About that pension plan...

This article on the Huffington Post made me angry. It seems that "Big Business", particularly their executives are always getting themselves into trouble. This time, it's by hiding their own pensions in with average workers', allowing them to get tax breaks and weedle money out of the system for their own (and their friends') benefits.

I know, I know... I'm sure they were well intentioned. After all, saving taxes means more money to shareholders, which surely helps the common American somehow .... wait, that money never does get filtered back down. Tax payers have to make up the difference with more national debt - and that tax savings gets directly passed on to those already making million-dollar salaries.

From the reporting, it doesn't sound like it was technically illegal. Just of questionable moral integrity. So what does that mean? Means that our Senators need to close a loop-hole, before more executives retire and drain pension funds intended to help those who really need it.

the next Green Revolution

The first Green Revolution was a movement that started with the Mexican Government deciding that enough was enough - they were going to do something about their food supply (or lack thereof). Their incredible success with breeding a better wheat seed began a world-wide agricultural revolution that held off mass famine, most famously in India.

What happened?

The governments of poor and developing countries decided that they were tired of waiting for their richer neighbors to solve a global problem - and took matters into their own hands. The result? Lives were saved and a new industry was born.

The same thing is happening again, except this time it's our global environmental crisis - and it is China stepping up. With the world's largest population, massive industrial infrastructure, and a little political will, the Chinese government has been quietly positioning itself to become the leader in cleaning up our environment.

I know, I know... the Chinese are terrible polluters, right? Their cities are so polluted that citizens wear breathing masks, and they've imposed driving restrictions and other policies before the Olympics just to clean things up a bit. Well, that's true.

But they also are on the front lines, developing new renewable technologies, installing filters on their coal plants (which we can't seem to do), and creating mass-marketable products that are not only going to revolutionize the industry but also create thousands of new "green collar" jobs.

China is tired of waiting for their richer neighbors to solve a global environmental problem - and is taking matters into their own hands. The result? Lives will be saved and a new industry is being born. The next Green Revolution has begun.