TREES = LIFE

One of life’s greatest wonders are trees. For over 27 years I have been fortunate living in the woods backing to the George Washington National Forest outside Edinburg, Virginia. Enjoying splendid forest cover I have developed a profound appreciation for trees.

According to legend the first settlers thought they had found the “garden of Eden” and it was first called “Edenburg”. Years ago it was the home of this country’s first Civilian Conservation Corps in the center of the Shenandoah Valley. 85 years ago Franklin Roosevelt kick off one of his greatest New Deal programs here. Two million men were employed and planted almost three billion trees.  Camp Roosevelt was were this Depression era revitalization program (http://www.ccclegacy.org/Camp_Roosevelt_68B9.php) . Further west from where I live is where the seventh CCC camp was built in Wolf Gap.

It has been estimated that about 5 billion acres of forest landscapes have been degraded. The annual economic benefits of restoring this land are an estimated $84 billlion dollars. In 2016 over 73 million acres of forest was lost due to climate change, development, disease, fire and other factors. This was a 51 percent increase from 2015. In July 2017, 66 million trees sampling were planted by volunteers in India in 12 hours. Brazil, New Zealand and others have goals of collectively planting several billion trees in the next few years.

The timber sectors generate over $600 billion dollars and 54 million jobs worldwide.  However tree’s economic contribution are much greater sinces its larger impact is unreported due to both environmental and the informal factors.  For example the wood fuel industry creates work for tens of millions in wood collection, transportation, charcoal, retail and transportation. The demand for timber is reported to quadruple by 2050. In 2014 the World Bank estimates that sustainable forest management is estimated to be between $70 billion and $160 billion dollars per year globally.

The GW forest acts as a huge water treatment system purifying our drinking water. For example, water resources in the George Washington National Forest serve an estimated 8,452 residents just within the Shenandoah County. Yearly our GW Forest generated billions of dollars in timber, tourism, and other environmental benefits.

This valley’s forest acts as a giant filtration system for the entire larger watershed helping purify our water, air and land. In one year an acre of mature trees can provide enough oxygen for 18 people. Also trees lessens nature’s runoff and holds soil in place while filtering pollutants and recharging our earth. Three trees placed strategically around a single-family home can cut summer air conditioning needs by up to 50 percent. By reducing the energy demand for cooling our houses, we reduce carbon dioxide and other pollution emissions from power plants. Trees absorb CO2, removing and storing the carbon while releasing the oxygen back into the air. In one year, an acre of mature trees absorbs the amount of CO2 produced when you drive your car 26,000 miles.

We all profit from pollution prevention by new forests. Planting trees we collectively tap into a expanded forms of well-being. Easter Island is a reminder of what happens when trees go then people perish. New tree growth creates new community and possibilities. New forest are not just a return on our investment, however, a greater return of our investment. Let’s invest in new samplings for our prosperity.

Virtues Trump Vices

If you choose to use your status and influence to raise your

voice on behalf of those who have no voice; if you choose to

identify not only with the powerful but with the powerless; if

you retain the ability to imagine yourself into the lives of those

you not have your advantages, then it will not only be your

proud families who celebrate your existence but thousands

and millions of people whose reality you have help changed.

We don't need magic to transform our world; we carry all the

power we need inside ourselves already; we have the power

to imagine better.  - JK Rowling

Vices today trump the values this country is

blessed with.  Our President has been

broadcasting unprecedented dangerous vices

and failing to be the great deal maker.  

Greater division in income reveals that 1% of

the people are getting 82% of today’s wealth.   

We have gone from being a world leader to a one

of an unhinged bully.  True leaders embody

values not vices. Corporate welfare is at a

all time high as the powerful pillage our

prosperity.  Such widespread inequality and

injustice brings terror to our very American

spirit. 

How long can ignorance trump wisdom while

criminals profit and we penalize the unfortunate?  

Progress happens with cooperation not coercion,

fairness not extortion, humanity not

insanity.

This unethical administration only understands

the price not the value of things. Unfortunately

the few will not share with those in need.  

Freedom dies once the few hoard the

opportunities of many.

Let’s "make" not "fake news" demonstrating our

courage to do what is right. Counter these horrors

with kind acts and hope. Otherwise we will

encounter our darkest nightmare.

A green awakening is on the horizon showing our

appreciation for people, and our blessed country. 

A reborn American wisdom and morality is gaining

momentum. A sunrise of virtues is illuminating new

purpose, potential and, possibilities. Please help

restore justice, civility and decency so we Americans

may celebrate that values trump vices.

.

Earth Decay?

Back when I worked for Earth Day '80 a colleague and I did a satire called, "Earth Decay." Unfortunately there are some who still believe in the benefits of environmental destruction.

Earth Decay (DK)

Celebrate the the 3 D's, Degrade, Destroy,  and Decay.   The Earth will take care of itself however mankind can benefit by the 3 D's creating new growth, jobs and dollars!!!

