Bp's history of egregious atrocities against nature and free nation's economies goes all the back the the freaking Exxon Valdez. Bp was actually in charge of the safety of the drilling site/pipeline of the Valdez. There was one engineer that attempted to expose them prior to the spill to no avail.
An environmental engineer who worked on design and construction of the Valdez Marine Terminal, Dan Lawn joined the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation as one of the first inspectors of terminal and tanker operations. He was the first regulator notified the night the Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef. For over ten years before the spill, Dan documented the failures of the oil industry to prevent spills and to adequately prepare for clean-ups, and warned the state about the potential for a major disaster in Prince William Sound.
For his efforts, Dan was harassed, intimidated, and wrongfully demoted by the state. Finally, in December 1996, he won a decision from Alaska's Supreme Court ordering ADEC to reinstate him to his former duties overseeing the Valdez Marine Terminal. He is now represents ADEC at the Joint Pipeline Office's Valdez office.
-Dan Lawn -
...Contrary to popular belief the Obama plan is working, but if you've been watching the news you already know that the rate of jobs lost per month has dropped dramatically (800,000 per month at the end of Bush era and now somewhere around 60,000 per month.) Bailing out banks allowed multiple billion dollar corporations to not collapse. It's nice to see a graphic with the shrinking job loss numbers.
So I had a conversation with someone that initially said that they didn't believe that a Public Option would be helpful and that a Physician's association would be best suited to make decisions for the masses. That the reformed Healthcare system should be modeled after the Veteran's Administration healthcare system and that stringent regulation of existing healthcare without opening the the geographic boundaries of Healthcare competition/coverage is the answer. I couldn't disagree more with most of that, but it does seem like, as for how we both view the current Healthcare system and what a working healthcare insurance industry would look like, we're on the same page. It seems like we're interested in a similar or the same destination, but are interested in two different sets of directions to get there. She would not give me permission to re-post what she said, but here are my two statements on the issue just to give a bit of a fly on the wall perspective on where HealthCare Insurance reform needs to go:
It seems like we agree, in essence, on 90% of our opinion on the current state of US health insurance system. The one thing that I'm more than willing to accept that maybe you aren't is that there's no "For Profit" insurance provider that will A.) Allow Doctors to determine needs without extreme pressure to do what the insurance companies want {Look at what they did with the attempting to roll back mammogram testing through a completely valid Medical Association} and B.) There's no "For Profit" Health Insurance company that will even attempt to run their company like the VA there's a high enough profit margin in it for them. Additionally even if doctors were to run the system there will be an organizational structure, probably with a profit agenda, that will look and operate like a health insurance company, just called something else.
Understanding these things is what informs me that a Public Option is really the only efficient way forward to keep private insurers honest, pop their overinflated profit margin balloon and balance the cost of MediCare which insures the oldest people in need of the most and most expensive health care. My major problem is that abortions, lip augmentation, Botox injection, breast implants and other completely elective procedures should not be covered under a "Public Option" and those things have been included previous Acts. With a Public Option broad interstate rights for Insurers only helps, because they won't be able to charge 3X the rate of the Public option and they'll be forced to find new ways to differentiate themselves. That could mean medical transportation or, membership to more exclusive exercise clubs, or heavy discounts on expensive, but fresh organic produce. It's just a better outcome.
(Cont'd) Like I said I think we are in agreement on a lot of things. I just don't know that a board of physicians, that are used to getting paid hundreds of thousands if not millions per year in some cases and enjoy "Rock Star" social status are the best group of people to put in charge of health care in the U.S. They have all kinds of reasons to make all kinds of decisions that aren't necessarily always in the best interest of patient care and we already see that happening now. Just as importantly again, organization of an AMA sponsored Healthcare system is going to look like insurance AND in all likelyhood would be outsourced to the same former private insurance companies that are leeching millions of people every year now. Hospitals that are run by Physician's associations locally in many areas where I live have already had management service reigns handed over to "For Profit" entities creating the same kinds of problems that existed before and worse so there's no reason for me to believe that that's not how a national medical association would handle ownership of national health care insurance.
