My Christmas Season "Wish List" for American Society and U.S. Government

Among the many items in my own Christmas "Wish List" for American society and the U.S. Government are:

----that a prestigious annual nationwide awards tradition and generous financial prize would be established to reward and publicly honor one or more of the drug-treatment, alcohol-treatment, or tobacco-treatment programs open to the general public that in the most recent 12-month period or multi-year period had a proven record of outstanding success and excellence at curing people of each of those injurious addictions.

---that each of the 10 U.S. cities and towns with the highest density of development and the lowest per-capita crime rates, when those two criteria are both taken into account for an overall score rating each and every U.S. city and town, would receive special recognition for land conservation, energy efficiency, and crime deterrence. Those cities deserve awards and financial prizes for helping to foster a healthy sense of community inside their municipalities.

---that each and every city and town in the United States will be made as pedestrian-friendly and jogger-friendly and bicyclist-friendly as possible through the construction of podiatrist-approved medically-healthful sidewalks throughout the entirety of each and every city, town, and metro area.

---that each and every child or American citizen under age 30 who wishes to improve his public-speaking skills and locution, could receive that type of assistance during that period of his life.

---that Americans addicted to obscene or profane speech could, upon request, obtain immediate enrollment in a profane-speech-addiction treatment program that helps them to develop a lifelong habit for the remainder of their life of consistently using clean (not foul) language in their career and everyday life.

---that President Obama would give doznens of public speeches, including videotaped speeches aimed at our nation's youths, that help promote the cause of either quitting smoking or not smoking. It is obvious that if President Obama were to give speeches on that subject that could be televised on behalf of the American Cancer Society, millions of youths and Americans under age 30 could find the courage, with his help, to quit smoking tobacco cigarettes. And that, in turn, would significantly enhance the medical and emotional and moral health of American society.

---that American society would develop an effective nationwide program, including through educational programs, to prevent congenital birth defects. That program could emphasize, among other things, that any female American who becomes pregnant is morally obligated to never consume any alcohol at any time during her pregnancy.
This, in turn, would help to significantly reduce the number of Americans who are handicapped or disabled or have major medical problems in their youth.

---that there will be a massive increase in the number of American cities and metro areas served by a first-rate and comprehensive and energy-efficient subterranean subway system of intra-city and inter-city public rail-transportation.

----that the U.S. Congress will impose a permanent ban on any and all one-story building construction anywhere in the United States. That ban will promote land conservation and energy conservation by helping to reduce urban sprawl and unconscionable wastage of land throughout this entire nation.

----that American society will help to promote and honor many of our nation's alcohol-free and tobacco-free and illicit-drug-free Americans who have made outstanding contributions to American society. That publicity campaign could be directed to our nation's youths and other young persons under age 30, who would particularly benefit from learning about drug-free, alcohol-free, tobacco-free Americans' success stories.

---that American society will develop a zero-tolerance policy toward attempted homicide as well as toward homicide. Our nation could achieve this goal through a proposed Constitutional Amendment to our nation's Constitution that authorizes a court of law in any U.S. state or territory to impose the death sentence or death penalty upon any person who had been convicted of either attempted homicide or homicide in that court of law. Any and all persons convicted of either attempted homicide or homicide would, after all of their legal appeals granted to them had failed, be executed or capitally punished, by court order. By effectively deterring both attempted homicide and homicide, the United States of America will achieve a massive reduction in the per-capita incidence of violence in American society.

-----that professional race-car driving and professional boxing would be eliminated from American society because they are both too violent and injurious.

---that the rules of varsity high school football, collegiate varsity football, and professional football would be revised to significantly reduce the number of injuries sustained by varsity football players at the high school or college level, and by professional football players.

----that the United States would insist on fully and comprehensively embracing the energy-saving and efficient metric system, and would participate in international conferences or conventions aimed at achieving agreement among all nations about the standards for measurement being used, including the standards for citing on roadway signs how much farther a motorist has to drive in order to read a cited destination.

-----that the United States would establish a very firm "zero-tolerance for corruption in government" policy that would bar anyone convicted of corruption in government from ever again holding any appointive office or elective office at any government-owned institution or agency or governing body.

----the the U.S. Government would establish a special year-round "Eliminate Corruption in Government" 24-hour-a-day hotline phone service that invites phone calls and E-mail letters from persons in such places as Austin, Texas; Cedar Park, Texas; Anchorage, Alaska; Quincy, Massachusetts; Houston, Texas; or Minneapolis, Minnesota, for instance, who themselves wish to report to the government any evidence they have observed that one or more local-government officials, state government officials, or federal government officials, or any person employed by a government-owned or government-sponsored institution, regardless of whether they are a tenured university professor or associate professor, may be guilty of one or more acts of corruption or may have violated the law in some context.

