Looking forward to 2008, things that would be nice to have happen.

Tomorrow it is going to be 2008, while I am still trying to figure out what I am going to do to ring in the new year, lets also spend some time talking about how great it would be to have certain things happen in 2008.

First off, since 2008 is an election year we'll discuss things that would be really great to have happen that are about that. ??It would be really great to see Kucinich come from behind and become the Democratic Party Candidate in 2008. I really don't think it would be a bad thing for the party. I know that everyone thinks that Hilary is the person that the Republicans should fear, and Obama is some great leader that also has what it takes to lead the country and give the Republicans a run for their money. But think about it for a minute. Kucinich is so different from all the other candidates that he would be someone that would really give the Republicans a run for the their money. It is also true that out of all the contenders Kucinich is probably the least successful, certainly the least wealthy, and therefore the least likely to have some kind of major scandal in his history. If you have ever seen a picture of his house you would know that he is much closer to being the average American than any other candidate. Not to mention the worst thing the Republicans could say about his is that he is too far to the left. I think that if he came back at them with ideas and plans for how to lift this country back on to the pedestal as a world super power while helping the people of this country live better lives the Republicans would fall way behind and never be able to beat him.

Next. I would really like to see someone force the wind turbine farm out in Massachusetts to happen. I personally cannot believe that the Kennedy's are one of the biggest opponents of these wind turbines just because you can almost see them in the horizon from their compound in Nantucket. (Practice what you preach, Ted.)

I would like to see the state of Georgia realize that the massive drought they are in is partly caused by global warming and the urban sprawl of Atlanta. It would be really interesting to see a major American city get serious about its eco-impact and do something about it. It would also be amazing to have it come from a southern state that is kind of viewed as Republican territory, even thought Jimmy Carter was from there. I am talking like a massive reforestation effort in current brown zones, abandoned land, coupled with passing legislature similar to California that sets a state vehicle emissions standard that is above the current Federal standard. They should create a subsidy program to convince businesses in the sprawl areas of all of Georgia's urban areas to relocate to inner city locations, while building up, not out, and therefore decreasing the size of the city footprint on the land.

I would like to see a full and honest third party report, probably conducted by the UN, as the rebuilding efforts of New Orleans. I would really like to know if the poor people of the 9th ward that lost everything are being treated fairly or if they have been screwed out of all their land and been unable to ever return home. I would really like to know from the standpoints of environmental justice, human rights, and fairness in housing if everyone that had their lives ruined by Katrina is, or has gotten fair and equal treatment.

I would like to see something come from the bit of traction that we all thought Michael Moore's movie Sicko created with regards to the Health Care industry. Granted I personally do not have health care, I can't afford it. However I would like to see some thing happen. I think one of the best things would be being able to claim your membership dues to whatever health club you belong to on your taxes. I.E. You would figure you annual gross income for the year. Then while figuring out your adjusted gross income you would subtract what ever your yearly membership dues came out to. I also think insurance companies should pay a certain percentage of those costs or at least offer rate discounts for people that are members of health clubs or gyms. I would also like to see an effort to revive the SCHIP idea in a different form, by putting at least one Registered Nurse in every school across the country, and at least one doctor in every school district. ?
I would really like to see E-85 embraced across the country. I actually saw a station in Indiana while my sister and I were on our way home from Chicago that had E-85 for 40 cents less then regular unleaded. I think the federal government should create a subsidy program to assist the smaller, mom and pop style, stations to add the tanks and pumps that it would take to do that. I would also expect that with both Ford and GM talking big about making their vehicles run on E-85 or even 100% ethanol they would really want this to happen too. After all whose is going to buy your car if there is no infrastructure in place to make fuel for it available.

I would really like to see this state, Michigan, do more with recycling and methanol gas capturing. There was a big thing a while back about how Michigan actually takes in some of Canada's garbage in some treaty that was signed. No to mention that anyone that takes I-94 to Chicago would know that there are some big landfills on the west side of the state. Just imagine what they would look like if we did more to capture the methane gas emissions and recycle more of the materials that of in to the land fill. We could probably generate enough Liquid methane gas to operate a good deal of the taxicabs in the state while slowing the rate of growth of the landfills with the increased recycling. This would create a lot of jobs for the economy, clean up the environment, and reduce dependency on foreign oil. Wow three amazing benefits all in one, and all for a simple one time investment that would pay for and sustain itself with the value of the recycled materials and methane gas.?
I would really like to see a year where there aren't budget cuts, program cuts, and tuition increases to higher education. It is getting kind of ridiculous. It really is. You know what would be a brilliant idea, creating something like the Social Security program only have it be something that pays in to an education program. Everyone pays in to it but it is your choice to use it or not. That would then cover education costs; probably raise the intelligence level of the country since finances would no longer be the limiting factor in how smart you can make your self. Of course the program would need to have some limits just like Social Security. If your family is so fabulously wealthy that you could easily afford the cost of your education then you would still pay for it. Plus you have to be making satisfactory progress, and there would have to be some kind of time limit, Like 6 years or something, this way you could still go on and get a Masters before you would have to foot the bill yourself.

There are more things that I would like to see and hear about happening this coming year but lets be honest with ourselves I don't think any of these things are likely and if I could get just one of these things to happen, I would be satisfied.

Later
MEM

and now that you mention it I can't believe I didn't think about it.

I would hope we are out of Iraq, things stabilize, and the people of Iraq can live in peace, or what ever peace looks like to them. I have not, an idea how that would happen though, and I was trying to list things that I had some kind of more specific idea for.