Why are we exporting America?

You've heard of outsourcing. Maybe even first hand. For a lot of details and some suggestions on how to stop it, you need to look at and read the book "Exporting America" by Lou Dobbs. Get a copy from your library.

Do you know what the ten fastest growing job categories are? Only 3 of them require a college degree. They do not include computer engineering, radiologists, or some other high tech jobs.

One way to take a bite out of outsourcing jobs might be Social Security taxes. If a company exports 100 jobs to India, for example, the company would owe the US government to same amount of social security taxes that would have been paid if the jobs had created in the US. Then, to wake up Indian workers, !0% of that tax might be sent to India, which as I understand it, does not have a SS system as such.

Other things can be done, but we the people have to organize and make our voices heard. Blogs are a place to start.

Do you want a $15 DVD or VHS for free?

I have made a low budget video/movie that is based on an original play that was produced successfully for a short run on Long Island, New York. I have a low advertising budget, which consists primarily of free copies of the DVD or VHS. But I don't want to just give them away. If you will agree, in writing (by email), to review the movie and post a review of it on my site or elsewhere, I will send you a free copy. In a few weeks, the original play plus two other original plays will be published in book form. If you're interested, I may include a copy of the book, while supply lasts. This is a limited offer. The review doesn't have to be a rave, but you've got to at least say something. Maybe: " I saw it and liked it", or "I saw it and it's not for me", or your words.

The movie is unrated but is at G or PG level. It is a romantic comedy and requires you to pay attention to the dialog or you won't get it. You can get some idea of the movie by going to
http://www.thelittlegreenie.com

If you'd rather buy it and then review or not review it, you can get a copy for $14.95 + S & H at
http://www.customflix.com/205824. There's a short trailer at this site.

Mad telphone answering programs

Some automatic telephone answering programs can really get annoying. I wonder how much business's lose because of infuriating systems. I tried to buy an air filter from Sears and eventually gave up. Maybe I'll try again.

Here's suggestion. The response would be something like this: "Hello. To speak to a human being, press 1. To proceed with the automatic system, press 2." If you pick 2, it would then dive into the usual mishmash.

It would be interesting to find out if anybody tries this scheme. In any case, what do you think of it?

http://www.thelittlegreenie.com

Working on a trailer for my site

I'm interested in adding a movie trailer to my site (not this blog, but maybe). I posted a call for help and info on forum4bloggers and hope to get some answers on how to go about it. I built my site mostly using Netscape and I might be able to add the trailer. Part of the problem will probably be how much capacity I have at doteasy.com, which hosts my site. If I don't have enough capacity for a trailer, I will have to settle for something else. I'm thinking of including a still from the video with some dialog and then changing it every few days.

If anybody knows of a free tutorial on web page construction, I'd like to hear about it.

I also need some reviews of my DVD. If anybody would be willing to review it, I would be glad to send them a free copy.

Alternative Medicine Questions

The Institute of Medicine, which advises Congress on health care, thinks that food supplements such as vitamines, calcium, and magnesium should be scientifically tested and proved safe to use. But the Council on Responsible Nutrition, representing the supplement industry, calls the conclusion "an unwarranted hatchet job on supplements". (From Newsday, Jan 13, 2005, page A28.)

Personally I believe that supplements should be tested and proved safe, but it should not be done by a government agency, which would soon fall under the control of the supplement industry, similarly to the way the FDA is now the pet of the drug companies. Instead, a non-profit organization should be created that will research food supplements and other forms of alternative medicine. The agency would be able to provide reliable information on the value of various alternative therapies and medicines compared to standard medical proceedures and drugs. Such an agency could also try to find cures for so-called orphan diseases. Without an authoritive and independent testing agency, this can never be accomplished.

More information about such an agency is on my web site, http://www.thelittlegreenie.com.

About a new book I've found--

A scary book I've just started reading is "Running on Empty" by Peter Peterson. The US now has obligations to pay recipients of social security, Medicare, and Medicaid trillions of dollars more than it can ever collect in taxes. The problem is not immediate but it is coming to a head in a few years and nothing is being done to cope with it.

Most of us have heard about this problem but have only a vague understanding of it. Peterson's book clarifies a lot of the financial aspects but it is not an easy read. The finances are pretty complicated and involve savings, taxes, investments, balance of payments and similar subjects. It seems to me that if somebody could come up with a relatively simple spreadsheet on these factors, then we could individually change various things and see how the results change. Doing something like this would be a big help in clarifying things for us non-economists. Somebody might even be able to come up with a video game about the subject. (Maybe somebody already has? I don't do video games.)

The politicians are not going to do anything about the problem until a lot of people start asking them about it or untill disaster strikes. Already the US dollar is starting to weaken.

I'm looking for independent filmmakers

Hello--

I've written several 2-act plays and have turned one of them into a full length video/movie. I call it a video/movie because it was shot with a digital camcorder. The movie is now available on DVD or VHS but it has not been selected as yet for any film festival showing. Theatrical distribution is not a goal.

I would like to know if there are any other low budget independent filmmakers out there who have also produced a movie or a video/movie and are now trying to market it on their own. If so, maybe we can share information, reviews, insights, etc. All comments welcome.

Putting my DVD up for sale at FilmBaby

Filmbaby.com is a web site that is selling various dvds. I am listing my dvd http://www.thelittlegreenie.com with them to see if they can make some sales. As an independent video maker, selling is difficult because of lack of money for advertising. Also, I am not much of a salesman, so this is likely to be a difficult learning experience.

I'd like to find some people who would look at the video/movie and write a review that I can post on the internet. Any takers?

I call it a video/movie beause it was shot with digital video cameras rather then regular film cameras.