I would prefer to roll the dice with smart people that get paid well, but still live in the real world receiving the same benefits for themselves and their families mediating some portion of the decision making. From my standpoint having a Public Option introduces all of the regulation that's necessary. For private insurers the only mandate they could have is to provide health care that people don't feel cheated by or whither away which is radically different from current mandate of "Take as much as you can."
...Ok so occasionally I break from the norm of adding materials supporting the projects I working on to express an opinion or show something I think is interesting. This is one of those times and harsh words are used. BE WARNED!
Just as a primer on the Health Care component of this check out the map below and compare the total per capita cost of health care pending in the US versus ANY other country on the map: CNN Comparison Map
You might also want to compare governmental investment in Health Care in all these places and make the correlation between that and the cost of health care in the world and it's pretty clear to see what's going on as far as overpriced health care in the US. _______________________________________________ In order to get into this I'm going to have to layout some background information just because I've found that a lot of people really just have no clue about what's going on as afar as the breakdown of the national budget. If you already know this stuff you can easily skim the info and move on. (There's a movie link at the bottom which is a first hand interview of an American living the Czech Republic and his experience with healthcare originally posted online from another artist )
Disclaimer: Okay, part of the YouTube user's name is pothead so, many may feel like the info he dispenses is of questionable value...which would be understandable. He also calls the procedure he had an UltraSound which is clearly not right since those are mostly used to look at unborn babies. What he had was probably a lipotripsy. BUT there is still some good general information to glean from this.
First...this is definitely a conversation about the national budget as much as it is about the US health care system and we're talking about TRILLIONS of dollars. Generally, I've found that many people tend to believe that programs like National Welfare absorb significant portions of the budget.
FACT: Welfare accounts for about .00016% of the national budget.
Conversely, I've also found that a lot of people have, for whatever reason, decided that a number of other "Wasteful" expenditures which they generally can't name are responsible for our Ginormous budgets and national debt.
FACT:Social Security is BY FAR the largest budget item on the US budget list. Social Security accounts for 50%-60% national budget and probably 70% of the national debt. National Security is between 12%-18% of the national budget the last time I checked. MediCare/MedicAid is responsible for something like 80% of the Social Security bill.
I posted all of that just to basically try to start to put things into perspective. Most people will immediately say "What the Hell?" How did MediCare/MedicAid get so big in the first place...and more importantly what exactly is MediCare/MedicAid?
MediCare/MedicAid is U.S. sponsored health insurance for citizens over the age of 65. In other words it's health insurance for medical patients that require the most medical care and the most expensive medical care. Some people might even have the obtuse opinion that states something like this "Cut those old frickers loose, They're holdin us back!" There are some elected officials whose opinions are fairly close to that, but I'll dig deeper on that a little further down. The reason why it's critical to get Social Security fixed NOW is because the Baby Boomer generation, the largest age group in the country, are about to collectively turn 65 over the next couple of years. Even with the smaller age groups up to this point Social Security has brought the U.S. economy to it's knees. If something doesn't change the U.S. will come out on the other side of "Baby Boomer" MediCare FUBAR'd (fucked up beyond all recognition) We really shouldn't want to be in that position.
Here's the thing many democratic government officials are thinking but won't say...health insurance is pretty profitable if you don't have to cover old people which is where private Health Insurance has taken up exclusive residency at this point. The idea is that if the government can get elders out of the Medicare system that make a $250,000 plus per year that can easily afford their own private insurance, add some younger healthier people that require less care and bring some more profitability to government health care insurance roles and cut out out some ineffective medical policies that cost tons of dough without producing tons of results they can resolve the looming Social Security Budget Crisis by making government health insurance solvent. By introducing a public option they can bring down the cost of private health insurance/health care by creating a health care insurance company that operates WAY BELOW the 300%-1000% profit margins that private insurance companies enjoy now. A public option would also allow the government to hold the health care industry accountable for success and failure rates and use that as additional leverage in negotiating better pricing (at least for those in the government plan which would be a lot.) Private insurers will be forced to cut their profit margins and aggressively negotiate for lower medical costs instead of just cutting services/options for insurance holders.
