The realization that nearly 40% of President Obama's electoral support came from the five fiscally disastrous and chronically blue states of California, Illinois, Michigan, New York and New Jersey apparently hit some raw nerves. Some critics countered with the fair point that red states recover more federal tax dollars then they pay and are consequently subsidized by blue states that pay more than they receive. That assertion is arithmetically correct but the interpretation that somehow red states should be thankful for the generosity of blue states and are financially or fiscally inferior is fanciful.
First, a significant portion of federal tax revenues flow back to residents of all states as Social Security and Medicare payments, which for the most part have been earned by recipients who paid into those programs during their entire working lives, so they should never be confused as gifts of charity and are certainly not the result of the beneficence of blue states. States also receive significant federal tax revenues for national defense and military spending, which protect everyone, especially coastal blue states, at least more so than interior red states.
Second, blue states generally pay more federal taxes than they receive because their residents and businesses are more affluent. Ironically, if President Obama wins the fiscal cliff negotiations and raises taxes on the wealthy, that tax disparity will widen, but the effect should be short-lived as long term trends show that affluent folks continue to leave high tax/high cost blue states for red states; over time the disparity should narrow.
Third, blue states, not red states, need a financial overhaul. The five states identified herein recover federal tax revenues ranging from only 61 cents (New Jersey) to 92 cents (Michigan) per dollar their residents pay in federal taxes, with the remaining three states receiving approximately 75-80 cents per tax dollar they pay. Those states are trying desperately to stay financially solvent by raising state and local taxes, which for New York, New Jersey and California are already among the nation's highest.
Those states carry enormous debt epitomized in the extreme by California's whopping $618 billion; they carry debilitating budget deficits, epitomized by the nation's worst at $44 billion in Illinois; and carry smothering unfunded state government worker pension and healthcare liabilities that amount to as much as 43%, 37% and 31% of the respective state GDP's of Illinois, New Jersey and California.
If allowing those states to keep more of their federal tax dollars would enhance their financially viable, such a policy should be considered, but let's not kid ourselves, there will be no quick fixes to their problems.
The nail in the coffin of the US War on Drugs is a medical marijuana patent owned by the federal government. At least, it should have been the fatal mistake of a dying concept, but it wasn't. Instead, the War on Drugs has sloshed onward, buoyed largely by the predation of the government on marijuana users based on the claim that the plant has no medical value. At the very least the feds could change their argument to the reality of the situation, which essentially boils down to the idea that even if marijuana does have medical uses, the government has secured a monopoly on any potential profits.
Of course, this all makes perfect business sense. After all, the War on Drugs is extremely lucrative, so hedging one's bets by securing a patent on medical marijuana will alleviate any pressure applied by an inevitable change in federal policy. That change will of course come on the heels of public outrage, but by then it won't matter: Patent 6630507 ensures that the government will continue to profit handsomely by heavy-handed control of suddenly legal medical marijuana.
What is US Patent 6630507?
The Department of Health and Human Services filed for this patent in 2001 after apparently extensive medical marijuana research where the government claimed, among other things, that;
"Cannabinoids have been found to have antioxidant properties, unrelated to NMDA receptor antagonism. This new found property makes cannabinoids useful in the treatment and prophylaxis of wide variety of oxidation associated diseases, such as ischemic, age-related, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases."
The US DHHS provides evidence for a number of specific medicines and treatments to be included as part of the patent, and stated in the patent filing's "Summary of the Invention" that;
"It is an object of this invention to provide a new class of antioxidant drugs that have particular application as neuroprotectants, although they are generally useful in the treatment of many oxidation associated diseases."
(Patent Storm: Cannabinoids as Antioxidants and Neuroprotectants, Patent #6630507, Issued 10/07/2003, Expires 02/02/2021)
What this means is that not only does the government hold a patent on various types of medical marijuana treatments, it also shows clear support for and evidence of its usefulness in many oxidation associated diseases. This is shocking news considering that oxidation associated diseases are those that we struggle with - and die from - every day. This includes conditions such as heart failure, cancer, bipolar, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, sickle cell anemia, autism and many other troubling diseases.
