Verify out these trade show in china 2013 pictures:
America, You Had been So Lovely
Image by Large Grey Mare
My husband, Jake, will be 83 years old in December, and he can rememebr a time when our nation was one particular folks who worked collectively for it is excellent, and the excellent of every other. The current events in Washington truly upset him, as he watches all he as soon as knew and loved and believed in getting destroyed. He wrote the following about four years or so ago, as his sarcastic remedy to the troubles we had been facing then, and he asked me to post it "all over the net", due to the fact he believes these solutions would apply right now also. Anyway…here’s Jake:
The “Cash four Clunkers” program appears to have been very a success – at least as far as stimulating new auto sales is concerned. Nonetheless, most of the trade-ins had been sound, higher high quality, late model pickups and SUV’s that fell just beneath the gas mileage limit (mostly simply because they have been large and heavy, and had been geared accordingly). And the new cars that were bought included a lot of hybrids that run on batteries, hype, and hope. Will the buyers really pay for them? Also the so-referred to as clunker trade-ins have been being totally destroyed–deliberately reduced to trash. Is this proper? And numerous local automobile dealers have yet to acquire one red cent of the 00 promised for each and every of these piles of metallic junk. In truth, the whole Money-four-Clunkers stimulus system was cancelled, prior to several dealers becoming paid anything.
Of course, any income for this, or any other federal system, need to come from an empty treasury. So what else is new? If you have been to sweep and vacuum all the empty vaults at Fort Knox, you might come up with adequate gold dust to make one modest wedding ring. But, why bother? Wedding rings are obsolete anyway. However, promised payment from government sponsored applications seem to function just fine. With that in mind—why not initiate a tax refund system? Handled appropriately, it could sponsor the greatest consumerism explosion in the history of the globe.
It would work like this: Every single taxpayer in the U.S. would be eligible for a ,000 refund. Absolutely everyone over the age of ten would be deemed a taxpayer and as a result eligible. Because these below 10 do not normally spend their personal money—they would be excluded. We spend earnings tax, sales tax, home tax, gasoline tax, alcohol tax, tobacco tax, poll tax, pole tax, import tax, worth-added tax, syntax, sin tax, excise tax, luxury tax, and several other taxes—too taxing to keep in mind. Even illegal immigrants spend taxes. Primarily based on most current census info, there are 258,694,227 people over the age of ten in the U.S. who would qualify for a ,000 refund.
The tax refund system would start in October, but it may take some time to process the applications. However, since everyone is eligible and promised ,000 by our benevolent government—they start off spending right away. Men and women give assignments and vouchers on their anticipated checks. Credit cards boom. Genuine Estate sales go by means of the roof. Developers, contractors, and builders go wild. Retail sales zoom. The economic development is off the charts. Banks loan to the max. Nevertheless, there is a downside.
The Tax Refund To Americans Plan (or T-R-A-P)—as with each federal program—requires considerable paperwork. In fact, the T-R-A-P application is 877 pages, and weighs 18 pounds 12 ounces. The U.S. Postal Service screams. Tree Huggers, Inc. goes crazy when they recognize the quantity of national forests needed to make that quantity of paper—not even considering the enormous quantity of lumber being used in the housing/building boom. Al Gore comes to Capitol Hill screaming that Nobel also invented T.N.T. The T-R-A-P snaps shut. Not one dime has been paid to the American taxpayers—yet the economy is booming. The tax refund plan ends just before Christmas and our fantastic government requires over every single bank in America in January. Hitler could not have done it any far better.
The two other major problems—health care and the national debt—could be solved just as very easily. Given that our present national government seems to be operating in the Communist-Fascist-Socialist New World Order format – why have they not observed such a simple resolution proper at hand? It is Social Safety. Properly utilized, Social Security answers practically all of our overall health care and cash woes. It is so easy, even young men and women are conscious of several of the elements. In truth, a lot of young Americans are fairly effectively-informed.
Most younger Americans know what Tweetie-Bird had for breakfast and where Goldi-locks itches. They also know that Michael Jackson’s circulatory method contained 52% drugs and bleach and only 48% genuine blood. And each young individual knows that 40 is old, 50 is genuinely old, 60 is ancient, and 65 is ridiculous. And most people in America – both young and old – understand that our existing Social Security program is the most huge Ponzi scheme of all time. Young folks will never ever obtain a penny of what they contribute. So why wait? Why not cut off all payouts from Social Security now? Cash comes in, but absolutely nothing goes out. Absolutely everyone over 65 is eliminated. All of their assets go to large government and we can then pay off the national debt, loan cash to China and Brazil, and underwrite the Euro. SS Agents, of course, will supervise. Social Safety will turn into the answer alternatively of the issue.
The total assets of the elderly in America is a mind-boggling quantity, surpassing the combined wealth of 158 poorer nations about the world. Members of Congress (under 65, of course) can divide-up condos, mansions, estates, and so forth.– but only one each and every. Since numerous older folks have funds stashed in off-shore banks, SS troops will be sent to seize these accounts — along with the banks and Caribbean Islands exactly where they are situated. Every person knows that these islands should belong to America anyway.
