High Speed Rail Possibly Coming to Michigan

Amidst all this gloomy and upsetting news about AIG, the state of the economy, and corruption, there is ray of sunlight shining down on my state. We’re might be getting high speed railroad. John, they heard us!!

Above is a plan that appeared in The Livingston County News. This is very exciting. It means that my husband, one day…before he retires we hope, can commute to work.

It will connect Detroit, Ann Arbor and Lansing and go through our county and will be built entirely out of private funds using highly innovative technology.

“This innovative rail system has tremendous potential for Michigan residents, and could be a major catalyst to strengthen our economy and create jobs,” said state Rep. Bill Rogers, R-Genoa Township, who will sit on the task force. “Just as Michigan was the birthplace of the world’s first mile of concrete roadway, our state could usher in a new era of transportation with just as much impact as the automobile.”

The elevated rail line would use cars built by Detroit automakers, which use solar energy to power hydrogen batteries, said Justin Sutton of Whitmore Lake, founder of Worldwide Hydrogen Super Highways, which has designed the magnetic rail system.

The batteries would power a system of magnets that drive the trains along stainless steel tracks, capable of speeds approaching 200 mph. The tracks would also serve as conduits for fiberoptic lines and other utilities, Sutton said. He said the use of hydrogen, a highly flammable gas, would be safe.

Very exciting…sometimes opportunity can arise in the midst of disaster.

This looks just simply mahvelous…but will it really happen?  Almost sounds too good to be true!!!   Should we break out a new bottle of JB?!!   Read more about it here.

Magdaleyna

How do we solve the current banking disaster?

We have plenty of critics who are clear about what they think is being done or not done, but let’s look at our options and see what they are, and examine them one by one. As I see it, there are as follows…

1. Continue to bailout the banks. The banks will continue to payoff the CDSs first, and there will still be no money left for lending. The budget deficit will skyrocket indefinitely.

2. Stop all the bailouts. Nationalize and take over the banks. Nullify the CDSs. Start lending money. Businesses get back on their feet. People with stock in the banks lose out.

3. Do nothing for the banks. Let them fail of their own accord. Stop lending to them. Create a new national bank that lends money. Problem here is..where are the offices of this new bank, where are the personnel to run it, etc., etc.

It seems obvious to me and others, that in the past few decades there has developed so much corruption in our banking system that perhaps the only option is No. 3. Just start all over again and hire in new people…this seems to be a very daunting task but it might be the only thing that works. I am not familiar with other banking systems and whether or not national banks exist in other countries that lend to small business. There might also be another variation of Option 3…

3b. Do nothing for the big banks. Outlaw derivatives. Let the banks that survive on their own do business (i.e., small local banks)…

Where do we begin?

Maggie

PBS FRONTLINE: “Inside the Meltdown”

TV FLASH

Don’t miss this tonite!!!
PBS-Frontline
Inside the Meltdown
Tuesday, February 17, 9:00 pm

An examination of the economic crisis of 2008 and 2009, detailing the fire sale of Bear Stearns to JPMorgan, the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the bailout of insurance giant AIG and the $700 billion Wall Street bailout known as TARP.

We’ll discuss it tomorrow..

Maggie

How globalization killed America… and the world.

So let’s see how this works…

By Jack E. Lohman

Picture two water glasses, one 90% full and the other 10%. It’s our disproportionate world. Some very rich, some very poor. It’d be nice to make them all the same, for different reasons. It could be the right thing to do, or a chance to make a lot of money for someone.

Protectionism is like leaving the glasses separate. Every country for themselves. No exports, no imports. Small businesses and people who lost their job to outsourcing prefer this.

Those supporting globalization have put a tube between the glasses and let the assets level between them. Problem is, the tube is too wide and unrestricted, and assets are leveling too fast. Jobs are leaving our country faster than we can create replacements, but the perpetrators are doing just fine, thank you.

Unemployment is up, people are losing their health care and banks are foreclosing on their houses.

But some executives are laughing all the way to the bank. The CEOs that sent the jobs to China and India — and reduced their manufacturing costs and increased profits, and their salaries and bonuses and golden parachutes — are so tickled that they shared their wealth with the politicians who agreed not to intervene.

You know, the guys that let it all happen and who rail on the public that it was the right thing to do. The co-conspirators.

The politicians are happy because the campaign contributions keep coming in and help them keep a job that gives them power and wealth. So they tell us “globalization will ceate jobs,” but they hide that they’ll be in China and India.

Live with it, or fix it! Wisconsin’s 100% re-election of congressional members does not represent change.

Tidbits:

Like all political problems, this one was created solely by corrupt campaign money. With public funding of campaigns the tube would have been appropriately adjusted, but the politicians sold out their constituents for cash dollars.

What matters are jobs, and only jobs, and they must be brought back to the US. New jobs must be prohibited from being outsourced, especially by bailed out companies. Tax cuts benefit only those with jobs.

Tariffs must be applied both as a source of income and as a deterrent. Corporations that outsource must be penalized with a higher taxes or tariffs.

Rebuilding government buildings and roads creates temporary jobs when we need permanent manufacturing jobs. Jobs that last more than two years, or we’ll soon be doing this again.

It’s not a pretty sight for anyone except the CEOs who got $10 million bonuses for trashing their own companies and the nation’s economy with it. That’s the kind of job I want.

Obviously they shouldn’t have deregulated the banks in 1999, and they should have outlawed Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs) as usury, and banned the selling of consolidated toxic loan packages. But congress was being paid to turn a blind eye, and they did.

I generally am a free market capitalist, but I draw the line on allowing one segment of the population to rip off another. Our free-for-all system — without regulations and laws to protect those unwilling to join the dog-eat-dog world of survival — has trashed the US and worldwide economy.