This gives rise to the thought that if the government clearly and enthusiastically admits that marijuana is a useful weapon in the battle against these diseases, but then simultaneously persecutes those who use marijuana to treat those same conditions, then it doesn't seem logical to suggest that the DHHS is acting in the best interest of the American people. Unless, of course, we're talking about the best financial interest of some Americans.
But regardless of the fact that the government's medical marijuana patent was filed and granted more than a decade ago, it hasn't caused much of a stir despite several short bouts of ineffective media coverage. Of course, it could be argued that the stance of the government has changed, considering the fact that 16 states have passed medical marijuana legislation.
However, this argument only adds further insult to injury considering that starting in the spring of 2011 the federal government began an aggressive crackdown on medical marijuana dispensaries and suppliers that continues to this day. The reason these law-abiding citizens are being arrested and incarcerated? Because there are no medically accepted uses for marijuana.
Of course, pointing out that patent 6630507 is a blatant, potentially criminal contradiction to this stance invariably leads to the tired excuse of "if we legalize pot for medical use, we'll have to legalize everything else as well."
This argument is correct but flawed considering that we already have legalized most of the other illicit chemicals for medical use. Opiates are possibly the largest class of drug on the planet, and include substances like Vicodin, Morphine, Methadone, Percocet and many others. Cocaine is used for medical purposes including pain management and as an anesthetic, and amphetamines are found in many drugs including popular prescription medications like Adderall, Benzedrine and Dexedrine.
So in reality, this argument only points out the fact that medical marijuana is actually behind the times of perilous street drugs like heroin, cocaine and meth. Of course, even in the filing documentation for Patent 6630507 it's clear that the government tried - unsuccessfully - to patent a class of drugs that were non-psychoactive. However, why should this matter? Prescription drugs are dangerously addictive because they are highly psychoactive, while medical marijuana - even if habit forming - isn't viewed as dangerous by anyone, including the people who demonize it.
Ultimately, the entire War on Drugs is propped up by the marijuana trade. By removing this component from the "War," the federal government wouldn't have any legs to stand on. This is because while the demand for drugs like cocaine and heroin is high, it pales in comparison with the demand for marijuana - medical and otherwise. Additionally, it's likely that the more difficult marijuana is to obtain - as in a high interdiction rate - the more users will turn to other drugs.
But at the base of this issue is the two-sidedness of the US stance on medical marijuana: the government harasses, persecutes and imprisons those who take part in state-sanctioned, legitimate medical marijuana programs by citing the "fact" that marijuana has no medical uses while holding a medical marijuana medicine patent behind their backs.
In fact, even the government's studies have found that this is a useless policy and one that can't hope to survive. The conclusion of a federally-funded study on drug demand and supply stated that;
"Given experiences since the beginning of the war on drugs, which initiated major expansions in expenditures on supply-based programs, it seems more reasonable to conclude that the Nation will not be able to have any large future influence on decreasing the availability and increasing the price of illicit drugs." (William Rhodes; Patrick Johnston; Song Han;Quentin McMullen; Lynne Hozik, Illicit Drugs: Price Elasticity of Demand and Supply January 10, 2002)
Overall, any sane person who examines this issue subjectively will come to the same conclusion: you can't have your cake and eat it too. But for some reason, we the American people have allowed our government to do exactly that. And because of our ineffectiveness at collaboration, dissemination, organization and action, even if we do succeed in ending the War on Drugs, we'll be at the mercy of a highly controlled, government-monopolized program for marijuana - a weed that can grow in any ditch or backyard. The government is playing its people like a game of chess: Exit the War on Drugs, enter Patent 6630507.
Want to do something about it? Spread the news. Create a fire. Share this article, and tell anyone who will listen that there is clear, easy to obtain proof that our government is soldiering on both sides of the War on Drugs. This means that no matter what side you're on personally, you're battling a hypocritical traitor.
If you're in recovery and you've battled relapses or are clean but still fighting from what seem like withdrawal symptoms, you may be suffering from post acute withdrawal syndrome. Please help us understand this condition better and develop more effective treatments, which will ultimately take more people out of the War on Drugs and therefore limit its effect while helping addicts all over the world. Please take the confidential, 20 question survey now via the website for our Post Acute Withdrawal Survey.