Numerous jobs are produced. Hawaiian document forgers are overwhelmed with orders for birth certificates displaying more current birth dates. And, of course, a big number of jobs grow to be offered to develop and operate the Senior Serenity Program — a system which eliminates a senior’s aches, pains, worries, and confusion forever. Every single facility consists of a really big caldron, capable of holding 1000 seniors, a forge furnace, and a conveyer through a tunnel. SS agents with pitchforks maintain the conveyer running smoothly. Abundant corn oil, unused for ethanol, is utilized for the boiling-in-oil method. On the 2nd day, the temperature reaches two,200 degrees — then it is permitted to cool. On the 4th day, funeral parlor workers come to skim off burial bottles, before any flavors are added. Cinnamon, lemon-lime, and chili all look to function but the original “Granny” flavor is by far the most common – regardless of whether for Fido and Rover in “Bow-Wow Chow” or George and Larry in “Wham-Bam Spam”. The list of new jobs and other good ramifications goes on and on.
Alaska Caldron No. three could be constructed at the finish of the Bridge to Nowhere. Videos of SS agents with pitchforks, maintaining order on a conveyer, are sold to evangelists, and are shown on huge screens at revivals. Given that griping, grouching, frowning, and bitching are no longer permitted – SS agents enforce our happiness. Yippee!
As the elderly disappear, the common wellness of the population improves significantly. In fact, Alzheimer’s seldom shows up at all, and Erectile Dysfunction becomes fairly uncommon. Nursing homes can now take in the homeless. There is no a lot more Medicare or Medicaid. Hospitals now compete, making use of discounted prices. Physicians will have to perform for reasonable wages. For instance, a normal MD will receive 2 occasions the minimum wage. Surgeons get 3 instances minimum wage, and the Surgeon General gets a whopping 4 occasions the minimum wage. How could it be any far more fair. Also, it is found that swine flu is a by-product of excessive congressional pork spread all across the nation – which will be corrected just as soon as pigs fly. Welcome to the new America!
Jake Von Canon
Please really feel cost-free to send to every person you know, ever knew, or never knew.
Gwaii Haanas National Park, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia
Image by pmorgan
Taken in the course of a brief walk following a dried river bed into the rain forest in stunning Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Web site.
I like the immersive nature of the photo. See John Brownlow’s note www.flickr.com/photos/pmorgan/85113060/. The term ‘Immersive Landscape’ came via John. The slightly quirky images at www.flickr.com/groups/modern-landscape/ and the substantial but intermittent mailing list tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/contemporarylandscape/ are also interesting.
James Cook and Vancouver Island – Narrative
(This is a worthy portion of the answer, but I am also hunting for a lost to my thoughts description of Cook’s encounters with the cost-free-spirited and uninhibited locals.)
"The celebrated navigator James Cook sighted the coast at Vancouver Island in March 1778 and dropped anchor at a spot he believed the inhabitants named Nootka. He heard wrong, in truth, given that no neighborhood language contained this specific word. Even so, the spot exactly where Cook anchored continues to be named Nootka Sound, and its inhabitants, the Nuu-chal-nuth, became extensively recognized as the Nootka.
"Cook stayed nearly a month, charting the waters and making buddies. On 1st impression he believed Nuu-chal-nuth individuals "mild and inoffensive"-till their trading savvy revealed itself. "These folks got a greater medley and selection of issues from us than any other," he noted. By the time Cook set sail, his ship had been stripped of practically all surplus metal: copper kettles, tin tea canisters, brass candlesticks and bureau fittings, even the buttons off officers’ uniforms. In return, Cook filled his hold with native artifacts-and a fortune in sea otter pelts.
"The success of Cook’s voyage ignited a worldwide frinzy of excitement. Ships from England, Spain, Portugal, France, and the quickly-to-be-independent United States swarmed into the area. Income have been unbelievably higher. One particular trader from New England arrived in 1785 and swapped some low cost metal products for 560 pelts, which commanded ,000 in the China marketplace….American ships alone gathered some 350,000 sea otter pelts altogether, for which native suppliers received an estimated million worth of trade goods.
"In the end there was a lot for everybody, native and foreigner alike. Amongst the Haida, prominent families were amassing fortunes in coppers, blankets, firearms, and other worthwhile products. Down the coast it was the same. White traders coming into the region usually preferred to deal with one or two strong households, who became exceptionally wealthy as a result."
Lastly, this book seems intriguing: Empire, Barbarism, and Civilisation: Captain Cook, William Hodges and the Return to the Pacific, by Harriet Guest
Essential Phrases: frivolous utility, colonial romance, progressive civilisation (from Amazon)
"The artist William Hodges accompanied Captain Cook on his second voyage to the South Pacific in 1772-five. His extraordinarily vivid pictures, read against the fascinating journals of Cook and his companions, reveal as considerably about European cultures and historiography as about the peoples they visited. In this lively and original book, Harriet Guest discusses Hodges’s dramatic landscapes and portraits alongside written accounts of te voyages and in the context of the theories of civilisation which shaped European perceptions – theories drawn from the works of philosophers of the Scottish enlightenment such as Adam Smith and John Millar. She argues that the voyagers resorted to diverse or incompatible models of progress in successive encounters with different groups of islanders, and shows how these models also structured metropolitan views of the voyagers and of Hodges’s work. This totally illustrated study offers a fresh point of view on eighteenth-century representations of gender, colonialism and exploration."
(all of the above added 14 Feb 2009, slightly edited 11 Nov 2013)
Afterthought about tracking edits: I felt it excellent practise to note when I updated the description, in interests of rigour and completeness, but now I wonder if that just gets in the way of progress?