If You Love Some Broccoli, Set Them Free (from Plastic) - (#ctww)

It came to pass that a great Census of All The Food In The House was ordered, in response to this week's Change the World Wednesday Challenge:

This week, use what is in your cupboards, pantry, freezers, etc. before buying new food items.

This was, in itself, an interesting challenge but then...

"Harold Shaw is stepping up this challenge.  In his words "I would like to challenge the #CTWW group to take the time (I know that this is a busy time of year - most of us are harvesting some sort of crop or other) to do a written/computer inventory of the food stuffs you have, which will force you to actually look at what you have and then use up the stuff that should be used up this next week or soon, but if you discover food that is bad dispose of it properly before you buy new food. Remember the food you have designated for emergencies, doesn't count in this challenge.  To make it a little more interesting - that includes buying food to eat out for the next week".

This is truly a worthy challenge, both for environmental AND for economic reasons. What could be more thrifty, sensible AND forethoughtful than figuring out what you HAVE before you go looking for more?

The Plastic Decomposive
That Blew Up Our Veggies!

I decided to start with the fridge. I wanted a salad anyway, so I opened the salad drawers and took inventory.
Oops! We had multiple instances of veggies in plastic bags (clearly purchased before July's "no-plastics" challenge) that were now reverting to the primordial slime. It was sad to see such fine veggies were going to waste because of simple neglect, but the plastic sped up the damage by holding in moisture and making it harder to see what was inside.

I emptied the drawers, removed the plastic, composted what needed it and chopped much of the rest. What didn't go into the salad went back into the drawer, denuded of plastic bags.

What does it matter, really, if the radishes and celery roll together? As long as they're happy together and harming no-one, let's have some diversity!

The good news is that the quest was successful, with the addition of mixed greens from our garden, the chopped and rescued veggies made a great salad!
Tomorrow I tackle the pantry. If you don't hear from me in a week, call the police ... or possibly the National Guard!

Please Take This Presence Lamp Survey.

Do you have a loved one lived apart from you, such as a elderly parent in another city or a child in college?
If so, please take this anonymous survey, testing an idea for a technology supporting distant relationships

---

---

100 Per Cent Solutions

Things that We The People both need and deserve:

1. 100% self-government: every adult should vote in every election. Even people who I think are wrong must have their voice.
2. 100% employment: everyone who wants a job should have a job that helps them feed their family.
3. 100% transparency: in government and public works, information that affects the public must be known to the public. There are very very few exceptions with respect to security, quite a bit more with respect to personal privacy.
4. 100% independence in energy and strategic materials: Currently we import all our personal computers, which puts us at the mercy of ... who?
5. 100% public safety (police, fire, disaster preparedness and response)
6. 100% health coverage: if you're sick, we heal you. It's basically public safety on the retail level.
   
7. 100% food coverage: if you're hungry, you get fed. If this is because you don't have a job, see above.
8. 100% education: If you have the ability and the will to study to become a doctor, then we send you to medical school because that's good for our whole nation.
9. 100% access to justice: If you have a legal dispute, our legal system helps you get a fair shake. You might lose (after all, sometimes you are in the wrong!) but you don't get over just because the other side can afford a lawyer and you can't.
10. 100% care:  our elderly, disabled and children. My friends, this is called "civilization". We do not let our helpless die in the gutter.

Some people may complain: "That's not practical!" but so what? complainers never achieved anything. A goal must be high to be worth attaining. And sometimes: you meet your goal.
Some people may complain: "We can't afford that!" but they are wrong on the facts. We are the richest nation on earth, and every single item above makes us richer. An unemployed person has the ability to do more, but not the opportunity. We cannot afford NOT to set 100% goals.

Jobs, Education and More Jobs - a Modest Proposal

This makes a lot of sense; it's fast, focused and smart. A message about jobs now plus education::

"With unemployment remaining above 9%, and fear of a double-dip recession, America needs millions of jobs NOW.
Trickle-down policies like tax cuts will not create millions of jobs.
Neither will complex infrastructure projects with long lead times, heavy capital equipment, and few workers - as ARA overseer Ron Klain explained.
Instead, we need an emergency jobs program that puts every single dollar into payroll.
JobParty.us has a simple emergency jobs plan: hire a teacher's aide for every public school teacher in America for one year.
That's over 3 million jobs - and they can start on September 1 when school starts.
If we put 3 million of the 14 million unemployed Americans to work, the official unemployment rate would immediately drop from 9% to 7%.
In addition, the multiplier effect would add another 1 million jobs and reduce unemployment to 6.4%
How to run it?
We would administer a test to all applicants to determine the highest grade level at which they can meaningfully help the teacher.
We would give preferences to military veterans, and to workers who have exhausted their state's maximum unemployment benefits (so-called 99ers).
We would use law-enforcement databases to exclude applicants with criminal convictions and sex offenses.

How much would it cost?
If the Federal government paid each aide $30K per year, the total 1-year gross cost to employ 3 million workers is only $90 billion.
Moreover, the $90 billion gross cost would be offset by savings in unemployment, Medicaid, food stamps, and other safety-net programs. There would also be increased revenues for Social Security, Medicare, and federal/state/local taxes. Thus the net cost would be roughly $55 billion.
By contrast, the extension of the Bush tax cuts was expected to create just 1 million jobs at a cost of $858 billion - 1/4 the jobs at 15 times the cost.
Where could the $55 billion come from?
1. Extending the Bush Tax Cuts for the rich cost $858B. Raise $55B through a temporary millionaire surtax that is popular in every poll.
2. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan cost $160B each year. Raise $55B by bringing 1/3 of our troops home.
3. Corporate welfare, including subsidies for Big Oil and Ethanol, costs $2 trillion. Raise $55B by slicing 3% out of corporate welfare.

Petition

Dear Representative,
America's jobs crisis is much worse than its debt crisis - it's an emergency.
Official unemployment is already over 9%, the worst since the Great Depression. That's 14 million Americans who cannot find any job.
Another 12 million Americans are barely surviving on part-time jobs, or have given up altogether.
And economists say the "Budget Deal" will kill another 1.8 million jobs.
We're in a downward spiral that could lead from Recession to Depression.
America cannot wait - Congress must act now.
I urge you to enact an Emergency Jobs Bill to put 3 million Americans to work immediately as Teachers' Aides.
Our overburdened teachers and struggling students need the extra help, and our desperate unemployed need the jobs.

More information:
http://www.democrats.com/emergency-jobs-bill?cid=ZGVtczExMjdkZW1z