo
ALLEY
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xoxoxo
ALLEY!

AlleyBaggett.Net - The Official Site
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