So one thing you might ask is "This makes perfectly obvious sense what's everybody screaming about?" As promised earlier I said that some people might have the obtuse opinion that states something like this "Cut those old frickers loose, They're holdin us back!" and that there were some elected officials whose opinions are fairly close to that right? Well here it is, Republicans basically have no interest in making the current MediCare/MedicAid system solvent, they want to blow it up and push all elderly citizens into the private health insurance sector. They want to provide vouchers which represent a fraction of medical care expenses that would be covered by MediCare/MedicAid. With the way private insurers operate this is the way you want to go if you want to reduce the U.S. population QUICKLY. If you want to hear about massive deaths and genocide conspiracy theories for the next 50 years because of something like this voucher plan than it's the way to go. Republicans have been trying to destroy MediCare and MedicAid for YEARS. You might ask "Well, the Republicans had the presidency, the House and the Congress majority for the better part of 8 years why didn't they do this then?" The simple answer is that self-preservation rules strongly in all of these parties. Destroying MediCare/MedicAid years ago would have destroyed many republicans political careers, so they are content to try to do this while the seated president is a Democrat so that they can eventually shift blame. If this isn't the first bill that's voted on and it lasts until the next election and Republicans loose more seats, or Massachusetts seats an interim congress person before the next actual election it could be a moot point and the the new Health Care plan could get pushed through without any Republican support.
My personal feeling on this is that the Obama administration needs to keep pushing this, BUT again start the rumbling of a smaller bill that would allow the legal import of Canadian prescription medications sooner. I think he should have pushed this first, because it would have easily made it through the voting process and it probably could roll through just as easily now as well. Legalizing cheaper meds from Canada would have an immediate positive impact on those that need them and it would give all concerned a segue into actually researching a "Single Payer" government run health care system and it's benefits. Personally, I could care less about the "Public Option" eventually possibly turning into a single payer system even though I don't think it will happen as long as private health insurance companies run their businesses honeslty. Legalizing Marijuana FOR MEDICINAL PURPOSES ONLY is also something that could possibly help win the Health insurance battle, most Doctor's agree that for a couple of conditions it's proven to be the most effective pain reliever available and going State by State creates more problems than it solves.
Right now most people are disgusted with the way health insurance works and their ever shrinking options with insurance that they pay copious amounts of money for and it's just a hot button topic. Unless some very clear improvements are delivered quickly many will assume that it will only make things worse. It's unfortunate that a lot of people either don't remember or choose to ignore how much better health insurance was before the Bush administration was installed.
While not related to Nommo or the Gliese 581 project this is a creative endeavor. I was messing around with so graphic design ideas that really have intrigued me for a while and came up with this.
I saw this post reposted on another website I frequent and I think it's good to have it here, for myself as well as those that stop through here. [Granted things area little different for minorities, BUT there's still A LOT of valid info here for everyone that takes on the concept of "Deferred Gratification" as a real part of their day to day lives]
(originally from conceptart.org)
Jason Manley
----- first, you are not trapped in your situation. You can get out of any situation you want if you are willing to take the pain of doing all the things you dont want to do..the long hard way. The fruitful way.
At seventeen I was homeless and orphaned, taking care of my fourteen year old brother who I somehow managed to keep in school. I had dropped out of school. I did two years of wasting time eventually trying to get my head on straight. At nineteen I was homeless again. Scraped together enough money to get my ass to arizona to study art. Got a temp apt to get me through to the end of the month and took a job at subway (applied all over til I found something). The subway job paid enough money to sometimes eat and pay my small studio rental. I went back to school to get my graduation and was working full time (thought I needed to graduate from HS to get into a good college). Trust me...it was fucking painful. I transferred to a community college the following year and slowly got better and better jobs. Worked telemarketing fundraising to afford a 1977 datsun and art supplies. Shittiest job ever but paid double what subway did. Worked three jobs during the summer to get caught up including going to alaska to work the salmon docks across the country. I did not give a shit what it was, if it paid for my goals to be met and didnt involve anything illegal, I did it.