For more information, for additional resources or to schedule an immediate assessment and confidential consultation, please see the original source of this article and related links: http://recoveryfirst.org/
In the 19th Century, the terms internet and online learning were unknown. 20th Century saw the invention of the computer and birth of the internet. Along came the 21st Century where individuals and organizations started living in a networked world with access to a multitude of advanced technological innovations and online applications being designed and operated in their daily lives. In the educational sector, the so called traditional way of imparting education in within brick and mortar classroom settings has given way to a whole new digitized environment where students may attend classes without being present in person. Thus, the 21st Century has brought about a revolution in the way education is delivered and received.
For class organizers, internet has given a whole new meaning to the business. The schools can now conduct classes over the internet which can now be attended by people from all over the world. Thus, online courses saw a rising number of enrollees with each passing year and a higher ROI. For professionals who want to pursue a diploma program in a specific subject but are unable to leave their jobs have found online classes a lucrative option. They can now enroll in a course while still continuing with their full-time jobs.
Educators found online class management solutions beneficial on a number of grounds.
Easy Registration Process - There is no need to stand in a long line waiting for hours to get an admission form. With the integrated online class registration solutions, anyone can easily access, fill up, and submit a form online. Of course, you need to have access to a computer with internet connectivity.
Secured Payment Transfer - You can allow the registrants to pay online via a safe and secure payment gateway. They can transfer their registration plus course fees online using credit cards, wire transfers or through leading payment gateways. A major benefit of introducing online payments is that you can let people pay you in installments on a weekly or monthly basis. Keeping a track of such kinds of payments is not a problem with an integrated payment management service since it automatically stores payment information of each registrant for you to monitor in real-time.
Emailing Information - You can communicate with people quickly by sending out emails via this system. For example, you want to inform a specific batch of students about a change in the class time; you write an email to one marking a copy to the rest stating the new time. With the emailing application to depend on, you save time plus cost of paper and postage stamps.
Marketing Your Classes - You get to promote your classes on social networking sites, on your institute website plus blog to attract potential students. You may also publish your online class registration link and provide detailed payment information to take admission to an upcoming class or course.
There was a time when students would get cold feet at the very thought of interacting with their teachers; even if that meant for discussing regular assignment related issues, or to simply wish them on special occasions. Now, teachers are no more the dreaded humans and students do not fret about meeting them even for a casual discussion. Teachers are more like friendly guides today; students can rely on them when faced with academic issues, career related or otherwise. This change is visible not only in online educational domains but in face-to-face classroom setups as well. This enhanced interaction has been made further possible by the increased popularity of social networks.
Is social networking conducive to learning?
Just like any application based practice or trend, social networking too has its own positive and negative effects. Judging from its usage, which is primarily social mingling, one, cannot simply tag it as harmful to learning. In fact, it depends essentially on the students and educators; whether it can be made conducive to learning or not. However, it is always better to put any new practice to the best use for society rather than chucking it as a mere waste of time. Social networking can surely benefit teaching-learning if it is made a part of the classroom activities; and it is already happening in classes where teachers and students are allowed to access social networking sites by institute authorities.
How do social media foster student-teacher interaction?
There are independent educators who simply maintain pages of their own on various social networking sites and allow their students to post queries and comments. They regularly check those posts and respond to the queries, or have chat sessions with the students when online to solve their problems. They even post class modules or reference study materials on these sites from time to time, or maintain educational blogs to be accessed and shared by the students easily.
Many institutes use the class registration software to conduct classes online or to streamline administrative jobs of their onsite classes. Such institutes avail of the member management solutions to build and maintain private community networks where they ask their students to be a part of. These community networks are epicenters of activities where students and teachers interact freely. To provide a better communication platform, some institutes also purchase a Social Media Connector from the software provider at a minimal cost which facilitates easy downloading of social media profiles of members directly on to the community networks.
Following are the ways in which teachers are trying to leverage the power of the social media to connect with their students:
1. They post questions or conduct live polls on various socially relevant subjects on the social networking sites in order to understand their students' view points on them.