* Degrade so to stimulate new economic development

* Destroy because clean-up employment results       

* Decay furthers adds more dollars into our economy

CONSUME, CONSUME AND CONSUME

Do not be stupid and conserve.  More waste, more people and more trash fosters commerce!  The more we can degrade our air, water and land the greater our clean up industry will thrive!  More people helps create more wars, shortages, violence, prison and cheap labor. Increase climate change new opportunities for economic growth due to hurricanes, floods, food shortages and a host of other catastrophes.

Celebrate Earth DK at home

- Compost things in your refrigerator- Run up your electric bills best you can
- Turn on your AC and open your doors
- Any way you can enlarge your carbon footprint  emulate "Big Foot."
-  Have more babies as you can.
-  Cut down a tree whenever you get a chance-  Take your old plastic bags to the beach and let them go 

(less dolphins = more tuna fish)

Remember what the "Good book" says we're here to dominate and master the planet so don't worry about the Earth, it will take care of itself

Finally everything's recycled it's just a question of time.

Be a wise owl, hoot and pollute! Fear not climate is weirdening. Everyday is Earth DK.  Without more people, life itself would be impossible.  

Unplanned Parenthood is a good thing because it allows strength in numbers.

Remember the 3DS - degrade, 

deteriorate and destroy. 

This message is sponsored by Association of Developers, Chamber of Billionaires, the National Association Psycho Proctologists,  American Society of Butt-holes,  and the American Alliance for Greater Destruction.

Health Carelessness

One year ago I buried my Dad. I spent 5 years taking him to doctors and lessening excess costs and procedures.  Years ago, the Post referred to him as “the unobtrusive shaper of law.” For over 37 years he wrote major healthcare legislation as a Congressional Research Service branch head and a staff member on the House Ways and Means Committee helping with all forms of healthcare legislation.  Today our system is careless.

America's medical care system is complex.  U.S. total healthcare expenditure is $2.7 trillion or 18 percent of GDP.  It is forecast to reach 34 percent of GDP by 2040.  In 2010 Americans spent $1.3 trillion on healthcare. Multiple chronic illness cases that are just one percent of healthcare expenditure consume 21 percent of this total amount.  The last tier of 50 percent of patients accounted for 2.8 percent of spending last year.  Contrary to popular opinion only 10 percent of healthcare dollars are spent in the last year of life.  While there is increased spending in the last few months approaching death, it is not the massive percentage of medical care dollars that is widely believed.

Healthcare spending is forecast to account for nearly 20 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), or one-fifth of the U.S. economy, by 2021.  It’s been estimated that waste may account for between one-third and one-half of all U.S. healthcare. It could be eliminated without harming consumers or reducing the quality of care.

The largest area of waste is ‘defensive medicine’, including redundant, inappropriate or unnecessary tests and procedures. Other factors that contribute to this excessive spending include non-adherence to medical advice and prescriptions alcohol abuse, etc.

Another reasons cost  are spiraling is because we do not monitor or intervene in medical pricing.  There is a need to best account for who is responsible for controlling healthcare costs including lawyers, doctors, insurers, hospitals, drug makers, and patients. In 2011 scientists estimated that roughly 75,000 deaths might have been averted in 2005 if every state had delivered care at the quality level of the best performing state.

The Congressional Budget Office has said, “total spending on healthcare would eventually account for all of the country’s economic output.”  This may be a primary reason for long-term deficits.  

It is forecasted the disability portion of the Social Security Trust Fund will be exhausted by 2022. The typical recipients now is a middle-aged worker whose main ailment is either a muscular skeletal or psychological.

Our future is in jeopardy due to our careless medical system. Also we could save over 75,000 lives.

Mental Health Care or Carelessness?

Denial around the seriousness of addressing mental health problems impacts all facets of America.  Investing in the front end of the health care network could save valuable tax dollars by both preventative and proactive measures.  The mind is very tied to our body.  When one fails the other usually is not too far behind. 

Today the United States spends 5.6 percent of the national healthcare spending, or $113 billion, on mental health treatment.  Most of this goes toward prescription drugs and outpatient treatment. Our country had 156,300 mental health counselors in 2010, and access to mental healthcare is pathetic compared to other types of medical services.

Healthcare spending is forecast to account for nearly 20 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), or one-fifth of the U.S. economy, by 2021.  It’s been estimated that wasteful spending may account for between one-third and one-half of all U.S. healthcare spending.  The largest area of waste is ‘defensive medicine’, including redundant, inappropriate or unnecessary tests and procedures. Other factors that contribute to this excessive spending include non-adherence to medical advice and prescriptions, alcohol abuse, smoking and obesity.   We must address the psychological factors of we wish to lessen health care costs.

Presently our economy totals 15 trillion dollars.  U.S. total healthcare expenditure is $2.7 trillion or 18 percent of GDP. Multiple chronic illness cases that are just one percent of healthcare expenditure consume 21 percent of this total amount.  The last tier of 50 percent of patients accounted for 2.8 percent of spending last year.  Contrary to popular opinion only 10 percent of healthcare dollars are spent in the last year of life. While there is increased spending in the last few months approaching death, it is not the massive percentage of medical care dollars that is widely believed.