---that total nationwide participation in recycling of each and every manufactured good that can be recycled---including glass products, plastic products, aluminum products, etc.----will increase dramatically.

---that American society would offer our nation's youths and their parents a nationwide network of outstanding and teacher-certified educationally enriching amusement parks. In this way, our nation's amusement parks could be wedded to our national societal goal of promoting very strong intellectual and creative achievement by all of our nation's youths. There is every hope that each and every amusement park owner could be encouraged to offer a greater variety of intellectually stimulating offerings for youths at his amusement park or amusement parks.

---that American society will be ranked number one among all nations in per-capita energy efficiency; level of reliance on renewable-energy sources; and level of reliance upon safe and energy-efficient mass-transportation services for personal transportation and transportation to work.

Is U.S. Government Ignoring Major Issues in U.S. of today?

One of the implications from news-media coverage of the U.S. Government is that we have a federal government devoting 60 percent of its attention toward the Middle East.
As for the remaining 40 percent of the federal government's cited range of interests, according to news media accounts, they almost never or only rarely include, for instance:

(1) containment of urban sprawl throughout the United States, urban sprawl being inextricably linked to wastage of fossil fuels; unsightly urban development; nnihilation of a sense of rational community that derives from a city being pedestrian-friendly; global deforestation; and the Global Warming Effect environmental crisis.
I myself have never once heard about a White House Conference on Urban Sprawl Containment or U.S. Senate Hearings on Urban Sprawl Deterrence.

(2) development of plans for a nationwide and comprehensive recycling program emphasizing curbside pick-up service on all applicable recyclable items for each and every household and business and employer anywhere in the United States.

(3) plans for strengthening a nationwide network of successful drug-treatment, alcohol-treatment, and tobacco-treatment programs, the goal being to help each and every American citizen with an addiction to drugs, alcohol, or tobacco products, who wishes to be cured of any of those vile addictions.

(4) nationwide plans for significantly reducing the nationwide recividivism rate among all individuals who have been convicted of a felony crime anywhere in the United States.

(5) development of nationwide strategies for prevention or deterrence of pederastic crimes, or sex crimes that victimize persons legally classified as minors.

(5) development of a nationwide strategy for promoting the use of consistently civil conduct and clean speech on a daily basis by as many Americans as possible.

Need for U.S. Government Monthly Report on New Construction tied to Renewable Energy

If President Obama and the United States Congress were to contact me and ask me for advice, I would ask them to please estatablish a new monthly tradition of publicizing to all of the American people, and to the entire world, the percentage and number of new construction projects in the U.S. begun in the most recent previous month that feature construction of a commercial or residential real-estate property relying significantly upon renewable energy sources.

I would also urge President Obama and the U.S. Congress to please insist on the establishment of minimal nationwide, federally-imposed, standards relating to any and all new construction projects. Each and every new building being erected in this nation should be required by the federal government to meet certain minimal standards for energy conservation, public safety, fire-prevention, and a cited minimal number of years that that building as constructed is expected to endure.

Urgent Need for an Institute for the Study of Internet Commercial Fraud

One of the unnerving and decidedly alienating implications from fraud on the Internet these days is that a shockingly large number of Americans---and persons operating in other nations as well---are willing to engage in flagrantly dishonest business communications on the Internet that are aimed at defrauding law-abiding Americans of their hard-earned money.

Not only does the United States of today have an apparent need for an Institute for the Study of Internet Commercial Fraud.

We also have an urgent need for a nationwide network of well-staffed treatment programs aimed at helping to cure habitual liars and thieves of their penchant for pathological mendacity. It is painfully apparent that a significant share of all Americans of today are willing to tell flagrant lies on the Internet in the hopes of stealing money from those who believe them.

Internet fraud is so pervasive that I am surprised by the days of my life when I do not receive a fraudulent commercial E-mail solicitation on the Internet. Many of the fraudulent solicitations I've received refer to a recently deceased person in Africa or Asia or Great Britain who desperately wanted to leave money behind to myself, even though he had never met me before in his entire life. This type of obviously fraudulent message to myself, in turn, significantly undermines my own outlook toward each of the foreign nations, if any, where fraudulent E-mail solicitations directed at myself do, in fact, originate.

In Response to Questions about my Progressive Prohibitionist Religion

In response to the many questions I've received from Austin-area residents about my one-member (myself, only) and non-proselytizing Progressive Prohibitionist Religion, I would like to offer the following information:

QUESTION: IS YOUR PROGRESSIVE PROHIBITIONIST RELIGION A CHRISTIAN DENOMINATION?