As time went on I realized I needed to arrange my priorities again. I took a night time job so I could exhaust all my energies in my art and studies. Eventually got a job at AT&T...Att this is Jason how may I help you?...I was still far behind those who had life handed to them their whole life. However, I was catching up. In time I realized it was not a chase against others but to only my own race to my goals. Kept the nose down. Chose friends who worked on art or learning always. Ignored the time wasting folk who never will amount to anything other than regular. Grew up around enough of those to realize the difference. After three and a half years I took my first art job and quit my shit job...have lived with and from art ever since.
By the time I was 29 I had achieved every goal I had reached for when I first set out. That is when I realized it was time to set new goals...each time this happens it feels like starting over...get something done..start again...in time your life becomes what you want it to be. Even those of money have to do this if their life involves learning, skill, and growth. It is not money that holds people back...is just their own mind.
The hard part about certain situations is not everyone is told they can do and reach their goals if they just work their ass off starting RIGHT NOW. Some know it and wont work for whatever reason. They listen to that voice that says I want to chill and watch tv or i dont feel like it. Others have addictions or mental issues keeping them from growing and learning. I didnt want to be any of that. I wanted to do cool stuff...to have an interesting life...and to work in a creative way.
Hard manual labor growing up taught me that my mind would rot if I chose that kind of path. I wanted something to use my mind. Bored if not...and with boredom comes making trouble or distraction. Gotta turn that into work ethic...no choice. Carl Dobsky was telling me this about the atelier every day. It has to be just uncomfortable enough to make the coolest thing to do be art. If there is a blaring tv or anything else, than there are other options. Options that keep one from not working to reach their goals.
Complacency is the womb of mediocrity. You clearly are not complacent. So do something about it in every free second of your day. All this wandering around doing not a whole lot but thinking isn't getting you much done. It is however, giving you a taste of life many others would never have the guts to explore. Just dont stay down there too long without coming up for air.
This is Myurene, a Golden Jackal anthro, designed by one of my co-managers in the studio. It's coming along nicely, but this will probably be the last WIP posted publicly for a while anyway.
This character is a Gemsbok Oryx anthropomorphic character (Yes - the Nommo Universe and this Gliese 581 c/d Universe will most definitely converge...)
Probably one of the most gratifying projects I've ever been a part of is starting this illustration studio. We're not completely off and running, but we're definitely getting there.
My latest work in progress is a character named Moses: (This story will tie in nicely with the Nommo stories.)
Lots of crazy things personally, professionally, and health wise have created the maelstrom from which I've been operating the last couple of months. I've neglected calls that should have been made BUT it feels like I may have righted the ship, turned the tide (and whatever other cheesy phrase you could insert here. Hopefully things will be normalizing soon and I apologize to those I haven't gotten too. The image here is for Nommo, it's a another test rendering of the Orisha/Jinn/Spirit Watchers with some minor alterations. Updating should hopefully be more frequent from now on.
...OK, this is an interruption of your regularly scheduled programming
This is a blog for my Nommo project, but the aggravation in me has been growing all season long. I have to get it out. I'm sick of the racists in Philly that hate McNabb. I saw the same identical build up of racism leveled against a Black quarterback fueled by the media in Philly before and that quarterback's name was Randall Cunningham...another quarterback headed to the fame.