It is difficult to find any peace of mind with our mental healthcare system. For example, how depression, anxiety and other ailments directly affect our bottom-line can only be speculated.  Also, the degree to which such mind states related to obesity and other major diseases today is difficult to track.  Loss of worker productivity and other indirect costs for mental treatment, therapy and other associated facets of mental illness are difficult to fully measure. Mental healthcare is expensive, with 45 percent of the untreated citing cost as a barrier. A quarter of the 15.7 million Americans who received mental healthcare listed themselves as the main payer for the services.

For last 20 years I have learned to better address my anxiety.  I have been fortunate to be able to cope with a more and more demanding world. I have been reluctant to share my plight with my HMO and spent out-of-pocket tens of thousands of dollars of my own money to manage my own mental health.  This exploration has been my most valuable financial investment since I have become more mindful as to how to keep appearances up and costs down. However, stress and increasing global tensions continue to augment as our population and social conditions evolve. It is wise to question how we going to fix our health care system so as to prosper in years to come.

The sooner we Americans face this opportunity the better.  All Americans are mutually tied in what happens in healthcare.  Our very well-being and future prospects forces us to courageously agree to transform this hidden crisis—into a new frontier of opportunities.  If only we can collectively care together this country will greatly benefit, mind, body and spirit.

For more info check out the link below;

http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/data-behavioral-health.aspx

Efficient Governance

Creating a more efficient government is a win/win situation. A new form of saving in our decision making will return us to a more ingenious nation. Creating a better American way requires us to explore optimal resource management. Simple economic and environmental conditions leads me to such a conclusion. Increased people, prices and problems necessitates frugal and wise actions.

Government productivity and performance comes down to its output over input.  Once the public sector best accounts for what we use and where it goes then this life cycle tracking will stimulate new prosperity.  Critical to such a national policy will be a public and private campaign to sustain efficiency.

Increasing productivity can result when such a change is reached. Our output and inputs must be balance with increased financial, environmental and social considerations as we improve business. Once we become fully accountable a national policy of new performance measurements will enhance our welfare. Such improvements will form partnerships and improve all types of ingenious management. 

All Americans can learn how to become better resource managers. We can learn to be more skillful to use not abuse our people, air, water, land and other materials. Both we and the Feds must awaken to efficient ways to improve the economy. For example more effective federal policies to amend "Use or Lose It," (wasting money at the end of the year so to keep or increase next years funding) would be a great start.  As we explore opportunities to better streamline, and consolidate programs we will improve Fed productivity. We have the opportunity to better weed out programs that are outdated, ineffective, and unsustainable.

A national dialogue is required to best fine tune government by we, the people. By deploying a variety of tools and, stimulating participation of many organizations, such a reprioritization of what the federal government does, how it does it, and in some cases, who does the government's business, will change our budgetary future. Important as safeguarding funds from fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement is to pursue widespread opportunities to improve existing federal system.

In conclusion good oversight is essential. We must lessen duplication and or even working at cross purpose. More efficient  streamlining processes will restructure organizational roles and responsibilities We will only prosper once our nation champions greater government efficiency measures.

cagw.org/about-us
http://wastefraudandabuse.org/
http://www.gao.gov/duplication/overview
       

Being Cool with a Warming World

As our planet heats up being cool or conserving helps you find a peace of mind due to this climate craziness. Increased population, pollution, resource loss (water, soil, trees, etc) and other forms of depletion do have a serious consequences. For example, according to a major study in the journal, Nature, Greenland since 1900 has lost 9,103 gigaton of ice (a gigaton is a billion metric tons). More alarming is that this loss doubled from 2003-2010, compared with the loss from previous years. Such information can fever the mind. Keeping cool is about mindful resource use of using more with less. We as humans will pay a greater price if we do it respond to this accelerated environmental damage. The more we prevent the greater we profit. Increased emissions is not just a national but an international security issue. The better we mimic our natural cycles the greater we invest in our future prospects. If one looks at how carbon dioxide (CO2) impacts our eco-system then there will be not question what have to be done. Observing the last 1000 years of emissions then we would be more sensitive how long it take for CO2 to removed by the natural processes. In the next 45 years it is expected we cross the 2-degree Celsius rise in mean global temperature. How we address our energy, and resource issues will have a future effect. Yes we are on a larger Easter Island except our now it's a bigger spaceship. For example, the more trees we cut down the greater we accelerate not just resource loss but the probable human one. Preventing such a disaster is paramount. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates the new CO2 rules to address climate change will cost between $5-8.4 billion in 2030. Simply take away of all the federal subsidies to industries that create this carbon will offset the cost to clean it up. Presently our national economy is $17 trillion dollars. Creating a cool comes down to each of us to find how we can keep the temperature and emissions down. Using more with less and making other ingenious choices has a ripple effect. Years in the future we may look back and see how huge this is as a national security issue. Already numerous military experts and most world leaders have identified climate change as major defense priority. Let's discern fact from fiction and create a legacy of hope that humans will unite to insure our very existence. Being cool with a warming world is our first line of defense.