Response, Regarding Police Accountability

PaulBunion's comment: "Once upon a time in America, almost all law enforcement officers were either elected officials themselves, or were directly responsible to an elected official. The bureaucratization of US police forces over the last century, and their current militarization puts them pretty much beyond the control of the voters. Expect this sort shooting to continue until the organizational basis of our police forces are significantly changed."

My Response: "So you want Non-Profit Civilian Security and Criminal Investigation Co-Ops, managed by the citizen members of the secured community?

Fully transparent, democratically operated organizations where the community members can issue a vote to remove agents from their current positions, terminate agents entirely, or otherwise modify the functions of the organization, so long as they adhere to constitutional law.

Note: Such Co-operatives would be run independently, but share resources just like current police agencies.

And while we're at it, isn't it time citizens take control of their criminal and debt/credit records; via Non-Profit Co-Operative Database Maintaining Organizations where citizens, not corporations, control their functions/fairness. Our debt/credit histories already become virtually irrelevant after 7 years with the current system, but even a minor felony conviction on a criminal record can keep a person from voting, acquiring a decent job, or living in a non-ghetto community for the rest of their lives. This is not the practice of a civilized society (it's a form of slavery)."

Click here for the original article.

Questions on Quora

I was asked to answer the following question, on Quora.com: 

If global warming is not happening, what's going to remove all the CO2 humans add to the atmosphere each year? 

my answer:

nothing,... by that i mean there haven't been mass adoptions of tools or techniques to sequester that extra CO2 and keep it from causing runaway greenhouse effects. but there are options.

hemp production, en mass, would help, as it grows and absorbs CO2 at a much faster rate than trees, but can be used to produce basically everything trees are used for today... also, the use of hemp products would probably help (I've read that hemp insulation in homes continues to absorb CO2, perhaps other hemp products do this too).

years ago some folks in Europe developed a paint or coating for buildings that absorbed CO2.

there are other tools, no doubt for removing the excess CO2, and there are methods for reducing our output.

for example: there are alternatives for CO2 producing concrete that absorbs atmospheric CO2, or avoids it's creation, rather then creates it. there are bio-plastics vs petroleum based plastics. there are electric cars vs fossil fuel burning cars. and renewable resources for energy production vs burning coal and/or oil. 

there are also certainly ways to capture CO2 and other toxic gases that are produced while producing power via the burning of material, or while manufacturing goods at factories. those captured gases, fumes, or compounds could then be reused elsewhere in other industrial practices. this would save not only the environment, and keep more CO2 out of the air, but it would also save more money in the long run. businesses simply don't do this today, because they are not required to. so instead the true costs of these unsustainable practices are paid by others, elsewhere, at other times. 

the books will be balanced at one point or another. the real question is why and when did it become okay for businesses and their operators to stop paying those costs up front. and how do we begin to require responsibility within our current global society; from the top down.

if we can do that, CO2 trends will naturally start to reverse and drive our planet and species towards a sustainable existence.

FYI, in most 1st world countries, non-profit co-operatives can produce the same goods and provide the same services as for-profit corporations can, however the non-profit co-operatives don't have to answer to a handful of fat-cats who's only interests are their own, instead they answer to the communities they serve. and through the democratic development and operation, and the transparency, that co-operatives and non-profits are required to possess and maintain, they can provide the necessary tools for masses of people to not only identify any unsustainable practices they have but also work together to adapt their practices as necessary to stay true to their purpose; providing resources, goods, and services as sustainably as possible. 

so get together with your community, and buyout that nasty factory down the street, change the way it does business for the better, and reap the non-monetary benefits that this act of philanthropy and sustainability brings to your community. then reach out and help other communities do the same. ; )

Click here to see the question on Quora

Response to comments on an article

Original comment: "Well Greenpeace has an annual income of $300 million, it just lost $5 million in currency trading – just who are the rich and greedy?? – why isn't it using it’s funds to cleanup the oceans?" - janama

My Response: Damn, what could I do with 5 million dollars… hmm… I could buy up, lets say, 100 laundromats across the US, convert them all to a chain of democratically operated non-profit cooperative businesses that work to lower the cost to customers, while raising the bar on quality of service and professional responsibility (which includes service to employees as an employer, and adhering to the most sustainable practices possible, as they are developed).