Words of a fan on Randall Cunningham David Kowalski
"Randall Cunningham is hands down a Hall of Famer, maybe not this year but in the next couple here are the reasons why, Randall has better stats than HOF Joe Nameth, in Cunninghams 16 year career he has a comp. pct. of 56.6, 29,979 yards, 207/134 TD/INT, and thats just passing, running he has 4928 yards and 35 TDS, not to mention when the Eagles called on him to punt, he did it well. Now you may say that those stats alone don't get him in but he is a 3 time MVP, Only Unitas, Favre, Jim Brown, and Y.A. Tittle have won 3 NFL MVP awards, Montana only won 2 NFL MVP, all in the hall or on there way. Now you say that most of them have a ring, but what Randall lacked in rings he brought with other things. Cunningham was a pioner for the Dual Threat quarterback, so now players like Vick and McNabb can thank him for that, but not only that Cunningham was a very successful quarterback when black quarterbacks were not given a chance. For all of this I believe he should get his bid into the hall."
Words from the PRESIDENT OF FOOTBALL OPERATIONS for the Eagles. Joe Banner
"I can't envision a situation in which [McNabb] is not our quarterback next year,"
"We are talking about a quarterback who went to four straight [NFC] championship games. There are only four quarterbacks in the history of the league that have done that. You are talking about a quarterback who has had a higher winning percentage in his first seven years in the league than Peyton Manning. You are talking about a quarterback that has one of the highest quarterback ratings over the first seven seasons, one of the best TD-to-interceptions ratios of any quarterback in the history of this game in his first seven seasons in the league. . .
"My expectation, and I can't really even picture a different scenario, is that he'll be the quarterback."
Donovan McNabb will more likely than not be the Eagles starting quarterback until he decides it's time to hang up the cleats and he will probably win a few Superbowls in the process, so just think about how long Elway was in Denver...That's probably how long Donovan will be with the Eagles. Deal with it however you like. It's sickening, for me anyway, to feel like I have to defend a young eventual Hall of Fame quarterback, because more than a few people want to judge the quarterback on things other than stats, but don't want to admit it.
(Final) Digital sculpting on Computers is a Godsend for technically minded artists/filmmakers. I primarily use Maya, modo, ZBrush on OS X and have worked in Linux, but am not a huge fan.
(Update)
After a good hiatus, much needed funds for real life, I may be back to Nommo:NSR, but I have quite a few irons in the fire.
Above[edit] is a another image of the WindCurrent Sekmet, one of the 3D ships I'm building for the Nommo Project. I completely forgot that I had this image rendered and was a little further completed here too.
Yeah, women can be Cloud Soldiers too! I was able to get a kind soul to photograph herself for me to use as reference for my next cloud soldier design and this is where I am so far.
This image is my first Cloud Soldier sculpt. I remember testing out the modo renderer and having a rough go at getting the glass transparent, because of the way the shader tree was set up, but this was my first successful and I'll definitely be redesigning the goggles since they a little too much like "Rock Star" shades for me, but I really like the quality of modo's Global Illumination rendering.
In terms of my general process for the material for this project I really don't do a lot in terms of sketching for these sculpts -characters or vehicles- as it allows me more freedom in the design process. In terms of Influences and inspiration it's largely a blend of a lot of research on a African Tribal arts, clothing, costume, Comic book mythology and animal structure/anatomy.
This is actually an Orisha/Jinn that is essentially a Spirit Watcher and one of many different Orishas observing the events of the "New Stories of RA!" This particular Orisha is based on the Satyr and I actually am finding information that places the origin of the Satyr mythos in Ethiopia. Initially this was a design for an illustrator, but he didn't like this one, so it left me with a sculpted, but unused character. I hadn't really done any Orisha for my project, but since they are nature and animal oriented I wanted fantastical Anthromorphic like creatures. The Physical make-up of this Satyr fit what I was looking for, but it being part of Greek Mythology to begin with was a problem since I have set the Nommo stories within African/Egyptian mythology, so it was a Godsend that in doing some basic research on Satyrs that I didn't mention much about the Celestial watchers that will be an important part of the trailer in the synopsis , but their role is more secondary.
