Of course we can! And “a mix of energy efficiency, [energy conservation,]
and new renewable energy projects” (e.g. solar, wind, geothermal)is the
way to go. We simply need the political will and communal support to
make such a transition possible.
I am still in Germany and am amazed to see just how much progress has been
made here in these past couple of years. Solar thermal and solar voltaic
installations abound on private residences; wind mills can be seen in
many regions; cars are more fuel efficient, houses better insulated,
public transportation accessible and affordable, recycling thoroughly
organized, etc.
…the nexus between sustainability and job creation.
Every now and then, perhaps once in a generation,
there presents itself a moment, an opportunity,
for those cities that are willing to seize it,
to truly benefit the region for generations to come.
Patrick Davis points out from Macon that HB 87 is producing
Lowndes County farm employment problems, and maybe local farmers
should take that into account when they vote.
With the law passed and ready for implementation, many rural
farmers—especially in Central and South Georgia—are taking notice to
the exodus of migrant workers and immigrants which has left some farmers
without workers to pick crops.
Many of these same farmers that are hurting economically and losing
crops in these rural counties had voted Republican for years.
Valdosta’s Ellis Black who represents parts of Lowndes County as a
state representative helped to pass Gov. Nathan Deal’s conservative
and punitive agenda and consequently it has contributed to drive an
increasing number of migrant workers out of the Peach State.
Private prisons have no business plan, because the majority of their
“customers” are in danger of not getting locked up.
We don’t need a private prison in Lowndes County, Georgia.
Spend that tax money on rehabilitation and education instead.
Leigh Touchton, president of the Valdosta-Lowndes NAACP,
says the local and state NAACP are opposed to the biomass plant
because the community that is most affected is the minority community.
She referred to her previous presentation of a letter from
Dr. Robert D. Bullard.
She also brought up an incident with Brad Lofton and recommended
that VLCIA hire an executive director who wouldn’t act like that.
And she said she deals with VSEB all the time:
I’ve taken men through there, I’ve signed them up.
She referred to me when she said that, so what I said before
is appended after the video.
The health of the community is way more important than the job —Leigh Touchton
Regular Meeting, Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA),
Norman Bennett, Roy Copeland, Tom Call, Mary Gooding, Jerry Jennett chairman,
J. Stephen Gupton attorney, Allan Ricketts Acting Executive Director,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 17 May 2011.
Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
What I actually recommended regarding VSEB, in response to
a specific request from Leigh Touchton for recommendations,
was maybe schedule a meeting with Roy Copeland to talk about
VSEB and solar job opportunities:Continue reading →
On Friday June 17th, exactly 40 years after President Richard Nixon
declared a “War on Drugs,” Internet activists organizing from the social
news and activism website, Reddit.com, called the White House en masse
to demand an end to the War on Drugs, calling it a “trillion dollar
incarceration machine” with a measurable failure to reduce drug use,
or harm from drug use.
This is also the last vestige of Nixon’s fight against the civil rights and anti-war movements: And if you look at US incarceration rates, it’s been incredibly effective. . .
4,919 Black males per 100,000 population
1,717 Latino males per 100,000 of population
717 White males per 100,000 of population.
South Africa under Apartheid (1993) – 851 Black males per 100,000
That’s right, almost six times as many black males per capita
get locked up in the U.S. than in South Africa under apartheid.
The numbers are even worse for young people and especially young black males,
leading to this summary:
This isn’t a War on Drugs: It’s a Race War; It’s a War on the youth,
likely to protest controversial policies (a war that conveniently takes
away those groups voting rights). It’s a war on the American People,
paid for by the American people, for the American people’s own good.
Yep.
Except a majority of the American people don’t want the “war on drugs”
any more.
It’s time for the laws to change.
… has made some courageous and profoundly
important recommendations in a report on how to bring more effective
control over the illicit drug trade. The commission includes the former
presidents or prime ministers of five countries, a former secretary
general of the United Nations, human rights leaders, and business and
government leaders, including Richard Branson, George P. Shultz and Paul
A. Volcker.
The report describes the total failure of the present global antidrug
effort, and in particular America’s “war on drugs,” which was
declared 40 years ago today. It notes that the global consumption of
opiates has increased 34.5 percent, cocaine 27 percent and cannabis 8.5
percent from 1998 to 2008. Its primary recommendations are to substitute
treatment for imprisonment for people who use drugs but do no harm
to others, and to concentrate more coordinated international effort
on combating violent criminal organizations rather than nonviolent,
low-level offenders.
These recommendations are compatible with United States drug policy from
three decades ago. In a message to Congress in 1977, I said the country
should decriminalize the possession of less than an ounce of marijuana,
with a full program of treatment for addicts. I also cautioned against
filling our prisons with young people who were no threat to society, and
summarized by saying: “Penalties against possession of a drug should
not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself.”
Imagine that!
A drug policy meant to address the problem.
The state of Georgia is stopping admitting to state mental hospitals
people with developmental disabilities and is starting to move many people with
severe and persistent mental illness out of state hospitals into
the communities.
According to
DBHDD Summary of October 2010 Settlement
by Georgia Department of Behavioral Health & Developmental Disabilities,
Frank E. Shelp, M.D., M.P.H., Commissioner:
By July 1, 2011, Georgia will stop admitting to its state hospitals
people for whom the reason for admission would be a primary diagnosis of
a developmental disability, including Temporary and Immediate Care (TIC).
Enhanced community services will be provided for people whose primary
diagnosis is a developmental disability and who are either currently
hospitalized in state hospitals or who are at risk of hospitalization in
state hospitals. Those with forensic status may be included in the target
population if the relevant court finds community placement appropriate.
In all cases, the individuals served will be able to make an informed
choice about where they’d like to live. Unless they choose otherwise,
everyone in the target population will be served in their own homes
or the homes of their families and none will be served in a host home,
congregate living setting, skilled nursing facility, intermediate care
facility, or assisted living facility. All of the waiver participants
will receive support coordination.
George Rhynes said he’s positive Citzens to be Heard will get moved
back earlier in the agenda.
The VDT quoted that part, in a story that doesn’t appear to be online yet.
He also criticized the VDT for printing more about animals than
about jail deaths.
Citizens to be Heard will get moved back earlier —George B. Rhynes
Regular Meeting, Valdosta City Council (VCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 4 June 2011.
Videos by Barbara Stratton for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
I am still in Germany and am amazed to see just how much progress has been made here in these past couple of years. Solar thermal and solar voltaic installations abound on private residences; wind mills can be seen in many regions; cars are more fuel efficient, houses better insulated, public transportation accessible and affordable, recycling thoroughly organized, etc.