ANSWER: No, it it not a Christian religion. Nor is it Judaistic, Muslim, Shinto-Buddhist, Quaker, MCC-affiliated, Christian Scientist, Mormon, or Unitarian, for that matter.

QUESTION: WHAT ARE YOUR RELIGION'S MEMBERSHIP ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS?

ANSWER: My religion is limited to permanently alcohol-free, permanently tobacco-free, permanently illicit-drug-free, facially-cleanshaven (no facial hair), civil and law-abiding, conscientiously vigilant, law-enforcement-minded, consistently clean-talking, honest and honorable persons with no felony-conviction record. My noble new religion, a religion for true gentlemen and true ladies, is also limited to persons who have no previous addiction to illicit drugs or alcohol. These are just a few of the membership-eligiblity requirements. This, of course, eliminates a lot of individuals from consideration as prospective members. My religion is an honor society, and this helps explain why my religion is so very, very selective in its membership-eligibility requirements.

QUESTION: HAS ANYONE APPLIED WITH YOU FOR MEMBERSHIP IN YOUR PROGRESSIVE PROHIBITIONIST RELIGION?

ANSWER: No one has. This is a further reminder that my own religion definitely does NOT hold anyone hostage or kidnap anyone or seek to "deprogram" anyone or pressure anyone into applying for membership, for that matter. My religion is freedom-loving, and reveres the legal and Constitutional right of any non-member to choose to apply to join a denomination other than my Progressive Prohibitionist Religion.

QUESTION: WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF RELIGIOUS ISSUES, IN YOUR OPINION?

ANSWER: One religious issue is the current dearth of mini-essays that might offer a tangibly helpful and pragmatically enlightening "thought for the day" to idealistic and honorable Americans with a healthy moral vision. My religion will strive to sponsor each day the daily publication, including on the Internet, of a "quick read" mini-essay of 10 paragraphs or less, say, that offers substantive insights into the world of today and into values that can help to guide a person in his life. For instance, one pragmatically helpful mini-essay might note which of the current mutual funds available to investors are currently the most beneficial to the environment, by investing in eco-friendly companies, while also at the same time excluding investment in the alcohol or tobacco industries.

QUESTION: I HAVE HEARD THAT YOUR RELIGION GENERALLY ESCHEWS AND DECLINES TO PROMULGATE THE ABSTRACT NOUNS AND BIBLICAL CITATIONS FOUND IN MANY OTHER RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.?

ANSWER: The informal reports you've heard on that are correct. My Progressive Prohibitionist Religion is implicitly deistic as well as rationally deistic. My non-Christian and modern religion emphasizes that deism itself is best manifested through empirically verifiable or factual observations and statements and tangible contributions during one's own lifetime by human beings. Religion should explore what we do know, along with what modern science is helping human civilization to add to our entire world's body of knowledge.

QUESTION: IS IT TRUE THAT YOU DO NOT BELIEVE IN PRAYER?

ANSWER: No, I do not. I don't presume to have a personal relationship with any cited "deity." To make any such "religious" claim of my having a one-to-one "hotline" access to a deity would, to me, be both delusional and narcissistic. But I do feel confident that I can, in fact, use reasoning skills and engage in mutual-consent dialogues and research and mutual-consent projects with other human beings that provide me with solutions to life's challenges.

QUESTION: ARE YOU AT RISK OF COMING ACROSS AS GODLESSLY ATHEISTIC WHEN YOU SAY THAT YOU DO NOT ENGAGE IN PRAYER?

ANSWER: My religion is definitely NOT atheism. Atheism is negativism: atheism is dreary nihilism. My own religion, to the contrary, offers solid and constructive and specific values for living. Also, my own religion heartily embraces the idea of deism in very pragmatic and empirically observable terms.

QUESTION: YOU JUST USED THE WORD 'EMBRACES,' AND INEVITABLY I'M REMINDED OF A QUESTION THAT MAY BE ON THE MINDS OF SOME OBSERVERS OF YOUR RELIGION THESE DAYS. I HAVE HEARD THAT YOUR NEW RELIGION IS ANTI-SEXUAL. IS THAT TRUE?

ANSWER: Not at all. Non-marital, marital, and premarital sex, provided it is legal and involves mutual consent, does not alarm me in the least. In fact, I have publicly praised vasectomy surgeons for the noble contributions to human civilization they offer. Those vasectomy operations, as you know, greatly enhance a gentleman's ability to enjoy a mutual-consent sexual romantic life without any risk of his impregnating his female sex partner. So what the vasectomy surgeons offer to human civilization is quite a noble service, freeing women from unwanted pregnancies and the accompanying possible need for an abortion.