Fair trade is preferred over free trade.

Cold Is a Relative Thing…

I posted a blog about climate change a few days ago that didn’t seem to spark any interest…but I couldn’t resist posting this after receiving it in my email this AM. BTW, I’m from Michigan!

65 above zero:
Floridians turn on the heat.
People in Michigan plant gardens.

60 above zero:
Californians shiver uncontrollably.
People in Michigan sunbathe.

50 above zero:
Italian & English cars won’t start.
People in Michigan drive with the windows down..

40 above zero:
Georgians don coats, thermal underwear, gloves, wool
hats.
People in Michigan throw on a flannel shirt.

35 above zero:
New York landlords finally turn up the heat.
People in Michigan have the last cookout before it gets
cold.

20 above Zero
People in Miami all die.
Michiganders close the windows.

Zero:
Californians fly away to Mexico .
People in Michigan get out their winter coats.

10 below zero:
Hollywood disintegrates.
The Girl Scouts in Michigan are selling cookies door to
door.

20 below zero:
Washington DC runs out of hot air.
People in Michigan let the dogs sleep indoors.

30 below zero:
Santa Claus abandons the North Pole.
Michiganders get upset because they can’t start the
Snow-mobile.

40 below zero:
ALL atomic motion stops .
People in Michigan start saying…’Cold enough fer ya?’

50 below zero:
Hell freezes over.
Michigan public schools will open 2 hours late

How do we regroup?

Well, it was pretty kool when RR reopened his blog for comments. The first day was great, but things are already headed downhill with certain unwelcome posters showing up and I think you know whom/what I’m taking about.

That’s why this blog was created. For sane conversations. Let’s face it, we need each other.

What is it going to take to get Jordan, Steve, Angry, Silverfox, and some of the other folks over here when we don’t have their email addresses and we cannot *ASK* them to come over?

What can we do to prevent Angry from having a heart attack if she has to fend off all those idiots by herself?!!!

Perhaps I need to invent some more interesting blog topics. Well, you know, it’s not just me here, we’re supposed to have other bloggers here.

Respectfully,

Magdaleyna

Does Obama’s stimulus package address the serious structural problems in our economy?

Yesterday Robert Reich posted a new article “The Real Fight Starts After the Stimulus is Enacted.  Rather than trying to paraphrase his article or quote it in its entirety (and I am not sure if we can do this without violating copyright laws), I suggest you refer to original article.

We welcome all followers of Robert Reich to comment here.  You must be registered to comment, and we do not accept anonymous comments.

Israel threatens disproportionate violence in the face of humanitarian crisis in Gaza

Today’s headlines about Gaza read “Israel threatens ‘disproportionate’ response to rockets” … paraphrasing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s remarks that retaliation for recent rocket fire from Gaza will meet with ”sharp” and “disproportionate” retaliation.  This news comes on heels of news a few days ago that the UN was seeking humanitarian aid for victims in Gaza, when UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made an urgent plea for humanitarian aid to Gaza to help provide everything from medical help to clean air.

So far it is estimated that 1300 people—this includes women and children–have been killed in Gaza, 5300 have been wounded, and 21,000 homes have been destroyed.  Is this right?  Should we just stand by and watch this happen?!!  

Just over a decade ago the world stood silent and helpless as nearly a million Tsutsis were literally chopped to death in Rwanda in an insane frenzy of ethnic cleansing.  

How different is this situation in Palestine and Israel, a territory traditionally occupied by two closely related, semetic peoples who continue to define all their problems in racial and ethnic terms?  How moral is it for the U.S. to stand by and take sides, to feed a conflict that has no goal or reason except ethnic genocide?

I think it is time to revisit this subject.

 

 

How long will Mr. O’s honeymoon last?

According to a quick read of the headlines, general support for the economic stimulus plan is strong, but people aren’t happy with the details.  For example, Michiganders are wondering what it is going to do for them.  I hear that a lot of money will be spent on the lawn on the Mall…but I think it’s going to be very hard to suddenly spend all this money in a hurry and do it right and please everybody.

We hear that Mr. O enjoys talking and socializing with more conservative folk, even though he doesn’t share their views.  I hear he’s talking more to Republicans than the Democrats and this is worrying the Democrats a bit.

Hello world!

Welcome to the Keeping Room.  For those of you that didn’t know, a keeping room used to be a cozy room off the kitchen, a place for family and friends to gather where they could stay warm and chat together and perhaps share a warm drink. For those of you who have been following Robert Reich’s blog this is your home away from home.

A group of us who had been blogging there thought this would a good idea–Art A Layman, Jack Lohman, John Lawrence, and me (also known as Linda and now known as Magdaleyna).  We are together by virtue of the fact that we had each other’s email addresses, but we would also like some of our other regulars to join us…like Jordan, Silverfox, Notsofast, Sandwichman, Lauren, and many others too numerous to name.

We can continue to comment on Robert Reich’s blogs and we can even start new ones of our own, revisiting old subjects as events change and develop.  We plan to remain a respectful, polite group and we agree to disagree.  I believe everyone will have to register in order to post, and we will not accept anonymous posters.  Spammers, hate mongers, rabble rousers, and the like are not welcome.

For the time being, this forum will be by invitation and we will probably make it private; this is to respect Robert Reich’s desire to have a little break from the public commentary.

So please come & post, start a blog of your own.  We miss you!!!  This is your web site as much as ours.    Art, John, Jack, and I are all moderators, and if you have any suggestions about the format or design of this site, please let us know.  We are all getting to know this WordPress site together and we can use your help.

Respectfully yours,

Magdaleyna