2. They engage in discussions online either through a forum or through a chat session to explain a certain lesson to their learners.
3. They share various info-rich graphics and slide presentations on their profiles to make their traditional mode of learning even more interesting.
4. They post blogs and encourage their students to do the same that helps to improve their creative writing skills.
Students who otherwise feel a bit awkward to open up in classes interact freely over social media. They even come to know of various issues that are rarely discussed in classes that add on to their knowledge.
Back when I was a young man in building my business up, I think the year was 1987 or something like that, our federal government failed to produce a budget and it ran out of money, and they shut the government down for a few weeks. Do you know what happened? Nobody noticed.
Okay so I'd like to talk to you a little bit about this so-called self-imposed fiscal cliff which is said to be such a big deal right now (November 2012). You see, the reason we have a fiscal cliff is because our legislative branch could not come up with a federal budget on time as they were supposed to.
Indeed, it's their only one job that they must do by law every single year. They couldn't seem to figure out how to balance the books, live within their means, and they just kept borrowing money and spending. They had put forth a limit of the amount of debt that they would incur on the behalf of the American taxpayer. They went over that amount, several times, always kicking the can down the road. Now they've come up against the can in the road again, rather than deal with it, they all went on vacation for the Thanksgiving Holiday. Amazing isn't it?
Some say this fiscal cliff is going to be a big deal and could cause us to go into recession, in fact, the Congressional Budget Office which put out such a warning. Well, I say; can you imagine the depression that will occur if our government continues to spend at this level? And why didn't they deal with this last time, or the time before, or the time before that - you ask? Simple, the politicians didn't want to cause any hardship or modify the government (taxpayer) money flows to their favorite lobbyists, or deal with the voter fallout from budget cuts on social services or big corporate contracts.
This last time it seems the Democrat Leadership wanted to wait until after the 2012 elections to deal with their obligations to have a budget and to stop spending over the debt limit they'd set, which by the way were quite high, high enough no one thought they'd hit for another decade or more, and by then inflation would have basically taken care of it - not that such a strategy is acceptable - it's clearly not, but that's what they were thinking. Instead they ran up against that limit in about 3 years.
Maybe this time, and this is real "hope" maybe we can get these socialist spenders to stop wasting our taxpayer's money so we can parachute down without going off this cliff at a full clip, because we won't make it to the other side if we don't have a plan. Please consider all this and think on it.
Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative series of eBooks on Innovation in America. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net/
Content management systems are becoming very popular among website owners as they have myriads of different modules that can be extended according to the requirements and capabilities. Among various CMS, Drupal is in great use because it is a publishing platform that is bursting with potential and is created by a vibrant community. Developers love to use the well documented APIs and the designers appreciate the flexibility. Drupal website development makes it very easy to create and manage a website. Today, different organizations are taking the benefits of Drupal and waste management industries are no more lacking behind.
Disposing of waste material in an environmentally friendly manner is vital to any business and today there are experts who can easily assess the waste streams and create an appropriate recycling and disposal solution for the organizations or industries. Since waste management has emerged as one of the most important vehicle to improve the environmental performance, there are websites offering various organizations with tools and information to successfully manage their waste and other activities in a cost effective manner. Using Drupal platform to create such websites enables the organizations to support environmental improvements that are subjected to environmental regulations.
With Drupal website development, you can create impressive websites from scratch and it requires very less programming than the other CMSs. You can easily add new features and reshape your Drupal website from simple presentation site to an important web application. Drupal is popular for its well designed and meticulously crafted code and the designed structure empowers the Drupal developers to use codes that can use the system resource properly and wisely. With a Drupal website, waste management organizations can bring together individuals, other institutions, communities and corporations to make necessary and positive environmental changes in their communities and daily lives.
Waste management organizations primarily aim to inspire citizens and industrial sectors to manage their wastes in an effective manner and to get people informed about sustainable changes in their environment and their behavior. With Drupal websites you can enjoy advanced social networking features that include organic group, polls, blogs, forums, product reviews, events and commenting system. The members of the site can easily track their records, emphasis on training and qualification of individuals.
