Wednesday, September 7, 2011

A job program.

SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

BRUCE A. BRENNAN BLOG FROM THE WORLD AND MY MIND

The news as I see it and the views as I want them.

September 7 is … Neither Rain or Snow Day



Wesley Snipes, your table is ready but it is still in the Federal Prison in Pennsylvania. If you would have just filed and paid your taxes for those three years you would still be a free, rich “B” movie actor. Now, your next part could be as the star in the film version of “Dumbest Criminals”.  

We have been experiencing a great deal of flooding in this country in the last year or so. We have also had areas enduring drought and wildfires. The flooding and wildfires are currently causing problems to thousands of Americans. I am not a civil engineer or a person trained in water management but I have some ideas.

Let’s start in the upper Midwest, near the origin of the Mississippi River. This river floods nearly every year. The government has the right of eminent domain. It can condemn any property it wants and take ownership of it. The government has to pay for it but they can own it years before they ever pay for it.



In addition to the right to acquire property, the government already owns quite a bit of land. The government should suspend all environmental impact guidelines for a massive public works project that will employ thousands of people for years and many for life. Pass legislation that requires this project be commenced within six months and completed in seven years.



Build huge pipelines crisscrossing the country, situated in between or along highway land the government already owns or will acquire. These pipelines would be used to drain off flood water in areas that always flood and carry the fresh water to areas that are always battling wildfires and droughts. Every mile or wherever it is determined they are needed, a cleanout area could be installed to avoid the clogging that will occur as a result of the debris entering the pipelines with the floodwater. These pipelines should be a minimum of fifteen feet tall and round. For ease of repair, they should not be buried but I am sure a design can be developed for the aesthetics.



Every so often, at points determined to be needed, drains can be installed to irrigate drought areas or pump water to wildfires. The water is a natural resource that does not have to be developed, mined, invented or processed. It just is. The annual flooding every spring and during hurricane season would be reduced dramatically; the droughts we have constantly will be alleviated; the wildfires we constantly experience would be easier to maintain and extinguish without the use of helicopters and chemicals.



Once again, I do not have a civil engineering background but I know what I see. Everything we have tried in the past has failed. We do not prevent flooding, we wait until the water recedes; we do not extinguish many wildfires, we wait until the weather changes; we do not prevent droughts, we just hear about them and bailout farmers and pay more for food.



The system of levees and dams we have built have worked in the past until water finds a way around them or the water overwhelms them. Think New Orleans. The pipeline system would be expensive initially but should pay for itself within five years. The cost of maintenance would not be cost prohibitive. The legislation authorizing this project should include a provision that all materials used in the building and maintenance of the pipeline must be made in America. All workers must be legal citizens of the United States of America. The jobs created by the manufacturing of the pipeline components should bring in enough tax revenue to nearly pay for the project and that is not taking into account the workers building the pipeline or the engineers or the people doing the survey work or buying the land, etc.



Survival of the fittest is a concept that is debated but widely accepted. If a blue toed moth happens to become extinct because of this project, too bad. I do not think man or the United States should go extinct saving a bald toad. According to a United Nations scientific study conducted in 2010 and released in August 2010, between 150 and 200 species become extinct every 24 hours in the world. Apparently we have plenty to go around.



This is “Neither rain or snow day”. My idea needs some tinkering but it will adequately control either rain or snow. It is time to try something new and bold. Continuing to do what has not worked over history is the definition of insanity. To keep repeating the same things expecting a different result is nuts. My idea may not work but it is a beginning. To merely say that an idea is bad and will not work without coming up with a plan of your own is what politicians do; it is not what serious, effective people do. You have one choice in life, fish or cut up the bait. Those that fish are the movers and shakers; those that cut up the bait are the rest.

Just a couple of thoughts I had and you should too or at least think about.

BRUCE A. BRENNAN

DEKALB, IL 60115

COPYRIGHT 2011



VISIT ANY OF THE SITES LISTED FOR REVIEW, RESEARCH, ORDERING MY WRITING PRODUCTS OR TO CONTACT ME.













Go to web sites below to buy books by Bruce A. Brennan. It is still a good time to purchase any of my books. The books are interesting and inexpensive reads. My third book should be available later this year, in late 2011. More information will be forthcoming.



www.ebookmall.com (Do search by my name or book Title)

www.barnesandnoble.com (do a quick search, Title, my name)

www.smashwords.com Do a Title or author search.





Book Titles:



Holmes the Ripper



A Revengeful Mix of Short Fiction





"In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress." - John Adams