Not only would this organization be able to do awesome things within it’s specific field of business, but it’s charter would require a specific, and large, amount of any excess income be donated to an International Cooperative Monetary Fund (ICMF) that would work to provide developmental assistance and financing to other non-profit cooperatives, especially those seeking to form in areas of business, or in countries, where this business model is not yet being utilized. Whereas each of those organizations would also be mandated to include a requirement to donate excess income back to the ICMF, thereby further spreading the wealth of democracy and sustainable business practices, exponentially.

Of course this wouldn't have to start with laundromats, it could be a chain of restaurants, auto repair shops, clothing or other merchandise manufacturing centers, retail outlets, medical offices, legal service centers, hotels, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Click here for the original article.

Response to article about Roma

Responding to an article describing how the nomadic Roma, or gypsies, of France were being systematically evicted from the various campsites they had developed around Paris and some other French cities due to those camp sites being hazardous (lacking water, and sanitation, etc), I made the following suggestion:

"Perhaps they should form a non-profit cooperative that can collect funds then buy and maintain small plots of land near major cities.

Like KOA campgrounds in the US they could provide working toilets, showers, fresh water, and both camping and RV sites for use.

And as an added benefit they could be at least partially funded by sharing use with outsiders, including allowing the land to be used for the occasional festival or fair. Both could be hosted by the Roma as well, providing non-begging income and an opportunity to sell handmade wares.... a way to show the Roma are not just a burden on the greater society."

Click here for the original article.

in response to an article on Grist (click to read article)

on the subject of sustainability, and the need for our global societies values to be altered to not only allow for but encourage sustainability: for sustainable practices to be 'built in' to our every behavior. it seems to me that it's best to simply reverse the system that has allowed our values to become so skewed in the first place. it was capitalist ideals, greed, that drove the wedge between man and the earth, and it will be philanthropical ideals that will bring man back into natures fold.

cooperate, not for profit--as a corporation does--but to promote sustainability and equality in every aspect of life. build non-profit cooperative schools, car manufacturers, insurance providers, hospitals, automotive service centers, recycling plants, solar power plants, fisheries, farms, building developers, music labels, film producers and distributors, employment agencies, et cetera.

any necessary business can succeed at providing better products, at a lower overall cost, while also providing higher quality employment to more people, as a non-profit cooperative than as a greedy for-profit corporation. the only question is whether to build them as member operated or employee operated organizations; and that will most often differ in accordance to the customer/members contact with the org. a farm is best run by those who participate in it's functions personally, while a grocery needs the input from it's members to determine what products it should buy, and from where.

also, like the for-profit business model today which uses the International Monetary Fund to promote the use of it's model globally, a Non-Profit or Cooperative Monetary Fund can be created with the pool of excess funds from the overall cooperative and non-profit community, which can then be used to fund the global development of yet more cooperatives: buying and converting for-profits when there isn't room in a current marketplace for what could be a very beneficial cooperative.

this, by the way, was how communism was supposed to work. only with communism a government was used as a middle man; with the job of acquiring property, businesses, and banks, and then redistributing ownership over these things to the people... however the greed and selfishness of those in government lead them to hold onto that which they acquired in order to promote and maintain their positions of wealth and power. the model i've described does not allow for such foolishness to occur; so long as all cooperatives are limited in size, and allowed to function as an individual entities; while still maintaining the support of the larger community.

billboards? manipulative or deceptive advertisements or commercials? copyrights? most business law? most gov regulation and oversight? unemployment? high crime rates? excessive drug use? excessive sales of antidepressants? high suicide rates? terrorism? these things have no place in a sustainable society.