Drupal website development allows the developers to create modern designs with an intuitive UI that makes a pleasant user experience across the site's broad demographics. With thousands of community contributed modules coming up, the flexibility of Drupal is extended and the chances are high that Drupal can offer everything that you can possibly imagine. The speedy issues and concurrence problems do not come and patches or updates to a site can be easily done. Most modern organizations focus on simple managing data to making content easy to retrieve and find. Waste management organizations can easily increase their amount of information in the system and keep a track on the visitors of the community. With Drupal websites you can easily describe success stories demonstrating the potential of EMS as a means of attaining national goals in the areas of waste recycling and beneficial waste.
WASHINGTON – As part of the Obama Administration’s all-of-the-above energy strategy, the Energy Department today announced 20 new projects to help states and local governments cut red tape and develop the infrastructure, training and regional planning needed to help meet the demand for alternative fuel cars and trucks, including vehicles that run on natural gas, electricity and propane. These projects build on the important steps the Obama Administration has taken to expand the transportation options available for businesses and communities and improve the fuel efficiency of vehicles in the market today and for years to come.
“Building a clean and secure U.S. transportation system that leverages our domestic energy sources will give American families, businesses and communities more options and reduce fueling costs,” said U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu. “At the same time, these projects will help lead the way to further reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil and protecting our nation’s air and water.”
Through the Department’s Clean Cities initiative, these projects address a range of community infrastructure and training needs, such as providing safety and technical training for fleet operators, mechanics, first responders and code officials; streamlining permitting and procurement processes; and helping public and private fleets integrate petroleum reduction strategies into their operations.
For example, the City of Austin, Texas, has been selected for an award of $500,000 to streamline infrastructure procurement, conduct electric and natural gas vehicle safety training, host workshops to help fleet users in the San Antonio and Austin region, and organize training seminars on multi-family housing and workplace electric vehicle charging. In Kansas City, Missouri, the Metropolitan Energy Center will leverage a federal investment of approximately $815,000 in to support vocational training programs for code officials and fleet managers – including managers at local colleges and technical schools – and will also establish a Green Fleet Technical Assistance and Certification program for the region.
Cumulatively, the Energy Department is investing about $11 million in these Clean Cities projects.
Since 1993, the Energy Department’s Clean Cities initiative has supported community-led efforts to deploy vehicle and infrastructure technologies across a broad portfolio of alternative fuels from biofuels and natural gas to propane and electricity, helping to limit pollution and save money. More information on this work is available on the Clean Cities website.
iOS 6 has so many new and intriguing features, you may not even be aware of them all, let alone use them all. Here's one of our most-loved features...
How to share your Photos
Photo Stream is one of my favorite iOS 6 features. It does two things: (1) It allows you to send your photos and videos to all your devices so you can find your fave snaps at all times. But it does even more than that. (2) You can set up multiple streams to share pics with specific friends or groups of friends and family using iOS devices. So let's get started with this very cool feature!
- First of all, head over to Settings to make sure Photo Stream is turned ON. Tap Photos & Camera, then toggle both My Photo Stream and Shared Photo Streams ON.
- Now tap the Photos icon/ Photo Stream / "+" and attach a Name of Contact
- Name your Stream anything you'd like, such as Fun Family Times in Fall 2012.
- Toggle Public Website Off or On, although I keep mine toggled off. No need for the world to see my family or best friend pics via iCloud.com.
- Once you've set up the above Stream, your friend whom you've chosen will be invited. You can even Add more people to join this same communication line, or just use it to share photos with one special person! Create as many Streams as you'd like.
- You can now pick photographs from your album or snap more of them, tap to select, tap Photo Stream and then the name of the stream (friend) to which you'd like your pics attached.
- You'll see in the Photo Stream tab on your display all your various subscribers along with a photo count. See the name of your stream, as well as who's sharing the pics. For example, Kids - Shared by Me, Happy Days - Shared by Bob, you name it! That stream subscriber will instantly get a notification that you've attached a photo and can comment on it in the little speech bubble provided, or even Like the photo, just as you do on Facebook.
COOL CONCLUSION:
Using this photographic open line of communication is quick, easy, private, fun and gets your pics out to multiple parties where everyone can comment on and like it as well, without using up your text quota or data!
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