QUESTION: YOU CLAIM TO NOT BE ANTI-SEXUAL, BUT ISN'T IT TRUE THAT YOUR RELIGION PLACES HEAVY EMPHASIS ON THE ROLE OF MUTUAL-CONSENT AND HONEST PLATONIC PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS AND HONORABLE PLATONIC PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIPS IN LIFE. I'M REFERRING TO RELATIONSHIPS IN WHICH CONTACT BETWEEN EACH PARTNER IS LIMITED TO HANDSHAKES OR VERBAL HUGS, IF YOU WILL.

ANSWER: You are correct in noting that my Progressive Prohibitionist Religion places primary emphasis on platonic relationships and platonic relationship skills. The fact is that for virtually every American citizen of today, 99 to 100 percent of all of his or her relationships in life are, in fact, platonic or defacto platonic. They're platonic because they do not involve any sexual penetration per se. My new religion maintains that platonic relationships between persons not related to each other have traditionally been neglected. This is truly tragic, when you consider that platonic relationships have a huge bearing on your own level of happiness and medical as well as emotional health.

QUESTION: WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO ELABORATE ON THAT POINT?

ANSWER: One recent Swedish study even found that personal friendships generally have more impact on a persons' cardiovascular health than does his relationship with his sexual romantic partner or spouse.

QUESTION: DO YOU ALSO SUBSCRIBE TO THE VIEW THAT ADULT PERSONS SUCH AS YOURSELF CAN BE GOOD AND LASTING MUTUAL-CONSENT PERSONAL FRIENDS TO INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE CURRENTLY EITHER CHILDREN OR TEENAGE PERSONS OR COLLEGE STUDENTS?

ANSWER: Yes, I do. I definitely believe that we should assign highest possible priority in our modern new religion to helping befriend children and other persons under age 30. It seems to me that mutually-beneficial, mutually-respectful, and healthy inter-generational platonic relationships with younger persons can comprise humanity at its most sublimely beautiful.

Need for Alcohol-Free, Tobacco-Free 401K Retirement Plan Options

I was recently informed by a very knowledgeable banker in Austin, Texas, that it is very difficult to obtain a 401K Plan retirement investment program through an employer in Texas that specifically EXCLUDES any and all financial investment in the alcohol industry or the tobacco industry.

It seems that the vast majority of all of the 401K plans being offered to Texans by their employers are plans that invest heavily in the alcohol and tobacco industry.

That tragic perversion in the American and Texan economic system at present creates a very sad dilemma for those of us who fervently support the long-term goal of a drinking-alcohol-free and tobacco-free America.

The ironic twist from it all is that a longtime anti-alcohol Prohibitionist and lifelong non-smoker such as myself, is currently put in the contradictory position, through my respective 401K retirement plans, of myself financially investing in the two industries that I would most like to see eliminated.

The only exception to that wish of mine for the American alcohol and tobacco industries is this: I can personally agree to the need for production of alcohol for use in cooking, with the prior understanding that the alcohol will fully evaporate in the cooking process. Alcohol used in cooking can enhance the flavor of the dishes being prepared that way; and if there is no risk of actually ingesting alcohol from the use of alcohol in cooking, I can see where this one usage of alcohol can be justified.

There is every hope, in any event, that many of the anti-alcohol and anti-tobacco non-profit groups in this nation will pressure companies and the government into offering 401K retirement plan options in which there is no risk of investing in either the alcohol industry or the tobacco industry.

In Response to the American Economic Crisis

I continue to feel very strongly that the American economic crisis involving widespread unemployment and poverty, cannot be fully solved until such time as the federal government:

(1) Takes steps to ensure that the entire United States has a truly effective and truly successful nationwide network of drug-treatment, tobacco-treatment, and alcohol-treatment programs, for which the cost of participation by any particular person addicted to an illicit drug, licit drugs, tobacco, or alcohol, is reasonable.

(2) Takes steps to ensure that as many of the health insurance programs as possible offer payment of services for enrollment in a drug-treatment, tobacco-treatment, or alcohol-treatment program.

(3) Takes steps to ensure that a truly comprehensive and well-publicized inventory of each and every natural resource found in the United States is conducted, along with semiannual or annual updates of that annual inventory.

(4) Takes steps to ensure that the entire United States is served by a comprehensive and customer-friendly recycling program that makes it very easy for any apartment tenant, home owner, condo unit owner, or business owner to participate in that recycling program on a year-round basis, with help from on-site pick-up services for each of the recyclable items --- plastics, aluminum, glass, paper, etc.

Those steps will help to comprehensively revitalize the American economy by significantly enhancing the medical health and productivity of the American workforce. Those steps will also create thousands of new jobs relating to massive expansion of recycling services throughout this nation----recycling services that also protect the military security and environment and moral credibility of this North American nation that consumes more natural resources per capita than any other nation in the entire world.