Haiti Relief Aid
Some of us here at thelobbyist were interested in helping spread the word about what all of us can do to help with relief aid.
You can also join the A Million Dollars For Haiti Facebook group created by dustin siggins and sponsored by thelobbyist here.
During Katrina and the Asian Tsunami disaster the top three supporters via money and teams on the ground were:
The Red Cross – Direct link to donation information.
The Salvation Army – This is their blog with constant updates on how to donate with links.
Baptist Global Response – This links to all resources and information for donations via the Southern Baptist Conventions Global Response Team. This was one of the first teams into Haiti out of Florida.
Faith Based Organizations
Samaritan’s Purse – Links straight to donation form.
Catholic Relief Services - This links to CRS’ front page blog with updated information for donations and action relief.
Compassion International – Information about the children of Haiti.
Other Organizations
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thelobbyist does not endorse donations to the U.S. government, the Haiti government, or the United Nations because of out flowing evidence this week that corrupt officials have been squandering and stealing resources sent to Haiti in recent months.
The Lisbon Treaty Passes Its Last Hurdle
H/T to Nick R Brown for letting me know about this.
Czech President Vaclav Klaus, an ardent opponent of the Lisbon treaty and the expanded powers it gives the newly-empowered European Union over the 27 sovereign nations that are part of the EU, has signed the treaty. He was the last holdout for the document to be legal.
There are disagreements among conservatives as to what this means- for example, Nick thinks?the?treaty is?terrible, but?a?friend of mine involved with foreign policy in Europe?I spoke to a couple of weeks ago thinks it’s going to have a minimal effect on the United States?and?the sovereign nations it will directly effect. Myself, I don’t have a strong opinion, though I think my friend’s opinion is correct in the short-term and that?Nick’s opinion (as well as The Heritage Foundation’s)?is concerned with?the worst-case scenario should everything in the treaty go bad.
Whatever one’s opinion is, we should all have one- this treaty really is a big deal, and unfortunately?the American?media has done almost no reporting on it.
-dustin siggins
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Dustin’s contacts are most likely looking at the economic impact of the treaty.? In this area, the treaty will create tax free zones that will be very attractive to companies, especially those that are global.? The potential competition here is fantastic and aligns with my free market principles.? It may in fact force the U.S. to create tax free zones, tax breaks, or reduce trading tariffs on our own end.? The results of which would be a significant boon to our economy.
My greatest concerns regarding the treaty is the fact that it allows for the European Union to become a country. Think the United States, but instead of Georgia, New York, Virginia, etc, the member states are France, Germany, the Czech Republic, and the rest of the EU member states.? This treaty not only allows for the EU to become its own country, but additionally allows for the creation of an EU military, the election of an EU President (if it declares nation-statehood), currently banned execution of criminals, and forced declaration of insanity of citizens that refuse drug treatments like the Swine Flu vaccine.? My contention is that the drastic and potential dangers in this treaty should not be taken lightly or ignored.
-nick r. brown
?and Net Neutrality for All: An Advisement Against Regulated Broadband Expansion
I’ve recently posted my paper investigating broadband expansion policy within the broadband stimulus portion of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 on bpress.
You can find it here:? http://works.bepress.com/nicholas_brown/2/
Here’s the abstract:
Ever since the now YouTube famous Google interview of then Senator Barack Obama promoting broadband Internet deployment nation wide, broadband deployment as part of Obama?s overarching $825 billion stimulus package has been a ready topic of conversation in technology circles. Broadband penetration in the United States is only 25.67% of all Internet connectivity or available to roughly 71 million Americans, ranking the U.S. 19th in the world. Home connections via broadband have risen to 92.4%, creating the argument that the majority of Internet users are engaged in daily activities that require, or at least benefit from, broadband connectivity. Obama has promoted this line of thinking, and believes ?that America should lead the world in broadband penetration and Internet access?. Pushing it even farther, he believes that the Universal Service Fund should be implemented in the expediting of deployment. This line of thinking is more than likely impossible.
This paper looks at the Broadband Stimulus portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to investigate the feasibility of expanding broadband into underdeveloped and undeveloped areas and the forced implementation of Network Neutrality into networks funded by the federal government.
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Be sure to post any feedback you may have. Would love to hear it.
-nick
