Innovative Approaches to Stimulating the Economy

Innovative Approaches to Stimulating the Economy
By Andy Alt / Political Dimensions

February 7, 2009

Desperate situations require desperate actions — that’s obvious when an economic stimulus package like the one being discussed has been seriously considered. Will it help? Maybe. Is it a lot of money? For sure. But before passing the buck (so to speak, and in gross violation of Harry Truman’s definition of passing the buck), I strongly feel that innovative and creative alternatives should be considered.

I’m not an economist and get very confused and frustrated when confronted by money, but I think my creativity makes up for my lack of practical and real knowledge. At my educational level, as a typist and as a person qualified to sit in a chair in front of a computer,

United States Prison Population, Heatherwood Apartments Mill Creek

United States Prison Population, Heatherwood Apartments Mill Creek
By Andy Alt / Political Dimensions

Oct 6, 2008 – Why does the United States have the highest prison population in the world? What causes crime?

You see, every once in a while I like to ask easy questions that I know have no chance for controversy.

Okay, hands up — how many people out there have been treated unfairly at work, when paying bills, when buying a home or renting? Any happy campers out there?

Work hard at a job, and get underpaid or laid off. Injure yourself, hopefully you can prove in a court of law (after you’ve hired a lawyer which you can’t pay for because you’ve been fired or injured from a job) that the injury was work-related or the termination of employment wasn’t due to some type of discrimination.

Greenwashing is the New Brainwashing | Non Humor

Greenwashing is the New Brainwashing
By Andy Alt / Political Dimensions

The term greenwash is used in the full article I’ve linked to, but not in this excerpt. You’ll get the idea.

TIME Magazine: Eco-Buyer Beware: Green Can Be Deceiving By Bryan Walsh
Vice president of the environmental marketing firm TerraChoice, Case last year sent his researchers into a big-box retail store to evaluate the green advertising claims of some of the products on its shelves. The results were startling: of the 1,018 products TerraChoice surveyed, all but one failed to live up fully to their green boasts.

The Crappy Credit Reporting Agencies and Financial System | Non Humor

The Crappy Credit Reporting Agencies and Financial System
By Andy Alt / Political Dimensions

Aug 25, 2008 – I’m a little bit disgusted with how credit reporting agencies work. Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion may basically lick the decaying fecal matter out of my anal cavity, as well as the policy-makers who instituted this abhorrent and imbecilic method of discrimination toward people and of making stealing identities possible. Am I suffering from my mental illness again, or is it absurdly ridiculous that we now live in a society where it’s amazingly easy to destroy someone else’s credit, and where identity theft is supposedly very commonplace? (much money is “earned” now by offers to “protect and safeguard” one’s credit, so maybe identity theft is not as common as economists and money-makers would like us to believe.) If a person can work very hard, earn a living, but then have their credit and reputation ruined through no fault of their own, isn’t the financial system going against, desecrating, and crapping on the so-called American dream?

Commentary Two: Climate Change and Affordable Public Transportation

Commentary Two: Climate Change and Affordable Public Transportation
By Henry Galt
August 11, 2008

[The following commentary was written in response to Climate Change and Affordable Public Transportation]

They used to make corn foam chips for packaging to poorer nations so that they could be eaten when delivered – I don’t know if they still do.

Hemp is the real answer to all our fuel/pollution (not CO2) problems.

We have had the lungs of the world ripped out to gain the privilege of reading propaganda, downright lies and advertising for more of the same on paper made from trees, yet the people who brought you the first mass circulation “newspapers” fought, successfully, to destroy a plant that produces vastly superior paper far more cheaply and easily than killing trees ever could and at 4x the amount per acre (over 20 years) using zero dioxins and it can be recycled 2.5x more than wood-pulp derivatives.

Financial Wizardry at Work: Frozen Money Technology | Humor

Financial Wizardry at Work: Frozen Money Technology
By Andy Alt / Political Dimensions

May 30, 2006 – Thanks to the ingenuity of Louisiana Democrat William Jefferson, several innovations have been introduced to keep your money safe. Jefferson expanded the idea of cold, hard cash, and took it one step further by freezing it, thereby causing his own cash to become even colder and harder.

My company will be selling plastic bags, specially formulated to freeze cash safely and prevent freezer-burn. These bags, however, will be opaque. You’ll be able to label them as “turkey,” “beef,” or any other food you can imagine.

Water Adds up to an Ocean | Humor

Water Adds up to an Ocean
By Andy Alt / Political Dimensions

21 Aug 2005 – I feel very strongly about the existence of water. I think it should continue to exist. I’m grateful that I have easy access to it because I know — although I’m not well-traveled — that there are other countries in the world that don’t have a user-friendly interface for collecting water, or upgrading their hydration level. I’m also grateful that the price and tax on clean, filtered water is fairly reasonable at the current market rate. For the same price as some generic medication, one can purchase a case of clean water. This is really something you would expect from what is called the wealthiest nation on Earth. If not for Water Corporations and other Industries, the United States would be a very poor country.